Shifting Melodies

by Thadius0

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Alternate Universe, Twilight Sparkle, Changelings, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy, Other, Romance, Sex, Random
Length: 1053620

He's a unicorn accountant in service to a smuggling ring. She's a high-ranking Thestral in the Day Guard. Together, they fight crime. Too bad one of them's lying.

Meet Level Ledger, your average, well-read unicorn colt. He has a talent with numbers and systems, which is why Pegasus Air was so interested in acquiring his talents. They use him to make sure their books are balanced. Both the legal ones...and the ones that'll never see the light of day.

Meet Midnight Song, your not-average, well-trained Thestral mare. Everything she sets out to do, she accomplishes with aplomb. When she rises a little too quickly through the Day Guard's ranks, her superiors decide she needs to cool off and learn a bit about how to be a mature member of the Guard. Not a bad idea, seeing as she's a massive flirt.

When Level's rent goes up, he needs to take a roommate or risk being thrown out into the street. A twist of fate will see these two souls coming together and having the time of their lives.

Now, if only one of them could tell the truth to save their life...

A collab fic worked on by myself and Ausbrony. We liked the setting of Las Pegasus and the villains of Pegasus Air a lot, so we put our heads and characters together, and this came from our efforts.

In lieu of a list of dates, I will simply say that this story tends to get featured every time I update it for a short while at least. And I am very happy about that fact.~

Published 2015-05-20 17:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-06-29 16:49:19 UTC

Chapter Two - Buzzing on

It was still dark when Midnight awoke, her internal alarm clock as precise as always. For there on, it was routine as usual, having a quick shower to wake up a little more, make some breakfast and put on her armour and weapons. The entire process was almost robotic, the motions long since committed to memory. Though, waking up in this strange apartment was a new one.

She decided to leave a small note, just in case Ledger was wondering where she might have gone and headed out, wondering just what the Las Pegasus guard would have in store for her.

The Captain in charge of the LP guard was a very no-nonsense mare. She took her job seriously and nopony was given a second chance. You screwed up? You lived with the consequences. And when she’d heard that some hotshot rookie was being transferred from Canterlot, she could only assume the worst. A greenhorn with little to no experience and used to the cushy lifestyle of the capitol.

And when a bright-eyed Thestral mare showed up, well, Captain Narrow was honestly surprised. Midnight Song’s record was really something; although brief, she had quite a few accolades to her name. Still, it just meant that Narrow wouldn’t have to go easy on her.

So it also made Narrow annoyed when the bloody mare beat her here for the last three mornings in a row.

“Good morning Captain,” Midnight said cheerfully, as the Unicorn mare walked inside. Narrow grunted a reply as she made a beeline for the coffee machine. Said machine produced little more than coffee-flavoured sludge, but it was better than nothing.

Once she’d sat down and sipped at the Celestia-awful drink, she grimaced and looked at the Thestral. “So, getting used to the city yet?”

“I know most of the popular places and general hangouts for ponies,” Midnight nodded. “I’ve flown around the city a few times and taken a lot of notes. Oh! I also have an apartment to live in now, though my new roommate will take some getting used to.”

“A roomie? In this city?” Narrow pinched her nose and downed the rest of the ‘coffee’. “They got a name?”

Midnight nodded as she sorted through some files. “Level Ledger, he’s a pretty quiet guy...” She glanced up at her Captain, noting the mare had gone a little quiet. “Something up?”

“Yeah, I know the guy... dealt with him a few times,” Narrow nodded as she stood up. “Guy’s also notorious for not getting mugged every second day of the week. Some poor fool tried a few days after he arrived, he put her in the emergency ward and six months of physical therapy.”

Midnight dropped her papers, as her eyes widened significantly. “He... did what!?”

“Dunno the full story, he claims to have acted in self defense and she freely admitted to trying to mug and assault him. The mare had a rap sheet longer than Celestia’s legs and I haven’t heard another peep outta Level since then... but still...” Narrow recalled the injuries he’d inflicted on that mare and shuddered. “Look kid, just keep your eyes open around him. If he tries anything, you take him down and bring him in. Got it?”

“Ma’am,” Midnight saluted, suddenly wondering what this guy had done to scare even Narrow like that. Still, the atmosphere was getting heavy and she wanted a change of topic. “On another note, what are my orders today?”

Narrow nodded, “Well, we have a backlog of paperwork and records. You any good at dealing with that kinda stuff kid?”

“I’m very good at what I do,” Midnight smiled and winked. “Doesn’t matter what... or who~”

“For the love of-” Narrow facehooved. That was another thing about Midnight, she was the most flirtatious mare she had ever met. And she’d seen the bloody red-light strip more than most ponies in Equestria. “Just get to work would you!”

“Yes Ma’am,” Midnight giggled, glad her skills were still intact. Level Ledger had left her thinking she was getting rusty.

Ledger sat in the small office that had been given to him by Pegasus Air, quietly going over the proposition his boss had given him. It was his job to not only analyze the feasibility of the venture, but find a way to properly hide it through any number of ways.

This was, of course, only one thing he did. The second thing he did, while he still had the time and the records available to him, was discreetly, quietly, make copies of them.

He was no moron. He knew almost from the first such venture that Pegasus Air had not been up to good and wholesome things. It was only when he proved that he would stand up for himself that he was shown these things in pony.

He did hope that mare ended up recovering and rethinking her life choices. Such as the one that nearly ended up with her life being taken.

After considering the latest proposition and coming to a conclusion he...really didn’t like, along with copying the company’s books to his own, private set, Ledger left his office and walked down the hall towards the boss of the shipping company. He knocked on the door three times, and was greeted with her voice commanding him. “Come in,” she said.

The unicorn pushed the door open and set it to shut after him with his magic. The mare across the desk from him was a unicorn as well, going over the local news with a fine-tooth comb, apparently. Upon seeing who it was that she’d told to enter, she lowered the paper and quirked an eyebrow. “Well?” she asked.

“It’s...feasible. And the potential return on your investment makes it profitable as well,” the stallion admitted with a nod. “Such a thing is also not all that hard to hide. I was thinking of claiming we were spending the money abroad on programs to educate the youth of the country.”

The mare chewed the idea over for a minute before nodding. “Not a bad idea, Ledger. Plus if we were to actually do that at some point, it’d make getting the foals a lot simpler if we combined the two programs.”

Level Ledger nodded and floated over the books that the mare had given him, his recommendation written in the margins, along with a practice set of entries for hiding the purchasing and shipping of foals.

I fucking swear to you, Toll Taker, the moment, moment, you slip up, I’ll turn you in right away!

The only problem with that vow, of course, was not that he had to outsmart her. But he’d also have to do it in such a way that he could never be implicated.

Her network was vast, almost as large as her appetite for money, or revenge. It was pretty clear to the accountant that if Toll ever went down, he’d be squashed like a bug as she fell.

How delightfully ironic.

So. Much. Paperwork!!

Midnight let out a sigh, having long since given up on counting how many. This wasn’t a backlog, it was more like they’d never done a single sheet of paperwork since the Guard was freaking formed. It was ridiculous, but at least she was getting a good idea of the types of trouble that plagued this city.

Aside from the norm of muggings, robbery and the usual issues that plagued the red light and casino strips, there was also a recent string of foalnappings...and that disturbed Midnight greatly. She could understand why some ponies did what they did. Stealing for money, or food. Inflicting pain on others because they liked it. But she hated it, truly hated it when foals were brought into the picture. They didn’t deserve it.

Narrow passed by, and saw what Midnight had accomplished in the last few hours. It was amazing, several months worth or work, sorted and filed away for easy access.

“I must say kid, I’m impressed,” she whistled. “Why don’t you go take a break? You’ve certainly earned it.”

“Yeah, might swing by home for some lunch,” she nodded. “So, an hour or so?”

“Yeah,” Narrow replied as Midnight stretched herself, working out a crick in her back. “Just don’t take too long.”

Midnight nodded and left the station, she’d noticed a cute little restaurant and figured she’d pick up something from there. It was nice and close to the station as well, so it already had bonus points. As she got closer, she noticed that the architecture was quite different to the surrounding buildings.

“Fredrick's huh?” she mused. “Well then, let’s see if your food is any good.” She walked inside, a small bell above the door tinkling softly as she did so. Looking around, she wondered if she should take a seat, or go to the counter to be served. “Um, ‘scuse me? Anypony here?”

“Hello madam!” a Griffon said as he walked out from the kitchen, smiling widely. “Ah, not only a member of the guard, but a vision of the beauty of the night itself walks into my humble restaurant,” he all but purred. “Shall I show you a table, or would you prefer a private table?”

“Well now, you’re a smooth one aren’t you?” Midnight giggled. “But I’m Day Guard, not Night,” she added, tapping her gold armour. “Still, if your food’s as good as your flirting, then this may not be the last time you see me.” She leaned in close and her fangs glinted in the light as she smiled. “So you cater privately then~?”

“I have given many a fine mare a wonderful time,” he responded while his grin didn’t lessen at all. “Though the sorts of things we were eating, I would not put on my menu.”

“Hm, well it’s a little early for something like that,” Midnight smiled. Did she sound like this to others? Well, points to him for not wasting any time. “Let’s see your actual food first hmm? You want a mare like me? You gotta wine and dine me first~”

“And lo, the reason behind the restaurant is revealed,” the griffon said as he fished a menu out from the podium. “I cook wonderful food for mares, and they pay me for it. And those that choose to spend some extra time thanking the chef are remembered fondly.” He winked at the batpony then, before returning to his business tone. “So is the vision of a wonderful night here expecting somepony, or is she dining on her lonesome?”

“Oh, I’m by myself, this time~” she winked at him as she turned, running her tail under his beak. “Now, show me to my table?”

“Of course, ma’am,” the Gryphon returned while turning towards the dining area. However, as they passed by a few tables towards the one Fredrick had selected, the Thestral couldn’t help but notice a familiar, brown-coated unicorn sitting at one of the tables himself.

“Well now, I think I’ll sit here instead,” she said suddenly, taking a seat opposite Ledger. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Fredrick does the best pasta in the city,” the unicorn said after adjusting to the fact that his lunch plans had been modified. “I come here on occasion when I need a break from my work. You didn’t think I learned that recipe last night on my lonesome, did you?”

“I did actually,” Midnight nodded, shifting to a more professional mode. “I noticed the books you kept at home, it told me that you’re a pretty well-read individual, or am I mistaken?”

“Reading how to do something and learning it yourself are two different things, my dear,” Fredrick said as he put Midnight’s menu in front of her. “This colt came over to learn why he couldn’t mimic the recipe he’d bartered from me to any real degree, and I showed him what he was doing wrong.”

“Reading is no substitute for learned skill,” the unicorn summarized, giving the gryphon a nod and a smile.

“Practise does make perfect,” Song agreed. “I didn’t learn my skills overnight after all.” She unclipped the wing-mounted blades she wore, placing them on the seat next to her. After taking a quick glance at the menu, she gave the handsome gryphon a smile. “Hmm, perhaps I’ll have the chef’s recommendation?”

“Hmm,” the avian responded, giving her a more thorough look. “I am aware that Thestrals are capable of handling the same foods that gryphons can. My question then is, when was the last time you did so?”

“Ooh, it’s been a while since I ate something like that.” Midnight hummed, “Most ponies get a little squeamish when you eat fish or chicken in front of them...” It was then that a thought occurred and she looked to her lunch date. “Ah, you don’t mind me being here do you? I’ll leave if you want to eat alone.”

“Remind me, what was in the sauce I poured over your rigatoni last night?” the unicorn deadpanned. “Most ponies don’t even have a lick of protein, but Pegasi eat fish every now and then. I might not indulge as often as they do, but I’m fine with the whiter meats.”

“I just ate it, wasn’t paying attention to the particulars.” She stretched her wings and groaned. “Well, I leave the decision to you Sir Fredrick. Try and impress me~”

“Seeing as how this colt has given you his version of my rigatoni dish, I can see I will have to pull out all the stops,” the gryphon said while lightly cuffing Ledger with one wing. The unicorn yelped and cast a glare at the half-bird.

“I was planning to eat it alone anyways! It’s not my fault I need a roommate to afford rent anymore!” the stallion protested.

“And to drink, madam?” Fredrick asked, ignoring the unicorn’s protests. Song giggled lightly and glanced at the list again.

“Hmm, some non-alcoholic cider please. I’m still on duty, so the ‘Wining’ part will have to wait for another time.”

“Coming right up,” the chef said before looking at the male of the pair. “And yours should be out with her drink.”

“My thanks,” the stallion said as he sipped at the sweet tea he’d ordered. With that, Fredrick was off, leaving the two to each other for the time being.

“You do know that in the year I’ve been here, he’s slept with no less than one-hundred mares, right?” the unicorn questioned his suddenly gained lunchtime companion. Midnight blinked and then looked in Fredrick’s direction.

“Ah, so he’s still not in my leagues then?” she hummed idly.

“Oh Celestia, there’s two of you,” the unicorn moaned and let his head hit the table. Midnight laughed loudly and kept doing so for a minute or two.

“Ahhaha, oh man, the look on your face!” she giggled. “I’m only kidding. While I am no stranger to the horizontal tango, my count is well below that. I’m not some loose mare that’ll sleep with anything with a pulse you know.”

“Good to know,” the stallion said as he lifted his head and drained the last of his sweet tea. “From him, I can ignore it, along with the mares that come stumbling down the stairs. If it were to come home with me, though, I might look into buying sleep aids and drugging myself to get away from it.”

“It’s not all that bad,” Midnight said as she played with the menu, she tended to get twitchy if she stayed still for too long. “You can’t let one bad experience ruin the rest of it for you, but don’t worry, I’m not going to force anything on you or make you uncomfortable on purpose.” It was looking like she’d have to take a vow of celibacy while here in Las Pegasus.

“I’ll be fine as long as you and Fredrick don’t team up and try to surprise me with mares in my bedroom,” the unicorn returned, easing himself back into his chair and sighing.

“Well there’s a thought,” Midnight hummed again. “What do you know, you do have good ideas every now and then~”

“And now I feel the need to brush up on my combat magic,” the stallion sighed. “Why can I not have one relaxing day?” Midnight shrugged and put her menu down.

“You live with me now, normal ran away screaming yesterday and won’t be coming back.” She narrowed her eyes as she recalled an earlier conversation with Narrow. “So... several dislocated and broken bones. Not to mention months of rehab... All for an attempted mugging?”

“I’ve not been mugged since,” Ledger returned, his voice unwavering. “I do regret doing such extremes to that mare, yes...but an example had to be made before another tried.”

“An example?” She didn’t like the way he’d worded that. “You don’t torture somepony to set an example, no matter the circumstance!”

“I do not take assaults on my person lightly,” the stallion said with a bit of steel to his voice. “Nor do I tolerate the stupid. She was cocky and had a knife, along with five gang members backing her up. All I did to her was use telekinesis on her, along with my knowledge of pony anatomy. Everything I did, I made sure could be fixed. Maybe not instantly, but I had to educate some idiots, and the only language they spoke was Violence.”

“And you couldn’t just incapacitate her?” Midnight smacked the table with her hoof. “and leave the rest for the Guard, you know, the ones that are trained for things like this. No, you stallions think you have to make an example of it, to flex your muscle and self-entitled authority!’ She stood up and threw some Bits on the table before going to leave. “Forget it, I’m not hungry anymore.”

Ledger called out to her before she left entirely. “Miss Song, should you get home before me, there is a very old notebook in the living room. If you can read it, it might shed some light on how stallions in other lands are treated.”

Midnight paused to hear him out, but didn’t respond. With a flick of her tail, she left the restaurant.

“Provided I even stay,” she muttered to herself. Regardless, she had paperwork to get back to, hopefully the utter dullness of the task would calm her down a bit.

Fredrick came back out from the kitchen with the cider, Ledger’s salad, and a refill for his tea...and paused at the sight of an absent mare. “Where did your wonderful companion go?” he asked.

“She heard about the incident and doesn’t believe I was justified in standing up for my actions,” Ledger replied as he floated his food and drink to himself. “Bloody mares. I’d be a lot happier if a stallion had moved in.”

“Ledger, my friend, you really must get over whatever your hangups are regarding the finer sex…” the gryphon rejoined, taking a swig of the cider and winking. “But in the meantime, do send her over. Maybe I can get her to loosen up? It’d be nice to bed another batpony…”

“Thestral,” Ledger automatically corrected. “And I’ll do that when I want her to move out, and not a second sooner. You two can have one another for all I care.”

Paperwork promises dreams and happiness, and delivers lies and broken promises. What she thought would calm her down only made her more irritable and now she’d lost her freaking swords as well. She knew she’d left them at the restaurant, but after the scene she’d made, she didn’t want to show her face in there again anytime soon.

Then again, that cute gryphon would be up for a little stress-relief, but she was in no mood after the particulars of that last conversation. And on that note, why did she even get so worked up around Ledger? She’d known him for less than a day!

“Celestia, bucking, DAMMIT!” she yelled as she strode into the apartment. The plan was simple, she’d get her things, find a nice rooftop and camp out for a few days before finding a new place. He can’t afford the rent? Not her bucking problem!

That was, until she saw her swords sitting on the dining table, neatly folded and in perfect condition.

“Did... he bring them home?” she wondered aloud. She looked around, her sensitive ears swivelling around but she couldn’t hear anything. After taking her blades, she knocked on the door of his study, but there was no response.

“He must have brought them home earlier...” she said aloud. She really was talking to herself a lot lately...

Then she recalled that notebook he mentioned and decided to take a look. No harm in that right? It took some poking about, but she finally found it. And once she opened it, the frown creasing her brow only deepened.

“What the...?” she held it out, like some dangerous artifact, before looking closer. “It’s written in Changeling script... why is it written in Changeling script?”

She was knocked out of her ruminations by the sound of the door opening behind her. She turned to see Ledger race past her, not even sparing a glance at the Thestral mare, before running into the bathroom and locking the door behind him. Midnight blinked and looked down, seeing tiny wet drops on the carpet. Was... was he crying?

Midnight swallowed hard and took a few tentative steps towards the room. Once she was closer, she could hear his wracked sobs and all her anger and irritation just disappeared. She flattened her ears against her head and knocked on the door..

“Ledger? It’s Song... what happened? Are you hurt?”

There was silence for a minute before he drew a deep breath. “No,” he responded, still sounding like he might cry again at any moment.

“It doesn’t sound like it,” Midnight replied. “If you’re hurt, open up. I have first aid and field medicine training.”

“S’not a problem you can fix,” the stallion responded, sounding a little more calm.

“Are you doubting me?” she replied, a little hurt. “I’ll have you know I am very good at what I do. If you’re injured, then I can help.”

“I’m not injured!” the unicorn retorted. “Not at all. Please, just...no. You can’t fix this.”

“You... weren’t bullied or mugged were you?” she inquired, wondering about the irony behind that if he had been. “We can go and file a report at the station if you have.”

“It’s not that!” the irritated stallion said. “I’m hard at the moment, okay? You happy now? Now leave me alone! Let me work on this in peace!”

“Well that I can definitely help with~” she said, putting a hoof to her mouth in shock. Oh gods above, please say she did not just say that out loud…

“No. No no no. Just stay on your side of the door,” Ledger replied, even going so far as to give it a light push with his magic to make sure it had shut properly. “Last thing I need is a bloody mare in the room with me when I’m like this.”

“I-sorry, I didn’t mean it like... okay, it sounded exactly what it sounded like...” Song screamed internally and sighed. Maybe a change of topic might help. “I ah... found your notebook. Can’t read a word of it though... why is it in Changeish?”

“Because it’s a pamphlet detailing what members of the Dark Broodmothers do to those that go astray, also known as a shadow government in Changeling lands. A trophy from the first and last mare I ever spent time with. Apparently she could read it and believed it.”

“Well why would she have...” Midnight’s eyes widened. “Was... was she a Changeling? Is that why, you don’t like mares?”

“I’m not sure if she was a Changeling or not,” the stallion replied, “But once I managed to learn Changeling script, I learned why she tried to kill me after screwing me.”

“Tried to... what!? Why the hell would she try to kill you!?” Midnight exclaimed, placing her hooves against the door. Truth be told, she could just buck the door in and get this crap over and done with face to face.

“Because, the punishment in that pamphlet under ‘sleeping around’ if the male is not disposed of? She gets her tubes tied. While she’s awake. With extremely hot surgical equipment, so she can feel the burn. Then she gets branded. Oh, and the male gets gelded, then killed anyways, for daring to think himself worthy of a female.”

“What. The ever-loving. FUCK!” Midnight screamed. “Who-who does that!? Why would you do that!?!?” Was this a real thing? Was this what Changelings had to deal with? “That’s... just so many levels of nope!”

“The Dark Broodmothers have been the force behind the Changeling lands being an iron-hoofed matriarchy, and they are loathe to lose any of that power. So they subjugate their males via any means and spread anti-male sentiment via propaganda like that pamphlet. Or so, y’know that pamphlet says. Not in so many words, but that’s what I got from it.”

Midnight had questions, a lot of questions... but it was a little awkward talking to a door. “Well uh, you doing okay in there?”

“Talking and explaining things has actually distracted me,” the unicorn said, composing himself and opening the door. Except for the streaks the tears had left, he looked almost exactly the same.

Midnight stopped him and pulled a handkerchief out of her saddlebag, wiping his face until she was satisfied. “There we are, much better~”

“I...thank you,” he said. “It has been a while since anyone saw me in such a state...actually, I don’t think anyone has.” The unicorn seemed to think about it for a moment before shaking his head. “No, nobody has ever seen me like that, so thank you for being there.”

“Well this certainly goes above and beyond standard roommate fare. So be prepared to admit that we’re friends now,” she smiled. “And before you say, I won’t tell anypony about this, so don’t worry kay?”

“It’s...been a long time since I had any female friends,” Ledger admitted. “The thought will take some getting used to.”

“Well make that two of us,” Midnight smiled. “And... sorry about yelling at you before. While I still think you went a little overboard, a few things have come to light and I withhold any further judgement. I didn’t know you then and shouldn’t judge based on the past...” Her gaze drifted away briefly as her voice lowered to a tone she figured he couldn’t hear.

“I just hope you can do the same...”

“To be fair, gender didn’t play a part as to how overboard I went,” Ledger said honestly, not giving any indication as to whether or not he’d heard her last statement. “She was the one with the biggest weapon and seemed the most sure of herself. I took that from her and was prepared to stop at the whole dislocated limbs bit...but then her friends opened their mouths and said once she’d been put back together, they’d come for me. I already had a perfect example in my grip, so I decided on hairline fractures. I’d have done the same if she was a stallion instead. It wasn’t about torturing her. It was about making me into a target they feared to go after.”

“Alright, like I said, the past is the past and this is officially the weirdest way to make a friend ever,” she giggled. “Oh, there’s an idea, maybe I should send a letter to that Princess of Friendship in Ponyville!”

“How would you even start that?” Ledger asked with a raised eyebrow. “‘Dear Princess Twilight, today I comforted my roommate through a door regarding his hang-ups about arousal’?”

“We bonded over a boner, its something truly magical that must be shared,” Midnight laughed, using Ledger as a support so she wouldn’t fall over from the gigglefit.

“If your bragging back at the restaurant is to be believed, then it’s not such a big deal for you,” Ledger pointed out. Midnight’s giggles ceased as she looked up at him.

“This is actually a new one for me... well, for the most part. It was a mare last time...” She thought back to that particular event, and the reasons she didn’t lay with mares anymore. “Well, regardless, I haven't eaten yet and am quite hungry now. Let’s go out to eat. My treat!”

“I don’t have anything to do but put a few things in my study,” Ledger said as he indicated his dropped saddlebags by the front door. “Let me do that and freshen up a bit, then I’ll be good to go.”

“I can take them for you if you want,” Midnight offered to help, already grabbing for the bags...only to find them floating towards Ledger in his silvery aura, a small smile on his face.

“My employers would not take kindly to others seeing their records,” he reminded the mare. “It wasn’t an issue when I lived alone...but please don’t look. I’d be a poor friend if you did.”

“Right, then I shall endeavour to not be a nosy bat, so that you may remain employed.” She took her swords with a wing and smiled. “Oh, thanks for bringing these back too.”

“I had time and it seemed like the most polite thing to do...oh, and you left Fredrick pining for you,” the unicorn said as he moved to put his things in the study. Midnight chuckled as she put her swords away, and removed most of her armour, save for her hoof guards.

“Seems I have that effect on stallions... and now gryphons too it seems.” She grabbed her bitbag and placed it in a smaller, more feminine saddlebag. “Well, I’m ready to go.”

After a few minutes in the study, the unicorn emerged and made for his own bathroom, where he vanished for another minute or so. Upon emerging, he looked noticeably better, almost like his old self again.

“Well now that we’re all chipper again, wanna go back to Fredrick’s? I feel bad about running out like that, and he taught you to cook, then his food must be amazing~”

“How do you think he got all those mares he’s always bragging about?” Ledger deadpanned. “But, if you think you’re willing to go back there, then by all means, let’s.”

Once his back was turned, Midnight’s thoughts wandered to her new arch-nemesis! The winged devil himself. “Game on, featherhead!”

Author's Note

And now you know the update schedule. Barring major catastrophes, it'll stay like this.

...I should mention a good bit of this story is pre-written, I think.

Chapter Three - A higher cadence

Narrow, along with her deputy, Straight, looked as Midnight read the file she had been given. While she hadn’t shown much emotion as far as facial reactions go, her eyes blazed with righteous anger.

“So, you think you can handle this job?” Captain Narrow asked. “This isn’t Canterlot, we have to deal with real problems here, not some jokester god who gets put down by smiles and rainbows!”

She’d read about this case already, but the file she held contained greater details on the foalnappings that had been occurring for the last couple of months. It had started out as a few homeless kids going missing, so at first, nopony blinked an eye... but it soon escalated and most recently, a half dozen foals were taken from a local school.

“I’ll make sure I find the bastard that’s doing this,” she replied. “What do we have so far on them?”

“Well, we’re guessing that the foals are still alive. It’s been a while since this all started and we’ve yet to find a single body, so we’re guessing a smuggling racket,” Narrow said as she motioned to a whiteboard with newspaper clippings and police files. “At first the local police were handling it, but it’s grown too big, so we’re getting called in officially.”

“Officially?” Midnight blinked as she caught on to what the Captain was insinuating. “You started on this well before that huh?

“We cannot confirm our involvement. nor what our unauthorised investigations have or have not turned up,” Straight replied. “So Sergeant Song. Will you assist us on this case?”

“Count me in, Straight and Narrow... we’ll find these jerks and put ‘em where they belong.” She wasn’t sure who was behind this... but they’d better start praying to their maker...

Midnight had spent most of the day stalking the streets and talking with those that might know a thing or two. She now lay in Fredrick’s restaurant, her head on the table as she sipped cider through several joined bendy straws.

“What a waste of time, nopony in this city either knows anything, or friggen cares enough to help...” she sighed again, not even noticing that her mug was empty and she was sucking on air.

“Well, hello again roomie,” a familiar voice said from behind her. Midnight tilted her head to see Ledger standing over her.

“Meh...” she groused, going back to suckling on her empty mug.

“Something is amiss,” the ever-observant unicorn noticed. “Anything I can do to help?”

“Unless you know who’s kidnapping a bunch of foals around this city for the last few months...” she replied as she finally realised her mug was devoid of cider. “Fred! Refill!”

“Coming up in a moment,” the griffon said from his kitchen. The unicorn paused for a moment, before Midnight noticed a quill and inkpot hovering in front of her.

“I am truly sorry I cannot help you,” the stallion said as his quill began to defy those words.

Eight and Bridle. A foalnapping is planned for tonight. Make it look like you were there by accident. Don’t tell anypony how you know. Destroy this note.

“I wish I could do something to help those foals, but I don’t know anything I could tell the guard,” the stallion said, underlining the last bit and adding the word NOW to it. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll head elsewhere for lunch today. No offense, Fredrick, but I think I’m in the mood for the Chop Shop’s salad today.”

“None taken, and tell that cute waitress to drop by sometime!” the avian said as the unicorn quickly turned and trotted out of the restaurant. Midnight blinked and suddenly ate the note, grimacing at the tase.

“Blech! Now I need something to wash that down,” she said, winking at Fredrick. He chuckled and put her cider in front of her, before proffering a menu.

“If you’re that hungry, I do serve this remarkable thing called ‘food’ as well,” he joked. Midnight giggled and batted her eyes.

“Mm, and I bet you’d like to serve something else I’m hungry for as well~” She teased, needing something to distract her mind while Ledger made a hasty retreat. She didn’t know how or why, but when this was all over and done with... that stallion was going to have a lot to answer for!

“Yes, but whenever I try to flirt with a mare in armor, they always claim to be on duty and to save it for the others,” Fredrick sighed. “Pity, that.”

“Aw, you just have to try harder little birdy~” she giggled. She glanced at the sky, judging the time from the suns position. “It seems I have late patrol tonight. Got anything that’ll give me an energy boost?

“I could brew you up a mixture of a zebra’s herbal energy drink along with some proper coffee,” the griffon replied after a moment. “It’ll get you going for a good while.”

“Make it so!” Midnight said with a wave of her hoof. Fun and games aside, if what Ledger said was true, tonight was going to be interesting.

“This is stupid... really stupid... colossally stupid!” she muttered as she walked the narrow streets. She’d mentioned to Captain Narrow that she felt like night patrol, hoping that some clue or something would pop up.

She maaaay not have mentioned the lead she received from her roommate.

Once she was getting close, she spread her wings and wall jumped to the nearest rooftop. Since she had no backup and was up against an unknown enemy, the element of surprise would be vital.

She didn’t have to wait long, as a butler escorting a well-bred looking filly trotted down the street, towing a small carriage with the foal inside. Midnight tensed her wings as she looked around, scouting for where the attempt might come from. She didn’t have long to wait, as two Pegasi dropped out of the sky and knocked the butler out in seconds. The filly of course screamed and ran. One of the assaulters ran after her, while the other went to a large, tarp-covered object and pulled it away, revealing a wooden crate with air holes punched in it. If Midnight squinted, she could see the glint of metal inside. So a cage within a crate, then.

She dove from the roof, her fall was as silent as death and just as swift. Within seconds, she was now hiding in the shadows of a nearby building at ground level. She’d wait for that other stallion to return, once the filly was safely out of the way, she’d be free to take these two down.

After a minute, the stallion returned, the filly bound and gagged, held under one wing. “You’re takin’ too long,” his companion said. “We stick around longer than a minute after the scream, you know someone might show up.”

“Gimme a break, she’s a squirmer,” the one holding the filly said before gently placing her into the crate. “Plus that intel was off by a few streets. Butler could have given us the right time as well, for all the bits we paid him.”

“S’why I knocked him out,” the first stallion agreed as he moved to put the lid on top of the crate, flashing the logo on it at Midnight unknowingly. She’d seen that logo before... but where? Well, she could ask these guys about it later.

“And here my job becomes harder, since now I have three idiots to cart off to the cells,” she said from behind the first, her metal-clad hooves already being brought down on the back of his head. Once he was taking a nice nap, she looked at the other. “Now, will you come peacefully... or painfully~”

“Screw coming with you,” the stallion replied, already drawing a knife. “I don’t come back with the filly, I’m as good as dead.”

“Aw, and I’m told coming with me is an experience you’ll never forget~” Midnight cooed. Her wingblades had longer reach and she was certain that this thug had no chance. But he was standing awfully close to that crate, so discretion would be the better part of valor here.

“So big boy, you wanna dance~”

The Pegasus looked from Midnight to the crate for a moment, clearly thinking about something. “Hey, wait a minute. How’d you even know where to be?” he asked aloud.

“Guess I’m just lucky,” she smiled. “Sorry if I don’t meet all your expectations, now last chance little boy... drop the knife and come with me quietly. Or I will hurt you.”

“No, hang on a moment, I can work this out,” he said, thinking aloud to help his brain come to the, unfortunately right, conclusion. “The only ones that knew where and when we’d be there besides the butler were people in the office...so that means we have a dirty rat!” Unfortunately, the stress of thinking so hard had the effect of causing him to lower his knife. Not much, just a touch, but it’d be more than enough for Midnight to take advantage of. She raced forward, the flat of her blade striking his wing, causing the knife to drop.

Even as the stallion let out a surprised yelp, she struck three points on his body with a blurred motion. The first struck a nerve cluster that froze his wings. The second struck near his back leg, rendering the limb numb and unusable. The third knocked him out cold and even if he somehow woke back up, fleeing would be extremely difficult.

“Well that was a harrowing experience,” she muttered as she used his knife to pry the lid off of the crate, seeing the terrified little filly inside. She scooped her out, removing the gag and bindings in a flash.

“There we are little one, you’re safe now. The bad guys are taking a little nap.”

“Father is going to fire Jeeves when I tell him what happened,” the filly whimpered. “Out of a cannon.”

Midnight chuckled at the thought, kids these days were so adorable. “Well as amusing as that is. Let’s ties these guys up and call my boss. We’ll take you home and get you some cake okay~?”

“Yay!” she perked up almost instantly. “Strawberry flavored?”

“Is there any other kind?” she smiled as she cuffed the three to a lamp post. “Now, let’s go and get my boss...”

That... could have gone better. While Midnight still felt proud for saving that filly... and learned she wasn’t kidding about the cannon thing, Captain Narrow was freaking pissed.

“I can’t believe you had information like that! And went off without backup! Without a plan or a freaking clue!!” she yelled, the windows in her office rattled from the volume and somewhere, a lunar princess felt proud.

“Look, I didn’t even know if it was good info or not,” Song replied, bracing herself against the verbal onslaught. “My source isn’t all that reliable.”

“You’ve been in town four days! That is not enough time to get ‘a source’!” Narrow continued her tirade. “Just where in Luna’s blue butt did you find out?”

“Like I said, never met them before, just found a note at a restaurant telling me where to go,” she said. “Now is that all? I really need some sleep.”

Narrow grit her teeth so hard she could have bitten a diamond in half. “We are not done with this, but in light of everything, you did do some good work and now we have a solid lead. So go and get some sleep. You started this chaos and you’re sure as hell going to finish it!”

“Yes Ma’am,” Song saluted and left the office, heading for home as fast as she could.

“You’d better be there Ledger, cause you have some explaining to do!”

She entered the apartment building, giving the landlord a brief nod as she headed upstairs, her hoofsteps become faster and faster as she ascended the stairs. She all but bucked the door down when she entered.

“Ledger? Where are you!?”

“Right here,” he stated from the couch, sipping at a glass of lemonade. “No need to shout. How was your evening?”

She stomped over to him, placing a hoof on his shoulder and pressing her nose against his. “Well, aside from saving the life of the most adorable filly, certain coincidences have come to light.” Her gaze was relentless as it bore into his very soul. “Care to know what they are?”

“Oh dear,” he stated with a sigh as his glass was set on the table. “It would appear I am found out. An accountant who works for Pegasus Air with a heart.”

“Indeed, imagine my surprise when I found out it was Pegasus Air behind all this, all because some lackey was too lazy to remove a label.” She took a step back as she calmed down. “And then my even further surprise when I found out who was on their payroll.” She sat back and poured her own lemonade. It was no hard cider, but it would have to do.

“So, want to explain why you haven’t gone to the police or the guard yet?”

“Because the only thing greater than Toll Taker’s appetite for money is her appetite for vengeance,” the stallion responded. “I was taking a risk, pointing you towards that site I overheard in the office. But anyone could have heard that, so I’ll be safe for a little while. However, a good number of their plans? I helped put in motion. I help take them down, she’ll know, and I won’t live to see her put behind bars where she belongs.”

Okay, so he was in a tricky spot. “Tell me this,” she said. “Tell me that you had no idea what they were doing when you started that job, and tell me that you don’t condone it!”

“Of course I didn’t know,” Ledger said with a sigh. “I was only a small-time accountant for them to start with. It was only after that attempted mugging that she started bringing me in, wording her requests innocently...that’s when I realized something was up, and looked into all the things I had helped do.” He refilled his glass and cradled it against his chest.

“There are families that no longer have homes because there are casinos there now. There are business owners put out of business because she bought the place and turned it into a strip club. And now there are foals being taken and sold into slavery...because I helped. And if I could, I would melt her bits down and toss her into them.”

“With you, I can see that as a promise, more than an empty threat.” Midnight sighed as she raided his liquor cabinet for something with a little more kick. “Look, you’re my friend now, and even if you weren’t...” She looked at him with a gentle smile. “I’ll not let anypony hurt you. Just say the word, and I’ll protect you with all my strength.”

“Buck that noise,” he said, getting to his hooves. “I’m not hiding, and I’m not going quietly. Yeah, we’ll have to be sneaky, but I think if you did it just right, you could dismantle everything I helped put into motion.” With that, he started to head towards the study again...and motioned for her to join him. “Wanna see what I’ve been working on?”

“Are Celestia’s flanks as round as her sun?’ she smiled as she poured herself a shot of whiskey. “And I can do sneaky... so let’s see your plan Ledgie~”

The unicorn opened up the study door to show off every sign of a crazy conspiracy theorist, only in his case, instead of fuzzy pictures to go with his newspaper clippings and colored string around pins, he had pages and pages of account details, meticulously copied and hung up next to the relevant stories.

“Sweet Luna, I almost wish I’d came in here sooner,” she whispered. “Though... I’d have probably arrested you...”

The stallion pointed up towards the center of the ceiling, where all the threads came together around one simple note. Toll Taker. Each one branched off somewhere in the room, darting from one peg to another. “In order to get at her, you’re going to have to cut off her money. All these,” he gestured at the green and gold threads. “Are her revenue streams. The red and blue ones are various people she has in her pocket. Red for a simple local, blue for someone with actual authority.”

“The mayor? She has the mayor... ooh, she’s good,” Midnight muttered as she scanned everything, taking it all in piece by piece. “This would be a lot simpler if you weren’t so hard-headed, but I guess it’s also more fun this way.” She knew that Narrow wasn’t going to like this, and Ledger would have to give her a damned good reason.

“You’ll need to convince the Captain though, I was grilled like a cheese sandwich today thanks to your little stunt. So she’ll need to be on board as well if I’m going to help.”

“The explanation is simple,” Ledger said, indicating the last color of thread. “See those black threads? Anyone with a black thread, she has something on, and I know what. I’m probably the only one besides her that knows her full blackmail list.” He waited next to one peg in particular, waiting for her to come over and look. When she did, Midnight blinked and looked back at her friend.

“You... what does she have on you? A family member or friend?”

“Hopefully you’ll never know,” he cryptically responded. “If she goes down, then my secret stays safe.”

“Is this secret one that could get others hurt?” she asked warily. “Because I’m still undecided on the whole ‘serial killer’ thing.” She added, making quotation marks with her hooves.

“The only one it could hurt is me, if she decided to stop keeping it,” he rejoined. “And like I explained, I wouldn’t have killed anyone. Your concern is touching, by the way.”

“You know I love you,” Song giggled. “Still, okay... but I need the Captain’s authorisation... I could lose my job or even be arrested for helping without it.”

“Bring her by, but do it discreetly,” Ledger said. “She’s not on here, and not for a lack of Toll Taker trying...but she does have eyes and ears everywhere. Word is she’s nervous about you rooming with me already.”

“So she should be,” Midnight growled. “Alright, I’ll get the Captain to come by tomorrow... but right now? I need sleep, been up all night with this...” She downed her shot and hiccuped. “Ahh, that hits the spot.”

“I’ll put in half a day tomorrow, claim I’m coming down with a headache at lunch,” Ledger responded. “Bring her by afterwards, I’ll help make this seem...not so crazy.”

“That I can do,” Song nodded. She yawned adorably and smacked her lips together. “Sleeeeep... hmm, wanna join me~?”

Ledger paused and forced himself to not shake too badly at the offer. “I think you forget who you’re dealing with,” he said in only a slightly trembling tone. “Best we stick to separate rooms for my sanity.”

“Hrm, fine, but you will submit to cuddles eventually. I hear mine are extra-cuddly~” she yawned and turned for her room. “G’night Ledger... sleep tight~”

“You as well,” he returned as he headed to his own room. He’d cleaned up long ago, so all that remained was to go to sleep himself. In moments, he was out like a light.

“You... want me to do what now?” Captain Narrow said later that afternoon. “Because it sounded like you wanted me to come to your place... in disguise.”

“Pretty much,” Song nodded. “And you can’t tell anypony alright?”

“This is absolutely ridiculous,” Narrow sighed and looked at the now decidedly insane batpony. “You do realise how ridiculous this sounds right?”

“I’m aware, but it’s for a very good reason okay. Please...?”

Narrow’s horn flashed as a barrier surrounded the room. “Right. Why am I doing this? Why am I even considering doing this?”

“My source knows you and even me are being watched, so they’re playing it safe,” Midnight explained. “Look, it’s about what happened last night and you just hafta trust me alright?”

Narrow let out another exasperated sigh, “Fine... but if this is a waste of time...”

“Thank you Ma’am... just be careful that you aren’t followed.”

Narrow nodded as Midnight left on patrol. She had certainly made life quite interesting since arriving... right as Straight hauled in a few drunk ponies that had gotten into a brawl.

“Because my life isn’t exciting enough,” she muttered.

Ledger sipped at his sweet tea, waiting for his roommate to return as per their agreement. Hopefully with very careful guard intervention, this nightmare could be brought to an end, and he wouldn’t be looking over his shoulder every other day. In fear of being deported back to the Lands, because Toll had decided his usefulness had ended. The very thought sent another shudder through his form, and he took a big gulp this time.

So naturally, he nearly leapt out of his skin when the door opened and Midnight walked in. She gave the stallion an odd stare and blinked.

“A little jumpy there huh?’ she mused as she shrugged off her dented armour. “Ahhh... soooo much better...”

“We’re talking about the de-stabilization of a criminal empire, the leader of whom holds a dark secret over me,” Ledger returned, putting his half-empty glass on the table. “I would be surprised if anyone weren’t jumpy in my situation.”

“Well you have a point there... urgh!” she tried prying off one particular piece of armour. “Um, can you give me a hoof here... this piece is stuck.” She motioned at a plate that covered her rump, with a rather impressive dent in it.

“What were you fighting? Walls?” the stallion asked, lighting his horn up and giving the armor piece a gentle tug with his magic. The piece popped off, revealing an impressive bruise underneath.

“Eh, Changeling combat classes... and those pegasi don’t play fair,” Midnight winced as she sat down on the couch. “So I showed them how I can beat eight different kinds of snot out of them.”

“I find it interesting that many ponies think themselves capable of fighting off a shapeshifting, vampiric race,” Ledger said with a roll of his eyes. Midnight nodded and gave her wings a small twitch to ease out a few kinks.

“I was in Canterlot... during the whole wedding fiasco...” She narrowed her eyes as she recalled some of the things she’d seen the bugs do. “I’m one of the few ponies outside the city now that has had actual experience fighting them.” She rolled over to lay on her back, kicking her hooves into the air. “I don’t blame them for what happened really, they were acting out of desperation for their kind...”

“Once again, you think you do,” Ledger said, pulling the pamphlet out from...wherever he stored it. “Notice who was in charge of the whole fiasco on their side? Wanna bet how many of her soldiers were drones?”

“Queen Chrysalis right?” Midnight said. She’d gotten a brief glance at the bug queen when she’d tried to rescue the Princess and the Elements... and failed miserably. If only Celestia had permitted her to use lethal force…

“With one mind probably clouded by this garbage,” Ledger said, waving said garbage pamphlet around around before putting it back, “She was able to get in and drag an army of...well, basically slaves, in to take the capital. If not for that last-minute effort, she might be in charge now. If you were to run into a number of intelligent changelings, you might be singing a different tune than ‘oh I can totally fight a shapeshifter.’”

Well, Song’s ego suddenly took a tactical blast of magic to the face and died an honorable death. “W-well... I could still take ‘em. I’m pretty tough you know!”

“Fine,” Ledger said, smirking. “Half of a six-pony squad have shifted into unicorn forms and are charging stun spells, while the other half have turned into your mirror image, so that you can’t easily escape.” He waved a hoof at her so that she knew he was done outlining his scenario.

“Three stun spells, and three look-alikes?” Song pondered for a second as the battle ran through her mind. “My armour can deflect basic spells, I could take at least one without feeling the effects... so, use the nearest body as a meat shield to take the first spell, pivot and vault over the next clone to subdue the second unicorn... and bullrush the third, letting my armour take the hit. Still leaves two clones and I’m feeling good.”

“Except since you took four of them out, the two keep the ratio: one unicorn, one clone of you. And now he’s charging a mild shock spell,” Ledger said, actually enjoying this.

“A shock spell is interesting, however...” She motioned at her blades as they struck the ground. “Not only do Thestrals benefit from the same lightning resistance as pegasi, I can use my blades to ground myself. Now, let’s say that he’s a decent level caster... beta or gamma level. It’ll take five and a half seconds to re-cast, now...” She motioned with her wing as the blade detached. “These swords can be detached and flung, granted, I lose my weapon, but I gain a nifty ranged move... and I am very accurate.”

“Fair enough, you could do that twice. Let’s say you manage to nick his horn because he doesn’t dodge fast enough. Suddenly they’re switching places on you. You still have one unicorn and one Thestral to face, and now you’re down a sword.” Ledger made himself comfortable, enjoying the simulation they were running.

“Hmm, well providing that the spellcaster doesn’t suffer magical feedback from the disrupted spell... not sure how different a ‘ling’s magic is compared to a unicorn. I guess I’d fall back and rely on my Beats to buy some time until either backup shows up, or I take them out...”

“Good call on the backup,” a pony mentioned as she walked in. Her chocolate brown fur and platinum blonde mane was quite a sight to behold. The mare was stunningly beautiful. “You get full points rookie.”

Midnight looked up and blinked. “Uh... Captain?.. Ma’am... s’that you!?”

“It is,” she replied, closing the door and dropping her Illusion Confusion spell. Her coat now turned a soft peach color and her mane and tail reverted back to their usual coal black. “And, why are you running a Changeling combat sim with Ledger here?”

“He knows a lot about ‘em,” Midnight shrugged. “Can even read their language.”

“Is... is that so?” Narrow replied in a curt tone, giving the stallion a once over.

“I had a good incentive to learn when I found a bit of propaganda from their Dark Broodmothers on my last date’s nightstand,” Ledger replied tersely. “And thanks for not looking like you’re my sister anymore.”

“You could only be so lucky Ledger,” Narrow replied. “Alright rookie... where’s this ‘source’ of yours?”

“You’re looking at him,” Midnight replied simply. Narrow blinked and looked back at Ledger.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me...”

“Nope,” Ledger replied with a shake of his head. “I’ve been an account for them ever since I arrived. After that incident, they slowly started making me the accountant for them. Problem is, if Toll Taker goes down, she’s taking me with her before she even hits the back of the jail cell.”

“Alright, I can see how that’s a problem for you,” Narrow rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Alright, put on some coffee and let’s get to work.”

“I can do that,” Ledger said as he got up to go to the kitchen. “How about you show the captain the study and explain it to her while I do, Midnight?”

“Can do Level,” Midnight said as she got up and smirked at Narrow. “Well captain, care to see the crazy cave?”

“Do I really want to know what you two have gotten up to?” she asked dubiously.

“Aw, it’s nothing like that. Level has a few issues to sort out before any of that happens.”

“At least it isn’t that damnable gryphon,” she muttered. “I don’t think there’s a mare in Las Pegasus besides me that he hasn’t slept with...”

“He is my enemy!” Midnight growled. “An adversary that I must defeat in the art of flirting. My pride and reputation demand it!”

Narrow took a step back and looked at Ledger. “Uh, is she... always like this outside of work?”

“Wouldn’t know, I’ve known her only of four days,” the unicorn stallion said with a smirk. “Right, try not to mess with anything? I have it all just so.”

“Alright Mom!” Midnight giggled. “We won’t touch anything.”

“I’ve been here less than five minutes and I’m so done,” Narrow sighed. The room was something else though, and the Guard Captain had a new-found respect for the stallion’s attention to detail. “Holy... she has her hooves in this many... even my guards!”

Oh, this bitch was going down.

“But not you,” Ledger said, hovering three cups of coffee in front of him as he joined the mares. “Not because she hasn’t tried, mind. But the fact that you’re not up here is the reason you’re in here.”

“So what’s the plan you two cooked up?” she asked, snorting in irritation as Ledger floated over some coffee. “I can only assume that a Swat force or a contingent of guards would not be the answer though.” She sipped at the drink and a small blush graced her cheeks. Oh, this was good coffee~

“We have to cut off her funding first,” Ledger said, pointing at the green and golden threads. “Green are things she legitimately owns, Gold are the things she’s merely pressed into paying her tribute. The best way to do any of that…” Here the stallion raised a hoof and brushed the black web of strings. “Is to find a way to carefully disentangle a victim of hers in such a way that she doesn’t know it was me that told you how.”

Narrow stared until she saw a familiar face. “Well now, what do we have here~?”

“Something up?” Midnight pressed and Narrow nodded, pointing at one of the ‘black’ ponies.

“This one, he’s the deputy of the LPPD, and a stallion I’ve known for years. If he’s helping her, it’s not because he wants to... she got something on him and I’ll need to know what before I can make a move.”

“He’s the only one there in a decent position... if she loses him, she loses the whole PD,” Song pointed out.

“That’s actually an interesting tale. Apparently he got drunk some years ago and had a one-night stand...which resulted in a foal. Toll Taker helps him pay child support and stops his wife from finding out as long as nobody in the PD looks in her direction,” Ledger supplied. “To break her hold on him, you’d probably have to find the mother and kid, then arrange a meet-up between the husband, the wife, and the ones he’d rather stay at hoof-length.”

“Damned idiot,” Narrow muttered. “He jumps in the frying pan and I’m the one that constantly bails him out... never knew about this though...” She gave a resolute nod and turned back to the others. “Alright, leave it all to me. As a concerned friend who’s looking out for his interests.”

“So what do I do?” Midnight asked. “Got a secret mission? Or maybe some spying or espionage~”

“Yeah,” Ledger said, looking at her sternly. “Lay low. A lawyer talked to the two you caught, Midnight. Your description is well known in the company now, and they’re probably going to start looking for rats, and I’m not talking about vermin. You go poking any more hornets nests, Toll Taker will not take kindly to it.”

“Lame,” Midnight pouted. She knew he had a point, and she wouldn’t want his life to be put in harms way because of her... not again...

“You’ve done good so far Rookie,” Narrow nodded. “We were at a dead-end til you stirred things up. Leave it up to us for the moment.”

“Actually, considering she’s my roommate still,” Ledger pointed out, “She’s in a prime position to come up with plots to undo Toll’s plots with me, then deliver them to you. She just can’t partake of any active missions unless she wants to walk off a building with her wings bound.”

“Oh, that sounds like a riot,” Song deadpanned. “You can’t do it Captain, don’t leave me alone with the one male in Equestria that can resist me!”

“She’s all yours Level,” Narrow actually laughed. “Play nice now, she’s a collectors item.”

Ledger shrugged and pointed at the captain’s form before she left. “Forgetting your make-up? And do make sure to brush your tail before you get there.” Or, translated from code-speak: Put on your disguise, and make sure to lose any tails you pick up.

“Naturally,” Narrow smirked as she weaved the spell again. “Ah, there we are... thanks for the coffee, little brother~”

“Anytime,” he rejoined, taking the mug back. “Be careful, the streets are filthy out there.”

“They usually are,” Narrow muttered.

“You all suck,” Song sighed as she poked at the ground. “I outrank you all and you all suck.”

“Have fun Rookie,” Narrow laughed again and left the apartment, leaving the two friends to their own devices. Ledger looked to the batpony, then up to the web of black string.

“Where shall we begin?” he asked. Song looked up and smiled.

“Cut the black strings one by one... then her influence comes undone.”

“A pretty poem,” Level said with a smile. “Let’s see how easy it’ll be to actually do.”

Chapter Four - A hive of Activity

Midnight frowned as she stared at the wall. Over the last few days they’d made some progress, Narrow had convinced her friend about telling the truth about his bastard child, and even arranged a meeting.

And it had gone quite well, yeah, his wife had been pissed but a mistake was a mistake and she knew her husband still loved her. They eventually settled on joint custody of the foal and everyone was one big happy family. He’d agreed to stop supporting Toll Taker and had even arrested a few of her goons when they swung by for a progress report.

What was annoying Song though, was that she was still stuck on the damned sidelines like a sexy cheerleader, and while she looked really good in a cheerleader uniform, it wasn’t really her thing.

She stared up at the wall, several lines had been removed or replaced, showing what they’d done so far and how they’d affected Toll’s wrong-doings and whatnot.

“This is quite the substantial amount of progress,” Ledger said as he pulled a few more black strings off the wall. “Next up, when is Narrow going to confront her guards about their divided loyalties?”

“Soon I think,” Midnight replied half-heartedly. “She’s organising a Longtrip, oh, that’s a type of training where you go out into the wilderness for a few days. She’s taking the suspected ones and confronting them without fear of interruption or interference.”

“Good,” the unicorn said as he turned to some of the ones he’d just altered and pulling more than a few red and blue lines off the walls. “The spider must be getting nervous now that her web is coming undone around her,” he observed. “And she is looking into everyone...all the lower-ranked guys, anyways. She figures it’s a rookie with a heart of gold and a long muzzle. The ones closer to her have too much to lose if she goes down, so I’m safe for a little bit longer yet.”

“You know,” Midnight sighed as she lay her head on the desk. “It’d be a lot easier if you’d just tell me your secret. I won’t think any less of you, you know?”

Ledger paused for a moment, before looking at Midnight and sighing himself. “I can’t,” he said simply. “Not with things the way they are. It would metaphorically destroy me if I told you my secret. Which is why she has to go. She knows, and would not shy away from telling the world if she suspects I have any hoof in her demise.”

“Fine, whatever,” Midnight pouted. “Be all cryptic and crap.” She stood up and walked towards the door. “I’m going to take a walk, all this sitting around will make me resemble a cockatrice victim soon...”

“Just be careful out there,” Ledger said as she left. “She’s not above having you injured if you make it obvious that you’re a part of what’s going on. I daresay she’ll start trying to have her goons ambush members of the guard.”

“Would she really be that brazen?” Midnight questioned. “Whatever, it’s not like they could take me anyway.” She gave a brief flick of her tail and left the stallion to his thoughts.

“Once Narrow comes back with a force that doesn’t listen to Toll?...Oh yes. She’ll assume the worst...And that worries me greatly.”

He still got the occasional pat on the back from random stallions on his way to his office at work for what he’d done a while ago. Toll might seek to capitalize on that...which only spelled trouble.

Midnight walked the streets, a small frown creasing her brow as several thoughts pervaded her mind. She saw Narrow headed for the city gates, nearly a dozen mares and stallions following her, laden down with several days worth of camping gear.

“Well, best of luck Ma’am,” Midnight muttered as she headed for her new favourite restaurant. The now familiar bell chimed as she walked into Fredrick’s establishment. She crossed the wooden floor and plopped herself down on a barstool, her head coming to rest on the countertop.

“Fred... drink~” she whined in a low tone.

“Somepony is having a bad day,” the griffon observed, surprisingly forgoing the flirting this time. “How hard a drink are you after?”

“Nothing too hard,” she replied, not even looking up. “Gimme one of those fruity, filly drinks.”

“Coming right up,” he said, ducking behind the bar to grab all of the ingredients. After a solid minute of him shaking, stirring, and pouring various fluids together, he presented Midnight with a reddish-orange beverage.

“I call this one a Soothing Sunset,” Fredrick said. “Apple, banana, mango, and just a touch of rum. Too many will sneak up on you, but just one should be fine.”

Midnight’s ears suddenly flicked at the mention of the word ‘mango’, a reaction that did not go unnoticed by Fredrick. She lifted her head and took a tentative sip of the drink, before shrugging and downing the rest of it, savouring the fruity taste.

“Mm, not bad little birdy,” she hummed. “Well, guess you’re my favourite for a reason.”

“I bet you say that to every male that gets you a drink,” the half-bird said with a wink. “So, feeling a little better?”

“A little, just wish they’d stop treating me as useless,” she muttered as she cradled the now empty glass. “I’m not useless you know!”

“Of course you aren’t,” the gryphon said, seeking to placate the mare. “But are you sure that’s what they’re doing?”

“I don’t know...” Midnight sighed. She knew that her friends wouldn’t do something like that on purpose. “It’s just... argh!” She slammed her head back down on the countertop with a solid ‘thunk’

“Ow...”

“Well you can either wait for an explanation, or do something about the situation yourself,” Fredrick proffered. “Though usually-”

“That’s perfect!” Midnight sat up, her eyes blazing with righteous determination. “If I just take her out, then all this goes away!” She leaned forward and gave Fredrick a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for the pep talk Freddy~ Gotta fly!” And with that, she became an armoured blur as she dropped some coins on the counter and flew out the nearest window.

“Something tells me that whatever that was will not end well,” the gryphon said as he picked up the bits.

“I bet Toll has to do some legwork at some point,” she grinned, as she hid on a rooftop near Pegasus Air’s main building. “Tail her, and when she inevitably does something illegal, take her down.” Midnight squeed as she clapped her hooves. “It’s the perfect plan~”

About twenty minutes would pass before the Thestral saw any activity out the front door. First, two pegasi came out the main door and looked around, even taking to the air to make sure nobody was watching.

“Hmm, just what are you up to?’ she murmured, taking cover as their gaze wandered past her position. Once they’d finished, she poked her head up again. “C’mon Toll Taker, come out and play~”

Almost as though she’d been beckoned by the batpony’s words, the cream coated unicorn walked out the front door next. The two goons landed next to her and conversed for a moment. After which, the mare nodded and the three of them headed off to...who knows where.

“Well paint my butt white and call me Celestia, she actually came out,” Song sounded quite surprised. While this was a decision based on a whim, she wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass her by. Once they were a distance away, she took to the air, soaring up above the clouds, her thestral vision keeping track of the trio.

The three of them appeared to be heading to a local bar, of all things. Though if the frown on the mare’s face was anything to go by, it wasn’t to get drunk. Once they arrived, the two goons stood outside the front door, while Toll went inside.

“Damn, now what do I do... oh, duh, backdoor!” she dropped down from the sky, landing almost silently in the alley next to the bar. Taking a peek to make sure the goons hadn’t seen or heard her land, she made her way to the rear of the building. The door was locked, but it didn’t take long to pick the lock. It opened with a light squeak and she tiptoed inside.

The bar was dimly lit and she carefully sidestepped around a few discarded bottles until she reached the door that led to the main room. Opening it ever-so-slightly, she peeked in…

“Now Mister Malt, I’m sure you understand my position, yes? For some reason, the guard is closing in. I need to know what you told them.”

There was a whimper of pain, before a stallion spoke up in response. “I didn’t tell anypony anything! I know the rules! Please, it feels like it’s about to break!”

“Oh, you haven’t felt pain yet,” the too-nice voice returned. “You’re certain? Not a whisper to anypony outside of the company?”

“Not even so much as a mutter to myself, miss!”

So this guy was in on it too? And she said his name was Malt... Midnight would have to check the board when she got home. Well, she was being rough, but nothing worth arresting her over... C’mon, all she needed was one slip of the tongue, anything!

“Good stallion. I’d hate for little Single and Double to come home and wonder why daddy wasn’t breathing.”

The male whimpered again. “Please, ma’am...I told nopony! Please don’t hurt my family!”

“Of course not,” the mare’s voice said. “But I’d keep a good watch on your foals. I’d hate for them to not come home one night, wouldn’t you?”

Midnight suppressed a growl, oh this mare was a real piece of work. She threatens foals and apparently isn’t above getting her own hooves dirty from the looks of it. Midnight weighed her options of whether she should bust in there or not. Taking Toll down meant an end to all this... but there were so many variables, Ledger’s secret, the safety and whereabouts of the kidnapped foals... The more she thought about it, the more this was looking like a bad idea.

“Now when will my next shipment be in? I’m running low on ponypower, in case you were wondering about why Bludgeon isn’t the one doing this,” the mare spoke again.

“Ah! Usual time! So long as the money gets to them, your things come to me!” The stallion said. “Do...do you want me to deliver them this time? I mean, without Bludgeon and all…”

There was a gasp of relief from the stallion, and the sound of somepony moving around in the next room. “Mmm, this is why I like you, Malt. Always willing to help...when provided the right incentive. Do that, and I can promise your family won’t be the victim of my little gathering units.”

Midnight decided, once Toll left, the thestral would have her own little chat with this Malt fellow…

“Of course, ma’am. Is there anything else you need, ma’am?”

“Yeah, keep an ear and eye out for me. I’ve got a rat around, in case you hadn’t noticed. And while it might not be you, your bar is a favorite of the company. You hear anything you think I should know, you tell me.”

“Yes ma’am. I know the rules, ma’am.”

The sound of one pony leaving slowly filtered over to Midnight. She smiled as she peeked in, poor Malt had barely gotten his heart under control before a voice spoke from behind him.

“Okay Mr. Malt... you’re going to tell me every little detail about that mare~”

The Earth Pony stallion shrieked and turned, holding one hoof over his heart and backing up rapidly. “What...what mare? I don’t see no mare here,” he barely got out as he fought to keep his heart in his chest.

“Don’t lie to me,” she cooed as she stepped closer, her face still hidden by shadows, save for her glowing golden eyes. “A thestral can tell when you’re lying... a thestral can tell when when you’re scared... and believe me~” she stepped from the shadows, her fangs glinting wickedly. “You haven’t even begun to know fear~”

The stallion’s second scream brought with it the attention of one of Toll’s goons, though. Apparently, she’d sent him back for some reason...and now she had a lean, angry pegasus in the doorway. “And you would be the local hotshot,” she heard growled out at her.

“Well crap, didn’t count on Malt being a little filly about all this,” Midnight scowled at the pegasus. “Hmm, don’t think we’ve had the pleasure. Don’t mind me, just after a drink and it seems my appearance is a little off-putting to some ponies.”

“Yeah right,” the stallion replied, dropping into a lower stance right away. “Malt, you keep your trap shut and leave her to me.”

The Earth Pony nodded and made for the stairs, leaving the two to...whatever they were about to do.

“Aw, do you really wanna dance with me?” Midnight replied as she unsheathed her wingblades. “I prefer my dance partners to be a little on the intelligent side.”

“I’ll keep it quick, then,” the stallion responded, keeping an eye on not the blades, but the wings they were attached to, along with where she was looking. “You either get outta town now, and maybe your little colt-toy will live if he wasn’t doin’ this on purpose, or Toll will bring the pain down on you both, little bat.”

This was dumb, now Ledger was in trouble because of her... provided this guy was allowed to live-NO! She wasn’t going to... She shook her head and stared back at him. “That guy? Hasn’t said two words to me since I got here, and he isn’t even that good-looking.” She had to steer the blame away from him. “If you idiots removed the labels from your boxes, I might not have even been here.” She observed her opponent, particularly his wings and shoulders, if they so much as twitched, she’d strike.

“Let me lay it out for you reaaaal simple-like. He’s a part of the company, you ain’t. You were there, he wasn’t. So the way we figure it, if nobody else fesses up to being the rat, it’s your roomie, and one of you’s dying because of it.” The only parts of him that moved were his mouth and lungs, he kept his wings and the rest of his body perfectly still. He sure as Tartarus wasn’t going to make the first move!

They were right to keep her out of it, she really was useless and dumb! And now Ledger was going to get hurt because of it!

“Then let me make it simple for you,” she replied. “I’m going to take you in now!” she rushed forward, her blade making a sweep for his wing, while the other aimed at his foreleg. The stallion jumped back enough to clear the ringing metal, before giving his wings a quick flap as he jumped at the mare, one hoof pulled back to punch her in the face.

Her tongue suddenly shot out, grabbing his hoof and yanking down while she pivoted on her left forehoof, bringing her hind leg down towards his head. He twisted as much as he could in her grasp, but was still dealt a glancing blow that made his head swim. With a firm yank, he pulled himself free of her appendage and backed up, shaking his head to try and clear the ringing from it.

Midnight’s tongue slipped back into her mouth as she spat on the floor. “Urgh! Wash your hooves more often,” she spat again. She raised her sword and brought the flat side down towards him. She needed to end this before his buddy showed up. Coupled with the earlier blow, the stallion fell, but wasn’t out totally...as evidenced by his reply to being knocked down.

“Hey...calling on your twins is cheating…”

“You should only be so lucky,” she smiled, before rendering the stallion unconscious. She sighed and sheathed her swords, looking around for Malt, but he appeared to be long gone.

“Feh! Figures... at least I have you to chat with now,” she smiled. “Now I just need to get you back to the station... alone... buck.”

The door to Ledger’s apartment slammed open and Midnight galloped in, her eyes darting around. “Ledger? Please tell me you're here and not dead!”

“I have no intention to die just yet,” the unicorn said as he walked out of the kitchen, a glass of lemonade hovering in front of him.

“Oh! Good, whew!” Midnight breathed a sigh of relief. “For a minute there I thought Toll’s goons would have-” she jammed a hoof into her mouth to stop her talking.

“...Did something happen?” the stallion asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, um,” she took a deep breath. “I may have followed Toll to a bar owned by a guy named Malt and confronted him, but he screamed and one of her goons came in so I beat him up and arrested him when he said he’d kill yoouuuuu....” She said in a single breath, wheezing slightly once she was done.

“That…” Ledger sighed and shook his head. “You realize somepony’s going to have to tell Narrow when she gets back, right? And tell me you stuck him in some sort of isolation.”

“I did and I will and I’m sorry,” Midnight hung her head. “I... didn’t mean for this to happen it’s just... I thought if I could catch Toll in the act, I could arrest her and this would all be over...”

“Toll is nothing if not careful when she can be. When she needs to be, she’s remarkably brutal when it gets hooves-on.” Ledger took a sip of his lemonade before continuing. “In a way, while I loathe what she uses it for, I have to admire the construction of her elaborate empire...before we started tearing it down, of course.”

“Yeah,” Midnight sighed. She just knew he was disappointed in her carelessness. “At least I found out how she has leverage over a pony name Malt, and that he’s the one in charge of the foalnappings from the look of it.”

“Malt?” Ledger pursed his lips as he thought, before shaking his head. “No, doesn’t fit. He’s a single father, he would never kidnap another’s foals. I don’t know who the mother was...but the reason she has leverage over him is because she funds the school his foals go to.”

“She threatened to kidnap his foals herself, or use some guy named, uh, Bludgeon!”

“Ah, I know that one,” Ledger said with a nod. “Bludgeon’s her chief enforcer. Earth pony. Doesn’t talk much. And he hits hard and leaves nothing standing when he does.”

“He sounds like a real charmer,” Midnight said with a soured tone. She sighed and looked at him. Might as well get this over with now. “So when do you want me to leave?”

“...What are you talking about?” he asked, puzzled by the question.

“I put your life at risk because I got jealous of not doing anything!” she yelled. “Why? Why would you want a useless mare like me around when all...” Her voice dropped to barely a whisper. “When all I do is cause trouble...”

“You are not useless,” Ledger responded. “If nothing else, I at least know to watch my back when I go into work tomorrow. And let me ask you a few questions to make certain of your not-uselessness. Did Toll sound annoyed, nervous, impatient?”

“Definitely annoyed,” she muttered, staring at the carpet. “She knows it’s somepony in her company... doesn’t know who though.”

“In the time I’ve worked under her directly, she was only ever mildly peeved when I told her something shouldn’t be done,” Ledger said with a small smirk. “She’s breaking as her empire collapses around her.”

“And that’s a good thing right?” Midnight questioned. When a pony became irritable or angry, the less predictable and more dangerous they become.

“She’s going to make a mistake, Miss Song, and when she does, I will finally be free of that…” He glowered for a moment before shaking his head. “The only word I know that might work to describe her is in Changeish, and I just can’t say it. No pony can, really.”

Midnight nodded and sat on her rump. “Still... I really messed up on this one. It sounded like a good idea at the time...”

“Oh no, trust me, I thought along similar lines when I learned what she did,” Ledger said as he took the couch and sighed. “The problem is, that Toll doesn’t make mistakes. When she’s got time to herself and thinks to check all the options, she never gets caught.”

Midnight buried her face into a cushion and screamed. After a minute or so, she finally lifted her head, her face flushed red from the lack of air. “Okay! I feel a little better now...”

“Get some rest,” Ledger said. “Wait for Narrow to come back...and I’ll try to help intercede on your behalf. I know Pegasi hate being told to sit still. So we can probably make a case for that with your actions.”

“Yeah... sorry again,” Midnight replied as she headed to her room. What she didn’t tell him was that the goon knew her, knew that she’d been interfering in their plans, and that she was close to Level Ledger.

“No matter what,” she mumbled to herself as she closed her door. “I’ll keep him safe... I’ll keep all my friends safe.”

Ledger drained the last of his lemonade and sighed. “She shouldn’t apologize for being herself...There’s only ever one you.” Here he chuckled weakly. “Well, unless you’re me, I suppose.”

A few days later, Captain Narrow finally returned, along with a troop of guards that looked defeated, dejected and remorseful. But more importantly, Narrow had shown then the reasons why they had joined Celestia’s guard, and why betraying that trust was a very bad idea.

Her victorious mood had deflated somewhat when she learned of Midnight Song’s little escapade, and had marched straight over to the shared apartment to get the finer details.

“Rookie! What the flying buck did you do!?” she yelled a she practically kicked the door in, still disguised as Ledger’s ‘sister’.

“And hello to you too,” Ledger said as he levitated a cup of fresh coffee over to himself from the dining table, newspaper in front of him. “Please, do come in. Don’t mind me.”

“Level! Where is that bat, so I can skin her alive,” Narrow growled as Midnight cautiously entered the room outside of her field of vision... by walking along the ceiling.

“I’d rather you didn’t, she is a remarkably good houseguest and has promised to pay her rent on time,” Ledger said before putting two sugarcubes in his cup of coffee and sipping from it.

“Her rent is covered by the government,” Narrow sighed as she closed the door and looked up. “As long as nopony knows, you’ll still get it.”

“I ah... can explain?” she said sheepishly.

“Oh, you’d better have a good one,” Narrow replied, grabbing the mare’s tail and yanking her down to the floor with an unceremonious thud. Ledger sighed and got up from the table, his coffee still on it. With a sparking of his horn, both mares were encased in his telekinetic field.

“Now I don’t want to have to hurt a mare. I really don’t. But if the next few minutes are not followed by the both of you calmly talking about your issues, then one of you is getting thrown out my window, status in the Guard be damned.” With that delivered, the unicorn sat himself back down at the table, pulled the newspaper open again, and let the mares go. “Now, try not to interrupt my daily coffee again, please.”

“Never do that again,” Narrow said simply once he’d let go. “And I apologise, I’ve just spent the last three days whipping insolent mares and stallions back into shape, and I have no idea how Toll will react to this little upset.” She sighed as she sat at the table, pouring herself a cup of Ledger’s delicious coffee. She took a long drink from the mug and sighed happily.

“Right, now I’m better. Rookie, explain. Now.”

“I have no excuses Ma’am,” Song replied with a salute. “I got upset being stuck on the sidelines and tried to do something myself, and while obtained some valuable information, I also put myself and Level Ledger’s lives at risk. It was stupid, foolish and a completely rookie move.”

“Damn right it was,” Narrow nodded as she sipped at her coffee again. “And you can be damned sure you won’t pull a stunt like this again right?”

Midnight was silent for a moment. “I cannot make that promise Ma’am!”

Narrow paused as her eyebrow made it’s way up. “Oh?”

“I am impetuous, tend to follow my instincts, and have a terrible lack of respect for anyone’s authority aside from Princess Celestia. That said, I will promise to put more thought into my actions in the future to minimise collateral damage.”

“You really should know better than to ask a Pegasus or a Thestral to ‘sit still,’ miss Narrow,” Ledger said with a slight chuckle. “It almost always ends with them saying the wind pushed it over.”

Narrow sighed as she refilled her mug. “Honestly, a pony with your accolades shouldn’t be so undisciplined... but you also delivered a valuable asset to my station and you and Level here are still breathing. So props for that... but,” she looked at the mare with a stern gaze. “I’m going to have to place you on temporary probation until things die down.”

“What?”

“I won’t mark it on your record, in light of the information you discovered. But you will be confined to the inside of this apartment for the most part. Twenty minutes outside a day to stretch your wings.”

“Are you serious...?”

“You are a civvie for the next week or so, so get used to it,” she said with a small smile as she finished her coffee. “I can trust you to keep her reigned in Level?”

“I’ll brush up on my locking spells if need be,” the unicorn said with a nod as he lowered the paper. “We’ll start with ‘please don’t leave Midnight’ and work our way up from there as the situation escalates.”

“Good to hear,” Narrow nodded as she donned her disguise again. She totally wasn’t getting used to this and actually enjoyed it. Nope. Not one bit. “Again, thanks for the coffee little brother, and I’ll see you both soon.”

“Keep coming back, and ponies will start talking,” Ledger said with a snicker. “Maybe I should just give you my recipe, save you the trip.”

“Aw, and I thought we were friends now?” she winked. “Have fun you two.. and stay safe. I’ll be posting some plain guards in the adjacent apartment from today.. just in case.”

“Not a bad idea,” Ledger nodded, giving the departing mare a wave before closing the door behind her. The unicorn turned to Midnight then, one eyebrow quirked. “So. What do you wanna do?”

Midnight was pouting... adorably so. She was grounded and put under house arrest? “I wanna eat at Fred’s, come back home, and get very drunk. That is all.”

“Well, I can make a run to his place for a dinner for two,” the unicorn said as he got up from his chair and stretched. “I don’t much feel like cooking right now either, I’ll admit. Any preferences regarding what you want your dinner to be?”

“Well, she said I could go out for twenty minutes a day... but I guess I should lay low for tonight.” she tapped her chin and hummed. “Hmm, let’s try his rigatoni. I wanna see how good you are in comparison.”

“Ah, so one pasta dish with a side of my ego, check,” Ledger said with a small laugh. “I think I’ll have his salad today...which one I end up having is up to him, of course. All of them are good and tolerable if I’m warned.”

“Alright, oh, and tell him that he won’t win!” she declared triumphantly. “I’ll never be defeated, no matter how pretty he is!”

“I swear, you two,” Ledger muttered as he walked to the door. “You should just screw each other and get the drama out of the way.” Before Midnight could properly answer, he was already gone.

“No, cause then he’d win~” she chuckled... “Though, I’d prolly win as well~”

“Oh my Celestia, that food was good... it was like comparing the blazing glory of the sun... to a foal’s nightlight.”

“Good thing my ego regarding my ability to cook died a while ago,” Ledger said as he finished his salad. “I’m just glad you liked my version before you had his.”

“Aw, don’t worry~” she cooed, ruffling his mane. “Yours was very nice too.” Before the stallion could offer a rebuttal, she trotted off to a small cabinet and pulled out a large bottle filled with an amber liquid. “And now for the main event!”

“...I am starting to regret buying any liquor for cooking with at all,” Ledger ruefully observed. “Something tells me I’m going to be glad for my insurance by the time this night is over.”

“Oh don’t be such a little filly about it,” she said, slamming the bottle on the table along with two shot glasses. “The game is Truth or Dare... are you game?”

The stallion gave the bottle a long look, before looking back at the Thestral. “Nope,” he said, getting up and moving to leave. “Not happening.”

“Aw c’mon Level~” Song put on her most adorable pout, learned from Princess Luna herself. “It’s a harmless little game and I promise right now not to ask about your secret okay? You can ask me anything you want.”

“Huh,” he said, one ear flicking as he considered the offer. “Okay, that’s...better. But where does the drinking come in?”

“You can choose to substitute either choice in place of taking a shot. Also, if you fail the Dare you take a shot as well... or just take one for fun~’ she giggled as she downed her first shot of the night.

The rest of the night became lost in a haze of alcohol...

Author's Note

Hey, what's that over there?

By golly, it's a distraction!

Chapter Five - Rising crescendo

Ledger blinked a few times and groaned in pain as a headache unlike any other he’d ever had hit him right between the eyes and under the horn. He tried to move one hoof up to where he was feeling the agony, but found it caught in some sort of warm embrace. The odd sensation made him turn slowly to the side to see what had had a hold of his hoof, and when he saw Midnight there, his mind came to a screeching halt as panic started to set in.

Dreams of rainbows, mangos and chocolate-covered stallions filled the dreams of the silly thestral. And she was content... until she started to wake and the crushing downside of a night of drinking set in. The pain was like a repeated blow from Luna’s Canterlot Voice... on second thought, the Voice was much worse. She groaned and put a hoof to her head as she rolled over, and felt her nose touch something warm and fuzzy...

She opened her bloodshot eyes and blinked as Celestia’s sun pierced them like arrows. She blinked a few times until the blinding light cleared and a familiar stallion came into view.

“Mm...morning... Lev...”

Ledger himself had clearly over-estimated how much good Midnight had done him...or under-estimated his memories. He was breathing heavily and scooting away, whimpering something about being a good male.

Despite her brain trying to punch it’s way out of her head, she reached towards him with a small smile. “H-hey now... what’s wrong?”

“I’m a good male,” he muttered, not quite looking at her. “I’ve...I’ve been good...please, no...not the...please put the knife back…”

Midnight blinked and actually double checked she hadn’t worn her swords to bed again. The last time she’d done that, her bedpartner had almost soiled herself. Once she confirmed that this was not the case, she smiled and sat back. “Hey... there’s no knife and I’m not going to hurt you silly... I think I’m in far more pain right now...”

Ledger slowly came back from his panic-induced recollection and blinked a few times, finally seeing that it was Midnight next to him, not just any other female. “I...What just happened?” he asked aloud. They’d not been that bad before. Then again, he’d not had a female in his bed by choice ever since...

She pulled the stallion into a hug and petted his mane. “You must have woken up from a nightmare. Don’t worry... everything’s alright now.”

He stiffened a bit at the touch, but relaxed when he realized she cared. Ledger sighed and even started to close his eyes again, losing himself to the feeling...before his headache returned with a vengeance. “Ow,” he muttered, putting one hoof to his head. “Does it feel like the entire armory is trying to escape from your skull as well?”

“Yup...” Midnight groaned. “Urgh... never, again... until the next time anyway...”

“I’ll go pour us some water,” Ledger groaned as he moved to stand on his own hooves. “Then we can have some coffee. We need to counter the dehydration first.” He seemed to pause for a moment and asked a very pertinent question. “My memory is...spotty. We didn’t...do anything last night, did we?”

Midnight slowly shook her head. “No, we just cuddled, that’s all... and for the record, you’re very huggable~”

Ledger breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh thank heavens. I don’t think I could stand the idea of...that just yet. I mean, I am starting to trust at least one mare again, but foal steps.” With that, the unicorn left the bedroom and the Thestral behind as he went for the largest cups he had and began running water for the pair of them.

Midnight lay back, burying her head in the soft pillows. She placed a hoof to her face, feeling her blushing cheeks. What was this? Why was she acting like some nervous little filly all of a sudden? She pulled the blankets up over her face, certain her blush was still showing through...

Ledger walked back in, one cup held in one hoof, as he didn’t trust his magic just yet. “For you,” he said simply, placing it on the nightstand. “You’re going to want to drink that before your headache gets too much worse.”

A few seconds later, she lowered the blanket a smidge, her flushed face staring back at him. She reached for the mug and begun drinking down the water.

“Thanks,” she mumbled.

“No problem,” he replied. “Once you’re done with that and cleaning up, I should at least have coffee ready. Breakfast is...well, I don’t know what it’ll end up being,” he admitted ruefully. “On the one hoof, I know I need to eat something, but on the other, I really can’t think right now, so suggestions are welcome.”

Midnight bit her cheek to stop replying in a manner that usually befit her. “Y-yeah, sounds good...” she replied as she finished her water. “I’ll... be out in a moment.” With a short nod of understanding, the stallion grabbed ahold of her now-empty cup and left to attend to his own dehydration. Once he was gone, Midnight sighed and threw her head back into the pillow.

“Oh, I know what you can eat~” she giggled to herself, sighing now that she’d gotten that out of her system. Okay, so a nice warm shower was first, then see what the rest of the day would bring.

By the time she got out of her shower, the smell and sound of something delicious wafted it’s way over to her. She almost floated out to the kitchen, her coat still a little damp and her mane was tied up in a towel.

“Mmmm, I smell something goooood~” she purred.

“Cheese and mushroom omelettes,” Ledger said, his back turned as he watched the pan. “Yours is almost done, and the coffee finished a minute ago.”

“You are a god among ponies,” she sighed wistfully, nursing her suddenly full coffee mug like a newborn foal. “You are my little precious, here to make Mommy all better~” she giggled at it.

“I was unaware I gained five dress sizes or a sun or moon mark on my rear,” Ledger replied as he plated up her omelette. “Plus I’m pretty certain I’m still male, so I don’t know who you’ve confused me with.”

“Oh har, har!” Midnight snarked back. “And trust me, I know you’re male, you and little Level more than proved that~”

“Ah, so that at least is confirmed to have happened,” Ledger said as he began mixing up his own omelette while setting hers at the table. “Note to self, when work is done, die of embarrassment.”

“Aw don’t do that~” Song pouted as she drooled over her omelette. “Besides, if that were possible, you’d have done so last night. The expression on your face was the cutest thing EVER!”

“I’m going to need to find some sort of memory spell if I want to avoid you teasing me, aren’t I?” Ledger sighed as he poured the egg into the still-hot pan.

“Teasing, I’m not teasing,” Midnight replied as she took a bite of her omelette. “I’m quite impressed really, but I’ll lay off the topic... for now~”

“Out of...morbid curiosity,” Ledger said as he poured himself a cup of coffee. “Is, ah, that really that impressive? It’s not all that uncommon where I come from.”

Midnight suddenly coughed on her omelette, causing her to take a swig of her coffee, and choking on that too because it was hot. “Gah! Help!”

Ledger turned the heat off on his breakfast before coming over and giving Midnight a small glass of cool water, to help counteract the heat from the coffee. “Goodness, but you don’t do anything by half,” he observed.

“You... you!” Midnight wheezed as she downed the water. “It’s your fault dammit! Where do you come from and do they offer holiday packages there?”

“It’s very hard to find the land I come from,” Ledger replied cryptically. “You either have to get lucky or know what you’re looking for. And before you ask how I know this about our stallions, let’s just say ‘local anatomy books’ and leave it at that.”

“I see,” Midnight blushed and decided that it was best to drop the subject for now. “Well, to sate that curiosity of yours... I haven’t seen any that surpass that. And thats coming from me!”

“Huh,” Ledger observed as he turned back to the range, resuming the cooking of his breakfast. “Makes you wonder what might have been had I gone through everything like a normal colt should have, doesn’t it?”

“You would have gone through quite a few mares~” she giggled madly, unable to restrain herself any longer. It was open season now, and the season called for Level’s dignity.

“Imagine if Fredrick and I teamed up,” the stallion teased as he flipped the omelett.

Midnight suddenly coughed again, seriously, was he timing this on purpose? “Oh sweet Luna, NO!” she shouted back. “Even then, I will not lose!”

“Just think about it,” the unicorn clarified as he sprinkled the cheese and mushrooms into his breakfast. “A young stallion, barely more than a colt, with my endowment and a healthy sex drive, running into a gryphon like Fredrick. Oh, the things that could have been.”

“Not. Thinking about it!” Midnight yelled, giving up on eating and burying her head in her hooves. “Gods above, my head still hurts... give me a break already...”

“Very well,” Ledger relented. “Still, maybe you should be glad I am the way I am. I can still say that thinking about mares does nothing for me.” With another quick flip, his breakfast was nearly done.

“Ah well, foal steps I suppose,” Midnight sighed to herself. She frowned as she decided to voice a concern that had been bugging her. “So... are you really going to go to work today?”

“You do like the whole ‘eating’ and ‘living here’ parts of your current lifestyle, right?” the unicorn deadpanned as he joined her at the table, breakfast in his grip, along with a cup of coffee and two sugar cubes that plunked into said drink.

“I know, it’s just…” she looked at him with those stunning green eyes. “I’m worried, about everything.”

“If need be, I’ll defend myself,” Ledger said honestly. “I do hope it doesn’t come to that, naturally. But if she catches on that it’s me, I’m not going to go down.”

“I still don’t like it, I just have this really bad feeling about today...” Midnight sighed again as she resumed eating, though with a little less vigour than before. “If anything happens... call me, and I’ll come running okay?”

“Of course,” Ledger responded. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He downed his coffee in one gulp and grimaced. “Bleh, still too hot...but I need to rush, I think I woke up late.”

“You could always tell them that your marefriend kept you~” she giggled.

“Wouldn’t work,” Ledger replied as he took a big bite of his omelette and barely chewed. Fortunately, he had the sense of mind to wait until his mouth was empty before speaking again. “Toll thinks I’ve either been gelded or lack a sex drive at all, what with the lack of interest I’ve shown in any of the clubs on the strip.”

“Glad to see she’s very much wrong,” Midnight chuckled as she finished her omelette. The real question was... what was she gonna do now. She was banned to the inside of the house and if case anypony hadn’t noticed, Level’s house was rather lacking in any forms of entertainment for non-bookworms.

“Well,” Ledger said as he levitated Midnight’s plate to the sink, “Are you going to be okay while I’m at work? What with the whole ‘stay inside’ edict.”

“I’m gonna be sooo bored,” Midnight whined as she drained her coffee mug. “No offense Lev, but you have a certain lack of anything that isn’t a book.”

“Hmm,” Level said as he chewed the remainder of his breakfast. Suddenly, a plan came to him, and he grinned while bolting the rest of his food down. “I have an idea,” he said.

“Why do I have a sudden sense of dread?” Midnight replied dubiously. Ledger just chuckled and shook his head.

“It’s actually a rather simple plan,” he elaborated. “I think I can pull off something like the Captain’s illusion spell and use it on you. I wouldn’t go out for more than a few hours, both because of the guard detail that’s hanging about, and in case Toll’s goons have more than ten brain cells between them, but that should be more than enough time for you to do some shopping.”

Midnight squeed as she leapt from the table and caught Ledger in a flying, tackle-hug. The unicorn let out an ‘Ack!’ as he was tackled to the floor, not sure whether he was under assault or being cared for for a moment. The affection leaked through shortly thereafter, and he relaxed.

She eventually let him go and stood back up, helping the stallion to his hooves. “Ooh, this is gonna be fun, like a ninja going shopping!” She bounced up and down, her tail wagging as her eyes shone brightly.

“Glad you’re happy,” he said, dusting himself off more via habit than out of need. “So. Ready?”

“Ready, just make sure to make me cute okay?” She was immensely curious as to what disguise she’d get.

“No promises,” Ledger said as his horn started to glow. “I’m trying to copy everything but what the disguise itself will look like. We want to make you a Pegasus and I can do that much, but beyond that, it’s an unfamiliar spell to me.”

Okay, she was a tad worried now. “Uh, just... try not to teleport me into a wall or something...”

“Don’t even know teleportation, first, and second, I just don’t know what your colors are going to end up like. You could be plain, hideous, cute, or gorgeous. I don’t know how to play with that part of the spell because I haven’t done that yet,” the stallion explained. His horn was coated in a fine silver light now as he kept weaving. “Okay...last chance. I can still call it off if you don’t want me to try it on you.”

“Bring it on!” Midnight replied. “Being a weird colour is still better than being stuck inside all day!”

“Three, two...now,” Ledger said as he released his version of the Captain’s spell onto Midnight. A cocoon of light wrapped itself around Midnight and once it faded away, the spell was complete. In place of a cute thestral, stood a young pegasus mare. Her coat was subtle light pink and her mane deep violet. Her manestyle was still the same, as was her tail. And her eyes had been shifted from a green cat-like appearance to a deep sapphire blue.

“Well?” she asked. “How do I look? Not too weird I hope?”

“I have differing definitions of weird than most ponies,” Ledger said, trying to get out of answering. “But you can always look in the mirror and judge for yourself.”

“Pft, wuss,” she replied. “Come on Level, I won’t get angry or anything. Just give me your honest opinion.”

“Honestly, as long as I know it’s you under there, I don’t give a flipping feather,” Level said with a shrug. “You could come home looking plaid and as long as you identified yourself, I’d not care.”

“I know you’re not very good at this thing, but a girl likes to be told she’s pretty,” Midnight sighed a she glanced at a mirror. Oh yeah, I look hot, no matter what. “Still, thanks for this Lev, now I can go have a little fun, and finally buy some decent bedsheets.”

“Take care out there,” Level said as he opened the door to leave, before remembering that she was probably going out the same way. “No telling how dirty the streets still are.”

“Yeah, I’ll be careful,” she replied as she trotted out after him. “And you as well, there’s no telling how pissed Toll is gonna be that she lost her hoofhold in the Guards and the local PD.”

“Pretty darn,” the unicorn said as they hit the lobby. “It’ll be interesting, that’s for sure. Thankfully I know a shield spell and I’m currently valuable to her.” That just served to worry Midnight all the more and she leaned over to kiss his cheek.

“For luck,” she whispered before flying off.

“You go, colt!” Estate said as he walked up behind him. “See, I told you mares were nothing like that! Heck, a stallion like you shoulda moved on one a long time ago!”

“Oh shut it,” Ledger said as he cast a look at the landlord. “And you know very well why I didn’t.”

“The two aren’t the same,” the earth pony stated. “Nymphs be crazy. Mares...also crazy, but less in the ‘chop your balls off’ sense.”

“...Fine,” Ledger sighed. “What do I have to lose, anyways.”

“You will regret asking that later, m’lord,” Estate chuckled before going back inside his apartment building. Ledger just snorted and trotted off to work.

Today was already interesting, and he hadn’t even punched in yet.

The shopping had been immensely fun, with very comfortable bedsheets and pillows obtained, and she’d bought a few outfits and some things to be delivered at a later date. All in all, her bank account now deeply despised the frivolous mare and she’d had just enough left for food and rent until her next pay week.

Last on her list of things to do was pay a certain gryphon a visit...

The bell jingled a she walked in, exuding an air of confidence a she took a seat at the counter. She tapped her hoof to get the attention of the proprietor of the establishment.

“Ah, hello there my dear!” Fredrick greeted as he came out from the kitchen. “It is always nice to see a friendly face, especially a friendly, beautiful face as well. I am Fredrick, the owner of this fine establishment. How may I serve you today?”

“Well now, aren’t you a breath of fresh air darling,” Midnight cooed. “And here I was starting to think that all the males in this city were rude brutes.”

“Heavens no!” Fredrick said, one claw over his chest. “I may be forward and blunt about my intentions, but I respect a mare’s decision to leave me and my bed should she choose to. There are plenty more mares out there, after all.”

“Well you certainly aren’t lacking for confidence. I find that very attractive~’ she purred. “And you have such wonderful plumage, most pegasi stallions just don’t compare to a gryphon’s..mmm, charms~”

“I do keep myself well-groomed for a reason beyond vanity,” the gryphon preened. “And after the amount of mares I have already had, I have reason to be confident. My skills do get quite the regular workout.”

“Numbers are just numbers darling,” Midnight smiled, enjoying this immensely. “Even a rookie can surprise somepony with a hidden talent or two... but I must admit, I find myself a little flushed sir.” A delicate blush graced her cheeks.

“The only one in this city that I know of who knows as much as I do about the anatomy of ponies doesn’t use it for pleasure,” Fredrick divulged. “He used it for intimidation, whereas I use it to find all the little spots that make mares, no matter the tribe they belong to, moan. And that’s before I get involved, should they even want me to.”

“Such boasting,” she smiled again, leaning closer to the gryphon. “But mares also like to be romanced, tell me pretty birdy, how would you romance this fine mare before you~?”

“It depends on what the mare wants,” Fredrick said with a wink. “If she desires a fine meal and wine to go with it, I have that here. If she desires a night on the town, I have assistants in the kitchen I can turn the running of this place over to for the night...they know what it means when I say I will be out with a mare, after all. And if she desires to know why mares come back to my bed...well, I would be happy to show her that as well.”

“Ooh, that sounds... interesting~” she purred, tracing a wingtip along his side, stroking a small spot at the base of his wing. “I must say, is it getting warm in here?”

“Sadly for that line, I have magical temperature regulators installed...but I can still reply with ‘your beauty warms up every room you walk into’,” the gryphon countered.

“Oh, now that’s a nice line,” she replied. “You should start with that, rather than boasting about your bedroom skills.” She traced her feather along his neck as her mouth drew closer. “Any other lines you might have for little old me~?”

“Old, you? Hardly!” the half-bird scoffed. “Your youth and vitality are as evident as the sapphire in your eyes. Any colt would be lucky to spend any time with you, much less a night.”

Okay, this bird was as smooth as silk and Midnight found herself blushing for real this time. This little plan was starting to backfire as this bird seemed to be impossible to turn the tables against. “Well now, that is a good one dear sir,” she smiled and batted her eyes. “I find myself at a loss for words.”

“It’s hardly a line if it’s the observable truth,” the gryphon brushed off. “Lines are based off of them. For example, the truth is you look like a fine mare I’d love to bring back to my bed. The line would be...’I could swim forever in the sapphire ocean that is your eyes.’”

Dammit, dammit! She could not compete with this guy. She may have found the one male in Equestria that could not only flat-out resist her charms, but turn them right back against her. There was nothing to do but simply concede defeat. At the present moment, she could not compete with him.

“I will disappear forever once I leave through those doors,” she whispered. “I have never met anyone quite like you before sir... and I doubt I ever will again.”

“Then why not delay your departure?” The gryphon asked softly. “After all, it would be a shame if you did not sample everything I had to offer before you left.”

“I would love to take you up on that, and on any other day, I wouldn’t hesitate.” She gave his beak a light kiss and pulled back. “Things are... difficult for me, and like a fairytale, this mare is on a time limit. But there will be no glass slipper today... farewell~” And just like that, the only thing left was the silently swinging door…

“Ah well,” Fredrick said as he watched the door swing. “The ones that get away just make the next one to accept all the sweeter. Though, her, I will remember for a little while at least.”

Just as Midnight bolted through her door, the spell wore off and a blushing Thestral stood there once more.

“That... what was... oh, he is good!”

“Ledger,” the unicorn heard, causing him to look up at Bludgeon, one of the most unassuming Earth ponies you’d ever see...unless you knew his history, which Ledger did. The stallion behind the desk suppressed a shiver before getting up.

“Yes Bludgeon? If it’s about the new budget, I haven’t finalized it yet due to the rapidly changing streams of revenue.”

“Boss wants to see you,” the enforcer said. “Didn’t say why.”

“Ah...well, wish me luck, eh?” Ledger said with a slight laugh as he walked down the hallway, already preparing his lies in case he needed them, along with the proper facial expressions.

Knocking three times got an “Enter!” snapped at him, and he mentally smirked and chalked up another mark in the ‘Toll is getting unbalanced’ count. Taking a deep breath, the unicorn pushed the door open slowly and poked his head in.

“Ledger,” Toll Taker said from behind her desk. “Get in here and take a seat.”

“Of course, boss,” Ledger said, in a suitably subdued tone of voice. “So...you wanted to see me?”

“Yes,” Toll said, easing herself back into her chair. “You’ve been working for me for a while now, right?”

“Nearly a whole year, yes boss,” Ledger said with a nod.

“And you’re loyal to the company, right?” she asked, putting one hoof on a folder on her desk.

“I know better than to not be, boss. You pay me in more than one sense.” Here he obliquely referred to the secret they both knew, and Toll nodded.

“Right, right. So why did your roommate know exactly where to go the other night when we were picking up a foal for re-education?”

Ledger shook his head. “No idea, boss. Maybe she just got lucky? She’s a Thestral, after all. They have good night vision.”

Toll sighed and leaned back in her chair again, putting one hoof to her forehead. “Now, that, I could almost believe. But the Guard is closing in around me now, Ledger. Tartarus, I’ve lost the police, the mayor...my entire blackmail file is becoming worthless.” Here she leaned forward again and glared at her accountant.

“The only one who knows about it beyond me is you, Ledger. I know you know about it, because I showed it off to you when I called you in here that day I found out. And then not a week later, you’re spotted on the grounds late at night. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out what you were after. Bet you were surprised that your name wasn’t in that folder, huh?”

“It was...a little shocking, yes boss. But then I realized that some secrets, like mine, are too important to be written down.” Ledger meekly replied. “So I did some research on my own afterwards, and found out all the other secrets you didn’t write down, and kept a record for my own purposes.”

“And those would be turning me into the guard?” she asked darkly.

“No boss!” Ledger quickly denied. “I...I have a bit of a workaholic in me, boss. A bit of OCD.”

Here she stopped glaring so darkly at him, but motioned for him to continue. Here Ledger let off a calculated sigh. “I...I copy the books when you give them to me, boss. Then I take them back to my study and look to see if there’s ever a better way to do things. The blackmail folder helps with that. I can see which ponies can be counted on, and which can’t. I don’t come up with all my great ideas during business hours, boss.”

Toll hummed a little bit and leaned back in her chair. “Say I believe you, which means you’re still in trouble for copying the books, by the way. Are you saying your room-mate stumbled upon my records?”

“No!” Ledger shook his head. “I know the value of that sort of information! I keep it all locked up in my study. Nobody has a key but me, and I did not let her in!”

Toll grumbled a bit. “So what, she picked the lock?”

“...It did look a little like there were scratches around the keyhole as of late,” Ledger admitted. “But I can destroy the records, boss. A little fire should see to it that they have nothing anymore.”

“If she’s half as smart as you, she made a copy of the blackmail at least,” Toll grumbled before sitting back. “I like you, Ledge. I really do. You’re better than my last two accountants who thought they could steal and get away with it. Your only crime against me so far is working too hard and taking it home with you...which, if you had just told me about when you started doing it, then I wouldn’t have as much of a problem with it. Heck, I’d have even upgraded your locks! But now we have a problem, and I want you to fix it.”

“Of course,” Ledger said, bobbing his head. “Do you want me to figure out a way to get the local Guard defunded, or perhaps you were looking for something on Captain Narrow or Deputy Straight? I’m willing to fix this, boss. Whatever it takes.”

“Good,” Toll said with a smile. “I want you to kill your roommate.”

Ledger paused for a moment, processing that demand fully before responding in the correct tone of voice. “I’m...sorry, can you say that again? It sounded like…”

“I want you to kill your roommate,” Toll repeated, smile gone. “That’s exactly what I said.”

“...I see,” Ledger said slowly. “I assume this is some sort of loyalty test? Prove I had nothing to do with the problems the company is experiencing by killing a member of the Guard?”

“Something like that,” Toll agreed with a nod. “You’re going to kill her, then burn the body and the books you brought home at the same time. And then when the investigation loses momentum against me and I’m back where I should be, namely on top of the city, I’ll allow you to bring your work home again.”

Ledger gulped and nodded twice. “As you command, boss. I assume you want it done tonight?”

“If not sooner,” Toll commanded, and the accountant got up from his chair.

“Is it alright if I take the rest of the day off to think about this...and how to do it?”

Toll grinned again and nodded. “Take it, sport. But don’t come back tomorrow without a vacancy in that apartment of yours.”

Ledger slowly left his boss’s office. After about a minute, the Earth pony who’d fetched him walked in and sat where he’d sat.

“Take Kill-Switch with you, knock out the Guards in the building, and make sure he offs her,” Toll commanded her best enforcer. “If he doesn’t, kill them both.”

Bludgeon grunted and nodded, going off to find his...slightly crazy fellow enforcer. He hated working with that unicorn...but there was nobody else who was as good at lethal magic as he was.

Midnight Song was feeling much better now. She’d made her bed with her new sheets, blankets and whatnot, and then enjoyed just rolling around on it for a bit. She’d also bought a gramophone and some records to play. And lastly, the pony delivering the pile of groceries she’d bought, along with some nice china and silverware had arrived and dropped the goods off. She had just finished placing the last of it away and walked back out into the livingroom for a drink when the front door opened, and a significantly subdued Ledger walked in, softly closing the door behind him with a minimal application of magic.

“Hey there,” she smiled, as she placed her water on the table. “How’s everything with you? Because I had a blast today... well, cept for when Fredrick beat me, but that’s a tale for another time...?” She finally noticed his downtrodden expression and her smile vanished.

“What’s wrong Lev?”

“She wants me to prove my loyalty,” he weakly said, laying down on the floor and sighing.

Midnight frowned and lay next to him. “Oh-kay? and how does she want you to do such a thing?”

“She wants me to kill you,” he stated simply, staring straight ahead.

“Oh? Is that all? Wait WHAT!?” Midnight reeled back and looked at him. “Okay, I know I kinda annoyed her, but that’s a tad extreme isn’t it? Can’t I just leave town or something?”

“She probably also wants to send a ‘back off’ message to the Guard, and she thinks you’re the reason they even have the intel they do,” he explained, still not looking at her. “Multiple birds with one stone.”

“She doesn’t pull any punches huh?” Song sighed as she kept a little distance between them. “And uh... you don’t actually plan on...?”

“While it would be very easy to apply just too much pressure to the base of your skull and give you a painless death,” Ledger stated, causing the batpony to gulp before he continued, “My secret is not worth that. A life is never worth another life.”

“You could have just said ‘No, cause we’re friends and I care for you’,” she muttered under her breath, still loud enough for him to hear.

“I’m trying to come up with a way for everyone to win without anyone dying and getting nothing, so forgive me if my emotions don’t come into play during this,” Ledger said with only a hint of irritation. “Rather difficult when she commanded I also burn your body afterwards. It means she’s expecting there to be news of at least a Pegasus skeleton in Guard armor tomorrow morning.”

Midnight paced around the apartment, her mind going to work. “Maybe... Narrow can arrange a false report to be put in the paper? Borrow an anatomy doll, dress it in armour and burn it? I could lay low the whole time? I won’t go out or anything!”

“That...actually sounds like a workable plan,” Ledger admitted. “But they’d have to listen to me, if I know her, she’s expecting you to be dead come morning. So we’d have to work fast and you have to be gone.”

“E-easy, disguise me again. I’ll let Narrow know and be on the next train to Canterlot. You’ll never... never see me again...” She whispered that last part. This was all her fault…

At that particular moment, the door was bucked in with excessive force, clipping Ledger’s head and knocking him right out as it flew by. Midnight dived to one side to avoid the flying wood and glared at the new opening. This could not have been anything good.

“Night night, pretty bat,” A unicorn said from behind the Earth pony that had just done excessive property damage. A spell had already been charged on his horn and he was merely taking aim now. Song’s eyes widened, she wasn’t wearing armour and had no clue as to what that spell might be. Her wings flared and she prepared to avoid whatever it might be though…

Unfortunately, the beam of light flew in the next second and impacted her head, making her feel like taking a nap. Sleep sounded...good...

Hello floor, my old friend~

The next thing she heard was the sound of the unfamiliar unicorn again, this time telling her…

“Wakey wakey...time to see your coltfriend die…”

Her eyes snapped opened and she lunged forward, or she would have if she wasn’t bound to a chair with that mutant earth pony holding it down.

“Huh, three stallions and some rope... haven’t done this in a while,” she chuckled, trying to keep her racing heart under control and hopefully buy some time.

“Too bad, we’d have love to have done it with you, wouldn’t we, Bludgeon?” the unicorn asked as he kept the barely-struggling form of Ledger still with his magic.

The stallion holding her down nodded once and grunted. “But that’s not an option anymore, love. Now, here’s what’s gonna happen. We’re gonna kill this little rat right in front of you,” the unicorn said, pointing a hoof at the base of Level’s skull. “Right here. Done right, it’ll look like you punched him too hard. Then once you realize what happened, you put on a big, thick girdle, and walked off a tall building with your wings bound. At least, that’s what it’s gonna look like tomorrow morning.”

“I take that back, I only see three mare’s and one stallion,” she muttered. “What’s the matter? Can’t fight a little mare on equal terms? Gotta tie her up first... yeah, really big of you!” she spat. “Besides, that idiot stallion has no clue what’s going on. I stole the book right from under his oblivious little nose!”

“Save it for the afterlife,” The unicorn said with a roll of his eyes. “We took a look around the place after we knocked ya both out. He’d been planning this for a while. You were a means to some sorta end. Too bad for you, that end involved crossing our boss. And the only one I’d trust to take you is Bludgeon there...if you gave him a pair of wings! Now any more last questions before we get on with the show?”

Maybe if she got them mad enough, they’d go after her first, give Ledger time to wake up and run away. “Yeah, where’s that pussy you call a boss? She back home clopping to this? Cause no stallion’d wanna put it in there~”

“Enough talk,” Rumble actually spoke, sending vibrations through the chair.

“Couldn’ta said it better myself!” the unicorn agreed with glee as a charge built up on his horn. “Say goodbye to your coltfriend, bat! But don’t worry, you’ll join him soon enough!”

“RARGH! I’ll bucking kill you!” she roared, trying to get free. She had to stop them! She was a Guard, one of Celestia’s elite. There was no way she was going to let either herself or Ledger die today. “LEVEL LEDGER! WAKE THE FUCK UP!!”

The stallion barely snapped his eyes open before the magic lept from the rival unicorn’s horn and impacted the back of his skull. He gasped once and slumped forward, eyes closing and form going limp before he was dropped from the unicorn’s hold.

“And that’s one down!” the murdering son-of-a-bitch said with far too much glee.

“Ledger?” Midnight’s breath caught in her throat. “No... wake up Lev. You’re tougher than that right...? Please...” Why? Why did it have to be like this? Not again....

Rumble’s eyes widened and he pointed at the body. “Switch. He supposed to smoke?”

The unicorn turned around to see a small plume of black smoke rising from the body. “Okay, I did NOT do that,” he muttered, backing up. “Just...what is going on here?”

“You... set him on fire!?” Midnight nearly threw up. “Was killing him not enough for you!?!”

“Hey, I dunno how good those ears of yours are, but I did NOT-” the unicorn said, before Ledger’s body burst into flames.

Silver-colored flames. In a pattern that was oddly familiar, especially to Midnight.

She held her breath. It couldn’t be... there was- there was no way…

When the flames cleared, there was a black and grey changeling laying there, slowly picking himself up to his full height...which seemed to be somewhere between Princess Twilight and Princess Cadence. The shell on his back flickered open, revealing silver wings. And when he opened his eyes, the fact that they were grey with cat-like pupils was the second thing they noticed.

The first was that they seemed to be full of rage.

Midnight couldn’t speak, her eyes were wide and her pupils had shrunk to the size of a Breezie’s. Level Ledger... the stallion she was living with. The stallion she was friends with... the stallion... she may have liked, was a Changeling!?

“Boss not say anything about this,” Rumble said, backing up and taking his hoof off of her chair.

“Crud...and I don’t think I know anything for dealing with bugs,” Kill-Switch said, also backing up. “Rumble, think you can take him?”

Before anypony could move towards him, the changeling drew in a deep breath...and let it out as a wordless, hate-filled screech as only a changeling could. Midnight winced painfully as the sonic blast assaulted her ears. If it wasn’t for the fact that Thestrals could do something similar, her ears would probably be bleeding by now... but the other two...?

“MAKE IT STOP!” Rumble shouted as he fell to the ground and covered his ears with his front hooves.

“I’M TRYING BUT NOTHING’S WORKING!” Kill-Switch shouted back. “I CAN’T CONCENTRATE FOR THE NOISE!”

As soon as it had started, it stopped, and the two stallions were encased in a familiar silver glow...before they were slammed into a nearby wall. “So, just going to kill me, huh?” Ledger’s voice asked. “Just going to try and kill me like that damn crazy nymph three years ago, huh?”

Midnight blinked away the pain in her head as she saw the pure hate that filled his eyes. After all she’d seen, he’d had something try and kill him a while back... and had now found a very good outlet for that pain.

Still...

“Level...” she said in a hoarse tone. “Don’t... don’t kill them.”

The changeling paused, before turning his head to her and setting the chair upright. A ripping noise from behind her signified that he’d also cut the ropes with magic as they fell slack around her. He then turned back to the stallions and laughed. “You hear that? Probably not, so let me repeat it for you. That mare that you were going to kill just begged for your lives! That’s the only reason you’re alive right now! YOU BROKE MY FUCKING DISGUISE!” he screamed at the end. “I OUGHT to kill you!”

Midnight reached out towards him, her hoof flinching away at first... before she shook her head and suddenly hugged him, whispering to him softly.

“And my friend wouldn’t become like them! My friend is a bigger stallion and wants to see justice done the right way...”

Ledger breathed deeply a few times, calming down noticeably before talking aloud to Midnight without looking at her. “Were we to go by the laws of my kind, the ones that break my disguise either have to be sworn to secrecy, mind-wiped, or killed. Anyone who knows...anyone,” he turned to look at her at the end with a small smile. “So...what do you reccomend for them and yourselves? Cause I doubt they’re going to keep to any promise we’d have them make.”

Midnight Song took a small step back. He could feel the trace amounts of fear that started to seep from her, but a feeling of resolve, and happiness? Washed it away.

“How... accurate is that mind wipe?”

Ledger hummed, an odd sound when it came from him. “I could probably make them forget just this night...but I’ve not practiced it before. Might overshoot and get the past week.”

“I’m sure they’ve done a lot more than just this week,” Midnight agreed with a small grin. “Enough to put them away for life. Too bad they suddenly got drunk and started a fight with an innocent mare~”

“Good plan, but what about that?” Ledger asked, pointing at their ears...which were still flicking around, trying to hear anything softer than thunder and failing.

“Too bad they picked on a Thestral,’ she said, her devious grin smiling wider. When she saw his confused expression, she chuckled. “What, you think you’re the only one with that trick? Why do you think I can still hear?”

“Fair enough,” he agreed with a chuckle as his horn glowed even brighter, two lances of light jumping from it and impacting the heads of the stallions. Fortunately, step one of the mind wipe was to knock them out. “So...I’m certain you have about a thousand questions for me,” he said, rubbing one hole-filled forehoof against the other. “But first, swear on whichever Princess you hold dear that you will NOT tell ANYONE.”

“So, you won’t mind-wipe me as well?’ she asked. “I’m not a means to an end?”

“I could never mind-wipe my friend,” he said simply. “And I’d really rather not kill you either. But don’t make me go to those choices, please.”

“I promise that I won’t tell a soul,” she said with a small smile. “But... if it’s all the same to you, I think I’m gonna freak out and faint for a while now. Don’t do anything naughty to me while I’m out okay~?”

Just before she hit the ground, Ledger caught her in his magic and sighed. “Nymphs,” he muttered, before donning his disguise again and began the process of not only figuring out where they were, but where her bed was.

The moon was high in the sky by the time Midnight Song awoke. Her head was pounding and she flailed a little to remove herself from her comfy bed. Once that monumental feat was accomplished, her eyes widened as memories came flooding back and she bolted unsteadily out into the living room... hoping that this whole debacle was just an alcohol-fuelled dream.

The fact that Ledger was putting their front door back on its hinges told her everything she needed to know about that. “Ah, and you finally recover,” he stated without even turning around. He yelped when Midnight was suddenly right in his face, checking his eyes, opening his mouth and even looking in his ears.

“It’s... it’s you right?” she asked hesitantly.

“I’ve always been me,” Ledger said with a small smile...before closing his eyes and reopening them in their changeling form. “But then, there’s always been more to me as well.” He closed his eyes again and reverted them to their ‘normal’ state. She’d jumped back slightly when he’d done that, a small part had been hoping that he’d done some illusion spell to make himself look intimidating.

“Change back,” she said. “I have to see it for myself.”

“Once I restore our privacy,” he said, motioning to the door that was hanging on one hinge. “Mending it fully will take a minute. But feel free to ask me anything while I do, just do so softly.”

“So... its not an illusion?” she asked quietly. “You’re really... one of them?”

“Is it so surprising?” he asked with a raised eyebrow as he mended the cracked door. “I know of at least a dozen other similar cases in the city that work the strip. In a town like this one that is proud of its red-light district, you are going to attract us.”

“I totally bet Fredrick is one,” Song muttered. “So, um...” She sighed and shook her head. “Sorry, my training is screaming at me to attack you, but everything else is competing with the opposite and I’m still coming to terms with the fact my life was saved by a changeling... and now I sound insensitive and ungrateful, which I’m not! I’m really thankful you saved both our lives. And now I’m guessing that’s your big secret and-”

Ledger just chuckled as he finally closed the door and locked it, before turning and sitting on his haunches in front of Midnight. “Tell me, Song, what is the policy regarding ‘lings that are found out in Equestria? Do you know what they do to them?”

“It’s... difficult,” she sighed after taking a deep breath. “Princess Celestia wants peace with them, and I’m inclined to agree with her. We have to report any sightings to our superior or to the Princess herself, the changeling is monitored and if they’re found to be hurting anypony, they’re taken into custody.” She rubbed her foreleg and sighed. “The view of the general populous though? It’s a lot more black and white. Changelings are evil. End of story.”

“You forgot the part where they deport them,” Ledger pointed out. “And since I’ve been here for a year, just a little before the wedding...what do you think the odds are that nobody will believe me when I say there never was a Level Ledger until I made him up?”

“Yeah... there’s also that,” Midnight sighed again. Her ears perked up and she smiled though. “But, you saved me, that’s gotta count for something... unless you plan to eat me later or something?”

“No offense, but I’m not a member of the same Hive that eats lust,” Ledger said, sticking his tongue out. “All ‘lings like basic positive emotions like care, friendship, and especially love, but we all have other tastes as well. I can rarely get my prefered food from you.”

“Oh?” she blinked. Now she was curious. Nerves and questions be damned, this was now top priority. “And what taste is that Mr. Level?”

“The ‘aha’ moment is top of the list, but really, I like the sensation of someone learning something new the best. All the ones with my colors do,” he explained, waiting for her to catch on with a smirk. Five, four...

“Are you calling me stupid!?” she yelled.

“Ah, there it is!” he crowed. “And nah, it’s just, you don’t tend to put nearly as much effort to learn something new as compared to, say, a bookworm. It’s why I hang out around libraries a lot when I get the chance.”

“So you like the taste of nerds?” Midnight shrugged and giggled. “Well, to each their own.” Now, there was a question she’d always wanted to ask a changeling. “So, your disguises? Are they an actual transformation? Or more of an illusion?”

“I want to say,” he said, rubbing his chin with a hoof, “That...ninety-five percent of the time, when a ‘ling disguises, they’re using our inherent magic to do a full transformation. The other five percent is those that just simply...can’t. Disabled and can’t transform. Instead they use illusions to hide themselves.”

“So both then,” Midnight nodded, happy her curiosity had been sated. “Well there we go. I’ve always wanted to know that~”

“Yup. So if you’ll get the windows, I can get on that earlier request,” he stated, still sitting on the floor. Midnight moved to each window and closed them, making sure no gaps were visible. Once she was done she looked back at Level and held her breath.

This time, the silver fire that consumed his form and replaced it with the one she’d only seen once was somehow...softer, gentler. Less of a raging inferno, more of a candle. When the process had finished, the ‘ling sat there with his eyes closed for a moment, before opening them and showing off that cat’s-eye pupil to her again. “Be honest, I know this form makes me look fat,” he joked.

Midnight couldn’t help but laugh at that. She’d felt nervous as all hay, but now... all she saw was her friend, the one she’d known for the last week. She took a tentative step forward, and kept doing so until she was within reach.

“So... this is what you really look like?” she breathed softly. She raised a hoof to touch his chitin. “Um, may I?”

“Please do,” he said with a wink. “It’d be a shame if you didn’t get a chance to examine a living changeling who has no interest in killing you.”

“I’ll admit, this is the first time I’ve touched one without a punch following right behind.” She pressed a hoof gently against his broad chest, tracing lines along the carapace and humming thoughtfully. “Mmm, it’s so hard~”

“Probably the only reason I’m alive,” he admitted. “You woke me up in time for me to feel the murderous intent of the pony behind me...and after that little incident I went through when I first arrived, Toll taught her hitmen easy ways to kill. So I went with an emergency revert on the back of my neck, and it worked. So while I saved you, you saved me first.”

Song’s hoof trembled. While she was no stranger to being killed. She’d been terrified that he’d almost died. Someone she vowed to protect. “I was scared you know?” she whispered. “I thought... I thought they’d...”

“It takes more than a simple blast to kill this drone,” he boasted. “Though...that’d probably have stunned a lesser one into dropping their disguise as well, if not doing serious harm to their chitin.” He rubbed one hoof behind his neck, where a faint web of cracks could be seen. “Still stings.”

“Will you be okay?” she asked worriedly. “Can your chitin heal or anything like that?”

“We shed it when we need to,” he explained. “Either over time or when we get hurt. Just gotta let the new stuff grow first.”

Midnight smiled and waved a hoof. “Little chitin, grow really fast~” she sang and kissed the wound. “So this injury just won’t last~”

“You are too cute for your own good,” the changeling muttered. “Seriously, the air is starting to taste sweet. And this is coming from me, the drone that puts sugar in all his drinks.”

“I do try and keep a sensible balance between adorable and sexy~” she giggled. A thought occurred and her gaze drifted downwards. “Now, I wonder if something else changes when you’re like this?”

“Ack!” he said, trying to put a little distance between them. “Okay, I am not ready to show off that right now!”

“Aw,” Midnight pouted. “Well, whatever~” The next thing she wanted to question was his overall appearance. He looked vastly different to the Changelings she’d seen before. “So what’s up with that? You have bits of silver carapace and your eyes have pupils.”

“Ah, well, the silver denotes my particular Hive,” he said, pointing out the overall color scheme appeared to be silvery or grey. “We’re the knowledge-seekers. Anytime there’s something new to learn, we’ll be on hoof. As for the eyes, they’re sorta tied in with the whole ‘being a bit bigger’ thing as well…” he trailed off and coughed while trying to think of an appropriate way to word it that wouldn’t send her into a panic...or a squealing fit.

Midnight processed this information. “I’ve... seen somebuggy like you before,” she said. “But only once... around about a year ago...”

“Yup,” he said, nodding as he figured straight and true was the best way to go. “My uncle’s the King of my home Hive. My mom’s his sister, and she chose to be a Duchess rather than a Queen. So I’m technically a Duke back home...but, noble drones are barely treated any better than normal ones.” His eyes flickered towards where he’d stashed the pamphlet and he shuddered.

“So you are like Chrysalis in a way,” she nodded. “Well, at least you’re better looking.” She took a moment to step back and just look at him. It was a surreal experience, being this close to a changeling, one that she called friend, even now. “This might take some getting used to, but...” She smiled and nodded again. “I can certainly live with it. Plus, wouldn’t it be a lot more stress-free for you that I know? Being able to come home knowing you have nothing to hide?”

“It...would be nice,” he said softly. “And hey, I can’t help that I’m attractive. Part of my coloring and what being noble-born does to changelings,” he informed.

“Well I’m not complaining,” Midnight smiled. Her eyes lingered on his broad chest, those powerful legs and stunning gossamer wings. Her eye twitched slightly as an epiphany hit her like a runaway train.

“Holy Celestia, I think he’s hot like this!” That... was something she’d never thought she’d think. Ledger visibly squirmed a little bit and crossed his legs in front of him.

“Keep it down with the lust, I can sense that from fifty feet away!” he whined. “Does things to me.”

“You... you mean?” Midnight’s smile spread like wildfire, she’d discovered a new superpower and was going to abuse the ever-loving hay out of it. “I can get you aroused... by thinking about it?”

“S’why I was hard the other day, I was low on energy and needed a quick boost, so I walked the strip,” he explained, doing his best to hide any evidence that she was succeeding. “When I process lust, it affects me...and when you’re thinking about me like that from so close, I can’t help but pick up on it.”

“I solemnly swear to abu...use this superpower for my own amusement only!” Midnight said in all seriousness, placing a hoof over her heart.

“Which would explain why I haven’t gone soft yet,” Ledger groused. “Some pony wants a peek.”

“I refuse to answer,” Midnight giggled, even as her line of sight betrayed those words. “Okay, all jokes and such aside...” Her smile fell and was replaced by a serious look. “I don’t know about you, but I do not take kindly to somepony trying to kill me on purpose. I really, really hope I get to go punch Toll in the face until I feel better... and by then, she maaay not have much of a face left.”

“Oh, I don’t either,” Ledger said, calming down a bit. “It’s why I went to Narrow, told her a...modified story of what happened, and why you’re now ‘officially’ dead, but none of your things have been moved out. But the study is kinda...gone. Those two trashed it.”

“Wait? I’m dead now?” Midnight blinked. “Um... I’m still processing this whole ‘my friend is a changeling’ thing. Can you please elaborate this time?”

“The story is going to be that a Thestral body - the local university had one - in Guard armor was found badly burned, along with quite a quantity of burned paper,” Ledger said with a wink. “Thankfully, I’ve got most of the details regarding what we’re going to need to knock out yet up here,” he held a hoof to his head. “However, in order for Toll to believe that I did what she ordered, you need to be ‘dead’...which, hey, you can do from here. Aaaas long as you never answer the door.”

“Okay, so I become a hermit-bat and live my life out inside,” Midnight sighed, she knew this was her idea to begin with... but damn it was a depressing prospect. Especially since she really wanted to hurt a pony named Toll Taker. “Well, what’s the following plan? Is there a following plan or is this my life now?”

“Narrow and the LPPD are coordinating, trying to not make any obvious moves. I’ve divulged what I know, and they’re going to try and pull all of Toll’s legs out from under her at once. Then, once I clock out three days from now...which, by the way, is when they’re planning this op of theirs...Once I’m out of harm’s way, she’s going down.” Her roommate, apparently having gotten himself under control, stood up and slid up next to her to whisper the next part in her ear.

“Plus, this gives you three days to learn all about changelings.”

Midnight's response was to blush, even as she started thinking all sorts of lewd thoughts. Mostly about various anatomy lessons the pair of them might engage in...before she recalled his current phobia regarding those of her gender. “So, uh, are you planning to report in tomorrow?” she asked, hastily changing the topic while she got her cheeks under control.

“I have to report in tomorrow, but Toll never said when. I figure I can just show up early and ask for the day off in light of everything I did and had to do. ”

“Would you mind posting a letter for me tomorrow?” she asked. There were a pair of ponies she could think of that needed to be told right off the bat, heh, pun intended, that she was okay.

“I...might be able to do that, but not directly,” Ledger said. “I don’t typically send mail. So if you want it sent, I’m probably going to have to discreetly meet up with Narrow at Fredrick’s and give it to her to do.”

“As long as it gets delivered, I don’t mind. But make sure nopony... and I mean nopony sees who it’s from or where it’s going! That must be kept secret if this ruse is to be believed.”

“A simple illusion spell to mask it until it enters the post office,” Ledger said with a nod. “Though locking it until a keyword is said is...actually not impossible now that I have this much energy.”

“You can do that?” Midnight blinked. She didn’t know a spell like that existed. “But then my parents might not know how to open it...”

“I was going to mask it until it got to our local post office,” Ledger clarified. “Then have Narrow say the keyword to reveal where it needed to go to the post-pony and make her swear not to look at it herself. Sound good enough?”

“Yeah, I don’t mind you or Narrow, I just don’t want anypony to read it that shouldn’t know I’m alive... but my parents.. what happens when news that only Thestral in Las Pegasus has been killed is released. You seriously don’t want my parents thinking that.”

“Fair enough,” Ledger agreed, “Write your letter and I’ll try to get it sent discreetly. Hopefully it’ll reach them before the news does.”

“I wish I had instant mail delivery like Princess Twilight, but I guess this’ll have to do,” Midnight sighed. “Got a quill and some paper?” He merely pointed towards the study in response.

Midnight nodded and trotted off to write her letter. Tonight had gotten really, really weird... she had a lot to think about as well. Sure, she teased him earlier, but... what was it that she felt for him? It couldn’t be love, never again would she fall for that trap. She refused to be somepony’s obedient servant.

So why did her heart beat so fast whenever she thought of him?

“Well, on the plus side, at least someone knows my secret,” Ledger said with a sigh. “And on the minus side, I know I’m going to have nightmares again…”

He shook his head and climbed into the bed in his natural form, not even bothering with the disguise anymore. “If only lust weren’t something we could process,” the changeling muttered to himself. “Maybe then it’d be a different story…”

Author's Note

The original version of this chapter was rather raunchy. Had to cut it out a bit so that I didn't fear for our T rating. Plus it was a bit long, compared to our other chapters.

...If you wanna know what it originally looked like, ask Aus.

Chapter Six - They just drone on and on!

Level Ledger woke up the next morning and yawned, still feeling slightly full, but thankfully not bloated...and he had a raging case of morning wood to go with his night of torment. A quick shower to see to his cleanliness gave him enough time to get his arousal under control again, and the changeling walked out of his bedroom feeling a lot better. “Morning,” he greeted his roommate.

He expected a chipper good morning, perhaps an invitation for coffee that held a poorly disguised innuendo... instead?

He got a shrill scream and a panicked batpony diving behind the couch.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” he grumbled as he continued to walk into the kitchen unabated. “I know you’re there and that really hurts, all that fear. Emotivore, remember? No, I’m not reading your mind, just your emotions. And no, it wasn’t a dream. Am and always have been a ‘ling.”

Midnight poked her head out with a sheepish smile. “Ah... sorry, still getting used to that,” she replied, rubbing the back of her head. “My bad?”

“Just think, a week ago, you were joking about me being a ‘ling,” he groused. “And now that I am revealed as one, all your bravado...pfft.” A cup of coffee had finally been prepared, and the changeling walked out of the kitchen with it.

“Oh yeah, and you gave me a lot of crap for that when I was right all along!” Song replied now that her half-asleep brain had rebooted. “What do you say about that mister?”

“I say I was still technically right: I don’t like being accused of being a changeling,” he said as he sipped his coffee. “Back then, you had no proof. Nor do you have any now.” Two sugarcubes floated out and plonked into his cup as he realized what he’d forgotten. Another sip caused him to hum appreciatively.

“I believed you so I dropped the issue,” she smirked. “But now I know, I could prove it anytime I want~” She sat down at the table and appeared to be eating charcoal... well, it looked and smelled like charcoal.

“Would this be the reason why my range is totally black?” he deadpanned. “You could just ask me to cook for you.”

“I was going to surprise you with pancakes... at least the kitchen isn’t on fire... anymore...”

“And at what point did you recall I’m a ‘ling?” he smirked as he took another sip of his coffee.

“Around mid-dive I believe, but I always finish what I start!” She munched on her charcoal cakes and sighed at her coffee... which resembled tar. Ledger sighed and rolled his eyes before hoofing her his cup of coffee and floating two more sugarcubes out for him to munch on. They vanished into his mouth with a crunching noise quite quickly. Midnight took a sip of his coffee and blanched slightly.

“While I appreciate the gesture, there is enough sugar in here to give Celestia diabetes. You seriously drink it like this?”

“Every morning,” he said with a smirk as he waited for her to put the pieces together. “Still, I figured you needed something to wash out that taste…”

“My charcoal and tar tastes just fine,” Midnight valiantly defended her atrocity to nature. “I wonder how you feel about this indirect kiss~” Hey, wait a minute... Did-did he make a joke again?

“Meh, I’d prefer a direct one to help top me off again, but seeing as your earlier reaction was to scream and hide from the big scary ‘ling in the room, I think I know the odds of that happening.” Level crunched the last few bits of his sugar cubes and sucked their pulverized remnants down.

Oh, he wanted to board the Pity Parade and send her off on a guilt trip? Fine, two can play at that! “So, you want some sugar huh?” her question sounded innocent, even her emotions said little... until her long, prehensile tongue snared a sugar cube and pulled it into her mouth as she stalked closer to him. The crunch of the sugar matched her footsteps, like a countdown to imminent doom. Once she stood in front of him, her forelegs suddenly lashed out and grabbed his cheeks, and she pulled him into a deep, sugary kiss.

Ledger blinked a few times before deciding that she was being sincere again, for some reason, and decided not to waste the moment. His forelegs snaked around her form and pulled her close, nearly snuggling his chest. And while his tongue wasn’t anywhere near as long as hers, it was interesting, wrestling with another weird tongue in his own mouth. The affection was nearly as sweet as the sugar.

Once she was satisfied that he was satisfied, she pulled back and licked her lips. “Like I said, I finish what I start~” she purred. “Mmm, now that is a breakfast that I like to eat. You should make it again tomorrow~”

“I could stay here and feed off your affection for me all day...wrong phrasing. You give off so much, I don’t feel the need to leave you,” the ‘ling clarified. “You’re just lucky the other ‘lings in the city know not to mess with me, otherwise they might try and impersonate me to get at your boundless well of care. Well...” here Ledger looked aside and chuckled as he considered something. “...one messes with me on a regular basis, but in a friendly manner.”

“I am weirdly okay with having more changeling friends,” Midnight nodded, blushing heavily as she reflected on what she just did. “I am a thestral, living with a changeling, and pretending to be dead... what is my life exactly?”

“For the next few days, boring, but as long as we keep each other fed, I don’t see a problem,” Ledger commented, still not letting go of the mare. “Huh. This...feels good.”

“My huggability has been confirmed to be quite high,” Midnight stated. “And I must admit that your chitin isn’t anywhere near as uncomfortable as I imagined.”

“Yeah...shame I have to go to work and deliver your letter, otherwise I could stay like this for a while,” Ledger commented, letting off a happy hum as he passively absorbed her abundant affection for him.

At least until she coughed awkwardly and pulled away. “Ah, right... guess you better go and lay claim to my murder huh?” Dammit, she was getting close to him again. And in the back of her mind... and the front, and also the sides were fighting a losing battle, she was becoming more and more okay with that idea.

“Right. Got your letter?” he asked of the batpony, unconsciously letting off an unhappy whimper as his friend pulled away.

“Yeah,” she replied as she motioned towards the envelope on the table. “I just hope they get it before Daddy does anything rash.”

“Define rash,” Ledger said as his horn started to glow, then blaze silver. “Do I have to worry about him coming in in the middle of the night to beat me to death with his bare hooves if he doesn’t learn you’re okay?”

“No, nothing quite so subtle. Just an entire legion of Princess Celestia’s Elite marching on the city. Maybe around a thousand or so..?” Midnight couldn’t be too sure.

“So basically, learn a time travel spell and mail this yesterday,” Ledger said as the spell left his horn and seemed to wipe the envelope clean.

“I marked it for extreme importance and they should send a specialist Pegasus to deliver it. If they’re quick and there’s no issues with the weather, he should have it in a few hours.” Midnight had caught the look on his face when she had let him go. It made her feel like she’d punted a puppy.

“Look, when you get home tonight. I think we should talk about a few things... things concerning us and where our friendship goes from here.”

“Tonight?” Ledger laughed slightly. “Because I had to kill those two goons and bury them in the desert when they went and tried to kill me after I followed orders, I’m going to request for the entire day off if possible. You’re gonna see me again real soon, I promise.”

“Oh?” Midnight had hoped she’d have a bit more time to think about things. “Okay... I guess I’ll see you soon then.”

“Hey,” Ledger said, putting a hoof under her chin. “I caught that. C’mon, what’s the problem? If it’s something I did, lemme know.”

“It’s nothing you did, I promise,” Midnight nodded. “It’s... complicated I guess, or I’m making it complicated. It’ll take a while to discuss. Go and be a good little delivery bug and lay claim to taking down a mare as awesome as me. We can talk soon.”

Ledger didn’t seem entirely convinced...but nodded and gave her a quick kiss on the muzzle, before shifting back to his unicorn disguise and giving her another kiss. “You can tell me which one you liked better when I come back,” he told her, walking out the door before she could properly answer.

Once he was gone and she had wrestled her blush back under her control, she stamped a hoof and shouted at the door. “Luna dammit Ledger! That isn’t fair!!”

“It’s done,” Ledger said, entering Toll’s office without knocking.

“Oh, I know,” Toll said, folding the paper over and displaying the headline. Body found in Guard armor. Totally burnt beyond recognition...except the wing bones did classify it as a member of one of the airborne race. “Most ponies, to this day, would see that and assume ‘Pegasus.’ But you and I...we know better.” She leaned back in her chair and made a tutting noise. “Ledger, why didn’t Kill-Switch or Bludgeon come in this morning?”

“Because they tried to kill me and take all the credit,” Ledger replied. “So it was me or them. If you really want them, they’re somewhere in the desert. Hope you have a sturdy shovel.”

Toll blinked a few times before leaning forward and cocking an eyebrow. “They got greedy for your credit?”

Ledger nodded. “You know how Kill-Switch was. And Bludgeon...wasn’t too bright either. Kill led, Bludge followed. I finished ‘em both with a blast through their throats.”

Toll Taker actually nodded at that, slowly, but let off a sigh as she did. “Damn. They were my best...well, at least you’ve proven you can be lethal if your life is on the line.”

“Yeah, well, I’d like the day to go over my things, make sure there’s nothing linking me back to any of them hanging around,” Ledger pressed. “I mean, I was shaking pretty bad back there. They were my first kills...I think I just need time to process it all as well, boss.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. I felt the same after my first few,” Toll replied, nodding towards the door. “Take it. But at least check in tomorrow, okay? Got something I’ll want you to look at. If you’re feeling up to it, of course.”

Level Ledger nodded and left. “Oh, and boss?”

“Yeah Ledge?”

“Take care, okay? We don’t know which way the Guard’s gonna react to our little message.”

The head of the company chuckled. “True...true. But let’s hope they take it the way I intended, eh?”

With that, the accountant left the building and did not relax until he was at least two blocks from the office. Heaving an explosive sigh, the stallion made quick time for Fredrick’s. He couldn’t be seen going anywhere near the Guard, so the gryphon was his best bet.

It only took him five minutes to reach the restaurant, and the stallion knocked on the door, loudly, before he entered. Before the bell even finished chiming, the gryphon was there, greeting him.

“Oh Level, such a delight to see you again!” the half-bird claimed.

“Fredrick, can I ask you for a favor?” the unicorn inquired, getting right to business. The avian of the pair tilted his head, but shrugged.

“I suppose so. What is it you need?”

The stallion floated out the blank envelope from his saddlebags and placed it on the podium. “I need you to deliver that letter to the post office sometime in the next now,” he said. “It’s under an illusion spell that’ll come off when you say the words…” Here he looked from side to side before leaning in and whispering to the bird. The gryphon nodded and picked the envelope up, giving the unicorn an odd look.

“When all is said and done, my friend, you will tell me the full story,” the gryphon vowed.

“Fine...but you’re buying the first round,” Level returned, causing the both of them to laugh.

With his chores completed, the stallion began the trek home next…

Midnight had paced around the room so much, she’d worn a track into the carpet. All day, she’d been thinking, deliberating and considering. Why. Was this. So bucking HARD!?

“It should be easy. It should be no problem at all... but nooooo!” she muttered irritably. “I had to go and fall in love with a bucking changeling!” It wasn’t that he was a changeling, it was the fact that despite all she’d promised herself, she still went and placed that kind of trust in a stallion she’d known for a week.

“Gah! What is this? Some cheap romance novel crap!? Love at first sight doesn’t exist, it’s propaganda crap invented by the card and chocolate companies and novel publishers!”

Fortuitously, Ledger only showed up after she’d had her little outburst. The front door opened and closed, and the unicorn walked into the living room and sighed. “I just bluffed so hard, I felt like I belonged at a high-stakes poker table,” the stallion said before collapsing. “I’m burnt out for the moment.”

Not so fortuitously, Midnight was so embroiled in her inner and verbally outer thoughts, she hadn’t noticed his entrance at first... until she saw a near unconscious unicorn on their table.

“Um... aren’t I the one that’s supposed to be dead?” she questioned. “Do you need a pick-me-up?”

He opened one eye in her direction and clarified his earlier statement. “I just told Toll Taker I took three lives without batting an eye and made her believe me. Even for me, that was not easy. Plus I got your letter smuggled to the post office. Some happy thoughts would be appreciated, yes.”

Happy thoughts. Yeah, she could do that. Her mind wasn’t a tornado of confusion, self-doubt and irritation. Nope.

“Um... fluffy bunnies and rainbows?”

“Yeah,” Ledger said, holding a hoof to his head. “On second thought, I’ll take my chances with the Strip. It might be uncomfortable, but I can always get food there just by walking past.”

“I’m sorry, I’m just really confused and I don’t know what I should do and now you’re upset and I can’t help and I’m a teerrrible maaareeeee!” Okay... now she was crying. And she’d been so distracted that she hadn’t noticed the silver flash or what it meant until she was being hugged against a familiar black shell.

“...Y’know the recommended job for most changelings that come to pony lands is a therapist?” Ledger tried to joke. “Wonder why.”

“Cause all ponies be crazy?” she chuckled weakly. “And this isn’t helping my dilemma you know?”

“Well, a wonderful little story I read once had a delightful piece of advice for these sorts of situations. Wanna hear it?” Midnight was curious and nodded. It couldn’t hurt right?

“‘Start at the beginning, and when you reach the ending, stop.’”

“That’s it?” Midnight deadpanned. She sighed and figured that there was no way out of this. She sighed again and looked down.

“Okay, look I may have a slight problem involving our current relationship.”

“Yeah, I figured that much,” Ledger replied, pulling that damn pamphlet out and twitching slightly as it brought back...memories. “Every night you teased me has been something that brought back things best left forgotten, in case you forgot about where this came from.”

“I found it earlier, and it made me re-think a lot of things,” Midnight sighed again, her tone sounding even more sad. “I’ve been a terrible friend and an even more terrible pony... I have no excuses for that.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Ledger retorted, hugging her a bit more. “You gave the changeling a chance to explain himself, rather than just fly off to find your superior officer and report a bug in the city. That makes you a pretty decent pony in my books.”

Midnight nodded and tilted her head back, looking up at him. “Look, you’ve been brutally honest with me about most things since I arrived. Do you mind if I return the favour?”

“Not at all,” he said. “Though I do hope you don’t mind if I ask a question first. Namely, when did you want me to let you go?”

“I’m good, it’s preventing me from bolting and putting this off even more,” she replied. She took a deep breath and exhaled. “Look, when I moved in, I thought you were introverted, kinda annoying and just a pony that shared regular space with me.” She paused for a moment and continued. “You were the last pony I thought I would be friends with, and yet... here we are.” She brushed a lock of her mane from her eyes and continued. “Over the last week, I’ve noticed that, while you’re still an introvert, you care a lot for anyone close to you... and even for those you barely know. You never questioned my appearance, but the reasons for that are plainly obvious now.”

“Yeah, kinda hard to judge based on appearances when you could literally be any pony you wanted to be,” Level observed with a small laugh. “I judge more based on who you are as a pony and what you’ve done to me and for me. Most ‘ling’s do...well, unless you have pupils. Then they judge you super hard.”

“And that’s the thing,” Midnight replied. “I didn’t. I judged you based on looks and what you said at first. You’re a better pony than me and you’re not even a pony.” She sighed again, hoping that didn’t sound too harsh. “And yet... and yet...” She rubbed her hooves together as she tried to work up the nerve. “Do you know what I’m like? That I like to have a good time? Sex is just... a means to achieve that. Nothing more. Love... I don’t want it. I don’t care for it...”

“Do you know why Chrysalis attacked?” Level asked quietly. Midnight shook her head.

“To gather energy for the changeling swarm right? That’s what she said as she gloated. That Equestria was an endless buffet for them.”

“She was going to rip the love and kindness out of every pony she could, using her army to do the actual dirty work,” Level explained. “And when she got back? Since love and its derivatives are so rare back home...she’d not only be named Queen of her own Hive...properly, that is. But she likely could have made a play for Queen of all Hives. We...don’t really experience love ourselves in our relationships these days. Normally, anyways.”

“I see,” she said. So that pretty much told her how he felt then. “I’m... a little more selfish in my reasons. My whole life, love was synonymous with obedience and servitude. A life where I simply followed orders that would dictate everything I did. I didn’t want that, I never want that,” she said. “And yet... here I am, talking and talking and avoiding the simple, plain fact that I find myself falling in love with you...”

“Drones back home are treated similarly to how you were,” Level explained. “At least, common ones. Nobles were treated only slightly better...to the point where it took me fifteen years to be drugged by pheromones and raped, then threatened to be killed once her parents came home. Most don’t last ten years with their virginity intact.”

Midnight had no response for that. Was that how the changelings were truly treated? No wonder he had nightmares most nights.

Yeah, she had sensitive hearing.

“So you can imagine I stopped looking for love or sex. I think I developed an immunity to our pheromones based on sheer terror. And when I came to this city, I only intended to stick around for as long as it took for me to read the library and move on. That...was months ago. I couldn’t get free of Toll Taker, because she knew. The day after the news hit us here, she pulled us all into her office, one-by-one, and tried the spell to remove a changeling’s disguise on us all. I’m the only one that showed up. And she’s kept me here because if I go anywhere, knowing what I know, she’ll make sure my second stop is back home, in Changeling Lands…” Here he shuddered again.

She held his hoof and nodded. She’d said what she needed to, so she patiently continued to listen to his story.

“So I waited here. I gathered intel. I kept hoping, praying, that one day I might break free of her web. When I first needed a roommate, I didn’t know what to think. And I will admit, when you said you were a Guardsmare...that I thought first of my freedom from my situation. But over the past week, you’ve stopped being just a Guard to me. You’ve become a very good friend of mine, someone I would trust with my heart...if I could only give it to you. Fear blocks all the paths. I would trust you with doing anything, but I can’t make the first move as long as I am haunted by that -” here he said a word in Changeish, and she could only assume it was a non-flattering description for his rapist.

“I-I don’t know if I can cure that,” she replied honestly. “I don’t know if anything I can do or say, can take those memories away.” She just continued to hold his chitinous hoof. “But... I’ll try. I can’t promise I’ll succeed, but I can at least try.”

“I’m already in a position I never thought I would seek a year ago,” Level said with a smile. “I’m holding a member of the female species and not screaming. Maybe we can work up to what she never did slowly?”

“Slowly... yeah, but,” she paused and looked back up at him. “What didn’t she do to you?”

“Care,” he said simply. “She never cared in her act of lust.”

“Oh, well... I can definitely do that,” Midnight nodded slowly, traces of emotion leaking from her. Relief, happiness, and of course... love.

“I know,” he said, before thinking the next bit to himself. I just hope you keep caring…

“Okay, myth or truth? Batponies suck the blood of anyone that crosses them under a full moon.”

They’d retired to the living room, and he was happily serving as something for her to lean against while he read a book. They were playing a new game, Myth or Truth, now, to get better acquainted with what the other one was. He’d lost count ages ago, and he knew most of these myths had been debunked thanks to his well-read habits...but he wasn’t backing out of the game now.

“Myth,” Midnight responded as she ate a grape. “We do have a special thing we can do on nights of a full moon that involves a bite, but no blood-sucking... ergh, gross!” She passed a grape up to his mouth with a wingtip as she smiled.

“Myth or Truth? Changeling’s can’t feed off the emotions of other Changelings or themselves.”

“Myth, but it should be truth,” Level said as he bent down to nom the grape. “Feeding off another changeling doesn’t give any extra ‘nutritional value’ as compared to feeding off a pony. And feeding off another Changeling without permission is highly taboo. Drain your fellow ‘ling too much and, well…” he drew a hoof across his neck to pantomime what he meant.

“Plus, if we could sustain ourselves, wouldn’t that be like masturbation?” he mused aloud. “We’d never show our real faces out of embarrassment.”

Midnight laughed heartily at that comment. “Wow, okay, you get points for that one.” She wiped a tear from her eyes and smiled. “Got any more?”

“Hmm, I did the whole sparkling one and turning to ash one,” he mused. “So how about...Myth or truth? Every batpony stallion in the Night Guard has thoroughly inspected the ‘dark side of the moon.’”

Midnight blinked. “Um, what do you-oh? Ooohhh~” She cackled again and shook her head. “I honestly don’t know. Maybe, maybe not? I certainly tried~”

“Good to know your Princesses are mortal enough to respond to your advances,” he snickered before picking up an apple in his magic and precisely cutting it in two. He passed one half to her and took the other for himself. “Your turn, I believe.”

She munched the apple half and hummed. It was tasty, but it was no mango. “Hmm, Changelings can’t transform into something that differs too greatly from their original size. Like a Breezie or a full-grown dragon.”

“It’s all a matter of magic,” Level said. “If you got a Royal hopped up on pure love, they could become either of those things and back again...but they’d need a few days to recover. Me? I could maybe imitate the Princesses. Stallion version, though, and I’d need at least half a stomach of food. Plus I make no promises on the wavy manes.”

Midnight Song made a mental note to see that. Sorry, Changeling coltfriend or not, the Princesses were hot. End of story.

“Now that is interesting,” she replied with a hint of mirth. “You have anymore? Wanna keep going?”

“As long as you’ve got questions regarding my race, I can pull out all sorts of myths regarding yours,” Level riposted. “So really, I should be asking you that.”

“I suppose,” Midnight replied, fishing for another grape only to realise she’d eaten them all. “Oh, I have one. Myth or Truth? Changeling poate înțelege orice limbă?”

“Not innately,” he said with a smirk. “Though because we can become anything, learning all sorts of languages are required if we’re going to blend in. Plus, we learn new languages really quick. Something about our brains helps with the process. At last count, I knew Pony, Griffon, and of course Changeish. I have a smattering of Zebra and Thestrali understanding, but I haven’t used them in ever, so they’re a bit rusty.”

“Hmm, maybe I could teach you some in exchange for learning Gryphon?” she suggested. Maybe playing with Fredrick in his own tongue would ruffle his feathers?

“Maybe,” Level said with a nod. “Though keep in mind, producing some of the sounds they use as vowels are pretty hard if you don’t have a beak. My turn, I think.” The changeling hummed while floating out a small bag of peaches from the kitchen. “Huh. You really went all-out at the market the other day.”

“You only just noticed?” she blinked, then remembered what they’d just been through. “Well, I guess things have been a little rough. Yeah, I kinda filled the fridge and also bought some dinnerware and a music player.”

“Depending on how things turn out, we may be able to continue living like this, or not. Really comes down to how careful or open we’re going to be with this,” he gestured towards himself. “Okay, Myth or Truth. If you stare too deeply into a batpony’s eyes, they can hypnotise you.”

“Okay, that’s a little of both. Hypnotising is a skill we can learn, but it takes a lot of practise and discipline, plus it doesn’t work on other Thestrals, so most never bother to learn it.”

“Interesting,” Level said aloud as he passed the peaches over to the mare. “Something I didn’t actually know. Most of the books just debunked the myths...guess not everything they wrote about Thestrals was correct.”

“A lot of ponies assume we’re vampires or something,” Midnight said as she bit into a peach. “And I can tell you that we may have spread a few rumors to scare ponies back in the day, so that’s where a lot it came from. But most of what you read in novels and stuff is crap.”

“Mm, fair enough...which only makes me wonder about the other things I’ve read,” Level said with a smirk. “Your turn, I think.”

“Okay, Truth or Myth? Changelings can learn any profession given enough training and practice.”

“Truth, but we’ll never be as good at it as somepony with a mark unless we put a lot of effort into it, or just have a knack for it ourselves.” The changeling grabbed a peach and bit into it carefully, making sure no juices dripped from his maw. After swallowing, he finished his explanation. “We think something about the marks themselves lends a bit of magic to the ponies, and we’ve tried for ages to replicate their effects...without success. Ergo, it is highly recommended to become a psychiatrist, so that we can use our natural abilities of emotion-sensing without drawing suspicion, or something you’re good at.”

“Huh? I wonder if all lawyers are changelings as well?” she wondered aloud. “Remind me to question our psyche back at the castle...”

“I can neither confirm nor deny that changelings have set up or infiltrated several law firms to help with the painless and speedy entrance and exit to and from pony lands,” Level said with a wink. “Nor can I tell you which ones they might be.”

“Hmm, I wonder if I should tell the Princess this valuable information?” she smiled, and giggled when she saw his raised eyebrow. “Not that I would of course... as treasonous as it may be.”

“Most ‘lings want to just live and let live,” Level said with a sigh. “You would not believe the amount of drones that apply to leave. Some days I think it’s only because I’m a noble that I got out…”

“Well that or it’s because of your charming personality and stunning good looks hmm?” Song winke and poked him in the side. Level snickered at the touch, cheering up a bit.

“Alright, alright, lemme think…” Grabbing the next-to-last peach, the drone hummed as he thought of a suitable question. “Hmm...Myth or Truth? Some Thestrals, while not literally combusting in the sunlight, simply can’t stand the daylight.”

“Truth,” Midnight nodded, snaring the last peach with her long tongue. “I know a guy who has an allergy to sunlight, so he can’t go out at all. He says he hasn’t seen the sun in years, I mentioned that Princess Celestia’s flanks are kinda hard to miss~”

“Oh goodness,” Level started to laugh. “Let’s just hope she didn’t hear that herself.”

“She was standing right there... not to worry, she has a wicked sense of humor though,” Midnight smiled. Level lit his horn up once they’d devoured their latest snacks and floated in a bag that set Midnight’s mouth watering the second she smelled what it was. Or rather, what was in it.

Midnight suddenly lunged, using the unsuspecting changeling as a springboard she leapt at the bag and grabbed it out of the air, hitting the ground and tumbling across the floor.

“My precioussss~” she hissed. “MY MANGOES!!!”

“Well now I know what to get you for a birthday present,” Level commented wryly as he floated a sugar cube in for himself.

Midnight looked at the bag, then at the changeling sitting on the couch. She bit her lip and then made a decision, one that would shake the foundations of Equestria to it’s very core. It was an event that would be sung by bards for generations, told for all eternity in the annals of history.

She sat in front of him and with wide eyes, she held up a single fruit.

“Mango?” she asked him.

In response, the changeling made a gurgling noise, held one hoof over his chest, and fell over. “Too...cute…” he choked out before making a ‘bleh’ noise and falling limp. Midnight blinked and then smiled wickedly.

“And now I have all the mangoes to myself. Works every time~” Just then, Midnight noticed a fruit floating past her, coated in a silvery aura. “Well, almost every time...” She swung for the fruit, but it danced around her hooves and out of her reach.

“You’re not getting all of them,” Level said as he righted himself and brought the fruit in for a landing in his hooves. “But seeing as how you like them so much, I will leave the rest alone.”

“That would be most wise and I appreciate that. I also approve of your self-preservation skills.” Midnight smiled sweetly, but that smile promised painful death if anypony messed with her mangoes.

“I believe it’s your turn,” Level said as he made sure the first mango she went for wasn’t the one in his grip. Midnight pondered on this for a while, nomming on her mango.

“Well, before you said your Princess transformation would be male. So, Myth or Truth? Changeling transformations are genderlocked.”

Level paused for a moment before waving one hoof in a ‘so-so’ manner. “Some of both, but mostly Truth. Skilled enough shifters can be whichever gender they want to be, though, in the same sense that some just can’t shift at all and need to use illusions. Typically you have to be at least Noble to have a chance at gender-shifting, along with the proper training. Common drones and nymphs have almost no shot. I simply...prefer not to be female.”

Oh, right. She’d forgotten about that gynophobia of his. “Hmm, I wonder what a stallion version of me would look like?” she wondered aloud. Level smirked and lit up his horn in response. Midnight’s eyes widened and she grinned.

“Do it! I dare you!”

With a silver flash, the changeling on the couch was replaced with a male Thestral. One that if you didn’t know any better, could be Midnight’s fraternal twin. It looked almost exactly like her, from tail to muzzle...which was one of the few indicators that Midnight wasn’t looking at an exact copy of herself, the fact that his muzzle was blockier than hers. The only other immediately obvious sign was that the mane was cropped far shorter. Level opened his barely altered eyes and tested his new bat wings by flapping them once before pulling a face.

“Meh. I prefer my changeling wings,” he said. “More maneuverability. Took me ages to learn how to imitate a Pegasus, much less a Thestral.”

Midnight was lost for words at first. She looked him over, humming and ‘ahh’ing. Every inch of him was under severe scrutiny, until she stepped back and nodded. “Okay, it's decided. Mare or Stallion... I am sooo bucking hot!” She tapped her chin and smiled. “If I kiss you, is it classed as masturbation?”

“Depends on if you go blind or not,” Level riposted, before sticking his tongue out in front of his face and crossing his eyes to look at it. Said eyes widened slightly as he sucked his new appendage back in. “How do you live with that thing?!”

“It takes a lot of practise to move it around like I can,” Song informed him. “I’m surprised it isn’t just hanging out with you. You seem to have some skill~”

“It’s been a while since my Thestral lessons,” Level admitted. “But once I shifted into one, some things just came back to me. I remembered to be careful with my tongue for some reason, and only recently recalled why.”

“Oh?” her ears perked up. She’d seen some great stuff in her day, like a Thestral tripping over their own tongue. That never got old. “Do tell~”

“Meh, mostly none of us can figure out why you need such a long tongue, but we can’t not have one, otherwise the entire disguise is a bust. Also, the difference between your wings and a Pegasi’s makes it really hard to just learn one style of flying that works for both of them.” The male thestral shrugged then. “Even if it did take me a few times to work out tongue mechanics, once I got them down, I didn’t have any problems using it for normal stuff.”

“Ah, to be honest, I don’t really know either. Our tongues are used for plucking fruit off of trees and whatnot. I guess evolution let us keep them for reasons.” She let her tongue out and displayed how much control she had over it’s dexterity before pulling it back in. “Just... just imagine what I can do with that~”

Ledger blinked a few times before shrugging. “No clue. Should I know?”

“Surely you’ve at least read books on the subject?” Midnight replied with a small whine. That said, if she ever... Oooh, he would be in for one hay of a treat~

“I picked up a copy of the Pony Sutra once. Once. I put it right back down once I opened it,” Ledger deadpanned. “Too many memories.”

“Saying that while cosplaying as me is a terrible thing indeed,” Midnight sighed. “A great misdeed has been shown to the world. Equestria may never recover...”

“Meh, they’ll get over it,” Ledger shrugged. “Mmm...unless you want me to stay like this for any reason, I might just revert. Feels...right, being my normal self around you.”

“Go right ahead, you fail at being me as you are now anyway,” Midnight said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “But fear not, as your good friend, I shall endeavour to show you that mares can be cute and cuddly.”

With a silver flash, the slightly-larger-than-her noble drone was back in place on the couch, nibbling at the mango he’d liberated from her. “Mmm...that promises to take a while. Like I said, I’m...not willing to make any moves on my own. But I do trust you.”

“And I’ll not betray that trust,” she said. “Also, you should try that as a thestral sometime. Just sayin’.”

“Eh, I’ll take love and sweets any day,” the changeling retorted. “Failing that, I have a batpony to munch on.” With a mischievous grin, he lit his horn up and used his magic to pull Midnight close. Midnight squealed from the sudden grab and pouted at him.

“Again, that can be taken a multitude of ways Mr. Level!” She sighed as she allowed him to hug her again. “I sometimes wonder if you actually know more than you let on.” She got her answer when he made little ‘nom’ sounds and ran his fangs through her fur in a mockery of him actually ‘eating’ her.

She giggled and decided that he was also extremely cute like this. She purred lightly as he scritched her with his fangs. It seems she had found something new that she liked. Eventually, he stopped and just held her close, sighing as he felt very full from both the fruit and her emotions. “You realize, of course, I can read your emotions at any given state and know how you feel about me?” he questioned.

“I know, so how do I feel now?” she sighed, leaning against him.

“Like, trust, care, affection...and of course an undercurrent of lust that just seems to be a part of you,” he replied. “All these things have come together, and the spark is there...but you yourself aren’t sure. So I’m leaving it alone and waiting to see how and if it develops. If it does without any more influence on my part...then you can see about getting me to return it to such depths.”

“I have time,” she said. “As long as it takes... I’ll be right here.” A small frown creased her brow as she pondered on what would happen after Toll was arrested. “I’ll... be right here...”

Author's Note

All hail the fluffy chapters!
They will serve as nice padding between times of 'action'.

Chapter Seven - Don't blow it out of scale

Grissom Gossamer, a battle-hardened Thestral and head of the Canterlot Royal Council. In his long years, he had seen just about everything, from the return of several dangerous deities, to the ascension of a young unicorn into a graceful Alicorn.

As far as what ponies were capable of, he’d seen the best and he’d seen the worst. Equine kind was far from perfect, and the prosperity they enjoyed could also make one greedy, always wanting for more.

Right now? He sat at his large desk, a newspaper clasped in his shaking hooves. It told of a report that had made the front page, of the brutal murder and burning of a winged equine in guard armour. The thing was, if it had been a pegasus, their innate magic would have made them a little resistant. There would have been burnt feathers found.

There was only one other species of winged equine. And of that particular race, only one was in Las Pegasus...

But it couldn’t be true, there was no possible way something like this could have happened. She was too careful, too strong... There was... no way...

He slowly placed the paper on his desk, his breath was ragged and his eyes held one emotion.

Pure. Unbridled. Rage!

Whoever did this? They would suffer the same fate. Grissom would see them BURN!!

He was so caught up in preparing to march on Las Pegasus, he failed to see the beautiful unicorn enter the room. She watched him with an amused smile until he finally took note of her presence.

“Moon Song,” he rasped, his voice could barely take form. “Our... our little girl... she..”

“Is just fine,” Moon said with a bright smile. She placed a letter on the table, one that had already been opened and read by the unicorn. “I received this an hour ago.” Grissom all but snatched the note as his golden eyes scanned the page. After re-reading it for about the dozenth time, he placed it back on the table and sighed, a great weight lifting from his shoulders.

“Is this true, is this letter truly written by her?”

“It’s her mouthwriting, and my mother’s intuition is never wrong. While in a difficult situation, our little girl is just fine~”

He sighed again as he fell into his chair, the mare moving to rub the built-up tension from his shoulders.

“Alright, I knew she wouldn’t be taken from us so easily, but still... that was quite the scare!”

“And now you know how I’ve felt about your time with the Guard,” she said in a sweet tone, as her hooves pinched his shoulders hard. “And yet you said I was a fool to worry...”

“Ah! Owowow, okay! I get it!” he winced.

She released her grip and smiled again. “Still, we should pay her a visit once this is all over. She has a lot of explaining to do.”

“That she does,” Grissom agreed as he read the letter once more. His gaze turned to a steely determination and he frowned again. This time in annoyance. “I intend to find out exactly who this ‘Level Ledger’ is and why she outlined his name with hearts!”

“I thought I was supposed to be the one feeding off of you,” the changeling commented as he read the newspaper. “Yet when I come home and you think I’m not looking, you’re the one that attaches yourself to me.”

“I have no idea what you mean,’ Midnight said as she clung to his back. “I was taking a nice walk on the ceiling and you just happened to walk in as I felt like getting down. Pure coincidence. Nothing more.”

“That was five minutes ago,” Ledger replied, not taking his eyes off the paper. “You could just come out and say you want to cuddle, rather than try and sneak them in.”

“But my way is so much more fun~” she pouted and whined. “C’mon, cut me some slack. Being dead is reeeeeaaaly boring~”

“So is being pounced every other hour,” Ledger returned as he turned the page of the paper. “Gets boring and predictable. Though if you ask nicely, I might return the cuddle.”

Song suddenly loosed her grip and shifted to one side, effectively swinging vertically and hanging from his belly. She crawled up so her forehooves were wrapped around his neck, her legs around his waist.

“Hugs?” she blinked. Ledger sighed and put the paper to one side before smiling and sitting on his haunches, drawing the Thestral in for a hug.

“Fine, hugs,” he returned, holding her close and basking in the sensations.

“Toldya that my huggability cannot be denied~” she giggled, never failing to be surprised on how warm he was, despite the thick chitin.

Dear Mom and Dad

If you’re reading this, then don’t worry, despite what you may hear or read, I’m totally not dead. Just... pretending to be dead. (It’s a looooong story)

Things have gotten complicated here in Las Pegasus, and please trust me when I say that I’m doing this for a very good reason. The life of a friend depends on it!

So Daddy? Please don’t do anything rash! I have everything under control and all this should be wrapped up in a week or so. Honestly, being dead is fun, like a vacation only I’m stuck inside.

And Momma? Make sure Daddy listens to this letter and doesn’t do anything rash anyway. I’m counting on you to keep him in line like always~

Also, I’m living with this great guy. His name is ❦Level Ledger❦ and he’s just about my bestest friend ever~ He’s a little different than most stallions I’ve met before, but trust me when I say that he’s a great bu-guy I meant guy!

Aaaanyway, lotsa love and I’ll see you guys again soon!

All the love.

~Midnight Song~

“I-I don’t even...” Grissom sighed and facehooved, a reaction he’d taken everytime he’d read the letter. “And this... this ‘Ledger’ fellow? She’s seems...” Words seemed to fail him at the moment.

“Smitten?” his wife suggested. “It appears to be the case. And what of this little slip here? While as adorable as it is, it means something... something our dear Midnight doesn’t want us to know~”

Grissom stared at the line. ‘Bu’ What on Equus could it mean? Boyfriend? No, she’d have just said that if that were the case. Then a thought occurred, one that disturbed him greatly. He pressed a button and buzzed in his assistant.

“File! Get the list of known infiltrators. The LP one!”

“Yessir!” she said with a bow and left the room. Grissom stared back at the letter and frowned. Just what had his little girl gotten herself into. File quickly returned and Grissom scanned the list, his scowl deepening with each page. None of them, none of them with ‘Level Ledger’ or any mix of those words were listed as registered or on the watch list.

Which meant he was either jumping to conclusions, or that this was an unregistered one. And both thoughts were quite concerning.

“Just what are you doing Midnight?” he muttered.

“Midnight...what are you doing?...” Ledger asked as he backed up slowly. Midnight stalked closer and licked her lips.

“Hmmm, I’m just curious...what does chitin tastes like? It sorta looks like licorice. So I’m bored and curious and that is a dangerous combination.”

“Along with that undercurrent of lust in your being, yes, yes it is all a dangerous combination,” Ledger pointed out as he unknowingly scooted even closer to the wall. “I don’t think I like where you’re looking, Midnight…”

“Hmm, well I wonder if the silver and black parts have different flavours,” she replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “You’re sweet on the inside, let’s see about the outside~”

Ledger’s flank hit the wall, and he instinctively turned to look, making the foolish mistake of taking his eyes off the Thestral mare for even a second. By the time he turned back, she was already in mid leap, hooves outstretched and ready to taste a changeling...

Until the door opened and interrupted her trajectory, the thestral slamming into it painfully. Captain Narrow walked in, sparing a glance at the dizzy bat.

“Uh, should-should I be wondering what that was all about?” Fortunately, during her moment of distraction, Ledger had redonned his disguise.

“She’s just got cabin fever,” the now-a-unicorn said. “So...what’s up? Why’d you break quarantine?”

Narrow looked at him. What was that flash just now? Well, whatever. “It’s Toll... she’s, well it appears she’s up to something. Our guards reported a lot of activity at the central warehouse earlier today. Do you have any idea what she might be up to?”

“Central...activity…” Ledger pursed his lips, before his eyes widened and he cursed. Something in Gryphon seemed appropriate. “Oh that bitch! That’s where she kept the foals! She’s moving them because we damaged her network too badly! Captain, if you can stop that cargo at all, I suggest you do so! You may not be able to tie it back to her if I know her, but you’d be able to reunite those families!”

“Then we have to move fast!” Narrow said. “If we do this, our hooves have been forced and there will be no going back. You... may not have a job to go back to after this Ledger.”

“No, there’s a plan,” Ledger said, mind whirling. “There’s always a plan. Have a pegasus fly over and catch sight of the logo on the boxes. They aren’t her logos, but they are shell companies owned by her. You can claim you were watching them and can bust them. I can still fulfill my role tomorrow. We can still do the original plan and this one.”

“Alright, I’ll mobilise a squad and move out.” She gave the unicorn a hard stare and nodded. “I’m trusting you on this one Level. Is that trust being misplaced?”

“I have to make Toll trust me tomorrow and hide all signs of anything going awry while you pull off the biggest simultaneous bust in this city’s history. I’m trusting you just as much,” Level replied. “If either of us fail, we’re dead.”

Narrow nodded, while she already knew as such, it never hurt to have confirmation every now and then. She looked at the dizzy thestral, who had slowly picked herself back up.

“Urgh! Who hit me and can I hit ‘em back...” she mumbled, rubbing her head.

“Later,” Narrow said. “Sergeant Midnight Song! Can you be counted on to keep this unicorn safe and sound? To ensure that no harm would come to him should things go pear-shaped?”

Song allowed herself a silent giggle. If only the Captain knew... Still...

“Of course Ma’am! No harm will befall him. On my blade, this I swear!”

“Mm, good girl,” Narrow nodded. As long as Midnight was watching over him, she could direct the rest of her troops without having to worry. “Alright, it seems I have a lot to do. Best of luck tomorrow you two!”

The door closed behind the captain as she left, and this time, Ledger made sure it was locked before sighing and dropping his disguise again. “Well...that was a close one,” he observed.

“Mmhmm,” Midnight nodded as she licked her lips. “Now... where was I~?”

“Uh, granting me mercy?” Ledger weakly attempted to lie his way out. Midnight chuckled and waved a hoof.

“Oh, silly Ledger... that’s cute~ Now hold still, this’ll only take a moment~”

The drone let off a panicked yelp and attempted to dive out of the way...poorly.

“Express to Las Pegasus? Should only take a moment to punch that up. Gonna need a name, though,” the colt behind the ticket counter said.

“Grissom Gossamer and Moon Song,” the stalwart thestral stallion replied. “We request a private carriage, in the name of her Highness, Princess Celestia.”

The colt looked at a list of names in his booth, nodded, and punched a few keys before tearing a pair of train tickets off the roll and holding them in one hoof. “Normal fare for two to Las Pegasus, six bits. Express fare, twelve bits. Private car, would be eighteen, but royal privilege cuts that off entire. Still, twelve bits.” He held his other hoof out expectantly. Grissom paid up and nodded to his wife, who grabbed ahold of the tickets with her magic. They headed for the train, which sounded it’s departure whistle soon after.

“So what do you suppose is waiting for us?” Moon asked her husband.

“A stallion who had better have the purest of intentions,” Grissom growled. And he’d better not be what I think he is…

The ride was blessedly short, as the express train stopped for nothing on its way to the Sin City of Equestria. Within a matter of hours, the thestral stallion and his unicorn wife were stepping off onto the Las Pegasus platform, rotating a few joints to get the kinks out that hours of sitting still had given them.

Several stallions had taken notice and began to stare, seeing as how Moon Song was simply beautiful. Platinum blonde locks against a coat was was as white as pure driven snow. Then they noticed the stocky thestral stallion next to her and decided that there were suddenly much less dangerous things to stare at.

“Must you be so intimidating?” Song sighed as they stepped off of the platform and out into the street. “They’ll do no harm by looking you know.”

“This is Las Pegasus, I’ll not put it past them,” Grissom grumbled. “Now, should we head to the station to find our daughter?”

“No need,” Moon smiled and produced the letter. “She was kind enough to put a return address~”

“Our dead daughter sends a returnable letter?” Grissom sighed as she checked a map and made off for the apartment. “Only she can pull off something like that...”

*~*

Midnight suddenly sneezed, spraying mango juice all over Level.

“...You’re just lucky carapace is extremely easy to clean,” the changeling grumbled as he moved to stand up from the couch. “Back in a minute.”

*~*

Once the couple had reached the building, Grissom was the first to enter and noticed the landlord sitting behind the counter, newspaper in his grasp. Grissom’s eyes twitched as he recognised him from the dossiers he’d read during the trip. He cleared his throat to garner attention…

The Earth Pony behind the desk lowered his paper and raised his eyebrow at the couple. “Ah, hello. Renting? Or visiting?”

“Level Ledger! Where is he, changeling!” Grissoms tone was curt and short. He had no time for games. The stallion behind the desk sighed and put both his forehooves on the table.

“You know the terms of our agreement,” he said. “I can neither confirm-” here his right hoof tapped the table, “-or deny” left hoof this time, “that any of my tenants may or may not” right hoof, “be changelings as well.”

Grissom opened his mouth, but was shushed by Moon Song. The graceful unicorn stepped forward and smiled gently. “Forgive my husband,” she said sweetly. “He’s a tad upset and seems to have misplaced his manners. We are trying to find our daughter, Midnight Song, as was informed she is staying with a Level Ledger here. May we be directed to her apartment please?”

“Of course you can, and as I understand it, there are several extenuating circumstances regarding his story,” the Earth pony said as he made a show of checking his book. “You should really ask him about them, get the story yourself. Ah...here we are.” The landlord looked back at the unicorn and raised his eyebrow again. “Promise to keep him reigned in?”

“I will endeavour to try,” Moon replied with her ever-present smile. “He’s a bit of a grump, but he’s a nice stallion.”

“I’ll be nice when I find my little girl,” Grissom grumbled under his breath.

“204, and do try not to disturb the other tenants too badly,” the landlord informed the couple. Moon Song nodded once more as Grissom had already made a beeline for the stairs. He was going to get to the bottom of this.

Moon just sighed, hoping she wouldn’t have to help hide the bodies...

Midnight had retired to her room for a bit, wanting a power nap after eating half the kitchen out of sheer boredom. She’d just closed her door when somepony knocked on their main door, the object shaking slightly due to the loose hinges. Level stepped out of his bedroom, the shower having only taken a moment, along with the drying.

“I’m getting more visitors in one day than I have in one month before you moved in,” the ‘ling observed, before putting his disguise back on. When he opened the door, a smiling unicorn mare greeted him.

“Ah, hello sir,” she smiled. “Might you perchance be Level Ledger?”

“I am indeed,” he said, his horn already lighting up as he fetched some ink and parchment for use out of the direct sight from anyone that might be watching him. “Might I ask who you are?” He already had an idea...

Before the mare could reply, a large thestral stallion pushed past her, baring down on the slightly smaller unicorn stallion. His eyes were filled with an emotion quite commonly referred to as either rage, or great annoyance. It was difficult to tell.

“Where. Is my. Daughter!?”

“I only got the news myself when she flew out, didn’t come back, and showed up in the morning’s paper,” the unicorn said, displaying a note hovering over his back for them to see. Play along. Walls might have ears. She’s fine. “I assume you are Midnight Song’s parents, then. I am terribly sorry for your loss.”

Grissom said nothing. He turned to his wife who offered a solemn nod in return. The quill was yanked from his grasp by her magic and added a footnote.

Inside. I will cast a barrier.

The unicorn in front of them nodded and re-took control of the quill. That’s fine. But like I said. Play along. “If you want to come in to take her things, or hear about her time with me, I would not mind too much. I’ll even make dinner for the pair of you.”

“That... would be kind,” Moon sniffed, her acting was flawless. Ledger could feel the sadness emanating from her. The pair followed him in and her mood flipped like a switch, her horn lighting up as the walls flashed gold for a moment.

“There, Beta-level barrier is set up,” she smiled. “One of my specialties really. Nopony will hear us now.”

“Excellent,” Ledger smirked, before drawing in a deep breath and putting it to the test right away. “MIDNIGHT SONG, ARISE FROM YOUR GRAVE! YOUR PARENTS ARE HERE!” There was a groan from her room as a sleepy thestral walked in slowly, rubbing her eyes with a hoof.

“Level.. would you please shut the hell... up...?” Her eyes widened as a white unicorn spear-tackled her with a hug, sending the two tumbling across the ground. “GAH! Mom!?”

Grissom had remained silent, though his expression had softened greatly. He would have hugs eventually, but right now? Nopony escaped from a Moon hug.

“And now that she’s distracted,” Ledger said, turning to Grissom. “Hmm. I’m thinking macaroni, cheese, and potato casserole for dinner,” he said. “Any objections?”

“I’m thinking broiled unicorn,” he replied tersely. “We have more important things to discuss right now, rather than dinner plans.” He took a step towards him, his scowl deepening. “Like why my daughter is classified as DEAD!!”

“And she can tell you about that, or we can talk about that, over dinner,” the unicorn stressed, not intimidated in the slightest. He worked with Toll Taker, after all. “Something like what I just outlined takes a lot of prep work. Plus I know better than to let Midnight help in the kitchen anymore. So while I do that, you can squeeze her for information. Sound fair?”

Grissom sighed as he watched his daughter and wife embrace... or she was strangling the young Thestral. One of the two.

"Fine," he simply uttered. Level gave him a smile and all but vanished into the kitchen, leaving the family to reunite after one of their supposed deaths.

"Urk! Mom... can't....breathe..." Midnight croaked out before she croaked for real. Moon Song finally let her go and smiled.

"So, have you learned not to worry us so much?"

"I think so, yes..." Midnight wheezed, clutching her probably broken ribs. "I missed you guys though," she smiled as her father moved in for a more normal hug. "I'm sorry you got so worried..."

"Well it's a good thing you sent that message," Grissom said, his tone considerably brighter now "I was about ready to send the army here..."

"Awww~ I love you too Daddy," Midnight giggled, returning his embrace. “And sending the army would not have been such a good idea... we have a very technical plan in place. Just trust me okay?”

“I always have,” Grissom sighed and smiled warmly. “So how does you pretending to be dead have to fit in with this plan?”

“Well... explaining that might take a while. So let’s wait for Lev to finish his awesome cooking and we’ll discuss it then.”

“Speaking of~” her mother cooed, pulling her daughter back into a less deadly hug. “Just how do you know that handsome colt and is he yours yet~?”

“M-Mom!?” Midnight blushed a deep red and sighed. “It’s... kinda complicated with him. He’s the one that rents this apartment and we’re just friends for the moment. We have to sort out this little dilemma regarding Pegasus Air first. Then... then we can sort other things out.”

Grissom laughed at that response. “Well now, this is the first time I’ve heard you so reserved about a stallion. Maybe he’s a good thing for you after all~”

“DAD!” Midnight growled and pounced, the two wrestling on the floor hissing and play-fighting... well Grissom was playing, Song was trying to murder him.

“Ah, this brings back memories~” Moon sighed wistfully as she looked towards the kitchen. “Oh Ledger dear? Do you require an extra set of hooves at all?”

“Not at the moment,” the unicorn said as he walked out, horn aglow. “Just melting the cheese now. After that, all I need to do is put everything together in a pan and set it to bake. This is one that Fredrick admits I’m better at than him, at least.”

“It pays to have magic at times,” Moon smiled knowingly. “Well regardless, do sing out if I can assist.”

“Ahhh, what I wouldn’t give for one of your meals again,” Midnight sighed, having wrestled her father into submission. “There’s something to be said for homemade meals. It just has something that no restaurant can compete with.”

“You are too kind dear,” Moon Song smiled, as she had a small dig through the records that Midnight had bought. She gasped slightly as she pulled one out. “Midnight dear, is this my record?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah... I saw it when I was out shopping. I was gonna show Level when I had time, but the topic hadn’t really come up yet.”

“I see,” Moon Song smiled happily. “That means a lot dear.”

Midnight nodded as her stomach gave a loud growl. “Urgh! Level.... Hungry...~” she whined, her tail wagging back and forth.

“The actual dinner won’t be ready for quite some time,” Level said, shaking his head. “But if everyone is amicable, I can prepare a small snack of fried spinach beforehand. Garlic and olive oil really do wonders for such a simple leaf.”

“That sounds lovely,’ Moon replied. “Thankyou for being such a gracious host Level dear.”

“Not a problem at all, but if you could, please have her curb her eating habits? With only one of us currently ‘alive’ at the moment, I’m not sure I’ll be able to feed her for much longer,” the stallion commented with a small grin. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear she was pregnant, the way she’s going through the fridge.”

Both Moon and Grissom paused and the unicorn stallion suddenly had two concerned parents in his face, one looking quite excited, the other wondering how many ways he could be dissected.

“I did say, ‘if I didn’t know any better,’” he clarified. “While I might not be privy to any of her apparently promiscuous past, I myself have done nothing more intensive than hug her.”

Grissom ‘humphed’ while Moon Song looked a little dejected.

“Darn, and here I was hoping for some grandfoals... Midnight? When are you going to settle down and get married?”

“When I’m not dead?” she replied back. “Besides, kinda busy with being a Guard, you know? For Princess and country and all that? I don’t have time to get married and raise foals.” Moon was about to respond, but Midnight raised a hoof. “Look, we’re not talking about this now. I’m stressed enough as is.”

Moon sighed, her daughter was right of course, and she didn’t want to upset her again. “All I’m saying is that you should consider it, you’re still young, but time has a way of catching up on you.”

Midnight just thunked her head onto the table, with Grissom giving a hearty chuckle. Moon glared at him, her ever-present smile just making it all the more terrifying.

“And just what is so amusing?”

“Well,” Grissom chuckled. “We did tell her that her life was her decision to make after all. We can’t really argue with her on that front can we?”

Moon just pouted and Midnight nodded. She knew she loved her dad for a reason. The smell of fried spinach started to waft in from the kitchen as Level just sat there, horn glowing as he observed a family so unlike, yet eerily similar to his own interact with one another. Midnight spied him out of the corner of her eye and motioned for him to come closer.

“You can come in, they won’t bite... I think?” Midnight giggled. Level chuckled as well before bringing four plates of the fried greens out for the ponies and himself to enjoy.

“It’s simple, yet it never lasts whenever it’s made,” Ledger pointed out. “I always prepare to put some away, yet it always vanishes before it gets there.” He took a seat at the couch in the living room and started to nibble at his own plate, horn still glowing as he prepared the main course from afar.

“Especially so now that I’m here~” Midnight giggled, apparently quite proud of her gluttony. She took a heaped serving, only to have her hooves slapped by her mother. “Ow! What the hay Mom?”

“You will wait for everypony else dear,” she chided her. “Seeing as how you’ve already eaten recently.”

“Awww...” Midnight pouted, knowing there was no resisting her mother’s stern stare. Once everypony else had plated up, she finally got to have at it, and simply grabbed the bowl that the spinach was in... and again was slapped for it.

“Midnight Song, show some manners.” Moon chided again. “Some ponies might like seconds, so eat in moderation dear.”

Midnight sighed, pushing the bowl back and taking a smaller serving. “Yes Mom...”

With a final burst from his horn, Level stopped casting and nodded. “And that’s dinner in the oven. Should only take it about half-an-hour to finish baking.” The unicorn took another bite of the delicious greens and looked from Midnight to her family, enjoying the love they shared for one another, and refraining from touching it - barely.

“Well we have some time,” Grissom said. “Can you explain what’s been happening Midnight?”

The thestral mare offered a look to Ledger, as if asking if she should tell them the whole story, minus the whole ‘Changeling’ thing. With a soft shake of his head, Level spoke up instead.

“It’s really simple when you understand one basic fact, Sir,” Level said as he cleared his mouth. “I’m the bookkeeper for Pegasus Air, and I’m trying to change that.”

“I see, so you’re attempting an inside job then?” He’d seen his fair share of this before. “That’s risky... you got some guts kid, I’ll give you that.”

“Yes, well, with all the troubles Toll has been experiencing lately, she ordered me to kill my roommate, on suspicion that the leak was a combination of me taking my work home with me and her stealing it and giving it to her fellow Guards,” Level said before taking another bite and motioning at Midnight with a hoof for her to pick up the story.

“And well, disguising a dummy and burning it was my idea actually,” Midnight continued. “While it wasn’t my most... well thought out plan, it was the only way I could see that didn’t require putting Level in protective custody or getting him killed. It only occured to me after that you guys would panic.”

“Well, I agree it was not a well-thought plan,” Grissom nodded. “But it was an excellent display of quick-thinking, wit, and you made it quite believable. You’re becoming quite the mare Midnight.”

“Eheh~’ Midnight blushed and giggled, as Level could feel the ego rolling off of her. “I am pretty danged amazing huh?”

“Lets not get ahead of ourselves,” Grissom stated as he finished his food. “Now, the question is, how long do you intend to keep up this charade?”

“Just until tomorrow when I punch out,” Level said as he polished off his plate as well. “I have the job of distracting Toll and making her trust me while the LPPD and local Guard pull out all her legs from under her.”

“So a risky ‘do-or-die’ mission huh?’ Grissom let out a low chuckle when he remembered who was in charge of the Guard here. “Captain Narrow... she’s got a pair bigger than most stallions I know. Hmm, I wonder if I could-”

“Not a snowball’s chance in Tartarus!” Both Midnight and Moon Song snapped. “You are not joining in on this!”

“Aw c’mon, I’m not that old!” Grissom grumbled. Both mares giggled, giving him a patronising pat on the withers.

“Age doesn’t seem to be a factor, I’ve observed that mares always seem to want to protect their stallions,” Level said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Midnight doesn’t like the idea of me going back tomorrow.” Now if only the Hives would adopt something similar...

“Because you’re a civvie!” Midnight argued, not wanting to display the real reason she was worried. “I have no idea what that psycho mare is capable of!”

“Your concern is touching, but ill-placed in this circumstance,” Level said with a grin that was only a touch too wide. “If she were to actually try something, I’d be more than willing to demonstrate on her all the things I know about how to mess with unicorns.”

“Being one helps dear,” Moon nodded. “But mares can be tricky, especially one’s with magic.”

“And I saw her mess up a pretty decent-sized stallion with a single hoof,” Song argued. “I’m still worried, but I’ll be there to back you up... out of sight of course.”

“Well then I am no longer worried,” Moon replied with a chipper smile. “You seem to have a fine guardian angel on your side Mr. Ledger.”

“Now if only she would stop draping herself across my withers every other hour, I might be able to get things done,” Ledger grumbled, but winked at Midnight. “Seriously, you know she only has one thing on me. Imagine what I can do when I’m not afraid of her anymore.”

That raised a few warning flags in Grissom’s mind as he leant forward. “And exactly what does she have on you? I will not place my daughter in danger!”

“If I told you the secret she had on me, it wouldn’t be a secret, would it?” Ledger said, smiling a little at his logic. “If worst comes to worst, I will deal with that bitch myself. And believe me, while I’d need the element of surprise, in any prolonged fight between us, I will win.”

Grissom opened his mouth to reply, but Midnight cut him off. “It’s alright daddy, I know what his secret is and it’s fine. Nothing that could or would want to hurt me. Isn’t that right Lev?”

“True,” Level said with a nod. “Nothing about me could...well, no, strike that. I would never hurt you.”

“And two,” she continued with a small smile before turning serious. “You will not be killing Toll Taker. She will atone for her crimes in a legal manner and I would feel really bad about having to arrest you for murder sweetie.”

Ledger huffed and crossed his hooves. “She deserves it, but fine...can I at least put a compulsion on her so that every time she gets close to telling my secret, she blurts out something completely unrelated?”

“I hold no responsibility for what happens while you defend yourself. Errant spells are difficult to fix, especially when they appear harmless.”

Grissom chuckled again. He’d taught her well indeed.

Moon sniffed the air and hummed. A second later, the oven dinged. “Aha, I believe that’s your cue dear Level.”

“Indeed,” he said as he got up to go into the kitchen. Not a moment later, the sound of the oven opening reached their ears, and the smell of something good increased. “Mmm...yes, this looks just about done. Midnight, do we have enough chairs at the table, or will half of us need to take the couch?” As he asked, Level was rummaging around for dinnerware.

“Well, we only have two chairs,” she replied. “So yeah, we need some couch time for the others.”

“Dibs on the couch with my Middy!” Moon suddenly shouted.

“Dammit!” Grissom cursed.

“It actually makes more sense if I join you, ma’am,” Level said as he poked his head out, before pointing at his aglow horn. “We can eat without needing to worry about a table wherever we go.”

“True enough,” Moon sighed as Grissom smiled triumphantly. Midnight shook her head, hoping her parents would grow up one day. Moon Song smiled though and looked towards the kitchen, with Level Ledger suddenly feeling a cold chill.

“Well, we can discuss certain things then~” she giggled.

“Ah, yes,” he said a bit nervously, before floating four plates with food out behind him. “But first! The one really good recipe I didn’t learn from Fredrick, and the one he can’t best me at! The one I’ve been working on since I was twelve! I present to you, my casserole!”

Two plates were put at the table, and Level trotted over to the couch and made himself comfortable with the other two floating along. When the ponies examined the dish...it looked to be a block of noodles, potato bits, and cheese, with a fine crust on top.

“Macaroni, boiled to perfection. Scads of cheddar cheese, melted. Potato, chopped into tiny bits and fried up with oil and herbs. Put in the same baking pan, then sprinkle some bread crumbs on it and set to bake for half an hour.” With the explanation finished, the brown unicorn dug into his food and sighed.

Midnight sniffed the food and a small part of her brain died and was singing with the angels. It didn’t take long for her to start inhaling the food, as her and her dad devoured it like a pair of predators. To anypony else, it was quite a sight, and the sounds would haunt their dreams.

Level snickered as he calmly ate his own. Guess that whole ‘Tender loving care’ he infused the dish with worked. Also, note to self, ponies seem to find emotions highly delicious. He cast his gaze over to the mare on the couch with him and nodded at her food. “And what do you think?”

“It’s quite delicious,” she said, dabbing at her mouth with a napkin. “I must say Level dear, this is looking to be very much in your favour. So far? I approve.”

“Delicious and filling, that’s why I learned the recipe in the first place,” Level agreed with a nod. “Gives me plenty of energy for those late-night study sessions...that become the next morning.”

“So you’re well-read as well?” Moon smiled as she continued to eat. “My little filly has found someone wonderful indeed. It makes this old mare proud.”

“I made it my mission to travel and learn when I was younger, which got put on hold when I took that job for Toll Taker,” he admitted. “I only wanted enough to pay for rent while I read the local library...and she twisted my hoof into staying long past that.” His serving was mostly gone by now: for all his control, even he felt like eating quickly...if only to try and stop the thestrals from raiding his kitchen for more.

“You’ve had a tough time huh?” Moon said gently, giving the two bats the eye when she caught them creeping into the kitchen. As they slinked back to the table, she chuckled lightly, sounding like a clear, crystal bell. “Well, you seem to be taking good care of my precious Song, and I know she’ll take care of you in return...”

“Oh, I’ll take care of him alright~” Midnight sang out, causing the mare’s smile to falter for a brief blink of the eye.

“Dear, must you be so-” Moon paused as Midnight flittered over, whispering something in the mare’s ear. Said ear flicked as she gave the briefest of glances to Level, and a faint blush graced her cheeks.

“Oh...”

“...Midnight, do I want to know what you just told your mother?” Ledger deadpanned, already knowing by her emotions, but playing the part of a unicorn.

“Mm... nope~” Midnight giggled., flying back to her seat. Moon Song, ever the professional, kept her composure and coughed once.

“Well, I really do hope you continue to get along with Midnight... She can be quite difficult to get along with sometimes, but she’s an honest child.”

“Ma’am, if you’re done with your dinner, I advise you to make way for Midnight,” Ledger warned. “She’s...not all that difficult to get along with, and if I know her, she’s going to want to reward me for this meal while I’m still on the couch…”

“Don’t be so greedy, you’ll get hugs later~” Midnight said from the table, currently besting her father in hoofwrestling. How and why they were doing so was a mystery. “Right now, this old bat is going down!”

“And... then there’s this,” Moon sighed again.

“As long as they don’t break anything, I say let them have their fun and burn off that energy,” Ledger shrugged. “I’m going to go put the leftovers away before they mysteriously vanish, and check to see if we have anything that’ll work for dessert.” The stallion got up from the couch and gathered up the dirty plates with a quick burst of magic and began trotting into the kitchen.

“Allow me to fix dessert,” Moon Song said, following him into the kitchen. “As way of thanks for that wonderful meal.”

“You really don’t have to,” Ledger said as he put the plates in the sink. “You came all the way here to check on your not-dead daughter, and with you two around, I’m not getting pounced every five minutes when she’s awake, so really, dinner was the least I could do.”

“And I appreciate it, very much so,” Moon said, pushing him out of the kitchen. “But I truly insist and will not take no for an answer.”

“You will lose Lev,” Midnight said, slamming her father’s hoof into the table. “HAH! And yeah, just give it up and let her have the kitchen.”

“Considering our snacking habits, I’ll be surprised if there’s anything in there for her to work with,” Ledger grumbled as he lay down on the couch, in a slightly darker mood. “Bloody mares,” he grumbled. “Think they know what’s best...it’s been my kitchen for a year now…”

Moon Song paused, she hadn’t meant to upset the poor dear, but Midnight had beaten her to it. She leapt across the room and landed on top of the disguised changeling.

“Now look, Mom is just making dessert. She’s not out to take over your life, just make something sugary to eat.” She lay her head against his chest and looked up at him., her voice dropping to a whisper even he could barely hear. “She doesn’t mean any offense, how could she when she doesn’t know.”

Ledger sighed and drew Midnight in for a hug, whispering to her in return. “I’m sorry...you I trust...I’ll try to trust her as well.” He drew his head back up and turned to the kitchen, an apologetic smile on his face. “Sorry, I was being kind of rude, and Midnight reminded me not to be. For the promise of something sugary, I can suspend my phobias temporarily.”

Midnight smiled and gave him the softest of kisses on the lips. “Trust me, if I know my Mom, you’re gonna get something really special~”

Seeing the surprising problem resolved, Moon returned to the kitchen, soon finding something that her family would enjoy, and hopefully the young unicorn as well. After some rummaging around to locate all the utensils, music suddenly started to play and Moon Song begun to sing…

Ledger’s eyes widened as his senses were overloaded. The love and care she put into singing, as well as making a single dish! It was nearly overwhelming. A lesser drone might have exploded by now, trying to feed on all the ambient emotion. As it was, Ledger merely basked and drank his fill, his head bobbing in time with the song.

Midnight smiled widely and decided that Ledger should have an extra treat. She inhaled and closed her eyes, soon joining her mother in song…

Ledger groaned and put his head closer to Midnight’s ears, dropping his voice to a level where only she could hear him whisper. “Too full already...keep it up and Estate will feel it from downstairs.”

Song finished off the song and smiled at him, it was extremely rare to hear the mother and daughter singing together, since Midnight was always so busy with the Guard. Grissom for his part had a wide smile on his face, having enjoyed the duet imenselley.

Ledger just hugged Midnight close and sighed, expressing the happiness he not only felt himself but was also stuffed with. He was certain if he were to shift back, his stomach would be far too large! “Well, I will treasure that memory forever,” he said aloud, even as his eyes closed while he snuggled with Midnight.

“You’d better,” she giggled, Grissom watched them and sighed. She seemed... happier, than she had been in a long time.

“I guess I can’t fault him for that,” he thought to himself. “I just hope this doesn’t wind up like last time... And I still need to check on ‘that’ as well”

The moment was quite beautiful, until Moon Song returned with her dessert...

Homemade Mango parfait.

The effect was instantaneous. Level Ledger soon found his hooves grasping thin air, as Midnight had all but teleported to the table, her tail wagging back and forth.

“You stole my snuggle buddy,” the unicorn stallion pouted at Moon Song. “Stole her with your mango treats.”

“And you appear to already know her weakness,” she smiled. “Be sure not to abuse that power~”

“Oh, I have tricks of my own,” Midnight purred as she munched on the delicious treat, even as waves of love poured out of her.

Ledger pulled one closer to himself and began eating his own dessert, humming at the taste. “Oh, this is good,” he admitted. “Very good. I’ve a fondness for sweets, and this is one of the best I’ve ever had.”

“I’m very glad to hear it dear,” Moon Song winked as she took delicate bites of her own. “I make all my treats with lots of love, so please enjoy~”

“Hmmmmmm~ Shhoooo guuuudd!” Midnight drooled at the mango treat. This night was utterly perfect... well, aside from the start. That kinda sucked.

“How anypony couldn’t taste that is beyond me,” Ledger admitted. Love and care around sugar? It was a good thing he could just shift some new teeth in, otherwise he might end up with a lot of cavities. “So believe me when I say I will enjoy this to the fullest I can.”

“That’s good,” Moon winked. “I made a little extra and stored it in the fridge. A little incentive to come home to tomorrow hmm?” A thought occurred and she glanced to Midnight. “And there is one for you as well, so no being greedy, Little Bat~”

“Aww, not the foal name~” Midnight whined and licked her dessert dish clean. She looked at Ledger, promising a slow and painful death should he ever repeat those words. His grin, which was bordering on maniacal, didn’t lessen in the slightest.

“You have a weapon against me,” he said cryptically. “Now my arsenal is accruing its own weapons as well.”

“Dammit Mom,” Song pouted, the older mare simply laughing.

After some more talking, Grissom was about to grill Ledger a little more, when there was a flash of green flame, and a scroll materialised in front of him. He caught the object and his eyes scanned it before frowning.

“Hmm, it seems Celestia is in a bit of trouble,” he muttered. “And I told Luna that those... humph! Honey? We have to return to the capitol.”

“Aw, I was hoping to talk with Level a little more... oh well, until next we meet hm?”

“I can at least walk you to the station,” Ledger offered. “I’m not the one that’s dead, so it’d only be polite.”

“Well, I don’t see the harm,” Grissom said. There were still things to confirm after all. “Don’t raid the fridge anymore missy!”

All he got in response was a garbled ‘Blarg!’ from the couch. Ledger chuckled and whispered into her ear before kissing the top of her head.

“I promise to be your snugglebug when we get back if you behave.”

“Fiiiiine~” Midnight pouted. Maybe she could read- Naw, she had music. She was gonna jam!

“Then’s lets be off!” Moon Song said. “Should we walk, or does an express Teleport sound better?”

“Either way’s good with me. I myself haven’t studied the spell, but none of the locals bother me,” Level admitted as he went to hold the front door open. “So it’s your choice really.”

“Hmm, would you mind ‘porting on ahead and getting the tickets?” Grissom asked his wife. “I’d like to talk with our friend here for a bit.”

Moon nodded and hummed. “Very well, I shall see you boys soon. Play nice alright?” And with that, there was a flash of light and she was gone, leaving the two males outside the apartment together.

“So, what did you want to talk about, sir?” Ledger asked as they began their descent to the lobby. “We should be safe for a little bit from prying ears,” he whispered.

“I had Moon do a scrying spell while you were cooking, this building has no bugs of ‘that’ variety,” he said. “And while we’re on that topic, perhaps you might entertain an old fool with a few answers?”

Coincidentally, the pair of them walked past the front desk at just that moment. “Hello Ledge, hello sir,” the Earth Pony said with a bit of a grumble. “Ledge, watch your back around this one. He’s not kind at all.”

Grissom sighed as he walked over to Estate. “I do apologise for my earlier callousness. I let my concerns cloud my judgement and I mean you no ill will.” He held out a hoof and a small smile graced his muzzle. “I am Grissom Gossamer, First Councilman for Her Highness, Princess Celestia.”

The stallion blinked in surprise before taking the hoof with his own and smiling slightly as well. “And I’m Real Estates, owner of this building, along with what few others I can get ahold of. Buy ‘em, fix ‘em up, sell ‘em to ponies that aren’t criminals. Market for an apartment building is non-existent, though, so I’m stuck here for a bit as the landlord.”

“Perhaps once the city is cleaner, you’ll prosper a little more,” Grissom replied. A thought occurred and he grinned. “Or perhaps market to out-of-town honeymooners? I hear it’s a fine season for love~”

“It’d be nice to not have to walk past the strip and all it’s lust for food,” Estate agreed. “Though personally, I prefer loyal customers.”

Ledger blinked and looked between the two. The conversation seemed...just out of reach. Like he should know what was going on. Grissom turned back to the stallion and nodded.

“We should be off, don’t want to keep the missus waiting too long.” He gave a polite nod to Estate and left a card on his desk. “Should you find yourself in trouble, let me know and I’ll do what I can for you and yours hmm?”

“We do have our own ways,” Estate cryptically replied, even as he grabbed the card. “But more options are never a bad thing.”

Ledger’s mind was whirling, even as he held open the front door for the Thestral stallion. “Okay...lost,” he admitted. “It’s like you were having two conversations at once there. While not something I’m unfamiliar with, I knew none of the finer points.”

“Well, I was talking and he was talking,” Grissom chuckled. “It takes two to have a conversation after all.”

“Yes, but the way you were saying certain things implied a whole host of other things, and I’m trying to draw a meaningful conclusion from it,” Ledger admitted, not liking the one he was coming up with.

“I happen to know that stallion,” Grissom said. “I was rude to him earlier and simply apologised for my behaviour. That apology extends to you as well Ledger.”

“The only way you could be rude to him for him to take that much offense that quickly would be if-” Here Ledger’s breath hitched as he stared at Grissom. “If you knew.”

“Hmm, knew what boy?” he said, looking up at the sky. “My hearing’s a little out of it at my age.”

“You...know,” Ledger repeated, not wanting to say it out loud in public. “Somehow, you know and threw it in his face. I know that’s what happened, because once I found out...well, we eventually mended our relationship. Took a while, though.”

Grissom sighed as he looked at Ledger. His eyes told a thousand stories and an age of experience. “I know a great many things Ledger, and I continue to learn every day. And yes, I insulted a part of him that he keeps... personal... but I apologised for that.” Those cat-like eyes continued to bore into him. “I will tell you now boy, I love my daughter with all my heart. Always have, always will. Distance can never change that.”

He sighed as they continued their walk, his ears flicking about before coming to rest. “If you know that stallion like I do, perhaps he and you... aren’t so different yes?”

“The question is, how did you know before you arrived in this city today?” Ledger asked, a bit of nervousness in his voice. He was well aware he was breaking the law as he was, but Toll...

“Many... do not enjoy the same rights... the same luxuries as most,” Grissom said. “We do our part to make sure that harmony is maintained, for the greater good. Sometimes... a watchful eye is necessary. We extend our hoof to those that ask for it. And we raise that hoof against those that would do harm. Such is the way of the world.”

“So you have...access to their records,” Ledger said, unconsciously putting a bit of extra space between them. “You or someone you work with or for. And you looked him up...but why?”

“My daughters last words to me,” he replied with a tender smile. “She has a way with words... and sometimes trips over them. She meant nothing by it of course. Accidents happen and I acted because I was... still am, concerned.” He looked at him, one eye closed. “Tell me boy. Do I have a reason to be concerned?”

“This is Las Pegasus, sir,” he replied with a small laugh. “If you’re not looking over your shoulder every five minutes, then somepony’s stealing your bit-bag.”

“True, but my concerns lay a little closer to home,” he said. “You seem like a fine... stallion, and I worry, just like any other old fool.”

“I could never bring myself to hurt her,” Ledger replied honestly. “And if she were hurting, I would do anything I could to take away the pain. She’s been kinder to me than any other mare I’ve met.”

“Her kindness is only outdone by her...” He fumbled to find the right word. “Eccentricity, yes, let’s go with that hmm?” He smiled knowingly as they reached the station. “Should you want it, I will extend our hoof to you as well. You simply need to say the word.”

Ledger waited until they’d reunited with Moon before replying. “Sir, the offer is tempting, but I have to ask you to hold off. After all, Toll still knows, and is keeping me from doing as many others have. Though I have to ask, what is your position that you know about them so...readily? Why do you care?”

“Look at me boy, do I look like the rest of the herd? I differ as much as any other and the sting of... isolation is still present, even now.” Grissom shifted his leathery wings and sighed. “I have done many things as Celestia’s right hoof. Up to and including the passing of many Bills of Rights. Some more... personal than the rest.” He patted the unicorn on the shoulder and smiled. “The offer has no time limit, call me at your own discretion.”

“Whenever you get done with...whatever Celestia wants you for, we’ll likely be done with Toll as well, and I’d prefer to have it done as quickly as possible, so that I can live here legally,” Ledger admitted, looking at the both of them. “A show of faith, I suppose...you don’t have to promise me anything, but since you’re her parents, and I trust her…”

Ledger closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before opening his now silver and slitted pupil eyes. He blinked at them and smirked. “I trust you both,” he admitted. “You care about her like parents should, and she’s been nice to me.”

“Of course,” Moon smiled and gave the stallion a hug, as to obscure the view of any bystanders. “Why do you think I put so much love into my cooking then~?”

An earlier comment poked it’s way into his mind. “I’m very glad to hear it dear, I make all my treats with lots of love, so please enjoy~”

“I’d ask how you knew, but I’d like to keep my sanity for the time being,” Ledger admitted. “Still, thank you for understanding.” He turned to Grissom and blinked, setting his eyes back to normal. “Any reservations, sir?”

“I’m a father, there will always be some boy. But the fact you still stand should be proof enough for you. Take care of you and yours... you hear?”

“They’re not mine.” Ledger admitted. “If anything, I’m hers.”

“Equal,” Moon said, pulling away from him. “You take as much as you give. Nothing more, nothing less. You rely on one another and take care of one another. Simple no?”

“It’d be...nice to be equal,” Ledger admitted. “And if you have any questions about that, or the peculiarities about my eyes you just observed...I’m not sure how much more time you have left before the train leaves, so either ask now or when you next come back.”

“We’ve meddled quite enough for one evening,” Grissom said, as Moon moved next to him. “But we’ll be back soon, once all this blows over. And... should the worst come to pass. Try and forgive her hmm?”

“She already knows,” Ledger said. “There’s not much worse she could do at this point.” The train whistled sharply as Moon Song headed for the carriage after one last hug. Grissom nodded and shook his hoof before turning.

“We all have secrets Level Ledger...some just hide them better than others...” And just like that, the unicorn found himself alone of the platform, the train steaming off into the distance.

Chapter Eight - Dethrone the Queen

The sun had barely risen before a solid knock came from the front door. It sounded... impatient. Ledger slowly came to and calmed down from his instinctive one notch of terror at the unfamiliar scene. He was cuddling Midnight in her own room, ergo, everything was fine...and more than fine. With a quick shake to get his head back in order, the ‘ling disguised himself before moving to answer the front door. “Who is it?” he called out.

“Your sister,” the voice called out. “Care to let me in for a moment?”

Ledger was puzzled for a moment before his brain booted up. “Sure, I can do that,” he answered, not even bothering to go to the door and opening it from afar with his magic. “I’m gonna get some coffee made in the meantime,” he informed, already disappearing into the kitchen.

“Sounds good,” Narrow said as she walked in. “I can go to war happy if I have a belly full of good coffee.” She looked around, noting the absence of a familiar face. “Is she here?”

“Her room,” Ledger said with a nod, not that Narrow could see it. “Maybe she’ll wake up when she smells the coffee, maybe not. She’s really taking to the whole being dead thing.”

“A chance to be lazy for once I see,” Narrow actually laughed. “Well, can’t blame her really. And this is a good opportunity actually.” She walked into the kitchen, standing in the doorway so she could face the unicorn. “Now, you do remember how today is going to work yes? You keep Toll distracted while we target all of her extra facilities simultaneously.”

“Mmhmm,” the unicorn stallion said while watching his coffeepot work. “I have quite a few pitches lined up as well, depending on the situation. Let’s just hope she doesn’t turn completely unreasonable, otherwise...well, I may have to get confrontational.”

“I have some information that may prove to be a problem... or maybe not,” Narrow stated. “Last night, at least half a dozen unfamiliar faces were seen entering her main warehouse. Never seen ‘em before and they’ve got no records. Criminal, Birth... nothing.”

“That…” Ledger said as he thought about the situation. “That sounds bad. The only thing that could completely duck having any paper trail at all like that…” Ledger trailed off, not liking the situation she’d just described.

“I know,” she nodded. “I have my own suspicions that she might be consorting herself with changelings. I hope I’m wrong though.” She sighed as she removed a long, heavy-looking box from her back, shrugging it onto the couch. “This is for Midnight, came by royal courier this morning... dunno what’s inside, but I can’t levitate it... magic seems to fizzle out when I try.”

“Anti-magic gear of some sort,” Ledger observed, keeping an eye on it and his distance, while not looking like he was. “Perhaps to deal with any other unicorns, Toll herself, or- actually, do we know if it’d work on a changeling’s disguise?” The coffee was done, and Level poured two cups out, before passing one to Narrow and taking a sip of the other. His eyes widened as he realized he’d taken the wrong cup: the one without his sugar in.

Narrow sipped her coffee, almost spitting it out straight away. “Good gravy, how much sugar is in this thing?” she asked. “No wonder you’re a nervous wreck sometimes... you should really cut back.”

“Eheh,” he said with a small smile. “Yeah, but I’m sorta used to drinking it this way.” He took her cup and dumped the contents, pouring her another and putting two sugarcubes in ‘his’ cup now. “It’s not that bad when you get used to it. Now about my earlier question?”

“Huh? Oh, the changeling thing? I... don’t really know,” Narrow said as she sipped her new drink, sighing happily. “It’s not like we have any to test it on.” She glanced at a clock and sighed again, this one more in exhaustion, and the day hadn’t even started yet. “Thanks for the coffee, but i need to get going. Have a lot to co-ordinate and little time to get it done.” As she headed for the door she paused, “Oh, and one last thing...”

“Yes?” Level asked as he sipped his coffee. Ah, just the way he liked it.

“Midnight will be your first and last line of defense on this,” she said in a low tone. “She’ll stay out of sight unless you get in deep and need her help, but if push comes to shove and your lives are in danger...” She paused for a second, like she was making a decision on an unknown question. “Tell her she is authorised to use her Lyrica.”

“Okay...but hopefully it doesn’t come to that,” Ledger said with a raised eyebrow. “I mean, that incident a while ago? I was sending a message. That’s the only reason I took so long. I can hold my own...as long as nobody gets the drop on me. And believe me, I will be extra-paranoid today.”

“Very well, just.. keep that in mind,” Narrow nodded. She opened the door and paused, “Stay safe you two,” she said quietly and the door closed, leaving the stallion alone in the room.

Ledger polished his drink off and waited for the smell to rouse his roommate...and dearest friend, Midnight Song. He looked at the box before looking away, shaking his head. It was for her and anti-magical, two things he didn’t want to combine.

It didn’t take much longer for said mare to rise from her fluffy grave. She moaned incoherently as she stumbled into the room. She saw Level and raised herself on her hind legs, raising her forehooves towards him.

“Hhuuuuugggzzzzzz!” she moaned a deep, low tone. Ledger chuckled and waved a cup of coffee under her nose instead, hoping to at the very least distract her. The mare gave a single sniff and dropped to her hooves, snaring the mug and sighing contently.

“Ah, my one true love~ Always there to greet me with a smile and a warm heart.”

“Whelp, guess I can give up now,” the unicorn said with more than a bit of snark and faked hurt. “I’ll just find a way to animate my coffee, give it pony form. The two of you can run off together and leave me alone.”

“That would be wonderful, seeing as my cuddlebug isn’t here,’ she sighed wistfully. Then she spied the box on the couch and her mouth opened in question.

“What’s in the box?”

“Something anti-magical, delivered via royal courier to the guard station, for you,” Ledger replied, still slightly hurt. He wore the disguise for a reason...

“Aw, here,” she said, as she flew over to him and gave him a hug. “You know I love you silly~”

“Meh, yeah, I do, I can feel it,” Ledger admitted, before pointing at the box with a hoof. “Sooo?” he asked. “Gonna open it?” Midnight nodded and let him go, flittering over to the strange box. It was long and rectangular and Midnight gasped when she saw the label.

The box lid suddenly flew off, and packing foam sprayed all over like snow on Hearth’s Warming. A moment later, she was holding two deep purple/black blades, slightly translucent and giving off a very faint hum.

“Da, dada duh daaaaa!” she cried. “Midnight has new toys!”

“Did they come with an instruction manual?” Ledger asked from a safe distance away. Or what he thought was a safe distance, anyways.

“No need, I know what they are,” she grinned manically. “These are anti-magic, starmetal blades. Oohhh, I’ve always wanted some, but the materials are super rare and there’s only a hooffull of ponies that can even craft them.”

“So the correct questions aren’t ‘what do they do,’ but rather, ‘where did they come from’ along with ‘how did they get here’ and ‘why’?” the stallion asked.

“Well, it looks like Daddy sent them,” she said, reading a small note that was inside the box. “And overnight by royal courier. As for why? Well, I assume that much is obvious.”

“Let’s do a small test before I go out for the day,” Ledger said as he extended a hoof in her direction. “Touch me with one, I want to know something.”

She paused for a moment and nodded, gently pressing the flat side of the blade against his extended leg. There was a gentle rippling effect across his form, before his disguise exploded, like leaves in a windstorm, leaving the black and silver changeling in his place.

“Thought so,” he observed aloud. “Well, now we have an option in case what Narrow said is right, about Toll bringing in a six-changeling squad..”

“Wait, WHAT?” Midnight gulped. “Oh, you have got to be kidding. Why would she do that?”

“The first thing that comes to mind is to act as decoys for herself. I can only assume with that scenario, though, she’d be running. I don’t like the second scenario at all, though.”

“I don’t either,” Midnight responded, coming to a conclusion that she did not like at all. “Okay. I have some new toys and I’m all ready to play. Let me get my armour, and well see how you go at work huh. Should be fun, Bring-Your-Bat-To-Work Day!”

“If I get in any serious trouble, I’ll send up a flare,” Ledger said with a nod as he re-donned his disguise. “Still, you all don’t seem to be estimating my ability very highly.”

“It’s not you I’m concerned about,” Midnight nodded. “I read that report and I have a good idea of what you’re capable of, but I don’t know the extent of Toll’s power, nor the new muscle she hired. Expect the unexpected and you might live to see another day.” She recalled the old saying her master would say.

“Fair enough,” Ledger agreed, before looking at the wingblades. “Huh...well there goes our plan of disguising you as a pegasus.”

“Yeah, oh well. I’ll stick to the rooftops and sneak into the warehouse after you. Out of sight, but always in mind,’ she smiled. “Now let’s get going, Narrow can’t make a move until we do.”

The unicorn stallion walked in through the front door of the company, only to immediately encounter Toll Taker. While internally he was panicking, externally, he was keeping his cool and merely raised an eyebrow. “Yes boss?”

“My office,” she said, pointing at the other six forms that Ledger had only just noticed were in the room. “You lot, stay put for now.”

As one, the six supposed ponies nodded, and Ledger suppressed a shudder. The unicorn followed his boss to her office and sat himself in the chair opposite hers. The mare’s horn lit up, and the door locked itself behind them.

“I’m just gonna be blunt here, Ledger,” the mare said as she sat in her chair. “We’re in a tight spot. I think I need to cut my losses and run from the town.”

Okay, expected. He had a spiel for this. “Is it really all that bad?” he asked aloud. When his boss raised an eyebrow, the stallion clarified. “I mean, yes, all of our less than legal operations appear to be falling down...but if I may be blunt as well, ma’am?”

“Go ahead,” she said with a wave of her hoof.

“Ever since you had me start hiding those transactions, I’ve been silently disapproving of the path you were taking,” Level admitted. More like fucking hating every last inch of your existence…

“And what would you have done?” Toll Taker asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Simple,” Ledger said with a smirk. “I would have found out what the city wants, what this city needs...and then tried to become the only supplier of those things.”

Toll leaned back and hummed to herself. “So…” she verbally prodded.

“So for things like your nightclubs, where alcohol is rampant, I would have looked into the suppliers and distributors...even the farms where the ingredients are grown and the distilleries where they’re combined, and bought them out instead. Then you’d be free to set your own prices, both internally and externally.”

The pair of unicorns fell silent for a moment as one contemplated the scenario the other had outlined…

The music was loud, the drinks were flowing and most ponies were having a good time, especially the ones in a hidden back room, counting piles of extorted bits. The door suddenly flew open as an out of breath pegasus ran in, his eyes wide.

One pony looked up from the table with a bored expression. “Dude... chill. Did one of the mares OD again...?”

“NO! It’s the-” he was cut off as a much larger, armoured pegasus dropped him with a single hoof.

“Welcome to the first day of your new lives,” he smiled. “My name is Stark and I’ll be your arresting officer for today gents.”

The first pony made a grab for the money, before a unicorn blasted him with a potent stun spell. She smiled and blew a wisp of smoke from her horn.

“Aw, lookit, they wanna play~” she cooed. “It’s kinda cute when they think they have a chance~”

“That they are Cricket,” Stark smiled. “Now, let’s rock!”

All over the city, warehouses, nightclubs, brothels, all the seedy places one might imagine were experiencing a similar scenario. The Guard was everywhere, arresting dozens of ponies and shutting down any illegal operations that were going on.

In the central warehouse, Midnight Song moved silently through an airduct, before emerging and hiding on an enormous stack of large crates.

“Alright Level... where are you?”

“Okay, I admit...you have points. I don’t have to run. Just hide, go into managing-from-afar as it were,” Toll agreed. “I still need you to do something though.”

Level paused for a moment before nodding. “Ready and willing, boss.”

“I need you to go to the central warehouse, take the six in the lobby with you. Once you get there, look for the main office. There should be a set of secret drawers in the desk, where I put the really old books.” At Level’s stunned expression, Toll let off a grin. “Mare has to keep records, and after your stunt, I had to move them.”

“...Very well, boss. Find them and bring them back, I assume?”

“Nope,” she said with a shake of her head. “Find them and burn them. They’re old enough to only matter to the Guard. Any intel they have is worthless to me nowadays, what with how quickly everything’s changed.”

Ledger nodded and stood up, before pausing and looking sheepishly at his boss. “Um...you may want to tell them to follow me yourself. They...might not listen otherwise.”

Toll Taker sighed, but got up from her chair and followed her accountant out to the lobby. “You six!” she barked, causing all the disguised nymphs to turn to her and bow their heads.

“You will follow this one and obey his orders, no matter the situation,” Toll continued, pointing at Ledger. The unicorn stallion gave off a sheepish grin, and the mares let out a small hiss. One actually objected.

“This is highly ir-” anything more was cut off as Toll Taker stalked forward and glared into the dissenter’s eyes. After only a second, the mare quaked and looked away. “Yes mistress,” she said after getting herself under control.

“Good bugs,” Toll said loud enough to be heard by them all. “You are all to come back intact though, in case I still do need to run and require decoys. Understood?”

“Yes mistress,” they all droned and looked at Ledger, only a hint of a sneer on their lips.

With a sigh, Level opened the main doors with a wave of magic. “Let’s get going then, ladies,” he said aloud. “Plenty to do already.”

Midnight had decided that some poking around was in order. There was absolutely nopony in this building. And she begun to wonder if she had the wrong address. When she came to a large office, she poked her head in and whistled.

“Ooh, fancy! I guess crime really does pay... if you like all this kind of crap,” she muttered, staring at some awful painting. It was like a foal had puked on it, then decided to splash around for a while.

“Okay... so what do we have here,” she mused, opening the desk drawers. Office supplies, a blank notebook, a knife... huh? She noticed something, a small protrusion at the back of the drawer. She pressed it and jumped back, in case of a trap. Instead, a small panel swung open and revealed a stack of old notebooks.

“Ooh! Now what do we have here?” she giggled. “I found something nice!”

Just then, she heard the sounds of hoofsteps. Many, many hoofsteps. And one familiar voice.

“It should be back here,” Ledger said aloud. And then an unfamiliar, distinctly female voice, pitched in.

“You do not know? Typical useless drone.”

Midnight’s ear flicked and her eye gave a dangerous twitch. That was Level... but who was that mare and why did she suddenly feel the need to test her new blades? Still, they were getting closer and the mare looked around, the office lacked little in the way of hiding places... except...

When Level opened the door, all that greeted him was an empty office…

Ledger sat at the desk and opened the drawers one by one while talking to the females outside. “It’s hardly my fault that Toll’s kept me in the office during my year here,” he said, before pausing and stiffening.

“What is it now, drone? Did you lose the files were were sent here to find?” another unfamiliar voice asked.

“They’re not here,” he said aloud. “They’re missing, and this chair was warm when I sat in it. Someone was here, someone took them not long ago. Find them, or Toll Taker will have our heads!”

For once, there was no rebuttal from the outside of the office, only the sound of six sets of hooves running off into the rest of the warehouse. Ledger sighed and relaxed in the chair. Until a hoof snaked it’s way along his thigh…

“Cut it,” he said. “I only knew you were there when I was practically sitting on you. Those blades do an awful lot to hide you, you know.”

“Good to know,” she growled, her eyes had become narrow slits. “Now, care to explain the slutty squad out there?”

“Six nymphs that Toll Taker hired to take on her appearance in case she needed to run. She’s put them under my command, but as you can see, the gender gap is well and alive,” Ledger said with a sigh. “Once I talked her down from running, she sent us here to grab those files.”

“So what’s the plan,” Midnight replied, noticeably calmer. “Narrow’s nearly done with her end. And Toll’s gonna find out soon enough...”

“You still have the files?” he asked the bat under the desk. She responded by dropping a stack of books in his lap. “Good. Put these somewhere they won’t be found. If I can’t find you until I’m on top of you, they can’t either. That gives you the element of surprise against them. I’ll help where I can, but you’re probably going to have to do most of the work, and I’ll have to act against you as well.”

“Better take it easy on me,” she smiled as she placed the books into a saddlebag. “Mind you, I’m about to fly very fast... and, would you miss those nymphs if they got in my way~?”

“No drone would cry over a nymph going missing,” Ledger muttered darkly. “Just like they wouldn’t cry over us.”

“Good to know, now I’m going to run a little delivery and then I plan on running back to you. Any complaints?” she cooed, moving up his chest to kiss him on the cheek.

“Only that you can’t stay longer,” he said, returning the gesture and being sure to draw in all the excess emotion, to better hide her departure. “But with half-a-dozen murderous nymphs in here, I oughta be throwing you out the window. Hurry back.”

“Will do, try not to get too carried away hmm?” she headed for the door and opened it ever-so-slightly. Once she was sure the coast was clear, she exited, her wings making no sound at all....

“We have searched everywhere,” a nymph said as she rounded the corner barely after Midnight had left. “No beings are hiding within this warehouse. We should return.”

“And end up dead?” Ledger scoffed. “I’d very much rather not. After all, she’s getting a little more unstable as the days go by and her work comes down around her.” Ledger hummed for a moment before growling. “If they were a unicorn and knew how to hide themselves from changeling detection, or just simply all detection, they could still be here...assuming some of you blocked the exits.”

“We have,” the nymph said. “Shall we sweep again, this time more carefully searching for clues while you simper away up here and despair like the useless drone you are?”

“Remind me, which one of us just came up with a plan that could save our flanks?” Ledger retorted. “In the Lands, you may be powerful, but here, we are all equal.”

“I will believe that when those Princesses elevate a Prince to their status,” the nymph retorted. “The only difference between Equestria and the Lands is that they are not as thorough in their punishments of males here.”

“Which is why I’m never going back,” Ledger returned. “You have your task.”

“And you have a lack of use at any of yours,” the disguised nymph insulted the unicorn. “What few drones have.”

There was a sudden chill in the room, as a voice worthy of coming from death itself permeated the sudden silence.

“Oh... If only you knew~” It cooed in a eerily familiar tone. There was a sickening crack, as something struck the back of the nymph’s head so hard that she bounced when she hit the ground. It wasn’t enough to kill, but she’d be dreaming for a good long while.

Midnight Song stood there, her eyes filled with unprecedented rage. “I have decided that I greatly dislike nymphs,” she growled.

“Not all of them are unreasonable, but you can tell from afar by the way they look at a male,” Level observed. “All of the ones here aren’t.”

“Ooh, so I get to knock ‘em all out huh?” Midnight cracked her neck and smiled... a rather unsettling smile. Ledger blinked and slowly started to draw away, fear evident on his face. She paused when she saw that look... one she had seen before. Her ears drooped and even over her swords, he could feel just a single emotion.

Self-loathing.

“I’ll deliver these files now,” she replied. “Pretend I knocked you out or something...” And she headed for the door once more, before she found herself encased in a silvery glow and wrapped up in a hug from Level. His disguise shimmered and fell away in this close proximity, yet he didn’t let up.

“Hearing a female talk like that is going to scare me,” Ledger admitted, whispering into her ears. “But I know you don’t mean to. I’m sorry.” She didn’t reply, but simply nodded in response. He didn’t know... but he would eventually...

“I have to go,” she said quietly. “Can you tuck your wings in?”

“Yes, why?” he asked even as his wings were folded in.

“Gotta put on a show right?” she winked and grabbed his hoof, flipping him and shattering the desk with his form. “Sorry love, no harm done right?” she said, a little worried she’d overdone it.

“Gimmie a kiss to help me recover, and no, none at all. Carapace,” he clarified. “Still, better run once you’re done, they’ll have heard that.” She gave him a brief kiss on the lips and then blasted out of the door, her blades slicing through the wood like butter as she bucked the remnants out and flew off, using a nearby changeling mare as a spring to gain extra height. They tried to nab her with telekinesis, but the spells warped and dissipated around her. They did however, give chase, shifting into pegasi and flying after her.

Soon, all that was left was Ledger and one unconscious nymph...

Midnight Song led the five on a merry chase through the city, the nymphs spitting hisses and curses in changeish at her. She just laughed as she ducked around one corner, and as the changelings followed, they soon found a wall of Royal Guard waiting for them.

“You all have the right to remain silent,” Narrow smiled. “You don’t really have much else beyond that.” She looked to her left, “Cricket?”

The slender Unicorn smiled as she encased the five in a magical glow, slamming them to the ground. “Ahh,” she sighed as other guards placed hoofcuffs and inhibitor rings on them. “I love my job~”

Midnight dropped the notes off to Narrow and gave a hurried explanation. “That’s all the evidence you need, gonna help Levvy! Be back soon!” she said and blasted off into the sky again.

“Well now, she’s certainly something,’ Narrow smiled before turning back to her troops. “Alright you slackers. We’re not done yet. I want one lot with me, the rest can process all the dirt we swept up today.”

Ledger pulled himself back into the office, having carefully crafted himself into the very image of defeat. “Boss!” he cried out. “Boss, bad news!”

Toll Taker ran into the lobby and looked at the one worker that had come back. “What in the world happened to you?”

“Big pegasus in Guard armor,” Ledger said, already making up an excuse. “Knocked out one of the nymphs, threw me through the desk. When I woke up, the documents were missing, along with the others.”

“Dammit!” Toll cursed. “No options to run, and I can’t stay! Oh bloody Tartarus, but I’m screwed!”

“You…” an eerily familiar voice spoke up, and Level turned to see the last nymph that hadn’t been arrested standing in the doorway behind him.

“You...promised…” she hissed, glaring at Toll. “You promised us...a home here...if we would do...this one thing for you…” Her breathing was labored, apparently Midnight had hit her harder than originally thought.

“And you bucked up!” Toll said, taking a step back. “You bucked up, and now I’m screwed six ways to Sunday! They’re going to lock me away forever!”

“If I don’t...kill you both first,” the crazed nymph said.

“Um. What? When did I get dragged into this?” Level asked, also backing up.

“She will pay for this,” the nymph said, stalking closer to the mare. “For deceiving me and mine, she will pay. And as you know of our failure, you shall be...disposed of.”

The words, said in such a hostile tone, caused Level to immediately start breathing erratically. Terror gripped him, and he knew one thing for certain.

He had to run.

But fear made it so his legs didn’t work.

In the end, he lay on the ground, whimpering and pleading. Not even looking at the source of the sound of conflict... even as a thestral mare landed near the changeling, her eyes narrowed and she flashed a sweet smile to Toll.

“It would appear that rumours of my death had been greatly exaggerated~”

The unicorn and changeling currently in the middle of a duel to the death paused as they looked at the thestral mare. “Oh...you mother-bucker!” Toll shouted, her magic flaring wildly in response to the revelation. “I’m gonna kill you!” she shouted at the nymph across from her. “And then I’m gonna kill you the way you were supposed to die!” she shouted at Midnight. “And then I’m going to kill that two-faced traitor!” she screamed to the heavens.

Midnight unsheathed her swords. “Your empire is in ruins and you have nowhere to run!” Midnight replied calmly as she kept one eye on Level. He seemed to have curled up and was repeating the same phrase over and over.

“Give up and I’ll go easy on you two!”

Toll looked at the changeling across from her. “In light of the fact that the one you were working with is a bucking traitor, truce?”

The nymph hummed for a moment before nodding. “Until all the others are dead, I shall not attempt to kill you. From there, we shall see.”

With the accord struck, the two murderous mares turned their attention back to Midnight. The thestral mare sized them up, gauging their strength. She had her anti-magic blades and years of practice.

“Last chance,” she growled, hoping to buy time for backup to arrive. “You can still come quietly and nopony has to die.” Just then, she felt a familiar hoof touch her. Apparently Level had something to say. She looked down at him, and a pang of guilt pierced her heart, he looked so...

“Ly...lyrica,” he got out, barely, before returning to his mantra and shuddering.

Midnights eyes widened. How... how had he known that word... She gasped, Narrow...

“I see,” she said quietly. “Permission received.” She looked at Level and hoped he could hear her. Her whole body shook. “Please... cover your ears and close your eyes. Don’t... don’t watch this.”

In one surprisingly clear moment, he pulled himself to her ears and whispered into them. “I trust you,” he said, before ambling off to find a place to isolate himself. Midnight shed a single tear and smiled.

“If only this was about trust,” she murmured. She turned back to the pair, who seemed to be discussing strategy, and arguing about it. Well, at least they were still waiting. Her eyes fell to a disinterested gaze and the nymph felt the mare become devoid of all emotion.

“Use of Lyrica style has been granted. Eliminating targets,” Song said with a mono tone.

“...I picked the wrong mare to work for,” the changeling observed before shedding her disguise totally. “Heads up, ‘boss,’ she’s got some crazy control over her emotions.”

Toll snorted and picked up some nearby desks in her magic. “Control or not, she won’t be able to withstand everything.” With that, the changeling took off, while the mare launched nearby office furniture at the thestral.

“First Beat,” she whispered, weaving and ducking the thrown desks. As the second volley approached, the thestral blinked once.

“Second Beat.” her swords came to bear and the desk was reduced to confetti. The thestral turned her gaze back to the unicorn…

“Damnation! Get in there while I charge up some spells!” the mare ordered. The changeling let out a buzz and zipped right into the thestral’s face, attempting to at the very least distract her. Though she did pull back one hoof to punch her in the face.

“Third Beat,” she said, snaring the extended hoof with her own and tossing her into the air, a barrage of blows juggled the hapless changeling before the thestral finally emitted an emotion. The mental conditioning was complete. She was ready to fight.

“Endless Waltz!” Midnight vanished, before she zipped back and forth, repeatedly striking the ‘ling, a shower of broken carapace rained down... It took a solid minute before Midnight landed, her hoofguards tapping lightly as the nymph hit the ground behind her, bleeding, broken and unconscious. What Toll was holding gave her pause, even now.

Apparently, the mare had decided to switch targets. Level was in her grasp and seemed to be alternating between trying to get out of her hold and crying in fear. “You want him?” the mare sneered. “Then you’d better do as I tell you, otherwise he won’t look any better than her.”

Midnight watched her as she edged around the thestral. “You used him,” she said quietly. “You abused him and you broke him. All because he’s not like us...” Her wings drooped, the swords striking the ground in a shower of sparks. “And now you cower behind him... like it will save you.” She took a step forward, raising her wings a little.

“I am the blade of justice, the holy sword of Celestia. Evil falls before me and you are no exception. You have been found... guilty,” that last word was uttered with a tone that could shake even the most stalwart pony. “You will face judgement at the hooves of the Creator. Are you ready?”

“You will back the hay off,” Toll said as Level was levitated to a nearby window. “Otherwise I’ll cast the spell that’ll tear his disguise off and toss him out there for all the world to see.”

Midnight took another step forward, her emotionless eyes now displaying righteous fury. “Then I will be his shield,” she whispered. “Dirge of Death,” and dashed forward, her wings spread wide. Toll had been standing in front of a shipping container, but the glowing dark blades the thestral wore sheared through the metal like it was nothing, the blades came to a stop, millimeters from the unicorn’s neck. The batpony was impossibly fast.

“You will die now,” she said. And then she heard the voice of Ledger.

Once Toll’s grip had faltered out of sheer terror, the unicorn stallion walked slowly closer to the scene, fascinated despite himself. Once he heard the batpony’s plan for the mare, he drew close, and put one hoof on her withers.

“I more than anyone else have cause to ask for her to die,” Ledger said simply. “So please, hear me Midnight...if you’re still in there. Don’t kill her. My friend, the mare I trust...she wouldn’t sink to the level of this scum. Please Midnight...come back to me.”

A small trickle of blood ran down Toll’s neck, where the magical blades were pressed against her. Midnight looked at her, and then leaned in close. “In case you didn’t hear that... the changeling you tormented. The changeling you abused...” She withdrew her blades and sheathed them, taking a shallow breath. “Just begged for your life. That is the only reason you still live.”

“Still, if you’d give her incentive to hold still and not spark up that horn of hers, that’d be great,” Level said as his own began to glow. “I have a secret to make sure she keeps.”

Still in combat mode, Midnight took that as ‘Don’t let her cast’ and drew back a hoof, slamming it into the mare’s horn, cracking it and causing her to scream shrilly from the overwhelming pain, before she passed out.

“Well, that works too,” Level said, looking at Midnight. “Okay, so while I put the compulsion on her...I’m guessing if I give you some sort of order, you’ll listen and perform it? I mean, based on what just happened. I’m really flying blind here.”

Midnight took another deep breath as she closed her eyes. Her emotionless state slowly dissipated, until it returned to more normal levels. She shuddered and opened her eyes halfway, gazing at the ground.

“I’m... not a monster,” she whispered. “Please... please d-don’t hate me...”

For the umpteenth time today, Midnight found herself encased in a Ledger-hug. “Okay, let’s review,” he said aloud. “I’m a shapeshifter who could be anypony I wanted to be and could drain a city dry of emotion, one pony at a time. I resemble a cross of bug and pony, so...yeah. I’m not going to call you a monster.”

“I could have killed her,” Midnight whispered. “It would have been so easy... just a simple flick of my wing. And you know what... I wouldn’t have cared... but,” she shuddered again, coming back from that state was always disconcerting. “I was more afraid, that you would be scared of me...”

“Not gonna lie, I did experience an emotion when watching you fight,” Ledger admitted, before dropping his voice. “It was bucking hot, watching you fight for me. Nymphs do it as well, but more to own the male they’re fighting over...assuming he’s worth it.”

Midnight blinked, before her lovely laugh rang out. “You are so weird,” she giggled, laying her head on his shoulder. “Buuut, I think I let my emotions control me too much. I didn’t mean to beat them so badly...”

“And nobody will shed a tear,” Level replied with a straight face. “Not the changelings back home, and not the Guard. So let’s see. You’re a batpony who can go into a trance that renders you mission-oriented and turns you into a hot warmare of combat,” the changeling said, beeping her muzzle with one hoof.

“Aw, you say the sweetest things,” she replied, booping him back. Level snickered, then crossed his eyes at his horn and nodded.

“Spell’s done. Every time she tries to reveal that I might be a changeling, obviously or sneakily, she’ll instead say something completely unrelated and random instead.”

“Huh? That’s kinda neat,” Midnight nodded, her ear suddenly flicked and she drew her sword. “Get disguised, we have company incoming!”

The silver flash signified that he’d obeyed her whims quite quickly, and the unicorn dropped down to the ground once he let the batpony go. Midnight turned to the door, a renewed vigor for tearing somepony a new one, when the main door lifted open and Narrow with a small legion of Guard entered, fanning out to check the area.

Midnight sighed and lowered her stance as Narrow drew closer. She took one look at the changeling nymph and Toll, as well as the scattered chitin pieces and cleaved metal container before shaking her head.

“So... you used it huh?”

“The two were tougher than they looked and I may have been a little mad,” Midnight bowed her head. “My emotions got the better of me and that’s no excuse. I accept any punishment you deem necessary.”

Narrow remained silent as she looked at Ledger, waiting to see if he had anything to add.

“I would have fought,” he admitted, but shook his head. “However, when the nymph said she was going to dispose of me...that triggered a few unpleasant memories. I had enough sense of mind to see Midnight was in a two on one fight, and passed her the word you said. Fortunately, I was able to bring her back from...whatever that was, before you had two bodies to clean up instead of two suspects.”

Narrow looked to Midnight, who gave a simple nod and turned towards Level Ledger. “We’ll discuss that later okay?”

Narrow barked at two of her Guards. “We have two injured mares. Retrieve the medics and get this place in order. And I want it done yesterday! Got that!?

“YES MA’AM!” the shouted, getting everything she requested organised.

“Where do you want us, ma’am?” Ledger asked, every inch the obedient civilian.

“Go home,” Midnight nodded. “We have all the evidence you have provided and your official statement can wait until tomorrow.” She gave them a small smile and nodded her head. “Your assistance has also been appreciated Sergeant Midnight Song! Your mission now is to insure the continued protection of this stallion. We do not know if any of her goons escaped and may seek revenge.”

“Ma’am!” Midnight saluted. “None shall lay a hoof on him.”

“I believe it too,” she grinned. “Now get going.”

“That...was a day and a half, and it’s only noon,” Ledger observed as he held the apartment door open for the pair of them. Midnight walked in silently and nodded, removing some pieces of armour and dropping them to the floor as she walked. Level snickered and floated them into her bedroom as she passed, before shutting and locking the front door and dropping his disguise.

“Oh, that’s better,” he stated aloud. “Now...something’s eating you, Midnight, and I don’t mean me.” The changeling sat on his haunches and stared at the batpony.

“Yeah... I guess so,” Midnight nodded slightly. “Sorry, I just, never meant to show you something like that. Show you why I’m called ‘the Monster of Canterlot’.”

The changeling merely sat there and blinked a few times, before coughing and pointing at himself with one hoof.

“Yes, yes... I’m well aware of your surprisingly sexy appearance,” Midnight chuckled half-heartedly. “I can’t avoid this can I?”

“Avoid what?” Level asked simply. There were a few points he could address, but he’d wait for her to share which one was currently ‘too much to handle’.

“The fact that I’ve lied to you... that I’m still lying to you,” she sighed. Level raised an eyebrow before coughing again.

“And this trumps all the half-truths and lies I fed you when you first moved in how?” he asked. Midnight looked up and smiled.

“Don’t you think it’s a little strange that somepony of my position needed shared accommodation in the first place?”

“Not...really?” Ledger said aloud. “The local Guard hasn’t been getting all the funds it could have for a while. Toll snipped whatever she could that was supposed to go to them, so that she didn’t have to worry near as much about being caught. She likely would have restored it to what it was supposed to be...the moment Narrow came asking.”

“While actually moving in with you was unexpected, it made my job a lot easier,” Midnight said bluntly. “I was going to move into this apartment building and befriend you regardless, because you were close to her, close to the object of my mission.”

Level’s expression started to fall as he came to several conclusions rapidly. “So this...all of this. Last night, your affection, all of it?” he asked quickly.

“NO!” Midnight slammed a hoof on the table. “That... I was supposed to be your friend at most, your acquaintance originally... I-I never expected, that I’d fall in love with you!” Tears streamed down her face as she continued. “All of that, all of that is the truth. What I feel, how I still feel!”

Level sat still and breathed deeply for a moment, to get his mind back under control. “Do you want to know something, Midnight? I’ve never tasted love for another being.” He opened his eyes and beckoned for her to come closer. “Show me,” he said simply. “Show me what you feel.” He didn’t have to wait long, as she pressed her lips against his. Despite his current appearance, despite what she’d just admitted, it was there. The power that Chrysalis craved, the power that filled a changeling like none other.

Pure love...for him.

He held her close and just basked in the emotion, drawing only what he really needed to fill up after their tiring day. Eventually, they had to come up for air. “Yes,” he said simply once they had, “That feels like love. I...don’t know if I can return it right away, but we can work on that together...if you’ll have me. If you think I’m worthy of you.”

“I should be saying that to you, weirdo,” she smiled none-the-less though. “But... I don’t know if we can...”

“Why do you say that?” he asked as he ran a hole-filled hoof through her mane.

“My mission is complete. Toll has been arrested, her empire in ruins. Any loose ends can be tied up by the local authorities. Most likely? I’d be back in Canterlot by tomorrow for my next assignment.”

“With her gone, I don’t have a job anymore,” Level said. “I could probably make one by cleaning up what’s left of Pegasus Air and returning it to a shipping company...but I’d been meaning to leave for a while anyways. Learn new things and all that. If it meant staying by your side...you’d have to go to the gates of Tartarus to lose me.”

“Y-you’d come to Canterlot with me?” she gasped. To be honest, she hadn’t even considered that.

“Whatever you ask me to do, I will,” he said as he leaned down to kiss her on the head. “Though, with the whole ‘me getting registered on the pony side’ happening when your father returns, I might just wind up stuck here…”

“Screw the rules, I’m a badass,’ Midnight snorted. “As long as you’re with me, nopony will question it. And if they do, I kick their butt... simple no?”

“I just got done with a company that broke the law on a regular basis,” Level deadpanned. “Plus...yeah, someone should at least try to clean up what she did. It’s looking more and more like I might just stay a little longer.”

“Yeah...” Midnight sighed. “I guess...” she shook her head and smiled. “We’ll figure it out later. Burn that bridge when we come to it right?”

“I’d prefer to leave my options open,” Level said with a roll of his eyes as he hugged Midnight tighter. “Huh,” he observed. “Suddenly, I am aware of something.”

“Oh, Level has reached enlightenment?” she questioned. “Who knew a thestral hug could help with that.”

“Not that,” he snarked. “My body is saying ‘this female just fought for you, obey her,’” he started, giving her a quick kiss on the head. “My groin is adding the words ‘in bed’ to that...and for once, my heart and mind have nothing to say on the matter.”

“So I won you over with unnecessary and bloody violence. I must say Level, that is definitely a first, even for me.” She sighed as she leaned into him. “Unfortunately, for once in my life, I am also not in the mood for something physical in nature. I just want to be held and hope that the moment never ends...”

“That, I can only do for so long,” Ledger said. “I need to get my sheets if I’m to use my bed at all...but I’ll hold you for as long as I can. Couch?”

“Cuddlecouch, or my bed... whichever you prefer,” she sighed.

“Couch it is, and if you aren’t happy by the time dinner rolls around, then I’m gonna start feeling sad,” he warned, putting Midnight on his back as the two began a long cuddling session.

After a while, Midnight just wanted a loooong shower and a nap. Level had started on an early dinner, but the love he got from before trumped anything he figured he could cook. Still, the non-emotivore needed physical sustenance and he would provide. A thought occurred and he smiled, ready to begin dinner...

Until there was a knock at the door. Also, the tingling sensation of pheromones... panicked ones…

Level put his disguise back on and opened the door, to reveal his highly panicked landlord on the other side. “Estate?” he asked. “What’s going on?”

“T-t-t-t-there’s... a -v-v-visitor for you....” guy was shaking like a leaf in an earthquake.

“Very well, I’ll add another for dinner,” Ledger said. “Send them up and tell them to knock first...locking doors is a good habit to have.” Meanwhile, Ledger was trying to figure out who it could possibly be to garner this reaction, but kept turning up nothing.

“W-w-will do,” Estate nodded. “OHpleaseopleasedon’tdieee!!!”

Before Ledger could even ask what the hell that was about, the stallion bolted, leaving the disguised changeling in the doorway. By the time he closed his door and returned to the kitchen, there was another knock. Bothering only to poke his head out, as everything was currently in a delicate state, the stallion unlocked the door from afar.

“It’s unlocked!” he shouted.

The door opened and his guest walked in, ducking her head to avoid hitting her long horn on the top of the door. Despite the closed windows, her mane flowed like a slow river as Celestia looked around the humble abode.

“It’s a nice place you have here, my little changeling.”

Ledger squeaked and ducked back in the kitchen, both to maintain the food and to try and hide himself behind a pot. This was...this was akin to a Queen taking notice of you back home. That never ended well!

Celestia chuckled as she stood in the centre of the room. “Please forgive my sudden appearance, but my dear Grissom told me that I simply must pay you a visit. And once I heard about today’s events, I teleported right over.”

Level slowly lowered the pot and poked his head out again. “So...you’re not here to punish me for living in your lands for a year without registering my identity?” he questioned the sun-goddess.

“Heavens no,” Celestia smiled, beckoning for the changeling to come out. “I came to apologise actually...”

Ledger’s jaw dropped as his brain ground to a halt. A female of this standing apologizing to a drone like him? “I...don’t know what to say,” he admitted as he sat in front of the dining table. “This...has never happened to me before.”

“I’d imagine not,” Celestia chuckled. “Changeling drones have it quite rough back home, don’t they?” In response, Ledger’s eyes flickered to his bookcase and the damn pamphlet floated out for Celestia to see.

“That’s putting it mildly, your highness,” he said with only a touch of sarcasm.

“Yes, I am well aware of the state of things,” Celestia said, her eyes glazing over the pamphlet. “I wish I could do more for them, but I can only help the ones that come to Equestria, and even then, only the ones that want my help.” The offending pamphlet suddenly burst into a bright flame, utterly disintegrating. Ledger blinked a few times as the weight of the bundle of propaganda vanished from his grip.

“Well...that’s one thing off my mind, then,” he observed, before turning his head back to the kitchen and starting to drain the noodles. “Is there...any particular thing you wanted to apologize for?” He was still having difficulty believing she wanted to apologize in the first place.

“For the way my little ponies have treated you and yours,” she sighed. “Try as I might, they are timid beings, afraid of drastic change and the unknown.” She suddenly bowed her head. To him! “I pray, that you can forgive them.”

Once he was certain he wasn’t holding or needed to hold anything, Ledger dropped his disguise and slowly drew closer to Celestia. “I can forgive all but one,” he said quietly. “And as long as she never gets out of whatever hole the courts throw her in...then I can even forgive you.”

Celestia blinked at the sudden transformation, but nodded. “Toll Taker has committed terrible crimes, and she will be punished accordingly. Rest assured, she will never hurt you or anypony else again. You have my sincerest promise.”

“Well then, my thanks,” Ledger said, bowing his head for a moment. A thought crossed his mind and he decided to voice the question. “Ah...any word on when Grissom will next be here? I sort of requested him to handle all of…” Here he gestured towards his body with one hoof.

“I’m afraid I’m keeping him quite busy at the moment, especially after Luna...” Celestia smiled again, shaking her head. “He’s already arranged the necessary paperwork though, you will just have to come to Canterlot to finalise it at your own discretion.”

Ledger sighed before shaking his head as well. “Somepony has to clean up after Toll, and Pegasus Air was once a shipping company...but in the lack of a pony to do the job, I know the place inside and out. I’d rather he come to me when he next can.”

“Well, I’ll see what I can arrange,’ Celestia smiled. “Now, I believe your timid landlord said something about dinner?”

“The sauce is nearly done,” Ledger said, and a spark of mischief flickered across his slitted eyes. “If you would be so kind as to awaken my roommate? I believe she’s taking a nap at the moment.”

Celestia smiled mischievously. “I believe I could do that for you. Where might I find Miss Song?”

“Allow me to show you,” Level all but purred as he escorted the Princess of the Sun to Midnight Song’s room and silently opened the door with his magic. “All yours,” he whispered. Celestia walked in, ever the graceful Princess as she approached the bed with the sleeping thestral atop of it. Her hind leg twitched on occasion and a small smile graced her lips. She appeared to be having a good dream.

Celestia leant down and whispered into the bat’s ear. “Dear Midnight, it is time to wake up~”

Midnight stirred as her smile widened. She leaned up and suddenly grabbed the alicorn’s head. “MMm, morning Level~” she purred in a sleepy tone and promptly kissed the mare.

Needless to say, even the infallible princess of the sun was shocked. But she was too stunned to pull away…

Ledger merely sat down, hard, outside her room, taking the situation in. Okay, yes, she’d thought Celestia was him...for some reason, and decided a kiss was the appropriate way to respond to being woken up. But…

...Damn if it wasn’t hot, watching her get the wrong target...

Midnight pulled away, and eventually opened her eyes... only to be graced with the slightly blushing face of Princess Celestia.

“Oh... hmm, I’ve had this dream before~” she purred. “Now where’s Luna...?”

“Back at home I’m afraid,” Celestia replied like nothing had happened. “She certainly would have gotten a laugh out of this I assure you.”

“Wait... home...?” Midnight suddenly became very aware that this wasn’t a dream and looked at Celestia. “Oh!? Ohhhh, very funny Level. And here you said you wouldn’t become a female Celestia.”

“And I haven’t,” the drone spoke up from outside her room, smirking as she began to finally process the situation.

“Oh Sweet Celestia I kissed Celestia!” Midnight put a hoof to her lips, then smirked. “Well, she was quite sweet~”

“And you are incorrigible,” Celestia sighed, fighting down another blush. “Well, if you’re quite done molesting me, shall we have dinner and talk about a few things?”

“Speaking of which, it’s nearly do- aw crud,” Level said as he remembered something. “Midnight, we really need to buy more chairs if we’re going to keep having guests.”

“That we do,” Midnight nodded as the two mares exited the room and followed the ‘ling out into the living room. It was then that Song noticed that he wasn’t disguised.

“Uh, Lev... you’re uh, showing a little... in front of the Princess!”

“She knows, and I have your dad to blame for it,” Ledger returned. “Back in a jiffy, you two can decide who goes where.” With that, he ducked back into the kitchen.

“I know where I want to go~” Midnight giggled, glancing at the princess. Celestia just sighed and applied her hoof to her face.

“The castle has been much quieter without you dear Midnight,” she sighed. She glanced at a chair and her horn fired up with a golden light. Once it cleared, a third chair was sitting there.

“Duplication spell. Quite useful yes?”

Ledger walked back out of the kitchen with three plates in his grasp, raising an eyebrow at the new chair. “Well that solves that problem,” he admitted, before putting dinner in front of the mares. One Midnight recognized from her first day here.

“Ooooh, the yummy pasta!” Midnight cheered. “My life is now complete~” However, the moment Midnight bit into it, she could taste that something felt...different about it.

Better. More.

Celestia took a bite, humming thoughtfully. Midnight suddenly realised... Princess Freaking Celestia was at their dinner table.

“This is quite nice,” she hummed and smiled. “Such love poured into a dish just makes it that extra bit special no?”

“No more special than the mare that gave it to me to begin with,” Level said, winking at Midnight. “You could probably have a dedicated changeling chef do something similar at the palace,” he theorized. “Might make those long days of court tolerable.”

Midnight watched as Celestia smiled and leaned in close, a hint of mirth in her eyes.

“Who says I don’t?”

“Fair enough,” Ledger admitted, chuckling softly. “We can be rather sneaky after all.”

“Little sneak stole my heart after all~” Midnight chuckled. Celestia nodded and smiled along with her. This was nice to see. And it only helped her with the decision she had to make.

“Excuse me, but I believe you gave it to me willingly,” Ledger mock-protested. “I even got the gift receipt and everything.”

“You’d better not return it!” Midnight waved a fork. “Or I will be most pouty and sad and you really don’t want that.”

“Of course not,” Ledger agreed, munching on some more noodles before continuing. “Though the question becomes, what does the pretty mare desire in return?”

She paused as Level and Celestia, who had become most interested in this conversation, stared at her. She fidgeted in her seat as the pressure built. Her face flushed red and Level could feel the love pour off of her.

“Um, well... just, you I guess?’ she finally said and hid her face in her hooves. Celestia chuckled and returned to her meal.

“Then for as long as you want me, you have me,” Ledger replied, basking in the love she emanated and eating his other dinner as well.

“So... cute...” Celestia said under her breath. She suddenly cleared her throat and turned towards Midnight. “Regardless, I do have the details for your next assignment Midnight Song.”

“O-Oh?” Song snapped to attention. She’d been so carried away with her new domestic life, she’d forgotten that Celestia was royalty.

“Indeed, you’ve done well here. And I would be most honoured to have a mare like you in my Personal Guard.”

Level Ledger, having worked under several stressful situations in his last occupation, did a masterful job of his poker face. He merely nodded at Midnight at the news. “A mare like you deserves the best,” he said solemnly. Whereas internally, he could not be any more conflicted.

“It’s... what I’ve always wanted,” Midnight said quietly. “Ever since joining the Academy, it’s what I’ve always wanted. To be able to join your Guard... to do what no thestral has ever done before.” She looked down at her food, not feeling hungry anymore.

“And yet?” Celestia raised an eyebrow.

“And yet...” Midnight smiled. “I finally found something... that I want,” she looked up at Level with that smile. “Something more.”

Level shook his head a few times. “Midnight, you’re throwing away a prime opportunity, the job of a lifetime, your dreams. Think about this. Don’t do that for a...drone like me.” He had been about to say the word ‘worthless’ in there, but barely stopped himself in time.

“I know,” Midnight sighed. She doubted, that she would ever get this chance again. But then, this other chance might slip away as well. “But... I...”

“If I may interject?” Celestia asked, dabbing at her mouth with a napkin. “This city, it’s... a difficult city to live in, is it not?”

“It used to be,” Level admitted. “That might change. It might not. I’ll need a roommate to afford rent in the future, should I keep up the act. Even if I don’t, the money will let me live comfortably.”

“I think she might mean the sort of ponies that live here,” Midnight said. “The Toll Taker’s of the world so to say.”

“Indeed, while I do regret that these events have transpired, I am also not foolish enough to assume that they will not happen again.”

“Nature abhors a vacuum,” Level agreed. “A power vacuum of this magnitude?...If it’s not filled in legally, then it will be filled in illegally.”

“Agreed,” Celestia nodded. “You are a wise changeling dear Ledger. And I would feel much more comfortable if I had one of my personal Guard here in Las Pegasus watching out for ponies like yourself.”

Level slowly blinked and looked between Celestia and Midnight. “Are you saying…?” he started off with.

“Midnight Song!” Celestia said, using her tone that she would when ordering her soldiers. “Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to keep the citizens of Las Pegasus safe. You will act as an independent member of my Guard. You will take your orders from me and me alone. Do you accept?”

Midnight just froze. Did... was she offering what she thought she was offering?

“Lev?” she croaked. “I could use some of that bluntness right now...”

“This is like the circumstances around my uncle becoming and staying King of my home Hive,” Level said. “Once in a generation. If you pass this up, I will be most cross with you, Midnight.”

“Well, I guess I should... graciously accept your offer,” Midnight smiled. “Because apparently my cuddlebug would be most lonely without me.”

“Apparently so,” Celestia chuckled again. She sighed inwardly, Midnight was a valuable asset, and a good friend. “And you Mr. Ledger, I trust you will take care of this most valuable friend of mine?”

“Of course I will,” Ledger defended himself. “Until she admitted it to me today, I had never tasted love. I’m not letting anything happen to her if I can help it.”

“Well, I’d say that’s a decent motivator,” Celestia smiled as she stood up. “Well, thank you for the lovely meal. And now that I’ve concluded my business here, I have a castle full of ponies to get back to.”

“Don’t forget about Mr. Grissom,” Ledger reminded the Sun Princess. “And if you could say a kind word or two to Estate on your way out, assure him I’m still alive, I’d appreciate it. Your sudden arrival sent him into somewhat of a panic.”

“I didn’t mean it?” Celestia looked a little sheepish and Level Ledger made a very important discovery.

Princess Celestia was freaking adorable~

Midnight looked at her changeling and blinked. “Um, you okay there Lev?”

Level blinked a few times and shook his head. “Just peachy.” Gah! The cuteness of that moment...he’d almost felt his heart stop.

“Well, I’ll be off now. I’ll make sure that the necessary paperwork is filed and see to it that Captain Narrow is informed of your promotion,” Celestia winked. “Now if you’ll excuse me...” Her horn lit up and with a flash of golden light, she vanished.

“She can certainly make an exit huh?” Song replied, still wondering if she was asleep and this had really happened. She got an answer when Level got up from his spot at the table, quickly trotted over to Midnight, and pulled her into a deep kiss.

Normally he never started things like this.

Yeah, okay. This was real.. and happening. This was definitely a thing now. Once he broke the kiss, she panted, her face red. Why did he have that effect on her?

“So uh... I guess I’m here to stay then?”

“I certainly hope so,” Level admitted. “There might need to be a few changes as to who pays what, but I’m certain we can work it all out.”

Midnight fidgeted and looked at him. “Um, I have a question?”

“And that would be?” he asked, continuing to hold her close.

She smiled, “Just what was running through your mind when I was kissing the Princess~”

“Not a whole lot beyond whether or not I should shift into a male Luna and totally break your mind,” Ledger said with a grin. He shifted when a blush graced her cheeks and her wings snapped to attention.

“Uhhh... I may or may not be totally okay with that,” she said. “And wait! When the heck did you get so forward? I recall a certain stallion had a very potent aversion to the female kind.”

“You changed that,” he said, holding her close and sighing. “I’m still not attracted to females...but you? You showed me you could be trusted. You showed me that there was no shame about anything, nothing to fear. I’m not asexual...but I’m not normal.” He pulled her back and delivered the final observation. “If anything, I’m Songsexual now.”

“Everypony is Songsexual...” she winked at him, “Even the Princess apparently~”

“Well if you’re done with your food, the option to cuddle is always open,” Level offered.

“Cuddling sounds wonderful, maybe a little kissing as well?” she asked hopefully, wagging her tail cutely.

“Whatever you want,” Ledger said, kissing her on the muzzle. “You just have to take it.” Her eyes widened and she ginned again, like she had the night before.

“Oh, are you sure you want me to do that?”

Ledger paused for a minute before nodding. “As long as it’s you.”

“You said my fighting was hot, I got to kiss a Princess and you admitted that you loved me in front of her,” Midnight pointed out. “I am now going to blow your little buggy mind~”

Chapter Nine - An Unexpected Singer

Morning dawned on Las Pegasus, the city that barely slept. If ever. And usually complained of a hangover when it woke up. Sunlight peeked into various homes across the city, causing the dwellers thereof to get up and go ambling for their coffee pots.

In one apartment in the city, however, a certain changeling merely brought the thestral mare next to him even closer and tried to drift back off to sleep. Screw what Celestia thought, he had a Midnight to cuddle.

Midnight’s ear flicked as a small smile crossed her muzzle. He hadn’t flinched when he woke up next to her this time, yay for progress.

Unfortunately, it also meant that she’d have to be the first one to get up. After yesterday’s raid, there was a lot of things to sort out and a ton of loose ends to tie up. She sighed and hugged his leg for a moment, before starting to get up.

“Nooo...want Midnight,” Ledger muttered as he felt the mare start to leave the bed. “Why is my cuddle-buddy leaving me?”

“Because we have a lot to do today,” she whispered into his ear. “And if we don’t get up soon, Narrow might send her troops to retrieve us.”

“Fiiiiine,” Ledger said as he began stretching, his disguise slowly flickering into place. “I’ll make coffee, you shower, we switch after?” he asked. Midnight hummed and tapped her chin thoughtfully.

“I would suggest we shower together to save time, but you and I both know that we will do everything but that~”

“I was unaware of just how dirty one could get in the shower,” Level admitted as his unicorn guise settled over his form. “It’d actually save us more time if we took them separately...plus, you know how I like my coffee, so it all works out.”

“Hmm, I suppose,” Midnight sighed. She grabbed a towel with her wing and headed for the shower. “Make my coffee black today, I need a pick-me-up...”

“Already on it,” Ledger said with a nod. A thought crossed his mind as he looked at the bed and he smirked before heading into the kitchen. A quick and dirty application of power saw everything he needed floating out of their respective cabinets. A thought and a bit more power saw a pot of coffee being brewed, two cups being pulled out, and most everything else being put back. The ‘ling looked at another cabinet and frowned before poking his head in and moaning. “Aww...well this sucks,” he said aloud. No wonder none had come out: he barely had any sugar cubes left. Devoid of any caffeine, the changeling just sighed and sat there, staring forlornly at his once-great sugar pile, thinking of how best to remedy this problem.

The slight squeak of the shower and the sudden cease of running water told the changeling that Midnight had already finished and he could hear her humming an unknown tune. She eventually trotted back into the room, a towel wrapped around her mane and sniffing the air.

“Mmm, I smell coffeeeeee~” she purred. Ledger’s ear twitched at the sound of her voice, but the rest of him merely let out a sigh. He had a lot to do today, and by the time he might get off, there was no promise of the place he normally visited to remedy a sugar crisis still being open... He was so lost in thought, it wasn’t until the Thestral wrapped her hooves around him, her belly laying on his back, that he even noticed that she was in the kitchen.

“So... what’s bugging you?” she giggled, proud of her horrible pun. Ledger cringed slightly, but answered her nonetheless.

“Y’see this cabinet?” he gestured, indicating the mostly-empty space in front of them with only a dozen sugar cubes scattered around. “It used to be full. I haven’t stocked up in a while. Guess it just slipped my mind.”

“So, you want some for your coffee?” she asked, her tail twitching as a smirk crept onto her face. “Hmm, why don’t you go have a shower and let me take care of this?”

“I…” Ledger raised a hoof before shrugging. “Fine. But the fact remains I’m gonna need more in the near future. For a ‘ling, food helps us metabolize love and other emotions into actual energy, but nothing helps more than sugar.” With that, Level gave Midnight a quick kiss before standing and heading to his own shower.

“Okay, now let’s see if this works,” Midnight muttered to herself as she begun to pour his drink. She added what little sugar they had left, and she only now realized just how much sugar he used. Sweet Celestia, this could give that Pinkie mare a cavity.

Once she was done, she added her own secret ingredient. As soon as she figured out exactly how she was supposed to do that, or even if it would work. She closed her eyes and thought about her little cuddle-bug as she held the cup, before kissing the ceramic object and placing it gently on the table.

She sat on the opposite side and giggled. “Pft, yeah, like that actually worked...”

Ledger’s unicorn form walked out of his bedroom and made a beeline for his coffee, holding it close and sighing. For some reason it just felt good to hold...and when he finally took the first sip?

Love and sugar and caffeine combined. It was a wonder he didn’t explode due to over-stimulation right there. He was certain his eyes had bulged though. He could feel his jaw dropping as he just sat and stared at the cup.

“Um, Lev?” Midnight was a bit concerned now as she waved a hoof in front of his face. “Are you messing with me again?” She got her answer when she was the victim of a very fast hug and kiss.

“Ohmygoodness whydidn’tI thinkofdoingthis SOONER!” Ledger babbled. “Loveandsugarandcaffeine! Thebestcombination!”

Wait? It actually worked... and now she’d sent him on the most intensive sugar rush she’d ever seen. And she’d taken Celestia to Donut Joe’s ‘All you can eat’ once.

“Um, glad I could help?” she blinked.

“Yes,shameit won’tlasttoo long,” Ledger admitted, already feeling himself starting to normalize. “OtherwiseI couldjust carry around a thermos of this and be perky all day. As it stands, I probably won’t be needing much in the way of emotional energy until lunch, with that quick burst.”

“Given how quickly that took effect...” Midnight crunched some numbers in her head and looked at him. “3...2...1...”

Ledger blinked and sagged, suddenly very tired. “Correction,” he said, looking at the rest of the fluid in his cup. “Won’t need much...after I finish the cup.”

“Aw, I hadn’t meant for it to do that. I honestly didn’t know that would even work at all,” Midnight pointed out. “But admittedly, you are hilarious when hyped on sugar.”

Level had already taken another sip, this time he was braced for it. “Well,” he said only slightly quickly, “When you know that you’re around a ‘ling and actually try to manipulate Love, ponies are actually quite adept at it. Your mother put love into her cooking, after all, and you both put your hearts into singing.”

“Huh, I never knew that,” Midnight nodded. “Especially since I’m not really a pony...”

“Pony enough to count, and pony enough for me,” Ledger said, giving her a quick smooch before looking around. “Think we have enough time for breakfast, or should we wing it?”

“Let’s hit up Fredrick’s,” she replied. “I still gotta let him know that I live and all that.”

“Fair enough,” Level said as he drained his cup. “I’m good, you?”

Midnight zipped into her room, donning her armour and regular swords before returning. “Hah... yup, all good now.”

Level snickered and held the door open for both of them, locking it once they were both on their way.

Fredrick perked from behind his podium. For some reason, something seemed...off this morning. As though some great balance had been upset. And now it felt like that imbalance was coming closer. The griffon shook his head just in time to see Ledger and that beautiful ba- Thestral mare walking in. He gave the pair of them a winning smile and prepared his best lines. Watching her blush was always a treat. Plus, maybe she’d actually respond in the positive this time!

“Well hello there Level and his most beautiful friend,” Fredrick purred. “I am most glad to see the pair of you again. I will admit, when Ledger came by without you, I was quite worried, dear beauty. I am ever so happy to see that you both are alright.”

“Yeah, sorry about that Fred,” Midnight smiled chipperly. “Some things went down and I had to lay low for a while. But...” she looked at Level and smiled. “I believe it all worked out for the best. Oh! And I’m staying in Las Pegasus for the foreseeable future.”

“Ah, all the better to tease you,” Fredrick smirked. “So, table for two? Or would the lady prefer her own private table?”

“Fredrick,” Level said with only a slight hint of irritation. “Stop hitting on my marefriend.”

There was a sound of silence that seemed world-encompassing. That feeling of wrongness returned a hundredfold. Fredrick looked at the unicorn, then at the Thestral, then back at the unicorn.

“Your…” Fredrick managed to get out. “Your marefriend?”

Midnight giggled as she leaned in and kissed her lover. “Aw, don’t get all jealous, as cute as it is,” she smiled. “You know I love you and Fredrick is just being Fredrick... though, I guess now I’ll never get to sample that private menu of his~” She sighed a little, thinking of what could have been.

“Back up, back up,” Fredrick said, waving one claw as he tried to process the situation. “How did you get him to accept this arrangement? Last I knew, he snorted a bit every time a mare came down those stairs and hit on him.”

Midnight smiled and Level saw that familiar wicked glint in her eyes. She leaned forward, her lips almost touching his beak as that smile widened.

“Oh my dear Fredrick.” She said in a low, husky tone. “Everyone is Songsexual~ No exceptions!”

Fredrick blinked before grinning in turn. “I may just have to steal that from you for use on some of the mares I’ve had difficulty bedding,” he said, a spark of mischief in his eyes.

Midnight sat back and huffed. “My line, get your own,” she pouted. Well, technically it had been Level’s line…

“Anyway,” Level spoke up. “We’re here for a quick breakfast, Fredrick. Think you can whip us up an after-morning special?”

“But of course, but usually I reserve that for the morning after I have be-” the griffon’s mind ground to another halt as he looked at Midnight, then at Level. “No,” he uttered aloud. “You didn’t.”

That gleam returned with a vengeance as she leaned closer again, looking at Level with a mischievous grin before whispering in the Griffon’s ear.

“As big as my leg~”

Fredrick said something in Gryphic that caused Level to flinch. “How?!” he shrieked in Equestrian. “How do you hold yourself back when you have such a gift?!” he demanded of the stallion.

Midnight sighed and sat back with a smile on her face, her vengeance complete. Today was a good day to be her.

Eventually they’d calmed the poor half-avian down and were now sitting at a table, Fredrick’s famous after-morning breakfast in front of them...and one eye from the griffon on one of them more often than not.

“So, I’m thinking of going in and doing mostly damage assessment today,” Level said, swallowing his latest bite of waffle before continuing. “See what all is left and what all I can whip back into being a proper shipping company.”

“You still have to come to the station and file a report,” Midnight added as she inhaled her waffles. “Plus Pegasus Air is under government control right now. You can’t just walk in and claim it for yourself. Likely, it would normally be put into liquidation and dissolved completely, but maybe I can pull a few strings...”

“It’d be nice,” Level said with a nod as he sipped his orange juice. “I mean, at it’s core, it’s still a shipping company. She just stopped caring about what she was shipping to who. And I still know how it’s supposed to work better than anypony not behind bars.”

“Well, we’ll see Captain Narrow, then focus on what we can and can’t do. Worst case? I doubt it’d be too hard to find a new job for you.”

Ledger shrugged and polished off his plate of food. “Meh, even if it turns out I can’t do anything there today, I still have savings...and chores to do. Need to buy some more sugar, and I should probably update the others-” oh crud had he said that last one out loud?

Midning leaned forward, her eyes gazing into his. “Oh Level Ledger~” she cooed, using his full name for the first time in a while. “What do you mean by... others?”

Making sure that Fredrick couldn’t see, Level did his eye-shifting trick for a moment to explain. “Those others,” he said, shifting them right back afterwards. “We have a few places we meet up, and for something like yesterday, I think they deserve to know I came out of it all right.”

“Oooh~ I wanna meet ‘em!” Midnight smiled. “I still haven’t met a Changeling that hasn’t tried to kill me besides you... well, wait. Even you were told to kill me at one point... dammit!”

“But I didn’t,” Level said with a smirk. “And I think I can put a hole in your argument with one name. Just one.” He waited for her to ask...

“I’ve met other Changeling’s and not realized it, haven’t I?” she deadpanned.

“Estate,” Ledger said as he began draining his juice. Midnight blinked and Level started to think that telling her that was a bad idea.

“Really now?” she smiled. “Oh, I do hope I have a short day today... I can’t wait to go home~”

“If he starts to really freak out, just tell him you know about me, and that I told you about him,” Level said, already predicting the future disaster and heading it off. “But that’s later. For now, we have a Guard station to get to.”

“Fine,” Midnight pouted. “Let’s go see how stressed Captain Narrow is today.” She glanced back at the counter and waved a hoof. “Oh Fredrick~ Can I get one coffee to go please~”

“Coming right up,” he said aloud, muttering a few things as he rummaged in the kitchen. After not even a minute, the owner of the restaurant presented the batpony with a cup of coffee. “And the bill,” he said, flourishing the strip of paper.

Level looked at it and lit his horn up, his saddlebags opening just enough to let his bit-bag loose. But Midnight beat him to the punch, dropping the coins onto the counter.

“I got it this time sweetie~” she smiled happily. “Now, shall we get going?”

“Of course,” Level said as he stood next to her seat, waiting for her to stand so he could walk side-by-side with her out of Fredrick’s. She gladly took his offer and the two left the slack-jawed griffin to the rest of his day, though he probably wouldn’t be able to focus on it.

Once they were outside and a good distance away, Midnight burst out laughing.

“Oh. My. Celestia! Did you see his face!?’ she cackled. “I thought he was gonna lay an egg or something!”

“It is rather nice to be able to get one over on him for a change,” Level agreed, chuckling along with her. “Sadly, I think if we keep Narrow too much longer, she’ll start looking for us herself.”

“Feh! Yessir, Captain Buzzkill!” Midnight saluted. Level sighed and put a hoof to his face.

“What am I going to do with you, Miss Pun?” he asked aloud.

“Well as long as I drive you batty, I guess I’ll just have to keep bugging you Lev~” she giggled and flew off for the station, letting the changeling give chase. After a moment to shake his head and groan at the terrible puns she seemed to spit out on a regular basis, the supposed unicorn followed as best he could to the station.

“Well, so the lovebirds grace us with their presence huh?” Captain Narrow sat behind a stack of paperwork, having some piled up on the floor, just so she’d have desk space. “As you can see, our little venture yesterday has left me with quite the headache... and since our gracious Princess saw fit to promote somepony, I now no longer have anypony I can foist this off on to.”

“Aw, I’m really feeling the love Captain,” Midnight gigged, glad to have dodged that particular bullet. “Is it really all that bad?”

“This stuff is just a small sample of what I have to do,” Narrow groaned. “And I think you broke Toll.”

“Broke?” Song tilted her head. “Um... how?”

“Well,” Narrow said as Ledger finally caught up, staggering up to the desk. “She has an odd... tick I guess I could call it. She starts to say something about our Unicorn friend here, then trails off on some random tangent. Apparently Level Ledger’s greatest secret is that he loves pasta and taking long walks on the beach...”

“Not arguing with that,” the unicorn said as he looked at the mound of paperwork. “Mother of...hmm. Y’know...this is still not as bad as I’ve seen paperwork get.”

“As I said, this is just the beginning,” Narrow sighed, slumping onto the desk. “And I still have to figure out what to do with Pegasus Air. We arrested a good deal of their employees, but there are a significant portion of those that had no idea, nor any hoof in the illegal activities. If we shut the whole thing down... a lot of ponies will have no job, no support.”

Level picked up one of the pieces of paper and scanned it rapidly. “These all similar?” he asked after a moment. “Incident reports, property damage claims, so on and so forth? Things that are very boring and time consuming to do because you have to look up all the numbers?”

“Yeah,” Narrow nodded. “The insurance companies won’t lift a hoof, they claim that ‘Police Interference’ isn’t a valid claim. So we’re left with this sort of nonsense. What can be covered by the Crown, what their insurance could cover and what will have to come out of their own pockets.”

“All rather academic if you’ve seized all of Toll’s accounts in the name of the Crown,” Ledger said with a smirk. “She nearly had enough to rebuild Las Pegasus. Reimbursing all her former establishments should be foal’s play if we use her funds.”

“We’ve thought of that,” Narrow groaned. “The problem? Toll was smart. All her money is tied up in property, material belongings, stocks, etc. While we can do that. It’ll take time and a good deal of effort converting all that into usable bits. And it will mean deconstructing the company as well... and I already mentioned the problem regarding that.”

“Well golly Miss Midnight,” Ledger said, giving his marefriend a shit-eating grin. “It sure sounds like your former Captain here is in a lot of trouble.”

“Gee willikers Level Ledger, it sure does!” she smiled very widely.

“If only she had a unicorn who knew systems and numbers and where Toll’s easily accessible slush fund was that he could use to get at the rest of her money,” Level said with a sigh as he put his head on the Captain’s desk, right in front of her.

Narrow blinked, before grabbing Level’s head and kissing him. Midnight just blinked as Narrow grinned like a madmare.

“I have the greatest idea!” she laughed.

“If it’s ‘make me do your paperwork,’ I already thought of using that to bargain for taking control of what Pegasus Air should have been,” Level groused, wiping away the kiss.

“You must be a mind reader,” Narrow continued her grin. “Yes! You will take over Pegasus Air. You know that company inside and out, plus I can trust you to run it legitimately.”

“Plus you get to foist this load of dead trees onto me,” the unicorn said, indicating the morass of paperwork her desk had become.

“I know!” Narrow smiled with glee. “You are the best little scapegoat ever!”

“I feel like I should take offense to this,” Midnight wondered in confusion. “But, on the other hoof, I’m finding all this too damned funny to care.”

“Really feeling the love, you two,” Ledger deadpanned as he picked himself up and glanced at the mass of paper. “Well, if I must, I must,” he sighed, though he did smile afterwards. “Still, it’ll be nice, seeing that place returning to being a shipping company.”

Midnight leaned in close and winked. “Cause you like shipping so much, don’t you~” she giggled.

“Pfft, I merely know exactly what that company is capable of, if someone with a competent mind got to work on it.” Ledger gave the pile of paper another glance and quirked an eyebrow. “Is there...a form I have to sign or something?...”

Narrow’s eyes shone with a wicked gleam as she whistled. Straight entered the room a moment later, a stack of papers as high as a pony was perched on his back.

“Just a few~” she grinned. Ledger smirked and fired up his horn in return. First one ink pot came out of his saddle bags. Then two. Three. From the other side, quills started to float out as well.

“Now that’s cheating,” Narrow mumbled, heavily considering foisting all her paperwork on him. “Well, whatever. At least I know I can count on you, and I can count on Song to keep you out of trouble.”

“Most of the time,” Midnight replied as she gave the hidden changeling a fond smile. “I can only do so much though.”

“If you think this trick is impressive, just remember: this is all with TK,” Ledger pointed out as papers started to join the ranks of floating objects. “And now for the tricky pa-” Here the stallion cut out mid-word as his eyes glossed over. Meanwhile, all the quills blurred into motion, filling out sheet after sheet of paperwork before each one was whisked away, replaced by the next.

“He’s not a normal pony huh?” Narrow mushed, eliciting another giggle from the Thestral.

“No, no he is certainly not.”

“Also,” Narrow asked, turning her attention to the batpony. “Can you explain your position a little to me? The Princess’s letter wasn’t too detailed in that regard.”

Midnight nodded and took a seat. “Well, I’m a Specialist. I am under the direct command of Princess Celestia and can refuse any orders from anypony besides her. My current assignment is to remain here in Las Pegasus, giving protection to Level Ledger and providing assistance to the police and guard should they request it of me. Basically, I can do pretty much whatever I want, as long as it remains within the law and I don’t bring dishonor to the Princesses.”

“I see, that makes much more sense,” Narrow nodded. She shot a glance at Ledger and blinked. “Is-is he going to be like that for a while?”

“Beats me,” Midnight shrugged as she got up from her chair. “This is the first time I’ve seen it.”

“Well, let’s leave him be and take a walk. We still have a bit to talk about,” the guardmare said, leaving a note for Ledger on the whiteboard and they left him to his job.

“So Toll Taker is just one of the issues?” Midnight sighed as they walked over to Fredrick’s. Narrow wanted coffee and her favourite barista was waist deep in paperwork.

“There are dozens of smaller gangs and criminal families, and now that the big fish is gone, they’re all going to want a bigger piece of pie.”

“I... fish don’t eat pie,” Midnight blinked and Narrow frowned.

“I want your help, and not to pick apart my analogies,” she grumped as they walked inside the restaurant. “Can I count on you? Lady Midnight?”

“Of course you can,” the Thestral smiled and winked as she walked past Fredrick. “A table for two please.”

“Of course Madam Midnight, and Lady Narrow, how delightful to see you again,” the griffon greeted as he grabbed two menus from under the podium. “It is always my pleasure to serve the fine mares of Las Pegasus, especially the ones in charge of keeping us all safe.”

“I’m sure it is,” Midnight smiled. “But I’m no longer available for that kind of service my dear griffin~”

“True, but you are not the only one in your party today,” Fredrick said with a wink as he led both mares to a table.

“I have picked up quite a few new party members recently,” Midnight hummed. “But I guess I am the main character, so it’s only natural.”

“You sure your head fits through most doors?” Narrow chuckled dryly. “And what makes you a main character? If anything, aren’t you the ditzy love interest?”

“Better than a supporting role like yourself,” Midnight replied. “But at least we’re both better off than Fred here. He’s just an NPC.”

“I rather think I do serve the highly important role of keeping the Guard and police mares of Las Pegasus fed...along with sating any desires the mares of Las Pegasus have, should they choose to come to me for that,” the half-bird returned before indicating their table. “Ladies,” he said with a slight bow as he placed the menus at their places and stood to one side to take their drink order.

“Aw, you know we love you,” Song giggled.

“And a lot of mares do as well it seems,” Narrow joined in. “But my dear Fredrick, do tell me. Is boasting about your prowess in bed the only trick you have? A mare likes a little variety every now and then.”

Midnight blinked and sighed. Yup, she knew what was coming.

“I boast about my skill because I can deliver,” Fredrick riposted. “Yet not every date of mine ends with myself and a mare between the sheets. Sometimes all they desire is a fine night on the town, a fine meal, some nice company...and I provide.” Fredrick then let off a sigh. “Granted, I do prefer to go to bed holding someone warm, but I am a gentle-bird first and foremost.”

Much to, well most likely to Midnight’s surprise at least, Narrow leaned forward and gazed into the bird’s eyes. “Is that so? Well I have had a very stressful couple of days. Perhaps you know a few ways or tricks a mare like me might use to... unwind~”

“I know of more than a few massage techniques that are said to relieve quite a lot of stress,” Fredrick said with a grin. “Really helps with the removal of latent pains and weariness. Perhaps you would like to come by after-hours? I live just upstairs.”

“My dear Fredrick, are you inviting this old mare on a date?” she asked coyly. Midnight just watched, having procured some popcorn from somewhere. This was getting interesting.

“I am inviting the Captain of the Las Pegasus Guard up to my place for a night of relaxing massage therapy,” the griffon said with a wink. “What happens from there is up to said beautiful mare.”

Narrow sighed, “And again, it never fails...” She was so tired of the only stallions taking interest were the ones interested in her title and position. Rather than just Narrow Gaze, the mare.

“Something up Narrow?” Midnight blinked as the Unicorn mare turned back to her menu.

“Nothing,” she muttered irritably. Fredrick, however, hadn’t missed the cues, and put one of his talons on one of her hooves.

“I’m sorry if I said anything to offend,” he said softly. “I merely sought to reinforce that to me, all mares are visions of beauty. It does not matter who you are or what you do to me: if you are a mare and take pride in that, then I take pride in it as well.”

Narrow put down the menu, “Yeah... I’m sorry Fredrick. I just like to separate my work from my personal life... or at least what little I have of one.” Being Captain meant long hours, and a lot of the job was a thankless task. Everypony wanted your help, and then complained about the way you handled things. And this latest adventure was the most stressful by far.

“Let’s start over, and I’ll begin,” she said with a soft smile. “Dear Fredrick, would you like to accompany this fine mare to dinner?”

“Dear Narrow, I would like nothing more,” Fredrick returned, before gently lifting one of her hooves and giving it a soft peck. “Does the lady desire something from my menu this eve, or does she trust my judgement on what other restaurant we shall be visiting?”

“A nice homecooked meal sounds wonderful,” she nodded. “Why eat anywhere else, when nowhere else can compare yes?”

“Well then, with dinner plans set, perhaps the fine mares would care for brunch?” Fredrick offered as he stood up again.

“Some coffee and daffodil sandwiches please,” Midnight said, feeling a little full from her impromptu snack. “Hmm, and maybe something for Level, he’s working at the moment.”

“Hmm, he typically does not come in here for breakfast,” the griffon mused. “Besides today, of course...I think I have an idea of what to get for him,” the owner of the restaurant eventually said. “So coffee, daffodil sandwiches, and the surprise for Level. Will that be all for right now?”

“Until later at least~” Narrow winked and gave him a ‘come hither’ stare. The griffon chuckled and decided to be a bit cheeky, giving Narrow a peck on the cheek before bounding into his kitchen.

The mare blinked and blushed, leaving Song to giggle at the response. This was just too perfect.

“Sooo, you like Fred huh?” she asked once he was out of earshot. “I don’t think he noticed, but you were giving him looks that said you wanted more than just a date~”

“Maybe,” Narrow mumbled. “I... guess he’s pretty cute. And his food is good too.”

“Hmm, I thought good food was to hook stallions,” Midnight hummed. “Well, good for you. Maybe you can reign him in a little hmm?”

“I doubt that, and I’d never try to change someone for my benefit alone anyways,” Narrow responded. “Still, it’d be nice to have somepony to come home to at the end of the day... I guess, I’m a little envious of you in that regard Midnight.”

Midnight’s eyes widened ever-so-slightly, before she looked down at her menu.

Lo and behold, who else should drag themselves into the restaurant at that moment other than Level, barely moving and quite drained of all his get-up-and-go from earlier. Sorting and filing and filling all that paperwork so quickly had been exhausting...but worth it.

Still, he now needed food. “Fooooood,” he moaned out from near the entryway, before adding, “Coffffeeeee.”

“And on the third day, the dead shall rise and throw the land into chaos and ruin,” Midnight quoted from a book she once read. “Sorry Lev, pretty sure Fredrick has a strict ‘No Zamby’ policy.”

“Need. Coffee,” the unicorn said before he wobbled a little due to how much magic he’d just thrown around in the office a minute ago.

“Well, as long as they’re cute zambies, I guess he can make an exception,” Midnight giggled, huggling her stallion. “FRED!” She hollered, causing several patrons to glare at her. “We need coffee, STAT!”

As if to respond to her, a serving-colt came out from the kitchen with a pot of coffee atop a tray, along with three cups.

“Well, now that’s service!” she giggled and Narrow couldn’t help herself.

“I hope he isn’t this fast in all aspects~” she giggled, loud enough for the griffon to possibly hear. The colt put the tray on the table, gave the three a short nod, and ducked back into the kitchen.

“Heh! More like colts that want to be like him than proper waiters I’m guessing,” Midnight giggled as she sipped her coffee, and then placed Level’s in front of him. Then she remembered and poured a few tablespoons of sugar into it.

“Dear Luna, would you like a little coffee with your sugar?” Narrow gasped at the sheer amount she poured in, then quirked an eyebrow when Song planted a little kiss on the mug. “Really? I didn’t think you could be so sappy Song.”

Level sniffed a few times before blearily opening his eyes and putting one hoof on the cup in front of him. With a little effort, he downed the cup of caffeine, sugar, and love, slowly perking up as more vanished into his maw. Once it had all been drunk, the stallion shook himself a few times before returning Midnight’s kiss.

“Oh, get a room,” Narrow pretended to gag. “Celestia above, the sweetness could choke a kitten.”

“Well there’s a macabre mental image,” Song groaned, being quite fond of cats herself. And dragons! Dragons kicked ass! “Lev? I need more hugs to make it go away!”

“My flank’s free,” Level said as he prepared another cup for himself before looking at Narrow. “In case you were wondering, your paperwork’s been filed.”

“Well that was fast,” Narrow whistled. “Maybe I should hire you instead?”

“Mine!” Song growled, hugging her bug. “Get your own.”

“All your paperwork,” Level said as he sipped at his new drink. “I, ah...may have gone a bit overboard when I was in OCD mode…”

Narrow nearly dropped her mug when he said that, as Song held him tighter.

“All of my... uh, there were confidential files amongst those.” Narrow groaned, realising that she couldn’t care. That damned stallion probably already knew about most of it anyway. “Just, keep it to yourself hmm?”

“Already planning to,” Level said with a nod. “Also, all of Toll’s more liquid assets have been used to free up her less-than-movable ones, what little funds were needed to reorganize Pegasus Air on paper have been used, and the rest has mysteriously vanished. Coincidentally, there’s been a sizable donation made to the officer’s retirement fund from an anonymous source.”

“Un-freaking-believable!” Narrow sighed. “You were there for an hour. An hour!” she now saw why Toll Taker cherished him so much. “Well, I guess any lingering doubts I had about you being able to handle Pegasus Air have been alleviated.”

“Whaddya think Toll had me do before I became the accountant?” Ledger said with a smirk. “You either learned to cheat, or flunked out on your first day. I cheated massively.”

“You have magic like that, and your skills lie in accounting?” Narrow shook her head at the oddities that Cutie Marks often divulged. “Well, whatever. Thanks for that Level. You’ve saved me a good deal of time. But sorting Pegasus Air won’t be a walk in the park. You think you’re up for it?”

“Assuming you’ve pruned out all the rotten wood, I think I can deal with the rest,” Level said as Fredrick made his reappearance.

“For the ladies, some daffodil sandwiches,” he said, placing the large plate of simple treats between them. “And for my friend Level, a fried-egg sandwich.”

“Oooh,” Level said, perking up and looking at the plate the griffon had set before him. “This smells really nice. Thanks for that.”

“Thank your marefriend,” the griffon returned, before giving Narrow his own ‘come hither’ look, even as he picked up one of her forehooves and gently kissed it. “Until tonight then, my Lady?” he purred.

“Indeed, my good Sir~” Narrow replied, causing Midnight to giggle once more. At least she was no longer a target of his rose-scented words. The griffon gave her another peck on the cheek before vanishing into his kitchen again, barking out orders to the chefs within.

“Huh,” Level said as he sipped at his coffee. “Y’know, of all the mares to sleep with him, I never thought you’d be added to that list.”

“Can it Level,” Narrow snapped. “I’m a mare and I like to be romanced every now and then. And besides,” she chuckled and winked. “After tonight, I think I’ll be more than just a notch on some wood. Trust me.”

“If you say so,” Ledger said with a shrug, sniffing at his sandwich. “While he professes to love all mares, the closer you come to matching him, the more loudly he’ll sing your praises tomorrow morn.” With that, Ledger bit into his brunch and moaned into the food. Oh, Fredrick was good at this.

Narrow said nothing more as she ate her sandwich, how that bird made something so simple, so utterly delicious, was truly beyond her. Midnight followed suit, while thinking of what to do after.

“Level? Do you want some help at Pegasus Air?” she asked.

After swallowing his food, Ledger shook his head. “I filed all the papers, but it’s gonna take the stallions and mares who deal with red tape the rest of the day to make my scribblings reflect reality. Maybe even tomorrow if they drag their hooves. No point going in until all the checks clear. I was just gonna shop for supplies, then look into that other thing we talked about.”

“Fair enough,” Midnight nodded. Well it seems she wouldn’t be completely bored this afternoon. “Do we have enough to do shopping with?”

“We ought to,” Level said as he thought about the situation. “My savings aren’t insubstantial, and the things we need aren’t monumental.”

“Fair enough, I’m still waiting on my next paycheck,” Midnight grumbled, knowing that her promotion would have stalled the process a little. “Well, should I need anything, I’ll pay you back.”

“I trust you,” Level said with a small smile. He bit into his sandwich again, bringing it down to half of itself. Once his mouth was clear again, he quirked an eyebrow at the pair of mares he was eating with. “Any other questions, ladies?”

“None here,” Narrow nodded. “I still have a mountain of things to go through. Arrests to process, statements to fill and whatnot.” She got up from her seat and gave her tail a flick. “I’ll see you two later sometime.”

“Take care,” Ledger said with a nod as the mare got up to leave. Before she got too far, she found herself suddenly pressed muzzle-to-beak with a familiar face.

“Until next time?” Fredrick asked his date.

“Well, aren’t you a sneaky one,” she replied, denying the griffin his kiss. “You already got a few free ones. The rest will cost you~”

“I will prepare my finest recipes,” he returned with a spark of mischief before pecking her cheek anyways. “To pay for what I have taken and what may yet come.”

“Hmm, well I don’t come cheap,” she smiled. “And yes, I shall see you tonight dear Fredrick.” With that parting line, she left the restaurant, leaving him to ponder on what he could prepare for her.

“Oh Fredrick~” Song sang out. “I hear she’s quite fond of chocolate.”

“That is a dessert,” he said with a wave of one claw. “I need to come up with some...thing...and there we are, a plan for dinner has just coalesced.” With a nod and a flourish, the griffon presented Level and Midnight with the bill. This time, Level was faster on the draw, letting his bits clink down on the table.

“Oh, somepony’s faster than I thought,” Midnight replied. It seemed Fredrick had a lot to do, so the two ponies left him in peace. “Okay, let’s go shopping, then meet these friends of yours.”

Thankfully, all the pair really needed were a list of ordinary groceries, to restock what they had consumed over the past few days. Though the Thestral did make several silent observations...and not so silent ones, about things she thought the apartment needed.

“But why can’t we have a heated table?” she pouted. “They’re so comfy and warm~”

“We don’t need one at the moment,” Level said for the twentieth time with an eye-roll. “Nor does that seem particularly practical.” Fifteenth. “Now were it a heated sofa or bed, I might agree with you,” he observed. “But then we’d run the risk of you never leaving either.”

“Fine,” Midnight huffed. “But we’re still getting these ‘His and Hers’ coffee mugs!”

“If it’ll stop others from drinking my sugar and caffeine in the morning, I can find myself agreeing with that,” Ledger agreed.

“Fine, I’ll cut down on my sugar intake so you can live to see another morning,” she sighed. “Just don’t expect a miracle bugboy.”

“I really only need a little, like one cube, in the morning and evening to be healthy,” Ledger pointed out. “It’s just...real easy to get addicted to the stuff. Especially for me and those like me.”

“And so says the guy that has his own body weight in sugar every morning,” Midnight added. She passed a few little knick-knacks and wondered if they’d look good on the mantle place... once they got a mantle place.

Then she paused. She suddenly realized what track her train of thought was chuffing along and she shuddered.

“Oh Sweet Celestia, I’m turning into a housewife!”

“Not bloody likely,” Ledger retorted as he passed the knick-knacks without sparing them a second glance. “Remind me, which one of us cooks, and which one of us is a kick-flank Guard?”

“Well, I guess so,” Midnight replied, as a wicked grin crossed her face. “Well I guess we should start picking out a nice dress for you when the wedding comes around. I wonder what will work with chitinous black...?”

“While I am flattered you’re thinking along those sorts of lines already, I’ll let you put me in a dress when Tartarus hosts a snowball fight and not a moment sooner,” Ledger deadpanned as he looked at some nice dining chairs. “Think we should look into getting a bigger table as well?” he asked.

“Well, we do seem to get a lot of unexpected guests,” Midnight pointed out. “Hmm, maybe one of those extendable tables? That way, we just make it bigger for when we actually need it.”

“I’ll put it on the to-buy list when we both get a stable income again,” Ledger nodded, casting a glance over at the section where such tables were most likely to be found. “Still, I think we can afford a few good chairs...if we keep it to two.” He gestured with one hoof for Midnight to choose which ones she thought would be a good investment.

“Well we already have chairs,” Midnight replied. “Perhaps a slightly larger couch might be in order?”

“Hmm...if we don’t get one that’s too large, we might be able to fit both of them in the living room at the same time,” Ledger hummed. “Very well, we can look.”

Midnight cheered and raced off to the store’s selection of couches, determined to give every single one the test of true comfortability. Ledger sighed, but smiled and followed after his marefriend. The thought gave him pause for a moment.

His. Marefriend.

A year ago he would have never even thought of those two words together. Midnight...had done him a world of good, and he wouldn’t trade her for anything.

He was yanked out of his idle, blissful thoughts by the one that brought them about in the first place, now that he’d caught up to her. She was currently sprawled across one luxurious couch, one with a price tag well beyond either of their budgets, but a very nice one all the same.

But what was more distracting was the position she was in, combined with a sultry come-hither stare that gave a nearby employee a nose bleed.

“Oh Ledger~” she cooed in a seductive tone. “Draw me like one of your Prench mares~”

Level blinked a few times before he resorted to shaking his head, trying to keep his mind clear so he wouldn’t be making a public scene. “You do realize that’s far out of our budget, yes?” he asked. “And please stop torturing the poor shopkeepers.”

“Bah! You’re no fun,” she pouted, getting up and brushing her foreleg with the other. “Well let’s go find a more suitable one and give it the cuddle test!”

“Cuddle tes-” Ledger managed to get out before he found himself experiencing said cuddle test first-hoof.

“Cuddle test!” Song nodded, snuggling her cuddle bug on the super comfy couch. “I believe that I will have to test every couch here. For science!”

“...I find myself strangely okay with this situation,” Level said, before returning the cuddle for the briefest of moments. “Still, keep in mind there’s that thing I want to do later. We can’t spend all day here.”

“Aww,” Song pouted. “Fine, I guess we should do this when we have more time on our hooves...” Then she spotted it. A work of perfectly perfect perfection. She grabbed Level’s hoof and flew across the room.

At first, it looked like most of the other couches on the floor. Slightly interesting pattern in the weave, what looked to be just the right amount of cushioning. Perhaps it was a bit larger, true...And then Level lay down in it, and realized just how comfy it was. Some small part of his brain, not taken in by the coziness of the couch, did a quick mental calculation and realized that it was the perfect size for his other form and Midnight to snuggle in, and it could still fit in the living room.

In short, it was the piece of furniture they’d been looking for. He barely even noticed that the Thestral mare had joined him on the couch already.

“Isn’t it just perfect for all our snuggling needs?” she asked. “The design is alright, the price is acceptable and it’s comfy as all get out. Plus...” She leaned over and whispered a few other ways she knew of for breaking the piece of furniture in.

“You are just determined to drive up all my cleaning bills, aren’t you?” Ledger mock-groused, giving Midnight a peck on the cheek afterwards to make sure she knew he wasn’t being serious.

“You’re the one that makes most of the mess~” she shot back, poking him lightly in the chest. That reminded her, she had to do some research on certain things. “So... can we get it~?”

“Barely,” Ledger answered, looking around for a clerk, not wanting to get up at the moment. “Assuming, of course, that anypony comes around to help us with this.”

As if waiting for that cue, a young stallion appeared with a rather bright smile on his face. “Hello, my name is Ottoman. What maaay I help you two cuties with today~”

“We’d like to purchase this couch,” Level said as he held Midnight close, her very presence soothing to him. As such, he was loathe to let her go for the time being. She started this, after all.

“A wonderful choice!” he exclaimed in his chipper tone. “This particular model is about to be discontinued, as such, the floor display you are seated on is our only one. Would you still like to make the purchase?”

“If I understand how things like this work,” Level said, a gleam showing in his eyes, “The store is anxious to get this last model out and typically cuts the price in order to hurry it out the door. After all, the next big thing could be along any moment, and they want the floor space back, yes? I mean, don’t get me wrong,” the unicorn hurriedly said as he indicated the couch itself, “it’s a fine couch! We like this couch! Right Midnight?”

“We love this couch~” she purred.

“I am glad to hear that!” the stallion beamed. “We will reduce the price by 25% and will also deliver it as well. Is this acceptable?”

Ledger thought for a moment before nodding. “That sounds like a fine deal to me...if you’re certain you can cut the price by that much, then I will gladly take this couch off of your hooves.”

“Wonderful darlings!” he beamed even brighter if that was possible. “Let’s fill out a form for delivery purposes and I will see to it that you get your new snugglecouch post haste!”

“Hee, I like this stallion,” Midnight giggled. “He understands!”

Ledger sighed before firing up his horn and drawing out a quill and half-full inkpot from his saddlebags. Rule one of being the accountant: Never travel without writing implements. Hopefully he didn’t become too sick of paperwork after today...

He gasped slightly when he felt Midnight’s hooves in his magical aura, grabbing the quill and ink. “Hm, lemme handle this. You’ve done enough writing for today.”

“I…” Her words and the coziness of the couch could not be fought against at the same time. “Fine,” he relented as he slumped back into the couch.

Midnight followed the flamboyant stallion to fill out the form, leaving Level alone with his thoughts for a bit.

His life had changed so much in the course of one week. From being under Toll’s hoof because she knew his secret, to being in her place once all the red tape was sorted out. From being asexual by choice, to finding a mare he could trust and share his life with.

In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he owed his new, better life, to that mare. He owed her so much of his happiness, and she truly loved him...With a smile and a nod, Ledger made up his own mind on the matter.

And it was then that the object of his thoughts returned with a bright smile on her face. “Well this lovely couch is all ours now. They said it’d be delivered sometime this afternoon.” With a quick burst of magic, Level drew in Midnight for as affectionate a kiss as he felt the public setting would allow, before breaking it and hugging her close.

“I love you,” he whispered softly, just for her to hear.

Midnight wasn’t expecting the sudden show of public affection and the admission of love? She just lay in his embrace, blushing and stammering.

“I-ah-well... pwaaa~” her face growing brighter and brighter, until she just gave up and hugged him back, the emotion coming from her told him everything he needed to know however.

She loved him too.

After their shopping trip, the pair returned to the apartment to both await the couch, and to put away their purchases that weren’t overly large pieces of furniture.

“So I was thinking,” Level said as he began putting the sugar away in the cabinet.

“I’ve known you just long enough to know that that’s a dangerous thing for you to do,” Song chuckled as she piled another sack of sugarcubes in the cupboard. “Oh, I’m only kidding. I can feel your pout from here. What’s up?”

“Yes, well, I was considering turning your room back into a guest room...and having you come to bed with me, sharing my room with you,” Ledger said. “Honestly, waking up next to you? Never before have I been more relaxed. The nightmares didn’t even touch me last night.”

“Ah!?” she almost dropped the sack of sugar and looked at him. “A-Are you sure? You don’t have to rush things you know.”

“I’m not saying ‘Midnight, let’s do each other every night,’” Level deadpanned as he put the last of the sugar away and began putting the other food into the refrigerator. “But I am saying ‘let’s go to sleep in each other’s grasp and wake up looking at the pony we love most.’”

Midnight paused. This... this would be the first time she had ever gone into a real committed relationship with someone. Question is, could she actually do this?

Well duh? She was Midnight Song! She could do anything and do it perfectly.

“That sounds like a pretty good idea,” she smiled. “I can’t have you getting nightmares again now can I?”

“And something tells me even if you did go back to your own room tonight, I’d wake up in the middle of the night because a Thestral was trying to sneak in for some cuddling time with her favorite bug-pony,” Ledger said with a wink.

“Probably, if I felt like I could deal with your snoring,” she laughed.

“Meh, we can’t all be perfect,” Ledger said with a shrug as the last of the groceries were put away. “So, they said this afternoon for couch delivery, right?”

“Yeah, I mentioned that we have a doorman, and that they could leave it in the lobby if we weren't home,” Midnight said. She glanced at the armour she was still wearing and then back to Level. “Should I be wearing this for our little outing?”

“Probably not, and we don’t have to go right away,” Ledger said. “I’d actually rather wait for the couch to get here before we go looking for them.”

“Fair enough,” Midnight nodded and got up from the floor, licking her lips. “Now, I feel like we should give our current couch a fond farewell, before we replace it.”

“Replace?” Ledger said, before shoving the couch to one side of the living room with both an application of magic and physical force. “We can get some mileage out of it yet. We don’t have to send it anywhere before we want to.” With one hoof, he indicated the new space he’d helped create. “We can still fit them both in here.”

“Ah,” she shrugged and sighed. “Oh well, don’t worry about it then.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure there will be plenty of that sort of activity in the days to come,” Level said, chuckling slightly. “But considering how long it takes for you to clean up afterwards, I’d say we should put it on hold if we want to visit the others in any sort of reasonable timeframe.”

“Well again, I blame you for that!” Midnight scoffed. “Maybe if I didn’t need to take a shower after you give me a bath...”

She finished putting the groceries away and put the kettle on for some tea. She’d had enough coffee for one day and wanted to relax a little. “Do you want one as well?” she asked Level.

“It’d be nice, but do me a favor? Try and help me cut back on my sugar intake?” Upon receiving the Thestral’s questioning glance, Level elaborated. “It’s not the cheapest thing to keep up with, and anyone who knows what to look for would point out my current rate of consumption and make some very loud assumptions. Like I said, I can get by on two cubes a day.”

“Hmm, well I guess I can do that,” she replied with a thoughtful hum. “But you aren’t allowed to get grumpy at me for it. Or you may find your morning coffee lacking kisses.”

“Fair enough,” Ledger chuckled. “I’ll try to keep any grumpy thoughts reigned in as long as you don’t immediately cut me down to two cubes a day.”

“I wouldn’t do that to my cute little addict,” she giggled as gave him a peck on the cheek. “Don’t worry, the process will be slow and painless.” She was about to kiss him deeper when there was a knock at the door.

“It’s always something...” she muttered. Trotting over to the offending object. Upon opening it, she was granted with the rather confused visage of Narrow Gaze.

“We... have a slight problem,” the Guard said.

Level slowly got up from his position of rest on the current couch and double-checked to make sure his disguise was still in place before ambling over. “Oh?” he asked. “Something the matter?”

“Oh, hello Ledger,” Narrow greeted him. “And yes, you could say that.” She looked at the Thestral as she was let in. “Do you remember that female Changeling you defeated yesterday? The one that was with Toll?”

“Vaguely,” Midnight replied. “My battlestate leaves me feeling a little fuzzy on details sometimes.”

“Well, we have a small problem regarding her...”

Midnight gasped, jumping to a conclusion. “I-I didn’t kill her did I?! I didn’t mean to, I swear-” she was cut off as Narrow put a hoof to her muzzle.

“No, she ‘s fine. Missing quite a bit of her chitin, but fine.” The mare sat down at the table and sighed. “What do either of you know about Changeling hierarchy and laws?”

“You mean matriarchy, and typically, if the females aren’t fighting over the latest drone they consider worthy, they’re fighting over land, other property, titles…” Ledger trailed off as he noticed both mares looking at him. “Well-read? Mind, books on the Lands aren’t easy to find…”

“Well, whatever.” Narrow shook her head. Nothing surprised her at this point. “She’s, well... she’s saying... odd things about you Midnight.”

“Odd?” Midnight tilted her head. “You know, I’m all for being vague and crap sometimes. But we skip that and get to the point please?”

“She says you bested her in combat and now she must serve you until you see fit for her release.”

“....” Midnight just went quiet, as she slowly turned her head to look at Level Ledger.

“...Did she invoke some Celestia-forsaken name that sounded hard for even her to pronounce by way of explaining herself?” Level asked.

“If you mean that nonsensical babbling of chirps, hisses and squeaks, then yes.” Narrow nodded. “I thought she was trying to swallow her tongue.”

“That...would be the name of the first nymph to fall victim to this sort of situation,” Ledger said, before shrugging. “Maybe. Nopony can actually speak Changeish. So Midnight, would you like the bad, worse, or slight glimmer of good news?”

“Give it to me straight doc.” Midnight gulped. “What’s the diagnosis?”

“Bad news is, she won’t listen to anyone but Midnight now,” Ledger said with a sigh. “Worse news is, she’ll probably insist upon moving in with us.”

“Like hell!” Midnight growled, and not that playful one she usually did, this one was more feral, more animalistic. Even Narrow backed away slightly at the display of her sharp fangs. “I finally have someplace to settle down. And nopony is going to ruin that!”

“Love, remember when Narrow said the nymph thinks that she must serve you until you see fit to release her?” Ledger pressed. “That’s the glimmer of good. Her slighted honor won’t let her leave until you say she can.”

“Good, then I’ll tell her buck the hell off and be done with it,” she snapped. Midnight Song still wasn’t an avid fan of Changeling’s. Level Ledger was just a really sexy exception to that rule. “Was that all Captain Narrow?”

“Uh, I guess so?” she was still taken aback by the Thestral’s sudden change in demeanor. “Toll Taker is still babbling nonsense about Level Ledger and the rest of her crew we arrested aren’t being too helpful. But that’ll change soon enough. Once one cracks, the rest will follow suit.”

“Fair enough,” Level said with a nod and a sigh as the Captain saluted the pair, well, technically saluted Midnight, before she started to head back to the station. “Still,” he said to Midnight. “The chance to re-educate a nymph in how not to be a total...well, nymph. That would have been something.”

“They hurt you, and I hurt them. That was all,” Midnight replied, her eyes becoming narrow slits as the Captain chose this moment to make her exit. She didn’t feel like turning up to her date in pieces.

Ledger closed the door and locked it before drawing Midnight in for a hug, dropping his disguise in the progress. “And I would do the same for you,” he told her. “...Still think you shoulda taken the chance to have a nymph maid-servant for however long it took your lessons in how not to be a total nymph to sink into her head.”

“You are the last being in Equestria I would have expected to hear that from,” Midnight replied, not returning the hug. “Why? Why would you ever want one of those things in our home!?”

“A bit of revenge? Every drone dreams of it,” Level said with a shrug. “Plus, the chance of turning an unreasonable nymph into something that would in fact actually respect drones? That’s a pretty great prize as well. Probably woulda saved a lot of drones back in the Lands.”

Midnight thought about that, what Level Ledger had gone through and what it might mean if she could teach one of those things some respect. And then there was Princess Celestia’s teachings on friendship and harmony and whatnot.

“Luna Dammit!” Midnight swore. “Great, now I look like a jerk.”

“How fast can you fly?” Level asked as he turned Midnight around and opened a window with his magic. “Cause if you can get to the station before Narrow, you can still take your decision back.” He had felt her turmoil and hoped it meant what he thought it did.

“If something goes wrong about this...” Midnight muttered as she spread her wings. “You’d best pray that Changeling blood doesn’t leave any stains...” She walked over to the window and fell out, freefalling for a second to gain some speed and then soared off.

“...Let’s just hope it’s not my blood she’s talking about,” Ledger observed. “And while she’s out, now would be an excellent time to move her things from her rooms to mine, so that neither of us have to share our beds with another ‘ling.”

Midnight had caught up with Narrow and explained a few things to her. And after a few moments thought, she now stood in front of the cell that held the nymph. She was in worse shape than she imagined, and Midnight winced a little at it.

“So you come,” the nymph buzzed. “I’ve been waiting for you Mistress.”

“One, you will not call me that.” Midnight stated in a serious tone. “And two, what in the ever-loving buck are you talking about? I have no desire for a friggen pet!”

“If that is not what you desire, Ma’am, then I shall not be as such,” the nymph said. “How do you desire for me to serve you until my sentence is complete?”

“I want to tell you to buzz off and never come back!” Song replied with that feral growl again. “But somepony wants to see if I can make a mare out of you. So you will be serving me as my assistant and student. I will... teach you.”

“If this is not what you want, Ma’am, then why are you doing it?” the nymph asked with as much of a head-tilt as she could muster without aggravating her injuries. “You are clearly the Alpha Nymph of this city.”

“Alpha...?” Now it was Midnight’s turn to be confused. “What makes you say that?”

“Toll Taker herself, the one who was nearly in complete control of this city, has been bested by your hooves. Therefor, you must be the new Alpha, yes?” There was a...simple logic to the nymph’s line of thought.

“Well, I suppose that’s one way of looking at it,” Midnight replied. “It seems this is going to take longer than I thought. However, before you leave this cell. You must make a few promises, ones that if broken, will end in more pain than you can imagine.”

“As you command me, I shall obey, Ma’am,” the nymph replied, bowing her head.

“One, you will not disrespect the Changeling I live with. Until I say otherwise, you will not even speak to him unless I say so. Understand?”

“...Understood,” the nymph said, grinding her teeth all the while.

“Two, you will remain in your true form while in my home, but you will take a disguise should we go outside. A consistent, original one of my design. You are forbidden from disguising yourself as anyone else! Pony, Griffin or Changeling.”

“Understood, Ma’am,” the nymph replied after Midnight had finished.

“And three. You will not steal the emotions of anyone. I will... provide you with enough to live and remain healthy. This one is very important. Should you break any of these rules. I will break you and ship you back to the Changeling Lands in a casket. Am I clear?”

“Perfectly, Ma’am,” the nymph stated with a nod.

“Good,” Midnight replied, calming herself slightly. The aura of hostility she was emanating also dissipated. She looked at the nearby Guard and waved a hoof. “Let her out. This Changeling is now under my custody.”

“Ma’am?” the Guard blinked.

“By order of Princess Celestia!” Song growled. “Now Private!”

“Y-Yes Ma’am!” she stuttered and opened the cell. Slowly, achingly, the changeling got up and hobbled to the open door, before dropping into a bow before Midnight.

“Ma’am,” the bug-pony said, not looking up and waiting for further orders...or to be allowed to drop. Dropping would be good.

“Are you able to walk?” Midnight asked. “Is your condition well enough to travel for a few minutes? Oh, and do you possess enough power to transform?”

“Travel, yes. Walk, no. I can be moved, but if I move myself, my chitin protests, Ma’am. And while I cannot transform myself with these dregs, I can still weave a simple illusion over myself, Ma’am. What would you like me to appear as?”

“Forget it, save what strength you have. Focus on healing,” Midnight replied before turning back to the Guard. “Fetch a wheelchair and a private carriage if you would?”

The Guard saluted, glad she could get out of the room. Right now? She wasn’t sure which female terrified him more.

“You will be allowed rest and recuperation until your strength returns,” Midnight said to the nymph as they waited. “Be ready to work once you have though.”

“My chitin should only take a week to heal, Ma’am,” the nymph informed her new Mistress. “Less if I am fed a steady diet.”

“What do you take me for?” Midnight huffed as a Unicorn returned, and slowly levitated the Changeling into the chair. “I’ll not starve you and my goal is to make you a better ‘ling.” She pushed the chair out to the lobby, almost everypony’s eyes were on the pair. “Now let’s go home. And pray my lover doesn't kill you.”

In deference to rule one, the nymph did nothing more than set her jaw so as to avoid talking about the drone for as long as possible.

“Let the journey begin,” Midnight said dryly as she stepped into the carriage.

Even though it was his prodding and his idea that Midnight might be able to actually re-educate a nymph, the first thing Ledger did upon seeing the nymph being wheeled into their apartment?

He locked up in fear and never took his eyes off her.

“Don’t worry,” Midnight said when she saw his reaction. “She’s under orders not to interact with you in any way until I say so. But in the meantime...” She looked down at the nymph and nodded. “Do you have a name? A pronounceable one?”

“I have a name in Changeish but not in Pony,” the nymph said, pointedly not looking at Level. “Part of our arrangement with Toll was for her to provide identities.”

“An illegal one, I’m sure...” Midnight muttered, then a thought occured. “Ah, we also haven’t discussed on what would happen if you are successful and I deem you fit to leave my service have we?”

“No, you have not, Ma’am,” the nymph carefully observed. “Have you decided?”

“I have,” Midnight nodded. “I can arrange a legal visa for you. You will be absolved of your known crimes and be allowed to live in Equestria as a free citizen. While you will be bound by the same laws as all of us, you will be a free mare. How does that sound?”

“That…” The nymph nearly brought herself to look directly at Midnight, before catching herself and bowing her head again. “You are too kind, Ma’am.”

Midnight placed a hoof on the nymphs chin and brought her head up, looking into her blue eyes. “Then promise me. Promise you will try and try hard for this.”

“I will try, Ma’am,” the changeling said. “I am uncertain if I will succeed, since you are demanding I change so much about myself, about what it means to be a nymph...but I will try.”

“Good to hear,” Midnight smiled for the first time since she met the female. “Now, I’ll fetch you something to drink. Level Ledger will assist you should you need it. Speak only if you are spoken to. Okay?”

“Yes Ma’am,” the nymph said, giving Level a quick glance before looking away.

“Good girl. I’ll be back in a moment with your drink and your name.” Midnight trotted from the room. Mostly, she wanted to see if the nymph could follow Rule One.

Ledger slowly drew close before sitting himself out of hoof’s reach and shedding his disguise. “I should hate you. I should loathe you,” he said aloud. “But my time with that mare that I convinced you were worth saving has taught me a few very important things. Do you know what they are?”

The nymph was silent for a moment. Two. And then she spoke up. “No. You are going to tell me anyway, aren’t you?”

“That’s right,” Ledger said with a nod. “The first is that, except for a few very rare cases, nobody is incapable of being saved. The second, is that the only female who deserves my hate, is the one that ruined me. All the others are merely beings I don’t know yet.” With those two facts delivered, Ledger stood up and walked into his and Midnight’s room.

When Midnight returned, she saw that Level was no longer in the room and sighed inwardly.

“Well, that went better than I expected.” Midnight replied tersely. She placed a mug of tea on the table with plenty of sugar and a small kiss while she was thinking very intently about Level. The sooner this nymph could recover, the better. “Here, drink this.”

The nymph absently picked the mug of tea up, then returned to looking at where Level had disappeared. “Ma’am, I do not think I will ever understand drones.”

“Understanding somepony can be difficult,” Midnight replied. “Everypony is different, unique. And from what I’ve seen, Changelings are no different. I don’t expect you two to become best friends... tolerance is what I’m currently aiming for. But maybe...” she trailed off, leaving the end of her sentence open for interpretation. The nymph seemed to think about it for all of a second before sticking her tongue out.

“Bleh!” she proclaimed. “A nymph and a drone, friends like that? It would be easier to ask your Sun Princess to let you sleep in an hour and set the sun back down!”

“I tried... multiple times,” Midnight sighed. “Stupid internal alarm clock...”

The nymph sipped at the tea, before humming at the taste. “Yes, this will do to help speed along my recovery,” she observed. “A few more days of this, and I should be able to move on my own power again.”

“It takes a good deal of willpower to make that drink, and Level is the only one that gets its full benefits,” Midnight retorted. “Perhaps you will as well... one day.” She wondered if second-hoof love tasted differently. “Ah, I believe I promised you a name as well.”

“Far be it from me to think my opinion is worthwhile, Ma’am, but perhaps that should wait until I am well enough to move about and transform again?” The changeling quirked a non-existent eyebrow. “Then you could make the name fit the form, or vice-versa.”

“I wonder if being a smart-flank is a Special Talent?” she wondered aloud. “Okay, what skills do you have? Fighting isn’t apparently one of them.”

“I was meant to be an infiltrator because I failed to pass some of the more advanced combat lessons,” the nymph said. “But when my temper got the better of me even then, I was shunted from the programs altogether. I still have quite the repertoire of skills regarding information gathering and blending in. Stealth and espionage.”

“Hmm,” Midnight hummed as her mind went to work. She already had a few ideas, ones that might help her new position. “I think I have something, but you’ll need to recover first.” She begun to head towards the hallway. “Follow me.”

“How?” the nymph all but deadpanned, indicating the wheelchair she was in. Midnight groaned and turned around.

“Right, forgot about that.” She reared up and placed her forehooves on the chair, pushing it towards her room. “You’ll be sleeping with me until we can arrange something more permanent. Is that a problem?”

“I was unaware you swung both ways, Ma’am,” the nymph said plainly.

“Oh I do, and that was cute,” Midnight replied. “But don’t flatter yourself, I don’t find you that cute.” She nudged open her door to see an empty room, save for a plainly dressed bed.

“W-Where the HELL IS MY STUFF!?”

Within the next two seconds, she found herself wrapped up in a Ledger-hug as he whispered in her ear. “Remember what we talked about? I moved it from ‘oh we could totally do this’ to ‘I’m doing this’ because of our recent addition. I wasn’t having her waking up next to anyone if I could avoid it.”

“Ohhh, I totally spaced about that,” Midnight blushed. She looked down at the nymph, “Well, lucky you, you get your own room already it seems.”

“Thank you, Ma’am,” the changeling said. “I will try not to make a mess of it when I can move freely again.”

“Good girl,” Midnight nodded. “Also, Lev? Do you know any sealing spells? Ones we might place on the windows?”

“A few come to mind,” Level said with a nod. “Why do you ask?”

“A nymph is here. Do you want her flying around at night unescorted?”

“Fair enough,” he agreed. “I’ll look up a few spells and brush up on my technique before she gets wing mobility back.”

“I am beginning to think you don’t trust me, Ma’am,” the nymph said with more than a bit of snark.

“In order,” Midnight replied, looking at Ledger first. “I am going to help you work on your ‘technique’ a little later~ And you...” Here she looked at the other Changeling. “You would be most correct in that assumption. Trust is difficult to earn and easy to lose. Consider that your first lesson.”

“...Very well, Ma’am,” the nymph said, before looking at the bed and the chair she was in. With a bit of work and a lot of wobbling back and forth, the female ‘ling managed to extract herself from one to sprawl atop the other, wiggling about to get comfortable.

“These sheets are surprisingly comfortable,” the nymph observed.

“A thousand count Zebrican cotton,” Midnight said idly. “Now you rest here and I will bring you some dinner later... but first...” she trotted over and placed a rather ornate-looking silver band on the ‘ling’s hoof. A line of runes glowed a pale blue for a moment before Midnight nodded.

“What...was that, Ma’am?” The ‘ling on the bed asked, looking at her newest accessory.

“A special little accessory,” Midnight replied. “As long as you wear it, I will always know where you are, and with a simple word, I can also seal your magic. Prove that you can be trusted, and I’ll remove it. Simple no?”

After a minute to think about it, the nymph nodded her head. “Considering the circumstances, it could be far worse. So thank you, Ma’am.”

“Considering the circumstances, you are lucky I held myself back during that fight,” Midnight replied dryly. “Or we would not be having this conversation... But you are welcome. Now Level and I need to go out for a bit. Will you be fine here by yourself?”

“I shall be fine, Ma’am,” the ‘ling replied. “Until my chitin heals, I shall be very low-maintenance.”

Midnight nodded and left the room for a moment, before returning with a few things perched on her out stretched wings. A pitcher of water and a cup. Some bread and sweet jam and a couple of books.

“This should be enough until we return,” Midnight nodded. “Also, could you touch that bracelet with your horn Level?”

Ledger drew close enough to touch the bracelet with the barest tip of his horn, not wanting to get closer than he absolutely had to. The bracelet glowed a pale blue again and Level’s horn took the same shine.

“Now that bracelet is linked to Level’s magic. Should anything happen, tap the bracelet three times and Level’s horn will glow like that.” Midnight explained. “He can also adjust the settings like I can. So should you require our aid, do so, but only if the situation truly demands it.”

“Understood, Ma’am,” the nymph nodded as she drew a book close to herself.

“Very good. Once you are well, we will decide on a name and appearance.” There was a knock at the door and Midnight called out that she’d be there in a moment.

“That must be our new couch,” Midnight said to her coltfriend. Level fired up his disguise and went to answer the door. It was indeed a delivery pony, one with a clipboard and a neat uniform and everything.

“Hello sir, I assume you are the...” He glanced at the clipboard and blinked twice. “Uh, Smexy Cuddlebug?”

“...I am going to have to talk with Midnight one of these days,” Level groused. “I am the original renter of the apartment, and I believe you have our couch?”

“That I do,” he replied chipperly. “And be glad man, at least your marefriend seems to have a sense of humor... wanna trade?”

“Not only would Midnight not approve of the idea, I’m getting the feeling that most other stallions would wind up broken if they tried to keep up with her,” Level responded, before standing to one side. “Well, ready and waiting for the couch.”

The stallion nodded and whistled, as two burly Earth Ponies moved the new piece of furniture inside. Once the job was done and signed for, the three stallions left, leaving Level alone on their newest addition. He sighed softly as he wiggled about a bit. It was every bit as comfortable as it had been in the shop...

He should have seen it coming, he should have expected it really. But he was still caught by surprise when the amazingly quiet bat pounced on him, giggling when she tackled him and gave her bug a hug.

“And hello to you too,” he said with surprisingly little snark. “Comfy?”

“My cushion is a little on the tough side, but it’s cute, so that can be forgiven.” Midnight sighed as she snuggled closer. “Our new guest is reading... and I’m still wondering how this is now a thing. Why is this a thing Level?”

“Because the potential reward outweighs the risk?” he commented. For both her...and me, he silently added. “Seriously, this is something a lot of nymphs could really use. This is just one of the few ways you’ll ever get them to sit down and take it without much complaint.”

“Sooo, should I beat the crap out of every nymph in the city then?” Midnight asked in a tone that sounded serious. It was difficult to tell.

“The other nymphs in the city have at least learned that the best way to deal with me is to not look like that,” Level said with a small wave of his hoof. “It’s the ones back in the Lands that need a good talking-to, and if I thought you could, I would totally point you at them and let you beat every single nymph up.”

“If you thought...? You do realize who you're talking to, right? Are you saying I couldn’t handle it?” Midnight put on a hurt look and pouted. “You have no faith in me, do you?”

“There’s simply quite a lot of them,” Level shook his head. “And I mean a lot of them.”

“Well I didn’t say I’d fight them all at once... hmm, maybe if I just take down Chrysalis, then the rest would just fall in line...” Was she actually giving this serious thought!?

“While it is a nice thought, finding and beating sense into unreasonable Queens,” Level said, wrapping a hoof around her form and giving her a quick hug, “I would be a poor coltfriend if I let you run off in search of my home. Instead, let’s cuddle for a bit, then I can introduce you to the other ‘lings in the city.”

“Fine, I’ll just dream of defending your honor then,” she smiled and closed her eyes. A thought occurred that made her smile switch to a wicked grin. “Well now we have a foal to take care of, when do we get married dear Level?”

“Once your father returns to register who and what I am with the government, not a moment sooner, if that is your desire,” Level returned, giving Midnight a peck on her head. Midnight just blushed and turned her head away from him.

“Stupid, sexy bug...”

“While I wouldn’t mind letting you use me to work out that arousal you seem incapable of losing anytime you think about me,” Ledger observed, “I do still have a place to be, and you have professed an interest in joining me. While there is no real set time on this, sooner is always better.”

“Fiiiiine,” Midnight whined in a low drone that would impress most insects. “Let’s go meet your buggy-buddies.” Once again, Ledger chuckled and gave her a kiss atop her head.

“As you command, m’dear,” he jested.

The nymph sat on her bed, her attention barely focused on the book in front of her. Why was she here? Because of some stupid ancient law? Because this was still better than a Guard cell?

Well, once she had her strength back, she could just kill them both... no problem. Or, even better. Replace the mare and drag the drone back to the lands with her. He seemed easy enough to cow from their first meeting...plus, his form marked him as something potentially worthwhile. Assuming any of those rumors regarding noble drones were true.

Author's Note

Chatlog from when we were writing this/the following chapters:

Ausbrony: I want you to think about something. What do Changelings eat?

Thadius0: Mostly the same things as ponies, to keep up appearances, and also emotions.

Ausbrony: And what do us bronies call putting two ponies together romantically?

Thadius0: Oh lord.

Ausbrony: You cannot unsee it!!!

Thadius0: Huh, no wonder Las Pegasus is so popular.

Ausbrony: We're also shipping. It's Shipception!

Sidenote: A lot of you seem to think this story is done already.

You're funny.

Chapter Ten - Meet the Swarm

Midnight trotted behind Level Ledger, humming the most infuriatingly catchy tune. Several ponies that had walked past had started humming it as they walked away, soon cursing the song now stuck in their head.

“Are we there yet?” she sang in time with her song.

“No closer than the last time you asked,” Level responded while still looking for any of the signs. “Finding these ponies isn’t easy, and all the asking in the world won’t make it happen any sooner.”

“Geh! Why do Changelings have to be secretive and stuff?” Midnight pouted. “Maybe I should grab a random pony, liiiike so!” she reached out with a hoof, snaring a mare passing by, looping her hoof around her neck. “And asking,” she looked at her captive. “Excuse me Miss, are you a Changeling?”

“No, she isn’t,” Level spoke up from in front of them, without even turning to look. “Seriously, you can’t just go around accusing ponies, Midnight.” With a sigh and an apologetic look, Level turned to the mare. “Apologies for my marefriend, miss.” The Unicorn gave the Thestral a quick peck on the cheek to embarrass her into behaving for a moment.

“Yeah, sorry,” Midnight sighed as the mare shook her head and trotted off. “Well, isn’t there like a secret club or something?” Midnight shrugged.

“Technically yes,” Level responded. “Every night, they meet up somewhere on the strip. Those that need to, anyway, or simply want to come. The problem is, it’s never the same place two days in a row, and…” here he trailed off before smirking. “And finding it is nearly impossible for those not invited,” he eventually finished.

“I take it you just saw something that I’m missing?” Midnight looked around. She hated that she was so blind to this sort of thing. These Changelings were something else entirely.

“Saw, no, smelled/felt, yes,” Ledger said softly as he began leading them to a club on the other side of the strip. “Changeling pheromones and out-of-place emotions. Clear signs that ponies can’t quite perceive. Signposts to the club they’ve chosen for tonight, once you know how to read them.”

“Well I can’t sense stuff like that,” Midnight pouted again. Celestia above just how inadequate was she? “So where do we go?”

“This one,” Ledger said, pointing at what looked like any other club on the strip with a line in front of it. He walked right up to the bouncer, who nodded at him and stood to one side to let him in.

“Uh, Ledge,” the bouncer said aloud, looking at Midnight as she attempted to follow him. “You have a tail.”

Ledger turned and looked at his marefriend, before looking at the bouncer. “Yeah, she’s with me.”

“But a thes-” the bouncer got out, before Ledger stood right in front of him.

“She’s. With. Me,” he repeated, and the bouncer gulped.

“As...as you were, Ledger, ma’am,” he said before standing to one side for both of them.

Midnight looked at the bouncer as she entered. “Um, is me being here going to be a problem for you?” She would have said more, but the cute mare dancing around a pole caught her attention.

“Meh,” Ledger said, shrugging as he began leading them towards the VIP section. “Just a silly rumor they told me once, nothing more. I’m sure it’ll work out if I vouch for you.”

“Mhmm,” Midnight hummed, not really listening. Damn that mare was flexible... She wondered if Level wanted to share, before the changeling grabbed her hoof and dragged her away…

“C’mon, they’re just in here,” Level said, knocking on the door three times. Which apparently earned him a riddle.

“What never changes no matter how often you do, and only vanishes when all light does?” the voice on the other side asked.

“My shadow,” Ledger replied instantly. There was a soft click, and the door opened slightly.

“Enter and be welcome,” the voice said.

“Wow... I can’t believe you need a riddle to enter... it’s like a foals club or a spy novel.” Midnight thought it was pretty funny anyway. “And...” She looked around, at hundreds of colorful, pupil-less eyes suddenly looking in her direction. “Aaaaaand everybuggy is staring at me.” The reason why became evident momentarily.

“Thestral!” one said.

“Hunter, slayer of our kind!” another panicked.

“Level has been bewitched and betrays us!” one wailed.

“Flee!” yet another bug advised.

“How? She’s standing in front of the exit!”

Midnight just blinked, as several Changelings close to her scrambled away in terror. She looked at Level and then back to the swarm, who gasped every time she looked at them.

“Uh... seriously?”

“Yeah,” Ledger said, rubbing one foreleg against another sheepishly. “Probably shoulda mentioned it was an old rumor about how Luna made Thestrals just to hunt us down.”

Midnight remained silent, before snorting... then giggling... then falling on the floor, her legs kicking in the air as she laughed madly.

“You thought... and that Luna did...and that we were... oh sweet Celestiiaaaaahahahahahaaaa!”

A silver eyed changeling came forward and looked at both Ledger, then the laughing batpony on the floor. “Well,” he said after a moment, “I can see that you’re both in good health and that you have not in fact done anything to bend him to your will. Meaning that our good duke here brought you here of his own free will, correct?”

Ledger nodded. “Everybuggy, this is Midnight Song, my marefriend.”

The silence was all-encompassing, before several violet-eyed ‘lings from the front row slowly drew closer to the couple, casting glances between Midnight and Level...or where a part of Level was, anyways.

“You have slept or intend to sleep with the only noble drone in Las Pegasus?” one asked.

“Eheheheeeaaahhhh, oh my sides~” Midnight still giggled. She remained that way for a moment more until she finally stopped, wheezing and panting. “Ohhhh, okay, I think I’m done. And yeah, been there, done that... or, done him more like~”

There was a buzzing sound, and Midnight found herself surrounded by several violet-eyed forms, all of them grinning widely. “Oh dear, you simply must tell us,” one purred.

“We’ve been trying to help him for months now,” another sighed.

“Mostly so we could be where you are,” a third clarified.

“After all, there’s a reason noble bloodlines didn’t end with the drones back in the Lands,” one grinned sharkishly.

Midnight suddenly grabbed her Changeling and hugged him close. Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she looked at them. A low growl emanated in her throat.

“Mine!”

“Dear, nobuggy’s contesting that,” one of the braver nymphs said after they all recovered from the sudden fierce show. “But to deny the Ladies of Lust a sordid tale like that one? It would be like working for months on a fruit orchard, only to find some other Thestral had come in, taken all your food, and was eating it in front of you.”

Midnight eyes suddenly watered at the imaginary travesty. “B-But... my mangoes...”

“I think she took it a little too literally,” Ledger said, slowly peeling Midnight from his body. “Why don’t you go entertain the Ladies?” he asked, nudging her gently towards the violet-eyed nymphs. “They never have much interest in the proceedings anyways.”

“It’s true!” one chirped. “Why bother talking about ponies when you could be out doing ponies?”

“Amen!” the rest of the Ladies of Lust pitched in, before giggling.

“Well, I guess I could tell a story or two,” Midnight giggled. Time to teach these cute little mares a thing or two. She stepped forward, her gaze turning to one of seduction. She approached the lead Lady, the one that had been so brave before. It was time for a little reward for such bravery. She raised a hoof and cupped the Changeling’s cheek, gazing softly into her eyes as her lips passed by hers by a few scant millimeters.

“Why tell?” she said huskily. “When it’s so much fun to show~”

“Ledger, I like this one,” she said after a moment passed in which she shuddered from the excess lust directed at her. Once the nymph opened her eyes again, she was smiling at the Thestral in front of her. In a small inferno of violet, all the Ladies were wearing a form similar to the pole-dancer Midnight had seen coming into the club, and the one in front of her made a nearly too-soft-to-hear offer.

“Why don’t we take this to another room?...”

“Level, I like these ones!” Midnight called out, waving a hoof. “Can I keep them?”

“Pretty sure they’re asking the same thing about you,” Ledger said, cutting off a nymph from asking in the process. Said nymph huffed and crossed her forelegs, but all of them chuckled regardless. Slowly, they began to herd Midnight to another private room. “Take care, and don’t let them do anything you’re uncomfortable with!”

“Remember what I did to our new friend?” she reminded him. “I think I can handle myself... hmm, maybe there’s some truth to those rumors?”

“Oooh, there’s an idea,” the lead Lady mentioned, before she turned into a copy of Midnight and gazed into the original’s eyes. “Let’s see you handle yourself…”

Midnight turned very serious as she looked the Changeling over. “Hmm, as dead sexy as I am, the original is still the best. Now come ladies, I’m sure I have a story or two I can tell.”

“And there’s more than a few we can make in the process,” one said, running a hoof down Midnight’s spine. “Fortunately, we always reserve two rooms when we go somewhere.”

“One for the meeting, and one for fun,” the not-Midnight said, before giving the real one a quick peck on the lips. “Shall we, then?”

Midnight blinked, being kissed by herself was.... weird.

“Unfortunately, it seems that by falling in love with dear Level there, it’s also made a bit of a monogamist out of me.” She waved a hoof and sighed again. “So stories only.”

“Fair enough,” another nymph said, gently guiding Midnight towards the exit. “Let’s leave the drones to their boring talk and take our fun talk elsewhere, though. They’d complain if we didn’t.”

“Alright,” Midnight still spared a glance back, highly curious about what they’d be talking about. She smiled and dashed back, giving Level a kiss that certainly wasn’t lacking in love and passion though. Every ‘ling there felt it, and out of respect, held back, letting only Level soak in the emotions.

“Love you,” he muttered, before giving her a small peck on the lips. “Go keep them entertained, I’ll pick you up after I’m done here.”

“Mhmm, and have fun~” she smiled, knowing exactly what she was leaving in her wake. Level Ledger was hers and these Changelings were going to know it. She gave her tail a light flick and ran after the Ladies.

“Anyways,” Level said after a minute to compose himself. “Yeah, that was going to be one of my points. I’m in a loving relationship with a Thestral mare now.”

“Really?” one of the ‘lings snarked. “And here I thought you were kissing a stallion for a moment.”

After a small ripple of laughter snaked its way around the room, the one that had just spoken up did so again. “But, in all seriousness, good on the pair of you. Let’s just hope that all those rumors are just that: rumors.”

“Was there another thing you wanted to bring up?” the silver-eyed ‘ling that wasn’t Level asked, causing the unicorn to nod.

“Yeah, Toll Taker’s been taken in, and thanks to the spell you all put together, she’s finding it impossible to reveal me.”

“Well, I do try,” the silver ‘ling said, preening a bit.

“We all tried,” another spoke up. “Knowing her, though, she’ll find a way to break it or circumvent it sooner or later. I give you six months, tops.”

“Meh, doesn’t matter,” Ledger shrugged. “Item three on my list, Councilstallion Grissom ought to be here sooner or later to register me on the pony side of things, so I will no longer be your dirty little secret once I am.”

Several exclamations in a variety of tongues could be heard then. “I mean, no offense,” one of the ‘lings spoke up. “But it’ll be nice to not have that hanging over our heads anymore.”

“Indeed,” the silver-eyed one said. “Now we must discuss the ramifications of Toll Taker being taken in, and what it will do for the emotional health of this city.”

This promised to be a while, and since he was the one to bring it up, he couldn’t leave…

“And that’s how I taught Ledger the joys I can bring to little Ledger~” Midnight giggled, licking her lips. She had spared nopony, telling these ‘lings every illicit little detail. Quite a few of the nymphs were sighing and rubbing their stomachs from all the lust that practically radiated off of the mare.

“Mm, I am surprised he trusted you with something like that, that readily,” the not-her across from Midnight said, licking her duplicated lips with her copied tongue. “His was one of the more...difficult cases, seeing as he had a fear of females, nymphs especially.”

“Well, it was just a case of showing what somepony that actually cares looks like,” Midnight replied. “And do you mind, that form is becoming a little uncomfortable for me.”

“Oh, my apologies,” the nymph said before transforming...to look just like the dancer, like every other nymph in the room. “But yes, that seemed to be a way to get him to trust us, make him realize we cared about his well-being.”

“The problem was,” another said, sliding up next to Midnight, “Was that he knew we were nymphs because we all naturally produce pheromones.”

“So he was never going to really trust us like he does you,” a third said as she slid up on Midnight’s other side. “A shame, really. A noble drone doesn’t always get away, and when they do, they rarely come here.”

“A question,” Midnight asked. “Do you know what it means to be true to oneself?”

“Why yes, we do,” the one in front of her said with a grin. “We simply are very good at hiding our true selves away from those not involved in our...personal lives.”

“Which, considering who we are and what we do, the line is a little blurry,” the nymph on her right said.

“But we know where to draw it, and when to show off our real selves.” The one on her left joined in.

“We just like messing with you, dear,” the one in front finished.

“Figured as much,” Midnight replied with a soft sigh. “It’s... it’s not about, simply dropping the mask you wear, its that you wear a mask to begin with.” She motioned to their identical faces and smiled. “And I don’t mean those cute little things. You can wear any face you want, but what lies under that? At the end of the day, what is it you see in the mirror? Do you see something that no-one else does? Or no matter what, no matter what face you wear, no matter who you pretend to be... are you still you?”

Most of the nymphs around her had fallen silent, but the lead nymph smiled softly. “You know, I had been worried about trusting Level to your care...but now I can see that no matter how far he runs from the truth, you will pursue him and force him to admit it, to both himself and you.”

The changeling in front of her shimmered and dropped her disguise, even as she put one of her hooves on one of Midnight’s. “Just...take care of him, please. The things done to drones in the Lands are heinous. We may act like a bunch of fun loving nymphs, but we are one of the forces trying to help them get better.”

“Though the sexual healing lessons are always fun,” the nymph on her right spoke up, causing all of them to giggle.

“They usually are,” Midnight agreed. “And I’ll take care of him. I certainly wasn’t expecting this position, but I’m not complaining.”

“Oooh, I bet you said that to him when you realized just what him being a noble drone meant for him and you,” the nymph on her left purred.

“Cute, but he tends to be all stammery and awkwardly adorable in bed,” she smiled back. Her smile faltered for an eyeblink of a moment and her usual control over her emotions slipped. “Titles aren’t worth much anyhow...”

“True, unless his entire family were to be wiped out, the little duke isn’t duke of much in Equestria,” the non-disguised nymph agreed. “But at least his blood gave him a benefit, eh?” With that, the nymph held up her forehooves a modest distant apart, quirking a non-existent eyebrow at Midnight.

“Well, there is that,” she blushed lightly. She leaned forward and spread the mare’s hooves further apart, until she was closer to what she was referring to. “Wait til I really show him how to use that gift...” She shuddered as she pondered on that thought. She still had a lot of tricks left to teach after all~

The other nymphs shuddered or dropped their jaws at the size Midnight had indicated. “Shut, up,” one said from across the room. “There is no way a noble is that big.”

Midnight grinned like a cat that had gotten the cream...

Which she had~

A few times~

“You can read emotions and facial tells...” she replied. “You know I’m not lying.”

“Well then,” the head nymph said after she pulled herself back together. “Is there...anything else you want to ask or tell us while we have you?”

“Well, are you lot satisfied?” she asked with a knowing smile. “That’s why we’re here yes? Because you’re testing me? Seeing if I can treat Lev right and continue to do so?”

“Perhaps,” the nymph on her right replied.

“But we did enjoy the food as well,” the one on the left tacked on.

“Plus, you may have some questions regarding changelings for us,” the head nymph said with a knowing smile. “Some that young Level didn’t answer.”

Midnight wondered before a very important one came to mind. Her emotions showed absolutely no shame whatsoever. “Can he get me pregnant?”

“Ah yes, that question,” the head nymph said, before gesturing to the form the others were sharing. “Well, it’s certainly possible the other way. One understanding stallion, one happy nymph, a foal conceived in secret while the mare remained shifted in one form for nine months, and you have our little friend out front.”

“She doesn’t mind us borrowing her form,” one of them spoke up. “She knows we’ll take it off later.”

“Plus, she has her mother’s heritage, to a degree,” another interjected. “She can’t shift as easily or as quickly, and she can’t use illusions, but she can still shift.”

“But your question as to whether he can get you pregnant?” The head nymph hummed, before shrugging. “There are a lot of factors on either side. If he were to shift into a pony stallion during the act, maybe. Or maybe his blood helps in more than one aspect. Plus, if you were to be in estrus, that would help your odds greatly. It’s really a toss-up.”

“Dammit all,” Midnight swore. “That wasn’t the answer I was looking for...” She really didn’t want to experiment with this either. “Maybe the Princess might know, or Cadence, this seems right up her alley.”

“The truth is rarely what we want it to be,” the nymph in front of her observed. “My advice is to simply take no chances...and some sort of contraceptive, until you feel like bringing more little copies of Ledger and yourself into the world.”

“Now that would be something truly dangerous. His smarts and my looks... they’d be ruling the world in a week, tops.”

“We mentioned that to him once,” the nymphs on either side of her said at the same time, before giggling.

“He said, ‘ruling the world? Too much hassle. Then I’m responsible for everything’,” a nymph elsewhere in the room said.

“Now we have a new joke to tease him with, thanks to him,” another spoke up.

“It goes like this,” the one in front of her said with a smile. “‘One day, Ledger will rent the world.’”

“I don’t know what’s worse,” Midnight groaned, burying her head in her hooves. “That joke, or that fact that it’s probably true...” Then she smiled as she decided to share a secret. “Oh, if he gets too snarky and you wanna shut him up? Here’s a tip. Just mention ‘Truth or Dare’~”

“Oooh, you got a ‘ling to play Truth or Dare with you,” a nymph in the room purred. “That sounds...interesting. Do tell, what were the dares?”

“Hmm, a few things, up to and including a little... show and tell~ Then I got drunk and can’t remember the rest.”

The nymphs still enjoyed the little lust that she’d conjured up with those memories, and sighed at the taste. “You’re going to have to keep coming back if you don’t intend to share him,” one said.

“Not to mention you could probably keep us all fed for weeks,” another commented. “I don’t know how you aren’t jumping him every other hour, if he’s as gifted as you say and with lust like yours.”

“But he doesn’t have lust like mine... nopony does~” she smiled, though was a little disappointed. “To be honest, until now I enjoyed a certain... lifestyle, as it were. But once I admitted to myself that I loved, and I mean loved Level...” She fluttered her wings and looked towards the other room fondly. “I guess love changes a mare more than I thought... the old me? I’d have you all writhing in pleasure by now~”

“You think you could outlast us,” the head nymph cooed. “That’s precious, it really is. And yes,” her expression softened. “When you can’t imagine yourself going another day without that somepony you like...when you find yourself changing your ways so as not to hurt them...when you find yourself willing to do anything as long as it means you’d get to hold them again?...then you know it’s love.”

A profound silence reigned for all of a minute before another nymph broke the silence. “Of course, before we get there, there’s plenty of sex to have yet!”

“And now I’m stuck with Ledger,” Midnight pouted. “Oh, and I kissed Celestia the other day. There’s that too~”

“Dear, perhaps you don’t quite get what it means to be a partner to a ‘ling just yet,” the head nymph gave Midnight a wink.

“Oh, I have some ideas,” Midnight replied. She was going to hold Ledger to that Luna crack. His reaction was going to be priceless. Her thoughts wandered to her new... houseguest. “I wonder how my new friend is doing?”

“Oh? Something else?” one of the nymphs asked.

“The nymph I crushed when I was fighting Toll.” Midnight replied looked around for something to drink. “After turning her carapace into confetti, she swore some oath and now I’m stuck with her.” She eventually found a liquor cabinet and her tail swished happily. She poured enough drinks for everyone and decided to try a little experiment, stroking each glass while thinking of every dirty little thought she could muster.

“So Level gets it in his little buggy brain to teach her not to be so much of a nymph... uh, no offense?”

“None taken,” the whole room said at once.

“We know how those in the Lands can be, dear,” the head nymph said as they all slowly walked over to take a drink. “You have...quite the task on your hooves. If you ever need help, just send Level out to find one of us.”

“Too bad I can’t sense emotions like him,” she replied. “I mean, there’s this Thestral thing I could do that would allow me to do it... but yeah.” She took a sip of her drink and sighed. Oh, this was quality stuff. The nymphs, on the other hoof, took sips of their drinks...and moaned.

“Oh, somepony knows how to manipulate emotions,” the non-disguised nymph said with a smirk. “It is quite the shame you’ve bound yourself to Level...we would simply love to have a pony like you here, Thestral or not. Somepony that knows what they’re doing is oh so rare...”

“A result of my training I suppose,” Midnight sighed. “I have perfect control of my emotions when I choose to... s’prolly why I beat that nymph so easily. She couldn’t sense me.”

“Perfect control?” One of the nymphs asked as they all raised their eyebrows. “Then you won’t mind if we ask how you feel about Level.”

A wave of love washed off of Midnight and she frowned. “That’s cheating and you succubi know it,” she groaned. “But my perfect control requires me to be in a particular state of mind... one you really don’t want to see.”

This was also the problem with her new position... she didn’t need permission anymore. The head nymph drew close and jarred her out of her thoughts as she felt a chitinous hoof turn her head this way and that. “Hmm,” the nymph said. “I don’t see a horn on that head of yours, to go with your feathery wings or pink coat, so love isn’t something you can control, dear. And really, having such control over yourself is admirable...as long as you don’t overuse it. Ponies are emotive creatures for a reason beyond feeding Changelings.”

“Thestral, not a pony,” Midnight chuckled. “Imma scary Changeling hunter remember~”

“Luna had to use something as a base,” the head nymph chuckled. “So you’re pony where it counts.”

“And all the parts that aren’t just make you all the more interesting,” a different nymph spoke up, causing the rest to let out little hums and nods of agreement.

“I like to think I’m interesting,” Midnight giggled. Oh, this drink was niii~iice. Her long tongue lolled out and licked her lips. “Ooookay, Imma stop before I do... sumthin’ I think?”

“Probably a good idea, since your beloved Level isn’t here,” the head nymph agreed. Midnight shook her head as her eyes glazed over before she closed them.

“First Beat...” she whispered as her eyes opened, her cat-like slits were so wide that they were almost spheres. Her mind opened and cleared as she just stood there, devoid of emotion as she focused. The other changelings in the room drew back slightly from the Thestral.

“...Dear, are you alright?” the head nymph asked.

“Fine,” she replied in her monotone voice. “Just... don’t make any sudden moves...This’ll only take a moment.”

Every ‘ling there was as still as death itself. You could probably drop a few pins and hear them as they hit the floor, they were so quiet and unmoving. At the moment, they were only thinking about how the rumors were at least partially true, and that no changeling would ever hear or feel their death coming when a Thestral was onto them...

After a second... or a minute, maybe longer. Song closed her eyes again and when she opened them, they had returned to normal, and her emotions also came flooding back. Her mind was now clear again and she smiled apologetically.

“Eheh, I feel better now?”

“...Please don’t do that around a ‘ling again without warning,” the head nymph said softly. “We could see you, but we couldn’t feel you. To us, that’s not only eerie, it’s scary. It’s something from the rumors that we’d hoped never to see.”

“Ah, sorry...” she replied. She hadn’t thought about that, and she’d used the first Beat. “I guess that would be a little unsettling... sorry again.”

“It’s fine dear,” the nymph smoothed over the incident. “It was just a little jarring to us, that’s all. Like it would be to you to see two of the same pony walking down the street.”

“They’re called twins and I’ve had them in my bed~” she giggled. “Mm, I miss those two~”

“Even twins can have different marks,” one nymph pointed out, before being shushed.

“Anyways, was there anything else you wanted to ask us about?”

“Maybe... gimme a sec to get my thoughts sorted again.” She paced around the room for a moment. “And you lot are really distracting by the way, I think I need to discuss a few things with Ledger.”

“Perhaps you do,” the head nymph said with a smirk. “And perhaps you should think about visiting a pharmacy if you intend to keep seducing him without finding out the odds for a changeling getting a pony pregnant?”

“Yeah... I’ll do that sooner than later,” Midnight replied. She glanced back towards the oddly quiet room. “I wonder if Levvy’s alright? It’s awfully quiet in there...”

“Par for the course,” one spoke up. “They usually put up a soundproof barrier around the edges of the room once the meeting’s properly started to make sure nopony hears anything changeling-specific. It’s been long enough, though. They should be done soon.”

“Yup,” another agreed. “If you go wait outside their door, he should come out in a few minutes.”

“Or you could wait here,” the head nymph all but purred. “And make him come for you.”

“You... you are still flirting with me, you naughty mare.” Midnight smiled. “Still, that’s not a bad idea, and I am enjoying spending time with my new friends...” Friends? Well, that was something she never thought she’d say about a Changeling, well, Ledger being the only exception.

“We do try to be enjoyable, and there’s more to us than just being succubi for the ponies,” the head nymph said with a smile.

“Though that is the way we get a good bit of our ‘food’,” the nymph on the left of her said.

“Still, sometimes all they really need is somepony to talk to, rather than just a roll in the hay,” the nymph on the right added.

“And once Ledger directed us to proper psychiatry books, some of us took to that real well,” another voice pitched in.

“So we offer a wide range of services, and it’s always nice to make new pony friends with them...though a Thestral friend is certainly new,” the head nymph finished.

Midnight nodded and beamed brightly. They were a little unusual, but she had some friends in this city at last. She suddenly felt a great desire to do something she didn’t do often and a wide smile formed on her face.

“Tell me,” she asked, feeling a little giddy, maybe due to the liquid courage in her veins. “Has that stage out there got a microphone?”

The meeting of the drones had finally come to a conclusion. Much to Ledger’s relief that the constant teasing had finally come to an end. As the lead drone dropped the soundproof barrier, the sound of rambunctious applause and cheers could be heard from the central room.

“Oohkay? What in the Hive is going on out there?” one asked.

“I don’t know and I have a bad feeling about this,” Level answered. “Well, disguises up everyling, I’ll go check on it first.”

Being the only changeling in the room that had worn his disguise through the meeting, Level stepped out from their room and snuck back towards the sound of applause. What he saw gave him pause.

Midnight Song was standing on center stage, with four disguised nymphs behind her. She was panting slightly as every patron in the club roared and cheered, stomping their hooves in applause. She took a small bow and noticed Ledger out of the corner of her eye. Her smiled widened as she waved at him.

“This next little one is for my dear Levvy!” she shouted into the mic, as the four nymphs began to play their instruments.

Midnight took a deep breath, opened her mouth... and began to sing.

Ledger was lost in the tune for a moment, before realizing that the words she was singing were referring to him and their new bond. He blushed a little, not used to the attention she or the patrons were giving him. By the time the song was over, more than one drone had put on their disguises and were standing behind him.

“And that’s why I’m so grateful that she’s in love with me,” Ledger said as the song ended. “Because she keeps finding ways to surprise me.”

Midnight gave a little bow as the song finished, smiling brightly. It had been forever since she sang in public like this and to be honest, it felt pretty good. And the fact that Level was there with a dopey grin on his face made it all worth it.

“Well that was fun ladies,” she smiled. “Never thought I’d be singing in a stripclub though~”

“Not a lot think that way when they arrive in Las Pegasus either,” one said.

“But it’s not so bad, and a lot fewer stallions...or mares, request a ‘private show’ than you might think,” another pitched in.

“So if it weren’t for dear Level over there, we might ask you to come again,” the head nymph said. “By the way, our advice? Try to get him to want things. Both in and out of your times together. The males in our lives getting a backbone again is usually the hard part.”

“Oh, I’m already working on that,” Midnight nodded and smiled salaciously. “Let’s say he’s already learning a thing or two.” The crowds were already dying off, most disappointed that the show was over.

“Um,” Midnight looked a little sheepish. “Let’s say, hypothetically, that a certain somepony had a ton of fun doing that. And maybe that somepony wanted to do it again. Would-would that somepony be allowed to come back?”

“Of course,” the head nymph purred. “We don’t turn anypony away...but you’d probably want to ask Ledger first,” she finished with a wink, slightly nudging the Thestral mare towards the stallion that was on the receiving end of more than a few jealous looks from the other stallions.

Midnight stepped down off of the stage and then flew over to Ledger, wrapping the stallion up in a tight hug. She smiled and gave him a light kiss.

“Hello handsome~” she giggled.

“Hello beautiful,” he returned, still blushing. “So I see you made some new friends?”

“I did,” Midnight nodded, waving at the nymphs. “But I think the lead one wants to be more than friends,” she whispered to him. “Still, I guess you score a major victory here. I never thought I could be so comfortable in a room with so many of your ‘friends’.”

“We’re not so bad once you get to know us,” Ledger said, throwing a look over at the drones behind him. “Which could be said of them and you the other way ‘round, now that I think about it,” he observed.

“Naw, I’m a special case,” Midnight giggled. “There isn’t a pony like me in Equestria. Which may be a good thing. Equus couldn’t handle this much sexy~”

“Amen!” one drone spoke up, causing the rest to chuckle.

“Still,” another said, “thank you for introducing us, Level, and do take care of yourself...and her. She’s a rarity, she is.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Ledger replied with a smile, catching Midnight’s lips in another soft kiss. “She’s once in a lifetime, and I’m glad she came into mine.”

“Let’s go home,” Midnight smiled. She shot a glance to the nymphs and grinned. She leaned in close to Ledger and her next words were just loud enough for the Ladies to hear.

“And you get to come into mine~ Again and again...”

The only way Ledger could be more red was if he’d shifted into a red-coated pony, he was blushing so hard. The nymphs, on the other hand, merely smiled wider.

“So did you finish your talks?” she asked him, deciding to leave him be for now. “Any emergencies to attend to?”

“Nothing for now,” one of the drones spoke up. “Though Toll Taker being taken down is going to have a remarkably positive effect on the city...we hope. Assuming nopony steps up to replace her position in the world of crime, that is. Which is what we talked about.”

“Gotta keep an eye on the emotional health of the city,” Ledger muttered, rubbing one of his cheeks. “‘s important for us.”

“I’d imagine so,” Midnight chuckled. “Oh! Did you mention our latest ‘project’?”

“I will once it’s finished being ‘in the works’ and is actually a thing that is happening,” Ledger responded. “So...I think unless you wanted to spend a little more time with your friends there, we should be good to go…”

“Yeah, I wanna make some new stories to tell them,” Midnight winked at them. “Plus I gotta swing by a pharmacy before we go home.”

Ledger looked confused, while the nymphs just grinned even more. “Oh...kay?” he asked, before shrugging and turning towards the exit. “Well, there should be one on the way, so you can pop over on the way home.”

“Good,” Midnight nodded, swishing her tail to and fro. She waved to her new friends once more as the couple left the bar. And hopefully that Nymph hadn’t burned down the apartment yet…

Fortunately, when the pair arrived back in the apartment, the nymph hadn’t done much beyond move to the next book in the pile. She did raise an imaginary eyebrow at the pair’s return, but quickly wrote it off as nothing interesting going on and returned to her reading.

“Well, so far so good,” Midnight replied, shifting the small, wrapped package under her wing. “I gotta use the little fillies room, be back soon Lev.” She trotted off to their bathroom, quickly shutting the door behind her.

“And I’m sure one day she’ll let me know why I couldn’t come with her into the pharmacy to begin with,” Level sighed before shutting the door, testing the locks, and dropping his disguise.

“All in good time,” she called out from the bathroom. “Also, can you check on... uh... whatever her name is?”

Ledger turned towards the nymph’s bedroom and sighed, before walking up to the space just outside the door. “So. You good?” he briskly asked.

She looked up and nodded once, keeping Rule One in mind. She spared a glance in Midnight’s general direction and shrugged before tilting her head in question.

“Like I know what she’s up to,” he said with a sigh. “Apparently whatever it is is enough of a distraction that she sends me here to play nice. Honestly, while accepting your vow was my idea, I’d just as soon have left you to heal up and wander the streets cold and alone for the rest of your miserable life. Be thankful for her...she’s tempered my hatred and dislike of nymphs.”

“I will do as she commands,” the nymph finally replied. “Not you, nor anyone else.”

“That appears to be the only thing we have in common,” the drone observed. “And really, that’s the only thing that matters. So let me make one thing perfectly clear.”

He paused for a moment before continuing to speak his piece. “If you ever betray me or her. If you ever backstab us. You will wish she killed you. I have the knowledge of our anatomy and more than a little skill with TK. You will be surprised what I can make you live through.”

The nymph blinked, before a short laugh wracked her body. “You? You spent that day curled up in a quivering, stammering little ball. Your mare fought for you, while you hid behind her teats like a little foal!” Her eyes narrowed and her smile showed her gleaming fangs. “You’ll be a good little drone, yes?”

She suddenly felt her left foreleg stop moving, and when she looked, she found it encased in a silver glow. One that matched the one around the drone’s horn. “TK is a very interesting spell for something so basic,” he observed aloud. “Putting magical pressure on an object and lifting it, moving it about. It’s something nearly every ‘ling and unicorn learns. What becomes interesting is when you apply it to ponies...or just parts of ponies...or change the parameters. Like how tightly you grip the object. Or how hard you pull. Hey, do you know how much pressure your chitin is rated for?”

The nymphs voice hitched in her throat. What the what? When did this pitiful drone get a pair like that? She couldn’t do anything, her body could barely move and her magic was all but gone.

Then her eyes widened as she stared past Level Ledger, at something that made jumping out that two story window look really enticing. She just opened and closed her mouth a few times, her free hoof pointing feebly.

“Oh don’t go looking for a miracle when it’s just you and me,” Ledger said, his voice no more emotional. His magic tightened on her foreleg for a moment more before he let her go, still glaring at her. “Personally, the records I found indicate that your chitin is just like an overly-segmented, slightly-harder bone. And I’ve broken bones before with TK. You give me cause to, I will repeat my performance. Play nice, listen to Midnight, and I’ll help kick you out when you can put on a decent enough show.”

Then a voice sounded.

From right behind him.

“Are you two playing nice?” it was a quiet voice, sounding rather monotone and the nymph just continued to shake. The face the Thestral wore was one she’d seen before, the face of the one that tore her chitin to shreds, the face of the silent death.

“Of course we are,” Ledger replied, before grinning at the nymph. “We were just making sure we understood where the other stood on the matter of the other’s gender and how that was going to affect us getting along. Isn’t that right?”

The changeling female was about to respond when Midnight moved into the room, her fluid motion made it look like she was gliding. She gave a look to both shapeshifters before frowning lightly.

“New rule, no threatening one another? Okay?”

“...Aren’t you threatening us?” the nymph asked, before squeaking when Midnight looked at her. “Uh, right. Understood Mistress.”

“Technically, threats are just empty bluster, whereas I tend to make promises…” Ledger trailed off as he looked at Midnight’s face, before correcting what he’d been about to say. “But if it matters that much to you, I can keep my mouth shut around her.”

Midnight returned to normal and smiled brightly. “Glad to hear it. We’ll all be friends and life will be wonderful.” She petted the nymph on the head and smiled. “Now, would you like something to eat?”

The nymphs stomach growled in response, while she looked away.

“Hehe, I’ll make you some soup then!” Midnight smiled. The nymph frowned as her chitin crawled. Why did that sound so... dangerous. She just watched the Thestral mare skip from the room as she looked at Level.

“I am... confused.”

“You and me both,” Level sighed as he made to follow Midnight. “Love, at least let me help, I don’t need to spend another two hours cleaning off my stove!”

“Oh, that’s why I feel fear,” the nymph stated aloud. And why was she smelling smoke?

“You’ve been in here for all of twenty seconds, and the range is already on fire!” Ledger protested. “The entire range!”

“It’s not my fault the kitchen is so flammable!” Midnight protested.

“Oh Sweet Hive... I am going to die here,” the nymph groaned, burying her head under her pillow. This was going to be a looooong, life-debt. Assuming she lived through it.

It had started off as such a good dream, Level would reflect later. He was in his bed, Midnight was in his bed, and the two of them were doing nothing more than hugging and cuddling and kissing. “You have no idea how happy you make me,” the drone sighed, holding the thestral mare close and letting his eyes drift shut for a moment.

And in that moment, the mare changed. From a soft and fluffy pony to a small, hard, chitinous form. Ledger snapped his eyes open and saw a familiar form. A form he’d been trying to forget for some years now.

The familiar, yellow-eyed form of his rapist, who could not be happier to see him. The drone locked up in fear, which gave the nymph all the time she needed to roll Ledger onto his back and slowly start straddling him.

“Oooh, you’ve grown since I last saw you,” the nymph purred as she sat on his chest. “But, naughty drone, you’ve gone and given yourself to another...when I was the one to claim you for myself first.”

“You don’t...own me,” Ledger weakly protested. The nymph laughed and batted at one of his stock-still forelegs with a hoof, which swayed back and forth before returning to its original position.

“Oh really? I seem to have made quite the mark on you, and your body knows it,” she chuckled, before gaining a serious look to her eyes. “Now, here’s how this is going to work, drone. I’m going to take what I want from you, and you are going to be a good little male and give it to me.”

“No,” Ledger protested again. “I don’t care what you say, I’m not yours, I’m not giving you anything.”

“Pity,” she said, trailing a hoof up to his neck. “Then I suppose I’ll simply have to...dispose of you.”

Once she said the word dispose, her colors started shifting and changing. From yellow, to a familiar blue. From some flirty nymph...to the one that had tried to kill him most recently. Her voice shifted as well, and suddenly the total bitch that had come to live with him was the one on his chest.

“Or, better yet,” she hummed. “I use you, then drag you back to the Hives, where some other nymph can use you...and we make sure you and your precious little batpony never see each other again. If you’re lucky, you might even survive the breaking process. It’s where we turn you into such a good little drone, you’ll never think to threaten another nymph again.”

This time, Ledger’s throat locked up in pure terror at the thought, and the wicked nymph atop him grinned all the more. “Oh, yes, I think that’s what I’ll end up doing. It finally got you to shut up, after all.”

One hoof slammed Ledger’s head into the headboard of his bed, dazing him for a moment, before he heard the nymph speak up again. “Now this should only take a moment…”

A familiar scent started to waft its way into his nostrils, and he started crying as he recognized it for what it was. Pheromones. Pheromones similar to the ones his rapist had made that had made him react so strongly that day. It seemed like he was going to betray Midnight after all...that he was just a useless, weak drone, who couldn’t do anything for himself-

The nymph chuckled, right before a blinding light exploded her into a million smouldering pieces. The pheromones vanished without a trace, as a regal blue Alicorn stood in the doorway, a mixture of shock and pity on her face.

“Such an abomination,” she muttered as she walked in, small wisps of smoke wafting from her horn. “Tis this what thou fears, little Changeling? For if there is truth to this nightmare, thou hast my pity...”

“Princess...Luna?” Ledger slowly rolled back over so he was on his stomach, on his bed. “A...dream, then?” Things were slowly starting to make more sense. Such as how half of those things had happened, or why he’d been so overwhelmingly afraid.

“Not a joyous one however,” Luna replied. “Tis the first time I have entered a Changeling’s dream... I see I have missed much opportunity to do good.” Her horn flashed once more as Midnight materialized next to Ledger, her sleeping form instantly pulling him into an embrace.

“Tis not much, but your dreams are merged. She’ll not wake here however.”

“I...see,” Ledger said, not really understanding at all as he stroked Midnight’s mane with one hoof. The action was soothing to him, and as he got his head on straight, the ‘ling finally knew how he wanted to phrase the next thing he wanted to say. “If I am...permitted, I would like to ask you a question, your highness.”

“Tis why I am here,” she replied. “While I would enjoy a visit personally, I have little time to make such a trip. Speak your mind, Level Ledger.”

Level took a deep breath...and directed such a glare at Luna that if looks could kill, she would at the very least be mortally wounded. “What took you?” he all but spat. At her shocked look, he elaborated. “I’ve been in Equestria for a year now. Changelings have been common knowledge for nearly that. I sometimes woke up screaming, so I know exactly what I dreamt of. What. Took. You?”

Princess Luna’s own glare matched his own. This little whelp dared take such a tone with her? The Princess of the Night?

Still...

Her fierce look dissipated, and the moon princess looked...apologetic. “I admit,” she said quietly. “That I have made an error in not intervening before now,” she replied. “I have no excuses, at least, none that would satisfy your justified anger. I offer my deepest apologies for this grave oversight.”

“Does it have anything to do with your favored ponies and some of the rumors regarding why you made them?” Ledger asked, stroking Midnight’s mane for emphasis. “Because at least that would make sense, if you simply couldn’t bring yourself to trust something that changes its skin so often, or feeds on ponies.”

Princess Luna blinked, before a low chuckle escaped her throat. “Do you Changeling’s still believe that I made the Thestrals? And that they were to hunt you?” The Princess giggled a little more, but soon stopped when she noticed Ledger’s unamused stare.

“I did not create them, they are a branched evolution of Pegasi, nothing more.” She pondered for a moment and decided she might as well tell him. “And while the Changeling’s were a far more barbaric species eight hundred years ago, I trained the Thestrals to fight something far worse than your species could ever be.”

“Huh,” Ledger said, processing this new information. “Well...that helps a bit. But with that training apparently comes the ability to not feel, and to us…” the drone let the sentence hang there for the lunar princess to process.

“You are not the only emotivorous species on Equus,” Luna said grimly. “Just the most placid...”

“...Well that explains why we suddenly started to ‘find’ more areas for our Hives, according to what I’ve read of our history,” Ledger said with a smile. “Now all we need is a public image of you standing next to a ‘ling and not trying to kill him or her, and I think most of the fear regarding Thestrals and you in the ‘ling community will dissipate.”

“We shall see,” Luna chuckled. She stepped closer to the changeling as her horn shone once again. A tendril of wispy light connected them, as an azure hue filled the room. Level Ledger felt... warm, and his body was light. After a moment of this, the Alicorn smiled as she stepped back.

“A small enchantment, to help drive back the nightmares should they return,” she explained. “While I cannot stop them from coming back entirely, this will help you fight them.”

“...Thank you, again,” Ledger said, before a thought struck him. “If I might offer a bit of advice?”

“Advice from you?” she blinked. This was one of the most unusual dreams she had walked into this evening... well, aside from Twilight conducting a book orchestra. “Go ahead.”

“In this city, there is a...call it council, of changelings. One particular sect of it are all nymphs with violet eyes, and they’ve been trying their hardest to help not only me, but any drone that comes here,” Ledger said. “They might be able to help you if you intend to make visiting changeling dreams a regular thing.” He blushed a bit and coughed before looking away and continuing. “But, ah, do be careful. Color corresponds to what we feed on...And they…”

The form of the Princess flickered, like an out-of-tune television. “Ah, it appears that my stay is overdone. I did not catch.. last part...” She smiled again. “We shall talk soon, take care... you and her...” And with a flash of light, the princess was gone, leaving Ledger alone in the lucid dream.

...Well, not entirely alone. He bent down and gave the top of Midnight’s head a kiss, before cuddling the mare close and sighing. “Not that I would ever wish for Toll to be free...but at least I had a routine before last week that was fairly standard…” He smirked a bit and squeezed her form again. “Still, at least it brought me you. I’d endure her all over again for you.”

Midnight shifted, her smile widening. “Mmmm, mango Levvy~”

“...Hmm,” Ledger said with a smirk as an idea began to form, just hoping he would remember it when he woke up, before deciding to see how hard it was to fall asleep in a dream.

It turned out to not be hard at all.

Chapter Eleven - Backup sing- Backup orchestra

Ledger woke up, feeling rested for the first time in a long time. With a bit of focus, he recalled...most of his chat with the Lunar Princess, and sighed happily. Both from Midnight being next to him and cuddling him, and from finally getting some help for his nightmares.

Well, until he felt something tugging at his senses, and his eyes snapped open to see the Nymph they were housing, standing in the doorway as she feasted on the emotions that were emanating from the drone and thestral. Ledger drew himself up to his full height and glared at the nymph before erecting a simple shield between her and them, to make it harder for her to drain them.

“And what in the everloving Tartarus do you think you’re doing?” he demanded in Changeish, hoping that their native tongue might get through to her. It did make her stop, but also woke up the Thestral at his side.

“The hell...?” she yawned, groaning from the fun last night. Luna, her hips were sore. She looked to Ledger and then noticed the Nymph in the doorway.

“What’s going on?” she asked, still half-asleep.

“Getting an answer for that myself before I decide whether to just toss her out...or put her in the care of the city’s lone Pink, after hopping her up on sugar,” Ledger replied.

“I was simply speeding up my recovery, as per the Mistress’s wishes,” the Nymph replied. “She had set no rules against taking surplus emotion, so I assumed it was fine.” She did look considerably better. Her chitin was healing nicely and she seemed able to walk by herself now.

“Right, shoulda said something bout that,” Midnight groaned. She was having such a delicious dream too... “Whatever, are we hurt? Will I turn into a Changeling or something?”

“You’re not,” Ledger commented, “But you may want to either set a boundary quickly or correct her attitude just as quickly. Otherwise, she might see every scrap of emotion that I have as surplus.”

“Right...” Midnight yawned again. For a guardsmare, she was not a morning pony. “Look Nim, no eating Ledger’s emotions, and I’ll make sure you get some from me, directed at you, okay?”

“Yes Mistress,” she nodded once. “I dislike the emotions of another Changeling anyhow... especially a drone’s.”

“Yeah, remember what I said about that?” Midnight replied. “Play nice.”

“Yes Mistress.” the Nymph nodded once more and returned to her room.

“Well, that was harrowing,” Ledger sighed. “And just because she dislikes something, doesn’t mean she won’t use it in a pinch. Any port in a storm and all that. And like I said earlier, drain your fellow ‘ling too much…”

“Right, I’ll get on that,” Midnight groaned as she lay back down. “It’s too early for this...”

And then the door resounded with a clear knock. Midnight groaned as she buried her head in her pillow. “Go away!” she moaned.

“I’ll go see who it is,” Ledger groaned as he hit the carpet, disguise already shimmering into place. “Plus I’ll put the coffee on once I do. You can get a few more minutes of shuteye if you want to.”

Midnight just waved a hoof as the door knocked once more. Whoever it was was rather persistent. “Forget it,” the mare groaned. “You get the coffee, so I can throw it in their sun-loving face.”

“Fine,” Ledger said, a unicorn once more. He paused by the door to the nymph’s room before voicing his concern. “And...her?”

Midnight got up and poked her head inside. “Can you wait in here Nim? We have an unexpected guest.”

“Yes Mistress,” the Changeling responded, not looking up from her book. As Ledger walked into the kitchen and pulled the nymph’s door shut with his magic, Song stumbled to the front door and opened it, but upon seeing who was there, slammed it in their face.

“Well that’s just rude,” came a muffled voice.

“Who is it?” Ledger said as he set about getting the coffee things.

“A pain in my ass,” she replied, heading back for bed.

“...Who is it specifically, or you don’t get any coffee,” Ledger said as he paused mid-way through the process.

“Luna dammit,” she muttered. “Door’s open old man!” Upon that comment, the door swung open to reveal her father, rubbing his snout and wincing.

“Well I see you’re as agreeable as ever in the mornings,” he remarked.

“Ah, hello Mister Grissom,” Ledger said as he set the coffee to brew. “I’d apologize for your daughter’s behavior, but she hasn’t had any coffee yet. Something I’m fixing right now, as a matter of fact.”

“Ah, you’ve learned fast,” he smiled. “Princess Celestia told me that you wanted to see me, so I caught the morning express out here.” he sat down at the table and looked around at the new furnishings. “Seems you’re getting more comfortable here.”

“Blame your daughter for cajoling me into spending my savings on furnishings. Fortunately, our incomes should be greater and more stable again soon.” The changeling settled himself on the new couch and sighed at both the comfiness and the sound of the dripping coffee. “I believe we have a process to go through?”

“You need to sign some papers, fill some forms, all the usual red-tape crap,” Grissom replied, pulling an impressive amount of paperwork from his saddlebags.

“Hey, Level loves paperwork,” Midnight snarked. “And here I thought you’d ask something hard. Can’t we make him jump through a fiery hoop or something?”

Grissom paused and looked at his daughter. “You are never this... what’s gotten into you dear?”

“Bite me,” she muttered, thumping her head onto the table. “And Level did... repeatedly and enthusiastically.”

Grissom turned his head again, now staring at the Changeling on the couch.

“Don’t even think about it, sir,” Ledger said, already feeling the incoming hostility. “I respect your daughter very much...which is why I’m warning you away from throwing the first blow in any fashion. Because I always throw the last.” He looked from one form to the next, lips pursing slightly. “Hmmm...most of these say ‘for use by official only’...it’s almost as though they don’t trust a ‘ling to fill out these forms honestly.”

“Hah! I’m well aware of my daughters... activities.” Grissom shook his head. “I’m more surprised it took you two this long.”

“I repeat, bite me!” she muttered.

“Is she... alright?” Grissom asked.

“We picked up a new boarder the other day,” Level said. “One who didn’t understand why you don’t just drain ponies willy-nilly. She’ll recover with a bit of coffee and sugar. Oh, that reminds me. Midnight!” Level spoke up.

“What?’ she groused. She just didn’t care this morning.

“One sugar cube in YOUR coffee this morning,” Ledger commanded, “And if we have any chocolate, nibble it between sips. It’ll help!”

She sipped at her coffee, while her father sighed. He reached into his bag and pulled something out. “I was saving this for my breakfast but-”

“MANGO!” Midnight yelled and grabbed it, nomming on the fruit happily. “Ahhh, so nommy~”

“Ah, forgot about that,” Ledger agreed with a nod. “Chocolate is a good general help, but something the pony really likes to eat helps even more.” He floated the forms he wasn’t allowed to fill out back to Grissom...which was most of them, actually.

“Red tape is a pain,” he muttered. “You can fill out most of this, but I have to in your stead, so I’ll be asking a few questions I’m afraid. Did you want to start now?”

“Sooner started, sooner we get this over with,” Level said with another nod, making sure he was comfortable.

“Okay, first up is employment. Do you have a secure job? Or at least have a few prospects?” the Thestral asked as Midnight, now feeling much better, trotted off to have words with a certain Nymph.

“Assuming all the red tape clears, I’ll be taking control of what’s left of Pegasus Air and turning back into a shipping company,” Ledger said.

“An ambitious venture,” Grissom nodded. “Restoring their lost reputation will prove more challenging than anything else.” He wrote a few things down and continued. “Now, what are the main reasons for your desired citizenship?”

“Mostly to avoid the Lands and the crazy Nymphs within,” Ledger deadpanned. “Though learning new things from Equestria is wonderful boon as well,” he finished, with a significantly more upbeat tone. Grissom also wrote this down and looked at the next line.

“Oh, here we are. Are you in, or pursuing, a romantic relationship with an Equestrian citizen?”

“Assuming your daughter is one, then yes, yes I am,” Ledger replied with a soft laugh. Grissom shared his chuckle, until he reached the next question.

“Have you, to your knowledge, committed any crimes since entering Equestria?”

“Technically, no,” Ledger said with a sigh. “Advised, gave council, yes. And even that self-defense was still within the lines. It’s been...a morally grey trip for me so far, but I never did anything that outright broke the law.”

“Well, one could argue that you aided and abetted,” Grissom said. “You were aware of criminal activities going on and still assisted in them. However, it was also under duress, and no charges have been pressed. But the Guard and the police will be keeping close tabs on you for a while.”

“Not like that’ll be anything new,” Ledger sighed again. “And once I realized the true Pegasus Air is when I started taking note of everything going on, to help bring Toll down. I assume that helps as well.”

“Let’s say that this particular field is caught up in so much red-tape, it would take an age to uncover,” Grissom smiled. The complex system had its uses sometimes. “Now, we have a few more and-”

“I said I was sorry!!” the Nymph cried as she ran past them, Song stalking after her with one of her swords in her mouth.

“I just want a word~” she cooed through clenched teeth.

“...Should I be concerned about this?” Grissom deadpanned.

“Meh,” Ledger said with a shrug. “Five bits on your daughter beating her back to the state we picked her up in.”

“I wholeheartedly protest that bet!” the Nymph cried out, trying to barricade the kitchen door. Until a sharp sword stabbed through it, one of Midnight’s eyes peering through the gap.

“Heeeerrres MIDNIGHT!” she giggled madly.

“I’ll file that under ‘I don’t care about nymphs that don’t care about drones’,” Ledger droned back. “Next question, sir?”

“Midnight Song. Sit!” he barked, and the mare plunked her rump down on the floor. He looked back to Ledger, “Hmm, now where were we? Ah, do you promise to uphold any and all Equestrian laws?”

“I do,” Ledger agreed.

“Do you promise to strive to become a friendly and productive citizen?” the Thestral stallion asked.

“I do,” Ledger replied again.

“And do you promise to live a life of peace and harmony?” he asked, as Midnight walked up beside Ledger.

“I do,” the unicorn finished, nodding one last time.

“And do you take me to be your lawfully wedded wife?” Midnight asked in the same tone.

“I d-” Ledger got out before blushing and looking towards Midnight. “...cheater,” he mumbled.

“Good enough for me,” Grissom chuckled as he sorted the papers. “You are now husband and wife! Congratulations!”

Ledger slowly turned to look at Grissom, gears having ground to a halt. “Midnight, love,” he whispered. “Did that...just happen?”

“While I can legally marry you,” Grissom nodded. “It was a joke at your expense son.”

“Aww, I was serious,” Midnight pouted, kissing the top of his head.

“...Maybe when he visits again,” Ledger muttered. “Little too fast for right now.”

The two Thestral’s laughed again as Grissom put the papers away.

“There’s still quite a bit to fill, but I can handle the rest. Your request has been officially heard and-” He pulled a small card from his bag and walked over to the couch, dropping it in Ledger’s lap. “-This is your temporary visa. Welcome to Equestria son!”

Ledger smiled, before looking at the small sheaf of papers he had to fill out and sighing. One quill and inkpot later, he was filling the pile out as quick as he could. His eyes were only slightly filmy as he concentrated on his task.

Name: Level Ledger...Form...Name in Changeish...Native form...Aliases...

Midnight hummed happily as he filled out the forms, even she could almost feel the happiness radiate from him. The Nymph stood by her side as Midnight motioned towards him.

“This could be you eventually,” she smiled. “Wouldn’t that be something?”

The Nymph watched, as the drone filled the forms, each stroke of the quill more exuberant than the last.

I could just take what I want, like I always have... she frowned as she spared a glance at the Thestral stallion, then to her ‘Mistress’. Why does she even care so much? Why does the drone.. scrap that, he doesn’t care at all.

Level eventually came out of his magic-induced trance and organized the paperwork in front of Grissom, blowing gently to help the ink dry faster. Soon enough he cheated and flash-dried them with a small increase in heat. “I believe your forms say the last thing you need to observe before you leave is my native form,” Ledger commented. “For archival purposes, of course.”

Grissom nodded, “To confirm you are who you say you are,” he replied. “Do you mind at all?”

“Nope,” Ledger said as he shimmied off the couch, standing on the floor a good distance away from the others. With a deep breath, the Changeling drone let his disguise fall away, standing there in all his silver-toned, Noble self. After a second to let the Thestral stallion get used to his actual form, Ledger opened his slitted eyes and looked at Grissom. “Ta-da.”

He stayed that way for all of two seconds, before a giggling brown blur tackled him.

“Hugglebug!” Midnight cried, tackling the Changeling to the ground and nuzzling him affectionately.

Grissom snorted in amusement and ticked the last box, making a few notes of his appearance.

“I don’t know why she does it any more than you, sir,” Ledger said as he basked in her care. “But I’m not complaining.”

“Because hugglebug is cuddable, what other reason do I need?” Midnight asked. Still, it was getting late into the morning and she should do some work. “But alas, your cuddlebat must protect the innocents... provided there even is any innocent ponies in this city.”

“Try the school if you’re looking for innocence,” Ledger commented as he stood back up and shimmered into his unicorn disguise. “Well, if that is all…” he trailed off, letting the others fill in their own thoughts on the matter.

“Yes, I do believe I am keeping you from some important appointments,” Grissom said. “I’ll be here in the city until tomorrow should you require anything else...” he spared a glance at the Nymph, who refused to meet his gaze. “What’s the story on this one?”

“A long one,” Midnight replied. “I’ll tell you on the way.” She looked at the Nymph and smiled. “You gonna be fine here by yourself for a while Nim?”

“Yes, and stop calling me that,” she responded. “It’s childish and demeaning.”

“Oh, somepony’s getting snarky, so I guess you’re feeling a lot better huh?” The batpony rubbed the ‘ling’s head. “I’ll be back in a little bit, and we can straighten a few things out.”

“Oh don’t worry,” Ledger said, clapping one hoof around the nymph’s neck and drawing her close. “I don’t have to leave for a little bit to the first of the meetings to make sure all those checks clear, so me and her can talk for a few minutes.” Did...it suddenly seemed to get colder in the room, the nymph observed.

“Just don’t kill her,” Midnight sighed. It was good that he was getting past his fears though. “I’ll be back in a little bit. Again, play nice you two.”

“Take care~” Ledger cooed as his marefriend and her father walked out of the apartment. Once the door clicked shut behind them, he turned on the nymph, his eyes shifted back to his regular ones.

“And now you are going to learn why you don’t drain your fellow ‘ling or any other pony without permission, especially to the point of exhaustion. Painfully, if necessary. Oh I do hope it’s necessary,” Ledger said with a slightly mad giggle.

The Nymph gulped, wondering if she should chase after the Thestrals, disguise be damned...

Midnight had explained the whole Nymph thing to her father as they walked, when the younger Thestral shivered. What was that all about?

“Something wrong?” Grissom asked.

“Hmm, maybe I should hurry home,” she replied. “Oh? Did Mom come with you?”

“Not this time, she has a performance today.” The stallion cracked his stiff neck and sighed. “So, how’s everything going with you and Level Ledger?”

“It’s going great,” she replied. “And I got to make friends with a bunch of other Changelings yesterday. They all seem pretty friendly, not like...”

“That was a rough day for all of us,” he nodded. “Especially so for you, your relationship with Ledger is all the more surprising because of that.”

“Well, I guess my own fears need to be conquered as well,” she replied with a soft sigh. “Just... don’t ever tell him about that. He’d probably do something stupid like hunt them down.”

“Provided I don’t find them first,” Grissom growled, his hoof cracking the pavement slightly. “If that shield had been just a second later...”

“Then I still wouldn’t blame Ledger for it,” she replied. “Regardless of how they would have... used me. I know he wasn't involved and that’s why it’s so important that we befriend the Changelings in this city.”

“You really are a grown mare,” he sighed. “Makes me feel a lot older because of that though~”

“Aw, you know I’ll always be your little filly,” she giggled. “So where will you be staying?”

“A hotel here in the city,” he replied as they reached the Guard station. “Got a nice five-star one.”

“Pays to be Celestia’s right hoof huh?” Something caught her eyes as Narrow Gaze entered the station, a slight limp in her step. “Hey Cap? You okay there?” she called out.

Narrow groaned as she turned her head towards the mare. “Heh, never better actually.” she paused and bit her lip. “Uh, could I get some advice from you when you have a free moment?”

Well that was surprising, Midnight wondered what Narrow Gaze of all ponies could want from her. “Uh, sure?”

“Good,” Narrow nodded. Heh, that bird would be eating his words soon enough.

“Right, I hafta head home... I think I may need to hide a body,” Midnight chuckled. Narrow blinked and then she recalled the previous day’s events.

“The Nymph?”

“Eeyup,” Midnight nodded. “Ledger wanted to have words and I didn’t like that smile on his face, so yeah... gotta fly!” With that, she gave her father a kiss on the cheek and flew off, hoping she wasn’t too late.

When Midnight returned home, Estate gave her a friendly wave as she walked inside. She nodded back and headed upstairs in a brisk pace, hoping nothing bad had happened. She got to the door and pressed her ear against it, but couldn’t hear anything. It was possible that Ledger might have erected a barrier, and she fumbled through her bag for the key.

As the door opened, it creaked in a long, slow groan, revealing an apartment that was pitch black. The thick curtains had been drawn closed and she couldn’t her a sound. Her ears flicked as she picked up one of her discarded wingblades, sliding it into place along the appendage.

“Levvy?” she called out. “Nim?” She tensed her body, waiting to see what would come out... if anything would come out.

Maybe they weren’t home? Maybe Ledger went out and Nim was asleep? She slowly walked down the hallway, until she heard something faint... and familiar. She nudged open the door to Nim’s room, and gasped at what she saw.

In the furthest corner, the Nymph was rocking back and forth, hugging her body as she repeated the same line over and over.

“I’m a good Nymph, I’m a good Nymph, I’m a good Nymph.....”

“Sweet Celestia, what happened to you?” she raced over to the Changeling and held her, the Nymph still shaking violently.

“I’m a good Nymph...”

“Yeah, I got that,” Midnight nodded, “and I have to have a little talk with Ledger...”

“Talk? No talk! I promise I’ll be good!” the Nymph cried.

“Okay, okay...” Midnight frowned. Words... many, loud words would be had.

Meanwhile, half a city away, Ledger had just finished up his latest meeting and sighed. At this rate, he’d have Pegasus Air open again tomorrow. Convincing others to let him sit where Toll had was...well for anypony else, it’d be tricky.

Fortunately, he wasn’t quite a pony, and had emotion-reading to fall back on to help.

Level’s stomach growled as he considered lunch at Fredrick’s, before shrugging and making tracks for his favorite griffon-run restaurant.

“Ah, my friend Level!” the griffon in question greeted Ledger as he walked through the door. “Lunch for one?”

“Yup,” Level agreed, quickly ending up seated by the half-bird. “Whatever you think will get me through another few hours of meetings, and lemonade please,” the unicorn said, not even giving his menu a glance as he got comfortable in his seat.

“On it, my friend,” the griffon replied, before vanishing.

While he was sitting idly, something caught his eye. Narrow Gaze had snuck into the restaurant and was looking around, trying not to be noticed too much. She darted behind the counter, where the Griffon would mix his drinks, a mischievous glint in her eye.

As the Griffon emerged to take an order, she darted out from the counter and into the kitchen. For a pony without wings, she was freakin’ fast.

Fredrick caught Ledger staring at something and turned his head, but not seeing anything out of place.

“Everything alright friend?” he asked.

“...It’s fine,” Ledger replied, a small smile playing across his face. The Griffon blinked and shrugged, placing his drink on the table. Ledger had no clue what the mare was up to...but he figured there wasn’t any harm in letting it play out.

“Be right back with your pick me up and keep me up,” he replied with a smile and returned to the kitchen. As soon as the doors closed, an undignified squawk could be hard, followed by a thump. About ten minutes later, Fredrick returned with a plate of food, and he looked... dishevelled.

“One plate of spaghetti with spinach pesto,” the griffon said, a little rushed. “Do enjoy.”

“Fredrick,” Level spoke up from his place, causing the griffon to pause for a moment. “Is everything...alright?”

“Er, yes...” Fredrick replied. “I just have something brewing in the kitchen that requires a lot of attention. And it tends to bite back...”

“If you say so,” Level said as he began twirling his noodles...deciding not to let the griffon know that he could all but taste their arousal in the air.

“Right,” Fredrick nodded, making a brisk pace back the kitchen and resuming his own feast. Level snickered as he kept eating, basking in the emotions of those around him, drawing in only the excess for his own nourishment.

“Good on you, captain,” he muttered to himself. “You finally got him to shut up the morning after.”

Back at home, Midnight had prepared a meal for the two of them and had finally gotten to the bottom of what had happened. Ledger had been a little... enthusiastic in his instruction. While no physical harm had come to the Nymph, she had suffered quite a bit of mental trauma.

“Seriously Levvy, are you trying to become as bad as her?” Midnight wondered aloud. She fed the shapeshifting mare as she decided what to do for today.

“I believe... that I’m well enough for a transformation,” the Nymph responded. “You have done well in providing me with a good deal of emotional energy, so I have healed much faster.” While she didn’t want to admit that she’d drawn some excess power from the drone earlier...

Well, any port in a storm right?

“Well, alright then,” Midnight nodded. “First, Unicorn, Pegasus or Earth Pony?”

“Thestral or Griffon?” the Nymph tilted her head.

“Wouldn’t a pony form consume less energy and be easier to fit in?” Midnight counter-argued. The Nymph scoffed and pouted, but the Thestral mare was correct.

“Fine, Pegasus then,” she stated. “...I like to fly...”

“That’s fine,” Midnight nodded and smiled. “I love to fly as well. It’s so free and liberating.”

The changeling nodded and closed her eyes. Blue flames washed over her body as she let out a pained moan. Seems she wasn’t totally healed, but she bit her lip and continued. After a moment, a dark-grey Pegasus with a white mane and tail lay where the Changeling once was.

She opened her eyes, now ponylike, but still retaining that sapphire blue hue.

“Very cute,” Midnight approved. She looked the form over, and didn’t seen any trace of Changeling there. But there was a small problem...

“You don’t have a Cutie Mark?” she questioned and the Nymph nodded.

“Well, what should I be good at?” she asked. “My only talent as a Nymph is gathering information.”

“And that’s a good skill to have,” Midnight nodded. “I’ve been thinking about that ever since you mentioned it, and I have an idea.”

“And that idea is..?” the Pegasus waved a hoof.

“Well,” Midnight smiled. “Listen closely...”

Ledger groaned to himself, glad that the meetings were finally over...before running a quick calculation in his head and shaking it. Even if he were to go right now, he’d not make it before the end of the workday. He’d have to just wait for tomorrow to sit in the big chair.

...Hopefully, they’d left the chair…

Level began the long, slow walk home, humming a wordless tune that he totally blamed Midnight for putting in his head. As he walked, somepony behind him hummed the same tune, as Grissom fell into step next to him.

“Long day at the office I take it?” he asked.

“Hasn’t even started yet,” Level replied. “But thankfully, I do take that spot tomorrow.”

“Things are looking up then,” Grissom nodded, “But, a thought occurs. What will you do for staff? Most of Toll’s people were either arrested or left the company. Do you even have enough to work with?”

“There ought to be a few good ponies left,” Ledger mused. “Though you are right about the operative word there being few. I’ll simply have to advertise our need for new hires,” the accountant sighed.

The thestral stallion wore an enigmatic smile, similar to the Princess that he served. “Well, what if I told you I could solve your problem? I happen to know a lot of reliable ponies looking for a safe, secure job. They’ll work hard, and for minimum wage until things pick up as well.”

“I’d ask what the catch is and how you know them...but I’m afraid I can’t exactly afford to be picky,” Level replied. “Still, answers to those questions would be nice.”

“In my line of work, I meet a lot of ponies that are down on their luck, or have had similar situations to yourself. Used by somepony that was less than kind and dumped afterwards. There’s no catch, other than you’d save me a lot of paperwork and you gain a useful resource.”

“Hmm,” Ledger said, considering the idea, before nodding once. “If you have the time, I could use them.”

“Excellent, I was hoping you’d give that answer and I already have the plan in process. You should have a useable workforce by the sun’s rise tomorrow.”

Ledger sighed as he reached the apartment, before turning to look at Grissom. “You coming up?” the unicorn asked the older stallion.

“Nah, I gotta get the paperwork sorted and be back in Canterlot first thing tomorrow.” Grissom sighed as she recalled the workload that awaited him. “Give Song my love eh?”

“Of course,” Level replied, holding one hoof up for a hoofbump. Grissom responded and the two shared a friendly smile before parting ways. Upon going up to his apartment, however, Level’s smile quickly faded.

Standing in the living room was a pretty Pegasus mare. She fidgeted while Midnight looked her over, even checking the magnifying glass Cutie Mark. She had failed to notice Ledger enter, but the Pegasus started to shake slightly.

Ledger sighed and closed the door, waiting for some form of greeting from either mare. He’d nearly forgotten the state he’d left her in...but he knew what he had to do next. Scaring her, check. Something every Nymph had done to him. Next up, something they never did:

Apologizing for scaring her.

Midnight blinked at the reaction of the mare and looked up to see Ledger. What was curious though, is that the overwhelming affection she usually emanated was suppressed.

“Oh, hello Level Ledger,” she replied curtly. “Have a... good day?”

“Mostly boring,” he replied, motioning for her to give the Changelings their space for the moment while he thought of how best to approach the situation. If he did this right, stressing her to such extremes and then hitting just the right note in his apology...she ought to break down. And from the shards, a new mare could be built.

Or so the psychology books claimed, anyways...

The mare looked at him and backed away, her eyes wide.

“G-get away from me!”

Level sighed and sat on his haunches where he was. “I want to apologize,” he said softly, catching both of their attentions. “I never should have said or thought of half of those things I threatened you with this morning. That was out of line, and I’m sorry.”

“Y-you’re kidding right?” she replied uneasily. “Why would you... you said... and you did... It doesn’t make any sense!!”

“Because while nymphs and drones have a long history back in the Lands,” Ledger said, pitching the idea to her, “We aren’t in the Lands anymore, nor are you every nymph ever, nor am I any other drone. And yeah, you don’t have the best of histories with us, what with trying to kill us and not respecting our emotional boundaries...But I’m willing to give you a second chance, if you’re willing to do the same for me.”

Midnight sat to the side, watching the two interact. She frowned as she put some pieces together and she didn’t like the outcome.

“Level Ledger... explain yourself.”

“I...may have used some of the more graphic threats against the nymph when you left me alone with her,” Ledger admitted. “But at the time, she had fed off of you and I with little to no regard for our well-being. And you know how that felt like.”

“I know,” Midnight said. “But that was no reason to do what you did. Are you trying to become as bad as the Nymph that tormented you?”

“I…” Ledger appeared lost for words for a moment, before sighing and sagging his head. “I might have a few anger issues regarding Nymphs,” he finally admitted. “Or at least, untrustworthy Nymphs.”

“Alright, then let’s all start over,” Midnight nodded. She glanced at the cowering Nymph and smiled softly. “It’s alright, Mommy and Daddy are done fighting now.”

The Nymph just blinked, and offered a brief glance at Ledger for an explanation. In response, Ledger smirked and stuck out a hoof. “Hi,” he said. “I’m Level Ledger, a drone with one too many trust and anger issues regarding Nymphs. I’m sorry for what I said and did to you earlier. Can we at least try to be friendly going forward?”

The mare blinked again, but still took his hoof with a less shaky one of her own.

“That... was the worst introduction ever,” she finally spoke. “But... I guess so? My name is-” she suddenly stopped, as she was about to use her Changeling name. “Uh, what was it again?”

“Levvy,” Midnight smiled brightly. “This is my new assistant, Scope Lens. Len, this is Levvy, my personal cuddlebug.”

“Pleased to meet you, Scope Lens,” Level said with a grin of his own. “And...I really am sorry about what I said. If you can think of a way for me to make it up to you later, I’m willing to listen.”

“W-well,” Lens said. “I’ve been-I’ve been told you make a nice pasta dish.”

“Mmmm,” a small line of drool formed from Midnight’s mouth. “Oh, and I’m Midnight Song, the most sexy, humble, talented batpony you will ever meet!”

Lens blinked and shook her head. “Humble... right.”

“Little tip, don’t point out what colors are likely to starve around her,” Ledger said with a grin as his own eyes flashed silver. “She’ll take it as an insult.”

“Uh-huh,” Lens agreed. Just what kind of insane family was this. A drone that had the balls of a Queen, and a Thestral that she couldn’t tell if she was her best friend or worst enemy. “I’m going to die here, aren’t I?”

“Nonsense!” Ledger cried out as he actually pulled the nymph in for a hug. “If you were going to die, it’d have been defending Toll! No, there was no real threat of death ever since you made that vow.” He pushed her back for a moment to look her in the eyes before continuing. “Now, I may have made it sound like death slash torture were on the table earlier this morning, but like I said, out of line, deepest regrets. I wouldn’t have actually done that.” He paused for a moment, letting that sink in before continuing. “Cleaning up the blood would have been such a bother.”

“I have so much hate for you,” Lens replied dryly, with enough snark to show she wasn’t too serious about those words.

“Yay, we’re all friends now!” Midnight giggled, tackle-hugging the both of them. “Now the fun can really begin!”

“I am too terrified by all of this to ask,” Lens replied.

“Don’t worry, murder is against the law, and even if I hid your body out in the desert, Midnight would turn me in,” Level retorted as he carefully extracted himself. “I’m gonna work on dinner, Midnight can start acclimating you to Equestrian values while I do.”

“Yup... terrified of that drone, not gonna lie about that,” Lens sighed as her transformation broke, having run out of magical power. She sighed as she looked over herself. “And I was just getting used to that too.”

Midnight helped her over to the couch while Level was in the kitchen. There really wasn’t much to tell beyond that a lot of the house rules would extend to everyday life. She could stay with Midnight as her assistant and informant, until she was more comfortable with going out on her own.

The bracelet that she put on her was also removed, seeing as how the process of getting her more friendly was quicker than the Thestral had anticipated. Though Lens did flinch every time Ledger laid eyes on her.

“Talk about putting the slipper on the other hoof,” Midnight grumbled, as the pair snuggled on the couch after dinner. “Maybe you could use a course in social skills as well Levvy?”

“I did nothing more to her than any nymph would do to any drone,” Level retorted. “The only difference is, I am sorry I went as far as I did, and I kept it to words only. Most nymphs wouldn’t be so gracious.”

“Well, I guess we all have a good deal to think about,” Midnight sighed. Things had certainly escalated quickly and she had to think on how to proceed next. “Well, try not to mentally scar anypony else next time. You’re better than that Levvy. You know what it’s like to be on the receiving end.”

“Oh, so he gives as well as receives?” Lens said offhandedly. “I didn’t think he was into that sort of thing.”

“Oh Hives, there’s two of you,” Ledger muttered. “Bad enough when it was just her, but you as well?” he questioned the nymph. “And...yeah. Sorry, again. But maybe you can see things from my point of view now?”

“You’ve given me some food for thought,” Lens nodded. “Let’s leave it at that for now... I have to.. process today’s events.”

Midnight snuggled up against Level and smiled wickedly. “And thanks to her, I have some ideas~”

“Will I like these ideas?” Level asked, turning his attention back to the mare snuggling up against him.”

“I’m gonna say... no,” Lens offered her own opinion. “You might question who the mare is in the relationship afterwards.”

“Spoilsport,” Midnight poked out her tongue.

“Not only does Midnight know better than to ask that of me,” Ledger retorted, before giving Midnight a quick smooch. “I love and trust her.”

“Fine,” Midnight replied with a cheeky wink. “But I still get Prince Luna at some point, right?”

“Prince... Luna?” Scope tilted her head. “Do I even want to know?”

“Only if somepony feeds me enough throughout the day,” Ledger replied, beeping Midnight’s nose, before turning to the nymph and explaining. “A certain Thestral has a thing for the Princesses, but I don’t gender shift. She’s already kissed Celestia, and I made the offer of a male Luna...which she’s apparently not letting go of anytime soon.”

“Unbelievable,” Lens sighed and applied a chitinous hoof to her face. “I am in a house of the very incarnations of Death and Lust... Hive help me...”

“Just be glad that besides us and the landlord, no other ‘lings live here,” Ledger said with a grin. “It could be worse. Violets could live in this house...or the city’s sole Pink.”

“NO!” Lens shouted. “You keep that insane ball of hyper faaaar away from me! A Violet I could deal with, but a Pink... buck that!”

“Pink?” Midnight tilted her head. “That sounds cute and fun. Can I meet them?”

“Pinks feed on happiness and are closest to changelings that subsist on nothing but love,” Ledger explained. “Give them enough, though, and they tend to act more than a little hyper. Most cities have one hanging around, though for a city our size, we should really have two or three.”

“Which means this city’s Pink is hoarding all the happiness for herself,” Lens replied. “So she’s bound to be extra crazy with a side of insanity and sugar-fueled joy.” Hive, she hated Pinks. “Just keep her away from me...” The mare grunted as she got to her hooves and headed for her room. “Now I’m still a little uncomfortable about this whole thing and I can already tell I won’t sleep well tonight. So... later.”

“You’re assuming the Pink is a she, I’ve seen her as both,” Ledger pitched in as Lens ambled off. “For being a common ‘ling, she can apparently gender shift...with ease, considering the amount of food she’s consuming.”

“....” Scope Lens shuddered again and sighed. “This city... I knew I should have stayed home...”

Ledger just chuckled lightly as he watched the nymph amble into her own bedroom, the door clicking shut behind her. With a quick turn and a smooch, Ledger turned his attention back to his mare at his side. “Hello again, love,” he murred, dropping his disguise at long last.

“Mm, I was wondering when you’d get to that,” she smiled back, giving a kiss of her own. “Don’t say anything,” she whispered. “But our roommate might suspect you’re a Changeling.”

“Really?” Ledger asked as he trailed some kisses down her neck towards her back. “What was your first clue?”

“I dunno,” she shrugged as she hummed from the attention. “Also, I had a little chat with Narrow today... you wouldn’t believe what happened last night~”

“Considering the way Fredrick was actually silent about his date...and that said date apparently snuck into the kitchen during lunch to show him her version of a ‘chef’s special’,” Ledger said with a snicker, “I just might.”

For somepony like Midnight Song, it took an embarrassingly long moment for her to realise what he was getting at. “Oh.. OH!? Hehehehee, so the Captain’s finally getting some? Good for her. I thought I’d have to step in and nail her myself if she didn’t act.”

“Plus, if the way Fredrick is acting around her is any indication...she’s got a better shot than most,” Level mused. “He’s never been so silent about the details of one of his dates. That’s probably going to be something the Violets are going to want to know about…”

“True,” Midnight nodded. “There will be a lot more unattended fishies in the sea if my biggest riva- I mean, friend finds true love.”

“Or somepony to scare off all the other mares from his bedroom,” Level snickered.

“Yeah... arrests are gonna go through the roof,” she muttered, seriously wondering if the Captain would do something like that. “Well, more for me... uh, I mean.... ah forget it.”

“I seriously hope you haven’t forgotten about me already,” Level said, giving the mare a quick squeeze. Midnight hugged him back and smiled.

“Of course I haven’t. Just trying to shake old habits...” She really needed to remember the concept of a monogamous relationship. “Speaking of bedrooms and relations. Shall we retire to our own and consummate ours some more?”

“Mmm...having my own Midnight to cuddle to keep the nightmares away,” Level said as he kissed the mare. “Well, like I said...I’m game if you are, but you’re going to have to take it.”

“Take it?” Midnight hummed thoughtfully and a shiver ran down Level’s shell. “Would you mind waiting here for one teensy moment~?”

“I...ah...sure?” he said with a bit of a whimper. He wasn’t sure how the conversation had taken this turn...it wasn’t all pleasing memories that were coming up. The mare had trotted, well, more like skipped from the room. She disappeared into the bedroom and didn’t appear to return... until a rope made of silk lassoed itself around his chest, a grinning Thestral holding the other end.

“Ohh~ I caught me a Levvy~” she giggled.

“And what will you do with me?” Ledger managed to ask in a barely-level voice. The few reasons behind him not being in full-blown panic mode was his trust in her and the fact that they had had sex before. Otherwise he might not be so...calm.

The rope was hanging quite loosely, but Midnight picked up on his widened eyes and his quickened breathing. He was fighting it, but she was certain he wasn’t approving of this. She stepped forward and removed the silk rope, looking apologetic.

“Eheh, I guess I got carried away. Sorry Levvy.”

“It is...hardly your fault that the little time I spent in the Violet’s Hive was around...nymphs who barely took ‘no’ for an answer,” Level said as he drew the mare in for a hug. “I just...was not prepared for you to be so...literal in taking what you wanted.”

“Ah, well... I guess we can work up to this,” she motioned to the rope and tossed it aside. “I’d never do anything to hurt anypony, but I guess we haven’t known each other all that long either.” She took his hoof and smiled warmly. “Well let’s go at a pace that’s comfortable for you then. You can do whatever you like okay? I can handle whatever floats around in that buggy brain of yours.”

“Considering the time I’ve spent both in their Hive and with the local Violets...I have quite the list of things regarding practices in my head...that I never asked for,” Ledger said, finishing with a mutter. “Still...the other night was fine by me. Can we keep it...similar for a while?”

“That’s perfectly fine,” Midnight nodded. “Now let’s go. I get the feeling you’re gonna have a busy day tomorrow.”

With that, the drone got up off the couch and followed the thestral mare back to their bedroom.

Level Ledger blearily woke up, felt around in his bed, found the mare he was looking for, and gave her a good-morning kiss to help her and him wake up from last night’s...activities. Midnight gave a soft groan and rolled over to hug him, pulling him into a chitin-cracking embrace before natures call interrupted her.

“Coffee?” Ledger asked as he got up from the bed, stretching not unlike a cat would.

“Please,” Midnight replied from the adjacent room. “I’ll wake Scope up, so don’t worry about her okay?”

“Not a problem, and thanks,” Ledger said as he ambled over to the kitchen, his magic flickering on as he began the coffee. Midnight finished up and crossed the hall to Scope Len’s room. She nudged open the door to see the Changeling asleep on her bed, and she could hear a cute, whistling snore coming from her.

“Heh, she’s kinda cute when she’s not talking,” Midnight mused as she walked over to the bed. An idea flashed in her mind and she leaned in close, her lips grazing the Changeling’s ear.

“Oh Scopey~ Time to wake up~” she said in a husky whisper. The nymph responded by batting one hole-filled hoof in her general direction. Midnight frowned at the lack of response, well the response that she wanted to get anyway. She tried again, this time, her hoof lightly stroking the shell on her back.

“Time to wake up little ‘ling~”

“Go’way, mummy,” the nymph said, batting a hoof in her general area again. “Don’ wanna go to class.”

Midnight stopped.

Midnight blinked.

That... was the cutest thing EVER!!!

“Tut, tut!” Midnight scolded. “Mommy says to get up. We have a full day ahead of us. So if you don’t...” She leaned in close. “I’m gonna eat you~”

With a quick squeal and a twist, the nymph managed to roll herself away from Midnight...And off the bed. She landed on the floor below with a thud, and her moan of pain filled the air for a good moment as the changeling abruptly and fully woke up. Midnight giggled at the overdramatic wakening.

“Feeling more awake now?”

“Mistress, I hate your waking methods,” Scope replied in a deadpan.

“If I get adorable as hay reactions like that,” Midnight giggled as she scooped the ‘ling up and hugged her. “Then Imma wake you up like this aaaaaalll the time!”

“In which case I will have to look into locks on my door,” the changeling nymph replied while rolling her pupil-less eyes.

“I’ll just pick them,” Midnight retorted, flapping her wings so he could keep hugging Scope as she flew out into the living room. “Levvy! I got her!”

“Coffee’s brewing,” Level said, nodding at the pair as he walked back to the bathroom. “I’m gonna take my morning shower and you two can talk while I do.”

“Okay,” Midnight smiled, wishing she could have joined him instead. She just hovered there, still hugging Scope. “Hmm, I wonder what we should discuss.”

“Will you please put me down?” the changeling decided to open with.

“I’m gonna have to go with... nah!” Midnight just cuddled her closer. “You’re nice and warm~”

“...Can you at least get me a cup of coffee, then?” Scope pleaded.

“I can arrange that,” Midnight hummed. Until she discovered she could not pour coffee without hooves. “...Dammit...” She put the ‘ling down and poured two cups, her desire for caffeine overriding her desire for hugs. With that accomplished, Scope quickly took her own seat and smirked, believing she’d gotten one over on the batpony. Midnight sipped her drink, counting down the seconds until she’d pounce once again.

“So... how are you feeling now?” she asked.

“...Confused,” Scope admitted as she poked at her own drink. “Equestria is so...different.”

“I imagine so,” Midnight replied as she nursed her mug. “In a good way though?”

“It is...better than the Lands and many of the Hives,” Scope admitted with a nod. “Still, it is not what I had pictured or expected, so the...disconnect is taking some getting used to. The drone does not help.”

“Do they teach you guys anything about Equestria in the Hives?” Midnight asked. “It’s kinda hard to believe that you don’t know anything.”

“The Silvers are the scholars,” Scope said. “And while we do learn quite a few things about Equestria as part of a normal education, our information prior to the failed incursion was...spotty and inaccurate before, and propaganda afterwards. I did not have the luxury of a Silver teacher either...so I don’t trust anything I learned as being true.”

“Well, I’ll be happy to teach you,” Midnight purred. “And as for a Silver teacher...” She glanced towards the sound of the shower. “I bet if you asked nicely, he’d teach you as well.”

“Assuming he doesn’t attempt to work out all of his frustrations on me first,” Scope deadpanned.

“He had a bad experience with a nymph... and I bet he’s not the only drone that has,” Midnight sighed. “I think the only reason you’re even alive, is because he knows you’re not the same nymph. He’ll come around eventually I think, you’re good for him, as he will be for you.”

“Who’s good for who now?” Ledger asked as he stepped out of the bedroom. His shower really didn’t take too long.

“Girl talk,” Midnight simply replied. Her ear suddenly gave a flick and she tilted her head towards a sound that the Changeling’s couldn’t hear.. “Huh? What’s that noise?”

“I don’t hear anything,” Ledger said as he began making his normal cup of coffee...which was to say, sugar-loaded.

“It sounds like there’s a whole herd in the lobby,” Midnight replied, draining her mug and giving her tail a flick. “Poor Estate must be busy.”

“Meh, he’ll be fine,” Ledger said as he began drinking his coffee. “That drone has only ever been rattled when the Princess showed up...everything else he deals with.” As soon as the words left his mouth, there was a furious banging on their front door.

“Level? It’s Estate! We have a... a problem downstairs.”

“You were saying?” Midnight said smugly as she sipped her drink. Ledger sighed and finished his own drink before answering the door, his disguise already flickering on.

“Move Scope out of the line of sight,” he hissed as he slowly walked to the door. “We don’t need him knowing about her just yet.”

Just as the nymph placed her mug on the table, Midnight had tackled her to the ground, before dragging her off to the bedroom. Ledger smirked a bit at the waft of irritation he felt coming from the nymph before he opened the door and revealed his landlord.

“Yes?” Ledger asked with a raised eyebrow. “Something the matter?”

“You,” he said, jabbing at the Changeling’s chest with a hoof. “You have an issue downstairs. I”m going back to bed to pretend this never happened.” And with that simple message relayed, the landlord strode off, muttering something about surprises and disliking them greatly.

With that...cryptic message delivered, Level thought it best to go down and see what Estate had been talking about. Surely it couldn’t be that bad.

But it was, and it was so much worse. A swarm of about twenty or so Changeling drones awaited him. Undisguised and looking a little nervous. When one spotted Level Ledger, he cleared his throat and stepped forward. He produced a piece of parchment, handing it to Level Ledger.

Here’s that help you wanted.

Good Luck.

Grissom Gossamer.

Ledger looked up from the parchment to the drones and sighed. “His definition of a joke needs work,” the accountant muttered.

“Um, a joke... sir?” the forward one stated. They all held papers of some kind. One Ledger recognised from last night as a registration form. These were all legal Changeling’s and it appeared that it was no joke.

It still didn’t stop a certain Thestral stallion from chuckling when he realised the time, watching the scenery go by from the train window.

“Okay, quick questions then,” Ledger said as he realized that yes, they were about to be his new employees. “You all have aliases, right?”

There was a blinding flash of emerald, before all the Changeling’s were replaced by various ponies. Pegasi, Earth and Unicorn. There was even a Gryphon and a Minotaur mixed in.

“Not bad,” Ledger said with a nod. “And you all know how to find a local gathering, right?”

There was a collective murmur of nods and grunts of approval. On top of their forms, they also had visa’s, a map of the city and a pouch of Bits.

“We also have lodgings around the city as well,” the first one replied. “Oh, my assumed name is Starsight. My Changeling name is-” he let out a series of clicks and chirps.

“Yes, very good. Okay, there was a gathering not long ago, I suggest you all work out a schedule for attending the next few,” Ledger said, rubbing one ear. “You’re still going to have to ‘apply’ for the jobs in-pony to keep up appearances. Assuming you all do good work, I’ll be happy to have you.”

“With all due respect sir,” Starsight said quietly. “If it means staying out of the homelands, then we’ll work as hard as you need us to. We’ll not waver in the slightest.”

The collective agreement resounded again.

“Fair enough,” Ledger admitted with a chuckle before remembering something. “Oh, and fair warning for you all? There’s a group of Violet Nymphs here...but they care and will do their best to heal the damages you’re likely to have brought with you. They...and really, most of the nymphs in the city can be trusted.” With that, Level flicked his eyes for a moment before setting his disguise firmly in place again. “I should know.”

Starsight nodded and thanked Level for the information.

“We should disperse so we don’t draw attention,” he said. “Thankyou for giving us this chance Your Grace.”

“None of that,” Level said with a wave of his hoof. “I don’t use my rank to get things. I just use it to make points. Now g’on, get. You’re drawing too much attention already.”

The crowd scattered, leaving the building in smaller numbers as not to draw any suspicions. Starsight gave one last bow and left Ledger alone, along with a list of all their names and where they lived.

Ledger grumbled and went up to the apartment again, dropping the collected papers on the dining room table. “Your father’s sense of humor sucks,” he informed the apartment at large before sighing.

“Huh? Something happen?” Midnight asked, once again clutching her new teddy. “Was he picking on you again?”

“He thinks dumping two dozen drones on me to help with my lack of workers is a good idea,” Ledger sighed. “I...need to go to the office quickly if I’m going to sort this out.” With that, he gave Midnight a quick peck on the cheek and turned to leave.

“Aww... okay, I guess I really should do some work as well.” Midnight looked down at her carry on luggage. “You feel well enough to work today?”

“As long as you don’t need me to fly as well as disguise myself, it should be fine,” Scope said as she began reaching for her disguise.

“Nah, we’ll take it easy. Best part about my job. We get to slack off quite a bit.” She put the changeling down, at least until she could figure out how to dress in her armour while hugging. “First on the list is a Gryphon that needs interrogating.”

“Why do I feel a shiver going down my spine?” Scope dryly asked as her disguise finally came into view.

“Beats me,” Midnight shrugged. “Are you coming down with a cold? Oh, can Changeling’s even get colds? What to you take if you do? Is there special medicine? Do you get weird symptoms? Should we go see a doctor? I wonder if there’s a Changeling doctor-”

“Let’s just...see this griffon,” Scope sighed. “And save the interrogation technique of babbling madly at your subject for later,” she added under her breath.

“I heard that,” Midnight smiled, her ear giving a light flick. “But you are right. Let’s go see us a griffon!” She finished putting on her armour and grabbed the now-disguised pegasus, before soaring out an open window.

Fredrick was, for once in a long time, content. His restaurant was doing well. His customers were doing well. And he’d even gotten laid recently.

Admittedly, multiple times by the same mare. Which while an irregular blip, wasn’t a cause for concern. He rather liked her, truth be told.

It was when they clung that he started worrying. Still, he liked his life at the moment.

At least he did, until a certain batpony strode into his restaurant, a timid pegasus mare beside her. But it was the knowing smirk she wore that worried him most of all.

“Hello Fredrick~” she said, a little too happily.

“Ah, hello there dear,” Fredrick replied, only taking a beat to reassert his usual cheerful attitude. “And who is your lovely companion, if I might ask?”

“This is Scope Lens, my new assistant!” she introduced the pegasus. “Isn’t she simply adorable... oh, and she’s off limits. Got that?”

“Understood,” Fredrick said with a nod. “So are the pair of you here for breakfast, or…?”

“Breakfast would be nice, with a side of gossip,” Midnight smiled. “I heard from a little birdy that Captain Narrow has been getting a private menu from you~”

“I will neither confirm nor deny the identity of my bedmates,” Fredrick said as he pulled out a pair of menus and began leading the pair of mares to a table. “But if she walks funny some days, well, it’s all her fault.”

“Pft, I’m surprised she’s not the one giving you the funny walk,” Midnight chuckled as she sat down. “Well, I’m glad though. I’m happy for the both of you.”

“Details?” Scope simply said as she gazed at the menu.

“Narrow Gaze is the Captain of the Royal Guard here in Las Pegasus, you’ve met her before,” Song said, causing the mare to get a sour look on her face. “And this is Fredrick, the only male I’ve ever met with a libido that comes close to matching my own.”

“It is a pity we didn’t test one another,” Fredrick sighed. “But you and Level entered into a relationship before we could, and I would never do that to my friend.”

“True... you would have been my greatest conquest,” Midnight sighed at what could have been. “Well, I guess love waits for nopony...” She trailed off as she thought about that. Love. Was that what she truly felt for Level, despite her promise to never fall in love with anypony.

Scope Lens blinked and waved a hoof in front of her charge. “Is she always like this?”

“I would not know,” Fredrick admitted. “I don’t see her regularly enough. Still, it’s not...uncommon behavior for her.” With a clearing of his throat, the griffon attempted to regain the thestral’s attention.

“Huh? What? the answer is waffles!” Midnight suddenly snapped.

“So waffles for the pair of you then?” Fredrick asked with a chuckle.

“Seems like it,” Scope facehooved. Seriously? How was this her life?

“Ehehe, sorry about that,” Midnight blushed adorably. “And you are a tough nut to crack Mr. Fredrick, I guess I’ll have to chat with my Captain about it~”

“Feel free,” Fredrick said with a smile. “That should be out in about ten minutes. To drink?”

“Some juice would be nice, mango please!” Midnight said with a happy wag of her tail.

“I’ll have orange,” Scope said.

“Make that two,” a third voice replied, as Narrow trotted carefully downstairs, wincing slightly at each step. “Feh! I told you to watch those claws of yours...”

Midnight’s smile could not get any wider.

“You were the one that asked for ‘more’ and ‘harder’ as I recall,” Fredrick replied flippantly as he turned to the kitchen to prepared them breakfast. “And you can be on bat-duty while I cook.”

Narrow just shrugged as she sat down, a small smirk crossing her muzzle as she lit up her horn and pinched his flank as he walked off, earning a small yip as he walked beyond the kitchen door.

Midnight went to open her mouth, but Narrow raised a hoof.

“Yes, I’m sleeping with him. Yes, I’m aware of his past and I’m fine with both it and it’s continuation. No, I don’t expect him to change overnight and yes, he is that good.”

Midnight closed her mouth and nodded, as Scope stared at her.

“H-How... how did you do that?”

“She’s predictable,” Narrow replied. “And who might... ah, are you that Changeling from the other day?”

“...Yes,” she replied quietly. “Ad before you ask, I am doing fine, other than living in constant fear of my safety and preservation of my innocence.”

“You aren’t that innocent, darling daughter~” Midnight cooed. Scope blushed heavily and flailed her hooves as Narrow tilted her head.

“There is so much wrong with your response, I don’t know where to start,” Scope observed.

“What do you- No, nevermind, I don’t want to know,” Narrow sighed. “I really wonder about you sometimes Midnight.” Her ear gave a light flick as another pony walked in, the mare muttering under her breath as she took a seat at a distant table.

“Sometimes?” Scope asked with a raised eyebrow.

“You know you love me~” Midnight giggled. “Oh? I also have an idea. How do you feel about a Girl’s Night Out? You, me, Scopey, and a few other friends.”

Narrow Gaze pondered on that. It wouldn’t be a boring night, that’s for sure. “Hmm... I almost know I’m going to regret this. But sure, why not?”

“Eeeeee~” Midnight trilled happily. “Well, I’ll wait until Scopey feels better, so a few days from now?”

“It depends on how much I am fed,” Scope observed, before three plates of waffles and three glasses of juice materialized in front of the mares.

“And breakfast is served!” Fredrick proclaimed. “Dig in!”

“Thankyou,” Narrow smiled. “Oh, I’m going to be busy with work for the next few days. That last case has a lot of leftovers to clean up, and Midnight here has suggested a night out soon.” She leaned in close as her tail flicked towards an Earth Pony mare that had come in while he was cooking.

“From what I heard her mutter, she’s single and just come off a bad relationship. Maybe she could use a little... cheering up?”

“Mm,” Fredrick muttered as he looked at the mare. “She’s not a local...so I’ll lay the bait out as usual, and if she bites, we’ll see what happens.” He gave Narrow a quick peck before he moved over to begin his usual wooing techniques.

“Did you just pimp out your boyfriend?” Midnight asked, her eyes wide. “Cause I wonder if I could...”

“No, you keep your hooves to your own coltfriend,” Narrow said. “And I’m just making sure he doesn’t get too lonely while I’m gone.” This relationship was weird for her, but it had no strings tying her down, and this way, he wouldn’t get too bored of her either... just like her last one.

Scope could feel the sadness washing off of her as Midnight blinked. While unable to sense emotions, she could still read a pony like a book.

“You okay there Cap?”

Narrow looked up and gave a half-hearted smile. “I’m fine,” she lied. “Now let’s eat before it gets cold.”

They’d barely started before Fredrick came back and gave Narrow another peck on the cheek.

“No dice,” he said with a sigh. “She’s swearing off stallions for at least a week while she gets her head on straight. And I just…” Here the griffon trailed off before shaking his head. It just didn’t...feel right putting the moves on her while Narrow was twenty feet away.

“You’re too sweet,” she smiled, more genuinely this time as she kissed him back. “But technically you’re not a stallion. Still, try not to get too lonely without me. I’ll do my best to call in when I can for cuddles.”

“That’d be nice,” Fredrick said as he gave her a quick wing-hug. “You’re the only regular here besides my wait-staff, and I don’t do colts.”

“Aww, and here I was hoping to watch,” Narrow cooed as Midnight’s jaw hit the table. Who was this mare and where was her stoic, serious Captain?

“I’m beginning to see why she’s your friend,” Scope replied dryly.

“Every pony has hidden depths in the right circumstances,” Fredrick chuckled, giving Narrow one last peck, on the lips this time, before disappearing into his kitchen again.

“Sweet Hive, there’s three of you!?” Scope said to Midnight, who was still in the process of rebooting, and re-cataloging Narrow Gaze in her mental compendium of bangable ponies.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Narrow said innocently as she ate her breakfast. Midnight for her part, finally woke up.

“Must. Tease. Somepony...” She looked at Scope Lens with a hungry gaze. “So you wanna eat huh?” She raised a piece of waffle on her fork and leaned in, cupping the mare’s cheek with a hoof. “Now say aahhh~”

“...I am not a grub,” she said with a very unamused look in her eyes.

Midnight suddenly pictured a large, plush worm with a smiley face. “I wanna see a baby Changeling~”

“...No, you probably don’t,” Scope said with the same deadpan. “Now are you done trying to treat me like I cannot take care of myself?”

“Fine... party pooper,” Midnight pouted as she put her fork down. This city sucked. None of her charms worked on anyone. “Canterlot was easier...”

“The days to come do promise to be interesting,” Scope observed as she speared a bit of waffle with her own fork. “With Toll out of the picture...all the little nymphs and drones will come out of the shadows and try to get a piece of the spotlight. So yes, anywhere without such active crime probably was easier.”

“And my point is lost,” Midnight continued to pout. But she was right, the next few weeks... maybe even months were going to be busy for someone in her profession. “Guess I should get serious then. Geh! I hate being serious.”

Scope’s mouth was filled with waffle, so she merely quirked an eyebrow as she looked from Midnight to Narrow, as if to ask ‘is she serious about not being serious?’

“I believe so. Midnight Song is a very talented Guard, scored top of her class and rose in rank very quickly... but her personality quirks keep her from being taken seriously.”

“Charms, not quirks,” Midnight corrected.

“Same difference,” Narrow replied back. “It’s part of the reason you’re here in the first place right?”

Midnight paused and fell silent. “Whatever...”

“Well I’d really not see your ‘serious’ side again, if at all avoidable,” Scope softly added.

Midnight blinked as that particular memory came back. Before she smiled widely and hugged the mare. “See? I knew you loved my loveable side!”

“I don’t even...” Narrow finished her breakfast and sighed happily. Fredrick’s cooking was the best. “How does Level put up with you?”

“Because he recognises my awesome and lovability,” Midnight said quite seriously. “That’s how.”

“I thought it was because drones naturally obeyed nymphs, but you two have disproven that already,” Scope said. “So now I don’t know why he puts up with her.”

“A mystery for the ages,” Narrow nodded, wait... something clicked as she looked at Scope Lens. “Can... you repeat that?”

“Drone and nymph? Or as you would say, stallion and mare,” Scope said with a shrug. “We...do not have the best stance on the difference between genders in the Lands. Something Midnight is...correcting.”

“I... see...” She spared a look at Midnight, who was finally eating her own food and humming happily. “Heh, for a second, I thought you said that Ledger was a Changeling.”

“One would think that one such as you would know where all the infiltrators in the city are,” Scope observed. “...Then again, pony senses, changeling senses…”

“I am not apparently,” Narrow steeled her gaze. “I was under the impression that you and your little changeling were the only ones...”

Midnight coughed as Narrow turned her gaze to her. “Something you’d like to say... Specialist Song?”

“Just that our Girl’s Night will prove informative,” Midnight replied. “I have a lot to tell you it seems... just, not in the open like this.”

“I’ll prepare some painkillers ahead of time,” Narrow groaned. “Just... is Ledger...?”

“He is and you shouldn’t worry about him okay?”

Narrow sighed louder as she got up. “Well, I guess he would have tried something by now... just, gonna have words, just words, with him later. Alright?”

“As long as I’m there, he might panic otherwise,” Midnight nodded. “And I’ll give him a heads up.”

“Fine,” Narrow turned and looked at the door. “I’ll see you later Song.”

“You two Gazey~” Midnight giggled as the Unicorn snorted and left, leaving the Guard and her assistant alone.

“Well that went well,” Midnight hummed.

“...Do the ponies seriously not know about the infiltrators?” Scope asked. “I could all but smell them on the way over.”

“Well, we can’t pick up scents like that,” Midnight replied. “And given that wedding fiasco, tensions are still high, especially in big cities like this. Even I’m surprised at how many Changeling’s are here.”

“Changelings have tried to always be here in some fashion or another, that much I did learn. And now I know why.” Scope speared a piece of waffle quite violently. “We’re parasites. We can’t live without you. Is it really so startling that we would have some presence in your cities?”

“Some, not a small civilization,” Midnight replied. “But, you’re not causing too much trouble... well, aside from you and your friends.” Midnight wondered what happened to the other five Nymphs. She’d have to look into that.

Scope chewed her waffle and swallowed. “More ponies, more emotions, more ‘lings,” she said, sipping at and killing her juice and the last of her breakfast. “...And it only now occurs to me that I might have endangered one of the ones responsible for my housing with my ill-timed and ill-worded comments.”

“Nah, the Captain should be alright with it,” ‘I hope.’ Song finished her own food and drained her glass, before placing a few bits on the table. “Well, shall we go and see what the day has in store for us?”

“Do let’s,” Scope deadpanned. This day promised to be...unlike any other she’d ever experienced, that was for sure.

“Goodie!” Midnight giggled. “Now... I wonder where I can find the Pink One...?”

Chapter Twelve - Quite the news buzz

Level walked into Toll’s office and smiled. The chair was still there. Out of everything else they’d taken from the office, the chair...and desk, were still there. Honestly, they’d been the best parts of this room. Especially when his boss was here.

Sadly, he couldn’t take too much time to admire the furniture: he had a company to pull back together. Walking from the offices to the place where all the actual work got done, Level cleared his throat and got the attention of what few employees had remained, along with those that had come in to apply for their suddenly very many openings.

“The rumors you’re hearing and spreading are all based in some kernel of truth,” Ledger said. “Toll Taker is gone, along with all her corruption. In her place, I will be the new head of the company, and we are going to return to being the best shipping company of Las Pegasus.”

He paused for a moment to let others interject, but when there was a lack of that happening, the unicorn continued. “However, we have quite the reputation to clean up, so on the side, we will be gathering any, any, information about anything criminal going on and reporting all such activities to the Guard if we hear of it.”

“Such as?” Starsight interjected. “Uh, sorry boss... but most of us are new in town. We have no idea what’s going on.”

“The biggest fish in the pond just got yanked out,” Ledger said for their benefit. “So all the little ones will be looking to establish this place as ‘theirs’ now. We should stop that from happening to the best of our ability, even if it ends up being nothing more than us gathering scraps of clues for the Guard. Otherwise it’ll be anarchy in the streets.” He paused for a second to consider what he’d just said. “Well, moreso.”

Another pony stepped forward and raised a hoof. “Hey, Ledge-uh, I mean, New Boss. What about... that rumour?”

“I’m not psychic,” Ledger deadpanned.

“W-well,” he stepped closer. “The rumor that Old Boss was employing... changelings.” A chorus of whispers echoed from the crowd, well, the pony crowd at least.

“Ah, well, that one I can confirm,” Ledger said with a sigh, even as the whispers got louder. “She hired six changelings to act as decoys so that the guard wouldn’t know if they got ‘her’ or not and planned to run. Fortunately, they were all taken care of before that plot came to fruition.”

The whispers turned to gasps of shock, but quickly died down.

“So what’s first?” one pony said. “We ain’t got no shipping contracts anymore. Legal or otherwise.”

“We still have some bits, though,” Ledger pointed out. “Enough to last us until we do get some contracts, and I’m going to send some messages out to some of Toll’s more legal partners. Once we get our hooves back under us, I have a plan, stallions and mares.”

The one griffon in the group huffed and folded his arms.

“So what’s the plan, New Boss?” Starsight asked, using Level’s new nickname.

“Once we have the bits to, we’re going to find out all of Las Pegasus’ legal vices...and then become the only legal supplier of those vices to the city,” Ledger said with a genuine smile. “That’s definitely a long-term goal, though. So while I send out messages to the few ponies and others that might talk to us, I want all of you to do the same. We need contracts, we need recognition, and we need to wipe out what Toll did!”

“Sir!” most saluted and smiled. At least he was nicer than Toll. Still...

“What about our pay?” one asked.

“Your pay will not change from its base salary, whatever that was, so you’ll still be able to live here,” Level said. “But for every contract you get for the company, you will get a bonus. And once we get shipping lines open again, I’ll open up options for the movers and lifters to get them as well.”

The crowd cheered again. It seemed he had his head screwed on right. But until they got contracts, there wouldn’t be much work.

At least until three mares walked into the building, all identical and all with lovely violet-coloured eyes.

A lot of stallions, (and some mares) wolf-whistled and the triplets winked and shook their flanks a little. The one in the middle turned to Ledger and smiled.

“Oh, just the stallion we were looking for. May we... talk in private?”

“Ladies,” Ledger said as he showed them the hallway that led to his office. “Remember: while I’m technically paying you to sit around right now, I’d really rather you didn’t!” he called out to his workers before joining the triplets in his office. Just as a riveting musical number about, ‘Let’s Clean This Shed’, started.

“I will never get used to that,” One Violet remarked as they followed Level.

They looked around his barren office and sighed. “Oh dear, you really do have terrible decor skills. Perhaps that delicious bat of yours can decorate this a little.”

“It’s not my fault they confiscated everything but the chair and the desk itself as evidence,” Ledger replied. “Anyways, ladies, while it’s always nice to see you…” he left off, waiting for them to fill in the gap.

“Yes, the pleasantries will have to come later,” the lead one stated.

“I bet that’s not the only thing that comes lately,” another giggled.

“Moving on,” the lead sighed, though a small smile graced her muzzle. “We have a business proposition for you.”

“Yep,” the lewd one of the trio spoke up. “We finally get to proposition you~”

“Pretty sure Midnight wouldn’t appreciate that,” Level said with barely a flinch at the thought. “What is this deal you’re proposing?”

“Well, the club we acquired? Turns out it’s quite popular with the pony folk,” the lead said. “And those ponies sure like their drink. Amongst... other things. Turns out, that our supplier recently increased their prices due to... company inflation.”

“They felt they could get away with it and are testing the waters,” Ledger translated. “What without her and all. Okay, that’s about normal. Question is, what do you want me to do?”

“Toll, if anything, was efficient,” Violet said. “You will need to compete on a level playing field, and all your opponents will cheat to win. That is what you are up against.” She stepped forward and placed a small stack of papers on his desk. “This is a contract to provide the...” here she paused and sighed. “‘The Love Shack,’” They really needed to change that name. “With all it’s beverage and ingredients. Also, we require things like building supplies, fabrics, bedding and the like.”

“In essence, you need good contracts with every supplier of raw materials in the city, who could probably use good contracts with us in turn, with the hiccup in service,” Ledger mused, the gears already turning. “We...could probably do this. Scratch that, we can definitely do this.” He was starting to smile. “If we can get them to sign at a...very nice rate for them, as long as they agree to supply you with your needs as well, that should satisfy both parties of this arrangement. My only real questions are, do you know the suppliers for the ingredients for your club’s booze, and do you think you can point me in the direction of a nice distillery?”

The mares giggled, two of them blushing lightly. This was too easy.

“So, you wanna do it huh?” one asked coyly.

“We definitely know what we need~” another chimed in.

Ledger just shot a deadpan look at the middle mare in response. She sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

“What do you expect? We’re Violets. In Las Pegasus.” She just gave the others a shake of her head and continued. “But yes, we have all the contacts you require. But you’ll need to work out a fair deal with them as well. Think you’re up for the challenge Level?”

“Oh don’t worry,” Ledger said as he pulled the relevant information from the pile with a grin that spoke volumes. “They tried to cut you out? We’re cutting them out. It’s why I asked about a distillery, ladies. We’re cutting out the middle-pony and you’re going to brew your own booze.”

“Can... we do that?” Violet asked. Her sisters blinked and stared at the mad-stallion. “We have no knowledge on how to do something like that.”

Ledger shrugged. “There are books in the library, for griffons, minotaurs, and ponies who intend to take it up as a hobby or are having difficulty with it for whatever reason. Haven’t read them myself. Best option is to ask the other Silver in town about it and apprentice one of the younger nymphs or drones under the ones running it. Oh, and this’ll give us freedom to experiment with the brews...including attempting to infuse emotions into it. Which ponies find delicious, by the way.”

The three mares shuddered when they recalled the drinks that Midnight had made them. “You are the luckiest drone in the city, I hope you realise?” Violet said with a low purr. “Still, you raise an interesting point. And by offering something unique, we can raise our annual turnovers, our customer flow and get even more emotion.”

“Cider Falls Brewery,” one said. “It’s in the farming district of all places, run by an Apple mare from what I heard. Cider is her specialty.”

“That’s not her only specialty,” the third purred.

“Well, I think today has been quite interesting,” Violet said with a smile. “So what say you Level Ledger?”

Ledger gave the rest of the contracts, each one with a list of objectives added to the top, back to the ladies and motioned to the door. “Pass those out to the workers...you might have to ask the newbie drones politely,” he mused on that for a moment. “I’ll handle the brewery personally.”

One violet giggled and fluttered her eyes at him. “Oh? Are you gonna use that... special gift of yours~?”

“I’m not going to screw the owner,” Ledger deadpanned. “If anything, I’m going to use my silver tongue.” He blinked for a moment before looking at the nymphs. “And...how do you know anything about my anatomy to begin with?”

“Oh, so somepony likes oral huh?” one teased. “And we know many things Level Ledger, your lovely marefriend is... very thorough when storytelling.” All three gave another pleasured shudder.

“...She is going to have a lot of talking to do,” Ledger sighed before opening the door with a small application of his magic. “Take care you three...and tell the others not to scare the newbies off.”

“We’ll do our best,” Violet winked, leading her sisters out into the shed. One gave him a small wink and her tail flicked to one side for a moment before leaving.

“Aaaand suddenly glad Midnight wasn’t here,” Ledger muttered as he began writing up a note. “She’d either punch me for looking, or join in the teasing.” Giving it a once over to make sure he’d said everything he needed to, he walked out into the sudden flurry of activity and snagged a worker.

“Midnight Song,” he said, giving the scroll over. “Thestral, day guard, will likely be out and about looking for trouble. Extra pay if you find her and deliver this.”

“Yessir!” the disguised drone said before snagging ahold of the scroll, tucking it away, and walking off into the city.

Midnight walked the streets of Las Pegasus. Scope Lens keeping pace, but her gait still had a slight limp to it. Honestly, the two had absolutely no idea where to start looking for the Pink changeling, and it wasn’t like hey could simply ask somepony.

Or maybe they could. Midnight recalled the bar they went to, and wondered if the Changeling’s were still there. Level Ledger had mentioned that the meetings were always in different places... but it was the only lead they had to go on.

Scope Lens was a little more concerned. Changelings that were on good terms with Level Ledger, meant that they weren’t on good terms with her.

“Perhaps it might be best if I return home Mistress,” she said quietly. Midnight turned to look at her and blinked.

“Are you feeling alright? Does your leg hurt?”

“It’s fine, I just don’t think I’ll be too welcome at wherever it is you plan on going.”

Midnight sighed as she placed a hoof on her back. “Look, you don’t need to worry about that. If anypony says anything, then I’ll back you up.” That said, Midnight might have only been okay because she was with Level. She trusted him... and Scopey was alright. But other Changelings? That was still to be seen.

Scope could sense her hesitation, but said nothing. She knew better than anyone that the Thestral could handle herself.

“Well... let’s go pay a visit to my new friends!” Midnight said after a moment's contemplation. “They shouldn’t do anything drastic... or I will do something drastic.”

“Please don’t,” Scope shuddered.

“Fine,” Midnight replied. A sound coming towards her caused her ear to flick as she turned to see a pony running straight at her. Her combat instincts kicked in as he got closer, as she extended her hoof and grabbed his, flipping the stallion over her shoulder and onto the pavement with a hard thud.

“And that is how you handle a mugger,” Midnight explained to Scope. The stallion groaned from the ground and held up a scroll with one hoof.

“Message...for you,” he managed to get out.

“A...a message?” Midnight suddenly blushed with embarrassment as she took the scroll meekly. “Uh, hehe... whoops?”

Midnight,

There’s a lot of reasons I’m doing this. First, to see how well such a messaging service might work in this city. Clearly if you’re reading it, the answer is: decently enough.

Second, here’s a bit of news for you: it’s only been a few days since Toll was taken out of the picture, and already some other companies are trying to raise extra funds...by jacking up their prices. Specifically on alcohol. Not sure what it means yet, but money is power.

And third, I’m going to be dealing with an Apple mare regarding the use of her distillery so the ‘lings won’t have to deal with the brewers, and instead can make their own alcohol. This...will probably cut into my lunch time. Sorry in advance if that turns out to be the case.

Love,

Level Ledger.

P.S. If you’re looking for some local ‘lings to help you find others, The Love Shack is a good first step.

Midnight blinked at the post script and snorted. How in the hay does he do that? Was she that predictable? She looked down at the pained stallion and chuckled nervously again.

“Uh, sorry about that,” she said, helping him up. “Guess I’ve been a little on edge... um...” She took out piece of paper and wrote something down, before placing it in his bag. “There, that should help you out. I’m really sorry... but you really shouldn’t run at a Guard like that with such an expression on your face. Leads to things that might hurt...”

“Not a problem,” the stallion said as he shakily got to his hooves. “Boss better deliver on that extra pay, though…”

“Give him that note and he will...” Midnight sighed as the stallion wobbled off. She looked to Scope, who wore an expression of amusement and exasperation. “What?”

“Nothing... just glad I’m not on the receiving end this time,” the mare responded.

“You are never going to drop that huh?”

“Like you dropped me?”

“OH FOR THE LOVE OF-!!”

Level double-checked the address and nodded to himself. This was the place...as evidenced by the small orchard of apple trees the mare kept around. Probably to both feed herself and distill into beverages for the town. He trotted up to the house and rapped on the door with one hoof.

There was the sound of something breaking, and some frantic clattering before a dishevelled Earth Pony mare answered the door. She had a cyan-blue coat and a shining blonde mane. Her cutie Mark was of a mug of cider and she stared at the Unicorn with bloodshot eyes.

“C-can I help you...?”

“Apple Cider?” Ledger asked the mare with a raised eyebrow. The mare winced and put a hoof to her head in response.

“Ah, not so loud,” she hissed. “Who wants to know?”

“Perhaps we should talk inside,” Ledger observed as he lowered the volume of his voice a touch. “The things I have to talk about aren’t things others need to hear about.”

“Right, right,” the mare turned and walked back inside. “Make... yourself at home. I’ll go and freshen up... also, don’t drink that cider on the table, packs one hell of a punch.”

Ledger walked in and looked at the decidedly messy house before sighting the couch. With a sigh, the stallion lit up his horn and began organizing the debris from...he couldn’t even begin to imagine how long ago. If there was something that grated on his nerves, it was a messy home.

One the kitchen was much tidier, a small chuckle came from the doorway. “So? Is this how you impress the mares? Come into their home and clean it without permission?” Apple Cider was standing there, looking like a new pony. Her coat was shiny and her mane was much neater. The bloodshot, bleary eyes were now sparkling and attentive.

“Well I do like to have things a bit more orderly than ‘the floor is a giant shelf, use it,’” Ledger commented as he sat himself down on the couch that he’d unearthed.

“Eheh, well... I was testing a new blend last night,” she looked at the formerly destroyed room. “Guess I got a teensy bit carried away.” She walked over to the stove and gave it a light kick, causing it to fire up. Within moments, she had a pan on with pancake batter in it. “Want some breakfast Mr...?”

“Ledger, Level Ledger, and that would be appreciated,” Ledger said with a nod. “Didn’t get any breakfast.” At least, of the physical sort. Coffee didn’t count.

“Well then Mr. Ledger, a pleasure to meet y’all,” Cider replied as she flipped a pancake, the fluffy disc slightly charred. “Eh, wish I was as good as my lil’sis, ah well...” She finished up a few minutes later with pancakes that could be considered edible.

“So, what brings you to my humble abode?”

“Well, it’s about your talents with distilling,” Ledger admitted as he accepted a plate of pancakes. Or what could have been pancakes. “Some of my associates aren’t too happy with some of the alcohol prices increasing, and are asking me to look into alternative procurement routes.”

The mare frowned, she knew about the price hikes, and that the shipping companies were keeping all the profits for themselves. “Alright, so who are you then? Who do you work for?”

“I, am the new head of the reworked Pegasus Air. With Toll Taker taken out of the picture, this frees me up to do things legally and honestly,” Ledger said after he finished off one pancake. “I’ll be meeting with some other farmers in the near future, see if I can’t get them to agree to nice, reasonable shipping contracts...but seeing as you have your own distillery, you’re the mare I want to meet with first.”

“So, you worked for Toll huh?” Cider’s tone took a sudden sour note. She remembered that bitch all too well. Kinda hard to forget a mare that threatened to burn your orchard to the ground if you didn’t comply. “Then give me a darn good reason why I should trust you then?”

“Because I’m not her?” Ledger replied with after he felt the hostility rolling off her. “Plus, I helped take her down and make sure she’ll be behind bars for a good long while. The only reason I worked for her is the same reason half the city did: she had something on me. I was her accountant, and now I’m the reason she’ll be counting the years.”

Cider snorted slightly at the weak joke. “Well, ah guess that’s a fairly decent reason. But trust is difficult to gain Mr. Ledger. And mah trust especially so.” She walked over to a wooden keg mounted on the bench and poured a half mug, knocking the drink back in a flash. “Let’s say ah’m interesting in yer little proposal. What’re the finer details?”

“Well, I’m going to have to cut a nice contract with the local farmers besides yourself, and of course you and my associates will have to work out who gets how much profit from any drinks you decide to supply them and they manage to sell.” Ledger hummed. “Plus I wouldn’t be surprised if they gave you an apprentice to help out...and they have a few things in mind for drinks they’d like to be produced as well.” Ledger rummaged around and pulled out the contract the Ladies had given him, looking at it and nodding once. “This is what my associates gave me to give you, if you don’t like it, I could arrange a meeting.”

Cider took the contract, then pulled a small pair of glasses from her mane and donned them. It was then Ledger discovered the beauty of a mare in glasses...

“Hmm... well, oh I see...” she muttered to herself as she read the document. “Well now, ah guess...” After about fifteen minutes she placed the contract down and sighed. “Well, they certainly are thorough aren’t they?”

“They do tend to be,” Ledger admitted. “I probably rubbed off on them a little bit.” That or the ones that practice law, the stallion thought to himself. “If you have any questions or concerns, I will do my best to answer.”

“In this city, ah always have concerns, but that’s part ‘o the fun right?” She gave the document another glance and nodded. “Tell you what, I’ll run this on trial. Six months is what you have to impress and convince me that this is worth a permanent deal. We Apples pride ourselves on knowing when a pony is lying Mr. Ledger, and one look at you tells me that yer hidin’ plenty.”

“I do have my secrets,” Ledger admitted as he took the contract up and put it back in his bags. “As do many. I’ll inform my associates that they have six months to make this worth your while, Miss Cider. In the meantime, is there any particular farmer that you think has brew-worthy produce for your distillery?”

Cider let out a small giggle. “Oh mah stars, ah don’t bother none with that. Ah brew all mah own drinks right here. And raise mah own crops. This here is both a farm and a distillery.”

“Still, doesn’t hurt to experiment,” Ledger said as he got up from the couch. “Not to disparage your name or your farm, of course. But if you come up with something that you’ve wanted to add to your brews, I’ll see what I can do to get you a little as a part of one of my deals I’ll be making.”

And that was it, the mare was now sporting a grin akin to a wolf. Two words left her mouth and this would prove quite the challenge for him.

“Crystal Berries.”

“Hmm,” Ledger mused as he rubbed his chin with one hoof. “Not even Toll had contacts that far north. It might be towards the end of that six months you’ve given me before I manage to make enough time for a business trip up there...but I’ll see what I can do.”

“You can arrange to get me Crystal Berries, and ah’ll see to it that yer friends have a drink that nopony can resist,” the mare winked. She walked over to her fridge and pulled out two bottles, each containing a bubbly, purple liquid. “Here ya go, drink up!”

Ledger took one of the bottles and sniffed, trying to get a sense of what might be inside.

“That’s whut ah intend to make, but ah only have four bottles left. Y’all can get me those berries, then this is whut mah skills can do.” She chugged back the drink and then pulled the empty bottle away from her lips with a light ‘pop’. “Whoooeeee! Now that’s whut ah’m talkin’ about!”

“Crystal berry wine,” Ledger said, suitably impressed. “Well, I’ll get you some berries if I can...if you also promise to try and grow some instead of brewing them all. If you can make this, and make this regularly, we’ll both end up rich,” the stallion said as he carefully tucked the bottle away. “Think I’ll save this, share it with Midnight.”

“Ah wish ah could grow ‘em,” Cider pouted. “Las Pegasus has the wrong climate, no matter what time of the year it is. Ah’d need a special greenhouse fer it, an expensive one.” She frowned as he put the bottle away. “And y’all are supposed to share a drink with me, to seal our new work contract an all.” She produced a mug of her finest cider instead. “Now drink up little colt!”

Ledger took the mug and nursed it for a moment. “So...a greenhouse and crystal berries...and you could probably use an assistant if you did manage to get both,” the stallion said out loud. “Well, this is rapidly becoming a tall order, Miss Cider. It would take Pegasus Air a few months of good operating before we could help with that.” The stallion began sipping at the cider, noting the quality. “But if you pick one out, I have friends. Legal friends, that could help pull a few strings to make it a little more affordable for us both.”

“If you can get greenhouse materials, then we Apples can build it, save on construction costs.” Cider sat down at the table and smiled. “Ah already get various types of apples from Canterlot, Ponyville and Appleloosa. So all ah need is those berries. Aside from that. We’re golden Mr. Ledger.”

“Draw me up a list of what you’d need,” Ledger said as he sipped at the cider again. Oooh, this went down smooth. “And I’ll see to it that some of my workers sign deals that include us getting a little for personal use from the ponies that deal with those materials.”

“Ah do approve of a more personal touch,” Cider purred with a sultry tone. “Well we have a deal then,” she signed the contracts and handed them back to him, keeping a copy for herself. “Now Mr. Ledger, our business is concluded. Shall we... get to know one another a little more~?”

Normally Ledger would balk at the idea. However, seeing as how it wasn’t a nymph coming on to him, and one mare in particular had been helping him with his intimacy issues, what came out of Ledger’s mouth was something along the lines of…

“I don’t see why not.”

“Ohh, ah do like a stallion who’s assertive,” she smiled. She sauntered around to the other side of the table and smiled at him, her tail brushing up against his flank. “Now how about you come with me, and I’ll show you some ‘special cider’ you can drink from the source~”

The unicorn finished off his mug of cider and smiled at the mare. Yeah, the alcohol probably had something to do with his next line as well. “Miss Cider, are you trying to seduce me?”

“Well if y’all haven’t caught on to that little fact, then ah’m doin’ a poor job of it,” she giggled. “When ah’d much rather be doing something else right now~”

“Well, I do hope we don’t end up mixing business and pleasure later on,” Ledger said as he hugged the mare close. It turns out he was a happy drunk. Thankfully. “Things would get really awkward then.”

Well wasn’t he a friendly one. Cider chuckled and set him back down. “Oh, and why would it get awkward. Y’all don’t like a pretty mare?”

“I don’t mind pretty mares,” Ledger admitted before chuckling. “It’s just...think about it. ‘Miss Cider, we need to renegotiate this contract, and also, can we buck afterwards?’”

“I...ah...” Cider stumbled over her words. This guys attitude was a little... And then she facehooved for not seeing it. “Yer drunk ain’t ya?”

“Don’t drink all that often,” he said with a smile. “Not really used to it.”

“Celestia-dammit,” she wasn’t going to take advantage of a drunk stallion. That could lead to all sorts of trouble. “Well, what do we need to re-negotiate?” she asked, keeping his mind busy as she fixed some strong coffee and her patented ‘Apple Hangover Cure’.

“Oh no, I was just givin’ an example,” Ledger said as he sat on his haunches. “It might get weird down the line if we did anything.”

“Weird?” Did this stallion have some sorta strange kink of something? Well, this was Las Pegasus. “What kinda weird?”

“Like using sex as a negotiation tool for business-related activities,” Ledger elaborated.

“You use some awfully big words fer a tipsy pony,” Cider giggled cutely. Ledger rubbed the back of his head with a hoof.

“I...get a lot more honest, open, and friendly when I drink,” he said. “At least, as I’ve been told. Doesn’t help that I’ve read a lot. If you gave me more drinks, I’d probably start stumbling over my words.”

“As amusin’ as that might be, ah have strict rules not to engage with somepony under the influence,” she smiled. She finished the coffee and poured in a special ingredient, one that could rouse a sleeping Ursa Major. This remedy was older than Granny Smith, some say Celestia herself helped create it.

“Now drink up, then we can discuss certain... benefits~”

Ledger took a sip of the coffee and grimaced at the unsweetened stuff...before his eyes bulged comically and he forced the stuff in his mouth down his throat. “Do I...want to know what’s in this?” he asked in a hoarse voice as he looked at the rest of the drink in his cup.

“Tell ya what, when I found out... ah’ll let y’all know.” Ledger pulled another face, put one hoof to cover his nose, and bolted the rest back, trying to taste as little of it as possible. The stallion felt the alcohol in his stomach and system being purged...and didn’t like the feeling one bit, shuddering as whatever this mare had served him began its work.

“It’s a mighty tough pill t’swallow at first,” she said. She reached for a jar and a wide spoon, dipping it in and scooping out the sugar. “Have some of this if ya want.”

Ledger blinked and his mouth watered at the offering...before he remembered that he was supposed to be cutting back on his sugar intake and shook his head. “Tempting, but no. I’m trying to cut back on the amount of sugar I eat.”

“Well, fair enough ah suppose,” Cider said as she went to put the lid back on the jar and dropped it, spilling the sugar all over herself. “Ah horseapples. Now I gotta clean this up.”

Ledger shook himself a few times as he felt his more rational mind return, looking at the mare that had a sugar coating and snickering. “I know some mares think they’re real sweethearts, but this is silly,” he joked.

“Oh laugh it up,” she pouted, her glasses slightly askew on her muzzle. At least he seemed better now, Apple Family Cure. 100% success rate. And now that he was...

“Well, a certain somepony could help me~”

“I...could,” Ledger said. “Not certain I should. Besides which, a shower isn’t so hard to run…”

“Oh, you are the most adorable thing,” she cooed. “But ah had a... different method in mind~” she replied as she gave his ear a little nibble.

“I thought I just said something about my sugar intake,” Ledger said, twitching only slightly.

“Ah won’t tell anypony,” she purred. “And ah’m quite flexible, so ah can even help~”

Ledger gulped thickly as he considered the offer. It...would be nice, having somepony else to help provide him with needed emotion. Even if it was only lust. But there was no telling how Midnight would take this...a thought occurred to him as he gave the mare another look.

“You’re not in heat, are you? Because I can’t think of a reason why you would sleep with a stallion you met not an hour ago beyond that.”

“Ah live on a big empty farm. By mahself. Forgive me if ah wanna indulge when a cute stallion comes by.” Cider frowned at his hesitation. “Look, if y’all don’t wanna, that’s fine.”

“It’s just...sudden is all,” Ledger admitted. “Plus, mares haven’t exactly been...kind to me. But if you are really after just a roll in the hay as it were...well, I might be able to be convinced to indulging as well.”

Cider wasn’t sure how to respond. So this guy had some- no, scratch that, it sounded like he had a lot of emotional baggage. “Well, ah can certainly say that yer one of the more... interesting stallions ah’ve met.” She decided that a little tease might convince him. She turned and walked towards another room, heading for her bedroom. She gave her sugar-coated flank a little wiggle and smiled. “Well, ah think ah’ll go and get cleaned up. It’s up to you on how ah do that~” And with that, she left him alone in the kitchen.

“...Hives dammit,” Ledger cursed under his breath as he went to follow the mare. Midnight would hopefully understand.

Midnight Song paused as she felt a shiver go down her spine. “Hmm... wonder why...”

She’d reached ‘The Love Shack’ and headed on inside, Scope Lens hiding behind her the whole time. It was a much more subdued atmosphere than last time, with less thumping music and brighter lights.

“Anypony home?” she called out and got a wicked idea. “Guard inspection!”

With that, a mare walked out from the back...and once her violet eyes clapped onto Midnight’s form, she all but pounced on the Thestral. “Oooh, I could do with more inspections by this guard,” the disguised nymph said as she hugged Midnight. Her eyes drifted over to Scope’s form and her eyebrows raised. “Friend of yours?”

“My new assistant,” Midnight replied, not expecting the sudden hug. “This is Scope Lens, Scopey, this is... uh...” Midnight blushed when she realised she didn’t know the changeling’s name.

“Our names are a secret dear, don’t feel bad,” the nymph said as she let go of the thestral and looked over the pegasus. “We all answer to a variety of names. The Violets in this town work a variety of jobs on the strip as a variety of mares. It’d be a lot worse without us.”

“Typical Violet, sleeps with anything that has a heartbeat,” Scope replied with a light huff. “I’d watch your ass Mistress, these nymphs’d gobble it up without a second thought.”

“Mm, not all of us swing that way, little sister,” the nymph said as she finished giving the form a once over and nodded her approval. “There are enough of us here that we can afford to be picky, and we all have our preferences. A fair few of us were gunning for her drone, and we do help the drones in the town as best we can. That being said…”

Here the nymph leaned in to Scope and whispered in her ear, huskily. “I prefer females...changeling females to be precise.”

Scope yelped and ducked behind Midnight, using her as a meat shield

“Feeling the love Scopey,” Midnight deadpanned. “Jokes aside, I have come here for a reason today. And I was hoping you could help me out...” And just like that, Midnight realised a second too late on what she’d implied. Being attached to Ledger had really lowered her game.

“A threesome is nice too,” the Violet said with a smile.

“I know,” Midnight winked, making the most of her slip up. “But what I need is information. Mostly, where can I find someling called ‘Pink’?”

“The Pink in this city?” the Violet tapped her chin a few times. “I think that ‘ling works at the ice-cream store. Happiness from foals getting dessert tastes the best, according to her...him.”

“Ice cream huh?” Midnight nodded and hummed thoughtfully. Well now she had something to go on. “Thanks for the info... also, how have things been? Any trouble from the locals?”

“Beyond the other shipping companies hiking their prices for alcohol? Most ponies are actually lowering their prices now that they don’t have to pay Toll a single bit,” the Violet nymph said. “Still, Ledger has a plan to help. I swear, if we ever got in that drone’s head, there’d be fifty different plans or ideas for everything.”

“I can see that,” Midnight giggled. “It sucks that he blew me off for lunch though. Imagine that! Abandoning a cute mare like me?” she swooned, her voice emanating a mock-hurt tone.

“He always did say business came before pleasure when he missed a therapy meeting we had scheduled with him,” the nymph said with a nod. “It might take him a few days to put you before work...especially if he intends to get Pegasus Air back up and running.”

“I believe the Mistress is just being overdramatic again,” Scope sighed.

“You always spoil my fun,” Midnight pouted.

“I do try,” Scope smirked.

“Maybe your friend here just needs to loosen up,” the nymph purred as she stalked around Midnight, intent on pouncing on her fellow ‘ling.

“I need an adult!” Scope cried, running around the Thestral, using her as a barrier between her the lusty nymph.

“We’re all adults... I think,” Midnight giggled. Her eyes widened as a certain realisation kicked in. “Oh Sweet Celestia, I think I’ve been tamed!”

“Oh?” the Violet asked, momentarily halting her pursuit.

“Just a few weeks ago, I’d have had both of you writhing in pleasure, and before you say it Scopey, I can be very convincing!” Midnight winked and her assistant shuddered. “But now? I think I’m becoming... faithful!”

“Hmm,” the Violet hummed. “Not something commonly practiced in the Lands...seeing as our existence is based on deception. We tend to do what we can to secure as many emotional food sources as we need...but those that are raised or grow up in Equestria have a good shot at becoming faithful as well. Might wanna ask Ledger about that one later.”

“At least I don’t have to worry about him huh?” Midnight giggled. “Even I have trouble getting him to be intimate.”

Scope Lens sighed, seeing as the Violet had stopped. “He’s still a drone, so I wouldn’t put it past him. Especially if a nymph were to disguise herself as you.”

“Little sister, how do you think I know you’re a ‘ling?” the Violet said from the other side of Midnight. “It’s hard to notice, but we all give off a faint little odor that tells any other ‘ling what we are underneath.” The Violet looked to Midnight then. “So he’ll not sleep with any other ‘ling, likely because of his issues...but you have been fixing him, yes? I would expect to see some behavior like what she’s insinuating start to surface around mares.”

“So he’ll sleep with a pony, but not a changeling?” Midnight frowned as her heart gave a painful wince. She wondered why.

“I’m... not sure how I feel about that. Given my past, it really shouldn’t be an issue but...”

“Love is a pain in the flank,” Scope finished, still trying to evade the Violet.

“Eeyup,” Midnight sighed, extending a hoof to trip up her assistant and letting the Violet pounce.

“Mine~” the nymph sang out as she began snuggling Scope. “And you should ask him about it, bring it up with him, and gently correct him if a faithful relationship is what you want. Otherwise he might snap up any one-night stands that come his way for the food.”

“Changelings are weird,” Midnight muttered. She watched Scope struggle against the hug, but just sighed and looked around. “Well, I guess I’ll talk about it with him. Also, do you mind if I bring a few friends here in a couple of nights?”

“Depends on who you’re bringing,” the nymph said as she began nibbling Scope. “You and Ledger are welcome, of course. Who else do you intend to have visit our little den?”

“It’ll prolly just be me, Narrow Gaze and your cuddlebug there. I don’t have plans for anyone else...”

The Violet paused in her ministrations for a moment. “Narrow Gaze? Local Guard Captain? You’re bringing her here?”

“Well, she should probably know about the Changeling population. She already knows about Scopey there.” Said Changeling used the distraction to try and escape, but the nymphs grip was too tight.

“...Well, I suppose you make a good point,” the nymph admitted as she resumed nibbling on Scope’s ears. “Just so you know, this place is only run by the Violets of the city. This isn’t a spot where the others have meetings, except for once in a long while, when the other regular spots are all taken already. If you simply want to introduce her to the idea of non-threatening changelings, we can do that. If you want to introduce her to everybuggy…”

“Baby steps,” Midnight replied. “Don’t wanna freak her out too much.” Scope gave a soft moan at the nibbles and flushed red. Her disguise vanished, revealing her cracked carapace.

“Be careful with her, she’s still injured,” Midnight said. “I’ll let you borrow her once she’s recovered.”

“Bucking traitor!” Scope hissed.

“Aww, and she looked like she was having so much fun,” the Violet said as she finally got off Scope...before quickly catching Midnight’s assistant in a kiss.

“Mphf!?” Scope flailed as Midnight chuckled.

“Aw, young love is so sweet~”

Scope Lens flushed a bright red as she donned her disguise once more, but it still couldn’t hide her blush. “Feh! You kiss lousy anyway!”

“Mmm, and for a new face, you don’t do half-bad,” the Violet said with half-lidded eyes. “Enjoy the extra lust I pumped into that kiss. I know it’s not loyalty, but it should help you recover a little faster.”

Scope Lens didn’t reply, even though that changeling did help her recovery a good deal. Midnight just chuckled again as she tossed Scope Lens onto her back, the changeling letting out a surprised yelp.

“Well I’m going to steal her away now. I’ll see you later, kay?”

“Take care~” the violet-eyed nymph cooed. “And tell the Pink we said Hi when you go see her...him. Whichever.”

“Will do,” Midnight waved back.

Scope Lens was all too happy to leave and never come back. That Violet was terrifying!... And she tasted like strawberries.

Turns out that the Pink changeling had the day off. So Midnight would have to wait until another day. She supposed it would be for the best, since other thoughts dominated her mind right now. She opened the door to their apartment and Scope flopped unceremoniously onto the couch with a low groan.

“I am exhausted, mentally and physically,” she sighed. “Drone. Dinner!”

There was no reply. It seemed appear that Ledger hadn’t come back yet.

“I could cook something?” Midnight offered, as the nymph let out a pained screech.

“Nooo, that’s fine. Just gonna relax here Mistress.”

“Why doesn’t anypony let me cook?” Midnight tilted her head. “I mean, seriously. You burn down one kitchen, ONE! or was it three...?”

‘That drone had better come back or I’ll not survive,’ Scope sighed into the couch pillow. Fortunately for everyone’s digestive systems, the door opened right about then, revealing Level and an assortment of ‘to-go’ boxes in his magical grasp.

“I bring sustenance from Fredrick!” Ledger said, before floating the food over to the table and walking over to the newer couch. “I really don’t think I could cook right now,” he elaborated as he flopped onto the cushy piece of furniture and dropped his disguise.

“GAH!” Scope winced as the drone fell onto the couch, pinning her between him and the back of the plush object. “Get off me!!”

“Midnight and I got this for us,” Ledger said as he gave her barely enough room to wiggle free...if she was interested in clambering over him. “Your comfort wasn’t taken into account.”

“Now, now,” Midnight sighed, before taking a flying leap and pouncing on both of them. “Scopey is family now, and daddies should be nice to their daughters~”

“If I ever end up having a daughter, I assure you, I will do my best to ensure she does not turn out like Scope or any of the other nymphs from the Lands,” Ledger replied with more than a bit of bite to his voice.

“And like I’d have a wimp of a drone like him as my father!” Scope echoed back. “Geh!”

“Aw, I love you guys too,” Midnight cooed, hugging them both.

“Sometime... I think she substitutes our reality for her own,” Scope deadpanned.

“She’s just stubborn about making others see her side,” Ledger replied, before giving the nymph next to him the stink-eye. “And you are aware of where little ‘lings come from, right? I assure you, half of your ancestors were ‘wimpy drones’.”

“I never knew my parents,” Scope replied, wriggling free and heading for her room. “So it shows what you know!” Her sentence was punctuated by her door slamming.

“I think you made her mad,” said Midnight, still cuddling him.

“I give her ten seconds until she realizes the food’s out here...at which point she’ll realize that I’m right, logically speaking.” Level replied as he turned to the mare and kissed her. “Well, I mean, excluding gender-shifters,” he added afterwards.

Midnight’s reaction to the kiss was curious though. She pulled back, before leaning in closer and sniffing him.

“Levvy...?” she asked. “Why do you smell like sugar?”

“I met with Apple Cider, a local brewer,” he said, instinctively hiding the full truth until he knew she wouldn’t react...badly to it. “She’s a nice enough mare, but clumsy when hung over. Spilled a lot of sugar when she made me a cup of coffee, so I helped clean it up. I might have...indulged a bit.”

Midnight was silent. She simply sat atop of him and looked at him. “I-Indulged... how?”

“She was gonna toss all that perfectly good sugar out in the trash cause it hit the floor,” Ledger grumbled. “I made sure she wasn’t looking and...well, it’s not a good start to my ‘lowering my sugar levels’ idea, but it was a better use than tossing it.”

“Y-you ate sugar... off of the floor!?” Midnight blinked, trying to banish the lewd thoughts that pervaded her mind. Was he seriously that desperate for sugar. “Heh... Well, that’s silly. I thought you-” She stuffed a hoof into her mouth to shut herself up.

“I made sure her home was clean when I was there before I did anything like that,” Ledger pouted. “Which also wasn’t easy. And I didn’t just bend over and lick it up.” Here his horn flared as if to demonstrate his point. “Floated it up and distracted her with a noise elsewhere in the house, then it was sugar time.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” Midnight sighed. “I think a story of you licking the sugar off of her would have been more believable...” She sighed as she got off of him. “Tell me Level Ledger. What sort of relationship do you think we have?”

“Well it’s certainly not a relationship that a ‘ling normally has with ponies,” Ledger joked, before thinking about the matter. “I...I like this relationship. You and me. Mostly because you actually care about me. I’d like it if we kept it simple, because I know I can trust you. I...don’t know that about anyone else.”

“Define simple,” Midnight replied, her voice was quiet.

“One mare, one stallion, or drone in this case. Of course, whatever you want to do, I’ll listen to as well. But really, I think we should spend time with each other, go out on a few dates around town, before we make decisions about anything really serious with each other.”

And that was it, as Midnight realised the flaw in this relationship. They had never actually agreed to dating. Honestly, he was only a little more than her usual... partners.

“I’m so bucking stupid...” she whispered to herself, small tears running down her cheeks. Upon seeing her crying, Level reacted more on instinct than actual thought. Of course, if he had been thinking, it would have followed the same lines. Namely, your mare is upset. Comfort her.

With that, he lit his horn again and pulled Midnight back onto the couch, though this time, he was the one cuddling her, not the other way around. “Shh,” he said, holding her close. “It’ll be okay,” he whispered into her ear before kissing it.

“H-How?” she replied, her voice cracking. “I thought that there was more to this relationship. I thought we had something we didn’t... I’m selfish and stupid and you can’t even admit you fucked that mare!”

Ledger opened his mouth as he raised his eyebrows. “I assure you, all I did was meet Miss Cider for a business meeting. She was simply hungover from sampling her latest batch of alcohol, and clumsy as a result. It took her spilling the sugar to realize she needed to see to herself before seeing to her guest.” Internally, he was panicking his little head off. “And so long as we share an apartment, Midnight, then we can fix whatever you think is wrong.”

Midnight knew he was lying, she could smell that mare’s arousal all over him. But for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to blame him. He wasn’t hers, he could do whatever... or whoever he wanted. Calling him out would make her look like a hypocrite.

“I don’t... I don’t know what’s wrong,” she said, pushing herself away from him. “I... I don’t even care, if you did... with her...” This was so wrong, so Celestia-damned confusing. Why did she have to fall in love in the first place. It only caused pain.

Ledger paused for a moment before drawing Midnight back into a cuddle. “A few things for you, then. Changelings view sex a little differently than ponies, especially the Violets. Seeing as emotions are our food...we do whatever we can to garner positive ones. And they...do whoever they can. Now I am aware that ponies see sex a bit differently, mostly a consummation of a good relationship. And…” Here he sighed for a moment, honestly ashamed. “Somehow you know, so yes. Apple Cider came on real strong, and she was quite an experience...but she wasn’t you.”

Here the drone slumped as he kept holding the thestral close. “I bucked her, yes. She wanted some excitement beyond tending her orchard, and apparently I was the thing to hoof. But there was...no love there. Only lust. And that’s not...bad, but I could sleep with many mares, and they would all make me think of you. I’m actually thinking of quitting that usual practice out altogether, but it’s your call.”

Well, that felt like a hoof to the face. Midnight just stared in silence at him. She wasn’t sure what to think... or say.

“B-But that, it makes no... But the male is always right, so I guess... but I love him so does that make it... But the male can take what he wants...” Her head hurt as she got up from the couch, taking a few uneasy steps before falling over. The noise she made was something between a laugh and a sob. It was... quite unsettling.

Ledger got up from the couch, pulled Midnight into a sitting position, and sat in front of her before giving her a hug. “Your faith in me is flattering,” he said softly, “But remember, for me, the situation is reversed. The female is always right in the Lands.”

“I guess... we’re just broken...” Midnight said, without a hint of emotion. “Whatever... wasn’t like I was meant to love anyway...”

Ledger pulled back and gave her a kiss. A chaste one, on the lips, before lightly wapping Midnight with one chitinous hoof. “Don’t you dare say that,” he said with a hint of a glare. “I felt your love. I tasted your love for me. And I am sorry that bucking Apple Cider caused you to doubt us, but it’s just the way little ‘lings are taught before we’re let loose on Equestria. It wasn’t an issue when I still had...issues, but if you want me to stop sleeping with other mares altogether, it’s your call. You’re the female in this relationship, so what you say goes. Just stop doubting yourself. Where’s the fearless mare that took down Toll Taker for me?”

“She’s confused as fuck right now,” Midnight replied, a small hint of emotion back in her voice. “I was taught to always obey the male. His desires are my desires, his wishes are fulfilled by me. His orders are absolute...” She hated that life, it wasn’t hers and she didn’t want it. So she’d turned to a life of debauchery and perverse delights, one where she was always in control. And now there was this stallion... this, adorably awkward stallion who had the complete opposite of a life.

“This trite crap should only exist in books,” she muttered. “I’m...” she sighed and looked at him. “Surprisingly, I’m not mad at you. Hell, I had regrets a little earlier today that I haven’t banged Fredrick or that cute Violet... So blaming you for chasing some tail would be hypocritical of me.”

“A little,” Ledger said as he kissed Midnight again. “How about this? My desire is for you to tell me your desires, my wish is for you to be normal. How does me sleeping around really make you feel?” He sat back and waited for the tirade he knew was coming.

She snorted as a thought ran through her head and her mouth opened before she could stop it. “I’m bucking annoyed you didn’t invite me.”

Ledger blinked a few times...before snickering and laughing. “Oh dear. Okay, I’ll make you a promise,” he said, pointing at their bedroom. “If you can get Apple Cider into that bed after meeting her and telling her who you are, i.e., my marefriend...then maybe we can include her in our ‘nighttime activities’, if that’s what you’re after. She seemed more like the type to love ‘em and leave ‘em, though. Fair warning.”

“You, I’m not that mad at. Her? I wanna eviscerate her,” Midnight replied. How dare she seduce her stallion? Goddamm hussy.

“Look, we’re weird. We’re broken and we barely know one another,” Midnight said. “Honestly, there’s only one thing I can really think of that’ll work out.”

“We definitely need to go on some dates with one another,” Ledger said. “Really get to know each other better than the sounds we make while bucking each other.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Midnight nodded. “Toll Taker messed you up, that nymph messed you up. I was royally messed up long before you met me, and really, starting over might be the best idea.”

She cleared her throat and held out a hoof, smiling. “Hello, my name is Midnight Song.”

Ledger blinked before smiling and taking the hoof, kissing it. “Hello, my name is-” here he let out a series of vague noises, before smirking and adopting his unicorn disguise. “But you can call me Level Ledger.”

Midnight blinked upon hearing his Changeling name. “What...” she opened her mouth and tried to say his name the way he did.

She did so... poorly.

“Did I get that right?”

Level laughed a little before smirking. “You actually just asked where the nearest restroom was,” he informed her. “So hey, at least you can do that.”

“Buck you,” she poked her tongue out. She’d get it right with enough practice... actually, she suddenly got a brilliant idea and Ledger sensed his favourite food. The feeling of somepony striking upon a revelation.

“Somepony has a plan~” he singsonged.

“Somepony isn’t getting any tonight,” Midnight shot back with her own tune. “You shouldn’t have filled up on Cider....” then something he said earlier clicked in her brain and she burst out laughing.

“I was planning on giving most of the lust I got from Cider to Scope anyways, help her with the process of growing a new shell,” Ledger pouted. “Sooner she can walk, the better.”

“Oh, so you planned on taking little Scopey as well?” she snorted. “You’re such a beast under that adorable shell.”

“I...do not get it,” Ledger said with a tilt of his head. “Transferring emotions to help the helpless is typically looked at as a good thing…”

“She means,” Scopes voice said from the dining table, somehow having returned un-noticed. “You said you’d give all your lust to me. Now have a good think about who you said that to, moron.”

Ledger blinked a few times before blushing through his chitin and coughing. “Oh. Wow. Okay, for the record,” he said, looking over at Scope. “I still find you a deplorable example of a nymph and wouldn’t sleep with you if you were the last ‘ling on Equus.”

“Aw, I love you too,” Scope deadpanned. “And thanks for the food... and the show. It was quite entertaining.” She got up and left, having already eaten all the food Ledger had brought home.

Ledger coughed before she got to her room and held his forelegs apart for a hug. “It’d be easier to give you the lust if we at least hugged,” he said. “Though I’d really rather you not be within striking distance.”

Scope scowled, but the sooner she was fully recovered, the sooner she could make her escape. Taking baby steps towards him, it seemed like an age, before she hugged him back, feeling the flow of power enter her, fill her with warmth and energy.

Midnight watched, her wings stretching out as she drooled lightly. “Mmm, now... kiss~”

“No thank you,” Ledger said, running one hoof along one of the cracks before lightly knocking on Scope’s exoskeleton. “Hmm...you’re healing nicely. Another day or two and you’ll be ready to shed this damaged thing.” He considered the hug itself before lightly laughing. “And wow...it’s been eight years since I hugged another ‘ling...almost forgot what it felt like.”

Scope hadn’t even noticed that the energy transfer was complete, simply content to keep hugging the noble drone. Midnight just watched and tilted her head.

“Hmm... maybe my blades could help her shed that shell?”

“Okaythatsenoughgonnagotosleep!” Scope shrieked and bolted for her bedroom, the sound of the door locking was the last thing they heard.

Ledger sighed and shook his head, both before...and after he looked at the table. “Well,” he said, observing the carnage before looking at Midnight. “Might I take you to dinner, m’lady?” he asked, coming over to kiss one of her forehooves.

“Well, I don’t see why not?” Midnight replied. “Our usual place then?”

“Fredrick and Narrow are a’courting,” Level said with a roll of his eyes. “I think they’re in a similar, just less damaged, boat that we are. I have another place in mind that would serve if we wanted less...prying eyes.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Midnight smiled. She put some of her armour back on, mostly her hoofguards and breastplate. “I at least have to look presentable,” she smiled. “Oh, and tell me... just how was that mare able to seduce you so easily?”

“She got me drunk first and maneuvered the conversation to that topic,” Level said with a sigh. “And the sugar actually did end up on her after she quite quickly sobered me up. And...well, then she offered to let me clean her up, and one thing quite quickly led to another.” The drone licked his lips at the memory. “I still can’t say no to sugar.”

Midnight Song made a note to cover herself in sugar. “Well, I hope she wasn’t as cute as me at least. I don’t think my ego could handle it.”

Level shrugged. “We’re poor judges of beauty unless we’re Greens,” he said. “Seeing as how we could be anypony, everypony looks equally nice to us. We don’t judge on appearances.” He then looked at Midnight and snorted. “Now if you do go tracking Apple Cider down, I don’t want you to be too badly behaved. She’s not only someone who I bucked, but she’s also a mare with a contract with my company.” Here Ledger stopped for a moment to smile at being able to say that phrase. “Ahem...anyways, yes. Make your stance clear without scaring her off, if you’d please. I still need her business.”

“I’ll do what I can” Midnight hummed. She was going to have to check this cider place at some point. Perhaps a routine Guard inspection? Followed by a.. not so routine inspection~ Also, on that note.

She flew up off of the ground and landed on Ledger’s back. “Me, laying on the bed. Coated in the finest sugar~”

Ledger paused and shook a few times, trying to get the image out of his head and his body back under control before they went out for dinner. “Dammit Midnight!...Maybe as a birthday thing,” he mused after a moment. “But you can’t do that before we go out to eat!”

“Oh? Why’s that?” she asked innocently as she nibbled on his ear. “My legs are adorned with the silkiest of socks. My mane splayed out like golden waves... My eyes... just begging to be taken by my... hungry stallion~”

“Because otherwise I might just have my fill of you instead, leaving you hungry,” he said, fighting his body as much as he dared. “And you need food. So unless you want to go hungry, I suggest you stop trying to get me hard.”

“Heehee, you’re so cute,” she giggled as she hopped from his back and opened the front door, her tail flicking to one side for a brief moment. “Let’s go Levvy~”

“You are going to be the death of me,” Ledger moaned as he followed his mare out. “Take care Scope!” he called back as the pair of them left.

“Buck you!” she shouted back.

“Midnight’s already on that,” he clarified for the nymph before the front door was pulled closed. He turned to come face-to-face with the grinning Thestral.

“Oh Levvy... I’m just getting started~”

Chapter Fourteen - This issue won't stop bugging me.

Midnight Song hummed happily as she practically skipped towards Fredricks restaurant. Over the last day, she’d put a plan in motion and was about to reap the fruits of her... admittedly minimal labour. She’d put a lot of thought into what Princess Luna had said to her the other night, and the more she thought about it, the more it could work out for everypony.

She’d sent messengers to both Level Ledger and Apple Cider, requesting a private lunch that they weren’t allowed to refuse. Neither knew the other was going to be there, so a few fireworks were to be expected.

Ledger wouldn’t make a scene at Fred’s, so it was the venue of choice. And Apple Cider seemed like a reasonable mare. The door’s bell gave a familiar chime as she walked in, her mind consumed with thoughts on what she was going to say and how she’d handle it.

“Hello ma’am,” an unfamiliar pegasus greeted Midnight. “Booth for one?”

“Awah?” Midnight was so lost in thought, the pegasus startled her. “Sweet Luna!... uh, no, I need one for three actually.”

“Booth or table?” the pegasus asked with only a hint of a smile as he pulled three menus out from behind the podium that his employer was normally stationed at.

“Private booth please,” Midnight nodded. “I’ll place our orders now, as we want to be disturbed as little as possible.”

“Very well,” the stallion said as he put the menus back and pulled out a pad of paper and a pencil. “What would you like to order?”

“Hmm, I’ll take a mango parfait and the caesar salad. A rigatoni with clam sauce and this apple salad and sparkling cider. Also, a coffee with three sugars and a jug of chilled water please?”

The pegasus wrote it all down as fast as he dared, and kept scribbling for a minute longer once Midnight was done ordering. Giving it a quick double-check, the orange-coated pony nodded and looked up to the thestral mare. “Mango parfait, caesar salad. Rigatoni with clam sauce, apple salad, sparkling cider. One coffee, three sugars, and a jug of water. All of that sound correct, ma’am?”

“Correct, top marks!” she smiled. “Also, you new here? I’ve never seen you before.”

“Yes, the boss thought I should try my skills at greeting the customers...and he’s also busy making a loaf of bread at the moment,” the stallion said with a nod. “I’ll pass this on to the kitchen once we get you seated in the private room. Once your party joins you, we’ll begin work on those dishes.”

“That would be wonderful,” Midnight replied as she hoofed over the bits for the meal, as well as a generous tip for the Pegasus.

“This way, ma’am,” the stallion said as he began to lead the mare to what turned out to be a very fine dining room. The sole table sat in the middle with a pristine white tablecloth on it. There were a few candlesticks placed strategically around the circular platform, and four chairs sat around it. With a bit of maneuvering, one was removed and put up against one wall, while the other two were pushed into roughly equidistant positions around the table.

“And would the lady prefer to have the window open or closed?” the stallion asked, gesturing to the fixture on one wall.

“Closed please,” Midnight replied. This was a pretty romantic setup, not what she’d planned, but it could work. “This is a nice room,” she said and winked at the stallion. “I’d almost say you were trying to impress me~”

“The Boss is the one that gets the most use out of this room,” the stallion said with a roll of his eyes, before snickering. “Though he does offer it to us if we ever need a place to bring a ‘hot date’ as he calls it.” The pegasus shut and drew the curtains over the window before walking to one wall and knocking on it with his hoof. “Soundproofed too, so that you can be assured of privacy...and some days, that’s all that saves our ears or sanity.”

“I suddenly feel like taking a shower,” Midnight said, looking at the table with a questionable expression. “Well, no matter. My guests are a Unicorn stallion named Level Ledger, and an Earth Pony mare named Apple Cider. Please show them here once they arrive.”

“Will do ma’am, and in case you were wondering, not only are the table and chairs of sturdy make, but they’ve been enchanted to be very difficult to break,” With that, the stallion left the batpony to her musings as he left the room, the door being pulled shut with a soft click.

“Good to know, prolly shouldn’t have told me that though...” Now she wondered if Fredrick had brought Narrow here and... Oh Celestia, she did not need to picture that!!

“Dammit Fredrick!” she shouted as she took a seat. “Okay, so... I guess I wait?”

Yeah, Midnight hated waiting…

It was about five minutes before the first guest arrived, Level showing up with a bemused expression on his face. “Dare I ask why you reserved Fredrick’s private room?” the unicorn asked his roommate slash lover slash marefriend…

Some days even he was confused what they were to each other.

“You’ll see soon enough,” Midnight replied. She had been about sixty seconds away from climbing the walls.

Literally.

After he’d taken his seat, the door opened again as Apple Cider was led into the room. “Well, ah’m here like y’all asked Miss...Midnight...?” She paused as she saw Ledger sitting there and her heart skipped a beat. “Uh...”

“Sneaky Midnight,” Ledger mock-chastised her. “You got us both in the same room as you.”

“Wasn’t hard,” Midnight shrugged. “The both of you are surprisingly gullible.”

“Ah feel like ah should take offense to that,” Cider deadpanned as she sat down. “So uh, why did y’all want us here?”

“Don’t look at me,” Ledger said as he looked at Midnight. “I have some idea, but I’m not the conductor today.”

“What, a pony can’t have lunch with her coltfriend and his mistress?” Midnight shrugged as she folded a napkin.

Ledger shot a look at Apple Cider at that statement. “I was unaware you were okay with...that situation,” he said aloud.

“So was I,” Cider replied. She was getting a little nervous now, eyeing Midnight’s sharp fangs and gleaming eyes. She gulped audibly as she put a hoof to the side of her neck.

Midnight caught that and sighed. “Oh for the love of- I’m not going to drink your blood!” She tossed her napkin and frowned. “And for the record, I am not okay with the fact that you lied about it. I want you to be able to trust me Ledger. Let me ask you this. Do you feel like you made a mistake, either of you?”

“I...felt bad about it at the time, and I felt bad about lying about it to you, but that was because I didn’t know how you would take it,” Ledger said, tapping his forehooves together. “You know our...values don’t exactly align, and we hadn’t had that talk yet.”

“Well, ah did feel bad that Ledger might have been a little tipsy,” Cider said. “But he seemed to be in his right mind, and he never mentioned that he had a marefriend-”

“Good enough,” Midnight said, cutting her off. “But I have a more important question. “What do the two of you feel now. And I want total honesty. I swear, on my honour as a Guard to Princess Celestia, that I will not get mad about your answer. I just want to know how you two feel about each other now.”

“Well,” Ledger started. “She’s a nice mare, she’s got a level head on her shoulders, she’s a great business partner, and,” here Ledger blushed before looking away and muttering something about their romp together under his breath.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that,” Song said smugly.

Ledger sighed and looked at Midnight before repeating himself a little louder. “She could teach you a few things about ‘muscle control,’” the unicorn said.

Midnight just blinked, looking at a profusely blushing Cider and a rather abashed Ledger. Now, stop and think. You said you wouldn’t get mad. You said you wouldn’t get mad. You said you wouldn’t get mad.... I’m going to bucking-!!!

She took a deep breath and smiled sweetly, even as she radiated a dark aura. “I see, thank you for that information Level Ledger.”

Rule One of a relationship. If a mare uses your full name. You are fucking bucked!

“So, how about you Miss Cider? I’d like to hear your opinions.”

“I ah, I feel like ah really shouldn’t...” She shot a look to Ledger. “Especially since he don’t have all that long ta live...”

“Nonsense,” Midnight smiled a-little-too-widely. “Level Ledger will be just fine!”

“...Something tells me to make sure my will is up-to-date, and to make sure Scope doesn’t see the sorts of things you’re going to put me through,” Ledger deadpanned.

Midnight waved a hoof, she’d show him ‘muscle control’ later. “Well Miss Cider? Your thoughts?”

“Uh, well, ah think Level is a fine stallion. He’s kind, considerate, if not a little shy and awkward. He tended to blush and stammer a lot... and has a weird obsession fer sugar...”

Midnight would forget Ledger’s punishment. Apple Cider wasn’t pulling her punches.

“Ta be honest, ah wasn’t lookin’ fer anything permanent... but ah guess, it wouldn’t be so bad.” She blushed as she hid her face behind her napkin. “At least... at least ah wouldn’t have ta wake up alone everyday...”

Midnight was stunned. Again!

“Dear Luna, she’s bucking adorable,” she whispered. “I no longer blame Ledger. I wanna hug you so bad right now...”

“Still, what is the point?” Ledger asked, an eyebrow raised. “Apparently we still think of each other as ‘acceptable enough’, but as long as we’re dating…” Ledger pointed a hoof between himself and Midnight. “Then…”

“Well,” Midnight hummed, having wormed her way around the table as she was running a hoof through Cider’s mane, playing with one of her braids. “I may have a... solution.”

“Ah knew it, this is mah last meal isn’t it?” Cider moaned.

“Cider. Seriously. Those books? BURN THEM!” Midnight replied.

“To be fair, not many who aren’t very well-read know about Thestrals or the facts around them,” Ledger pointed out. “I only know as much as I do because I’ve read through so many libraries.” Hopefully Cider wouldn’t ask where those libraries were...

“So uh, whut’s this ‘solution’ of yours?” Cider asked, wishing to change the subject, especially with those fangs so close to her neck.

“Well...” Midnight hummed. “It’s a little thing a friend of mine told me about.” She moved back to her seat as she recalled that night. “Oh man that kiss was so hot....”

“...Midnight, we’re not psychic,” Ledger deadpanned. “We can’t read your mind to determine the solution you were given...and at times, I doubt I would look in your head even if I could.”

Midnight snapped back to reality and pouted. “Okay, one. That’s mean, and two... Cider? How do you feel about mares?”

“Mares?” she repeated. “Uh, I’m going to hafta ask about the context.”

“Would you buck a mare?” Midnight stated with all the subtlety of a brick to the head.

“Yer assuming ah haven’t already?” Cider smirked, before blushing. “Ah, well... you know. Ah experimented... a few times...”

“...I am not sure where this conversation is going anymore,” Ledger admitted, thoroughly lost.

“That’s cause you’re cute,” Midnight patted his head. “And I’m being all mysterious and enigmatic.”

“Ah think yer jus’ dragging out the main event, but that’s just me,” Cider shrugged.

“Cute, sexy and sassy?” Midnight gasped. “Oh, she is good.”

“Out with it Midnight, or I might just go get lunch elsewhere,” Ledger mock-threatened. Midnight pouted as she folded her arms.

“Fine. We form a herd. There. Happy?” Her moment was totally ruined now. Ledger blinked a few times as he tilted his head to one side, apparently trying to wrap his head around the idea...and failing.

“A-A whut?” Cider asked, equally as confused.

Midnight sighed as she unfolded her legs. “It’s simple, you,” she pointed at Ledger. “You,” moving to Cider. “And me, in a relationship. Together. We all date one another.”

Ledger blinked a few more times before shaking his head. “I’m sorry, I must have misheard. You said something about sharing me, and my brain just shut down.”

“Ah have to agree,” Cider nodded. “This uh, this was not whut ah was expectin’.”

“When I first heard... hehheh, ‘herd’... about it. I didn’t believe it either, but my source knows better than anypony. There hasn’t been one in a long time... but it’s a solution yeah? Cider gets all the company she wants. Ledger gets all the love he could ever need and I get... well, I guess the one I care about is happy so...”

Ledger pulled Midnight over to himself with his magic and gave her a hug, kissing at her ears while he did. “I love you so much,” he muttered. “Did I fail to mention that?” The unicorn rested his head atop Midnight’s and looked at Cider while he made the next observation. “Company for Cider, healthy female company for me...And I’m certain you have a few ideas as to what you could wring out of us beyond cooking and cuddles.”

Midnight didn’t hear that last part, she was too busy drowning out the sound of her heart pounding in her ears as she blushed. “You-You said... you love me?” Even Cider gushed at the adorable display.

“Yup, and I’ll say it as many times as I need to for it to sink in,” Ledger agreed with only a slight nod. “But a problem comes to mind...she’ll need to be fully read in, Midnight.”

“And that’s the real problem,” Midnight sighed, her elated mood deflating. She looked at Cider and her expression turned serious. “So, Apple Cider? What do you think of this idea?”

“Well,” Cider admitted. “It’s unconventional, that’s fer sure.” She fiddled with her napkin as she looked at the two. “Ah mean, ah don’t want to come between you two. Yer awful cute together and ah feel like a third wheel...”

“That’s the point,” Midnight said. “This is about all of us. Like I said. Together. Nopony gets ignored, nopony is considered ‘in the way’.”

Cider hummed quietly. She never expected this, and if she said yes... “W-Well what about the contract that Ledger and ah have? Wouldn’t that be a problem if ah started dating him?”

“Others might assume that, yes,” Ledger said with a smile. “But I am perfectly capable of separating business and pleasure, public and private. You won’t be able to use sex or our dates as negotiation tools, and your contract is no better or worse than anypony else’s. Our business lives should have no impact on our love lives unless we let them.”

Cider blushed, “L-Like ah’d use that as something like that!” she stammered. “Ah ain’t that kind of mare mister!”

“Fantastic!” Ledger said with a smile. “So with that out of the way, there are only a few issues that come to mind. One is...that, and the other is our food being so late.”

As if summoned by magic, there was a resounding knock on the door. That was all the warning they got before a unicorn started pushing a cart into the room, stocked with all their food that Midnight had ordered.

“I sometimes wonder if you manipulate fate on purpose,” Midnight said as the waiter levitated their food onto the table. Ledger sniffed and let go of Midnight from his hug so that she could eat her own food while he looked at his.

“Oooh, Fred’s rigatoni,” Ledger said while salivating. “You know me so well.”

“I do try,” Midnight replied as she drooled over her parfait. No, she was saving that for dessert... but, mmmm... mangoes~

“This looks nice,” Cider agreed, nibbling at her own salad. “Mm, really crisp and fresh... and... are these my apples?”

“You are the best supplier in the city,” Ledger pointed out as he sipped at the coffee Midnight had ordered. “I think Fredrick was most upset by the hiccup in service.”

“Indeed he was,” the unicorn said as he began leading the cart out. “In his words, ‘no ingredients, no food! I can’t cook with air!’”

“Tell him he’s not trying hard enough then,” Midnight giggled. Ledger and the other unicorn joined in with the giggling as the door softly closed shut once more as their server left. With that, the soundproofing sealed the inhabitants of the room from all outside influence again.

“So, what do you say Cider?” Midnight asked between bites. “Do you think it could work?”

“Well...” Apple Cider blushed lightly as she ate. “Ah guess so... but, is this really an okay solution? Ah mean, if ah hadn't seduced Level in the first place...”

“I gave in,” Ledger pointed out between bites. “I could have walked away. And really, you being all alone on that farm? I’m sure you’re a big, strong mare...but I’m also sure there was a reason I ended up in that bed beyond my weakness.”

“So this is fate then?” Cider asked. “Ah ain’t real big on believing in that. Life is what you make of it.”

“Then make something of it,” Ledger said with a smile. “Do you want me, us, in your life, do you want to join us in ours...or do you want to go to bed alone again?”

“Ah, ah dunno if ah can decide on something like this right away,” Cider replied. “This is a pretty big decision after all...”

Midnight would respond, but she was tongue-deep in parfait.

“Will you at least agree to join Midnight in dating me properly?” Ledger asked as he took another sip of coffee. “I find you to be a nice mare, and I could do with more nice mares in my life.”

“Why is that?” Cider asked as she sipped her cider. “Y’all mentioned love before, and Midnight said y’all had a... certain way of being raised. Ah need to know if ah’m gettin’ into anything weird.”

“I was raised in an area that didn’t value stallions...or colts,” Ledger said as he took another bite of his food. “As a result, some terrible things happened to me not long ago. Thanks to Midnight, I’m recovering quite a bit, though...there’s always going to be a mark of what happened.”

“My life was kind of the opposite,” Midnight said. “In the Thestral lands...” she paused, realising that she’d never told any suitors of hers this before... heck, aside from her parents and Celestia, nopony knew. “A stallion’s rule is absolute. A mare must be obedient at all times. She cooks, cleans and... provides services to her stallion and whomever he deems fit...” She paused and frowned, realising that the parfait glass she was holding had shattered in her tight grip, causing small cuts on her hoof…

Ledger reached over with one hoof and rubbed her hoof gently as his magic checked to make sure there was no glass lodged in the wounds. “So we’re two broken souls,” he explained to Apple Cider, “Mirror images of each other. We could do with a healthy influence...if you wouldn’t mind being that influence, so much the better.”

“Ah... ah dunno if ah could do something like that,” she said quietly. “Ah’m just a simple farmer... nothing special or the like.”

“And that’s what we need,” Midnight said. “Normal, simple... We tried to make this work, but there’s just... too much to deal with on our own.” Midnight didn’t want to say it, she didn’t want to admit to the stallion that she’d almost run away that night he’d confessed to her.

Apple Cider sat there, unable to figure out how to respond. She was a working mare, she was alone, because her farm work didn’t allow the luxury of company. “Ah wouldn’t be there all that often,” she said. “Mah work takes up a lot of time. You... you shouldn’t waste your time on a mare like me.”

Ledger paused in his eating, got up from his chair, and walked over to Apple Cider’s place. He stared at her for a moment before drawing the Earth Pony into a hug like the one he’d given Midnight.

“Wha? Why is everypony huggin’ me!?” she exclaimed.

“Seems we’re just a big pile of sadsacks,” Midnight chuckled, using her napkin to sweep up the broken glass. She’d have to pay Fredrick back for that. “Well, that’s my idea. You don’t have to agree and you can take all the time you need to give us an answer...” she gave a wink and smiled. “Just don’t keep us waiting too long.”

“W-Well,” Cider said, surprised Midnight wasn’t saying anything about Ledger hugging and nuzzling her. “Ah guess... we could go on a date or two... test the waters so to speak.”

“Would this one count, then?” Ledger mused before letting go of Cider and walking back to his plate, in order to polish off the pasta.

“Nah, this is just a hello and to see how easily I can manipulate you both,” Midnight chuckled. “Though, I suppose you can call it a date if you want. I won’t stop you.”

“The next question I suppose we should ask is, when do we tell her?” Ledger asked aloud. “Sooner is probably better, but if she reacts so strongly to you, Celestia only knows how she’ll react to…”

“Tell me what?” Cider asked, her hearing was surprisingly astute.

“Well,” Midnight asked. “Remember when I said that Levvy and I have... cultural differences?”

“Ah believe so,” Cider snarked back.

“Well, it’s just, he doesn’t know pony society all that well.”

Apple Cider snorted and sipped her drink. “Y’all’d think he’s a changeling or something, with all this talk of love and not knowing and...” her eyes widened. “Why ain’t y’all saying anything...?”

Ledger smirked, closed his eyes, popped the last bit of pasta into his mouth, and opened his now-slitted eyes as he muttered his approval around his meal.

“Ah, Level? Y’all... got a little something in yer eyesssaaandohmahCelestia! Yer a Changeling!?!”

Ledger nodded as he swallowed the last bit of his meal. “I suppose a few things make more sense in retrospect, don’t they?” he dryly questioned the mare. “By the way, your panic fills me with so much hope,” he deadpanned.

“Well ah’m sorry but you’re a CHANGELING!” she stated, backing away from the table. Midnight nodded and patted his head again.

“He always has been Cider, and it’s something you’d likely find out sooner or later. Are you okay?”

Cider didn’t respond... due to the fact that she’d fainted.

“Peachy...” Midnight muttered. Ledger shrugged and shifted his eyes back.

“You paid for the room, and until we leave, I know Fredrick won’t sell it to another. So we can wait for her to wake up. Though…” Here Ledger picked up the jug of water, a wicked smile on his muzzle.

“Level Ledger, that would be cruel and unusual,” Midnight said. “It’s alright, I have a technique for waking a fainted pony up. Was taught it by my old mentor.” She hopped off of her chair and trotted over to Cider. Standing over the fallen mare, she placed a hoof against her chest to check her breathing, before moving her onto her back and tilting her head back to clear her airways. Midnight took a deep breath and placed her lips against Ciders…

A sharp rap came from the door and Fredrick peeked his beak in. “Hello, just checking to see if you needed or wanted anything...else…” At this point, he joined Level in the ‘staring at two mares making-out’, before recalling his professionalism, smirking, and closing the door. So, they wanted the room for that, eh? Fine, he’d leave them be for another hour...

Gonna. Kill. That bird. Midnight frowned as Cider’s eyes fluttered open, and blushed upon seeing the Thestral locking lips with her.

Midnight pulled back and smiled. “Well now, welcome back to the waking world,’ she beamed. “You okay there Cider?”

“Uhh, what... happened?” Midnight helped her to her hooves and the earth pony rubbed her head. “Ah remember talking... and then...”

“You fainted when we said that Levvy was a Changeling,” Midnight replied, catching Cider as she fell again. “Oh no you don’t, stay awake missy!”

“But, he’s a... what?” Cider shook her head. “Is that why ah’m feelin’ weak. Are y’all stealing my love?”

“He’s not, and you wouldn’t feel like that even if he was,” Midnight sighed, not letting Ledger answer that one. “I... I’ve had bad experiences with them in the past. I was at that wedding you know. I almost... they almost...” Well okay, Ledger didn’t need to know that particular detail. “But they’re not all bad. You’ve seen how adorably awkward he is. Trust me, he’s really like that.”

“Mmhmm,” Ledger said, killing the coffee and smiling. “If you want to learn more about changelings, I’m an open book...as long as you don’t go spouting off the fact that there are changelings around.” He pointed a hoof at Cider. “Your reaction? Tame. Others might not be. I’d rather not be run out of my home because of what I am.”

Fact. Apple Cider was still alive. So that was a plus. Fact, she was certain she was stronger, so she could bail out of the window. Fact, he was pretty adorkable. Fact... uhh... she could distract him with sugar and a bright light?

“W-Well, all things considered... this is probably less weird than Miss Midnights idea?”

“Now consider she’s asking us to combine those ideas,” Level said with a smirk. “It’s just all sorts of weird, I’m surprised fainting was all you did.”

“Oooh, no, ah am freaking out right now. Ah jus’ freak out on the inside.”

“Says the mare who thinks I’m a sparkly vampony...” Midnight muttered.

“Can-Can I see it?” she asked hesitantly. “You know, whut ya really look like.”

“Only if you promise not to tell,” Level teased as he sat back in his chair. “You don’t want to know your other options if you don’t make the promise.”

“Cross mah heart, hope ta’ fly, stick a cupcake in mah eye,” she said, doing some odd motions. When Ledger and Midnight just stared blankly at her she shrugged. “What? It’s somethin’ mah cousin taught me.”

“Fair enough,” Ledger laughed as his horn lit up with a soft silver glow. Soon, all of his form followed, and his disguise melted away. The noble silver drone sat in Level’s place smirking amusedly at Apple Cider. Mentally, Ledger began counting the seconds until Midnight tackled him. One, two...

“He’s... shiny?” Cider said as she stared at him. There was a blurred motion as something shot past her and tackled the changeling to the ground, giving him a deep kiss.

“And... that’s a thing... apparently,” Cider replied. Ledger eventually broke the kiss and shifted the mare to his back, so that she could hug him while he talked.

“I do not know why she finds my natural form so cuddable, but there you have it,” Ledger said.

“He’s a big, squishy buggy!” Midnight explained her reasoning. “What’s not to love?”

“Well ah, this is.. gonna take some gettin’ used to,” Cider said. Ledger could sense her nervousness, but it wasn’t as strong as before. Bits of curiousness and... anticipation? were mixed in as well.

“So, does that mean?” Midnight asked, squeezing the life from Ledger.

“Ah guess... Ah’ll still give it a try. Ah won’t tell anypony, and y’all can’t tell mah family. Especially cousin Applejack!”

“I bet Fritter’d be cool with it,” Midnight replied as her hug tightened. “She’s surprisingly open to new things.”

Ledger tapped Midnight with one hoof before pointing at his neck. He kind of needed to breathe...

“Ahh, whoops?” Midnight let go as he sucked in a lungfull of air.

“And how do you know ‘bout Fritter?” Cider asked.

“Ahh... lucky guess?” Midnight replied, looking at the ceiling.

“Don’t ask,” Ledger clarified for the mare. “So…” Here he looked at Apple Cider, then at Midnight, before sighing. “Midnight, I enjoy cuddles as much as the next pony, but I think if you get off, miss Cider here might be more open to examining her local changeling.” Too much weird in one spot made ponies skittish, and to Cider, Thestrals were clearly odd. Throw in a changeling and she probably wouldn’t get within ten feet.

He nearly jumped out of his chitin when Cider pressed a hoof against his side. “Huh... he really is kinda squishy.”

“See!” Midnight resumed her hugging. “He’s really warm and makes a great bedwarmer~”

“...Well color me surprised,” Level said as he lay there, letting Cider examine him. “As far as I can tell, my chitin becomes hard only in fight-or-flight mode, something about the adrenaline being a factor for change and to help with my survival. And of course if it gets damaged it can’t change back.”

“Huh? Well, ya learn sumthin’ everyday,” Cider replied as she poked him some more. “Ah wonder...”

“Yes, he really is that big in this form, it’s not just a disguise,” Midnight purred as her tail brushed against his inner thigh.

“Oooh, ah was wonderin’ about that,” Cider giggled.

“Father was a Violet, mother was a noble, it was going to happen,” Ledger grumbled, but smirked. “And you two seem to like it, so I guess there’s a reason for it.”

“Like it? Ah was walking funny fer three days!” Cider said as she looked at him. “Ya’ll know how hard it is to stomp grapes like that?”

Midnight giggled at the mental picture, then blinked. “Hey! You’re okay with Ledger being a love-sucking bug, but I’m a scary vampony? What the hay Cider!?”

“Oooh, I could totally become a Thestral,” Ledger mused. “Really freak her out.”

“Ya’ll do that, and grapes won’t be th’ only thing ah stomp on,” she said. “Ah don’t really know anything about changeling’s other that what ponies have said and whut ah read in th’ paper...”

“I will bucking murder that author...” Midnight growled.

“Yes, well, I propose a game tonight,” Ledger said, smirking at Midnight. “One we got through the other day, but with a twist. Maybe it’ll help ease our new friend into who and what we are?”

“That might work,” Midnight nodded. “So, sleepover at Cider’s then?”

Cider hummed at that thought. “Well, ah guess that’d be okay. Ah have a lot of work to do, so in a few days then. Give me some time to think things over. This is crazy weird...”

“From every perspective,” Ledger agreed. “To me, our meeting was fun and nutritious, and now if everything works out, it’ll be a regular thing...Never expected this. But I’m not saying no, either.” With a small, quick burst of magic, Ledger drew Cider in for a kiss. A deep one.

“Yeep!” her panic flared up and she scrambled back, pushing the changeling off of her. “Whoa nelly! Too much!”

Ledger tried to give her puppy-dog eyes and a pouting lip, to emphasize how sorry he was, both for doing it and for the fact that she didn’t continue it. The effect was somewhat ruined by his natural form.

“Ehhh,” she sighed as she calmed down. “Jus... don’t do that without askin’. Geez...” she stepped forward and after a moment's hesitation, kissed him on the cheek. “Jus’... lemme get used to this first.”

“Aw, and Midnight misses out again,” the Thestral pouted. “Maybe Fredrick will love me?”

“I’d kiss you too if you were somewhere other than my back,” Ledger said as he slowly drew Cider in for a soft hug. “See, I’m not a big scary monster. I just look like one,” he softly whispered.

“Yer first impression sucks,” Cider giggled, wrestling to get her nerves under control. “Look, ah said I was okay with it... just, foal steps...”

“You buck him, now you can’t even hug him?” Midnight giggled. “Ponies are weird.”

“Ah didn’t know he was a Changeling,” Cider responded. Thought it was a little silly when put in that context.

“Well, he was, still is...” Midnight replied, hopping off of his back. “And I’m still behind in score. Maybe I should go and see if Fredrick can put his bits where his beak is?”

Ledger smirked and slowly drew Midnight close before adding her to the hug-pile, making a Cider sandwich out of the situation. Letting her get used to the idea, Ledger leaned over and gave Midnight a kiss while running one calming hoof down Cider’s spine.

“Ah suppose ah could get used to this...” Cider replied, leaning into the hug... until Midnight’s fangs accidentally brushed up against her neck, causing her to yelp and jump back.

“...Seriously?” Midnight sighed. Ledger shifted Midnight to his side, while drawing Cider close again and hugging her, before whispering in her ear.

“I’ve got fangs too, but I swear to you, the only thing either of us use them for is fruit,” he told the Earth Pony, letting one graze through her fur afterwards to punctuate his statement. Apple Cider shuddered, feeling the pointy object brush up against her.

“W-w-well ah know you don’t, y’all eat love right?” Cider stammered. Midnight just shook her head and sighed. Well, at least she had something to tease the adorable mare with. When she wasn’t teasing Scopey....

Oh?

“I totally forgot about Scopey!” she shouted.

“She’s probably fine,” Ledger dismissed. “But if you wanna go get her, I’ll entertain our friend until she’s satisfied I’m not a monster.”

“The only monstrous thing here is Little Ledger,” Midnight deadpanned. “And you aren’t ‘entertaining’ her again without me. Got that!?”

“Yes’m!” Ledger gave off a mock-salute at that order.

“Look, I gotta save Scopey from that den of sin. Just... urgh, fine, but I reserve the right to keep your little ‘secret’ until I can show her personally.” Midnight pouted.

“It’s alright,” Cider said, glancing at a clock. “Ah gotta head back to the farm anyhow. Cider don’t make itself after all.”

“Fine,” Ledger said as he re-donned his disguise. “Oh, I think I found the last part...except for the crop. We got the glass the other day, and a contact helped me find a company that makes magical temperature regulators. So you can get the greenhouse all set up, and I can answer more of your questions while delivering them.”

“Sounds good,” Cider nodded. She was excited to get this greenhouse up and running. If she could, she’d be the first Apple farmer to farm Crystal Berries.

Midnight nodded and gave Ledger and Cider a quick kiss. After grinning, she darted from the room.

“Hang on Scopey! Momma’s coming!” But as she flew out, a thought occurred and she poked her head into the kitchen. “Oh Fredrick~”

The griffon turned to her as he took two loaves of what could roughly be called bread from the oven. It may not have looked like it, but sweet Celestia, it smelled wonderful~

“Yes?” the griffon asked, tilting his head at the batpony. “Was your service inadequate, miss Midnight?”

“Perfect, ‘cept I accidently broke a glass...” she placed some bits on the countertop. “Also, can you assist in some petty revenge on Ledger?”

“There had better be a good reason as to why you wish for me to betray his trust,” Fredrick threatened. Level had helped him with some of his more simple and delicious dishes, and was a regular customer who tipped very well. Plus, the knowledge of pony anatomy he had shared...had helped Fredrick with more than a few mares.

“It’s harmless, and you should ask Ledger about it, he’ll be happy to explain,” she said.

“I make no promises except to listen for the time being,” Fredrick said as he put the bits for a replacement glass away.

“It’s simple really,” Midnight said, her eyes taking a ‘come-hither’ look. “All you have to do is stand perfectly still~”

Fredrick blinked and started to get a little flustered from the attention the mare was suddenly paying him. “Are...you not with Ledger anymore? Is that why you are looking at me like a particularly ripe mango?”

“Mmm, now there’s a nice mental image to have,” Midnight purred, before her lips locked with his beak, her long and very skilled tongue dancing in his mouth. She hummed with a sultry tone, like she was tasting the most delicious meal.

Fredrick didn’t give more than a cursory amount of attention back, as she hadn’t actually answered one way or the other regarding his question. His honor demanded that he know more before getting more involved!

Suddenly, half a restaurant away, Ledger felt the increase in lust radiating off of Midnight...and his body reacted, poking Apple Cider in the back with a very familiar friend. The mare squeaked and looked back at him.

“Ah didn’t even do anything,” she mused with a raised eyebrow.

“Midnight did,” Ledger grumbled. “The fact that that mare hasn’t got a swarm of Violets dogging her every move is a miracle.”

In the kitchen, Midnight pulled back, a little miffed at the lack of reaction. “Well geez, I didn’t think I was that bad...”

“You didn’t answer my question, miss Midnight,” Fredrick pointed out. “And I do not get involved with taken mares.”

Midnight sighed, “Long story short. Ledger got a little tipsy and kissed another mare. Now we may or may not be starting a rather unusual three-way relationship. She’s a little skittish around me and I wanted to even the score. Apparently I can’t even do that right...”

“Pity you tried to seduce a male with honor,” Fredrick winked. “And I teach my waitstaff the same way. You’ll find no ‘easy lays’ here, miss Midnight. Though, I will say, A for technique with the kissing. The only other thestral I bedded was not nearly so skilled.”

“It was a simple kiss Fredrick,” Midnight replied with a dry tone. “And the last you’ll ever get now. I’m off to save my daughter from further corruption. Have fun with the new and improved Narrow by the way...” She turned and left the kitchen, giving that perfect flank of hers a little shake as she did.

Fredrick paused for a moment as a shiver went down his spine. He knew the temperature unit wasn’t on the fritz, so what caused it?

Ledger hummed a wordless tune as he pulled the cart with the last few materials to Apple Cider’s farm. It had been a good day, getting the last of these materials. The glass was a part of the shipping contract: he bought some for himself, and some one-way stuff for the Love Shack, for whatever they wanted it for. The temperature unit had been a lucky find that Fredrick had put him on to when the griffon was questioned about where he got his. And the cart was a company one, enchanted to make all loads lighter so that anypony could pull it.

Ledger nodded at the farmhooves at work in the fields as he walked up to the door of Apple Cider’s home. Stopping a fair distance away and unhooking himself, the unicorn knocked on her front door a few times after closing the distance again.

The door opened to a surprisingly clean kitchen, with Cider in a frilly apron as she scrubbed the benchtop.

“Hey Mr. Ledger,” she said, waving with a free hoof. Ledger chuckled as he stepped into the house, taking note of her efforts to clean.

“I come bearing gifts,” he said, pointing out the front door at the cart. “The glass and industrial-grade unit for temperature control, as promised.”

“Oooh~” Cider dashed outside to inspect the equipment. She looked the temperature unit. “Is this... Griffon made?”

“Yup,” Ledger agreed as he stepped back out to watch her inspect the things he’d brought. “They don’t have unicorns, so they had to come up with some way of keeping things cold in summer and hot in winter without as much magic on-call. This thing only needs a little bit fed into it every now and then to keep it running, along with routine maintenance if something breaks or wears out. I even have a warranty for that,” he said, pulling a folded document from one of his saddlebags.

“Ah, was jus’ gonna ask ya about that,” Cider said, taking the document from him and giving it a once over. “Alright, this all seems to check out.” Inside, a clock chimed, making her ear flick. “Hmm...” She walked over to her porch and raised a hoof, pulling on a short rope. She gave it a few sharp tugs, causing a bell to ring loudly as she called out in a bellowing voice.

“BREAKTIME EVERYPONY!!”

All was silent for a moment, before a veritable stampede of hooves rushed towards the house. A dozen thirsty and hungry ponies had been waiting for this as Cider wheeled out a cart, laden with sandwiches and bottles of juice and water. Once the feeding of the masses was complete, she returned to Ledger.

“Whew, sorry about that. Now where were we?”

Ledger smirked and hitched himself back up to the cart holding the glass and machine with his magic. “I believe you were about to lead me to where you want this,” the unicorn observed.

“Ah!” she beckoned for him to follow and led him to the site where she was constructing her greenhouse. It was massive, roughly about a half-kilometer long and about a hundred metres wide. Once it was up and running, she could fit a few hundred berry trees inside easily.

“This is it, mah most ambitious project and hopefully one of mah most profitable.” She opened the door, leading the stallion inside and helping him unhitch from the cart. “It should be fine to leave here fer the moment. Ah’ll move it to a storeroom later.”

“Just remember to return the cart,” Ledger reminded the mare. “And if this all pans out, this venture will pay for itself within the first month. After which, we can just watch the bits roll in. I still need to schedule a trip up to the Empire to get your crop, but that’s the only thing left to do.”

“Yup, mah greenhouse should be finished in about a week or so, provided some of mah kin can give me a hoof.” She’d sent a letter to Fritter and some folks in Appleloosa, she knew Applejack would be too busy. “So... been busy?” she asked awkwardly, memories of lunch still fresh in her mind.

“Bleh,” Level said, sticking his tongue out. “Running Pegasus Air is such a drag. Not only do we have to cut deals that don’t gouge the other party, but we need to make sure we get enough profit as well. It’s a fine line we tread, and our reputation doesn’t help us. Fortunately, I’m trying to wipe it out by being helpful, but some days it’s…” Here the stallion heaved a sigh.

“Fortunately,” he said after a moment of silence, “Assuming all the deals we currently have hold, then we’ll finally be operating at a profit. Which is good, I was running on funds skimmed from Toll Taker for the past week and a half. I could have stretched it to a full month, but…” here the stallion gestured around them with one hoof at the parts of the greenhouse.

“Oh?” Cider said, her mood deflating. “Ah didn’t mean to run ya so ragged...” While this was a venture she could have done herself, it would have taken over a year to get everything sorted. Ledger accomplished eighty percent of the work in a week. “Ah didn’t mean to be such a bother.”

“Nonsense, I decided to help you because I saw a great opportunity!” Ledger said. “After all, locally-grown Crystal Berry Wine. I still haven’t drunk the bottle you gave me, it’s still so rare.” He drew himself a little closer to the mare, only a little. It was best to sneak up to hugs with Cider, he’d determined. “I tried to run the numbers on the profit we’d earn.” He paused for a beat to let that sink in. “Tried.”

“Ain’t yer math all that good?” she asked. As he tried to hug, the oblivious mare stepped forward to look at the unit again, causing him to stumble and fall. She turned back to him with a worried expression. “You know, if yer that tired, y’all can take a nap in the house.”

“Nah, I’m fine, and you’re not hearing me,” Ledger said, snickering as he picked himself up. “I tried to run the numbers on the profit we’d earn. I failed miserably. With the amount of nightclubs that would stock the wine if they could on the Strip alone, we’d make back our investment selling them each one crate. Granted, that comes out to like fifty, sixty crates. My point stands though. There is a huge market for this, and you’re about to be the only supplier.”

“Which means ah gotta be extra careful on how quiet this is kept,” Cider said. “Ah ain’t the only wine maker in Las Pegasus, and everypony else will do anything if it means gettin’ their rotten hooves on a rare commodity.” She’d had theft in the past, apples, grapes and even some livestock had been made off with. “So there’s gonna be extra costs with security and the like. Plus Crystal berries take a long time to grow. Unless I can get a few mature trees, and pray to the gods that it takes to the transfer, it’ll be a full year before ah can even harvest them.”

“Hmm,” Ledger said as he flicked his ears. “It might be a good idea for you to come with me when the time comes...I’d rather not be swindled when buying the trees, and you’d be better able to tell which would survive the trip and transfer and which wouldn’t.”

“Well, it’s still a gamble on the tree surviving, the changes in temperature, soil conditions and even things like pest management and the type of water...” She could fix it easily by transferring some soil from the trees home, and a temperature controlled train carriage... but the costs would be beyond outrageous.

“I actually think we might be overthinking this, come to think of it,” Ledger pointed out. “Yes, the Empire is located in the frozen north...but under a weather spell. They might get some more extremes, true, but I think the trees will manage pretty well. We’ll probably just have to watch them on the trip over.”

“Yeah, still doesn’t hurt to be prepared,” Cider said as they headed back towards the house. “Now that ah think about it more, ah would like to go with y’all, learn some farming techniques firsthoof.” The farmhooves had returned to their job by now, having used Cider’s absence to slack a little.

“So uh, I’ve put a little thought into... you know, that.”

Ledger merely raised an eyebrow and gestured for the mare to continue with a hoof. She nodded and took a breath.

“Well, ah guess... we could try and make it work. But uh, can ah ask a selfish favour?”

“I make no promises on being able to fulfill it, but I’ll listen,” Ledger replied, now curious.

“W-Well, do you think you could... remain, like that?” she said, gesturing towards his disguised self. “At least until ah get used to this a little more.”

“Aw, and I was totally going to show up in the middle of the night like my normal self, just to freak you out,” Ledger said with no small amount of sarcasm. “Well there goes that plan…”

“Y-Yer kidding... right?” Cider took a step back. “Y’all can’t do that! It’ll scare the apples outta me!”

“Yes, I was joking,” Ledger replied with an eye-roll. “The only place I go around like that is back at the apartment. If you want to see me like that, I’m going to take your comfort into account first and foremost.”

“Thanks,” Cider said. Honestly, she had started to expect that Changelings would just start walking the streets. “Oh, can ah also ask you something else?”

“Too many more questions and I’ll ask you to hold it in until we next meet,” Ledger smirked. “Midnight and I planned to just sit around like our normal selves and let you ask all the questions you’d want and get comfortable with us. Worked wonders to get her used to me. But yes, ask your question.”

“O-Okay,” she blushed as she looked around, expecting something to jump out at her as she leaned in close. “If... If I get bitten by Midnight... will I turn into a vampony?” She was way too scared to ask Midnight this question.

Ledger blinked, slowly, before giving her a deadpan look. “Be thankful we’re not inside right now, or I would be burning your bookshelf,” he said. “No, she can’t turn you into a vampony. As far as I know, they don’t exist. Never met one.” Ledger got a wicked grin then as he leaned in to whisper the next part. “Now, changelings, on the other hoof…”

Cider took a step back, remembering that he grazed her with his fangs before. She suddenly felt very itchy, as she checked her coat, wondering if it would turn into chitin. “Am... am I gonna turn?”

With a quick darting motion, the unicorn invaded Cider’s personal space, used a hoof to turn her head, and caught her in a kiss and a hug. She squeaked and it took a mere moment for her to realise he was kidding, only distracting her for some literal face-time.

While she wasn’t going to admit she enjoyed the kiss, or that she was kissing him back. Once he took a step back, she blushed fiercely and scowled at him.

“GAH! You-You ass!”

“Guilty as charged,” Ledger admitted, snickering. “Anyways, no, neither of us could ‘turn’ you. Apparently, though, changelings make for delightful cuddle-partners. Ponies are just addicted to hugging them.” Ledger licked his lips at the taste of the kiss, before winking at Cider. “And believe you me, Midnight is talented with that tongue of hers. Very talented.”

“You just wanna see two mares make out, pervert,” Cider continued to blush as she gave him a playful shove, a shove that buried him in a six-foot trench. “Uh, whoops?”

“I’m okay!” Ledger said as he shakily got up from the ground, shaking more than a little dirt off of himself. “But...I might need to use your shower before going back to work.”

He found a tail wrapped around his hoof, dragging him towards the house. “Well,” Cider sighed. “Ah guess ah got no choice but to help you get clean this time...”

Ledger waited until they were inside, with a tightly shut door, before informing his hostess of a key fact of his biology. “It’d be a lot easier to clean this if I were to, um, revert,” he told the mare. “No hair to get in the way, the dirt would just slip right off with a little water.”

Apple Cider looked at him, before she walked over to the sink and grabbed a washcloth and tossed it to him. “Well then Mr. Ledger, I’ll just go and take a shower, by myself then.” and with that, left the dusty Changeling alone in the kitchen.

Ledger grumbled for all of ten seconds before deciding to follow the mare upstairs. He waited outside the bathroom for the water to be running before he snuck up behind Cider and caught her in a hug.

“Then again,” he whispered into her ear in his imitation of ‘husky’, “There are benefits to...keeping up appearances."

Author's Note

Some days I forget to push the buttons.

Chapter Fifteen - Relearn your scales

It had gotten quite late. The casserole had finished cooking, his contribution to the date night they would be having at Cider’s. Level wrapped the thing up and balanced it on his back before going to the last lead he had.

The Love Shack.

Upon arriving at the front door, he was quickly ushered from door to hallway to private room, where the smell of sex permeated everything.

Everything.

Laying in a loose heap were a trio of Violet nymphs, all of them physically and mentally exhausted but emotionally full to bursting.

The trail seemed to go on through another door, this one leading to a pair of nymphs, one Violet, one Blue. He assumed the blue was Scope and the violet had been her abductor. Both were, again, a wreck except for the bounty of emotion they’d been filled with.

A final door, and... the object of his search, the maestro of this sensual carnage, Midnight Song, sat on a barstool. She sipped at a glass of wine, her eyes having lost the mad glee from before as she rubbed her belly.

“Mmm, a nice little meal. I wonder if they’ll put up more of a fight next time? I do so love hearing their screams...” those predatory eyes fell on Level Ledger, and for a moment, his fight or flight instincts screamed at him. Until her eyes sparkled with familial love.

“Oh, heya Levvy~”

Ledger just looked around at the odd nymph who had attempted to interrupt or save one of the others. Attempted being the key word. Ledger sighed and looked at the thestral mare with half-lidded eyes.

“You get mad at me for lying about sleeping with Apple Cider...and now I see why you weren’t mad I bucked her in the first place. You wore out Violets. Multiple!”

“I know, I would have thought they’d last a little longer,” Midnight sighed, tossing her now broken riding crop aside. “Guess I got a liiittle carried away.”

“I... can’t... no-no more,” the nymph on the ground moaned in her sleep. “Please Mistress, noooooo....”

“They were probably busy trying to both outlast you and drain your lust until you resembled something they could deal with,” Ledger pointed out. “I think you just fed them all for the next few months.”

“They shouldn’t have underestimated me,” Midnight said, her eyes flashing again. “Wait, what did I come here for again...?” She gasped, “Scopey!” She flew into the next room, scooping up the Blue nymph. “Aww, Momma’s here now~”

“...When do I get a turn with daddy?” Scope asked dumbly, her head flopping around.

“Do I want to know?” Ledger asked before holding up a hoof and shaking his head. “Don’t answer. Look, we’re nearly late for our date with Cider. Take her home, clean her up and get her settled back in. I’ll cover for you as well as I can, but don’t dawdle.”

“Fine,” Midnight said, looking at the destruction. “Hmm, maybe I should have held back. But after you had Cider, and Fredrick didn’t respond to my revenge kiss... I was feeling a little down...”

“Fredrick doesn’t get involved with involved females after the first time,” Ledger said as he began to lead the pair out of the club. “One little threat to your future progeny sets you straight real fast.”

“Aww, he’s so noble, but it hurts a mare when she isn’t loved.” Midnight shrugged as she stretched her wings. “Well, whatever. I’ve had my fill for now. I’ll see you there Levvy~” She gave him a hungry kiss and then flew off into the sunset-coloured sky, Scope dangling in her grasp.

“...Celestia preserve us, but if things take a lewd turn, I fear for my bones,” Ledger said as he began the trek to Cider’s.

The two ponies had been enjoying each other’s company, until a loud ‘thud’ interrupted the peaceful time. Upon checking the noise, they found Midnight Song facedown on the porch.

“Ow...”

Ledger rolled his eyes, opened the door, and pulled the mare in with a levitation spell so she wasn’t getting splinters with her face. “The great thestral of Las Pegasus, mares and stallions,” he mock-introduced.

“Smartflank,” Song groaned, rubbing her face. “I’m just a little tired is all. Totally meant to do that. Saved on knocking.”

Ledger grinned cheekily before looking at the kitchen and nodding. “Well then, lucky for you, I brought something I know you’ll enjoy for dinner~” With that, he popped the oven open and removed the reheated casserole from the confines.

“Mmmm,” Midnight hummed at the smell of that, draping herself over Ledger. Her nose twitched as she buried her face in his mane. “Oh Levvy~ Seems I wasn’t the only... busy one today~”

“Miss Cider taught me a few things about pleasing a female,” Ledger admitted. He whispered the next bit. “And I think she tastes like cider as well.” The cheesy noodle dish was distributed to three plates, leaving quite a bit in the pan.

“Well, I’ll need ample demonstrations of both,” Midnight purred, nibbling on his ear. “Or maybe we could see how sturdy that table is while we wait for her~?”

“Tempted,” he admitted, already feeling a stirring. “Highly tempted. But we should get the question and answer segment out of the way before they devolve into ‘how hard do you want it?’ and ‘Harder’ as things we’re asking each other.” Ledger looked to the stairs and cleared his throat. “Apple Cider, dinner is served!” he said a bit loudly.

“C-Coming,” she called out. Wait? Where did Midnight go?

The mare descended the staircase, her golden mane tied into a braid, tapered with her usual tartan ribbon. Her tail had been brushed and her coat shone like the ocean. She looked around and her eyes flickered towards the unicorn stallion.

“Um, did Miss Midnight leave?”

“I don’t...think so,” Ledger admitted. “I think she’s plotting something, though.”

“What do you mean? Plott-” that was all the mare said as a pair of hooves wrapped around her, the Thestral descending from the ceiling like a silent wraith.

“Hello Apple Cider~” she said in a raspy tone, the Earth Pony mare just froze as Midnight’s tongue flicked at her neck. “Mmm, you smell... delicious~”

It took a full minute for Cider to stop screaming…

“Okay, note to self,” Ledger said as he rubbed one of his ears once Cider was done shouting. “Midnight really hates it when you don’t let up on the ‘vampony’ shtick.”

“And my revenge against everypony, sans Fredrick, is complete,” Midnight nodded, as Apple Cider panted, having lost her voice somewhat after that. “I’m feeling a lot better... oh,” she reached into her ears and pulled out the earplugs. “There, much better~”

“T-T-That... that was...” Apple Cider gasped, her voice was a little hoarse. “So mean....”

“As a side note, I’ll probably end up doing something similar if you call me a love-sucking bug or keep going on about some of the myths I’m going to end up debunking tonight,” Ledger said as he nibbled at his casserole, already floating a plate over for the mares.

“While we’re on that topic,” Midnight hummed. “I just came up with a fun game Levvy~ One for just the two of us!”

“If it’s called ‘see who can scare Cider most,’ count me out,” Ledger deadpanned. “A healthy relationship, which is what we’re going for, shouldn’t need such ‘games’.”

“Ooh, close~” Midnight giggled. She sat close to him and smirked. “We scare each other. First to admit defeat loses. Not right now of course, but personally? I think you stand no chance!”

“Yeah, probably not,” Ledger admitted. True, he could shapechange into a variety of forms, but she could go into her trance...which was bucking terrifying. He cast a gaze over to Cider and cleared his throat to gain her attention. “Unless you have some objection to it, I may very well return to normal before you begin your questioning,” he informed the mare.

“Um, I-I guess so,” Cider said. “I need to get used to it right? And to be perfectly honest, you’re not as scary as Midnight...”

Said Thestral greeted the table with her face. Ledger smirked and poked the mare sitting next to him with a shifting hoof as he returned to normal.

“Look at that, love, already striking fear into the heart of Las Pegasus!” Ledger joked.

“Go buck a cactus Ledger,” Midnight replied with a muffled voice.

“Can changeling’s do that?” Cider asked. “Sounds painful...”

“Probably why she told me to,” Ledger said with a smirk. “Though at this point, I could probably just buck her and get similar results.”

“I can’t even make a tiny prick joke,” Midnight sighed. “Seeing as our present company knows better already.”

“Eeyup, still...” Cider blushed. “Ah... might have seen bigger...”

Ledger blinked a few times before slowly rotating his head to Apple Cider. “My mother was a noble and my father was a Violet,” he said. “Where do you get bigger?”

“On a Big Macintosh,” she said. “Walked in on him once... that thing could put Celestia’s eye out and he wouldn’t even have to stand up to do it.”

“Whelp, my ego’s dead,” Ledger said as he took a bite of his dinner. “Shall we hold a wake for it, or would you like it served in your dinner, Midnight?”

“Put it where it belongs,” she remarked. “Flushed.”

“The insinuations are so multilayered, I could spend the rest of the night examining them,” Ledger pointed out, before turning his attention to Cider once again. “Soo, come on dear, we’re both here, for you. Surely you have some questions!”

“Course ah do,” she nodded. “But didn’t y’all have some sorta game to add to that?”

Midnight perked up and nodded. “Oh, I had an idea about that actually.” She leaned across the table and whispered into Cider’s ear. The mare blushed lightly and nodded.

“Eeyup, sounds fair. Ah like it!”

“Am I going to like this plot?” Ledger asked aloud. Both mares giggled as they got up, Midnight carrying her plate on one wing. They looked at Ledger and winked at him, shaking their curvy flanks.

“How can you not like this plot?” they echoed as they walked into the living room.

Ledger finished his dinner and floated his plate into the kitchen, sighing as he followed the mares. “Blaming Midnight. It always seems to work, anyways.”

He followed the pair of mares deeper into the house. Surely, more danger awaited him within.

He sure as heck wasn’t expecting what he saw, two mares sitting on the floor, one nursing a plate of cheesy casserole, the other holding an empty bottle.

“I haven’t played this since I was a little filly,” Cider giggled. “This might actually be quite fun.”

“...Little lost here,” Ledger admitted as he sat a short distance away.

“It’s easy,” Midnight said. “We all take turns spinning this bottle here. Whomever the bottle lands on, has to answer a question. And maybe more if we feel like spicing it up a little.”

“Hmm,” Ledger said, unconsciously licking his lips at the idea. That sounded...yummy. “Well, why not?” he rhetorically asked. “So who’s first?”

“Well, I say Cider gets first spin... uh, it’s her bottle?” Midnight shrugged.

“Good enough for me,” she said, placing the bottle on the floor and giving it a flick with her hoof. The bottle spun and kept spinning... until it landed on... herself?

“Uh, what do we do here?” she asked.

“Hmm, spin again?” Midnight suggested.

“After she pays the penalty of one quick smooch from both of us,” Ledger chipped in, already leaning closer.

“Pervert,” Cider giggled as she reciprocated, giving him a quick peck on the lips, before turning and giving Midnight a tentative kiss on the cheek,

“Aw what?” the Thestral pouted as Cider spun the bottle again, landing in Ledger’s general direction this time.

“Uh, okay... so, first question is... are there any subjects I should avoid asking about?”

“You sure you want that to be your question?” Ledger asked with a smirk. “But seriously, if something comes up that you should avoid, I’ll let you know.”

“Okay then,” Cider hummed for a moment. “Does it... hurt somepony when you eat their love?”

“Emotions, when freely given, don’t hurt the ‘donor’ at all,” Ledger said. “What those ‘lings in Canterlot were going to do was force, rip, tear it out...and that would have hurt. The worst you might feel is a bit tired from me feeding off you.”

“Ah, okay,” Cider said, neither noticing the shudder that Midnight gave.

The Thestral cleared her throat and looked up, “An answer to your previous question. Let’s not talk about that Canterlot thing, okay?” The emotion she gave off was weak, due to her masking it. But it trickled out a little.

Intense fear...

Ledger gave Midnight a scrutinizing look, making sure to make a memo for later, before nodding and tapping the bottle. It spun around a few times before being pointed at Midnight more than anypony else.

“Hmm,” Ledger mused. “Question, question, question...want a kiss, Midnight?”

“As long as you think you can top Princess Luna~” she replied smugly.

Ledger smirked and pulled the mare close...before kissing her deeply and pumping the thing with half the unprocessed Lust he’d gotten from his and Cider’s little encounter earlier in the day. Yeah, he’d only be able to do it once more, and she wouldn’t get any nutrition from it…

But damn if Ledger wasn’t curious if she would be able to feel it anyways.

“Mmm,” she moaned as he felt her tongue coil around his own, giving it a squeeze and she pulled away, her eyes locked in a half-lidded gaze.

“You. Me. Now~”

Ledger coughed and pointed first to the bottle, then to the mare that Midnight appeared to have forgotten about. “We were doing a thing?” he weakly asked.

“She can watch,” she replied huskily, before shaking her head, blinking and sitting back. “Urgh... okay, what the fuck was that?”

“Lust,” Ledger answered. “And thank you for answering my question of ‘Will this do anything to ponies.’ The answer was yes. It made you worse.”

“Cute,” Midnight replied as she smacked the bottle, the object spinning like mad as she stared at Ledger the whole time. “It might have also been due to my training. You might wanna try it on Cider here as well.”

The mare squeaked at that prospect as the bottle stopped, landing on Midnight herself. “Well now,” she hummed. “Pay the penalty or...” she looked at Cider. “As Bottle Owner. You can ask me a question instead.”

“All...alright,” Cider gulped. “Um...what would you do if you ever met Miss Hayer?”

Midnight grinned as her eyes dulled, a sadistic smile crossed her face. “Oh her?” she said in a low tone... “It’s simple really... I wonder, have you ever heard of... Fourth Beat~?”

Ledger yiped and started to back up, not liking what he wasn’t feeling. Right until Midnight blinked and giggled. “Just kidding~ I’d prolly just buck her in the face.”

“Uh... what was that?” Cider asked Ledger.

“Midnight has control over her emotions, and she typically uses it to enter a sort of fugue state where she feels nothing...in combat,” the changeling explained as he drew himself back to his spot. “Not seeing her is freaky, knowing why I can’t isn’t pleasant.

“That sounds... complicated,” Cider said as she spun the bottle, landing herself again. “Seriously? Um, okay, why don’t the both of you ask me something?”

Ledger shrugged and looked at Midnight, letting her open.

“Um, okay?” Midnight replied. “Uh, how long have you had this farm?”

“About six years,” Cider replied. “I moved here when I was sixteen, Mama and Papa set this place up for me and I’ve been running it ever since.”

Ledger hummed a bit before thinking of his question. “So, is there a reason you choose to cuddle and kiss the obvious emotion-stealing monster over something that at least looks like a pony?”

“W-Well, ah thought you were a pony until this morning,” Cider remarked with a blush. “And ah wasn’t going to start ignoring you, jus’ cause of the way you were born, t’aint the Apple Family way and t’aint nice in general. The least ah can do is give y’all a chance...”

“In that case,” Ledger said as his horn lit up, pushing both mares together. “Then this should also be something you give a chance,” he concluded triumphantly, with a smile on his face. “Now, hug,” he commanded the pair.

Midnight wasted no time in pouncing the mare, giggling as she nuzzled the flustered pony. Apple Cider squeaked, but she was a mare of her word and wrapped her hooves around Midnight. It was then she noticed something. Midnight’s fur was a little different to a pony’s. It was a little shorter, but far softer. Her scent as well, it had a fruity tinge and it reminded Cider of her orchards. Of home...

It wasn’t until Midnight coughed and poked her. “Uh Cider... you can let go if you want?” she said, the Apple mare looking at a clock and realising that five minutes had passed. She blushed and let go.

“T-There,” she said quietly. “I hugged her. Happy now?”

Midnight took the silence to spin the bottle again and it landed on her buggy friend. “Well now... isn’t this an opportunity?” she smiled like a shark. She looked at him and leaned in close. “Here’s my question.... who’s better in bed?”

Ledger hummed as he considered the question seriously. “You both have different things you’re good at,” he said honestly. “Midnight, you’ve got experience and that tongue, plus you’re the first one to earn my trust.” The changeling looked at Apple Cider then while smirking. “Whereas you don’t lack for enthusiasm or control, and when you’re not being cute you can be downright seductive,” Ledger said with only a little teasing. “Honestly I can’t decide,” he eventually admitted. “I would need some sort of...side by side comparison.”

“I feel like I am at fault for that answer somehow,” Midnight hummed, while Cider blushed at the insinuation. She’d never been with two ponies before.

Her romps were old fashioned. Shut up.

“Uh, who’s turn was it again?” Midnight asked as Cider flicked the bottle with her tail. “Well, guess that answers that...” The bottle kept spinning til it fell right on the batpony. She grinned at Cider. “Oooh, okay. Ask away cutie~”

Cider gulped a little, trying to get her nerves under control, before finally finding an innocent enough question. “How’d you two meet, anyhow? Seems a little unlikely that the two of you would just find one another in this town.”

“Actually, I came here on assignment and I needed a place to stay,” Midnight said, telling a half-truth. “And it just so happens that Levvy here had a spare room. I tried my usual techniques on him at first, but he proved to be a tough nut to crack. And once I found out his little secret, well...” she blushed as she remembered their last game. “A lot has happened and our relationship is... weird? Can we call it weird?”

“I think we’d be doing a disservice to normal relationships if we didn’t call ours weird,” Ledger said. “Of course, the fact that she ended up helping me with the whole taking down Toll thing really helped with getting me to trust her and open up.” He scooted over towards the batpony and finished his statement with a kiss.

“Yup, nothing says romance quite like handing another pony’s ass to them on a platter,” Midnight giggled, kissing his nose. “Nopony bucks with the ones I care about. And that includes you too Cider~”

“Doesn’t hurt that drones see females fighting each other over them as the hottest thing ever,” Ledger said with a snicker, gently poking Midnight with a hoof. “Too bad we’re fresh out of crime bosses for you to kick in the flank.”

“It’s Las Pegasus, I’m sure there’s a few skulking about somewhere,” Midnight said with a dangerous grin. Yeah, she liked to fight.

“So uh, y’all been through some dangerous times then?” Cider asked. Midnight sat back and sighed, running a hoof through her mane.

“Yeah, nothing compared to what I’ve been through before…” and there was that suppressed fear again. “But still dangerous none-the-less. It’s one reason I avoided a committed relationship I suppose... could never guarantee I was coming home at the end of the day...”

“Still, hopefully things will only be your regular sort of dangerous, not life-threatening dangerous,” Ledger commented as he poked Midnight again. “Your turn with the bottle, I think.”

“Danger’s more fun when it hurts,” Midnight said as she spun the bottle, the object landing on herself... again. “Of all the- What am I? A bottle magnet?”

“Penalty game!” Cider giggled, a light blush in her cheeks as Ledger noticed a few more empty bottles behind her.

“Mmm, I’ll go first,” Ledger suggested, pulling the batpony into a deep kiss, trying to steal back some of the lust he’d given her. He had a plan~

This was Midnight Song, and everypony seemed to constantly forget she was Lust incarnate. She hummed and then pushed the ‘ling onto his back, her tongue easily overpowering his own as she kissed him. The flood of Lust energy rushing into him was more than enough…

Ledger shook his head and used one hoof to gently push Midnight off of him as he felt himself fill to near full on lust in a matter of seconds. “Don’t forget to kiss Cider as well,” he reminded the thestral mare.

The bat turned and started to stalk towards Cider. The Earth Pony squealed and got up to run, the two having a merry chase around the room until Midnight got bored of that and pounced, planting small kisses along the mares chest.

“And, that’s how you lose to a batpony~” Midnight giggled, taking her seat again. Ledger took both of the mare’s distraction to steal a spin with the bottle, one hoof tapping it and sending it twirling. It eventually slowed and stopped, coming to rest on Cider.

“Hmm,” he said aloud, tapping his chin with one hoof. “Question, question, question...Okay, Cider, on a scale of one to ten, one being normal, ten being weirder than anypony can believe...how would you rate this whole crazy arrangement?”

“T’be honest?” Cider said, allowing herself a small chuckle. It wasn’t like an Apple knew any other way to answer. “Ah’m used to huge families. Some Apples have near a dozen foals, or live with aunts, gramma’s and the like. So ah guess... fer me personally, it ain’t too weird. It’s prolly weirder due to, uh... no offense, but more due to what you two are, rather than how many.”

“None taken,” Ledger said as he snuck a little closer to Cider. “So how about us? How weird are we to you?” Maybe while she was distracted with this question...

“That’s two questions Ledger,” Midnight hummed from beside them. “You know what that means right?”

“Hey, we gave her an in-depth answer to ‘how did you meet’,” Ledger countered. “Forgive me for wanting just as detailed and answer about this.”

‘But she’s just gonna make another vampony reference,’ Midnight sighed to herself irritably.

“Well, it’s just that ah’ve never seen anypony quite like y’all before,” Cider replied. “Ain’t ever met a Minotaur either, and ah’ve only met a few Griffons.”

Ledger nodded as he managed to sit himself right next to Cider, waiting for his cue. “So the scary bug-pony is pretty weird, huh?” he verbally prodded the mare.

Midnight blinked as she watched Ledger sneak closer. Yeah, he was not a master of subtlety when it came to things like this. Cider didn’t seem to notice as she blushed lightly.

“Y’all... ain’t that scary,” she said in a low voice, a little embarrassed. Ledger nudged her side a little, pointing the mare towards Midnight before asking again.

“And what about Midnight over there?” he asked, waiting...oh please let her say it, he wanted to put his plan into action~

“W-Well... I’m,” she scrunched her face up, trying to purge that image from her head. “Ah can’t help that she look like a vam-”

Ledger leaned over and caught Cider’s mouth in a kiss, stopping her from finishing the word as he gave her just a touch of lust. “No,” he eventually said once the kiss was broken. “Bad Cider, no calling Midnight that.”

“Ahhh,” she sighed, her head was swimming with a pleasurable buzz. “Mmkay, M’sorry...”

Midnight just clicked her tongue in annoyance, she’d still heard what she was about to say. “Ooh, let’s all be afraid of the big, brown bat!” she snarked. Ledger turned to Midnight and gave her a look that somehow spoke of his irritation and the lust he’d still had bottled up inside.

“It’s a bad habit, yes, but I’m determined to break her of it,” the changeling said. “You’re more than welcome to join her in her ‘punishment’ if you keep it up.”

Midnight just huffed in response. He was a changeling, and he knew all about being feared, just because of what he was. She wasn’t angry or anything, Cider was just too cute to stay mad at and Midnight had released a lot of her... displeasure earlier. It was just annoying is all.

“Well, at least I get an invite this time,” she said back.

“I needed to run a test and you’re practically a never-ending buffet for Violets,” Ledger said as he gave Cider a hug. “I figured it would either not work or only affect you a little. Clearly I was wrong.” With another lust-infused kiss to Cider’s head, Ledger retook his normal seat and waited for the effects to wear off.

“What?” Cider blinked as she looked around. “You two aren’t fighting... are you?”

“Nope, but we did find out that I can give emotions back to ponies real easily,” Ledger said as he licked his lips. “Though the surplus might make a bit of an...imbalance in your system. Do let me know if you start thinking of either of us in terms of bed-mates.”

“Well, ah always look at you like that~” Cider giggled, scooting across the floor on her belly and rubbing Ledger’s leg. “Y’all have been doing such a good job so far~”

“Seems ponies take to lust real easy,” Ledger pointed out while barely maintaining control. I think it’s your turn though, Cider.”

Cider flicked the bottle with her tail, even as her hoof crept along his thigh. It continued to spin until it landed on Midnight.

“Oh?” the batpony shrugged with an indifferent huff. “Don’t mind me...”

Cider turned to look at who the bottle landed on before looking at Midnight with a small laugh. “Alright, I got one fer yah. How do yah know my sister?”

Midnight stopped and looked at the mare. Oh she did not just...? “Uh... Apple Fritter? Oh, heheh, um, we’re... aquainted?”

“How well acquainted?” the farm mare asked, pausing in her ministrations for a moment. Ledger bit his lip and pointedly looked away, both thankful she’d stopped before she garnished any particular reaction...and kind of upset she hadn’t at the same time.

Midnight looked around and saw a clock, before stretching and giving the fakest yawn to ever grace ponykind. “Ohhh, look at the time! I really must be heading for bed.... aaaand you’re not buying it huh?” she deadpanned upon seeing their faces.

“Okay, well... it’s quite simple really. I was performing a routine patrol of the town and heard a scream. Turns out that it was just a certain farmpony yelling at some caterpillars...” She chuckled, remembering the indignant look on Fritter’s face when she realised how much noise she was making. “Heh, though it was nothing compared to the screaming she did later~”

“Y’all slept with mah sister,” Cider more stated than asked. Ledger tried to ease himself away from her...and failed as she took notice and held the changeling more forcibly in place.

“Hey, until yesterday, I didn’t know she was your sister,” Midnight defended her somewhat dubious honour. Cider blinked as Ledger placed another kiss on her, hoping to defuse the situation somewhat.

“...Don’t suppose you’ve got any sisters I could use to return the favor with?” Cider asked after the extra lust had a chance to get absorbed into her system.

“Note to self, lust works almost scarily well,” Ledger mused aloud.

“Nope, I’m an only child,” Midnight replied, her mood faltering. Her foalhood was... lonely. “Besides, you already slept with my coltfriend how many times now?”

“Not enough,” the farmmare all but purred as she returned to look at Ledger. She seemed to recall something and looked at Midnight with a questioning glance. “And jus’ how do yah take that monster of his anyways?”

“Experience,” Midnight replied, playing with her mane. “You act like he’s the only ‘gifted’ one I’ve had. Well, until you see a dragon up close, you really haven’t seen anything...” Dammit, she wasn’t supposed to mention that encounter…

“You’re gonna hafta tell me that story later, sugar,” Cider said as a bit of rationality returned once her emotions rebalanced themselves...again. “Ah think it’s yer turn,” the Earth Pony pointed at the bottle. “Assumin’ we’re still doin’ this, a’course.”

“Eeyup,” Midnight giggled, mimicking her accent. “Ah reckon we are~” she flicked the bottle and it landed on, well Ledger and Cider, since they were still hugging.

“Well now... what do we have here?” Midnight purred. “An interesting conundrum indeed~”

“Ah... ah don’t like the look in her eyes Level,” Cider gulped.

“To be honest, she could feed half a Hive of ‘lings with her lust, but she won’t harm us. It might be demeaning, insulting, or arousing,” Ledger said, giving the mare a kiss without lust this time, feeling her own rise at the sensation and smirking. “But she won’t ask us anything harmful.”

“Oh ye of little faith,” Midnight hummed. “I wonder... if I used the same ‘punishment’ I did with those naughty Violets... would you survive?”

“Ah really don’t like the sound of that!” Cider squirmed. Ledger hugged the mare close and shot half a glare at Midnight.

“Be nice,” he lightly chastised the thestral mare. “Cider’s still not used to you yet, which is sort of the point of this exercise isn’t it?” He ran one hoof down the spine of the mare in his lap, looking to soothe and calm her before she had a full-blown panic attack.

“Okay, I’ve had my fun~’ Midnight replied. “Hmm, but still, should I ask a question, or perhaps a game might be in order? Decisions, decisions... OH! Ideeaaa~” she smirked, this time at Ledger. “I’m going to prove that I approve of CiderLev shipping!”

“Color me intrigued,” Ledger said, laughing internally. Technically he already was… “How would you go about doing this?”

“Oh, you are not going to like this at all, but Cider...?” She looked at the mare and smiled. “Do you want me to show you a trick regarding that adorkable changeling there?”

“A...trick?” she asked dubiously, looking at Ledger for confirmation.

“I have some idea of what she could be talking about…” Ledger said aloud. “Midnight are you-” She raised a hoof and shushed him.

“Not now, the grownups are talking.” She said as she pulled Cider away from Ledger. “Okay, so I believe in a... physical demonstration. Watch him closely~” She then started to recall in her mind, in vivid HD quality detail, each and every moment of hers and Ledger’s first time, along with his first ‘assertive’ moment.

“Ack!” Ledger said, no longer able to control himself as an old friend made itself known by poking at the mare in his lap. “Midnight!” he whined. “You could have asked!”

“Yeep!” Cider jumped back as she stared at him. “Wha... What did you do?”

“If you concentrate on something really naughty hard enough, this happens~” Midnight giggled. “You try it!”

Cider looked. Surely this was a trick, something they concocted earlier. Still, she couldn’t help but recall their time in the shower…

Ledger let out a chirp as he felt himself grow even harder. “Oh seriously! You just had to tell her, didn’t you?” Ledger moaned. “I’m never gonna get any rest, am I?”

“Did... he just chirp?” Apple Cider asked, that was more surprising than the other thing.

“Oh yeah! I almost forget he did that! Isn’t it the cutest thing ever?” she leaned forward, her tongue flicking across his nose. “Hmm, such a good little Levvy~”

Ledger used one hoof to maneuver Midnight out of the way so Cider might come closer. He needed a hug right about then, from both of them, but wasn’t going to press her if she didn’t want to.

“You look like you want a hug,” Cider giggled. “But ah don’t think there’s enough room fer all four of us~”

“You helped cause it, the least you could do is inspect your work,” Ledger teased.

“Ah’m pretty sure they can see it from Canterlot,” Cider giggled again, but scooted closer. “You just want yer ego stroked... amongst other things~”

“Well, now I see how she seduced you,” Midnight replied. Ledger pulled Cider into a hug that sandwiched ‘Little Level’ between their chests and just held her there, content for the time being. A thought occurred that maybe Midnight would like in on this, and with a bit of shuffling, the Cider Sandwich from lunch was remade.

“Mm, Cider Sandwich, now with extra meaty filling,” Midnight giggled, wrapping her wings around them. Ledger snickered before giving both mares a light kiss with only a touch of lust in them. He didn’t need the situation to devolve to rampant rutting, but he had to admit…

This whole thing was a little arousing to him as well~

As the hug broke up and everypony took their seats, Midnight had one last trick to show.

“Oh Cider?”

“Ye-MPH?!” she blushed as the Thestral pulled her into a kiss and showed that skilled tongue. The appendage wrapping around Ciders and squeezing, pulling and suckling, while Midnight’s teeth nibbled on her bottom lip. Cider flailed at first, before cyan hooves wrapped around the batpony and the changeling was treated to a sight of two mares rolling on the carpet, in the middle of a furious make-out session.

“Aaaaand now there’s no fighting it,” Ledger admitted as he felt himself get fully hard. With a sigh, he lay on the floor on his stomach, so that he could at least control himself a little bit. He did however look at the mares making out, watching them and smirking all the while. If they asked for him, he’d join of course, but until such a point, this was merely something best watched...watched closely. Oh sweet Hives, but where was that hoof go- oooooh.

After about ten minutes, Cider was released and she lay there, blushing and panting. Her mane was a mess and a line of saliva still connected the two, their faces only inches apart.

“Well?” Midnight said. “Are you a little more convinced that I don’t bite... well, not too hard anyhow~”

“Ah...ah... yeah...” Cider panted. Oh Sweet Celestia, what... what was that? Her tongue was everywhere! “Just... what...?”

“Hehe, I have that effect on some ponies,” Midnight winked as she sat down, treating herself to a fresh bottle of cider. “But that was just an appetiser my dear. I wonder if you’ll order the main course~?”

“I... uh...” Cider hadn’t budged, her eyes never left the Thestral, or, they would sneak a peek at Ledger’s poorly hidden anatomy. Ledger snickered and nudged the bottle, voicing his new idea.

“Well I think she’s used to us,” Ledger said aloud, “And I don’t think she’s got too many more questions that we can’t answer later on down the line as they become relevant. What say we turn this into Truth or Dare instead?”

“You just wanna get laid,” Midnight giggled and she nodded. “Sure, as long as you pick up your game this time.”

From there, the night was a blissful memory...

A rooster crowed as the morning sun teased it’s gentle light through the curtains. The peace and quiet permeated by the sounds of gentle snoring. Apple Cider rolled over, her hooves grasping for something warm and furry, only to discover empty space. She frowned as the failed hug attempt woke her up and she noticed that the makeshift bed, (Her’s was too small, so they piled up some blankets on the floor) was lacking a certain Thestral presence.

“Hrm...where’d she go?” the mare muttered to herself. She leaned over and poked the Changeling on her opposite side. “Hey. Wake up Level.”

Ledger responded by drawing the mare close to him and hugging her in an attempt to get some more sleep and a quick snack besides.

“Level, Midnight’s gone!” Apple Cider protested, giving his ribs a sharp poke.

“Nuu, she’s not,” Ledger moaned as he hugged the mare close. “Emotivore, ‘member? We’re not the only ones in the house, and that lust is definitely her. Now shush, cuddlebug demands cuddles.”

Cider just rolled her eyes and sighed, giving the childish bug what he wanted. And while he wasn’t lying, Midnight’s lust was indeed in the house, well, it kinda stuck to just about everything.

The truth was, she was currently running laps around the orchard, using the trees as a natural obstacle course. She’d swap between running in a zigzag pattern, to switching at flying at near breakneck speeds.

‘Get out of my head’ she growled to herself, trying to rid the nightmare that plagued her last night. It tended to pop up every now and then when the Canterlot Incident was mentioned, and a vigorous bout of morning exercise was her go-to remedy.

Actual exercise you pervs.

As she passed the last tree, the very tip of her wing clipped it, causing her to shriek and spiral out of control. It was a rather impressive-looking crash actually, she must have bounced at least six times before coming to a stop in a pile of hay.

“....oowwww...”

She must have laid there for a good five minutes before she heard a familiar voice. “Yup, figured it was either you or a clumsy pegasus,” the voice of Ledger spoke up from behind her as she felt his magic encompass her body. “It...is far too early to be dealing with this right now,” the stallion said as he pulled her out of the hay. “Fortunately, I put a pot of coffee on beforehoof.”

“You try pulling out of a spiral four inches off of the ground,” Midnight winced as he lifted her. Yup, that was a sprained wing. She’d be grounded for the rest of the day at least. “I’m a Guard, not a friggen Wonderbolt.” Not that she hadn’t thought about that. Imagine, the very first Thestral Wonderbolt!

Plus she’d look damned hot in that flightsuit~

“Our methods of coping are different. I tend to dive into my work and reading to avoid thinking about things, and you seem to enjoy training and fighting, also to avoid thinking about something,” Ledger observed aloud as he carried the mare in his magic to Cider’s house. “Though apparently, the psychology book I’m currently reading calls those unhealthy coping mechanisms.”

“One, I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Song replied tersely. “I’m a Guard, I need regular exercise and training to stay fit. I’m not a beat cop that lives on coffee and doughnuts. And two, I’m hale and hearty, never been sick a day in my life!”

That was actually true, Midnight Song had never been sick. Not even a simple cold.

Ledger paused in their trek and brought Midnight around to look him in the eye. “Don’t try lying to an emotivore, Midnight,” he said softly. “Whatever...happened in Canterlot hurt you. Hurt you deeply. I felt that flinch last night when I brought Canterlot up, and this morning I find you banged up from pushing yourself too far.” With that, the mare was returned to floating above him as they resumed their forward pace. “You can keep running...or you can face it one day.”

Midnight said nothing, mostly due to holding her tongue so she wouldn’t say anything she’d later regret. Her fur bristled though, standing on end as that memory played again. “Put me down,” she said quietly.

“Once we’re there,” Ledger said as their pace slowed again. “I have one more thing to say. Both our ways of coping are...unhealthy. You push yourself, you fight, you exercise...but what happens when you get old? What happens if you get in an accident and can’t anymore? You’ll be forced to deal then. Whereas I...My mind won’t hold forever. I can’t occupy it with facts and numbers when I get old and senile.” Ledger eventually came to a stop in front of the house and put Midnight next to him. “We’re going to have to cope one day...what say we all cope together, when we feel ready to share?”

What was this guy? Celestia 2.0? Aside from the references to himself, he’d said something very similar to the alicorn princess not long after the incident. Midnight wasn’t the only one that had...been affected in that way. She was nothing special in the grand scheme of things.

“Sure, whatever,” she gave the same reply she did back then too. She knew Ledger cared, but this was something he might not be able to help with. Still...

“Ledger?”

He turned to the thestral and gave a soft smile. “Yes, love?”

“Have... you ever taken love from somepony... by force?”

“I know the technique,” Ledger admitted, but shook his head. “But your willingly given love was the first I’ve ever tasted. And I would never force somepony to love me or take it.”

“Good,” Midnight replied at a barely audible level. “Don’t ever do it... no-nopony deserves that pain...”

Ledger smiled and put a hoof on her withers before giving her a soft kiss. One that wasn’t infused with Lust this time.

But just a touch of the love she’d once given him.

“I’m willing to listen, whenever you’re willing to talk,” Ledger said afterwards.

“Maybe...” she replied as he put her down. She gingerly folded her sprained wing a she walked into the kitchen. Apple Cider was already up making breakfast and it smelled amazing!

“Ohhhh, I think I wanna marry you~” Midnight purred as she draped herself over the mare’s back as she cooked. “You can be my cute little wifey. We’ll have adorable little foals and live happily ever after!”

Cider just rolled her eyes again as she continued to flip pancakes, barely noticing the added weight on her back. Ledger sat himself at the table and snorted.

“So, what, anytime somepony makes breakfast for you, you find a new paramour?” he questioned. “Cause if so, I think I have a lead on her at least.”

“Hey, it’s a tried and true method!” Midnight replied. “And don’t worry, I’d never forget about you Levvy. We’d need a live-in butler of course.”

“I think you and Cider lack a certain piece of equipment to be having foals all by your lonesome,” the unicorn observed with a snicker. Midnight decided to withhold the information of genderswap spells.

“We’d adopt then,” she purred.

“As flattered as ah am,” Cider said as she loaded up three plates with pancakes, which Ledger floated over to the table. “Ah ain’t the marrying type. Well, not yet anyhow.”

“Gah! You wound me!” Midnight cried dramatically, falling from her back and clutching her chest. “I... can see a bright light...”

“You weren’t either,” Ledger pointed out as he put the plates down, before pulling silverware over. “Heck, I still don’t know why you made that joke the other day.”

“What joke?” Midnight said. before recalling that meeting with her father. “Oooh, that one! Hehe, the look on your face was priceless!”

“Joke? What joke?” Cider asked. “Tell me.”

“She asked me to marry her while her dad was present and I’d just got done answering ‘I do’ to a lot of his questions,” Ledger said with an unamused look. “She almost got me too, it was part-reflex by that point to say ‘I do’. Worst part is, he could have made it legally binding.”

“Heheheaahahahahaa!” Cider’s laugh was infectiously adorable. Midnight found herself giggling as well as she remembered that day.

“Heh! I wouldn’t be surprised if Daddy slipped a marriage form into that paperwork he gave you earlier,’ she snorted. “It’d totally be something he’d pull.”

“If I ever get married, I am not having the father of the bride doing the marrying,” Ledger said with an eye-roll. Internally, he was going over a list in his head. He...had checked all those papers, right? “Seems like a conflict of interest to me.”

“Nah, I’d totally see if I could get my Princess to officiate,” Midnight nodded. “And don’t worry Ledger, Mom is the one that wants to see me married, not Dad. So I think you’re fine.”

“They both seemed to approve of me and the influence we had on each other,” Ledger reminded Midnight as he began eating his breakfast.

“Yup, and now a new challenger has appeared.” She actually wondered what her dad would think of this situation...

Eh, he’d caught her doing worse.

“Sooo, what’s everypony's plan for today?” Midnight asked as she sat at the table.

“Well, ah should have some of mah kin show up t’help build mah greenhouse,” Cider said. “That’s gonna be a hoot!”

“Mmhmm, and once they are done, I’ll be by every now and then to put some spells in the glass,” Ledger said with a nod. “Mostly to help ward off theft. I need to look into ways to get a discount on going to the Empire, and...I think the business actually mostly runs itself, now that I’ve got contracts up again.”

“It’s only been a week,” Midnight replied, looking at her business-savvy partner. “Well, I guess I have my duty as a Guard to do. And let me look into security spells. I’m sure the Guard here can whip something up, heck, even Narrow has been working on her spell casting like crazy. She’s gotten pretty powerful.”

“Ah yes, thank you for reminding me,” Ledger said as an ear flicked. He’d almost forgotten they’d need to do something about Scope, now that she was healed. “Still, you’re right, it has only been a week. The work never stops, but at least now we can work and get paid for it. I’ll constantly be looking for new angles, of course, but the ones we have are...satisfactory, for now.”

“I see,’ Midnight hummed. Things seemed to be going pretty well now. “And also, I’d have to say that our very first sleepover is a big success~” she looked at Level with a sultry gaze.

“Eeyup, ah reckon it was,” Cider agreed. She was surprised she could even walk right now. Much less wonder where that thestral got all her energy from. “We should do this again soon. Maybe at yer place next time?”

“Once we find alternative housing for our current extra roommate,” Ledger said. “Don’t need her poking her head in when it’s not needed.”

“Aw, you’re so mean to little Scopey,” Midnight pouted. “She’s so adorable, why you so mean Levvy~?”

“Because of who she sided with and the fact that she didn’t go through the right channels to come here,” Ledger deadpanned.

“Well I kicked her butt for that and now she’s cute,” Midnight replied. “She’s trying, and I really shouldn’t have left her in that club because now she’s naughty. But at least she has respect for males now.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Ledger said with a roll of his eyes.

Cider was totally lost, she remember this ‘Scopey’ being mentioned when Midnight left the restaurant before. A sudden knock on her door stopped her from asking about it though.

“Coming!” she called out. She trotted away and a few seconds later, two girlish squeals could be heard.

“I’m guessing that’s her family,” Ledger said as he started to polish off his breakfast. “Wanna greet them?” he asked the Thestral mare.

She was about to answer when two sets of hooves approached the room. “Hey you two, ah wanna introduce you t’somepony...” that was all she said before a yellow and green blur rushed forward.

“Middy!” she tackled the batpony to the ground, Cider and Ledger being treated to the sight of Cider’s sister making out with the thestral.

“Ah fergot you ‘knew’ her...” Cider sighed. Ledger turned to Cider with a wicked grin and lit his horn up, gently coaxing his newest marefriend close before kissing her.

“Wanna show them up a little?” he asked once he pulled back.

Cider sighed, “Fritter, quit making out with MAH marefriend!”

After Apple Fritter pulled away from the bat, a small whine of protest escaping the thestral’s lips, she looked at her big sister.

“Your marefriend?” she blinked, her voice having not a single trace of the Apple accent. “Then why are you canoodling that Unicorn there?”

“Ah, we ah... he’s... also mine?”

“It’s true Fritterflanks!” Midnight sighed, getting to her hooves. “We’re one big happy herd... well, we’re giving it a try anyway.”

“I have no words,” Fritter sighed. “And here I thought I was the black sheep of the family.”

“I have some words,” Ledger said, looking at Midnight. “Five, to be exact. No asking Fritter to join.”

“Awwww,” Midnight and Fritter sighed in unison.

“Ah am not sleeping with my sister!” Cider blushed at the thought. She would not promote that stupid rumour about the Apple family keeping it, ‘In the family’.

“And that would be why,” Ledger said with a nod and another kiss delivered to Cider. “Even I know that’d be just plain weird. Plus, happy Cider is fun Cider.”

“I know, I know,” Fritter giggled. “I’m just messing with you Mr. Unicorn. I have no intentions of being that close with my family.”

“You know,” Midnight said. “We’re all friends here Fritts. There’s no need to keep up appearances.”

“Yeah, ah still can’t believe y’all can do that so well. T’aint natural sis.”

Ledger blinked in confusion. “I’m...missing something,” he said aloud.

Fritter sighed and smiled. “Yeah, ah jus’ have t’deal with all those snooty nobles all the time, ah kinda ferget to turn off ‘Canterlot Mode’!” If anything, her accent was even thicker than Cider’s now.

Ledger blinked and actually sniffed the air before looking at Fritter. “Okay, for a pony to have that fine control over their own voice...that’s impressive,” the unicorn said. “Oh...are we the only two not to be introduced to each other?”

“Ah reckon so,” Fritter nodded, holding out a hoof. “The name’s Apple Fritter. Ah live in Canterlot and ah’m Cider’s lil sis.” Behind her, Midnight was waving her hooves and shaking her head frantically.

“And I’m Level Ledger,” Level said, taking the hoof and shaking it gently. “The new head of Pegasus Air after I helped the local Guard and police clear out the trash and prune the deadwood from it.”

“Well, nice ta meetcha!” Apple Fritter shook his hoof vigorously. Her strength made it feel like she was about to tear his whole leg off. She soon let go though and smiled at her sister. “So, these cuties are yers huh? Nice work sis~”

“Ack,” Ledger said as he held his leg with his other hoof, the pain making it hard to concentrate. “Ah...oh, this could be bad,” he observed aloud. One more hard knock and Cider would have to explain why her coltfriend was a changeling as he lost focus on keeping his disguise up...

Fritter turned and blushed, looking a little down. “Oh? Sorry about that. Ah guess ah got a little excited again. Ah didn’t mean t’hurt you Mr. Ledger.”

“Fritter is crazy strong, but that’s just another thing that makes her cute,” Midnight explained, kissing the mare on the cheek. “But we should get going for now. It would suck if we were late after all.”

Cider caught sight of Ledger, and the fact that his right hoof had turned black. “Uh, yeah. Y’all should git going fer now. Come back later and y’all can meet more o’mah kin.”

“Provided they take it easy on the hoofshakes, sure,” Ledger said as he uneasily got to his hooves and cast a small illusion around himself, to reinforce his disguise. Still, that was temporary at best… “Oh, and no hard feelings Fritter. I’m glad to have met you all the same, and I’m glad Cider has such strong, dependable family.”

“Aww, shucks,” Fritter blushed as Cider blinked at the response.

“Fritter?”

“What?”

“He’s mine! No.”

“Awwwww”

“Time to go,’ Midnight agreed and dragged the changeling outside. “See you cuties later~”

The Apple mares waved goodbye as they left, Midnight having draped Ledger over her back and trotted out of the house. “Phew! That was close!”

“It takes intense pain to break the focus of my instinctive ability,” Ledger admitted. “That mare is really, really strong.”

“You have no idea,” Midnight groaned. “I couldn’t walk for two days after our... encounter. She’s cute and all, but damned if she couldn’t uproot a tree with her bare hooves.”

“I’m feeling even better about telling her no now,” Ledger said with a shudder. “Two is enough for me, thank you.”

“Heh, you say that now, but I wonder~” She put him back down, but let him lean on her until his hoof regained feeling. “Should we head home and freshen up first?”

“It’d give me some time to recover as well,” Ledger agreed. “I do need to make a showing at work, but I’m the boss, I set my own hours.” He snorted a bit before continuing. “Of course, I set my own pay, and I don’t get paid more for working less. In fact, I’ve only decided to give myself a little more than I had as the accountant.”

“Aww, you’re so noble,” she giggled, kissing his cheek. “You should learn how to teleport, might make life easier... If Changelings can even do that.”

“Some can,” Ledger said with a nod. “I never took time to learn, so I don’t know if I do or not. Apparently, there’s a knack for it. Either you have it or you don’t.”

“Ahh, whereas a unicorn with enough magic can just learn.” The two reached the city and made their way along the Strip. “I hope Scopey is alright. At the very least, I hope she’s still alone. You do not wanna know what I saw when I went to retrieve her...”

“You caused some of what I saw when I went to retrieve both of you,” Ledger said as he flinched a little when using his right forehoof. “I have some idea.”

“Yeah, I guess I overreacted a little... and I need to apologise to Freddy,” she sighed as they reached their apartment and walked upstairs. “And possible Narrow for kissing her... griffonfriend?”

“Griffons call them nestmates, at least in the griffon lands,” Ledger informed. “There’s no telling what Fredrick calls it, seeing as he was raised here under a lot of different ideals.”

“To him, it’s prolly a standard Monday,” Midnight giggled. “It usually was for me~” She reached for the door, only to find it was unlocked.

“Uh... should it do that?”

“...No, it shouldn’t,” Ledger said as he pushed the door open, only to freeze up at what he saw.

Scope Lens and another changeling in their natural forms on one of the couches in the living room. Only this other changeling wasn’t blue, but yellow. And the slight familiar air around her only increased as she turned to look at the unicorn. A wide smile graced her muzzle as she looked at the pair.

“Oh, hello there fiancee~” the unfamiliar changeling purred.

Chapter Sixteen - Praying Mantis meets Angry Batpony

Midnight stared at the Changeling, her golden eyes staring into hers. “Level?” she said carefully. “Who is this changeling and why is she calling MY cuddlebug her ‘fiancee’?”

“He hasn’t told you?” the yellow ‘ling asked with a frown. “Pity...I could have sworn I left some impression on him.” The nymph looked at Ledger and purred again. “He certainly did for me…”

Midnight looked at her before looking to Ledger. “Ledger, I’m coming to a certain conclusion but I don’t wish to make a rash decision. Is she who I think she is? I need confirmation.”

Ledger had locked up in fear, only saying one phrase over and over, and at such a volume even Midnight would strain to hear it.

“I’m a good drone…”

Midnight turned back to the nymph, and when Scope caught the look in her eyes, she screeched and bolted for her room to hide under her bed for a long while. All warmth drained from the room as the nymph felt Midnight’s emotions vanish.

“Leave.” she hissed in a low tone as she took a step forward. “Leave before I break you!”

“Waitwaitwait!” the nymph said, holding her hooves up in a surrender position. “I’m here for a reason, please don’t eat me!”

“Give me. Just one reason.” Midnight said, stepping closer as her good wing twitched. “Why I shouldn’t tear off your arm and beat you to death with it.”

“You’d be doing me a service if you did,” the nymph pouted. “My parents are trying to put me in an arranged marriage with a middle-class family, and the only way out is for me to bring back someone of a higher rank and marry him instead.”

“I’m sorry. We seemed to miss the part where you raped and tried to murder him.” Midnight’s voice was eerily calm. “So, forgive me if I fail to give any sort of buck about you.” She looked at her quivering stallion. “Ledger? This is your problem. Say the word and I’ll make it go away... permanently~”

“...Let her talk,” He finally said. “No promises.” The nymph was grateful for his leniency, and began to ramble.

“Okay, so I was young, experimenting with pheromone control, and my parents told me not to go sleeping around with males I had under my sway. I didn’t listen, though, and they got me that pamphlet saying if I didn’t stop, they’d let my imagination deal with me.” The yellow nymph sighed and looked down. “I am not proud of what I almost did to him, I panicked and figured that if he was simply...gone, I could avoid those punishments.”

During her ramble, Midnight had retrieved her swords, her lack of emotion meaning the Changeling’s never even noticed she was gone. One moments she was there, the next? She was pressing the blade against the nymphs throat.

“You changelings just take what you want, don’t you?” she smiled unsettlingly. “Hey Level, I think I just came up with a new coping mechanism~”

“It’s how we’re raised!” the nymph shrieked. “We see the nobles and the royals either taking what they want or tricking others into giving it to them, so we try to emulate them! Not everywhere else has such a benevolent sun goddess to serve as a role model!”

“Aw, my heart bleeds for you,” Midnight sang as she pressed the tip of the blade against the nymph’s chest. “Now, lets see what happens when your heart bleeds~”

“Look,” the nymph said before rattling off a series of clicks and noises that sounded identical to when Ledger had introduced himself, “-is my only out! He’s the only noble I even vaguely know that could get me out of my arranged marriage! I show up with him, they’ll call it off!”

Midnight laughed, not the disturbed one like before, but one that seemed... sad almost. “This is just too much,” she said, her emotions returning. “I don’t believe this Ledger. this is the nymph that ruined you, broke you... and yet, she’s so bucking similar to me it’s laughable. I have no idea how to respond to this... absurdity.”

“...She broke me,” Ledger said. “Only fair her life be ruined in return. I say she leaves without me.”

“Oh? You had better believe she is leaving without you!” Midnight snapped. “Only over my dead body is she getting her hooves on you. But still...” She looked at the nymph. “I was in a similar position to you. And yet here I am, doing what I want. There is no reason you cannot do the same. Don’t wanna marry? Then don’t. It’s that simple.”

“...I’m only on a visitor’s visa at the moment,” the nymph said with a sigh. “And mother is the sort to track me down even if I were to go to the dragon lands. She thinks forcing me to settle down with a ‘nice drone’ will stop my freewheeling ways.”

Was this some sort of joke? If it was, then it wasn’t funny. “Well then, go and find yourself one. But Ledger is mine... partly Cider’s, but mostly mine!”

“Ah...yeah, finding a nice male isn’t gonna be easy,” the nymph said as she rubbed the back of her head with one hoof. “Old habits are hard to break on both sides, and the only reason I’m here on even a visitor’s visa is because I paid the price for what I almost did. I’m tempted to look here, but...seriously, where do you mares keep all your stallions?”

This... this was the nymph that tormented Ledger? She seemed so... normal.

“Skewed gender ratio, only one stallion for every four mares or so.” Midnight found herself saying. What was she doing? She should be kicking this nymph’s ass all the way up the Strip, not stating facts and cracking jokes! “Try ‘The Love Shack’ They have some nice Violets that’ll hook you up.”

“Maybe when I manage to get an immigration form through the office,” the nymph said with a sigh. “This...was my last day. Ever since I heard that he’d come here, I visit once a month for a week, looking for him so that I could...try to apologize. Only recently did his information come into the network as to where he’d ended up.”

Ledger shook his head and backed up, his flank hitting the wall. “No no no. Not ready.”

“You heard him,” Midnight said. “I can’t force him to listen and accept, and neither can you. If you really are sorry, then keep trying. I’ll permit a meeting with supervision when you do.”

“...Fine,” the nymph said as she slowly got to her hooves. “I will keep trying though,” she vowed. “Else your name isn’t-” she paused for a moment, sticking her tongue out as she thought. “How would that translate? ‘Duke...Secret-hoarder’?”

Midnight looked at him and shrugged. “Well, good luck with finding a stallion-slash-drone. Goodbye Miss-?”

“Ah, I’m only a regular nymph,” she said, indicating her eyes. “Mine is much simpler to translate. I’m…” here she paused again. “I think it would be ‘Free-Spirit.’”

“Well then Miss Free Spirit. Until next time,” Midnight all but shoved her out of the door and slammed it shut, clicking the lock and looking at Ledger. “Well now, Little Duke. Happy I didn’t turn her inside out?”

“...Part of me is, yes,” Ledger said, putting one hoof to his chest. “Part of me says we should have drawn and quartered her, though.”

“So... that was rather disturbing for me, and I think I might be having a small internal crisis over your choice in mares,” Midnight said, placing her blades on the kitchen table. “You okay there?”

“I didn’t choose her,” Ledger retorted as he shakily made his way to the couch. “I’m...I’m going to have nightmares for a week. I had hoped she would never track me down again.”

“Well I’ll be here to cuddle you and I could call Cider for extra snuggles if you want,” Midnight said. She glanced at her blades, then towards the nymph that might still be sitting outside. “It’d be easy...” she muttered under her breath. “Poof, no more problem...”

“I’d still have to report you, the same way you’d have to report me if I did it,” Ledger said. “Technically, she’s here legally. So it’s technically a crime if she disappears into the desert.” He slowly eased himself into the couch and sighed. “And now every time I look at Scope, I’m going to see yellow for a split second...it’s just one thing after another.”

“I’ll ask Scope to remain disguised around you.” Midnight said, not noticing the nymph slip out of the door. “It’ll be okay Ledger, and if I had to add anything, she did seem genuine.”

“...Not sure if that helps, to be honest,” Ledger said as he lay down on the couch. “But...thanks. And yeah, maybe you could drop by my office and tell them I need to take a personal day? I...need to process this. I need to process quite a few things, actually.”

“I will, and I’ll pick you up some lunch while I’m out,” Midnight said, giving him a kiss on his forehead. “And when I come back, you can tell me all about what she meant by ‘Secret-Hoarder’.”

“It...doesn’t mean anything,” Ledger said, studiously looking away. “It’s just what my name in Changeish translates to in Pony.”

“Sooo, your name is Secret Hoarder?” Midnight mulled that name over in her head and said it aloud a few times. “Doesn’t really roll off the tongue, does it?”

“We tend to earn our names,” Ledger said. “We aren’t just given them back in the Lands. I might tell you when you come back…” He didn’t really want to be alone right now, but it wasn’t like she could do anything while staying here.

“I have half a mind to drag you with me, just to keep you in my sight,” Midnight hummed. She walked over to the table and took one of her wingblades, laying it near the couch. “Keep that near you... just in case. I have a bum wing, so I can’t use both.”

“Yeah, just take care out there,” Ledger said as he scooted the thing a little closer with one hoof. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek before she left. “...And only if Cider doesn’t mind should you call her over. She has that greenhouse to put up today, after all.”

“Then we’ll see about spending another night if it doesn’t inconvenience her.” She motioned to the door and nodded. “Only open it if it’s me, and trust me, you’ll know it’s me. Use your Sexy Sense.”

“On that note, I think Scope slipped out, so track her down as well, please?” Ledger asked. “Bad enough that she’s out there, but having an unregistered ‘ling out and about as well will only spell trouble once she’s caught. Assuming she is.”

“Right,” Midnight nodded. Just what was her assistant up to?

Scope Lens wasn’t an idiot, she recognised trouble when she let that nymph in, but she was curious as to what kind. She was more surprised that the Mistress let her off without a severe beating or some sexy punishment. So she did what she did best.

Gather information.

She waited a few moments, then stalked the nymph identified as Free Spirit. If she was up to no good, then Scope Lens would find out. Despite their issues, she owed Midnight a great deal and she wouldn’t let some upstart Yellow cause her Mistress trouble. The yellow ‘ling had adopted a pegasus disguise and started winging her way to the government sector of Las Pegasus the second she left the door.

Scope followed her, determined to see what she was up to.

Meanwhile, Midnight also left the apartment and first headed for Ledger’s office. Or was that Secret now? She’d have to ask which name he preferred. Either way, she flew off and left a quick note with his second, saying that he was feeling under the weather and didn’t want to risk giving it to the others. Having bought that load of horseapples, well, he could transfer emotions, so what if he leaked his fear and depression?

Anyway, she took off for Fredricks, panting lightly since she had to run. Being unable to fly sucked.

At the apartment, somepony knocked on the door lightly.

“It’s me, Scope Lens!” the nymph said through the door. “Don’t bother, because I don’t expect you to answer. But I’m currently tracking that Yellow. She’s doing something in the Government Center, my guess is getting an extension on her visa, or preparing to depart for the Homelands. I’ll keep at it and report back to the Mistress later.” And with that, she was gone again.

“...I would have even accepted her company at this point,” Ledger mused aloud. “Well, assuming she was tolerable company anyways.”

The familiar bell tinkled as Midnight stepped inside the restaurant. For some reason, she was feeling a little nervous. What if Fredrick was mad at her odd behaviour yesterday? He could just kick her out and never let her back in again.

“I’m so stupid sometimes,” she muttered.

“Ah, hello m’lady!” Fredrick greeted cheerfully from behind the podium. “What brings you here today?”

She squeaked and swore in Thestrali when he scared her like that. “Oh, ah... need to talk to you actually... if you want to that is?”

“I am always willing to lend an ear,” Fredrick said honestly as he got from behind the podium and motioned to a nearby table. “Should we sit down, or will this not take that long?”

Midnight nodded and took a seat, glad to be off of her hooves for a moment. “Ahh, better.” she sighed and looked at him. “Well, I want to start with an apology for yesterday. I shouldn’t have used you like that for such a stupid thing. I made you uncomfortable and I truly am sorry Fredrick.”

“I am an honorable griffon, first and foremost,” Fredrick said as he took the seat opposite her. “I did not know exactly what the situation was, if you were involved with Ledger still or were pursuing other options with that mare, but I knew you had a relationship, and that was more than enough for me to not return your kiss.”

“It was stupid and I fell back on my old ways... not as much as I did after, but still...” She unfurled her sprained wing to rub it. “The truth is, seeing as you’ll find out eventually, that Ledger slept with another mare. The one we had lunch with yesterday.”

“...I assume he has been chastised for his lapse in honor, then?” Fredrick said, idly examining one set of claws.

“Actually,” Midnight giggled. “We maaay have started a relationship with her as well. We have ourselves a cute little herd now~”

Fredrick blinked a few times at the idea before slowly lowering his claw. “This is not an...unknown practice,” he said slowly. “But you are claiming it exists outside of the realm of fiction?”

“It does now,” Midnight nodded. “They used to about a century ago and the laws regarding them were never outlawed, just altered so foals and fights over land and such were fixed.” Midnight shuddered at the thoughts of ponies bringing ‘foal-brides’ into their herds. Or marrying rich ponies, only to steal all their wealth and titles. “Nowadays, each pony is entitled to their own possessions. Only if a legal document allowing sharing is signed, can another have access to those possessions and wealth.”

“Well, I look forward to watching you three re-open the practice and figure out where all the flaws in it are,” Fredrick teased. “Knowing Ledger, he’ll have some sort of document drawn up in a week to try and avert all the one’s he’s seen.”

“A week, I’ll give him two days,” Midnight chuckled. It was then she noticed something odd, mostly, small marks on Fredrick’s neck, just under his feathers. “Hmm, seems I haven’t been the only busy one~”

“I don’t even know where Narrow learned where a griffon’s sensitive points are,” the half-bird said as one claw idly brushed along the marks. “Or how she can bite that hard.”

“So, it was just Narrow huh?” Midnight mused. Seems she still hadn’t used that ‘trick’ yet. Was she still practising? “You seem quite taken with her. More so than other... conquests?”

“She is not bad in bed at all, and a most intriguing mare,” the griffon said with a smirk. “Still, I have access to Ledger’s information about pony anatomy.” Then the bird winked at her. “I even wrote it down so I wouldn’t forget. I intend to pull out a new trick myself next time.”

“We mares are wily things, we might just surprise you,” Midnight smirked back. She bit her tongue as a question niggled at her mind. “Can I... ask you something personal?”

“You may ask, but I may reserve the right to answer,” the griffon answered honestly.

“Was it purely your honour that held you back?” Midnight asked. “Or was my kiss that bad? Ledger just says that everything I do is good, as have my other paramours. I know it’s stupid and vain, but it’s been bugging me.”

“Indeed it was,” Fredrick said with a nod. “If I had attempted to make a pass at you, and you were involved with Ledger…” Fredrick shuddered then. “The things he knows about anatomy? I heard about the attempted mugging. I kept thinking it could be myself in that poor Pegasus’ place. Better to have him as a friend than an enemy. And I know a little about you little Guards-mare. Were my advances unwanted, I might find myself even more broken. My honor has saved me from many such situations, and I will continue to listen to it.”

“I understand that, I feel super bad about putting you in that position,” Midnight nodded, taking one of his talons with her hoof. “But you didn’t answer my question Fredrick~”

“You are not unattractive, m’lady,” Fredrick said with a small smile. “But I could not in good conscious make a move on you when I just saw you kissing another pony not half-an-hour ago. As well, I think our dear captain is starting to get a little serious about me, so out of respect to her, I am also toning back my activities. If she does grow tired or bored with me, then I will resume them should we break it off...but she deserves my attention when she gives me hers.”

Midnight nodded, then blinked. “Wait, kiss? I wasn’t... Oh my gosh! You thought I was? When Cider? Ahhahahaha! Oh Freddy~ I wasn’t kissing her. She fainted so I was reviving her.”

“...Fair enough, but my honor still comes into play regarding you and Ledger from around that time,” the griffon said. “I do hope you will all be positive influences on each other. I think of Ledger as a dear friend, Miss Song, and I know somewhere in his heart, he may return the feeling.”

“I know he does,” Midnight said, smiling softly. “And Cider’s sweet as well, so I feel like I have more love than I should ever deserve.” Her eyes caught something behind Fredrick and she smiled. “Speaking of love, that does not look like a pony that’s ‘growing bored’ as you put it.”

Fredrick craned his neck to see Narrow Gaze, aka, his beloved Peach Flower, standing in the doorway. Her armour glistened in the sunlight, having been freshly polished, and unicorn aside, her mane and tail were styled and her eyes had a slight amount of eyeshadow on them. Silver studs were placed in her ears and she smiled when she laid eyes on the griffon.

“Early days yet,” Fredrick said with a smile as he looked at the mare that seemed to, for some reason, be interested in him. “Most either become clingy, or find coltfriends...or marefriends. I find this development interesting, but not unwanted.”

“Take this from a bat who knows better,’ Midnight said, giving his cheek another kiss and winking at Narrow. “That is the look of a mare in love. Open up a little, and she might surprise you.” She stepped down from the table and gave her Captain a salute, who returned the gesture.

“Midnight, loverbird, how are you both?”

Fredrick responded by drawing the mare close to him with one wing and peppering her with tiny kisses. “I was doing well. Now I’m doing amazingly well,” the griffon said into the unicorn’s ear.

Midnight cooed as Narrow just blushed and put a hoof to his chest. “Not in front of the underlings” she pouted. “Make me look like I’m not a hardassed Captain.”

“Aw, I know you’re a sweetheart,” Midnight smiled. “And technically I’m not an underling. I outrank you actually.”

“Pah, you’re still a hotheaded rookie!” Narrow said. “Princess or no Princess, I haven’t said you could step up yet.”

“Yes Ma’am,” Midnight sing-songed.

“Was there another reason behind either of your visits?” Fredrick asked as he kept hugging Narrow close with one wing.

“Well, I require sustenance for Levvy and I,” Midnight replied. “And maybe for Scopey as well.”

“I too, require your culinary expertise,” Narrow nodded. “Something mana rich, I burned myself out this morning in practise.”

“Well, my waitstaff is experimenting with a certain bread recipe today,” Fredrick said with a grin. “I myself have two fresh loaves, you can each take one with you...for a price, of course. Seeing as you are both friends, at the very least, ten bits per loaf is reasonable, yes?”

“Oh, so now I have to pay money to nibble your...big loaf?” Narrow whispered into his ear, running a hoof down his neck and along his back. Fredrick shivered and gave Narrow a sultry gaze of his own.

“Ah, well, if that was what you were after, all you had to do was ask,” Fredrick said. “You don’t need to do much to get a rise out of me.”

“Well, maybe we should get a room so I can knead your dough?” she said back. Midnight for her part, was fighting to keep her good wing down. A small blush on her face as she opened her mouth on reflex.

“Can I watch?”

Fredrick turned to Midnight, all joviality bleeding away. “That would be most uncouth,” he said. “Watching your Captain in the bedroom. Besides which, I thought I made things perfectly clear that I’m not going to pursue you.”

Narrow stepped forward as she looked into Midnight’s eyes. “Oh? And here I was think I could learn a thing or two from such a cute. Little. Mare~” she traced small circles along her good wing and Midnight shuddered.

“Yeahthatbreadsoundsgreat!” She said hurriedly and crossed to the other side of the room, blushing heavily. Narrow chuckled and looked at Fredrick’s expression.

“What?”

“I’m not sure which of you is worse anymore,” Fredrick said, tossing his claws in the air in mock-frustration. “Anyways, just an order of bread for the pair of you? Or am I selling my special recipe to Midnight and thoroughly rutting Narrow instead?”

“The bread and some soup for me please,” Midnight called from the other side of the room. Narrow’s heart was racing from that little performance they’d planned a few days ago. How in the hell did Midnight act like that all the time?

“While I am on duty,” Narrow said. “I get off later this evening and I have the day off tomorrow. Perhaps I could... stay the night if you’ll have me?”

“Of course I’ll have you,” Fredrick said with a wink. “And it’s a shame you don’t get off right now, otherwise you’d be getting off a lot.”

Narrow shuddered as she grabbed his face and kissed him deeply. Oh this had better bloody work tonight, or Celestia will be missing a sister. “You say that now,” she said after breaking the kiss. “But remember that bet you made with me? I intend to fulfill it tonight~”

“Looking forward to your attempt as always, m’lady,” Fredrick replied as he ran a claw down her spine. The griffon eventually broke free from the grasp of the unicorn and looked at the thestral mare. “What sort of soup would you like?”

“Hmm, something warming.” She pondered the menu on the podium next to her. “The potato and leek sounds yummy. Two servings of that please?”

“Easily done,” The griffon said as he vanished into the kitchen...but not before his tail flicked aside a bit too much to be a coincidence or accidental. Narrow saw that and she gulped a little.

“Having second thoughts?” Midnight said from beside her suddenly. Narrow flinched as she watched him leave.

“Well, only if I screw up the spell,” she said. “I tried this morning, have been for the last few days. But all I can manage is one that only lasts about ten minutes or so.”

“Don’t worry,” Midnight said, bumping Narrow’s flank with her own. “You’ll do fine. I have faith that the awesome Captain Narrow Gaze will claim her beloved birdy tonight~”

“Heh, thanks Midnight,” Narrow said. “But I gotta ask, how do you act like that all the time? It’s so embarrassing.”

“Aw, is the prim and proper Narrow all embarrassed about a little harmless flirting~? Midnight cooed. “It was worse for me, I actually had to buy that cringe-worthy performance.”

“It wasn’t that bad was it?”

“Eh... I give you a C for the act itself but an A for effort.” Midnight giggled. The two friends chatted for a bit more until Fredrick returned with Midnight’s order. The thestral sniffed the air and hummed.

“Ohh, that smells divine~”

“Baked the potatoes like Ledger does, and fried the leeks with a little olive oil before using both as stock for the soup,” the griffon said before passing her the loaf of bread and the two sealed bowls. “That’ll be sixteen bits.”

She hoofed over the money and placed the bag of food on her back, the soup pleasantly warming her fur. “Thanks Fred. And good luck Cap, I know you’ll blow his little birdy mind~” With a final giggle, she left the establishment, leaving Narrow to groan and apply a hoof to her face.

It wasn’t so bad, Ledger mused to himself as he lay on the couch. His magic was still plenty strong, and he had an anti-magic sword if he needed it.

...Such tools were powerless against crushing boredom or isolation, though. And he really needed a pony to cuddle right about now. It was then that there was a knock on the door. Judging by the emotions, it was most likely Midnight. Still…

“Who is it?” Ledger called out from the couch.

“It’s Princess Celestia!” Midnight called out. “Let me in and worship my sunbutt!”

“Not bloody likely,” Ledger said as he unlocked the door from afar with a bit of magic. “Still, did you find Scope? She popped by not long after you left, said something about tailing...her to the government section of town.”

“I knew I forgot something,” Midnight replied. “I called by your office, gave a half-assed excuse about you being sick, then paid a visit to Fred’s.” She placed the food on the table and opened the bag, letting the smells do the rest.

“Oooh, that smells like his bread and one of his soups,” the changeling drone observed, mouth already watering. “How’d you get your hooves on his bread?”

“Apologised for being stupid,” Midnight replied. “Told him the truth about Cider... he may have words with you for that, and we talked about Narrow a little.” She poured the soup into two bowls and tore the bread in half, before making her way to the couch. “Want some company?”

“Hives yes,” Ledger said as he scooted to the back of the couch. “Being alone after she came by...probably the worst thing. Buck, I might have accepted Scope as company if she stayed for longer than a second.”

“Wow, now I feel bad I left,” Midnight said to him as she placed her soup on the coffee table and hugged him. “Don’t worry, I’m here now kay?”

“Don’t leave me,” Ledger begged as he hugged her. “Please don’t leave me.”

“Of course I won’t,” Midnight replied, kissing his nose. “You’re hopeless without me. And I appear to have gotten attached to you as well.”

Ledger didn’t say anything for a moment, just holding her close and enjoying cuddling the mare. A familiar muttering could almost be heard from Ledger. An old mantra that his rapist turning up had reawoken.

“Hey, enough of that!” Midnight said, calm, but sternly. “She can’t touch you, not now and not ever. You are not a good drone, you are a great stallion and a wonderful lover. We have each other and Cider as well, nopony can take that away. Okay?”

“I…” Ledger shuddered a bit. “...She was what I was going to talk to you about, eventually,” he admitted. “I just didn’t expect it to be so...soon. Something like what she did...it never fades. If it had been one or the other, I might have been able to cope...but she not only took my virginity, she tried to kill me right after. I...I never expected it, and then I never let any nymph or female get close ever again.” He hugged Midnight a little closer afterwards, sobbing softly. “She ruined me and found me again…”

“So what will you do?” she said. “It was just this morning that you said that I wouldn’t be able to run from my problems forever. That I should talk and face them head on. And now yours have found you. So Level Ledger, or Secret Hoarder. What. Will. You do?”

Ledger took a deep breath as he considered the question. “The immature response would be to lock you and her in a soundproof room for fifteen minutes, then walk away and never look back. But...I think the next time she tries to apologize...I’ll listen to her, and if she actually sounds genuine, then the worst I’ll do is get a restraining order against whatever alias she’s living under. That’d be the right thing to do.”

“Ledger, I read about what you did to that Pegasus... trust me, you could do far worse to her than a restraining order.” Midnight took a spoonful of soup and blew on it gently, before holding it to his mouth. “Let’s forget it for now, and deal with it if sheshows up again.”

Ledger softly sipped at the soup, and in moments the spoonful was gone. After he gulped, he shook his head. “It doesn’t sit right with me, the idea of killing her or seriously harming her if she’s genuinely sorry,” the drone said. “...That being said, I would not say no if she was the victim of a series of horrible pranks that scare her out of her shell. All things might deserve a second chance, but she should understand just how she made me feel before she gets hers.”

“So you want to sink to her level? Just to prove a point?” Midnight mused as she tried her own soup. “That’s the great Level Ledger’s big plan?”

“Forgive me for operating solely on terror at the moment,” Ledger said while rolling his eyes. “She represents the lowest point in my life pre-Equestria, and one of the reasons I came to Equestria. To hear that she’s both here and sorry is kinda bucking with my worldview.”

“I imagine so,” Midnight nodded as she fed him more soup. “Hmm, well, I have an idea... but, you’re gonna hate it.”

“I’m,” Ledger said before sipping the soup and swallowing the latest serving. “Listening,” he finished after ingesting the delicious stuff.

“We get you used to nymphs again. Start with Scopey, and work our way up,” Midnight explained. “I’m sure that she wouldn’t mind helping you. And if you wanna face Spirit again, then you need to be able to stand on your own hooves.”

“...I was somewhat used to nymphs before,” Ledger said. “The Violets are relentless in trying to help drones, and it didn’t hurt that Scope had been brought into our lives broken. But then…”

“Oh no, this will be immersion therapy. I will have Scope shift into a Yellow.” Midnight explained. Ledger blinked a little before looking at Midnight with a bit more serious expression.

“I’ll have you know that substituting one’s colors for those of another Hive is both looked down on and not exactly easy,” Ledger said. “Most can’t hold the transformation for very long. Something about trying to alter our natural biology on such a level making a conflict that eventually forces us to drop it. I doubt one of Loyalty could masquerade as one of Courage for very long.”

“Still worth a shot,” Midnight said. “I’m trying to help Ledger, or shall I just go and fetch Free Spirit instead?”

“No no no, that’s fine,” Ledger said hastily, shaking his head. “I’m just warning you that Scope might not be amicable to the idea...and might get a headache if she does try.”

“Well, that’s my decision,” Scope said from the doorway. “So I have to help your whiny ass out? Sounds like a pain, but if my Mistress orders it, then I guess I have no choice.”

“Midnight, I’m regretting this idea already and she hasn’t even done anything yet,” Ledger deadpanned. Midnight chuckled and shook her head.

“Don’t worry Levvy.. Secret... GAH! What do I call you now!!”

“While Level Ledger is the name of my alias, it’s one I’ve grown quite fond of,” Ledger said. “Besides, my Changeish name is only important to other ‘lings. And really only matters in my home Hive.” He looked to Scope and quickly rattled off his name again and waited for a reaction, to prove his point.

Her eyes widened and she chuckled, a low buzz in her voice. “Well, that explains quite a few things. No wonder you’re so popular.” She crossed the room and looked at him, her blue eyes looking into his own silver ones. “May I do something you might consider strange?”

“...I reserve the right to retaliate if I find it too strange,” Ledger said, but nodded all the same. Scope nodded as she reverted to her true form and looked at Midnight.

“Mistress, should I not survive, it has been... interesting,” she said with a nod, before she leaned forward and embraced Ledger.

“I would apologise... on behalf of all nymphs...”

Ledger didn’t, couldn’t respond for a moment as his brain just shut down.

A previously unreasonable nymph…

Had apologized…

To him.

Yeah, Ledger’s brain checked out. The drone just sat there and looked at the far wall, blinking occasionally as his body ran on autopilot.

Midnight looked at him, a curious look on her face. Scope Lens pulled back and shook her head. “W-Well, that’s that,” she blushed slightly. “Don’t go thinking we’re friends or anything now.”

“And Scopey’s back,” Midnight giggled. She poked her lover and tilted her head. “You still there Levvy?”

“...This is worse than when Celestia apologized,” he absently commented as bits of rational thought started to eke back in. “I...I think I need to lay down. Wake me if Cider shows up.” With that, the drone lay his head down and closed his eyes.

“But... soup?” Midnight huffed. “Great, you broke him Scopey.”

“I didn’t mean to!” she cried back. She squeaked when Midnight grabbed her and pulled her onto the couch. “W-W-What are you doing Mistress. Please don’t punish me again. My body isn’t ready!”

“I’m not,” Midnight sighed as she started to feed her soup. “I was having fun until you broke him. Now you are my replacement cuddlebug.”

“I...am surprisingly okay with this,” she smiled as she nibbled at the soup.

“Nymphs apologizing,” Ledger muttered aloud. “What next? Will Fredrick go steady? I’m sure that’s a sign of the end times as well.”

“Well, if Narrow pulls it off tonight, she’ll be a great step closer,” Midnight giggled, rubbing Scope’s belly. The changeling nymph giggled a little at the sensation, before her normal expression started fighting for control again.

“M-Mistress, please stop,” the nymph managed to ask.

“Nope, that was cute," Midnight smiled. “But we have to discuss something Scopey. Namely what happens with you now that you’re all better.”

“Idea,” Ledger managed to get out. “Get her a job with Cider. That way somepony we can trust is watching her, and she’ll be able to afford her own share, maybe her own place.”

“You know she’s my assistant and that I’ve been paying her, right?” Midnight said. Ledger snorted a bit at that.

“What use does a ‘ling have for money beyond blending in?” Ledger questioned aloud. “Money doesn’t buy love.”

“No, but it does buy a place to live and pay the bills for said place. It also pays for the inpony amount of sugar a certain someone consumes.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Ledger said with mock-innocence. “Besides which, now that you’ve mentioned it to her, just watch Scope get curious about where the sugar is.”

“We have sugar here?” she inquired. She leaned in close to Ledger, her adorable blue eyes shining at him. “Please sir! I am ever so sorry, where is the sugar?”

“Mine,” Ledger all but growled. “Plus we’re still deciding what to do with you at the moment.” With a shift, the drone was looking at Midnight. “I assume you want to call in your father to handle her paperwork as well?”

“Yeah, I’ll send a letter tomorrow with her details, and he can handle the rest.” Celestia only knows what would happen if he showed up again. “Also, the sugar is in the top cupboard.”

With a cry of victory, Scope darted off the couch and into the kitchen, looking for the store of the delicious white powder. Ledger just sighed and looked at Midnight.

“You can clean up the mess from her sugar-binge,” Ledger informed the mare.

“Eh, you got to clean up Ciders,” Midnight shrugged and smirked at him. The sounds of happy nomnoming noises could be heard.

“And I don’t regret it in the least,” Ledger said with a sultry smile as his tongue licked his lips. “Nor did you last night, as I recall~”

“Who knew that a sugar pony was so tasty,” Midnight hummed thoughtfully. There was a crash from the kitchen before Scope stumbled out into the living room, still in her true form. Her blue eyes were as wide as dinner plates.

“I...can see....forevverrrrrr!” she said in an awed tone.

“And that’s why I said you can clean it up,” Ledger said with a mischievous smile. “I can still recall my introduction to sugar...took me another day to put the apartment back in order.”

Midnight was about to respond, when Scope was right there, staring into their souls.

“Guys! Hey! Listen!” she bounced. “I bet.... I bet I could even do magic!”

Midnight just facehooved. Ledger snickered and got up from the couch, already intent on ambling away into the bedroom to minimize the damage he might suffer.

“Have fun~” he sing-songed to Midnight. The Thestral made a grab for the nymph, and a loud ‘POP’ followed by the smell of singed ozone filled the air. Scope had actually teleported, now reclining on Ledger’s back.

“Mmm, comfy couch~”

Ledger paused for a moment, one hoof hung in the air. “Midnight,” he said in an even voice. “Will I like what I see if I look behind me?”

“A sugar-crazed nymph that just discovered that she can teleport?” Midnight replied. “Hypothetically, how do you feel about those?”

“...Hypothetically, if such a nymph were on my back, she would know to get off very quickly before I started attempting to buck her off,” Ledger said aloud.

Another pop, and Midnight was chasing a mad nymph around the apartment. Furniture was overturned, cupboards emptied and bedsheets strewn about. The changeling kept chaining her teleports until she appeared right in front of Ledger. She raised one hoof and booped his nose, giggling madly, before she gasped and suddenly passed out, a victim of the biggest sugar crash in Equestrian history.

“She...finally...stopped...” Midnight panted, looking over the ruined apartment.

“Yup, and I’m putting her to bed and going to bed myself. You have fun cleaning and trying to make sure two changelings don’t eat you out of funds now that both of us know where the sugar is,” Ledger said, before suiting action to word. It took him only a small application of magic to re-make the nymph’s bed and put her in it.

As for their own bed, he didn’t even bother all that much until he was snug under the covers. Once he was settled, he made sure the rest of the bed at least looked presentable and lay himself down fully, his magic hitting the light switch. For some reason, just watching that nymph doing crazy things had been exhausting!

Midnight sat alone in the carnage, her mane sticking out as she looked at the sun that had barely set.

“Are you bucking kidding me...” she stated. “I’m so out.” She smirked as a plan came together and she opened a window, taking flight into the orange-hued sky.

It had been a long day, and Fredrick wasn’t getting any younger. One of his former students had come by today, bragging about making love to the Princess of the Night herself.

Fredrick wasn’t sure if he could believe it or not. A sound from upstairs grabbed his attention however. Someone was in his bedroom...

He rushed upstairs, his claws at the ready for the unknown intruder.

The intruder turned out to be a rather fetching member of the Royal Guard, sprawled across his bed wearing some very nice lingerie. Narrow Gaze gave the bird a wink and patted the bed.

“Hello Fredrick~” she purred in a sultry tone, her come-hither gaze staring straight at him. “How about you come over here and I help you...unwind?”

“...Well this is a pleasant surprise,” Fredrick said with a smile. “Though, I do have a few questions. Namely, how did you get in through the window, and why did you not come in through the front door?”

“Well, the short answer is that I wasn’t always a Guard,” Narrow chuckled. “I had a...colourful foalhood. And I wanted to surprise you. Now come over here and I’ll give you a nice backrub~”

“Let me just tell the others to handle closing without me, and certainly,” Fredrick said as he turned around.

“Better hurry~” Narrow called out. “It’s not the only surprise I have!”

The griffon departed and went downstairs to see what few colts had the job of helping him clean up doing remarkably well. “Excellent,” the half-avian praised them. “Do you think you could lock up as you leave as well? An unexpected parcel has arrived upstairs that I must tend to.”

The trio of colts exchanged a look, and one of them nodded. “Yeah, I know how,” the unicorn said. “It’s not all that hard...and boss?”

Fredrick paused, not liking the tone. “Yes?”

The colt grinned wildly. “You take care with that package.”

All three of the adolescent ponies started to snicker at that, and the griffon rolled his eyes before returning upstairs to his bedroom. Narrow hadn’t moved, but the moment he entered the room, her horn lit up and levitated him over to the bed, her hooves already kneading at the knots in his back.

“Hmm, you know, you make me feel amazing,” she said. “Everytime we’re together, I just feel so special and loved. So tonight, I’m going to show you something, a little example of how much you mean to me.”

“While not the first time this has happened, it has only happened rarely enough for this to be a welcome change of pace,” the griffon groaned, then moaned as her hooves worked out a particularly stubborn knot between his wings. “Oooh, yes, I don’t exercise them nearly well enough...Morning flying sessions aren’t really good enough for something like proper wing care…”

“I learned a cloudwalking spell,” she said softly. “You should take me flying sometime.” Her horn had a gentle glow to it as she started on another spell, building up power.

“Perhaps I will,” Fredrick said. “Though, we would really need to go on a trip to do so. It’d be less expensive to go somewhere with regular cloud coverage than to try and import long-lasting clouds to Las Pegasus.”

“I hear that Cloudsdale will be in our airspace in about a week,” she said, her horn glowing brighter. “Now, close your eyes. I don’t want to blind you by accident.”

Fredrick closed his eyes but not his beak. “I do hope that this spell, whatever it is, works. I’ve heard of some of Ledger’s more dramatic backfires. Took him three days to get his spell he uses to do paperwork to work right. And in the meantime, he had to deal with random quills striking him, ink stains in his coat, and a small horde of papercuts.”

“As amusing as that is,” Narrow grunted slightly as light peeked under Fredricks eyelids. What ever she was doing, it was using an enormous amount of power. “This is... a little more complex... AH!” there was a small pop, followed by something landing on the bed. Something heavy. “Ahhh, phew.” She wrapped her hooves around his neck, hugging him. “Are you ready for this?” she purred into one ear.

“I don’t think he is,” a second voice said into his other.

“But he’ll enjoy it all the same,” a third said.

“...Something tells me that if I open my eyes, I am going to enjoy what I see,” Fredrick said, a grin slowly growing on his beak.

“We’ve been practising this for days.” The three equal voices said in unison. “You’d best enjoy it. We insist on it actually.”

Fredrick slowly opened his eyes and saw Narrow Gaze in front of him. His gaze drifted to the left, where Narrow Gaze was also there. Another quick glance to his right revealed a third Narrow Gaze. Slowly taking in the situation, Fredrick started to grin even more.

“I must say, while you are no Twilight Sparkle, you are among the more talented unicorn mares I have had the pleasure to know,” Fredrick said as his eyes danced from one Narrow to another. “How long does this last?”

“At first, I could only get one to last a few minutes.” Narrow said as the other two started to massage his flanks. “Now I can have two last about two hours, or a single one for about six.”

“Hrmm,” the griffon said, enjoying the massage. “And is this some sort of puppet-system, or are they their own beings based off of you?”

“It’s...difficult to explain,” she said. “They’re me, but they’re not me. We’re linked, so I feel what they feel and vice versa. Luna didn’t really give me all the details, just on how to cast it.”

“So if I were to do this,” Fredrick said as he trailed one claw down one clone’s spine. All three mare’s shivered in response.

“That happens,” she sighed softly. “So Fredrick, whatever will you do with three cute mares~?”

“I honestly have no idea,” Fredrick said with a happy smile. “At most I’ve bedded two at the same time before. This is a new experience for me.”

“Oh really?” she smiled innocently. Before that smile turned into a hungry one. “Well isn’t that interesting. Okay ladies, shall we?”

“We get to play?”

“Oh yes...”

Narrow smirked at him. “Let the service begin~”

It had been a long day for Apple Cider. Her and her kin had done a great deal to construct her new greenhouse, and now she was exhausted. After bidding goodnight to her sister and her other family, she climbed the stairs to her bedroom, heading inside and locking the door.

There was a scuffling sound, as her ear flicked.

And then something pounced from the ceiling. She went to shriek, but something pressed against her lips and muffled it, before something warm and wet slipped inside, and Apple Cider found herself the victim of a very passionate kiss.

Once her attacker pulled back, she good a good look at her face, and the golden, cat-slitted eyes of the Thestral.

“Hello Applebutt~” Midnight giggled.

“Ah...hello, Midnight,” the Earth Pony said with a bit of a daze. “Ledger...not with yah?”

“He went to bed without me and left me to clean our house all by myself.” Midnight pouted, sticking out her bottom lip. “I got lonely, but luckily there is this cute little mare that I can’t get enough of just a short flight away~”

“...Why’d he go and do that?” Apple Cider asked. “He don’t seem like the type to do things without a good reason…”

“You have much to learn about Ledger,” Midnight chuckled, nuzzling the Apple mare’s chest, taking in the earthy scent. “Buuuut, he may have been a little mad about our roommate trashing the place, which was my fault by proxy.”

“That makes a lick more sense,” Apple Cider said with a nod. “...Y’all...did clean up after yer roommate, right?”

“....” Midnight stopped. “No. No I did not.”

The Earth Pony sighed. “Fine. First thing tomorrow, you and ah are goin’ over there to put that place back in some sorta order.” Apple Cider then smirked and hugged the thestral mare. “But tonight, you can stay while we...get to know one another better.”

“My plans exactly,” the Thestral smiled, nipping her ears. “I’ve had this insatiable craving for apples. Perhaps you could help me out?”

“Perhaps ah could,” Apple Cider said, breaking free of the hug and flicking the mare’s muzzle with her tail as she turned to the bed. “Y’all comin’?”

Midnight waited until she was on the bed, before spreading her bat-like wings and gliding silently over to the bed, the moonlight catching her just right, so her fangs glinted. “Hrrrm, I’m so...hungry~” She leaned in close, her fangs combing the fur on Cider’s neck. “And you smell delicious~”

“Must be all the apples ah work with,” Apple Cider said, barely suppressing a moan at the feeling of fangs on her neck. “And eat, and brew, and…”

Midnight cut her off with another kiss. “Mmm, so yummy,” she said, her belly pressing against Cider’s. “But you talk too much. Perhaps that tongue could be put to better use.” The Thestral dragged her tongue along the pony’s neck, giving her small kisses and bites as she did. “Such a naughty girl. You like this don’t you~?”

“Ah might,” Cider said, keeping the moans out of her voice, but not the shivers running through her body. Oooh, she was gonna pop Ledger one for making that dare one of these days!

“Hmm, somepony isn’t being honest,” Midnight hummed. “I guess I’ll ask your body directly then~” Her fangs suddenly bit down, not hard enough to draw blood, but still giving her the sensation of pleasurable pain.

Cider couldn’t help it, she let out a squeak of fear...and pain, of course, followed by a moan as she felt exactly what Midnight was doing. After she got her head back on her shoulders, the Earth Pony realized what she had done and felt herself blush profusely.

“Wow,” Midnight mused. “Somepony really likes this whole vampony thing huh?” She snicked she licked the spot she just bit. “While I may hate those books more than anything. For you? I’ll be your Mistress of the Night~”

“Ah...Ah might like that idea,” Cider softly said. “Jus’...not right now. Maybe later on down the line? Ah’m still getting used to this crazy turn mah life has taken.”

“Fair enough, love time now, kinky roleplay later~” Midnight pulled the mare into a gentle hug, as she kissed her, not with hungry passion this time, but a gentle, caressing sort. Her lips barely touched her, as her tongue teased the edge of the apple mare’s lips. The earth pony returned the kiss, at first hesitantly, but soon hungrily. With a quick hug, Cider held Midnight close...and began rolling, trying to put the batpony on the bottom.

Well this was unexpected. Midnight decided to see where this would go, also because as embarrassing as it was, Cider was a lot stronger than her as well. She leaned into the roll, pulling the earth pony on top of her.

“Oh dear, I seemed to be pinned. Do be gentle~” Midnight replied, looking cute while doing so.

“Ah make no promises,” Cider said with a wide grin. “Last night was fun an’ all, but it was mostly Ledger doin’ us. Ah didn’t get to spend much time with you, and it’s been a while since I last bucked a mare.”

“Ooh, well then I have a few tricks for you then~” Midnight giggled. “Let’s see what you got Applebutt!”

The rest of the night would be home to the most wonderful of sounds and sights...and it was a pity there were no Violets nearby, otherwise they’d be even more fed off of what Midnight had been up to in the city.

Chapter Seventeen - A change to the rhythm

Ledger woke up in his own bed and sighed. It had been a thankfully dreamless night. Either Luna had made good on her promise to help him keep the nightmares away, or he’d been doing better than he thought in mentally healing...though he doubted the second one. He’d been mostly sad that Midnight hadn’t come to bed with him...but it was her choice to stay or go as she saw fit.

It was about then he felt a hoof prod him.

“Level? It’s time t’get up sugarcube~”

Ledger turned to look in the direction of the hoof and saw a familiar blue mare standing next to his bed. “...Cider?” he managed to ask. “What’re you doin’ here?...”

“Giving mah marefriend a helpin’ hoof,” she smiled. “Yer roomie really did a number on the place.” She helped sit the stallion up and kissed his nose. “Now iffn’ y’all can come out to the living room, ah made breakfast.”

“...That sounds good,” he eventually said. “Though I could get some right here.” With that, he draped his forehooves over the mare and returned the kiss.

Cider hummed as she kissed him, and once she pulled away, she smirked. “So, are ya sayin’ that you don’t want the pancakes ah made? The ones dripping with syrup and icing sugar? Topped with fruit and whipped cream?”

“Oooh, that’s an idea for later,” Ledger said, snickering as he hugged the mare. “You covered in syrup, sugar, fruit, and whipped cream. I might just die of sugar and love overload. You’re plenty sweet as-is.”

“It’d also be uncomfortably sticky,” she said, poking his nose. “But we’ll see. Now c’mon, or mah Little Bat will eat everything.”

“She knows better, and hey, you come with syrup,” Ledger said, snickering as he got to his hooves. “It’s just a matter of coaxing it out.”

“...Ah have no words fer that,” Cider deadpanned. She led him out into the dining room, where the veritable spread of sugary goodness lay.

Midnight had already started on her food and looked up when they entered. “Oh, hey Levvy!” she greeted chipperly, cream dotting her muzzle.

“Hey Midnight,” Ledger greeted back, taking his own seat and barely reigning in his own desire to consume all the sugar in front of him. “Seen Scope? Or is she still crashed?”

Midnight just shrugged, as Cider moved next to her and licked the cream off of her face. Though, to Ledger’s morning brain, it may have looked like something else~

Ledger shuddered a bit and decided to focus on the food. The nice, wholesome food. He was about to dig in when he noticed a lack of something. Something vital. Something modern society was built around.

“...Where’s the coffee?”

Midnight chuckled as she headed into the kitchen, returning with a ‘Levvy Special’. While it had less sugar than usual, the breakfast alone would ruin his diet. Midnight was sure to fill his mug with love, now with added Cider~

“Here ya go,” she said, placing the brew in front of him and kissing his cheek. Ledger quickly returned the kiss, then sipped at his coffee and sighed at the feeling.

“Oooh, that’s the stuff,” he said before starting in on his dish of pancakes. Once the first bite was down (and a moan that would have made Midnight blush suppressed), he decided to open the morning with a few questions. “So. Plans for today, mares?”

“Well ah gotta head home soon,” Cider said. “Can’t leave mah kin to do all the work after all.”

“I have patrol, but I’ll be done a little after noon,” Midnight said. The life of a working mare was a tough one. “And do you plan on another personal day?”

“Nah, I’ll put in a showing, do the paperwork that had to have piled up in my absence, and keep looking for ways to get a cheap ticket up north that don’t involve being smuggled there.” Ledger speared another forkful of pancake as he considered something aloud. “We should have a lunch date, though. Either at one of our places, or a place we can all get something at. Opinions?”

“Well, ah can’t afford to dally around the city,” Cider said. “If it t’aint too much trouble, would the two of you like to come out to mah farm?”

“I can come out easy,” Ledger said, quickly moving to add to his statement before either of the mares could. “My office isn’t too far from your farm. It’s why I kept bringing things over personally.”

“Oh, okay then,” Cider nodded. “And you, little bat?”

“I can come over easily, just might be a little late is all.” Las Pegasus was a large city, patrolling it took time.

“Great!” Cider clapped her hooves, as a certain, undisguised nymph emerged.

“Urgh! I feel like I got bucked by a Hydra,” she groaned. “I will never eat sugar again...”

“Cider,” Ledger said calmly and evenly. “Whatever you do. Do. Not. Panic.” The Apple mare blinked as she looked at Midnight.

“Is this the little ling you told me about?”

“Yup, that’s Scope Lens.”

Scope shrieked as the mare pounced, hugging the nymph tightly. “Oh mah gosh!” Cider cried as she squeezed the life from her. “She’s so adorable~”

“Ah! Help!” Scope cried. “I have pony on me!!”

“Any other ‘ling would be drinking in the affection right about now,” Ledger observed as he sipped his coffee. “And any other pony would probably be at least slightly worried.”

“We have a super-weird family,” Midnight nodded, sipping her own coffee. “I just accept that as fact now and move on.”

“D’you think she’ll stop hugging Scope at some point in the near future?” Ledger asked as he resumed eating his pancakes. Midnight shrugged, stealing a strawberry from his pancake pile with a flick of her tongue.

“Can I keep her?” Cider asked, still squeezing a now-purple Scope.

“You don’t let her go, you can bury her,” Ledger pointed out. Cider squeaked and dropped the ‘ling, who may have sounded like a squeaky-toy when she hit the ground.

“I thought... I was... gonna die...” she rasped. “And Level saved me...”

“I told you I wasn’t going to kill you a while back,” Ledger said as he stole one of Midnight’s strawberries in revenge...the last one on her plate, as a matter of fact. “I think indirectly letting you die counts as well, so I had to stop that.”

“You know,” Midnight mused. “My tongue is long enough to get that back.” With a smirk, Ledger popped the whole thing into his mouth, chewed briefly, swallowed, and stuck his tongue out at Midnight. She smiled back and poked out her own tongue.

“My point still stands.”

“Midnight, that’s just gross,” Cider shuddered. “And probably some kind of illegal.”

“I have no idea,” Midnight shrugged, demolishing the rest of her food. Cider gave Scope one last hug before she could flee, and moved to show some affection to Ledger and Midnight. Ledger had just managed to polish off his own pancakes and was sipping at his coffee before the mare got to him.

After some post-breakfast nuzzles, Cider left for her own home, as Midnight donned her armour. “I should get going too,” she said. She looked at her lover and decided to ask.

“Level? You know all the kinds of Changelings in this city right?”

“We have an even mix of all of them, except for the pink and silver,” Ledger said with a nod. “We’re under-staffed for a city this size. There’s only one other silver besides me here, and we’ve only got the one pink.”

Midnight nodded and swallowed the lump in her throat. “...even black?”

“...Black is the one color we don’t have, and for a good reason that I hope never comes up,” Ledger said with a shudder. “If you ever see a totally black changeling, either kill it or run.”

There was that flare again as Midnight turned away. “G-good to know.” When she looked back, she looked perfectly normal, but her emotions were all over the place, at least until she fought them down. “Well I have work to do. You should take Scopey with you today. Bond a little.” Before either could respond, she flew from the room.

“Okay,” Scope said with a raised eyebrow, now that she’d transformed. “What the buck was that about?”

“...Black is the color of the Broodmothers,” Ledger said to the nymph. “The questions now are, why did Midnight know about Blacks, and why does she know what it feels like to have love ripped from…” his mouth hung open as he put pieces together. “Oh...hives.”

“There’s no way,” Scope said. “How is she still alive? If she met a Broodmother, and it drained her, how...”

“Because it was at Canterlot, right before the shield happened,” Ledger said. “Oh Kings and Queens...She...is incredibly lucky to be alive. Okay, Scope, I need you to do something for me today.”

Scope nodded, “It... could just be speculation you know. Maybe, she saw somepony else get attacked?”

“Those emotions felt way too real when she mentioned those things,” Ledger pointed out. “Those are the feelings of somepony that felt it, not just saw it. Though that’s not to say she didn’t see it happen to somepony else as well.” The drone shook his head as he donned his own disguise. “I need you to get in contact with the local ‘lings, especially the silver and eldest violet. Figure out if there’s anything we can do for her beyond being there for her.”

“You...seriously aren’t going to confront her are you?” Scope buzzed. “There’s a reason she reacted like that. I know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of her anger. Trust me, it bucking hurts!”

“Give me some credit,” Ledger said with a roll of his eyes. “I’m not going to confront her about it until she says she wants to talk about it. But if there’s something...anything we can do to help her heal from what they did. Be it being there for her, or a potion, or regular infusions of love, we need to know.”

“Alright, I’ll ask,” Scope said softly. “You could... you know, wipe her memory. Make her forget it ever happened.”

“...Would you want to forget meeting her?” Ledger asked bluntly. “Or perhaps you’d like to forget me threatening you. Oooh, or here’s an idea. Maybe I can make you forget your life in the Homelands.” The unicorn shook his head before snorting. “I don’t cast memory spells for no reason...and something like this is such an integral part of the pony we know, doing that to her...would do far more harm than good.”

“It was just a suggestion,” Scope replied. “Look, she’s...” Scope paused as she mulled the word around in her head. “She’s my... friend. I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

“She’s mine too,” Ledger said softly. “But I took a vow when they taught me the memory-spell. They said I didn’t have to, but I did anyways. I will not use this on any being that has not discovered my secret. Once I saw what it...did to ponies. I couldn’t use it without good cause.”

“Fair enough,” Scope nodded. He really was different from other changelings. Too bad he was already taken. “But doing so means I have to go back to ‘that’ place. You owe me for this Secret.”

“As long as you don’t lose track of time and keep a strictly business attitude up, the elder should reciprocate in kind,” Ledger said with a smirk. “Otherwise I might just have to tell Midnight you took a visit...and let her deal with you.”

Scope’s eyes widened as she looked at the now evil drone. “You... you really don’t want to be on the receiving end of an angry Mistress... she broke them. All the Violets... they never stood a chance...” She shuddered and got up. “I’ll do what I can. Try and keep the peace hmm?” She gave a flap of her wings and exited out of the same window Midnight had.

“Wonder if she knows that the other silver in town doesn’t work at the library, but the records office,” Ledger mused as he finally killed the last sip of his coffee and walked out the door.

Scope buzzed towards the record office, annoyed that the drone hadn’t told her where the silver was, and annoyed that she forgot to ask. The Violets had been more than happy to tell her. For a price.

“This had better be worth it,” she groaned as she walked into the office. She walked up to the front desk and presented the badge that Midnight had given her.

“Probationary Officer, Scope Lens!” she announced herself. “I’m here to see Recorder Lengthy Scroll!”

The mare behind the counter gave a good, long look at the badge, before pointing her pencil down one particular hall. “All the way down, take a left, third office on your right.”

Scope gave a curt nod and followed her directions. Once she reached the door, she could already sense the tell-tale signs of a Changeling presence. She raised a hoof and knocked. “Come in!” a male voice sounded. “Don’t mind the scrolls, they don’t mean any harm!”

Okay, what was that supposed to mean? She walked in and shrieked as several dozen scrolls floated around the room, each one being written on at the same time. She glanced at the center of the papery maelstorm, to see a Unicorn sipping his tea.

“Lengthy Scroll?”

“That’s me, dear...oh, and you’re new here, aren’t you?” the disguised changeling said as he looked at the floating storm of parchment. “No no no, 3B correlates to 5C if and only if field 6 on form A3 is less than fifty! Try again!” With a shuffling of quills and parchment, the storm took on a new, simpler form.

“Apologies, I’m trying to make it a self-correcting, self-referencing spell, but while it does have a mind of its own...the mind is often wrong.” The stallion gestured to the empty seat on the other side of his desk. “Tea?”

“Um, thank you?” she said, taking a seat. “My name is Scope Lens, and yes, I’m new to the city. I’m here for a reason though.”

A massive folder came out of one desk as the grey-coated unicorn looked at it with one eye, each tab and minor folder within flicking past at breakneck speeds before the folder was returned. “Quite new indeed, otherwise I’d have some information on you.” The unicorn softly swirled his tea with one hoof as he considered the nymph’s words. “So, out with it. What’s on your mind that you decided to visit this old drone?”

“Uh, right,” Scope sipped at her tea. “I’ve come on behalf of... Secret-Hoarder. He wants certain information on Broodmothers.”

“Ah,” the drone said, putting his cup down and sighing. “I have quite a bit of information on them, actually. What...specifically are you interested in?”

“Well,” Scope replied. This was really good tea. “We have reason to believe that we know of a pony, one that survived a drain. Is there.. anything we can do to assist her mentally?”

“Mm,” the drone said as he opened a different drawer, pulling out a sm- large, tome, one that had the word ‘Broodmothers’ written on both the front and side in Changeish, and thudding it onto the desk. “Let’s see...changing, curses, death...ah, draining.” He read the passage for a minute longer, humming to himself as he did. “They attacked her for her love?” he questioned suddenly.

“I imagine so,” Scope replied. “She certainly has enough to spare. This was during the Canterlot invasion.”

“That fits, then,” the drone said, looking back at the book for a moment longer, before sighing and shutting it, sitting back in his chair and rubbing his temples with one hoof. “Well...it’s not an easy path you have before you,” he eventually said.

“I didn’t imagine it would be,” Scope said, sad her teacup was now empty. “So what must we do?”

“The key ingredient is finding a changeling who can not only feed on, but freely give back emotions,” the blue-eyed stallion said. “Your best bet is a noble, but good luck. Just like not every ‘ling can teleport, not every noble can give back what they’ve taken from another. Once you find one, you have to give the mare love...but it can’t be love she herself generated.”

Scope paused, she slowly placed down her teacup and then after a second, gave a hearty laugh. This laughter lasted for several minutes before she stopped. “Haaa, s-sorry, I thought you said it would be hard, not just to keep doing what she’s doing.”

“Ah, so you found a noble already?” the drone asked. “Very good then. It’s...not going to be a quick fix, but if she spends time around a Pink or two, it might help the process along. But if you want to heal her mentally...try showing her that changelings aren’t horrible monsters. Do all that, and she should recover...eventually. But whatever you do, do not have her encounter another Broodmother, even a freshly-turned one!”

“W-What would happen?” Scope said, not liking that last part. Changelings were everywhere in this city.

“If a Broodmother encountered her and decided to feed from her...they could finish what they started,” the drone said ominously. “Ever wonder why they tell you not to drain a pony too much back in the lands? You don’t want to find out.”

“Maybe it’s best if you tell me,” Scope said. “Trust me, can’t be any worse than what I’ve seen already.”

“If a pony is drained too much, too deeply, they lose the ability to feel or care at all about anything,” the drone said. “From the simple things to things like ‘oh that’s a cliff, best not walk off it.’ And it’s irreversible.”

“Yeah, that might be bad,” Scope agreed. She couldn’t imagine Midnight song like that, a pony so full of life, reduced to an emotionless husk. “Thank you for the information. I hope we can at least help Midnight out then.”

“...Midnight Song? Ledger’s thestral marefriend?” the drone asked with a raised eyebrow. “Huh...didn’t take her for a victim. If anything, the way they acted around one another made me think they were in a healthy relationship...then again, I did only see her for a few minutes before the Violets ushered her out.”

“That’s the one,” Scope cursed her loose tongue. “Just, keep this between us yes? The last thing we need is this talk getting back to her.”

“My lips are sealed,” the drone mimed as such before speaking again. “So...how did she meet one and live to tell the tale?” The drone raised an eyebrow before prodding his book. “All signs point to a pony meeting one as being the last thing they tend to do before they’re drained.”

“We’re running on pure speculation here, but it appears that the shield that pushed the invasion back was the thing that saved her. We’re not entirely sure. She could have driven the attack back herself, she has... a unique fighting style.” Scope idly rubbed one of her legs.

“Ah, so at least some of the rumors regarding them have a kernel of truth,” the unicorn said as the paper started to descend around them again. “Whups, looks like this time they’ve got it right. Ah well, treat Miss Song well and keep dosing her with the love of another, and she should recover. Regular trips to the Pink should also help. And tell young Ledger to come by some time, we need to collaborate on this spell some more.”

“I’ll let him know,” Scope said. “And... thank you for the tea. It was delicious.” It still felt a bit strange to actually thank a drone. But, she was getting used to it. She gave the stallion one last nod and left him alone with his scrolls.

“I never get tired of hearing nymphs say that,” the disguised drone said with a laugh once the door clicked shut. With a soft sigh, he picked the tome up and put it away in one of his desk’s drawers.

“At least now I can put the knowledge I stole from mother and sister to use…”

Midnight Song hummed as she flew around the city. Three muggings, a bank robbery and a lost cat.

It was a slow day.

“Hmm, it’s getting close to lunch, maybe I should start heading for the farm?” she wondered aloud, unaware of the eyes watching her from a little puff of cloud. Or the fact that the cloud moved closer, as there was barely any wind today.

It was probably only the shadow that tipped her off.

Midnight glanced down, noticing the shadow dogging her every move. She frowned as she paused and turned her head to see a little cloud floating there.

“The buck...?” She drew closer, one hoof raised to unveil who was hiding inside the poor disguise…

Once the fluffy vapor was swept aside, it revealed an unfamiliar pony. A red pegasus with a blue mane...and bright pink eyes and a wide smile. “Heya Midnight!” the stallion said, in a tone that was...somewhat familiar.

“Do... I know you?” she asked, taking a defensive position. She wasn’t about to be mugged herself, and this guy would pay dearly if he tried.

“...Oh duh, you saw me in my other form,” the stallion said with a roll of his eyes. With a pink flash, the stallion was replaced with a pink pegasus mare. “Recognize me now, Middy?”

Midnight frowned, as a certain song came to mind, along with a Pegasus with the most sugary singing voice she had ever heard. “Oh! Now I remember!” Midnight exclaimed, seeming much more relieved. “Amy!”

“Yup!” The mare said, beeping the Thestral’s muzzle. “I probably shoulda showed off my other side to you before, but how many ponies do you know with pink eyes?”

“Another one of my friends actually,” Midnight remembered the albino unicorn from Canterlot. She was so sweet, but really timid. “I thought you forgot honestly, and I guess I’ve been busy myself. Managing a herd is hard...”

“...Say what?” the pink pony said, putting one hoof in one ear and cleaning it out...of empty ice-cream cones. “Say that again, because I thought I misheard you. Something about a herd.”

“I...” Midnight shook her head. She didn’t see that. Nope, not at all. “Uh, y-yeah. I took Princess Luna’s advice, and now Ledger, myself and a mare named Apple Cider are together.”

There was a moment, a small moment. A moment where Amy just sat there and smiled and vibrated. That was Midnight’s only warning.

“What are you doing?” Midnight asked, flying backwards slowly. Then Midnight found herself in a powerful wing-hug as Amy embraced her with every fiber of her being.

“I’M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!” the disguised nymph said at a volume that meant those directly under them could hear them with a little effort. So, most of Las Pegasus.

“Ow,” Midnight winced, rubbing her ringing ears. Still, she couldn’t help but smile. “Heh, you seem happier than me about it.”

“Duh!” Amy said, pulling an abacus out of the cloud. “Levvy seeing two mares means twice the foals, silly! Plus, if you manage to do this, other ponies might start doing it as well!” Beads clacked across as the mare started doing...some sort of math. “Which means more foals everywhere, which means more little mouths wanting ice cream, which means more happy, smiling faces...and more food for me!”

“Sooo, it all boils down to me having foals huh?” She chuckle as she ruffled the mare’s mane. “Sorry to say, but I don’t plan on them anytime soon. You’ll have to hit up Cider for that.”

“S’all good,” Amy said as she stuck her abacus back in the cloud. “You three starting this up is all we really need to spark a wave of relationship revolution, which is what I’m really after in this instance.” The mare hugged herself, looking at nothing in particular. “It’ll be beautiful…” she said quietly. “So many happy little faces…”

“You really love foals huh?” Midnight goggled at the adorable display. “Tell you what, if Levvy ever has kids, then you’ll be our go-to babysitter.”

“Really?” Amy asked with wide, sparkling eyes that were probably a changeling trick.

“Well, I may have only known you for a total of like, ten minutes. But you seem pretty cool.” Midnight nodded to herself and folded her front hooves. “So what can I do for you Amy? Any particular reason you were stalking me inside a cloud?”

“Well, I got done checking on all the new drones - No other pinks, by the way, - And then I remembered that you wanted to hang out! Well, today is Cherry Scoop’s day off, along with my own, so I figured I’d come see you! It’s real easy to find a batpony in the daytime, did you know?”

“I imagine, and being the only Thestral in Las Pegasus probably helps as well,” Midnight added. “Well, I have lunch with Levvy and Apples soon. We can either hang out after, or you can come as well. I’m sure Cider won’t mind. Plus you’d actually get to meet her.”

Amy hummed for a moment, thinking about something. “Hmm...Does Cider know about other ‘lings?”

“Well, she’s seen Levvy in his true form, and she knows about Scopey, though she nearly hugged the life out of the poor girl,” Midnight chuckled, but remembering this morning also brought up the stupid question she’d asked Ledger. She’d dropped enough hints that he’d have put it together by now. But Midnight wasn’t sure if she could face that particular topic just yet…

“Hmmm...Maybe. Buuut, you gotta do something for me if I’m gonna come with, Miss Song,” Amy said, poking the mare with a hoof.

“Uh, like what?” Midnight pondered. This wasn’t some weird Changeling thing was it. “I’m not sleeping with you, if that's what you’re implying.”

“Nope, I just want a smile from you,” Amy chirped happily.

“That’s it?” Midnight blinked. A small smile appeared on her muzzle, forced as it was. “See, easy.”

“A nice, honest smile,” Amy pouted. “C’mon, something must make you happy.”

Midnight’s features softened as she thought. There was a lot that made her happy, Level, Cider, mangoes, her family... “Sorry Amy, guess I’m just not feeling it right now...”

“It’s all right, at least you tried,” Amy said, patting Midnight’s hoof with one of her own. “That’s what I want for all my friends, no matter how old they are. For them to be happy. Get back to me when you can smile honestly.”

With that, the pink changeling in disguise started to fly off. “Have fun with Ledger and Cider at lunch!” she called back. Midnight raised a hoof, not really wanting her to go, but her voice died in her throat.

“Yeah...” she said quietly, before sighing and turning towards the farm.

“So basically, keep doing what we’ve been doing, only fostering and slowly siphoning from Cider and giving to Midnight?” Ledger questioned Scope as the pair of them walked down the road to Apple Cider’s home.

“That’s pretty much the gist of it,” Scope nodded. “And keep her away from any and all Blacks. They could finish the job and leave her... well, you remember what she can do right? Imagine that. Permanently.”

“Yeesh,” Ledger said with a shiver as the thought struck him. “Yeah, we’re gonna have to be very careful around draining her...actually, now that I think about it, it might explain a few things about her,” the unicorn mused. “Like why she’s got so much lust to spare. Might be her body’s way of compensating for a lack of love.”

“Maybe,” Scope said. “There’s still a lot we don’t know, and won’t without asking her directly. Calling dibs on not doing that now by the way.”

“Pushing her to do it will only end in her brushing it off and all our efforts failing,” Ledger pointed out. “Unless she brings it up, then all I’m going to do is treat her as best as I can. You catch more ‘lings with sugar than with vinegar.”

“And you catch more thestrals with mangoes, than sugar,” Scope chuckled. “I’m surprised you haven’t bathed in mango juice to see what’d happen yet.”

“I...might have a plan regarding that sort of thing,” Ledger said cryptically. “It involves me going back to the library and learning a new spell from the adult section.”

“Part of me is curious, part of me doesn’t want to know,” Scope chuckled. “Oh? And that silver wants to see you at some point. Wants to discuss that script spell with you. His can think for itself.”

“Oooh, he’s getting closer!” Ledger all but squeed. “Soon, I might be able to make a golem that acts and thinks on its own, learning as it goes! It’d be a marvel of magic!”

“That’s...actually pretty impressive sounding,” Scope admitted as they reached the farm and saw a lot of ponies. Dozens upon dozens of them.

“That... is a lot of Apple ponies,” Scope said quietly.

“Well, let’s go meet the in-laws,” Ledger joked, before clearing his throat and shouting. “APPLE CIDER, GET YER SWEET FLANK OVER HERE! YOU GOT A COLTFRIEND TO HUG!”

Every Apple stopped whatever it was they were doing as the farm delved into complete silence. Scope Lens looked at Ledger like he was utterly insane... which he probably was.

Soon, a familiar mare stepped through the crowd, a fierce blush covering her face as she glared at Ledger.

“That.” she said. “Is the worst first impression ever! Yer lucky yer so damned cute, or ah’d have tanned yer hide and used it fer a throw rug!”

“I’d pay good bits to see that!” Scope perked up.

“Is that a promise, Miss Cider?” Ledger asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows. “Or a fantasy you’d like done to you?”

“Not. Helping!” she stated through gritted teeth as an older mare stepped forward. She had a deep orange coat, along with a two-tone mane and tail. Alternating between snow-white and deep forest green. She was quite beautiful as her green eyes twinkled.

“So, this is the famous Level Ledger,” she said. “And you must be Midnight Song, though Cidey’s description of you is quite different.”

“No, I-”

“My name is Apple Leaves, and I happen to be her mother. It’s nice to meet the both of you.”

“You’ve actually only met one of us,” Ledger said, stepping away and pointing at Scope. “She’s not Midnight. She’s just a friend.”

Cider and Scope blinked. Did Level Ledger... just call a nymph.. a friend?

Apple Leaves tilted her head, but smiled none-the-less. “Well it’s a pleasure regardless. I do wish her Papa could have made the trip, but he’s busy caring for the old homestead.”

Another pony had approached Ledger, an absolute beast of a stallion. He looked down at the Changeling and after a few moments, nodded once.

“He’ll do,” he said in a deep voice.

“Glad I have his approval,” Ledger said as a bead of sweat dripped down his face. “Looks like he could break me like a twig.” The unicorn shook his head to clear it and looked back at Apple Leaves with a smile. “And I am glad so many of her family showed up to help put together this little venture of ours. I wish mine was as tightly knit as yours.”

“Well, the way I hear it is that you’re family now as well,” the mare smiled, hugging Ledger. “So think of us as your family too, okay?” Her feelings and emotions were quite genuine.

“Well, thanks miss,” Ledger said, a little humbled by the sheer care she was emitting. After a moment, but before the hug got too awkward, the stallion coughed to get her attention again. “So, since I would be useless at heavy lifting without magic, I figured instead I’d contribute by adding all sorts of security spells to the glass itself...once you all got it all installed, anyways.”

“Oh that?” Cider shrugged. “It’s done.”

“What?” Scope blinked.

“It’s done, the greenhouse. We put it all up this morning and now we’re having a big old family shindig!” she grinned. If there was one thing she loved more than anything, it was an Apple Family party.

“...Well don’t I feel useless,” Ledger said with no small amount of sarcasm. “Still, I can do the spells throughout the night, or as I think of them as time passes. But if I heard you right, we have a party to enjoy...and I feel like playing hooky to enjoy it. What about you, Scope?”

The Pegasus shrugged and looked at him. “Hard to play hooky on a job I’m not doing,” she said. “But, I suppose I can keep you out of trouble until the Mistress gets here.”

“...Wouldn’t her arriving only add to the trouble?” Ledger asked out loud. “Why would you bother trying to keep me out of trouble if she’s arriving anyways?”

“Why escalate the inevitable?” Scope deadpanned. “Well, good thing I’m hungry. There’s enough food... and food here to feed an army.”

“We tend to go all out fer our little get-togethers,” Cider explained as Apple Leaves disappeared to mingle. Ledger coughed a little and nudged Scope with one hoof before asking a very simple question of Apple Cider.

“They don’t know, right?” The pointed tone had been directed more to Scope Lens than his marefriend, to drive home the whole ‘secrecy’ bit.

“Eenope, and best keep it that way,” Cider said. “Apple Fritter was in Canterlot during the invasion, and Big Mac there is Applejack’s brother. So unless you wanna resemble a bug on an airship window...”

“...Cider, I’m going to be nice here,” Ledger said with a smile. “And say that since they’re your family, even if they somehow found out and decided to attack me before I could explain...I won’t hurt them in self-defense.” With that, the drone hummed to himself as he walked deeper into the party in search of food.

“Do ah sense passive-aggressiveness in his voice?” Cider asked Scope as Ledger wandered off, politely declining hoofshakes.

“Honestly, he’s a mystery,” Scope said. “I would simply run away in the event that that would happen. Still, I wonder if they’ll take to Midnight.”

It was about an hour later when said batpony arrived. Her expression was fairly neutral, the meeting with Amethyst Cream had left her... vexed. As she made her descent towards the farm, one Apple farmer noticed her coming, and his reaction was one that... well Midnight had to admit that she’d never seen before.

“AAHHHH! Giant Vampire fruit bat!!!”

Several Apples screamed and started to run, as Midnight just hovered there and frowned.

“Well that’s just plain rude. Perhaps somewhat correct, but still rude.”

Cider facehooved at their reaction and sighed. “Ah am so, so sorry...”

“Hey Cider, outta curiosity...you don’t grow mangoes here, do you?” Ledger asked with a smirk. “Cause otherwise, they might be vindicated.”

“One, buck you Ledger!” Midnight snapped as she landed. She really could go for a juicy mango right about now though.

“Nope, wrong climate,” Cider nodded as she tried to get her idiot family to stop running around like headless chickens.

“Want me to shout again?” Ledger asked with a quirked eyebrow. “I might be able to get them to stop...oh, or better idea, we could get them to stop without noise.”

“SIT DOWN!” a giant voice bellowed as the three lovers turned to see Big Mac take a breath after that huge shout. One could almost hear a pin drop as every Apple stopped and promptly sat on their rears. Mac snorted and nodded once, before resuming his munching on a pie.

“My thanks again,” Ledger said, tipping an imaginary hat with one hoof towards the stallion. “Louder than my plan, but it worked, so I can’t complain.”

“Oohhh~” Midnight oggled Big Mac. Cider just sighed and whapped her upside the head.

“Stop staring, he’s not yers to play with.”

“And we’re not going to let you near any more of Cider’s family, no matter how distant that relation is,” Ledger said, putting his hoof down literally and metaphorically.

“Spoilsports,” Midnight huffed. It was then that Ledger had noticed that Scope had slipped away, the petite pegasus was now chatting with the stoic stallion, laughing at a joke of his and batting her eyelashes at him.

“Aaaand on that note, not-it on Scope-watching-duty,” Ledger said as he gave both mares a quick kiss and resumed his search for new food to try. There had been something over near the fritters he’d never seen before...

“Dang it,” Midnight muttered, grabbing the flirty nymph and dragging her away from Big Macintosh.

“Oh come on! How many mares have probably tapped that flank?” she whined.

“He’d split you in half!” Midnight replied. “Sorry girl, even I would probably avoid that one.” It was about then that she was accosted by Apple Leaves and introduced herself to Midnight Song.

“Sorry about that dear, I don’t think too many of my family members have seen somepony of your kind before.”

Midnight shrugged, keeping Scope under one of her wings. “It’s fine, I thought it was a little funny actually. Never been called a Vampire Fruit Bat before.”

“Again, I do apologise,” Leaves sighed, that first pony that shouted it was going to get an earful. “So since my daughter and your stallion are proving to be elusive. Perhaps you could entertain an old mare for a while? I’d like to know how you all met.”

“Sure,” Midnight nodded, heading off into the house for tea and a chat.

Meanwhile Ledger had finally gorged himself on physical and emotional food enough and just sat to one side of the proceedings. He observed the flow of emotion as only a changeling could, and it brought a smile to his face to see such a large, happy, caring family. Scope also watched, both the family and Ledger.

‘So I wonder what you’ll do next?’ she thought to herself. Her head tilted as her brain buzzed slightly. “Yes, I know,” she muttered. “Just... let me know if one does. I hate not knowing the full story...yeah, fine. Keep me informed.”

Ledger kept watching the family a moment longer before he felt someone staring at him. With a glance that he felt he had successfully disguised, he saw Scope watching him for some reason. Ledger smirked internally as he closed his eyes, letting the others think he had drifted off for a moment.

He heard giggling, and opened one eye to see Midnight’s face about an inch from his own, her golden eyes staring into his.

“Watcha doing?” she giggled.

“Enjoying...this,” Ledger said as he used a hoof to indicate the gathering. “It’s...still a novel thing to me. I find it so wonderful that things like this exist here.”

“Really? Seems pretty normal to me,” Midnight replied, watching two foals chasing one another. One bumped into Scope and she growled before chasing them, the two kids squealing and laughing. “I got the whole ‘you’re family now’ talk from Apple Leaves. Still processing it though.”

“We don’t have things as nice as this,” Ledger said, leaving as few clues behind in case anypony were listening. “To see such a large family, coming together and being happy because they’re together...she was a thrice-damned fool, thinking invading could bring her a fraction of the power this moment holds.”

“Heh! All the love you get, I’m surprised you’re not moving the sun and moon by now,” Midnight chuckled. “Imagine that? All hail Prince Ledger. He’ll do your taxes and buck your mares.”

Ledger sputtered a bit before glaring at Midnight. “...Just to be clear, you start looking for other mares for me to buck without both me and Cider being read in on what you’re doing, and we’re going to be having a serious talk.”

“It’s called a joke Ledger,” Midnight replied dryly. “And I believe you started it with Cider. So my statement still stands.”

“Fair enough, but at least now you know why I did it,” Ledger shrugged. “So. You want to talk to me about anything in particular, or are you just bored?”

“Are you kidding, who has time to be bored here?” she said, looking around at the party. “I just need a small breather. Plus, you looked like you were dozing off there. Everything alright?”

“Oh yeah, just a little stuffed,” Ledger said before dropping his volume. “I don’t know why, but Scope’s been watching me for five minutes now. It’s a little creepy. Might be nothing. Act normal.”

Midnight turned her head and scanned the place until she located the snarky Pegasus. She was currently wrestling with about five foals... and losing.

“Yeah, I think you’re good,” Midnight chuckled. “Oh, I met the pink one again today.”

“Yeah, every drone has to meet Amy,” Ledger said with a small laugh of his own. “It’s the final exam the Violets give us. First they help us recover from our trauma, then they try to make us see that Equestria does things differently...and until Amy is satisfied that we can give her an honest smile, our ‘rehab’ isn’t complete.”

Midnight paused. “What?...” she shook her head and glared at him. “Say... say that last part again.”

“Until we can give Amy an honest smile as proof that we’ve learned how to be happy, our rehab never ends,” Ledger said with a sigh. “I...was having problems with that step for a while, but I think I can pass it now.”

“Yeah... guess you can,” she said, her tone felt a little, absent, like she was only half-listening. Was that all that was about? Did Amy think Midnight was just another rehab patient? She was perfectly fine!

“Amy likes for all her friends to be happy,” Ledger said as he felt the turmoil of emotions bubbling away inside the thestral mare. “She sees smiles as the best proof of that. So, if she asks you to smile...it’s because she cares.” With that, Ledger did something any other ‘ling might call foolish. Or stupid. Or insane.

He gave Midnight a kiss on her cheek as he began giving over the familial love he’d been slowly absorbing out of the gathered ponies. It wasn’t quite what she needed, but it was still love all the same. He only hoped it helped her calm down.

Midnight sighed and shook her head. “Yeah.. just, overthinking things I guess. Been a little stressed today.” She sighed as she felt the sunlight warm her coat, and her spirits lifted a little. Ledger’s kiss felt warm as well, and a small smile crept onto her muzzle.

“I feel a little better,” she said. “Now, what say we introduce these Apples to Midnight Song~”

“You introduce yourself,” Ledger said with a smirk. “But send over Scope if you get a chance. We should have a talk, the two of us.”

“Alright, just don’t pick on her,” Midnight replied, before she took to the air and flew a ways, before pouncing on Cider and Fritter.The surprised shrieks were music to her ears.

After a few minutes, Scope trotted over. Her mane was a mess and straw was sticking from it. Her coat could use a good brushing and she sighed from tiredness and a full belly.

“You wanted to see me?”

Ledger nodded, not looking at the nymph in question for a moment, letting the silence build. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” he said after about twenty seconds. “The way they all love each other and get along. You can almost say that they could feel it the way we do.”

“Oookayy?” Scope said, looking around. “Typical pony family I suppose. What’s up with you? You on a love high or something?”

“Something like that,” Ledger admitted with a snicker. “Just...think. What was your family like? Nothing like this one, I imagine...and the things they teach back home are...the antithesis of this. And now that you’re here...you’re free to do things like this. Find a loving family or community. Settle in. And enjoy a life of love.”

The drone sighed before looking at the nymph. “I...never thought about building a family before. Never thought about staying before. I always wanted to go to the next town and learn things. Take note, wayward sister: Life rarely turns out the way you expect. It’s up to you to make it a good one.”

“So, in short.” Scope said. “You want to stay here and have little batbugs with Midnight? Well, your life I suppose.” She looked around and what Ledger said was true, she hadn’t seen anything quite like this before. “In case you hadn’t noticed, but I’m kinda small for a changeling. Was dumped by my biological parents not long after I was born. Luckily, or not so depending on your viewpoint, I was found and raised by a group of Blue ‘ling’s. So yeah, my whole life, I really wasn’t seen as ‘useful’ or ‘loved’” She gave a small laugh, one that hinted at a long-learned pain. “It’s ironic isn’t it? That we don’t even understand the food that keeps us alive?”

“I think Amy said it best,” Ledger said with a smile. “‘The day any of my friends really understand what it means to be happy and loved, is the day they’re no longer from the Homelands, but Equestrians.’”

‘Typical Pink nonsense,” Scope said. She’d never really seen eye to eye with them, and was glad she had evaded the one here so far. Music had started up and most ponies had shuffled off to start dancing. Midnight and Cider looked like they were having fun, especially when Cider squeaked when Midnight copped a feel~

Scope snorted again and looked at Ledger. “So... you feel like dancing?”

“Not with you, though I may cut into their dance in a moment. Oh, and one more thing, Scope?” Ledger said as he got to his hooves.

“I don’t know what that spell is, but it’s not as discreet as you think it is, nor do I know why you were watching me earlier. I’m giving you a chance. Singular. But if you betray any of us, you’ll wish you’d told me now.” With the threat delivered, the drone walked over to his mares with a smile on his face.

“So he noticed me using ‘Hivemind’ huh?’ Scope chuckled. “He’s astute. But he really shouldn’t worry so much. While I think Midnight can handle herself... it doesn’t hurt to have other options open.” She gave the party one last look and took to the skies. She’d lost her mood to dance anyway.

“Mares,” Ledger said with a smile as he stood off to one side as he watched the pair of them dance. “Might I say, you are doing very well at this. Any chance either of you will take pity on your stallion?”

They looked at one another, then back to Ledger with a sly grin.

“Nah!” they giggled and waltzed off, but not before Ledger was scooped up by Apple Leaves into a similar dance.

“Sorry, guess you’ll have to make do with me,” she giggled.

“So long as you have mercy on me,” Ledger said with a smile. “It’s been…a long time since I was taught any formal dance moves, and I rarely had to use them.”

“I’ll do my best,” Leaves nodded, slowly leading Ledger and teaching him a few moves. The dance had formed two huge circles, the inner moving so partners would be swapped every so often. After Leaves had moved away, Ledger found himself in Cider’s hooves.

“Well now, fancy meeting y’all here,” she giggled.

“Well hello again,” Ledger teased, giving his partner a kiss. “Is this anything like what you imagined?”

“The family meet, or our relationship? Cause I can answer no to both,” she replied as Ledger twirled her.

“Maybe you pictured a bit more panicking? Cause that can always be arranged,” Ledger chuckled as he gave her another kiss. Mmm, she always had that faint hint of her namesake around her...

“Perhaps,” Cider chuckled. She squeaked as somepony bumped her aside as the tempo changed again. This time, Apple Fritter took the stage as Cider glared at her.

“Well now, lookie who ah found,” Fritter grinned. “Which is good, cause ah got a few words fer y’all!”

“If it’s ‘treat my sister right,’ believe me, you’re not the only one to be thinking that. I swear, half your kin seem to be thinking the same thing, the way they look at me,” Ledger said as he let Apple Fritter lead.

“Ah, well that saves a little time,” Fritter giggled. “But ah got something else as well.” She spun him, stopping just short of giving him motion-sickness. “Ah haven’t seen Cidey smile like that in a while. You and Moonbutt? Yer good fer her. So jus' keep doin’ what yer doin’ and we’ll be fine.”

“She’s good for us as well,” Ledger pointed out as his head stopped spinning. “We may not look it, but the pair of us are damaged ponies. She’ll be very helpful in getting us back to...being somewhat saner. The rock for our relationship.”

“Well, a rock jus’ about sums up Cidey,” Fritter giggled, “She about as stubborn as one. And-” The dance switched up again as Fritter was ushered away. “Ah better be an aunt soon!” she yelled.

“Seconded!” Leaves called out from somewhere.

“Ah, and here I thought we’d gotten past ‘make fun of Ledger day,’” the stallion observed as he took up his next partner in the dance.

Big Macintosh.

Ledger quirked an eyebrow at the much larger stallion in front of him. “Well this is going to be awkward, isn’t it?”

“...Eeyup,” Mac agreed. The two just stared at one another until it was time to change...much to the chagrin of the mares that had wanted to see just how this would play out once they realized it was coming.

“OH COME ON!” Midnight shouted from somewhere...

The party had long since ended and most of the Apple kin had already headed for home. Fritter, Apple Leaves and a few others stayed, leaving Cider with her two herdmates alone for a while.

“Whew! Today was fun,” Midnight giggled. Her previous stress long forgotten. Ledger just hugged both mares close to him and basked in the warmth they provided, occasionally giving kisses to Cider or Midnight. Though when he did kiss Midnight, it was always with what little love he could give her before she might suspect something.

“You’re very affectionate today,” Midnight giggled, rubbing her nose. “Did somebuggy eat all the sugar again?”

“Naw, it’s liquor that makes him all friendly like,” Cider nodded. “Speaking of, maybe ah should break out th’ good stuff tonight?”

“If you want,” Ledger said before kissing Cider. “Once your family’s left, of course. Don’t need them seeing drunken me or Midnight.” He then turned and planted yet another kiss on Midnight’s muzzle before explaining himself.

“It’s just...finally had a chance to sink in, I think. This is my life now. A much better, happier one than it used to be. I’m surrounded by ponies that love me and care about me.” He gave Cider a kiss on the cheek before continuing. “I would be remiss to not give that love and care back to those I hold most dear in whatever ways possible.”

“Yeah, well I’m pretty awesome like that,” Midnight Song said. “Be it love, fighting, or anything else really. I’m really good at what I do~”

“Boasting as well,” Cider rolled her eyes, but smiled all the same. “Do y’all wanna stay the night?”

“Only if you want us to,” Ledger said, leaving the choice to the farm-mare. He’d not impose if she didn’t want him to stay.

“Well ah wouldn’t have asked if ah didn’t,” Cider giggled. She led them inside as Apple Leaves and Fritter whistled at them.

“Gonna make mah granfoals now?” Leaves giggled, her face blushing lightly as her Apple accent kicked in.

“Fer pete’s sake Ma,” Cider groaned. “Sorry, she gets like this when the cider comes out...”

“Since Middy’s here, ah guess Cider really did come out!” Fritter laughed, earning another groan.

“...Hey Midnight, you shared some of your protection potions, right?” Ledger asked, a mask of innocence on his face.

“Not yet,” Midnight shrugged. “Why?” She should have seen it coming... she really should.

“Ah well, then I guess you get me all to yourself tonight,” Ledger said with a smirk. “Can’t risk it with Cider until she’s got some, after all. She’s got a lot of things going on, a foal might slow her down.”

Apple Leaves dropped her mug as Cider looked at him as well. Fritter just laughed harder, almost falling out of her chair.

“But, mah grandfoals?” Leaves pouted. It wasn’t fair for a mare of her age to appear so cute. Ledger took in the sight for a moment longer before turning to Cider with that same mask of innocence again, letting her know it was her turn to speak up if she wanted to torment her mother.

“Sorry ma, guess you’ll just hafta wait fer ‘em.” Cider snorted as her mother pouted harder.

“But, mah other daughter’s a fillyfooler, ah can’t rely on her fer foals.”

“HEY!”

“Ah had such hope fer you...”

Ledger looked a moment longer at the pout before sighing. “It’s really up to Cider, but since she hasn’t let me even really try in all the attempts so far, I’m gonna say...she doesn’t want one.”

“You’re a stallion, assert yourself an’ insert yerself!” Apple Leaves nodded as Cider and Fritter blushed with embarrassment.

“Oh my Celestia! MOM!” they both shouted as the mare chuckled and winked at Ledger. Yeah, she totally knew what she was saying.

“I. Am not. Giving Cider. A foal. If. She doesn’t. Want. One.” Ledger slowly said for the elderly mare. “As Fredrick would say, ‘I have honor, ma’am!’”

“Darn tootin’,” Leaves replied, giving him a thump on the back. Luckily, it was not their mother that their strength was inherited from. “An ah’m glad to hear it!”

“This was another one of those ‘Mom’ things wasn't it?” Cider sighed.

“Ah invoke mah right to remain silent,” Leaves giggled again. “Now y’all go on and git. The night won’t last ferever!”

“...Cider, your family, while wonderful...confuses the hay outta me,” Ledger said, before turning to the stairs and sighing as he began making his way up them.

“You an’ me both,” Cider groaned, following her stallion. Midnight opted to remain downstairs for a moment, idly chatting with Apple Fritter.

“So...how’s Canterlot?” she asked, the Apple mare occupying herself by braiding the Thestral’s tail.

“A lot quieter without you,” she giggled. “Moondancer drops by every so often, ah think she misses you.”

“Yeah,” Midnight sighed. She hadn’t seen her old fillyfriend in a long time. “I miss Canterlot sometimes, but at least I’m free to do what I want here.”

“You should come visit sometime,” Fritter nodded. “Ah’m sure your folks miss you as well.”

Midnight had thought about that, taking Cider and Ledger up to Canterlot for a visit. She could show them around, take them to the Academy where she trained, even the Palace. But still...

“He’s there also,” Midnight sighed and Fritter frowned.

“Well, y’all can’t avoid him forever...”

“Well, I’m doing a pretty good job so far,” Midnight said as she got up. “But your idea is a good one. I’ll come up for a visit soon, even if I have to come by myself.”

Fritter nodded as Midnight headed upstairs. A small sigh escaping her lips.

Chapter Eighteen - This ant a problem

It was a little after midnight, and the Thestral of the same name couldn’t sleep. Level and Cider were snoring peacefully and the batpony clicked her tongue in annoyance, jealous that sleep continued to elude her.

Getting out of bed, she ran a hoof through her mane. She tiphooved over to a window and opened it just enough to sneak outside. Once she was, she spread her wings and glided up to the roof, landing and laying on her back to stare at the stars. It was a small pastime she had ignored in recent months and it calmed her a little.

It also brought back much older memories, of the pony she allowed herself to get close to, only to get cold-hooves and run away. She never knew why she did that, but after the invasion, she had found herself not really caring about a lot of things. She’d been quite jaded for a few weeks after, the doctors saying it was a result of her being drained by a Changeling.

She’d dismissed it as nonsense. How could something take away an emotion for such a period of time?

Her former lover had been accepting of the decision though. They remained friends and would act as each others wingmare when on the prowl for a temporary bedwarmer. She stood up and stretched her wings, before shooting straight up, flying towards the moon. A hundred feet... two hundred... a thousand. She rose higher and higher, leaving the clouds far below her as the air got thinner and colder. Ice started to form on her body as she continued to push herself higher and higher. The moon, the stars? They seemed so close now, like she could reach out and touch them.

But that was it, this was the limit of what she could take and she leaned back, simply floating there for a moment before she fell towards the earth once more. The wind roared in her ears as the ice fell from her body, leaving a shimmering, glittering trail as she fell faster and faster. She twisted her body and spread her legs to slow her fall. If she opened her wings now, they’d be torn from her body.

Once she was falling at a slower rate, she spread her wings to their full breadth, acting as air brakes as she came to a stop a few hundred feet from the ground. The sun was peeking over the horizon and a wide grin spread over her muzzle, as she let out a whoop of exhilarated joy, beating the rooster to his job.

Yeah, it didn’t matter what came her way. She was Midnight freaking Song and she was the best, no matter what she did!

Ledger, for the second time...First time being when he told Midnight to clean and went to bed alone. Woke up alone. This was slightly worrying, but Cider was a farm-pony, so it was to be expected of her that she might wake up early.

The fact that Midnight was gone as well, though, was cause for a slight twinge of concern...

At least until he heard a loud sneeze from downstairs and the sound of Cider scolding somepony. Ledger smirked before deciding to feign sleep. Maybe if he were lucky, one might come up to try and wake him up, and he’d be able to get the drop on one of...his mares.

A year ago he’d never think of mares as attractive, and now he had two that put up with him. Ledger mused on this for a moment before smiling and resuming his feigned sleep. After a while, the door opened as wingbeats filled the otherwise silent room, hinting at who it was.

“Geez!” Midnight said aloud. “Freefall from a few hundred thousand feet and somepony thinks it’s the end of Equestria.” She noticed Ledger still in bed and snorted. That stallion could sleep through the end of Equestria.

Thanks to a lot of practice at staying calm in stressful situations, Ledger didn’t overtly react to the Thestral’s statement, instead internalizing the panic for later. Right now, he had a mare to surprise. Bit closer...just a bit closer...

“I mean, sure, I almost froze to death, but... that’s part of the thrill.” Midnight sat on the bed and sighed again. “Wingless ponies just don’t get it.”

Using every memory of being a two-faced liar to Toll’s face as a motivator, Ledger held himself perfectly still. He had a list of questions for Midnight once the proper environment had been found…but he was committed to surprising this mare now. Once she drew close enough to touch him, then...

She frowned as she got off of the bed and paced around the room. “I mean, I’ve had wings since I was born! I think I know how to handle myself and not become a mile-wide crater. Though it would be a really sexy crater... Are you even listening?” She turned to look at Ledger. “Oh yeah, sleeping.”

She sat back on the bed and rubbed his side. “You’re such a good listener.”

With that, Ledger pounced, doing his best to tone down the ‘scary changeling’ factor by not pinning her too badly. And thanks to all the talk about what she’d been up to, the drone knew to avoid her wings as well. Fortunately, a new target presented itself.

Her stomach.

Ledger dove right in...and started giving the thestral mare the raspberrying of a lifetime.

She should have seen it coming, and in that split-second of a moment, she could have reacted in a multitude of ways. Mind you, each was more excessively violent than the last.

So the end result?

Was her cackling with laughter as Ledger blew a loud raspberry on her belly.

Eventually the drone eased up and just lay his head on her stomach, eyes twinkling with mirth. “And good morning to you too, silly bat,” Ledger teased.

“You...are an ass,” Midnight wheezed. “Have a good sleep did you?”

“Mmm, and then someone started talking about flight and how they don’t intend to land, namely badly, in the near future, and my deviousness started working.” Ledger ran a hoof over one of her wings before adding to that. “Truth be told, I only wanted to surprise one of you for leaving me to wake up alone. Your bad, or good, fortune to be that one.”

She wondered how he’d react if she told him she let him do that? Oh well.

“Yeah, I couldn’t sleep last night and went for a little flight this morning, namely towards the moon,” she smiled, petting his head. “I think I almost made it this time~”

“Wanna be the first pony besides Luna to make it to the moon?” Ledger teased. “Y’know, you could probably get an express ticket if you went to Canterlot and kissed her awake.”

“Tempting,” Midnight mused, filing that away as an idea to do that later. “She was a pretty good kisser. Maybe better than you? Perhaps I need more samples to work with.”

“Mmm,” Ledger said as he snaked up to be level with Midnight’s head. “More from me, I’ll happily oblige,” he purred, before locking lips with Midnight.

This was nice, just relaxing like this with her cute cuddlebug. “Oh? And for future reference, Cider is just a liiiiitle mad I came home half-frozen.”

“I heard,” Ledger smirked, before cuddling Midnight close. “Wanna hide up here and wait for her anger to die down? I’m afraid the bed has a slight bug infestation, but it’s still rather comfy.”

“Well, I heard that snuggles and sexytimes are great cures for bugs,” Midnight giggled, just as the door opened and Cider stood there, tapping her hoof.

“Ah have breakfast t’eat and an orchard to buck. Up and at ‘em... now!”

Ledger actually frowned at Cider. “But I was enjoying the cuddle,” he mock-whined. Internally, he was thinking that if she didn’t back off for a moment...

“And ya’ll can enjoy it just as much later. You wanna stay here? Then ya play by mah rules!” Cider nodded.

“Don’t fight it!” Fritter called from the living room. “You will never win against an Apple.”

Ledger’s eyes narrowed dangerously as he whispered to the Apple mare. “I have a pegasus form. You can either be nice or I can abscond to check on my company.”

“But y’all promised and yer not the type of stallion that’d break a promise to a mare that loves him,” Cider smiled back, calling his bluff.

“Ooh, she’s good,” Midnight whispered, watching from the sidelines.

“Technically, I agreed to help if you felt like you couldn’t buck your trees today,” Ledger said with a smirk before pointing at the mare. “Seeing as you not only got up before me, but made us all breakfast, I’d say you’re perfectly capable of locomotion.”

Cider blinked, snorted and turned around and just walked away. “Hey Fritter?” she called out. “Ledger says he ain’t hungry, ya can have his share!”

“Score!” Fritter called out.

“Speaking of,” Midnight said. “I need to duck into town and grab Cider a little fix me up,” she said. “Later loves!” she gave them both a kiss and zipped out of the window, leaving a hungry Changeling alone once more.

“...Yeah, she’s not keeping me here without food,” Ledger said, rolling his eyes before donning his unicorn disguise. Once the stallion lurched to his hooves, he tapped his chin with one and hummed.

“So...leave out of spite, or stay and earn the food anyways...Decisions.”

Getting the potion was easy enough, just duck in, pay some bits and walk out.

Getting home on the other hoof, now that was a slightly larger issue. As she made her way down the Strip, everypony had suddenly cleared the street. She looked around, wondering what the cause of the disturbance was, as she laid eyes on a Griffon standing in the middle of the street, their scarf blowing in the breeze as they locked eyes with Midnight.

“Oh buck me sideways,” Midnight groaned as she set her potions down and stepped out to greet them. After making sure what armour she was wearing was affixed properly, she grit her teeth and rocketed forward, screeching loudly...

*~*

Consuming his breakfast, which he had managed to rescue from Apple Fritter in the nick of time. Level Ledger ate with a small hum over the culinary masterpiece. All was well with the Apple family, her mother and sister teasing Cider over last nights exploits.

“So,” Apple Leaves asked innocently. “You sure sounded... busy last night~”

“That as may be,” Ledger said as he looked over the last bits of his breakfast. “But Midnight is currently out getting a few potions so we don’t have any unwanted surprises a few months down the line.”

“A pity, but understandable,” Leaves nodded. “I want to apologise for last night as well. I do not mean to pressure you into anything before you are ready dear.”

“Y’know,” Cider asked as she poured some coffee. “Shouldn’t Midnight be back by now?”

“Might just be crowded, or we might not have been the only ones who were busy last night,” Ledger observed as he watched Cider pour the coffee. “Can I get a cup, please?”

Cider nodded, only to spill it as Scope Lens all but bucked the door in, panting heavily as sweat dripped off of her lithe form.

“What the hay?” Cider blinked, but the Pegasus mare ignored her as she ran to Ledger.

“Midnight... fight... in town... HURRY!”

Ledger’s countenance darkened considerably as he turned to Cider. “Coffee, sugar, kiss,” he outlined what he needed from the mare with simple words. This was a time for action. The mare blinked, thoroughly confused as she did as she was asked, pouring some coffee, filling it with sugar and giving the stallion a gentle kiss on the lips.

Ledger absorbed the love, downed the coffee and sugar in one gulp, then turned to Scope as he began to feel the energy coursing through him.

“Lead,” he told the disguised nymph.

“...Seriously?” she gasped, having flown at full speed to even get here. “A ‘please’ would be nice.” She just rolled her eyes at his expression and led him towards the disturbance, hoping that the fight hadn’t escalated.

The fight had escalated. Several cracks ran through the street as Midnight raced at the Griffon once again. She let her mind go blank as Ledger felt her emotions slip away.

“Third Beat...”

Her form blurred, but the scarfed Griffon stood its ground as it raised a claw slowly. As Midnight appeared behind it, the Griffon spun and placed the clawtip against her forehead.

“Beat Break.”

The effect was instant as the Thestral was blown down the street, her battle-mode cancelled as her emotions flooded back and overwhelmed her senses. "Gah!” she tumbled across the street as the Griffon re-appeared behind her.

“Beat Rush!”

His talons were balled up into fists as he struck the Thestral again and again, her breastplate shattering under the repeated strikes as she was sent sprawling again, landing near Ledger’s hooves. She groaned as she rolled over and looked up.

“Oh heyyy~” she said dizzily. “Did Lulu teach you her trick too Ledgie~?”

Ledger was only feeling one emotion as his horn lit up with his silver magic. The unicorn took a few steps forward, putting himself between his marefriend and her aggressor, saying nothing verbally.

However, if looks could kill, he’d probably be arrested for multiple homicides. After all, there were ponies behind and to the side of this griffon.

The griffon didn’t even register the Unicorn, it simply glared at Midnight and lowered its scarf.

“Get up!” the voice was very much male. “Is that all you have? That was the most pathetic display I have ever seen!”

Midnight groaned as she got to her hooves. “Buck you...” she muttered as she rolled her neck until it cracked. Now Ledger was here seeing her acting all uncool. She put a hoof on Ledger’s side and pushed him slightly. “Mind giving me a little room?”

Ledger didn’t respond verbally again. In all actuality he couldn’t come up with the words. He’d been dosed with the most potent energy mixture for Changelings before coming over here to see his marefriend having the tar beaten out of her.

That griffon so much as put one more talon down closer to her, Ledger might just go off.

Midnight sighed as she walked past Ledger and shook her body a little. “Then cover your ears at least,” she said, before taking a deep breath and letting out a Thestral Scream! The noise was deafening, as several nearby windows shattered in response.

Even the Griffon covered his ears as Midnight shot forward, flipping in midair at the last second and delivering a painful buck straight to his chest. Now it was the Griffon’s turn to be sent spiralling across the ground, until he dug a calw in and righted himself.

“HA! Now you fight like a Thestral! Come at me!”

Ledger blinked a few times as his anger dissipated, taking his pent-up magical charge with it. He...was he watching a sparring session? ...That griffon was still getting a hoof to the head before Narrow showed up.

The two traded continuous blows, Midnight would deliver a painful strike with a hoof or he would smack her with a fist or wing. Midnight Song tackled him again, flipping his body onto his back as he landed near Ledger and Scope, the edge of her wing pressed an inch from his throat as she sighed.

“And yet I lose again. Goddammit.” She moved her wing, as she showed that he had two daggers pressed against her belly. She stepped back as he got up and brushed himself off.

“Not too bad, but I won’t take it easy and pull my punches next time,” he stated, before pulling the mare into a hug. “It’s good to see you again, my student.”

“You as well, Aerial Ace,” she giggled, nuzzling his feathery chest. Ledger slowly walked forward a few steps, waiting for information before acting. It paid to get details.

Ace saw him out of the corner of his eye and nodded. “So, who’s the bug? Someone you know? It’d be a real shame to kill him otherwise.”

“He’s mine and you leave him alone,” Midnight growled at him, snapping her fangs. “Play nice or I will be most upset.”

Aerial Ace stepped forward and held out a claw. “I suppose an introduction is in order then. I am Aerial Ace, Midnight’s mentor. You?”

Ledger carefully put one hoof into the claw before replying. “Level Ledger, new head of Pegasus Air, Midnight’s coltfriend.”

“Ah, so that’s what she means,” Ace hummed, shaking his claw once and letting go. “Forgive my doubt, but given Midnight’s history, the last thing I expect is a Changeling lover...” He frowned as he looked down at him. “She... does know yes?”

Ledger looked around before hissing in a low tone. “She knows, they don’t need to, either stop saying it or lower your voice.” The other ponies hadn’t been close enough to hear yet, thankfully, but that was...rapidly changing.

“Right then,” the bird turned to find his student as she pacified the crowd. She had explained that it was a foreign exchange training exercise... and the crowd bought that excuse for the most part. Several were dubious as a trio of violet-eyes mares watched them, along with a pink-eyed stallion.

“Heh, seems she has quite a few unusual friends,” Ace laughed loudly. “Good to see she’s doing well.”

“I’d be doing better without your enthusiastic greetings!” she snapped at him. She winced and held one of her bruised ribs. “Damn that hurts.”

Ledger winced at the sound of the batpony inspecting her own injuries before shaking his head and turning to Scope. “Could you escort a certain stubborn thestral to the hospital before she breaks?”

Scope nodded, but Midnight waved her off. “Oh please, I’m not going to break so easily. All I need's a little rest and maybe a cup of cider.”

“Thatta girl!” Ace laughed again. “You get knocked down, get right back up!”

“Still, it wouldn’t hurt to have a professional look at you,” Ledger pointed out. Midnight rolled her eyes and sighed.

“Yes Mom. C’mon Scopey, you can come with me.”

The little Pegasus took one look at Ledger’s face and nodded eagerly. Yeah, she didn’t want to be anywhere near here. The two mares left, leaving the Griffon alone with Level Ledger.

“So, what can I do for you?’ he asked as he started walking down the street. “I assume you have a bone to pick with me?”

“Just a small one,” Ledger agreed with a smile. “See, I’m aware that Midnight can take care of herself, I know you two know each other, and I figured out that was a sparring match midway.”

At this, the disguised drone’s horn lit up again. “But that was still my marefriend, and I still feel like I should beat something outta you for your little stunt.”

“Heh! I like your spirit, but the ability to choose your opponents wisely needs a lot of work,” Ace said. “If we fought, perhaps you might get a hit or two in... maybe. But your ability to hold a disguise in front of all these ponies would be at risk. Are you willing to risk that for the sake of Midnight’s honour?”

“Fair enough,” Ledger admitted with a smile. “So I’ll have to settle for getting one over on you instead. Somewhere, somewhen.”

“You’re welcome to try anyway,” Ace nodded, adjusting his scarf. He frowned as a twinge of pain shot up his neck, that last blow from Midnight hurt more than he thought. “So tell me,” he asked quietly as they walked. “How does a Changeling Hunter wind up dating one?”

“Long story,” Ledger said with a roll of his eyes. “Basically we ended up saving each other from our worst versions of ourselves. I helped snap her out of her trance before she could kill somepony, and she stopped me from killing two thugs before that. After which, we trusted each other enough to start a relationship.”

“You...broke her Lyrica Trance?” Ace blinked. As far as he knew, he was the only one that could do that. “Perhaps you might not be such a disappointing fight after all...” Still, this was interesting information. It seems that his wayward student had taken quite a few steps forward in recovering what was lost that day.

“So, you two are close then?”

Ledger nodded. “We live together, we sleep in the same bed. While our diets may differ, we trust one another...or at least, I trust her. I can understand her...trepidation to trust me with some information, seeing as how what might have happened would be extremely personal.” With a cheeky wink, Ledger replied to the griffon’s earlier comment. “And sad to say, I broke her out of the trance with words. I don’t fight, or if I have to, I don’t fight fair. Quick, fast, clean. Magic’s fun sometimes.”

The Griffon laughed loudly again, slapping the stallion on the back. “Hah! Perhaps you are a good match for that impetuous bat.” His laugh ceased as quickly as it had started though. “Still, I guess she hasn’t progressed much, if she’s using the Lyrica still.”

Level pursed his lips at the thought of Midnight getting even worse before shaking his head. “She...really shouldn’t need too much more than what she has for Las Pegasus. I can understand the drive to improve yourself is well and good...but I’d really rather wait for her to heal a little more from what’s been done to her before she goes after any more emotional-suppressing techniques.”

The Griffon snorted, adjusting his scarf again. “Ah, you don’t know then?” Ledger’s blank stare confirmed that. “The Lyrica that I taught her isn’t a combat technique. It simply helps the user obtain a certain state of mind. One where their current goal becomes crystal clear. It blocks all unnecessary thought and emotion. Only the goal and reaching it matters.”

“Well, that’s interesting,” Ledger said with a nod. “That makes a few things a bit more clear, then. I still think she should heal a little more before she pushes herself so far something breaks, though. And I am doing my part to help, but it’s really up to her if she does.”

“I don’t intend to train her, I intend to instruct her,” Ace clarified. “She seems to be in a good place now, so I don’t know why she is still using Lyrica. I taught it to her so she could overcome that-” He paused and coughed. “Well, regardless. It puts tremendous strain on one’s brain and body.”

“So getting her to the point where she no longer needs it is good for multiple reasons,” Ledger summarized. “...I might be able to better understand how far we have to go in helping her if I knew where the starting point was.”

“I don’t know if you could, given your...” the Griffon gestured at him. “I mean no offense of course, but are you up for that challenge?”

“If I hadn’t been up for the challenge of helping her, I would have simply mind-wiped her of all memories of me when she found out my secret,” Ledger deadpanned. “She’s my friend, my closest, best friend. Near and dear to my heart. I will help her.”

“Just a friend?” Ace smirked. “I was under the impression you were closer. Or is Midnight mistaken?”

“If she says I’m her husband one more time…” the unicorn said, before sighing.

“Apologies, where I come from, we separate friends from lovers,” the bird smiled once more. “Well, your feelings speak for themselves regardless. Labels are... inconsequential.” He craned his neck and it gave a satisfying crack. “Ah, better. Now little ling, I assume you have other questions?”

“Just a few,” Ledger said with a smirk. “The first one being, how could you tell? And the second one being, could you please stop pointing it out? I’d like the mask I wear to be free of claw-marks.”

“Right, sorry again,” he guffawed. “And finding out is easy really. Your kind has a different magical signature to your equine counterparts. It’s like...” he paused as he thought up a good analogy. “It’s like... Bah! I’m not one for fancy words anyhow. Needless to say, I can see the flow of magic in the air, so telling when someone has a disguise wrapped around themselves? Easy. While I knew you were disguised, I didn’t know you were one of them. Lucky guess on my end that you just confirmed.”

“Fair enough,” Ledger said with a smile. “And hey, at least you aren’t reacting like the majority of ponies might if they found out. So far everyone who has seen through my disguise has been...really understanding.”

“Griffon, we personally don’t have much of a problem with your kind,” Ace stated. “And ponies are a skittish bunch. Give it another year or two, and most will forget what you even are.”

“Considering the way we were introduced as a whole, that might be for the best,” Ledger said, one of his ears flicking in irritation. “That...fool doesn’t know the damage she did that day. Or maybe she does. I almost want to track her down and punch her until she answers my questions...then until she stops moving.”

“Heh, don’t tell Midnight that. She’d be rash enough to actually do it,” Ace chuckled. They’d walked a fair distance by now, getting close to Fredrick’s place. Ledger perked up when he realized where they were, and his stomach growled.

“Heh, I guess breakfast was a little rushed,” the unicorn said, casting a glance over at Aerial Ace. “What about you?”

“I suppose some sustenance would be agreeable,” he nodded. “I worked up quite a bit of sweat in my little greeting with Midnight. So I’ll take you up on that.”

With that, the unicorn opened the door with his magic and stood off to one side, both to be courteous...and to see two wildly different griffons meet one another.

“So here because it’s closest? Or do you know this place?” Ace asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ledger smirked and said, “Yes,” waiting for Ace to step inside. Oh, this should be...interesting.

Aerial Ace stepped inside and a familiar scent filled his nostrils. This was the scent of a kinsman!

“Ahh, I see now, sneaky little thing aren’t you?” he cawed softly. “Well then, KINSMAN! COME GREET YOUR BRETHREN!” he screeched in a thick Griffon accent.

A thoroughly bemused Fredrick emerged from the kitchen. Once he caught sight of Aerial Ace, his confusion turned to a smile. “Ah, it has been far too long since I have seen a new beak in town,” the owner of the restaurant said in return, also in his native tongue.

“Indeed, but I wouldn’t be were it not for my foolish student,” he replied back in kind. “It is unusual to see one outside the Empire in such a profession. And one so handsome I might add.”

“Born and raised here,” Fredrick said, before smirking. “And my good looks and profession have served me quite well in ensuring I rarely go to bed lonely. As well as making a nice amount of profit besides.”

“Seems I’m in the wrong business then,” Ace grinned, switching back to Equestrian for the sake of their company. “Well, it has been a while since I had a good, home-style meal.”

“Ah, for that you may want the Chop Shop a few streets down,” Fredrick said. “While I do a variety of delicious and filling meals, there are very few traditional Griffon ones on my menus.”

“A pity, but seeing as how I like the view here so far, I’ll stick with what I have.” Ace picked up a menu and gave it a once over. “Hmm, I’ll have this,” he said, gesturing to the menu as a whole.

Fredrick blinked a few times, looking at the red menu his fellow griffon had indicated, before turning back with a deadpan look. “Please tell me you aren’t serious.”

“I am always serious,” he nodded. “Except for the times when I am not. This is not one of those times.”

“If I were to attempt to make you the entire dinner menu, you would be here until dinner. Not to mention you would find eating all of my dishes to be impossible,” Fredrick said, a slight sigh escaping his lips. “Please do be a little more reasonable.”

Ace sighed, seems he would have to go elsewhere for a real meal. “Well, a light snack wouldn’t hurt I guess. Bring me your largest serving of this,” he said, pointing at the fettuccine. Fredrick nodded and turned to Ledger, who smirked.

“Oh, just my usual rigatoni, Fredrick...though if I could have a small salad on the side, that’d be nice. I get the feeling my lunch might be poached partway through.”

“I would never steal a-” Ace stopped as a Unicorn mare descended the stairs. “Well now, who might that be?”

“The mare who is good enough to keep up with a griffon,” Fredrick said with a wink. “I’ll let one of my serving-colts see you to a table and take your drink orders, I have to tend to her.”

Ace was faster though, already in front of Narrow with a confident smile. “I sense great power coming from you!” he grinned, as Narrow just blinked in confusion. “It would do me a great honor if you accepted my proposal!”

“I’m not in any state to be accepting any proposals from any griffons for a little bit,” Narrow replied with a roll of her eyes. “Besides which, I think Fredrick might take offense.”

“Offense?” Ace said, a little confused. “Why would he take offense?”

Fredrick walked over and met the mare’s lips with his own beak, humming appreciatively into the kiss. “You, my dear, were wonderful,” he said softly.

“Were? Past tense?” Narrow teased, trailing a hoof along his tail and playing with the tuft of fur at the end. “I’ll have you know that I am always wonderful~”

“Moreso last night when you had so much more of yourself to give,” the griffon replied just as playfully. “Alas, duty calls you. Shall I be seeing you again?”

“As I said before, I have the day off, so perhaps I could lend a hoof around here?” she asked coyly, still playing with his tail.

“And it appears that my proposal for battle has fallen on unwanted ears,” Ace said, looking a little crestfallen. “Tis a shame, the fight would have been glorious!”

“I never did say how Narrow keeps up with me,” Fredrick said with a wink, before pointing at a nearby waiter, who was in fact quite patient with the latest customers. Ledger was already standing next to the colt with a smirk of amusement on his face as he observed the scene.

“A tale for another time perhaps,” Ace sighed. He wasn’t going to get a fight, nor a decent meal. Today was turning out... disappointing. “And you are taken also, another tick against the day.”

Ledger’s smirk became a full-on grin as he realized just which team Ace batted for. Oh, did he have a tale for Midnight~ The serving-colt coughed once to regain the new griffon’s attention. “Table for two, I assume?”

“Ah! yes,” Ace nodded. “Apologies little colt, for keeping you waiting.” He gave the couple a wink and returned to his host for the day. “A most entertaining place, this one,” he laughed loudly.

The colt nodded and led the unicorn and griffon to a table. “Will this do?” he asked as Ledger pulled both seats out with magic.

“Yes,” Ledger replied, situating himself in one and waiting for his new acquaintance for the day to join him. “I will be having lemonade for a drink, if you’d be so kind.”

“Water for me,” Ace said as he took his seat. “Apologies for my absence, but that mare would have made for an excellent sparring partner.”

“She is the head of the local Guard,” Ledger observed. “Perhaps you could arrange something with her when she’s done trying to tame Fredrick for the time being.” The serving-colt had disappeared into the kitchen during their conversation.

“Ah, I thought I sensed an aura of authority with that one. Seems my kinsman will have his talons full with that one.” Ace smirked as he removed his scarf, revealing a scar across his neck that the feathers had refused to grow back over. “Perhaps it is she that will have to be tamed~”

“No, no, she doesn’t need to be tamed. Opened up a bit, maybe, but not tamed,” Ledger said, hoping that the griffon would ask about any of the bait he’d just laid out.

“So, a quiet one then?” Ace hummed. “And it seems that my kinsman is a rambunctious one. Still, he is young, I’m sure he will grow out of that phase.”

“I doubt it,” Ledger replied as his drink arrived. The unicorn took a sip of his drink and nodded at the sweetness. “I’ve been here for a year and he only just started to slow down...thanks to Narrow.”

“A pony taming a young Griffon? This city is just full of surprises,” Ace mused as he drummed his claws on the table. “Reminds me a little of Songbird when she was younger. Always looking for a fight, or a nice tail to chase~”

“Those do seem to be her default modes,” Ledger agreed with a nod. Out of the corner of his eye, the unicorn saw Fredrick duck into the kitchen, probably to aid with the meal preparation. Mentally adding the name that Ace had used to his list of things to try out on Song, Ledger thought for a moment as to what he could talk about with the griffon. “So, has she always been so...competitive?” he asked of Midnight’s instructor.

“Hm? Well, she seems to have calmed a bit since coming here. But yes, she’s always had that ‘need to prove’ attitude. Comes from her foalhood due to-” Here he silenced himself again. “Ah, but that is not my story to tell.”

“I know a bit of it,” Ledger admitted. “...Males are treated like she was in the Lands...only I think our entire civilization could use a quick rinse cycle with the Elements of Harmony.” Ledger idly swished his lemonade around before continuing his original thought. “Two very damaged ponies coming together to help one another heal. Hopefully she’ll open up a bit more about the things that hurt her so badly.”

“Perhaps she might, but push too hard and something will give. Just hope you're prepared to forgive her if she pushes back.” Ace hummed as the waiter brought out his water, which he gratefully took. “Songbird is a wonderful mare. She is full of love and kindness for others, and an inner fire that burns like the sun itself. But, there’s a darkness there that even I could not heal properly.” The Griffon looked at his new acquaintance and smiled. “Don’t give up on her.”

“Didn’t plan on it,” Ledger said with a sigh. “I just...wish she could trust me.”

Further talking was interrupted as Fredrick came out of the kitchen, pushing a cart that had a huge bowl on top of it towards their place.

“I...think that’s your order,” Level observed.

“Ah, now that’s a snack!” Aerial Ace licked his beak. “Again, tis a shame I can’t take that delicious garnish coming with it~”

Fredrick pushed the cart close enough for him to push the bowl from the cart to the table, to reveal that it had been filled to the brim with noodles. They appeared to be coated in a fine, cheesy sauce as well, and the griffon had even included a few breadsticks.

“Fettuccine alfredo, with a few breadsticks to clean up any sauce you may have missed,” Fredrick said. “Taking your comments about this not being a meal into mind, I decided to break out my largest bowl.”

“HAH! A meal fit for a warrior!” Ace shouted as the monstrous bowl was laid on the table with a heavy thud. “I thank you kinsmen!”

Fredrick preened a little bit at the praise, before reaching under the cart and withdrawing Ledger’s positively puny by comparison plate. “And your order of rigatoni in clam sauce as usual,” the griffon said with a nod. “If that is all, I will be leaving you to your meals.”

Aerial Ace didn’t need to be told twice as he all but dove into his meal, opening his beak and inhaling the food before him. Ledger shook his head, well it was obvious who the thestral mare had learned eating habits from. With a soft application of magic, the unicorn began to eat his meal at a more sedate pace.

It was a moment of silence as they ate. Mostly due to the fact that Ledger wouldn’t get an answer anyway. After he had finished, the Griffon let out a deafening belch that rattled the windows. The massive bowl of noodles had been licked clean.

“Ahhh, a wonderful appetiser!” he laughed, munching on a breadstick.

“Yup, Midnight definitely picked up her eating habits from you,” Ledger said as he polished off his own meal. “I always make enough for there to be leftovers, and there never are.”

“That’s my little Songbird,” Ace nodded, finishing off his bread and using a lettuce leaf from Ledgers salad to wipe his beak, before eating that too. Ledger sighed before starting in on his salad.

“I’m certain if you ask nicely, Fredrick might cook you up another meal,” the unicorn pointed out. “Though, two might be as much as he feels he can give you and still serve others.”

“I’m good for now,” Ace said. “Perhaps we should go and find Midnight? Or, we could use the alternative method of locating her?”

“I have to at least make a showing and get some paperwork done at my office,” Ledger said as he got the attention of a nearby colt. “Bill, please,” he asked, before turning back to Ace. “So, I leave it to you to find her if you wish to. I also have to put in a few hours with somepony else, so my schedule is looking a little full at the moment. I will hopefully be around for dinner at my place, so if Midnight asks where I am, feel free to tell her.”

“As you wish,” Ace nodded, dropping a sizable bag of bits on the table to pay for the food. “I shall go and find her then. I doubt the hospital would have kept her long, none ever have.”

“...You do realize that this is probably more than enough to pay for the meal you originally requested, right?” Ledger asked as he poked the bag with a hoof. “Fredrick’s most generous with his pricing…”

“An adequate reward for a most pleasurable meal and company,” Ace said as he got up. “I have little need for material wealth, so most of my pay often goes to waste.” He stretched his limbs and nodded. “I shall see you again soon yes?”

“Perhaps,” Ledger said with a smile as he got up as well, deciding to leave the bit-bag alone. “Until next time.”

“FARWELL KINSMEN! AND TOO YOU DEAR WARRIOR-MARE!” Ace shouted again and flew from the building, laughing heartily as he did so. Everypony turned and looked towards the kitchen. Fredrick poked his head out and smiled at his...rather exuberant fellow griffon’s departure.

“Warriors. They know how to make an entrance...and an exit,” Fredrick said with a snicker.

“I got that much,” Ledger replied. And more~ he thought before leaving as well.

“I told you I was fine!” Midnight huffed as she stormed from the local hospital, Scope keeping pace with her.

“I saw that, but was it necessary to hang the doctor's coat on the rack... with the doctor still wearing it?” Scope questioned.

“Very few things go in my ass, and his thermometer was not one of them!” Midnight stated. “Now where do you suppose those two have gotten off to? I sure hope Ledger didn’t try anything drastic. It’ll be real hard to scrape him off of the wall.”

“I think Ledger can handle himself,” Scope said. “What he did to that pegasus...”

“Wouldn’t work on Master," Midnight said. “Or did you miss the part where he cleaned the street with my face? And he wasn’t even warming up yet. I have never beaten him in a fight. Ever!”

Scope Lens was now hoping that the Griffon would not be sticking around for very long. Midnight was scary enough, and now there was an even greater monster here? Scope would settle for spending the day with princess Luna again, rather than hang with these two.

“Still, I wonder where he... oh? There he is!” Midnight perked up as she saw him talking with an ice-cream vendor. One she could have sworn she’d seen before...

“As I was saying,” Ace hummed as he looked at the cute stallion. “It takes real strength of heart to make the children smile, just for the sake of it. You have my respect for that my dear~”

“There is nothing better than the smile of a child,” the red pegasus agreed. “I’m just lucky I got the job so easily. Otherwise I’d have a doozy of a time finding a way to make kids happy.”

“I’m sure a wonderful gent like yourself would have other means,” Ace cooed, brushing a lock of mane from his eyes. “Perhaps you’d like to accompany me to dinner tonight? I can show you all the ways I make someone like yourself smile-ACK!” He found himself eating pavement as Midnight stood there, glaring at him.

“And that’s enough of that,” she said with a huff. “Seriously Master, what the hay?”

“I hang out with enough violets to know what he was up to Middy,” the stallion complained. Actually complained. “And if not for the fact that I was planning on going somewhere tonight already, I might have accepted his invitation. It’s been a while for me.”

“You used to be a great wingmare,” Ace said as he picked himself up. “What happened to those days?”

“The days when you didn’t seduce my friends,” Midnight sighed. Then she recalled the last conversation she had with this Changeling and sighed. She wondered if they were even friends in the first place. “Right, sorry. Despite his squawking, Master really is a great guy. Maybe when you’re not busy, you should go out with him if you want. It’ll even be my treat for this little scene.”

“Meh, I wanted to go to a gathering for once,” the stallion said, before putting one hoof on Midnight and sticking out his tongue in concentration. A moment passed before he nodded and put the hoof down.

“You’re...better, but not by much,” the pegasus said. “Whatever it is you’re doing, keep doing it.”

“Um, okay?” Midnight tilted her head. This Changeling was...strange. And what did he mean by better? Was this more of that ‘patient’ crap that Ledger had mentioned. “You know I’m fine right?” she said. “I’m not one of your-” she lowered her voice “-patients.”

“Nope, but that doesn’t mean I can’t help,” the stallion all but chirped at her. Then he took a somber expression. “Though it’s usually a lot easier to deal with your pain if you trust somepony else. And pain is the number one reason somepony might have problems smiling. So...get back to me on that sometime, kay? I like helping ponies smile.”

‘So what do you do when your kind is the problem?’ Midnight asked herself, saying that aloud might not have gone down well, given her present company. “So where’s Level?” she asked the Griffon. “I thought you were with him?”

“I was, then he said he had to work, but luckily I stumbled across this wonderful specimen here,” he winked at Cherry Scoop. “So I haven’t been too bored. Now if only I had someone strong to fight, then my day would be infinitely better.”

“Sorry, but a good half the fights around here are intellectual ones,” Cherry said with a smile. “It’s why Toll Taker got taken out: she lost her leverage on Level and ended up dealing with his intellect unmaking her. Though having Middy around to kick plot probably didn’t hurt either.”

“And I wonder how you know that,” Midnight asked in a bemused tone. “Well, I guess it’s common knowledge at this point.”

“Midnight,” Aerial Ace said in a neutral tone. “Did you use Lyrica on a civilian?”

The Thestral paused and gulped. “W-Well... she had hostages, and her magic was powerful, and she had Changeling backup-”

“Did you. Use Lyrica. On an untrained pony.” Ace said, looming over her. The Thestral winced, feeling very small under his glare.

“...Yes.”

Ace sighed as he stepped back. “I thought I’d forbidden you from doing that,” he said with a soft sigh. “You know what you’re like in that state. You could have killed her!”

“...Which is why Ledger spoke up,” Scope said with a sigh. “He...told her that if she was still the pony she used to be, she wouldn’t descend to Toll’s level. I don’t know exactly what happened next, as that’s about when I blacked out, but I heard wingblades moving again.”

“She shouldn’t have done that,” Ace sighed. “You are perfectly capable of fighting without it. So why?”

“Because... I got angry,’ Midnight said honestly. She wouldn’t be able to lie to him anyway. “It was clouding my judgement so I used Lyrica to defeat my enemies...” She shuddered when she thought on how close she came to killing the Unicorn mare. And the worst part, she wouldn’t have cared if she did.

“I see,’ Ace said. “Then, I have little choice.” Before Midnight could respond, a claw tip struck her forehead and she was blown back several feet. She just lay there, and it seriously looked like he’d just killed her on the spot.

“...If she’s dead, there will be no stopping Ledger,” Scope pitched in as she just watched the mare’s unmoving body. “He threatened me horribly for one mistake I made around the pair of them.”

“Get up, stop being so dramatic,” Ace sighed as the Thestral got to her hooves and shrugged.

“Still hurt, what the hell?”

“Sealed your ability to use Lyrica,” he stated. “At least until you learn to wield it properly.”

Midnight just blinked, her mouth open slightly. “Y-You did what!?”

“Maybe it’s for the best, Mistress?” Scope offered. “You...do tend to use it a lot. Sometimes just to mess with others.”

“Then I feel all the more justified,” Ace nodded. “At this rate, me giving it back isn’t looking like an option at all.”

Midnight just growled as she tried to use the skill. Scope and Cherry felt her emotions dampen a little, but not disappear completely like they should have. Midnight tried this two or three more times, as Aerial Ace just waited for her to get past this little bit.

“It’s gone,” she whispered. “I can’t use it. I’m defenseless...”

“Hardly,” Ace scoffed. “You are the most talented warrior I have ever trained. But you’ve been relying on a crutch I should never have taught you. But you took to it so well, I was... overzealous at someone being able to master the lost art.”

Midnight frowned, stamped her hoof and then took to the air. Scope went to follow, but Ace held her back.

“Let her be little one, she needs time to process this and think about it. She’ll be fine. She has a few things that need to be dealt with and I have given her a little shove in that direction. While I didn’t like doing it, it is necessary.”

“...Fine,” Scope said, still flexing her wings. “Do you know where Ledger is, then? If I can’t follow Mistress, I’ll bother the other of the pair. Plus, he should know about this.”

“He said he would be at work, wherever that might be,” Ace shrugged. While Midnight was throwing a bit of a tantrum right now, it was nothing new for the Griffon. Scope nodded once and began winging her way over to Pegasus Air’s main offices, hoping to catch Ledger there. Cherry just shook his head at the drama that had been going on.

“I apologise for all that,” Ace smiled. “My student is a handful sometimes. And correct me if I am wrong, but you seem quite invested in her yourself.”

“She needs to learn how to smile honestly, it’s what I ask of anypony wanting to be my friend,” Cherry smiled. “And I’m sorry that I have plans for dinner and after dinner, but I should be free tomorrow.”

“Now that would be wonderful,” Ace said, his beak split in a confident and wide smile. “And I should hopefully be less distracted myself.” He leaned across and planted gentle kiss on Cherry’s ear, as his claw pressed a small point behind it, eliciting a pleasurable shock through his body. “Until then~”

All that remained of the Griffon after that was the sound of fading wingbeats.

“...Wonder what he’ll think of Amy,” Cherry said, subduing his blush that had managed to make his red coat even redder.

Chapter Twenty - Beeing happy

The doors to the Las Pegasus Guard station burst open as Captain Narrow Gaze stepped in. One look at some of her colleagues, and all the goofing off that went on behind those doors promptly died. Within seconds, it was the proper, regimented station that did it’s nation proud.

Well, aside from Corporal Straight Arrow laughing his flank off.

“Seriously Cap, that glare could kill a lesser mortal,” he chuckled as she hoofed over a coffee. She grimaced as she took a sip. Perhaps Ledger wasn’t too busy? She needed a real drink. This was supposed to be her day off dammit. Her horn hurt from all the magic she used last night and she was exhausted.

“Then maybe they shouldn’t slack off, and I would have to constantly kick their collective asses!” she stated. “What’s new today?”

“Another ‘Featherfall’, though nopony else got hurt,” Arrow said. Featherfall was local slang from when a Pegasus decided that they’d had enough. Fly as high as they could and close their wings. It wasn’t pretty, and generally the only things that survived as their feathers, being highly magical and quite resistant to damage.

“It’s weird though,” he said.

“This is Las Pegasus, you need to be a little more specific,” Narrow sighed as she sat at her desk.

“Well we ran a background check on the vic,” Straight said, looking over the report. “No signs of depression or substance abuse. He had a stable job and family. No enemies to speak off, in fact, he recently cleaned up at one of the casinos. He was gonna be quite well off... like, ‘Cloud District in Canterlot’ well off.”

Narrow folded her hooves as she thought. “Hit up that casino. Some of them don’t like the big winners. And some other patrons hate losing to them even more. We need a motive here.”

“Can do,” Arrow saluted. “We’ll co-operate with the local PD on this one.”

“Get on it, keep me informed,” Narrow said as her partner left her office and she sighed deeply. She was getting to used to the cushy lifestyle that Fredrick offered, if she was letting little things like this get her down.

The rest of the day had been just as exciting, with reports of dragons of all things in the city, as well as a brawl in the Strip, involving a Griffon and a Thestral. No prizes for guessing who was involved in that, but Narrow decided to let her handle it.

“I don’t get paid enough for this crap sometimes,” she sighed as she trudged back to Fredrick’s restaurant. She paused once she got there, wondering why this was the place she automatically headed to. Shrugging, she was about to walk in when a familiar Unicorn walked out, bumping into her.

“Oh, excuse me,” he said, helping the mare up and giving a polite bow, before leaving. Narrow blinked as she watched him go. She knew him... but from where...?

Oh, that was Mr. Bold!

She poked her head inside and looked for her Griffon. “Fredrick? You home?”

“Putting a loaf in the oven, and keeping some curious colts from figuring out the recipe,” the griffon replied from the kitchen. “They are not ready to know it just yet.”

Now this was interesting. Old Narrow would have shrugged, not caring either way. It wasn’t really that interesting.

But New Narrow? Well, she’s been hanging out with Midnight and Fredrick waaaay too much.

“A loaf in the oven hmm?” she cooed as she walked in. “The recipe is quite easy really. Wanna know what it is boys~?”

The half-dozen serving-colts looked at each other as they thought the same thing.

This was the boss’s mare. And if there was one thing the boss did not do, it was get involved with involved mares. Each one gulped and summoned up what they could of the honor they learned while studying under Fredrick and slowly shook their heads.

“But it’s so easy,” she said, her tone becoming quite motherly. Coming from her and being heard by anyone that knew her. It was really creepy. “You see, when a Mommy Unicorn and a Daddy Griffon love each other veeerrry much-”

“Narrow, please stop torturing my waitstaff,” Fredrick said as he came out of the kitchen, running a towel over his claws to make sure any errant dough or oil had been wiped off. “I already put them through enough tests as it is.”

“Fine,” she replied. Work Narrow and Home Narrow were two very different ponies now. She deflated a little as she leaned against one of the benches. “So how was your day? Anything interesting happen?”

“Besides that fellow griffon coming on a bit too strong for my liking?” Fredrick said as he passed the cloth to one of his colts. “My first graduate stopped by again. Needed a few pointers for, funnily enough, Pegasus and Unicorn pleasure points.”

“Ah, I was wondering why Mr. Bold showed up here,” Narrow nodded as she pulled a carrot from a bowl and munched on it. “He must have another date with Luna. Good for him.”

You could hear a pin drop as every male in the restaurant turned to look at the mare. “Pardon me,” Fredrick said slowly. “But did you just say that my student, Balanced Scales, has not only taken the princess of the night out for a date, but is going to do so again?”

“Well, remember when I said that we had a friend with us on our night out?” Narrow said as she polished off the carrot. “Well, we had some drinks, snag a song... and then Luna, you know, Princess Luna, left with that guy. Dunno what happened after, but she was the one that taught me that spell. So I’m sure your imagination can do the rest.”

At this point, the serving-colts around her starting snickering and passing gossip between each other as to what spell Luna could have taught Narrow that the mare would have used on the griffon. Along with ideas about possibly using the skills Fredrick was teaching them to woo some mares of their own.

Though, none of them were going to be able to top Scales. Luna! The Princess Luna!

“Yes, I’m sure it can,” Fredrick said with a smile. “I knew he would go far with what he was learning, I just did not believe that when I said he should aim for the stars, he would take it so literally.”

“That was terrible,” Narrow chuckled. “Looks good on your resume though hmm? Stick with me, and you too, can bang a Princess.”

“They can only hope,” Fredrick said with a laugh. “With this, there remain two Alicorns in play, assuming Luna and Scales become a proper couple. Princess Celestia, and Princess Twilight. And seeing as how there are six colts here...their odds are not looking too good.”

“Well, unless there’s a mass ascension, best of luck boys,” Narrow smiled. She had been looking forward to her day off, but then somepony up and played with gravity. “I need a vacation,” she muttered.

“I’d suggest training up someone to take over, then giving them a test to see how well they handle the position,” Fredrick commented. “Meanwhile you and I could take a few weeks of vacation to somewhere romantic. Perhaps the Crystal Empire? It’s said to be quite lovely.”

“Hmm, could I do that?” she pondered. Straight Arrow had been eyeing her desk, or perhaps just the bottle of cider she kept hidden in there. “I haven’t had a vacation in...?” she paused again. When was the last time she took some time off?

“Buck it, let’s go to the Empire,” she smiled. Fredrick blinked a few times at her sudden statement.

“Now?” he asked.

“As tempting as that is, I still need to process the necessary forms for paid leave,” she said. “How about next week? If that’s not too soon?”

“That should give me enough time to make sure that between all these numbskulls, somepony knows how to do something,” Fredrick said with a smile. “...And a list of things to do if they meet up with an...unusual situation.”

“Now what could possibly happen in the largest, most sin-filled city in Equestria?” Narrow snarked. “Maybe Chrysalis gave up on Canterlot and decides to get her love from the Strip like everypony else~”

Almost everypony there laughed with Fredrick at the thought.

Almost everypony. It was subtle, but one of the colts hesitated for a moment before he joined in with the laughing. Were it anypony else standing there, they might have missed that cue.

“Well now that that’s settled,” Narrow giggled. “I am in serious need of winding down after today. So how about I help you clean up in here.” She stepped closer to the Griffon and ran a hoof along his chest. “Then you can help me...clean up~”

“No need, I’m certain the colts can take care of it while I take care of you,” Fredrick said as he hugged Narrow. A round of agreements met their ears as all the colts hopped to putting things away.

“That’s nice,” Narrow said. She got a wicked idea and while Fredrick was hugging her, he suddenly felt a pair of hoofcuffs lock into place around his wrists.

“Fredrick, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent, though I highly doubt that you will. I will be interrogating you...thoroughly~”

Once the colts realized that Narrow was just playing with her prey, they chuckled and set about to work again. Fredrick blinked a few times before looking at the mare and squeezing her with his cuffed forelimbs.

“You do realize you just made it harder on yourself to get us to the bedroom?” the griffon idly asked.

Narrow easily slipped out of his grasp, until she had a forehoof on his back. “You think I couldn’t get out of a simple hold. As fluffy and good as it was?” She prodded him forward and grinned. “Now march prisoner. We have a full night of punishment to work out.”

The griffon marched to his grim fate with a smile…

Midnight woke up, her eyes blinking to get the sleep out as she rolled over.

And came face to face with a Changeling. her nerves flared and she bit her tongue to suppress the scream that was coming. No, bad Midnight. It was just Ledger and he didn’t need a Thestral screech to wake him up.

Okay, deep breaths. One. Two... aaaaand better.

At least until Scope Lens poked her head in undisguised. Midnight screeched and threw the nearest object.

That nearest object being Level Ledger…

Ledger woke up to pain and the feeling of another chitinous body tangled up with his. It took him a moment for him to properly register what he was looking at, both because it was still too early for this, and the pain disorienting him...but by then, the damage had been done.

“Mistress, if I wanted your drone, I would prefer not to receive him at projectile velocities,” Scope deadpanned. Ledger blinked, realized exactly what his muzzle was pointed towards, and closed his eyes. This...was a dream, or a nightmare. Probably a nightmare, going by the current subject material.

“Ohmigosh! I’m so sorry!” Midnight fumbled to rush over to them, only to get tangled in the sheets and fall head over hooves into the pair. Well, at least Ledger had a much more familiar and pleasant view now.

“I hate mornings,” Midnight groaned.

“Okay, here’s a suggestion,” Ledger spoke up from the bottom of the tangle. “You two get off me, I go make coffee, and we forget this ever happened.”

“Will you walk? Or shall the Mistress throw you to the kitchen?” Scope asked from the middle of the sandwich.

“Alright I get it!” Midnight groaned as she got up and untangled the other two. “There, better?”

“Too early to determine that without any caffeine,” Ledger snarked before getting to his hooves and walking towards the kitchen. He paused midway and turned to smile at Midnight, though.

“...For the record, if you and Prince Shining Armor ever meet, I am booking tickets to anywhere else. I’d rather not be the object being thrown ever again.”

Midnight tilted her head, not getting the joke. Neither did Scope as Midnight pulled her closer to hug her like a plush toy.

“Is this all I am?” Scope sighed.

“Quiet, plushies don’t talk,” Midnight nodded, placing her on her back and following Ledger. “And call me Midnight or something. You don’t have to use Mistress anymore.”

“But, I think I shall continue to do so Mistress,” the nymph nodded. She still remembered that day in the club...the day everything changed and she discovered a whole new world of fear and pleasure.

“...Do neither of you read the newspaper?” Ledger asked as he started brewing the morning nectar of life. “Prince Shining threw Princess Cadance during the whole ‘saving the Crystal Empire’ thing they did. Several crystal ponies agreed on that fact.”

“Projectile Princess huh?” Midnight mused. “We should make it an event at the next Games. I bet it’ll really-”

“Mistress, please don’t.”

“-Take off.”

Scope banged her head against the table. “I need that coffee now. I wish to drown myself in it.”

“Sorry, I don’t have nearly enough for that,” Ledger smirked as the first few cups worth started to trickle in. “Still, as long as you keep it reasonable, you can have a little sugar to help yourself wake up.”

“Aw, and here I give away sugar for free, and nopony wants it~” Midnight pouted, batting her eyes.

“Master Level, the Mistress is scaring me,” Scope gulped. Level would kill her if she acted on that invitation.

“That’s just Midnight being Midnight, now that she’s not stopping all her emotions anymore,” Ledger said as he pulled a full pot of coffee out and began pouring. “So, Scope, you any good at cooking? Cause I’m not bad, but I’m not awesome at breakfast foods.”

“Uh, well...” no one had asked that of her before. “I possess all the rudimentary basics taught at infiltration classes. So I believe I can create something considered edible to equine-kind.”

“Mmm, I’m gonna take a shower,” Ledger said as he gulped a good half of his cup of coffee...that he had surprisingly only added one sugar-cube to. “You get started, and when I come out, I can offer some pointers if you need them. Pointer one, don’t let Midnight help. I already cleaned off my range from her last attempt.”

Scope nodded and Midnight pouted in response. She only burned down the kitchen once. Who knew juice was so flammable?

As Scope headed into the kitchen, Midnight suddenly wore a sharkish grin and trotted up the hall. There was a bug in the shower and she was gonna...take care of it~

~*~

By the time they finally returned to the living room, a veritable feast had been laid out. Fresh coffee and bagels, along with crisp salad and fruit. Pancakes coated with glistening maple syrup and powdered with icing sugar.

And Scope Lens rubbing a bloated belly and sighing happily. Ledger just looked at the two bloated females in his apartment and sighed as he looked at the food.

“I cannot eat all this food myself,” he said in a deadpan voice. “I guess we’re saving some of it for dinner and lunch, then.”

Midnight just nodded as she took a seat and grabbed a few pancakes. She still needed real food after all.

“How...are you...still alive?” Scope groaned at Ledger. “That mare...could feed an entire Hive...”

“Considering she only became my roommate a few weeks ago?” Ledger mused as he munched on his own selection of food. “I think the more appropriate question is, how did I live without her?”

“Well, I don’t intend to ever find out,” Midnight hummed as she ate her food. “Also, it’s my turn to take a personal day today. I’m tired, sore and I don’t think I’m in the right frame of mind to be dishing out justice.”

“I need to at least show up and do the paperwork that I’m sure is awaiting me, then I need to work out if there’s any new deals to be made,” Ledger said as he pushed his mostly-empty plate away. “Once that’s done, I think I might be on to something regarding getting tickets up to the Empire for cheap. Think we could meet up at Cider’s for dinner?”

“I think I can manage that,” Song nodded as Scope sighed and began to put all of the food away. Perhaps she got a little overzealous in her cooking. Well, they didn’t seem to hate it anyway.

“Oh, and Scope?” Ledger said as he donned his disguise. “You’re a natural. Maybe you could spend some time around Fredrick if you wanted to pick up a few pointers, but breakfast was delicious. A little too much, but delicious all the same.”

“...Thanks,” she said and rushed off into the kitchen.

Midnight chuckled at the adorable scene and kissed Ledger on the cheek. “Have fun at work dear. I’ll stay here and watch the kids~”

“It’s a good thing you’re on that potion, otherwise I might be really panicking right about now,” Ledger said, kissing Midnight in return before leaving.

“Huh, I knew I was forgetting something,” she said aloud as the door clicked closed, a small smile on her muzzle.

Aerial Ace frowned as he stood atop one of the casinos. Yesterday’s events had been...interesting. Midnight was probably going to resent him for a while, but if she was moving forward, then it would be worth it.

He glided down to the street and landed quite softly for someone of his size, coincidentally, he had landed near a certain ice-cream vendor.

“And one chocolate and vanilla swirl cone for the recovering colt!” the cherry-red stallion said with a smile. “Now you take it easy on that wing like the doctor says, okay? Yeah, not being able to fly isn’t fun, but it’d be worse if you couldn’t fly forever.”

The small pegasus colt nodded as he took his treat with his uninjured wing. His mother smiled and paid the stallion a few bits for the cone before the pair of them walked away. A Griffon soon replaced them as he smiled cheekily.

“I believe I’d like a Cherry Scoop please,” he said with a cocky grin, tugging down his scarf slightly. “With extra smiles.”

“Acey!” Cherry said happily, before reaching over the counter and hugging the griffon. “Hi again!”

“And hello to you too,” he chuckled, returning the hug. “I was hoping you might be here. I’m afraid smiles are not in my immediate future from anypony else.”

“Well I have lunch break coming up in an hour if you wanna hang out then,” Cherry said before letting the griffon go. “Still, it’s nice to see you again!”

“I’m glad somepony is,” the Griffon nodded, pulling his scarf up subconsciously. “Perhaps I might take one those desserts? One for someone who did a terrible thing.”

“Hmm,” Cherry said with one hoof tapping his chin. There was a sudden flash as the stallion seemed to get an idea before ducking behind the counter and withdrawing two scoops, one in each wing. “Everypony get back,” the stallion warned. “I’m about to do something delicious.”

Ace took a step away from the crazy stallion, his smile returning somewhat as other ponies smiled knowingly. This was going to be fun.

With a blur of motion, the stallion pulled two scoops of different sorts of chocolate out and flattened them on the counter. From under the counter, a third scoop was pulled out and a blob of vanilla ice cream suffered the same fate. Then a spatula was pulled into play and the three flavors were turned into a layered sandwich of ice cream, before being rolled back into a ball and plonked in a bowl.

“A Cherry Scoop special: a chocolate and vanilla swirl bowl,” the stallion said with a nod. Ace took the treat and he gulped. He was a hardened warrior, one that usually lived on enough to keep him functioning. But this...?

He took a tentative lick and his eyes widened. This was...amazing.

“If the creator is half as sweet,” he murmured as his beak split into a wide smile. “Simply delicious.”

“I’m glad you like it, Acey,” Cherry said with a grin of his own. “...That’ll be nine bits, though.”

“Sweet, handsome, and a shrewd buisnessstallion,” Ace chuckled as he reached for his pocket and gasped. “It seems that I am a foolish bird and have no bits. Perhaps I can make it up to you another way, say, a lunchdate?”

“If you don’t have the bits for the ice-cream, how are you going to afford a lunchdate?” Cherry said with a slight laugh. “Silly Acey~”

“And this is why I have Midnight as my wingmare,” Ace groaned. “Well, you caught me out,” he chuckled as he placed the bits on the counter. “My offer still stands though.”

“Mm, make it a dinner date and you have a deal,” Cherry said with a smile. “I have a few things I need to run during my lunch break to make sure this place runs at its best.”

“The date has been set then!” Ace said triumphantly. “I shall return here upon sunset to escort you my dear.” He gave the stallion’s hoof a gentle kiss and then too to the skies. He would need to find a suitable place to dine this evening.

“He is in for a huge surprise if he’s serious about any of this,” Cherry giggled to himself. “Ah, hello there little filly!...”

“Well ah hope yesterday was informative enough fer you,” Cider asked her newest helper-slash-employee, Sugar Darling. “Y’all think yer ready to learn how to start makin’ cider?”

“I do hope so,” Sugar said with a smile. “I need to learn so that we might be able to learn how to brew our own...special drinks back at the club. With a little bit of trial and error, who knows what we can do?” She put a hoof to her mouth before chuckling lightly. “And did you have to keep interrupting your sister from making this little outing of mine really informative?”

“Then y’all would learn less about Cider, an’ more about mah sister.” she sighed. She loved Apple Fritter to death, but when that mare caught sight of a cute piece of tail... “Anyway, ah already showed you how we press and mash the apples to pulp. And here is where it gets a little technical.”

“My ears are open,” Sugar said, suddenly a bit more serious. When it came to learning about this, she was always serious. She wanted to commit every detail to memory.

“Okay,” Cider nodded. “Here we add something called sodium metabisulphite. It releases sulphur dioxide and kills any germs or bacteria in the juice. It’s not always necessary, mostly if yer apples have any mould or brown lumps in the juice. Also, you don’t add the yeast for at least a day or so, otherwise it gets killed off as well.”

“So purify the juice, then let the toxin degrade before adding the fermenting agent,” Sugar summarized before nodding. She would have to write all this down when she got home.

“Right!” Cider nodded, happy she was learning so fast. “Now, once you add the yeast, what that will do is use the oxygen up and start to breed. This process also turns the sugar inside into alcohol.”

“And is there a given limit for how long you let the yeast sit inside the juice?” Sugar asked, her head tilted as she considered the question herself. “Or do you just add it and let it sit?”

“Once you’ve added it, let it sit fer about a week or so,” Apple Cider explained. “That’s how long the process should take fer turnin’ all the sugar. Now this part is important. The taste will vary depending on the apples used. If y’all use wild apples, or unripened one, the cider will be really acidic, and have a bite meaner than a rabid dog.”

“So no wild or unripe apples unless we want the cider to kick so hard it knocks our customers out of their stools,” Sugar said with a grin. “Are there any particular species of apples you would recommend exclusively for cider, then?”

“The one ah grow here, or Sweet Apple Acres in Ponyville would be best.” Cider informed her. “Now when ah mean kick, ah mean that it tastes like acid. Y’all can’t drink it, but there is a way to fix that. You hafta add calcium carbonate, also known as precipitated chalk. It reacts with the acids and neutralises them. Y’all may need to add several ounces per gallon, and it has to be done in stages, cause it fizzes like crazy.”

“Any way to tell how much, or do we just sacrifice our taste buds until it stops reacting?” Sugar asked. “And what would the end result end up tasting like? Something we could market, or no?”

“Nope, no way,” Cider said. “It still needs to settle fer a few weeks before y’all consider consuming it. The liquid should stop fizzing so much once all the acid is gone. So it’s a good indicator, but with enough practice, you start to be able to tell just by sight alone.” She cleared her throat and continued.

“Now, once the ciders been left for a few weeks, it’s time to bottle it. Y’all will need bottles made fer sparkling drinks, otherwise they’ll explode under the pressure and that is no fun fer anypony.”

“Ask Ledger if he knows a place for bottles, specifically for sparkling drinks,” Sugar noted aloud. “We’re going to have to do a lot of trial and error on our own...but thanks to this, I think it’ll fall more under trial and less under error.”

Cider nodded, “Yeah, took me a while to get used to it at first. Start small and work yer way up. Now, last but not least. The liquid will still be cloudy when you bottle it, but don’t worry. Leave it in a warm room fer about three to five days. That lets the yeast ferment the sugar and give it a nice fizz. Once that’s done, store in a cool place fer about two weeks and then y’all are ready to serve.”

“Mmm, that was a lot of information,” Sugar said, running over it in her head. “I don’t suppose you have some paper and ink around here? I need to write down some of the trickier bits as notes before they fade from my mind.”

“One step ahead of ya,” Cider smiled, reaching into her saddlebag and taking out a small note book. “Step by step instructions. But ah left out mah own secrets...fer obvious reasons.”

“That’s fine by us,” Sugar said with a smile as she took the notebook and nodded at the instructions matching up with what she’d been told. “We intend to add our own secrets to the process anyways.”

“These are the basics that anypony can learn,” Cider nodded as they headed towards the house. The orchard had finally been cleared and winter was all set to roll in in a few weeks. “Like y’all said. Trial and error, but don’t be afraid t’come and ask fer help if ya get stuck.”

“We’ve recently...acquired a building where we can set up our own distilling,” Sugar said, leaving out that they’d actually excavated it under the club. Changelings could dig like nothing else. “So I’d actually better get these over there soon before somepony blows themselves up.”

“Aw,” Fritter appeared out of nowhere and draped herself over Sugar. “An’ here ah was, getting all ready to get to know y’all better~”

“Fer the love of Celestia,” Cider groaned. “Can’t ya at least leave one of mah guests in peace. Ah’m sure she has better things to do than doing you!”

“But none of them are as much fun as she is!” Sugar pouted before sighing. “Still, your sister has a point,” she said to the mare on her back. “I do have to get back...but I may have exaggerated slightly about how well set-up they were: the bits and pieces for our distillery will only be arriving today. I have time to kill yet~”

Cider blinked and just shook her head. “Fine, ah have to get dinner started. Fritter, at least escort the lady back home once y’all are done playing.”

“Will do,” Fritter giggled as she grabbed Sugar. “Time ta show you how a real mare rolls in the hay~”

“Do be careful with me,” Sugar said as she was all but dragged off. “I’m a bit more fragile than I might appear, and I’d like to be able to walk when all’s said and done.”

“No promises~” Fritter giggled as she picked Sugar up with one hoof and placed her on her back, before trotting off for the barn.

Fortunately, at around that time, a distraction arrived for Cider. Namely, the brown unicorn she’d come to call her coltfriend. “I have come to lend a helping hoof with dinner!” he proclaimed. “It has been too long since I last cooked!”

Cider wrapped him up in a hug and kiss, before letting him go. “Y’all didn’t come round last night,” she whispered. “And that Scope mare said you weren’t feeling well. Is everything alright?”

“Midnight and I had a heart-to-heart, and while a few issues came up yesterday thanks to what her mentor did, we’ve got them mostly sorted out now. All’s well back at the apartment,” Ledger said before kissing Cider again. “How about here?”

Cider sighed as she glanced towards the barn. “Well, mah sister is...showing Mis Sugar the country life,” she said dryly.

“I expected her to try something like that,” Ledger said with a nod. “With either Fritter or one of your workers. Did she at least learn something before going for her little romp?”

“Ah believe so,” Cider said and pursed her lips as she looked at him. “And what do ya mean, ‘expected it’?”

“Let’s just say...I knew that no matter who I brought over from the club, they’d try bucking someone,” Ledger said with a smirk. “So, want some help with dinner?”

“The less ah know the better,” Cider hummed. “And yes, help with dinner would be nice. Is mah little bat coming tonight?”

Fortunately, Ledger suppressed his first response, which would have been something like, “Yes, but it wouldn’t be the first time she came today.”

Barely.

“She should be,” Ledger said after a moment’s pause to silence the part of his brain that had suggested that response. “We did make plans to come over for some of your delicious food.”

“Well that’s good,” Cider remarked, noting his silence for a second there. It made her wonder just what happened yesterday. “Well, Momma’s gone home, so it’s just me and Fritter here tonight. Though she’s heading home tomorrow.”

“A fact I’m sure Sugar will be lamenting for weeks to come,” Ledger sighed dramatically before breaking the hug and standing on his hooves again. “So, what did you have in mind, Miss Cider?”

“Hrm, well ah missed you two last night, mah meddlin’ momma’s gone home and mah sister will hopefully be too tired to complain much. So ah reckon a feast is in order. We haven’t really celebrated our relationship yet. So ah’m thinkin’ sumthin’ romantic.”

It was too much, Ledger couldn’t hold back the snarky comments any longer. “And our fun the other night wasn’t us celebrating our relationship?” he asked with wiggling eyebrows. “Dare I ask what lies ahead, then?”

“Firstly, y’all are a pervert. Secondly, ah’m serious. I wanna have a nice, romantic meal. Candles, fancy wine, the whole shebang! Is that really do much to ask fer, or has yer erection stolen all of yer thinkin’ power~”

“Nah, it’s fine, we can do a romantic dinner,” Ledger said with a wave of his hoof. “It’s probably some residue from hanging around Midnight so much. If we aren’t careful, we tend to pick up traits of others in our lives and add them to our own personality without us even noticing.” The stallion walked towards the house before giving his final say on why he’d become so snarky and perverted. “We’re called changelings, not samelings.”

“Well, yer still adorable, so all is forgiven. Though ah may exact petty revenge at some point. So keep an eye out fer that.” Apple Cider nudged her door open as a thought occured. “Uh, a question. Miss Sugar. Is she a friend, or one of your friends?” The intone in her voice hinting at what she was trying to get at.

Once the pair of them were securely in the house, Ledger closed his eyes and breathed deeply for a moment, focusing on nearby emotions...and finding nobody within eavesdropping distance. “You’ll have to be a bit more clear, Cider,” Ledger told her plainly. “I can’t answer an incomplete question without all sorts of implications happening that I’d rather avoid.”

“Is she like you?” Cider said. “A Changeling.”

“Yes,” Ledger answered simply. “Not...exactly like me, she comes from a different color, a different Hive. But she is a ‘ling. And I trust that you won’t bandy that information around.”

“Ah won’t, but ah hope Fritter will be okay, she isn’t...so accepting of ‘em. She was in Canterlot that time after all, right at the heart of the wedding. So ah hope Sugar knows what she’s doing.”

Ledger’s cheeks bulged as he quickly stuffed a hoof in his mouth, trying to keep the snarky comment restrained by any means necessary. Oh, Cider had just given him that one!

“What?” Cider asked, narrowing her eyes. “Did ah say something funny? All I wanted to ask is that Miss Sugar better know how to handle herself.”

Ledger’s barely restrained chuckles shook his frame. It was nearing critical snark levels inside his body, he didn’t think he could hold another burst in!

Cider took a step forward. “If y’all got something to say, then say it. But ah’d think that yer friend having her flanks bucked six ways to Sunday isn’t all that funny.”

It was too much, Ledger had to let go or suffer a snarksplosion. “First, an Apple does the bucking for apples, then the Apple gets bucked right back!” he got out, gasping for air.

“.....” Cider just stared at him with a look so dry, the Everfree Forest would have up and wilted in an instant. “Ah give up, yer just as bad as the bat.”

“Oh really?” a voice said from the shadows of the rafters as Midnight silently dove down and landed on Cider, her fangs biting the Earth Pony’s neck lightly as she shrieked in an interesting mix of surprise, fear and arousal. Once Ledger got his breath back, he let rip with the other two that Cider had given him, using a bit of his magic to swap his voice out for Cider’s to make the jokes stick more.

“Ah hope Sugar knows what she’s doing,” Ledger repeated in the mare’s voice before switching back to his own. “Yeah, she’s doing your sister!”

Cider and Midnight stopped and stared at Ledger. That was...disconcerting.

“I did not know you could do voices,” Midnight hummed, while Cider’s look promised death of the highest order. Ledger however, redonned his Cider impression for the last bit of snark.

“Miss Sugar better know how to handle herself,” Cider’s voice came from Ledger’s throat, before he retook his own voice. “Oh I think she’s handling herself and Fritter juuuuuuust fine.”

“Ledger?” Cider simply stated. Eventually the drone got himself under control again and just sighed happily at getting all that snark out. Cider continued to look at him, before stretching her legs and flexing those powerful Earth Pony muscles.

“...Run.”

Ledger blinked and realized that hostility was being directed at him, before doing the only logical thing he could.

He donned his Pegasus disguise and booked it for the roof of her house. Hopefully there he would be able to find a cloud to hide out on until she stopped wishing bodily harm on him.

“How long do you think it’ll take him to realize I can fly too, prolly faster than him?” Midnight asked as she let go of Cider, but not before stealing a kiss.

“About as long as it takes him to realize ah’m not chasing him,” Cider replied with a smile. “For somepony that reads emotions, y’all would think he could tell ah wasn’t too serious.”

“I love you so much,” Midnight swooned as the two headed for the kitchen.

Up on the roof, Level Ledger sat there, until a petite Pegasus mare landed next to him.

“Um, Master Ledger?” Scope Lens said with a cocked eyebrow. “What the hay are you doing?”

“Okay, first, you know how uncomfortable it makes me to hear you say that,” Ledger said as he looked to the sky. “Second, I may have snarked a bit too much at Cider...oh dear, I just realized something dangerous.”

“Please tell me you didn’t trigger ‘Mistress Midnight’?” Scope shuddered. “I don’t think I’d survive another round. Also, I’m picking up no hostile emotions. Are you sure she’s upset?”

“She certainly looked the part at the time,” Ledger replied. “And no, it’s far worse. I left Midnight with Cider to help make dinner. Cider doesn’t know about how Midnight can cause things to catch on fire just by walking into the kitchen yet.”

“Well,” Scope Lens had a faraway look in her eyes as a single tear fell. “I shall remember this place in my dreams. Farewell, Cider Falls.”

“If you go down and stop Midnight, there’s still a chance that disaster can be averted,” Ledger said in an urgent tone. “Above all else, she must not cook anything!”

There was a loud ‘fwoosh’ noise, followed by smoke and the sound of a certain batpony wailing.

“What happened?” she cried as Cider fetched a pail of water.

“Ah don’t get it. How did you set fire to a loaf of bread?”

“Quickly, if you want there to be anything edible left,” Ledger told the smaller pegasus. “Get Midnight out of that kitchen!”

“Already on it,” Scope sighed, swooping down to save the day from the adorably sexy pyromaniac. A cacophony of crashes and swears filled the room, followed by the noise of hooves being dragged across the floor.

“Ledger, git down here!” Cider called out.

“Promise you won’t maul me for my snark, or no deal,” Ledger retorted.

“Ah wasn’t going to, now git down here and help me, or the only dinner we’ll have is Midnight’s charcoal.”

Ledger sighed, flapped his wings, and landed just outside Cider’s door before transforming back to his unicorn self. The stallion closed his eyes and took a deep breath as if bracing himself for a hit he knew was coming...

He walked in, and after nothing happened, he tentatively opened one eye to see a drowned scorch mark on the table and Cider bent over as she rummaged around in a low drawer for her good frying pan, her blonde tail swishing to and fro. He barely suppressed a certain reaction in time and had to look away lest it trigger anyways.

“So you wanted me to help?” he asked aloud as he looked at the ceiling. The nice, boring ceiling.

“That’s right,” she said as she stood up. “Would you mind putting those pots of stock to the boil, ah’ll cut...These!” Her last word was punctuated by her hoof bringing down a large cleaving knife on a thick, ripe cucumber.

“And suddenly my punishment is made perfectly obvious,” Ledger said, wincing as the mare cut up the rather long vegetables. With an application of levitation, the pots were put on the stove and set to boil, while Level did his best to ignore the acts of violence being committed against the cucumbers.

“Hmm, ah need some herbs...” she said as she stood up on her hind hooves to reach the baskets of herbs hanging from the ceiling. Her little frilly apron riding up, barely hiding what lay beneath it.

“Y’know, I thought Scope said you weren’t mad,” Ledger observed. “With dinner being a thing we’re trying to do, even looking would be way too distracting.” Walls! Walls were boring and would help kill any reaction he started to have.

“Ah ain’t mad, who said ah was mad?” Cider giggled and winked at him. “And ah’m sorry, is something distracting you dear Ledger?” her innocent tones could make Celestia look like a Strip worker.

“Oh you know very well what’s distracting me,” Ledger fumed as he watched the pots. Walls had failed him, perhaps literally watching pots boil would help.

“Is it mah new apron?” she giggled, giving a little twirl. “It’s kinda cute huh?”

“If I look, I won’t want to stop looking, which will lead to touching and dinner being burned and or late,” Level said, successfully not turning away from his task.

“Alright, ah’ve had mah fun at yer expense,” she smiled as she dropped all pretenses and returned to slicing vegetables, with far less vengeance involved. “Though Midnight is being awfully quiet. That worries me a little...”

Said batpony was sitting in the living room, having turned Scope into her personal plush toy again. The Thestral cooed and nuzzled the little nymph. She was just so cute~

In the kitchen, Cider decided to get to the bottom of what had happen in the last twenty four hours.

“So, what were these ‘issues’ you mentioned?” she asked her stallion. “Anything I should worry about?”

“Nah, we got them sorted out last night,” Ledger replied. “At least I think we did.”

“Well what happened?” Cider asked. “Or is it something y’all don’t wanna talk about?”

“It’s not my place to talk about it,” Ledger said with hopefully enough of a sad tone that Cider would stop the interrogation.

“Alright, ah can take a hint,” Cider sighed as she poured the vegetables into a waiting pot. “Ah won’t mar the evening but y’all better believe we’re gonna talk about it another day.”

“Fine by me,” Ledger said as he looked to the door. “Just remember, it’s not my place to start such a topic.”

“Ah’ll remember,” Cider said.

Midnight rocked back and forth as she petted Scope’s mane.

“I am really bored...” she hummed.

“Better you be bored than Cider suffer from another spontaneous kitchen fire, Mistress,” Scope said as she just accepted her fate to be treated like a toy. Or a foal.

“Well how was I supposed to know that bread was so flammable?” she pouted. “You are really soothing to hug, maybe this should be your special talent.”

A little closer to dinner, Apple Fritter stumbled inside, her mane sticking out and hay was clinging to her coat. She also wore a big, dopey grin on her face.

“Ah think ah like yer friends Ledgie!” she said jovially.

“And I think she likes you too,” Scope said from her position of being Midnight’s new teddy-bear. This only prompted the Thestral to hug her tighter, and the nymph suddenly squeaked, not unlike a rubber duckie.

“Scopey...?” Midnight tilted her head. “Did you just....”

“Youheardnothing!!” the small pegasus said quickly, hoping that by denying it had happened, Mistress would drop the issue. Midnight’s smile could not be any wider.

“I love you Levvy~ But I think I found my new favourite!” Midnight called out, snuggling Scopey even more.

“Ack!” Scope said as she flailed a hoof in Fritter’s direction. “Save me!”

Fritter ignored her pleas for help and just giggled as she swayed to and fro. “Ah wish ah weren’t goin’ home tomorrow. I wonder if ah kin keep ‘er?”

“Meh,” Ledger said as he came back out from the kitchen, the help he could provide having been given over. “Were those of us with the right talents going with you, we could probably help you find somepony like her within a few days. Bonus: she would be a local.”

“Besides,” Cider said as she followed him, leaving the dinner to stew for a bit. “What happened to that mare you were infatuated with...er, Cloudchaser was it?”

“That didn’t last long,” Fritter sighed. “She didn’t like a mare that couldn’t fly...”

“Well that’s stupid,” Midnight huffed. “Ledger can’t fly, and I like him just fine.”

Cider barely suppressed a snort of amusement.

“Though that’s probably because we’ve gone through more trials than most couples can claim,” Ledger said with a roll of his eyes. “Honestly, I think that we’ve been stuck with the world’s equivalent of magical super glue and pressed together.”

“Well,” Midnight said with a wide smirk. “We do spend a lot of time pressed together, and we tend to wind up pretty sticky as a result~”

Scope just groaned at that. Ledger had walked right into that one.

“And I don’t hear you complaining much when we do,” Ledger said, not looking at the mare. “Less so when we’re already in the shower.”

Both mares blushed a little at that, while Fritter just giggled again, nudging Ledger with a hoof.

“Whooeee! Y’all are a real stud muffin huh? Though yer performance the other night proved that~”

“What’s that supposed ta mean!?” Cider almost yelled.

“Well,” Fritter blushed this time. “Y’all ain’t exactly...quiet.”

Cider and Midnight paused, the latter releasing Scope long enough for her to make her escape. They looked at Ledger, both with an expression that seemed to scream. ‘You forgot the spell!?!?’

“To be fair, the pair of you were distracting me very well, and had I known that Fritter would be listening in when she knew what we were up to, I would also have assumed she would be decent and leave,” the unicorn defended himself.

“Hey!” Fritter said. “In mah defense, ah never left the living room here. Ah’m pretty sure ah could have heard that in Canterlot. Kinda wish I got a better view though~”

“Soooo, I wonder how dinner is coming along?” Cider blushed red and dashed from the room as Midnight and Fritter exchanged hoofbumps.

“It’s almost too easy,” Fritter giggled. “Ain’t she the cutest when she’s all embarrassed.”

“She almost looks like that stallion cousin of yours,” Ledger mused. “Wonder if we can get her that red?”

“Let’s give her that romantic dinner she wants,” Midnight said with a small smile. “We at least owe her that much...then we start off the teasing~”

“Fair enough,” Ledger agreed with a nod before really taking note of Fritter’s state. “Um...Fritter? You...have something...just about everywhere.”

“Yeah, ah think ah’ll take a nice long bath and go to bed. Got an early start tomorrow.” She gave Midnight a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and offered Ledger a hug as well. The stallion gulped and whimpered at the thought.

“Just...be gentle,” he muttered before accepting the hug. The mare chuckled and the hug was actually fairly normal. She gave him a small kiss and whispered into his ear.

“Y’all better take care of those two. Promise me that.”

“I promise that no matter what, I will take care of them,” Ledger said with a nod. And he’d already been delivering on that, technically, what with healing Midnight...

Fritter nodded and let him go, before bidding her sister goodnight and trotting upstairs. A few moments later, Cider reemerged, her blush still present.

“Ah love mah family...but do they hafta be so embarrassing?” she sighed.

“It’s what they do,” Midnight nodded. “Be thankful mine aren’t here. That was nothing compared to what they can unleash upon the world.” She was never going to mention that her mother still kept foal pictures of Midnight in her bag.

“Mom and dad do their best to help uncle out back home,” Ledger said, using nice, neutral terms. “So none of them are likely to make an appearance in my life anytime soon.” He paused before thinking of the one family member he...really didn’t want to think about.

Mainly because Midnight was right, and this member of his family was really, really embarrassing. For him.

“You have family?” Midnight and Cider echoed. Even Scope was a little curious as she leaned closer from the rafter she was perched on.

“Well duh,” Ledger said as he rolled his eyes. “Just because they’re nobles and royals doesn’t make them any less a being than any other. Princess Celestia can still be surprised, still be contrite, still eats and breathes like any other pony. My family might not be as powerful as her, but they’re still pretty high-up as far as nobility goes back there.”

“I keep forgetting you’re a fancy, important buggy,” Midnight hummed, now hugging a cushion as a substitute Scope.

“It’s pretty easy to forget Master Ledger is an important anything,” Scope sighed. Ledger gave Scope half a glare as he retorted.

“Yeah, I don’t act like a noble, but we know the reason for that. And besides which, I am still in charge of Pegasus Air. So I’m still fairly important in the city. And that’s really more than I ever asked for.”

Cider gave Scope Lens a curious look. “Um, Miss Scope? Why do you call Ledger ‘Master’? I heard th’story behind Middy and all...but why him?”

“It annoys him,” Scope stated with a light shrug. Ledger snorted and looked up at the rafters, trying to determine which way to bring the small nymph down would be best. Magic or wings?...

“And one of these days, I will find a way to annoy you back,” he vowed.

“She hates hugs and being told she’s cute~” Midnight giggled.

“I don’t hate hugs or...buck,” she realized what she’d just admitted as Midnight swooped up and snatched her again. “Dammit Ledger, this is your fault!”

“I’ll leave it to Midnight to embarrass you then,” Ledger said as he relaxed with a smirk at the scene. While it was rather cute, it also served to punish Scope for continuing to call him by a title he did not want.

Cider ducked back into the kitchen and motioned for Ledger to follow. “Dinner is almost done, can you set the table Midnight?”

“Finally! Something to do!” she smiled, dragging Scope along for the ride. Ledger for his part used his magic as Cider directed. It was fortunate that he could multi-task.

Midnight set the table rather quickly, placing the silverware and lighting a few candles as Scope dimmed the lights around the rest of the room. She paused as she blew out the last lantern and looked around. This was a scene that didn’t require her around.

“I guess... I’ll head out then,” she said. “You guys have a nice night then.”

“Ahem,” Ledger said as he pulled another chair out, along with a set of plates and silverware. “Don’t make me say it rudely.”

“Say what?” Scope said. “This is a romantic dinner for you three. “I’m a fourth wheel here.”

Midnight wanted to say something, but she was more curious as to what Ledger had in mind. Nymphs had always been his button to press, so this here was either going to be a great step forward... or…

A sudden blur came from the chair, and Scope found herself seated. “I’m not sending you away. Yes, it might be a romantic dinner for us, but leaving you alone at the apartment while we have a nice gathering?” Ledger shook his head. “Plus, you might be able to comment on some things. And try to say that you wouldn’t enjoy a little snack of all the emotions in the air, I dare you.”

“I..uh,” Scope was at a loss for words. A little over a week ago, she was trying to kill them. And now? She considered them... her best friends. She shook slightly as she looked down.

“Why?” she asked quietly.

“Because we care,” Ledger said simply, as though that sealed the matter. “It might only be a small, infinitesimal spark amidst the rest of my emotions...but I do care about what happens to you.”

“Sentimental, sappy drone," Scope whispered to herself.

“That’s why we love him, and you too Scopey~” Midnight giggled, having heard her little comment. Apple Cider emerged, pushing a cart laden with delicious-looking food. Hot vegetable stew, crisp apple salad and her last bottle of Crystal berry wine.

“Oooh,” Ledger said as he clapped eyes on the wine, having drunk the last of the bottle Cider gave him after that night they all spent with each other. “You’re sure about that?” His protest was a little undermined by his watering mouth.

“Ah want this night to be special, so yes, ah’m sure.” Cider placed four glasses on the table and set up the food. Even Scope was watering at the mouth over the actual food, rather than the pure love that filled the air.

“Well then,” Ledger said as he pulled the mare’s seats out for them. “Shall we?”

Everypony took their seats and tucked into the delicious. Aside from the stew, Scope had a small horn sticking from her head, giving a pale azure glow as she snacked on the emotions as well. It was a little funny dining with a tiny alicorn though.

“And you may want to be careful with that addition, Scope,” Ledger observed. “Because if Fritter comes down, she’s not in the know.”

“Ah’ll be careful,” Scope said with a small drawl in her voice. “Um...ah think ah’ve taken a little too much from Cider an’ Fritter...”

Midnight covered her mouth with her hoof, but still smiled. “Ohmigosh! That is adorable. Do you do that Ledgie?”

“I do it more with personality traits than voices,” Ledger said. “Most changelings adapt to their surroundings in some way. For example, I can’t think of being this lewd a month ago. I have you to blame for that.”

“Hooray for bad influences!” Midnight cheered and Cider chuckled as she looked at Scope.

“An ah do not sound like that!” she stated.

“You kinda do love,” Midnight giggled. “Don’t worry, it’s cute. Right Levvy?”

“Let’s just hope Scope only takes on voices, and does so rarely,” Ledger said, before smirking. “And I think she’s somewhere between you and Fritter, to be honest.”

“Could you imagine a combo of all of us?” Midnight added. “Snarky, lewd, and always plotting?”

“To be fair, if you’re a changeling and not plotting…” Ledger started. Scope, after coughing a bit to get her normal voice back, finished the sentiment.

“...Then someone else is, and it’s not good. Infiltrator basics.”

“I just never really stopped,” Ledger said as he took a sip of stew. Yup, between Fredrick and Cider, any other food was forever ruined.

“This wine is amazing!” Scope commented. “I reckon I could drink a gallon of this stuff!”

“It is good, and my lovely Cider made it, so that makes it all the better!” Midnight giggled. Ledger nodded as he sipped at his own glass of wine. Mmm, hopefully he’d be able to secure a trip to the empire soon...it’d be a shame to not have more of this stuff...

The rest of the dinner passed by, with the group maintaining their small talk. Cider disappeared upstairs to bring Fritter some stew, and Scope went for a night flight to work off all that deliciousness. That left Midnight and Ledger to clean the table and then snuggle on the couch together.

“We really are lucky huh?” Midnight hummed. “To be a part of all of this.”

“Not certain luck factors into it,” Ledger commented. “We have worked hard, stumbled, and gotten back up multiple times in this relationship. We’re either too stubborn or too stupid to quit, and I know I’m not unintelligent.”

“Nor am I, but I do have my crowning moments,” Midnight smiled as she pulled Level closer to her. “At least our lives aren’t boring.”

“I’d actually prefer a more boring life,” Ledger said aloud. “A boring life is one where I’m not likely to be exposed at any given moment. All the spice I need in my life, I get from you and Cider.”

“I try to keep everypony on their hooves,” Midnight added. “But, I think that someday, you could go around in your true form without any worries. It might be a while off yet, but it’ll happen.”

“Maybe, but it’d likely take one changeling presenting a defeated Chrysalis to Canterlot’s front gate,” Ledger said, before his countenance turned...dark. “And there have been times I entertained the notion of doing that myself, along with the state she’d be in when we got there.”

“You really think you could take her down?” Midnight replied, hugging his tighter. “She beat Celestia...”

“She was hopped up on love at the time, and the Princess had to worry about everypony else,” Ledger said with a snort. “Princess Celestia raises the sun. I’m pretty sure she can do more to Chrysalis than give her a bad tan. In an all-out fight, that upstart wouldn’t last a minute.”

Admittedly, Midnight would love to see what Celestia could do in a real battle. There were stories and rumours of course, but that’s all they were. Even recorded history had her solving almost every problem with diplomacy alone. And Sombra’s defeat was shrouded in mystery.

“Okay, that fight would be kinda awesome,” she giggled. “Hmm, if that’s the case then. I won’t allow it. If the time ever came where the Queen would show up again. I would fight her. It’s my duty to protect the citizens of Equestria. That includes you.”

“Aww, but I wanted to test my knowledge of Changeling anatomy on her!” Ledger mock-whined. “Do you know how hard it is to find test subjects for breaking point tests?”

“Ledger...you are a scary, scary bug,” Midnight shivered. “But you have a point, I need to re-train anyhow.” Having her Lyrica sealed made her much more ineffective. Sure, she could still use her moves and stuff. But having that emotional control allowed for a much clearer mind in battle.

“I’m certain Narrow will be willing to help with that,” Ledger said as he resumed being nothing more than a cuddly unicorn, his darker countenance leaving as quickly as it came.

“I think I rubbed off a little too well on you,” Midnight said as Cider returned from Fritter’s room.

“What’s this ah hear about rubbing?” she said. “And here ah thought y’all would at least wait until I got back!”

“I’ve already rubbed the bat today,” Ledger said with a smirk. “While fun, I think she’d rather sit any rounds out.” He lifted one hoof, an invitation for Cider to join the hug on the opposite side of Midnight.

“Says you!” Midnight huffed as Cider sat next to them. The Earth pony nickered lightly as she snuggled next to Ledger and sighed.

“Tonight was wonderful,” she said. “Thank you both.”

“Thank you for having us,” Ledger said as he turned and kissed between Cider’s ears. “And thanks for agreeing to my last-minute idea of including Scope in the proceedings.”

“Well ah wasn’t gonna toss her out,” Cider said with a nod. “T’aint the Apple Family way!”

“So dear mares,” Ledger said as he snuggled them both and sighed, content with what he had again. “What now?”

“Ah vote fer cuddles,” Cider hummed. “Ah dunno about you two, but ah’m exhausted.”

“As am I for once,” Midnight agreed. “After everything, I think I could sleep for a week.”

“Then once you all have had your fill of this, I’ll take you up to bed and tuck you in before joining you,” Ledger said. This...there were good moments, there were perfect moments, and there were moments that stretched on for longer than they should.

This moment was lovely in every sense of the word.

And then Scope Lens strode in, belching loudly. “Ahhh, that was a great flight,” she sighed happily and looked as the three stared at her with mixed expressions. “What?”

“...If you were a pony, your mark would be of a heart breaking,” Ledger said in a deadpan voice. “For your talent in ruining moments.”

“Again?” Scope sighed. “Seriously, it’s not like I do it on purpose.”

“I know you don’t,” Midnight sighed. “But once is an accident, twice is a coincidence. If you do it a third time...”

“Okay, I’m sorry,” Scope pouted. “Is...is it okay if I stay here? I don’t think I feel like being alone tonight.”

“Ah don’t see a problem with it,” Cider smiled. “How about you two?”

“I don’t either,” Ledger said next, before explaining himself as to why he’d been so kind to a nymph. “One of the worst fates a ‘ling can suffer...is to be alone. And if you think about it, you can sorta understand why.”

“I get it,” Midnight hummed as Cider agreed. “You want in on this hug?”

“No, that’s your moment,” Scope giggled. “Where do you keep your linen? I can fetch my blankets.”

“First cupboard on the left as you go upstairs,” Cider said, resisting the urge to be a good host and fetch them herself. Snuggle Time was soooo good.

“I’d offer to help, but as you pointed out, this is sorta my moment here,” Ledger said as he just basked. “You should seriously look for a stallion or mare of your own. It feels so nice.”

“Maybe I already found some,” she muttered under her breath as she walked upstairs, a small smile on her face.

Chapter Twenty-One - An Ace in the hole

Cherry Scoop hummed to himself as he punched out for dinner. It’d been a nice, productive day. Countless foals were happy to receive his treats, he got paid, and it was always nice to be filled up with their excess happiness. One of the mottos of Pink ‘lings was ‘It’s nice to be nice!’, and Cherry nodded at that thought. Niceness made his world go ‘round.

The second he stepped out of the door, a large Griffon descended, landing mere inches from him. The downdraft ruffled his mane as Aerial Ace greeted him with a jovial smile.

“Greetings Cherry!” he beamed.

“Acey!” Cherry said, wrapping the griffon up in a hug. “I completely forgot about our dinner date until right this second!” The pony pulled his head back and offered an apologetic smile. “It’s been a crazy busy day for me. Too many foals, not enough time, and nearly not enough ice cream!”

“That’s quite alright,” Ace chuckled. “Are you still interested? I would understand if you are tired.”

“Nah, I’m good,” Cherry said with a grin. “...Might need to pop home and freshen up first though,” he later admitted after seeing a blob of ice cream on one of his forelegs...and on Ace’s shoulder.

“It seems you are just too sweet,” he smiled, licking the ice-cream from his shoulder, then taking Cherry’s hoof and doing the same. Cherry somehow blushed through his red coat and fluttered his wings a little bit to keep them under control.

“Flatterer,” Cherry teased. “Still, my point stands. I need to go wash up. You wanna come with, or would you rather wait here for me to fly back?”

“Inviting me home already? Such boldness!” Ace chuckled, ruffling the stallion's mane. His eye suddenly gave the slightest twitch and he hummed. “Whichever works for you will be best.”

“Well in that case, it’d be nice if you knew where I lived so you can walk me home, huh?” Cherry teased the griffon as he took to the skies. “C’mon, I live on the other side of the city!”

“Quite the distance you travel,” Ace noted as he took to the air after him. “And I do hope that you are hungry. I hear the restaurant I have booked is quite generous with their servings.”

“So, Freddy’s or the Chop Shop?” Cherry asked. “Both of ‘em are run by Griffons, who’re more than happy to serve you everything you can pay for and eat.”

“Beauty and brains?” Ace replied over the noise of the wind. “I’m tempted to test your brawn and see just how perfect you are.”

“I’m hardly perfect,” Cherry said as his home on the outskirts of the city came into view. “Ah, there’s me!” With that, the pegasus dove for the out-of-the-way apartment building and landed in front of it. “Ta-da!”

“Peaceful and inconspicuous, a true opposite of it’s owner,” Ace mused as he landed next to Cherry. “Do you wish for me to wait here? Or do I get the grand tour?”

“It’s a little early to be shown around my place, don’t you think?” Cherry asked with a wink. “I’ll be out in two shakes of a lamb’s tail!” With that, the red pegasus disappeared into the building with what sounded almost like a pronking noise.

“What was...?” Ace blinked and shook his head, wondering if he had any relation to a pink mare in Ponyville he saw once. It took him all of a minute to be greeted by a freshly-cleaned and smiling Cherry once again.

“So, where are we going, Acey?” the stallion said in a happy tone.

“Well, you guessed right earlier with the Chop Shop, but if that place is unsatisfactory, simply name a destination, and I shall take you.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Cherry said with a wave of a hoof. “They do better salads than Freddy anyways, and I can’t think of anyplace else that might be able to cater to a Griffon’s appetite.”

“Indeed, it has been too long since I tasted the meals of home. I ask for your forgiveness in being a little selfish with my choice,” the Griffon bowed his head.

“Silly Ace, you’re already forgiven by taking me there,” Cherry said. “Like I said, they do great salads. The Chop Shop might’ve started as a traditional Griffon restaurant, and might still be that at it’s core, but it’s taken on a lot of other recipes as well. It’s a perfect place to take anyone for a date, no matter who or what they are!”

“Then this day shall be perfect,” Ace smiled. “It is necessary to be flexible to survive in this world. And believe me,” he scooped up the Pegasus in his arms and flew into the air. “I am very confident in my flexibility.”

“Somebirdy’s feeling bold~” Cherry teased as he wrapped his forelegs around the griffon’s neck and just relaxed.

“Perhaps,” he winked. “Though if I am too forward, to not hesitate to tell me off. It has been a while since I have done this.”

“You’re doing fine,” the pegasus said, watching the world drift, or rather, zoom, by. “I’m pretty sure a hoof to the beak is a good indicator if you go too fast, though.”

“And there’s that fierceness I was looking for, you are now perfect!” Ace laughed loudly as they neared their destination. He fought the urge to do his usual urge to just drop from the sky and opted to descend slowly. Cherry took note of their slow descent and smirked.

“I have wings, yanno. You could just lemme go, and we could both get there faster.”

“Oh? You’d like faster then?” he teased. He tucked his wings and just dropped! The waitress at the door screamed at the sudden arrival of a Pegasus-wielding Griffon, but despite the speed, his landing was so soft, Cherry barely felt the sudden stop.

“Well with wingwork like that, I can see you have a lot of endurance,” Cherry said with a smirk as he twisted himself around to be pointing towards the ground again. “Still, let’s at least both walk in, eh?”

“Indeed,” Ace nodded, placing the pony on the ground. “That was nothing though, scaling Mt. Canterlot on paw, now that was a little bit of a challenge.” The two walked inside as the Griffon female placed a talon over her chest.

“That was a little scary,” she said breathlessly. “Please refrain from stunt flying outside, or inside the premises please?”

“Will do Miss,” Ace nodded. “I have a reservation for Aerial Ace and company. A table for two.”

The Griffoness nodded as she looked through her reservations list. “Ah, here we are. Ace and table for two. Right this way please.”

The Griffons within cheered out as the pair of them entered behind the waitress, likely to greet their new customers, or to just greet a fellow Griffon. Ace let out a bellowing roar, and got a chorus in response.

“Ah, to be among my kinsmen again! Tis a glorious day!” he laughed. He looked down at Cherry and smiled. “Apologies for the boisterous greeting.”

“It’s fine,” Cherry said as...he took off a pair of pink, fluffy earmuffs from his head. “I figured something like this might happen, so I packed accordingly.”

“Where did?” Ace scratched his head and shrugged. “You are a very interesting pony.”

“I try!” Cherry chirped. “So, dinner?”

“Dinner,” Ace nodded as he held out a chair for Cherry to sit. Once the stallion was tucked into the table, their waitress returned with two menus.

“My name is Wendi, and I’ll be your waitress...oh? Hello Cherry! It’s been a while.”

“Yup,” Cherry said with a nod. “Sorry ‘bout that. I don’t get near as many days off as I would like, and while I have a lot of friends, this is the first date I’ve been on in years!”

“You’re on a date? How wonderful, and with such a handsome Griffon as well~ Colour me jealous.”

“Years?” Ace tilted his head. “I find that scenario quite sad. Many a creature would be lucky to have you.”

“Yeah, well, I do a lot of volunteer work in my spare time as well, so there’s really just not a lot of time for dates left,” Cherry said as he looked at the drink menu. “Non-alcoholic cider, please.”

“And water for myself,” Ace nodded. As Wendi took their orders and left to fetch them, Ace turned back to Cherry. “So you do a lot of volunteer work?”

“Mmhmm, helping trauma victims recover by introducing them to the idea of safe, happy environments again,” Cherry said as he looked over the salad menu. “I like seeing ponies smile, no matter the age. My roommate Amy helps with both the rent and my volunteer work, so it all works out for me and her.”

“Roommate?” Ace raised an eyebrow. “Well, it is glad to see you have such a fine friend. I shall be in town for a few days yet, provided the circumstances are forgiving...” he looked away for a moment before turning back to Cherry. “Do let me know if I can assist you as well.”

“It’s fine, between the two of us, we have the rent covered,” Cherry said, before spotting one salad and smiling. “Oooh, that looks good...Yup, a nice garden salad with a light oil dressing.”

“As you insist,” Ace nodded, glancing at his menu. “Ah, I see quite a few things I wish to try. It is a good thing I trained hard earlier. I shall feast like a King!”

“I just hope you can pay for it all,” Cherry said with a smile. “The chefs might get a little upset otherwise.”

“It shall be fine,” Ace nodded. “I received a generous stipend from my job as an instructor at Celestia’s Academy, and I spend very little on personal effects.” He adjusted his scarf and the scar around his neck showed for a brief second. “Hmm, perhaps a few bowls of this? Or a serving or three of that?”

“They do have a traditional challenge, y’know,” Cherry said before pointing at the steak part of her menu with a hoof. “One that might even sate your appetite.”

Ace’s eyes shone with determination as Wendi returned with their drinks. “A challenge?” he said with a confident grin. “I never turn down a challenge! Fair waitress! I would like this one!”

“Ah, the traditional T-bone steak challenge then?” Wendi asked. “Fair warning, we have a big cut today. Still want to take it?”

Ace choked down the urge to respond like his student and smiled. “That will be fine Miss. I welcome the challenge!”

“Very well, the challenge for the warrior, and you?” Wendi asked, turning to Cherry as she set both drinks in front of the males.

“Just a garden salad with light oil, but make it a little bigger than normal? I want something to munch on while hothead here has a big cut of meat in his mouth,” Cherry teased.

“One garden salad with oil, and one challenge, coming right up,” Wendi said with a smile before turning and heading off to the kitchen.

“And here I was, refraining from making a comment like that,” Ace smiled. “Perhaps you have spent a little time around my student as well.”

“Nah, some of my friends work the Strip, and it’s really hard to not pick up on a few things,” Cherry said as he sipped at his cider. “I’m not nearly as good as they are at making dirty jokes, but I know my fair share.”

“Midnight would get along famously with them,” he chuckled. Ace tugged at his scarf again, still worried about his student. He really should have checked on her. When he noticed that Cherry was looking at him, he smiled sheepishly. “Ah, my mind was elsewhere. Sorry about that.”

“You’re worried about Middy,” Cherry observed. “I can tell.”

“You are quite observant,” Ace smiled grimly. “Yes, what I have done to her may cause her heart great pain. But... I could not stand by as she refused to move forward.”

“Well, that’s hopefully going to be a good thing,” Cherry said. “She’s got Ledger, and while he’s one of the ones I’m helping...I think the two of them will be good for one another.”

“I had noticed that,” Ace nodded, taking a sip of his water. “I am afraid I do not know much about him. But, that is neither here nor there. Tonight is about us!” He lifted his glass and smiled. “How about a toast? To a wonderful evening and pleasurable company!”

“I’ll agree to the first, but you’ve yet to prove all of the second,” Cherry said as he raised his own glass. “Agreeable, enjoyable, yes, certainly. But pleasurable? No...not yet at least.”

“Then it appears I have my work cut out for me,” Ace chuckled, before the meaning of the words became apparent. “Ah, perhaps my words were misled, I meant no offense by assuming my prowess in the nest. Though I have had no complaints before~”

“Fair enough,” Cherry said with a smile. “I’m just saying that while your claws might have a magic touch to them, I don’t know enough about your skills to agree that you would be pleasurable company just yet.”

“This is a simple date, I aim for no less than your smile and satisfaction. Should you wish to go further later, I will take great steps to prove the validity of my words. But I shall assume nothing. Just having you accept my company tonight brings me joy.”

“I can tell,” Cherry said, his smile never fading. “Despite all the other worries you’ve got on your mind, namely Middy...you still pay attention to me, your eyes light up when you look at me, and you’ve rarely stopped smiling this whole date. I don’t know why I stopped going on dates.”

“As selfish as this may sound, I may not have had my chance if you didn’t,” he chuckled and sipped his water again. “And thank you for the kind words. Not too many agree with my...exuberance.”

“It’s one of your endearing qualities,” Cherry teased. “You wear your heart on your sleeve for everypony to see...or would it be your scarf, in your case?”

“Ah,” he tugged at the article again. “Perhaps. I have worn this for as long as I can remember.” It had been a gift from his father, many years ago. “It became somewhat of a game for the students at the Academy, to see who could steal this scarf from me. None have succeeded, not even Midnight.”

“Ah, well, I’ll keep an eye out for any scarf-thieves,” Cherry teased as he jokingly looked around the restaurant. “Nope, none in sight Cap’n!”

“Very good soldier!” Ace saluted. “Keep up the good work!”

“Sir! Meals spotted, coming in at your five!” the stallion pointed behind the griffon. Ace turned as Wendi paused and sweatdropped in response.

“Do I want to know?” she asked.

“Training a new officer!” Ace replied. “He shows much promise!”

“Meh, I’m more of a medic than a fighter,” Cherry said. “So, the meals?”

Wendi nodded and put Cherry’s salad in front of him. Then she put a huge covered tray in front of Ace and cleared her throat. “This is a tradition that goes back to the founding of the restaurant,” she said. “If you can eat this entire cut of meat in three minutes or less, it’s free. The moment meat enters your mouth, the timer starts. Are you prepared?”

Ace’s eyes narrowed as he nodded. “Bring it on!”

With that, the cover was whipped off, to reveal a finely seasoned, perfectly grilled steak that actually unfurled a little, to hang out over the edges of the plate it had been served on.

“Oh Sweet Celestia!” Ace moaned at the size and smell of the steak. This was going to be epic! “I think I may be in heaven. Surrounded by my kinsmen and a handsome stallion! Life is good!”

“Aww, I’m touched,” Cherry said as he held a hoof to his chest. “Fortunately, my meal has no time stipulations, so don’t mind me if I just dig in.” With that, the stallion lowered his head to the bowl of assorted greens and vegetables and started to eat it, humming appreciatively at the taste.

Ace took a generous bite of his steak and his eyes widened. Time seemed to stop, and all ceased to exist. This was the greatest moment of his life. To everyone else, he had taken a single bite, and now had a look of complete and utter bliss in his eyes.

It was only when Wendi said aloud that fifteen seconds had passed already that Ace snapped out of it. He swallowed and took a small breath. “Clever, the spices are amazing! It makes me want to savor every bite, yet I must win this challenge!” He dove back into the meat, tearing at it with his sharp beak, quickly swallowing large chunks of flesh.

“Our chef is a sore loser, so he’s taken to being tricky when a challenge is called for,” Wendi answered, sufficiently impressed by the display. Too bad he’d come with a date, and a stallion date at that. Also too bad that Fredrick had been rumored to be tamed as well… “One minute, by the way.”

Ace let out a roar and tore the steak apart in a vicious frenzy, the timer ticked over as he swallowed the bite, panting after his feeding frenzy. “Heh....hah... time!”

“You managed to get it done with thirty seconds to spare,” Wendi said with a slight expression of shock. “The...the best anybirdy’s managed before is ten…”

“Hah! All challenges are made to be overcome!” Ace shouted, before realising he was making a scene. “Ah, well...”

The smile on Cherry’s face was almost sinister. “You might wanna wipe your beak there, Acey,” he said in a too-sweet tone. One that you just knew had mischief behind it. A moment later, that mischief became plain. “You’ve got a looooot of juice on your face from gobbling so much meat.”

“...I have no response for that,” Ace sighed as he dabbed at his beak with a napkin. That had two purposes actually, one was to clean the remains of that noble sacrifice of flesh. The other? To hide his own growing smirk.

“And yet, I find myself thinking the same for you in a way,” he commented, leaning across the table and licking some dressing from Cherry’s muzzle. Cherry crossed his eyes keeping track of the griffon, before blinking and shaking his head.

“I was gonna get to it once I cracked a few more jokes and finished my salad,” the pegasus said with a shrug. “Like maybe how it didn’t seem like you could wait to get that big, thick slab of meat in your beak once you tasted it.”

“You are incorrigible,” Ace smiled as he finished cleaning his plate. “Ah, that was still delicious though. Give the chef my regards for a fine appetiser, Fair Wendi!”

“Can do,” Wendi said before looking at Cherry. “So, all told, the evening is only going to come to about twelve bits for the salad.” With that, the griffoness turned to let the chef know that he had failed...miserably.

“Like I said, I know a lot of ponies on the strip,” Cherry said as he took the last of his salad into his mouth and began to chew. Once the leaf and its dressings were gone, the stallion continued. “Once I learned the proper elements of a dirty joke, I managed to successfully stump them with how quickly and how many I made.”

“Hmm, I believe I should be impressed,” Aerial Ace nodded. “Both at the skill, and for Las Pegasus earning its reputation.” He reached into his satchel and pulled out a clawful of Bits and placed them on the table. “Midnight tried to educate me, but I’m afraid I just emulate a few of hers should the situation arise.”

“Eh, you got this date with your skills at least,” Cherry said with a smile, before taking a napkin and using it to clean off his muzzle. Afterwards, the stallion tilted his head at the griffon. “So, where to next?”

“Admittedly, I had not planned this far ahead,” the Griffon chuckled with a light blush. “Is there anywhere you would like to go?”

Cherry hummed and tapped his chin with a hoof. “How about you see if there are any local clouds out tonight?” the red stallion asked. “I have an idea.”

“Clouds?” Okay, this had caught Ace off guard. “Well, I suppose I could. If anything, I am highly curious as to what runs through that random little head of yours.”

“Oh, you’ll like this,” Cherry said with a smile. “Now, be a good griffon and find one please? One large enough for you to rest on.”

Ace just shrugged and nodded. He stood up and headed outside. It must have been about, fifteen minutes perhaps? Before he returned with a light smile.

“I have your cloud outside. Shall we?” he held out a claw, and Cherry put his hoof into it.

“Time to see my favorite pastime,” the stallion said with a smirk.

Cherry slowly woke up and looked at the warm body sharing his bed. With a soft smile and a pat of a hoof, the stallion eased himself out of the Griffon’s grasp...which took a minute of effort. Eventually the red pegasus hit the floor and shifted back to his normal form, of a Pink nymph. With a small, squeaky yawn, the changeling went to the shower and turned the water on. It took another minute for it to warm up properly, but once it had, the changeling hopped into the shower and hummed as she got herself clean.

Last night was fun, and Acey had been fun as well. He’d not discriminated against either form and loved both equally...something nopony else would do, she felt.

Plus he made the most delightful sounds when it was his turn to get stuffed instead~

It was just too bad he was leaving soon, but Amy would wait for him to come back...assuming he ever did…

Aaaand that thought made her frown a little. He was so...reckless. So adventurous! Something that would normally be admirable, yes, but when that meant he might not be coming back to her…

It was a shame to think that the only thing that might be left of him when he left would be his scarf. A pair of scaled talons suddenly snaked their way around her form, as the large Griffon appeared in her shower while she was thinking.

“So this is what you look like,” he mused as he nipped at her ear. “I find this form quite adorable, though I may lose you after you blend in with the decor~”

“Acey!” Amy squeaked out. “You...weren’t supposed to see me like this,” she said. “Most don’t exactly find the Changeling form to be...soothing or appealing.”

“My dear, beloved little Lady,” he purred as he nibbled an ear. “To think that you planned to hide this from me. I may have to punish you for that one.” Then he showed her something... that he had a little knowledge on changeling pressure points. As one clawtip poked a space on the back of her neck, in between the chitin.

“Meep!” Amy said as her shell keeping her insect wings safe popped half-open. “H-h-how did you learn that?” the nymph stammered as she fought her shell back down again.

“After that little mishap in Canterlot, I learned a great deal in case something like that ever arose again,” Ace mused, though his wide grin spoke volumes on how happy he was to test this particular training out. “Hmm, I find myself wanting to...experiment~”

“Ah…” Amy said with a blush through her chitin, something that was quite the feat as her shell finally closed again. “Something tells me that’s...not a good thing for me.”

“Well, if last night was any indication,” Ace mused as he let that comment hang in the air. He took a moment to wash his feathers, and smiled down at the changeling below him. “You were simply wonderful last night, by the way. I dare say you are one individual that I shall never forget.”

“And I’m not going to forget you either, Acey,” Amy said as she attempted to press herself against the griffon...reminding him a lot of an affectionate housecat. “Not only because I’m stealing your scarf, either.”

“I shall be wanting that back,” he reminded her. “However, I have also given thought to another matter as well. One that I had hoped you might be able to assist with.” He reached down and scratched her behind the ear, cocking an eyebrow when she actually purred.

“You can have it back when you come back from whatever your latest adventure is,” Amy said after the scratching stopped. “Gives you more incentive to come back.” With a blink, the nymph opened her eyes and looked up at the gryphon above her. “And what did you think I could help you with, Acey?”

“Well you see,” he replied with a champion poker face. “Should Midnight be willing to accept my help, I may need you for that too, I will have to train her anew. And such a task will take time, weeks, maybe more. And then here I am, with no place to stay should that event occur...”

“Yup, not a problem Acey!” Amy chirped. “...As long as you promise to give massaging ponies a try while you’re here so you can get out and socialize with other ponies more. And pay for your share of the rent. Then sure, you can stay with me while re-training Middy!”

“Well, I suppose I can agree to those terms,” Ace hummed and smiled. “Well then, I look forward to enjoying your company some more, my beautiful Lady~”

“Mmm,” Amy said as she leaned against Ace. “I’m going to remember you for a long time, Acey...when did you plan to go, again? I forgot to ask between rounds last night.”

“Well, should Midnight refuse my help, in the next day or two. Otherwise, I have no set date. My journey travels with the wind, the scent of thrill and adventure is my only guide.”

“I have an idea~” Amy sing-songed. “I will bet you...my choice of forms and order tonight, versus yours. That I can get Middy to ask you for retraining.”

Aerial Ace paused and craned his neck down to look at her. “That is an...interesting bet.” His beak split into a wide smile and he nodded. “Very well. You have until sundown today then. Think you can do it?”

“Puh-lease. Double or nothing. If she comes to you before lunch, I get tomorrow as well.”

As Ace shook her chitinous hoof, he felt as though he just made a deal with Discord. “Well, this is a curious feeling...I feel as though I have made a terrible mistake.” Or he did it on purpose. Yeah, let’s roll with that.

Amy just smiled and donned her female pony form, before trotting out of the bathroom and shooting a glance over her shoulder. “Look into massage parlours, Acey, you’re gonna be here for a while...and no slacking off when I get home tonight. I think I’m going to punish you with Cherry first.” With that, the mare wrapped his scarf around her neck before walking out of the apartment entire.

Ace watched her take the scarf and his eyes widened a little. “Oh, you are a clever little thing aren’t you?” he just chuckled as he shook some water free and looked around. He would still need something to cover his neck.

A little later, an imposing Griffon emerged wearing the manliest pink scarf to ever rock Equestria.

When Ledger slowly woke, again, for the fourth time, not all three ponies were currently inhabiting the bed. Only Cider lay beside the changeling, snoring cutely.

“Aww,” Ledger said reflexively. He scooted a little closer to the pony and cuddled her, enjoying the feeling of another pony snuggled up to his form. Briefly, he wondered where Midnight was, but figured she must just be exercising.

The sound of the door opening and a single wing flap told him otherwise. If not, then a heavy thump against him as Midnight snuggled both of them was a much clearer indicator.

“Morning~” she giggled, nuzzling the sleepy ponies.

“Mornin’” Ledger returned as he kissed the Thestral mare. “What were you up to?”

The batpony leaned back, and Ledger caught sight of a camera dangling around her neck. “Me? Just taking photos of the cutest thing I have ever seen~”

“Aww,” Ledger said as he leaned forward again, kissing the playful batpony. “Still, it’d have been nice to wake up to the both of you again.”

“Hm, maybe next time,” Midnight hummed. “But right now, I need you and Cider to wake up and come with me. If you miss out on this, your lives will be forever ruined!”

“I’ll go in a moment,” Ledger said as he released the farmmare and sneaked to the edge of their impromptu bed. “Once I am myself again and showered. You can wake up Cider.”

With that, the changeling drone donned his unicorn disguise again and was on his way to Cider’s bathroom, to keep up appearances. Midnight watched him leave, torn between waking her other love and showing her what she wanted, or joining Ledger in the shower again.

Decisions, decisions...

After the stallion emerged from his sadly uninterrupted shower, he found both of his mares at the top of the staircase, peeking past the railing and giggling softly.

“Okay, what did I miss?” he whispered to the pair of them.

They still turned and shushed him, before Midnight moved aside to let him in.

What he saw was Scope Lens, asleep in her Pegasus form. She had taken the blankets she retrieved last night, twisting and folding them until she was sound asleep in a literal nest. Her head was tucked under one of her wings and she snored quietly. Ledger smirked at the sight.

“She’s really taken to being a pegasus, hasn’t she?” he observed aloud. The voice was loud enough to cause the small mare to shift and awaken. She stretched her wings and yawned, before looking around sleepily and her eyes widened when she saw three sets of eyes peering at her.

Her blush was quite impressive as she shrieked and buried herself under all of the blankets.

“Aaaand somehow, she’s just become even cuter,” Ledger observed again, this time with a very wide smile on his face.

“I know right!” Midnight cooed as the mound of blankets shook slightly.

“You saw nothing!!” a muffled voice could be heard as Cider made her way into the kitchen to prepare coffee. A wide smile adorning her muzzle.

“Well then if we saw ‘nothing,’ then we only need to make three sets of breakfast and three cups of coffee,” Ledger pointed out.

The blankets shifted again as Scope poked her head out, her mane sticking out in every direction. “Go die of carapace rot!” she pouted at him. “Mistress! Master Ledger is picking on me~”

“Levvy, be nice to Scopey!” Midnight chided him as she followed Cider into the kitchen.

“Oh like you don’t think she’s adorable as well!” Ledger called to the fleeing Thestral mare. It only struck him a moment later as to what he basically told the smaller nymph.

“Y-Y-You...think...I’m...” If she wasn’t blushing before, she sure as hell was now. Scope Lens suddenly scooped all the blankets up with enough speed to make Rainbow Dash herself jealous, and flew upstairs.

“Aaand something tells me I’m going to be paying for that one,” Ledger observed as his own blush died quickly. Midnight couldn’t help herself as she set the table for breakfast.

“Levvy and Scopey, sittin’ in a tree~” she sang loudly.

“Midnight, don’t make me look in that spellbook again,” Ledger warned the mare. “I’m pretty sure I saw a section for pleasurable torture.”

“My safeword is Mangoes~” she giggled, giving her rump a little wiggle as she returned to the kitchen, leaving Ledger to construct his own mental images for what she meant by that. It took him a moment before his blush returned.

“...Let’s talk about something, anything else,” Ledger said as he sat at the table. “Like, Cider, would you like me to get you a bigger bed so that all three of us could sleep in it?”

“What?” Cider poked her head out and blinked at him. “Ah appreciate the thought Ledger, but y’all don’t have to go and do that. Ah don’t feel right askin’ something like that from you.”

“I still think I should, though,” Ledger said. “Besides which, aren’t you tired of waking up on the floor whenever one of us come over?”

“Ah reckon ah’m plenty comfy with you two by mah side,” she said, giving him a bashful smile. Ledger basked in the affection for a moment, smiling all the while, before shaking his head.

“Be that as it may, I’m even thinking of getting a larger bed for us back at the apartment,” Ledger said. “It barely fits two as is. No way it’d fit three if you came over.” Ledger looked to the kitchen and his eyes widened. “Why...don’t you send Midnight out so we can talk about this?”

“What is it with you ponies and letting me in the kitchen?” Midnight pouted. “You think the whole house will explode if I so much as set hoof inside here.”

“The truth hurts,” Scope nodded, having calmed down and returned.

Midnight sighed as she walked out, four mugs of coffee balanced on her wings.

“Aww, maybe when you learn how to stop things from bursting into flame whenever you walk by, we’ll trust you in a kitchen,” Ledger teased as he took two mugs from Midnight, one from each wing. One was passed to Scope, while he took the other and started sipping.

“You all suck,” Midnight pouted as she set Cider’s mug on the table and moved over to the couch, sipping at her delicious brew. “You’re the only one who loves me coffee.”

“There’s a difference between loving you and trying to commit insurance fraud by letting you try to cook,” Ledger pointed out.

“Yep, ah don’t have ‘Middy did it’ insurance,” Cider chuckled as she gulped down her coffee, not minding the hot drink in the slightest.

“So I can’t cook, whoopdeedoo,” Midnight frowned. She finished her coffee and headed for the door. “I’m going out to exercise. Be back later.”

“Think we went too far?” Ledger asked as the door swung shut.

“Ah didn’t think so, but she seems kinda edgy lately,” Cider looked at the two changelings. “Does it have to do with the thing that nopony’ll tell me about?”

“You had to ask while she was gone,” Ledger sighed. “I’d be willing to tell you what happened, but it’s not all my story to tell.”

“These two had some issues, things were said, feelings were hurt, they talked it out,” Scope said in a flat tone. “The details aren’t really important, but Midnight’s being a sadsap because of what her old teacher did. Took her fighting abilities away or something.”

“And when she comes back in, we can talk about it together,” Ledger said as though that sealed the matter. “Cider, how’s breakfast coming along?”

Meanwhile, in the orchard outside...

Midnight frowned, she knew they were only teasing, but she still snapped for some reason.

“Stupid Ace, I’ll pluck every feather from his body and use him as a pink pinata!” she shouted at the clouds as she ran around the edge of the orchard. After last time, she figured a good run would clear her head, and she was in no mood to sprain her wing again.

“I’d really rather you didn’t, it’d make our times together a lot less fun,” a familiar voice came from above her.

Midnight shrieked at the sudden voice and in one swift move, her hoof scooped a rock as she prepared to hurl it, only to see a pair of inquisitive red eyes stare back.

“A-Amethyst?” she blinked, dropping the stone. “What the hay?”

“Wow, he was right, you are really high-strung,” the pink pegasus said, Ace’s scarf flapping in the breeze around her neck. It took Midnight a second to recognize the article and blink in pure shock.

“T-That’s...but, that’s impossible, nopony has ever... HOW!?!?”

Amy’s only response was to grin and look at the farmhouse. “Got room for one more? Kinda left before I could have breakfast.”

“I guess, but. That scarf. Explain!” Midnight pointed at her. “That’s Ace’s scarf. Nopony has ever stolen that from him before. Not even me!”

“Hmm, I’ll make you a deal, Middy,” Amy said as she began to trot off. “You agree to go see Acey for re-training, and I’ll tell you how I got his scarf~”

“Acey? Retraining?” Midnight frowned as she stormed back towards the farmhouse as Amy followed. “And why should I? I could care less what he wants!”

“He did what he did because he loves you too, Middy,” Amy said softly. “It’s a different sort of love. Tough love, I think the griffons call it. If one of their cubs is headed down a wrong path and words don’t work...they take action. And then the cub doesn’t misbehave anymore. I’m not certain if he sees you as his daughter, mind...but he does love you like one.”

Midnight paused, as a certain memory came rushing back. Aerial Ace was the only being on the planet that Midnight respected as much as the princess, which was why when he did what he did, it hurt all the more. And really, a lot of good had come from it. Midnight was still mad, and she was still going to punch him in the beak for this. But even so...

“I know,” she said quietly. “It’s Ace being Ace, no more, no less.” She turned towards the pegasus and for the first time, an honest, pure smile adorned her muzzle. “Thanks... Amy.”

“You’re welcome!” the pink mare said as she hugged the Thestral. “And thanks for the smile, Middy. Now! Once we’re done eating breakfast and everypony goes off to do whatever, you are going to…?” Amy prompted the batpony, who sighed and nodded.

“I’ll go see Ace, but you’re being a little insistent aren’t...you...?” she looked at the mare as gears started to turn. “There’s... something in this for you? Isn’t there?”

“Nope!” Amy chirped. “Just making sure you say it out loud. I find it helps when ponies agree to something out loud. Makes it more real to them.” Her ever-present smile didn’t waver at all.

Song blinked and her eyes narrowed. “Hmm, well...let’s just...go eat then,” she said slowly. As she walked inside, a thought occurred and she grinned. “Oh Levvy~ I have a guest!”

“Who is it?” Ledger said as Cider began to bring their breakfasts out from the kitchen.

“Just a...friend!’ she giggled as she walked inside, motioning for Amy to introduce herself.

“Hiiiii!” Amy said, and Ledger’s head whipped around to see the pink mare that Midnight had brought in with her.

“Oh, the Pink,” Ledger calmly observed aloud.

Scope Lens blinked, before a high-pitched scream came from her mouth as her wings flared as she bolted for the door. “Nopenopenopenopenopenope!!”

“She...has heard about Pinks before,” Ledger explained to Amy.

“Aww, we’re not all crazy,” Amy pouted. “We just like looking on the bright side.” She tapped her chin with one hoof. “Maybe I could introduce myself to her as Cherry instead?”

Midnight zipped across to the other side of the room and grabbed the struggling Pegasus. Scope flailed, but couldn’t break Midnight’s grip.

“Gaaah! Noooo, don’t make me turn into a dragon again!”

“Do you even have enough energy reserves to do that?” Midnight tilted her head.

“I’ll find the bloody energy!” she shouted. Amy sat down on the floor to appear more non-threatening...and then she went into Pouty Amy mode.

“She...doesn’t wanna be my friend?” the pink pegasus asked with a sniff, as though she might break out crying at the very thought. Her eyes already appeared to be moist, and her lips were even quivering.

“Oh she’s good,” Midnight noted as Scope looked at her, then back to Midnight and Ledger for re-assurance that the Pink wasn’t going to eat her...or worse. Ledger had quite studiously avoided looking at Amy once he saw what she was breaking out. He’d been victim of Pouty Amy before and was in no mood to repeat the experience. If she started to actually cry, ponies had been known to do anything to make her stop.

“Uh, look, no offense, I just don’t get along with Pinks,” Scope said unsteadily. Amy responded by looking away and sniffing before getting to her hooves.

“It’s okay,” she said. “I’ll just go home. Alone. Without eating.”

Oh. Sweet Hives. Scope Lens felt like she’d kicked a puppy, then drained it and kicked it again for good measure. “Okay! Fine!” she shouted, folding her forelegs. “I’ll be your friend.”

Amy paused with one hoof out the door. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear that,” she said, thankful for the fact that her face wasn’t facing them.

Scope frowned as Midnight nodded. “I said, I’ll be your damned friend. Now get over here and get your one, I repeat, ONE free hug before I change my mind.”

That...was a mistake, Scope would later reflect on. Almost too fast to see, the pink mare became a pink blur that surrounded her in a tight, near-chitin-cracking hug. “YAAAY!” Amy said, hugging the smaller pegasus with both her forelegs and her wings. “Thanks a bunch new friend!”

“I take it back!” Scope struggled helplessly. “Oh Hives~ Kill me now!”

“We’re gonna have so much fun together today!” the pink pegasus said, ignoring the smaller one’s protests. “I’m gonna take you to work and show you all the happy little foals I get to see every day…”

“My joy knows no bounds,” Scope said in a dead tone. She...did not agree with foals. They were sticky, noisy, annoying little balls of snot and tears.

“And if we’re lucky, I might even get to introduce you to Acey!” Amy said, as though Scope hadn’t said anything. Only when she was done, did the pink pegasus look up at the other members of the house. “You all don’t mind, right?”

Ledger barely fought his own smile down into a smirk. “Oh no, not at all, this’ll be good for her,” the unicorn said.

“Aw, my huggable little hatchling!” Midnight pouted, smirking at the Pegasus.

“I told you, YOU SAW NOTHING!” Scope shouted.

“You’ll get her back,” Amy replied with a wave of one hoof. “What’s the rental fee on her, anyways?”

“As long as you keep her watered and fed, I’m good,” Midnight mused. “And if she acts up, just let me know,” she leaned in close to the Pegasus and for a moment, the changelings could almost see the lust that rolled from her. “And I’ll punish her~”

“I’ll be on my best behavior Mistress Midnight!” Scope stammered. Ledger and Amy giggled, before Amy stood up and moved the smaller pegasus to her back.

“So, breakfast?” the pink pony chirped.

Cider smiled as she set the table and her sister all but floated downstairs from the smell.

“Ah smell Cider’s cookin’,” she hummed. Then laid eyes on Amy and grinned happily. “Oh, yer a new face. The name’s Apple Fritter! Pleased ta meetcha!” she held out a waiting hoof.

Amy took it and surprised Fritter by being the one to shake her hoof like there was no tomorrow. “Hiya Fritter, I’m Amethyst Cream, but call me Amy, all my friends do!” the pink pony said with her ever-present grin.

“Heh, y’all remind me of Pinkie Pie,” Apple Fritter beamed as she shook her hoof. “Pleased as punch ta meetcha Miss Amy!”

“Mmhmm, but c’mon, we’re missing out on the eats!” the pegasus said as she eventually broke the eternal hoof-shake and wandered over to the table. The spread was one that one would come to expect from an Apple. Pancakes, Waffles, coffee and fruit salad adorned the table. A veritable feast for the eyes and the tastebuds. Amy’s mouth watered and she barely kept all the drool in. She’d wait until the actual ponies took what they wanted first…

Ledger was of the same mind, only sipping at his coffee for the moment. He would wait until the others had taken what they wanted, then from there, he’d take what he needed.

Cider and Fritter stocked up on food, but not as much as usual, since work would be winding down for now. Midnight Song piled what would be considered a monolithic amount of pancakes and waffles, a waterfall of syrup drowning them. Ledger helped himself to a small pile of pancakes, with a side of fruit salad. Amy, meanwhile…

She just sat behind her pile of pancakes and waffles to rival Midnight’s own and blinked as everyone looked at her. “What?” she asked. “I need a lot of energy to keep up with all the foals I end up serving!”

Midnight and Amy exchanged a look and bumped hooves, before attacking their sugary towers with gusto. Scope just watched and shook her head, before nibbling on a small amount of salad. Just watching Midnight and Amy was making her ill.

Ledger just shook his head and finished his breakfast at about the same time Scope did. He winked at the small pegasus before walking over to Cider and Midnight and giving them both kisses on the cheeks. “I have to work today, and I’m actually going to try and put a full day’s worth in today. I’ll be at the apartment for dinner, which if all goes well, will be spaghetti. If either of you mares want to join me for that, feel free~”

“Sounds good,” Cider nodded. “Perhaps I’ll stay over there tonight?”

“That would be awesome!” Midnight giggled, rocking in her chair as Ledger kissed her. She smiled and looked at him, then to Scope. “Aw, doesn’t Scopey get one?”

Scope’s eyes widened as she looked at the drone. “Don’t. You. Dare!”

Unfortunately, Ledger took both of their statements as dares...and he’d never been one to back down from a dare~

The unicorn drew close to the petite pegasus, a wicked grin splitting his muzzle as he looked at her.

“I’m warning you Ledger!” Scope said. Given his issues, there was no way in Tartarus he would willingly kiss a nymph. And she couldn’t transform with Fritter in the room. However, the key statement, it turned out, was that he wouldn’t willingly kiss a nymph. As she was right now, though he knew she was a nymph underneath…

He leaned forward and gave the small pegasus a quick peck on the cheek before smirking and trotting on his merry way. While internally he’d been panicking up a storm at doing that to even a disguised nymph...the fact that she didn’t resemble one at the moment helped a lot.

“GAH!” Scope scrubbed her cheek with a hoof. “Bastard, I didn’t think he’d actually do that... ohno!” she shrieked as Midnight leapt at her, peppering her face in little kisses and giggling.

“Welcome to mah life,” Cider sighed as she ate.

Chapter 22 - Being Batty isn't so bad

Midnight flew high above the city as Amy followed her. Neither actually knowing where the Griffon might be. Luckily, the Griffon was anything but subtle, and they soon found him with Narrow Gaze of all ponies, as well as a small pile of unconscious ponies.

“What happened here?” Midnight asked as she flew down, avoiding meeting Ace’s eyes for the moment. Narrow turned to the sudden arrivals and shrugged.

“Beats me, I only just got here.”

“These ruffians were quite strange,” Ace said. “They just attacked for no reason, and gave little to no response when I fought back.” He recalled that even when he attacked them, they showed no response in actually feeling any pain.

“Great, something to add to the string of suicides and the like,” Narrow sighed. “I really need that bucking vacation now. Well, thank you for the assist Instructor Ace. And I apologise for the way our city has treated you-”

“Ahahah!” Ace laughed loudly. “I haven’t had this much fun in a while, so fret not Fair Captain.” the Griffon tugged at his pink scarf and Midnight blinked as Narrow’s guards hauled the unconscious ponies away. Though they couldn’t know, Amy sensed something...

Or rather, couldn’t sense something. She looked at the smaller pegasus on her back and smiled at Scopey. “We’re gonna take a quick detour before we go to work, kay?” Amy less asked, more told the smaller mare. She hoped she was wrong. She really did.

“Mhmm,” Scope nodded. She’d ‘not-sensed’ it as well. This...this did not bode well.

“Um, Master?” Midnight giggled. “What’s...with the scarf?” she finally broke down laughing, tears running down her cheeks. Amy blinked, then walked over and gave the griffon a peck on the cheek before trotting after the unconscious ponies, leaving the full meaning of her actions behind to sink in.

“This scarf belongs to a very interesting mare and I happen to like it, despite how badly it clashes with my plumage.” The Griffon sniffed, as Midnight looked to him, then to the retreating pegasus mare.

“You mean... you...and her...” Midnight’s smile widened and she gave the Griffon a sultry stare. “Well, now isn’t that interesting. But, you know she’s...”

“I am aware, and that doesn't faze me, you should know that my student.” he gave her mane a ruffle. “She is beautiful inside and out and that is all I have to say on the matter.”

Midnight nodded and sighed. “Fine, I’m not fussed either way. And it’s good you could get somepony without my help for once.”

“I am the master after all,” Ace huffed.

“Remind me again who got all blushy and stammery over one of the other instructors?” Midnight asked innocently. “Hmm, I can’t quite place his name...”

“We agreed not to speak of the Starry Night Incident ever again!” Ace huffed once more. “Now is there a reason you came to look for me Midnight Song?”

The Thestral was so caught up in the moment, that she forgot why she had come in the first place. All that emotion came flooding back so fast that Scope let out a small gasp.

“Yeah, I’m still pretty pissed at you,” Midnight said, her voice having a bit of bite to it. “And...I understand why you did it, but it hurt, and not physically. I almost lost Ledger that day. And I almost lost my own life.”

Ace stopped, his eyes widening as he looked at her. Had he really caused all that?

“It’s not your fault, so don’t get your feathers in a ruffle,” Midnight sighed. “It was my words that hurt Ledger and my own stupidity that got me killed. But did you really have to take my Lyrica from me?”

Ace snorted, he was glad she wasn’t hurt, but he still took some of the blame. “I’m surprised that you haven’t realized it yet,” he said. “That I did no such thing.”

“W-What?” Midnight paused. “What do you mean? I can’t use Trance anymore!”

“No, you think you can’t,” Ace stated. “I can’t seal a skill like that. That would take actual magic. And last time I checked, I possess no horn.”

“What...?” Midnight repeated.

“The power of suggestion is a powerful thing Midnight,” Ace said. “You can use Trance all you like. You always have been able to. I just had you thinking you couldn’t.”

“So, mind over matter then?” Scope spoke up, trying to distract her thoughts.

“Exactly!” Ace smiled. “And the fact that you bought that so easily is proof you need more discipline and training,” the Griffon stated. “I... I am truly sorry for all that I have put you through. I am, but you must move forward. And I gave you a push... I just, gambled on the direction you would take.”

“No kidding,” Midnight said quietly. All was calm for a moment, before Midnight blurred and a hoof smacked right into Ace’s face, sending the large Griffon sprawling across the ground. he groaned as he picked himself up and shook his head.

“Right, I think I deserved that,” he chuckled dryly.

“You’re bucking right you did!” Midnight stated. “But now, now you can help me train again. Train to fight without using Trance. To use my Lyrica unaided.”

“That’s the plan,” Ace nodded, adjusting his new scarf. It felt...strange. Plus, it smelled like Amy/Cherry.

“And what’s up with that?” Midnight pointed a hoof at him. “How did Amy of all ponies get your damned scarf!”

“Ah...that,” Ace chuckled and waved a single extended claw back and forth. “That is a secret~”

Midnight’s frustrated scream could be heard for miles.

“And there you go, little filly! A double-decker strawberry and vanilla cone, with sprinkles on the inside so they don’t fall out!” Amy beamed at the unicorn filly as she hoofed the treat over. The smile and happiness the little filly radiated at receiving her treat was nearly sickeningly sweet to any changeling that wasn’t a Pink like Amy was.

Unfortunately, Scope was in the corner of the shop and felt the whole thing. She suppressed a shudder and looked at Amy.

“How can you eat that?” she asked. “I ate a whole bag of sugar once, and even that was like munching on salt compared to this.”

“It’s just what I do,” Amy said with a smile as the filly left. Amy looked at the clock and nodded. “Okay, I’m sorry everypony, but I need to go to lunch, and I’m taking my assistant with me as well. If you want to get a genuine Amethyst-crafted treat, I’ll be back in an hour!”

The disappointed moans of the little colts and fillies filled the air, and Amy almost stuck around to give them what they’d come for. Almost. Fortunately, Scope could be depended on to kill moments.

“Oh suck it up, she’ll be back soon. Or would you rather she take the whole day off instead?” Ah Scope, as blunt as a brick to the face. The shaking heads that greeted the smaller pegasus of the pair were almost a relief. And then she was on Amy’s back again.

“See you all soon~” Amy sing-songed as she trotted out of the ice-cream store. “Okay Scopey, which fast-food place do you want to hit up for lunch? You have about two minutes to pick one.”

“I’m wondering when I was demoted to everyone’s plush doll,” she said dryly. “I have four hooves and two wings you know.”

“Yup, but you’re too cute to be allowed to wander,” Amy said. “Somepony else might snatch you up and snuggle you instead of me. One minute thirty, by the way.”

“I am not cute!!” Scope shouted. “And, I dunno. The only place I know of is Fredrick’s or that damnable Love Shack.”

“Well we’ve also got a Hay Burger here,” Amy pointed out. “They’ve got good food, but only physical stuff. At least they serve it up quick. And the Chop Shop does good salads fast if you ask for it fast. And yes, you are. You’re too adorable not to be. Fifty seconds.”

“Not cute and the Hay Burger will be fine I suppose. As long as it isn’t crowded.”

“It might be, and you’re too pretty not to be adorable, which automatically makes you cute as well,” Amy said with a smirk as she adjusted their trajectory for the Hay Burger.

“M’not pretty either,” Scope said. “Or else he’d-” she bit her lip and stopped talking. The Pink of all creatures did not need to know that.

“Oooh, Scopey has a crush,” Amy’s smile widened to the point where Scope could probably see it. “Well, just let Aunt Amy take care of setting you two lovebirds on a date then!” The bell dinged as Amy walked into the local Hay Burger, just in time for Scope’s rebuttal.

“You will do no such thing for a crush I do not have!” Scope stated loudly. “You will forget this entire conversation and never bring it up again. Got that?”

Amy giggled before replying. “Yeah, I can do that…” With a wave of one wing, the pink pegasus indicated the restaurant at large, which was half-full of patrons and a half-dozen workers, all of whom were staring at Scope like she was the most adorable thing ever.

“Buck me...” Scope blushed and hid behind her wings. But this only prompted everypony to ‘D’awww’ at the adorable scene.

“I AM NOT CUTE!” Scope yelled.

“Denying it just makes it more true~” Amy sang as she took her place in line. “Oooh, the deluxe salad looks good today, but then so do the burgers…”

“I’ll take...” Scope looked at the menu and facehooved. She noticed that the foals meals came with Daring Do toys...

No! She was not a foal and she certainly didn’t want any cool toys!

“I’ll...have a salad,” she said quietly.

“They’ve got a few options for that, Scopey,” Amy said as they moved up a place in line. “I’m going with a deluxe salad with a side of hay fries. What about you?”

“Fine, just get me the same,” she said, her sapphire eyes lingering on that figure...

“M’kay, if you’re suuuuure,” Amy said as they moved up again. After the next two ponies ordered, it’d be their turn...

And just like that, the pink Pegasus was at the counter. “I’ll take a Deluxe Salad combo and-”

“A Fantastic Filly Box!” Scope interjected as she looked at both her ride and the serving colt. “Don’t you judge me!!”

“-One Deluxe Salad combo and one Fantastic Filly Box,” Amy said without missing a beat, though her smile was as wide as it had ever been. The colt nodded and punched a few numbers into his register.

“That’ll be thirteen bits,” the colt said. Amy reached into her saddlebags and pulled out a ten and a five bit piece before hoofing both over.

“Keep the change,” the pony said with a grin. The colt looked taken aback for a moment, before nodding and handing the pink pegasus a ticket.

“You’re number seventy-five,” he informed the mare. “Anything to drink?”

“Nah,” Amy said. “We can pick something up while we run errands, or when we get back to work ourselves.” With that, the mare stood off to one side and waited for her number to be called.

Scope burned a bright red as she remained on her perch. “Don’t tell Midnight,” she said quietly.

“My lips are sealed,” Amy promised with a nod as number seventy was called. “...That goes for anything else you might want to say, but think it’d be too embarrassing to,” the pink pony eventually added.

“Thanks... but it’d never work anyway,” Scope said with a defeated tone. She managed a dry chuckle. “I doubt he has a foal complex anyway.”

“Aww, if whoever it is you’re interested in is understanding, I’m sure he’ll see past your exterior!” Amy said as number seventy-one retrieved her food. “Worked for me and Acey.”

“You and...ohh, so that’s what I sensed,” a small smile crossed her muzzle. “Careful though, I think Midnight plans to give you ‘The Talk’.”

“Pfft, I hang out with Violets, I can turn her talk back on her in thirty seconds flat,” the pegasus said as seventy-two walked out the door and seventy-three got called up. “Sooo, who’s the lucky fella to catch your eye? I promise not to tell anypony.”

Scope frowned, she figured that the Pink wouldn’t let up. And Midnight had made her promise to at least make one other friend. “You have to promise. And I mean a real, swear on your life promise that you will neither tell another soul, living or dead. And will not act on it unless I say so.”

“I promise not to reveal who your crush is in any way, shape, or form, to anypony living or dead. I swear on my grandmother’s grave,” Amy said, surprisingly serious as seventy-four’s number was called.

“R-Right, well...it’s-” she leaned in close to whisper her answer. About a certain drone and the feelings she may or may not have for him. And the ones for the others in his life.

“Ledger...”

Amy almost vibrated with glee at the answer, but then her number was called. Faster than the eye could follow, she was standing in front of the counter, ticket in hoof and being presented to the colt there. “Yup, that’s me!” she said.

The colt blinked twice, slowly, before just hoofing her her bag and going back to collect the next order. Amy put it on her back, right in front of Scope, and then walked out of the restaurant as she hummed a wordless tune.

“That...felt weird,” Scope said, placing a hoof to her mouth. “Please refrain from breaking any more laws of physics while you have a...urp. passenger...”

“It was just a flash step, not a blatant breaking of the laws of reality,” Amy chirped back. “That’s every third harvest moon. How’s the food looking, Scopey?”

“Not as satisfying as before,” she said, her face still a little green. “But I assume it’s as edible as hastily cooked, over processed food goes.”

“Yup, I have a lot of errands to run to make sure the ice-cream shop can keep up with all the fillies and colts that come in for one of my treats,” Amy said. “So I hafta grab a quick snack at places that do quick snacks and work through lunch. Hoof me some fries, filly!”

Scope just chuckled and passed down a satchel of fries. While she held her own her her other wing. Amy munched on the fries and seemed to be looking at the buildings passing by before she turned off the main strip and started walking towards the more...agriculture-focused part of the city.

“So, where are we going anyhow?” Scope asked, her ear giving a flick. Was there some rain coming?

“We need to hit up the ice-cream factory,” Amy said. “Part one is making sure the afternoon delivery comes on time. The owner’s a nice mare, but she forgets things every now and again. Happens when you get past seventy.”

“Ah,” Scope nodded. Ponies tended to do that when they got old. “Well, it would be terrible if a delivery was late,” she’d meant it as a joke but…

“Yup, cause then I’d have to march all the sad little colts and fillies down to the factory and give her their best sad-faces because they didn’t have any ice cream,” Amy nodded. “She told me not to do it again, otherwise she’d probably drop dead of a cuteness heart attack.”

“...Are you sure you’re not Chrysalis in disguise?” Scope deadpanned. This mare was evil…

“That’s what the little foals accused her of being when they heard it was her fault they didn’t have any ice-cream,” Amy said with a wink.

The great Queen Chrysalis, reduced to a foals joke. Oh how the mighty have fallen. Scope actually let out a genuine laugh at that thought. Once the factory came into view, Amy turned to the intercom and pushed one particular button.

One that Scope suspected had been installed just for her, as it was pink. The thing crackled before the pony on the other end sighed. “Come in, Miss Amy.”

“Thanks!” Amy said as the doors began to open. “Now, just let me do the talking, okay Scopey?”

“I have no business here,” Scope shrugged as she munched on her hay burger. Bleh! How could ponies stomach this crap? Still, a small smile crossed her muzzle as she beheld her prize, and Amy felt just the smallest bit of happiness emerge from the little nymph. Maybe she wouldn’t have to do much to call her ready for society after all.

“Ah, Miss Cream. Come to make sure your little customers are all well-fed little whippersnappers?” an elderly mare’s voice came from just to their right as the pair of them entered the factory. It was an Earth Pony, who had a coat with a color of milk and a mane and tail the color of cream. Hey eyes were butter-yellow and kind, despite the little barb she’d tossed Amy’s way.

“Yup,” Amy said with a nod as she trotted forward to give the old mare a gentle hug. “Just making sure since I’m working today and all. You know your memory isn’t what it used to be, Mrs. Swirl.”

“Oh, that’s true enough dear,” the mare said as she returned the hug. “The first thing to go is the memory. Followed by the memory.”

Amy laughed a little as she released the mare in charge. “So, my delivery?” the pink mare asked once they were both on their own hooves again.

“Yes yes, just let me check my clipboard here,” the white pony said as she dug into her saddlebags and flipped through the papers. Upon reaching one, she stopped and ran her hoof along a line. “Let’s see...Yes, the shipment is all set up...but only one of my delivery-colts is in today, the other called in sick. His partner says he’ll still be able to do it, it’ll just take him half an hour longer to reach you.”

“That’s fine,” Amy chimed as she reached out a hoof. “Pleasure doing business with you, Mrs Swirl, and I’ll do my best to hold out until he arrives.”

“As always, Miss Cream, you are a beacon of joy in my elder years,” the mare said as she put the clipboard away, before shaking Amy’s hoof. “Take care dear, and try to send that handsome colt around more often! I don’t get nearly as many chances to see young stallions anymore!”

“You might, but you may have aged prematurely after meeting Amy,” Scope chuckled, before realising she’d said that out loud.

“Oh don’t I know it,” the elderly mare said with a laugh. “I came by to watch her work once...I swear, she does things with ice-cream that are just...impossible! And sometimes she doesn’t need the ice-cream!”

“What can I say, I gotta be me,” Amy said with a shrug. “To be any less than the best me I can be would be a crime.”

“I think something broke in my head,” Scope groaned.

“And that’s the hallmark of working with Amy for too long,” the mare known as Cream nodded. “Fortunately, a bowl of ice-cream helps numb the pain.”

“I’ll get her one when we get back,” Amy chirped. “Take care, Mrs. Cream! See you again sometime!”

“Until next time, dear,” the mare said, waving as Amy trotted off to her next task.

“Let’s see...I’m running out of toppings, too, so I think I’ll hit up the candy store as well, pick up their broken stuff along with some sprinkles. Helps them, helps me, win/win,” the pink pony said aloud.

“AMETHYST CREAM!!” A voice screamed out, almost knocking Scope off of her back in surprise. The pegasus looked up and her eyes widened, before she stuffed the Daring toy in her bag as Midnight Song landed in front of them.

“Hiya Middy!” Amy said, reaching to give the Thestral mare a hug. She backed away however and pointed at her.

“No. Scarf. Explain. Now!” she stated. She was having none of Ace dicking her around with this. Amy reached one hoof up and batted at the scarf around her neck.

“Oh, this old thing?” she asked simply.

“Yes. That.” Midnight said. “Ace is being his usual enigmatic asshole of a self. So you will explain before I go postal and take over the city!”

“You want to know how I got this raggedy old scarf?” Amy asked, batting her eyes and using her cuteness against the mare to try and calm her down.

“Raggedy? I gave him that scarf!” Midnight said, a little miffed at the comment.

“You want to know how I got this scarf that will serve as a wonderful reminder of our time together, me and my Acey?” Amy asked. “The one that he’s promised to come back for?”

Scope almost smiled and she leaned in close. “If you can talk Midnight into silence. I will hang out with you any time you want for the rest of the week,” she whispered.

“Yes Miss Cream. I would very much like to know,” the Thestral said.

“Mkay!” Amy said with a smile. “But first you gotta promise not to be mad. And if you do get mad, I’m gonna ask Acey to be super-hard on you in training.”

“Hah! You mustn’t know him too well,” Midnight scoffed. “He doesn’t have an easy mode. It’s either Tartarus or nothing! But, yes, unless you hurt him to get it, or played a mean trick. I promise not to get mad.”

“Hmm...how about, if you get mad, then I want you to not say anything for an hour,” Amy said, her eyes landing on Scope, basically telling the nymph challenge accepted.

“Acceptable,” Midnight nodded. “But as I said, if it falls into the afore mentioned categories. I make no promises.”

“Deal,” Amy said, sticking her hoof out and waiting for Midnight to shake it. The Thestral accepted and waited for her response.

‘You cheating little...’ Scope pouted, now she was going to be stuck with this crazed mare all week!

“So you wanna know how I got the scarf, huh?” Amy said as she smiled at Midnight. “Well...I could go into graphic detail...but there might be foals around. Soooo, I’ll keep it simple for you.” She waited for Midnight to ask again.

Midnight gulped, she did not like where this was going. Amy waved a hoof at the mare opposite her. “Go on, ask me again,” she said with a wicked grin.

“W-What did you do?” Midnight asked hesitantly.

“I asked for it,” Amy said simply.

“...I’m sorry, what?”

“I asked him for the scarf after a, ahem, session,” Amy said, with only a slight blush. “And that’s that. All I ever had to do was ask for it. All anypony ever had to do was ask for it.”

“...I will tear off his bucking head and use it as a chamber pot,” Midnight muttered. And when Amy cleared her throat, she recalled the dare and zipped her lip. Didn’t stop the mental pictures though.

“And now I have you all week, Scopey!” Amy said to the mare on her back.

“Yay...” Scope said with the barest amount of enthusiasm she could muster.

And on that day, two mares came to realise that amidst the eldritch horrors that inhabited the nightmares of gods, the ancient evils that filled the halls of Tartarus, or even against the monsters of the Everfree...

Amethyst Cream was more dangerous that all of them combined…

Ledger was content. Again. He liked this sensation. He could get used to it.

Work had been fruitful as he began offering much more reasonably priced shipping contracts than his competitors could afford to easily compete with, and even had a few ideas for special deals besides. The Ladies had gotten their still up and were beginning the process of brewing their own drinks, but it would be months before they would know if they were successful in any way...and they’d probably call for Apple Cider when they were.

And he was going home to cook dinner for the mares in his life, and hopefully, for once, go to sleep with both of them, and wake up with both of them.

Ledger greeted his landlord as he walked in and recieved an ‘Evening’ in return. The unicorn quickly ascended the steps to his apartment and opened his door, before closing and locking it behind him. Once he was certain that the door was locked, the drone shed his disguise, closed the window blinds from afar, and walked into the kitchen to begin looking for everything he’d need for dinner tonight. He was thinking...spaghetti and spinach pesto. He had a lot of the leaf lying around.

It wasn’t long before his door resounded with somepony knocking, and the scent of apples wafted in, more specifically, baked apples. Ledger poked his head out of the kitchen as he kept moving pots around. “Who is it?” he called out, preparing his disguise again just in case.

“Princess Cadence,” Apple Cider’s voice called through the door. “Let me in mah little lovebug~”

“I doubt she’d say that, but you pass,” Ledger said as he unlocked the door. “It’s open,” he said as he ducked back into the kitchen. The door clicked and the Earth Pony wandered into the kitchen, placing what appeared to be a freshly baked apple pie on the countertop.

“Ah made this once Fritter left,” she smiled. “Ah guess, ah got used to how full mah house has been lately. I got a little lonely...”

“And we will be there for you if you ask,” Ledger said, turning to the mare and giving her a kiss as he started filling a pot with water and pulling noodles from another cupboard.

“Ah’m a grown mare, and ah can’t call on you whenever ah get a little mopey. T’aint proper,” she said, her accent a little thicker. “Well, ah’m here now. So what can ah help with?”

“I’ve got most of this,” Ledger said with a hum. “Though...check in the pantry over there?” he said, indicating the larger-than-normal cupboard. “Midnight somehow got her hooves on some of Fredrick’s bread. I’m not sure if we have any left, but it’d be a good addition.”

“She...how did she-?” Fredrick’s bread was the stuff of legends. “You know whut? Ah will stop being surprised at whut that mare does one day.” She ducked her head into the cupboard and soon emerged with the bread, humming at the scent of it.

“Excellent!” Ledger said as he floated a saucer, a canister of olive oil, and a variety of herbs down. “Pick one,” he said, pointing at the herb blends as he filled the saucer with oil. “We’ve got a few that might taste good with that.”

“Hmm,” Cider sniffed each one and carefully considered her options. “This’un. It’s mellow, an’ would go with the spinach quite well.”

“Plus it wouldn’t overpower the herbs and cheese already in the bread,” Ledger pointed out. “Sounds great then.” With that, the other spice containers were floated back to his spice drawer as Ledger opened the canister that had the mix of oregano and pepper and sprinkled it over the oil a few times, trying to strike just the right balance. He used his magic to deftly slice the bread into more or less equal slices and looked at it, Cider, and the dipping oil. As if to say, ‘Go on, try some.’

She took the bread in her mouth and was about to take a bite when a devious thought entered her head. She leaned forward, with half of the bread in her mouth, the other sticking out. Her eyes gave a half-lidded stare as she leaned closer to Ledger. The stallion put up a hoof to block the kiss before looking at the oil.

“Much as I would love to kiss you, you should try the bread in the oil,” he said. “I want to make sure the combination meets your approval before a certain bat gets here. Then, sure, we can have sloppy makeouts. Promise.”

She munched and swallowed the bread with a frown. “Y’all were supposed to take the other half,” she pouted. “But it tastes nice. Couldn’t be better...well, it could have, but y’all bucked that idea in the face.”

“Oh?” Ledger said with a devious grin. “If it tasted that nice, I better get a sample.”

And that was about when Cider found her mouth being invaded by a changeling tongue, intent on gathering whatever lingered from the bread that she’d just eaten.

Despite her irritation, Cider kissed him back with a light hum. And once she pulled back and smacked her lips a few times, she smiled. “There, was that so hard~”

“Nope, I just wanted to make sure the dipping oil and bread combo met with your approval before engaging in anything distracting,” Ledger said as his horn stopped glowing. “And now that the water is on to boil, you have me until it does.”

“Well, what to do...” Cider hummed thoughtfully. “Well, a few ideas come ta mind~”

“Do they now,” Ledger asked as he raised his imaginary eyebrows. “And will I like these ideas?”

“Ah reckon you might,” she purred, placing a hoof on his chest and running her tongue along her lips. Ledger gulped, but smiled.

“Well then, Miss Cider, care to enlighten me?” he asked. This promised to be very...interesting.

At least until the door slammed open and Midnight and Scope strode in.

“We’re home!” the petite Pegasus called out.

“Ah...don’t...believe it...” Cider groaned. “Yer right, she is doing this on purpose.”

“Quick, check her nymph self for a cutie mark,” Ledger said. “It’s not a coincidence, it’s her talent to break nice moments into millions of pieces.”

“Ah have an idea, but it’ll make me a little selfish, is that alright?” she asked her lover with a wink and a wiggle of that tight little flank of hers. Ledger raised his non-existent eyebrows again before biting his lip as he thought about it. With a shrug, he nodded at Cider to give her the go-ahead.

She poked her head out of the kitchen door and gave the duo a friendly smile. “Ledger and I are making spaghetti fer dinner, but ran out of butter. Can y’all run to the store and get some?”

“But, we just got back...” Scope pouted, and Midnight didn’t respond due to her bet with Amy. She wouldn’t break it now. She’d find out...somehow. The Pegasus sighed and poked Midnight. “Let’s go, it’ll get dark soon.”

The Thestral sighed and the two left, as Cider smirked and looked back to Ledger with a hungry look as she turned the flame on the water down. “Now...where was I?”

~*~

“After all that, you’re still hungry?” Ledger teased before heading for the bathroom to do as he had been told.

“Fer some real food, yes,” Cider sighed. “And how is it my fault that you offer such a full meal each and every time?”

“Mares surround me and basically force their lust down my throat and ask how I’m as productive as I am,” Ledger muttered loudly from the bathroom. “Maybe if they stopped, I might not have as prodigious loads to offer.”

“So stop loving you then?” Cider called out as Midnight walked in, none the wiser of their fun. Or if she was, she wasn’t saying anything.

“Can do,” she called out, finally free of her speech embargo. “Sorry Ledger, you’re on your own now.”

“Whelp, guess it’s back to skimming off nerds at the library and the Strip if you two are cutting me off,” Ledger said as he walked out of the bathroom, waiting for them to realize that they had less leverage over him than they might think.

“Yeah, cause you were sooo happy with that life,” Midnight hummed. “Besides, do you honestly think we could do something like that to you?”

“I doubt Ledger will ever find himself alone again,” Scope said as she placed the butter they had bought into the fridge, before her wings gave a small twitch and she shot Cider a knowing smile. And that was the first time she’d really used his name like that so casually.

“You’re all mares or nymphs,” Ledger observed. “Short of raising the sun or moon, I don’t put anything past you. And at least the nerds were more filling when I could make the time to be there.”

“So you prefer smarter mares?” Cider questioned as she fished something from her saddlebags. When Ledger returned, he found her stirring the pasta, while wearing those cute reading glasses of hers. He gulped thickly and studiously looked away before replying.

“I...like the taste of smart ponies, specifically the taste of smart ponies learning something,” he honestly replied. “Though love is still a go-to for me as an excellent food source, and other positive emotions, while not as nutritious, will still feed me somewhat.”

“He likes those eureka moments,” Midnight pointed out. “Apparently somepony having an epiphany is delicious for some reason.”

“Just as I like Loyalty,” Scope said. “Like the loyalty you three have for one another. While not as strong as say, a really devoted Guard, it has the scent of love and trust that adds a nice kick to it.”

“Every color of ‘ling has their own taste,” Ledger explained as he sat at the table, tempted to go in and start making the pesto...but he knew better than to invade a kitchen Cider was in. Instead, he lit his horn up and carefully moved the dipping oil and bread out to the table so that Midnight could enjoy it as well. “And occasionally, alliances between Hives of varying colors spring up or fall apart because of what we eat.”

“It’s so weird, talking about emotions like this,” Cider said from the kitchen as Midnight nommed on some bread. “It makes me wonder what wine would go with each emotion.”

“Depends on what you’re in a mood for, though really, putting more than Love or Lust into food tends to end...interestingly,” Ledger said with a smirk. “We’ve experimented on our own, but I’ve no idea what all the spectrum of emotions would do if ponies could taste them the way we do.”

“Maybe like when you try a rainbow in it’s liquid form,” Midnight hummed. “Now, that is an experience you will never forget. No matter how hard you try.”

“Oh?” Ledger said, turning to Midnight. “So our old record of them being ‘spicier than the queen’s slurs’ is accurate?”

“You might say that,” Midnight shrugged, not really getting the comparison. “I’ll try and get some at some point. It’ll be interesting to see the reactions on a changeling.”

“Please do not use us for weird experiments,” Scope stated blandly as her ear twitched. There was that feeling again. She’d felt it ever since they had left for the store, and it didn’t sit right with her. It made her feel ill for some reason.

“I get enough experimentation with the pair of you and that spellbook I found, I’d rather any more experiments be conducted in a safe and clean environment,” Ledger said as he turned to the kitchen. “Need any help, Cider?”

“If y’all wouldn’t mind. Ah have no idea what you want done with this spinach,” she responded as Midnight moved towards her bedroom. Scope paced around the living room, her ears flat against her head, her wings buzzing irritably.

“Pesto,” Ledger said as he walked into the kitchen. “Gonna use some garlic and mince ‘em both up nice and fine. Make a nice, spicy green paste and use it like a sauce.”

“Hmm, that sound nice,” Cider said as she moved across the kitchen to grab a mixing bowl. As she brought it back, she frowned and her ears flicked. “And what is that noise? It’s like a nest of ornery hornets is buzzing in mah head.”

Ledger blinked before a look of dawning horror crossed his face. “Oh...no.” He passed the task over to Cider as he idly tested, then drained the noodles. “Scope. You hear that? That...discordant note that grates across your very soul?”

“Hear it? I feel it!?” she shouted. “My chitin itches, my wings won’t stop twitching and my head is killing me! What in the flying fuck is that!?”

“That...is the feeling that a really bad Black generates when it’s close enough,” Ledger said, his eyes not leaving the front door. “To be this strong without us seeing it, though? It’d have to be crazy strong.”

“A Black?” Cider blinked, rubbing a hoof to her head. “What the hay is that?”

“What about Midnight!?” Scope suddenly shouted.

“We don’t involve her, we keep her out of this as much as possible. We don’t want it finishing what Canterlot started,” Ledger said. “Cider, if you could be a dear and love me, that’d be swell. I might just have to fight for my life in a moment here.”

“Ah have never stopped loving you, and you’re being oddly calm for sumthin’ so bad sounding” she said as she kissed his cheek, while Scope managed to crawl in.

“If Cider...is feeling that...” she said through gritted teeth. “What...do you suppose...your emotionally sensitive marefriend is feeling!”

“Hopefully, she’ll stay out of the fight,” Ledger commented. “And believe me, I am panicking on the inside. However, seeing as how you’re still burned out from the dragon thing you did, it falls to me to do the combat. So I’m giving you a task, Miss Lens.”

“What is it,” she asked, as Cider backed into a corner, her eyes wide. Something felt really cold all of a sudden.

“Protect these mares,” Ledger said as he walked to the front door. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anything happened to them. The first moment you see an opening to get them out of this place, you damn well do it, then get Narrow here with the best of her Guard. No police, they’re not trained for this. Neither is the guard, but they at least stand a chance. Understood?”

“Count on it,” Scope Lens said, as she cast a reinforcement spell on herself.

It was then that Midnight emerged, wearing half of her armour and her blades, her entire body shook as she gave a nervous smile. Her eyes refused to focus in a single direction as her teeth chattered so hard she might end up biting her tongue

“Heh....heheheh...I-I can’t stop shaking...Is-Isn’t that funny....”

Ledger stopped and turned to Midnight, kissing her on the cheek and trying to project an aura of calm. “Midnight, love, I have bad news and good news. Bad news first, there’s a really bad Black on the way. Good news, I’m going to beat her chitin in for you. Promise.”

“Okay...have fun,” she replied deliriously. “Make sure...you keep her entrails. They’ll make nice Hearth's Warming decorations.”

“Meh, I was gonna save her head. It’d make a wonderful tree-topper,” Ledger said, hoping the joke would snap Midnight back to some form of sanity. Mostly by being worse.

She gave a light giggle, before Scope suddenly gave her a brutal smack upside the head.

“Snap out of it! We have a situation and you need to think clearly... actually, thinking at all might be a good start!”

Midnight reeled from the sudden blow, and even though she still shivered, she nodded. “Y-Yeah, thanks... I ... needed that.”

“CoMe out..COme OuT, Wherever you Aaareeee~”

The voice of nightmares only cause Ledger to sigh and turn back to the front door. “I suggest the windows in the study, by the way,” he said conversationally. As though a voice that sounded like it came from Tartarus hadn’t just talked in their apartment building. “It at least connects to a fire-escape ladder that’ll work well for getting Cider out.”

“Are you sure?” Cider asked, her ears still flat. “A-Ah can help you know...”

“I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you,” Ledger said as he returned to standing in front of the door. “To...any of you. This is a Black. Something born of the darkest depths of hatred and cruelty in my homelands. As a noble, it is my duty to serve others, especially those I love. I will put myself on the line before I allow any harm to come to you. So...get the buck out of here. Run and never look back.”

“I...smell....FEAR! I...REMEMBER YOU~!”

“What the buck does that mean?” Scope asked. “Oh.....”

“Midnight, I am telling you, as a ‘ling, a duke, and as your coltfriend, to run and let me fight this fight for you.” Ledger had planted himself in the hallway and started casting a few barrier spells on the locked door. Hopefully the Black wouldn’t get...creative.

Scope all but shoved Midnight and Cider towards the study, as the walls of the apartment shook, a dark mist seeping under the door.

“ShE has...PoWer... I will..WiLl HAVE IT!!”

“You will find no purchase here, beast of shadows!” Ledger yelled in Changeish. “I am Duke Secret-Hoarder, wielder of knowledge your kind has forsaken in exchange for their short-sighted hatred and bigotry! Your fear and anger will be dispelled by my power, and you will go screaming back to your masters in the depths of Tartarus! Face me if you dare, you fucking Broodmother!”

There was nothing but silence, the mist ceased as Scope took this as a good omen and finished herding the mares.

Then the door exploded into countless pieces as well as most of the surrounding wall. What stood there amidst the ruined remains. Its dark eyes gleamed, dancing with mad glee as it focused on everything except Ledger.

“WheRE is ShEeeeeee~”

Ledger responded by dismissing his telekinesis that had made sure no fragments hit him or got past him...then unleashed a solid beam of ‘fuck you’ at the Black, to make sure he had its attention. On a pony, they would have gotten second-degree burns. Here, he could only hope to mildly annoy the opposing ‘ling, but that’s what he was after.

“I do believe I said something to the effect of ‘you can have her over my dead body,’ did I not?” Ledger observed when he was sure the Black was paying attention to him.

The Black paused as one eye focused on him. The detail of the catlike slit barely visible against the rest of the eye as the minor scratch left by Ledger’s attack healed.

“Well,” It’s voice turned sharper and a lot quieter. But somehow...wasn’t an improvement of the fear-factor. “I guess...I could use a light snack~”

“Oh no you don’t,” Ledger said as a thin, silvery bubble surrounded his form before vanishing. “We’ll be having none of that, thank you. Keep your grubby hooves off of my emotions, if you’d be so kind.”

“How...quaint,” The Black buzzed as it took a step forward. “I have met many... Silver-Tongued Traitor. You...are but an insect. That delicious morsel. I gained...so much! And yet, she has more to offer. With her. I will. BECOME A QUEEN!” It’s horn lit up as crimson energy lanced from it, vapourising the couch and most of the kitchen wall.

“Yeah, newsflash for you, I know how to deflect attacks,” Ledger said, his horn alight as well. “Also newsflash, that fool Chryssy tried the same thing, and we still don’t know where she landed. If you think this is gonna end any other way beyond me giving you more holes throughout your body, you’ve got another thing coming.” With that, Ledger reached out and started to yank on the Black’s legs, both to trip it up...and to start up his favorite pastime of pulling ponies to pieces.

The Black screamed as it’s leg was torn free, the ungodly howl echoing throughout the city. At least... it did.

Then...it started to laugh. As dark energise swirled around the leg and yanked it from Ledger’s grasp, re-attaching it as it gave a few stomps to test the newly regenerated limb.

”Ahhh, much. Better~”

Ledger’s only response was to stick the Black to a wall with it’s legs spread like butterflies were when they were pressed under glass...before pulling a large knife from the kitchen.

“And now, mares and stallions, I present to you, Equus Changeus, for the first time,” Ledger said with a smile that wasn’t kind at all as he drove the knife towards the Black’s torso. Normally, he’d not expect it to penetrate the armor.

That’s why he made sure to whip the knife around in speeds in excess of sane.

Black ichor flowed from the wound as the Changeling looked down, tilting it’s head.

“A...little to the left. I have a terrible itch there.”

“My apologies,” Ledger said as more knives started to float out. “I always confuse the position the heart is in. Just hold still, I’m sure I’ll get it this time.”

“Oh how precious...you think I still have one~” As the knife was yanked from the Black’s chest, a small gap in the armour showed an empty space inside it’s chest, swirling dark energy where the heart should have been. The wound closed and he smiled once more.

“Now...It’s time for my own party favour. I’m sure you’ll like it... It’s to DIE for~!” Energy built up in his horn again, as the whole building shook under the magical pressure he was emanating. Ledger responded the only way he knew how and sent the knives away, not wanting to know what’d happen if they got caught up in this.

The only thing worse than being blasted by dark magic was being blasted by dark magic and then stabbed. Having less knives around would help him with that goal.

It still didn’t stop the blast of energy shooting him through a wall and out into the street, the cackling Black soon following him.

“Well,” Ledger said as he slowly got to his hooves with a smile. “Thank you for allowing me to figure out what I’m going to need to do to destroy you.” Surprisingly, he looked better than he should have for a blast that big hitting him - not only had his armor helped cushion the blow, but he’d pumped a little extra magic into his barrier at the last possible moment as well. It...was probably why he was still standing.

And he would have been impaled by the dark spears that the Black flung at him, had a large Griffon not tackled the Changeling out of the way.

“Well now, seems you’ve picked an interesting fight,” Ace laughed as he set Ledger back down.

“Male Blacks can only be killed one way,” Ledger said as he shook his head to clear it. “They typically become fire-and-forget weapons filled with the blackest of magics employed by the Broodmothers. They also become insane over time. I have a spell to kill it, but it’s going to take time to charge. Think you can distract him?”

“Oh? I think I can!” Ace smirked, his beak split into a wide grin as the black stalked closer. The Griffon stood up to his full height, perhaps a little taller than the Black itself.

“Alright, so what have we here?” he grinned as he stepped closer. “Big, black and ugly as sin. At least Chrysalis was cute~”

The Black chuckled, not really paying the bird much heed. “Move hatchling! I wish to consume that little bug there. Then that delectable mare~”

“Ah, now you see, I have a small problem with that. And you do as well.”

“Oh, I fail to see how I-” His speech was cut off as Ace blurred, before a vicious right hook smashed the Blacks face, sending him sprawling down the street. The Griffon glared at him as he cracked his knuckles.

“Kinda hard to eat with a broken jaw.”

The Black pulled himself back up, his loose jaw clicking back into place as a vicious smile appeared on its muzzle. “Cute...”

“It can regenerate?” Ace inquired.

“And it doesn’t have a heart, I’m willing to bet it’s running on pure black magic by now,” Ledger said as silver wisps floated around him. A few ponies had stopped to watch the fight, fascinated despite the threat to their safety...and well-being.

“So, I don’t have to hold back then?” Ace smiled as his blood raced. For the first time in forever, he would get to fight at full strength? “Oh...I think I’m going to enjoy this~”

“You have no power. Stay and die. Or flee, and cling to your precious mortality for a while longer.”

“Just remember, I can kill it. The most you can do is wear it down. When you think it won’t be able to break out of your grasp again, pin it nearby and I’ll start giving him what he deserves.”

Ace nodded and looked at the crowd, towards a pink pegasus mare somewhere amidst the sea of ponies that had gathered. “No problems there... I have something to fight for as well.”

Thankfully, Narrow Gaze had arrived with her Guards to keep the public back and started to try and clear the ponies out of the area entirely. The fact that two of the combatants were Chnagelings really worked to her advantage, and soon, the three fighters found their fellow beings pressed well back out of the line of collateral damage.

The Black’s horn lit up, but Ace was already well within his personal space, one quick blow to the horn while a second at the base of the neck, where the carapace was weak. the Black stumbled, and Ace used the moment to let out a beastial roar.

“Beat Rush!”

Blow after blow hammered the Black’s chitinous armour, hairline cracks forming along it’s surface. By the time the Griffon struck, he had already moved and was striking again. Endless blows rained down, and once he finally ceased, the Black stumbled back, though his manic grin still split his muzzle.

The Griffon drew back a fist, his eyes narrowed as he read the magical flow and the attack he’d set up.

“Beat Burst!”

A single, decisive blow to the chest. Anypony near could almost feel the shockwave from the impact. There was a pause, and then the cracked armour shattered like glass. The Black screamed as the armour was blown from his body, black ichor flowing from countless open wounds as he collapsed to the curb.

Ace took a single jump into the air, as he drew back his fist once more.

“May the gods have mercy on your blackened soul. Beat End!”

He dove, as his fist slammed into the Changeling’s head and drove it into a small crater. More ichor sprayed into the air as his head all but exploded from the impact. Several ponies screamed from the brutal fatality, some even losing their previous meal as Ace stepped back, giving his talon a few shakes.

“Try getting up from that,” he said. Yet already, he could see wounds closing, bleeding slowing…

But it would not be enough. Ledger, with no small amount of silver flames dancing behind him, walked to the crater, looked down at the occupant within, and sighed.

“You were a fool, to sacrifice your color in exchange for the power they offered,” the whole drone said. “You lost so much, in exchange for nothing. Every color has done something, or has something, unique to them, save the Blacks.”

The drone in the crater twitched a little, but not enough to present a serious threat. Ledger just...kept talking. Apparently, he had decided to educate the Black.

“The Violets wrote the Pony Sutra, the ultimate tool for them to use to gain their preferred food. And they kept adding more tomes to it for all the races of Equus. The Blues have a vow of undying loyalty, in the sense that they would rather die than break their vow.”

Ledger drew a little closer to the drone as the flames around him danced wildly, in response to his anger. “The Greens created a tome filled with such inspiration, such creativity, that if you aren’t a Changeling, you are likely to be driven mad with the need to create if you read it. The Yellows are brave enough to charge into fights with adult dragons, and the nobles are smart enough to win! There’s a reason their Hive has the houses of their Nobles decorated with the bones of dragons!”

At this point, Ledger was sitting right in front of the Black...who, except for his armor, looked mostly whole again. “The Oranges are so kind, so caring. They know how to treat any wound on any species. The Reds? Their Duty, their Honor, goes beyond death itself. It’s why their elites are called The Deathless. They would march and die at the command of their Queen. It’s even said that when their Kings and Queens are put to rest below their Hive...they’re not dead. They’re just waiting. And you can’t break a Pink’s happy demeanor.”

Ledger closed his eyes...and actually smiled. “And you’ve pushed me into revealing the secret of the line of Royal Silvers. It’s a known fact that every Silver, when they come of age, begins filling a book their parents give them with every interesting fact they come across. But for the royalty? Their books...are a little special.”

Ledger had been glad indeed that the book his uncle gave him all those years ago had revealed its secret. And now he knew the last words his uncle had said to him, knew what they meant. ‘If there ever comes a time when you are facing a threat of such bleakness, such darkness, so black all light seems to vanish...the book will help you. I promise.’

“I am a servant of the flames of knowledge, one who learns to help others progress,” Ledger intoned, and the flames...gathered. From around him, into a fireball above him. “Where there is knowledge, there is no need to fear. Where there is understanding, there is no need to hate. And when I am in need, the Blackness is burned away and cleansed by that which I serve.”

“YoU ThiNk! YOu cAN. STOP ME!?” The Black laughed as his body nearly completed it’s healing process. “You are weak. You are pathetic. YOU ARE POWERLESS!!” It’s dark eyes scanned the crowd and it laughed.

“You think...you can save them? All of them?” Several ponies looked at the pair, a variety of emotions filled the air but one stood above all of them.

Fear.

“I’ll do my damndest to try,” Ledger said as he pointed a hoof at the abomination before him. “Go back to the darkness from whence you were spawned! I am Duke Secret-Hoarder, and I tell you this now, Colorless! YOU ARE NOT WELCOME IN THIS WORLD!” With that, the silver fireball flew and hit it’s target...and clung, not going out until it knew its task was done.

The Black screamed in agony, as parents turned their child’s heads away, covering their ears of the sounds that would undoubtedly cause nightmares for weeks. Behind Narrow Gaze and her wall of Guards, Midnight Song shivered, trying to blocks the sounds, trying to block the shame of her own inability to do anything.

“You Think...This will end?” Even as he burned, that dark voice carried on the winds to every ear that listened. “We. Will. Come for you! We. Will CONSUME YOU! Run. Hide. The Darkness. WILL DEVOUR YOOUUUUUU!!!” With a final unholy howl, the Black changeling ceased to be...reduced to naught but dying embers.

“Rest in peace, my wayward brother,” Ledger said with a sigh as he looked at the ash. “I know it was not you, but the thing riding you that said that. And I do wish...it had not come to that spell...that you had not fallen too far. I...didn’t even know what it would do beyond stop you. I wouldn’t wish that sort of death on any but my worst foes.”

Now that it appeared to be over, it was then that the ponies of Las Pegasus started to panic. Most screamed, running every which way as several started to advance on Ledger, bearing makeshift weapons or charging spells. At least, they were until a wall of Guard surrounded the Changeling.

“Citizens of Las Pegasus!” Narrow’s voice boomed with magic amplification. “The threat has been dealt with. Please return to you homes. I repeat, the threat is over. Return to your homes!”

Most still panicked, but it was more subdued. The advancing mob was held back as Narrow turned to Ledger.

“Get your mares and get to the station. Now!”

Ledger nodded and looked at Midnight, mouthing the word station at her, hoping she would understand. With another thought, he was consumed in silver flame and looked like an old pegasus guise of his, with a green coat and a red mane. He’d never be able to use it again, but he never used it much to begin with once he came up with the other one. The drone looked at Narrow and flapped his wings, as if to ask her opinion on his idea.

“Its fine, just go. We can handle this crowd.” She grunted as countless ponies rushed forward, crying and screaming.

Aerial Ace landed nearby, a pink pegasus in his arms. “It would be a good idea to abscond this place. Midnight might not be thinking clearly. Grab her and let’s go.”

Ledger nodded and took off, hoping that Midnight...or Scope pushing Midnight, would follow. He didn’t think he could lift either her or Cider. Much less all three. With as much wingpower as he could muster, Ledger aimed for the Guard station, to wait this whole thing out.

Chapter 23 - When a city goes bug-nuts...

It hadn’t taken long for the others to catch up to Level Ledger. Due to the event in the city, the station was practically abandoned, save for the prisoners down below and the odd Guard milling about. Once he arrived and was sure nopony was around to watch him, he ducked into a restroom, shed his old disguise, and re-donned his unicorn one.

Ace was the first to arrive, carrying Amy and Scope. While Cider quickly followed, carrying Midnight on her back. Ledger practically tackled the Earth Pony and hugged both her and Midnight, letting them know how glad he was they’d gotten out alright through contact alone.

“Whoa?” Cider fell back as the unicorn tackled them. “Well, nice ta see you too,” she chuckled. Midnight remained silent, simply squeezing her eyes shut and shaking. Ledger noticed this and carefully moved to just hugging Midnight and whispering in her ears.

“He’s gone, he won’t be coming back, you did nothing wrong,” he told the mare. “I promised I would look after you, and I will never break it. You wouldn’t have been able to do more than Ace. Not because you’re weak, you’re not. But because without that spell, no matter what, he would have gotten up eventually.”

The mare didn’t respond, no nods or overconfident smiles. And it was around then that Ledger noticed she had slipped into her Trance state. No emotions, just a small Thestral hiding from the boogeymare. Ledger just hugged her tighter and whispered to her again.

“Please...don’t do this to me, Midnight. I promised to look after you...I promised to take care of you...Please trust me Midnight...please...you’re...you’re hurting me by doing this…”

Slowly, Midnight’s shaking became less severe, as her emotions returned. Though fear ruled over most of them as Midnight just clung to Ledger. The situation was desperate enough for him to do something he’d never done, and something Midnight did only rarely.

Ledger started to sing. Well, hum, rather. Hummed the tune that she’d once sung to him in a seedy bar on the Strip, that really cemented the fact in his mind that she loved him, and that he loved her in turn. He didn’t dare sing it, he had no illusions about his singing voice.

There was only silence, before the smallest of giggles escaped Midnight’s mouth.

“Your singing sucks,” she whispered. “And...thank you. You’re an idiot, but thank you...”

“Anything for my Songbird,” Ledger said, nuzzling the mare. “How does it feel to be back in the land of the living?”

“It sucks as well, but you and Cidey are here...so it’s better.”

“Mmhmm.” Ledger looked over at Cider with a hint of mirth in his eyes. “The apartment may have been slightly destroyed as that guy threw me through a wall. We might end up staying with you until we can find another place to stay. Assuming we ever do. Is that okay by you?”

“Do you even hafta ask?” Cider hummed. She was scared, but she hid it a little better. Apple mares cried on the inside. “Y’all can stay as long as you like.”

Ace moved closer, and soon Midnight had switched from hugging Ledger to hugging Ace.

“You’re both idiots,” she muttered as she buried her face into his chest. “You could’ve gotten killed...or worse...”

“I took precautions, Songbird,” Ledger said as he decided to hug his other mare. “I at least knew better that to go into battle without defenses. Your teacher there, though, feel free to wail on him.”

“Heh, that puny bug stood little chance. I’ve beaten bigger and far more threatening,” he tugged at his scarf, revealing part of his scar. “You should know that Midnight. Better than anypony.”

“And now both are my fault...if I’d been stronger, less of a coward...” Midnight shivered again. “I’m useless...”

“Amy, we need fifty cc’s of optimism, stat!” Ledger told the pink mare. The pegasus saluted before hugging Midnight from behind and letting her happiness radiate from herself. Once he was certain that Midnight might be in a better frame of mind, Ledger spoke up again.

“Considering who and what he was, I am not at all surprised you were afraid of him. Tartarus, I’d only be worried if you weren’t. Fear is a natural response, Midnight. Do you want to know what the Yellows say about courage?”

“What?” Midnight said, leaning into Amy’s hug unintentionally. She couldn’t help it, the pegasus felt really warm~

“Being courageous isn’t about never being afraid, because that’s just unnatural. It’s about being afraid, but doing what needs to be done anyways. I’m going to have nightmares for months about this and probably collapse into a shaking mess once the adrenaline wears off. But I did what had to be done...for all of you.”

“I still...should have done something!” Midnight frowned. She was thankful for Ledger, but she was a Royal Guard, it was her job, her duty to protect the innocent.

“You did what you had to by getting out of the way,” Ledger said with a sigh. “I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did to determine how far the corruption had gone through him if I had to worry about keeping you safe as well.”

“All things considered, you are doing well,” Scope said nonchalantly. She was a big nymph and she was not going to cry. Nope, that was just...water dripping from an overhead pipe. “Remember Toll? This guy was a gibbering mess.”

“We all have points where we just break down,” Ledger said as he gave Cider one last nuzzle. “The thing that matters...is how well we pick up and carry on. And you don’t have to do it alone anymore, Midnight.”

“Eeyup, why, ah’ll buck that varmit into next week if he comes back!” Cider nodded.

“Heh, thanks...all of you,” Midnight said, a smile finally gracing her muzzle. “Also...I, don’t think I’ll be sleeping much...can I get all the hugs?”

Ledger just opened the hug he was sharing with Cider up in Midnight’s general direction, an invitation if there ever was one. When he wasn’t expecting was everyone to pile on in one massive group hug.

“Can’t...breathe...” Scope moaned from somewhere within.

“I think I can feel somepony’s crotch,” Ledger commented. “I don’t know whose.”

“Amy...stop groping my butt,” Midnight deadpanned.

“But I’m groping Acey!” Amy said. “I can’t be groping you at the same time!”

“Whelp...this is awkward,” Cider hummed.

“Embrace the kinsmanship!” Ace nodded sagely, even as one talon was returning Amy’s gesture.

“I’m gonna die...surrounded...by perverts...” Scope croaked.

“It’s better than most deaths,” Ledger said as he dug Scope out from the pile and hugged her close to himself to shield her. “...And was it you groping Midnight?”

Scope squeaked and blushed as the drone embraced her. Amy gave a small chuckle and Midnight giggled as well.

“At least she can’t ruin this moment,” Cider hummed.

“Doesn’t mean she wouldn’t try anyways,” Ledger observed as he cuddled the small disguised nymph close. “...So, how bad was it out there?”

“A lot of ponies saw us, undisguised,” Scope said. “They know we’re here now. So we will have to be more careful than ever.”

“...That, or be audacious as hell,” Ledger said as he began smiling. “I mean, all it would take is one official Guard report saying the Black was filled with black magics and they wouldn’t know how to deal with it to paint us all in more than one light…”

“I plan on that actually,” Narrow said as she walked in, flanked by two of her Guards. “And can we stop having an orgy in the middle of the floor please?”

“Feel free to join us in the hug-fest,” Ledger said. “Really, it’s quite warm in here.”

“I’ll pass,” Narrow replied as stoic as always. “Now, can somepony please explain what the flying buck that was? And why it was attacking in the middle of the damned city!?”

“That was a Black drone,” Ledger said. “Blacks are...artificial. They’re created when a changeling has everything good about themselves burned out. Typically to join the Broodmothers, also known as a cabal of nymphs that should go burn in Tartarus. Drones that join them get pumped full of the foulest of black magics and set loose on the world as fire-and-forget weapons. Why it was here, I don’t know. There’s no rhyme or reason to the insane.”

“I know...” Midnight said quietly, even with the current noise inside the station and out, her confession seemed deafening.

“You can’t believe anything he said, Midnight,” Ledger said, trying to stop her from going down that road. “He was out of his mind, hopped up on stolen love and dark magic. He couldn’t have any frame of reference to reality.”

“He was the same!” Midnight almost yelled, causing everypony to flinch as she lowered her voice. “It..was the same one, the same one that attacked me in Canterlot...”

“Then be glad that he’s nothing more than ash on the wind now,” Ledger said darkly, unintentionally turning his shielding hug into something a bit more...tight around Scope’s frame. “Because if I had known then that he was saying truths, I would have asked Ace to torture him until he ran out of dark magic to regenerate with before killing him.”

Scope was turning a nice shade of blue as she tapped Ledger’s leg. Ace nodded, his grip on Amy not loosening either.

“Look, I’ll need a report on this,” Narrow said softly. “Especially from the two of you. But, it can wait until tomorrow.” She looked at Ledger and sighed again. “I’m afraid your apartment is...well, there isn’t a whole lot left. And what is, well, we’re assessing if the place is still livable, but it’s not looking good. The saturation of dark magic in off the charts there.”

Ledger eased up on his hug before humming to himself. “I have a few protective wards and cleansing spells to keep one pony safe with. I have only one thing stored there, in my study, that I need to get. Midnight’s probably going to want her armor and weapons. Everything else is replaceable.”

“Just...the stuff I’m not already wearing,” Midnight said, taking Scope from Ledger as the little nymph took a deep breath. “And Scopey...might have things...”

“Just what’s in my bag here,” she said, knowing that all that was inside was her Daring toy. “It’s...all that I have really.”

“I take it you want that book you mentioned?” Ace said to Ledger.

“The thing I didn’t say about the books Silvers are given? Letting another being look in them is...highly personal. I want to retrieve it myself,” Ledger said in a tone that brooked no argument.

“That is fine,” Ace said. “And do not fret, I shall keep these ones safe until your return.” Ledger nodded and cast a spell that encased his form in a silvery outline for a moment before it vanished.

“Meetup at your place?” Ledger asked Cider. Just then, his stomach growled, and he was reminded what the Black had interrupted.

“...Maybe we can make a late supper of it?” Ledger then asked sheepishly.

“Ah’ll see whut ah can do...ah wonder if Fredrick doesn’t mind opening a little late.”

“I’ll escort you,” Narrow said. “Straight, see to it that the crowds leave and that apartment building is securely sealed!”

“Sure boss,” Straight nodded. “And...the remains?”

“Store them in a secure container. I’m sure the ones in Canterlot will be interested.”

“Actually, be real careful gathering them up. I might have burned him until he died, but there might be some black magic left about the ashes. Don’t breathe them in, whatever you do.”

Straight nodded and flew from the building, ordering something about a cleanup crew. Narrow turned back to Ledger and pulled the pin from her mane, letting it flow freely.

“What a night...” she sighed. “Go on and get your thing. Make sure it passes the decontamination unit before you leave though. I want no risks taken. Understood?”

“Like I’d take such a stupid risk,” Ledger said without thinking about the company he was in. Several snorts and a wingwhap on the back of the head from Midnight gave him a not-so-gentle reminder.

“...Yes ma’am,” Ledger said with a wry smile.

“Good, now I’ll escort these ones to Cider Falls. Don’t dally Mister Ledger!” Narrow gave him a salute and after looking around, to make sure that nopony else she knew was looking, she leaned forward and gave him a brief hug. “And... Thank you.”

“...Just doing my duty, ma’am,” Ledger said eventually. He didn’t move for a good few minutes, both to let the others go before him, and because he needed to process what had just happened.

...Mares. Nymphs. Females, in general.

He was never going to understand them.

Fredrick had just seen the last colt off and locked up his home and restaurant, just about to lay down for bed…

When there came a sound of rapping at his front door. The sleepy griffon turned with great difficulty and walked down the stairs he’d been half-up and looked out the front door, wondering who it could possibly be at this hour.

And was greeted by the sunset-coloured eyes of Narrow Gaze. She looked tired, annoyed and relieved all at the same time. And it was also then, that he noticed a rather large group behind her. With a flick of his claw, Fredrick unlocked the deadbolt and opened one door to poke his head out the door.

“Can I...help you, dear Narrow?” Fredrick asked. “Usually you come by for dinner dates alone and earlier than this.”

“Sorry about this,” Narrow said. “There’s...been an incident in the city. These guys could use a hot meal and you’re the first that I thought of. Is that...okay?”

“I...am too tired to protest at this juncture, but I’m also too tired to help,” Fredrick said with a yawn. “If they can cook, they’re welcome to come in and use my kitchen, as long as you promise to lock up afterwards. I’ll replace whatever they use in the morning.”

“Thankyou, this means a lot,” Narrow said as the group headed inside. Apple Cider excused herself and headed for the kitchen, while Scope distracted Midnight from ‘helping’.

“Perhaps Lady Cider could use a helping hoof?” Ace said to his little marefriend.

“Yup,” Amy said...before picking up Scope and aiming at the kitchen. “Hold on to your wings, Scopey!”

“Wait. What?” Scope almost screamed as Amy blurred, taking the nymph with her as Ace chuckled. Perhaps Amy would be a worthy sparring partner someday as well?

Midnight just sat in one of the booths, hugging her body as she stared at the full moon. Narrow moved next to Fredrick and patted his flank.

“Thanks for this, we’ll try and get out of your mane soon.”

“Not a problem for you,” Fredrick said as he yawned again. “But I...really need to go to bed. Will you watch them? Make sure nothing happens that I’ll have to explain to my insurance company?”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be gone before you know it,” she leaned up and pecked his cheek. “I got that vacation time as well. Just so you know~”

“After whatever brought you here today, I can believe you need it,” the gryphon said as he began plodding towards the stairs. “Take...care.”

Amy reappeared from the kitchen after having dropped Scope off and began to hug and cuddle Midnight. “Shh,” she said, wrapping her hooves and wings around the damaged mare. “Levvy wouldn’t want you to be so sad.”

“Tonight sucks. I want a do over,” Midnight said quietly. At least her humour was returning somewhat. “And...sorry for making you worry Amy...”

“It’s what I do,” Amy said, not easing up from her hug. “Levvy burned the bad bug. It’s gone now. You don’t need to be sad anymore. Please stop being so sad.”

“I’m trying, s’hard,” Midnight said, returning the hug. “Maybe...I just need sleep.”

“You need a lot,” Amy said, nuzzling the mare. “You need to be loved, you need the ones you love, and you need to trust them. Please trust that Levvy’s coming back? That he’ll keep you safe?”

“Mhmm,” Midnight nodded as she lay her head on Amy’s shoulder. She stayed that way for a few minutes, and it was a gentle snoring that told the Pegasus that Midnight had fallen asleep on top of her.

“Silly Middy,” Amy said with a giggle. “She won’t be able to eat if she’s asleep.” The pink pegasus looked up to her griffon and blinked. “Know any foods that’d wake her up?”

“Watch this,” he smiled as he ducked into the kitchen. One could hear the sounds of him rummaging, before he returned with a juicy, ripe mango. “I wonder if this still works?” he hummed.

“Bring it over and let’s find out!” Amy chirped.

The griffon nodded and gave the mare a small wink. “I warn you now, you're sitting in ‘splash-zone’ seats.” He tore a small line in the fruit and waved it under Midnight’s nose. Her muzzle twitched adorably, before she opened her mouth and her tongue suddenly shot out, missing at first and grabbing Amy’s ear.

“Now I see what you mean,” Amy said with a hum. “Still, she’ll get it eventually, and you can help me clean up afterwards.”

Her second attempt grabbed the fruit and she yanked it back, biting into it and spraying mango juice everywhere. She suddenly coughed and opened her eyes, wondering why she had a mango in her mouth.

“Amy...why do you smell like mangoes?” she asked.

“Cause you splashed me, silly!” Amy said as she slowly disentangled herself from the thestral. “Now don’t fall asleep again, m’kay? You can’t eat whatever your marefriends are cooking if you’re asleep!” With that, the pink mare bounced over to the stairs and looked to Ace with a seductive look.

“Wanna help me clean up, Acey?” she purred at him.

“Is this really the time?’ he inquired with a cocked eyebrow. “And yes, yes I would.”

Midnight blinked as she ate the mango. “Mare...friends?”

Amy just giggled as she began walking upstairs, her tail swinging behind her. Ace just shrugged and followed her, leaving Midnight and Narrow alone, only the sounds of cooking could be heard as Midnight continued to think.

“I...am so confused right now,” she sighed, laying her head on the table.

“Welcome to my world,” Narrow said as she sat opposite the thestral. “Some days, I think that post in Ponyville would be a saner choice than here. It got a lot worse lately, with the whole changeling thing...but I’m thinking some vacation time will be able to help me unwind and get my head screwed on straight again. Maybe you should take some too.”

“Yeah...maybe,” Midnight replied, tossing away the mostly eaten fruit as it landed neatly in the trashcan on the opposite side of the room. “Sorry about my...performance Captain. I’ll train harder.”

“Fiddlesticks, nonsense, poppycock, balderdash, and bullshit,” Narrow said. “I’m surprised you didn’t feel the amount of dark magic coming off that thing. Ledger was right to get everypony away when the fight started. If I hadn’t pushed the civilians out of harm’s way, we’d be looking at more than just one body. Granted, I’d have appreciated it if he had been disguised when he did whatever he was doing. But we’ve been dealt this hand. Time to make the most of it.”

“I’ll do what I can to help...” Midnight replied. It was getting harder and harder to stay in her little funk. She just wanted to mope and feel sad and these insufferable friends of hers were making it impossible. Just thinking about them made her smile a little.

“Ah see somepony’s feeling a little better,” Cider said as she returned. “Food will be ready soon, and once we tidy up, will take it back home. Ah feel bad enough disturbin Mr. Fredrick as is.”

“I think Ace and Amy are disturbing him more than we are,” Narrow observed as various...sounds could be heard. Sounds that reminded both mares of separate times with Ledger in the shower.

Sounds that Ace was now making.

Midnight just thunked her head on the table and groaned. Fredrick was going to kill her later.

“W-Well, ah’m happy fer ‘em?” Cider nodded and headed back into the kitchen.

“I am soooo sorry,” Midnight said. “I cannot take that bird anywhere. I swear...”

“At least he seems to be enjoying himself,” Narrow said. “Now, like I said, it’s not your fault at all. I’m willing to bet you a hundred bits that even if you hadn’t been afraid of him, your training with Ace, whatever that’s comprised of, didn’t cover how to deal with something as dark as that. How would you kill something that keeps regenerating?”

“Anti-magic swords. Keep stabbing. If he gets up, stab him again.” Midnight knew that was a stupid response, but it was all she had for now. Just thinking about facing that monster made her want to go back into Trance, to hide away in a corner...

“And if it was strong enough to corrode or destroy your swords?” Narrow asked with a raised eyebrow. “The most you would have been able to do is use them as huge pins to keep it down until it pulled them out. Plus if you’d really encountered that particular monster before, then you would know better than most just how fucking crazy it was. Ledger at least had something resembling a plan. What would yours be?”

Midnight frowned and was about to retort, only to realize she had no hoof to stand on. Narrow was right, she had no plan, no real method of combating that thing. Aside from ‘keep hitting it’.

“You...you’re right,” Midnight finally admitted. “What happened was the best possible outcome. If I had gotten involved. I’d have gotten myself, or somepony else killed...”

“Second-best,” Narrow corrected. “Don’t forget your...stallion, fought the thing undisguised. Be sure to thump him a few hundred times about that for me, eh?”

“I’ll get started on that soon,” Midnight nodded and giggled again. Cider and Scope returned, their backs laden with several containers of food.

“Well, good to see you’re back in somewhat decent spirits,” Scope said. “And Amy seems to be gone. We should make our escape soon, lest I get cuddled again.”

“I’m sure they’ll either catch up or go their own way,” Narrow said as she ushered her fellow mares out of the restaurant and locked the door behind them with her magic.

“Now, let’s head to your place, miss Cider…”

Ledger...was not happy. He had arrived at the apartment building to find that, thankfully, somepony had cleaned up the ashes of what had been a changeling. Getting inside the building, however…

Well, that involved getting past Narrow’s guards. Which he would need a very good reason to manage. He wasn’t liking the ideas he was coming up with, mostly because they involved him getting whacked for them in the end by his mares.

In the end, the simple approach was the only one he could come up with. He walked right up to the guard outside the door and stood there, waiting for him to make the opening move.

The Guard paused as he looked at the Unicorn.

“This place is off limits. Turn around and return to your home citizen!”

“This is my home,” Ledger said. “Or was, anyways. I’d like to see if any of my belongings survived before you do your sweeps and find them yourself. Some personal secrets should stay that way. Don’t you agree?”

“That-” he paused as he got a look at Ledger and gulped. “You...well,” he looked around and lowered his voice. “I still can’t let you in. This is where that thing showed up. The brass is a little interested as to why.”

“They should be more cautious about the blatantly dark magic it was slinging around,” Ledger snorted. “In which case, I have to ask you why you’re running around here without a personal beta-level barrier to avoid any lingering pockets of the stuff.”

“Gotta wait for the hornheads to recharge,” he grunted. “Look, perhaps I feel a bit off and need that barrier. During the five minutes I am gone, maybe somepony could slip in and out unnoticed. I don’t see it, I don’t know it happened. Just sayin.” He raised his voice as he walked off. “And stay out!”

Ledger waited for the guard to leave hearing range. If he couldn’t hear the Guard, then the Guard couldn’t hear him going in. More plausible deniability for him would probably not go unappreciated. Once he was certain he was alone, Ledger bolted into the apartment building and slunk over to the stairwell. Just because there was only one guard on the outside, didn’t mean there couldn’t be more on the inside...

One was scanning the lobby, but hadn’t noticed the unicorn slip by. The one coming down the stairwell did though. Her body shone with a powerful barrier spell as she glared at him.

“And what in the flying fuck are you doing here?”

“Retrieving my personal belongings before whatever that thing was slinging around corrupts them, without waiting for you to check over every piece of rubble first,” Ledger said, flaring his horn to display his own near-invisible barrier spell. “I’m not bad at keeping dark magic off myself or purifying it off of objects, I read up on it in the library and passed my exams and everything. I just want the few things my mother and father passed on to me, maybe a few things for my roommate. That so much to ask for?”

The mare pulled a list out from under her wing and looked at it. “Name and Room number.”

“I’ll give you the first, but you don’t need the second from me, as I’m getting it myself, thank you kindly. I’m Level Ledger, my roomie is Midnight Song. We were both coming home from work when...that happened. We’ve been staying with a friend for a little, getting the future sorted out in case the worst had happened before I came up with this crazy plan.”

“I don’t care about your bloody life story,” she muttered as she looked at the list. “Right, Ledger...Ledger...ah, so you’re the unlucky sap who had his place blown away. Sucks to be you.” She gave his barrier a once over and nodded as she headed upstairs. “Follow me.”

Ledger nodded and followed after the mare, making sure to look the appropriate amount of shocked and dismayed. “Well, at least we got those plans made. Now I just gotta break the news to Midnight...this’ll be fun.”

As they got to the room, there was no need for a door, seeing as most of the wall was missing. Scorch marks were all over the place and the majority of Ledger’s living room and kitchen was just...gone.

“What is it you’re after?” she said. “We’ll send somepony in and fetch it if it’s still there.”

Ledger looked at the living room and sighed. The new couch...hadn’t made it. Sadly. And he knew there were no more like it. “Well the couch is a write-off, as are all of my eating implements. But fortunately,” here the unicorn gestured to the fact that the connecting rooms were undamaged. “Everything else made it. I suppose you can look in the bedroom, see if Midnight’s armor is in there...but nopony goes in my study but me. Even now.”

“We’ll go through it whether you like it or not,” the mare said sternly. “We’ve already recovered some pieces of Guard armour, so I’m assuming they belong to this ‘Midnight’ mare.” She huffed and her eyes gave a small twitch. Some ponies had all the weirdest kinks.

“Yup, and I’ll pass on the fact that you got Midnight Song’s armor back for her. Y’know, the one that helped you out a lot with the whole Toll Taker thing. Besides me, of course. What’s your name again, ma’am?” Ledger asked innocently as he began walking to his study, his barrier only flaring up lightly as residual dark magic impacted it and burned away.

The mare gave another twitch, “Just make it quick. I don’t care who you are. This is now a crime scene and I won’t have anypony messing it up.”

“Hey, I understand,” Ledger said as he opened his study and sighed. Just as he had left it...besides the broken windows that Midnight, Cider, and Scope had used to escape. He’d be able to play it off as concussive force from whatever happened in the apartment, easily. “You’ve got a job to do, and I appreciate that. I really do. I have a job as well. Full of rules and regulations. But you know what I love best about my job?” the stallion asked as he ran a hoof along the books in the only bookshelf there.

“I love...that feeling you get when you do something that bends, but doesn’t break the rules. Just because you felt like being nice to the pony across the table. Because you know they need it more than you need to be a tightwad.” With a flick of a hoof, a book came off of the shelf, and Ledger’s horn glowed silver as a similar aura washed over and clung to the book. It was placed in his saddlebags once it had been cleaned and protected against dark taint, and the stallion looked back at the guardsmare that was his escort. “It’s a pretty warm feeling, in my experience. Nothing like it.”

“Everything we recover is catalogued, purified and placed in a secure place at the station to be picked up at their owners leisure.” She shifted positions and looked down the hall. “The fact is that it was a blessing that nopony got hurt, and I’m trying to do my best that it stays that way. I don’t care if you don’t understand that. I’m just doing what I can.”

“Nooot quite,” Ledger said as he stood in front of the mare. “Cause I’m not the only one that’s suffering. The whole building is. The owner is. Everypony that lived here is. And maybe they could do with something more material than ‘you can go home when we say you can.’ I appreciate that you’re trying to keep them safe from the dark magic that was used here...but in this city, if you don’t have a place to go after nightfall?...” Ledger let the sentence hang there, for the mare to draw her own conclusions.

She stared at him, a low growl in her throat as she glared at him. As another Guard walked past, she grabbed him and unleashed the full force of that glare. The poor guy looked like he was about to soil himself.

“I will say this once. You will get a list of ONE item the tenants of this place want. You will find that item, purify it and then take them to the Guard barracks for the night if they have no other place to stay. Am. I. CLEAR?”

“Ma’am yes Ma’am!” he stammered and once she released him, he bolted to get it done yesterday.

“...Sorry for being such an ass,” Ledger said once the two of them were alone again. “But I read a book once about motivating ponies, and I have to say, it works. ‘Ponies don’t do anything when they’re sad about what just happened. If you want them to work together, get them mad. Mad at a common enemy, physical or otherwise. Then you’ll see why ponies are formidable.’”

“I’m always mad, so I can get that,” she actually chuckled. “Look, it’s fine, and you had a point or two so I’ll give you that. Now get your crap and get out. Got it?”

“Well I got my book, all I need now is the rest of Midnight’s armor. Is that still here, or?...”

“Most likely outside,” she said, as a piece of the ceiling crumbled. Her horn suddenly flashed and the two teleported, just as the floor underneath gave way, turning Ledger’s place into a two-story apartment.

Outside the building, the two winked back into existence and the mare sighed. “Well, that happened.”

“At least I got my book when I did,” Ledger said with a sigh. “And...thanks for that. I’m pretty sure my response would have been something along the line of ‘ow’.”

“I’m sure,” the mare said as her stern facade fell back into place. “Go and find the Quartermaster for that armor. Oh, the name’s Valkyrie by the way.”

“Thanks Valkyrie,” Ledger said as he turned and started to walk off. “Oh, by the way...you might wanna check up on the Guard’s retirement fund. Just a tip. Toll’s money had to go somewhere. Couldn’t find a better place.”

With that last line delivered to the seemingly persistently angry mare, Ledger went in search of the Quartermaster, hoping he or she wasn’t too far away.

After obtaining the items and having the guards double-check the dark magic purification, it was time to head for Cider’s place, where hopefully, his family was waiting for him.

“Ah reckon mah house has never looked so good,” Cider hummed as they got there. “Will you be staying Captain Narrow?”

“No, because if interacting with Midnight and Ledger over these past few weeks has taught me anything, it’s that he’s probably already bucked things up by going back,” Narrow sighed. “I need to go home, get some sleep, and wake up bright and early tomorrow to undo whatever he did.”

“Heh, sounds like him,” Cider chuckled as she took a container of food from her bag and put it in Narrow’s. “A little something fer later. Can’t have you go hungry.”

“Thanks,” Narrow said with a nod. “Remember, I’ll be here after I go over everything in the morning for a detailed statement from each of you, so bright and early. Got it?”

“Yes Ma’am,” Cider giggled and waved the Captain off. That just left the three mares to fend for themselves for the time being, until either Ace caught up or Ledger returned. Cider couldn’t help but give a small shiver as she went inside, making extra sure to lock the door.

Once inside, Scope had lit up the fireplace, and the three spread a blanket out and made a little picnic.

As they ate, Midnight leaned against Scope and hummed. “So...can you tell me why Amy said you were my marefriend?” she asked casually. Scope flinched as she looked at the Thestral and shook her head.

“H-How would I know? That Pink menace is battier than you are!”

“I’d take offense to that pun, but I’m too tired to care right now,” Midnight sighed. “This food is good though. Thanks for making it girls.”

“T’weren’t nothin’” Cider remarked and smiled at Scope. “Ah’m actually quite surprised at how good Scope here is in the kitchen.”

Scope Lens just shrugged and shifted Midnight into a more comfortable position. It was actually quite nice, the crackle of the fire, the smell of the food and the serene silence.

Then there was a knock at the door.

“Figures,” Scope sighed as she got up. “You two stay here, I’ll check it out.” She edged closer to the door, shifting into a Unicorn form so she could cast a quick fire spell if needed. It was actually quite cute. A little painted mare with a white mane and tail.

“Who is it?” she said in a fierce tone. The one that responded was anything but.

“Prince Shining Armor,” Ledger’s voice said. “I heard there was a group of lovely lonely mares here, so I decided to pay a visit.”

“Wouldn’t that overly pink wife of yours get jealous?” she snarked. Her horn flashed as the bolt slid open, but she kept her horn lit...just in case.

“Oh haven’t you heard?” Ledger said as he pushed the door open, still playing the role of ‘Shining’. “Cadence is all about love. Princess Luna paid a visit, and now she’s...curious.”

“Luna want’s to buck her niece?” Scope said, the joke going over her head. “Whatever. Did you get what you need?”

“Yup,” Ledger said as he pulled assorted bits of Midnight’s armor from his saddlebags. “What pieces of her armor Midnight didn’t wear out, and my book,” Ledger said as he stepped in and closed the door behind him, before locking it with his magic. He didn’t display the second thing, Scope might notice...

“Wait!” she stepped in front of him and placed a hoof on his chest, hopefully he wouldn’t notice the light blush on her face in the dark. With another burst of magic, she peeled back his disguise, revealing his changeling form.

“Just...making sure,” she said.

“Please don’t do that again,” he stated. “I’m sure you know how uncomfortable it is. It’d be like tearing a dress off of a pony at one of their balls or other social gatherings.”

“Like I said, I’m just making sure. I said I’d keep them safe and if making you a little uncomfortable is the price, then I’m sure I’ll survive...but, I’m sorry.”

Ledger blinked a few times before re-donning his disguise...then leaning down and nuzzling the small unicorn Scope had become. “And I thank you for doing that for me while I wasn’t here,” he said to her softly. “How have they been holding up ever since I left to get these things?”

She pushed his head away, her blush intensifying. “We’ve been...getting there. Midnight is talking again. Even smiled a few times. But the fear is there in both of them. I would've hated to have seen if the Black had actually confronted them.”

“Thus the Silver’s greatest secret - a weapon designed to deal with the blackest of magics, and the Broodmothers certainly qualify,” Ledger said as he sat on his haunches and just hugged the fillyesque unicorn close. “I think I have a question for you though, before I see if going in there makes it better or worse.”

“Please stop hugging me,” she deadpanned. “And what do you want to know.”

“That spell you used the day we came here to meet with Cider’s family,” Ledger said. “What was it? Please answer me honestly.”

Scope sighed. There was no getting out of this, and she didn’t want to lie... “Is this really the time?” she asked.

“I just want to know that it didn’t have anything to do with you as to why he was here,” Ledger said. “That spell from that day is the only loose end regarding you. After that, I’m faced with really bad ideas as to why he was here. Please, validate my faith in you. What was that spell?”

So, he thought that the Black was her fault. Sure, why not. “Observant, but incorrect. I had no knowledge of the Black. You have my absolute vow as a Loyal Blue that that is the truth. That spell... It is... a link, to the Hive Mind.”

“I see,” Ledger said. “Well, thank you for being honest. I do hope they’ve enjoyed their free ride so far, because the next message I want you to send them is simple. Think you can handle it?”

“I get the feeling I am not going to like it. But go ahead.” She’d only just realized, that the hold he had her in could cause her serious bodily harm if he desired.

“Tell the Queens and Kings it is time to present a united front. A Black was destroyed by a Silver in public and both were unmasked. We must either begin diplomatic relations, or cut ties altogether with the homeland...And to the ones that made your spell, I have a business opportunity, should they care to meet with me.”

“Hmm, I can pass it on I suppose,” Scope nodded. “And for what it’s worth...I support you in whatever comes next alright. We ‘lings gotta stick together right?”

“‘All the world’s a stage, and all the ponies are merely players. We’re just the ones that wear a mask even after the curtain call,’” Ledger said with a smile. He hugged the smaller unicorn a little tighter for a moment before letting her go and getting back on his hooves. “I’ll leave you be to pass your message on, however long that takes. Time to see how the mares react.”

Ledger then walked to the next room, to the mares he held near and dear to his heart.

When he walked into the room, he saw their little impromptu picnic, complete with a Cider feast spread out haphazardly. Cider beamed and waved to him as Midnight looked up.

He recognised the gleam in her eyes. He had about two seconds to brace himself. He merely sighed and went limp instead, accepting whatever was about to happen. She flew across the room and as she was about to crash into him, paused and then pulled him into a firm hug instead.

“You came back,” she whispered.

“I will always come back for you,” Ledger said, returning the hug. Cider trotted over and pulled both of them into a powerful embrace as Scope Lens watched from the kitchen, a small smile on her muzzle as she watched them.

Her horn had a gentle glow to it as she spoke softly.

“Yes... that’s right. He was quite heroic actually. You should be proud... Yes, I think your son will be just fine.”

And with that, the connection was severed.

Once the quartet had eaten and agreed that they were way too comfortable cuddling each other in the living room to move (albeit Scope only did so begrudgingly, and after much cajoling,) the ponies and ‘lings fell asleep downstairs, and actually woke up together.

For once.

Ledger was first, and as he’d been the only male there, he was naturally placed at the bottom of the pile. Being in this place of dubious honor meant one very important thing.

While he woke up covered in mares, it meant he couldn’t move for fear of waking them up. He decided to amuse himself by taking note of where each mare was. Midnight Song was on his right, one wing draped across all of them as she mumbled in her sleep.

Apple Cider was on the left, at some point having removed her tartan ribbons, her blonde mane spilling out everywhere. It would appear the ribbons did a good job of taming it.

And cradled on his chest, wrapped in his own hooves, was an undisguised Scope Lens, her face only inches from his own. Ledger breathed deeply at the sight of the undisguised nymph on his chest...and after two seconds, the panic went away.

At some point, he realized this wasn’t any other nymph. This wasn’t someone that was going to drug him or rape him.

This was Scope Lens. And she...she was loyal.

...He still wasn’t going to bloody kiss her, though.

Her eyes opened and those bright blue eyes looked into his silver ones for a moment, as she reached up and placed a hoof on his cheek. A small smile appeared on her muzzle...

And then Midnight coughed and the nymph’s eyes became suitably larger.

“I’m uh...going to go out on a limb here,” she said awkwardly. “And guess that I’m actually awake... and so are you.”

“That would imply that you’ve had dreams of situations like this,” Ledger quietly observed, trying not to wake the mares next to him. “Dare I ask what sort of dreams they were?”

“Um...not ones that I totally haven’t had?” she replied, trying to get up, but Ledger’s hooves had her pinned.

“Since I’m on the bottom and recall nothing more than going to sleep first, I’m going to guess that you put yourself there,” the drone observed. “You could just tell me, or I could keep guessing as to what’s going on.”

“Guess all you want!” she huffed, blushing a deep crimson as she finally tore herself free and buzzed upstairs. The sudden movement caused Midnight and Cider to stir though, waking the two from their peaceful slumber.

“W-What’s...goin’ on?” Cider mumbled sleepily.

Ledger, not having had his coffee yet, responded honestly and as snarkily as he could. “I think mini-me has a crush on me.”

“Pfft, ah reckon yer ego has a crush on you,” Cider replied as she edged closer, taking up some of the space that Scope left behind.

“Are we not enough for you?” Midnight blinked, her eyes shimmering.

“No, you two are perfect, I love you, honestly. But when Scope wakes up on my chest about one second away from kissing me and says ‘oh I guess this isn’t a dream this time,’ certain conclusions are drawn,” Ledger said before sighing. The changeling drone then grabbed ahold of Cider and moved her across his form to more directly cuddle Midnight before rolling onto his hooves and standing up. “Coffee,” he declared. “It’s too early to even think about thinking about this without coffee.”

“Yes please,” the mares echoed, snuggling each other happily as he was declared ‘Coffee Provider’ for today. The drone rummaged around in the kitchen before pausing for a moment.

“Cider, do you grow your own beans?” he asked as he stared into a cabinet.

“In the greenhouse. Thought ah’d give it a whirl,” she called back. Scope Lens had returned and upon seeing that Ledger had gone, snuggled with the other two again to leech a little love.

“Got it, thanks, back in a jiffy with fresh beans,” Ledger said as he donned his disguise and walked out the back door. Once he’d left, the two mares rolled over as Scope got comfortable. She looked up at them and blinked.

“What?”

“So,” Cider said. “Y’all have a crush on Levvy then?”

“I do not!” Scope denied. “What is with that? You’re the ones that wanted hugs last night. So don’t complain when shit gets awkward in the morning!”

“We’re not mad Scopey, we just want the truth,” Midnight petted the Pegasi’s mane and hummed.

“And the truth is that I don’t. He’s a self absorbed, pretentious ass!” her denial had ascended to an alicorn and flew for the heavens. “Don’t go making assumptions. Tired Scope and Awake Scope are two different ponies.”

“She really is a mini-Ledger~” Cider giggled. She pulled Scope into a hug as the nymph frowned and pouted. “Aw, don’t be like that, we’re only teasin’.”

“You may be,” Midnight hummed. “I personally don’t see the harm in it-”

“Like it would ever work anyway!” Scope said, as she got up and headed for the kitchen. “He curls up into a ball whenever a nymph gets close. So pray tell, how would that even work?”

The two mares didn’t respond, merely looking at the drone standing in the doorway. He put a hoof to his lips, but then used that hoof to make a ‘go on’ motion and nodded his head in Scope’s direction.

“W-Well, he seems pretty comfortable with you,” Midnight said, wondering what Ledger was playing at. “He’s not dumb enough to think that all nymphs are like that.”

“Yeah, cause that fight with Toll proved that,” she said. “I tried to kill him!”

“Well, forgive an’ forget right?” Cider shrugged. “Um, is this conversation still hypothetical?”

“Does it matter, you two and that bloody Pink. I bet everything I own that she has something to do with this, despite the fact that she promised not to!”

“Promised not to what? Scopey?” Midnight inquired, still laying on the floor.

“Just. Drop it!” Scope said, donning her disguise and storming out through the kitchen. Ledger walked into the house and displayed his fresh harvest of beans to the mares before gently, sneakily, heading into the kitchen himself.

“What are you doing!” Midnight hissed as quietly as possible.

“Confronting the issue,” Ledger said in just as quiet a tone.

Midnight just shrugged as she watched Ledger go and be Ledger.

Scope Lens paced around the room, muttering to herself in Changeish. It was kind of adorable to see the small pegasus chirping and chittering away. Ledger just sat out of her direct line of sight and listened to the nymph talking to herself, hoping to glean some insight into why she was caught in this loop of ‘I have a crush on him but I can’t tell him.’

“I swear I will murder that Pink, horribly and definitely most painfully.” she continued to mutter. “Yeah, it’s a stupid crush, or Stockhooves Syndrome... one of them. So what. He hates nymphs and has made it pretty clear that he doesn’t and never will like a nymph like that. Besides, he already has two mares, and he only has the second because of a social misunderstanding.”

She frowned and plopped down in the middle of the floor. “I’m just a runt anyway, might as well visit the Violets and just buck some random stallion...”

She pulled out her Daring toy and held it up. “You can do it Scopey!” the pegasus said in a very poor imitation of Daring’s voice. “Just have confidence. And everything will work out!”

“But it won’t,” she seemed to have chosen Changeish for her voice. “What does it matter anyway.”

“You’ve worked so hard, and you can’t help who you like,” the Daring toy ‘spoke’. “The heart wants what the heart wants.”

“Feh! Easy for you to say. You’re awesome. Everypony likes you. Except Midnight for some reason... GAH! Getting off topic. The important thing is. He can never, ever know. This morning was a mistake. We’ll just... blow it off as a mixed up dream and some wild emotions I drained.”

“You can’t run forever,” ‘Daring’ said again.

“Don’t have to. I’m good...at hiding.”

Silently, stealthily, the drone betrayed nothing as he snuck up on the nymph, remaining out of her line of sight and keeping his emotions so under control, Midnight would be impressed. The objective of the exercise?

Sneaking up on the small changeling and wrapping her up in a hug.

She stared at her toy for a moment longer. She’d have to go back for the next one today sometime. She didn’t even notice the shadow grow closer as she hugged the figure and sighed.

And then she was the one being hugged, by a very familiar drone.

“YEEEK!?” she screamed and her wings tried to flare, but they were pinned to her back. “Ah! Lemme go! Somepony HELP!!”

“You’re quite the screamer when you’re being shown affection,” Ledger noticed. Hoping that the bait and having her make a snarky comment might calm her down.

“Affection...wha...” he could almost feel the blush coming from her. “Don’t you have two mares to lavish affection on? Go and canoodle with them. I’m busy.”

“I heard,” Ledger said bluntly. “And you’re right, I do have two mares. But they also have me. So I’ll lay the terms out for you. In my mind...you’re a nymph second. You’re Scope Lens, loyal friend, first. I can’t promise you anything beyond a hug at this point. But if you ever want for anything more...ask them first. And if you get their approval, I’ll be willing to listen to your reason as to why you want me.”

He’d...heard...all of that? Including the- and part she- Ohh Hives...

“Sure...that’s good,” she said in a defeated tone. “If you don’t mind. I’ll go and play with the rattlesnakes in the desert now...”

“Then how would I help you make breakfast for everypony?” Ledger asked as he gave the smaller mare a light squeeze.

“Oooh, no. I was there last night and I’ve seen how you...’help’ with cooking!” she said with her ever present blush. She wiggled free and shoved him out of the kitchen, before slamming the door shut behind him.

Midnight tilted her head and looked at him. “Um. What the buck was that? All I heard was a bunch of squeaks and chirps.”

“Scope has been made to understand that I know about her crush, and that while I have two mares...two mares also have me,” the drone said, before kissing both of them. “So she’s going to have to get approval from both of you before I’ll do more than hug her...though I might hug her a lot, fair warning.”

“Okay, what brought that on?” Cider inquired as Midnight shrugged and flopped onto the couch. “Do you get huggy without coffee? Cause if so, I’ll cut you off now.”

“She likes me so much, but doesn’t think it can work because of who we are,” Ledger said with a sigh as he flopped onto the floor near Cider. “But...I’ve spent enough time around her. She’s not just some nymph named Scope. She’s Scope Lens, loyal friend, somebuggy who looked after you two when I couldn’t. She just happens to be a nymph. That, and…” here Ledger snickered and blushed. “She was pretty adorable, trying to talk out her issues the way she did.”

“I missed Scopey being cute?” Midnight pouted. “Awww.”

“It’s Scopey, she’s always cute,” Cider giggled. “Ah’m sure you’ll have another chance.”

“Can I count on you two to give her a fair chance if she actually musters up the courage to ask you about joining this?” Ledger asked as he looked from one mare to the other.

“Sure, we’ll see what she has to say,” Cider hummed. “The relationship we have is pretty weird already. What’s a little more?”

“And so the newbie has accepted our ways,’ Midnight hummed, nodding her head sagely. “But yeah, do you even need to ask Ledgie?”

“I feel safer sending her into an Ursa den if I’ve confirmed it’s only an Ursa Minor in the den,” Ledger said with a bit of snark and a smile.

“So, we’re Ursa’s now?” Midnight said. “Thanks Lev, really feeling the love.”

“Well, seems we’re old fiddle now. Ledger’s already found a new favourite,” Cider sighed dramatically. Ledger responded in one of the few ways he knew how to:

By being even more dramatic.

“Oh no!” he gasped, clutching his chest with a hoof. “I...have made a grave error! The mares...no longer love me! Vision...going dark…” With a few jerking motions, the changeling drone was laying on his side with his tongue spilling out of his mouth.

“Ah well, it looks like we have a replacement Changeling anyway,” Cider hummed, not buying the act.

Midnight on the other hoof.

She rushed over, trying to hug the changeling as she actually cried. “N-NO! You said, you wouldn’t leave me again! Wake up!”

Ledger decided to console the mare rather than continue the dramatics and hugged her back almost instantly. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I was just trying to out-drama Cider. I didn’t mean to hurt you…”

Midnight paused as she sat there...before the biggest grin split her muzzle.

“Gotcha!”

“Middy, that was prolly a little mean,” Cider scolded her. “Given recent events. Apologise.”

Midnight blinked, she had panicked at first, but tried to cover it with a joke. Perhaps... a little too well. “Yeah...sorry.”

Ledger responded by nuzzling the thestral, then looking up to Cider and freeing one foreleg. “Plenty of room for you to join,” he said. The Earth Pony nodded and the three shared a cuddle as Scope watched from the doorway, before returning to the kitchen to finish breakfast.

‘Maybe someday...’

Chapter 24 - Account for your actions

A little after breakfast was done, the trio decided to leave Scope be for now, though Midnight still wondered what she had done that was so cute, it made Ledger of all ponies gush over it.

Narrow Gaze turned up soon after, along with Aerial Ace. Midnight asked her mentor why his little marefriend wasn’t with him, and he’d explained that a lot of ponies would need a little boost of happy right now, so she was off doing her thing.

Narrow sat at the table, as Cider brought her out some coffee and biscuits.

“Thanks,” Narrow replied gratefully, as she took out a notepad and recorder crystal. “Alright, I know that last night is the last thing that you guys want to talk about. But this needs to get done. I’ll need statements from Ledger, Midnight and Scope, seeing as how you three were the most involved. I already have Ace’s statement.” She sipped at her coffee and sighed contently.

“So who’s up first?”

Ledger looked from himself to Midnight and Scope, wondering if they wanted to start. Scope would probably be a better choice, as she heard it first...

“Fine,” Scope said, taking a seat at the table. “Let’s get this done already. I’ve already sat through one of your interrogations. We’re best friends by now.” Dear Discord, the sarcasm in her voice could choke a Hydra.

“Cute,” Narrow replied, unfazed. She tapped the gem and it gave a faint glow. “For the record, state your name, species and occupation please?”

“Scope Lens.” She paused for a second and gave a nod. “Female Changeling. Currently employed as an assistant to Midnight Song. Independent Royal Guard.”

“Right. Thankyou,” Narrow said. “Now, the events of last night as best you can remember if you will.”

Scope frowned as she delved into thought. While it had only been a few hours, so much had happened since, and her recent tirade in the kitchen was still at the forefront. “Well, it started with a buzzing in my head. I am more adept at sensing emotions than...other changelings I know. My range can extend to a little more than a mile or two. Anyway, about ten minutes before, it started as a faint buzz in my head, before I also experienced a full body itch and some minor muscle spasms. I didn’t know what was causing it, as I have never met a Black personally before. Had I known... I’d have made my...friends flee sooner.”

“I’m sure you did your best, and everyone is safe because of your actions.” Narrow smiled. “Now, what happened next?”

“Well, the sensations got worse, to the point that even Apple Cider was feeling them. It was actually... Secret-Hoarder that recognized the threat, and ordered me to retreat with Apple Cider and Midnight Song, the latter was experiencing severe emotional stress.”

“And once the threat showed up?”

“The three of us escaped via the study window,” she looked at Ledger and smiled sheepishly. “Though I broke it in my haste. Sorry about that by the way.”

“S’all good, and at least you kept it to breaking the glass. If you had done anything more, it’d have been harder to hide that we were there at the time from the guard that escorted me.” Ledger casually sipped at his coffee while observing the proceedings.

“Anyway, continue?” Narrow said and Scope nodded.

“Right, well after we escaped, Midnight wanted to go back, as she was worried about Secret...so Cider there tossed her on her back and we made a break for it. After that, you know the rest. We came to inform you of the incident.”

“Yes,” Narrow nodded and tapped the crystal again. “Thank you for that Miss Lens. On another note, how have you been since...”

“Since I was hired by a criminal and murderer to try and kill Ledger, was beaten to a pulp by Midnight and arrested, interrogated and then placed in indentured servitude due to my own pride and oaths?” she said calmly, though Cider was staring at Ledger and Midnight with wide eyes.

“Yes, that,” Narrow said, still unfazed. She was going to need a drink after all of this.

“I’m...better,” Scope said. “I used to think that you ponies were little better than a meal, and that drones were only good for repopulating and a decent meat shield. But...Midnight and my friends have...opened my eyes to the world. I have a name that I can be proud of, instead of-” here she made a few clicks and chirps.

“What does that mean?” Narrow asked, though Ledger seemed to have a look of... pity?

“It means...” Scope frowned. “Hmm, how would that translate? Perhaps the closest would be...Discarded One. I received no name from the ones that birthed me, I was abandoned due to my small size and low magical ability. I was found and raised by others like me, and they named me that.”

“...Were there any way to change history at all, I would have done everything in my power to help you then,” Ledger said with a very soft tone. “No ‘ling should be abandoned, no matter the reason.”

“A noble thought, but don’t pity me Ledger, I don’t want it, nor do I deserve it. I am alive and I am strong, and now...now I have friends, ones that I care for and...they care for me. So my life isn’t so bad.”

Narrow sipped her drink and smiled. “So you’re doing well for yourself. I am glad to hear it. Though, you will have my pity in about three seconds...just fyi.”

“Why...oh?” Scope braced herself as Midnight tackled her, pulling her into a tight hug as she nuzzled her.

“So, who’s next?” Narrow shrugged, wondering if that hug was breaking bones... it sounded like it was.

“Well seeing as how Scope said how she managed to hear it long before me, and you know how they escaped, perhaps I should pick up my tale around when I noticed the disturbance?” Ledger said.

Narrow tapped the crystal again and nodded. “Right. So you are... Secret-Hoarder correct? A changeling under the Princesses watch?”

“Technically correct,” Ledger said with a smile. “But you know my preferred name.”

“I do,” Narrow nodded. “So, from where Miss Lens left, if you would?”

“Hmm, how about...from when I noticed the disturbance instead?”

“That would be good. Scope Lens stated she sensed it about...ten minutes before the incident.”

“I only sensed it about two and a half minutes beforehoof,” Ledger admitted. “My ability to sense emotion is a bit...stunted, as most circles would describe it. But once I did notice it...I recognized what it was almost instantly.”

“So you have encountered these creatures before then?” Narrow asked. “Was that also how you knew the spell to defeat it?”

“I...encountered a few creatures like them before, yes,” Ledger admitted. “They were always showing up, trying to ply mother’s favor...and even when they’ve just barely started down the path they’re on, you can tell that there’s something...wrong with them. That thing that showed up the other day?” Ledger shook his head. “Fully corrupted. Not a chance of saving him. Black magic had replaced...everything. I’m not even sure decapitation would have stopped him.”

“Well, given that Chief Instructor Aerial Ace...destroyed it’s head...and yet it still got back up.” Narrow shuddered, what if more than one of these things showed up? “So, you sensed it, and ordered the retreat of Scope Lens, Midnight Song and Apple Cider. What happened after that?”

“After that, the Black destroyed the door...and a good bit of the wall, once I told it I wasn’t going to let it have what it was after. I got his attention with a gamma-level heat beam...that bounced off his chitin. I reminded him that I was in his way and he was going to get Midnight and the others, since that seemed to be who he was after, over my dead body, and he said ‘I could use a snack.’ Fearful for what he might do next, I cast a barrier over my body to keep my emotions sealed in, and then things got...interesting.”

“So you taunted it to keep its attention on you?” Narrow sighed and put a hoof to the space between her eyes. “I don’t know if I should applaud your bravery, or be appalled at your stupidity and rashness.” She sipped at her coffee and rubbed her temple. “So, interesting?”

“I ripped one of its legs off with TK,” Ledger said. “It ripped it back and reattached it. That’s when I knew things weren’t going to be simple.”

“Its regeneration powers are astounding,” Narrow muttered as she wrote that down. “And the fact you can dismember with telekinesis is worrisome as well, but that will be addressed later. So I assume it did not take that very well.”

“It fired what I can only describe as ‘disintegration beams’ at me, but I felt the power building and redirected them from hitting me directly...though the couch and the kitchen and the living room in general suffered for it,” Ledger said. “That was when I pinned it to a wall and grabbed ahold of a knife with TK before trying to kill it by piercing its heart...only for it to reveal it didn’t have one.”

“It had...no heart?” Narrow blinked, but Midnight interjected with a much more pressing concern.

“Our couch!?” she yelled. “It disintegrated... Our freaking couch? As in, the very first thing we bought as a couple?”

“Is that truly something to be upset about Midnight?” Narrow said, pausing the crystal.

“It was the last one on the floor, so I can kinda see where she’s coming from,” Ledger said with a nod. “It was truly comfortable and there will never be another like it.”

“I wish you hadn’t killed it,” Midnight said. “Because I want to tear of its freaking head, use it as a chamber pot and re-attach it, so for the rest of it’s life it can eat my shi-”

“Okay!” Narrow said, derailing that rant. “It was a nice couch, I will see about getting you recompense. Now,” she turned back to Ledger. “please continue?”

“Right, I figured I’d simply missed at first, but when it pulled the knife out and showed off the void within, I’d already pulled out more knives to scout its chest with. And then it performed that dark blast, and I barely survived that by upgrading my barrier and by my natural armor. Had I been a fraction of a second slower, I would have taken that blast with nothing but my armor.”

“And given the damage to the building, we would not be having this conversation,” Narrow was getting very concerned about the level of power at play here. And the raw magic that Ledger seemed to possess. “So then the battle became public, and we know the rest from here.” She tapped the crystal and sighed. “Right, thank you for that. I believe I am getting the whole picture now, and seeing what a miracle it was that nopony was seriously hurt.”

“I’m just grateful I remembered my book’s spell in time,” Ledger said as he cracked his neck. “...And that my uncle’s cryptic warning applied to the situation.”

“We are grateful that you were able to defeat that demon,” Narrow said. “I also know that you are to receive a Commendation for your actions. So that should be a novel experience for you.”

“...You mean you want me to attend a ceremony...in public...like this?” Ledger said, gesturing to himself.

“While the general consensus about Changelings is still the same,” Narrow said with a wave of her hoof. “The fact remains that half the city saw a silver Changeling beat the tar out of a monster, protecting innocent ponies. They are curious, on whether this is the start of a second invasion, or if perhaps, just perhaps, not all ‘lings are the monsters that Queen Chrysalis made them out to be.”

She placed a hoof on Ledger’s more chitinous one. “So tell me. Do you think you’re up for taking that first step towards acceptance?”

“I can try,” Ledger said with a groan as he rubbed his forehead with a hoof. “Owch...hey, Scope, remember how you acted after having to save Midnight?”

“When I became a dragon? What about it?” she asked.

“I’m starting to get that sized of a headache,” Ledger said as he moaned and put his head on the table. “I don’t think I could manage a spell beyond shifting and TK right now. I felt those flames burn away my reserves for every second they were burning him.”

“You have my sympathy,” she hummed. “But that’s about all you get.” She was still mad that he’d watched her before. “Maybe you’ll forget certain things.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Ledger said with a wink. “...though if you could bring me my book, I’d be happy. I left it in my bag and I forget where it is right now.”

“You’d better forget, or maybe some blunt force trauma would help you along,” Scope muttered as she pulled his bag out from under the couch, before handing it to him. “Here.”

“Thankyou,” Ledger said as he put the bags on. “Okay, seriously, ow. Cider, I need something for a magically-induced headache. Do you have anything like that hanging around?”

“Ah’ll be back in a moment,” she said. “Ah have jus the thing actually... you should know about it already.”

“...Is there anything that drink doesn’t work on?” Ledger asked after a moment of contemplation.

“Not that ah’ve found,” Cider giggled as she brewed it up, spicing it with a drop of cider and a pinch of manaweed, a plant that helped with restoring mana reserves. She soon brought the bubbling liquid out. The drink looking more viscous than Ledger recalled.

“Do I want to know why it looks different?” Ledger asked as he observed the vile thing.

“Y’all want the magic variety. This version is supposed ta do the trick, invented by mah great uncle Applebark. We don’t have a lot of Unicorns in the family. So...ah hope you survive mkay?”

Ledger sighed and lit his horn up with a flinch before his form shimmered and he became his unicorn self. “It might work better on a ‘pony’, and from what I read, taste and smell are connected, so…” He put one hoof to his nose in an attempt to block out the smell of the thing and opened his mouth, taking a few deep breaths. With his free hoof, Ledger grabbed ahold of the cup and knocked as much of it back as he could in one gulp.

Everyone sat in silenced awe as he downed the concoction, wondering what his reaction was going to be. He just sat there for a minute before slowly lowering the hoof covering his nose and laying his head back down on the table. “Okay, Cider, for future reference, it worked. But you are going to look into finding some way to mask that taste that doesn’t interfere with the healing properties.”

“No pain, no gain Ledger,” Cider nodded and gave him a half-lidded stare, licking her lips. “But ah’ll make it up to you once you feel better. Perhaps a nice shower might help you hmm?”

“Oh, that reminds me, the shower died as well,” Ledger remarked. “The floor went out after I got my book back, and the study was next to the bathroom.”

“Oh, COME ON!” Midnight yelled. “Seriously?”

“Y’all know ah have a shower here right?” Cider deadpanned so hard it caused genocide among the pan community.

“But...I’d just broken that shower in,” Midnight pouted.

“On that topic,” Narrow interjected. “I have news about your apartment.”

“I’d be surprised if it wasn’t condemned, because I can tell you right now, Real Estates has probably fled the city,” Ledger said.

“You may be right, we can find no trace of the pony known as Real Estates. But that aside, the dark magic used had some sort of necrotic effect. It’s slow, but effective, nearly half the building eroded away before we contained and purified it. So... you will have to find new residence. We’re setting up a government-based fund to assist those that need new homes. Do you require aid?”

“Hmm,” Ledger said as he looked around. “I dunno. Cider? Do you need any help housing our flanks?”

“Oh, y’all jus’ assume that ya can stay here now huh?” she replied.

“I dunno, I’m head of Pegasus Air still, and I haven’t heard about Midnight being fired from her position as Celestia’s agent,” Ledger said with a cheeky grin. “I’m certain we can persuade you to allow us to stay. Either with bits or other resources.”

“Ledger, whut kind of mare do y’all take me for?” she said with a smile. “Y’all can stay here as long as you like. All three of you. We’re family, and family means that nopony get’s left behind!”

“I still think that we should offer to help out around here if you need it,” Ledger pointed out. “Now that we’re living under the same roof, we can more easily pool our bits to get things that’d make living together a lot easier. Like a bigger bed.”

“That might work,” Midnight nodded. “The bits should go to those that need them. We'll be fine Captain.”

“Very well,” Narrow nodded. “Also, I still need your report Midnight...”

The Thestral’s smile fell and she sighed deeply. “Yeah...thought you might.” She looked around and then motioned with a wing to the stairs. “Can we...do this privately?”

“That...might not be the best idea, but if you want to,” Ledger said as he gave Midnight a quick kiss on the cheek. “Just remember we’re here for you.”

“Yeah, but give me this much. I’m prolly gonna cry and stuff, and I really don’t wanna be seen like that. It’ll make me look uncool.”

“I have seen you in various states of uncoolness before,” Ledger reminded the mare. “But fine, be all private and stuff. I’ll just prepare for a really big hug when you’re done.”

Narrow and Midnight disappeared upstairs, as Scope and cider watched them. The petite pegasus was the first to speak up.

“You think she’ll be okay? I mean, in the long run?”

“On her own, no,” Ledger said. “But that’s why we’re here. To take care of and look after one another.”

“Well, I suppose I can try to keep you lot out of trouble,” Scope said. She looked at Ledger, then to Apple Cider. “Also, I have made a decision,” she chittered in Changeish.

“Oh?” he replied in the same tongue. “Do I get to know what it is?”

Cider blinked, what the heck were they saying?

“I...look, I’m going to come out and say it. Perhaps...just perhaps, I have a small infatuation with you. But, I don’t know, maybe it’s just a fleeting feeling. I want to see... where it goes, and if I should pursue it further. But, if you are uncomfortable with this... I’ll leave. We’ll still be friends, but I’ll look for something on my own.”

“You’re welcome to try,” Ledger said with a nod. “But remember, if you want to try this, there’s more than just me in this relationship. And...while the thought of doing...other things with you is probably going to induce panic...if that’s what you want, then I’ll push past the fear.”

“Ledger?” Apple Cider asked, as a thought had occurred. “Do you remember when Ace showed up?”

“Yup,” Ledger said with a nod.

“Well, wasn’t Middy supposed to fetch a certain potion for me?”

Ledger blinked a few times before the possible ramifications of a failed delivery struck him, and in seconds, the drone was out like a light.

“Did...he faint?” Scope poked at him with a wing.

“Ah think so,” Cider hummed. “An here ah was, about to tell him ah went and got one mahself when Middy never showed up.”

“You are an evil mare...” Scope shuddered.

“I never knew you could have so much fun in somepony else’s shower before!” Cherry chirped to his griffon friend as said griffon friend escorted the red pegasus around on his lunch break. Though if somepony observed the griffon carefully, they would be able to see that Ace was walking...oddly.

“Indeed, you were...quite enthusiastic about it,” Ace winced. The look on Fredricks face though...that was priceless.

“It seems you have your work cut out for you today,” he said, noting the events from earlier today. “Not a single foal left without a smile though. You truly are a master of your craft.”

“Mmhmm,” Cherry said as he munched on his hastily-purchased salad. Once his mouth was clear, the stallion explained. “It’s not just about giving the foals ice-cream. It’s not even about giving them a unique treat. It’s about putting on a show as well. They need to see it happening in a fun way. Then they’ll start to have fun as well.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Ace replied, eating some jerky he grabbed from the Chop Shop. He suddenly winced as a burst of sunset flames flashed in his face and a scroll landed on his lap.

“Well now, what have we here?” he mused, undoing the binding and reading it. With each flick of his eyes, his smile grew.

“Looks like somebirdy has a job offer,” Cherry sing-songed. Ace looked at him and grinned.

“Why don’t you see for yourself?” he grinned. This was going to be fantastic. Cherry blinked as he took the scroll and began to read.

Chief Instructor Aerial Ace.

I apologise that I could not assist in time with the crisis you faced last night, though I am relieved that it was resolved without incident.

But, your letter asking for a transfer to Las Pegasus? I seem to be losing all of my best to that city. Next thing you know, Luna will want to move there. (She has been going on and on about a stallion she met though. It’s adorable~)

Anyway, while your assistance at the Academy is still needed, I don’t see the harm in an extended vacation. Your reasons bring me great joy, and I wish you the very best. Just be sure to swing by from time to time, I do miss our little sparring sessions.

Now, as for you little Changeling. Amethyst Cream/Cherry Scoop I believe?

I see you were able to tame my best and most boisterous warrior. Kudos for that. Though you have my pity, as he never, ever shuts up.

I trust you will take care of him, and I know that he will take care of you. He will cause you endless headaches, but he means well. Perhaps I shall meet you personally sometime soon. I should meet the changeling that can tame the Beast of the Skies.

With all my love

Princess Sol Celestia

Cherry blinked a few times as he read over the latter half of the letter, then read it again. Eventually, he looked over to the Griffon sitting next to him with a half-lidded gaze of irritation. “You told Princess Celestia you were dating me?” he questioned with a tone that was drier than the desert.

“Tia is one of my best friends and somepony I have known nearly all my life,” Ace replied, hoping he hadn’t upset Cherry. “We hide nothing from one another, and I couldn’t lie when I requested a transfer so I could spend more time with you.”

Cherry sighed, but gave the griffon a peck on his cheek. “Fine, but you are going to look for a place where you can put those magic talons of yours to work, mister,” the pegasus told the griffon sternly. “Or else I’ll get creative when trying to shut you up tonight.”

“About that, somepony has offered me a job. A mare named Sugar Darling runs a small bar called ‘The Love Shack’ She said that she knows you and would like my services... she seemed quite adamant about it.”

“And that would be the place the Violets own,” Cherry said with a sigh. “I don’t know how they learned about your magic touch. But I can tell you right now, their interest in you is probably purely carnal.”

“Ah, well...guess I won’t be taking that job then,” he smiled, running a claw down Cherry’s back. “And I am sorry about telling Tia. I should have asked you first.” He leaned over, nipping at his shoulders and neck. “Can. You. Forgive me~?” Each word punctuated by another nibble.

“Maaaaaybe,” Cherry said in a voice that was half-moan. “Just promise me you’ll look for work today, and you might see Amy instead of me in bed.”

“You know that I love all of you,” he purred. “And yet, I have yet to sample...you~” he purred, tracing a circle around his Cutie Mark. “And yes, I promise.”

“Then be a good birdy tonight, and maybe you’ll see me as well,” Cherry purred back. “Now, lunch is nearly over, so I hafta go. You’d best go looking as well, loverbird.”

“Fine,” Ace groaned, getting up. Seems he had a mission now. Well, challenge accepted!

While it hadn’t been easy, Aerial Ace found some work at a place called ‘The Twisted Pony’ and while the name was a tad strange, the atmosphere was nice and the spa offered a wide variety of services. He had to demonstrate his techniques to secure employment, as ‘Supreme bird of Asskickery’ wasn’t a valid qualification.

He bounded up towards the ice-cream store to tell his mare/coltfriend, when he saw a foal leaving the window, only to trip and drop his ice-cream all over the pavement. The colt started to cry when Ace stepped forward, smiling softly.

“Hey now, no need for tears,’ he said.

“B-But...that..was all my pocket money,” he sniffed. “A-And now... I can’t get more....”

“That is a terrible predicament,” Ace nodded. “But I have it on good authority that Cherry over there is a pretty nice pony. Why don’t you come with me?”

“O-Okay,” he sniffed, as Ace picked him up and walked over to the window. “Oh Cherry? We have a case of the dropsies, which resulted in a rather sad case of the sniffles. As the resident prescriber of Happiness, do you happen to have a cure?”

Cherry let out a very dramatic gasp before nodding firmly. “In this case,” the stallion said, “The best cure is a straight-up replacement, but better. Hey kid, remind me of what you ordered please, I need something to work with.”

“Um, it was a Cherry Harmony Swirl. The one with three kinds of ice-cream.”

“Hmm, I’ve got a few variations on that,” Cherry said as he pulled a few scoops out. “Remember which one you ordered?”

“Vanilla, chocolate and mint,” he said. Ace licked his beak at that thought. He loved mint ice-cream. Cherry nodded, looked at the scoops he’d picked out, then put them back...and picked up larger ones.

“Let’s get delicious,” he said, before blurring into a series of motions that Ace had seen before. It wasn’t long before three scoops of cream had been pulled out and twirled into one really large scoop of combined ice-cream. After which, it was plunked into a bowl, had chocolate syrup and whipped cream added, before sprinkles and a cherry also found their way atop the monument to all things creamy and cold.

“One replacement Cherry Harmony Swirl, with all the fixings!” Cherry said happily. “Now just sit down and eat this one slowly, okay?”

“Wow! Thanks Mr. Cherry!” the colt could not have smiled any wider as he sat down at one of the outdoor tables, Ace carrying the ice-cream over to him.

“Mm, quite the handsome waiter you have today Cherry,” one mare spoke up, several other mothers agreeing.

“Sorry ladies, he’s taken,” Cherry said with a smile.

“As are we, but having a little eye candy to add your buffet of candy never hurt,” one winked. “I must say, you could bounce a Bit off that flank.”

“Wouldn’t know about that,” Cherry said, his smile never fading. “I just know I could hear what he and Amy got up the other night.”

“Oh?” Ace walked over, having heard the last part of that conversation. “Do you think I’d really leave you out dear Scoopy,” he whispered, leaning in to nuzzle his ear and eliciting a blush from all the mothers.

One colt looked over to see their parents blushing and giggling, before sighing.

“Moms are weird...”

“Acey~” Scoop whined, batting limply at the griffon with a hoof. “Not in front of the kids.”

“As you wish,” he smiled, before stealing some mint ice-cream and returning to his impromptu waiting duties. “Oh? As for what you asked earlier?” he spoke up, before giving the stallion a thumbs up.

“Goodie!” Scoop chirped. “I’ve got like...two hours left here. I oughta be home for dinner with time to spare.”

“Fair enough,” he turned and gave the group of mares a bow, causing them to swoon again, before taking wing and flying off. The mares soon turned to Scoop, a gleam in their eyes that screamed. ‘Details. Now dear.’

“Ladies, I am perfectly willing to share any details...over a nice bowl of ice cream,” Scoop grinned, already reaching for a clean scoop. The bits couldn’t fall on his counter fast enough.

A few days later, the reports and paperwork had finally been processed, and the day arrived for Level Ledger to receive his award for saving Las Pegasus. Midnight Song and Apple Cider sat behind the curtain, as Narrow Gaze gave her spiel about what had happened.

“Well, it’s now or never Levvy,” Midnight said as the changeling paced around. “You sure you want to go through with this?”

“Nope, not at all,” Ledger said completely honestly. “I barely managed my paperwork spell today. If things turn ugly out there, I only have my words to fall back on.”

“Narrow and myself will ensure that nopony will harm you,” Midnight said. “As will-” she paused as she realised that Ledger hadn’t been told who would be presenting his award. “Look, I will guarantee that nopony will harm you. Okay?”

“Still, this sort of situation is exactly the sort of thing Changelings have been trying to avoid,” Ledger sighed. “Just a normal life, where I could blend into the background. That’s all I needed. Instead, all this drama cropped up around me, and things are happening that I’m sure the Lands won’t like at all.”

“Look, if you wanna back out, then quit whining and do it,” Scope sighed. “I’m sure all these lovely ponies have better things to do. Or, you can grow a fucking pair, screw what the Lands think and pave the path for the rest of us here in Equestria!”

“Scopey...your motivational speeches are...” Midnight sighed.

“I...I’m not sure what’s going to happen after today,” Ledger admitted. “And the thought of that actually scares me. Because if today is as big as I think it’s going to be, it could go either way. Either it’ll go wonderfully, and everything will work out for every ‘ling. Or it’ll go terribly, and I’ll have to sleep with one eye open.”

“They’d have to get past me first,” Midnight said with tone. “As much as that speech sucked-”

“Hey!”

“Look, she has a point. This is a crossroad and you need to pick a path Levvy. Just remember, no matter which way you go. We’ll support you and love you, mmkay?”

Ledger nodded and seemed to recall something before laughing. “Heh. This isn’t about what I want to do. This is about what I need to do. Yes, I’m scared...but what matters is how I deal with it and do what must be done.” The drone took a few deep breaths and nodded. “Right. I’m still as scared as all get-out, but I think I’ll be able to hold it together for this ceremony now.”

“Good,” Midnight said, giving him a hug and kiss. “But there's something you should know-”

“And now, please welcome the one to present Secret-Hoarder with his accolade. Princess Celestia!”

The sounds of hooves stomping in applause was almost deafening. Ledger’s pupils visibly contracted as his breathing noticeably hitched. “Did...did she just say…”

“Uh, yeah...she’s gonna give you your award,” Midnight chuckled. Ledger just locked up, letting out something that sounded very much like a ‘meep’ as he considered the situation. If somepony looked real close, they might see smoke pouring out of his ears as he started to think way too hard about things.

“Okay...um, good luck?” Midnight said as she gave his flank a shove, sending the changeling stumbling towards the curtain.

“And now, may I present. Secret-Hoarder!” Narrow stated as Ledger stumbled out onto the stage.

In front of everypony.

Undisguised.

He gulped, hard, before giving the crowd his best, non-toothy smile.

Ponies seemed to find fangs upsetting for some reason. Best not to display them.

The crowd was dead quiet. Even the noisy reporters had fallen into a stunned silence. This was the first time many of them had ever seen a Changeling.

“This, mares and gentlestallions,” Narrow’s voice pervaded the quiet. “Is the Changeling that saved us from that monstrosity. The Changeling that saved the lives of your friends and family.”

“And one that has great bravery to step forward today,” Celestia smiled as she stepped forward. “One, that despite the stigmatism that Queen Chrysalis inflicted upon her kind, has stepped forward today to meet you all. I will admit to you all right now, that not all Changelings are like the ones you think you know. Secret here is just one of many. And it is my deepest wish, that we all take a step forward today, to help build new bridges. You all have that power, my little ponies. You just need the courage to take that first step.”

She leaned down, and in front of everyone, in front of flashing cameras and scribbling notes, gave Ledger a light nuzzle and smiled. “I welcome you. Secret-Hoarder of the Changeling race.”

Ledger gulped and smiled at the Princess, before looking at the crowd. “Do you think I should say a few words?” he asked the diarch in front of him.

“If you wish,” Celestia smiled. “They may have questions as well.”

Ledger nodded and took a step forward, to stand in front of the crowd. He raised a hoof for silence, something that the ponies granted him...for now.

“I did not ask for this award,” he opened with. “No Changeling would. I did what I had to do to stop my fallen kin from destroying anything else. He...could not be saved from the corruption that had claimed him by any other means. I would have preferred to save him, to purge him of his dark magic...but it had already claimed his heart. No Changeling would find joy in ending the life of another. Be they pony, Changeling, or anything else. I merely did what I had to do...to save many, at the expense of one.” His little speech done, Ledger nodded again, lowered his hoof, and waited for the questions to roll in.

They came in a torrent at first, all at once. But Celestia raised a hoof and the crowd fell into silence once more. She nodded at one and he started, holding up a recording crystal.

“Quick Snap, from the Las Pegasus Daily. Tell me, is this part of a secret invasion?”

“No,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “The monster he had become...the dark magics drove him insane. It is the duty of any and every one of us to find such anomalies and...remove them, before they harm you or make our existence known. Clearly, we failed in this instance.” Ledger finished by bowing his head to the reporter. “My deepest apologies it took us so long to stop him.”

Celestia nodded to another as he stepped forward. “Solid Box, from Equestria Daily. Tell us, is what the Princess said true? Are there more Changelings here?”

A trio of Violet-eyed triplets and an elderly silver-maned Unicorn stood at the back of the crowd, curious as to his answer.

“Permit me to answer your question with a series of observations and a question,” Ledger said, all smiles. “Changelings feed on emotions. We can’t really feed on each other without harming each other. Equestria’s one of the most prosperous nations on Equus. And quite a number of us are very creative when coming up with our aliases. The question you should be asking yourself is...when have there not been Changelings in Equestria?”

That started a murmur through the crowd as the triplets facehooved. Blunt Ledger was Blunt. And apparently loved messing with ponies heads.

One mare raised a hoof and Celestia nodded, allowing her to step up on stage. She gulped and took a step closer to Ledger. It took him a moment, but he recognised her as a tenant at his old building.

“You...probably don’t know me,” she said. “But I was close when that thing attacked. You...you saved a lot of lives, including mine and my little filly.” She took a step closer and held out a shaking hoof. Slowly, so as not to scare her off, Ledger raised his own hoof and gently met hers with his, something that took a minute to do.

At least until a little filly poked her head out from behind her mother, and with a wide grin, leapt at Ledger, hugging his chest as the crowd gasped. Ledger slowly stroked the filly’s mane with his raised hoof as he smiled down at her.

“And what’s your name, little one?” Ledger asked as he felt her affection pour off in waves.

“I’m Happy-Go-Lucky!” she giggled. “You’re funny looking~”

“Well to me, you’re the funny one,” Ledger said as he gently beeped her muzzle. “Where’s your carapace, or your holes, or your shell to keep your wings safe? To Changelings, ponies are the silly-looking ones.”

“Nu-uh!” she shook her head. “My wings are fluffy. You’re the silly one Mr. Cheese legs!”

Everypony just sweatdropped as they watched the banter. Even Celestia chuckled lightly at the scene.

“Whelp, guess I’m silly, funny, and cheesy,” Ledger said to the crowd at large. “Can’t argue with the filly.”

“Nup! I’m always right!” she giggled and kissed Level on the cheek. “Thanks for saving everypony.” She wiggled out of his grasp and ran back to her mother, relieved her child was in one piece.

But the event had a vast effect on the room. Within moments, almost everypony lined up to shake Ledger’s hoof, introduce themselves and just talk with him.

“This is surprisingly easier than I thought it would be,” Ledger whispered to Princess Celestia between hoofshakes.

“It can be at times,” she whispered back, glad she wasn’t the centre of attention for once. After the brief session, Celestia eventually presented his award. A gold medal with her Cutie mark on it.

“The Sun’s Grace. For going beyond the call of duty, and saving so many lives. “ Celestia said as the crowd cheered. Not everypony had been accepting, but those ones held their tongues as long as Celestia was around.

“Just doing what I could, your Highness,” Ledger said as he bowed his head, every inch the perfect servant.

“And I pray that you never have to do it again,” she said, as the Changeling rose. “This was a good step though. It will take some time, but I think that ponies will come to accept you soon enough.” Her point made as Happy waved from the crowd.

“Indeed, I think you might find yourself host to the Seven soon,” Ledger said with a smile. “If you’re really lucky, the elusive eighth might show up.”

“So my life gets more interesting hmm?” Celestia chuckled as she escorted Ledger backstage, leaving Narrow to deal with the remaining follow up. Midnight greeted him with a hug as Scope hid behind Cider, hoping Celestia wouldn’t vaporize her. Ledger just sighed and shifted back to his unicorn form, not wanting to explain why ‘Ledger’s’ mares were hugging ‘Secret-Hoarder’ in case a pony got curious and persistent.

“Yeah, Red through Silver have documented royal lines and proper Hives. In theory, Pink has their own nobility and royalty, but...they prefer to drift. They never built their own Hive. Rumors abound as to where the royal Pink of the generation is, but nobuggy ever found them more than once.”

“That’s quite interesting,” Celestia hummed. Even after a thousand years, it never got old learning something new. Her eyes widened slightly as a plan came together, a real lightbulb moment as she smiled to herself.

“Ack!” Ledger said as he held his stomach. “Too much! Too much!”

Celestia raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. “Hm? Are you alright Secret?”

“Silvers like the feeling of somepony learning, specifically that ‘Aha, I’ve got it!’ moment. You just...the amount of energy you give off? I don’t dare to think what might have happened if I had tried to contain it all,” Ledger said as he rubbed his stomach.

Celestia couldn’t help herself, the moment was just too good as she leaned down. “So my little Changeling, you like feasting on your Princess hmm~ Was I...satisfactory~?”

“Aaand now I’m wondering why the Violets aren’t showing up,” Ledger deadpanned. “Seriously, though, once word of this gets back to the Lands, I would expect the Seven to show up as a group during your day court one day...just to prove they can.”

“So, explain this Seven if you will,” Celestia said, swearing that somepony was watching her. Though the three sets of Violet eyes remained well hidden.

“The current Royal of each Color with a proper Hive,” Ledger said, shrugging. “Pretty straightforward. For something like this, they might come themselves, rather than send their representatives. I...sent a message once it happened that they would need to consider opening diplomatic relations with you. Something like that, so much publicity? I’m surprised they haven’t showed up already.”

“I can imagine this might force their hooves,” Celestia nodded. “I shall keep my eyes out for them in any case. Also...” She lowered her voice as she leant down. “I do not suppose you know of Chrysalis’ location?”

“No, and not for a lack of trying,” Ledger moaned. “We know now where she landed - the Badlands - but she wasn’t a moron, the invasion notwithstanding. She managed to walk out from her impact crater, so she had enough magic to absorb the blow. We saw her hoofprints. But it’s bad news, I’m afraid. Once she stopped staggering around, she was headed in one direction. Back the way she came from.”

“Back towards Canterlot?” Celestia questioned. “Why in Equus would she be going back?”

“She was a crazy noble denied her chance to shine,” Ledger sighed. “She either wants revenge, which isn’t uncommon, or she’ll be trying her plan again, only slower this time. I just hope we can find her before she arrives at any place with ponies.”

“I shall redouble my efforts to find her,” Celestia sighed. It would be tragic if Chrysalis tried something again. The ponies might not be so forgiving a second time. “Well, today was still a good day, let’s not mar it with such talk.”

“Yup, Ledgie was awesome,” Midnight giggled, kissing his cheek. “I am riding him so hard tonight~”

“...The Princess didn’t need to know that,” Level said with a furious blush.

“Canterlot has been far too quiet without you Midnight,” Celestia tittered. “And now you changelings stole my best instructor as well.” She smiled and looked at Ledger. “On that note, where may I find Amethyst Cream?”

“Iiiii think it’s her day off today?” Ledger said as he rubbed his chin. “She gets one day off between her two forms, I think it’s either today or tomorrow...Can’t recall.”

“No matter, I shall locate her...or him, which ever it may be.” Celestia smiled and gave one last look at the group. “Take care of this one ladies, he’s quite special.”

“I will,” Midnight replied, nuzzling Ledger. As Celestia left, Apple Cider finally collapsed.

“Ah...Ah met...the Princess!” she whispered.

“Mmhmm, and you’re still here,” Ledger said for both her and Scope. “Still...I vote we go back home and just relax. Today has played all sorts of Tartarus with my nerves.”

“Yup, snuggles await,” Midnight replied, as Scope tried to stuff herself in Cider’s saddlebag. First Luna, and then Celestia. Hives Above, was Cadence going to appear and ship her with Ledger next?

Chapter 25 - Clear as Crystal

The day had finally come. Ledger had managed to not only get the price of a ticket to the Crystal Empire down to reasonable levels.

Not only had gotten a line on a cheap hotel and a possible source or two of Crystal Berries for Apple Cider.

But he secured three tickets!

...Midnight, still being an agent of Celestia, got to travel for free.

Upon informing the other mares that he had tickets to go to the empire of crystals and ruled by a pink Alicorn, their reactions were...

“Well, of course ah’ll go,” Cider commented. “You still don’t know much about farmin’ so my knowledge will be useful.”

And Scope Lens?

“While I appreciate the gesture, won’t I just be in the way,” she said, not looking up from her new Daring Do book.

“So, you’d rather be left here, all alone, in a city with Amy in it, while everypony else goes up to the empire?” Ledger questioned. “Besides which, it’d be really hard for you to court me when I’m a whole empire away.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Scope blushed as she put her book into her saddle bag. Aside from that, she had also acquired all the Daring toys from Hayburger. “But you have a point about that Pink. When do we leave?”

Midnight chuckled as she finished packing her bag. Her body had aches all over it, thanks to Aerial Ace’s brutal training. But she was learning new things, and slowly, she was getting over her fears from Canterlot. Next time, she wouldn’t fail in protecting everypony.

“Train leaves at three,” Ledger said, looking at a clock that said one-thirty. “It’ll take us a whole day to get there, so pack something to entertain you on the way there and back.” That being said, he’d packed his bag. With his book, and that was it.

He didn’t even leave it out of sight at Cider’s for very long.

“Well, best get there early,” Midnight said as she closed her bag. As a Guard, she was used to traveling light. It seemed the only one with luggage at all was Cider.

“Ah feel sad,” she said. “Y’all look like homeless ponies, with how little you all have.”

“That’s our choice,” Ledger said. “Don’t even try denying that you enjoyed breaking in the new bed.”

“Y’all nearly broke it with how enthusiastic you were,” Cider blushed.

“And one of these days, you’ll remember that Cider’s room doesn’t have soundproofing,” Scope added, her own face red.

“Who says we didn’t remember then?” Ledger asked, perfectly straight-faced for all of two seconds before his expression morphed into a grin.

“Ass,” Scope muttered.

Everypony else laughed at a routine that was quickly becoming a regular occurrence. The three had moved in with Cider, and Ledger had felt much better when he received a significant portion of what had been in his study. The rest had been too contaminated by dark magic and had to be destroyed.

Aside from her room, Cider’s house also had two spare rooms. One had become Scope’s bedroom, and the other remained a guest room, due to the frequent visits from Cider’s family. She had a small crafts room that had been redone as Ledger’s new study, as he needed one for work.

All in all, life had returned to normal. Scope still assisted Midnight with her job, and also helped out around the farm on occasion. Winter was about to set in, as weather teams prepped for the first snowfall.

And now they were off to the Crystal Empire.

“Well, you always have the option to join us, Scopey,” Ledger said as he slipped his saddlebags on. “I’m sure you’ll work up the courage to ask sometime this millennium.”

“Argh! You are so insufferable!” she yelled. “Fine. Can I please come with you?”

“Oh, give Ledger a few minutes and he could easily make you come Scopey~”

“GODAMMIT MIDNIGHT!!”

“I am shocked, madam! Shocked and betrayed!” Ledger said, putting a hoof to his chest as he pulled Scope in for a hug. “Your insinuations wound me and her!”

“What, that it’d take you that long?” Cider said as straight as an arrow.

“That I wouldn’t do everything in my power to draw it out~” Ledger said in a now husky tone...right into Scope’s ear.

“Aaaaand you were doing so well,” Scope Lens sighed, not moving from the hug though. Honestly, she was getting used to the teasing at this point. She didn’t really mind though. “Why am I dreading spending the next few hours alone with you lot in a small steel box?”

“Probably because you know us,” Ledger said as he floated a ticket down in front of the small pegasus. “And maybe you misheard me, but I said it’d take us a day to get where we’re going.”

“Oh for Hives sake,” Scope sighed. “Well, at least I have the option of jumping from a moving train.”

“Safety wards to prevent that sort of thing were installed a hundred years ago,” Ledger said as he finally released the small mare. “Afraid you’re stuck with us. If you ask nicely, we’ll either try to keep the rutting down, or add you to it.”

“I regret all my life choices,” she deadpanned. “And are we going to keep teasing me? Or shall we catch the train before we’re too late?”

“We can still tease you on the way,” Ledger said as he stood up and put Scope on his back. “Coming, my mares?” he asked of Midnight and Cider.

“We already did that,” Midnight giggled. “That was why we did laundry at six AM.”

“It seems these two aren’t letting go anytime soon,” Cider sighed as she took Scope from Ledger and trotted off. “Let’s go Scopey.”

“Hey!” Ledger said as he followed after the Earth Pony. “I can walk and snark at the same time!”

“Right, drones can’t multitask,” Scope replied, waving from Cider’s back as she shifted to her Unicorn form. That way, she could counter if he tried to cheat with magic.

It didn’t stop Midnight from zooming past, snaring the mare and flying off, Scope yelling the whole time.

“Well...how do ya like them apples?” Cider sighed.

“We just have to trust they’ll be there on time,” Ledger shrugged. “Now, shall I accompany you to the luggage car of our ride, milady?”

“Why, such a gentlecolt,” Cider giggled. “Ah believe you may do just that good sir!”

After arriving at the station and seeing to Cider’s luggage being loaded, the Earth Pony and the Unicorn had walked through the train, looking for a good place for four ponies to sit for such a long ride.

Fortunately, a compartment wasn’t taken, and Ledger tested the integrity of the charms on it to make sure it’d been soundproofed and heated before nodding. “This one will work,” Ledger said. “The magic on it is still strong.”

“So, I will spend the next day in this tiny box with you three?” Scope sighed. “Wonderful.”

“You know you love us Scopey,” Midnight chuckled, nudging her inside the cabin.

“That’s the problem...”

“Only if you keep making it one,” Ledger said as he sat down, before educating the nymph. “You are aware that it’s the light and love of the Crystal Ponies that powers the Heart that keeps their Empire safe, right? And that they’re ruled over by Cadence, the Alicorn of love, right? I hear she’s very good at seeing love between ponies.”

“Good thing I’m a changeling,” Scope said, then a thought occurred to her as the train gave a shrill whistle. “Tell me, you recall the Canterlot wedding our kind trashed, yes?”

“Well aware,” Ledger said with a nod.

“Well, then you should know who was getting married. And who runs the Imperial City we are about to visit...”

“Yup, this’ll be fun,” Ledger agreed with a grin. “On the one hoof, we could be walking into the Ursa’s den. On the other hoof, you could be completely wrong, and she’s able to see the love between all beings. This could go horribly, or awkwardly.”

“We’re gonna die,” Scope replied dryly. “Well, I survived two Alicorns, so third time lucky perhaps.”

“You know, you’re being especially ‘Scopey’ today,’ Midnight hummed. “You need to loosen up. Relax a little. Maybe play with your Daring Do toys for a while?”

“H-H-How the hell do you know about that!?” Scope blushed, her eyes nearly bugging out of her head.

“Ledger muttered it in his sleep once,” Midnight smiled as Scope turned on him. Her glare promising all manner of painful deaths. Ledger settled for a quick hug of the petite pegasus before kissing her on the top of her head. Hopefully that still worked...

She responded by shifting into her true form, and enjoying the brief moment of panic that caused as she buzzed free. “Hehe, can’t do much now huh?” she giggled. This was always her trump card for getting him to stop.

“Scopey, that’s cheating,” Cider hummed, snuggling up against Ledger. “You know he doesn’t like it when you do that.”

“Eh, the more she does it, the more used to it I get,” Ledger said as he waved a hoof. “One day it just won’t work anymore.”

“Buzzkill,” Scope pouted as she donned the Pegasus form and sat next to Midnight. “So, how are sleeping arrangements going to work for this trip? If we aren’t getting there till tomorrow...”

“Ah doubt the beds in the sleeper car will fit three ponies,” Cider said. “So the question remains... who gets to sleep with who?”

The three mares looked at one another with passive stares, but the atmosphere was anything but. There was enough pressure to squash an Ursa Major right now.

“Well,” Ledger observed aloud, “I doubt Scope wants to sleep with me at this juncture. No offense.”

Cider and Midnight were already butting heads as they looked into one another's eyes. Before their wrath turned on Ledger.

“Well then,” they said in unison. “Choose!”

“...Y’know what, at this point?” Ledger said with a deadpan as he put Scope on his back. “If the pair of you aren’t going to be civil about it, I’ll cuddle her to sleep. Yeah, she might hate it, but at least I know where she stands. I pick either of you, the other will destroy me for choosing. I only have to worry about her biting me if I choose Scope.”

Scope looked at them and sighed. “You know...the sleeper car is four single beds. You are aware of that fact yes?”

The look on Ciders and Midnight’s faces said that they did not.

“And secondly,” Scope said while she was on a roll. “We have to come back right? Even if you could sleep with him. One could do so on the way, and the other on the way back. Hives, it’s like I’m the only one with intelligence on a measurable level.”

“Let’s be fair,” Ledger said. “They’re not exactly thinking logically right now, and when they put me in those sorts of situations, neither do I. If I didn’t have two mares being very irrational at me, I’m pretty sure I’d have come to the same conclusion as you did Scope. That being said, well done on refining my headache.”

“I try,” Scope hummed as she sat down. “Silly ponies amuse me.”

“Still, I think I’m just going to sit over here and hug you while the pair of them work out a reasonable compromise,” Ledger said as he did just that, before saying something to her in Changeish. “With any luck, they’ll argue until they fall asleep.”

“One can only hope,” Scope hummed. After a few words and some conspiring whispers. The two mares trotted off in search of the snack car, leaving the two Changelings alone in the carriage.

“So...” Scope hummed, rocking in her seat. “What’s new?”

“Not much,” Ledger said with a hum. “Although...it took me about a week and a half to get to Las Pegasus from the closest border town...” He seemed to be thinking of something, before he broke into a grin. “Factoring in your warning, along with Equestria’s rail system...I’d say a certain solar Alicorn is probably going to be meeting some very unique ponies right about now. What I would not give to be a fly on that wall.”

Scope blinked, before her eyes widened as she realized what he was talking about. “You mean...you sicced the Seven, on the ruler of the entire pony nation?”

“For something like that commendation,” Ledger clarified, “I would be highly surprised if they Seven didn’t come themselves to see both Princesses.”

“You know, for once I agree with you. I would pay anything to see that meeting. Though, they may fight with each other so much...well,” Scope paused and snickered, her eyes dancing with mirth. “I hear the moon is lovely this time of year.”

“They’d be lucky if they didn’t get the sun,” Ledger snerked, before thinking. “Um. And does...anybuggy have any idea where the Pink might be?”

“Well, last I heard...” Scope hummed as she reached out with her magic. Somepony in the next carriage had a lot of love floating about, they wouldn’t miss a small bit. “They were...hmm, that’s odd. I can’t remember.”

“Typical Pinks,” Ledger said as he rolled his eyes. “I swear, I would not be surprised if my family started to pay a visit as well, with all this attention going around. They’ll likely put a few things together. I’ll be sure to warn you if one of them does show up.”

"Your parents? Why would I be worried about them?” she inquired with a head tilt. Ledger shook his head before replying.

“It’s not my parents I’m afraid of you meeting, it’s...okay, mom has a small...ish, amount of drones that live with her besides my dad. And I was the firstborn. She...decided to give a kid to all the other drones as well. And she’s the noble of the family, so all my siblings are as well,” Ledger outlined.

“So, you have a big family,” she said. “Lemme guess, you have some obnoxious little sister?”

...

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“All of my siblings are obnoxious, or I’m just the weird one,” Ledger said. “First, we have my younger brothers. A Red, Yellow, and Blue. And they’re either plotting together or fighting each other.”

“Sounds fun,” Scope deadpanned. “When growing up, it was just me and a small legion of blues. Ate the same meals. Did the same training. It was like...looking in a mirror all day, every day.”

“My sympathies,” Ledger said honestly. “But you didn’t let me finish. My first sister is a Green...and we barely get along. I tried to measure, she tried to describe, how our arguments end up...and we both failed. And then we have my youngest sibling.” Here Ledger paused for a moment, as if trying to figure out the right words to use.

“She’s...a Pink.”

“You have my sympathies,” Scope said, looking like somepony had just died. “So, I take it that she’s the little monster of the family?”

“You’ve met Amy...or Cherry, whichever side the Pink of Las Pegasus used, right?” Ledger asked.

Scope shuddered and looked out the window. “Ace will never know how grateful I am for him, as he seems to have distracted her from my losing my bet.”

“Little Joyful-Heart is worse,” Ledger deadpanned. “She’d be about the age I was when I set off on my journey by now...so eleven. Close to twelve. And a noble to boot.”

“A noble. Pre-teen. Pink?” Scope had a faraway look in her eyes. Something like that should never be unleashed upon the world. “O-On a lighter note, where have those ponies of yours gone?”

“Eh, just the car in front of us,” Ledger said. “Even I can feel that. Though...hmm. There is a lot of love on this train, isn’t there?” Ledger asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I know,” Scope said, rubbing her belly. “I can sense a good deal of loyalty as well, and that overconfident love? Hives, it feels like there’s an orgy and I wasn’t invited.”

“Even if you were, you’d probably sit it out,” Ledger teased. “You’re no Violet after all.”

“I can’t believe they did that to me,” she frowned. “I wish to enact some revenge at some point, in the form of a rather embarrassing prank. I could use assistance in this matter.”

“Well,” Ledger said with a smirk. “I have it on good authority the Violets are looking into brewing their own drinks. Now, I can’t condone something happening to all the drinks they make...but perhaps just a bottle or two would be enough to sate your desire for revenge?”

“I like the sound of that,” Scope giggled. “I have it on good authority that they keep a special wine for their, activities. Perhaps we could...spice things up?”

“I leave it entirely up to you,” Ledger said with a grin. “Sadly, that does mean entirely, but I am happy to have given you a nudge in the right direction...and if you want spice, mix a large quantity of cinnamon with some of those peppers that pony with the large sunhat grows.”

“An interesting proposal,” Scope hummed a she rubbed her hooves together. “Or, I mix a little sleepweed. Doesn’t affect us changelings unless it’s a high dose. But a pony?” she chuckled darkly and Ledger could swear that he saw some lightning flash. “Imagine the look on the Violets face when their stallion falls asleep mid-buck?”

“Better idea, tone back the amount of sleepweed,” Ledger said with a wicked grin. “If you use a small enough amount, it acts to help keep the stallion from getting aroused in the first place.”

Scope chuckled, perhaps one more fitting a dark king, or a wicked queen of the night.

~*~

In the snack cart, Midnight shuddered as she browsed the salad bar. She looked at her marefriend, who was busy tutoring the poor chef in the proper art of peeling apples.

“I feel...a disturbance in the sexyforce...”

~*~

“Though, if Midnight or Cider come to me wondering why they haven’t felt ‘in the mood’ for long enough for it to be unnatural to them, you’d best believe I’ll point them in your direction,” Ledger warned the nymph. “I’m no Blue.”

“You wound me dear Ledger, would I be so vindictive as to do something like that?” Scope said cutely, batting her eyes.

“To get a moment of peace and quiet? I’m surprised you don’t have some packed,” Ledger said in an even tone.

Scope held her saddlebag a little closer.

Midnight and Cider eventually returned, the later looking quite satisfied with herself.

“Look, all ah’m sayin’ is that iffn y’all are gonna say yer a ‘Master Chef’, then at least know how to peel an apple correctly!”

“Well, maybe I can peel your apple later~” Midnight winked, causing her mare to blush and splutter.

“You have no idea how right you are," Scope sighed to Ledger.

Later that evening, the weather had started to cool significantly as Scope let out a small shiver. She hated cold weather. Midnight had put her wing around her as porters dispensed blankets and pillows to those that wanted them, as well as pots of coffee and hot chocolate.

Lush green fields had started to give way to snow-covered plains as Luna’s moon started its climb. Without the light pollution from the big city, the night sky was so clear, an ocean of stars spread as far as the eye could see.

Midnight sighed softly as she stared out of the window.

“Can’t sleep?” Ledger softly asked, not looking up from his book. At some point during the night, he had cracked it open and all but buried his muzzle in it.

“Hmm, not really.” Midnight hummed as she looked at Scope’s sleeping form. “I’m a little jealous of Pegasi,” she gave her leathery wings a small flutter. “These aren’t made to keep me warm.”

“And ‘lings hate cold weather more than you,” Ledger said as he turned a page. “Were it not for the fact that the empire has a weather shield around it, I wouldn’t even consider going. We don’t do well in the cold in our true forms. Even when we shift, we can feel it.”

“Yeah, that must suck,” Midnight hummed as she pulled Scope closer to use her body heat. “Still, it’ll be nice to visit the Empire. I wonder if Shiny Hiney is doing okay.”

“You know the newest prince?” Ledger asked, looking over his book at the batpony.

“Well duh, I was in the Solar Guard for the last five years. Who do you think my Captain was?”

“Fair enough,” Ledger said with a chuckle as he returned to his book, before pausing and asking another question. “Compared to your fears...would you say he’s better or worse regarding...”

“Honestly? I have no idea,” Midnight replied with a small frown. “I mean, he has a lot of hate for Chrysalis personally. But I don’t know where he stands on other Changeling’s. At best, I’d say something ranging between strong distrust to kill on sight.”

“Whelp, let’s just hope they haven’t added an anti-changeling charm to their weather shield,” Ledger said as he returned to his book, flipping a page. “Cause otherwise, this would be the shortest visit ever for me and Scope.”

“Well, I’ll ask the kitchen for a paint scraper if the shield works then,” Midnight chuckled. “Though, I’d prefer if my special somebuggies didn’t come home in a jar.”

“As would we,” Ledger said, nodding as kept reading. “Hmm, nearly forgot about that...and I need to add a spell here.” With that, Ledger pulled out an inkpot and quill from his saddlebags, before scratching something into the book.

“Watcha writing there?” Song inquired, trying to peer over the edge of the book, but couldn’t without waking Scope.

“Just the details of the spell you and Cider seem to enjoy so much, along with my observations about variables that can be tweaked in it,” Ledger said as the quill kept moving. “Every bit of knowledge is useful, after all. Who knows, I might be able to derive a spell from this to make brussel sprouts and spinach taste palatable to a certain Thestral.”

“Yeah, best of luck with that,” Midnight poked out her tongue. Ledger just scratched another note in next to the spell, before pausing and flipping back to earlier pages and scratching more notes down.

“And now I have ideas,” Ledger said with a smirk. “Well, I think that’ll be enough for right now.” With a quick flash-dry spell to make sure the ink didn’t run, the book was snapped shut and returned to his bag, along with the quill and ink.

“I hate it when you say that,” Midnight smirked. “Because it usually means that Cider or myself are going to be inevitable test subjects.”

“You liked the last test, and I was the test subject,” Ledger refuted. “Well, mostly.”

“Make it taste like chocolate, and every mare in Equestria will be eating out of your hoof,” Midnight laughed. Ledger merely raised a hoof and pointed at his bag.

“Already written down,” he said. “Along with the defaults that you two seem to enjoy. I might be able to use that spell on other things, but until I do, I’m keeping my tinkering with it secret.”

“Of course you have,” Midnight facehooved before yawning cutely. She snuggled in her blanket a little more and sighed. “I guess I should get some sleep. Just never could do so on transport of any kind.”

“Dare I ask why?” Ledger queried. “You’re surrounded by ponies who trust you and, I hope, you trust in turn.”

“Ah, it’s nothing like that. I’m just sensitive to movement, so I have trouble falling asleep.” Midnight yawned again, but her eyes refused to stay closed. “I can always nap later. So don’t worry about me.”

“Nonsense,” Ledger said with a wave of his hoof. “I think I can help.” With a moment of concentration and a tongue sticking out of his mouth, Ledger nodded and opened his mouth again.

His previous attempt at singing had been...atrocious. This, was significantly better.

He sang to Midnight softly, in the Changeish tongue, something that sounded remarkably like a lullaby even with the language barrier. She closed her eyes, just listening to the song.

That was the thing about music, you didn’t need to understand the words to understand the emotion and purpose behind it. After a few minutes, Midnight Song was off to Luna’s Realm.

“And then there was one,” Ledger said as he closed his eyes. And soon, not even he remained awake.

The shrill whistle of the train provided a rather rude and unwanted awakening to the group, a certain Thestral’s sensitive hearing provided the greatest reaction, as she clung to the overhead compartment, her fur standing on end and her eyes as wide as saucers.

“I’ll get the coffee,” Ledger groused as he stood up and stretched, double-checking his disguise was active before nodding at the others. “You two can come up with a breakfast menu you want me to grab after you get the bat down from the belfry.”

Cider blinked a sleepy eye and thumped the wall of the room, as Midnight came crashing down to the ground, one of the bags landing on top of her.

“Ah bagged a bat,” she muttered, before going back to sleep. Ledger just shook his head and left to get the coffee anyways.

He never could go back to sleep immediately after waking up. Part habit, he supposed. Every time he tried, time just ticked by and he got more irritable the longer he was awake without coffee. With a quick check, the unicorn nodded and was off to the dining car for coffee for them all.

Scope stretched not unlike a cat and yawned adorably. Now that her source of warmth was on the floor, she saw no reason to remain asleep.

“So, where’s the Great Prince of Snarkness?’ she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Midnight just groaned and Cider snored peacefully.

“Well, great help you two are,” she muttered. It would be a minute before Ledger returned, but when he did, it was with something that immediately changed the mood in the room.

He came back with three separate cups of coffee for them, while sipping from a fourth.

“Mine!” Scope cried, diving across the cramped room, snaring one cup and landing on the opposite chair, already sipping at it, her wings fluttering with excited content.

“And good morning to you too,” Ledger said as he floated the other cups past Midnight and Cider’s muzzles, waiting for a reaction. A chocolate hoof snared her cup, a tongue flickering out from under the bag to sip at the coffee.

Cider defied physics as she moved from a horizontal to a vertical position. Her mane sticking out like a Neighponese comic character.

“Coffeeeeee...” she groaned as she took the mug.

“And once you are more civilized, we can talk breakfast delivery,” Ledger said with a smile. The mare downed her coffee down in a gulp, sighing contently. Her azure eyes opened and looked much more alive.

“Well, how’s everypony doing this mornin’? Ah slept like a pig in a blanket.”

“And Cider’s countryisms never fail to produce interesting mental images,” Midnight hummed as she sat up.

“So. what do you guys want to eat?” Ledger said as the drank from his cup again.

“You know, I could really go for some fish,” Midnight hummed. “It’s so damned cold, I want something warm to eat.”

“I second that,” Scope hummed. “And I might scry for some Loyalty or Determination. That never fails to warm the chitin.”

“All ah want is some toast with fruit,” Cider said, blinking slightly. “But now that feels either very plain or just out of place with you lot.”

“It’s fine,” Ledger said as he smiled at Cider. “So, toast with fruit for you?”

“Please,” Cider nodded.

“Aww, now I want fruit toast as well,” Midnight said as her stomach rumbled. “Here’s an idea, why don’t we all go and eat in the dining car?”

“Because having everypony move through these hallways would be an experience,” Ledger deadpanned. “But if you two wanna go get some more physical foodstuff, feel free.”

“Whelp, we’ll do just that,” Cider nodded and grabbed her marefriend, dragging her off.

“Alone again,” Scope hummed, a small smirk on her face. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were doing it on purpose Ledger~”

“It’s a total coincidence, I swear,” Ledger said as he sat opposite the smaller pegasus. “Once they’ve had their fill, we can go get ours.”

“Shouldn’t be hard,” Scope hummed, switching to her Unicorn form. “Somepony on this train has a butt-ton of love floating about. Most seems to be focused on a single other, but it drifts around as well...”

“You realize, that could be any couple?” Ledger asked with a raised eyebrow. “Plus we’re going to the city of love. Assuming we can get in, as long as you keep your cover up, I doubt you’ll go hungry.”

“Yeah,” Scope yawned again and sipped at her coffee. “The barrier around the city still concerns me though. I really don’t feel like being squished.”

“We’ll be fine. Probably. Most likely.” Ledger paused and ran a few numbers in his head. “Okay, I put our odds at fifty-fifty, actually. How fast are you at teleporting?”

“If I build a charge now and keep it on standby? About a half second, with a range of around a third of a mile or so.”

“Good,” Ledger said with a nod. “Think you could take two?”

“As long as you’re touching me at the time, it shouldn’t be a problem... I’ll need a little more power though...” Scope blushed slightly.

“Willingly given,” Ledger said with a smile. “We’d just need to get off the train if the barrier proves to be harmful to us...and then somehow survive until another train comes by...y’know what, I say stock up on the ambient emotions while you can, Scope. We might need it.”

The train gave another whistle just as Midnight and Cider returned.

“All passengers. We are around fifteen minutes from our destination. Please ensure that you have all of your belongings.”

“I think I’ll need to hurry,” Scope said and turned to face Midnight. “Mistress? If you would be so kind as to forgive me?”

“For wha-MMPH?” Midnight’s reply was cut off as Scope leaned up and kissed her deeply, a fierce blush adorning her face.

Cider watched as she ate her toast. “Well,” she said after swallowing. “That’s new.”

“I give it a seven,” Ledger said as he rotated a few joints to work the kinks out of them. “She took Midnight by surprise. Now if Midnight had gotten into it, it’d be an eight, easy. Nine if she was using her tongue.”

There was a brief glimmer in Midnight’s eye as she smiled and pushed the nymph down on the seat, straddling her chest and deepening the kiss, Scope protested at first, before moaning as she wrapped her hooves around the Thestral.

“Yer just had to go and give ‘er ideas huh?” Cider replied dryly.

“Yup,” Ledger said shamelessly. “And if it were to get into ten territory, well, we don’t actually have time for that, so I will pull the two of them apart if it gets any more raunchy.”

“Pwah!” Scope pushed the Thestral back and panted. “O-Okay...I..have enough...now...”

“Aw, I was just getting started,” Midnight hummed, before she shook her head and smiled sheepishly. “Eh...sorry about that Levvy, Cidey.”

Cider shrugged, “Meh, it was a nice show.”

“A fine show indeed,” Ledger agreed, before retrieving the small unicorn and putting her on his back. “Scope and I are going to get something to munch on from the dining car before they close down. I hope you two don’t mind being left alone.”

“Sure, abandon your lovely marefriends,” Midnight swooned dramatically. “Left alone in the cold, lonely railcar...”

Scope had already hopped down from Ledger’s back and walked out of the room at the sound of the over-dramatic tone Midnight was using..

“Wow...maybe it’d be colder going with you,” the Thestral hummed.

“Besides which, you have Cider. If you’re still lonely with her around, we’re doing something wrong,” the unicorn observed before closing the door behind him with a snicker.

“Only if she starts going on about apples again!” Midnight called out, then paused as she felt a glaring pair of azure eyes on her.

“And what exactly is wrong with apples!?” Cider said sternly.

“Celestia save me,” Midnight whispered as the apple-related tirade started...

As Ledger and Scope passed another private cabin, the unicorn mare paused, tilted her head and then shrugged before continuing. “Huh? That was weird...”

“You’re more sensitive than I am to those sorts of things anyways,” Ledger pointed out as the pair of unicorns prepared to enter the diner car. “Which means I’m hoping you’ll be able to tell me when the shield is coming, so we can brace ourselves.”

“Yeah, I’m keeping an eye on that...” Scope said offhandedly. “Just...thought I sensed somepony familiar. But then, all these ponies look and smell alike.” Ignoring the sense of deja vu, she trotted after Ledger, her tail swaying slightly as one of Midnight’s songs got stuck in her head.

Level quickly grabbed ahold of the door in front of them with his magic and yanked it open, trying to act as a wind-block for the smaller unicorn during their travel between cars. While there wasn’t much wind, normally, they were going at a pretty nice clip. Thankfully, the next car wasn’t that far from where they’d started, and with a repeat performance, Ledger and Scope were in the dining car.

“Okay, I motion that we not do that again until we absolutely have to,” Ledger said, shaking himself from the cold.

“N-No k-kidding...” Scope shivered. At least the dining car was heated, and Scope was seriously tempted to just Teleport back to the cabin. “S-So, any idea...what you wanna get?”

“I doubt anything they made will stand up to the things you and Cider get up to, but I’ll give it a go,” Level said as the heat finally sunk in. While the downside of being a Changeling was, besides everything else, being quicker to freeze, that also meant that when they were put in a warm environment, ‘lings warmed up quickly too. “I’ll just take a look and see what’s available. Didn’t really get a good look when I came here for the coffee.”

Scope finally warmed up also, switching from cold to hot so fast was annoying, not to mention a good way to catch a cold. Something further down the carriage suddenly caught her attention, and decided to get a better look, slipping away unnoticed and leaving Ledger to talk to himself as he scanned the menu. The taller unicorn eventually caught on that he’d been abandoned and looked at the menu before smiling.

“Omelets. I love a well-done omelet,” the brown-coated stallion said before walking up to the ponies in charge of making the food.

“Your best omelet, please,” Ledger said as he sat himself at the bar separating him from the chefs.

“Right away, sir,” the Earth Pony said with a nod before turning and trotting down to Scope. “And you, little miss?” she said, looking at the smaller unicorn with a smile.

“Uh, same, whatever!” Scope waved her off as she as trounced some foals playing the Daring Do Trading Card game. “HAH! The Alicorn Amulet! Suck it!”

“Aw man!” the colt opposite her sighed. “Three minutes... so not cool...”

“Your daughter is quite energetic,” the mare said before turning her back and beginning her work. Thus, she did not see that Ledger had frozen in place as his brain tried to process her statement with his reality.

And failed miserably.

After four consecutive wins and some sharing of addresses for later correspondence, Scope trotted back over to Ledger, placing some cards that the kids had given her into her bag. She raised one eyebrow at the look on his face.

“Uh, you okay there Ledger? You look like somepony after dealing with that Pink menace.”

The chef returned then, placing a large and regular omelet in front of Ledger and Scope, respectively. “Two omelets with all the additions,” she chirped happily. “It’s so nice to see a dad and his daughter making the trip to the Crystal Empire together.” With that, the oblivious mare turned to her next customer. She’d wait until they were done eating before collecting her pay.

“Wai- whaaa?” Scope paused as she looked at Ledger, and then the grin on her face spread so wide, it made Ghastly Gorge look like a crack in the pavement. “Oh? I see, thanks for the breakfast... Daddy~”

“Scope...just...no,” Ledger said as he slowly came back to rationality. “Please no. There is not enough no in any tongue to express how much I don’t want you saying that word to me.”

“Yeah...even I have limits,” she poked at her omelet and shrugged. “Well...it was funny at the time and-” Her horn suddenly flared up as a light washed over them. It pushed them lightly, kinda like hitting water face first, before their entire body felt like it had pins and needles.

Ah...hello. Well...you two are...interesting.

Ledger heard that in his head before turning to Scope, an expression of confusion written across his face. “Did you hear that?” he whispered to the smaller unicorn.

“I’m a little more concerned that we just passed the shield without dying...” Scope replied, her eyes wide. Okay, who the buck are you?

Relax, little form-shifters...or is that not the name you use anymore? In any case, I decide who enters and who doesn’t...and it is my job to dispel darkness and keep the wicked away. I see no reason to bar you from entering, as long as you don’t attempt any violence upon the ponies of this empire. Your pasts may be...cloudy, but you have worked hard to redeem yourself, as your hearts shine brightly with love and light.

“Oh buck,” Ledger said, eyes shrinking in panic. “We’re being judged by the Heart itself.”

“That’s...impossible,” Scope whispered. “It’s just a thing. An artifact born of powerful magic. How is it sentient...and why does it sound so cute!?”

Aww, thanks for the compliment! And not everyone can hear me. Your kind certainly can, and the one that sits on the throne at the moment, this Cadance? If she tried, she might hear me as well. It takes understanding love, or being connected to it...differently, like you, to hear me. There was a pause for a moment, before the voice continued. And I honestly don’t know how I first came to have actual thoughts. One moment I’m just a relic...and the next, I’m being filled with light and love and wisdom and understanding and...I’m connected to everypony in the Empire. Not a lot of ponies seem to think that the connection could be two-way. I’ve learned from them as I’ve protected them.

“Not even Princess Heart-butt knows?” Scope blinked.

She never asked, was the reply.

“Hey, I think I like this guy,” Ledger said with a grin.

“You would,” Scope sighed. “Still, this is interesting...a little weird having somebuggy talk in my head without the Hivemind spell, but interesting.”

Just a fair warning to you. You ought to be able to survive on the ambient love, and if you need a little, just let me know. Don’t go draining my charges. Understand?

Ledger nodded, even though the Heart wouldn’t be able to hear it. “Got it.”

“Pft, with Midnight, we never have to fear starving,” Scope chuckled. “I think that mare might have more love than even you Hearty~”

You mean the damaged mare? The heart asked somberly. Yeah, I’ll do my best to help her while she’s here...this is probably the best place for her to be, actually. Oh, and just so you know? The prince...is of the opinion that me doing my job means he’ll never see one of your kind up here, so he’s not worried about you. I’m hesitant to say what your final fate would be if he found you...but if he tries anything, just call for me. I’ll try to get in touch with Cadance before anything...too bad happens.

“Again, I counter with ‘We have a Midnight’,” Scope giggled. Now that would be something, Midnight Song vs. Shining Armor.

Fair enough...oh, and let me be the first to say this. Welcome to the Crystal Empire. Enjoy your stay. With that, the voice cut out with a small squeal before even that vanished.

“Okay, that. That was the fourth weirdest thing I’ve experienced.” Ledger said, slowly shaking his head before resuming his breakfast of now-cooled omelet.

“Only fourth?” Scope blinked, before destroying her omelet with her face. During the small feeding frenzy, several ponies stared in disgust and maybe a little awe, the foals she was playing with before just giggled and began to eat in a similar manner.

“Mmhmm,” Ledger said with a nod. “Third is the relationship Midnight and Cider proposed to me. Second is of course Amy.”

“While I just know I am going to regret this...” Scope wiped her muzzle. “What’s the first?”

“The day my littlest sister got her hooves on some sugar,” Ledger deadpanned. “I don’t know where the oatmeal came from, where the indoor pool came from, or where the donkey came from, or why they were all together...and that was just the start.”

Scope’s brain came to a screeching halt. No...just, don’t think about it. Whatever you do Scope Lens. Do. Not. Ask-

“What happened?”

DAMMIT!

“On the upside, I got a new feature in my room. And a temporary roommate. On the downside, it was filled with oatmeal, and so were we for the next few weeks.” Ledger finally finished his omelet and nodded. “To this day I can’t stand the stuff. And she did...other things to my other family members as well, until she finally crashed after putting a clown wig and nose on mother.”

“I don’t even...” Scope thunked her head onto the table. She needed something normal to balance this out stat. Her horn lit up and with a distinct ‘pop’ the duo vanished from the table, the only sign they were even there were some empty plates and a few bits...

The second she materialized the two changelings inside their cabin, she dove for Cider and hugged her.

“So, I have news,” Ledger said to the two mares that had been in the cabin before their sudden arrival. “You can pick. Good news or bad news first.”

Midnight barely resisted the urge to punch the suddenly appearing Changelings. “One, don’t do that again. And two, does it have something to do with why Scopey looks like she witnessed the end of the world?”

“Completely unrelated, I assure you,” Ledger said with an honest smile. “And I wasn’t the one teleporting us. Now do pick, dear Midnight.”

“Fine, let’s go with bad first,” she said. “Gives me more time to prepare.”

“Bad news is, Prince Shining Armor is Changeling-phobic to the point of unpredictability,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “Understandable, but it may end badly if we get made.”

“I figured as much and...” she paused as she processed that information. “How do you know that?”

“That’s the good news!” Ledger beamed. “The Heart has apparently judged us and found us worthy, as evidenced by the fact that we’re in the shield and alive. Also, the Heart is someone I can relate to.”

“Yep, the Crystal Heart is apparently sentient and has a philosophy on life similar to Level Ledger.” Scope Lens sighed and looked out of the window. “Now all it needs is his academic ’curiosity’ and we will have a city that I will never set hoof in ever again.”

“It did say the connection went both ways and it learned from its ponies as it protected them,” Ledger mused. “I just hope we don’t incur its wrath while we’re here.”

“I am now suitably impressed and terrified,” Midnight said nonchalantly. “It feels a little weird actually.”

“If ah may,” Cider finally spoke up, raising a hoof. “One, why is Scope bein’ all clingy? And two, ah think we’re about there.”

“Oh?” Ledger said as he looked out the window to see the platform fast approaching. “Ah. And Midnight will get this. You might not right away.” He paused for dramatic effect before continuing.

“My mother is the noble in the family. My youngest sister is a Pink. I told Scope some of what happened when she got her hooves on sugar.”

Midnight fell quiet while Cider...frowned?

“Uh, ah’m gonna need a little context, given mah experience with Changelings and sugar.”

“What does that mean?” Scope tilted her head.

“Oh...Ledger knows exactly whut ah’m talkin’ about.”

“The first time anybuggy gets a taste of sugar, they tend to be a little...hyper. Pinks feed on happiness and are a little crazy by default. Toss in a noble bloodline and a two-pound bag of sugar, that was supposed to be for all the family, that little Joyful-Heart scarfed down like it was the best thing ever?...”

“Nope, not gonna ask,” Midnight said adamantly. She grabbed her bag as the train ground to a screeching halt. “If I do, I feel like I should throw myself in front of this train. So let’s just go hmm?”

“Ah still feel like ah’m missing something,” Cider frowned. “Changelin’s are weird.”

“You should hang out around Cherry or Amy when we get back,” Ledger said as he grabbed his own bag. “Then you might get a feeling as to what a Pink can do.”

“I really don’t think we should subject Cider to that,” Scope said as she fixed her saddlebags. “We need at least one sane pony in this relationship.”

Ledger just grinned at Scope before opening the door. “I was unaware you counted yourself as a member of our relationship already, Miss Lens...or as a member of the less than sane.” With that, the taller unicorn galloped off in an effort to escape the small mare’s wrath once she figured out how he’d turned her words back on her.

“...What?” Scope blinked before flushing a bright red. “Get back here so I can skin you alive!” she shrieked, chasing after him.

“Whelp...ah guess ah can handle being sane...comparatively speaking,” Cider hummed as she followed her herdmates and the plus one. This promised to be an interesting vacation in the Empire, and it hadn’t even started yet...

Chapter 26 - Berry good, Sir

Once the chase had died down (After ten minutes of Scope chasing Ledger around the train like a foal on a sugar rush,) Ledger had accompanied Cider to the luggage car to make sure she wasn’t forgetting any of her luggage and began leading the mares into the crystal city. He kept looking at the buildings they were passing, looking for the hotel he’d heard about before making the trip.

“Nope, gotta do it!” Midnight suddenly nodded. “Scopey, hold my stuff.”

“Wha-Guh!” Scope groaned as Midnight dumped her bag onto the mare and spread her wings, rocketing off into the sky.

“She was just cooped up on a train for a while,” the unicorn stallion observed. “I’d be surprised if she didn’t feel like stretching her wings.”

Truth was, Midnight just wanted an aerial view of the city. She kept flying, until she could almost touch the barrier at the top.

“Hmm, I wonder...” She poked her head through it and suddenly yelped in shock. “Ah, fuck! Cold! coldcoldcoldcold!” she instantly regretted that particular decision as she pulled her head back down.

The city itself was beautiful though. And from this high up, you could see how the streets were planned out. It kinda looked like a giant snowflake. The sun hit the palace just right and the whole thing shone. As she soared over a large stadium, she looked down and saw somepony...familiar. Well, at least the white-coated Unicorn stallion stood out from the platoon of Crystal Ponies he was shouting at.

An evil thought crossed her mind, but shook it off. Her revenge must be timed just right. A quick dip of her wing and she was flying back towards Ledger and the group.

Down below, an orange Pegasus tapped his chin and hummed. “You don’t see many Bat ponies here in the Empire...”

Ledger had finally located the hotel he’d heard about and smiled before pointing at it with a hoof. “Not too pricey, doesn’t gouge ponies for being tourists, friendly service-”

“I’ll show you service~” Midnight breathed huskily into his ear as he found himself on the ground, the Thestral straddling him in the middle of the street after she’d tackle-hugged him.

“I’m sure you will,” Ledger said into the street before lifting his head and smirking. “Remember, for you and Scope, this is a vacation. Me and Cider have a few ponies to visit before we can properly relax, so it’ll be your job to find things to do together once we’re not busy.”

“Aw, fine. Scopey’s good at gathering information and I’m good at just about everything. So together...”

“Don’t say it Mistress....”

“We’re good.”

“...Dammit Midnight.”

Ledger slowly wiggled out from the thestral mare and stood up on his own hooves again, giving himself a quick shake to make sure no dirt was clinging to his fur. “Shall we attempt to get a room, then?” Ledger asked as he held the front door open with his magic.

Midnight shrugged and walked in, too busy smirking at Scope to watch where she was going and plowed right into the behind of another mare.

“Whoof!” both mares went for a tumble as Scope laughed at her Mistresses misfortune. “Karma bites back!” she giggled.

“I’ll show you biting,” Midnight replied as she got to her hooves and assisted the other mare. “Uh, sorry about that...” The mare in question was wearing a large sunhat and sunglasses, and when she saw Midnight, she flinched.

“Uh, yeah... no problem,” she said quietly.

“Terribly sorry about that, miss,” Ledger said as he checked to make sure that the mare hadn’t dropped anything. “My marefriend here sometimes acts before she thinks.”

She paused for a moment when she laid eyes on the whole group. “Yeah. It’s alright-”

“Oh Peach dear!” a familiar voice called out as an even more familiar Griffon approached them.

“Buck me...” the mare sighed.

“Is that…” Ledger asked as he looked at the griffon. “Fredrick?”

“Ledger?” the griffon blinked, nonplussed. “Peach, I was unaware you invited Ledger or his herd along.”

“Of course I didn’t bucking invite them!” she snapped, before realizing she’d raised her voice and calmed down. “Sorry. Tch! This was supposed to be a weekend away from all this.”

“Perfectly understandable,” Ledger said with a smile like a fox realizing it had just found an unguarded henhouse. “It’s going to be a slight business trip for me as well, but once it’s done, we’ll be able to relax and destress from everything Las Pegasus. Something we’re both in need of, eh Captain?”

The mare sighed as she removed her hat and sunglasses. “I don’t believe this...”

“Since nopony is going to say anything about it,” Midnight hummed as she moved next to her beloved Captain. The mare felt her fur stand on end when she saw Midnight’s smile. “So...Peach?”

“A petname,” Narrow replied rather quickly. “Isn’t that right Fredrick?”

“If you say so, my precious Peach Blossom,” Fredrick said with a smirk. “I do believe we’re here for similar reasons, Ledger. Do you think we’ll need to go to separate hotels, or will we be capable of co-existing for our vacations?”

Ledger hummed and looked over to the mares for their takes.

“Ah got no problem with it,” Cider shrugged.

“Whatever,” Scope added, still trying to drag Midnight’s bag.

Midnight Song just continued to smile at Narrow, the latter shoving her away and frowning.

“We might get along, and I’ll do my best to distract the bat,” Ledger said as he flared his horn, taking Midnight’s bag from Scope and adding it to his back with only a slight wince.

“I think she filled it with rocks,” Scope groaned as Cider put the smaller mare on her back.

“I did not,” Midnight replied. “It’s only my armor. It’s not that heavy.”

“Midnight,” Cider sighed. “Why did ya bring yer armor?”

“....Reasons,” Midnight said.

Narrow wasn’t going to admit she brought hers as well…

“Well, we’ll let you two go do whatever it was you planned on doing,” Ledger said as he stood to one side, the mares following his lead (Midnight reluctantly). “We still need to check in, unpack, and Cider and I need to find the ponies that responded positively to my letters.” He wasn’t quite done with teasing the Captain, though. “Perhaps, once you’re done, you could...recommend some places to Midnight, for her to check out while we’re here?”

Midnight looked over the mare, and then to some cute Crystal stallions that trotted past. “Hmm, I know what I wanna check out~” she giggled, licking her lips.

“Ledger?” Scope smirked. “I do believe that the Mistress is tired and requires magical aid up to our room.”

“Why is it that I’m the one required to drag her away from whatever catches her eye?” Ledger asked as he looked at Cider. “Which would you prefer to carry? Her, or her bags? I doubt I can handle both.”

Cider chuckled as she grabbed Midnights tail in her mouth and dragged her away, the batpony sighing as she waved at the Captain.

“I swear, she’s getting even worse,” Narrow said with an exasperated sigh. She looked back up at her Griffon as she donned her hat. “Shall we?”

“Do lets,” Fredrick said with a smile. “I must admit, the idea of a Crystal Spa is...most intriguing.”

With that, the pair were off to explore the city, the Griffon using his wing to hold his mare in a hug every now and again.

“Hello good sir,” Ledger said to the stallion behind the desk. “Party of four, we’d like to rent a room for the next few days. Might even be longer, if the mood takes us.”

“Ah yes, The ‘Ledger’ party? I have your room here.” He motioned towards his booking ledger. “One room on the third floor. Does that sound right?”

“It does,” Ledger hummed. “I hadn’t been expecting such a positive response to my letter, but I must say, I am already impressed. Do refresh my memory as to what it comes with, though? The last few days have been...hectic.”

“Of course sir. It comes fully equipped with two double beds, a fully stocked mini-fridge and your own bathroom. Our room service is available twenty-four hours a day, and should you have any clothes that need washing, simply leave them in the bags provided.” He motioned towards a gift shop and smiled. “All our guests can enjoy a discount in our store, as well as the restaurant on the terrace.”

“And once again, you impress me,” the unicorn told the crystal stallion. “Well, I can’t think of any concerns to raise myself. Ladies?” Ledger said as he yielded the floor to his mares.

“I got one,” Scope hummed. “Only two beds? What the hay Ledger?”

“My apologies Miss,” the stallion nodded. “I did not think you’d mind sharing with your parents?”

“......” Scope’s eye gave a very dangerous twitch. She wondered if Crystal Ponies bleed…

“She’s genetically predisposed to be small,” Ledger said on her behalf. “She’s not related to us and I wouldn’t be surprised if she was as old or older than me. That being said, is there nothing you can do?”

“We could try to organize a fold up bed to be brought up to you,” the stallion said. “I would like to move you to another room, but we are booked out for this evening.” He bowed his head in apology. “I am so very sorry, for both my misunderstanding and my inability to see to my guests needs.”

“It’s fine,” Midnight jumped in. “Look, she can bunk with me...”

“Oh gods,” Scope groaned.

“Can you show us to our room please?”

The stallion nodded and grabbed ahold of a key with the tag ‘312’ on it. “Right this way,” he said before leading the small party of ponies up to the third floor. It took him about five minutes to lead them down the long hallway leading to their room, but once they arrived, he gave the key to Ledger and bowed his head again.

“Your room, and I will see about getting you a fold-up bed and perhaps look into who will and may be leaving tomorrow if you still desire that transfer.”

“My thanks,” Ledger said as he unlocked the door and held it open with his magic, letting the mares enter first. Midnight dragged Scope inside first and pounced onto one of the impossibly fluffy beds.

“Oh Sweet Celestia! It’s sooooo comfy~” Midnight giggled, and even Scope let out a grunt of agreement.

“Ah reckon,” Cider said as she walked in. “Y’all got us some real fancy digs here Levvy.”

“This place has a reputation of being fair and luxurious, for the price one typically pays” Ledger said as he started using his magic to unload the Earth Pony’s luggage, along with the bag he’d ended up with from Midnight. “Plus it’s a little out-of-the-way, so regular tourists don’t tend to find it all that often. I guess word spread, though.”

“You know,” Midnight hummed. “We could solve our sleeping arrangements just by pushing the two beds together...”

“Yeah, except you perverts would do anything except sleep,” Scope sighed. “Besides, we can deal with that later.” She looked at Ledger and Cider. “Don’t you two have some business to take care of?”

“As don’t you,” Ledger said as he finished helping Cider settle in...or at least unpack. “We do have farmers to track down, yes. But our business shouldn’t take the entire trip, and once we’re done, I’d appreciate a scouting mission having been done.”

“Sir, yes sir,” Scope saluted with little enthusiasm.

“Aw, it’ll be fun,” Midnight said, rubbing her mane. “I already know where our first port of call is.”

“And I have the list of locations we should visit right here,” Ledger said, prodding his saddlebag. “Anything you need before we head out as well, Cider?”

“Ah think ah’m good,” she replied as she checked her mane in a mirror. “Hm, actually, hold that thought.” She trotted in place as she looked around, before ducking into the bathroom.

“Well, good luck,” Midnight giggled at her marefriends antics. “I’ll try not to do anything that’ll get us arrested.”

“I’d hope not,” Ledger said with a wink. “My budget for us having fun doesn’t extend to the property-destroying sort of fun.”

“Party pooper,” Midnight poked her tongue out. “Hmm, maybe I should have invited Amy...”

“NO!” Scope yelled as she grabbed the Thestral and dragged her from the room. Midnight just shrugged and blew Ledger a kiss as they left. The unicorn stallion turned to the crystal pony that had observed all their antics and passed him a bit.

“Thank you for your service and hospitality,” Ledger said with a smile while waiting for Cider to reappear.

“Your family seems to be quite the hooffull,” he chuckled as he pocketed the bit and bowed his head. “Will there be anything else sir?”

“Besides the extra bed?” Ledger asked as he looked at the bedrooms, one of which he would likely be inhabiting come nightfall. “How often do you soundproof around here?”

“All our rooms come with the standard enchantments, for those that wish for their privacy,” the stallion explained as Cider re-emerged. “You and your herd will have the utmost comfort, I assure you.”

“Ah, thanks,” Ledger said with an awkward smile. “But uh...the little one isn’t exactly sure just...if she wants to join yet. Thus, extra bed needed. But thank you for the answer,” Ledger said as he procured another bit. “Where would you say is a good place to eat in the city, beyond your own restaurant? We’ll be giving it a shot tonight, of course, but I do like having options.”

“Of course Sir, we have a variety of options in the city. Aside from our own, you have the Empress’ Platter, a five star establishment with a pricetag to match. There is also The Barn, it recently opened and is run by some Equestrian ponies. The city is also home to dozens of cafes and bakeries as well.” He tapped his chin in thought, “Your extra guest, she is a Pegasus, yes?”

“Yes,” Ledger said with a smile, mentally adding ‘at the moment’ to his answer. “And I think I can see where you’re going with this. A place for...those that enjoy a bit more marine food?”

“That,” he said. “As well as a sleeping arrangement that may cater for your needs. There is a place in the adjoining District that caters to the more...exotic tastes. I cannot provide an accurate description of their menu or prices...yet.”

“Fine by me, I’ll at least look into it, or have them look into it,” Ledger said as he tossed the stallion two bits. “And thank you for the idea. I take it if little Scope were to show up with enough clouds to make her own bed, you’d have no objection to her bringing them in?”

“Heavens no, I would never dream of making a guest provide their own bed.” The stallion looked genuinely shocked. “Please leave all arrangements to me. I will have a bed ready for the young Miss upon your return.” He turned to leave, but paused. “Ah, I almost forgot. The mare that was with the Young Miss, does her species have a preferred name? I have never met a pony quite like that before, and I do not wish to offend her by accident.”

“The technically correct name is Thestral,” Ledger enlightened the crystal pony. “Though I have heard others refer to them as batponies. And no fear, her...preferred victims are all fruity in nature. Specifically mangoes. If you do refer to her as a vampony, she will take offense.”

“...Sir, I do believe that vamponies are quite fictional. I would never call a guest that.”

Apple Cider blushed and looked away.

“Well, please leave everything in my hooves. Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me directly. Oh, my name is Polished Stone.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Ledger said as he nodded at his host before closing the door and turning to the Apple mare. “So, I say we give him a minute to get back to the desk before we make our egress, and it’ll give me a moment to go over the directions as well, avoid making a fool of myself out on the streets.”

“Eeyup,” Cider hummed as she took that time to open their luggage and sort it all out. “Ah hope Middy and Scope don’t get into too much mischief.”

“If the palace falls over, I’m blaming them first, then you for tempting fate,” Ledger deadpanned as he got out his scroll and read it.

“Ah highly doubt that,” she giggled. “Y’all can’t change fate with words alone Ledger.”

Midnight Song hummed a little tune as she strolled to her desired destination. Several times, she could be heard giggling to herself, her eyes dancing with mad glee.

“Mistress, should I be concerned?” Scope asked as she jogged along to keep up. “You’ve been giggling for a few minutes now.”

“Now Scopey, I have no idea what you’re talking about~” Midnight sang as the stadium she flew over before came into view. “I simply want to catch up with an old friend. There’s no harm in that right?”

“If Ledger is to be believed, your previous attempt to ‘catch up’ with old friends involved feeding them your tongue,” the smaller pegasus pointed out, reminding Midnight of Apple Fritter’s visit to Apple Cider.

“Well, this time will be a little different,” Midnight replied. “In my defense, Apple Fritter is really adorable, and I was still sore at Ledger for his first encounter with Cidey.”

“You can take the native out of the lands,” the pegasus mused. “But it would seem impossible to remove all the things we learned in the lands from the natives thereof.” Nice, neutral terms. No need to wave a big sign saying ‘CHANGELINGS HERE’.

Midnight cooed and nuzzled her. “You’re so cute when you’re trying to be all subtle. Then again, you’re always cute~” She heard voices from inside the stadium and her smile widened. “Oh goody, he’s still here~”

“Stop that, m’not cute dammit!” Scope pushed her away as she blushed. Luckily, Midnight was now preoccupied with something else to counter the retort. Scope tilted her head as Midnight crept forward, towards the entrance to the building, before she spread her wings and glided silently inside. Just what the heck was she up to?

Inside, Shining Armor was busy running the Crystal Guards through the wringer. Truth was, these guys were made of pretty stern stuff. But they could always be tougher.

Midnight glided inside and drew closer to the stallion, and once she was in reach, she covered his eyes and whispered into his ear in a surprisingly good impersonation of Cadence.

“Oh, how I’ve missed you...big boy~”

“Cadence can’t fly silently and isn’t brown,” Shining said as he ducked his head and slipped out of Midnight’s meager hold, turning to look at the mare with a smile. “Midnight Song. Heard you got assigned to Las Pegasus. My condolences. I did a brief stint there before I was reassigned to Canterlot. What’re you doing up here?”

“Vacation mostly,” she shrugged. “And when I did a flyby earlier, I just knew I had to come see how the great Prince Shiney-Hiney is doing. Congrats in moving up in the world by the way.”

The snickers some of the Crystal Ponies were giving off at Shining’s nickname were quickly silenced by a Look, and they resumed their sparring eagerly. “Her status had nothing to do with it,” Shining said. “I’d have fallen for her just the same if she didn’t have wings or a horn.”

“I know, you could find less sap in a forest,” Midnight giggled. “But Las Pegasus isn’t so bad. Been cleaning what I can, and well...” she actually blushed here. “I have somepony now...well, someponies.”

There was a flapping noise, as though a pegasus that didn’t get enough practice flying was trying to make a graceful entrance...and failing. Not a moment later, Cadence managed to land a few feet away from Shining Armor, who was still shocked by the news that not only had Midnight Song settled down, but had done so with multiple ponies.

“I have no idea how Aunt Celestia deals with all her nobles,” the Princess of the Empire said before walking over to Shining Armor and drawing him into a hug. “Some days I just want to mandate that they either come to me in silly attire or not at all. At least then something about them would be entertaining.”

“I’d pay to see that,” Midnight agreed, drawing the alicorn’s attention. “Sup Princess Lovebutt?”

“Shiny, I don’t think I know your friend...but she certainly is charming,” Cadence said with a giggle. “Why don’t you introduce us?”

Shining shook off his stupor before nodding. “Cadence, this is Midnight Song, the Thestral who was after my rank when I was the Captain of the Day Guard. Midnight, this is Princess Cadence, leader of the Crystal Empire.”

“You don’t remember me?” Midnight said, shocked. “Well, I guess we only met once or twice. And no need to introduce her Wondercolt, I’m pretty sure everypony knows her name.”

“Mhm, even I do,” Scope spoke up as she caught up with her Mistress. “And could you warn me before you fly off like that Mistress?”

“Eh, my bad,” Midnight giggled. Cadance matched the giggle before letting go of her husband and sticking a hoof out to the batpony.

“Mm, I do recall you a little from my time at the castle,” the pink princess agreed. “Though I do hope you’ll forgive me if my eyes were...elsewhere. No offense, of course, but you’re not the flank in armor I was looking at.”

“Wait til you see this flank in armor~” Midnight giggled, giving her rump a wave. “But understandable. I think every mare wanted a piece of that. Too bad that between his blinders for a certain Alicorn and his sister complex, nopony else stood a chance~”

Shining sputtered and started to turn red at Midnight’s words. Cadance, on the other hoof…

“Shiny, is there something you should tell me?” she asked sweetly...causing the stallion to blush even more.

“Don’t worry, you’re the only one that tapped that fine flank,” Midnight smiled as Scope facehooved.

“Mistress, don’t you have an ‘off’ switch?”

“I don’t know, I much prefer her this way,” Cadance said with a smile. “She’s more fun than most of the ponies I spend my days cooped up with.” With that, the pink alicorn drew her husband close and kissed him on top of his forehead, just beneath the horn. “Most.”

“Hah! I guess you can’t kiss this Princess,” Scope giggled at Midnight, before she realized she’d said that out loud.

Midnight turned at looked at the Pegasus, before giving Cadence a wink. “Mmm...yet~”

“Sadly dear, I’m quite happily married,” Cadence said. “I’m quite certain Shiny wouldn’t take kindly to what you’re insinuating.”

Shining Armor, on the other hoof, just opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to voice something that he both agreed with and wouldn’t get him in trouble.

“Ah, and here we have the rare opportunity to educate royalty,” Midnight giggled as she turned to the male Guards. “Oh boys~ What is your opinion of two mares kissing~?”

The guards took a moment to voice their agreement with the idea of two mares kissing. After all, it stood to reason. If you liked the idea of one mare, more likely than not, you liked the idea of two, especially if they were showing off.

Heck, one of the younger Guards even had a herd of his own. Lucky bugger.

“Mares and Gentlestallions, the mob has spoken!” Midnight smiled widely. “But don’t worry, I know better than to get in the way of a couple. And my herd is more than happy to provide for me now.”

Cadance blinked once. Twice. She even tilted her head slightly as she was introduced to the idea.

It was adorable.

“Did you say...herd?” the pink alicorn asked.

“She did,” Scope nodded. “She’s in a relationship with a stallion and another mare. And it was all born from a social misunderstanding. I believe Princess Luna gave her the idea?”

“Yep, it’s all Luna’s fault,” Midnight giggled. “And Shiny? I think your wife is kinda adorable.”

Cadance slowly smiled as she looked at Shining. “I have ideas,” she said in a tone one normally didn’t hear outside of the bedroom.

“Hah! Best of luck now hornhead,” Midnight cackled at the look on his face. “Though you might wanna stop teasing him before he swallows his tongue. I flirted with him once and he didn’t speak for three days~”

Indeed, Shining Armor seemed to be on the verge of locking up. Cadance responded by drawing close to his horn and opening her mouth…

“That’squiteenoughthankyou,” Shining managed to squeak out before public foreplay could happen. The pink alicorn pouted, but drew back.

That tore it, Midnight was now rolling on the ground laughing. Scope just shook her head and stood to one side. She was still wary around the royals, given their past with Changelings. It took about five minutes or so before Midnight finally calmed down enough to speak again.

“HAhaaaa, oh wow. I like you Princess. You’re fun~”

“I try to be when I’m not stuck in court,” the alicorn of love said with a smile. “Is there a reason you’re here, Miss Song?”

“Mostly to catch up with Shining there,” she replied. “I haven’t seen him since the wedding, and then I got transferred to Las Pegasus.” She looked at the stallion and smiled. “Also, I’m doing better now, after what happened...”

“Ah, well, it’s nice to hear you’re recovering after the...events of that day,” Shining said. “I guess every wound does heal with time.”

“And a lot of love and no small amount of irony,” she giggled. She figured she’d omit anything regarding Changelings in Las Pegasus. She looked over the Crystal Guards and smirked. “So, these are the little colts you’re playing with now?”

“The most promising batch of Crystal Guards the city has to offer after everything it’s been through,” Shining replied. “They’re not bad, but there’s always room for improvement.”

“That’s what she said,” Midnight sniggered as she looked over them. “Well, I like the armour... wonder if I can get some?”

“Mistress, you’re taken. You will not be ‘getting some’ on my watch,” Scope replied, almost automatically. Midnight whirled around and blinked at her.

“My little student is growing up,” she said, wiping away a tear.

“Do we...want to know why she refers to you like that?” Cadence asked with at glance between the pair. “It’s nothing bad, is it?”

“Wha?” Midnight’s eyes widened ever-so-slightly as Scope was in full-blown internal panic mode. “Ah, there have been...issues in Las Pegasus. Something happened and I saved her life at some point. I’ve gained a cute little shadow ever since. I think her family and sense of honour are seriously old-school.”

“It is traditional to refer to the pony you swear a life-debt to as Master or Mistress,” the pegasus said automatically. Good terms, nice terms, pony terms.

“Hmm,” Shining said, rubbing his chin with a hoof. “It’s not a tradition I’ve ever heard of...but every family has its quirks.” With a shrug, the Prince of the Empire let the matter drop.

“Shiny, if it wasn’t written in an O&O book, or pertains to a pretty pink Princess, of course you haven’t heard of it,” Midnight smiled, her fangs glinting in the sunlight.

“Tell me about it,” Cadance said with a roll of her eyes. “I had to attend more than a few of his little gaming sessions before he realized ‘Hey! She might actually be interested in me!’”

Shining Armor, embarrassed again, turned red and mumbled something.

“Wow, you two are ruthless,” Scope mused at the emasculated Prince. Shining Armor eventually cleared his throat and looked at the assembled mares.

“If we’re quite done with ‘Pick on Shining day’,” he managed to say before being interrupted.

“Everyday is ‘Pick on Shiney-Hiney Day’,” Midnight giggled. “But I think you’ve had enough for now. I’ll be here for a few days at least. I should introduce you to my loved ones...if you guys want to that is.”

“I’d love to,” Cadance said with a smile. “I adore meeting new couples, and yours is something new! Plus I’ll get to ask you all how exactly it works. I must admit, I would love to have facts instead of idle musings.”

“I’d be happy to,” Midnight smiled back.

“You know...” Scope spoke up. “Ledger’s prolly gonna freak. Again.”

“I know, which is why we aren’t going to tell him.” Midnight replied with a smirk. “It’ll be funnier that way.”

“Mm, how about...lunch at a local diner?” Cadence said, all smiles. “I’ll treat you to The Empress’s Platter in exchange for all the juicy details tomorrow...assuming they can make it, of course.”

“Please don’t ask her for details,” Scope moaned. “Because she will. Every. Last. Detail.”

“Oh, but little one,” Cadance said as she drew close and lowered her face to look Scope dead in the eyes.

“I like the juicy details~” the pink Alicorn whispered, almost huskily, into Scope’s ears.

“Okay, I really like her!” Midnight said to Shining. “Hmm, maybe I can get a Princess in my herd?”

“I doubt it,” Shining said with an eye-roll. “The only ones left are Princess Celestia and my sister, and if I get so much as one letter from her saying something about an amorous Thestral showing up, I will remind you why I was Captain of the Guard.”

“Yessir!” Midnight saluted as Scope shook her head.

“Well, she already kissed Celestia and her sister, so that only leaves two more to complete the set...”

“Scope Lens...” Midnight groaned.

“We’ll just have to see how lunch goes,” Cadance said before turning to give Shining a kiss goodbye. With that done, she flared her wings and took off, leaving behind three very confused ponies. “Duty calls!” she called out below her as she flew back to the palace.

“Um. Wat?” Midnight tilted her head at the retreating Princess. “Captain Shining. What just happened?”

“I think my wife said something along the lines of ‘play your cards right,’ Midnight,” Shining said as he shook his head. “If you don’t mind, I’m going back to training these guys until I can’t think about what just happened.”

“Yeah..Imma go...do a thing...at the place,” Midnight sand as she gave a feeble wave and wandered off. Scope gave the Captain one last look and shrugged. How he and that Alicorn version of Midnight defeated Chrysalis was beyond her.

“Okay, this should be the first farmer that expressed an interest in both my contracts and selling the berries to you,” Ledger said as he checked both his scroll and where they’d arrived.

“Well, here’s hopin’ fer the best,” Cider nodded as she followed the stallion. “Ah’d hate to have this trip be a waste of time.”

“Mm, if all else fails, at least it’ll be a nice vacation,” Ledger said as he knocked on the door a few times. After a minute, a small, green crystal colt appeared at the door, looking up at the larger ponies.

“Hi!” he said. “I’m Emerald Hooves. Who’re you?”

Ledger chuckled before introducing himself and the mare he’d brought with him. “I’m Level Ledger, this is Apple Cider.”

“Nice ta meetcha little guy,” Cider said with a bright smile. “Is yer Momma or Papa home?”

“Yeah-huh!” the colt said. “Dad’s out back, tending the crop. Mom’s inside on the couch. Who’d you wanna meet?”

“Both, preferably,” Ledger mused. “Care to bring us in and introduce us to your parents?”

“I can do that!” the colt said as he opened the door wider. Ledger smiled and bowed before Cider, letting her enter first. Cider smiled as she accepted his offer and stepped inside. It was strikingly similar to her own home in terms of decor. Seems that good farmers thought alike.

It was then that the young colt introduced them to a mare that was quite obviously pregnant. She looked near ready to give birth any day now. The blue Crystal Pony looked up from the couch and smiled at her well-behaved colt and the guests he’d brought in. “Hello, I see you’ve met my colt,” the mare said.

“We did, he’s such a gentlecolt,” Cider smiled. “Mah name is Apple Cider, and this is Level Ledger, from Las Pegasus.”

“We’ve come to talk business with you and your husband,” Ledger said as he looked at a nearby chair. Pointing at it with a hoof, he asked a simple question. “May we?”

The mare nodded. “Go ahead.” She then looked at Emerald and smiled. “Go and tell your father we have guests he should meet, dear,” the sapphire-colored mare said. With a nod, the colt was off through the back door.

“Y’all have a beautiful home here,” Cider commented as she sat down. “It reminds me of mah own.”

“Function and simplicity,” the mare said with a smile and a nod as she picked up a nearby paper. “Or as my husband would call it, ‘If it don’t serve a purpose, it don’t belong in the house!’”

“Mhmm,” Cider agreed with that philosophy. “And yet, ah live with the most impractical mare and an overly serious stallion.”

“I blame the city,” Ledger said, before pecking Cider on the cheek. “It was not kind to me.”

“Ah see you ain’t far from a second little bundle of joy either,” Cider said sweetly. “How long?”

“Less than a month now until the little dear is out,” the mare said as she rubbed her stomach with a hoof.

Ledger just let out a barely-audible cooing noise at the thought. Cider smiled at him, she’d heard that.

Soon enough, the little colt returned, the sound of heavy hoofsteps behind him. Behind him, a ruby-colored stallion walked in, his eyes fiercely sizing up these visitors. Farmer he may have been, but he was apparently no fool.

“So you’re the ones that sent them letters,” the stallion eventually said.

“That’s right,” Cider replied as she stood up to shake his hoof with a firm grip. “The name’s Apple Cider, proud owner of Cider Falls Farm in Las Pegasus!”

“And I’m Precious Growth,” the stallion replied. “Got a knack for growing our berries up here, and a few...interesting crops besides that seem to enjoy it up here.” He eventually reclaimed his foreleg from the mare and rubbed it with his other hoof, before looking at Ledger. “Who’s the stiff?” he asked bluntly.

“Level Ledger, owner of Pegasus Air shipping,” Cider replied. “He’s the one that set up this meeting in the first place.”

“Ah, thought I smelled money and red tape,” the stallion grinned as he walked over to Ledger and stood in front of him, judging the unicorn with those eyes of his. After a minute longer, the stallion eased off and nodded. “Right, let’s get down to business right away, then.”

“To the point huh? Fair enough,” Cider sat back down and nodded. “What ah need, is Crystal Berries. The demand fer them in Equestria is astounding, but the climate makes them almost impossible to grow, so much, that nopony even wants t’try. Ah intend to change that.”

“You’ve got guts,” the stallion said with a smile. “You got a contained system set up, then? One to keep your plants just so?”

“Ah’ll admit, ah spent quite a few bits to create a secured environment,” Cider said. “”And fer all ah know, it might not even work. But nothin’ tried, nothin’ earned.”

“Hmm, well, I’ll tell you the secret to growing the berries outside the empire as a part of our deal,” the stallion said with a nod. “As long as you keep it a secret between us farmers.”

“Ah won’t tell a soul,” Cider nodded. “An’ in exchange, ah’ll share the recipe ah’ve developed fer Crystal Berry Wine.”

“Always nice to hear that somepony’s brought something new to the table with that,” the mare said as she turned the page of the paper. “And you, sir?”

Ledger blinked before nodding. “Ah yes. Until Cider here gets a crop from her plants, the Empire will remain the sole source of Crystal Berry products. I would like to offer you a shipping contract, Sir and Ma’am. One that promises to be very lucrative.”

The mare put the paper down and looked at Ledger, as he levitated a small bound document from his saddlebags and presented it to the couch-resident. She looked over it a few times before humming. “This all...seems to be a good deal. Honey?”

The stallion looked over at the contract, eyes darting around before settling on the projected profit...and grinning. “Yup, I think we should take this,” he eventually said.

“So, a contract to import Crystal Berries, and an exchange of secrets,” Ledger mused. “All we need now is for you to go out and attempt to get some trees for yourself, Cider.”

“Heh, you handle all that papery nonsense. Ah’ll worry about growin’ something t’be proud of!” Cider gave her chest a thump and grinned. The stallion chuckled at the display.

“Come ‘round the back and see if any of mah trees catches yer eye,” he said, turning to the back door and opening it for the mare.

Cider bowed her head as she stepped out into the orchard, her eyes widening at the crop that lay out before her. “Well ah’ll be. Ah never thought ah’d seen so many in one place.” She smiled at the stallion. “This is one heck of a crop y’all got here.”

She walked through the trees, humming at a few until she reached one. She looked up and down, and then closed her eyes as she placed a hoof against it, and just stood there like that. She hummed slightly, just leaning against the tree and smiling.

“Yup,” the crystal farmer said, nodding slightly. “Figured you’d notice that one. Young yet, but still manages to set his own records. One of the best trees I’ve raised.”

“Shh, ah’m talkin’ with him,” the mare said. If Precious thought it odd, he said nothing, just standing nearby and smiling at the sight of a foreign farmer so entranced by his work.

After a few minutes, Apple Cider nodded and stepped back. “Yeah, this one is real strong, and real stubborn. He kinda reminds me of Ledger. Iffn’ y’all wouldn’t mind. Ah choose this one. Though, ah’ll understand if y’all don’t wanna.”

“The rest of the orchard can make up for his absence,” the stallion grunted. “Got some new up-and-comers that’re tryin’ to put him to shame. Failin’, but it’s the thought that counts. Plus, I already harvested the berries for the season and sold what I can to the palace fer the Faire. Y’all can have him...but he’s gonna cost ya.”

“Ah wouldn’t have it any other way,” Cider smiled. “Let’s head back inside and let Ledger handle all that technical nonsense.”

“First though, one farmer to another. Y’wanna know how to grow ‘em and keep ‘em healthy, right?” The stallion pointed around them. From one building, to the next, to even the palace. “Noticin’ a common theme here, miss?”

“The Crystals...” Cider hummed. “Is that it? The light from the crystals?”

“Somethin’ like it,” the stallion nodded. “Don’t rightly understand it myself, but anytime anypony tries to grow any of our crops outside the city, they don’t do too well. But you bring a crystal from the city out to that same field and plant it, then the crops? They refuse to die.”

“Huh? Well ah’ll be damned,” Cider whistled as she looked over the fields again. “Well then, thank you kindly Mr. Precious.”

“Not a problem,” the farmer nodded. “Don’t bother gettin’ the cheap trinkets they sell for the faire, though. Damn things are made of scrap. I’ll see about getting you a nice, quality crystal if I can...fer the low price of a few stories, a’course.”

“Well gee, y’all sure know how to twist a mare’s hoof huh?” Apple Cider smiled and nodded. “Yeah, ah reckon ah can do that. Ah bet Ledger has quite a few of his own as well...oh, that’ll make a good one. Y’all can hear about th’ time he met mah kin.”

“I actually had a few in mind,” Growth said as the pair began trotting back to the house. “Namely, how ya learned to make the wine, what ya did with it, and what happened once it was drunk, assumin’ ya have drunk some. From what I recall, it can be one of the more potent liquors. That still true?”

“Well, ah got enough t’make four bottles. Mah cousin Applejack was the one that got me some berries, when y’all up an’ reappeared a while back.” She paused when she realised what she’d brought up. “Oh! uh, I meant no disrespect or nuthin’.”

“It’s fine,” Precious said. “We all coped with it differently. Fortunately, that...arse only had me doing what I love, ‘cause someone had to feed the city. Just...don’t bring it up around the wife. She was next in line for his...various conquests. I’m thankful y’all intervened as much as ya did, and as often.”

Cider growled at the thought of that nice mare being used like that. “Ah’ll be sure, but ah didn’t do nothin’ so no need to thank me.” She decided that a change in subject would be good and resumed their previous topic. “Anyway, ah really didn’t know anything about the berries beyond their name. So...ah just winged it really. Ah still don’t know how the wine came out as well as it did. Guess ah was jus’ lucky.”

“Mm, well, luck can explain a good few things,” Growth said with a nod. “But it still don’t explain how ya disposed of your newfound liquor, or what happened once it was.”

“Ah’m gettin’ to that,” she giggled. “It is the sweetest thing ah have ever tasted. Goes down real smooth, and has a real mild, tingly aftertaste. Can’t rightly remember what happened after I drank it alone...jus’ remember waking up on the roof of mah house.”

Growth chuckled, long and low. “Yup, that sounds about right fer a first-timer with our stuff,” the stallion eventually said. “Ya either get used to wakin’ up in weird places or build up a tolerance fer the stuff. ‘course, that takes a lifetime of drinkin’ to do…Didn’t ya say you had enough fer four bottles?”

“Yup, gave one to Applejack as thanks fer the Berries...and now that ah recall, she never did tell me what happened when she drank it.” She snorted and shook her head. “The second ah shared with Level Ledger in there. And well...” she blushed fiercely. “That led to a whole mess o’ problems and misunderstandings. It all worked out in the end though.”

“I’ve seen that face before,” Growth chuckled as the pair finally reached the house, but he didn’t move to open the door. “One inebriated night leadin’ to a new herd formin’ ain’t unusual ‘round here, miss. Just tell me if the little quill-pusher in there was a colt or a stallion about it.”

“Well, this whole herd thing was...complicated,” she said. “It ain’t heard of much in Equestria and it was actually our marefriend’s idea. The mare that Ledger was with at the time when...when ah seduced him.” Yeah, she’d really messed that one up for everypony. “But, ah think we’re happy now. At least, ah know ah am.”

“Well, at least ya learned about what not to do with the stuff,” the stallion said with a nod. “Drinkin’ alone’s no fun, but if you aren’t careful about who you drink with...anyway, I count three there. One fer your cousin, one fer your first time. One for the colt. What happened to four?”

“Our first night together, all three of us,” she smiled. “Cept that dang fool Midnight drank half the bottle. Barely bat an eye too, that girl’s got nerves of solid steel ah reckon.”

“Damn,” Precious whistled. “That takes talent. How’d you get her to stop afore she drank the whole thing?”

“Hmm, ah think we were playin’ a game?” she hummed and tilted her head. “Heh, ah can only remember what happened after...and that was fun~”

“Well I wish that colt the best of luck in dealing with the pair of you,” Precious said as he put one hoof on the doorknob. “Cause now it’s time to haggle with him over the price of my best tree, and I wanna see what sorta colt he really is.”

“Oh, now this outta be fun,” Cider giggled as she followed him in. As they returned, the paperwork had been filled and Ledger, along with the mare, were now sharing some tea.

“Oh, you two are finally back?” she said, moving her head slightly so she could kiss her husband. “Find a good tree?”

“The best ah’ve ever seen,” Apple Cider nodded. “And now the rest is up to you wondercolt.”

Ledger sipped at his tea before smirking at Cider and puckering his lips. Either he had missed her or just wanted to say ‘hello’ romantically.

“You’re so needy,” she giggled as she gave him a light kiss. She leaned in close and whispered into his ear. “You will get so much more if y’all can get that tree for me.”

“I’ll try,” Ledger whispered back as he pulled back and gave her a full-on kiss. It wasn’t like Midnight’s, but he did his best to show how much he loved his mares as best he could. She returned the gesture and they stayed like that for a few minutes, until Cider remembered where they were and pulled back, blushing heavily.

“Well, with the formalities out of the way,” Ledger said with a smile that would make any dentist wonder just how he kept his teeth that way - Cider already knew his shapeshifting was to blame, most likely - the unicorn pulled his tea back in front of him and sipped at it. “You had a tree that my marefriend here picked out.”

“Yup,” the ruby stallion nodded. “She wants my latest and greatest - fortunately, I have more up-and-comers, so no big loss fer me just yet - but it is going to cost you. And I want more than jus’ a kiss, colt.”

Ledger actually laughed at that. “Oh, I think I’m going to enjoy this,” he said once he calmed down. After two minutes of laughing, giggling, and snorting like a maniac.

Cider’s head slowly tilted sideways as several indecent thoughts ran through her head. If anything, she could be mistaken for Big Mac’s twin sister now.

“Alright, mister Growth,” Ledger said as he put his teacup down, a glint in his eyes that Cider had never seen before flashing in those green depths. “Let’s determine what this tree will cost, then.”

Once they left the farm, Ledger having a bag full of shiny new contracts, and Apple Cider having secured herself a fine Crystal Berry tree, the Earth pony was practically skipping down the road.

“Ah can’t believe it,” she giggled. “Ah finally have one. And then, ah can finally grow ‘em! And it’s all thanks to you!” she spun and grabbed the Unicorn, giving him a kiss deep enough to rival Midnight’s.

Once the pair came up for air, Ledger actually blushed a little. “Just doing my job, ma’am,” he muttered, a little embarrassed by the very public display of affection. “I’m just glad he was reasonable enough to understand that we were spending enough as-is, coming up here and spending as much time as we plan to. We didn’t need to be gouged on the price as well, and if there’s one thing I’m good at-”

She decided that he needed to be kissed again. And she was sure to put just as much passion into it as before as she stood there molesting his mouth with her tongue. Ledger only had one thing to say once the kiss broke.

“Message received, shutting up now,” the unicorn obediently said, a little love and lust-drunk.

“Good stallion,” Cider giggled. “Now what do you say to finding our wayward bat, send Scope out with some spending money...then we give that room’s soundproofin’ a real workout~?”

“We still need to eat dinner as well,” Ledger pointed out. “And I sorta did promise the stallion behind the desk that we would spend tonight sampling their fare.”

“Hmm, very well,” Cider hummed. “An’ we still need to figure out some sleepin’ arrangements. Even if Scopey get’s her own bed, that still leaves middy or mahself in the cold.”

“If Scope gets her own bed,” Ledger pointed out, “We can take hers and make the two beds into one large one. More than enough room for the three of us then.”

“Ah, you once again thought of everythin’ huh?” Cider’s ear then gave a slight twitch and she suddenly pushed Level Ledger to one side. Before he could even ask why she just shoved him, a brown blur raced past, skidding onto the ground.

“Aw, you totally ruined my surprise attack,” Midnight frowned.

“Cider, if I could afford to, I would pay you to keep ruining her surprise attacks. As it stands, you’ll have to settle for kisses,” Ledger said from his position on the ground. “Speaking of standing, would you mind?...” One hoof was raised into the air as Ledger tried to get his legs back under himself. Cider reached down and pulled him up to his hooves as Midnight trotted over, scanning the skies.

After a moment, Scope finally caught up, breathing heavily.

“You....suck...Mistress,” she panted.

“So did you two have fun?” Ledger asked.

“Yes!” Midnight beamed.

“No,” Scope replied tersely.

“I’ll take that as a maybe,” Ledger said with a cheeky smile. “Shall we go see what the hotel has in store for us regarding our new arrangements?” With those words, the stallion resumed walking back to the place they’d rented for the next few days.

“Oh?” Midnight called out. “We’re having lunch with some friends of mine tomorrow. At some place called...uh-”

“The Empress’s Platter,” Scope finished in a dry tone. Ledger whistled at the name.

“That...is a fancy place. Your friends must be pretty high-up to be able to afford lunch there. And just who is going with them? There’s more than one pony here you could be talking about.”

“All of us,” Midnight hummed. “They wanna meet the ponies that tamed Midnight Song. Apparently that’s a thing.”

“Wait, you’re tame?” Ledger asked with a perfect tone of surprise. “That’s a new one.”

“Yep, you shoulda seen me before I met you,” Midnight said with a sultry stare that could harden stallions for miles. “Now, I believe we were heading back to the hotel?” She gave a chipper whistle as she trotted down the road.

“That mare terrifies me,” Scope said as she followed her.

“And me,” Ledger said as they finally reached their destination. “Fortunately, you don’t sleep with her every night.” With a thought, the stallion held the doors open for the mares with his magic. It took them a few minutes to reach the room, but when they did...

Inside the room, against the wall next to Midnight’s bed was a finely crafted cloud bed. It looked like something straight out of a Cloudsdale catalog.

“That looks like a damn fine bed,” Ledger said, nodding his approval. “Seriously, I almost want to take it back with us. I wonder if he’d be willing to sell it…” With a shake of his head, Ledger lit his horn up again and looked at Cider. “Ready to play the bed roulette?”

Scope had flopped onto her cloud bed, smiling brightly for a moment before she rolled over to look away from them. “It’s okay I guess,” she huffed lightly.

Midnight chuckled at the cuteness as Cider nodded.

“Float away Ledger.”

“As you command, your highness,” Ledger snarked as Scope started to find her bed floating closer to the ceiling. “We’ll put you in your room and take your old bed if you don’t mind,” the unicorn informed the pegasus.

“There’s more than one room?” she asked. “Huh, then I guess I don’t have to hear you lot rutting like rabbits then.”

“You’re welcome to join in, you know,” Ledger said semi-sarcastically. “You just have to work up the courage to ask...and I just have to get over my fear of the idea,” the unicorn mumbled the last bit quite quietly.

“....” Scope just remained quiet as she buried herself inside her bed. Ledger opened her bedroom and floated the cloud bed in with her on it, before switching out what was in his magical grasp. With a bit more effort, the bed in her room started to float upwards, and Ledger let off a grunt as it did.

“What’s up Ledger? Too heavy?” Scope said. “Do you want some help, you’re not the only magic user here you know.”

“You turn into a unicorn now, you’ll fall right through your bed,” Ledger pointed out. “I’ll manage. Sometimes it’s good to have the love of more than one around.” Ledger forcibly raised his head, and the bed followed his horn. “Granted, I’m probably going to collapse into the bed once I’m done arranging them, but I can do this.”

“Drones,” Scope muttered as she lay back. “Gee, too bad there’s nobuggy that could, Oh I don’t know, teleport them?”

“I...can do this,” Ledger said. “You can try to teach me teleportation when we go back home. Remember, this is about more than comfort. Appearance is everything.” The bed had left her room by this point and was floating along back to the start of this journey.

“No, you’re just trying to be a macho drone and show off for your mares,” she poked her tongue out. “Whatever. Knock yourself out Ledgie.”

“I’ll try not to,” Ledger said before turning back to the task at hoof and finally reaching the bedroom door. With another push of magic, the beds were arranged to be comfortable for all who would be using them…

And Ledger collapsed, exhausted from doing so much for so long. Fortunately, his head hit the bed’s comforter. “Whew,” he said. He would have wiped the sweat from his brow, but he was so tired. “Maybe...it’d have been better if Cider...moved the other bed,” he ruefully admitted. “I feel like I dragged that thing...all the way here.”

“Are you okay?” Midnight blinked. “I mean, it was just a bed. Should it have really been so hard to move?”

“Not his fault,” Scope said as she entered the room. “I get the feeling that our Crystaly friend has something to do with it. Even I’ve been feeling sluggish since we got here.”

“It’s probably because...we’re getting fed a small...constant, stream of love,” Ledger pointed out. “And we’re...not used to so much. I’m just tired...because I’ve only used my magic...for paperwork and intimidation...for a year now. Constant use...like that...is tiring after...a long period of no real use.”

“I know, do you have any idea how hard it is not to channel more into my Pegasus body and make anything with a pair of wings feel really inadequate?” Scope shrugged as she sat down next to him.

“I just...need a minute to...recover,” Ledger said, raising a hoof and putting it on the bed. “For now...help please?”

“Oh?” Scope raised an eyebrow as Cider and Midnight giggled. “And what sort of help are you asking for Ledger?”

“Help getting up,” Ledger said. “I can barely move at the moment. I’m trying to convert the love into energy as fast as I can, but it’s taking its sweet time.” His other forehoof had come up to land on the bed as well.

“So, you can’t move huh?” It was said in a dangerous-sounding tone. His mares stood to one side and just watched as Scope shifted to her Unicorn form and climbed onto his chest. “Well now... I wonder what I can do to assist you hmm?”

Ledger gulped and looked from Midnight to Cider. “Um...help?” he weakly asked of the mares. “Really confused…”

“Don’t mind us, just enjoying the show,” Midnight said with a shrug.

“Eeyup,” Cider replied.

“They can’t help you Ledger,” Scope said, her face only a few inches from his own as their horns touched. “You wanna know why~?”

Ledger’s only response was to squeak. Apparently, Scope had taken very well to his...and Midnight’s...and even Cider’s occasional teasing...and was either teasing back, or being very, very serious.

Both were things to fear.

“Because I’m just screwing with you,” she smiled as her horn flashed, and Ledger found the magic inside his body being regulated, like stirring milk through a cup of coffee. After a moment, she pulled back and reverted to her true form for a moment.

“There, you should be feeling better now.”

In gratitude for what she’d both done and not done, Ledger...actually didn’t fear even her small nymph self in this moment. He decided to give the smaller ‘ling a reward, for both helping him with his fear and his magical exhaustion.

So he leaned forward and gave her a very deep and passionate kiss, like he normally did with Cider or Midnight.

Scope just sat there with wide eyes, as did Cider and Midnight. The little nymph’s wings were buzzing so hard, she eventually pulled back and shot off to the other side of the room.

“W-w-w-w-w-what the HELL?”

“That was a thank-you, or at least the start of one,” Ledger said. Then his grin turned lecherous. “I didn’t know you thought of me like that, Scope.” At her confusion, the unicorn elaborated. “While yes, the technique you used can be used to help another pony recover from magical exhaustion...it can also be used to...stimulate another before ‘bedtime’ activities begin. Or during them.”

Scope just blinked, her bright blue eyes as wide as saucers. “B-Bull, no way. All I did was regulate your magic!”

“And I appreciate that, but that’s step one to regulating my blood-flow to a certain piece of anatomy these mares apparently love,” Ledger said. “I went back and read the Pony Sutra and the works the ponies wrote around it, Scope. Specifically the tome of ‘how to magically stimulate your partner’ and ‘1001 tricks for the bedroom.’ That’s one of them.”

Midnight and Cider giggled again, this was getting good now.

“But...you KISSED me! And I’m not transformed!” Scope shook her head, this was weird. They’d been teasing her and teasing her and when she decided to tease back…

“You did a wonderful thing for me Scope,” Ledger said simply. “You cared. I don’t...think I’ll be afraid of you anymore. We may need to test that, but I think your form...isn’t scary.”

“But you didn’t ASK!” she yelled at him, before putting a hoof to her traitorous mouth.

“My apologies,” Ledger said sincerely as he shifted back to normal and bowed in Scope’s general direction. “May this drone have the privilege of kissing you in thanks, Lady Lens?”

Scope turned the most delectable shade of scarlet and looked at Cider and Midnight for help. Surely they wouldn’t let this continue?

“What do you think Cider?” Midnight said. “On one hoof, this is the debacle with you all over again.”

“An’ on the other, this is also waaay too cute to interrupt,” Cider hummed. “Decisions, decisions.”

“You guys suck!” Scope groaned. She looked at Ledger again, he was right there! All she had to do was say one simple word. But what if he was just getting back at her? What if this was just the next level of his teasing? The stupid drone was impossible to read, even if she could sense his damned emotions.

“I....I....” she looked around again and then back to that irritating, nerve-grating, snarky, adorable drone. “Fine!”

With that, Ledger stood up, scooped her up, and gave her another, lighter kiss. He even put in a little emotion into it. Love from the Heart...and his own, apparently. Scope blushed as she returned the kiss, even if she would deny it profusely afterwards.

It was still enough to get lost in the moment... She couldn’t help her pheromones flaring up like that...She felt the drone’s instinctive panic, before he settled back down once he realized that yes, she was using pheromones, but she was not the figure from his past.

Eventually, the kiss broke, and Ledger kept holding the nymph close, hugging her. “So, I take it I am forgiven for my impudence?” Ledger asked playfully.

“Whatever,” Scope pouted as she looked away. It didn’t really hide the small smile on her muzzle though.

“Ohh, do we get to play with her now?” Midnight asked, her tail wagging slightly.

“Leave it until she asks for it,” Ledger said as he shifted back into a Unicorn. “For now, dinner calls.”

Chapter 27 - Royal lunch

“Well, I am willing to admit when I’ve met my match,” Ledger said as he looked at the Empress’s Platter from outside. It certainly lived up to the reputation of ‘The fanciest eatery in the city’. “I doubt too many places I know of could match this one.”

Morning had been a subdued affair. Wake up, breakfast, barter with the chefs for their fish recipes while offering his potatoes and fried spinach in exchange. The rest of the mid-morning had been mostly doing touristy stuff, though Cider had asked to pay a visit to Precious Growth for a crystal that he said he’d get. Ledger had carefully escorted her back to the room once they’d gotten it, and made sure nopony was liable to trip over it anytime soon.

Soon enough, they found themselves staring at this place with rumbling bellies. The unicorn looked over at Midnight with a raised eyebrow, as if asking if she was sure they were supposed to come here.

The Thestral was dressed in her armor, but not her usual one. It wasn’t until she had put it on that Ledger saw the difference. It was far more ornate than her usual set. Covered in stunning etchings and fastened with pure silver buckles, the Thestral looked like one of the stars in the night sky.

“Yes, I believe this is the place,” she replied with a roll of her eyes. “I don’t think I’m hard of hearing and this is the only building in town with this name.”

“Fair enough,” Ledger said as he stepped forward and pushed the doors open by hoof, standing to one side as he did so. “But I think you should go first, miss ‘I’m totally not Luna’. You at least know who we’re supposed to be meeting.”

Scope stifled a giggle as Midnight gave a nod and walked in. The maitre’d looked like she was trying to sniff the ceiling, her nose was so high up. A glance in the dining hall saw that almost everypony was wearing an outfit that cost more than what Ledger would make in his life.

“And now I feel underdressed,” Ledger admitted. The only thing he’d had to wear - a fancy suit that the mares had insisted he get fitted for once he became more well-known in Las Pegasus - felt like such a minor thing, he might as well have gone without.

Scope ducked behind the group and looked around, before there was a small flash and she reappeared, wearing a cute, sparkly dress.

“I bet these idiots can’t tell an illusion from the real thing,” she winked.

“They will if you don’t act right,” Ledger hissed. “Still, A for quick thinking. Now let’s just follow the Thestral to lunch.”

The mare at the desk pointed inside, and Midnight gave a polite nod to her as the group entered, led by a waiter. Once inside, a few patrons gave them half a glance, turning up their nose at Cider and Ledger’s attire, but a returned glare from Midnight caused them to turn back to their meals.

“The private room is right this way,” the waiter said.

“Private room?” Ledger questioned. “Okay, I was intrigued before, but now I’m curious.”

“Well of course,” the waiter nodded. “I wouldn’t want our finest guests dining with the common rabble now.”

Cider blinked as he led them to the room, letting them inside and closing the door behind them. It wasn’t until Midnight gave a chipper greeting, did the rest see just who they were dining with.

“Heya Shiny! Lovebutt! Wassup?”

Ledger paled. Almost visibly paled. His eyes did twitch as he turned to look at the ponies in the room before slowly turning and looking at Midnight.

“You...didn’t mention this...whyyyyyy?”

“Because your reaction is just too perfect,” Midnight giggled as she took a seat. Scope sat next to her as Cider just stood next to Ledger, sharing his look of shock.

“Oh come on, sit down so we can order,” Shining said, waving a hoof at the ponies by the door. “We don’t bite.”

“Unless you ask us to, of course,” Cadance said with a grin.

“I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again,” Midnight smiled at Shining Armor. “I like her~”

“She’s in a good mood,” Shining said with a sigh. “And there’s no easy way to get her to stop, either.”

“...Have you tried taking her to bed an-” Ledger started, causing Shining to blush and Cadance to laugh.

“Yes he has, and that only generates a positive recursive loop,” the pink mare said with a grin.

“This is gonna be great,” Midnight giggled as she perused the menu. Scope just shook her head as she glanced at Ledger, before blushing and looking at her own menu.

Cider finally found her voice and stammered. “R-Royalty...we’re-we’re dining with...the Princess?”

“Fun royalty by the look of it,” Ledger said with a more relaxed air. “I suppose I can treat this like the time I met Princess Celestia then.” It was only then that the unicorn realized the size of the error he had just committed.

After all. He’d met the Princess because of his little secret. Multiple times.

“Oh? You’ve met my aunt?” Cadence replied chipperly as Cider finally took her seat. “Seems you’re all pretty popular then.”

“It was just after the Toll Taker thing,” Ledger attempted to brush off. “She wanted to make sure that the number two of that...I hesitate to call her a pony, I really do. Anyways, the Princess wanted to make sure that I wasn’t like my former employer.”

“Sounds like her,” Shining nodded as he perused his own menu. While he normally wasn’t one for fancy eateries like that, he made the odd exception. “Still, that sounds like a matter that shouldn’t be discussed here..”

“Because there are much more pressing matters,” Cadence nodded, looking all serious now.

“Ah?” Ledger asked semi-coherently. Mostly because he agreed with Shining, was curious about what Cadance could possibly want, and was trying to browse the menu as well.

“Your herd,” Cadence nodded again. “Details. All the details.”

“Ah…” Ledger paused, trying to parse the details into pony-friendly terms. How exactly would you say ‘I was trying to secure an extra emotional food source and had only just gotten used to the idea of sex again, then Cider attempted to seduce me and I rolled with it for the food’? There was a term for most of those events in Changeish, funnily enough. He didn’t think they would want to hear them, though...

“It started when I transferred to Las Pegasus,” Midnight spoke up, covering Ledger’s extended pause. “I ended up rooming with Ledger and after everything that happened, I guess we sorta hit it off. Ledger and I...we have a lot of personal problems. And, I guess we could relate, but that also led to a few issues as well.”

“Yeah,” Ledger agreed slowly, able to say this much without worry at least. “After the whole ‘mutual life saving’ bit, we grew to trust one another. And that trust and care...blossomed into something more.” He sipped at the water at his place before nodding. “I’m not saying our relationship is perfect. None is. It has a few bumps here and there that were revealed when Cider joined. The difference is...we’re willing to try and talk them out and understand each other’s view.”

Cadence nodded, she would have loved to have heard every last detail, but feared that would take a while. “So, how did you get involved Miss...Cider was it?”

“Yes Your Highness,” Cider squeaked and the Alicorn waved a hoof.

“Cadence will be fine dear. Now, do you mind telling me?”

Cider gulped, she really hoped the Princess wouldn’t hate her for this. “W-Well, ah was tending mah farm...”

Scope, of all ponies there, giggled and covered her mouth with a hoof. “I’ll bet you were.”

Cider groaned and hung her head. “Fine, ah was recovering from testing mah latest batch of hard cider okay? Happy?” Then her face turned red and she glared at the Pegasus. “Ooh, you little-”

“Moving on,” Midnight chuckled.

“Right, anywho. Ledger here comes by at some Celestia-forsaken time in the morning, wanting to set up a trade route between mahself and one of the local clubs. Ah wasn’t thinking too straight...and well, it had been a while.”

Cadence nodded and placed a sympathetic hoof on her shoulder. “I know your pain. Do you have any idea how long it took for him-” she pointed at her husband with a wing. “-To get a hint that I wanted more than hugs and kisses?” She gave an exasperated sigh. “I had to wait on his bed, wearing the skimpiest lingerie I could afford...and still had to practically spell it out for him.”

“To be fair, my father was impressing on me the importance of waiting until after I was married to buck a mare,” Shining said in his own defense. “Once he found out that we were dating, he all but policed my trash to make sure there was no...evidence from us doing...anything.”

“And this is why one learns protective spells,” Cadence nodded. “Anyway, I seem to have interrupted you. Continue.”

“Well,” Cider took a breath, “As I said, clouded thought, cute stallion...and he seemed, receptive. Ah had no idea he was already taken...and when ah found out...” She had been terrified. She didn’t want to be labeled a homewrecker. What if Ledger had been married? Had foals? What if he had a stallion at home, and she’s tempted him to stray like that? “And then...then ah met Midnight Song...”

“And your life went to Tartarus?” Shining finished.

“Exactly!” Cider nodded, and the resident Thestral had a rather indignant look on her face.

“Not cool,” she said. “Not cool at all.”

Ledger responded by putting a kiss on Midnight’s closest cheek relative to him before humming. “If this is Tartarus, I’ll take it over Elysium any day,” the stallion observed aloud. “I find my current life to be far more interesting and fun as-is.”

“I’ll drink to that!” Shining chuckled, only then realizing he didn’t have a drink. “Well, dang.” Then he had a lightbulb moment as he looked at Ledger and smiled widely.

“Midnight, I am instinctively afraid of that smile,” Ledger said as he edged a little closer to the batmare. “Is that a good thing or a bad one?”

Midnight just shrugged, still wondering if she could sneak a kiss on the cute Alicorn. Shining laughed and shook his head.

“Don’t worry. The day after tomorrow is the Crystal Fair. And on that night, I’m a free stallion for a while, so some Guard buddies of mine are going out for a night on the town. Care to join?”

“Ah, maybe?” Ledger hedged. “I’m a lightweight though, so I’ll probably not drink as much and just try and stop as many of you from getting into stupid shenanigans while drunk…”

“That’s the spirit!” Shining smiled as Cadence sighed, lightly whapping the back of his head with a wing.

“You seem dependable, and it would be nice for somepony to be able to show this lunkhead where the castle is after. I’d rather not find him and his friends asleep somewhere strange again.”

“You get picked up from a bakery one time at two in the morning, and you never live it down,” Shining muttered.

“That’s nothing,” Song suddenly grinned. “We played a great prank on one of the Guards back in Canterlot. Uh...Flash-something. Anyway, guy got totally hammered with a few buddies, so a few of the Guardsmares grabbed ‘em and put them all in the same cot once they were out for the night.” She paused to let that scene sink in before continuing. “Four stallions woke up, with every mare in the Guard watching them, complimenting them on providing such a good show~”

“...And she claims to be tame now,” Ledger said to Shining Armor. “I am both afraid and...actually, strike that, just afraid. I don’t suppose you know if there’s a return policy?”

“Nope, she’s your problem now,” Shining waved a hoof. “Our Thestrals don’t come with gift receipts...”

“Nope, we come if the other is good enough,” Midnight giggled. Ledger just moaned and hit his head on the table, wondering when they would be allowed to order, if only to provide a momentary respite to the constant teasing. As if responding to a psychic command, a waiter almost materialized next to him with a small smile.

“Is everypony ready to order?” he asked.

“I’ll have the Crystal Berry juice, not wine, thank you, and your tuna melt sandwich,” Ledger said as he pushed his menu forward. He’d had tuna fish in a sandwich before, on a dare at the Chop Shop...but the ‘melt’ part of this dish...intrigued him.

“Very good sir, and Your Hignesses?”

“Our usual please,” Cadence nodded.

“Ah’ll try yer apple salad with croutons and some Crystal Wine,” Cider said, wondering what her competition was like.

“Always with the apples,” Song giggled, shaking her head. “I’ll take the Tuna melt as well please. It sounds nommy~”

Scope peered at her menu, not knowing what half of these fancy terms even were. “Would it kill some of these places to stock a hayburger?” she wondered aloud.

“So, two melts, the Royal Usual, an apple salad and a gourmet hayburger?”

“You do have them? Sold!” Scope giggled and hoofpumped the air. Ledger sighed but smiled at the...cute display she was making.

“I do believe that should be all...oh, Midnight, Scope, you forgot your drinks,” Ledger observed aloud.

“Cider,” they both echoed, sharing a giggle.

Cadence also smiled, and once the waiter had left, she gave the two a cute stare. “So, is this adorable little thing part of your family as well?”

“Kinda-sorta,” Ledger said, spinning a lie that he hoped Cider wouldn’t call him out on. Fortunately, the best lies were based in truth... “She’s genetically predisposed to be small, and for that she was...all but abandoned. Midnight and I took her in and while there have been some bumps getting her used to civilized society, she’s come a long way from when we first found her.”

“You poor little thing,” Cadence cooed as she pulled Scope into a tight hug, the petite Pegasus glaring daggers at Ledger.

“And another discovers the joys of Scopey-hugs,” Midnight nodded. She looked at Shining and grinned sharkishly. “Aw, what’s up Cap? You wanna hug as well~?”

“Just wondering how long Cadence is going to hug the not-a-filly,” the Prince of the Empire said with a smile. Spending so much time around Twily had done wonders for his ability to understand words that Ledger seemed to like to use.

“He has a point,” Ledger pointed out. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she was as old or older than me.”

“If you must know,” Scope said, resigned to the fact that Cadence was not gonna let go. “I’m twenty four.”

“Wow,” Ledger said with wide eyes. “I’m turning twenty next month.”

Cider and Midnight just stared at him with wide eyes.

“You’re that old?

“You’re that young?”

“Wait, what?” they echoed.

“Yup,” Ledger said with a nod. “Came to the city before my nineteenth birthday. Spent a year under Toll, thanks again for helping me with that Midnight. I turn twenty...on the twentieth,” he finished with a wry grin.

“Convenient,” Midnight hummed, as a pretty pink Pegasus in a distant city gave a powerful twitch. Plans would have to be made.

“Well, ah’m barely eighteen,” Cider admitted. “Turned a few months back.”

“Luna, do I feel old,” Song muttered. Ledger just looked at Cider and winked before turning to Midnight, with a wide smile on his face.

“You are about to be an ass, aren’t you?” Midnight replied dryly.

“Maybe~” Ledger said. “It depends on how you view me asking you your age to be. Is it asinine to know how old one of my marefriends is, or when her birthday is, so that I can get her something for it? Perhaps a nice mango treat?”

“My birthday is May 13,” Song replied with a smug grin. “But you won’t find out how old I-”

“She’s twenty six,” Shining replied with his own grin.

“My thanks, Captain,” Ledger said, giving a nod to the stallion. “Now I know I need to get her at least twenty-seven mangoes come May. One for every year.”

Midnight glared at Shining Armour. “They will never find the body...”

“Midnight dear, do calm down...regularly,” Ledger asked in his polite tone. “We don’t want to be making any enemies of the ruling body of the city we’re currently visiting...add in the fact that Celestia and Luna are Cadence’s aunt, and perhaps you should rethink that statement?”

“Hah! The little bat wishes she could take me,” Shining said, brushing his chest with a hoof. “In all our sparring matches, who would win them?”

“Go buck a cactus,” Midnight retorted.

“Aw, she likes you!” Ledger cooed. “She told me the same thing once. I suppose I should be thankful she came to bed and not a cactus, but some days it’s hard to tell the difference.”

“What’s that? You want the couch tonight?” Midnight said innocently. “Fair enough.”

“Hey Scope, there room on your bed for two?” Ledger ‘innocently’ asked.

“..........” Scope just buried her head under Cadences’ wing, eliciting another coo from the alicorn.

“Heehee, your family is quite fun Miss Song,” Cadence said with a bright smile. “I really wish we could talk all day...”

“And if we did, she or I would get under another’s skin so badly it’d take Cider to make us stop bickering,” Ledger predicted. “But that’s how you can tell we love each other: we did it before, we’ll do it again. Because this is worth fighting for.”

“Yup, Ledger’s a total ass, but he’s my ass,” Song nodded as their drinks arrived. The waiter pushing them in on a cart. “Ohh, yay~”

Once they been dispensed, the waited gave a small bow and left them again. Scope was finally able to return to her seat and gingerly sipped at her cider, thoughts of last night running through her head.

“Isn’t that how I’m supposed to refer to the both of you?” Ledger asked, once again using his ‘innocent’ voice.

“And here I thought I got enough of this from Cadence,” Shining sighed.

“He’s so adorably innocent,” the princess giggled. “I’m working on it though.”

“With Midnight, you either learn to adapt, or try to avoid having a permanent blush on your face,” Ledger said as he sipped at his juice. Just as tasty as the wine had been, and he’d be able to remember that without any additional memories...cropping up.

“I get the feeling life is anything but quiet for you,” Shining chuckled. Cadence sighed and pouted, poking out her bottom lip adorably.

“Lucky, the only excitement I’ve had recently was being attacked by a Tatzelwurm...”

Ledger winced at the thought. “Oh man, those are nasty pieces of work,” he said aloud, recalling both the description and the sight of an entire platoon of Yellows taking one down...barely. “Short of a massive amount of soldiers doing all they can to kill one, the best advice I read regarding one was ‘run away.’”

“Yeah, the one that Twilight and I fought only lasted a minute or two...then sneezed on Discord,” Cadence chuckled at the look on his face.

“I...wha...you?” Ledger shook his head a few times. “I’m going to parse that sentence until it makes sense. Though that might be impossible with Discord in the mix.”

“Discord wanted a flower to cure a fake illness, Twily and I were attacked and we fought it off. Then it sneezed on Discord and gave him a real nasty disease...karma.” She laughed again as Midnight just shook her head. So she’d solo’d a raid-level boss. Nice.

“Alicorns,” Ledger moaned. “I will never understand you. Heck, that applies to most mares as well. Any time I think I have a hoof-hold...poof! Gone.”

“Ooh, he’s learned quickly,” Cadence giggled. “Seems you have quite the catch there ladies. But here’s the real test.” She leaned forward with a wicked smile. “What’s he like in bed?”

Midnight looked at Ledger, and the smile that crossed her muzzle spelled very bad things for him.

“Ladies, if you go into too much detail, I reserve the right to try out the spell you love...and use all sorts of liberties with it on your food,” Ledger said evenly. It was just a simple transmutation at its core, and it hadn’t been too hard to figure out how to not make it target him.

Midnight’s smile widened as she trotted around to Cadence’s side of the table and began whispering in her ear. Watching the various facial expressions on the Alicorn was quite amusing, as was her deepening blush. By the time Midnight finished and returned to the table, Cadence just stared at Ledger.

“Uh...wow...”

“For the sake of my sanity, I’m going to ask not to know,” Ledger said as he sipped at his juice. He didn’t need to know, either. His threat had mostly been so neither one might accidentally reveal his nature to the two that had the most reason to hate Changelings in all of Equus.

“He’s...is that really true?” Cadence looked at Cider, her forehooves indicating at what she was hinting at. Cider blushed and nodded.

“I have no idea which is more impressive, the fact that there’s another stallion that matches Shiny here, or the fact that you two can...”

Ledger looked over at Shining Armor with a raised eyebrow and idly mused something aloud. “So it wasn’t his looks or his charms that drew you in,” the brown unicorn said. “But his big, fat-”

“OKAY! Where is that food?” Shining suddenly said loudly, causing all the mares to giggle at him.

“Despite what you may think,” Cadence said. “I love Shining Armor more than anything, and yes, it was his adorable charm that really drew me in. His desire to protect everypony and never giving up.” She gave the Changeling drone a sly wink. “His ‘gift’ is just a much loved and appreciated bonus~”

“Sounds like you and me are in the same boat, buddy,” Ledger said as he raised his glass with his magic and floated it towards Shining Armor. “My condolences. Yours is immortal and will never stop to get what she wants. Midnight at least can be worn out. Eventually.”

“Oh, Cadence has her limits,” Shining smiled, revelling at the chance to get her back. “And believe me, I take great pleasure in finding those limits.”

“Ohh, Shiny finally grew a pair,” Midnight giggled. “Hmm, I like Cadence, but you’re looking pretty good too. Hey Ledger, can I borrow them for a while?”

“Hey Ledger?” Cadence giggled. “Can we borrow her for a while?”

“Midnight, if I have to put Cider in charge of you, I will,” Ledger threatened. “Or better yet, if I have to ask Scope to take charge of you, I will do it in a heartbeat. And really you two?” Ledger shot his best disappointed look at Shining. “It’s bad enough when she just plays off of us, but please don’t encourage her like that. She’ll take you seriously, you know she will.”

“Don’t look at me!” Shining threw up his forehooves. “I will have no part in this.”

“Agreed,” Cider nodded as she sipped her drink. “She’s all yours Scopey.”

Ledger just looked at Cadence for a moment before sighing. “Why do I get the feeling you’re doing all this on purpose?...”

“Because,” Cadence winked. “This is the most fun I’ve had in ages. We should do this again sometime. Maybe you could meet Twilight and her friends. I bet you’d all get along great.”

“Well,” Cider replied. “Applejack is mah cousin. And ah’ve met her friend Pinkie Pie before. She tried to throw a welcome party for every Apple member when we went to the last Family Reunion.”

“...Wouldn’t that be redundant?” Ledger asked as he blinked. “A party to welcome every Apple member that is...already attending a party?”

Cider sighed and looked at him. “Ah will say just this. Her name. Is ‘Pink’ie Pie.”

“And my question is withdrawn,” Ledger said while gulping his juice, muttering something about unpredictable pink mares.

“You know,” Midnight hummed next to him, just low enough for him to hear. “Princess Cadence is a pink Alicorn.”

Ledger just glanced at the Princess in question before slowly scooting away from her a little. The day would come when there were no pink mares or nymphs in his immediate vicinity...and then he would be happy about it.

Cadence just tilted her head and then smiled at him. It did not alleviate his fears.

The food finally arrived and Shining took a second to thank the creators. Right before he had to excuse himself to the little colts room. Cadence watched him leave, and then turned her attention back to Ledger, who had by this point gently bitten into his tuna-melt sandwich. He suddenly felt really warm for some reason, as three mares gasped. Ledger gave them a curious look, before staring back down at his sandwich...and the black, chitinous hooves that held it.

“Buck,” he cursed, before looking at Cadence and expecting the worst sort of reaction.

“So...my aunt was telling the truth,” Cadence said, the glow of her horn dying out after peeling away his disguise. “You really are one of them.”

Ledger slowly nodded, not trusting himself to speak again without cursing just yet. This was an Alicorn. He knew his limits. Though he’d not go down without a fight, he also wouldn’t start one if she didn’t.

“P-Princess,” Song suddenly said, as Ledger found her standing between them. His mare, was facing down a freaking Alicorn for him! “Look, I know what this looks like... but you have to believe me, Ledger’s a good guy.”

“Midnight,” Ledger said. “I believe this is between me and her. The thought is appreciated, love...but we need to work this out ourselves.”

“So you defend him?” Cadence said, taking a step towards her. Midnight, for all her loyalties to the Crown, did not budge an inch.

“With all that I have and more,” she said, as her voice became quiet. “W-when it counted...I wasn’t there. I hid, I cowered...when I should have fought. So yes, I will defend him! As I do Cider, Scope, or anypony!”

Cadence was looming over her now, the smaller Alicorn suddenly looking large and imposing. At least she tried, until she broke out into a wide smile and hugged the bat, whom let out a confused squeak in response.

“Ohhh, I’m so unbelievably happy!”

“...Okay, I’m gonna need a little bit of context,” Ledger said, throughly confused. He had been thinking he was about to be...well, he was certain the Crystal Empire didn’t practice capital punishment, so...banishment? Yeah, banished from the city. And suddenly Cadence was all huggy.

“Ever since the invasion, I’ve been so worried that Queen Chrysalis might have ruined pony/changeling relations beyond the point of repair. And yet, here you four are, living proof that what you look like, or how you live, isn’t a barrier, just something that makes you unique!” She squealed as she reached over and pulled Ledger into the hug as well. Ledger just let out a noise not unlike a ‘meep’ as he was hugged by the pink mare.

“Buh…” he managed to get out before getting his brain back in order. “So...I’m...not going to be banished, or tossed in the dungeon?” The dungeon had been a close number two in the ‘list of fates I might suffer for being a changeling’.

“Why would I do that?” Cadence blinked. Why did everypony think that if an Alicorn got mad, BAM! Banishment... Oh? Right. Thanks Auntie.

“No, you aren’t getting arrested or banished. I blame Chrysalis for what happened, but in the end, she was just trying to feed her Changelings...she just got...enthusiastic about it.”

“I suppose that’s one way of putting it,” Scope muttered. “I personally prefer deranged, idiotic, stupid, colossally stupid and irreparably, outstandingly stupid.”

“When you know the whole story, she does come off as a bit of a git,” Ledger agreed as he shifted around in Cadance’s hold. It was remarkably hard to get comfortable. “It wasn’t so much ‘I must feed my army’ as… ‘I want it all noooooooow~’” The drone actually did a decent whiny voice for the second impression.

“Pfft, you sound like Rarity,” Cadence giggled as she let them go. “But I suppose. While I hate what she did...I guess, I also pity her a little. But to explain myself Ledger, I do not hate changelings. Cautious, but not hate. I...could never hate.”

“The opposite of love isn’t hatred,” Ledger pointed out as he slipped back into his disguise, quite aware that Shining could slip back in at any moment. “I have known others that hate something with a passion, that love to hate that thing. No, the opposite of love...or hate, really. Two ends of the same spectrum, but their true opposite...is apathy. Trust the emotivores on this.”

Midnight’s ear flicked and she looked at the princess. “Um, does the Captain know...”

Cadence scrambled back to her seat and shook her head. “No...Shiny is a little more, well, less tolerant. Let me talk with him first. But you shouldn’t say anything just yet.”

Ledger nodded and bit into his sandwich again as though nothing had gone on while the captain was away. Surprisingly, it was still slightly warm.

As Shining walked in, nopony could hide the air of awkwardness hanging about.

“Did I...miss something?” he asked.

“Just a slight change in someponies worldviews,” Scope shrugged as she ate her burger, humming at the savoury taste. Ledger winked at her and nodded. Yes, they couldn’t and wouldn’t say anything directly.

It didn’t mean they couldn’t have fun, though~

Cadence just rolled her eyes as she dipped her spoon into her soup. Shining just blinked and looked at his wife for clarification.

“I’ll tell you later,” she said as she ate.

“Well, today seems to be going well,” Midnight said as the group finished their lunch. “For the most part.”

“We have had to shift a few plans around, but we made it work,” Ledger agreed with a nod. “Hmm. Maybe we should leave you and Cadance be for a little bit?” the brown unicorn said to the white one after wiping at his own mouth, to remove all traces of his sandwich.

“Shiny, I don’t wanna go to Court, can we ditch and play with these guys?”

Shining just sighed. “I’m not even dignifying that with an answer.”

“I’m certain Midnight would have some lewd response for that-” Ledger started, only to be interrupted by aforementioned Thestral.

“I’ll happily play with you~” she said with a sultry stare. “Cider can testify to how well I play with others.”

Cider just blushed and hid behind her cider mug.

“-But I will have to insist that we shape our schedules to be separate,” Ledger said, giving a Look to Cadence.

“Yes, we can’t keep the nobles waiting,” she sighed. One would think that being sealed for a thousand years, they’d have a different outlook on life. But no...different city, same complaints. “Also, we have to talk later Shiny. Something important.”

“Oh. Kay?” Shining Armor replied as he polished off his drink.

“Aw, so no playtime for Midnight?” the Thestral pouted.

“Sadly no,” Cadence said as she got up from her seat and slowly walked around the table towards the batpony. “But I can give you something…”

Midnight blinked, “Um...okay?”

And that was about when Cadence pounced, giving Midnight a kiss that she normally gave others! The alicorn held it for what felt like forever before finally tearing free and giving the batpony a seductive look.

“A good-bye kiss seems appropriate for the one that seems to have made it her mission to kiss all the alicorns,” Cadence mused before walking towards the door of the private room. “Coming, Shiny?” she called over her shoulder.

Midnight just stared into the void, unconsciously placing a hoof to her lips as Shining just sighed and followed his wife from the restaurant, chuckling that she could leave Midnight Song of all ponies, utterly speechless.

The Thestral just remained that way for a solid five minutes, and it looked like she’d continue to do so. Then Ledger gently poked her with a hoof, trying to snap her out of her daze.

“Ruined...” she muttered in a distant voice. “I am forever ruined by that. That was...the hottest kiss I have ever had~”

“Then in that case, I guess you can just say goodby to your cuddlebug,” Ledger said as he mockingly prepared to leave and let her chase after the pink alicorn. “I’m sure it’ll only take a little cajoling before Cadence lets you see her and Shining Armor…”

Midnight’s chair was suddenly vacant as she bolted from the room.

“...I would apologize for this, but I feel like I should at least get yelled at for it first,” Ledger said with a smile. “Plus, I trust she’ll come back to me. We’re loyal to each other, after all. And the longer she spends chasing Cadence…”

The disguised drone slipped over to Cider and drew her into a kiss to punctuate his statement.

Scope just rolled her eyes and smirked. “Oh, so all that talk last night was just talk huh? What about, rutting me into next week?”

Cider pushed him back and looked at him with a look of slight irritation. “Ledger...”

“You didn’t hear her call out your name in a cute voice, or feel the lust behind it,” the unicorn said with a hoof up. “I wouldn’t have done a thing without bringing it to you two first, and that’s if she agreed. The way she’s dancing around it, I fully expect her to grow to your size before she works up the courage to actually ask.”

“I was slightly drunk on all that lust in the room, and you..you...”

“Sounds like y’all came on a little too strong Ledger,” Cider explained. “Some mares are...delicate.”

“Remind you of anything?” Ledger deadpanned back at Cider.

“Oh mah stars, you just had to bring that up!” Cider groaned as she facehooved. Midnight walked back in, only having gone to the little fillies room. She wasn’t gonna go chasing Cadence...yet.

“Uh, what’s going on in here?” she asked.

“Ledger and Cider’s first domestic brawl,” Scope said.

“More like disagreement, and it started thanks to you, little miss,” Ledger reminded the fillyesque mare.

“Like I wasn’t going to tell them,” Scope said. “All in this together right?”

“Tell us what?” Midnight blinked, still utterly confused.

“You could have waited to tell them my clumsy attempts to bring you out of your shell - and not your exoskeleton - for when you, I dunno, worked up the balls to actually accept an invitation of mine,” Ledger bickered back.

‘Okay! I think everypony...and everybuggy just needs to chill a little.’

“W-What the buck was that?” Midnight blinked, placing a hoof to her head.

‘I’m the little voice in your head! ...but seriously, hi, I’m the Crystal Heart. And these two need to chill out. You all do, but it’s really bad with them for some reason. I think their emotions are going all over the place thanks to, well, being properly fed constantly.’

“Holy Celestia! He sounds hot!” Midnight sighed, her wings twitching a little.

“Ah...might hafta agree with y’all there Middy,” Cider nodded.

“Oh for fu- Really?” Scope sighed loudly.

‘Sorry mares, but I’m an inanimate object. You can’t do...whatever it is you’re fantasizing about with me. Now, do me a favor and watch your bugs, please? They seem to be a biiiit more temperamental for some reason. If they start getting out of hoof, feel free to help them readjust their attitudes.’

“Okay, so how do we do that?” Cider asked aloud, feeling really weird she was talking to a voice in her head.

‘Percussive maintenance.’

“So...” Midnight walked over to Ledger and Scope, before slapping them both upside the head with her wings, enough to nearly knock the two over. “That?”

‘Yup! A big enough jolt to the system to make them readjust their emotions. It’s just a lot easier to shake them up with a good old whap upside the head.’

Indeed, Ledger’s eyes were spinning around, before the stallion closed them, shook his head, looked at Scope...And blushed at what he’d said and done around her lately.

“Oh...my...” Scope ducked underneath Midnight and hid there. She’d done...and she’d thought... GAH!

“Well, this is interesting,” Midnight hummed.

“Just when life runs out of curveballs, you get a fastball to the face,” Cider agreed. A little known fact, Cider was actually a big sports fan.

“While I agree with the...sentiment of what I said,” Ledger squeaked out. “I probably would have waited about a month or two to say it. Especially that bluntly.”

“And...I led you on like that...” Scope sighed. “Friggen Heart! I’ll turn you into glitter powder!”

‘Hey, all I did was bring to the surface things that were already there...actually, that wasn’t even me. That was you digesting the love I gave you that did that. Yes, you became more loving and caring...and emotive in general, but it only enhanced what you already felt.’

“Not. So. Loud...” Scope said, grabbing her head. “Okay, don’t threaten a scary magical artifact.”

“Hearty, she’s harmless, so please don’t yell at her,” Midnight sighed. Dammit, she was hoping for a drama-free vacation... “Can...we just pretend that last night, well, after Scopey got home anyway, didn’t happen and move on?”

‘...I’ll stop yelling at her when she stops blaming me for her problems,’ the Heart said sullenly.

Ledger, on the other hoof, walked over to Scope and gently caressed the smaller mare’s cheek. He held the pose for a minute, just letting her know he cared, before speaking up.

“All my words still ring true, but only if you want them to.”

“I know you do,” Scope said quietly. “And...I’m only blaming the Heart because it’s easier than blaming myself. I just... I don’t know...if I even deserve...”

“You won’t know unless you try,” the unicorn said simply.

Scope Lens just sat there, her mind was racing and her heart was racing even faster. In a rash decision, her horn fired up and she prepared to teleport...

Ledger reached up with a hoof and gently touched her horn to disrupt the flow. “It won’t get any better if you avoid it,” he said softly. “Tell me simply, Scope. Do you want to be loved?”

“Of course I want to!” Scope half-shouted. “But have you forgotten? I tried to kill you. And I would have done it too! Without a second thought.”

“The past is then,” Ledger said with...had he been learning from Celestia?! That twinkle in his eye was real familiar. “It only haunts you if you let it, or if something from it resurfaces. The present and future are of your own making. You wouldn’t do that now, would you?”

“....no.” Scope sighed. Hives, what had her life become?

The answer was easy. Complete.

“Why me?” she asked. “Why would you even want to give me a chance?”

“Because you looked beyond the teachings of the homelands,” Ledger said honestly. “You...ignored that propaganda, and treated me fairly. Had you chosen anypony else, I would have done what I could to help you in your quest to be loved. The fact that you have apparently chosen me...complicates it a little, but I am willing to do what I can to see you smile more often.”

“See. That! Why the hell do you have to be so damned perfect!?” Scope pointed at him.

“Because, that’s Ledger being Ledger,” Midnight hummed, pulling the stallion into a chitin-cracking hug. The unicorn squeaked and was thankful for the fact that his disguise was in place. Otherwise he might have...quite a bit of healing to do.

“I’m hardly perfect,” Ledger admitted. “I’m well aware of my issues. Had you been a Yellow, I might be doing all I could to see to it that you were...persuaded to not show such interest in me. Plus it took me quite a while to figure out that you liked me at all. And if I had been ‘perfect,’ the first time I confronted you about it would have ended in some sort of cheesy romance scene where I swept you off your hooves and kissed you before re-introducing you to Midnight and Cider as their new herdmate.”

“Yeah, your sense of romance kinda sucks,” Midnight giggled, nuzzling the back of his neck. Scope nodded in agreement, recalling last night. Geh, stupid Heart.

‘I heard that.’

Dammit!

Scope looked at the three and then put the most adorable shy look on her face. “W-Well...when-when we get back home. Would you three...be adverse to, maybe letting me take you on a date?”

“Technically we’re already on vacation,” Ledger pointed out. “One we’re all paying for. If you wanted to look at it like such...we’re taking you out on a date.” The stallion got a grin on his face then. “Scope Lens, would you like to accompany us to the Fair tomorrow?”

Scope blushed and looked away. “Fine...I suppose I can let you do that.”

“In the meantime,” the unicorn said as he looked at the ceiling with a thoughtful expression. “I’m going to see if I can’t...fiddle with the soundproofing wards in our room. See if I can’t make it so nopony outside a bedroom can hear anything going on inside one.”

“That might be a very good idea,” Scope replied tersely. “Oh, and Heart?”

‘Yes?’

“Do you know what dragons eat?”

‘I am...aware.’

“Then, you should also be aware that I can turn into one,” Scope grinned, her fangs glinting in the soft light of the restaurant. “Just so you know.”

‘And how long would you last in the arctic temperatures without me keeping the weather at bay?’

“....you really are a Crystal version of Ledger,” Scope muttered. “I give up. Can we start over?”

‘Well okay...’ the Heart said...and if it had a body at that moment, anypony would have been able to see the mischievous smirk on its muzzle. Heck, they could almost hear it as it was.

‘Ah, you two are...different. Greetings, little form-changers...’

“Smartass,” Scope sighed, and looked at Ledger. “I swear, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you made the Crystal Heart.”

“Nope,” Ledger said with a grin. “Though I do like the cut of his jib. Apparently, when you do nothing but learn from ponies all day every day and suddenly find yourself capable of interacting with some of them…”

‘It tends to make you snarky, yes. I’m only a very old relic with a lot of knowledge stored in me. Why would I know better?’

“Reminds me of my time in the Lands, going between Hives and learning from them,” Ledger mused aloud.

‘We should swap notes!’

“Oh Hives, they’re freaking bonding.” Scope just shook her head and stood up, putting her regular Pegasus disguise on as she did. “Nope, I’m done. I need a drink.”

“Seconded,” Midnight giggled. “Let’s go Scopey!” The two nodded and left the restaurant, leaving Cider alone with Ledger.

“So uh, are y’all gonna keep talkin’ to yerself, or are we gonna go and do sumthin?”

“Meh, I can talk to the Heart anywhere,” Ledger said as he got to his hooves. “Why don’t you join Middy and Scopey for their drinking? I’ll make sure you three get back to the room with a minimum of fuss.”

“Ah suppose somepony should keep an eye on them,” Cider nodded. She leaned forward and gave him three kisses, one from each of them. “See you later then?”

“I’m coming with, love,” Ledger reminded her. “Though whether or not you’ll remember what happens next remains to be seen.”

“Pah, ah can hold mah liquor better than any o’you lot,” Cider said with a confident smirk as they left, the waiter bidding them farewell. Actually, she was concocting a plan, one she would have to speak to Midnight about...

Chapter 28 - How to hold your liquor (And everypony else's, too.)

“So...” Midnight sat at a table in front of two Crystal mares. Also...they were twins. “I must say, your city has some beautiful sights. In fact, you’re among the most beautiful I’ve seen yet~”

The mares giggled and shared blushes, sneaking looks at the exotic batpony. “And you are quite interesting yourself, miss,” one of them spoke up.

“Indeed, your wings and fangs...your kind are not seen up here very often,” the other said, putting a hoof to her mouth. “It would be a shame if you left before seeing all the sights of the city.”

“Mmm, I’ll bet,” Midnight replied, giving them a half-lidded gaze, before she yelped as she found herself on Cider’s back. “Oh, hey Cidey~”

“Don’t you hey me Missy,” Cider replied as she dragged the Thestral back to the bar. “Don’t y’all think the bed is full enough?”

“Do you really want me to answer that?” Midnight replied with a sly smile, wiggling her eyebrows. In the background din, if a pony listened, they could hear the twin mares inviting Midnight ‘and her cute friend’ back so they could ‘get to know one another better.’

“Aw c’mon Cidey, Twins! Crystal Twins!”

Cier groaned and looked at Ledger. “Do something,” she groaned.

“Mmmnope,” Ledger said as he sipped at his water. “In this case the best thing to do is steer her away and take pictures.”

“You want her to leave with them?” she asked, flicking her tail towards the crystal nymphs. And not the kind they were used to dealing with. Ledger just shook his head.

“I didn’t say leave her alone, I said steer her. If we leave her alone with anypony, she’ll hit on them. Or hit them. If we just steer her back towards us when she starts getting really flirty, then we avoid any damage.”

Scope walked back over to the bar, hefting a rather large bag of bits as she smiled widely. “Sometimes, I love being me.”

“I only have one question,” Ledger said with a sigh. “We’re not going to have the Guard knocking on our door in the morning because of however you got that, right?”

“What?” Scope shook her head and glanced back at the group of depressed stallions. “Do you have any idea how easy it is for ‘us’ to win at Poker?” She placed some bits on the counter and pointed at them with a wing. “Can I get a round of drinks for my friends over there? It’s the least I can do after cleaning their wallets.”

The barstallion nodded and began pouring some ciders before flagging a waitress and directing her to serve the bit-less poker players. Ledger smirked slightly at the sight.

“I could never do that,” he said aloud. “Not only would I feel terrible doing it, my poker face falls apart when I actually play poker. Something about the moment.”

“Hah, that’s pretty funny actually,” Scope giggled and looked at him. “Remind me to play you sometime. Though, I might wind up running Pegasus Air by the end of it~”

“And that’s why I don’t go to the casinos,” Ledger said as he munched on some hay fries. “I would never win. Well, maybe I might win some of those mechanical games, but not ones that pit you against another pony’s bluffing skill.”

“Ah well, maybe I’ll teach you at some point, little drone,” Scope giggled as she watched Midnight saunter off towards the crystal twins. “Um, what the buck is she doing?”

“My turn,” Ledger sighed as he ambled after Midnight. “Try not to drink your winnings away.”

“Yeah, yeah...” Scope wasn’t going to tell him that the barkeep thought she was a minor and wouldn’t give her alcohol.

The unicorn had followed the thestral and just stood to one side for a moment, listening for the right time to jump in. Typically it was ‘now,’ but sometimes waiting for Midnight to burn the flirting and the alcohol off was useful too.

“So, here’s what I’m thinking,” Midnight replied, “You, and you...and me, my place. We’ll bang.”

The mare’s giggled again, before looking towards Midnight’s other family members. “Mm, what about the cute blue one?”

“Hmm, I bet I could ask,” Midnight giggled. “Oh, hey Levvy~” she waved at him. “You wanna play as well?”

“Sorry ladies, but my little bat here tends to get real flirty when she’s drunk,” Ledger said as he pulled Midnight close and kissed her on the cheek. “While most ponies have these things called limits, I’ve yet to find hers.”

“Not to worry, we’re flexible,” one said.

“Very flexible~” the other giggled.

“Sadly, my bed is filling up fast,” Ledger said. “Plus, we’re trying to work each other into something resembling normal. Whatever that actually is.” Ledger paused as he considered the question before shrugging. “Anywho, I would normally just let her continue with her flirting, but she seems to be serious. So, I’m sorry for ruining your fun…”

Then the stallion got a devious look to his eye as he turned to the recently cleaned-out colts and pointed with a hoof. “But I know some stallions who lost quite a bit of money lately and would just love to ‘get lucky.’”

“Aw, should we go and cheer them up sis?”

“Mm, dibs on the two in the middle, though, I think I’ll be the one in the middle soon~”

Midnight watched them walk off and sighed. “Oh well. That was fun.”

“Mm,” Ledger said as he planted another kiss on Midnight’s cheek. “For a moment I almost thought you’d forgotten about me and Cider.”

“I’d never forget about you and Cidey, and Scopey, and those luscious twins...” Midnight sighed and looked at him, poking her tongue out. “You’re so resistant to my usual charms, I need to find mortals to see if they still work on occasion.”

“Oh have no fear, I’m just as vulnerable as any other, just in different ways,” Ledger reminded Midnight. “Plus the more time I spend around you, the more I pick up on innuendo and the like. Someday soon, you will be able to say a sentence and make me blush!”

“Oh, so I’m levelling up?” Midnight rubbed her hooves together. “Soon my dear Ledger...soon~”

“Indeed, but for now, I know a certain nymph who is sullen and sober. Perhaps you could change that?” Level said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“I can change that indeed,” Midnight giggled, but as she bounced over, she was stopped by Cider, who was whispering something in her ear and the two were shooting looks towards Ledger, each gaining growing grins.

“I feel like I should be afraid,” Ledger commented as he began looking for escape routes.

Midnight slid back over to him, looking as sober as he was. “Okay, Cider and I have a few things to take care of. Take care of Scopey okay? We’ll see you back at the room later. Love you. Bye!” she kissed him on the cheek and the two mares ran from the bar. Ledger walked over to Scope and sat opposite the small pegasus.

“I swear to you, this one wasn’t me,” the unicorn told Scope. “I think they’re plotting to put us in the same bed.”

“Who knows,” Scope sighed as she downed another shot. “Well, I’m bored here. Wanna go and spend some bits?”

“Isn’t that what you were already doing?” Ledger asked. “And wherever we go, we need to find a way to get them back for this.”

“For what?” Scope replied with a cheeky smile. “Leaving us alone with some peace and quiet for once? I know they’re up to something, but right now, I feel like some frivolous spending.” She got off of the stool and offered a wing. “Care to indulge a girl and take her shopping?”

“The way they were giggling indicates plotting,” Ledger clarified as he lit his horn up. “Would you mind if I carried you?” he asked, just to be safe.

“Um, why?” Scope asked him. It was an unusual request.

“Meh, felt like giving you a ride to wherever we’re going,” Ledger said with a shrug. “Plus, at least I remembered to ask instead of treating you like you were just a doll.”

“Hmm, so you’re learning,” she smiled as she hopped onto his back. “Okay Ledger. Mush!”

The unicorn rolled his eyes, but walked as his passenger directed.

The two had actually had a surprising amount of fun. The main street was taped off so the set up for the Fair could commence uninterrupted. Scope had bought herself a little khaki jacket, and also bought some gifts for the others as well. Ledger got a crystal quill, while Cider had gotten a cookbook of Crystal Empire cuisine. Midnight had been a little harder to think of, until Ledger had a good idea.

It was a necklace with the Harmony symbol of positive and negative, each half made from the crystallized forms of Ledger’s and Scope’s magic.

“Well, that was...interesting,” Ledger said as he put the necklace away. “Interesting is a good, catch-all term.”

“It seems to be your default response,” Scope noted. As they got back to the hotel, the stallion that had seen to them earlier trotted over.

“Ah, good evening dear guests. I trust your stay has been pleasant so far?”

“Indeed it has,” Ledger said with a smile. “Thank you for the bed for little Scope here, and...apologies if Housekeeping had any...choice words about us.”

“Our staff is discreet and it is far from the first time we have had...excitable guests,” he smiled. “And I am glad you are pleased with our choice. It just pains me that you got such a rushed job.”

“Mm, that might explain why I had to move her old bed,” the unicorn mused. “Ah well. Live and learn. Have the others come back? They sort of left us to our own devices in town, and we’ve not seen hide nor hair of them since.”

“Ah, yes, they returned quite some time ago...and, they have made strange requests of our kitchen staff...”

“What...sorts of requests?” Ledger asked, bracing himself. “I might be able to shed some light…”

“Ah, well...” then he recalled some earlier instructions. “Mm, perhaps it might be best if you see for yourself.”

“They told you not to tell, didn’t they.” Ledger deadpanned.

“I do apologize, honoured guest,” the stallion nodded. “Trust me when I say that they have quite the surprise planned however. You shall not be disappointed.”

“I dislike surprises,” Ledger said as he fished out a five-bit piece and flicked it to the crystal pony. “I would appreciate as much of a hint as you can give me, so I’m not caught entirely unawares.”

“I am sorry sir, but the Thestral miss made me promise not to reveal anything.”

“Not even by omission, by telling me what they didn’t ask for?” Ledger asked with a smile.

“I am afraid that the Apple miss was quite insistent that I tell you nothing,” he nodded. “Now, I must attend to my other duties. Best of luck honoured guest.” And just like that, the stallion practically vanished.

“I have a plan,” Ledger said with a smile to the nymph on his back as they began heading to the room. “One that involves illusions. Think you’re up for it?”

“What are you planning?” Scope sighed, this was only going to end badly.

“Simple, a swap,” Ledger said as they reached the right floor. “We take each other’s place to mess with them. You go in first as me, then I come in as you, and once their plan is revealed, I actually pounce on them.”

Scope looked at their difference in size and raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?”

“Remind me who turned into a dragon again?” Ledger asked. “Pulling off me should be foal’s play.”

“And you get to play a foal by becoming me,” Scope giggled and once they were in front of the door, she flashed with blue flames and a duplicate of Ledger was looking at him. “Though, shouldn’t Midnight and Cider be the ones to pull you off~?”

“We’ll see,” Ledger said with a smirk before flashing silver himself. In seconds, a duplicate of Scope’s pegasus form was sitting in front of the duplicate Ledger. A quick illusion to fool others into thinking he was a mare later, he felt ready to foil whatever plan the pair had concocted.

“Ready for this?” he asked. With Scope’s voice. That just sounded...wrong, coming from him.

“I swear,” came his voice, and hearing from somepony else was...strange. “If you do anything weird as me...” ‘Ledger’ sighed as he nudged the door open...to see Midnight laying on the bed, reading a book while Cider braided her mane.

“Huh, welcome back you two,” Midnight waved, not really looking up.

“We were expecting something...more, from what the pony at the desk said about what you two had been up to,” Ledger observed as ‘Scope’.

“Who says we were up to something?” Cider hummed as she placed a small ribbon in Midnight’s mane. “T’aint nuthin’ goin’ on here.”

“You two,” Ledger sighed. “All that drama and for nothing?”

“Aw, are you that disappointed?” Midnight hummed as she hopped off of the bed and walked over to ‘Ledger’, drawing him in for a deep kiss. Scope’s eyes went wide, before she closed them and deepened the kiss even more.

“Oh Hives,” ‘Scope’ complained. “We’re barely home a minute and you’re molesting him.”

Midnight broke the kiss and licked her lips, frowning ever-so-slightly. Still, she looked to ‘Scope’ and smiled. “Aw, you want one too?”

“I didn’t say that,” ‘Scope’ said while blushing and looking away. “Besides, I...still have some...things to work on.” ‘Scope’ then cleared her throat and looked at ‘Ledger’, in an effort to remind him of the things they’d bought.

“Mm, wha?” Ledger smiled stupidly and giggled. It was...really creepy. Cider blinked and watched them from the bed.

“Are...you two okay?” she asked. “Middy, maybe you should give ‘em a whack again.”

Midnight spread her wings and prepared to strike. Fortunately, ‘Scope’ spoke up first.

“Ledger, get your head down out of the love-filled clouds. We got something for them, didn’t we? Maybe you should give it to them?” ‘Scope’ verbally prodded ‘Ledger’.

“Maybe I should~” he smiled, before shaking his head. “Ah, right. Well, Scope here bought us all some gifts, which was super nice of her.” Ledger fished the cookbook out of the bag and floated it over to Cider. “We got you that, figured you could use it for your farm?”

“Ohh,” Cider grabbed the book and flipped it open. “Ah wonder whut Apple/Berry pie would be like...?”

“Mistress, you were a little harder to shop for,” ‘Scope’ said. “But we eventually came up with something that we thought you’d like.” The smaller ‘ling dug into the pack before coming up with the necklace and presenting it to the thestral.

Midnight took the necklace, just...staring at it.

“I...is this...magic?” she asked. ‘Scope’ nodded and poked ‘Ledger’ into explaining it a little better, to keep up the guise.

...Maybe he should have poked somewhere other than the ribs?...nah.

‘Ledger’ gave a sharp giggle and the transformation dissipated, leaving two Scope Lens’ standing there. Midnight looked up and cocked an eyebrow, a small smirk appearing on her face.

“Goddammit Ledger,” the real Scope sighed. “Well, we’re totally busted.”

“Maaaaybe,” the fake Scope said, an ear flicking towards Scope’s room. All they’d need to do is get out of sight...

“So...I really kissed...” Midnight looked at Scope, and then at the other Scope. “I knew something felt off about that. But, whatever...” She looked back at the necklace. “You were saying?”

Scope sighed again, “It’s crystallized magic, specifically, mine and Ledger’s magic. We also got a smaller one mounted on the spine of Cider’s book.”

The Apple mare turned the book over and hummed when she saw it. The other Scope spoke up then.

“We wanted to make something that’d be pretty unique that’d last a lifetime.” Then the second ‘Scope’ pulled the first one off to her room. “Now, I’m curious about something, so let’s see how this plays out.”

“Wai-wha?” Scope cried out as she was pulled away. Midnight and Cider looked at one another and shrugged, just admiring their gifts and smiling brightly.

The second Scope pushed the first one onto the bed before climbing on herself and giggling. “I had a naughty thought while I was out there and you were kissing Middy~”

“Again, creepy when I say that,” Scope sighed, and it was weird hugging herself as well. “And I already know I’m going to regret this, but what idea did that deranged mind conceive?”

With that, Scope found herself kissing ‘herself’.

It was pure shock that she just stood there, until a hoof smacked ’her’ muzzle. Scope panted as she glared at her and sighed. “One. Ask. How many times do I have to say it? And two... do you know what two is?”

“It’s either ‘don’t do that again as me,’ or ‘do it to me again as me,’” ‘Scope’ observed.

“Close,” Scope said as she flashed, and Level Ledger now stood over the faux mare. “But rather, how do you like it?” as he grabbed the petite mare and kissed her deeply. There was a silver flash from between their mouths, and the faux-stallion found his mouth being invaded by a...strikingly familiar tongue.

One more flash, and the mare found herself being picked up with one scaly claw, Dragon Scope grinning widely at him/her. “I can keep this up all day Ledger~”

‘Scope’ stuck her tongue out before being consumed in a blaze of silver...and a similar adolescent dragon joined her. Silver in color as compared to her form, and back to being a male again. “Wow...okay, that’s the first time I did that,” Ledger observed aloud.

“Impressive,” Scope nodded, as the floor beneath them creaked slightly. “Mm, perhaps we should go back to normal now?”

With a pair of flashes, the changelings were back to normal and slightly dizzy from the rapid-fire, radically different changes they’d gone through. “I motion we cuddle on your bed until we’re not suffering from whiplash,” Ledger managed to get out.

“I’m too tired to argue,” Scope moaned as she crawled onto her fluffy cloud-bed. “You’d better figure out how before I change my mind.”

Ledger lit his horn up for one last change, and his pegasus form flashed into being before he all but fell on the cloud-bed. With a trembling forehoof, the stallion pulled the petite mare closer and cuddled her before he started to mumble at her.

“‘s not love...yet. But it could be.”

Scope just nodded slightly as she closed her eyes.

Outside, Midnight and Cider were busy wondering where the two had gone . There had been some odd sounds, and a lot of flashing coming from under the door. Were they fighting again?

The Thestral poked her head inside and suppressed a coo, she beckoned Cider over and the two just stood in the door and watched. Gods above, it was so damned adorable.

Later that evening, once Scope and Ledger woke up, Cider and Midnight decided it was time to reveal what they’d been cooking up. Once everyone had showered and gotten freshened up, the two mares led them to the hotel’s dining hall, where a single table sat in the centre of the room. A small group of ponies were playing some romantic music on a stage, and the darkened room was lit solely by candlelight.

“Well this looks awfully romantic,” Ledger said as he eyed the scene.

“That’s the idea Ledger,” Midnight hummed as she nudged him towards the table. “All four of us will share this nice romantic meal, then we will head back and cuddle. Sound good?”

"That sounds perfect," Ledger replied as he made to get everypony else's chairs with his magic.

“I suppose,” Scope huffed as she took a seat. “Since you went to all this trouble, I guess I can allow a hug this one time.”

“Note to self, avoid hugging the walking cactus,” Ledger teased. “Otherwise cuddle time will be ruined, as I won’t be allowed to hug everypony.”

“Aw, don’t tease her,” Midnight hummed as she sat. “That prickly nature is part of her adorable charm.”

“True,” the stallion admitted. “Once you navigate past the huge spikes, she’s rather soft and cuddable.”

“Pfft, from what I hear, the only huge thing around here is your-”

“Okay, let’s just enjoy this here romantic meal,” Cider interrupted. “Ah swear, ah can’t take you lot anywhere!”

“Wasn’t my fault,” Ledger said as he sat at the table finally. “So, do we get to know what’s on the menu, or will it be a surprise?”

Another waiter all but appeared next to him and cleared his throat. “The menu has already been decided sir.”

The unicorn barely managed to keep his calm and nodded at the waiter with only a slight twitch to one eye betraying how he really felt. “Ah...thank you.”

“You are welcome,” he smiled without batting an eye. “The appetiser will be a crisp salad, made only with the finest ingredients. The sirs, as well as the Thestral and Pegasus miss will also be garnished with fresh prawns, dusted with coconut powder.”

“Ah,” Level said as he looked over at Midnight. “Recalled my taste for seafood?”

“Perhaps~” Midnight winked. Actually, it had been a lucky guess, but she’d roll with it.

“For the main dish, we have a pasta salad with a side of chips and sparkling wine. And for dessert, I believe that is meant to be a secret yes?”

“That’s right~” Midnight giggled.

“Then I will refrain from guessing as best as I can until it is presented to me,” Ledger said with a smile. “Thank you for the overview.”

“You are welcome sir,” the stallion nodded and vanished as quickly as he came. Midnight smiled, happy that Ledger and the others seemed to be enjoying themselves so far. The entree was soon plated up Scope was the first to practically inhale hers.

“A bit hungry there Scopey?” Apple Cider chuckled.

“Uh-huh, Ledger really wore me out. I can’t believe he put ‘that’ in my mouth... I had to shift so much.”

The two mares stopped eating and slowly turned their heads to look at the stallion, who was giving the pegasus the stink-eye. “You could have phrased that better,” he grumbled.

Scope just shrugged as she ate, feeding her face was more important right now. Midnight groaned, she knew that nothing like what she was imagining had happened...but after everything that was going on...

“Well, if she’s makin’ jokes like that, ah reckon she’ll fit in with this weird family jus’ fine,” Cider hummed as she resumed eating. Ledger just nodded and started counting, wondering when Scope would realize what she had said and how it could be taken...

“If you’re waiting, I know what I said,” Scope said as she licked her little glass bowl/cup thing clean. “I can’t help it if you can’t take a joke...Lord Secret~”

“It’s not me I’m worried about,” Ledger said with a small smile. There was, after all, a Midnight at the table...one with a very active imagination...

“Scopey,” Midnight placed a hoof on her shoulder, a single tear falling down her cheek. “I’m so proud of you.”

“I am suddenly regretting a lot of my choices,” Ledger observed aloud in the lull between appetizer and main course.

“Seconded,” Cider noted as she dabbed at her mouth with a napkin and looked at Scope. “Oh, you have have a little something there.”

“Where?”

“Here,” Cider grinned as she placed her lips against the Pegasi’s cheek and licked. The Pegasus froze as her face shifted to a deep red.

“W-W-Wha...” she ducked under the table and one could almost see the steam rising out from where she hid. Midnight giggled as their main course arrived, the thestral bouncing slightly, excited that dessert was one step closer. This was either going to be the greatest thing ever, or something that would bring the entire Crystal Empire to ruin.

The brown unicorn stallion picked up a forkful of his pasta salad and hummed as he ate it. “Not too firm or too limp on the noodles, excellently done on the accompanying greens, and…” here he just hummed for a moment. “It comes together wonderfully. My compliments.”

A small grin crossed Midnight’s face, “Well...I’d guess you would know a thing or two about a firm noodle and coming together huh Levvy~?”

There was a light ‘thunk’ as Cider’s face met the table. Ledger processed his earlier statements along with Midnight’s and did a remarkable impression of a tomato.

“Is there any sentence you can’t turn dirty?” he muttered. “Here I am trying to compliment this dish and suddenly everything has to be thought about twice before I say it.”

“You chose her,” Scope said from under the table. “You live with the consequences.”

“Yup, you know you love me~” Midnight giggled as she ate her pasta. Ledger slowly returned to normal and nodded.

“That I do,” he said before munching on the dish again and humming his approval. “And you don’t even need to say it to me.”

Scope finally came out from under the table, her raging blush finally under control as she shot Cider a glare that could freeze the sun. The Earth pony just giggled and winked at her.

“This family is impossible,” she muttered as she twirled her fork through the pasta.

“If it were impossible, it wouldn’t exist,” Ledger nitpicked. “I think the word you’re looking for is implausible.”

“Equestria thrives on making the impossible, possible,” Scope stated. “So, my point still stands. We’re two changelings, a batpony and an Earth pony. Why does this even work?”

“Because we try to make it work,” the stallion said simply, as though that were all that were needed.

“Guess that’s all we can really do,” Cider nodded. “Y’all can have all them fancy magicks, weather control and the ability t’change yer shape. But in the end, the heart wants what the heart wants. Can’t stop it, so yer jus’ best off makin’ it as best ya can.”

“I guess so,” Scope said as she finished wolfing down her pasta. Ledger polished his own bowl off in a timely manner and sipped at his wine before smiling at Midnight.

“Well, I will say that so far you have impressed me with this,” he said before turning to Cider. “Both of you have. It has been a nice evening so far. Truly memorable.”

“Well, it can’t always be shenanigans and debauchery...” Cider giggled and winked at her marefriend. “Despite Midnight’s best attempts.”

“Pft, I can be romantic when I want to be,” she huffed. The waiter appeared and whispered something into her ear and she smiled widely. “Oooh, hold that thought, I’ll be riiiight back~”

Scope Lens watched her leave and tilted her head. “I know I shouldn’t be so suspicious...but I have the feeling she’s up to something.”

“She’s always up to something,” Ledger said as an ear flicked. “Just as...well, just as back home, I’m always thinking about how to best run Pegasus Air. Even now I keep getting distracted before I remind myself that this is a vacation.”

“And ah constantly worry about mah farm,” Cider nodded. “So ah wouldn’t worry too much, everypony has their little quirks. Midnight just has...more than a few.”

“Mmhmm, I trust her and know that whatever she’s got planned will be something to savor,” Level said as he took another sip of his wine. True to his word, he could feel his lovable ball of love and lust approach, four dishes placed on her outspread wings.

“Okay, for Cidey, we have an apple tart with crystal berry jam,” she said as she placed the dish on the table. “And for Scopey, vanilla ice-cream with crushed peanuts and chocolate sauce.”

Scope’s eyes widened and Ledger could hear her whisper under her breath. “Daring Do’s favourite...”

“And for my Levvy,” Midnight giggled as she placed his dish. You could almost see the love oozing from it. “Coffee Ice Cream in a chocolate biscuit sandwich.”

Ledger blinked as he looked at what would give any changeling enough stamina to turn into, well, nearly whatever they wanted. He slowly looked over at Midnight with a growing smile on his face.

She sat down in her seat, a positively monstrous mango parfait in front of her. “Hmm, I take it that everyone is happy with my choice?” she asked.

Cider and Scope were too busy eating to respond, but still gave vivid nods. Ledger slowly walked over to Midnight with that smile still on his face, ignoring his dessert for the time being. Midnight really did deserve a...reward for this.

“Yes Levvy?” she asked, her fluffy ears giving a small wiggle as she tilted her head slightly, looking as adorable as possible.

And that was when Ledger locked mouths with Midnight, even as a silver flash came from within his muzzle. She wasn’t getting just regular make-outs, no. She was going to get full-on thestral make-outs. Even if he couldn’t turn into one right now, he could still use their tongues...

It soon became a tongue fight for dominance, with Midnight moaning happily as she kissed her funny stallion. It was something else to watch as well, as Cider and Scope just stared, the latter having a terrible case of stiff wings.

By the time the two pulled back, even Midnight was panting slightly, giving Ledger a half-lidded stare. “Well, guess you really like your dessert~”

“I’m sure I will once I eat it,” Ledger agreed, before making slight nibbling motions in Midnight’s direction. “...But enough about you, I better get back to the ice cream before it melts.” With that, Ledger turned back to his seat and began to slowly dig into his treat once he sat down again. He didn’t want a headache from eating too fast, nor did he want his emotions to become too...unbalanced.

Scope gave a wistful sigh as she ate her dessert. She could sense Midnight’s affection in it, and she had guessed that Ledger’s was the same. Tonight was...something she never expected to partake in. Not honestly anyway. And yet, here she was...with ponies she legitimately cared for.

“This still feels weird.”

“Weird is the new normal,” Ledger said with a smirk.

“We’re all a little weird here,” Midnight giggled from behind her wall of magoey goodness. “Speaking off, what was behind the genius plan to disguise yourselves as each other?”

“That was all Ledger,” Scope huffed. “Blame him.”

“To be fair, we received cryptic warnings from the stallion in charge about you ordering all sorts of food, and my mind went...places.” Ledger admitted. “I wanted Scope to go first in case you two wanted to ambush me or something. It was supposed to be a precaution and a prank. It backfired.”

“Meh, I got to make out with Scopey, so I say it’s a win,” Midnight giggled as the Pegasus huffed again.

“You know,” Cider suddenly spoke up. “Now that y’all mention it. Ah haven’t gotten to kiss Scopey yet.”

“Be sure to ask first,” Ledger warned as he began eating what was left of his dessert in earnest. “Otherwise she might punch you.”

Cider pulled the Pegasus closer and looked into her eyes, before leaning down and kissing the mare lightly on the lips. Scope’s wings fluttered, before she made a small effort to return the gesture and broke the embrace, quickly returning to her seat, blushing profusely.

“There, now ah feel all caught up,” Cider giggled.

“True, now the only one that’s behind is Scope, but it was never in my nature to push others that far out of their comfort zones,” Ledger said before he polished off the last of his treat. That. Was. Awesome. Oh, Midnight was getting extra cuddles tonight~

“Well, no futimes with Scopey, not until we see if those potions work on female changelings,” Midnight nodded. “I don’t want glowing green eggs being laid on the ceiling or something.”

“So everywhere else is fine, gotcha,” Ledger said with a cheeky wink.

“You’re an ass,” Midnight sighed. “Wait, you guys actually lay glowing green eggs!?”

Ledger and Scope shared a look before snerking and bursting into laughter at the same time.

“Oh Hives, sometimes I forget how little you know about us,” the unicorn of the pair said.

“Maybe one day we’ll tell you,” Scope said as she calmed down.

“You suck, both of you,” Midnight pouted and blushed. How was she supposed to know how Changelings gave birth. All the books she’d seen said they laid eggs, and they did resemble giant bugs...

“Well it’s still a prettier picture that the other rumour,” she pouted.

“Fair enough,” Ledger said, already thinking about the other rumors he’d heard regarding ‘where little changelings came from.’ “It could be worse. It could be far worse.”

“How could it be worse?” Cider asked innocently.

“That a changeling uses a pony as a host,” Midnight informed her, shuddering as she recalled some of the more...graphic books she’d read. Ledger saw the mischievous look on Scope’s face and raised a hoof to stop her, but was too slow.

“And you’ve done a fine job picking these two,” Scope said with a grin. “They might even live!”

“W-What?” Cider blinked, her heart rate rising as Midnight sighed.

“Cidey, I highly doubt that they do that, and if they did, they would never live long enough to see the results.” She looked at the little Pegasus and licked her lips. “Isn’t that right Scopey~”

“R-Right! Just kidding. No need to worry,” Scope gulped and scooted a little closer to Ledger. She’d need a useful meatshield if Midnight continued.

“Well at least she’s making jokes and trying to fit in,” the unicorn observed. “Now all she needs to do is learn what is and isn’t appropriate to joke about, and we’re golden.”

Midnight was already plotting revenge though, but she would need a Unicorn...

“Well, no harm, no foul,” she giggled. Her long tongue flicked out and her dessert ceased to exist. Ledger blinked before shrugging.

“I will admit, ladies, that was an enjoyable dinner and a wonderful dessert. Assuming we can put aside any grudges, shall we retire to snuggle?”

“Ain’t no grudges here,” Cider nodded. “And ah reckon this has been a fine meal. Mah best idea yet ah reckon.”

“Eeyup,” Midnight giggled, mimicking Cider’s accent. “I have all the warm fuzzies.”

“S’alright I guess,” Scope muttered.

The stallion of the group got up from his chair, before deciding on something...fun. Making a complete circuit of the table, he started with Cider and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He then moved to Midnight and repeated the gesture. He took one step closer to Scope, and...

“Kiss me and die,” she growled. Level let out a whimper and made his best pleading face. Scope rolled her eyes and tilted her head slightly. The stallion smiled and walked over before slowly giving the small pegasus mare a kiss on the cheek.

Once she was done, she made a show of turning and snapping her fangs at him, grinning when he yelped and pulled back.

“Too easy,” she giggled, trotting away.

“Well,” Midnight mused as she brushed past him, her tail running across his back. “Best of luck with that one.”

“Meh, with mares like her, I think the advice was...let them come to you?” Ledger shrugged. “I wasn’t really paying attention in that class anyways. They mostly advised us on how to find the best ponies to be friends with...which I had no interest in at the time.”

Midnight suddenly had a small mental image, of Princess Celestia sending Ledger to Ponyville and making him write friendship reports. She snerked at the image and made a note to bring it up with the Princess next time. Might make for a nice prank later down the track.

“So,” Ledger interrupted her train of thought. “Room, snuggles?”

“Room snuggles!” Midnight cheered and gave her wings a light flap, heading full-tilt for their room. The dining hall was already being cleared and soon the romantic evening was just a pleasant memory.

Chapter 29 - Royally screwed?

The next morning was pleasantly comfortable. Ledger quite literally found himself buried in mares. At some point, all three had found their way atop of him, despite the ample room on the joined bed. Seeing as how Scope had in fact joined, the unicorn opted not to disturb the scene and just bask in it.

Somebuggy is putting up a very powerful front in public. I bet if it were just me and her, she’d be willing to talk with me...

At that point, he also felt a very powerful barrier go up around the entire building. Knowing who it likely was, Ledger sighed and lamented the fact that he couldn’t teleport. He would really have to get Scope to teach him one of these days.

Somepony was soon thumping on the door, and being at the top of the cuddlepile, Scope rolled off and onto the floor, grumbling as she tried to pat down her bedmane with a wing.

“I swear, I am going to eviscerate the being on the other side,” she muttered as she got closer. She was met by the chestplate of the local Guard, with an equally unamused stallion inhabiting said armor.

“We’re lookin’ for Leger, little filly. He in here?”

“And who’s asking, beefcake?” she snarked back. A sleepy Scope was an intolerant Scope.

“Only our boss, Shining Armor. Y’know, the Prince.” The stallion was trying to look around Scope to see if the unicorn could be sighted.

“I’m sorry, our trading hours are between 10 and 5,” she yawned and slammed the door in his face. “Bucking hell, I can’t believe I woke up for this crap.”

There was silence for a moment before the guard on the other side knocked on it again. “Open up, in the name of the Prince,” he insisted. Scope growled and she opened the door, her glare made the frozen tundra outside look like a tropical paradise.

“It’s seven. In the bucking morning!” she said with a eerily calm tone. “Level Ledger will come to the castle soon enough. Now you either leave and tell Prince Prickmore that, or I turn you into fucking canned food. Deal?”

“...The Prince is unwilling to drop the shield around the hotel until Ledger is in his custody,” the guard said, divulging the information under the pressure of that glare.

“Fffffffffuuuu-” Scope turned and stormed into the bedroom, grabbing Ledger’s leg and yanking him onto the floor. “Guards, Your problem. Deal with it!” she snapped before getting back into bed and snuggling Midnight.

Ledger blinked a few times before realizing he’d been drafted to solve...whatever problem there was at the front door. With a sigh of reluctance, the unicorn opened the door to see the guard in armor standing there.

“I assume you’re Level Ledger?” the weary guard asked.

“Yup,” Ledger said before yawning. “Can...whatever this is wait until after coffee?”

“I’m afraid I’m not to let you out of my sight...but if you brew me a cup, I’ll come in and watch and not mention it to my superior,” the guard said before barely managing to stifle a yawn himself.

“Cool,” Ledger said as he stood to one side to allow this latest development into the hotel room. The guard nodded his thanks and watched Ledger make his morning coffee, the smell wafting throughout the room and dispelling any guilt he had of acquiescing.

Unfortunately, the scent of fresh brew also reawakened the tiny demon. She stumbled into the room and her frozen gaze locked onto the guard again. “You’re bucking kidding me...”

“I’m not to lose sight of him, and he has coffee,” the guard said in his defense. “We’ll be out of your mane soon enough, little lass.”

“You fed ‘em, then they're your responsibility,” Scope said as she poured three cups. “Make sure you walk them, feed them and housetrain them.” She looked at the three mugs she poured and pointed at the bedroom. “You mind?”

“My orders are for him,” the guard said. “Feel free to go as you will.” Ledger poured another two mugs, one for himself and one for the guard, before nodding at Scope. When the guard wasn’t looking, he flashed his eyes at her, to get across what he thought this was about, then flashed them back to normal.

“Figures...” she muttered. “And I meant if you would mind floating those in? No magic remember?”

“Not a problem,” Ledger said as he lifted the cups and floated them in front of Scope, before they moved on to the bedroom. “I’ll hold ‘em ‘till I feel you moving them.”

Scope nodded and then an evil thought crossed her mind. She crossed the space between them and planted a light kiss on his lips. “And you were amazing last night~ I still can’t believe you took all three of us...” and with a light flick of her tail, she left the room.

“...Three?” The guard asked. “All to yourself?”

“She teases, it’s only two,” Ledger said as he sipped his coffee and hummed. “Mm, not bad, but not my best. Still, it’ll do. You?”

The guard blew on his own hot drink and gulped it down, eyes widening as he did. Once his throat was clear again, he coughed a few times before nodding. “That was some damn fine stuff. Almost wish I hadn’t done that, but time’s wasting.”

Ledger nodded and drank his own coffee at a more sedate pace. Soon enough, it was gone, and the guard was escorting him from the room.

Once the other mares had awoken, and Scope had been awake enough to be bothered to tell them what had happened, Midnight was already in her combat armour and heading for the door.

“Middy, do ya really think that’s necessary?” Cider asked. “Ah reckon that the Prince jus’ wants to talk with ‘im, otherwise, why would he leave Scopey here?”

“I’m not taking any chances,” Midnight said. Nopony messed with her family, not even her former Captain. Besides, this was waaay too much fun to pass up. Time to test the security of the Crystal Empire!

As she left, Scope just sipped her coffee and hummed. “Well, it sounds like this will be an all day thing. What do you wanna do in the meantime?”

“Ah have no idea,” Cider shrugged. “Wanna see what Fredrick and Captain Narrow are up to?”

“Hmm, I haven’t messed...seen them in a while. Sure.”

Ledger just sat in the throne room, in chains, waiting for Shining Armor to come up with an argument he couldn’t logically defeat so that the chains could be removed.

He was quite enjoying it, actually. Every time Shining tried to justify his paranoia with laws that didn’t exist, Ledger called him out on it.

“Those mares that are with you, how can I be guaranteed that you haven’t brainwashed them?” he said, leaning forward. “For all I know, Chrysalis is already in the city!”

“I’m willing to admit that I don’t know where she is either,” Ledger calmly said. “If only because if I knew where she was, I would be there, ripping her throat out.” He let that sink in for a minute before smiling. “And really, how can you tell you haven’t been brainwashed? You could be being forced to act this way. How would you know?”

“Ever since the invasion, the mental wards I place on myself are far more powerful,” he snapped. “A drone like you couldn’t hope to control me.”

“Kudos to you then,” Ledger said with a nod. “Still, we have the slight problem of you not trusting me when I say those wonderful, lovely mares are free to act as they well and choose to be around me, despite knowing who and what I am.”

“Excuse me if I find that very hard to believe,” Shining said with a curt tone. “Well, I’m sure you’ll start talking when you get hungry. This room is cut off from any outside force, and you’ll find no love in me for your kind.”

“Oh, dear Shining,” Ledger said as he let his eyes revert. “The only reason I’m not gone now is because I respect your wife more than I do you, and that she’d likely not appreciate the property damage I would cause breaking free.”

“You think you can take me?” he said in a wry tone. “I am very good at my spells Changeling. I could shield an entire city...or create one so small, you might not even see it. Like your heart for instance. Imagine that, even as I expanded it...”

“Shining, you said it yourself. This room is cut off from outside forces. I’ve been stocking up, no real need to burn all my magic and love at once. Do the math as to how much power love, willingly given, from two mares over the course of even one week, would give me.”

“I could raise and expand a shield in an eyeblink, you’d be nothing but a smear between it and the wall,” he retorted. “So tell me, who do you think is faster on the draw?”

“My weapon of choice is my mind, Shining. I prefer duels of wits with armed opponents, but you’ll have to do,” Ledger smirked. “In that scenario, I’d focus my power and ride your shield to the wall...and break THROUGH it with a big enough blast. I’ve already found at least two structural weaknesses in this room that’d serve for that. And really, you should open your ears and hear the words I’m saying sometime in the next decade-” He paused as a curious sound found its way to his ears.

It sounded like humming coming from the ceiling.

“What in Equestria is that?” Shining blinked, motioning for one of his Guards, an orange Pegasus.

Ledger discreetly looked upwards and had to suppress a laugh at what he saw. He forced himself to look at Shining before making an observation. “Tell me, Shining, do you know the one thing Changelings have in common with a species of pony, beyond form?”

Shining turned his attention back to the drone and frowned. “No, but I have the distinct feeling you’re going to enlighten me.”

“Mmhmm, has to do with Thestrals,” Ledger said, leading the stallion to the conclusion that was sticking to the ceiling.

“And what do Changelings and Thestrals have in common?” he asked, not noticing Flash disappear from behind him, the Pegasus guard muffled and strung up on the ceiling.

“We can both walk on walls,” the disguised drone said with a smile that was way too pointy. Shining blinked before he put two and two together...about a second too late. He turned to see Midnight Song hanging from the ceiling behind him in some sort of black bodysuit, wearing a think pair of goggles and smiling brightly.

“Sorry Cap~” she said chipperly and Shining was promptly dumped into Luna’s dreamworld. Once he was out cold, she spun herself around and landed on the desk. “I am here to rescue you Levvy~”

“Just get me outta these chains, if you’d be so kind,” Ledger said, the metal and awkwardness doing wonders for his control regarding Midnight’s...apparel. “Also, you’re wearing that to bed one night.”

“Can do on both regards,” she said with a roll of her eyes. Her right wing blurred and something glinted in the light before Ledger’s chains clattered to the floor in countless pieces...or around forty seven if one bothered to take the time and count. The unicorn got up and stretched, cracking a few joints that had gotten sore during his time being forced to sit still.

“I’m just glad they don’t have any anti-magic metal. That stuff itches like crazy when I touch it,” Level Ledger said with a shake of his head as he re-asserted all of his disguise. “Okay, I think we have one quick stop to make before we leave. You up for telling Cadance how her husband has been behaving?”

Midnight’s eyes widened as she didn’t respond, seemingly staring at something behind Ledger.

“She’s right behind me, isn’t she,” he deadpanned.

“That would be an accurate assumption,” Cadence said as she walked past the Changeling and over to her husband. “Could somepony please explain three things to me. One, why is my husband unconscious. Two, why is Flash Sentry doing a remarkable impression of a pinata. And three, why is the kitchen barren of all mango products?”

Midnight gave a quiet burp.

“I think the answer to all three of those things is easy enough,” Ledger said, pointing a hoof at his marefriend.

“Well, it would seem so,” Cadence sighed.

“What?” Midnight huffed. “Rescuing is hungry work, and those chefs left perfectly good mango cupcakes out in the open like that.”

Shining groaned as he lifted his head and slowly opened his eyes. “Uhh, honey? Morning already?”

“Yes, and you have caused quite a bit of trouble dear,” Cadence said sternly. “Honestly, arresting a perfectly innocent Changeling like that. What sort of example are you setting for our kingdom?”

“But. He-”

“You and I are going to talk. Over tea and cake and these two shall join us.” She looked at Midnight and Ledger. “On behalf of the Crystal Empire, I would like to extend my deepest apologies for any harm you may have been caused.”

“It was all psychological stuff, I didn’t let it get to me,” Ledger brushed off. “And even if it did, I get the feeling you’re about to repay him tenfold.”

“Tartarus hath no fury like an angry wife,” Midnight giggled.

“Indeed, I shall show you to a room in which you may freshen up. I will also send for your other partners and we shall have a nice chat over some tea. Won’t we Shiny?”

“......”

“I said.” the Alicorn stepped closer and everypony could swear that it got a few degrees colder in the room. “Won’t we Shiny!”

“...Yes dear,” he mumbled as Cadence smiled chipperly once more.

“Good, then we shall see you in a bit.” Her horn flashed and Midnight and Ledger found themselves in a very nice room somewhere in the castle.

“So, not that I’m not flattered,” Ledger said as he eyed Midnight’s form. “But is there a reason for your choice of apparel?”

“Scopey says it’s a must when mounting a secret rescue mission,” she said, before blushing lightly. “And I have the sinking feeling that she’s messing with me now.”

“You really should have chosen something that would have helped you blend in a little more,” Ledger observed with a nod...before drawing close and running a hoof over the outfit. “That said, I find it...quite enticing, seeing you like this.”

“Oh?” Midnight smirked as she turned slowly, the skintight cloth hugging all of her luscious curves. “And what is so ‘enticing’ about it hmm? Perhaps you should show me~?”

“Let’s just say, I can see everything,” Ledger said as his hoof moved to caress her flank. “Everything. And I like what I see. How hard do you think it’d be to get Cider in one as well?”

“I think she can be convinced,” Midnight giggled. “Ohh, two secret spies caught by the villainous mad scientist Level Ledger~ I wonder what naughty punishments await our sexy heroines?”

“Why don’t we get a preview?” Ledger said as he advanced to caress the joints where her wings met her back.

“Mmm, it’s been a while since it was just the two of us, and Mr. Ledger! Are you suggesting we do something naughty in the palace of a Princess!”

“I rather think that I am,” Ledger said as he pulled the thestral mare close enough to kiss, but didn’t. “Let’s be late to tea - I guarantee that Shining and Cadance still won’t get there before us. And I missed out on my physical breakfast, so I think I’ll have a snack of Thestral~”

“Oh nooo,” Midnight said in a very poor dramatic tone. “I have rescued my Ledger too late, and now he is a lust-crazed demon. Whatever shall I doooo~”

“The same thing we do every other night,” Ledger said as his fangs reappeared, using them to nip at her neck. “Try to buck each others’ brains out.”

“I can roll with that,” Midnight giggled as she pounced on him...

Brunch was...awkward. If Awkward could be distilled into a physical thing, then brunch at the Crystal Palace had been infused with it.

On the one side, you had three mares, all of whom were trying their hardest (or not, in some cases) to act like Shining Armor hadn’t seriously abused his power, just to satisfy his paranoia.

And on the other side, you had Shining Armor, who had been scolded quite severely by Cadance and threatened with a lifetime of sleeping on the couch if he didn’t at least try to make nice.

The pink Princess and Ledger sat at either end of the table, acting as mediators to make sure all the comments that were said weren’t too barbed.

“So...” Midnight began, even as she was smoothing down her mane after her ‘interrogation’ with Ledger. “I guess I’ll start with... What the absolute living fuck Captain Shining!?”

“My default reaction to ‘There is a changeling in the vicinity’ is ‘interrogate it,’” the white unicorn said. “It wasn’t your wedding they crashed, Agent Song. The scars of that day are more than physical.”

“As Midnight could attest to,” Ledger interceded, causing Shining to clam up as he remembered who he was talking to.

Midnight gave a brief shudder and stood up. “I think I need a minute,” she said quietly before walking briskly from the room. Ledger just shot a glare at Shining in response.

“Seriously. You forgot what happened to her.”

“It’s been a busy day, and it’s not even noon yet! I just forgot!”

“Forgot what?” Cadence asked, concerned for the Thestral mare. She seemed quite distraught. “Did something happen?”

Shining nodded at first, but shook his head soon after. “Something did happen, but it’s not my place to say what.”

Ledger just sighed and looked at Cadence. “She was attacked the day of your wedding. By the worst example of our kind. One that tears love out of others and feels none of the positive emotions others do.”

Cadence gasped as she looked at the door the batpony had exited from. “I hope she’s okay...”

“Midnight’s tough, she’ll live,” Scope said. “And honestly, I think this whole thing is stupid. Prince Shining Armor could have acted a lot worse. Ledger and myself could have been executed on sight for all we know. So personally, I think Captain Armor acted well within his jurisdiction. Still gonna remove his leg for upsetting Mistress though.”

“And it’s ponies like you two that make the species gap nigh-insurmountable,” Ledger sighed. “One doesn’t listen to reason, and the other purposely antagonizes the other. And some days, you switch roles!” After that, Ledger looked at Cadence and grinned.

“And no worries, once we figured out what happened, we began trying to help heal her,” the disguised drone told the Princess of Love.

“Because that worked sooo well,” Scope snarked. “But yeah, the most you’ll have to be worried about is being pranked. Pranked hard. Tell me Prince, what’s your public image like?”

“Something tells me it’s about to take a dive,” Shining observed as he pulled his tea and cake a little closer to himself. “Look, nopony told me about there being different sorts or colors or what have you of changelings. Nopony really told me anything about changelings until last night. I thought Chrysalis was the norm, not the aberration. Can I get a little slack for that?”

“Just enough to hang yourself with,” Scope said all too calmly, only to receive a light smack upside the head from Cider. “Ow!”

“Scopey, play nice or I’ll take yer toys away,” Cider chided her and bowed her head. “Ah sure no...well, minimal disrespect was meant yer Highness. This family an’ any form of authority mix like cider and mud.”

“Considering the way half of us were raised…” Ledger trailed off as he sipped at his tea.

“Half?” Shining said, his head tilted to one side as he thought about the idea.

“You do that on purpose, don’t you Ledger?” Cider deadpanned. “Please don’t antagonize the husband of the one of the four Princesses.”

Ledger just put his tea down and fired on maximum snark. “Well golly, I sure wouldn’t want to upset the stallion that only had me dragged from a nice, warm cuddle-pile before I could even have breakfast, now would I? That would just be rude.”

“....Guess ah walked into that one,” Cider sighed. She gave up.

Scope on the other hoof, decided on a different tactic. She had moved around to Shining’s side of the table, staring up at him with her sparkling sapphire eyes.

“Mr Shiny? Why’d ya kidnap Ledgie?”

Shining Armor had a little sister. It should have inoculated him to this level of cuteness. Hay, the filly had been snarking at him a moment ago!

Sadly, he had not prepared for Scope’s sheer adorableness. With a soft coo, the stallion moved to hug the little filly close.

The was a blue flash, followed by a second flash and Scope had squirmed from his hug and returned to her seat. Midnight Song stood nearby holding a camera and the picture it produced. One of Shining Armor hugging a Changeling.

“Oohh, this is one for the scrapbook.”

Shining just looked from the picture to the little filly and back again, his brain trying and failing to process what he’d just been presented with. “You....and that...and what…”

“I think you broke him,” Ledger said with a too-cheery smile. “Somepony get a stick, I want to poke him with it.”

“Are you all quite done?” Cadence sighed. “I’d hate to have to find a new husband. This one took long enough to take the hints.”

“You must admit, he deserves a little torment beyond what you did,” Ledger pointed out. “I’m sure your retribution was fair and just, but it wasn’t you he wronged.”

“But what will this gain? Besides more bad blood between us?” Cadence said in that motherly tone of hers. “Shining Armor, are you sorry for what you have done?”

“...Yes,” he replied. “I could have handled the situation better, but let my fears get the better of me. I am sorry Chan-Level Ledger.”

“Good, and do you accept his apology Level Ledger?”

“Provisionally,” Ledger said with a smirk. “The provision being that this doesn’t ruin the night on the town he planned, then yes. I can accept his apology. It’ll be a novel experience, and I’d rather not have it ruined because somepony kept glaring at me.”

“You...still want to do that?” Shining blinked in surprise.

“I didn’t go out drinking, despite living in Las Pegasus,” Ledger said with a shrug. “Losing control wasn’t something I went out to do on purpose. Plus, I was sorta living in constant fear after my boss learned the glamor-breaking spell and found out my secret, then decided to use it against me. So...yeah, I could do with a night on the town.”

“Alright then,” Cadence clapped her hooves and giggled. “Then you boys shall go out and have fun. And meanwhile...” She smirked as she looked at the three mares. “We will have a girls night here in the castle~”

“Remember Midnight, no property damage, we can’t afford to replace anything,” Ledger said as he winked at the thestral mare.

“Oh ye of little faith,” Midnight waved a hoof as she moved next to Cadence. “Don’t worry Shiny, I’ll take good care of your little wife here~”

“I can trust you two to keep her in line or keep up with her?” Level asked Scope and Cider.

“Ah make no promises,” Cider shrugged as she sipped her tea.

“Yup, keeping Mistress in line is your duty. You want to go out, then what she does is on your head.”

“Aw nuts,” Ledger said as he sighed dramatically. “I guess I can look forward to coming home to some sort of situation and having to deal with it before I can snuggle anypony.”

“I trust you will not do anything untoward with my wife, Specialist Song?” Shining said in a low tone.

“I promise that I make no promises,” she giggled, hugging the Alicorn. “If she falls for my charms, then I cannot be held accountable for her excellent tastes.”

“Well, I think that’s a mutual agreement to get in trouble from our significant others, or at least mine,” Level Ledger said as he looked at Shining Armor. “And now I think I need that drink, to cushion the blow of whatever they’re going to get up to.”

“Agreed,” Shining asked. “Now...where do you suppose Flash Sentry got to?”

Cadence shrugged, wondering just what she’d gotten herself into.

“It might be a bit too early to go out drinking just yet,” the disguised drone observed. “But I’ll gladly walk around town with you until the bars open.”

“Well, we need to find Flash first...” Shining nodded. “Well, up and at ‘em then Ledger. Let’s see if a Changeling and myself can get along without killing one another.”

“We’ll just have to see,” Ledger said, smiling his pointy smile. “So long as you keep yourself in line, I promise the same.”

Shining gave a curt nod and the two left the dining room, leaving four mares to conspire amongst themselves.

“So...wanna place bets on how long they’ll last?” Scope shrugged, stealing the cake that Shining left behind.

Back in the room Shining had used to interrogate Ledger, a disdained orange Pegasus swung slowly from the ceiling.

“I hate my life...”

“You’re...sure about this place?” Ledger asked, eyeing the establishment that Shining Armor had eventually taken him to.

The earlier parts of the day had been filled with questions regarding changelings, naturally. Ledger was surprised at how Shining had managed to keep the terms pony-friendly when he could, and his tongue in check until he no longer needed to watch out for others listening in. Just as surprising was Level’s ability to respond so quickly to the day-long question and answer session, in ways that thankfully didn’t clue anypony in to his actual nature.

Flash Sentry was just confused as all get out. While his captain had rescued him...eventually, he was now friends with the Changeling? And they were all going drinking now?

“What is my life?” he muttered.

“Considering how badly you got rejected, I’m surprised you’re still as much of a stallion as you are,” Shining chuckled. “But, you’re not the first to fall on that front. That is a wall that cannot be scaled.”

“And I’ll do my best to keep Midnight from trying to ‘complete the set’ of Alicorns she’s kissed,” Ledger assured. “Besides which, if we spent any time in Ponyville to begin with, I just know something crazy would happen. And that’s the last thing I need right now.”

“That town is a magnet for trouble,” Shining sighed. It wasn’t his sister’s fault...most of the time. “And I would appreciate that, but I think even Midnight would meet her match in Twilight.”

“You’ve met Midnight, right?” Ledger deadpanned. “I went from being nearly asexual, to being Songsexual, to being flat-out straight again thanks to her.”

“And yet, I am still confident that Twilight would even barely register her existence,” Shining sighed. As a big brother, he was glad he would probably never have to deal with his little sister getting her heart broken. But it also meant that his mother was putting all her ‘I want grandfoals’ pressure on him and Cadence. Twilight Velvet already saw her daughter as a lost cause.

“You know what?” Shining smirked, getting a most evil idea. “I bet you a hundred bits that Midnight Song has no chance.”

“Hmm,” Ledger said as he rubbed his chin. “I’m technically good for it...once I get back. Y’know what, I’ll take that bet. I’ll bet a hundred bits that the day she meets Princess Twilight, she manages to shove her tongue in Twilight’s mouth. And if I win, you have to pay Midnight, and tell her why.”

“Deal!” Shining smirked as he shook Ledger’s hoof. Flash just shrugged and kept walking towards the bar. It was karaoke night tonight and he wanted to be plenty liquored up before trying that.

“So, this’ll be a new experience for me,” Ledger said as he neared the door, casting a look between it and Shining. “Care to give me some pointers so I don’t look like a complete moron?”

Shining and Flash shared a smug smirk and shook their heads.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Flash laughed. Ledger just sighed and opened the door with his magic: it was unlikely he would get any answers from them, so best to dive in.

It wasn’t quite as bad as he expected. There were only a dozen or so ponies in the bar when they arrived. Several took notice of the new patrons, but paid them little heed. Shining would come here often, so there was little fuss about the Prince of all ponies turning up to wet his lips on a brew or two.

The bartender was a rather shapely mare. She had a silvery-crystal coat and fiery red hair. She looked at her new customers and gave them a wink.

“Ohh, hello there boys~”

Ledger forced his attention to Shining and quirked an eyebrow, as if to ask a question. It was probably something along the lines of ‘what do you recommend’, but in the latest context, it could also be taken as ‘she do this often?’

“Given I am not psychic,” Shining chuckled as he sat down. “You may have to actually voice your concerns. Also, Ruby Daze, this is Level Ledger, my new...acquaintance.”

“Well he’s a real cutie,” Ruby giggled. “Nice to meet you Levvy!”

“Why do mares seem to always call me that?” Ledger sighed as he took his seat. “What do you think I should try, Shining? I’ve not done this before...unless getting drunk in a truth-or-dare game counts.” Or the time with Cider, but that’s not something to say in polite company...

“What are you, five?” Shining snorted as he ordered his usual. “I believe that was the last time I played that game,” and he was not going to admit that Twilight won. “Hmm, well, start him out light Ruby. He’s probably a light weight.”

“Can do Prince,” she smiled as she poured a clear liquid. “Crystal Clarity, basically slightly alcoholic water.”

Ledger sniffed the glass, found nothing amiss, then raised it to his mouth and took a sip. Upon finding nothing too displeasing with the drink, the unicorn drained the rest of the glass on his next go ‘round and nodded. “Well said,” he said. “And for your information, I was attempting to distract Midnight from climbing up the walls. It’s a long story, but I had a bored bat and needed a not-bored one. That game worked.”

“Well, then it’s her age that’s up for question then,” Shining laughed as he downed his shot. Ruby refilled both their glasses as Flash chugged back his tankard of ale.

“Pwah! Now that’s the stuff!” he smiled, wiping his mouth with a forehoof. Ledger raised his glass in preparation for a toast and looked at Shining Armor. The Prince blinked, before smiling and raising his glass.

“To knowledge,” Ledger said as he clinked his glass with the Prince’s. “The basis for understanding, the foundation for friendship, which is in turn the beginning of peace. Everything is possible if you know enough.”

“Knowledge is power, but it’s still power that must be wielded wisely,” Shining nodded as he tapped the glass with his own. “While I hold no forgiveness for Chrysalis or her brood... you’re alright Ledger.”

“Mm,” Ledger said as he downed his shot. “Really tells you something when you mention her name and other changelings express a desire to rip her apart.”

“I’ve been thinking on that,” Shining nodded as he downed his shot. “If you guys hated her so much, why didn’t you do anything to stop her? Or at least come forward and publically disown her.”

“She’s...the changeling equivalent of Prince Blueblood,” Ledger sighed. “Nobuggy believed that when she stormed off vowing revenge that she would do something like...that. She preyed on the less fortunate to recruit them into her ‘army’, and by the time we pieced together what had been going on…”

“It was all over,” Shining sighed. “Well, whatever. The past is the past and Chrysalis won’t be able...to...” Then he realised one massive fact about the drone before him. The fact that he was even sitting here in the first place. “How did you even get in the city?”

“Your shield is meant to keep out dark forces, right?” Ledger said, and the Prince slowly nodded. Ledger just nodded once, sharply, with a smile. “Well, there you go then. I may have had dark thoughts and desires around those that have exploited me...but I’m no darker than you, Shiny.”

Shining looked at his pristine white coat, then to Ledger’s much darker one, before smirking at him.

“You know what I meant,” Ledger sighed as he rolled his eyes. “I may not be the best example of a pony or a ‘ling, but I’m no Chryssy or Sombrero either.”

“Well, I am aware of that now,” Shining said as he got his third glass. Ledger’s was filled with something a little stronger this time. A pale pink liquid.

“Siren’s Kiss. Something with a small kick, but it might sneak up on you later,” Ruby giggled. Ledger brought the glass close and sniffed, finding a new medley of scents teasing his nose. The brown unicorn gave the drink a sip and nodded before wincing at the kick he’d been warned about.

“You weren’t joking,” he observed, giving the drink another sip and bracing himself. “Still, not bad at all.”

“It’s no ‘Emperor’s Curse’,” Ruby smiled as she downed her own shot. “But it’s not bad for beginners.”

“It’s nice,” the unicorn observed a few staff members setting something up on the stage. “Um. What’s going on?”

“Ohh, the karaoke contest starts soon~” Ruby Daze hummed. “Maybe you should sing something? If you sing as good as you look~”

“I have...a song I could sing,” Ledger hummed. “It was sung...fairly often around the home. And it applies to my life more often than I’d like. But you all might not like it.”

“Nonsense!” Ruby said adamantly. “Let’s hear it Equestrian-stallion!”

“I’ll let somepony else go first with a happier song,” Ledger insisted as he took a sip of his drink. He got his wish when Flash Sentry wobbled up onto the stage and grabbed the mic.

“Alright, Imma sing sumthin’!”

“Oh, this promises to be interesting,” Ledger said as he drained his shot glass and put it on the bar, eyes riveted to the orange pegasus.

The Pegasus opened his mouth and a really sappy heartbreak song started flowing out. The crowds reactions were varied, but Shining Armor just sighed and applied his hoof to his face.

“So we get Sad Flash again?” he muttered. “Oh yeah...Monday.”

“I said a happier song,” Ledger said with a smirk before giving Flash a slow applause. “Still, nice singing.”

“Wait for it...” Shining said as two ponies pushed a crash mat in front of the stage. At the end of the song, Flash attempted an air guitar solo, despite the song never calling for it. Instead, all he did was topple over and fall onto his back on the mat.

“I take it he’s done this enough to warrant those precautions?” Ledger asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Every Monday and Thursday,” Daze sighed. “Poor guy. He needs a mare... or a stallion. I don’t judge.”

“Fair enough,” Ledger said with a nod as he looked back at his shot glass. Ruby had apparently refilled it, but with something new again. It was an amber liquid this time, something called a ‘Ditch Digger’. A potent whiskey that burned going down and burned coming out.

Ledger did his best to hold his breath and down the thing in one go, without smelling or tasting it. At that, he succeeded...but it still burned when he took a breath, causing a small coughing fit to seize his form.

“That...kicks pretty hard,” Ledger managed to wheeze out.

“Like an ornery mule,” Ruby giggled as she gave him a glass of water. “You okay there little colt?”

“Just gimme a moment,” the stallion said as he sipped the water. “Mm...that’s better. And wow, I can see what you mean by the drinks sneaking up on me.” Ledger was definitely swaying in his seat now.

“Heh, is that all you got?” Shining smirked. “I bet Chrysalis could drink you under the table.”

“I never was one for drinking,” Ledger said as his body stopped swaying for a moment. “Was more interested in living to see the next day...in fact…”

With that, Ledger took the stage and began to sing a very sad song, indeed. At least, if you had any frame for context. And something had to be said, for Ledger’s singing voice.

While normally, he would be incapable of singing more than a few bars, he did at least remember how the songs sounded when he heard them.

When he was drunk, however, he was far more easily influenced to replicate the songs, and unless they involved high notes, he could usually do so with what courage the liquids he’d been drinking gave him.

Shining just watched and listened. To the lyrics he sang to the tidbits of information he had heard about the Changeling. “Well...damn...”

The song eventually ended, and while Ledger had been tempted, very tempted, to unveil himself during the latter part to make his words sink in a bit more...he restrained himself and just slowly walked back to the table. “Well Captain? Am I worth it?” he asked with only a little touch of bitterness to his voice. Apparently, Drunk Ledger was Emotional Ledger. As in, his emotions were all over the place.

Mind you, everypony present was reading from the wrong context as Shining blushed lightly when the whispers started. “Sit down you idiot,” he whispered. “Or else ponies will get the wrong idea.”

“I think they already have, but okay,” Ledger giggled, actually giggled, before retaking his seat and looking at Shining Armor. “Y’didn’t answer my question,” the brown unicorn observed aloud.

“You’re a fine stallion, but embarrassing as all get out when drunk,” Shining shook his head as Flash finally returned, draping himself over Ledger’s back.

“I love you guys,” he sniffed. “But...nopony loves me....”

“I’d offer to share, but I don’t live here, and I think they’d take issue if I did it without consulting them first,” Ledger said as he used his magic to help him gently shift Flash off his back.

“Sucks,” he muttered. “You got three mares...an’ I got none...”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Shining chuckled as he downed another glass. “You’re a lucky stallion Ledger.”

“Only sometimes,” Ledger said as he chuckled. “Three times the mares, three times the mare problems. And keeping up with all three of them is draining. I’m lucky I’m a ‘ling, I can convert the love they feel for me into enough energy to avoid whiplash.”

“Maybe if I was...” Flash leaned closer to Ledger and smiled waaaay too widely. “Hey, hey Ledger...make me a Chang-cham...one of you!”

“Noooot possible,” Ledger managed to slur out. “You’re either born one or aren’t. Sorry.”

“Then tell me your secrets Magic Man!” Flash shook him. “I waaannaaa get a mareeee!!”

“Fillies and Gentlecolts, the pinnacle of the Crystal Guard,” Shining facehooved.

“Flashy, if I knew why they liked me,” Ledger said, throwing a hoof around the guard’s withers and drawing him close. “Then I’d tell you. As it is, I think they’re all somewhat crazy.”

Three mares all shared a sneeze as they looked at one another and giggled.

“Aw mannn,” Flash pouted. ‘S’not fair...why didn’t she like me guys?”

“Because Twiley has all the social graces of a rock,” Shining nodded. “No mare or stallion has a chance, so don’t feel too bad Flash, you’re simply the latest in a looooong list of ponies that have tried, and failed.”

“Like that’s gonna stop Middy,” Ledger boasted. “She’s kissed all the other Princessesssessses...heh. Little bat’s gonna get yer sister, jus’ you wait…”

“We’ll see Ledger...we’ll see,” Shining smirked, especially if he gave his sister a heads up. What? Ledger never said he couldn’t.

“So how’s my favourite trio?” Ruby Daze walked over to the table they had taken to sit at. “You boys need anything else from me?”

“I’ll take another,” Shining smiled. “And maybe a cart to haul these two home in.”

“I can walk,” Ledger said as he made to stand up...and greeted the floor with his face. “I could walk if the floor wasn’t being so pushy. Stupid gravity.”

Ruby giggled as she helped him up, placing Ledger’s hoof over her shoulder. “Oh dear, and you never even started on the heavy stuff. You gonna be okay there wondercolt?”

“Jus’ fine,” Ledger said as he focused on what was going on. “Just need ta...compensate. I don’t drink a lot, so...this is new to me.”

Ruby smirked, “What’s new? Drinking? Or compensating~?”

“Ruby, he’s taken...by a few,” Shining sighed. The last thing he needed was getting yelled at for Ledger making a pass at a shapely bartender.

“Mm, pity,” she sighed, putting him back in his seat.

“‘Sides, I doubt...you could make the trip to home often enough,” Ledger pointed out. “Not that you’re not pretty, just...it wouldn’t work.”

“Wow, this is the first time a drunk stallion has put me down so gently,” Daze laughed. “This one’s going in my diary.”

“I think three is his limit, both in mares and in drinks,” Shining laughed as Flash tried to stand, and kept wondering why he was still sitting.

“Yeah, but Middy keeps tryin’ fer others,” Ledger sighed. “Really...gets to me sometimes. I love her, but her eyes keep strayin’...”

Well this was an interesting turn of events. Shining saw opportunity and leaned over the table. “Look Ledger, I’ve known Song for a while. If she’s still with you after all this time, she’s not going anywhere.”

“...thanks,” Ledger said with a smile. “I...needed that.” Indeed, he seemed to be a bit more at ease now that Shining had shared that news.

“Meh, what are frie- acquaintances for eh?” Shining still couldn’t quite admit that he was becoming friends with a changeling. Mutual drinking buddies. That sounded better. “Still, I can’t help but wonder what our mares are up to right now.”

“I know my mares,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “You dun wanna know. Fer all you know, they’re teaching Cadance about herding. And that’s the best outcome.”

“That...that’s the best outcome?” Shining paled, making his white fur somehow whiter. “Stars above...just who did I leave my wife home alone with?”

“My herd,” Ledger replied with a nod, as though that simple answer explained everything.

Apparently it was. “I think we need to go home soon,” Shining gulped as he downed his shot. Maybe he should get something with actual alcohol in it this time?

“If the palace isn’t on fire by now, then it’s not gonna be anytime soon,” Ledger said with a wave of one hoof. “We don’t need to rush…”

Flash looked at the two, then at his own hooves, then back to Shining. “Heeyyy Cappy?”

“Yes, Flash?” Shining said.

“How come you ain’t dr-dun-...like us?”

“Maybe I can hold my liquor better,” he shrugged.

“It’s probably that,” the brown unicorn agreed. “So...what next? Got any more questions, mister Paranoid Armor?”

“Original,” Shining replied. “But I think I’m fine. Unless you know where Chrysalis is?”

“Ohh, who’s Chrysalis?” Ruby said from behind them as she placed three more drinks on the table, accidently giving Ledger Shinings water. “A jilted lover?”

“WHAT?” Shining flushed a deep crimson. “Not in the slightest!”

“Just a jerk,” Ledger said as he took a sip of the water and frowned. “Miss Ruby, there’s somethin’ wrong with my...drink…” He trailed off as he looked at Shining Armor and chuckled. “Actually, you may be right about the jilted lover thing…”

“Ledger,” Shining warned as he sipped his drink and coughed slightly. This wasn’t his...

Oh.

“Okay Ledger, let’s not say anything we’ll regret now yes?”

“I’m jus’ saying,” Ledger said with a smirk. “How long was she pretendin’ to be Cadance? Long enough fer her to earn that lover thing?”

Shining...actually looked ashamed, “I said drop it Ledger.”

“...You didn’t,” Ledger said, leaning forward. Okay, now he needed to know.

“That time...it’s still a blur,” Shining said quietly as Ruby slipped away. This sounded like it wasn’t for her ears.

“I don’t know...if it was her or not,” he admitted. “But...I think it was. I cheated on Cadence...with that-that THING!”

“Look on the bright side,” Ledger pointed out. “She shifted. No way for her to be pregnant with your kids. Shifting rearranges that…” Then Ledger’s mind went to a place he didn’t want it to go to. “Unless…”

Shining paused. No. There was no WAY he had just hinted at that. “Unless what? Ledger.”

“Unless she never shifted and was only using illusions the whole time,” the drone admitted after a moment. “Then...well.”

“No!’ Shining shook his head. “The shield that Cady and I made, she took that at point blank range. There is no way she could have concentrated on keeping her transformation with that.”

“Unless she never transformed,” Ledger pointed out. “There are...those of us that simply can’t. They rely on illusions alone to replace somepony.”

“So...I bucked...when she looked...” Shining put a hoof to his mouth and ran for the bathroom as Flash just looked back and forth between the pair.

“Uh, what jus’ happened...?”

“Shining could already be a dad,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “Wonder how that’d go over with the parents.”

Flash never heard him, as during Ledger’s reply, his head had hit the table and he was now snoring peacefully.

“Well, guess we’re done here,” the unicorn said as he raised a hoof to flag down Ruby. Somepony needed to pay for the night...and get Shining out of the bathroom. The Captain returned of his own accord soon enough, wiping his mouth with a hoof.

“Well,” he said in a flat tone. “Tonight has been enlightening. Thank you Level Ledger...”

“No problem,” Ledger said as he poked Flash’s form. “What say we get him back and see what the mares have been up to?”

“We will, but first...” Shing slammed the table, waking Flash with a jolt. “Miss Ruby, three ‘Emperor’s Curse’s’ if you will.”

“Uh,” Ruby blinked. “Are-Are you sure about that Prince-”

“Not a Prince, I am a customer that would very much like to forget the last ten minutes of my life. And these two will be my companions into drunken oblivion.”

Ledger just shrugged, figuring that whatever she gave him to drink wouldn’t be as bad as having to fight the Black. Or working under Toll Taker. Or…

Or a lot of things he’d been through, really. Yeah, he could really use that drink now.

Soon enough, three shots were placed gingerly on the table as everyone in the bar all stared at the three brave souls...well, two brave, one was too drunk to know better.

The glass was filled with a dark liquid, one that seemed to swirl like an angry storm cloud. And...was that some sort of dark aura?

“Bottoms up boys!” Shining grunted and downed his shot. Ledger took his up and held his breath before attempting the same feat. Keyword: attempting. He did not quite match Shining. Meaning he got to taste the thing before it affected his senses.

Imagine swallowing darkness itself, coupled with a kick that felt like Celestia herself had just bucked Ledger in the brain. He moaned as he gripped his head with both forehooves, letting the last of the drink in his shotglass that hadn’t found it’s way into his mouth spill onto the table.

Flash was just staring off into the distance, like he had reached enlightenment and was ascending to a higher plane of existence. Until the drink kicked in and sent him right back down to earth, courtesy of gravity and the floor.

Shining blissfully waved goodbye to the soon-to-be-destroyed memories. “Ahhh...much. Better.”

“Sweet...Celestia,” Ledger moaned. “I thought...life couldn’t...surprise me. What the buck...was in that?”

“Nopony...knows...” Flash spoke quietly. “Ruby...never...tells.”

“S-State sec---sec...not tellin’” Shiny replied as he stood up, wobbling slightly but still standing. Several patrons cheered and whistled, as Ruby sighed.

“Great, he stood up. So he gets it for free.” She smirked at Ledger. “What about you? Think you can stand cutie pie?”

Ledger put his hooves to the table and pushed away, falling to all four hooves for a moment.

Then the moment passed, and a light breeze knocked him over. “I’ma just stay here,” the unicorn called from the floor. “Izza comfy floor you got here miss.”

“Well, we have one winner at least,” she beamed. “And as winner, he gets to pay for all your drinks.”

“Aw dammit,” Shining frowned as he forked over a small satchel. “Well, I was already gonna anyway...c’mon you guys...gotta go home and...do stuff. I dunno.”

“Yay, stuff!” Ledger mumbled into the floor. “...Wake me when gravity stops workin’, that’ll make going places easier.”

“Still need that cart?” Ruby giggled.

“Yes ma’am,” Shining nodded as he looked at the two. “Whelp, this’ll be fun!”

Chapter 30 - Hangover from hell

Ledger woke up, and immediately wished he hadn’t. The pain in his skull made him think it was trying to declare mutiny and separate itself from the rest of his body. He moaned, immediately wishing he hadn’t as the noise just aggravated the headache from Tartarus, and put his forehooves up to cradle his head.

Shining would pay for that last shot. Everything got blurry after that, but the drone was fairly sure the headache could be tied to...whatever it was.

There was a quiet sound from next to him, as Scope placed a glass of water on the nightstand next to his bed, along with some painkillers.

“This should help you,” she whispered. Given her small stature and quieter voice, she had been unanimously voted as Ledger’s caretaker for today, though she felt that the votes had been rigged somehow. And why did Cadence get to vote?

Ledger mumbled something that might have sounded like a thanks as he tried to move as slow as possible, while still making progress towards his goal. Sweet relief was in his grasp...if he could only avoid moving any more blood to his head. It did not need any more help in causing him agony.

Scope rolled her eyes as her horn lit up, the glow mostly obscured by her puffy mane. She’d figured something like this would happen and chose her Unicorn form ahead of time. She lifted the tablet to his mouth first, then the glass of water. Ledger obligingly opened his mouth and swallowed the tablet, then practically chugged the water. He knew he was dehydrated and needed it badly.

“Slowly, or you’ll-” she was interrupted as he coughed from drinking too quickly, then groaned because of the intense pain that caused his head, then again because he groaned. It was an endless cycle of pain.

“Idiot,” she muttered and smiled slightly. A second glass of water floated over and into his hooves. “Slowly this time.”

The brown unicorn nodded and sipped at the water, already feeling a little better from what he’d already drank. “What...happened?” he croaked out. Two words. That was more than he thought he’d be able to handle so quickly, but they were important words nontheless.

“If I went into detail, we’d be here all day,” Scope chuckled, then lowered her voice when he winced. “Well, it was around midnight when you and the other two showed up at the palace, singing at the top of your lungs. It was all quite amusing, especially when you propositioned Cadence~”

“Did...what?” Ledger said, eyes wide.

“Now what was it again...?” Scope tapped her chin. “Something about, ‘showing her the Noble side of our race’. Or...something like that.”

“Nooooo,” Ledger groaned, amazed by his sheer stupidity and cheek.

‘Oh, this is just too easy, I just hope Cadence remembers her part,’ Scope shrugged and sighed. “Well, at least you didn’t do what Shining did.”

“What?” Ledger asked as he sipped at his water, feeling more normal already.

“Well, I believe he serenaded Cadence, which was really quite sweet...until he mixed up her name with Midnight’s.”

“She...isn’t pink,” Ledger pointed out. “How’d he...do that?”

“Apparently Drunk Shining is also color blind, and she was plenty pink after what he said,” Scope replied. That had actually happened, though Midnight had declined of course. “And I have no idea what that orange stallion was doing with that potted plant.”

“Me neither,” Ledger said as the cup was finally drained. “Okay...more water first. Then coffee. All the coffee.”

“As your Highness decrees,” Scpe said and bowed before walking off to fetch some more water. Ledger sighed and lay back down on the bed he woke up in.

Just what the bloody Tartarus had happened last night after that last shot?...

Scope eventually returned, and it was around that time that Ledger realised...this wasn’t their hotel room.

“In case you’re wondering,” she said. “We got to stay at the palace last night. Though, I still think I like my cloud-bed better.”

Ledger nodded as he looked around. “Figured that...what’s for breakfast?”

Should she?

Would the others get mad?

Would Ledger get mad?

She leaned in closer, until her breath could be felt on his nose. “You’re still hungry? Even after all the ‘eating’ you did with me last night~?”

Ledger’s breath hitched in his throat as he looked the smaller unicorn over. “I did what?”

“Too easy,” she giggled as she winked at him. “You fell asleep almost as soon as you got home actually. But I have found that messing with you brings me great joy for some reason.” She gave a little twirl and headed for the door. “There’s coffee and breakfast in the dining hall when you’re ready.”

Ledger just watched her go and sighed. “Some day, that’s gonna backfire on her…” And then he grinned. “And I can’t wait for Midnight to be there when it does.”

In the breakfast hall, four mares and one resurrected zombie-stallion sat there.

“Oh do try and cheer up Shiny,” Cadence cooed lightly. “It was your idea after all. And you had fun yes?”

“Noooooooo,” Shining groaned as he buried his head under the table cloth. “My life is ruined. Just dump me in the tundra and lemme freeze to death.”

“Race ya,” Ledger said as he stumbled into the hall himself. “I don’t even know everything we did, but what I do know is embarrassing.” He looked over at Cadence, who returned his glance.

Before she blushed lightly and looked away.

‘Oh, she is good,’ Scope smirked. Ledger sighed and looked at Shining.

“Like I said, race ya.”

The four mares looked at one another and then they all started giggling, well, three of them anyway. Midnight was oddly quiet.

“The truth...” Shining rasped. “Is that they’ll...never tells us...what really happened.”

“I can guess, or we can get some of your guards to tell us what they heard,” Ledger pointed out as he made himself a cup of coffee and started drinking it. “Or they could be helpful and truthful because of the situation, but I fully expect Scope at least to milk this for all it’s worth.”

“You know me Ledger,” Scope Lens smiled like a cat that got the cream. “I already have a story for the Guards to feed you, as well as the barmaid at the place you went to. You two will never learn the truth.”

“Nothing happened. We showed up singing, and fell asleep almost the second we got back,” Flash said from the end of the table, looking surprisingly fine. “It was kinda boring, but part of the Captains song did have a rather...detailed description of the Princess.”

Cadence flushed an even deeper red, an unrehearsed one this time.

“Dammit flyboy, way to ruin my fun,” Scope pouted.

Ledger looked over to the orange pegasus and raised an eyebrow. “And how do you know this is true?”

“Because no matter how drunk he gets, or acts at the time,” Shining replied, with more than a hint of jealously in his voice. “He always remembers what happened and never suffers a hangover.”

“Please tell me you’ve had a unicorn look at your brain to figure out why that is,” Ledger said as he turned more fully to the guard.

“Apparently my body just shrugs off toxins really easily,” Flash said as he finished his toast. “Oh, and Captain? Don’t forget we have the parade tomorrow for the Fair. So we gotta run drills today.”

“Buuuuuck,” Shining groaned. “Fine, gimme like...three days.”

“See you in ten minutes Cap,” Flash laughed as he left the room.

Ledger just looked at the mares and sighed. “I am too exhausted to deal with you trying to make me think I made a pass at Cadance. I’ll let Shiny do it.”

“Cady’s hot, I wouldn’t blame you,” he replied with a wave of his hoof.

“I’m...not sure how I should feel about that statement,” Cadence blinked. “While I love that you think I’m attractive Shiny, I feel as though you shouldn’t encourage other stallions to make a pass at me.”

“Too many words,” Shining moaned again. He slowly got up and winced. “An’ now I gotta yell at Guards. You should come sometime Song, it’ll be like old times.”

The retort was there, but Midnight just shrugged and ate some more of her eggs. “Sure. Sounds fun.”

“Just think about this, Shiny,” Ledger said to the captain before he left. “If they told her about herding. And if you didn’t change your tune. You could find another stallion in your bed. It works both ways.”

“I hate you so much,” Shining muttered as he left the room, Cadence giggling lightly.

“Now I wish Captain Flash ‘Fun Police’ Sentry hadn’t ruined my joke,” Scope pouted. “I could have made a great one there.”

“Too bad you didn’t think of it before,” Ledger pointed out as he began snagging some breakfast for himself from the table. “Though if you ladies do desire another stallion, let me know first? I’d rather be warned than wake up with an unfamiliar face.”

Scope filed that one away for later use. Meanwhile, Midnight stood up as she placed her empty plate on the table. “I think I’ll go and exercise. Alone,” she said. She gave a polite bow of her head to the Princess and then promptly left.

“I will admit,” Cadence started to say. “That I have not known Miss Song for very long...but that behaviour struck me as...unusual.”

“Ah know!” Cider said. “Ah haven’t heard her make one remark about mah curvy flank, or yers Princess.”

“Something’s up,” Scope muttered. Ledger sighed and left his breakfast alone. The painkillers and water had done their work, so with a gulp of coffee, the changeling followed after his disturbed mare...discreetly, of course.

Out in the stadium, Shining Armor was busy running his troops through tomorrows drills. Though some had their eyes on the beautiful Thestral that was currently running laps around the edge of the arena. Hurdles and other obstacles had been set up as she panted lightly, avoiding each and every one with precision and finesse. Ledger watched from a distance, keeping his self obscured so that she didn’t know he was here. He hoped that something, anything, might reveal whatever it was that was bothering her.

There was one thing he noticed though. Not twenty feet away, was a parade of the finest flank that the Crystal Empire had to offer...

And Midnight was ignoring them completely. Not even one had her eyes drifted, focusing solely on the course in front of her. When she finally stopped to get a drink of water, two stallions from the Guard approached her.

“Hey there,” one said in a tone that could melt chocolate. “Been watching you work out. You’re quite the mare.”

“Some of the guys are gonna go out a bit later,” the other said. “Maybe you’d like to come with?”

Midnight stood up, her steely gaze made them flinch slightly.

“Not. Interested,” she said cooly and resumed her running. Ledger had an idea as to what..might have happened now, and sighed. He knew he told Shining about her...behavior while under the influence. So clearly he’d been intoxicated enough to share it before the last shot. Maybe she got him...to tell her?

Well this was a pile of trouble with his name written all over it. With a sigh, the brown unicorn walked out from where he’d been hiding to stand next to the water the three of them had just been at and waited.

He wasn’t going to force her to come to him. He’d let her choose. There were other places, after all. He just happened to be next to this one.

He didn’t have to wait long before he was on the receiving end of a batpounce, the giggling Thestral nuzzling him.

“Levvy! Are you feeling better?”

Ledger just fixed his mare with a Look and said the four words nopony in a relationship wanted to hear. Especially in the tone he used to deliver them.

“We need to talk.”

“Hmm?” She tilted her head and frowned lightly. “Uh, okay... did you do something perverted to Scopey again?”

“Not here,” Ledger said as he motioned to the spot he’d just been hiding in. “The others don’t need to hear this.”

Okay, this sounded...bad. Wait...she’d heard these words before...

“Yeah, well...let’s go then,” she sighed. Ledger led the way and when they arrived, he turned toward the mare and sat on his haunches.

“Okay, so what happened last night?” Ledger asked. “What did I say to you? I can’t recall, and Flash wasn’t there for everything.”

“Is that what this is about?” she said, exhaling the breath she was holding. “Don’t scare me like that! I thought you were gonna break up with me.”

“Never,” the unicorn protested. “But something clearly happened last night that you didn’t like. And don’t try to play it off,” the changeling said. “I can tell. Even Cadance could tell, and she hasn’t known you as long as I have!”

“Nothing’s wrong,” she smiled. “Just...became aware of a few things. So it’s you who doesn’t have to worry okay?”

The unicorn sighed and put his forehooves on Midnight’s withers, looking her dead in the eye for about ten seconds. Then he spoke up. “You can tell me. What. Happened?”

“Nothing happened,” she said, not meeting his gaze. “I know what a pain I’ve been to you. So that’s gonna change. You won’t have to worry about my ‘wandering eyes’ anymore.”

“I said that, did I?” Ledger sighed. “Okay, quick recap Midnight. Who did I fall in love with?”

“Me, and Cider...and maybe Scopey,” she replied. Ledger smirked.

“You were first for a reason. I fell in love with you for you. I love your quirks, I love your loyalty, and I love the way you’re willing to kick flank for my safety. Does it annoy me when you look at others the way you do when we’re in the bedroom? Yes,” he said with a shake of his head.

“And that, and that alone will change,” she replied. “You just said it annoys you, so I’ll stop. I have you and Cidey, I don’t need anypony else.”

“Ap!” Ledger said as he put a hoof to her mouth. “That being said! Your flirting? Your way of complimenting everypony else? Your jokes? They make you fun to be around. And you’re killing that about yourself. All I ask...is that you not follow somepony else home, or bring somepony else home for the bed. And I’m not even scared of that, because I know you’re loyal.” He then drew the thestral into a hug. “I fell in love with you for you. Don’t become somepony you’re not for me.”

“So, the changeling is asking somepony not to change?” she giggled, before kissing him deeply. Once she broke it, she smiled. “Fine, just know what you're getting yourself into Ledgie~”

“There’s the Midnight I know,” he said, brushing a hoof along one of her cheeks. “Where’ve you been hiding, huh?”

“Took a nap,” she smiled. “Bleh! Being serious all the time is boring. How on Equestria do you do it?”

“Practice,” Ledger said as he kissed her lightly. “So. You feeling better?”

“I guess, I’m still sorry I caused you to worry though.”

“You came back, that’s all that matters,” the unicorn said as he finally let go of her. “Now if you don’t mind, I have a breakfast to snag and mares to reassure that you’re back to normal for you. Catch you at lunch?”

“If you think you can catch me~” she giggled as she flew off. “Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s a parade of fine flank for me to ogle.” Ledger smiled as he watched the flight of the batpony.

“It’s good to have you back,” he said, wondering when she’d remember he was a changeling and could become that fine flank one night. With that, he turned and walked back to the palace.

Breakfast was probably cold by now, but he was hungry, dammit!

Princess Cadence still had princess-y things to do, so Song and her group couldn’t hang around the palace all day. Plus, all their stuff was still at the hotel. Apple Cider had headed back to the farm she was acquiring her tree from, to make sure all the paperwork was complete and to confirm shipping and delivery details.

That left Scope and Midnight to entertain Ledger.

May the creators have mercy on his poor soul.

He took the chance to read the daily paper rather than force any interaction with Scope. He knew how it would end if he did, and he didn’t think he could handle her snark right now.

That wasn’t to say he read it in a different room. He also wanted her to know the option to actually act like a sociable, polite being was there.

Too bad she took that option, swallowed it and spat the resulting loogie out of the window. She hovered around Ledger, not literally as she was still a Unicorn, but even so.

“Ledger, watcha dooooin?” she sang.

“Catching up on current events,” Ledger said as he turned the page. “Yesterday left me in quite a state, and I failed to do so then.”

“Events in a city we don’t live in?” she rocked back and forth before sighing loudly. “Mistress? Ledger’s being boring. So, pick one. Option One, Two or Three.”

Midnight poked her head up from polishing her armour. “Huh? Um...Two?”

Scope’s smiled widened. “Oh...I was so hoping you’d pick that one!”

“I get the feeling I won’t like this,” the larger unicorn said as he continued to read the paper.

“Maybe, maybe not~” she sang again. “It’s aaaallll up to you whether you enjoy this or not~”

Ledger paused at that and looked over his paper at the smaller unicorn. “Just what are you up to?”

“Aww, you don’t wanna play with me~?’ she pouted adorably. “But I wanna play with you.”

“Your definition of ‘play’ has been dubious in the past,” Ledger said as he returned to the paper. “All I ask for is clarity.”

“Just a game,” she cooed, before her horn lit up and Ledger’s paper disintegrated. “Me, you and Mistress are gonna play a card game. Winner gets to do whatever they want with the losers. Sound fun?”

“...why do I get the feeling Cider will complain about missing out?” Ledger observed before smirking. “I’m game. Midnight?”

Said Thestral was already dealing out the cards. “Bring it on little bugs.”

Ledger took a seat and looked to Scope. “And the name of the game is?...”

“Well, given our home, lets go with good ol’ Appleloosan Hold ‘em,” Midnight said as she dealt the cards. “And to spice things up, cheating is not only allowed, but encouraged. But getting caught will lead to a penalty.”

“Why do I get the feeling we should have defined what constitutes cheating before starting this?...” Ledger said as he watched the others warily.

“I have no idea what you mean Levvy,” Midnight winked as she looked at her cards. Letting her shuffle was the first mistake, not seeing Scope stack the cards beforehand was the second.

“And another thing,” Ledger noticed as he discreetly peeked at his cards. “What do we do when we notice somepony cheating? Call them out, or wait to catch them when it’s more pertinent?”

“You could try if you think you have proof,” Midnight replied. Her cards weren’t...great. She shot a brief glance at Scope as she put two and two together. “Maybe I should have ruled out magic at least. Gives me quite the disadvantage against the two of you.”

“I promise not to use my magic to cheat,” Ledger said, noticing his cards hadn’t been too bad, in theory. Plus, he’d said nothing about his natural abilities. Like shapeshifting, or emotion sensing. Now if only he could use them better than Scope in a situation like this one...

Scope’s face was a blank slate. She could sense that Ledger lacked his usual confidence, but he was optimistic at least. She’d break him soon enough.

Midnight though, why couldn’t she read her... that cheating little-!

“So I’m ready to play,” Midnight said, her sparkling eyes dancing with mirth. Ledger nodded as well, noticing the rather interesting mental playing field.

Game on, then. He wrapped himself in his usual tumult of emotions simply: by thinking about working for Toll again, like any other day before Midnight. His thoughts were consumed with day-to-day survival and devious planning against his former boss.

‘So emotion-reading is off the table,’ Scope thought as her eyes shifted to her opponents. ‘And anything too direct will get me caught... Ideeaaa~’

Under the table they sat at, she shifted her leg to replicate Midnight’s, before gently caressing Ledger’s thigh. The drone stiffened a little bit...before glancing at her.

“Y’know, if you’re gonna distract me, at least try to hide the direction it’s coming from,” Ledger said with a smirk. “Good try, though. By the way, that was your freebie.”

“You...” Scope frowned as Midnight giggled. Oh, this was gonna be fun.

“Hmm, is something wrong Ledger?” she cooed. “Is little Scopey up to no good?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Scope replied in a flat tone.

“That defines half the time we interact,” Ledger said as he finally noticed a critical lack of something. “Where...are the chips we intend to use to bet with?”

“Oh, there are no chips in Double Dare Hold ‘em,” Midnight nodded. “We bet with dares. When someone wins, they collect dares from the losers to use against them at a later date.”

“Hmm,” Ledger hummed, looking between the mares. “Care to give me an example? I’m unfamiliar with how this game works.”

“Okay, so before we start, we all state a dare we will do. I guess you could write them down or something. The winner gets to keep those dares and use them later.” She tapped her chin and smiled.

“My first dare is that I will kiss somepony of the winner’s choosing.”

“Hmm,” Ledger hummed, getting an idea of what he had to do, but motioning for Scope to go ahead first.

“Hmm, I guess...” She had to think for a second. “I will follow Mistress. I will hug somepony of the winner’s choosing.”

“And I,” Ledger said with a smile. “Will become something of the winner’s choosing...for one minute.”

“Ooh, that’s a good one for my next dare,” Scope nodded. “Okay, so we have our ante. Let’s go.”

Midnight nodded and looked at her hand again. “I’ll raise,’ she said. “Oh, if you raise, you increase the terms of your dare. For me, I’ll include the rule of the one daring gets to decide what kind of kiss I give.”

“Mine seems to be pretty all-inclusive as it is,” Ledger noted aloud. “Perhaps I should simply increase the amount of time, or...no, the one daring gets to tell me to do one simple action, no matter when, in the minute, and I will do it. That will do. Call.”

“Well, why not, I’ll throw in a small kiss then,” Scope nodded as she looked at her heand and grinned. “Call.”

“Well okay then” Midnight said as she lay down her cards. “Three of a kind, read ‘em an weep little buggies~”

“Oh no,” Scope gasped as she placed her cards on the table. “What ever will I do with my Flush that I have?” She smiled as she revealed her ace, ten, five, eight and two.

“Full house,” Ledger said, revealing three sevens and two fours. “Not a great one, but I believe I win.”

“You...how?” Scope blinked and even Midnight stared at him. It would seem that their deck stacking had backfired famously as both mares hung their heads. “Unbelievable,” Scope sighed.

“Well, round one goes to Ledger I guess,” Midnight said as she dealt more cards. “So, what dares do we have this time?”

“I think I’ll follow your lead from last time,” Ledger said with a wink. “A kiss.”

“Hmm, and no stipulation on who, when or how,” Scope smirked as Midnight dealt the cards. “And I’ll go with Ledger on the transformation thing. Three minutes.”

“I can’t compete with weird changey powers,” Midnight pouted. “Hmm, I guess...a massage?”

“I could use one,” Ledger observed aloud. “If we’re all set?”

Song looked at her cards and nodded. “Call.”

Scope looked at hers, then to Ledger. “Raise,” she said. “Two basic actions.”

“Oooh,” Ledger smirked. “Two kisses, with tongue. Call.”

“Winners first,” Scope smiled as she played her cards face down. Ledger followed suit and looked at Midnight expectantly. The Thestral rolled her eyes and unveiled her cards, another set of three of a kind.

“Darn,” Ledger said as he revealed his two pair. “Guess somepony’s getting smooched.”

“Whoo! Eat it!” Scope cheered as she pulled off her straight. “Oh, this will be...entertaining~”

“You haven’t won yet,” Midnight said as she shuffled and cut the cards. “There’s still one more round, and I could make it a tie-breaker you know.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Scope said. They’d seem to have forgotten, but Scopey was cheating like all get out now. “Deal the cards Mistress.”

Midnight just shook her head as she threw the cards onto the table. “Bets?”

Scope nodded, wondering if she should entice the others. “Okay then,” she looked at ledger and winked. “For one minute. One whole minute. I will do whatever the other says. No holds barred.”

Ledger looked at his cards and was...oddly calm. Reminiscent of Midnight, really. “And I, for the rest of the night, will do what I am told,” he said simply.

“Ooh, gutsy moves,” Midnight giggled. “Okay, same for me, but you get a whole day.”

Scope reached up and scratched her head. “Well, I guess we’re going all in for this one. Unless Mistress ties then we’ll have to go bigger.”

Ledger looked at Scope and raised an eyebrow. “We’re going all in,” he observed.

Scope frowned as she looked at him. “Well what do you want out of me, I’m not a part of your little pervy-party. I think a minute is being generous.”

“Fair enough,” Ledger shrugged. “Ladies first.”

“Nu-uh, I think you have a point there Ledger,” Midnight smiled wickedly as she looked at Scope. “I say we get an hour. Or is the little nymph afraid of losing?”

“I am not afraid of anything!” Scope said, being reeled in hook, line and sinker. “Fine, an hour. Call!” she slapped her cards down on the table.

Midnight beamed as she lay her cards out. “Mmm, I have a bad hand so I fold. Guess it’s down to you two.”

Scope beamed as she looked at Ledger. “I win drone, Full Hou...wha?” she looked at the cards she turned to reveal... four Jokers. “That...that’s not right. I should...”

“Have the cards I saw you slip into your mane earlier?” Midnight grinned evilly. “I saw that, but you didn’t see me swipe ‘em back and replace ‘em.”

Ledger just smiled as he revealed the four aces. “And it looks like I win myself some fun for an hour at least....at least, if I were mean. I dunno...Midnight, do you think I should be mean?”

“Well, she did cheat to try and win...” Midnight mused. “On the other hoof, she also showed us a game we could beat Cider at hooves down. So that’s gonna be a thing later~”

Ledger smirked as he thought about playing the farmpony at this game. “All right then. Let’s get to the bedroom, we can work out our bets there.”

With that, the stallion got up and turned to the door, looking back at the mares as he reached it. “Coming?”

“I just know I am going to bucking regret this,” Scope sighed as she followed. Midnight bounced after her, glomping the stallion was she bounded into the room.

Chapter 31 - Fair-ly obvious

Eventually, the next day dawned. Ledger woke up again, this time on top of the pile of mares. Except for Scope, she was on top of him.

The whole room smelled like sweat and musk. Gods, Housekeeping would be giving him hell for this one. With as little jostling as possible, the stallion slid out from under the small nymph and moved to take a shower. One that actually would end with him being clean.

Too bad that might not happen as a certain nymph snuck into the shower with him, giggling cutely. “So,” she asked. “I’m guessing an eighth round is asking too much~”

“I would like to be able to attend the fair today, yes,” Ledger said as he paused in his cleaning to hug Scope. “That being said, ask again when we come home, and I might oblige. Might.”

“Nah, I’m just screwing with you,” she giggled. “Still, this is...weird, being like this. Being...loved.”

“I know,” Ledger nodded as he started cleaning Scope. “Felt weird to me too, when I caught the first whiffs of it from Midnight. But it also feels...right, y’know? Like it was how we were always meant to be, and just didn’t know we could be until right that moment.”

“Heh, imagine if Chrysalis met Midnight Song that day?” the nymph giggled as Ledger scrubbed her. “We’d prolly have her in our harem as well...”

“Assuming I didn’t strangle her until she turned Violet,” Ledger said, his tone the only indication of his feelings on the subject. He was doing Scope’s wings, and those were delicate. No need to be all rage-y when those were in his grasp.

“True enough,” Scope chuckled. “A small part of me would love to see Midnight and Chrysalis in a room together. Just to see what happens...y’know, for science~”

“We’d need a bucket to take one of them out with, and it wouldn’t be the one I buck on a regular basis,” Ledger predicted as he scrubbed gently between Scope’s wings. No need for an exciting morning...

She still purred lightly as her wet tail slapped against his rump. “Ahh, dammit. We can’t stay in here, or we’ll both be walking funny today.”

“I think I already am going to be walking funny,” Ledger said as he stretched his hind legs and winced. “...Bet you ten bits that Cadance notices, no matter how far away we might be.”

“I’ll not take that bet thanks, I’ve lost enough for one trip.... speaking of...I still have two kisses for you to deliver on~”

“With tongue, as I recall,” Ledger said as he finished cleaning the small mare.

“Yup, and none of that Thestral stuff either, just Secret-Hoarder.” She smiled and raised her chin a little. “You may deliver on one of them now.”

“Aww, but I’m good with the thestral tongue,” Ledger mock-pouted before bending down and proceeding to give Scope a deep, passionate kiss. She hummed happily as she accepted, giving Ledger a taste of his own medicine as she poured all the love she received from him yesterday into it.

The drone was suddenly holding her tighter, and the door to the shower was swinging closed in a silvery aura. “Fuck the others,” he said as he came up for air. “You want a round eight? I’m good if we keep it quick.”

“Hmmm,” Scope tapped her chin and grinned. “Nah!” she smiled wickedly and then teleported from the shower. Ledger sighed but finished off his shower.

Today was gonna be long…

“Okay, so, refresh my memory on what the actual ‘plan’ is that we’re going to try to adhere to,” the stallion of the group said as the four of them walked down the street. Midnight to his right, Cider to his left, and Scope riding him ‘for a change’.

“Well, there’s no real plan besides, ‘have fun’.” Cider replied as the walked. “None of us ain’t ever been here before, so it’s not like we know what’s going on here...”

“Jousting, lots of carnival food, a parade of the Crystal Guard and the Princess, heaps of smaller events and stuff...” Everyone paused to stare at Scope, how had just rattled all that off.

“What?” she replied with a cute head tilt. “I like to be informed.”

“As don’t I,” Ledger said with a nod as he recalled reading about most of that. “My real question was, did any of you have anything you wanted to do?”

“Well, the jousting sounds fun,” Scope said, as Midnight and Cider vehemently agreed. The sights of well muscled stallions beating the tar out of one another? Yes please!

“Hmm,” Ledger said as he attempted to recall a schedule he’d read. “Doesn’t that start...right after the main ceremony? It was either right after or when the fair opened.”

“Sounds like we need a timetable,” Scope nodded as she took wing and flew off to find one. “Wait here, I’ll be right back!”

Ledger did as she bid and moved to one side of the street while he waited, so that he wasn’t in anypony’s way.

Midnight sort of swayed on the spot, humming something under her breath. She had a song in her head and it wanted out dammit.

“Going to the Fair, with ones for whom I care,”

“On this fine day we sing, as we go on to the Fair~”

Cider smiled as she felt the Music of Harmony stir, and she opened her mouth to join in.

“Ah reckon we’re all havin’ fun, singin’ in this fine weather.”

“It doesn’t matter where we are, as long as we’re together~”

Midnight moved up next to her as a crowd of ponies joined in.

“Going to the Fair, with ones for whom I care,”

“On this fine day we sing, as we go on to the Fair~”

Ledger had felt the magic stirring within him, and its pull could not be denied. Nor, once he realized what he was about to sing about, did he want to deny it. With a quick step to the side to join the mares, he pitched in his lines as well.

“Though our lives may have been different, when this all did start,

Our time together has helped us share the same heart.”

Song and Cider smiled widely as they hugged him, drawing him into the massive group dance that had taken over near half the city now. It was all coordinated, with Ledger, Cider and Song right at the centre.

“Going to the Fair, with ones for whom we care,”

“On this fine day we sing, as we go on to the Fair~”

“We’ll dance and sing and drink and play,”

“Our happiness will last all day, with the ones for who we careeeee.”

On this fine day we sing, as we go on the the Faaaiirreeeeee!”

As the song finished as everypony resumed whatever it was they were doing before, Scope flew down with a baffled expression on her face.

“Okay...what the buck was that?”

“One of the perks of living in Equestria,” Ledger said with a grin as the excess magic and good feelings ebbed away. “Sometimes, magic and somepony with a musical talent mix in just the right way, and you get spontaneous musical numbers.”

“Equestria is so weird,” Scope shook her head.

“Preaching to the choir,” Ledger said as he cracked his neck. “So, did you find that schedule?”

Scope nodded and took four pamphlets out, handing one to each of them. “This is pretty neat actually. None of the major events overlap, so if you wanna see all of them, you can.”

“Mmm, while normally I would be all for doing everything, there are a few events I think I can stand to miss,” Ledger said as he looked the list over. “Plus, there are such minor things like physical limits and needs to take into account.”

“Yup, can’t forget the almighty need to pee,” Scope giggled as Cider blushed lightly.

“Scope, don’t be so crude!” she said with an exasperated sigh. “Honestly, a mare shouldn’t be makin’ potty humour.”

“Would you rather she be lewd instead?” Ledger asked as he continued to look the schedule over. Hmm...that all seemed to work and leave him more than enough free time to get from one end of the fair to another...Then a thought struck him and he looked at the mares with a smile. “So, would any of you like my company on this fine day?”

He got his response as all three mares crowded him, Scopey on top and Song and Cider on either side.

“Where you go, we go,” Song giggled. “Today is the first time we’re all together as a family, so we should spend it together.”

“So which plan are we following, then?” Ledger asked as he enjoyed their closeness. “Cider’s, Midnight’s, or Scope’s?”

“Well, the jousting isn’t on til later, and I’m sure we can skip the boring opening ceremony...” Scope grinned evilly, “Wanna see if we can outscam the carnival games?”

“With the stipulation that all prizes be donated to either the crowd or Cider and Midnight, not a problem,” Ledger told the nymph on his back. “We’ll not do it for personal gain, little treasure.”

Cider and Song blinked at the name. “What’s with the treasure nickname, not that it isn’t cute,” Song asked.

“Maybe we’ll tell you one day,” Ledger said with a grin. “We earn our names. The full story behind mine is fun, for a Silver. Hers was born of a wish to no longer be Discarded. So maybe after the fair, we’ll tell you.”

Song and Cider looked at one another and shrugged. It was something to look forward to anyway. “Well, what do you say we just look around to start with, learn where everything is.”

“Fine by me,” the drone replied as he turned in a completely random direction. “The first thing I want to see doesn’t open for an hour anyways.”

The Fair was fairly standard, stands selling carnival food and drinks. Crystal empire merchandise and some weird-looking musical horns. (Midnight bought one to annoy Ledger with later) Ledger, for his part, seemed more interested in the traditional arts and crafts sections...though not for the reasons one might initially suspect.

“Fascinating,” the brown unicorn said as he eyed the ponies in charge of the stall. “To think they had access to such materials and techniques a thousand years ago.”

“And we’re glad to see somepony appreciating our art,” the stallion behind the counter smiled. “We have some smaller pieces for sale if you’re interested.”

Ledger hummed and tapped his chin with a hoof as he eyed the pieces. “Now, don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate the art, but from an academic perspective: A snapshot into how things around here were so long ago. My sister is the art buff in the family. That being said, if it ever comes up that I was here and didn’t get something…” Ledger just shook his head and chuckled at the imagined response.

“If you’re here as a tourist, we can deliver it to your hotel later,” the stallion informed him. “Save you having to take it there yourself or lug it around all day. Totally free of charge of course.”

“Of course,” Ledger said. “Well, that saves me some trouble indeed. What can I get for...oh, twenty-five bits?” Even as he asked, his horn was alight as he grabbed ahold of his bit-bag within his saddlebag.

“Hmm, let’s see,” he rummaged around until he produced a rather nice piece. A landscape of the Crystal Empire as it was a thousand years ago. “Does this one take your fancy?”

“Oooh, it does indeed,” Ledger said with a spark in his eye. “It tickles my curiosity, and from all the lectures I would get from my sister when we argued, I can tell it was very well-made, so she’ll like to look at it as well. It almost feels like I’m ripping you off, paying only twenty five bits for this. Just from the way the artist captured how the castle looked when the light hit it…”

“It’s that, or it sits in my attic and collects dust like it has ever since I painted it,” he chuckled as he wrapped the painting in a cloth. “I’m just happy that it’s going to somepony that will appreciate it.”

“I will treat it like an heirloom, sir,” Ledger said as he paid the stallion thirty bits instead of the agreed-upon twenty five. “Though, fair warning: My sister will weasel out where I got it from me eventually. Expect her arrival sometime in the future, and I’m sorry in advance.”

“Can do,” he smiled. “I’ll have a few more done by then perhaps. She can have a gander at my first pieces in more than a thousand years...gods I feel old when I say that.”

“Might work in your favor though,” Ledger said with a wink. “She has a thing for older stallions.”

“Is that so?” he chuckled. “Heh, I haven’t been on a date in a thousand years. So that might be a thing.”

“Level Ledger,” the unicorn finally introduced himself to the crystal pony, sticking out a hoof to the stallion behind the counter.

“Painted Palette,” the stallion replied, shaking his hoof. “It was a pleasure to meet you Mr. Ledger.”

“Mmhmm, and I’m sorry for my sister again in advance, Mr. Palette,” Level reiterated as he dropped his hoof and tipped an imaginary hat to the artist. “Word to the wise? She loves sugary things.”

“Noted...” he responded. “Also, please enjoy the Fair, especially at the end. It’s quite the spectacle.”

“Will do,” Ledger said as he then gave Palette his hotel name and room number, so the stallion could deliver the piece. After that bit of business, Ledger was off again...this time looking for something for his three younger brothers.

Knowing them, they’d love something from the jousting tournaments...which is where he suspected all the mares had vanished to…

Midnight and Cider cheered as the burly stallions charged at one another, the sound of metal and flesh meeting in a high-speed collision sent chills along their spine. Scope just watched, but after what she’d been through, this just couldn’t compare.

Until she started to picture Ledger in that Crystal Armour and blushed. Okay, now she could figure out why Cider and Midnight liked this so much. She gave a cheer when one stallion soared through the air, slamming into one of the walls with a loud crash.

“So do you think it was okay to leave Ledger behind?” Scope asked as she oggled the new stallion that stepped onto the field.

“Well, ah reckon he knows where we are,” Cider said, gulping slightly as she watched the firm muscles ripple under that armour. “Oh mah stars...”

Midnight was silent...mostly due to the fact that she wasn’t there. One could almost see the dotted outline where she once was. At that particular moment in time, Ledger appeared from behind the mares, having spotted them on his way over to the vendors and deciding to pay a visit.

“Hey there Scope, hey there Cider,” the unicorn said with just enough volume to get their attention. They turned and waved at him though one eye was still focused on the battle.

“Hey Ledger,” they said, though it was clear where their interests lay.

“Hmm,” the stallion said as he noticed their...subdued reactions. “Have you seen Midnight lately? I wanted her take on what the vendors are proffering so I don’t end up giving trash to the trio.”

“She’s right...here?” Scope turned and saw the empty seat. “What the? Where’d she-”

“And now, fillies and gentlecolts!” the announcer spoke over the speaker system. “We have a special guest for our next bout. All the way from the City of Sin. The exotic mare of the night. The avatar of Princess Luna herself. Midnight Sooooonnng!!”

“Found her,” Scope said helpfully.

“If she wanted to wrestle a burly stallion, all she had to do was ask me to change into one,” Ledger sighed. “Fine, let’s watch this farce they’re trying to call a fight…”

Her opponent was somepony they knew as well as the crowd erupted into cheers. “And her opponent? Our very own Prince. The Shining light of the Empire. Princess Cadence’s personal cuddletoy. Prince, Shining, AARRMOORRRR!”

Shining groaned at the announcement but stepped out anyway. He’d been a little surprised at the sudden challenge by Midnight, but this was going to be fun regardless.

Midnight finished adjusting her armor, the gleaming crystalsilver looked quite nice against her chocolate brown coat, and her mane seemed to shimmer with a pale light. She wondered if they’d let her keep it afterwards?

“Well,” Ledger said with a sigh, “there goes the neighborhood.”

“Ah hope she doesn’t get hurt too badly,” Cider said with a small whine. Why was Middy doing something so reckless?

“Pah! Ten bits says that Prince Pompous gets knocked on his flank,” Scope said adamantly. Upon hearing that, it sparked a tidal wave of conversation among the crowd, everyone placing small bets on who would win. Scope wasted no time in playing bookie, taking the bets and grinning when almost everyone bet on Shining.

“Somepony seems to have very few believers in her,” Ledger pointed out. “Their loss.”

“Yup, and my gain~” Scope giggled as she hefted the sack of bits. This was gonna be great.

On the field, Midnight and Shining stared each other down. While one had yet to make a move, the battle was already going on in their minds. How would each move? What way would they duck or parry? When the horn sounded, they took of like a bullet, their hooves kicking up dirt as they lowered and levelled their spears at one another. Midnight had to raise hers a little, to compensate for her smaller stature. But that also played out to her advantage, as she was harder to hit.

When they struck, her spear veered off course, as Shining’s parried it, but failed to hit also, a shower of sparks flying from their armour as the spears grazed them.

“Ooohhh!” the crowd murmured as Cider covered her eyes with her hooves.

“Ah can’t watch this,” she cried.

“I can’t not watch this,” Ledger rejoined, having purchased some popcorn from a wandering vendor.

The two passed by and reached the end of the rail before they turned. Two colts made a check of their armour, to make sure nothing was damaged to the point of impeding their ability, before the horn sounded again. The two charged again, their lances levelled...

And as the spears collided, the tips struck one another, shattering the lances as both ponies were thrown from the recoil. Cider covered her eyes again and whimpered as Scope chanted for blood.

“Okay, I know why I’m into it,” Ledger said as he raised an eyebrow at the small pegasus. “And I’m pretty sure you do too. So why’re you so interested?”

“I just wanna see Midnight wipe the floor with the prince,” she cackled. “Come on, you can’t say the the sight of our mare kicking ass isn't a major turn on...well, when you’re not on the receiving end of it anyway.”

“You do know how most ‘disputes’ over males are settled back home, yes?” Ledger said. “It becomes an ingrained response after a while on my side. Let’s just say if Midnight pulls through without any major injuries, I know what I’ll be in the mood for tonight.”

“So we are on the same page then?” Scope chuckled. The horn blasted as Midnight and Shining charged once more. By now, Midnight was used to this form of combat and she steadied her spear, but as Shining drew closer, it appeared that she seemed to lose her grip. Shining smiled as he lowered his lance and prepared to make Midnight airborne...before the Thestral raised the lance suddenly, colliding with Shining’s to send it off course and the momentum carried it straight into his chestplate, sending the stallion sprawling across the ground. His lance had struck near her face though, a small wound opening up on her cheek.

“And the winner is...MIDNIGHT SONG!!” the announcer cheered as the crowd fell silent. One particular Pegasus filly was now very rich. As was a rather pink Alicorn Princess.

“And that, mares and gentlestallions, is why you do not bet against the bat,” Ledger said as he tipped an imaginary hat to the crowd. “If you’ll pardon me, I have to go retrieve her.” With that, he left Cider and Scope to the grumbling horde, who were now realizing they’d been taken for fools.

Song sat in the field as a colt tended to her face wound, cleaning it and placing a gauze patch on her cheek. She smiled widely when she saw Ledger approach and waved to him.

“So, there a particular reason you felt like making Scope rich?” he idly quipped as he examined her sweaty, victorious form with his eyes. “Or was this more of a grudge match between you and Shiny?”

“Well, I don’t really know,” she shrugged. “This looked like fun, and the fight would be on equal terms. No cheating shield spells...”

“Meh, as long as you had fun, we’ll deal with the consequences,” Ledger said, coming close enough to pull Midnight into a hug once he was done talking, for the moment anyway. “Now I have three troublesome brothers to shop for,” he whispered into her ear. “I’d rather have a gift for them if they show up than not. And they all love fighting. Think you can help me pick out some good souvenirs?”

“I can do that,” Midnight giggled. Maybe if she just trotted off, she could keep her sweet ass armor...

“And you can leave the armor here Song,” Shining called out.

“Dammit!” Midnight swore.

“Nice try though,” Ledger snickered. “But at least I know what to get you for Hearth’s-warming~”

Midnight reluctantly shed her armor, wincing from the cut on her cheek, but elated that she finally one-upped Shining at something. If anypony had stuck around, the look on his face when he found out that Cadence had bet against him, it was priceless.

“So, souveniers huh?” Midnight looked around until she saw a stand selling replica weapons. “How old are they?”

“Sixteen, fifteen, and fourteen,” Ledger said. “Red, Yellow, and Blue respectively. Red is the brute of the trio, Blue is the tank, and Yellow is clever and nimble. Thankfully they mostly fight each other. The few times they have teamed up have been...memorable.” They still hadn’t replaced that shed...or the garden it went with.

“Hmm, I have...ideas~’ she giggled. She pointed at three things and the burly mare behind the counter got them for her. A set of wingblades, some bulky foreleg shields and a greatsword. Why these were being sold at a carnival with foals around was anypony’s guess. But hey, they were a thousand years out of date.

“If they come visit,” Midnight cackled. “I will...train them~”

“...Well, it was a nice city,” Ledger sighed. “We might have survived. And then you offered that. Better get my insurance in order.”

“Oh come on, it won’t be that bad,” Midnight said, bumping his hip with hers. “What’s the worst that could happen hmm?”

“They blew up a shed that had nothing flammable inside it,” Ledger deadpanned. “And they were only getting into double digits at the time.”

“Sounds like fun then,” Midnight giggled as she put the weapons on her back. She looked like she was ready to go to war now. “Shall we go and find our mares?”

“Sure thing, my littlest sister is impossible to shop for anyways.”

“Fair enough,” she hummed. That raised an interesting thought actually. “Will...I ever get to meet your family?”

“Maybe if they decide to visit,” Ledger shrugged. “I sent a letter the day after the attack through the right channels, detailing everything that had happened and where I was staying now. I’d be surprised if they weren’t coming over for a visit by the time we get back, actually. Mom was always very concerned for my well-being, and dad and my step-dads always saw me as proof that mum wasn’t lying when she said she cared about them.”

“Aw, that sounds so sweet,” Song cooed. Heavens help them if her parents showed up as well. That was a nightmare waiting to happen.

They didn’t have to search for their significant others either, as Cider and Scope approached them, the latter hefting a bag of bits almost as big as she was. Ledger eyed the bag, then the filly. “Need help with that?” he offered.

“If you want,” she said. “I would have had more, but somepony else bet on Midnight as well, so half went to her.”

“Eh, can’t fool all the ponies all the time,” the unicorn shrugged as he lifted the bag off of Scope and shouldered her burden of avarice.

“Still, I wonder what Cadence is gonna do with her share?” Scope wondered as she hid underneath Ledger and once the crowd was thick enough to obscure her, there was a blue flash.

“...You mean...Cadence bet against Shiny?” Ledger asked with a wide smile. “Ooooh, I think I like this Princess~”

“Yup,” Scope nodded as she stepped out in her unicorn form, finally having enough energy to make an actual transformation. “Ahh, much better. Illusions just don’t cut it y’know?”

“Yeah, I always feel safer with both,” Ledger admitted. “Redundancies to keep myself safe.” Apparently the meaning of the words hadn’t quite sunk in.

“Well, you could say I’m much ‘safer’ now,” Scope chuckled. “Midnight may have to take me shopping at some point as well, since we’re apparently a thing now.”

Ledger blinked a few times before slowly turning his head to look at the smaller unicorn. “You...didn’t transform after?” he asked in a whisper. “Were you trying to…”

“No, I couldn’t focus and I didn’t have the energy to transform,” she retorted. “I mean geez Ledger, cut me a little slack huh?”

“You could have asked,” Ledger sighed. “I would have shared.”

“I think you shared plenty,” Scope winked. “Don’t worry. I’m not and it’s fine. No need to worry eh?”

“Worry about what?” Cider asked and Scope gave her an evil grin.

“Nothing really, the hotel’s ceiling wasn’t right for hanging a cluster of eggs from.”

“Apparently Scope couldn’t use our all-natural birth control until right this second and neglected to tell me,” Ledger said while not looking at the small mare. “I’m sure she won’t make that mistake again.”

“Remind me again, who turned me into a living water balloon,” Scope snarked back. The problem was solved now anyway, so what was his issue?

“Okay, I think everypony needs t’calm down,” Cider said. “Why don’t we go and get some lunch? Doesn’t that sound good?”

“Sounds fine,” Ledger said with a smile that didn’t go past his mouth.

Well, so was this their first domestic? Midnight shrugged and decided that it was time for Midnight to be Midnight. “So, does anypony wanna tell me how utterly awesome I was at kicking Shiny’s flank?”

“Let’s just say if we weren’t in public, you would be feeling my appreciation for your display,” Ledger said, a bit more at ease with both the topic shift and the promise of food.

“Well, I’ll hold you to that,” Midnight nodded as they found a small eatery. And lo and behold, Fredrick and Narrow were there, sharing a single drink that used a straw in the shape of a heart. Midnight snickered lightly and poked at Ledger, pointing at the pair.

“Aww,” he cooed. “Wish I had a camera.”

Scope offered hers up, just as Narrow turned her gaze and saw Ledger there, reaching for the device. The look in her eyes promised nothing but endless pain should he continue that course of action.

Unfortunately for her, Ledger had great faith in Midnight’s abilities, and the picture of the cute couple was snapped. The flash garnered Fredrick’s attention and he looked at the group.

“Ah, Ledger my boy, how are you?’ he greeted. “And I trust I’ll be getting a copy of that?”

“Of course,” Ledger grinned. “Once it develops, I’ll be sure to send you a copy!”

“Perfect!” Fredrick hummed happily as he pulled his mare into a hug, her stare still trying to set Ledger on fire. So far it wasn’t working, but she still held hope that Celestia would immolate the bastard.

“So, who’s this cute little one?” Fredrick said as he looked at Scope. He’d only seen her Pegasus form, so her Unicorn one was new. “Did you and your mares decided to adopt Ledger?”

“You could say that,” Ledger said as his mind whirled. He didn’t have a name for the little unicorn form for Scope. He started to panic and hoped that Scope had a plan. Or at least something resembling a plan.

“I’m Ledger’s little sister,” she replied with a small smile. “My name is Bookmark. It’s nice to meet you Mr. Griffon~”

“What a well-behaved little filly,” Fredrick said as he gently patted her head. “Are your parents?...”

“Alive and well,” Ledger said smoothly. “They just had a business trip to conduct, so they charged me to look after her. I’ll admit, the timing could be better, but letting Bookmark see the Crystal City is something I’m sure she’ll remember.”

“Yup,” Bookmark nodded. “Thanks for taking care of Ledger by the way. I know he’s a real pain in the flank sometimes.”

“Like you’re any better,” Ledger said without missing a beat. “I told you not to read my book. Now mom and dad are going to blame me for corrupting you when I tell them they need to give you ‘the talk’.”

“I know all about the birds and the breezies,” she retorted with a smile. She was going to have fun with this. “Staying with you and and your mares has taught me oh so much~”

“And that’s why I told them that I shouldn’t take you on vacation,” Ledger finished. Fredrick seemed torn between laughing at Ledger and pitying him.

“Ledger,” Narrow said with a warning tone. “I do hope that you haven’t been doing anything untoward with a little filly in the room.”

Scope looked at Ledger, her grin threatening to split her face.

“I did not knowingly do anything in front of my little sister,” Ledger said with a nod. “Whether or not the little brat snuck a peek on her own or figured out how to cancel my soundproofing spells is on her. I swear she’s going to become a right little delinquent when she grows up.”

Scope’s eyes shimmered and then she sniffed. “Y-You’re so mean...big brother,” she pouted, as Narrow just glared at Ledger. Fredrick just laughed at his friend's plight, glad he had no little ones of his own.

“You know that stopped working on me when you were ten and used it to get me to cover for you during that playground debacle,” Ledger said, not even looking at the filly. “She’s smart too, don’t let her looks fool you. She will play you like a fiddle if you let her. She knows she’s cute and will use it against you.”

“Ledger keeps using big words to make me look like a bad filly,” she whined. “I’m not a bad filly. I promise.”

Cider and Midnight joined Fredrick in on his ritorious laughter. Narrow just shook her head as she leaned down to Scope’s ear.

“Having fun...Scope Lens?”

The filly squeaked and looked at the Captain. “Ohhh, you’re good.”

Ledger just looked at the pair of them before looking at Fredrick, wondering if one of his best friends would now have to be read into his secret...

The Griffon hadn’t heard though, still laughing as he wiped a tear from his eye. Midnight and Cider finished also as the Griffon looked at the Unicorn stallion.

“Ahh, you have quite the family my friend. Should you still be around when you get home. Come by my restaurant, I’ll serve you a meal fit for a Princess.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Ledger said with a smile. “So, what’s on the menu here?”

“Usual carnival fare, but they have a few dishes that have piqued my interest,” he replied, getting an exasperated sigh from Narrow.

“We spent all day yesterday, just going from restaurant to restaurant, just so he could compare dishes and swap recipes. It. Was. Exhausting.”

“Oooh, did you pick up something new?” Ledger asked with a wide smile. “We are gonna have to compare, I managed to get a few fish recipes from the hotel.”

“Did you?” Fredrick beamed. “Bah, they wouldn’t share with me, since they had just parted the info to somepony else. Seems we’ll have to barter later.”

“I’m always open to negotiation,” Ledger said. He hummed as he spotted a table for four and motioned towards it with his head. “What do you recommend while we’re here, then?”

“Hmm, I don’t know seeing as we have yet to eat also,” Fredrick hummed. Meanwhile the four mares had already taken the table and were now discussing things that a stallion would only tilt his head at.

Hmm, some of these dishes seem quite intriguing,” the unicorn observed. “Perhaps we should attempt to get the mares in on this? Have everypony taste-test something?”

“Don’t see why not,” Fredrick shrugged. “My little Peach Blossom has been getting better at nitpicking her food, and your keen eye is always appreciated.”

“Well then,” Ledger said as he motioned towards the mare talk that was clearly going on. “After you.”

“Into the lion’s den it is,” Fredrick sighed. He stepped closer as the girls all hushed as they stared at the two males, all wearing knowing smiles on their faces.

Things had been discussed. Things had been...compared. Fredrick felt...uneasy as all the mares stared at him, but he cleared his throat none-the-less. “Ladies,” he began. “Ledger and I would appreciate your help in determining if the interesting dishes we observed upon the menu are any good.”

“Well, I guess we could do that,” Song nodded, licking her lips at the information that Narrow had provided. Now she really regretted not taking Fredrick up on his offer when they first met. Ah well.

“More taste-testing, yay,” Narrow sighed, but smiled none-the-less.

“Ah reckon ah could provide y’all with some help,” Cider agreed, Scope just shrugged as she looked at the menu, nothing in particular catching her eye, not when there was so much love and happiness in the air.

That said, she’d gotten her fill of Loyalty from the Guard show earlier. That had been a delicious and profitable venture.

“My thanks, ladies,” Fredrick said with a bow before he turned to grab ahold of some menus, so that he and Ledger could introduce the mares to the dishes that had caught their eyes. Speaking of whom, the unicorn in question just trotted up to the table when he observed Fredrick leaving intact.

“...I had kinda meant to have lunch with you,” he mock-complained.

“What, we can eat together whenever we want,” Midnight said. “Besides, aren’t you happy to have lunch with friends?”

“I suppose so,” the unicorn sighed as he found a nearby small table and sat at it instead, waiting for the griffon to return with the food. “I know I’m not going to get to know, but would I want to know what you were talking about earlier if I could?”

“Comparing notes,” Song explained as Scope used her magic to drag Ledger’s table and chair over to them. Combining the two so everyone could sit together. “You really don’t want to know dear.”

“I can live with not-knowing,” Ledger said, surprising those that knew what he fed on. “I get the feeling that knowing would just make me miserable somehow.”

“Not really, you’re doing pretty well,” Cider smiled at her stallion.

“I suppose that’ll do for what little curiosity I have,” the unicorn said with a shrug. The Griffon eventually returned with some menus and some complimentary breadsticks. One look could already tell that while well made, they paled in comparison to the master chef at their table.

“Hmm,” Ledger said as he looked over the menu. “Stuffed pasta shells? Sounds...interesting. Yes, that’ll do nicely for me.”

Midnight drooled a little, before licking her lips and looking at the menu. “Maybe I’ll try this veggie pizza then?”

“I’ll have the gado gado salad,” Cider nodded. It was a salad that had green beans, neighponese cabbage, bean shoots, fried shallots and coriander along with egg and peanut sauce.

“Thankfully, there is a fellow griffon on-staff today,” Fredrick said. “He and I have arranged my meal already.”

“Oh?” Scope asked as she perused the menu. “Anything good?”

“He does the meat products that they do not typically serve on the regular menu,” the griffon explained. “When I said I was looking for something exciting, he said he would make me some ‘five-alarm ribs’.”

Scope gulped when he said that. “That sounds...delicious~ Ledger! I want those!”

Everypony fell silent as they just stared at the little unicorn. “You...do know what you’re getting yourself in for?” the larger unicorn asked carefully.

“Aw come on! I haven’t had meat in like, ages!” she whined. Her horn glowed as the next part went right into Ledger’s brain. ‘Well, except your meat~’

Ledger did a remarkable job of not blushing as he looked at Fredrick. “Apparently my little sister is a bit of an omnivore,” Ledger sighed. “Do you think you could put in a second order?”

“Easily,” Fredrick replied. “And for you, Pea- Narrow?”

She rolled her eyes as she smiled at him. “My real name is fine. These four know better than to let word get out.” She turned and looked at them with a glare so cold it made the tundra outside seem warm and inviting. “Don’t you?”

“No problems here,” Song shrugged. Honestly, she was used to ponies having more than one name. She paused and blinked, wondering how weird had become her new normal.

“We can keep a secret,” Ledger agreed.

“Very well. So, my delicate Peach Blossom, what would you like to order?” If the grin on Fredrick’s beak could be measured, it would be somewhere between ‘pranking’ and ‘I’m completely innocent!’

“You’ll get yours,” she said with a small smile as she looked at the menu. “I think I’ll have their Crystal Chrysanthemum Sandwich,” she replied. Have fun saying that five times fast..

“So a crystal sandwich, the stuffed shells, veggie pizza, gado gado salad, and an extra order of ribs,” Fredrick rattled off. “Oh, nearly forgot drinks!”

“Just water please,” Ledger added right away. The ponies nodded in agreement, a pitcher of water to share would be fine.

“Got it, I’ll go drop our order off with the griffon in the back and rejoin you for lunch,” Fredrick said before giving Narrow/Peach a quick peck. The mare blushed lightly as he walked off, before Midnight giggled.

“So, Peach Blossom huh?”

“Cram it Song,” Narrow growled. “My parents decision, not mine. I was born on a farm.”

“Ah think it’s a fine name,” Apple Cider said with a nod.

“Aren’t peaches those little pink fruits with the fuzzy butts on them?” Scope asked.

“I hope you enjoyed living, because I’m not sure you’ll be doing it for much longer,” Ledger said as he observed Narrow’s reaction.

“You may just have a point there Ledger,” she replied in a low tone. “I still have her cell all warmed up for her if she feels like going back.”

“Suddenly, I feel the need to not talk for a while,” Scope nodded to herself and decided that looking anywhere other than the table was a good idea.

“Nah, she just needs to learn a few things. Like how to actually interact with ponies. And tact. And...okay, she’s a work in progress, but she’s come a long way.” Ledger chuckled a little at the idea.

‘And you’d know all about me ‘coming’ wouldn’t you Ledger?’ she giggled into his head and nodded. “I am trying to be a ‘model citizen’ or at least as close to one as I can get.”

“Personality aside, as long as you don’t do anything illegal, I have no qualms,” Narrow said and then looked at Ledger with a raised eyebrow. “You alright there Ledger? You’re looking a little red.”

“I’m fine,” Ledger said with a forced smile. “Must just be warm where I’m sitting.” Where is Fredrick with the-

Arriving just in time to interrupt that thought, the griffon returned with a huge pitcher of water and six glasses. Taking the time to put them all in front of the diners and fill them, the half-avian rejoined them for lunch. “The food should be here within ten minutes or so,” he helpfully informed.

‘Really saved you there huh?’ It was a different voice this time, the familiar one of the Crystal Heart. ‘I take it you don’t handle pressure well?’

‘Not when it’s coming from a nymph like Scope,’ Ledger thought back. ‘Given time to analyze any situation, I can react appropriately. She, naturally, doesn’t give me that time.’

‘Ah, so its just the females that throw you off your game? Hmm, that’s some valuable data. Mmmmm, oh that is the stuff. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE today. Oh, speaking of today! Please tell me you will be sticking around until the end?’

‘We...were planning on it,’ Ledger replied as he started paying more attention to the mental conversation than the physical one. He was outnumbered anyways. ‘Why, what’s happening?’

‘Oh, right, well the finale is quite the spectacle. But you and that snarky little nymph miiiiight want to double your personal shields, or you might reveal more than you want to the general public.’

‘Got it, thanks for the heads up,’ Ledger thought back as he returned to the conversation at hoof only to realize he’d been asked a question while chatting with the Heart.

“Um, sorry, I wasn’t listening. What?”

Scope giggled as she spoke up first. “It’s a simple answer ‘Big Brother’ Yes? or no?”

“Can you repeat the question?” the bigger unicorn asked after sighing.

“Told you he wouldn’t fall for it,” Midnight replied with a smile. She looked at her stallion and kissed him on the cheek. “You just kinda zoned out there. Everything okay?”

“Yeah, fine, just thinking about things,” he said, while looking at Scope during the ‘thinking’ part of his sentence. Hopefully his meaning got across...

“Ah, fair enough,” Scope nodded as she closed her eyes for a moment. She suddenly smirked as she looked at Midnight and a plan came to mind. “Oh, and Midnight?”

“Mmm?”

“You should stick close to Cider today, it’ll get busy during the finale.”

Midnight blinked, but nodded, draping a protective wing over her marefriend.

‘That’s actually what I wanted to “talk” to you about,’ Ledger thought, trying his best to direct his mental ‘voice’ at Scope...not having a clue as to how this sort of spell actually worked. Scope looked at the stallion staring at her and frowned, before realizing what he was trying to do and giggled.

“I’ll teach you that spell later,” she said as she opened the link. ‘You were saying?’

‘...The Heart says we should either double down on our personal wards, or prepare to reveal to everypony that there are ‘lings in the city during the finale,’ Ledger said with a hint of a pout.

‘I was just told as much, as well as something ‘very’ interesting. And I figured that if I’m riding on your back, we can combine our shielding.’

‘Might work,’ the larger unicorn mused. ‘Do I get to know the interesting thing?’

‘Mmmm, nope!’ Scope chuckled. ‘However, let’s just say that Cider is about to become one happy mare, or a terrified one~’

Ledger considered the implications of that sentence for all of a minute before the did the most logical thing he could do.

He passed out.

“LEDGER?” Cider rushed to his side as Midnight raised an eyebrow.

“DId he get heatstroke?” Narrow asked as she filled a cup with the chilled water and splashed his face with it. The splash of water woke Ledger up for a moment, and once he caught sight of Cider, he nearly passed out again.

However, the sight of Scope made him set his jaw as he glared at the smaller unicorn. “Please say you were joking,” he said aloud, not caring who heard. This was important.

Everyone blinked as they looked at the pair, even Fredrick was starting to worry about his friend.

“Well, it’ll probably happen,” she shrugged. “Maybe...”

“...I am not risking a maybe, Bookmark,” the stallion said firmly, keeping to her cover name. “Things like that are important and shouldn’t be treated flippantly. Yes. Or. No.”

She looked around at the table and smiled sweetly. “I think my brother is feeling out of sorts, would you please excuse us,” she said and her horn flashed, teleporting the two from the table.

“I am quite confused,” Fredrick said.

“So am I,” Midnight agreed as she looked at where they previously sat. “What the heck is going on?”

About a half mile away, quite near the Crystal Heart actually, two Unicorn winked back into existence.

“Okay, you can flip the hay out now,” Scope said. “Help me out here Heart.”

‘Is there a problem?’

‘Is. Cider. Pregnant?’ Ledger ‘thought’ at both of them. ‘I want a definite answer before I react.’

One could almost see the Heart stare at him. Scope just stood there slack jawed at him, before both erupted into uproarious laughter.

“O-OhmyHives!” Scope giggled like mad. “H-How the...did you...cometothat?”

“...You didn’t give me a lot of context to go on,” Ledger sighed. “With so little information, my mind jumped to all sorts of places.”

‘W-What my snarky friend is trying say...is that once this festival reaches its peak, something truly magical happens. And it has quite the effect on non-residents of the Crystal Empire. But, I do not know if it will work on a Thestral. Never met one before now.’

‘...okay, just...she’s been joking about such a thing happening to her, so...it wasn’t that big of a leap,’ Ledger thought. ‘I’m...better now. I hope.’

‘That was friggen hilarious, but I think you scared some ponies by fainting like a filly there,” Scope giggled.

‘Do try and be nearby when it happens,’ Heart said as he chuckled. “For some reason, I really want to see if a Crystal Thestral can be a thing or not.’

‘Fine,’ Ledger nodded, before looking at Scope. ‘And while we have a moment...maybe you should teach me teleporting? I’d like to take us back and practice it myself.’

“There is no way I am letting you teleport me without practice first,” Scope shook her head. “I’ll teach you that and ‘Hive Mind’ when we get home.” Her horn flashed again and the two were seated at the table once more, though Scope looked a little dizzy.

“Bleh, I hate teleporting somepony else.”

“False alarm,” Ledger chirped, right before their food was brought out to them. The sight of half-a-dozen stuffed pasta shells on a bed of delicious smelling red-sauce…

The first one lasted all of two seconds. The rest got a brief respite while their friend was savored, but there would be no survivors.

“Hungry?” Fredrick chuckled as he watched Ledger annihilate the pasta with a vengeance. The carnage was both beautiful and terrifying.

“I have found a new favorite restaurant,” Ledger said after the last shell was devoured. “And I will have that recipe!”

“Good luck, that Griffon was pretty tightbeaked,” his friend smiled as the ponies had similar reactions to their own meals. Soon, their content was almost visible as they sat there patting their stomachs and sighing happily.

“Perhaps I should date that Griffon instead?” Narrow chuckled.

“I am going to barter,” Ledger said as he got to his hooves. “Wish me luck.”

Fredrick just huffed at both comments and folded his arms, even as Narrow laughed and hugged him.

“Oh don’t worry, you’re my favourite birdbrain.” She reached up and kissed him on the side of the beak. “Love you?”

Fredrick grumbled a little more, but gave her a kiss back. Though, it wasn’t really her he was paying attention to, but Bookmark and her...extremely spicy ribs.

The Unicorn tore into the meat with furious abandon. Several ponies walking past turned green and ran as fast as their hooves could carry them.

“Mmmm, so good,” she purred as she stripped the meat from the bone like a piranha. And then she started to taste the spice it had been flavored with. Her eyes widened as the spices burned like hellfire that spewed from Tartarus itself.

“Ohmygosh! My brain is on fire! I LOVE IT!!!” Scope cheered.

“First time I’ve seen a non-gryphon like the way a gryphon spices their food,” Fredrick observed as he cleaned his own ribs.

“Ah cam feel mah tum!” Scope breathed, and Midnight waved a wing as even her breath scorched the fur on her nose. “Shoo gud!”

“This family is sooo weird,” Cider sighed.

“Life is weird,” Fredrick retorted. “Try growing up as a gryphon in pony lands with a zebra godfather.”

Narrow looked at him with surprise. “You never told me that.”

“Ohh, storytime!” Midnight clapped her hooves.

“Not much to say,” Fredrick shrugged. “He was a good friend of my parents, and when they immigrated, so did he. Uncle Zethy was a good source of wisdom when mother and father were...less than knowledgeable about some things.”

“Why do I get the feeling your...personality is somewhat his doing?” Narrow replied with a small sigh.

“The fact that Zethy knew how best to flirt with every race and had an illicit copy of the Pony Sutra have nothing to do with how I turned out,” the griffon asserted. “I chose to follow his teachings.”

“Dear...see those Crystal Ponies there? The see-through one?”

“...Yeeeees?” the griffon replied, wondering where this was going.

“You are even clearer than they are,” she replied. “But still, I like you for you, so...I guess I owe this ‘Zethy’ of yours a thank you.”

“Sadly, he followed mother and father inland when they left, and left the house to me.” With a quick check, the griffon made sure his claws were clean of any residual sauce and nodded “Still, he taught me the value of respecting other walks of life...because no matter your species, a mare is a mare is a mare. A female to be respected and wooed into bed.”

“Is that so?” Narrow chuckled. “Well, consider me wooed then. And, I’m surprised you have no lovelorn hearts here in the Empire. Not a city you’ve conquered yet dear?”

“It’s only been back for so long,” Fredrick said with a wink. “I’m not so old as to have been around when it first was.”

“Hmm, coulda fooled me Grandpa,” Bookmark giggled. “Still, you remind me of Ledger. I’m surprised you don’t have a herd of your own yet.”

“I have paramours and lovers and bedmates, but none truly wanted me for me, merely what I could do. I wasn’t wanting for company…” here Fredrick sighed and looked at the bones on his plate. “But I was wanting for love.”

Midnight looked at him, then to Narrow. “Then, have you found what you’re looking for yet?”

Narrow blushed lightly and looked at him, wondering what his answer would be.

“That depends on my little blossom here,” the griffon said as he trailed a claw down Narrow’s spine. “Love and trust are two-way streets, if hers says NO ENTRY, then I’ll not continue down that road.”

Narrow shuddered at the touch and sighed. “I...wouldn’t be...adverse to you taking a trip down that road.”

Midnight withheld her squeal of joy. Fredrick was not so restrained. With a quick motion, the griffon was kissing the unicorn mare full on the lips, holding her close, and even slipping her a little tongue.

Midnight’s squeal was no longer withheld as she bounced in her seat happily. Her coat seemed to shimmer for just a second as her eyes sparkled. This was the best thing ever!

Scope and Cider smiled widely as well, as Narrow just blushed a deep red and returned the kiss. This time, though, it wasn’t Scope that ruined the moment.

“I return triumphant!” Ledger proclaimed as he returned from the kitchen.

“Goddammit Ledger!” all three of his mares said as the moment was ruined.

“What? What’d I do?” the confused unicorn asked.

“You totally ruined that moment,” Midnight pouted.

“Congrats Ledger, you’re the new me,” Scope nodded, folding her forelegs.

“Don’t worry, ah know you didn’t mean it,” Cider smiled. “Yer timin’ is still terrible though.”

“...You lot aren’t getting any cool food when we get back,” the stallion pouted. “Except Cider.”

“Awwww,” Scope and Midnight pouted.

“You were successful?” Fredrick said with widened eyes, letting go of Narrow.

“Mmmhmm, gave him mine and the stories behind them in exchange for his,” Ledger said with a smile. “I figured the stories might help loosen his tongue. Turns out I was right~”

“A Griffon worth his feathers loves a good story,” Fredrick nodded and he hugged his mare again. “Oh, and it seems I have a marefriend now. How about that huh?”

“Congrats!” Ledger said before he looked at his herd. “I have two,” he said, not wanting to blow Scope’s cover.

“Quality over quantity my friend,” Fredrick chuckled as he kissed Narrow again.

The PA system buzzed as the announcer from earlier came back. And Ledger finally recognised him as Flash Sentry.

“If everypony is ready, It. Is. TIME!”

Chapter 32 - Shine on, you crazy batpony

After the announcement, Ledger’s extended group headed for the square in front of the palace, where the Crystal Heart was located. High above them, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was preparing her speech.

“To my beloved citizens!” she called out with a magically amplified voice. “I thank you for another wonderful Fair. You have shown just how loving and beautiful our Empire is. And to everypony that has graced us on this fine day. I hope that you have enjoyed yourselves.”

The Heart was slowly rotating and began to glow as all the Crystal Ponies closed their eyes and smiled widely. Scope and Ledger suddenly shuddered, the love in the air was so thick it felt like they could drown in it.

“Geh! I think now would be a good time to raise those shields of ours Ledger,” Scope muttered from her place on his back.

“Yup,” Ledger agreed as he flared his horn only slightly. Stronger and more lasting illusions and transformations weren’t hard to do, but shielding themselves from love? They’d only researched it after…

Heh. After the wedding. A thought crossed his mind, and he changed from the spell he was going to do...to a spell that he’d only had cause to really use once before. A thin, silvery bubble flashed into being around the pair of ‘lings. “Done. But I’d reinforce your disguise just in case my plan didn’t work.”

“Already on it. The amount of love in the air? I could teleport us all the way home I think.” She closed her eyes as her body shimmered slightly. The Heart begun to spin faster and then a massive flash covered the crowd, out-of-towners letting out surprised gasps as the light dimmed...and a stunning aurora filled the sky.

“Okay, that’s impressive,” Ledger admitted, thankful that he’d not more directly felt that pulse. It was like a tidal wave of pure love had washed over them. Something like that tended to dispel illusions. Probably had something to do with love being blind and not lying...

“Urgh!” Scope clung to his back as her body rippled. Her horn flashed and with a loud ‘pop’, she was gone.

‘Can’t...keep my form up...hiding for now...’

‘Remind me to teach you my magical insulation spell later,’ Ledger sighed. ‘It looks like it only works for one at the time.’ Still, since the Heart had asked earlier, he watched the entire ceremony, grateful for the non-combat use of Emotional Insulation.

But with Cider and Midnight, it was a whole other story. When the light had washed over them, it had a rather profound effect on the Thestral.

Notably, a rather fetching crystal coat.

Now, the Crystal Thestral was hugging her marefriend from behind, giving her a fanged grin.

“Well now,” Midnight purred as she nipped at Cider’s neck. “Is this an interesting turn of events~”

Ledger grinned as he knew what the two most likely responses would be to Cider seeing a sparkly thestral~ He then realized he would need to adjust his glamor spell so that he appeared to be sparkly for...however long the effect lasted. ‘I don’t suppose you could have warned me ahead of time? I’m about to stick out like a sore hoof!’ he idly ‘thought’ at the glowing artifact.

“I FEEL AMAZING!!!~” The Heart sang in his head as it spun and glowed brightly. The stunning aurora could be seen all across Equestria.

As for Apple Cider. The mare took one look at her sparkly marefriend...and fainted, her face bright red.

“Oh come on!” Midnight cried above the cheers of the crowd. The distraction was enough for Ledger to quickly - and shakily - come up with a ‘crystallized’ version of his own disguise. Mostly because he’d just watched how that pulse affected the other ponies. And hopefully nopony would ask why his reaction was delayed...but between watching the light show and admiring their own appearances, nopony said anything.

“This concludes our Crystal Fair,” Cadence called out. “Thank you once again, for helping keep our fair Empire safe and happy. And while the main event is concluded, we still have much to do and see. Be safe and happy everypony!”

The crowd cheered as Midnight dragged Cider over to Ledger.

“You have got to be kidding me,” she groaned. “I can’t believe she fainted...and why the buck am I shiny?”

“Don’t ask me,” Ledger said as he moved to help. “But I know why she fainted. Cadence probably saw that blush.”

“I swear to Celestia, Ledger,” Midnight growled. “You had better not say it. Or I will guarantee that your future meals will require a straw to eat.”

“I would never!” Ledger said with as much sincerity as he could muster. So not much. And he also kept to himself how he was thinking of now looking into applying glamor to others. Specifically for this reason.

Hives, he had come a long way. Previously when he saw a new spell or effect, he either ignored it or disassembled it for useful innovations. Things like a spell his Orange stepdad used to help simulate real sunlight in their underground farm had been...refined into his heat beam. Or like that spellbook of rather lewd spells, he’d been taking apart for similar reasons as well.

Now he just wanted to make these mares happy. Somewhere his life had gone very much differently, and the reason was probably Midnight.

“Why don’t I believe you?” she sighed as she looked up at the aurora. The rainbow light filtered down, giving the Thestral an otherworldly glow. All she was missing was a horn for the effect to be complete. “It’s beautiful, huh?”

“Not as beautiful as the mares I’m sharing it with. It would be pretty without you, yes...but with you, the picture is complete.” For some reason that was the first, honest thought to cross his mouth without going through any of the filters on his brain.

...Yeah, she’d been having an effect on him. They all had.

“Flatterer,” Midnight blushed. Even her manestyle had changed from the effect. Her platinum blonde locks shimmered like gold as it was put up into a long braid. Stunning blue sapphires were woven into each knot and her tail had gotten the same treatment, only it had a beautiful white silk ribbon wrapped around it.

Cider’s hair was done up in a bun, a ruby broach holding it in place as her tail was more flared out, looking thicker and more luscious. Ledger pouted as he looked at his rather simple disguise before shooting half a glare at the Heart again.

“Seriously, it’s like you’re trying to annoy me at every possible moment regarding this. It’s either put up shields and miss out on all the fun effects, or lower them and let everypony know there’s a bug in the city.”

‘As your snarky friend just discovered, you’ll have a little surprise when you revert to normal,’ Heart explained, Ledger could almost feel it’s smirk. ‘You didn’t block the effect, even an Alicorn can’t do that. You’re simply hiding it.’

‘...why do I fear for my life now?’ Ledger whimpered. “Okay, so I think we should go pick up Scope,” Ledger said aloud as he looked at Midnight and the slowly-stirring Cider. “She didn’t take too well to being so bombarded. I had a trick and it worked. She’s...I don’t know where, actually,” the unicorn said as he put a hoof to his chin. “Might be hard to find her-”

‘LEDGER? HOTEL! NOW!!!’ Scope’s voice was filled with more than a little surprise, shock...and fear?

“She’s at the hotel,” Ledger said. “You two good? I think she wants me there right now.”

“Yeah, let’s go,” Midnight nodded as she put Cider over her back. “I really hope this effect doesn’t last long...”

‘HURRY UP!!!’

‘Keep your shell on! We have a passed-out Cider!’ Ledger all but screamed back. “Okay, I need a pair of earmuffs. For my brain. Oh, there’s an idea.” Even as he was walking, his mind was whirling. Emotional Insulation might be adaptable to whatever Hive-whatever spell that Scope would show him. Mental insulation! For pesky nymphs!

‘Okay...okayokayokayokay! Just...really freaking out here!’ Even as her voice sounded in his head, it had a strange duality to it, like two Scope’s talking at once. It seemed to have some kind of underlying buzz to it.

‘I couldn’t tell,’ Ledger said as he rolled his eyes. They turned onto the right street and began the long, slow plod back. ‘Seriously, it was just a wave of love. Whatever happened can’t be too bad. By definition. The fact that you’re still around to talk is testament to that!’

‘Just...Hives this is weird-OW!’

‘Are you okay?!’ the disguised ‘ling thought before his steps had a noticeable increase in speed. ‘Scope?’

‘Ahh, yeah...just bumped my horn on the doorframe. Just...GAH! You’re too slow. Stand still!’ Before the stallion could respond, a sphere of azure light surrounded him and his two mares, the scenery shifted and he found himself staring at the interior of his hotel room.

“Dammit Scope! Warn us before you do that!” Ledger reeled a little from the disorientation, but growing up with a little Pink sister had helped him acclimate to weird things. Like finding out that she could apparently exert enough magical force to find whatever she was looking for, no matter where it actually was.

He still didn’t know how she did it, but it was the most logical explanation he had so far for her...antics. The disguised drone looked around the room and called out. “Scope? Little jewel? Where are you?”

There was a cough from behind him and he turned his head in that direction...

A changeling stood in the doorway. Maybe in inch or so shorter than Celestia, she had long slender legs with almost no holes in them. Her back was covered in a gleaming sapphire shell and her carapace shone like the purest onyx. Her deep azure eyes, now showing several shades of blue as her black slitted iris’ stared at them, were hiding behind a light blue mane that seemed to ripple like water.

“Um...help?” she said in a quiet voice.

“...What.” Ledger stated more than asked. “Just...what.”

“I don’t know!” Scope cried, hugging the now smaller drone with near bone-cracking strength. “It was like the wedding, or at least, how others described it. But...it didn’t force me back, but rather...I think I absorbed it...All of it.”

“All that you could stand, anyways,” Ledger said as he squirmed in her grasp. “I’m rather glad I put up my insulating spell now. I do not need to explain to my uncle why there are two silver kings running around. And I think Lord Azure is going to want to meet with you.”

“Well, I don’t know if this is permanent,” Scope said. She frowned as she looked herself over. “I look like fucking Chrysalis now...dammit!”

“Meh, she blended Green and Blue. You’re better-looking than she ever was,” Ledger pointed out before realizing how that sounded and blushing.

Scope blinked and blushed, looking away. “I-Idiot!”

“No way,” Midnight finally spoke up. “Holy crap Scopey, you’re hot!”

“Shut up...” Scope replied, blushing deeper. Ledger considered something then and opened his mind to the Heart.

‘You said we didn’t block it...does that apply to me as well? Or did my trick work?’

‘Ask and ye shall receive!’ The Heart beamed happily. ‘While your little trick did block a significant amount of the power, you might notice that you’ll be able to cast a lot of magic without tiring. Oh, and you might have a little shine to your shell/carapace/thing. And tell your snarky friend not to get used to that form. It’s only temporary.’

Ledger gulped and lit up his horn. “Here goes…”

When his disguise washed away, he was hit with a few things right off the bat. First, he was taller now. Not on the level of Scope, but he was at least as tall as his mom now. He’d seen a Yellow Princess once, and he’d put himself at about that level of height.

Second, he looked liked he took actual pride in his appearance. His silver shell and mane shone as bright as Luna’s moon at their fullest. He considered flicking his wings out, but decided against it. It might be too much.

Third and most striking to any ‘ling: the holes were gone. The reason behind them had been debated by philosophers for ages, but the best the changelings could ever come up with was the holes symbolized a changeling’s own ‘incomplete’ nature. Practical applications were few and far between.

To see something like that, just...gone, even if it was only temporary, left him stunned.

“Holey moley, you have no holeys!” Midnight gasped as she looked at the new and improved drone. “You know, I like our reskins. Can we keep them?”

“It’s temporary,” Ledger said automatically as he looked at all the sides of one of his legs. It felt...weird, not having holes anymore. “Even Scope’s. I think the Heart just shows us...what we could have been in the best of all possible worlds. If only for a moment.”

‘Close. I just ‘Crystallize’ normal ponies. I had no idea what would happen to a Changeling. Good to see you lived though~’

‘If we ever come back during another fair, we’ll need time to prepare and get Crystal versions of our disguises made...assuming Scope even goes in public,’ Ledger sighed. He then looked at the psuedo-queen and smirked. “Well, I must say, you clean up nicely,” he told the rather stunning nymph, now fully intending to flirt with her.

“W-Well, so do you,” she replied, gazing on his form and blushing again. “So uh...what do we do now? I know that there’s this huge feast going on, as well as the parade. But...I dunno if I can transform safely, my magic is waaaay stronger.”

Ledger took another step closer and rested a hoof on her withers, lowering his head and horn at the same time so that it neared hers. “Let me help,” he offered. “I know the sort of form you’re going to need to assume, and with another mind helping you, there’d be less risk.”

“Aww, and here I was hoping I could enslave the city," she pouted. “This day has been perfect so far.”

“Let’s see about getting you to those events safely, then we can see about a ‘perfect’ day,” Ledger teased. “Though, we should really see about pulling Cadance aside and showing her the effect this has on ‘lings. Assuming we can.”

“Oh that would go down a treat...what are they doing?” Scope stared past him as Ledger turned to see Cider trapping Midnight against the floor, giving the Thestral a kiss that seemed to be giving even her a run for her bits.

“I’ll tell you later,” Ledger brushed the issue to the side as he stared at the nymph, coughing lightly. “Well? Going to let me help or are we going to stand here all day?”

Scope nodded as she lowered her head, so his horn could reach hers more easily. “This should be interesting.”

Magic mingled between the two, and Ledger nearly reeled at the feeling of Scope’s new heights.

Nearly. He’d not earned his name by not tracking down mysteries and not confirming rumors. He’d never felt this much power before, true...except during that brief moment with Celestia. Still, each confirmed rumor had dealt with some source of power. He could take solace in the fact that he’d faced more than this.

...Not all at once, but he’d faced more than just this. Maybe.

‘Okay, so, first you’re going to need to think of your form. Pegasus or Unicorn?’

‘...Which...do you prefer?’

‘Pegasus has more erogenous zones, but you can get away with magic as a unicorn. Your choice.’ Even her voice was stronger! Before it had been like an irritating buzz. Now she sounded like she was actually in his head.

‘Who are you calling irritating?’ she snapped as she chose Unicorn as her form. Being able to use magic would be more useful right now.

‘...Okay, you officially scare me,’ Ledger whimpered. ‘Ah...next. You’re going to need to apply a crystallizing effect to it. Watch.’ The drone then replayed his memories of the event happening around him, specifically what had happened to the ponies of each tribe.

‘Hmm, seems simple enough...’ Scope gasped as the transformation took effect and an azure inferno engulfed her form. She had burned quite a bit of magic, so her new Unicorn form was now a more believable height. Her new body was reminiscent of Fleur De Lis, a famous model in Canterlot. She was tall and slender, with a long horn and large doe eyes.

Her coat was that of her Pegasus form, a charcoal black with a snow white mane and tail, and after applying the Crystal Glamour, she looked simply amazing.

Ledger barely held his jaw up. If he let it drop, he was certain his tongue would be lolling out. Shaking his head a few times to clear it, he followed up by clearing his throat as well. “Well, okay. That was interesting. And while you come up with a name and backstory, I’m going to try and get a little better at the crystallizing glamour.”

Scope hummed and she grinned slightly as a Cutie Mark appeared on her rump, one of an open book with a sparkling gem coming from it.

“My name is Secret Treasure, an antique dealer of jewelry from Las Pegasus.”

“Oh?” Ledger said as he applied the crystal effect only partially, catching only his mane and tail in the full effect of being crystalline. “And if they ask if you have any pieces, or why you’re with us?”

“I choose to travel light, to avoid being mugged. And I’m a business partner of yours that has travelled here to study the unique crystal structures and Crystaltech that the Empire uses.” Scope replied in a no-nonsense tone.

“Good enough,” Ledger said as he tried again, this time only catching his back half in the effect. This time, though, he’d studied it fully and would be able to integrate it into his disguise on the next go around. “And what does your mark mean? Everypony knows what their mark means.”

“I first discovered my mark when I was reading a book about precious gems,” she explained. “It was then that I realized that there was so much I wanted to know about them. How they form, what they can be used for..”

“Scopey?” Midnight called out. “If you’re gonna keep being all eggheady, then put on stockings and a pair of glasses and get over here so I can ravish you!”

Ledger blushed even as he donned his now-fully-crystallized disguise. With all the love the mares kept giving him, he could shrink down to his usual self easily.

Something Ledger learned really quickly was that blushes were easy to spot on Crystal Ponies...or somebuggy pretending to be one.

“Heh! Somebuggy likes that thought~” Midnight sang out as Scope just shook her head.

“You know,” she replied. “Minus the Crystal Glamour, I think this form could be fairly manageable...as a more permanent one. And I could replace the horn with wings if you like.” Here she smiled at him, “Or would you prefer both~?”

Ledger just stammered for a moment before shaking his head. “You two. Incorrigible. And let’s see you say that when we go home, missy. The change is temporary, after all. Might be harder than you think to be so much larger than your normal self.”

“Well, I’ll just be more petite then,” she giggled. She stood up and kissed him on the cheek. “Now, should we go and educate royalty?”

“Yes, let’s show off what the Heart does to ‘lings that enter the city on the day of the fair,” Ledger rolled his eyes. “If we don’t see both of them together, then let’s at least see Cadance. And definitely avoid being along with Shiny as you are now.”

“Yeah, that might be an idea,” Treasure nodded. “Well, we are about to board Flight Treasure. Please ensure your seatbelt is fastened and your luggage is in the overhead compartment.” Her horn started to glow as she powered up a Teleport.

“Here we go again,” Ledger sighed before the world was awash in a sea of blue…

“Well, all things considered, that went rather well,” Ledger observed after they reappeared in the room. “I think we’re just lucky Cadance was there, though.”

“Yeah,” Scope replied. Through the constant use of high-level magic, she was almost back to normal. Though, she still seemed a little larger than her usual self. More around the size of a standard nymph. She tilted her head when she heard a noise coming from the bedroom.

“What the heck was that?”

Ledger sighed as he picked up on the emotions in the room, figuring now was as good a time as any to explain a fact of Cider to Scope. “Okay, so...Cider is a fan of an author you might have heard of, might not...she writes stories about sparkly thestrals. Mostly around them being vamponies.”

“That sounds...highly inaccurate,’ Scope frowned. “No wonder Mistress understands our plight of not having much known about us.” She opened the bedroom door and her eyes widened. The room was filled with candles as the only source of light. On the bed, Cider lay there in a simple white dress as Midnight stood over her, a red liquid dripping from her fangs, and the two marks on Cider’s neck.

“Uhh....”

Ledger walked over, looked at the scene, surprisingly retained a blank expression on his face, and reached one hoof up to close the door before grabbing Scope and scooting both him and her away from the door. “I don’t care how much the hotel charges us. I am burning that bed.”

The door opened a moment later and a bloodied Midnight emerged, licking her lips and humming. “Well, that was actually more fun than I thought...but Cidey’s feeling a little drained right now.”

“...Midnight, keep up the puns and I will toss you into the room before I burn the bed,” Ledger threatened. “What...possessed you two to reenact a scene from...that series? I thought you hated it more than anypony!”

“I do, but I love Cidey and you two more. It made Cidey happy, so I’m happy.” She gave Ledger a kiss on the lips and the taste of raspberry jam hit his tongue. “You’re being a tad dramatic aren’t you?”

“I’m more offended by the fact that you chose to enact a scene from the worst series ever written,” Ledger grumbled. “I knew you wouldn’t hurt her, but still. I’ve only read one book that was worse than that.”

“Like I said, it made Cider happy. But just you wait, I get to be a vampony from my favourite series later~” She smiled as she wondered where she could get a large red hat from.

Cider eventually stumbled from the room with a big smile on her muzzle as she looked at her two Changeling’s.

“...What?”

“For somepony that works on a farm all day and could likely buck a vampony’s head clean off, you certainly do make a convincing damsel in distress,” Ledger teased.

“I like my head where it is,” Song said in an alarming tone. Mostly because Cider probably could do that.

Cider’s mane had been let down, rather than her usual pigtails, and the white dress complimented her coat nicely.

“I’m more surprised she actually packed a dress like that,” Scope noted as she reverted to normal and gave a loud yawn. “Also, I’m curious as to how you knew that scene was from that book with just a glance.”

“I read it thinking it might have been some sort of diary on dealings with vamponies,” Ledger said. “...I was ten at the time, and it wouldn’t be until later that I would learn what utter drivel it was.”

“Well, to each their own,” Cider pouted. She didn’t tease them about those foalish Daring Do books.

“Those books are utterly unhelpful in an actual undead situation,” Ledger huffed.

“Yeah, everypony knows that fire solves that particular problem,” Song nodded in agreement as Cider and Scope stared at them.

“What?” the Thestral blinked.

“No, no it does not,” Ledger said in a deadpan. “Because then you have flaming zombies after you. The only thing worse than zombies is zombies that are on fire.”

“Well, excuse me for not having fought an army of zombies,” Midnight pouted and folded her forelegs. With a soft shimmer, the Crystal effect wore off on the ponies present, Midnight was left wondering if this was a good thing or not.

“Aww,” Cider pouted. “Ah looked so pretty too...”

“I’ll see about illusion spells,” Ledger said as he cracked his neck, before shifting back to normal and panicking. “Um. Scope? Scope, are you seeing this?”

The holes were back. But they were very much smaller. Scope blinked and stared at her own hooves. Even hers were smaller, and her form was slightly larger.

“Um...this is weird, has it not worn off for us?”

‘Well now, that’s interesting...I guess the way your bodies react to love just means they processed as much as they could towards making the changes you underwent permanent before it wore off. Maybe if you came back for two, three more fairs, you’d stay that way?’

‘Well, all I did was absorb a ludicrous amount of love,” Scope said. “Perhaps...with enough time spent around one another?’

‘It’s likely,’ Ledger pitched in. ‘That all the love we’ve been getting...them loving us for us...and this blast of love...changed something in us.’

‘But, I’m just a nymph, a number. How did I take a Royal form in the first place?’

‘I don’t know...with you being what you were, it’s unlikely we’ll find any trace of your lineage around, so we can guess until we go home and we’ll never get anywhere. For the time being, let’s just chalk it up to “weird love magic shenanigans” and move on. Do you want to come back during the Fair again, try and have a go at making it stick now that we know what it does?’ The drone prodded the nymph mentally.

‘Maybe...I dunno. I feel...uncomfortable in that form,’ Scope sighed as she shook her head. “I just wanna sleep for now. Today has been equal parts nice, and weird.”

“I can agree with that,” Ledger said. “Cuddlepile?”

“Cuddlepile!” Midnight suddenly agreed as she tackled the drone happily. Cider just chuckled and went back into the bedroom to clean up, with Scope helping. Eventually the four of them found their way to the bed, and the rest of the night was spent snuggling.

Early the next morning, four tired, but happy ponies boarded the train bound for Las Pegasus, with a stop over in Canterlot. While the trip was a little longer, it was also much lighter on the purse strings.

As the desolate Tundra scenery eventually gave way to the lush greenery of Equestria. Midnight watched it race by as an idle thought crossed her mind when Ledger called Scope his ‘Little Jewel’ again.

“Okay, fess up, what’s with the cute nickname?” she asked with a click of her tongue.

Ledger paused in writing in his book as he considered the question. “Okay, so I’ve said before that one major difference between Equestria and the Lands is names. Specifically, we’re not named at birth, but we earn them. Usually. Some nobles do things differently, but that’s how it usually goes.”

“Yeah, you mentioned that,” Midnight nodded as she realised something. “So where does the name ‘Secret-Hoarder’ come from?”

“When I was eleven, I set out to learn from all the Hives,” Ledger said as he picked up his writing again. “Picked them out somewhat randomly to begin with. Orange first, then Green. Moved to Red, then I went to Yellow. Then I made the mistake of visiting the Violets, and ran quite quickly to the Blues.” Here he looked over his book at the thestral mare. “Y’know all those things I rattled off in the street with our mutual foe? I didn’t let anything stop me from confirming those things to be true.”

“Wow, that sounds like an adventure and a half,” Midnight nodded, making a note to get him to explain it all in detail at some point. “So what about Scopey? What’s with the nickname?”

Scope sighed and nodded at Ledger while she scribbled something in a book. “Go ahead, you can tell her.”

“Well, Scope here decided to change her name,” Ledger said with a smile. “Not uncommon, but typically it’s not done by the one receiving the new name. Still, she’s not the ‘Discarded-One’ anymore. I get to introduce her as ‘Secret-Treasure’ instead.”

“Secret-Treasure?” Midnight and Cider echoed, the latter just returning from the bathroom. Midnight smiled as she tried to hug the Pegasus filly, only to be pushed back. “That sounds adorable...but, what’s it mean?”

“Typically, drones take the names of the nymphs that they ‘belong’ to,” Ledger said as he continued scribbling. “It’s as close as the common drone gets to a marriage. Having it happen the other way around? Now that is unheard of...unless you look at my uncle, of course. Scope here is the second nymph in recent history to take the drone’s name rather than vice-versa.”

“Well, ‘Discarded-Secret’, or ‘Secret-One’ doesn’t have much of a ring to it,” Scope said as she continued to write, not looking up from her pages. “And I feel treasured here with you all, and my existence is mostly a secret, so it just fits...” She stopped writing as the cabin fell silent.

“What?”

“Ledger?” Midnight said quietly. “I feel an irresistible urge to hug her now.”

“Do keep in mind that I’ve yet to introduce her to the parents,” Ledger said as he wrote out several theoretical spell frames for the crystal glamor effect and how best to apply it to other ponies. “I’d rather like to be able to.”

“So, iffn ah’m getin’ this right.” Cider said slowly, rubbing her head. “You and Scopey...are married now?”

Scope’s writing paused again as a fierce blush overtook her face and she buried her head in her book. One could see steam rising from her head.

“If we were in the Lands, your statement would be accurate,” Ledger pointed out. “As we did exchange names and consummate it not ten minutes later. But, I’m an Equestrian citizen, if only in name. So I’d have to file for a marriage license. And there’s no way I would do it with one of you without doing it with all of you.”

Now it was Cider and Song’s turn to blush as they sat back down. Scope had recovered enough to resume her writing and the carriage fell into relative silence again. Mostly, the drone thought on what he said, and was shocked that Midnight didn’t have a comment. Was she doing that, ‘I’m going to be less perverse’ thing again?

“Ah guess, we should discuss that at some point,” Cider said quietly. “Marriage that is.”

“We should,” Ledger agreed as he finished up his notes and cast a quick-dry spell. Snapping the book shut and putting it away, Ledger turned to look at both Midnight and Cider. “Scope scared me a lot earlier, so while I’m thinking about it, I’ll tell you this: I’m so not ready to be a dad yet. Living with you three, being there for you three, loving you three? I can deal with that. But I am not ready to be responsible for another life that I helped bring into this world. So please...let’s keep up with the birth control for a little while yet? And perhaps sometime in the next...six months, maybe sooner or later, depending, we can look into getting our herd, our whole herd, married.”

“Tain’t no need t’rush,” Cider nodded as she settled into her seat more. “My Momma might say otherwise, but it’s a big decision, ‘specially fer ponies in our...circumstances.”

Midnight just stared out of the window, watching the scenery race by as Scope continued her writing, but made a small grunt of agreement.

“Midnight?” Ledger asked upon her non-response. “Love? Are you okay?”

“I’m alright,” she replied. “I agree with Cider...no need to rush after all...”

“True enough,” Ledger said as he lay back and watched the scenery go by as well. “I just...don’t want anybuggy to get the wrong idea as to why I hang around you three. I want to be able to say to the world that I love you three and will never leave you, no matter what. Marriage is the way I’m most comfortable with at the moment.”

Midnight just nodded, though her heart raced when she thought about it. The idea of walking down that aisle, wearing an expensive dress and saying those words of commitment? It scared the Tartarus out of her. And then there was the menagerie of customs that would be involved...and the size of Cider’s family alone could populate a large town.

But more than anything, it was the feeling, the knowledge of being bound to someone for the rest of her life, to honour their wishes and... Her breath hitched as some memories surfaced. Ones from when she was being raised...

And what was expected of her at the time.

And then Ledger was there, holding her and caring for her like he always did. “Shh,” he whispered. “If the idea upsets you, we can put it off. I’m not in any rush and I’m still young. Heck, my noble blood will keep me going for a while as long as I’m well-fed. No need to rush into something you don’t like.”

“It’s...complicated,” she said quietly, leaning into the hug. “I love you guys, more that anything...but marriage? It...scares me.”

“...This is another one of those cultural differences, isn’t it?” Ledger deadpanned. “To Equestrians, ‘Marriage’ is synonymous with ‘I love you and want to be with you for the rest of our lives.’ To ‘lings, it’s more of a...social contract. One that can be renegotiated at any time if you fancy your odds. What does it mean to thestrals?”

In his warm grasp, the Thestral shook. “I...don’t want to talk about it.”

“...Midnight, if the idea of being married to me upsets you so much, you are always free to leave the herd an-” the drone started to say, thinking only of trying to avert this latest hitch in their relationship. He wasn’t prepared for her rebuttal.

“Slavery!” she snapped at him. “I would never be unhappy with you or Cidey, or Scopey...but to a Thestral, one that resides in the home country? It’s slavery. Nothing more or less. The mare? She does whatever is demanded of her, without question. Being married to a Lord or a Count? It’s considered a privilege...and one must constantly pay for that privilege.”

“...You’re afraid of marrying me,” Ledger said softly, cursing his blood. “Now I wish I wasn’t born a noble.”

“No!” she said, shaking her head. “I could-could never be afraid of you. You're not like that, and I’m not stupid enough to think that you are. It’s just...I was raised...to be the perfect wife. An obedient wife...It’s not you, it’s the thought of marriage itself...” She tried hard not to cry at this point, that would have been totally uncool.

“Then I have a radical idea,” Ledger said with a smirk. “We’re unconventional enough as it is. Why not make it even worse?” He paused for dramatic effect before informing them of something that was definitely a plan only he could cook up.

“We’ll wait for you to propose to us, Midnight. The day you can without any trace of fear is the day we accept.”

“Ah reckon that’s a fine idea,” Cider hummed. “The whole ‘herd’ thing was her idea anyhow. An’ she is the one that seems to hold this weird, little family together.”

“Whatever,” Scope shrugged. She was getting to an important part in her story.

“You’re an idiot,” Midnight giggled as she leaned into Ledger. “But you’re my idiot...and I guess, I kinda like that idea as well.”

“Then it’s settled,” Ledger said with a nod as he leaned down to kiss his mare. “Like I said, no rush...but I will be waiting for you, my silly bat.”

“Mhmm,” Midnight smiled. “And as for your earlier comment? Don’t you do all of us all the time?”

“Only if you ask for it,” Ledger replied without missing a beat. He’d had time to come up with responses for when her snark resurfaced.

When the train whistled to signal it’s brief stop in Canterlot, Midnight’s eyes widened. “I need to go!” she said suddenly.

“Bathroom is down the hall,” Scope muttered as she still wrote away in her book.

“Not like that, well, also like that,” Midnight hopped. “I mean here in Canterlot. There’s somepony I have to see. See you guys at home later!” she gave each of them a quick kiss and bolted from the room, and the second she left the train, she took flight and soared off into the city.

“Um...” Scope put her book down. “That was...weird...even for her.”

“She lived here, her parents live here, and I’m willing to bet she’s bucked half the town at least once,” Ledger said as he stretched. “There’s no telling who she’s off to see, but I have faith she’ll come back. Now if you’ll excuse me, I do have to go to the bathroom.”

Cider looked at Scope, then to where Midnight flew off. “We’re totally following her right?”

“Yup,” Scope hummed as she got up and stretched her wings.

“Take care,” Ledger said as he left the compartment. “Train leaves in an hour! I’m not abandoning our stuff!”

“Apparently our things are now more important than Midnight,” Scope remarked. “You stay here with him, I’ll find her. Information is my specialty!” She shifted into her unicorn form and Teleported with a light ‘pop’.

“I just don’t think that I’d be able to chase after her and come back before the hour is up,” Ledger said. “I have faith she’ll come back and that she doesn’t need me prying into this. Is that so hard to believe?”

“No, but ya gotta admit it’s a little unusual, it’s got me all curious,” Cider noted. “Well, Scopey’s on the case, so we’ll head home so ah can get this crystal set up. Ah miss mah farm and ah know Little Bat know’s what she’s doin’.”

“...And I can tell I’m missing her, because I totally expected a ‘and who’ right there,” Ledger said with a chuckle. “Ah well. It’s not my place to pry.”

“True enough,” Cider nodded as she stared out of the window. “Still, ah wonder who she’s goin’ to go see?”

Midnight took a deep breath as she landed near ‘Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns’. It had been...a long time since she was here last. The school didn’t seem to have changed much, and she had no trouble getting access and walking the empty halls. At this time, most students would be about to leave for Winter Break, but she knew that the pony she was after would still be here.

And once she reached an office with the name ‘Moondancer’ on the door, she knew her old love was there. The muttering from inside was a dead giveaway.

She raised her hoof and knocked on the door, and when an irritated voice asked whom it was, she nudged the door open and peeked inside.

“Hey...Moonbutt~’ she said with a nervous giggle.

The white Unicorn was annoyed. Not only did her students lack any sort of drive or willingness to learn, they thought a half-assed paper would satisfy their teacher. Well, jokes on them. She’d assign them enough homework that they’d have to ascend to Alicorns to get it done!

So when she heard somepony knock on the door, she figured at least one of them had come crawling in to beg for forgiveness. None would be found. There would be no survivors!

“Hey...Moonbutt~”

That voice? There was...no way. Moondancer looked up, brushing a lock of her red mane from her eyes to see a familiar Thestral in her doorway. Those emerald eyes she loved so much...looked right back at her.

“Hey...Moonbutt,” she smiled back. “It’s been a while.”

“Yeah,” she said, it wasn’t until Moondancer asked her to come inside, that the Thestral actually did. This was weird. It was like somepony had flicked a switch and all the memories they had shared had come flooding back, along with the day that Midnight had so casually dismissed their love. The hurt look the mare’s eyes when she said that. Just thinking about it destroyed her.

“So...what brings you to my office?” Moondancer asked as she sifted through her papers. “Need a wingmare?”

“No...not, anymore,” Song replied as she sat down. “I uh, I live in Las Pegasus now. As a standalone unit.”

“Well, congrats then,” Moon said, not looking up from her work. “So is that all?”

Midnight flinched. They were friends, but since they separated, there was an underlying coldness between them. A wound that had never closed.

“No,” she said as she looked at the floor. “You know...that I never stopped loving you Moony. I could never hate you, never not love you...if that-that thing hadn’t-”

“I am well aware of what happened. But that doesn’t change what did happen between us,” she said calmly. “What we had? It can’t be restored...”

“I know, and...I could never leave the ones I’m with now,” Midnight said. That had gotten a reaction, as Moondancer put her papers down and finally looked at the Thestral.

“I’m sorry. What.”

“I have...a herd now,” she smiled warmly as she thought about them. “Two mares and a stallion...and, I love them Moony. I love them a lot. But, it’s different to what we had. And...I’m scared Moony, scared of doing to them, what I did to you.”

Moondancer looked at her, at the Thestral that once stole her heart and set it ablaze with passion...the mare that still held a small piece. “Alright Moonbutt. Explain. Now.”

Midnight blinked, the sudden emotion in Moondancer’s voice caught her off guard. “W-Well, a few weeks back, I had an assignment in Las Pegasus...to investigate a local mob boss. As I did, I happened to...befriend a close employee of hers...”

“You used him?” Moon said without mercy and the Thestral gulped and nodded.

“At first, yes. But...he was, different. He was hurting, much like me. So...I guess I latched onto that at first. And after everything was said and done, we were... more than friends.”

“Why do I get the feeling this is just the start of a loooong story?” Moondancer sighed as she poured some coffee, levitating a cup over to Midnight. The Thestral nodded and took the cup, smiling lightly.

“Yeah, well, long story short. Stuff happened, and we soon added two more mares to the mix. But...wanna know the best part, and the part that scares me the most?”

“Do tell,” Moon said dryly.

“He’s a Changeling.”

Moondancer paused, as her cup fell from her grasp and it shattered on the ground. “I’m sorry,” she said, her eyes wide. “I think I misheard you, but...you said, he was a-”

“Changeling, as well as one of the mares,” Midnight said with a nod. “The other is just an Earth Pony, one of the Apple mares. But yeah...ironic huh? A Changeling destroys my love, and a Changeling gives it right back.”

“Un-bucking-believeable.” Moondancer said as she sat next to Midnight. “Are you...?” her horn suddenly flared as she cast a multipurpose Dispel on her, the Thestral cooing lightly at the magical tingle. Moony’s magic felt so nice~

“I’m not being brainwashed Moonbutt,” she said once the mare was done. “A lot has happened in the last few weeks. I got ones I can say I love, I’ve kissed almost all the Princesses, and I’m...feeling more like my old self again.”

“Is Princess Bookworm the only one left?” Moon asked, and the Thestral giggled. “Eh, she should be easy enough. Her magic has a range of about four or five kilometres, so as long as you can cover that once you kiss her, you should live.”

“Nah, she’ll like it, you did~”

‘Still do,’ Moon sighed to herself. “But...why? Why tell me all this?”

Midnight’s smile faltered as she looked at her mug. “I dunno. I just...I don’t want things to be bad between us anymore. I love you Moony, always have-”

“Always will, my Song of the Night.” Moondancer sighed as she leaned against the Thestral. “You’re scared, aren’t you?”

“Terrified,” she smiled weakly. She’d missed this, the feeling of that fur, the scent of that mane, and for a brief moment, it was like it was before. Just the two of them.

But that wasn’t the image in her head. It wasn’t the Unicorn mare leaning against her. She felt the hard, yet warm chitin pressing against her. The scent of paper, apples and...whatever Scopey smelled like.

“But,” she said. “I can’t...imagine being with anypony else now.”

“You found your happiness again,” Moondancer sighed. “Just...not with me huh?”

“Wanna join my herd?” Midnight giggled. “Ledger would just love you.”

“No way, I’m a mares’ mare. You know that Batbutt!” she giggled and leaned closer, giving Midnight a gentle kiss on the lips. “Now, go and get your herd before you lose ‘em!”

“So...” Midnight hopped up with a small bounce. “Friends?”

“...Heh, friends” Moondancer agreed.

“With benefits?” Midnight leaned closer, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Don’t push it,” Moon sighed. “Go on and get out of here, unless you wanna make good on that offer?”

Midnight looked at the door, then to Moondancer...then at the door again.

“Just go,” Moon rolled her eyes and her horn flashed, the Thestral blinked as she grinned widely. And the train was still here, if she hurried...

The train gave a whistle as it started to pull out of the station.

“Guess it’s just us huh?” Cider said as she leaned against Ledger. “Maybe I’ll break out the sugar when ah get home?”

“I’m surprised you still have any with two ‘lings under your roof,” Ledger observed. “Speaking of, I’m surprised Scope’s still missing as well.”

“Yeah, well she was stalking Midnight...” Cider blinked as she looked out of the open window. She got up and pulled Ledger to his hooves...before ducking onto the seat next to him.

“Dare I ask?” the stallion questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Uh, good luck?” she grinned sheepishly, before a brown blur zipped through the window and crash tackled Ledger at high speed, enough to send him sprawling across the floor and out into the hall.

“Somepony stop the world from spinning,” Ledger groaned from his new position. “I wanna get off…”

Midnight giggled as she looked at her silly stallion, before she picked him up and gave him a rather passionate Thestral kiss. And once she broke it a minute later, she turned and pounced on Cider, who gave a soft ‘meep’ of resistance.

It did not save her.

As she was molesting the mare, Scope winked back into existence next to Ledger, her face quite pale.

“Oh hey Scope,” Ledger said in his dazed state. “You missed Middy coming back.”

“No, I saw,” she said. “I was hiding until she was well and truly distracted. Nice form by the way, I give it a seven.”

“Thestral tongues are awesome,” the stallion giggled as he pulled himself up. Leaning in to whisper to the smaller mare, he painted a vivid picture for her.

“You should let me kiss you with one sometime...or use one on you.”

“Yeah, some other time,” she replied with a wave of her hoof. “By the way...who’s Moondancer?”

“Not a clue,” Ledger said as lucidity returned. “Why?”

“Well, that was who she went to see,” she replied as she watched the Thestral snuggle Cider. “And well, it was an awkward conversation...until she told the mare that she was dating Changelings.”

The name finally clicked for Ledger and he blinked a few times. “Okay...if she brings it up, I’ll ask why she was visiting her old lover, but for now, just…leave it lie, okay? No need to tell her what you were up to.”

“Yeah,” Scope said. She also wasn’t telling him the whole conversation, but Scope needed more info herself. “So...home then?”

The train gave a mightier jerk as it started to pick up speed during the descent from the mountain. “Home,” the unicorn agreed.

The first clue that something had happened at Cider’s farm was the silence. It was not just too quiet, but eerily quiet on the road to her home. The sort of quiet that somepony normally only heard during a funeral.

The second clue was the evidence of fighting going on around her home. A few pieces of glass were strewn around the lawn, but if they had been from windows, they’d been replaced. Random objects, however, had apparently been thrown out them and not picked up. Apparently, somepony had thrown whatever had come to hoof out a window more than a few times...or in the case of one of Cider’s beloved books, had seized the whole series and thrown it out one after another.

The Earth Pony looked around at the carnage, her mane obscuring her eyes as she stepped closer to the house.

The first clue? The fur between her shoulders was standing on end.

The second? With each step, the stones under her hooves cracked and shattered like glass.

The third? When she lifted her head, those beautiful blue eyes were cold and distant. The one or ones responsible? They were already dead, they just didn’t know it yet.

That was when the foursome got within five feet of the door, and a familiar female voice made itself known to Ledger.

“I don’t care if you three ‘can see forever,’ stop eating all that sugar! We want to leave this house in the same condition we found it in! And Joyful, stop encouraging them!”

“No...way,” he breathed. “Oh...Cider, love, I know I’m asking a lot here, but...please don’t kill them?”

His desperate pleas fell on deaf ears. Her ears flattened against her head as she walked up to the door, and with a tired sigh, raised her hind legs and her door ceased to exist, as it exploded in a shower of splinters as the pissed off mare walked inside.

“Ah hope y’all have made peace,” she said in a low tone. “Ya’ll broke mah home...”

“Oh buck!” a teenaged pale-green unicorn said from the middle of the room. “They’re home! Scatter!”

“Midnight, Scope, the trio will be going out the back,” Ledger informed. “Cider, don’t let her get a spell off. Get them all in line and, I know you want to Cider, but I will deal with them.”

There was an explosion of sound from the kitchen as three pegasi colts tried their hooves at running away from Tartarus incarnate, a.k.a. Cider.

As the exited the backdoor, a Thestral dropped out of the sky, a gleam in her eyes as she deadened her emotions.

“Make a move,” she said. “I dare you!”

The red, yellow, and blue colts looked at one another, then at the mare...and then they all flew up and over the house before peeling off in different directions. Hopefully one would get away and live to tell the tale!

That hope was dashed as an azure aura snapped them up, warping around them and the three colts found themselves planted on the ground in front of a petite Unicorn.

“You three have a lot of explaining to do,” Scope said with a wicked gleam.

Inside, Cider had just planted one off on the back of the Unicorn filly, and a second on her horn. “Y’all better pray that Ledger here is feelin’ generous...cause ah ain’t!”

“Oh don’t worry Cider,” Ledger said as he saw to the health of the green filly. “I know exactly who these troublemakers are. Once Middy and Scope bring the other three in, I’ll introduce you.”

He heard three screams as three colts flew inside, an insane-looking Thestral dragging her blades along the ground stalking after them. And a little Unicorn crackling with power was close behind her.

“By the Hives! We’re all gonna diiieeeee!”

“Aaaand stop,” Ledger said as he fired up his horn and dragged the three colts in front of him, to stand next to the filly. “Okay, loves, time to stop the crazy and mad acts. You’re gonna want to be sane for the next bit. I think you might’ve already guessed it, but it pays to do it right.”

Like a switch, Midnight flipped back to normal as she kissed Ledger on the cheek. “Meh, I’m done screwing with ‘em.”

“Same,” Scope said as she started to bring their luggage inside. She already knew who they were, but playing like that was fun.

“Ah reckon y’all have a good reason,” Cider growled as she looked around her home...or, what was left of it. “If not, well...plenty o’ space left in that desert.”

“Believe me, some days I think about it with these three,” Ledger moaned as he rubbed his head. “Okay, glamor off.”

With four colorful flashes, the filly and colts were replaced with teenaged changelings with highlights that matched the color of their coats. Each one had slitted eyes, and each one was looking at Ledger.

“Mares, my step-brothers and step-sister.”

“Yer what.” Cider blinked.

“Figured,” Scope said as she dropped her disguise.

Midnight blinked, then looked at Ledger, then back to the smaller bugs as her wings gave a small twitch. Ledger knew what was coming…

“And ME!” a suddenly appearing pink unicorn said from atop Scope’s head. One that was the same size as her. Scope screamed as she fired her magic, sending the little unicorn spiralling across the room, only to be caught by Midnight, her disguise now off and revealing her to be a small pink changeling.

“Oooh, that was a fun ride sister! Again!” The pink ‘ling made to leave Midnight’s embrace. The Thestral refused as she pulled the other three into her hug, four little changelings now trapped by the bat. Ledger looked at the green ‘ling with a stare that could cause paint to dry. Instantly.

“I know we’ve never gotten along really, but you could have stopped short of wrecking Cider’s home.”

“It wasn’t my fault!” the green nymph protested as she pointed at the trio currently being snuggled. “They found some sort of alcohol and drank it behind my back! I kept trying to fix the damage they caused!”

“In between commenting on Cider’s choice of decor and her choice in novels I’m assuming,” Ledger replied with that same expression on his face.

“...Admittedly yes, this place could use some time alone with me, but once it became clear what was going on, I tried to stop them and put the place back in order! And then they found the sugar!”

“So ya mean...” Cider started as she idly played with a large vegetable knife. “”That between drinking mah livelihood, wrecking mah home, insulting mah decor, eating mah sugar...Ohhh Ledger~ Ah do hope you realize this is gonna cost you...”

“Don’t worry Cider, I have a plan. Midnight, if you would stop hugging them for a moment?” There was a silver flash around his throat: he hadn’t done this impersonation in a while and he would need all the help he could get. Midnight let them go, four of the five were still wondering about the pissed off Earth mare that wanted to grind their chitin to dust.

“I swear,” the green one hissed at her brothers. “If we die, I will kick your asses for all existence you little snots.”

“Ah-ten-SHUN!” Ledger barked out in a perfect imitation of their Red stepfather, causing the three drones to snap to. “You three have committed various crimes during your stay here without the approval of Apple Cider here. Your task is to clean up every single mess she points you at, no matter if you caused it or not. Is this clear, maggots?”

The trio of male ‘lings nodded before they thought to question, so ingrained was their training. “Even-” the yellow one managed to get out.

“Is. That. Clear?” And now that military tone Ledger had borrowed was very menacing, causing the three to shake their heads and salute.

“SIR, YES SIR!” they bellowed.

“Cider?” Ledger asked in his normal voice.

“Yes?” she said, her voice was as sweet as honey, and yet, it sounded far scarier.

“Just make sure they live, I don’t think mom would appreciate three body bags rather than their living bodies showing up on her doorstep.”

“Fair enough,” Cider said as she stood in front of them. “Besides...if ah was serious, there wouldn’t be enough left fer a bag.”

“That being said, have fun!” Ledger chirped as he dragged his sister over to stand next to him and Midnight. “Sis and I are gonna talk.” And now the menacing tone was back.

“Wait, take me back there, I prefer her to your talks!” she begged.

“Aww, but you don’t know her, or what she’ll do,” Ledger all but purred.

“I’ll take my fucking chances!”

“Y’all are gonna go outside an’ pick up mah books,” Cider started. “After that, youll pick up the mess, clean the kitchen, wash mah windows and then I’ll give y’all a list of shopping. That should do that start with anyway.”

“...Yup, still prefer her to you,” the green sister said.

“Midnight, can you believe the loyalty she’s showing to her elder brother?” Ledger sighed mock-dramatically.

“What do you expect?” Scope said as she began to fix a pot of coffee. “She’s just a Green. No loyalties whatsoever.”

“Hey!” the sister said. “I’ll have you know I am very loyal to my work and my supporters!”

“Until they so much as hint that you could be better,” Ledger said. “Then you tear them to shreds at the next social function.”

“Heee, your family is fun,” Midnight giggled as she continued to nuzzle the adorable Pink one. “I like this one, can I keep her?”

“Hey, that’s my line!” the pink nymph said as she beeped Midnight’s nose. “And don’t worry Ledgie, when I saw what the triad of destruction were up to, I decided to leave and make sure I didn’t add to the mess.”

“Ah, well, at least we won’t find any surprises when we open doors around here,” Ledger sighed.

“I didn’t say that.”

“...Pink...why’d it have to be a Pink,” Scope muttered as she made her coffee a double shot.

“I think I only got about halfway through the house before I saw them finding something in the cellar,” the little happy nymph said. “One of you should probably visit the bathroom, I think there’s a zebra in it.”

“You touched mah CELLAR!?” Ciider roared from outside. “Oooh, that does it! Iffn’ y’all touched mah special reserve...ah swear-”

“Run for it!” the three of them said as the chase started again.

Author's Note

And this is the chapter where we include Moondancer and the AU tag~

Chapter 33 - Vamponies, Changelings, and Old Flames, oh my!

“So let me get this straight,” Ledger said as he stirred his own coffee, thankful that Scope had put on enough for everypony. “I sent a letter saying I was fine, that I had been attacked and dealt with a Black, and that you all were not to worry, and you all take it as…”

“‘Help, I’ve been attacked by a Black, this is where I’m staying, come quickly,’” the Green nymph said as she sipped at her tea. She’d brought her own blend and made some. She never went anywhere without her paint or her tea. “To be fair, I was fine with taking the letter at face value. It was Joyful-Heart that took it wrong, and the triad there got whipped up by her antics. As usual. So I pitched in my funds to act as shepard, hoping that if I herded them, the destruction would be minimized.”

Outside, Cider had hitched the three colts up with a heavy harness so they couldn’t fly off again. She figured a little hard work would teach them some manners, so now she had them ploughing a field out in the Eastern orchard.

“Ledgie was in trouble, we had to come save him!” Joy stated with a nod of her head. She was still trapped in Midnight’s embrace, but didn’t seem to mind much.

“Well I’m very flattered you thought so much of me,” Ledger said, giving the smallest nymph a rub on her head with one hoof. “But I had it all under control, promise.”

“Yup, he’s fine,” Scope nodded. “You can all go home now. Ta-tah!”

“Mmmm...nope!” Joyful said from her apparent new favorite spot, as she hadn’t tried to move from it. “We came all this way to see big brother, so we should at least stay a little while. It’ll give the others time to make up for what they did.”

“Heh. Cider’s gonna work ‘em into the ground,” Midnight chuckled as she nuzzled Joy. “Ahhh, you’re so adorable~”

“She’s not that cute,” Scope pouted under her breath. Joyful-Heart responded by wrapping herself around Midnight’s muzzle in a tight hug of her own. She wasn’t normally this small, but others liked her more when she was cuter, and she was cuter when she was smaller, so...

Scope just huffed and got up. “I’m taking our things upstairs,” she said dryly as her horn glowed, lifting their luggage. Ever since the Fair, she’s found that her magic was quite a bit stronger. Then a smile crossed her muzzle as she walked upstairs. “Oh, my name is Secret-Treasure, by the way,” she introduced herself before vanishing.

“Yay, Ledgie found a nice nymph with a name like his!” Joyful-Heart said before pointing at their sister. “That’s Critical-Eye now, she never misses a detail in any picture she or anybuggy else paints, and the three outside have names too. Just...can’t remember who’s who.”

“Ah,” Midnight nodded her head. “Well, since we’re all playing. I am Midnight Song, the greatest Thestral to ever live and Levvy’s main squeeze. Though, I think Cidey’s a little better at squeezing than I am...still need to learn how she does that...”

“You just give it your all, silly!” the pink filly said as she transformed into an earth pony roughly the same size as Scope’s normal form. “Like this!” And then Midnight was the victim of a Pink hug. Ledger swore he heard ribs creak.

“Gah!” Midnight wheezed as the tiny filly squeezed the life outta her. “Not...what I had...in mind...” She gave a final croak and fell back, eyes closed with her tongue lolling out. Joyful’s attack had been super effective.

“GASP!” the filly actually gasped out, putting an ear to Midnight’s chest. “I didn’t mean to kill her! Noooo! I’m so sorry Ledgie, I swear I didn’t mean to hurt your marefriend!” The filly sat on her haunches and then threw her forelegs up for extra dramatic effect. “Is there a doctor in the house?!”

Midnight opened one eye and winked at Ledger, before pouncing on the filly and blowing a fierce raspberry on her tummy. The nymph squealed in laughter as she fell victim to the attack, dropping her disguise out of surprise.

Meanwhile, Critical was fighting a blush. Fighting and losing. She sipped at her tea in hopes that it would calm her nerves. It didn’t help.

“Aww, red looks good on you sis,” Ledger teased. “And speaking of-”

“I broke up with him,” she sighed. “I’m all for equality, but he was trying for superiority.”

“Good on you, I told you I didn’t like him,” Ledger said with a nod as he drank his coffee.

“To be fair, you have a history of being wrong when it comes to relationships.”

“Only when you start them. I’m almost always right when you end them. As usual.” Ledger sniped back as he set his coffee down, his eyes sparkling in mischief. “Though I guess something sunk in over those years...cause I can’t see the triad or Joyful here tossing all of Cider’s vampony books out the window, so…”

“Ooh, you did that?” Midnight said from right beside Critical. “You’re a naughty little mare huh?”

“Gah!” the mare said, only barely not spilling her tea. “...ahem. Yes, well, once this lunkhead told us how utter worthless they are in an actual zombie situation, I re-read the books with a more, well, critical eye...and then burned our family’s set. And salted the ground where I burned them.”

“They’re called fiction for a reason,” Midnight giggled as she ruffled the mare’s head. “Would you say that Daring Do is an accurate description of archeology?”

“Depending on where you’re exploring?” Ledger asked. “I took a side-trip on the way up here when I came here the first time. If not for the overgrowth and general state of decay, along with the lack of a pony and villain duking it out over a priceless treasure, the temple of the Sapphire Stone matched the one that was written about. Even the traps.”

“Again, I need to hear your life in detail at some point,” Midnight said as she now hugged Critical. “Or you could write a book, I’d buy it.”

“Maybe when ‘lings are more accepted than they are,” Ledger said with a nod. “I don’t think ponies would believe a pony going around to all the Hives and uncovering all their secrets without dying.”

“Well, you could pass it off as fiction,” Critical mused, trying to worm free of the hug. “Ponies will believe pretty much anything.”

“As evidenced by that series,” Ledger said with a smile. “So. Why don’t we hear about home?”

“...When I can breathe again?” Critical wheezed, starting to turn an interesting shade of blue. The Thestral released her, and went back to huggling Joyful, allowing Crit to tell her story.

“Well, ever since you did your thing, the Hives have been in a slight state of panic,” the Green nymph said. “The Council has decided to pay Equestria a visit. All of them, at once.”

“Council?” Midnight asked as she let the little pink ‘ling go at last.

“The Council of Seven, one for each Hive. The Kings and Queens of every color,” Ledger explained. “They...left their Hives?”

“They said they had to go ‘borrow a cup of sugar from Celestia.’” Critical said with a straight face.

“Y-You’re kidding right?” Midnight replied slowly. “They went to the city...that Chrysalis attacked. Together?”

“Strength in numbers,” Ledger pointed out. “Better to bring a representative of each race that can hold their own if things turn ugly than send several smaller ‘lings that couldn’t stand up to glamor-breaking spells.”

“Yes, because an immortal Princess that controls the sun is somepony that can be taken down easily,” Midnight sighed as she poured another coffee. She was tempted to get something stronger, but with the mood Cider was in, she wasn’t going to risk it.

“You seem to think that we’re implying they could or would need to stand up to Celestia,” Ledger observed. “It’s not her we’re talking about, but the line of devoted soldiers that are but mortal that may misinterpret why Changelings are in the city that we are concerned for.”

“Yeah, fair enough,” Midnight replied. She remembered the extensive lessons she received on fighting Changeling’s, and that day Scopey was on the receiving end of the results of those lessons. “Anyway, continue?”

“Well, I’m sure you’re aware that Uncle was facing a bit of opposition in getting an equality measure passed?” Critical eye said as she sipped her tea.

“More than a little,” Ledger said with a sigh.

“Not anymore.”

“So...that’s a good thing then?” Song said. Political stuff usually went over her head. She never bothered to learn its intricacies when a hoof to the face, a blade to the throat...or a tongue in the mouth got results far quicker.

“Put it this way, Midnight,” Ledger slowly said. “It would be like all the Lords and Counts and what have you of your homeland getting together and saying ‘Y’know what? The way we treat mares sucks. Let’s do something about that.’”

“Pft, that’ll be the bucking day,” Midnight’s mood soured as she thought about that. It wasn’t like all Thestrals were like that, just some of the Noble families...and him...She shuddered as she thought about that and decided that it was a good time to help Scopey out.

“Yeah, which is why it’s so big for us,” Ledger said with a smile. “We might actually be able to see...equality happening for us.”

“It’s more than the work of one generation,” Critical sighed. “It’s one thing to pass a measure. It’s another entire to enforce it. Some of our males are so...whipped, so broken, that it might take them a few generations to actually start acting like they think they’re equal as well.”

“Well, I fixed you pretty quickly,” Midnight said as she drew Ledger in for a deep kiss, one that she broke a moment later with a slight pop, and Critical was given a view on the bats long tongue. “Maybe we should get Thestrals for all the lonely little buggies~”

“Could work, but you’re mine,” Ledger mock-growled as he hugged the mare close. “Not letting you go off to work on anybuggy else.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Midnight giggled as she leaned into him. “Well, except for Scopey, she gets my love as well.”

“Yup. Wanna go help her set off Joyful’s traps?”

“I do not set up traps!” Joyful-Heart pouted. “I set up surprises!”

“Like I said,” Ledger replied without even looking at his smallest sister. “Wanna go help her set off Joyful’s surprising traps?”

“Hmph!” the pink filly pouted, sticking her muzzle in the air and turning away. “Somebuggies just can’t appreciate a good surprise.”

On cue, a scream could be heard from upstairs and Midnight sighed as she pulled away from the hug. “For the love of- Can’t I relax for one moment?”

Later that afternoon, Ledger was still talking with Critical, when the weary forms of three Pegasi colts were dumped in front of him.

“Ah reckon they’ve had enough...fer today,” Cider mused. “Oh, and they told me who threw out mah books. So ah hope yer ready little missy.”

“Those books are an offense to everything good about written fiction, what little written fiction is good anyways,” Critical retorted. “I intended to leave behind a few pieces to make up for both your horrible taste in books and as an apology for those three...and then everything started to go to Tartarus.”

“Ledger, is this a Changeling thing, or is she insultin’ the pony who owns the home she’d currently stayin’ in?”

“Six of one, half dozen of the other,” Ledger said as he got up, preparing to flee. “Greens feed on Inspiration and Creativity, the sort of things you find in the arts. They’re, in many ways, a counterpart to Silvers. Little sis does appreciate some books, but they have to be good books.”

Cider nodded and looked her over. “How old are you?”

“Seventeen, going to be eighteen in a month,” the green nymph said as she put her tea set away.

“Old enough then,” she nodded. “Wait here.” She got up and trotted from the room, leaving three groaning colts at his hooves.

“Urgh, she’s...almost as bad as the Sarge.”

“What a slave-driver.”

“I think she’s hot.”

“I will thank you all to not comment on the attractiveness of my marefriend,” Ledger pointedly observed. “Now, you three have names now?”

“Yeah,” the Red one groaned. “I’m Brute.”

“Tank,” the Blue one pitched in next.

“And I’m Lighting-Wits,” the Yellow finished.

“Wow,” Ledger deadpanned. “How original.”

“They fit,” the three chimed as one.

Cider returned a moment later, a bottle held on one of her hooves as she sat in front of Critical Eye. “So, y’all reckon ah lack creativity huh?” she said as she uncorked the bottle and poured the amber-gold liquid into the glass. “Do y’all know what it is ah do here?”

“Farm?” the nymph asked before her nose crinkled. “We didn’t exactly get a chance to look around mu- what is in that glass?”

“Ah raise mah livelihood on this farm. This place an’ everything in it? It’s like a living diary of mah life. What ah’ve been through, what ah’ve accomplished...what ah’ve failed at. Insulting this house is insulting me, and ah do not take kindly t’that.” She pushed one of the glasses towards her. “Y’all think you know ‘Creativity’? Then drink that, something ah created mahself, through the efforts of mah blood, sweat and tears...” She frowned for a second. “And not literally, before y’all say it.” She was related to Ledger after all.

“...It smells like I could use that to peel paint from the walls,” the nymph stated flatly. “I’m not touching it until you tell me just what’s in that glass.”

“Hard Cider,” she said. “it’s just alcoholic apple juice. But, this blend? Y’all won’t find anywhere else. The apples ah used, ah created mah own variety!”

“Okay, I’ll admit, it sounds impressive,” Critical said as she lifted the glass with a hoof. “Hmm...once you get past initial impressions, it’s actually not bad-smelling…” With a soft tilt, the nymph tasted her first batch of Apple Cider’s apple cider.

Cider just watched as she sipped at the drink. Her reaction could go a few ways, but given Ledger’s reaction to her drinks…

There was a moment in which nothing happened. Nothing at all except Critical Eye tasting the drink she’d been offered. And then the moment passed, and the glass was empty.

“That...was the best damn drink I’ve ever had,” the nymph said with a goofy grin.

“Glad t’hear it,” Cider nodded. “While ah can’t fault yer taste in mah literature. Perhaps you’ll think before sayin ah have ‘horrible taste’ was it?”

“Oh no, those books are still terrible, but I suppose you’re forgiven,” the nymph said as she looked at her empty glass. “And maybe I should see about helping out around the house as well...in exchange for a bit more cider? All those functions ever have is the same old boring, tasteless wine. I like a real drink every now and again.”

“We’ll see, but yer brothers are only gettin’ tap water fer the rest of their visit,” she said sternly as she glared at them.

“We said sorry,” The red started.

“Multiple times,” the blue pointed out.

“How many more will we have to say it?” the yellow one finished.

“Until ah’m convinced that y’all actually mean it,” she said with a curt nod. “Now ah’ll let you catch up with yer kin Ledger, ah’ll go and see what Middy and Treasure are up to.” She got up from the table, after corking and taking the bottle with her, before trotting upstairs.

“What a hard-head.”

“Farm work blows.”

“...She’s still hot though.”

The other two paused and stared at their brother...before nodding in agreement.

“And if I catch you three commenting on her attractiveness again, I will respond appropriately,” Ledger said as his horn flashed silver in warning. “Now. Does mother know you’re gone?”

Critical spoke then. “Well...she was talking about coming to visit in the near future...but we sorta...left without her and jumped the border?” she said the last part in a hurried squeak of noise.

“You. Did. WHAT?!” Ledger thundered louder than Cider had. Elsewhere, Princess Luna felt very proud for some reason.

“DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA THE AMOUNT OF TROUBLE YOU’RE IN? THE AMOUNT OF TROUBLE I’M IN? I OUGHT TO MARCH YOU IN YOUR NATIVE FORMS DOWN TO THE GUARD STATION AND LET THEM DEPORT YOU!!!”

“Oh for- Ledger? Shut up!” Midnight called out now that her moment had been ruined. She trotted back downstairs, her mane slightly dishevelled as Scope soon followed her, her state was about the same until she shifted back to her true form.

“What are you screaming about now, moron?” The blue nymph replied.

“Scope, do you remember how you got to Equestria?” the unicorn asked bluntly.

“Yeah...” she said slowly, wondering where this was going. “Why?”

Ledger just nodded at his siblings and waited for her to draw the connecting line. Scope blinked, before a buzzing chuckle filled her throat.

“Oh, you little twerps are so fucked.”

“Yup,” Ledger said. “The only reason I’ve not turned them in just yet is because they’re family. So I owe them that at least. I’m trying to determine how much of a head start I should give them.”

“I could call Daddy?” Midnight offered helpfully. “The Royal Guard could always use some target practice.”

“I say we give them until...eh, noon tomorrow,” Ledger said as he thought about the idea. “Gives them time to make it up to Cider and pack up before I drop word to Narrow about there being some unregistered ‘lings in the city.”

“Or,” Scope mused. “They can stay here for a while yet. You wouldn't want to throw out family right?”

“I’d end up wanting to strangle them by the end of the third day they stay,” Ledger deadpanned.

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that~” Scope sang as she almost pranced up the stairs. She had to...make a call~ Midnight chuckled and followed her, she still had an Earth Pony waiting for her.

“...My chitin itches,” Critical said dryly as she watched the little blue disappear. She turned back to her brother, her current expression showing that Ledger’s trademark smirk ran in the family. “Also...about her name...”

“That’s for us to know and you to find out when there aren’t little ears listening,” Ledger pointedly said as he glanced at the trio and Joyful-Heart.

“Aw, what?”

“We’re not little!”

“We could kick your flank!”

Joyful looked up at him with big bright eyes. “Big Bwutha?”

Ledger shook his head. If there was one thing he didn’t need to do, it was give a certain talk to his little brothers. Or Joyful-Heart. Assuming the drones hadn’t learned already, of course. Nor did he need them pestering anybuggy else for specific details, so flat out refusal to talk about the topic when they could hear would have to do. As long as Scope and Midnight and Cider got the memo...

“Well,” Critical began to say. “When a Mommy buggy and a Daddy buggy love each other very much, the little buggies shut their yaps and would learn when they’re older.”

“This sucks.”

“Yeah, it’s the same answer his dad gave us.”

“Which is more than what mom gave us, she didn’t even look up from her book before saying ‘I’m not having that talk with you three yet.’” The three brothers just grumbled and looked between Ledger and Critical with expressions of grouchiness.

“Well, try acting your age and not your shell-size,” Crit poked out her tongue. She then realized she had another question as she looked at her older brother. “So...that batpony of yours. She’s...different.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Ledger said. “And the correct term is Thestral. Remember what happened to me at the Yellow Hive?” She was the only sibling who got a letter from him regarding that. He had told his mother, but nobuggy else, and only when he was well on his way. He still swore that he could tell when she got it, though. He hadn’t been able to explain that explosion the next week any other way...

“Kinda hard to forget,” Critical replied. “Mom was freaking pissed! Enough that she was going to wage war with the Yellows, and to be honest? I was going to help.”

“Midnight helped fix those scars,” Ledger simply said. “The bits and pieces that nymph tore from me...Midnight helped me pick up and function normally again.”

“She...did that?” The Green nymph frowned as she looked at the ceiling, a torrent of lust was coming from up there and she wondered just what the hell was happening. “How?”

“She cared about me for me,” Ledger said with a sigh. “Everything else...flowed from that.”

“I can’t believe that there are ponies that like us,” Tank said with a rare moment of coherent thought. “Those two are pretty chill about us.”

“As much as it pains me to...urgh, agree with you,” Critical Eye shuddered. “He raises a good point. I thought Batp-Thestrals hunted our kind?”

“Rumors with only a nugget of truth,” Ledger said with a wave of his hoof. “Luna trained them to fight emotivores worse than us. It all makes sense if you look at the bigger picture.”

“Ain’t nothing scarier than a Changeling!” Brute cheered.

“Tatzlewurm, Dragon, Hydra... Pretty Pink Princesses,” Ledger immediately listed several monsters that were more than a match for a ‘ling. “And I can think of several legends I’m going to have to re-examine.”

Critical raised an eyebrow at him. “Princesses? Really Ledger?”

“You try having lunch with one and her husband, tell me how that works for you,” Ledger snarked back. There was the sound of somepony tumbling downstairs, as Scope stumbled back into the room, her horn blazing with azure light as it looked like the appendage was...dragging her?

“Ow! owowowow, Okay, OKAY!” she yelled as she got closer. “I’m here, tell them yourself already!”

“Um...are all Blue’s so...weird?” Critical asked.

“I thought I raised you better, young lady,” a familiar voice rang out into the room...through the horn.

“M-Mom...?” Critical blinked. That...it couldn’t be, right? “Oh buck...”

“MOM, Critty said a naughty word!” Joyful sang out.

“I heard, Joyful. Now Critical, do watch your tongue. Are the trio in the room with you? I can’t see out of this thing after all, I can only hear and talk through it.”

“Well gee, I feel sooo appreciated,” Scope rolled her eyes.

“We’re here!” Brute said.

“We got attacked by a demon!” came Tank’s reply.

“She made us do chores. But it’s okay, cause she’s cute!”

“I’ll take into consideration. Secret, are you also there?”

Ledger coughed and shook his head at Scope before speaking up. “Yes mom, I’m here. You’re talking to all your kids now.”

“Excellent. Secret, it will fall to you to punish your siblings in my stead until I and your step-fathers and father arrive. For the trio, keep them working for this...who is she, really?”

“My marefriend, Apple Cider,” the eldest son said. A moment passed, and those present could almost feel the mother’s smile on the other end growing at that statement.

“Wonderful! But yes. Keep them working for her. They’ve been trained in self-defense, so I know they’re physically very strong, and it’ll be sufficient enough to wear them out and prevent any more...incidents. Critical, I’m aware you did everything you could to...contain this situation…”

“Maybe if it was just the Trio of Tartarus, or the Pink Puzzle, then maybe...but together? Not a Hive-damned hope...”

“Yes, I know, when they actually put their heads together, the three can do amazing things. Amazingly stupid, but amazing none-the-less. I still don’t know where they got a firework-propelled sled. Nor do I want to. So when we arrive, I will reimburse you for everything you spent trying to contain this mess.”

“Oh, could you also bring some books from the blue shelf in my room? I owe someone something,” Critical said as her nose twitched. “Okay Ledger, seriously. Where the hay is that lust coming from? I feel like I’m drowning here!”

“You don’t want to know,” the unicorn said with a smirk.

“Yes, I suppose I can, we’re just finishing up packing right now. What is it you need?”

“They’re all good, just grab whatever,’ Critical shrugged. “I need to educate somepony on real prose. Not that vampony drivel.”

“Very well. HOWEVER, it has come to my attention that you didn’t tell ANYBUGGY about anything. Not even a note or a letter regarding your plans, even when they involved ILLEGALLY CROSSING THE BORDER. So when you come back, you are GROUNDED for the next MONTH, young lady!”

“My ears are quite close to my horn,” Scope grumbled as she rubbed one with a hoof. “Think you could save the screaming until it's not coming out of my head?”

“My apologies Miss Scope. But they do need to understand the severity of their crimes. The council marched to Canterlot to make peace with ponydom, and then I find my children have committed such an act? This is nearly the best case of accidental sabotage ever.”

“Which is why I thought it best to call you and- Don't give me that look Ledger, we’ll discuss this later.”

“Mommy?” Joyful-Heart asked in a small tone. “Am I in trouble too?”

“...Yes, but your punishment is going to be simple, dear one. No sugar until we get there. I just can’t stay mad at you.”

“Awww, poopie,” Joy pouted. “Oh? I left a surprise for daddy in the clos-” There was a distant scream from Scope’s horn and Joy giggled. “Never mind, he found it~”

“I do wish you wouldn’t do that to your father, dear. You know how well he takes it. Anyway, if there is nothing else that needs to be said, I will arrive in three days with your fathers and we will...discuss this then. We’ll be travelling non-stop, so if it wouldn’t be any trouble to be prepared for us?...”

“I think we can do that,” Ledger said with a wicked smile. “I’m sure the trio would love to help~”

“Nope!” they said in unison.

“Do it or I’ll tell Cider she can drop the ‘nice pony’ act,” Ledger deadpanned at them. The three gulped and looked at Scope Lens.

“Save us Mom!!”

“I like the way you think, son!”

“Thanks, had to get it from somewhere,” Ledger said with a smile as he realized their mom was on his side in all this.

“This sucks!”

“Why is Secret the favourite?”

“Uh....yeah!”

“Because he actually uses his head for something other than a hatrack,” their mother’s voice came from the horn. “Now either you three take care, or I’ll see about getting a general from the Yellow hive to train you next. You know their survival ratio.”

“You know, working for a cute demon mare doesn’t seem so bad?”

“Agreed,” his brothers nodded.

“Brother’s are weird,” Joy frowed.

“Agreed,” Critical nodded.

“Yay, great, love all around,” Scope deadpanned. “Can we cut the connection now? I’m getting a headache.”

“Of course. Remember, three days boys!” Scope’s horn stopped glowing as the connection died. Scope winced as she rubbed her horn, which was smoking slightly.

“Ow...” she muttered. “Could have at least warned me before she went to ‘Speaker’ mode.”

“Mom typically acts first and apologizes afterwards,” Ledger said with a shrug. “It’s just how she is.”

“I noticed,” Scope nodded, before wincing painfully again. Using ‘Hivemind’ for so long and over that great a distance? It really hurt dammit. “I’m going to lay down for a while, and hopefully those two have finished making a mess upstairs...” That gave Ledger a small hint as to what he was missing out on.

“Fine, we can talk later. When Cider’s done with whatever, tell her to come down. We’ve got three hardheads that need direction from her firm hoof.”

Scope’s ear gave a twitch as another wave of lust rolled over them. “Oh, she’s using that hard hoof to come alright,” she smiled as she trotted upstairs with a smile. Looks like it was her turn again.

“What?” Joyful piped up.

“You’ll learn when you’re older,” Ledger said as he gave the small nymph a hug.

“Everybuggy always says that... and I wonder what happened to Mr. Zebra that I left in the bathroom?”

Elsewhere, a very confused zebra was wondering how he had come to be in an unfamiliar bathtub…

Cider hummed happily as she made the finishing touches to her greenhouse. After being in the Empire, she got a good feel for the temperatures and now she figured that she had it perfect. The crystal she had been given was placed in the very centre of the room, half buried in the ground as it pulsated with a gentle glow.

“Ah so hope this works,” she said to herself as she looked around. It would be a few days before her tree would arrive, and she had already planted the seeds for new trees. Though those wouldn’t sprout until next season at the earliest.

She’d left the trio in Midnight’s hooves, knowing her little bat wouldn’t skimp on their punishment. And she wanted them kept FAR away from this place.

Outside, Midnight marched back and forth in front of the colts, decked out in her full armour.

“ALRIGHT MAGGOTS!” she yelled, her stern gaze could have bored a hole through steel. “YOU WILL NOW DO TWENTY LAPS OF THE FARM. THE WHOLE FARM. AND NO WINGS! Do you UNDERSTAND?”

“SIR YES SIR!” they bellowed in response.

“THEN WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?”

“SIR, PERMISSION TO MOVE WAS NOT GIVEN, SIR!” They knew better than to fall for an obvious trap.

“Oh you are Ledger’s family alright.” Midnight chuckled. “WELL THEN, I WANT YOU HERE YESTERDAY! GET GOING MAGGOTS!!”

With that, the three of them turned and looked from left to right. “Uh, which way, sir?” the yellow one asked.

“Clockwise!” she said. “Any more questions? YOU ARE BURNING DAYLIGHT!!”

“Nosir!” the three of them said as they began facing the right way, surprisingly. “Give the order, sir, if you would.”

“I ALREADY DID. GET GOING MAGGOTS!”

With that, the three were off on their run. Once they left, Midnight turned to Joyful-Heart.

“Did you set up the surprises along the track like I asked?”

“Yeah-huh!” she giggled. “I even met a nice buggy in town who showed me some tricks while you were away! She was pink like me!”

Midnight paled slightly. “Was...her name Amy?”

“That or Cherry, she couldn’t decide which. I asked her and she said she could be a colt or a filly. And then she touched her horn to mine and showed me how I could be either one too.” At this, Joyful stuck her tongue out. “I dun wanna be a colt, though. They’re weird.”

“Yes, yes they are,’ Midnight giggled. Oh stars, she could imagine the look on Ledger’s face now. “So, what do you think about having three new big sisters?”

“That’d be even weirder! Where would I get them from?”

Midnight laughed, this filly was just too much! “I’m talking about me, Cidey and Scopey, silly-filly.”

“Oh. How would you be my sister? You’re a batty pony and I’m a buggy! That just doesn’t work.” The pink nymph tilted her head at Midnight like she was some sort of puzzle. In the distance, they could hear the screams of one of the colts as he encountered one of Joyful’s surprises.

“You know,” Midnight smiled mischievously. “Why don’t you go and ask Secret? I bet he would love to tell you.”

“Big brother knows how I’m getting big sisters that aren’t buggy? Now the world is being confusing on purpose,” the little nymph said with a pout.

Yup, this cuteness should never be unleashed on the world. If weaponized, even the gods would fall to their knees...if they had them.

“The world is a confusing place,” Midnight nodded and poked out her long tongue, licking Joyful on the nose. “You have learned a valuable lesson today.”

“Oooh, you’ve got a real long tongue!” Joyful said with a giggle. “I bet you can do all sorts of things with it!”

Midnight instantly quashed the first response that was on the tip of that tongue. Bad Middy, this was an innocent filly. “You could say that,” she giggled. “You're big brother likes it a whole lot as well~”

“Huh? But it’s your tongue. That doesn’t make sense again. How can he do anything with your tongue?” Once again, the little ‘ling was making an adorably confused face.

“Something else to ask him,” Midnight smiled. She saw opportunity here. Poor Ledger was going to have a heart attack. She she giggled, a Pegasus mare in a blue uniform landed nearby and looked at the armored Thestral.

“Lady Midnight Song?” she asked.

“Is there another Guard Thestral in this city?” Midnight asked rhetorically. “Well you found her, wassup?”

“I have a message, from Canterlot,” she said, hoofing over a seal scroll. “Have a good day Ma’am.” As the Pegasus flew off, Midnight opened the scroll and her eyes widened slightly.

“Joyful sweetie?”

“Yes miss Midnight?” the sweet little filly asked.

“Go and get Secret please,” she said with a small stammer. “Tell him...tell him a storm is coming.”

The filly bounced off, and it would be a few minutes before Ledger would come out of the house and sit where she had been. It was easy enough to distract the pink filly: just point her at somebuggy else. The problem was, that trick could only be used every so often.

“You called?”

“Mhmm,” Midnight nodded as the sounds of distant screams reached them.

“Are we waiting for them to pass us before you tell me what’s going on, or…?” the unicorn quirked an eyebrow at her.

“No, they’re running a course built by Joyful...they should be a while.” Her tone was dead as she read the piece of parchment.

“Long enough for you to tell me what’s turned you so serious?” Ledger prodded.

“Your parents...they get here the day after tomorrow, yes?”

“Assuming they don’t stop for longer than they have to to eat, sleep, drink, and things like that, it’s possible,” Ledger said. “They’ll be dead tired, though. And mom said she was bringing my step-dads as well. So that’s seven ‘lings total. Her, my dad, and my five step-dads.”

“Oh wow, um..okay...this will be awkward then,” she said as she folded the letter. “Think we can uh, fit two more in here?”

“Mom and dad will likely try to find lodgings within the city for them all if we can’t house them ourselves,” Ledger said. “I’m already looking into it in case Cider says no. Why do you ask?”

“Because,” she replied with fearful eyes. “It seems mine are coming as well.”

“...Oh,” Ledger eventually said. “Okay. They’re coming to...see how we’re getting along after that whole...debacle, yes?”

“I get the feeling Moondancer is involved somehow,” Midnight said as she looked towards the mountain city. “But yes, I can say that that is one of the reasons. You should also know by now that Daddy does whatever he wants...”

“Ah,” Ledger said with a nod. “He and mom will get along like a house on fire.” At this he mused for a moment before looking at the house. “I wonder if Apple Cider is going to get a visit as well? I mean, something like that, you tell somepony, and she was there for it…”

“Oh sweet sun, could you imagine if hers showed up as well?” Midnight gasped in genuine surprise. “We could found our own city with the amount of ponies here.”

“...Maybe just her parents, we don’t need her whole family showing up,” Ledger said with a laugh. “But then again, that’s just speculation. So, your family and mine are going to be in town on the same day. This’ll be...well, either amusing or terrifying.”

“A little from column A, a little from B,” Midnight said as three colts staggered past her. They looked like they’d been through a warzone. Which probably wasn’t far from the truth, all things considered.

“Excuse me love... OKAY MAGGOTS, ONE DOWN, NINETEEN TO GO. MOVE IT!!” The three of them groaned in pain but managed to limp on, back into the breech. Unfortunately for them, their new speed meant that those traps that were capable of resetting, would have by the time they go there.

“Well, I’m not sure how a visit from your family is such a downer that it kills your mood, but if that’s all, I’ll begin looking into hotels capable of housing seven ponies here to pick up five wayward children,” Level Ledger said as he leaned over to Midnight and pecked her on the cheek.

“Ahh, guess I’m just a little worried is all. The last time Mom visited resulted in a Herd, the last time Dad came resulted in you getting a score of new workers...Celestia only knows what’ll happen this time.”

“Knowing her, she subtly suggested it to your dad that he take a day off to see you over afternoon tea,” Ledger sighed.

“Probably,” Midnight shrugged. “Well, whatever...oh, and Joyful maaaaay have some questions for you.”

“...If my mother asks why my little sister knows anything regarding the birds and the breezies, I swear to you, I will find a way to turn both Pinks in this city on you,” Ledger vowed. “Amy/Cherry and Joyful.”

“Oh, Joy’s met her apparently. Amy showed her how to become a colt.” And with a pitch, she tossed that distraction his way. One that caused him to lock up as he processed that idea, of having a gender-changer in the family.

“Oh...joy…”

“Just thought you should know,” Midnight giggled as she flew off. Time to see how the boys were doing.

“So, ‘Secret-Treasure,’” Critical Eye said as she helped the smaller nymph put one of the bedrooms back in order. “How did it end up that you took part of my brother’s name as yours?”

“Oh? That,” she smiled as she looked out of the window at her drone lover. “Because that’s what I named myself.”

“I...see,” Critical Eye said as she watched the smaller nymph. “And perhaps you should tell me how it came to pass that you spent long enough around him to basically propose marriage to him? Because the last nymph he was with...”

“Raped him and tried to kill him, yes I am quite aware of what happened...and considering I tried to kill him as well, this is all very weird for me.” Scope frowned as she scrubbed on particularly stubborn stain. She realized a moment later that everything had gone deathly quiet.

“Is...that...so?” Critical asked, her tone cold enough to freeze a river.

“Yes,” Scope said, seemingly unfazed. “Mistress Midnight defended him however, literally tore the chitin from my body. Can you imagine that?” She turned at looked at the little green mare. “A creature you cannot see, that you cannot feel? Tearing you apart with anti-magic blades? It was not pleasant. Not in the least. So whatever thoughts are dancing in your head Green. I assure you, they are nothing compared to what I have already lived through.”

“...If I so much as detect one hint of you holding any true animosity towards my brother...I will tell my mother of what you just told me the moment she gets here,” Critical Eye said as she eyed the stain and removed it with a wave of her horn.

“She already knows, I told her everything the day she linked with me,” Scope explained, wondering why she didn’t think of that. “But all things aside, my name hmm? I wonder if I should tell you or not. It is something of great personal importance to me.”

“You already know ours,” Critical Eye said as she turned to the bookshelf in the room and started work on repairing it. “The drones are simple enough, they have yet to earn any distinguishing names, really. Little sister was called that after the day she found sugar, because no matter the punishments mom tried to give her or anybuggy else, she was happy for them. I got called mine after pointing out that half the paintings in a gallery were forgeries. And you should really get brother to tell you the full story behind his. I have the letters, but hearing it from him…”

“He does know how to tell a story,” Scope nodded as she made the bed. “But you can relax...I went through...extensive re-training. And I am well aware of my own limits. Ledger and Midnight are not a pair to be trifled with. Besides...I love them far too much to want to hurt them.” She paused as she pressed her hooves into the bed. “How could I possibly hate the first ones to ever love me...”

“...I...I’m sorry for insinuating that, then,” Critical said with a soft sob of her own. “It’s just...it wasn’t only mom that was mad when we got that letter. I...I nearly lost my brother, and...and that thought terrifies me. For all that we argue and disagree...I still love my brother. So to hear that he’s with another nymph after what the last one nearly did...It scared me.”

“It’s alright,” Scope said, placing her hoof on the mare’s shoulder. “Look, even I don’t know why they forgave me, or why I’m even here...but, I am and I will let nothing hurt them okay?” She chuckled when she remembered something. “That yellow Nymph? The one that...did that? Did you know she showed up here about two weeks back?”

“She did? Please tell me she’s buried in the desert,” Critical said as she raised her head and looked at Scope. “It would be our little secret.”

“Unfortunately no,” Scope said. “And that is because Midnight and Ledger told me not to. A pity...it would have been so easy...” She shook her head and clicked her tongue. She wasn’t that nymph anymore. “But yes, she has been coming here quite regularly apparently, searching for him so she could apologize...” She smiled slightly as she recalled that meeting. “Mistress Midnight scared the shell off of her at first.”

“She should have done more,” Critical grumbled. “I have a list about five feet long…”

“Agreed, but it's a start...and Ledger actually agreed to meet with her again. Under strict supervision of course.”

“...He always did have a big heart,” Critical sighed. “At least, before she happened. He never held anything against us as long as we tried to make up for it...I’m always surprised that he’s not an Orange instead of a Silver.”

“He might not be as insufferable if he was,” Scope giggled. “Still, I think I’ve gotten off topic again. As for my name? I chose it because...” She looked out of the window again. “They are my Treasure. He’s my Secret... I guess, I was being a tad selfish when I chose it.”

“Aw, I think it’s cute,” Critical giggled. “It shows you care about them.”

“Tell anyone and I’ll deny it,” she pouted as she resumed making the bed. “I told you because I happen to like you. That is all.”

“Still, to give up a chance to totally relabel yourself to show how much you care about somebuggy else,” the green nymph teased. “That shows dedication.”

“I’m a Blue, what do you expect?” she blushed as she looked away. “What about you? Any little drones vying for your attention?”

“I broke up with my latest drone-friend not two weeks ago,” Critical sighed. “I’m all for respecting drones, and treating them equally...but he wanted to just take control of the whole thing. He wasn’t after equality but superiority. He wasn’t...mature enough for me.”

“Oh?” Scope blinked as she looked at the green, and a wicked smile crossed her face. “Ohhh~ I see how it is now.”

Critical tilted her head and blinked a few times. “See how what is?”

With an azure flash, Critical Eye found herself staring into Ledger’s silver eyes. “Oh my dearest sister,” he said in a silky tone. “How could I not have seen your true feelings. I am such a fool.”

“I am not in love with my step-brother!” Critical shrieked at the disguise...loud enough for Ledger to hear from the top of the stairs as he just stood there. He had been coming up to ask if they needed help, but now he was...curious, despite himself.

‘Ledger’ cupped her cheek, determined to keep this little prank going. “Oh, but that cute little blush says otherwise. Come now, don’t fight your feelings~”

“I am not going to argue this with you,” Critical said as she pulled herself away and refocused on the task at hoof. “Yes, I like older, more mature drones. Yes, I like it if they’re intelligent enough to understand the difference between a piece of art and a piece of garbage. And yes, I am highly protective of Ledger. But I. Do. Not. Love. Him.” Each word in her final sentence was punctuated with her slamming something away.

“They say the louder the protest, the greater the truth,” he purred, running a hoof along her spine, both mares failing to notice the door open slightly. Ledger was stunned by the image of his little sister and ‘himself’ engaging in such acts…

“Ledger wouldn’t notice what art was if it jumped him in an alley,” Critical muttered. “I’m not discussing this with you. End of story.”

“So if I was more artistically inclined eh?” he said, nibbling her ear. “Then you should see what I bought at the Crystal Fair for you~”

“Geroff!” Critical said, turning to tell off the nymph that looked like her brother...catching sight of her brother in the doorway and squeaking.

Scope lost it as she reverted to normal and howled with laughter. Ledger composed himself and responded very calmly to the situation.

“Scope, you can watch Joyful-Heart for the rest of the day as punishment for that.”

Her laughter died in an instant as she looked at her stallion...then to the embarrassed mare and shrugged as she trotted from the room.

“Eh, totally worth it~”

Critical took a moment to compose herself as she looked at her real brother. Her face aflame with indignation and embarrassment. “So...” she said quietly. “You got me a present?”

“It’s in my room,” Ledger said simply, still trying to take the situation in. “I knew you’d like it the moment I saw it.”

“Ah...okay...I think...I need a minute. And I-I think I am going to kill her.”

“No killing my herd,” Ledger deadpanned at his sister. “Looking after Joyful-Heart is bad enough.”

Scope’s scream, followed by a mad giggle from Joy punctuated that statement. Yup, just another day in Las Pegasus.

Author's Note

As of this day, Aus and I have finished writing this massive story.

Uploading it will take for-fucking-ever, though...

Chapter 34 - Bugs in the bed and bats in the belfry

Midnight stretched her wings as she trotted downstairs. It had been an interesting two days to say the least. The boys had been put in the spare room, Crit took the couch and Joyful-Heart was bunking with the rest of them. So she was also feeling a tad pent up due to that.

“Oh well,” she sighed to herself as she walked into the kitchen on autopilot. As she put the coffee on, she found herself wondering, what would they do from now on? Would they keep living here with Cider? Or would Ledger and herself find a new apartment?

She just stood in the kitchen, staring at the dripping coffee pot in a daze. If anypony came in, she didn’t notice them. Nor did she notice the changeling clinging to the ceiling...until it was too late, and the little pink filly dropped from above to land on her back.

“Kyyaaaa!” Midnight shrieked as she felt something land on her and instinctively bucked, but her passenger held on tight until Midnight calmed down. The Thestral turned her head as she came eye-to-eye with the filly.

“W-Whatthehay?” she gasped. “Don’t do that.”

“It was fun, though!” The filly said as she beeped the thestral’s nose. “You were everywhere! It was like the world’s wildest hug and cart ride!”

“You coulda been hurt,” Midnight sighed as she turned back to coffee pot. “And then if you got hurt, someone would hurt me.”

“Nah, all my brothers and sister are really nice, they wouldn’t hurt you,” Joyful said as she stood on the thestral’s back. “Whatcha dooooooin’?”

“Making coffee,’ she said as she motioned towards the pot with a wing. “Levvy gets all cranky unless he gets some first thing in the morning.”

“Can I try?” the filly asked with all the sweetness she could muster. Doe eyes and everything.

“Weeeeeellll,” Midnight tapped her chin. It didn’t seem to do anything to Ledger unless it had a butt-ton of sugar in it. And she was finding it increasingly hard to say no to the cute-little thing. Midnight just sighed and nodded as she poured a tiny cup full for her. No sugar though. Just love.

“Yay! Thank you miss Midnight!” The filly said before sipping it and sticking her tongue out. “Bleh, it tastes funny.”

“Well, you’re supposed to put sugar in it, but your Mommy says you can’t have some.” She patted her on the head and smiled. “Why don’t you wake the others? I’ll get breakfast started.”

“Kay!” the filly said before downing the rest of the coffee and pulling a grimace. “Yuck, I think the only thing that would save that would be sugar,” she said, before hopping off of Midnight’s back and trotting towards the stairs. Halfway there, though, she paused, one hoof raised halfway between steps as the filly just...stood there.

Midnight poked her head out the door as saw the frozen filly. “You okay Joy? You forget how to climb stairs?”

And then the filly was gone in the blink of an eye.

“Oooh, that’s not good,” Midnight whispered. Well, she couldn’t do anything now. She’d write them all a nice eulogy. With a hum, she turned back to the kitchen. There were shouts from above as everypony and buggy were abruptly awoken before the pink filly returned.

“Thanks for the drink miss Midnight, everybuggy’s up now, and I feel like having fun and visiting all my friends in the city!” The rate at which she said those words put her mere mortal ears under quite a bit of strain. “So I’ll see you all later, I’m gonna go see miss Amy and maybe that mean old griffon that keeps stealing her away. BYE!”

Midnight blinked as she looked around the kitchen. She had heard...something. There was a blur, some babbling sound...then a swinging door. Was that Heart?

Oh well. The Thestral sang softly as she fired up the stove and began cooking breakfast. Sounds began filtering in from above as ponies and bugs started to move about and begin their daily routines...and then a small note of panic filled the air and came towards her.

Midnight ignored them though, why was everypony not a morning pony around here? She just continued singing as she flipped the pancakes and put the second pot of coffee on. Cider poked her head around the corner...gasping slightly as she pulled back. This was...was that possible?

“...you’re sure?...” Ledger asked once he heard what was happening after Cider informed them of who was cooking breakfast...and that she was actually cooking breakfast. “It’s not a lack of coffee getting to you?”

“Ah’m not you Ledger,” Cider sighed as she held the drone back. “And yeah, she seems to be cooking. It looks...edible, and nothing is on fire.”

“Do I even want to know?” Critical yawned from the couch. What the hell was that that woke her up?

“Midnight has a bad habit of destroying kitchens,” Ledger said with a sigh. “To the point where we try not to let her in one for fear of spontaneous kitchen seppuku.”

“Now you’re just being dramatic,” Crit sighed as she got up. There sound of somepony tumbling and a lot of shouting could be heard as the trio of brothers made themselves known. Scope followed a moment later and looked at them, before blasting them with a sleep spell and smiling.

“Ahh, much better.”

“Scope, you can’t just make them go to sleep every time they annoy you,” Ledger sighed. “The folks are arriving today, and they kinda need to be up for that.”

“Fine, I’ll dispel it later...and, where is Midnight? And why is somepony in the kitchen when Midnight is missing? Ohpleasesaysheisn’tinthere!”

“She is,” Ledger sighed. “But leave her be, because whatever she’s up to is working.”

“How?” she said in disbelief. “She could burn air. She set fire to a crystal kitchen for Hives-sake.” That girls night in the Imperial Palace had been...a learning experience.

“I’m not going to try and explain, and I would prefer it if you stopped complaining as well,” Ledger said as he just sat down and waited. “It’ll be something we ask together, calmly, later.”

And then, over the sounds of cooking, they all heard something else. Something even kept the trio quiet once they woke back up.

The sound of Midnight singing.

“W-What is that?” Critical said. “It’s...beautiful.”

“That is the sound of Midnight putting her heart and soul into something,” Ledger sighed as he closed his eyes. Eventually, the singing stopped and Midnight walked out of the kitchen to see everypony staring at her.

“Um...yes?”

“Nothing,” Cider replied as she looked at her marefriend. “Is everything...okay?”

The Thestral frowned as she placed a stack of fresh pancakes on the table, and then followed up with two pots of coffee. “If none of you want it, I’ll eat it myself.”

“It’s fine,” Ledger said as he sat at the table and poked the food with a fork. “Well...guys, it...seems normal.”

“Go buck a cactus,” Midnight pouted as she piled on her pancakes, completely forgetting about the young ears in the room. Three colts winced and looked at their brother.

“That sound painful,” one said.

“Did you make her mad?” said another.

“What does it even mean?” the youngest said.

“You don’t need to know that,” Ledger said as he gave Midnight the stink-eye. “Keep it up and I’ll buy another couch for you to sleep on tonight,” he vowed.

Midnight just giggled and held her tongue. “Oh, have you seen Joyful? She just vanished after she tried coffee...”

“...You gave a Pink coffee,” Ledger stated dumbly. His four siblings shared a shudder.

“Well it doesn’t seem to affect you, and I didn’t put sugar in it,” Midnight defended herself. “I mean really, she’s just a filly. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“The reason it doesn’t affect me is because I’ve had time to get used to it,” Ledger sighed. “It was a nice town.”

“Oh now you’re being dramatic,” Midnight sighed. “Honestly...”

Ace smiled as he played with Amy’s tail as she served up some ice-cream to her latest customer, the mare rolling her eyes and giving her tail a flick, though it didn’t seem to make him stop.

At least until he tilted his head, a curious noise filling his ears. “Hrm, just what is that sound?”

Amy tilted her head as she listened. “Humm. Sound range, frequency, adjusting for doppler effect...I think that’s an extremely high-pitched sound of ‘WHEEE’ coming towards us.”

“Amy dear, I am quite fond of your little quirks,” Ace said, as he ran his claws through her tail. “But, are you sure about that?”

“Yup,” she said as she flicked her tail and nodded. “Hmm...Hey, remember that filly that pouted the other day because ‘the big mean griffon’ was coming to steal me away from her?”

“Ahh, I recall that one,” Ace chuckled. “She was quite the excitable little Changeling. I wonder who she belongs to?”

“Us, in about ten seconds,” Amy said.

“Oh?...” The Griffon tilted his head as he came to a realisation, especially as the sound drew closer. “Well, is that bad?”

“Could be,” Amy managed to get out before she was tackled by the pink blur. The two rolled for a second, and eventually the pink pegasus was pinned beneath a yellow-on-pink unicorn with bright blue eyes.

“Miss Amy! I found you again!” the smaller ‘pony’ cheered.

“Yup! And now that I’m it, it’s your turn to hide!” Amy chirped, and the unicorn gasped before dashing off as fast as she had arrived, pausing only to shoot a glare at Ace.

“Well, that’ll buy us five minutes,” Amy replied as she picked herself up and dusted herself off. Ace chuckled as he wiped a bit of dirt off and pecked her cheek lightly.

“So what’s the plan? Do you actually wish to play with the little one?”

“I need you to run recon, I’ll try and distract her with the customers,” Amy said. “Figure out who she belongs to...and maybe who gave her coffee, if you can. I used to be the only pink in town, and nobuggy said anything about another one showing up, so...It’ll be somebody who just moved in. Think you can handle it?”

“Finding out who unleashed an unstoppable force of adorable chaos?” Ace took his scarf from Amy and wrapped it around his neck. “I believe I know where I should start my search.” He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek again, getting a chorus of cheers and ‘eww’s’ from the colts and fillies present. “Be back soon my love.”

“Take care, loverbird,” Amy said as she gave him a quick hug and returned the kiss, causing the fillies to coo and the colts to mock-gag. Ace gave a nod and flew the coop, so to speak. He had a Thestral to visit...

At the trainstation, Councilstallion Grissom and his wife stepped off of the train, the former wincing at the sudden sunlight while Moon Song looked as radiant as ever.

“So dear? Are we seeing some sights first?” she asked. “Or will it be right to business?”

“Well, both Celestia and Moondancer told me that Midnight is doing well. And I’m surprised that the latter came to see us.” He checked his pocketwatch and hummed. “I wonder what possessed her to suddenly visit Miss Dancer?”

“I guess we’ll have to ask her,” Moon smiled as a collection of ponies disembarked a carriage further back. They certainly looked like a colourful bunch. The leader of them, a tall, slender unicorn mare with a coat that resembled polished silver and a mane and tail as black as night, fixed her golden eyes upon Grissom and his wife and smiled.

“Ah, do excuse us...do you live here?” she asked in a voice that spoke volumes of the volumes she read.

“I am afraid not,” Moon replied in her rich, cultured tone. “We are just visiting our daughter here in the city.”

“Ah, but you at least would know the lay of the land better than we would,” the mare countered. “We are from far out of town and looking for our wayward flock of children. The eldest said he now resided at a place called ‘Cider Falls,’ have you heard of it?”

Moon Song and Grissom looked at one another, the latter had a small frown as he stepped forward. “I believe I know of that place,” he said. “I don’t suppose...you know a stallion named Level Ledger?”

“Got it in one,” the Violet-coated unicorn stallion said. His green eyes sparkled as he smiled. “My boy came here a while ago, and the rest decided to visit him lately without so much as a by-your-leave.”

“Hrmm, seems we have quite a bit more to talk about then,” Grissom nodded as the extended group headed off of the platform. “Then perhaps somepony could explain how such a large group of changelings like yourselves are here without my knowledge.”

“Dear!” Moon said, nudging him. “What if they are not-?”

“Oh, I believe they are,” Grissom chuckled. The stallions all looked at each other nervously before the red, blue, and yellow pegasi stepped forward with a snort. At the mare’s raised hoof waving them back, they reluctantly stood down.

“Remarkable,” she said with a smile. “You deduced our nature with nothing more than the name of my son to go by. I was aware of your...position, but to be so sharp? Clearly my brother is underestimating you.”

“It helps that I am aware of your son’s...nature,” he said as he looked at nearby ponies. “But, I must admit that it was still mostly a guess. He could have been adopted for all I know.”

“Mm, no, nobility through and through, and good on you for getting the truth out of us with nothing to bet with on your end,” the mare said, her smile even wider. “Still. I must question how you knew Cider Falls was where...Ledger now resides.”

“The truth is quite simple,” the old Thestral stallion chuckled. “I know, because my daughter, Midnight Song, resides there as well.”

“Ah,” the Yellow pegasus said with a nod. “And his letter before the last letter did mention the pair of them were nigh inseparable now. Where one goes, another follows.”

“I am afraid you are in for a bit of a surprise when we arrive, sir,” the mare said with a sigh. “It is not...only Ledger that resides with your daughter at this moment.”

“Yes, I am well aware of Ledger’s ‘herd’,” he chuckled as they walked down the main Strip. “And when you have a daughter like Midnight...”

“Not much surprises you,” Moon finished. “Oh, but where are our manners. I am Moon Song, and this is my husband, Grissom Gossamer.”

“Of course,” the mare said with a nod. “I am...Hmm. My title as it would translate is ‘She who controls the flow of gossip,’ I think. I am my brother’s right hoof when others do not listen to his call for equality. Call me Madam Gossip, if you desire a simpler name.” She nodded her head at the stallions behind her. “And if we wait around for them to introduce themselves, we will never hear the end before we arrive. Though perhaps one will suffice for now…”

“I am Wishful Hope,” the Violet unicorn introduced himself. “The only thing I asked for once Madam was done saving me from what I had been was the chance to show her my love for her, and it resulted in Ledger. And he has done much to make us proud, even now.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Moon smiled warmly, even as three teenaged fillies approached her. The changelings of the group could tell that at least one of them wasn’t a pony.

“Excuse me?” the middle one asked the Unicorn mare. “Are you Miss Moon Song?”

Moon smiled, the look in her eyes said that she’d dealt with this before. “I am she, and you are?”

“Dazzling Diamond, and I’m a huuuuuge fan!” she bubbled.

“She’s an aspiring actress,” one of her friends said with a roll of her eyes. “She wants to be just like you.”

“And we hear it,” the third said, her green eyes shining. “All. The. Time.”

“I understand,” Moon said with a smile. “I do wish you the best of luck as well. Keep in mind that the road you walk is not an easy one, but as long as you have heart, and dedication to entertain, then you can succeed.”

Dazzling beamed brightly as Moon signed a page in her book and the three mares thanked her before leaving. Moon Song turned back to the group and hummed.

“Very sorry about that. Shall we continue?”

“Understandable,” the green unicorn said with a nod. “I’m just glad to see them all get along, and you handling this situation as well as you have. We’ve heard of one too many that get...sour when they get closer and closer to the top of their field, and it’s wonderful you’re not like that.” With that, the small pack of ‘lings were on their way again behind the pony couple.

After a half hour of walking, the bright lights of the city gave way to gentle, green fields and an endless row of trees. The strong scent of apples filled the air as Grissom hummed lightly. He always had a soft spot for the countryside. And he already made plans long ago to retire to a place like Ponyville or the like.

“And I believe we are here,” he hummed as they got closer. He suddenly smiled and opened his mouth, but no sound seemed to come out.

“Dear?” Moon blinked. “Did you just...”

A moment later, a Thestral mare divebombed him from the sky with a mad giggle, the two Thestral’s play-fighting as they tumbled across the ground.

“Mare and Stallions, my two children,” Moon sighed.

“They remind me of our children,” the red pegasus said, jostling his fellows, a blue and yellow pegasus, who nodded and muttered their agreement.

“At least these two haven’t destroyed anything yet,” the Madam observed with a soft smile of her own.

“Yet,” the green unicorn said with a sigh. “Give it time…”

The two Thestral’s separated as they circled around one another, hissing and baring their fangs, until they grinned and hugged. Midnight eventually broke the hug and moved to embrace her mother like a normal pony, before she finally noticed the other ponies.

“Oh, who are your friends?” she asked. The head of the small group of changelings walked forward and leaned down until she was looking Midnight right in the eyes.

It was a little weird.

“I am Madam Gossip,” the mare said, her eyes briefly flashing to resemble Ledger’s in his changeling form for the next bit of her introduction. “I believe you know my son, miss?”

“You...you're Levvy’s Mom?” she blinked. A quick glance at the other stallions and the pieces fell into place for her. “Ah, well...” Oh buck, how was she supposed to act? She decided to play it safe for now as she gave a polite bow of her head.

“A pleasure to meet you Lady Madam,” she replied, unsure of what her social rank might be. She was pretty sure Ledger said he was a Duke or Lord... “I am Lady Midnight Song.”

“Well with those niceties out of the way,” the mare said as she resumed her normal pose and winked at the thestral mare. “I’m here to collect my wayward children, I heard you have them? I’m sorry to say I didn’t bring a ransom.”

“Hmm, a pity,” Midnight replied with a haughty huff. “I suppose a trade of good faith might work though. You may have the trio that I’ve whipped into shape, but I must insist that I keep Joyful-Heart. She is just too cute to part with~”

“You lost her, didn’t you,” the orange earth pony deadpanned from his spot.

“Eheheh~ Whaaaat makes you say that?” Midnight blushed and looked away.

“Midnight...” Grissom said slowly.

“It wasn’t my fault...”

“I believe her,” the Madam and the orange pony said at the same time.

“Joyful-Heart is a Pink, and Pinks are...unpredictable,” the Madam led with.

“I once found her sleeping in her bed on the ceiling above me,” the orange said with a shake of his head. “I don’t know how she got her end-table up there. Or how the lamp worked. She disappears all the time. It’s when she reappears that trouble starts. One time she came back with a timberwolf...that nopony else could go near… after being gone all day.”

“She called it Splinters, and it makes a fantastic guard dog,” the blue pegasus said with a smile.

“And sparring partner,” the yellow pitched in.

“Now I really regret giving her that coffee,” Midnight said, gulping audibly. The changelings in disguise all paled. Even the Madam.

“...Well, this was a nice town,” the Madam observed aloud. “I’m going to miss it.”

“Why does everypony keep saying that?” Midnight wailed as her mother pet her mane.

“Well, perhaps we should go and see if your boys are around?” Grissom said and Midnight flinched.

“Uh...yeah, Levvy’s a bit...occupied now,” she said. “Those trio of colts are running Joy’s obstacle course again. They’re getting better. They can do three laps unscathed now.”

“Why didn’t I think of that?” the yellow pegasus asked aloud.

“Probably because we were never so cruel?” the green unicorn sniped back.

“I taught you well,” Grissom smiled as he ruffled her mane. Her mother frowned though.

“Well Leger’s parents came all the way here,” she said. “The least he could do is come and meet them, no matter what is occupying him.”

“Well,” Midnight said and that gleam in her eye told Moon she shouldn’t have given Midnight the opening. “Once he’s done occupying Scopey and Cider. I’m sure he will come to meet them.”

The changelings were speechless, all save one. The Violet unicorn walked over to Midnight, then turned to face the Madam and drew the thestral mare in for a side-hug.

“Madam, I like this one, can we get one while we’re here?” he asked like a foal asking for the latest toy.

“Sorry, I’m taken already,” Midnight winked. “But there are a few Ladies that might interest you~”

“It has been a while since I talked with one of my fellow Violets…” the unicorn mused. “Once I catch up with my colt, then.” He nodded as he resolved to go to see them before turning to Midnight to ask the question he now needed answered. “How long do you think that’ll be, little miss? You’re the one who knows him best of us here in...that department.”

Midnight’s smile turned wickedly sharp. She closed her eyes as she projected her thoughts. One could almost hear Ledger give a pained-slash-pleasured groan.

“Hee, I think he’s done now,” she giggled. The stallion next to her shifted a little as he’d caught the tail end of that and barely kept himself under control.

“Yes, well, my son’s mating practices aside,” the Madam said with a smile. “What of Critical Eye? I assume she is around as well?”

“Somewhere,” Midnight said. “Maybe admiring that painting Ledger gave her and-Hmm, excuse me for just oonneeee moment.” She flew over to three colts, looking weary but satisfied.

“WHAT WAS THAT WEAK-ASS PERFORMANCE!? MY GRANDMOTHER COULD HAVE DONE THAT BACKWARDS. I WANT TWENTY MORE LAPS. HUP TO IT MAGGOTS!!”

The red and blue colts had been about to protest, but the yellow one jabbed them both with his wings and pointed at the gathering not a hundred yards away. One that looked a lot like some unfamiliar ponies with their family in disguise. With a shared look of panic, the three all but dove back into the obstacle course, eager to avoid that confrontation for a little while yet.

“Aww, I’m so proud of them,” Midnight cooed. Once she equipped them with the weapons they’d bought, she also gotten Joy to do over her surprises. Midnight still had to wonder where the dragon came from…

“I am impressed with the way you got them to follow your directions so rapidly,” the red pegasus rumbled. “Almost as much as I am with them managing to run that obstacle course.”

“They’re doing well,” she said. “Their overall combat performance is up sixty percent, and I’m also working on tactics and military history.”

“...how did you get them to actually listen to you?” the blue pegasus stallion asked. “Whenever we try, they take it as an opportunity to bicker and quibble until our improvised class falls apart in one of their fights.”

“I gave them an option,” Midnight chuckled darkly as a distant roar sounded. Ooh, the dragon was in a bad mood today. “Either listen to mine and Ledger’s lectures, or plough Cider’s fields again.”

“I thought that was Ledger’s job?” the Violet stallion asked.

Midnight blinked as she realised what she said. She just facehooved and smiled at him. “I like him, can I keep him too?” she asked Madam.

“Sorry, he’s mine, you have your own version anyways, don’t you?” she teased. Slowly the changelings were coming down from their blushes and lewd laughter.

“True enough,” Midnight hummed as she saw a dishevelled Ledger leave the greenhouse where he had just planted his seeds. “Oi! Ledger! Over here!”

Ledger looked over, saw that not only his family, but Midnight’s as well had gathered, took in his current state...and blushed so hard it was nearly visible from where they were. With a soft squeak and a pop, Ledger vanished...and reappeared on the roof of the house.

“Seems he still hasn’t gotten that teleport spell down yet,” Midnight chuckled as Cider and Scope also emerged, the latter wobbling slightly. She too saw the gathering and she squeaked, before both mares vanished with a flash of light.

“And Scopey shows her magical mastery,” Midnight smiled. Ledger vanished from on top of the roof, this time not re-appearing. They could only assume he’d gotten it right this time.

“Well, shall we go inside?” Midnight hummed. “Perhaps we can find at least one of your children?”

“That would be preferred,” the mare said as she opened the door from afar for everypony. “After you three.”

The two Thestrals and Unicorn nodded and headed inside...and to whatever awaited them on the other side of that door.

Today should prove most interesting.

Cider had moved her furniture in the living room and brought in a large, neighponese table that she bought once on a whim. Seated around it were two Thestrals, one earth Pony and eight or so Unicorns.

“There is no love for the winged races huh?” Midnight mused. “Nooo, y’all gotta rely on your fancy-smancy magicks~”

“We normally are pegasi when we are disguised,” the yellow unicorn indicated himself and the blue and red neighbors he had. “But any extra wings in an already crowded space like this is just asking for trouble.”

“Plus, it helps us avoid any accidents,” the orange stallion said. “We’re evenly trained in all the races. Magic just helps us avoid things like spills, trips, fumbles…”

“Plus you can’t teleport as any other one,” Scope nodded. She loved Teleportation...mostly because she was lazy.

“Ah, I’m just messing with you,” Midnight chuckled as she gave them a sultry stare. “The last time I had this many hard horns pointed at me-”

“Aaaaand now we should discuss other things,” Grissom coughed.

“Madam, can we please look into acquiring a servant like her?” the violet unicorn asked. “She’s fun.”

“And here I thought you had eyes for me,” the silver mare sighed. “I do apologize if my sudden arrival has put you ill at ease, Council-stallion Grissom. But I had to reign in my wayward children...save for Ledger. He’s fine as is.”

“He’s a good lad, so don’t worry,” he said with a toothy smile. “Your arrival just means more paperwork for me. And please, just call me Grissom, we’re all family here.”

“Yup!” Midnight beamed as she hugged her Changeling, before giving him a deep kiss. Ledger blushed a little and once they came up for air, shot a look at his father. “Not. A word,” the brown unicorn threatened.

“How about three? Like, you go, colt? Or maybe, that’s some tongue!” the violet unicorn replied with a slowly growing smile. The silver mare coughed gently and retook control of the conversation.

“All joking aside, it is quite nice to see you recovered from the events of…” the Madam trailed off, not wanting to pick at old wounds. Ledger sighed and pulled Midnight in for a side-hug.

“I blame her. Totally and completely. It’s all her fault that I’m back to normal and being shared.”

“Yup,” Midnight nodded with a serious expression. “It was quite touching really...followed by a lot of touching~ We bonded over a boner.”

The room echoed with Moon’s and Grissom’s simultaneous facehoofing.

“And then there was the time you got me drunk,” Ledger said. “Or the time after my life finally actually stabilized. It’s been a roller-coaster of emotions.”

“Yeah, I met my worst enemies, you cheated on me, then we made a herd...then I flipped out and we had our first fight, oh, and the multiple times we almost died...and that one time I did die, when you killed me.” Midnight tapped her chin as she thought. “Hmm, oh, I kissed a bunch of princesses, you met a bunch of princesses and flipped out. Then we made our herd bigger, and everyone is discovering that Changelings make for great life-partners... Am I forgetting anything?”

“The empire,” Ledger suggested. “We had quite the adventure there, Special Agent Song.”

“Ooohhh, yeah! You and Scopey totally became Royal Changeling/Alicorn/thingies! And we discovered that Cadence is a riot to hang with, and the whole Empire is run by a sentient magical artifact that has Ledger’s personality.”

“Plus you kept harping on about wanting to know my name’s story,” Ledger said with a smile. “We could each write a book series: I with my name, you with all the stuff we’ve done.”

“Nah, I am waaay too busy to write a book,” Midnight waved a hoof. “Though, knowing me, it’d be a bestseller, cause I’m kind of awesome like that.”

“...Well, you seem to have done a lot,” Gossip observed as she sipped at the coffee she’d been provided. “More than you wrote about at any rate.”

“How exactly would I explain even a fraction of what Midnight has just said and still manage to not send a tome home?” Ledger asked with a raised eyebrow. “It’d be impossible.”

“...Point made,” the mare said with a grin. “Still, perhaps you and your mares could enlighten us as to how you intend to move forward with this little experiment of yours?”

“Well,” Midnight gave her wings a little flutter as she looked at her marefriends. “Our next big decision has...well it’s been left up to me. We’ve just kinda been winging it so far, and it seems to be working for the most part. We’re not rushing anything, just...I...”

Moon and Grissom already had an inkling as to what she was talking about. “No one is pressuring you dear,” Moon said with a smile. “Isn’t that right, everyone?”

“Of course,” Ledger said with a small nod. “She’s free to decide for herself. I’ve merely made it known that we will not be arriving at point C without passing through all relevant points first.” Or, translated from Ledger-talk: No children before marriage.

“Ledger doesn’t want foals just yet,” Cider clarified. “Midnight’s job can’t be done safely by a pregnant mare, nor can Scope’s. An ah would require careful plannin’ around the season’s, and arrange more help for when ah can’t do it.” Seriously, having a foal shouldn’t be so damned hard. “And we all made the decision of us getting married to be left to Midnight. And ain’t nopony gonna change our minds on that.”

“As the one who’s the most uncomfortable with the idea,” with me running a close second! “It falls to her to propose, to let us know she’s ready. Then and only then will we look into getting this relationship of ours cemented somehow.” Level Ledger took a sip of his coffee and hummed. Home grown really was the best~

“We understand,” Moon said with a smile. “No matter what decisions you three? No, four now, sorry Scope.”

“S’all right,” Scope shrugged. She’d gotten bored with the conversation, and was now perched in the rafters, writing away once again.

“As I was saying,” Moon continued. “You will have our full support. Anything you kids need, just ask us okay?”

“Hmm,” Ledger hummed. “Maybe in a few months, if our little experiment here works, I’ll take you up on that,” the brown unicorn said with a hoof gesturing towards where the greenhouse was. “We’re trying something that’s not been done before, to our knowledge, and if it works, we’re going to need contacts.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Grissom nodded. Moon Song also had the ears of several high-ranking Nobles in Canterlot.

“Well, you always were one to play things close to the chest,” the silver mare said with a smile. “Hopefully this won’t be another secret for your collection, dear.” A pause for a moment. “Which reminds me…”

“No,” Ledger said flatly. “I’m not saying.”

“Pity,” Madam Gossip said as she swirled her coffeecup. “Ah well, there’s always next time.”

“The answer will remain the same,” Ledger said with a roll of his eyes. The old mare chuckled and looked at Midnight.

“I’m afraid I have to steal my son from you for a moment,” the disguised ‘ling informed the batpony.

“Hmm, I guess so,” Midnight hummed and smiled at her stallion. “Just don’t be too long, he’s kinda hopeless without me~”

With a silver light, Ledger was yanked from Midnight’s grasp and found himself in the crushing embrace of his mother. The drone tried to pry enough of a gap into the hug so that he could breathe, but it was an uphill battle.

“Aw, now I have nopony to...” Midnight reached across to make a grab for Cider, but Moon was faster, scooping up her little bat as Midnight squawked.

“HAH!” Scope called out from the rafters. “Not so fun when the shoe’s on the other hoof huh?”

“Oh don’t worry dear,” Madam said as she hugged and nuzzled her colt without looking up. “You’re next.”

“Go hug a cactus,” Scope replied as she went back to her book.

“Not a pleasant experience,” the orange stallion said. “Wouldn’t recommend it.”

“It’s why she said it, dear,” Madam gossip said as she finally let Ledger breathe, before leaning in and whispering in his ear. Surprisingly, Ledger whispered back something that caused the mare to pause and blush bright red.

“Well that’s an interesting reaction,” Midnight giggled. “Hey Ledger? Your Mom’s kinda cute when she blushes~”

“I know, right?” the Violet unicorn agreed with a smile. “I just love seeing her blush like that. Especially after a long, hard night of-”

“Oh sweet Hives, he’s as bad as the Mistress!” Scope threw up her hooves in mock-defeat. Ledger walked over to Cider and hugged her, wanting to cuddle one of his mares that was free, but Scope wasn’t cooperative on the best of days.

“Ahem...well. That aside…” Madam Gossip looked up and pointed one hoof at the floor in front of her. “Come here, missy.”

“Pass,” Scope replied back. “Sorry Ma’am, I’m just not the hugging type.”

“If you are seeing my colt, you are,” the Madam said, her tone only slightly turning dangerous at the end. “I intend to hug all three of you before I leave. And rarely am I successfully denied what I intend to do.”

Scope closed her book as she looked at the Noble nymph. The last full-grown nymph to hug her was her mother...right before she left Scope to die.

“Again. Pass,” she said as she resumed her writing. “Ask Midnight, she loves hugs...though she might molest you.”

“Miss Scope, you will either get down here and give me a hug, or I will call for my youngest daughter to do it for me,” the matriarch delivered her ultimatum and waited for the small nymph to react.

“That Pink is currently on a coffee-bender somewhere in the city,” Scope smirked back, calling her bluff. “I think I’ll take my chances Ma’am.”

The madam smiled even wider and delicately cleared her throat, giving the nymph one last chance to rethink her words before the weapon was called for. Scope rolled her eyes as she lowered herself down to the ground, and Midnight caught that gleam in her eye.

This wasn’t going to end well...

The Unicorn mare approached the Madam, and just as she reached her?

She grinned and teleported away.

“You had your chance. I just want you to think about that in what comes next,” the Madam said as she closed her eyes, preparing to summon the pink ‘ling through a ritual the two had set up long ago.

“Sweet little gumdrop, where could you be-” she started...and got a response. From above.

“Mommy’s tired of looking for me?” the suddenly there Joyful-Heart said as she fell from the rafters and landed right in front of the Madam.

“There you are, playful honey-bee!” the Madam said as she scooped the little filly up and cuddled her. Joyful let out a small shriek of, well, joy at the attention.

“Aw, here I am momma, please don’t be angry,” the nymph finished. “Whatcha need me for, mom?”

“Miss Scope isn’t feeling up to giving your momma a hug,” Madam Gossip said as she put the pink ‘ling down. “Give her one for me?”

“Kay!” the little ‘ling said. And then somepony blinked, and Joyful-Heart was gone from the room. There was a sudden shout from upstairs and the sound of somepony cursing and tumbling across the floor.

“That was...terrifying,” Midnight replied, leaning into her mother’s hug a little more.

“We each have our own little chants we can do to call for Joyful-Heart,” Ledger said. “I am afraid to use mine. Nor will I ever actually share the lyrics with anypony.”

Midnight tapped her chin and hummed thoughtfully. Moon Song smiled as she scratched the Thestral’s fluffy ears. “I know that look dear, you’re planning something aren’t you?”

“Mmmaaaayyyybe!” Song giggled.

“...If you attempt to make a summoning-song with Joyful, I swear,” Ledger said, pointing a hoof at the mare. “Couch. Forever.”

It was too late, the die had been cast and the first notes hummed.

“Oh dearest fairy, where have you flown~?” she sang out in a pure tone.

“The flowers have dried up, I’m looking for home!” came from upstairs, over Scope’s indignant shouting. According to the screams, Joyful-Heart was either dragging or trying to take the other nymph with her.

“Then fly-fly away, come and make yourself known~”

“Since you ask me so sweetly, I shall return to this zone!” With that, Joyful-Heart walked in, dragging Scope along after her. Somehow.

The others were rapidly learning it was best not to question this filly.

“Only you Midnight,” Grissom chuckled as he sipped at his coffee. “Only you.”

“I’ve never had somebuggy else make the song before!” the filly giggled before releasing Scope and diving at Midnight, forearms extended in the ‘hugging’ position.

“Little fairy,” the Thestral giggled as she caught her, and her mother soon found herself hugging two ponies. Scope just twitched as she lay on the floor.

She had...seen things.

“Hiya big bat!” the pink ‘ling said as she nuzzled Scope, before looking at Moon Song. “Oooh. Hi, pretty lady!”

“Hello little one,” Moon smiled as she all but tossed Midnight aside to hug the nymph. “And what might your name be?”

“I’m Joyful-Heart!” the pink nymph said as she looked up at the older mare. “Who’re you?”

“I’m Moon Song, I’m Middy’s mommy,” the Unicorn nuzzled the adorable foal. Oh she wished that Midnight was still so small and cute.

“Huh?” the pink nymph said as she looked from Midnight to Moon Song, then back again, before nodding. “Yeah, I buy it. You’re both pretty.”

“Aw, such a sweetheart,” Moon giggled. “Midnight, I know what I said. But when am I getting grandfoals to spoil and cuddle?”

Midnight just sighed and shook her head before she looked at Scope. “You okay midget?”

“Kill...me...” she groaned.

“She’s my daughter,” the orange stallion spoke up. “I was unaware I had any Pink heritage, but there we have it. I try to get her to not involve other ponies in her...antics, and she mostly listens…”

“Uurrghhhhh...” Scope just groaned and rolled over...right into Madam. The noble nymph wasted no time and picked the smaller one up for a hug, though thankfully it wasn’t bone-crushingly tight, just firm enough to be felt.

“Dammit...” Scope sighed. There was no escaping this crap, and there was no way she was letting that Pink touch her ever again.

“So,” Midnight asked. “Which one of you is Ledger’s papa?”

“That’d be me,” the Violet drone said with a raised hoof. “Madam saved us all, and we do what we can to help her. When it came time for me, there was really only one duty left around the house that none of these others thought to take for themselves.”

“Oh?” she asked with mischievous eyes. Ledger just groaned and prayed she’d have at least some decorum.

Those prayers would go unanswered.

“So,” Midnight said, suddenly next to him. “I guess I have you to thank for that wonderfully gifted stallion~?”

“It was rather obvious whose son he was the moment we got a look,” the stallion said with an equally mischievous grin. “He may be a Silver, but he’s Violet where it counts.”

“Oh, you had better believe that I have lost count over how many I’ve had because of him,” Midnight giggled. “And yet, he had no idea what he had until I showed him how to really use it~”

The disguised drone let out a sigh. “Such a crime, letting such a fine tool go unused for as long as he did,” he tsked. “At least you’re taking steps to rectify that.”

“Oh believe me, we are making sure he makes up for lost time,” Midnight continued. Forget an off switch, apparently Midnight’s designer had no idea such a thing even existed. Ledger merely broke the cuddle with Cider, letting her deal with the situation instead. Surely the farmmare would stop all this lewdness.

“Ah have a question,” Cider asked them. “Is the sugar thing yer doin’ as well? Ledger kinda goes nuts when ah-”

“Cider!” Ledger blushed, trying to get her to stop.

“For Changelings, sugar is very much like a physical manifestation of the closest they’ve ever gotten to Love,” the orange explained. “You would be hard-pressed to find a ‘ling that does not like sugar. Ledger...indulges rarely, if ever, or at least he did.”

“You sure about that?” Midnight asked. “The guy has more sugar than coffee in the mornings.”

“And when ah got some in mah coat he-”

“Cider, they don’t need to hear that,” Ledger said with a bigger blush. Madam Gossip, however, looked thoughtful.

“Ledger, you did say you found something to help you through the day after...that day. Did you-”

“Yes alright fine, I turned to sugar to help me deal with the trauma,” Ledger snapped. “It was a memory of happier times and it helped chase away the pain.”

Nopony else got to respond as Ledger found himself buried under three mares, all hugging the life out of him.

“Help,” he squeaked from the bottom of the pile. He knew Midnight knew, and Scope probably did as well, but Cider...probably didn’t and wouldn’t let up until she did.

“You an’ I are gonna have a loong talk later,” the farmpony whispered into his ear. “And Middy! Stop groping me!”

“Fine,” Midnight frowned as she moved back to sit in between the Violet stallion and Madam. “So, where were we?”

“Somewhere between embarrassing Ledger into being a Red through sheer blush alone and learning about his sugar addiction,” the Violet stallion said as he sipped at his drink.

“Ahh,” Midnight nodded, then she had a lightbulb moment, and give the current context, Ledger knew it could be nothing good.

“I know that look,” the brown unicorn said as he managed to sit up again, finally. Cider was still hugging him, and he was okay with that. “That’s the look of an incoming Midnight Moment.”

“Maaayybe,” she giggled. Grissom and Moon sighed again. They had learned long ago that they should just stop apologising for their daughter. That was a full-time job.

The bat grinned as she looked at Madam Gossip and licked her lips. Before leaning up and begun whispering in the Violet stallions ear. What was even more interesting was the variety of facial expressions he cycled through.

“Mhmm...oh? But is that- Ohhhh! Well, I guess I could...he does what!? That’s my boy!!”

“Midnight, I say this for both your sakes,” Ledger grumbled. “Please don’t get into a lewd-off with dad. He’s a Violet. Now that I know what that actually means, I’d rather avoid the pair of you trying to out-do one another.”

Midnight blinked as she pulled away for a moment. “Silly Levvy, you know a Violet is no match for me.”

Scope’s eyes went wide as the Madam had somehow drawn her in for another hug. “NO! Bad! I do NOT want a repeat of that day! How...How did you do that to FOUR Violets!?”

All the ‘lings in the room slowly turned to look at Midnight, expressions ranging from awe and respect, to slight fear and terror on each face. Except for Ledger. He was unfazed.

“Some days I feel like the only thing stopping you from going out and doing Equestria, one pony at a time, is me, Cider, and Scope,” Ledger quipped as he sipped his coffee.

“Yeah, you guys really put a dampener on that goal,” Midnight hummed. “And don’t worry Scopey, I was just annoyed that day. I am sorry though.”

“Dear,” Moon sipped her tea. “The last time you got ‘annoyed’ as you put it, wasn’t a dragon-”

“Yeah...that was fun,” Midnight sighed wistfully. “Now, where was I?”

The Violet stallion recovered as he smiled. “Somewhere around Ledger using his tongue to-”

“Aaaand changing the subject again,” Ledger interrupted. “How long are you here for?”

“At least two days to recover from the rush over here,” the Madam said with a slight smile. “After which, we may stay a little longer to take in the sights. This is the first time we’ve been outside of the Lands in some time...some of us haven’t ever seen Equestria, and it would be a poor use of our visitor’s visa if we didn’t actually see anything while we were here.”

“Ooh, we should totally go out again!” Midnight smiled widely. “I bet Madam would be a blast to hang out with. And cool stuff always happens when we go out.”

“I will admit, life is never boring with you dear,” Moon said. There was a knock at the door, but Critical’s voice sounded out that she’d get it.

“It would not be a bad thing,” the silver mare mused. “It has been some time since I used the name of this disguise...I think I actually forgot it. Pity. I’ll have to come up with a new one.”

Midnight’s eyes gleamed again, but Scope shoved a hoof in her mouth.

“I do not think a royal Changeling would let you name her Mistress,” Scope sighed. “Besides...I know you and what you’d prolly use.”

“Seeing as how well she and Hope get along,” the mare said with a slight laugh. “I can guess. Ah well. If I fail to come up with one, I’m sure Inspired-Dream will come up with something.”

The green stallion nodded as he took in the Madam’s form and hummed. “Form is only one part of the name for ponies. Typically their talent and Cutie-Mark also play a big role. If you want a new name, you may need to alter your disguise, ma’am.”

“We’ll come up with something,” the silver mare said as she smiled at Dream. “Now...how about you?” With that, she turned to look at Moon and Grissom. “How long are you here for?”

“I took a little vacation time to come here...well, upon the Princesses insistence, though I didn’t need it,” Grissom replied. “I’m just glad to see that everypony is safe. But truly? We have no plans. We’re planning on at least staying the night.”

“A fair answer,” the yellow stallion said with a nod. “In which case, we shall look for-”

With those words, Ledger’s horn lit up silver, and a small scroll was brought out of his bag. “Already looked into it and told these hotels to be prepared to possibly receive a large, well-tipping party of seven,” Ledger said. “I assume you’d like us to continue to look after the inmates until you’re ready to collect them and take them home?”

“And that, mares and stallions, is why we love Ledger.” Madam said as she took the list from him. As she did, Critical-Eye walked into the room, a slight blush on her face as she looked at the large gathering.

“Um, there is a very big Griffon at the door,” she said with a small squeak.

“Did he have a scarf?” Ledger asked without turning his head.

“Indeed he does Ledger,” the Griffon replied as he walked in. He looked around and hummed slightly. “Hrrm, there are a good deal more Changeling’s here than I recall. Family I take it?”

“My brothers and sisters jumped the border, so my father, mother, and step-fathers came to retrieve them discreetly,” Ledger said, putting pressure on the last word. He trusted the griffon enough that he didn’t think the half-bird would go running off to the guard and tell them about the sudden bug population.

“Fair enough then,” Ace nodded as he looked at the full room. “Ah, forgive my intrusion, but I have a conundrum that I had hoped Ledger or Midnight could solve.”

“What is it?” Ledger asked as he turned to look. “Does it need to be said away from family for any reason?”

“No,” Ace shook his head and adjusted his scarf. “Earlier a...friend and myself were accosted by a small pink filly. I identified her as a Changeling, and was wondering if you knew who the little hatchling belonged to.”

“Joyful,” every changeling in the room deadpanned. Which was kind of freaky, hearing them say the name in unison like that.

“What did she do this time?” the orange unicorn stallion sighed.

“Well, she just hugged my friend, then flew off,” Ace chuckled, though the name thing was a tad unsettling. Still, Amy owed him now. He knew Ledger and his kin were behind this. “We were just a little curious and a tad concerned is all.”

“Ace, Y’know how Amy is usually cheery and happy all the time? Energetic to the point of infectiousness?” Ledger asked, leading the griffon along the path of enlightenment.

“Aye,” he said. “I might have an inkling to that.” He wasn’t sure if Ledger and his were aware of their ‘relations’ but he figured he wouldn’t tell unless Amy/Cherry asked him to.

“Take that enthusiasm and put it in a filly’s body. Voila, you have Joyful-Heart. Now add caffeine.” Ledger waited for the light to dawn as to how big a mistake that was.

To his credit, the only reaction that he got was slightly wider eyes, and a hint of fear that seeped from the Griffon’s body. But to those that knew him and what he was capable of, this was him freaking right the fuck out. He had made the mistake a few days ago of giving Cherry a morning coffee instead of tea.

That had been an...enthusiastic morning.

“Yeah, blame Midnight,” Ledger threw his marefriend under the cart on that one. “Apparently somepony thought that she wasn’t perky enough in the mornings. She’s bad enough on her own. Or when she eats sugar.”

“At least I didn’t put sugar in the coffee,” Midnight pouted. She looked up at Hope and Madam. “Can I come home with you guys? I feel underappreciated here.”

“Sure!” Hope smiled without missing a beat. The Madam however shook her head with a smile on her face.

“I am certain my son would not appreciate us stealing you away to the Homelands, seeing as he has vowed to only return when he’s learned everything Equestria has to offer.”

“I was seventeen!” the brown unicorn protested.

“And you’re any better now?” his mother countered.

“...Yes, actually.” The response slightly stunned the others. “I don’t need to know all the secrets of Equestria. I have everything I need right here.”

“Yup,” Midnight nodded. “It’s not like he needs to see the books in Princess Celestia’s personal collection, that have been rumoured that only she has ever laid eyes on.”

“I wouldn’t say no if she offered,” Ledger said before giving Midnight a soft peck on the cheek. “Buuuut, that’s awfully far away from my little bat here. Guess they’ll just have to remain a mys-” he never got to finish that sentence before he found himself on his back, with a mouthful of Thestral tongue.

“You go, mare!” Hope cheered from the sidelines, enjoying the show and the passion she put into it. It was also around then that the changeling’s felt the sheer amount of love and lust that Thestral had.

“Oh wow,” the orange stallion said as he rubbed at his horn. “She’s, uh...very loving, your daughter,” he told Moon and Grissom. “Is that...normal? It’s almost like she loves everything about Ledger...to the point where a hive could probably be fed from it alone.”

A low growl came from Grissom’s throat, but Moon placed a hoof on his shoulder and smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m sure it wasn’t meant in that context. And if it was, then I will also be quite upset. But, yes, our daughter has always been very loving.”

“Ah, it’s just…” the orange tried to backpedal, and it was the blue that saved him, surprisingly.

“Were I in charge of a Hive, I would send my gatherers here to just leech off the excess in the air, and never worry about starvation again,” he explained. The orange one nodded a few times.

“Yes, exactly.”

Grissom sighed as he closed his wings, realising that they were open slightly. “Yes, you meant nothing harmful by it I’m sure. But as long as it's being discussed. Please refrain from talking about your feeding and my daughter in the same sentence.”

Midnight had finally released Ledger and looked at her father with a concerned look. Ledger took a breath and got his hooves under him before leaning in to whisper in Midnight’s ear.

“They don’t know. Should they?”

Midnight sighed as she sat up. “Please forgive Daddy, he’s just worried about me, that’s all.” Her body gave a brief shudder, but she could stand it if the two families started a fight over a misunderstanding. “I was there...during that wedding. And...” She bit her lip. Why was it so hard to talk about, even now?

“You all heard about my fight?” Ledger bluntly asked his step-fathers. They all nodded slowly.

“She met him before.”

Small gasps and looks of sympathy were shot at Midnight then, each one looking sad and upset that she’d seen that side of their race.

“And this is why I hate talking about it,” Midnight muttered. She hated having the sympathy of others. It was a thing that happened, she was fine now... for the most part. “Just, don’t get into a fight because of that alright?”

“Of course not, dear,” Madam said as she put her coffee down and held her forelegs apart, the offer of a hug there but not insistantly so. “Still, I have...dealt with them before. And we were only talking hypotheticals, Council-Stallion Grissom.”

“I acted rashly and hastily, for that, you have my apologies,” Grissom nodded. Song smiled at the Madam, but opted to stay in Ledger’s hug for the time being.

“Well,” Ace nodded as he sensed that a change in subject was needed. “Seeing as how my question has been answered, I’ll take my leave.” He looked at the batpony mare and smiled. “We should resume your training soon as well. Best not put it off for too long lass.”

“Yeah,” Midnight replied quietly.

Ledger gave his mare a soft kiss on the top of her head as he held her close. If he was needed to comfort her, it was a sacrifice he was more than willing to make. The Thestral glanced at a clock, a little after noon...eh, it was four o’clock somewhere.

“Hey Cider?” the batpony spoke softly. “Why don’t you show these guys your special talent?”

The mare blinked and tilted her head. “Its a little early isn’t it?” But all she got in return was a shrug. “Well, iffn’ y’all want. Ah can entertain ‘em.”

“We’d rather not,” the yellow stallion said, with mostly murmurers of agreement from his fellow ‘lings. “We’re plenty tired as-is, unless you’d like to end up housing us as well for the night-”

“I’m having one,” the violet said.

“One what?” the orange stallion questioned, to which the silver mare laughed slightly before replying.

“Dear, you really do need to read Ledger’s letters more often. Apple Cider, as evidenced by her name, is quite adept at brews.” The silver mare looked at Apple Cider and nodded slightly. “Just a small one, though. I have to play shepard to this flock yet today.”

“That’s fine, ah fetch some of the stock that have a low alcohol content,” Cider nodded as she trotted off to her cellar. She felt that a certain somepony might appreciate something with a little more kick to it though, as she brought up a bottle of her Cloud Cider and some Apple Reserve for Midnight.

Once she returned, Ledger had fetched enough glasses for anypony that wished to partake as Midnight begun to pour. The Cloud Cider earned its name, it had a heavy appearance, as the cloudy liquid swirled in the glass, but it’s taste was light and refreshing. The Reserve was a clear amber, but the scent and taste was quite potent.

She finished moving around the table, filling each glass by about a third.

“There we are,” she smiled. “Bottom’s up everypony!”

Ledger sniffed his drink before smiling and nodding; apparently Cider had learned that he had a remarkable tendency to get drunk quickly. Without any further ado, he began sipping at his drink. No need to tempt fate.

Madam Gossip took her drink and cradled it for the time being while watching the disguised drones she’d arrived with sharing more than a few looks. After about a minute of them silently arguing, the six eventually followed Ledger’s lead.

Cider sipped at her own drink, wondering what the others thought. She’d learned long ago that she couldn’t please everypony, but she at least hoped that they liked it.

“Hmm,” Ledger said as he tasted the drink. “Not too heavy, enough to let me know the alcohol is there...sorta reminds me of that drink Shining started me off with up in the Empire,” he mused.

“Meh,” his father said as he put his now-empty glass down. “It’s not bad, but I’d been hoping for a drink.”

“Needless to say, I don’t get my constitution from him,” Ledger said without missing a beat. Cider smiled as she refilled his glass, this time with a shot of the Reserve.

“Take this one slowly, or you’ll be walkin funny before y’all know it,” she warned him. The stallion smiled and nodded at her before sipping at his new drink and humming appreciatively.

“This is indeed a fine, mild drink. A perfect nightcap, one might say,” the silver mare said as she sipped her own. “Still, unless you yourself wish to play host to more of us, then once we are done, we had best be locating lodgings within the city.”

“Well ah could find a place, but it might get a bit crowded and it’d be askin’ too much for guests t’sleep in the barn.” She looked at Ledger and nodded. “You should go with ‘em, ah reckon they won’t know where these hotels are.”

“Fair point,” Ledger said as he got up and stretched. The brown unicorn then turned to Midnight and gave her a peck on the cheek as a way to say farewell. Song nodded, pouting that her cuddle buddy was leaving, so she pulled Scope in as a substitute. The now Pegasus frowned, but settled in for the long haul.

“We’ll be along later,” Grissom nodded. “We still have some things to talk about with Midnight.”

“It was a pleasure meeting all of you,” Moon said with a soft smile.

“You as well,” the Madam replied as Ledger’s father knocked back the last of his drink. With a coordinated effort, the other changelings managed to get up and moving towards the door in an orderly fashion...though the others did notice that the violet stallion seemed to trip for a moment.

“I, more likely than not, will want to talk to you again in the coming days before we must leave,” she said before standing up herself and nodding at the ponies. “It was a pleasure meeting you, and you have my thanks for looking after my wayward children.”

“Speaking of...” Midnight wondered what had happened to her temporary students. She knows she fed the dragon beforehoof...didn’t she?

“So long as you continue to take care of them, and miss Cider is amicable to the idea, then I don’t see anything wrong with you continuing to look after them until we leave. What do you think, miss Cider?” the Madam asked of her host.

“Ah don’t mind, ah quite like having them around actually.” Cider was especially fond of Critical. She had quite a lot of insight for somepony so young. Midnight’s obvious favorite was Joyful.

Scope could care less.

“Fantastic,” the mare said with a smile. “Mm, I think myself and Dream will come around tomorrow together, to check on both Critical and Ledger. I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the others do as well, for similar reasons, or to offer you recompense for having to handle this situation.”

“Y’all don’t need to do that,” Cider replied as she showed them out. “Yer all mah kin now as well, and family looks out fer one another.”

“And they will insist on looking after you, with that argument. I advise you to come up with a better one before too long, dear.” With that, the silver mare turned to leave the ponies be.

Cider waved them off and walked back inside. She hadn’t spoken much with Middy’s parents before, so she was going to make the most of this situation. The older ponies in turn, had questions for Scope and Cider. Given what happened with Midnight’s last marefriend...

And talk they did.

Chapter 35 - Family can be a royal pain

Cider stretched her legs, until she heard a satisfying crack and smiled. The sun hadn’t risen, it was so cold that Cider had to tap the icicle that had frozen on her bathroom tap before she could use it.

So yeah, a perfect morning for farming~

She trotted downstairs carefully, so she wouldn’t wake Critical Eye, sleeping soundly on the couch. She placed the coffee grounds in the maker, and set it up so the drink would be ready by the time Ledger awakened as she headed out into her orchards. The winter crops should be setting in about now, and she needed to make sure the weather Pegasi weren’t making it too cold for the plants to sprout.

She was quite surprised to see a somewhat familiar face when she got outside, already inspecting her crops. The orange stallion from yesterday, now an Earth Pony himself, was going from plant to plant with a critical eye, almost as fine a one on the nymph by the same name sleeping on her couch.

“Well now,” she said as she got closer, garnering his attention. “Ah didn’t expect to see somepony up this early.” She took a look at her crops and hummed. “So, how are mah lettuce and leeks doin’?”

“They’ll be fine,” he said with a wave of his hoof. “I’d keep an eye on the spinach, though. If only because Ledger’s the only son of ours that actually likes the leaf. Other than that, I think most of these will pull through this winter just fine.”

“Good to hear, and ah’d have to agree with you,” she replied as she looked over her crops. And Ledger liked spinach huh? Maybe she should make him a quiche or something one evening? “Well, you certainly seem to know yer stuff. Got any experience?”

“I’m the groundskeeper and gardener for home,” the stallion said with a nod as he looked at the crops. “It basically translates to what you do here, but with less expected of me. Do you know how hard it is to grow edible food when you’re not really an Earth Pony, only pretending to be one?”

“Anypony can do this,” she smiled. “And in yer case, anyling I suppose. Earth Ponies have always had an easier time of growing things, innate magic and whatnot. But put enough time an’ care into something?”

“Anything can happen,” the stallion said with a nod and a smile, this time actually looking at the mare. “We should know. We, all of us, are proof of that. And our children, further proof. You...don’t know how lucky you are to have Ledger. Maybe someday, you will.”

“Ah reckon ah have a fair idea,’ she winked at him. “Ah love Ledger, and Middy and Scopey as well. But Level and Midnight? They got a bond, something that only the two of them have... ah reckon ah might be a bit jealous, but ah wouldn’t change what ah have fer anythin’ in the world.”

“Hold on to things like that, to them,” the stallion said. “Because they’re precious things. They may have been through much of what the world has had to throw at them, but they’ve come out all the stronger for it.” He then looked at a nearby tree and smiled. “And with love and care...that which is already between the four of you will blossom as beautifully as any tree here.”

“We’re a bit like a tree ah suppose,’ Cider nodded, rubbing her hoof against the trunk. “Midnight is the flower, the one that blooms brightest. Ledger is the trunk, the one that supports us and Scopey? Hmm, ah reckon she might be the sharp shears that prunes whoever gets out of line.”

“An apt analogy, considering what little I know of the others,” the stallion chuckled. “But you appear to have forgotten to include yourself in it.”

“What else?” she said with a smile. “Ah’m the gardener. Ah’ll do what ah can to make sure everyone is healthy and happy.”

“Fair enough,” he said, before pausing and sticking a hoof out to the mare. “Peaceful-Heart.”

“Apple Cider,” she nodded, shaking his hoof firmly and he could feel the strength in those powerful, sturdy legs.

“Thank you for looking after my little filly while she’s been here,” he said before letting go. “I know she can be...illogical at times. But we love her through and through.”

“Have...y’all ever been to Ponyville?” she asked as she continued to walk along her orchard. “Because ah have a distant cousin there, goes by the name Pinkie Pie. You meet her, then you’ll understand.”

“If there’s one thing we’ve learned from Joyful, it’s that pink nymphs are not to be explained or understood or predicted. You simply roll with what happens.”

“They always say that when they’re talking about me,” a new voice said from above the pair of them. “I dunno why!”

“You’ll understand when yer older... maybe,” Cider hummed. As she walked along, she smiled slightly. “Oh? And Pinkie ain’t a Changeling...just fyi.”

“...Sweet hives, but there are ponies like the pinks?” the stallion whimpered.

“She sounds fun!” the little nymph chirped as she hopped down out of the tree she’d been in. “I wanna meet her someday!”

“Ah don’t think Equus would survive that,” Cider chuckled dryly. Dividing by zero would be a far safer venture. The sun was starting to rise, bathing the orchard in a brilliant palette of orange, red and gold. This was the reason she loved her work. When you got to see sights like this?

Totally worth it.

“Ooooh,” the usually-playful pink nymph calmed at the sight. “Pretty,” she said as she sat back and just watched Celestia raise the sun.

“Sure is,” Cider agreed. One day, she’d share this moment with the others, but right now? She closed her eyes as the warm sun touched her coat and filled her heart with light. Still, she shouldn’t dawdle. She had breakfast to prepare for her family.

“Since yer here,” she smiled. “Would you care for some breakfast Peaceful?”

“Well, I could do with some more physical stuff,” the stallion said with a smile. “The way you all treat my daughter could feed me for a long time.”

“Well, ah’ll take that as a compliment,” she replied as she gave Joyful a little nuzzle. “You wanna go wake up yer lazy brother?”

“Can I?” the nymph said with a smile. One that probably should have triggered every single instinct for Cider to re-evaluate what she just said and to who.

Too bad Cider was feeling mean this morning. “Go nuts kiddo!”

The nymph let out a cheer and vanished in a cloud of dust. Peaceful looked at Cider and sighed.

“For the record, if he asks, she will tell him who gave her permission to wake him up at this hour.”

“Well, ah reckon Ledger has some work to do today, so if ah don’t get him up...” She wondered exactly how little Joyful would wake him up though.

“Ah better go and make that coffee a double...”

There was a shout from the house as the stallion they were talking about was abruptly awoken…

Later that day, Midnight sat in Fredrick’s Place, sipping tea with her mother as they waited for their guest. Moon Song watched the Griffon leave their table and gave a low whistle.

“Well, I certainly see why you like this place.”

“Mhmm!” Song nodded, enjoying the eye candy.

About five more minutes would pass before the familiar silver mare from the other night would show up again, this time alone. After a brief conversation with the gryphon, she was directed to their table, where she pulled her seat out and got comfortable.

“And a fine day to you ladies,” the Madam said as she got settled. “I must say, I have heard this place and the proprietor thereof have quite a...reputation, yet he did not hit on me once just now like my son warned me he might.”

“Aww, I guess he’s getting closer to her then,” Midnight smiled as she turned and gazed at the mare. “Want me to hit on you to make up for it?”

“Your sentiment is touching, but unnecessary: I am not violet,” the mare said with a small smile on her face. “And the one that accompanied me is currently seeking his kin in the city.”

“Aww, I kinda wanted to see that,” Midnight hummed. Plus, she hadn’t seen her friends in a while now. Hmm, maybe later.

“So,” Moon hummed as she placed her teacup down. “What shall we ladies discuss today?”

“Perhaps how you came to know my boy, and what your future plans are for him?” the nymph suggested as she flagged Fredrick down. “One sweet tea for me while I peruse your menu, sir?”

“Of course, milady,” the griffon said with a nod. “For some reason, the tea is immensely popular, so I try to always have a quantity of it stocked.” With the observation delivered, the half-avian was off to the kitchen.

Midnight thought carefully on this. She pondered on telling half-truths and skipping smaller details. She could hide her emotions and had a near flawless pokerface. But, she couldn’t lie to this mare.

“Well, the beginning then,” she nodded as they waited for a fresh pot of tea. “I came to this city about...a month ago?” She looked at her mother, who nodded in response. “Well, around then anyway. I had come here for training and to assist the local Guard in taking down a rather high-profile criminal.” She paused as she looked at the mare. “And Ledger was a part of that plan.”

“I had wondered why his letters had become so...tersely worded when he could send them once he wrote that he was going to Equestria,” the nymph said as she looked over the menu. That casserole dish looked...familiar. “Am I to assume my son got involved with somepony of ill-repute?”

“Yes, but not through his own doing,” Midnight continued. “She found out who he was. Blackmailed him into doing some of her more...illegal doings. And he had been looking for a roommate sooo...”

“I notice that he’s not miserable or downtrodden now,” the silver mare said as she decided on the casserole. This should be interesting. “So am I to assume that somehow, the mare has been brought to justice?”

“Well, to put a long, interesting story short, yes.” Midnight decided that it was pasta time. As good as Ledger was, no-one beat the master of pasta. “She had resorted to hiring some rogue Changelings to put an end to Ledger and I. Funnily enough, that was how I met Scopey...and how I beat the tar out of Scopey. And yes, Toll Taker is now counting the stains on the ceiling of her cell and Ledger and I decided to see if a relationship would work.” She sighed as Fredrick returned with their tea. “And to think...all of that was the easy part.”

“I understand that all too well, dear.” The Madam turned to Fredrick and smiled. “I’ll be having the supreme casserole, dear.”

“Very well,” Fredrick said with a smile. And a slight twitch. He’d not been able to get it to match Ledger’s yet. And anypony who’d had his would know. “And you two fine ladies? What have you decided on”

“Pasta please!” Midnight giggled. “And oh my Celestia! This mango tea is freaking AMAZING~!”

“I’ll have a crisp salad,” Moon smiled, her eyes drinking more of the Griffon than her tea.

“Those should be out soon,” Fredrick said as he turned to Midnight. “Any particular preference on your pasta dish?” Please let there be a preference. Of the three dishes, it was the one he could do well!

“The rigatoni if you would, you sexy birdy~”

“One rigatoni, one salad, and one casserole,” the griffon said with a nod as he turned to duck into the kitchen, ready to dish out orders and dish up orders. “Just a minute to prepare all of that,” he informed the gathered females before bounding off.

“He...didn’t even retort...Narrow broke my birdy,” Midnight pouted. Well damn, between her loyalty to Ledger, and seeing as Narrow tamed Fedrick...the single ponies would be left unchecked. The city would descend into anarchy!

“Is that a bad thing?” The silver mare asked with a raised eyebrow before sipping her tea.

“The balance of power has been upset.” Midnight nodded, a solemn look in her eye. “A great darkness will soon sweep the land, tearing apart the magic that keeps Equestria safe.”

“Now you’re being a tad dramatic dear,” Moon sighed as she fixed her mane. “And you were telling a story if I recall.”

“Oh yeah,” Midnight hummed. “Aaaanyway, wanna hear how we met Cider?”

“I assume it was something meaningful, considering how much love you share for one another,” the nymph said as she carefully set her tea down, just in case.

“He went to visit her regarding a business venture. She got him drunk by accident, spilled sugar on herself and Ledger rutted her into the mattress.”

The mare was silent for a moment as she considered how best to respond. “Were Hope here, he would be saying something along the lines of ‘That’s my boy!’” she finally stated as she shook her head. “Oh dear, but I have missed out on some events.”

“You and me both,” Moon nodded. “At least you got letters...do you know what I get?”

“Mom,” Midnight begun.

“I get a paper that has my daughter’s name in the obituary.”

“Pity, I was unaware my son was dating a zompony,” the mare said with a straight face. “This will prove to be a most interesting relationship, I’m sure.”

“Also a vampony...well, when Cider feels like roleplaying,” Midnight giggled. “I wonder if I could get a costume of that? I would rock the next Nightmare Night party!”

“I still wonder how that little mare joined you,” Moon asked her. “Wasn’t she with us during our night out?”

“Yeah, Scopey’s come a long way since she tried to kill us. And Ledger won her over somehow...still don’t know all the details there. But the fact remains. Level Ledger...aka...” she looked around and once she was sure nopony was looking, she nodded. “Secret-Hoarder. Loves a nymph!”

“My son has come quite the way since that day when I almost got the Silvers involved in a war with the Yellows,” the tall unicorn observed. “And according to him, I have you to thank for it. So I do truly thank you dear.”

“All I did was treat him like a pony...well, when I thought he was just a pony,” Midnight nodded. “I really didn’t do anything special.” She sniffed the air as her wings gave a small flutter. She could smell something delicious.

“That’s all he really needed, and I think I will be in your debt for quite some time,” the Madam observed as she sipped her tea. “That being said, if you break his heart into a thousand pieces, I will endeavor to make you resemble it.” The tone in which she’d just casually threatened Midnight was deceptively calm. “The same goes for any of those other mares, or if he does it to you.”

“Well, perhaps if a Changeling hadn’t broken my Midnight in the first place,” Moon said as she sipped the last of her tea.

“Okay, so I think our food might be ready soon,” Midnight chuckled as she watched the dark aura’s of the two mothers. “Oh sweet Celestia I hope it’s ready soon.”

“To blame us all for the actions of one or even a few is to show narrow-minded bigotry,” the silver mare observed. “I don’t treat every pony I run into like they could be the next Sombra or Nightmare Moon, do I?”

“Well, this is going so well,” Midnight thunked her head onto the table. “And I don’t wanna hurt Ledger...done enough of that already...”

“And knowing my boy, it’s only after he took three wrong steps to try and not hurt you in turn,” the mare observed aloud. “Sometimes he over-thinks things. It happens.”

“Stallions will be stallions,” Moon nodded, the sour mood blasted by an orbital friendship cannon. “I can only imagine what it’s like having six of them.”

“Six devoted partners to help me do everything, catch every nuance behind what I say, and defend me if need be? It wasn’t bad, but being waited on every hour of every day was leaving me feeling...empty. It was only when Hope pulled through and suggest I truly make him my husband...that our relationships became fulfilling.” The mare sighed and looked into the distance at something only she could see. “Not a day goes by that I’m not thankful for him taking that first step.”

Midnight and Moon blinked as they stared at the mare. She really was from another world, both in species and in class.

“So what’s it like in the Hives?” Midnight asked. “I’ve tried asking Ledger, but never get a straight answer.”

“Probably because he doesn’t want you to worry about everybuggy,” the mare said with a laugh before their food arrived at last. The griffon placed a fresh salad in front of Moon Song, and a rigatoni dish with clam sauce in front of Midnight.

The moment the Madam saw the casserole, she just knew. Ledger had traded recipes with this griffon. What he’d had that he saw fit to trade for, she didn’t know. But she knew he was at least friends with him to earn this one.

“Your lunches, ladies,” the griffon declared with a bow.

“You are a lifesaver!” Midnight exclaimed. This was too much, she was going to have a freaking heart attack at this rate. “I’m too young and sexy to die here.”

“I do hope so, Ledger would never forgive me if you did,” the silver unicorn chuckled as she began to eat her lunch, humming appreciatively at the taste of home. Unexpected, but not unwelcome.

“Middy just can’t deal with being passive-aggressive,” Moon said as she crunched on her salad. “It’s one of her small flaws. She has trouble dealing with problems she can’t actually hit.”

“Actually, you’re both well within my reach,” the batpony muttered as she ate her dish. But it was so hard to stay mad when she ate something this good.

“And then you would have an upset Ledger to deal with,” the silver mare pointed out as she continued to devour her meal. The griffon had almost done a perfect copy of Ledger’s dish.

Almost.

Moon Song ate quietly, while Midnight frowned slightly as she inhaled her pasta. The tension was thicker than Ledger’s head and she prayed for a distraction. Something, anything would be welcome. Robbery, alien invasion...end of the world...something small like that.

“Well dear,” the Madam asked as she got a little over halfway through the casserole. “I am happy that Ledger found somepony he could trust. I thought he never would after…”

“Levvy’s pretty tough,” Midnight replied. “He just needed somepony that cared is all. I didn’t do anything special.”

“Au contraire,” the Madam said. “You cared about him for him. That...is rare, even among our kind. And you helped him when he was in a tight spot. I truly do not hold any grudge against you, nor do I think I could hurt you...I am just...protective of my firstborn son. And all my sons.”

“As any good mother should be,” Moon nodded as she finished off her salad. She dabbed at her mouth with a napkin and looked at the Royal ‘ling. “You and I aren’t so different really.”

“Argh!!” Midnight thunked her head against the table. “For the love of Celestia’s Sweet Plot! Are you two friends or enemies? I CAN’T TELL!!”

“Midnight, do calm down,” Moon chided her loud daughter. ”You’re making a scene.”

“In the lands, the two terms are nearly interchangeable in the right circles. I believe many have used the term ‘frenemy’ after meeting me. I can be the best friend or worst foe you’ve met, or if you’re really persistent and tricky, both at once,” the mare smiled as she polished off the last of her casserole. The griffon was good, but he did not put the love Ledger had for this dish into it.

“I fear my daughter would not last long in the lands,” Moon chuckled as she sipped her drink. She also made a note to recommend this place to her Canterlot friends.

“Could you imagine Ledger in the Thestral lands?” Midnight wondered as she sat there. Oh, wait...that was a bad idea. That brought up a whole slew of memories she didn’t want. Her ears flattened against her head as she looked down. “Aww...I made myself sad.”

“Perhaps a visit from my daughter, or the city’s Pink would help you?” the Madam said before sipping at her tea. “The past is best left where it lay if it is so powerful as to cause you to react this way, miss Midnight.”

Moon and Midnight didn’t answer that. The mood would definitely have soured if it was brought up. The Thestral adjusted her armour as she stood up. “I might do that,” she replied. “But right now, I have to get some work done. Will you two be okay by yourselves? Or do I need to use the hoofcuffs?”

“...And now I find myself glad indeed that Hope is not here, otherwise I am certain he would have responded in quite the way to that open-ended invitation,” the silver mare said with a shake of her head. “Take care, Miss Song.”

“Huh? Oh. No, real hoofcuffs chafe too much,” she replied with a gaze that would harden every stallion in a one mile radius. Several sitting nearby already shifted in their seats slightly. “That’s why I keep a fluffy pair as well~ You can borrow those if you really want~”

“Midnight,” Moon sighed as she rubbed her temples. “You are incorrigible. Go to work dear.”

“Yes Ma’am,” Midnight giggled and saluted, before leaving the two mares alone.

“I have no idea how she and Ledger got together, even with half an explanation like we have,” Madam Gossip said after she drained her drink dry, “But I think they’re well-suited for one another.”

“How he was able to tame the storm that is my daughter, I will never know,” Moon repled as she placed some bits on the table. “But I am glad she could find happiness again, lasting happiness.”

“And I am equally glad that my son has recovered from what was done to him,” the silver unicorn nodded. “Though, the full details on that story, I can do without...his father might want to know, but I do not need to know myself beyond the fact that he is better.”

Moon nodded in response as Fredrick returned to collect his fee and she could ogle that furry flank a little more. Yes, she was married... that didn’t mean she couldn’t admire the window displays every now and then~

“Hmm,” the Madam hummed as she considered the situation. “I have heard much about this bonding activity called shopping, but so few true female friends to engage in it with. I would not be remiss in trying it with you, seeing as we are likely going to be seeing more of each other in the future.”

Her ear flicked when the word ‘shopping’ was mentioned and her muzzle split in a wide smile. “Oh my dear, you have no idea.” She grabbed the mare’s hoof and all but dragged her from the store. They were burning sunlight and there was shopping to do!

Amethyst Cream was busy serving Las Pegasus’ little ones her sugary delights when the next pony in line was far taller than her usual clientele.

And more armoured as well.

“Creamy?” Midnight said as she walked up to the counter. “Do you sell hugs?”

“Nah, can’t put a price on ‘em,” she said before coming around the counter and wrapping the mare up in a full hug, wings and all. “So I just give ‘em away.”

“Mmm, I would pay top dollar for hugs like this,’ the Thestral sighed as she returned the warm embrace. “Today has been...emotionally draining, uh, no offense?”

“None taken!” the pink mare chirped before giving Midnight one last squeeze and letting go. “So, whatcha need the hug for, Middy?”

“Was thinking about things. Got sad. I’m better now,” Midnight replied. “Now I kinda wish Levvy was a Pink. He’s great and all, but you and Joyful-Heart give better hugs.”

“We have practice,” she said with a wave of her hoof. “Levvy’s great at what he does, but when it comes to interacting with ponies? Total flop.”

“Well, at least he’s not floppy where it counts~” Midnight giggled and gave the mare another squeeze.

“Oooh, you’ve been with him?” the mare said with a smirk. “I was afraid he might never get together with a mare or a nymph!”

“You didn’t know?” Midnight blinked. They hadn’t exactly been subtle about their relations with one another. “Well, yeah, me, Cidey and Scopey have all been with him...and each other.”

“Hmm,” the pink mare said with one hoof to her chin as she considered the information. “Good, good...he’s almost ready I think. Just one last test and then I’ll call him rehabilitated from the Lands.”

“One last test?” Midnight blinked as she let go of the Pink and stared her in the eyes. “Care to elaborate Miss Amethyst?”

“Sure!” she said with a grin. “He has to give me an honest smile. The sort of smile that you have when your future is looking bright, and you can forget the sorts of things that happened to you before. One that isn’t haunted by memories. Whiiiiich remiiiiiinds me…” the pink pegasus said as she looked at Midnight.

“What?” Midnight replied, taking a step back. She had the feeling that her wings were about to get a workout.

“Yoooou haven’t given me a smile yet, missy!” the pink pony said as she pointed a hoof at the thestral. “C’mon, cough it up, I know you’ve got one in there somewhere.”

“Uhh...” The batpony gave the mare an awkward smile, one showing a bit too much fang as she looked around, not making eye contact.

“Nope, doesn’t count.” The pink mare’s wings twitched as she looked at the batpony. “Do I have to get creative? If need be, I will tickle it outta you.”

Midnight’s eye gave a twitch as she took another step back. “You wouldn’t dare...”

“Oh I would,” the pink mare said as she took two steps forward. “Last chance, Middy. Give me the smile and nopony gets tickled.”

“Lemme think on it-NOPE!” Midnight’s wings flared as she bolted into the sky like her tail was on fire. Her response to a Pink? Fly away as fast as possible!

“Hiya!” A smaller, equally pink pegasus said from in front of her, before she blew right past. “Huh, wonder what that was about…”

“Oh hey!” Amy said as she screeched to a halt next to her smaller pink friend. “You’re that filly that doesn’t like my griffonfriend!”

“And you’re miss Amy, the best ice-cream mare in the city!” the smaller pink said as she hugged the larger one. The two shared the embrace for a moment before Amy started to pull away.

“I would love to stay and chat, but I have a thestral to catch…”

“I could help!” the smaller nymph said, eyes bright.

“...Y’know what, sure thing kiddo. Let’s see about finding miss Midnight again.”

“Yay!”

As the bat soared high above the city, she suddenly wondered if she should have been born with a rainbow mane, as that might have been the only thing that could save her.

Amy didn’t seem to be following her, prolly busy feeding ice-cream to that little filly that Midnight almost knocked over. Well, a distraction was a distraction.

A cloud drifted into her view, one that appeared to be fluffy and thick and blessedly unoccupied. Midnight landed on the cloud and turned three times before sitting down. Here seemed like a good place to procrastinate from work for a while.

“She is not in visual range, miss Amy,” a familiar voice said from below her.

“Noted, continue observation of city, miss Heart,” the voice of the pink pegasus said, identifying both it and the previous speaker.

“You both need better peripheral vision,” Midnight said as she reached through the fluffy white mass and copped a feel of Amy’s flank before flying off again.

“Deploying cute-bomb!” the voice of the elder mare said before Joyful-Heart found herself flying at miss Midnight without using her wings.

“Wheee!” she said, deciding now was the time to flap and follow the batpony. Maybe she’d catch up in this game?

“Misdirection is a valid tactic as well,” Midnight replied as she paused and stretched out her hooves. Just as Joyful caught up, she grabbed the little filly, sup around and flung her back at the older Pink. “Heads up Creamy!”

“Incoming!” the pink mare said before ducking and letting the smaller nymph fly overhead. Okay, no more miss nice mare. This batpony was going to get treated to a pink going all out.

The older mare took a deeeeeep breath…

And then made the saddest, most imploring face imaginable. Even puppies were in awe of her puppy-dog eyes.

“Please?” she asked in a trembling voice. Midnight sighed and flew closer until she hovered into the air. That look was heart-attack inducing, those huge eyes staring into her soul...

At least until Midnight wrapped her hooves around her and showed the mare what a Thestral kiss was like. She hummed softly as she made out with the mare in midair, before releasing her and licking her lips.

“Mmm, yummy~” she giggled and flew off.

Amy hovered there for a moment, dumbstruck. She knew she should chase after the mare. Knew she should try and get her to give her an honest smile.

But at the moment, all she could think about was that kiss, and why Acey didn’t kiss her like that. Joyful-Heart flew up to her and waved a hoof in front of her face.

“Um, Miss Amy? You okay?”

“Uh, yeah, just...fine,” she said, shaking her head a little to try and clear it. “Okay, time for plan C! You ready?”

There was a pause, and then two pink flashes came from within the cloud they’d darted back into. Shortly thereafter, a blue pegasus colt and a red pegasus stallion were on the prowl again.

The doors to ‘The Love Shack’ blew open as Midnight raced inside. Amy might try looking here at some point, but she doubted that the mare would bring Joyful in. She looked around as she trotted over to a booth and sat down, sighing as she took a few deep breaths.

“Hello there, pretty mare,” a voice came from her right. “Come here often?”

Midnight gave the stallion a half-hearted glance, not paying too much attention. “I’m taken,” she muttered as she lay her head on the table.

“I know,” he said, before waving a waitress over. “I’ll pay for her drinks.”

“Of course,” the white unicorn said before turning to Midnight. “And what would you like, miss?”

“Water, technically I’m on duty,” Midnight replied, still not looking up. But gods that stallion was persistent.

“Fair enough,” the stallion said. “So what brings such a pretty thestral mare into this bar at this hour?”

“Running for a crazy pink mare,” she replied. “I kissed her to stun her, but I doubt it’ll last long.” She paused as she pondered on something. “Your voice sounds familiar.”

“I should hope so,” the stallion said with a slight chuckle. “We’ve met before, and you’re still as beautiful now as you were then.”

“Hm?” she looked up and saw just who she was talking to. “Ohh, hey Purple pops...wait, you aren’t Amy in disguise are you?”

“Fairly certain I’m not, no,” the stallion chuckled as he sipped at his drink. “So, you’ve met the Pink of the city, then. They really ought to have another two or three here, they’re wonderful at spreading joy wherever they go.”

“I think one is plenty,” Midnight said with an exasperated sigh. “So, what have you been up to? Met the Ladies yet?”

“Mm,” the stallion said as he put his drink down. “They’re a nice enough bunch of nymphs. Working to try and make their own drinks, and they’ve got quite the client list...along with list of tricks.” Here he winked at the mare before continuing. “Apparently, somepony came along and showed them they needed to step up their game...so they decided to do a little light reading.”

“Oh?” she blushed slightly as she recalled that day. That was a fun day. “And here I thought I just gave them the standard routine...”

“What was standard for you was less so for them, and they could tell you had more you were holding in reserve.” The stallion swirled his drink and looked up from it. “Do you know how hard it is for them to get a copy of some of the more...exotic tomes from back home?”

“Beats me,” Midnight shrugged. “If they wanna know anything, they should just ask me. It’s not like I’m keeping them a great secret.”

“They’re trying to one-up you, dear,” the stallion said with a sigh. “Once they’ve looked for and read, assuming there is, a section on thestrals? I would stay far away unless you wanted to learn what it really means to be with a Violet.”

“Heh, good luck with that,” Midnight replied as she played with her mane. “Most Thestral’s aren’t...very proactive in that area. They’ll never find any texts because there are no texts.”

“...Aaaand you just made it worse,” the stallion said with a sigh. “Think about it for a minute and I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“I don’t get it,” Midnight shrugged. “Care to explain dear Hope?”

“In the Violet Hive,” the stallion said, leading the mare down the right path, hopefully. “The Pony Sutra isn’t just a one-off. It’s a living document. They’re always accepting additions, provided they’re well-crafted enough and detailed enough.”

“Soooo, this involves me how?” Midnight sighed as she lay her head back on the table again. The stallion chuckled.

“Midnight, when they learn there are no texts regarding your kind, they’re going to try and rectify that. And every book needs a test subject. If they were to succeed, I’m certain it would garner them no small amount of fame. Maybe even the lead nymph would be granted her own minor nobility for penning it.”

“Well, considering I’m exclusive now, that would be quite the feat on their end huh?” Midnight mused. That was about when the waitress returned, and she was looking at Midnight with a gaze that practically screamed ‘do want.’

“So, funny story miss Midnight. The mail came just now...and the homeland has nothing on Thestrals in their litany of texts.” She came a bit closer and put her forehooves on the table before resting her head on them. “Funny how that is, isn’t it? I mean, once we explained that your kind weren’t as horrible as we all thought, they actually looked...and found nothing. Apparently the lands and the thestrals haven’t run across one another in a romantic sense before…care to help change that?”

“Well I think I already have don’t you think?” Midnight hummed. “Unless you’re talking about something different. In that case, can you make your point clear?”

The violet nymph in disguise came a little closer and suddenly kissed Midnight on the lips, making out with the mare with a lot of passion. She might have only been using a pony tongue, but she gave it her all.

“Mmph!?” Midnight blushed as the previously unseen mare kissed her. And due to her own surprise more than anypony, she pushed the pony back. “Look,” she said once she caught her breath, props to the mare, she had talent. “I said I was taken, and given how I yelled at Ledger for going at it with Cider when we first met, this would make me a real hypocrite.”

Gods above! She’d become committed to the relationship.

“Oh, he doesn’t have to know,” the waitress purred. “You, me, half a dozen of my friends in back...and the rest of the day to figure out just what turns. you. on~” The last part was said in a silky whisper that barely carried it to Midnight’s ears.

The Thestral shuddered at that. Celestia that sounded good. “But I would know,” she sighed. “Heh, tell you what, convince Ledger, Cider and Scope, and sure! We’ll go to town. I’ll even give you a few tips beforehoof.”

Heh, good luck there.

“Bring them by one day and we’ll certainly try,” the nymph said before giving Midnight another kiss, this time just a peck on the lips. “Running this place is becoming a full-time thing, you know. What with all the additions we’ve had to install to the bolt-hole, and more digging going on besides. But we’d all gladly take a break from our back-breaking, sweaty, hard labor to spend some time with you and yours~”

Midnight then got an evil thought. “Aw, such a pity...and here I thought you couldn’t wait...” She flicked out her long tongue, snagging a nut from the snack bowl on the table and pulling it into her mouth. The tongue always worked. She had seen stallions cream themselves at the mere sight of what she could do with it.

“Mmm, but your latest condition was ‘all of us or none of us,’” the nymph said. “In which case, I’ll have to wait until you bring them by. But if you’re saying you’re ready to go right now, then I can take the rest of the day off to find what buttons to push.” And Midnight certainly had pushed a few with that display. More than a few. Oh she was glad the carpet cleaned easily.

“Huh? Oh, I think you misunderstand,” Midnight replied. “Cider at the least would never agree to that. I simply meant to get their permission to rent me for a while.”

“You say that like it wasn’t a foregone conclusion that we wouldn’t do everything in our power to learn all your little secrets, Midnight,” the nymph purred. “Whatever price they name, we will match...if only to spend as much quality time with you as possible. And I promise you, you’ll like what we do...and love when we pass our work on to Ledger~”

“Well then, good luck,” Midnight replied as she ran a hoof along the mare’s spine. Here was something even Ledger hadn’t learned yet. Mostly because Cider alone had seen this, and she’d been sworn to secrecy.

You see, Ace had taught her more than just combat techniques as Midnight pressed a point just above the dock of her tail. The mare’s breath caught, her eyes crossed, and her knees briefly shook.

“...Oh you play dirty,” the mare said once she got enough of her composure back that she felt she could stand straight again.

“Hm? Is something the matter?” Midnight asked innocently as she looked down. “Oh, cleanup in aisle three.”

“If I weren’t pretending to be decent, you wouldn’t be leaving here until you finished what you just started,” the mare all but growled out. “...I’ve learned many times that asking forgiveness is actually worse than asking for permission, so you get one pass, and that was it. I suggest you flee before you start something you don’t want to finish.”

Midnight heard the door open and she saw Amy poke her head in as the Thestral ducked down. Gods above she was persistent.

Oh! Ideeaaa~

“You know, I might have given the Pink a few tips a while back. Maybe you could ask her about it?” She gave Hope a wink and booked it for the backdoor.

With that delivered, the next few minutes became host to an almighty changeling clusterbuck that more than slowed Amy down. She’d been accosted by every nymph that had paid attention to the exchange, and soon there was a mass of bodies between the Pink and the door Midnight had gone through.

It was a slight surprise, then, that she heard Hope speaking up once she’d left. Apparently he took the wink as a signal to get out as well and had followed her.

“So, what’s the story between you and the Pink?” he asked.

“GAH!” Midnight put a hoof to her chest as the stallion had appeared out of nowhere. “Sweet Celestia! Don’t do that...” Then she realised who she was talking to. It was like asking Ledger not to snark.

“Ehh, long story. She wants a smile and isn’t satisfied with the ones I give her.”

“Hmm,” the stallion hummed as he put a hoof to his chin. “Have you tried thinking about Ledger when she asks?”

“Well...no,” Midnight replied. “I know what she’s getting at, and everytime she asks I end up think about...” She trailed off as she thought about it again. “Aw dammit, now I’m sad again.”

“...Midnight, dear? Whatever weight that is? You need to lessen the load somehow. Perhaps by sharing it with somepony? It’s not healthy to carry it around like that. I can feel the pain it’s causing you.” The stallion had lost his usual cocky, assured stance and looked...genuinely concerned for her.

Midnight frowned as she looked at him. “What about if I asked about Chrysalis...or the Blacks? Would you tell me everything?”

“Not here in the open, for one, and for another, I don’t know everything about them,” the unicorn shrugged. “They’re some of the worst parts of our race, true...but it isn’t me you should be sharing with. I’m not one of the ones you’re sharing a bed with.”

“I...” Midnight paused as she went over the conversation in her head. How the others would react. The way Ledger was treated in the past, the respect Cider had for family...If Midnight told them how she grew up, what was expected...what was still expected of her by certain individuals.

“They’d hate them,” she muttered, before she flared her wings and took to the sky again.

“Well, my son has quite the task ahead of him if he’s to get her to open up,” the stallion sighed before going on his way.

Ledger was hard at work, making sure that all the contracts his company had acquired while he was on vacation were not only valid, but that all the bits from them were in fact coming in to the company’s coffers.

He trusted his workers, but it didn’t hurt to verify that trust every now and again. He’d just finished up his latest bit of paperwork when there was a knock at his door.

“Who is it?” he called out after shaking his head to clear the post-paperwork fog from it. That spell was always a bit...disorienting, but he couldn’t argue with results. The door opened and a Thestral stallion poked his head inside.

“May I enter?” he asked in his gravelly tone.

“Sure thing, just finished up with this backlog,” Ledger said as he gestured at the chair on the opposite side of his desk.

His desk. It was still fun to think of it like that.

The batpony entered and closed the door behind him. “I just did a small tour of your facility. It seems that help I left for you is doing quite well. Kudos on bringing this company around so quickly.”

“Helps to know how it all works,” Ledger said as he put the papers in his ‘out’ tray. “Also helps to have all the rotten wood locked up.”

“True enough,” Grissom nodded as he took a seat, sighing slightly. He was getting too old for all this travelling. “So tell me, what are your thoughts on your workers? Any of them given you any trouble?”

“None so far, they’re all really eager to please. Probably because I’m treating them with respect, something in short supply for them no matter where they are.” Ledger leaned back in the chair and looked at Grissom with one eyebrow raised. “You probably already knew that, being who you are...and I’m finding it hard to believe that you would come down here to ask me that question and that question alone.”

“Astute as always,” Grissom chuckled as he leaned back in the chair. “No, I did come to check up on them and you as per my position. But, you and I? We have more personal matters to discuss.”

“Mm. Is this the sort of conversation we should be drinking to have, or would you rather we remain sober while we talk about my love life?” the accountant-turned-CEO asked of his marefriend’s father.

“Again, quite astute,” Grissom replied as he took out a small case that had half a dozen cigars inside. “Want one?”

“I’ll pass, but thank you for the offer,” Ledger said as he contemplated taking out the bottle he’d stashed in one of the drawers and deciding against it. “So, out with it. What do I need to be yelled at about?”

“There won’t be any yelling,” Grissom nodded as he placed one of the cigars in his mouth and lit it, taking few puffs of the rich taste. “Haa, the wife doesn’t like these, so I rarely get to partake.” Luckily there had been an ashtray on the table he could use as well. “Let’s start with why you’re letting Midnight alone choose if you should all marry.”

“Because while I would like to get married with them all someday, it’ll take time for me to get used to the idea. Factor in that she’s the one that’s the most uncomfortable with it, with good reason, and we can combine the two.” The smell was...well, it was different. Toll herself hadn’t smoked, but kept the ashtray around for those underlings that did. Too much ash on the carpet ticked her off. “By the time she’s comfortable enough to propose, we should both stop seeing it as glorified indentured servitude.”

“So, you have a similar experience then?” Grissom mulled over this as he chewed the end of the cigar slightly. “Well, how much do you know about Midnight’s hangups about it? Has she given you a reason?”

“She’s told me what it’s seen as for her back in the home country for Thestrals,” Ledger said with a shrug. “But anything more specific? Nope. Though I can make some educated guesses that she was...probably engaged to be wed at some point, from the way she sounded so bitter about it. And the way she tenses up at the mention of it.”

Grissom sighed, letting wisps of smoke rise to the ceiling. “Well then, what I will say never leaves this room yes? And afterwards, you are not allowed to hold this against Midnight. You can blame me and me alone.”

“...I wasn’t going to blame Midnight anyway, and if you think it’s going to be that bad, I question the wisdom in sharing it with me,” Ledger observed. “I’d rather not get in trouble with the parole-officer for all the ‘lings in Equestria.”

“You’re involved with Midnight, and she seems to think that what you have is long lasting and enough to make her abstain from her...activities.” The Thestral nodded and he tapped his cigar on the lip of the counter. “Back in Roamania, I was born into a noble family. One that adheres to very strict traditions. Very...old traditions. One’s that predate even the Princesses.” He let that sink in before continuing. “A little before Lady Noctis’ return...Princess Luna for anypony else. A few of us were invited to Equestria by Princess Celestia. I was one of them. Saw the opportunity to break free from the family and whatnot. That’s a story and a half in it’s own right, so we’ll skip up until Midnight was born.”

“Fair enough,” Ledger said with a nod. “I’ll hold my questions until the end if I can.”

Grissom nodded as he took a long draw and held it for a moment before releasing. “When she was...my family found out, to this day I do not know how. But, there was a lot of pressure to raise her...traditionally. Private education and tutoring on the important things. Also, her hoof in marriage had been promised to an up and coming young Duke. Though, Moon and I were unaware of that at the time. So, in order to appease the family, I did just that. Midnight was raised to be the perfect, obedient wife.” Here he sighed with a tired tone, and for a moment, his eyes looked so much older than what they were. “Her foalhood was not one I wanted to give her, and if I could do it over again, I would in a heartbeat... but you must play the cards that fate deals you. And I did that as well. Once she was sixteen, she was given a choice, go to Roamania and fulfill her place...or do as she pleased here in Equestria.” He chuckled as he tapped his cigar again. “You see, I never did get around to changing Midnight’s nationality from Equestria to Roamania. So what laws do you think she was restricted by?”

“None but these ones that we both live under,” Ledger said with a smile. “I approve of your cunning, sir. And that answers a few questions regarding her, really.” Ledger tapped a hoof on the desk as he thought about them. “Why she loves foals so much...and why she does what she does. She’s enjoying her freedom, now that she’s free to use it, and she likes foals because she never really was one. The concept of marrying us must be both a lovely thought and a terrifying one to her at the same time, though more of the latter I’d wager.”

“You’re not far off the mark,” he replied with a terse smile. “She joined the Guard like her old man, and do this day, I could not be prouder. Her Special Talent is singing, but given what she can do, you wouldn’t think so. But a few years later, a few months before she graduated...he showed up in Canterlot. The arrogant young Duke she’d been promised to behind our backs.”

“...Oh please tell me he got his flank handed to him,” Ledger replied as his teeth started to grind together. This situation was sounding a little...familiar...

“Between the brats diplomatic immunity, and the fact that if Midnight broke the law while still in the Academy, it would have meant an immediate expulsion...no, no he did not.” The stallion sighed as he tapped his cigar out, the taste ruined. “I argued with my family back home, but while my parents still live, my words holds little political sway. So, Midnight did what Midnight does. She tried to solve it herself.”

“...Y’know, I get the feeling that the ‘tried’ in that sentence is the operative word there,” Ledger observed wryly. “And I bet I can guess just how she tried to solve it, considering how we became what we are…”

“You’re right,” Grissom nodded, wondering if he should take up Ledger’s offer on that drink. “She went to the nearest bar, got herself blind-drunk and went home with the closest somepony with male anatomy. She figured that ruining herself for marriage would make him give up.” The stallion clenched his jaw.

“It did not.”

“Okay, please tell me that somepony, anypony, got this guy out of Equestria and is keeping him there, because if he shows up here, I make no promises about him leaving the city whole.” Ledger’s voice had turned dangerously hard. Only Midnight had heard this tone before, when he threatened to kill the two goons that were assigned to kill him and her. “She gave up everything she could save herself to get rid of this guy and it still didn’t work.”

“I eventually made a plea that he was being disruptive to the Crown, as he was harassing one of her Guards. And in the end, I got him deported...for a time. But the damage was done. Midnight figured that love was just a farce, something that was drawn up on paper and had no real meaning... And then she met Moondancer. I had...such hopes there.”

“I know how that story goes,” Ledger said with a raised hoof. “Rest assured, the one I incinerated and the one that she met are one and the same. She met up with Moondancer again during our brief stop in Canterlot, though I know not why. And then we can draw a few lines from there to the day she met me. If you want to fill in any blanks, feel free to do so.”

“Yes, I didn’t know anything until the young lass stormed my office, to tell me just how happy she was,” Grissom laughed. “All this time, and it turns out that my little girl went to visit her...to tell her that she’d found happiness again. True, lasting happiness. And that she wanted to be friends with Moondancer once more.” The Unicorn mare had been so ecstatic, so different from her usual terse self.

“She’s healing, then.” Ledger smiled himself and let off a pleased sigh at the news. “I’m...I’m so happy that she’s getting closer to being whole. The sort of damage she suffered leaves a hole. And it takes time and love to fill it in. I’m so pleased that she’s recovered enough to interact with ponies normally.”

“Well, Midnight also told her what you are, so I’d prepare for a storm like nothing else,” Grissom warned him. “Moondancer is an instructor at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, and only bested in spellcasting by young Twilight Sparkle. So, best of luck.”

“...Well, this was a nice disguise,” Ledger sighed dramatically. “I’m going to hate to lose it if she proves unreasonable.”

“You should be fine...mostly. Just think, a super-powerful, Unicorn version of Midnight and you’ll do fine.” He cleared his throat and decided to tell the worst part. “The fact remains, Duke Shadow-Wing is still pining for Midnight, and I haven’t heard from him in a while, so I can only begin to assume what he’s up to.”

“Not good,” Ledger said as his ears flipped around nervously. “Ponies like that, you want to know at least one thing. Where they are, what they’re doing, or how they’re doing. When they disappear completely is when they’re up to something they don’t want you to know about…”

“And my family refuses to speak with me, it’s quite bothersome,” Grissom sighed. “But yes, between that and the events surrounding her short lived engagement to Moondancer...I hope that answers a few of your questions.”

“It does indeed, though it does raise one more,” the brown unicorn said as he rubbed his temples with his hooves. “Why the buck haven’t you assigned someone to this? I’m not talking about Midnight, I’m talking about that duke. If he’s missing, then you should have somepony or a team of someponies looking out for this...I hesitate to use the terms I want to, because they’re in my own tongue.”

“I have tried, believe you me I have tried,” Grissom sighed. “Non-Thestral’s are forbidden to enter Roamania, and all the ones there are loyal to him, being a Duke of the most powerful noble family. As long as he remains in Roamania, I cannot touch him. Should he set hoof inside Equestria and even breathe in Midnight’s general direction...” That tired look in his eye? Replaced by one that threatened to tear the closest being into meaty strips. With a silver flash, Ledger was replaced by a male version of Midnight.

“You are aware of who and what you’re in charge of, right?” Ledger pointed out before returning to his normal form. “We’d make excellent spies for this sort of thing.”

“I am aware, but one mistake and the Thestrals and Changelings could go to war Ledger...” Grissom gave a small twitch at seeing a stallion version of his daughter. That was...unsettling. “Look, I have kept her safe and I will continue to do so...but, could I count on you as well?”

“You talk like I wasn’t already going to,” Ledger quipped before nodding. “Oh, and by the way? My mother nearly caused a war when she heard of something terrible happening to me. If something happens to Midnight, there won’t be any nearly about it, I promise you that.”

“Make sure you swing by Canterlot first, you provide the war, I’ll provide the army.” Grissom shifted his wings and nodded his head. “Well, I believe I could use that drink now.”

Ledger reached out with his magic and opened the bottom drawer, pulling out a bottle of very good rum, identical to the one that Toll had kept in here when it was her desk. A glass quickly joined it as a quantity of the spiced liquor found its way to sitting in front of Grissom.

“I probably shouldn’t just yet, work and all,” Ledger said as way of explaining why a second glass hadn’t joined the first. “You enjoy for the both of us, okay?”

“Nonsense boy!” Grissom laughed as he poured two shots. “Let’s relax a little!”

This wasn’t going to end well, but then with this family...did it ever?

Author's Note

The Patreon is now live at this page.

Like the story? Consider dropping us a dollar or two. It'd be appreciated.

...Oh, and with Celestia Trigger no longer being a Thing, I can update this more often. Three times a week, buwahahah!

Chapter 36 - Moondancing with the devil

Fortunately, Ledger kept in mind his own limits, and only got himself slightly tipsy. And kept himself from making any business deals while he was. Alcohol and money didn’t mix well - one lubricated the other into leaving hooves quite quickly.

It was equally fortunate then that he remembered to drink plenty of water to avoid a hangover. He was already being woken up by a pink alarm clock, he didn’t need a headache to go with it as well.

It was when Ledger arrived at work the next morning that his good fortune ran out.

Standing in his office was a rather inquisitive Unicorn mare. She had the purest white coat and a mane made of two tones of red and purple. Her Cutie Mark was one of a silver crescent moon surrounded by five red stars.

The brown unicorn stallion raised an eyebrow at the mare. Internally he was panicking, but he’d practiced for panic situations. “Who are you, ma’am, and what are you doing in my office before me?” He moved to sit behind his desk before the mare spoke up.

“Hm, you really should invest in better locking spells, those ones you have are foalish at best.” She looked at the art on the walls and her face scrunched up in disgust. “Ergh, and get some better art, this makes me unreasonably angry for some reason.”

“An emotionally unbalanced opponent is one that’s easier to bend to your will, or so Toll Taker thought. I suppose I got used to it when working under her and just never thought to replace it.” Now comfortably seated behind his desk, the stallion gestured towards the empty chair. “You’ve still not introduced yourself,” he noted aloud.

The mare’s horn flashed as Ledger found himself seated on the couch as she reclined in his chair, her hindhooves up on his desk. “I approve of this chair though. Nice and comfy, and not imposing enough to compensate for a lack of a certain something.” Her eyes danced with a familiar sense of cheek for a moment. “So you’re Level Ledger huh...I figured you’d be more...” Her horn flashed once more and Ledger’s disguise peeled away. “Ah, now that’s better.”

“I get the feeling your name is Moondancer,” Ledger sighed as his own horn flared. The door locked and was sealed tightly in a pulse of silver magic. “Does this locking spell meet with your approval, miss?”

She looked at the door with a scrutinising gaze. “Meh, I guess it will do. And yeah, I’m Moondancer...how did you kno- Grissom!”

“Mmhmm,” Ledger said with a nod, deciding to not tell her about the ‘ling that had tailed Midnight in Canterlot. “Told me you might show up. Wasn’t expecting ‘now’ to be the time frame, but I’ll deal. So why exactly are you here, miss Moondancer?”

“Well, you see Mr. Ledger...or whatever your name is...” She sat upright and leaned forward. “You seem like a clever stallion-bug-thing...so my request is quite simple.” Her horn flashed as she was just a few inches from Ledger’s face. “Leave. Midnight. Alone!”

“No, and I believe if you say that again, I’ll have to tell you to go do something rude to yourself and your mother on principle,” the changeling said before shaking his head. “I tangled with the darkest of magics, I was unmasked in public, and I served dinner to Princess freaking Celestia. You rank somewhat lower than Shiny on my list of threatening ponies.”

“Oh really?” Her horn flashed as his body held a pale glow for a moment. “Your ability to transform is sealed, so last chance Changeling.”

Ledger’s response was to open a drawer in his desk and grab ahold of an old sack’s drawstrings with his magic. It was easier than grabbing ahold of the sack or what it held. He could just about manage bringing it to him, and when he stuck his hoof in and touched the stone, the glow returned before fading.

“Anti-magic stone. Have to thank Captain Narrow for forgetting it here. Now either we talk this out, or I shove this down your throat, miss,” Ledger warned.

“Ooh, somepony has a pair,” she smiled as she took her seat again. “So then entertain me. Why won’t you leave her? Lemme guess, because she’s so full of all that yummy love?”

“If you think I see your friend as nothing more than a food source, then we have nothing to discuss,” Ledger said as he put the stone back away and returned to his normal disguise. “Feel free to leave before I have somepony escort you.”

“Aww, you think I’m scared,” Moondancer smiled again. He could sense it too, she held no fear whatsoever. “But you still haven’t answered my question. What’s so special about that bat?”

“She cares about me for me.” Ledger said by way of explanation. “Do you know how rare that is for me? For my kind? For my gender among my kind? No, of course you wouldn’t.” Ledger’s tone turned dismissive and he turned away from the unicorn mare in his chair. “You’re just here to try and scare the bug into leaving the first pony to actually care about him...to actually love him. You don’t care about those inconvenient little things like facts and truth, do you?”

Moondancer stared at him. Even as she slowly got off of her chair and walked closer to him. Her horn had a pale light as the temperature in the room dropped.

“Don’t...care?” she said, her tone was even colder. “You mean like all the times we shared? About the promises we made to one another? And then how that promise was forgotten...because of what happened to her...because of your kind!” She was close to him now, even as the walls begun to form a thin layer of frost. “I will not allow her heart to break again!”

“Then stand the buck down before I have to break you!” Ledger warned as his own horn flared. “If we do this, no matter how it ends, she breaks! You go after me and win, she’ll be hurt because of you. I go after you and win, she’ll be hurt because of me. There’s no winner if we fight, got it?”

She stared at him, her eyes boring into his very soul...before her horn’s hue changed and the room began to warm up. “Okay! You pass Mr. Ledger~”

“...Are all of Midnight’s friends crazy, or did I just hit the motherload?” Ledger moaned as he let the magic in his horn die. “I was seriously expecting you to come after me for a moment there, and I’m pretty sure you’re less durable than my last opponent.”

“Mr. Ledger, if I was serious...” Her horn shone again and one of the paintings was teleported halfway through the wall. “You’d be dead before you even realise I was an enemy.”

“The last thing I fought, I hesitate to call it a ‘ling, I ripped a leg off with TK and skewered him with a kitchen knife.” In the lull thus provided, Ledger reclaimed his seat and sighed. “Plus you would not believe how many spots there are in a pony where just the wrong amount of pressure can kill. The heart, the brain, the spine…”

“Well, it’s a good thing we’re not enemies huh?” the mare smiled all too happily as sparks danced between them.

“I’d hardly call us friends either,” Ledger deadpanned. “You show up in my office before sane ponies do, put me through a ridiculous test to see how much I love the mare I would never hurt...I half-expect you to have a miniature shrine to her at your house, the way you seem to be devoted to Midnight’s well-being.”

Moondancer coughed lightly. He must never know...

“Yes, well. Look me in the eyes and tell me you have never done anything drastic that involved Midnight.”

“We kinda took down a criminal organization together,” Ledger said before laughing. “Had to fake her death too, while we were at it. Oh, and because I bucked up once, we started a herd and have made it a nice little family.” Yeah, drastic and Midnight seemed to go together like peanut butter and jelly.

...Dammit, now he was hungry again.

“Oh wow, She doesn’t do anything by halves huh?” Oh how Moondancer missed her. “Well, I could threaten you all day...or just remind you that you’re stuck with her. So...best of luck with that.”

“I like to think I’ve done fairly well so far,” Ledger said. “There have been a few missteps thanks to our clashing cultures. Took her forever to realize that I wanted her to be in control by default...but I think we’ve mostly worked each other into reasonably normal ponies.” Ledger paused for a bit before rephrasing his sentence. “Okay, she’s worked me into being normal. I keep her from bucking everypony from here to Canterlot.”

“Yeah, she’s...exuberant,” Moondancer sighed. “And sorry, but given what happened, I guess I just needed to see this for myself.” Her horn flashed again and Ledger was sitting in his seat, Moondancer was reclining on his couch, her position made it so only her tail was saving her modesty. Ledger blushed and looked away, not wanting anything to do with this. He did not need more mares. Especially not more crazy mares.

“You remind me a bit of Cadence...well, if you take away the near-obsession with Midnight. She was glad to see this happening as well. Hugged us both even. Alicorn hugs are damn strong.”

“Cadence...the fluffy pink princess of love?” Moondancer chortled as she switched the way her legs were crossed. “Oh please, you think I’m that sweet and innocent? I guess I should be flattered.”

“Cadence, innocent?” Ledger snorted. “We had lunch with her and Shiny. Looking back, I’m surprised she didn’t drag him off for a ‘bathroom break’ between the time it took us to order and the time it took the order to arrive. She’s the perverted one of the pair.”

“Huh? I guess she took my advice to heart then,” Moondancer giggled. “And, and before you get your shell in a twist, I’m not after a spot in your herd. I love the fact that Midnight has found love again, even if it isn’t with me.”

Ledger sneaked a peek and returned to looking at the ceiling. “Then please stop showing off. I really don’t need to see that about you if we’re not involved.”

“Oh don’t be such a pansy,” she giggled as she sat up. “Besides, are you worried that she’ll-”

Moondancer didn’t get to finish as the door slammed opened...well, more like an antimagic blade reduced it to confetti.

“LEDGER! I’LL SAVE YOU!” Midnight yelled as she charged in. Ledger blinked at the sight before slowly turning to Moondance.

“She do this often?” he asked in an even tone.

“Oh you crazy Little Bat,” Moon chuckled as she looked at her. “She has slain many a door in the name of victory and vengeance. Ever wonder why Celestia has such powerful enchantments on hers?”

“You break ONE pair of thousand-year-old doors and nopony ever lets you forget it,” Midnight sighed as she sheathed her blades. “Also... MOONY!” she leapt at the mare, only to be snagged in a magical aura. “Aww, only you know when I’ll pounce.”

“A skill I earned the hard way,” Moondancer smiled.

“I just go with ‘always’ and brace myself,” Ledger volunteered.

“Well, not all of us have natural armour,” Moondancer hummed as she lowered the mare to the ground. Though once she was free, the Unicorn got hugged anyway.

“I heard that somepony had locked Ledger in here, and I thought a whole buncha things,” Midnight said as she snuggled her mare...ex-marefriend. “Well, good to see you didn’t kill him at least.”

“No, I approve...for now,” Moondancer said with a small smile.

“I would rather hang out with Shining Armor than go through what she did,” Ledger said in a deadpan, knowing only Midnight would know exactly what he was talking about.

“Moonbutt...” Midnight said as her hug became tighter. The Unicorn’s stoic expression turned... winded? And Ledger could swear he could hear her ribs creaking. “What did you do to my Levvy?”

“uhhhh” Moondancer wheezed out, trying to free herself from the vice-like grip.

“While I appreciate that you accepted my apology, and are happy for me,” Midnight continued, not noticing her friend’s plight. “I still can’t believe that you would come and threaten my family like that. I mean...who does that!?”

“Help...me...” Moondancer croaked, it wouldn’t be long until she actually croaked.

“Somepony that cares a great deal about your happiness and could use some air?” Ledger queried as he watched the one-sided exchange.

Midnight glanced at the white Unicorn, who was now turning a rather lovely shade of blue. The Thestral gasped and dropped her friend, Moondancer gasping for air.

"Just...haah, like old...times..."

Ledger chuckled at the antics and shook his head. “Well, at least you’re less threatening this way.”

"Go buck a cactus," Moondancer grumbled.

“What is with you mares and that sentiment?” the stallion asked of nopony in particular. “Y’know, one of these days, I’m going to go get a cactus. It’d probably love me more.”

"What do you mean..?" Moondancer looked at Midnight, her eyes shimmering slightly. "You remembered that?"

"I remember everything about us," Midnight smiled softly. “I may...I may have stopped, well...you know. But, I never forgot.”

“...And now I feel bad for complaining,” Ledger said with a soft smile of his own. “Okay, you two clearly have issues you need to work out. Things you need to talk about. And Moondancer and I have had a talk already...so g’on, go talk you two.” The unicorn made shooing motions with one of his hooves.

“I agree,” Moondancer nodded. “And I still have an Earth Pony and another Changeling to grill. So let’s go Little Bat.”

“Well this should be interesting,” Midnight hummed as Moondancer’s horn fired up and the two vanished in a flash of light.

“...And hopefully one day, I will know how to teleport half as well as she can,” Ledger observed aloud as he opened a folder on his desk and began to read the details of his latest case. His nose scrunched up as he caught a familiar odor in the air, and he opened a drawer to where his bottle of rum should have been.

Should have been. Somepony had been here and emptied the bottle. Ledger had a sneaking suspicion as to who. Especially when he read the nearby note.

‘P.S. Thanks for the drink. Love. Moonie~’

“...Great. Now I not only need a drink, I’m out of booze at the same time,” the stallion complained. “I’m not letting her back in here again if I can help it.”

As they walked down the street, Midnight looked left and right, like something was going to jump out at her at any given moment...probably because something was. She had managed to give both the Pinks and the Violets the slip yesterday, but she just knew that they wouldn’t give up so easily. They’d just get more sneaky...

“You okay Moonbutt?” Moondancer asked, her head tilting slightly at the batpony’s quirky behaviour. “You look like you’re expecting an attack at any moment.”

“I am,” Midnight said with a serious tone, her emerald eyes scanning the crowd around them. “I know they’re here somewhere. I can feel it!”

At the moment, though, the only even remotely odd thing in the crowd was a blue unicorn colt slowly eating a bowl of ice-cream at this early hour.

“It’s hard being so irresistibly popular,” Midnight said with a dramatic sigh. Then she got an idea, an evil, worthy-of-being-banished-to-the-moon idea. The Changelings of Las Pegasus, they had never met Moondancer before.

Moon stared at her friend, who was currently cackling madly and getting odd looks from nearby ponies.

“Uh, Middy? Your evil laugh is showing.”

While most of the ponies in the crowd were giving her odd and wary looks, the blue colt wasn’t affected too badly by the laugh. And had slowly turned to look at her when she did...and hadn’t turned back yet...

Midnight paused and cleared her throat. “Ah, well...” she blinked as she looked at the pair of eyes watching her every move... Oh buck!

“Don’t. Move.” She said with a whisper. “They can’t see you if you don’t move.”

“Not true,” a voice chirped from behind her. “We can still see you. We’re just waiting for the chase to begin properly, otherwise it’s no fun.” Midnight whirled to see Amy a few inches from her face, she yelped and landed on Moondancers back.

“Oh yeah? Well...I have a teleporter! Moondancer! Giddyup!”

“I feel as though I should take horrible offense to this treatment,” Moondancer sighed. “And I can’t teleport without a destination in mind moron.”

“Anywhere but here!” Midnight yelled. “Oh Sweet Celestia hurry. She’ll eat our souls!!”

Moondancer rolled her eyes and her horn lit up, before they vanished with a pop. Amy grinned and nodded to the colt, who saluted and ran off to a messenger she and the violets had set up beforehoof.

The hunt was on, and she was gonna use everything at her disposal to find that Thestral and get a smile from her.

Including Acey~

“So uh, can you explain something?” Moondancer asked as they sat in Fredrick’s Cafe. The Thestral figured they wouldn’t try anything here, lest they anger the best chef in the city.

“Mmm?” Midnight hummed as she sipped her coffee.

“What the buck is going on?”

“Ah, well... the Pink Changelings want me to smile and the Purple ones want me to screw them. It’s complicated.”

Moondancer shook her head and stared at her idiotic friend. “So...your twenty first birthday all over again huh?”

“Pretty much,” Midnight sighed. That had been both a confusing and a rewarding birthday. One of the serving-colts, a red pegasus with violet eyes, came up to their table.

“Do you want anything now, ladies?” he asked politely. They’d said no before, and then they merely asked to not be bothered. Third time’s the charm, maybe?

“Hmm, how about a plate of hayfries, a pitcher of lemonade and one of those cute waitresses?” Moondancer said, her tone rather reminiscent of a certain Griffon.

“Fresh out of the last one, I’m sad to say,” the stallion said without missing a beat. “All the colts beat the mares here to learn from the master. I’m afraid you’ll have to settle for a cute waiter, assuming we have any fresh ones lying around.”

“Meh, sorry little colt, but males do nothing for me,” Moondancer sighed. Well this restaurant got infinitely more boring. At least Midnight could be counted on to spice life up a little.

“Ah, if it’s eye-candy you’re after, I might recommend The Chop Shop, they do cater to both griffons and ponies, and employ both as well. You would have to go down the strip to get there though…” The colt trailed off, and that was when the mares noticed the color of his eyes.

“You’ll get a nice tip if you don’t tell the Pinks that we’re here,” Midnight said calmly. The stallion smiled at them.

“Well, I haven’t told the Pinks anything,” he emphasized. Just then, a violet-eyed mare walked into the restaurant and started slowly coming towards the pair.

Okay, time to unleash her secret weapon. Midnight smiled brightly as she waved at the mare. “Hey Sugar. Sup?”

“Midnight, dearest,” the mare said in a tone as smooth as silk. Which was probably what her sheets were made of. “I am ever so happy to see you again! You really must come back to the club someday soon.” The nymph in disguise had reached the pair of mares and was putting on a few charms. Mostly to throw the unknown pony off.

“Middy?” Moondancer said in a hopeful tone. “Status report please?”

“Moondancer, this is Sugar Darling. A dear friend of mine and single-”

Moonie had already hopped off of her chair and pulled the newcomer into a kiss. She broke it after a moment as she gave her a gaze that made Midnight seem tame. “You. Me. Your place. We’ll bang okay?”

“Somepony’s feeling forward,” the mare teased. Still, this mare was...mmm, her lust was tasty. “Wait for me by the door? I have a few things to tell miss Song here, then we can negotiate.”

“Aw dang, my Moonie distraction didn’t work?” Midnight pouted. “Oh, and Moon? She’s one of those friends.”

Moondancer blinked and then her face became rather neutral. “Huh. Well, never mind then,” she simply said as she sat back down. Sugar pouted at the loss of both the chance to bed this mare and the chance to have a moment alone with Midnight.

“I was going to say that in exchange for that...encounter, I would have called the flock off for a moment or two...but I suppose not. And really dear,” Sugar shot Moondancer a look that would make any stallion weak-kneed. Several of the serving colts already were. “You’ve not really bedded a mare until you’ve bedded a violet. We wrote the book on sex with ponies.”

“Still, no offense dear, but no,” Moondancer smiled sweetly, but that smile held no love for the black bugpony underneath that disguise. Midnight figured that ruse wouldn’t last long. Oh well, not everypony wanted to hug a Changeling.

“So what did you want Sugar?” she asked. “And don’t worry about sour-face here. She’s an old friend.”

“If you say so,” the mare said with a shrug. “And I assume you mean what do I want besides you screaming my name at the club?” Now she was turning her gaze on Midnight.

“Do you have Ledger’s permission yet?”

“He’s being stubborn about it, almost as much as you are,” the mare huffed. “Still, I came to tell you that two pink little pegasi and us aren’t the only ones looking for you. There’s also a rather large griffon on the prowl.”

“Ace!?” Midnight gasped as Moondancer cocked an eyebrow. Now there was a name she hadn’t heard in a while. “What the hay is he doing looking for me? It’s not one of our training days.”

“His marefriend probably had something to do with it,” the violet nymph said with a wide smile. “He does look rather dashing in pink.”

Midnight suddenly twitched, her eyes narrowing slightly as her wings flared and she raced from the building screaming Ace’s name. Moondancer watched her go and looked at Sugar with a bemused look.

“Okay, I’m impressed. Was that all a ploy to get me alone? Or did Ace seriously not tell his best friend and student he was dating?”

“A happy coincidence,” the mare said with a soft smile. “You...should really get to know us, dear. I’m not pressing you for anything!” she said with a raised hoof. “But...we’re more numerous and spread than you might think. And I swear to you, what you probably first think of when you think of us is an aberration. The worst of us are far from the norm.”

“Think about this club of yours,” Moondancer instructed with the same tone she used with her students.

“Thinking about it,” the mare said with a more lecherous grin. “Oooh, I love it there~”

“So I see,” Moondancer sighed as she dropped some bits on the counter and her horn flashed, the Unicorn and Changeling winking out of existence. When the serving colt returned, he found enough money to pay for the food and a tip, and a note saying to enjoy the fries.

“...What the hay, free food,” the colt said before digging in.

Inside the currently empty ‘Love Shack’, the two mares re-appeared, the disguised one reeling from the sudden and long-distance teleport.

“Hm, not bad,” Moondancer said as she looked around. “At least the atmosphere is nice. Not at all what I was expecting.”

“Dear, we may sleep around, but we at least have class and style.” Sugar had managed to pull herself back together and looked around, smiling at the memories this place was full of. “This city is like a beacon to us, and we try to help keep it under control as best as we can. Without us here to act as a stress-relief for the city’s pent-up lust, how long do you think it would take for it to get worse?”

“I try not to think about it,” Moondancer replied as she looked around. “This is quite strange for me. Dealing with you things was so much easier when I labelled you as monsters. And then my ex-marefriend had to go and fall in love with some. Now I’m being forced to re-evaluate my worldview and it’s a little jarring.”

“Well, while what I know about our kind’s history is a little lacking, feel free to ask me questions, and let me address that point real fast,” the white mare said as she sat at a nearby table. “We try to keep the ones that think of ponies as nothing more than ambulatory food far away from ponies. Since we literally can’t live without you, it’d be rather self-defeating to let them present a bad image of us to you, wouldn’t it?”

“So given this information, Chrysalis was part of a minority group or was completely rogue then,” Moondancer hummed to herself a she paced around the room. To those that knew her, she was just a big a flirt as Midnight, so it was quite often that ponies would forget that she is actually smart.

“And you seem to have different colours and common personalities associating with those colours. That suggests that you prefer particular emotions, and eating those emotions may have sway over those personalities and given yours...” she tapped her chin and looked at the mare. “I’d say love or lust?”

“Right on the second, and we all like love,” the mare said with a grin. “I know the color-emotion scheme at least. Love’s a universal - you won’t find a changeling that dislikes love or being loved. Violets are Lust. Would you like to guess the others, or should I simply tell you?”

“Well, I’m only aware of Pink...and given what I saw in Canterlot, I’d say that Green, Blue and...” she paused for a moment. “...Black.”

“...Blacks aren’t a proper color,” the mare said in a more level voice. “They’re made, not born. And I’ll not go into the hows. Anyway!” She switched gears so rapidly it was a wonder she didn’t get whiplash. “There’s also red, orange, and yellow. And silver! And each one has their own emotions they like in addition to love.”

“Interesting,” Moondancer replied as she had taken a book out of...somewhere and started writing all of this down. “And the reason you haven’t already written a text on all this information is because...?”

“Because I’m no silver, and because Chrysalis all but ruined any hope of proper relations between our kinds?” the mare offered. “We have...Secret-Hoarder to thank for opening up the chance again. Were he not already taken, we would be doing just that in our own way.”

“Then you’d have to get past a certain batpony...and I doubt that would end well for you,” Moondancer giggled. It was still strange talking with a Changeling like this. But maybe it was because she looked like a pony still.

“Do you mind?” she asked suddenly. “I’d like to see what you really look like.”

“You’re sure?” the mare asked with a raised eyebrow. “That’s a bottle that can’t be unopened.”

“I hate having to hate something for a stupid reason,” Moondancer nodded. The invasion was bad, sure. But the Griffons invaded a few hundred years ago, and she didn’t hate them. And if worse came to worse, she could just teleport away. “Now I am a grown mare and I think I can handle it. So bring it on!”

With a gentle violet flame, the mare’s disguise peeled away. Slowly, inch by inch. Almost like she was teasing Moondancer with every bit of revealed chitin.

Eventually what sat before her was a changeling with violet highlights instead of the blue Canterlot had seen during the invasion. The violet, pupil-less eyes looked at her. Possibly. It was hard to tell, but she felt confident that the mare (did they call them mares?) was looking at her by the fact that her head was pointed in her direction.

“As bad as you were expecting?” the bug-pony asked.

Moondancer had already put up a personal shield strong enough to make Shining green with envy. She stared at the bug from beyond the bubble, her hron already multicasting something...at least until she calmed down somewhat from her hair-trigger response.

“I can see this form isn’t wanted, so I’ll just-” the bug-pony had already lit her horn up and held up a hoof, re-applying the disguise as slowly as she’d taken it off.

“No! Wait!” Moondancer dropped the shield as she blushed with embarrassment. “Sorry, just...flashbacks.” She shook her head as she looked over the Changeling, drawing forth more courage. “Um...may I...take a look?”

“If you think you can handle it,” the changeling said as she let the disguise fall again, sitting there calmly as though she were just another pony. Moondancer nodded and stepped closer, inch by inch until she was rather close to the...mare?

“Hm, so do you have terms to distinguish mare from stallion?” Moon asked as she observed the Changeling female. The way her ears would twitch and respond to sound, the small gaps in her chitin...

“Nymph and drone,” the nymph said with a nod. “We are a bit like insects after all, so the terms fit for us.”

“I see,” Moondancer hummed as she walked around her, making idle sketches in her book and then poked at her chitin. “Hmm, hard to the touch but still flexible and surprisingly warm.” She frowned as she looked closer. “I thought you had wings?”

“They’re under the shell at the moment,” the nymph said as said shell flexed a little. “Don’t need to be crushing them every time I lean back, after all.” This whole observation thing was unusual, but not unpleasant. It was basically a Violet’s job to be touched and watched, after all~

Moon nodded and wrote some more notes down. She leaned down and lifted one of the nymph’s forehooves with her magic, taking a close look. “And what about these holes? What possible use could they serve?”

“Reduced weight for when we fly? Can you imagine something with bug-wings keeping up with a pegasus if they weighed the same?” the nymph offered. “Or perhaps they help with airflow - we do get warm quickly and retain that heat for a while. It might be worse without them. I’ve also noticed a peculiar sound coming from them when air passes through on a midnight flight or two - sounded like there was something really large flying by instead of me.” The nymph sighed as she shook her head. “The philosophical arguments are all variations on the same thing, though: we are incomplete, not whole as we are. And they help us remember that.”

“Now that is interesting,” Moondancer hummed as she suddenly opened the nymph’s mouth and peered inside. “Hmm, large front fangs, possibly for intimidation more than anything. A collection of both sharp incisors and flat molars indicate a possible omnivorous diet...if Changelings can process matter like that at all.” She wrote it down as she released the nymphs jaw finally. The nymph worked it a few times before smirking at the unicorn.

“Well, that was the first time somepony used their eyes to inspect my mouth, aside from my dentist,” the nymph purred. “Most use...other appendages~”

“I can imagine,” Moondancer noted as she flipped pages. Even the inside of the mar-nymph was a light violet hue. “Hmm, I wonder if she’s that colour elsewhere...”

“I’d be willing to let you look after you buy me a drink, sweetie,” the nymph giggled.

“Maybe later,” Moondancer said, again, only half-listening. “Holes in the hooves could be used as a natural defense against predators, by using sound to make them appear larger or more numerous... How very interesting.” In just ten minutes, she’d already learned more about Changelings than any other pony...except for...

“I really need to talk to Middy more,” Moondancer smiled to herself. “Ohh, I bet I could get a Novelle Prize for this study~”

“Perhaps you could, when relations are stabilized,” the nymph said as she slowly pushed her chair back. No sudden moves were made as she lowered herself to the ground and flicked her shell open, displaying her wings for the mare to observe as well. If she was going to be inspected, best to make it complete.

“Oohh, translucent and possibly quite fragile. So much different from Pegasi or Griffon wings. It’s a wonder you can even fly with these. I’m guessing Aero magic is used, like the Pegasi?”

“Mmhmm,” the nymph said as the wings buzzed into life, slowly lifting her off the floor. “And even then, we can only go as fast as a hover when we’re like this. We’re nowhere near as speedy as a pegasus, or gryphon, or a thestral. But for maneuverability…” She didn’t even turn to look as she hovered left. Then right. Then in a complete circle before pulling off a short spin and landing back where she started from, wings slowing before coming to a standstill once more. “Small things only, we can barely pull off weather-work in our natural forms. We have to transform in order to pass as pegasi.”

“Low power, yet great maneuverability,” Moondancer had filled nearly half of her book now. And she still had so many questions. But more importantly...

“Huh, I’m not afraid of you anymore...well, at least you in particular. I’d need to see another Changeling and work out a baseline for the experiment.”

“If I may quote Secret-Hoarder...’Where there is knowledge, there is no need to fear.’ Understanding something helps remove the unknown things about it that cause ponies to panic.” The nymph folded her wings back up and put them under the shell again in one smooth motion. “Now if only some weren’t so panicky about the known…”

“Well, given what happened, I believe my fear was justified,” Moondancer snorted as she sat and went over her notes, correcting any spelling and grammar and putting some final touches on her sketches. “Hmm, I should remember this one too.” Her horn lit up with a soft pulsing light. “Okay, memory saved and filed away for retrieval later.”

“Mm, and now I think it’s my turn to observe you,” the nymph said as she drew a little closer to the mare. “Fair’s fair, after all~”

“Turnabout is fair play,” Moondancer nodded, missing the implied nuances due to being in ‘Study-Mode’ as Midnight would often put it. “I guess ponies aren’t too known to you either.”

“Oh dear Moondancer,” the nymph purred as she put one chitinous hoof on the mare’s withers. “I know my way around several ponies. It’s you I’m interested in right now~”

“Mmhmm,” Moondancer nodded, still enthralled in her book as she went over the information in her head. “Go nuts,” she said with a half-hearted tone. Wait, the horn was a different shape. Curse her lousy artistic skills!

And that was when her left ear was nibbled on by those fangs and incisors she’d just put the finishing touches on in her book. She gave the appendage a flick, then gasped as she suddenly back-peddled.

“W-W-What are you doing?”

“Inspecting a pony,” the nymph said once she released the ear. “I expect to find it most...enlightening.” A hoof ran down her spine, lightly caressing her at some points and sending shivers up and down it.

“Oohh,” Moondancer sighed. That had felt...nice. And she knew it wasn’t mind-control, the mare hadn’t dropped her mental shields since entering Las Pegasus. It had taken her some time to see another pony after Midnight, and even then, her flings were far apart, and were made simply for pleasure.

“How...how much do you know about Midnight and her...abilities?”

“She wore out five of my fellow nymphs,” the changeling said as she rubbed at the mare’s withers with both hooves. “Oooh, you’re carrying a lot of tension. Perhaps you should relieve it?”

“Five?” Moondancer frowned as Sugar suddenly felt her chitin itch. That was...strange.

“It might have been more, the after-action memories are a little hazy,” the nymph giggled. “But we all agreed that she’s not to be bucked with, in any sense of the term. We leave that to Secret-Hoarder~”

“So she’s mellowed out,” Moon said to herself as her horn lit up. She may have had a fear of Changelings...but, you know what?

Buck it. You only lived once after all.

“Now,” Moonie said as she levitated the nymph and trotted towards the backroom. She assumed all the fun stuff was beyond that door. “Let’s see how you handle the mare that taught Midnight Song~”

“And let’s see how you handle me~” the nymph said, wiggling a little in the grasp of the mare, hoping to be put down so that she could show off her final secret. Moon glanced back at the mare and placed her on the ground.

“Sorry, too used to just doing as I please with my magic. Now, you were saying?”

The nymph smiled and glowed violet again...and began to grow. Soon, she was staring at a bug that resembled Chrysalis in all but color.

“There is a reason we are called the Ladies here,” the taller nymph said to the unicorn. “I blend in to hide for my own protection. Any of us could be me. I am a Lady back in the lands, first cousin to the Queen of the Violets.” The changeling bent her neck down and stared into Moondancer’s eyes with her slitted ones.

“Hello, poppet~” the nymph giggled.

Moondancer did what any powerful, magically gifted mare trained by the Princesses would do.

She fainted.

Midnight finally found the target. He was sitting outside Amy’s shop eating a delicious-looking chocolate sundae. Strangely enough, there were no foals around either and the store appeared to be closed up for now.

“This is a trap, a really obvious trap,” Midnight muttered from the rooftop she was sitting on. “The logical side says I should wait until he’s alone to talk with him.” But her impatient side?

That caused her to land on the table with a light thump, her emerald eyes boring into Ace’s gold ones.

“So,” she smiled sweetly. “Care to tell me if you’ve been doing anypony important?”

Ace just ate his ice-cream as he gave the batpony a once over. “Hmm, you should learn to calm yourself dear. All that unnecessary stress is adding years onto you.”

“Acey, if you don’t take this seriously, you’ll be taking that banana as a suppository.”

“I’m being quite serious,” Ace hummed. He had a new idea for Cherry now. Let’s see how he likes it. “You look like a mess, your mane is all out of sorts and a mare of your abilities shouldn’t be so out of breath. You worry too much.”

“So when were you going to tell me that you were dating that little Pink demon?” Midnight huffed, taking a seat on the opposite side of the table. “I thought we were friends.”

“We are, and we always will be Midnight,” Ace put down his spoon and sighed. “And I do apologise. Are you truly that upset?”

“Of course not,” Midnight responded, snagging his bowl and eating some of the chocolate sauce. “I’m happy for you. And it seems that I’ve started a trend around here.”

“Indeed you have,” Ace gave a loud laugh. “Perhaps next time Equestria has relation problems with a particular race, we should send you to fall in love with one hmm?”

“Nah, Ledgie and the others would get jealous that I didn’t invite them along,” Midnight giggled. “So I wonder if your little buggy is still searching the city for me?”

“Perhaps,” Ace nodded. “You certainly seem to have her riled up. What did you do to get her to be so persistent?”

“She wants me to smile,” Midnight replied, staring into the now empty ice-cream bowl. “I dunno, I just feel like I can’t give her what she truly wants from me.”

“A smile is easy,” Ace nodded as he lamented the loss of his dessert. “But if I know that little ladybug, then she desires one that comes from the heart.” He leaned across the table and stared into Midnight’s eyes. “What’s truly bothering you Midnight? Is Ledger or somepony else mistreating you?”

“Of course not!’ Midnight replied, her eyes widened slightly. “He, nor any of them would do that. In fact, I’m friends with Moondancer again as well.”

“Oh? Now that is something to be celebrated then,” Ace smiled. He was one of the few privy to the whole story. Along with her parents, Shining and the princesses. “How is she?”

“Hmm, I’d say she’s discovering the hidden treasures of Las Pegasus,” Midnight winked and Ace let out a belly laugh again.

“Haha! You truly have started a trend my dear. But if you are as happy as you say, then a smile should be easy yes?”

“I suppose...but they’re Celestia-knows-where by now.”

“Midnight, what colour are they?” Ace simply asked and Midnight blinked in response, before she had a lightbulb moment and smacked her forehead. “So, you have one too then?”

“Never used it yet though. On three?”

Midnight nodded as her head bobbed to an unknown beat. “Oh Little Fairy~ Where have you gone~”

Ace’s voice was much deeper, singing out in a deep baritone. “Come back to me, my Sweet Little Flower~”

The two conflicting voices answering them managed to overwrite each other’s responding lyrics. It was a discordant mess that had the pair of suddenly appearing pink ponies glaring at each other for about ten seconds.

Then they realized where they’d been called to, and both of them glomped onto Midnight’s form.

“I sing for the very first time, and this is the thanks I get?” Ace pouted, it looked rather strange having a scarred, muscled Griffon pouting like a foal that didn’t get a treat.

“I’ll get you yours later,” the older, pegasus of the pink pair said, waving a wing at him in response. “I’ve been looking for Middy all day! I think a hug is in order.” The small unicorn of the pair said nothing, but hummed her agreement.

“And I get her for you, plus she ate my ice-cream,” Ace poked out his tongue, as Midnight groaned from under the cuddlepile.

“Just gimme ten more seconds here,” the pegasus replied. “...And done! Your turn now Acey~” With that, the pink pony propelled herself at Ace with prodigious speed. The Griffon tried to brace himself, but there is no defense for a Pink Hug!

“Gah!” he yelped as the mare knocked him off of his seat. Midnight sighed, now that she had something smaller to hug.

“So, did you have fun on your wild bat hunt?” she asked the filly.

“Gasp!” the filly gasped. “You’re wild? Does that mean you have rabies? Are we gonna die if you bite us?”

Midnight gave her a stare that could murder a thousand pans. She deadpanned so hard it caused pan genocide. Ledger would have been proud.

All before she opened her mouth and began to gently nibble on the filly’s leg. “Omnomnomnomnom.”

“Nuuu!” Joyful cried out dramatically. “Miss Amy, save me! The wild bat’s got me!”

“Eh, I dunno,” Amy said as she looked up from cuddling her griffon. “Acey, think we should?”

“Hmm, well the little filly doesn’t seem to like me much, so she might not want my help,” he said with an indifferent tone.

“Imma make you a sparkly vampire Changeling!” Midnight said, her eyes glowing bright green. “Mwahahahahahahaaa!”

“Halp! Somepony help me!” The filly paused for a moment before adding “Or somegriffon. Doesn’t matter. Just please help!”

“I don’t knowww,” Ace said, hugging Amy closer. “I’m awfully comfortable here, and that sounds dangerous. Picking a fight with a wild vampire bat. What about you love?”

“Maaaaybe if she apologized to your properly,” Amy said as she trailed a hoof down Ace’s neck.

“Argh!” the filly yelled as she tried to fend off Midnight’s fangs. “OkayI’msorryforglaringatyoumistergriffon. Now can you please save me?!”

Ace made one swift move, and soon he cradled the filly in one arm, and a blinking Amy in the other. “Hmm, now I have two cute pink fillies. This might just be better than ice-cream.”

Midnight just smiled at the whole thing. That had been fun and it made her wished she had a filly of her own. Ledger would be a kind and caring father, working hard to support his family. Cider would teach Midnight how to cook properly, and Scope’s young demeanor would mean that the foal would grow up, not with a parent, but a best friend. Maybe having a foal wouldn’t be so...

Okay, squashing that thought now. It had been too late, though, and Amy pointed a hoof at her dramatically. “Ah-HA! I knew you could smile!”

“M’not smiling” Midnight replied, looking skyward, the ceaseless grin still plastered on her face.

“Acey, that was totally a smile, right?” Amy asked with a poke to her griffon’s ribs.

“Hmm, maybe more of a wistful sigh or smirk?” Ace chuckled and Midnight’s glared at him. “I think you should get her to smile again, my little cotton candy~”

“Deploying mini-me!” the pink pegasus said before grabbing hold of Joyful and casually chucking her at Midnight. The pink unicorn squealed in laughter at the sudden flight she was taking. The Thestral yelped and caught the flailing filly, sighing when she did. If she had missed, well, that was something she wouldn’t like to explain to Madam Gossip.

“Aw, well I guess I can’t stay mad when you give me such an adorable snack,” she cooed before nibbling the filly’s belly. The filly took up screaming and giggling at the same time in response to the nibbling.

“Miss Amy, why did you betray meeeee!” the filly called out as the Thestral tickled her with those fangs.

“Cause she’s cuter like this,” the pink pegasus said with a nod and a soft smile of her own. Even Ace had a small smile on his face. Midnight had always been a natural with foals, and seeing her like this was always adorable. To most ponies, Changelings brought them nothing but fear, and yet to Midnight Song, they had helped make her whole again.

How ironic.

“Mwhaha! The Nibbling is completefied!” Midnight declared. “You are now my adorable slave forever!”

“Nuuuuu!” the filly cried out before going limp. “Bleh.” And then she did an impressive impression of a brain-dead minion.

“What-is-your-bidding?” she droned.

“Hmm, I require more slaves for my Army of Darkness!” Midnight said with a triumphant smile. “And I see two victims right there. Sic ‘em Joy!”

The filly let off a moan before shuffling towards the pair of pegasus and griffon. “Must-obey,” she said, intending to get Ace first.

“Fear not! I shall defend you my love!” Ace replied.

He lasted about three seconds.

Now Middy had two zamby slaves that shuffled towards Amy. The taller and more feathered of the two had a wicked glint in his eyes though.

“Acey, no! You had so much to live for!” the pegasus said as she looked at her ‘turned’ lover. She then glared at Midnight. “How could you do this to him? He was your friend, my love!”

“You should have told me~” Midnight sang in between peals of laughter. She was having a blast right now.

“Uurrrr, Acey. Want. Suggaarrrrrr~” the griffon moaned as he scooped up the pink pegasus and gave her a deep kiss.

“Oh well I can give you that easily,” the pegasus replied before drawing the griffon in for another kiss. One that was normally a prelude to other activities. Midnight yelped and moved to cover Joyful’s eyes from the very affectionate display.

“Oohhkay, it seems that love is too strong for us. We are defeated!”

“Aww, why’d you have to hide what they were up to?” Joyful pouted as she tried to move Midnight’s hooves.

“Tell you what, ask your dad about the Birds and the Breezies later,” Midnight nodded. “And on that note, we should head home and hope most of our family is still in one piece.”

“I’m sure they’re fine,” the pink unicorn said with a nod. “Brother wouldn’t let anything happen to anypony he cared about.”

“True, but he’s at work right now. Which means Cider is all alone with your sister and the triplets.”

“Oooh,” the smaller filly winced. “Not a good idea...those three can break almost anything.”

Ace and Amy seemed to be in their own little world right now, and were getting into things...like each other. “Okay, time to go then,” Midnight nodded as she grabbed the pink filly and flew off, leaving the two to their ‘alone time’. Eventually Amy came up for air and gave the griffon a smoldering look.

“So, the back room or my place?” she offered.

“Could you wait long enough to reach your place?’ he pointed out to a damp patch of fur of his stomach.

“Like you could wait either,” the mare teased back. “The back it is then, Acey~ Try to keep it down, though. I don’t wanna tell the foals the shop’s haunted when lunch is over.”

“I’ll do my best,” the griffon nodded as he scooped her up and waltzed inside the store. He had a few tricks with a banana to try~

When Midnight and Joyful finally returned to the farm... All was not well indeed.

The trio of terror had managed to break one of the greenhouse windows. Cider had tied them up and was now looking for a good place to bury them.

Their three fathers were trying to convince her otherwise.

“Miss Cider,” the yellow one pleaded. “While the greenhouse was most likely a substantial investment on your part, surely retribution for their actions would not extend to such...extreme actions.”

“One broken pane should not a martyr make of them,” the red pegasus agreed.

“There are...other ways to get your just due, yes?” the blue pegasus asked.

“But burying them will make me feel so much better,” Cider replied in a chipper tone. “Only up to their necks. Ah’ll water them, feed them, and maybe they’ll grow into respectable stallions that have respect fer property that ain’t theirs!”

The three colts winced at the tone Cider used and fell to blaming one another. Again.

“Lightning-Wits was the one that broke it!” Tank protested.

“Only because Brute threw me into it,” the yellow pegasus grumbled.

“Well maybe Tank shouldn’t have ducked!” the red pegasus finished.

The three fathers looked at their colts for a moment more before looking back at Cider.

“Need any help?” they all offered at the same time.

Luckily for them, Scope Lens trotted her, sweat dripping from her forehead as her horn smoked slightly from magical exertion.

“Well, it wasn’t easy...but I repaired the window,” she said, taking deep breaths as she did. “Seriously, Localised Time Reversal spells should not be so damned hard to cast!”

“...You can pull that off?” the yellow stallion questioned in a trembling tone as he inched his way back. “That’s...rather advanced for a regular nymph, yes?”

“Is it?” Scope asked. “I dunno, It was in a spell book I found lying around the house. Burned through all the power I acquired in the Crystal Empire though. I could use a refill Cider...”

“Of course,” the mare nodded as she pulled the little nymph into a hug and kissed the top of her head. “Thank you very much Scopey. You’re a good girl.”

“Yeah, I’m kinda awesome,” she blushed as her horn glowing, drinking the the freely given love hungrily. “Ahhh, so much better.”

“Me too!” Midnight said, leaping forward and making herself known as Scope and Cider nearly jumped out of their skins as the bat hugged them, Joyful clinging to her back for dear life.

“...So what should we do with these three, then?” the red stallion asked as he looked over the trio of destruction.

“I say we let Critical-Eye come up with something, then let Joyful-Heart implement it,” the blue stallion proposed. “Worst of both worlds.”

“I like it!” Joyful beamed. “I gots lotsa surprises to use still! It’ll be AWESOME!”

Midnight chuckled as she stepped forward. “Alright Maggots! AAATTEEENN-SHUN!!”

The three wriggled in their bindings, before glaring at Midnight. “How?” they deadpanned in unison.

“Oh, is that too hard for you?” Midnight teased. “A little rope too much for you little foals to handle huh?”

“That, and that mare ties knots like no other,” the blue started with.

“Plus the rope is real sturdy,” the yellow observed.

“She’s still hot, though,” the red finished with.

“That she is,” Midnight winked as one of her wingtips travelled down the mare’s spine, making her shudder. Then her left wing blurred and the three colts found themselves free of their bindings. “Now! Fall in Maggots!”

After a little bit of work to get themselves free of the rope, the three colts formed a line facing Midnight and performed a salute while they waited for orders.

“Right. So in the last three days, I have drilled into your chitinous heads, all the skills I have learned. You are not at my level, and it will be years before you can even be considered close. HOWEVER...” She smiled this time, a rather pleasant one actually. “I am quite pleased with the progress you have made in such a short time. So, in honour of this occasion. You are getting promoted! No longer will you be Maggots! You are now Worms! Be proud!”

The three said nothing - they hadn’t been told to. Their fathers had been very...strict in their upbringing and with what did and did not constitute an order. And they made sure to follow those rules.

During training time. Which this was. It also explained why they were so...rambunctious all the other times: they were blowing off steam.

“So as of now. Consider the first stage of your training complete!” Midnight continued. “Alright Worms. DISMISSED!”

The three lowered their wings and cautiously looked at one another. “Is this a good thing?” Brute asked.

“Probably?” Tank replied.

“It certainly doesn’t bode very well,” Lighting-Wits observed aloud. “But...maybe?”

“It means,” Midnight said, her head suddenly appearing in their little huddle. “I approve of your skills. You three have actually managed to impress me slightly.”

The three colts yelped and tumbled apart from the sudden intrusion. “Um. Thanks?” the yellow one said. “But why do I have a feeling of impending doom at this announcement?”

“Well, should you want further training, then Ace will help next time.” Midnight’s smile was so friendly. “And he is nowhere near as kind and forgiving as I am.”

“...I get the feeling our life expectancies just dropped,” Tank sighed.

“Agreed,” Brute said with a nod. “You were bad enough. Now you’re telling us there’s someone who’s worse?”

“Hah! I’m Princess Celestia compared to Ace,” she smiled fondly at the memories of those training sessions. All those flank-breaking hours of climbing mountains, swimming upstream in rapids and fighting with creatures that looked like Tartarus would be too good for them.

“Ahh, good times,” Midnight sighed.

“...And if we ask to train with you again, something tells me you’re just going to laugh at us,” the yellow colt observed before sighing.

Midnight snapped out of her daydream and shook her head. “Why would I laugh at that? If you truly wish to continue wanting to improve yourselves? I have nothing but the highest respect for that.”

“...You just said that this Ace would help next time,” Tank said out loud. “So who do we see if we ever come back? You or Ace?”

“Both most likely,” Midnight nodded. “Tell me, what is ultimate strength?”

The three of them looked at one another before shrugging. They didn’t know the answer to this question, nor did they think they knew any answer that would satisfy Midnight.

“Good, then you’re already starting to understand,” Midnight answered. “If you think you’ve hit your limits, then push past it. If somepony stands in your way, overcome them. Never assume you are the strongest. There is always somepony stronger. If you ever want to push past those limits. Then I will always be here to help okay?”

“Okay,” the three said as one. The trio helped each other to their hooves and saluted Midnight once again, in thanks for everything they’d been through making them stronger.

“One last thing,” Midnight said. She looked at their fathers and smiled. “You three are warriors. Proud fighters of your race. But before anything else, you are brothers. Always keep that in mind. That bond is more powerful than any weapon or spell. Can you promise me that?”

The three stallions smiled at the sentiment, and all six of the changelings nodded. The fathers joined in on the salute before dropping it and, in a rare show of affection for them, picked their colts up and hugged them. And while the little changelings tried to squirm free at first, eventually they just gave up and accepted the attention.

Midnight smiled, before she looked at her mares and looked a little sheepish. “Also, can I get a little help here?” she turned and showed them the Pink filly gripping her flank. “I appear to have gained a new Cutie Mark.”

“You grabbed me and flew off,” Joyful said from her position. “I’m just returning the grab.”

“Ah, fair enough,” Midnight smiled.

“Yer Papa is getting ready for you t’head home,” Cider said with a soft smile. “He’s inside the house right now with yer Momma. Why don’t y’all give him a hoof Joyful?”

“I can do that!” the pink said before bouncing inside. With spring-like sound effects punctuating her every bounce.

Inside, an orange stallion heard his daughter even before she hugged the back of his head with a giggle. “I found you Daddy~”

“I wasn’t hiding all that well,” the orange stallion said before reaching up with a hoof and pulling her around to his front. “So what have you been up to today, my little ball of energy?”

“Hmm, well I played ‘Super Spy’ with Miss Amy, that was fun. Oh! Then Middy made me her zombie slave, but we were beated by the power of love. And is that...um, iconic?”

“Ironic,” the orange corrected before blinking a little at the content of what she’d just said. He loved his daughter, and sometimes he wished she explained what she did. But down that road, madness lay. “Well, as long as you didn’t get into any trouble, dear,” the changeling said before rubbing her belly with a hoof.

“Hee hee, That tickles daddy,” Joyful giggled batting at his hoof with her own. “Oh! And then Miss Amy and her griffonfriend, who isn’t my enemy anymore. They got all kissy and then...” She looked at both of her parents inquisitively. “What’s the ‘Birds and the Breezies’?”

Madam Gossip actually stopped in her preparation work and slowly lowered her clipboard before looking at Peaceful and Joyful-Heart. The stallion had a face that was the purest expression of ‘does not compute.’ The mare shook her head a few times before quickly raising the clipboard again and studiously looking away.

“We’ll tell you when you’re older,” the Madam decided. If she wasn’t going to tell the Trio about...that, yet. Then no way in Tartarus was she going to tell the Impossible Pink!

“Oh come on!” Joyful threw her hooves into the air dramatically. “Miss Middy said to ask you guys!”

“...Did she?” the Madam said as she lowered her clipboard again. She was wearing a smile that she normally only wore when she considered the depths of the violence she’d still like to commit against one particular Yellow nymph. “Thank you for telling me, Joyful. But I’m still not going to tell you until you’re old enough. There’s an age restriction on that knowledge.” And the restriction is ‘when I think you can handle it.’

“Aw bugbits!” Joyful pouted. “Life was simpler as a zombie.”

“I’m sure it was,” Peaceful-Heart said as he hugged his daughter. He wasn’t ready to have that talk with her yet either. He didn’t even want to think of some colt touching his daughter like that. “Did you at least have fun in Equestria?”

“Yuh-huh! This place is totes fun!” she giggled, having learned ‘street-slang’ while out and about. “I fo shizzle wanna come back again!”

“...I assume that’s a good thing,” Peaceful said with a sigh. His daughter. She was the most precious jewel, the light of his life right next to the Madam...but sometimes. Okay, a lot of the time. She just did not make sense. “Well, maybe when you’re old enough to apply for a visa, you can come visit your brother legally.”

“Yay!” Joyful did a backflip and when she landed, she looked around confused. “Huh? Where are the fireworks? I know I-”

There was an explosion from outside, as a certain trio’s saddlebags erupted in a shower of colourful death.

“Oh. Never mind. I found them.”

“...You’re not...leaving any surprises for your brother to find, are you?” the stallion asked after hearing the rather...inventive curses the three mobile wrecking balls used.

“Nooooo?” Joyful replied in an unconvincing tone.

“If he writes about anything you left behind,” the Madam said as she adjusted a number in one of her earlier columns. “Then I will put a similar surprise in your bedroom.”

“That...sounds AWESOME!” Joyful beamed. She couldn’t wait to see what surprises her Mommy could pull off. The she saw her mother lift a bag with her magic and open it. “Wait! That’s my-”

A blast of confetti at point blank range. Madam Gossip would be left sparkling for a week.

“...Your daughter, you can pick up after her,” the nymph eventually said before leaving the room. She couldn’t get mad at Joyful, but she also couldn’t take much of her impossible antics before overheating. And Joyful didn’t deserve that.

A certain bat on the other hoof? She had...words for her.

Author's Note

And it was during the editing of these chapters that my lappy died...

Chapter 37 - Magically Delicious

A rather large group stood on the train platform in Las Pegasus. Along with Midnight, Ledger and their family, Madam Gossip, her husbands and children, as well as Moon Song, Grissom and Moondancer were all leaving the city of sin.

Midnight hugged her parents, then looked at Moondancer, who was glancing around, before sighing slightly.

“Something wrong?” the batpony asked her friend.

“No,” she replied. “I uh, met a friend here...but I guess she’s busy...”

“I beg your pardon,” a familiar voice said from beyond the crowd of ponies. “Excuse me. Excuse me. Ah, there we are!” Soon a violet-eyed white mare made her presence known...as she launched herself at Moondancer for a hug. The unicorn caught her midleap in her magic as she beamed widely.

“I totally knew you’d come,” she smiled as she kissed the disguised changeling. “Hmm, no, you need something to remember me by...” The unicorn mare then kissed her, one that made Midnight cover Joyful’s eyes again.

“I’m ever so sorry,” Sugar said once they came up for air. “We’ve been looking for a really simple aging spell to help speed up the brewing process. One that doesn’t age things by decades, but just a month or two. Apparently that’s a novel idea. I looked up from the desk ten minutes ago and only just noticed the time.”

“I guess I can forgive you,” Moondancer giggled as Midnight all but appeared right beside her.

“So, I guess coming here isn’t the only coming she’s been doing hmm~?

Moondancer blinked. Oh. Right. Midnight Song was here.

“You are incorrigible Little Bat,” the mare sighed and Midnight hugged her tightly.

“I learned from the best Moonbutt.” Sugar got a wicked gleam to her eyes and leaned in to Midnight, to better whisper to the batpony. Something about four times and wearing out...

Moondancer turned a rather lovely shade of crimson as she floated out some paper and started scribbling down something while muttering under her breath.

“Let’s see, carry the four, extend the mana flow here, here, aaaaand here. Divide here and...no, divide here. Exploding is bad. Hmm, AH! ahHAH! Done!” She thrust the sheet into Sugar’s face.

“One modified Age Spell. A few months is what you wanted yes?”

“Oooh,” the mare said, her violet eyes dancing along it. “This will help us greatly. We ought to be able to produce our own cider with ease now...which will let us...test things. Wonderful things.” The sheet was carefully held with the mare’s own purple magic as she shot a smoldering look at her latest lover.

“You should come by sometime soon,” Sugar purred. “And taste the fruits of your efforts~”

“Oh I intend to,” Moondancer winked back at her. “You can count on that, my new friend~”

“I get the feeling that they’re more than friends!” Joyful said in a loud whisper to the Violet stallion she was riding.

“Perhaps so,” Wishful said as he use his magic to rub between the filly’s ears. The red, yellow, and blue stallions were keeping careful watch of their colts, making sure that they weren’t allowed within a few feet of each other on the ride back.

They only had the one train, after all.

Critical-Eye and Inspired-Dream, however…

“You did what?” the father asked of his daughter. The smaller green unicorn mare coughed and looked away before repeating her sentence.

“I applied for a visitor’s visa, father. And I only just got the letter back from the office that...they accepted. I’m going on a small trip.”

Silence descended across the platform as every disguised ‘ling turned to look at the green mare. Eventually Ledger stepped forward and looked his step-sibling in the eye. “You know what you’re getting yourself into?” he asked after a minute.

“Nope,” the mare replied with a shake of her head. “Half the journey is exploration after all. But I am certain I can handle most anything that comes up.”

“...Most,” Ledger said with a nod and a smile. “Okay, so you know better than to talk in absolutes, and you know enough to deal with most threats as well. If something happens?”

“Send a letter,” the mare responded instantly. “Asking for advice and help.”

Ledger looked at his step-father and nodded again. “Well, she passes my level of preparedness at least.”

When she was certain nopony was looking, Midnight moved up next to Critical and dropped something in her bag. A smaller pouch that contained a few items.

Like a small dagger and a protection potion~

“Never hurts to be prepared right?” she winked.

“Ounce of prevention or some such nonsense,” the mare replied with a similar wink.

Inspired-Dream was staring at the eldest son of their house before sighing. “You’re sure she’ll be safe?” he asked.

“Oh Tartarus no,” Ledger replied. “Equestria is home to some of the weirdest creatures you’ll see anywhere!” With that, Midnight was used as exhibit A. “I mean, take this Thestral. She loves me. I still consider that weird, but I’m not complaining.”

“Aw Levvy,” Midnight cooed. “I’m not sure if I should kiss you or punch you.” So, she did both, drawing him in for a kiss, before slugging his shoulder.

“That being said,” the brown unicorn continued after breaking the kiss and while rubbing his shoulder, “Typically the strange creatures are non-violent unless provoked, and while sis is very provoking-”

“I take issue with that statement,” the green mare interjected.

“-I doubt she’ll be able to provoke something to the point where it would want to hurt her without it warning her at least once. Besides me, of course.” Ledger finished. “As long as she keeps what few wits she has about herself-”

“Again, statement, issue,” Critical said, now glaring at her brother.

“-Then she should be fine.”

The stallion stared at Ledger for a moment longer before sighing. “And coming from you, that’s a compliment. Very well.” The older pony looked at his daughter with a stern glare. “I want letters every week, young lady.”

“Yes dad,” she grumbled.

“I mean it!”

“...yes, father,” she said with a more amicable tone. “I’ll write every week, I promise.”

“And you’re going to tell me about any and every pony you take an interest in,” the father said unashamedly.

“Dad!”

On that note, Scope stepped forward. She’d heard Critical mention this trip yesterday and prepared something for her. Hives above, she was actually becoming a nice Changeling.

“Here,” she said, levitating a small book out. “It’s a list of simple self-defense spells as well as my Teleport and Hive-mind spells. And yes, not even Ledger knows that last spell yet. But, they’re simple enough, even a Green should be able to cast them-”

“Thank you,” the green mare cut off Scope as she levitated the list over. “I’ll try and see if I can’t use them...and perhaps put my own touch on them as well. Utility is well and good, but there is something to be said for style.”

“Amen!” Moondancer called out.

“Like the time you styled my room in plaid?” Ledger deadpanned.

“You insulted my latest work at the time,” the mare defended. “Fair’s fair.”

“Plaid hmm, I would’ve gone with hot pink,” Moondancer hummed. “The kind that burns itself into your retinas for all time.”

“Hey, how’d you know what my room looked like after my first sugar-rush?” Joyful asked from atop the violet stallion. She peered at the unicorn mare with a suspicious glare. “Are you a spy or something?”

“Yes,” Moondancer replied without missing a beat. Midnight just shook her head as she dropped a present into Joyful’s bag. A little pouch of hardened candies for the trip home.

“Can’t forget my favourite little changeling now, can I?” she giggled.

“Nope!” the pink nymph said before hugging the Thestral. “I’m gonna miss you ponies. And it’ll be ages before I can get one of those visa thingies.”

“Four more years,” her father clarified.

“Like I said, ages!” the pink filly dramatized. Fake swoon and everything.

“Aw, then I’ll sing my little song and you’ll have to come running then,” Midnight giggled, hugging the little nymph back. The filly hummed at the attention before shaking her head.

“Doesn’t work if I’m not in the same city. I don’t hear it if I’m too far away.”

“I suppose we should be thankful she never really got too far then,” Madam Gossip observed as she made a mental note as to one of the limits to her daughter’s powers. “Who knows what she’d get up to if she slipped all means of calling her back.”

“All the ice-cream in the world!” Joyful declared.

“Celestia help us all,” Cider giggled, dreading that particular thought. Especially if she ever found out that coffee ice-cream was a thing.

Scope was still standing next to Critical and looked up. “I guess...you aren’t so bad,” she said with an indifferent tone. “I could tolerate being friends with you I suppose.”

“You’d not make a bad friend either, and I suppose I have no control over my brother’s love-life,” the mare grumbled in response. “...If he comes to any harm under your watch, I’m kicking his flank first, followed by yours, though.”

“If he gets hurt, it’ll most likely be his own stupid fault,” Scope said, looking at her utterly hopeless drone. “But...I’ll do what I can to make sure he doesn’t.”

“That’s all I can ask,” Critical said as she checked her bags again and nodded before standing up, intent on catching a different train now. “You...take care of them and yourself, okay?”

“I will, and same to you,” Scope nodded as she looked around, and once she was certain nopony was looking, she gave the green mare a quick hug. One she returned just as quickly before flashing a small smile and going on her way to the nearby shiny, crystalline train.

Ledger had told her of a certain Empire...with a certain painter…

There was a sound of a whistle blowing, and the Madam looked around before nodding and motioning towards their train. “That’s us, then. We’re headed south, then across the border.” She gave Grissom and Moon Song a smile before extending her hoof. “We really must meet again.”

“Indeed,” Moon Song replied, taking the mare’s hoof. “You should visit Canterlot sometime, it’s a beautiful city.”

“Perhaps when my brother has returned, I might visit with Wishful here, and swap stories about my son for your daughter,” the silver mare said with a twinkle of mischief in her eyes.

“That sounds wonderful, oh, the stories I could tell,” Moon giggled as Midnight felt her fur stand on end. This was the sign of the End Times right here. She moved next to Ledger and hugged him tightly.

“Levvy? I’m scared.”

“I’m just worried,” Ledger said with a sigh. “Mom, please try to be tasteful with your stories.”

“No promises,” the mare sing-songed back. “But that will have to wait until later.” The stallions pulled their children and luggage onto the train as the mare shook Moon’s hoof. “Until next time?”

“Next time,” Moon smiled and Grissom gave a friendly wave to the family. The mare nodded at the Council-stallion before boarding herself, just as the doors were closed and the train began its journey.

“Ah, and while I do love my family,” Ledger said with a sigh. “It’s so much less stressful now that they’ve left.”

They spent the next half hour just chatting, up until the train to Canterlot arrived, Midnight sighed as her parents and a reluctant Moondancer boarded. She really wished she’d spent more time with them.

“Please promise you’ll write more often?” Moon said from the window of the train. “I’d like to hear what happens from you, rather than the newspaper.”

“Yeah, I promise,” Midnight replied, leaning up to give her mother and father a kiss on the cheek each. They looked down at Scope and Apple Cider, smiling at them.

“It was also nice to meet the two of you,” Moon said. “Can I count on you to keep my troublesome daughter out of trouble?”

“That there is a full-time job,” Cider chuckled and nodded. “But we’ll do our best, right Scopey?”

“That’s above my pay grade,” Scope said. “But I guess I can do that. Looking after her should seriously come with hazard pay though.”

“Try not to get into too much trouble Little Bat,” Moondancer smiled. “And that goes for you too, my sugary queen~”

“More often than not, trouble gets into me,” Sugar said as she blew a kiss to Moondancer. “I’ll make an effort to try, though. No promises~”

The train gave a sharp whistle, muffling whatever it was that Moondancer said in response, but it caused the nymph to turn and she had a massive blush on her face.

“There’s a story there, and I bet I’ll never find out what it is,” Midnight replied with a small frown.

“A Lady never kisses and tells,” the nymph said as she tried to fight the blush that had dominated her face.

“Ain’t ever stopped Midnight before,” Cider laughed. “Ah reckon she’d kiss, then write a book on it!”

“That was the basis for the Pony Sutra,” the white mare observed aloud as she finally got back to normal. Midnight then recalled why she had been running from these persistent Ladies for the last couple of days, but it seems that Moondancer had provided an excellent distraction.

“Do come back sometime soon?” the disguised ‘ling asked of Moondancer. “I’ve not had one quite like you before, and I would like a repeat performance sooner rather than later.”

“Count on it,” Moondancer smiled as she gave the nymph a pinch on the flank with her magic. “I have so much more to...study~”

“Mares and Gentlecolts, my former lover,” Midnight said, taking a slight bow.

“I like her,” Sugar said with a grin. “She’s fun.”

“That she is,” Midnight smiled as the train whistled again and pulled out from the station, whisking the last of their family away. It suddenly seemed a lot less crowded now, to the point it felt quite empty.

“Well, let’s go finish cleaning up after the damage,” Ledger sighed as he began leading his family back home. Cider nodded in agreement and the family headed home. There was work to be done after all.

A few days had passed since Ledger’s and Midnight’s families had left. Midnight and Scope had fallen back into work again. Catching bad guys, investigating crimes and minor disturbances. Even after the collapse of Toll Taker’s empire, Midnight had honestly thought there would be more to do, but the other crime families seemed content to remain quiet. Were they biding their time? Or were they too scared to incur the wrath that had brought Toll Taker to justice?

Scope was amazing at gathering any intel she needed, Midnight couldn’t figure out how she got said information, and whenever she asked, Scope just answered with a simple ‘That’s a secret’.

Ledger’s business seemed to be running smoothly. He’d secured a few contracts now, and some of the local businesses had come around and were now dealing with the new and vastly improved Pegasus Air. But most still had reservations, or were pressured by other families not to seek help. So exports were Ledger’s primary source of income right now.

The Crystal Empire visit had proven most profitable in that regard.

Cider’s farm was also doing well. The tree had arrived from the Empire and after a few days of touch-and-go, it seemed to take to the environment that Cider had provided. The seeds she had taken back with her from the trip had begun to sprout, and by this time next year, she should have nearly two dozen trees to work with. Still not enough for a large scale production, but it would create supply and demand, so prices could be inflated quite a bit.

Ace was settling into the quiet life as well. Midnight’s training was coming along nicely, his new job as a masseuse was proving to be quite popular, and he could now afford to be more picky with his clientele. He mostly stuck to physiotherapy for injuries and the occasional noble which he could charge a much higher rate for.

Above all else, he needed enough to buy some furniture that wasn’t pink.

And those bedsheets? The ones that seemed to swirl with a psychedelic pattern of nausea inducing colour? Those had met with an unfortunate fate.

He had absolutely nothing to do with that. Nope, not at all.

They had a nice, normal cream-coloured blanket now. But he compensated by letting the sheets remain pink.

Speaking of said bed, the griffon lay on it, idly playing with Cherry’s mane when a scroll flashed into existence above him. A black ribbon sealed with Celestia’s Mark meant that this was...not good. He snared the scroll with a claw and opened it, his eyes widening with each sentence that he read.

“Dear Kings of Old,” he murmured, his voice holding a small tremble and Cherry felt something he had never felt from the Griffon.

Intense fear…

“Acey, you’re scaring me,” the disguised ‘ling said, a tremble of fear in his own voice. Ace re-read the missive several times, to make sure this wasn’t all a nightmare.

“Cherry? I need you to do something very important for me now.”

“I’ll do anything for you, Acey,” Cherry said with a nod. “You know that.”

“Good, I need you to gather every changeling in the city, do not skip out on a single one alright? They need to be in that bar the Violets own and I need it done as soon as possible. Can you do that for me?”

“What’s got you so worried that you’re telling us to bug out, Acey?” Cherry asked, the seriousness of the situation overriding the humor in the pun he’d just used.

“Something that could very well be the end of Equestria,” he replied as he grabbed his scarf...before he placed it on Cherry’s back and took the faded pink one. “I need to go and get Midnight. Please do as I asked okay?”

“Okay Acey...but they’re going to want an answer. What do you want me to tell them?” the pegasus asked as he wrapped the griffon’s scarf around his neck.

“You remember that Black changeling?”

Cherry stuck his tongue out in response. “Bleh. Yeah. I remember him.”

“This is a thousand times worse.”

Cherry shuddered as he considered the idea. “What could be so bad?” he wondered aloud.

“The most dangerous resident of Tartarus is free...” Ace replied with a grim tone. “And Discord is helping him.”

The disguised pink changeling actually looked shocked and worried at that statement. “Not…” he started to ask, before gulping. “You’re...saying that…” He couldn’t force the words out.

Ace opened the door and paused as Cherry spoke. “I’m saying we were all fools to trust that insane Chimera...and now, I don’t know if Equestria...if all of Equus will survive...” He sighed as he closed the door behind him.

Cherry whimpered before taking off through a window and flying towards Pegasus Air. Ledger would want to know that his marefriend was being called on to fight...this.

Narrow Gaze buried her head in her hooves and sighed. “Okay Ace, give it to me straight. Exactly how much of a chance do we have here?”

“Optimistically, I’d like to say that we’ll be just fine,” he replied. “It’s hardly the first threat Equestria has faced, and I highly doubt it will be the last...”

“But?” Narrow asked. “I know there’s a but there.”

“But,” Midnight continued. “The Elements of Harmony don’t exist anymore...”

“Midnight!?” Ace shushed her, that was supposed to be a state secret. If word got out that the Elements were no more...

“Forget it Ace, this isn’t the time for that!” Midnight yelled back. “The Elements are gone, yes. But the Bearers of those Elements aren’t. We have four insanely powerful Alicorns, the EUP, the Royal Guard and most importantly...”

“Most importantly?” he queried.

“We have me!” Midnight giggled and Ace facepalmed, it still didn’t stop a small smile from crossing his face though.

“We need a plan of attack should he come here though,” Narrow nodded. “This demon might be tough enough, but how the flipping feathers do we deal with Discord?”

“Therein lies the problem,” Ace said. “He’s the master of chaos, he is unpredictable by definition and his magic seems to have no limits in what it can do. We are also unsure if anti-magic weapons will work on him.”

“This demon he’s with steals the magic from ponies, stripping them of even their Cutie Mark,” Midnight shuddered. “While they are left alive...what kind of life is that?”

“To be on the safe side, all our Guard will be outfitted with anti-magic weaponry and I will place the whole city on red-alert. The local PD should also be informed. They might not provide much help, but it’s better than nothing.” Narrow stood up and shook her head. “Okay, I’ll prepare that, what are you two going to do?”

“We need to find a safe place for the city’s other residents, hopefully somewhere they can hide from Discord. They’re beings that require magic to live...so if they get drained...” Midnight shuddered at the thought.

“Right, get on it!” Narrow nodded. “And may the Creators have mercy on us all...”

“I’m telling you mares, that’s exactly what Cherry told me,” Ledger said as he stood in front of a small party of violet-eyed mares. Once the pink pegasus had delivered the news that not only was Discord on a warpath, but that he was number two to Tartarus’ big bad slipping loose, he’d booked it over here as fast as he possibly could.

The others needed to be warned that a magic-draining fiend was on the loose. Again.

The changelings had met him once before and...accounts varied. Some called him responsible for their kind even existing, others called him a iron-hooved tyrant and they his tax collectors.

They all agreed that the centaur was bad news, though.

“Are they certain that he is on the loose again?” Sugar asked.

“Celestia’s seal was on the scroll,” Ledger said with a grim nod. “We need to prepare. Do you think you could fit the ‘lings of the city in your tunnels?”

“Easily, and a few ponies as well. It’ll be cramped, but preferable to being outside if he’s loose.”

“Good,” Ledger sighed. “I’m going to go back and pick up a few belongings and Apple Cider, hopefully I’ll be able to convince her to come along and hide with me. Now all we need to do is hope that Discord can’t find the tunnels and wait out this whole mess.”

“...Yes, that sounds like as much of a plan one can make around the master of chaos,” one of the nymphs agreed. Sugar turned towards her nymphs and began issuing orders.

“Okay, each one of you has your emergency contact list. Go out and bring those ‘lings here, we’ll weather this storm together. I’ll bolster the Perception charms while you’re doing that.”

The mares assumed different disguises and quickly filtered out into the city, leaving Ledger and Sugar alone. With a quick nod exchanged between the pair of them, Ledger was off into the city again. He had a book to grab and mares to find. Hopefully he would find Scope or she would find him on his way back to the farm.

***

He was right in Scope finding him, the petite pegasus nearly bowled him over when she flew into him, her eyes wide.

“Ledger! Please tell me you know why Midnight is at home, looking like she’s preparing for war?”

Ledger sighed and whispered two words into the mare’s ear. He didn’t need the ponies knowing.

“Tirek’s loose.”

He then braced for her reaction, hoping she would have the sense of mind to not shout it to the heavens.

“Fuck me...” Scope spread her wings and shot off for home. Was Midnight seriously planning on fighting that monster?

Ledger sighed again and picked up his pace. At least now he knew where the mares were. Midnight was at home, getting ready to fight. Scope would probably be there in a moment, trying to stop her. And Cider would probably be there, wondering what the hay was going on.

Once he grabbed his book and told them all he knew where a refuge might be for a situation like this, he hoped that Cider, at least, would be reasonable and hide with him.

It did not pay to fight monsters. Cleaning up after them, yes, it paid well. But fighting them? Never.

Midnight adjusted a strap on her armour, frowning at the fact that this piece didn’t seem to bloody fit right! She continued growling at the inanimate object until Cider sighed and pulled the strap with her teeth, tightening it just right.

“Better?” she asked and Midnight nodded slowly. The Apple mare sighed again as she leaned against Midnight. “Why do y’all have to be such a durn fool?”

“I have to go Cidey, it’s my job,” she answered. “I have to protect you guys.”

Ledger provided an ample interruption at that point as he finally arrived home, panting and sweating from his runs across town. “Gimmie...a moment,” he said between breaths. “Or two. Or ten.”

“Did...you run? All the way here?” Midnight blinked.

“When y’all can just turn into a Pegasus?” Cider finished.

Ledger blinked before facehooving. “I knew I was forgetting something,” he muttered. “This whole situation has me seriously rattled.”

“Rattled or not,” Midnight said as she fixed her swords to her wings. “You, Scopey and Cidey are going to go hide now. Ace got another message from Princess Celestia...the last one he might get for a while. They have this insane plan which I can’t tell you about, but Tirek and Discord are going to be here soon...and Canterlot is their next stop.” She finished mounting the blades, her expression was still grim. “Ace is going to Canterlot, to act as vanguard there. I’m going to stall the two here as long as I can.”

Ledger looked the thestral in the eyes before grimly nodding. “I doubt I could stop you...but make me a promise? If everything you do seems to fail, if the anti-magic nature of your swords doesn’t stop him...if you seem to be losing, then please. Don’t keep the fight up. We have myths about this creature. And we never win in any of them. I’d rather trust in whatever Princess Celestia comes up with and have you...than not.” Some of those stories had...gruesome endings.

“I promise not to do anything foalish that will get me killed,” Midnight nodded, crossing her heart with a hoof. “Now hurry up and get to the club. I still have more preparations to make.”

“Can do,” Ledger said before looking at Scope. “If you’ve got everything you need, then what’re you still doing here?”

“You think I plan on leaving her alone to fight that thing!?’ Scope said almost too calmly. “I am not going to hide! Not this time!”

“Let me know how you plan to take down a magic-drainer,” Ledger said with just as straight a face. “I’m sure whatever plan you come up with will work so well. There’s a reason I said I would be hiding, as are most of the ‘lings in Las Pegasus.” Others were simply choosing to flee the city entire.

“Go,” Midnight said with a smile. “I’ll still be here when you get back, but...I might not be feeling too good.” She held the nymph close and hugged her. “Can I count on a cute little nurse to take care of me?”

“F-Fine!” Scope said with a light blush. “But...you’d better not die, or I’ll revive you and kill you myself! Got that?”

“Yes ma’am,” Midnight giggled as she hugged Cider, then moved to Ledger.

“Take care of them okay?” she whispered to him.

“Always. Take care of yourself?” he whispered back.

“Promise,” she replied back and let him go. She gave her family one last look as they left...

She hated lying like that…

“Okay,” Ledger said as he began leading the mares to the offices of the Love Shack. “Now remember, this is a crisis, Cider. Otherwise I wouldn’t be taking you here.” The tunnels naturally started in Sugar’s office, meaning they would have to see the nymph first before they began going underground.

“Ah still reckon that ah should be protecting mah farm,” Cider said as she followed him. “But ah promised Middy that I’d stay safe. So, let’s see what y’all have up yer non-existent sleeves.”

“The farm will recover if you’re there to help it recover,” Ledger pointed out before knocking twice on Sugar’s door and opening it. The mare herself turned, her horn aglow as she stopped facing...something to greet the party of three.

“Ah...Ledger, where’s miss Midnight?” she asked. “If you were to bring anypony down there, I would think it would be her as well as miss Cider there.”

“She’s buying us time,” Ledger said before nodding at that...same something. “You think you could stop with the Perception charm for long enough that we can focus on the tunnel and get down it?”

“...Yes, I suppose seeing where you’re going would be an advantage in that situation,” she agreed with a small chuckle. The glow on her horn died, and suddenly the mares could focus on the bookcase and the massive hole in the wall behind it that led into darkness.

“Whelp, this ain’t the first mare’s tunnel I’ve gone down,” Cider chuckled weakly. Somepony had to make up for a lack of Midnight.

“I appreciate the humor, dear, but we have a bit of a situation,” Sugar said as she stepped out of the way. “Quickly please.”

“After you, ladies,” Ledger said with a bow. “I want to talk with miss Darling anyways.” Cider sighed, but walked into the tunnel as Scope followed, leaving Ledger alone with the Violet.

“Yes?” she asked. Ledger decided to keep it equally short.

“Midnight’s buying us time, and I hope she’ll listen to what we said before we left. She might show up here, she might not. But in case she does, can you stick by the entrance? She’ll be wearing anti-magic gear, so you’ll have to drop the enchantment and let her find you rather than pull her in.”

Sugar winced at the thought. “If she shows up...and I don’t think she’s being followed? Then I’ll do my best to pull her in first. I’d rather not lower the enchantment for anything once we’re all in. I’d like to not find out what stories are true, thank you.”

“Fair enough,” Ledger agreed. “But if I find out you didn’t…”

“I’ll lay down and let you take your revenge without any fuss, dear. Now get in there. I’m waiting one more minute for any stragglers, then I’m joining you all.”

With that, Ledger walked into the tunnels as well. Time to hide from the end of the world.

It was so surreal, seeing the streets of Las Pegasus so quiet. Not a single pony, save for the small contingent of guards, could be seen walking the normally bustling Strip.

Midnight took a deep breath as Narrow walked up next to her.

“You ready for this?” she asked.

“Nope. You?”

“Not in the bucking slightest,” she admitted. “Tried to get Fredrick to leave the city...stubborn fool wouldn’t do it though.”

“At least I got mine to hide away,” Midnight nodded. “At least, I hope they are. I really hope they are...”

“Worried are we? Well, I guess you should be.” The voice appeared out of nowhere as Narrow and Midnight looked around, as Discord flashed into existence in front of them. “Top of the morning ladies. How are you doing on this fine day?”

“A lot better when your head is mounted on my spear!” Narrow spat at him.

“Oooh, this one’s feisty~” Discord chuckled, “and what about you my batty friend. Do you share her not-so-PG sentiment?”

Midnight just un-sheathed her blades and looked at him with a narrow-eyed glare. “Where’s Tirek?” she said. “Help us put him down, and I’m sure the Princess would forgive this.”

“Bah! I could care less what ol’ Sunbutt thinks,” Discord said. “But, if you think you can handle my new friend, then please, be my guest.” He pointed past them and the two mares turned, just as Tirek dropped the last Guard after draining him.

“Weak little fools!” his deep voice rumbled. “You stand no chance. Surrender yourselves to me and you may yet live!”

“You know, I’ve always wanted to try the casinos here,” Discord clapped his hands together. “Will you be alright here Tirek? I feel like playing for a while.”

“Get lost, I can handle myself,” the centaur replied and Discord vanished.

“Well, at least this got a little easier,” Narrow said quietly and Midnight nodded. That was strange though, all it would take was a snap of Discord’s fingers and this fight would be over. Why did he leave? Was he truly that flippant?

Narrow lowered her spear and charged at Tirek, Midnight nodded and followed suit. Hopefully, they would stand half a chance...

The tunnels were pretty packed, but at least there was a little breathing room.

Until Discord popped in, right in front of Ledger.

“Aha! So this is where you’re all hiding. Mmm, quite clever I must say.”

Nobuggy dared to so much as breathe...except Ledger of course, who narrowed his eyes at the creature and spoke with enough venom in his voice to be mistaken for a spitting cobra. “If so much as one hair is out of place in Midnight’s mane, I will find out what your innards’ colors are.”

“Aw, how cute,” Discord cooed, ruffling his mane. “Celestia did say you were a serious one. But honestly, do you think you could follow up on that? I did just ensure that those icky Blacks won’t be a problem anymore. And from what I hear, you struggled to beat just one.”

“If it meant helping or, so help you, avenging Midnight, I would use you for teleportation practice,” Ledger said with a smile that was way too pointed. “How’s halfway between here and the center of the earth sound?”

“Hmm, not bad. I hear it’s quite lovely this time of year,” Discord chuckled as the tunnels shook with the sound of a muffled explosion. “Oooh, sounds like he’s really getting into it now. Wanna go and take a peek?”

“Sure!” Ledger replied chipperly. “You first.”

In a flash, Ledger and Discord were floating above the city, their see-through forms hovering in the sky.

“I do so love astral projections, don’t you?” Discord clapped. They looked down, just as Narrow missed an attack and Tirek snared her, draining the magic from her body with a vicious hiss.

“Oh, and now we’re down to one,” the mad god cackled.

“I wonder, if I strangle you like this, will you choke in real life?” Ledger mused aloud. “Actions have consequences, Discord. And if you think that...thing down there is your friend, then I have some ocean-front property in Canterlot to sell you.”

Another snap of his fingers, and Ledger was standing in the streets of Canterlot, which was now located on the west coast of Equestria, a wide beach stretched out before them.

“So, which one’s yours?” Discord asked.

“The one that has ‘gullible’ written on the ceiling,” Ledger deadpanned at the mad thing. “It might take you a while to find, but I’ll wait.”

Another flash, and they were back in Las Pegasus, just in time to see Midnight get pitched like a baseball, the Thestral tumbling down the street.

“Ohh, that looked like it hurt,” Discord winced as he looked at Tirek, whose hand smouldered from the touch. Well now, wasn’t that interesting.

Ledger hadn’t even noticed the reaction Tirek had had to the anti-magic metal, so focused he was on Midnight. Deciding to see if Midnight could hear him in any fashion when he was like this, the changeling walked up to her form and leaned down to whisper into her ear.

“Please Midnight...come back to us whole and alive.”

Midnight’s ear gave a flick, but her eyes never left Tirek. So, her blades could hurt him...but, he was already so powerful and...what was he doing now?

Tirek’s body glowed with a vicious red light, as magic begun to pour in from the city. Sweet Celestia...he didn’t even have to be near the pony to drain them!? He was sucking the life out of the whole city.

“I need...to end this,” she shakily got to her hooves. She looked in the direction of the club, and coincidently, happened to be looking the astral Ledger straight in the eyes. “Sorry Levvy...I guess...I couldn’t keep my promise...” She closed her eyes and faint, yet fond smile crossed her muzzle. “I love you Level Ledger...”

Tears stung her eyes as she spread her wings and focused her energy. This was her final technique, a forbidden move even Ace wasn’t aware that she knew about.

“The blade that severs life itself, I imbue all that I am...give all that I am...” The blades shone with an otherworldly light as she looked at the demon. He would not hurt her family. Not anypony! And if she had to give her life to save them, then so be it!

“I give all that I am. And take all that you are! Final technique. Alicorn Hunter!”

“Midnight!” Ledger all but screamed at his mare, hoping the sentiment of what he was about to say would get through to her. “Don’t DO this! Look at yourself, look at him! You’re barely holding yourself UP, he’s getting STRONGER! You CAN’T kill him as you are! And if you TRY, you’ll DIE! Don’t do this to us, Midnight!”

Discord watched, even as the pony used a skill that could kill an immortal. He didn’t think that anyone knew that skill anymore. Even so...

“We can’t have that now,” he muttered. “This isn’t how your story ends.” He raised a paw and snapped his fingers. Just as Midnight reached Tirek, she froze, giving the demon enough time to drain her dry. All the magic she had left her body, her Cutie Mark fading and vanishing…

“...Well, at least she’s alive,” Ledger ruefully admitted. “She’s not like us...or you. She’ll survive the loss of her magic.” Ledger cast a glare at the mad chimera. “And if need be, I’ll see about trying to replicate Tirek’s technique to get it back.”

“So dramatic,” Discord yawned. Though, he had to wonder to himself. Why did he save that mare’s life so readily? It’s not like he overly cared what happened to her...

Ledger looked back as Tirek turned away from the fallen Thestral...

Until she got back up!

“...Where...do you think...you’re going,” she said in a quiet tone. Her eyes were glazed over, devoid of almost all life...her magic was gone, along with her ability to fly. But she’d be damned if she was just going to roll over and accept it.

“My marefriend...hits harder than you do,” she continued, limping towards him, her blades felt so heavy she could barely lift them. “What’s the matter asshole? Afraid you’re gonna get Ti’wrecked?”

That pun was so bad, even the crickets didn’t feel like chirping.

“How about a bet, Discord?” Ledger asked, inspired by Midnight’s survival despite...everything. She really should have come back, or stopped...but apparently even if she died, she would just punch the ferrypony in the jaw and come back to them, such was her determination.

“I’m listening,” Discord mused, munching on astral popcorn.

“One wish, to be granted to the winner by the loser to the best of their abilities. I bet you that this whole thing is going to end in tears. That Tirek down there has no more interest in you than as a means to an end.” Like I did when I first met Midnight...

“Hmm, I’ll take that bet,” Discord hummed. This changeling was...intriguing.

Tirek stared at the advancing Thestral with a raised eyebrow. She was tenacious to the point of annoying.

“Well, I guess my kingdom could use a little pruning,” he replied as a massive amount of magical energy built up in his horns. The ground shook with the amount of power he was building. Forget Midnight, this would take out half the city. “I’ll let you die with honour at least.”

“...Just so you know, Discord, I’m fairly certain we’d have to survive to be able to collect on our bets,” Ledger observed. “Perhaps you should do something about that?”

“Hmm, perhaps, but if you died, then I’d win by default,” the mad god smiled as he looked at Ledger. “Well, I think time’s up for today. You’ve been a wonderful contestant. Thanks for playing!” With a snap of his fingers, Ledger was now staring at Scope, just as she punched him in the face.

“Ledger, wake the fuck up!” she screamed at him.

“OW!” he said before recalling the last thing he saw with Discord. “Everybuggy outta the way!” With that, he changed to his pegasus form and faced the right tunnel. He had a bat to save.

With a flexing of his new wings and a rush of air, Ledger was blasting past the gathered ‘lings and the few ponies in the know they’d tried to save. Tirek’s last attack had ignored the Perception charm, partially anyways. With one last push, he was past Sugar Darling, and burning all his stored love and magic in an effort to put more speed on.

He didn’t hold any particular fondness for most of Las Pegasus. Just three mare-shaped parts of it. And one of them was in serious danger.

And he be damned if he didn’t do everything in his power to save her.

The streets of Las Pegasus were a wreck. Shattered windows, lamp posts had been torn from the ground and when Ledger finally reached the site that he’d witnessed before, all that remained was a large smouldering crater and a few scattered bits of charred armour...

Golden Solar Guard armour.

“No,” Ledger muttered to himself. “No no no.” Nonetheless, he followed the trail of broken armor. Maybe...it had just fallen off and...wasn’t all that was left of her...

The armour was scattered everywhere, and near the edge of the crater, lay a broken, once-purple blade half melted in the ground. The magic attack had been so powerful, even those weapons had been about as effective as toothpicks. Ledger slowly looked into the crater, hoping, praying that she would be whole. Alive. She…

Nopony deserved this. Not any of them. Midnight’s fate...or the things Ledger was going through right now.

That was when he heard a faint sound, one coming from a nearby building. Upon inspection, he saw two mares, one thestral and one unicorn...the later was bleeding from a broken hind leg and several lacerations...and the bat...

She looked whole, though slightly singed.

“Fuck...ow...” Narrow groaned as she rolled over onto her side. Ledger slowly advanced, hardly daring to believe that this was reality.

“...Midnight? Narrow? You’re both alive?” he warily asked.

“Ledger?” Narrow blinked and then cried out in pain when she moved her leg. “Fuck! Argh, barely...Celestia that hurts.”

“Don’t do that again,” Ledger said as he came closer and inspected the wound before wincing and hissing in sympathy. “Oooh. I don’t dare use magic until I know he’s gone, otherwise I might draw his eye. And that’s something that needs to be seen to…”

Narrow pointed with a hoof, to a singed bag that lay nearby. “In there...first aid...” She groaned as she lay her head back down. She’d only barely been saved by Midnight. All she remembered was the bat grabbing her, then the explosion had knocked them into this building. Ledger opened the bag and winced again, this time at the half-destroyed contents.

“Um. The gauze is gone, sorry. As are the regular bandages. Some of the disinfecting stuff survived, and a painkiller as well. I could probably make a splint or something with all this rubble…”

“The disinfectant and the painkiller, that’ll do...for now...” Narrow was finding it harder to stay awake now. “Getting...cold...tired...”

“Oh no you don’t!” Ledger said as he gave her the painkiller and quickly rubbed the disinfectant on the cuts. The sharp, stinging pain would get her awake again.

“FFFFUUUOOWWWW!” Narrow howled, the scream causing Midnight to groan, but she still didn’t wake up. Other changelings had emerged from the shelter now, and it didn’t take long for Amy and Sugar to find Ledger. Scope had stayed behind to care for Cider.

“Ledgie?” Amy asked as she came a little closer. “Is that…”

“Get them both down there, we don’t know he’s gone yet,” Ledger said. “I’ll climb up a nearby building, see if I can’t see him from up there and report back. No magic of any sort if you can avoid it.”

“Got it,” Sugar said with a nod. “Some of the Oranges brought medical supplies, we can see to the injured down there pretty well.”

“Be careful with her,” Ledger said, leaving them to wonder which ‘her’ he’d been talking about as he looked around for the tallest building and set off for it. Amy lowered herself to the ground and Sugar walked over to face Narrow’s face.

“Okay dear, I’m going to have to move you to put you on Amy’s back,” she said, warning the mare of what was to come. “Brace yourself. I’ll try to avoid moving the leg directly, but it’s probably going to shift around a little.”

“Do...it...” she grunted and bit down on her forehoof. This was going to hurt like a bitch. When Sugar moved her, all Amy could hear was the mares muffled screams as she was put on her back, and the feeling of the blood flowing from her cuts seeped into her fur.

“S-Sorry...” Narrow panted lightly.

“It’s okay, I can take a shower later,” Amy chirped. Keeping an upbeat attitude was important. Even now. Especially now. “Miss Sugar, you okay with miss Midnight?”

“I’ve got her, dear,” the mare said. “I just hope she’ll be fine. She’s...breathing, but that’s about all I can say. Oh, I wish we could use magic right now. A diagnostic spell would help greatly.”

“See you back at the shelter!” the pink pegasus said before gently walking back towards the club, mindful of her passenger. Narrow groaned, but the painkillers were finally kicking in.

Midnight was still unconscious, it wasn't until Sugar tried to move her, that she noticed a bleeding wound on the back of her head. The disguised ‘ling gulped and put what was left of the gauze to the wound, hoping that by pressing against it gently to act as a makeshift bandage, that perhaps the wound wouldn’t get worse and get something in it. That maybe the act of something pushing against that wound, that Midnight might actually react to it. Just to be safe, Sugar tried calling out the Thestral’s name. “Midnight? Midnight dear?”

All she got in response was a low groan. Her ear flicked slightly and checking her eyes was a mistake. Those emerald eyes that were usually so full of life were now almost colourless. They seemed so dead…

“Midnight, you need to think about the things that matter to you,” Sugar said, hoping that the out-of-it bat would hear her even now. She’d noticed that the ponies they’d tried to save...did better when they were together, were capable of responding to simple questions and feeling more, when they remembered why life was worth living. “Midnight, think about your favorite food, your favorite ponies. Think about all the things you look forward to each day.” If she came back from...whatever this was, it’d make monitoring her mental state a lot easier, an important step for things like a head wound.

There was a brief moment where she looked straight at the mare, and the smallest of smiles crossed her muzzle. But in the blink of an eye, the moment was gone and Midnight was unconscious again.

“Think about Ledger...think about him holding you, kissing you, telling you he loves you,” Sugar pressed. “Hold it together...for him. I know it all seems dark dear...but as long as you have the ponies you care for by your side, everything else will work out. And I saw him just now dear. He needs you to be safe. Do it for him?”

There was no response. Just the sound of her steady but quiet breathing. Sugar tried again.

“Think about your herd, your parents. About going to sleep with Ledger and waking up with him. About the depth of their love and care for you...because they never stopped worrying about you for a second while you were up here. Think about the good things Midnight...come back to them. They need you again.”

Midnight stirred again as the nymph carried her back to the shelter. That voice in her head wouldn't shut up. She just wanted to sleep for a while.

But a question bugged her. One that the voice wouldn't shut up about...

...Who the buck was 'Ledger'?

“Come on, Midnight,” Sugar all but growled at the batpony as they entered the club again. “You can’t seriously have been hit that hard! You need to pull yourself back from this state. It’ll kill Scope and Cider to see you hurt, but to see you non-responsive like this? Ledger has never been...whatever he was a moment ago. Not even under Toll. I dread to think what a loyal Blue will think when she sees you so badly wounded, when she could have been helping...and Cider will need to see that their strong protector pulled through.”

"Nrgh...f'off...tryn, sleep..." Well, crude as it was...it was a start. Sugar pushed her advantage.

“I’ll let you sleep off a head wound when I’m certain it’s been treated properly,” the violet-eyed changeling said as they neared her office. “Now I’m going to ask a series of questions to make sure your mind is still in order after you decided to fight a magic-sucking demon. Name?”

"...songbat," came her reply.

“Rank in the Guard?”

"...awesome."

“Current relationships?” This was the clincher.

"...cactus, booze...snark."

Well, she supposed three answers was correct, and Sugar could even see how they might relate to actual ponies. Which was which was the question. Cider was obviously booze, and cactus and snark could be...interchangeably Ledger or Scope. “Just so you know, you break any of their hearts by not recognizing them, I am going to buck you upside the head until it works again,” she mock-threatened the Thestral mare.

"...mmm, mangoes...." the bathorse muttered as she nibbled on the nymphs mane. Figuring that was the best she would get, the changeling mare went down into the tunnels and began looking for an Orange to wrangle for the incoming Guard-captain, and one for herself as well.

She found a pair that had just moved on from comforting a pony family, thankfully. They agreed to see to the two new patients and the new conditions, which Sugar only now remembered to spread through their mock-up Hive down here.

Hopefully, Ledger wasn’t getting into trouble. Sugar would catch Tartarus as it was for bringing Midnight back in such a state. If he got hurt, she didn’t dare to think what Scope might do…

Ledger had climbed to the top of the biggest building in the area and was scoping the city out, looking to see if there was any sign of either Discord or Tirek. And that was when he had the stroke of madness.

Discord had seemed...amiable enough, or at least not openly hostile. Perhaps if asked a simple question, he’d give a simple answer? To try it out, the currently-a-pegasus cleared his throat and invoked the chaos spirit’s name. “Discord.”

There was no response though. Ledger tried again. “Discord?” If he didn’t answer after a third attempt, then he’d assume the pair of them left the city.

Again, no response. And that was when the sun suddenly flickered, like a dying lightbulb. And a plume of smoke could be seen rising from Canterlot.

“...Well I suppose it’s terrible of me to think this way, but if he’s after the alicorns now, then there’s no way Tirek or Discord are he-”

“Just thought I’d pop in and say hi,” Discord said cheerfully. Well, he was also conversing with Tirek in the throne room of Canterlot Palace as well. “Ohhh, and there goes the three pretty princesses to Tartarus. Oh well. So, my new buggy friend. What do you want that you had to call right now? I’m kind of in the middle of conquering Equestria.”

“...Just wanted to be sure that your ‘friend’ wasn’t here,” Ledger said as he got his heart under control. “We’ve got a lot of damage control to take care of, after all. It’d be nice if we could do it without worrying about our safety.”

"Hmm, well we might be kind of busy soon...oh? Oh that's not good." Discord summoned a top hat and tipped it to Ledger before disappearing. The disguised ‘ling took the proffered advice and flew down to the club’s entrance again. If Discord of all beings was worried, then he didn’t want to be above-ground for...whatever was worrying him.

A quick trot inside and into the tunnels saw him meeting face-to-face with Sugar Darling again. “How is she?” he asked the moment he was inside.

“Well the bleeding’s stopped, and she’s a little...dazed, but I think she’s okay,” the disguised nymph said. “Maybe you should see her and judge for yourself.”

Ledger nodded and followed the nymph to where the local ‘lings had assembled a makeshift hospital, to house the ponies and their own who had been injured, or in the case of the ponies, injured and drained. Ledger found a familiar batpony lying on her belly and blinking, all signs of the life and vitality she used to have gone thanks to what had happened. The pegasus stallion walked forward, paused, assumed his unicorn disguise, and sat in front of Midnight Song. One hoof stroked her cheek as he tried to gauge just how much like herself she still was.

“Midnight?” he softly asked. “Songbird?”

The Thestral looked at him, well, looked in his direction at least. Her eyes were glazed and she appeared to be looking at nothing in particular.

“Heh...birds are pretty...”

Ledger tensed up at her response, before sighing and dropping his disguise entire. The changeling’s natural form was on display to the thestral mare, in hopes that something, anything, might be sparked by the sight of it. “It’s me, Midnight. It’s your cuddlebug. Ledger. Why didn’t you come back when you could? Why...did you make me go looking for you?”

Midnight put a soft smile on her face and poked at his chest. “Silly buggy~” she giggled. Ledger sighed again. Time for the final idea he had. And if this didn’t work…

He was going to have words with a certain pair of so-called ‘gods’.

Gathering up his power and leaving himself enough to live with, barely, Ledger leaned forward and kissed Midnight. With that simple act, he pushed more magic out of himself than before in an effort to try and restore the mare.

Midnight’s eyes widened slightly, and for a moment that spanned the blink of an eye, those eyes glimmered slightly. And on her flank, the crescent moon, wrapped in a musical stave flickered. But just like that, it was gone again.

But...something was different. A line of tears ran down her cheeks, but she made no indication to show she even knew or recognised that she was crying.

“Right…” Ledger panted as he felt his new lowered reserves. “Plan...go find Discord. Kick his ass. Use power to restore ponies. Bullshit something for Tirek.”

Scope walked over to Ledger and looked at Midnight, sighing softly. “So...her too then?”

“Yup,” Ledger nodded. “And I’m glad I stopped in Violet’s Hive in the lands now. It’s probably immoral to consider murdering a god, but I will strangle Discord blue when I have the damn chance. For Cider, Midnight…” Here he looked at Scope and smirked. “And even you. I would tear asunder everything. To keep you all safe. I failed once, but I won’t fail again.”

“Yes, how very noble of you,” Scope deadpanned. “Go and get yourself killed by an elder god and a demon that has the magic of almost every pony in Equestria. And when Midnight and Cider get better, I’ll tell them aaaalll about your heroic deeds.” Scope stepped closer as she glared at him, her pupiless eyes boring into him. “Or. You could stay here with the rest of us. Guide us on how to care for all the fallen ponies here in Las Pegasus!”

“...I...I could stay,” Ledger admitted. “But that was almost all my magic just now. And it did nothing to help her. If everything I’ve owned won’t help her, then of what use do you expect me to be?” The noble drone hung his head. “I...would consider staying if there was some indication it worked. As it stands, my best option is murdering a mad thing for his power and then coming up with a new plan.”

“How can you be so self-fucking-cent-” Scope had pulled her hoof back to punch him in his stupid face, when Midnight raised a hoof slowly...and placed it on Ledger’s chest.

“You’re nice,” she said softly, this time looking at him. “You should...help them...s’what I would do...”

Ledger slowly put his own chitinous hoof on her own before looking Midnight in the eyes. “I...fine. For you. We can try to help the ponies recover. But...they’re going to want to know how we kept our magic…”

Ledger sighed and looked at Scope. “Spread the word. No magic use of any sort outside the tunnels, to not draw Tirek’s eye. Everybuggy’s to look for drained ponies.” His mind formed plans. Sluggishly, but it still ticked on. “We’ll use the hospitals, clubs, anywhere that’s open to house them.”

He looked at Midnight and recalled how she’d just been. “We’ll need to make sure they have food and water, some...might not be able to provide for themselves. The guard and police will likely be injured, they get the hospital first. Oranges will have their hooves full seeing to them.”

The nearby changelings were actually listening to him talking out loud, planning out loud. Ledger was back to his normal self.

Mostly.

“And you,” he said looking back at Midnight from his staring at the ceiling. He’d been running some plans in his head, and now he paid attention to her again. “I’m going to look after your every need until you can look at me like you used to again.”

At this point, Ledger raised his voice with the literal last straw he had for helping his bat. “Somebuggy get me a mango!”

Several changelings blinked at the strange order, but none-the-less, the LP Hive became a buzz of activity. Orange changelings made for the hospital, patients there already would need to be checked on, and they would need to prepare for new arrivals.

Violets, Blues and Reds began to scour the city in search of anypony that needed help, while Greens hunted for supplies. Scope refused to leave Cider and Midnight, but Sugar insisted that she’d need all the help she could get.

However, what was more disconcerting than all of this...was Amy.

The bubbly pink changeling was awfully quiet. Too quiet.

Scope walked up the the nymph and gently poked her. “Hey? You...okay?”

“Acey said he was going to Canterlot,” the pink changeling said. “And he also said that after here, Canterlot was the only place left.” And then she did something that Pinks weren’t known for.

She sniffed and started to cry real tears. Tears of sorrow.

“If it’s this bad here,” She said with a small sob starting to make itself known in her voice. “Then...how bad is it where Acey is?”

This was...okay, Scope had no idea how to deal with this. She had never seen a Pink cry before. Not for real anyway.

“W-Well, maybe he’s doing okay?” Scope said softly. “I mean, it’s Ace we’re talking about. He’s prolly kicking Discord and Tirek’s faces in as we speak.”

“Midnight tried to take on one of them,” Amy said with another sob. “And he beat her. And he gets stronger with every bit of magic he drains. If he took out all the ponies in Las Pegasus...and took out every pony between him and the Princesses...then Acey…” At this she wailed, and something...flickered.

Her very color flickered for a moment.

Okay, what the hell was that. Scope backed away and bolted towards Ledger, grabbing at his arm.

“Ledger! Amy is doing something really weird...”

Ledger turned from Midnight and looked at the fluctuating Pink for a moment as his eyes widened. With a few quick steps, he was staring Amy in the eyes. “Amy,” he said calmly. “You need to calm down. Whatever fears you have about Ace are unfounded. You know he’s smarter than Midnight. He’ll come back to you if the fight is unbalanced against him.”

With another sob, followed by a sniffle, the pink changeling nodded. Slowly, her color stabilized...though it was definitely faded now. It used to be a bright, eye-searing pink.

Now it was barely salmon-pink.

‘Okay Ledger,’ Scope said into his head using her magic. ‘What in the flipping feathers was that? I have never seen a Changeling change colour like that except for...oh...no bucking way...’

‘It would appear there are mysteries and legends surrounding the Blacks that we do not know,’ Ledger replied as he held the changeling that felt for them all. ‘Are you really surprised, though? Considering the way the majority of them in the homeland have been behaving these past centuries?’

‘Ledger, I can barely tolerate her as a Pink...if she turns Black...’

‘Then I will use my spell again, if she turns that black...but think. Besides from her sorrow, did she feel wrong? I’m starting to draw a conclusion here, Scope...’

‘You know, I think it’ll be a cold day in Tartarus when you ‘don’t’ think about something Ledger.’

‘...And let’s hope it’s an especially chilly one when we finally figure out how to fight Tirek,’ Ledger said before forcibly turning his attention away from the mental conversation. “Okay, Amy...I have a mission for you.”

She looked up at him with eyes that still held a bit of tears. “A mission?”

Ledger nodded. “Mmhmm. I think the colts and fillies could do with some cheap ice-cream to raise their spirits.”

At this, she bristled. “Cheap? Cheap?! You would charge for ice-cream in a crisis like this one?!”

Before anybuggy else could stop her, the pink changeling was her pegasus self again and shouting loud enough to make Luna proud from Tartarus. “FREE ICE-CREAM AT AMY AND CHERRY’S!” she bellowed into the tunnels. The only thing that deafened that roar was the one that the smaller ponies threw up in response. Amy was soon leading a small party of small ponies out to declare war on the ice-cream empire.

There would be no survivors.

By the time the sun had set on the city, it was sort of back in order...well, save for a bunch of Changelings running about. While it was nerve-wracking to see hordes of them undisguised out in the open, if they became ponies, then they might draw Tirek back to the city. Even magic usage was cut to a state of ‘Only if you absolutely have to’.

“You know,” Scope mused as she stood out on the street. “If anypony saw this, it would look like we invaded the city and won.”

“...We should probably do something about that,” Ledger said as he looked at the damage the centaur had left behind. “Maybe fixing up the city will help improve our image beyond helping the ponies cope with this whole situation?”

“Yeah, but we’re run pretty thin as is,” Scope pointed out. “Can we really afford to repair the city, and look after everypony in it?”

“We’ve found almost everypony, right?” Ledger pointed out. “I mean, they weren’t moving too far from wherever they were, and we managed to get them moved to a place where we could look after them, right?”

“True, but some of them are pretty hurt,” Scope said, looking at the stars. They seemed...duller than normal. “Up a ladder or setting a beartrap is a terrible time to have part of your soul sucked out.”

“Fair point, but that’s why the oranges and violets are teaming up. Between the two colors, they know pony anatomy better than almost any of us.” Ledger then pointed at one rather memorable pothole. “I’d rather the other bugs that are full of energy and have nothing to do manage to do something constructive rather than add any more destructive problems.”

“Well, I suppose fixing a city instead of destroying one will be a novel idea for some of us,” Scope chuckled. “Fine, I’ll see what I can do and get some changelings to help out.”

It was around then that Sugar Darling came running up to them.

“Ledger! Scope! You need to come quick. It’s Midnight!”

Ledger braced himself and then asked the question, even as he prepared to run as fast as he could. “Good news or bad news?”

“You really should determine that for yourself,” Sugar nodded as Scope already flashed her horn and the two teleported to the hospital room that Midnight and Cider shared.

Upon arrival, the bed-bound batpony bore a curious expression at the flash of light that produced two changelings.

“Oh...hey...Levvy, Scopey...”

“...Midnight?” Ledger asked slowly. “You...remember us?”

“S’hard,” Midnight groaned, squeezing her eyes shut and putting a hoof to her head. “But...I could, never forget the ones I love...”

“Right, it’s official, pass the word along,” Ledger said to Scope as though she weren’t going to stick around. “Massive magical infusions help, but we’re talking truly massive infusions. All the more reason to kill a certain spirit and take his magic.”

“Why?” Midnight asked as she looked around, her glazed eyes blinking slowly. “I used that...I should be dead...is Tirek dead? Am I really dead? Being dead is...exhausting.”

“Nope,” Ledger said as he walked forward, before giving the batpony a small kiss. Once he pulled back, Ledger educated his mare. “He stopped you from hurting his new ‘friend’. And then Tirek drained you. And then you kept going. At that point, I don’t know what happened, but I’m guessing that Tirek tried to blast you, and you tried to block it with your swords. You’re not dead, but I wouldn’t want to be you right now.”

“I...” Midnight groaned again as she held her head. “Too much magic...tried to save Narrow...did I...is she-?”

Ledger looked at Scope, as he’d lost track of the Captain during the whole relocation from below to above.

“She was alright as far as her injuries went,” Scope said. “But her broken leg got infected. It took a lot of magic, but at least she didn’t lose it. She’s safe thanks to you Mistress.”

“...cool,” Midnight murmured. “M’tired...gonna...sleep...”

As the thestral nodded off, Ledger walked over to his final mare and kissed her as well. “Hey there, sweet pony,” Ledger teased. “You okay?”

Cider didn’t move, her eyes not moving from the wall in front of her. Even her breathing was soft, just enough to not require life support.

“She’s the same as almost all the other ponies,” Scope said sadly. “Doesn’t talk, move...we had to hook up an IV just so she won’t die...”

Ledger growled at that and turned to look at Scope. “I’m tapped out for spare magic. But if you helped, I might be able to get something flowing in her again. Whaddya say?”

“...bet you would,” Midnight murmured in her sleep.

“And I’m happy to see that you’re impossible to put down,” Ledger said in response to Midnight’s reply, not looking away from Scope. “Seriously, we’ll try it with her, and if it works, then we’ll make it a fucking prescription if we have to. But I want...I want all my mares back.” One hoof reached out to the smaller ‘ling. “Help me, please?”

Scope frowned at him. “You’re a logical drone. So look at the facts. Ponies in this city outnumber us ten to one. It took all you had, just to get Midnight back to a barely functioning level. And we can’t feed off of ponies that don’t feel anything! If we do this to all of them, then this city will die.” She reached up and touched his hoof, syncing her magic with his. “I want them back. But...we have to keep this secret. We can’t help them all Ledger. So will it be the few, or the many?”

“I reject the no-win scenario and substitute my own,” Ledger replied as he felt the power flow into him. “You’re assuming we stay. I say we feed the ponies magic enough to get them functional, then escort them south across the border. Find sanctuary in the lands. A few changelings go with them at a time, we rotate out the help we have for those with power enough to feed them from the lands. Or we could just stick around and feed ponies one by one until they’re functional again, then slowly feed off of them until we can save another and another.” The magic filled him, and Ledger pushed it to his lips before saying his last statement for the moment.

“I refuse to leave behind a single pony as long as we have options.” With that, he kissed Apple Cider and pushed everything he could into her.

Like Midnight, she showed a brief glimpse of recognition...but quickly returned to her zoned-out state. But unlike Midnight her Cutie Mark didn’t flicker.

“Did...it work?” Scope asked tiredly as she fell to the floor. So much magic all at once was incredibly taxing.

“We won’t know until later,” Ledger said with a sigh. “We’ve planted the seed, but now it’s out of our hooves. ...On that note, is somebuggy watching Cider Falls?”

“I don’t...think so,” Scope panted as she tried to get to her hooves. “I was...planning to go later...”

“Maybe we can see about getting my step-brothers to watch it again,” the silver changeling mused.

“Are you trying to get killed?” Scope asked as she looked at Cider, but the mare had no response. The nymph sighed and shook her head. “This is so hard. Why? Why did this have to happen?”

“Because Discord was a bucker,” Ledger pointed out. “He could have stopped this at any point in time with a snap of his claws, and he chose to help Tirek instead. Fortunately we have a very large desert that I will use to bury him if he shows his face again.”

"I'll start digging," Scope muttered. She looked at the mares that she loved, the ones that loved her back. "Well, let’s go and check on the farm. Cider will tan our chitin if we let anything happen to it."

“Agreed,” Ledger said with a sigh as he looked at the farmmare in question. “...If you can hear us, Cider, we love you, and we’ll take care of Cider Falls until you can again.”

Ledger wasn’t sure if he expected a reply or not. And maybe that tiny smile on the mare’s face was just his hopeful thoughts playing tricks on him. But he figured that he'd remain hopeful.

Scope gave the two mares one last look, before leaving the room, Ledger following suit soon after. He just knew that even with Scope there...It was going to feel so empty at Cider’s place.

Scope gave the farm a full inspection once they got there, and thankfully, it seemed to be untouched. Tirek’s magic draining only seemed to affect ponies, so the crystal buried in her greenhouse was still fine.

Ledger was inside preparing dinner, but even then, his heart just didn’t seem to be in it. Scope trotted inside, and went to drop her disguise, but realised she was already in her true form. The habit had been there though.

“Is it sad that I consider my transformed state more normal than this one?” she asked idly as she sat at the smaller kitchen table. It didn’t make much sense to use the larger one in the dining room.

“Not really,” Ledger replied as he barely avoided burning their spinach. “Considering who we live with and where we live, it’s perfectly normal. We transform almost all the time to blend in around here, so it’s only natural that we think of our favored disguises as natural. Helps with blending in.”

"I guess," Scope sighed. "All of this has me feeling so... discombobulated. So, I've decided not to think. I'm just gonna take things as they come."

“A fair idea,” Ledger agreed, before grabbing some plates and putting the spinach on it. “I think that’s fried enough. And I think the garlic agrees with me. I also don’t think I could stomach much more beyond it right now, I’m so...worried. Frazzled. Frayed, in general.”

"Yeah, but those ponies probably have some sparkly rainbow magic that'll save the day." Scope just poked at her plate with a fork. "Hell, things can’t get any worse right?"

“The operative word in your statement is ‘magic,’” Ledger deadpanned at her. “Remind me what Tirek’s main food seems to be? I think things aren’t going to get any better by wishing or casting for a solution.”

"Well, I choose to remain optimistic," Scope put a forkful in her mouth and frowned. "I think you killed the spinach..."

“Yeah, it’s normally much better than this,” the drone sighed. “And I choose to remain realistic. What few records the Violets had were...interesting. I didn’t know Discord was an actual being when I was reading them, but there’s a reason I’ve been harping on about him.”

"Well, I could use a cheerful bedtime story," Scope snarked. "Enlighten me O' Great Silver."

“Discord is the spirit, the essence of chaos and disharmony,” Level Ledger said as he waved his fork around during his tale in an attempt to illustrate or emphasize key points. “His very nature is random, unpredictable, and chaotic. The time before last, when he was free to roam, he paid a small...trip to the Lands as, he called it, ‘a vacation.’”

"And what happened then?" Scope leaned across the table slightly.

“He paid a visit to each major Hive. I think he’s responsible for the unrest in the Red’s tombs, and the Yellows had their decorative dragon bones switched around and animated, but they switched them back easily once they put them down again.” Ledger leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Silver and Green had their Great Archive and Halls of Great Works exchanged. I don’t know what, if anything, he did to Blue or Orange. And Pink was gone by then because of the rising Blacks. All the others merely wrote this down as ‘in the age of Chaos,’ but Violet actually had his name written down. And it’s there that I found out...Discord’s weakness.”

Scope frowned. Did something that powerful even have a weakness? "Okay, enlighten me. Is it some powerful ancient artifact hidden deep within a hidden temple? A weapon made by the gods themselves?" Scopey was getting a little excited now. And perhaps she’d read a few too many Daring Do books.

“It’s us,” Ledger said simply, a smile on his face as he watched her boundless enthusiasm at the idea of a mighty quest.

Scope's elation deflated like balloon in a room full of needles. "....seriously?"

Ledger smirked even more and pulled his saddlebags over before retrieving his book and flipping through some of the earlier pages. Coming across a violet-marked one, he cleared his throat and adopted an impressive storyteller’s voice. “In the Age of Chaos, when all other Hives were beleaguered by the random happenings that seemed determined to demean them, a mischievous mismatched spirit did appear before the queen of the Violets. It identified itself as Discord, master of this Age of Chaos, and said it would rain down chocolate and gum up the streets with taffy if his demands were not met. The Queen, intrigued, asked him what such a mighty and powerful spirit could possibly want of them. The question stumped Discord for some time, and when he finally had an answer, the stunned silence told him what the Queen thought of his asking for one night with her only daughter.”

Scope just sat there. For a good long while, she didn't even blink as her brain slowly rebooted.

"Um........wat?"

“Yeah apparently Discord wanted to get some,” Ledger said with a small laugh. “I’ll skip over the raunchier details...which they actually chronicled,” here the drone blushed at some of them. “But here’s the important bit.” Ledger cleared his throat again and adopted that storyteller voice once more. “‘The Princess did find that feeding off the spirit’s apparent lust was not an easy feat. His very nature seemed to shift and change from one moment to the next. She found she had to match her nature, her way of thinking with his, in order to feed from him at all. But once she did...he did not have to be feeling lust for her to feed from him.’”

Scope's frown deepened as she tried and failed to make sense of that. All she could think about was what might have been in 'those' records. "So...what are you getting at?"

Ledger snapped his book shut, and the grin on his face was nothing short of malicious. “I’m saying if you can be random. Chaotic. Or just crazy enough for long enough...you can feed from Discord even if he’s not being particularly loyal right now. Changelings are his weakness, only we don’t know it because most of us are still quite aware of what he did to the homelands, and are afraid of him doing the same to us. It’s why I was being so...weird in the tunnels. I’d hoped to match him enough to feed from him.”

“Ah, and I’m guessing that didn’t work out so well,” Scope poked at her not-so-great meal. Too bad Fredrick was also a zombie most likely. “Well, I still think everything will be fine. At least...” Her voice got quieter as she looked at Ledger. “That’s...what I wanna believe.”

Ledger merely stepped out from his side of the small table and held his forelegs apart, offering a hug silently. Scope just nodded and accepted the offer, as the two changeling’s held one another, silently praying that their family would make it out okay.

The hospital was quiet, mostly due to the patients being not very chatty. The Orange changeling’s held a small, rotating shift to keep an eye on them, but it’s not like they were going anywhere right?

However, beside a certain Thestral’s bed, two figures stood beside it, watching her with gleaming golden eyes.

“Is this her?”

“Makes it hard to tell without a Mark, but the green eyes are a dead giveaway.”

“Should we really move her in this condition? That demon really did a number on this nation.”

“Not our problem. The Duke’s orders are absolute. You know what’ll happen to us if we fail. I’d rather take our chances pissing off all the bugs here then incur his anger.”

“True enough,” the second figure stepped forward, her fangs glinting in the moonlight as the Thestral mare looked down at Midnight. “I don’t see what’s so special about you. But Duke Shadow-Wing wants you, and so Duke Shadow-Wing will get you.”

“Time to go home Midnight Song.”

The pair left the room, carrying the unconscious bat on their backs. Neither even bothered to see the glazed pair of azure eyes watching them...

Chapter 38 - Hear your funeral dirge

Scope sat on the porch as Ledger walked out to join her, a cup of coffee in his magical grip.

“This is weird,” she said. “The sun should have been up by now. Do you think...that Celestia is actually...”

“They have two other princesses beyond the celestial sisters,” Ledger said as he sipped his coffee. “Though...Discord did say three were banished to the depths…”

Just then, the moon dropped from the sky like somepony had just roped it and yanked it. Then the sun ducked and weaved, day and night flickering like a strobe light until it settled in the position of late morning.

“That was...different,” Scope noted, surprisingly unfazed. She just figured that life could not get any weirder by this point.

“...Well I guess that answers the question as to how many survived: some, and who: the inexperienced,” Ledger shook his head and looked at the coffee pot. “...Is it too early to want to start drinking already?”

“Prolly not,” Scope replied. She frowned as a faint buzzing drew closer, and Sugar Darling landed practically on top of her, the nymph looking quite out of breath.

“Haah...is...hah...Midnight...okay?” she panted loudly. She really needed to fly more.

“...Shouldn’t you know?” Ledger asked with a raised eyebrow. “She’s at the hospital like the rest.”

Sugar’s eyes widened, like, a lot. “Y-You mean...you didn’t, bring her home?”

“...She’s not there?” the drone asked, a hint of panic creeping into his voice.

“Only Apple Cider was there,” Sugar replied. She had thought that perhaps Ledger had taken Midnight home to see if he could help her more.

And that was then a very distant explosion could be heard, one still powerful enough to shake the ground. And a massive plume of smoke rising from the direction of Ponyville.

“...Take me to the room,” Ledger said as his book appeared in front of him, pages flipping in an unseen breeze.

Scope sighed as she got to her hooves and her horn fired up. “One express trip, coming up,” she said and teleported the three straight into the room, though being so far away, her aim was a tad off, causing Ledger to appear a few feet above the floor. And a thump further down the hall showed where Sugar had landed. The drone shakily stood up before getting his bearings properly.

Ledger pulled his book closer and looked at Apple Cider. “Hey sweet mare,” he said as he began looking for a scrying spell of some sort. “You see anything?”

Cider turned her head and looked at him, her emotionless face was still hard to look at. “I...see...a lot...”

“That you do,” Ledger chuckled. “See or hear anything last night about what happened to Middy?” Ah, there was one...oooh, he didn’t have a bit of her hair at the moment, he’d have to check the bed.

“I don’t...” Cider groaned as another faint explosion rocked the city. Whatever was happening, it was being done on a massive scale. “I saw...a bat.”

“Yeah, Middy’s our bat,” Ledger agreed, trying to get and keep the farmmare involved. There were a few long blonde strands and some smaller brown bits of fur and hair in the bed, and the changeling started gathering them up.

“No...I saw...a lot of bats,” Cider said again as she put her hooves to her head. Ledger stopped for a moment as he turned to her bed slowly.

“You saw more than one thestral?” Ledger asked quietly. This was changing from her running off to someone taking her, and he didn’t like the idea at all.

Cider looked at him, her face remaining emotionless...except for the single tear that ran down her left cheek.

“Why...did they take the bat away Mr. Bug?”

This was now a kidnapping case, and Ledger needed all the information he could get. “Cider, did you hear anything, anything at all, that could help me find her?” Magic was a choice, but he was still a little tapped out and divination wasn’t a class of spells he’d used before.

“M’tired,” she replied and rolled over. “Too much noise...”

The drone walked over to her and gave her a small kiss. “Please, sweet mare. Please help me. Something. Anything to help. I need to know...I need to bring her back.”

Cider didn’t respond, and almost half an hour passed before Ledger was about to give up. Perhaps Scope could use these spells? She seemed to be far more adept at magic than she was letting on sometimes.

Then...something happened. He could literally feel the immense amount of power coming towards them. It was like someone had taken the Elements of Harmony and cranked them up to a thousand! Ledger opened his senses up and let his ability to feed recharge him off the ambient magic. He needed the boost since transferring most of his power to Midnight and acting as a conduit for Scope’s power into Cider.

And then, something appeared in the room, an orange Earth Pony with a flowing golden mane and an aura of magic that put Celestia to shame. She smiled softly and touched Cider with a hoof, before giving Ledger a nod and vanishing.

When she left, Ledger was on the receiving end of a powerful pony hug, courtesy of Apple Cider, her colours now vibrant and her Cutie Mark shining on her flank.

“Cider…” Ledger wheezed. “Can’t...breathe…”

“Dun care, gonna the hug the hay outta mah cute little cuddle-bug!” she said in a happy voice. Hell, she’d never felt more alive than she did right now. Before her whole body stiffened and she gasped. “Oh mah stars! Where’s Middy!?”

“Asked you that...earlier...said you saw...something,” the changeling wheezed.

Cider frowned and put her hooves to her head. “Urrhh, it’s there...jus’ gotta remember...” She tapped her head and then pulled her hoof back and gave it a painful-sounding whack. “Something about... Shadow-Wing!” she suddenly said. “Somepony took her away to a feller with that name!”

“...Duke?” Ledger pointedly asked. His color seemed to...dull at the idea. “Duke Shadow-Wing?”

Cider blinked and nodded. “Yeah, that’s the one!” she said. “How do y’all know that?”

“Grissom,” Ledger pointedly replied, his color now more of a deep grey than silver. Darkness seemed to flicker over his shell and his book snapped shut. “Thank you, sweet mare. You’ve been most helpful.”

Scope stepped up in front of him, placing herself between him and the door.

"Ledger. Explain. Now."

“It’s quite simple.” Ledger said with a malicious grin. “I would knock out Cerberus, go into Tartarus, and beat up the ferrypony for any of you. I really would, you three matter to me so much.” Ledger’s color flickered again as his eyes twitched. “And that damn Duke is going to wish he had as much protection as that when I’m through with him!”

“Well that’s all well and good,” Scope replied as she glared at him. “But that doesn’t explain who this ‘Duke’ is and what he wants with Midnight.”

“Duke Shadow-Wing is the one responsible for Midnight becoming Midnight,” the Drone said as his colors seemed to inch ever further from dark grey to black. “He ruined her, and never took ‘no’ for an answer. Even in the face of the whole world ending, he’d rather go out with Midnight than not at all. The only thing he’s going to be in the future is a fucking corpse!” With that, there was an explosion of light and Ledger teleported away.

Cider, who had been right next to him at the time was thrown back, clutching her eyes from the sudden burst of light. Scope ran over to her as she scowled at the spot where Ledger once stood. She was mad at him for that display, she was mad at the ponies that took her Midnight away. And yet, she seemed to be the only one that had her head on straight right now.

“Are you okay Cider?” she asked, petting the mare’s mane. “I don’t know what’s going on right now, but Ledger seems really mad...”

Cider just groaned as she held her head. What the hay was going on around here?

Outside, Discord tapped his chin as he looked around. He’d only just gotten his powers back, and decided that he needed to stretch them out a bit. Kind of like, wearing an old suit.

And that was when he saw his favourite new buggy throw a rather impressive temper tantrum. He snapped his fingers and popped into the space next to Ledger.

“So, how’s your day going?” he asked with a cheery hum. “Mine could have gone better, but hey! Can’t always have your own way huh?”

Ledger turned to look at the spirit, and his colors rapidly turned darker. “You…..did this,” the drone hissed in a low tone. All the memories of his time with the chaos spirit were bubbling up, and they were not helping!

“Did what? Your new look? Nah, that seems to be aaaaalll you old boy.” Discord took out a teacup and sipped it. Mmm, spinach and cola flavour. A small bit of the old Ledger shone through as he began educating the spirit as to why he now thought Discord had to die.

“If you hadn’t helped Tirek...she wouldn’t have been drained, weak, in the hospital. She would have been able to fight back when she was taken.” With a sense of finality, the last bit of silver, his eyes, went black. “It’s your fault that Midnight Song is gone!”

“Ah, you’re so dramatic,” Discord snapped his fingers and Ledger was now no bigger than a beetle, trapped in a bottle that Discord held. “Now let’s get a few things straight now. Yes, I could have stopped Tirek. Yes, I could probably save your little bat as well. But, there are bigger things at play here and I can’t be bothered to deal with every little detail that pops up. That’s more Twilight’s thing.”

Ledger was furious in his new state. He considered ramming the glass before a more sane part of his mind told him to look up at the bottleneck.

“Now, you really aren’t thinking too clearly right now, are you?’ Discord said as he turned the bottle upside down and tapped it, sending Ledger sprawling onto the grass and back to full size. “In fact, you look an awful lot like those icky Black Changelings.” He leaned in close and sneered lightly. “Tell me Secret-Hoarder. What would your precious bat think? If she knew that you became the thing that almost killed her?”

“...She’d wonder why you were still walking around, something I can remedy,” Ledger hissed back once he’d gotten his legs back under himself. “Here, let me show you, Discord.” With that, he began switching his thoughts up. From the lighter torments he would put this damn duke through to the more creative things. Then to things completely different, but he always returned to causing this unseen, unknown Duke pain. With that accomplished, he inhaled in an attempt to feed from the spirit.

At least until Discord pulled out a giant paper fan and slapped Ledger upside the head with it. The Black Changeling was sent flying, and shortly collided with a giant blob of jelly.

“I have already had my magic drained once today, and I do not care to repeat that!” Discord actually sounded mad. “Yes, I made a mistake, I made a lot of mistakes. But while you are here throwing your little hissy fit. Your bat is getting away. So what will you do?” He snapped his fingers and the mold disappeared, leaving a sticky Ledger on the grass. “Are you going to continue prattling on, throwing blame around, or will you bug up and rescue your mare?”

A bit of the darkness on the drone’s form seemed to...lift. “You owe me,” a bit of his more rational self pointed out. “The wager.”

“Yes, yes,” Discord waved his hands around. “I owe you a wish because I’m some sort of genie apparently.” He nodded his head as he wore a pink, two-piece outfit and a matching veil. “So let me guess, you want your bat back?”

Ledger actually shook his head. “Transportation. I wish to be where I need to be to rescue her. Having you do it yourself would be fine if I could trust you not to twist everything. As it stands, I trust you with no more than this wish. Anything less strict invites your meddling.”

“Hm, very well, to take-backsies!” he smiled as he folded his arms and nodded again, a swirling smoke surrounding Ledger. “The funny part though?” his voice could still be heard as Ledger slowly vanished. “I would have just returned her if you asked...”

Once the smoke cleared, Ledger found himself standing in Canterlot Square, and Cider and Scope were by his side.

“Uh...what the fuck just happened?” Scope blinked.

“Ah share the sentiment, jus’ minus the foul prench,” Apple Cider agreed. Ledger merely donned his disguise and looked around, wondering why the chimera sent him here of all places. He didn’t see Midnight anywhere...

“You three?” a voice from behind them exclaimed. The group turned to see Grissom Gossamer standing there, a bandage wrapped around his head and giving them the most incredulous look. “What in the wide world of Equus are you doing here?”

“No time,” Ledger snapped. Actually snapped. “Shadow-Wing. Where can I find him? I’m going to use his skull as a lavatory for what he’s done.”

“Calm down boy!” Grissom stamped his hoof and drew back his lip, revealing his fangs. “What about that bottom-feeder? What did he do? And where is my daughter?”

Scope stepped forward, cutting Ledger off before he could reply. “We have reason to believe this ‘Duke’ Ledger keeps harping on about kidnapped Midnight sometime last night. We need to know where we can find him.”

Grissom growled, one that sounded like a feral beast about to shred something cute and innocent. “He’s still embargoed from entering Equestria after his last stunt. Seems he used the commotion from Tirek to make his move.” He looked around and waved a hoof to them. “Follow me, I'll explain in my office.”

“Every second we stand around talking,” Ledger warned as he followed none-the-less. “Is a second Midnight’s captors use to get further away. Just paint me a target, it’ll go faster.”

“It isn’t that easy,” Grissom said. “And I wouldn’t worry too much. Shadow-Wing won’t hurt her too badly. He wants her after all, he won’t risk her life. And you know Midnight, she’s quite capable of taking care of herself from what I hear.”

“How is it not easy?” the changeling mused aloud, some of his color returning to his normal self. It took the form of his disguised colors lightening back to their normal states. Though his eyes were still… “Just point me at his home and get back. Boom, done.”

“And you’ll risk causing an incident that could not be repaired,” Grissom snapped back. Luckily his office hadn’t been too far away, and by office, the stallion had meant his home. The castle had been quarantined until they were sure that all the dark magic that Tirek had carelessly flung around had been purified.

Once Grissom unlocked the door, he motioned to Scope and Cider. “Moon is upstairs resting. She could probably use a little company about now.”

Scope and Cider looked at one another. It was easy enough to tell that Grissom wanted alone time with Ledger and they trotted up the staircase of the massive house.

Grissom led the unicorn into his study as he moved to the liquor cabinet and poured two brandy’s. “Now, maybe you’d like to explain those black eyes of yours Level.”

“I don’t know much about the Blacks,” Ledger humphed. “I copied one book from their Hive when I raided it for anything I could learn, and even then, it was written in no tongue I know. I have not been turned Black by any ritual of theirs...it just happened when I heard about what happened to Midnight. I have my theories, but no facts as to what causes...this.”

Grissom tapped his chin and then sipped at his drink. “Hmm, so dark magic isn’t the only route, or perhaps the extinction of the Black Hive has caused some sort of imbalance...”

Ledger blinked at that, and his eyes went from black to grey. “Extinction?”

“You haven’t heard?” Grissom said. “Well, I suppose I only know because the Princess herself informed me. But yes, Tirek consumed the entire Hive, it was how he became so powerful so quickly. Not a single Black was left after. They do not exist anymore.”

Ledger sighed at that explanation. “So, that leaves me with more questions than anything else...okay, we’re going to need to send word to my uncle about that, he’ll send a team in to retrieve all the books...and once he’s had a chance to do that, he’ll get the others involved in the proper disposal of the bodies.” The disguised drone’s eyes were back to being silver again, but mostly they were dull silver. Only a spark of the brightness they once held remained. It appeared Ledger was still quite angry under the surface.

“You misunderstand my words,” Grissom replied as he sat down in his large velvet chair. “The Hive. Does not. Exist! It is gone. An empty space where it once stood.”

Level Ledger sat on his flank at the words. “Then…” Unconsciously taking his book out from his saddlebags, he started flicking through the pages with his magic. “Then the only book of theirs that survived is the one I copied that I can’t read? Any knowledge surrounding their kind is...lost forever?” Said book was now on display behind Ledger’s head, written in runes that Grissom couldn’t read either.

“Seems so, but that’s a story for later. Midnight is in need of rescuing and you are in need of a means to do just that yes?”

Ledger growled as his book snapped shut, barely taking a glance at it before shoving the tome back into his saddlebags. “I was thinking a thestral disguise, a forged passport, and hours of alone time with the duke when I find him.”

“And like I said, until we prove it was him, you cannot touch him.” Grissom sighed as he opened a drawer. “Roamania is not a place that is...gracious to outsiders. And a Thestral disguise wouldn’t work. You still need to act like one, and before you say it, Midnight is not an exemplary model of our species.” He pulled out a few papers and placed them on the table beside Ledger.

“Now, a royal dignitary...that’s a little different.”

“...That could work, and Cider has all the proof we need with what she heard, or all the proof I need anyway.” The unicorn moved the papers apart as he started to read them. He was tempted to use his paperwork spell, but with how angry he was, it might turn into a paperwork-disposal spell. “So, what was your plan?”

“We send word every now and then, to the families of the Thestrals that live here in Equestria,” Grissom smiled slightly. “Though, a regular mailpony won’t do. So we tend to send somepony of significant rank here from Canterlot. That paperwork calls for a mare, but I’m guessing that your little nymphfriend is more than up for the challenge?”

Without even a second’s hesitation, Ledger’s form flashed silver and he was now in a mare form of his disguise. “It’s just an illusion, if anypony were to check…” his unusually high voice trailed off. “I mean, I could make it real, but unless the messenger has to buck whoever’s on the other end, I won’t. I still wouldn’t either way, but at least I’d be prepared to knock them out.”

“And here I was, trying to make it easy for you,” Grissom chuckled. He knew that those two mares wouldn’t want to wait around here. So, he had a backup plan for that. “Well, we should get you on your way as soon as possible. When can you leave?”

“Does now work for you?” Ledger snarked. “I’ll need to alter my disguise a bit to fit whatever new name I come up with, as Ledger is a decidedly male name, so don’t write anything in if you’d please. I’ll do it myself later.”

“Let me take care of it. I want you to head to the train station for immediate departure. I’ll be sending a Guard escort along with you, but I’ll be taking your comfort into account as well.” Grissom smiled, one that Celestia often wore. “Leave it all to me.”

Midnight groaned softly as she tried to roll over. Her legs felt heavy and her head pounded. She remembered...fighting Tirek...then using Alicorn Hunter...

Why, was she still alive? That attack kills the user, so why?

DId Tirek drain her before she could hit him? She recalled hearing Ledger’s voice. Gah! What the hell happened? She opened one eye and slowly looked around. It was dark wherever she was. And...why was she laying in a pile of hay?

Her ear flicked as she heard a door open. It sound like an old door, she could hear the squeak of the rusted hinges and the sound of iron banging against thick wood.

Then, a voice that turned her blood to ice.

“Well my lovely, I am so glad to see you awake. I was worried that you had left Equestria before you were healed. Seems that the magic used was much more powerful than we thought.”

She looked up to see Shadow-Wing standing nearby, his muzzle had that smug smile that haunted her nightmares. But...why was he in Las Pegasus? How had Ledger not disemboweled him yet?

“You seem a little lost, which is understandable, you have been through much.” He walked closer as Midnight tried to back up. It was around then that she realised her legs were shackled with thick chains.

“Ah, I do apologise for the jewelry, I promise you’ll have much nicer ones once we’re married.” He leaned down and gave her mane a sniff. “Ah, as lovely as always. I have missed this so much.”

“Go take a long walk off a tall cliff,” she spat. She went to glare at him, until her left cheek exploded in pain, she caught sight of his raised hoof as she toppled over.

“Equestria has poisoned your mind,” he muttered as a servant wiped his hoof with a hoofkerchief. His expression was akin to a pony that had stepped in something foul. “But worry not, I shall teach you your place once again. But, do try and learn quickly. It would be a shame to have you covered in bruises for our ceremony.”

He gave her one last look and left the barred and barren room that he had locked her up in. Midnight just curled into a ball, tears running down her cheeks.

Ledger stood by the train as it was prepped for departure. And as the whistle sounded, two armoured ponies stepped onto the train, brushing past Ledger in their haste.

“...I wonder who they’re here for,” the unicorn mare mused aloud as she kept reading the file about the pony she was supposed to become if she was to be the newest messenger for so much as one trip. “Hmm...none of this looks too hard…”

‘File Information’

Name: Love Letter.

Race: Pegasus

Sex: Mare

‘As a Dame of the Letter family, Love Letter is adept at most forms of written word. She can speak several languages, her proficiencies are Equestrian, Griffic, and even Changeish. She is skilled in some Zebrican and Thestrali as well, the latter of which is why she is on this mission. She is granted authority of safe passage by the Crown of Equestria. She is to remain at the side of her two escorts at all times and has diplomatic immunity. Any volatile actions taken against this mare will be considered a capital offense and a declaration of war against Equestria.’

Ledger sighed as he took in the finer details of the mare’s appearance, before looking around for a mare’s room to use to disguise the flash of transformation. “Why is it you can never find a restroom when you need one?”

“I guess that’s the life of public transportation,” one of the Guards spoke, a mare and a young-sounding one at that. “I believe that there is one at the end of the next carriage though.”

“Thank you,” Ledger said as he nodded at the Guardsmare. “I so rarely travel that it’s a novel thing, trying to find all the things one needs on the train.” He tucked the file away in his saddlebags and stood up from his seat.

“One would think after that long trip to the Empire, you’d be used to a train by now,” she mused at him. The mare that Ledger was pretending to be hesitated for a moment at that statement. It was only a moment, but those that knew how to read Ledger would recognize it for the moment of sheer panic that it was. The mare resumed her walking shortly thereafter, though.

“I do beg your pardon?” she asked. “I’ve not had cause or reason to leave Canterlot for many years now. I had thought about visiting the Empire, but missed the window sadly.” That’s right, keep spinning those lies...

“Oh?” the guard stepped closer, forcing Ledger to back up until he was pinned against the wall, the armoured mare bearing down on him. “And here I was under the assumption that you discovered a secret treasure in the Empire.” The mare’s eyes changed for a moment, to a vibrant blue hue. “Did you forget so easily?”

“Scope!” Ledger hissed at her. “I’m trying to fill my role here. What are you even doing?! How did you get that armor?! Oh, Grissom won’t be happy when he finds out you replaced one of the guards meant to accompany me…”

“Ah reckon he might be okay with it,” the other Guard said she she walked in. She removed her helmet and shook her head, her blonde locks swaying as she did. “Hoooeey! This armour is hotter than the desert in the summer!”

“...I am going to bucking mess with him so hard when we get back,” Ledger sighed as he facehooved. “He would do something like this. I was hoping for a nice pair of guards that I could calmly explain myself to before I left them behind to murder a member of the Thestral nobility.”

“Well, ah reckon ah want a piece o’this rattlesnake as well,’ Cider nodded and Scope Lens agreed with her.

“You think you’re the only one that’s worried?” she remarked, still keeping the mare pinned against the wall. “We’re a family Ledger. We do this together!”

“...I had also hoped to do a little reading while I was on this trip,” Ledger said. “Seeing as how I have the last thing of the Blacks to exist anymore in my own book.”

“Yeah, he mentioned that,” Scope nodded as the three took a seat, though the mare’s seemed to struggle a little, trying to figure out how to sit in armour. “Well, thats one less stain on the world huh?”

“I’m so glad you think of my new state as a stain,” Ledger deadpanned as his eyes showed what he meant, going slightly more grey as he considered what was to come.

Scope and Cider looked at one another. Grissom had given them a rundown on what he thought was happening to Ledger, and after seeing Amy, Scope was much more inclined to believe it.

“So do you have a plan?” Scope asked him. “Beyond, ‘storm the castle and rescue the princess’.”

“Bluff my way in thanks to Grissom, arrange a private meeting with the duke. Try not to murder him before he tells me where Midnight is, though that one’s gonna be hard.” The mare’s vicious smile looked very out of place as Ledger considered all the ways he could really hurt a pony. “And maybe burn and salt his lands for good measure once I find her.”

“Okay, step one, do not let Ledger out of our sight,” Scope nodded and Cider adamantly agreed. “While I’m sure she doesn’t have much love for her home, I’m sure Midnight wouldn’t appreciate you burning it to the ground.”

“I would burn anything that stood between me and her, no matter what it was made of,” Ledger growled as his eyes started to darken. “Even if it wasn’t flammable. I’d find a way.”

“Ledger, how come a Pegasus can’t fly without any magic?” Cider suddenly asked.

“Wingspan to weight ratio,” Ledger said as he slipped into lecture mode. “Their wings are too small, even if they had lighter bones. They can’t be all the things all the time on their own. Durable and capable of flight? They’re not perfect. So their bodies went with ‘durable’ a while ago, while their magic made them capable and proficient at flying and weather-work.” The disguised ‘lings eyes had lightened a shade during the talk, back to their normal faded silver during the distraction.

“Well now ain’t that something,” Cider nodded. Okay, this distraction thing seemed to work for now. She just hoped it would continue to do so.

“So, this train won’t arrive until tomorrow,” Scope said as she paced up and down the carriage. “Any ideas on what we should do?”

“Well, if Middy were here, she’d say ‘each other’,” Cider giggled.

“I’m going to practice my translation spells,” Ledger said as he pulled his book out and began flipping towards the back. “See if I can’t finally re-” His breath hitched as he hit the section with a black dog-eared page, eyes dancing along the text...in comprehension.

“What’s wrong?” Scope asked, looking over his shoulder. “Looks like gibberish to me.”

“...A week ago, it did to me as well,” Ledger said softly. “But now...I can read it. This...is the copy of the book I read in the Black Hive. Why...has it taken until now for me to be able to read it? What’s different now?”

“Only a Black can read it,” she said, hoping that those words would finally sink in. On what Ledger was becoming…

Ledger looked at the introductory page and started to read aloud, as entranced in the story as he’d ever been when reading a new book.

‘To those that come after me. This book is ensorcelled so that only one who shares my affliction can read these words. None other need know about that which I think I am becoming, for they would fear irrationally.

If you’re reading this, then you’ve felt it, the same as I. The pulse pounding in your head even as your blood runs cold and sure. The thrill of power and the certainty of what must be done with that power. Others might tell you you’re going down a dark path.

This is perfectly true. But it is not to be feared. It is also perfectly natural for some of us.

Magic is a tool. Regular magic can be many things. From the small helping hoof when you need to build a wall with many stones...to the pinpoint accurate propellant of those stones into the weak spots of another changeling’s chitin.

The dark magic we wield, though, is meant to only be used as a weapon. And while it does carry a price, it is not one anybuggy else must need pay. Your darker nature will eventually catch up with you, and when it does…

I pray you can deal with it half as well as I did. Because then you won’t have much to fear about using these powers.

I am Duke Knowledge-Keeper of the Silver Hive. As far as I know, I am the first Black as well.

I have attempted to chronicle my state, my exploration and transformation within this book. May its knowledge serve you as I find out more and more.’

Scope just paused as she looked at the Silver changeling...well, was he still silver? Or was he one of those things now?

Cider was confused as she mulled over the things that Ledger spoke. Then Scope’s alarmed reaction. “Ledger?” she calmly asked him. “Are you going to become one of those monsters?”

“...I hope I won’t be as bad as they were,” Ledger said as he turned the page. “But it seems that Blacks used to be a natural thing. Just another ‘ling in the street that could be called on to defend the Hive. Only when they answered the call, they did so with aplomb. I guess power corrupted them from what they had been to what we know. If it ends up taking dark magic to rescue Middy…”

At this, Ledger’s eyes darkened again as he read the book. “Then so fucking be it. I would rather read up on it and have it ready and not need it, than not read up on it and need it and not have it.”

That was when a cyan hoof collided with his face, with enough force to send him flying from his seat and sprawling onto the carriage floor. Scope just gaped at the Earth pony who had just about broken Ledger’s nose.

Cider glared at him as tears stung her eyes.

"Dang it Ledger!" she shouted at him. "Stop being such a fuckin' idiot!!” Her tears flowed freely now as her rage subsided and she fell back into her seat. "She was taken right out from under mah muzzle. And ah didn't do anything to stop them!"

The pony in question rubbed her (his? Gender-bent disguises were confusing) muzzle as he glared at Cider...before said glare softened and he sighed. “Fine,” he said with a slight nod. “I will at least read this book thoroughly and bring up anything I want to use with you and allow you to have the final say as to what magic I’m allowed to use, since this seems to be so concerning to you. Fair?”

"Fair," Scope nodded. "Now look, our emotions are a little crazy right now, and I'm starting to think that Midnight was the most sane out of all of us. That scares me a little..."

“She used an attack that would have killed her if it connected with Tirek,” Ledger deadpanned as he sat back up. “Let’s figure out a ranking system...later…” His voice trailed off as he read the page he’d turned to. “Oh. Oh well that’s...probably one of the worst things I’ve read.”

"Do ah need to hit you again? " Cider said, flexing a forehoof.

“...Not yet?” Ledger both said and asked at the same time. He didn’t know what was going through her mind most days.

"Well what's so terrible? " Scope clarified. "Is your transformation permanent?"

“...Sorta?” Ledger offered. “Apparently, this is only the first step. And there are three. And they get worse.”

"Well stop it then!!" Cider exclaimed. "Ah jus' got everypony back!"

“This isn’t a problem you can just cast a spell at and have it stop,” Ledger clarified as he poked at one line of text with a hoof. “In fact, casting spells, specifically Dark Magic, is how step two starts. Step one is turning fully black, if even for a moment. Step two is using black magic, constant use of the dark stuff. And step three…” The disguised drone actually gulped as he looked at step three.

"I think I get the idea," Scope muttered. She looked at Cider and nodded. "If he even thinks of using Dark magic. I want you to buck him back to the Pre-Princess age."

“...Is it better if I say that becoming a ravening monster is only one third of what can happen once step three starts?” Ledger offered. “And that being purged is another third?”

"Do we need to get Princess Twilight to Rainbow Magic you?" Cider asked politely. "Look, let's jus' rescue Middy an' go home."

“Fine, but if you think I’m not reading what is now lost lore,” Ledger said as he all but buried his muzzle in his book, eyes dancing as he read the accounts. “Then you clearly don’t know me very well.”

"Yes yes, you're a bookworm," Scope said with an exasperated sigh. Well, she guessed a good book might be nice.

"Ah do believe that Ledger still hasn't commented on our new duds," Cider mentioned, doing a small turn in her armour.

“The armor is quite intriguing, I will admit,” the drone said as he glanced up for a moment. “Both for the implications behind you having it and the questions regarding how long you’ll be having it.” He could think of a certain batpony who would love a set of shiny armor...and there he went making himself mad again as he turned back to his book. Oooh, this balefire spell sounded...fun.

"Did...he jus' avoid the question on whether we look pretty or not?" Cider smirked.

"I believe he did," Scope replied. “By law of the marefriend, we are entitled to some sort of petty revenge." With a fluid motion, the disguised nymph snatched Ledger’s tome from his hooves.

"Hmm, I wonder if there's anything interesting in here~?"

“Hey!” he protested, trying to get it back and failing. “You know how personal that is!”

Scope closed the book and nodded. "I know, but would you rather study this..." She leaned closer, as did Cider. "Or," her voice turned husky. "Would you rather study us~?"

“...You make an interesting argument,” Ledger said as his colors went from grey to only slightly dull silver. “Perhaps we can go over the finer points together?”

"Ah can agree to those terms," Cider giggled and pressed her lips against her newest marefriend's. "Mmmm, now ah have certainly missed this."

“And doing it on a train will be novel,” Ledger commented aloud as he used his magic to pull the door shut and apply a small soundproofing charm.

"As long as you don't go completely off the rails," Scope laughed at her own terrible pun.

A day had passed since Midnight’s capture. At least, since she woke up anyhow. The Duke had paid a few more visits, and Midnight was now poking at one of her teeth that he knocked out.

She had tried picking the locks on her manacles, but despite being old, they were as sturdy as stone.

She looked up at the night sky, the cold wind stinging some marks on her flanks when Shadow grew bored and switched to using a whip.

She’d gotten a small chuckle at the look on his face when she faked a moan and asked him to whip her harder~

But, she was terrified also. Was Ledger okay? Did he even realise she was missing yet? And if he did, would he even know where to start looking?

She sniffed as she curled up into a ball again, her hoarse voice croaking out a quiet song.

"Oh little fairy, please answer my plea...

Send my brave knights...to come rescue me..."

She sniffed, knowing it was useless... but, she hoped that somehow, someway, they’d come for her...

Love Letter stepped off the train as it arrived early the next morning before running a hoof through her hair. “I do hope this doesn’t take long,” she said irritably. “I have other ponies to see as well beyond the parameters of this silly mission.”

"Do try and play the part of a respectful dignitary," Scope said in a hushed tone. "We know what it’s like to be blamed as a whole, because of the actions of one."

“I am playing the part,” Letter hissed back. “Right now I am playing the part of a slightly annoyed dignitary who had to rush out here on her superior’s orders and spend a night on a train getting very little sleep.”

"Well excuse me fer missing you," Cider huffed, but straightened up as a Thestral stallion approached.

"Ah, Dame Letter, we were expecting you!" He greeted with a terse smile. "How was your trip?" This stallions emotions told Ledger that he not care any less if he tried.

“Long and boring,” the mare replied with a polite smile. “And sudden as well. My superiors rushed me over without so much as a by-your-leave once that monster was beaten, wanting to check on our neighbors and allies. They neglected to even give me the name of the stallion I would be meeting on the other end, they were so rushed.”

"Well, I am sure your superiors had good reasons," the stallion replied. "I am Thane Evermore. And I welcome you to Roamania."

“My thanks for such a warm welcome,” the mare said as she bowed her head slightly. Once it was raised, she pursed her lips as she thought about the name. “Thane...correct me if I’m wrong, but is that similar to how the Griffons use the term? Hero by deed, noble by action, bestowed by the local Lord?”

"Indeed," Evermore nodded. "It is surprising to see a foreigner give respect as well. But yes, I saved the town from a particularly nasty plague a few years ago. Lord Shadow-Wing saw fit to bestow upon me this honoured title."

“Well I am certain you more than deserve respect for saving the lives of those that live here,” the mare said, using an illusion to hide the flinch she’d given at the use of the family name of the one he’d come to lay low. “And what can I say? Other cultures interest me a great deal. It was Griffons and Thestrals when I was younger, Zebras only a year ago, but then my attentions changed to a more...southern neighbor after Canterlot. Studying foreign languages is how I earned my mark...but we have more pressing matters to attend to, do we not?”

"Indeed we do," Evermore nodded. "We have quite a few letters for you to take back to Equestria, and I assume you have a few for us?"

"The rear carriage contains all of your mail, as well as care packages and the like." Cider’s accent was completely gone. She now wore the voice of a stoic female guard. Even her normally blue coat was now a bleached white and her mane was a vibrant blue.

Scope looked like an exact copy, save for the fact she was a Unicorn instead of an Earth pony.

“Indeed, however, in light of recent events,” Love Letter said with a raised hoof as a plan she’d recited a few times started to spill from her lips. “A shipping company is trying to ally itself with the crown, and is offering a... special deal, you might say, to Roamania, in efforts to win some goodwill from both you and the Celestial Sisters.”

“Hmm, I will pass this proposal onto my lord for consideration,” Evermore replied. “Now, if you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to your lodgings.” The stallion turned and walked towards the town.

“Very well,” Love Letter said as she followed after, looking at the town with a hint of actual curiosity, color sparking in her eyes. “I must say, the few books we have on the subject don’t do your country any justice. Then again, real life does always differ from what others write.” Her tone turned mischievous as she continued to trail after Evermore. “Would you perhaps like a clue as to the nature of the deal the company is offering both yours and the Equestrian crown?”

“Such a thing is above my station,” Evermore replied stoically. “And should the deal even be considered, it will have to wait until after the Lord’s upcoming wedding.”

The town itself was actually quite nice. The buildings were made of a heavy stone brick and iron, with either thatched roofs or tiled shingles. A lot of the larger buildings were adorned with intricately carved gargoyles and every Thestral they passed stared at them, wearing expressions of either curiosity or distrust.

“I didn’t ask if it was above your station, I asked if you wanted to know,” Love Letter said, all too aware of the prying ears and deciding on some form of light revenge against the Duke. Just light. Such as upsetting the social order. “After all, what pony would not be curious as to how much they could send back, for free?”

“As I said, regardless of my curiosity, it is not my place to know such things,” Evermore replied again, not meeting her gaze. “And I would advise against forming your words like that. It could be implicated that you are trying to cause some unrest...that would be, most unwise of you.” He stopped in front of a large two-story building with a wooden sign that indicated that it was an inn.

“Now the Lord is currently getting ready for his wedding tomorrow. I cannot arrange an appointment for you today, so you may stay here until after the festivities.” He gave the mares a nod and then trotted off.

“You might want to hurry,” Love Letter called after him. “That was just a teaser, and is also going into effect whether I meet with him or not! The rest is for his ears only!”

Evermore paused long enough to hear her out, before resuming his departure. Once he’d left, Cider turned to him and frowned. “Just what are you trying to do? We’ll get kicked out of the city before we can even find out where Midnight is.”

“Not here,” Letter said shortly. “They have very good hearing.” The mare turned and walked inside to get their room. The scene she was greeted with was unique.

The main foyer had a high ceiling supported by large wooden beams. A large stone fireplace against the left wall filled the room with a gentle warmth and a wooden desk lay against the right. In all honesty, it looked like the foyer of Ledger’s old apartment building, only a hundred years or so older.

Love Letter walked up to the desk and looked around for the pony that was supposed to be there. “Hmm…” she said, tapping a hoof on the wood. “...This is actually a very nice desk,” she eventually said.

“I seriously wonder about your thought processes,” Scope muttered under her breath as a Thestral mare trotted down from upstairs.

“Guests?” she inquired. “Or something else perhaps?”

“Ah, yes, if only for a short time,” the pegasus mare said with a smile. “While we’re currently on a mission from Equestria, we do still need our lodgings until all the townsfolk have heard of the...revised deal being offered regarding sending things back with us and have had time to adjust accordingly.”

“Well, I have no family, so Equestria means very little to somepony such as myself,” she replied. “Well, I’ll prepare the usual room for you. Does your escort require a room of their own?”

“I’m actually not to leave their side under any circumstances...besides which, we all became friendly enough that sharing a room on the ride up wasn’t too awkward, so sharing one now won’t be any worse.” Letter reached into her saddlebags with one wing and pulled out a small bag with a few more bits for the mare. “I don’t suppose a hot dinner and local news come included with the room, so I’ll give you this for the service.”

The mare looked at the bag and snorted. “Equestria currency has no value here, but my services are second to none. Your baths and meals are included. And while news is sparse around here, you seem new, so I’ll offer advice instead.”

“I suppose the first bit would be to ask if the town has a moneychanger and visit it if it does,” the mare wryly observed as she put her bit-bag back. “I do like paying those I lodge under a little more for agreeing to put up with myself.”

“Hmm, seems you really are in the dark so to speak,” the mare replied as she led them to their room. “For starters, we run on a bartering system here. If you require goods or services, then you must have goods or services in return. For example, perhaps I want the local stonemason to repair my fireplace. He would do so, and in return, perhaps I offer my house cleaning skills in exchange.”

“I see,” the mare observed. “I had read about something like this, but the book was so faded I thought that such a system would not be practiced anymore. I suppose the weight of tradition holds fast. Perhaps I will offer my skills at preparing food to help you with your dinner, along with a few recipes you can make use of...in exchange for a few more bits of ‘advice’ down the line?”

“That sounds acceptable,” the mare nodded. “My name is Hearth Heart by the way. Known for my warm fires and warmer hospitality.”

“And I am Love Letter, known for my love of studying languages and cultures not of Equestria,” the pegasus returned the nod. “Perhaps I shall offer you stories of the land of ponies and their planned moves, in return for local news? I imagine an innkeeper knows much about who we should talk with and who we should avoid, along with what has been happening lately.”

“Bah, Equestria and it’s ‘plans’ are none of my concern,” Hearth replied as she unlocked the door and opened it. “If it weren’t for Lady Noctis being an Equestrian, I doubt we’d have anything to even do with you lot. But, a good story can be good, regardless of it’s origin.” She tapped her chin and hummed, “By chance, are you any good at writing?”

Cider and Scope poorly contained their snickers.

“Perhaps I am, depending on what I would be writing, and for who, along with what I might pick up in exchange for such a service.” The mare’s eyes danced with mirth as she barely restrained her laughter.

“For me mostly, I’d like to make some notes on things that need repairing...but they’re too numerous to remember, and...I can’t read or write you see.”

“Fair enough,” Letter said. “Though I question the effectiveness of such a list when you cannot read it. Maybe you can think that one over while we get acquainted with our room.”

“I guess, I was just planning on trusting you...and now I’m second guessing that,” she replied as she allowed them in. “Dinner will be an hour after moonrise. And afterwards, I will prepare hot baths for all of you.”

“I will be down shortly to help in whatever manner you might need regarding dinner, or merely to swap recipes if you don’t need my help.” Letter made to close the door, but left it open a crack to call to the mare. “And for the record, I don’t mind others testing me. It’s others not thinking through their tests and making them far too easy to prove that they are tests that I dislike.”

“You give me far too much credit Miss,” Hearth replied. “But, I will offer one last piece of advice, an answer to your earlier question. As for who you should talk to? Nopony. And who to avoid? Everypony. Outsiders...they aren’t too welcome around here...” And with that statement, she left before Letter could respond.

Author's Note

Well, phase one of the glorious plan has been set into motion.

Like the story? Consider kicking Aus and I a dollar on my Patreon over here.

I promise I will not use the money to take over the world.

Chapter 40 - Swapping stories

Duke Shadow-Wing exited the room he kept Midnight in. She was becoming far more amicable now, it wouldn’t be too much longer.

One of his maids fell into step behind him. “Milord,” she said quietly. “Has it worked?”

Shadow nodded and smiled at the mare. “Yes, those recipes of yours are doing wonders. How are the preparations coming along?”

“They are nearly complete milord. By tomorrow at the latest. Then you and Lady Moonlight-Sonata can-”

“She will be the pride of my collection, and if anything were to happen to disrupt this event?” He loomed over her, his eyes glowing a sickly gold. “You can be sure that heads will roll!”

“Y-Yes Milord,” the mare bowed her head and took her leave. Shadow watched his second wife retreat and sighed. Everything was going according to plan...all except for one little thing.

“Evermore!” he said, and the stallion all but materialised next to him.

“You called?” the stallion asked.

“That courier that arrived yesterday,” Shadow said as he strode towards the main hall of his massive house. “Bring it here. I wish to meet it face-to-face.”

“Are you sure?” the stallion asked.

“Yes, I will sully my eyes this one time, looking upon that Equestrian filth. Now get it done!”

Evermore bowed and vanished. Duke Shadow looked out at the moon, one that would be full for tomorrow’s ceremony.

“Ah, isn’t love grand?” he chuckled to himself.

Love Letter was idly helping their hostess prepare dinner, merely doing as directed for now, ‘her’ mind a million miles away and thinking about something entirely different while she stirred and peeled. She’d just caught a glimpse of the school of magic that she wanted to try when everypony else was asleep, but getting there from here seemed to be a long and winding road.

“Is something wrong?” her hostess asked as she poured the diced vegetables into a pot. “You look like you're concerned about something.”

“Hmm?” Love Letter snapped out of her thoughts before smiling slightly. “Ah, well. Times are always changing. I wanted to stay back in Equestria to help my parents with their home, but I’m one of the few couriers that had even a hope of understanding Thestrali. So I wasn’t permitted more time in the hospital than enough to proclaim me fit for duty before I was sent out.”

“Vorbești limba noastră?” the mare inquired. “How very interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever met an Equestrian other than Lady Noctis that speaks our language.”

“I didn’t say I spoke it, I said I understand it,” the mare huffed. “I don’t have nearly enough practice with your tongue to say more than ‘where’s the facilities,’ and ‘I am an Equestrian.’”

“Ah, very well,” Hearth replied. She jumped when the door opened and Evermore was standing in the kitchen, his emerald eyes staring right at Love Letter.

“Your presence is required at our Lord’s manor,” he said. “Come now.”

“I have made quite a few deals with this mare,” Love Letter said from her position, not turning from the stove. “Dinner help, an exchange of tales. Your Lord should have moved first, as he is not the one currently housing me. If you are willing to wait until my obligations here are fulfilled, I will accompany you with no fuss.” She then turned to face Evermore with more than a little steel in her eyes, saying that if she had to put up a fuss, she would.

“I will inform His Grace of your decision,” he replied and all but vanished again. Hearth let out the breath she’d been holding and sighed.

“Whew, that stallion may be handsome, but he scares the mangoes out of me,” she said.

“...Is there something about Thestrals and Mangoes I do not get?” Love Letter asked while peering into the pot. “I think this is done, by the way.”

“Ah,” she moved and poured the contents into a strainer. “I just like mangoes. There something wrong with that?”

“The thestral I met before seemed...addicted to them,” Letter sighed. The memories of why she was here had an effect on her eyes, causing the fire within to die slightly. “Wonder how she’s doing…”

“You have a Thestral friend in Equestria?” Hearth asked, a little surprised. “What’s her name?”

“Midnight Song, she helped me a year ago...she was quite the bodyguard during a rather...interesting time in my life,” the mare mused. “But more than that can wait until we exchange stories, ma’am. I’d spoil it otherwise.”

“Fair enough, sounds like an Equestrian name anyway... I wonder if you know her Thestral name?” The mare finished her vegetable stew and pulled a loaf of bread from the stone oven, the scent of freshly baked bread filling the room. “Will your guards be joining us?”

“One has to, otherwise my bosses will be quite displeased with me,” the mare sighed. “I’ll let them know dinner is served...and do try a piece of that bread while I’m away. Had to deal with a Griffon to get the recipe for those herbs and cheeses I added.”

Hearth nodded as Letter left to find her guards/marefriends... only to find the Earth Pony sitting in their room, staring pensively at a wall. Love Letter moved to sit next to Cider and just sat there, offering silent comfort to the mare. She turned her head and looked at him, before she let out a choked sob and buried her face into Letter’s mane.

“We’ll find her,” she said softly. “I promise you, we’ll find her.” She said nothing about the bundle of Midnight’s hair he’d used as a bookmark for the divination spells in the spellbook that she was planning on using tonight.

...Or about the Umbramancy spells that she saw that would enable fast travel to anywhere that she had an image of. Combining the two was her plan.

“Y-Yeah... I know...” Cider replied, sniffling. “In case yer wondering...Scopey...she’s out...being Scopey. Said somethin’ about...intel... I dunno.”

“Figures,” she said with a resigned sigh. “As you would say, soup’s on. Want some? I made some of Fred’s bread~” The last bit was said in a sing-song voice, to try and tease the mare into joining him.

“Mhmm,” Cider nodded, discarding most of her armour, save for her hoof guards and breastplate. Still enough to keep the illusion enchantment going. “Let’s go...” The poor mare just lacked so much life now. This whole situation was weighing on her heavily. Letter led her back to the main room, then to the dining area their hostess had showed them.

Hearth had set the table while they were gone, and was now staring at a letter she received. Her expression was quite unreadable though.

Her emotions on the other hoof? They were quite readable. And right now, she was emanating a great deal of pity. Deciding not to tip her hoof, Letter nodded at the, well, letter. “Dare I ask?” she questioned.

“Hmm?” the mare looked up and sighed. “Well, I don’t really know...” she said as she placed the letter on the table for Letter to see. “Can’t read it remember. I recognise the Lord’s name...but that’s about it.”

As the mare took the letter, she first saw that it was written in Thestrali, so it took a moment to translate it.

‘Honoured Guest.

You are to attend the Ceremony of Binding for Our Great Lord, Shadow-Wing. And his to-be, Lady Moonlight-Sonata.

It will take place tomorrow night, when the full moon is at its peak

Attendance is mandatory’

“Well, maybe if you hadn’t added that last line,” the mare muttered. “And...well, I have a dozen questions, but not for anypony currently here.” Logical deductions flared through Letter’s mind at a speed that would make Celestia proud. Had he been one of her students, or even one of her ponies.

Midnight Song was who Shadow-Wing had been interested in all these years. The mare had said something about a Thestrali name not ten minutes ago. And now he has an invitation to some sort of wedding ceremony involving this duke and a Lady Moonlight-Sonata?

Now he knew where Midnight was. And he had to say, her thestral name was quite fitting.

“This can wait,” the mare eventually said with a smile. “Dinner?”

"Yes," Hearth agreed. She had to wonder why the Duke had invited a courier to his wedding though.

"Oh, I tried that bread," she remarked as they sat at the table. "And it came from a Griffon you say? It's hard to believe those feathered barbarians could create something so delicious."

“I have no idea where he learned the recipe from,” Letter said with a slight snicker. “All I know is it took me a lot of work to get a copy of said recipe from him for my own book.” The mare then picked up a piece of the bread and munched on it lightly, enjoying the taste of home that he’d recreated here.

Cider sipped the soup and her eye gave a slight twitch. She was already discerning the quality of the vegetables used... The soil they were grown in was too dry, and slightly too acidic. The fields probably lacked regular rainfall and airing. She wasn't even aware that her dinner guests had noticed the intense stare she was giving the soup.

“Forgive her, she’s quite skilled at determining the quality of the food she eats,” Letter said with another snicker. “It’s partially why I offered to make the bread: I knew it’d distract her from mentioning much else.”

"I do apologise," Hearth said. "We’ve been having trouble with the wyverns that nest in the Southern Mountains. Think a dragon that’s half the size, twice as mean and just as dumb.”

“Hmm,” Letter hummed. “Well, I’ll make a note of it for later.” Only then did Hearth realize that she wasn’t dealing with just any outsider. She was dealing with a sharp outsider.

"For who?" She asked. "Equestria doesn't care about this place. And to be honest, most of us don't care for them."

“Not even Lady...what was the name you used?...Noctis? I’m willing to bet she might sit up and take notice if any of you swallowed your pride and asked for help.” Letter’s smile was wide at this point. Two names were fun to draw lines between. And there was only one mare he could think of that might even be remotely worthy of the name of ‘Lady of the Night.’

"Maybe she would, but you Equestrians seem intent on keeping her all for yourselves!" Hearth snapped back, even as her eyes widened and she bowed her head. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to snap like that. Please forgive me!"

“...Is that how all thestrals feel about Luna not taking notice of them?” Love Letter asked softly, not responding to the apologies, but more curious about the meaning behind the snapping.

"I... it is not my place to think what the gods think," Hearth said as she sipped her soup. "Never mind."

“I’m a courier of messages, both written and non,” Letter fired back before pointing a wing out the door. “If I were to go out there and stop any thestral and ask them what they would think about ‘Lady Noctis’ returning for so much as one day, what would they say?”

"I doubt Lady Noctis has forgiven us," she replied. "We hear stories of how she has Thestrals in her ranks. Yet she has never come to visit once. She must still be furious with us for raising our swords against her when the Nightmare came..."

Letter shook her head with a smile. “She’s probably more embarrassed that it happened in the first place,” she elaborated. “After all...the whole thing is something she would probably rather forget. Or have others forget the darker aspects of. If you were to extend your hoof and beg for her forgiveness...you’d find another on the other side of the table doing the same. I’ve met her a few times, and she was always so...sad when she looked at one of her guards.”

Hearth just sat there. This mare...had actually met Lady Noctis!?

While the Thestral quietly sat there, piecing together her shattered world view, the door opened and a disguised Scope Lens strode in. She didn't even spare the group a simple glance as she walked upstairs and slammed the room door shut.

Letter chose to ignore the angry little mare as well before sipping at her soup and dipping the bread in it. Hmm, it was tolerable when it was on the bread, though the vegetables were still funny as compared to what Cider grew. “Did you know that the ‘gods’ can make mistakes as well?” the mare idly observed. “Only on a grander scale, of course.”

"Lady Noctis has no flaws," Hearth muttered as she suddenly drained her soup in one gulp.

“The demon Tirek roamed free in Equestria, and it wasn’t her that put him down, because by the time they learned he was loose, it was almost too late,” the mare pointed out. “A flaw like that cannot be ignored, as it nearly cost the world.”

"That was likely Lady Solaria's fault," Hearth said. "She's always been far softer than Lady Noctis. She did nothing when her own ponies forced us out of Equestria." Hearth sighed as she got up. “Sorry, I have a few errands to run. I'll draw your baths once I return." She hastily exited the front door before Letter could get another word in.

“Pity, I was going to point out Luna’s dream-diving next…” she pursed her lips before shrugging and turning to the soup. “Ah well. I suppose I’ll just have to point it out later. Maybe during the story exchange?”

"Ah reckon you just enjoy riling ponies up," Cider finally spoke. "An' speakin' of mad. Scopey looked pretty ornery."

“Yeah, you can go talk to her,” Letter said with a wave of her wing. “I’m going to wait here for a bit. Just until I’m done eating.” Cider looked at him, he was planning something. She just had a hunch.

“Alright, an’ you better not have any fool ideas of goin’ after Middy by yerself,” she warned him. “We’re all here together an’ we’ll rescue her together. Got that!” She wasn’t asking, that much was certain.

“Got it,” the mare said with a nod as she sent her guard away.

“Ah mean it!” she said as she turned and headed towards the stairs. He’d agreed to that a little readily for her liking. Still, she also had to see what was wrong with Scopey and she couldn’t be in two places at once. She gave her stallion one last look and trotted up to their room.

Letter just sat there, waiting for something to happen while she ate the soup and bread.

And something did happen, as Evermore cleared his throat from behind her, the stallion unseen and unheard until then.

“I trust you are ready now?” he said. “My Lord’s patience grows thin.”

“I was wondering when you would make a showing,” the mare said simply. “You and he don’t know how to take ‘no’ for an answer, hmm?”

“The courier always meets with our Lord, to pay their due respects to our country’s ruler and our Lord wishes to enlighten you to a few things. You are a scholarly sort yes?”

“That as may be,” the mare said as she picked up her bread again. “But what could have changed between when I arrived and now? Whatever it was, it is outside my influence. And I still have a story or two to exchange with Hearth. If your lord would see my obligations broken, I am not certain I wish to meet with him at this time.”

“I witnessed that little exchange you had with her.” Evermore replied, unfazed by her words. “Most of us take Lady Noctis quite seriously around here. And you treat our Goddess as a casual friend? Most would consider that blasphemy.”

“Anypony can make a mistake, even the Goddesses,” the mare replied as she turned to look at him over her shoulder. “Or do you call the Nightmare possessing her intentional? I’m sure she’d love to hear that. And what time I have spent around Solaria indicates she wants to be treated like a normal pony. Why would her sister not share her sentiment after a thousand years alone?”

“The Nightmare was not intentional, not for Lady Noctis,” Evermore replied. “None-the-less, that is not a tale for me to tell. Should you find yourself at our Duke’s palace, he has quite the personal stores of history. But he is pressed for time, and can only afford to waste so much on a commoner.” He leaned in close as his eyes narrowed. “There are many a thing you would find of interest in the palace young miss.” And with that, he vanished into the shadows once more.

“One of these days I’ll find out how he does that,” the mare muttered to herself as she considered her options.

She couldn’t use magic in her pegasus disguise. And she especially couldn’t use dark magic without the approval of the mares. As well, her hostess was set to return soon enough that leaving would be a bad idea. She wanted to distract the mare and make her think a few things over.

She simply loved it when others came to logical conclusions on their own. Things like ‘if the goddesses can make mistakes, then what about normal ponies...like our duke?...’

Still, she had no idea when the mare would return so that they could exchange stories. It only seemed fitting to give her...something enlightening for agreeing to house them.

Plus it would tell her what they found scary or heroic, and she could test the waters with her own story. One that had taken her ages to find in the Silver Hive and was still thought of as a myth thanks to the contents.

It took a little more than a half hour, but Hearth Heart finally returned. She stared at Love Letter and sat at the table.

“I think I owe you an apology.” she said as she fiddled with her cowlick in her mane. “You said things that upset me, but you’re an outsider and couldn’t have known that. But, do you mind if we avoid that particular subject for now?”

“I can do that, and I think I should apologize as well,” the mare said as she got up from the table. “My words were designed to upset, designed to make others think of the sisters in a light they might be uncomfortable with. They don’t go over well in Equestria, I had no idea the reaction they would garner here. My thanks for showing me, and I shan’t do it again without you breaching the topic first.”

“Right,” Hearth nodded. She hadn’t gotten to speak with an Equestria much, so she didn’t really want this to end on a sour note. “So...stories huh? Who wants to go first?”

“If it would not offend you, can I ask that you go first?” Letter asked with a small, hopeful smile. “I kind of want to learn a bit about what you consider a good story before I give my own a whirl. It’d give me more chances to learn about Roamania as a whole.”

“Well alright,” Hearth nodded. “Though, I can’t recall too many from the top of my head... never really had a need to- Ah!” she suddenly had a flash of inspiration. “Let’s see, I can tell you the tale of our greatest hero, or perhaps one about the first Courier.”

“I shall leave it up to you to decide, and whatever the tale turns out to be shall influence my own a little,” the mare said with a smile. “Though, I wouldn’t say no to either…Such a shame I can’t hear both.”

“Hmm, then I’ll shorten them slightly,” she nodded. “Alright, the first one. Of all the Thestrals to make it into written history, our greatest is one named ‘Shadow-Sonata’. He was a stallion of peerless skill and bravery. And it was he that freed our lands from the dark dragon, Deathwing.” Hearth Heart moved to the living area and stoked the fire. “They say the battle waged for five days and five nights. And neither would so much as give an inch. Flame and blade, tooth and hoof, they battled with no end in sight. But, something tipped the battle in Shadow’s favour. Want to guess what?”

“I have no idea,” Love Letter said as she lay herself near the fire, soaking in the warmth. “But I am willing to bet it will be impressive.”

“It was a song,” she smiled, waiting for the mare’s reaction. The pegasus flicked her ears and blinked at the information before humming and nodding.

“Music is magic back in Equestria,” the mare eventually said. “I am willing to bet that while it follows different rules in Roamania, there is still something to singing here. Do any recall the lyrics, or what singing them did?”

“No, the lyrics were lost to time, but the effect? They caused Deathwing to become placid, and it bought Shadow-Sonata the time needed to deliver the finishing blow. The song itself had been sung by his wife, who followed him to the battlefield. But a final blow from Deathwing robbed her of life...”

“Aww,” the mare said as her expression dropped. “A bittersweet tale. Shadow-Sonata gets rid of the dragon, but loses his wife in the process.”

“Indeed, they say that Shadow created a set of blades from the scales and bones of Deathwing. The dragon took his wife from him, so Shadow made sure that the beast that tormented our kind, would forever be bound to protect us. A sort of cruel irony as revenge if you will.”

“And practical,” the mare pointed out. “A dragon that lives long enough has bones and scales the likes of which are stronger than any metal. While it carried a high price-tag, at least he put the body to good use.” A thought struck her as she looked up at her hostess. “I don’t suppose you know if any of those were kept throughout the years to help you deal with they wyverns?...”

“They were, but some say that they were stolen around forty years ago,” Hearth responded. “The Lord at the time was so furious, he apparently burned down an entire wing of his manor.”

“I would be too, if I misplaced as useful and valuable heirlooms as that!” Letter responded with a chuckle.

“I suppose so,” Hearth chuckled. “Now, let’s get started on some tea and I’ll tell you the second.” She got up and headed into the kitchen, returning a few minutes later with a pot of tea and two cups on a tray.

“Here we are,” she smiled as she placed a cup in front of him and poured. “Would you like any sugar with that?”

“I’m trying to cut back,” the mare said as she sipped at it. “Though the offer is appreciated. Maybe if I feel the tea needs it later, I’ll ask for some.”

Hearth nodded as she dropped two lumps into hers. The tea itself... mango-flavoured.

“Alright, so our first courier,” she started, sipping at her tea, her fluffy ears wiggling happily. “To begin with, did you know he wasn’t a pony?”

“No, I didn’t,” the mare said as she enjoyed her tea. “But it’s not exactly an unknown thing either.”

“He still lives here in Roamania actually, up on top of Spire Hill. He’s the only outsider to ever live here... but after what happened, we Thestrals see him as a kindred spirit of sorts. You see, he was exiled from Equestria.”

“In order to live that long, wouldn’t he have to be…” Letter trailed off. There was no way the mare was suggesting that, right?

“He’s around a hundred and twenty,” she replied as she sipped her tea. “It’s not so unusual around here. We Thestrals are long-lived as well. Some call it the Grace of Noctis that we do. Or perhaps its that evo-thing that Ol’ Silver-Wing goes on about...oh, he’s the subject of our story here.”

“Mm,” Letter said as she got drawn back into the story. “Please, continue.”

“Well anyway, this was about...seventy years ago I think? Silver tells this with much more vigor than I do. Anyway, he came to us, bringing news of what was happening in Equestria. Not that we Thestrals cared at first, we just kicked him out of the city and told him not to come back. But...”

“But?” Letter prodded. “I take it it was somewhat interesting, if the story exists.”

“He just kept coming back. Same time, same day every month. It got to the point where we gave up tossing him out. We tried ignoring him, threatening him, I think one tried to set him on fire once... that didn’t go down well with the Lord at the time.” She chuckled as she sipped her tea again. “But then one day, he came to us and said it was the last time. He said that something had happened, and if we returned to Equestria, he’d be killed.”

“Oh dear,” Letter said as she put her teacup down. “What...could he have possibly done to warrant that?”

“What else, the crime of being different, of being... something he was born to be,” she spat as she jumped up from her seat. “It was the same for Thestrals and it was the same for Silver. Not once since then has he returned, hasn’t even spoke about going back.”

“Hmm,” Letter said as she idly looked into her tea. “Well then. I suppose that’s as good an introduction to my story as I’m about to get.” Taking a deep breath, the mare said one word.

“Changelings.” She needed to gauge the reaction the local would have to that name.

“Huh?” Hearth-Heart turned her head and looked at him. “Have you met Silver already?”

“Nope, but it helps that you know the name!” the mare chirped. “Canterlot was invaded last year by their long-forgotten neighbors. Oh they drove them off, but the act itself sparked some...curiosity.”

“Serves ‘em right,” Hearth said as she sat back down. “And lemme guess, the poor little ponies can’t even sleep at night without fear of the boogymare jumping out at them?”

“Considering they resemble a blend of insects and ponies and feed on emotions like Love,” Letter said before sipping her tea and putting it back down. “I think their fear is justified, or at least understandable. Anyways. Celestia was...curious. It was unlikely that there were any left in Canterlot due to how they were so thoroughly repelled, so she sent me and Midnight Song, along with a unicorn, to Las Pegasus, to find one if possible and get a more...complete story.”

“Midnight Song? Your Thestral friend right?”

“Mmhmm,” the pegasus mare nodded. “The ones we found were quite upset as well by the invasion that had happened - apparently even among the so-called monsters, you can have rogue elements - and one of the ones we found had been working on putting various stories and legends of his kind together. When I asked for some to take back, he gladly shared them with me, one of them being an origin myth of his species. That’s the one I want to share with you.”

“Okay?” the mare nodded. This sounded like something she probably wasn’t going to understand, but motioned for her to carry on.

The mare cleared her throat and cast her mind back. “Once, long ago. Long before Discord or the Princesses. Before the Windigos or the time of unification. Before the tribes thought to live as one. There were eight that did that already. Four stallions, four mares, of the more commonly known three tribes.”

“Just eight? Not a whole race?” That sounded more like a group of friends going to get drunk on a Friday night.

“From what I know, this is more about the first eight than the ones that came after,” the mare replied before getting back into the story. “The four stallions were colored red, yellow, blue, and silver. The four mares were orange, green, violet, and pink. The first, the red stallion, had wings and a sense of honor to his friends. He would fly high into the sky and use his skills to find any and all threats to their home before confronting them. The second, the yellow stallion, shared his wings, but believed that courage was more important...along with tactics. Well and good to run into battle, but also good to return because of the trap you set up beforehoof.”

“Okay, I think I follow so far... but I thought we were talking about Changelings, not ponies.” Hearth tilted her head.

“I’m getting to it, it’s important you understand the players before you understand how they became what they are,” the pegasus said with an enigmatic smile. “The blue stallion had neither horn nor wings, but believed in loyalty. When he made a promise to another, spoken or not, he did his best to keep it, no matter how hard it was or how easy it would have been to break his word. The silver stallion had a horn and believed that knowledge was power for a reason, and did his best to study and learn about everything they could do to keep themselves safe from those that disliked the idea of unity.”

“Well, they sounded like some smart stallions,” Hearth commented. “And what about the mares?”

“The orange mare was kind to all and lacked either horn or wings,” the pegasus said. “She grew their crops as best she could, and tended to the males when they did something stupid...which was often. The green mare had wings and a sense for art and creativity, often inspiring others to think in new ways with her work within the home.” At this, the mare blushed and looked away at the thought of the next ones to be introduced.

“Is something wrong?” Hearth asked, curious as to why the mare suddenly turned red. “What about the pink and violet mares?”

“Well the pink mare also lacked wings or horn, and believed that everypony merely needed to be happy and tried to cheer them up.” The mare rubbed her foreleg with her other hoof and sighed. “Whereas the violet mare had her horn...and merely thought that if they didn’t spend any night alone, they would be more inclined to return. Her attempts to find paramours with the others or for the others...never really stopped.”

“So wait, the mare is the one that rules?” Hearth tried to wrap her batty brain around that. “But...shouldn't the strongest or wealthiest stallion be the one?”

“Even there, they believed in equality,” the pegasus pointed out. “The stallions did their part to protect the home they all shared. The mares did their part to give them something worthwhile to protect. Not one of them was more important than another.”

“So what happened? I’m assuming this story isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.”

“Indeed not.” Letter looked back into her teacup and sighed. “Life was good for them for a time. They got along as well as any family could, getting on each other’s nerves and making up for any fights. And then he came. The demon Tirek.”

Hearth Heart leaned forward slightly, raptured on what was going to happen next. Neither noticed the two mares standing at the foot of the staircase either.

“When he encountered the group of diverse ponies living in harmony with each other, he did demand that they submit to his power. Serve his interests. And he would spare them. When asked what he would do after them, the answer was ‘conquer,’ and they had no interest in that. What use did they have for more? They were happy with the lives they had. So they refused.”

“And he attacked them?” Hearth asked.

“Of course he did,” Scope spoke up as she approached. “He probably would have attacked them anyway, like he did with that fool Discord.”

While Letter was slightly surprised by the sudden appearance, she hid it well. “Not right away. But he did eventually attack. First he grew angry and stomped a hoof, his rage evident as he demanded they submit again. When they refused a second time, he raised his arms and cast a spell, draining them of their magic and leaving them weak and powerless. Demanding one last time that they serve him, and maybe, just maybe he would return their magic...the silver one did point out that even in the face of this, they would prefer a slow death than service to one such as him. And so the demon gnashed his teeth, and cast a final, terrible curse upon the eight.”

“Can Tirek really do that?” Scope deadpanned. “This story is redic-”

“Shhh! I want to know what happens next,” Both Cider and Hearth shushed her. Scope frowned and pouted, folding her arms.

“Their fur did fall out, and their skin did begin to darken, becoming coated in black plates. Those with wings did find their feathers falling from them, and their very bones shifting and liquefying as their wings became as thin as gossamer. The ones with horns found those bits of bone becoming black and twisting, crumbling slightly. Those with neither found themselves growing both sets of appendages, and those who had only one found themselves growing the one they lacked, all to the feeling of extreme pain. Their forelegs became riddled with holes. And while they retained a bit of their original color, when they looked in another’s eyes, they found that even those had changed, becoming slitted like a cat’s, or a dragon’s, or a thestral’s. They opened their mouths in shock, and found their new fangs. They had been turned into monsters by Tirek’s curse.”

The Thestral and the disguised Changeling looked at her, not approving of the use of the term ‘monster’.

“So, if it was a curse, does that mean it could be reversed?” Cider asked innocently.

“Oh yes,” the mare said as she sipped her-now cold tea. Putting it back, the mare then said the last bit of the story. “When even in the face of that, the first eight did refuse to serve Tirek’s wishes, the demon gloated. And said that the only way to reverse the curse, break its hold on them, was for a pony to love them for who and what they were for an entire year. Told them they would never get their magic back on their own, and would need to steal it from others. And then he galloped off into the distance, leaving the first eight changelings behind to fend for themselves.”

“So what happened after that?” Hearth asked. “I bet the ponies wouldn’t help them out.”

“The eight did make their way to a village of unicorns, and the silver and violet had discovered one of the few gifts about their new form. One being that illusions did come easier, and blending in would come with little effort. They disguised themselves as they had been, cloaked themselves in a glamor, and visited the village, discreetly feeding on the magic and emotions of the ponies.” The pegasus mare pushed her tea to the side and shook her head. “And then they helped their friends learn about their gifts once night had fallen and they had left the village for the evening. A distribution of magic amongst them all, and the next day dawned to show eight unicorns ready to blend in with the ponies there...but things are never so smooth.”

“Illusions and transformations can fail,” Scope noted. Letter nodded.

“Or be dispelled. One, then two and three, and eventually the whole village noticed how six of the eight didn’t seem to be comfortable with their horns and their use. Feeling that perhaps the earlier unicorns were disguising a group of Pegasi or Earth Ponies in an attempt to infiltrate, they cast a dispelling charm...and found the creatures beneath the veils. The eight did not even have time to beg and plead for help before the entire village lit their horns up to cast stones at them.”

“They survived right?” Hearth asked hopefully.

“Oh yes, they survived, thanks to their new armor,” the pegasus mare said. “But they fled the old homelands and went south instead. They kept going, knowing now that no ponies would find them worthy of their help, their pity. They went south, through the lands that would one day become Equestria. Even further south, to a wild, unclaimed tract of land. Filled with creatures and magic. They decided to settle there, do what they could to feed themselves. And while the ponies would, in time...forget the changelings…”

The mare stared into the fire, and her voice turned hard for the last bit. “The changelings never forgot the ponies.”

“Sounds like you have some personal experience with Changelings,” Hearth noted the mare’s tone.

“When you hear about how ponies have treated them...and keep treating them, and keep treating them even when now they only want to live their lives…” The mare sighed. “Then you can’t help but get a little emotional.”

“And now you know we feel about Equestrian’s,” Hearth replied bitterly. “You can’t stand anypony who’s too different from you, and the Griffons ended up conforming to your way of life.”

“Which was a great loss,” the mare said with a sigh. “Other cultures are such wonders to read about, experience...and the things ponies do to those unlike them…” The pegasus mare shook her head. “It almost makes me wonder if there’s a way to stop being an Equestrian.”

“Why...would a pony want to stop being Equestrian?” Hearth inquired. Love Letter looked back at her and began reciting a list of species.

“Gryphons, Thestrals, Changelings, Minotaurs, Dragons, Zebras, Donkeys, Diamond Dogs. Not to mention other sapient species. Ponies have negative views of them all in some fashion or another, and they rarely try to get over their prejudices to get to know any other intelligent life-form. Either the definition of what it means to be an Equestrian needs to change, or I need to find a way to stop being one.”

A clock chimed, sounding of ten clear rings. Letter got up from her chair and nodded at Hearth. “And I need to get some sleep if I’m going to be doing anything at any reasonable hour tomorrow.” With that, the mare bowed her head before heading to the room she shared with her guards.

“Have a good evening,” Hearth nodded. “Try and wake by about eight. I’ll have breakfast waiting for you and your guards.”

Letter nodded absently as she continued on her way. She of course had...other plans for the night. Once they were upstairs, Scope and Cider dropped their disguises and crawled into bed. Scope needed time to process what she’d found out, and what to do with the information Moon Song and Grissom had given her.

It didn’t take long for the mares to fall asleep. Ledger waited half an hour longer for their snoring to start before he dropped his own disguise and pulled out his tome, reading the words on Umbramancy, shadow-manipulation magic.

It was normally just utility magic. Useful for those that had a connection to the darkness, the ability to step around through shadows was not unheard of. It even had minor ties to dreamwalking, which made Ledger wonder if Luna knew of it. Most likely.

But when you added Dark Magic to the magic meant to manipulate the darkness...Things got interesting. Deciding to not touch that aspect for now, and instead do something a bit more grey, the changeling fired up a divination spell, setting the target as Midnight’s hair that he’d saved before this whole...debacle started. Once he felt the tug leading him, he gulped and decided to try the ‘shadow form’ bit of Umbramancy. It’d make following the pull so much easier.

Were anypony watching the changeling, they would see his form turn black all over, like it had been once before, before even his form started to lose...form. His body seemed to dissolve into a gas that blended and mixed with the very air of the room, filling it with darkness. The door was an adequate exit point, and the shadow flowed and oozed out around it before making for the front door and sneaking out into the night of Roamania, still following the tug on his mind as to where his beloved Midnight Song was.

Midnight lay in her ‘room’, well if you were feeling gracious enough to call it that. The window had been sealed up after she tried getting out of it, chains be damned. She no longer knew what time of day it was, or even what day it was.

Was Ledger wondering where she was? No! It was bad to think about things like that. She didn’t belong to anyone other than the Lord. That was all that mattered now. He’d take care of her, he’d love her…

And then, somehow, her room became even darker than normal. Even the moonlight didn’t pierce this blackness. It had oozed in under the door and surrounded and filled every inch of the room, before she got the strangest sensation that...it was looking at her.

Whatever, doesn’t matter. Maybe if this darkness took her she’d be better off. She lay down and closed her eyes.

“Just...end it,” she muttered softly.

“Why would I kill...my beloved Songbird?” a voice asked from all around her. “We tried that song and dance once already. You were terribly restless during your supposed ‘death’.”

Midnight looked up, but her eyes held no recognition. If the shadow could feel it, then even her emotions were muted... she felt nothing anymore. “You should go...before my beloved finds you here...”

The shadow coalesced into a form that resembled a cross between a bug and a pony in the center of her room...but it was black all over, even the eyes. It looked...sad as it looked at her. “What did he do to you?” it whispered softly, almost too soft for her to hear.

Her eyes widened, as her irises shrunk and she let out a piercing scream, backing up as far as her chains would allow her to. “S-Stay....stay away... no... don’t....stop...”

The bug-pony looked to the door and dissolved into that shadow again, before seeming to disappear from view entire. He knew the guards would have heard that, and he needed to be gone. Something was wrong with Midnight, dreadfully wrong...and he wasn’t leaving until she felt again. But in order to stay, he’d have to be inconspicuous for the time being.

Also, he felt he owed Discord twenty bits.

The door eventually opened and Lord Shadow-Wing entered, flanked by two mares.

“And what was that all about?” he asked irritably. “I thought we were past this dear? I thought I had educated you on how this works...” he sighed as he took something from one of the mares, and once it unfurled, Midnight’s eyes locked onto the cat’o’nine-tails whip. “It seems you need a small reminder. Do try not to cry so much this time hmm?”

Ledger grit his teeth as best as he could without them and wished he could close his eyes or plug his ears. But that would require taking a form, and doing that just to deprive his senses of what was to come...was too risky. He might get caught.

For Midnight, he would witness this, as much as he might wish not to. She was worth it. She was always worth it. But the blows never came, as the sound of chains dragging across the stone floor could be heard.

“I-I’m sorry my love,” Midnight whispered, her voice sounded so...broken. “I had...a bad dream. That’s all...”

Shadow frowned, but lowered the whip. “Well, that’s fine. We want you looking pretty for our wedding tomorrow don’t we?”

“Yes,” she replied. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

...This was nearly worse. He didn’t know how a non-unicorn had...broken her so badly, but there was only one spell he could think of that might help.

...The only problem was, it was decidedly antithesis to what he currently was. He would not only need to take a form, but hold it and the spell he needed in full view of Midnight. If she screamed again, he would be caught. Plus it might even hurt to cast, with his current...state.

Shadow smiled and drew closer, pulled Midnight in for a deep kiss. He hummed into her mouth, as he took his prize. And as he broke the kiss, he drew back his hoof and smacked her across the cheek.

“Good, now see it doesn’t happen again!”

“Yes...I’m sorry, thank you for reminding me,” Midnight replied as the stallion turned and left, slamming the door shut behind him.

The darkness, what little there was in the room, seemed to pulse angrily before that voice spoke up again. “Lady Moonlight-Sonata. That is your name, correct? Please believe me when I say I mean you no harm and am sorry about my state inspiring fear in you.”

“The shadows can’t hurt me, the shadows can’t hurt me!” Midnight rocked back and forth as she covered her ears. “My beloved will protect me. My beloved will love me....” Her form radiated pure terror and fear....

While it was an emotion, it wasn’t one that Ledger wanted her to feel. “Please miss. You need to calm down. I just want to talk to you. If you don’t want to hear anything I have to say, then I will leave when I am done. I swear to you on my honor.”

Midnight just continued to whimper, curling up into a ball and crying. Why wouldn’t the darkness go away? Why was it so cold in here...? Where was her love?

“I merely want to say three names to you, and if you can’t remember them...at all. Then maybe it would be better for me to leave until I can find a way to help you remember. Though I would be loathe to do so…” Now the shadows sounded...sad. Very, very sad.

“Nopony loves me except for him. Nopony loves me as much as him...”

“Scope Lens,” the voice said. “Apple Cider. Those names mean anything?”

Midnight...paused. “Who...are they?”

That wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. “They knew you, once. They loved you, once. They miss you now. But nothing will ever compare with the love and pain...Level Ledger feels for you.”

“Cider...Scope....” Midnight looked at the ground. “L....evvy....” She groaned as she held her head in her hooves, and the shackle around her neck shifted. In the dim light, the shadow caught sight of it. The way the metal had worn the fur away and the symbols that were etched on the inside of the shackle. Ones that glowed brighter as her pain grew. “No! I don’t know them!”

“This will feel weird,” he warned her. “But I think your bindings are hurting you more than they should be, and I’d like to make them stop. With your permission?” The shadow seemed to grow thicker in front of her, waiting on her word to go ahead or simply go.

“No, they’re pretty! They’re gifts from my beloved...I’m a good girl,” she said quietly.

“You can keep them, I promise. I just want to make them stop hurting you so badly. Wouldn’t less pain be nice?” Ledger tried to tempt the shell that had once been Midnight. He’d caught a glimpse of her in there, and he wasn’t about to let her slip away without a fight. He just hoped she was on his side.

He noticed something else as well, like how delicious her agony tasted...

“You can’t touch me...only my beloved can touch me.”

“I’ll keep myself to myself,” the shadow promised. “I’ll just touch the bindings and make them more comfortable. Just say the word, miss.” Anything to get her mind, or what was left of it, on his side. She said nothing, but as he drew closer, his horn felt...strange. And every fiber of his being screamed at him not to touch them.

Time to get creative then. The interior of things held shadows as well. He pulled at his Umbramancy and his teleportation spell and combined them. Darkness flashed within the collar, as the metal was disrupted and a thin section of it disappeared, breaking the runes. The metal from it was promptly flung into the night, and he didn’t care where it ended up.

That was when the manacles around her legs flashed and Midnight shuddered for a moment, before falling onto her side, her eyes frozen wide in shock and Ledger realised what he’d done.

If the Duke couldn’t have her... then nopony would. With another Umbramancy-teleport hybrid, the shackles around her legs were treated similarly, though it was probably too little, too late. With what little emergency magic he knew from his time in the Orange Hive, he took form and used a very minor shock-spell to try and restart her major functions. The lightning crackled between them as it hit the base of her spine and her chest, providing more than one spark to her system.

He couldn’t lose her. Not now. Not when he was so close.

Her body shuddered as the shock spell hit her, but she lay dead still. Bit by bit, Ledger could feel her life slip away. The shackles had ruptured several of the points on her body that regulated her innate magic. The effect was similar to Tireks ability... only this spell wouldn’t stop…

“Tartarus take me first, damn it, but I will not lose you, Midnight Song!” Ledger vowed. He pulled all the shadows in the room to him and gave them a subconscious command. He might have interpreted it as using his knowledge of physiology to heal her with his shadow-magic. Or simple application of magic to the wounds. But it boiled down to three words in the end. ‘Fix this mare.’ Something it obeyed with gusto.

The darkness leapt from him and cocooned the mare in its embrace, seeking the holes and filling them with bits of itself, before stimulating her healing processes into replacing them with more natural fillers. Once it was certain the exterior was done...the darkness made a b-line for her mouth as it began to work on the interior.

That was when something else intervened, something blindingly powerful as pure light erupted from her form. A long buried spell planted by a friend, as it fought against the darkness. Sunlight filled the room, banishing the shadow as Ledger found himself taking a corporeal form and the intense pain that followed.

This was a spell designed to repel a Black Changeling. A very specific spell cast by a very powerful caster. Only one name came to mind as Ledger saw the intensity of the light and growled.

“Dammit all Celestia! I don’t mind you protecting her, but she needs me now, dammit! If you won’t raise a hoof to heal her, get out of my way so I can!” The anger and love he was feeling...the two emotions combined to turn his exterior grey. Neither silver nor black, but something in-between.

The shining Thestral opened her eyes, even as the glow of morning’s grace begun to fade, it’s job done. Repel the darkness, fortify the injured... Fuel the love burning inside of her. She took a step closer to the Changeling as the light and darkness clashed.

Then she leaned forward and kissed him, and all that love, that familiar, overwhelming love filled him completely and utterly…

The silver changeling actually shone in turn as he blinked, the Blackness momentarily banished as he looked at the mare. “Midnight?” he breathed, daring to hope.

“You came,” she smiled at him, as the light faded and the room was filled with the darkness of night once more. “I...didn’t know...if you would...”

“For you, anything,” Ledger promised as he moved to hug the mare. She returned the hug as she leaned into him.

“You...you’re...different somehow...maybe a little scary.”

Ledger sighed and pushed her back with one hoof as he closed his eyes. Then he began thinking of all the fates he had planned for Duke Shadow-Wing. Every torment he could put that excuse of a pony through. Every last torture he knew of. His colors began to dull and fade as the blackness overtook him again. Better to show her now and have her hate him than it be a surprise later.

“No,” she whispered as she suddenly hugged him again. “That’s not you. That’s...it’s all my fault. I did this to you. Please stop it Levvy. Stop hating because of me.”

“...I can’t promise anything,” Ledger said softly as he held the mare, the hate still there but buried as his colors brightened to silvery-grey. “There’s only one chance of redemption for me...maybe two if you want to be technical. But I did this willingly. For you I would do anything. For him, I will do everything you want me to. Say the word, and his fate will be sealed.”

Midnight stopped. He could do it, he could take him away forever. She’d never have to look over her shoulder. This whole thing could become a bad dream...but at what cost?

“No...don’t. He’s not worth it. Please Levvy...let’s just go home.”

“I can do that,” Ledger replied. “And I’m done with masquerading as a mare. Even in just illusion, I am so done. We’ll have to come up with a plan to get you home, but I’m getting you out of this room. And I might leave behind a little gift for him…” The idea had been niggling in the back of his mind for a little while now. Graffiti was fine, right? Nopony would object to that.

“Well perhaps you’d be so kind as to leave behind my wife,” a voice said as something hard struck the back of Ledger’s head, chitin breaking off as the mace struck him with full force. The impact of the blow had been dispersed across his whole head for as long as the plate had held up, and reflexively Ledger reached for his Umbramancy and let the room fill with his presence.

“Still think I should let him live, Midnight?” Ledger’s voice echoed around them. That...would sting when he took form again. The mare that had struck him screamed and fled the room, leaving the Duke and the other mare behind.

“Coward, I’ll punish her later,” Duke Shadow-Wing muttered as he turned to the other mare. “As for right now? Do be a dear and kill that Changeling. Our first born and the privileges that follow are yours if you succeed.”

The mare smiled and nodded as she shifted the spear she carried, its anti-magic tip glowing as she stabbed at the darkness.

“Naughty naughty,” Ledger teased as he decided...to use his magic for combat purposes. To reach for the dark magic inside him and infuse it into the darkness around him.

One spell wouldn’t hurt, right?

A blade of pure shadow appeared above the spear before it passed through, right below the head, seeming to have done nothing. “A pretty mare like you shouldn’t be playing with such dangerous toys. You could put somepony’s eye out like that.”

A few seconds later, the tip fell from the blade and the mare screeched. She turned to the darkness and flung herself at it, her fangs bared.

“Tisk tisk. Midnight, what should I do when mares literally throw themselves at me like this?” Almost on reflex, the shadows caught the mare like Ledger would use his magic to try and catch Midnight when he just wasn’t feeling in the mood and she pounced him.

But something was different this time. Her screeches of rage quickly turned to screams of pain and fear as the shadows strangled her. Her life ebbing away…

“...Mmm...your fear is delicious,” Ledger purred before putting the mare down in a corner of the room. It was Midnight who ran over to her, quickly checking her as the Dark Magic poisoning set in.

“Stop...” Midnight whispered. “Please...stop this...”

The simple words reached Ledger as he had been about to see just how deep the well of dark emotions ran in the Duke. “I’m sorry? Did you just beg for this filth to live? Are you aware of what he did to you, what he almost did to you, what he would have done to you?”

“And how are you any better right now!?” Midnight screamed as her tears flowed. “I’m not begging for him. I’m begging for you! Stop...before you can’t anymore!”

Seconds seemed to tick by before Ledger took form again, damaged head-plate and all, staring at the duke with such anger that the sun seemed pale in comparison. “She begged for me. She never thought killing you was right,” Ledger spat at him. “I would leave you on a rusty spike in Tartarus. I would escort you there myself, on the damn pike the whole way!”

The Duke blinked, before he smiled. “And yet, you lack the guts to do just that!” he countered, even as he lunged forward, and right past Ledger as he grabbed Midnight, before disappearing through a hidden door in the wall.

“You can’t hide from me!” Ledger screamed in Changeish before retaking his shadow form. “You can never hide from me! I will tear this whole building apart, stone by stone if I must! I know where you are, you pitiful excuse for a male!” The second scream, in Equestrian this time, had been the opening to a flood of shadows chasing after the duke and filling the house, every nook and cranny they could find.

It was around then the shadows caught something in the courtyard, something vile, and something beautiful…

Ledger blasted a hole in the wall as he rode a cascade of shadows down into the courtyard, his dark tendrils having trapped two Thestrals in their grasp, the stallion wearing an anti-magic pendant, even as the shadows tore at the shield around him.

The mare had no such protection and the shadows had no way of telling friend from foe as they tore at her as well…

Ledger took control of these tendrils and commanded that the stallion and the ground he stood on was to be picked up until the shield wore off, and the mare was to be brought gently to him. Even now, a small part of him was screaming its head off for the dark magic to stop, listen, cease hurting ponies...

That was when he heard a shout, it sounded distant, at least until two Earth pony hooves collided with his chest and he slammed into a nearby wall.

Apple Cider stood there, and she was absolutely livid. “Ah hope you’re alive after that Ledger. Cause ah am nowhere near done kicking yer ass you promise-breaking jerk!!!”

Ledger blinked as he fell to the ground, his colors having turned grey out of shock. “...Okay, I think you literally just bucked the Dark Magic out of me for the time being,” he observed aloud. The...pull, temptation to use it was still there, but it wasn’t in command anymore.

“Good,” a voice said from above as a concussive blast of magic hit him. Scope hovered there in her true form, looking just as angry. “You fucking promised us Ledger. I don’t care if you saved Middy or not! I am going to hit the ever-loving fuck out of you!!”

“SHE NEARLY DIED!” Ledger protested before either mare could hit him again. The three had failed to notice the Duke dragging the thestral mare off, until something hit him. Something powerful that caught Midnight before she hit the ground, but drove the Duke so hard into it the paving cracked beneath him.

Storm clouds rolled across the sky like an angry ocean of darkness and rage. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed so loud even the arguing ponies covered their ears as the dark blue Alicorn hovered above them, her eyes blazing white with unparalleled rage.

Yeah, Luna was fucking pissed!

“WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE MOON! DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING!?” Her voice was so freaking loud…

Ledger reached for his Umbramancy and despite everything in his body telling him to not even think about doing this...despite every moral fiber, what few he had, saying to leave the bastard to fry…

With a puff of shadow, the changeling disappeared from between the mares and reappeared between the lunar alicorn and her victim. “Lady Noctis, or do you prefer your Equestrian name?” Ledger inquired. When all was said and done, though, the duke would NOT be happy he’d intervened. His mind had already spun three or four ways to really screw the duke over.

Luna swept her wing, tossing the grey Changeling aside like a bug so to speak as she lay Midnight on the ground.

“I am so sorry I am late my friend,” she said quietly, compared to her last voice, she barely spoke at all. Her horn shone as Midnight’s wounds closed and the lingering dark magic was dispelled. The Alicorn held her close as her multicasting went to work, praying that she wasn’t too late.

It wasn’t until Midnight gave a faint cough and opened one eye slightly. “...Heeeey,” she croaked out. “I finally nabbed a Princess...~”

“It seems you are alright,” Luna chuckled. She looked at Ledger, even as her brow furrowed. “You will explain Level Ledger. Now!”

“We have a thing to attend to first,” the changeling pointed out as he pulled at the shadows, forming a solid barrier over the door that the Duke had attempted to escape through. “Would you prefer to do it alone, m’lady, or can I assist you?”

“You...use the Dark artes?” she said, as a powerful dispelling magic slammed into Ledger. “Cease that at once. Before you destroy what little of your soul you still have!”

“Ouch,” Ledger said as the barrier dispelled itself. “Okay, that was simple umbramancy, a tool to be used. It’s only when Dark Magic comes into play that the shadow is nopony’s ally. And second, you’re a little too late on that.” Indeed, while she had forced his colors into being pure silver for a moment, the hate he still felt had them darkening to grey as the darkness within came out again. He rubbed his head and felt the broken head-plate before growling, causing the grey to go one notch darker as he recalled how it’d gotten that way.

Luna placed Midnight on his back. “You are ordered to love him until I can deal with it,” Luna said as the Thestral wrapped her hooves around the Changeling’s neck and gently kissed the back of his head.

“I can do that,” she said softly. Her everything ached and she really had no idea what was going on right now.

Luna took a step forward as the Duke looked at her. “L-Lady Noctis! Please I-” he suddenly gargled as he was lifted into the air...by his tongue!

“YOU DARE!?” Luna bellowed, her eyes widening in rage. “You dare to speak my name with that tongue!? I should tear it from your head and whip you until death with it!!”

“Lady Noctis,” Ledger gently interrupted, knowing that Midnight would both approve and disapprove of the punishment, thanks to the ‘until death’ part. “How fares your sister and my kind with the attempts at reconciliation?”

The Duke gargled, but Luna ignored both ponies. More Thestral’s begun to gather, until nearly half the city was present.

“Duke Shadow-Wing!” the Alicorn dropped him, but her magic held him in place. “For crimes against Equestria. For crimes against those you ‘claim’ to love and for bringing unparalleled shame to my Children!” She narrowed her eyes as she stepped closer. “Your title and privileges are revoked now and forever. I take from you, your very name! Clan Shadow-Wing is hereby dispelled and shall never be again! You are banished from these lands, as well as those loyal to you!” She looked at the crowd, her horn still shining as the wind picked up.

“Any who follow this pathetic excuse for a creature. Step forward and recieve Judgement!”

None did so. In fact, they looked everywhere else except at the former Shadow-Wing. Luna turned her attention back to the stallion and sneered. “You have nopony loyal to you. When push comes to shove, you are alone!”

At least, until Evermore stepped forward. Luna looked at him, an eyebrow raised.

“He is a foolish stallion, corrupt by power and title.” Evermore said. “But he is my Lord and I am sworn to take care of him. I shall share in his punishment milady.”

“...The Blues would probably have been gorged on the loyalty behind that,” Ledger observed. “If you felt anything anymore.” Scope held her belly as she wobbled a bit.

“And you are?” Luna asked wryly.

“Evermore-Sonata,” he said. “It is my deepest pleasure to finally make your acquaintance Lady Noctis. It’s a shame it has to be under these circumstances.”

“Hmm,” Ledger said as his eyes sparked with mischief, his color brightening to a silver-grey. There was still hate for the duke in there, but Midnight was helping it to vanish. “Princess Luna, my earlier question?”

“Hardly the time or place Ledger,” Luna said. “We will get to that, but there are more important issues.” She looked out at the group of Thestrals that had gathered, and more were arriving by the second. It’s not everyday your Goddess descended and browbeat the local Lord to Tartarus and back.

“Fair citizens of Roamania!” she called out. “Tis grim tidings that we arrive like this. I had hoped...that our reunion would be of a happier occasion.” The Duke had all but been ignored now, but Evermore was preventing him from running away. He would face his punishment like a stallion.

“My absence seems to have caused you all...great unrest. And then even before that, when the Nightmare threatened the world, you tried to stop me, and were punished for that.” Murmurs spread throughout the crowd, but Luna wasn’t quite done yet.

“I appear before you all today, to not only save one of my Children, but to...offer my profound apologies. You have suffered because of my lack of will and foresight. My mistakes have cost you all greatly...” Luna bowed her head as the Thestrals had no idea how to respond to this. Ledger found a familiar mare in the crowd and used a bit of his newfound magic to whisper to her.

“Told you,” Hearth-Heart heard from beneath her, as if from her very shadow. She let out a squeak of surprise and jumped back, pawing at the ground.

Luna turned back to Evermore and Shadow. “What your Lord has done...is not acceptable. It never was and never will.” She furrowed her brow and looked at Midnight. “Do you have any final words? You are the one that has been wronged the most in this. The final say shall be yours.”

“Can you answer Ledger’s question?” she asked. “I’m kinda curious as well.”

Luna rolled her eyes and looked at the Changeling. “Very well, if you must know. The talks are going well. Tirek has disrupted things greatly, but after the events in your home city, the prospect is looking good.”

Ledger smiled viciously then, having heard what he needed to hear. His question could wait a minute. He stared the former duke in the eye as he considered the best way to put the screws to the stallion. “You’re lucky,” the changeling finally said. “That Luna punished you when she did and how she did.” Oh please ask why!

The Duke just stared back. He wasn’t even going to give this bug the pleasure-

“And why is that Ledger?” Luna asked. And then he decided to impersonate the moon goddess, at least in voice.

“BECAUSE HIVES HAVE GONE TO WAR FOR THE KIDNAPPING OF NOBLES! Had you succeeded in your plan, WAR WOULD HAVE DESCENDED UPON ROAMANIA, I PROMISE YOU!”

Midnight, who was still perched on his back gave a painful wince at the volume. The Duke’s eyes widened slightly, but...

“I’m not afraid of you...bug!”

“Oh you will be!” Ledger said in a more normal tone. “I am the first nephew of the Silver King, current leader of the Council of Seven! Should I have written one word about this, he would have rallied our forces against you until Midnight Song was returned! And if you think you can fight changelings in a open war, then you are more brain-damaged than I thought!”

Ledger’s colors remained silvery-grey as he was taking glee in venting upon the Duke. “We can be anypony we want to be. We can communicate over long distances. Those two things alone would destroy you.”

“That is quite enough,” Evermore stepped forward, placing himself between his lord and the changeling. “It is useless to speak of what if’s. What’s done has been done. I have failed to educate my lord correctly. And it would seem that my message to your guards arrived too late.”

“Try having everything you love ripped away from you, then finding yourself in a position where you can save it,” Ledger snarked at the thestral stallion he had a modicum of respect for. “Let me know how rational you are then. I would give my life for her if she told me to. It’s hers by right, seeing as she saved it.”

Midnight crawled off of the changeling, wincing when she fell onto the ground. Luna moved to help her up, but she raised a hoof in refusal.

“I have...had just... about enough of this shit,” she panted as she looked at The Stallion Formerly Known as Shadow-Wing. “In the past...I can’t even bucking remember how long it’s been. I have been drained, kidnapped, enslaved, brainwashed, battered, bruised and abused. I have whip marks on my flanks that may never go away and I can bucking guarantee that I will not sleep soundly for a bucking month!”

“I can assure that you-” Luna started to speak but Midnight raised a hoof.

“Lulu, I love you, but so help me, the next pony, thestral or Changeling that speaks before I am done, I will personally tear their bucking throat out. Clear?”

The crowd gave a nod and gulped heavily.

“Good.” Midnight turned back to the Duke as her eyes narrowed. “Now get this through your fucking head. I. Will. Not. Marry. You! Not now, not ever, not in another life, not in all of fucking creation. And you Evermore? You’re my uncle huh?”

Evermore nodded but didn’t speak. He valued his neck.

“Well I am going to say that you did a lousy job of raising this little shitstain. He acts up? Beat his fucking ass next time!” She looked at Luna and then motioned for Cider and Scope to come over. “Now, Luna said that your punishment is up to me. For one, you can keep your name. The less names I have to forget the better. Evermore?”

The stallion nodded again.

“You’re the Lord now. And Shadow here is going to be your servant! And he will start at the bottom and if he fucks up again, his punishment is cleaning out every chamber pot in the manor with his tongue!”

Evermore blinked in surprise. “Lord? But...why?”

“Because I know it was you that ensured that the spells on those shackles were weakened,” Midnight nodded. “Or else my mind would be irreparably broken now. Now, for the last piece of this puzzle. I am going to take away the one thing that Shadow wants!” She walked up to one of the Lord’s guards and pointed at his wing blades. “Give me one of those!”

The Guard blinked, but didn’t get a chance to refuse as she wrestled it from him. She walked back over to Ledger and the girls as she attached the blade and smiled at them. “Hey there, Levvy, Cider...Scopey. I missed you guys...”

“Love, what are you doing?” Ledger asked as he looked from the blade to her face, worry evident on his face as his blackness all but vanished. Only a hint of grey remained in his eyes.

“Something...I should have done by now,” she said sadly. “You three, you know I love you all right?”

“I don’t like this,” Ledger whined. “Love, talk plainly. What is your plan?”

Cider and Scope nodded, the two too scared to talk right now.

“My plan?” she said as she looked at the sword. “It’s simple really. I’m taking away what he wanted. I’m taking it away and giving it to the three of you instead.” She swept the blade around as she took a bow in front of them, her eyes closed.

“Level Ledger. Apple Cider. Secret Treasure. Will you do me this great honour, and become my wedded loves?”

There had been very few times in Ledger’s life when he was speechless. When he found out that there was more to the world than his own Hive and traveled to one. When he’d been raped. When Toll Taker had found out his identity. And most recently...the time with Midnight, when she’d been clued in to his nature.

This marked the second positive time he’d been struck dumb by words alone.

Cider just put her hooves to her lips as she gasped. Did she...did she really just?

Scope rolled her eyes and sighed. “I guess I’ll speak for these two as well then. Yes, will marry you, you crazy pervy bat.”

Ledger turned to Luna and managed to get his throat working. “Would it be presumptuous to ask you to preside over the ceremony, whenever she decides to have it?”

Luna squealed with joy as she glomped the Thestral, who let out a low groan and tossed the sword aside before Luna could impale herself on it. “I’ll that that as a yes...” Midnight groaned.

“W-We’re gonna...get married?” Cider stammered. She turned to Ledger and grabbed him in a hug that could have shattered stone. “WE’RE GETTIN’ HITCHED~!”

“Take it easy, my chitin is already cracked!” the bug-pony protested with the last of his air.

The Duke cast a sideways glance at the discarded sword... all it would take, is a single move...

And it did, as Evermore shoved his face into the dirt. “Don’t even think about it whelp!”

Midnight had finally pushed the excited Alicorn off of her. “A lot has happened. Imma sleep now,” she murmured as she fell over, Luna catching her with magic before she hit the ground. Even the cheers of the other Thestrals couldn’t rouse her.

“Well, an exciting day indeed,” Luna noted. And yet there was still so much to do. She looked at Ledger and the Earth pony acting as a furry nutcracker.

“Miss Cider, I understand that you are happy. But I must speak with him now. Would you mind taking your fiance back to the inn here in town. We will be along shortly.”

Cider dropped Ledger as the Princess addressed her. She nodded as Midnight was placed on her back and Hearth-Heart led the trio away. Soon enough, all that remained was Luna, Ledger, an elderly Thestral and two accused.

“Gah…” the bug said as he rubbed his cracked head-plate and the bits that he swore were cracked. Deciding to embrace non-corporeality for the moment, the changeling melted into a shadowy version of himself and sighed as he stopped getting pain signals from all over his body. “Ooooh, that’s better,” he murmured.

“And the healin’ process freezes as well, stupid whippersnapper!” the elderly Thestral nodded. “Turn back, and I’ll show you a little trick.”

Intrigued, the shadow flitted over to the elder and reformed into his normal self, wincing as the pain came back. “You have my attention,” he informed the batpony. The stallion looked at Luna and she nodded, as he melted away in silvery flames and a tall, wizened Silver Changeling stood in his place. He raised a hoof and suddenly smacked Ledger across the back of the head, right on his cracked section.

“First, that’s a lesson for almost becoming a Black you stupid fool!”

Ledger hissed and held his breath as the pain slammed into him, his colors flickering at the sensation as his darker nature tried to feed on his own pain. Eventually Ledger calmed down and breathed normally, though he was decidedly grey now. “I suppose I deserve that,” the smaller drone said once the pain receded. “One day I’m going to have to transcribe that book.”

“You’re a bigger fool than I thought if you took anything from the Black Hives,” he muttered. “Now, follow my lead and I’ll go slowly, so you can keep up with somebug that has actual intelligence.” His horn begun to weave a spell wrapped in a silvery light.

Ledger fired up his own magic as he tried to follow along. “Might I ask what we’ll be doing? Despite all our power, I don’t recall ‘innate telepathy’ being on the list of things we can do,” the smaller drone snarked again. If he was going to be condescending, Ledger wasn’t going to hold back against this Silver-Wing.

“Respect those that are older and smarter than you!” Silver snapped. “And stop thinking like a pony. Think like a Changeling. You don’t need incantations that rhyme like a grub’s story book. Just watch and follow my spell. Look at the magic, not the effect.”

Ledger closed his physical eyes and reached out with his other senses, watching the spell the older drone had weaved and cutting out all other distractions. Though, when he got out of this state, he was so going to fire off a comeback. When he looked, he saw...well, he honestly didn’t know what he was seeing, other than the magic wrapping itself around the caster. But it had...a pattern. A set rhythm and speed about it. Ledger did his best to match it, but knew better than to release the spell until the other did, wanting to make sure it was safe first.

“Goood, you’re an idiot, but you learn quickly.” Silver nodded as the spell released, having no visible effect on Silver. “Your turn.”

Well, at the very least, it hadn’t done anything negative! After double-checking the spellwork, Ledger bit his lip...and let the unfamiliar spell go. Once it had...it...did it actually do anything? If anything, it made him hungry as all get out.

“Hmm, nice work. You actually did pretty well. Keep that up and you might even impress me sometime next century,” Silver nodded.

“Dare I ask what that spell was meant to do besides burn through my reserves?” Ledger cracked one eye open as he asked his question. Silver responded by tapping the back of his head again. On his non-cracked and completely healed carapace.

“Hyper-stimulates the regenerative skills we have. Eats your reserves up like you wouldn’t believe. But the payoff is worth it eh?”

“In certain situations, yes,” Ledger hummed. “Hmm, this could easily be adapted...perhaps to serve in times of great need, or maybe just toned down to help heal over long periods of time. Oh, and if we could find a way to help ponies with this…” His mind ablaze, he didn’t even notice his color scheme fully reinstating itself.

Luna blinked as she recognised the magic. “Silver-Wing?” she asked curiously. “Was that...a modified Age Spell?”

“Ooh, good eye Princess,” Silver chuckled. “Yep, the grub here put quite a bit of power into it. I’d say he’s about a year, year and a half older now.”

Ledger blinked a few times as that sunk in...before shrugging. “Okay, so no tinkering with the spell, and try not to use it so much,” he said. “Good thing changelings can last when well fed, I suppose.”

“Bah, with the amount of love you get from those mares, you’re likely to live for a good half millennium or so.” Silver coughed and rubbed his back. “Geh, but you won’t be half as handsome as me at my age.”

Luna pointed at Shadow and Evermore. “Silver? I trust you can keep an eye on these two? I will drop by when I can but...”

“Aye, I’ll keep ‘em line,” Silver nodded. He turned back to Ledger and stared into his eyes. “Get your book out boy! Or do they not do that these days?”

Tapping into his umbramancy again, the smaller drone held his hoof up and ‘ported the book to himself from his inn room in a dark coalescing of shadows. The drone the flipped the book open and turned towards the end, to show a blank page. He’d made the assumption that’s what the older silver changeling wanted.

The Silver nodded as he summoned his own tome. A book that was half as high as the Changeling that summoned it. It was bound in dragonscales and held dozens of bookmarks.

“Alright, I guess I’ll share a few things with you and-” he blinked and snapped at the younger Silver. “And stop your drooling.”

“Sorry,” Ledger said as he wiped his maw. “I have so many questions. I’ll have to try and visit sometime later to get them answered.”

“You’ll get there in time,” Silver nodded as text peeled itself from his pages and flowed into Ledger’s book. A few useful spells, some knowledge that was considered long since forgotten and something else. Something that Ledger would get to read later.

“And I’ll be taking that,” he said as he took the Dark magic spells from Ledger’s tome. Or tried to, anyways. They bulged from the book for about an inch, before snapping back.

“Um...I don’t think they...want to go?” Ledger offered meekly.

“Figured as much, ornery sons of dung,” Silver muttered. “Look youngling. There are some things we aren’t meant to toy with. The Black’s came to be because of that. As you nearly found out yourself. The road...is still able to be traversed in the opposite direction. But you have to be willing to make that journey.” He pointed in the direction that Midnight had left in. “What’s it going to be boy? You said so yourself that you’d give your life for that mare. So, will you throw it away for power?”

Ledger slowly shook his head before snapping his book shut and sending it back to where it would rest on his nightstand. “For her, though. I would do anything. Including what nearly happened, should she command it of me.” The younger silver changeling paused for a moment, to let his next words sink in. “Oh, and seeing as how this is the last copy of anything the Blacks ever made, I suppose I might be inclined to translate it and share it with you later if you really must know about their history…It wasn’t always ‘Dark magic all the time’ from what I’ve read.”

“Might make for a good laugh,” Silver nodded. “I threw in a little something for you. Something we Silvers keep to ourselves.” He chuckled as he walked past Ledger. “I wonder what the other Hives would think...if they knew that we knew the real story behind our creation?”

“Might make for a good read,” Ledger rejoined before looking at Luna. “If you’ve nothing to add, milady, I have mares to comfort.” Luna nodded and her horn flashed as Ledger found himself standing in the living room of Heath’s Inn. With no more words, the drone was off to his room, to better hug his mares.

...No, he didn’t need one right now either. He was going there for them and that was that.

“So...this is a thing that happened,” Midnight said from somewhere under the cuddlepile. One that refused to let her go, even for a moment. “Ever since I lost to Tirek, everything has been such a blur...I did propose to you guys right? Please tell me this isn’t a dream.”

Ledger shifted a little, contemplated shadow-magic, and decided against it. Midnight liked cuddling the actual him. “You did indeed propose,” he confirmed. “And Luna will preside over the proceedings. We can invite Celestia, Cadence, and Shiny if you want. And that reminds me of a thing I’ll need to ask him anyways…”

“Why did you guys say yes?’ she asked, shaking slightly. “I mean, I know I’m sexy, beautiful, funny, irresistible and all around Best Pony. But after everything I put you all through...”

“Oh?” Ledger asked. “Let’s review. Cider, how’d you get roped in again?”

“I seduced you, became a home-wrecker and then Middy invited me in for a prolonged three-way,” Cider giggled.

“And Scope?” Ledger prodded the other mare verbally.

“I dunno, still figuring that one out. I did try to kill the both of you, then Mistress reformed me, then Ledger fucked me into the mattress.”

“Whereas I was in service to a crime ring, am going to be surprised if Pegasus Air is still working when I get back, and apparently can use dark magic,” Ledger deadpanned. “You’re the best of us, Midnight. Heaven help us all, but you’re the one keeping us together.”

“Well, we’re pretty much screwed then,” Midnight chuckled. “I botched my last engagement after a Changeling invasion and have never taken love seriously since... but...”

“But what?” Cider asked, switching to hug Scopey.

“But I love you guys so much...” she said softly. “I know, I can be kind of flaky and perverted. And I’ll probably cause you all more trouble in the future... But, can I ask again? Will you three still marry me?”

“Well duh,” Scope repled with her trademark eye roll as she kissed Midnight, being the first one to do so since she was rescued. Hah! Take that Ledger!

“No doubt about it,” Cider nodded as she kissed the bat as well. “Ah reckon ah couldn’t really live without mah crazy kin.”

Ledger slowly sat up on the floor and waited his turn to kiss the batpony. When the time came, he drew the mare in for a simple peck...that morphed into a tongue-wrestling match...that eventually ended with the two of them panting heavily and looking in each other’s eyes. Ledger spoke up first.

“Whatever you ask of me, I’ll do,” he said softly. “I would never abandon you. Now or ever. We’re stuck with each other.”

“But..is that what you want?” Midnight asked. “Is being with me what you ‘want’ to do, not something you're being forced to or obligated to do.”

“Everything else could burn,” Ledger said softly. “So long as I have you three, I have all I need. The fact that you proposed...just put a fancy ribbon on the truth.” He gave her a small peck on the muzzle before stating his next truth.

“Midnight Song, I love you, now and forever. Will you still do me the honor of marrying me?”

“Of course I will, silly cuddlebug,” she smiled as she kissed him back. “Oh yeah, and thanks for coming to save me... you know, coulda done it myself but...things happen.”

The drone drew the mare in for a hug and looked at the other two, wondering if they wanted in. Well of course they did, as the two ponies and two Changelings snuggled on the bed. Life was finally getting back to normal. They could finally return to Las Pegasus and relax. At least it was nice and boring there...

Chapter 41 - Bookworms, meet Cuddlebugs

Ledger and the mares had expected that maybe, just maybe, they would be able to get back home with little fuss. They clearly had forgotten to count on the Luna element. She could be just as devious as her sister when it came to manipulating others into doing what she wanted. Sometimes. This time was debatable.

"We're going where?" Ledger asked with a surprisingly level tone.

“To Ponyville,” Luna nodded once again. She had arrived at the Inn at the crack of dawn to request that Ledger and his mares go to Ponyville on their way home. “Princess Twilight is the only one not in the loop about our peace talks. And I would like you four to be the ones to inform her.”

"Uhhuh," the drone said from under his usual disguise. "I'm sure that's the only reason that we are suddenly going to the town that is crazier than our own."

“Ponyville isn’t that bad,” Luna replied with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “They do have the odd occurrence, but I’d hardly call the town weird...” She was met with four equally unamused, deadpan stares.

“Okay, fine! The town has more nuts than a mix bowl on a bar,” Luna sighed. “But I have very good reasons and this is a direct order from me. As Equestrian citizens, you can trust your lovable and super cute Princess right?”

"Maybe if she's willing to do me the favor of checking on my company," Ledger griped. "We left so suddenly I'm not sure what might have happened to it by now. That's kind of the reason I was so eager to get back. Well, besides Midnight." Here the drone pulled the mentioned mare closer and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“I wouldn’t mind seeing Ponyville,” Midnight replied, returning the kiss. Then a thought occurred and she smiled. “Plus I still have one more to add to my collection~”

"Oh buck, you're still taking that thing seriously aren't you?" The brown unicorn turned back to the princess and had a pleading expression on his face. "Please, anywhere but there!"

“Aw, that’s cute, you think I care,” Luna smiled darkly. “As I said, I have good reasons for sending you there, you just aren’t allowed to know them.” Luna patted him condescendingly on the head as she smiled brightened. “And fret not Level Ledger, your company is doing fine... I think. I’ll look into it and let you know. Until then, you’ll do as I say.” The Alicorn gave them one last smile and teleported from the room.

“I like Luna, she’s cute,” Midnight hummed. She absently held a hoof to her neck, which was still missing most of its fur. She’d need to get a scarf or something to cover it.

" Replace 'cute' with 'domineering' and I'll agree," Ledger said before heaving a sigh. "Guess we're going to Ponyville."

“Yay~” Midnight cheered, as Scope just sighed, This was going to be a massive headache. Cider was at least looking forward to seeing her cousin Applejack again. Speaking of her...

“Well, at least we might have a place to stay while we’re there,” Cider said aloud. “Ah reckon AJ might not mind puttin’ us up fer a while.”

"Huh, I was just going to get us a room at the inn, assuming they have one." Ledger turned to look at the farmmare. "You're sure she'll put up with us?"

“Ah reckon so,” Cider nodded. “And, ah don’t think that Ponyville has an inn. Or a hotel or anything like that. It’s a pretty small town.”

"... Well I guess I can deal with meeting your family," Ledger trotted over and gave the other mare a kiss as well. "Shall we, then?" With that he began to lead his family back to the train station. They stopped on the way out to say goodbye to Hearth Heart. Ledger left behind a few recipes and Hearth said that Silver-Wing was going to teach her to read and write. And that they’d be the first she’d write to.

Once they got aboard the train that Luna had arranged for them, they’d found a few things waiting on board. Midnight was now sporting a dark blue scarf with Luna’s Cutie mark on it. A quick sniff told the mare that it must belong to the princess herself. She also had her hoof guards, which covered the hairless sections around her ankles.

A chef was on board, to supply the foursome with hot meals and drinks for the trip, as well as a sleeper car with a large bed. And judging from the decor, Ledger soon deducted that this was Luna’s private carriage.

"Somepony certainly knows how to travel when she isn't teleporting," the stallion wryly commented.

“No kidding,” Midnight said as she lay on the bed. Hmmm, it was nice and fluffy, a polar opposite to the straw-covered stone that she’d spent the last couple of days on. Just thinking about that...

Wait...why was she crying? And why was Ledger hugging her so tightly so suddenly?

“Huh?” she blinked away the tears and chuckled weakly. “Heh, what’s up? I got dust in my eyes. Yeah, that’s all.”

"I'm sorry it took us so long to get there, I would have been there the instant I knew you were gone if I could have," the stallion whispered to his lover.

“I know...and, you saved me,’ she hiccuped. “I’m sorry I’m being so uncool right now.”

"I'd be more worried if you weren't," Ledger said as he continued to give her a hug. "It just means that you're normal and right now, I think we could all do with a dose of normal." He turned the other mares and raised a hoof as if to invite them into the hug.

It didn’t take long for their cuddlepile to resume, and Midnight was buried under pony forms once again. Though, she wouldn’t have it any other way right now.

Still, she had questions.

“So...how did you find me?” she asked.

"Divination spell and some of your mane that you left at the hospital," Ledger replied honestly. "I think a part of me was afraid that was all that was...left..." Great, now he was the one that was crying. Midnight wasted no time in returning his hug as all four ponies were now feeling sad. This would not do at all. They were all together again and Midnight was not going to spend this trip moping and sobbing. She wasn’t going to give Shadow the satisfaction of letting this get to them.

“So, I hope you three have behaved yourselves while I was gone,” Midnight said seriously. “You better not have done anything without me.”

"You mean like when Cider and Scope distracted me from studying on the way up here? They looked rather alluring in their uniforms," the unicorn said as he just basked in the hug.

“They wore Guard uniforms?” Midnight pouted as she looked at them. “Aww, I wanna see that too!”

“Maybe someday,” Cider giggled along with Scope, causing Midnight to pout harder.

"Which reminds me again, remind me to send a letter to the Crystal Empire when we get back," Ledger said as he pecked Midnight again. "Though I think they might still be around here with us, those uniforms, possibly in the luggage car..."

“The Empire?” Midnight blinked. Why would he send a letter there...? Oh, that’s right. Critical was there right now. She wondered if Tirek attacked the Empire as well?

“Do you think your little sis is okay?” she asked the Changeling.

“She should be fine, the latest report didn't have Tirek going that far north before Princess Lavender beat him," Ledger said with a squeeze. "I more want to call in a favor with old Shiny regarding shiny crystal armor and what it would take to use some for someone's wedding."

“Huh?” Midnight tilted her head. Ledger wanted to wear armour for the wedding? Well, that’d be kinda cool. “Okay then, best of luck Levvy.”

"Yeah, I figured you might want a set to wear on your big day." The drone smirked before bracing himself for the flood of emotions that she would surely feel at this statement. "You seemed to like it quite a bit when we were last there, after all-"

Scope and Cider yelped as the Thestral suddenly surged forward from under the pile to hug Ledger, the two mares landing in a heap on the floor. It had felt like forever since Ledger felt the sheer amount of love that poured from this mare.

"I take it...you like the idea?" He managed to say through the batpony hugging him so fiercely.

“Gee, you think?” Midnight snarked and hugged him tighter. She was never going to let any of them go again. She sighed as she closed her eyes. “M’still sleepy though. Can I rest for a while longer?”

"Fine by me," Ledger said as he ran a hoof through her mane. "I'll be here if you want to nap."

Midnight closed her eyes, drifting off into a restless sleep. Scope and Cider had moved to either side of the pair and they soon joined their little batpony.

The shrill whistle of the train startled Midnight awake. She groaned as she glared towards the engine, wondering if Luna would get mad if she made the driver swallow that damned thing. She also noted that her three lovers had never left her side, and even now she took great care to remove herself from their grasp before she headed off for the bathroom.

Oh Sweet Celestia had she missed modern plumbing. Ledger grumbled a little at a feeling of her leaving, but eventually hugged one of the other mares and sighed. Apparently he had really missed her.

Midnight soon returned, with a smile on her face. Nopony should enjoy using the bathroom that much. And gods above did she want a nice, hot bath. A massive one with all her loves. So she could get wonderfully clean and delightfully dirty all at the same time~

Yeah, seems her lust hadn’t been inhibited in the slightest.

Ledger shifted a little as she attempted to retake her place in the cuddlepile, and cracked one eye open. "Hey there," he greeted the mare.

“Hey yourself,” she whispered back as she ran a hoof through Scope’s mane. “Sleep well?”

"I had images of the four of us getting married running through my head all night, so...kinda?"

“Well, I could always take my proposal back,” Midnight said arily, smirking lightly at him.

"Well I guess that'd save me the trouble of asking Shiny about getting a set of his crystal armor for you," Ledger fired back. He was feeling especially snarky this morning, apparently. Oh wait. Morning. He hadn't had coffee yet. That would explain it.

If you could call it morning anyway. It seems that Celestia still hadn’t gotten up yet so it was still dark outside. Scope and Cider eventually roused, the latter stretching until her bones gave a satisfying crack.

“Mmm, mornin’ y’all,” she murmured. “Where’s th’coffee...?”

"I'dunno," Ledger yawned, "we're on the train, remember?" He finished his question by giving Cider a small kiss on the cheek. "Lemme know when you find it, I'ma hug this silly bat while you look."

“Why should you get all the hugs?” Cider replied as she woke up a little more. “I missed her as well.” They looked towards Midnight, only to see her already occupied by Scopey, who poked out her tongue in response.

"... Guess we're both looking," the stallion said as he put his legs under him. "I make no promises to share when I find it though."

Inside the dining car, the chef hired to cater for the group shuddered. Why did he suddenly feel like his life was in danger?

In the end, all four of them went searching. There was nothing in the mini fridge besides wine and soda. So they ventured forth, moving into the next carriage as their hooves shuffled and they moaned in a long, droning tone.

“Coofffeeeeeee~”

That was when the smell of freshly brewed Saddle Arabian beans hit their noses. Ledger turned towards it and pointed a hoof dramatically.

"COFFEE!" he proclaimed.

They surged forth, like the unstoppable tide they were. The chef let out a yelp and ducked behind the counter in a vain attempt to take cover from the horde of undead. Four mugs of steaming coffee sat on the counter, as well as a bowl of sugarcubes.

Funnily enough, the chef was the only survivor.

Four ponies sat at the counter, now resembling sentient life as they nursed their mugs of life-giving elixir mixed with sugar and cream. Midnight reached over and poured a generous amount of sugar into Level and Scope’s mugs.

“I think you two can have a little treat~” she giggled.

"Too tired to argue," Ledger muttered before attempting to sneak a kiss from her. Midnight giggled as she reciprocated, giving her stallion a little kiss on the nose. The chef had survived the tides of war and had vanished into the kitchen, returning with crisp salad, fresh boiled eggs and toast.

And yet, the cooking style was oddly familiar to Ledger. It reminded him of home for some reason. He grabbed some toast and eggs and eyed the chef with a half raised eyebrow. "Got any pancakes back there?" the stallion asked before eating his own breakfast.

“Yup,” the stallion replied as he vanished, soon returning with a generous stack along with some berries and syrup in his magical grip. That smell, that texture... This was Fredrick's cooking. No doubt. Ledger divided the pancakes among his mares and himself before pointing out what he had observed.

"So how is the Playbird of Las Pegasus?"

The stallion blinked at that, he hadn’t expected his charges to recognise his cooking so quickly, or even at all.

“Um, I’m afraid I don’t know,” he replied truthfully. “I haven’t seen him in about a year and a half. I work for the Princesses now as their Head Breakfast Chef.”

"And do they know how Frederick usually served his breakfasts? As part of an after morning ritual with a mare he slept with?" Ledger may have been enjoying this just a little too much. The stallion blushed as he looked away.

“I...may have omitted that from my resume,” he replied as he topped up their coffee. Midnight gave a cute little wiggle of her ears as she sipped at the drink.

"Ah well, I don't think they'll notice anyway," the stallion applied for sipping at his own coffee. It took him a minute, but when he was done drinking the coffee he put the cup down and added onto his sentence. "Though you should really tell them before somepony else does."

“Yeah, that would go down a real treat with my employers,” he muttered as Midnight poked at Ledger.

“Levvy, don’t bite the hoof that feeds you. He gave us coffee and noms. Stop teasing him.”

"Hey, Celestia was fun to hang out with and Luna, as you said, wasn't bad either. They might be completely understanding, and point, the elder is still on the market..."

Oh ye of little knowledge.

“Be that as it may,” the stallion replied. “I think I’ll just keep doing as I’m doing. Plus, my marefriend might not agree with your sentiment.”

The disguised changeling merely raised an eyebrow and looked around at the mares around him as if to say 'single?'

The stallion just sighed and returned to his duties. Midnight was busy burying her face in her pancakes, so she missed Ledger’s cue. Cider and Scope just opted to stay out of it. It was too early for subtle hints and cues.

"Then again, mine is an unusual situation," Ledger observed before eating his own pancakes.

“Princess Luna told me I’d be catering for unusual guests,” the stallion said as he put away the dishes they had already licked clean. “Not really my place to ask. I just cook the food. Who I cook for eats my food and if they wanna talk, I talk. Boss always said to lend an ear if needed.”

"What are you, a chef or a shrink?" Apparently the coffee hadn't yet counteracted the snark inherent to Ledger's very nature.

“After the Boss’ lessons?” he chuckled. “Perhaps a little of both.”

“Trupth meh!” Midnight said with a mouthful of pancake. “You dun wamph our poblemths!”

"I should know," Ledger said around a mouthful of his own pancakes. He swallowed before finishing his sentiment. "I kinda don't want them, but I'm willing to put up with the problems for the mares. I do love them after all."

“Well, at least you’re never bored,” Scope replied as she looked out of the window. “So, how long until we get to Crazyville?”

The chef hummed and looked at a clock. “Well if we’re running on time, about four hours or so. Would you like me to make you all lunch to take with you?”

"Meh," the stallion commented. "Don't get me wrong, knowing who you trained under, that's kind of a tempting offer, but I kind of wanted to sample the local fare for the duration of our visit."

“That’s fair,” the stallion nodded. As he went to turn away, Cider whispered something to him and he nodded, before returning to his kitchen. Then a soft snoring could be heard as the group turned to see Midnight asleep again, using her pancakes as a pillow, golden syrup coating her mane and ears.

Ledger sighed before pushing his half-eaten breakfast to one side. "I'll clean her up before she wakes up. The last thing we need is her complaining about a sticky mane. You just know she'll make it sexual somehow."

Cider smiled, one usually reserved for the batpony. “Ah’ll bet you do. You just want the sugar-frosted thestral all to yerself~”

"It won't be nearly so tasty when I've coated her in soap and water," Ledger replied, not rising to the bait and instead pulling Midnight off of her stool. With a quick shuffle to make sure she was situated comfortably on his back, the Unicorn trotted off, albeit slowly thanks to the added weight. Midnight sleepily nibbling his ear probably didn’t help his trek either, as Scope and Cider just laughed at his plight.

"Yeah yeah, we'll just see how much you're laughing when I have to do the same for you one day," Ledger threatened.

“Hey, Ah’m still a young an’ delicate mare!” Cider retorted. Scope just shrugged and went back to her coffee. She could always throw him out of the train window later.

"So you're saying you don't want to try getting clean and dirty at the same time? I thought that was one of you mare's favorite activities." Ledger punctuated this question with a raised eyebrow before resuming his trek. In truth he had nearly been done, but apparently there was always time to snark.

Cider just blushed and Scope patted her shoulder.

“I wouldn't worry, we can get him back later~” she cackled lightly. One did not simply snark at Scope Lens and get away with it. Revenge would be slow and humiliating~

In a small hamlet not too far away, a bright pink baker awoke with a start, her ocean-blue eyes wide as she gasped. In a blurred motion, the resident Alicorn of Friendship found herself staring into those eyes.

“GAH!” Twilight fell back as Pinkie giggled.

“Silly Twi-Twi, the floor is for rugs and walking, not Princesses!”

“Yeah,” Twilight deadpanned as she got to her hooves. “Is there a reason you’re here so early Pinkie?”

“Umm, well... I got an itchy ear, followed by a twitchy tongue and then I got really warm in my-”

“Okay!” Twilight blushed lightly, not wanting to know where she was going with that particular combo. “What does that mean?”

“Weeeeell, some new ponies are coming!” she replied, putting a hoof to her chin. Or was she putting her chin to her hoof? Hmm, this needed to be investigated later. “And they’re really interesting ones. Also, you should really lighten up Twilight, or you may not survive this time.”

“I...what?” Twilight tilted her head as Pinkie bounced away. She had a party to prepare and her welcome wagon to tune. Now, where did she put her gunpowder and cake mixes?

When Midnight awoke, she took note of several things. One, she was wet...not that kind of wet...well, maybe a little. Two, she felt really warm. And three?

“Levvy, why are you sniffing my mane?”

"You may or may not have gotten syrup in it," the disguised drone said before pulling back slightly. "And you know how I am around sugar. Part of your cleaning may or may not have involved... A little licking. Also, welcome back to the land of the living. Enjoy your nap?" With that he was back to scrubbing her normally. Which of course took about three times as long as it would have if he were just licking the liquid sugar out of her mane.

“Yeah, I think...I’m feeling better?” She wasn’t quite sure really. She knew she wasn’t feeling like herself anyway. “Heh, this is kinda weird,” she smiled. “It’s like our roles have reversed or something. Maybe karma is out to get me for my infidelity?”

"Or maybe you're being rewarded for healing me after what I've been through," Ledger observed before dumping a little water on her. "If you think it would help if I tried to seduce you, do let me know. I'll try to not be awkward about it, but no promises."

“You?” Midnight giggled at the thought of Ledger acting like her. “You couldn’t seduce a Violet. But sure, give me your best shot Levvy~”

Ledger smirked a little, before leaning in and whispering into her ear. "Do you always get this wet this easily, or am I just a special case?"

Midnight found her cheeks heating up a little as she looked at him. “Oohh, not bad Levvy. Not bad at all. You have potential to be a first-class sexual deviant.”

"And may Equus tremble, especially at the thought of two of you running around." The sponge was picked back up and reapplied to her mane. Almost all the syrup been removed, one more pass should do it.

That was when she grabbed him and pulled the stallion into the tub with her. “I may be wet, but I can get you wet pretty easily too. And then...did you think I forgot about my superpowers?” The thoughts that ran through her head...were...actually kind of tame for her. They were still more than enough to elicit a reaction from the stallion in front of her. One that she could plainly see.

“Hee, I win!” Midnight giggled. “And I really need to teach Cidey and Scopey this trick.”

"No, no you do not. I'm fine with just one of you knowing. Really I am." Ledger futilely try to cover up his reaction from her sight. "It's hard enough to keep up with just you knowing this trick. I don't need to add them to the list as well. I would never get any sleep!"

“Oh? I think I could make it harder~” Midnight giggled, poking at him. She suddenly put a hoof to her head and shuddered. Ledger put a hoof on her withers and frowned slightly.

"Bad memories?" he inquired softly.

“Guess we really have swapped places huh?” Midnight gave a weak chuckle. “I’m defective, did you keep the receipt?”

"Only if you kept mine when you came walking in my door," he rejoined, drawing her in for a light hug. The Thestral sighed as she was embraced.

“Why can’t we just have a simple life?” she asked. “It’s not fair dammit!”

"Simple is boring, along with overrated." He drew back and gave her a quick lick on the nose, a silly gesture, one designed to get her to laugh. "And look on the bright side! I've met your family, you met mine, and Cider has met both of ours. The only thing left would be for us to meet hers, and I think that's what's happening at the next stop anyway. After that I think we're all clear to proceed with our wedding plans. Surely nothing crazy can happen after that!"

Elsewhere, Fate felt very tempted all of a sudden.

“Since I’m the new Ledger, I should feel like I should scold you on taunting fate like that,” Midnight nodded, putting on her ‘serious’ voice. “Oh! We should totally pretend to be each other to screw with Cider and Scopey!”

"That was one. Time!" The stallion moved to throw his hooves up, before sighing and leaning back into the hug. "Plus I don't think you could pass as a changeling anyway." Were she looking at his face, she would see one half of a mischievous smirk.

“Really?” she deadpanned. “I meant each other's personalities doofus.”

"I'm not sure if I could pull off a decent 'you,' or you a decent 'me.' We could still try of course. But if you break Scope or Cider, you have to fix them." Ledger thoughtful now, as though he were actually considering the idea.

“Meh, it’s not like we can make them any worse than us,” she said, even as she drew closer to him. “Still, this is a pretty comfy tub~”

"So you're making me choose?" One hoof played with her mane while the other drew circles in the water. "Screwing with them, or screwing you? Kind of a close contest, really. But if I have to choose..." With that the stallion drew her in for another kiss that seemed to last for both forever and not long enough. When they finally came up for air again, he opened with a continuation of his last sentiment.

"Mmm, you win."

“I always win,” Midnight giggled as she held him close. A wicked thought entered her mind as she let him go and turned around, looking for something on the floor behind the tub.

This also had the effect of her rear being presented to the Changeling, her tail swishing from side to side, offering sparse glimpses of what lay underneath. It didn't take five seconds for her to feel a familiar weight on her back. Apparently it wasn't just her that was horny.

"So you missed me as well right? That's what I'm getting from your behavior." And apparently, Ledger’s no-so-little friend had missed her too, from the way it was poking her flank.

“Oh, are you going to take advantage of little ol’ me?” she giggled innocently. Then static in the background crackled as the train shifted slightly.

‘Attention passengers. Due to some good fortune, we have made excellent time and will be arriving in Ponyville shortly. Please make sure you have all of your belongings before you depart.’

Midnight blinked, before she scowled and lowered her head in defeat. “You have got to be bucking kidding me!?”

"I wish, half of that was kind of the point," Ledger grunted before getting off her back and falling to all fours in the tub. "To be continued?"

Midnight just flopped over the edge of the tub, her wet mane hanging over her face as she sighed again. “Fiiiine... stupid train and its stupid efficiency. I’m feeling irritated now Levvy...”

In their cabin, Scope suddenly shuddered and looked around. Was there anywhere to hide?

"I'll cast a soundproofing charm on whatever room we end up with... If you behave today that is. Otherwise, I can wait until we next take the train." With that, the brown stallion hopped out of the tub and reach for a towel to help dry himself off. A pair of wet hooves draped around his neck as he felt Midnight’s hot breath against his ear.

“It’s been weeks Ledger,” she said in a tone that could get the old Ledger hard. “Are you sure? Do you really want to wait that long?” That tongue of hers licked the length of his neck before she shook herself dry, (yay for water resistant fur) and trotted from the room, her rump rhythmically sashaying the whole time.

"It hasn't been that long for me, Scope and Cider were very distracting on the way up. I think I could last." With his counter delivered, Ledger walked forward and briefly shook himself as well, displaying for the mare what she had managed to do to him before it retracted completely.

Midnight just stood there as she processed that. The stallion chuckling as he made his way back to the cabin.

Then...a thought occured. Yes, it hadn’t been that long for him...but for the lust-fueled Thestral?

What would she do to get what she wanted? Or to be more precise. How was she going to behave from here on out?

He shuddered before quickening his pace towards his cabin. The sooner they were in public, the sooner he was safe from... Whatever she would do to get even.

...Right?

By the time the train pulled into the sleepy little town, the various expressions worn by the four ponies were...varied.

Midnight looked both annoyed and bored at the same time. She’d been to Ponyville once before. It wasn’t all that exciting. But hey, at least she’d get to meet Twilight again. She missed flustering the little bookworm back when she was living in Canterlot.

Cider was excited at meeting Applejack and her family. But also a little worried. She wondered what she’d think of her...situation. Also, do not tell her that she had two Changelings as partners.

Scope was wondering why Luna sent them here in the first place. She also shot repeated looks at Ledger, wondering what colour his chitin was under that disguise.

As for the stallion himself? He. Was. Excited! He only heard a little bit about Twilight, but the thought of meeting someone who was as much of an academic as himself had him basically chomping at the bit to meet her. It was safe to say that this was the one princess that he thought he could actually stand. Now, he just had to hope his disguise held up for the entire meeting. Heck, the last thing he heard about her was that she lived in the library. A. Library!

He was stallion enough to admit he was jealous.

There was a loud gasp as the group turned to see a wagon nearby, and a very pink Earth Pony a few inches from Ledger’s muzzle, her massive blue eyes staring into his.

“OHMIGOSH! New ponies!”

Ledger had an entirely reasonable response to that amount of pink being shoved in his face. He most certainly did not scream or jump backwards about five feet. Anypony who said otherwise was lying.

... One would think living in a city with Amy would have gotten him used to the idea of Pinks doing unpredictable things. But if it was one thing about being unpredictable, it was that... well, they were unpredictable. To attempt to prepare is to fail.

“Ohh, I can do that too!” Pinkie said as she squealed and jumped back, landing near her welcome wagon. “And, WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!” she hit a button as music played and she begun a song and dance routine that most of the group just tuned out. At least until the cannons of the wagon fired a shower of confetti into the air as a microwave dinged and produced a three layer cake.

Still didn’t stop the glitter from raining down on Midnight...

"You‘re singing and dancing simply because... We arrived here?" Ledger inquired as he sniffed the air, smelling the delicious cake that the pink pony had somehow produced. The now sparkly Thestral wasn’t amused though.

“Well duh!” Pinkie said with a roll of her eyes. “I mean, doesn’t everypony do something nice for their friends?”

"...We just got here. How can we already be friends?" Ledger lit up his horn as he attempted to aid Midnight in the removal of the sparkly confetti from her fur. But since her fur was still damp somewhat, some stubbornly refused to come out. The result? She now sparkled slightly in direct sunlight.

Cider’s blush could be seen from Canterlot.

“Apple Cidey!?” Pinky bounded forward, crashtacklehugging the mare. “Oh my gosh! It’s been foreveeerrrr~”

“It’s been like three months,” Cider replied as the pink party pony provided a paltry pout on her pretty muzzle. “So it hasn’t been that long Pinkie.”

“Nu-uh! That's like, totally forever!” Pinkie replied and looked at Ledger. “And of course we’re friends silly. Everypony is my friend and I love to make my friends smile!”

"...I gave up on understanding ponies who were pink a long time ago," Ledger sighed. "We're looking for Princess Twilight. Do you know where we could find her?" Apparently he decided to cut right to the heart of the matter around their visit here.

“Aw, don’t be like that,” Midnight replied as she stepped forward, her sultry gaze locked onto Pinkie. “Give me ten minutes with our new friend here. I bet I make her do more than just smile~”

"Bad Midnight. Don't make me get a newspaper. I will swat you with it if I have to to make you behave." Ledger's retort was half-joking, half-serious.

Behave...may have been the wrong word to use. Midnight’s eyes widened as she quickly fell back into place next to Ledger.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I’ll be a good mare. I promise...”

"...If you'll pardon us, Miss Pink?" Ledger turned to Midnight and drew her in for a quick, whispered debate. "You have never been this submissive to me. Is this more of what he did to you?"

“I-I’m sorry. Please, I promise I’ll be good, please don’t hit me,” she refused to meet his gaze, and instead just stared submissively at the floor. It was around then that Ledger caught sight of the patches of missing fur and the whip marks on her body. The latter had faded a little, after Luna had administered a healing spell or three. But her sister always was the better healer, so one could still see the welts under Midnight’s fur if you looked carefully or knew where to look.

Level Ledger had never before felt more like murdering somepony else. Under his glamour, his colors went almost straight to black. How dare that bastard scar Midnight so deeply, on both a physical and emotional level?! He half-considered getting back on the train and going right back to Roamania to kill somepony...

That was when a set of pink hooves wrapped around them, hugging them tightly.

“I dunno what happened to you,” Pinkie said softly, a far cry from her earlier enthusiasm. “But it’s okay now. You’re safe from the dark okay?”

Ledger grumbled a little, something about having brought it with him, or in him. It was hard to tell when he was being so thoroughly cuddled by a pink pony. Nonetheless, he enjoyed the hug, for Midnight's sake if nothing else.

“Uhuh,” Midnight said softly. She leaned into the pink mare’s embrace and nodded her head. “I know...that Levvy... would never hurt me. He loves me too much. Real love...”

“Love is pretty awesome huh?” Pinkie smiled, holding the mare’s head in her hooves. “I think you’re pretty lucky to have a lot of ponies around you. And they’re lucky to have you. You all shine really brightly. It makes me really happy.”

Ledger didn't respond, instead turning to look at the train. If he was doing his math right, there may just be a way to go back, sneakily do what he felt he had to, and still be back in time for dinner... Tomorrow. And he would have to burn through a lot of magic, but for this...

Midnight would have to let him go first. And she didn’t seem intent on doing that anytime soon. Pinkie eventually pulled back and giggled. “In times like this, you just gotta smile and laugh the darkness away!”

Midnight sighed, before she took a deep breath. Amy would tell her the same thing, to smile a true smile. Even Ace would say something like ‘If something gets in your way. Punch it in the face!’

So she grabbed her negative feelings and did just that. The train whistled as it pulled out of the station and soon the party of ponies was all that was left on the platform. Ledger sighed, his colors under his disguise flickering back to a sort of slate grey. Without the train, getting back to where they had come from would be nigh impossible... At least, doing it in any sort of reasonable time frame. He then turned back to the pink pony and cracked half a smile.

"So, about that Princess?"

“Oh yeeaahhhh!” Pinkie said with an impossibly wide smile. “She’s probably in her shiny new castle! You can’t miss it really!” She gave them one last hug and smiled again. “Well, I gotta set up a party! Have fun you guys!”

As the Pink Pony bounced off, Ledger watched her go and saw the tip of a huge crystal structure on the horizon. It was hard to see it for the town between them, but it did resemble a place that the four of them had visited once. Only it looked a little less, oh what was the word?

Subtle.

"If she were a Prince instead, I would say that she might be trying to compensate for something," the drone said as he caught his first sight of the castle of crystals and friendship. "And what was wrong with her last place that she had to move into this one? It just doesn't seem like her from everything that I've read."

“Well, maybe she’s letting the power of being a Princess get to her?” Scope suggested. “Let’s just hope this one isn’t run by a sentient artifact.”

Midnight gave her head a shake and smiled again, this time, a more happy one. “Okay, let’s go and see a Princess...for, whatever reason it was again!”

"Luna told us to," Ledger helpfully supplied. Eventually he let go of Midnight and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. Getting back on all fours, he looked at the other mares and quirked and eyebrow. "Shall we?"

They nodded and headed for the crystalline structure, unsure of what might await them there.

During the trip, Apple Cider had parted ways with them, insisting that she go off and see Applejack about staying a night or two. The three continued to head for the palace, and once they stood outside, the two mares glanced at Ledger.

“You wanna ring the doorbell?” Scope joked. They hadn’t seen any Guards, despite the fact that this was the castle of a princess. A giant, shiny as hell crystal tree. It clashed so badly with the rest of the town it was ridiculous.

"Point one out to me, and sure," Ledger joked back. There was no obvious doorbell on the outside of the massive crystal doors, but he sure as hell wanted to ring whatever doorbell would go with this massive castle. Mostly out of morbid curiosity as to what it could possibly be.

He never got the chance as the massive door creaked open and a small purple dragon poked his head out.

“We’re not giving tours, Princess Twilight isn’t signing autographs and no, you cannot sit on the-GAH!” Midnight tackle-hugged the little lizard with a happy squeal.

“Spikey!” she giggled.

"A baby dragon?" Ledger had read about the incident, certainly. But there was something to be said about seeing such a small drake in pony rather than just reading about Twilight hatching him.

“And one that Mistress knows apparently,” Scope nodded as Spike tried to get away from the crazy Thestral.

“What are you...wait?” Spike stopped and looked at the mare. “I know you...”

“Well of course,” Midnight said as she put him on her back, nuzzling him in the process. “One simply does not forget the handsome little drake that gave her a Hearts and Hooves day card. I still have it by the way.”

“Gah! Midnight Song?” Spike blushed profusely as the mare walked deeper into the palace. “What are you doing here?”

“Hmm, came to visit Bookworm under Moonbutt’s orders,” she replied. “Oh!’ she turned and pointed at Ledger and Scope. “These two are my special someponies. Special someponies? This is Spikey~ Bookworm’s wonderfully handsome assistant.”

"A pleasure," Ledger said with a small bow of his head. "My name is Level Ledger, the current head of Pegasus Air, and one of Midnight’s handlers. Keeping her from falling back into her old ways used to be our job." And I would give anything to hear her talk like that again...

“Yeesh, you have your work cut out for you then,” Spike snarked as Midnight turned and trotted into the palace. “Oh, Twilight should be in her study I think...just,” he scratched his head. “I have no idea where that is. You think the Tree of Harmony would have at least made a map or something for this place.”

"I get the feeling if I called my name, I would hear an echo before we got the reply from Princess Twilight," Ledger observed with no small amount of snark himself.

“Oh yeah, I’ve already done that a bunch!” Spike grinned and cupped his claws together. “ECHO!” he called out.

“Shut up!” Twilight’s voice echoed back in the distance.

"... On the bright side, we found her." Ledger's grin could not be any wider. Midnight noticed and decided she was going to have an immense amount of fun with this. Spike called out a few more times and they followed the mare’s voice until they found a room with a sparse amount of books, a few scrolls and a small purple alicorn hunched over a desk.

“If you’re here about my book order, just put them over there,” she gestured with a wing. “I’m a little busy right now, so forgive me if I can't tend to all your needs.”

Midnight smirked widely as Spike clamped a claw over his mouth. The Thestral stalked forward as Scope poked Ledger to stop her.

“Oh?” she purred, draping her hooves around Twilight’s neck. “But I think you could tend to all of my needs~ Little Bookworm~”

“YEEP!” Twilight squealed and teleported from her grasp, now hiding behind Ledger. “Who? What? Midnight Song!?”

"Apologies, your highness," Ledger said to the mare taking cover behind him, "but Midnight has apparently made it her mission to kiss all the Princesses. I would have stopped her if I had remembered in time, but I was busy coming up with a witty comeback to your earlier remark. Namely, 'I only have the one book and I'm loathe to loan it to anyone.'"

“Ah!” Twilight took a step back as she assessed the situation. “I didn’t realise I had guests. Spiiiike! Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Cause this is hilarious,” Spike grinned as he fist/hoofbumped Midnight. Twilight sighed and shook her head.

“Forgive him,” she said. “Ah, I am Twilight Sparkle. How can I help you today?”

Midnight grinned sharkishly and opened her mouth-

"I don't rightly know your highness, Princess Luna is the one that suggested we come here for... Various reasons. I would have to ask a few questions in order to determine whether or not we should remain. A few very leading questions." Ledger glanced over to Scope as he said this, trying to make sure she at least was on board with where this discussion was going.

The nymph nodded. “Princess-”

“Please,” Twilight smiled. “Just call me Twilight. The whole ‘Princess’ thing is just... I do prefer we be a little more familiar.”

“Oh, I’d like to get very familiar with you~” Midnight said, moving closer to her as Twilight used Ledger as a meat shield.

"I'd stop her, but I'm actually trying to encourage this behavior." Ledger did however oblige the lavender princess by not moving.

“Why would you encourage that?” Twilight replied with wide eyes. "And um, just who are you anyhow? Why did Princess Luna send you here?”

"Because the alternative is so much worse," the stallion said. " I would prefer you be comfortable, perhaps even sitting down, before we ask the questions leading to why Princess Luna sent us here."

“Is...everything alright?” Twilight asked as she led them to another room she had claimed as her reading room. Again, the number of books present were sparse, as in, none at all. Just a couch, two large chairs and a fireplace.

“Everything is fine Bookworm,” Midnight said. “Well, for the most part. If you don’t count Tirek, Discord, kidnapping, psychological scarring, our issues in general, which could fill this castle ten times over that is.”

Twilight and Spike just blinked slowly as the dragon looked as his sister. “Um..is this one of those ‘I should go and get the girls’ things?”

Twilight just nodded as the dragon jogged from the room. His little waddle really was adorable.

"Well I suppose now that he's out of the way, we can get to the more interesting questions," the brown unicorn mused aloud. He looked at Scope and raised his eyebrows again. If he kept this up they would fly right off of his face. Scope just shrugged and looked at Midnight for answers.

Midnight sighed as she looked at her lovers. “Okay, let’s get some introductions out of the way. Firstly, this is Twilight Sparkle, Equestria’s biggest bookworm. Booky, this is Level Ledger and Scope Lens. They're my special someponies. Yes, ponies, plural. I have multiple partners. A herd would be the technical term.”

Twilight blinked as she tapped her chin with her hoof. “But, there hasn’t been a herd in recorded history since...” She turned to fetch her book on Equestrian history...only to remember she no longer had a book on Equestrian history.

Then the three were treated to the sight of a sad Twilight Sparkle, something that moved even the stallion. So much so that he did something that normally he would never consider.

He pulled out his book of his saddle bags and began flipping through it, starting from the back and working until he reached the point at which the relationship between himself and Midnight and Cider had started. "Hmm, haha, something along the lines of 157 years ago was when the last herd was officially dissolved due to one of the last few members passing." The Unicorn casually ignored all the laws of space and time his book seemed to be breaking during the massive flip-fest. There was no way a normal book could fit that much paper inside that small a binding.

Twilight stared at the book, like a Manticore at it's prey. “T-That book... what is that? Its so big...”

Ledger blinked and closed the book before looking at the binding. He turned it one way, then another, before shrugging and putting it back in his saddle bags. " My uncle gave it to me, and showed me how to add more paper to it when I ran out of blank pages. I guess I just... lost track...of how much was in there?" It sounded legit to him.

Twilight’s mind went to work, and for Ledger, this was a buffet of the highest caliber. “Is it some sort of pocket space spell? Or perhaps a spacial distortion? Hmm, I bet if I-no, that won’t work. I could get my...no, don’t have it anymore...” She was lost now, off in her own little world when the simple answer would have been to just ask Ledger.

But where was the fun in that? Ledger flipped back to the back of the book, and begin writing something down even as he spoke up to the occupied princess. "I'll make you a promise," he said, not stopping in his scribbling for a moment even as he waited for a response.

“Huh? What sort of promise?” Twilight asked, snapping out of her thoughts. “Not a Pinkie Promise I hope?”

“Be careful,” Scope warned the young alicorn. “Making a deal with him is like making a pact with a demon. I’d rather take my chances with Discord.”

"I promise that if you're willing to listen and hear us out, I'll give you a copy of the spell I use to add more paper to the book."

“Hmm, that could be useful,” Twilight hummed, rubbing her hooves together. “But, why wouldn’t I hear you out?”

Midnight rolled her eyes. "He’s worried you're gonna panic over the fact he’s a Changeling.”

Twilight sat deathly still as she stared at the stallion. Then her horn flared and Ledger found himself encased in a magenta bubble.

“Hmm, perhaps he did have a good reason,” Midnight added. Ledger responded by panicking as he looked for a way out from his new prison. Midnight looked at Twilight and sighed. “Look, Bookworm. He’s a nice Changeling okay? Even Princess Celestia likes him. And Princess Luna sent us here remember?”

“What if she knew he was mind-controlling you-” Twilight started to say, and even through his panic, Ledger could almost hear the sound of something snapping inside the bat's furry little head. She took a few steps forward until her eyes were just inches from Twilights.

“You are a Princess, thus, I am sworn to protect you.” Her eyes narrowed and it suddenly felt very cold. “Even from your own stupidity it seems.”

“But I-”

“Do not assume such things about my beloved Princess Twilight. Let. Him. Go!”

The small Alicorn gulped and then slowly lowered Ledger to the ground, dissipating the bubble around him. Once she had, Midnight Song was all smiles and sunshine once more. Scope was still hiding behind her chair though. Seriously, forget the Princesses, Discord or Tirek. You pissed off Midnight, your life was forfeit.

Ledger slowly checked himself over, as if to make sure that all of his limbs were still attached after that scare. Once he was satisfied, though, he cast a grateful look over to Midnight. "There’s the Midnight I remember. Where have you been all this time?" The expression he received back just screamed ‘Do you really want me to answer that’?

“S-So,” Twilight said, taking a seat once again, but her horn still hadn’t stopped channeling a quick-fire defense spell. “You’re a Changeling?”

"Is it really so hard to believe that we're still living among you? After all, we're parasites, we literally can't live without you." Ledger made himself comfortable in a chair that he felt was far enough away from the princess that he wasn't in danger of being zapped without a chance to put up defenses.

“In a sense, yes,” Twilight nodded as the door opened and five mares, along with Spike trotted in. It didn’t take long for Ledger and Scope to recognise the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony.

‘I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all!’ Scope said into his head. ‘I want to leave. Now!’

'Benefit of the doubt, she's giving it to us because of Midnight, we can give her the same courtesy... Though let's not be foolish. I would advise you to have a teleport spell handy. I would do the same but they would notice.' Ledger smiled politely and nodded his head at the returning dragon and the other 5 mares to accompany him. Aloud, he said, "Ah, the former Bearers." Then he took notice of Pinkie and shut up. No more need to attract more attention from a Pink pony.

“Yeah, well we have a totally awesome new power now!” the blue Pegasus boasted. Rainbow Dash if he remembered correctly. “Those old things ain’t got nothing on us now!”

“Really? We have guests and that’s the first thing that comes out of your mouth?” Rarity sighed. “And such a handsome guest as well. I am Rarity darling, a pleasure to make your acquaintance!”

"Level Ledger, the new head of Pegasus Air, new being a relative term and all." The Unicorn nodded his head at the mare that had spoken, before quirking a small smile at Twilight. As if to say, 'look, I can be civil.'

“And now he’s going to be insufferably smug,” Midnight sighed aloud. “Look, I am too tired, too stressed and way too horny to deal with all this pretense bullshit. Ladies? This is Level Ledger and Scope Lens. They are my lovers and best friends. They are also Changelings and if you harm them, I will wreck you Understand?”

Everypony just stopped and blinked. The range of facial expressions was quite varied. Except for Fluttershy, she fainted about halfway through Midnight’s little speech.

“Eh, whatever,” Rainbow shrugged.

Rarity was giving Level Ledger a second look, wondering if she should retract her earlier statement. Applejack just shrugged. Cider had met her earlier and already told her everything.

Pinkie was already nuzzling Scopey, having discovered the adorableness of the little nymph.

Twilight looked at her friends and then back to the Changelings. “Oh great, now it looks like I’m the only crazy one.”

“Nah, we’re plenty more crazy than you,” Midnight said with a smile. “Plus, you’re adorable when you go a little nuts.”

“I know right?” Pinkie exclaimed.

"Though now I'm thinking twice about sharing that spell with you, if you're going to react this way to every unfamiliar thing." To say that Ledger was enjoying snarking at a Princess would be mildly understating it. Like saying the ocean was a little damp. Then again, she had earned it with that earlier stunt.

“Oh, I’m sorry! Should I not be concerned about a species that tried to kill my friends and I?” she retorted back with her own brand of snark.

Midnight and Rainbow sat next to each other, having gotten popcorn from somewhere. Probably Pinkie.

“Ten Bits on Twilight,” the cyan Pegasus said.

“You’re on,” Midnight nodded.

"And the fact that Midnight isn't dead isn't a clue that I might not have been hostile?" The snark was building to almost palpable levels. "Hay, I would risk my life for that mare. That's not to mention all the things we have done for each other, either. I think it's safe to say that if there's one Changeling that wouldn't hurt a pony, it would be me.”

“A fair point, but I have never met you, so your past credentials cannot be taken into account.” Twilight leaned forward, her eyes narrowing. “What if I were to, let’s say, walk into a Changeling hive disguised as a Changeling?”

“Depends on the Hive,” Scope spoke up. “Might be taken into custody though.”

“Thank you,” Twilight said smugly.

"The Silvers would probably keep you around, mainly because they wouldn't be able to dislodge you from their own library," Ledger observed aloud. "The other colors would probably ransom you to them for really high concessions. After all, we're not stupid, we do know who you are in the Lands. Once you and the library had your fill of each other, then and probably only then would your dearest mentor be contacted with your location and a small 'list of things we would like in exchange for having put up with the crazed lavender one.'"

Okay, Twilight had no idea how to respond to that. It didn’t stop Rainbow from laughing her flank off though. Until Midnight tapped her shoulder and held out a hoof.

“Damn,” she muttered as she forked over the Bits.

Fluttershy had finally woken up, and was now using Rarity as a shield when somepony mentioned that there were Changelings here.

Twilight sighed as she reclined back into her seat, her spell long forgotten as she verbally bantered with Ledger. “So, you have no idea why Luna sent you here?” she asked, changing the subject away from her.

"I have suspicions but no concrete information," the disguised drone said as he leaned back in his own chair. "She did say something about getting you in the loop regarding the peace talks and our kinds."

“Peace talks?” Wait! When did this happen? Argh, after Tirek’s attack everything was just so... Twilight needed to speak with Celestia.

“So uh, is there a reason y’all called us here?” Applejack spoke up. “While ah do love you girls, ah also have a lotta work t’do.”

Then a thought occurred to Midnight. Was that why Luna...? Hmm.

“Hey,” she said aloud. “What’s that ‘awesome new power’ of yours like in dealing with Dark Magic?”

Ledger jolted a little at the mention of his newfound powers, as he also considered their downsides. If these mares could get rid of that nagging voice in his head that told him to get back on that train and murder somepony...

“Well,” Twilight replied, not expecting that particular line of questioning. “When we used the...well, we don’t really have a name for it yet. But when we used the new magic on Tirek, we freed everypony’s magic from within him, and he was sealed away in Tartarus. I suppose in a way, it’s simply a more powerful version of the Elements of Harmony, which makes sense since we needed them to unlock it in the first place. Why do you ask?”

“Well,” Midnight hummed. “Hypothetically, if somepony had used Dark Magic, would your powers simply remove the Dark, or would they be sealed away like Tirek?”

"I'm so glad you're asking her about this before you ask them to blast me," Ledger snarked. He appeared to be in a mood. One involving copious amounts of sarcasm.

“Aw, that’s cause I love you silly,” Midnight cooed, kissing his cheek and earning a coo from several of the mares present.

“What? Why would we ‘blast him’ as you so eloquently put it?” Rarity asked.

"It would be easier to show you if it were just a little bit darker in here," the stallion replied as he looked around the incredibly bright castle. "It's not just called dark magic to be funny. At least, not in my case."

“You used Dark Magic!?” Twilight yelled at him, scaring the crap out of most of the ponies present. None of them had seen the little Alicorn blow her top so easily. “Did you even think before you did something like that!? Dark Magic consumes your soul! It eats away at you until nothing is left! Have you heard of King Sombra? What he did? That was after he used just a little!”

"It was a combat situation with Midnight's life on the line! Given the opportunity I would gladly take the risk of temptation again just to save her! Perhaps I would resist a little harder from causing unnecessary harm, but if I didn't I would be a monster! And somepony is quite fond of thumping me when I call myself a monster." Even now the unicorn edged himself a little further away from the thestral next to him, in an attempt to avoid said thumping. He was still in range of her wings, as said appendages slapped him across the back of the head.

“Be that as it may, using Dark Magic is forbidden! For a reason!” Twilight sat back and rubbed her temples in frustration. Even Rarity looked a little exasperated, but their non-magic using friends looked a little confused.

“And besides, we don’t really know how this rainbow magic of ours works!” Rainbow said. “At least with the Elements, we just sorta gathered and blasted away.”

“Your explanations never cease to amaze,” Rarity sighed, mimicking Twilight’s facehooving.

“Ah have a question!” Applejack said, looking at Ledger and Scope.

"I make no promises about an answer, but I'll try," the brown unicorn replied as he looked at Cider's kin.

“Are y’all really Changelings?” she asked. “Ah mean, the last time we saw them, they just kinda hissed and tried to beat us up.”

“And on the other hoof, Chrysalis wouldn’t shut up,” Rainbow nodded.

"We appear to be being judged by the behavior of our less intelligent kin," the disguised drone commented aloud.

“Says the stallion that can barely function in the morning without coffee,” Midnight grinned at him. Spike shot a knowing grin at Twilight. He knew that feeling all too well.

"Mango," he fired back.

“Where!?” Midnight looked around, her ears standing straight up as her eyes widened with glee.

"It's good that we love each other, otherwise there'd be no living with each other." His wry observation delivered, Ledger gave her a quick peck on the cheek. Midnight frowned as she looked at him.

“You never joke about mangoes, Ledger. Ever.”

“I shouldn’t be so jaded about this,” Twilight replied. “But then, we have Pinkie Pie.”

“What about me?” Pinkie said, bouncing up and down.

“Back on topic,” Twilight sighed. She was going to need aspirin later. “If you really have used Dark Magic, then there is just no way to tell what effect our magic will have on you. And the fact that you’re a Changeling throws a much larger wrench into my calculations.” Twilight was up and pacing now, already deep in thought. Ledger frowned as he considered problem as well.

"There are more ways this could go wrong than there are ways this can go right," he eventually concluded.

“Yes, well...” Twilight paused in her wanderings. “Worst case scenario, you could be turned to stone or banished to Tartarus. Maybe something else entirely! This new magic has so many variables...”

"And I get to be the test subject for the experiment in using it," Ledger deadpanned so hard a pan actually fell down in the kitchen...that was located on the other side of the castle. "Joy."

“What? NO!” Twilight said, aghast at that thought. “I-We would never take such a risk, regardless if you’re a Changeling or not!”

“Yeah, I mean, Tirek was a monster. But you seem cool,” Rainbow nodded. “Not as cool as me, but still. You have potential.”

“Pfft, Levvy is waaay too much of a nerd to be cool,” Midnight giggled.

"Whose side are you on?" the unicorn asked the thestral. With a sigh, he turned back to Twilight. "So, if that's plan N, for never, do we have a plan A?"

“This will take research, a lot of research that will require books I no longer possess,” Twilight sighed.

“Tirek kinda blew up her library,” Rainbow said, before the other mares glared at her. “What?”

“It’s fine,” Twilight said calmly, though her emotions screamed otherwise. “Why would I be upset about Tirek vapourising my home and all the memories in it?”

The room fell into an awkward silence...before Ledger seemed to twitch and darken, somehow.

"Motherbucker did what?" he asked far too calmly. Twilight sighed as she led him to a window and pointed. Straight at the smoldering remains of her treehouse.

“Nopony was hurt,” she said. ‘Mental note, never tell Fluttershy about that beehive that was under her window.’ “But...all my books, my belongings? They’re gone.”

Ledger twitched again. He should really see somepony about that. "He did what to all those books?"

“I think the blackened ashes should explain well enough,” Twilight sighed. “I have replacements coming from Canterlot. The library I had there, as well as a few from the Archives and Princess Celestia even promised a few from her personal collection.” But other, more special ones, like her diary, her photo album, and her first edition Daring Do collection?

"...Tartarus, you said? Pardon me ladies, I have a centaur to go to destroy." The funny part was, Midnight couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. He certainly seemed to act that way, the way he turned away from the window with an angry expression on his face.

“Ledger, you are not going to Tartarus to destroy a being that even I couldn’t,” she said, pulling the disguised bug into a hug. “Though you are adorable when you’re trying to be a badass.”

"M’not adorable, I'm filled with the righteous anger of all the slain knowledge that I didn't get to read," the changeling protested as he half-tried to get out of the hug.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get to storm the Gates of Hell once we fix your darkened soul,” Midnight said, rubbing the Changeling's head. “So Princess Bookworm, can we fix my broken bug?”

Twilight frowned, but she was already versed in not taking anything Midnight said seriously. Well, aside from when she mentioned that...stuff. “Like I said, I have to research. And having his help would be nice. I know next to nothing about Changelings. I also need to know the type of Dark Magic he used, the quantity and qualities of the spell or spells.”

"Looks like a royal sleepover for me," the stallion said as he looked at Applejack. "Would you tell Cider?"

“Ah reckon so,” Applejack nodded. “Hmm, reckon we could all use a good night after whut’s happened. Whataya say Twi?”

Twilight looked at her friends, Pinkie was practically...no wait, she actually was vibrating she was so excited. Everypony else seemed to be in agreement and as she looked around the massive, empty halls, she nodded all too quickly.

“Sounds good,” she agreed. “Spike, take a note please?”

The drake nodded and produced a quill and some paper. “Okay, fire away!”

“Dear Princess Celestia.

“I understand that you must be extraordinarily busy, but I really need any books you have on dark magic. There is some...pony that I need to help.

Your faithful stu- Er, scratch that.

Your friend. Twilight Sparkle.”

Spike finished and inhaled, before igniting the message and the smoke wisped away, dancing on the wind towards Princess Celestia.

"Well, I have my book so I'm all set. The others probably have a little more than me, so maybe I should help them get settled in before we start anything, your highness." Ledger tried to make good his escape from Twilight and her OCD... At least before it was too late.

“Well I have to wait and see if the Princess replies,” Twilight said before Spike gagged and then let out a massive belch that rattled the walls. A gout of green fire deposited a suddenly appearing bound scroll and several books in front of Twilight.

“Urgh....that one was a bit...bleh...” Spike rubbed his stomach. “She could have at least sent them in lots.”

“Thanks, Spike,” Twilight nuzzled him before reading the letter and looking at the books. “Well I’ll be...you really are a Changeling.”

"I was fairly certain I was," he riposted. "You don't mistake a face like mine in the mirror for anything but."

“You haven’t shown them yet,” Midnight poked at him. “Ah well, maybe later.”

“Well, guess ah’ll head home and get Cider and mah things,” Applejack nodded. “See y’all later?”

“Yeah, I still have some weather stuff to do,” Rainbow nodded. And the others also voiced their need to complete a few errands before tonight.

“Wanna look around the town?” Midnight asked. “See the sights, take in the culture? Find a nice secluded spot so you and I can-”

Ledger responded by walking over to Twilight and throwing a foreleg around her withers. "Science?" he simply asked. The mare looked only moderately uncomfortable at the strange stallion touching her.

Midnight on the other hoof, just stared at him and then shot an icy glare at Twilight. “Fine, have your fun then!” she grabbed Scopey and headed for the door. “After all,” she called out. “Why would I want to spend the day with the stallion I care about!?” she yelled as she slammed the castle door shut.

“Whooey! She looked madder than a timberwolf in a forest fire!” Applejack whistled.

“Darling, I believe that was an unwise move,” Rarity nodded. Ledger sighed before nodding as well.

"Most likely, yes, yes it was. However, me going after her would be even worse, and actually, her being mad at me is a good thing. For reasons." The stallion looked at the door before shaking his head. "Best to let her be and cool off without me."

“Well, if you think that’s for the best,” Twilight said. She wasn’t so convinced...but then again, love made no sense to her. It was so unpredictable and way too full of variables and unknowns.

“I’m not so convinced,” Rarity replied as the rest of the mares headed out. “But if you need help patching things up tonight. We’ll help you out okay?”

"The only thing I can think of that I might need is a pint of mango ice-cream. Either to distract her or get her off of me. Can you tell Pinkie about that?"

“Already on it!” Pinkie said, from right behind him. Fortunately his earlier exposure to her had awoken his latent 'Pink-reflex' so this time he didn't jump nearly as far or scream nearly as high.

Once he had a moment to cool down, the Unicorn fixed her with half a glare. "Pink ponies are going to cause a heart attack in me one day," he grumbled.

He also heard Rainbow cackling in the background. Something about ‘screaming like a little filly’.

“I know the feeling,” Twilight said with an exasperated sigh. She and her friends had maxed out their ‘Pink-Reflex’ stats a long time ago. Pinkie still managed to surprise them on a daily basis.

Soon, the pair were left alone and Twilight wore a light blush on her face a she sorted through the books she had been sent. Ledger raised an eyebrow as he took in the scene. "Is there something wrong?" he asked after a moment more had passed and she didn't seem to be getting any less red.

Twilight flinched and looked at him sheepishly from over the edge of the book she was reading. “Oh! Um...I guess...I just realised, that this is the first time...I’ve been alone with a stallion...”

"Well, if it helps, I promise to only do things you're comfortable with," Ledger said, quite aware that this situation was a weird sort of mirror of how he and Midnight had first spent any time together. He was unused to the idea of being the one in charge of the situation in any fashion, so he simply sat back and let her have control.

Plus, there was no way he was going to remind her that he was actually a changeling drone. She was plenty flustered as it was. No need to go ahead and give her more reasons. As well, she was in fact a Princess! She had an immense amount of power, magical and otherwise. He did not need to be looking to add an alicorn to his herd! Though, he knew Midnight might not mind...

A small part of him, a small, rational part of him, realized that was the worst making-up gift ever. 'Hey Midnight, I know you're angry at me, but here, I got you an alicorn to molest. I only lightly touched her, you can have all the fun firsts.'

Thus, he shut down that line of thinking as quickly as it had appeared. He blamed Midnight for it being there in the first place. Perverted bat. She really had rubbed off on him.

“Um,” Twilight peered at him. “Is there...a reason you’re staring at me?”

"Lost in thought, dangerous territory. Especially with a certain thestral having influenced my mind for the past few months." The Unicorn stallion rubbed at the back of his head with one forehoof a little awkwardly, only adding to the tension in the room.

“You aren’t....going to steal my love are you?” Twilight said, backing up slightly and using an open book as a shield. Between the way she said that, and the fact she was being as adorable as all get out...

Was. Not. Helping.

"That's mostly what a Black does, and we're kind of trying to avoid that fate for me, in case you've forgotten." Ledger pulled out his book from his saddlebags and flipped open to the black bookmarked section. "Anytime you're ready... Any day now..."

“Um, right, science.” She moved closer as she looked in the book. She scanned the page a few times and fowned. “I...can’t read it. What language is that?”

"Changeish, with a major enchantment written into the very text to make sure that only a Black would ever be able to read it. I can translate for you, but I'm not sure what good it would do if I have to keep reading the same words over and over." It was only then that he realized the error he had made in stating those facts so soon after some others.

“Uhh...” Twilight started to back away again. She was like a cute little purple yoyo. “Should you really be reading that then?”

“It's an account by the first Black, about the process of becoming a Black and all the things that they can do. It's also the only thing to a survive the utter destruction of their Hive, so like it or not, it's my information source about this affliction I appear to have." Ledger reached a familiar page about Umbramancy and smirked slightly at the memories it conjured. Shadow-form had been so fun... Up until it wasn't...

Twilight’s eyes suddenly shone as she summoned a long scroll and a quill. “We need to make a checklist!” she said with a surprising amount of excitement. “Ooh, this will be so much fun!”

"I'm mostly hoping we can use whatever is in this book to figure out what's going on with me and possibly stop it," Ledger grumbled good-naturedly. "I'd like to be able to think hostile thoughts without having to wonder if I'm going to give into the temptation to kill somepony.”

“Uh, yeah, we’d better curb those thoughts pretty quick.” She stood up and moved to get a fresh inkpot, only to trip over the stack of books at her hooves. Her eyes widened as time seemed to slow, her muzzle racing to greet the hard crystal floor-

That was when Ledger exploded.

Okay, maybe exploded was a little harsh. He did, however, certainly dissolve into a mass of writhing shadows that moved to catch the lavender alicorn before she could painfully impact the floor. Either he had been practicing, or shadow manipulation came really easy to him now that he knew about it.

The mass of darkness coalesced back into his unicorn form about 5 feet away. "You ok?" he asked Twilight.

Twilight blinked as she processed what had just happened. She tripped, then he turned into shadows and...

“Was that Umbramancy?”

"Ten points to the studious alicorn," Ledger said with a nod. "Umbramancy, by itself, is naturally grey... It's just also a really good medium for moving some of the blacker, darker arts."

“I know a little about Umbramancy,” Twilight said as she closed her eyes, and her horn began to pulse with a dark light. And when she opened her eyes, her irises had turned red, while the whites of her eyes had turned a sickly green colour. Wisps of purple energy flowed from the edges of her eyes and after a few seconds, the power faded and she shook her head.

“Geh, gives me a headache though.”

"Perhaps the fact that I'm not a pony is helping me avoid a headache?”

“Maybe,” Twilight went to tap her chin before she blushed again. The stallion had just saved her from an unfortunate fate. “Oh, um...thanks, for helping me.”

"Don't mention it... Seriously, don't mention it, Midnight tends to whap me everytime I go Shadow Form around her. But it just feels so right, stretching my new magic. As long as I don't go to Black stuff, I'm fine."

“Midnight is right, you shouldn’t use it at all until we know what it’s doing to you. Physically and mentally...” Speaking of that. “Um, if you like, you don’t need to remain disguised in here. Nopony in my home will hurt you.”

Ledger responded by shooting her look that was so deadpan that she was glad she wasn't a baking implement. He went to open his mouth to add to the sentiment-

“You do remember that I know you’re a changeling right?” Twilight replied with her own deadpan stare, her tone full of snark for good measure.

"Remind me, who put who inside of a holding bubble, again?" And now the sarcasm was starting to become a physical thing congealing on the walls.

“Oh for the love of- One. Time!” Twilight said with a roll of her eyes. “I could have teleported you into lower orbit. Now. Are you going to strip off that disguise or do I have to make you!”

"And comments like that are supposed to inspire trust?" Ledger rolled his own eyes before staring back at her. "I want the strongest promise you know how to make you will not freak out at my real form before I decide to do anything."

Twilight sighed and made a crossing motion across her chest with a hoof. “Cross my heart, hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye-OW!” she winched as she actually poked herself in the eye. “Every. Bucking. Time...”

If the stallion thought the motions were weird, he didn't show it beyond a quirked eyebrow. He raised one hoof and closed his eyes as his horn glowed slate grey. As though it were slowly dissolving off of him, his disguise melted away to reveal the grey-ish Changeling underneath.

The fear Twilight felt was real.

The thought of breaking a Pinkie Promise? That was way more real. So, she decided that an academic approach was necessary. When she thought about it, nopony really knew much about Changelings. She hadn’t even noticed that her horn was glowing, already making basic sketches and writing down her thoughts as they came to her.

“You look...different from the Changelings I’ve seen in the past,” she said as she walked around him. This felt...different to when Midnight was studying him. “You’re larger for one, and you have an iris...hmm, your shell seems a little thicker and you have less holes in your legs.”

"I'm no ordinary changeling, I'm more like a Noble, I suppose would be correct term, but I'm nothing like the ones I've heard about from Canterlot. Changeling Nobles actually are better because of their blood rather than just thinking they are." The drone wasn't unfamiliar with the sensation of being studied, so it was only mildly uncomfortable. As opposed to being completely invasive.

“So, a species variant, like Pegasi, Unicorns and so on,” Twilight’s quill continued to dance on the pages. It seemed to be a more focused version of the spell that Ledger used. But rather than multiple pages at once, it focused on one, but wrote down thoughts as she thought them.

"Something like that," he agreed as he watched the quill dance on the page. "We have those that are better than others, those that are handicapped, and those that fall in between. My older step-sister, for example, is one of those that simply can't transform. That's why she puts so much work into her art and her illusions; they're her only line of defense, and the one is easily exchanged for another in her eyes."

“Interesting,” Twilight murmured. She couldn’t believe that she was talking to a Changeling like this. And so much knowledge! She was beyond curious as to what lay inside that thick tome of his as well. And Changelings had siblings? So that hinted at family structures, hierarchy and the like. The social studies alone could fill a library! But they also had to solve this Dark Magic dilemma and that meant all of this had to be put on hold. She wasn’t going to risk somepony's life just to sate her knowledge.

It was also around then that Rarity re-appeared, looking at the two with a wide smirk.

“Well, well...what ever could be happening here?” she smiled as Twilight flinched. “Aren’t you a little old to be playing doctor?”

“I-I-I-It’s not like that!” Twilight turned a deep crimson. Sweet Hives was she cute when she blushed.

"I thought you wanted to examine me in excruciating detail for some reason," Ledger said with a small tilt of his head. "Is the visual inspection over then?"

“Ohh~ So were you planning on a physical one then?” Rarity giggled as she walked in. “Well don’t mind me Twilight darling. In fact, I could offer you a few pointers~”

Twilight had now buried herself under her books like a lavender hermit crab. One could still probably see the blush if they looked hard enough.

"Ah well, I'll just read my book until you decide to come out again," the drone said as he pulled said tome out and began flipping through it. "Madame Rarity, a question. Does this town have anything relating to beauty or image upkeep? You seem like the pony to ask."

“Your taste is impeccable darling,” Rarity chuckled. “Yes in fact. Ponyville is home to one of the most wonderful spas in all of Equestria. Hmm, and speaking of image upkeep. I think that lovely batpony friend of yours could use it. I mean, a blue scarf and gold metal boots with that fur colour?” The prim Unicorn suppressed a shudder.

Ledger actually snapped his book shut as he glared at the white unicorn. "Okay, point A. Those were gifts from Princess Luna herself. Point B. They're covering up some rather nasty souvenirs she picked up from our latest misadventure. Point C. The reason I ask is because after everything she's been through she bucking deserves it, especially if they have a way to help her regrow her coat in those areas." Throughout his rant, Ledger's color scheme seemed to darken, bit by bit.

Rarity’s eyes widened, not because of the changeling stalking towards her looked rather angry. Okay, maybe a little. But it was also because she realised that she had royally bucked up.

“Darling, I am sorry. I had no idea she was covering up something like that.” Even Twilight had come out from her hiding place now. “Please, let me make it up to you.”

"... You apologized," he eventually said. "That's the important part. It's not me you have to make it up to. Even if she wasn't here to hear it, I think Midnight deserves the apology a little more than myself." His color scheme eventually returned to being slate grey.

“Of course...oh, IDEEEAAA~!” she sang out and placed her saddlebags on the floor. “I’ll be back in a little while darlings. I have a lovely young mare to pamper!” And with that, she dashed from the room. Well, elegantly strode anyway. She didn’t want to mess up her mane.

Twilight just looked at the Changeling, after he had done quite the impression of a mood ring. “Hmm, maybe we should also focus on keeping your mood light as well.”

"Good luck with that, the mares I love aren't here, and I don't see you volunteering to keep me in line with hugs and kisses." Or the possibility of more, but let's not mention that. Poor dear seems flustered enough as it is.

“Oh, um...well you are a Changeling I guess,” Twilight flushed again. She took a tentative step forward and bit her bottom lip, before she gave the surprised drone a brief hug.

"...You...do realize I was joking, right?" Joking or not, the hesitant affection had done its work; Ledger was closer to being silver than at any other point in the day so far. Twilight blushed again as she looked at the results.

“W-Well, it seemed to work...you are supposed to be silver right?”

"That is my normal color, yes, but I would really rather not push you into doing anything that you're not comfortable with. I mean despite the fact that you are a princess, it would just be rude and disrespectful." Ledger had well thought-out, logical reasons as to why the mare hugging him should not be hugging him.

“Right, of course,” Twilight coughed as she broke the hug. “But, perhaps curing you might be that simple. Hmm, I wonder if the new magic I acquired had anything to do with it? Maybe a prolonged dose? Or something... ” While she had her serious thinking face on, she still had a blush and it didn’t take a genius to figure out what tracks her train of thought was speeding along.

"I am NOT taking your first kiss. I am NOT so important as to warrant the loss of that sort of moment between yourself and...whoever you decide is worthy of it."

“I...what!?” that train of thought derailed and exploded into a ball of flame. Then Celestia came down and dropped the sun on it for good measure. “I wasn’t planning on- Wait? First kiss?”

"The fact that you're blushing so much around me indicates that you are inexperienced, perhaps virginally so. Add in the fact that you resemble a tomato from merely hugging me, and..." The drone trailed off, letting Twilight fill in the blanks herself.

“Well maybe I haven’t done...that...yet,” she couldn’t even mention the word. “But I have totally kissed somepony before!”

"Somepony that you weren't related to? Oh, and let's exclude Celestia from this as well, due to the whole mentor-student relationship you two have." The challenge in his eyes was clear to anypony.

And Twilight rose to the challenge like a champ. “If you must know it was....” she murmured so quietly that even his hearing couldn’t make it out.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" he said teasingly.

Twilight scrunched up her muzzle and frowned. “I said it was Midnight Song alright!”

"... Sweet Celestia, she already got you?" Ledger was more than a little stunned by this revelation.

“It was a few years ago, when I was still living in Canterlot as Celestia’s student,” Twilight explained. "I was studying with a...well at the time she was just another student. But I guess she was the closest thing I had to a friend. Anyway, Moondancer and I were going over Starswirl's Fifth Element Theory when her marefriend stopped by. They took a break to...well, study each other's mouths. I happened to say what was so good about it, that you’d rather do that than learn about Elemental Theory... I’m sure you can guess how Miss Midnight responded.”

"The way she always does, taking it like a challenge." Ledger rolled his eyes as he considered the antics of his love. "So besides Midnight, which I'm not sure should really count considering how she seems to get at everypony, have you kissed anypony else?"

“Well...no,” Twilight said, rubbing her leg. “But you said name one and you never ruled Midnight out as part of your terms. So I win.”

"Actually, I merely asked you to name somepony so I could gauge how experienced you are. I was expecting some sort of list of names. The fact that you only have the one name to fall back on, and the fact that it belongs to Midnight, does not speak highly of your kissing prowess." If the drone looked any more smug, some sort of smug singularity would open up around him.

“I’ve read every book I had on the subject!” Twilight countered. “Hay, I bet I’m a better kisser than even Midnight now!”

"She has experience, the sort of thing book learning one day hopes to be. Rather fitting comparison now that I think about it..." Ledger trailed off as he considered the idea. Twilight frowned at the fact that this bug was questioning her knowledge.

“Well, whatever! So there’s something I don’t have experience in. Big deal!” Twilight huffed.

"And I earnestly hope that your own journey into this sort of thing is gentler and more pleasing for both yourself and whoever you choose to journey with than mine was for me," the drone replied just a touch too quickly to not be suspicious.

Twilight paused as her mood came down to a more respectable level. “You...had troubles with Midnight?”

"Not her. Crazy nymph from the homeland. Pop quiz, how do female insects attract a mate?" He looked far too calm for the topic he was now discussing.

“Well, generally they use pheromones, bright colours, that sort of thing,” Twilight replied. Ledger merely nodded once, waiting for her to get it. Namely, did the males have any control during this?...

“Wait, female changelings use pheromones?” Twilight had started writing this down again. “But why didn’t Chrysalis use...well, I guess Shiny isn’t a Changeling so.” She frowned as she realised she was getting off topic again. “So, were you...against your will?”

"If she at had least been kind, cared about my well-being afterwards, maybe I wouldn't have minded... But she was more like a praying mantis that a pony." Let's let the implications of that sentence sink in...

“A praying mantis kills it’s mate after...” Twilight suddenly turned a rather interesting mix of green and white. “She tried to kill you!?”

"Funny part? I still don't blame her. She was fed bad intel all her life about what would happen if she got caught with me and certain things were failed to be done to me. I probably only escaped because she didn't want to chase me." That, and most of those punishments are really hard to do to both parties if you don't have both parties.

“Midnight must seem so...different in comparison,” Twilight chuckled as she looked over the mountain of notes she’d taken so far. So little time, already learned soooo much. Awkward conversation was totally worth it to learn all this.

"She's a breath of fresh air, one I wasn't even aware I needed. It's why... Seeing her so... Broken, hurts so much. She and I, it almost felt like it was meant to be, the way we played off of each other. The way we fought, made up. Lived together, loved each other. And then-" the drones started talking and cursing in a language composed of clicks and chirps as his colors steadily drifted down from silver towards black again.

And once again, he found a pair of lavender hooves hugging him, slightly less awkwardly this time.

“Hey, I get that something bad happened,” Twilight said softly. “But, you can’t let that stop you from loving Midnight so much. I’m sure, that she hurts now. And that’s why she needs you to be you for her. Think you can do that?”

The drone sighed, but his colors did start to brighten a little bit at the hug the alicorn was giving him. " I suppose, since you asked so nicely I can try," he said with a lightly jesting tone. Twilight nodded and paused for just a second before giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“Good stallion. Now, let’s get back to our research!” She trotted back to her books, but her hips had a slight sway to them. One that Ledger, thanks to his time spent around three attractive mares (despite what one of them might say otherwise), couldn't help but notice.

And then immediately mentally berated himself for noticing it in the first place.

Rule number one of interacting with the princesses was: If you are not Midnight Song, you do not hit on the princess!

The drone coughed awkwardly before opening his book to the black bookmarked section and quirking an eyebrow at Twilight. The young princess was currently engrossed in a book about dark magic cleansing, her eyes sparkled as she seemed to absorb the knowledge.

Maybe if he spoke up? "Perhaps it would help to hear about the type of dark magic corruption I am going through before we administer healing techniques?"

“It would be good,” Twilight said as she floated a quill and paper over to him. “Get writing while I read these,” she now had three books circling her, reading from all of them. “The girls should be back soonish, and once they are, studying will be all but impossible.”

Ledger nodded as he flipped to the appropriate page and began writing the translation. "Okay, step one, check. Step two, in progress. Step three is what you really want to know about, so I'll just write that down." His quill flicked at a slower pace, but that was because he had less to write, and he wanted to make sure he got it right.

Soon, the only sounds heard in the room were scratching quills and thoughtful hums. And the Changeling drone that wrote away from his secret book?

Never even noticed the occasional glance a small purple alicorn would sneak at him.

Author's Note

And so we require another character tag. One moment while I edit that in...

Like the story? Consider dropping Aus and I a dollar on my Patreon.

I promise that half the proceeds will not be used to fuel a gaming addiction.

Chapter 42 - Green is certainly your color

It was cold in the Crystal Empire, well, at least until you got inside their weather, love shield, thingy. Critical-Eye frowned a little at the sudden temperature change, but at least she was finally here. And by herself as well. No nosy parents, no annoying little brothers or an unexplainable little sister!

And Sweet Hives was it shiny. The nymph had to wonder if she should have bought some sunglasses.

‘Well now, and I get another Changeling guest so soon? Are they offering you all package deals or something?’

In a home beset by a Pink and her antics on a regular basis, the nymph did the only wise thing she could by not responding to the voice in her head.

‘Ouch, that really hurts. I’m just trying to be friendly and you snub me?’ One could hear the pout behind that voice. ‘I let you in and everything. Why are all you Changeling’s such bullies?’

“Shut up, you don't exist, you're just left over trauma from putting up with with my little sister," the nymph hissed under her breath.

‘And yet you responded. That does not bode well for your sanity.’

"After having put up with Joyful-Heart I'm surprised I have any," the mare replied again as she made sure all of her supplies were in order. "Go be a delusion to somepony else, I have business to attend to and I don't need you distracting me."

‘So harsh, well, Level Ledger told me to expect as much out of you. So fine. Welcome to the Crystal Empire. I am the Crystal Heart and I’ll be here should you need anything. Tata, Little Critical~’

The mare blinked at that before realizing that her 'delusion' had in fact been reality. Good going Critical, you just pissed off a millennium old crystal artifact that is in fact in charge of this entire operation. For an encore, why don't you try offending all the princesses at once?

‘Well Candyflanks is out of town, so this is a ‘Princess Free’ zone today.’ Seems the Heart wasn’t quite as done as it first implied. ‘And honestly, she’s met Midnight and Ledger. It would take ‘a lot’ to offend her.’

Look I'm sorry about that whole 'you're a delusion' thing. Growing up with a pink you either learn to tune some things out or you go mad. I think I combined the two. My art is always a little more inspired when she is up to her antics. Do-over? By this point in time the train had pulled into the station and the mare had disembarked.

‘I can live with that,’ Heart paused as it pondered something. ‘Hmmm, ohhh, I sense something from you. Oohohohhoo! So that’s why you’re here~'

I'm here because my older brother told me this is where he picked up that interesting painting and nothing more. Critical-Eye was following the directions her brother had given her and found nothing more than a space with an empty stall. If a pony did attend this thing regularly, they weren't doing it now.

‘You know I know the location of anypony in this city at any given time, right?’ She could almost feel the Heart’s smirk. 'I can help you find your lovely artist~’

I have no idea what you are insinuating, but if you do know the location of Painted Palette, that would be most appreciated. He and I have some...business to discuss. Business and nothing more!

'Yeahhhh...’ Heart was not convinced. ‘Well, Painted Palette hmm?’ There was a moment's pause and then it spoke up again. ‘You’ll find him in his house. Edge of town, the hill overlooking the Palace.’

Thank you, Critical-Eye said before turning towards the mentioned hill and beginning her long and arduous journey. I do hope he's in the mood for visitors.

Canterlot Palace was finally getting back to normal, though Celestia was still waiting on the throne room doors to be replaced, as well as the window that Tirek melted. Dammit, that was her favourite one as well.

So when a yellow-coated elderly stallion showed up all but dragging a white-coated mare with a green mane into the room, Celestia's first thought was that she really wasn’t in the mood for visitors right now.

“I believe that I requested that there was to be no Court meetings today?” she said. “I am sorry my little ponies. But unless it is urgent-”

"Don't go getting our species wrong, miss," the stallion said as his eyes flashed in a familiar cat-like manner. " I believe you want to see this little whippersnapper."

“Hm? Oh! You’re a-” Celestia paused as she looked around. “Perhaps here isn’t the best place for this conversation. Would you like to go somewhere private Mr...?”

"Balls," the old stallion said without batting an eye. "And I wouldn't trust this one anywhere but in public."

“I see,” Celestia managed to keep her regal composure...barely. She was going to laugh about this later. She looked at the mare that refused to meet her gaze. “And who is this one? A friend?”

"My granddaughter, and the one that caused you quite a bit of trouble." Here the stallion poked the smaller mare with one hoof. "Now you say you're sorry, Missy." It was subtle, but she could almost hear another name under that 'Missy.'

“....No,” she said, glaring at the princess with bright green eyes.

“Do I have to get the fly swatter and the newspaper again?" Over the past few days, her grandfather had shown her over a hundred ways to inflict pain with such simple implements. The mare snarled as she leaned in close to him.

“You don’t have the balls!” she hissed.

"Are you doubting my name, whippersnapper? I am called Massive-Balls for a reason!" The response was biting and serious, which only made it all the more hilarious to the Sun Princess. Even now, she covered her mouth with a wing to hide her smile.

“I’m doubting that you dragged me all the way up here for something I am not sorry for!” she snapped back. “I will not apologise to this cake-guzzling blimp of a pony and that is that!”

Celestia’s ear gave a twitch.

"THAT'S IT!" The stallion roared at his granddaughter. "I have had it up to here with your horseshit, I will not put up with it anymore, nor will anypony else!" With that he turned to look at Celestia and adopted a more normal facial expression. “Begging your pardon ma'am, but I need the largest newspaper you have in town. She needs to learn why I am called Massive-Brass-Balls, apparently."

That tore it, between their bickering and that Celestia-forsaken name. The Alicorn of the Sun. The regal ruler of all of Equestria. The most powerful pony in the world...

Broke down, cackling like a schoolfilly as she fell on the floor, kicking her hind legs as she laughed. Her laugh, while hysterical, was also just as beautiful as she. If one was going to lose their composure, at least make it look and sound good.

The arguing seemed to wait for her to stop before it picked up again. And while her laughter did, in fact, take a while to run through her system, these changelings could be patient.

After a few minutes, the not-so-graceful alicorn finally stopped as she took another moment to catch her breath.

“Haahh, phew...I haven’t laughed like like in a very long time,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes. “I am so very sorry you had to see that display. But...you two are just too much.”

"I'm glad we can bring a little light to your eyes then, missy, " The disguised elderly drone said with a smile about his face. "Now, 'bout that paper I asked for..."

Painted Palette was a simple stallion. Give him a paintbrush, some paints and something paint on, and he was happy. Well, that and a nice glass of wine and some cheese. Mmm, he could go for some of that right now.

Well, as soon as he discovered who was knocking at his door. Nopony ever visited him. He frowned as he crossed the room and opened the offending object, only to see a young, green-coated mare on the other side.

Well, okay, not complaining thus far.

“Can I...help you?” he asked wryly. She could also be a debt collector. Did he even have any debts?

"I certainly hope so, otherwise my brother is a big fat liar." The mare brushed past him on the way inside to view his works. It probably wasn't a coincidental touch, especially when he noticed her watching him out of the corner of her eye. With a much wider smile than normal, the mare resumed talking. "I understand that you are the same artist that managed to catch my brother's eye? Considering how little he knows about art, that's both a good thing and a bad thing."

“Your…brother?” Paint frowned as he tried remember. He’d been a little lost in his art lately, (and the empty wine bottle probably contributed as well). “And please, by all mean come inside Miss.” The snark was strong with this one.

"Don't mind if I do," she fired back. Hmm, this work was impressive... For a drunkard.

“It seems that the finer points of sarcasm escape you,” he mumbled as he closed the door. “And shouldn’t you at least introduce yourself kid.”

"My name is- what were you thinking, using this palette here?!" The mare had found one of his earlier works and was evidently displeased by it.

He looked at the painting and frowned. “Oh, I don’t know. Guess I was a little pre-occupied being enslaved and all.”

"Yes, I suppose under those circumstances, you can be forgiven for this travesty against art being made, but why do you continue to let it exist?" Her horn had lit up with a green light that also surrounded the painting.

“Don’t touch that!” he snapped at her. “Now explain what in the hell you’re doing here!”

"I came here to learn from the stallion that could so impress my brother that he knew a good painting when he saw it, but I'm not certain I see him around." Apparently, snark ran in the family.

“Yeah, guess not,” he muttered as he placed the painting back on the wall. Every piece had its place. Somepony had to remember, what it was like before. “Has anypony ever told you that you’re terrible at first impressions Miss Pony?”

"All the time, but you try growing up in a house with three younger brothers, all who love to destroy things, an older brother who loves to snark at you constantly, and a younger sister that just can't be explained by any sort of science. I tried to get out as much as I could to socialize with normal ponies, but it was just never enough after dealing with them for one minute." Realizing that now there was rhyme and reason to the artwork, even the ones she would normally not spare a second glance, and that his entire house was a gallery, she began wandering from room to room, taking in the paintings.

“Sure, help yourself,” the stallion muttered. “And honestly, wouldn’t know what that feels like Missy. I ain’t got no family...not anymore.”

The Unicorn mare paused as she reached a particularly dark room, and she was concerned about more than the lighting. The paintings in there had taken a very bleak turn. She had heard of therapy through art, of course, but the stallion seemed to document everything via paintings. "You've had... Quite the hard life, haven't you? And that's discounting everything that tyrant did when he was on the throne."

The stallion’s frown remained on his visage as he walked into the room. “Somepony always has it worse. Plenty in this city alone that are worse off than me.” He placed a hoof against a piece that was covered with a heavy cloth. “I’ve got no room to complain...”

"Yes well, I'm noticing there are no new works as of late... Probably for a reason. Is somepony just not inspired anymore?" Her tone was only half-teasing, she actually took things like this very seriously.

“I painted because that’s what I liked to do,” he said. “Ol’ buttmark says that’s what I like. Then Sombra shows up, kills our Princess and takes over. Then the next thing I know...a thousand years have passed.” He sighed as he ushered the mare out of the room and closed the door before locking it. “I don’t know this world. But it’s not the one I was born in.”

"Perhaps you could do with a guide to this new land? Maybe understanding it will help re-ignite your creative spark?" Internally, Critical-Eye was ecstatic. This was one of the things a Green did. Not just create on their own, but help others want to create as well.

“And what’s the point?” he said with a dull tone as he moved to his kitchen. He grabbed a bottle and went to pour, only to discover it was empty. “You’re young kid. Go and find somepony else. Maybe one involved in those ‘moving picture’ things.” Three bottles later and he sighed. He’d have to go and see Ruby later.

That was when he found all the bottles starting to move towards the mare in the doorway. Whether or not they had fluid in them. She had an unusually stern expression on her face, one that just didn't fit with her apparent age. "We are going to have to limit your alcohol intake. I suppose that can be step one."

“And what makes you think you can come in here? Still unannounced I might add. And tell me what the hell I can and can’t do!”

“Because seeing a talent such as yours, seeing a passion such as yours wither and die on the vine like a grape left forgotten tears at my very soul! I will not see you die drunk, alone, and forgotten if I have anything to say about it!" Forget stern, now she was just plain scary.

“You got fire kid, but you should get before you burn yourself.” He continued to frown, now it was apparent that this was his default expression, as he looked around his home. She was right, he hadn’t painted a thing since the Empire returned. But so what? The world wasn’t going to end if he didn’t paint. Nopony cared whether he painted or not...

His...family...

“Nopony is here anymore.”

Then he felt himself encased in a warm, surprisingly hard, hug. "You're here," she whispered into his ear. "That's enough to start again... And I'll help you, if you'll let me."

His frown lessened slightly as he looked at the table in front of him. He took a deep breath and sighed. “Feh! Stupid kid...” His voice lacked a little less bite though. “Fine, let’s go and see what this new world is like. Better be worth it.”

"We'll find out together then," she said when she eventually broke the hug. Holding out a hoof to him, she smiled as she finally introduced herself. "Critical Eye, painter and art critic since I was 12."

“Painted Palette, and you're still a green-nosed kid...coat colour aside,” he smiled wryly. “Well, let’s go then. We’re burning daylight and I need more wine.”

"If you purchase more wine without my approval, I will smack you upside the head with the bottle," she said with a serious expression on her face. She had her brother to thank for her creativity in snappy comebacks.

“Goddam kids didn’t have such a big mouth back in my day,” he muttered as he retrieved his saddlebag. Even after all this time, he never changed what it held. One bit pouch, four kinds of paintbrushes and a half-dozen jars of paint. The bag itself was made from leather. Yes, actual leather. Cows weren’t so...respected as they were today.

"In your day, fire was the next big thing," the mare said. Apparently she had heard his grumbling.

“You would’ve gone down a treat then,” he added as he opened the door and stepped out into the sunlight. “Let’s go kid.”

"Your compliment about my looks is appreciated, but just because you pay me a backhooved compliment doesn't mean I will pose for you." Even as she said that though, she walked up next to him and let her tail brush along his side. "Still, points for checking me out without me noticing~"

“Pose, feh! Ain’t enough paint on Equus to do that big head of yours.” He had flinched slightly at the touch. No mare had touched him like that in a long, long time. And she apparently noticed, as she cranked the 'sultry' up a notch.

"Are we talking about my big head, or yours?" She purred before taking the lead.

A slight blush could be seen under his coat. “Damn kid,” he muttered under his breath as he trotted past her and further ahead. Now he really needed a drink.

"Don't think I didn't see that~" she sang after him. "A normal reaction to a pretty mare is something to be celebrated for one in your position. Means not everything about you has been deadened, lost to whatever you're going through. Gives me a starting point~"

The stallion just snorted. Scratch that drink, he needed a whole damned winery now.

Despite all her protesting, he’d still bought quite a few bottles from Ruby and his wife. It did Palette some good to see that his old friend was doing well.

"I do hope you have a cabinet that locks, because that's where I'm going to be putting that the moment we get back to your home." To say she was displeased was putting it mildly.

“My booze, I’ll do what I want with it,” he said. They passed a few Crystal ponies on the road, most stopping to say hello to Palette and commenting on his cute company. The stallion getting more and more flustered as time went on.

“Don’t know what they’re all harping on about,” he muttered as they headed towards the city. Critical giggled and posed for a second, showing off as much of her fine assets as she could get away with in a public setting.

"Oh, don't tell me you see this flank and can ignore all the...ideas it gives you~" she teased. She apparently really liked doing that. "It would mean I was doing something wrong."

The stallion just snorted as he walked past her. “Just a kid,” he replied. “You don’t have a damned clue.”

"You say that~, but I'm fairly certain I didn't invite your little friend to join us on this walkabout."

Paint just snorted again as he headed for town, muttering something about kids and a lack of decency. Critical put one hoof on his withers and gently led him to the side of the road before speaking up again.

"I know part of the way I act is going to grate on you, but part of it is genuine care for your well-being. When I feel like you can be trusted around destructive things again, I'll stop being such an uptight little kid you think should butt out of your life. Promise."

"Or save us time and butt out now," he replied with a wry smile. "Look, kids your age shouldn't be so flirty. Might give an old stallion the wrong impression. Now, if you still insist on being my talkative shadow, then let's go. I want to get to the markets before all the good stuff is gone." And with that, he turned and walked off once again.

"Stallions," Critical loudly complained. "Whether I'm related to them or not they seem to be insistent on being stubborn. Maybe one day I'll actually understand them."

Celestia blinked at the display. Honestly? She had no idea how to describe what she just saw. She was fairly certain it was illegal, and should be if it wasn’t.

“Um...is your granddaughter going to be alright?” she asked hesitantly as she looked at the twitching mare.

"She'll recover...eventually." A large rolled up newspaper was in his grasp, and more than one mark was on her coat to signify where it had impacted her.

“Well, I have guessed that you are one of my ‘new’ friends,” Celestia commented as she took a seat on her throne once more. “And who might this traumatised young mare be?”

"Think carefully, ma'am. When was the last time before you met any of your new friends that you met one of us?" The stallion had put the paper to one side and had somehow procured a fly swatter from somewhere as he stared at the smaller mare.

“You...can’t possibly mean that this mare is-”

“That’s right, O’Glorious Sunbutt!” the mare gasped as she got to her hooves. Her disguise fell away as the great Queen Chrysalis replaced her. “And like hell am I going to apo-”

That was all she said before a lance of golden light struck her, lifting her off of the ground and carrying her across the room until she struck the wall, leaving a small impact crater when she did. Residual magic still hummed around Celestia’s horn as she gave a curt nod.

“There. Now we’re even.”

"Excellent form, ma'am." The elderly stallion walked over to where his granddaughter lay and poked her with a hoof to make sure she was still alive. She had too many things to do in the land of the living to be allowed to die now, after all.

“Fucking....ow,” she groaned as her body smoked lightly. “Where...did she get that power...?”

“Oh, I’ve always had that power,” Celestia said as she stepped forward. Power crackled from her body as small bits of broken tile begun to float off of the ground. “But last time, I both underestimated your strength and didn’t want to involve anypony in the crossfire. But now...?” Celestia lifted Chrysalis off of the ground with her magic as her horn shone brighter.

"Ma'am, she may be my least favorite granddaughter at this moment, but she is my granddaughter. I can understand wanting to punish her - believe me I do! - but if you get too, what’s the word I'm looking for... Too much like a changeling in your punishments, I'll just do her punishment myself, save you the trouble." For some reason, the stallion seemed to be almost glowing to match her. "Plenty glad we took that detour through so many hospitals seeing so many of your soldiers, now..."

Celestia just narrowed her eyes as her horn shone a little brighter, the light encasing Chrysalis as she was slowly lowered to the ground. Once the blinding magic faded, all of the changeling nymph’s injuries had been healed.

“You have one chance Chryssie,” Celestia smiled that insufferable, knowing smile. “Don’t screw it up and for the love of me, please do not monologue. My time is short.”

"Actually," the stallion seem to turn back to normal as he interjected himself between the two. "Let me just shorten this by a lot. Chryssie, what was your actual plan? Ten words or less."

“Take that newspaper and go fu-” the flyswatter hit the side of her muzzle at lightning speeds. The queen recoiled from the blow, putting a hoof to her cheek and glaring at him. “And while you’re at it. You can use that swatter to su-” This time it went for her horn.

“GODDAMNSONOFA-” Chrysalis grabbed her aching horn as Celestia giggled lightly. Perhaps the queen would make for an interesting court jester?

Chrysalis moaned slightly, her head really friggen hurt now. “I swear you old fossil. You hit me again and I’ll-” He raised both the paper and the swatter this time and she flinched, shying away a little. “Alright, alright! Geez. Goddamn hardass.”

"Answer. The question. Your plan?" The implements of pain did not stop hovering around her.

“What plan?” she replied. “I have no plan. You dragged me here. You have the plan.” For being a smartass, her flank was slapped with the newspaper.

"Then. What was your plan when you first came here?" If you knew where to look, you might see a small smile on the face of the stallion, similar to Celestia's.

“Steal their love. Feed my army. Take over all Hives!” Chrysalis said with a smug smile. “There, ten words. Now bug off!”

“Your highness, what would happen if you or your sister just failed to care come evening or morning?" The stallion asked without even looking at her.

“Eternal night or day,” Celestia replied. While there was a failsafe in plan should both sisters become incapacitated... or worse. Well, they didn’t need to know that.

"The death of Equus?" he asked nonchalantly.

“Essentially,” Celestia nodded.

"Your plan for dealing with that, missy?"

Chrysalis snorted. “If that had happened, I’d just take enough power so I could do it myself. Given how lazy Cakebutt is, it can’t be all that hard.”

"Considering how long she's had to practice that talent of hers, I'm more inclined to trust her. If you tried it, something tells me the moon would fall on your head, and the Sun would fall in the seas and boil them away."

“Oh gee, it’s so nice to see that you have so much faith in me,” Chrysalis replied, her tone oozing with sarcasm.

“And if I pointed out that Twilight raised them both recently, despite being an Alicorn for only a month or so?” Celestia said innocently.

"You call that a sunrise? My own wedding was full of less sudden starts and stops." The aged stallion seem to enjoy bickering with both females.

“Ten bits says that she never even told Purple Smart how to do it,” Chrysalis snarked, then meeped as Celestia tossed her a coin. “What...I was right?”

“Yes, I have never taught her how to raise the sun and moon, she figured it out just by watching me.” It was easy to tell that Celestia was incredibly proud of her student. “But all that aside. Why did you see the need to take over all of the Hives?”

“Because I’m sick of, ‘Oh, the Silver’s have all the knowledge’ ‘Why do the Blue’s and Red’s have all the military strength?’ ‘Why can’t we do something about the Black’s?’” Chrysalis stamped a hoof as she looked at her grandfather. “And all these old coots do is sit around and bicker at one another. Have you seen them at any sort of gathering? They cannot remain sociable for even ten minutes!”

"Little Miss," the old stallion cooed before drawing her in for a hug. One that she then instantly regretted as he started whispering in her ear. "Us bickering is us being sociable. After all, when was the last time you saw an old Yellow besides me?"

“It’s because you’re too stubborn to die,” she retorted. “Likely, you annoyed Death so much he just passes you by now. That, or he finds your name just as ridiculous as everypony else.”

"One of the rules I abide by, that I think you should know right about now, is never attack something older than you are. There's a reason it's old, especially back in the homelands." The hug grew tight for one moment, and the stallion's eyes glowed yellow as if to remind her that hey, he had fed very well recently.

“Uuurrrghhhhh! FINE! Attacking Celestia and her pretty pony palace was a bad idea. Do you think my Changelings still loyal haven’t told me that a million times already?” Chrysalis pouted, it was actually kinda cute. “I’m sorry I tried to enslave your city...” That could not have been said with any less emotion if she tried.

"Honestly now, or else I'll start using her tea set." She wasn't sure which was more frightening: The seriousness of the statement, or the ridiculous nature of the weapon.

“I’d rather you didn’t,” Celestia sighed. “I’m quite fond of that tea set. Twilight gave it to me.”

“You never shut up about her,” Chrysalis smirked as she looked at the Alicorn. “I’d say you wish that whole student/teacher thing would go a little further huh~?” Then the stallion pulled a teacup from... somewhere that he had snagged from a passing tea set on their way in.

"I warned you!" he said he began advancing menacingly. Well, as menacingly as one could when holding a bright pink teacup.

“Fine, alright, for buck’s sake!” Chrysalis turned and looked at Celestia again. “Sorry I ruined your day.” She had put slightly more effort into it this time. As Brass continued to stalk towards her, Celestia raised a hoof to stop him.

“It is fine Mr. Brass. That will do.”

"She can do better," he grumbled before putting the tea cup back wherever he got it. "I remember a little grub that would apologize for so much as looking at my old trophies... would burst into tears, too."

“L-Like hell I did!” Chrysalis blushed as she glared at the older stallion. “You must be getting senile, you old coot!”

“And then she would ask to hear about the time I'd taken some scales from the elder red worm that had threatened the hive in my heyday," he continued on as if she hadn't said anything. "Mostly so that she would know where the red suit of Dragonscale mail had come from... Before she asked to try 'the most awesome thing on' herself."

“One more word! Just one more fucking word and I will end you!!” Chrysalis screeched, but her pleas went unheard as Celestia chortled with joy.

“Oh how utterly precious. I have always wished I could have a foal of my own. Do you have anymore delightful tales?”

“Don’t you dare!” Chrysalis said in an icy tone. Her grandfather was unaffected though, and he reached behind himself to pull out a large bound book.

"I have something better~" he nearly sang as he sat down and flipped open the cover. "I borrowed the family photo album before coming out to find her!"

"I WILL MURDER YOU!”

“Oohh~” Celestia sat down next to him, cooing at the adorable pictures of filly Chrysalis. “Aw, she’s so precious~”

“Fuck you!”

"And this was the time she found she could walk on walls... She was bouncing off of them for a week afterwards."

“Death will not be good enough for you!!”

“Ahaha, look at her. She’s blowing bubbles out of the holes in her little hoofsies~”

“I hope Discord turns you pink!!”

"And here she is trying on my old helmet. Needless to say it was just a little too big for her..."

"You! @*&%$!*^!!!!"

“Is-Is she trying to? Oh sweet me that is the most precious thing I have ever seen~”

“Fuck this. I’m finding Luna and we’re getting drunk!”

"If you do find her, send her down this way, I want to make sure they can both hear the time you tried to seduce a pony!"

“I hope a Tatzlwurm lays eggs in your intestinal tract!” Chrysalis shouted from the hallway. She marched away, undisguised as she called for Luna.

Needless to say, the Guard had absolutely no idea how to respond to this. They did not get paid enough for this shit.

"One tried. None others followed," the stallion said ominously. "So about the fate you have planned for my granddaughter..." His tone had turned icy again, even though he was talking to Celestia!

“Oh, she’s about to wake up Luna in the middle of the day without coffee, her fate is pretty much sealed,” Celestia chuckled. She giggled a little longer, even as the castle rumbled slightly. “However, what she did was quite serious and she should by all rights be imprisoned for her crimes.”

"That’s something like what the council was thinking," the yellow stallion said as he flipped to the end of the book and withdrew a large scroll. "I read it myself, they're basically turning her over to you as one of our ‘concessions for peace.‘ I do hope you take good care of my granddaughter, despite everything she's done to you, and almost done to you."

“I can agree to that,” Celestia nodded as the gears in her head turned, pieces placed, moves planned. She hoped that Twilight would enjoy a houseguest. “I believe I can make a pony out of her... but enough about that for now. I have a proposition for you dear Brass.”

"Not only am I not of the violet hive, I am way too old to be considering things like that." The response took a moment to process properly, even for Celestia. The mare eventually sighed and nodded her head.

“A pity. Oh well.”

"... Wait, I was right? Well damn, I don't think I can pass this up! Just give me a kiss ma'am, one filled with love and courage, and we'll see about scratching that itch of yours." The mood on the stallion had pulled an entire 180 at the idea of it getting to spend that sort of time with a princess.

“I am a mare of many talents,” she said as she gave the stallion a kiss on his cheek as her horn glowed. He wondered what she was doing as she pulled away. And once she was trotting out of the room, the old changeling suddenly felt thirty years younger.

“Perhaps we should discuss this in my chambers?” she giggled as she trotted from the room. “Do try and keep up~”

"Yes ma'am!" he replied as he all but ran after her. Oh, the kids would never believe this! Neither would his old war buddies!

Painted Palette spoke with an old friend, Sapphire Rose. She was a local farmer that specialised in flowers, but she also made really good cheese. Cheese that he was now purchasing as she commented on his new companion.

“So, any particular reason you’re running around with a mare half your age?” she giggled as she put the goods into his bag. “Didn’t think you had it in you Paint.”

“Oh cram it, she’s just an overly nosy brat who won’t leave me alone,” he grumbled. Rose smiled at Critical and winked.

“He may act like a bunch of sour grapes, but don’t lose hope in him dear.”

"Oh, I know, he's just a bit surly because I'm taking care of him when he can't," the younger mare replied. "Still waiting on an answer to the question as to whether or not you have a cabinet that locks, mister."

“No I don’t, and you ain’t touching my wine,” he said as he closed his bag and put some gems onto the counter.

“Are you still hitting the wine?” Rose inquired, giving the stallion a stare. “How long has it been Paint?”

“Not long enough if you lot are still meddling,” he snapped back. Critical took a deep breath to calm herself before she replied. No need to speak in too much anger.

"Mr Palette, I will not be unreasonable, I will not be too demanding. I will not make you quit cold turkey. We will work out a schedule that will eventually end with you being able to stop drinking without any ill effects. But at some point you're going to need to work with me! This is for not only for your benefit, but for the benefit of those around you!" She put a hoof on his withers before continuing to explain. "Like the ponies you buy the wine from? I can see the sadness in their eyes when they sell it to you. And everypony else is concerned that you drink so much..."

Painted Palette remained quiet for a good long while, before he turned and walked back towards his home. Rose blinked and looked at the gutsy mare.

“Well, I think he likes you.”

"I hope he still likes me as well, I don't have anywhere else to sleep tonight." With that, she was off after her errant artist.

On the way home, he heard the mare calling out to him and for some reason, he turned to look. When he did, she might have noticed, she might not have. But his eyes widened ever so slightly. He saw something, something he hadn’t seen in a very long time...

And just like that, the moment was gone and he resumed his walk home.

Once there, he placed the cheese in the icebox and the wine in a high cupboard in his living room. He spared Critical a glance as she walked in as he pointed towards the couch, a pillow and some blankets were already laying on it.

“You can sleep there if you want. And before you even start, no cracks about sharing my bed. Not interested and not in the mood.”

"I can tell," Critical said as she eyed the couch. An uncomfortable moment passed before she spoke up again. "... Something I said struck a nerve today, didn't it?... It might help to know the name of said nerve so that I avoid striking it again by accident."

“You come into my home, you insult my work and then go to presume you know me?” he said irritably as he placed a pan on the stovetop and searched for his flint to light the fire. “You don’t know a damn thing about me kid.”

The soft whoosh of flames catching caught his attention, and when he next looked up, not only was the fire lit, but the mare's horn was lit up as well. "A simple spark, can grow to be so much more." She sat down in one of the dining room chairs as she watched him work. "You're right," she said when she was comfortable. "I don't know anything about you. All I have that I'm running off of is a list of things ponies should really avoid doing. You just happened to hit most of the list."

“Well, good to see I’m doing something right,” he replied as he put away the flint he just found. “Do me a favour and don’t do that again. Magic makes me... uneasy.”

"... Well there goes any hope for me showing you my artwork," Critical said with a dramatic sigh. "Very well, if my host insists."

“Can’t do art without magic?” he inquired without looking at her. “Then how much of your skill is yours? And not your magic’s?”

"My medium is light and color in the air itself," she said with only a touch of a haughty tone. "Illusions, sir, illusions are what I excel in. Rather hard to do that without magic."

“Sounds like you’re a common showmare, rather than an artist,” he said, an underlying tone of mischief in his voice. She’d spent all day flustering him, Let’s see how she liked it.

"Give me a week in this Empire and I would be able to produce a miniature of it down to the last detail," she said without a trace of boasting in her voice. "Two weeks and I would be able to include all the ponies."

“Congratulations, you’re now a map, still not an artist,” he replied as he flipped the pan along with the batter inside it. She seemed to puff up a little at the insult before visibly calming herself down.

"Breathe, Critical, remember to breathe." After a moment to practice her breathing exercise, the mare spoke up again.

"Just because my medium differs does not make me any less of an artist, sir. There are as many types of artists as there are types of pony. If you do not find me to be a worthy artist, then I will leave you to your self-destruction and seek another patron within the city." No, she actually wouldn't, but no need to tell him that.

“If getting rid of you was that easy, you would have left already,” he said with a smug smile. So she had a coat and he could get under it if he needed to. “You ever tried to paint before kid?”

"I have indeed, some of my earlier works were in paint. Of course, then I discovered illusions and my knack for them, and I mostly spent my time inspiring others to create wonderful paintings once they had seen my latest. After all, no illusion can be seen the same from two different angles. At least, not if I'm casting them.”

He stopped and looked at her. He pointed with a hoof and she followed it, noticing an easel with a blank canvas and some paints. “Tell you what kid. Paint something. And if I like it enough, I’ll not touch the wine for the rest of the night.”

"I'm not falling for your obvious test," she said as she turned back to him with a smile on her face. "A good painting takes longer than just an hour to whip up. It takes time, skill, and dedication to whatever inspires you. As my teacher was so fond of drilling into my head, 'you can't rush art.'"

“Have you seen what you ponies call ‘art’ these days?” he said, a slight amount of bitterness in his voice. “A single dot on a canvas. What in the flipping feather is that!?” he tossed the pancake a little too high and he now had some new art on his ceiling. “Well great. Now I have to start again. But don’t worry. Just paint something. Doesn’t have to be finished, doesn’t have to be a masterpiece. The brush has a way of showing who you really are. I’ll even let you use your fancy magic.”

She sat down in front of the easel and bit her lip, before pulling out a stick of graphite and beginning to sketch on the easel. What little she recalled from her days of painting said it was best to have at least a framework before you begin any serious work. When she was satisfied with the sketch, she looked around for some of his paints to work with, seeing as how she had failed to pack any herself. She found a few small pots to the side and levitated them over.

Painted Palette cooked a new batch of fried dough. (Pancakes) And watched the mare out of the corner of his eye. She seemed to possess at least a paltry amount of skill. It was only after a minute had passed that he began to realize something.

Just like he was watching her, she was watching him. Every so often she would glance up from her sketch to watch him do something or other, before turning back to her easel and adding a little more paint to what she was doing.

“If you’re painting me, then that is going to be one ugly-ass painting,” he joked as he burned the pancakes. “Oh for the love of-”

"If you keep messing up the pancakes, I'll be able to sit here from now until I'm done and you won't have moved an inch," she joked back.

“...What the buck is a ‘pancake’?” he asked as he realised he was out of batter and sighed as he fished around in his fridge for some vegetables. Diced salad it was then. He could almost swear he felt her eyeballs glued to his flank as he rummaged in his refrigerator.

"It's what we call dough fried in a pan these days," she eventually said as she turned back to her painting. Perhaps a little more detail wouldn't hurt...

“Pan...cakes...” he let the word roll off his tongue and shook his head. “Kids these days. Too much of a rush to even talk full sentences.”

"Somewhere along the way, talking in full sentences also meant saying more than just one sentence worth of information. Especially for-" here she cut herself before she gave away any more information than she almost had.

Seems that the stallion had only half-heard her though, just grunting as he hacked at the vegetables with a knife. Idle small talk was exchanged as he finished the meager meal, and soon dished it up in a large bowl on the table, before trotting over to take a look.

In the short amount of time he had given her to work she had managed to create an interesting picture indeed. It was as he suspected a picture of him, but how she presented him was intriguing. She portrayed him painting... But they were also looking at him from the painting's perspective. The background was that of his living room where she had been sitting not five minutes prior.

"What do you think?" she asked hesitantly. "This is my first painting in quite a while and I wanted to make sure I got it right."

He looked at the piece, then turned and looked at his living room. Her attention to detail was something else. Every little knick-knack was in it’s place, she even got the shape of his irises right.

“Hmm, your linework is rough and you tend to lay the colour on a little thick. And do I really want to know why the most detailed part of this piece is my flank?”

"Well when you show it off in front of me like that how is a mare supposed to resist?" she asked coyly again. "I wanted to paint you painting something, but there's no way I would know what you would be painting next. So I decided to not show it and instead show the act. That's the important part, anyway.”

Well damn. He’d been looking forward to that drink too.

“Well, promise is a promise I suppose,” he simply replied and sat at the table. “Food time kiddo.”

That was when her horn lit up again and one of the bottles floated down in front of him. “I did say we would work on a schedule, did I not? To take away your drink the night I get here would be highly rude. As long as you promise not to overindulge, I think you can be allowed to have a drink tonight."

“I suppose I can’t argue with that,” he said as he poured two glasses. “Only if you share though.”

"I really shouldn't..." she tried to demure.

“What, too good to drink with me now?” he said as he pushed the glass aside. “Well, more for me I suppose.”

"Oh no you don't," she said as she snagged the glass back. "I am not letting you have twice as much wine if I can do something about it." And with that, she began to drink. Within seconds, the glass was empty. Pallet didn't know where she had put it all - either the wine or her attitude that she had pulled out of nowhere.

“You’re supposed to sip it, or you can’t taste the flavour,” he said as he ate his salad. “Kids, always in a damned rush.”

"If you're going to tell me you're going to drink something, what do you think my reaction is going to be? I know how to drink wine, I just don't think I'm going to be able to savor it if I'm trying to keep it out of your mouth." Critical was now hurriedly eating her salad, hoping to try and counteract the effects of drinking on an empty stomach.

Palette just shook his head as he looked at the bottle. While he had bought a few bottles, he also bought some grape juice for her. He wondered how long it was going to take her to realise she didn’t have a drop of alcohol in her system.

“Keep eating like that and you’re gonna-”

She reached the halfway point of her salad, at which point she slowly chewed and swallowed the current bite in her mouth. "I'm not drunk, am I?" she questioned dryly. The stallion just gave her a shit-eating grin as he turned the bottle so she could read the label.

“Be damned if that wasn’t funny though,” he chuckled.

"... Okay, fair point, you had me worried, and it was pretty funny... At least I imagine it would be from an outsider's point of view." She eventually admitted defeat by bowing her head slightly to the older stallion.

“Hah,” he chuckled once more as he ate, his eyes occasionally flicking to the mare, then to the painting. While it was rough, she also put a surprising amount of expression into it. Just like he...

Aaaaand now he was frowning again. And being hugged by the remarkably hard mare again.

“Anypony ever told you that you ain’t a soft mare to hug?” he muttered.

"Anypony ever told you that it's the thought that counts?" she countered. " I'm going to have to pass a rule against frowning without explanation, aren't I?"

“It’s nothing, your art just reminded me of something is all,” he replied as he moved away from the hug to put the empty plate in the sink. Only to find that she had glomped onto him again once that was done.

"Unless you want me to stop painting while I'm here, then I suggest you tell me the full story sooner or later."

The stallion grumbled as he gently pushed the mare off. Her coat felt odd. And he swore it was a slightly darker than before. He headed for his bedroom and paused to look back at her.

“It reminds me of mine,” he simply said as he opened the door and walked in. “Have a good night kid.”

"You too, mister," she said politely before returning to the couch. As she settled down and made herself comfortable, one thing came to mind.

She had her work cut out for her with this one...

Once he closed and locked his door, Painted Palette let out a sigh as he looked at the corner of his room. A blank canvas sat there, just as it had for all those years. He looked back out towards his living room as the image he saw earlier came to mind.

And as he lit a single candle to light the room. He sat down, picked up a brush and started to paint...

Chrysalis sat in Luna’s room, still rubbing her ears. “For bucks sake, I still can’t hear shit,” she muttered. “Someone needs to get you a muzzle Moonbutt.”

“Tis your fault, barging in like that!” Luna replied as she rolled the dice. “How am I supposed to react to your chitinous flank storming into my room at flank o’clock in the morning, screaming my name!?”

“It’s the middle of the afternoon!” Chrysalis retorted as she looked at the piece of paper in front of her. “And what is this? Those dice are friggin rigged.”

“You are just terrible at this,” Luna replied, looking at her own character sheet. She looked at her stallion as he placed the figurines on the map. “I also find it highly amusing that a Changeling is terrible at role-playing.”

“Oh shut up!” the queen snapped as she rolled the dice. Two ones. “Dammit! Shining wouldn't stop until I’d played this stupid game. I thought he had something else in mind when he said he wanted to ‘role-play’.”

Luna found that scenario to be highly amusing. As did her stallion.

“Well, I cast... ‘Seduction’,” Chrysalis nodded, and rolled the dice.

Two ones.

“Oh for fu-”

“It failed, and now you are dead,” the stallion said. Luna laughed as she downed her coffee.

“So where is my sister? I can’t believe she let you run around without a leash.”

“Beats me,” Chrysalis shrugged as she lit up her horn and cast a spell that projected herself out into the castle. A simple scrying spell really. “Let’s see what she’s doi-”

“...Chryssie?” Luna tilted her head.

Once the Changeling queen would stop screaming, she would proceed to tell them that there is not enough brain-bleach in all the universe...

Chapter 43 - Bat Baths and Princess Parties

Midnight just wandered around the town. Ponyville was...boring.

She was beginning to wonder if all the stories she heard about this place were greatly exaggerated. She lay on her side in the park, as Scope sat next to her, braiding her mane out of boredom.

“So what are we even doing?” she asked the Thestral mare. “You just dragged me out here all of a sudden, I assume you have some sort of plan?”

“Not really,” Midnight replied in a tired tone. “Just got annoyed with Ledger making googoo eyes at Twilight.”

The changeling sighed as she lay her head on Midnight’s. “You know he loves you. He wouldn’t have done what he did if he didn’t.”

“Yeah...I know. I just...I’m feeling a little emotional,” the Thestral took a deep breath, Scope giggling slightly as her head moved up and down with each breath. “And seeing Ledger act like that with another mare, well, one that isn’t you or Cidey. Guess it annoyed me a little.”

“I sometimes wonder what’s going through his head,” Scope said as she closed her eyes. “But I highly doubt he has the balls to add an alicorn to our little herd.”

“Even I don’t think I could do that,” Midnight replied with a small huff. Celestia, she wished she could stop feeling so bummed out... “I think I need to talk with Levvy. You wanna come?”

“Sure, why not?” Scope nodded as she got up and the two mares headed back to the palace.

“Another dead end,” Twilight muttered as she looked at the mountain of scrolls she’d already written out. “Everything we try would either make you worse...or kill you.” She looked at the stallion, who didn’t seem quite as frustrated. “Everything okay?”

"I'm fine, this is just absolutely fascinating. One of them actually spent time trying to dislodge whatever-it-is themselves, only to encounter quite a few dead ends. It's sort of a mirror of our situation... And then one of them actually seems to have come across something, but of course it's not written down right here. Still, the things I'm learning on the way are truly fascinating." The drone turned another page and whistled at what he read. "Ooh, I think I read about that happening elsewhere..."

“Too bad I can’t just look inside your head,” Twilight giggled...before she stopped and her eyes widened with glee. “Or maybe I can!”

"Isn't that highly unethical?" the drone asked with a quirked eyebrow. "Your status as a princess aside, mental manipulation is sort of frowned upon, isn't it?"

“No, the spell I’m thinking of just lets me look, I cannot influence your memories or personality in the slightest.” Twilight was already trying to recall the spell she had in mind.

"Hmm, so long as you limit yourself to, say... The last three or four days? That's when this whole thing started really, after that..." Realizing where their topic had veered, Ledger coughed awkwardly and looked away from the window that would show her former home's remains.

“Don’t worry, it’s fine...really,” she wasn’t sounding so convinced. “Funny how that hurts more than Tirek throwing me through a mountain.”

"...There are so many things wrong with that statement, I would almost rather hang out with both my sister and the pink changeling of Las Pegasus in an effort to find something I can understand." He sighed after a moment more to consider what she just said. " I... I think I get it, and while quite a few irreplaceable things were probably vaporized... At least you and your friends came through alright. I can't exactly say the same. You can get to work on replacing those things, whereas I'm pretty sure I bucked up my relationships with this whole 'turning black' thing."

She saw his chitin turning again and moved closer. “Now, now. Don’t talk like that. We’ll help you fix it, no problem okay?” She smiled and nodded her head. “You’ve given me a lot of new information already, and studying like this is just what I needed to take my mind off of things.” She leant to kiss him on the cheek...

Until he turned his head to look at her at the same time.

Ledger would later reflect that the surprise of the moment probably contributed to the fact that they held it for as long as they did. He hadn't been expecting this at all, really...

But he wasn't going to complain. And for a chaste kiss, it was surprisingly nice. It possibly had something to do with the fact that he had been giving the alicorn of books a lot of new information all day. He would be surprised if he would need to feed on anything for the next year, he was operating at such a high-capacity now after having spent all day with her.

She quickly pulled away though as her face lit up a bright red, she put her hooves to her mouth, and as she tried to apologise, all that came out was a strangled squeak. She-She just kissed...a stallion, who was a Changeling, and was already taken.

Oh sweet Celestia! She was one of those mares now. The ones from the books that Rarity liked about complex love triangles and other such drama. This could only be more cliched if she turned and saw Midnight or some...pony...

Her eyes widened even more as she saw who was standing behind Ledger.

“Oh buck me...” she whispered.

"I'd rather not, it would distract us from studying more than this has already done," Ledger replied before he felt the emotions from the pony behind him. It was quite the whirlwind, anger, sadness... loneliness.

“Well...now I see why you didn’t want to come with me,” Midnight said in a low, even tone.

"Midnight, I swear to you, this isn't what it looks like. Complete accident, I promise." He didn't even turn to look, knowing that sudden movements might incite her anger. "Miss Rarity said she was going to try and take you to the spa, to help you relax from your latest ordeal. Did you miss her?"

“Oh don’t even try to change the subject!” Midnight said as she walked around to meet his gaze. “Your silver tongue won’t get you out of this, especially when you were busy jamming it down her throat!”

"There was barely any contact! It was an accidental kiss, not everypony has a thestral tentacle for a tongue!" Now that she had opened fire, Ledger fired back on all cylinders. "And for the record, I would appreciate if you had a little more faith in me! I only did try to save your life multiple times! I'm not going to risk we had...have, like that marriage you proposed because I happen to enjoy the idea of studying with Twilight!"

Midnight flinched away from him.. Her eyes now staring back at the ground. “Y-You’re right...sorry. I-I jumped to conclusions...I just...” She shook herself, knocking Scope from her back before she flew out of the nearest window.

“What have I done?” Twilight sighed. “I’ve really made a mess of this.”

“Scope," Ledger said as he went back to his tome. "Follow her and get her to Miss Rarity or the spa, please? I would follow after her, but this is just sort of important."

The nymph rubbed her head as she reverted back to her true form, causing Twilight to yelp in surprise. She’d forgotten that Scope was a changeling as well.

“What? You’re just going to pass the bit like that?” she said as she walked closer to him. Size be damned right now. “Midnight’s head is seriously messed up right now! And you think a fucking massage is going to fix that!?”

"I'm not putting any of you in danger, especially if that danger is coming from me! Until we know if I can or can't be cured, and until we've tried every last thing, I'm not getting anywhere near any of you. The more I read about this black magic, the less I want it near any of the ones I love." The stallion had more than a few logical, rational reasons mixed in with emotional ones.

“Honestly,” Scope sighed and shrugged. “I don’t know if I should hug you or punch you. Maybe both?”

“Please stop fighting,” Twilight said as she flicked her wings. “This was all my fault, I should go find her and apologise.” Scope watched her and then looked at Ledger with a raised eyebrow.

“Has she been this bucking adorable the whole time?”

"Wouldn't know, been translating most of the black book. Kept my nose buried in it while I recited interesting facts. Had just about found something too, but then that happened." The stallion pulled the book back over to himself and started flipping through the pages. "Until I can change back to my normal self and not have Midnight flinch away from what she sees, I'm not leaving this room. I can't stand being the thing she fears. It hurts so bad... And the darker part of me feeds on that fear, so isolation is really the best idea."

“That...sounds like the stupidest idea I have ever heard,” Scope replied, punching his leg. “And did it occur to you that she flinched because you yelled at her? And then the last time because you made that crack about ‘disciplining’ her? Have a good long think about it, you...drone. What did that Thestral do to her again?”

"You weren't there when I first showed up. Even in that broken state... She feared me above all else simply because of what I look like. She called out for him rather than trust me. I know she was under the influence of quite a few mind-altering things, but that scream of fear will haunt me forever." His grip had turned shaky as his colors started to swirl as well, inching darker and darker as time went on.

“Mind altering?” Twilight spoke up, interjecting herself into the conversation. “What kind?”

"Wouldn't know, I was more obsessed with breaking them and getting her out than studying the shackles." Ledger flipped the page and started to read it, pursing his lips as time went on.

“Shackles?” Twilight blinked as she hummed, pacing around the room slightly. “Made of wrought iron and inscribed with runes?”

"Those were the ones, its amazing what highly specific teleportation can do to break things. Especially if you ignore quite a few safety protocols." Was this... The account he was looking for?

“Those are obedience collars, outlawed a few hundred years ago,” Twilight explained, slipping into lecture mode. “It’s unfortunate that some ponies still use them...but, there is a silver lining in this cloud.”

"Do tell," Ledger absently replied as he continued to scan the page. Well, the first step was unfortunate, but at least this one had a one-hundred percent success rate. For a given value of 'success' anyway. He wouldn't be a Black anymore and he qualified that as a success. The others of the time that this was written didn't, but they could, quite frankly, burn.

“The silver lining is that those collars are old, very old,” Twilight explained. Time to turn the tables and let the bug figure this one out. Ledger's ear flicked as he looked up from his own book.

"They're so old, either others have had time to study them and figure out a way to break their magic, or the magic itself isn't going to last very long because they haven't had a chance to be recharged properly before they were used.” He came to the conclusions that he felt didn't really help much at this moment.

Twilight smiled and tapped her nose, while Scope burped lightly. Those moments really were quite tasty, they seemed to have an aged taste, like a fine cheese.

"Well, I doubt she wants to see me right now, and I think I actually found what we were looking for in this book, labeled as a ‘failed experiment.‘ If you two can go get her and help her, I'll see if there's a way to stabilize it."

“Ggrrrrrrr...” Scope growled at him, but he did have a point. “Fine! But if you hadn’t used dark magic in the first place...” She sighed as Twilight looked at both Changelings.

“I have a lock on Midnight, I can teleport us right to her,” she said. She looked at Ledger and nodded her head, before she and Scope vanished in a flash of magenta light.

"I just hope she's going to willingly let the pair of you work on her," he sighed before beginning to look for drawbacks to this plan.

Midnight landed near...well, she didn’t know. Somepony’s house. It looked like like two different houses mashed together. She didn’t even know why she flew away like that. It wasn’t like she was mad about him kissing the Princess. Hell, she was planning on doing that eventually anyway.

“Why do I feel like this?” she snapped at herself. “It isn’t fair to the others. And now I... DAMMIT!!!” She lashed out and struck a nearby tree, causing it to shake.

That was when a grey Pegasus mare fell out of it, wincing and rubbing her flanks after she landed.

“Owie! Napping in trees hurts. Dashie lied to me.”

Midnight blinked and looked at the mare. She had a cloudy-grey coat and a blonde mane and tail that were similar to her own. Her Cutie Mark was...bubbles?

What kind of special talent was that?

“Sorry...you okay?” Midnight asked, helping the mare to her hooves. She took one look at the Thestral and gasped.

“Ohmigosh! A real-life vampony!”

Midnight looked at her, a deadpan expression in her face. Did she just?

“For the love of...I’m not a vampony!”

“Oh, my bad,” Ditzy blushed and rubbed her head. Her golden eyes looking in different directions. Midnight just shrugged and shook her head.

“Nah, I get that a lot. It’s not too bad sometimes,” Especially when Cider wanted to play~ “Sorry I knocked you out of that tree. You okay?”

“Yeeaahh, I’m good.” She was kinda cute when she looked all bashful like that. “So if you’re not a vampony...”

“I’m a Thestral, and I’m just visiting while the Princess helps a friend of mine,” Midnight said as she looked away from her. Why was she even talking with this mare?

“Well, I hope your friend is okay,” Ditzy smiled at her. “But Princess Twilight is pretty amazing. So I think they’ll be okay!”

“Yeah, I hope so...” Midnight sighed as she turned away from the mare. Ditzy blinked as she looked at her.

“You don’t think so...or...?”

“Well he seems to be doing just fine without me, so whatever!” Midnight suddenly snapped. Luna-dammit, she was doing it again. At least, until she felt a hoof on her shoulder. She looked back to see Ditzy’s eyes staring at her, both of them.

“Maybe, your friend might be scared,” she said in a tone that reminded Midnight of her mother for some reason. “I know when my little Dinky is sick, she puts on her brave face so I won’t worry about her. Hehe, but between you and me, I still worry.”

“No offense, but I don’t think Ledger is the kind to-” Midnight stopped as she thought about that statement. About all the things he’d done so far, about that look in his eyes when she’d gone to fight Tirek... “Luna-dammit. He would do exactly that. Stupid bug...”

“Hmm, well it’s not my place, but maybe he could use a friend right now?” Ditzy winked at her, her eyes drifting apart once more. “Well, just a thought anyway.”

Midnight nodded and looked at the surprisingly wise mare. Well, at least wiser than what Midnight was feeling right now. “Thanks Miss...?”

“Ditzy Doo, but my friends call me Muffins,” she giggled and booped the Thestral’s nose. “Now go and see your friend okay?” And with that, she flew off, just as Twilight and Scope teleported in.

“See, third time’s the charm!” Twilight nodded at the changeling nymph.

"And I'm certain those ponies will forgive us eventually for teleporting in during those particular moments. I didn't know ponies could bend that way, or that you could use oil for that purpose!" The Changeling also made a note to file that information away for later.

Midnight just tilted her head at the two. There was a story there...a sexy one. Bah, later.

“Is there something you want?” she asked, her voice still had an irritated bite to it, causing Twilight to flinch slightly. But the Alicorn knew what she had to do.

“Miss Midnight? What happened, it really was an accident. I promise. But, right now? I’m here to help you.”

“Me? There’s nothing wrong with me,” Midnight replied, narrowing her eyes. Just what the hell were these two up to? “And you Scopey? You think I need help?”

“Whatever that stallion did you you Mistress, it messed up your head. But we can fix it. You just need to stay still for a moment.”

Well, she’d be damned if that didn’t raise a few warning alarms. For multiple reasons. “You know, if this was some sappy drama, I’d be running for the hills, or just take the two of you out,” Midnight said, flexing her wings. “But... I trust you Scopey. And Princess Bookworm as well I guess.”

“Thankyou,” Twilight said as she stepped closer. “Don’t worry Midnight. This won’t hurt at all... I hope...”

Level Ledger had been making a surprising amount of progress by himself. Spike had even made him some tea and biscuits while he read.

Then he felt something. Something he hadn’t felt in a very long time, well, it felt like a long time anyway. Time seemed to be all messed up these days and-

Okay, getting off topic, but there was a tidal wave of lust approaching the castle. Just as Scope and Twilight teleported in, their manes dishevelled and a panicked look in their eyes.

"I take it your plan worked?" One eyebrow quirked itself at them.

“A-A monster...I created...a monster,” Twilight stammered as Scopey begun boarding up windows.

“She’s coming...and she won’t stop until we’re coming,” Scope yelled. Ledger just sighed at their antics. Surely, Midnight being back to normal couldn't be that bad.

The door creaked open and a rush of air filled the room. There was...something in the room with them.

“I...found...you...” Midnight’s voice giggled, reverberating around the room.

"Has my Songbird finally flown back to me?" The drone asked as he mentally braced himself.

He should have focused on physical defense as the bat tackled him, her tongue already dancing in his mouth as she hummed happily. Scope just sighed as she watched.

“Apparently she missed you,” the nymph said helpfully. Twilight watched the bat consuming the drone's face and tilted her head.

“Is she...normally like this?”

“Nah-” Scope said as the Alicorn breathed a sigh of relief. “-Normally she’s a lot worse.” Eventually, the two had to come up for air, and when they did Ledger wrapped Midnight in a hug.

“Hello Songbird," he whispered into her ear.

“Hey yourself,” she replied, nuzzling him. “Sorry...guess you missed me huh?”

"Like you wouldn't believe," he said, making no move to let go. Twilight and Scope smiled as the two hugged like that.

Until a chorus of cooing noises caused them to look up. All of Twilight’s friends, along with Cider had returned and were now making doe eyes at the loving pair.

Midnight just grinned as she looked down at Ledger, licking her lips as her eyes shone in the pale light. “Oohh, we have an audience now. Wanna give ‘em a show~”

"Maybe later, right now I just want to hold you." Ledger's coloration seemed to agree, as he was nearly pure silver again.

“Oh fine,” Midnight pouted as she looked at Cider and Scope. Honestly, she wasn’t sure if Twilight’s spell had really done anything or not. She didn’t feel any different really. But she decided on something.

“I’m gonna be me. Screw stupid stalkers, screw dark magic, ain’t nopony or nobuggy gonna stop me!!”

The only response she got back was Ledger drawing her in for another kiss... one the Thestral happily accepted. Once they finally broke it, she glanced at Twilight and gave her a fanged smile.

“Oh, and you better believe you owe me for earlier. I demand recompense Princess.”

Twilight blinked and then blushed as her friends all gave her a curious look. Just what had happened here earlier?

“And so the bat is back,” Cider giggled. “Ah reckon that life is gonna get interesten’ once more!”

“Unfortunately,” Scope sighed. That was when Twilight’s friends noticed the second changeling and all gasped in surprise. And again when they noticed that Ledger was in his true form. Scope narrowed her eyes before rolling them. Well, at least from what they could tell. Hard to roll your eyes when they had no pupils.

“Seriously? How did you idiots even become the Bearers of the most powerful magical items in the world again?”

"Scope, play nice," Ledger half chided the Changeling nymph without turning to look at her. His eyes were focused on something a little more important. "Do you think you could hit up the spa with Miss Rarity and not hit on all the customers or the attendants long enough for them to see to your mementos?"

Midnight looked down at her furless patches, visible now that she’d shed her articles. “Hmm, maybe. I make no promises!” She looked at the gathered ponies and a thought occured. “Hrm, you know...her friends are kinda cute~”

"Refrain, and I'll make a promise to you." Ledger's eyes danced with mischief. "Tonight, you, me, Cider and Scope, one soundproofing spell, and one other spell that you get to decide when the time comes."

“Meh, don’t need to promise what I can already get for myself,” Midnight smiled as she booped his nose. “Besides, you should know by now. Say it out loud. What did I promise you three again?”

"The same thing I keep promising you," he returned as he drew her in for another hug. "Everything, forever. No matter what." He held her there for about five seconds before speaking up again. "Besides, what's the unspoken threat behind my promise?"

Midnight slowly tilted her head and Ledger could swear he heard birds chirping.

“Uuhhhhh....I love you?”

"Fail to refrain, and there will be no spells tonight because there will be no action," he teased.

“For you perhaps, I still have two mares,” she replied as she got off of him. She turned, giving the stallion a front row seat to her shapely rump. She walked past Rarity, giving her a nod. “Well, let’s go Miss Rarity, the spa and a good time awaits us!” She dragged Scopey as well, the nymph struggling futilely as the other two mares strode off.

Once they had, Applejack took off her hat and fanned herself with it. “Whooey! That mare is sumthin’ huh?”

"Wouldn't have it any other way," the drone said before looking at Cider. "You want to go along and give her another target?"

“Do ah look like the ‘spa type’ to you Ledge?” Cider waved a hoof. “Pass, ah still have a lot to catch up on with mah cuz here!”

“I think Rarity can handle her...maybe,” Twilight giggled. “Come on, let’s get this party set up...” Twilight looked around. “Um, where’s Pinkie Pie?”

A Pink that was missing...nothing could fill a changeling with more dread.

Midnight had to admit that the spa was pretty nice. The incense they burned left a pleasant scent in her nose and a gentle warmth in her body.

The fact that the place was run by some very familiar and very sexy Earth pony twins didn't hurt either~

"Welcome to the Ponyville Spa," Rarity smiled. “Once you leave here, you'll feel like a brand new mare!"

"I'm aware of Aloe and Lotus'...skills~" Midnight cooed, giving the pair a wink. They gasped as they recognised her as Rarity tilted her head and blinked.

"Lemme guess, some old friends of yours?" Scope asked and Midnight nodded.

"Mhmm," She licked her lips and nodded at the mares. "I trust you girls can help me relax?"

"Of course we can," Aloe replied, as Lotus went to set up the baths. "And what happened to your lovely fur?"

"Something I'd rather not discuss," Midnight said. "I'm feeling good right now, and like to feel better. So Miss Rarity? Your recommendation?"

Rarity nodded slowly, still trying to process how Midnight knew the twins. "Um, yes. I believe the deluxe package is in order today ladies."

"As you wish Miss Rarity," Aloe said with a pleasant smile. "Please come right this way."

"This should be interesting, I've never been to a spa before," Scope said as the twins and Rarity paused to look at her like she'd grown a second head.

"Oh you poor dear," Rarity pulled the petite pegasus in for a hug. "We must rectify this tragedy at once!"

"Joy..." Scope deadpanned as she was dragged inside.

"Okay, so, I think I have something, but in order for me to tell it to you, I want you all to promise that you won't panic." Ledger held a small scroll in his magical grasp while his book had disappeared to... somewhere. Much to the chagrin of the lavender alicorn. Even though it was highly likely she couldn't read Changeish.

"Well, can't be any worse than Midnight sayin' she was goin' t'fight Tirek," Cider pointed out. Ledger was silent for just a little too long before he weakly laughed.

"Yeah, what could be worse than that?"

Cider smacked her face with a hoof. That was not a smart thing to say.

"What's that about Tirek?" Rainbow asked, completely missing the cues.

"Midnight tried to go hoof to hoof with him when he showed up in Las Pegasus," Ledger obliged the chromatic flying equine. "Would have had him too, if he hadn't drained her."

"Seriously?" Rainbow frowned. "Even Twilight, with all of the princesses' magic couldn’t do that. I really doubt a single pony could've beat him."

Grateful for the distraction, the drone merely smiled before humming his response to that. "Not if she knows the skill designed to take out princesses~"

Twilight coughed into her teacup, while Dash frowned more.

"Yeah right, there is no way that bat could beat a Princess in a fight!"

"She called it, or it's called, one of the two, 'alicorn hunter,' so I really don't doubt what it's meant for."

Twilight visibly paled. Why-Why would somepony make something that could kill a princess!?

"I still think you're full of it!" Dash said with a roll of her eyes. "If she’s so good, then why did she fail huh?"

Ledger narrowed his eyes before replying in a very biting tone. "The simple answer is Discord, the more complex answer is that such a skill requires a life for a life. If she wanted to take Tirek's, she would have had to give up hers to fuel the strike. Discord stopped her from sacrificing herself." Throughout his response, the drone's colors had shifted from silver down to grey. This Pegasus was getting on his nerves...

"Okay, that sure was an enlightening story," Twilight chuckled nervously as she muzzled Dash with her magic. The demure yellow Pegasus had also looked down when he mentioned Discord, and the drone could feel her emotions drift towards the negative. But it wasn't anger or fear...

It was great sadness.

"Mmph! Lef gooo!" Rainbow growled. Ledger snorted once before sharply turning his back on the blue Pegasus.

"It's fine, Princess, I'm certain I'll learn to ignore her sooner or later. Along with the doubt she has about my marefriend."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as Twilight let her go.

"Let's just go and set up the slumber party," Twilight sighed.

"Already done!" Pinkie said as she bounded into the room, landing on Ledger and giving him a big hug. "And you should turn that frown upside down mister! This party will. Be. EPIC!!"

"... I'm so glad I grew up with my little sister, she prepared me for ponies like you. Now how you do what you do and are still a pony is a question, but not one I'm in a hurry to answer." The changeling just lay there and basked in her wide-ranging affection. It was... Nice.

"Silly buggy!" Pinkie giggled. "I do what I do because I'm Pinkie Pie. And because I wanna see my friends happy!"

"Don't look for answers...it only leads to pain," Twilight shuddered and Pinkie giggled.

"Silly Twi-Twi, just because you got stung by bees, had a piano fall on you, a Hydra try to eat you, and then you exploded. Doesn't mean it'll happen a second time~"

"... Your highness, in this situation I think you should know a small mantra of mine. 'If it is pink, don't over think.' Helps a lot when you have a little sister that can somehow fill your room with applesauce and a donkey. I don't know where he came from or went to this day, and that was years ago."

Pinkie snorted. "That's just ridiculous. Everypony knows that donkeys prefer jam to applesauce!"

"Still helped me eat the pool's worth my little sister managed to get in my room," the drone countered. " I didn't even have a pool before she got in my room."

"Hmm, a pool of applesauce? Sounds doable, at least as much as my chocolate river..." Pinkie hopped off of him as she pondered her next project.

"Funny how well a Pink distracts you. I can only remember that there was a thing that we were meant to be doing." Ledger picked himself off the ground before smiling at Pinkie.

“You were going to mention something that’s possibly dangerous, and it might freak everypony out, especially your marefriend and probably Fluttershy since she has a weak tummy for this sort of thing?” Pinke rapid-fired her voice, blinking a few times once she was done.

"Ah, right, now I remember." the drone unrolled the scroll and looked at if to remind himself.

“Silly buggy, your memory has more holes than your legs,” Pinkie giggled, earning a few from the other mares as well.

"Its a little spotty I admit, but I tend to forget a few things when a Pink is in the room. Things like 'that shouldn't be possible'."

“You know, I’m going to ask later what you mean when you call Pinkie, ‘A Pink’ rather than using her name, but I think I might already have a rough idea,” Twilight said. “But I believe we’re getting off topic again.”

“Yeah. Dangerous mumbo-jumbo, and while some of us are still young!” Rainbow said with a cheeky smirk.

"Willing to bet I'm younger than you, but like you said, that's neither here nor there. Can I get a promise that you won't freak out?" the stallion looked from one mare to the next, waiting for their response to that question. He got a chorus of nods, except from Fluttershy, who just retreated further behind her mane. Of all the ponies he’d met so far, she’d been the only one that refused to meet his gaze.

"Well, the first step is to quicken the reaction." He waited to see which of them would get that besides Twilight.

“Wait,” Cider held up a hoof as she sat down. Her other forehoof met her forehead. “You want to become a monster? Ah’d say that’s a stupid idea, but ah think that train left a long time ago.”

"There is a step two you know," Ledger smirked slightly. "Step Two, during the transition process, the part where I'm completely out of it, I need to be fed a little bit of love. No more than a kiss, really, but more is always better. That will influence the transition. It will definitely, positively ensure that I do not become a Black in any way. More just influences the speed at which I will eventually awaken.”

“Eenope! Ah don’t like it, ah don’t like it one bit!” Cider said, stamping a hoof on the ground. “Fer starters, has this here technique ever been tested before?”

"Eeyup," Leger replied, mimicking her accent. "The Blacks of the time thought of it as a failure, because they were just after a stabilizing effect, not a purging one. They wanted something to help them hit that sweet spot, where a changeling could still be functional and use black magic. Instead they found out the most cheesy truth of all: love conquers everything."

“And... if it doesn’t work?” Twilight asked him.

"It will," he replied instantly. "Even the smallest amount of love will influence the reaction. They tried it with no more than a kiss themselves and found that no matter the amount of love, it defeated the dark metamorphosis. There's a reason we value it so highly. There's only one possible snag, and it has nothing to do with whether or not this will work."

“So then what’s the snag?” Rainbow all but shouted. “Get to the point already!”

"In order to trigger the reaction, I'm either going to need to use some more black magic, which I can already tell isn't an option-"

“Or?” Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Or, I can hate something or somepony on a deep, personal level. But doing it that way leaves us with very little time to influence the metamorphosis, because it will be much shorter as well."

“I don’t like either of those,” Fluttershy whispered. “You shouldn’t have to hate somepony to get better...”

"The poison has to be drawn to the surface in order for it to be combated," the Changeling observed. He was no Thestral with their sensitive ears, but a Changeling could still hear rather soft things. "Like an infection, it cannot be allowed to fester in my soul, where it can influence more than just me."

Everypony was rather silent for a moment or three. This sounded pretty heavy. It was Twilight that eventually broke the silence and spoke.

“So what do you want us to do?”

"I'm not going to start anything without Midnight being here to help. And once I do, it's going to go fast. But if things go wrong, which I doubt will happen, if it looks like I'm turning Black and waking up... I want you all to promise me that no matter what, you will save them. A backup plan in case the worst should happen."

Cider frowned as she stepped forward, her azure eyes staring into Ledger’s grey ones.

“Level Ledger,” she said. “Ah should punch you until you ferget this whole stupid plan...but...”

"I wouldn't blame you if you did," he replied honestly.

“But,” Cider continued. “Ah also know that you have a plan. You always have a plan, and if those plans fail, you have a backup plan.” She wrapped her hooves around him and drew him in for a hug. Of all his mares, hers were always the firmest and warmest. “Ah trust you Ledger. And ah know that Midnight will help you out, it’s what she does after all...ah just wish...” Her voice cracked as she sniffed. “Ah know it’s selfish, but ah wish that ah could help you sometimes...”

"Hey," The Changeling said as he kissed her cheek. "It's not that I don't trust you or love you, it's just that she was first. I mean, if you really wanted to, we could try right now. I would just need something to hate and you could love me."

Cider just hugged him tighter. “We-We could...but, if ah screw up...and you...you...”

"Answer me this simple question Cider. Do you love me?" To say he was asking softly would be understanding it: if not for the fact it was whispered in her ear he had doubts she would hear it.

“Of course ah do,” she whispered back. “What kinda fool question is that?”

"The kind a fool asks before he does something really foolish," Ledger replied before taking a deep breath. "Don't let go of that."

With that, his colors rapidly shifted to black as he conjured up all of his hate filled memories. As his eyes went black as well, he drew one last breath, before shuddering and going limp in her grasp. Cider’s eyes opened wide as she started to panic.

“W-W-What the HAY!?” she shook him as she continued to panic. “Oh mah gosh! What the heck do ah do!?” That goddamn fool. What the ever-loving buck was he thinking! Okay, okay. Calm down. She looked at him and gulped, before she drew on every memory and thought about how much she loved him and the other two, before she placed her lips against his as she held him tightly.

‘Come on! Don’t do this to me!!’

His colors seem to turn silver where she kissed him, but they also didn't seem to be spreading very fast. If at all. Cider looked at him and kissed him again, and again, and... Why? Why wasn’t it working!?

“It seems to be working, slowly at least," Twilight said, placing a hoof on the mare’s shoulder. All her friends were in various stages of panic, even as the alicorn rolled her eyes. “Try pacing yourself.”

Cider nodded slowly, “Okay...I’ll try.” She just hugged him, slowly kissing him every few moments. “Come on you stubborn bug! Turn silver already!”

Whether or not he heard her, he appeared to be obliging whenever she kissed him. The silver spread out from where her lips had contacted his chitin.

Cider was finally getting the idea, as she kissed various parts of his shell. It was kinda like those books that you used water to colour in. Twilight just watched the process, taking notes on it. All of her friends had now pulled themselves together and had gathered, preparing for the worst.

Which never came. Once the color had spread far enough, there was a flash of silver light, before a very weak Ledger lay in Cider's grasp.

"Hey," he coughed out. He coughed harder when she smacked his chest with a hoof.

“Hey? You scare the ever-loving fuck outta me and all ya say is ‘Hey’?” He felt something wet land on his chest, as the mare above him cried. “....Stupid bug...”

"I was gonna say 'hey pretty mare, why the sad face,' but then I sort of needed to breathe," the Changeling joked slightly.

“You...” she fell onto him, sobbing onto his chest. “Ah thought...that I...that I didn’t love...”

“Ledger,” Twilight said, even as a shield had been placed around the room. “How do you feel?”

"Less aggressive, less hateful, as though I just ran a 20 mile marathon, and drained of most of my magical energy, but those are all small prices to pay to be able to say my darker half has been defeated." He didn't make any move to get up, even with Cider on him. "I appear to have acquired a pony-shaped limpet, I thought that was my job?"

Cider blinked, "What did y’all call me?”

“A limpet, also known as a marine mollusk that tends to cling to rocks and moss,” Twilight informed her. It was nice to teach ponies new things.

“A sea snail...” She looked down at the Changeling under her hooves. A smile crossed her face. He did not like that smile. “So...y’all can’t move huh?”

"The very thought is exhausting," he said, demonstrating by lifting a hoof all of an inch before putting it back on the ground.

“Ah see, how very interesting.” She looked at Rainbow and Twilight. “Ladies, may ah borrow a feather?”

Rainbow blinked and then she snickered, plucking a feather from her wing and hoofing it over to the mare. Cider looked at Ledger and grinned. This was going to be fun... well, for her anyway.

"Ah, Cider? Love?" the stallion tried to plead with his mare. "You wouldn't be thinking of torturing your weakened mate, would you?"

“Torture? Oh, no...ah won’t do that,” Cider giggled. Well, it was all a matter of perspective really. “Ah’ll enjoy this greatly.”

“Pfft, bet he won’t,” Rainbow giggled. Cider nodded as she turned back to Ledger.

“Coochie coo Ledgie~”

Midnight gave a long, very relaxed sigh as they left the spa. The twins had worked their wonderful magic, and while it was still a bit thinner, her coat had rejuvenated somewhat. Turns out that a local zebra had supplied them with a variety of potions that could be mixed in with their baths.

“What did I tell you, simply divine,” Rarity nodded at Scope, who just huffed and folded her arms as she flew next to them.

“Whatever, I think my shell shrank slightly in that steam room,” she pouted. Yeah, that was just what she needed, to be bloody smaller.

“Aw, I think you look good,” Midnight said, pulling the mare down to sit on her back. “And I know I look good. Now let’s hurry back to the castle. I hope they haven’t started without us.”

“If I know Pinkie, then there will be more than enough party waiting for us when we get there,” Rarity tittered. “But you are right, it is improper for a lady to keep somepony waiting. Now, let’s be fashionably late shall we?”

When they returned, Midnight had expected a lot of things really.

But for Cider to have pinned Ledger to the ground and tickling him mercilessly with a feather.

She could only say one thing about it.

“You know,” she spoke above the laughter. “That’s not how you do feather-play.”

Ledger turned to her and pleaded. "Get-get her o-off...can't..breathe..."

“Hmm,” Midnight paced around them, looking from the stallion to the mare. “I don’t know... there is something I still have to do after all. And seeing as you're being a useful distraction-”

"Midnight!" Ledger pleaded again.

“One sec, this’ll only take a moment,” she moved around him until she was standing in front of Twilight. “Hello Bookworm!”

“Uh...hell-MMPH!?” her awkward greeting was cut off as Midnight kissed her. The princess’s friends all gaped at the brazen display, and a certain yellow Pegasus tried to hide her spreading wings.

Midnight hummed as she kissed the alicorn, before breaking it and leaving the princess as a blushing, stammering mess as she pulled the Earth pony off of Ledger, before drawing her in for a kiss as well. The Changeling breathed a sigh of relief as his tormentor was removed from his body.

“I...uh...whaaaa....” Twilight just blushed harder as her brain shut down. Midnight was busy tasting her marefriend as Scope stood over Ledger.

“So, what’s with the old/new colour scheme? You finally fix yourself?”

"Yep," he said before looking at the broken princess. "Midnight, I don't think we can afford to return her. It's probably really expensive to get a new one."

Midnight finally let her marefriend breathe as she broke the kiss. “Meh, we’ll just keep her as well then. I already have an Earth, Pegasus and Unicorn. Alicorn is all I need to complete the set.”

"Fine, but you're walking her and feeding her," Ledger said mock-seriously.

“You’re not keeping her,” Applejack sighed as she poked at Twilight. “Ah reckon she has enough on her plate as is, without the brand o’crazy that you lot’d bring.”

"Aaw, but she would love it! I mean after all, I only do have a library in one book, written in a language she doesn't yet understand. And Las Pegasus can't be any worse than Ponyville." The Changeling drone seemed to have fallen quite easily into the role of teasing the lavender alicorn.

“We have the Everfree Forest, the most timid ponies in the world, frequent ancient evil attacks and Discord,” Rainbow Dash boasted. “Beat that bug-boy!”

"Pegasus Air, the strip, the most lecherous Griffins in the world, and a Changeling population that helped put the city back together after Tirek wrecked it. Add in my publicity stunts, and our hometown could be very well be the first city in which Changelings are welcome with open hooves."

“Three words,” Rainbow grinned as Applejack and Rarity chimed in.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders.”

"...Sounds like the filly version of my brothers," Leger replied. "They managed to blow up a garden shed with nothing more than a half dozen fireworks. And it blew up so hard we can't plant anything where it once stood to this day, and that was years ago."

“The CMC once used a Love Poison on their teacher an’ mah brother,” Applejack said. “Blew up a gazebo and no matter what they do or how they do it...they wind up covered in tree sap.”

"My brothers once got the genius idea to try and take on a few stragglers from the dragon migration to earn their names. We've had to triple-reinforce their sleeping quarters, and whenever they put their heads together, something is going to explode, no matter how unlikely it seems."

“They must never ever meet,” the three mares nodded as a cold chill filled the room.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS BUG CATCHERS! YAY!!!” A net fell from the roof, landing on Ledger with a soft thump. Incapable of doing much about it, the drone merely looked up at Scope, who had been standing over him, as he quirked an eyebrow.

“Don’t look at me,” she shrugged as three fillies descended from the ceiling.

“Heheheh, we got ‘im,” the orange Pegasus beamed.

“That was...surprisingly easy,” the white Unicorn agreed.

The Earth pony looked at her flank. “Aww, still nothing.”

"It might have worked if I had not been so drained," and here Ledger gained a mischievous smile. "But there is still another bug in the room..."

“Um, what?” Applebloom looked around, just as Scope grabbed the net and tossed it over the three girls.

“Aw, now I caught three little snacks,” she said with a wicked gleam in her eyes. “How delectable~”

“Ahh HELP US!!” the three fillies cried.

"Scope..." Ledger said in his no-nonsense tone. "It's probably more dangerous for you if you keep them in one place. Then they might start trying things to get out. Remember how destructive my brothers were when you took your eyes off them for one minute?"

“Oh yeaahhh," Scope pondered as she tied the end of the net.

Twilight had finally snapped out of it and looked around, blinking. “What...?”

“Heyyy Bookworm~” Midnight said in a tone that made Ledger feel all warm. “Wanna come back to my place~?”

“Eeeeep!!” Twilight shrieked and hid behind Fluttershy.

"So let me see if I've got this straight," the drone observed aloud to Cider. "Midnight is trying to add Twilight, Scope has tied up the party crashers, and here I am stuck on the floor with you."

“Sounds about right,” Cider nodded, just as her stomach growled loudly. “Urr, huuuunngry!”

"Just get something to eat then, and send Scope over with her 'party favors' for me if you would be so kind." He said the last part teasingly, but Ledger did really want to talk to both the Scope and the fillies.

Cider nodded as she left with Pinkie, Twilight and Fluttershy. Scope dragged the fillies over, a proud smirk on her face.

“Sup little drone?” she hummed happily. He shrugged.

"Eh, you know how it is. Do something magically exhausting, you need a refill. You up for sharing those snacks?"

“We’re too young to be eaten!!” Sweetie Belle cried, trying to use the others as meat shields.

“You uh...you’re not seriously going to eat them?” Rarity gulped. Ledger gave her a mischievous wink before replying in the most over-the-top fashion possible.

"Three little fillies, as full of life and magic as they are? There could be nothing finer to munch on!"

“Nooooooo!!!” they squealed as Scope licked her fangs.

“Ohh, I call dibs on the Unicorn~”

"Fine, but I get the other two. You know I need more energy anyway, especially considering what I just went through. Plus it's not like you can eat more than one anyway!" He would have crossed his forelegs in a pout, had he the energy.

There was a sudden blur, and then Ledger realised that he had forgotten about somepony. Midnight now hovered above them, the fillies on her back.

“I shall save you from those dastardly villains!” she said triumphantly. “For I know their greatest weakness!”

“Whoa! This vampony is awesome!” Scootaloo said, and Midnight paused in the air.

“What.” Midnight blinked and the three found themselves next to Ledger as the Thestral stormed from the room, muttering under her breath.

"And now you're mine," the drone said as he hugged the three close with a surprising burst of energy. Ledger then looked up at Scope and sighed. "Find her and cheer her up for me?"

“Yeah, whatever,” Scope shrugged as she left the room, while Rainbow, Rarity and Applejack sat near Ledger and the fillies. He leaned down and softly nuzzled the three fillies in his forelegs before drawing his fangs through their fur in a mockery of eating them.

"Nomnomnom," he teased.

The three shrieked, before Scoots turned with a furious look in her eyes.

“I’m not getting eaten without a fight! ScootaPUNCH!” just as her little orange hoof smacked his face. He feigned being hurt, before showing off that her blow had done nothing to his chitin.

"All natural body armor. Wonderful stuff. Helpful against knives and angry fillies."

"Why aren't you helping us!?" Sweetie cried to Rarity.

"Well dear," Rarity smiled. "Perhaps if you and your friends had asked before dropping a net on Mr. Ledger here, you wouldn’t be in this situation." Rarity smiled coyly as she winked at Ledger. "And it turns out that Mr. Ledger is simply delightful when it comes to foals. He'd make a wonderful father~"

"Maybe later on down the line, I'll consider the idea more thoroughly," The Changeling drone said before pulling the fillies close and just cuddling them. "Now stop squirming so much, I'm not letting you go anyway. Though feel free to ask about me."

"Are you really a Changeling?" Applebloom asked.

"He likes to think he is!" Scope called out from the next room.

"Nope, I'm a tickle monster," Ledger jokingly replied before drawing his fangs through Applebloom's fur again. Not coincidentally, through one of the spots she was quite ticklish at. Turns out that 'mock eating' had another purpose. Now he knew their weak points~

Applebloom laughed hysterically as Sweetie and Scoots still tried to flee.

"Now ain't that just the most precious thing~" Applejack cooed. "Ah reckon Rares has a point."

"I'm still cooler," Rainbow said, as Scootaloo vehemently agreed. Ledger turned his attention to the unicorn of the trio next, making sure to only lightly run his fangs through the fur behind her ears. She seemed like the more agreeable of the two he had yet to do.

Sweetie Belle just gave him a deadpan look as she flicked her ear. "Um. What are you doing?"

"Trying to be silly? Is it not working?" He then moved to one of the other spots he had noticed, the crook of the neck. Surely a few light nibbles here would get a giggle out of her.

"No, I'm not ticklish, nice try though?" She said as Scootaloo finally wormed her way out of his grasp.

"FREEDOM!!" She cheered as she ran over to Rainbow Dash. Ledger just pouted as he cuddled the other two fillies and sighed.

"Fine, be that way, but you're missing out on a nice, warm hug."

"Hugs are for wimps!" Rainbow and Scoots echoed.

Elsewhere in the castle, a batpony’s ears twitched.

"I wonder," Applebloom said suddenly as she looked at Applejack. "Is this what havin' a Pa is like?"

"A little," Applejack smiled back, though hers held an underlying sadness. Ledger looked to her and smiled softly before deciding to tell the mares a little something about Changeling society...or his slice of it anyway.

"Me, I've got too many. There's my father, then my five step-fathers. Seven pairs of adult eyes ready to catch you doing something wrong." He gave a theatrical shudder.

"Why do you have so many dads?" Sweetie asked him. "That sounds weird."

"Males are a little more common in the Lands than in Equestria," the drone replied. "So my mom married quite a few at once."

Sweetie Belle had a curious expression on her face. She tilted her head back to look at him. "Does that mean she’s a who-"

"SWEETIE BELLE!?" Rarity quickly interrupted, her face red with embarrassment and indignation.

"What?" The filly squeaked. "That's what you called that Suri Polomare."

Ledger couldn't help it, he laughed. After a moment to recover, the silver Changeling responded to the filly. "That would only apply if she didn't love all of them," he clarified for the precocious petite pony.

"Awww~" Applebloom and Sweetie Belle cooed. Scootaloo just pretended to gag. Ledger snickered before looking for Apple Cider. She was the only mare he trusted to be able to do what he was about to ask.

The mare in question soon returned, her belly full of cupcakes and fritters.

"Ahhh, sooo much better," she hummed happily. Ledger smiled and offered her a quick nuzzle along with a peck on the cheek.

"Hey love, think you could check on Middy and Scopey? It'd be nice to know if they were coming back." Cider nodded and turned her head.

"MIDDY. SCOPE? Y'ALL GET IN HERE!!"

"That works I suppose," the drone observed.

The Thestral and Pegasus returned, the latter being in her usual position on the bats back.

"Yeah what?" Scope asked with a half-hearted glare.

"You come up with a way to fix that Black thing yet?" Midnight asked, as everypony else fell silent. Ledger just stared at Scope.

"... You didn't tell her?" He eventually asked.

"Not yet," Scope replied.

"Tell me what?" Midnight said, a hint of panic in her voice. "He can be fixed...right?"

"Not anymore than I already am," he replied with a hint of cheek in his voice. Were he not cuddling two fillies, he would have finished with the rest of the joke. ‘Your mother would take offense to not being a grandmother, after all, as would mine.'

Midnight nodded, her mood now quite sombre as she pulled out a wing blade from...somewhere. "I see...I love you Levvy, but I can't let you become a risk to others. I'm truly sorry my love..."

"Whoa there! Look at me, Midnight! Do I look even the slightest bit grey, let alone black? We fixed me already! Promise!" The drone was just a little bit frantic in trying to calm the thestral mare.

She continued to walk forward, her blade raised. Cider moved to stop her...

Until she brought the flat side of the sword down on Ledger’s flank.

"That's what you get for worrying me!" Midnight said firmly. Ledger yipped at the sudden, rough contact.

"Oh I promise, when I can walk again, you'll pay for that one as well," Ledger promised the mare.

"Just try and keep up~" Midnight said in a husky tone. "So, any particular reason you wanted me in here?"

"Just worried about you. There is a pink pony on the prowl after all."

"Meh, Pinkie's harmless. Amy is waaay scarier." Midnight plucked Applebloom and Sweetie Belle from his grasp so she could cuddle the two adorable foals.

"Seriously?" Applebloom pouted.

"Yup, you're just too cute!" Midnight giggled.

"If you guys are done in there, we have food ready!" Twilight called from the dining room.

In a flash, there was the sound of stampeding hooves and Ledger found himself quite alone. He sighed before speaking up. "Sort of can't move!"

A magenta hue surrounded him and he found himself floated through the air, deftly avoiding a few obstacles until he reached the dining room. A long crystal table had been laid out with quite the spread. Baked goods, cider and the like, as well as a few hastily thrown together items for the underage participants that crashed the party.

“Hey look, an unidentified flying Ledger,” Midnight giggled.

“Thank you for flying Alicorn Air,” Twilight grinned as she placed him on a sitting cushion next to Midnight and Cider. “Please remember to take all your belongings and leave the seats in the upright position.”

"I'll do my best," he smirked back, already feeling better thanks to the love Cider and Midnight felt for him. Ledger cast a gaze at the table and licked his lips. "So, what did I end up with out of this feast?"

Midnight moved so she was now straddling his lap as she licked her lips.

"You're more than welcome to eat me~" she said in a voice that left no set of wings folded. He shot her a deadpan look before pointing at the fillies.

"Tone it down a notch, would you?"

Twilight’s horn shone, a spell had shrouded the two from the fillies sight. Midnight just gave a bashful smile as she climbed off of him and sat back down.

"Aw come on! What did we miss?" Sweetie pouted.

"When you're older," Rarity replied with a sup of her tea.

"Agreed," Ledger said before weakly lighting up his horn and causing a plate of fritters to wobble for a moment. The exertion was too much, though, and the light on his horn died right before his head hit the table.

"Magical exhaustion blows," he muttered.

Scope caught the plate and floated it over to him. Once he lifted his head again, she magicked over a piece of fritter.

"Say ahh," she said. He obligingly opened his mouth for her, not so proud as to be unable to admit when he needed help. Plus, if he tried to do it himself, Ledger knew he'd wind up with apple on his face. Being fed like a child from somepony not much bigger than one herself was only slightly less embarrassing than trying and failing to go it alone.

"Aww, that is simply adorable!" Rarity smiled, as Scope blushed profusely.

"S-Shut up! I'm only doing this because he's so hopeless!"

Pinkie giggled at her, "Oh wow, you're so tsundere Scopey!"

The Changeling nymph blinked at looked at Ledger. "Is that some weird pony insult? Should I be insulted?"

He merely smirked at the nymph around his mouthful of fritter. Far more fun to let her discover the meaning of the word on her own...

“You suck,” she muttered as she jammed another forkful of fritter into his mouth.

Twilight just smiled at the exchange before she looked at Midnight. “I have a request, if you don’t mind Midnight?”

“Hm, okay?” she blinked, curious as to what a Princess could want from her.

“You see, this castle is pretty new to me, and there’s one room in particular where nothing in it makes sense. It looks like a lot of guard equipment though. Do you think you could take a look at it tomorrow?”

“Sure,” Midnight nodded as she swallowed a mouthful of cake. Oh sweet Celestia that was good cake! And guard stuff huh? It had seemed like forever since she last did something of that nature.

“Can we see!?” Scootaloo asked excitedly.

“Um, no.” Twilight nodded. She wasn’t certain what was in that room, but she was dead certain that the Crusaders shouldn’t have access to it.

Ledger swallowed his latest forkful of fritter, before turning his gaze on Midnight. "You promise to keep your hooves to yourself while you're helping Her Highness?"

Midnight tilted her head and closed her eyes, looking like she was deep in thought.

“Middy?” Cider asked.

“Hold on...I’m thinking.”

“Midnight,” the Earth mare said, more sternly this time.

“Fine, fine," Midnight giggled and nodded to Ledger with a cheeky smile. “I promise not to use my hooves.”

"That's about as good as we're getting from you," He grumbled good-naturedly. "I'll take it."

Both Scope and Cider nodded, they’d best prepare to get an Alicorn for a marefriend.

“So, what exactly are we doing tonight?” Rainbow asked the princess. “Cause sitting around talking all night sounds super lame.”

“Well, I don’t have my ‘Slumber Parties 101’ book anymore,” Twilight sighed, wishing she’d memorised that book.

“Games!” the CMC echoed. “We should totally play....” They ran around the table and tagged Scope on the back. “You’re it!!” they giggled before running off.

Scope narrowed her eyes. “Seriously?”

Cider shrugged as everypony looked at Scope, the mare sighing as she got down from her seat. She licked her lips and chased after the three fillies, who cackled as the game got into full swing.

“Well at least she's keeping them occupied," the drone observed. "And vice versa."

“And now we have a fillysitter, we can par-tay!” Pinkie giggled as she pulled out a few bottles of cider and beamed widely.

“Ohhh, is that what I think it is?” Rainbow asked hopefully.

“You mean some of mah ‘Apple Family Reserve’?” Applejack smiled coyly. “Why yes, yes it is!”

“Aw yeah!” Rainbow cheered as Pinkie poured a few mugs. “You want some Ledgie?”

"I'm recovering from magical exhaustion, and I get drunk really easily. It's probably not the best idea for me to have any." He still watched the mugs being passed around as though they were absolutely fascinating.

“I think I’ll pass as well,” Midnight nodded. While she probably shouldn’t because of her ordeal, it certainly never stopped her in the past. But it also didn’t seem fair to Ledger if he was the only one that couldn’t. Though, he didn’t have to know that~

“More for me~” Rainbow grinned, now nursing three mugs. Twilight just rolled her eyes as she sipped at her own drink.

“Sorry I can’t help you Mr. Ledger,” the alicorn sighed. “I could try a magical transfer, give you a little bit of my magic, but I have no idea how alicorn magic would react with a Changeling.”

"Its fine, I'll recover eventually, as long as I'm still loved," he waved off the alicorn's concerns..

“Well alright, if you insist,” Twilight nodded.

The rest of the party went swimmingly, despite any lingering concerns the Bearers had about having a Changeling in the castle. Midnight and Rainbow had gotten into an argument about who could beat who. It was some Level Logic to the rescue, saying that Rainbow would win in a race, but she lacked the talent, experience or will to beat the Thestral in a fight.

And eventually, it was time for bed. Twilight had given Ledger and his mares a room to stay in, though it lacked a bed large enough for the four of them. It had two double beds to share, and given that they were a part of the room itself, moving them was impossible.

“Well buck, now what do we do?” Scope muttered.

That hadn’t stopped the Thestral from pinning the Changeling drone to one of the beds, passionately kissing him. He eventually got up for air, and looked to the princess still standing in the doorway.

"Think you could move the mattresses to the center of the room? Make one large bed out of it?"

“Hmm, I wonder if I could...?” She closed her eyes and opened them a moment later, filled with a brilliant white light as her wings flared and her horn shone. The light filled the room as everypony shielded their eyes and once it dimmed, it quickly became apparent to what the alicorn had done.

The second bed was gone and the first was now significantly larger. Twilight wobbled a bit as she put a hoof to her head.

“Phew... re-arranging matter is harder than I thought...”

"Midnight. No." Ledger instinctively cut off the upcoming offer his mare was about to make.

“Aww,” Midnight pouted. Ledger was getting too good at predicting her. She’d have to up her game one of these days. “And here I thought that the bed wasn’t the only thing she could make bigger~”

“You are incorrigible,” Twilight sighed.

“Then I’m back to normal then,” Midnight giggled. He rolled his eyes, but gave her a kiss anyway.

"You know we love you Songbird."

“Well duh, I’m awesome,” Midnight giggled. “Not to mention smart, sexy, talented, irresistible, sexy, amazing, humble, sexy and overall Best Pony...also, I’m pretty damn sexy~”

"Yep, you're back to normal alright." he gave Twilight a warning glance. "I suggest you flee before she actually tries to convince you to stay. One thing she didn't mention was that she's also very convincing."

“Ah, I knew I forgot something,” Midnight blinked as she gave a flap of her wings and landed next to Twilight. “So Princess Bookworm, wanna try a traditional slumber party experience?”

Twilight blinked and tilted her head as Midnight grinned and leaned closer.

“Kissing practise of course~”

There was a flash and Twilight teleported from the room as Midnight lasted all of about three seconds and fell over laughing.

"Ten Bits says she'll be back to try and read my book when we're all asleep," The Changeling drone commented from the bed. He winced as the bat pounced on him again, her eyes sparkling.

“Well she can have the book, I have what I want right here~”

Ledger tapped his horn once, to remind Midnight that he couldn't do much on his own end.

“Silly buggy, like I’d let you move even if you could.” She turned to the other two and he felt a burst of lust roll off of her. “Oh ladies? Care to give me a hoof over here? I believe that I have been missing out on many happenings here and I wish to correct that!”

The nymph and earth mare nodded and smiled, moving so they were lying on either side of Ledger. The Thestral gave a satisfied smirk and turned back to her stallion.

“Let the service begin~”

"I could get used to this," the drone observed, the amount of lust clouding his better judgement. Combined with the fact that he had been missing Midnight just as much, along with his magical exhaustion, he neglected to make sure of one very important fact before anything started.

Namely, whether they were all 'safe' to play with or not...

Chapter 44 - Paints, Palettes, and Precious Pony Princesses

The sun rose on the Crystal Empire, though it looked a little shaky. Painted Palette frowned as he watched it. It lacked the normal grace of Celestia’s sun...hell, it lacked the grace of a drunken Parasprite.

Wondering if his newest freeloader was awake, he trudged out of his room and into the kitchen.

“You up kid?” he asked, his voice a bit dry from not having slept. He was greeted with a mug of coffee being shoved into his face, in a familiar magical aura.

"Your coffee, and I'm working on breakfast. You like eggs?" she asked from in front of the range.

The stallion blinked as his sleep-addled mind comprehended this. Several conclusions were reached and were promptly banished to the deepest parts of the Crystal Mines.

“Thanks,” he said in a barely comprehensible mutter as he took the mug. He took a seat at the table and sipped at it, hissing when it scalded his tongue. “Gah! Hot!”

"Only just made it," she commented as she turned back to the frying pan she had found. "Might I suggest an ice cube or two if you simply must drink it now?"

“S’fine, and eggs are fine,” he replied as he lay his head on the table. “Dammit...need sleep...”

The mare paused before cracking any eggs in the pan. "Do you mean to suggest... That you stayed up all night?" Her tone had turned just as icy as the wastes outside the shield. His ear flicked as he lifted his head slightly.

“Insomnia...happens from time to time.”

"I see," she replied before cracking a few eggs in the pan. "Have you tried looking into controlling it? Going without sleep isn't really healthy... Like most of your life decisions. The only difference is, I don't blame you for this one."

“Doesn’t happen often, so I never bothered,” Damn those eggs smelled good. Maybe having a mare around wasn’t... He just snorted and continued to lay on the table. His eye caught the painting she’d done last night and a small smile worked it’s way onto his face.

"So how long will it be before you'll be able to sleep again?" Critical put a little shredded cheese into the pan, along with some salt and pepper.

“Eh, I’ll nap later,” he said. He could have slept now really, but there was no way he was missing on that breakfast she was making. “Didn’t pick you for a morning pony kid.”

"My brother and I are total opposites in some areas. He loves to read, I enjoy my art. I get up early every day, he stays up and burns the midnight oil whenever nopony is around to stop him. Fortunately, we can both cook." And this set was done, plate and serve to grumpy stallion.

Said grumpy stallion looked at the meal, it was a damn sight better than anything he could hope to cook. “Thanks for the food,” he said. Though he didn’t eat yet. He was waiting for her first.

"You're welcome, mine will be a minute, so feel free to start if you want," she said before turning back to the range. Sort of the downside of only having one frying pan.

“If you insist,” he said as he picked up a fork with his hoof and dug in. His eyes widened slightly as he chewed slowly.

“I think that painting isn’t the only thing you have a talent for.”

"We were all taught to be somewhat self sufficient, part of that was cooking lessons. My bigger brother and I took to them really well. My little brothers are fighting it, but they are still able to make simple things." She flipped the eggs in the pan to make sure they were done on both sides. "It's been a little while since I actually cooked though. Mostly I prepared little snacks for my gatherings. It's nice to put my lessons to use again."

“I should show you the art of cheese and wine at sunset,” he hummed as he ate. “It’s a fine way to end a day.”

"Perhaps one day," the disguised nymph replied. Just a little longer and- done! She turned the heat off, plated her own set, and joined her host at the table.

He observed the mare out of the corner of his eye. The way her eyes moved, her ears giving the occasional slight twitch. Even as he ate, he was committing these details to memory. She eventually noticed him staring, but took it the completely wrong way.

"What? Is there something on my face?"

He blinked, he wasn’t expecting to be caught, but fate held out a helping hoof as he touched his cheek, indicating to a few crumbs on her own. She gently brushed them away before smiling warmly at her host.

"Aww, thank you! Such a thoughtful stallion~"

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled. What the hay was he doing, staring at a mare half his damned age. “So what’s your plan to meddle in my life today?”

"After breakfast, you're going to get some sleep. Meanwhile, I'm going to perform some basic house maintenance, such as cleaning. We'll go from there when you wake up."

Palette grunted as he finished his breakfast and sighed. “You don’t have to clean my house...but I’m learning that arguing with you is a lost cause.”

"An intelligent stallion as well," Critical commented before eating a bite of her own eggs. Once the bite was gone, she winked at him. "Don't you worry, the house will be spic and span before you know it!"

“Fine, just stay out of my room...I’d hate to think what you’d do around me in my sleep.” he got up as a few joints cracked. He’d spent far too long sitting still. He motioned to the room that held most of his paintings. “And stay out of that room over there. I mean it kid!”

"Can do," she all but chirped at him. And then her gaze went sultry again. "And are you sure you don't want me around when you're in your bedroom?" Her response came with the sound of a door closing and locking behind him...

"Ah well, maybe one day," she chuckled to herself. Breakfast done, she had another task in front of her.

This house... Needed to be cleansed.

Celestia looked rather chipper today. Brass was on his way after he’d performed his ‘royal duties’. He still had his own work to attend to after all. But he certainly earned his name, that much was a given.

But now what to do with her newest problem-child?

Well, she’d solve this the way she solved a lot of problems.

She stared down at the green-haired mare from her throne. Her steeled gaze not flinching in the slightest. “So, your grandfather has left you here, as I seem to be the one that will decide your punishment.” Her neutral expression tilted towards a smile. “Tell me Chryssie. Are you a gambling mare?”

"After last night playing with your sister and her stallion, I'm rethinking my original pose on the idea," the would-be queen grumbled.

“Do I really want to know what you were playing?” Celestia raised an eyebrow. Chryssie just grumbled a little.

"Not important. Where were you going with this idea?"

“Oh, well I was feeling a little playful, but it seems you haven’t had coffee yet. Is it just me? Or would the entire Changeling race have died out by now if it wasn’t for that stuff?”

"I dread to imagine what might happen if you weren't a morning mare," Chrysalis sniped back.

“The night. Shall last. FOREVER!!” A voice called out from somewhere. “....Or at least an hour or so longer!”

Celestia fought the urge to facehoof and looked at Chrysalis. “Yes, well, anyway. I have decided on what punishment you shall receive.”

"What's it gonna be? Blast me with your pet rocks? Lock me in the dungeons?" The queen took a sip of her coffee that had been so graciously provided before her tone turned sarcastic. "Or maybe both?! Blast me and then lock me up?"

Celestia floated out about a half dozen small stones. “Aw, how did you guess?” She flung one stone as it shot off at blinding speed, embedding itself in a nearby marble pillar.

"...You're kidding. You're kidding, right?" Chrysalis couldn't look away from the pillar.

“Well. if you don’t like that option, I have another that might not add any more holes in your chitin.”

The Changeling nymph rapidly nodded her assent to the idea without even bothering to ask what it was.

“Excellent! I’ll have a carriage prepared immediately,” Celestia beamed brighter than her sun as she called her assistant Raven. “Twilight is going to love having you over.”

It was only then Chrysalis realized what she had signed up for, and began swearing profusely and interchangeably between Equestrian and Changeish.

“Um Highness?” Raven queried as she watched the raving mare. “Is she...okay?”

“Oh yes, this is a foreign delegate, who I am sending to see Twilight. She’s just...happy.”

“I will tear out your-” the rest of her spiel was cut of via Tia’s magic. The Alicorn smiled and nodded.

“Yes, quite happy.”

Critical had finished dusting in the living room, something Palette apparently never did. The disguised nymph then moved back into the kitchen, to better organize his cabinets and drawers. If there was one thing this house was going to be besides clean, it was organized.

Sadly, some of the larger, more involved messes would have to wait until she found his cleaning supplies. Something she was starting to doubt he had, but hope springs eternal. Perhaps somewhere in here she would find something along the lines of a bar of soap outside of the bathroom.

Speaking of, that was going to be her next stop, when she worked up the stomach for it. When she eventually swallowed her fears and stepped inside, she discovered that it was actually surprisingly clean. Well, small miracles seemed to be the flavour of the day today.

It had modern plumbing and whatnot, such as a bath and working shower. And a bucket of cleaning supplies sat in one corner, but they were covered in the dust of ‘never-used’. It was also a little odd, that the architecture of the bathroom didn’t quite fit in with the rest of the home...

Deciding to take it as it came, Critical closed the door for a moment of privacy and dropped her illusion. More than a little mess had clung to her form, so she did the prudent thing. The next thing in this house that was getting clean was her.

The bath was quite large, but some inspection showed not a single blemish. No hoof scuffs, or marks left by the water. This tub had never been used, so she figured he just used the shower. A shame really, it was a nice bath.

Deciding not to waste too much time, she opted for a quick shower and after taking a moment to work out which knob was the hot water one, she was humming a small tune as she bathed.

****

Painted Palette’s door clicked open as the stallion stepped out, stretching his legs and yawning. That dream had been...weird.

He mumbled something and stumbled towards the bathroom, he really needed to take a leak. He nudged the door opened and stepped inside. It felt nice and warm in here for some reason, and he stepped towards the destination of his quest, his eyes still closed in the half-asleep state he was in.

That was about when he heard the scream. The very high, very shrill scream. He put a hoof to his ear and winced.

“Ow, what the...buck...” It took him a second to realise where he was and who else was in there. He squeezed his eyes shut and bolted from the room, slamming the door behind him.

"...I'll be done in a minute," the voice of Critical said from beyond the door, sounding sheepish for once. "Cleaning up your house is hazardous work. I can hardly do a good job if I'm messy myself."

“Sorry...I didn’t mean to...” Why was he blushing so hard? He didn’t even see anything. And the only difference in her appearance was that she was wet instead of dry... No, bad mental images! He just thunked his head against the table a few times and pulled out some parchment and a piece of charcoal. Yeah, a nice quick sketch would calm him down.

....He ended up sketching her.

Dammit!

She eventually emerged from within his bathroom, a towel wrapped around her head to hold her wet mane up. Her tail had no such adornment. "Bathroom is free, and I am going to quickly see to my mane."

“Yeah, sure thanks,” he mumbled as he made a hasty retreat to the bathroom, forgetting about his little sketch on the table. It was a simple charcoal portrait of Critical, but it had a surprising amount of detail, especially the eyes. It was almost like looking in a mirror that was stuck on a monotone colour setting.

She found it rather endearing, and picked it up with her magic to better observe the detail he had put into it. She was so entranced she completely forgot about doing her mane. Palette eventually returned, his regain composure falling away when he saw what she was looking at.

“What are you doing?” he asked gruffly. “That ain’t even worth looking at.”

"I disagree," she returned. "You can't have had longer than 3 minutes to sketch this, but the amount of detail in here is stunning. On the whole I'd say this is rather flattering, but that's bordering on narcissism."

“Yeah, cause you’ve been really modest up until now,” he snarked back at her. And it was true really, it was far from his best work, just a simple sketch. “Whatever. Keep it if you want.”

"My brother is the one that keeps and records everything... But on the whole I rather like it. I think I will, thank you, it'll probably help me remember you when you finally get fed up with me and kick me out."

He paused mid-step. He could, couldn’t he? Just kick her out. She was trespassing and he could just throw the kid out on her rump and get back to his life.

His simple, boring, quiet life...

“You haven’t pissed me off that much yet,” he muttered as he put on a pot of coffee. She beamed at him happily before untying the towel wrapped around her head, letting her mane flow free. The stallion's breath hitched and that small blip of lust that flowed out was hard to miss.

As was his yelp when he spilled hot-coffee on himself.

Critical's first thought was to his well-being, so she rushed into the kitchen to help him with the small problem that had arisen. "Are you okay? Do you need any help or burn ointment?"

“I’m fine,” he grumbled, dabbing at his chest with a damp cloth. Stupid, sexy mare....

"If you're sure," she replied, not sounding convinced in the slightest. "So I was thinking, now that you're awake and not in there, I'll clean up your bedroom next."

The stallion winced and fixed his trademark scowl on her. “No, you’re not going in there. Ever. Got that?”

"You say that now, but wait until you see what I did to the kitchen... And the living room. Give me half an hour with the cleaning supplies I found, and the rest of the house will be nice and clean too. Then tell me you don't want me go in certain areas and I'll believe you." If smug could be distilled into one expression, that mare was wearing it.

“You could have turned this place into the Royal Palace,” he said as he looked in the kitchen. It was a lot cleaner than before. Just like when his...

“Stay out of my room!” he said, slightly harsher than he might have meant to as he walked back into said room and slammed the door.

Critical sighed as she walked back into the bathroom to retrieve the supplies she had uncovered. She had a lot of work to do... In more than one sense.

It was about an hour or so before the stallion eventually returned. He’d acted liked a damned fool. She upset him, through no fault of her own and he’d thrown a temper tantrum like a foal. She didn’t deserve that.

He stopped as he looked around his home, it was like a completely different building. Everything was neat and tidy, organised...

Not an artists home, that’s for sure.

“Now where is that kid?” he muttered, looking around. The most delicate of snores caught his attention. Another one helped him pinpoint it, it was coming from his living room. When he finally got there to investigate it, the expected scene of the mare curled up on his couch, napping away the afternoon after all of her hard work met his eyes. He gave an amused snort as he looked at her. She really was quite pretty.

“Bah, and like she’d be interested in an old grump like me,” he muttered. Well, there wasn’t much he could do while she slept...except maybe tidy that room up. He trudged over to his storeroom and stepped inside, lighting the candles and filling the rarely used room with a gentle glow. There were stacks of paintings everywhere, as well as two large ones hung on the far wall, both covered with a heavy cloth. He just stopped and stared at those paintings...the one on the left, was his life...

The one on the right, was the one that took that life away.

He frowned again as he took the feather duster and went to work.

Critical yawned as she woke up. When she noticed the time, she realized her short nap on the couch had become something more of a two hour affair.

On the bright side though, this was the perfect time for tea. She ambled into the kitchen and set a pot of water to boil, while she looked around for the tea blends. She wasn't sure what a stallion was doing with tea blends, but she had noticed one she'd been meaning to try. It sounded local, which to her meant foreign and exciting. And her brother wasn't the only one up for new experiences.

By the time she had made small snack sized sandwiches to go with the tea, the water was boiling. She took it off and waited a moment before pouring into teapot she had, again, found. She was rapidly coming to a conclusion about this house...and its inhabitant. One she was ashamed about, both in her exploiting of it, and in the length of time it took for her to reach it.

Painted Palette finally emerged from the dusty room, coughing lightly as he looked around, noticing the now bare couch.

“Hey kid? You still here?”

"In here," she called from the dining room as she set the tea to steep. He walked in, noticing that she’d prepared lunch as well.

“You got a minute?” he asked. “I want...your opinion on something.”

"Certainly," she said before gesturing for him to sit down. "Take a load off, tell me what's on your mind."

“No, I want to show you something,” he said and turned, heading back to the store room. Curious, she followed him and once she was inside, he motioned to the two covered paintings.

“First, I want to apologise for earlier. I acted like a spoiled colt and you didn’t deserve that. So, sorry.”

"Forgiven!" she all but chirped at him. "Second? Where there's a one there's usually a two."

He nodded as he reached for the cloth covering the painting on the right, and after a moment's hesitation and a sharp breath, he yanked it down, a cloud of dust obscuring the painting at first.

Then the unmistakable glare of the late King Sombra could be seen adorning the wall. It was...well it was certainly something. If one didn’t know the stallion, then the painting could easily be mistaken for a portrait of a royal unicorn. While the painting portrayed a visage of regality and an indomitable will. It didn’t show him to be the evil monster that he truly was.

"My word," she breathed. "This is... Quite the portrait. After hearing the tales, though, I feel as though I should ask if you did this of your own will or not."

“No, he commissioned me to paint this, as he did with every other artist in the city,” he stared at the piece with an odd look. His emotions were a mix of reverence, anger...and great sadness.

He walked over to the other painting and removed it’s cloth, though he was far more delicate with this one. It was another portrait, that held just as much detail and love, though the subject was vastly different.

It was of a beautiful mare and a young colt. The mare had the purest white coat and sapphire blue eyes. Her mane was a rich chocolate brown and her Cutie Mark was a pink water lily. The colt had the same orange coat as his father, while his mane and eyes matched his mother. His flank was bare though.

"Are these?" Critical breathed. It couldn't be this bad, this situation she'd walked into couldn't be...Even Sombra had some limits...right? She expected the mare, but the colt too?!

“Pure Lily and Golden Fall, my wife and child...well, they were,” he said, his gruff voice cracking slightly. Just looking at piece hurt, it hurt so damn much. “I can tell you their story, if you want to.”

"I think I can guess," Critical set as she looked at the other painting in the room. "I'm guessing he had something to do with it... Probably involving that picture in the first place."

“You’re right, for the most part,” he said, burying his feelings for now. “It was a few years ago...well, a little more than a thousand for you I suppose. Sombra commissioned every artist in the city, whether they wanted to or not, to paint his portrait. The successful one would be given a life of opulence, free of slavery. I couldn’t care about that, but for my family? I’d would've done anything.” He paused here and shuddered.

"But anything wasn't enough, was it?" Critical softly questioned. "All this time, having me around must have..."

“No, it wasn’t enough,” he said. “It wasn’t imposing enough. It wasn’t regal enough. It wasn’t good enough for him!!” The stallion panted from his little outburst as he calmed down. “A few days later? My son died in the Crystal Mines... a cave in they said. I didn’t believe it then, I don’t now.”

"I don't blame you, those are very easy to set off or stage, especially with magic," the mare said before pursing her lips as though she just sucked on a lemon. "I'm not helping, am I?"

“It’s fine, I’m learning to ignore you,” he said with a slight smirk. “But Lily...” He sighed as he placed a hoof against the canvas. “Sombra demanded his Right with her...and she accepted.”

"I don't think I want to hear the rest... But if I don't, I know I'm going to wonder forever, even though the result is plainly obvious." He had her full attention.

“She was a surgeon, one of the finest in the Empire,” he smiled. “She had saved many lives...but losing our son, it...broke her. And then Sombra made his demand.”

"... Something tells me she had a plan when she accepted... One that didn't work out." Critical may have been a green, but she was no slower at picking up the puzzle pieces left lying around than any of her kin.

“As I said, she was the best surgeon...she was quick with a blade...” he sighed as he looked at the paintings. “His magic was quicker...”

"And having me, a magic-wielding mare in your house..." Critical trailed off before heaving a sigh. "I'll pack up and be out of your mane after lunch. I can't see how you could want me around."

“Don’t be stupid, damned kid,” Palette snapped at her. “You think I’d be so biased towards a tool? Get that fool idea out of you head.”

“I'm both a younger mare, and somepony who relies on magic in their day-to-day activities. I don't see how anything I do endears me to you, considering how the last thing you probably want around is a mare wielding the same thing that killed your wife, and one who..." here she actually blushed before looking away.

The stallion sighed again and motioned for her to follow. “I have one more to show you, but...you have to promise not to laugh.”

"I can only promise to make the very best effort not to," she replied after she got her blush under control. He made a note of that as well, her blush was adorable. He led her into his bedroom and a thought occured.

“Heh, looks like you finally got me in my bedroom with you.”

"Were it under other circumstances, I'd be joking right about now, something about what your intentions could be. As it stands, I'm simply curious." Her very expression seemed to radiate intrigue as she followed along.

Once they were there, she noticed the complete state of chaos the room was in. The floor itself was barely visible, the curtains were drawn and the room was only lit by candlelight.

"If not for the fact it would be highly intrusive, I would offer to clean here as well. Something tells me, though, that offer would not go over well."

“You can do as you please after this,” he replied as he turned a canvas around. It was another painting, and the way it glistened showed that it was a recent piece...and she recalled he’d gotten no sleep last night...

It was a picture of the Crystal Empire at sunset, the castle gleaming in all its wonder. But it was the main focus of the picture that got her attention.

It was her, in a half-turn with a soft smile on her face. It had all the realism that his other pieces had, looking more like a window to the recent past than anything else. If that sketch was something he could do in just a few minutes, then this is what he could do with a whole night...

"You painted... Me?" The blush and slight shock on face were as evident as the green in her fur. "Do you have... No, you can't know what it means to me. I never told you..."

“I should have asked,” he said quietly. “But...during that moment? I just can’t get this image out of my head. Of that stubborn, nosy brat that’s made my life a little better.”

"I don't take issue with you painting me, it just means so much..." Here she move to softly stand in front of the painting. "When I started this, I had hoped just to meet a fellow artist. When I saw how far you had fallen, I became determined to be the one to motivate you to motivate yourself. And when I started to think that maybe I was intruding where I wasn't wanted... I feared I would have to leave. But this..."

“Maybe at first, you were just a pain in my ass,” he replied truthfully. “But, I needed that kick in the flank I guess. I just hope you like this is all...”

"It's beautiful, more beautiful than I deserve really. If you knew... You would have never painted this if you knew anything about me." For the first time since she had come into his home, the mare appeared genuinely sad and worried.

“It’s not as beautiful as the real thing,” he murmured. But what did she mean by ‘If you knew’? He apparently was going to find out. She took a few deep breaths as if to steel herself before a small trickle words eked out.

"I belong... Or sought to belong to a group of mares that love art and artists, so much that we try to inspire one to create the other. Membership in this group is determined by how well you take care of an artist should they need it. The lowest rung is finding one. The next rung is of course inspiring them, and so on up until you reach the penultimate stage: being drawn yourself."

“So...” Palette frowned as he looked at her. “I just...got you into this little club or something?”

"You almost have the right of it," she giggled, a little more like herself. "The best stage is being drawn so well that it could be a masterpiece." She sighed, resuming her downcast expression before saying the next bit. "Sadly, though, there is one stipulation: I have to show you something. Something that might make you want to throw me out. And please keep in mind: I wasn't thinking about that club when I first came here. All that information just came to the forefront of my mind when I saw this wonderful painting."

“Well, at least it’s good to hear that I wasn’t just a means to an end,” he chuckled slightly. “But like I said, you’re a pain in my ass. I doubt there’s anything you could do to make me throw you out at this point. Unless you destroyed one of my paintings, but I know you won’t do that.”

"No, I wouldn't, but I will give you a hint. What's my favorite medium?" Even with those words, her horn had lit up with a pale green glow.

“Illusions right? Because you can’t art without them?” His smirk was so wide it almost hurt. She smiled at him again.

"I more choose not to. Allow me to present...myself." And with that, the female in front of him shimmered and changed. Painted Palette looked at the new and improved Critical Eye and raised an eyebrow.

“Well...uh, that’s an...interesting form. Is that what you kids are into these days?”

"...I have a lot to talk with you about," she sighed.

That story had taken... a while, and once she was finished, the stallion that had listened patiently to the whole thing just stared pensively at her. After a moment of painful silence, he cleared his throat and licked his dry lips.

“So...this is what you really look like. The ponies of Equestria mostly fear and/or despise your kind, and you consume emotions?”

"That's the basic gist of it," she replied. "There are of course finer details, but I hardly think they matter at this juncture, as you most likely want me gone..."

He gave her a hard stare before settling in for his trademark frown. “Knew you were stubborn and bossy, didn’t think you also like putting word in my mouth Missy.”

"What pony would want to keep this around?" She gestured with a hoof to herself. The stallion snorted as he walked past her and towards the living room, mostly so she could see the snarky smile on his face.

“Doesn’t bother me none, but at least I know why you kept bugging me for so long~”

She blinked before a small smile crossed her face, involuntarily. "Did you just..." Critical followed after as her mind slowly kicked back on. "You did not just make a bug pun around me."

“Oh, says the mare that has constantly been flirting with a grieving widower,” he said with a hurt tone. She winced at that one; that barb had stung a little more than he knew.

"Have I said sorry about that yet? Because I am. I kept trying to act like some of the older Muses, and that includes using some of the things that one of my stepfathers taught me. If you want me to stop, I will."

The stallion turned so she could see his cocky smile. “For somepony that can read emotions, you’re pretty terrible at reading ponies.” He walked over and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Look, I’ll admit that I think about them, a lot. But the past...was a long time ago. You couldn’t have known until I told you. And if I really was that upset, you really think you’d still be here?”

"I'm sorry," she apologized again. "It's just, you're the first pony I've interacted with outside of the Lands, and I didn't want to screw this up, so I kept doing what I thought was best for you... You're my first ever actual relationship, you know? How bucked up is that?"

“Oh, so this is a relationship now?” he quirked an eyebrow. She became so much more interesting now. “Seems that kids these days move far too quickly for an old stallion like myself.”

"You're still a creative, wonderful stallion," she replied. "You just needed a little help remembering, and now that that's done, I can't see any reason for you to want me to be around...”

He turned and looked out of the window at the slowly setting sun. “Hey ki-... Miss Critical. Grab that basket over there and follow me.”

Curious despite herself, the nymph did as instructed. A small ember of hope began to flare in her chest...

Once outside, he led her to the hill that she recognised from the painting he’d done of her. He sat on the soft grass and patted the spot next to him.

“Here. Sit.” She joined him without a word, just watching the sunset with him. He opened the basket and pulled out the wine bottle and two glasses. He also produced a small container filled with some roughly sliced cheese. After he poured her a glass and set it next to her, he sighed contently.

“It’s nice here, isn’t it?”

"I can see why you come out here," she responded with a slight nod. "There's just something soothing about this area..."

“Give it a moment,” he hummed, sipping his wine. He made sure to choose one with a low alcohol content. As he lowered his glass, the sun slipped behind the castle and his favourite moment occurred. The sunlight engulfed the crystal spires and bathed the hillside in a multitude of rainbow hues. The castle itself looked like it was on fire, erupting in flashes of oranges and reds. The sky was slipping into the first stages of twilight, the subtle purples complimenting the scene perfectly.

"Oh wow," The Changeling breathed. "How anypony could live up here and not be an artist escapes me after having seen that."

“I ask myself that all the time,” Palette chuckled. “This sight here? It was this spot where I got my Cutie Mark, and where I met Lily for the first time...” He smiled fondly for a moment and looked at her. “And now I’ve met you as well Miss Critical. I’d say this is definitely my favourite spot in all of Equus now.”

"I'm sure it has more to do with - you...used my name..." now she was really looking at him, her slitted eyes widened out of slight shock.

“Well, calling you ‘kid’ all the time might have been getting a little old.” His eyes twinkled with long forgotten mischief. “Maybe ‘grub’ or ‘nymph’ might be better eh?”

"Oh sure, repay me for being honest by getting specific with your insults," she fired back, though there was no fire or real bite to her voice at all.

“Eye for an eye flygirl,” he smirked. “Seriously though, why me? Why of all the cranky old stallions in the world, did you choose to annoy me?”

"Do you remember selling a painting to a, as I'm sure you would put it, 'a cocky colt who knew a thing, maybe two, about paint'?" Critical's eyes danced with merriment at this question. Palette tapped his chin and swallowed another mouthful of the fruity wine.

“Hmm, oh! That chatty Unicorn from the fair. And he did mention that somepony would likely come visit me because of it...” He smiled again, it was starting to become a habit. “And he mentioned one other thing as well.”

"My older step-brother took a while to teach proper respect for art...and what did he mention?" Now she was curious.

“That my visitor would be cute and single,” he said as he took a bite of cheese. “Guess he was right.” And that was when he learned that changelings can blush through chitin.

"I...highly doubt my brother made an observation like that," Critical replied, taking a gulp of wine to steady her nerves.

“It’s pretty much what he said, and I find that I can’t disagree.” Her reaction did not go unnoticed and now the shoe was on the other hoof. Hmmm...

“I came here to show you something beautiful, guess I had that at home all along hm?”

"Like you would ever pay attention to a nymph like me," she muttered, turning away to hide the fact that her face had nearly become completely scarlet.

“On the contrary, I now have quite the problem. You see, I went to all that effort to paint that picture of you, to finally rid my head of that image. And now I have another.” He winked at her as he sipped his wine. “You’re quite cute when you blush Missy.”

"I-!" She took another sip of her wine and muttered to herself. "Damn confusing stallion. Won't respond to my signals one day, sends out half a dozen himself the next."

“Oh, so you're all buzz and no sting huh?” Oh these bug puns were fun! She shot him a glare that could have made a Windigo pause.

"Those puns and those other words...I'm not sure if I want to punch you or kiss you." Then she seemed to realize just how honest she'd just been, and gulped thickly before looking away with the brightest blush yet. The stallion chuckled and stood up, packing away the mini-picnic and smiling before he placed a small kiss on the top of her head.

“Let’s go home, it’ll be getting cold soon,” he smirked as he gave his tail a flick. “Or we could just stick you in the sky. You’re burning like a second sun there Missy.”

"Well when you tease back so well-! I'm not helping myself, am I?" With a sigh, the nymph followed along after her host. "Another long night on the couch, yay me..."

“Well, you got the evening,” he said with a thoughtful hum. “Providing you can stop blushing like that.”

"... I got the evening... for what?" She asked with a tilt of her head.

“Well, you convinced me to paint,” he said, leaving the statement hanging as he headed for home. A thud signified how well she took the open-ended statement.

"Check please," the luminescent changeling muttered before passing out due to a lack of blood in any area that wasn't her face. Palette rolled his eyes and sighed. How was he supposed to carry her and the basket?

Two trips later, her first of course, he was now in the middle of preparing dinner. Slicing fruit and vegetables and checking on the pasta. It wasn’t much, but it was about the only thing he could cook well besides toast. Cold pasta and a mixed salad.

Eventually his guest showed herself, looking more sheepish than he had ever seen her. And in her disguise as well. "Um...just...what happened before I passed out? I think I recall something about you returning my teasing?..."

“Something like that,” he grunted as he stirred the pot, which was starting to bubble over. “Argh!”

"Oh gosh, here let me-" her horn lit up and her familiar aura coated the pot. He sighed with relief as she took over the arduous task that is cooking.

“Heh, and I thought I could surprise you with a meal,” he sighed. She just shook her head with a smile.

"Don't get me wrong, it would have been nice, but I'm starting to wonder how to tie this all together..." a thought struck her then. "Got any oil-based dressings hanging around? I can make this into pasta salad with that and a bit of cheese, we can have the fruit for dessert."

“Uhh...” She might as well have asked him what his thoughts were on modern magical theory. “Try the top cupboard?”

A quick check revealed a simple enough dressing for her purposes, and a glance in the sink showed that he'd at least thought that far ahead by putting a colander in. That was when things got delicious.

Checking and draining the pasta, the mare then put it in a large bowl and coated it liberally with the dressing and grated cheese. Making sure the noodles were evenly coated, she then quickly diced the vegetables and stirred them in before separating her concoction into two bowls. Serving one to Palette, she waited for his verdict on dinner with baited breath.

He took a bite and chewed slowly, once, twice, then swallowed.

“Well...” he hummed lightly.

"It would have better with olive oil, I know," she sighed. "Or maybe a lighter cheese, or-"

“With cooking like this, you’d make a fine wife for some lucky stallion,” he continued despite her rambling. She blushed again, looking away before replying.

"You're just saying that...nopony would want me, especially not if they knew..."

“You keep saying that, yet here you are,” he said, looking up from his plate. “I don’t know what things are like in Equestria, but here? I reckon you’d be hard-pressed to find a local that’d have a problem with your appearance. You’re different, so what. So are Crystal Ponies, so are all those regular ponies, or Griffons, or them bat-horses. How are you any different than any of them?”

"I'm an ugly parasite that can't shape-shift and has to rely on illusions to survive?" She replied with more than a little sarcasm.

He sighed as he finished his meal rather quickly. He trotted into his room and returned with a small canvas and a few paints and brushes. He sat back down and begun to paint, his eyes narrowed in concentration as he looked at the nymph every now and then. She blushed a little at the attention, before deciding to roll with it and eat as though nothing was happening.

After a half hour he nodded and put the canvas down, turning around so she could see. It was a simple portrait of her, as she truly looked. Her sparkling emerald eyes, the smooth black chitin. It was quite a faithful reproduction.

“I see a lovely mare with an even lovelier heart,” he said. “The canvas never lies. If I didn’t like you, then I’d never be able to produce something of this quality.”

She blushed yet again as she wondered how often she could do that before it was stuck that way. "Then...you really want me here?" She asked, almost too faint to hear.

“Have I kicked you out yet?” he asked her back. “Cause unless I’m getting senile in my old age, there’s a cute mare still sitting at my table.”

She took a breath before dropping her disguise. "And now?"

“Now there’s a cute bug sitting at my table,” he shrugged. “I fail to see a downside here.”

She decided to test the waters and slowly walked around to face him. After a moment to steel her nerves, she leaned forward and gave him the tiniest of pecks on the cheek. He didn’t pull away, or push her away, so those immediate fears were banished. A quick read of his emotions showed him to be...confused?

“Can I...ask you something?” he finally spoke. “What is it, that you want, what you expect of me?”

"...Just...somepony that likes me," she returned. "Somepony I can help, and somepony that doesn't mind me for who or what I am...I'm not going to ask for love, I know I don't deserve it..."

“Love huh?” the stallion wilted a little at that word. “I...don’t know, if I can give you that.”

"It's why I don't ask," she said before suddenly hugging him. "Still, it'd be nice to be...appreciated."

“I already do that, my cute little muse,” he said with a soft smile. “And I can’t promise you love, because I don’t know if I can. But...” he sighed as he returned the hug. “I suppose you’ll never know if you don’t stick around hm?”

"Let's start with that appreciation...and hint of lust, and go from there," she said, only half-teasing. "You still find me attractive?"

“Said I can’t love,” he replied. “I’m still a stallion though, and you’re working your way up to be in a heap of trouble Missy.”

"I bet I am," she said as a blush started to spread on her face. "If I asked you what you intend to do about it...?" She purposely trailed off, letting him fill in the rest.

“Well, guess you’ll have to wait and see,” he said back. Toying with her a little was fun, especially to see that cute blush of hers. “But right now, I wouldn’t mind seeing some of that illusion art of yours.”

"I suppose I could," she hummed, still not letting go. "But this is awfully cozy~"

The stallion huffed and let out a long sigh. “Ah well, guess I’ll just go on believing that magic isn’t art then. Don’t worry though, I’ll teach you how to paint, how to do real art.”

The Changeling nymph frowned before her horn lit up again, only this time it wasn't her that she was coating in her magic. The edges of the room began to glow as well, and slowly but surely Palette's dining area was replaced with a familiar view.

The view of the palace as the sun hit it just right. There wasn't a detail out of place from this beautiful sight.

Palette let out a low whistle as he got up and looked around. He almost wondered if they been teleported back to that time. “A pretty impressive re-creation,” he smiled. He looked back at her and he felt a challenge brewing. “How about something with a little more...imagination?”

"Fire away," she replied, not letting her horn's glow die for a moment.

“Well, I’m leaving that up to you. Whatever your imagination can conjure,” he grinned. “Let’s see what lies in that cute little head of yours eh?”

The view around them faded, to be replaced by the sight of a large, underground cavern, the top of which was filled with glowing crystals. Beneath them, he could make out a subterranean city, complete with roads and houses. Attached to the ceiling were much larger houses, at least, he assumed they were by the door he saw embedded into the side of one. In the distance, there was something resembling a guard tower piercing through the cavern ceiling.

"Welcome," she said with a small smile. "To a Changeling hive - the Silver one, I believe. Yup, that's the Archives over there." She pointed at a large, imposing building beneath them with one hoof.

“I was thinking of something original, maybe abstract...but still,” he looked around at the display with a satisfied expression. “Who’dve thought places like this existed...”

"Not most ponies, that's for sure," she chirped. "And that means over here..." The view shifted again to a close-up of one of the houses attached to the ceiling. "Welcome to my home!"

“Interesting place you have here,” he nodded. The crystals provided decent light, but it still took a moment for his eyes to adjust. “So this is where you grew up as a little bug huh?”

"Yup," she said as the world around them kept shifting. "There's some tactical reason behind having our homes so high up, but I never learned it myself." By now they were slowly taking a tour of the house, which except for the fact that it was underground and carved out of stone, was eerily similar in many respects to a pony's...

Deciding to have a little fun, he moved next to her as he looked around. Once he was in position, he gave her a subtle nudge and winked. “So, which way to your room then?”

She blushed a little at the implication, before she cleared her throat and began to explain. "For structural reasons, my little brothers can't room next to each other, and me and my older brother can't stand one another. And don't ask about my sister. Just...don't." The view began to pan down one hallway. "I bunk down here with my father, we understand each other fairly well."

“Must be tough to get any privacy with such a large family,” he said. It was very...odd, to have the scenery shift around you, rather than walking. He idly wondered if this was what it was like to fly. “Still, explains why you’re so responsible for one your age.”

"I just got done escorting all my younger siblings through Equestria, just to check on my brother. It would have been better if I could have stopped them before we reached the border, but mother was quite understanding." They came to rest outside of the door that led to her room. Not that he could tell, as the writing on the door was in Changeish. "This is me."

The stallion nodded, she’d certainly led quite an interesting life so far. Where as he...

He lamented on a past that even most history books had forgotten...

"So, uh, I dunno about showing you my place...even an illusion of it..." Critical rubbed one hole-riddled foreleg against the other as she looked away. That was when his heart skipped a beat again. Crystals she was cute when she was embarrassed,

But he had an idea to see an even cuter expression.

“Tell you what, why don’t you wait to show me personally eh?”

"Like you'd ever go far enough south to see my brother, much less the Lands," she fired back.

“Well, I wouldn’t,” he admitted. “But, if I had the right travelling companion...”

"Getting you through the border would be a hassle in and of itself," she mock complained. "Fine, I'll show you... Just, try not to laugh?" He crossed his heart with a hoof and nodded. The door slowly opened. And then he saw her room.

It was almost a shame that there was furniture in the room, because the walls, floor, and ceiling had all been painted. Painted to resemble a peaceful forest grove, with a small pond in one corner. There were even 'animals' at the border and a 'sun' overhead, painted around the small light crystal embedded in the ceiling.

“This is...your room?” he inquired. he felt...conflicted. On one hoof, the detail and quality of the paintings were astounding.

And on the other hoof, it had such an air of innocence. Almost like a foals room. And it made him feel so much older now. Truth be told, he had no idea how old Critical was...

Oh sweet Crystals! What if he had been flirting with a child this whole time!?

"I started this when I was very young, barely able to hold a paintbrush long enough to do the sun. Then I added the animals... And then one day dad took me up to the surface to see an actual forest for myself. That was when I decided I was going to make my entire room like that." She walked over to the small fake pond and smiled softly. "Anytime I needed to get away or paint just for painting's sake, I came back and added a little more. One day I looked around and realized it was done."

Okay, he was getting his panic under control and would have a few poignant questions later. He looked around and noticed that she was right. Every inch of this room was painted. “So what happened next?” he inquired.

"Then I learned about my...disability," she said, her mood souring slightly. "It's not a big deal... Unless you want to interact with ponies, which I did one day. The border offices don't let too many who can't transform get a visa; they'd be letting somebug with only half the usual protection against accidental reveals into a land that isn't famous for tolerating us."

“And I’m willing to bet that the Empire was still asleep at this point,” he sighed. For a land that promoted love and peace and all that crap, they were pretty harsh towards anypony that differed too greatly from them, hell, even Zebra’s copped it every now and then.

"Yep, just as you showed up I had a brilliant idea. One inspired by my older brother actually." She sat there with a smug smile on her face, waiting for him to ask the question.

“Oh, me personally or the Empire in general?” he inquired. “Must have been really something to use an idea of the brother you cannot stand.”

"He always had an answer, no matter the insult or situation...but that was because he studied and read constantly. So...I studied and read up on the test to get a visa, and where possible, gamed the system."

“And you tricked your way into Equestria huh?” he smiled as he looked around for his kitchen. He felt like some more coffee, but everything was obscured by the illusion. Oh well...

"It took them some time to admit I hadn't technically broken any rules...by the time I was done playing chaperone to my younger siblings, I got word that my visa application had been approved...as long as I didn't tell any other similarly disabled bug what I'd done." The illusion slowly started to fade around them, revealing his home once again.

“Yes, because Equestria is far better without any adorable bugs running around,” he snarked as he went to his coffee pot. “Well, that raises a question I have actually. It’s kind of personal, but I need to know before we continue.” He took a breath and looked at the mare. “How old are you?”

"18 last month," she replied, a hint of a blush adorning her cheeks at the mention of her being adorable. "And I can kind of see their point: until the unlikely day comes when there is free, true and open peace between the Lands and Equestria... It's too risky letting more like me into Equestria."

The stallion let out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding. Okay, he was still twice her age, but still... She acted far older than she was, and, he was entitled to a little happiness right?

“Well, you’re welcome here for as long as you like,” he said hastily, downing his coffee and then releasing that was a mistake when he burned his tongue.

"As you've said multiple times, in various ways...what does knowing my age have to do with it?" Now she was interested, if the head-tilt was any indication.

“I was just...concerned is all,” he said in a hoarse voice as he swallowed some water. “Don’t worry about it. Just an old stallion overthinking things.”

"If you say so," she replied, blushing a little more as she thought about what relevance her age could have. Surely he couldn't be...

“Still, those illusions are pretty good,” he said, changing the subject for now. “Combine those with a good story, and you’d have quite the money-maker on your hooves.” He finished his water and sighed. It was starting to get late and he had a few ideas for tomorrow.

“Well, I think that’s enough for now. What say we hit the hay hm?”

"I can go for that," Critical said as she headed for the living room, intent on taking up the couch again.

“And where do you think you’re going?’ he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"My 'bed,' such as it is?" She replied with a tone that made him imagine she would be raising her own eyebrow if she could.

“Well, if you want to I suppose,” he shrugged and he nudged his own bedroom door open. “I mean, I have a perfectly good bed in there and a mare does need her beauty sleep... just saying,” he winked as he trotted into the store room. “I’ll be back in a moment.”

She blinked a few times, before her face nearly turned completely bright-red. Then a devious idea crossed her mind, and she decided to show him another ability changelings had.

Inside the storeroom, he stared at the painting of his family and sighed as he gently touched the canvas. “Is this...okay?” he asked it, looking into their eyes. “Am I allowed to be happy again? Has it been long enough?” He wished he could see them again, but they were gone. He couldn’t change that. “I’m going...that start moving again,” he whispered. “I’m going to move forward. So, watch over me eh?” He gave the painting one last look and turned, leaving the room.

By the time he came back, she had disappeared from sight. She wasn't on the bed, the couch, or... Anywhere that he could see.

“The buck...?” he blinked as he walked into his room. “Don’t tell me I pushed her too fast. Great going Palette.”

That was when the form of the nymph crashed into his body from above, her forelegs wrapping around his neck as she chittered happily. The stallion stumbled as his heart nearly leapt out of his chest.

“Stars above!” he yelped as he regained his footing. “Seems my home has an infestation of heart-attack inducing cuteness.”

"It's useful being able to walk on walls, ponies rarely think to look up inside," she replied as she continued to hug him. "Makes sneak hugging attacks so much easier."

“Noted, I’ll pay more attention to the ceiling,” he smirked and tilted his head to kiss her cheek. “Provided your cuteness isn’t being too distracting.”

"Less of the flattery, more snuggling," Critical commanded, though her blush had made a resurgence.

“Oh, but I can do both,” he said as he walked towards the bed. She was surprisingly light. “So uh...you sure, about this?”

"About what?"

“You, me...same bed?” he reminded her, motioning to the furniture a hoofs length away.

"...I'm sure," she eventually responded, knowing her face was probably beet-red. He nodded as he climbed onto the bed, and slowly rolled over so she was now positioned in front of him so he could return the hugs.

“I won’t push you into anything,” he said, noting that despite being covered in a chitinous shell, she was pretty nice to hold. Or perhaps he had just really missed holding somepony else. She simply nuzzled the crook between his head and his neck, taking in his presence, his closeness.

"Hold me?" she eventually asked. "I just want to be held tonight. We can... see about more later."

“That I can do,” he sighed as he hugged her a little tighter. Yeah, he had definitely missed this. “So does that mean I’m stuck with you now?”

"Unless you kick me out, or go to the store and pick up a can of bug spray," she lightly joked.

“Nah, I’m good,” he smiled, nuzzling the back of her neck. “Well, let’s get some sleep. We have a full day tomorrow after all.”

"A muse's job is never done," Critical sighed. "G'night then."

“Aye, I’m looking forward to our date tomorrow,” he said, letting that plan drop. “Good night, don’t let the bedbugs bite.”

"...Wait, date? What date?" His only response was some peaceful-sounding snoring.

"...Fine, but I reserve the right to be creative when I get my revenge," she warned, before snuggling close to him and closing her eyes.

On a train bound for Ponyville, two individuals sat in the train carriage. One was a green-haired mare with a permanent scowl. The other was a Thestral stallion with a rather bored expression as he read the newspaper.

“This isn’t going to work,” she muttered. “Celestia is a friggen idiot.”

“Sometimes,” Grissom chuckled. “But have faith eh. I have it on good authority that Princess Twilight is a little comfortable around your kind now.” And while he could have sent some rank and file guards for this, there was somepony in Ponyville he had to meet. He needed to see if she was okay.

Tomorrow should be quite interesting...

Author's Note

Yes, Critical and Palette are one of our favorite pairings, how did you guess?

Like the story? Consider dropping Aus and me a dollar over on my Patreon.

Half the donations will not be used to fund the building of a death ray.

Chapter 45 - Armor up, little bat! Time to go home.

Chapter 45 - Armor up, little bat! Time to go home.

Ledger woke up the next morning, feeling only slightly drained physically, and that one was with a good reason. Magically, he felt as though he could manage telekinesis today. And once again, he woke up covered in mares.

Not that he was complaining. Heavens no. He could get used to this.

Sweet, caring Apple Cider. Alway there to make him feel at ease.

Brash and disturbingly cute Secret-Treasure. She’d whip him back into line whenever he stepped over it.

And of course, his most treasured mare...who was not here...again.

Hives dammit! And on top of that, he needed to pee! He gently nudged Secret-Treasure so that she and Cider were cuddling each other before he delicately extracted himself from the pile.

Priorities. First, bathroom. Then Midnight. Maybe more snuggling after, time permitting. His list made, the drone wandered into the crystal castle...undisguised and uncaffeinated. He suddenly felt a boundless amount of love pouring from the kitchen, along with a touch of snark. There were at least two someponies in there... with coffee!

"Coffee..." he moaned as he headed in that direction. He could hold it for a little while longer if it meant coffee.

All he got in response was a panicked yelp and a giggle, followed by a snort. Spike had forgotten about the changelings as he dove behind the counter. Pinkie just smiled as she hugged Ledger, filling his nostrils with the overpowering scent of pure sugar.

“Morning Ledgie!” she giggled again.

"Coffee?" He questioned, not quite awake yet.

“Ohh, okay!” she blurred into the kitchen and a few moments later, more than a half-dozen mugs made themselves known. “Weeeeelll, since you didn’t say what kind, I went with everything! We have a flat white, espresso, mocha latte, frappuccino, cappuccino, black and a few others!” Pinkie beamed brightly at the tired ‘ling. “Enjoy!”

Ledger blinked a few times before he spotted the sugar bowl and drew it and the black mug of coffee to himself. Plunking a sugar cube into the cup and sipping from it, he nodded as then his brain started to boot up. He looked at the pink mare and quirked an eyebrow, or would have if he had any. "You seen Midnight this morning?" Hey, if she was going to be pink and unpredictable, he was going to see if she was going to be useful as well.

“Uh-huh,” Pinkie nodded as she mixed all the other drinks into a massive milkshake mug and downed it. “She’s walking around with Twilight. Ooohhh, I wonder if they’re being sneaky? It’s pretty early and Twilight isn’t a morning pony. I bet they wanna be alone and hug or something!”

"I doubt Twilight wants that," the drone replied before his brain registered that there had been another being in the kitchen. He looked to the counter and cleared his throat. "You can come out now."

“Uh, yeah...” Spike eventually emerged, scratching the back of his head. “Sorry, still getting used to this...urp...idea...!” And that sentence was promptly punctuated by a loud belch as a scroll bearing Celestia’s mark materialised. “Sorry bout that,” he smiled apologetically.

"Not your fault, at least, not the second part." The drone pointedly took a sip of his coffee. If he had eyebrows, they would be raised at the young drake.

The dragon just smiled bashfully again as he opened the scroll and read it. As his eyes moved further down the letter, they grew wider and his panic increased, far more that what it was a moment ago.

“She’s kidding...she’s kidding right?” Spike murmured.

"Do I want to know?"

Spike looked at him. He was a Changeling, maybe he’d have some insight on how to deal with this. Twilight was Celestia-knows where, so yeah, this guy was the next best thing right?

“W-Well, this is from Princess Celestia. It says, that she’s sending someone here that could use Twilight’s help. To learn from the Princess of Friendship...”

"Okay, so where does all that panic come into play?" Ledger asked as he looked at Pinkie. He wondered if she knew where a decent breakfast was in this place...

“Because the someone that Princess Celestia is sending...” Spike gulped as Pinkie heaped a pile of pancakes onto the table. “Is...Queen Chrysalis!”

Ledger was suddenly very thankful he wasn't corrupted anymore. As it stood, he still wanted to beat her to a pulp. The drone let a few choice swears in Changeish pass his lips before draining his mug. "Buck this, it's too early. I'm finding a bathroom and going back to bed."

Pinkie had finished putting his pancakes in a ‘to-go’ case as Spike looked at the letter.

“I need to find Twilight,” he murmured as he ran off, leaving Ledger alone with the pink mare.

"You might want to gently wake up your friends, if she is going to be here she might need some deterrence to behaving as she normally would," he verbally prodded the pink mare.

PInkie giggled as she bounced away. “Sorry Ledgie! This alarm clock only has one setting! Oh, and I’ll wake Scopey and Cidey for you as well~” And before he could offer a rebuttal, she was gone. Several yells throughout the castle showed her path of destruction and chaos though.

"...Secure the pancakes first, bathroom second," the drone said before attempting to avoid that which he had inadvertently wrought.

Midnight Song blinked at the room that Twilight had led her to. The Thestral, while she enjoyed cuddles, also needed some morning exercise. The Alicorn had caught her during one of her laps around the castle and figured now was as good a time as any to show her the room.

It was massive, and given that it had no natural lighting and the time it took to get here, the room was underground. When they entered, aside from the large, circular room, there were three other doors. Opening one showed a long, rectangular room with about two dozen or so beds.

“Definitely some barracks,” Midnight noted as Twilight wrote that down. “And it won’t house many, unless those other three doors are the same.”

“No, they’re all different,” Twilight replied. “So far, this castle is providing the basic minimum I think. I don’t know. What is one supposed to do with a magical castle that grows out of the ground?”

“Uh, figure out how it’s done, become the queen of real estate?” Midnight shrugged as she checked the next room. It was similar in design, but housed several rows of empty shelving and wall-mounted hooks.

“Armoury,” she nodded. “See these hooks here? These are used for mounting wingbades and these are for armour. The hooks are designed for quick release, so you can grab and go in an emergency.”

“I see, I knew you could figure this out for me,” Twilight smiled. “Ponyville doesn’t have any Guard, so I would have had to call somepony from Canterlot.”

“Well I guess Ponyville is pretty quiet,” Midnight replied as they headed for the last room. She opened the door and looked inside. It was mostly empty, save for some exercise equipment and...something else. She stepped closer and reached up with a hoof, pulling the cloth off of the object.

Her squeal of delight could be heard throughout the entire castle.

After her ears stopped ringing, Twilight looked at the mare with a bemused smile. “You know what that is?”

“Do I...Do I know what that is, she asks,” Midnight laughed as she looked at it. “This. This is by far the greatest armour ever crafted. Only six of these suits still exist and nopony, not even Celestia or Luna knows how they’re made. And the creator died like six hundred years ago. But...” she looked at the purple alicorn. “How do you have this? These suits are supposed to be in the Royal Armoury. Only to be used in an emergency. So...”

Twilight shrugged. "It was here when I was exploring. I’ve been meaning to send the Princess a letter asking what it might be. But to me, it was just some old armour...”

In that instant, Midnight was an inch from her muzzle. “Princess Twilight Sparkle. I have a request that would make me a very happy mare.”

“You want to try it on, don’t you?” Twilight deadpanned.

“Ohh, so books aren't the only thing you read well,” Midnight cooed as she looked at the suit. “Yes, I would very much like to do just that.”

“Hm, alright,” Twilight smirked, an idea forming. “But under one condition.”

Midnight squeed and nodded. “Anything!”

“You have to stop flirting with me,” Twilight said with a nod.

The bat paused and looked at her. She’d have to stop teasing the adorkable bookworm? That...that was harsh. But even so...

“Okay, but all you had to do was ask me,” she replied as she reached for the suit. “If I was making you uncomfortable, then I’m sorry.” She gave the Princess her own smirk. “Tell you what, how about I snag Ledger’s book and distract him for a while so you can study it?”

Twilight’s eyes widened and the two shared a wide smile as they shook hooves.

“Deal!” Twilight beamed.

Midnight grinned as she started to fit the armour and Twilight noticed something. The suit itself was far too big for her. “Um, Midnight, I hate to break it to you but...”

“Just watch,” Midnight said as she finished attaching the last piece. Once the final part was clicked into place, it gave of a low hum as the armour shifted and locked, shrinking down to fit the mare perfectly. “One size fits all,” the bat grinned. “It’s a special armour that will fit to the user, no matter the species or gender. Pretty cool right?”

“Incredible,” Twilight breathed, furiously writing notes. Midnight made some final checks and stepped out into the main hall. The armour felt so light, yet it was said that even dragonfire couldn’t scratch it. She extended one wing as the attached wingblades clicked and opened, and though the blade itself looked a little dull, it would do for now.

“Okay, think you could create something to train against?” Midnight asked. “Maybe a spectral dummy or some sort of magical construct?”

Twilight grinned as her horn glowed. “Better idea, I learned this one when I was just a little filly to help my brother train. Haven’t used it in a while though.” A glow surrounded Midnight as suddenly, a second Midnight emerged.

“Ohh, I’ve never fought me before,” Midnight whistled as she took a stance. “This might be fun~”

Scope grumbled at the fact that she was rudely awoken by that crazy pink mare. She’d barely gotten any sleep as is thanks to her partners, and Midnight alone had been freaking insatiable. She was lucky that Ledger had taken most of the heat for that one. Though the bat had still gotten some time with her and Cider.

“This day had better not suck, because I don’t think that Twilight would like me redecorating her castle with somepony’s intestinal tract,” she muttered as she walked the halls, looking for the wayward Thestral. She looked around and decided that the direct approach was necessary.

“Where the hell is everyone?” she shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Pinkie made pancakes," Ledger said as he rounded the corner. "And I need to hit the bathroom...assuming I can find it."

“There’s an adjoining one in our room,” Scope informed him, then put a sly smile on her muzzle. “Cider’s in the shower right now...so if you hurry...”

"...And now I need it for two reasons," he muttered before vanishing down the hall. Scope just chuckled at his predictability and made a beeline for the kitchen. She figured Midnight was somewhere in the castle. Those emotions were easy to pick up on. By the time she got to the kitchen, all of Twilight’s friends were there as well, sharing various states of sleepiness. Applejack looking the most awake, while Rainbow Dash snored peacefully.

The petite pegasus climbed up onto a chair and nodded at Pinkie. “Breakfast please.”

Pinkie smiled as she served up some pancakes and Scope wasted no time in digging in with the most adorable ‘nom’ noises. She failed to see everypony else just gushing at the sight.

Midnight ducked and weaved as her doppelganger slashed out with her blades. A few times, Twilight had to look away from what could have been a fatal blow, but Midnight had made her promise not to break the spell. She already beaten one of them, and Twilight’s clone was now a little stronger. Midnight ducked again, the clones blades removing a few strands of her mane though.

“Hehehehe! That was a close one,” Midnight cackled as she pivoted and kicked the other Thestral away, as she hit the wall with a resounding thud. “This spell of yours is awesome Twi! You really need to teach Ledger this one.”

“Perhaps,” Twilight winced from the brutal blow. Speaking of said stallion, the exhausted drone, along with Cider, Scope and the rest of Twilight’s friends made an appearance, mostly curious as to all the racket. Twilight gave the drone an odd look.

“You okay? You look like you ran a marathon.”

"Some days it feels like it," he replied cryptically. "So, a training dummy just as good as her?"

“A punching bag that punches back,” Midnight said gleefully, doing a twirl to show off her shiny magical armour... right before her clone punched her, sending her tumbling across the ground.

“...ow.”

"Saw that one coming," Ledger said, before something happened that he didn't. The clone walked up to him and stared at him for a moment...before it started kissing him. Everyone stopped as they saw that, most having their mouths open in surprise and/or shock.

Rainbow was howling with laughter.

And Midnight Song? She was not bucking amused.

“That.” She stated calmly as she grabbed the mare and tossed her over her shoulder. “Is my stallion!”

“I didn’t mean for it to do that!” Twilight wailed, completely embarrassed. “I’m so, so sorry!”

"...If you mean it, you can take the flak for the inevitable 'which one was better' question I'll be getting," the drone informed the alicorn.

“Hey Mistress!” Scope called out to the mare. Midnight looked at the little Pegasus as she gave the Thestral a cocky grin. “Finish her!”

Midnight smirked as she looked at her clone. Oh yes, she hadn’t had a chance to use this new technique yet. She lowered her front body slightly as she spread her wings.

‘Glittering Embers that Dance in the pale Moonlight’

‘Sing a sweet Lullaby’

The air around her wings and her blades shimmered as she sang those lines. Twilight tilted her head at what was happening. But, that was impossible... She shouldn’t be able to use magic...

‘Shine with Brilliance’

‘Burn with Righteousness’

The shimmering became more visible... then, her blades ignited with brilliant orange flames.

“Flamenco of Flames!”

Her wings...were on bucking FIRE! She launched herself at her clone as she slashed out in a ‘V’ pattern, the flames leaping from her blades and colliding with the clone with tremendous force, sending her flying across the room and smashing into the wall, the spell shattering as the clone was destroyed. Midnight gave a few flaps of her wings and looked at the burned and blackened blades. Well, they were no good anymore.

She turned and looked at the group that just stared at her.

“What?”

Ledger walked to her and drew her into a deep kiss, apparently not caring about their audience. When it was over, he had a smug smile on his face. "You're still as hot as the day we met."

“Ledger, I love you...but that pun was terrible,” she sighed. “And don’t worry, I know that I’m the better kisser, or does anypony here want to disagree with me?”

A round of silence and awkward coughs later, Midnight smirked triumphantly.

"As if anypony would disagree with your fiery personality," the drone quipped. Midnight looked at him again and rolled her eyes.

“I’m giving you that because I love you, but one more...and tonight the Mistress might pay you a visit Ledger~”

“For the love of all things Holey! Don’t do it!!” Scope cried out, latching onto Ledger’s leg.

Ledger drew a deep breath... "Like that's supposed to dissuade me. You are, after all, smok-"

He stopped as all three of his mares whapped him upside the head. Midnight looked down at her fallen stallion and smirked. “You’re fired Ledger.”

"...I'm good," he eventually, weakly, said.

“Seriously...” Twilight sighed as she looked around the rather destroyed room. “Oh well, at least I know what this room is for now." It was also around then that Midnight had the biggest sadface that she could unleash. Giant, watery eyes, a quivering lip...there would be no survivors..:

“What’s wrong?” Cider said, nuzzling her marefriend. “Did you get hurt?”

“Noooo,” Midnight sighed. “I just have to give back this really cool armour...”

"I am not bugging Twilight over armor," Ledger eventually replied.

“And you won’t have to,” Twilight smiled as she stepped forward. “Specialist Midnight Song?”

“Yes Ma’am!” Midnight stood up at attention and saluted.

“I wish for you to take that armour. I know that you’ll use it, both to protect yourself and to protect everypony else.” Twilight gave a nod and even though Midnight remained the stoic, model guard. Ledger and Scope could almost see the happiness that rolled off of her. Twilight smiled and returned the Thestral’s salute. “At ease soldier.”

It took about a half second before the princess was tackled by a golden, bat-shaped bullet as Midnight nuzzled the Princess happily. “Ohhh, now I really wanna keep you!”

“Middy~ You promised~” Twilight pouted as she tried to escape the Thestral’s affection. Cider just chuckled as Scope rolled her eyes. As the group tried to separate the two, Spike came running up to them.

“Huff, There...you are,” he panted as he held his round little tummy. “I’ve been...whew...”

“You need a minute there?” Midnight asked, rubbing his back. “Breathe slowly, in...then out.”

Spike did as instructed and smiled. “Oh, hey..that’s better.”

“Proper breathing is key. So, what’s up Spike?”

“Huh? Ah, right, didn’t Mr. Ledger tell you?”

Midnight and Twilight looked at the stallion and tilted their heads at the same time. The synchronization was kind of adorable. He coughed before looking aside, coincidentally at Cider.

"Well, I was kinda distracted..."

"Distracted?" Midnight looked at her partner. "Seriously? I didn't get invited again!?"

"You had me to yourself for most of last night," Ledger returned. "Totally planning on something with Scope for the train ride home."

"Is that so?" Scope snarked. "That's if I let you."

"Well, then I suppose you can deal with being the only one to not get some private time with me," Ledger returned the snark fire.

"Hah! Like you'd go without this for long," Scope flaunted her flanks. "You remember the Crystal Empire."

"You seem to be forgetting who was in control," he teased back. "I remember you doing a lot more screaming for me than vice-versa."

By now, Twilight’s friends were sporting serious blushes and the princess herself surrounded the two in a silence bubble.

"I think that's enough of that," Twilight huffed. "Seriously, we don't need to hear about your abundant sexlife!" She turned to Spike as she dropped the bubble. "So what's the big emergency?"

"Queen Chrysalis will be here any minute!" He practically shouted.

"Oh yeah, I nearly forgot about that..." Ledger muttered. "Well this sounds like the perfect time for me and Scope to vanish."

"Are you kidding?" Scope grinned maliciously, her wings buzzing. "This is going to be great."

"But why is Chrysalis coming here?" Twilight said as the group hurried to the central hall.

"Because Princess Celestia sent her," Spike replied. Midnight sighed softly as they ran.

"I wonder if Changeling blood is hard to clean off of a crystal floor...?"

"Let's just hope she doesn't try throwing her weight around," the drone muttered before re-donning his usual disguise. "Otherwise I'll have to use mine..."

When the group arrived, a Thestral stallion was already waiting in the main hall, along with a Unicorn mare that had a white coat and a green mane and tail. Her Cutie Mark was a green crystal heart.

Midnight launched herself at the stallion with a happy cry and hugged him tightly. Twilight blinked at the sudden affection and looked to Ledger for an explanation.

"I did my best to keep her out of trouble, Mr. Grissom, but she seems intent on sticking her muzzle into it at every chance she can get," the now-a-unicorn stallion said. The Thestral stallion looked at him as Midnight let him go. He quickly closed the gap between them and pulled the Unicorn into a powerful hug.

“Thank you,” he said in a hushed tone, and Ledger felt something drip onto his shoulder. “Thank you for saving my little girl...”

The white mare behind him just rolled her eyes and snorted.

"I did what I could," Ledger replied. "And for her, I would do anything."

“You have my gratitude boy,” Grissom said, placing an arm around Ledger’s neck. “Anything you need, just say the word okay?”

“Oh, guess what Daddy?” Midnight bounced on the spot, her eyes filled with glee. “I proposed to them and they said yes!”

Grissom’s grip suddenly became a lot tighter. “Is that so,” he said in a low voice, as the silver changeling started to turn blue...

"What was I supposed to do?" The unicorn wheezed. "Say no?"

Except that the Thestral wasn’t trying to kill him. The tears flowed freely now as the stallion hugged the unicorn tighter. “Course not! I’m so happy right now. Wait until your mother hears about this!”

“Won’t be much of a wedding with a dead groom,” his travel companion commented. “Not that I care really. Accidental murder is pretty funny.”

"Oh, so if a chunk of crystal were to accidentally fall on you, the proper response would be to laugh?" Ledger snarked. Hives dammit, he needed those ribs!

“So who’s your friend Daddy?” Midnight asked her father, hoping to change the subject and rescue her cuddlebug.

“Ah!” Grissom dropped Ledger and nodded, taking a more serious persona. “My apologies. It’s nice to meet you again, Princess Twilight. Element Bearers.”

“Who’s this guy?” Rainbow nudged Twilight. “He looks cool.”

“Grissom Gossamer, head of the Canterlot Council and Equestrian Affairs,” Twilight introduced him to her friends. “And it’s nice to meet you again too. How is the Princess doing?”

“She’s still breathing, unfortunately,” the white mare snarked as she looked at Ledger. Something seemed...off about him.

"Oh shut it!" Ledger grumbled as he drew himself up. "I've only just met you and I'm getting a headache!"

“Hmm, might be a tumor...well, we can only hope,” she grinned maliciously. Everypony else watched as the two squared off. This showdown was going to be epic!

Ledger snorted and...said something in Changeish. The mare’s eyes widened, before her body erupted in a gout of emerald flame, causing almost everyone to yelp in surprise and flinch away. Once the flames died out, the Changeling Queen, Chrysalis, stared at the Unicorn.

“So, an insignificant little drone thinks he can match me?” The buzz in her voice was enough to send shivers down the spines of almost everypony. Ledger's disguise melted off in a silver flame, before he opened his slitted eyes and stared into hers. The same thing was said again, but it was much longer this time.

“You honestly think I care about your name and station?” she stepped forward, looming over the drone as she sneered at him. Midnight was about to launch herself at the queen, but Grissom held her back.

Chrysalis looked at him, a mix of amusement and disgust. “Do you know what happened to the last drone that defied me?”

"No, but I know what happened to this one!" Using knowledge gleaned from his time with the orange hive, Ledger used his magic to hit under her armor, at a pressure point that defied casual observation. "I am Secret-Hoarder for a reason!"

Chrysalis winced at the pressure, not letting on how much that had actually hurt before she activated her control pheromones. “And I am a Queen. And you. Will. Kneel!”

"Somebuggy got extra balls in their cereal this morning," Ledger quipped before shaking his head. "What...oh, nice try. Maybe you should see how much I love that idea?" His magic flared again, hitting more pressure points in her body, and not doing any serious damage...yet.

“I will end you, you miserable little—” Her rant was cut off as something slammed into her face. A little, rage-filled ball of fangs and chitin as Chrysalis stumbled back, pawing futilely at her face.

“Oh Sweet merciful Hives! Get it off!” She screeched as Secret-Treasure ravaged the older nymph with righteous fury.

Ledger paused in his assault, before smirking and powering down his magic. "I'm sure the great Queen Chrysalis can deal with one runt, yes? I'll just sit over here..."

The assault paused as Scope looked up at Ledger with furious indignation. “Oh you did not just call me that!”

He chuckled sheepishly. "I'll...make it up to you later?"

“You fucking better!” she yelled as she went back to punching Chrysalis in the face.

“Uh, shouldn’t somepony...y’know, stop her?” Applejack asked, wincing as the little nymph wailed on the ‘Queen’

“You wanna try?” Rainbow said, shaking her head. “Be my guest cowgirl. I ain’t getting involved with that.”

Midnight rolled her eyes as she walked over and picked Treasure up by the scruff of the neck, not unlike a mother cat. “Okay, that’s enough," she chuckled as she carried the fidgeting Changeling over to Ledger, casually tossing her towards him. He reflexively caught the nymph in his magic and put her on his back before recalling what he'd just said. Ledger turned to her and smiled sheepishly. "Heh...hi?"

She just huffed and folded her legs. Her angry pout was undeniably adorable. Chrysalis tried to get to her hooves, only to be confronted by Midnight Song, who extended a hoof to help her up.

A hoof that was slapped away as the queen rose by her own strength.

“I don’t need your help bat, and I wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for extenuating circumstances.”

“She’s here because Celestia sent her here,” Grissom explained to Twilight. “Since your work with Discord went so swimmingly, for the most part, she’s put you in charge of this one as well.”

“Did someone call?” a voice rang out and Chrysalis groaned.

“Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me...”

“Sorry Chrissie~” Discord grinned as he appeared. “You aren’t really my type. Now that lovely Violet queen. Mmm, now she was something...Oh?” He looked past the queen at Ledger. “Heya Levvy! Long time no see eh?”

"...I'll deal with you in a moment," Ledger said to Discord before turning back to Chrysalis. "The council gave you up, then?"

“Go fuck a cactus, drone,” Chrysalis spat, earning another glare from Scopey.

"...You know, it'd be so easy to leave you paralyzed from the neck down," the drone threatened. Chrysalis just glared at him as her horn glowed, only for Discord to snuff it out like a match.

“Oh there is sooo much tension in here,” he sighed. “Oh Pinkie dear, don’t you think little Chrissie deserves a Welcome party?”

Pinkie was torn, between not liking Chrysalis, and the desire to throw a new pony a party. She frowned, but still bounced, in slow motion.

“Fine...but she’s getting a vanilla cake.”

“But I hate vanilla!” Chrysalis replied, poking out her tongue. Pinkie just shrugged as she bounced from the room.

"You know that if they gave you up, you lose the rights a citizen of the Lands normally enjoys, right? You're Equestria's prisoner of war, essentially." Ledger spelled it out for the queen. "And if Equestria and the Lands really are talking peace...they'll never take you back."

“You think I care?” she spat, stepping closer, only to back off when Scope growled at her. “Those ingrates sold me out, my own family doesn’t want me. And where do you get off telling me what to do? Just because you’re fucking the locals, doesn’t make you Equestrian!”

"The application for citizenship papers I picked up disagree with you," he hummed. "Now the way I see it, you can either try to get along with the locals...or starve."

“So you sold out,” she smirked at him. “You folded to their rules, their way of life. You aren’t a Changeling, and you aren’t a pony either... just a sad little grub playing dress up.” She pointed outside and hummed. “You think they care about you little piece of paper? Why don’t you go outside? I’ll give it about two minutes before they form an angry mob.” She gave a haughty laugh and turned her nose up. “Citizen, give me a break. You have to hide your true self constantly. So tell me Secret-Hoarder? What kind of life is that?”

"The kind where I put down 'Changeling' in the species box before turning it in at Las Pegasus," he fired back. "I earn every scrap of positive emotion I am fed. You...I give three days before you starve, even under a disguise."

“I’ll survive,” she said in a hushed tone. She switched to Changeish for the next part. ‘And what about those two mares of yours hm? What happens when somepony discovers that they love a Changeling? Good luck little drone. You’re going to need every ounce of it.”

"No, I actually don't think I will. If we play our cards right, then you can just watch as history is made...without you." Ledger then turned to the nymph on his back. "I'm good, you?"

Scope was about to reply, when Midnight cleared her throat. Everypony else had been silent until now. She opened her mouth and what came out was rough, and the accent was...odd, but...

She was speaking Changeish.

“It. Does not matter... what they, think,” she said slowly, trying not to mess up the words. “I-We...love each other. That is all. That matters.”

"...I have so many questions," Ledger eventually said, before walking to her and drawing her into a hug. "But for now, shut up and hold me."

Midnight just smiled and nodded, hugging the drone as Scope and Cider joined in. Several of the mares cooed, while Chrysalis rolled her eyes and huffed.

Discord figured now was a good time to skedaddle. But as he was just about to teleport...

"Don't think I've forgotten about you, Discord," Ledger spoke up. "Sorta covered in mares at the moment, but I'll get to you."

“Oh, by all means, take your time,” Discord bowed politely before vanishing. Chrysalis sighed as he did. That was one less annoyance to deal with.

Twilight frowned as she turned around and started to walk away. Rainbow tilted her head and called out. “Hey Twi? You doing okay?”

“I need an aspirin to deal with this,” she sighed. “Ledger, try not to kill Chrysalis while I’m gone. Grissom, please keep Midnight reigned in...and, uh... Fluttershy! You watch Scope Lens.”

“Oh, um...okay?” the timid Pegasus nodded.

Ledger smiled before holding Scope out like a foal towards the ponyfication of Kindness Incarnate. "Aww, I promise she doesn't bite...others...often."

Scope emphasized as much by growling and snapping her teeth, causing Fluttershy to flinch and hide behind Rainbow Dash. She looked back up at Ledger and smiled at the way he was holding her. “Strike Two, stupid drone.”

He sighed before turning to Rainbow Dash. "You're...Loyalty, right?" He questioned the chromatic mare.

“Damn right!” Rainbow nodded. “Won’t find a more loyal friend than me. Why?”

"Catch," he said before lightly lobbing Scope at her. Scope squealed at the sudden toss as Rainbow caught her. The petite nymph glaring at Ledger. If looks could kill, he’d be chatting up the ferrypony now.

“Strike Three!” she hissed at him.

"Time for a quick lesson in changelings and color," he spoke up. "Each color corresponds to what we feed on. Red is duty/honor. Orange is kindness."

“Oh, I’d like to meet an Orange one,” Fluttershy smiled sweetly.

"And they'd love to meet you," he replied. "Yellow is courage, Green is creativity."

“So what about Little Miss Blue here?” Rainbow asked, holding a fidgeting Scope as she continued to glare at her idiot drone.

"Getting to her, I'm surprised she's not trying to get comfortable. Anyway, silver is knowledge, or more accurately learning. And violet is...well, it's lust."

One could hear the crickets chirping as even Chrysalis facehooved. Some of the mares looked at Midnight, wondering if a violet-coloured bug lay underneath. She was speaking like a Changeling just now.

"Getting back on track, Pinks feed on happiness...And Blues...feed on loyalty." Ledger paused before smirking at the mare holding Scope. "Enjoy your new tick."

Rainbow yelped as she tossed Scope away, rubbing at her chest with her hooves. Scope bounced once and turned to Ledger, her eyes burning with rage.

“Call me a runt huh? Treat me like a foal huh? Toss me around and call me a tick huh!?” Oh dear sweet Ledger, it was nice knowing you. He yelped before running for his life. Scope bolted after him, her horn sparking as she powered up a lightning spell.

“Gonna zap me a bug!” she yelled after him.

Midnight giggled as she watched them leave. They were so cute when they flirted like that. In the meantime, she looked back at Chrysalis and a thought crossed her mind as she licked her lips.

“Middy, somethin’ wrong?” Cider asked her.

“No, just realising that I missed an Alicorn for my collection,” she hummed as she walked closer to the nymph...

Hours later, once the castle and its occupants had forgotten about them, Ledger could be found ambling out of the room that he and his herd had been given. Scope was right: they would have to do that again, in some way.

However, he had a certain being to meet. Pausing in the middle of the hallway, Ledger sighed before looking up. "You could just say 'hi' like a normal being every once in a while, change things up from being predictably random."

“But where’s the fun in that dear Ledger?” Discord said, as he had appeared as a fancy necktie around the changeling. “Hmm?” he sniffed. “You ah, smell a bit singed.”

"Happens when you sleep with a dragoness," the drone replied as he continued on his path to life-giving coffee.

“Ahh, kudos then, quite the lofty achievement.” The necktie vanished as a mug of coffee appeared in front of Ledger. “So, what’s with the call this time? You aren’t still mad about that little Tirek thing are you?”

"Actually, I wanted to thank you for your role in that," Ledger replied before sipping at coffee. Somehow, it tasted a little like toffee, but otherwise was exactly how it like he liked it.

“You...want to thank me?” Discord tilted his head, enough that it fell off and rolled along the floor. “Say what now?”

"If it weren't for your intervention, Middy would be dead," Ledger replied. "I can't imagine she was the first or last time you found yourself intervening."

“It wasn’t her time yet,” Discord said in a rare moment of seriousness. “Nor was it her destiny to defeat Tirek. Maybe in another world, she did just that. Maybe she died, maybe she lived and became a hero... But that is neither here nor there. And I doubt you called me just to thank me.”

"Actually, I kinda did," Ledger replied before sipping his coffee. "Well, that and to say sorry."

“Sorry?” Discord picked up his head and put it back on. “This... is some kind of trick isn’t it? Lower my guard and hit me in my mismatched jewels?”

"I have no doubt if you hadn't been there to help me get my head screwed on right and seen me on my way, Midnight would not be here. So for that you have my thanks," the drone honestly said. "...That being said, pull something like that again, and little Scope knows your weakness."

“Weakness? I have no weaknesses!” Discord puffed up his chest and he donned a top hat and a monocle. “I do believe you are mistaken good sir!” Ledger raised an imaginary eyebrow before coughing lightly.

"So if I were to start thinking random, chaotic thoughts..." he trailed off.

“Ooh, you think you can feed from me?” he said with a wide smirk. “Very clever, somepony has done their homework. Still,” He snapped his fingers and Ledger found himself standing in a grey, desolate wasteland, surrounded by an ocean of stars and a bright blue and green sphere in the distance.

It took a few moments for him to realise where he was right now.

“So, shall I just leave you here for a bit then?” Discord smirked.

"...Have fun explaining where I am to Twilight and her friends," Ledger mentioned, internally panicking his head off. "I'm sure she'll be quite understanding when you mention all we did was talk, and I even apologized, before you stuck me up here."

“Hah, little miss Bookpony would be torn between telling Fluttershy on me, or wanting to visit the moon herself. Still...” He clapped his hands and the two were standing inside the Crystal tree of Friends and Rainbows once more. “I suppose you’re right, and although I do not deserve your apology, I’ll take it and extend my own as well.”

"...We both really need to learn how to not lash out at others," Ledger observed. "Let's not tell the ponies, though. If I know my mares, they'll just hit me for realizing the obvious."

“You and me both brother,” Discord sighed, remembering the chewing out that Fluttershy gave him. They might have been fine now, but he knew he had damaged the cute Pegasi’s trust a great deal. No amount of tea and cucumber sandwiches would fix it either.

“Tell you what, I’m still new to this whole ‘friendship’ thing. But I do owe you and Miss Bat Horse an apology. So I’ll keep my old word and give you a wish. Anything you might think of. A new house, maybe a ton of riches? I could even make you a pony.”

Ledger sipped his coffee, the trip to the moon had been quite helpful in cooling it off. "Five words, Discord. Random acts of beneficial chaos. Think about them."

“Ah, but chaos isn’t so predictable,” Discord replied. “I could do that, but there is always a reaction for every action.”

Then something dropped from the ceiling, a Thestral mare that had pinned the spirit to the ground. Discord blinked, surprised that the mare had literally gotten the drop on him. He looked at Ledger and gave him a toothy grin.

“Oh she is good!”

"I say that every night, and I'm sure there's a way for you to do a little something every now and then." The Changeling looked at the Thestral and grinned. "For example, since Middy wants to wear a suit of crystal armor for the wedding, I'm sure there's a way we'll find Shiny's misplaced a set..."

“Quite possibly,” Discord nodded, before Midnight stared him in the eyes.

“So, giving away free wishes huh?”

“Limited time offer, buy now and get free shipping on all wishes. Only one per customer and no laybys.”

Midnight nodded and looked at Ledger. “I had a few, like making sure that Ledger was back to normal, or removing the memories of my kidnapping... but then, another one occurred and only you can fulfill it.” She trailed a hoof along his arm and gave him a seductive smile. “What do you say stud? Think you can fulfill a mare’s wishes?”

Discord just gulped loudly and nodded. Ledger sighed, hoping his earlier words, those of marriage, had actually been heard by the spirit. Midnight leaned closer as she licked her lips. “In our old home...we had the most lovely couch. I want it back.”

Discord’s train of thought jumped the tracks and exploded in a ball of flame, before that ball of flame exploded again. “Uh, come again?”

“I usually do,” Midnight giggled. “Now hop to it. Make with the couch Dissy!”

"You really liked it, huh?" Ledger asked aloud. Midnight turned to look at him and nodded.

“It was the first thing we bought together, as a couple. Aside from being a comfy couch...it just, meant a lot to me is all.”

"...Fair enough," the drone agreed before knocking the rest of the coffee back. Discord snapped his fingers and nodded.

“Well, I suppose I can manage that. Oh, and Ledger, I have a piece of advice for you. A cheat sheet of the future if you will.” He vanished from under Midnight, now draped across the stallions shoulders. “Be careful when you get home. Not everypony is going to be pleased to see. You have old friends with old grudges hmm.”

And with that, the spirit was gone. Ledger sighed before looking at Midnight. "So, how bad is it with queen Bitchalis?"

“Huh? Oh, Twilight gave her a room to stay in, so she’s just been sulking in there. Oh, and for a Changeling Queen, she’s not a very good kisser. Just saying.”

"...I should be surprised you know that, but I know you, so I'm not," he replied. "When did you want to leave for?"

“Aw, I love you too Ledgie,” Midnight cuddled him, still wearing the armour that Twilight gave her. “Hmm, well we could leave whenever you like. But I haven’t gotten Twilight to agree to a date yet.”

"Tell ya what, you have until Scope and Cider gang up on us to try," he chuckled. Midnight giggled, not sure if he was serious or not. She was just having fun messing with Twilight until now. The blushing Alicorn was too cute to pass up.

“Well, once we find Scopey, we could probably head home. Dad’s being all clingy and stuff, so the sooner we leave, the better.”

"Scope's gonna be out of it for a little while yet," Ledger responded. Midnight blinked and sighed.

“Twice in one day, seriously? I have no bucking luck whatsoever.” She gave his nose a small flick with her tail and she trotted off. “Well go and get her, and we’ll meet up in the main hall.”

"Kinda hard to when she's a dragon," he called after Midnight. The Thestral stumbled as she cantered off. Ohh, that faceplant looked painful. He also heard her muttering something about missing all the fun stuff.

"It's why I gave you time, silly Songbird~" the drone sang out.

A little over an hour later, the four individuals were ready to leave Ponyville. Scope was still in her dragon form and was taking great pleasure in making Spike blush a furious red whenever she winked and smiled at him. Cider was busy talking with Applejack, wishing she’d had more time to catch up with her family.

Midnight rolled her eyes as her father continued to fuss over her, as well as give her a long package, eerily similar to the one he’d given her before. Ledger had a feeling that a new set of wingblades lay within it.

Twilight stepped forward and smiled. “Well, it was nice meeting you Ledger. And, it’s good to see that our two races can be friends so easily.”

"So long as you're willing to look past the surface," Ledger returned, before smiling back at her. "Seriously, though, I enjoyed myself. I wish I could spend more time here, but we have a business and home to get back to."

Twilight nodded and offered her new friend another hug. “I’ll be sure to come visit sometime, once things aren’t so hectic. If...that’s alright with you guys?”

“I have no objections, and who knows, having a Princess around might be a good idea. We did sorta just try to put the town back together after that whole attack undisguised, and if what Cider says is true, the ponies might remember what we did.”

“Guess we’ll find out when we get there,” Cider spoke up. She’d finished up talking with AJ and walked over to Ledger. “You okay? You look a little drained.”

“I’m still feeling the exhaustion from what nearly happened to me,” the disguised drone said, before leaning over and giving the farmmare a kiss. “Did I say thanks for helping me with that, by the way?”

“I think so, but don’t fret none. Ah’m yer beloved, s’what I do.”

Midnight had moved to hugging Fluttershy, having finally succumbed to the mare’s cuteness. Scope on the other hand, had Rainbow Dash ensnared in her tail.

“Hey Ledger! Can I bring this one along? I could use a snack for the trip.”

“You know all that hot air will go right to your hips,” he chided. Scope sighed as she tossed the mare aside.

“True, I suppose I should be avoiding the junk food huh?”

“Hey!” Rainbow called out, not sure if she should be relieved or insulted. She settled on relieved indignation instead.

“Besides, I thought you were getting more than enough food from us?” he asked with a raised brow before gesturing for the currently-a-dragoness to lean in.

“I guess so,” she shrugged. With a heavy sigh, her body was engulfed in azure flames and she reverted to her adorable Pegasus form. “Whew, taking a form like that, you never seem to realise how draining it is until you turn back.”

“You’re far more cuddly this way anyway,” Ledger replied before scooping her up and kissing the top of her head.

“So I keep getting told,” she giggled.

Eventually, the group couldn’t procrastinate any longer and it was time to go. Midnight said goodbye to her father, who was planning on staying a little longer to get Chrysalis settled here. The Thestral mare settled herself on Ledger’s back, wrapping her hooves around his neck.

“Carry me?” she asked with a cute batting of her eyes.

“As if you had to ask,” he replied before looking at the Bearers one last time. “Let’s not be strangers. You’re all invited to the wedding, provided you can contain yourselves.”

“Now what’s that supposed to mean?” Applejack asked. Ledger pointed a hoof at Pinkie Pie, who seemed fit to burst with joy. Applejack shrugged and gave Ledger a deadpan stare. “And what makes y’all think we, or anypony can contain Pinkie Pie?”

“...Fair enough, just give me advance warning so I can see to it she doesn’t meet the Pink of Las Pegasus?” The Changeling seemed genuinely scared of the idea.

“That is a really good idea,” Scope shuddered. Applejack just blinked and shrugged. She figured it was safer not to ask.

An hour later, the four ponies were seated on the train and were speeding away to Las Pegasus. Midnight sighed as she leaned against Ledger, rubbing a hoof against her forehead.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, concerned for his mare’s health.

“Hm? Oh, just a small headache, nothing to worry about,” Midnight sighed. “I’m just glad to finally be heading home. It feels like a lifetime since I was there.”

“If you’re sure,” the drone said before giving her a peck. “Maybe you should pay a small visit to the hospital when we get back? Just a quick check-up to make sure you’re doing okay after...everything.”

“Maybe, it’s just a headache though. And if you recall, I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, followed by some pretty vigourous training.”

“Fair enough. If you wanna nap on the ride home, I won’t blame you.” He held the thestral mare close and sighed. This felt...good. Midnight nodded as she closed her eyes, soon drifting off to sleep. Hopefully, life would finally calm down a pace.

Author's Note

And this was when I got my new setup~

Chapter 46 - Expect the Unexpected and always pay your Tolls

It was late afternoon by the time the train pulled into the Las Pegasus station. As everypony disembarked, Midnight was a little hesitant. She knew that somehow, a Pink and a Violet Changeling would be waiting to ambush her. So when she stepped off of the train, and saw that nopony, or nobuggy was there...

“Wait, what?” The Thestral blinked, she was actually kinda disappointed. “LP’s greatest heroine has returned. Where’s my parade and fan club?”

“Really?” Scope sighed, facehooving. “Hate to break it to you Middy, but I don’t think you even have a fanclub.”

“I’m awesome and sexy and just amazing. How can I not have one?” the Thestral replied with a pout. Then she got an idea and flared her wings. “I’m gonna go and say...hello, yeah, let’s go with that. I’ll see you all later?”

“Fine, I’ll just snuggle Cider and Scope on the couch, assuming it’s there, until you come back,” Ledger taunted. Midnight faltered in the air and turned to look at him.

“Oh no, that’s our couch and I’ll be the first one you snuggle on it!” She settled back onto the ground next to him and brushed some of her mane out of her eyes. It had gotten pretty long recently, almost the same length as Fluttershy’s. “And I really should get a manecut sometime...”

“So, snuggling, followed by you two taking Midnight out on the town?” Ledger offered. “Take the rest of the day for ourselves before the insanity of tomorrow crashes down around us?”

“Sounds good, though I don’t really feel like partying,” Midnight sighed. She’d been feeling off for the whole trip, chalking it up to stress. “Maybe we could just visit some of our friends? Let them know I’m alright.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Ledger agreed. “So, what’re we waiting for?”

Midnight nodded and the group stepped off of the platform, just as they were greeted by an undisguised Changeling, an Orange one to be specific.

“Hello there,” he said in a friendly voice. “Welcome to Las... OH! Secret-Hoarder? You’re back!?”

“What in the hay are you doing undisguised?!” Ledger hissed. “Somepony might see!”

While undisguised, the Orange still bore the Cutie Mark of his usual disguise, two crossed lightning bolts. A Pegasus flew past and hovered nearby.

“Hey Bolt Strike? We need some helping hooves for the coming snowfront? You free this afternoon?”

“Sure,” the Changeling nodded. “Around three?”

The Pegasus nodded and flew off, before the Orange turned back to the group. “Um, you were saying?”

“...Okay, we’ve clearly missed something if this is now a normal thing,” Ledger said before shaking his head. “Why don’t you tell us what’s going on? What happened to have ponies here okay with ‘lings?”

“Yeah, it’s been kinda nuts the last couple of days,” Bolt replied. “And if you want all the details, which I know you would. You’d be better asking Sugar or Captain Narrow about it. Though, be careful around Narrow. She’s been kinda antsy the last couple of days. Oh, and avoid Amy!”

“I make it a habit to,” Ledger replied before offering a quick hoof-bump to the orange ‘ling. He returned the gesture and nodded.

“Yeah, if you had to rate her usual behavior at say...a ten, then for the last three days, she’s been at say, hmm, fifty?”

“...Question, who gave her coffee again?” the disguised silver drone asked. “I thought we had a meeting about that and everything.”

“Nobuggy did, not since the last time,” he sighed. “No, I don’t know the details, but that Griffonfriend of hers did something. Sugar seems to be in on it as well.” The Orange gave him one last smile and flew away, leaving the group with their thoughts.

“...Okay, all in favor of avoiding Amy and Ace until we know what the hay is going on?”

The vote was instantaneous and unanimous.

“Oh man, I missed this,” Ledger moaned.

“Oh yeesssss,” Midnight groaned as she arched her back slightly. “I forgot how big it was~”

“Think we could get Cider or Scope in on this?” the drone questioned.

“Would it really hold us all, well, Scopey is pretty small, and Cider’s flexible,” Midnight replied, biting her bottom lip. “Ah~ Oh, that’s good.”

“Are y’all havin’ fun there?” Cider mused as she walked in on them. “You’ve been at it fer hours.”

“Forgive us if we’ve missed doing this in the pleasure of our own home,” the silver drone snarked. “You’re more than welcome to join or be next, whichever tickles your fancy.”

“Naw, you two seem to be doin’ jus’ fine on yer own,” Cider chuckled. “Besides, ah have actual work to do.”

Scope just lazed on a cloud that she dragged inside, having set up a little cloud nest in the rafters.

“Do you idiots have any idea how that sounds out of context?” she asked.

“We’re just snuggling on our resurrected couch, I don’t know what you’re insinuating,” Ledger sniffed, faking a hurt tone. Scope just rolled her eyes and leaned back in her cloud. This whole thing about Changelings bothered her a little, just what the hell was going on in this city?

“Still, we can’t lie around all day,” Midnight hummed. “Shouldn’t you check on your company Ledger? You know, the one you own and work for?”

“Luna said she’d check in back in Roamania, I have faith she didn’t burn the offices to the ground,” Ledger replied. “I’m more concerned with whatever the hay that was back at the station.”

“You and me both,” Scope nodded. “Just what the fuck is going on around here?”

“We should find out from Ace,” Ledger reminded them before re-donning his disguise. “Who’s up to see the Captain with me?”

“I’ll go,” Midnight nodded, with Scope agreeing as well.

“And I have to work,” Cider hummed. She had missed her farming and was ready to dive in wholeheartedly. “Y’all have fun.”

“We’ll be sure to tell you what’s up when we get back,” Ledger said before motioning for her to come in closer so he could kiss her. The mare complied as she leaned in for a kiss before breaking away and giving the other mares one as well.

“Try not to break the city hmm?” Cider asked with a cheeky wink.

“I will try not to break anything I can’t afford to replace,” the unicorn said before nudging Midnight with a hoof gently. The Thestral nodded as she got up and placed her armour back on, giving the suit a few seconds to lock into place before she opened the package that her father had given her.

“Huh? What are these?” she asked nopony in particular as she pulled out the pitch-black blades.

“Looks like a pair of fancy wingblades,” Ledger commented. “Do you really think you’ll need them out on the town?”

“Just...let me have them for now,” Midnight said quietly as she equipped them. “Please?”

“Hey, I wasn’t gonna take them, I just don’t know that there’s a call for you to be armed as of late,” Ledger replied before gently kissing her. “You can go armed if you want.”

Midnight nodded, she knew it wasn’t necessary...but, she felt safer wearing them. “I wonder where Dad got these from though?” A piece of cloud drifted down from Scope’s nest, and as it touched the extended blade, it was cut clean in half.

“...Okay, Midnight? Whatever those are, please be careful with them,” Ledger said as he instinctively backed up a step from the very sharp blades.

“Ah, yeah...” Midnight blinked. That might be a very good idea. Also, note to self. Test these blades later~

Later on, the three ponies made it to the center of town. Several more Changelings were walking around undisguised. So far, they’d seen at least one of each colour, save for Pink and Silver.

“...Okay, anypony else just a little weirded out by the situation?” Ledger asked softly of the mares who’d accompanied him.

“Just a little,” Scope nodded, making sure her disguise was buffed. “This is so surreal, it’s really weirding me out.”

“I really hope there’s a good reason behind this,” the unicorn whispered as they turned onto the street where the Guard’s base of operation was held. Not coincidentally, right across the street from many good restaurants.

Soldiers have to eat too, after all.

Midnight just gave a nod as they entered the Guard station, the trio getting several looks as they did. Midnight gave them a salute which they returned, then Captain Narrow Gaze exited her office, her hind leg in a cast as she limped slightly. She gave the Thestral a blank stare, before giving her the Guard salute...

Then hurriedly limped across the room and hugged her tightly, the Thestral quite surprised at the greeting.

“Thank Celestia you’re alright,” she whispered, hugging the mare tightly. “You have no idea how worried I’ve been.”

Midnight blinked, then smiled softly, returning the embrace. “Yeah, sorry Captain. I’ll try not to let it happen again.”

“While I would normally hate to interrupt such a tender moment,” the voice of Ledger cut in. “Would somepony care to explain what the buck is going on outside?”

“Oh, that,” Narrow broke the hug, frowning when Midnight tried to cop a feel of her flank. “That’s right, you’ve been gone for nearly a week. Well, a lot has happened since you left. Like Changelings becoming accepted here in the city. It’s slow going, and we’re keeping it small for now...but, the general consensus is positive.”

“...Well, there’s something I never expected to hear,” Ledger said honestly. “Okay Captain, can I have your honest opinion as a friend as to how you think this endeavor will end?”

“Honestly, I’m remaining optimistic,” Narrow replied with a small smile. “It’s going well enough that I could see this working. But, the future isn’t set in stone and I’d be a fool to not expect the unexpected.”

“Well, I’m for waiting and seeing myself,” Ledger admitted, keeping away from saying one thing or another as to where he truly stood on the issue. No need to give others ammo against him. “But it sounds like a fine idea, if everypony works for it.”

“Yeah, well Sugar’s working pretty hard to make it work, and the Mayor seems optimistic as well.” Narrow stared at the massive pile of complaints and paperwork on her desk. “Hey Ledger, we’re friends right?”

“Sorry, I don’t even have the magic to do my paperwork, which I’m sure is just as massive as yours,” the disguised drone replied. “Probably won’t for a few days yet.”

“Damn,” Narrow swore under her breath. “Well, it was worth a shot... Oh? Have you guys got tonight free?”

“Probably?” Ledger said. “Midnight, do we have the night free?” In matters where he was unsure, the stallion was now deferring to her judgement.

The Thestral nodded. “We have no set plans, why?”

“Well, could you all come to Fredrick’s tonight? My treat.”

Midnight’s tail wagged slightly. “Ledgie? Should we turn down free food?”

“When others offer to pay for such fine food, I’ve learned you never turn it down,” Ledger replied with a nod. “We’ll have to tell Cider of course, but I think we can come over.”

“Good,” Narrow nodded. “I owe you for bringing my finest Guard back, and one of my best friends. Plus, there’s a lot you need to get caught up on...hmm, speaking of which, avoid Amy until you think you can deal with her.”

“Which is never,” the unicorn stallion fired back. “Seriously, that’s the second time we were warned about her. Can we get at least a short reason as to why?”

“She’s just really excited and has not held herself back for the last couple of days.” Narrow sighed as she rubbed her oncoming headache. “What was that idiotic Griffon thinking? Pulling something like that?”

“So we get to blame Ace now,” Ledger observed. “Okay, I’m starting to think of everything he could do to make...her...oh no,” the stallion paled. “He didn’t.”

As soon as those words had left his lips, something had slammed into him, with enough force to send him sprawling across the ground.

“HEYA LEVVY!” Amy practically screamed at him. “Ohmigosh! You’reback!You’reback!You’reback!You’reback!You’reback!!!”

“Hello...to you too...Amy,” Ledger groaned as the energetic pink mare bounced on top of him. She always was...enthusiastic in her greetings. This was far worse, though, and he’d an idea as to why.

“MIDDY!” Amy had already teleported from him, now tackling the Thestral mare, her new armour doing nothing to stop the affectionate onslaught. “And Scopey too! Ahhh! I’m so HAPPY!!!”

“Geh...nice...to see...you too?” Middy groaned, Scope had already passed out from shock.

“I tried to warn you,” Narrow sighed. Ledger decided to tackle the issue directly, get it out of the way.

“So, we hear Ace did something while we were away?” the stallion posed to the pink mare. Amy paused as her smile widened to almost impossible levels. Her entire body practically shone pink as she nodded.

“Yes! Wanna know what it was,” her voice dropped to a more quieter tone...until she took a deep breath.

“I’M GETTING MARRIED!!!!!”

“Ow,” Ledger replied, flicking his ears around in a futile effort to restore his hearing. “No, it’s okay, I didn’t need to hear today anyways.”

“Oh, okay!” Amy chirped. “Oh my gosh! I’m so freakin’ happy I could just explode!”

“Please don’t, that would be a terrible mess to clean up,” Narrow snarked. “Is there a reason you’re assaulting the populace...again?”

“I heard that these guys were back...I was really worried,” Amy said, suddenly very quiet as she sniffed. Midnight hummed softly as she pulled the mare into a hug...then whispered something into her ear.

Something that caused her to literally vibrate with happiness.

“Please tell me you didn’t just-” Ledger managed to get out. Before his voice was drowned out by Amy’s squeal of sheer joy and happiness.

“You too!?!? Oh, ohohohohohoh! We-we should make it a double-oh, we could. and. AH!” Her brain was jumping around too fast, even for her to make sense of it.

“...I don’t want to know how, but I think you just overloaded her,” the disguised drone eventually commented. “I didn’t know that was possible.”

Amy just stood there babbling to herself, before her eyes widened and she shot off like a bullet. Midnight watched her leave and blinked.

“Do we want to know where she’s going?”

“No, no you don’t,” Ledger sighed. “Okay, so...Sugar next?”

“I guess so,” Midnight shrugged. “Promise to protect my innocence if she tries anything?”

“What innocence?” Ledger asked with a smile.

“....buck you,” Midnight frowned, but giggled as they gave Narrow one last farewell and left for the club run by the Violet nymphs.

As they got there, Midnight decided that loud and proud was the best approached as she burst through the doors in full armour.

“Guard inspection!” she shouted, waiting for the reaction that would follow.

“Oh buck you!” a violet nymph said as she went between two tables. “We’re registered with the bucking Guard!”

Midnight smirked and waited for them to realise who it was.

Three.

Two.

One-

“IT’S MIDNIGHT!” the cry went up before she was almost literally swarmed with Violet nymphs that barely kept a hoof away out of respect.

“So, you were saying something about a fanclub, and it’s lack of existence?” Midnight gave Scope a cheshire cat grin, the small Pegasus groaning and applying her hoof to her face. The Thestral turned back to the group and waved.

“So, who’s missed me?”

“Me!”

“No, me!”

“Don’t listen to them, I have!”

The entire group fell silent in a moment, though, and parted as Sugar Darling made her presence known. “Oh, my favorite thestral returns,” the white unicorn mare purred as she sashayed up to the threesome.

“Hey, there’s my favourite ‘nymph’ omaniac!” Midnight giggled, proud of her terrible pun. “What’s up?”

“The entire city is up in chaos about this whole integration issue,” the nymph groaned. “I’d almost suspect Discord, but we brought this one on ourselves. Still, at least there is acceptance. Now if only there was a more charismatic leader than myself, I could get some bucking sleep at night.”

Ledger shook his head at the implication. “Nope. Nuh-uh. No way. I have enough on my plate with Pegasus Air, I don’t need this as well.”

“Pity,” the mare mused before looking at Scope. “No, far too small to be taken seriously…”

“Oh fuck you!” Scope yelled at the mare. “You wanna go!? I will kick you ass from here to Canterlot!!”

“I seriously doubt that, but point made.” The mare sighed. “And so it falls back on me to be the head of the integration issue. Why do you do this to me Ledger?”

“Hey, if you want knowledge, information, or something shipped cheaply, I’m your stallion,” the brown unicorn boasted. “But I am not going to head up a movement this important.” And then his grin went…

Well, the only word for it was a combination of mischievous and lecherous. “Besides, I thought Violets were all about public relations?”

“He has a point there,” Midnight giggled. “What’s up Sugar? Losing your touch?”

“I just cannot deal with so many ponies bringing so many questions and complaints to me constantly,” the mare groaned before slumping. “Honestly, I need a vacation from this…”

As if heeding the mare's call, a scroll flashed into existence above Midnight. She snared it, noticing Celestia’s seal and opened it.

"To Specialist Midnight Song. You are hereby ordered to start a new assignment. As a relations officer between ponies and Changelings..."

Midnight blinked as she read it aloud.

"Due to your expertise and knowledge of Changelings, this makes you the most valid candidate."

Sugar’s grin couldn’t be any wider. “So, which one of us just got put under the other?” she questioned the batmare.

“I’m always on top,” Midnight purred, rubbing the mare’s face with a hoof. “So get ready to be worked hard sweet Sugar~”

“Harder than normal? I find that hard to believe,” she replied. “Still, I’d like to know when I can expect you, so that I can at least plan around your appearances.”

“Well,” she looked at the letter and re-read it. “Celestia...hasn’t said a whole lot. As usual, so I guess, whatever it is that you’ve been doing. Just let me know what you need and I’ll give it to you.”

“Oooh, like I haven’t heard those words before,” the mare purred. “Still, I can barely be open for an hour before some random pony will walk in and ask me something about changelings. The bouncers get rid of the trouble-makers, so don’t worry about them. But if you could coordinate with your lovely drone there, make some sort of informational pamphlet, that’d be so helpful.”

“I’m sure we could come up with something, Ledger loves lecturing ponies, so he’ll get right into that.” She looked around the bar and nodded. “And I could swing by here for the next few days. Give you extra security and make sure you can work properly.”

“Whatever you feel like you need to do, dear,” Sugar replied. “Just please, anything to take the load off of me. We got enough attention as it was.”

“Well, I suppose I could do that. And I also believe that I owe you a small education regarding my kind?”

Sugar shook her head. “Midnight, I can barely think about that. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to know more about Thestrals, but with the current climate of Las Pegasus, I’m in no mood to think about writing something like that. I’m far too stressed, plus, Ledger still hasn’t said yes.”

“Nor will I,” the unicorn stallion replied. “I value her far too highly to let others at her ever again. Now more than ever.”

“I won’t do that,” Midnight nodded, smiling at her stallion. “But I can still give verbal pointers and stuff. As for stress...I have some ideas.” She looked at Scopey and hummed. “Can you cast a Reversal Spell?”

“I can,” the Pegasus nodded, shifting to her Unicorn form. “Why and how do you know that spell?”

MIdnight quickly scribbled something on the back of the scroll that Celestia sent her and nodded, before rolling it up. “Okay, cast it on this.”

Scope blinked and nodded as her horn lit up. The scroll vanished with a small pop, the ‘Return to Sender’ spell working perfectly.

“There, now all we do is-” A reply came quite quickly and once she read it, the Thestral beamed. “Awesome! Okay Sugar, tomorrow should be a lot more fun.”

“Should I dare ask what you mean by that?” the mare asked with a raised brow, clearly both interested and worried.

“I could,” Midnight giggled. “But surprises are so much more fun hm! Trust me.”

“Fair enough, just promise me I won’t end up with having to explain anything to the good Captain,” the disguised nymph rejoined. Midnight shook her head and giggled again.

“No, you’ll like this surprise.” Ledger could see the note that she held.

‘Moondancer is on her way’

“Which reminds me, I need to go buy more booze for the office,” the stallion mused aloud, though only loud enough to be caught by his mares.

“If you say so,” the nymph said before giving the three another look. “If that’s all you’re here for…”

“Well, after nearly dying to save the city, then getting kidnapped and brainwashed and abused and...” Midnight looked down. “Aw...I made myself sad.”

The only response she got was being drawn into a massive three-way hug. As in, all three changelings around her were hugging her. Midnight sniffed and accepted the hug. It felt...nice.

“Sorry, guess I’m a bit of a downer right now.”

“That’s another argument for Changelings becoming psychiatrists,” Sugar joked. “Help ponies recover from things like this when they need it.”

“I don’t need a shrink, though I could use a stiff drink,” Midnight hummed in response. “But, it’s still too early for that I suppose.” The changelings around her nodded as one.

“Though, I will pour you a drink after dinner, promise,” Ledger muttered into her coat. “Heaven knows I could use one as well.”

"Okay, so I guess I start working here from tomorrow onwards," Midnight said, wiping her eyes.

“That sounds fine,” Sugar replied as the hug broke. The unicorn mare used a hoof to aid Midnight in the wiping of her tears before smiling softly. “Though I’m not going to be so harsh as to demand that you arrive at any particular time. Whatever works for you, dear.”

“I’m always up early, so expect me in the morning sometime,” Midnight replied. She took her now favoured position on Ledger’s back, nuzzling his mane and sighing. “Mmm, you smell nice.”

“If you say so,” he chuckled, before passing Scope up to rest on her and discreetly using what little magic he could to ensure he wouldn’t collapse from carrying so much. “All in favor of going home?”

“Agreed,” Scope and Midnight nodded. Scope saw Ledger straining slightly and her horn glowed, transferring around half of her stored love into him. A least a week's worth of standard feeding. The stallion under them steadied, no longer acting like he was about to collapse at any moment.

“Now who’s going to tell Cider that she doesn’t need to or get to craft a ‘fine home cooked meal’ for our first day back?” Ledger asked aloud as the three left the Love Shack as one.

“Why would she....oh, I forgot,” Midnight blushed slightly. Why was she feeling so out of it today? Maybe she was just tired.

“Should we go home and freshen up first?” Scope asked. Then a thought occurred and she looked at Ledger. “Hey, does that griffon friend of yours know you’re a Changeling?”

“No, and hopefully it’ll stay that way until this whole thing gets resolved one way or another,” the disguised drone replied. It didn’t take them too long to reach Cider Falls. “Okay, plan. I find Cider and tell her about the offer for dinner at Fredrick’s. Scope, you and Middy can freshen up while I do that.”

“Sure, but don’t think I’m carrying you Mistress,” Scope frowned as Midnight slid off of Ledger’s back. She picked the little mare up and placed her on her own instead.

“Your armour is uncomfortable,” Scope said, but the bat didn’t feel like paying attention.

“I think Cider will be in the orchards or the greenhouse,” Midnight said. Scope closed her eyes and tried to get a feel for her marefriend’s emotions.

“Greenhouse,” she said after a moment.

“Right, you two can doll yourselves up for the captain and Fredrick if you want, I need to get Cider to agree to come with us.” He paused and gave both mares a quick peck on their cheeks before ambling on to the greenhouse, looking for the sweet mare that didn’t yet know about the planned dinner.

“Seriously?” Scope pouted as Midnight sat in the bath, scrubbing the little changeling behind the ears. “I am perfectly capable of washing myself Midnight.”

“I know, but this is more fun,” the Thestral said. “Plus, it makes me most happy.”

Scope cringed at the terrible grammar, but accepted the washing regardless. “So, plan on wearing your armour to dinner as well?”

That, might not be a good look. Plus it might make ponies nervous...as much as she wanted to wear it. “No, I’ll wear something nice. Haven’t had the chance to really do that lately...” then she recalled that all her dresses were obliterated when that Black had attacked the apartment. “Well dammit.”

“Maybe Cider has something?” Scope suggested, but Midnight shook her head.

“No, she has a slightly larger build than me, and wearing a dress that’s too tight is annoying.” She could go out and buy something along the way, but she wasn’t sure how their finances were going. Ledger would throw a fit if she went and spent what little they might have on something so frivolous. “Maybe I’ll have Momma send me some of my old clothes from Canterlot sometime.” Hmm, Moondancer was coming tomorrow, maybe she could play courier while she was at it?

“Well I can just weave an illusion like I did before, but that doesn’t help you does it?” Scope tapped her chin. “Sorry, I got nothing.”

Midnight just shrugged and hugged Scopey close. “Oh well. I wonder if Ledger’s found Cider yet?”

Ledger frowned as he considered the issue at hoof. Somehow, he would have to tell Cider about the dinner offer while remaining whole enough to attend himself.

The Apple mare was busy checking that her crop hadn’t failed while she was out and about, muttering something about mismanaged weather and constant drama. She hadn’t even noticed the stallion slip inside the greenhouse.

The main thing running through his mind was how badly she seemed to take surprises, so he was wondering if there was a way to both surprise her and not be within striking distance. Eventually he came up with a simple enough plan and stood between two of the trees, acting about as still as one.

“Hey,” he greeted the mare as she passed. Unfortunately, the farmer was so consumed by her own thoughts and mutterings, she neither saw nor heard the stallion. She walked right past him, occasionally checking soil conditions and sniffing the air. He smiled and waited for her to realize the situation and started counting up. One, two...

After a few moments, Cider lifted her head and looked around, finally noticing the stallion and smiled. “Oh, heya Ledger. Sup?”

“Twenty-five,” he announced aloud. “You’re really into this. Not that that’s a bad thing. I just expected to be noticed sooner.”

“Oh?” Cider blushed slightly and then a cheeky smile crossed her face. “Well ain’t it a Changeling’s job not t’be noticed?”

“Fair enough, and the last time I surprised you…” Ledger trailed off, letting her fill in the blanks. “Didn’t need a repeat of that this time.”

“And that’s a bad thing how?” Cider giggled, stepping closer to the stallion. “If ah remember correctly, y’all weren’t complainin’ in the slightest~”

“Tempting,” Ledger admitted. “But we have a dinner date with Fredrick and Narrow. We don’t have that sort of time. Much as I might wish otherwise.”

“Dinner, well, that means ah don’t have to play housewife tonight huh?” Cider sighed, she really hadn’t felt like cooking tonight anyhow. Still, she had a wicked thought~ Midnight Song was proving to be a bad influence on the sweet Apple mare.

“Well ah guess ah’d better go an’ get cleaned up then... guess you can’t buck Apple’s with me then~” That last part was said in a husky whisper as she dragged her tail under his chin, before she gave a light giggle and ran off.

“...These mares will be the death of me one day,” Ledger sighed. “It will be a wonderful death, a happy death, but if they keep it up, I’ll probably die of dehydration sooner rather than later.”

Despite not having a dress, Midnight still did her mane up into some fancy mass of curls, tied off with a small braid and a flower pin she borrowed from Cider, and braided her tail. Scope settled on the illusion that she pulled off in the Crystal Empire, and Cider just went as is, though she replaced her usual tartan ribbons with red silk ones.

Narrow and Fredrick were already waiting, and the restaurant was rather sparse at the moment. A lot of ponies were still wary of Changelings, and opted to stay indoors after the sun set.

“And as usual, the ponies welcome the new thing in their midst with open hooves,” Ledger said sarcastically as he held the door for the mares with what magic he felt he could spare. It was getting better, though. Soon he might be able to do his paperwork again!

“Give it time,” Midnight said. She really wasn’t going to get into what her foalhood was like. Oh yes, the only Thestral in a neighborhood full of Unicorns...

It didn’t take a genius to figure out what that must have been like.

After they were all inside, Midnight gave a polite curtsy to Fredrick and smiled. “Why Mr. Fredrick, it is ever so lovely to make your acquaintance again.” Sweet Celestia, her Prench accent was flawless.

“And it is lovely to see you again, madam,” the griffon returned with his own bow. Once he straightened up, he had another thing to say though. “I am glad to hear that the rumors regarding your sudden vacation are just that. The city was lacking a certain something with you being gone.”

“Rumors?” Midnight blinked, switching back to her usual demeanor. “I have rumors?”

“Mostly regarding why such a beauty like you and your mates would run away from Las Pegasus to elope,” the griffon replied, smiling cheekily.

“What can I say, I really like sticking it to tradition,” Midnight giggled, then tapped her chin in thought. “But how’d somepony figure out we’re getting married? I didn’t decide that until after we left.”

“...Wait, really?” the griffon tilted his head. “That was only one set of rumors. The others were...far less pleasant, which is why I ignored them.”

MIdnight sighed. “I don’t wanna bum things out off the bat, but...what kind? I’ll set things straight if they’re too much.”

“Mostly regarding you going after that demon,” the griffon replied with a wave of his claw. “Or Discord. Or just going slightly mad. Nopony knew where you were, after all. And all of your herd was gone as well, possibly to bring you back.”

“Ah, so pretty tame to what actually happened then. Fair enough,” She looked around than back to the Griffon. “So where are we sitting?”

“Wherever you like,” he replied before indicating the lack of customers with one broad, sweeping wing. “Business has been a little sparse after dark as of late, even though there have been no incidents with our revealed friends.”

“Hmm, that’s gotta suck,” Midnight said as she sat at a table large enough for the group. “So how about you Freddy? What’s your opinion on the cute little cuddlebugs?”

“As I told Narrow,” Fredrick replied, drawing said mare close with a wing and giving her a hug with it. “Any species willing to aid us at our lowest despite what we think of them is good in my books.”

Midnight shot a smile to Ledger and Scope before nodding. “A good outlook. Well done Mr. Fredrick.”

“So where did you go for the last week?” Narrow asked, causing Midnight’s smile to falter slightly.

“Ah, well...I had a...emergency back home, in Roamania. Ledger was curious about the place and it just kinda snowballed from there. We also visited Ponyville on the way back, got to meet Princess Twilight, who’s an old friend of mine I haven’t seen in a few years...”

Lying like that sucked, but she wasn’t gonna ruin the evening by telling them what really happened. “Also, I kinda proposed to the three of them. So, yeah...that’s a thing now.”

“Well done on you then,” the griffon replied. “Do invite me to the wedding, Ledger.”

“Once we get a date set, sure thing,” the stallion replied as he found a large enough table to seat their combined party. Leading the way, the disguised drone pulled the chairs for his mares out slowly with his magic. Scope and Cider took their seats, as did Narrow. She was shooting the occasional glance at Midnight, wondering what happened on that trip. She was very good at covering her tells...

Narrow was just better. Still, she seemed alright, so the older Guard mare would let it be. She switched to looking at Ledger and smirked.

“Must suck having to buy three sets of engagement rings then?”

“To be honest, I hadn’t thought about that,” the stallion replied honestly. “I have no idea who to turn to for them all. I’m sure I’ll come up with something before too long.”

‘Maybe you should have asked Discord for that instead huh?’ Scope whispered into his mind.

Midnight looked at Narrow and Fredrick. “So, what about you two hmm? When are you getting hitched?”

“Knowing Narrow, I’ll wake up one day with a wedding ring on one of my talons and no memory of how it got there, it’ll be so sudden,” the griffon quipped, nudging the mare with one wing and a cheeky smile.

“How’d you guess?” Narrow pouted convincingly. “Now I have to come up with a new plan.”

“...If that’s your way of proposing, I urge you to try again,” the griffon replied seriously. “I’ve heard better from mares I worked halfway to exhaustion.”

“Fredrick, really?” Narrow deadpanned. “Do you honestly think I’d do something like that? That’s something I’d expect from Midnight-”

“Hey!”

“-Should we ever tie the knot, or whatever it is that you Griffons do, it’ll be far more romantic and all that crap.”

“Which would also not be your way of doing things,” the griffon observed. “I’ll keep an eye out for the traditional cliches then. I’d hate to have your effort go to waste.”

“I said it’d be romantic, not traditional,” Narrow smirked. “So, will you be cooking tonight? or one of your students?”

“They all expressed a desire to go home early, so I will be the chef and waiter tonight,” the griffon bowed. “What is it you desire, ladies and gentlestallion?”

“Something with apples,” Cider nodded.

“Fish please!” Scope said, fluttering her feathery wings.

“Pasta!” Midnight cheered.

“How does shrimp alfredo with cider sound?” the griffon offered.

“Sold!” All three mares nodded.

“At least he knows how to please a mare,” Narrow chuckled.

“Something you well know,” the griffon teased. Narrow blushed slightly and poked at him with a hoof.

“Yeah, well...shut up,” she huffed. “I’ll have the same thank you. I haven’t had shrimp before. Should be interesting.”

“Ohh, Cap’s becoming a carnivore, I’d watch your meat Freddy! She might gobble it up.”

“Celestia-dammit Midnight!” Narrow blushed harder.

“Ah, I have missed having you around,” the griffon sighed. “Just like it used to be. So, six orders of shrimp alfredo and a round of cider for everypony?”

“Seems like it,” Ledger nodded.

“Excellent, I’ll have the drinks out momentarily,” the griffon said before ducking into the kitchen. Scope giggled at the antics, it was good to be home...

“Ledger,” Narrow said once Fredrick was gone. “We have...a problem.”

“Oh?” the unicorn said with a raised eyebrow. “As if I haven’t had enough of those lately. Please, enlighten me as to the latest crisis to rock the city of sin.”

“After the mess with Tirek, the whole city was in chaos. I know that you Changelings did what you could to help...but a few of you, decided to help somepony that didn’t need it.”

“...Who was it?” the stallion asked.

“Remember the nymphs that I had in lock up? Well, since Tirek only drained ponies, they were able to escape...along with Toll Taker.”

“Dammit,” Ledger cursed. “On the bright side, our governments are talking peace now. So all we’d need is to point them out, and they’ll find no rest in either Equestria or the Lands.”

“True, but it’s Toll I’m worried about,” Narrow sighed as she folded her arms. “You should have seen her since we arrested her. She’s seriously got it out for you Ledger. I’ve got the local PD and what few Guards I can spare looking out for her...but still, she’s a slippery one.”

“She’s got nothing to use and nowhere to run,” Ledger pointed out. “The only thing she has working for her is her magic. I bet Scope could find her in less time.”

Scope said nothing, she was already planning on it. And once she found that bitch...

Toll Taker wouldn’t be allowed to become a problem ever again.

“So, besides that blast from the past,” Ledger changed the subject with all the subtlety of a train changing tracks. “How have things been here in Las Pegasus? We know the general, but is there anything else you want to add?”

“Tense, to say the least,” Narrow replied. “You know that Toll wasn’t the only player in this city, but for some reason, the others remained quiet after her arrest. But now? I hate to tell you this now, but you’ve lost a few of your contracts while you were away.”

“I thought as such,” Ledger sighed. “Princess Luna said she would do what she could, but I don’t blame those that want to leave…”

“No-one left, you got usurped by a few of the smaller families. Some of them are working together now, but this Changeling thing is causing them to stall.” Narrow sighed tiredly. She knew that this city was like this, but still...

It could be exhausting sometimes.

“Just watch your back okay? And come to me if anything happens. You’re a civvie and I don’t want vigilante justice done alright? It’s hard enough to keep track of things already.”

Ledger nodded once, slowly, and was interrupted from making a response by Fredrick showing up with six glasses and a small cask of cider. “And here we are! The noodles and sauce are on their way to being ready, all that remains is the shrimp. In the meantime, I have delicious cider for everypony!”

Narrow smiled as she leaned against him. “Have I told you how much I’m glad to have you?”

“Every night,” the griffon replied before giving Midnight a wink.

“I want to be my usual self, but you two are just so darned cute together!” Midnight giggled.

“Agreed,” Cider chuckled as she sipped at her drink and her eyes widened slightly. “Is this mah brew?”

“It might be,” the avian replied. “I only buy the best, after all.”

Cider blushed a little as she sipped at her drink demurely. Midnight tilted her head and looked at Fredrick. “Hmm, even when you're taken, you can make a mare blush huh?”

“Most mares,” Scope chuckled. “Chicken legs there doesn’t do a thing for me.”

“I would take that as a dare, but I have my dear flower now,” the griffon replied before pecking the back of Narrow’s neck affectionately. “I don’t need any others.”

“Such a sweetheart,” Narrow replied, enjoying the nibble. “Buut just this once, I want to see that little brat eat those words. Give her all you got Fred.”

The griffon nodded before walking over to Scope and circling her form a few times, eyeing her up quite blatantly. When he stopped in front of her on his third pass, he then leaned in and whispered into her ear for about two minutes.

“Oh you are going to have to do so much better,” Scope chuckled. “That lovey-dovey crap doesn’t work on me Drumsticks.”

“Hmm,” the griffon replied before changing tactics. “Didn’t take you for such a mare, but if you insist…”

When he next leaned in to whisper to her, her eyes widened a little, not having expected that sort of talk from the gentlemanly Griffon.

“Hmm, not bad birdy,” she said and her eyes flashed with mischievousness. She wondered what he’d do if she... Ledger knew that look...she wouldn’t?

A flash of blue later, a large pair of pupiless eyes stared at the Griffon.

“And now?” the undisguised Changeling smirked.

“...I’ll be honest, I’ve got nothing,” Fredrick replied. “Um. Did you three know beforehoof?...”

They all nodded. Midnight especially.

“Yep, why do you think I said they’re so cuddly?” she said, pulling the little nymph into a hug.

“Middy, not in front of my sworn enemy,” Scope pouted, blushing profusely.

“Ah,” the griffon replied. “Well, as long as you knew before this started that she was a changeling, then I see nothing wrong with this.”

Midnight looked at Ledger, but decided to leave that one alone. Scope was a stranger to Fredrick, but Ledger was his best friend. He might take that a little harder.

Oh...now there’s a nice mental image~

“Well, it was sort of hard to not know, seeing as we helped her back on her hooves,” Ledger replied as he sipped at his cider. “Still, glad to see you’re taking this so well.”

“It helps that the first time I met changelings was so calm, comparatively, and that I myself am not a pony,” the griffon replied. “And I think now I need to tend to the dinner.” With that and another peck delivered to Narrow, the griffon was bounding off to the kitchen again.

"Okay Scopey," Midnight said as the nymph retook her Pegasus form. "Care to explain why you just did that?"

"Because I could," Scope shrugged as she sipped her cider. "He was cool with it anyway."

“Because he barely knows you,” Ledger pointed out. Okay, he might have been jealous of the smaller mare. Mostly because he knew he’d completely blow Fredrick’s mind if he was ever ‘himself’ around the griffon.

Scope shot him a grin that could make even the most vicious shark jealous. And speaking of jealousy...

“Emotivore remember~” she gently reminded him.

“Scopey, quit antagonising Ledger,” Midnight sighed. “You know, who needs foals when I have the two of you.”

“This is how we socialize,” Ledger replied. “We bicker and argue until we find a middle ground we can live with...still waiting on that part.”

“Yup, and when all else fails, we fuck each others brains out,” Scope giggled. “I figure it’s a win-win situation.”

“Right until you decide not to inform me about being unable to shift again,” Ledger gently reminded the mare. She just shrugged and sipped her drink.

“I don’t really care, you're the one with hang-ups about that. I’m just concerned that my size would be a problem for reproducing. But I can always take another form, just need a steady flow of love to do so.” She was actually thinking that if she were to do this, she’d move to the Crystal Empire temporarily, so she could use the Heart for assistance.

“So we’re safe for now, got it,” Ledger snarked, before softening slightly. “And my concerns are twofold, actually. The first is more practical, I have no idea how expensive raising a foal in Equestria is, and my own finances haven’t exactly been stable over the past month. The second…”

“The second?” Midnight quirked an eyebrow in a very Ledger-like manner.

“...I don’t really know how to be a dad,” he confessed. “I’m afraid I’d be a terrible one.”

That caused every mare, Narrow included, to stop and stare at him.

“You’re kidding? Right?” Midnight replied, being the first to speak up. “You’re one of the most gentle and caring stallions I know.”

“Y’all go a good deal out of your way to help others,” Cider added.

“And you have a fine sense of duty,” Narrow actually complimented him.

“You’re also logical to a fault and completely insufferable...am I helping?” Scope asked with a head tilt. “Wait, are we insulting or helping him?”

Midnight just shook her head. “The point is Ledger, I think you’d be a fine Daddy. A really weird one, but a good one. I have no doubt about that.”

The stallion smiled at the praise, before sighing and looking wistfully to the ceiling. “And now I wish I could write one last thing in my book…”

“And what’s that?” Scope asked. “Thinking about your Archives entry?”

“...Thinking about the fact that what I’ve learned about is better than anything else,” Ledger replied before pecking Midnight, then Cider. “Love is the greatest mystery of all. I’m going to live it rather than write about it.”

Scope laughed, "That'll be the day. I bet my shiny blue butt that you’ll never stop scribbling in that thing.”

“Ohhh, I totally forgot that I told Princess Bookworm that I’d steal that thing for her,” Midnight said with a facehoof. “Oh well.”

“We’ll...get to that later,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “And of course I won’t stop writing in my book! It’s a useful pocket dimension of paper accessible through the medium of the binding. Filled to the brim with my notes and observations, plus it has several spells in it I know you love. It’s just...when any of you call, I’ll actually put the thing down right away. You’re more important to me than learning.”

Ledger soon found himself buried in mares, just as Fredrick came waltzing back in as their food boiled away in the kitchen.

“So,” he mused with a click of his beak. “We’re skipping dinner and going straight to the orgy?”

“Can we!?” Midnight asked with an excited wiggle of her fluffy ears.

“Okay, one, fairly sure he was joking,” Ledger pointed out. “Two, we’re all sort of together, Miss ‘please marry me.’ Three, even if we were to have fun later on, you’d need to eat to keep your energy up throughout it.”

“Maybe I’m secretly a Changeling and I’m feeding on your love!” Midnight giggled, hugging her stallion still.

“There’s a scary thought,” Scope replied as she sat back at the table. She needed to put a cushion on the seat to actually reach it though.

“The thought really...bugs me,” Cider chuckled, earning a groan and a facehoof from Narrow.

“And this, ladies and gentlecolts, is why Cider is not the comedian of our family,” Midnight smirked.

“Still, she gets points for trying, so I won’t tell her to buzz off,” Ledger returned.

“Also, why Ledger isn’t the funny one either,” Midnight groaned. “See what I have to deal with Captain?”

“Oh you poor thing,” Narrow deadpanned. “My heart bleeds for you. Really.”

“Feeling the love Cap.”

“Do their puns sting?” Fredrick asked with a smile on his beak.

“Oh don’t you start,” Narrow groaned, poking him in the ribs. “Don’t make me bust out the bird puns.”

“I can’t help it, I have so much material to work with!” the griffon replied.

“Last warning Fredrick,” Narrow replied, hiding her small smile with her cider mug. “Besides, what if it insults our guest here. Your jokes might fall...a little short?”

“Oh-hohoh, So we’re gonna hit like that now huh?” Scope narrowed her eyes. “Seems your jokes are a little ‘narrow’.”

“Oh, if I had a bit for every time I heard that one,” Narrow shot back.

“Seems you aren’t too worried about being broke, you did join the Guard after all.”

“Least I have a job.”

“So do I!”

“As Midnight’s mascot!”

“I will end you!!”

“Ladies!” Ledger interrupted. “I’d rather not have the first changeling incident on record be ‘nymph destroys much beloved restaurant.’ And Captain, shouldn’t you know better?” He’d deliberately used Narrow’s rank to refer to her, to remind her of her supposed discipline.

“She started it!” both mares said in unison.

Midnight was cackling with laughter. It took her about a minute to finally stop as she looked at the pair. “This...is...hilarious,” she wheezed. “Now...kiss and make up.”

“Something tells me that’s not happening anytime soon,” Fredrick said as he used one claw to stroke Narrow’s mane. “Please do calm down, love.”

She blushed slightly at him calling her that and sighed. She had been far too irritable the last few days, because of stress and this stupid cast and... Okay, yeah, she needed to chill. “Yeah, sorry Miss Scope. That joke was out of line. I apologise.”

“Me too, I guess,” Scope replied quietly.

“Now...kiss.” Midnight said in a husky whisper.

“Midnight,” Ledger said in a tone that more often than not accompanied a warning about ten seconds later.

“Urgh! Fii~iine,” she pouted as she nibbled on a breadstick. “Food smells good by the way.”

“Hmm, I think that’s my cue to go prepare the dishes,” the griffon mused before giving Narrow a final peck and vanishing once again. The officer rolled her eyes at his overabundant affection, but smiled none-the-less. She turned back to Midnight as a serious question came to the forefront of her mind.

“So care to tell me why you were wearing an almost one-of-a-kind suit of armour earlier? Last I heard, all of them were in Canterlot.”

“Oh, Princess Twilight gave it to me...don’t really know why,” Midnight said. “But hey, between that and the sweet new blades my Dad gave me, I can kick ten times the flank now. Even Tirek would crap himself if he had to fight me again.”

“Here’s hoping we never have to do that again,” Narrow muttered. “So, was it really Princess Twilight and her friends that beat him?”

“Yeah, and she got some cool crystal castle to boot,” Midnight nodded. “How come I can’t be an alicorn princess?”

“Heavens above, you’ll have to settle for having kissed them all,” Ledger replied with an eye-roll. “Seriously, think about the amount of work they have. Would you really want to be one?”

“Meh, I’d just hoof it off to somepony else,” Midnight shrugged. “Having magic woud be kind of neat. But, I guess I’m pretty perfect the way I am huh?”

“And humble, let’s not ferget how humble y’all are,” Cider spoke up, having drained her mug already. At this point, the griffon returned, pushing a small cart laden down with bowls for them all.

“Shrimp alfredo,” he replied as he began to serve the ponies noodles with pink puffed shrimp and a cheesy sauce topping.

“Ooohhh,” came the chorus of responses as he served up the food.

“Between you, Ledger and Cider, food by anypony else is forever ruined,” Midnight said, her fluffy ears wiggling excitedly. Fredrick chuckled before joining them himself.

“Bon appitite,” he said before digging into his own bowl.

The small talk paused as the group ate, though several voiced their opinions on the delicious food.

“You think that’s bad,” Narrow said, finally able to answer after stuffing her face. “Do you have any idea how much more I have to exercise now, just so I don’t get fat from all this food?”

“Ooh, maybe Freddy likes his mares a little plump?” Midnight giggled. Fredrick wiggled his eyebrows at Narrow before he replied.

“It is said the best sign a chef is good at what he does is a plump wife,” he joked. “Mayhap I should round out my resume?”

“I am not getting fat for you Fredrick,” Narrow huffed. “That would not make for a fine Guard, and I have no desire to join the PD...”

“Ooh, cheap shot,” Midnight giggled. “But then, they are fond of their coffee and donuts...”

“So what about you?” Cider asked Fredrick, deciding a change in topic was needed. “How have you been handlin’ the last couple o’days?”

“They have been interesting,” the griffon replied before slurping up a noodle. After which, he speared a shrimp with his fork and twirled it around before stating another observation. “It turns out one of my serving-colts is a changeling - Violet, if the colors mean much - and I’ve known him for a few months now. Still, I shan’t discriminate. Even changelings need to eat.” He paused for a moment before adding on, “You...know what I mean.”

“Trust me, I bet he eats very well with your teachings,” Midnight giggled, and decided to beat Ledger to the punch with a lecture. “And yeah, the colours mean something. It shows their preferred type of emotion to eat. Violets like him and Sugar Darling eat Lust. Blue ones like Scopey eat Loyalty. Silver ones like-” she caught herself and coughed. “Well, you get the idea anyway.”

“Mm. Changelings: Color-coded for your convenience,” the griffon quipped before diving back into his meal.

“I know right!” Midnight exclaimed in between bites. “Why is that Ledger?”

Ledger paused before shooting a look at Midnight. “Well if I had to guess, I’d say something about what emotions they consume colors them differently.”

“So what if say...Scopey was to eat a lot of Lust, would she turn Violet?” Midnight was teasing at first, now she was genuinely interested.

“We would have to ask a scholar of theirs,” Ledger hemmed, not wanting to reveal himself to Fredrick. Something he hoped Midnight remembered.

“Ledger’s been studying the Changelings for a while now, ever since we met Scopey,” Midnight explained with a pleasant smile. “So I figured that he’d know... apparently not.”

Narrow grinned, and looked at Ledger. “So tell us, how did you wind up falling in love with a Changeling?”

“She made remarkable progress in becoming something civil, almost overnight she became a model citizen,” Ledger commented. “When the time came that she worked up the courage to confess to me, I felt she had more than earned her chance.”

“I-Idiot,” Scope blushed into her cider mug, before hastily gulping it down. “Who said you could tell them that!?”

“She asked,” Ledger replied, taking his comfort in weaseling out of near-traps where he could.

“Well, I think it’s cute,” Narrow smiled.

“I’m not cute!” Scope blushed harder. She needed more cider.

“Adorable, then,” Ledger replied.

“I’m not adorable either!” Scope said and pointed at Fredricks smug grin. “And stop giving him ammunition!!”

“Yer doin’ that all on yer own Scopey,” Cider mused and the nymphs head thunked onto the table as she let out a groan.

“I was going to add beautiful and gorgeous to the list, but if you’d rather I stop talking…” Ledger trailed off to gauge Scope’s reaction. The Pegasus mare was practically glowing red now, opting to hide behind a menu, pretending to check desserts.

“Hmm,” Fredrick replied. “Interesting that you say that when she can change her shape…”

“It’s not the exterior that matters,” Ledger replied. “But what’s inside that counts. True, even there she used to be horrible, but she’s undergone her own metamorphosis and become something to outshine the stars at night for beauty.”

“Careful, Luna’s pretty competitive,” Midnight giggled as the nymph in question want to both kiss and kill that drone. She figured she could settle on both. She resumed her true form as she walked around the table and gave the stallion a deep kiss in front of everyone. One he returned, hugging her close and sighing softly into the kiss.

She broke the kiss and smiled at him...before that smile turned wicked. “Also, I came up with a way to get back at both of you...wanna see~?”

“...Is the amount of fear I feel justified?” Ledger replied, both curious and slightly afraid of what she was planning.

“Well it’s just that Fredrick was ever so kind to remind me that I can become almost anything~” she purred as she held him...until her body was coated in flames and now a second Fredrick was holding him instead. Midnight and Cider both let out a squeak, but didn’t tear their eyes away.

Narrow...Narrow figured she was surprisingly okay with this. And Ledger merely looked at her form with a raised eyebrow.

“...It’s going to take more than turning into Fredrick to startle me,” he said simply. True, he’d never hugged the griffon like this before, but to stick it to Scope, he’d deal.

“Oh, but I just want to confess my deepest, hidden love for you,” ‘he’ purred, leaning in closer for a kiss.

“...I feel like I should feel offended,” Fredrick spoke up. “Narrow, thoughts?”

Narrow just blushed slightly as she stared at the scene. “Shh, I’m trying to watch!”

“Okay, you’ve had your fun,” Ledger said, pushing at the form hugging him. ‘Fredrick’ tisked and gave him a quick peck on the lips before turning back to her normal self.

“Well, alright,” she hummed. “Maybe I’ll take that dragon form you like so much later~”

“Aheh...you mean dragoness, right?” Ledger asked with a small laugh.

“Hmm, do I?” Scope hummed. “I hadn’t thought of that...ohh, iddeaaa~”

“...I blame you,” Ledger replied, shooting a look over the nymph at the griffon. “Completely and utterly.”

“Fair enough,” the griffon said before polishing off his own dinner. “Desserts, mares?”

“Like you even have to ask,” Narrow said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “We’re mares dear, we always have room for dessert.”

“Agreed,” Midnight, Scope and Cider echoed.

“I think he’s more asking what sort of dessert you’d like,” Ledger said as the griffon gave off a short nod.

“I have a small quantity of most of them prepared and sitting in the refrigerator or freezer where needed,” the griffon elaborated.

“The richest chocolate ice-cream you have!” Midnight declared.

“Apple pie,” Cider nodded.

“Mmmm, cake!” Scope hummed.

Narrow smiled as she looked at the menu and then leaned in close to him. “I’ll take a pudding, then later... I’ll take you~”

“So a dish of ice-cream, a slice of apple pie, some cake, some pudding…” the griffon trailed off as he looked at Ledger, who hummed.

“I’ll try these cookies,” he said, pointing to the cherry-chocolate cordials.

“Excellent choice, I’ll join you for some,” the avian replied as he gathered up their dirty dishes and disappeared into the kitchen. Once he was gone again, Narrow resumed her more professional tone.

“So, the real reason you lot had to leave? Is it going to be a problem in the future?”

“I think it’s been thoroughly dealt with in a brutal fashion,” Ledger replied with a wicked smile.

“More like overkill,” Scope replied. “But yeah, it won’t be a problem...now Toll Taker on the other hoof...”

“I cannot believe she was able to escape,” Narrow sighed, placing her head in her hooves. “And to make matters worse, we are unable to locate Bludgeon and Kill Switch either. That worries me just as much.”

“They should have arrived in the Crystal Empire long ago,” Ledger mused. Maybe he would send a letter to Shining Armor about that...

“We were keeping tabs on them, but...” Narrow shook her head. “Just, I know you’re all quite capable, but please be careful none-the-less.”

“She won’t want to come anywhere near my family,” Midnight said in a low tone. Ledger and Scope could almost see the murderous aura she was emanating.

Fortunately, Fredrick arrived with the mood killer at that moment. “And a load of chocolate for the ponies,” he said as he pushed a new cart out. “Who had the ice-cream?”

“ME!” Midnight exclaimed, her mood flipping like a switch as she reached for the bowl, her ears wiggling adorably.

“For you,” the griffon replied as he passed the bowl over. “The pie is miss Cider, then, and the cake is...Scope’s?”

“Score!” Scope said, reaching for the cake. “Also, have we been properly introduced? I can’t remember. Ah well, I’m Scope Lens, but my Changeling name is Secret-Treasure.”

“Charmed, and I’m certain I heard it from somewhere or other,” the griffon replied as he put the pie before Cider. “I am Fredrick, my last name is unpronounceable in pony tongue.”

“I could change that,” she smirked, reminding him of her earlier form. She made a few chirps and clicks before smiling. “That was mine in Changeish.”

“Ah,” Fredrick said as he put the pudding before Narrow and clearing his throat. A few screeches sounded through the air. Narrow would hear it quite clearly as ‘Deipneus’

“That’s...” Narrow paused as she pronounced his name with a rough accent. “Ahph, I bit my tongue!”

“I warned you,” the griffon replied before splitting the cookies between himself and Ledger.

“Oh bite me,’ Narrow huffed as she reached for her dessert. “So my Griffic is a little rusty. You don’t complain when I use it in bed~”

“More than a few Griffons have difficulty pronouncing my family’s name. It’s one thing to hear it, another to pronounce it.” He nibbled on one of the cookies and was glad he’d split them once Ledger got his first taste...then started devouring them all rapidly.

“Remember that you have to do a little thing called breathing Levvy,” Midnight giggled, not noticing she had ice-cream on her muzzle. It kinda blended in with her fur as is.

“These are too -CHOMP- good to worry about things like that!” Ledger replied as he kept eating the depressingly small amount of cookies.

“I’ve only ever seen him eat one other thing with as much enthusiasm,” Midnight giggled, letting the implication sink in. It didn’t take long for Narrow to start coughing, a small blush on her face.

Cider and Scope just rolled their eyes. Ledger slowed down and shot her a dirty look before holding the last cookie in one hoof.

“Had you tasted one, you’d agree with me that these cookies are too good to live,” Ledger said with a smile.

“Maybe, but you didn’t exactly give me a chance,” Midnight replied, licking her bowl with her long tongue. Cider gave her a look and sighed.

“Can’t y’all be respectable in public?”

“Are all Thestrals like that?” Narrow found herself asking. “That tongue I mean...”

“Don’t know,” Ledger replied as he ate the last cookie. “Never gah to fah out,” he said through the food in his mouth.

“I can attest to the fact that the one other female thestral I spent time with had a similar tongue, though she was not nearly as talented as you were,” the griffon replied.

“Fredrick Deipneus, do I really want to know how you know how skilled her tongue is?” Narrow raised an eyebrow.

“Simple. The other Thestral I spent time with didn’t have very fine control over it at all.” He seemed to wince a little at the thought. “I had to educate her.”

“I’ve explained this to Ledger, I think,” Midnight replied. “A Thestral’s tongue is normally elastic, like so...” Her tongue shot out like whip, snapping up one of Fredricks cookies and munching on it. Oooh, they were good. She swallowed and smiled. “With enough practice, we can get some pretty decent control over it. I just happen to have a lot of practise~”

“That’s...a weird thing to practice, but at least I learned something new tonight,” Narrow hummed a she ate her pudding. Midnight would have a field day if she knew the thoughts that ran through the Unicorn’s mind right now. Midnight knew that look though and smirked as she looked at Ledger.

“What did I tell you. Everypony is Songsexual~”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ledger said as he looked at his empty plate sadly.

“You are impossible,” Narrow huffed as she finished her dessert. Still, this was a nice distraction from everything that was going on right now, and it could always be a hell of a lot worse out there.

“And this is her on a good day,” Ledger quipped.

“Every day is a good day if I’m involved,” Midnight giggled. “And I certainly know how to make them...better~”

“I swear I’m going to see about getting you neutered,” Narrow groaned.

“Please don’t, otherwise her mother and father might do the same to me,” Ledger replied. “And they would probably do so...painfully.”

“Yeah, Daddy’s kind of intense,” Midnight smiled. She looked at her sadly empty bowl and then noticed that Ledger had some crumbs on his muzzle...

Most felt like they should look away from what happened next, despite being adults. The stallion had been taken by surprise initially, but he returned the affections in record time.

“They...do realise we’re still here right?” Narrow gulped, taking a few mental notes.

“I think they like an audience sometimes,” Cider sighed, wishing they had at least a little restraint. “Do ah have to go and get a bucket of cold water you two?”

The stallion surfaced eventually for air before giving Cider a half-lidded stare of his own. “Did that sound like ‘I want one’ to you, Middy?”

“Maaaaybe~” Midnight giggled as the two started to stalk Cider, who ‘meeped’ and started to run away. Scope rolled her eyes as she delicately ate her cake.

“See what I have to deal with?” she sighed at Narrow and Fredrick.

“Yes, I can see how getting showered in affection must be so terrible for you,” the griffon replied as the penultimate cookie was devoured.

“Still embarrassing,” she retorted. The two had finally cornered the Earth mare and were showering her in kisses. “Keep going and you’ll attract every Violet in the city,” Scope called out. Ledger slowed before nodding and reluctantly drawing away.

“Hmm, now which was sweeter?” he mused aloud. Midnight and Cider looked at one another, before they pounced him again.

“I swear, they’re worse than rabbits,” Scope groaned. Narrow chuckled, before sneaking a kiss in on Fredrick. The griffon pulled her close with one wing as he watched the spectacle.

“I do have a guest room, if they feel like they can’t wait,” the griffon offered.

“Is is sad that this is entertainment for us?” Narrow mused. Midnight’s ear had flicked at the mention of the word ‘guest room’

“Midnight. No.” Scope ordered her.

“Awww.”

“Miss no fun,” Ledger said with a huff and crossed forelegs. “That’s what I’m calling you now.”

“Are you lot serious,” she sighed. “We were invited out to a meal by our friends, and you wanna blow it off to go and do that?” She sighed and rubbed her temples. “Honestly, and you’re not entirely blameless here Chicken. I can’t tell if your joking or serious...and I can read emotions!”

“I don’t mind having guests over for the night,” the griffon replied. “Though I suppose they will have to take extra care that the bedbugs don’t bite with you hanging around.”

“Unbelievable,” Scope sighed. “Can you please be a voice of reason here Captain?”

“It’s Fredrick's place, he can invite anypony he pleases,” Narrow shrugged.

“Seems we’re having another sleepover~” Midnight giggled, nibbling on Ledger’s ear.

“I’ll be sociable, you can deal with making Cider compliant,” Ledger whispered back. “Say...half an hour?”

“Ah am perfectly fine in being respectable, jus’...got caught up in the moment,” Cider blushed profusely. “So, are we really stayin’ here? Ah’d hate to be a bother t’anypony...”

“We do have a perfectly good house,” Midnight replied. Then she realised just how much she wanted others around her right now. Still, she didn’t want to put anypony out because she had a few emotional hangups.

“For the record, I no longer care,” Scope replied, opting to take the dirty plates into the kitchen for Fredrick.

“I leave it up to you, little songbird,” Ledger said before giving her one more gentle kiss.

“Seriously?” Midnight pouted. “Remind me again, on who has the record for disastrous decisions amongst all of us?”

“Hardly your fault,” the stallion pointed out. “And so far, I’m liking the outcome for the decision of ‘pursue a romance’ and ‘pursue a herd’.”

“Yeah well...” For once, Midnight had no response for him, perverse or otherwise. She looked at Narrow and Fredrick. “Are you sure it’s not a problem. We can be kind of annoying...”

“I’ve had guests over before. So much so that I invested in soundproofing for all my rooms, if only for my neighbor’s sake,” the griffon replied before kissing Narrow. The Unicorn returned the affection and nodded.

“I know something’s up with you Midnight, something that happened during that week. So, if you need others around for a while, that’s fine. We’re...friends right?”

Midnight nodded then tackle hugged the mare, still not sure if she should laugh or cry,

She settled on an awkward mix of both. Ledger then took up the slack in paying attention to Cider, giving her a few kisses as they watched the scene of the two guardsmares bonding.

“And now it’s the guys' turn to stare huh?” Scope decided to point out as Midnight wasn’t breaking the hug.

“Feel free to get some attention yourself,” Ledger replied before holding up a foreleg, clearly inviting the small mare to cuddle with him and Cider. Scope got another wicked idea, she was on a roll tonight. She teleported, re-appearing on Fredrick’s back.

“Aw, but then Freddy here will be left out. Can’t have that now~”

“...I find myself curiously okay with this situation,” the griffon observed. “Hugs are hugs, after all.”

“Bug hugs are almost best hugs,” Midnight nodded. “Bat hugs are far superior. The Captain can now attest to this fact.”

“Oh for the love of—” Narrow sighed as she rolled her eyes. “Get off me you idiot.”

“Mmmnope,” Midnight giggled, nuzzling the mare more.

“Seems to be a majority vote,” Cider replied from Ledger’s embrace. She looked at Fredrick and shrugged. “Ah still think we shouldn’t be bothering them. Ah’ll share a few of mah recipes with y’all to make up fer this.”

“You hardly need to go to that length, though I won’t say no to more additions for my cookbook,” the griffon replied. “Second door on the right upstairs, if you four are staying after all.”

Cider nodded, but she wasn’t really tired yet. And the sun had only set a while ago. Well, time for another round of drinks then!

It was well after midnight before anyone in the building got any sleep...

Chapter 47 - End of an Era, start of Another

The first thing Ledger did when he woke up the next morning was realize that he wasn’t in his own home. The revelation came right after realizing he needed a shower, and finding he didn’t know where one was.

This led to the next, very awkward situation of having Fredrick walk in on him in the shower.

He felt that if his mares ever knew about that, they would never let him live it down...

Thank the Hives he remembered to disguise himself.

Apple Cider had prepared a veritable feast for breakfast, and was sure to compensate Fredrick for the ingredients she used. She had also baked a few Apple Family treats he could sell during the day for a little extra profit.

“No breakfast can compare to one of Cider’s,” Midnight hummed happily as she stuffed her face with pancakes drowned in syrup.

“Agreed,” Ledger said as he practically inhaled his own breakfast.

“I can’t believe you guys eat like this all of the time,” Narrow remarked as she piled food on her own plate. “Though mind you, I’m in no position to remark further.”

“No you aren’t,” Fredrick nodded. “And at least this is better than that ghastly substance you even dare to call food at your own place. I still cannot believe you have even survived up until this point, let alone succeeded in your job as you have.”

“Don’t be such a drama queen,” Narrow huffed as she shovelled in her food.

“The expiration dates on that food is set for a hundred years from now,” the avian deadpanned. “Anything that can last that long has no purpose in being consumed by a pony.”

“It works,” Narrow defended herself. “Tell him Midnight.”

“Huh?” she looked up with a syrup-coated muzzle. “That nasty ration crap? I dunno, I always snuck my own food when I could.”

Narrow gave her a stare that could turn a cockatrice to stone. Fredrick and Ledger shared a laugh before the stallion of the pair expertly cleaned his plate.

“And I think I have about two dozen things to put in order today,” Ledger said before giving his mares a quick peck. “Would love to stay and chat, but there’s so much to do, so little time.”

“Yup, go and actually run your company for a change,” Midnight grinned.

“You’re one to talk,” Scope replied as she came downstairs, still half-asleep. “Aren’t you supposed to be meeting Sugar about now?”

“Oh fu-” Midnight wiped her muzzle, gave everyone a quick kiss, Fred and Narrow included in her haste, before she shot from the building.

“Dare I ask what you intend to be up to while the rest of us are busy?” the unicorn inquired with a raised eyebrow. “Between me at Pegasus Air, Midnight with Sugar, and Cider working on the farm…”

Scope tapped her chin, “Hmm, hadn’t really thought about it.” (Yes she had). “Maybe do a little sightseeing, see what’s happened around here over the last couple of days?”

“If you say so,” Ledger said before giving her another peck and heading for the door. “I am off, take care.”

“I’ll have something to eat, and help wash up,” Scope said as she sat at the table, taking her own generous portion of food. Narrow finished up a moment later and sighed. She had stuff to help out with for the mayor, and all that paperwork...

So. Much. Paperwork...

She gave Fredrick a goodbye kiss and made her own way out after getting her little wagon-thing. She was going to take great enjoyment in destroying this thing once she was well again.

After breakfast, Cider and Scope helped Fredrick clean up and get ready to open the restaurant before leaving. And once Scope saw Cider back home, she narrowed her eyes and flew towards the city.

‘I’m going to find you, and I am going to kill you,’ she promised herself. Toll Taker would not live to see the next sunrise.

Ledger’s company seemed to be running fine. Only a small amount of his employees were present, all of them Changelings. After asking, it was mentioned that his pony workers had quit, when word got out about there being some of the bugs present.

“Sorry boss,” one had apologised.

“It’s not your fault,” Ledger returned with a sigh. Though, anyone who knew what to look for would see gears turning behind his eyes. The drone was planning something already...

He reached his office...and noticed that the door was unlocked, but he couldn’t sense anypony inside...Still, since Narrow had mentioned that Toll was out and about, his paranoia regarding her kicked in. Subconsciously he created a small barrier around himself before opening the door wider with one hoof.

The office appeared empty...at least until he was yanked inside by telekinesis and the door slammed shut behind him as his chair swivelled around, the mare he feared sitting in it as she looked over some paperwork.

“I have to say Ledger,” Toll Taker sighed. “You’re not doing half bad at this whole ‘Boss’ thing... you could be making so much more though. Did I teach you nothing about running a business?”

“Forgive me if I have such things as morals and lines I refuse to cross,” Ledger fired back. “Besides which, it’s not easy getting a monopoly on something. Far easier to introduce new goods which you control.”

“I noticed, this ‘Crystal Wine’ venture of yours is really something. You stand to make quite the sizable profit on it.” She placed the papers down and looked at him, and that was when he noticed the ring around the base of her horn. Her eyes followed his and she smiled.

“Oh, you like this? Nifty little thing really. It blocks that nasty magic of yours, the one that feels and drains my emotions.”

“You probably planned something like that ever since you found out about me,” the disguised drone replied. This was bad. He’d always been able to feel her before. Now he’d not know about how she was feeling during this conversation. Worse, his workers wouldn’t think that there was anything wrong...

“Ah, as astute as always,” Toll clapped her hooves. “Yes, I found that I may have panicked a bit before, and forgot all about this. Luckily, you and the Guard didn’t search my office too thoroughly.” She sighed again and folded her arms. “Well, enough catching up. Time to get down to business.” She leaned forward, her vicious grin was wide. “You’re going to start working for me again, okay?”

“...No,” Ledger replied, not moving an inch. “I am not.”

“Oh, you’ll find that that was not a request,” Toll remarked. “While your little secret is all but worthless to me now, I have a whole new deck of cards to play with...after all,” she crossed the room until she was only an inch away from him. “We wouldn’t want anything to happen to those cute little mares of yours hmm?”

“WRONG BUTTON!” Ledger snarled, dredging up what he could of his magic and slamming Toll into her desk. He even shed his disguise so he didn’t have to worry about holding it anymore. “Not only am I certain they can look after themselves, but you do not threaten the ones I love if you want to see the next sunrise!”

Toll Taker coughed, before she...started laughing?

“Oh...hhahahaaa! You really are a feisty one huh? Too bad you’re a bug, or I might take you for myself.” She got to her hooves and winced. That desk was pretty solid. “But, do you honestly think I’d be making empty threats? Killswitch and Bludgeon are just waiting on my order, go ahead Ledger. Give them a reason. Well, more than you already have.”

He reached one hoof up to her horn then and smiled a vicious smile. “Funny thing about a unicorn’s horn. They’re wonderful magic channelling implements. So strong. But with just the right application of force, they can snap off. How easy do you think it’d be to take that ring off then?”

A brief flicker of fear filled her eyes before she regained her composure and pushed him away with her magic. “Fool, they’re waiting on me to report in, if I don’t, then you can kiss your mares goodbye! I wonder, do you think Killswitch might end that little farm mare quickly? Or make her suffer a little. He’s a little unhinged after what you did to him.”

Ledger smiled wider at that and used his magic to drop the massive office chair on her. “Sit down,” he quipped, before firing up his Hivespeak spell. “Scope? Scope, you listening?”

“....Yeah, what is it?”

“Do me a favor, get Midnight and Cider together and take out Killswitch and Bludgeon, would you? Odds are, the pair of them are watching Cider. At least, that’s what Bitch-taker’s said.”

“Bitch-? She’s there!?” Scope almost screamed into his mind. “Well I guess I-”

And just like that, the communication was cut off as a droning buzz filled Ledger’s head. He glared at the pinned unicorn mare before he spoke in a voice cold enough to freeze Tartarus. “If any of them have been hurt, Toll, I will find a way to make sure that you suffer all of their fates at once. And then I will ship little pieces of you to every corner of Equus.”

“Oohh, I’m so scared of the big bad bug,” she replied in a mock tone as she got back up and dusted herself off. “Eh, your mare hits harder than that... but, as long as you do as I say, then no harm will come to them. That little insect of yours, she’s just...catching up with some old friends about now I’d say.”

Even though he’d been purged of his dark magic, Ledger felt as though if he still had it, he’d have gone pure black by now. With a wordless cry, he used his knowledge of pony anatomy against a pony for the second time in his life.

“Pressure point!” he called out before hitting a point along her spine with a telekinetic blast. The impact would see to it that she wasn’t going to run away for a good half hour. With a sharp cry, she fell to the floor as the ring she wore fell from her horn.

And the terrifying part? She wasn’t scared at all... she was actually enjoying this.

“Go ahead,” she grinned, “Kill me if you want. Take that step. And then have fun trying to be in three places at once to save your mares.”

“Three reasons why I won’t. Number one, I’m not you. I kill you, I become no better than you,” Ledger said as he walked forward and knocked the ring to a far corner of the office. “Number two, you’re still useful to me, mainly because of that reason. And number three...you’d be surprised what you can live through.”

“Heh, I can’t feel my legs,” she chuckled. “You really know how to wear a girl out huh?” She gave him a look, one he couldn’t quite place... until he felt her emotions.

“I tried to make this painless Ledger, but...in the end, I was going to kill them anyway!” Her horn flared as she prepared a teleportation spell…

One he canceled instinctively by stomping on her horn with all his strength. He didn’t think so much as react. She let out a scream of pain as her horn cracked, before she gave him a ragged laugh.

“Better run little stallion,” she croaked through the pain. “Won’t be long now~”

Ledger merely sat down and took a deep breath, confusing Toll.

“W-What are you doing? They’re going to die Ledger!”

The silver changeling smiled. “Oh, are they?” And then he said a name three times.

“Discord, Discord, Discord!”

Toll gave him a confused look, before a lava lamp she hadn’t noticed before spoke up, the cheerful spirit swimming around inside of it.

“Level, what have I said about the genie call? It’s rather demeaning.”

“Apologies, but it’s not like I know of a better way to get your attention, and this is a very important matter,” Ledger said as his instinctive ‘Pink-reaction’ started up. “My old boss has come back from the big house, and her cronies are threatening those I love. There’s no way I could save all three mares at once. Nor could I ever choose.”

“Ooh, that is quite the pickle you have here,” Discord chuckled as he unscrewed the top of the lamp and crawled out, growing to full size and toweling himself off. “So, this concerns me becauusseeee?”

“I can hardly invite you to the wedding if I have to plan a funeral instead,” Ledger pointed out.

“Hmm, that would be quite the pickle,” he said as he pulled a pickle out of...somewhere and munched on it. “So let me guess, you want me to play the big hero and save them?”

“I’d appreciate your assistance, yes,” Ledger said with a nod. “I think I can handle informing the good captain when all is said and done, along with getting to Cider and finding the crony going for her. It’s a half-dozen other changelings and whatever is going after Midnight I don’t think I can stop in time. Nor do I think I have the magic for them all.”

“Hmm, first, a question if you will,” Discord said, wearing a green bowlers hat and carrying a staff with a question mark on it’s head. “What is something you have, you can show, you can feel, but can’t seem to see yourself?”

“Have, show, feel, can’t see,” Ledger mused. “Hmm, that’s a tricky one. Unless you’re a changeling, I would say emotions. You can’t see your own emotions unless you’re looking in a mirror, but everypony else can see them pretty well if they know what to look for.”

“Ohh, close but no cigar,” Discord clapped his hands. Toll teleported away while the two were distracted, and Discord chuckled. “Ohh, what a feisty one she is.” He reached into a ripple in the air and when he drew his hand back out, he was holding the mare by the scruff of the neck. “I recommend you keep a better eye on your pets. Maybe have them neutered?” He dropped her at Ledger’s hooves as he vanished.

‘Have ‘faith’ in your mares Ledger. They’re stronger than you think.’

‘...In that case, then warn Midnight and Cider, and hang around Scope in case she needs it please. I’ll believe in them, but I’d like a safety net.’ He didn’t know if the chaos spirit could hear his thoughts, but considering everything else he did, Ledger didn’t put it past Discord.

Toll taker was trying to back away, though that was kinda hard when she was still paralysed.

“This uh...didn’t go quite as planned.”

Ledger drew closer and lay her back down on the ground, before smiling at her. The smile was...wrong somehow. “You know, Discord made a good point.” The drone shifted into an Earth Pony version of his unicorn form before continuing. “I really should do something about that pesky horn of yours.”

“S-Stay away!’ she yelled at him. With a surge of magic, she used telekinesis on herself, throwing herself through the door and out into the factory. The pressure Ledger had used on her was starting to wear off, but it would be a few minutes before she could walk again. She just needed to buy some time…

“Don’t let her get away!” He called out in Changeish. “She’s the bitch that was in charge before me! She’s got a rap sheet longer than Celestia’s tail!”

Several Changeling’s moved to block her as she stumbled across the floor. She glared at them, tossing them aside with her magic as more came for her. With a loud yell, she tossed a small shipping container at them…

Fortunately, they buzzed up and around the container, or like one ballsy bug, ducked under it. And then that same bug came up to her in a burst of speed, and bit her damaged horn.

Ledger chuckled. Typical yellows. So quick to jump into danger.

She screamed again, blasting the one that bit her across the room. But Changelings were hardly little things, the yellow drone already getting back up and charging again.

And that was when she regained the use of her limbs. She grabbed the drone in a headlock, her horn next to his head.

“Alright! ANY of you move, and I blow his little buggy brains out!” she yelled.

If she knew what they did about yellows, she would have rethought her choice of hostage. He wasn’t perturbed at all by the situation, and neither were they. They were waiting. He?

He moved and bit her horn again, the earlier stress put on it by Ledger and himself really helping him in his goal to neutralize the mare. There was a cracking noise, followed by a horrendous scream as her horn snapped off with a sickening snap! The surge of magic blew the ‘ling across the room... along with most of his teeth, but the Unicorn was now rolling on the ground, clutching her head.

“Give that bug a promotion,” Ledger said as he pointed at the yellow who had landed on the opposite side of the room. He then drew close to Toll Taker and smiled before holding her still and looking in her eyes.

“Hello there, ‘boss’. Would you like to play a game?”

“Go...fuck...a cactus!” she spat at him, literally.

“Temper,” Ledger said before he reached out and punched the same pressure point again. Using it too much or using too much force could wear the mare or the reflex out. Either she’d develop a resistance or lose all feeling for longer and longer. Still, for just a few times, it would be safe. “Let’s see what we can do about that before the good captain shows up, hmm?”

“Go ahead, whatever you can do, I’ll have done worse,” she spoke in an eerily calm tone all of a sudden. Ledger laughed. Actually laughed.

“And somebug get that horn, I want it mounted in my office!” he called out as he dragged the mare after him into said office with his magic.

It was pretty hectic at ‘The Love Shack’ with half the ponies in Las Pegasus wanting answers. Sugar was trying her best to keep them at bay, but it was like trying to hold back the tide...

Then a voice called out.

“Hey babe, need a hoof?” Moondancer asked as she walked in.

“Moony!” Sugar called out before all but glomping the mare. “I missed you!”

“So I see,” Moondancer giggled, hugging the enthusiastic mare as Midnight strode in and looked around. She stepped up onto the stage and within a matter of minutes, had already gotten the crowd formed and was taking questions.

“Some things never change,” Moondancer giggled before giving Sugar a little sugar. “Been a good girl since I was gone?”

“Unless I was paid to be naughty,” the mare giggled in return before nuzzling Moondancer. “Mmm, it’s so much better being around you though.”

“Glad to hear it,” Moondancer smiled. She looked back at the stage as Midnight paced around it, pointing at ponies and answering questions. “She’s like the ocean huh? Everypony can’t help but get swept along at her pace.”

“Mm...not...everypony,” the nymph said as she stared at the one pony who didn’t seem to share the crowd or Midnight’s enthusiasm. “Something’s wrong, Moony. I don’t think that guest came for the cocktails.”

Moon followed her gaze to a weedy-looking Unicorn with dark rings under his eyes. And those eyes never left Midnight Song. He also seemed to be wearing a peculiar-looking ring around his horn.

“You think he’s here to cause trouble?” Moondancer asked her marefriend.

“I don’t know,” Sugar said. “I can’t...sense him. I can feel everypony else in this room, but he’s a void I can’t touch. I think he came here knowing there were ‘lings, and wanted to hide whatever he was up to from them…”

Moon looked to Midnight and when the Thestral laid eyes on the stallion, Moondancer caught the look that she got.

Fear.

“That’s all I need,” she replied and with a flash, she’d teleported herself and the stallion outside. She glared at him once they reappeared.

“So, you going to leave quietly?”

“Sorry pretty lady, I got something I need to do,” the stallion said before lighting his horn up to try and teleport back into the club. “I’ll make room in my schedule for you later.”

That was when he noticed that the club seemed to have a barrier around it. While he could just walk in just fine, he couldn’t select it as a teleportation destination.

“If you’re planning one something harmful, I’m afraid I can’t quite allow that,” Moondancer replied. “That cute little bat is quite precious to me, as is the owner of that place. She’d be awfully upset if I messed it up.”

“If you’re gonna stand in my way, I’m gonna remove you from play,” the stallion growled. The glow on his horn seemed a lot more menacing now. Moondancer looked at him, then at his horn.

“Are...you really going to-” That was about as far as she got before she broke down laughing. “Ohhaahahaha, that is just the most...aaahahaa and, you’re-you’re actually serious? Ahahahaha!”

Electrical sparks danced up and down the stallion’s horn, before an arc of the stuff sprouted from it and impacted the pavement near Moondancer’s hooves. “Last chance, pretty mare. Stay out of my way, or I’m going to have to make you take that barrier down.”

Sugar ran outside, and Moondancer looked in her direction. “Ooh, hey there Princess. Perfect timing, I was hoping you could answer a question. Tell me...” She looked at Kill Switch and smiled. “What sound does a Unicorn make when he hits the ground from forty thousand feet?”

He got a second to process that before she teleported him.

“...You’re not actually doing?...” Sugar questioned Moondancer. The Unicorn gave her a sweet smile and a kiss on the cheek, before she teleported him back from his freefall, laying splayed across the ground.

He groaned and twitched as he lay there, still trying to get up despite what Moondancer had done. Moon grinned as she looked at him.

“You seem this is why I prefer mares, stallions are all talk, no substance.” Her horn flared as the ground rumbled and a cracking sound could be heard...before a shadow formed over Kill.

When he looked up, he saw an entire building hovering over him. Mind you, it was just an illusion...

But he didn’t need to know that.

“Ready to give up, or shall I bring the house down?” Moon grinned.

“That was a terrible joke,” Sugar said before returning the earlier kiss. The stallion, on the other hoof, merely whimpered and nodded rapidly. There was no way he could fight a mare that could do that.

...Though the moment her back was turned, he was sticking a knife in it. She was clearly the larger threat here.

And when the illusion faded, he felt something cold press again his back, as Midnight stood over him, the tip of her wingblade pressed against his spine. The temperature also seemed to have dropped a few degrees.

“If you so much as twitch, I will tear out your fucking spine and strangle you with it!”

Kill-switch made the wisest choice he could have that day by holding very, very still. He didn’t even so much as breathe.

This mare scared him more than Toll did, now.

“Good boy,” she whispered, before a hoof to the back of the head knocked him out cold. “And Moondancer? Why would you put yourself in danger like that? This guy is seriously dangerous!”

“He was a joke and I made him realise as such, idiot couldn’t even tell an illusion from the real thing.” Moondancer stopped herself before she slipped into lecture mode. “Well, that was certainly exciting though...” She gave a little twirl and Sugar finally realised that her coat was no longer white, but more of a dull orange colour. She was also wearing a pair of cute, round glasses.

“Oh hey, you stopped dyeing your coat?” Midnight pointed out.

“Mmm,” Sugar said before pulling the mare’s ear down to her level and whispering huskily into it. “That means I need a new photograph~”

“Ohh, I suppose I could pose for a few,” Moondancer nodded. She gave the nymph her best bedroom eyes and whispered back “I’ll give you a few to remember hmm?”

That was also when they noticed Midnight standing about two inches away.

“I smell sexytimes!” she said with a wide grin.

“You, as my Guard liaison, get to take mister hornhead to the guard station,” Sugar said, pointing at Kill-Switch. “I’ll entertain our guest while you do. And once you get back. And for the rest of the day.”

Midnight gave a small whine that sound a lot like a puppy. “Figures,” she muttered as she dragged Kill away, making sure to walk past every single raised cobblestone she could find.

“You’re more effective than a bucket of cold water,” Moondancer giggled.

“I wasn’t joking,” Sugar said without missing a beat. Moondancer raised an eyebrow as they walked back inside as the crowd gathered once again. Moon looked around and hummed.

“Sorry everypony, but we’re taking a small break until Miss Midnight returns, please wait patiently until then.” She dropped a bag of bits onto the counter to pay for a round of drinks, before teleporting herself and Sugar to the nymph’s bedroom. The nymph shed both layers of her disguise, taking her noble form and leaning down to look Moondancer in the eyes.

“Hello, poppet~”

“Hello princess,” the mare giggled as she dragged her closer. Time to work off a little stress~

Cider grunted as she lifted one large barrel onto another. Her farmhands were all gone, having gotten other jobs over the winter period. Still, there was plenty to do and she still had her winter crops to harvest. She grabbed her baskets and placed them on her back before heading out to her fields. The cucumber and cabbage should be about ready now.

That was when she saw a massive Earth pony stallion milling about the place. Had Ledger sent over a worker to help her? It sounds like something he’d do.

“Well howdy,” she greeted him with a chipper tone. “Y’all lookin’ fer somepony?”

He grunted and looked over at her before nodding once, sharply. Her cousin Big Mac was more talkative than him.

“Not a big talker huh? I can understand that.” She set her baskets down and hummed a little as she pulled up a cabbage. “Y’all lookin’ fer me? Or maybe Ledger?”

The stallion pointed a hoof at her before lowering it back to the ground...then actually helping the mare harvest her vegetables. Cider blinked and smiled, guess Ledger did send him to help her out. With the two of them, the work was done quite quickly and she beamed at him.

“Thanks fer all yer help, would ya like a drink or sumthin’?” He seemed to hum in thought before nodding and following the mare to the house. Once inside, she set the bounty of vegetables into the storage box and fetched two bottles of cider from the fridge. He really didn’t talk...like, at all.

“If Ledger sent ya, then I’ll get him to organise yer pay fer helping me out today.” she said as she placed the bottle on the table. “Ah should make a note as well, jus’ in case...now, where did ah put that notepad?” She moved to the living room, searching, even lifting the whole couch to look under it. “Consarn it, where’d it go?”

The stallion cleared his throat, which sounded something like an avalanche starting, as he waved a small notepad around. He’d actually been sitting on it by accident.

“Oh? Thank you kindly,” she smiled as she took the pad and scribbled something in it before placing it on the kitchen counter. “Sorry, ah didn’t catch yer name earlier.”

“Bludgeon,” he supplied, sipping at his cider. She smiled and wrote that down as well. Funny, she thought she had heard that name somewhere before.

Oh well.

“Well, no rest for the wicked I suppose,” Cider said as she headed for the door. “Y’all can head off if you like. Ah have wine barrels to stack.”

The stallion shook his head before talking again. “Still got a job to do,” he supplied as he put the bottle down, but didn’t let it go.

“You wanna help? Well, fair enough,” Cider said as she trotted towards her distillery. “The barrels are mighty heavy though, so lemme know if y’all get tired.”

“That’s not the job,” he said simply, following along, not letting the mare get too far away from him.

“Hmm, y’all say something?” she asked as she opened the door. A wooden barrel about three times her size was sitting there as she hefted it onto her back and moved it to the stack near the others. The stallion replicated the feat, though it was clear he strained to do so.

“That’s perfect, thanks!” Cider beamed, clapping the stallion on the back with a solid thump. “Sure is nice to have somepony dependable ‘round here. Middy and the others are great, but they ain’t got a lick o’ sense when it comes to farmwork.”

Bludgeon staggered a little, but kept his head held high. This mare was crazy strong, but even the strongest fell to a surprise attack. Cider just gave him that sweet smile again as she turned away to pick up another barrel…

Bludgeon grunted as he followed after. If he was lucky, he’d be able to collapse a whole lot of them on her and make it look like an accident.

“Ah reckon this’ll take all day,” Cider sighed as she stacked one barrel on another and lifted both. She moved a little slower, but brought them over the pile with the rest. “Ah reckon ah should look fer an easier way to stack these... Hm, I wonder if Cousin Apple Barrel has a few ideas?”

This...promised to take a while, Bludgeon was slowly realizing. This mare seemed to do almost nothing unsafely, just slow and strong. He wondered if he would be able to outlast her, much less actually kill her.

And the more he helped her with her honest farmwork, the less he was wanting to kill her...

After while, the pair had managed to move all one hundred barrels, even Cider had worked up a sweat now. She looked back at Bludgeon and grinned.

“How y’all holdin’ up?” she smirked. “Ready to get to work on the hard stuff yet?”

The stallion was panting, grunting, sweating, and even shaking a little...but he refused to be bested. After taking a breath to steady himself, he drew back up and nodded at her.

“Well ah’ll be, ah reckon y’all might be one of mah best helper ever,” she beamed. There was a sudden snap, and a barrel at the top of the pile came crashing downwards.

“Look out!” she yelled, pushing him out of the way in the nick of time, as the barrel hit the floor and shattered, spilling wine all over them.

“Whew! That was a close one,” she sighed, wiping her brow. “Ah’m mighty sorry about that. Guess the straps were a tad older than ah thought. Ah really am sorry!”

“You...saved me,” he rumbled out, confusion on his brow. Then he sighed and shook his head. “You shouldn’t have done that…”

Cider blinked as she wrung out her soaked mane. “Now, what would ah do a stupid thing like that? Ah wasn’t gonna let y’all get hurt. If ah’d been payin’ attention more, this wouldn't have even happened.”

“My job wasn’t to help you,” the stallion said. “It was to kill you.”

Cider paused and looked at him. “...Come again?”

“Was supposed to come here, kill you to send a message to the bug about messing with Toll, then go back and wait for more orders,” the stallion said. “You saved me, though. So I’m torn. One part of me wants to kill you still. Other part says I shouldn’t.”

“Sounds like y’all have a terrible boss,” she replied as she frowned at her stained coat. This was going to take forever to clean. “Tell ya what. Let’s call it square fer today. Y’all can come back tomorrow and try again. Either try yer current job, or quit, and ah’ll give you more honest work.”

“...I think I’ll take the second option, miss Cider,” the stallion said before nodding at her again. “Tell you the truth, I always did think the bug was smarter than miss Toll. Just never thought to tell her to her face. Seeing as he ended up beating her in the end, I’d say I was right.”

“Well, that’s good t’hear,” she said with a smile. She would have felt really bad about breaking him if he opted for the first. “Come by again when y’all get yer affairs in order. Ah’ll be here.”

The stallion nodded at her one last time before slowly walking off. He...liked farm work. It was a way for his strength to do some good for the city. And he wanted to do more of it.

Scope Lens looked at the pile of broken and beaten Changeling’s before her. She rolled her eyes as she stepped over them.

“Honestly, did you fucking idiots think that quantity would trump quality? Do you have any idea how much love magic I have? True Love magic? I could blast Chrysalis to the fucking sun if I felt like it!”

The pile of nymphs just groaned as Scope sighed again, her rant far from done.

“I know, I know, you’re Loyal Changeling’s, gotta stick with the program and all that. But hey, at least you tried right? A for effort and all that.” She sat beside the pile as she worked out a kink in her neck. “And besides, do you honestly think Toll Taker of all ponies deserves that loyalty? She’d sell you out in a fucking second, like she did me. Hell, the bitch used me as a meat shield against a pissed off Thestral.”

The pile was oddly quiet.

“Yeah, thought so,” Scope sighed again as her neck gave a satisfying crack. “But hey, if you wanna keep going, by all means. I’ll wait until you’re feeling better and we’ll go for round two. Though, I might not hold back as much next time.”

“She is truly that treacherous?” one of the nymphs asked. “To use you as a shield against one of the bat-winged?”

“I spent two weeks in remission because of her, I had to shed my entire fucking shell since the bat reduced most of it to confetti, hell, she knows how powerful I am, and still sent you lot after me. You’re a distraction, nothing more.”

“...She is undeserving of our loyalty,” one of them finally said. “Even if we had any true loyalty from her to power our magic, for this act, she does not deserve any of our aid.”

“Oh, look who finally added a second digit to their IQ count,” Scope snarked. “Well, I can’t say I wasn’t any better at first. But you’ll learn.” She got back up and with a glow of her horn, each nymph suddenly had a small glowing emblem on their flanks.

“Tracking rune, so I know where you troublemakers are,” she explained. “Now, I have to go and stop Ledger from killing Toll... that’s my job. You lot lay low for a bit until you’re better. Then, we’ll start on helping you actually become something that’s worth being called a nymph.”

Each one shakily got up to their hooves...before bowing their heads to her and muttering the same thing in unison. “Yes mistress.”

Scope’s eyes widened. Oh sweet! She had minions!

“Good min- I mean, good girls. Now, skedaddle!” she ordered as she flew into the air and headed for Ledger’s warehouse.

Ledger sipped at his afternoon coffee as he considered his books as of late. Luna had done what she could to keep him afloat, and he did appreciate it. But now he would need new deals, new ideas. He had a plan around the Hivespeak spell, along with opening branches in different cities.

However, he really didn’t appreciate the Ye Olde writing she did for taking notes. Made them very hard to read.

He used his new paperweight to mark his place before he got up to pour himself another cup of coffee. It seemed to go so quickly for some reason. That was when his door all but exploded as Scope Lens flew in undisguised, her horn blazing.

“Imma skin that bitch alive!” she screamed as she looked around. “Oh? Hey Lev.”

There was a whimpering from the corner behind Ledger’s desk at Scope’s sudden entrance, and a quick examination would reveal a de-horned, chained and bound to the floor mare that could pass for Toll Taker...if you added about two tons of confidence.

“Uh...okay? Wow... and here I thought I was a little hard,” she muttered, significantly subdued now. “Oh, and Bitch? Those little minions of yours? They’re my minions now.”

“Just what I needed in my life,” Ledger moaned. “More crazy nymphs.” He sat back at his desk and moved something that looked vaguely horn-like off of one of his official-looking documents.

Scope looked at the horn, then to Ledger. “Uh, Lev? You sure you’re not still a Black?”

“She’s one of the few I would go that way for, but no, this wasn’t me. One of my workers actually bit it off,” he said, neglecting to mention his own role in weakening the horn in the first place. “Yellows. What’re you gonna do?”

“A Yellow? Yeah, those things are pretty friggen nuts,” Scope sighed as more ponies burst into the room, this time it was Narrow and Midnight. The Thestral launched herself across the room and tackled Level off of his chair, nuzzling him and crying into his coat.

“Shh, I know, I know,” he said, softly stroking her mane. “I was worried about you too.”

Midnight sniffed, then she noticed Toll and Ledger could feel the murderous intent rising in his bat, even before she started unsheathing her blades.

“Love, look again,” he said into her ear. “She’s missing something to be dangerous with.”

Midnight noticed the horn, she also didn’t give a flying buck about that. She was going to end this mare.

“While I do not approve of the method,” Narrow spoke up. “You seem to be alright Ledger. But, we will be talking about this later. Remember what I said about vigilante justice?”

“I swear, I didn’t do that!” Ledger protested. He had wanted to, but he didn’t. “It was an unfortunate accident as she tried to run away past all my workers.” That he may or may not have told to stop her. “Vigilante justice would be standing aside and letting Midnight do her thing.” Which he wasn’t going to do as long as she was in hugging range.

“Midnight Song? Are you capable of doing your job?” Narrow asked, as the armoured Thestral sighed and nodded.

“Yes, I’ll be fine.” She released the chains that held Toll to the ground and gave them a yank, pulling the Unicorn to her hooves. “Let’s go.” She barked.

As they walked past Ledger’s desk, Toll suddenly lunged and grabbed her broken horn, holding it against her forehead as she channeled a death hex.

And she aimed at the Thestral. If Ledger was going to take something of hers, she’d at least take something of his! Once again, Ledger didn’t think so much as react, and jumped to push Midnight out of the way. Unfortunately, that left very little in the way between himself and the hex.

But the attack never came, all that Toll did was gurgle a little, as she dropped her horn and looked down...at the wing blade embedded in her chest.

“Midnight?” Ledger softly asked as he looked at the wingblade in Toll’s chest when he was curious as to why he was still alive. Toll swallowed hard before she collapsed, as Midnight panted heavily.

Narrow also sheathed the blade her magic had drawn. Midnight had been just a few seconds faster. She closed her eyes and sighed. “Let the records state that Toll Taker was killed while resisting arrest and attempting fatal harm on another officer and a civilian.”

“What...did I just...?” Midnight looked at her wing, her voice shaky. “I...didn’t mean...” It was around then that Ledger caught on to her reaction...

The reaction of somepony that had never killed before. He pulled her into a hug and tried to soothe her with his voice and his presence. Narrow pulled out a short range communication crystal to signal the waiting squad outside.

“I just...reacted, I didn’t mean to...” Midnight shook as Narrow drew closer and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“She was about to kill a trained Guard, and a civilian. You reacted based on your training. Try not to worry okay?”

The other guards filed in as Narrow looked at Ledger. “Are you alright to head home? I’ll need you to file a report later, but it can wait.”

“I’ll be fine,” Ledger said. “It’s her I’m worried about.”

“Taking a life is never easy.” Narrow sighed again as she looked down at Toll. “This was not a favourable end to all of this.”

“We should go and check on Cider,” Scope pointed out. “If she sent somepony after me...”

“And me,” Midnight said quietly. “She sent that weedy little Unicorn of hers, the one from that day. But... Moony took care of him.”

“And if she sent her ‘loyal’ friends after you, Scope, then that leaves only one mook for Cider,” Ledger deduced.

“That big Earth pony!” Midnight suddenly exclaimed as she got up, pulling Ledger with her. “Come on! We have to hurry!”

The drone barely had time to put his disguise back on before he was pulled after Midnight…

At the farm, the trio finally arrived to see Cider laying on a picnic blanket in her orchard, sipping some cider and reading a book of some description. She looked up as they approached from the air and waved.

“Hey y’all? What’s up?”

“Did a big Earth Pony stallion by the name of Bludgeon show up here?” Ledger asked bluntly.

“Huh? Ah, yeah actually.” Cider replied, closing her book. “Real big, and real quiet. Barely said a dozen words most of the time. Offered him a job, so ah reckon he’ll be back sometime t’morrow.”

“......what?” Scope blinked. Ledger blinked. Midnight... giggled.

“And Cidey’s Cute Charm was super effective,” she smiled. “But seriously Cider. He was here to kill you.”

“Ah know,” Cider nodded as she patted the blanket. “Ah saved his life, which wouldn’ve happened if ah’d been payin’ more attention. But ah’m gonna make an honest stallion out of him.”

“...Easier said than done,” Ledger replied before taking a breath, the better to start listing Bludgeon’s crimes with.

“He seems fine with it, and y’all don’t have to worry ‘bout me. Ah can take care of mahself.” Truth was, she had been a little shaken up after he left. That was why she was having a little ‘me time’ to calm down. “And what’s up with you Middy? Ya look all frazzled.”

“Well aside from worrying my plot off about the rest of you,” she said, before her voice got quiet. “There was an...incident at Ledger’s warehouse...”

“My old boss made a return showing,” Ledger said before hugging Midnight again. “She...won’t be a problem anymore.”

It took a moment, but Cider put the vague clues together and gasped, before she hugged the Thestral as well. Scope rolled her eyes and joined in on the group hug.

“I love you guys,” Midnight said quietly.

“And we love you too,” Ledger said, nuzzling the mare. “We’re here for you, you know. If you need to talk to somepony, or talk at somepony.”

“It’s just...I’ve, never killed anypony before... I know it’s stupid, but, did she really deserve that? I wonder, if I let my feelings get the better of me...”

“Would you have rather she got that hex off instead?” Ledger asked bluntly. “It could just as easily be you we’d be burying.”

“But, I could have knocked her out, I could have dodged...but no, I turn her into a pony pincushion!”

Scope sniggered at that. Ledger merely kept hugging her before replying.

“It’s just as much my fault as yours. I kept that horn around like a bucking trophy. If you’re going to blame yourself for killing her, I’m going to blame me for putting you in that position.”

“No, it’s not your fault!” Midnight cried at him. She stood up and opened her mouth as she screamed at the skies for about a solid minute before she collapsed onto the blanket. “I think... I feel a little better.”

“Tell me then, whose fault was it that she could perform that hex when her horn was broken off?” Ledger mock-mused as he put a hoof to his chin. “Why, I do believe it was me who said to bring that bit of bone to his office so he could use it as a paperweight!”

“What’s done is done,” Cider said calmly as she pulled them all into a tight hug. “Y’all can’t change what happened, you just gotta deal with it and move on. And know that we’re all right here for ya.”

“No matter what,” Ledger said as he tried vainly to hug all the mares at once. Midnight just nodded as she leaned into the hug. At least she still had these three...

Until Scope spoke up.

“So, can we talk for a minute on how awesome it is that I have actual minions now?”

“Later,” Ledger said. “Scheme and plot later. Hug and comforting ponies now. Might have a plan for them, depending.”

“MY minions, my rules,” Scope nodded.

“So, orgy in the orchards then?” Midnight asked. Scope just groaned as Cider rolled her eyes...then all three mares looked at Ledger.

“...I didn’t take you all for exhibitionists,” Ledger pointed out.

“Middy is a bad influence,” Cider nodded and Scope readily agreed.

“That I am,” Midnight sighed as she lay against Ledger. “That I am.”

Author's Note

And so one villain passes.

Like the story? Consider giving Aus and me a dollar on my Patreon.

Half the profits will not go towards creating a zombie serum.

Chapter 48 - A bookworm is never really sated

A few days later, when Ledger awoke. He was treated to a sound he hadn’t heard before. The sound of someone trying to hack their lungs up in the bathroom. A quick check of his bed showed it was the bat-variety of his mares.

Quietly extracting himself and tip-hoofing over to the bathroom, the drone ran one hoof down Midnight’s back as she attempted to eject everything that was left in her stomach. “There there...you probably just had too much to...wait…” A memory surfaced of last night, during which only a small amount of alcohol was consumed by anypony during dinner.

“I feel like death,” she croaked before she hurked up in the toilet again. “Ohhhh, make it stoooop...”

“Middy, you didn’t drink any extra alcohol when none of us were looking, did you?” Ledger asked as alarm bells started to ring inside his head.

“Noooo,” she groaned. “Urgh, this sucks... I hope I’m not siuuurrghhhhh!”

“...I think it’s worse than that,” Ledger said as the bells became sirens. “You’ve been taking your potion, right?”

Midnight paused... oh sweet bucking Celestia....

“I....oh buck me....”

“That’s what got us into this mess,” Ledger tried to joke. “...what are we gonna do, songbird?” he asked more seriously.

“I dunno,” she sighed, laying her head on the edge of the bowl. “I suppose, I could always... stop it, if that’s what this is.”

“...Okay, I might not have asked for this, but I will leave that sort of decision up to you,” Ledger said. Of course, if it were up to him, he wouldn’t dare ask her to do such a thing.

After a few minutes, she started to feel better as she got up, moving to the sink so she could wash out her mouth. “Guh, that’s so nasty,” she groaned as she stumbled back into the bedroom, where Cider and Scope were waiting.

“Everything alright?” Scope asked.

“Y’all sounded terrible in there,” Cider added.

“Just a bit of morning sickness,” Ledger said blandly, like he wasn’t talking about a possible pregnancy.

Cider and Scope paused as their eyes widened. “Um, Ledger...?” Scope asked hesitantly. “You ah, know what you just said right?”

“Oh yes,” Ledger said without missing a beat. “The precursor to Midnight cursing my existence as a parasite grows within her, causing her body no end of torment, even after it’s been ejected from her womb.”

Midnight just blinked and clipped him upside the head, while Cider and Scope sat in stunned silence.

Cider finally got the nerve to speak up. “Middy, are you really...?”

“I, think so. I’ll need to see a doctor later to confirm it,” she said.

“What are you going to do?” Scope asked her.

“That’s... the million-bit question isn’t it?” Midnight wondered aloud. “Scopey, could you take over at the club today?”

“Uh, sure,” the Changeling nodded.

“And you need to get your business in order Levvy,” the bat added.

“Already on it. Scope, the minions?” Ledger asked of the small changeling. “They in position in my branch offices?”

“Yeah, took a while to convince them this was a good idea though,” she replied. She already missed having a gang she could call upon. “I swear you did this to ruin my fun.”

“If it works, it’ll bring us a lot of bits,” Ledger said as he pat the nymph on the head. “So today, we begin offering our messaging service across Equestria. Let’s just hope we don’t put the post office outta business.”

Elsewhere, a wall-eyed Pegasus gave a dangerous eye-twitch.

“I’d take having a gang over being rich,” Scope pouted. “But, whatever.”

“Cidey? Could you come with me to the hospital? I...don’t wanna go alone,” Midnight asked sheepishly, the apple mare nodding and smiling.

“Of course ah can,” she said. “An’ remember what we all said, we’ll be here fer you okay?”

“I know,” Midnight nodded. “Well, let’s get this over with then.”

“And remember,” Ledger said. “Whatever you choose...we’ll be here to help you with.” That being said, the stallion put the petite nymph on his back as he nuzzled Midnight one last time. “Just make sure whatever you choose is what you want.”

“....Yeah,” Midnight nodded as they left, and she and the earth pony shared a moment before they headed out also.

“So,” Scope asked as Ledger walked to his warehouse. “On a scale of one to ten, how badly are you really freaking out right now?”

“Somewhere between and eight and a nine,” Ledger said honestly. “But it can wait until after she gets tested and makes her decision.”

“If you say so,” she commented. “Well, could be worse I suppose. All three of us could be preggers.”

“Eh, you’ve been shifting constantly, so I doubt you are. Cider, maybe. If she is, it’ll be a solid nine point five sort of day,” the drone replied.

“I could have been using illusions like last time,” Scope teased. She saw him stiffen up and giggle. “But as I said, I don’t think my body is cut out for that, so don’t worry.” She tapped her chin and hummed. “I wonder what a Thestral/Changeling would look like?”

“I think the comedy answer is, ‘whatever they want to,’” Ledger fired back before opening the door to the warehouse and greeting his loyal workers. Once the morning meet and greet was done, Ledger walked over to his old office. The one he’d used when he worked under Toll. The one he’d recently had the name painted over and replaced with Scope’s. That office.

“I’m so confused on who I work for now,” Scope sighed, not wanting to move from her spot on his back. “You, or Middy, I dunno...”

“The office is more of an offer, you don’t have to use it,” Ledger replied. “You could just as easily stay where you are or stick by Middy’s side. Your choice.”

“Meh, it’s not like I’ve been doing much these days,” she sighed. Then she got an idea as she hopped off and looked around the room. “I mean, it’s not so bad in here.” She put her front hooves up on the desk, her tail swishing from side to side, offering sparse glimpses.

“Mmm, but I think I much prefer my large desk...the one that offers at least some concealment from casual prying eyes,” Ledger pointed out as he turned around, his own tail flicking to show that she’d only barely gotten to him.

“Well if you wanna be boring I guess,” Scope shrugged as she went to move back down. “And I do have a lot of work to do...”

“Just saying I wouldn’t say no to an afternoon bit of fun, as long as you didn’t mind it being an under-the-desk sort of deal,” Ledger pointed out before walking off. He could just as easily go without. It was a good thing he turned, because he missed the wide, shark-like grin she was sporting.

Oh she was going to have a lot of fun later~ But first... she needed to plant a little seed.

She ran up to him before he could open the door and gave him a deep kiss, as her magic fondled his sleepy package gently.

“A little promise,” she said in a husky tone as she suddenly stopped and went back to her desk, not even hiding with her tail anymore. She may have also leaked a few pheromones...Ledger shuddered a little as the door closed.

He had...things to plan. Yes, that would distract him from his boner nicely.

Midnight gulped as she emerged from the doctors office, the cute mare waving her off, even as a small blush adorned her cheeks. That Thestral mare had been...really distracting.

“So,” Cider said as her marefriend walked up to her. “How’d it go?”

Midnight sighed as she looked at the mare, her ears flat against her head. “Well, it’s official I guess... I’m gonna be a Momma.”

Cider squealed and hugged the mare tightly, even Midnight had a small smile on her face. Now she just had to tell Ledger and Scope, and decide what to do about this.

“So what now?” Cider asked. “Wanna go and find Ledger?”

“...No, I’ll tell him later. I could use some ice-cream,” Midnight said. And she knew just the place, and somepony she hadn’t seen since returning from Roamania...

And a few minutes later, she and Cider were standing outside Sweet Scoops Ice-cream parlour. Midnight took a breath and walked up to the counter.

“Anypony home?” she asked, peering into the building, before a pair of cherry-red hooves pulled her in and hugged her against a vaguely-familiar stallion pegasus form.

“It’s my favorite batpony!” he cheered.

“Ack!” Midnight didn’t recognise him at first. “Oh, so you’re Cherry today huh... um, and not so tight please.”

Cherry didn’t respond for a second, before gasping and pushing Midnight away and staring into her eyes very deeply and intensely. “Something’s up. You were pretty happy when you came back, but now something’s happened to make you doubt it,” he deduced.

“A lot’s happened,” Midnight said as Cider approached the counter, peering inside.

“You okay Middy?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” Midnight replied. “Ah, also, congrats about the wedding,” Midnight said, giving Cherry a gentler hug. “I can’t believe Ace actually did that.”

“The hard part will be finding enough chain so that my threats of chaining him to the bed if he does something stupid again seem serious,” Cherry replied without changing his facial expression at all. “I’ve tried the scrapyard, but they never have enough.”

“Ace and I are birds of a feather,” Midnight said, letting him go. “So yeah, expect stupid stuff from time to time. Also...” She looked away for a moment. “I need...advice, and you’re the best one to ask about this.”

“Really?” Cherry asked with a head-tilt. “But you’ve got Ledgie. What can I know that he won’t?”

“Well it’s just...I..um,” Midnight blushed and started to lock up as Cider reached over and petted her head.

“What mah little bat here is trying to say,” Cider continued. “Is that she’s gone and gotten herself pregnant.”

Cherry was still. Unnaturally still. This was cause for concern, as a still Cherry/Amy was a sign of the apocalypse. Cider waved a hoof in front of his face and sighed.

“Seriously? How am ah gonna tell Ledger that ah keep breaking everypony?”

The only accurate way to describe what happened next was, ‘there was an explosion of foal-shower related items in the ice-cream parlor.’ One second the items in question weren’t there, the next, they were, and they were accompanied by a rush of noise. One that might have been capable of interpreted as words, if you had ears that could hear at sixty words a second.

Midnight grabbed Cider and hugged her close. Sweet Celestia, they’d broken Cherry beyond anything she’d ever seen.

“THIS IS TOTALLY AWESOME!” Cherry eventually said at a speed mortal ears could hear. “Yours would be the second pony-changeling hybrid in Las Pegasus!” Then he looked at Cider with a curious expression. “...Unless you have one first, of course. Did you get tested as well?”

“Ah’m fine,” Cider nodded. “Ah actually remember to take mah potions... and ah should have made sure that Middy was as well.”

“Yeah well, I dunno if I’ll be keeping it yet,” Midnight sighed. This was apparently the wrong thing to say, as the air suddenly chilled beyond normal levels, even for an ice-cream parlor.

“Did you just say...what I thought you said?” Cherry said in an eerily calm voice. Midnight gulped, kinda wishing she had her armour now.

“W-Well, I just don’t know if I’m cut out to be a mother. This wasn’t planned, I have no idea what the hell I’m doing... I don’t even know what a Changeling/Thestral would look like!”

Cherry sighed as he put a hoof to his head and looked at the clock. “Look, the local schools take a lunch break in ten minutes. Stick around for that, please? I wanna show you why I love my job.”

Midnight gulped again, but nodded. Cider gave her a kiss on the head and looked at him. “Ah’ll get her some ice-cream while we wait,” she said. “She’s already a bundle of nerves.”

“Sure thing!” Cherry said, now his normal self as he bounced behind the counter. “What flavor?”

Cider blinked and stared at him. "Did you really just ask that?" she deadpanned. She pointed at Midnight, whom was eyeing the tub of mango ice-cream, a line of drool coming from her mouth as her ears wiggled a little.

“It was worth a shot,” Cherry chuckled before preparing the scoop. Midnight soon had her ice-cream and she nommed it with a happy smile, her tail wagging back and forth as she hummed, her current woes currently forgotten.

Cider moved up next to Cherry with a serious expression. “Ah hope that all you’ll be simply showing Midnight a possibility, and not coercing her into doing something she’ll end up regretting later. As much as ah may or may not want it. In the end, it’s her decision.”

“No fear,” Cheery hummed as he cleaned the scoop off. “I bet that in the end, they’ll do most of the convincing themselves. Five, four, three, two…”

An army of colts and fillies suddenly stormed the area in front of the parlour. Their exasperated parents trying to keep up with them.

And all of them calling for Cherry, the deliverer of sweet-treats. The pony managed to get them all in line, after only a few attempts. “Mister,” one asked. “Who’s that?”

Cherry chuckled before introducing Midnight as well as he could. “Meet miss Midnight Song,” he said from behind the counter. “She’s a friend of mine. Midnight, these are the foals.”

“No, really?” Midnight gasped in mock wonder. “And here I thought they were little aliens.”

All the kids laughed at that one.

“So, why does she have funny wings?” one Pegasus colt asked Cherry. Midnight snorted and spread her batwings, smiling and showing off a lot of fang.

“Because I’m awesome.” Midnight smiled. “So ah, Cher? Is there a point to all this?”

“Miss Midnight here is pretty silly, huh?” the pony asked the little ones. “It’s okay, I’ll understand if you have questions for her.”

“Ohh, your eyes look like a dragons, are you a dragon?” one filly asked.

“Are you a vampony?” another colt asked, Midnight’s eyes twitching slightly. No, bad Middy, foals were for entertainment, not snacking.

“Are you a Thestral?” another filly asked and Midnight nodded.

“Yes! This one gets a cookie!” Midnight cheered as she tossed the filly a treat. She looked at Cherry and grinned. “Oh hey, so they’re kinda like owning a pet?”

“They’re more involved than that,” Cherry said with a roll of his eyes. “Little filly, what sort of treat did you want today?”

“Oooh, I wanted a chocolate-cherry cone,” the filly said before putting a few bits on the counter. The disguised pink nodded and got to work making a monster of a cone for the smart little filly, who blinked a few times at the size of the cold creation once it was presented to her.

“Mister, I...only had enough for a small…”

“Did you?” Cherry said as he looked at the bits again. “Whoops! Well I can’t put this back, and it would be a waste to throw it away. Tell ya what, take it and don’t tell anypony what I did, okay?”

“Yes mister!” she said before taking the thing to her own table and attacking it with gusto.

“Aren’t you spoiling them just a little?” Midnight chuckled as she looked at the long lineup.

“Look at that smile on her face and tell me it’s not worth it,” the stallion replied as he served the other colts and fillies, each time discreetly sneaking them a little more than what they had paid for.

“Yes, they’re very cute,” Midnight agreed. “But so are puppies and kittens.”

The line had vanished quite quickly thanks to the expert scoop-work of the red stallion, who was now coming around his counter again to sit next to Midnight. “I was there for these mares when they wanted to drown their sorrows in ice-cream,” he said. “When they wanted to know why they couldn’t find mister right. They brought their new stallionfriends by one day, and I and my co-worker gave them the once-over. I was there for every step of their lives, these little ones.” He smiled as the colts and fillies ate their ice-cream, remembering those events fondly.

“So what, are you saying you’ll be there for me as well then?” Midnight raised an eyebrow.

“Already was, dear.” Cherry patted one of her forehooves reassuringly. “But let me reassure you with a little something I’ve learned from the mothers here.” He coughed and raised his voice instead. “Actually, let me ask them. Dears? What was it like, having a foal?”

“The most painful thing imaginable!”

“Sweet Celestia, those weird cravings!”

“The morning sickness, without the fun of drinking.”

“Lugging around that weight...I swear some of it’s still on my flank...”

“My little one using my bladder as a punching bag... I have never peed more in my life.”

Midnight’s brow knitted into a frown as she looked at Cherry. “Yeap, I’m totally convinced now...”

“One more question for them,” Cherry said with a raised hoof. “Was it worth it?”

Every mare present smiled and nodded, holding their colts and/or fillies close. “Every moment is worth it.”

The young ones of course either complained or kept eating their ice cream, wanting not to waste the delicious cold treat. Causing more than a few stained coats. Cherry giggled at the sight as he drank in the pure happiness and motherly love.

“It’s not that I hate kids or anything,” Midnight finally spoke up. “It’s just... what kind of mother would I be? My job as a Guard is both busy and dangerous. What happens...what happens if I don’t come home one day?”

“Midnight,” Cider started, but the Thestral raised a hoof to stop her.

“No, it’s a legitimate concern. And, I can’t just quit the Guard either. I don’t-I don’t know if I’m ready for this...”

“No mother is really ready, right ladies?” Cherry asked aloud. A chorus of ‘no’s’ met his question. “And besides, the fact that you’re worried about the foal?” The red pegasus booped Midnight’s nose with a hoof. “Proves that you’re the right sort of mother.”

“Yeah I...” she sighed again, this was weighing pretty heavily on her mind. “I’m gonna think about it some more.” She gave Cherry a kiss on the cheek and then flew from the building, leaving Cider there with him.

“Ah reckon it’ll turn out fine,” Cider hummed. “Still, ah wonder if this’ll throw a wrench into our weddin’ plans.”

“Acey and I can totally move ours up to match yours if you decide that you wanna get wed before she shows,” Cherry pitched in. “We’ve only got a few things left to find, and we don’t really have a date set yet. Sometime before the next year is all we know right now. I’d actually prefer a set date to surprise him with.”

“Jus’ another thing to talk about later ah guess,” Cider mused. Which reminded her, she still hadn’t told her folks or her sister that she was even getting married yet. Whoops.

“Well, guess ah’ll mosey along as well. Y’all take care of yerself Cherry.”

“You too!” The stallion said before leaning in and whispering in the mare’s ear. “And if I were you, I’d check out your greenhouse when I got back home. You might have a bat infestation.” With that, he was bouncing away and humming happily.

“Wait, wha?” Cider blinked as he pronked away. “What the hay does he mean by that?”

It wasn’t until the sun was setting before Ledger and Twilight arrived at Cider’s home. Well, their home. And once they got inside, a rather surprised Thestral awaited them.

“Levvy?” Midnight asked warily. “Do we have another Cider Incident on our hooves here?”

“In a sense~” Scopey sang out from the living room.

“Scope told you nothing, I assume,” Ledger deadpanned.

“This is so much more fun,” the nymph giggled from her rafter-cloud-nest-thing. Midnight glared at him.

“Ledger. Explain. Now.”

“A certain nymph took a certain alicorn’s form, and said alicorn might have caught the tail end of me bending ‘her’ over a desk,” Ledger commented.

Midnight looked from the blushing alicorn to Ledger, to Scope, then back to Ledger... before she fell to the floor and bust a gut laughing at that.

“Hilarious,” Twilight deadpanned.

“No, hilarious was me teasing you for the rest of the workday and working as many double-entendres into my sentences as possible,” Ledger said with a small laugh.

“Level Ledger, there are plenty of cactuses with my range of teleportation, don’t make me get one.” The Alicorn said with a terse tone. “And Midnight, are you going to laugh like that all night?”

The Thestral caught her breath and looked up at them from the floor. “Phewww, I needed that. Thanks for the giggle Bookworm~”

“For the record, your highness, all you had to do was make one back, and I would have considered the lesson over and stopped making them,” Ledger decided to inform the alicorn.

“What. You... Argh!” Twilight snorted as a part of her mane stuck up and her eye twitched. She raised her hoof to her chest and made a sweeping motion as she exhaled. “Okay. I’m good.”

“Well, come upstairs with me and I’ll be the judge of that~” Midnight cooed, sliding up next to her.

Twilight rolled her eyes and sighed. “I’ve been with your stallion all afternoon, I’m exhausted.”

Midnight’s brain screeched to a halt, before she looked at Ledger with righteous fury. “What did you do to my adorkable princess!?”

“I tried to prepare her for you,” Ledger said with a bit of snark. “Something I might have failed at if she didn’t know what she just said and all the ways it could have been taken.”

“Oh, I know exactly what I said,” Twilight giggled as she walked towards the living room, her hips having a very nice sway to them. Ledger sighed and made a cliche’d observation at that moment.

“Hate to watch her go, love to watch her leave.”

Midnight pushed him into the living room and sat him on the couch. “Look, before we do anything else. I want to tell you what happened today. At the doctor’s...and after.”

“You have my attention,” Ledger said, giving her his undivided attention. Something like this demanded it.

“Well... you were right,” she said. “I’m pregnant.”

Twilight gasped and put a hoof to her mouth. Ledger made to hug Midnight, thinking she might want or need the comfort. But the mare shook her head and sat him back down.

“I’m not done yet,” she said. “Look, I’m not gonna lie here. I’m scared. Really scared. I don’t... I don’t know what to do, what I should do... but, I did decide on one thing today. And, I want your honest opinion on it. All of you.”

“I promise to give you nothing but,” the disguised drone replied. Cider and Scope nodded in agreement.

“I’ve...” Midnight wiped a tear from her eye. “I want to keep it. But, I can’t do it alone...do you, want to help me?”

“When…” Ledger said before finally drawing her into a hug and saying his answer barely loud enough for the room to hear.

“When did you think I ever didn’t? I would always help you, even if it was you charging into battle.”

“I dunno,” she cried. Her body shaking slightly. “This isn’t some battle, or you sleeping with a mare... this will affect the rest of our lives! I don’t...”

“Everything we do will affect the rest of our lives,” Ledger gently pointed out. “This is just doing so in a manner that would add another to them, forever. If that’s what you want, I see no reason not to help you.”

“An’ y’all already know mah stance on this,” Cider nodded. “Ain’t no way in Tartarus ah’m gonna let you go at it alone.”

“A little kiddy I get to mould into my own image?” Scope said with a maniacal cackle. “Oh this will be great!”

“He or she is gonna be bigger than you after a couple of years,” Midnight snapped back and Scope’s laughter stopped quicker than Pinkie walking past a cake factory.

“Touche,” she said with a nod.

“And we’re friends,” Twilight said. “If you ever need anything, just let me know okay?”

Midnight sniffed, as her eyes got huge and watery. Ledger had very little time to react before he was being drowned in her tears and her love. It just...poured out of her. All of her affection, for all of them. He actually had to stop himself from eating it, it felt like too much for even him to handle.

“Ack,” he said as he held one hoof to his stomach. “Ooof. Full. Somepony. Help.”

“I would, but there’s a table right there and I fear for my innocence around you,” Twilight giggled.

“No, seriously,” Ledger said as he finally broke the hug with Midnight to hold at his stomach. “She’s...pouring the stuff out. It hurts to think about eating another drop. Somepony help.”

Scope was staying well away from ground zero, but even from her perch, she groaned slightly.

At an ice-cream parlour in the city, a yellow sneaking a late treat tilted his head at the red stallion serving him.

“Do you... feel that?”

“I taste that,” the stallion replied before ringing his fellow ‘ling up. “Four bits please.”

Cider rolled her eyes and walked over to Midnight and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. “Now calm down sugar, it’s alright. But ya might wanna tone down the drama before our cuddlebugs pop.”

“Huh?” Midnight sniffed as she looked at Ledger nursing his stomach. “Heehee, and I thought I was supposed to be the pregnant one.”

“You...filled me,” Ledger said, groaning afterwards. “That has...never happened. I have...never been this full.”

“Now you know how I feel after sex!” Scope called out from her nest. Twilight just flushed red again as Cider shook her head and wet to start on dinner.

“Hmm, I wonder if Ledger’s up for being on the receiving end one of these days,” Midnight mused. “Scopey can swap genders~”

“Nope,” Ledger moaned out. “Not happening. Nuh-uh. I don’t need Scope getting revenge on me for all the times I’ve stuffed her.”

“I like the sound of that~” Scope teased, before putting a hoof to her mouth. “Urh, shouldn’t have moved...”

“Ah hope y’all are hungry, ah cooked up a storm today,” Cider called out from the kitchen.

“Sorry, pretty full,” Ledger moaned before deciding to make a tactical retreat. “I’m...gonna go sleep this bounty off until I don’t feel like exploding just from moving.” His horn lit up silver as he prepared to teleport out of the room.

Midnight grabbed onto him as he did, and the two vanished, whisked away to the bedroom. The Thestral giggled as she appeared, lading next to him on the bed.

“So we meet again,” she smiled.

“Too full to play,” he groaned before turning over and gently massaging his stomach. “You can walk back or I can send you back, but you’re not getting any sexytimes.”

“I don’t care,” she whispered as she hugged him from behind. She closed her eyes as she leaned her head against his back and sighed lightly. “We’ve come a pretty long way since that first day huh?”

“Got even longer to go yet,” Ledger commented idly. “I wanna...have you stay here, cause I love you and I know you need to hold somepony right about now...but I also wanna remind you about a certain alicorn under our roof…”

“I so wanna tell her to wait, I mean, she was the one that showed up unannounced,” Midnight said as she held Ledger a little tighter. So much had happened in the last week or so, and it didn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. “But yeah, I suppose you can’t rest with me loving you like I do either.”

“Just give me a half-hour to process all this love, and I won’t mind your usual amount,” Ledger said as he sighed and enjoyed the hug. “But there’s still a very confused bookworm in the house, probably as confused as you were after I bucked Cider for the first time. I think you should do something about that, cause I’m in no position to.”

“Pfft, you’re just passing the bit,” she said as she let him go and got up. “Besides, the difference is that I’m in love with you, she isn’t.”

“She just saw me bending ‘her’ over a desk not too long ago and basically confessing my infatuation with everything she represents,” Ledger returned. “I think a little clarity would do her wonders.”

“So tell her you’re a pervert, got it.” Midnight giggled. Then a thought occurred and she smirked so hard Ledger could feel it. “Oh, and you know that this means you can never tease me for kissing a Princess now, right?”

“I’m not somepony that wants to kiss all the alicorns within hoof’s reach, but point made,” Ledger returned. “See you in a bit?”

“Yeah,” she gave him a light kiss, but one filled with love none-the-less. “I love you... Secret-Hoarder.”

Hearing her speak Changeish... there was only one response that would do.

“Și eu te iubesc ... Moonlight-Sonata.”

Midnight smiled, giving him another kiss as some tears dripped onto his cheek. She wiped her face and trotted downstairs. She had a Princess to flirt with~

Chapter 49 - Royally bugging the royal bookworm

When Ledger next woke up, it was after having a nice, hour-long nap to digest what Midnight had given him. Sweet Hives, if that was going to be a regular thing, he would need to figure out a way to stomach it all.

“Oh, you’re awake already?” Twilight said from next to the bed. “I guess I didn’t have to come up here after all.”

“Ah...hello again, princess,” Ledger said once he heard her voice. “And please do stay a while, I get the feeling you have things you want to talk about with me.”

“I always have questions,” Twilight giggled. “But I was sent up here to retrieve you for dinner, and Apple Cider strikes me as the kind that doesn’t like food going to waste.”

“Mm...in a bit, then, the bed is comfy still,” Ledger replied as he lay back down and sighed. Feeling a bit cheeky still, he opened one eye and turned to look at Twilight before saying the next sentence. “Feel free to join me if you like~”

His cheeky smile remained as the alicorn turned a shade of red, her mouth opening and closing a few times... before she grabbed his pillow with her magic and whapped him over the face with it.

“You, are just as bad as Midnight!” she huffed.

“Somepony had to teach me,” he said from under the pillow, though it was a bit muffled.

“Midnight...becoming a teacher?” Now that was a terrifying thought. “I don’t think Flirting 101 is in the school curriculum.”

“It should be,” Ledger said after pushing the pillow off his face with a hoof. “You’re sexy when you’re trying.” Twilight spluttered again and looked away.

“Are you trying to embarrass me to death?” She sighed and waved a wing. “I starting to wonder if I can learn anything useful from you, or if you’re going to be this incorrigible the entire time.”

“Oh no doubt you can learn something useful from me,” Ledger said as he paused for one second before he spoke up in that cheeky tone again. “What that is is entirely up to you, of course, but you can learn something from me.”

“Somehow, I feel like learning from you will be an interesting experience to say the least.” Twilight shook her head as she heard Midnight call out from downstairs.

“If you two are having sexytimes, I want in!”

“That...mare...” Twilight groaned and rubbed her head.

“Consider who I have to learn from myself,” Ledger pointed out. “Midnight is, well, a terrible influence, and even Cider has her bad side. And we already know what Scope is like. Is it any surprise I might have been influenced by them?”

“No, I suppose not,” Twilight smiled. “Honestly, you should see Rainbow or Rarity when they’re feeling cheeky...or Pinkie, sweet Celestia that mare has said things that would make Midnight blush.”

“So,” Ledger said as pushed himself upright and looked at Twilight. “Is there any other reason behind you being the one to fetch me?”

“Apple Cider asked me to,” Twilight replied. “She said that Midnight would likely delay you with...well, and Scope Lens wouldn't be much better.”

“Fair enough, and the reason she sent you and didn’t come herself?” Ledger questioned with a raised eyebrow. Twilight blushed and looked away from him..

“She said that she didn’t trust any of us in the kitchen.”

“Fair enough,” Ledger chuckled. “Any idea how long we have until dinner…?”

“SOUPS ON!!” Cider hollered from down below.

“I believe that provides an accurate timeframe,” Twilight smiled and turned to leave.

“If you want to talk, Twilight Sparkle,” Ledger said as he slowly got to his hooves. “I promise to take it seriously and listen.”

“M-Maybe later,” she said quietly and then hurried downstairs. Ledger sighed softly as he followed after her, at reduced pace so as not to upset his stomach.

He did rather hope that relations between himself and the princess of magic weren’t going to be too strained after she saw...that little display. It was unlikely, but hope springs eternal.

Dinner was absolutely marvelous, as per the standard of a meal cooked by himself or Cider. Mostly Cider.

Twilight Sparkle...

They learned something about the mare that night.

Her stomach was a freaking bottomless pit. She easily ate four times as much as anypony else. A feast like this would normally have leftovers for two or three days...

She cleaned each and every plate.

On the upside, this certainly did pick up the slack from Ledger and Scope not eating much, for fear of upsetting their already full systems.

“I dread to think what might happen if we introduced her to Fredrick’s cooking,” Ledger commented aloud as he looked at the carnage the princess had wreaked.

“She’d drive him out of business,” Scope commented.

“I have no idea where she puts it all,” Midnight replied. She was also a big eater, but holy hell, Twilight put her to shame and then some. At one point, she’d wiped her muzzle with a bread bun and then ate that as well.

“Ah can see why Applejack likes y’all,” Cider chuckled. “Y’all eat like a horse.”

Everyone just stopped and looked at Cider.

“Whut?” she blinked.

“Think that through again, Cider,” Ledger said as he waved a hoof at the Apple mare. “We’ll wait.”

Her response was to chuck a bread roll at his head. Midnight giggled as she looked at Twilight.

“No wonder you have so many Guards at Canterlot Palace. They’re not there to protect the demi-god Alicorns, they’re there to protect the chefs that can keep up with their appetites.”

“Oh shut up,” Twilight blushed as she wiped her muzzle with a napkin, and thankfully didn’t eat that too. “So I have a healthy appetite. I also use a lot of powerful magic. I did teleport here from Ponyville after all.”

Ledger pointedly looked from the table to the alicorn, then back to the empty plates decorating the table. “I suppose that would explain why you just out-ate a platoon of Guards...Your body needs to get all that extra energy from somewhere.”

Twilight frowned as she looked at the drone. “I’m not entirely sure if I should be insulted or not...”

“Probably insulted, Ledger’s good at under-the-table comments like that,” Midnight warned her.

“That’s not all he’s good at under-the-table~” Scope grinned and Twilight flushed a deep red that ‘that’ particular memory came back up. To his credit, Ledger blushed as well before pointedly looking away. He cleared his throat before speaking up again.

“Anyway, it’s a shame you aren’t a little bit like a changeling, you’d be able to extract extra power from the emotions of those around you. You’d have been filled up about an hour ago then.”

That was when Twilight was all but in his face, her gleaming eyes only a few inches from his own. “Is it possible for a non-changeling to learn that? Or is it a species trait? Did you evolve with that ability, or maybe it was something you learned more recently, in the last century or so? Oh, maybe if I could learn a similar method, or perhaps re-create a magical version—”

Instinctively, Ledger reached up with his hooves as his ‘Pink-reflex’ acted up around so many words, and clamped shut around the lavender mare’s muzzle. “Twilight,” he said evenly. “Please stop.”

The mare’s barrage of questions ceased... for now.

“Now when I take my hooves away, I will tell you the one way I know of for you to test this, and you are not going to over-react, okay?” He wasn’t sure where this over-confidence in dealing with royalty came from, but the drone was rolling with it for now.

Twilight nodded again, her eyes showing that she was starting to get annoyed over being marehandled like this.

“Ledger, are you planning something naughty~” Midnight giggled, causing Twilight’s eyes to widen slightly.

“Hardly,” Ledger scoffed before letting go of Twilight. “The one way I know of that you could use to test this revolves around an ability I possess. I can give emotions back, if I so choose. I typically put it into food so that others can know the joys of consuming something I take for granted.”

“Ohh, I forgot you could do that,” Midnight nodded. Then her eyes widened, “Wait, the last time you did tha—”

She was silenced by Scope’s hoof, who shushed her with a smile. “Noooo, this will be fine. It’s a real learning experience.”

Ledger waited for Twilight to come up with something as he idly considered his surplus of emotions. He doubted he would need this much love ever, and living with Midnight meant that he was just going to be getting more anyways. As long as he didn’t buck up, of course.

“Um, is this...safe?” Twilight asked hesitantly.

“I’ve done it to the food I make every so often, and they,” here the drone indicated the mares at the table, “can attest to it’s tastiness. As well, ponies don’t suffer any ill effects from having raw emotion or magic injected into them. There is some minor disorientation, but no long-term drawbacks.”

Twilight tapped her chin. On one hoof, she was still a little concerned about the side-effects. But on the other hoof? Science!

“Let’s do science!” she grinned. Ledger smiled as well and dropped his disguise, humming as he considered out loud how to go about this.

“Okay, to start with, I’m going to give you a very small dose of love, since I have so much. Barely enough to be felt, but you should feel it,” the drone said as his horn lit up silver. “Let me know when you’re ready.”

“Alright, bring it on,” Twilight nodded. Ledger’s horn intensified slightly in its glow, and a small, narrow beam of silver light jumped from the drone to the alicorn. It stayed connected for all of two seconds before cutting out.

“How do you feel?” the changeling asked.

Twilight blinked as she took a sharp breath and smiled. She took a step closer to Ledger and hummed. “Mm, kinda warm and fuzzy inside. It feels... nice.”

“That’s really just a drop of what Midnight just gave me an hour ago,” Ledger explained. “Just a little love. Let your system adjust to the extra emotion...I give it ten more seconds for it to rebalance, and…”

He stopped when Twilight stepped closer and then drew him in for a kiss. It was evident that she was inexperienced at this sort of thing, but the fact remained...

Princess Twilight Sparkle, the real one. Was kissing him!

Internally, he was panicking, and externally, Ledger didn’t even so much as blink or breathe as he all but locked up.

“Um, should we...stop them?” Cider blinked, looking almost as confused as Ledger.

“Ledger....” Midnight growled at him. Scope was holding her back...for now.

Twilight eventually pulled away and licked her lips thoughtfully. That had been...nice, but more experimentation was needed. She crossed around to the other side of the table and repeated the process with the house’s resident Thestral…

Meanwhile, Ledger fell over thanks to a sudden breeze being more than he could stand up to at the moment. He just collapsed there, waiting for the world to make sense again. If it ever did.

“I’d say I told you so...but I didn’t, so I won’t,” Scope cackled. Twilight eventually broke the kiss with Midnight, before shaking her head and realising what she’d just done.

She soon joined Ledger in completely freezing up and falling over.

About a half hour later, Ledger awoke and felt a warm body next to his, instinctively reaching out to hug it. The feeling of soft, feathery wings against his chest. The scent of lilacs from her dark blue mane... wait, what?

Ledger blinked and slowly looked down to the mare he was cuddling close to his chest. The feathery wings had made him think it was Scope in her pegasus form for a moment, but the frame was wrong. As was the smell. And the horn.

He nearly locked up again when he realized he was cuddling Twilight Sparkle in their guest bedroom.

“Having fun?” she asked him in a dry tone.

“...Actually, yes. Ponies are nice and soft compared to a changeling,” Ledger pointed out. “Despite what Middy says, I know chitin can’t be comfortable. Whereas ponies are just fun to cuddle.”

“I get the distinct feeling that this is Midnight’s and/or Scope’s idea,” Twilight sighed, but... she wasn’t moving. “Well, that was certainly a novel experience. And you said that was just a miniscule dose? Are you sure you got it right?”

“Quite sure,” Ledger said with a nod. “It would have been enough to feed a changeling for, oh, half a day, less if they wanted to keep a disguise up or use any magic. But compared to the ocean Midnight basically just saturated me and Scope with, it’s barely anything.”

“Midnight doesn’t do anything halfway huh?” Twilight sighed as her wings twitched. “I’d hate to see what’d happen if you gave me a larger dose,” she snorted in amusement. “Might have seen a repeat of your little fantasy~”

He instinctively moved one hoof down to her wings to stroke at them, like he would for Scope, and had already stroked one once before his brain caught up that this was not Scope, causing him to pause halfway through a second caress.

“...You can keep going,” she said quietly. “Already kissed you, so this is nothing.”

“I shouldn’t,” Ledger said, his hoof not moving one way or another.

“Yes... I suppose not,” Twilight replied softly, her wings giving another twitch due to the sudden lack of attention. “This is, not how I expected this visit to go.”

“I wasn’t even expecting a visit,” Ledger replied as his hoof finished the caress and moved back to a more normal position for cuddling the mare. “But...I don’t think I’ll be complaining about it.”

“Heh, guess not,” she smirked. “Imagine the tabloids, Princess Sparkle, in bed with a Changeling for cuddles.” She gave a derisive snort and shook her head slightly. “And sorry about that, I actually wanted the visit to be somewhat of a surprise.”

“I think you managed that,” Ledger snorted as well. “And I think they’d speculate about more than you just cuddling me if they ever learned we were in the same bed together.” That being said, he did give her a small, comforting squeeze. And to her credit, she still hadn’t blasted him yet. Yay, progress.

“I’ll just ignore it, they always make up some such nonsense about Celestia... they quickly learned not to do that with Luna. She threatened to curse them with unending nightmares... actually did for a few days until they started to believe her too.” She shifted into a more comfortable position and sighed.

“I’ve... been doing a lot of thinking lately, when I’ve had the time anyway. Having your Cutie Mark stolen by a crazed Unicorn is never fun...”

“I was unaware there was magic to do that,” Ledger said as his eyebrows climbed. “But I imagine not. Anyways, you were doing some thinking…”

“Mostly about Midnight, and you... and the teasing that your marefriend did,” she said, her voice getting quieter as she went on.

“Ah, well, yes, that’s Midnight for you,” the drone said as he nearly nuzzled the mare comfortingly. Dammit Ledger, this is just a mare, not one of your mares! Stop treating her like she’s Scope or Cider or Middy! “And what about it were you thinking about?”

She was quiet for a good long moment. Ledger could almost hear the gears in her head turning and the mind of an alicorn at work, the mind of Twilight Sparkle at work was a beautiful thing for one such as himself.

“W-Well...” she eventually said. “I...was wondering, if maybe, you and the others...weren’t busy this weekend?”

“I don’t think I have any plans, this is the off-season for Cider, and the hype around Changelings is finally dying down to where Sugar has given Midnight a day off,” Ledger said. “We might all be free to relax for once.”

“That’s, good,” Twilight stammered. “T-Then, would you and the others... like to.....” her voice got so quiet, even Fluttershy wouldn’t hear her.

“I can’t voice my opinion if you don’t speak up,” the changeling said. Twilight stiffened slightly, before she sighed and rolled over so she could look at him. Her head was down, as her eyes looked up at the stallion.

“Would you... like to go out on a date?”

Ledger stiffened as well as he considered the very notion. Eventually he answered the mare, after he thought of the right way to word said answer. “Provisionally, my answer is yes, I would like to go on a date. The provision is clearing it with the others, of course.” Then he leaned over and pecked Twilight on the tip of her muzzle with a light kiss. “And might I say, had you gotten to me first, I would have agreed faster than your friend Rainbow Dash.”

Twilight blushed from the kiss and then frowned. “Why...would Rainbow Dash agree to a date with me?”

“...I would have agreed to date you faster than your friend Rainbow Dash can go,” Ledger deadpanned. Sometimes, this mare...

“Oh, I guess that makes more sense... but you really should work on your wording,” Twilight said. She realised the position she was in with him and blushed harder, which in this low light made her look so…

So damn adorkable.

“Ahm,” Ledger coughed, looking away as he fought to keep his own blush and self under control. “Ah, unless you...intend to do something with me, you should...probably roll back over, your highness…”

Twilight saw her chance at revenge and blinked innocently. “Oh, why’s that?” she asked. Ledger gestured with one hoof in her general direction before replying.

“Let’s just say if I were to look down, there wouldn’t be a whole lot from stopping me seeing if reality matched fantasy.”

Twilight tilted her head and glanced down... SWEET CELESTIA! She gave a whinny in surprise and all but leapt from the bed. Ledger snickered at her reaction, before realizing he’d lost his cuddle-buddy and sighing.

“I suppose that’s the end of us cuddling, then,” the drone said sadly. “It was...nice while it lasted.”

“Yes, well...it was until your ‘friend’ joined us,” Twilight replied with a light chuckle once she got her heart rate under control.

“I’m sure it’s nothing you haven’t seen in textbooks before,” Ledger fired back as he made sure said friend wasn’t in view.

“And today I have learned that textbooks cannot prepare you for the real thing,” Twilight snarked back. “Hmm, maybe I should send a letter to Celestia about this.”

“You could,” Ledger said as that comment sunk in. “But I’m certain she doesn’t need to know all the details.” Sweet Hives, this mare would document everything and send copies to her ruler, wouldn’t she?... “Besides, it’s not like you know the details anyway.”

Then she got a wicked gleam in her eye. “For science?”

“Meep!” Ledger said as he froze up, his snarky dare backfiring on him. “When I educated you earlier today, I didn’t intend for you to turn it on me like this!”

“Then I believe we are now even,” Twilight winked at him and turned. Just as a Thestral dropped from the ceiling and hugged her. “GAH!?”

“...And how long were you up there?” Ledger asked, surprised he didn’t notice the mare sooner.

“The whole time, you two are simply adorable,” Midnight cooed as she hugged the struggling alicorn. “Aw, don’t be like that Bookworm, you hugged Ledger, I want one too. Also, yes. We’ll go on a date with you. I don’t think Scope will care either way... Cider might be a little harder to convince, but then, the whole herd thing went over well...so, who really knows.”

“Please unhoof the princess before she recalls she has magic,” Ledger deadpanned. “That’s a mess I don’t want to clean up.” Twilight blinked, and with a flash, had teleported behind Ledger, now using him as a chitinous shield.

“Aww, why do you always spoil my fun Levvy?” Midnight pouted. The drone shrugged before hugging the alicorn close with one foreleg.

“Dunno, but now I have my cuddle-buddy back~” he sang as he nuzzled the mare. If she was gonna use him as a meatshield, he was gonna get some more cuddling out of it. That was when Midnight tackled the both of them with a happy giggle...

Then she noticed Ledger’s friend and poked it. “Ohh, is somepony happy to see me? Or does he want a threesome with a Princess~?”

“Insinuating that I would do anything to her before she was ready is going to earn you a penalty, Middy,” Ledger warned. “Now do be a dear and go convince the others of Twilight’s little planned date before you cause her to combust?”

“A-Actually, he had that before he knew you were here,” Twilight replied, her blushing face hiding a cheeky smile. “I think... he wants me alone.”

“Ohh, is that so?” Midnight said with a playful growl.

“Well out of all the mares interested in me like that, she is the one I’ve spent the least amount of time with,” Ledger said. “Plus if you were here all along, you know she was all but presenting herself not a moment ago.”

“I-I was not!!” Twilight’s face flamed red as she pushed him away with an indignant huff. Midnight giggled as she batted Twilight’s tail.

“Well, I suppose that’s true as well,” she grinned before flittering over to the door. “Have fun kids, don’t do anypony I wouldn’t do...which isn’t a lot,” she grinned and closed the door behind her... and then locked it from the outside.

“I am having second thoughts now,” Twilight muttered. Ledger softly stroked her mane with one chitinous hoof before voicing his reply.

“Welcome to my old world. Wanna know how I got to where I am now?”

“Snark, magic, and perverse sex?” Twilight deadpanned. Ledger chuckled before rebuking the mare.

“Faith in one simple thing. That they love me. That’s helped me more than words can say. Though it probably helps that as a ‘ling, I can verify that. I suppose the real thing I have faith in is that no matter what we go through, we will always love one another.”

“Aww,” Twilight couldn’t help but daww at that sentiment. It was so hopelessly cute and sappy. “So um... why did Midnight lock the door?”

“I dunno, she knows we can both teleport, it was probably more to keep...others...out…” And then Twilight saw the ‘ling blush and look away. “Oh wow, she really thinks we’re going to do something like that?”

Twilight’s brilliant brain ground to a screeching halt and exploded. Twice.

“For science?” she said weakly.

“Look, for all intents and purposes, I’m not moving unless you’re explicit in your requests,” Ledger shot back. “I won’t have it said I did anything you didn’t want me to, so I’m doing nothing you don’t tell me to.”

“Yeah, well... I think that doing ‘that’ or anything even remotely related is not happening... yet,” Twilight replied as she starting thinking about fractals, economics, astrology...ahh, much better. “I think we’re going to have to settle for sorely disappointing your Thestral.”

“Hmm...I have a better idea,” Ledger said with a mischievous smile as his horn lit up. “I have a spell that recreates noises from memory...what do you say to me replaying the sounds of what you walked in on to tease Midnight when she comes to check on us?”

“There are several problems with that,” Twilight replied in a dry tone. “One, I have finally repressed that memory. I do not need a repeat. And two, when she returns and hears that, she’d likely try to join in.”

“Fair enough,” Ledger said as he simply lay back and sighed. “How about a soundproofing spell instead, and I simply be your changeling anatomy doll?”

“Why does that sound even more perverse?” Twilight sighed. Though, it would be good for her studies to get to know a Changeling more. She threw up a powerful soundproof barrier and smiled. “And I guess I could return the favour. I bet you don’t know much about Alicorns.”

“You first,” Ledger said as he gestured for Twilight to come close. “If we’re doing anything like this, I will be a gentlestallion and let the mare go first. Or we could argue royal privilege.”

“Very well,” she nodded as she summoned that massive book of hers. “Now, let’s get to work yes?”

And why did Ledger suddenly feel like a bug under a magnifying glass... and where did she get that magnifying glass!?

“Just, ah, do be careful?” He squeaked. “Some parts of me are...rather delicate. And I’d prefer they all remain attached.” The wrong amount of pressure on his wings...he winced at the thought.

“Yes, yes, you’ll be fine,” Twilight hummed as she took notes on the structure of his chitin, the shape of his horn and wings. Comparing them to a common Changeling. Ohh, this was interesting~ Ledger squirmed a little at the attention, but sighed as he drank in the feeling of her learning something.

If he could, he’d be her lab-rat every day for a meal this fine. Twilight cast a glance downwards and chuckled.

“And I see you’re enjoying yourself again. I suppose I should be flattered you think so highly of me.”

Ledger squeaked again before he rallied his arguments. “You’re an intelligent mare using me to further your understanding of the world around you. It doesn’t hurt that you’re pretty as well and paying so much attention to me. Add in the fact that we’re in bed, and I fail to see how that reaction is a surprise at all.”

Now it was Twilight's turn to blush again as she looked away. "Sorry, I've never really had somepony say those sorts of things to me before."

“Hang around us more, and I promise to not stop,” Ledger said, not sure if he was teasing anymore or not.

"I wonder, are you still teasing me?" Twilight giggled. Then the door to the room flew open and Apple Cider stood there with a serious expression.

“You two. Downstairs. Now." She said sternly before leaving. Ledger sighed before looking at Twilight.

“Think we should?” he asked the alicorn. She gulped and nodded.

"I think so... she looked pretty mad though."

“Maybe it’d be best if we hurried,” Ledger commented before crawling for the edge of the bed. Twilight nodded and with a flash of magenta light, the two appeared in the living room.

"Well, points for punctuality at least," Cider replied. Scope was still in her nest, hooves behind her head as she chilled.

Midnight was hog tied on the couch with an apple in her mouth...And Ledger could not resist.

“You got me a present?” Ledger cooed as he drew close to the thestral mare, a wicked smile on his face. “Oh, the things I could do to her…”

"Not the time Ledger," Cider said coarsely. "That there is t'stop her from puttin' her two bits in fer the moment."

The Earth pony looked at Twilight with her stony gaze. "Alright Princess. Y’all wanna explain why mah marefriend came downstairs, spoutin' some hooey about you wantin' to date us?"

Twilight looked at Midnight, hoping that an incorrect answer wouldn’t get her into a similar position. "W-Well, it's true..."

Cider sighed and looked at Ledger. "And before ah start, what are your thoughts?"

“Well,” Ledger hummed before standing opposite Twilight. “I think she’s an intelligent mare who is probably going to look at this like a new thing to study, and it’d be our duty to help her look at it as anything but something academic.”

"That's not-" Twilight started, but Cider raised a hoof and cut her off.

"So none y’all put even the slightest bit o'rational thought into this?"

“Tell me, at what point did ‘rational thought’ enter the picture?” Ledger snarked. “Love isn’t something you reason with. And I’m not saying this new relationship is. No offense, Twilight, but I barely know you.”

"Ah ain't questioning that," Cider remarked. "One, in case y’all forgot, Twilight there is a Princess. One that has a lot of responsibility. Two, she lives in Ponyville. If this relationship worked... then what? Do we all pack up and move there? Or does that crystal castle of yers have wheels? And three, we're getting married soon and Midnight there has a foal on the way."

“Those are some very valid points,” Ledger admitted. “Twilight, shall we address them in order?”

“Actually..." Twilight blushed and looked down. "I really hadn’t thought that far ahead... I'm sorry."

“Well then, I’ll take point,” Ledger said before taking a breath. “One, Cadence is married, and there are rumors of Luna seeing somepony. I think you’re allowed to both be a princess and have a relationship. Two, Twilight teleported here, I think we can work together on refining that teleportation spell to where she doesn’t eat you out of house and home whenever she pays a visit. I wouldn’t ask you to move your orchard anyways. It’s not exactly mobile. And three...actually, we should probably put our heads together for point three.”

"Mmmmmph!!" Midnight frowned before she did something Ledger had never seen before. She bit into the apple and drained it down to a withered husk before spitting it out.

"I'd like an early wedding if possible, before I get fat... Oh Celestia! I'm gonna get fat! Nopony will love a fat Thestral..."

Ledger reacted to the rapid emotional whiplash by all but glomping the mare and whispering comforting words into her ears. “I promise you we’ll still love you every day you’re pregnant, and if I don’t, feel free to kick me outta bed that night.”

"If you stop loving me because of the thing you put inside me..." She eyed the drained apple core...then his package.

“Message received, not that it was likely anyways,” Ledger said before giving Midnight a peck. “So, early wedding, with Twilight still dating us as a whole to better understand herd dynamics and how love actually works?”

"This is gonna be problematic, ah can see it now," Cider said. She let out a sigh and smiled at the alicorn. "Look, ah ain't sayin' no. And ah'm not trying to push you away. But this is gonna be mighty complicated, and we'd prolly need to keep it a secret fer now."

"I know, and... I should have given this more thought before jumping in hooves first," Twilight said. "Rarity told me to just go for it, and it was Applejack who said I should have waited a little more. Still..." She gave the group a friendly smile. "I'd like to see if this can work. I don't want to interrupt any plans you already have. But, I want to experience this. Please?"

Cider sighed again and looked at Ledger.

"Well shoot, how in the hay can I say no to that?"

“So long as we go at a pace everypony,” Here the stallion raised his voice, to make sure Scope heard him, “is comfortable with, then you really can’t. Just be aware, your highness, we’re all getting hitched to one another soon. Things after that probably won’t change much, but the planning of the wedding is going to be a nightmare.”

"Thank you," Twilight replied with a soft smile. "As for the planning, I could help? I'm pretty good with organising things."

"Now ah don't want some big royal thang!" Cider started.

"Agreed," Midnight shuddered at that. She remembered her last royal affair with not-so-fond memories.

"I didn't think you would," Twilight smiled. "Besides, you have such a lovely orchard. I think having it here would be perfect for you."

“I need to send a message home, my mother would never forgive me if I didn’t inform her of my wedding...which means father will come over as well. And the odds of them keeping it to those two are low…” Ledger hummed. “Maybe say the trio aren’t invited, nor Joyful? That’ll keep the others at home watching them.”

"But I miss little Joyful," Midnight pouted.

"Well, let's do a little preliminary planning," Twilight suggested and Cider nodded.

"Fair enough," she plucked Scopey from her nest and headed upstairs, Twilight following close behind.

Midnight watched them leave, and realised she was still tied up. "Hey! Guys? Don't leave me here like this!" She looked at Ledger and gulped.

"Ponyfeathers."

Ledger smiled mischievously as he raised one hoof. Time to see how ticklish Midnight was~

About an hour or so later, the three mares returned to see Midnight still tied up and giving the occasional twitch. A rather large stain under her.

Cider’s eye gave a slight twitch as Twilight blushed and looked away.

"Do ah really wanna know what happened in here?" the farmmare asked with a raised eyebrow. Ledger smirked before looking at the bound batpony’s form again, sighing softly.

“I might have gone a little overboard,” he eventually admitted.

"A little?" Twilight snarked at him. "Should you really be doing that with a pregnant mare?"

“All the more reason to do it now before I can’t anymore,” the drone returned.

"I'm mango..." Midnight half giggled, half sighed.

"Is...she alright?" Scope questioned. "You seem to have had fun."

“She’ll be fine,” Ledger said dismissively. Midnight gave another twitch and giggled again as Cider untied her. The Thestral went to give Ledger a kiss, before she put a hoof to her mouth and bolted from the room, the sound of her re-visiting dinner could be heard soon after.

“Yeah, I feel like that around Ledger sometimes as well,” Scope said.

“I get the feeling we’re in for a lot of that,” Ledger sighed before simply laying on the couch. Twilight nodded as she recalled the books she’d read on the subject.

“For the next few weeks anyhow, it’ll wear off soon enough, but this is the least of your problems. But...” she paused as she looked at him. “How much do you know about Thestrals exactly?”

“Not as much as I’d like to know,” the drone replied. “Though I am learning more all the time.”

“Okay, so biologically, they aren’t a whole lot different than a Pegasus,” Twilight explained as she summoned a chalkboard and begun making some diagrams. “Well, aside from the obvious wing structure. They also have eyes more adapted for low light and movement, with also results in faster reaction times.” She scribbled a few notes down as Cider and Scope took a seat.

“But... when it comes to having a foal, things get...a little different.” She made a few more sketches, ones that depicted a Thestral, but with more open ears, large fangs and a wider wing span.

“They can undergo a metamorphosis of some sort, one where their emotional state rules over the more rational state of mind. An...accident involving Fluttershy led me to discover this. Her mother is a Thestral actually. Anyhow, the effects can vary depending on the individual... but um,”

She paused and shuddered a little. “Depending on the individuals...cravings, let’s just say that not all vampony rumours are just that.”

“Oh….my,” Ledger said as he looked at the door Midnight had vanished through. “Should I be worried?”

“You should all be worried,” Twilight said. “Honestly, it could be nothing. Midnight is half Unicorn, so the effects for her might not be as intense as a full-blooded Thestral... or they could be much worse. Who really knows?”

“Ah think we ought t’find out,” Cider gulped. “Ah’m all fer some kinky vampony roleplay, but ah don’t want her actually sucking my blood.”

Scope cast a glance at the apple core on the floor then at Ledger. “Well, we all know where Midnight’s interests lie,” she said with a wry smile. “So, R.I.P Ledger’s penis.”

“More like R.I.P the mangoes of Las Pegasus,” Ledger fired back. A tongue flickered against his neck as a hoarse voice whispered in his ear.

“Did somepony say...mangoes~”

Ledger shuddered a little at the sudden attention, before pointing out they had company still. Twilight had yelped and hidden behind the board she’d summoned, whereas Scope and and Cider just stared at Midnight with wide eyes.

“What?” Midnight tilted her head.

“Y-Your eyes,” Cider finally stammered. Ledger took a look... and noticed that Midnight’s eye colour had changed from her usual beautiful emerald green, to a deep ruby red.

“Is that what you were talking about?” the drone whispered to the alicorn.

"I never expected it to begin so quickly," Twilight whispered back.

"You know I can hear you right?" Midnight deadpanned. "So care to share?"

“Twilight was just informing me about how your pregnancy cravings are going to be a bit more...intense than a normal pony’s would be,” Ledger said after looking away from Midnight’s new eye color.

Midnight looked at the chalkboard, reading what Twilight had put up there. But, what was more curious was Ledger’s reaction to her. Was he...scared of her?

“Ledger, what’s wrong?” she asked him directly.

Ledger pulled a small hand mirror to himself via teleportation and showed Midnight her own face for the first time since he’d said ‘mangoes.’ The Thestral looked at her reflection, and at the blood-red eyes that stared back at her.

“Well...this is...a thing,” she said, tilting her head and blinking. “Is this a permanent thing?”

“No, you should return to normal a month or so before you actually give birth,” Twilight explained. “How this transformation came about is quite interesting if anypony is curious. Ah, what am I saying, of course you are. It started around a thousand years ago, where somepony got the bright idea of using a genetic-based transmogrification spell in order to protect pregnant females from predators and the like. Unfortunately, the initial test mare took to it quite well, and they never realised that the spell was transferred to the child...and said mare was, gifted at that particular aspect. Rumours say that she had nearly forty foals in her lifetime...” She looked at the small group as Midnight continued to look at herself in the mirror, Scope was asleep...

“Aaaand nopony’s listening,” Twilight sighed.

“I am,” Ledger replied. “So how was the spell meant to protect the mare? Much less her foals?”

“The spell in it’s prime was quite potent,” Twilight smiled broadly. She loved learning, and she loved to help others learn as well. “At the height of the transformation, the mare was almost feral, no enemy would dare go near in fear of horrible mutilation or even death. Foaling mothers have a very powerful maternal instinct to protect their child, and this spell only added to that. Thankfully, it has diluted over the centuries, so you won’t need to keep her in a cage like they used to.”

“I see,” Ledger hummed. “Well, this has been most enlightening. She’s going to basically be a worse version of herself until she’s ready to give birth?”

“Still here,” Midnight said dryly.

“I wouldn’t say worse,” Twilight replied. “She’ll just be unable to control her base emotions and instincts as well as she normally can.”

“Again. Right. Here.” Midnight sighed again.

“...She controls those?” Ledger asked as he looked at Midnight with a raised eyebrow.

“Buck you guys,” Midnight pouted, folding her forelegs.

“Maybe once we get to know one another,” Twilight chuckled, causing the Thestral to cough, not having expected the counter snark.

“An’ one again, Ledger proves to be a terrible influence on those around ‘im,” Cider said. She got up and moved over to the alicorn and stared at her. “So, are ya sure about this? About adding yerself to our crazy family?”

“The future is never that certain,” Twilight replied. “But... I don’t know. I feel comfortable here. I’ve known Midnight for a while now. And Ledger is kinda fun and he has so much that I can learn from and teach to. I know my way around a farm thanks to Applejack, so I promise that I won’t be a burden around here, and as for Scope... well... yeah.”

Cider chuckled and shook her head. “Ah reckon yer a lot more approachable than the other princesses, and y’all are pretty cute,” that got a blush from the adorkable alicorn. “Alright, ah guess ah can give y’all a chance. Honestly, an’ jus’ when ah thought that this family couldn’t get any crazier. Next thing ya know, Discord’ll wanna join.”

“Ohhhh~ An invitation?”

Ledger’s eyes went wide as he shook his head rapidly. “No no no no no. Cider, please, don’t say his name again. I think he’s got an eye on this family of ours.”

“Such a party pooper,” Discord hummed. “Arrivederci!”

Twilight sighed and shook her head. She seen some trashy romance novels written that involved her and Discord... Not enough brain bleach in Equus.

“Well that was...nope, ain’t gonna touch it!” the Earth pony replied. Midnight had left the room, and the sound of the fridge opening, followed by some adorable ‘nom’ noises signalled where she was and what she was up to.

“That’s my response as well,” Ledger said before looking over at Twilight. “Still interested in joining the crazy? I won’t hold it against you if you calmly begin looking for an exit. Screaming counts against you though.”

Midnight trotted back into the room and sighed. “We need more food...”

“What do ya mean darlin’?” Cider asked.

“I ate all the food,” Midnight said, rubbing her bloated belly. Ledger calmly looked at Midnight before looking back to Twilight.

“That offer is still open,” he repeated simply.

“I live with Queen Chrysalis,” Twilight countered. “As well as frequent visits from Discord, Pinkie Pie and I constantly get drawn into battles with ancient evils. This family is so normal it scares me.”

“Fair enough,” Ledger chuckled. “Ah well. Don’t say you weren’t warned later.” He got a curious expression to his face then. “Want to go over your teleport spell with me so that we only have one mare eating us out of house and home?”

“It’s only because I’ve never been here before. Now that I have. I can set a waypoint as a marker, so I don’t have to put as much magic into it.” Twilight gave a roll of her head and cracked her neck. “It’s getting late, we should probably get some sleep I think.”

“Sure thing,” Ledger said as he stood to one side of the stairs. “If you want to sleep over, the guest room is yours.”

“Hmm, well Applejack is watching Spike for me...and to be honest, that new castle is just...” She trailed off and looked away. “Is it too forward of me to stay the night?”

“Only if you try to share our bed,” Ledger said as he watched Scope go up. So there might have been an additional reason for him to sit near the stairs. It’s not like they didn’t know about it.

“You could try being less obvious,” Cider chuckled as she trotted upstairs, giving her flank a little shake as she did.

“I could, but then would you feel good about being so attractive?” Ledger fired back before turning to Midnight, smiling as he looked at the thestral mare.

“What, not scared of me anymore?” she quipped.

“Startled by the sudden change, not scared,” he clarified. “This family doesn’t have the best history with changes like that. But it’s a natural part of you, and it’s something I’m going to have to do my best to learn about.” He leaned forward and pecked the mare on the lips before continuing his statements. “And on the upside, it’ll function as a built-in pregnancy timer. When your eyes go normal, we’ll have about a month until you’re due.”

“Good to know I’m so convenient for you,” she said as she hugged him. “I’m still scared though Levvy. What if I screw this up? What if I—”

Ledger shut her up by kissing her again, deeper this time. When they came up for air, he stuck his face right in front of hers, his silver eyes boring into her now-ruby ones. “If you have a problem you can’t solve or aren’t sure about, come to me or Cider, okay?” he said simply. “And if we can’t solve it together, we’ll ask Twilight. I’m sure she’ll manage to turn something up.”

“Okay,” Midnight replied quietly as she hugged him. She suddenly stiffened and shuddered, and Ledger felt something warm splash onto his back.

“...sorry.”

“It’s okay, chitin cleans easily,” Ledger sighed. “But it does seem a waste for you to eat everything in the house, just to throw it up later…”

“This sucks,” she sighed. “Come on, let’s go get a shower...”

“You go on, fur takes longer,” Ledger said as he gave her one final, light squeeze. “I’ll join you in a minute or so.”

“Alright, see you in a bit,” Midnight nodded as she headed upstairs. She could already tell that the coming months were going to be a pain in the flank…

Ledger raised an eyebrow at Twilight. “I assume you want me to go first, then,” he said, commenting on the fact that she’d not gone upstairs yet.

“Hmm, I was going to talk for a bit longer, but you seem to require a shower now,” she chuckled. “It’s not important anyhow. And we have all the time in the world now.” She headed upstairs and showed off plenty of that tight flank of hers. “See you in the morning?”

“Certainly,” Ledger said as he didn’t stop watching her for a second. He could watch it all day...but it was upstairs and around the corner all too soon. With a soft sigh, Ledger teleported to the bedroom and walked to the adjoining bathroom after giving Cider and Scope a quick kiss.

“Hello love,” he whispered to Midnight as he began the process of getting clean all over again. Midnight nodded as she turned, and Ledger could tell that she’d been crying a little. She reached up and held him close as the warm water washed over them, content to just remain like this for a while. He would be here for her as long as she needed him.

Chapter 50 - Do you wanna build a network?

And so Ledger was the first to awake, once again to the sound of Midnight emptying her stomach in the bathroom.

“I...blarg...will murder you!” she cried out.

“I’ll get something to help you settle your stomach today,” Ledger promised, the threat of death waking him faster than any caffeine. Midnight just groaned and sobbed into her new porcelain best friend.

Somepony knocked on the door and Twilight’s voice could be heard. “Is everything alright in there? I heard yelling.”

Ledger carefully extracted himself from the bed and answered the knocking, undisguised. “Morning sickness,” the drone said as he peeked his head out the door. Twilight yelped when the Changeling emerged. One would think that she’d be used to it by now. At least she was only surprised and not scared.

“Ah... I have a spell that might provide temporary relief, until you can get some medicine for her.”

Ledger nodded and opened the door wider, standing to one side as his disguise shimmered into view. “I’ll go take care of that, don’t forget to show me the spell later for when you aren’t here.”

“Can do,” she nodded as she trotted into the bathroom. One flash later and there was a sudden yelp and Twilight yelling at Midnight.

“Oh eww, don’t kiss me with puke-breath!”

“Whzzat?” Scope sat up and blinked, before letting out a loud sigh and flopping back down onto the bed. Cider had already awoken and headed downstairs to fix breakfast.

Ledger gave the Apple mare a kiss before heading out to find a pharmacy so he could get something for morning sickness. He thought back to the multiple occasions upon which Midnight had thrown up and nodded. A lot of something. Or maybe just a general stomach-settler.

“LEVVY!!” Amy had flown out of...somewhere and tackled the stallion with a happy giggle. “How’s my favourite harem protagonist?”

“Having to deal with morning sickness,” Ledger replied as he readjusted for the pink’s tackle. “How’re you dealing with the griffon that trained Middy?”

“Acey and me are great. We’re still deciding on a date though,” Amy said more normally. “So Middy’s already getting that huh? That sounds rough.”

“Really rough,” Ledger agreed as he shifted the pink to Midnight’s favorite non-sexual position - riding his back - and kept walking into town. “And seeing as how I’d prefer it if she could keep food down, I’m going to get something to settle her stomach.”

“Yeah, that’d be good,” Amy nodded, rolling over so she was on her back, using Ledger like a recliner. “So...I heard an interesting rumor yesterday~”

“Oh?” Ledger asked as they started to enter the city proper. “Care to share?”

“That a certain Princess of Friendship has been seen hanging out with you here in Las Pegasus,” she remarked. “Setting your sights a little higher huh?”

“Hardly,” Ledger said as he quickly came up with a lie, the better to keep the truth secret with. “She’s more interested in the changeling messaging service, along with the fact that I’m basically a changeling version of her.”

“Hmm, you don’t say?” Amy mused. She wasn’t fooled, but that was his and his family's business... for now. She flipped herself off of him and landed in front of him, staring into his eyes. “You seem to be in a good place now huh? Going from under Toll’s hoof, to having three marefriends, one of whom is a nymph, something that you feared above anything else. And now you have a child on the way as well.”

“Scope can be a little scary still, and I won’t lie and say her using her pheromones doesn’t still send a trickle of fear down my spine,” Ledger replied. “Plus the child...yeah, there’s plenty of fear left in my system. But…” the disguised drone sighed and smiled softly, staring at nothing in particular before saying his thoughts on his situation. “I wouldn’t trade any of it for anything.”

“Hey Ledger?” Amy asked softly. “Give me a smile.”

That was easy enough to do, he thought of the mares he’d left at home and his smile only grew. Of the days they’d had together, and the future they would share. Of the child on the way. Of their eventual wedding day.

Amy stood there, vibrating as her entire body seemed to exude a slight pink aura. Her smile was so wide it probably could have swallowed him whole before she squealed and spear-tackled the stallion.

“I am soooo HAPPY!” she cried. “I can finally say that you’re cured!!”

“Ack!” Ledger said as he fell back, the pink mare’s power not to be underestimated. “Amy! Up! Ponies will talk!”

“I don’t care!” she giggled, nuzzling the drone with everything she had. “Of all the Changelings in the city, you were the one I was most worried about.” She lay her head on his chest and smiled. “You have no idea how relieved I am.”

“...Well, it’s not just me,” Ledger said as he softly pet the pink mare’s mane. “Middy and Cider and even Scope did their parts as well…”

“Hmm, I have to check up on Scope. It’s been a while,” Amy hummed thoughtfully. Several ponies had stopped to stare at the pair, some whispering amongst themselves. “Still, this is now my second favourite day EVER!”

“Why don’t you go do that while I buy some stomach medication for Middy?” Ledger said as he tried to prod the mare into getting off of him. Amy sighed and looked into his eyes.

“Aw, are you sure you don’t want a cute mare atop of you?” she cooed, before booping his nose and jumping off of him with a somersault. “Is Scopey at home right now?”

“Unless she’s moved in the last five minutes,” Ledger replied as he got to his hooves. Amy nodded and spread her wings, before she gave Ledger a kiss on the cheek and flew off, intending to surprise the Blue nymph.

“Well, that happened,” Ledger said with an eye-roll as he resumed his quest for the medicine.

Scope was sleeping peacefully. She honestly didn’t care whether Twilight joined their herd or not. She didn’t have any feelings for the mare, yet anyway. But she wouldn’t deny the others if they wanted her.

Life was back to normal, well, as normal as it got around here anyway. Food was plentiful, no-one really expected much of her so she was free to laze around as she pleased.

And then she opened her eyes to the sight of two, pupil-less pink orbs staring into hers.

“Fuck me,” she sighed. “What the hell do you want?”

“We can do the first one later,” Amy said with a giggle. “I just ran into Levvy, and I wanted to check on you too.” And then the pink nymph picked the smaller blue one up and began hugging her. “And thank you for helping in fixing him.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Scope muttered. “I didn’t really do anything.”

“He’s not afraid of nymphs anymore,” Amy said as she stroked the smaller ‘ling. “I remember the first time I dropped my disguise around him in a meeting...he just locked up for a minute straight before going to a corner and rocking back and forth. But you...you helped fix that.”

“Get off me,” Scope sighed, trying to push her off. “And Midnight had mostly fixed him already.”

“Midnight’s not a ‘ling, she doesn’t have our pheromones. He might’ve remained scared of nymphs he wasn’t related to forever without you,” Amy said before softly kissing the top of Scope’s head and letting her go.

“Yeah, well... I couldn’t stand the idea of any drone being involved with me being such a wimp,” she blushed lightly. Amy giggled before giving the nymph one more hug.

“So, is it just Middy, Cidey, and you?” the pink nymph asked. “I’d hate to walk around undisguised around somepony that doesn’t know.”

“The Princess of Rainbows and other sickness-inducing rubbish is here as well, but she’s well aware of the fact that nearly a quarter of the city is Changeling,” Scope replied. She was feeling more awake now as she rolled over and stretched. “At least they let me sleep in for once.”

Amy seemed to stop for a moment before her face was back in front of Scope’s. “Princess Twilight...is here?” Scope couldn’t place the tone that was asked with.

“Yeah,” she said as she rolled her neck until it cracked. Ah, much better. Now for some exercise. She pounced on the Pink and smiled. “Now, I believe you made a promise a moment ago~”

Amy easily flashed away, reappearing clinging to the ceiling. “Oooh, no, Acey’s the only one to get that,” the pink nymph chided. “Now if you’ll pardon me, I have a pony to find!” With that, the pink ‘ling was off on a pony-finding mission. She wanted to meet the princess of friendship!

...Mostly to hold it over Ledger’s head, but she wanted to see if the mare was any fun to hang out with as well! Scope just shrugged and got up. At least this should be entertaining to watch.

Midnight was feeling much better now, and getting to eat without fear of bringing it back up made her way happier than it probably should. Twilight sat next to her, just in case the spell needed a re-cast... until her ear twitched. Wait, this feeling was...

But how could she be here? Pinkie said she was working... ohno!

“HIYA PRINCESS!” An impossibly perky voice said from right behind her. Twilight screamed and jumped into the air, clinging to the rafters for dear life.

“Hey Amy,” Midnight said without even looking up from her soup.

“Hi Middy!” the pink-on-black changeling said before looking up at the new ceiling-dwelling alicorn. “Oooh, are we playing a game? I can do that too!” Even up in the rafters, there was no escape from the pink changeling as she buzzed up before flipping herself upside-down and attaching to the ceiling. “Hey again, Princess!”

“H-Hellooooo-Unf!” she fell from the roof, landing painfully on the floor. “Sweet Celestia, there’s two of them...”

“More,” Midnight said as she sipped from the bowl. “Amethyst Cream here is a Pink Changeling. And they’re all pretty much like Pinkie Pie. Hyper, inexplicable and utterly impossible to comprehend.”

“I feel a headache coming on,” Twilight moaned. Instantly Amy was there in a flash of teleportation magic, pulling things out of thin air. A thermometer, a sack of cold water and ice for her head, and two headache pills. A trained eye like Twilight’s could see the small flashes that accompanied these items appearing.

“We can’t have a sick princess on your property,” the pink changeling said with a stern voice as she held the pills and thermometer in separate hooves. “Open wide.”

Twilight shook her head and smiled. “Oh, look at that. Better already. You’re some nurse Miss Amethyst.”

“Ohh, she’s good,” Midnight hummed. “Though, I suppose Pinkie provided some good exp.”

“Aww,” Amy said as put the pills away and snatched the sack back, it too vanishing. The thermometer disappeared just afterward, and the Pink changeling huffed. “Fine, I suppose you can get away with it this time missy, but the next time, I’m making sure.”

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief as Midnight gave a small chuckle. “Oh and Amy?” the Thestral spoke up. “I’ve decided to keep it.”

“Yay!” Amy said as she pulled out a small ice-cream dish from somewhere, pre-decorated with sprinkles that somehow spelled out ‘Congratulations on your foal’. “That means I can give you this!”

Even that threw Midnight for a loop, where did she?

“Thanks Amy,” Midnight smiled. “I just hope I can keep it down.”

“That spell I cast should keep you from feeling ill,” Twilight nodded. “But I would avoid too much dairy or citrus for now, just in case.”

“Okay,” Midnight said, already having wolfed down the ice-cream and was in the middle of licking the bowl clean.

“That’s why I made it a small one,” Amy said with a giggle. “I figured she might be at this stage of her pregnancy by the time she made her decision. Plus, Middy can’t resist mango.”

Midnight’s eyes suddenly flashed red as she turned and pounced on the nymph. “Hrrm, I wonder the mare tastes as good as her treats~” she purred in a sultry tone before giving her a very deep kiss. Amy let the kiss remain for a second or two before breaking it and flashing away.

“Jeeze, what is with this house and displays of too much affection?” Amy asked from the rafters. “If I go into the kitchen, I’m pretty sure Cidey will hold me down!”

“Yeah. No.” Cider replied from said kitchen. Midnight looked at her suddenly empty hooves before she started to cry.

“I’m sorhohohooryyyy!” she wailed as Twilight patted her on the back. She looked up and gave the nymph a brief rundown on Midnight’s unique symptoms. Including wild emotions and and her rampant instincts.

“Aww, it’s okay Middy,” Amy said as she walked back down, using a wall like others would a floor. “I don’t blame you. Just remember Acey’s staked his claim on me, and we’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, I know...I’m sorry again,” Midnight sighed. Preganacy sucked bigtime.

“So, allow me a proper introduction,” Twilight said. “My name is Twilight Sparkle. you?”

“I’m-” Here a series of clicks and chirps came from Amy’s mouth, which to Midnight sounded like ‘Heart-of-Gold’. “But you can call me Amy!” The pink changeling finished her declaration by sticking her hoof out to the lavender alicorn.

“It’s nice to meet you Miss Amy,” Twilight smiled as Midnight blinked and spoke to her.

“Your name is Heart-of-Gold?” she asked in Changeish, prompting Twilight to give her a curious look. Amy did as well before shrugging and replying.

“Yeah, I tend to give things to others just to see them happy. It fits.” Then the pink changeling smirked before transforming into…

Oh. Cherry was here now. “Or you can call me Cherry,” the pegasus stallion said with a small smile. “I’m fine with either, really.”

Twilight was taken aback for a second, before she returned Cherry’s happy smile. “Well this city is just full of surprises huh? Well, nice to meet you too as well.”

“I like her,” Cherry said before flashing into Amy. “She’s hard to stump.”

“We like her too,” Midnight said, nuzzling the alicorn, who rolled her eyes, but returned the gesture none-the-less.

“Well, this has been boring so far,” Scope muttered from her nest. “Except for Midnight’s kiss. That was great!”

“Wait,” Amy said with a raised hoof. “Did you just…?” She gestured between Midnight and Twilight, clearly having caught the nuzzle.

“What?” Midnight asked the nymph.

“Are you all…?” Ledger had been lying, massively lying!

“Please try and keep this a secret,” Twilight said. “I don’t want them to be swamped by any unnecessary attention. Given Midnight’s oncoming condition, as well as Scope’s and Ledger’s identities.”

“I can keep my muzzle shut,” Amy mimed zipping it, before her eyes got a dangerous glint to them. “On one condition.”

“What condition?” Twilight replied with a terse glare. She did not take kindly to blackmail. This mare was getting dangerously close to being on the alicorn’s shitlist.

And then she asked the question. “What’s Levvy like when he’s bucking a princess?”

Scope nearly fell out of her nest as Twilight flushed a deep crimson. Midnight just rolled her eyes as she lay her head on the table. “I wonder when you became a Violet?” she asked idly.

“A-And how would I know?” Twilight stammered. “I-I haven’t done anything like that!!”

“You probably should,” Amy said as she turned to leave. “I hear enough about it from these three when we swap stories that he has to be doing something right.”

“I-I-I....” Twilight’s blush deepened as she wobbled on her hooves.

“I have it on good authority that Ledger loves his princess a great deal~” Scopey grinned her shark-like grin. “Very, very much~”

She didn’t get to continue as Twilight’s horn flashed and the nymph was teleported away... to, Celestia-knows-where. The purple alicorn sighed and fainted.

“Well, that was fun,” Amy giggled before she left. “Try to get her to really unwind, Middy!” With that, the illogical pink pegasus was gone, bouncing down the road.

Midnight shrugged, idly wondering where Scopey went, before moving to put Twilight on the couch before pestering Cider for more food.

Scope Lens sat in front of Princess Celestia, looking right into the solar diarch’s eyes.

“Well,” the alicorn sighed. “This is awkward.”

“That’s...one way to describe it,” the blue nymph said. “I...don’t suppose you could spare me a teleport back to Las Pegasus? I can work my way home from there.”

“I could do that,” she nodded as she got up. “Care for some coffee and donuts before you go?”

“That’d be...good,” the nymph replied cautiously. “I didn’t really get any breakfast before I found myself...here.” With a soft blue shimmer, her usual disguise of a pegasus was in place.

“Excellent, you can tell me all about Las Pegasus in the meantime,” Celestia hummed. She looked around before realising that Luna would be asleep and Twilight was doing something or other. She pulled out a card and sat it on the throne.

‘Back in 30 mins’

“Okay, let’s go~” Celestia hummed as she donned her own disguise, a pink-haired Pegasus mare. Scope shrugged and followed the diarch’s lead.

Moondancer panted as she rolled over, sweat giving her coat a light sheen as she sighed. “T-Three days straight...is a tad much,” she panted. “Even for me...”

“Aww, but I can keep going for weeks,” the violet nymph said as she trailed a hoof down Moondancer’s flank. “Did once, when I first came here. Just wrapped myself up in the lust of this city and went to town…” The noble nymph sighed at the memory.

“You know, with all that emotion in the last couple of days, I could smack you with the feedback spell and go run a few errands,” Moondancer half-threatened.

“Mmm, you do that, I’ll return the favor,” the nymph teased. “We’d be locked up, useless until the spells run out of energy or one of the nymphs checks up on us…”

“Sugar, I love you, but that would probably kill me,” Moondancer sighed. “I need to eat and drink and the bathroom. We could have a shower together if you like. I have a few tricks I could show you~”

“Oooh, those sound like acceptable bribes,” the nymph replied as she helped her marefriend find her hooves again. “Maybe I can show you a few I know as well~”

“Mhmm,” Moon giggled, even as she struggled to walk. This mare was going to be the death of her. A wonderful, climax-inducing death, but death none-the-less. Her horn suddenly sparked and the mare frowned lightly. Hmm, now that was interesting.

“Sorry love, change of plans. We have a very important guest outside. So we should hurry.”

“Aww, okay. Here, before you go.” With that, Sugar was kissing Moondancer, giving her more than a little tongue, and the kiss itself felt...energizing, somehow. She hummed pleasantly into the kiss and smiled. With a flash, the two were in the bathroom and she had the Changeling pressed up against the shower wall.

“Hmm, I guess she can wait a few minutes,” Moondancer giggled.

“I guess she might have to,” Sugar teased back as she grabbed that flank she so loved. “I certainly don’t intend to let you go anytime soon.”

“Mmm, I like the sound of that,” Moon sighed, leaning into the embrace.

Twilight sat inside the ‘Love Shack’ club, nursing a soda as a lot of the staff wouldn’t take their eyes off of her. Midnight had told the Princess about this place, and the fact that Changeling’s ran it. So maybe that’s why.

Twilight was one of the ones that defeated an entire army of them after all. She found herself wondering what would happen if she brought the changeling queen here. Another experiment for another day perhaps.

About half an hour passed, and she was about ready to call it quits, before a white unicorn mare with violet eyes and a black mane and tail, done in curls that reminded her of Rarity’s manestyle, came out from the back room. “Oh my, have none of the girls seen to you yet?” she asked, looking around at the barely-disguised nymphs that had barely taken their eyes off the visiting royal.

“Hm?” Twilight looked up at the mare. She was...strikingly beautiful. Twilight couldn’t help but blush slightly. “Um, no. Not particularly. I think they might be a little cautious around me.” She looked at her wings and sighed. “Sometimes these things are more hassle than they’re worth. Ah, sorry. My name is Twilight Sparkle.”

“Sugar Darling,” the mare said, taking a small bow. “And we’re quite aware of who you are, your highness.” That said, the mare straightened back up and smiled in a way that also reminded her of Rarity. “So are you here for business? Or pleasure, which technically falls under the sphere of business?”

“Please, just Twilight will be fine, and no need to bow either,” the alicorn smiled. “Actually, it’s more curiosity that brought me here than anything else. A friend of mine told me about this place, and its...unique hostesses.”

“Oh?” the mare asked with a head-tilt. “Might I ask about the name of this friend? I’ve made quite a few over my time here.”

“Midnight Song,” Twilight replied with a smile. “She gave this place quite the glowing recommendation.”

“Ah,” Sugar said, nodding once before closing her eyes. When they were next opened, her violet eyes were pupil-less. “Something along the lines of this, I assume, is what she told you?”

“That sounds about right,” Twilight nodded, before she was glomped by another mare, one nuzzling her with abundant glee.

“Did think I’d see you again so soon,” Moondancer giggled. “What are you doing here in Las Pegasus Twi?”

“Moondancer!?” Twilight turned to face the Unicorn. “What are you doing here?”

“Hmm, just visiting my marefriend,” Moon smiled, drawing Sugar in for a hug as well. Twilight looked at Sugar then to Moondancer.

“Oh, well congrats then.”

“Thank you,” Sugar said as she shifted her eyes back. “So is there anything you wanted to know in particular, Twilight?”

“Well right now, I’m just seeing how everypony is getting along, now that Changelings aren’t a secret around these parts. Have you had any trouble Miss Sugar?”

“There was a lot of excitement during the first few days, but business has actually improved now that our secret is out,” the nymph hummed. “Apparently, a lot of ponies have a lot of fantasies, and we’re all to happy to help them fill it for the right price~”

“Ookayyy,” Twilight blushed as ‘that’ memory resurfaced again. If it wasn’t for the important conversation that happened after, she’d have purged the whole thing with a memory erasure spell.

“Heehee, little Twilight gets flustered easily,” Moondancer smiled. “It’s really fun to tease her~”

“Moony!” Twilight batted at her with a hoof. Sugar giggled her agreement.

“Plus with the minor time acceleration spell Moony’s helped us with, we can ferment test batches of cider in a matter of days.” The nymph hummed at the thought. “Still need to slow it down a bit for all the different stages and our special ingredients, but we are introducing emotion infused drinks here.”

“Time magic?” Twilight blinked and looked at Moondancer. “Hoofenheimer? Or Starswirl?”

“A little of both, with a Moondancer twist,” she smiled. “Wanna know how it works?”

“Is Einstags Theorem flawed?” Twilight replied with more than a little snark. The two spellcasters suddenly dove into a conversation that Sugar had little to no hope of following. She merely flagged one of her mares down and ordered three of the latest batch of drink to be produced. It had turned out well, unlike so many that had soured, so she figured the alicorn might want to taste the latest product.

Eventually the two finished and shared a giggle as they noticed that Sugar was still waiting patiently.

“Eheh, whoops. Sorry babe,” Moondancer smiled. “Ohh, what do you have there?”

“Just the latest to come off our line of emotional drinks,” the mare said as she put two ciders in front of the unicorn and alicorn. Cider that seemed to have a...slight pink and purple tint to it. “We call it the ‘Mood-setter.’”

“With a name like that, and what I have experienced thus far with Changelings,” Twilight said with a hint of doubt. “Will there be any...effects to myself if I drink this?”

“Maybe?” Sugar shrugged before she drank her own and smacked her lips, nodding and smiling a little wider. “Oooh, it came out well. But yeah, ‘lings can handle emotional imbalances well. Take it slow if you’re afraid of your mental state being...upset.”

Twilight nodded as she gave a sip that a Breezie would call insufficient. “It’s just, the last time a Changeling tried to transfer emotions to me, I wound up making out with Level Ledger and Midnight...”

Mindful of the fact that this was the result of their long and laborious work, Sugar didn’t spit out her next sip. Her cheeks did bulge and there was a mighty gulp from her end of the table, but she didn’t coat either of the other mares in her drink.

“I...beg your pardon?” the disguised nymph asked once she was certain she could breathe again. “Did you just say you kissed Level Ledger and Midnight Song?”

“With tongue,” Twilight nodded as she sipped her drink again. This was quite good. “I was curious about it when Ledger mentioned he could transfer emotions, and I wondered how it must feel for your kind to process such energy, so he provided a bit that he took from Midnight... but apparently Midnight’s love is... potent. The result was a rather embarrassing moment for myself.”

“It’s only embarrassing if it doesn’t result in something better,” the nymph said with a wink. “Now, as for this drink and everything in it, so that you know what you’re getting yourself into. Cider for the taste, and because the alcohol helps ponies relax and open up. A touch of happiness, to ease their minds. Just because we can’t process it as well as the Pink, doesn’t mean we can’t still gather it for things like this. And of course, just a touch of lust, for setting the mood.”

“You know, that tends to make me wonder if this is a bar, or a brothel,” Twilight mused as she raised an eyebrow. “I trust you have a permit for the latter of those practises?”

“What sort of law-abiding citizen do you take me for?” the mare joked back before she sipped at her drink. “And really, what did you think a Violet would open in Las Pegasus, of all places?”

“True enough I suppose,” Twilight nodded. “And I guess, Hmm, no, nevermind.”

“No no, please, by all means,” Sugar said with a wave of her hoof. “Now I’m curious.”

“Hmm, nope. A mare is entitled to her secrets~” Twilight teased her. This drink was really tasty...huh? Where’d it go?

“Gone already?” Sugar tisked. “Well I suppose I can give you another if you want...though I want a little feedback as to how it tasted and how you feel first.”

“Hmm, well it was tasty, very fruity,” Twilight giggled. “And, I feel super happy~”

“Hmm, I suppose I can give you another, though I think I may have to ask somepony to walk you home afterwards,” the nymph said before indicating they needed another round. Within five minutes, three more ciders were sitting in front of the mares and the three empties were whisked away.

“Hrm, I feel like this is a bad idea,” Moondancer hummed. “I wonder if there’s a law for getting a Princess drunk on magical drinks. Twilight seems like a bit of a lightweight.”

“Ledger can’t hold his liquor at all, this mare isn’t as bad as him,” Sugar brushed off her marefriend’s concerns. “Just take it slow, Twilight. This stuff is likely really effective on ponies.”

“Naw, it’s cool,” Twilight giggled, half the glass already gone. “And what was that about Ledgie? He’s really cute y’know. Such a big brain...and a big—”

“Aaaand I retract my statement,” the disguised nymph said as she used her magic to keep Twilight’s glass stuck to the table for a moment. “Okay Twi, I’m gonna need you to do me a favor.” One hoof was used to signal a waitress to bring some water and snacks over so that the princess wouldn’t end up completely trashed.

“Whazzat cutie?” Twilight giggled like a schoolfilly. The water and crackers arrived in record time.

“I’m gonna need you to have enough of this that the alcohol doesn’t kill off all your common sense,” Sugar said while indicating the new additions.

Twilight giggled again as she practically inhaled the crackers and then sculled the water and hiccuped. “Whooo... wha? I have a headache...”

“Take it slow, that’s your system readjusting,” the nymph said as the water was rapidly replaced. “That or dehydration.”

“Urgh, anypony get the name of that chariot?” she groaned as she sipped the water again. “Those drinks pack a heck of a buck Miss Sugar.”

“And I can’t believe how quickly you bounced like that,” Moondancer remarked, taking a few notes. “I wonder if your alicorn biology has anything to do with that. Ohh, would you be opposed to a few experiments?”

“I think the mare whose body it is might want to devise safe experiments on her own,” Sugar interjected. During the exchange, however, the half-full drink of ‘Mood-Setter’ was ignored in front of Twilight, even as the glow around the base died.

“Hmm, lemme try that,” Moondancer said as she took the glass and drained it. She swished it around in her mouth and swallowed. “Well, it is pretty fruity...aaand there we go, now I feel nice~”

“I noticed,” Sugar teased. “But we are in front of Twilight, so keep yourself in check dear, or else I’ll break out some of my gear.”

“Ooh, you already know my safeword,” Moon smiled as she ran a hoof over the nymphs flank. “You know, I kinda look like Twilight... I wonder if I could get a set of wings as well~”

“The thought of you becoming an Alicorn terrifies me,” Twilight snarked and the two friends shared a hug. “Still, my head has a slight buzz...perhaps I should see about somepony walking me home...” She looked at Moondancer and her slightly raised hoof. “Somepony who isn’t going to ogle my flank the entire time.”

“Aww,” Moonie pouted. Sugar giggled before humming and gesturing one of the mares over.

“Yes?” she asked simply. Twilight now noticed that while she was a pegasus, they all seemed to have adopted a similar color scheme, with the cosmetic differences of mane and tail, along with cutie marks. She’d have to ask about that later.

“See Twilight home, or wherever she wants to go, and make sure that you don’t ogle her the whole way, and neither does anypony else,” Sugar said. The mare gave off another nod and moved to stand next to the princess.

“That easy huh?” Twilight smiled as she got to her hooves. “Hmm, perhaps...to PegsusAir if your could. There is...somebuggy? someling? I don’t know what the correct vernacular is I’m afraid. Anyway, I must see him about something.”

“I know the way,” the mare said as she watched Twilight get to her hooves. “Do you think you need any help walking, miss?”

Twilight wobbled a little then righted herself. “Hmm, no, I think I’m good.” She turned back to Sugar and Moondancer. “It was nice meeting you Miss Sugar, and it was great to see you as well Moonie. Oh, do you think you could swing by Cider Farms later? I could use your help setting up a waypoint.”

“I guess I could do that, but why there?” Moon asked her.

“Well, it’d be a pain coming by train, so I’ll use teleportation to get to my destination,” Twilight giggled. Ohh, maybe she was part zebra as well.

“Hmm,” Sugar hummed as she ran a hoof through Moondancer’s mane. “If I know Ledger, he’s gonna want to see something like a...teleportation beacon, being cast,” the nymph commented. “Probably a good thing you’re going to see him first. When did you want this one again?”

“Maybe in a few hours, so enough to continue what the two of you were up to before,” Twilight giggled again. “I’m beginning to wonder if everypony in this city is a pervert~”

“Everypony has a perverted side to them,” Sugar said as she gave a little of her namesake to Moondancer. Once the kiss broke, she looked at Twilight with a gaze that could only be called sultry. “It just seems a lot easier to...let loose here.”

“Isn’t it great?” Moondancer giggled. “Oh, you should come with me Sugar. I forgot to tell you, but Midnight’s pregnant.”

“Ooooh, how marvelous!” the nymph all but squealed. “Finally, Fortune will have somepony like her to socialize with! Granted, about twenty years too late, but another hybrid comes onto the scene!”

“It should be quite interesting,” Twilight agreed. “Well, see you three later then~” She trotted out of the door as the barmaid followed her.

“Three...?” Moondancer blinked. Then she giggled. Seems Ledger was going to be in for a little surprise.

Ledger was sitting in his office, going over reports of the preliminary tests of the communications relay. While the initial results had been positive, the government was also worried that the postal service would be put at risk. So the idea was under debate for the time being until a compromise could be reached.

Once negotiations began breaking down, he had an idea: offer it to the government as a new service, in addition to the postal service. In case you needed to send a message somewhere really quickly. He’d leave it up to them to determine what an appropriate price for something like that would be, though. He knew Scope would probably enjoy the idea of being in charge of something like that.

He could hear the tiny maniacal laugh already...

That was when his door was flung open and an overly jubilant Twilight strutted inside.

“Hello Levvy~” she giggled. “Not bending a nymph over your desk today?”

“Scope has the day off, possibly indefinitely,” Ledger replied as he moved the file to one side, the better to give Twilight his attention. “The Princesses don’t take too kindly to you when you try to supplant the post office, so she doesn’t need to keep a Hivelink up across half of Equestria.”

“Oh well,” Twilight sighed as she lifted herself up to sit on the edge of his desk. “You must be a bit lonely working in here by yourself.”

“A bit, but I have side-projects I can do when things get boring,” Ledger replied.

“Hmm, maybe I could be one of those side projects you can do~” she giggled again, running a hoof across his cheek before she kissed him deeply.

Ledger froze as he processed the situation. This wasn’t Scope, he knew that. She didn’t smell like the nymph in the slightest. So it was the real Twilight kissing him. And he’d spent the better part of yesterday afternoon educating the mare by example, so he knew she knew what she was doing. The idea that the actual Twilight wanted...that from him…

It was a stunning thought, and one that needed clarity. Once the kiss broke, Ledger took a breath to ask her a question. “What...would you have of me, your highness?”

Twilight’s smile faltered a little. “‘Your highness’? Really? I thought I said to call me Twilight. Or do I have to make that a Royal edict?” She hopped off the desk as she moved around behind him, rearing up to hug him from behind. “I dunno. I just feel really good all of a sudden. Sugar makes some nice drinks~”

“Well then...if you’re feeling up to it, Twilight, I think I can show you some oral attention,” Ledger hinted as he enjoyed the hug nonetheless. Time to see if she was being serious or not.

“Mmmm, you can talk aaallll day and I’d listen,” Twilight giggled. “Watcha wanna talk about Ledgie?”

“Not that kind of attention,” Ledger clarified for the...oh sweet Hives she was inebriated. His mind only just put that together, but not in time to stop his mouth. “More like the kind of attention my lips can show a different pair of your lips.”

“Hmm?” Twilight tilted her head adorably. “Ledgie? Are you trying to be naughty?”

“...Kinda?” he said meekly. “But you’re kinda drunk and innocent, and I don’t wanna take advantage of you, and-” he was cut off as she kissed him again, this time he felt her tongue probing his mouth, the fruity tingle on her breath as she moaned into him.

He wished he could hold the kiss forever, but they eventually had to come up for air again, and he stared deep into her eyes when they did. “You’re a helluva kisser, Twilight,” he complimented the mare.

“Hee, I had a little practice before now,” she smiled, leaving him to wonder where.

“While you are rather distracting, I still don’t want to take advantage of you,” Ledger replied as he moved one step back, to give the mare her space. “So…”

“Ohh, but I wanna be taken advantage of,” she pouted. “Do you have any idea what it’s like for me. As a Unicorn, nopony wanted me. I was just a lonely little bookworm with no friends. Or I was the precious student of Celestia, which nopony dared to touch. Then as a Princess, I’m ‘unobtainable’ for an entirely different set of reasons!”

“Prove it with your big-girl words,” Ledger said as he twirled a hoof. “Tell me what you want, Twilight Sparkle, and if you can say it without stumbling over them, I’ll give your request serious thought.”

“I want... I want...” Twilight frowned as she paced around the room. “I wanna take a nap,” and with that, she curled up on the couch and fell asleep. Ledger chuckled before he went back to paperwork.

“Well, I’m happy to provide, your majesty,” he said softly. He was going to get her used to those titles...or get those titles associated with naughty things, one day.

“—And then she said, but how am I supposed to get a tan?” Celestia laughed as she plucked another donut from her horn and bit into it. “Ah Joe, as amazing as always!”

“Oh don’t tell me she actually said that,” Scope laughed. “Ponies have coats of fur for a reason!”

“Hipsters aren’t ponies, they are some species that I have yet to classify,” Celestia giggled. “You’re quite a lot of fun you know that?”

“So’re you,” Scope replied as she sipped at her coffee. “I thought you were going to be more upset with me when I appeared outta nowhere in your courtroom like that.”

“Why does everypony think that?” Celestia moaned as she drank her hot chocolate. “One little slip up and poof I banish you to the sun. Geez, it’s not like I’ll drop the sun on you or anything. Though I totally could.”

“I think it’s statements like that that make others afraid,” Scope pointed out before snagging a donut of her own. “But hey, it keeps the parasites down, so good on you.”

“You know, between you and me, sometime I wish I could go whoops and the noble section suddenly exploded for no reason. But alas, godlike power also comes with responsibility.” She waved her mug and Joe and wolf-whistled at him.

“More please~”

“If you say so your highness,” Joe chuckled, wondering if anypony actually could get drunk on hot chocolate.

“Mm,” Celestia sighed as she watched him leave. “Now that is some fine flank. I’d like him to glaze my buns sometime~”

“Gah, you’re just as bad as Midnight,” Scope whined. “You’ve made that sort of observation about most of the stallion customers, and more than a few mares as well.”

“Can’t help it, I get lonely,” Celestia sighed. “Though Brass Balls...mmm, I have to call him again sometime~”

“...He’s that really old Yellow general, right?” Scope asked. “Wow. I mean, I know his name and all, but...wow, did not expect that of him.”

“Admittedly, I had to use an age spell on him to give him...a little boost,” Celestia chuckled as she polished off her donut. “But still, the sun rose a few times that night.”

“And just like that, the moment passes,” Scope snarked before eating another donut herself. “Sheesh. Find a dragon in his youth, why don’t you. Get him interested in you and form a bond that’ll hold up longer against the test of time.”

“Been there, done that,” Celestia replied. “So how about you hmm? The first herd in a century. Must be interesting.”

“Ledger’s a romantic sap of a drone, Cider’s a hardflank rule stickler, and Middy’s throwing up everywhere,” the disguised nymph deadpanned. “I can hardly contain my joy.”

“Your smile says otherwise~” Celestia sang as Joe brought her drink back out, as well as a refill for Scopey. “Deny it all you want, but you love those three.”

“...I might care about them a little,” Scope ruefully admitted. “But that’s all you’re getting outta me.”

“Well, good enough I suppose,” Celestia hummed as she sipped her drink. “In the end, they’re your beloveds, so it doesn’t matter what anypony else thinks.” She placed the mug down as she put her wing around Scope Lens. “This has been quite fun Miss Lens. So, I take it you’re ready to go home now?”

“If you’d please?” Scope said with a nod she otherwise wouldn’t have.

Celestia’s horn lit up, a remaining donut vapourising in an instant. “Oh, and Miss Scope, would you be so kind as to pass a message onto Level Ledger for me?”

“Maybe?” the nymph said, hedging her bets. “What do you wanna tell him?”

Celestia’s large doe eyes narrowed and for a brief moment, the motherly alicorn was replaced by a being of immense power. One that would wield that power should the need arise.

“If he hurts Twilight in any way, I will be most upset.” she said, those last words were so cold, the sun itself threatened to freeze over. And just like that, she was back to normal. “Okay, have a nice day Miss Scope.” And with a flash of golden light, Scope Lens found herself on Level Ledger’s desk.

The nymph looked around the empty office, wondering where that drone was, before she caught sight of a nearby wall-clock. Oh, that’s why it was empty. Ledger was on his lunch break. She double-checked to make sure her usual pegasus disguise was in place before running off to find Ledger. She had a message to deliver.

Hives, if he was with that alicorn, Scope was of a mind to give Twilight a piece of hers for that involuntary trip.

Twilight groaned as she followed Level Ledger on his lunch break. That was it, she was so done with emotional experimentation.

“Uurghh,” she sighed.

“You’ll feel better when you’ve got some food in you,” the stallion said as he led her to a clearly Griffon-run establishment. “This place does amazing salads.”

“I can’t believe I did that,” she muttered as she trudged behind him. Her head was killing her, and the memory of-of... flaunting herself like that was even worse. “I’m just glad you’re such a gentlestallion...or that could have turned out a lot worse...”

“I know better than to take advantage of an inebriated mare,” Ledger replied. “That being said, it took me a minute to piece together that you were.”

“Two drinks is hardly enough to get me drunk,” Twilight said sharply, before wincing as that aggravated her headache. “But it seems that emotional transfer affects me greatly, and no, you may not experiment with that Mr. Ledger!”

“Wasn’t going to, without an invitation anyways,” the stallion replied with a small laugh before he held the door to the restaurant open. “After you, milady.”

Twilight nodded and entered the building, and the moment she walked in she picked up the scent of...cooked meat? Well, that was...something. It reminded her of her trip through the mirror...

The griffon behind the counter nodded at Ledger showing up, before her face showed shock at the sight of Twilight. “Y-your highness!” she squawked before bowing.

Twilight sighed, maybe she should have used an illusion spell. “Please don’t go to any effort Miss. Though, if you have something for a headache I’d be most appreciative.”

“I...I think we have something in the first-aid kit,” the griffon said before standing back up and ruffling her wings, clearly unsettled. “So, ah, table for two?”

“Please,” Ledger replied, before looking at Twilight to see if that was the right move. Twilight nodded in response.

“Please,” she smiled. “Something on the private side if you have one.”

“I think we have a private room,” the gryphoness said as she retrieved two menus from under the podium. “Would that be acceptable?”

Twilight mulled over that. The Princess seen going into a private room with an unknown stallion. Yeah, not suspicious in the slightest.

“That won’t be necessary. Just a booth in a quiet corner will be fine.”

“Very well,” the waitress said before leading the pair of ponies to a nice, quiet corner, occupied by a very large booth. “It’s a little much, but it should serve your needs nicely,” she said as the pair seated themselves. “I’ll get that medicine for a headache in a moment, but while I do, what would the pair of you like to drink?”

“Apple juice,” Ledger said as he got comfortable.

“Just water will be fine,” Twilight nodded. “And perhaps some crackers or nuts to snack on please.”

“We can do that,” the hen chirped. “I’m Wendi, and I’ll be seeing to your needs today.” With a final bow, she was off to the kitchen. Ledger flipped open the menu in front of him and hummed at the selection available.

A few ponies present in the establishment had already looked in their direction and began whispering amongst themselves. Twilight sighed as she picked up the menu to stare into it. Out of sight, out of mind.

“I think I’ll get a chef’s salad while we’re here,” Ledger said as he went over the options. “They’re always improving it. Possibly to try and impress what few ponies walk in.”

“That sounds good, I think I’ll have the same,” Twilight replied. Her eyes briefly lingering on the griffon side of the menu. And despite her best wishes, her tummy gave a slight rumble in response.

“...I would ask, but I know better than to pry,” Ledger said with a chuckle. “They do have a seafood section, though. For those ponies that want a little extra protein and can stomach the idea.”

“What? No!” Twilight’s adamant denial was adorable. “Urgh, it’s a long story that can wait for another day. Trust me, even you would have trouble believing it.”

Ledger was about to reply, but was interrupted by a griffoness returning. “One apple juice, one water, and two tablets of headache medication,” she chirped, placing the items before the ponies. “Have you decided what you want?”

“Two orders of the chef’s salad,” Ledger said as he folded his menu up. “One apiece.”

Twilight swallowed the pills and downed her water, giving a satisfactory sigh. “Mmm, I feel better already. Um, this might be a little weird, but I don’t suppose I could add two prawn cocktails to that order please?”

“Not at all,” the griffoness chirped. “Ledger usually gets some shrimp with his salad anyways.”

“Your fault for doing it so well,” the stallion fired back before floating the menus over to the hen. She chuckled and nabbed them before nodding at the pair of ponies.

“So two chefs salads, and two prawn cocktails. Easily done, we’ll have that out for you in a jiffy!” The griffoness gave another bow before she headed in the direction of the kitchen, to drop their orders off.

“And what are you smiling at?” Twilight snarked at the drone. Her headache already reduced to a dull throb every now and then. Ledger sighed before choosing one of the tales that had earned him his name.

“I don’t think you’ve heard this, but changelings earn their names, your highness,” he teased. “Mine wasn’t easy to earn. I did a lot of things in my time in the Lands. Like investigating the Red’s burial mound.”

“Oh?” Twilight’s ears perked up. This sounded interesting. Ledger nodded before taking a sip of his juice. Once he’d lowered the mug, he continued.

“The Duty Reds feel is so strong, that if they ever leave anything undone in life before they’re put to rest, they become...quite restless. To the point where they get back up and start shuffling around.”

“Wait...” Twilight held up a hoof to stop him for a moment. “You mean to tell me, that you actually encountered zombies. Real, undead, zombies?”

“They’re not so bad…” Ledger said before grimacing. “Until you encounter ones from an ancient scuffle between the Reds and the Silvers. That was when I learned that fire doesn’t solve everything.”

“The best way to handle a zombie is a boomstick,” Twilight nodded, remembering her monster manual she used to read as a foal with Shiny.

“I didn’t know that then,” Ledger grimaced. “I got chased by flaming zombies for a while before the fire ate away at everything holding them together.”

“That must have been terrifying,” Twilight gulped, sipping at her water again. “And I live near the Everfree Forest.”

“It was one of the more terrifying moments of my life for a while,” Ledger agreed. “But I got over it eventually.” Just don’t ask how, just don’t ask how...

“How did you do that?” Twilight asked. She was still having problems regarding Tirek, so maybe his answer could help her.

“...Something worse took it’s place,” Ledger said, compromising on an answer. “But Midnight, Cider, and Scope helped me recover from that memory. There’s...nothing you can’t overcome with the right friends.”

Not the answer she was hoping for. “I know how you feel,” she smiled. It was true she still had the occasional nightmare, but she knew that when she woke up, her friends would be there waiting. “It’s good to have friends you can count on.”

“Amen to that,” Ledger said with a smile. Just then, Wendi returned with two prawn cocktails before placing one in front of each pony.

“There we are,” she said with a smile. “Your salads will be out soon. Just have to track down some fresher ingredients for some of it. In the meantime, these are ready.” Before either pony could speak up, she was off again.

“She’s rather friendly,” Twilight smiled as she took a forkful of her cocktail and bit into it, savouring the savoury taste. “Mmm, delicious~”

Ledger took a bite of his own and agreed with her assessment. “Not bad, not bad at all. I still prefer the way Fredrick does his shrimp alfredo, but this has definitely improved from when I first tried it.”

“Ooh?” Twilight’s ear flicked at the mention of alfredo. “That sounds good too!” She resumed her munching, and soon the glass it had been served in was licked clean, as the alicorn hummed happily, not noticing some seafood sauce on her lips. Ledger chuckled as he continued to munch on his own before floating her napkin up next to her muzzle.

“You’ve got a little something right there,” he said between bites, pointing at her lips. Twilight blinked as she took the napkin, their magic overlapping for a moment as it sent a pleasant tingle down Ledger’s horn.

“Thanks,” she smiled, wiping her muzzle. Ledger shuddered a little before resuming his meal. Soon enough his own appetizer was gone, and he was wiping his own face off before presenting it to Twilight.

“Did I get everything?” he asked, turning one way and another for her approval.

“Hmm, yes, you are your usual handsome self,” Twilight giggled as she folded the napkin and placed it on the table. “You know,” she smiled. “This almost looks like it could be considered a date.”

“Who said it wasn’t?” Ledger replied innocently. “The line between ‘friendly interaction’ and ‘date’ is quite blurry, as most things are when romance gets involved.”

“Well,” Twilight blushed as she looked down at her hooves, then her eyes peered up at Ledger. “If you don’t mind...then, I don’t either.”

“Fair enough, but we tell nopony else,” Ledger said, warning the lavender alicorn. “I just know Middy would hang it over both our heads.” He sipped at his juice before a thought crossed his mind. “Speaking of dates, did you want my advice on where to take us for dinner tonight, or would you rather do it on your own?”

“Well, I’ve heard mention of this ‘Fredrick’ a few times, and that his food is good.” Twilight sipped at her water and smacked her lips. “Is that alright?”

“A fine choice, I’ll help you find him later,” Ledger said with a nod, before two salads all but materialized in front of them.

“And done!” the waitress said with her usual pep. “Now you two enjoy, okay? The chef’s really proud of this one!”

“Thank you Miss Wendi,” Twilight smiled. “This looks delicious.” Once the waitress left, the princess wasted no time in digging in. Her headache had vanished completely now and she was feeling back to normal.

Ledger also learned that a good way to lose a hoof would be to put it between the alicorn and her food. He boggled at her ability to simply devour food before sighing and eating his own, afraid that if he didn’t, she would. Hmm...the lettuce was crisp, the blue cheese dressing was fresh, the black olives were just right, the cucumbers and radishes couldn’t have been cut up long ago, the red onions were the right thing to offset the rest...and the croutons were of course crunchy, and the cherry tomatoes were juicy.

All in all, this salad was perfect.

It took a little longer for Twilight to eat her salad. And to somepony that knew her well enough, that meant that she liked it quite a lot. Enough to savour the food before it was lost to the void.

Once she was done, she signalled for Wendi to come back over. Once she had, she gave the griffoness a serious stare.

“Could you please summon the chef for me?” she asked.

“Of course,” the hen replied. It took her a minute, but eventually Wendi returned with an older griffon, a male in the stereotypical chef’s hat.

“Yes, yer highness?” he said. “Something wrong with your food?”

Twilight looked at her plate, one could mistake that it hadn't been used in the first place, she’d licked it clean.

“On the contrary,” she said with a soft smile. “That was one of the most delicious salads I have ever eaten. It puts even the Canterlot Castle chefs to shame. You have my utmost thanks for an enjoyable meal.”

“That means a lot to me,” the griffon said before giving her a bow. “I keep trying to improve the recipe, make it so ponies see there’s more to this place than just a place for griffons to get some meat. You’re the first to have complimented me on it.”

“Well I certainly hope I won’t be the last,” Twilight beamed. “I loved it, so thank you. I’ll even recommend this place to others.”

“That...means the world to me,” the griffon said as he stood back up. And if anybody asked, there was just something in his eyes. He certainly wasn’t crying tears of pride, no sir. Twilight let out a little giggled as he returned to his kitchen. Yelling at his apprentices should re-affirm his masculinity.

“Well,” Ledger said as he surfaced from his salad, having finally killed the last of it. “If this is how you react to their salads, I can tell we’re going to have to fight to keep Fredrick here.” Unknown to him, a leaf was stuck on the side of his muzzle thanks to the blue cheese dressing.

Twilight giggled as she scooched around the table. “Um, you have a little something...” she murmured before placing her lips on the side of his muzzle briefly before pulling away. Ledger blushed, actually blushed, before looking away for a moment. He was never going to get used to her showing affection for him, was he?...

Twilight also blushed, a little embarrassed over how bold she was. “M-Maybe some of that drink is still in my system,” she said quietly. And then she found him returning the peck by kissing the side of her muzzle.

“Doubtful, but let me return that which you’ve given anyways,” the stallion rejoined. Twilight stammered incoherently for a moment before settling on blushing and smiling. The two enjoyed a moment of conversation before it was time to leave. The princess left a very generous tip for Wendi and the moment they stepped outside, they were greeted by a rather indignant-looking Pegasus mare.

“Scope Lens?” Twilight blinked.

“Yup,” Ledger said before looking around and sighing. “Okay, so, what do you want?”

“Oh where should I start?” she sighed dramatically. “Oh, let’s go with the fact your new marefriend sent me on a trip to see the Princess, in freaking Canterlot!!”

“Eheh, whoops?” Twilight giggled bashfully.

“Wasn’t so bad, we got donuts,” Scope replied. “Oh, and I sincerely hope that you haven't done anything to hurt Twilight, Ledger?”

“I would never!” Ledger protested, conveniently leaving out the ‘she showed up drunk in my office and I almost took advantage of her’ bit he would normally say. Honesty could come later, when they weren’t in public.

“Good,” Scope sighed as she leaned in close. “Because Celestia made it pretty damned clear how pissed she’d be if you did. And yeah, she already knows!”

“Meep!” Ledger replied as he suddenly started treating the mare next to him with all the reverence usually reserved for something highly dangerous. Which to be fair, she was. He scooted a good five feet away before smiling at her fakely.

“Princess Celestia threatened you, didn’t she?” Twilight said with an unamused stare.

“Why would you think that?” He asked, never losing that fake smile. Her safety was now more important than the fun he could have teasing her...or really anything. He didn’t want to deal with an angry Celestia. Ever!

Twilight gave him a hard stare, before sighing and rolling her eyes. “Fine. I think I’ll go and make dinner reservations. Don’t you have a job to get back to Mr. Ledger.”

“Yup!” He said with that same smile. “Scope, think you could accompany her, show her where to go?” Make sure nothing happens to her? was the unsaid sentiment.

“Fine,” Scope sighed. “And I was looking forward to a relaxing day off as well.” She turned, only to see that Twilight had already taken off, now just a lavender speck at the end of the street. “Oh ponyfeathers,” she muttered as she ran after her.

“...Well, I’m just going to go back to the office and enjoy a nice panic attack,” Ledger muttered, already on his way. And this day had started so well, too…

A few hours later, Twilight was back at Cider’s farm, standing in front of a large, flat stone. Cider and a burly Earth pony stallion that worked for her had located it, and Twilight’s magic had done the rest. Now, all that was left was to create the runes...

Her horn hummed with power as a magic circle formed on the stone platform, a hissing sound could be heard and after a few minutes of this, the circle faded, revealing that it had been burned into the stone itself.

“Phew, that was harder than I thought,” Twilight sighed, wiping her brow. From the house, Ledger walked over, having arrived home not long ago and wanting nothing more than to rest. However, her work had attracted his attention.

“What...was that?” he questioned as he looked at the stone and the symbols burned into it.

“Just...creating the waypoint,” Twilight panted as Cider brought her a cold drink. “Ah, thanks!” she beamed, downing the chilled cider. “Mmm, much better.” She walked over to the dias and placed a hoof on it. “This is what I’ll use to zip between here and home. I plan on making one for Canterlot soon as well. Hmm, I wonder if I could network them together? Save making multiple access points at home...”

“...Why haven’t ponies made a public network of these?” Ledger questioned aloud. “If you could make a network of waypoints in major towns across Equestria, getting around would be a breeze, much less transporting goods!”

“Because the Waypoint Marker is tied to the user’s magical signature,” Twilight explained. “You would have to add the signature of every single pony, to every single marker. Well, Unicorn’s anyway. A Pegasus or an Earth Pony can’t even use one of these without a Unicorn... but, hmm...” Twilight’s brain started to tick again. Ledger decided to help.

“A magical battery, likely some huge charged crystal, to serve as the trigger, and waypoints that are tied to each other and publically accessible. Then all you would need is a team of unicorns, or the way I would do it, a team of changelings, on either end, to mold the energies…”

“Hmm, perhaps not a Waypoint spell...” Twilight paced around as she thought, a million ideas whizzing through her head. Forget a library, Twilight outdid that in terms of emotional food a hundred fold. Ledger was filling up quite rapidly as she turned ideas over.

“Gah, between you and Midnight, I’ll never go hungry,” the disguised drone said as he held a hoof to his stomach.

“Don’t be such a drama bug,” Twilight rolled her eyes. She almost forgot she was still annoyed with him. “And should you really be eating a Princesses’ emotions without permission?”

“You’re emitting so much excess, it’s hard not to,” Ledger rebuked. “I think I could teleport all over the city with this much energy.”

Twilight just sighed again, one that didn’t go unnoticed by Midnight.

“Is something wrong between you and Ledger?” she asked with a small tilt of her head. Twilight looked at Ledger and shrugged.

“Beats me, ask him,” She replied. “He’s the one treating me like I’m some precious, breakable object now. He doesn't tease or anything either. I’m still trying to figure out if that’s a bad thing or not.”

Ledger gulped before looking away and doing a very poor job of whistling innocently. There was nothing wrong here, nope, not at all...

It didn’t stop a pair of red eyes staring into his own with a sharp glare.

“Ledger. Talk. Now.” Midnight ordered.

“...Well, remember when Scope just vanished today?” he said, trying to delay actually mentioning the topic for as long as possible. “Turns out she was sent by Twilight to Princess Celestia.”

“So?” Midnight asked. She had yet to see how this related to Ledger giving Twi the cold shoulder.

“Scope got sent back with a message,” Ledger explained. “Basically, Princess Celestia would be...displeased if Twilight was hurt. And I make it a habit to avoid displeasing solar alicorns. Not good for the lifespan.”

“Is that so,” Midnight mused as she looked at the alicorn. “So tell me, o’wise Level Ledger. Treating her like some breakable object, instead of the mare trying to woo us isn’t hurting her how...?”

“...Y’know, for a changeling, I’m remarkably dense when it comes to the emotional health of others,” Ledger commented aloud.

“I think you owe somepony an apology,” Midnight said, doffing him upside the head lightly with a wing. He rubbed the back of his head before bowing it to Twilight.

“Your- I mean, Twilight. I’m sorry about my attitude as of late. Can you forgive me?”

Twilight tilted her head, like she was considering some great decision. She took a step forward and placed a chaste kiss on his muzzle.

“I believe I can. And don’t worry, Princess Celestia is very kind. I don’t think she’d actually do anything to you.”

Ledger raised his head before taking one of Twilight’s forehooves and kissing it. “Many thanks, m’lady.”

“Good, now where were we?” she asked, a light pink tinge to her cheeks. She was still deciding if his teasing was a good thing or not. “Ah, networked teleportation platforms. Well, it might be possible. But a different spell would need to be used. Hmm, I should pay the Archives a visit.”

“Let me know if you find anything out,” Ledger said seriously. “With a Hivelink in major cities thanks to Scope, we’d be able to organize teleportation across vast distances easily...something I’d like in on so that I don’t go out of business.”

“We’ll see,” Twilight hummed. “Oh, we should get ready for dinner...soon...” She trailed off as her face lit up a bright red.

“...You met the proprietor, didn’t you,” Ledger deadpanned. “If you told him you were seeing somepony, then I would be the only one causing you to blush. He doesn’t hit on mares in relationships.”

“W-Well, I was...and he was so...pwahhhh~” Twilight’s brain just fizzled out. “Let’s just go dinner get....”

“Why don’t you all get ready?” Ledger asked as he discreetly nudged Twilight towards the house. “I’ll wait for you out here.” Plus he wanted to study this waypoint a little more...

“Yeah,” Midnight giggled as she dragged the alicorn inside. Dinner was going to be so much fun~

Author's Note

Not even halfway. Jeeze.

Like the story? Consider dropping me and Aus a dollar on my Patreon.

Half the profits will not go to maintaining a perfect town on Animal Crossing.

Chapter 51 - Who knew a queen could be such a card?

Dinner had been wonderful, the food was absolutely exquisite and Twilight found herself wondering if she could get him to work for her in her castle. Midnight just sighed and rubbed her belly, Fred’s cooking was as amazing as ever.

Twilight wanted a chef, but she supposed she’d have to get some guards first. Hmm, well Midnight was sworn to the Princesses…

“Excellent as always,” Ledger complimented as he cleaned his muzzle with a napkin before presenting it to his mares for their approval. Midnight giggled and with her open mouth, clamped down over his whole muzzle, essentially eating his face with a few nom noises to boot, before releasing him and giggling.

“Well I suppose I’m clean now,” Ledger sighed. At the expense of his dignity. Assuming he ever had any. “Ah, and I think Cider had a plan for dessert back at the home, so we’re all good here, Fredrick.”

“Very well,” the griffon replied before turning his gaze on Twilight. “Though I do have a few royally delectable treats on my dessert menu. They might even be more delicious than the beauty next to you, but I would need to taste both to compare~”

Twilight squeaked and blushed, putting a hoof to her muzzle in feigned shock. Okay, stay calm, do what Midnight told you to do.

“Mr. Fredrick, you are a devil aren’t you?” she giggled nervously. “Making such advances on a Princess no less.”

“If one does not attempt to make advances, one cannot gain any ground,” the griffon riposted. “And if I am given an inch...many mares squeal when they see what I can do with it~” Okay, she was blushing for real now.

“W-Well, be that as it may,” he’s all set up. Now lower the boom. “I think my coltfriend and marefriends here might take offense to such advances on me.”

Fredrick actually stopped with his talon raised to make a counter. He was so badly stunned his beak hung open and he only blinked a little. Ledger whistled at the sight. “I think you broke him, Twilight.”

“I did? I didn’t mean to!” she said in a flustered pace. “Please don’t be upset Mr. Fredrick. You’re very charming, but, they just got to me first I guess?”

Fredrick eventually just closed his beak and shook his head before walking into his kitchen. A few seconds later, the sound of something impacting the wall multiple times could be heard.

“Is he...okay?” Twilight asked, genuinely concerned.

“He’s...frustrated and annoyed,” Ledger said with his eyes closed. “Probably because I keep bringing beautiful mares around, but always beautiful, taken mares.”

“Ah, and...is he really as good as he boasts?” Twilight inquired, looking more at Midnight than anypony else.

“What, don’t look at me. I’ve never slept with him,” the Thestral replied.

“....seriously?” Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“I know! This city has ruined me!” Midnight shouted.

“There there,” Ledger said as he looked at the bill and dropped the right amount of bits on the table. Yes, this may be Twilight’s date, but he wasn’t going to stop being a gentlestallion just because she was dating them. “We’ll go home and you can make use of my transformation abilities to sleep with whoever you want by proxy once Twilight is on her way home.”

“S’just not the same,’ Midnight replied as she got up. Twilight rolled her eyes, but still used her wing to hug the mare. Hm, speaking off transformations.

“Level Ledger, if I am to continue this romantic pursuit, then I trust that Miss Scope won’t be taking my form anmore?”

“Wassup, afraid I’m better?” Scope giggled.

“It would be something that would only happen at your discretion,” Ledger admitted before staring at Scope. “Wouldn’t it?”

“Not my princess, can’t tell me what to do.” Scope pouted.

“Actually, you’re an Equestrian citizen, so she is and she can,” Midnight noted.

“Dammit. Argh, fine. I don’t care. I’d rather have Ledger drooling over me anyway, which is easy enough to do.”

“She’s not unreasonable,” Ledger said aloud before drawing the small mare close and kissing the top of her head. “She just needs to see it her way before she’ll actually see reason.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Scope muttered.

Twilight laughed, this family was fun to be with. But still, all good things had to come to an end, and she had to return home tonight. She let out a sigh as she looked up at the faint stars. “Well, tonight was wonderful. I can’t wait until I have time to come back again.”

“Don’t be a stranger,” Ledger said before letting go of Scope and sitting closer to Twilight. “We have so many things to go over yet. I’d love to spend more time with you, and you have that Waypoint now.”

“Yeah, my life is getting a bit hectic, but I promise that I’ll be back soon,” Twilight smiled. She leant over and gave him a light kiss, before offering one to the mares. Midnight decided to show her a Thestral kiss, one that left Twilight blushing and breathless.

“Yeah, she does that,” Cider sighed as she pulled Midnight away from the princess. “Sorry Twi.”

“It’s...okay,” she panted. That tongue was... wow. She just hoped that Scope and Ledger couldn’t do that. Three ponies like that would be too much...

“And now I’m a little sad,” Midnight sighed. “Both at my little Bookworm leaving, and finally completing my collection.”

“Don’t ask,” Ledger said before Twilight could. “You don’t want to know.” He didn’t know how she’d take the knowledge of Midnight kissing all the alicorns. Likely badly.

Twilight blinked, but shrugged and sighed. Time to go home... Her horn lit up as she charged a teleportation spell. “You guys take care okay? Don’t have too much fun without me.”

“No promises,” Ledger fired back as he drew Midnight into a hug. “Besides, would you want us to have too much fun with you, either?”

Twilight ‘meeped’ and blushed again, before she was enveloped in a bright magenta flash and vanished. A loud pop and the smell of burnt ozone was all that remained of the cute, little princess.

“Ah well, it was fun while it lasted,” Ledger mused, already wondering when he’d see her again…

A few days had passed, and Ledger had been informed (By letter!) that he would be receiving a royal representative to deal with him and his new messaging service that threatened to put the Post Office out of business.

He just hoped Celestia didn’t come herself. He didn’t think he could handle that sort of pressure. He waited in his office for them to show up, and eventually, there was a knock on his door as Scope, (Now a temporary secretary) poked her head in.

“Visitors Boss, get ‘em while they’re hot!”

“Very funny, Scope,” Ledger said with an eye-roll. “Send ‘em in.” She smirked and nodded as the door opened and Princesses Twilight Sparkle and Celestia walked inside.

“Good morning Ledger,” Celestia smiled, the smaller of the two was too busy blushing to make a verbal greeting.

“Good morning, your majesties,” Ledger replied, feeling very small again. “I trust this is more business than pleasure?”

Twilight blushed harder, now covering her face with a wing and Ledger could swear he could still see red through those feathers. Celestia noticed and chuckled.

“Well, if I just sent Twilight, this would turn out as just pleasure wouldn’t it?”

That did it, the lavender alicorn made a long squeaking whistling noise and practically fainted on the spot.

“Only if she asked for it,” Ledger said in a tone that could only be called husky.

“Oh yes, Twilight told me aaalll about the little misadventures you’ve had in this office,” Celestia said as she looked around. “I trust that desk has been cleaned properly?”

“Not five minutes afterwards,” Ledger said, pausing for a moment. “And then the next day...and the day after that...Scope is really getting into the ‘naughty secretary’ role.”

“If only mine was half as interested,” Celestia muttered under her breath. “Well anyway, it seems we have a lot to discuss today Mr. Ledger. In regards to quite a few things.”

“Ah yes, I was expecting a visit,” Ledger said as he reached into his desk and began pulling out folders. Quite a stack of them. He could almost make a little fort with the amount of paperwork he’d built up.

“Bookfort,” Twilight mumbled under her breath, causing Celestia to chuckle again.

“It seems my fellow Princess might not be up to the task of speaking clearly during this. Perhaps you could show your friend around? Take her to make some new friends?”

Twilight blinked and like that, she was back to normal. “Well, I guess I could do that.” She knew a pretty good place to start as well. Ledger smiled at the Alicorn pair before nodding at Twilight.

“Come back when you’re...less flustered,” he said. “I still have a few things I want to talk about with you.”

“Sure,” Twilight nodded and as she moved, he noticed a familiar green-maned pony behind them, and Scope was glaring up a storm at her. Twilight turned to the mare and nodded and the pair left.

“So,” Ledger said as he pulled the first of many documents towards himself. “Do lets get started.”

Celestia nodded as the pair begun to discuss all the intricacies of Ledger’s plans. Equestria was going to change after today, whether it wanted to or not...

“So where the hell are we going?” Chrysalis demanded as she followed Twilight. “This isn’t one of those ‘make friends’ things is it? I already said that that crap doesn’t interest me.”

“In a way,” Twilight smiled. “But, you might find these friends a little more relatable than the ones I have in Ponyville.” She nudged open the door to the ‘Love Shack’ and walked in, smiling widely as she did.

“Anypony home?” she called out. After about five minutes, a familiar mare walked up to them, her eyes wide with excitement.

“Twilight! I’m ever so happy to see you, dear! After last time, I thought you might have something against us because of what the drinks did to you…”

“Aww,” Chrysalis cooed. “Little Princess Perfect couldn’t handle a few drinks~?”

“No, I couldn’t handle the emotions they mixed in with it. But don’t worry, I don’t blame you Miss Sugar.”

“Had you asked, dear, we would have served you normal cider,” the mare sighed. “It probably would have been for the best. Still, at least we learned how much to serve anypony.”

“Science has a few stepping stones,” Twilight giggled. “Anyway, I thought I’d bring a friend to visit—”

“We’re not friends Sparkle!”

“—I hope she’ll have better luck here,” Twilight finished with a slight sigh.

“With a bunch of Violets?” Chrysalis retorted. “Oh that’s a wonderful idea. Simply genius.”

“Mmm, I can tell she’s going to need special attention,” the nymph in disguise cooed before releasing just a touch of her own pheromones. Ones only a noble could produce. “Why don’t you leave her here with me, Twilight? I promise to look after her…”

“No need, I’m leaving,” Chrysalis spat as she sniffed the air. “Oh, and real smart, using that on a Princess. Goddamn idiot.”

“Use what?” Twilight blinked. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. Sugar seems very friendly.”

“She’s using pheromones on you, friggin moron,” Chrysalis said as her horn lit up and dispersed them. “So a noble huh? I didn’t actually see that coming. You’re still beneath me though.”

“Oh, I’m so glad you think so,” the mare giggled. “And try and stand against me again, dear. Las Pegasus is where Violets are strongest, after all. I’m sure it’ll go over swimmingly.”

“Sugar, I’m really sorry,” Twilight sighed. “And you Chrysalis. Can’t you at least try to be a little friendly?”

The mare shed her disguise as Queen Chrysalis stood in her place. “And why should I?” she barked. And then Sugar shed both layers of hers, and stood right in front of Chrysalis.

“Because if you don’t,” the revealed noble violet said with a voice like silk, “I’ll tie you up in our private chambers, the ones nobuggy but me knows how to open, and then I’ll pull out every last thing I know about anatomy on you. You would be surprised what you can live through during...behavioral modification.”

“Behavioral...?” Twilight blinked as she took a step back from the two nobles. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean slowly deprogramming her,” the violet said. “Sometimes painfully, but it’s my job to help every nymph be less of a nymph,” the second time the word was said, it was spat, “while they’re in Las Pegasus. The masquerade may be broken, but if ponies see us as monsters, we can’t feed half as well on their emotions if they’re all negative. One bad apple does spoil the barrel in this instance.”

“Oh just try it you skanky little—” Chrysalis was cut off as Twilight literally zipped her mouth shut with magic.

“Okay, this certainly did not go according to my plans at all,” she groaned. “Pinkie seemed to have made at least some headway... Exactly what does this...deprogramming entail?”

“Essentially, seeing ponies and males of our species as equals, rather than themselves as superiors,” Sugar said as she sat back, before glaring at Chrysalis. “Something some of us still need to learn. Do you have any idea the damage she did in one day? More than just Canterlot. Ponies everywhere were jumpy about us. Some still are. She’s the poster-nymph for those that need help in not being, well, nymphs.”

“Ooh, look at that, I’m famous~” Chrysalis gloated in Hivespeak. Twilight rolled her eyes and unzipped her mouth, seeing as how it didn’t do anything.

“Ponies saw us as monsters long before I tried anything, you little brat,” Chrysalis said to Sugar. “At least I actually tried something, rather than sitting our asses like our ‘glorious’ rulers!”

“Speaking of,” the violet purred again. “I’ve been here for oh...twenty-five years now? That sounds right.” She nodded a few times. “No real need to expend a lot of energy...and I’ve just been gathering as much Lust as I can. Tell me, in an all-out brawl, right here, right now...who do you honestly think would win?”

“The one who cheats the best,” Chrysalis purred back. “You have more power, but I am far smarter than some lowly brat—”

And then she felt the eyes on her. Slowly looking up, she saw no less than twenty, maybe as many as fifty, pairs of violet eyes staring down at the three of them.

“Funny you should mention that,” Sugar slowly said as they came to grips with their situation. “I’m the one that rallied the Violets of this city into a coherent group. I’m the one that came up with the Emotional Feedback Loop. I’m Sugar Darling, Heir Apparent to the Violet Throne, little would-be queen. And it’s more than just me you would have to contend with if you don’t admit to being outclassed here, poppet. It’s all my ladies that you’d have to best as well.”

“I’ll take you down with my bare hooves!” Chrysalis roared. She was sick of being looked down upon, she was sick of being ridiculed for one bucking mistake!

“ENOUGH!!”

Everybuggy turned as Twilight hovered there, her eyes blazing white with magical power. She looked at Chrysalis, who shrank back a little, but didn’t back all the way down. She sighed and looked away.

“Fine, whatever. I don’t care anymore anyway,” Chrysalis pouted. Stupid overpowered alicorns...

Twilight sighed as she returned to normal and brushed one of her legs sheepishly. “Eheh, sorry about that.”

“Not a problem, Twilight,” Sugar said as she silently dismissed the Ladies. Each one vanishing into a secret bolt-hole in the ceiling. “Just...this is how nymphs in the Lands socialize, more often than not. I just wanted her to know she didn’t have as much power as she thought she did.”

“I feed her some of my magic, so she doesn’t waste away,” Twilight replied as she took a breath. “But, she needs to learn how to make friends on her own. So, Chrysalis, want to try again?”

“No,” she remarked.

“Chryssie,” Twilight said in a low tone.

The queen looked at the alicorn, then to the smug Violet standing there. “Hmm, lemme think about it. No.” she said turning on her hooves and walking about after donning a disguise.

Only to find the doors shut in a violet haze of magic. Turning back to look at Sugar showed her horn glowing and her smile even more smug. “Oh, do stay a while, Chrysalis.”

“Well, you girls have fun, I have some mares to surprise,” Twilight giggled and teleported away. Chrysalis gaped at the spot she once stood.

“That little bitch, she actually left me here?”

“Looks like,” Sugar replied as she shifted back to her unicorn form. “Now we can do this the fun way...or the really fun way...You can choose, but you’re not getting out of it, Chryssie~”

Chrysalis growled as she moved to the bar and poured herself a drink. “Kiss my chitinous ass.”

“You might want to take care with that,” Sugar said, but far too late. “That’s...Oh dear.” The queen drained the glass and sighed.

“Figured that a Violet would only serve this fruity....crap...?” She looked at the glass with a light blush. “W-What is this!?”

“Mood-Setter, also known as cider brewed with Happiness and Lust mixed in during the fermentation process,” Sugar said as she sat next to Chrysalis. “Normally ‘lings can shrug off the effects easily, but with you not having fed a lot as of late, I don’t know…”

It was true, for the last few weeks, she’d lived off of magical transfer, rather than consuming any actual emotion.

Moondancer walked into the room, her mane a little dishevelled as she looked around. “I thought I heard Twiley out here?” she asked, giving Sugar a peck on the cheek.

“She was here for a moment, but left after dropping off our guest,” Sugar replied as she watched Chrysalis for any side-effects. “She’s just had some Mood-Setter, so be careful. She might be affectionate.”

“Oh no,” Moondancer swooned. “What ever could happen if an overly-affectionate mare came after me?”

Chrysalis in the meantime, had grabbed the entire bottle and begun to drain it. Sweet, delicious love energy~

“Oooh, I’d say things like Saturday would happen,” the nymph in disguise said as she pecked her marefriend on the cheek. “Not that that would be a bad thing, just if it happened with anypony other than me~”

“Saturday...? Oohhh,” Moondancer shuddered as Chrysalis hiccuped as her disguise broke.

“Heeheee, this stuff is great!” she declared as she sashayed across the room and draped herself Sugar. “Got anymore, pretty mare~?”

“We’ve got more brewing,” the nymph replied. “And one more in stock, but I’m going to want something from you before I let you at any more of our hard work, missy.”

“Oh I bet you do~” she purred as Moondancer huffed and looked away. Chrysalis fondled Sugar’s flanks and smiled. “Mmm, nice and tight, just how I like ‘em.”

Sugar idly swatted the hooves away before looking the changeling in the eyes. “I want an apology from you,” she said sternly. “Say you’re sorry, for everything, sincerely, and I’ll let you at our other bottle.”

Chrysalis frowned as she hopped off of the mare and paced around the room. “Sorry for what? I did everything I could think of to secure the future of our race. Hehe, do you wanna know a little secret~”

“Go on,” Sugar said as she watched intently.

“The Yellows and the Blues? Despite all their pomp nowadays, they supported my plan. How do you think I got such a large army so quickly?”

“Hmm, fair enough,” Sugar said with a nod, already making notes to send back home. “Still, you jeopardize the future of every changeling in Equestria. For a plan that would have ended up dooming us in the end.”

“I admit, hindsight is kind of a bitch that way,” Chrysalis hummed. “Well, I suppose if you mean that we might have all eventually become Blacks, then yes, doom is probably an appropriate word. But I failed, like I always have and always will.” She lifted her empty glass, still floating in her magical grip and looking into it.

“Born a weak, unwanted runt, I crawled my way to where I am now. I’m strong, and nopony, not even Little Miss Friendship can take that from me.” She smashed the glass on the ground and roared. “I will never be weak again!!”

“There is no weakness in admitting that you were wrong,” Sugar said softly. “There is only weakness in finding that you’re wrong, and choosing to do nothing about it. There is no shame in needing help. There is only shame in choosing not to accept it. Stubborn pride has killed more yellows and reds than monsters ever will.”

“And glowing death bubbles of pure love, let’s not forget that,” Chrysalis smiled wryly. Her horn had lit up as the pieces of broken glass levitated over to the bin. Though she didn’t seem to even be aware she was doing it. “Whatever, it’s too late anyway. Even with my magic sealed, I can still feel the hate you and that cute little thing next to you have for me. Ponies hate me, Changelings hate me. I should have been left to die in that wasteland. No one would have missed me.”

“You’re still breathing,” Sugar pointed out. “You still have a chance to make things right. Whatever that would entail. The first step is probably admitting you were wrong, the second step would be trying to get along with your hosts.”

“I know I was wrong, I admit that I was wrong,” Chrysalis said as she searched for another bottle, and after she couldn’t find the one she wanted, settled on brandy instead. “And get along with her? Do you have any idea what that castle is like? Her friends are utterly insufferable! I would sooner choke to death on a kitten then spend another second there.”

“Then earn her trust so that she’ll let you out of her sight,” Sugar suggested. “Who knows, you might even learn something along the way about being tolerable.”

“I’m perfectly tolerable, it’s not my fault ponies have such precious sensibilities,” Chrysalis said as she drank her brandy and coughed.

“This...is not how I imagined her to be,” Moondancer finally spoke. “Oh, and if she grabs your flank again, I’m tearing her leg off.”

“Duly noted,” Sugar said as she teleported the final ready bottle of Mood-Setter to one hoof, the pink and purple in the drink appearing and disappearing at random. “So, what do you say if you want this, Chryssie?”

“I’m not sorry,” she said ruefully. “I’ll admit that I was wrong, and maybe I can approach my life a little better. But that’s all you’re getting from me.”

“Too bad,” Sugar said as she opened the bottle and started pouring some drinks for herself and Moondancer. “This stuff is good~”

Chrysalis looked at her cheap brandy, then at those insufferable mares. “...Fine! I’m sorry. Now pour me some of that.”

“I dunno,” Sugar said as she gave Moondancer her drink. “D’you think we should, Moony?”

“Meh, she didn’t sound so sincere to me,” Moondancer shrugged. Chrysalis thunked her head against the bar and groaned. “But, I think she’s making good progress, so maybe she deserves a treat~”

“One drink then,” Sugar said as she poured one for the would-be queen. “But she doesn’t get another until I hear something resembling sincere regret.”

Chrysalis took the drink and sipped at it. She figured she’d make it last because this was going to a long day...

Celestia sighed as she poured more coffee, this would be the pair’s third pot now as they went over the paperwork.

“This...is proving more difficult than I thought,” Celestia sighed as she rubbed her temple. “And just wait until the nobles get wind of this.”

“What did you think I would do when you politely asked me to stop...with a squadron of Guards?” Ledger fired back. “It’s your own fault for leaving it this long, you gave me time to work up my legal defenses.”

“You are the most stubborn stallion I have ever met, and I personally knew Starswirl,” she groaned. “What do you want out of this?”

“Myself?” Ledger mused. “That’s simple. I’m more than willing to turn the whole operation over to the state as a new service, in exchange for, oh, twenty-five percent of whatever profit it generates.”

“And I am saying that that is far too much,” Celestia said. “After the costs of actually building this system, not to mention paying for the labour of said construction, paying the ones that would actually run this thing and each city we set it up in would want their own cut.” She seriously wasn’t looking forward to meeting with the mayor of Baltimare. That mare was an absolute bit—

“I know that,” Ledger said, unknowingly interrupting her thoughts. “Which is why I included one little version of the agreement saying I’m willing to wait about...two years for the payments to start. Gives you time to get all the kinks worked out and get it started up, give it time to catch on. I can even alter the timespan if you think I’m not being generous enough.” He pulled one folder closer to himself and opened it, humming all the while. “I just don’t want it dismantled, it’s a beautiful, useful system. Just needs a bit of polish and tender loving care.”

“I suppose we could inflate the cost of using the devices to speed up the cost recovery, but then the nobles would attempt to monopolise it and the common pony would get most upset...” She looked over the papers and hummed. “Hmm, now what’s this mean?”

“It means we’re not using ‘devices,’ we’re using a spell unique to, ahem, my kind,” Ledger said as he grinned sharkishly. “It’s known as Hivespeak, and one little nymph is capable of sitting here, and receiving messages from Baltimare, Canterlot, or even Ponyville. She’s the heart of the system.”

“She’s...that powerful?” Celestia mused. “How is that possible?”

“We keep feeding her,” Ledger said with a shrug. “Beyond that, I don’t quite know how the spell itself works. I keep meaning to try and look into it, but things keep coming up. So long as there’s another changeling on the other end that she’s formed a link with, I don’t think there’s somewhere she can’t get messages from. She can even talk to the Lands.”

“That’s...quite a distance,” Celestia whistled. Then she got an idea. “I have it. I propose this. We kick this off as a military application. The nobles cannot meddle in that, and we get to test out all the kinks and figure out costs to make it go public.”

“Hmm, that could work,” Ledger mused. “Field testing is always important before new inventions go public, anyhow. And if military stallions and mares can’t find any obvious flaws with it, then and only then are we ready for the public.” A thought crossed Ledger’s mind, causing him to grimace. “Though...we might have to disguise just how it works. I know our two lands are officially ‘at peace’, but there’s still pockets of ponies that don’t have a lot of love for ‘lings.”

“Already working on a plan for that,” Celestia smiled. “Plus there’s a set budget for the military, so I can pay you out of that. It won’t be as much as you like, but once it goes public, you should start getting a tidy profit.”

“Fair enough,” Ledger said as he started drawing up a new contract based on their latest agreement. He’d written so many of them over the past few days, it was practically rote by now. Once he was satisfied with the new terms it outlined, he turned it around and presented it to the solar alicorn. “Does this look acceptable to you?”

Celestia looked over it and nodded. “I’ll have Twilight go over it as well. She can see holes in places you or even I cannot.”

“Fair enough, and I wanted to talk to her about her Waypoints anyways,” Ledger said with a smile. “Who knows, we might be meeting again in about a month’s time.”

“Perhaps,” Celestia nodded. She put the papers away for now and took a more relaxed posture on the couch. “So, now that our business is finally concluded. Let’s move onto something more personal. Such as your relationship with Twilight.”

“Getting a little too personal for my liking,” Ledger muttered as he opened his desk to get the fine rum. If he was having this talk with Celestia, he was going to be buzzed.

“Oh don’t be like that,” Celestia smiled, making a motion to pour her one as well. “I consider Twilight to be like a daughter I cannot have. But she’s also a grown mare that is quite capable of making her own decisions. Besides, even if you were the type to hurt her, I wouldn't have to lift a hoof...”

“Fair enough, and if you thought I would hurt her, I imagine there wouldn’t have even been any negotiations just now,” Ledger said as he poured both of them a drink and floated one over to Celestia. “Still, sending me a message by proxy to ‘not hurt her’ seems a bit on the side of ‘Smothering affection’ for you.”

“Heehee, I just wanted to try it at least once,” Celestia giggled as she took her drink. “Besides, just wait until her ‘overly-protective’ older brother finds out. Oh, who runs an entire empire and already has quite a deep-rooted distrust for Changelings.”

“Shining and I ended on a mostly positive note,” Ledger said as he idly sipped his own drink. “Besides, I doubt he’d be able to sneak out without Cadence knowing about it and following after. She’d reign him in in five seconds flat.”

“Cadence does keep him on a rather short leash,” Celestia hummed, remembering the time she walked in on them by accident. “Figurative and in the literal sense...”

“Aaaand that was something I did not need to know,” Ledger deadpanned at the solar alicorn.

Celestia waved a hoof. “And as for our negotiations, they still would have happened. After all...” She smiled and winked at him. “I’m not the one that just signed an agreement that instated you into my military.”

“Neither have I,” Ledger said as he pointed out that they’d technically signed nothing yet with one hoof. “That piece of paper is missing two very important signatures for that. I should know, I wrote it.”

Celestia shrugged, “Doesn’t change that if you want this to happen, you have to sign it.” She sipped her drink and hummed thoughtfully. “Ohh, this is quite good.”

“Twilight’s still going over that,” Ledger reminded the mare. “What do you think the odds are she’ll allow her ‘coltfriend’ to be basically drafted?”

“You mean like your Solar Guard marefriend?” Celestia asked him. “Worry not Ledger. This is just for legality's sake. It’s not like I'll send you off to the frontlines somewhere.”

“Considering that Twilight learned about your message?” Ledger raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think she’ll let the option remain open when she thinks about all the thing the agreement means and ‘I will be most displeased if she ends up hurt’. She’ll probably rewrite that section first.”

“You’re rather sassy today,” Celestia hummed. “I apologise if I upset you with that Ledger.”

“Oh no, why would I be upset when you say you’re going to be monitoring my relationship with a mare that decided to pursue me?” Ledger snarked. “It’s not like that’s terribly invasive or anything.”

“Says the stallion that bent a facsimile of said mare over a desk, not three minutes after meeting her,” Celestia replied tersely. She had apologised, but if he was going to be like this, then she’d play his little game.

“Would you have preffered it if Scope took your form instead?” Ledger asked innocently.

“I have been around for a very long time,” Celestia replied as she sipped her drink. “I have seen all of what this world has to offer and then some. What you just suggested was tame compared to what I have seen.”

“Probably,” Ledger admitted. “Would still give a new meaning to ‘love thy ruler’ though.” Celestia chuckled at that.

“Indeed it would, perhaps you should try it sometime?”

Ledger paused before looking at his drink, then at Celestia’s. “You did not just suggest what I thought you did,” he said blandly. “There’s no way you’re that drunk.”

“Level Ledger, it would take a barrel or two of this to get me drunk. And yes, if you find me that attractive then by all means, have Scope become me and have all the fun you like. But Twilight’s coat is not quite as thick as mine, so keep that in mind hmm?”

“She’s already asked Scope to keep it down,” Ledger sighed. “And I trust her to...mostly listen to the request.” He then chuckled as he put the bottle away, not needing more than one glass to get the buzz he was looking for. “For a moment, I thought you were suggesting I buck you.”

“You wouldn’t last five minutes,” Celestia smiled. “Besides, I wouldn’t do that to those mares, and you’d refuse me anyhow.”

“Got that right,” Ledger said as he tapped his chest. “Might not be a blue, but I’m still loyal to them through and through.”

“Glad to hear that,” Celestia smiled as she drained her glass. “Now, lets go and find those mares of yours. I think we’re done here.”

Ledger swept all the auxiliary paperwork into various filing cabinets dotted around the room and nodded at the solar alicorn before taking her glass and putting it and his glass away. A clean office was a happy office. “At least until next month, when Twilight and I revolutionize shipping entirely.”

“Should be fun for all,” Celestia nodded and with a flash of her horn, the two were standing in Cider’s living room... just as Midnight had the Earth pony on the couch, biting her neck as she wiggled and moaned under her.

“Oh...my,” Celestia hummed.

“I think I’ve seen this one before,” Ledger added, the buzz doing remarkable wonders for his ability to care that Princess freaking Celestia was seeing this. Midnight turned her head and saw the pair, grinning widely.

“Ohh, heya Levvy, and...oh, so since you can’t be Twilight, you’re Tia huh? Okay Scopey, I can praise the sun a little~” Then she leapt at the surprised alicorn, tackling her and nibbling her neck and chest.

“...Well this is going to end wonderfully,” Ledger said as he decided to sit back and watch. He wondered how long it would take Midnight to realize that was the Celestia she was fondling.

“Midnight...ahn~ Song, do stop that,” she said, biting her lip and Ledger made a discovery that very few knew off. Celestia’s moans were bucking hot!

“Ohh, somepony’s getting into it,” Midnight giggled as she started to trail her nibbles further down…

Ledger moved to sit next to Cider as the pair of them just watched the show. “So, want some attention yourself, or do you think you’re willing to wait?” he offered.

“Ah reckon ah’d love to make the most of this, but...” Cider’s gaze trailed upwards as Scope Lens flittered downstairs.

“Hey guys what’s...up...?” she watched the Thestral molest the solar princess as Midnight looked up.

“Oh hey Scopey,” she beamed.

Three.

Two.

One.

“I am soo bucking dead...” Midnight groaned as she sat back and awaited oblivion.

“Naaah,” Ledger waved off the Thestral’s concerns. “Pretty sure you’d have been bucked before, when you first kissed her, if she were to sort to take offense to that sorta thing.”

“I-Indeed,” Celestia said as she sat up and brushed her coat down with a hoof. “And I am beginning to regret spurning your advance all that time ago.”

“I’m surprised she only made one,” Ledger remarked.

Both Midnight and Celestia remained rather quiet.

“...I’m highly tempted to just go back to bed until the world makes sense again,” Ledger said with a sigh.

“Ah reckon ah’ll join you,” Cider agreed as Twilight walked in, with a surprisingly happy Chrysalis. The Changeling queen took one look at Ledger and waved at him, blowing him a kiss.

“That’s it, reality doesn’t make sense anymore,” Ledger said as he got to his hooves. “I’m just gonna nap until the crazy’s gone back to manageable levels.” Everyone watched him trot upstairs before breaking out the giggles.

“I wonder if he realises how drunk Chrysalis is?” Twilight snorted. “Oh well, that was pretty funny.”

“Aw, you just missed the best part,” Scope said. “Midnight and Celestia were—”

“And that is quite enough of that,” Celestia cut her off. “It’s been quite a long day and I still have work at the castle. Will you be fine here Twilight?”

“I’ll be fine,” she said as Midnight followed Ledger to make sure he was okay. “Can you take Chrysalis back with you?”

“Hmm, I think there’s still quite a bit she could learn from this place,” Celestia smiled. “Best of luck Twilight. Have fun~” And with a flash of golden light, she was gone. Twilight blinked as Chrysalis snorted and laughed, until she suddenly passed out and fell asleep.

“....Great,” Twilight muttered.

“So in the end, I’m here as a consultant for the Royal Council, to make sure that the integration of Changelings, as well as the strides that PegasusAir is making, go smoothly,” Twilight explained over the dinner table.

“Oh, I bet you cannot wait to integrate yourself with some Changelings~” Midnight smiled. Twilight turned a deep red and looked away as the Thestral giggled.

“I almost forgot she did that,” Scope replied with a mouthful of pie.

“She’s Midnight, it’s sorta what she does,” Ledger said as he kissed the thestral on the cheek. “The trick is figuring out how to play the game with her.”

“Just get on my level,” Midnight replied with a wave of her wing.

“I swear, you really are as bad as Cloud Kicker,” Twilight replied and Midnight gave her a curious look.

“You know Cloudy?” she asked the alicorn. “Ahh, good times.”

“You didn’t?” Twilight asked with a light groan. Midnight smiled and shook her head.

“Nah, we met the last time I visited Ponyville, a little before I met Ledger actually. We both agreed that the world simply couldn’t handle the two of us banging, we’d probably create some never ending cycle of sexy energy. So we just went out as each others wingmare... We got sooo much flank that weekend. It was glorious.”

“And now we know who to avoid if we end up visiting Ponyville again,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “Seriously, how is it there’s more than one version of you in almost every town. Next thing you’ll say is you know a dragon.”

Midnight just whistled as she sipped at her tea. Cider was cutting off her coffee intake. Ledger blinked before facehooving. “You didn’t,” he said simply, hoping it wasn’t true.

“You don’t know that story?” Midnight asked. She swore she told somepony about it. “Yeah, I was feeling pretty bold that night. Went home with two young drakes. That was something I’ll not forget.”

“I was more hoping you didn’t know a dragon version of you,” Ledger said with a sigh. “I think I heard the story about you and the dragons. I don’t think the world could handle more than you, Fredrick, Moondancer, and now Cloud Kicker.”

“Oohh, you’re talking about Sapphira, she lives out in Dragon Town in Baltimare,” Midnight said as she sipped her tea again. “That was a fun three days...”

“...Is there a version of you for every town?!” Ledger exclaimed before throwing his hooves up.

“Well I’ve never been to Manehatten,” Midnight said. “But relax Levvy, you have the original, and the best right here. Accept no substitutes!”

“Fine,” the disguised drone grumped as he returned to picking at his food. “I’m just cautious of bringing more than two of you together. I think the world might break.”

“We could have Pinkie Pie meet Amy and Joyful,” Midnight threatened. Ledger shuddered at that thought. Actually shuddered.

“And now my nightmares are going to be flavors of pink,” he said.

“Who’s Joyful?” Twilight asked.

“Ledger’s little sister, basically a changeling-version of a filly Pinkie Pie, only worse,” Midnight explained. Twilight had moved to latch onto Ledger as she shook.

“That....that must never happen. EVER!”

Midnight smirked and got an evil idea. She wondered if it would work. She cleared her throat and started to sing.

“Oh sweet little Fairy~ Where have you gone?”

“NO!” Ledger demanded, trying to get close to the mare to stop her from singing, but being weighed down by Twilight.

The response was faint. Only Midnight would hear it. But it was the answering line. “The flowers have dried up, I’m looking for home~”

“What’s so bad about her singing?” Twilight asked. “She has a lovely voice.”

“Thank you,” Midnight smiled. “Ohh, she heard me.”

“My sister has a summoning-song,” Ledger said. “If you sing one part and she can hear you, she sings the next while coming closer. Add in how unpredictable pinks are…”

“I am willing to believe a lot of things,” Twilight deadpanned. “But you mean to tell me that you can summon a little changeling filly by singing?”

Midnight’s eyes sparkled as she opened her mouth again—

“Please don’t,” Ledger pleaded. “...Unless you want to entertain a little filly for the night.”

“Aw, but Joyful is such a sweetheart,” Midnight pouted as Scope walked in, tossing a slightly crispy Chrysalis on the couch.

“What are we talking about?” she asked.

“Middy’s going to doom us all by summoning Joyful,” Ledger replied.

Scope narrowed her eyes as she looked at Midnight, then to Chrysalis and Twilight and she put on her trademark smirk.

"Do it Middy!"

Ledger then played his trump card. “If we have to entertain her for the night, not only is the likelyhood of anything more than cuddling happening tonight going way down, but if she does ask any awkward questions in the morning, I preemptively call ‘not it.’”

"That's actually not a bad idea Lev," Cider said. Almost everypony turned slowly and looked at her.

"Say what?" Scope blinked.

"You're worried about what kind of Momma you'll be right? Well ah reckon little Joyful might make for some good practice."

“Assuming you can stand her,” Ledger pointed out.

"That's why ah'm suggestin' it." Cider retorted. "If Middy can handle Joyful, then she can handle anythang."

“...Considering that Joyful is but an adolescent noble Pink, I think I can see your point,” Ledger ruefully agreed. “That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea while we have other company though.”

"A drone with a brain? Who knew one existed?" Chrysalis snarked.

“Hey, if you want to deal with my little sister, by all means, I’ll sing for her,” Ledger snarked back.

Scope, who had contacted Madame Gossip by now, had given her the rundown.

"Yeah, we're toying with the option of fillynapping Joy. Cause your bonehead son went and knocked up Midnight. Congrats. You're gonna be a Granny."

“...I see,” the Madame replied. “And how does that tie in to you borrowing my smallest daughter?”

"Practice run for Middy." Scope stated. There was silence for a moment longer on the link before Scope got a reply.

“Hmm, well, I don’t see the harm, you’ve proven adept in looking after her before. And she does want to see her brother again. Though I would advise caution; she’s not stopped asking about all the...finer aspects of the birds and the bees ever since we came home.”

"My bad," Midnight called out.

Scope sighed and shook her head. "Well, it's still an idea at this point and..." she paused and groaned. "...and Midnight is already singing again."

“Ah, well, I’ll just go inform Peaceful that his daughter won’t be back for dinner then.” There was a pause for a moment longer, and then the Madame spoke up again. “Oh, and miss Scope?”

"Mm?" Scope blinked.

“Do try and let me know when my son is getting married, won’t you? I would very much like to be there, and I imagine his father would as well. ...He is getting married after something like that, yes?”

Scope nodded, despite the fact that she couldn't see her. "Nobuggy told you? We're set to get married in the next couple of weeks."

“Oh good, I’ll pack my bags then.” The voice was cheery, a tone they’d never heard coming from the noble nymph. “We should be there in a few days to help speed this along~”

“Uh, okay?" Scope said as she looked at Ledger. "Your Mom's coming."

"You're talking to her while she's doing that?" Midnight laughed. Ledger on the other hoof?

He was nearly pale with pure fright. Possibly because his mother had found out from somebuggy other than himself that he was getting married and had a kid on the way. He looked over at Chrysalis and said two simple words. “Kill me.”

"Hah, sounds like she's going to do something worse than that, I think I'll sit back and watch," Chrysalis chuckled.

Unfortunately, talking out loud alerted the Madame that she was there…

“Is that Chrysalis?” The Madame’s tone had gone...icy. Apparently there was at least one more ‘ling that was not a fan of Chrysalis or what she’d done.

"Yeah, she's being 'reformed' by Princess Twilight. Who Ledger is also starting to date." Scope just kept adding fuel to this blaze.

“I can tell I’m going to need to bring the good interrogation tools with me,” the Madame said. “I’ll pack the photo album of him.”

“Mom,” the drone whined.

“And the letters.”

“Mom!”

“And his first story-”

“MOM!” If Ledger could blush any harder, he would resemble a tomato. Midnight howled with laughter as the banter ceased.

“Do it! Bring all the things!" Midnight dared her.

"I am going to Tartarus for this huh?" Scopey asked her stallion. Ledger just glared at her.

“I rather think I will. I’ll see you all in a few days, dears~” With that, the glow around Scope’s horn died as the nymph on the other end cut the connection.

“Right, I’m going to go fake my death for the next few days,” Ledger said as he turned back to the stairs. “Better than dealing with mother.”

"Ooh! I have practice with that!" Midnight offered.

"Do I want to know?" Twilight remarked, referring to the whole conversation.

"Well I think my work here is done," Scope nodded as she flittered up to her nest. Chrysalis raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

"Oh she is delightfully wicked."

“That’s Scope for you,” Ledger sighed before heading to the bedroom. Maybe a nap would help him come up with a plan to deal with his mother.

"BIG BROTHER!!" a pink blur slammed into him, sending him tumbling down the stairs. Ledger let out an ‘Ack’ he hit each one before he turned his gaze on the pink unicorn filly straddling his chest once they had reached the bottom.

"I'm here to stay and I'm here to play. Let's get started, I don’t have all day!"

“...Midnight, you called for her,” he said simply, the unsaid sentiment of ‘you deal with her’ riding those words.

"Joyful!" Midnight giggled, flying over to scoop the little filly up in her hooves and nuzzle her. "How's my favourite little snugglebug~?"

“I’m doing fine, miss Song,” the filly said as she gladly returned the nuzzle. “But it’s so boring without Critical at home. I at least had a fresh supply of paint when she was around! Now I have to actually pay for my paint.”

Ledger meanwhile had beat a tactical retreat and was already halfway up the stairs. There was no way he could think about how to deal with his mother when his sister was around.

Cider rolled her eyes and followed him as Midnight brought the filly over to meet Twilight.

"Wanna say hi to a princess Joy?"

“Ooooh,” Joyful said as she proceeded to examine Twilight. Up close and personally, by poking everything about her with one hoof or another.

"Hello," Twilight giggled at the filly’s antics. Right up until she stuck her nose somewhere it did not need to be.

"Meep!” Twilight squeaked and shooed the filly off with a wing. Joyful giggled and sat nearby, sticking her tongue out in concentration.

“So, she’s a princess?” At the nods the adults gave her, Joyful looked around the house. “Then...why’s she here? Shouldn’t princesses have big fancy castles, and like a hundred guards, and things like that?”

"Hmm, well I have a big castle," Twilight replied, still blushing from her impromptu examination. "But I don't have any guards yet. As for why I'm here...well..."

"She wants to be our friend," Midnight smiled. "You wanna be her friend as well Joy?"

“Do I?” Joyful said as her eyes lit up. “That’s like asking if sugar’s sweet. Duh!” Twilight found herself host to a small, filly-shaped tick latching on to her front and hugging her tightly...or as tightly as she could manage anyways.

"It seems I have developed a large pink growth," Twilight chuckled.

"Getting bugs in your coat?" Midnight asked slyly.

"Oh gag me," Chrysalis sighed. Then she realized one important fact about pinks.

Never say anything you don’t intend to be literal or taken that way around them. Within seconds, she found herself gagged with an apple and little Joyful smiling at her.

“Done!” she chirped.

Midnight doubled over laughing and even Twilight spared a giggle as Chrysalis removed the apple and scowled at the child. She reached over and promptly speared the apple on Joy’s horn. The filly yelped and fell to the floor as she held one hoof to her horn, not prepared for the sudden attack. Her disguise even flickered in places to show just how badly her concentration had been disrupted. Chrysalis snorted in amusement.

"And that's what you get for challenging a queen!" She gloated.

"Oh grow up," Twilight snarked. Joyful just moaned from the ground as her entire disguise finally winked out, revealing her pink nymph self.

“My brain hurts,” she complained.

"You broke your disguise just from that?" Chrysalis laughed again as Midnight picked Joyful up and pulled the apple off.

"Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up and plot revenge," she said as she carried her upstairs.

“Yes miss Midnight,” the nymph said as she clung to the older mare, not wanting to deal with the older nymph just yet. “I...I think she’s too mean to ever have friends…”

Midnight wondered about that. "Hmm, then maybe she needs a friend then." She carried Joy off as Twilight scowled at Chrysalis. This was going to be a looong day.

Chapter 52 - His red phase

Painted Palette wandered the early morning markets. He hadn't wanted to wake his house guest, marefriend? He wasn't sure what their relationship was at this point.

"Mornin' Paint!" Ruby greeted him with a clap on the back. "You're lookin' chipper this mornin'. Something good happen?"

"Maybe," the stallion winced as he lifted a few apples and oranges into his bag. "You?"

"The wife had our foal last night," he beamed. "Got myself a cute little filly now!"

"Congrats Ru. We're having a drink later to celebrate."

"Count on it," Ruby chuckled. "So what’s the deal with that cute mare you're rumoured to be seeing? Finally getting back out there?"

Paint snorted and shook his head. “That’s my business Ruby, so get your snout out of it.”

“As obstinate as always,” Ruby chuckled as he put a few extra vegetables into Paint’s bag. “Go on and git. Ah reckon you got somepony to get back to eh?”

Paint just grumbled and nodded his head as he trotted off. He picked up some more coffee beans and some juice as well. A few more orders for later and the stallion headed home. Hopefully the pragmatic mare hadn’t woken up and used his absence to screw with his carefully organised chaos...

When he finally returned, he took one look inside and sighed, as Critical seemed to be up, barely. She was in that weird state between awake and asleep, where coffee or a lack of would determine if she stayed up or went back to bed for another hour.

Paint watched the mare stumble around in a half-asleep state and chuckled as he put his groceries in the kitchen. The two had been living together for a couple of days now, and Painted Palette was learning how to tease in this day and age.

“Careful there,” he said as he moved her to the couch. “Sleepwalking can be dangerous.”

“Mmmeh,” she said as she lay there on his couch before looking up at her host. “Coffee?” she asked slowly.

“I dunno, you’re less snarky like this,” he said with an amused snort as he moved into the kitchen to unpack. “Maybe I should cut off coffee altogether?”

After a few seconds, he heard only a light snore coming from the couch and realized that she’d fallen back asleep. Then again, they had pulled a late night last night...

“Huh, I think I like her asleep the best,” he mused. “No sass or backtalk, snores like a banshee though...” He placed some beans into the grinder as he stared at the new-fangled coffee maker they’d bought yesterday. “Now how in the hay do I use this blasted thing again...?”

The big, obvious button shone at the stallion, just daring him to push it.

He tilted his head as he pressed a hoof against the button, then cringed as he waited for the damned thing to explode or something. But going against all his imaginative thoughts of the apocalypse occurring, the coffee maker dinged and a fresh pot was born.

“Huh, well I guess that’s a thing,” he muttered. He glanced at the asleep Changeling and then back to the pot and an idea formed. He placed some more beans in the maker, then instead of putting water into it, he put the coffee he just brewed.

What was born after that, could have been considered a jumpstart like none other. His mind failed to form a suitable metaphor, but in the end, he trotted back to the couch and waved a sugar-filled mug of the twice-brewed coffee under her nose and awaited a reaction.

He got one, in the form of her twitching and nearly taking his damn hoof off as she grabbed the life-giving stuff like it was the last cup in existence. She hissed as she held it close to her chest, cradling the cup protectively. “Coffeeeee,” she said as she inhaled the scent.

“Crystals, you’re a weird one in the morning,” Paint said with a small amount of shock as he fetched his own cup and sat on the opposite side of the room. He’d need a running start if she leapt at him.

“Coffee,” she said by way of explanation, before taking a sip of the stuff and sighing appreciatively. “My brother introduced me to the stuff by way of letter, and then I got a taste for it. Apparently he just doesn’t function in the morning without it.”

“And neither do you,” he sighed as he sipped his drink and grimaced. Sweet Cadence that was strong, too strong for him. “Bleh, I think I’ll settle for juice instead.”

“It’s not for everypony,” Critical admitted before drinking hers again and humming. “It tastes different, very different, what did you do?”

“Brewed it, swapped the beans and used the coffee I already had to brew it again. Dunno what I was thinking really.” He set his mug aside as he grabbed a carrot and a glass of juice. “You actually like it?”

“It’s a bit stronger than I’m used to, but it’s nothing another sugar-cube and some cream can’t solve,” the nymph hummed. “I think I’ll go get some of that, actually.” With that, she was off the couch and had both cups of coffee in her magical grasp. “What was the breakfast plan?”

“I bought some fruit and veggies, go nuts,” he said, pointing at the kitchen as he munched his carrot. Critical blinked before slowly turning to look at him and facehooving.

“One of these days,” she said before removing the hoof. “I will get you to cook successfully.”

“Good luck,” he laughed. “The wife tried that for ten years. Never got anywhere. So we just accepted the inevitable.” He paused and frowned as some memories resurfaced. He snorted and shook his head. “So it’s good I have a cute little thing like you around eh?”

“I suppose so,” she said, only blushing a little. “Still, at least you’re trying to keep the kitchen stocked...speaking of,” she said, perking up a little. “When was the last time you actually sold a piece? As far as I’m aware, you’re the current breadwinner.”

“I sold that one to your brother,” he replied. “As well as a few others that day. But aside from that...” It would have been close to four years or so. He’d stopped painting back then. “Maybe I should look into that.”

“Mhmm,” she said as she walked into the kitchen. “Apparently you painted a cute mare the other day,” she spoke up over various chopping noises. “I think that one would sell very well, and I don’t think I’d mind it being sold so neither of us starved.”

“Ehhh, I kinda wanted to keep that one though,” he pouted. It really didn’t suit him. “Well, I guess I have the real thing to look at, and for once I have to agree that it’s much prettier~”

Critical was glad she was in another room, he wouldn’t be able to see her blush at the compliment. She rallied eventually, though, and returned fire. “If you say so, plus, this gives you the room to paint her again. I’m sure if you asked nicely, she’d not mind taking a variety of...interesting poses for you~”

Seems that blushing was contagious at the moment. He snorted and looked away. “Yeah well... fine.” He gulped his juice down and sighed. This mare was going to be the death of him. “Actually, I’ve had an offer in the past for one of my pieces... maybe I should take them up on that.”

“If you feel like you can, I know how much some of them mean to you,” Critical said as she finished preparing her simple garden salad. The nymph walked back out and munched idly on it before clearing her mouth with a gulp. “And don’t forget to take the new one with you, I get the feeling you’ll be painting a lot more of that mare. If you can generate some interest in her now…”

“Hmph, I think I can do that,” he grunted as he went to walked past her towards his store room. He paused as he leant his head down and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips before resuming his trek into the adjoining room. Critical managed to last just long enough for him to not be in sight before she erupted into her usual blush. She...was never going to get used to him returning her teasing, was she?...

He eventually returned with a few wrapped pieces, along with a larger one that he would need assistance with in carrying.

“If you don’t mind, you think you could help me load this into the wagon?” He grunted as he put the portrait of Sombra against a wall. Her horn lit up green as she helped steady his load with her magic. A moment of concentration saw her usual disguise flickering into view, as she realized she might have to go into public.

“Better?” she asked.

“Eh, you’re pretty regardless,” he replied as he fetched a few more pieces and begun to take them outside. She was glad of her disguise once he returned, otherwise he would see her blush, she knew. She decided to float some pieces into the wagon while he worked on getting them from various parts of the house, multitasking and eating her simple breakfast while she did.

Once he tied them down, he hitched himself up and stretched his legs. It’d been awhile since he hauled a load like this. So with a strained grunt, he started to head off towards the city proper, his muse falling into step beside him.

The librarian had been quite surprised over Paint’s change of heart. All of the other portraits that had been commissioned by the tyrant king had been destroyed, so his was one of the only ones remaining. Even with the sale of just this piece, they would be set for money for a good long while. But, it wouldn’t hurt to have extra for frivolous spending and the like.

So he had rented a spare vendor’s booth in the marketplace as he started to set up his pieces. Amongst the ones he had, Critical noticed that he had hung the one she painted next to the portrait he’d done of her.

“You...didn’t have to do that,” she said softly as she looked at the portrait of the stallion.

“Hrm? You want to keep it?” he asked, realising he’d probably just made her mad by wanting to sell something of hers.

“No no, by all means, if you think it’ll sell, sell it,” the mare said as she sighed and looked away. “I doubt it will, though. They have so many other works to choose from, and it’s been so long since I painted anything…”

“It’s good, so I wouldn’t be so surprised,” he said, complimenting her. “And if nopony does, then that’s their loss.” She kicked at the pavement, and he got the sensation that she was blushing under her disguise.

“Yes, well,” here she coughed a few times before turning back to him. “I’ll not get in your way here if I can avoid it. With your permission, I’d like to finish cleaning your home,” she referenced his study where he kept the portrait of his family along with his bedroom in one sentence.

“Hmm, stay with me for a bit. That pretty face might attract more customers than my ugly mug,” he chuckled, taking a great deal of amusement from her adorable reaction. It didn’t take long to part with a few small ones. He’d whipped up a few postcard-sized pieces as they worked, selling them for about fifty bits. Those seemed to be a popular amongst the tourists.

Then a mare approached the counter. She was a pretty pink Pegasus with a lavender and blue mane and tail. Her Cutie Mark was that of a bow and arrow, but the arrowhead was a loveheart.

She looked at the pieces and saw the painting of Critical, humming thoughtfully. “Ooh, I quite like that one!” she chirped, her voice was just as beautiful as she was.

“That’s my most recent one,” he said. “First piece I’ve done in a thousand years. But... if you’re interested, I do have a small stipulation surrounding it.”

“Oh?’ she inquired.

“The one next to it, they have to be sold as a pair.” He said, motioning to the one Critical painted. “They’re a pair, so I can’t separate them I’m afraid.”

Critical meeped a little at the attention, before narrowing her eyes at the mare in front of them. Something looked...off. Working with glamour all the time gave her a sense for when it was being applied...and it didn’t take her long to figure out what was wrong in this case. She decided to hold her tongue, though. No sense bringing it up unless it became an issue.

“Hmm, well I had my eye on that one as well. It’s a little rough, but I can see how much love was put into it,” she looked at Critical and smiled. “Of course I’ll take both. They’ll make wonderful additions to my new room.”

“Many thanks ma’am,” he said as he started to wrap the pieces. “And, if you don’t mind. I’d like to see this room once it’s done.” He also didn’t want her buying both, only to toss Crit’s out later.

“Having such an artist look it over? I’d be honoured,” she nodded. She tapped her chin and smiled. “How about later tonight? I can treat you and your lovely muse to dinner while I’m at it.”

Paint looked to Critical, wanting her opinion. She gulped at the thought of dining with this mare before smiling insincerely at him. “I’m sure it’ll be fine,” she said with a fake cheery tone.

“Well then, I’ll meet you at the Crystal Heart after sunset,” the mare said chipperly. “We’ll head back to my place after that.” Palette had finished and the mare placed both paintings into her wagon, currently being towed by an orange Pegasus with a blue mane and tail. “Until then, have a good day!” She gave them another smile and trotted away, as Paint gave Critical a smirk.

“Told you it’d sell.”

“Only because you made it sell,” Critical riposted, putting a hoof to her chest as she made sure she was still alive.

“It still sold, she could have refused you know,” Paint ruffled her mane as he started to pack up. “And look on the bright side, nopony has to cook tonight either. I made a ton of money and got us a free meal with a noble.”

“Oh, if only you knew,” Critical said before realizing what she just said and hurriedly clamping her own mouth shut.

“Huh, you say something?” he said as he loaded up the cart with the leftover pieces.

“I’ll tell you when we get home,” the disguised nymph said with a sigh. She wasn’t looking forward to telling him why she wasn’t looking forward to dinner...

“Mares,” he muttered as he finished with the cart and hitched himself back up. “Alright, let’s go then. You’re itching to clean right?”

“I was mostly looking for a distraction, and I found one,” she said as she shook her head. “Seriously, how did you not notice?...”

“Notice what?” he asked as they walked home. “You actually want to stop beating the bush and tell me?”

“Okay, because of...my past,” she said, not saying directly because of the presence of tourists, “I have a talent for both using and spotting glamours. That mare was under one.”

“Thought she was a little too pretty,” he said with a snort. “What, is she actually some old bat?”

“The thing that stood out to me wasn’t her age,” the unicorn mare said. “But the fact that she didn’t seem to need anypony else to cast that glamour. And that those wings still looked pretty real on her.”

Paint frowned as he put her vague description together. he came to a simple conclusion.

“Wut?”

“Horn, wings, whole package,” Critical outlined. “Still pink. I know you can put the pieces together, Painted.”

“Pft, you sure? The only local pony that has horn and wings is—” Then he realised what she was getting at. Just who that pony was.

“Oh.”

“That’s what I said!” the nymph exclaimed. “I’m of a mind to go home and collapse after having met her, myself.” Oh look, home was in sight.

“If you want to,” he grunted as he pushed himself further until he was up the hill and panting slightly. “Gah, this hill gets steeper every year, I swear.” He unhitched the wagon and worked out a kink in his back. “Well, come on then. Let’s go and freak out inside.”

“Mmhmm, and I have another story to tell you about your ruler and my kind…”

Later that evening, the two were looking a little more presentable as they waited at the Crystal Heart. Painted Palette looked down at the mare and whispered to her.

“If you’re nervous, you can head home if you like.”

“No, I’m sure it’ll be fine,” the nymph replied insincerely, more trying to reassure herself than him. “It’s only an alicorn who has a very good reason to have a grudge against my kind. What could possibly go wrong?”

“I reckon you might be over-reacting, so I’ll put my ‘I told you so’s’ on hold until I need ‘em.” He paused as the sound of hooves approaching could be heard, as the pink pegasus, along with a lavender Unicorn with a dark-blue mane with a pink stripe approached.

“Ah, we’re sorry to keep you waiting,” she said as they got closer. “Oh, this is my husband, Dusk Shine.”

“Hey,” he grunted. He did not look amused in the slightest. Though, it didn’t seem to be directed at the pair of them, more towards the pegasus mare…

“Hello,” Critical said as she nodded her head to the pair. “I’m Critical Eye, this is my host, Painted Pallete.”

“Hey,” Paint grunted.

The Pegasus smiled at them both, “My name is Love Song. It’s nice to meet the both of you again.”

Critical nodded at the pegasus before turning to unicorn of the pair and slightly tilting her head. “So, you’re skilled in glamours then, sir? I noticed the one on your wife the first time we met, but thought it impolite to bring up to a Pegasus.”

“Ah, well, I’m not...too bad,” he replied awkwardly. He decided that any place to look was better than the Unicorn mare before him.

“You noticed that?” Love inquired with a surprised tone. “That’s...quite observant.”

“Your shadow didn’t match,” the mare deadpanned. “Anypony looking down would have noticed if they put two and two together.”

Love Song blinked before frowning lightly. “Oh Ponyfeathers. So, I guess the jig is up then?”

“Perhaps,” Critical grinned. “Though, don’t be too despondent. You fooled me for all of ten seconds. I actually thought you were a Pegasus until I looked down myself.”

“Well, I tried,” she giggled as Dusk sighed.

“Can I please stop looking like this now?” he whined.

“Oh fine, party pooper,” Love smiled as her forehead shone and she dropped their disguises, revealing Princess Cadence and Shining Armor. Painted Palette bowed his head respectfully, but the alicorn waved him off.

“Oh please don’t be formal, we invited you after all. And, you’re full of surprises Miss Critical, just like your brother...”

“He...did mention meeting you and how it ended on a high note,” Critical hedged. “But when I asked him about the intervening notes, he always fell quiet before changing the subject…”

“Ah, so he didn’t mention getting arrested by me and then blind drunk with me?” Shining chuckled.

That...was the wrong thing to say, apparently. The mare turned a gaze on him that could have given most of his guard pause. “You did what to my brother?” she asked in a tone that would make a Windigo back off. “Was that because of what we are, or what neither of us did to you?”

Painted moved to hold the mare back as Shining winced.

“My husband did make a mistake, yes,” Cadence replied. “But that was both apologized for and they parted on amicable terms. We have no intention of doing something like that again, unless Chrysalis herself enters our city.”

“...Fine,” Critical eventually said. “You’re just lucky my brother spoke so highly of you,” she warned the stallion. The nymph in disguise eventually added another thing to her observation. “Well, that and that your wife is in charge around here.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Shining muttered as Palette patted him on the back.

“Ah don’t worry, I’m used to having a bossy mare around my house as well.”

“You do like my cooking, right Palette?” Critical asked sweetly. The stallion gulped and looked away as he gave her a strained smile.

“What I meant to say, is what a lovely mare I have helping me out.”

“Pushover,” Shining chuckled. He suddenly winced as Cadence used a single, dainty hoof to push the unsuspecting Unicorn over.

“You were saying?” she smiled.

“Well now that we’ve shown who’s in charge,” Critical said with a smile that she shared with Cadence, something that she didn’t ever expect would happen this evening, “Shall we retire to whatever restaurant you picked out?”

“Restaurant? Oh, no, I was being sincere when I mentioned our place,” Cadence said with a light giggle. “You’ll be coming to the Palace to dine.”

“W-What?” Painted Palette now felt very underdressed. Not to mention, he still had rather fresh memories of that castle’s last inhabitant. That was about when he felt two familiar hard hooves wrapping around his neck as Critical hugged him from behind, her form pressing into his.

“Emotivore,” she whispered into his ear. “If you’re really afraid of going there, and you don’t think I’d be enough to help...we can decline still. We have plenty of food at the home…”

The stallion took a deep breath and shook his head. “No...gotta get over it at some point or another right.” He looked back at her and winked. “Wouldn’t do to be afraid of the place we’re gonna get married in~”

“Oh my,” Cadence giggled, blushing lightly. Critical squeaked and- yep, she knew her disguise was blushing as well. That stallion made her lose all control of her blush far too often. Cadence let out a longer giggle as Paint wondered if he took that joke a little too far.

“You okay kid?” he asked her, waving a hoof in front of her face. She just blushed harder and buried her face in his mane.

“Let’s just go to dinner,” her muffled reply came. He chuckled and nodded, keeping her close as they followed the royal couple back to the castle.

Dinner was actually a rather subdued affair. Paint had been expecting caviar and other unpronounceable things that he’d have to eat about thirty of to get even remotely full.

Instead, they’d dined on garlic breadsticks, delicious and hearty vegetable soup and as much to drink as they wanted. Dessert was now being served, a large serving of crystal berry pie and vanilla gelato.

“So,” Cadence said as they waited. “How long have the two of you been a couple?”

“A few weeks now?” Critical more asked than answered.

“We’re a couple?” Paint replied, a little confused. “When did that happen?”

“I know that feeling,” Shining mumbled into his pie.

“Probably around the same time you started trusting me,” Critical said honestly. Paint blushed lightly and shrugged.

“Well, there you have it, a couple of weeks I guess,” he answered the Princess. The Alicorn looked at them and barely suppressed the urge to squeal with happiness.

“Well I’m happy for the both of you,” she smiled. “And I wish you all the best.” She leaned in closer to Critical and winked.

“If you need any advice, come and see me okay?”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Critical winked back. It always was good getting a second opinion...especially an experienced one.

After dessert, Cadence kept her promise of showing them the room she was talking about. It was a room filled with things made by her subjects. Pottery, paintings, little nick-knacks. It was a kaleidoscope of what her empire was made of. The various personalities of her subjects, and what they were capable of, what they loved.

“This is...” Painted Palette looked around in wonder. “I had no idea...”

“It’s a work in progress,” Cadence nodded. “I want to show, the love everypony has. The determination and resolve they have.”

“Your subjects?” Palette’s eyes flicked to the painting that Critical did. “But that one—”

“Is from one of my precious subjects as well,” Cadence smiled softly. “It doesn’t matter who, or how long they’re here.”

“Thank you,” Critical said softly. “For considering me for such a lofty position.”

“You’re most welcome dear,” Cadence smiled, then her eyes got a mischievous twinkle. “Besides, when you marry Palette here, you will be one anyway~”

To her embarrassment, Critical did blush at the idea, before her eyes twinkled as well. “Assuming he ever works up the nerve to ask,” the nymph in disguise teased.

Now it was Palette’s turn to blush and splutter, deciding to take an interest in a painting at the opposite end of the room, causing the mares to giggle at him.

Soon after, a guard entered and Cadence had to excuse herself.

“Sorry, guess a Princesses work is never done,” she smiled and sighed. “Still, it was very nice meeting you both.”

“And you as well,” Critical said as she gave a short bow to the rulers.

Shining and Paint shared a manly grunt and a nod, and the two couples parted ways. Paint took another look around the room and sighed.

“Well kid, wanna head home?”

“If you’re done, we can go,” the nymph said as she cast her own final gaze around the room. “I doubt such a collection would only be for private use, so we’ll probably be able to return one day if we miss anything between now and whenever that is.”

“True enough,” he replied as a guard showed them the way out of the castle and they were soon on their way home. A mixture of thoughts milled about in the stallion’s head, causing him no end of confusion. Said feelings probably didn’t go unnoticed by the resident emotivore either.

“Okay, spill,” the disguised nymph said once they were outside. “You’re pretty confused about something. And sometimes talking it out with somepony helps somepony think things through.”

He gave his trademark grunt before sighing. “Did you...mean what you said before? About being a couple? Or, are you just having fun teasing me again?”

She was oddly silent as they walked back, evidently turning the question over herself. “I wouldn’t mind,” she said simply, eventually. “But I know you’ve lost...a lot. I can’t even imagine recovering from that. So until the day comes when you’re ready, I’ll be content to simply pose for you.”

“Something like that,” he replied. “I don’t know, if I’ll ever be ready... but.” He turned his head slightly and looked at her with one open eye. “I reckon that you’d give me a shove if I asked, or even if I didn’t.” She stopped and turned to face her, the gleaming crystal castle behind her, the open and vast night sky behind him.

“I can’t promise, that I’d feel for you what I did for her. But, I want...to at least give it a try. You reckon, you could put up with me for a while longer?” He rubbed his leg and frowned. “Ah, I’m no good at this sort of thing...”

“I’ve been putting up with you so far,” Critical teased the stallion. “You’re going to have to be a little more specific than that.” Within, a faint hope bloomed. Was he asking her…?

And there was his trademark frown as well. “Well, I don’t know how you kids say it these days. Exactly how am I supposed to ask you out?”

“Well I doubt you want me to jump in bed with you like that,” Critical teased. “Perhaps another date night? One without, ah, royal pressure?”

“With all the teasing you’ve done,” he muttered. He’d certainly entertained the idea more than once. He was still a stallion after all. “But yeah, another date would be nice as well.”

“Mmm,” She said as she brushed past him, barely, giving him a small smile as she did. “You can choose the restaurant then. I’ll trust your judgement as to which would be best for us~”

“Uh, sure,” he said mutely as he repeated the last ten minutes in his head, wondering if that actually just happened. He just decided to roll with it and turned to follow her. At least he could watch that flank of hers on the way home~

Later the next afternoon, Painted Palette returned home with a small and rarely used smile on his face. It was obvious to anyone that he was up to something. He’d left Critical at home for the day, and hoped that she hadn’t messed with his home too badly...

He was quite surprised to find her in the storeroom, just staring at the portrait of his family. He walked up behind her and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“Something up kid?”

“Just...feeling like the third wheel,” she said softly, raising a hoof to lightly brush the canvas. “Like you don’t need me anymore.”

He frowned and then grabbed a cloth, covering the canvas up. “First, you can’t tell me how I feel,” he said, his tone only having a little bite to it. “And second, if I really felt like that, would I have spent half the day looking for a nice place to have our next date?”

“You did?” she said, ears perking forward in curiosity. “Oh, now I’m interested~”

“Mares,” he shook his head. “And yeah, I found a nice restaurant that we can go to.”

“Details?” the nymph asked with a smile.

“Hmm, maybe wear something nice if you want. But, I think I’ll keep a few surprises,” he winked. “We’ll be heading out in a little bit, so I hope you worked up an appetite today.”

“Hmm,” the nymph said before her horn sparked and a...somewhat more stunning version of her usual disguise covered her form. “Something like this?” she asked innocently.

“I think that’s considered cheating,” he mused. “But at least I know you won’t go out and spend all my money on clothes.” He gave the painting another look and nodded. “And try not to worry about that okay?” He made a note to put the piece away into storage the next time he had a moment. He’d never get rid of it, but...

It was time to start moving forward again.

“I’ll go and take a shower,” he replied and winked at her as he walked into the bathroom. “No peeking.”

“No promises,” she teased back, only blushing a little. “If you keep me bored for too long, I might just come up and ogle for a bit.”

He just chuckled as he headed inside and she heard the shower starting.

She also noticed that the door had been left open by a little bit…

Biting her lip and just knowing that more than a few of her step-fathers might approve of her actions (Ledger’s dad came to mind), she sneaked up and peeked through the crack, trying to get her first proper look at a stallion. The first thing she noticed is how toned he was, much more muscular than a mare. And while he acted like an old coot, he’d revealed that he was only in his late thirties. Though, he liked to say he was over a thousand and even called the Princesses whelps.

And when he turned to scrub his tail, she caught sight of the part that made him a stallion...

And boy was he a stallion and a half. She even found herself entertaining a fantasy before beating it down forcibly.

Bad nymph! He hasn’t even offered to do anything like that with you yet!

But you’ve made that offer to him...who’s a little imagining going to hurt?

She bit her lip just a little harder and found herself unable to look away as she imagined them doing various...things together. Things that she knew would require the use of that potion miss Midnight had given her...

It also didn’t help when he washed that part, his hoof lingered there a little longer than what might have been necessary. Perhaps if she was a pony, she wouldn’t have thought much beyond it being a nice show.

But as a Changeling, it wasn’t hard to figure out what emotions were behind it, and just who he was thinking about.

He’s even thinking about you, that traitorous little voice whispered. Why don’t you show him how much you appreciate it?

No no no! That was crossing a line! That was crossing all the lines and rendering the date unneeded!

It wasn’t until the squeak of the shower knobs that she broke out of her inner thoughts. She could see him moving around in there, as he grabbed a towel as an ear flicked towards the door. She let off a small squeak of her own as she bolted for the bedroom, on the pretense that she would be using the mirror there to check her disguise. He walked in a moment later, giving her an odd look as he dried his mane and tail.

“Something up kid?” he asked. “I’ve got tomatoes in the kitchen that aren’t as red as you.”

“Nothing!” she squeaked unconvincingly. Sweet hives...she’d read books about how Violets stacked up to normal drones, but they failed to prepare her for...that! She blushed a little more at the thought.

He gave her a head tilt and a few thoughts entered his mind. Deciding to take a stab in the dark, he leaned closer and whispered into her ear.

“Enjoy the show did we?”

“Meep!” That did it, her entire face went red. He blinked, not having expected that from her. He just assumed she was all bark and no bite when it came to this sort of thing.

Oh, crap, did she see him do that as well?

“W-Well, it’s...fine, I guess,” he said as he turned to finish drying his coat. She slowly came down from being so red, but didn’t say anything. The very thought of him doing that to thoughts of her...kept her mouth locked up. What do you say when that happens? What can you say?! ‘Hey, I saw you pleasuring yourself to thoughts of me, wanna talk about it?’

Want the real th-

NO! Critical clamped down on that line of thought as soon as it appeared. Sweet hives, this was going to drive her crazy.

Paint had finished, as he sat there and watched the variety of facial expressions cross her muzzle. It was actually quite entertaining. And the fact that she’d gotten like this for peeping. Well, it did stroke his ego a little as well~

He crossed the room and placed a gentle hoof on her shoulder. “So, you ready to do it?” he asked.

That sent her right back into blush territory as she put that line together with the ones running in her head. “Are you sure you know what you’re asking?” she fired back.

“Hmm, I’m just asking if you’re ready for our date,” he replied with a small smile. “What the heck are you talking about?”

“...You probably could guess,” Critical said as she slowly calmed down.

True, he probably could. That’s why this was so much fun. “Well, saddle up kid. We have a dinner to get to.” He gave her nose a playful poke and trotted out into the living room. “Or maybe you need a cold shower first. You could melt the tundra with that face.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” she said as she got to her hooves. A very good idea. And now that he wasn’t in the shower…

She all but bolted into the bathroom and sighed at the feeling of cold water cooling her chitin down. She dropped her disguise, not seeing the point in maintaining it as she just stood under the showerhead, enjoying the cold temperatures.

Painted Palette blinked at the blur that had invaded his bathroom, and chuckled when he heard the shower running. That was just too funny. A small part of his brain wondered if turnabout was fair play, but a gentlestallion did not peek.

Eventually, Critical re-emerged from the shower with a towel as she dried her nymph self off. “Oooh, I needed that,” she said with a soft sigh.

“That so?” he asked idly, a small smirk on his muzzle. “Feel better now kid?”

“Much,” she replied before stepping close and pecking him on the side of his muzzle. “And thanks for not peeking. I wouldn’t have held it against you if you did, considering what I just did, but thanks for not.” She cleared her throat and stood in front of the mirror again as she re-donned her disguise, checking it for errors.

“You look fine,” he said quietly, rubbing his cheek. “If it weren’t for normal ponies walking around, I’d tell you to lose the disguise altogether. But, I don’t wanna make you uncomfortable.” He grabbed his wallet and placed in in his satchel bag. “Come on now, let’s get going or we’ll be late.”

After giving herself one last check, Critical nodded and followed after Palette. “Lead on,” she said simply, admiring that flank of his the entire way.

And a little something mo-

NO!

The restaurant in question was one inside a hotel, and a pretty fancy one at that. The greeter had been quite courteous and soon the two were seated at a table that offered a very nice view of the city.

“I hope this is alright,” Paint said. He looked a little uncomfortable in such a formal setting. But it was also kinda cute. Critical giggled before pointing at a fast-food restaurant that was being constructed down the road by a group of normal ponies.

“You could take me to a place like that,” she said before raising her menu, not wanting him to see the blush she knew she was about to sport. “And it’d be fine by me, because it was you doing it.”

Paint blinked and chose that moment to go nose first into his menu, grumbling under his breath about mares being too damned adorable. Before Critical could tease him further, a waiter approached, the kind that had their nose so far up they could probably smell the moon.

“Would the sir and the madame like to order now?” he asked. Critical blinked before looking at the waiter with a hint of a vicious smile around her mouth. She motioned for Palette to order first as she composed her order in her head.

“Uhh,” Paint stared at the menu. This place had adopted some Prench style and he could read a goddamn word of it. “What’s this... Ess-car-got?”

“You probably don’t want that,” Critical intervened before the waiter could. “Are you fine with shrimp and clams, things like shellfish?”

“I’ve never had them before,” he said, poking out his tongue slightly. “Isn’t that meat though?”

“It’d only be an issue if you were eating a seapony,” she fired back with her own tongue poking out of her muzzle. “Fish and shellfish are widely seen as morally acceptable to eat these days, and pegasi tend to develop a taste for it.”

“Well, first time for everything,” he muttered. “Sure. Why not...and,” he raised an eyebrow and looked at her. “You believe in seaponies?”

“Later,” she said before turning to the waiter and exercising her Prench. “Nous aurons la rigatoni avec aux palourdes, s'il vous plaît.”

The waiter’s eyes widened a little, not having expected that. He gave her a polite nod as he wrote the order down and walked off.

“Okay, what the heck was all gibber-jabber?” he asked her. She giggled lightly and smiled at him.

“Me ordering dinner,” she explained, barely, before her eyes went wide and she looked at the retreating waiter. “Oh shoot, I forgot to get drinks. Garcon!”

The waiter returned and looked at her. “Yes?”

“Nous avons besoin d'un vin pour aller avec le dîner, peut-être un vin blanc sec?”

The waiter nodded. “A fine choice Madame. I shall return with it momentarily.” he whisked himself away as Paint just looked at the mare. She’d effectively shot down the filly-like personality he was used to, and now a beautiful, cultured mare sat in her place.

It was really weird and perhaps just more than a little bit sexy. He suddenly found the window view fascinating as his face heated up again.

“Well, now that that’s taken care of,” the mare said as she switched back to normal Equestrian. “Dates are usually used to get to know one another better, and I think I’d rather avoid bringing the mood down by asking you too many questions.” No need to go into why, they both knew the reasoning behind that. “So fire away,” she purred.

“Huh? Uh, well...” Being put on the spot like that made him freeze up a little. So he simply said the first thing that popped into his head.

“Seaponies? Really?”

“Would you have discounted changelings, or bug-ponies, before you met me as well?” she pointed out with a small victorious grin.

“Probably,” he grunted. Seaponies were actually real? Damn, he owed Ruby two bits now. “Well, okay, so...are you, enjoying yourself so far?”

“It’s been an enjoyable evening, except when you almost ordered snails to eat,” she said with another giggle.

“Snails?” He looked at the menu item he had asked about and shuddered. “Oh that is disgusting...and why would you pay that much for something I can dig up outside?”

“Why would anypony pay for a painting done by you when they could just buy paint and paint their own painting instead?” Critical fired back. “It’s not the ingredients, it’s the skill behind using them you’re paying for. ...That being said, I was fairly confident you weren’t in the mood for something slimy to eat.”

“Yeah, no,” he adamantly agreed as the waiter brought their wine over, served in a chilled bucket of ice along with two fine crystal glasses.

“Your wine, honoured guests,” he replied as he placed them on the table and poured two glasses. Once he left, Paint raised an eyebrow and looked at her.

“You. You ordered alcohol?”

“Only a little to go with dinner,” she said with a giggle, sniffing the wine and humming her appreciation. “Mmm, I think I’ll give this a few minutes before drinking it, though. Garcon, how long until our meals are ready?”

“A few more minutes Madame,” he said. She nodded and gave the waiter a smile. Once he left, her gaze fell back on Palette, who figured he was being thrown under the cart again.

“Okay, how about this,” he asked. “Where do you want this to go? What would you like from this...relationship? A fling? Something more...permanent?”

“I wouldn’t mind taking whatever you feel comfortable offering,” the disguised nymph said, blatantly skirting past that topic. “But you’d have to be comfortable offering it first.”

“Fair enough,” Paint said as he sipped his wine. Now what was that peculiar little emotion that he just had? He was...oh yes, he was hiding something~

Before she could question it further though, the waiter returned with their meals. It was a generous serving on top of it and it smelled delicious. Even Paint looked like he was about to inhale the food the second he had a chance.

“Please enjoy,” the waiter smiled before leaving them to it.

“Merci beaucoup,” the disguised nymph said, never losing that smile. The waiter nodded, not really wanting to tell the mare he didn’t speak a word of Prench.

“Having fun?” Paint asked her as he gave his meal a tentative nibble. Ohh, that was good. Critical giggled as well.

“I’m glad he understood Prench, I haven’t had a chance to exercise it in ages! But all my lessons came flooding back when I saw the menu!” She levitated a fork up and began spearing the rigatoni, making sure no noodle entered her mouth without a generous helping of clam.

“You actually learned that fancy talk?” he asked her. “I just figured it was a Changeling thing you were doing.”

“Bit of both,” she said between bites. “Changelings can learn new languages quickly. I learned Prench when I was younger. My brother went after ‘major languages,’ I went after ‘Equestrian’ and ‘Eclectic.’”

“Sounds...confusing,” he admitted. He didn’t have much of a talent for that sort of thing. Aside from his art, his grades in school were mediocre at best. He ate another mouthful and hummed thoughtfully. “I think you might be on to something with this seafood stuff. It’s not bad.”

“Mmhmm,” the mare hummed. “Ponies are always surprised that there’s a form of life out there that tastes good when cooked right. Plus a little extra protein beyond eggs is good for you~” She sang the last bit before she had another bite of her meal, which was now half-gone.

“I bet that’s not the only source of protein you want,” he said, more to himself really. Like he hadn’t meant to say it out loud…

She still heard him, though, and the implications caused her to let out another meep and blush before taking a big sip of her wine. Almost a gulp, really.

They soon finished their meals and the wine bottle was about half empty. But he’d bought the whole thing, so they could take it with them. The waiter returned a little while later, and looked at Palette.

“Would you like dessert now? Or do you wish to retire to your room for the evening?”

Palette tapped his chin and nodded. “I think we’ll head on up. We’ll take some of this and this though,” he said, pointing at two items on the menu. He didn’t know much, but he recognised the names of the creme brulee and chocolate cake.

“Very good sir. I wish you a pleasant evening then.” He took the menus and gave a bow of his head as he left the couple to themselves.

“Well then, ready to head up to our room?” he asked.

“You...got a room here?” she asked, already feeling that blush coming back as she thought about why he would do something like that.

“Well, this place is only for guests,” he replied as he offered his hoof to help her up. “Besides, I think we could use some time away from the old homestead. Some fresh scenery if you will.”

“If you say so,” she said as she took his hoof, getting on her hooves as she felt her face flush. “I...will admit that seeing the sights was on my list of things to do, after ‘getting your house in order.’”

“Well, glad to hear it,” he said as he escorted her towards the elevator. After a climb, and Paint getting only slightly lost inside the huge building. They finally found their room. It was pretty spacious. Had it’s own fridge and bathroom.

And only one large bed…

Chapter 53 - Battle Royale. Queen VS Duchess. Bat VS...DRAGON?!

Chapter 53 - Battle Royale. Queen VS Duchess. Bat VS...DRAGON?!

Midnight sat in the bathtub as she scrubbed Joyful down, humming a small song as she did. The little filly content with playing with a rubber duckie as Midnight rinsed her mane out and brushed any knots from it.

“There we are, cute as a button and clean as a whistle,” she said with a smile.

“Really?” the pink nymph asked with a tilt of her head. “Because I’ve seen some ugly buttons and filthy whistles before.”

“Hey, I didn’t write the metaphor kid,” Midnight deadpanned as she set the bottle of soap aside. “And try not to worry about Chryssie. She’s... in a weird place right now.”

“She’s a meanie poo-head,” the pink said as she stuck her tongue out. “She doesn’t even try to be friends with other changelings. I dunno where she’s been getting her food from, but I doubt it was from a pony friend.”

“I think that Twilight is sort of her friend,” Midnight mused as she squeaked the duck. “Maybe she’ll learn. She’s not as cute as you, so it’ll be harder.” Then she hugged the filly close and giggled. “So, did Levvy tell you yet?”

“Nope, I just got here!” the pink chirped.

“Well,” Midnight looked around for spies and ninjas, they were sneaky like that. She leaned in close and smiled. “You’re gonna get three brand new big sisters.”

She gasped, before looking around in the tub, as if they would materialize in there. “Where are they?” she asked, before swiping at the water. Midnight chose to ignore that burning sensation in her chest and looked down with a wide grin.

“Well, one of them is hugging you right now.”

Joyful sloooooowly turned around to look up at Midnight with the most precious expression on her face. One that screamed of a simple question. “You?”

“Well, when I get married to Levvy,” Midnight explained. “Me and Cidey and Scopey will all be your sisters.”

Joyful almost seemed fit to explode with happiness, before she paused and thought about something. “Does that mean if I could find a filly or a nymph that actually like my three brothers and survive them, I could get another sister that way?”

“Well, if you get one for each, you could get three more,” Midnight giggled. “And once I have the baby in my tummy, you get to be an Aunty as well.”

That tipped the scales as to what Joyful did next, zipping closer to Midnight and putting an ear to her stomach as if to listen for something. Midnight didn’t even bother to suppress the squee she let out over how adorable this was.

“It’s still a bit early Joy,” she giggled as she watched the filly. “You gotta let it grow a bit more first.”

“It’s never too early to listen for foals,” she said, not budging. “Maybe if I had been born sooner, I’d have been able to warn mom about the trio before they came out!”

Honestly, if this crazy little nymph said she could hear foals, Midnight figured she wouldn’t argue. Might as well play along.

“So what is the foal saying?” she asked in a whispered voice.

“All I can hear is something about mango ice-cream,” the filly replied before shaking her head. “I might be getting a false reading from your stomach.”

“I am kinda hungry,” Midnight replied with a nod. Mmm...mango ice-cream…

A roar filled the air and Joyful giggled. “Yup, definitely your belly.”

“Well, maybe we should give it an offering of mango ice-cream so you can listen to the foal?” she said, climbing out of the tub. She held open a towel to catch the little nymph, who jumped out of the tub and landed neatly in the spread linen. Midnight tossed and turned the towel, tumble-drying the bugling in the process, before setting the fluffy cocoon on the ground. Said cocoon then seemed to get up and trundle around before heading in her direction.

“Behold!” the towel proclaimed. “I am the mighty TOWEL MONSTER!”

Midnight swooned as she opened the door slightly. “Oh noooo,” she wailed in mock despair. “Not the dreaded Towel Monster! Sir Ledger, please save meeee!”

“None can stop the Towel Monster!” the towel remarked as it began climbing up her foreleg. “My embrace means fluffy cottony hugs that shall smother you in warmth forever!”

“Oohnoooo!” Midnight cried. “Wait! What is this. I have discovered a weakness of the Towel Monster!”

“I have no weaknesses!” the towel exclaimed as it straddled Midnight’s back. Even as Ledger showed up to take in the remarkably cute scene.

“Oh no?” Midnight replied. “Not even... The Hooves of Giggly Tickleness!!”

“Oh buck,” the towel swore. “...I don’t suppose you’d give me a five second head start?”

“There are no headstarts in war,” Midnight said in a serious tone as she scooped the filly from her back and unwrapped her. “Prepare for thy tickles!”

“Nuuu!” the nymph said once she was revealed. “Sir Ledger, please help me!”

“...Nah, I’m good,” he said, looking on with a smile. Midnight cackled as she tickled the nymph mercilessly...and then paused.

“Oh no.” she whispered. “I forgot about the Towel Monster’s Curse. Now, I must become the next Towel Monster!” She grabbed Joyful and placed her on her back, before tossing the towel over them. And then started to stalk towards Ledger.

“We’re gonna get yoouuuu~” they sang together. Ledger snorted as he disappeared inside the house. It was quite cute, yes, but in face of his mother coming...

“Aww, big bro’s a party pooper,” Joyful sighed.

“Let’s go get Twilight!” Midnight cackled as the two ran downstairs, promptly glomping the unsuspecting Alicorn.

A while later, Midnight had to head down to the Guard station to file for maternity leave. Better get it out of the way now, so she wouldn’t have to worry about it later.

Oh, and she had to send a message to her parents. They’d be pretty pissed if she didn’t tell them about this little development. She also took Joyful with her, not wanting to part with the little filly just yet. She was already toying with the idea to ask the Madame if she could keep her.

Midnight soon realised that she shouldn’t have gone in on a day that Narrow was working. While it was good to see that her leg had healed up nicely, she’d also convinced the Thestral that while she would have the time off she needed, she could also do most of the paperwork.

“Jeeeez, paperworks sucks,” Midnight groused as she headed for home, the pink filly perched on her back still.

“You could just ask bro to do it,” Joyful said as she played with the Thestral’s ears. They were funny-shaped compared to a pony’s.

“I would, but he’d just whine about it. Besides, I think I'll need something to do, or I’ll go batty!” she giggled at her terrible joke as a familiar scent caught her nose. “Hmm, now I wonder if a little filly has been good enough? Good enough for ice-cream maybe?”

“There is always time for ice-cream,” Joyful said with a nod as she sat back on Midnight’s back.

“Spoken like a true girl,” Midnight nodded as she approached Amy/Cherry’s parlour. She wondered who might be working today. She got her answer as Cherry waved at the pair of them from behind the counter.

“Well hey there mares!” he greeted the two of them. “How’ve you been?”

“Not bad Cherry berry,” Midnight giggled. She took Joyful from her back and placed her on the counter. “My filly is running on empty, she needs a refill.”

“Hmm,” Cherry said, poking at the filly and causing her to giggle. “Yup, she looks pretty empty to me. What flavor do you think I should fill her up with?”

“Hmm, I’m thinking a whooooole buncha strawberry,” Midnight nodded. She figured that pink flavour would go down well. As for herself...?

The bat already had her face against the glass, staring at the tub of mango ice-cream.

“Right,” the stallion said as he fished out two bowls from behind the counter and began looking for his scoops. “What sorta toppings did you want on that?”

Midnight and Joyful looked at each other, before turning back to Cherry with wide smiles.

“Sprinkles!”

“Can do,” the red pegasus chuckled as he began scooping out one, then two...and three and four scoops of strawberry ice-cream. When the small mountain of flavored dairy had been assembled, it was coated with sprinkles and served to the little filly sitting on the counter.

“Can you take her to a table before she starts on that?” Cherry asked.

Midnight nodded and picked her up again, before carting her over to a table as the filly wasted no time in voraciously tearing into the sweet treat.

There would be no survivors.

As Cherry went to trot back behind the counter, he found that his hooves no longer connected to the floor, as a pair of powerful taloned arms held him up.

“And how’s my favourite little treat today?” Ace chuckled.

“Acey!” Cherry said, somehow twirling in his grasp to hug the griffon. “I’m doing fine, how’re you?”

“Work was slow, so I got off early, I was hoping that this place might be empty so I could help you do the same,” he chuckled, before spying Midnight and Joyful.

“Your foal came a little early did it?” he called out.

Midnight just rolled her eyes. Ice-cream first, snarky retort later.

“Acey, behave,” Cherry lightly chided before squirming a little more. “And can ya put me down? I still have to see to Middy.”

“Fine,” he pouted, placing the stallion back on the floor and walked over to the table to take a seat. He then recognised the little filly, the one that used to give him hell for being with Amy.

“Ah, my old enemy,” he said with a mock growl. “We meet again!”

Joyful merely waved a spoon at him before saying something that was muffled by the ice-cream in her mouth. Ace just chuckled as he looked at Midnight and did a double take.

“Hmm, Midnight? What’s with your eyes?”

“Oh, this?” she batted her crimson eyes at him. “I dunno. Apparently it’s a thing that happens when a Thestral gets pregnant. Other stuff is gonna transform as well, so I’m a little concerned about that. But, with Levvy and Cidey and Scopey looking out for me, I think I’ll be fine.” She leaned over to hug the Griffon, as she hadn’t seen much of him lately. “Mmm, maybe I should borrow you from Cherry-berry for a while. I’ve missed you.”

“Hah, I think I’m the one thing that she won’t share,” Ace chuckled.

“As long as you aren’t using him like I do, I’m fine with it,” Cherry chirped as he washed his scoops off, preparing to get Midnight a bowl of mango ice-cream. Midnight grimaced and poked out her tongue.

“No way, he’s like a brother to me.”

“Yeah, I think I’m the only creature with a heartbeat that she hasn’t hit on...well, there was that one time with a clay golem that somepony had created...”

“I was really, really drunk that night,” Midnight blushed. “And by the way. Shut up.”

“That sounds like a story for another time,” Cherry said as he presented an equally large bowl of mango ice-cream for Midnight. The Thestral looked at the bowl and licked her lips.

“You would do well to forget that,” Midnight warned him, before grabbing the bowl with both hooves and diving in. It was pure carnage, mare and filly and the death of the frozen treats.

“It’s like watching a Manticore attack a field of bunnies,” Ace mused. Cherry found himself nodding his agreement as he just waited for them to finish. After a few minutes, the table was left with two empty bowls and two females rubbing stuffed bellies. They let out a simultaneous belch and sighed happily.

“Hmm, maybe I should marry Cherry instead?” Midnight mused. Cherry shook his head before hugging the griffon around his neck.

“Nope, I’m Acey’s. You can’t have any.”

“Aww,” Midnight pretended to pout. “Well whatever, I have my new personal source of sweetness right here,” she giggled, pulling Joyful closer. “Honestly, I don’t see why Ledger was so worried. She’s such a sweetheart.”

“Bro always complains about his sani-something when I’m around,” Joyful said as she nuzzled Midnight. “He worries too much.”

“I think he does, he needs to stress less,” Midnight nodded. Hmm... “Should we go and...cheer him up?”

“That sounds like it would be good for everyone except Ledger,” Ace chuckled. “A Pink is...” He paused and decided that it would be a good idea to shut up.

“Is what, Acey?” Cherry said with a large, fake smile.

“Is uh, wonderful to have around. Yup, can’t live without one,” he nodded all too quickly. Cherry hummed, clearly not fooled but letting it pass...for now.

“Well we gotta fly anyway,” Midnight said. “Joyful’s mom will be arriving soon, so we really should get the guest room set up and...” Then she realised, if they did that, they’d need a place for Twilight and Chrysalis to sleep...

Well, she knew where Twilight could go~ That caused the mare to giggle and lick her lips again.

“Somepony is thinking of something naughty,” Ace chuckled, knowing that expression all too well.

“Around foals?” Cherry mock-swooned. Joyful tilted her head in confusion. What was going on?

Midnight slapped her face with a hoof. Okay, lesson learned. She’d need to start on reigning herself in. Still...

“Hey Cherry? Any ideas on how I can get a rather stubborn Changeling nymph to open up and make some friends?”

“Hmm. I’d normally suggest me, but I’m busy today,” the pegasus said. “Maybe try bribes?”

“Hmm, I think that Chrysalis is a bit too smart to fall for that one,” Midnight said as Joyful scrunched up her face.

“Stoopid poopie-head queen...”

Cherry froze before looking at Midnight with an unreadable expression. “Chrysalis? The Chrysalis?”

“Yup,” Midnight nodded. “She’s being ‘rehabilitated’ by Princess Twilight, and since Twilight is currently here on work and...pleasure, the queen is along for the ride. Apparently Twilight took her to see Sugar, that turned out to be a disaster...”

Cherry seemed...unusually happy now. “So where is the queenie?” he asked too sweetly.

“What do you plan on doing?” Midnight asked cautiously.

“She’s at Miss Midnight’s house!” Joyful said gleefully. Cherry chuckled before looking at his stock and looking at Ace, pecking the griffon on the beak.

“I’ll have to put in a notice with the owners, something came up,” the disguised Pink said even as he began preparing a dish of ice cream. “Could you tell them for me?”

“Cherry? What are you plotting?” Ace said, standing in the doorway.

“I just intend to do one thing,” the pink said as he put the finishing touches on the bowl. “She’s going to be friendly and like it by the time I’m through with her~”

The dish looked wonderful, a rainbow of colors arranged around a simple scoop of vanilla, topped with sprinkles, whipped cream, and it even had a cherry. And then Midnight blinked, and both stallion and dish were gone.

“Ohhh, this can’t end well,” Midnight gulped as she grabbed Joyful and ran from the parlour.

Ace stood there and blinked as he looked around.

“Well...that figures...”

Now this was more like it. The idiotic drone was hiding in his bedroom for some reason, while those mares/nymphs of his were with him. Twilight had her face buried in a book, how she hadn’t become a book by now was anyling’s guess.

Chrysalis just reclined undisguised on the couch, wishing that she had a serving drone or three. Ah well.

And that was when the world stopped making sense, as a cherry-red stallion dropped down from the ceiling with a smile that just seemed wrong on his face.

Chrysalis yelped from the sudden arrival, holding a pillow in front of her. “W-What the hell!?”

“Hello, Chryssy,” the stallion said, sitting in front of her and not taking his eyes off of her for a second. He barely seemed to blink.

Chrysalis put a hoof to her chest, to make sure her heart hadn’t abandoned ship after that scare. Who was this stallion? And how the hell did he know who she was or where to find her?

“And...you are?” she asked, still using the pillow as a shield.

“Oh, you can call me Cherry,” the stallion said, his smile never fading.

“Well then Cherry,” the queen finally calming down a little, resumed her usual level of disdain. But that smiled creeped her the hell out. “You can go now. Shoo.”

“Don’t think so,” the stallion said as he reached behind himself to pull out a dish of ice-cream from nowhere. “I wanted to give you something.”

It looked delicious, but it was probably poisoned. “Pass. Get lost,” Chrysalis said, looking over at Twilight, but the alicorn hadn’t noticed a damned thing. She was too absorbed in her book.

“Aww, don’t be like that,” the stallion said, using a spoon to eat some himself. He ‘mmm’ed at the taste. “See, it’s good!”

“You’re creepy, beat it,” she said. Gods, he was as bad as the pink...pony...

Oh sweet Hives!

“Just who are you?” she snapped in Changeish. The pony smiled even wider before replying.

“My name is Heart-of-Gold,” he said as his pink eyes suddenly seemed a lot more menacing. “I’m not leaving until you’ve eaten every. Last. Bite of this dish I worked on for you.”

A Pink, he was... a bucking. Pink?

Nopenopenopenopenopenope! Chrysalis backed away as she hid behind Twilight.

“I have a nerd and I’m not afraid to use it!” she yelled.

“We’ve met,” Cherry said by way of explanation. “Heya Twilight, mind tossing me your queenie friend so she can have some ice-cream?”

Twilight never even looked up as her horn lit up and Chrysalis was catapulted across the room.

“Traitorous, furry bitch!” Chrysalis screamed as she landed near Cherry with a light thud. “....ow.”

“Heya again!” Cherry said as he presented his masterwork, a dish he hadn’t even made for Acey yet. Known as the Good Mood, it promised to put anyone into one. If only for the promise of more.

...That might be because of the Happiness he put into each and every scoop because he loved his job, but semantics!

“I am not eating that poisonous bile,” Chrysalis snapped as she got up and took her seat on the couch again. Dammit, her groove had already been worn out…

“You’re silly,” Cherry said, only rotating to show her the dish again. “I wouldn’t eat something that was poisoned.”

“Too bad,” Chrysalis yawned. “Now go away.”

That was when she found her mouth invaded by a spoonful of the stuff, Cherry suddenly there and force-feeding her, that smile still on his face. “I said I wouldn’t leave until you had some,” he said.

Chrysalis gulped it down... blinked, then grabbed the bowl from him and scarfed the rest down. The stallion giggled and hopped back, watching her eat with a more sane smile.

“I knew you’d like it,” the disguised pink said. She finished the bowl and burped, before her eyes widened and with a blink, the queen was gone. Though, the sound of hoofsteps upstairs told the stallion where’d she’d gone

“Hmm, wonder what she’s up to,” Cherry mused before shrugging. “Ah well. I’ll wait for her to come back.”

In Ledger’s room...

A pair of larger green eyes stared down at the sleeping drone, only a few inches from his.

“Ledger...” a voice whispered. The drone mumbled something before falling back into silence.

“Ledger...” a little louder this time. He batted with one hoof at whatever it was before turning and falling back asleep.

“Ledger... I wanna play~”

“Go play with Middy, Joyful,” he replied, not opening his eyes.

“Silly Ledger, I’m not Joyful...”

“Go play with Joyful, Middy,” he said, still not opening his eyes to look at whoever was pestering him.

“Aww, don’t be such a stick in the mud Ledger...” That got him to open his eyes, and whatever retort he was about to make died as he saw just who was pestering him.

Chrysalis beamed happily as she bounced around the room on her hooftips. “Yay, you’re finally up. Let’s go play something!” she giggled.

“...Who are you and what have you done with Chrysalis?” he eventually managed to say. Chrysalis giggled and booped him on the nose.

“Silly pony, I’m Chryssie!” That was around when he noticed a slight pink tinge in her eyes. And Cherry’s laughter from the living room.

“You’re hopped up on pure Happiness right now, aren’t you?” he deadpanned. “I suppose I should be glad there wasn’t lust mixed in with it.”

“Hmm, I had some of that earlier, it was yummy~” she giggled and gave him a half-lidded stare as she leaned closer to him. “Ohh, you wanna play that game? You could give me more yummies~”

“Meep!” Ledger said, keeping her at bay with one hoof. “No no, thank you, no. I have more than enough mares in my life as it is!”

“Fine...” she bopped him again. “Tag! You’re it!” and with that, she ran laughing from the room.

“I give her five minutes until she rebalances,” Ledger said as he laid back down. “I’d better practice my shields until then…”

By the time Midnight and Joyful returned home, Chrysalis was on the couch, a dark aura emanating from her as she scowled and growled.

“Where’s... Cherry?” Midnight asked as Chrysalis’ sharp gaze locked onto her.

“When I find him... I’ll skin him alive,” she chuckled darkly. Joyful scowled before tapping the back of Midnight’s head with a hoof.

“What’d I tell you? Meanie,” she said, now reassured that she’d made the right call earlier.

“She’s a tough nut to crack alright,” Midnight nodded. She noticed Twilight and wondered why the little Alicorn hadn’t said anything yet. She moved closer and after a moment of reading over her shoulder, she looked at Joyful.

“Hmm, think you could go and get Levvy for me?” she asked.

“Kay!” she beamed before bounding off of the Thestral’s back, only pausing to stick her tongue out at Chrysalis on her way up the stairs.

“Now that she’s out of the way,” Midnight giggled, turning her attention back to the distracted alicorn. Said alicorn was soon distracted by a Thestral sticking a tongue in her mouth...

In Ledger’s room.

“Hey Ledger....”

“Grr,” the silver drone growled as he turned over, before sighting that it was his sister and calming down a touch. “Oh. Hello Joyful.” The little nymph kissed him on the nose and giggled.

“Miss Middy...or Big Sis Middy...I dunno. She wants to see you~”

“Mmm, okay, five minutes?” he said, rolling back over. “I was trying to nap…”

“Okay Grandpa,” she giggled jumping off of the bed and trotting out of the room. Then returning a moment later.

“Hey Ledger?”

“What,” the drone stated more than asked.

“Why is Big Sis Middy kissing the Princess?”

“Because she wants to be punished,” he said in a louder tone as he rolled to his hooves and cracked his joints. “She knows better.”

“Is Middy in trouble?” she asked. “Is kissin’ the Princess a bad thing?”

“Only if the Princess didn’t start the kiss,” Ledger said as he trotted out of the room. Joyful blinked and followed him, wondering what was gonna happen.

In the living room, Midnight giggled and poked at Twilight, who was blushing and pouting.

“Aw come on, you were so buried in that book, and you look sooo cute, I just couldn’t help myself~”

“You’re impossible,” Twilight sighed and noticed Ledger coming down the stairs. “Oh, good afternoon. Did you sleep well?”

“I’m more rested now,” he agreed. “Well, I was until somepony set some pink filly on me. And somebuggy else came up and-”

“Finish that sentence and you die,” Chrysalis growled, throwing a cushion at him. And only because a chair was out of reach. The cushion impacted his form and bounced off, causing the drone to smirk.

“Anyways, yes, I’m feeling much better now. How about your little reading project there?”

“It’s informative...until I got distracted,” Twilight said, looking at Midnight, who gave a sheepish blush and giggled.

“The end of Equestria couldn’t distract you from a book, I give the bat points for that,” Chrysalis stated.

“Midnight could distract Celestia from raising the sun,” Ledger deadpanned.

“Ohh, I haven’t tried that yet~” Midnight giggled and got a powerful glare from Twilight. “Hmm, not that I would of course.”

The alicorn sighed and looked at Ledger. “I had a thought also. If your Mom is coming, where will she stay? Chrysalis and I have the guest bedroom... but, we can go home for now if you’d like.”

“I had a think about that,” Ledger said with a smile. One that Chrysalis didn’t like. “There’s a way to free up the guest bedroom that involves kicking Chryssy into the living room.”

“Sure, toss the bug on her butt. Why not?” she quipped. “And what about the Princess of nerds over there? Gonna put her in the barn?”

“Nope,” Ledger said with a small blush. “If it’s acceptable to you, Twilight, I would like to invite you to my room in the evening. Just for sleeping,” he was quick to clarify. Twilight's face erupted into a blush as she looked away, but nodded shyly nonetheless.

“Oh bleh,” Chrysalis retorted. Ledger responded to the queen’s statement in much the same way his sister had, by sticking his tongue out at her.

“You’re just jealous because you don’t have any friends,” the drone replied. “Just ponies that tolerate you.”

“Pssh, friends,” she scoffed. “Give me a good servant and a drone for pleasure and I’m set.”

“Right up until you start starving because neither of them love you,” Ledger fired back.

“Why earn what you can steal?” she replied. “It’s far easier than having to actually work for it.”

“Hello there Black,” Ledger said acidically. “I was unaware we were housing a member of the Colorless Hive.”

“Oh ho! That’s rich, coming from a drone that came far closer to becoming one than I ever have!” she sneered. “And you would’ve gone the whole way if it wasn’t for little miss friendship!” She looked at Joyful and grinned. “Hear that grub? Your big brother almost became a—”

“I became what I did for love, not from a lack of it,” Ledger interrupted. “And love saved me. Whereas you just seem to slip further along the path the more we try to save you, despite our better judgement. Keep in mind, queen, should you show more black on your shell than green, I can kill Blacks.”

“Oh yes, because with Celestia’s seal on my magic, I’m such a threat,” she snapped. She got up and stormed closer to Ledger. “And why should I rely on...bleh, friends? No-one even wants to be mine, so what’s the point in trying?”

“That’s circular reasoning, what little you’re using,” Ledger said with a roll of his eyes. “If you don’t try to have friends, they won’t try to be yours because you aren’t being friendly either. And because nobody’s trying to be yours, you don’t try to be friendly. Somebody has to break the cycle. Will it be you or them that’ll swallow their pride first? I have my bits on you and Rainbow choking on yours at the same time.”

“Ledger, please don’t talk about my friends like that,” Twilight sighed.

“Why should I change?” Chrysalis replied. “Ironic, coming from a Changeling, but my point stands. Isn’t friendship accepting the other for who they are? Oh yes Twilight, I actually listen to your little lectures! And guess what? No-one cares!! I’m just the big, bad bug that terrorized Canterlot. If I apologize, no-one listens. If I say I want a friend, no-one steps forward.”

She looked around the room with a certain level of disgust. “Equestria is nothing but a land of fools and hypocrites. It makes me sick to my stomach.”

“Has your current way of life and living earned you anything beyond hatred, scorn, and disgust?” Ledger pointed out. “If you don’t change yourself, nobody can change you for you, and you’ll never get anywhere. You want to be independent of Twilight feeding you? Find a way to earn those emotions we all crave. Otherwise I’m sure that seal will be on you for a long, long time.”

Chrysalis stared at him, before snarling and storming out of the house, being sure to remove the door from its hinges in the process. Twilight winced as she left and bowed her head.

“I’m really, really sorry about that,” she sighed.

“Not your fault,” Ledger called after her. “She’s a noble, nigh-unreasonable nymph. It’s what they do.”

“I’ve seen it though, and she can make a friend if she tries,” Twilight said as she used her magic to repair the door. “I should go after her, make sure she stays out of trouble...”

“Knowing her and this town, trouble will find her, and she’ll make it worse,” Ledger said as he shook his head. Twilight nodded and teleported from the room.

“Well...that was...something,” Midnight replied, having remained oddly quiet the whole time.

“It’s Changelings interacting, what did you expect?” the drone replied as he drew close to Midnight and hugged her.

“Mmm, Levvy, Do you love me?” she asked sweetly.

“What sort of question is that?” he asked before nodding. “Of course I do.”

“Eeeee~” She pulled out a massive bundle of paperwork that Narrow had given her. “I’d hoped you’d say that.”

“...You’re lucky I do love you,” Ledger said as he sighed and lit his horn up, dividing the pile into quarters and taking three of them. “I’ll do these, you can do that one.”

“Yay!” Midnight cheered as she grabbed his face and kissed him.

“Ohhh my turn~” Discord cheered and he grabbed Ledger’s face and kissed him as well. The drone sputtered and glared at the chaos spirit, too angry for words. Discord patted his head and smiled.

“Ah, you’re not that great a kisser anyway.” He looked around as he donned a pair of khaki overalls and tapped his chin. “Hmm, looks like y’all got a bug infestation in here. Seems the queen made a nest here huh?”

“I’m starting to wish she was never assigned to Twilight,” Ledger deadpanned, glad for the topic change.

“Well, what can you do. Sunbutt was the one that ordered it, and Twilight follows her like a lost puppy.” Discord waved a cigar around before eating it. “Hmm, well, maybe I can give you a hand with this?”

“As long as you think you can help, who am I to stand in your way?” Ledger said with a...vicious grin.

“Excellent, let the chaos commence...oh?” He paused and looked at Joyful. “Now who is this little diabeetus-causer?”

“Hiya!” the pink filly said as she waved at the spirit. “I’m Joyful-Heart!”

Discord smiled as he sized the filly up, taking a measuring tape, then a set of scales and finally something that looked like a small metal book that opened up and beeped a few times.

“Hhm yep. The Chaos is strong with this one!” he grinned like the madman he was. He tossed the filly a blank card and beamed.

“Gimme a call when you’re old enough. I have a job for you!”

To nopony’s surprise, the filly put the card away...somewhere before saluting the spirit of chaos with one wing. Discord nodded and vanished.

“Should I be as terrified as I am right now?” Midnight said, holding Ledger a little closer.

“Not yet,” Ledger said as he counted back in his head. Five, four...

And soon the sounds of air-raid sirens and screaming could be heard from the city. And a distant mad cackle that rose above it all…

“And now you can panic,” Ledger said with a sigh. Midnight nodded and walked from the room, returning a few moments later, fully armed and armoured.

“Bring it!”

Thankfully, nothing really happened aside from a worrying soundtrack. Twilight had prevented both Discord and Chrysalis from doing anything too dramatic. Chrysalis had tried, but got bored and gave up about five minutes in.

And the Alicorn had threatened to tell Fluttershy, effectively sending the chaos spirit packing

And later that night, the queen had been offered the spare room to have all to herself for the night, Twilight pacing up and down the corridor as she worked up the nerve to do what had to be done.

Sleep in the same room as the ponies she was trying to romance.

After placing a blanket over Midnight and Joyful, who had fallen asleep on the couch. Ledger came up behind the pacing alicorn, having been voulentold to do kitchen duty and thus was the last to bed. “Something wrong?” he asked gently.

“W-Wha!” Twilight jumped and turned to look at who had scared the purple out of her. “Oh, it’s just you. Yeah... I guess. Just...nervous is all.”

It didn’t take a genius to determine why said genius was nervous. “Twilight, what has been my unfailing promise?”

“I know, I know... but, it’s still a big step for me,” she said. “I know it’s silly that I’m being so foalish about all of this.” She screwed her eyes shut and scrunched up her muzzle. It had to be the most adorable bloody thing Ledger had seen from her yet. She stamped a hoof and gave an affirmative nod. “Okay, time to bite the bit and do it!” She reared up onto her hind legs and all but charged into the bedroom…

Only to find her path blocked by Ledger’s quick step into her way. “Whoa there,” he said. “No need to charge into battle. You’re not sleeping with us and need to assert your dominance. You’re just sharing our bed.”

Twilight blinked, she knew that. But now that Ledger had gone ahead and mentioned the other...

The Alicorn turned a deep red and fell onto the floor. The disguised drone sighed before gently putting Twilight on his back, used to carrying ponies by now.

“This’ll do, I suppose,” he muttered before pushing the door open. When he walked in, Scope gave him a bemused look and snorted.

“What, had to knock her out?” she asked him. “Bit extreme don’t you think?”

“I didn’t do this, she did it to herself,” Ledger replied as he looked at the two cuddling mares. “Think we can make some room for her?”

“Ah reckon we can oblige,” Cider chuckled as they scooted over a little. “An’ where’s Middy? She’s been glued to you all afternoon.”

“Cuddling a pink nymph on the couch,” the stallion replied as he floated Twilight between the two mares. Once he was happy where she was, he climbed up on the bed as well before realizing that her right was taken up by Cider and her left had Scope attached. If he wanted to cuddle the princess, and he did, he would have to hug her front.

Which he followed up on while waiting for her to come back from blush-territory...

And when she did finally wake, her blush only deepened as she looked away, only to discover that she had a pair of eyes looking at her from almost every direction.

“You know, you’re lucky I’m not Fluttershy,” she muttered. This would have given the Pegasus a heart attack. She looked back at Ledger with a bemused smirk. “Comfy are we? Taking advantage of me while I was out?”

“Only to get you in here,” the stallion said. “Maybe one day you’ll manage to do it yourself without blushing so hard you pass out.”

“Well I was going to, before you stopped me,” she pouted. “I thought I built up a thicker skin to your teasing in the last week, too...”

“Experience is the best teacher,” Ledger replied as he gave Twilight a light nuzzle. “Especially for romantic pursuits.”

“So I’ve noticed,” Twilight nodded. She looked at Apple Cider and Scope Lens. “And... you two don’t mind me being here?”

“Well, ah reckon it’ll take some gettin’ used to,” Cider nodded as she put a hoof around Twilight. “But ah reckon ah’ll manage. What about you Scopey?”

“I’ve got no opinion save one,” the nymph said. “I’m gonna miss taking your form to tease Ledger with.”

Twilight just rolled her eyes and sighed, before she got a small smile and leaned in close so only Scope would hear her.

“Well think about it this way, once I get that far... we can ‘both’ have some fun with him. hmm?”

Scope grinned sharkishly before raising a hoof up for a hoof-bump with the princess. “I am so there.” Twilight returned the gesture and looked at a rather confused Ledger.

“Something wrong?”

“Nope, just wondering why there was a spike of lust while Middy was downstairs,” the stallion replied before whistling ‘innocently’

“Ledger, we’re plotting against you, not with you, deal with it” Scope shrugged and gave Twilight a kiss on the cheek, who surprised her by turning and returning the gesture a little more passionately. Once she’d finished with Scope, she turned and offered one to Cider as well, who shrugged and accepted.

Scope just gave Ledger a half-lidded stare and smiled. “Hmm, somebuggy likes seeing us make out with the princess~”

“Somebuggy likes seeing mares who like him making out with each other, period,” Ledger clarified. Though he wouldn’t deny that seeing Twilight kiss another mare wasn’t hot in and of itself...

“It’s strange,” Twilight said once she broke the kiss. “I never really thought I’d like a mare...well, in this way. But, I never gave much thought to stallions either... guess I just cared about personality more than gender or appearance.”

“Well, doesn’t explain why y’all can love these too then,” Cider chuckled to herself. Ledger and Scope sniffed before turning to each other.

“I think that was a dig at us,” Ledger said.

“Sure was,” Scope replied. “Guess that means Cider doesn’t need any attention for the next...five minutes?”

“Sounds about right,” Ledger said, prompting the nymph to attack Twilight’s mouth with her own while he just watched.

“Well that just ain’t right,” Cider pouted as Twilight’s eyes widened a little from the sudden kiss. The Earth pony looked at Ledger and smiled as she drew closer. “Mmm, but can y’all really go five minutes with me? Watching those two? Knowing that there’s a perfectly good mare just waiting, wanting~?”

“Yup, because of one simple promise,” Ledger said while continuing to watch the oral assault. “I promised to go at Twilight’s speed. I think rutting in front of her would be more than she’s ready for. Since she’s shown that she’s perfectly willing to kiss us, though…” He indicated the scene currently playing out as his sentence trailed off.

“So,” Apple Cider replied undeterred as she nibbled his ear. “You don’t even wanna kiss this cute little mare? Don’t want to hold her? Show the little princess what a real kiss looks like?”

“Mmm, maybe,” he said as he turned to face Cider. “Say sorry for your little jab, and I might even do that.”

“Mm, you know ah love you and Scopey,” Cider giggled. “Ah’m sorry if ah hurt yer feelin’s. Kiss and make up?”

“Can do,” Ledger said as he closed his mouth to hide the silver flash. And when he drew Cider into a kiss, she got the full package with him. He was getting good with his thestral tongue~

Twilight had broken her kiss with Scope and panted a few times to catch her breath. She looked at Cider and tilted her head. “What...are they doing?”

“Ledger’s skilled in pony-like transformations and partial transformations,” Scope explained. “He’s been getting a lot of practice with thestrals as of late…” Here the nymph’s smile turned devious as a hoof trailed along Twilight’s spine. “Especially their tongues.”

The princess shivered at both the touch and the mental image. Midnight had been more that happy earlier to show Twilight what a tongue like that could do. And while Midnight’s straightforwardness was still something she was getting used to...if she ever got used to it. The alicorn could certainly appreciate the... beneficial sides to what a tongue like that could do.

She still had to wonder if Ledger and Midnight had just read one too many Neighponese comics…

Eventually Cider and Ledger broke the kiss, allowing Twilight a brief glimpse of tongue before it was all back in their proper mouths. She shuddered again, though she wasn’t sure if that was nerves... or anticipation. Then Ledger looked at her and smiled, before he closed his mouth and a muted silver flash came from between his lips. When he next opened his mouth to talk, she saw he’d swapped a normal pony tongue back in.

“Liked what you saw?” he asked half-teasingly.

Twilight’ eyes sparkled as she looked at him excitedly. “You can do partial transformations? I thought that only a full-body one was possible. Can you just do that with your tongue? Or is any part of your body able to do so. Ohh, I should write this down and add it to my notes later...”

“Great going Ledger,” Scope sighed. “Way to flip the egghead switch.”

“Fortunately there’s an easy off switch,” the stallion said before suddenly kissing her as deeply as he could with a pony tongue. Twilight paused, her train of thought derailed as the stallion kissed her.

“One of these days, you’re gonna find a mare that doesn’t work on,” Scope replied, before giving Ledger’s flank a squeeze. He was too busy kissing Twilight to respond properly. Scope then got a grin that was positively evil. One of her hooves snaked it’s way under his tail... and began to fondle something~

Ledger let out a muffled meep into the kiss, before breaking it and glaring at the nymph. “Do you mind?” he asked. “I was trying to have a moment with Twilight!”

Twilight responded by grabbing his face and kissing him again, whatever Scope did, made his kiss that much more enjoyable. Scope let out a short laugh and resumed her fondling, as Cider planted kisses along his neck as she caressed his flank. With all this attention being paid to him, a certain reaction was unavoidable. He just hoped Twilight didn’t notice, or if she did notice, didn’t mind...

She didn’t seem to notice, but she opened one eye and looked at Scope who made some motion that Ledger didn’t see. Twilight blinked and he felt a short jolt of nerves coming from her.

Before she deepened the kiss slightly and then moaned into it. He wasn’t sure what was going on, and he didn’t really need to know. All he needed to know right now was that if Twilight made any first moves right now, he would reciprocate, even if it meant Middy’s wrath.

After all, it wasn’t every day one bedded a princess~

She broke the kiss and blushed fiercely as she looked away shyly. “U-Um...did I, do that right?” Scope made a motion of clutching her heart and falling backwards.

“You did wonderfully, there’s no real right or wrong when it comes to showing affection,” Ledger said before pecking Twilight’s cheek. The alicorn blushed and nodded.

“If we’re all gonna go where ah think this might be headed, might it be better to wait fer Middy?” Cider asked. “Ah’m all fer some sexytimes, but we are in this together.”

Twilight giggled, “Midnight told me that she wants me first, since Ledger had you and Miss Scope. Is that true?”

“...I may have been their introduction to the herd via rigorous sexing,” Ledger said. “But we also both agreed that whoever you move on first is whoever you move on first.”

“Ah, I appreciate that,” Twilight nodded and then looked at Scope. “Well, to be fair, you already had a turn Mr. Ledger~”

“...The both of you are going to hold that over my head forever, aren’t you,” he deadpanned.

“Well... yes,” Twilight giggled and shared another hoof bump with Scope again. “Don’t worry Ledger, we’ll make it up to you... some day.”

“No rush,” he said, now comfy where he was. “However slow or fast we go is all up to you, your majesty.”

"I thought I told you to call me Twilight," the Alicorn sighed. "Or should I start calling you Duke Secret-Hoarder?"

“If that is your wish,” Ledger returned, the unsaid ‘your majesty’ hanging in the air. “I merely wanted you to know what it was like to be served in this sort of situation.”

"Ledger." Twilight stared blankly at him. "Are you trying to get me to bring my title to bed?"

“More like, trying to get you to associate your title with bed,” the stallion smirked as he let that implication sink in. Unfortunately, Twilight was still relatively innocent and the subtle innuendo escaped her. She tilted her head slowly, kind of like an adorable windup toy.

"What?"

“He’s trying to get you to associate your title with sex,” Scope deadpanned. Twilight blinked and blushed a deep red.

"W-Wha... why would I...oh?" Twilight pulled her tail up in front of her face and just blushed more. Ledger chuckled at the sight before putting a hoof to her cheek.

“I’ll still obey your wishes, Twilight, but that is a goal of mine,” the stallion said honestly.

Twilight nodded as Scope just rolled her eyes and sighed. She really was pushing the 'innocent princess' stereotype.

"Well if that card ain't bein' played, can we get some sleep?" Cider yawned. "Some of us actually hafta work fer a livin'."

“I’m fine with sleeping,” Ledger replied before pecking Twilight one last time and making sure he was comfortable. Twilight had settled next to him, with Cider on her other side. Scope took her usual position of on top of the stallion.

"Isn't that uncomfortable?" Twilight asked the buried stallion. He just shook his head.

“I’m used to it, and it’s actually not a bad way to wake up,” he said, smiling as he let that little nugget of information drop for Twilight to think about. The alicorn just hummed thoughtfully and drifted off to sleep.

Once he was done cleaning himself up, the drone trotted downstairs and saw Twilight, now dry and sitting on the couch, give him a sheepish smile.

“Ledger. Two questions!” Cider said, walking out from the kitchen. “One, why are Scope and Midnight trying to kill each other. And two, why did a dripping wet Princess teleport onto my kitchen table?”

“Ah, well, the first one is they’re re-enacting how they originally met,” Ledger said before rubbing the back of his head with a hoof. “And the second one? I tried to repay a favor via surprise, she wasn’t ready for the surprise part.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Cider said as she looked at Twilight. Words would have to be had. “Well, then you can go and break Middy and Scope up then. Ah reckon that it isn’t good for Middy’s condition.”

“Fine,” Ledger said with an eye-roll. “But if that comes up, I’m saying it was your idea.” With that, the drone was out the door to the backyard. Joyful was there, wearing a cheerleader’s outfit and holding up a banner with Midnight’s face on it, cheering loudly.

The bat was busy dodging fireballs as Dragon Scope roared and chased after her.

“Hey sis,” the drone said as he sat next to her. “They been going at this long?”

“Hmm, about fifteen minutes,” Joyful replied. “Big Sis Middy said something about testing Scopey since she has a lot of love magic and stuff now. And Miss Scopey has been super cool, I mean, she’s a freaking dragon!”

Scope grunted as Midnight grabbed her tail and flipped her, slamming her into the ground. The changeling roared as she got up and Ledger felt a massive amount of power being burned as the nymph shifted again. This time, into a full-grown dragon!

“That’s different,” the drone said simply, understating the change ever so slightly. “Well, as long as she doesn’t try to eat Midnight…”

She just ate Midnight...

“Um, did Big Sis just...” Joyful stared with wide, shocked eyes. Ledger snorted angrily and walked up to the transformed Scope.

“No! Bad nymph! We do NOT eat ponies!” He shouted at her. “You spit her out right now!”

Dragon-Scope just smirked at him, before her face contorted and she coughed and hacked... before the Thestral was spat out, covered in slime and looking quite pissed.

“You freaking ate me!?”

Scope coughed as she returned to normal and stared at Midnight. “Did you have to punch me in the throat?”

“You ATE ME!” she yelled.

“You said not to hold back!” Scope retorted.

“I said not to hold back on the magic. Not eat me!”

“Wait...throat punch...you swallowed her?” Ledger said, glaring at the nymph. “If I hadn’t come out to stop you and she hadn’t done that...oh, I am very certain we would have a dead nymph on our hooves.”

“I didn’t mean to, but...” Scope blushed. “She was kinda tasty...”

“As if all our nights together didn’t tell you that already,” Ledger said with more than a bit of bite to his voice. “Okay you two, no more sparring until Scope has a handle on her transformation and stops eating ponies.”

“It was a spur of the moment thing,” Scope pouted. “Would you have rather I used my flame breath? I guarantee that there wouldn’t be a bat left, or a house. Prolly not even a farm.”

“Okay, still, I’m kinda glad you were a weakling when we first met,” Midnight breathed and shook herself off, covering Ledger in dragon drool. He stuck his tongue out at the feeling before sighing.

“Just, try not to become a full-grown dragon until you can control it, Scope?” he pleaded. “I need to go wash up.” With a soft pop, the stallion was gone to the shower again.

Scope and Midnight looked at one another, before laughing. Midnight moved to pick up Joyful, and forgetting she was still slimy. And soon, Ledger had two more guests in his shower...

After breakfast, Scope and Midnight were being forced to clean up the destruction they wrought outside, as Twilight, Ledger and Cider sat at the table.

“Okay Ledger, Twilight, wanna explain this morning?” she asked. Chrysalis perked an ear up as well. This sounded juicy~

“Well I woke up with Twilight and immediately noticed a problem,” Ledger said. “And pretty soon, she did as well.”

“I um...was curious I guess,” Twilight replied. “And, you all have been so good to me so far. I guess I just, lost myself in the moment.”

“So, you two... did that?” Cider raised an eyebrow, an artform that all Apple Family members mastered.

“She used her hooves and magic,” Ledger clarified. “Nothing else. And eventually got the reaction she was looking for.”

“Yeah, all over me,” Twilight deadpanned.

“Yeah, Ledger does that,” Cider replied. “You shoulda seen it when we first met. Ah coulda taken a bath in it.”

“Oh please, like the little drone is that gifted,” Chrysalis snarked.

“My dad is a Violet,” Ledger said, shutting her up for a moment. “Anyways, when she went into the shower to clean herself off, I teleported behind her to repay the favor...something she wasn’t ready for, apparently.”

“Sorry, but you really scared me when you did that... and, you said you’d wait too...”

“Ohh,” Chrysalis catcalled. “Did the big bad drone want a piece of Princess pu—”

“If you’d rather we drop it, we will,” Ledger said, cutting off the snarky queen. “But I would feel bad if I didn’t do something for you after that.”

“It’s fine, really,” Twilight blushed at the thought of him doing something like that to her. “I’m happy that you’re happy...”

“Oh gods, this is so sappy,” Chrysalis gagged. “And that’s coming from a nymph that had to deal with Shining Armor and his romantic drivel for several weeks.”

“Romance is important,” Ledger said loudly, before dropping his tone back to normal. “Please, let me? I promise to go slowly, but I want to make you feel as good as you made me feel.”

“Just... not quite yet,” Twilight bowed her head in apology. “I know that you’d be gentle, just... give me a little more time.”

“Fair enough,” Ledger said before giving her a peck on the cheek. “I’ll wait for you.”

“Argh! You lot are insufferable,” Chrysalis said as she got up and headed out. “I’m going for a walk. Call me when you all stop having less sap than a forest.”

“Have fun, try and get hit by a carriage,” Joyful waved.

“Joyful!” Ledger scolded her. “This is a queen.”

“Oh yeah,” she said before altering what she said slightly. “Try and get eaten by a dragon.”

“Better,” Ledger nodded his approval.

“I can arrange that!” Scope called out.

“So much fucking nope!” Chrysalis retorted. She was confident, she wasn’t stupid. And that nymph had far too much power for a normal nymph. Even all the love she gained from Shining didn’t make her that strong. She just shook her head and left.

“Uh, should we just let Queen freaking Chrysalis walk around Las Pegasus?” Midnight asked them.

“So long as she remembers to use her disguise, she ought to be fi-”

Then there was the sound of a commotion from the front. Heated voices, angry words. Familiar voices to the regular members of the house.

“Oh...dear,” Ledger said as he edged away from the door.

All she wanted was away from the occupants of that house... And then the world went to shit. Chrysalis had opened the front door, building what little power she had to apply a disguise, when a silver-coated pony teleported right in front of her, followed by a violet-coated one.

Chrysalis blinked at the sudden arrival, before narrowing her eyes. “Oh this is just fucking great...”

And then it went more to shit when the silver mare erupted in a blaze of silver fire and stared into her eyes with no small amount of loathing. “Hello, Chrysalis,” the silver noble nymph said.

“...Do I know you?” Chrysalis replied. Honestly, this scared her far less than that mutant nymph inside that house. At least this nymph wasn’t a fucking dragon.

“Permit me to introduce myself,” the nymph said as the violet pony reverted to his natural drone state. “I am She-who-controls-the-flow-of-Information, or Madame Gossip. Whichever you prefer. And I know more than a few things about the nymph that just didn’t take no for an answer. It’s my job.”

“Well, good for you,” Chrysalis sneered. She really didn’t want to deal with this crap right now. Also, she was going to have words with the Princess that thought it was a good idea to bring her here. “Now I’m in the middle of a walk, so, later.”

“Do you know it’s only because of your grandfather’s intervention that you still breathe?” the Madame said as she idly examined a hoof. “The council was all but ready to leave you to starve or execute you, but he pled for leniency. So they settled for exile. You should really thank him the next time you see him.”

“Oh because he never grew tired of dragging that up!” Chrysalis shot back. “And what gives you the fucking right to lecture me? I don’t know you or your servant there. So get lost.”

“But I know you,” the nymph said with an enigmatic smile. “Raised like a right proper little nymph you were, and had your plan worked, you would have been somebuggy to be proud of. But times are changing, dear. I might be a part of that, I might not. But if you continue to stagnate, you will perish, you and your ways.”

“Oh and here comes this lecture,” Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “You nobles really do love talking don’t you? First my grandfather, then the Violet one in town, and now you.” She stepped forward until her muzzle was nearly pressed against the Madames. “Well you can spare me. My ways are already dead, and when I am, no-one will care.”

“That’s hardly a way to think or live,” the drone pitched in. “You should at least try to live in the world around you, enjoy life. Otherwise you might as well be.”

“A wise sentiment, my husband,” the Madame said. “If one does not try to live, then what is the point of life?”

Chrysalis snorted as everyone had come outside to see what was going on.

“Live life huh? Alright, I’ll do that. As soon as you all do one simple thing for me.”

“Let me guess,” the madame said with a twinkle of mischief in her eyes. “Buck off?”

“Cute, you can’t even swear properly,” Chrysalis snorted.

“Yeah, the mean old queen usually says fuck!” Joyful helped.

Silence reigned as the new drone and the Madame looked at the pink filly, an unreadable expression on the nymph’s face. While the Violet drone looked...worried. “I see,” the nymph eventually said. “Well, regardless, your fate and your life are not things I am interested in anymore, Chrysalis. Assuming you take pride in them and start living again. So I will indeed leave you to your life. You’re not what I came here for, anyways.”

“What do you want?” Midnight said, not forgetting Chrysalis’s last words.

“Oh, simple really,” the nymph smirked. “You all want me to be so friendly and chipper and all that crap. Then one of you, just one step forward, and tell me that you don’t hate me. If even one of you can do that and make me believe it, I’ll do what you want.”

Silence reigned for a moment as those there went over their options, before Ledger’s family all stepped forward one step. “I don’t hate you,” the drone said. “I barely know you. All I have are second-hoof stories. To truly hate someone else, you’d have to know them, know them deeply.”

The nymph nodded before adding her two bits. “I may strongly dislike you, because I fought off nymphs quite like you from courting my brother, but I don’t hate you. True, relations are...strained because of you, but it was only a matter of time before somebuggy from that house tried what you did. You just had the misfortune of going first.”

Ledger merely sat there, waiting for the queen to ask, if she ever did, while Joyful sat on his back. Before she could respond, Twilight also stepped forward.

“I don’t think I could hate anypony,” she said. “I still haven’t forgiven you for what you did to Cadence and Shiny, but you also haven’t tried apologising yet.”

“Ah don’t know you either, so ah don’t hate you,” Cider said.

That just left Scope and Midnight.

“I don’t know why you annoy me,” Scope shrugged. “Maybe because most nobles annoy me. Hell, Ledger annoys me most of the time. So, whatever.”

Once more, Ledger sat still before Joyful perked up. “I may think you’re a meanie who can’t make friends,” the pink filly said, “But I don’t hate you. Even though you don’t know how to play nice at all.”

Midnight looked at her, her expression unreadable and her glazed eyes ensured that nobuggy could read her.

“You sent that Black Changeling after me,” she said, her voice flat and toneless. “Because of that. You ruined my life. You took the love of my life away from me... and recently? I have killed for less...”

Ledger drew close to Midnight and put a peck on her cheek, reminding her more of what she had rather than what she’d lost. Meanwhile, Joyful, the Madame, and the drone all looked at Midnight in various stages of disbelief. A pony that...could hide their feelings like that? Oh, that did not bode well...

“So then do it,” Chrysalis goaded her. “You have those shiny swords there. Use them!”

“I should, I could...” Midnight said, as her eyes retook their usual sparkle. Her emotions flooding back. “But I won’t. It won’t change the past, and I won’t dare harm my future. Ledger took care of that Black. He put himself at risk, and ended that nightmare, and he will never know how much that means to me. But, I’m done with it. I’m done seeing another suffer for stupid reasons. I helped Scopey, even when she actually tried to kill me...”

“And eat you!” Joyful added again.

“That too, s’all right, I’ll eat her later~”

“You can become a dragon as well!”

“Something like that,” Midnight chuckled, wisely choosing to ignore the glares she was getting. “Look Chryssie. I do hate you, but I’ll still help you. It’s just what I do, what most ponies do.”

The queen remained quite silent. She... hadn’t expected this. After a moment, she just turned and walked away. Partially because she still hadn’t taken her walk...

...Mostly so no-one could see her tears.

“With that out of the way,” Ledger said to the couple on their doorstep. “Hello mom, hello dad.”

“Hello son,” the drone said, drawing his boy into a hug. One that sounded...painful. “What’s this I hear about a foal?”

“Um, is he supposed to turn blue?” Twilight asked, then her eyes sparkled with glee. “Oh! Can a changeling shift its colours like a chameleon? Where’s my notebook?”

“Dear, you’re hugging too hard,” the Madame said, prompting the drone to ease up slightly and allow Ledger to breathe. “But he raised a fine point. Miss Midnight?”

Midnight looked up, after watching Chryssie leave. “Mm, sorry what?”

“Would you care to introduce me to your darling friend there?” the noble nymph said as she smiled that mischievous smile. “Seeing as my son is indisposed…”

“Huh? Oh, you don’t know who that is? This is Princess Bookworm Sparklebutt. Booky, this is Madame Gossip. Ledger’s Mom.”

Twilight just facehooved.

“And mine!” Joyful said before launching herself at her mother. “Hi mom, I missed you!”

“Hello dear,” the nymph said as she kissed her daughter. “Have fun with miss Midnight?”

Joyful beamed and nodded. “Yahuh! Big Sis Middy is super fun. We had a bubble bath, an we got ice-cream, and we became a Towel Monster, an we... um, OH! I got to meet a Princess!!”

“So I see,” the noble nymph said before kissing the filly again. “Well I’m happy you had a good time, dear. But now I have work to do. Planning your brother’s wedding.”

“Ooh! I can’t wait. I get four new big sisters!” Joy giggled, crawling around her mother’s side like a big pink spider and settling on her head. “And, once that’s done. I need to find Big Sisters for my other brothers. Then I get MORE sisters!”

“You can almost admire her logic,” the nymph said as she looked at the gathered mares. “What planning have you done so far?”

All three mares remained rather silent…

“...You’ve done some planning, right?”

“We ah...” Midnight paused. “I proposed?”

“Ah accepted?” Cider said.

“I... don’t care,” Scope replied. The madame sighed before looking at Twilight.

“I have my work cut out for me,” she muttered, making even that sound ominous.

“I’m pregnant, that was a slightly bigger concern,” Midnight replied.

“Then Twilight—” Scope started and Twilight shushed her.

“Come along, dears,” the Madame said as she magic’d the doors behind them open. “Let’s figure out how we’re going to do this.”

“....Yes ma’am,” all three sighed and followed her.

Author's Note

Don't you just love it when things slow down a little?

Like the story? Consider dropping Aus and me a dollar on my Patreon. It really does help.

Half the profits will not be used in mad flower experiments.

Chapter 54 - Surprises are the flavor of the day

“So who among you has begun any planning for such a large event?” the noble silver nymph asked as she sat in the living room. The violet drone that had accompanied her hadn’t stopped hugging Ledger, except to punch his shoulder with a hoof every now and then. The words ‘you sly drone’ usually accompanied those actions, and Ledger hadn’t once moved to stop his father. Better to let him get it all out of his system now.

“Well, Apple Family reunions are usually a big deal,” Cider remarked, remembering the last shindig in Ponyville. “We have a lot of family.”

“Yeah, like half of freaking Equestria,” Midnight commented.

“So the question becomes, do you want them knowing?” Ledger’s mother asked as she pulled out a scroll from her saddle-bags.

“Ah reckon ah’ll invite mah immediate family,” Cider agreed. “Plas a few others. Maybe Applejack an’ her kin. Cousin Brae an’ a couple of others.”

“So we’re deciding a guest list?” Midnight asked.

“And a venue, and catering, and who will officiate, and my boy needs to get you all rings,” the nymph began listing off, “Oh, and we mustn’t forget dresses. Hmm,” the Madame said as she began looking her list over. “Did I miss anything? Pony weddings are so different compared to how Changelings do these things...”

“Ah’m sure there’s more to it,” Cider replied. “To be honest, ah never saw mahself gettin’ hitched anytime soon, so ah never bothered really. Mah farm was mah life until a crazy bat and two bugs showed up to throw a wrench in it.”

“You’re welcome,” Midnight and Scope replied, taking a small bow. The Thestral rubbed her head and smiled sheepishly.

“Well, most ponies already know my hangups about weddings, so yeah... hmm, think we can plan an invasion? Chryssie is here after all.”

“While we could plan to have an invasion of changelings,” the Madame said with a cheeky smile. “I really doubt it would add to the proceedings.”

“Plus they’re a mess to clean up after,” the violet drone added.

“Don’t look at me, I don’t know anything about weddings, Pony or Changeling,” Scope waved a hoof when Midnight glanced her way. “Do you think those nymphs at the bar would know? They’ve been here a while?”

“Maybe,” Ledger said before looking at Twilight. “But I think we could do with a pony perspective.”

“Well, my friends and I did fix Cadence's wedding in a single afternoon. If the Apple family is involved, then that should get the catering covered. As far as entertainment goes, well Midnight’s mother is pretty big in the entertainment industry right? And I’m sure Rarity would love to handle the dresses.”

“Are you sure?” Midnight asked her. “I couldn’t ask to have everypony else do everything...”

“They will of course be paid for their efforts,” the noble said even as she began writing things down. “I would not dare imagine otherwise.”

“But, do we even have the money for this?” Midnight asked, looking at Cider. “I don’t know much, but I know that weddings are expensive.”

“I have more than a few savings under various names in Equestria I can pull on,” the Madame said with a smile. “And you’re already paying me back in the best possible way, dear.”

“I am?” Midnight blinked. “Well I mean, you’re a beautiful mare and all, and while I have entertained the thought. But I’m marrying your son and I just don’t think he’d appreciate me sleep—”

“You helped heal my son,” the nymph interrupted. “As well, you love him despite what I’m sure are not a small amount of flaws.”

“Owch,” Ledger said as he held a hoof over his chest. “Thanks, mom. Brutal honesty.”

“I try,” she said with that same smile. “But, as well, you’re carrying my grandfoal. I think I can stand to be a little generous if you’ve not eviscerated him for knocking you up yet.”

“Nah, not that moody yet,” Midnight said.

“We still need to arrange some precautions,” Twilight replied in a serious tone. “Your initial transformation happened a lot faster than normal, so we don’t know how feral you might become.”

“Well damn, when you put it like that,” Midnight winced.

“What sort of precautions are we talking about?” Ledger said as he turned to Twilight. The Alicorn sighed as she looked at him.

“Well... sometimes it’s nothing beyond a foul temper, maybe some hissing and biting...” She paused and decided that they should know. “Though, some old records showed that a Thestral stallion once went to strike his wife... she tore him apart...”

“...So avoid threatening Midnight, and get those maternity leave papers processed pronto,” Ledger summarized. “You might want to take Chryssie home soon, then, and we’ll put a hold on sparring.”

“Being a Thestral sucks,” Midnight sulked. “I don’t wanna hurt anypony...”

“Welcome to my world,” Ledger said with a smirk. “Before meeting you, that was my attitude towards taking any emotions at all.”

“It’ll be alright,” Cider nodded. “And if worse comes to worse, we’ll use Scopey as a distraction~”

“Now Cider is taking digs at me?” the little nymph sighed. “Yup, Ledger is a terrible influence.”

“As are you three,” the disguised drone fired back. “Seriously, the first thing that happens once I’m normal enough to have sex is I get inundated by it. Part of it’s my fault for pursuing it, true, but it takes more than one to tango.”

“Hmm, have I not told you about some decent self-pleasure methods?” his dad asked innocently. Ledger sputtered, coughed, and studiously looked away from the drone sitting next to him.

Midnight and Scope erupted with laughter at that reaction. Cider just shook her head and disappeared to fetch everyone some drinks.

“Back to the topic of the wedding,” Twilight said a little too loudly, also sporting a rather intense blush. “I believe I know somepony that could officiate.”

“We already promised Luna she could,” Ledger said as he paid attention again. “I wouldn’t say no to anypony else showing up, but we did sort of tell her after Middy proposed.” Twilight’s fluffed up wings had settled down, and she looked at her list she’d been compiling, crossing out her name.

“Oh, okay.”

“So that leaves...a venue, and me getting some rings,” Ledger said aloud. The noble nymph nodded and rolled her scroll up before looking at Twilight.

“Unless you have anything to add?” she then questioned the lavender alicorn. She looked at her list and hummed.

“Well, I’m sure there’s a lot more to be done, but we have most of the major details down. I’m sure we’ll work out a suitable menu for the occasion. Hmm, and wedding gifts as well. As for a venue...”

She looked at him and smiled. “Unless you have other plans, you’re welcome to use my castle.”

“Hmm,” Ledger said as a memory surfaced. “Cider, didn’t you say we could use the orchard as well? Up to you where we go.”

“We could, but it is winter, so it might be a mite cold...”

“Fair point,” the stallion conceded to the Apple mare. “Oh, decorations as well. We’ll need those for the occasion.”

“I think we’re missing the most important detail,” Midnight asked. “Like an actual date.”

“Before you start going feral or showing,” the Madame pointed out. Midnight nodded and sighed.

“The other option is to wait until I’ve actually had the foal, plus, that would give Twilight enough to figure out where she fits in all of this.”

“That, is the more logical conclusion,” Twilight nodded.

The Madame had gone silent. Still, even, as she looked at the Princess. Meanwhile, the violet drone had started chuckling, low in his throat.

“Oh no,” Ledger said, eyes widening. “You just told them…”

“Told ‘em what?” Midnight asked. “It’s not like Bookworm could prepare the castle overnight.”

“Not that!” Ledger said, shaking his head. “You just told them that Twilight is trying to fit in in all of this! Which, translated, means-”

“That she’s dating your herd,” the Madame said with the widest of smiles. “Oh dear, you should have said something!” Meanwhile, Ledger’s dad was wholeheartedly laughing.

“Four mares! And one of them’s a Princess! That’s my colt!”

“Well...buck,” Midnight winced as Twilight prepared a quick exit if need be.

“Please don’t tell anypony just yet,” Twilight begged them. “We’re trying to keep this quiet for the time being.”

“That, I can do,” the Madame said with a nod. “Though, now I am torn. Do we marry the herd as it stands so that Midnight will have no trouble fitting into her dress and still have nice photos from the event - do write down that you’ll need a photographer - or do we wait so that you can find your place, if indeed you desire one with them?”

“I... don’t know yet,” Twilight said. “I like them well enough, but... being a Princess means that I have a lot of other commitments. I don’t know if I’ll be able to give them the time they need. If that because I’m a Princess, that fact might cause them unnecessary problems...”

“We’ve dealt with unnecessary problems before,” Ledger said without going into any detail. “And welcome to my world on the first part. I’m constantly afraid that I’ll go one day not giving them enough attention or appreciation for who they are and what they do for me. And that that one day will be enough to wreck everything.”

“I too once faced a similar fear,” the Madame said as she walked over to her son. “The fact that you care about that fact, that it still terrifies you, means you’re doing just fine. Believe me, you’ll know if you’re doing something wrong.”

Twilight nodded. She was toying with one idea. An incredibly stupid and rash idea, but it would solve all their current dilemmas. “And yeah, Ledger strikes me as the type to tell you if you’re screwing up.”

“Or take the screw-up as my responsibility to fix, or a statement that I need to do more, or…” Ledger looked at nothing in particular as fears played out in his mind’s eye. While he was zoning out, Joyful-Heart raised her hoof.

“Yes dear?” Wishful Hope said as he looked at the pink filly.

She blinked and looked at him. “What’s ‘Self Pleasure’?”

“Your dad will tell me when you need that sort of lesson,” the violet drone said, expertly deflecting the topic for now. So he hoped.

“Pfft, Dad’s a sticky mud,” she frowned and looked at her mother. “Mommy, can I learn it? Is it like getting the honey pot all to yourself?”

Midnight covered her mouth and bit her tongue, barely avoiding her usual reply to that sort of thing. The Madame merely smiled her enigmatic smile before drawing the pink filly close with her magic and hugging her.

“Oh dear sweet Joyful-Heart,” the silver nymph said as she cuddled her youngest daughter. “Never change.”

Joy frowned and looked at her. “But...I’m a Changeling, isn't that what we’re supposed to do?”

“She means never change who you are,” Ledger clarified. “Never lose your randomness or your upbeat nature.”

“If I did that, I’d turn into you,” Joyful poked out her tongue and Midnight blinked, before laughing her flank off.

“Oh burn,” she giggled.

“Ack,” Ledger said as he held a hoof to his chest again. “What is with my family insulting me today?”

“You make it too easy, son,” Wishful said as he gave his boy another punch to the shoulder.

Scope chuckled, before her horn glowed a pale green colour and she tilted her head. “Hmm? Oh, hey... yeah, I guess. I didn’t realise you’d learned it alrea- What? No way?! Details. Spill ‘em!”

“Well that’s a thing,” Ledger said as he looked at the small nymph, before turning back to his mother. She nodded and looked at Twilight.

“Your call, dear. Would you like more time, or do you think these four need to be married right now?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight said. “This is their decision really. They’re the ones getting married after all.”

“You’re a part of their lives, however small,” the nymph said softly. “I’m certain they would respect your wishes, if you made them known.”

“I just... I feel like I’m just stepping on everypony’s hooves,” She said. “You guys have been so good at dealing with me so far... Maybe I should just forget about it...”

Ledger heard her melancholy words and disentangled himself from his father, navigated the room, and stood in front of Twilight, staring into her eyes for all of a second.

And then he kissed her, trying to dispel such thoughts from her mind, even if it were only for a moment. Twilight blinked, surprised by the sudden gesture as Midnight sat down, pouting that he’d beaten her to it.

Once the sweet kiss broke, she smiled and hugged Ledger. “Hey, can I do something really, really stupid and selfish?”

“You can certainly ask,” he said as he returned the hug, reveling in the warmth, the affection.

“Can...” She gulped and took a breath. “Can I get married with you guys?”

“When you feel ready,” he said with a nod. “Who would I be to deny you that? When you feel comfortable enough to ask, to say you’d like to without pause or stutter...then I would be comfortable accepting.”

“I’m nervous!” she almost yelled. “Of course I’m going to pause or stutter. I’ve known you guys for like a week. I don’t know if this will work out. If you’ll hate me if it doesn’t.” Sparks shot from her horn as she got more annoyed.

“Why is love too bucking hard!?”

“It shouldn’t be something you force,” Wishful said, speaking about more than one topic. “But something that comes naturally. Something you enjoy and seek with all your heart.”

“And if you put your heart into it,” Ledger said with a smile as he drew back to look at Twilight’s face. “Then it will work out. And we could never hate you.”

“Alright then... I’ll wait,” Twilight sighed. She knew it was a foolish idea to just marry somepony out of the blue like that. Ledger nodded and looked at his mares before voicing his next sentiment.

“Then so will we,” he said aloud, gauging their reactions to his simple declaration. Midnight smiled and nodded, as did Cider.

Scope seemed to be too involved with a one-sided conversation and didn’t pay any attention at all. Ledger then smirked and leaned back into the hug before whispering to the Alicorn.

“Plus this gives you more time to get used to the idea...and act, of intimacy...your majesty.”

The tone the disguised drone had used to say the last two words was husky, as though they were in a bedroom at that very second. She blushed and pushed him away, frowning at him.

“Your son is a pervert,” she said to the Madame. Scope chuckled and looked up.

“He’s not the only one~ Huh? Oh fine, whatever. I highly doubt that they’d care... Alright, alright.”

“What did you expect, once he was back to what passes for normal?” his father questioned. “He can only fight his heritage for so long.”

“Hybrids aren’t uncommon,” the Madame clarified. “Ledger is actually split evenly between Silver and Violet, though his more...lusty side only came to be known after adolescence set in. It was a shame that he was scarred so badly during his time at the Hive of Courage. It deprived the world of what he could have been for so long.”

“Well, I got to coax both big and bigger Ledger out of their shells, so win/win?” Midnight giggled. “Ohh, I remember that night. Mmmm...”

“Combine the things he’s learned with his full nature,” the Madame continued, “And this was going to happen.”

“...I don’t know how to take this,” Ledger eventually admitted. “How do you just get used to the idea of having another part to yourself?”

Twilight fluffed her wings while Midnight stared at him with her red eyes.

“...Okay, point made,” the drone said with a sigh. “Still, it’s pretty weird.”

“There there,” Wishful said from his new position of next to the Madame. “I’m sure you’ll find a way to slake your lust with three mares.”

“Indeed, I don’t know how you’ll cope,” the nymph said dramatically.

“Four actually,” Midnight giggled, pointing at Twilight, who just blushed and waved a hoof.

“But I-we haven’t done anything like that yet!” she cried.

“Not for a lack of trying,” Ledger pitched in. Twilight just blushed harder as she felt a little light headed. Nooo, the rest of her body needed that blood. Go away Blush to end all Blushes.

“Oh yeah,” Scope smiled. “Your brother has yet another mare to add to his collection.. what, oh fine. One sec.”

“Dammit all Ledger. Do you intend to leave any mare single in Equestria!?” Critical’s voice came through.

“Oh hey sis, how’re things in the Empire?” Ledger said as he was looped into the conversation.

“You know, same old, same old,” Critical lied through her teeth. Ledger nodded and looked at the rest of the room before speaking aloud.

“Critical says Hi,” he told the room at large before refocusing on the mental conversation. “So did you find the artist I told you about?”

“How about you shut up?” she responded in kind.

“Fine, then I reserve the right to withhold any and all details about my love life,” he ‘said’ back, smirking as he had one up on his sister at last. Getting the better of her wasn’t easy, but fortunately he had a pretty big bargaining chip.

“Like I would tell you squat about my love life and who I share it with!” Critical yelled. The room was deadly quiet until the nymph spoke up.

“You put me on a general link didn’t you Scope?”

“...Yeah...”

“Mom’s there isn’t she?”

“...Yeah...”

“...Fuck.”

“Language, dear,” the Madame chided her elder daughter. “Now what’s this about a painter?”

“...Nothing?” There was a sound in the background, followed by a muffled squeak. “Ah, not now! Get off.” There was a reply of some sort, followed by another squeak as the nymph blushed so hard, the other’s in the link could feel it.

“Sounds like an awful lot of nothing,” Ledger observed aloud.

“Indeed, perhaps Wishful and I will make a stop in the Crystal Empire before we return home,” the Madame mused aloud.

“Oooh, nooo, you guys definitely shouldn’t do that. It’s ah... too cold. Yeah, cold. Brrr. Stay away from here!”

“I’ve been,” Ledger said aloud. “It’s fine when you get past the shield.”

“I swear, you had better not come here. Dammit! I said not now Palette!... aw buck.”

“Sis,” Ledger said simply. “You found him, didn’t you.”

“...yes. Fine, I admit it. I found him alright. And now I’m his muse and his lover... crap!”

“Expect a visit, young lady,” the Madame said as she glared at Scope’s horn like she could actually see Critical through it.

“Y’know, we’re taking a vacation. Dunno when we’ll be back. Bye now!” And like that, she was gone.

“Heheh, that was hilarious,” Scope giggled.

“I’m glad you think so,” the noble silver nymph groused. “Now I have to give this stallion the once-over for both myself and Inspired-Dream. Plus I have to have a talk with my daughter about the finer points of safe sex for someone with her disability, in case she somehow missed that talk.”

“She did,” Wishful said with a nod. “Her dad never mentioned it to me, and I never went over it with her.”

“I did give her a morning after potion before she left,” Midnight admitted. “You know, just in case.”

“Pony-made?” the Madame questioned.

“General purpose. Dunno if it works on ‘ling’s though,” Midnight admitted. “I asked, but the pharmacist gave me a funny look.”

“That’s not ideal,” the Madame said with a sigh. “Changelings aren’t easy to treat with pony medicines. We’re close enough for some things, not enough for others. It might work, it might not. Our own alchemists devised a better version of the morning-after potion for those with her...disability.”

“If you have some, or at least know the recipe, I could send it to the Empire via Dragonfire mail,” Twilight replied. “Do Changeling’s have an estrus period like ponies? Or a more monthly thing like Thestrals and Griffons?”

“More of a yearly thing,” the noble nymph replied as she pulled out another scroll and began writing on it. “One week out of the year, when a nymph first becomes...receptive. She’ll start emitting pheromones like crazy, and nearby drones will...react. Until she gets pregnant, she’ll have one thing on her mind.”

“Getting pregnant,” Wishful said with a smile. “I remember that week.”

“I bet you do,” the silver nymph said with a dramatic eye-roll. “It’s not impossible for a nymph to become pregnant outside of the week, but if she has sex during that week, it’s almost guaranteed.”

“Interesting,” Twilight replied, writing all this down.

“That happens?” Scope asked. The Madame nodded, and Wishful replied for her.

“It was a wonderful week. She took time out of her schedule to just talk with me, let me know that we would do things at my pace...and one thing led to another, and another, and another…Eventually I didn’t mind the pheromones, and when that happened, ooh.” He hugged himself with his forelegs and shuddered. “I still have the most pleasant dreams about that week.”

“That sounds... interesting,” Midnight replied as Joyful tapped her mother’s shoulder.

“Is this some of that grown up talk? Oh! Am I growed up now? Can I learn all the secrets!?”

“Not yet, dear.” The noble replied, using her magic to stroke her daughter’s mane. “We’ll know when you are, and you likely will as well. I promise, when you’re ready, we’ll have that talk. We won’t put it off any longer than necessary.”

“Booo, fine,” she pouted. “Miss Midnight? Can we go visit Amy then? I’m bored!”

“Aright,” Midnight smiled. “I’m craving more ice-cream anyways. Let’s see if we can eat it all this time.”

“All the ice-cream?” Joyful gasped, releasing her deathgrip from her mother and buzzing over to Midnight. The Thestral nodded and the two headed out... likely about to cause a confectionary shortage.

“Well with them distracted,” Ledger said as he hugged Twilight again, this time from the side. “We’ll plan the wedding on our own, for Ponyville. We’ll have to tell the parents of Cider and Middy yet, but we can do that a bit closer to the date, I think.”

“That sounds acceptable,” the noble said before using her magic to bring Scope close and cuddle her. “You’ll send a message when the time’s set?”

“What have I said about hugs,” the nymph sighed. Well, she guessed it was her fate to be hugged. “And yeah, I can do that.”

“Perfect!” the larger nymph said before putting her in Cider’s grip. “Well in that case, I have a daughter to visit in the Empire before I head home. Remember Ledger, send word to me if you need help with financing this, and I’ll get some bits to you.”

“You don’t need to do that,” the drone said before sighing. “But if I know Scope, she’ll tell you anyways.”

“If it make you uncomfortable and awkward, count on it!” Scope giggled. “Kinda like you were after that hoofjob that Twilight—”

“And you don’t need to tell them that,” Ledger cut her off.

“Oooh, can’t we stay a little longer?” Wishful asked.

“You have a daughter to talk to before I become a grandmother, again,” the nymph said before passing her scroll over to the Princess in the room. “That’s the revisions that need to be done to a normal ‘Morning-after’ potion for it to be effective on a disabled changeling like Critical.”

Twilight looked over it and committed it to memory. “Okay, I’ll send this off right away.” She leaned over and gave Ledger a kiss on the cheek, before doing the same with Scope and Cider. “I’ll be back shortly. Ah, and it was also nice to meet you Miss Gossip. Mr. Wishful.”

“It was fun meeting you as well,” the Madame said before her normal disguise started to shimmer into view. The drone nodded before resuming his usual glamour as well, and in a few seconds, a normal unicorn couple sat in the living room.

“But now we must be going, I imagine we have a train that we’ll be needing to reserve tickets for,” she said before standing up and walking over to Ledger, giving him a quick peck on the head. “Stay out of trouble, dear.”

“Yes mother,” he replied.

“I’ll be back to embarrass you in front of your fiancees later,” she teased, before wrapping herself and Wishful in a silver aura. A moment later, the two vanished. Twilight smiled and gave them a nod, before she headed out to the waypoint and teleported back to Ponyville.

“Sooo...” Scope said as the three sat in the living room. “How long until they realise they left Joyful behind?”

“Joy’s a smart, powerful filly,” Ledger said as he eyed Scope’s horn. “You could probably get in contact with Peaceful-Heart, her dad, and he’d be able to summon her home with their song. She’s...growing in whatever makes Pinks Pinks as time goes on.”

“That, is a terrifying thought,” Scope shuddered, glad that Amy and Joy were no longer chasing her around all the time. Maybe Ace was providing a decent distraction, since the Pink hadn’t come asking for a smile in a while. “But, still raises the point of what to do now. Hmm, threesome?”

“I’d prefer it if you two actually entertained one another,” Ledger said. “Assuming she agrees to the idea, I have a princess to slowly break in to the idea of physical intimacy. I still want to repay her for that hoofjob. It’d be hard enough to get her to agree to the idea in the first place, I think if we introduced the idea of more...”

“You want just two of us to distract Midnight?” Scope asked with a raised eyebrow. “Isn’t Joy doing that?”

“For how long until Peaceful calls her back himself?” Ledger fired back. “And if you can distract her, or distract each other if you don’t need to distract her, that’d be nice.”

“What if she gets to Twilight first?” Cider asked, crossing her forelegs. “You know what Middy’s like. And she’s quite adamant to do just that.”

“Which is why I’m going to take advantage of them being out on the town right now,” Ledger replied evenly. “Once Twilight gets back, I’ll put it to her as...hmm. ‘Advanced anatomy studies,’ with herself as the subject. Or any number of cheesy lines. Point being, I’ll not let Midnight get to her so easily.”

“Why do I get the feeling that this will not end well,” Cider sighed and Scope nodded.

“Yep... ten bits says that one of them ends up on the moon by this evening,” she said. “What happened to ‘going at her pace’?”

“I still will, but I will repay that favor. If she tells me to stop once I’ve started, then I will.” Ledger crossed his forelegs and huffed. “It’s really almost a crime. Somepony as beautiful as her, and nopony in her life to remind her of it in any way. And she feels like she’s still stepping on our hooves whenever she asks something. She needs to be shown that we care about her, and I intend to do that, no matter how long it takes.”

“Princess Twilight is all kinds of awkward, as adorable as it is,” Cider nodded. “Still, don’t push too hard Ledger.”

“Otherwise she’ll push back,” Ledger agreed with a sigh. “Why does romance have to be so hard?”

“Because it wouldn’t be worth it if it wasn’t?” Cider said. “Remember when we started? That was rough...”

“That had less to do with us, and more to do with…” the drone trailed off, not wanting to bring up that day. The day he’d killed a fellow ‘ling.

Hives, some nights he still heard him screaming in his nightmares.

“Oh, you forgot about the time she accused you of her being nothing but a source of food for you,” Scope reminded him. Ledger sighed and rolled his eyes.

“I think every changeling/pony relationship, no matter how casual, has had that conversation at some point if the ‘ling reveals themselves,” the drone replied dryly.

“Yeah well,” Scope sighed and rubbed the back of her head. That was dumb, bringing that up again.

It didn’t help that Midnight walked back in a while later, looking all depressed. Ledger, noticing a lack of a certain pink filly, took it upon himself to be her replacement cuddlebug for the time being.

“Joy had to go home, she was just, there one second and gone the next...” She also didn’t tell them that she’d caught the tail end of that conversation. Ledger nuzzled her comfortingly.

“She does that,” he said soothingly, before a thought struck him and caused him to shudder. “Oh Hives, if our foal is Pink…”

“That could be fun,” Midnight giggled. “Or given your heritage, it could be a Violet.”

“And there’s the happy Middy I was looking for,” Ledger said as he pecked the Thestral on the cheek. “Y’know, the others were just asking for a threesome…”

Midnight hummed, before Ledger felt her get a eureka moment, it wasn’t as potent as Twilight’s, but the rarity of it made it all the sweeter.

“Would you mind sharing?” he asked her gently.

“Well, you and I wanna help Twilight get... aclimatised to our herd right? Well, why don’t we work together~”

“Put on a little show for her, show her that the things we do are normal, safe, and oh-so-pleasing?” he questioned with a raised eyebrow. “That’s fine, but we’ll have to limit it for now. I don’t know if she’s one to watch in the first place, nor do I think she’ll be comfortable if we crowd her.”

“Hmm, true, but I’m very convincing,” Midnight cooed. Ledger nodded once.

“That you are,” he said before looking at Cider and Scope. “Hmm. Well, unless either of you are volunteering, I think Middy and I might need the room in a minute or two, once Twilight comes back…”

“Y’all are gonna try right now?” Cider blinked. “It’s the middle of the afternoon.”

“When has that ever been a concern of ours?” Ledger pointed out. “...I’ll make some casserole for dinner if you give us the room,” he eventually tried bribing the pair.

“Can’ ya’ll at least wait until tonight. Treat the mare to a nice meal?” Cider sighed. “Ah mean, show a little class Ledger.”

“Fine,” he said with an eye-roll. “I’ll cook, but Middy and I get the bedroom with Twilight tonight. Agreed?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Scope replied. “I haven’t had much alone time with Cider anyway. I have a few tricks I wanna show her.”

“I better get started, then,” Ledger said as he wandered into the kitchen, glad they’d restocked it recently. All the things he would need for a traditional ‘Ledger-dinner’ were on the list, and he began pulling things out of cabinets and drawers as he started preparing his casserole and a fried spinach appetizer…

Meanwhile, Twilight was on the verge of pulling her mane out. After all this time, the Yaks of Yakyakistan were coming to talk? Why now of all days?

And this was what she was afraid of, having to put Ledger, Midnight, Cider and Scope second to her duties as a Princess. She sat at the massive table, her head in her hooves as Pinkie rattled off details about the party she wanted to throw for the diplomats.

“Whatever is the matter darling?” Rarity asked her friend, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “I’m sure this meeting will go along swimmingly.”

“Yeah, its just...” Twilight frowned as she penned a message and placed a seal on it, one tied to her waypoint. The others were not going to like this.

“I still don’t know what you see in that Ledger guy,” Rainbow said as she flipped a page of the comic she was reading. “But, if he makes you happy, who are we to stop you.”

“Ah agree with Rainbow,” Applejack nodded. “Ah mean, Cider has a good head on ‘er shoulders. An’ ah reckon that Midnight mare, despite all her...”

“Eccentricities?” Rarity helped.

“Yeah, let’s go with that,” the earth mare nodded. “Ah reckon she’s alright.”

“I think it’s wonderful,” Fluttershy smiled. It didn’t help that Twilight got all cute and flustered whenever she spoke about them.

“Thanks girls,” Twilight smiled. “Oh, and once this diplomatic meeting is done, I have something to ask you all okay?”

The five mares shared a curious look with one another, and nodded.

As Ledger cooked, Midnight noticed a flash from outside and smiled, rushing out to greet their royal friend.

So when all she saw was a letter, the Thestral frowned as she picked it up and opened it. Her eyes scanned the page and she sighed, taking it inside and trotting into the kitchen.

“Hey, Ledger?”

“Mmm?” He replied.

Midnight sighed and cleared her throat.

'To my dearest. Ledger, Midnight, Cider and Scope.

Something has come up that requires my immediate attention, a group of very important delegates has decided on a visit and it is imperative that a good first impression be made.

So unfortunately, I will not be coming back tonight. I am truly sorry for this.

Also, while I hate to ask, could I leave Chrysalis in your care? These guests are quite... particular.

With my love.

Twilight Sparkle.'

“So essentially, no sexytimes with Twilight, look after the Queen, and Princess Sparkle is going to be busy,” Ledger hummed as he considered his cooking, before rolling with it and looking at the other room. “Scope, do you know a ‘return to sender’ spell?”

"Yeah, why?" Scope asked him.

“If Twilight is going to be so busy that she can’t come back for dinner, I think dinner should come to her,” Ledger clarified as he stuck his casserole in the oven to bake at last. And while that baked, he had an appetizer of fried spinach to work on. “Can your spell do that?”

“I dunno... maybe?" Scope shrugged as she leaned into Cider's hug. "I guess it couldn't hurt to try."

The sound of a door opening and some muttering signalled that Chrysalis was back also. Ledger rolled his eyes, but added more spinach to the pile he was about to fry up. It always cooked down anyways. A little garlic and olive oil did wonders to make it more palatable for those that hated it. “Who wants to tell the news to Chryssie that we’re her new foalsitters for tonight?”

Midnight ran from the room and all three mares cried 'Not it.' Ledger just sighed as he went back to his frying. Tonight promised to be...intensive.

Eventually, the casserole finished baking. And with the serving of spinach kept to the side for the lavender alicorn as well, Twilight’s care package was all ready for her. Ledger penned a short reply on the other side of the scroll she’d used to contact them before putting it right next to the plate and nodding at Scope.

“Okay, it’s ready,” he said to the nymph. Scope nodded and with a flash of her horn, the meal was sent on its way.

"Hopefully its still edible when she gets it," Scope nodded.

"Any idea how long I'm stuck here?" Chrysalis asked with a mouthful of food.

“Until Twilight says otherwise,” Ledger said firmly. He was so not putting up with any more of her...antics at this juncture. He had enough on his plate, thank you very much.

"Oh relax," Chrysalis replied. "I don't really care, it gives me a break from that infuriating pink pony."

“Amen to that,” Ledger muttered. He too was glad he didn’t have to deal with too many Pinks at once. Get Amy, Joyful, and Pinkie together, and the world would end.

"I mean, is it genetic or something?" Chrysalis asked. "If you're pink coloured, then you're predispositioned to be utterly insane."

“That implies things about Pinkie and Pink Changelings,” Ledger warned the queen from following that line of thought.

"Pinkie isn't a Changeling," Chrysalis sighed. "She'd be far more predictable if she were..."

“But saying ‘it’s genetic’ implies that perhaps there’s a bit of shared ancestry,” the drone warned. “And down the road of trying to understand anything pink lies madness.”

"Even Twilight won't touch that," the queen laughed as Scope shuddered.

"Oh sweet Hives. The two of you are bonding?"

“...Is that what this is?” Ledger questioned with a raised eyebrow. “I thought we were simply exchanging barbs with them not being about each other for once.”

"Aww, Levvy made a friend," Midnight cooed. "Well I think its nice."

“I suppose it wasn’t impossible, just highly improbable,” the drone conceded before finally eating his own serving of casserole.

Chrysalis looked at the family, before getting up and heading upstairs. "I'm going to bed," she simply said and vanished. Ledger snickered and cleared his mouth of his bite of dinner before snarking on the situation.

“Y’know, for a Changeling, the race that needs positive emotions of others to live, she’s remarkably uncomfortable around the idea of making friends.”

“Well, given how nymphs are raised," Midnight replied. "I think I'll take a shower and head to bed myself." She gave Ledger a peck on the cheek and headed upstairs. He hummed happily as he took the last bite of his dinner, glad to be eating it at last. Though, he of course did not stop watching her flank as she left.

"You're still a perv," Scope chuckled as she cuddled with Cider. "Also, I'm still stealing this one tonight."

“Fair enough,” Ledger said once his mouth was clear. Walking over and giving both of them a peck, he looked around the room at the dirty dishes strewn everywhere and sighed. “One more task before I sleep, I suppose. There usually is.”

"Go and join Middy in the shower," Cider replied. "Scopey and I will take care of this." The two each gave him a deep kiss, though Scopey also groped him a little~

“Suppose I can,” Ledger agreed. “See you two lovely mares later then.” With that, he was off to the bedroom.

Several sets of blue eyes peered at the homestead that that they’d been told to watch, one offering a slight head tilt.

“This the place?”

“Yes. And she’s there as well.”

“Are they all in place?”

“It was too easy… they’ll never even see it coming…”

Chapter 55 - Really, REALLY old foes

Ledger woke up the next morning and snuggled the thestral mare in bed with him, still both glad that she’d decided to carry his foal, and surprised that she was, in fact, carrying his foal. “Morning, beautiful,” he whispered to her, brushing her mane with a hoof.

“You forgot sexy,” she mumbled, snuggling closer. She felt really cold for some reason, and the drone was nice and toasty. Hmm, guess he’ll have a thestral-shaped backpack for a while once he got up.

Ledger slowly tried to shift from the bed so he could go after his morning coffee, and wasn’t really surprised to see that Midnight was trying to come with. “Somepony really wants cuddles, hmm?” he chuckled.

“Sue me,” she murmured. “S’too early, tell Celly to turn off the sun…”

“She’s all the way in Canterlot, and Twilight and I haven’t worked out a public transport system yet,” Ledger rebuked her, even as he made sure she was comfy on his back. “You good back there?”

All he got in response was a chorus of adorable snores...He chuckled and made his way downstairs, only recalling at the top of said stairs that Cider and Scope had been left ‘alone’ in the living room last night…

The entire room reeked of sex and apples… Why apples? The place looked like the house had been raided and how in the hell they caused this much wanton destruction without being heard…

Twilight had probably placed a soundproofing charm on their room at some point last night, Ledger reflected. Ah well. Now all that remained, besides his morning cup of coffee, was finding the two responsible. “Cider? Scope?” he called out.

Two groans could be heard from the overturned couch, and upon inspection, found said mares tangled up in the sheets. Ledger chuckled and used his magic to gently pull the sheets free, at least. And then immediately set them to the side, for later easy retrieval when they did laundry next. “I’m on coffee,” he said simply. “You two clean up after yourselves.”

Another groan and the two shuffled upstairs. They could start round eight in the shower~

It was also around that time that Ledger couldn’t sense their newest houseguest. Chrysalis wasn’t here…

“Chrysalis?” he called out, hoping it was just his poor abilities. Upon not getting a reply, however…

“Hey Scope, do you know where Chryssie is?” he said a little louder once he set the coffee to brew, hoping she could hear him in the shower.

“I dunno,” she called out. “Wandered into the desert and got eaten by a Tatzelwurm?”

“Well see if you can’t find her,” he called back. “Twilight’s sorta trusting us here, and you’re better at that than I am.”

“Fine… gimmie a minute...”

…

…

“The fu— OW!”

“Scope?” Ledger called out as he stood at the base of the stairs. She could have just tripped in the shower. Then again, this family’s track history had him already reciting half-a-dozen self-defense spells in his mind…

“Something… something is interfering with my senses,” She called out and buzzed downstairs, her carapace still dripping wet. “And I don’t know what… but there are a lot of Changelings in the city…”

“...What did it feel like?” Ledger asked, not liking where this line of thought was headed. Surely it was just his nerves acting up. He was imagining things.

“It was weird, like a buzz in my head,” she groaned, placing a hoof against her forehead. “At first I thought it was magical interference, until it felt like something took a bite out of my brain.”

“No, no no no,” Ledger said, now in full-panic mode. “Either that’s a group of changelings with a sick sense of humor wanting to mess with you, or…”

“...Or what Ledger?” Scope asked hesitantly. It had been a long time since she’d seen him panic like this.

“Or a supposedly extinct species is alive and well and hunting changelings,” he said, wondering what spells, if any, would be effective against them. “Did the others ever taunt you about ‘the cammy’s’ coming to take you away if you put up too much of a fuss?”

“I think the Hivemother mentioned it once,” Scope frowned. “It sounded like a total load, so I didn’t listen. All I cared about at the time was finding a drone to possess and a more opulent living arrangement.”

“The thing they taunt you with, the cammy’s? They’re a more foal-friendly version of the Chameleos, a race of lizard-like creatures that hunt and eat changelings.” There we go, emotional insulation, like he used with the Black. That ought to help hide him from their senses. “They’re emotivores as well, but they tend to think of us as bright, shiny, moving meals. Since we do a lot of work getting those emotions, they just decide to forgo any subtlety about earning it themselves…”

“That… what?” Scope blinked as she felt the reinforcements spells pile on her. “No way, how does something like that exist!?”

“They shouldn’t!” Ledger said. “I read about them in the Archive, under ‘Extinct Species,’ but everything else fits! Chrysalis going missing in the middle of the night, without any rhyme or reason, I would normally overlook, but your senses being disrupted so...violently. The feeling of other ‘lings. They’re trying to lure us into looking for her, or them. Classic hunting tactic for them, supposedly.”

“Whazza?” Midnight snorted and blinked from his back. “Stoopid lizard, Levvy’ll kick yer assss….” And like that, she was snoring again.

“Plus let’s not overlook Midnight’s lack of energy,” Ledger pointed out. “Emotional drain can...do...that…” He put the pieces together then and paled. “Scope. No sudden movements. Why do you think they’re called the Chameleos?”

“If you say they can turn invisible…” she whispered. “And Cider’s alone upstairs…”

“Plan,” Ledger said, breathing deeply. “They’re mostly blind and can’t smell worth a damn. Do you remember my emotional insulation spell? A nod or a shake will do.”

She nodded, noting she’d already cast it a few minutes ago. “Good,” Ledger whispered. “I don’t know how they are for hearing. So be quiet. No flying. We’re sorta noticeable when we fly. Get up there. Get her. Cast it on her a few times to make her invisible to their senses, what few they have. We secure the house, then we find the bitch-queen and get her back.” Meanwhile he began readying his insulation spell, preparing to cast it on Midnight once Scope was on her way. He didn’t know what they would do in reaction to all their food being taken away, but he could bet it wouldn’t be pretty.

A smell from the kitchen wafted in and Ledger remembered the coffee he was brewing. The bat sniffed a few times then rolled from his back, all but floating towards the source of the delicious drink that could raise the dead… or just the really sleepy. Ledger hissed and cast his spell on her, not wanting her out of his sight and vulnerable for a moment in case there was something in the house with them. Until Scope and he swept the house with glamour-revealing spells altered for these things, nowhere was safe in his mind.

Scope returned with Cider, who was looking more confused than anything else. Midnight had been pulled into a tight hug from Ledger, her hooves waving feebly at the kitchen, her precious coffee just a few feet away.

“Alright whut in tarnation is goin’ on here?!” Cider asked with a small frown.

“Bottom line, we’ve got a bigger, badder monster on the scene,” Ledger said as he double-checked their spells before letting Midnight go get some coffee. “It’s already taken Chrysalis. Scope and I are likely next on its menu. And there’s no telling when, if ever, it would stop. Especially with a city full of changelings just around the corner.”

“Wait, you think Chrysalis is actually dead?” Scope asked. “Ohh, that’s not gonna go down well with the princess…”

“It’d take them a while to drain something like her,” Ledger said. “We need to sweep the house real fast. Something that reveals invisible objects. Then we need to go to wherever you sensed them, casting that spell all the while. I have an idea as to how to take them out, but I’ll need them gathered up.”

“Are you positive it’s one of these things?” Scope asked as her horn hummed and a small shockwave rattled the house. By expending her love energy, she had cast a much weaker version of the shield that Cadance and Shining were known for, but all it seemed to do was rattle any loose objects.

“There are a myriad other things it could be, but the simplest explanation is it’s a survivor,” Ledger said. “And even if it’s something more convoluted, it bears investigating, if only because it not only resisted but hurt you through your scanning.”

“True enough, a simple feedback loop shouldn’t have done that,” Scope nodded, satisfied that there was nothing in the house. Midnight emerged from the kitchen and looked around at the destroyed living room.

“Whoa! I missed one heck of a party,” she mused and she leant against Scope. “I take it that you and our pretty mare had some fun Scopey?”

“Yup, and they will clean up after themselves after she and I nip out to the yard to check something,” Ledger said, scooting closer to the door and motioning for the small nymph to join him. She did so, causing Midnight to fall over with a light thud. As the two bugs left, Midnight blinked and sat up, sipping her coffee.

“Those two are acting awfully suspicious…” she said. She looked at Cider and blinked. “Are they cheating on us?”

“...With each other,” the mare deadpanned. “Yes Middy. They are fucking like bunnies behind our backs.”

“I knew it!” she whispered.

“Okay, which way?” Ledger said as he kept charging his all-purpose fuck-off spell. If he needed it, he wanted it ready then, not two minutes later.

“Towards the city,” Scope nodded. “That’s where I felt it come from.”

“Let me know when we’re close,” the drone said as he bolstered his emotional insulation once again. Scope sighed and nodded. Then, a thought occured.

“This thing eats Changelings right?”

“Other emotions when it can get them, but it prefers them wrapped up in a crunchy chitin shell, yes,” Ledger clarified.

“So, why the fuck are we looking for it!!”

“Because sending the non-magical ponies out to look for it made so much sense,” Ledger deadpanned. “They can be fought, they can be killed. I don’t know how this one survived. But I’m always up for re-extincting the Chameleos.”

“Killed all the Blacks, and now this thing is left?” Scope shook her head as they walked into the city. Unbelieveable… wait.

Las Pegasus was… normal? Ponies walking the streets, but they hadn’t seen any Changelings yet. Scope could sense them faintly, not wanting to extend her senses too far yet.

What was weird was the fact that everypony seemed to look at them as they walked passed. Not a single pair of eyes failed to notice the disguised pair.

“This… is kinda creepy. And I’m a changeling!” Scope whispered.

“I know,” Ledger whispered back. “...Scope, where are the others? They were flying around and walking around openly just the other day, and now they’re all gone...”

“I don’t know. There are Changelings nearby… hell, that group over there are,” she motioned to a ground of four ponies. “Ledger, we need to get somewhere safe. Now!”

“Yeah, let’s get to the Strip, Sugar should allow us entry real fast,” Ledger said as he quickened his pace.

But when they got there, it was… what was this? The club was… “normal?” Ponies serving drinks, ponies dancing on poles…

“What the fuck?” Scope blinked. “Where are the Changelings?”

“Sugar’s office,” Ledger said, quickly leading the nymph to the place he’d only been to once. “If she’s not there, then we can find her bedroom and demand an explanation.” And once they got there?...

The room was empty… until the door slammed shut and a force-field was erected. Stepping out from the shadows was a very pissed off Moondancer.

“Where. Is. My. Marefriend!” she demanded, throwing the two bugs against a wall with telekinesis.

“I don’t know!” Ledger retorted. “We came here hoping to find her and some normalcy within this city! Backup would have been nice as well!”

She narrowed her eyes as their disguises were torn from them, before Moon sighed and lowered them to the ground. “Sorry… it’s just, you came by this morning, asking for Sugar… that was the last I saw of her.”

“...Someone...is using my likeness?” Ledger growled. That was low. “Okay, Scope, now we need to know. Where is the largest concentration of Changelings in this city? Somepony is...collecting them, apparently.”

Scope frowned and reached out, it took a moment before she yelped as that something interfered again. “GAH! W-What, that’s weird…”

“I’ll repay you in hugs and kisses later,” Ledger dryly said. “What’s weird and where are they?”

“That’s...the weird thing,” she groaned. “Everywhere, they’re all over the...city…” Scope’s eyes widened. “This… is an invasion…”

“...Okay, here’s how I see it,” Ledger sketched it out for the mares. “One hive is using this city as an invasion platform, because it’s accepting of changelings and wants peace with the ‘lings it has. But they’re...not so peaceful, and are slowly replacing us instead of trying to integrate.”

“But how are they so organised?” Scope wondered. “Sure, we Changelings are good… but this feels like…”

“Canterlot,” Moondancer finished. “Where is Queen Chrysalis?”

“She’s one of the ones that went missing,” Ledger said with a sigh. “Though I wouldn’t put this past some of the more...ambitious yellow nobles…”

“You sure about that?” Moondancer spat. “Or is this a vain attempt at regaining what she lost?” The Unicorn was beyond furious, as her horn shone and the room shook.

“Then explain how she managed to not only find, but refrain from being eaten by a Chameleos long enough to strike a bargain with it while she’s been in Equestrian custody,” Ledger said dryly.

“I’ll tear her limb from chitinous limb!” Moondancer roared, only to be stopped by Scope placing a hoof on her chest.

“We’re still jumping to conclusions. All we have is some theories. What we need is solid evidence on what is going on!”

“Well I’m not putting any of us up to be replaced,” Ledger said as he turned an idea over in his head. “Hey Scope, do you think you could get a message to Twilight if you had to?”

“Not without an existing scroll or something that she’s sent,” Scope said. “I don’t know how her dragon thing works, I only have a Return to Sender spell.”

“Same,” Moondancer sighed. She felt woefully insufficient at this point. “I’m losing a marefriend to a Changeling invasion. Again!”

“Hmm…” Ledger hummed as an idea struck him. “Okay, I just had an idea. The other day, Princess Celestia and I went over, something like...fifty legal documents and contracts. Most of them were ones I wrote, but she wrote out a few as well, in response to that mountain of paperwork I assaulted her with. Would a Return to Sender spell work on that?”

“It… might?” Scope asked. “I honestly don’t know, but it’s all we have right now.”

“I’ll help,” Moondancer said. “If I don’t do something then I’ll just tear this city apart.”

“Oka- oh buck, all my workers are changelings, that’s trouble waiting to happen if we go in normally, if they’ve all been replaced as well,” Ledger groaned. “Okay, buck walking. Moondancer, we could use a direct teleport to my office. I assume you know where it is, you drank all my good rum the last time you were there.”

“Yeah, give me a sec,” she nodded as her horn shone and with a pop, they re-appeared inside his office. “Whew, that was a little draining.”

“Yeah, I’ve been trying to ward the place ever since a certain mare just showed up in it one day,” the drone said as he walked over to a filing cabinet and removed a folder. “There should be one in here…” Various bits of paper were removed and tossed carelessly aside as he looked for one with Celestia’s hornwriting on it.

Moondancer suddenly tingled and she vanished with a flash of teleportation. Scope looked around, wondering where the hell the Unicorn had gotten to, before she clutched her head and started screaming!

“Scope!” Ledger abandoned his folder and rushed to her side. “What’s wrong?”

“AAHHHHH!! My… Get OUT!” she screeched. She took a deep gasp and then passed out, falling limp in Ledger’s grasp. He growled and secured her to his back, before returning to looking for that paper that Celestia had written. Within a minute, he’d located it and turned it over, writing on the other side as he waited for Moondancer to return. If she did. If not, he would have to make a half-assed attempt at a Return to Sender spell.

Then there was a knock at the door.

“Boss? You there?”

“Identify yourself,” Ledger barked back, not in the mood to deal with any more conspiracy surrounding him or his loved ones. “There’s been more than enough weirdness today.”

“I handle loading the shipping crates… and something weird is going on out here. Why are there so many of us around?”

“The city’s full of imposter bugs, we’re being invaded,” Ledger said. “I’ll give a raise in bits and emotion to any of you that find the imposters and round them up.”

“Sure thing Boss,” he said a little too eagerly. Ledger hoped that was one loose end tied up and waited for Moondancer to show up again while he looked over his letter, making corrections where need be.

The minutes ticked by, and yet the Unicorn didn’t come back. Scope was still out, then he heard another knock.

“Level?” Midnight’s voice called out through the door. “You in there?”

“Yeah, don’t come in. We’re being invaded. Don’t trust anypony, not even Cider until Scope or I get back and vet her,” he said. “Just go home and lock yourself in the bedroom.”

“Are you kidding? I can help you. Let me in Ledger.”

“Midnight, I would, but I have a plan and I would rather not put you in danger,” Ledger replied evenly. “Just promise me you won’t cook until one of us gets home.”

“What? What’s wrong with the kitchen?”

That secured it, he reached out with his telekinesis and touched somepony. Gripping everything on the other side of the door with his magic, he then slammed everything he held into the door at high speed. Bringing his cargo inside by rapidly opening and shutting the door, it was revealed to be a changeling nymph, a blue one not unlike Scope, only full sized and rather dizzy.

“Midnight knows why Midnight doesn’t cook,” he said with a vicious smile. “I’ve got questions for you, little nymph. And you’re going to give me answers, or you’re going to learn how I got my name the hard way.” That said, he tossed her in the same corner he’d used for holding Toll Taker and fastened her to the floor with the same chains. He’d always meant to clean that corner up; now he was glad he hadn’t.

The nymph shook her head to clear the dizziness and leered at him. “Tell you what?” she said all too sweetly. “That this is Our Glorious Queen’s revival? Or that you, or no pony can stop it?”

Ledger responded by hitting a pressure point under her chitin with pinpoint accuracy. It would do no damage, but it would certainly hurt like he had. The nymph shrieked, before it devolved into a cackle.

“Lookit the little drone, all puffed up and full of himself!” She sneered and licked her lips. “It’s really too bad you’re saturated with that filthy taint of the ponies.” She shook her head. “It’s too bad, you could have been useful… but instead, all you are is a disgrace.”

Ledger did not stomp closer. Stomping was for angry ponies.

He was beyond anger now.

He walked closer, slow and sure, and was never more glad his corruptive influence had been removed. Otherwise he would have gone full Black, right then. The glare he delivered shut the nymph up for all of a second, and that was all he needed.

“You are going to answer my questions,” he said, prompting her to shut up to hear him. Which would turn into a mistake on her end. “Otherwise, every word you say will be returned with me making you hurt. I do not kill, not out of mercy. It is because I try to push the boundaries of what my foes can live through. You will answer me truthfully, otherwise your chitin will be the only reason you are alive or standing. But make no mistake. By the time we are done, I will make you hurt. I will make you bleed. Pain will be your world for as long as I deem fit. You are merely determining how long that will be by answering or refusing to.”

“Let me pose to you a question first,” The nymph said, wholly unimpressed by his threats. “I have never set hoof in this city before, why would I with all these...ergh, ponies. And yet, I knew what your little bat looked like… I wonder why~” And with a pop, she teleported from the room.

“Faith,” Ledger said, breathing heavily. He was surrounded by foes. There was one deity he could turn to, but said deity was...unpredictable. He had to have faith that Moondancer would return, that his mares would be safe.

It had been a slow day for Amy. Even the foals had been… well, she hadn’t seen a single one all day really. The adults that passed by would give her a glance, but not return the waves she would give them.

And it was around then that a familiar Griffon walked into the shop, looking around.

“Acey!” She cheered. “Slow day at work today?” Finally, something normal!

“Something like that,” he replied, giving her a brief hug. “So, no-one else is around huh? All by yourself today?”

“Yeah, no foals at all, and the parents are being all weird, especially when I ask about them,” Amy sighed. “I dunno what happened to the lunch-rush I usually get…”

“Hmm, perhaps it’s just a slow day,” he replied. “Hey, I want you to come and meet someone.”

“You know I can’t leave, Acey,” She said. “Even if there are no foals, I have a job to do!” And with that, she plonked herself behind the counter.

“I really insist you do,” Ace said. “I’m sure the store will be fine if you took a little lunch break eh?”

“Mmm, maybe,” Amy said, rubbing her cheek with a hoof. “Convince me, though.”

“Convince you?” he blinked. “It’s really not that big a deal is it?”

“You know how seriously I take my job Acey. Even if we’re all alone, you’re going to have to convince me to abandon my post for even thirty minutes.” She had a small smile on her face.

The Griffon narrowed his eyes. This was starting to get tedious. He reached out and roughly grabbed her hoof with a powerful talon. “Let’s go Amy!”

That was when her other hoof came up and flung chocolate ice-cream in his face, a scoop having been loaded once the griffon failed to respond properly the first time. He screeched, tossing the mare back as he tried to get the dessert from his eyes. He let out a loud shrill chirp as four drones entered the building, none of them disguised.

“Get that Pink, NOW!” the ‘Not-Acey’ yelled at them. They didn’t have far to look as a large, angry pink dragon reared up from behind the counter, barely fitting in the ice-cream shop. The hatred in its eyes was real. The drones backed up, not expecting a simple Pink nymph to be able to do that. Their reports only said that the Blue with Ledger was capable of it.

The pink dragon growled as it picked the ‘Not-Acey’ up and slammed it back into the ground, before pinning it there with one massive paw. “I’m going to ask questions,” it said. “You’re going to give answers or start losing limbs. Fair warning, I skipped lunch and am hungry.”

The drone winced as his disguise broke and he shifted back to his regular drone self. “P-Please… I was… just doing… as ordered,” he wheezed.

“Then stop doing as they tell you and start living a good life, a fulfilling life,” the dragon said before, surprisingly, letting him up, but not shifting back. “No sudden movements, right boys? I would hate to have to breathe fire in here. My stock would all melt.”

That was when the drones smiled, and the one near the door moved, showing the foals that had been gathered up there. And all of them looked in fear at the massive dragon that used to be their favourite confectionery server.

“...You did that on purpose,” the dragon rumbled. “...You did that to them and me on purpose.” Uh oh, she was angry again. Several foals screamed and ran as fast as their hooves could carry them, some were too terrified to move as the drones smirked and teleported away.

And then, the pink dragon became a pink changeling...that was slowly turning less and less pink, so beset she was by sadness at having scared her favorite customers so badly. One foal came closer to her, even as the others were trying to stop him.

“...S-Scuse me?’ he asked in a shaky voice. “A-Are you… Miss Amy?”

She looked up and nodded once, still glum that he was so scared. Of her. A pink glow took her form over before Amy’s normal pegasus form sat there. Another glow saw Cherry there instead. And a final glow of pink saw the pink nymph returned to her actual form.

The colt stood there with wide eyes. She was also Cherry as well? Oh man… he was so confused. Did that mean he had a crush on a colt? Still…

“You, can be a dragon too?”

“I…” she choked out before sobbing and coughing. “I’ve been...not doing much with my magic for a while,” she said softly once she regained her voice. “The thought of them hurting Ace...hurting you...it just made me so...mad, that I reached for the thing I only ever did once.”

“That’s…” The colt looked back at his friends, before turning back with the biggest smile on his face. “So. AWESOME!” He looked at the group of foals that were still there. “Come on guys! It’s really Miss Amy… and Mr. Cherry I guess?”

The pink nymph soon found herself buried in hugging, giggling foals. Surrounded by happiness, her pinkness returned full force as she giggled and laughed with them. One thought stuck in her brain.

When all this latest craziness is over, I want one.

“Miss Amy?” one filly asked. “I can’t find my Mommy…” There were some echoes of agreement as the group nodded. “Those ponies from before took them somewhere…”

“Well then,” Amy said as she directed the foals to sit in various seats. “You all can stay with me until they come back. And I’ll check and make sure your parents aren’t changelings before they pick you up. But until then…”

The nymph ducked behind the counter before reappearing, a scoop in each hoof. “Who wants ice cream?”

“WE DO!” the foals cheered. Hooves down, Miss Amy was Best Changeling!

Narrow Gaze ducked into one alley, having ditched the ponies that had been following her. She knew something was up the moment she got to work, seeing all her Guards work so diligently.

Those slackers would never work that hard until she started cracking her whip.

“What the flipping feather is going on around here?” she muttered as she exited the opposite end of the alley, and bumped into Level Ledger of all ponies.

“Wha, Ledger!?”

“Shh, not here,” he whispered. “We have a quite the problem on our hooves, and I can’t trust anypony… you’re not one of them are you?” his eyes narrowed and his horn lit up.

“Ledger, if you fire that spell, I will break off your chitin and force-feed it to you,” Narrow warned. “How do I know you're not a Changeling?”

“...Seriously?” the drone deadpanned as he looked around, before a silver glow revealed his slitted eyes. “We don’t have time for this. They already got to almost everypony I know. Hell, half the Changelings in the city aren’t who they say they are.”

Narrow frowned. Just what the buck was… Chrysalis!

“Looks like you figured it out,” Ledger sighed. “Yeah, we were idiots for trusting her. I won’t make that mistake again. Now come on, we’re gathering at a warehouse at the edge of the city. It’s the only safe place left.”

“What about him?” Narrow asked, Ledger paused for a moment, then his eyes widened slightly.

“Fredrick has already been gotten to. We need to regroup. I have Scope Lens looking into where they might be keeping all the kidnapped ponies. And Midnight is preparing to fight as well...”

Narrow nodded. “I see, letting your pregnant fiance go into battle huh?” She had honestly believed him up until this point. Whoever this was, he was good.

“Hrrm, so there’s a few details I missed?” Ledger shifted, as Chrysalis stood before her. “Well damn. Still, I had you going there for a bit. Oh, and goodnight.”

“Wha!” Narrow moved, but too slowly as something struck the back of her head. A Unicorn stallion grinning maniacally.

“You can keep her,” the queen said to the deranged stallion. “Just, try not to kill her. We may need a bargaining chip.”

“Mmm, no promises~” Kill Switch giggled. He was so surprised that a bunch of Changelings let him out. Not that he was complaining, especially when they said he could do what he wanted in this city. “I can’t wait to have some fun with this one~” That bar he was at before had recently been… cleaned out. So he knew the perfect spot to set up.

What a glorious day!

It had been more than an hour, and Moondancer had yet to return. Scope was still unconscious and Ledger was getting impatient.

“If I try what Scope did, I’m likely to end up with just as bad a headache, a bad idea when I’ve got the flames on call,” Ledger mused. “I don’t know where Moondancer went. I don’t dare teleport around, that’ll call attention. There’s only one thing to do.”

Ledger sighed and put his rolled-up scroll on his desk before saying one name just once, as the owner had requested the last time he called. “Discord? If it wouldn’t be a bother, could you perhaps pay attention to a changeling invasion?”

“Ponies screaming, Changelings running about and something else being rather naughty as well,” The scroll unfurled as a picture of Discord walked along the page, looking at what he wrote.

“Honestly, I doubt I could have done better myself… bah! Who am I kidding? Of course I could have done better. I’m ME!”

“True enough, but I have one, well two, questions. The rest I can answer on my own eventually and won’t be a bother to me as I do.” The drone heaved a breath before asking the one weighing on his mind. “Is a Chameleos in the city?”

“Mmm, nasty little things, haven’t seen one in a dog's age,” Discord squicked. “Hate to say it old buddy, you have a lizard issue.”

“Oh, I can deal with that once I find it,” Ledger said with a wicked grin. “You’re welcome to watch when I do. Second question, could you send that scroll to one of the royal sisters? They ought to be warned about a city-wide invasion, and Luna might have some tips on dealing with such a lizard.”

“I could,” Discord hummed. “But Sunbutt is on her way to Ponyville, and Moonbutt is all the way in Romania. Twilight has her little hoofsies full as well and Oh? Congrats on getting some with her. Though, I’ll hate to be you when Shiny-hiney finds out you deflowered his little sister.”

“Dammit,” Ledger cursed. “Okay, how about when Celestia lands in Ponyville? She needs to know.” Without even waiting for a reply, Ledger turned around before blasting his door open with TK.

“Mmm, I missed that about you Levvy!” Discord cackled from his desk. “All the subtlety and nuance of a napalm enema.”

Ledger looked at the scroll before cracking a wry grin. “I have a city to save. Feel free to join me if you want to be looked at like a hero for once instead of a villain. Who knows? You might even meet Chrysalis again.”

Ahh, so that was where his little lovebug was hiding. He knew she wouldn’t run forever~ The spirit cracked his papery neck and grinned. This was gonna be fun!

Ledger walked out to the main floor and adopted a voice that would make Luna proud.

“All of my workers will line up in front of the stairs! All of you that are not, kindly leave before I blast you to smithereens!”

One could almost hear the crickets chirping, as Ledger was presented with an empty warehouse… and all his shipping containers were gone as well.

“Well damn,” Ledger cursed. “They took my inventory...which was a mistake!” He lit his horn up and turned in one direction with a smile on his face. “Tracking runes~” he sang. “Every container, every item. I know where they are~”

A warehouse at the edge of town, the opposite end of the farm.

“Hello… little bug…” a voice droned in his head, causing all his body heat to jump ship.

“...And if I had to hazard a guess, you’re the Chameleos Scope felt,” Ledger replied.

“Ohh, some buggy has done their homework. yes, I believe my species was called that once upon a time… And that little ling on your back, such a tasty treat~ She was...mm, delicious~”

“Nice try, but she’s still breathing. Though do keep riling me up, I am morbidly curious as to whether my Black side can ever return.”

“Ah the Blacks, such a delectably rare and tasty treat for a connoisseur such as myself. And yes, I believe she would be breathing… I only stole a little of her emotion before she put herself in that coma. Quite the ingenious nymph you have there. I cant wait to taste her in person.”

“Like hell,” Ledger replied. “You’re the reason behind there being more changelings in the city as well, aren’t you? Replacing us. It’s all for you, they do it so they don’t get eaten. Am I hitting the mark?”

“For such a smart little Silver, you’re awfully dim. And I don’t think I’ll give you any clues either… hmm, but you have impressed me so far, so I’ll toss the little doggy a bone. Go to that club of yours. There’s a little guard that might need saving… if that funny little Unicorn doesn’t kill her first that is~”

“...Just so you know, Chameleos. I will find you. And I am shoving this spell right down your fucking throat when I do. I will watch you suffer and die if it’s the last thing I do. For every Changeling you have eaten today, I will make you suffer for another hour.”

Ledger then changed course and headed back into the city, not wanting anyone beyond the lizard to die today if he could help it. The strip and the Love Shack wasn’t far.

When Narrow awoke, she was not in a place she expected to be.

Tied to a strange bed as a Unicorn paced around irritably, though his mood lightened when he saw her conscious.

“Ah, I was hoping you’d wake soon. It’s no fun if you can’t scream,” he giggled. Narrow fired off a stun spell, or she would have if her horn wasn’t bound in some kind of cloth.

“Anti-magic wrap, found it in the drawer,” he chuckled. “Along with a few other interesting items as well. Leave it to a whorehouse to have all the fun toys~”

“I will fucking kill you!” Narrow thrashed, but the restraints were solid. Even her own hoof cuffs weren’t this good. Note, she was going to slap Sugar silly if she lived through this.

“Now,” Kill said, holding a few items in his magical grip. “How shall we start? It’s been so long, I just can’t decide.”

“Go fuck a cactus Switch,” Narrow spat at him, the stallion licking it off of his cheek.

“Ohh, feisty. That’s why I like you Cap.” He raised one object that caused her eyes to widen. Who in their right mind would use something so big?

“OOooh, we have a winner!” Kill cheered upon seeing her reaction. “Now, I can’t find any lube. So bite the pillow Cap. I’m going in dry!”

That was about when the door was blasted open, off the hinges, and across the room, clipping Kill’s horn as it flew. The Unicorn yelped as he fell over, clutching his horn as he glared at the door. That was his shtick, who was stealing his thunder now?

And then an undisguised Level Ledger walked into the room, his eyes once again full of fury and hatred. Before anypony could say anything, he unleashed a changeling scream to deafen the psychotic unicorn before he could act. The Unicorn grabbed his ears as Narrow screamed in pain, her position making it impossible to drown out the noise. Ledger didn’t hold it long, thankfully. He didn’t need to. Kill wasn’t focused on him at the moment. A blast of TK saw the unicorn flying across the room, to land next to the door.

“Sorry Captain, wanted to incapacitate Kill here before he could return the favor,” the changeling said as he removed the captain from the bindings. The mare shifted, having been on full display the whole time. She blushed fiercely as she looked at Kill.

“I will bucking kill him,” she growled, still more embarrassed that Ledger saw her like that. “And… thank you for saving me.”

“No problem,” Ledger said as he drew close to the downed stallion, a glow still present on his horn. “And...there we go. Feedback loop applied. He is for all intents and purposes, until the loop is broken, an Earth Pony.”

“Ledger, will you allow some petty revenge from a disgraced and disgusted mare?” she asked, hoping he wouldn’t hold what she was about to do against her.

“Lock him up and put a note on him, we have a crisis going on, remember?” Ledger reminded the mare. “I have a lead on where this is all really going down, but I got sidetracked when I picked up on your situation.”

Narrow dropped the tool she was about to shove where Celestia’s sun didn’t shine. “Right. Of course.” Her horn flashed and he was left encased in a binding spell. “We need back up though. Chrysalis is masquerading as you, and all my Guards have been replaced.”

“Do I look like I give a damn?” Ledger said, pointing at the door for emphasis. “I am more than willing to burn through all the love, lust, and ‘aha’ moments I have ever feasted on to deal with Bitchalis. She doesn’t scare me.”

“And what happens when you do, and we get swarmed by however many more are here?” she asked. “And where are Cider and Midnight? Did they get replaced as well?”

“I left them at the farm this morning, I haven’t been back to check yet,” Ledger replied. “I will when this craziness is over, or if they have been taken, we’ll find out in a minute when we reach their centers of operation.”

“This is insane,” Narrow shook her head. “We have no idea of the number or strength of the force we’re up against,” They moved to exit the bar… and saw that the strip was filled with undisguised Changelings, Chrysalis at their head.

“Well, guess we know now,” she muttered.

“Ah, Chrysalis,” Ledger said, all smiles. “The way I see it, I have two options.”

“Kill them,” the queen ordered as the horde advanced.

“Option two it is!” Ledger said, cackling madly as he fired TK burst after TK burst into the crowd, scattering the horde with seeming ease as he burned through his reserves slowly but surely.

“Oh how cute, he thinks he can win,” Chrysalis cooed. She fired up her horn as a blast of eldritch energy lanced from it, vapourising a nymph that was close to Ledger as the sidewalk exploded. “Now be a dear and stand still for a moment.”

“Y’know, I was going to offer that we team up and take out the Chameleos Scope sensed together!” he shouted before taking to the air, still lancing down bursts of telekinetic energy. “But I guess I’ll have to deal with that fucker myself after I KILL YOU!”

The Changelings scattered, clearing a path as their queen seemed to have completely lost it. Chrysalis roared as her horn sparked and she fired another blast of energy.

“Bitchalis, please!” Ledger said, using his nickname for her out loud. With just a little energy, he redirected the pulse upwards. So much easier than blocking it outright. “Do you know how much Love I’m powered up on?”

“Oh, you think you can match the might of a Queen!?” she lanced another attack, it struck a nearby Changeling and he just collapsed, his form now nothing but a dried husk.

Son of a— She was using Necromancy!

“Alright, that’s it,” Ledger said as he stopped focusing on calling the flames for now. “This fucking ends.” With a huge silver blaze, another dragon made landfall in Las Pegasus.

A huge, silver dragon. It stared down at the now-tiny Chrysalis with an unamused expression on its face. He wouldn’t be able to hold it long, but hopefully the feat itself would stop this madness. By force if need be.

“All that Love, just for little old me, I’m flattered,” she said, batting her eyes. “Will it be enough Ledger?”

“Long enough to squash you,” he said, raising a foot and wiggling the talons on it for emphasis. “You call this off and get taken into custody like a good criminal, or they’ll be scraping you off the street for weeks.”

“Always looking down on others,” she sneered. “The big hero bug that saved the city from a scary Black. I wonder, will that little Alicorn whorse of yours cry because you couldn’t fulfil a promise~?”

“You’ll never know, I’ll make sure they put you in Tartarus right next to Tirek,” Ledger growled, overshadowing her form with his foot. “Last fucking chance. Otherwise I’ll deal with whatever consequences may come from killing you.”

Chrysalis took to the skies, her horn shining with a sickly yellow glow. “You’re just a scared little drone, hiding behind a big disguise. Let me help you with that!” she roared as arcane lightning shot from her, arcing across his scales, but his hide resisted the attack. One paw of his reached out and grabbed her, then slowly started to squeeze.

“Alas, poor Chrysalis. I knew her, she was a total bitch,” Ledger mock-dramaticized as he kept the pressure on her.

She yelped, even as her spells lashed out in blind fury. One nearly struck his eye, more just bouncing off of his scales.

“What are you waiting for?” she screeched. “Don’t have the guts drone?”

“More wondering when your spine will give out, I’ve never squeezed a changeling to death before,” he said with a vicious smile on his face. “Though, there is one thing I can do before you go, just to rub it in…”

He turned to the changelings still watching the spectacle and bellowed a question. “Who do you follow?!”

The Changelings shook in terror, pointing at Ledger, not wanting to suffer the same fate.

“Good answer! If you all return the ORIGINAL Changelings of the city and the ponies you have taken before I am done with her, I will plead for leniency on your behalf with the guard!”

Oh buck that! Most were already heading for the hills, futilely as a magenta dome covered the city. The entire, bucking, city!

“Otherwise, I’ll leave you to Shining Armor...who I’m sure you’re aware has no love of changelings…” Ledger recognized that color, the papers had written about this stallion’s feats.

Another blast of magic hit him in the face, but between the big spells and the squeezing, Chrysalis gave out a loud cry as her form shimmered, and Ledger saw himself clutching a noble blue nymph.

“Even the one you followed was an imposter!” he bellowed. “Now do as I say or you ALL will BURN!”

“LEVEL LEDGER!” The changelings turned, and some promptly soiled themselves. An Alicorn was walking towards them, arcane power crackling around her lavender coat as her eyes shone with a blazing white light. “ALL OF YOU WILL STOP THIS. NOW!!”

“Oh hey Twilight, hold Not-Chrysalis for me,” he said, before tossing the noble blue nymph roughly at her hooves. With an inferno of silver, Ledger retook his normal form. He still wanted to call on the Flames again, after all, and holding Dragon, proper Dragon form, was really draining. He could maybe fight again after doing that feat, but he’d be stretching it. “Ah, much better,” he said before cracking his neck.

Twilight looked at the Changelings, most far too terrified to even move as she ran forward and nuzzled him. “For crying out loud Ledger. First I had to deal with the Yaks, then having the Yaks declare war on Equestria, and then Discord of all beings tells me that I should come here for some stress relief!?”

“Changelings are invading, this one is the cause,” Ledger said before kicking the nymph with a hoof. “Masqueraded herself as Chrysalis, I think she’s got all the original changelings of the city somewhere. Which reminds me…” Ledger looked at the horde around them with his eyes blazing silver. “Don’t you bugs have a job to do?”

“W-With all due respect,” one said, feeling as though he might not get killed. “The… that thing, it’s there… it’ll kill us all…”

“So either you were gathering for it, or you just found it around the ponies and changelings you gathered,” Ledger said, growing angry again. “All of your futures depend on your answer. As in, whether or not you have one.”

“W-We found it,” he stammered. “It was, disguised as a Griffon… one wearing a scarf, we didn’t know… couldn’t sense it…”

“Better,” Ledger said, marginally not upset. “Do you know where the original is? Because that griffon is dating the Pink of this city. Even proposed a marriage. I would hate to be you if you couldn’t find him.”

“W-We don’t… but we’ll look! We’ll search the whole city!”

“Good.” Ledger cast a gaze down at the nymph on the ground. “What’s her name? Her tombstone should say something, after all.”

“...I know her,” one said. “Said her name was… Discarder-of-the-Weak.”

“Oh good,” Ledger said, his smile even wider as it grew malicious. “I have a nymph she’ll just love to meet.” He looked up at the horde and sighed. “I have a plan. I am going to kill that Chameleos. One spell. Emotional overload. I’m going to watch it explode. While I distract it, you all are going to get as many ponies and ‘lings out, got me?”

They all nodded, as Twilight finished the healing spell of the fallen nymph. Ledger had come within a hair’s breadth of killing her. If Twilight hadn’t shown, would he have actually…?

“I still don’t like this,” Narrow muttered. “You sure you can actually kill this thing Ledger?”

“If I fail to kill it, I’ll just draw it to the surface and let Twilight make a friend out of it,” he dryly replied.

“I feel like you’re mocking me,” the princess pouted. “Are you mocking me Ledger?”

“We’ll see after we rescue Chryssie,” Ledger replied, leading his impromptu war party to where the Discarder had stashed the changelings and ponies of Las Pegasus.

When they arrived, it was a scene that they hadn’t been expecting. Hundreds of cocoons hung from the ceiling, as Ledger laid eyes on the beast that had been taunting him. It was big, much bigger than he expected. It really did look like a large chameleon, its scales tinted a poisonous purple and a long horn protruded from his forehead. He also possessed a pair of dragon-like wings and a fat, thick tail.

And an armoured Thestral struggled as it held her in his grip, his fangs dripping as one eye swivelled to greet the drone as he entered.

‘Ah, I was wondering when you’d finish playing and get here. But I’m afraid you’ve interrupted my snack time. Would you mind waiting while I finish this and my dessert?’ He motioned towards the crumpled form of Apple Cider in the corner.

“Midnight, are you okay?” Ledger asked evenly.

“Define okay,” she said, trying to shake free of his grip. The beast turned his head and snapped his jaws at her.

‘Now, now. Food doesn't talk.’

“Has it eaten anypony else?” he asked calmly.

‘I’m right here,’ the lizard frowned. ‘And what do you take me for, a glutton? I limited myself to only a few Changelings and ponies. After all, the main course is finally here. Ooh, and you brought my little appetiser as well~’

“Well then,” Ledger said, actually smiling now. “I suppose we’ll see if I still have enough magic for a decent offense after my stunt in the city.”

The Chameleos sighed and tossed the Thestral aside, the bat slamming into a few cocoons with a wet splat. ‘I saw that, quite impressive. Never thought you had that much power, never thought any Changeling could have that much power. Then again, I’ve been asleep for a very long time.’ He touched one pod, and Ledger saw Chrysalis bound inside. She suddenly screamed in pain as the beast drew a little power from it.

‘Ah, that’s better~’

“Once I engage, you get all of these pods out of here,” he whispered to the horde. “I don’t need a harder fight.” Three spells. He would only need three spells. Emotional insulation, TK, and the Flames.

‘Can you?’ it said calmly as it extended its tail and scooped up Cider. ‘Think one little drone can match me? Even one of those Violets proved no challenge…’ It’s long familiar-looking tongue licked Cider and it smacked its lips together, humming with a delighted tone.

“Why don’t you come over here and find out why the Blacks feared the Silvers?” Ledger taunted, hoping it would get the lizard to forget about Cider.

‘Oh? You think I’m so easily goaded?’ The lizard held out Cider and waved her around a little, still grasped in the coil on the end of his tail. ‘Why don’t you come and get—AAARRGGHHH!’ The beast howled as the end of its tail ceased to be connected to it’s body, Midnight’s wingblade dripping with viscous blood as she held the dropped Cider.

“Forget about me asshole?” she said. Ledger buzzed into the air as he insulated his own emotions, not needing to give the Chameleos any advantage against him whatsoever.

“Get her out of here, Midnight!” the drone said as he fired a blast of TK at the thing’s face. “We don’t need any more ponies dying today!”

“And leave you here alone?” she yelled back. But she also needed to get Cider out of here. The beast lashed out at Ledger, only to have him vanish and reappear a few feet away, Scope Lens now awake and looking a tad annoyed. Ledger nodded his thanks to Scope and fired another blast at the thing before moving, wondering just how blind they were.

It’s eyes moved around, before one locked onto Ledger darting about. It’s long tongue suddenly lashed out, knocking Scope from his back and sending her tumbling across the floor. Ledger kept firing, kept the pressure on, not wanting to give him a free moment to get at Scope until she could walk under her own power. Heck, not even then.

Scope buzzed from the room, as the Chameleos roared and gave chase, ignoring the others as he pursued her.

‘Come back little snack~’ he called out, the blasts from Ledger having done little, if not anything.

“Dammit,” Ledger cursed as he buzzed after the Chameleos, deciding to switch tactics. If TK wasn’t going to hurt it, then he had his fallback plan. “Scope, lead it away from the pods!” he called out as he began to summon the Flames once again. Scope nodded as she led it outside, the beast suddenly vanishing from view…

Right, invisibility…

“Fire off bursts of your glamour-revealer!” Ledger called out, hating to have to put so much pressure on her. “He’s gone invisible!”

Scope whirled in the air and began to fire small blasts of energy, before she yelped as a tongue came out from under her and the lizard held the little nymph in his grasp.

‘Now, thanks for the food~’

“Oh HELL NO!” Ledger said as he tackled the nymph, replacing her with himself, barely pushing her out of the lizard’s grasp. One would argue that this was a worse situation for him to be in.

Except he had a fallback plan. He almost always did.

‘Eager are we, don’t worry, you’ll get your turn,’ the lizard slamming him into the ground a few times. ‘I guess I should tenderise you a little. You seem somewhat tough.’

It made holding onto the Flames hard, but he just kept chanting. Kept feeding them. With all his knowledge, all his wisdom...all his love. And he managed to keep most of it internal, bonus. With luck, the lizard wouldn’t know something was wrong until it was too late.

The Chameleos tossed him into the air as Scope sent a barrage of fireballs at him. The rage that filled her eyes was unparalleled.

‘Such a feisty little defective aren’t you? It almost makes me wish you’d turned out to be the noble you were supposed to be, you would have tasted divine~’

“What?” Scope paused out of shock and the lizard lunged, its maw widening.

Ledger twisted in the air and fired up his wings to land atop the lizard before covering its eyes with his forehooves. Oh, he’d be feeling that one in the morning. But apparently they weren’t entirely blind. So doing this would help her.

It fell to the ground out of surprise, roaring in anger as he flailed, trying to pry the drone from his head. Ledger didn’t fight it, just nodded to Scope. His spell was ready. It would take...everything, for something like this lizard.

But they were worth it.

“Ledger! Don’t you fucking dare!” Scope screamed. “I’ll fucking kill you if you do!”

“Run,” he said simply. “Run and never look back. Save them. Save them all. Get Twilight to come down here if I don’t come back. But don’t you dare come back yourself!”

“You will not die for a defect like me!” she cried as the lizard tried to reach him, its arms unable to reach.

“I will not have you die for me!” he roared back. “Secret-Treasure, you get the fuck out of here, NOW!”

Scope just stared at him, tears streaming down her face. Why was he doing this. He’d live if he just ran. She wasn’t worth it.

Her pause was what the Chameleos needed as he grabbed Ledger’s tail and tossed him again.

‘How sweet, it just makes you all so much more delicious~’

Ledger twisted and flicked his wings out again, flying and preparing to land on the Chameleos’ head again. It didn’t seem able to reach there easily, it’d make a good place to fire from. Instead, the beast vanished from sight.

‘Hold that thought. It just occured to me that I haven’t tasted an Alicorn before. Be right back~’

“Oh no you fucking don’t,” Ledger said as he put the flames on hold before flying down and grabbing Scope, teleporting them both back to the room with all the pods. She’d likely be there, supervising the recovery efforts. Scope clung to him, shaking.

“Why… why do you love a stupid little defect like myself?”

“Because you’re worth it,” Ledger said as he looked around, taking note of the change in scenery. The air around them shimmered as the beast revealed itself, already coiled around them both.

“You gonna use that spell?” Scope asked him softly, holding him close.

“Gonna have to,” Ledger replied. “Don’t hate me,” he said as his eyes glowed silver. Scope shook her head and hugged him tighter.

“Don’t have to. You have us remember?”

Ledger smiled before looking up at their predator. “You want my emotions, lizard? Come take them. But I should warn you, I’ve lived what seems like a long time with these mares. I might be a little tough to swallow.”

‘Really now, that spell?’ the lizard chuckled. ‘You think a little condensed food will stop me? You think a Silver hasn’t tried that before?’

“This isn’t just knowledge,” Ledger said as he blazed silver. “This is love, joy, happiness. All willingly given by two mares and one nymph. All of whom could power a damn hive on their own. I’ve learned things with them you would think impossible. I’ve grown so much, because of them. And now...I give it all over. I am a servant of the Flames of Knowledge, and I give all of myself to your making! All that I have and am, all I have ever harvested! Become the ultimate weapon! Strike down my foe!”

Before the spell fired, time itself seemed to pause, as a certain Chaos spirit hovered there.

“You know,” he hummed idly. “This scene strikes me as a little familiar. Like, a certain Thestral mare doing something similar familiar.” He leaned in close to Ledger, his body might have been paused, but his mind wasn’t. “Is this how you want this to play out? Is this the ending you seek?”

“I would...rather not die,” he admitted slowly, not believing he could be alive still. “But the damn thing needs to die. It already ate somepony. Multiple someponies. Unless you have another idea, then this is how this will have to play out.”

“Ledger, do you remember what I told you before?”

“Faith...unless you’re telling me Twilight Sparkle will happily blow this thing up or Midnight will happily decapitate it before I fire this thing, then I still see no alternative…”

“Oh, make no mistake, you’ve already cast it, you’re going to die Level Ledger,” Discord said. “But… this is Equestria after all. And many things that even I cannot explain have happened. Remember what you asked of me? A little beneficial chaos? Well consider it paid in full my boy. And should you call me again with some inane request! I will be more than a little angry.” He snapped his talon and time restarted.

Even as Ledger began to slip away, he saw his silver flames coat Midnight’s blades, as the mare drove them deep inside the beast’s chest, burning his heart from the inside out.

‘Final Beat: Lagretto of Love!’ she whispered as the beast gave a final howl and toppled. Ledger smiled as everything went...dark…

With a thud, his body fell to the ground as his eyes dimmed. Rest seemed...nice… He never even heard four mares calling out his names.

When the drone next opened his eyes, he… was not where he was previously. He found himself in a dark room, the gentle beep of a heart monitor in the background.

It was around then that a few thoughts occurred, as his brain slowly rebooted.

One. He had died… right? Was this the afterlife? If so, the afterlife was depressingly boring… and it hurt.

Two. That beeping was really annoying.

Three. He had died… right? Then… what the hell was going on?

Something next to him stirred, and he noticed that he had some weight on his right hoof. He slowly turned his head, to see Apple Cider sleeping next to him, her hoof entwined with his own.

“This doesn’t make sense,” the drone muttered. Either he was dead, or...no, there was no ‘or.’ That attack should have killed both him and the Chameleos, and he saw the Chameleos die.

Cider groaned as her eyes fluttered open and once they saw Ledger was awake, she gasped and hugged him tightly, that cracking sound was either his chitin, his spine… or maybe both.

“Air!” he managed to say, barely. Scratch that whole ‘not being dead’ bit, Cider seemed determined to make it true. The Earth pony gasped again and let him go, the drone falling back onto the bed.

“It would be a terrible waste if you killed him… again,” a mare chuckled. A Unicorn dressed in a nurse’s outfit checked his monitor. “His mana levels are still low, but other than that, I think he’s doing okay.”

“How…” Ledger croaked out as his respiratory system came back online. “How am I...”

“Now that’s the million bit question hmm?” the nurse shimmered and Sugar Darling took her place. “Well for one, you should know that this is a private room we set up for you. It’s quite hectic out there right now, half the city loves us, the other vilifies us…” She sighed and took a seat, rubbing her temple. “Honestly, you want to know why you’re alive? The answer is right next to you.”

Ledger looked at Cider and smiled softly. “Sweet mare couldn’t let me go,” he said with a sigh. “I suppose I should have seen that coming, really.”

“Cider there hasn’t left your side for a moment, and your other mares have barely left either,” Sugar smiled. “You’re lucky… an utter fool for trying to leave that all behind in the first place, but lucky all the same.”

“Ain’t no way y’all are leaving me alone with Midnight and Treasure,” Cider nodded. Then she fixed a glare on him and frowned. “If you do something so gum-darned foolish again, ah’ll make you wish y’all hadn’t come back! Got that?”

“Got it,” Ledger said with that same soft smile. Then he fixed his gaze on Sugar and sighed. “How many...are lost?”

“That’s… that’s the thing,” Sugar frowned. “When Midnight killed it, well, when the two of you killed it. We discovered something… strange.”

“You mean besides the fact that a supposedly-extinct species was hunting changelings?” Ledger dryly asked.

“Yes, aside from that. We also discovered that he doesn’t like to chew his food…”

Ledger’s eyes widened. “Well I didn’t see too much in the way of teeth beyond his two fangs…”

Sugar shuddered and hugged a pillow. “I don’t want to think, on what sort of creature gets off on draining the emotions of a creature they are digesting, but when it was quiet, your Thestral mare heard something.”

“...Are you saying?” Ledger asked with a raised eyebrow.

“She gutted the thing and discovered that all the ponies and Changelings, my sister included, were still in it’s stomach. Some had suffered burns and injuries due to the stomach acid, as well as minor asphyxiation. But… they’re alive.”

“Whew,” Ledger said, relieved that they’d not lost anyone to the ancient predator. “Okay. Um...the changelings the Discarder brought with her?”

“They’re being detained by the Royal Guard, until they figure out what to do with them,” Sugar explained, still holding the pillow close to her. “Discarder herself is being kept separate, as most want to tear her chitin off. But at least we have someling just as, if not more vilified than Chrysalis now. Must run in the family…”

“Speaking of her,” Ledger said with a nod as he hugged Cider close to his side. “How is she?”

“Chrysalis? She’s been better. Had almost all her power drained by that thing, and seeing as she isn’t as lucky as you in getting more… she’s in a bad way. Princess Twilight’s been transferring magic, but I think it might only be a matter of time…”

Ledger nodded and looked at Cider before shuffling away from her. “Please go help the queen?” he asked the earth pony mare. “Twilight would be most upset if she were to die.”

Apple Cider didn’t move, she just… smirked?

There was a shout from down the hall, as the door burst open and Chrysalis ran in, looking quite spry for someling that was supposed to be on death’s doorstep.

“Oh for the love of the Hives, you have to hide me!” she panicked.

“Midnight?” Ledger asked, thinking that there was only one bat who could possibly help someling so much, so quickly.

“Come back Chryssie,” he heard his bat sing out. “I only want to love you~”

“I don’t need it!” she shouted back and went to bar the door with a chair.

“You do know you picked the worst room to barricade yourself in, right?” Ledger asked as he went back to cuddling Cider. “If not for you, she’ll break in for us.”

“Aw buck,” the queen sighed as the door opened outwards and a grinning Thestral stood there. Though once she saw Ledger, her target changed and he saw her launch herself across the room at him.

“Aw buck,” the drone repeated. This was going to be painful…

Her wings flared and she stopped in midair an inch from his muzzle, her wingbeats fanning him as she hovered there.

“Love?” she said with an adorable head tilt.

“...Hi Midnight,” he said as he realized he wasn’t in pain from either her affections or her rage. The bat hovered there for a moment longer, before she just dropped and landed on him, hugging and nuzzling him.

“Well, that’s two,” Ledger said as he drank in their affections. “I suppose the only questions left would be about Scope and Twilight.”

“Twilight was a victim of your bat-horse,” Chrysalis said, now hiding behind Sugar. “I don’t know where the midget is.”

“She said she had an important package to deliver,” Sugar said. “To a friend of hers.”

“I highly doubt that, considering her name before she changed it was Discarded-One,” Ledger said, illuminating where he thought Scope would likely be.

“Ohh, we are keeping that under wraps for now,” Sugar shuddered. The last thing they needed was for that mini-ling to fly into a rage and take out half the city.

“Huh. Then I honestly have no clue,” Ledger admitted. “...Nor do I need to know.”

Twilight sighed, the other day had been the absolute pits. Princess Luna had given a lengthy explanation as to what that creature was, expressing her regrets that she couldn’t not have been there at the time. Shining Armor had come from the Empire, and was busy assisting with sorting all the Changelings that had arrived so suddenly.

The amount of complaints Twilight had received seemed to never end, and it wasn’t until Celestia arrived that some sense of order was established. Twilight felt a little bad that she couldn’t do it on her own, but Celestia did have more experience.

Now the Alicorn stood in Ledger’s room, his other mares having gone off the do various things as the purple pony watched him sleep.

What? It’s not creepy!

Ledger gave off a snort and turned over in his bed, apparently not comfortable on his lonesome. Twilight giggled as she climbed up and settled in next to him, nuzzling his mane lightly.

“You seem to enjoy causing me concern, don’t you?” she whispered. “And you certainly don’t do anything by halves. Though, try not to die next time okay?”

“...No promises,” she heard from the drone. “If it earns me more cuddles, I might go charging into danger more often.”

She wasn’t expecting him to answer, but clicked her tongue and nodded. “I’m not kidding you know. Your heart stopped for about five minutes. You really did die. And if you go charging off into danger for such a reason, I’ll have to tie you up.”

“Kinky,” Ledger fired back.

“I have been listening to Luna and Cadence give me… advice, all bucking day,” Twilight sighed. “Oh, and Shiny says that if you live, he’s going to kill you. So, a little heads up there.”

“So avoid the Crystal Empire, got it,” Ledger said as he nuzzled Twilight. “Cuddles now, worry about angry stallions later.”

“Silly Ledger,” Twilight giggled as she hugged him. “Shiny and Cadence are here, along with Luna and Princess Celestia.”

“...Don’t suppose I could go back to being dead to avoid him?” the drone asked hopefully.

“Nah, he’d likely revive you,” she said. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you from the big scary Unicorn.” There was a crash from out in the hallway, as Chrysalis could be heard shouting at Midnight again.

“Heehee, maybe you’ll get a Changeling Queen for your harem next?” she giggled lightly.

“You can keep her,” Ledger groused. “I’m more than happy to see her anywhere but here. Don’t get me wrong, she’s nice when you get under her shell at the actual nymph beneath. The problem is getting there.”

There was another shout, then the sound of Sugar dragging the queen off. Twilight sighed as her horn lit up and the door was locked. She was being a little selfish now and wanted some alone-time. “So, um… about… the other night.”

“Y’mean when you all but begged me to deflower you and buck you into next week?” Ledger asked bluntly.

“Yes, that,” Twilight deadpanned. She swore he was trying to aggravate her on purpose. “Thank you… for being so sweet about it.”

“I know better than to do things a mare doesn’t want, especially in bed,” Ledger said with a shrug. “Took more than a few times and bumps in my relationships for me to learn that lesson, but I know it now.”

“Remind me to get more details about that from the others,” Twilight said as she stretched her wings and got comfortable. Yup, she wasn’t planning on moving for a while. The others gave her the night off, she was gonna snuggle dammit. “And give you some details in return. Oh, and I think Spike wants to talk to you at some point.”

“Along with all of Las Pegasus, I’m sure,” Ledger said as he just snuggled the alicorn. “Tell ‘em to form a queue and I’ll answer their questions one by one.”

“Maybe you should take an Alicorn form, be the Prince of Las Pegasus… hmm, but what would you…? Oh, stupid question. You’d be the Prince of Snark,” she chuckled, poking him in the side with a hoof.

“The perfect counterbalance to the Princess of Friendship, I’m sure,” he said, rolling his eyes. “The idea has merit, but there’s a reason Changelings don’t take on Alicorn form more often.”

“Because there’s only four of us and we’re all mares?” Twilight deadpanned.

“That and unless you feed it every day, it’s about as draining as becoming an adolescent dragon,” Ledger replied. “More if you actually try to do things as one, then it’s more like trying to hold a full-dragon form.”

“Well, goes to show that we Alicorn’s are just too awesome,” Twilight said, channeling her inner Rainbow Dash. “Still, tomorrow's problems are still a day away. Let’s get some sleep before I have to maul somepony.”

“Perish the thought,” Ledger said as he smirked. “It’d be too adorable for words.”

“Me, mauling somepony, would be adorable?” Twilight said with a flat tone. “Mister, you have weird definitions of cute.”

“Anything coming from you is adorable. Just a function of your natural adorableness,” Ledger replied as he just lay there. He could almost feel the heat radiate from her face as she pouted and folded her legs.

“M’not adorable,” she muttered.

“Yes you are,” he replied. “Accept the adorableness as a part of you. Only then will I apply other words to your description.”

“Fine, whatever. I’m all the adorable,” she said with a bemused smile. “What else you got?”

“The same as I give to all the other mares that have agreed to tolerate me,” he said before listing the words off. “Cute, beautiful, intelligent, wonderful, sexy, and drop-dead hot. And I should know the last one.”

“...Too soon Ledger,” Twilight said, giving his ear a small tweak with her magic. “Let’s get some sleep, and when we wake up, we'll see about a repeat performance of the other night hmm?”

“If you say so, your highness,” Ledger said with a smirk as he made himself comfortable. She just huffed and held him close.

“You’re impossible,” she sighed. “Good night.”

Chapter 56 - Getting out of the recovery ward

“So, all ready to be discharged now?” Sugar asked Level Ledger. The question of why she was acting as a nurse still hadn’t come up as well.

“Oh, he’s been ‘discharging’ into Bookworm all morning~” Midnight giggled from his bedside.

“Guess my days of living as a pony are over, huh?” Ledger asked as he stretched. “Magical exhaustion sucks.”

“Gee, if only someone could cast an illusion on you,” Scope said with enough snark to choke her dragon form.

“I’m not discounting that,” Ledger said with an eye-roll. “But I’m willing to bet I was admitted as a changeling and void of any disguise.”

“Actually, little Scopey cast an illusion on you shortly after the battle, when some of the ponies started to wake up,” Sugar explained as she switched off the machines around his bed and helped the drone to his hooves. Ledger got up and made sure he was steady before walking around, recalling his last time with magical exhaustion none-too-fondly.

“Well that helps a bit,” Ledger said as he looked at the little nymph. “If you would, that would be very helpful.”

“Yeah, whatever,” she said as her horn shone and she placed the illusion over him. He now looked like his Unicorn form, only a little dishevelled and weary-looking. What? Critical-Eye wasn’t the only artist.

“Ooh, and since I have all of you here...” Sugar Darling suddenly smiled as Midnight facehooved and groaned.

“Seriously? You haven't forgotten about that?”

“When it comes to you my dear, I could never forget~”

“So long as it’s hooves off, and she consents to everything, I don’t see the harm in you interviewing her,” Ledger replied, finally giving in to the Violet’s incessant demands. The nymph clapped her hooves excitedly and smiled.

“And now Ledger is whoring me out to other mares,” Midnight sighed. “Thanks Lev. Really feeling the love.”

“Um. Wat?” Cider tilted her head in confusion.

“Sugar wants to write a book on Thestrals, and Las Pegasus only has the one,” Ledger explained for Cider. “And like I said, Midnight, hooves off. Unless you say something is okay, Sugar won’t do it. Got it, Sugar? Otherwise, I’ll find a way to repay you.”

“Filly scouts honor!” she said, crossing her heart with a hoof.

“Says the mare that volunteered for nurse duty, just so she could see for herself if I was telling the truth about Ledger,” Midnight smirked and Sugar actually blushed lightly.

“...I’m not gonna touch that one,” Ledger replied as he was satisfied with his range of motion. “Okay, is there anypony waiting to ambush us on our way out?”

“Maybe some newsponies, I don’t know,” Sugar shrugged. Midnight grinned wickedly as she brandished her blades. Oh Celestia, just let them try.

“You will not be adding a bodycount to today's proceedings,” Scope said. “Besides, all four princesses are here. Every reporter in the city is climbing over another to see them. You’re all but forgotten dear drone of mine.”

“Oh good. So long as they aren’t in the lobby waiting to talk to me, we should get out just fine,” Ledger said as he cracked his neck. “Okay, shall we?” His party nodded and they ventured forth, finding the city oddly quiet as they stepped outside, though there were Solar and Lunar guards everywhere.

“Mmm, I’m glad I have time off now,” Midnight stretched. “This seems like a massive pain in the ass to deal with.” It also hadn’t taken the group long to find the royal gathering, four alicorns hardly blended in well, and strangely enough, there were also no reporters around either. Guess they were being kept on lockdown as well.

“All...four...princesses?” Midnight’s ear gave a twitch, and after many months of being on the receiving end of the batpony’s tackle hugs. Ledger could see what was coming.

“Midnight,” Ledger warned her. “Think carefully before you assault a Princess, even with hugs.”

“But… all four!” she protested. “They are hardly ever in the same place! This is a golden chance!”

“What is her deal with molesting alicorns?” Scope asked. She had been walking close to Ledger, another illusion ready in case his current one failed for whatever reason.

“I don’t know, you’d think she’d be happy with the one,” Ledger sighed. “Promise to at least ask first?”

Thankfully, Cadence noticed them, ruining Midnight’s surprise attack. She waved at them as the others noticed as well and all four approached.

“Friends! How good to see you up and about!” Luna smiled, drawing Ledger and Midnight in for a bone-dissolving hug.

“Air,” he choked out, trying to tap on Luna’s shoulder to get her attention. Midnight had already passed out from the sudden attack and it was Celestia to the rescue, prying her sister off of them.

“Sister dear, they just got out of the hospital, don’t put them back.”

Luna blushed and released the ponies, Midnight waking and gasping for air. “See? she rasped. “Wouldn’t have happened if you let me attack…”

“Different problems then,” Ledger said as he made sure his own lungs were working correctly.

“Good to see you up and about,” Cadence said as she cast a quick healing spell on them. Just in case. “We were quite worried when we heard about this incident.”

“Who wouldn’t be?” the disguised drone replied after sighing at the soothing magic. “Changeling invasion, ancient monster...toss in a gang war and we’d have our own Ponyville.”

“Oh har har!” Twilight snarked at him. “Ponyville is nowhere near this bad.”

The other three alicorn’s remained suspiciously quiet, causing the youngest one to sigh and mutter under her breath. Celestia chuckled and turned back to Ledger.

“Still, this has been quite the harrowing ordeal. Are you alright?”

“Just some magical exhaustion, nothing I haven’t been through before,” Ledger said, brushing their concerns off. “A few days around the mares that tolerate me and I’ll be right as rain.”

“Well, that’s good to hear.” The alicorn hummed and looked around. “Still, there’s quite the mess to clear up here. We may be in town for a few days should you need anything.”

“I know,” Ledger groaned. “Bad enough that one of them showed up, but both an invasion and a monster from the history books? I expect relations to hit a low.”

“I honestly had no idea that three were slumbering in the desert,” Luna admitted with a small frown. “All the Changeling activity recently must have awoken them. I am thankful that most of you are whole and hearty.”

“And the rest will recover with time,” Ledger replied. “Honestly, we’d thought they were gone as well. Guess Pinks weren’t the only things to leave the lands.”

“Aye, you are most fortunate in this regard,” Luna nodded. “And such a devastating spell you used. We would like to study it at some point. Perhaps even teach our own mages.”

“I think only a Silver Changeling can use that,” Midnight replied, rolling her neck so it cracked. Then was promptly hugged by Cadence. What? What was this? She was supposed to be the hugger, not the hugee!

“Something like that,” Ledger admitted. “It’s a secret of the noble Silver line. It basically is a conduit for converting magic and emotions into a deadly weapon. All at once. Hence my magical exhaustion.”

“Hmm, perhaps we should recruit you into our Guard?” Luna hummed. “Tia stole one of my Thestrals. Perhaps I could steal a Changeling?”

“I don’t do much beyond TK and that spell,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “And I think if I use it again, I might develop a headache from four mares hitting the back of my head.”

"A pity, but we understand." She looked at his mares and smirked. "You are a lover, not a fighter hmm?"

“I can be both when the occasion calls for it, but I get the feeling if I charge into battle again, chains will come out, and not in a good way,” the disguised drone chuckled.

“Aww," Midnight pouted, before she found herself wrapped in a magical aura. Sugar Darling and Moondancer approached, the latter giving the princesses a polite bow before they ran off with the Thestral.

"Halp! I'm being batnapped!!" Midnight cried as the two mares ran off. All four princesses shared a raised eyebrow and looked at Ledger.

“She’ll be fine,” Ledger said without looking. “That particular Violet has been after Midnight for a while. Turns out there isn’t a volume in the Pony Sutra about Thestrals. She aims to fix that, and today I finally gave her the go-ahead to interview Midnight.”

“And my best teacher apparently," Celestia mused.

"This is apparently normal for this city," Twilight sighed. She looked past Ledger and went to warn him, right before a talon landed on his shoulder, as Ace chuckled at the drone’s small flinch.

"Aye," he chuckled, giving the nymph on his back a scratch under the chin. “Well met Tia. Lulu. Oh! And little Candy and Booky are here too!"

“Hello again Ace,” Ledger said, looking over his shoulder at the gryphon and wincing again at the sight of how bandaged he was. “Dare I ask?”

"Ah," he shrugged. "You know me..."

"This amazingly stupid featherhead was found in the desert, along with the bodies of two more of those lizard thingies!" Amy spoke up from her perch.

“You killed two Chameleos?” Ledger said, now having a greater respect for the griffon. “It...took all I had, and Midnight, to kill one.”

"Yeah, that third one was a slippery bugger," Ace frowned. "Sorry I couldn't beat it. It got into the city because of me." He gave a bow of his head and then looked at the princesses once more. "Ah, before I forget..." he picked up Amy and held her out in front of him. "Meet Amethyst, my adorable little fiancé."

The nymph suddenly found all four Alicorns staring at her…

“Hi!” she said with a wave. “I’m the city’s resident Pink!”

“She’s... kind of adorable," Luna noted, the other three nodded in agreement.

"And she agreed to marry you Ace?" Celestia raised an eyebrow. "She does know you are completely insane yes?"

"Mhmm, she's worse," Ace chuckled, and was about to cuddle her, before she was was snatched up by the royal ponies and snuggled.

“Aww, don’t crowd ladies, plenty of me to go around!” Amy said as she did her best to hug them all back. At once. “And yup, assuming featherhead lives to the ceremony, he and I are gonna get hitched.”

"Hmm?" Celestia looked at Ace and nodded. "Then until such time. Specialist Ace? You are temporarily relieved from duty."

"Bwah?" The Griffon sputtered and shook his head. "Suppose I should have seen that coming. Well, whatever."

“Maybe now you’ll accompany me to some of those things I keep trying to get you interested in? Flower selection, cake selection, place settings?” Amy teased.

"I can do that," Ace nodded, then pulled Ledger close. "And my best buddy will love to join me right?"

"Ohh, that sounds fun," Cider giggled. Ledger grumbled before shooting a dirty look at the griffon.

“When did you become Fredrick?” the drone asked.

“You love my student, that makes us friends by default," Ace chuckled. "Hmm, thats not a bad idea though. Let’s get my kinsman involved as well."

“Marrying everypony?” Amy asked, her pupil-less eyes widening. The very idea was...very, very tempting.

"...I fear I may have said something dangerous," Ace said. Cadence looked at the buggy she was hugging.

"Can I help?" She asked her. The nymph nodded enthusiastically.

“Uh-huh! I could always use more help in planning my wedding! And I haven’t even done anything for Levvy or Freddy!”

The Alicorn of Love smiled widely as Celestia sighed. Things were about to get quite chaotic around here.

"Oh did you call-"

No. Go home Discord!

"Rude much?"

Go home or I’ll tell Fluttershy that I saw you kicking Angel Bunny, Celestia ‘thought out loud’.

”Well, that was just plain uncalled for," Discord said with a huff, his voice vanishing.

"I need a drink," Celestia sighed.

"I feel like I want to know, then I dragged that idea outside and killed it." Scope mused. "And Amy? Do you seriously intend to marry everyone?"

“Nah,” Amy said with a shake of her head. “Just your herd, Freddy and Narrow, and me and Acey.”

Scope just shook her head, then remembered she was still mad at Amy and looked away.

"You know, instead of gabbin' in the middle of the street, we can head home fer some lunch," Cider remarked.

"That sounds lovely," Cadence said. “I just need to find Shiny..." She looked past Ledger and her eyes widened. Shining Armor was walking towards them, and walking next to him... was Princess Cadence?

“What?” Ledger asked, not possessing eyes in the back of his head.

Shining walked up next to him, with the new Cadence on the opposite side of him.

"What? What's going on here?" Shining demanded. Ledger just sighed and closed his eyes.

“Chrysalis, so help me...I am still drained from the fight, I don’t need a headache from you now.”

The Cadence hugging Amy sighed, and with a flash of green flames, Chrysalis took her place. "Tch! And I really had you all convinced as well."

“You did pretty well, I admit,” Ledger said as he pointed at the bundle of pink in the queen’s forelegs. “But I think you’re forgetting about something.”

"Oh please, thanks to that lizard draining my magic, it also removed Sunbutt's seal. And what am I forgetting?"

Amy turned in Chrysalis’ grasp and smiled wide. Almost impossibly so. “Hiya Chryssie~” she sang.

"Pinkie Pie is far more terrifying," the queen said. “So do your worst little one."

“Already doing it,” She chirped. “Me and Acey are gonna have a foal sooner or later. Just think about that, Chryssie~”

Chrysalis looked at Ledger. “Can-Can they do that. Are these two allowed to actually breed?"

“The laws of nature are...malleable around Changelings, so they probably can” Ledger said with a shrug. “Whether or not they should is another matter entirely.”

Chrysalis decided that a change in subject was suddenly needed as she looked at Shining Armor, deciding he was far less dangerous. "Hello there darling, miss me?" she cooed.

“Like a heart attack,” he replied in a deadpan voice.

"Aw, I love you too~" Chrysalis purred. She floated Amy over to Ace and hummed. "Ah, it's good to have my magic back~"

"How come you're so healthy?" Twilight inquired. "Shouldn't you be suffering magical drain like Levvy?"

"Levvy?" Shining asked himself.

"I would," Chrysalis replied and then shuddered. "Except Miss Song is... very affectionate."

“Plus I’m sure not spending all her magic in a desperate gambit to kill the Chameleos helps as well,” Ledger interjected.

“Too true," Chrysalis chuckled and smiled viciously. "I'd have let it eat you while I ran."

"Chrysalis...." Twilight said with a warning tone.

"What? I'd have felt really bad about it afterwards."

“And to think I felt anything resembling care when it drained you,” Ledger sighed dramatically.

"Oh please, only a Pink would be gullible enough to believe that crock," the queen deadpanned. Ledger just shook his head and looked at the couple that had just joined them.

“We were going to Cider’s for lunch,” Ledger offered to Shining and the real Cadence. “You two up for it as well?”

"Hmm, sounds good," Cadence nodded, surprisingly unfazed by Chrysalis' antics. "Are you sure we won't be imposing Miss Cider?"

"Nah, ah just hope mah food goes down well with royalty." Though she offered the lunch, internally? She was what was commonly known as freaking the fuck out. Ledger noticed and walked over to nuzzle and comfort the mare. She smiled, but wasn't too much calmer.

"I'm sure whatever you produce will be wonderful," Celestia smiled. "Your family is quite skilled at catering."

"Thank you," Cider smiled, leaning into Ledger's hug. "Alright. Let's go everypony...and everyling, and everybird..."

“Or you could just say ‘everyone,’” Ledger said with a smirk.

"Oh hush," Cider bumped him with her rump.

Midnight sat on the edge of the bed as Moondancer brushed her mane, the bat having missed this more than she realised.

“So where do we start?" She asked her hostess. Moondancer shrugged and looked at Sugar.

"Not sure. And my ideas might not go down well with Ledger~"

“He did say to keep it to questions,” the semi-disguised nymph said before sighing. “Fine, I’ll ask, though it would be more gratifying to find out the fun way...what are some of the erogenous zones of a Thestral?”

“Well my ear tips are sensi-TIVE!?" Midnight yelped as she looked at the Unicorn that had just nibbled said ears. "Really Moony?"

“I didn't do anything," she whistled.

"Other than that, we have similarities to Pegasi...ahn~"

"As you can see, wings are another good spot," Moondancer chuckled.

“So I see,” Sugar said with a smile as she wrote as much down as she could. “Any other physical differences between yourself and Pegasi?”

Midnight turned to look at Moondancer, who gave a nervous chuckle at the look in the bats eyes

"Well, there are our tongues~"

"You wouldn't dare!" Moondancer said as she backed up slightly. "Sugar. Help!"

“I’m just an observer~” Sugar said as she thoroughly enjoyed the reversal of the previous roles.

"Not coo-MMPH!?" Moondancer tried to flee. But Midnight was going to show Sugar how a trained Thestral tongue worked. Sugar almost forgot to take notes, she was so enthralled with the show.

After a moment, or three. Midnight pulled back and licked her lips with a satisfied sigh. "Mmm, I forgot how tasty you were Moonbutt."

"Honestly," Moondancer sighed, blushing lightly. The bat just grinned and looked at Sugar with a predatory gaze.

"Your turn~"

“There’s no need for that,” the nymph weakly protested. Ledger had also said hooves off...

"Mmm, but Levvy only forbade you from touching~" Midnight giggled. She didn’t know why really, but she was feeling rather amorous right now. She leapt at the mare and proceeded to demonstrate her tongue to her as well. Sugar moaned into the kiss and did her best to avoid grabbing and holding that flank close to her. Something she barely succeeded at.

This mare was good...

Midnight broke the kiss and giggled. “Ohh, you’re tasty too. You have a nice marefriend here Moony."

"I do, do try and leave her in one piece," the Unicorn smirked.

"No promises," Midnight smiled. "Now. What's next~?"

“Aaah…” Sugar shook her head and made a few notes before she reached the next section. “Ah. Special abilities, if any. Beyond that tongue.”

"Midnight. NO!" Moondancer said.

"Aww," the bat pouted. Then leapt at her anyway, her fangs biting her neck. The Unicorn gave a loud moan and lay there blushing and breathless as Midnight pulled away.

“Dare I ask why you bit her?” the nymph asked with an imaginary raised eyebrow.

“T-Thestral… Love Bite,” Moondancer panted as she crawled closer to Sugar. “It, it stimulates… parts of the brain… it’s like, haaah~ Being in Heat, and climaxing. At the same time~” She was already placing needy kisses along the nymph’s neck as she groped her flank.

“Oh dear me,” Sugar said as she just drank in the affection for the moment, not returning it until she was done with her note-taking. This demanded proper documentation. “How long will she be like this?”

“Until she’s satisfied,” Midnight said, smiling at her lusty ex-marefriend. “And knowing Moony, that could be a while~”

“Well then, I’ll get to her in a minute,” Sugar replied, doing her level best to ignore those wandering hooves. “Anything else you feel like bringing up for my notes?”

“Hmm, I have a little hypnosis thing that I can do, only ever did it once with Moony,” Midnight said. Unless she had express permission, she’d never use it, no matter what state of mind she was in.

“I’d ask for a demonstration, but I would rather remain as I am for my writing,” the nymph replied. Midnight nodded as Moondancer found a little something to play with under Sugar’s tail, but Midnight pulled her away and looked into her eyes.

“I can also use it like this,” she said, looking deep into Moon’s eyes. After a moment, the Unicorn fell asleep, snoring peacefully.

“Well, at least she won’t molest you now,” Midnight giggled. Sugar pouted and prodded the sleeping pony with a hoof.

“But I was enjoying the groping,” she dramaticized.

“Well, if that’s the case…” Midnight leaned closer to her and then clicked her tongue. It sounded a lot like when Discord snapped his fingers as the Unicorn sat upright, then pounced on the nymph again.

“Oooh~” the nymph moaned. “Any...ha...thing else you feel like sharing?”

“A few, but you appear to be busy now,” Midnight giggled. “I don’t mind waiting.”

“Mmm, in that case, would you miiiiiiind showing yourself out while I tend to Moony?” The nymph squirmed from all the attention. “We can pick this up another day, I have a pony to please.”

“Aw, I’m not allowed to watch?” Midnight smirked. “Oh fine, have fun with her. She’s gonna be like that for a while.”

“So you said,” Sugar panted. “Oooh, she’s gonna get it good…”

Midnight just chuckled and shook her head as she walked out. Ohh, she remembered that position, Sugar was in for a treat. And she supposed she should start running now, Moondancer was going to kill her later. She gave one last nod and left the room.

Cider hummed a small tune as she swayed her hips while she cooked. She checked the pots that were bubbling, before dicing some vegetables and adding them to the stew that was brewing. Several times, one of the princesses had tried to enter, to either try and help, or just steal some food, but the Earth pony stood strong and denied the access.

She yelped in surprise as a pair of hooves snaked around her neck and she felt somepony nibble her neck. She turned her head and Midnight Song caught her in a kiss, humming thoughtfully at the taste, as Cider had just taste-tested some food.

“Mmm, somepony is especially yummy today!” the bat giggled. She peered at the pot and sniffed. “And what do we have here?”

“Vegetable stew,” the Apple mare said as she whapped Midnight’s hoof with a wooden spoon. “An’ it ain’t ready yet, so keep yer hooves to yerself.”

“Oh fine,” Midnight pouted and kissed her cheek. “Who else is here?”

“Ledger, Scopey, Chrysalis and all the Princesses, oh, and Prince Shining Armor as well,” Cider said.

“Cool, time to say ‘hi’ then,” Midnight said and fluttered up to the ceiling. Time for a surprise attack! She crept along the ceiling and into the living room, looking down at the group sitting in the living room. Ooh, even Ace and Amy were here~

“So,” Celestia said calmly as she sipped her tea, the group unaware of their newest visitor. “How have you been lately Mr. Ledger, aside from the obvious.”

“Excited,” Ledger said as he sipped at his coffee, not one for tea himself. “Working with Twilight is always an experience, one I wouldn’t trade for anything. Should we actually figure out a way to ‘unlock’ waypoints and make teleportation available to the masses...everything changes.”

“You’re trying to do what now?” Shining asked, and Twilight wasted no time in jumping in on an education.

“You know the waypoint spell yes? A set point that the caster can focus on, to make long distance teleportation easier? Well Ledger had the idea of creating one that any caster could access. And one that supplies it’s own power source so anypony could use it, regardless of species. Imagine! It could revolutionise long distance travel. I could have breakfast at home, pop over to the Empire for lunch, then be in Canterlot by dinner!”

“And I am sure it wouldn’t hurt the transportation of goods either,” Celestia said with a knowing smile.

Midnight looked around, having tuned out the boring conversation. Hmm, so many targets, but only one sneak attack. Who should she pounce on…?

“Which is why I’m the one working on it with one of the brightest minds of the generation,” Ledger said with a smile. “...Come to think of it, this is just continuing the trend, really…” the disguised drone trailed off.

“Oh, and what trend is that?” Luna asked.

“Well with Midnight, she helped me get over my issues and with her, I became the head of Pegasus Air,” Ledger said, apparently forgetting about the other stallion in the room. “With Cider, we made a viable plan to make a local brand of Crystal Wine. With Scope, we - briefly - revolutionized the mail system…”

“So how does Twilight fit in with that trend?” Luna dug deeper. “There’s one major difference between her and those other mares.”

“Oh?” Ledger asked, raising his eyebrows at the lunar alicorn. “What way is that?”

“Well Midnight, Cider and Scope are your marefriends yes?” Luna frowned and looked towards the kitchen. “I believe that’s your difference.”

“...Do you want to tell them, Twilight, or should I?” Ledger asked as he looked at the lavender alicorn.

“Tell us what?” Shining asked, as Cadence had already figured it out and held back a barely suppressed squee. Celestia just sipped her tea, her face and emotions unreadable as always.

“I, um, well…” Twilight blushed and stammered. And that was when Midnight discovered her target. She dropped from the ceiling and wrapped the lavender alicorn up in a deep kiss before turning to the group.

“Bookworm is our newest addition, and we love her very much~” she smiled. Ledger nodded, not perturbed at all by this turn of events, having barely ‘sensed’ Midnight before she pounced.

“I believe that covers that,” the drone said as he finished his coffee. Ace hadn’t been fazed at all by Midnight’s appearance, while the only reaction Celestia had given was a slightly raised eyebrow.

“Aw man, you guys are impossible,” Midnight sighed, as she looked at the pony she had pounced, who was recovering from a mild heart attack. “Except for you, I can always count on you for a great reaction.”

Scope may or may not have been clinging to Amy a little harder than necessary.

“Level Ledger.” Shining Armor said calmly. “Explain.”

“Your sister came to me, not the other way around,” Ledger said just as calmly. And if he knew Midnight…

It was actually Twilight that spoke up, much to the drone’s surprise. “And what’s wrong with that Shining Armor?” Oh snap, she never used his full name unless she was pissed. “Would you have preferred if I waited until we got married? Kept the tradition going?”

“Twilight! I—”

“Zip it mister!” she interrupted, actually zipping his mouth shut with magic. “I am a grown mare and I am allowed to pursue whoever I like for either romance or even just a roll in the hay!” She narrowed her eyes and smirked. “And believe me, they roll very well~”

Celestia coughed into her teacup as Luna just blinked. Even Cadence was stunned…

“I think I did too good a job with you,” Ledger said as he looked at his empty teacup, not willing to look up just yet. “...Midnight, we may have created a monster.”

“A sexy monster who is getting ALL the cuddles later!” Midnight purred and draped herself over Twilight. The alicorn sighed and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“And now the moment is gone.” She unzipped Shining and smiled. “So big brother. Problem?”

“Nope,” Shining said, sitting back and drinking his tea. He would freak out in private later. Right now, it was time to save face. “For a pony that loves her books, you rarely do things by the book huh?”

Twilight giggled at his lame joke and gave him a hug. And given that Midnight was on her back, she shrugged and hugged him as well. Ledger finally looked up at the other three princesses with a small smile on his face.

“I promise you all, no matter the situation, I do and will continue to treat Twilight like the princess she is. Even when she would rather I didn’t,” Ledger said. Internally, he was laughing his head off. Because he knew exactly what he was talking about.

“Does that mean…” Cadence said slowly, and Ledger could tell that a Pink explosion was coming. One that could herald the End Times. “When you all get married… that Twilight will...?”

“It depends on her,” Ledger said, trying to head that thought off at the pass. “She’s more than welcome to stay with us and join us, or if she would prefer to leave us because we’re just too crazy for her, that’s fine too. We’ll respect her wishes.”

“I won’t be marrying them straight away,” Twilight clarified, causing Cadence and Amy to deflate somewhat. “Perhaps once we’ve gotten to know one another better. Plus, this is a herd. I need to click with all of them, and I’ve only spent time with Midnight and Ledger.”

“Mmm, I do love spending time with her~” Midnight purred, still hugging Shining Armor for some reason.

“Remind me about that next time,” Ledger said to Twilight. “We’ll make a day out of it. You getting to know the others.”

“Mhmm,” Twilight nodded and then gave him a knowing wink. She was still keeping her earlier order after all.

“So,” Midnight decided to steer some heat away from Twilight and looked at Luna. “How’s your stallion going? Are you still seeing Mr. Bold from the bar?”

“You’re seeing somepony?” Cadence blinked at her aunt. “You never told me that!”

“Yes, well, t’was not a great concern,” Luna mumbled into her teacup. “Balanced Scales is quite the gentlestallion. I am to see him again quite soon… and perhaps make him thine royal consort.”

“Consort?” Cadence asked and Luna nodded.

“And that is quite enough of that,” Celestia shot that train of thought down. Chrysalis, who had been oddly silent until now, moved up so she was inbetween Shining and Cadence.

“Ohh, what a marvelous idea~” she purred. “Me and you and you, a happy little family~” she teased the royal couple.

“After the way you treated them before?” Ledger deadpanned. “I’d be surprised if they gave you more than a boot out the door.”

“Aw, don’t be like that,” Chrysalis purred. She looked at Cadence and licked her lips. “I always did have a little regret at taking your form over Shiny’s. I bet you would have been… mm, delicious~”

“Meep!” Cadence ducked behind Twilight as the Changeling queen laughed.

“I was unaware you were taking pony-changeling relations so literally,” Ledger said with his usual smirk. “Wasn’t it you that basically told me off for thinking along such lines back in Ponyville?”

“Yes, well,” Chrysalis tried to find a valid argument. Ah, fuck it.

“If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” she replied. “And how is it any worse than Sunbutt rutting my grandfather for five hours straight!?”

Celestia coughed again, as everyone in the room turned to look at her.

“What?”

“And with that, I need alcohol to continue this conversation,” Ledger said with a sigh as he stood up to get some. “I am not talking about mating practices without some social lubrication.”

“How exactly did it turn to this?” Ace wondered as he moved to assist him. Well, given that Midnight was present, this was basically a given.

“So, still haven’t tamed the bat huh?” the Griffon chuckled to the drone as they poured a round of drinks for everyone.

“I bet that ever since you started teaching her, she’s been untamable,” Ledger replied. “I can only hope she’ll slow down a little bit in the days to come.”

“Hah! Midnight will never slow down,” he laughed. “You can only get caught up in her pace, hold on and hope you survive the ride.”

“She’ll sort of have to slow down,” Ledger shot back once they finished pouring the drinks. “Oh, none for her.” He waited for the griffon to catch on to the cues. Three, two…

“I’m aware of her pregnancy,” Ace said, pouring some juice for her. “Amy told me already, and I am happy for her. But I stand by my previous statements.”

Meanwhile, the bat had approached Amy and was staring into her eyes, humming thoughtfully.

“Hmm?” the pink nymph said as she tilted her head. “Whatcha want, Middy?”

“Weellll, a little birdy told me that you’re trying to get a bun in the oven,” Midnight said. “True?”

“Mmhmm,” Amy replied with a nod. “I’ve sorta wanted a foal of my own for a while, but I’ve been on my lonesome for even longer. Looking after the little ones the other day only made me realize it all the more. And now that I have Acey…”

“I hope it works soon. OH!” Midnight had an idea, a wonderful, probably dangerous idea. “Our little ones should totally be best friends!”

“Oooh, that sounds like fun!” Amy said as she giggled. “We’ll just have to see, but I don’t see why not!”

“We can have play dates and babysit and sleepovers and…” Midnight paused and her eyes widened. “Oh crap! I’m becoming a Mommy.”

“Thought that was implied by ‘I’m keeping it,’” Ledger snarked as he and Ace made their re-emergence with the drinks. “Don’t worry, you’ll have Cider, Scope, myself, and Twilight to fall back on.”

“Mhmm,” Midnight nodded as she took her juice and sighed. “I already miss cider, and being irresponsible, and oh man, I am really gonna miss all the great sex when I get fat.”

“You never fail to amaze me with your priorities,” Celestia sighed. “Still, quirks aside, I think you’ll be a wonderful mother Midnight Song.”

“She is the best at what she does,” Ledger said with a smile as he sat next to Midnight, before leaning up against her and hugging her with one foreleg. Midnight smiled and nodded, leaning into the hug.

Apple Cider emerged from the kitchen, a large silver pot on her back.

“SOUP’S ON!” she hollered as she set it down on the table, along with enough bowls and some sticks of Fredricks garlic and herb bread. Midnight was already at the table, licking her lips and looking at Cider and the pot, wondering which one she should eat first. Ledger walked over and smiled before realizing his situation in regards to magical exhaustion and sighing.

“Middy, could you…” he said.

Midnight blinked, then realised what he wanted and nodded. She moved so she could sit next to him. “So, you want me to feed you then?” she giggled.

“I could do with some assistance, what with my magic not being an option,” Ledger agreed with a nod.

“I believe you have something,” Shining snorted as he picked up a spoon. “Most ponies have these things called ‘hooves’. Maybe you've heard of them?”

“I don’t even have the power to transform right now,” Ledger deadpanned, lifting a hoof. “This is Scope’s illusion, all of it. Underneath is a hole-riddled hoof like any other changeling, and I never got good at eating with those.”

“I fail to see your problem,” Chrysalis said as she lifted her bowl with her hooves and gulped from it. Celestia sighed at her deplorable manners as she daintily sipped from her spoon. Ledger just shook his head before giving Midnight his best pleading expression.

“Hmm, I dunno…” Midnight mused as she held a spoonful of stew up and sniffed it. “Mmm, it smells sooo good~”

“Please?” Ledger whined out.

“Well, since you asked nicely,” Midnight giggled and she fed him some of Cider’s soup. It really was delicious, the kind that warmed you from the inside out. And then there was the love she poured into it. Hell, Chrysalis was already on her third bowl now.

“Meh, screw it. I’m staying here from now on,” she said between gulps. Ledger snickered before mentioning something between bites.

“And this is just one chef of Las Pegasus,” he pointed out. “There’s still Fredrick, we haven’t had you have some of his cooking yet.”

“Don’t do that, we’ll never get rid of her,” Scope said with a haughty huff. She suddenly squeaked when Ace picked the little nymph up and gave her a hug.

“I believe I haven't thanked you yet, for helping me out in the desert,” he said, placing a small kiss on the top of her head. “Thank you Miss Treasure.”

“S-Stopit!” she blushed. “You’re embarrassing me!”

“You’re sort of doing that yourself,” Ledger said with a smirk. “Though you’re very cute when you blush, so by all means, Ace, keep it up.”

“Perhaps my little lovebug has something to say as well?” he grinned, as Scope just huffed and looked away.

Amy put her bowl of stew down for a moment as she drew close to the nymph in Ace’s grasp. “Can I have a turn with her, Acey?” she asked innocently. Ace nodded and handed the ‘ling over. Scope was getting used to being marehandled at this point.

Celestia and Luna shared a small giggle, the nymph reminded them of a plush toy getting shared around a bunch of foals.

Amy, in a remarkable show of restraint, did not cuddle the life out of Scope, but did hug and hold her close before whispering in the smaller nymph’s ear. “You brought him back to me,” she said softly. “Thank you. Thank you so very much. If there’s ever anything you need...ask.”

“Yeah well,” Scope blushed even harder now. “Just… you’re my friend alright. S’what friends do. Help each other n’junk. No biggie.”

Amy just nuzzled the smaller nymph again before letting her go. “Kay, done now! You can go back to eating.”

“Oh, kay?” Scope moved back into her seat. Why did she get the feeling that the Pink mare was plotting something? Or maybe she was just paranoid.

The rest of lunch went smoothly, but there was still work to do and the royal ponies had to leave soon after. Ace and Amy left, presumably to try their current project again. And Chrysalis wasn’t done exploring the city. Apple Cider took a huge sigh of relief as she sank into the couch, her heart still racing over having served the fraking Princesses!

“Well that went well,” Ledger commented. “Nothing exploded or caught fire.”

“It’s cause Midnight didn’t cook,” Scope replied.

“Hey! While that may be true, you don’t have to point it out.” Midnight pouted, and Twilight let out a little giggle.

“Don’t worry Midnight, I can’t cook all that well either.” She looked at Ledger and then smiled slyly. “So… Midnight told me about that little bet of yours~”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Ledger said instantly.

“Oh really?” she said, walking in a small circle around him, her tail dragging under his nose as a familiar scent caught him. “You see Ledger, I kept my end of the deal. It was very embarrassing for me. So I trust that you’ll keep yours?”

“That depends on if you manage to keep keeping it from here to the bathroom,” Ledger fired back, a smirk on his face. “I’m almost tempted to have you try without magic, but that’d be cruel.”

“What bet?” Cider asked and Midnight looked at her.

“Well, Twilight and Ledger had this really hot session this morning, with Ledger filling up our princess, y’know, as he does. Anyway, they had this cute little game where—”

“Get to the point,” Scope sighed.

“Okay, so if Twi wins, we all get to have sexytimes and Ledger is forced to watch. And do nothing at all about it, to us or himself.”

“I like it already,” Scope grinned evilly. “But, what if he wins?”

“Then he gets to order us to do whatever he wants. No questions asked.” Midnight nodded. “Well, within reason anyway.”

“Why? Why would you forsake us like that!?” Scope cried. “You had better win Twilight! That stallion is pure evil! There’s no telling what he’ll make us do!”

Twilight raised an eyebrow and looked at Ledger. “Really now? Do I have to get the girls and blast you with rainbows?”

“The most I would have them do is show you their form of attention, like I did this morning...while I was doing you,” Ledger said with an appropriately ‘evil’ smirk. “There’s no telling what Midnight will get up to if you allow her free reign.”

“Oh I can think of a few things,” Midnight said. There were all sorts of things she hadn’t shown Ledger yet. “Um, do any of you have a safeword yet?”

“Nope!!” Scope said, seeing that look in her eye. There was no way in Tartarus that Mistress Midnight was coming out to play.

“Ultimately, it’s up to Twilight. Who she trusts more...and wants more,” Ledger said as attention refocused on the lavender alicorn.

“Bathroom, be right back,” she suddenly yelped and teleported from the room. Midnight blinked and sighed.

“This family is soo weird,” Scope said.

“You’re only just now realizing?” Ledger asked. Twilight teleported back, a heavy blush on her face. She looked at Ledger and her eyes descended into a half lidded stare.

“Well… guess you win,” she said, as the other three mares blinked and then groaned. “Forgive me?”

“Maybe once we’ve had a little fun,” Ledger said, stepping close and giving Twilight a chaste kiss. “Tonight?” he asked, wondering if she would in fact be staying the night. Twilight nodded and smiled.

“I’ll be staying for the night. Rarity is looking after Spike, and Chrysalis is around here somewhere, so yes.”

“Excellent,” Ledger replied. “Shall we see how badly the city is doing beforehoof, though?” Twilight nodded and the group headed out. Well, most were. Cider had to stay and do some farmwork and Midnight offered to help her.

So two Changelings and a Princess walked into the city. This was either the start of a bad joke, or a very interesting story...

Author's Note

Man, Aus and I can write some steamy stuff.

Like the story? Consider dropping me and him a dollar on my Patreon. It really helps.

Half the proceeds will not be used to combat insomnia.

Chapter 57 - Meet the parents

Painted Palette watched as Critical-Eye ran around, throwing random things into suitcases and generally panicking. It was kind of adorable.

Still, she’d been this way ever since yesterday, and she had yet to tell him why. His ear twitched as he heard a knock at the door and got up, grumbling about getting too old. When he opened it, a rather beautiful silver-coated Unicorn mare and a violet Unicorn stallion were standing there.

“Hmm? What do you want?” he asked. It was still early, so his social skills were… lacking. The mare looked at him, seemingly studying him, like he would a painting, before snorting and nodding.

“She could have done worse, I suppose,” the mare observed.

“Easily,” the stallion agreed.

“And who are you?” he said, his crystal coat glimmering slightly. “If you don’t mind, I’m a little busy right now.” He wasn’t, but vague ponies annoyed him.

“Busy doing my daughter?” the mare asked bluntly. Paint paused as his eyes grew in size while his irises shrunk considerably. He slowly turned his head and called out.

“Um, honey? I think this is for you.”

Critical came running up, “What are you…” Her voice died in her throat when she saw who it was. “Oh buck…”

“Critical!” the mare said with a large, fake smile. “How are you, dear?”

“I’m doing great,” the mare said as she tried to pull Palette along. “But Palette and I are actually leaving, so-”

“Oh?” the silver mare asked, raising an eyebrow at the stallion. “And where are you going?”

“Um…” Critical paused. “Neighpon. And as far away from this city and everyone in it as possible.”

“Ah, have you already sold this house, then? Or at least arranged for it to be looked after?” the violet stallion asked. “Such a drastic trip, one would think you’d prepared to some extent.”

“Too true, I’m thankful I had a few friends to look after the home when I came up looking for you the first time, dear,” the silver mare said as she looked at Critical again. The mare winced as Paint sighed and opened the door fully.

“We’re not going anywhere. Crit here seems to have neglected to tell me why she’s been running around like a headless chicken… and now I know.” He waved a hoof at the pair. “Would the two of you like to come inside?”

“Oh Hives,” Critical sighed. The pair of ponies on the other side beamed at him.

“Oh yes,” the stallion said as he walked in first. “I would love to see where little Critical has taken root now.”

“And I would like to see this place as well,” the mare said as she stepped in after the stallion. “If only so I can tell her father all about it.” As they walked past, Paint shrugged and looked at Critical.

“Well they seem nice. Don’t know why you got your tail in a twist over it.”

“Oh they’ve only just begun,” Critical said with a roll of her eyes. “Wishful is going to be all sorts of embarrassing, and Mom...I have no idea how she’s going to react, to be honest.”

“Well, should be interesting then,” Palette smiled He leant down and nuzzled the nymph. “But no matter what, you’re still my cute little mare okay?”

Critical had been about to say something, when the voice of the stallion from inside snapped their attention back to the house. “Oh dear, this is hardly something I would think Critical would produce,” they heard. “You did pay for a good tutor, right?”

“Wishful, dear, it has been a few years since she last worked with paint as a medium…” the mare said. “Perhaps she’s simply out of practice?”

Oh boy, that did it. Painted Palette walked inside, and Critical could see the irritation bubbling up inside him. She had but a moment to defuse him, or unleash the stallion upon her unsuspecting parents.

“Let me,” she said, getting in his way and putting a hoof to his chest. “I can stop their criticism easily. One line, I promise.”

“Fine,” he huffed. “Then I’m tossing them out on their flanks.”

“She’s still my mother,” Critical said before turning and not coincidentally brushing her tail across his chest. “Behave and you’ll get a reward.”

“Alright,” he mumbled. Stupid sexy Changeling…

They walked into the living room to see the pair of ponies eyeing Critical’s latest work and still commenting on it. The nymph cleared her throat before delivering the one line she said would stop her parents from criticizing her art.

“And when was the last time either of you held a paintbrush and didn’t create something that needed to be burned?”

The mare and stallion paused before conceding her point and slowly turning away from the canvas, no longer interested in critiquing Critical’s work. Painted Palette waited a moment, then stepped into the room.

“Well then. My name is Painted Palette, and I guess I’m Crit’s special somepony.” He introduced himself and gave a polite bow of his head.

“Mmm. I am Madame Gossip,” the mare said with a similar bow of her head.

“And I am Wishful Hope,” the stallion said, doing a similar bow...before walking over to Palette and giving him a hug.

“Uh, right,” Palette said, not used to having a stallion be so affectionate towards him. “So uh, mind telling me what you’re doing all the way out here?”

“A little bird told us where my daughter was,” the mare said as Wishful let the crystal pony go, now standing next to him. “And I got directions to your place when I arrived. I wanted to see the stallion my eldest daughter ended up with with my own two eyes.”

“Well, now you’ve met him,” Paint said. Aside from Ruby and his family, Painted didn’t really entertain guests, so he was kind of at a loss on what to do. He glanced at Critical, his eyes asking for help.

“Why don’t you...scratch that, I’ll go prepare tea,” the mare said with a roll of her eyes. “Meanwhile, I’m sure mom and Wishful will answer any questions you have, and they might have a few for you as well.” With that, the nymph left the stallion to fend for himself.

“Thanks,” Palette muttered. She was so getting a spanking later. “So uh… questions?” He looked them over and nodded. “If ah, you’re more comfortable looking like yourselves, then by all means do so.”

“But we are ourselves,” the Madame said with a smile. “And hmm...I suppose I can ask a few about you. For example, does being an artist in the Crystal Empire pay well? I want to make sure my daughter is looked after, you understand.”

“I ain’t no noble, if that’s what you’re getting at,” Paint snorted. “But it pays well enough. I sell quite a few pieces and it’s enough to support myself and her. And maybe even a third should the unexpected happen.”

“Plus she can put on her own art show as well,” the stallion pitched in. “Just get her a hall large enough, and she can show off art from home. Or home.”

“True enough, Critical is quite skilled at illusions. She’s not bad at other art mediums, but the bending of light and color in the air is where she shines,” the silver mare said with a nod.

“I’ve seen it a few times now,” Palette nodded. “She showed me around her home, back in the Lands as you call them. It’s quite the place you Changelings have there.”

“Ah, so you know,” the mare said with a nod. There were two flashes of color. One silver, one violet, and when they cleared, a changeling with violet highlights took the place of Wishful, whereas the mare seemed to grow a little as a silver-highlighted changeling took her place. The both of them opened their eyes, and it was only the mare of the pair that had pupils similar to Critical’s.

“As I said,” the stallion replied, only a little surprised by the transformations. They had seemed different to Crit’s somehow. “More comfortable now?”

“A little,” the former stallion said. “But we spend our time being who we please, that those disguises are almost second nature to us.”

“And it’s not like we can traipse through Equestria showing ourselves off, and with our children interacting with other lands more often…” the mare said.

“As I’ve told Critical, the Empire doesn’t have a problem with you. We Crystal Ponies are far more removed that you, I didn’t even know what a Changeling was until Critical showed up and revealed herself to me.”

“I have the tea, along with some...sandwiches…” Critical said as she levitated the trays out, and sighed at the display her mother and step-father were putting on. “Really?”

“He asked, dear,” the silver nymph said as she levitated the trays the rest of the way over. “You first, Mr. Palette. It is your home, after all.”

“Well, let’s get this over with then,” he replied. “I’m sure you have all sorts of things you want to say to me. So let’s get the parenting out of the way first.”

“Oh no, I’m saving all my motherly care and affection for the nymph I’m actually a mother to,” the silver ‘ling responded. “And I already know it’s not going to work on you.”

“Well, true enough I suppose,” Palette nodded. He looked at Wishful and hummed. “I’m guessing you aren’t her father either. You don’t seem to be anything like her…”

“Nope, but I am her step-father,” the drone replied with a nod. “She’s the second-born of the family, my son is the first-born.”

“Ah,” it then clicked. How many husbands did this mare have? Well, he wasn’t going to ask, that would be rude. “I trust you had no problems getting here then? I hear Equestria has had it’s fair share of troubles lately.”

“We typically don’t have troubles getting around in Equestria,” the nymph said as she served them all tea and sandwiches from the trays her daughter had brought out. “We always seem to miss the interesting things by a hair.”

“Yes, and then you show up to interro- I mean, question me,” Critical muttered. Painted stifled a snort as he sipped his tea. Bah! What he wanted was some wine, but the Crit would probably yell at him.

“I’m sure they're just concerned about their filly dating a strange stallion,” Paint said, stroking her mane with a hoof. “Parents can be funny like that.”

“Especially so soon after her last break-up with that yellow drone,” the silver nymph said before sipping her tea.

“Oh. My. Gosh! How many times do I have to say that it was him, not me?” Critical said as she leaned on Painted for support, figuratively and literally.

Too bad he was about as supportive as sand right now. He quirked an eyebrow and looked at her. “Oh? You never told me about that. And after all I’ve said about mine too.”

“It was just a break-up with an overly-domineering drone,” the nymph muttered. “I’m all for equality, but he was after superiority, and that doesn’t fly with me.”

“Agreed, he’s on my list,” Paint said with a curt nod. Mind you, his comment about his own relationships might not have gone unnoticed either. He leaned over and kissed her on the top of the head. “And yet, you wasted no time in telling me what to do hmm?”

“You needed the help,” the nymph rebuked. “It was as evident as the wine on your breath.”

“Oh shush,” he muttered. “Nosy little bug.” He looked up and sipped his tea again. “Still, Crit’s been good for me. I could finally move forward again thanks to her. For that. she has my eternal gratitude… and now my love as well.”

“Hmm,” the elder nymph said before putting her teacup down. “Well, I will admit I had my doubts initially about whether or not a widower, even if you were a painter, would be a good match for my daughter...but seeing how much you care for one another, I can scarcely find any reason to separate the pair of you.”

The stallion paused and looked at the mare. “Have… we met before? How could you have known I was a widower?”

“The things I saw in your house,” the mare said. “I had my doubts a single stallion would own them, even after knowing my daughter for a few days. However, you are with my daughter, so that speaks of a loving relationship that has suddenly ended. And you are quite the elder, so I doubt it was a fling. As well, you just confirmed it for me.”

“Well, still a lot of assuming aside from that last one,” he said wryly. “But yes, I was married for about ten years. Had a son too…” He trailed off as he frowned. It was still a hard thing to talk about. “And I’m not that old.”

“Old enough to have a ten-year old son,” the stallion teased. “And don’t try matching wits with her. Trust me. It goes a lot faster if you just assume she knows everything. Saves on the whole ‘being surprised’ feeling as well.”

“Boy, I’ve been married. I already know that mares know everything,” he chuckled. “So what about you? How long have you been married for?”

“Twenty years,” the drone replied. “And I don’t regret a moment of it—”

“Then Ledger was born,” Critical chuckled.

“There were times when things were rocky, but we worked through them together,” the drone finished. “That drone...he got into everything—”

“And now he’s getting into four mares...”

“And then he up and left when he was twelve,” Wishful sighed. “‘Off to see the lands, be back when I’ve learned everything.’ And he still hasn’t come back.”

“Well it’s not like you’ve invited him either,” Critical mentioned. “I, for one, might bring Paint here for a visit provided that you lot can be tolerable, and that the triplets and Joyful are banished to the moon for the time period.”

“I’ve been looking into sending the trio of terror to the yellow hive as of late,” the mare said with a chuckle. “Both so they can be trained there, and so that they might end up bringing the hive down.”

“And your sister has been acting a little more...unpredictable as of late,” the violet drone said. “She’s been taking trips outside of the hive every so often...and more often than not, we only find out because of a note stuck on the back of somebuggy’s head.”

“That’s… worrisome,” Critical shuddered. Oh for the love of the Hives, keep her far away from here.

“Problem kids?” Palette asked, wisely avoiding the comment about bringing down a Hive. This Madame mare scared him a little.

“Tank, Brute, and Lightning-Wits are known as the trio of terror and destruction because if they’re ever allowed an unsupervised moment together, something unfortunate happens. Usually to either the home or one of us,” the noble nymph said before she nibbled her sandwich.

“And Joyful-Heart is a Pink,” the drone said with a wince. “And Pinks are...unpredictable.”

“Ah, I know a pink-coloured filly in the city. Rather excitable, very friendly,” Painted mused. Well, given her talent, that was a necessity.

Critical looked at her step-father. He hadn’t asked yet. Which was weird. Did they not know? Oh sweet Hives, that was a miracle in and of itself. If they knew she was sleeping with him…

“So how long will you be in town for?” Painted asked.

“Oh we’re only stopping by,” the silver nymph said with a small smile. “I just wanted to check up on my daughter after I heard the most...interesting things through the link little Scope kept up for me.”

Critical coughed into her teacup, “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she stammered. Oh bucking hay! She was going to wring that little nymph’s neck!

“So how long have you been bucking her?” the drone asked bluntly.

“Well, you don’t pull any punches huh?” Painted replied. It was a good thing he’d been through this before with his wife’s parents. “Not too long now. And I treat her right. I don’t do anything she is uncomfortable with and before you ask, I know her true form and I think she’s beautiful, inside and out.”

The drone smiled a wide smile at that statement, whereas the silver nymph nodded. “Has she explained the color-emotional correlation to you as of yet?” she questioned the crystal stallion.

“A little,” he replied. “Why?”

“If you remembered what Violet corresponded to, you’d understand why I asked that question,” the drone said as he bit into his own sandwich. It took a moment, and Critical mouthing the answer to him before he nodded.

“Ah, right. Well, I hope you aren’t expecting details.” Didn’t stop him thinking about them though.

“Nope,” the drone said with a smile as he patted his stomach. “Just wanted to know how long you’ve been slaking that lust with my step-daughter.”

Critical blushed hard and groaned, burying her head in her hooves. “Just when I thought this day couldn’t get worse.”

“Also,” the Madame said as she unrolled a scroll from her saddle-bags. “Just in case you haven’t gotten your copy yet, dear, I have another copy of the alterations you’ll have to make to a typical ‘morning after’ potion so that it’ll be effective on you. And one for the ‘night before’ potion as well.”

“ARGH!” Critical threw her hooves up as Painted laughed.

“She had the same reaction when Princess Cadence delivered those notes the other day,” he chuckled and petted her head. “She puts on a nice show, but gets rather flustered when the tables are turned.”

“She’s rather critical of others works,” the nymph said with a small smile. “But when you turn it on her, her shell is rather thin, yes.”

“Are you all quite done?” Critical deadpanned. “Don’t you two have better things to do? Like pestering Ledger?”

“Aw, don’t be like that,” Palette said with a throaty chuckle. “I think I quite like your parents.”

“Oh. Joy.” Critical sighed and looked at her mother. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Just a little,” the nymph giggled. “Still, I think my work here is satisfactorily done. I met the stallion you’re sleeping with, and I approve of this matchup. And now that I know I won’t accidentally become a grandmother twice over, I can leave.”

“Though I do want to give a few tips to you, sir,” the drone said, looking at Palette. “Just general tips that you might not have learned on your own. It is your first time sleeping with a changeling, right?”

“Aye?” Paint nodded. Ah, here was the train right back to awkward land. “Fire away.”

“Not in front of the nymphs,” the drone said with a mischievous smile. Paint shrugged and led the stallion to his room and closed the door behind them.

“Okay, but I can’t guarantee that Critical isn’t listening through the door…”

The drone’s horn lit up with a violet hue and rapidly expanded to the edge of the room before fading. “Sound-proofing charm,” he explained. “No-one will be able to hear anything we say in here.”

One could hear from their side though, and that included a disappointed sigh from the other side of the door.

“Told you,” Palette smirked. The drone smirked back, as he knew exactly what he usually used this spell for, and waited for the stallion to catch on. “Ah… so, in case you haven’t noticed… I don’t have magic,” Palette said. “So, what’s this advice of yours?”

“Simple enough,” the stallion said. “Unlike Pegasi, for us wings are a no-go unless you’re extremely delicate, so don’t even bring them up.”

“Actually,” Paint interrupted. “She really seemed to like it when I used a soft paintbrush on them last time.”

“That’d work,” the stallion mused. “Just be careful, okay? It doesn’t take much to wreck our wings. And if you’re looking for more pleasureable points, go for the joints. Our shell’s thin there, she’ll be able to feel it a lot more than you might think.”

“Hmm,” Paint committed that to memory. While this was awkward as all heck, hearing a father talk like this about his daughter. Still, anything to make Critical happier. “Anything else?”

“You might receive a small book in the mail in a few weeks time, it’ll have more secrets, some of which you might even be able to emulate,” the drone said with a cheeky wink. “I’ll make sure it’s translated for you as well.”

“Ohkay?” he tilted his head. There was a book for this? Better keep that out of Crit’s hooves.

“I’ll do my best to keep Inspired-Dream away from you,” the drone said with a nod. “But if he does come up north looking for his daughter, I’ll at least send warning as best as I can.”

“Inspired-Dream?” Palette asked. “Should I be worried?”

“Green drone, her father, and he’d be more stubborn than the Madame was about doing what was best for his little nymph,” the violet drone explained. “You’ll just have to out-stubborn him.”

“I think I can handle that,” Palette nodded. He was one of the most stubborn stallions in the Empire. Critical could attest to that. “Should we get back to our mares? They tend to plot if you leave them alone for too long.”

The violet drone smirked wider as he waited for the crystal stallion to really think about what he’d just said.

“What did I say?” Paint frowned. Wishful chuckled and drew the stallion in closer, wanting to whisper these words to him despite the soundproofing charm. Time to update one member of the Crystal Empire in modern slang…

“Now you’re certain you’ve been making the additions to the potions correctly?” the Madame asked Critical. “I know you and your brother are equally skilled in cooking, but this is Alchemy, and altogether different.”

“Yes, I’m sure it’ll be fine. And if not… well I have no doubt that Paint will make a fine father~”

The stallion spluttered and coughed, opting to stare up at a cloud as he blushed.

“And I’m certain the pair of you have been practicing the act quite vigorously,” Wishful said with waggling eyebrows.

Now the nymph was blushing furiously as she waved a hoof at the stallion. “Oh. My. GOSH! REALLY!?”

“Just make sure to let me know when I’m about to be a grandmother again, unlike your brother,” the mare said. “I found out completely by accident with him.”

“Really?” Critical blinked. “Scope told me as soon as they found out. They didn’t tell you?”

“...I will have to have a word with that little nymph,” the mare muttered. “Still, do take precautions dear. Or don’t. Up to you!”

“Yeah, not becoming a Mom anytime soon thanks. Besides, sex is too awesome to pass up just yet~”

“OH-kay!” Painted interjected. “It was nice meeting you folks. Come by again sometime hmm? Just, a little warning in advance would be good.”

“We’ll try,” the Madame replied as she hugged Critical. Then once the hug broke, she looked to Palette and proffered the same hug again. He accepted the the embrace and smiled. It was nice, having a family again.

Wishful also hugged, because Wishful did that and the two eventually left. Once they were out of sight, Palette turned and placed Critical over his back as he hummed.

“Now, I believe I have a few new things that I want to try out~” he sang.

“...If I ever see Wishful again, I am strangling him,” Critical muttered under her breath. Her bedroom time with Palette was about to become interesting…

Cider hummed happily as she checked her greenhouse. The Crystal Berries were coming along nicely, with the transferred tree taking to the new environment well and the saplings growing nicely. She’d lost one that just wouldn’t take, but she figured that would happen, so it was well within her expectations.

What wasn’t was a tackle-hug from somepony very strong, and once her lungs had re-inflated with precious oxygen, she looked up into the eyes of her little sister.

“...Hello Fritter,” Cider said as the mare nodded and hugged her back.

“Heya Cidey,” she giggled. “Ohhh, I’ve missed you soooo much!”

“Ah can tell,” Cider wheezed as she felt her life slipping away. “What in the hay are y’all doin’ here?”

“What? I’m not allowed to visit my sis?” Apple Fritter pouted. “Me and Ma and Pa came all this way to see you.”

“Ma… and Pa are here!?” Cider exclaimed. She’d sent them a letter, telling them about recent events and the like. As well as her current engagement. Oh dear. “Where are they right now?”

“Inside the house. Well Ma is anyway, I think Pa is checking out your orchard,” Apple Fritter smiled and picked her sister up. “Come on, let’s go!”

“Aw horseapples,” Cider muttered as her sister dragged her along. This was gonna get messy…

Scope Lens stood in front of the cell that held the Changeling responsible for all of this. A larger, Noble Blue nymph that the smaller one glared at with an intense hatred.

And yet, even now, a small glimmer of… No, there was no way she cared for this nymph. This, thing that used to be her mother.

“So…” the nymph said, looking up from behind her prison. “You actually survived?”

“No thanks to you,” Scope muttered. “You thought I was weak? You thought I was a mistake? Something to be tossed away without a second thought.”

“Seems I was mistaken,” she replied. “You’ve become strong… haven’t you?”

“And you became ‘The Discarder’?” Scope said curtly. “Since when? I thought that ‘The Grand Planmaker’ was your title?” Scope’s brow furrowed as she looked at her. “So, did your ‘Plan’ end like this? Was this the ending you foresaw?”

“Not quite,” she replied. “We cannot go against Equestria, no race can. They control the very world itself. They literally keep it spinning. What fool would want to disrupt that?” Discarder sighed and looked away. “I honestly don’t know what I was trying to accomplish. Maybe this is the ending I wanted. To have my fate delivered by the hooves of the one I wronged the most.”

“NO!” Scope yelled, banging the bars with her hooves. “You don’t do this! You don’t just, waltz back into my life, and expect any kind of sympathy from me! Not after what you’ve done!” Her blue eyes were contorted in rage now, as her ceaseless glare never left the noble.

“Do you have any idea how many you hurt today? What your actions have wrought?” The look on Amy’s face, when she thought that Ace was dead. The look on Midnight’s, and Cider’s, when they assumed the worst had befallen Ledger. “I should kill you. Right here, right now, and I can guarantee that almost no-one will blame me.”

“Then do it,” Discarder replied. “End my life. You are the only one who can.”

“...No,” Scope replied. “I’m different now. I’m not a violent nymph… well, not as violent.”

“Then you’re weak, just like I thought you were!” The noble spat, slamming the bars from her side.

“You know, I used to think that,” Scope said softly. “That I was weak, worthless… that all I could do was latch onto something stronger to survive. And in a way, I was right.” She closed her eyes and smiled gently. “But the difference is, is that it made me stronger in the process. Not just in terms of my powers and magic. My heart is stronger as well. As long as I’m with them, I can do anything…” She reached through the bars and cupped the nymphs cheek.

“I’m not weak. I’m strong. You’re the weak one. The one who couldn’t face her failings. The one that’s scared of the future. You want to die? Then go take a long walk in the desert. But you won’t find your end at my hooves.”

Scope dropped down onto all fours and turned around. “Thank you for bringing me into this world. I didn’t have the best start… but now I know it’s gonna end on a high note. I don’t know if I can ever forgive you for what you have done. But nonetheless… I love you, Mother.”

And with that, the nymph turned and left the room, leaving the noble to her thoughts and tears.

Once outside, where everyone else had been waiting patiently, the little nymph finally let out the breath she’d been holding and shook slightly.

“Gods, that was something,” she chuckled weakly.

Ledger merely sat back on his haunches, knowing how she felt about others hugging her without permission. The offer was there, though, as obvious as his slightly-spread forelegs. It took but a second for that space to be occupied by her, her tears already staining his coat.

“I’m proud of you,” he whispered to her as he pet her over and over again, hopefully soothingly. “I’m so very proud of you.”

“Yeah… I’m kind of awesome like that,” she said unconvincingly. After a few minutes, she pulled back and wiped her face on his chest. “Okay, I’m done being uncool now.”

“Aww, but I like Scope-cuddles,” Ledger said with a bit of a whine to his voice.

“Later,” she replied. She looked up at Princess Celestia and nodded. “I have something I want to ask.”

“By all means,” Celestia nodded.

“I want her sent back to the Lands. She can be punished there for her actions.”

The Alicorn’s paused at that. That… might not go down well with some of their little ponies. But Celestia was already coming up with a few ideas that could work. She was loathe to trick her ponies. But she also figured that the Lands punishment would be far harsher than anything she would do.

“Very well.” Celestia nodded. “I will make all the necessary arrangements. Now, are you sure that’s what you want?”

“If she’s left here, then you’ll probably turn her to stone or something. Then I’ll have that temptation of sneaking into your garden with a sledgehammer hanging over me.” Scope looked back at the room and clicked her tongue. “So yeah, that’s what I want.”

Celestia nodded again. Grissom was not going to appreciate all this paperwork. Deporting a few hundred Changelings was going to be time consuming. And there was also the turbulent situation in the city itself. The citizens had started to get used to the idea of Changelings, this was a massive step in the wrong direction.

“Your highness,” Ledger said, breaking her train of thought unknowingly. “What do you intend to do with the ones that followed her?”

“They’ll be deported of course,” Luna stated with a curt nod.

“Really?” the disguised drone asked with a tilt of his head. “That seems like a waste of time and money to me.”

“And here we go,” Scope giggled. “What’s the plan Level?”

“Well, there’s one place they might be welcomed by the citizens, and I think they could use the extra hooves,” Ledger said as he looked at Cadence and Shining Armor.

“You can’t be serious?” Shining said, his tone an interesting mix between exasperation and disbelief.

“Actually, that might not be too bad an idea,” Cadence hummed. “Your sister seems to be fitting in quite nicely. And they certainly won’t go hungry there.”

“Housing them all might be an issue,” Ledger pointed out. “How about...you reach out to the lands and screen the army with the border agents, the ones that can be saved get sent up north, and the others can join the Discarder in her punishment? Then it won’t create a massive influx of changelings in the Crystal Empire.”

“This is going to be a lot of work,” Shining said, going over some numbers in his head. Twilight having already done so for fun. “So what’s your interest in this?” he asked the drone.

“I may not have been where they are now, thankfully. But we do have a refugee from Chrysalis’ army in the city,” Ledger pointed out. “Landed here shortly after the wedding. Want to know his biggest regret? Joining her.”

“Gee, nice to know I’m so loved,” Chrysalis retorted, but Celestia shushed her.

“We’ll help the ones that want to be helped, how’s that?” Cadence smiled at him.

“That works,” Ledger said with his own smile. “They’re not all monsters. They’ve just been...misled.”

“Alright, leave it with us and we’ll sort this out then,” Cadence replied as Shining snorted. This had better not come back to bite them in the flank later.

“Can we go home now?” Scope asked. “I’m still feeling huggy.”

“Sure thing,” Ledger said as he stood up. “...Thank you for hearing me out, your highnesses,” he said to the gathered royals with a small bow.

“You’re welcome,” Celestia smiled. “We don’t know if this will even work out though. But all we can do is try.”

Scope and Ledger gave them another nod before leaving, with Twilight promising to visit once she was done with her duties.

Now if only they knew of the battle that awaited them at home…

Cider just frowned as her mother fussed over her, was she eating okay? Was she taking the proper precautions? Fritter just giggled at the display, though that only caused Cider’s scowl to deepen.

Her father had finally returned from the orchards, but hadn’t said a whole lot since he did. Cider just knew a shitstorm was brewing. She just hoped that everypony would survive it…

So when Ledger and Scope finally returned, the pair instantly had the eyes of the Apple Family upon them.

“Well… this is unsettling,” Scope whispered.

“You’re telling me,” Ledger whispered back. “Um, hi?” he ventured in a louder tone. Apple Leaves smiled and hugged Ledger tightly, as Fritter smiled at waved.

The stallion stood up… and Ledger’s gaze shifted upwards as well. Oh Sweet Hives! This guy was frikkin huge! He resembled Big Macintosh Apple a little, except his coat was a chocolate brown and his mane and tail were black.

“Oh I should introduce you,” Apple Leave said with a smile. “This is my husband, Full Steam! Steamy, meet Level Ledger and Scope Lens, two more of our darling daughter’s beloveds.”

The stallion stepped forward and Ledger could swear that the whole house shook when he did. He gulped and put a smile on his face with great difficulty. The disguised drone shakily extended a hoof towards the stallion. “H-Hi there,” he said, stammering a little.

He looked down at the shaky stallion and nodded, grasping his hoof and shaking it, along with the whole drone. Scope was shaken from his back as she sat on the floor, her head spinning.

“Steamy isn’t much for words,” Leaves started to say.

“But I still have a few questions,” he rumbled, letting Ledger go.

“He reminds me of Bludgeon,” Ledger said as he made sure his head was on straight. Along with all the other appendages he possessed.

“Yeah, met him earlier… scrawny little thing,” Steam muttered. He looked at his wife and daughters, who all nodded and started to leave the room.

“Do try and leave this one in one piece,” Apple Leaves asked him.

“No promises,” he replied as Cider took Scopey with her. Once all the mares had left, leaving the two alone. He looked back at the drone and motioned for him to sit at the table. Ledger shakily made his way over, having just recovered from the...enthusiastic greeting this stallion delivered.

“So. Questions?” the disguised drone asked as he sat in the chair indicated.

“I have a few,” he replied. “The run here gave me time to think. My first was going to be, if I could trust you, seeing as you cheated on somepony to be with my little Cider.”

“I was raised with a different set of views,” Ledger explained. “Not hard to imagine. One mom, one dad...five step-dads. So from my point of view, I was behaving normally. However, I had my errors explained to me, and now I can honestly say I have not cheated on any of the mares that show an interest in me.”

“Yeah, Cider said you were a little different,” Full Steam nodded as he sipped his coffee. A mug on the counter glowed and floated over to Ledger, which he recognised as Scope’s magical aura. “My next question. Is the danger my little girl has been in since she met you. I had a good talk with that colt she hired. He had some interesting things to tell me.”

“Yeah, not gonna lie, interesting things tend to happen around me,” Ledger sighed. “I do my best to make them beneficial where I can. Or if I can’t, I do my best to battle them. I can’t say I can foresee everything that will happen to any mare around me. But I will do my damndest to make sure they pull through okay.”

“Trouble seems to follow you,” he said with a terse expression. “I want my little girl to be safe and happy… and you seem capable of doing both.”

“I can but try,” Ledger said with a nod. “It’s up to her to tell me how I do.”

“Knowing my Cider, she’ll tell you if and when you buck up,” he replied. “That said, if you ever hurt her—”

“Oh Pa?” Cider called out. “You had better not be threatening him. Make no mistake, ah will shove you under that train you tow!”

“Well, I think we’re done here,” he said a little too quickly.

“Yeah, she’s like that,” Ledger chuckled. “And I understand, sir, I really do. I’m a big brother myself. If I ever meet the pony my sister is dating, this ‘Palette’ character, again? I’m going to get creative with my threats.”

“Heh,” the stallion rumbled and clapped his back. Which caused Ledger’s legs to buckle under the strain, but to his credit, he was still standing. The mares filed back into the room, with Cider and Scope giving Ledger a nuzzle.

“Heya,” Ledger said as he nuzzled them back. “Middy not coming in?”

“She’s upstairs resting,” Cider said. “Her sickness kicked in and we ran out of that medicine for her. So she’s not doing so great.”

“Bleh,” Ledger said, sticking his tongue out. “And me without my magic.” He looked to Scope and quirked an eyebrow. “Could you go and get Twilight or some more medicine for her?”

“Sure,” she replied and gave him a peck on the cheek before she flew from the house.

“Is Midnight alright?” Apple Leaves asked and Cider nodded.

“Yeah, just a little morning sickness… oh horseapples!” she muttered as Leave’s smile grew three sizes. Steam looked at Cider, then to Ledger with a raised eyebrow. Was there anything else the drone would like to mention?

“She, ah, may have been off her potion a time or three…” Ledger said with a fake smile. “We didn’t plan this, but we’re going to deal with it as best we can.”

Apple Leaves sighed. She wasn’t gonna be a grandma yet, still… close enough. “Well, at least somepony is making an effort,” she hummed, looking from Cider to Fritter.

“Oh fer the love of—” Fritter shouted and looked at Ledger. “Well maybe ah’ll jus’ join his damned herd and get laid that way huh?”

“Nope,” Ledger said, shaking his head. “No family of anypony already in will be admitted. I’m actually thinking of asking the mares to pick out a stallion they think would be a good fit, just to take some pressure off of me.”

The Apple family stood there, none of them quite sure how to process that information, especially Scope and Cider.

“Ah reckon yer lucky that Middy didn’t hear that,” Cider replied.

“I’d probably agree,” Ledger said with a nod. “I’m half-scared of what she’d do when she heard that.”

A voice called out, a sickly one, but called out nonetheless.

“Thestral hearing…”

“Well, I’m screwed,” Ledger said honestly. “So how long are you all staying for? I think I can pull out a few dishes if you’re gonna be staying, assuming Cider helps me in the kitchen.”

“Whut, implyin’ that we can’t cook?” Fritter huffed. “Ah’ll have you know that Ma and I can cook waaay better than her.”

“Ah don’t like her tone, but she’s right,” Cider agreed. “Y’all haven’t feasted until you’ve had a bonafide ‘Fritter-Feast’.”

“But all the dishes I know are dinner dishes,” Ledger said with a sigh. “I was kinda hoping you weren’t in the mood to cook, if you were already travelling.”

“We never said y’all couldn’t,” Apple Leaves spoke up. “I’d love to try your cooking dear. It’s bound to be worlds better than the charcoal that Steamy makes. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he just serves the coal from his train…”

“M’not that bad,” he muttered.

“Yeah, Middy sets the kitchen on fire, jus’ by looking at it funny,” Cider chuckled.

“Again. Hearing. I have it,” Midnight called out.

“Cider and I take the first shift, then you two?” Ledger offered the deal to Fritter and Apple Leaves.

“Sounds good,” the mares nodded. There was a small thump, followed by some uneasy steps as the batpony mare descended the stairs slowly. The last thing she needed was to fall flat on her face.

“Could use a hoof here,” she said softly. “Bleh, this totally sucks…”

“I got you,” Ledger said as he waited at the base of the stairs, ready to be a shoulder for her to lean on. He knew better than to bolt up and offer his help immediately, she was his big strong bat and probably didn’t want to feel weak, sick, and useless. Which she wasn’t.

“Thanks,” she smiled as she got there and leaned against him for the moment. “So what’s this about a stallion?” she asked with a cheeky smirk. “Little Ledger not up to the task anymore?”

“Four mares all requiring attention at various hours of the day? I’m surprised I’m not dead of dehydration already,” Ledger said. “Where to, love?”

“Snugglecouch,” she said as they started to walk. “Besides, good luck finding somepony that can deal with all of this.”

“Maybe I just want a stallion for reinforcements against you all from time to time. And do stallion things with,” the disguised drone retorted. Midnight turned and looked at him, as did everypony else,

“Wow Levvy,” she managed to whistle as she sat down. “Didn’t think you swung that way. Not that I’m complaining.”

“You know what I meant,” Ledger replied as he rolled his eyes. “Still, you have a point. They’d not only need to be able to keep up with our brand of crazy, but be cool with the idea of two changelings.”

Fritter, Leaves, and Steam all stopped. They looked at Level Ledger with their mouths slightly open as Cider facehooved.

“Um… come again?” Full Steam rumbled.

“It would come up eventually anyways,” Ledger said as his brain caught up to his mouth and decided to roll with what he’d just said. “But yes. There are changelings in this herd, and they’re not monsters. Surprise, surprise.”

“No, they’re just snarky and sarcastic,” Cider replied. “And before y’all ask, yes ah know fully well what they are. So jus’ relax alright?”

“Does, that little Pegasus know that you’re Changelings?” Steam asked. Ledger held his laughter in as he looked at Midnight.

“They think you’re a changeling,” he said between suppressed laughs. “Isn’t that a good one?”

“Yeah, I’m so much cooler,” Midnight giggled. “No, I’m not a Changeling, just a totally awesome and sexy Thestral. That little feather duster is the other Changeling. And our fourth should be along soon I hope?”

“She said she would be here,” Ledger agreed.

“Four mares?” Full Steam laughed loudly and clapped him on the back, the drone not surviving the second assault. “You’re quite the stallion huh?”

“I’d say just stupidly lucky,” Midnight giggled. And holy hay was Cider’s dad huge. And her brain just went right to her usual place. She bet that giant train wasn’t the only giant tool he had~

“And now you see why I wouldn’t mind if the mares picked out another stallion,” Ledger said before slowly picking himself back up. Full Steam packed a hell of a punch, either accidentally or on purpose. “Four is one too many for me to manage on my own.”

Midnight’s mind was going places. Maybe she could have a crack at Fredrick after all~ Or those delicious Violets. Ahh, so many to choose from!

“Ah reckon y’all just broke our bat,” Cider deadpanned.

“She’ll have a helluva time convincing you, Scope, and our last guest about any stallions she’s picked out,” Ledger said, stressing the gender to make Midnight’s mental meanderings be somewhat productive. “Preferably non-taken ones, I’d like to not add any more mares if avoidable.”

“Awww,” Midnight pouted. She suddenly put a hoof to her mouth and flew like a bullet from the room. And that was when Scope Lens entered, a small brown bag tucked under her wing.

“Hey…” she looked around and shrugged. “What’d I miss?”

“Midnight needing her medication,” Ledger said as he waited for the telltale sign. The sound of her heaving caused Scope to nod and head upstairs for the time being.

“So, wanna get started on dinner?” Cider asked. “Ah reckon we could go all out fer this one. Ah ain’t gonna lose!”

“I was unaware this was a competition,” Ledger replied as he walked into the kitchen. Cider snorted as she started to get out the pots and pans.

“Yer darn tootin’ it is! Mah pride as a member of the Apple family is on the line.” She looked at Ledger, her large sapphire eyes shimmering. “Y’all… wanna help me right?”

“Fine,” Ledger said as he rolled his eyes. “So, I suppose the first question is if they like spinach or not…”

It turned out to be quite the spread, with Ledger’s casserole, some clam rigatoni and the garlic and herb bread that Cider had finally ~~conned~~ convinced Fredrick to part with the recipe for, on the grounds that she wouldn’t give it to anyone, even Ledger.

And that was when Princess Twilight Sparkle also showed up, the Apple family moving to bow politely as she entered.

“P-Princess?” Apple Leaves stammered.

“Cidey, what in the heck is a Princess doing here?” Fritter asked.

Apple Cider giggled as she walked up to the mare and gave her a chaste kiss, before smiling. “Everything okay Twi?”

“Um, yes,” she replied, a little confused at this. “Cider, who are these ponies?”

“Oh, this is my Ma, Pa and mah little sis. Everypony, meet the last and latest member of our weird family. Twilight.”

“Honey, I think we know who she is,” Steam said. “I think most of Equestria knows who she is.”

“Which is why this is still quite secret,” Twilight said with a small smile. “I do hope you understand?” That was about all she got before Apple Leaves hugged her, followed by Apple Fritter. “Ack!”

“I give it a minute before they realize dinner’s been served,” Ledger said as he double-checked everything. “Less if you remind them, sweet mare.”

“Yeah, soup’s on!” Cider called out, even as she blushed lightly. Midnight and Scope came downstairs, the former still looking a little woozy. Twilight rushed over to her, already using a healing spell on her and checking her vital signs. Even since this happened, she’d made more effort to learn some medical magic, just in case.

“You have your choice,” Ledger said as Cider’s family came over. “Casserole or Clam rigatoni. The breadsticks,” that Cider won’t tell me how she got the recipe for, “Are also delicious, and may be eaten with either.”

Midnight took one look at the clam and her face turned a little green. “Okay… not gonna touch that I think." She instead settled on just nibbling a breadstick for now.

Which might have been a good thing. Because between four Apples and an Alicorn, the food was vanishing very quickly. Ledger barely managed to get a bit of his casserole before it all vanished.

“...I suppose it was a good thing that you two offered to take the next shift then?” the disguised drone posed as he nibbled his food.

“Can’t talk, eatin’,” Fritter mumbled as the feeding frenzy continued. Midnight finished off her breadstick and sighed. Dammit, she had been looking forward to tonight as well…

“So tell me,” Apple Leaves asked. “How does a Princess get involved in all of this?”

“It just… sorta happened I guess,” Twilight said. “Ledger is a stallion that can keep up with me intellectually, while Scope, Cider and Midnight are all very loving. I guess I just clicked with them, and I hope they don’t mind me sticking around.”

“Not at all,” Ledger replied as he polished off his miniature serving of casserole. Everything else had vanished. “I just hope you do stick around. As a princess, you do have options.”

“You’d be surprised,” Twilight muttered under her breath, before perking up and smiling. “And this meal is as amazing as always.”

“Ah reckon we did alright,” Cider hummed.

“I hope we did alright,” Ledger rejoined, before looking at the pot and pan that had been all but licked clean and empty.

“That was delicious,” Apple Leaves nodded. Even Fritter looked suitably impressed. They both turned to Full Steam. The stallion placed his plate delicately on the table and gave a simple nod.

“Ohh, the Steamy Stamp of Approval!” Apple Leaves giggled. “Good job to both of you.”

“What is this…” Midnight blinked.

“I have no idea, but I’m rolling with it,” Ledger said with a smile. “Thank you for your kind words,” he added on afterwards. Twilight nodded and placed down her plate, having actually licked it clean. What? It was tasty!

“So are y’all gonna be staying here?” Cider asked, then realised they already had a guest here.

“She’s gone to visit a friend,” Twilight suddenly said, seeing the look in her eye. “So the guest room is free again.”

“Oh good,” Cider nodded. “So, Ma and Pa in the guest room, and Fritter on the couch?”

“Ooh, can I steal a cuddlebat?” she asked, snuggling up to Midnight.

“That might not be a bad idea, if she’s still feeling ill,” Ledger mused. “As long as you don’t do anything we would do to her late at night, I don’t see the harm…Up to her of course.”

“Maybe… I dunno,” Midnight said. She looked at Ledger and then sighed. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

“Sure thing,” Ledger said as he stood up and walked over to the other room, guessing she wanted some semblance of privacy for this. She followed him and once they were alone, gave a ragged sigh.

“I want to apologise, and, I hope you aren’t mad at me. It’s one of the reasons I’ve been sick and I’ve felt bad since it happened, but I dunno, it just sorta happened and—”

Ledger stopped her with a hug. It wasn’t an overly-aggressive one like the Apple Family was fond of. It was just a gentle, simple hug. To remind her he was here, and he cared about her.

“Nnnn, I kinda, sorta kissed Moonie and Sugar today,” she mumbled…

“That’s fine,” Ledger said, not upset with her. He’d bucked Apple Cider before she was a member of the herd. Before the herd was even a thing they were doing. He could hardly be mad at her for a few kisses. “Did they at least have fun?”

“I think so? I dunno… wasn’t really thinking. I just kinda did a Love Bite thing I can do on Moonie and left her with Sugar.” She hung her head, “And I got so mad at the Cider thing… can’t you at least be mad at me for once?”

“I can’t be mad at you,” Ledger said, stroking her back. “You helped me out of one of the darker times of my life. Made me who I am today. And I helped you back. Face it, love. We’re stuck with each other. Quirks and all.”

“Damn… well fine then,” she pouted adorably. “You sure about tonight? I’m not feeling up to playing with all of you…”

“That’s why I’m giving you an out if you want one,” Ledger said. “But if you’d like to watch instead, I can make it an order~”

“Hmm, snuggle with an ex-marefriend, or watch my current ones do all sorts of perverse and wonderful things… that’s a difficult choice,” Midnight giggled. “Maybe I should keep you guessing on what I choose?”

“I’ll make them wait five minutes after we go to bed,” Ledger said as he finally broke the hug. “After that, we start the festivities. With or without you.”

“Mmm, decisions, decisions,” Midnight giggled. Maybe she should drag Fritter along to watch as well~ Hmm, nah, Cider might not like that.

“But maybe we should get back to what Fritter and Apple Leaves are cooking,” Ledger said as he stood up and offered a hoof to Midnight. The bat nodded and accepted his help, as the two headed back into the kitchen for dessert.

Chapter 58 - Awkward conversations

Ledger awoke to two sensations. The first was quite familiar to him now, the feeling of being buried in fluffy mares. That feeling never got old.

The second?

It was like heaven itself was being cooked up down in the kitchen. The scents wafting up were already making his mouth water.

The only problem was, getting down there without alerting the mares would be impossible. The drone resigned himself to delicious-smelling torture until the mares woke up enough to allow him the ability to leave.

Twilight’s nose twitched, and she hummed lightly as her horn begun to glow. Before Ledger could do anything to respond to this, the entire group suddenly found themselves being teleported straight to the living room.

Well, a few feet from the floor anyhow. Then Ledger was buried under mares again, only it wasn’t so fun this time around.

“Owch,” Ledger commented. That was a hoof in his ribs at least. And he swore he felt his head being jostled a little as well. Maybe he should rethink their waypoint project, or at least add some safety measures…

Twilight was already up and floating towards the kitchen, as Midnight just hummed and continued to hug Ledger, the trip not having roused her in the slightest. Cider and Scope just groaned.

“Well, that’s one way to get downstairs,” Fritter chuckled from the couch. “Y’all okay there?”

“I’ll live,” Ledger muttered from his position. “This is much less fun when you and the ones you love are dropped.”

“Well, they say love hurts,” Fritter nodded with a sage-like tone. “Mama’s makin’ breakfast, an’ ah reckon that the Princess might steal it before we even get there…”

“I’d help, but sorta buried here,” Ledger reiterated. “...Cider, do you think you and your sister could help your mother make enough for everypony?”

“Ah reckon so,” Fritter nodded as she dragged a sleepy Cider into the kitchen, tossing the alicorn out on her rump. “Try and keep this one out until we’re done eh?”

Twilight just huffed and crossed her forelegs. Ledger chuckled and waved the now-free foreleg at Twilight, offering a place where Cider had just been in the cuddlepile.

Twilight just shrugged as she settled down next to him as Scope sighed and stretched.

“Nnn, bathroom,” she muttered, snuggling closer to Ledger. “Carry me?”

“I suppose I can,” Ledger said with a sigh as he scooted out from between Twilight and Midnight, leaving the alicorn to the thestral’s mercies. The drone then walked upstairs to their room, carrying the nymph up to the bathroom and gently setting her down outside it. She stumbled inside, still half-asleep. Upon their return, Midnight had cuddled up to a struggling Twilight, gently nibbling on one of her ears.

“Midnight, I’m not a chew toy!” the alicorn protested. Ledger just chuckled at the ideas his brain conjured before gently easing the batpony away from Twilight.

“C’mon, leave her be. Otherwise you know Cider will tease you about playing out your little game with somepony else.”

“Little game?” Twilight asked.

“Cider reads a lot of sparkly thestral stories,” Ledger explained. Twilight blinked before she facehooved. She had gotten so much flak from Rainbow about the title of those books.

“So you mean she…” She looked at Midnight and blinked. “I’d have thought that a Thestral would have been insulted over those books.”

“She was to start,” Ledger said as he finally situated himself as a buffer between Midnight and Twilight. “And then we paid a visit to the Crystal Empire...during their festival. I think sometime around there, they made it a game.”

“Crystal… Oh, oh dear,” Twilight giggled, imagining Midnight with a Crystal coat. “That must have been really something.”

“No less so when we walked in on the tail end of one of their games,” Ledger said with a snicker.

“I can imagine,” Twilight giggled.

Ledger suddenly had a Thestral draped over his shoulders, her fangs grazing his neck. “MMm, ah vant to suck… something long and meaty~”

“First thing in the morning?” Ledger questioned. “Why don’t you at least wait until after breakfast?”

“Maybe she wants sausages and cream for breakfast?” Hearing the Princess say something so lewd in such an innocent tone…

“Too bad, still sorta tired from last night,” the drone more firmly rebuked the batpony. “Maybe once we’re all fed and caffeinated. Especially caffeinated.”

“Mmmm, coffeeeeee~” Midnight and Twilight moaned and started stumbling towards the kitchen like zombies. “Cooffeeeeee….ahhhhh….”

“And how does the Apple family typically reward intruders?” Ledger asked from the floor, with Scope still on his back.

“I’m surprised you're not joining them,” Scope said as Cider tried to keep the two caffeine addicts back with a broom.

“I know better than to assault the kitchen before the call of ‘soup’s on,’” Ledger replied. He’d been taught that lesson the hard way, but he knew it.

Some painful-sounding whacks told him that the two mares just learned that lesson as well. Twilight and Midnight walked back over, rubbing their heads where Cider had punished them.

“Nnn, remind me to bring Cider along for the zombie apocalypse,” Twilight muttered. “She’s ruthless…”

“Mmhmm, you’re either there to help or you get out when an Apple is cooking,” Ledger said as he smiled smugly, having known better all along. “And I’m not great at breakfasts, so every time I step in there in the morning, I make sure Cider’s done first.”

“I’m best friends with Applejack… you’d think I’d have learned, but noooo,” Twilight whined. Ledger leaned over and kissed where she was rubbing, his cheesy attempt to kiss it all better.

“Where’s mine?” Midnight pouted, presenting her forehead to him. Ledger rolled his eyes, having intended to do her next anyways, but kissed the proffered spot on the thestral mare as well.

“Yay~” Midnight giggled, giving him a hug. Twilight shook her head and looked at him.

“You really spoil her huh?”

“And she spoils me as well,” Ledger replied as he just basked in her affection, already feeling a lot better. Scope had fluttered up to her nest and pulled out her long-forgotten book, scrawling a few things in it.

“So what’s up with that?” Twilight asked, staring at the cloud nest. “That seems more like a Pegasus thing, than Changeling.”

“That’s Scope’s business,” Ledger said with a shrug. “And while I or Middy could go up there and look, we respect that there are some things Scope wants to keep secret. If she ever wants to tell us, we’ll be here to listen.”

“Plus it helps that they’ve never asked,” Scope replied. “I like sitting in clouds, it’s comfy. As for my book here…” She paused and tapped her chin, before flying down and whispering into Twilight’s ear. She nodded a few times and then gasped, before whispering something back. Scope tilted her head, then her eyes went really wide and she nodded enthusiastically.

“Because if we asked, we didn’t expect a favorable response. More like ‘shut up’ or ‘none of your business,’” the disguised drone illustrated for Scope.

“Well… true enough I suppose,” Scope nodded as Midnight cleared her throat and gave her ears a wiggle. Scope sighed as she looked at her.

“You heard every word didn’t you?”

“Mmmaaaaybe,” Midnight giggled and Scope sighed again, before fluttering up to her nest and waving a hoof. Ledger quirked an eyebrow, not quite sure what that meant, but until otherwise directed, decided to take it as he normally would. Namely, an ‘I’m up here, go on about your business’ wave.

“So I can tell him Scopey?” Midnight clarified. The nymph grunted and rolled over, turning her back to them. Midnight giggled and looked at Ledger. “She’s writing a book. Her very own Daring Do adventure.”

“Oh dear,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “I know how that usually ends up…”

“What do you mean?” Midnight asked him.

“I may have written a few stories when I was younger,” the drone confessed. “And anytime I tried my hoof at writing my own addition to a previously-established series...it never ended well.”

“I’m writing it for fun,” Scope spoke up. “I don’t care what others think. As long as I like it.”

“Then that’s all that matters,” the drone said with a sigh and a smile. Any reply Scope has was cut off by ‘Soup’s On,’ It was the song of their people and Midnight and Twilight all but vanished, reappearing at the table and awaiting the arrival of deliciousness. Ledger sighed again, but stood up and ambled over to the table, taking his seat and kissing the closest mare.

“Ya know,” A familiar voice said, though not in the way he expected. “Ah appreciate the gesture an’ all, but ah’m strictly a mare’s mare.” Apple Fritter blushed and looked away from him.

“...Sorry, thought you were your sister,” Ledger offered as he decided he needed a big cup of coffee. Really big.

“Ledger, is there something you’d like to tell me,” Cider said from his opposite side as she pushed a mug of coffee his way. “Y’all aren’t tryin’ to trade me in fer mah sister are ya?”

“Just not awake yet, otherwise I would have looked before I smooched,” Ledger said before drinking deep of that sweet nectar of civilization.

“Ohh, are we playing with Fritter now?” Midnight hummed, before drawing the mare in for a deep kiss. Cider facehooved and sighed.

“Will everypony stop kissin’ mah sister?”

“Aw, feeling left out?” Fritter cooed after Midnight was pulled off of her by Twilight.

“She probably would appreciate a kiss herself,” the stallion at the table mused.

Fritter giggled as she moved to pepper Cider’s face with kisses, the older sister screaming and trying shove her away as Full Steam came downstairs.

“This is why we can never have a normal breakfast,” he muttered as he sat down at the table. Apple Leaves sighed as she ambled in from the kitchen and nodded in agreement.

“Normal is overrated,” Ledger retorted as he began putting food on his plate. “Try growing up with my family. Your definition of normal will shift to ‘any day that involves an argument or an explosion.’”

“I can vouch for that,” Midnight said, as Cider and Scope nodded.

“Try having breakfast, only to have your table turn into a glowing, magical map that tells you where you need to go to save the world,” Twilight countered.

“Try having breakfast before your little brothers cause a detonation with vinegar and baking soda, your oldest sister critiques your latest disguise seven ways to sunday, and your youngest sister replaces everyone’s toast with oatmeal,” Ledger riposted.

Twilight glared at him. Challenge Accepted!

“Pinkie Pie once replaced everpony’s seats with confetti cannons. I’m pretty sure the indentations from my horn are still on the ceiling.”

“My youngest sister’s first time with sugar,” Ledger fired back. “Utter chaos in the house. I won’t tell you everything she did, but to me, she apparently had time to excavate a pool in my room, fill it with applesauce, and add a donkey of all things.”

“We invited Discord to lunch once,” Twilight replied. “DO you have any idea how hard it is to eat when your blanket starts flying and Discord is wearing a turban and some puffy pants, singing about love and stuff.”

“My brothers blew up my step-dad’s garden shed,” Ledger countered. “With just a few fireworks, they utterly demolished his building. To this day, Peaceful Heart still can’t grow anything there.”

“My new home is a hundred-hoof tall crystal castle shaped like a tree! And somehow, Rainbow Dash still crashes into it!”

“I have five step-dads,” Ledger deadpanned. “Growing up with them was weirder than your castle. Especially when my dad had to instruct the others in how to make my little brothers and sisters properly. Especially when you get lost looking for the bathroom and wonder why step-daddy Inspired and daddy are doing things to mommy.”

Everyone fell silent for a moment, Twilight had a massive blush on her face as Scope and Midnight howled with laughter.

Cider and Fritter shuddered and patted his shoulder sympathetically. Yeah, they’d been there.

“I believe I win,” Ledger said as he finally began eating his food with gusto. Twilight just nodded as she tried to purge that mental image from her head. Midnight wondered if she should tell the time her parents discovered her… extracurricular activities…

Nah, they didn’t need that kind of scarring.

“Funny part is,” Ledger said around mouthfuls of food. “Wasn’t the last time I walked in on them.”

“And this is suitable breakfast conversation because…?” Apple leaves dared to ask.

“Because Twilight challenged Level, and Level hates to lose,” Midnight replied. She wondered if this would affect him. “Besides, I don’t mind the mental images too much, Ledger’s mom is pretty~”

“That is my mother you’re talking about,” he replied dryly. “Do you admit defeat Twilight?”

“Hooves down,” Twilight nodded, looking at her food now that her appetite had been thoroughly killed. She was highly tempted to send him after the next great evil that showed up, all because he could probably snark it to death. She was about to take a bite when a scroll appeared in the air in front of her. She looked it over and sighed.

“Seems I have to head home today. Something’s come up.”

“We’ll be waiting for you when you have time again,” the drone said as he left his food unattended for a moment so he could walk over and kiss the alicorn on the cheek.

“Mhmm, it can wait until after breakfast though.” she replied. “Your foalhood sounds interesting.”

“That’s what you’re callin’ it?” Cider blinked and raised an eyebrow. “Interesting?”

“It’s my coping mechanism,” Twilight shrugged.

“Trust me, you don’t want to know the finer details,” Ledger said before returning to his breakfast and chowing down again.

“I do!” Midnight chirped happily as she downed her second coffee and a healthy pile of hash-browns.

“You would,” the stallion replied with an eye-roll. “And I can guess which part you want to know as well.”

“Whelp, time for me to go to work!” Full Steam said, getting up from the table.

“And we have shopping to do,” Apple Leaves nodded, dragging Cider and Fritter along with her. Twilight also absconded, deciding to get to Ponyville early to help with the preparations. That just left Scope and Midnight there with Ledger.

“Was it something I said?” Midnight blinked.

“Maybe,” Ledger said with a chuckle, before walking over and kissing the thestral mare on the cheek. “I have a company to watch over, will you two look after the farm until Cider gets back?”

“Sure,” Midnight nodded, kissing him back. “Have fun at work. I’ll be here. Bored.”

“Really feeling the love,” Scope muttered. “And what’s happening with this message system Ledger? We already sent out my minions.”

“Celestia wants to turn it into a military utility before releasing it again as a government service, like the post office. Only we’ll be getting a cut of whatever profit it makes. So...I dunno. Do what you feel is best until she approaches us again?” Ledger said with a shrug. “Just don’t open up the offices until she says we can.”

“Geh! Fine, guess your sexy secretary is taking the day off,” she shrugged. “Looks like a lazy day today Midnight.”

“Yay…” came her already unenthusiastic response.

“Don’t have too much fun without me,” Ledger said with a wink. “That’s what that second stallion is meant for, once we find him.” With that, he was out the door, seeds of thought hopefully planted.

Midnight blinked and looked at the closing door. Was...was he actually serious about that? Midnight frowned as she closed her eyes and lay her head on the table. She hadn’t really thought of another stallion like that in a long while. And she only really knew of two or three here in Las Pegasus, all of whom were taken and one she wouldn’t dare do something like that with.

Sure, there had been dozens in the past, but she couldn’t even remember their names and faces anymore.

“Scopey, what do you think of that?” she asked. “About getting a second stallion?”

“Yeah, no.” the nymph replied. “I only like Ledger and you girls. Heck, I barely like Twilight. Sure she’s cute and all, but, I don’t have that bond with her that I do with all of you. I suppose I might in time… but another stallion…” She shook her head and flew up to her nest. “No thanks.”

“Hmm, I wonder how Twi and Cidey feel about it?” Midnight hummed, moving over onto the couch and laying on it. It didn’t take her long to fall back asleep again…

Ledger sat in his office as he did another piece of paperwork, by hoof. Nearly dying sucked. It tended to create mountains of questions, in triplicate. Which he just loved doing with magical exhaustion still being a thing he was going through.

Still, his business hadn’t suffered too badly while he was...indisposed. With a flourish, the latest foe in the dreaded bureaucracy machine was slain. Only a hundred more to go, yay.

“So, this is where you’ve been holing yourself up?” A voice said and Ledger looked up to see Ace leaning against the doorframe, looking just a little weary.

“Nearly dying tends to create more paperwork than can be believed,” Ledger said as he pulled the next sheet over. “And any of them could be a priority to answer and fill out, if I want to maintain my previous status quo.”

“You have my respect,” he said as he limped over to the couch and sat down. “I couldn’t stand a desk job. I’d go insane within the hour…”

“That’s how I felt working under Toll,” Ledger said as he began filling the latest sheet out. “Once I caught on to what was going on, I nearly went mad.”

“And yet you stuck with it, and brought her down… with a little help,” he chuckled. “I can bet that you never imagined yourself in the position you’re in now.”

“Nope, but I know how those under me feel when I’m the one working them,” Ledger said as he chuckled along with the griffon. “So I do my best to make sure they know they’re appreciated.”

“Glad to hear it,” Ace nodded. A voice could be heard from outside, somepony was sounding quite demanding. “Oh crap… she found me already?”

“...Dare I ask?” the disguised drone inquired.

“Let’s just say that Amy is very adamant about having a hatchling… and that a certain Griffon can only take so much before needing a break.” He moved to a window and opened it. “We’re friends yes?”

“I like to think so,” Ledger replied. “Why?”

“Great. Stall her!” he said as he leapt from the window, just as his door opened forcefully and Amy stood there, her mane ragged and a mad glint in her eye.

“Heeeeey Levvy,” she giggled. “Where’s Acey~?”

“Who?” Ledger asked dumbly, doing his best to stall the manic pink as he finished his latest form. Said forms scattered when the Pink leapt onto his desk, her nose pressed against his.

“You know Levvy~ I think you're stalling,” she sang. “Are you doing something silly and highly dangerous like that~?”

“Would I do that to you?” Ledger asked, looking the Pink in the eyes. “Now if you don’t have any serious questions for me, I have a lot of paperwork to do…”

Amethyst sat there for a moment, before plopping down on her rump and sighing. “Yeah, sorry… guess I’m acting a little cray-cray today. I just want a foal so bad…”

“You know they sell the inverse of morning-after potions at the pharmacy, right?” Ledger said as he got up to pick up his scattered paperwork.

“Saywat?” Amy blinked and appeared in front of him, her pink eyes staring into his soul.

“Fertility potions,” Ledger said, blinking a little at her sudden appearance. “Y’know, for couples having difficulty having a foal.”

“Ididn’tknowIgottagobyenow!” She hollered as she raced from the room, the inertia she created scattered his papers once more.

“Well, I stalled her,” Ledger mused as he began to gather his paperwork again. “But I feel like I made it worse at the same time…”

A sudden flash and a pop as the air expanded to make way for the pony teleporting in, and yes, scattering his paperwork…

“Heya bugbutt!” Moondancer smiled as she reclined on his couch. “How’ve you been?”

“Busy,” Ledger said as he mentally said buck it and moved the unsorted paperwork from the floor to his in-box. He’d work it out in a bit. As the drone reclined in his chair and began sorting through his work, he spoke up to the mare that had just teleported in. “What brings you by today?”

“Paying a debt,” she replied as she floated a bottle out of her bag and onto his desk. Ohh, now that was a nice (and by definition, expensive) bottle of scotch. Ledger graciously accepted the bottle before putting it next to the bottle of rum in his bottom drawer. The bottle that had miraculously remained full as it had been before Moondancer teleported in.

“Well, thank you for the gift,” Ledger replied, bowing his head to the unicorn mare. “Something tells me that’s not all, though...and that the scotch was just to butter me up.”

“Well, it's also in case you were mad at Middy for what happened yesterday. She did tell you, yes?”

“She did, and I’m not mad at her,” Ledger said as he got about halfway through sorting his paperwork. “It would probably take her stabbing me for me to be truly mad at her.”

“Seriously?” Moondancer asked him, one of her eyebrows raised. “Well now, that’s something. Though, she did leave before we got to the heavy stuff…”

“Still not mad at her. She bit me later that night,” the drone divulged. “Yeah, I know what it’s like to be bit now. And I must say, even knowing how it eventually ended, I’m jealous you got to her first.”

“It’s not the first time,” Moon said, blushing at that memory. Sugar had gotten a real working over that day. “But I was the first one she ever did it with. She only does it with somepony she truly trusts and they trust in return.”

“Yes, well, get your nymphfriend to be a little more gentle in her questioning, and that’ll soothe over any irritated feelings I might have,” Ledger joked back.

“I guess so,” Moondancer giggled. “She wants to know if everything is okay. Something about, not having been to the last couple of meetings?”

“Mmm, I haven’t, because I’ve usually been in mortal peril,” Ledger muttered back. “Tell her I’ll attend the next one, assuming I don’t drown in paperwork first.” Speaking of, it’d finally been sorted, and he pulled the next piece off the top of the pile.

“Will do, and bring those sexy mares of yours as well,” she winked, before her horn flashed and she vanished from the room.

“Only if they want to,” the drone said to nopony in particular as he continued with his thankless task.

Midnight and Scope had headed out to town once Cider and her family got back. One, they wanted to give the mare a little alone time with them, and two, they were bored outta their skulls.

Which was why they probably went a little overboard stopping a bank robbery.

“......”

Midnight looked at the silent Unicorn mare that was staring at her. “Aw c’mon Captain. It’s not that bad…”

“......”

“Well, maybe a little,” Scope replied, staring at the smouldering remains that used to be the front of the bank. Midnight huffed and crossed her forehooves.

“Well now he’s learned his lesson, and all's right with the world,” Midnight nodded and Captain Narrow Gaze sighed. They’d caused more in property damage than the thief tried to steal…

Well, whatever. She was sending Midnight the paperwork to deal with. This bat was going to be buried in processed trees until her kid was in college. Also…

“And no getting Ledger to help you with paperwork again,” she said with a nod. “Although he’s done a lot for the city, he’s still a civvie and there are things he’s not meant to do. Understand Specialist Song?”

Midnight pouted further and sighed. “Fiiiine.”

“Good, now if you’ll excuse me, I have a slightly crispy thief to escort to the station.” The mare trotted off as Scope shrugged and went back into the bank to complete their original task of withdrawing some bits.

“This pregnancy things blows,” she muttered. “Can’t do anything fun anymore.” She looked up as she saw Ace fly by in a hurry. “Huh? Wonder what has his tail in a twist?” She soon got her answer as she saw Amy chasing him, some sort of paper bag tucked under one foreleg.

“Weird, but I guess if Amy’s involved, it’s pretty normal…” Scope trotted back up with a full bitbag and beamed.

“You do realise what time it is yeah?”

“Shopping spree?”

“Shopping Spree.” The nymph confirmed and the two giggled before racing off.

It wasn’t until late afternoon by the time Ledger returned home. Full Steam had returned home for the time being, but Apple Leaves insisted that she’d be staying to help with the wedding details. That also reminded Midnight that she hadn’t exactly told her parents yet.

Eh, she’d get around to it.

“A day of paperwork without magic,” Ledger said as he collapsed onto the couch Midnight had dubbed the ‘cuddlecouch.’ “I can think of no worse torture to inflict upon anypony in my line of work.”

“Aww,” Cider cooed as she rubbed his shoulders. “Ah reckon Middy feels your pain right about now. Just… watch where you step in our bedroom.”

“Thanks for the warning,” Ledger said as he sighed, thankful of the massage. “So, how was your day?”

“Got the groceries done… and a little something else as well~” she giggled and pointed to near the table, and a crate of Crystal Berry Wine sitting there. One dozen bottles, all labeled and ready to be delivered.

“Oh wow,” Ledger said as he looked at the crate. “Well, I think any money problems we might have had with a foal on the way are about to be a bit lighter.”

“That’s all ah’ll be able to make a month,” she said as she sat next to him, pulling him onto her lap so she could rub his back. “At least until the younger trees mature, but that’ll take a few months.”

“Maybe longer, y’all don’t know how fast they grow right?” Fritter asked from the kitchen. Cider shook her head in response. Oh well, it was a start at least. Oh! She just remembered something.

“Hey Levvy~” she whispered huskily into his ear. “We got a little surprise for you later~”

“Oh dear,” Ledger said as one of his ears flicked. “Should I be worried? I feel like I should be worried.”

“You can if you wanna be,” she said, nibbling his ear as she massaged his back. “Or you can look forward to sumthin’ you ain’t seen before~”

“I’ll settle for cautiously optimistic,” the drone replied with as he lay there in Cider’s lap, enjoying the feeling of a nice massage after a day of being at his desk filling out paperwork. “Might’ve stumbled across something during one of my little research breaks, to keep my mind from killing itself doing all that paperwork. Remind me to tell Twilight when we next see her.”

“Oh, something only you bookworm ponies would understand?” Cider said with a cute tilt of her head.

“Had an idea that might work with our current understanding as to how Waypoints work,” Ledger said with a nod. “We can still go over the system later, but this might work to make public teleportation no more intensive than a trot in the park.”

“Sounds… difficult,” Cider asked/stated. “Well, ah’m sure Twi will love to talk about it with you.”

“Mmhmm,” Ledger said as he practically melted under her hooves. “Oooh, little higher?” She moved her hooves, soon having the drone purr under her ministrations.

“Remember you still have to walk and feed him,” Scope said from her nest. “Like all good pets~”

Ledger was too blissed out to offer a proper response to the implied insult. Cider was magic with her hooves~

Cider giggled and nodded, her hooves moving a little lower, now working his flank and hind legs, unashamedly copping a feel or three. At least until Fritter and Leaves walked in, then the mare rubbing him down was purely innocent.

Ledger opened his eyes at the sudden mood shifts in the mare massaging him and took in the other Apple family members joining them. “Oh, hello there,” he greeted the mares, wisely not mentioning what Cider had just been up to.

“You seem to be living the good life,” Apple Leaves smiled. “We’re going out for a little while, try not to get up to too much mischief while we’re gone hmm?”

“No promises,” Ledger told the pair. “The others are sometimes insatiable.”

“Well, have fun regardless,” Apple Leaves replied as Fritter just blushed and shook her head. The two left a moment later and Cider went back to her groping him.

“Middy’s been rather quiet since we got back…” Scope pointed out. “And given all the paperwork that Narrow dumped on her, I expected a—” A frustrated scream sounded from upstairs and Scope chuckled. “Ah, there we go.”

“She could just ask me when my magic recovers to do it for her,” Ledger pointed out. “I’m surprised she didn’t try something like that when I came home, to be honest.”

“Narrow told her that you couldn’t help, seeing as how it’s Guard work,” Scope explained. “So she’s just gotta bite the bit and deal with it.”

“Mmm, makes sense,” Ledger said as he looked back at the mare massaging/groping him. “And I see somepony either missed me or wants to tease me.”

“Both?” Cider asked. “What, ah have a hot stallion in mah lap all t’mahself. Ah reckon ah’d take advantage of that.” Her moment soon ended as Midnight came stomping downstairs and flopped unceremoniously onto the couch. Namely, right on top of Ledger and Cider.

“And hello to you too,” Ledger said from under Midnight. The bat just muttered something at him and lay there until Cider sighed and rolled her off onto the floor.

“Either sit like a civilised pony or you can stay on the rug,” she replied.

“Told you that you hafta housetrain them,” Scope said.

“Like we didn’t have to do something similar with you,” Ledger snarked from beneath the batpony. Still. Cider blushed when she realised that she’d pushed Ledger off of the couch as well. Midnight decided that it was her victory as she claimed her prize, hugging Ledger tightly.

“Used to being the keyword here,” Scope chuckled. “Hmm, perhaps we should send you off to the Violets to be ‘deprogrammed’ as well~”

“I get the feeling she’d break them before they broke her,” Ledger sighed as he basked in the affection all the same.

“Little buggies stand no chance,” Midnight murmured. “Specially if I use my ‘secret weapon’.” She leaned over and nibbled Ledger’s ear. “You know my Bite?... Well, I can use it on myself,” she whispered.

“Like you need another advantage,” he muttered back. Then he realised, if she could use lust like that normally, what would she be like if she doubled it, and lost most of her inhibitions (If she had any).

“And now I’m terrified,” Ledger said aloud. “Promise us you’ll warn us if you want to do that?”

"I shall make no promises," Midnight replied with a wink. She cuddled a bit closer and hummed. "So Mr. Ledger. Care to explain what you meant about another stallion joining us?"

That got Scope’s and Cider’s attention. Ledger sighed before replying to the thestral.

“I’m leaving it up to you mares, but I really do think another stallion would help me keep up with you all.”

"This is going to sound really strange coming from me of all ponies," Midnight said in a surprisingly serious tone. “But I really don't know if I'm comfortable with that. I mean, I love all you guys, and I love Twiley as well... but..."

The drone did the only thing he could to reply: say nothing and just hug the mare. Though he did toss in a quick nuzzle as well. If she wanted to say something about it, she would, and he wouldn’t put words in her mouth.

"I just, if you want space Levvy, just ask. I mean, the pregnancy thing will put me out of commission soon enough." Midnight sighed and placed her head on his shoulder. "If you want somepony, then I guess it's okay. But I don't need anypony else. You guys are all I need to be happy."

“I just don’t want any of you going without any attention if you want it. Four mares is sorta spreading me a little thin,” the changeling drone explained. “If you all feel happy as we are, then I’ll not fight it. Nor will I fight it if you all decide that you want another stallion in our lives.”

"Well it's a decision that shouldn't be made lightly," Cider said. "And while ah didn’t object to the odd roll in the hay, ah always saw mahself settling down an' having a family."

"Yeah, well... Middy knows what happened at the bar. Which might not have if that whore hadn't used her command pheromones," Scope said with a small huff. "Still, I only like you guys."

"Well that seems to be that," Midnight said. "I might not say no to having a little fun, but I don't know if I could love them as much as I do you guys. And that wouldn’t be fair to them." She then chuckled and looked at Ledger.

"On the other hoof. I could finally take a crack at Fredrick~"

“First of all, he’s my friend,” Ledger replied. “I’m not going to put him or Narrow in the situation where they would have to reconcile their relationship with ours. And second, I still haven’t ‘come out’ to him yet. I need to, one day, but that day is not the same day as when I ask him ‘do you wanna join my herd?’” The drone shook his head before looking around at the mares around him. “So we’re sticking with this model, then? One stallion, four mares?”

"Well I guess," Scope shrugged. "To be honest, I don’t know any other stallions.”

"Ah do, but they're all related and ah ain't gonna put truth to some of those rumours." Cider sounded particularly annoyed at saying that.

”And the only ones I know are taken, one time flings or tries to ponynap me." Midnight shook her head. "Hmm, Cadence seemed interested in herds..."

“Then I pity Shining,” Ledger said with a small laugh. “Because if she’s the one that starts it...what do you think the odds are she’ll be bringing in another stallion?”

"Aww, you don't want another Princess?" Midnight giggled. "I mean, she has one hell of a body. And I wouldn't mind polishing Shining's spear~"

“I know better than to push my luck,” Ledger replied before softly kissing Midnight. “Besides, you’re all princesses to me.”

All three mares paused, giving Ledger a moment of serene silence. Right before he was pounced on by Midnight and Cider. Scope opted to blush and call him an idiot.

“I will say this,” Ledger said as he basked in their affection and love for him. “Our time together has definitely helped me learn what not to say.”

"Yeah, you're not bad," Midnight replied. "But seriously though. If you're feeling overwhelmed, just say so. I'm sure we'll let you be for a while."

"And y’all might wanna take a long vacation come Spring," Cider said. "Or ya might just die..."

“Ah,” Ledger said as an ear flicked. “I hadn’t...thought about that. I will take that advice under advisement. When should I start acting on it? I can’t just vanish from work for an entire season.”

"It's usually strongest fer the first couple of weeks. It becomes more manageable after that." Cider informed him. "Ah dunno what happens to Scope or Midnight. And ah'd hate to see if it happens to Twilight."

“I dread to imagine as well,” Ledger said with a soft chuckle.

“Aww, what’s so bad about one of the most powerful spellcaster in the word having insatiable lust and a desire to breed?” Midnight said, already knowing Ledger’s answer.

“The idea that she’d become like you are in bed,” Ledger said. “I can barely keep up with one of you. And let’s not imagine the fallout should I be successful.”

“You know, you have to wonder,” Scope hummed. “I mean, have you ever heard of Celestia having a foal? Or even Cadence for that matter. Maybe an Alicorn can’t get pregnant.”

“...Calling not-it for bringing up to Twilight, on multiple counts,” Ledger said after thinking it over for all of ten seconds.

Scope and Cider quickly agreed, leaving Midnight to pout and fold her forelegs. “Aww, you guys suck.”

“I thought that was what you’re good at~” Scope chuckled, serving only to deepen Middy’s pout.

“Look at it this way,” Ledger said. “If I bring it up to her when she’s not in Heat, then she’ll likely go all research-crazy to prove or disprove it. And if I bring it up when she is…”

“You’re boned into giving her your bone either way,” Midnight laughed.

“At least this way, I’ll have time to run,” Ledger riposted. “I mean, unless she comes through that door right now and you’re feeling especially sadistic.”

Everyone turned and looked at the door, half-expecting to see Twilight walk in.

They were disappointed.

At least until they turned back to Ledger as Twilight teleported into the room, her coat was ragged and singed. She looked like she’d been slammed into a building or three and her left eye was giving a dangerous twitch.

“Well, that wedding was fun,” she said with a small smile.

“You look...stressed, Twilight,” Ledger said, carefully inching away so as to not attract attention. “Cider does wonderful massages, it might help you to get one.”

“Stressed, I’m not stressed!” Twilight said with a small giggle as her lopsided grin fell slightly. “I mean, who doesn’t love a good old fashioned Bugbear attack during one of your friends weddings!”

“Until you destress via whatever means you find suitable, I’m not going over our project with you,” the drone basically blackmailed the princess.

Twilight fell onto the rug next to Midnight as the bat cuddled her. “Oh, and Ledger?” the alicorn said with a soft sigh.

“Mmhmm?”

“Heads up.” And that was all the warning he got before a giggling Pinkie Pie tacklehugged him.

“Ack!” Ledger said from under his new assaulter. “Oh, you’re that impossible Pink pony from Ponyville.” He’d recognize that scent of baked goods anywhere. Along with that glaring shade of pink. Once was usually more than enough for anypony Pink or Pink-like to leave an impression.

“Yahuh!” she giggled, her cottoncandy mane spilling over his face. Sweet Hives, it even smelled like cotton candy.

“We’re all here actually,” Applejack said as the rest of her friends wandered inside. “We wanted to see what y’all have been up to.”

“Cousin AJ!” Cider exclaimed, moving off the couch to give her a hug, before settling down next to Twilight so she could offer her services. Rainbow lined up as well to get one… Because Rainbow.

“Ah, well, just working on a few ideas with Twilight about long-distance teleportation. Y’know, nothing major,” Ledger tried to brush off the idea that he was doing anything important. “...You figured something out as well, didn’t you Twilight?”

“Mmmmm, what...ahhhh, makes you say that?” she said with a cheeky giggle as Cider massaged her. Midnight offered to do Rainbow Dash, and now had her hooves all over the prismatic Pegasus.

“Last I checked, the waypoint only worked for the pony that cast it,” Ledger said with a smile as he watched the scene. “So, mind explaining how all your friends got here if you didn’t figure out something about waypoints?”

“Okay, so maybe I figured out how to key in a pony’s magical signature to an existing Waypoint,” Twilight admitted. “Not exactly viable though, as you would have to tie in every pony to every Waypoint. But...ahhh, oh Celestia that’s good~”

“Still, it’s a start,” Ledger said as he took the chance to retake the snugglecouch for himself. Victory! “I had an idea as well, and when you’re less frazzled, you can come up here and I can share it.”

Twilight stood up and stretched, her joints cracking loudly as she shook herself off and sighed. She settled onto the couch next to him, with Pinkie still hugging, well, now hugging both of them.

“Oh! That reminds me! I need your birthdays!” Pinkie declared.

“My twentieth was two and a half weeks ago,” Ledger said, not knowing the damage such a simple sentence could unleash. Pinkie paused and blinked, but Midnight’s reaction was much more dramatic.

“I MISSED YOUR BIRTHDAY!?!?” she screeched. “OH my gods. I am the worst marefriend ever! I need to get a present, and cake, and—”

Midnight was shut up by Ledger wiggling his way free of the couch and kissing her to silence her. Hey, it seemed to work, so he was gonna keep doing it. She broke the kiss and glared at him.

“Why the hay didn’t you tell me!?” she said. Pinkie had vanished somewhere and Twilight just sighed. Well, he’d brought this upon himself.

“We were kinda almost always busy,” Ledger said with a rarely used light touch of snark. “I just took ‘you entering my life’ as the best present ever and rolled with it. Besides, did we really need the stress of my birthday on top of everything else that was going on?”

“YES!” Midnight said. “It was your first birthday with me and everypony else in it!”

At which point, Pinkie returned pushing a large blue cannon… wait. A cannon!?!?

“Who’s ready to party?” she screamed.

“Meep!” Ledger let out as he ducked behind the couch in a burst of speed, not wanting to stick around for a cannon! Pinkie pulled the string and it exploded, somehow decorating the room for a birthday party, streamers, balloons, even a fully baked three-tier cake!

“...Is it safe to come out?” Ledger asked as he poked his head over the back of the couch.

“Um… what happened?” Midnight blinked, a few streamers clinging to the top of her head.

“...I have no idea,” the disguised drone honestly replied.

“It’s a party silly, better to have a belated buggy birthday bash by Pinkie Pie than not at all!” the mare cheered as Ledger found himself in a chair with a party hat on his head.

“Sorry about this,” Twilight giggled as she took a seat next to him. “Trust me, once Pinkie starts, there is no stopping her.”

“Trust me, after dealing with the Pink of this city, I know,” Ledger said before blinking and biting his tongue, not wanting to say too much more around this pink pony. They must never meet.

“Pink? I love pink!” Pinkie giggled and snorted. “My favourite colour is pink!”

“Did someone say pink?” Amy chirped from behind Ledger.

“Sorry about this,” Ledger said with a sigh to the mares as the two Pink ponies, well, pony and changeling, met for the first time.

There was a moment of silence, as Pinkie stared into Amy’s eyes. As Amy stared into Pinkie’s eyes…

“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie!” The sheer Joy this mare put out was staggering. Like a thousand foals all eating the most delicious ice-cream at the same time.

“Hi! I’m Amy Cream!” the pink nymph responded, putting out her chitinous hoof for a hoof-bump. “I like you, you’re my kinda pony!”

“And you’re my kinda buggy!” Pinkie giggled. “Can you believe that Ledger here skipped his own birthday!? I mean, who does that!?”

“Eh, he was kinda busy at the time,” Amy said with a shrug. “...Heck, I don’t think he was even here for his birthday.”

“Hmm, that… would have been around the time I got…” Midnight fell silent as she looked at the table. “Oh…”

“SAD PONY!” Pinkie cried. “Amy! Code P!!”

“On it!” Amy said as she produced a one-gallon tub of Mango ice-cream from thin air and plonked it down in front of Midnight.

“Is...that…?” Midnight stared at the tub of ice-cream with wide eyes. She grabbed the tub, hissing at anypony that got too close as she all but shoved her head inside of it, noisily gulping the treat down.

“I still don’t know why she loves it so much,” Ledger said as he gingerly took the party hat off his head. Pinkie re-attached it as Twilight nodded at his statement.

“A Thestral’s main diet is fruit, and mangoes in particular are quite appeasing to their palette. Though, Midnight does seem to enjoy them more than most.”

Midnight’s ear gave a twitch as she put down the now empty tub. “Like Ledger enjoys me using my tongue on his—”

“And you don’t need to tell them that,” the drone said with a large, fake smile as he cut Midnight off. Afterwards, he attempted to, again, remove the party hat from his head.

“Awww,” Midnight, Pinkie and Amy frowned. Twilight and Rarity blushed, Fluttershy had fainted and…

Hmm, Rainbow and Scope had vanished somewhere. That didn’t bode well.

“Pinkie, we seem to be missing a few guests,” Ledger mentioned to the impossible mare. If she was going to be weirdly impossible, he was going to make use of it.

“Hmm, Dashie and Scopey aren’t here…” She reached under the table and pulled them out, placing them there. Rainbow seemed confused…

Scope looked like she’d seen the afterlife and come back.

“Well, that solves that issue,” Ledger said as he pushed the party hat away with one hoof. “And once Scope is working again, I’ll tell her to blame you.”

Apple Leaves and Apple Fritter returned not long after, surprised about the sudden party until Fritter saw Pinkie. That had explained pretty much everything.

Midnight decided that she’d throw Level a lifeline and looked at Amy. “Hey, you should introduce your new friend to Ace. I bet he’d love to meet her.”

“Oooh,” Amy said as she hooked one foreleg across Pinkie’s withers before looking at Twilight. “Can I? He’s just the best griffon ever! Please?”

“Um, sure… you don’t really have to ask me,” Twilight nodded.

“It’s only fair, you’re her ride,” Amy chirped before leading the pink pony out. “I am gonna have so much fun watching Acey react to both of us!”

“I feel like I have done a very bad thing,” Midnight said as she crossed a hoof over her heart. “Rest in peace Teach.”

“Well with that out of the way,” Ledger sighed. “How about we enjoy this party at a much...saner pace?”

“Sounds good, but Pinkie really does throw some amazing parties,” Twilight said. “Wait until next year. She won’t forget now and when she has more than fifteen seconds to prepare…”

“Whooeee, you get one hay of a hoedown,” Applejack whistled as she ate some cake.

“Yeah, they’re cool enough for somepony like me at least,” Rainbow nodded.

“Infinite...possibilities…” Scope muttered as she rocked back and forth. “The walls… there are no walls….”

“Oh dear,” Ledger muttered as he stuck a forkful of cake in Scope’s mouth to help calm her down. Scope nommed the cake, but her thousand-yard stare continued.

“Mhmm, that looks like the time I tried to find out what makes Pinkie Pie, Pinkie Pie.” Twilight hummed thoughtfully as she ate her cake. “Also, having a piano and a safe dropped on you from a hundred feet up is really, really painful.”

Midnight stared at the Alicorn, and decided that it was far safer not to ask.

“Like I said. If it's Pink…” Ledger started, before munching on some cake himself. This was good stuff!

“Well, I suppose we should get to the reason on why we came today,” Rarity said and Midnight giggled.

“Really Bookworm? Did we teach you that well? I thought you were fighting Bugbears, not adding to our herd?”

It took a few seconds for the Unicorn and Alicorn to catch on, both of which blushed and groaned as Midnight laughed harder.

“You really do need to think twice before saying anything around Midnight, if you want to avoid moments like that,” Ledger said once his mouth was clear. “She’s sorta the expert at that.”

“Among other things,” Midnight giggled. She leaned in close and whispered something to Scope and Cider. It seemed to be quite the conversation before the two mares nodded and Midnight clapped her hooves with glee.

“Midnight, what are you planning?” Twilight asked with a dubious tone.

“Just a little birthday promise to Levvy~” she giggled. Ledger cocked his head to one side, before his eyes widened and he shook his head rapidly.

“Please tell me you aren’t going to ask…” Ledger pleaded. There were a few questions and promises they’d made to one another, and he didn’t want any of them being brought up at this second!

Midnight tilted her head and she looked at him. Had he forgotten? Oh yes! This was gonna be even better if he didn’t see it coming...well, he’d be coming soon enough~

“S-So Rarity, you were saying?” Twilight asked, wanting to change the subject away from Perverted Midnight.

“Ah, yes. Well we came to help prepare your upcoming nuptials darlings. We were to assist with one in Ponyville, but that dreadful Bugbear put quite the cork in that one.”

“Aw c’mon, fighting that thing was sooo much cooler than helping out with a wedding!” Rainbow said.

“Um, well… I don’t think so…” Fluttershy said quietly. Seems she still wasn’t used to Ledger and the others quite yet.

“Hmm, well, we’re either getting married right away, or after about...Hmm. That’s a good point, we should do a comparison between how long it takes a pony and how long it takes a changeling,” Ledger said as he mulled over the idea of a crossbreed coming to be.

“The average pony take around eleven months from conception to delivery,” Fluttershy of all ponies informed him. “Oh, um… in case you were wondering…”

“Huh, Changelings do it in nine,” Ledger commented. “Wonder what the reason for the discrepancy is...but that gives us about two months of difference.”

“Well, insects tend to have far shorter periods due to shorter lifespans, Oh, not that I’m saying you’re like insects, OH! Or that you don’t live as long as a pony. Oh, um… I’m sorry…” Fluttershy’s voice got quieter as she retreated into her mane.

“It’s fine, I wouldn’t hold anything you say against you,” Ledger said without looking at the yellow pony, knowing that eye contact would only worsen the situation. “So, we’ve got options. I’m evenly divided, personally, on whether the marriage happens tomorrow or nine to eleven months from now.”

“I’m not gonna show for at least a month or so,” Midnight pointed out. “So there’s no great rush. And even if I did, so what? I’m gonna marry you guys regardless.”

“Fair enough. Maybe we should at least wait until the morning sickness and constant purging isn’t a thing before we get married,” Ledger conceded.

“That… would be a good idea,” Midnight nodded. Still, she was feeling better and better these days. And the medication and Twilight’s magic also helped.

“I think I still have my mother’s list hanging around here somewhere,” the drone muttered as he cast his gaze about, trying to think about where he last saw the thing.

“Ah have it upstairs,” Cider said. “Ah can go and get it later.”

“That’s why were here, to help,” Rarity said. “I’d be quite honoured if you’d allow me to handle the dresses.”

“Me an’ mah kin will handle all the food. It’s mah cousin that’s gettin’ hitched to y’all after all,” Applejack agreed. “And despite her quirks, Pinkie is a whiz at decoratin’.”

“I can do anything that requires me to be awesome,” Rainbow nodded.

“I’m not sure there’s a whole lot of call for ‘awesome’ in the proceedings, but...thank you. You will of course be compensated,” Ledger said as he began drawing up the message he would send to his mother in his head. “Name your prices.”

“Tain’t nuthin,” Applejack said. “Like ah said, mah kin, and soon you’ll be mah kin as well.”

“And I’ve never done a wedding dress for a Changeling before, ohh, it will be fabulous!” Rarity giggled. “I’ll give you an invoice once I’ve worked out materials and labour.”

Twilight just knew that she’d probably give them a massive discount to boot as well.

“One more thing, then, if you all intend to go see the city while you’re here,” Ledger said, deciding to warn the mares before they found out the hard way. “Despite recent...events, the citizens of Las Pegasus are rather...accepting of Changelings. So you may see more than one walking around undisguised.”

“I told them already,” Twilight replied. “Did you know there was an undisguised Changeling foal in Ponyville? It went to the wedding and everything.”

“Huh,” Ledger said with a flick of his ears. “I didn’t know one of Scope’s was a mother.”

“Apparently so,” Twilight nodded. "And well, nopony really panicked, so I think it’s alright. It’s good to see that everything’s going so well, despite what’s been happening lately.”

“...That’s a word we can use for it,” Ledger said with a smile. “Until action was taken against the invaders, I was afraid of relations becoming so rocky we would be forced to flee, frankly.”

“Well, I guess we were a little guilty of helping that,” Twilight blushed.

“Heh, it is kinda funny you went from fightin’ em to lovin’ em,” Applejack giggled. Twilight just snorted and blushed again as Midnight got up and gave Ledger a kiss on the cheek.

“Meet me upstairs in ten minutes,” she said with a wink and then all but vanished from the room. Ledger rolled his eyes before looking at the gathered former Bearers.

“Well, you all are welcome to do as you please if you think it’ll help with planning this wedding. However it’d turn out. I’m not even sure how a herd wedding is supposed to go, frankly.”

“Honestly, I don’t know if anypony does,” Twilight replied. “Princess Luna is officiating yes? Maybe ask her about it?”

“So what about you Twi?” Rainbow asked. “You gonna get hitched along with ‘em?”

“I, um, I don’t…” Twilight stammered and blushed.

“The offer has been extended, but that’s another reason for us to wait,” Ledger explained. “For her to make up her mind as to whether or not she’d really fit in and be happy with us.”

“And I’ve said that I have to think about it,” Twilight said to Rainbow. “But right now, we should be focusing on them and hoping that this wedding actually goes off without any problems.”

“We do tend bring trouble along to these shindigs huh?” Applejack mused. “Ah well, what’s the worst that could happen?”

“Didn’t you just say something about a bugbear?” Ledger asked with a raised eyebrow. “And I’ve already fought off a horror of my own, thanks. I’d rather not tempt fate into sending me something new to fight.”

Rarity had been quite silent, already scrawling in a notebook with ideas for gowns and the like. Which reminded her…

“Have you chosen bridesmaids and a best stallion yet?” she asked them.

“A what?” Scope blinked. She turned and looked at Ledger. “What the hell is she talking about?”

“No clue, I don’t know that much about pony weddings,” Ledger replied. “Care to explain?”

“Basically somepony that stands beside you at the ceremony.” Twilight explained. “It’s an honor usually given to a close friend or loved one. You don’t have to have one. But it’s tradition.”

“...I suppose I was going to have to tell him sooner or later,” Ledger sighed. “I have an idea for the best stallion, but I’m going to just hate that conversation tomorrow…”

“Huh, so a friend huh…” Scope was surprisingly quiet for once.

“Ah reckon ah’ll choose Fritter fer mine,” Cider nodded. “She is mah little sis after all.”

“The sooner you let me know, the better,” Rarity said with a small nod. “I’ll need their measurements as well, unless they plan on their own outfits.”

“I think I know who Midnight’s is going to be: Moondancer,” Ledger said. “But my own can only be one person. Fredrick, local restaurant owner, shameless flirt...and a griffon who doesn’t know my identity.”

“That’s… did you want me to come along with you?” Twilight asked him out of concern.

“I should be fine,” Ledger replied as he finally got up to follow after Midnight. “It’s our friendship that worries me.”

Chapter 59 - Party planning

Ledger drew a deep breath as he stood outside of Fredrick’s cafe. It was early in the morning, so it was highly likely that his friend would be there, preparing for the day. Best to get this over and done with as soon as possible. With a gulp, the disguised drone moved forward to open the door of Fredrick’s place of residence and business. The soft tinkling of the bell signalled his arrival.

The Griffon had been wiping down some tables when he saw his friend enter.

“Ah, hello there Ledger. Alone today? I had half expected a cute mare on each arm.”

“Not today, Fredrick,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “They all have things they need to do...except Scope, who I think Midnight is half a minute away from drafting to help her with the mound of paperwork Narrow dumped on her.”

“Ah, the dreaded paperwork, even I am not so immune to such an ordeal.” The Griffon stuffed his cleaning rag into a pocket on his apron and smiled. “So, what can I do for you today?”

“Can we go somewhere? Somewhere with privacy? Nobody can hear what I’m about to tell you,” Ledger said with just the right amount of urgency to his voice.

Fredrick raised an eyebrow and motioned for him to follow upstairs. “You know,” he chuckled as they headed up. “While I am flattered you feel that way, I must inform you that I am taken, nor am I of that persuasion.”

“Well aware,” Ledger joked back. “This isn’t about that, believe me. I just don’t want anyone overhearing this.”

“I know, I’m just teasing,” he said as they walked into his room and Fredrick closed the door. “Now, what is this all about? I’ll admit that you have me a little bit concerned.”

“Well, good news and bad news,” Ledger offered. “Which would you like to hear first?” He’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to put off the reveal for as long as possible.

“Hmm, well let’s hear the bad news first. I’m in a good mood as is, so it might be better to end on a high note.”

Ledger took a deep breath, lit his horn up...and took his disguise off in front of Fredrick, revealing his noble, Silver Changeling self for the Griffon to see..

Fredrick stood there, blinking quite slowly as he looked at the Changeling. For a good long while he was silent before he finally decided to speak.

“So…is this you? Or someone pretending to be my friend,” he asked in a cautious tone.

“It’s always been me,” Ledger replied. “Who else would know about your ‘hundred mares in a hundred nights’ boast?”

“Now that was a wild season,” he chuckled. Spring time was always fun. He took a step forward. “So… why now?”

“The good news,” Ledger replied. “I’m getting married sometime in the near future, and I would appreciate you being there as my best stallion...or griffon, in this case.”

“So, if you weren’t, you would never have told me then?” the Griffon asked, a slight amount of bite in his tone.

“I always wanted to, I just didn’t know how or when to go about it,” the drone replied with a shake of his head. “I didn’t know how you would take...this. Take all of this. I didn’t want to risk our friendship on a fact I’ve been keeping from you since I’ve known you.”

Fredrick nodded, before a rather potent right hook caught Ledger’s cheek. The Griffon glared at the Changeling that was now on the floor. “You think that would have changed anything?” he yelled. “That I would think any less of you because of what you were? Did you think I was that shallow!?”

“There’s a pretty big difference between a pony and a changeling,” Ledger replied as he picked himself up. “And only lately have changelings been seen in any positive light. Before Toll got taken in, I couldn’t tell anypony, because she knew and was holding that over me.” The drone starting using his hooves to illustrate his points now. “I’ve been lying to you, and probably would have kept lying to you until I knew you wouldn’t take it poorly or I accidentally revealed it. You can’t think highly of that.”

Fredrick sighed as helped the Changeling steady himself. “I can’t say I expected this. Does… are your mares aware?”

“Every single one of them knows,” Ledger replied with a nod. “I refused to be...with them without them knowing what they were getting into.” Except for that first time he was with Cider, but that wasn’t the topic at hoof here.

“Well, good to hear,” Fredrick said. This was… probably going to take some getting used to… maybe. “So uh, best griffon huh?”

“If you still think you can be friends with a changeling drone,” Ledger said with only a lightly jesting tone.

“Well, I’ve put up with you for this long,” Fredrick chuckled and held out a talon. “I’d be honoured to take that role Level.”

“Then I am honored to have you,” Ledger said as he put his hoof in the outstretched talon. Fredrick nodded and pulled him into a one-armed hug.

“Also, this means I get to plan your bachelor party! Now this will be most fun!”

“...I get the sinking sensation that I have made a terrible mistake,” Ledger deadpanned. The Griffon just laughed as the drone disguised himself and the two headed downstairs.

“A party to celebrate your last night as a free stallion, planned by yours truly? What could possibly be so bad about that?”

“Just make me a promise, Fredrick,” Ledger pleaded with the griffon. “Don’t use The Love Shack as a venue for this party of yours.”

“Well now that you’ve said it…” Fredrick chuckled. He did like that place before he met Narrow. The mares there really knew what they were doing~

“It’s a Changeling-owned place,” Ledger whispered to the griffon. “I’ll know everyone there, and they’ll know me.”

“Changeling...owned?” Fredrick replied. Seeing all the ‘ling’s in town had made him wonder if any of the mares he’d been with had in fact been Changelings… well, he knew for sure now that some were. “Well, I guess, we could look elsewhere…”

“That’s all I ask,” the disguised drone said with a relieved sigh. “Also, if you ever have any questions for me, I’ll do my best to answer. Promise.”

“I think this needs to sink in,” Fredrick nodded. “A nice glass of scotch will do well in assisting with that. And some more of my lovely mare.” He clapped a hand over the stallions shoulder and nodded. “But we are still friends. That much is certain.”

“Thanks, I was almost afraid of this going over poorly,” the drone replied as he double-checked his disguise and nodded to the griffon. “Take care, Fredrick. I’ll be back for lunch, hopefully.”

“Will do, and perhaps bring one of those mares of yours to brighten up the place a little.” He turned as a few ponies walked in, wearing square glasses and scarves. Some ponce named ‘Panderhoof’ or something had compliment his coffee, and now he had hipster ponies to deal with every morning.

“For the love of the clouds Level… get a mare in here.”

“I make no promises,” Ledger chuckled as he vanished from sight. Fredrick’s coffee was good, yes, but he preferred Cider’s and had already had some anyways. A long, boring day of work beckoned...until he remembered the research session he and Twilight had scheduled.

Maybe today wouldn’t be so bad after all~

The doors to the Love Shack nearly flew off their hinges when Midnight Song flew in. She looked around at the busy bar, getting a few odd looks from some of the patrons from her dramatic entrance.

She couldn’t see Sugar or Moondancer anywhere, so she took a seat and watched the dancer on the pole. She seemed to be as flexible as always~ Especially when she nearly bent double and winked at Midnight while still dancing. The Thestral blinked and tilted her head, oh yeah. Was she another one of the Violet mares?

Midnight raised a hoof to get the attention of a waitress. She was feeling thirsty. Eventually a server came by and giggled at seeing who was here at this hour.

“And what can I get our favorite thestral?” the disguised nymph all but purred at Midnight.

“Mmm, some grape juice if you please,” she replied, giving the mare’s flank a blatant ogle. The mare giggled again, before turning and sashaying away, flaunting that flank for Midnight and enjoying the excess lust the mare all but radiated off herself.

Midnight probably could have ordered the most expensive drink on the menu, and it’d not be too expensive for her, so potent was her Lust. She repaid them by just being her~

Midnight just licked her lips as she turned back to the dancer. She recalled the other Violets taking her form the first time she came here, but she didn’t recall getting the mare’s name. Ohhh, now that was a nice move, Midnight was sure to remember that one for later use~

It only took a minute for Midnight to receive her grape juice, along with another eyeful of flank as the waitress returned and put the drink on the table. “Anything else, cutie?” the waitress asked.

‘You,’ Midnight almost said before she nodded. “Hmm, if you wouldn’t mind telling Sugar that I want to see her when she has a moment.” She looked back at the dancer and smiled. “No rush though.”

“I think she’s with Moonie at the moment,” the mare hummed. “They’re trying to wear the other out. Winner gets to run the club for the rest of the day.”

“Why would Moonbutt want to run the club…” Midnight shrugged and sipped her juice. “Ah well. So who’s the dancer? She’s good, not to mention cute~”

“You like?” the waitress asked, turning to watch as well for a moment before turning back. “She’s Miss Two-step, quite skilled in all manner of dances.”

“I’ve noticed,” Midnight replied, licking her lips again. “Is she one of you?”

“Sort of,” the disguised nymph replied with a wink, letting Midnight puzzle out the meaning on her own.

“Sort of?” Midnight sipped her juice pensively. “How can you be ‘sort of’ one?”

“Word through the grapevine is, you’re sort of carrying an example,” the waitress said with another giggle. Midnight sipped her drink again, then her eyes went wide and she coughed on it. After a moment of nearly choking on her drink, she wiped her mouth and looked at the waitress.

“Ah, so uh… who’s her Momma?”

“You’ve met her several times before,” the waitress said with a final giggle before vanishing. No way in Tartarus she was going to outright say who Two-Step’s mother was. Moondancer wouldn’t want the supposed responsibility.

“Met her…?” Midnight blinked again then gasped. “Oh, no freakin’ way!”

“Hello there,” A voice came from behind the thestral, and when Midnight turned to look, Two-Step had come down from the stage to stand behind her. “And who might this...delectable pony be?”

“Ah, the name’s Midnight Song,” she replied. Yeah, that look in her eye was definitely a genetic thing if Midnight’s guess was right. “You’re quite the dancer Miss Two Step.”

“And you’re quite the customer,” the Earth Pony mare said before sitting opposite her. Her coat was a deep black, while her eyes...well, those and her mane seemed to be the same shade of violet she’d seen so many times before. “I could tell from up there that you were somepony that...appreciated the things we do here.”

“Very much so,” Midnight replied with a wink. “And were I not taken, I’d be buying you a drink right about now. Hmm, well, I guess I still can.” She raised a hoof and smiled. “Waitress, a drink for my enticing new friend here.”

“I’ll take a shot of the Mood-Setter,” the mare said without taking her eyes off of Midnight. “I could do with some, I think.” The waitress nodded and walked off to the bar to retrieve said drink. “So, what brings you by, Miss Song?”

“I’m here to see Moondancer, but I’m told she’s a little… tied up, right now. So I’m killing time until she’s free.” Midnight sipped at her drink again. She idly wondered what a ‘Mood Setter’ was. She didn’t recall a drink like that being on the menu last time. The waitress returned with what looked like a normal cider...until you saw it catch the light just right and saw the violet and pink swirls inside it.

“Mm, she is a little occupied with the owner,” the mare replied as she sipped at her own drink. “Until one emerges victorious, you might be here a while. Neither seemed willing to concede when they went in…”

“Yeah, Moonie’s kinda stubborn like that,” Midnight replied, staring at the drink. “What is that?”

“A normal enough cider...with a bit of Lust and Happiness mixed in during the fermenting process,” the mare replied as she took a big sip of it. “Helps, well, set the mood. Loosen ponies up a bit.”

“Huh, and here I figured normal alcohol was good enough for that,” Midnight replied with a small smirk. “Too bad I can’t touch the stuff. Sounds like a fun drink.”

“It is,” the mare agreed with a nod. “And normal alcohol takes a while, if the pony knows how to hold their liquor. Almost nopony knows how to hold their emotions well.”

“Well I suppose the drink would be good for ponies hanging around you and yours huh?” Midnight gave a small smile. “But I’m not like those ponies. Just ask your mother about the day we met.”

Two Step coughed into her drink before wiping her muzzle off and raising her eyebrows at the thestral. “I’m sorry?” she asked. “I’m not certain I heard you properly.”

“You’re Sugar’s daughter aren’t you?” Midnight inquired, deciding to just up and ask. Two Step sighed before looking around and leaning in to whisper to Midnight.

“I don’t know how you know, but you don’t tell anybody else, understand?” the mare hissed. “Don’t even hint at it to anyone else. Mother already has to fend off other Violets from town every month. They don’t need to know I exist.”

“It’s alright, it was just a guess actually, Thanks for confirming it.” Midnight giggled and placed a hoof over her belly. “In fact, you’ll be seeing somepony else like you before long.”

“...seriously?” the mare asked with a hopeful tone as her gaze followed Midnight’s hoof.

“Mhmm, part Thestral, part Changeling, and if he or she is even remotely like her Mom, all awesome!” she laughed and downed the rest of her drink. “So, what’s the big secret about you anyway? It was the waitress that tipped me off after all.”

“The waitstaff love you,” the mare grumbled. “And mom’s the current heir to the Violet throne. Any other ‘ling in line for it could force her to yield if they got ahold of me. So we downplay how important I am and hide the relation as much as possible.”

“You and I have more and more in common as we speak,” Midnight sighed. “And yet, Sugar’s dating Moondancer now. If she ever found out who you were…” Midnight chuckled as she played with her napkin. “Messing with somepony she cares about? Might as well sign a death warrant.”

“...Hmm, I have an idea,” Two Step said with a dangerous glint in her eye. “How about we go break up their little game so we can kidnap Moondancer?”

“A game of stealing the Moon?” Midnight hadn’t played this in a while. And no, she had totally not kidnapped Moondancer on multiple occasions. “Sure!”

“Awesome!” the mare said as she held up a hoof for a hoof-bump. Midnight returned the gesture and smirked.

“So how did you want to play?”

“I run interference, you snag her?” Two Step offered.

“Done and done,” Midnight replied as she got up. Ohh, this was gonna be fun~

Twilight got a few greetings from Ledger’s workers as she entered the warehouse and climbed the metal staircase to his office. She was about to walk in, but remembered what happened last time.

She raised a hoof and knocked on the door gently.

“It’s unlocked,” Ledger called from beyond the door.

“It was unlocked last time too,” Twilight called back to him.

“I promise there are no mares in here, yet,” he replied cheekily. Twilight just shook her head and walked inside.

“One, you’re an ass. And two, you wanted to see me?”

“Mmhmm,” Ledger said as he pushed a scroll over to her. “You said the waypoints are typically tied to the pony that casts them, right?” The diagram on the scroll was...not of a pony doing the casting, but rather a large, crystal array.

“So, you’re thinking of using crystals as a medium?” Twilight hummed, looking over the work. Admittedly, she’d been having similar ideas as well. “The main problem is getting them to cast and not teleport themselves along with the ponies…”

“True, but if we figure that out, then all we’ll need to do is address the right crystal when we…give them...orders” Ledger trailed off as he looked at nothing in particular. If Twilight were a changeling, she would feel the veritable lightning bolt of inspiration he was having.

“An address,” Twilight murmured, seemingly coming to the same conclusion he was. “Are you thinking—”

“—That a letter goes somewhere because we address it to go to one place and not another,” Ledger said as he mouth ran with the idea. “We would just need to make the crystals the waypoints, and find a way to address them in the spells!”

“I think I can make that work, it just needs a design that would allow us to enter the address of where you’d want to go,” Twilight bounced up and down as a million concepts ran through her head.

“It would also need to be simple enough so that anypony could use it,” Ledger said, voicing his concerns. “And you would need to build safety features in so that a misspelled address didn’t end up with somepony landing in the frozen north, or a volcano, or the like. Accepted addresses only.”

“Hmm, perhaps if something was made to monitor the network, a central hub if you will,” Twilight said.

“Something to keep watch in case of accidents?” Ledger said with a smile. “I can get behind that, but it would need to be either well-made or well-located. Or both.”

“Something that could react, and dispatch somepony almost instantly?” she said, looking at the direction of Scope’s office… three...two…

“Oooh, that’s an idea,” Ledger said. “Hmm, but Celestia wants to make use of the Hivemind network she built...maybe if we found a way to adapt the spell’s ability to transmit instantly over long ranges?”

“Well this application would be far more useful,” Twilight said. “And in the end, it would be Scope’s decision yes?”

“True, but do you really want to give her more reason to laugh maniacally?” Ledger asked with a raised brow.

“Hmm, maybe,” Twilight smiled. “Her laugh is kind of cute don’t you think? Though, I feel kind of bad usurping Princess Celestia like this.”

“If you really want to use Scope’s network to monitor yours,” Ledger said. “Then you get to draw up the legal documents and explain it to Scope.”

“I can do that,” Twilight nodded. “Just give me a day or two and I’ll draw up what you need.” She glanced out of the window at the setting sun. “Heh, did you know I’ve done that once before? Raising the sun and moon.”

“I can imagine,” Ledger said as he leaned back in his incredibly spacious chair. “That was during that whole...incident, right?”

“Yeah, all the other Princesses transferred their power to me. I woke thinking, ‘Hey, Princess Celestia hasn’t raised the sun yet’... then, whoops. Still, I didn’t do too badly.” she gave a small smile and poked out her tongue cutely. “At least I didn’t drop it.”

“I’m willing to bet most ponies were just glad that the sun still came up, in light of everything going on,” the disguised drone replied. “Maybe further down the line, you can ask Celestia for another go at it.”

“I don’t know if I’d want that responsibility again,” Twilight replied. “We came so close to me being the only Princess of Equestria. That’s not something I care to repeat.”

“I meant more of you trying with her guiding you,” Ledger replied with a snicker. “I doubt you’d need to break something out of Tartarus just so you could give raising the sun another shot. If you felt like you were ready, you could probably just ask.”

“Or I could break something out of Tartarus,” Twilight giggled. “I mean, Fluttershy can control Cerberus, it wouldn’t be too hard. In fact, I could probably conquer Equestria in about a week… mmm, give or take.”

“In which case, I would take Middy, Scope, and Cider, and go back to the lands with some of Cider’s berry and apple trees,” Ledger replied without missing a beat. “We’d all find employment there, I promise you.”

“Aww, but a queen needs her consorts,” Twilight cooed, running a hoof along his cheek. “Don’t worry, my rule will be just and fair..."

Midnight smiled as she clung to the ceiling near the door to Sugar’s room. Her partner in crime was getting prepared to provide a ‘distraction’ and the Thestral found herself wondering just what she had planned. Eventually the mare made a reappearance and nodded up at Midnight before knocking on the door. Sugar was the one to open it and look out at Two Step, blinking in surprise.

“Yes?” she asked, her mane a little ragged. “Do you need help?”

“The others are wondering where the rest of the Mood Setter is,” Two Step replied. “Apparently they’re out at the bar and can’t find another barrel to tap.”

As the two talked, Midnight slipped in behind the nymphs, using her Trance to mask her emotions as she moved like a ghost, sliding into the room and taking a moment to look around. When she finally found the pony she was after, Midnight held back a giggle as she saw the Unicorn tied to the bed with silk scarves and fluffy hoofcuffs. She added this scene to her mental databanks for later use and quickly picked the locks on the cuffs holding Moondancer there as she used one of the silk scarves to gag her.

“Now, you’re coming with me for a bit,” she giggled as she grabbed the bound pony and slipped back out while Sugar had gone with Two Step to find the missing drinks, barely making it out of the hallway before the pair returned.

“That’s quite odd, how all the drink disappeared like that,” Sugar’s voice observed.

“Guess the ponies just like what we brew,” Two Step tried to brush off. “Thanks for your help. I’m going to get something to eat before the evening shift starts.”

“You do that,” the disguised nymph said before opening the door to her room...and screeching. “WHO TOOK MY MAREFRIEND?!”

Midnight paused as she ran down the hall. Oh Sugar was going to make her pay dearly for this, she could see it now. Still…

They made their way to the private room she’d been in once before, where she first met Sugar and her sisters. She remembered that that and chuckled lightly. She turned to look at Two Step who had just entered the room. “Hmm, now I remember. We’ve kissed before… sort of.”

“They used my form, didn’t they.” Two Step deadpanned. “That hardly counts, it’s not like you actually kissed me.”

“True, I also kissed myself that day… that was weird,” Midnight turned to place Moondancer on the couch and released her gag, prompting the Unicorn to raise one of her eyebrows.

“Okay, you had better have a good reason for this. Because I’m fairly certain you just started a war with the Violet Hive…”

“Aw, don’t be such a drama llama,” Midnight giggled. “I have a really important question to ask you, and Sugar when she finds us.” She released her Trance, so it was only a matter of time now. “Firstly, you wanna be one of my bridesmaids for my wedding?”

Moondancer had prepared a biting retort for any question the Thestral might have had.

Any except that one. The Unicorn blinked, before she smiled and nodded, tears stinging the corners of her eyes.

“Of course I will, silly Little Bat. But, couldn’t you have waited just a little?”

“Been waiting half of the day, you were taking too long and this sounded fun,” Midnight replied.

“Plus, there’s no way you were going to outlast her,” Two Step added. “She’s a Violet, she just gets stronger from your lust.”

“Oh ye of little faith, I have many tricks I still haven’t shown her yet. Plus, she made the mistake of showing me her Feedback spell~” Moondancer giggled and looked at the mare. “And who might you be? I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure.”

“I’m Two Step,” the mare said with a smile. “I’d offer to shake, but…”

“Yes, my hooves have been… occupied,” Moondancer replied with a small smile. Midnight’s ear flicked as she heard something getting closer, as if the sound of distant slamming doors wasn’t a good enough indicator.

“So you’ll do it?” Midnight asked once again and Moon nodded. It also meant a bachelorette night. That was going to be fun to set up. Two Step cleared her throat to regain Moondancer’s attention.

“There’s something you should know if you’re going to keep seeing Sugar,” she said, mentally psyching herself up for her big reveal.

“If you’re about to say that she’s a Changeling, then you’re a little late for that,” Moondancer giggled. Two Step shook her head and decided buck it. There was a small violet flash from her form as she finally let go of her transformation.

There was armor on her hooves and back, her eyes had turned a shade darker and slitted, and there was even a jagged, black horn on her head. Moondancer stared at her as she slowly got off of the couch and examined her form.

“What on Equus…” she murmured as she took it in. She still had her Cutie Mark, it looked like she was half pony, half Changeling… oh?

“Are you, a half breed?” she asked her. Two Step nodded and waited for her to draw the other conclusion. Namely, who her mother was to give her the eyes of a Noble.

“Your eyes are slitted, not having a circular iris like a pony, or a pupiless eye like a normal Changeling... “ Moondancer frowned as she compiled the data in her head, Sugar’s yelling getting closer. “Your parent is a Noble… and you’re here… and the only Noble here is…”

Two Step nodded again with a small smile. “Hi,” she said eventually. Moondancer gulped as she stepped closer.

“...Hi,” she eventually said. “You’re… Sugar’s daughter?”

“She doesn’t like others knowing,” Two Step said as she reapplied her disguise. “I mean, think about what might happen if they did and wanted what she had.”

“I understand perfectly,” Moondancer nodded. “I know a few ponies in similar positions. Just, don’t ask Prince Blueblood about the Summer Solstice Incident. That… was quite the kerfuffle.”

“We can talk more about it later,” Two Step said. “For now, I’m gonna get you back to mom’s room before she catches us.” Midnight’s ear flicked as hoofsteps grew closer.

“I think we’re outta time there Steppy.” The hybrid grinned before walking over to one wall and pushing it...inwards?

“Secret passageways,” she explained. “I can get you back to mom’s room in a flash. C’mon!”

“You both realise I can teleport… right?” Moondancer grumbled as Midnight pushed her towards the passage.

“Yup, but our way is more fun,” Midnight giggled. And by the time Sugar burst in, all she was greeted with was another empty room.

“Mkay, just follow me, mares,” Two Step said as she led the pair of them back through the twisty passageways. “You’re officially in the Changeling part of the club, so don’t draw attention to yourselves. Just go where I go and we’ll be home free in no time.”

“You do realise you just dragged the very incarnation of Lust here right?” Moondancer said, pointing at Midnight.

“And the biggest bookworm on Equus, next to Princess Sparklebutt,” Midnight countered.

“Most of the others are preparing for the night publically,” the hybrid countered. “They shouldn’t be here except to monitor the brew. Right here.” She turned abruptly down another tunnel.

The two mares followed as Midnight looked around. It was pretty dark down here, and she idly wondered if this was what a Changeling hive was like. Now that she thought about it, she didn’t know what a Hive looked like. She expected lots of slime and cocoons hanging everywhere though. Instead it was like an ant hive, with lots of tunnels and intersections, with rooms sometimes visible in the larger ones.

“And up here,” the mare said as she pointed to one large tunnel in the ceiling. “Miss Song, if you grab your friend…”

Midnight did so, earning a chiding sigh from Moondancer.

“She said grab, not grope,” the Unicorn said flatly.

“...There’s a difference?” Midnight countered.

“See what I have to deal with?” Moondancer sighed.

“And now I…” the hybrid said before walking right up the wall to the hole in the ceiling. “Mkay, come on up here!”

Midnight flew Moondancer up to the opening, curious as to what was on the other side. Two Step pushed the ceiling up, revealing a familiar bedroom on the other side.

“Tada!” she proclaimed. “And now we get to put her back, and it was like we were never there!”

“Well, here’s to the most successful kidnapping of today,” Midnight giggled as she took great pleasure in tying up Moondancer again. The Unicorn rolled her eyes, but let her do it. It’s not like she couldn’t just teleport out of them or anything.

“And now we flee the country before Sugar gets back,” Midnight nodded. Two Step agreed before swinging the door in the floor shut and replacing the rug on it. Checking the hallway led to her looking back in the room and nodding at Midnight to signal the coast was clear. The two absconded from the room, leaving Moondancer to wonder if Sugar planned on returning anytime soon…

Outside, Scope Lens entered the bar to find an interesting scene. Sugar Darling was darting from waitress to barkeep, and to a few other employees, and she looked quite distressed about something.

“Oy, what’s got your teats in a twist?” she asked the mare as she trotted closer.

“My marefriend was kidnapped,” the disguised nymph said. “So I’m trying to see if anypony here knows anything.”

“Explain,” Scope said, switching to detective mode. Which also meant pulling out a detective's hat and a bubble pipe. No, she was not going to say where she kept those.

“Me and Moondancer were playing a few bedroom games,” Sugar said. “I walk away to take care of some club-related business, and when I come back, she’s gone. And nopony seems to know anything about what happened.”

Scope nodded and put that thought aside. “And how long were you… playing, before she vanished?”

“...Most of the afternoon?” Sugar offered. “What time is it now?”

“Late, a little after dusk,” Scope said. “So, a few hours then... “ She pondered and asked the simple question first. “You sure she didn’t use your absence to use the bathroom? And that you simply beat her back?”

“Somepony would have seen her,” Sugar countered. “Plus I always let her up to use the bathroom when she asks.”

“Yes, somepony would have seen the mare that can just teleport from room to room,” Scope pointed out. Her horn flared and she cast a simple Detect Life spell. “She’s in your bedroom… maybe you need glasses old hag?”

“...what.” Sugar deadpanned. “She’s where?”

“A room, over that way. I can detect her magical signature from here. Hell, I can sense her from here. You’re a Changeling, did it not occur to you to simply reach out and feel for her?”

“I was panicking!” Sugar replied. “I’d like to see you act rationally if something happened to Ledger!” Scope’s eye gave a dangerous twitch as the memories of Midnight’s kidnapping came flooding back. No, she didn’t know, no need to peel her chitin off with a rusty knife.

“Fair enough,” she simply said, very slowly. “Well, she appears to be safe and…” Oh, Midnight was here also… ah, so that’s what happened. “Well, now that you’re not so batty, can I ask you something?”

“Ask away,” Sugar said as she took a few deep breaths to normalize her emotions.

“Wanna be something called… a bridesmaid? I think. Apparently I need one for this wedding.”

Sugar blinked a few times before pointing a hoof at herself. “You’re asking me if I want to be your bridesmaid.” She stated more than asked. Scope shrugged and looked away.

“Yeah well, you’re like my only friend and junk. You can say no if you want…” That was all the smaller nymph got out before she found herself being cuddled. Again. “Gah! Get off me!”

“Darling, I would love to be your bridesmaid!” the larger disguised nymph cooed, not letting go of her at all. “Ledger is finally marrying his mares, then? I suppose I’ll have to coordinate with the other bridesmaids as to where to throw you the best bachelorette party~”

“I have no idea what that is,” Scope pouted. “I know Cider asked her sister, and I think Midnight is asking Moondancer and Narrow Gaze…”

“Well, maybe when I see that bat next, I’ll let Moony up for a bit so she can ask,” Sugar purred. “We’re going to have to coordinate this...or just each of us throw you all a party, that works too~”

“I think one will suffice, especially if you’re involved,” Scope groaned. “Just, try and keep the crazy to a minimum hmm? No ponies jumping out of cakes or anything.”

“I make no promises,” the violet nymph giggled, nuzzling the top of Scope’s head before finally letting the smaller nymph go. “And if you don’t coordinate us, then we’ll all probably end up doing our own thing~”

“Doing is to be expected if you’re involved,” Scope replied as she got up and brushed herself off. “Now I have to go and find Ledger. Try to leave Midnight in one piece okay?” The nymph hinting at what had already happened.

“Why would I…” the violet changeling trailed off before starting to swear profusely in Changeish. “Let me just wound her a little?” she eventually asked Scope.

“If I’m not here, then I didn’t see it,” Scope shrugged. “Just remember that she is with foal…” Hmm, did Sugar know about that yet? Oh well. “Later,” the nymph said and flew from the building.

“...I’ll let Moony get her back,” Sugar eventually sighed. “She’s more inventive at things like this.” With a soft pop, the disguised nymph was back in her room, looking down on the bound pony.

“Oh hello there,” she cooed, trailing a hoof along Moondancer’s form. “Somepony has been very naughty, vanishing like that~”

“Um… meep?” Moondancer helplessly shrugged. Perhaps teleporting was a good idea after all? Sugar noticed the horn starting to have a charge, and she drew one hoof along the rigid protrusion gently. Moondancer shuddered as the spell vanished, a silk hornwrap saw to it that that was no longer a course of action.

“I’m not going to be waking for a while huh?” the Unicorn said to her mate. Oh well, there were far less pleasurable ways to go.

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Sugar agreed. Moondancer could agree to those terms. Besides, she still had some tricks to surprise the Changeling with.

Later that evening, Apple Fritter, Narrow Gaze, Rarity, an exhausted Moondancer, and a surprisingly chipper Sugar Darling were sitting in a booth inside the Love Shack. Apple Fritter occasionally stole glances at the mare dancing on the pole on the centre stage.

Yeah, she liked this place already.

“So I think we know why we’re here,” Narrow said as she sipped her drink. Sugar had called it a ‘Mood Setter’. And it was pretty damned tasty. “So what kind of party are we going to have? I’ve never thrown one, or been to one really. Hell, I’m surprised Midnight asked me to be a bridesmaid.”

“Midnight never does anything one might expect,” Moondancer giggled as she sipped her drink. “It’s a part of her charm really.”

“And despite my reputation,” Sugar said with a giggle. “I’d rather we not do anything too crazy. That might end up with some of our guests of honor leaving.”

“Now’s where’s the fun in that?” Narrow asked. “I mean, this is Midnight Song we’re talking about. Crazy is pretty much normal for them.”

“That’s true,” Fritter nodded. “A Changeling, a batpony and a pony enter a relationship. Sounds like the start of a bad joke.”

“The only erratic bits are the thestral in the equation, otherwise it’s pretty normal for how I do things,” Sugar said, half-lidding her eyes and looking at Fritter.

Moondancer looked at Sugar and then at Apple Fritter, who was returning the nymphs gaze. “Something I should know?” she asked her marefriend.

“You weren’t the only one I spent time with before I met you, dear,” was all the nymph said as she smirked at the farmpony. “Though she did her best to be...memorable.”

“Ah try,” Apple Fritter smiled. She looked at Moondancer and licked her lips. “Ah do have tonight free…”

“Can we focus on this party instead of our libidos?” Narrow deadpanned.

“Wrong place for that, dear,” Sugar chuckled before taking a sip of her drink. “Hmm...I do know of a place like this...that staffs stallions instead. We could take the mares there.”

All the mares paused and looked at her. “Seriously?” came their unison response.

“Well I’m not taking them here,” the mare retorted. “I know everypony here. Maybe something with mixed tastes, then? So everypony gets something from it?”

“I think we’re more shocked that such a place exists,” Narrow replied. “Personally, I can handle being waited on hoof by a bunch of sexy stallions~”

“They are sexy, yes?” Rarity asked.

“I rather think so, yes,” Sugar replied with a smile. “And I think a good opener would be dinner at your griffon’s place, Narrow. You know, the place that employs a small army of stallions that seek to learn from him.”

“We could,” Narrow said. “But he’s planning the bachelor's party, seeing as how Ledger has asked him to be his best stallion. So we will simply have to deal with ogling all his waitstaff instead~”

“I rather think we have a plan, mares,” the disguised nymph said, eyes twinkling with mischief.

“Sounds like it,” Fritter grinned.

“So a sexy night of fun?” Moondancer hummed. “Well, sounds like fun. Count me in.”

Rarity and Narrow nodded as well. The seamstress then hummed as she looked at the group. “Well, since I have you all here. I can take your measurements for your dresses.”

“Be gentle,” Sugar said. “I plan to use this body again tonight.”

“Oh, don’t worry~” Rarity giggled as she cracked the measuring tape like a whip. “I have a magic touch~”

“Be gentle, or me and Moondancer will team up on you,” Sugar threatened the fashionista.

“Can we!?” Moondancer asked.

“....I don’t know you mares,” Narrow sighed as she downed her drink.

“You’ve been warned,” the disguised nymph said before killing her own drink. The pleasant buzz from a Mood Setter should help her through this next ordeal.

Fredrick was wiping down some empty tables as Ace practically dragged himself inside the eatery. He gave a weary groan as he collapsed at one of the tables, a very large Earth pony soon joining him there, though he looked just fine.

“Kinsman,” Fredrick greeted Ace before looking at the pony. “And hello to you as well. You both look like you’ve been running a marathon across Equestria.”

“That would have been easier…” Ace groaned, his face buried in his arms. The Earth pony gave a nod and looked them both over.

“So, why have I been dragged here?” he asked Ace.

“Cause we have to talk about that bachelors party,” the griffon sighed. “Oh, this is Full Steam, Cider’s father,” Ace introduced him.

“Hello sir,” the owner of the restaurant greeted him with a nod. “I am Fredrick, the owner of this establishment, and Ledger’s Best Stallion...or Griffon as the case may be.”

Full Steam gave a nod as Ace winced as he tried to stretch.

“Plucking feathers, I don’t think I’ve ever been this sore,” he muttered. “A word to the wise kinsman. Never get a Changeling partner… they are insatiable!”

“I will keep that in mind in case Narrow turns out to be a Changeling, or wants to try a similar setup to Ledger’s,” Fredrick chuckled. “Now, if I heard you properly, you’re here about that party I intend to throw Ledger? Is it…” The griffon trailed off before shrugging and pointing at Full Steam. “Is it entirely appropriate for you to be here for that discussion, sir? You are the father to...one of the brides, after all.”

“Ledger said we should help,” Full replied. “As well as his own father and Miss Midnight’s, but they won’t be here for a few days I believe.”

“Oh dear,” Fredrick said before sighing. “He has no sense of what’s appropriate. And the only guideline I have is ‘Not The Love Shack.’ So while I could use the help, I would much rather that the fathers of the brides not be the ones planning his last night of debauchery.”

“Have you ever met Ledger’s father?” Ace deadpanned. “He’s like a Changeling version of you kinsman.”

“And that’s a bad thing?” Steam inquired.

“They must never meet,” Ace confirmed.

“Oh come on,” Fredrick replied. “I didn’t sleep with all the mares of Las Pegasus. Only most.”

“I can see you’re in charge of this party,” Steam nodded. “And don’t worry about me. It was… a little concerning at first, about my daughter’s situation. But her partners seem like nice enough ponies. And, I trust Ledger to not do anything to hurt them.”

“Indeed, unless they actually attacked him, Ledger would never hurt his partners,” the griffon confirmed. “Gentle as can be until actually provoked.”

“If my Cider attacked him, he’d likely not survive,” Steam chuckled. “Still, if you don’t require my help, then I’ll be heading off. The train to Appleloosa won’t pull itself.”

“Take care, sir,” Fredrick said as he nodded at the pony again. “I would normally promise that I’d watch out for Ledger, but I’m sort of planning this night revolving around possibly getting him in trouble if the mares ever found out what he was up to, so…”

“Agreed, best of luck then son,” Full Steam gave him a firm hoof shake and left the building. Ace groaned as he looked at his fellow Griffon and sighed.

“Got anything that’ll help me live the next couple of days?” he asked. Fredrick hummed a bit before replying.

“Depends on your situation. What do you need to survive?”

“Three days… in three days we have done it over a dozen times….”

“Tell her to slow down, then,” the griffon chuckled. “Though, what is she after? Your collapse, or just a more satisfying experience?”

“She wants a foal… and will stop at nothing to get it,” he said. Fredrick blinked a few times before chuckling.

“Sorry, I did my best to avoid knocking up the mares I slept with,” the restaurant owner returned. “But, if you’re desperate, I might know something…”

“Oh?” Ace lifted his head.

“I heard this through the grapevine,” Fredrick said as he walked over to the podium and began looking for a quill and inkpot, along with a scroll. “Multiple stallions tried it, managed to give their wives a foal within two weeks. Sometimes sooner.”

“So what is it?” Ace said, getting up, his body being filled with a renewed vigor. Fredrick wrote something down and nodded a few times before looking back at Ace.

“Just a pill that helps boost...production. If you understand me.”

Ace nodded, while he was loathe to resort to this, he wanted to give his lover what she wanted. He thanked Fredrick as he took the scroll. “So, what’s the name of this thing?”

“It has some long, complicated medical name that I have a way of remembering,” Fredrick said before tapping the scroll. “Just present that to the colt that runs the local pharmacy, along with a sob story of how you’re having trouble giving the love of your life a foal, and he ought to give you enough for a month, cheap, which should be more than you need.”

“Many thanks kinsman,” Ace nodded as he placed the paper in his bag and gave the other Griffon a brotherly hug. “Hopefully this should make little Amethyst Cream happy. Well, farewell!” And like that, he was gone.

“...Amy Cream is a changeling?” Fredrick said as he turned that thought over in his head. “I would have never guessed...which I suppose is the point…”

By the time Ace returned home, he was feeling much better. He walked inside and straight over the sink, filling up a glass of water as he read the instructions. So these would boost both productivity and stamina… hmm, while he was still dubious about this…

He shrugged and downed a couple of the small pills. Well, now or never he guessed.

‘“Amy? You home?” he called out.

“In here~” she called out from their bedroom. The Griffon headed inside, wondering what was waiting for him…

It turned out to be Amy laying spread out on their bed, all but presenting herself to him. Only her tail was keeping him from seeing everything. She looked back over her shoulder at the sound of him coming close and gave him her best sultry gaze. “I’m sorry if I’ve been riding you a little rough lately, Acey~” she cooed to him. “I just...really, really want a foal of my own. Say the word, and I’ll be gentler to you if you don’t like it~”

“Oh?” he said as he walked closer to the bed, his feathers ruffling as he stared at his little Changeling mare. “That’s alright. And, I have a good feeling about today.” He climbed up onto the bed and stood over her, she could see his powerful form just bristling with energy as he nuzzled her, taking in her scent and giving her neck a few nips. She moaned and arched her back, rubbing it against his belly as he teased her.

“So don’t I,” she said back to him. “Whaddya say, stud? One more round for the day?”

He growled softly as he grabbed her with his talons, eliciting a squeak from her. “Maybe more if this doesn’t take. I’m going to rut you until I collapse. So I hope you’re ready my dear~”

“I can take anything you can dish out,” she boasted to him.

Ace just chuckled as he leaned closer. There’d be no sleep for them tonight…

Author's Note

Fredrick is chillest bird.

Like the story? Consider dropping me and Aus a dollar on my Patreon. It really helps.

Half the funds will not go towards rebuilding a skyblock.

Chapter 60 - The meetup of a lifetime

Grissom Gossamer sat at his desk, wondering if his paperwork bred when he wasn’t looking. In one inbox sat all of his work… everything he dealt with on a day to day basis.

In a second, sat everything Las Pegasus related. It was easily twice as tall and never seemed to end. He’d wonder just what the hell his daughter and her partner were up to, if the work didn’t already tell him.

“I want to move to Ponyville,” he muttered as he poked at the stack with a wingtip. “It’s quieter there.”

“I fear you may be right,” Celestia chuckled as she walked in, causing the idle batpony to flinch. “Ah. sorry for startling you old friend.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it Tia.” Grissom sat up and rolled his head until his neck gave a satisfying crack. “Now, you sure this work won’t be a problem while I’m gone?”

Celestia chuckled as her horn flashed, and all the work vanished. “Hmm, well that’s Luna’s problem now~”

“Really Tia?” he deadpanned and stared at her. “Foisting it off to your own sister?”

“Well, she was bragging about a spell she learned by poking about in someponies dream. Apparently he dreams of paperwork, or has nightmares, I can’t remember.” Celestia chuckled and shook her head. “Shouldn’t you get going? You have a train to catch yes?”

“I do,” he said with a small nod. “It’s a shame that Moon can’t come along, but she’s on tour at the moment. Well, hopefully Las Pegasus is on one of her stops.”

“I believe so,” Celestia replied. She walked with him as far as the front gate, the two chatting about what had happened in Las Pegasus recently, as well as the new development in their relationship.

An hour later, the Thestral had boarded the train as it made it’s way to Las Pegasus. It was mostly empty, save for a few ponies looking like they were heading away for a weekend spent in front of a slot machine.

Also on board was a rather familiar-looking stallion. Grissom chuckled lightly and approached him as he stared out of a window.

“This seat taken?” he asked.

“Go ahead,” the unicorn replied absently. The Thestral took a seat and hummed lightly.

“So what brings a Violet to Las Pegasus.... or is that a little too obvious?” he said with a cheeky smile. The disguised drone started and looked over at Grissom, before sighing and calming down considerably.

“Oh, it’s you,” Wishful Hope said. “Don’t do that. My nerves are frayed enough as it is.”

“Hrm, something the matter?” he asked. “Perhaps I can help?”

“Family matters,” the drone brushed off. “I haven’t been able to relax at home for a while. Every other day, it seems, something comes up. First it’s my son entering into a herd relationship, then it’s helping him plan his wedding, then my step-daughter meets a stallion up in the Crystal Empire. Now my son is asking me to help his friend plan his bachelor party. What in the Hives even is a bachelor party?!” The disguised drone finished his small rant by throwing his hooves up.

“Hehehe, you sound like every other father that worries about their kid growing up,” Grissom chuckled. “As for the party, that’s easy. It’s just a little something to celebrate the single life before getting married. One last night of debauchery.” He gave the drone a wink, “Right up your alley eh?”

“Well when you put it like that,” the unicorn said, a little more cheery already. “I suppose I can plan that for him, and in a city like Las Pegasus, it should be easy. I doubt I’ll be attending, though. It just seems...wrong, to be with my own son on a night like that.”

“It’s just a party,” Grissom said flatly. “The goal is more to celebrate him getting married. Kinda like a birthday, only with strippers.”

“Mmhmm, just giving me more reasons not to attend myself,” Wishful said. “In fact, I don’t think I’ll be telling the Madame about this night, the planning of...Hives, I’m going to do my best to forget it ever happened.”

“You can just say no, you know,” Grissom said. “How many stallion friends does your boy have?”

“I don’t know, but the fact that he felt the need to reach out to me for this does not bode well,” the disguised drone replied. “I can still plan it. And I’m certain I would love to be there for it. But the thought of attending...I can’t. I just can’t bring myself to.”

“It’s alright,” the bat replaced with a smile, patting his shoulder. “I don’t know if I’ll be going either, though my beautiful Moon has said I should.” He gave a weary sigh and nodded. “I’m getting too old to be playing with the younger generation. And I’m sure Ledger has a friend or two that will see to this better than we can.”

“We should still be there, to help in the planning process,” Wishful said after a moment. “To make sure things don’t get too out of hoof.”

“It makes me wonder what the girls are planning for their own party… especially if that mare from that… club, is involved.”

“Hmm?” the changeling of the pair asked, ear flicking in curiosity. “Is there something I should know?”

“Ah, well the females have their own version of this party… and the one in charge of planning it is that Violet nymph that runs the Love Shack club. I believe she is good friends with Midnight and the others.”

“Hmm,” the unicorn hummed. “Maybe I should reach out to her while we’re there, see to it our parties don’t run across one another.”

“That might be awkward,” Grissom agreed. “Heh, two Violet nobles in the same room. Nothing can possibly go wrong there.”

“I’m actually not,” Wishful replied. “Just another commoner that the Madame saved from a terrible fate.”

“Oh?” Grissom was interested now. “I thought your whole family were Noble-level Changelings.”

“The children are, because they are the Madame’s flesh and blood,” the unicorn explained. “But we, her husbands, aren’t.”

“Ah, well my mistake then,” Grissom nodded. “While I have had dealings with your kind for a while now, I’m afraid my understanding of your social structures is still somewhat of a mystery. Perhaps I should visit the Lands someday.”

“It’s more biological than social,” Wishful replied. “There’s an observable difference between a commoner and a Noble back in the Lands. Maybe Ledger’s latest...addition, could do a study on what makes us, us.”

“I fear if you suggested that, she’d run off there as quick as a flash,” Grissom chuckled. “And probably drag their merry little band along with her.”

“Then I’ll just have to suggest it to her discreetly,” the disguised drone said with a wicked smile. “Colt deserves it for not writing more or visiting.”

“Hah! If only Midnight was manipulated as easily… well, without mangoes anyway.” The two shared a laugh as the train sped onwards to Las Pegasus.

Midnight wearily pulled her head out of the toilet. The meds had worn off in the middle of the night and now she was enacting her favourite past-time.

“I’m going to kill yoohohohohoooo!” she cried out at the drone in the next room. “I will carve off your chitin and use it for armmoorrgghhhhh!”

The commotion woke Ledger up and he pried himself from the cuddlepile reluctantly before walking over to the bathroom. His horn lit up as he concentrated on the anti-nausea spell Twilight had taught him, and a wave of soothing magic washed over Midnight’s form.

“Fankyou,” she muttered, her head still in the bowl. “Still going to kill you though…”

“Save the death threats for when you go into labor,” Ledger muttered. “Or at least until after I’ve had coffee.” Nonetheless, he did rub her back with a hoof, hopefully in a comforting way.

She sighed as she lifted her head and sat there for a moment, before moving over to the sink to wash her mouth out. After gargling, she shook her head and nodded.

“Okay, feeling better now,” she said. “Thanks Levvy.”

“Twilight and I should make...an anti-nausea charm for you,” he sleepily observed, yawning in the middle of his sentence. “Would help.”

“Maybe, the spells and the pills aren’t perfect… plus, is it good for the baby?” Midnight sighed again as she lay on the cool tiled floor. “What the hell are we doing Level? Are we really ready for something like this?”

“We won’t know until we try, but I will give it my all if you will,” Ledger said as he lay next to her and nuzzled the thestral. “And if you’re worried about the foal and the effects our meds or the spells might be having on it, don’t be. Your body is really just adjusting to having another life to take care of, and the process isn’t gentle for anypony. You ought to stop throwing up soon.”

“Nnn, it’s supposed to last the first few months… and it hasn’t even been one yet,” Midnight groaned. “Well, whatever. I know you guys are here to help… just feeling mopey is all.” She stretched and washed her mouth out again. “Let’s go back to bed and sung—”

“Rise n’ shine everypony!” Cider called out as a rooster crowed. Wait, they had a rooster?

“...Dammit,” Midnight muttered. Ledger gave her a chaste kiss before re-applying his magic to her form.

“I’ll see about that charm with Twilight today, assuming I see her,” Ledger informed the mare. “I invited her to join me for this thing I planned during my lunch break, after all, and I can’t assume she’d want to miss it.”

“You’ve been spending an awful lot of time with Twilight lately…” Midnight said suspiciously. Then she gasped and pointed at him. “I knew it! You like her better than me!”

“...Seriously?” Ledger deadpanned. “Midnight, you’re the one that picked me up when I was broken and fixed me. I am who I am today because of you. I love you like I love all the mares in my life. Deeply and truly.”

“What the hell are you idiots yelling about?” Scope said as she came in. “I can hear you from the other room…”

“Lover’s spat?” Cider suggested from the doorway.

“Levvy likes Twilight better than us,” Midnight said.

“Two-timer,” Cider nodded.

“Pervert,” Scope agreed and all three mares giggled at the indignant look on his face.

“Oh for Hive’s sake, she’s a part of this arrangement!” Ledger said in Changeish. “The only way this could be worse is if she walked in right now to join you all in this...this blatant team-up!”

“What’s this?” Twilight had… appeared from out of nowhere. “Am I not invited anymore? I thought we had something special Levvy?”

“...I give up,” Ledger said before falling to the floor. ‘Twilight’ gave a hearty laugh as she turned back into Scope Lens. The nymph continuing to giggle as she petted Ledger’s head.

“Too easy.”

“I’ll get you back,” Ledger muttered, not getting up from the floor for the moment. “Just you wait.”

“Ledger, you couldn’t out prank a foal, let alone me,” Scope said with a small nod. “Now everyone out. I need to pee.”

The drone sighed but picked himself up and shuffled out of the bathroom, muttering something about vengeance as he did. His other mare’s followed him, the sounds of Fritter and Leaves already coming from the kitchen. Seriously? It was barely after dawn! How do ponies ever function at this hour?

“Shall we?” he asked as he held the bedroom door open for the mares. “I dunno about you all, but I need food and caffeine if I’m going to remain up for much longer.”

“Yeah…” Midnight yawned and then draped herself over Ledger’s back.

“Ah swear, y’all can’t handle the day without yer coffee,” Cider sighed and shook her head as she headed off to the kitchen to get them their wake-up juice.

“Correction, we can’t handle the mornings without our coffee,” Ledger said as he walked out of the bedroom and started taking the stairs carefully, thanks to the Midnight on his back. “I can handle the day just fine once it’s past morning and I’ve had a cup.”

“I shudder to think what you’d be like without a cup,” Cider called back to him.

“He’d go full blown Crown Prince of Snarkness,” Scope said as she followed them.

“I have nothing against mornings,” Ledger said as he finally reached the table and slid Midnight from his back into her chair. “I just think they should come later in the day.”

“Well, we have an all-powerful Alicorn princess now,” Midnight noted as she lay her head on the table. “Let’s ask her to put the sun back for a while.”

“Y’know that she’d take it as us asking her to rebel against Celestia or something like that,” Ledger replied as he sat in his usual spot. In his usual form. Apple Fritter walked out and her eyes widened as she shrieked when she saw him, dropping the mugs of coffee she was carrying. Cider ran out, concerned that she’d slipped or something when she saw Ledger sitting there.

“Ah am never gonna get used t’that,” Fritter gasped, placing a hoof over her heart. Ledger blinked and slowly looked at the floor and the spilled coffee before groaning and laying his head on the table as well.

“Dammit, I just cost us our coffee, Middy. M’sorry,” Ledger grumbled as his horn lit up, preparing to put his usual disguise back on already.

“Silly buggy,” Midnight giggled as she looked at Fritter. “You okay there ponygirl?”

“Yeah… just fergot about that is all,” Fritter sighed as she looked at the mess. “Aw, ah broke all yer mugs sis…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Cider smiled. “Go and clean yourself up. I’ll clean this and Momma can make some more coffee.”

“Mhmm,” Fritter nodded and headed for the downstairs bathroom. Once she left, Cider sighed and looked at Ledger.

“Sorry about that, she’s still might skittish after the Canterlot invasion, seeing as how she was right in the middle of it. Apparently spent a few hours inside some weird cocoon…”

“Wouldn’t know about that, I’m a migrant, not an invader,” Ledger said as he stuck his tongue out. “So, glamour or no? I can go either way, just say the word.”

“If it ain’t too much trouble,” Cider nodded. “Ah reckon you should disguise yerself fer now.” She looked down and chuckled. “Ah ain’t got many mugs left.”

“Put it on my list,” Ledger said as his usual disguise shimmered into place. “I’ll pick them up after work.”

“Oh, we can finally replace those cute ‘His and Hers’ mugs we had before our old place blew up,” Midnight said. “Well, now it’ll be ‘His and Hers and Hers and Hers and Hers’!”

“Make it simple,” Ledger commented. “Just make them all ‘Hers’. I’m yours, after all.”

“These mares,” Scope chuckled. “Queens of the world… and Level Ledger… King of Whatever’s-Left-Over.”

“Which doesn’t even include me,” the now-disguised drone pointed out.

“You win some, you lose some,” Scope pointed out as Cider returned with fresh cups of coffee, two of which were in large jars. Well, Ledger and Scope could have those since they had magic to lift them. Ledger used his magic to quickly serve the coffee to the others before taking one jar for himself, having already come to the conclusion that those with magic should lift the jars. He moaned into the jar as he drank the coffee noisily, as he loved how Cider made her coffee.

“Apparently Levvy really likes drinking from your honeypot!” Midnight called out to the Earth mare in the kitchen, and the sound of a facehoof soon followed. Funnily enough, the jar Level had really was labelled ‘honey’. He snorted and kept drinking his morning brew down. If this morning was going to start like this, he was probably going to need it.

“I say, getting started so early in the morning,” Apple Leaves giggled as she walked out with fresh plates of eggs, haybacon and pancakes. Before Midnight could get started on her own coffee though, there was a knock at the door and being the one closest to it, she groaned and got up. Ledger lowered his jar and lit his horn up as he began assisting in the serving as best as he could.

He soon heard the door slam and some miffed-sounding muffled shouting as Midnight returned to the table to eat.

“Who was it?” Scope asked, tilting her head.

“A pain in my ass,” Midnight replied as she slowly chewed her pancake. Ledger blinked as his brain slowly booted and turned to Midnight.

“Him again?” the stallion eventually asked.

“Him and yours,” Midnight answered as she took a long gulp from her mug. Ledger gulped as he started to eat his breakfast with more haste than before, not wanting to be caught by his father this early in the day.

Unfortunately, Cider had moved to let them in, apologising profusely as she glared at the bat for being so rude.

“It’s alright, that’s a fairly standard reaction for her. At least these days, I can actually guess who will open the door.”

“Ohh, haven’t heard that one in a while,” Midnight snarked. “So I fucked anything with a pulse, big whoop!”

“Midnight!!” Cider chided her. “What has gotten into you this morning?”

“I dunno,” the bat shrugged, drinking more of her coffee.

“Hormones, pregnant remember?” Scope said helpfully. “I kinda like this Midnight. She’s sassy!”

That was about when a violet unicorn appeared next to Ledger and removed his disguise, revealing himself to be Ledger’s dad, before hugging the brown unicorn and giving him a noogie with one hoof.

“I don’t believe I properly congratulated you on getting a Princess,” the violet drone said. “This’ll have to do for now.”

“Dad,” Ledger said with eyes half-lidded thanks to irritation. “Please stop.”

Apple Fritter emerged from the bathroom, to not only see a scary-looking batpony stallion, but another Changeling as well!? She shrieked again and ducked behind the sofa, as Cider sighed and shook her head.

“Seriously Fritter?”

“Was it something I said?” Wishful said as he slowly let go of his son and looked at the sofa that Fritter had taken cover behind.

“She’s nervous around Changeling’s,” Cider replied. “But she shouldn’t be because she knows better right!”

Apple Fritter re-emerged and sighed. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

“Perfectly understandable!” the drone chirped as he sat as close to her as he dared, which was about when she started drawing back involuntarily. “I don’t bite, dear. Unless you ask me to~”

Apple Fritter blushed and waved a hoof, but Midnight beat her to it.

“Sorry Purple Pops, she’s strictly a mare’s mare.”

“Pity I can’t gender-switch, then,” Wishful replied. “Not that I would anyways, what with my loyalty to the Madame. But at least then maybe you’d stop being so skittish around me.”

“It’s the fact you're a buggy, not a stallion,” Midnight pointed out again. “She was there during the invasion like me, but spent most of it locked away in a cocoon…” She closed her eyes in thought for a moment. “Why do Changeling’s put ponies in cocoons?”

“Nutrient bath,” the drone replied instantly. “Helps keep the pony fed if they’re going to be fed off of for a long period of time. It’s actually quite good for the pony...unless you keep them in there too long. Then the nutrients are all used up…” He seemed to realize who he was talking to and coughed before looking away. “Not that I’d know that, of course.”

“O-Of course,” Midnight shuddered, now regretting asking that. Oh goody, and here come the memories of that Black… She leaned over and hugged Level until she felt better. He returned the gesture and kissed the top of her head, doing his best to comfort his mare.

Wishful Hope just sat there, looking back at Apple Fritter and waiting for her to make the next move. He’d rather get along with everypony in the house than make a sudden movement that would earn him a punch.

Apple Leaves returned with two more cups of coffee and sat next to her daughter, giving her a light knock on the head.

“Quit bein’ rude to our guests,” she chided her. Fritter pouted and nodded her head, before looking at Wishful.

“Sorry, ah think ah’m good now.”

Wishful nodded, but didn’t make any other movements. He’d wait for her word as to what she wanted him to do next. Whether that was transform back or hold still so she could familiarize herself with a changeling properly, he would oblige. He was very obliging~

“So,” Midnight said, wanting to lighten to mood. Sorry, Ledger, you would be sacrificed for the greater good. “Ledger told us about the times he walked in on you and the Madame…”

“Mmhmm,” the drone nodded. “At least three times the colt walked in on me instructing one of the others what to do or reassuring them this time was different. Eventually we just moved his room to the other side of the home, and that put a stop to it.”

“I was young, I heard weird sound when I got up for a glass of water, what did you expect me to do?” Ledger retorted between bites of his breakfast. “Not investigate?”

“By all means, no, your interruptions helped break up some truly awkward moments,” the violet drone replied. “I started seeing it as a good-luck charm of sorts.”

“Did not need to know that,” Ledger muttered before resuming his breakfast.

“Well now we know who to blame for all this,” Scope giggled as she looked at her drone. Still, what had he meant by ‘reassuring’ them? Had some of them been like Ledger?

“Mmhmm,” the violet changeling replied. “I’m frequently blamed for starting the trend that eventually resulted in the Trio and Joyful.”

“Ohh, and Critical is forgotten yet again… being the middle child sucks,” Scope said as she swallowed a large portion of pancake.

“No, she’s just not one I’m blamed for,” the drone chuckled. “She’s a great success at what she does. The others, though...try living with the Trio or Joyful day in, day out. Critical is a success in the ways Ledger isn’t.”

“Hey!” Ledger protested.

“Son, I saw your last attempt at creative writing,” the drone deadpanned. “You could put an audience hopped up on coffee to sleep within five minutes.”

“That was years ago!” the stallion defended himself.

“And have you improved any since then?” his father riposted. When Ledger just grumbled and went back to his breakfast, the drone nodded. “I rest my case.”

“Agreed, I’ve read a little of Ledger’s book,” Scope nodded. “Seriously, it was like a dictionary had a baby with one of Twilight’s thesis’ and then a few minutes in, it starts getting complicated…”

“Buck you too,” Ledger grumbled. “If any of you understood magical theory, that book would be a lot more interesting. Or if you just read the journal parts of it.”

“Really, I was talking about the contents page,” Scope smiled. Ledger grumbled again, louder this time, which caused his father to laugh at the back-and-forth.

“Hah, seems like you found yourself a good little nymph Ledger. She keeps you on your hooves eh?”

“Or his back, we tend to use a variety of positions,” Scope said in a rather husky tone as she looked at Ledger with a half-lidded, sultry gaze. The stallion coughed a little around his latest bit of food before gulping it down and glaring at her.

“Really? In front of everypony?” He deadpanned.

“Oh? Can’t handle a little...attention?” Scope giggled. Ledger grumbled again before polishing off his breakfast and getting up with a snort.

“I can’t handle you mares and my dad in the same room,” he said, before moving to put his dishes in the kitchen.

“He gets so worked up, I blame the coffee,” Scope nodded as Midnight rolled her eyes and looked at Wishful.

“They really do love each other… she just loves to stir him up even more.”

“Ah well, if I know my colt, he has ways of unwinding that also serve to help him get back at her,” the violet drone commented. Ledger came out of the kitchen and kissed Midnight, then Cider, on the cheeks, before turning to Scope...and turning away.

“Oh, so that’s how we’re playing this?” she said. “Fine. Like I care! I still have three mares to get love off of!”

“You could still get a kiss,” Ledger said as he still didn’t look at her. “You’d just have to say a simple word.”

“If you’re immature enough to play this in the first place, then I’m not giving you the satisfaction of winning,” Scope replied with a small huff. “Twilight’s your obedient little pet remember? Not me.”

“Hives forbid you actually ask for a kiss,” Ledger snarked at her. “The sky might start falling.”

“Hives forbid you actually say that in the first place, instead trying to be all enigmatic and shit!” Scope retorted with an equal amount of bite.

“Are they… always like this?” Wishful asked.

“No, but if they know what’s good for them, they’ll kiss and make up,” Midnight said with a dangerous gleam in her voice. Scope caught that tone and gulped.

“Uh, yeah, we’re just playing. Sorry Lev.”

“S’okay, I’m sorry as well. I take it too far sometimes, and I’d prefer it if you called me out on it than not,” Ledger said as he looked at the disguised nymph.

“Better,” Midnight nodded and Grissom gave a hearty laugh.

“Hah, now I see who wears the metaphorical pants in this relationship.”

“You try denying Midnight anything,” Ledger said to his new target, Grissom. “Let me know how that works out for you.”

“Nope, long since learned that lesson,” Grissom replied. “I was wondering how long it’d take you to fall in line with her.”

“Wow… way to make me sound like like a total bit—”

Ledger cut Midnight off by kissing her on the mouth. “Language,” he chided her once the kiss broke.

“Fine. Sorry.” Midnight pouted and folded her arms.

“Yeah, that’s more my thing,” Scope agreed. The nymph turned to Wishful and Grissom, tilting her head slightly. “So what are the two of you doing here?”

“Ledger sent out an SOS for his bachelor party,” Wishful replied. “Apparently I’m to meet up with a ‘Fredrick’ to help him plan the thing.”

Almost everyone, sans Fritter and Apple Leaves, paused and looked at him. Midnight just sat there slack-jawed as Cider blinked, wondering if she’d heard that right.

Scope Lens… She had a few choice words about that.

“Well there goes the fucking city. Sorry Ledger, I’m out. All the love in the world isn’t worth what’s about to happen.”

“You’re overreacting, I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Ledger replied. “It’s not like either one of them could be any worse than the other.”

“Oh you poor deluded sap,” Scope shook her head and decided to brush up on her shield spells. Well, Fredrick was considerably tamer these days, and Wishful seemed to have enough Loyalty to feed the entirety of the Blue Hive. It was actually pretty tasty~

“What?” the violet drone asked as he looked from mare to mare. “Do I have something on my face?”

“Just… nah, you’ll see soon enough,” Midnight nodded and smiled. This was going to be both terrible and beautiful, like a train wreck. Wishful shrugged before looking at Apple Fritter. He’d still not disguised himself, wondering just how much curiosity lay buried underneath all that fear.

She just stared back at him, blinking on occasion.

“Um, yeah?” she asked, thinking he wanted something.

“Just wondering what you want me to do,” the violet drone said. Meanwhile, Ledger gave Scope a soft peck on her cheek before walking out the door to work. “I mean, would you rather I stay like this so you can get used to my normal self? Or would you rather I reassume my disguise? It’s up to you, you’re the one that seems to be...uneasy around me.”

“Oh, um… It’s okay, I guess,” Fritter said with a forced giggle. “I have to get used to you guys eventually right?”

“Unless you intend to break Ledger and Scope there from the herd and just have your sister and Midnight marry each other, yes,” Wishful replied with a nod.

“What!? Ah’d never do such a thing!” Apple Fritter vehemently denied. “Mah little sis is free to love whoever she wants!”

Midnight moved next to the mare and whispered something into her ear. Fritter blushed as she gasped and put a hoof to her lips. “She’s...a what now?”

“Yup, so it’s fine,” Midnight said. “They aren’t like the Changelings back then. Though somebuggy did come awfully close to doing exactly that…”

“Yeah, but we knocked some sense into him in the end,” Scope said, finishing her breakfast. “He has an awfully hard head.”

Wishful blinked and looked between Midnight and Scope, tilting his head in confusion. “I’m...missing something.”

“Long story,” Midnight said with a sigh. “The short being that I was kidnapped by a possessive suitor, and Ledger came to rescue me. But he used dark magic, almost became a Black… I think he actually did go Black for a moment or three. But he’s better now.”

Wishful seemed to blanch at the very idea, gulping thickly and looking at the door Ledger had just recently gone out of. “Ever since the Black Hive was...destroyed, we’ve been getting isolated cases of ‘lings going Black back in the lands...we’re hoping that the records we’re digging up, of them being...not what they used to be, are accurate. Maybe with time and proper socialization, it can not be a stigma to be a Black. But to hear that my son went that way…”

“Yeah, that was how Twilight got involved in the first place,” Midnight nodded. “She fixed him...when I couldn’t…” It had been her fault, she was the reason he and everypony else had been put at risk in the first place.

“It could have been any of us, and he’d have done the same,” Cider said, moving to hug her tightly. “You should have seen him, such determination to bring you back to us.”

“‘Tis better to turn to the dark arts out of love than greed,” Wishful replied. “Would have been even better if he’d never fallen, but at least he did it for you.”

“And he shouldn’t have,” Midnight replied. “I’m grateful he saved me, I really, truly am. But… he almost…”

Grissom cleared his throat. “The fact remains that you are okay, he is just fine and you have a wedding and a beautiful foal to look forward to. Now, let’s be done of this downtalk and look towards the brighter things in life eh?”

“Agreed,” Wishful said before casting another gaze at Fritter and then looking away with a chuckle. “I meant it when I said I don’t bite, miss. If you’re curious, I don’t mind.”

“N-Nah, I’m good,” Fritter chuckled. Though, she had more than a few questions for Sugar Darling.

“Well in that case,” the drone said before looking at Scope. “This city is still ‘ling friendly, yes? I could walk out as is and only receive a curious gaze or two?”

“Maybe?” Midnight shrugged. “The invasion a little while back didn’t help that.”

“Ah well, I’ll take precautions then.” With a violet shimmer across his form, the drone was in his usual unicorn disguise. Then he stood up and nodded at the mares and stallion in the room.

“It was a pleasure meeting you all again, and you for the first time. By the way, I don’t believe I ever introduced myself.” Here the freshly disguised drone extended a hoof to Apple Fritter and Apple Leaves. “Wishful Hope, Ledger’s father.”

“Apple Leaves, Cider’s mother,” the mare introduced herself with a polite curtsy. And this is Apple Fritter, my younger daughter.”

“Charmed,” Wishful said as he returned the gesture with a bowing of his head. “Maybe I’ll see you all again during my trip.”

“That would be lovely,” Leaves nodded as Grissom got up as well. He gave Midnight a brief hug and the two left for their primary reason for being here.

Introducing a Violet, adult drone, to what used to be one of the more lecherous Griffons in Equestria.

All to throw Ledger a bachelor party.

This promised to be...interesting.

Fredrick was expecting another slow day. Most ponies were still skittish over the fact that there were Changelings still around. It was annoying, they weren’t hurting anypony, but this quiet time was hurting his business. He had bills to pay dammit!

He even had to tone down on how many serving colts he could hire at one time. So whenever his doorbell chimed, he greeted them with a smile.

Even if it was two stallions… dang.

“Welcome to my humble establishment,” Fredrick said, mentally tacking on and getting more humble all the time. “What can I do for you?”

“Well, aside from being utterly famished,” the Thestral stallion chuckled. “We’re here to see someone named ‘Fredrick’.”

“That would be me, sir,” the griffon said with a nod. “If you’re here about a significant other I slept with, I don’t do that anymore.”

“I like him,” the unicorn said after Fredrick issued his usual disclaimer. “I can already tell, he’s going to be fun.”

“And now I see why the others were concerned,” Grissom said as he walked to a table and took a seat. “We’re here about a particular party though.”

“Oh?” Fredrick inquired as he followed the two stallions to the table. “What sort of party would that be?”

“The bachelor party you’re throwing for my colt,” the unicorn said with a chuckle. The Griffon paused and frowned.

“Ah, that one… then I take it… you are my friends relation?”

“I’d better be, otherwise his mother has some explaining to do,” the stallion chuckled again. Grissom shared his laugh and nodded.

“Fret not, you’re not your son.”

“I certainly hope not, otherwise that puts the past twenty-odd years in a much different light,” the unicorn replied with a shudder.

“That’s an interesting way of looking at it,” Grissom replied.

“Indeed,” Fredrick nodded. “Now, do you want to talk first, or perhaps place an order?”

“Depends,” the violet stallion said, not even looking at the menu. “What does the chef recommend for brunch?”

“Hmm, well I don’t want to be biased, but everything on my menu is pretty good. But, you truly haven’t lived until you’ve tried my bread and my breakfast menu is the best. After all, gotta give my mares something to remember… and come back again for~”

“We’ll finish with the bread, then,” the unicorn decided. “But start us off with a fine breakfast, please. Something you would give a repeat visitor. Then we can plan this party for my colt.”

“Will do,” Fredrick nodded and vanished into the kitchen as he took a sigh of relief. Really, now Ledger and Midnight’s fathers were in on this? Honestly, didn’t Ledger have any friends he wasn’t also bedding?

“Seems like a nice enough fellow,” Grissom nodded to Wishful.

“Mmhmm. I just wonder who he’s seeing that can give all that lust of his a proper outlet,” the disguised drone replied with a small nod. “He did say he didn’t sleep around anymore.”

“So he’s tamed then?” Grissom laughed. “Oh, we shouldn’t tease him. We don’t even know him after all.”

“We’re totally going to, though, right?” the violet unicorn asked with a smile.

“Immensely so,” Grissom chuckled. “If he’s friends with your boy, enough to be entrusted with the position of best stallion, then I’m sure he could take some friendly ribbing.”

“Hopefully, he thinks so as well,” the unicorn agreed.

Fredrick soon returned, with two plates of haybacon, scrambled eggs, hashbrowns and prench toast. Wishful salivated at the sight before closing his mouth, trying not to make a mess of the table before he’d even eaten.

“I take it you approve?” the Griffon chuckled as he set the plates down. He never got tired of seeing that expression. Wishful nodded and sniffed deeply, before sighing at the smell of a well-cooked meal. Without further ado, he began tearing into it with gusto.

Grissom was in a similar position. Without his wife around, he often chose to work over eating, so this was the first meal he’d had in a while. It was a glorified feeding frenzy as Fredrick just stood back and sat on his haunches, folding his arms in amusement.

Eventually, and sooner rather than later, Wishful ran out of food to eat. This caused him to sit back and groan appreciatively as he felt the weight of all that delicious food settle.

Fredrick had wandered off, leaving a pot of coffee on the table to help wash it down. He still had bread to make. The disguised drone poured himself a cup of coffee and sipped at it, humming in appreciation, before pouring Grissom a similar cup. The thestral thanked him and sipped at the life giving elixir.

The Griffon returned once more as he sat down at the table, placing a platter of bread and dipping oils.

“And the masterpiece of my establishment. Do enjoy,” he said with a flourish and a smile.

Wishful used his magic to tear off a small piece, just a small one, as he then dipped the bread in the provided oil and bit into it.

It was like a bomb had gone off in his brain, hitting all his pleasure centers at once.

“Uh, you alright there Wish?” Grissom asked, in mid-sip of his coffee. Fredrick chuckled as he nodded.

“He has merely reached enlightenment.”

Wishful slowly swallowed the piece of bread he’d bitten off and looked at the rest of the loaf, wondering what it would take to get some for later. “I have never been more attracted to a member of the male gender than I am right now,” he said aloud.

“Surely it cannot be that good?” Grissom said as he tried the bread. While it was no mango, it certainly was delicious. “Hmm, I believe I stand corrected.”

“I want...no, need more,” the disguised drone said as he grabbed ahold of another piece. “This stuff is too tasty to survive.”

“Hey! Don’t be such a glutton!” Grissom retorted. He made to grab the piece the drone was trying to steal from his plate. Wishful stuck his tongue out and grabbed one from the main plate instead. This thestral would not stop him from enjoying this delicious bread~

Fredrick laughed as he snagged a piece for himself. “It’s quite tasty, no?”

“Understatement of the century,” Wishful retorted as he dipped his new slice in the oil before biting into it and moaning at the medley of tastes.

“Well, normally I’m one for appeasing the mares, but I seem to have skill that transcends gender,” Fredrick noted. He idly wondered what Narrow would have thought of that statement.

“I think my friend likes you,” Grissom noted.

“Sorry, I don’t do married mares,” Fredrick countered.

“Similar,” Wishful replied.

“So,” Fredrick decided to get to the point. “You gents said you wished to assist in the party planning?” Wishful nodded as he cleared his mouth before replying.

“This party is, as I’m told, one last night for my boy to enjoy himself,” the disguised drone hummed. “So I have some small interest in seeing him happy.”

“And being my future son-in-law, I do as well,” Grissom said as the door to the restaurant flew open and a blue-maned, orange Pegasus raced in.

“Dudes, tell me I’m not too late!” he asked in a breathless tone as his chest heaved. “Whew… I totally thought the train would never get here!”

Wishful raised an eyebrow at the new arrival. “And you are, sir?”

“Oh, right.” The stallion nodded and smoothed his mane. “My name’s Flash Sentry, and you could say I’m a buddy of Levvy.”

“I see,” the stallion nodded. “I’m his father, and it is nice to hear that he has some male friends besides Fredrick here.”

“I don’t think Ledger was much for friends when he was working under Toll,” the griffon supplied. “Too busy working or reading some archaic tome or another from the library.”

“What, naw. I met him when he came to the Crystal Empire,” Flash explained as he sat down. “It was cool. We went drinking, bared our hearts. Oh, and Shining Armor was there too!”

“Like I said, it is nice to hear he has some male friends,” the disguised drone reiterated before attempting to snag another piece of bread.

“Well, now that the whole gang seems to be here… unless we’re expecting somepony else?” Grissom looked at the Griffon, who gave a slight shrug.

“Beats me, I didn’t even know Mr. Sentry here was coming,” he wondered if he should get another serving of bread, but it was still in the oven baking. Oh well.

“A bachelor party. Planned by the four of us, in the middle of Las Pegasus,” Wishful said after dipping his latest piece in the oil and herbs. “Why do I get the feeling, that this will be a night Ledger will wish he could remember?”

“I’ll bring a camera,” Flash nodded. “So does anypony have a plan yet…?” A round of silence told him everything. “...Dudes…” He sighed and nodded. “Okay, this is Las-freaking-Pegasus. How hard can this be?”

“As long as you don’t plan anything for ‘The Love Shack,’” Fredrick supplied the only stipulation. “Ledger emphatically told me not to plan anything for there.”

“Nah,” Flash shook his head. “Okay, so I’m thinking food first. Hard to party on an empty stomach. So I’m thinking of this place…. uh, griffon run, serves a mean salad...what was it called again…?”

“The Chop Shop,” Fredrick filled in. “They have a menu for everybody, and they are rather proud of their salads that can draw in anypony.”

“That’s the place!” Flash nodded. “After that, we could just hit up whatever place takes our fancy. We have a whole city to play with. Why limit ourselves to just one!”

“Hmm,” the violet unicorn hummed. “That’d make coordinating with the mares hard...but I can get their itinerary and we can try to avoid where they’ll be when they’ll be there.”

“So we’re getting somewhere. Excellent,” Grissom hummed, polishing off the last of the bread while Wishful had been talking. The unicorn pouted, and that was when the oven dinged and Fredrick turned to answer it.

“One moment,” the griffon said before disappearing to take care of the second loaf.

“Hmm, we should probably set a spending limit,” the disguised changeling said after considering the idea of drunk stallions out on this town. “Otherwise, we invite chaos the next morning, when Ledger’s gambled away far too many bits for his own good.”

“Yes, he may not appreciate that. Perhaps, avoid the casinos?” Grissom positited.

Then some more customers arrived, this time it was a few cute mares. They took a look at the table of stallions and started whispering amongst themselves. Flash turned his head to look at them.

“Dudes, total babes at three o’clock!”

“Married,” Wishful said as he smiled a little, seeing where this might end up.

“Same here,” Grissom nodded.

“Urgh, buzzkill…” Flash groaned. Hopefully Fredrick would come back soon. Flash was waaay too nervous to do it on his own. He needed a wingpony!

“But don’t let me stop you, dear colt,” the unicorn chuckled, having felt that spike of lust when the stallion caught sight of the mares. “Mares love a stallion with confidence, after all.”

“Ahheheheh, yeah… don’t have any of that,” he said nervously. Thankfully, that was when Fredrick returned with a second loaf of the delicious, delicious bread, and took notice of his new guests as well.

“Ah, for the days when I could chase those tails,” he mused thoughtfully.

“No bro, say it ain’t so,” Flash groaned and thunked his head onto the table.

“Hmm,” the griffon said as he looked from the pegasus to the mares and smiled deviously. “Flash, how good are you at memorization and serving?”

“I’m a Royal Guard from the Empire,” he muttered. “So pretty good I reckon. Why?”

“Would you like a chance to flex and show off for some pretty mares?” the griffon asked as his smile only grew. Grissom wondered what was going through that birdy brain while Flash just nodded.

“One of the more important questions would be if you’re single or not, but I think you answered that one easily by your earlier demeanor when hearing I was taken,” the griffon observed. “Ready to be introduced as Flash Sentry, my charming assistant?”

He was taken, but he was a bro as well. Oh, Flash now loved this city. “Sure thing!” he nodded, getting to his hooves. As they made their way towards the mares, Grissom chuckled and leaned across to Wishful.

“Ten bits says he crashes.”

“I’ll take that bet,” the disguised drone replied with a smile, fully confident the stallion’s lust would win out over his nerves.

Flash gulped as he followed Fredrick closer and closer to the pretty mares. “I hope you know what you’re doing dude.” he whispered.

“Just follow my lead,” the griffon replied. He cleared his throat as the pair neared the table to gain the attention of the mares. “Mares, I am Fredrick, the head chef and owner of this establishment,” he greeted them with a bow.

Flash paused for a moment before realising that was his cue. “Ah, I-I’m Flash Sentry, I’m… his assistant.” Ah crap, he was getting nervous again…

“Indeed, this charming stallion shall be your waiter for today,” the griffon said with a wink. “Do try to go easy on him, mares. It’s his first day working for me.” With that, the griffon went to the kitchen, to let Flash try his hoof at being a waiter.

The mares giggled and nodded, flashing some smiles at young Sentry, who just blushed and nodded. “S-So, what can I get you?” he stammered.

“We’re in the mood for a late breakfast, and we heard yours are simply divine,” one of the mares said. “I’ll have a cheese and mushroom omelette, with orange juice.”

“Prench toast with hash browns and milk for me,” a second said.

“Some pancakes and hay bacon, with coffee for myself,” the third said. All three folded up their menus and presented them to Flash, seeing as he was the waiter for the time being. He took the menu with a shaky wing and nodded.

“Will… that be all?” he asked them.

“For now,” one said, smiling at him. And when he wasn’t looking, looking him over. They’d also heard about Fredrick’s wait-staff being cute, and this stallion was living up to that rumor~

“T-Thank you for your order,” he nodded and headed for the kitchen, determined not to hurry and look like a fool. His pace was still a little brisk though, and his flicking tail gave the mares quite a good show~

“So?” Fredrick asked as he stood in front of his refrigerator. “What do the mares wish to drink?”

“Uh…” Oh crap… wait, calm down. Okay, breathe… in...out. There. “Orange juice, milk and coffee.”

The griffon nodded and grabbed two pitchers from his refrigerator before grabbing two glasses from a nearby cabinet. Setting the glasses on a nearby tray, he filled them and then grabbed a coffee mug from a different one and poured out the life-giving brew from a nearby pot.

“Right. What did they want to eat?”

“The one with the juice wanted a… cheese and mushroom omelette. The one that wanted milk wants Prench toast and hash browns. And the last wants haybacon and pancakes.”

“I’ll get started on those,” Fredrick said as he pushed the tray of drinks to Flash. “For now, don’t let them go thirsty, and tell them ten minutes or so.”

Flash nodded and balanced the tray on an outstretched wing. He took another breath and then exited the kitchen, he stumbled slightly, but his flight training kicked in and he righted himself, making it look like he’d come back with quite the flourish. He placed the drinks on the table and gave a small bow of his head, mostly so they couldn’t see his blush.

“Y-Your drinks,” he said. “Your meals will be, about ten minutes. Sorry for the wait.”

“Perfectly reasonable,” one said, quite blatantly looking at his wings and the flight muscles that had to be quite strong to carry a tray on just one of them.

“It’s better than some of the other places we’ve been to,” the second agreed as she sipped at her coffee. Did the colt even know how much he was showing off? No...he seemed far too...skittish and nervous to be doing it on purpose.

“We’ll let you know if we need anything, even if it’s just to see you again,” the third finished. Flash blushed even more at that last comment and ran a hoof through his mane nervously.

“Of course, thank you,” he said and returned to the kitchen, closing the door behind him and taking a few breaths. “Ahhhh, I’m looking like a total tool out there….”

“You’re doing just fine,” Fredrick said as he carefully flipped the omelette. “You’re polite, respectful, and that flourish showed off your control quite nicely. Plus, you’re not seeing what I’m seeing, which is three mares checking you out.”

“They’re checking me out?” he asked in disbelief as he peeked through the door, quickly blushing and pulling back when one of them spotted him and waved. “I dunno dude. You sure they’re not just being polite?”

“Their eyes were glued to your flank when you turned around,” the griffon replied as he check on the Prench toast.

“Seriously?” Flash said again, with that incredulous tone. “But, won’t they be mad when they find out I’m not really a waiter?”

“I’m certainly going to be paying you an hourly wage for your efforts,” the griffon replied. “Maybe say you were trying to make some extra bits. This is Las Pegasus, after all. Plus, your actual job will have them intrigued, I’m sure. As long as you’re honest with them before the end of breakfast.”

Flash nodded. “I guess…” Out of the Pegasus, the Unicorn or the Earth Pony, he couldn’t decide which one was the cutest. They were all pretty… He heard them call and gulped. Well, back into the fray he supposed.

He returned to the table, only a little more confident after his talk with Fredrick. “Yes ladies?” he asked. Oh hey! He didn’t stammer that time. Small victory!

“I’m out of coffee,” the unicorn mare said as she presented her empty cup. “I don’t suppose a nice stallion like you would mind getting me another cup? Perhaps with a little cream this time. I have all the sugar I need already, with you back in view.” Okay, now they were hitting on him.

“S-Sure,” Flash replied, his blush returning with a vengeance. He moved to take the mug, but his shaky wing caused it to slip, falling towards the floor. He leant forward as his other wing shot out and snared the mug before it could break. Flash breathed a sigh of relief, glad that he wasn’t adding property damage to this.

Mind you, doing so had all but presented himself to the three mares, causing Wishful and Grissom to stifle some giggles.

“Quick reflexes,” the Pegasus of the trio noticed.

“Wonder if that’s all he’s quick at?” the Earth pony giggled.

“Mares!” the unicorn chided them. “If anything, I’d hope he’d be a quick learner.” She gave him a half-lidded gaze over a sultry smile. “Do hurry back with my drink, dear. There’s so much I want to...discuss with you.”

Flash gulped and nodded, quickly returning to the kitchen and closing the door behind him. “Oh man….” he sighed as he placed the mug on the counter.

“Good save,” Fredrick said as he was plating the breakfasts. “But you need to remember: these mares aren’t some fiendish creature out to destroy Equestria. They’re flesh-and-blood ponies like you. They’re not going to do much worse to you than say no...but I don’t think that unicorn is going to do that at this juncture.”

“Oh man… those eyes,” he gave a small shudder. Think unsexy thoughts! Nope, no dice, that mare was too damned hot. “Oh, uh, she wants a refill, also, what do I say!?”

“‘Here’s your coffee, hope it’s as hot as you are,’” the griffon quipped as he poured the drink. “She want anything in it?”

“C-Cream,” he squeaked. Oh sweet Cadence, could he actually say something like that? Fredrick nodded and put a little cream in the coffee, turning it light brown before putting it on a tray to give to the colt, so he wouldn’t be touching it directly. It was still hot, after all.

“Go get ‘er, tiger. Then get back in here cause their food is nearly done.” Fredrick all but pushed him out the door.

He gave a yelp, but kept the tray still as he walked closer to the table. Okay, he could do this, no sweat right?

Oh gods he was gonna die…

He placed the mug on the counter, gently turning the tray until the mug faced the Unicorn mare. “H-Here’s your coffee,” he said. “I hope it’s as hot as you are.”

“See?” the unicorn said to her fellow mares, who sighed and paid her five bits each. “I told you he was a fast learner. He’s already flirting back!”

“Let’s see how long he keeps it up before his nerves reassert themselves,” the pegasus shot back. “I give it a minute, tops.”

“Thirty seconds,” the Earth Pony added on.

“I’ll take those odds,” the unicorn said before looking back at Flash. “I hope our food is as delicious as the view has been, dear~”

“His cooking is pretty good,” Flash said, giving the Pegasus and Earth pony a look. “Though, I wonder if it’ll be even half as tasty as you.”

“Told you so~” the unicorn grinned as her fellow mares actually blushed and looked away. Flash just gave a small chuckle and took his leave, heading back into the kitchen, before all but falling to the floor.

“Okay! I have NO IDEA where in the hay that came from!”

“Probably your desire to get laid,” the griffon said as he checked the tray to make sure there wasn’t anything missing. “I’ve seen other colts pull off ballsier moves than that.”

“I’ve never done anything like that,” Flash sighed as he stood back up. “But dammit, I wasn’t gonna let my pride as a guard get shot down like that!”

“Excellent attitude,” Fredrick said as he presented Flash with the breakfasts. “Just keep an eye out for obvious traps, and remember, if a line is cheesy, but works, then you can worry about the cheesy factor later.”

“Right, okay!” he took the trays and exited the kitchen once more. Back to the field of battle!

Wait! Now there’s an idea. Treat this like a battle! One he wanted to win. He walked over to the table, a more confident gait in his step.

“And breakfast is served ladies,” he said, placing the plates on the table. The mares let out a soft coo at the food before the unicorn of the trio turned her eyes back on him.

“You mean, I finally get to have something beyond feasting on your form?” she teased him. Flash gave her a smile and nodded.

“Well we can’t have you wasting away from hunger, you’re all far too pretty for that. And I don’t even have your names yet~”

“Swift Wing,” the pegasus volunteered around a mouthful of her Prench toast.”

“Rock Steady,” the Earth pony said after a bite of her omelette.

“And I’m Silk Velvet,” the unicorn purred. “And you are? Well, aside from a fine piece of stallion~”

“Flash Sentry,” the stallion nodded. “While I’m a waiter today, my normal job is a member of the Imperial Guard.”

“A member of the Guard,” the pegasus said, suitably impressed.

“Imperial...the Crystal Empire?” the Earth Pony prodded. “What brings a guard from so far north down to Las Pegasus?”

“Well, aside from a vacation, I’m helping a buddy of mine out with his upcoming wedding,” Flash Sentry explained.

“So why did a nice stallion like you need help in meeting little old us?” Silk asked, batting her eyelashes. “Surely we’re not so intimidating that you would need to pretend to be a waiter to meet us.”

Aw crap, she totally saw right through him… “W-Well, I guess… I haven’t had much luck in the past. I didn’t mean to deceive you all, but Fredrick said he’d help me out…” he bowed his head in apology. “I’m sorry.”

There was silence for a moment...before a hoof stuck itself under his chin and forced him to look up into Silk’s lusty gaze again. “Las Pegasus is the city of luck, dear,” she purred to him. “What do you say to us getting yours to change after breakfast?”

Sentry’s blush fought back with full force. He just gave a small squeak and nodded slowly. Silk smiled wider as she returned to her food. “We’ll be a minute or two more, dear. But do come meet me when we’re done. I have sights to show you~”

Flash nodded again, and scampered back to the kitchen quite quickly. Swift and Steady looked at their friend and sighed.

“Seriously? You could try leaving some for us next time.” Swift pouted.

“Nopony said we couldn’t share~” she sang. “With his nerves, he’s probably a virgin. Who wants to help me break him in?” The other two giggled and shared a hoof bump as Grissom sighed and fished out his wallet, placing some bits on the table for Wishful.

The disguised drone of the pair nodded and smirked before scooping them up. “Told you so,” he said. “That colt desperately needed to get laid, and it feels like he’s going to. Multiple times.”

“To be young again,” Grissom sighed. Swift Wing looked over her friends shoulder at the pair, just in time to see the Thestral’s long tongue flick out and lick some cream from his nose. She shuddered at the thought of that tongue doing other things and said something aloud.

“I want one,” the pegasus said. “Can we look for a batpony while we’re out?”

Grissom blinked and looked over at the table, giving her the same stare that her friends were giving her. Namely…

“Where in the heck did that come from?” Silk asked.

“I just saw him lick his own nose with the longest tongue I’ve ever seen,” the pegasus explained for her friends. “Can we please look for somepony like that?” Silk blinked and looked back at Grissom, who offered a friendly wave, with the hoof that held his wedding band.

“Well, seems you’re outta luck there Swifty~”

“Nuts,” the pegasus sighed. “Ah well. If we see another, though, they’re mine.”

“I wonder if they realise I can hear them?” Grissom mused as he sipped his coffee again. “Now I find myself wishing that Moon was here.”

“Makes me glad I didn’t use my Thestral form,” the drone agreed. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against being one...but the ability to cast magic in a disguise is damn useful.”

“Well, to each their own,” Grissom said and decided to throw the girls a bone. “Still, I wonder how my friends in Canterlot are doing?” he said loud enough for them to hear. “Last I heard, they’d started a Thestral-run nightclub for the Night Guards there. So many batponies, all in one place… and the location near the Canterlot Falls is pretty good too.”

Swift blinked before smiling and storing the information away for later. When they returned home, sort of later. They had...business lined up for after breakfast already, after all. No need to rush home and see about taming a batpony for herself just yet.

And speaking of breakfast, the three mares had cleaned their plates quite easily. Fredrick took note of this and walked out, with Flash at his side, to present the bill to them.

“All told, your breakfast will cost twenty-one bits, mares,” the griffon said as he presented them with the receipt. Flash shot them a smile and nodded.

“Perhaps later, lunch can be on me?” he asked them.

“Count on it,” Silk said with her sultry gaze. She already had a good idea of what she wanted the entree to be~ She reached into one side of her saddlebags and pulled out twenty five bits. “For the stellar service and cute staff...that we’ll be abducting now.”

“He’s actually free with your purchase,” the griffon joked back. Flash gave him an indignant look and shrugged. Wait, now?

“Oooh, bonus,” Silk said as she tugged Flash closer with her magic so she could whisper into his ear. “You can either come willingly, or I can pull you along...but you’ll be coming all the same, sweetie.”

Flash gulped again and nodded, opting to follow the mares. He looked back at the stallions, and griffon and gave them a small nod. “Well dudes… guess I’ll see you later, maybe.”

“Have fun,” Grissom chuckled.

“We will!” the mares chimed out as they left with their new plaything. Flash’s smile couldn't be any wider now, as Fredrick wiped a proud tear from his eye.

“My only regret is not being nearby for when the act commences,” Wishful said with a similar smile. “Colt could probably feed a small family for years with his pent-up lust.”

Grissom gave the drone an odd look, but he’d heard stranger from other Changelings. Hell, he’d caught them doing stranger. “Well, there goes the colt that was supposed to be helping us with this party.”

“We’ll get him back. Maybe,” the drone said as he put the bits he’d won on the table, along with a few more to pay for their breakfasts. “Until then, I believe I have a nymph to reach out to.”

“And I should see how my daughter is doing," Grissom nodded. "Many thanks for the excellent meal Mr. Fredrick. We shall see you again soon."

“My thanks for visiting,” Fredrick said with a nod at their table. “It’s been dreadfully slow as of late.”

"Perhaps the fact that you're off the market has scared off all the pretty mares," Grissom chuckled.

“It shouldn’t do, I keep a rotating stock of available stallions as waiters,” the griffon countered before moving to their table to clean it up.

"Well I heard you were pretty popular," Grissom retorted. "Seriously though, this mess with the Changelings should clear up sooner rather than later. Ponies are nothing if not adaptable."

“As aren’t the Changelings,” Fredrick pointed out. “I fear if the ponies drag their hooves too long on this matter, the Changelings may decide to fade back into the background, or leave Las Pegasus altogether.”

"Hopefully the latter doesn't occur," Grissom said. If Ledger left, then he was positive that Midnight would follow him... "I think we all need to make them feel welcome. I might go have a little chat with the mayor." He gave the drone and the Griffon a nod and left the restaurant in a hurry.

“Ah well, my thanks for the excellent food, sir griffon,” the disguised drone said before taking his leave as well. He had a nymph to locate, to make sure two ships didn’t run across one another in the middle of a night of debauchery...

Moondancer still couldn't believe that Sugar had a freaking daughter, then again, she also had no idea how old Sugar Darling was. She was a noble nymph... did they have longer lifespans? Or were they even as ageless as Celestia and Luna? The Unicorn pondered over this as she converted one of booths in the bar into a study of sorts. She nursed a Mood Setter as she poured over her notes, completely ignoring the stallion that was trying to get her attention.

She soon grew irritated at the constant barrage of speaking aimed at her. (More like a few softspoken questions) She raised her head and glared at the violet-coated Unicorn.

"What do you want?" she replied, gods, that tone could have frozen the sun. The unicorn did flinch back a bit, but credit where it was due, he rallied and asked his question again.

“I merely wish to know if you know where the proprietor of this establishment is. I have things to discuss with her. The reason I ask is, because I remember you from my last visit here.”

"Last visit?" Moondancer blinked and thought back. He did look familiar... aw bucking Tartarus.

"You're Level Ledger’s father," she groaned. "Sorry for snapping at you. This research is... frustrating." She got up from the booth and stacked her papers with a quick flourish of her magic. "I'll take you to see Sugar. She should be around somewhere..."

“I would hope so,” the stallion said as he followed after the unicorn mare. “From the way you were vigorously exchanging saliva on the train platform, and the fact that this is her den of operations, one would hope she would be around here to keep an eye on you.”

Moondancer actually blushed as she gave the stallion a small glare. "I am quite capable of taking care of myself," she said curtly. “I'm quite glad she has a business to run, or I fear I'd get no rest at all."

“Dear, the fact that you and her are together is probably the only reason why you get any rest at all, stepping in here,” the drone illuminated. “Think about how many workers she has. How many answer to her. If you and any other were together, you’d probably be fair game to the rest. If you were unattached, fair game. But since the one highest in the hierarchy has put her claim on you…”

"I was wondering why none of the other mares were making passes at me." The Unicorn chuckled as they walked past the bar. "And here I thought I was just unattractive to them," she said, loud enough for the other Violets to hear.

“You’re radiating enough Lust to be seen from blocks away, for those with the talent,” the disguised drone said blandly. “I think it has more to do with Sugar’s unwillingness to share what she considers ‘hers’ and less to do with how attractive you are.”

"One, I think Midnight is the only mare who likes being told how much lust she has. And two, now I have to hug Sugar. Her possessiveness is adorable~"

“Fair enough,” the stallion chuckled. “So...which way?”

"Hmm, I'm not sure... but I can get her to come to us." Moondancer smiled wickedly as she took a breath. "Oh where oh where is my beautiful mare~?" She sang out.

There was a pop of displaced air from behind Moondancer, as she was suddenly glomped by Sugar Darling. “Hello dear~” she purred. “Done with your paperwork at last?”

"The less said about that, the better!" Moondancer said with a dangerous eye twitch. “This one is here to see you actually. Sorry sir, I forgot your name."

“Wishful Hope,” the stallion proffered, smiling at the scene. “I’d offer a hoof, but yours appear busy.”

“Around this mare, they always are,” Sugar agreed, not letting go of Moondancer for a second.

"Dear Celestia, you're as bad as eachother..." Moondancer sighed and facehooved.

“So is this important? I kind of have a mare to molest here,” Sugar said, giving her marefriend a squeeze.

"I redact my previous statement. You're much worse," Moon replied, using her magic to pinch Sugar’s flanks.

“And you love me for it,” Sugar purred.

"Mhmm, you're almost at Midnight’s level of perversion," Moonie chuckled. "Though perhaps you should let the stallion here speak, rather than putting on a show for him?"

“He’s a Violet, dear,” Sugar explained.

“I can relate,” the stallion agreed with a nod. “Should I come back when there’s a break in your schedule of screwing around? I can wait to coordinate our respective bachelors and bachelorettes parties.”

“...I'll write you a list of what we plan to do,” Sugar said before groping Moondancer again. “This one put me off all day for her paperwork.”

"And you'll have to wait longer, as I have plans with Middy today," Moondancer smiled, placing a teasing kiss on the nymphs lips.

"Guard inspection!!" the sudden shout causing several workers to panic, followed by Midnight’s evil cackle.

"Speaking of..." Moondancer mused.

“Fine, go out and have fun with our number-one guest,” Sugar said as she returned the kiss from earlier. When she eventually drew back, she gave her marefriend a half-lidded gaze that gave stallions across the room a sudden case of wood. “Though you’d better believe you’ll be paying for it tonight.”

"Hmmm, kind of tempted to bring Twilight back for a... study session~" Moonie teased. "If I recall correctly. You don’t have an 'Alicorn' section of your book yet."

“So am I, but word through the Pink grapevine is that a certain Alicorn is seeing a certain silver drone,” the nymph said back. “And if you thought I was possessive…”

"Oh, but he let us play with Midnight," she reminded her as said Thestral joined the cuddle.

"Ladies," she giggled and looked at Wishful. "Purple-Pops."

“Ah, the walking supernova of lust,” Wishful greeted with a nod. “I feel younger just standing next to you.”

"Supernova of Lust?" Midnight tapped her chin and nodded. "I like it."

"You would," Moondancer sighed. Sugar giggled as she returned the cuddle that Midnight was giving both of them.

“I hear you’re stealing Moondancer away for a bit,” the disguised nymph commented to the thestral.

"For a while," Midnight confirmed. She looked at Wishful and nodded at him. "And what do you mean old? If we were single, I'd totally bang you."

“That’s quite flattering, but I doubt it,” Wishful replied. “After all, I am old enough to be Ledger’s father. I doubt you’d have anything to do with me.”

"Don't be so sure," Midnight replied. "And if you keep talking like that, it makes me want to prove it. And I'm rather faithful to Ledger and my marefriends."The disguised drone snorted in disbelief before looking away.

“Please,” he scoffed. “Like anything about me could interest you.”

"What, you're funny, charming and have a sense of humor that I can relate to," Midnight replied. "Plus I'd like to think I know a little about what I find attractive in a Changeling."

"Why are they even having this conversation?" Moondancer whispered to her nymphfriend.

"Shhh, its starting to get good," Sugar replied. Wishful scoffed again.

“Puh-lease. Like you would ever be interested in me. I’m probably twice your age--” That was all he got to say before Midnight grabbed his face and gave him a kiss normally reserved for a member of her herd.

"Like I said, it's getting good~" Sugar purred. After a moment, Midnight broke the kiss and looked at him with a cross expression.

"Never doubt yourself. The Madame loves you for a reason Wishful. Mmkay?"

“If you say so,” the drone said a little dazedly.

“Ohh, now I’m a little jealous,” Sugar pouted, as Moondancer chuckled and kissed her.

“There,” the unicorn hummed. “Now stop acting so spoiled.”

“I only do it because I know you’ll spoil me~” Sugar giggled, booping Moonie’s nose. The Unicorn blushed and shook her head before looking at Midnight.

“So, we going or what?”

“Yeah,” The Thestral shrugged as the Unicorn lifted Sugar off of her back and placed her on the floor. The two friends waved the Changelings goodbye and took their leave. Once they were out of earshot, Sugar looked at the drone and chuckled.

“You just had to egg her on, didn’t you?”

“Unintentional, but I can’t say I don’t like the consequences,” Wishful replied as he came back to himself. “Shall we coordinate where the bachelorette’s party is going to be with what we have planned of the bachelor’s party?”

“I suppose we could,” Sugar hummed. “It would be rather awkward if we ran across each other that night.”

“That was the idea,” the disguised drone agreed as he made to follow the nymph to her office.

Chapter 61 - Oh Brother...

Ledger hummed happily as he walked down the street. Today was the day! Today he and Lengthy Scroll would finally finish his automatic paperwork spell! Just one cast, and then supplying numbers verbally when prompted to by the paperwork! He would never have another long day of the stuff ever again!

There was the feeling of air being displaced, before a popping sound filled the air, followed by the scent of burnt ozone. Then, a sudden weight on Ledger's back.

“Hello there handsome~” Twilight’s voice whispered into his ear.

“Hello beautiful,” Ledger returned as his gait was paused so that he could ensure she wasn’t liable to slip off anytime soon, before he recommenced walking towards City Hall. “Wanna see something fun?”

“With you involved…? It’s not going to be something perverse is it?” she deadpanned, looping her hooves around his neck and casting a small glamour spell to make her look like Scope to anyone else.

“In public?” he fired back, her deadpan expression didn’t lift and he smiled before chuckling. “No, it’s not going to be perverted or lewd, for once. Remember what I said I wanted to do with my paperwork spell? Me and the other Silver in town finally figured it out.”

“Oh, to give the spell some sort of self awareness right?” Twilight’s eyes danced with glee.

“Mhmm,” he said with a nod. “Mostly so that it can take verbal instructions and only a small drain on the caster’s magic to keep itself operational for as long as need be. We finally cracked it. Today we’re going to test it on his usual paperwork.”

“Hmm, so you don’t mind if I tag along, riiiiight?” she said, turning the puppy-dog eyes on full force.

“I was already going to ask you to be there in case things got out of hoof,” Ledger returned her earlier deadpan full force.

“Ah, well… I thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask,” Twilight giggled. “Well, giddyup Level!” He snorted, amused slightly by her antics, as they turned to see City Hall in front of them.

“Keep in mind, he doesn’t know you’re aware of who I am or what we are, so it might take a minute for him to get used to you,” Ledger warned as their destination neared.

“Well, in case you haven’t noticed, to everypony else, it looks like Scope is riding on your back. Changelings aren’t the only ones with glamour spells.” She booped him on the nose and smiled. “I could disguise myself for your friend if you want.”

“Probably better that you don’t, he’s a lot more skilled than I am at detecting spellwork,” Ledger informed Twilight as they walked in through the front door. “He’d probably take offense to you trying to hide yourself from him.”

“Fair enough,” Twilight nodded. She hopped down from his back, idly wondering what this friend would think of Ledger being the princess's personal mount. “Well, shall we then?”

“Let’s,” Ledger said as he knocked on Lengthy Scroll’s door.

“That you, Ledger?” a stallion’s voice called out from the office.

“Yes, and I brought a friend to observe. That’s all right, right?” Ledger posed the addition as a question to the other drone. There was a ‘harrumph’ from the other side before they got a reply.

“So long as this friend knows to keep their mouth shut so that their input doesn’t interfere with the spell!” the stallion snapped. Ledger looked to Twilight with a small smile on his face. Along with the thought of ‘please don’t hold it against him’ running through his head.

“He doesn’t know it’s you, please don’t be mad,” Ledger whispered. Twilight nodded and an emotion spiked suddenly, very briefly. Oh dear gods, Twilight was feeling mischievous.

“She promises to be good,” Ledger spoke up, hoping she actually would be.

“She? This one of your marefriends, colt?”

Ledger sighed and pushed the door open, revealing the silver-coated unicorn sitting behind his desk, a massively over-filled in-tray on one side of it. “Sort of,” Ledger supplied, and stood to one side so that Twilight could come in as well.

“Level Ledger and I have a complicated relationship,” Princess Twilight Sparkle answered as she walked in, adopting a pose that Celestia would often use, wings spread and head held high. “And I believe I know a thing or two about spellcasting, wouldn’t you agree, Mr. Silver Changeling?”

The expression of disbelief and panic on Lengthy Scroll’s face was priceless. “P-P-Princess Twilight!” he eventually said as he tried not to look like he was looking for escape routes. He’d never planned for being cornered in his office by a spellcaster, funnily enough.

Twilight looked at Ledger, before smiling and folding her wings. “Please don’t panic sir, I just felt a little prank was in order for your earlier comment. I’m just here to observe your fascinating spell.”

Scroll gulped thickly before nodding a few times and putting a hoof over his chest. Heart was still beating, so that was good… He eventually shot a dirty look at Ledger and grumbled. “I will get you back for this one, colt, just you wait.”

“Her idea, not mine,” Ledger said. “That being said, I’m glad somepony finally got one over on you. You can be insufferable sometimes.”

“Isn’t the pot calling the kettle black there Ledger?” Twilight giggled lightly. “Besides, you’re wasting time with your snark. We have magic to do!” Her eyes shone with glee as she looked at Scroll. “If you would be so kind good sir?”

“Snark is how changelings socialize,” Scroll retorted. “The other main means are sarcasm and dry wit. But yes, we do have magic to perform.” He pulled a scroll out from his desk and unrolled it, while Ledger drew close. “Show me what you figured out, grub.”

Ledger snorted and looked at the scroll, his horn lighting up as he drew a few new additions onto it. “And with this here...the spell is stable. And this here helps it stay that way.”

“Minor drain on the caster’s reserve, not more than they can afford,” the other disguised changeling said as he levitated his own quill over and added a few things as well. “With a safety measure here, here, and one more for good measure...I think you’ve done it, colt.”

“What happened to grub?” Ledger asked, eyebrows raised.

“You earned my respect just now. Let’s see how well placed it is.” The other changeling’s horn lit up in a silver aura as he focused on the complex spell the pair of them had written out. The glow held steady for about twenty seconds...before it died and the spell was completed. With only a light glow of his horn, as the spell started draining his reserves to stay stable, Scroll looked at his paperwork and spoke a simple phrase.

“Get to it,” he said, and his quills and inkpots levitated to the top of the stack and began filling the papers out with speed. Twilight watched the spellwork, a light of her horn as she observed the spellmatrix itself along with the flow of the mana.

“Interesting,” she murmured. The quills paused for a moment as the paper on top levitated down in front of Scroll, who nodded.

“Ah, that...was close to a thousand bits.” The scroll didn’t move, and the drone rolled his eyes before looking at Ledger. “Can it learn from other things that are written down?”

“Yes,” Ledger said as he pointed at one part of the diagram. “Just specify what you want it to read, and use the secondary activation phrase.”

Scroll nodded and looked back at the scroll. “Everything in a filing cabinet in this room. Chop-chop!”

The quills dropped as various cabinets began opening and closing, causing the glow on Lengthy’s horn to intensify for a minute as it began amassing knowledge to function better.

“So it’s learning directly from the caster?” Twilight asked Ledger in a hushed tone, as so she wouldn’t interrupt.

“It can only learn what you let it learn,” Ledger said in just as hushed a tone. “Another safety measure, so that it doesn’t drain you too badly while it’s learning.” Eventually the cabinets stilled, and the quills went back to filling out the paperwork, this time without pausing for a good, long while.

“So, this might be a foolish question, but is the danger of this magic gaining actual sentience there?”

“Only minorly and indirectly, if you let it learn the wrong things,” Ledger said. “But we built in a kill-switch so that if it starts to actually gain more sentience, to the point where it impedes its duties, it automatically shuts off.”

“Hmm,” Twilight still had her concerns of course. She’d seen first hoof what could happen when a spell went awry. Ledger stroked her back comfortingly.

“We built in so many failsafes into this spell, I doubt there’s going to be a real danger,” Ledger reassured. “Plus it’s meant to store and process information, not think about it. If you want to give the scroll a look over when Scroll’s done with the spell for the time being, then I won’t stop you.”

“Perhaps I might,” Twilight nodded. She still couldn’t shake the feeling, but she wondered if she was just being paranoid. The spell finished with the paperwork, putting the last piece of it to rest on top of the others in the ‘out’ tray, as Scroll nodded.

“Well, I will check it all of course,” the silver-coated unicorn said as he looked at his paperwork, the first time it had been done so quickly. “But if it works anything like your other spell, then it’ll all be right and I’ll just be wasting the time I freed up.”

“Can I get a copy of our completed spell?” Ledger asked, and the stallion nodded as he pulled out an empty scroll to copy their latest work to it. He paused, before looking at his horn and nodding.

“Job’s done,” the older stallion said, and the glow on his horn died. “Will it still remember all of that stuff?”

“Dunno,” Ledger said with a shrug. “We’re very much field-testing this spell. It should, but if it doesn’t, not a big loss.” The other changeling nodded and began copying the spell perfectly, so that the colt and his princess-friend could study it to their heart’s content. Twilight was the one that took the scroll, studying it intensely for about a moment before hoofing it to Ledger.

“Okay, memorised it.”

“...That took us months to come up with,” Scroll said incredulously. “And you’re saying you already have it memorized?”

“Actually, it’s been more than a year now, if we’re counting the original iteration of my paperwork spell,” Ledger said as he tucked the scroll in his saddlebags. “And that’s Twilight for you.”

The alicorn blushed and smiled sweetly. “Sorry, I have a knack for spells… Ooh! I know!” She snared a black scroll and a quill and wrote something down for Scroll. “It wouldn't be fair of me to learn something new, and not give something in return.” She placed the written spell down on the desk and smiled again. The older stallion picked it up and hummed as he went over it.

“Hmm, minor object teleportation? Such as, if I needed an inkpot, or new quill, or just wanted to pull something to me? Useable, and I might be able to work out actual teleportation from it. I doubt it, but I might.”

“Right, simply bind the first part of the spell to an object, and the second part will summon the object to your side. It’s a type of astral bind, so distance is no problem either…” She winked out of existence, reappearing next to him. “Teleportation is quite a little bit different, buuuut…” she scribbled something else down and hummed. “There we go. But, I’d recommend getting an instructor. The last thing you want is teleporting and then leaving behind a few vital organs.”

“I’ll remember that,” the stallion said with a nod. “It’s been...surprisingly nice meeting you, Princess Twilight.”

“Just Twilight is fine Mr. Scroll. And, it has been a learning experience meeting you.”

“That was the goal,” Ledger said from the other side of the desk. He’d be full for weeks thanks to this little moment with Twilight. Her learning new things was the best~

Twilight looked at him, then realised what he’d done when he rubbed his belly. She walked over to him and smiled. “Well, I guess since you’re so full now, we can skip lunch and I can go meet with Midnight and Moondancer.” She kissed his cheek and giggled. “Bye Level,” was all he got from her before she teleported.

“Quite the mare you got there,” Scroll observed. “I wish you came by more often, if only for her.”

“I treasure every moment I spend with her as well,” Ledger replied, sighing happily as he rubbed the cheek she kissed. It still felt warm, and probably would all day. “Well, same time next week in case one of us finds something?”

“Sure thing,” Scroll replied as the two parted ways again.

By the time Twilight arrived at the farm, Midnight and Moondancer were already waiting for her.

“Heya slowpoke," Moondancer greeted her. "About time you got here."

"Oh yes, my company is sooooo terrible," Midnight mock swooned. "Oh Twilight, my love, please defend my honour!"

Twilight raised an eyebrow and looked at Moondancer. "Hmm, should I?"

"If you think you can take me Sparkle," Moondancer made a 'bring it' motion with her hoof. "We both know that I'm the smarter one."

"As if," Twilight scoffed. "We both know that I'm the better mage."

"Oh, wanna put your horn where your mouth is-yeeek!!" Moondancer shrieked when Midnight leant over and licked her horn.

"Mmm, don't mind if I do~" she purred.

Twilight just rolled her eyes and looked at the pair. "Midnight, if you're done molesting her. Think we can get some food now?"

"Mhmm~" the bat purred, giving Twilight’s horn a lick as well. "TO FREDRICKS!!"

Elsewhere, a griffon shuddered suddenly. It was probably just a draft...

"So what were you up to anyway?" Moondancer asked her alicorn friend. "It's not like you to be late, unless it's a party..."

“Ohmigosh! Seriously Moondancer?" Twilight replied with an exasperated groan. She groaned again when she noticed Moondancer's grin.

"You are so easy," the Unicorn giggled. "So, explain?"

"Yeah, yeah..." Twilight started to explain what she'd learned, and Midnight quickly became lost as to the topic’s content.

The moral of this story. Magic be hella confusing.

So instead, she started to hum to herself.

The hum turned into quiet singing.

And by the time they reached Fredricks, Midnight burst through the door, just ending a city wide musical number. The griffon raised an eyebrow at the party of mares, but greeted them nonetheless.

“Hello you three visions of beauty,” the griffon said, bowing slightly to them. “Have you come merely to remind me what a lucky colt Ledger is to have some of you in his life?”

"Aww, don't be like that Freddy," Midnight cooed as she traced a circle on his chest with a hoof. "You know I love you. We have something special after all~"

"What is with you today?" Moondancer sighed.

"She probably just hormonal from the pregnancy," Twi explained. "Please forgive her Mr. Fredrick."

"Everypony’s being mean to me today," the bat sniffled. Fredrick rolled his eyes before gently putting Midnight’s hoof on the floor and, more importantly, off of himself.

“You are being quite touchy today, madam Song. But do keep in mind, I am taken now.” He looked at their party and nodded. “So, table for three then?”

"If you wouldn't mind," Twilight replied as she dragged a pouting Midnight over to herself. "And again, I apologise. Thestral pregnancies... aren't easy."

Fredrick paused as he went to pull out the menus. “Are you saying...that Ledger has indeed managed to get one of the mares in his herd pregnant? Is that why we’re suddenly planning a wedding?”

"Pretty much," Midnight replied quietly. She sniffled again and Twilight hugged her with one of her wings.

"I think we could use a little pick me up here," the Alicorn giggled. "But that's the long and short of it. The idea is for them to get married before Midnight here starts showing too much... or becomes too dangerous."

“I see,” the griffon mused as he picked up the menus. “Well, if you will follow me to your table, I think I know a good appetizer and dessert for you three already, which I shall not charge you too much for, considering that you did not explicitly ask for them.” With that, Fredrick began leading the trio of mares to a table in the next room.

"Speaking of," Moondancer mused as they followed Fredrick. "What does a Princess get paid?"

"It's not so much what we get paid," Twilight explained. "There's a set expense we have each month that pays for things like travel, but I usually fly or teleport. As well as eating out... and Burger Princess isn't exactly expensive. And I still have a lot saved up from my time as a student, so I tend to use that instead of taxpayers bits."

Fredrick presented them with a table with a sweeping bow, making a show of it, seeing as how one of their member was a princess. And one was Midnight. The odds were in his favor for the move going over well, despite the fact that all of them were taken.

"Why thank you sir," Twilight gave him a polite curtsy as Moonie used the chance to steal a peek at his flank. Midnight just nodded and took a seat without saying a word.

“So while I prepare your appetizer and make sure the dessert is well-stocked, would you like to choose a drink?” The griffon offered as he put a menu in front of each mare.

"Hmm, I think we'll just take a pitcher of ice water," Twilight nodded. Moondancer agreed with that, considering she'd already had like three Mood Setters. Fredrick nodded, that was an easy order to remember.

“Please peruse the menu while I get that for you,” the griffon asked before going to the back.

"Hmm, I'm thinking..." Twilight hummed as she looked the menu over. The clam rigatoni looked intriguing, but the spaghetti with red sauce sounded good as well. Then there was the pasta salad, which begged a few delicious questions. The problem wasn’t lack of choices as it was too many good ones.

"These gourmet hayburgers look nice," Twilight said. "Maybe three of those?"

"I think I'd prefer the spaghetti," Moondancer said.

"I meant for me," Twilight replied. Moondancer stared at her then giggled.

"Haha, good one Princess, I almost thought... oh Celestia, you're serious."

"What," Twilight huffed. "I skipped breakfast today, so I'm hungry."

"Fishy dish," Midnight murmured. And then she saw that Fredrick had apparently added smoked fish to his menu since last time.

"Fishy dish," Midnight echoed and Twilight sighed and nodded.

"Try and snap out of it Middy. Nopony's mad at you or anything."

"Whatever," the batpony muttered. Fredrick returned with their water and glasses, and graciously poured it for them.

“Have you decided, or do you need a minute more?” the griffon asked as he set the pitcher on the table.

"I'll have the spaghetti please," Moondancer said with a wink.

"Three gourmet hayburgers for me," Twilight nodded, earning a groan from Moondancer.

“Fish, with a side of regret," Midnight replied in a tone that made zombies look lively. Fredrick blinked before looking at Moondancer and Twilight.

“Would this be those mood-swings I’ve heard so much about?” the owner of the restaurant asked. “She was much more like her usual self a minute ago.”

"Maybe?" Twilight shrugged. "I've never met a pregnant thestral before."

"I'm not moody!" Midnight retorted. "I'm hungry and nopony likes me! Maybe I should become Nightmare Midnight..."

“I’m fairly certain Ledger at least likes you, otherwise you’d not be pregnant,” Fredrick riposted. “And seeing as how that colt shrugged off every mare that came down and hit on him before he met you, that’s no small feat.”

"Yeah, well one, this pregnancy was unplanned. Two, he spends more time making googoo eyes at Twilight now and three, he wants to add a second stallion!" Midnight cried as she thunked her head on the table.

“He’s probably making sure Twilight knows she’s welcome and appreciated,” Fredrick answered. “And can you blame the colt, trying to keep up with four mares would take a toll on anypony. I’m having trouble keeping up with one sometime, and I know Ace has issues with Amy every now and again.” What sort, he’d keep to himself. “And while the pregnancy may be unplanned, I think you have all the answer you need by the fact that he’s still standing by your side rather than trying to run away.”

"Yeah...I know..." Midnight sniffled and then burst into tears. "Waahhh, I'm a horrible mare. I shouldn't think like thahahahaaaaatt!!"

"Oh boy...." Moondancer groaned. Fredrick motioned for Twilight to try and comfort her with his talons.

"Look Midnight," Twilight sat next to her. "I don't want to step on anyones hooves, just don’t ask me to dance~" That got a small giggle from the mare.

"I like you guys a lot, and Ledger makes for a stimulating intellectual partner. But if you're really that uncomfortable with the idea..."

"Nuuu," Midnight pouted and hugged the mare. "I love my little Sparklepony, don't go anywhere... M'just... I dunno. Being preggers sucks dammit!!"

“Noted,” Fredrick said with only a slightly wry smile. “Still want that fish?”

"Yes please," Midnight nodded. "I have a real hankering for it for some reason."

“One smoked salmon, coming up, along with a spaghetti and three gourmet hayburgers. Should be about twenty to thirty minutes,” the griffon said as he made to gather up their menus.

“Thank you sir Fredrick,” Twilight nodded as the Griffon took her menu. Moondancer and Midnight offered their thanks as well. When he moved next to Midnight, the batpony posed a question to him.

“So, know any cute, single and slightly crazy beings of the male gender?” she asked.

“My brother comes to mind,” Fredrick said without missing a beat. “There’s also Straight Arrow, Narrow’s second in command.”

“You… have a brother?” Midnight inquired, completely ignoring his second choice.

“My younger by a few years,” the griffon replied with a nod. “Last I heard, he was over in Baltimare, having a good time. He pops in every now and again, to see how many mares I’m rolling in, as he puts it. Won’t he be surprised.”

“That you have a steady marefriend?” Midnight giggled. “Oh, speaking of, how are you and the Cap doing?”

“Wonderfully,” Fredrick said with a smile. “I plan to surprise her at her place tonight with a fine dinner. Might even organize her kitchen a little while I’m over there.”

“Well, I’ll be here… hoping you don’t die,” Midnight giggled. Ah, she was already feeling like her old self again. “Sorry I’m being such a flake today.”

“It’s understandable,” the griffon said with a wave of his wing. “If that is all, I shall take my leave, mares.”

All three nodded, with Moondancer blatantly ogling his flanks.

“You know he’s taken right?” Twilight deadpanned. “As are you Moondancer.”

“I can still appreciate a good view,” Moondancer said and wolf-whistled.

“At least somepony does,” the griffon said with a wink. “How do you think I earned my...reputation? I wasn’t necessarily the one making all the first moves.” With that tidbit dropped for the mares, the griffon left for the kitchen with a noticeable saunter in his step.

“Well, his ego is suitably stroked now,” Midnight giggled, then paused and frowned. “Hey! How come it doesn’t work when I do it!?”

Moondancer just shrugged. “I dunno, guess I’m better than both of you.”

Midnight and Twilight looked at one another.

“You know…” Midnight said, getting up from her seat. “I think somepony’s getting a little too big for her horseshoes.”

“You know…” Twilight said as she got up as well. “I might be inclined to agree with you.”

Moondancer suddenly gulped, realising they had her surrounded. “Uh...heheh, now girls, let’s do anything hasty… we’re in public after all.”

“We’re the only ones here right now,” Midnight said, motioned to the empty establishment. “Besides, I’m me, since when has that stopped me in the past?”

“Oh ponyfeathers,” Moondancer cursed before the two mares pounced, tickling the unicorn mercilessly. And that was the scene that Fredrick came back to, with bread and dipping oil on a tray.

“Two mares doing a third,” the griffon mused aloud. “Either my brother is around and convinced you all it’d be fun, or I’m back in Manehatten.”

“Nah, this is my everyday,” Midnight replied without missing a beat as she found one of Moondancer’s weak points. “I have many marefriends remember?”

“Meaning they could gang up on you as well,” the griffon retorted as he put the bread and oil on the table. “Your appetizer, mares. When you’re done with your friend, of course.”

Twilight and Midnight eventually let up on their attacks, leaving Moondancer to twitch on the floor as they straightened their manes and sat at the table.

“I believe she knows her place now,” Twilight nodded.

“Yup,” Midnight agreed as she nibbled a breadstick happily. Damn, even though Cider had the recipe for this now, Fredrick’s was still tastier. “Ohh, I do love nomming on Fredrick’s loaf~”

“Many mares have said that over the years,” the griffon replied with a wink. “Though I do love hearing it all the same.”

“You lot are insufferable,” Twilight swooned, placing a hoof against her head.

“Oh, like you can talk,” Midnight replied. “Your little glowing halo is tarnished beyond hope now princess. I know what you and Ledger get up to.”

“O-Oh?” Moondancer gasped as she crawled back to her seat. “Is Princess Purplebutt finally getting some?”

“Keep going, I dare you,” Twilight said. “I can banish you two, you do realise that.”

“But surely the princess of Friendship would never do something so cruel to her friends,” the griffon teased.

“Don’t you start mister,” Twilight said with mock warning. “I’ve heard all about you and your silver tongue.”

“Hopefully not from the mares that received it in more than one fashion,” Fredrick riposted.

“Nope just me and Cider...which now that I think about it, might be the only mares that you haven’t slept with,” Midnight responded. “Hmm, you know, I think I can solve that and my second stallion issue all at once~”

“Don’t forget Narrow,” the griffon replied. “You include me in your crazy relationship, you’d have to include her as well. Assuming she’d even go for something like that.”

“Don’t your ‘Midnight Rules’ state that you can’t date a superior officer?” Moondancer pointed out and Midnight nodded.

“Yup, as well as taken individuals, family, and underage ones. So yeah, no—”

“But you’re a Specialist now,” Twilight pointed out. “You outrank her if she’s only a Captain…”

Midnight’s toothy grin threatened to split her face.

“You wouldn’t know it by the amount of paperwork Narrow keeps giving her,” Fredrick commented. “She said, and I quote, ‘If that crazy bat does something that destructive again, I will bury her in the stuff! Actually bury her!’”

“Aww, the Captain is soooo mean to me~” Midnight pouted. “But yeah, I wouldn’t do anything like that with her. It’d be… I dunno, weird for some reason. And I guess when I really think about it, I dunno if I could do anything like that with Fredrick.” She looked up at him with those bright crimson eyes. “What do you think. All details aside, could you actually see us working?”

“Every night would turn into a competition to see who could wear who out first,” Fredrick dryly stated. “I’d get tired of it in a week, tops.”

“So,” Midnight held out a hoof for him to bump. “Besties and Rivals forever?”

“I can agree to that,” he said, balling up one clawed hand and bumping her hoof with it. “If there’s nothing else, I shall leave you to enjoy my bread while I work on your lunch.”

“Will do!” Midnight replied happily as she made sure he was looking when she took over half the loaf into her mouth with no effort. Fredrick, to his credit, blinked more than a little at the sight, before turning to the other two mares.

“Is it normal to feel jealous of Ledger at this juncture?” he inquired.

“Probably,” Moondancer replied as she nibbled her own bread.

“She’s holding back,” Twilight responded.

“Jealousy it is then,” Fredrick replied. “Your orders will be out as soon as I can make them.” With that, the half-avian turned away and walked off to the kitchen again, this time grumbling under his breath about how some colts had all the luck.

“Really Middy, that’s your idea of friends?” Moondancer sighed.

“What, just thought I’d show him what he’s up against~” Midnight replied after she ate her bread in two gulps. “He still has no idea what my tongue can do~”

“You...you and your whole herd are incorrigible,” Twilight said with an exasperated sigh.

“One of uuussss!” Midnight chanted as she looked at Twilight with a cheeky grin. The Alicorn just shook her head as she devoured her own bread in the blink of an eye.

“Still a bottomless pit?” Moondancer giggled. “Even as an Alicorn of Friendship—”

“With benefits!” Midnight chimed in.

“You can still put away your own weight in food?” Moondancer and Twilight chose wisely to ignore the batpony.

“What, I use a lot of magic, so I get hungry,” Twilight weakly protested.

“Twilight, I’d like to think I’m a match for you in knowledge and magic, and I don’t eat anywhere near that much.”

“....Yeah, well… shut up,” Twilight responded and poked out her tongue.

“Ohh, mature comeback there Princess,” Moondancer snorted and smirked, revelling in her flawless victory.

Then there was a voice from the front. A voice that sounded somewhat...similar to Fredrick’s own voice, but there was a noticeable difference. Fredrick usually took the time to enunciate his words properly and had a sense of...poise.

This voice? Not so much.

“Bro! Bro, where are ya? This place is deader than a strip club in the mornin’!”

Twilight visibly flinched over the total butchering of the Equestrian language. Must. Correct. Grammar!

“Whoa, down ponygirl,” Midnight said. She looked towards the front of the room. Was it some hoodlum looking for a member of his gang or something. She didn’t have her armour or blades…

She did have a butter knife, and in her hooves, just as lethal. She moved towards the kitchen and knocked on the door. “Fredrick? We might have some trouble out here. Stay where it’s safe while I deal with it.”

“Does it sound like an uncultured swine that might be related to me?” Fredrick asked over the sound of his cooking.

“Dunno, could be a local gang member,” she said. “Just stay there. I’ll try and keep the property damage to a minimum.”

There was the sound of a sigh before she heard him say, “Go ahead, but if it’s a black-feathered griffon, don’t hurt him too badly.”

“Oohhkay?” she said and motioned for Twilight and Moondancer to take cover behind a table as she took a position next to the door. The second he entered, he wouldn’t know what hit him…

“C’mon bro, I know you’re in here!” the voice said again. “The local mares say you ain’t left, even if you ain’t slept with them in a while!” A beak poked through the doorway next.

The next thing he knew, a pair of chocolate-coloured hooves wrapped around his neck and he found that gravity was a heartless bitch as he was soon on his back, his talons bound in hoofcuffs as a fanged, bat-winged pony standing over him.

“Okay, you can come out now. I’ve apprehended the intruder!” she called out. Fredrick poked his beak out of the kitchen before chuckling and returning to his task.

“Please uncuff my brother, Miss Song. Or don’t. He might be more tolerable that way.”

Midnight soon found out what Fredrick meant, as the griffon under her lidded his eyes and started laying on that charm that had to be hereditary. “Well, a mare standing over me while I’m bound in hoofcuffs. Is it Saturday already? I don’t mind, but usually I get a chance to buy a beauty like yourself a drink first.”

“Fredrick?” Midnight called out. “When you said not to hurt him? How bad is too bad?”

“I’d prefer it if he didn’t have to go to the hospital,” the older griffon replied. Midnight looked down, her crimson eyes glowing.

“Oh… no promises~”

“Mare likes to cause a little pain with her pleasure?” the black-feathered griffon asked from his position of still being under her. “Kinky~”

Moondancer lifted the bat off of him and sighed. “Try not to add more fuel to this fire please?” she groaned.

“And another thing!” Twilight said as she stomped closer. “First of all! Your grammar is atrocious! Who taught you to speak Equestrian? If so, they should have their teacher's license revoked! And second! Stop hitting on my marefriend!”

“S’all good,” the griffon said with a wave of his bound talons. “This ‘s just how I talk. M’ Uncle Zethy taught me.”

“That Zebra spoke in the most confusing way,” Fredrick said from his kitchen. “And I’m not talking rhymes, like the few I’ve known.”

“An’ your marefriend started this by tyin’ me up and layin’ me out. I’m just continuin’ what she began, darlin’. Feel free to get some as well, if you want.” This griffon was shameless as he started to include Twilight in his target listing with a waggle of his eyebrows.

“You...You’re...GAH!” Twilight tossed her head up and screamed in annoyance as Midnight removed the cuffs and put them back in her bag.

“Hitting on a Princess, you have a pair and a half,” Midnight replied as she sat back down at her table.

“He is related to Fredrick,” Moondancer pointed out.

“Touche,” Midnight nodded.

“Princess jus’ means more to work with, and I do good work,” the griffon all but purred as he got to his hooves. “After all, las’ I checked, a Princess was a mare. And mares have...needs, wants, desires.” He started to inch closer to the frustrated lavender alicorn. Despite his words, it would be a first for him if she were...interested.

“Desires currently filled by my own partners,” Twilight replied with a voice that could freeze Tartarus. The griffon shrugged and sat back on his haunches as he looked at the three very attractive mares.

“S’all cool. I’ll be here if y’all decide you want a piece of this action.” With that, he did a few minor flexes to show off the body he kept in shape via a variety of...exercises.

Midnight looked to her friends and blinked. “Please tell me that this is not what I am like,” she pleaded.

“No, you’re far cuter and much less annoying,” Moondancer chuckled. She looked at the Griffon and hummed.

“So what’s your name loverbird?”

“I have a few,” he said with a smirk. “Would ya like a name to call me, or would ya like to know my actual name? I’ll be whoever ya want me to be.”

“You’re actual name if you don’t mind,” Moondancer replied in a pleasant tone.

“I’m Jonny,” the griffon said as Fredrick made his reappearance with a small cart.

“Get it right,” the elder chided him. “Mother and father named you Jonathan.”

“Ack,” the black-hued griffon replied as he clutched a claw to his chest. “Not the full name!”

“That’s… not a usual Griffon name,” Twilight frowned lightly. “What’s the origin of it?”

“As far as I know, they named him after father’s father, who also had black feathers,” Fredrick replied as the cart neared their original table before all the...excitement.

“Shame I never got to meet the old bird,” the younger griff sighed. “Woulda been cool, meeting somebirdy else with my colors.”

“Really?” Twilight blinked. “I’ve seen a few with black feathers. In fact, I think I saw one at the Equestrian Games qualifiers at Rainbow Falls.”

“Huh,” Jonathan said, blinking a few times. “Guess I’ve just been lookin’ in the wrong circles then.” Fredrick swept the top of one of the trays off, to reveal an absolutely-delicious looking smoked salmon, that smelled even better...to those that had a stomach for that sort of thing.

Midnight’s mouth watered as Moondancer and Twilight scrunched up their muzzles and shook their heads.

“Urgh! How can you eat that?” Moon poked out her tongue in disgust.

“Mmm, like this~” Midnight purred as she speared some on a fork and took a bite, her fluffy ears wiggled in happiness as she hummed and gave a small pleasured moan. “Mmm, now that’s tasty~”

“Smells jus’ like mom used to make,” the younger griffon agreed with a nod.

“Indeed, it’s a good thing Ledger managed to secure a few shipping lines for fish as of late,” the older said with a smile. “Gives me a cheap option to add fish to my menu again.” With that, the next tray was opened, revealing Twilight’s order of three gourmet hayburgers as it was placed in front of the next seat.

“Oooh!” Twilight forgot all about correcting Jon and turned her attention to the food. “This looks wonderful Sir Fredrick!”

“I hope they taste just as fine as you are,” the older griffon said, falling back into his old habits for a moment. “I did my level best to make sure they each were delectable in differing ways.”

“There’s the bro I know,” Jonathan chuckled. “One who’s better than me, but still a flirt.”

Twilight blushed, but smiled anyway as she turned to her food. Hmm, she decided to take a page from Midnight’s book. Let’s see how he took flattery from a princess.

“Well, I’m sure they’re just as perfect as the chef~”

“That’s up to you to judge, m’lady,” the griffon replied as he reached under the cart for Moondancer’s bowl of spaghetti. Twilight pouted a little, seems she needed more practice.

Moondancer gave a small smile as she was presented with her dish. It smelled divine and looked even better.

“Jeez, they weren’t kidding when they said this was the best restaurant in the city. Maybe I should come here with my cuddlebug for a date sometime?”

“Hey, cuddlebug is my name! Get your own!” Midnight pouted. Jonathan blinked before tilting his head in slight confusion.

“What’re they talkin’ about, bro?”

Fredrick smiled a large, fake smile as he thought of the best way to broach the topic to his younger brother. This...could be an issue.

“She’s stealing the nickname I have for my fiance,” Midnight replied. “She’s certainly smart enough to come up with something more original!”

“Oh bite me,” Moondancer retorted, then shrieked as Midnight grabbed her and nibbled on her neck.

“Ya did ask,” Jonathan pointed out with a snicker.

Twilight just rolled her eyes as she bit into the burger and hummed happily, her tail swishing from side to side. “Ohh, this is amazing~” she said after consuming about half. “What I wouldn’t give to have you as my personal chef.”

“Others have made more enticing offers and failed each time,” Fredrick said with a chuckle. “I work for myself, first and foremost. And if I happen to uplift a few decent colts into upstanding stallions along the way, so much the better.”

“Bro’s obsessed with rules and honor and stuff like that,” Jonathan said with a nod. “Me, I’m more about livin’ in the moment. Doin’ what and who I want.”

“Which is why I’m not asking,” Twilight replied, again, choosing to ignore poor Jon. “Besides, I doubt Spike and Pinkie would be happy with the competition.”

Midnight had finished devouring Moondancer and turned back to her food. “Plus, for the innocence of all the cute Ponyville mares right?”

“That too,” Twilight giggled.

“Has everypony forgotten about Narrow but me?” the elder griffon sighed dramatically.

“She should’ve thought about that before siccing all that paperwork on me… also, blame your reputation,” Midnight replied.

“Well, I haven’t known you for long, but your eye has the most adorable twitch when you get annoyed,” Moondancer said with a teasing smile. Even now, that twitch came back as Fredrick held in his frustration.

“Bro, who’s Narrow?” the younger griffon asked.

“Narrow Gaze, Captain of the Las Pegasus Royal Guard and Fredrick’s marefriend,” Midnight explained as she nibbled her fish. “She’s the reason he’s off the market, damned if I know how she did it though.”

Jonathan sat there for a moment, dumbfounded by the very idea that his brother could be tamed. Fredrick coughed to gain Midnight’s attention, before giving her a look that said ‘really?’ “You couldn’t have eased him into the idea?”

“Ease into what? You have a marefriend, whoopdedoo, I have three.” Midnight shrugged. Jonathan shook his daze off and looked at his brother with an expression of…pity?

“I am so sorry you got chained down, bro,” the younger griffon said.

“Ah, now I see,” Midnight nodded as she licked her plate, giving Jon a good view of what that tongue of hers could do.

“Midnight, manners!” Twilight scolded her and the bat put the now-clean plate down with a sheepish smile. Jon blinked before smiling flirtatiously at the batpony.

“I love a mare with a talented tongue,” he purred.

“Won’t find more talented than me,” she quipped back without thinking. Twilight just facehooved as Moondancer had already accepted the inevitable. A new challenger had approached.

“I wouldn’t go there,” the Unicorn warned the new Griffon. “Trust me on that one.”

Jon either hadn’t heard or didn’t care. His eyes were half-lidded as he looked at the Thestral mare. “You might have the tongue,” he conceded, knowing he was bested there. His tongue wasn’t retractable after all. “But I’m willin’ to bet that five minutes with my claws, you’ll be putty.” He waggled one set for emphasis.

“Midnight Song successfully seduced every Alicorn Princess,” Twilight said as she ate her second burger. Well, it wasn’t a total lie. She had at least kissed them. Jon blinked before looking at the lavender pony.

“Seriously?” he asked.

“Mhmm,” Midnight nodded. “Celestia tastes like roasted marshmallows and vanilla. Luna tastes… well, she tasted a little like alcohol at the time. And yes, Cadence tastes like strawberries.” She leaned across the table and pulled Twilight into a brief, yet deep kiss.

“And Bookworm here is just magical~”

“An’ I thought I was bad,” the black-feathered griffon mused. “...Guess that jus’ means I’ll hafta try harder.” He looked at Midnight and waggled his claws again. “Offer ‘s still free if you wanna experience my magic touch.”

“Hmm, I’d say Twilight’s touch is a lot more magical, but sorry… my fiance gets a little jealous when someone tries to hit on his mares.”

“He doesn’t have to know,” Jonathan crooned, before he got whapped upside the head by Fredrick.

“I would tell him,” the older said as the younger grumbled and rubbed his head. “Shame on you for trying to sleep with a nearly married mare.”

“Ain’t stopped me before,” Jonathan retorted.

“Married, yes…” Midnight hummed as she stared at Twilight’s remaining burger, which the alicorn growled and held it close. “Almost married… well, I didn’t know so hey! And they still got married afterwards.”

“They?” Twilight blinked.

“Well yeah, I wasn’t going to leave anypony out,” Midnight nodded.

“You...slept with both?” Twilight blinked again.

“Mhmm, such a nice pair of stallions…”

“Fillies and Gentlecolts… Midnight Song,” Moondancer replied, taking a small bow.

“Try seducin’ all the bridesmares at a weddin’, then we’ll talk,” Jonathan retorted. Midnight yawned.

“Been there, done that. Ever been spit roasted by two adolescent dragons?”

“While doing a dragoness,” the gryphon nodded. “That was one night I won’t forget anytime soon.” And considering he was a male, there was really only one way he could have done that… “Ever been in the middle of a mating frenzy of seaponies? I have, it was wet and wild.”

“Okay, now I’m calling horseapples,” Midnight replied. “The dragon thing I can get, but seaponies?”

“They are real,” Twilight nodded. “How he did… that, with them I don’t know and that’s one thing I don’t think I want to know either.”

“It involved a water-breathin’ charm to help me breathe under th’ sea,” Jonathan helpfully supplied. “And I have never had anything to compare to th’ experience.”

“Twilight?” Midnight asked. “Do you think we could visit the sea for our next vacation?”

Twilight was not going to answer that. Nope, she would leave that for Ledger. She wasn’t touching it with a ten hoof pole. She looked at her remaining burger, her appetite long since destroyed. Ah well, she ate it anyway.

The sound of someone clearing their throat came from behind Jon, as a petite Changeling nymph stood there.

“Yo, move it or lose it featherduster!”

“...Bro, you’ve either got a bug problem, or there’s something I don’t know going on,” the black griffon said as he blinked at the appearance of the changeling.

“What you don’t know could fill tomes that even Twilight would struggle to finish,” Fredrick riposted.

All four mares giggled at that sweet burn. The nymph decided the direct route was fastest as she leapt up, using Jon’s head as a springboard and jumped over him, landing next to Midnight.

“We have dress fittings today,” she said to her. “Thought I’d remind you of that fact.”

“Already?” Midnight blinked. “Dang Rarity works fast. Or I’m losing track of time again. I dunno.” She blinked and looked at the new Griffon. “OH, lemmes introduce you. Jonathan, this is Scope Lens, another of my fiances. Scopey, this is Fredrick’s brother Jonathan.”

“Seriously?” Scope said flatly. “You’re parents thought it was a good idea to breed again?”

“I turned out well enough,” Fredrick said with a shrug. “And then they had Jonathan, and got discouraged.”

“Hey!”

“Especially when our godfather Zethy corrupted him even worse than he did me.”

“Hey! Don’t be talkin’ like that about Uncle Zeth!”

“I was actually enjoying my time without him,” Fredrick sighed wistfully.

“All right, I get it! You think of me as a disgrace, yadda yadda. Please stop with the name-callin’!”

Scope blinked and looked at Midnight and Fredrick. “I don’t get it. Is his name not Jonathan?”

“I think that he might be more indignant over the fact that we’re disrespecting him,” Twilight explained. “And he’s right, we have been a little rude. So, I do apologise for our behaviour and actions Mr. Jonathan.”

The black-feathered griffon visibly calmed down before waving a wing at the mares. “Nah, I’m good. This is jus’ the usual banter me and bro have every time we meet. And I probably deserve it.”

“You came in on one of my nights and asked a mare if she would like the ‘sibling special,’” Fredrick deadpanned.

“...Okay, I deserve it,” Jonathan said with a smirk. “But you have to admit, it was hot that night.”

“It’s one of the more mentally scarring images in my head, seeing you on the other side of that mare,” Fredrick replied in the same dead voice. “And now I need alcohol to kill it again.”

With that, the older griffon turned around and went back into his kitchen, presumably in search of a strong enough brew to repress that memory again.

Midnight shuddered at that mental thought. Jon was a pretty handsome Griffon and if she kept thinking of that, Fredrick would need to burn this chair.

“Seriously Mistress?” Scope frowned. “Well, whatever. Just be back home by three okay?”

“Mhmm,” Midnight nodded. Think unsexy thoughts. Think unsexy thoughts!

“So, anyone here know if the spa’s still open?” Jonathan asked. “I usually pick up some work there whenever I’m in town. Mares just melt when I touch them.”

That was when Midnight gave him a fanged grin. “You know, I believe that they are.” This was gonna be great~

“Cool,” the griffon said with a head bob. “I’ll check in tomorrow, I still got some bits saved up from Baltimare.” He then looked at the little nymph as his head tilted out of curiosity. “So...changelin’, huh?”

“Really?” the mare said excitedly. She looked at her holey hooves and nodded. “Well gee golly! I never knew!”

“Nah, it’s jus’, I never met one before,” Jonathan said with a shake of his head. “I can honestly say I’ve never slept with a bugpony.”

“Alright. Rule one, call a Changeling that again and you may find a few choice vital organs residing outside your body,” she warned him. “And two, Las Pegasus is now a Changeling-friendly city, so you’ll see a few here and there. If you have questions, you can visit—”

“And we’re done here,” Moondancer suddenly said. She wasn’t letting him anywhere near the Love Shack.

“Hah, and I also have one up on you featherhead!” Midnight smirked.

“Oh?” Jonathan asked with his head tilted again. Midnight blinked and held Scopey close to her.

“Did you not hear the part when I said… fiance?”

“...Ah. Still, if marriage is your thing, more power to ya,” the griffon said with a wave of his wing. “I prefer to be as free as the breeze, myself.”

“Mm, well getting married to a Changeling, an Earth Pony, a Unicorn, and maybe an Alicorn one day, I still have plenty of variety.” She looked down at Scopey. “Also, you’re learning how to become a seapony.”

“Seaponies aren’t real Mistress,” Scope said flatly.

“Explain the orgy I had in the middle of the ocean with a school of them, then,” Jonathan fired back.

“You were probably drunk and found some overly frisky dolphins,” Scope said back. The black griffon reached into a pack on his back and rummaged around in it for a moment before withdrawing a seashell and flicking it to Twilight, as she had the horn and wings.

“Memento,” he explained. “Tell me that’s not a water-breathin’ charm on that.”

“The magic is weak, but yes,” Twilight nodded. Her horn flashed and the shell glowed for a moment. “Also, renewed the charm. It should be good for another decade or so now.”

“Awesome,” Jonathan said as he held a claw out for the return of the shell. Twilight floated back over and hummed.

“I’ll show you what a seapony looks like at some point,” she said to Scopey and kissed her forehead. “So, aside from the obvious adultery, what do you do for a living Mr. Jonathan?”

“Mostly, I drift,” Jonathan said with a smirk. “Town to town, place to place. Visit, party, move on. If I need bits, I set down roots for a little while longer. ‘Specially if the place has a spa or massage parlor.”

Fredrick made a return appearance with a rather small glass that smelled like very potent alcohol. “Jonathan is actually a licensed masseuse, and knows how to help relax every single species he’s run across. The fact that he uses such information for...other pursuits is his business.”

“So he’s a mix of you, me and Ace…” Midnight said while Scope and Moondancer visibly shuddered.

“Is that… a bad thing?” Twilight inquired.

“Not necessarily bad… per say,” Midnight said. “Just be glad I’m taken, or Fredrick would have quite the mess to clean up…”

“That a fact?” Jonathan asked with a cheeky grin at the thestral.

“Hmm, you’re a little annoying, but you’re cute,” Midnight replied. “I’d put you on my bangable list. If I still had one.”

“You had a list?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. Applejack had taught her well in that regard.

“Yeah, I actually had a small tome… it got destroyed with our old apartment though.”

“Shame, but if you’re gettin’ married, pro’lly for the best,” the younger griffon said with a smirk. “Still, if you ever want to-”

That was when Fredrick thwacked him upside the head again, causing Jonathan to yelp and clutch his cranium.

“No. I am telling you this right now, unless they approach you, you leave Midnight and her herd alone. Got it?”

The black griffon grumbled, and Fredrick raised his paw to reiterate his earlier message.

“I got it!” the younger brother said. “No screwin’ around with Midnight or hers.”

“It really is for your own safety,” Moondancer said. “Midnight is pregnant and hormonal, and was prone to doing stupid stuff before she got like this.”

“Hey!”

“And Level Ledger can get quite jealous… and dangerous, and don’t get me started on that tiny nymph there. You see how small and cute she is?”

Jonathan gave a small nod.

“Well, she can also become a fully grown dragon or alicorn at the drop of a hat.”

“...So avoid that bucking crazy family altogether, got it,” the black-feathered griffon said. “So, I’m just gonna...go check and see if the spa still could use my talents.”

“It takes a special kind of crazy to deal with us,” Midnight giggled as the Griffon went to leave. “Still, we could be friends at the very least.” She gave him a wave and as she jumped up to fly off of her chair, her tail revealed just a peek…

Jonathan noticeably gulped and looked away with no small amount of effort.

“All of you, crazy,” he declared before he made his egress.

“Oops, I think I scared him too much,” Moondancer giggled as everyone just looked at her. “What?”

“There’s doing it, then there’s overdoing it,” Fredrick said as he killed the drink he’d brought out. “Still, credit where it’s due, that’s the first time I’ve heard him express disinterest about someone he was trying to sleep with not a minute prior.”

“It’s a hidden talent of Moonies,” Midnight nodded as she sipped some water. “She really should have the boogeymare as a Cutie Mark…”

“Oh bite me,” the Unicorn muttered, then yelped as Midnight pounced again. Twilight rolled her eyes as she polished off her final burger.

“I think she does that on purpose,” the alicorn said. Oh well, it was a nice show anyway… Oh Sweet Celestia, she was turning into Ledger.

“You’re all fuckin’ nuts,” Scope muttered. “And it takes quite a bit of effort to become a dragon.” She looked up at Fredrick with bright blue eyes and an idea formed. “Hey Fredrick~ You’re looking fine today.”

“You only flatter somepony when you want something,” Fredrick deadpanned. “Just ask.”

“Just wondering if there’s truth to that reputation of yours~” she purred, her horn glowing slighty and she hummed before he could respond. “Mmm, now that’s some tasty Loyalty. Thanks for the pick-me-up featherhead.”

“...You could have asked,” the griffon said with a sigh. “You know, before the fact. It’s a little thing called manners, I would have thought the others in your herd would have gotten a few into your head by now.”

“True enough, but your reaction wouldn’t have been as potent and I’d have had to dig deeper to find the emotion. Still… I am sorry.” She placed a few bits in his apron. “Thanks for the food Freddy.”

“Not a problem, really. Just...ask before, next time?” he asked the small nymph. “Well, I have a lunch to clean up after and a room to make up for my brother if he’s staying here for any length of time.”

“I wonder what’ll happen when he meets the Captain?” Midnight asked as she placed some bits on the table and stacked the dishes neatly.

“That should make for an enlightening conversation,” Moondancer agreed. “Thank you for the wonderful lunch Fredrick. And sorry for all the crazy we seem to bring you.”

“I’ve gotten somewhat used to it,” the griffon replied as he placed the dishes onto the cart he’d used to bring them out. “I’m just not used to both your crazy and my brother’s at the same time.”

“And yet, you suggested him when I asked about single stallions for the herd,” Midnight chuckled.

“And then he walks in, like some cheesy movie…” Twilight muttered. “I swear, Discord himself couldn’t have planned it better…” She frowned and shook her head. Nope, was not dwelling on that too hard. “Okay everypony. Home then?”

“Home,” Midnight agreed. Fredrick bid them all a fond farewell as he cleaned up after them.

“And now we wait for the mayhem to commence,” the griffon muttered under his breath. With his brother back in town, it was only a matter of time…

Level Ledger sat in his office, his new and improved paperwork spell made this almost too easy.

The papers suddenly scattered as Moondancer teleported in, a mischievous smirk plastered over her muzzle.

“Heya bugbutt! You got a minute?”

“...You just scattered my delicate spell...work…” Or had she? Even as he watched, the paperwork picked itself up and was put back in the stack, as neat as could be.

“Well that’s useful,” Ledger said with a happy hum. “Apparently all those redundancies were good for something after all~”

“Oooh, interesting,” Moondancer hummed at the new spell. She suddenly shook her head and looked at Ledger. “Okay, do you want to see something amazing!?”

“As long as you don’t scatter my paperwork again,” Ledger said mock-sternly. “I’ll have to cancel the spell if you intend to take me out of this room.”

“Ah, lemme handle the teleportation inertia,” she replied. “Alright, chop chop Ledger.”

With a nod and a look of focus, the glow on his horn died as the papers finally settled on his desk. “Ready,” he said as he moved from around the desk to stand in front of her. And with a flash of her horn, the two found themselves in Cider’s kitchen. There was barely any sound or displacement that time. The Unicorn turned to him and put a hoof to her lips for him to be quiet and then pointed towards the door leading to the living room. Ledger raised an eyebrow in curiosity before peeking through the door…

“Okay darling, could you turn please?” Rarity hummed. “I need to see if the dress moves correctly.”

“Alright,” Midnight replied and Rarity moved, giving Ledger a clear view of the Thestral. She wore the Crystal Armour from before, minus the helmet. It had been polished to a point where it shone, but didn’t outshine the wearer. A white dress hung from the hip of the armour, ending in a long, lace train. Her head was adorned with an ornate silver tiara, with a lace veil covering the back of her head. The normal boots of the armour had also been replaced with ornate and finely crafted shoes, the colour and material matching the rest of the armour.

“So?” Moondancer whispered into his ear.

“She’s beautiful,” Ledger replied in as soft a tone as she had used purely on reflex. “I always knew it, but now...she’s so beautiful I’m having a hard time not going in there and telling her.”

“It’s normally bad luck for a groom to see the bride in her dress before the wedding, but I’d say you and her would just punch anything that got in your way,” Moondancer chuckled. She placed a hoof on his shoulder and sighed. “I wished… maybe in some way, I still do… that it was me that she’d be walking down that aisle towards, wearing that. You’re lucky Ledger.”

“I tell myself that every day, but it’s never really sunk in just how lucky I am as it has at just this moment,” Ledger said before stepping back from the door. “Okay, if I look at her any longer, I’m going to be tempted to disrupt miss Rarity while she’s working, and that didn’t end well with Cider when she cooked for us.”

“Middy was feeling a little down earlier. Felt like that you liked Twilight better… mind you, Twi and I both told her she was crazy and hormonal and stuff. Lunch was… interesting,” Moondancer hummed as she put her hooves on his flank. “Sorry Ledger,” she apologised, before shoving him out into the room.

“Ack!” Ledger said on reflex as he was shoved in the room, barely keeping his hooves under him. It was a mistake to say anything, though, as it got the attention of Rarity and Midnight right away. “Uh-oh.”

“...Levvy?” Midnight blinked, then she turned the most adorable shade of red as she tried to hide behind Rarity, who saw Moondancer and sighed.

“Well, the cat is out of the bag now, so to speak.” The Unicorn placed a hoof to her head and shook it. She moved out from in front of Midnight and showed her off. “So Mr. Ledger. What do you think of your blushing bride?”

The Thestral just stood there, squirming a little as her blush deepened. Ledger took a deep breath before drawing closer to the mare, eventually sitting in front of her and looking into her crimson eyes.

“Um…” Midnight was at a total loss on what to say. So she settled on her now default blush and tried to look away. Ledger took one of her hooves and held it up to his face, kissing it without looking away from her at all. Midnight’s blush intensified and she thought she was about to pass out.

“W-Well,” she stammered. “Say something you dork.”

And then he did. “You are the most beautiful, amazing, gorgeous, wonderful, perfect mare I have had the pleasure to know in my time in Equestria,” Ledger said. “I am thankful every day that I ran into you, and it does me no small amount of honor that you would even think of marrying a drone like me.”

She couldn’t respond. She… she didn’t know how to respond to something like that. Her body seemed to though, as tears ran down her face as she just nodded slowly and hugged him. He returned the hug as well as he could, with her in both armor and a dress, and kept murmuring words of endearment to her.

Rarity wiped a tear from her eye as Twilight smiled widely. Midnight eventually composed herself and nodded.

“Heh, g-guess it’s good to practice now. Don’t wanna look uncool on the actual day huh?” Yep… that sounded totally convincing.

“Oh don’t worry, my actual vows will be far more heart-rending,” the disguised drone replied, not letting go of her for a second.

“Oh...wonderful,” Midnight pouted. “Guess I’ll have to put my writing skills to the test and make you cry like a little foal.”

“Let’s try not to compete at your own wedding,” Twilight sighed.

“Haven’t you noticed?” Ledger said, looking at Twilight over Midnight’s shoulder. “With Midnight, everything is a competition.”

“And I usually win,” Midnight said. “Just wait until the wedding night~”

“I would fear for myself, but at least there will be two other mares there with me to help absorb your attentions,” Ledger sighed as he finally released Midnight. The Thestral hummed and gave him a small, but loving kiss.

“Don’t worry, I’m trying to hold myself back a little now. And I have a little Alicorn to take out the rest on~”

Twilight meeped and hid behind Rarity, who rolled her eyes at the constant use of being a meat shield. Especially since Midnight would have no qualms about going through said shield first~

“What the heck is all the racket?” Scope called out as she came downstairs, in her true form as she wore a dark blue dress detailed with gold thread embroidery. She saw Ledger and chirped in surprise.

“L-Ledger… idiot! What the heck are you doing here!?”

“Moondancer,” he explained with one word.

“Imma eat that bloody Unicorn,” she sighed. Well, whatever. She descended the stairs so he could get a better look. “What do you think?”

He hummed as he looked her over before smiling. “I had no idea a changeling could look so pretty without being transformed,” the disguised drone said honestly.

“Yeah, well…” Scope flushed and looked away. “Rarity said that I should go like this… so you can marry the real me.” She still wasn’t convinced it was a good idea. Suddenly, Ledger was in front of her with a soft smile on his lips. Before she could say another word, he silenced her with a kiss.

“It’s a beautiful idea,” he said once he broke the kiss. “I rather like it. If you’re comfortable with it, that is.”

Scope just matched Midnight’s intense blush and pouted. “Fine, I guess I can.”

Rarity then shrieked as she ran over, knocking Ledger aside.

“A loose thread? Why… I must fix this immediately!”

“Oh holes, not again!” Scope cried as she was dragged off, along with Midnight Song. That left Twilight alone in the room with Ledger for the time being.

“Well, that was something,” the alicorn chuckled. “Rarity is… somewhat of a perfectionist. Come time for the actual day, those mares are going to be amazingly beautiful.”

“They already are,” Ledger said as he looked at Twilight. “All of them.” The alicorn blushed a little, must have been contagious.

“Too bad you missed seeing Cider. She looked lovely,” Twilight nodded. “Then she asked how she was supposed to buck apples in it… I swear, that whole family has apples for brains sometimes~”

“She’s just very driven about her work,” Ledger replied. “Somepony has to remain sane in this group.”

“And here I thought I filled that position,” Twilight hummed.

“You fill a lot of positions~” Midnight called out from upstairs, earning a groan from the princess.

“Damn her Thestral hearing.”

“It has it’s ups and downs,” Ledger agreed. “She can hear you when you whisper. Which means she can also hear this.” The disguised changeling started to draw closer to the alicorn with a very mischievous smile on his face.

“Oh, and what are you planning?” she said with a smile of her own. “You don’t plan on teasing dear Midnight do you?”

“Would I do something like that?” Ledger said smoothly as he sat in front of the princess.

“Yes.” Twilight’s response was clear and concise. “I have absolutely no doubts that you would indeed do something like that.”

“Well, let’s not disappoint her then,” Ledger said as he leaned in to kiss Twilight. The alicorn pulled her head back teasingly. If he wanted it…

“Then you gotta come and get it,” she giggled as she jumped up and ran off. Ledger grumbled good-naturedly as he ran after the teasing alicorn, intent on catching her and kissing her, at least.

She avoided him for a moment or two, until she turned and waited as he tackled her lightly onto the couch.

“Oh no, I’ve been caught by the big bad Changeling again!” she said with a dramatized moan. “Please go easy on me~”

“Fat chance,” Ledger said before kissing her neck lightly, then running his reappearing fangs through the fur there. “You shouldn’t have run~” he teased her once he drew back. “Now I’m going to have to punish you.”

“Ohnooo,” Twilight moaned at the sharp fangs teasing her, that felt really nice. “Please don’t have your way with me~”

“I rather think I will,” Ledger said as he more fully covered Twilight’s form with his own, before leaning down and kissing her again, this time on the lips. His tongue lapped at her lips, requesting entrance for a moment. Her lips parted as her tongue entwined with his own, the mare moaning into the kiss as a thump could be heard from upstairs, along with some stern-sounding words from Rarity.

“And now that I’ve sampled the tasty mare,” Ledger said with a happy hum once their kiss finally broke. “I find myself wanting...more.”

“That sounds, mmmm,” Twilight moaned as his touch again. “But, you have work… and Rarity can’t hold Midnight back forever…”

“Come with me?” he offered the mare under him. “You can get a closer look at the spell in action, and I have nothing but free time while it runs.”

“You just want to be naughty in your office again~” Twilight pointed out.

“You know you want to as well,” he said as he trailed a hoof through the fur on her chest. “Either for the spell or the one casting it.”

“Hmm, why not both~?” she whispered huskily, her hips bumping his…

Then somepony cleared their throat and the two lovers were made painfully aware that Moondancer was still there… watching.

“Oh? Don’t mind me,” she hummed. Ledger followed her suggestion and looked down at Twilight.

“Office?” he offered again, both because he was still interested, and because at least there they could lock the door and put a soundproofing charm up.

Twilight looked to Moondancer, then up to Ledger as she smiled. “Oh? I don’t mind if she watches~”

“I do, she’s not a member of the herd,” Ledger pointed out. “And unless you’re going to ask her to get involved - something I have a feeling she would turn down, as she’s never felt like that about me - then we shouldn’t let her,” the drone finished.

“Actually,” Moondancer hummed as she leaned in close to whisper in his ear. “I still care for Midnight quite a bit~ And I bet Sugar Darling would love a chance to have a go with you dear Ledger~”

“Not hearing a whole lot of you wanting me in those statements, so you’re still outta luck Moondancer,” Ledger said as he looked at the Unicorn. Moondancer shrugged as Twilight rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, I’m not going to sleep with one of my best friends,” Twilight said. “Besides, I still have things to talk about with Moondancer. So, maybe later Level?”

“Fine,” Ledger pouted as he got off of Twilight and charged his horn with a teleportation spell. “I’ll be at the office if you change your mind.” With that, he was gone with a pop of displaced air, just as Midnight ran downstairs after shedding her dress.

“Aw what?” she whined. “Dammit. I totally missed out huh?”

“Only by a second,” Twilight giggled, straightening her mane. “He’s back at his office now, no doubt pouting up a storm.”

“Really,” Midnight hummed. Hmm… she had… an idea~

Chapter 62 - Planning to plan

At the Twisted Pony, Ace saw off another happy customer as the mare gave a contented sigh and stretched, trotting out with a wide grin and a healthy tip. The Griffon washed the massage oils from his talons and changed the cover on the table before awaiting the next customer.

Which seemed to turn out to be a black-feathered fellow griffon, who paused and gave him a look of confusion. “Huh...they didn’t mention they’d given my room to some other dude.”

“Hmm? Ah, well met Kinsman!” Ace greeted him with a hardy handshake that threatened to tear Jon’s arm off at the socket. “Are you here for some relaxation as well?”

“Got it all wrong,” the other griffon said as he rubbed his arm to regain feeling in it. “I’m here to be a massager. The mare up front said to come back to my usual room...guess they forgot you were usin’ it.”

“Yes, while my employers are generous with their bits, their ability to remember...not so much.” The Griffon tugged at his scarf to cover his neck more and nodded. “Well, I only have a half hour or so left anyway.”

“S’cool, I’ll take another empty room and correct ‘er in a bit.” Satisfied that he wasn’t going to lose the use of his arm, the younger griffon bobbed his head in a greeting. “Name’s Jonny. You?”

“Ace,” the elder Griffon replied. He looked pretty intense to be in a massage parlour. Jon smirked at him and seemed to be giving him a look-over before shaking his head.

“You look like more of a fighter, than a lover,” the younger griffon observed. “Judgin’ by all your trophies.”

“These?” he looked at some of the scars covering his forelegs. “Yes, well… my first job is an Instructor to the Royal Guard, this is just a side thing while I stay here in Las Pegasus.” He made a fist and punched the air, Jon’s feathers fluttering from the wind the blow made.

“Got it,” the younger of the pair said. “I do somethin’ like that as well.” He made to leave and look for another room that he could set up in. He paused as Ace clicked his beak.

“We should spar sometime, one as travelled as you must have some skill… Plus, any Griffon worth his wings should know how to fight!”

“Dude, I don’t fight,” Jon said with a roll of his eyes. “You’re the fighter? I’m the lover.”

“Hrrm, a pity, but I’ll not push it. Still, I can tell you could defend yourself well enough, a fight with you would not have been boring at least. The only other one in this city capable of giving me a challenge is my student, Midnight Song.”

“You know miss Midnight?” Jon said, stopping more fully and actually turning to look at the older griffon. “...That should surprise me more than it does.”

“Yes, most tend to be a little surprised… wait, you have met her already?” He looked the Griffon over and frowned. “You are not… a former suitor of hers are you?”

The younger griffon shook his head. “Nah, I’ve met a few ba- thestrals, in Canterlot, but she wasn’t one of ‘em. Met her a few hours ago when I was checking in with my bro. Cause she’s your student, I’ll...keep my beak shut about anything more.”

“Humph, I’m well aware of her… extracurricular activities,” Ace chuckled. “We would often help out each-other, hmm, I believe she called it being a ‘wingmare’? Regardless, if you were one, I was simply going to inform you of her new status is all. No need to get lockbeak around me hatchling.”

“I just think that she and her little family are a little more nutty than what I’m used to,” the black-feathered griffon said plainly.

“Hahah, that they are,” Ace chuckled and thumped him on the back. “Don’t worry though, once you get to know them, you either learn to ignore the crazy, or simply go crazy with them.”

“I hope not, my life’s an adventure as it is,” the younger griffon said before opening the door. “Well, I got a room to find. Seeya ‘round.”

Ace watched him leave and chuckled. “You’ve met them, you’re involved whether you like it or not now. Such is the way this story usually unfolds…” Something Jon said before suddenly clicked and the bird frowned.

“He’d better not be,” he grumbled as he started to walk towards the room Jon had entered. The younger griffon had just started familiarizing himself with everything in the room before the older showed up.

“Yeah?” Jon said. “You need somethin’?”

“A question,” he replied as he pointed at the table, which was...already occupied by a mare? “I trust you will keep this establishment pure?”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Jon asked with a smirk. “Besides, what the pony pays for, the pony gets.”

“You must be kidding?” he groaned. “Does the proprietress even allow such… debauchery?”

“They stopped tryin’ to stop me when they realized I brought in more customers than they were ready to lose by sayin’ I didn’t work here anymore,” Jon replied. “Everypony knows what I get up to, dude. And a lot like it.”

Ace wanted to tell him off, but if the owner didn’t have a problem with it, he couldn’t really argue it now could he?

Still, he took a step forward and stood over the mare, he raised a single claw and then his arm blurred as he pressed a few spots on her back. The mare’s mouth opened and she gasped, before her body spasmed and she moaned, before giving a contented sigh.

Ace clicked his beak and left the room, leaving the already satisfied mare with the younger griffon, who grumbled at being one-upped.

“Dude has no sense of how to work a mare,” the black-feathered griffon muttered. He knew those spots too, he just preferred to slowly hit them, over the course of a long, somewhat sensual massage. So that the pony would be more in the mood and ready for...other activities. Just poking them all at once lacked any real artistry.

The mare looked up and gave a content sigh. “Well, I feel a sudden chill, care to warm me up big guy?”

“I can do that,” the griffon said with a smile as he grabbed one of the speciality oils and began applying it to his claws. “Le’s begin. It’s been a few days since I last worked a pony, so I might need a minute…” He began rubbing her neck slowly. Some things you never really forgot~

After she left Level Ledger to his work, Midnight Song made her way through the city, wondering what she should do. If she went home, Rarity would try to stuff her in another dress, and Twilight and Moondancer were probably geeking up the place. Apple Cider was working, along with Fritter and who knows what Scopey was doing.

“Urgh! I’m sooo boooored!” she groaned as she wandered into the Strip. Since she was taken off of active duty, she couldn’t really go on patrol, despite being in full armour…

“You’ve been most helpful,” a slightly-familiar stallion’s voice said from up ahead.

“And you’ve been most thoughtful,” the voice of Sugar rejoined. “Making sure we don’t run into one another on that night.”

“Others gave me the idea, I’m merely the one executing it,” the male voice replied. Midnight looked up, not realising she’d walked all the way to the bar.

“Heya sexy mare, purple pops!” Midnight called out. Sugar and Wishful turned to her, and Wishful actually blushed before looking away, while Sugar just laughed.

“I didn’t know a fellow Violet could be so embarrassed over a simple kiss,” she teased. Wishful muttered something unintelligible. Midnight giggled and leaned in close.

“Aww, is somepony embarrassed?” she hummed. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. This whole baby thing is making me feel really weird.”

“It’s even worse for a changeling,” Sugar said. “Emotional stability is both hard and necessary. Our emotions would constantly in flux because of the pregnancy, and our emotions are what our young need to survive.”

“Yeah, well apparently I’m going to get worse before I get better,” Midnight hummed. “Twilight said that some Thestral mares even have to be locked up, because they get so dangerous.”

“If I know my son,” Wishful said as he looked back at Midnight at last. “He won’t let that happen.”

“He may not have a choice,” Midnight muttered under her breath. She shook her head and looked up. “So, get everything sorted?”

“Easy enough to do,” the disguised drone said with a nod. “You’ll not see our party when you’re having yours.”

“I even managed to hammer down a few more details about our night,” Sugar said, smiling all the while. “Oooh, the mares are going to love this.”

“I know we will,” Midnight nodded. “Oh, and Twilight still has Moondancer in case you were wondering. I fear that the nerd will last for quite a while at this rate.” She walked up next to Sugar, the nymph noticing that she had an odd twitch in her hind legs...Sugar just grinned and winked at Midnight.

“Ah well, just remember to return her where you found her,” the nymph sighed mock-dramatically. “And hopefully, in the same condition as well.”

“Yeah well, I think we can manage that,” she said. “Gods, this is uncomfortable. Maybe Ledger could use a little practise in aiming.”

Wishful’s eyes widened before he studiously looked away from Midnight’s flanks, not wanting to appear like he was looking at them at all. His son and Midnight were going to get him in serious trouble at this rate…

Midnight leaned up to regale the tale privately to Sugar, perhaps she didn’t know of that particular little trick yet… besides, she did promise the mare a story every now and then. And, she’d caught that look of Wishful’s, she didn’t want to embarrass him further.

“Well, if you two don’t need me anymore, I’ll be off to find Grissom,” the disguised drone said, wanting an out of this conversation.

“Okay,” Midnight nodded. “I know he wants to check up on Levvy’s business, see how the other ‘lings are going. Maybe you might find him there?”

“Got it,” Wishful said as he turned and made to leave. “Have a good day,” he offered before walking off to find Pegasus Air.

Yes, he would rather look on his own than spend another uncomfortable moment around those mares getting directions. Midnight frowned somewhat, she knew that she’d crossed a line somewhere, but had no idea how to apologise without making it worse.

And Ledger was definitely going to question why his father was avoiding her.

“Sugar?” she finally spoke up. “I think I may have messed up big this time.”

“You did sort of kiss him,” the nymph pointed out. “Perhaps we should figure out how to best fix this together.”

“Well, I couldn’t stand having him talk so badly about himself and I wasn’t thinking as usual and then I just—”

Sugar silenced her with a hoof over her mouth and a small smile. “Inside?” the disguised nymph offered. The bat nodded and followed the mare. And the day had started out so well too…

Grissom sat in Ledger’s office, the whole place smelled faintly of disinfectant… Ah well. He sipped at his tea and after setting the cup back down on the saucer, he looked at the Changeling sitting across from him.

“So, had any trouble with your workers so far?” he asked.

“Nope, though there were a few rough spots getting them integrated with the local population,” Ledger replied. “Especially when the city’s Pink got wind of new ‘lings on the block.”

“Heh, I can imagine she caused quite a bit of chaos,” Grissom chuckled. “Just getting her to fill out the paperwork in ink that wasn’t pink-coloured was a real headache…”

“Color-changing ink,” Ledger suggested. “Get it from a local prank store, have it start pink so she uses it, then change to black for you later on.”

“I tried that,” Grissom groaned, placing his hoof against his head. “It didn’t change back.”

“...Well, that’s a new one, but not unexpected of Amy,” Ledger said as he sipped at his sweet tea. “Still, despite that little bump, it’s all been smooth as silk over here. Surprisingly. I would have normally expected at least a few issues.”

“As would I,” Grissom nodded. “I am glad to have been mistaken for once.” He took a sip from his cup and sighed. Neither had noticed the Violet stallion walk up to the door yet... “So, how are you and Midnight getting along?”

“Pretty well, despite her emotions whiplashing all over the place, I manage to keep reassuring her that I’m not going anywhere,” Ledger said. “Though sometimes it takes the others to point it out to me…”

“Midnight always was a hooffull, but, you’re doing well. Despite the fact you got her pregnant before marriage… but, I’m not too worried. I trust that you would have done the right thing.” He placed his cup down and chuckled. “I’d watch out for Moon though. Ever since she found out you had finally given her a grandchild… she’s been… excitable.”

“Duly noted, if Midnight tells me her mother is in town, I will do my best to avoid being spotted,” Ledger replied before Wishful pushed the door open.

“Well, I managed to coordinate with Sugar as to what the bachelorette party is going to be like,” the disguised violet drone said before sitting on the couch. “So now I know where to avoid going.”

“During the party? Or altogether?” Grissom laughed, as Wishful sputtered and looked to one side. The Thestral blinked and then tilted his head. What was with that reaction? “Have a rough day?”

“You could say that,” Wishful replied. “So, how are things here, son?”

“Doing fine,” Ledger replied. “Company is still surviving, and I’m even bringing in new business to Las Pegasus. Give Twilight and me a few more weeks, and things’ll be even better.”

“I still can’t believe that you included a princess into your herd,” Grissom snorted and smirked. “Just another step in taking over the world then?”

“First you control the shipping,” Ledger said as he adopted a terrible impression of a Manehatten accent. “Then you control the goods and the money...then you control the city.”

“I’ll get concerned when the mayor starts asking for extra funds to pay you rent,” Grissom said as he drained his teacup. Ledger devolved into snickers before replying.

“Can you imagine me in control of the city? I’d probably run the thing into the ground because something looked good on paper...Nah, I’m happy where I am, thanks.”

“You know that mayorship can be appointed by the Crown yes?” Grissom mused as he refilled his cup. “Hmm, I wonder if Celestia has some ideas for the next one…”

“Yeah, no, I fully intend to turn it down if she gets that idea into her head,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “I looked into it: Being a mayor is really stressful and pays less than being a CEO of a shipping company. And with a foal on the way, I need all the money I can get my hooves on, especially to buy some rings.”

“Speaking of,” Grissom nodded. “You know you can always ask right? Moon and I would be more than happy to help you out…”

“I think he was intending to ask myself first, actually,” Wishful spoke up. “I was sent with a list of names I could draw on to provide funding, if Ledger needs some bits for the wedding.”

“It is tradition for the parents to provide for the wedding,” Grissom nodded. “Then again, you lot are hardly traditional. So it’s all up to you boy.”

“I’ll try and do it on my own if I can, thank you,” Ledger said as he politely turned both stallions down for the time being. “If I do need funding, I’ll let you both know at the same time, and you can decide who’ll help with what.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Grissom nodded. “Oh, I don’t suppose anypony has warned you yet?”

“About thestral mares getting a little,” Ledger forced himself to use a word other than ‘batty’. “Extra hormonal?”

“...You wanted to use the pun didn’t you?” Grissom deadpanned. “Still, I wouldn’t worry too much. Midnight is half Unicorn.”

“We still don’t know if that’ll make it better or worse,” Ledger pointed out. “Though Twilight is probably warming up some sort of testing apparatus to check.”

Grissom gave a shudder, that… scared him for some reason. “Try not to let her dissect my daughter hmm?”

“I believe the correct term would be vivisect, but I’ll do my best regardless,” Ledger said with a small laugh. “I’ve been told I can be very distracting.”

“You probably get that from me, your mother kept complaining about me distracting her from her research or her reading,” Wishful chuckled. “She stopped complaining after about a minute, though…”

“Aaaand that’s a mental image I didn’t need,” Ledger deadpanned.

“Hah! I only wish that would work on Midnight,” Grissom laughed then sighed. “Last time I tried… she offered pointers…”

“I have a book,” Wishful offered with a cheeky grin. “I’d be more than willing to let you borrow it~”

“Oh don’t you start,” Grissom said warily. “I get enough from her fans that wish they could have her…” This was stated with a groan that came from much experience with that problem.

“He’s probably talking about…” Ledger started before shrugging and looking at his desk as the last piece of paperwork on it started to be filled out.

“The Pony Sutra, yes,” the disguised Violet finished with a nod. “I never travel anywhere without my copy~”

“My wife owns a First Edition,” Grissom sighed. “Trust me, she’s rather well versed in that department… You ever wonder where Midnight gets it from?”

“And now that I know, I will be forever scarred just thinking about it,” Ledger replied dryly. The last piece of paperwork floated up to the top of the out tray, and the silver changeling canceled his spell before getting out of his chair and stretching. “Well, that’s more than enough mental scarring for one day, I’m going to go home and make sure nothing is going wrong if you don’t mind.”

“And here I was, just getting started on this,” Grissom chuckled and looked at Wishful. “What do you say to teaming up?”

“I would take you up on that, but I know my son. If we try to pester him again, he’ll paralyze our jaws while he makes his egress,” Wishful said with a smirk.

“Darn right,” Ledger said without missing a beat. “Throat invites problems. Jaw’s much safer.”

“Oh, so you’d do that to a government official?” Grissom asked. “And since your father was invited here, I could provide him with diplomatic immunity.”

“If either of you try to scar me again before I’ve steeled my mind against you again, yes, I will paralyze your jaws for all of three minutes while I make good my escape,” Ledger replied as he made his way to the office’s door. “Have a good day, you two.”

“Well, I warned you,” Wishful said as Ledger made good his escape. “How about we go find Flash, then, if we’re out of other entertaining things to do?”

“Well, who knows where the colt went after he left with those three mares,” Grissom nodded. “Still, I wouldn’t object to a walk around the city.”

“A walk it is, and if we happen to find him, so much the better then,” Wishful said as he got up from the couch. The Thestral stood and stretched before following the drone out.

“So,” he asked. “Why are you in a mood right now?”

“Things,” the disguised changeling tried to brush off the thestral’s concern as they made their egress from Pegasus Air’s base of operation.

“So, where should we start looking first?” Grissom asked as they left. “Do you think he’s even… erhem! ‘finished’ with them yet?”

“I think the question you should be asking is if they’re done with him,” the violet drone chuckled. “Hmm...maybe the hotels would be our best bet.”

“Well, let the search begin,” Grissom nodded, and the two headed out to find the wayward colt.

Moondancer teleported into the bar her marefriend owned… just in time to see said mare leaning over the counter groaning lightly, like she’d had waaay too much to eat.

Moon was fairly certain that Midnight had been here… but still, this was a good opportunity~

She slowly crept closer as she drew upon some memories and feelings, before directing her Love straight at the stuffed nymph.

“No no no, stop!” Sugar said as she clutched her stomach with both forehooves. “Please stop, I’m full as it is!”

“Aww, but I just wanna love my little nymphy-wimphy~” Moondancer cooed as she rubbed up against Sugar like a cat. “Don’t you love me too~?”

“I do, but Midnight apparently felt that filling me up with as much lust as I could hold would serve as an adequate tip for the advice I gave her,” Sugar said as she rubbed Moondancer between the ears with one hoof.

“Hmm, you gave her advice?” Moon blinked, her previous experiment forgotten. And no, her hind leg was not twitching because of the rub. She had an itch, Yes. An itch. “For what?”

“Remember that kiss she gave Wishful, Ledger’s father?” Sugar asked before sighing as she felt a lot more stable with her over-stuffed stomach. “Well, the drone’s apparently been acting embarrassed around her. Told her how to talk to him and what to say to make the situation blow away.”

“Ah, and, you think it’ll work?” Moondancer said as she climbed up to the bar and floated over a glass of water.

“I hope it will, otherwise Midnight will come back, and I don’t think I could take a repeat visit for another day or two,” Sugar replied before gripping the cup and sipping at the water.

“What the heck did she do to you? Aside for completely ruining my experiment… which, actually sounds about normal for her.” Moondancer shuddered… those scorch marks would never come off the science lab’s ceiling. Yeah, she shouldn’t have tried to figure out why Midnight couldn’t cook…

“Like I said, she wanted to say thanks, she remembered I was a Violet...and apparently, she knows a lot of sexy thoughts. Not that she needed to put in a lot of effort…” The disguised nymph put the glass on the counter and sighed. “I am going to be full for a long time…”

“Aww, she totally ruined my fun,” Moondancer sighed. She then smirked and looked at Sugar. “Oh, I got to see it too~”

“See what?” Sugar asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“Little Ledger,” Moondancer giggled, holding her hooves apart to demonstrate. Sugar groaned and rolled her eyes.

“Why does everypony but me get to see him?” she asked of nopony in particular. Moondancer giggled and poked her.

“Hey silly, recall what I just did to you?”

“Fine,” Sugar grumbled before looking away. “Still not happy though. You went and had fun without me, leaving me stuck here in my club with nothing to do until Midnight came in…”

“While I would question how you got that Lust from her,” Moondancer hummed. “I’m talking about that directed emotion. Ever think to try using that on another ‘ling? Like say, Lust~”

“Not every Noble can give emotion back. It’s something you either have a knack for, or don’t,” Sugar explained. “Some common changelings can have that knack too, but it’s rarer. Last time I tried, I released it in a cloud around me...and then had to deal with two dozen horny nymphs.”

“Oh, you must have been sooo devastated,” Moondancer giggled, imagining her slowly sinking into a pile of moaning ponies.

“I was sore for two days,” Sugar replied with a happy little moan. “It was fun getting that way, but I’d really rather not do it again without proper planning.”

“Well, Twilight could get him up with just a thought, that’s the point I’m trying to make here,” Moondancer said, kinda wishing she could have seen that. Oh well, now she had a plan for the future~

“Really?” Sugar asked, turning to look back at Moondancer. “But he’s a Silver...that doesn’t really make sense…”

“Have a good think about what his dad is.”

The nymph thought for a moment before making a soft ‘oh’ of realization. “Well...that explains that, then.”

“You never knew he was half-Violet?” Moon asked her.

“It didn’t really click, usually changelings are one or another. Sometimes when the colors mix, you’ll get things like a loyal yellow, or a brave red. Hybrids aren’t...uncommon, but I don’t think we’ve ever had a Silver-Violet-Noble before.”

Moondancer hummed at the new information. Then she noticed something and sighed, “Sugar? You’re drooling…”

“He’s the only other Noble in Las Pegasus, and I learn we have something in common,” Sugar said as she wiped her mouth with a hoof. “I tried once, but he was still...scarred. And scared. And now it’s too late. Don’t deny me my fantasies, please. They’re likely all I’ll ever have.”

“You know, I’m still trying to figure out what we are, and if Ledger’s an example, trying to keep a Changeling exclusive is almost impossible.” Moondancer sipped her water and sighed. “And...after Midnight and I… I don’t, I don’t know if I could try an exclusive relationship again. At least, not right now.” She groaned and thunked her head on the bar. She had no idea where she was going with this after all.

“I suppose if they agreed, then I don’t mind. Who knows, maybe I’ll get to play with my Middy again.”

“Hmm…” Sugar hummed while tapping her chin, before an idea struck her. “Something like a regular meet-up, then? I’ll not spring it on them right away, dear. I want time to get to know you first, and they deserve to have their wedding.”

“True enough, I can’t believe that Ledger is lucky enough to not only marry Midnight, but two other mares as well.”

“Herding apparently hasn’t been a thing for a long time,” Sugar commented. “But I don’t think Ledger will think himself lucky when spring rolls around…”

Moondancer chuckled...then laughed, and kept laughing until she was having trouble breathing… After a few minutes, she finally calmed down and took a few gulps of water, panting heavily.

“I dare say that even he might find the spring months a little...tiring,” Sugar commented again, once Moondancer had calmed down.

“You have...no idea,” she panted as she gulped some more water. “Okay… so let’s do… a little math.” She inhaled and held it for a second, then exhaled. “Better. Now, first he has an Earth Pony, known for their strength and stamina. Next, he has a Changeling nymph, and you little sexbugs are insatiable on the best of days. And third?”

“Midnight Song, but she’s already pregnant,” Sugar pointed out. “I suppose if you wanted to be technical, you could say that fourth, he has a recently ascended alicorn mare…”

“Ahh, I forgot about the pregnancy,” Moondancer nodded. “You see, because Midnight is technically half Unicorn, she actually goes into heat like a regular pony, it just doesn’t last as long. And when the Spring Full Moon rolls around…”

“Is there something about full moons I don’t know about, in relation to thestrals?” The disguised nymph asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Mhmm,” Moondancer sipped her water. “Thestrals are tied to the phases of the moon. And during a full moon, they get… amorous.”

“Oh my,” Sugar said with a smile. “Well, that’s going in the book, to be sure. I can only imagine what she would be like during a spring moon.”

“Oh, I know exactly what she’s like,” Moondancer sighed wistfully. “I think I still have the bite marks…”

“Still, Twilight at least should have Earth Pony endurance as well,” the disguised Violet nymph pointed out. “Unfortunately for her, Ledger knows a few weak points of pony anatomy, pegasi especially… something he demonstrated quite well when he first arrived.” The nymph hummed as she calculated the odds of Ledger making it through spring. “So he might be able to stand up for… one night?”

“Unless you and I teach Twilight a few useful spells~” Moondancer giggled. Ledger was going to get revenge on her anyway. Might as well plan the next step.

“Let the colt have his fun for that one night,” Sugar said with a smile. “Then we’ll teach her.”

Moondancer raised her glass and nodded. “Well, how about a toast? To the craziest ponies in Equestria!”

“To the madponies we seem to have surrounded ourselves with,” Sugar said as she raised her own glass to tap against Moondancer’s. “Because whenever we get bored, they’ll be there to make things interesting.”

“Amen to that,” she giggled. Which reminded her, she needed to bring Sugar to Canterlot sometime. That would prove to be most entertaining~

It was later afternoon by the time Flash Sentry left the hotel. He didn’t really know if those mares were wholly satisfied or not, Swift Wing was surprisingly resistant to showing any sort of positive emotion.

Still, he was very satisfied, and if this little slip of paper was to be believed, then he also had their addresses. He all but sauntered down the street, like a peacock with it’s feathers out. It wasn’t long before Wishful Hope showed up, followed by Grissom.

“Told you I knew where he was,” the violet coated unicorn said to the thestral.

“Well there you go,” the Thestral hummed as he walked up to Flash. “And you look like a cat who got the cream.”

“Ohhh, I wasn’t the one who got the cream~” Flash giggled, swaying a little. Wishful burped suddenly, before holding a hoof to his mouth.

“Excuse me,” he said. That colt’s lust, even sated, was powerful. Not as powerful as Midnight’s, but then, no pony’s was.

“Ohh, man, I feel like a new stallion. Hell, I feel like a stallion!” he nodded and flapped his wings a few times. “Well, that wasn’t the way I expected to start the day, but I’m not complaining.” He looked at the other two and gave them a smile.

“So, what’s next gents?”

“Hmm, we do still have a party to plan, only this time, I know where we should avoid. Though, I rather think we were avoiding a place like the mares were going to anyways…” Wishful hummed. “Also, we should probably avoid any actual gambling. Did we already go over that before you...went to do some extracurricular activities?”

“Yeah, I believe so. ‘sides, I don’t have the money for that,” Flash said.

“I think the most important detail is still amiss,” Grissom spoke up as the trio walked aimlessly down the street. “Such as, when we are actually doing this?”

“When is it traditional to do such a thing?” Wishful asked, looking at both Grissom and Flash for an answer.

“Usually the night or two before the actual wedding,” Flash answered, as Grissom nodded.

“That gives us plenty of time to plan, then,” Wishful replied. “In case one of us hears something that we think we should visit that night.”

“Sounds like a plan, so we should find out when they plan on getting married. That would be most useful,” Grissom nodded. “So, shall we visit the soon-to-be-betrothed?”

“I’ve no objections,” the disguised drone said before looking at Flash. The Pegasus nodded, having no objections either. Internally, Wishful was...uncomfortable.

Because going there meant meeting Midnight again, and she seemed to keep turning every meeting uncomfortable in some fashion or another. Maybe, he mused. Maybe this one time, things would be different.

Author's Note

All the griffons, all of them!

Like the story? Consider dropping Aus and me a dollar on my Patreon. It's always appreciated.

Half the money will not go towards making a room out of solid gold.

Chapter 64 - Train wrecks are magical, wonderous things...

When Ledger awoke, it was to a smaller mare-pile. One consisting of just Scopey. He already assumed that Cider was out working her fields, but where was Midnight?

...And why could he smell smoke?

“That doesn’t bode well,” he muttered, recalling the times that Midnight had cooked for him before. Or tried to. He gently put Scope to one side and left the bed before going downstairs to do damage control.

Luckily, Wishful had beat him to extinguishing the flames… but that pot was a goner.

“Honestly, how does one set fire to water?” he inquired. “I don’t think even the Trio could pull that off.”

“Waaahh, but I cooked fine last time,” Midnight cried. “And I concentrated super hard this time…”

Ledger walked over to her and gave her a kiss before thinking on what she’d just said. “Y’know, there’s a thing called working too hard. Maybe you need to not think about it?” he observed. “I know that if I try to focus on everything that could go wrong, then I don’t get anything done.”

Midnight just sniffed as Wishful emerged, his coat stained with soot and water. “Well, that was a most eventful way to wake up. Reminds me a little of home actually.”

“There’s a shower upstairs,” Ledger said to his father. “Try not to wake up the nymph before I make the coffee, she’ll tear your hoof off if you do.” With that, the stallion gave his mare another kiss before ducking into the kitchen to brew that most wonderful of drinks.

“Duly noted,” Wishful nodded as he headed for the bathroom. He saw a large pile of scrolls on the desk in the living room, wondering just how much paperwork Ledger had lying around here. He shrugged and continued on his way, moving to one side as a nymph descended the stairs, a low growl in her throat.

“Drone. Coffee,” she barked at the noble in the kitchen.

“Being made,” he replied as he started the process. “You can blame Midnight for waking up first and deciding to try and cook again, if you think it’s taking too long.”

Scope looked at Midnight and growled again. Before slumping over the table as the Thestral straightened her mane. There was a flash from outside, followed by a purple blur that raced into the kitchen and crammed itself inside an empty cupboard.

A two-toned tail still hung out of it though.

“...Twilight, why are you in the cupboard? Last I recalled, you weren’t a pot or pan,” Ledger said as the coffee continued to brew.

“The Alicorn you are trying to reach is out of service. Please hang up and don’t call back,” came her monotone response. Ledger rolled his eyes and used his magic to pry the mare out of the cupboard.

“It’s too early for this, and that’s coming from me,” Ledger replied as the coffee neared completion. “Can it wait until after coffee at least?”

“ItoldmyMomandnowsshe’scomingtovisitandIalsotoldheryouwereaChangeling!” She suddenly said, trying to get back in the cupboard. Ledger pushed it shut with a hoof before sighing.

“Please tell me she can’t teleport over here,” he asked the lavender mare.

“The Waypoint is tied to my magical signature… but Mom shares enough that she could use it…” Ledger shook his head and made to pour the coffee for all the mares, figuring he’d get a cup in a moment.

“Go out and have some coffee with Middy and Scope,” he told Twilight, passing her three mugs of the life-giving elixir. “I’ll try to make something edible.”

Twilight nodded and took the mugs out into the kitchen, just as Cider came running inside.

“W-What happened?” she said, clearly panicked. “Ah saw smoke comin’ from the house! Is everypony alright!?”

“Midnight woke up after you,” Ledger said, giving her all the explanation she needed with a mug of coffee that he’d been pouring for himself. “G’on out, I got this.”

She sighed and handed him the mug back. “Thanks, but ah already had some. Ah’ll be back in a moment. Jus’ gotta show Fritter how the greenhouse works n’all.”

“M’kay, I’ll get some omelettes made for everypony then,” Ledger said, taking the mug back and giving her a kiss. She returned the gesture and headed back outside… just as Ledger caught a whiff of some faint pheromones coming from the living room…

Meh, he’d deal with it in a moment. He had breakfast to make and caffeine to drink. He set about finding enough eggs and a good-sized pan for omelettes, then began making the one breakfast food he knew he could make.

By the time breakfast was done, as he carried the food out to the table, he noticed two things.

One. The pheromones were still present.

Two. They… seemed to be coming from Midnight? He looked over at the thestral mare as he served the three their omelettes. This...was going to be a headache, wasn’t it.

She didn’t seem to notice as she looked at the food and hummed happily, a quiet chirp coming from her throat as she dug into the food.

“Um… since when do Thestral’s… chirp?” Twilight asked nopony in particular.

“...Thestrals don’t,” Ledger pointed out, slowly backing up. “But…”

Midnight hummed as she ate her food, sighing happily as she finished inhaling it. Ahh, now that was the stuff. She looked over at Ledger, and noticed that he hadn’t touched his food.

“You okay?” She asked. “You’re normally on your second cup by now Levvy.”

“...Something’s not right,” he muttered, looking at Midnight. She was showing quite a few signs...but she wasn’t, was she?...

“Hmm?” she blinked again, her crimson eyes staring into his. “What’s not right?”

“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked, a little concerned.

“She shouldn’t be chirping or emitting Changeling pheromones,” Ledger said as he pointed a hoof at Midnight.

Midnight tilted her head, before letting out a sigh and looking at her stallion. “W-Well… guess I couldn’t keep it a secret forever huh?” She looked at Scope, who shrugged and turned back to her meal.

“Promise you won’t get mad?” she asked the drone.

“...I’ll at least try,” he said, wondering what in the world was going on.

Midnight nodded as Violet flames surrounded her body… and after a second, a Noble Violet nymph sat in her place. She still held features similar to the bat, but she was definitely a Changeling…

“Um, hi?” she said bashfully.

“...What.” Ledger said as his head tilted to one side. Yep, Ledger had checked out. Call again later.

Twilight had a similar reaction, back-pedalling away from the table as her eyes widened. Midnight stayed that way for a moment, before she started to shake slightly… and then erupted in laughter as the disguise faltered, and the Thestral resumed her true form once again. There was a flash from Scope as she put something back under the table.

She and Scope snickered as they high-hoofed, the bat giggling at Ledger’s blank expression. He stayed looking at nothing for a minute while his brain rebooted, before slowly blinking a few times.

“...What just happened?” he asked. “The last thing I recall was something about you and pheromones…”

“Wow, did I shock you that much?” Midnight giggled again. “I didn’t think that would actually work. Hehehe, you thought I was a Changeling. Silly Levvy.”

“...You still smell a little like it,” he said, starting to put the clues together. “Did you...prank me?”

“Oh we pranked you soooo hard,” Scope cackled. “A little pheromone perfume from yours truly. Some brilliant acting and some glamour spells. Oh man, that was priceless!”

“...Yeah, just keep adding up the amount of things I have to get you back for,” Ledger said. Afterwards, he rolled his eyes and returned to the kitchen. “I always pay back my debts,” he called over his shoulder.

“So you say,” Scope and Midnight called back. And Ledger could hear Wishful laughing from upstairs. Oh, so he was in on it as well? The silver drone just returned to making omelettes for everypony. Cider, Fritter, and Leaves were next on his list, because unless he missed his guess, the Apple family would be the next ones in. And whether or not they’d had breakfast already, he knew they could eat.

The Apple trio eventually returned, and breakfast was quite the commotion, and Midnight, Scope and Wishful were still laughing over their prank. Scope showed him the photo she took, Wishful making note to add that to the family album. It was one of the few times that Ledger had been caught on film as being completely dumbfounded.

There was a silver flash from the front of the house, before a knock was heard. Midnight was closest, and Scope had turned the glamour spell back on a few moments ago to show Cider what they’d been laughing about.

So when a Noble Violet nymph opened the door to greet their guest...the silver unicorn on the other side blinked a few times before peering at her a little closer.

“Hmm, I don’t recall you,” she said in a familiar voice. “Pray tell, what’s your name?”

Midnight faltered for a second, the Madame… didn’t recognise her either? Dang Scopey’s magic was good. She shot an evil smile at Ledger and Wishful, then turned back to the Madame with a sultry gaze.

“My name is Moonlight Sonata… and perhaps you and I should get to know one another better, you little cutie pie~”

“Happily married a few times over,” the unicorn brushed off as she looked the noble ‘ling up and down, humming as she did. “I was unaware that there were more noble Violets here.”

“That’s cause there aren’t any more,” Moonlight said as the disguise melted away. “And you didn’t bite anywhere near as well as Levvy did. I was so hoping to see that adorable awkward face that Wishy says you have.”

The unicorn blinked before looking inside at her husband. “You told them that?” she questioned the drone.

“Just her,” he replied with a wave of his hoof. “After that...hmm, I can’t quite seem to remember. Odd.”

“What’s all the commotion?” Ledger called out from the kitchen as he worked on his own omelette.

“Just a visit from a pretty lady,” Midnight replied as she let the Madame inside. “Nothing to worry about Levvy!”

“...I should at least offer her coffee and breakfast,” he said back. “Unless she doesn’t want any for some reason.”

“I did eat before coming,” the Madame said, cuing Ledger in as to who it was.

“Oh. Hi mom,” the drone in the kitchen eventually said. “Well, if you’re sure.”

“Positive on the food, but if you’re offering coffee…”

Ledger rolled his eyes and floated a fresh mug out of the kitchen, much to the delight of the Madame.

“It’s nice to meet you again,” Twilight replied, as Scope sat on the opposite side of the table. No way was she getting hugged again!

“It’s nice to meet you as well dear,” the unicorn said as she nodded at Twilight, before returning to looking at Scope. “Somepony told me that we have a date set, so I came to get an estimate as to how much I’ll need to draw on to provide for such a wedding.”

“Hmm, you know,” Midnight spoke up. “Since Amy’s involved now… I wonder if she has any family that’ll show up?”

“Amy?” the Madame asked.

“Resident Pink,” Ledger supplied as he finished making his own breakfast and trotted out to join them.

“Ah,” the silver mare said with a nod. “Well, the records we recovered from the time when the Pinks were in the Lands state that they all thought of each other like one big happy family. I doubt that any and every Pink in the world will arrive for her wedding, but I would plan for a few unexpected guests.”

“Noted,” Midnight said. Well, she still had to tell Amy about the plans, if she didn’t already know somehow. “So at least two Pink Changelings will be there, along with a Pink pony… should be fun!”

“And hopefully the fabric of reality will forgive us one day,” Ledger replied as he started in on his food. Once he’d had a bite, he turned to Twilight and offered a cheeky smile. “See? Nothing happened. You told your mom, you came here, and we’re still enjoying a nice breakfast together.”

There was a sound from outside, before the back door flew open and a Unicorn baring a striking resemblance to Twilight walked in and looked around. Her eyes locked on Ledger and she took a step forward.

“So…” she said slowly. “Is this him?”

“You just had to bucking say something,” Twilight groaned.

“Twilight dear,” the Madame asked in a tone as smooth as silk. “Do you particularly care about the pony now interrupting a nice moment we were having?”

“Twilight Velvet, Princess Twilight Sparkle’s mother,” the mare introduced herself.

“I am known as Madame Gossip,” the silver unicorn said with a small smile and a look that carried none of it to her eyes. “I’m Level Ledger’s mother.”

There was an awkward moment of silence as the two mares sized each other up. Midnight looked at them, then raised her hoof with a happy smile.

“And I’m Midnight Song, mother of ‘Has-yet-to-be-named’ baby in my belly!” she said with a giggle. Scope gave her a flat look and the Thestral shrugged. “What? I just want to be included.”

“Believe me dear, I already knew,” the Madame said as she sipped at her coffee. Once she was done with that, she looked back up at Twilight Velvet. “I suppose you have a good reason for interrupting our little bonding moment?” The tone the disguised nymph used when she said ‘good’ implied that there had better be one.

“Well, considering I only just found out about this little arrangement of theirs,” Twilight said, unperturbed by the Madame’s subtle threats. “I thought it best to come and see them for myself.”

Scope leaned across to Wishful. “Twenty bits on the Madame,” she whispered.

“No bet, she’s already going to win and I’m not one for betting against my wife,” he whispered back. The silver unicorn sipped her drink again before putting the mug down.

“And you couldn’t wait to be invited?” the disguised changeling asked, completely glossing over the fact that she hadn’t been either.

“Hypocrite,” Scope coughed, as Twilight chose to ignore both.

“Hmm, I would have, but knowing my daughter, I’d have not seen one until the day of her wedding.” She walked over to Twilight and nuzzled her. “Plus, I’m quite curious as to see what attracted her to a Changeling of all things.”

“Ah, well then,” the nymph said as she shut her eyes and went up in a silver inferno, putting on a show for no sake other than Twilight Velvet. Once her Noble form was revealed, she smiled again, showing off her fangs and slitted eyes. “It’s so much better being myself.”

Twilight Velvet looked over at her and hummed. She looked quite different from the Changelings she’d seen before. She also noticed Midnight Song and waved a hoof.

“And how are you Lady Midnight? Did I hear correctly in you saying that you’re with foal?”

“Mhmm,” Midnight nodded, rubbing her belly. “It wasn’t planned. But I’ll do my best.”

“Well, I’m sure you have all the help you need with Twilight and the rest of your loves as well.” She looked back to the Madame and gave a smile, one that showed she wasn’t going to be bucked with anytime soon.

The noble silver ‘ling just hummed as she looked over at Ledger. “She knows, son, you…” her eyes flickered over to Wishful. “You and your father could probably drop your disguises as well.”

Ledger half-lidded his eyes in irritation before pointing a hoof at Apple Fritter. The mare in question had already dived behind the couch from the Madame’s dramatic display, her fear rather hard to miss. The nymph blinked a few times before blushing in embarrassment and looking at Apple Leaves.

“Whoops?” she offered by way of apology.

“That’s putting it mildly,” Apple Leaves sighed, moving to comfort her terrified daughter. Midnight also went to snuggle the mare to cheer her up a bit.

“Perhaps a little less drama next time?” Velvet chuckled in amusement, taking some small pleasure in the Madame’s minor slip.

“You were saying?” Scope whispered to Wishful.

“She’ll rally,” the drone whispered back.

“I suppose I could do with a little less flair behind my unveiling, miss ‘teleport in and burst the door down in the middle of breakfast,’” the Madame countered.

“And I suppose I’ll make a more refined entrance next time, Miss ‘Thinks she can intimidate me’!”

“Mom! Please stop fighting with her,” she looked at the Madame and clicked her tongue. “And please stop antagonising her. My Mom was just worried is all. As I’m sure you were when you first heard of Ledger’s relationship.”

“Understatement of the century,” Wishful hummed under his breath.

“I...can see your point there,” the Madame said with a sigh. But then she got a mischievous spark to her eyes. “Except for the first one. This isn’t fighting, dear Twilight. This is merely a verbal spar for me. You’d know if I were really fighting.”

“Indeed,” Velvet nodded. “But I’m sure Mr. Ledger cares for his mother, so I’ll let her be… for now~”

“OHH!” Midnight jumped up, having been reminded of something. “Silver Mom, we totally gotta spar. Purple Pops says you’re wicked strong! So I wanna see how strong!”

“Maybe when you aren’t carrying my grandfoal, and I’m reasonably certain you won’t break just by trying,” the silver nymph chuckled.

“Oh! It is SO on!” Midnight nodded, and Twilight gulped at that thought.

“Um, are you sure? Lady Gossip. Midnight is very strong…” That said, the Madame seemed to be storing quite a bit of power herself. Hmm, Twilight wasn’t sure who would win that match.

“I won’t worry,” Scope said with a sharkish grin. “I bet even I could beat that old bug around the block and back.”

“You keep thinking that,” the Madame said as she picked up her cup and sighed at the lack of coffee in it. “I’m sure I’ll get the chance to correct you sooner rather than later.”

“I’m still better than you~” Scope sang. The Madame’s horn flashed once, threateningly.

“I wouldn’t push it,” Wishful warned her. “I believe you suffered a crushing defeat at Miss Midnight Song’s hooves. I would hate to see you repeat that.”

Scope looked at the drone, then to the nymph opposite her. She stared into the Madame’s eyes for a few silent moments before shrugging and turning back to her breakfast.

“Whatever, I don’t need to prove I’m right.”

“If that’s what helps you get to sleep at night,” the Madame said with a smile as she looked back over at the Apple family. With a sigh, she resumed her disguise after seeing that Ledger and Wishful hadn’t dropped theirs. “You can come out now, I’ve got my glamour back on,” the noble nymph said to Apple Fritter.

All she got in reply though, was a slowly swinging front door, the Earth Pony mare having escaped a few moments ago. Apple Leaves sighed and took a seat at the table, Midnight following after the fleeing mare.

“She took Canterlot pretty hard,” Apple Leaves explained. “Then the second invasion here, she was worried for her sister…”

“I’m not going to be so cruel as to force her to like me,” the Madame replied as she got comfortable in her seat. “I just hope that she can recover from the things that have been done to her…”

“Honestly, ah don’t know,” Cider sighed. “We don’t really know what happened to her during Canterlot, cause she won’t tell anypony. She says that she can’t remember most of it… but, ah don’t know…”

The Madame hummed before looking at Wishful. “Peaceful?” she asked.

“His talents would be useful,” the violet unicorn agreed. “But like you said, we shouldn’t force her to like us.”

“Perhaps both Peaceful and Joyful,” the Madame said with a nod. “Give her a vacation with her father for once.”

“I believe the idea is to get her to like us,” Ledger muttered under his breath, Scope holding back a snort.

“I’ll ask them when we return,” the Madame said as she stood up. “But for now, I believe I have estimates to gather for this event?” She looked over at the other ponies at the table with a raised eyebrow, wondering who if any would help her with this.

“I can assist you there,” Twilight said, leaving Ledger’s side as she summoned her saddlebags. That also left nopony between him and Velvet as the Alicorn left with the Madame, already rattling off costs, schedules, etc…

Velvet moved closer and sat next to him, the room was quiet, like the eye of the storm as the Unicorn cleared her throat.

“Well, now we can talk without interruption.”

Ledger looked over at her before he returned to the matter of killing his breakfast. He could already tell that this day off was going to be splendid. He decided not to make the first move, just waiting to see where she stood before he mounted a counter-argument.

“So tell me,” she asked, sipping her tea. “You have three mare’s already yes? What convinced you to get a fourth? Were your current ones not enough?”

“Twilight convinced me,” Ledger replied after killing his own omelette. “I’m not certain if you’re aware of what color translates to what emotion we prefer, but for a Silver, there is nothing we like more than the feeling of an academic learning something new. Besides love, of course.” He sipped his coffee and put it back on the table before continuing. “With Twilight, there is always something new to learn. With Scope, there is always somepony willing to put me back in line. With Cider, there is always somepony that will keep us grounded. And Midnight is the one that fixed me when I was broken. I would not be who I am, where I am, without any of them.”

Twilight Velvet remained silent and listened. Once he was finished, she nodded a few times as she thought that over. She knew her daughter would never get involved with something bad, but it was a mother’s prerogative to make sure after all.

“Your situation is certainly… unique, at least outside the written world,” she finally said. “And I hope you understand that my daughter’s happiness and safety comes first for me.” She looked Ledger in the eyes with a hard stare.

“The only reason I didn’t come straight over when I found out last night is that I was doing a little research on you and yours. You’ve made quite the impact in the last few months. Toppling a criminal, starting the first real herd in nearly a century, defeat a corrupt Dark Magic user… the list goes on and on…”

“I only did what I felt like had to be done,” the drone replied as he turned in his seat to more fully look at the mare next to him. “And I will continue to do it until somepony more suited to doing it comes along.”

“You mean like the contingent of Royal Guard or the police?” Velvet asked. “Or maybe even that Thestral mare? She has quite the reputation in Canterlot you know.”

“We all of us have our roles to play. I would be very much appreciative if my role was to return to being an innovator in the top chair of Pegasus Air,” Ledger returned. “But something else I learned? You don’t always have the luxury of not being able to do what needs to be done. Sometimes it’s either do…”

“Or don’t,” Twilight Velvet finished. “You desire a quieter life, and then get involved with my daughter, whom the last four world-ending events have been centered around.” Velvet sipped at her tea. “I don’t know if I should laugh at your idiocy or applaud your bravery.”

“I vote for idiocy,” Scope chimed in.

“At least the events that have happened around Las Pegasus weren’t her fault,” Ledger replied. “I honestly think the city is calmer when she’s around.”

“Perhaps she’s more of a deterrent,” Velvet giggled. “Well regardless, I know she can take care of herself… but if you ever break her heart Mr. Ledger…” She turned and looked at him, the peaceful smile on her face promising an indescribable amount of pain should he do such a thing.

“I’d sooner break my horn off,” Ledger replied honestly. “Despite what the novels might say about my situation, holding it together is an incredible amount of work.”

“I can only imagine,” Velvet giggled, her mood flipping. Mares were freaking terrifying when they did that. “Well, I’m glad to see that the majority of my concerns are misplaced. So, how about you? She hasn’t done anything strange has she? Forced you to reorganize your bookshelves? Tried to experiment on you…?”

“Ah, you’re talking about the other day,” Ledger said with a snicker. “And really, I only keep the one book...which I’m just now realizing I promised she could read…”

“She actually tried to experiment on you?” Velvet groaned and placed her hooves together. “Please forgive her, once she gets an idea in her head… and something she hasn’t learned yet… well, I’m sure you’ve seen what happens.”

“Before you reply,” Wishful hummed and looked at his son and wiggled his eyebrows. “Was she experimenting… or was she, experimenting~”

“It started as one, but turned into another,” Ledger hummed with a smirk. “And really, as long as she keeps asking before doing things to me, I don’t mind. Truth and understanding help dispel rumor and fear.”

“And the fact you get some after doesn’t hurt either~” Wishful said again. Twilight finally understood the context of the previous statement and blushed a deep red.

“O-Oh...S-So you already have that k-kind of relationship?”

Ledger declined the option to reply verbally, instead choosing to just smile knowingly at Velvet. The Unicorn just blushed and looked away.

“W-Well, as long as you’re using protection…”

“We are,” Ledger said with a nod. “One is more than enough right now. I’m still getting used to that idea.”

“MOM! You better not be saying anything embarrassing in there!” Twilight Sparkle called out, causing the older mare to giggle lightly.

“Ohh, I almost forgot the time-honoured tradition of embarrassing my daughter.” She fished her purse out of her bag and waved it with her magic. “Who wants to see foal pictures~”

“I’d love to hang around and see them, but I think father and I have some rings to pick out today,” Ledger said with a smile. “I have no doubt the others will love seeing them, though.”

“Oh really?” Velvet asked, but still showed him a single picture. One of a baby Twilight holding her Smarty Pants doll. The disguised drone held a hoof to his chest and mocked having a heart attack due to all the cuteness.

“Ack…” he groaned.

“Heh, gets ‘em every time,” Velvet giggled as she put the weapon away. Scope made a mental note of that for later as she poked Ledger with a stick.

“Yo… you dead?”

“Nah, it was just too cute to not react to,” Ledger replied before standing up and brushing himself off. “Well, this meeting went...surprisingly better than I thought it would.”

“I believe so, though, your parents and I have yet to discuss every little embarrassing fact about you both. Nor have you been subjected to Night Light’s dad jokes yet.”

“I’ll be back with the colt in a few hours or so,” Wishful said as he walked around to stand next to Ledger. “In the meantime, the Madame will still be busy for a little while…” With that, the two stallions left for the city, in search of some wedding rings.

That left Apple Leaves, Velvet, Cider and Scope at the table. Scope and Cider looked at the older mares before deciding that bailing was the best option here, leaving the two mothers to talk for a while. Particularly about the Changelings involved in this relationship…

Buck today, buck absolutely everything about today. Narrow Gaze had no idea she could reach this level of done. Between small riots, petty thieves, ponies and Changelings, each with a thousand and one questions…

Not to mention the veritable mountain of paperwork she still hadn’t done…

And Straight Arrow has the nerve to tell her to relax? Relax? She didn’t have time to bucking relax. And yet here she was, standing outside the Twisted Pony massage parlour, holding a voucher that Arrow had given her.

“What the fuck am I even doing here?” she muttered as she walked inside. Well fine, she’d get a stupid massage, go home, eat some rations and hopefully get a little sleep before going back to work.

After giving to voucher to the mare at the front desk, she was directed to an empty room and asked to lay on the table.

“Ze masuse vill be vith you shortly,” the mare said in a forced accent. “Have fun~”

“Yeah, whatever,” Narrow muttered as she closed her eyes. At least the table was comfy. The door swung open and shut, and then a very different voice spoke up.

“Hmm, a pretty mare...police or military, judging by the souvenirs...probably hella worked up...yeah, number four seems like a good choice.”

“Dare I ask?” she spoke up, not opening her eyes.

“Oh, sorry. Number four outta the oils they give me. This one’s supposed to help a lot with relaxin’ sore muscles.” A container opened as her masseuse spread the oil, supposedly, around. There was something...familiar about his voice…

She opened her eyes and looked, surprised to see a black griffon standing there. She’d been expecting a pony, or perhaps a minotaur…

“Well, don’t see too many with your colours,” she said. He didn’t look familiar, but his voice… where the heck had she heard that before?

“I know, I ain’t run across one like me yet,” the griffon said with a nod. “Name’s Jonny. I’ll be takin’ care of you today.” He walked around to behind Narrow and began testing the waters with a few grips here and there, to gauge her stress.

She flinched at first, she… was a tad uncomfortable at being touched by most. But, he was just doing his job and she did her best to calm down. He hummed a little as he worked his way down, nearly done with his assessment.

“An’ when was the last time you had one ‘a these?” he asked as he finished. She...was in desperate need of a relaxing day. Which was what he did best~

“A professional one?” she asked. “Never.”

“Well, let’s fix that,” the griffon said as he began work on her neck, doing his best to work out the years of tension he could feel there. She let out a content sigh without meaning to, mentally chiding herself.

Oh but those claws, she couldn’t help but think of Fredrick and she let out a quiet moan.

“Somepony likes,” Jon teased as he kept up his work on her neck. There wasn’t really much he could do up here...maybe one spot, but he’d hit it later on his way down to her back.

“Well, at least you know what you’re doing,” Narrow riposted, annoyed that she’d let her mind wander like that. He did vaguely remind her of Fredrick for some reason…

“‘s why they keep lettin’ me back in here,” the griffon agreed, finally content with her neck as he brushed one claw against a spot on the back of it. He then quite quickly turned that brushing into him moving his claws down to her back for the next set, to make it look like an accident, if need be. Sometimes the ponies just didn’t like it, after all. He didn’t bang every pony that walked through his door. Just most.

Her breath hitched slightly and he felt her body twitch.

Did he just… but that was one of Fredrick’s… Hmm, must have been an accident, it still caused her to moan again though, both from the touch and the massage itself.

“A’course, hearing ponies moan is half of why I keep coming back,” the griffon said as he worked on her spine. This was nearly as bad as her neck...but on the bright side, more points for him to brush against~

She frowned and moved to get up. “You know what, this was a stupid idea. I’m leaving—”

Jon took the moment to press one claw hard against her spine, working out a knot he’d felt, hoping that would be all the persuasion she would need to stay. And he also made a mental note that if she did stay, he would either need to turn the ‘persuasion’ down, or up.

She gave a small twitch and all but collapsed onto the table, she’d had a pain in her back that he’d just made vanish.

“Ooorrr, I stay riiiight here~” she sighed.

“Figured you might say that,” Jon said as he resumed working on her spine. “Got any other little kinks you want me to work out?” He left the double-meaning open on purpose, as bait to see if she would bite or not.

“My lower back has had some trouble lately, guess I’m being worked too hard.” She’d missed his subtle gesture, and she certainly wasn’t going to say what kind of work was hard~

The griffon moved his claws to her lower back and felt around, noticing the tension there. “Oh, yeah...okay, I know somethin’ fer this.” He moved a claw up to just below her skull and started counting as he trailed down vertebra. “Aaaaand this one. Okay, it’s gonna feel a little weird, but you let me know when it starts feelin’ better.” With that, he pushed one talon against the point he’d picked out and held it there. He knew his way around a pony by heart.

She let out another pleasured moan, biting her bottom lip as she hadn’t meant to do that… again. Dammit Fredrick, it was his fault she was still here taking this frou-frou crap. A month ago, she’d have never set hoof inside a place like this, but noooo, he had to make her feel like a mare instead of a Guard.

Jon held his claw there, still waiting for his acupressure treatment to work. It was this point, he was sure, that helped with flank and lower back pain. “Anythin’?” he asked. It normally didn’t take this long.

“Huh?” Narrow blinked as she was brought out from her daydream. Oh? She hadn’t even realised that the pain was gone. “Damn… you are good.”

“They pay me bits to touch ponies fer a reason,” the black-feathered griffon said, once again leaving his statement open on purpose. He then moved to massage her lower back while it was relaxed, knowing it wouldn’t stay that way for long unless he worked on it now.

“Mmmmm,” Narrow sighed and tilted her head to one side. “And be careful of comments like that, one might mistake you for wanting to act on some lewd desires.”

“I don’ do that,” the griffon said, letting his statement hang there as he moved to massage her hind legs. “Unless you ask.”

Narrow groaned again, for an entirely different reason this time. Unbelieveable, first Fredrick, now this guy? Were all Griffons natural pervs? Jon worked on one leg, letting out a whistle at how tense it was, before he slowly massaged it. He hit a few spots scattered around that would help him on this task, but it was still tough going. Still, at least she wouldn’t be getting up and walking off anytime soon while he had her leg.

She flinched and giggled lightly, before she gasped and moaned at his touch again.

“Mmm, that feels nice Fred,” she murmured. Something that Jon apparently hadn’t heard, as he kept his work up before swapping to the other hind leg.

“Sheesh, d’you never take a break?” he asked the mare. “Pretty thing like you deserves some time off every now and again.”

“Captain, too busy,” she murmured. The griffon snorted before climbing up on the bed with her, leaning over her form to get at her forelegs.

True, he didn’t have to do it like this, but it was more fun~

“Y’came here, didn’t ya? I’d say you got some time on your hooves,” the griffon pointed out as he started on her left foreleg.

“Jerkwad Arrow forced me,” she mumbled, her eyes closed again. “Still gots lots to do… haven’t seen him in days… Waiting for Middy to blow sumthin up…”

“Yeah, that mare is crazy and a half,” Jon agreed as he swapped forelegs. “Still, ya made a good call, even if you were forced inta it. I’m the best for relaxin’...”

Here his voice trailed off and then dropped into a lusty version of itself. “Or relaxin’.”

“Mmm, you seem to be pretty good that,” Narrow replied, missing the subtle undertones again. One would think that being with Fredrick would make her more aware…

Straight Arrow had waltzed into Fredrick’s place, with the Captain gone, he could finally slack off a little and relax. She was the best partner, but damn if she wasn’t a friggen ball-buster when on duty.

“Hey Fred, I need a ton of coffee for the lads and ladies at the station,” he called out.

“You should really just replace your typical stock with the sort of stock I buy,” the griffon chuckled. “Still...how many are working there today?”

“Two dozen,” Arrow replied. “I got Narrow to take the day off, so none for her~”

“She’ll just visit me later, you know,” the griffon replied as he sent the order to the kitchen for three pots of coffee. Yes, pots. “Though, a party should be held in your honor for getting her to take a day off. If anypony deserves one, it’s her.”

“True that,” Arrow called out. “And hay, a day without her riding my ass is a good day indeed. Though, I feel sorry for the masseuse I sent her to.”

“She’ll likely get her bits worth,” the griffon replied as he waited for the colt to make the coffee and pass it to him. “I’ve felt the tension in those muscles.” Leaving out the when entirely.

“Nah, I had a voucher for that ‘Twisted Pony’ place, so I just gave that to her. Hope they do a fine enough job that she won’t yell at me tomorrow.”

Fredrick actually paused, one talon held up as he went to make a rebuttal. He slowly put it down and closed his mouth, working it a few times before saying anything. “Did you say...the Twisted Pony?” he eventually asked.

“Yeah, that place near the Strip,” Arrow nodded. “I got a voucher in the mail, but I didn’t need it. Ain’t got a marefriend, so I figured that Narrow could use it, or at least give it to a friend or something… why?”

“...My brother returned just the other day, and he typically seeks employment there whenever he stays for longer than one night,” the griffon replied.

“Okay...so?” Arrow hummed, wondering where the coffee was and why Fredrick had adopted a thousand yard stare.

“...You probably have some sort of file on me at the station, yes? About the incidents that have occurred because I slept with a mare?”

“Mhmm,” Arrow nodded. He was still jealous that Fredrick stole all the mares, but he’d been quiet for some time now… Arrow wondered why. And then he heard the four worst words he could have heard Fredrick say.

“My brother is worse.”

Arrow blinked as he processed that. What?

Aw crud.

“W-Well… this is Captain Narrow we’re talking about,” he said. “S-She wouldn’t do something like that… right?”

“Maybe before she met me, but we’ve rubbed off on each other a bit, and I’ve gotten her to open up a little,” Fredrick replied. “...At this point, my only hope is that she got a masseuse that was not my brother.”

“Yeah, totally…” Oh man, if this Griffon hits on the Cap… Well, he just hoped the guy had good health insurance. And Arrow would need to double check his own.

“Mostly because he doesn’t discriminate,” Fredrick replied. “The only ones that are safe are those too young to be legal, or too old for his taste. He doesn’t force anypony...but he’s very good at convincing them.”

“Well, it’s still Captain Narrow, Las Peagsus’ biggest ballbuster and tough nut. No way can he do something like that.” Arrow nodded and stamped his hoof.

“Would you have also said it to be equally unlikely she would enter a relationship a month ago?” Fredrick asked with a raised eyebrow.

Arrow paused and blinked. “Shedidwhatnow?”

“...Did she not tell you she and I are romantic partners?” Fredrick asked, tilting his head to one side. “Curious.”

“Ahhahaha! Good one Fredrick, you almost had me going...for...a minute? You’re not kidding are you?” Arrow blinked and looked at Fredrick’s confused expression. “Dude! You gotta go save her then!”

“My presence will do little to dissuade my brother, as my worst memory will attest,” the griffon replied as he presented the coffee to the colt, now that it was finally done. “I offer a counter-argument. You made this mess. You can clean it up.”

“Aw buck,” Arrow muttered. “Um, you know… I just realised I have a ton of work to do. Heh, how about that. Later Fredrick!” he quickly bolted from the room, leaving the bits for the coffee behind. Fredrick groaned and rolled his eyes, telling the serving-colt he was in charge for the time being while he was off to save whatever was left of his marefriend’s honor.

If indeed there was anything left by the time he got there. His brother did work fast, after all.

Narrow gave a content sigh, this Griffon was skilled in his craft. She hadn’t felt this relaxed in a looooong time.

Jonathan smirked as he gave the mare a final once-over, one that wasn’t so...innocent. He still masked his pressing of certain points, but he made sure to hit more than a few. He wanted to see how she’d react to them first. One of his few rules was to respect ‘no’ after all. Not doing so was a crime.

She gave a few gasps and moans, before frowning lightly, her eyes still closed. “Quite the interesting massage technique you have there,” she said, starting to feel a little warm… down there. Was this normal? She’d never had a professional massage before.

“‘s what I do, make ponies feel good,” the griffon said with a smirk as he climbed down from the table to inspect her from another angle, once again masking his pressing of certain pleasure points as him checking her joints.

“Well, at least you’re good at doing that,” she hummed. She felt soooo relaxed and chilled, perhaps this had been a good idea after all.

“Had a chat with the mare that runs the place,” Jon said as he finally took his claws off of her. “Yer voucher would cover any service of mine you ask fer. Any service.” He let that implication hang in the air as he stopped disguising his touches, pushing one pleasure point and nothing else on her.

She moaned and then her eyes opened and she looked at him. “Okay… now what kind of services might you be implying? Because I don’t want to jump to conclusions here…”

“Anything from what you just got, to ‘make me cum all over the table,’ to ‘buck me through the table,’” the griffon said shamelessly. “I can do it all~”

“Oookay, you are far worse than Fredrick,” she said. “Thanks but no thanks. I’m taken already.”

The griffon blinked, backing up for a step...before his eyes half-lidded and he took that step forward again. “He doesn’t hafta know,” the black-feathered griffon purred at her. “‘nother service of mine? Secrecy. Nobody hasta know what goes on in here.”

“Ahh, but you’re wrong there,” Narrow said. “Sorry feathers, but I would know. And despite his past, Fredrick has remained exclusive to me, and I will extend to him the same courtesy.”

“Suit yerself,” Jon said as he turned to the sink, not coincidentally flashing the captain a view most ponies liked. “You’ll never know what you’re missin’~”

“Oh, on the contrary, I am going to go and fuck Fredrick into the mattress~” she replied, giving him her own husky tone. “My thanks for warming me up.”

“Anytime,” Jon said as he began washing his claws off. And maybe his bro would thank him for this. Now that he knew she was gonna keep saying no, there wasn’t anything in the rulebook about teasing her.

“Believe me, you’re quite skilled and if I wasn’t taken…” She decided to leave that hanging in the air as she relaxed on the table. She wasn’t really in the position to go anywhere right now.

“Yeah yeah, some ponies let that stop ‘em from havin’ a fling or two with me,” the griffon replied as he dried his claws off. “Don’t see why, it’s not like I’m askin’ em fer a commitment.”

“Commitment can be a funny thing,” Narrow said. “And unless you’ve been in a committed relationship, then I doubt you ever will understand it.” She chuckled as she thought on the resident troublemakers. “Maybe you should ask Midnight? She certainly has no issues with adding a pony or three to theirs.”

“Yeah, no, I’m stayin’ as far away from that family as possible,” Jonathan replied. “They’re too crazy fer me.”

“Hah! Says the bird that not only has the balls to hit on the Guard Captain, but a taken one at that. Trust me, you’re plenty crazy for them.” She’d been watching when he turned around. Her statement held true in multiple ways~

“Yeah, but I’m not one fer bein’ tied down, and they might expect me to, I dunno, stop sleepin’ around. Totally chafe my lifestyle.” The griffon eventually turned around and noticed that the mare hadn’t gotten up yet. “We need a wheelbarrow fer you?”

“No, just comfy right now. Why, do you want me to leave so soon?”

“Nah, jus’, usually a pony can only not walk out of here after I’ve given them some ‘special attention,’” the griffon joked. “Still, I thought you had plans fer this ‘Fredrick’?” He played dumb, not wanting her to know they were related.

“Mm, I’m sure he can wait, and while I do have him, I’m sure he’s in his restaurant, making some mares feel pretty.” Narrow giggled, watching him actually turn down a mare was still something she hadn’t gotten used to yet.

“Yeah, a’ight. Still, I got other ponies t’ touch t’day.” The griffon gave her a nod as he turned to leave. “I’ll jus’ use another room, then.”

“Hmm, running away already?” she asked innocently. “Oh well.” She hopped off of the table and stretched again, before beating him to the door and raised a hoof to open it, her tail flicking back and forth. She heard him gulp behind her as she presented him with the most tantalizing of views.

“Dang, mare, don’t do that to me,” he muttered loud enough for her to hear.

“Oh, but you spent all that time teasing me~” she cooed, enjoying watching him squirm a little. “I figure that I’d return the favour.”

“Usually ponies don’t both say no and tease me,” he replied. “...The next pony I’m with is getting such a load.”

Oh now she had an idea. She mentally apologised to the next mare that said yes to him as she turned and walked back towards him, slowly walking around in a circle as her tail dragged itself along his form.

“Really now, such uncouth language. Perhaps you need to be put in your place hmm?”

“Dammit all!” he cursed. “Stop tormentin’ me! It’s yes or no, and you’ve already said no! Just lemme go already so I can try my luck with the next pony!”

“But you teased and prodded me,” she said, trailing a hoof along his feathery chest in away she knew that Fredrick liked. “Turnabout is fair play no? No? Oh well, have fun then.” She turned and walked towards the door, her tail dragging under his beak and he could smell the musk coming from her.

Jon was sorely tempted to just drag her back in and ravish her then and there...but the moment passed, and he exhaled. He made a note to take extra care if he ran across that pony again. He wasn’t sure if he was sad she wasn’t the type to do others on the side…

Or sorry for what he’d just done to his brother.

Outside, Narrow took a breath of fresh air and hummed. That had been… quite intense, and despite his advances, his massage was quite good. Narrow had never felt so limber.

She turned to walk down the street when she saw Fredrick running towards her. Okay… why?

‘You’re complaining? Hell, I’m still complaining we didn’t fuck the black out of Jon’s feathers.’

“OH cripes, not you again.”

“Fredrick? What are you doing here?” She asked as she shook her head and looked at him.

“Your second came by for coffee and to tell me you were at the Twisted Pony,” the griffon said as he came close enough to peck her on the cheek. Something he did before continuing. “My brother is back in town and typically works there when he is.”

His brother!?

‘Oohh damn, we could totally do both…

“NO”

“Hmm, black Griffon? Like you but without a filter?” she asked.

“That’s the one,” Fredrick said with a nod. “He only has three real rules. Too young, he doesn’t hit on. Too old, not to his tastes. And anypony that says no, he doesn’t go after. Other than that, everypony is fair game. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was busy seducing his next customer.”

“Fredrick~” Narrow giggled as she rubbed his chest. “Were you… worried about me~?”

“Worried about what he was doing to you, yes. He doesn’t mind who you’re in a relationship with. Even if he’d known, he would still have tried his luck with you,” the older brother of the pair said as he hugged his mare close.

“Aww, I love you too,” she giggled. “And don’t worry. He did try and tried very well I might add. But, I just gave him a little taste of his own medicine and left him hanging so to speak~”

‘Throbbing more like it. You had him wound tighter than a spring~’

“Mhmm, and now…”

Narrow gave the Griffon a passionate kiss and gazed into his eyes. “And now, you’re going to take me home and finish what he started~”

“...This is the first time in a long time I have felt like thanking my brother for something,” Fredrick eventually said. Narrow had broken away from the hug and was galloping down the street.

“Better hurry, or I’ll start, and finish, without you~”

The griffon growled and gave chase, wondering where she was leading him…

“Hmm, you’re keeping costs remarkably low by hosting it in your palace, Princess Twilight,” the silver unicorn hummed as she considered the itemized bill presented to her. “And you’re certain your friends won’t accept more for the quality work they’re doing?”

“Rarity is like that, and Pinkie needs little to no reason whatsoever to throw a party,” Twilight explained. “And given that it’s her cousin getting married, the Apples have one heck of a feast prepared for the event.” She gave the Madame a soft smile. “Just be glad I talked them into accepting any payment at all.”

“True,” the mare chuckled before rolling the bill back up. “I can have that for you within a few days time. Just have to do a change of glamour and make a trip up to Canterlot to get the bits. Where should I take them when I have them?

“Ponyville will be your best bet,” Twilight said. “All my friends in one convenient location.”

“Very well,” she said with a nod. “Now, the last question I have for you regarding that day.”

Twilight finished putting her book away and looked up. “Oh, what is it?”

“We’ve discussed many a thing, but one thing we didn’t touch on was, where you intend to be,” the mare said.

“Ah… well,” Twilight, honestly hadn’t thought… no, that was a lie, she’d been thinking about it endlessly. “I… I don’t know,” she finally responded.

“...I see,” the Madame said, as though the matter had been sealed, unfavorably so. “Well then, if that is all…”

“Don’t get me wrong,” Twilight said, she’d caught that undertone of hers, her own mother was well versed in the technique. “I love Ledger and the girls a lot, but rushing into marriage so quickly… and, it’s not like they’ll be going anywhere.”

“My son’s heart is not a toy,” the Madame said with more than a bit of bite. “I still want to rend asunder the last mare who thought like that in regards to him.”

It was like all the joy in the room had been killed. Changelings from a mile away could feel Twilight’s emotions now. “A...a toy!” The room started to shake as her horn lit up, her eyes blazing with white light as she glared at the nymph. “IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK? WHAT YOU… ASSUME I THINK OF THEM!?”

“You’re the one who can’t decide where she wants to be on the biggest day in their lives,” the nymph pointed out cooly. “Either you love them and want to be with them, or you don’t and will be the best mare of honor in existence. Anything else is toying with their emotions.”

Twilight’s aura extended to her whole body, a small wave blowing out the windows as she stepped closer. “I love them. VERY MUCH! But that doesn’t mean you can force me to marry them!” Twilight Velvet had come running into the room now, along with Apple Leaves.

“What in the? What’s going on in here?” Velvet asked.

“Then do you have an answer as to what you’ll be doing, miss Sparkle?” the Madame asked. “So that you don’t feel like I’m pushing you into anything, of course.”

Twilight calmed down… just a little. “I will be there for them. I will always be there for them. I don’t know my exact role. Perhaps I might even join Luna in wedding them! If they want me to a fill a role, then I’m sure they will ask!” Twilight took a deep breath and the immense amount of magic she’d been building dissipated. No need to turn Cider’s farm into a crater. Velvet went to put a hoof on her shoulder, but the young Alicorn turned and teleported away without saying another word.

“Well, that promises to be awkward later,” the Madame observed. “It might even be awkward now, depending on where she teleported herself to. Or who.”

Twilight Velvet turned and looked at the nymph with an incredulous expression that just screamed ‘You think?’

“She needed some prodding!” The Madame said. “Don’t tell me you weren’t thinking where she was going to be standing when they were all getting married! And now that she’s thinking about it, and thinking about it seriously, we might actually have an answer in three week’s time.”

“My daughter always has a plan,” Velvet said calmly, looking at the broken windows as her horn lit up to start fixing them. “She thinks about every possibility. What might happen, what could happen… what will happen. But in the end, she always makes a decision.” She pieced together one window and moved to the next. “So in short, yes. The moment I found out the rest were getting married, I had questioned it. But, more importantly….” She turned and looked at the Madame with a glare that could have frozen Tartarus. “I trust them.”

“I don’t know Twilight,” the nymph said with a sigh. “I know of the others through Scope, and have Ledger’s letters on the matter, along with a few meetings. Cider seems very down-to-Earth, she’ll help diffuse any situations they get into by reminding them of sane, simple solutions. Scope is not what I would have expected, but she’ll keep him on the right track, painfully if need be. And Midnight...brought my colt back. From what he became, to what he is now. I trust the other three and my son, but I don’t know Twilight enough to trust her yet.”

“That… is understandable I suppose,” Velvet said as she finished the second window. “But, that was not a good way to go about getting to know her. You just said you don’t know her, and prodded it anyway. Not exactly the wisest decision, especially when you poke a hornet's nest that could wipe out a small city.” Velvet snorted, remembering Twilight’s retelling of her fight with Tirek. “Why don’t you go and find her. Apologise. And get to know her then?”

“Because that teleportation spell was cued to a being she knows very well, and it was directed towards the city,” the nymph hummed as she repaired the third window with a flash of her horn. “And while it may not have been the wisest move, I did learn something about her just now. Something that I think I can put my trust in.”

“That mah daughter needs studier windows?” Apple Leaves giggled as she picked up a few fallen ornaments.

“She’s a fighter, and she cares about them,” the Madame said with a happy hum. “That, I can trust. Her first instinct when confronted on the issue as to whether or not she cared about them wasn’t to cower or let me talk. But fight back. That, I can admire.”

“You… have no idea how close you came to being vapourised huh?” Velvet giggled. “Well, not that my daughter would resort to such means. Still, if what you say is true, I do hope the pony on the opposite end of that teleport has a few steel nerves.”

“It really depends on who she teleported to. But when I see her again, assuming she comes back, I will do the whole apologizing routine, promise.” The fourth window was repaired just as quickly as the third. “And her magic was impressive, but if I felt like I was in any real danger, I would have teleported out of it.”

“If you say so,” Velvet chuckled again.

Ledger led his father down the other strip of Las Pegasus, where the high-end and more to-do of the residents did their shopping. He was searching for a jewelry shop where he could buy three wedding bands for his mares. He also hoped he found one that wouldn’t look down on him for needing three wedding bands, but he wasn’t holding his breath on that one.

“I don’t think I like this area,” Wishful sighed in disdain, his ears drooping a little. “Everypony is so… ergh, conservative.”

“If they didn’t guard how they felt, then they wouldn’t be ‘prim and proper,’” Ledger agreed with a nod. “Still, this is where we’re likely to find a good jeweler, so we’ll have to suffer this for the time being.”

“The things I do for family,” Wishful muttered. his ear flicked and his brow wrinkled for a moment. “Hmm, say… do you, feel that?”

“Mom is probably pushing Twilight’s buttons,” Ledger said with a sigh as he finally spotted a shop selling what he needed. “Ah! Here we are.” With his magic, he held the door open for his father before following in afterwards. Step one, locate the shop. Step two, see if they would discriminate against his needing three bands…

A snooty looking Unicorn pony walked over to him and greeted him with an all too wide smile.

“Hmm, welcome to Silver Styles. How may I, hmm, help you?”

“Well,” Ledger said with a small grin of his own. “It turns out I’m getting married in three week’s time, so I need the proper bands to perform the ceremony with.”

“Hmm, congratulations.” The Unicorn replied, though it seemed rather rehearsed. “Well, if you, hmm, follow me. I’ll show you what we stock.”

“If something isn’t to my liking, can I order a custom band and have it done in that timeframe?” Ledger asked while following the stallion.

“Hmm, three weeks?” The Unicorn looked at fancy-looking account book. “It’s, hmm, doable. But, expensive. A rush order… and a custom one at that. Hmm, yes, quite expensive.”

“Then let’s hope I see something I like,” the brown unicorn said. The black unicorn nodded and led him to a case that held wedding bands for mares.

“Hmm, perhaps you find something she likes in here.”

Ledger looked the bands over, but didn’t see anything that he thought would match the color scheme of any of the mares he was marrying. He sighed before looking at the shop owner. “If I may be blunt, mister…”

“Hmm, yes?” the stallion asked, pushing up his glasses.

“It’s not one band I need,” Ledger said. “I’m actually in a herd with a few mares, and none of these look good for any of them.”

The stallion was quiet for a good long moment. This was… well he wasn’t sure what to think.

BUT.

This stallion was obviously desperate for some bands, and he needed four no less. Well, time to capitalise on this before that filthy Goldrush store down the street got wind of this.

“Hmm, tell you what. I can arrange something custom-designed. And, hmm, give you a small discount?”

“That’d be splendid,” Ledger agreed with a sigh. “Hmm. I’m thinking...as she is now, a blood diamond, or if you can’t get that, a ruby, in gold for one. Aquamarine in gold for another. Assuming she takes part, amethyst in silver for a third, and the fourth is...tricky.”

“I assume you’re referring to little Scope Lens?” Wishful chuckled. “Perhaps a candy necklace~”

“She’d just use it to torment me, somehow,” Ledger said with a roll of his eyes. “Hmm...What do you think of sapphire in silver for her, dad? I think that’s as close as we’re going to get.”

“It would match her Colour,” Wishful nodded. “I think it’s a good choice.”

“Think you can match the challenge?” Ledger asked the stallion. Said stallion pulled out an abacus and clicked a few beads, humming to himself.

“Hmm, yes, it’s doable. I just need a, hmm, design.”

“To go on the outside of the band?” Ledger asked.

“Hmm, quaint,” he said as he pointed at the jewelry case. “I mean, hmm, the design of the band.”

Ledger let off a small ‘ah’ as he looked over the case, humming slightly. “This one,” he said, pointing at one that was simple and had three stones set in it. “I think they’ll all appreciate something like this. Though I have to ask, can you engrave the interior with a simple message?”

“I can, hmm, do that easily enough,” the stallion nodded. “I’ll even do it for, hmm, no extra charge.”

“Thanks,” Ledger said with a grin before clearing his throat. “‘With all my love, and more besides. L L.’”

“Simple and clean,” The stallion nodded. “I will, hmm, do my best to get it done. Now.” He looked at ledger for one last question. “I just need their band sizes.”

“Ah...the difficult question,” Ledger said with a sigh. “I myself don’t know, I never had to ask...but I could probably get them easily…”

The ground shook as a brilliant flash of light came from outside, followed by… a lot of screaming ponies that were running for the hills. Wishful looked at his son and tilted his head.

“Is this… normal for this city?”

“It’s becoming more so with each passing day,” Ledger sighed. “I should probably go see what that was.”

“I shall wait here and hmm, hold down the fort,” the stallion said, hiding behind the counter. Wishful decided he would follow his son, but he had an inkling as to whom was out there.

Ledger walked out, mentally braced for whatever he was about to walk into. Or so he thought.

In the middle of the street, surrounded by scorch marks from the violent teleport, was Princess Twilight Sparkle. Her mane was sticking out in places and her right eye had a dangerous twitch. He slowly walked into her field of view before holding still, waiting to see what she was up to. Her emotions were...frayed, right now. Who knew what she would do next?

She saw him and...smiled, rather disturbingly. “Oh, heeyyy Ledger~” she giggled, her head tilting drastically. “Watcha dooooin?”

“Just...getting some wedding bands,” he replied. “You wouldn’t happen to know the sizes of the others, would you?” This...was freaking him out just a bit.

“I do…” she replied as she took a step closer to him. “Saayyy, I have a teeeensy little favour to ask.”

“I’m listening,” he said, starting to get a little unnerved thanks to her behavior.

“Can I pleeeeease banish your Mom to the moon?” she asked, her horn giving a few pops of magic. “Or the sun? I’m not picky!”

“She’d likely turn it on you,” Ledger said as he gently drew the lavender pony in for a hug. “She’s very skilled in dispelling and counter-charms.”

Twilight sniffed and leaned into his hug. “She… she said… that I treat you like a toy,” the alicorn sniffled. “I don’t… do I?”

“Considering that the last serious encounter I had with a female before I met Midnight left mental scars and nearly left physical ones, she’s just looking out for me. However, to upset you like this…” Ledger trailed off into a growl. “Ooooh. I’m tempted to lock her in a room with Princess Celestia and Luna and see who comes out on top.”

“She doesn’t trust me… and I may have over-reacted,” Twilight said, calming down both physically and emotionally. “Sorry.”

“Everything… okay out here?” Wishful called out from behind a postbox.

“We’re fine,” Ledger said. “But you may want to warn mom that we’re going to be teaming up against her for her words.”

“This won’t end well. Perhaps I’ll send word to Peaceful… Ah, idea~” He’d sing for Joyful later, get her to bring Peaceful along for the ride.

“Something tells me that we’re going to regret this idea later,” Ledger said as he looked at Twilight. “You good now, my pretty purple princess?”

“Yeah… I feel better now,” Twilight replied. “I can’t believe I acted like such a foal… and I broke Cider’s house too…”

“You know they’ll have it fixed as good as new by the time we get back,” Ledger returned as he kissed her on the tip of her muzzle. “Ready to help me get some wedding bands?”

The Alicorn sniffed once more and then wiped her tears, smiling happily. “Sure,” she replied. “But, why do you need my help? Can’t you just transform into them to get their sizes?”

“I don’t do genderswapping,” Ledger replied with only a bit of bite to his tone. “I prefer to stay as I am, stallion through and through. Ergo, the sizes would be inaccurate.”

Twilight nodded, and then noticed Wishful. She tilted her head and motioned towards him.

“I can’t,” the stallion said with a shake of his head. “Not for a lack of trying, but I never did have a knack for it.”

“Well, then it’s a good thing I’m here,” Twilight said as she pulled out her book on the wedding. “Honestly, can’t trust a stallion with anything huh?”

“I wasn’t expecting to need them so soon, and dare I ask how you got them?” Ledger asked with a small grin. “Did you measure someponies in their sleep?”

“I got them when Rarity was measuring them for their dresses actually,” Twilight said with a small huff. “Besides, how could I do that when I’m too busy watching you sleep~”

“Aaaand now we’re back in creepy territory,” Ledger said as he attempted to sneak a peek at the book, hoping she’d included her own size in there.

“I’m just kidding Ledger,” Twilight giggled as they stepped inside, the book floating just out of his reach annoyingly enough. Ledger rolled his eyes, but once he stopped doing that, he looked around for the sales-stallion.

Said stallion had remerged, and was now bowing in front of Twilight. The Alicorn sighed, but figured this was going to happen everywhere she went. She decided to let Ledger handle this and floated the book over to him. And to his utmost delight, all of Twilight’s measurements were there as well.

Oohh, so that’s how long her horn was~

Ledger looked up from the book and cleared his throat to remind the stallion that they still had business to conduct. “I have the measurements I need now,” he said with a smirk.

“Ah, hmm, very good,” he replied, taking the measurements, along with the other details that Ledger gave him. “I shall get started right away. And will contact you the moment they are, hmm, ready.”

“My thanks,” Ledger said with a bow as he floated the closed book back over to Twilight. “Hmm...what do you say to a quick browse of the town that culminates in lunch at the Chop Shop?” he proffered to the Alicorn.

“That sounds wonderful,” the Alicorn replied happily, with Wishful in tow, having stood to the side and contemplate his little plan. The pure chaos he would unleash upon the city would make Discord proud.

“I’ll go see about taking care of the home front while you do that,” the drone said, quickly realizing they probably wanted some time for themselves. Plus this would give him time to call for Joyful and Peaceful. And bonus, he wouldn’t have to send them to Apple Fritter; so long as she was still around, she’d get the Joyful-treatment.

“I’ll see you when we’re done with lunch, then,” Ledger said as he turned to explore the city with Twilight.

Twilight, now that she’d calmed down, was already deep in thought. On one side, she barely knew this family still. But, how awkward would it be to date married ponies?

“Ledger?” she asked. “Can we make this a date? And perhaps… could I date the others one-on-one over the next week or so?”

“If you want,” he said before walking over to kiss her cheek. “All you’d have to do is ask.”

“Good, then I think I’ll do just that,” Twilight giggled. “Now, let’s be off on our date then, my little lovebug~”

And so the pair went to explore the city of Las Pegasus...

Chapter 65 - Fear no evil, fear the cute

Midnight had eventually found Fritter and gotten her to calm down. Deciding that some exposure might help, Midnight went and found Cider and Scope, and the foursome went to make a certain delivery to a certain bar on the Strip.

As they walked, Fritter noticed that her little sister was a little shaky.

“Heh, you hit the cider early today huh?” she teased her.

“Oh shut up!” Cider retorted. “Fer yer information, ah’m a little nervous as to how this is gonna go down. Ah put a lot of time, money an’ effort inta this. It’s not so much that ah need it t’work. Ah want it t’work!”

They soon approached the Love Shack and the cerulean mare took a deep breath before the foursome entered.

“Your leading ladies have arrived!” Midnight shouted, earning a groan from Scope.

“Middy, can’t you ever enter this place normally?”

“Aw, now where’s the fun in that...did you… just call me, Middy?”

The Changeling blinked, but was a second too late to avoid the nuzzling hugs she was now getting from the bat. “Gaaah, getoffmeeee!”

A familiar unicorn walked out from...somewhere, most likely the back, and smiled widely. At Apple Fritter. It looked like Sugar Darling remembered her~ “Well hello there,” the mare purred to Apple Fritter. “Are you here for business...or pleasure?”

Apple Cider looked from Sugar, to Fritter, then back to Sugar again. “Sis...did you…?”

“Whut? She’s a hot mare and sure as hay knew what she was doing,” Fritter nodded. She looked back at Sugar and winked. “Well, it was business, but now ah’m thinkin’ mighty highly of the second~”

Cider rolled her eyes and placed the crate she was carrying on the ground. “Business first if y’all don’t mind.”

“Spoilsport,” Sugar said, coming closer nonetheless and inspecting the crate. She froze and reread the label, before looking up at Apple Cider. “You...made some?”

“It’s all ah can make fer now, at least until the other trees mature. So I could produce about… about this quantity every month and a half or so.” She also took a thirteenth bottle from her saddlebag. It was half empty though.

Shut up, she had to check for… quality control. Yeah, let’s go with that.

“An’ this is so y’all can sample it first. See if y’all like it.”

Sugar took the bottle and sniffed it lightly, a waitress coming up not a moment later with a glass for the mare. Sugar took it and nodded her thanks, before pouring out a small measure of the wine and sipping it. Cider held her breath, waiting for a reaction...

The moan the mare let out after having some of the wine, was of the sort they might expect to hear from some of the other rooms of this place. “That...is the best wine I have ever tasted,” Sugar said with a pant.

“Ah’ll admit ah found it to be pretty good,” Cider said. Though, there was the saying that the harshest critic was yourself. “You sure it’s that good?”

“There is nothing I have had that can compare to what I just tasted,” the mare said as she eyed the rest of the bottle. “Hmmm...I think I can offer you a...generous sum for this crate. We occasionally get a client or two with deep pockets that we could sell something like this to.”

“Ah’d appreciate that,” Cider smiled. Oh yes, this day was turning out quite nicely. “Oh, this can be served quite well chilled as well, but you’ll need to store it in a wine cellar or a shelf. Keeping it chilled fer too long will sap the taste away.”

Midnight had dragged Scopey away while the ponies talked business, though Fritter had opted to stay so she could og- observe the meeting.

“That won’t be a problem,” Sugar said as she hummed, considering how best to pay. “Would you prefer the bits, or a check?”

“Either is fine,” Cider nodded. “A check is easier t’carry though.”

“But the sound of jingly bits is sooo satisfying,” Fritter added, earning a nod from her sister.

“The amount I am thinking would be impractical to carry,” the disguised nymph hummed. “Give me just one moment to write it up?” Cider nodded and hefted the crate back onto her back.

“No problem, ah’ll take these to yer cellar… or, whatever y’all have here.”

“Or,” a new voice said from off to the side as Two-Step joined them. “I could do that. Probably better that way.”

“Ah, well, if y’all insist,” Cider said, looking at the new pony. Fritter was looking at her too, though, in a completely different way~

Two-Step giggled and walked closer, before taking the crate from Cider’s back and putting it on her own. “It’s probably better this way,” she said. “It can be a little...difficult for non-employees to find where everything goes.”

“And while she takes care of that, I’ll go to the office and take care of you,” Sugar said. Both of the disguised nymphs turned and sauntered off at the same moment. Some things did run in the family~

“Oh my… ah reckon ah know what ah want fer Hearth’s Warmin’ now,” Fritter drooled and her sister rolled her eyes and looked at her.

“Sis, before you go unwrappin’ them. Y’all realise… what they are right?”

Fritter frowned and looked at her. “Y-Ya can’t be serious…”

“Those mares, heck, most of them here are all Changelings,” she whispered. Fritter paled as she looked at her sister, her mouth open in silence for a moment.

“But… they’re… still mares right?” she finally asked. Cider blinked, then shrugged and nodded.

“Well, ah reckon so. Ledger did say once that it’s awful hard to change gender, an’ ah reckon they ain’t those fancy illusions neither. So, yes?”

Fritter, actually looked a little calmer. “Well, ah guess that’s okay then. Still a lot weirded out though…”

A minute passed before Sugar came back, with a check in her magical grasp that she was quickly drying. “And here we are~” she said with a happy hum. “I believe that this should make up for all the work you put into making those bottles.”

Cider looked at the check, then sat down very fast and very hard. “T-That… that...that’s a lot of bits Miss Sugar. Ah… are y’all sure? Can y’all even make this amount back?”

“I’ve been here for quite a while, dear,” Sugar said with a small nod. “I have savings and investments that haven’t done much but grow. This is fair payment for what you’ve brought me...and if you keep bringing me things like this, I can promise more.”

“So yer sayin’ yer old and rich?” Fritter giggled, poking at the mare as Cider just stared at the check and nodded a few times, mumbling something. Fritter suddenly remembered what Cider had said and pulled her hoof back, looking away.

“Ah, I know that reaction,” Sugar said as she looked at Fritter. “Somepony knows a secret~”

“Ah… guess,” Fritter said, still not looking at her. “This is… just a little weird fer me.”

“It probably is,” the disguised nymph agreed. “But if you must know, dear...you’re still quite memorable to me. That hasn’t changed. Just because you know more about me, doesn’t mean I’m that different. I’m still a mare with...wants, needs...desires…” The more Sugar talked, the more husky her voice became.

Fritter shuddered at that last part, though, what the reaction meant might not have been what Sugar was aiming for. Midnight trotted back over, with Scopey in tow as she looked at the group.

“Hey, what’s going on here?” she asked. “Everything alright?”

“Just peachy,” Fritter said in a quiet tone. Sugar hummed, before looking at Midnight.

“Were the two of you in the same city for the same disastrous reception?” she asked. There was another awkward pause, before Fritter nodded slowly.

“Ah...ah live in Canterlot...and, ah was catering fer the wedding. So, ah was inside the castle when… when they…”

“You should probably talk it over with somepony sooner or later, dear,” Sugar said, wanting so badly to hug Fritter to reassure her, but knowing that was a bad move at this point. “I’m mostly familiar with how to get drones used to nymphs again. Ponies used to changelings is a new matter entirely.”

“It’s… fine,” Fritter said. “And, ah have no problems with you. Ah reckon yer a nice mare n’all. And, y’all certainly know which buttons to press~ It’s just…” She shook her head and snorted. “Ah don’t like stallions okay. Les’ jus’ leave it at that!”

“If you say so,” Sugar said, restraining herself still. “I just wish I could help…”

"Ah don't need no help. Ah'm jus' fine!" Fritter replied with a small huff.

“Dear, I can practically feel how uneasy you are around me now,” Sugar said. “We’re not oblivious to the pains a pony has.”

“...Tha’s cheatin’,” Fritter pouted. Midnight nodded in agreement as the Earth mare looked at her. The Thestral was actually privy to what had happened that day, but sworn to secrecy. “Ah… ah’m not comfortable… Could you?”

Midnight took a breath and nodded. She looked at Sugar with a solemn expression. “Okay, have I ever told you, what I went through during that day? What… almost happened to me?”

“No, I don’t think you have,” Sugar said, leaving out that there had been rumors flying through the changeling community for a while. “Though I don’t imagine it was anything pleasant.”

Midnight nodded, gulping as she dredged up those memories again. All the lust and joy she usually emitted was gone, nothing but negativity remained as she remembered that day. “I was… confronted by a Black Changeling. And, my Love was forcefully taken from me. The Love I had for Moondancer was gone…”

“I can’t imagine how that must have felt,” Sugar said sadly. “I’d offer an apology, but I wouldn’t know where to begin…”

“It wasn’t you, and the Changeling that did it was utterly obliterated by Ledger,” Midnight responded, then gave Sugar a hug. “And you’re making my Moonie happy again. You have no idea how grateful I am for that.” She sighed and let go, looking at Fritter. “But, my emotions weren’t the only thing they wanted to take… luckily the shield activated before they could… but Fritter… she, wasn’t so lucky…”

Apple Cider blinked, and as the pieces fell into place, she gasped, looking at her sister, who nodded to confirm the story. Sugar visibly wilted at the thought, her ears folding back as she took a step back from the mare.

“I’ll...understand if you don’t want to talk to me, after something like that,” the disguised nymph said sadly.

“It’s why ah don’t like stallions,” Fritter finally said. Just thinking about it made her sick to her stomach. “Ah don’t hate you Miss Sugar, an’ ah ain’t dumb enough to blame all of ya, fer the actions of a few.”

“...Still, you’re about to be sister-in-law to a changeling family,” Sugar pointed out. “That’s going to be awkward at family reunions.”

“Ah know,” Fritter said with a weary sigh. She looked at Cider and hugged her tightly. “Ah’m sorry ah didn’t tell ya sis…”

“Yer darn right you should be sorry, dang idjit!” Cider chided her, her accent particularly thick. “Ah can’t believe you didn’t tell yer own sister! But…” She held her a little tighter as tears dripped onto Fritter’s coat. “Ah’m glad yer okay…”

“Aww, I wish I had my camera,” Sugar said with a happy sigh at seeing the family moment.

“Mm, moment's gone,” Fritter said, letting her sister go. “I guess I feel a little better, getting that off my chest.”

“Thought Sugar would rather just get you off,” Midnight giggled, earning a punch in the shoulder from Fritter, wincing painfully as she did.

“Mm, maybe, but I don’t know how Moondancer would take it,” the disguised nymph said with a hum. “I’d have to run the idea past her…”

“Run what by me?” a voice asked as a pair of cream-coloured hooves snaked their way around the nymph’s neck, the Unicorn in question having teleported in almost silently and without a flash.

“Hello there,” Sugar said, enjoying the hug. “Apple Cider and Apple Fritter were just making a delivery, and Midnight was being Midnight.”

“Midnight is ever anything but?” Moondancer giggled, eeping when the bat slapped her rump with a wing. She smiled at the Apple sisters as well. “Ah, my name is Moondancer, I teach at Celestia’s School and am also using this one here as my personal cuddlebug.”

“Nice ta meet ya,” Fritter nodded, and Sugar had definitely caught the mare checking out Moondancer’s flanks and adorable face. Sugar hummed before she whispered something to Moondancer, something that hopefully, Midnight would stay out of.

“Threesome with Fritter?” the nymph asked her marefriend.

Midnight’s ear twitched and a toothy smile split her face. Ohh, was Sugar in for a surprise.

Moondancer blinked and looked at the earth pony, before leaning over to whisper back. “Exactly what kind of mare do you take me for?”

“The kind that teleports into my room at all hours of the day and night and crawls into bed with me, in multiple senses.” Now the whispering had become a hushed conversation. Hopefully the other ponies would understand…

“Well good,” Moondancer replied. “You know me oh so well. And of course we can. I was actually wondering why it was taking you this long to ask for one.”

“Uh, is there a problem?” Cider asked, wondering what all the hushtalk was about.

“Nothing that can’t be...discussed. At length, which I would like to do with this wonderful mare,” Sugar said as she stood next to Fritter.

“Now y’all wanna help?” Fritter frowned slightly. “Well ah’m afraid it’s gonna hafta wait, we have a lot of work t’do back on the farm.”

“That we do,” Cider sighed. “But, it’ll be easy to do with mah sis.”

“Eeyup, tain’t nuthin we can’t do together.”

Midnight was trying soooo hard not to say anything lewd.

“Mmm, such a shame,” Sugar said before sighing sadly. “As Cider isn’t currently somepony I’d feel comfortable in asking back to my boudoir.”

Cider stumbled and looked at the mare. “Wait, WHAT?”

“Moonie and Sugar totally wanna bang your sister,” Midnight finally spoke up, giggling madly. Cider just blushed and snorted, while Fritter blinked… then shrugged.

“Meh, why not?”

“Fritter?” Cider blinked.

“What, yer bangin’ like, four other ponies. And that Unicorn is mighty cute.”

“Oooh, so the threesome is back on?” Sugar asked unashamedly. “Wonderful~”

“Mhm, Ah’ll swing by later tonight,” Fritter nodded and then planted a kiss right on Sugars muzzle. The nymph hummed into it, before she broke it and gave Fritter her best bedroom gaze.

“We’ll be waiting~” she said.

Fritter nodded and turned to her sister. “An’ now you know whut it’s like when you get all kissy face with yer herd in front of everypony.”

“Ah do not get ‘kissy face’,” Cider counter-argued, the two siblings continuing to bicker as they left the building, leaving Scope and Midnight behind, seemingly forgotten.

“Well… that happened,” Scope muttered.

“...Yup,” Midnight nodded. Sugar sighed as they left, before turning to the pair from Ledger’s herd.

“I should probably reward the pair that helped set up our entertainment,” Sugar Darling said, half to herself and half to Moondancer.

“Oh? What are you scheming now?” Moondancer hummed, kissing the top of her head. Sugar’s smile was just a touch too wide to be completely innocent as she hummed, considering all her options.

“Mistress, I do not trust the look on that nymphomaniacs face,” Scope shuddered. “I think we should run as far and as fast as possible.”

“Sweet Dream,” Sugar called out. “I think an old friend of yours is back~”

“Oh bloody hell!” Scope cried as a Violet came running towards them, the smaller nymph already making a break for it.

“Come back!” the new nymph said as she gave chase to Scope. “I just wanna be friends with you!”

“Oh dear,” Midnight chuckled and shook her head. “Now that was just mean Miss Darling. I almost wonder what you have in store for little old me~?”

“Oh dear, don’t worry,” Sugar said as her horn flashed. “Let’s just say, it wasn’t a coincidence your stallion found a book of sex magic. Nor will this one be.”

Midnight blinked again. Oookay… What was she up to?

“Thank you for helping me refine my teleportation spell, Moony,” Sugar said to the mare still hugging her. “Before I just had to make the best guess as to where Ledger was. Now I can stick a book in his desk from a city away.”

“This… will prove to be interesting for me, won’t it?” Midnight said with a bemused smirk, wondering what devious ideas she was putting into her buggy’s head.

“Let’s just say, I would expect anything from him the next time you two are together, dear,” Sugar said before giggling.

Hmm, she was tempted to go find him right now. But, who knows where the heck he was. Scope was still running from Dream, but the larger nymph was getting closer. However, she lacked Scope’s freedom of movement. Where the small nymph could more easily dart under ponies, Sweet had to go around them.

And that was when one of the ponies Scope was diving under moved and tripped over the nymph, sending her sprawling across the ground.

“Aw holes,” she muttered. Sweet Dream was on her in an instant, picking her up and cuddling her, cooing soft words as she held Scope close.

“Dammit, how is this a reward?” Scope asked the club owner. It was Sweet who replied though.

“Oh, I can reward you~” she whispered huskily into the smaller nymph’s ear. Scope frowned, and decided to burst the mares bubble.

“You do realise I’m taken now right. My marefriend, and a trained Changeling hunter is standing right there.”

Sweet Dream paused before looking over at the thestral with a curious eye. Surely this little one was joking, yes?

“Hmm?” Midnight looked back. “Try not to cuddle her too much, that’s my job.”

“...Awww…” Sweet said sadly. She gave Scope one final nuzzle and kiss before, quite reluctantly, letting her go.

Scope looked at the pouting nymph and she felt like she’d just kicked a puppy. “Urgh! Fine. You can hug. That is all. Got it?”

“It’ll have to do,” Sweet said before hugging Scope again. “Mmm...I’m gonna miss spending time with you…”

“You only had one night, and half of that was spent with some faceless stallion that could barely give me a decent reaction.” Scope deadpanned.

“I’m still gonna miss you,” the disguised nymph said, giving her a squeeze before letting go. “There, I’m good for now.”

“Only for now huh?” Scope chuckled, before yelping as Midnight scooped her up this time. “Gah! Why do I feel like I’ll have to sleep with one eye open?”

“Aww, don’t be like that,” Middy cooed. She looked at Sweet and giggled. “You should see her sleep in her little cloud nest, it’s soooo adorable~”

“I am not adorable!” Scope yelled.

“Not when you’re being all shouty you’re not,” Sweet agreed. “Ah well. Guess I’ll just have to look for somepony new to spend time with.”

“One down, now if I could only get Amy off of my back,” Scope chuckled darkly. Which also gave Midnight an idea.

“Oh yeah, I still have to go see her. Let’s go Treasure~”

“Dammit!”

“Take care of her,” Sweet Dream said, giving Midnight a friendly hug. Midnight had put Scope down to return the hug as the small ‘ling headed for the door.

“And seriously, calling me by that name in here,” Scope muttered as she brushed past Sugar.

…

…

Aw hell.

“And what name would that be?” Sugar asked sweetly. Scope cursed under her breath and then muttered something that even Midnight couldn’t hear.

“Didn’t catch that,” the disguised nymph said to the smaller one, with only a small smile on her face.

Scope groaned and dragged her hoof along her face. “Grrrr, I said my name is Secret-Treasure alright.”

“...As in Secret-Hoarder?” the violet ‘ling asked with a genuine, wide smile.

“...Yes,” the small nymph replied quietly, not wanting anybuggy else to hear.

“Moondancer,” Sugar said to the mare that, surprisingly, still hadn’t gone anywhere. “Fair warning. I’m about to hug that little nymph. Hard.”

Moon nodded and teleported, landing expertly on Midnight and tackling the bat with a light giggle. Scope knew that she couldn’t outrun the Noble, and just surrendered to her fate. Sugar all but tackled the small nymph and held her close, not saying anything and barely not breaking bones or chitin with the pressure she was exerting on Scope.

“I don’t see why everybuggy makes such a big deal out of this,” Scope said, not wanting to admit that she was leaning into the hug. “I mean, I’m pretty sure Ledger cried. So… yeah.”

“Hearing that you not only proposed such a name change to him, but that he accepted, doesn’t make me want to hug you any less,” the larger ‘ling warned the smaller one.

“Yeah, kinda figured that… Still haven’t told his mom yet though… or any of his dads.” Scope shrugged. “S’not that big a deal.”

“You do know what was done to him, yes? To hear he recovered from that...to the point where he accepts you doing such actions around him...you’ve been good for one another.” Sugar nuzzled the smaller nymph, letting her affection for the one that had healed Ledger be known.

“Yeah well… I guess, I kinda, sorta maybe, love him,” Scope blushed, looking at her hooves. Sugar cooed and gave the small nymph a kiss on the head.

“You take care of him, you hear?” she whispered to the little ‘ling.

“Yeah,” Scope nodded. “Someone has to, he has this annoying habit of getting into ridiculous amounts of trouble.”

“He always was one to ask ‘and why are you doing things that way?’” Sugar said with a giggle. “You’ll be the best voice of restraint for him I can imagine.”

“Mhmm, beating him up is a lot of fun,” Scope giggled. “Still, if shit hits the fan, I’ll protect him. S’my job…. and my desire.”

“Good,” Sugar said before finally letting the diminutive ‘ling go. “Somepony has to, he’s too busy fording ahead to protect his flank all the time.”

“Mmm, and that flank is far too yummy to let anything bad happen to it,” Scope giggled as Midnight finally escaped Moondancer, not that she really wanted to.

“Okay you two,” Sugar said as she gave Midnight a hug. “Go and find your stallion, make sure he’s not getting up to too much trouble.”

“He’s out and about with Twi-Twi somewhere,” Midnight said as she relieved Sugar of Scopey-hugging duty. “I’m sure they can’t be causing too much trouble…”

“So I was researching some tomes Celestia gave me the other day,” Twilight hummed as they walked down the street. “Necromancy is fascinating.”

“Wouldn’t know, never touched the stuff,” Ledger said with a shudder. “I think there’s a section from the Black Book on it, but I didn’t pay it much mind.”

“Well, I don’t plan on casting it myself,” Twilight replied with a wave of her hoof. “But it doesn’t hurt to know how it works in case I ever go up against it. And given what I’ve had to fight so far… a necromancer would be on that list somewhere.”

“Fair enough,” Ledger replied as he called up his rather distasteful memories from his time in the Red Burial Mound. “From my...experiences, most necromantic creations have a central core of magic that binds them and holds them together. Identifying that and destroying it is your best bet.”

“Yeah, and most can’t regenerate once their body has broken apart, unless the caster is there to revive them again.” Twilight paused and looked at Ledger. “Why are we talking about fighting the undead?”

“You brought it up,” Ledger pointed out. “And one of us has experience.”

“...I fear that if we continue, we’re just inviting a zombie apocalypse to happen,” Twilight said, poking out her tongue.

“Like it would be any worse than the lizard one that nearly happened,” Ledger retorted, sticking his tongue out as well.

“Don’t tempt fate,” Twilight giggled. “And somehow, Midnight will be the one that starts and ends it… I can see it now.”

“Considering her training, I wouldn’t doubt it,” the disguised drone replied with a nod. “Though, I do doubt that she would start it. On purpose, anyways.”

“Yet we agree that she could start it,” Twilight nodded. “Well, regardless, let’s move on to a different topic.” The Alicorn thought for a moment before looking at the drone. “So what’s up with you and Discord?”

“We’re...not exactly friends, not exactly rivals. We...tolerate one another, but that relationship is strained at the moment,” Ledger said as he thought about the spirit. “He probably doesn’t like the fact that I’ve only ever called on him when I was in trouble, though if he says he doesn’t like the chaos that’s been brewing in this city, I’m going to call him a liar. And he also probably doesn’t like the fact that I know his weakness.”

“Aside from the Elements of Harmony and Fluttershy?” Twilight asked. This was now highly interesting.

“Yup, but out of respect for him, I’m not telling,” Ledger said, making a mental note to magically blank a page or two of his book before lending it to the Alicorn. “He has been rather helpful in his own, roundabout way.”

“He does have his moments,” Twilight said with a small smile. “Then you have the moments where he gets jealous and threatens to banish a mare to another dimension…”

“Hmm…” Ledger hummed as he considered the situation. “Jealous of what or who?”

“Ah, well Fluttershy made a new friend when she went on an expedition a few months ago, needless to say, Discord thought his place as Fluttershy’s friend was in jeopardy. And the last Grand Galloping Gala was certainly one to remember.”

“The solution seems simple then,” Ledger said with a smile. “Discord needs more friends. More friends that aren’t Fluttershy or me. Hay, until I know what he thinks about me, I would rather not see him again for a while. The last words I heard from him were...not pleasant ones.”

“What did he say to you?” Twilight asked. If Discord was threatening him…

“Just that if I called on him again, he would not be pleased, or happy, or something. In a tone that suggested I might find myself on the wrong end of a prank war with a Chaos Spirit.”

“Ah,” Twilight said, before frowning as she felt a weight on her back. “Discord, get off.”

“When I find that delectable Violet Queen again, perhaps I might,” Discord chuckled. “But I heard somebuggy talking about me and my ears were burning.” He leaned over to show that his ears were indeed on fire. “So what’s up?”

“Twilight asked what my deal was with you. Considering I haven’t sold you anything or bought anything from you, I don’t know what she’s talking about,” Ledger said with a wide smile. He hoped Discord caught on.

“Hmm, I give it a seven, but don’t give up your day job chuckles,” Discord patted him on the head. “But I was bored, and Chrysalis is just no fun at all. All she does is yell at me, so I figured I’d come and hang out with you guys.”

“We’re kind of on a date,” Twilight replied. The she got a small smile, actually, scratch that. Her smile was downright creepy. “But, there are some wonderful ponies you could play with at Cider’s farm~”

“Oohh, that sounds fun,” Discord clapped his paws. “Well I think I’ll do just that. Have fun kiddies! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, your day would be dreadfully boring otherwise.” And with a flash of light, he was gone.

“...This is revenge against my mother, isn’t it?” Ledger deadpanned to Twilight.

The Alicorn looked at him and smiled. “Now would I hold a grudge like that? You just said that Discord needed more friends after all~”

“She’s just trying to make sure I don’t enter a relationship like my first one,” Ledger said, not sure if Twilight would ask or not. But if she did, he’d be honest with her. He owed her that much.

“Your first? You mean Midnight?” Twilight blinked.

“...There was somepony before that,” Ledger said. “And we did not part amicably.”

“Oh… I’m sorry to hear that,” Twilight said, looking a little wilted. “But, it sounds like it’s not a happy tale and we’re on a date. So lets go and have some fun!”

“Las Pegasus is well known for being a city for fun,” Ledger said with a snicker. “You lead the way, your highness.”

“I’m sure you and I are thinking of completely different types of fun,” Twilight said, that last word was a little husky as she winked at him, and trotted off with a slight sway in her flanks. Ledger let off a happy little sigh as he watched her go, before following after her. He could watch those flanks all day~

“Well, I’m sorry I pushed Twilight to such an extreme,” the Madame said to Apple Leaves. “But I felt it necessary at the time.” The fact that she’d helped clean up helped, surely.

“She’s not my daughter, but ah do agree that you could have been just a tad more gentle-hoofed.” Apple Leaves had finally finished tidying up and had poured the two some tea. Twilight Velvet had gone off somewhere, presumably to cool her own head.

As the Madame went to sip from the teacup, a pair of yellow eyes floating inside it stared back at her.

“Well, hello gorgeous~” the cup winked at her.

The Madame hadn’t had her share of experiences with Joyful for nothing, though this was certainly new. She gingerly put the teacup down and pushed it away before looking at Apple Leaves.

“Can I have a new cup, please? Mine has eyes in it.”

“Oh pooh, and I was just about to get a taste of those luscious lips,” the cup morphed into the Draconequus and looked at a bemused Madame, and a confused Apple Leaves. “Well now, two lovely mares. This must be my lucky day~”

“...I may not have my son’s desire to learn about things weird and forgotten, but I do believe I know of you,” the Madame eventually said, before looking at the Apple mare. “My apologies if this gets confusing.”

“I may be weird, but I am most certainly not forgotten.” He looked at Apple Leaves and pouted. “You know who I am yes?”

Apple Leaves shrugged. “Ah’m guessing your one of my daughters strange friends.” She sighed and trotted out of the room. “Ah’ll go and make some more coffee…”

“Honestly, there is just no love these days,” Discord waved his hand and looked at the Madame. “And you, why are you so serious? It’s hard on the eyes.” With a snap of his talons, the Madame now sported a party hat and her mane was now like Celestia’s, wavy and glaringly bright.

“Ahh, much better.”

The disguised nymph took in the changes, sighed once, and then her horn flared in a silver light. A pulse of magic rushed out from her form and stopped about one foot away from her body, before the changes were...undone, by whatever she was doing.

“When you live with a manic ball of energy and three drones that can destroy anything if they put their mind to it, you learn defenses or get used to replacing everything,” the Madame replied.

“Well now, I think I’m falling in love… or I have heartburn again.” He pulled his own heart out of chest and looked at it with a scrutinising gaze, before pulling down a zipped on his chest and putting it back. “Hmm, I don’t really know.”

“Should I expect you to make any form of sense in the near future?” the disguised nymph asked as she sipped at her tea.

“What fun is there in making sense?” Discord replied as he floated upside in the air. “So you’re Ledger’s Mommy huh? That must be interesting.”

“My son does seem to find the most interesting things out and get into the most sticky situations of any drone I’ve known,” the Madame replied, her shield not dropping. “Sometimes I wonder if he goes looking for trouble, or if trouble goes looking for him.”

“A little of column A, a little from column B,” Discord waved a hand. A wave of his had had the two seated at a candlelit table, sharing a plate of spaghetti. “Now, tell me more about you my dear~”

“What’s there to say?” the Madame replied as she thought about changing the pattern. “I’m only the second most influential ‘ling back in the lands. Everybuggy was expecting me to take the throne from my brother, but I was happy letting him be king. I was always a reasonable nymph.”

“But Queen would fit a mare such as you oh so well,” Discord bat his eyes at her. “Surely you must have entertained the idea once or twice?”

“That would require me taking the throne from my brother, and I’m not one to do that. Our parents preached equality and followed it as well as they could.” The Madame tried a noodle of the spaghetti and hummed, liking the taste. “Thanks to my brother and mine’s efforts, it’s becoming a reality. I’m much happier being the one everybuggy tiphooves around, even if they don’t really know why.”

“Hah! You and Sunbutt would get along quite well,” Discord chuckled. “And I bet having no Black’s around is making the Lands a little lighter eh? You’re welcome for that by the way.”

“It was...until some members of the citizenry started showing signs of becoming dark,” the Madame replied. “And we don’t have anything relating to how to help them stop or remain in control of their little color-shift. We don’t even know how it’s happened. My brother is of the opinion it’s a natural survival adaptation inherent to the Changeling race as a whole. I’m inclined to believe him. Others...not so much.”

“The Kings and Queens think they were a cancer that needed to be removed,” Discord said, weaving some spaghetti to look like a Changeling. “And in order to help Celestia, I played the villain… in a way, it was Tirek that ultimately decimated their kind… I just opened the door for him.” He made the pastaling dance around, like a puppet on some strings. “You all seem to think that the Blacks were the result of something they brought upon themselves… but, I know differently.”

“I would welcome any information you would choose to share,” the silver nymph said honestly. “The last incarnation of the Blacks were a pox on every house. But if there were a way to have them and not have that...hostility, to us…”

“They were hostile, because they were negativity incarnate. The first Black,” Discord dimmed the lights. “Was the result, not of dark magicks gone awry, but of a Changeling that fell so utterly into despair, that happiness, that love was meaningless to him.”

“And thus he had to steal his emotions, and he fed on the negativity in everypony around him, and brought it forth,” the Madame said solemnly, seeing where that was going.

“It was very much like those ‘vamponies’ in those ridiculous books,” Discord told her. “One led to another, then another… like a house of cards. The reason the Pinks fled the Lands? Not because they were scared of the Blacks…” He leaned forward, his face obscured by shadows save for his glowing yellow eyes. “But because they were scared that the other Hives would find out that the First Black… was a Pink.”

“Oh dear,” the madame said as she put a hoof to her mouth. “...A Black is what happens when a Pink breaks? The very thought is...”

“A Black is what happens when any Changeling breaks,” Discord said, leaning back and clicked his claws, summoning two glasses of Crystal Berry Wine. “Pinks are just a little more susceptible is all.”

“...Is there a way to stop it?” she asked quietly. “Seeing so many of the changelings fall to this...it’s tearing at the kings and queens.”

“There are a few, though technically the first falls under a genocide of sorts, so you might not like that solution.” Discord sipped at his wine glass, before inhaling the liquid. “Mmm, delicious and scenty~”

“We’d rather come through this little crisis intact, yes,” the nymph said, picking her wine up and sniffing at it. Hmm, that smelled rather good.

“Oh you’d be intact, you just wouldn’t be Changelings anymore… you’d need a cuter name. Hmm, Bugponies? No... Flyponies… ahh, Flutterponies!”

“We’ll call that option ‘not-A’,” the silver ‘ling said before sipping her glass of wine. Oh dear, this was rather good stuff. “Are there any others?”

“Perhaps, but just giving you the answer is no fun,” Discord replied, eating his little pastaling. He would be missed. “Tell me, what’s in it for me?”

The Madame hummed for a moment, before an idea crossed her mind and she looked at the spirit. “What do you think of Pinks?” she asked bluntly.

“Ahh, they are delightful, a creature after my own heart,” Discord said. “In fact, I plan on teaching your little daughter a few tricks. She is quite talented at Chaos Magic.”

“For every good lead you give us, I’ll leave the reality-reinforcing wards around her room undone for another day,” the mare offered. “I might even call her here right now if you give me a really good one.”

“Hmm, nice try, but while I will teach her a few tricks, it’s not really that high on my priority list,” Discord said. “I am an ageless Spirit, to be honest, I doubt there even is anything you could offer…”

“Free reign to do as you will for my son’s bachelor party,” the Madame said, thinking of the one thing she could possibly offer him. “As long as I don’t ever hear about it.”

“Bah, like I need a reason for him to hate me,” Discord replied. “To be honest, I’d prefer him as a friend that I can annoy every now and then. One day I’ll teach him not to be such a stick in the mud.” He suddenly smirked and leaned forward. “I wonder, just how desperate you are to get that answer~”

“They’re considering quarantining their own subjects,” the Madame said in a very small voice. “...if you know anything, please. Please help us.”

“With that knowledge, I could ask for just about anything couldn’t I?” Discord said, relishing the power he held over an entire race. “Maybe have your race worship me as a god? Or something a little more…” he cupped her cheek. “Intimate~”

“If it means saving them...saving ourselves,” the Madame said before drawing a deep breath. “Then by all means. Name your price.”

Discord remained silent for just a moment, as his claw trailed down her back, listening to her reactions, before pulling back and chuckling.

“Just kidding! Fluttershy would never forgive me for doing something like that.” he clapped his hands and the romantic atmosphere disappeared, the room returning to normal. “Besides, if I romance a mare, it will be because she wants to.” He poked her nose and clicked his fingers again. “You’ll have a little book waiting on your desk when you get home. Look forward to that.”

“You have my thanks,” the mare said with a nod of her head. “Whenever you think of something you want in return...let us know.”

“Yes, yes... “ Discord waved a hand. It was exhausting being a good guy. “Don’t be so quick to give up next time though. You are far more fun when you fire back. I fully expected to have you talk me into this sooner.” He slowly faded away, and smirked as he did. “Oh, and be sure to ask Wishy-washy about Midnight. That should prove to be a lot of fun~ Tatah!” And just like that, he was gone.

“Hmm,” the Madame hummed as she sipped at her leftover wine. The ‘meek and helpless’ act hadn’t been one she used for a while, but it had its uses. And while it was true things were bad, back in the Lands, they weren’t nearly so bad as that.

“Now who was Wishy-washy?” she hummed aloud.

“Hey there beautiful,” Wishful hummed as he strode in. “Hmm, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing much, just dealt with a rather...bothersome spirit,” she said as she looked at her husband. “And what have you been up to? You’re strutting, that means you’re up to something.”

“...Nothing?” he asked, as a Pink blur attached itself to the Madame’s chest.

“HI MOMMY!” Joyful-Heart stared up at her with huge eyes.

“Hello there, dear,” the Madame said as she gave her daughter a hug. “Did your step-daddy call for you?”

“Ya-huh! There’a sad pony here. So I gotta give ‘em a dose of JOY!” the Pink ‘ling responded before detaching and running off. She had her target. It was time to strike!

“Um, surprise?” Wishful shrugged.

“Let’s just hope that whoever her target is knows how to deal with Pink ponies,” the Madame sighed. Damage control was going to be massive on this one. As it always was.

“Perhaps, maybe it won’t be so bad this time?” Peaceful wobbled in, a little dizzy after travelling with his daughter. “Also… I found these scrolls?”

Wishful’s eyes widened and he lunged for them, but the Madame was faster…

“Oh my,” she said, reading through them. “Well...somepony was feeling...adventurous.”

“I was sugared up after having dinner with Midnight and…” he looked at his wife and husband. “I am just digging a bigger hole for myself aren’t I?”

“That certainly seems to be the case in some of these,” the nymph replied with a snicker.

“I take it that little ball of Lust inspired some of these?” Peaceful mused, looking over his wife’s shoulder.

“What? Of course not!” Wishful blushed. Aw hell, now he was thinking about that again…

“Ooooh, this one…‘Get the guest room on the farm, discreetly take down soundproofing wards on son’s room, and then-’”

“GAH!” Wishful made another grab for the scroll again.

“I rather think Ledger might not appreciate your doing that,” the Madame said with a smile as the scroll danced away.

“He doesn’t have to know,” Wishful found himself saying before thinking. So he was a little curious about that mare. She shouldn’t be so damned attractive! “Come on… just gimme the scroll back so I can obliterate it!”

“I am hardly done reading it,” the silver unicorn said as she gave it another glance. “Oh dear. Where did you get the idea for a cucumber?”

“Dinner was rather inspirational okay!” Wishful gave up. At least she wasn’t saying no~

“Hmmm...this isn’t your hornwriting,” the Madame finally observed. “Nor there...or here...this is...Oh my. Ledger wrote this?”

“I was sugared up and regret many things about this trip,” he pouted.

“You will,” the Madame said in a tone that caused both of her husbands to shudder.

“I am now uncertain if I should run or not?” Peaceful said with a raised eyebrow. She just chuckled and drew him close before doing the same to Wishful.

“Oh boys,” she said with a grin. “This trip has only just begun.” Both stallions gulped, but their excitement was clearly visible already. Maybe this little vacation wouldn’t be so bad after all~

“Guest room,” the nymph said before her horn glowed and the three of them vanished.

Cider and Fritter had returned to the farm, though their argument hadn’t lessened in the slightest. So now that had to settle it the Earth Pony way.

A royal flank-kicking.

The two mares squared off in an empty patch of the field. And when an apple fell from a nearby tree, once it hit the ground, the two mares charged. Given their natural strength, they were trained in a martial art, so that they could learn control and learn how to hold back, so they would accidently hurt somepony or worse.

So when the two mares sparred… it tended to rack up property damage. Fritter tried a sweep kick, which Cider leapt over and lashed out with a forehoof. Fritter caught it and continued her arc, tossing her sister over her shoulder and towards the ground. Cider extended her other forehoof and when she struck the ground, she turned the fall into a roll, reversing the flip on her sister.

Fritter had no such luck in countering the throw and landed on her back with a hard thud, before quickly rolling away as Cider’s hooves struck the ground where she previously was.

“Heh, not bad Cider. And here ah thought yer lovelife made you sloppier than a pig in mud!”

“Ah practise when they aren’t around,” Cider replied, picking herself up and brushing some dust from her coat. “Ah honestly don’t know what they might say if they knew.”

“Heh, ah reckon Middy might be a little ticked that we haven’t sparred with her,” Fritter chuckled. “Now,” she suddenly struck the ground with her forehooves, causing a large stone to jut out of the soil. “Rollin’ Earth, Shattered Boulder!” She spun and bucked the rock with her hind hooves, breaking it into hundreds of pieces and sending them flying at Cider.

Apple Cider took a breath, before she mimicked Fritter’s move, only she skipped the first step and pirouetted, lashing out repeatedly with her hind hooves and kicking down any stones that would have struck her. That was when Fritter came in low and tacked her around the barrel, slamming Cider into the ground and causing the earth beneath her to crack under the force of the blow.

Apple Cider coughed, not having expected that move. That was certainly new one. Fritter stepped back, giving her sister a chance to recover and get to her hooves.

“Plantin’ Hoof?” Cider coughed again, wincing slightly. “Didn’t know ya knew that.”

“Learned it a while ago, been waitin’ fer a chance to use it on ya!” Fritter said, swaying from side to side before dashing forward again. “Wanna see it again?”

“Ah ain’t no one-trick pony,” Cider replied. She waited for Fritter to get close, and then slammed the ground for Shattered Boulder, except give how close Fritter was, the boulder slammed her right in the chest and sent her skyward. Cider jumped up and flipped forward, bringing her hind legs in a downward arc.

“Cloudbreaker! Hard Rain!”

Fritter was slammed by the attack, sending her spiralling downwards and slamming into the ground with a small impact crater. Cider landed and dusted herself off as Fritter groaned from her new hole. She didn’t even try to move until Cider helped her up.

“Seriously?” Fritter pouted, trying to pop her dislocated shoulder back in. “A Pegasus style? What the hell?”

“Heh, figured that’d get you… wouldn’t have worked if y’all didn’t get cocky though.” Cider reached over and put Fritter’s shoulder back in with a loud pop. The mare groaned in pain, but shook it off a moment later.

“Ahh, that was fun though. It’s been too long.”

“Eeyup,” Cider nodded, looking around the destroyed clearing. “Hmm, think we went a little overboard?”

“Nah,” Fritter giggled, then one of her ears flicked. “Hey… you hear that?”

In the distance, there was a...sound. The sound of hooves rapidly approaching. Along with a giggle.

“What is that?” Cider blinked, looking in the sound’s direction. Except now it was coming from behind them.

“Foe, Fum, Fi, Fee…” the pair of Apple mares heard.

Fritter and Cider stood back to back, ready to counter any sudden attack.

“I’m here to comfort a sad pony~” they heard from Cider’s left, Fritter’s right.

The ponies took a defensive stance, the chanting was a little weird though. And for some reason, Cider thought the voice sounded familiar. The next thing Fritter saw was a pink blur headed right for her chest. One that was too small to be a full-sized pony.

“What the!?” Fritter instinctively raised a hoof to attack the incoming projectile, but Cider caught sight of what it was and slapped her hoof down. The blob of pink attached itself to Fritter and giggled as it hugged the hay out of her.

“Hyuh?” Fritter looked down at the blob on her chest. “A filly?”

The filly in question looked up and smiled at Apple Fritter. “Hiya!” she all but chirped at the larger mare. “I’m Joyful Heart!”

“Ah shoulda known,” Cider chuckled. “Well sis, she seems to like you, so best o’luck with that.”

“What? Who is this little filly!?” Fritter cried as Cider trotted away, leaving her sister to her cruel fate.

Joyful went from hugging Fritter to riding on her back in an instant, now hugging her from behind. “I’m just somepony that doesn’t like seeing other ponies sad,” she ‘explained’.

“Sad? Ah ain’t sad,” Fritter replied with a small frown. “Ah’m sore as hay after gettin’ the crud kicked outta me by mah sister, yer sittin’ on a mighty painful bruise by the way.”

“Whoops, sorry,” Joyful said as she got off the older mare and sat in front of her again. “And he said you’d say that. He also said to mention one word and then I’d have proof I was right.”

“An what word might that be?” Fritter asked.

“Changeling,” the little filly said seriously, watching the mare’s emotional state. Fritter stiffed, before slowly looking down at the filly.

“An’... who told y’all t’say that?” she asked slowly.

“Daddy did,” Joyful said. Technically step-dad, but she wasn’t one for calling her dads anything but dad. “And see? Totally different than you were a minute ago. You’re an upset pony, and I don’t like that.” That being said, the pink filly reattached herself to Fritter’s front, hugging her again.

“Ah’m not upset!” Fritter frowned again. She started to limp towards the house, with Joy still attached. The filly said something into her chest that was muffled by their bodies.

“Whut?” Fritter paused and looked down again.

Joyful looked up and repeated what she’d just said. “I said, you and your sister are pretty bad at lying.”

Fritter sighed, before looking up. “Yeah, guess we are. But it ain’t none o’yer concern. Yer too young to understand it all anyway.”

“I might surprise you,” Joyful said with a giggle, having taken the mare’s momentary distraction to give herself slitted eyes. “And it kinda is.” She had to wonder what Apple Fritter’s reaction would be to the fact that she was cuddling a changeling…

“Yeek!” Fritter backpedaled, but the little nymph managed to stay attached. She giggled again, enjoying the moment before the mare came back down from her panic. Assuming she did.

The mare ran around for a moment, before stopping when she realised her new accessory wasn’t coming off.

“Fine, what do ya want?”

“I jus’ wanna know why you don’t like us,” the pink filly said with a sniff and pouty lip.

“Ah don’t like stallions,” Fritter explained. “Changelin’s in particular, but ah’m a little uneasy around males of any species…”

“My big brother’s a changeling male,” the filly countered with. “And my soon-to-be big sis Apple Cider is your sister too. She doesn’t have a problem with him.”

“Because they didn’t hurt her!” Fritter suddenly snapped.

Joyful whimpered a little at the sudden volume, then a little more at what had been said. Apple Fritter sighed and hugged the filly.

“Sorry, but like ah said, it’s complicated…”

“Some nasty drones hurt you,” the filly said simply. “And now you don’t like any drones because of it.”

“Well, ah guess it’s not that complicated then,” Fritter gave a weak, forced laugh. “Yeap, that’s pretty much the long and short of it kiddo.”

“Big brother’s not like that,” the pink filly said with a shake of her head. “He wouldn’t hurt anypony unless they hit him first. Why can’t you give him a chance, miss Fritter?”

“Ah know he’s an okay stallion…” Fritter sighed again. “Still… ah don’t know…”

“Please?” Joyful asked, using every art of being cute that she knew with that one word. Pouty lip, sparkly eyes, tears in the corner. The works.

“It ain’t that simple,” Fritter said. She frequented Applejack’s place, and Applebloom used this trick all the time. This earth Pony had quite the cuteness immune system. Then Joyful sniffed and seemed ready to cry at any second, from the way she was trembling.

“An’ yer waterworks won’t work either,” Fritter deadpanned. “Look little… uh, what was yer name again?”

Too late, Joyful was actually crying now. It was just a few tears, but she was starting to build up to a bigger cry.

Ah crap. Fritter looked around, wondering just where Ledger was. “Alright, alright. Ah at least promise t’try alright!”

“You mean it?” Joyful said as she calmed down a little from her cry at the mare’s words. “You promise to give big brother a chance?”

“Yeah, ah’ll talk with ‘im when he gets back okay?”

“Yay!” Joyful cheered, happy again. “Hiya new big sister, I’m Joyful!” the nymph reintroduced herself, hugging the mare. Fritter rolled her eyes, she’d walked into that one face first.

“Mah name is Apple Fritter, and yer a right snake in the grass ain’t ya?”

“Just a little~” the nymph said with a giggle. “Mommy says I take after her in getting what I want. I just look at it as me helping ponies to try things that I know they’ll like!”

“Yeah, remind me never t’introduce y’all to Applebloom,” Fritter groaned as she trotted back into the house. She looked around, but nopony seemed to be home… which was strange.

“Now, wherein the heck is everypony?” she wondered.

“Maybe they went out to do things?” Joyful said. “That just gives us more time to get to know one another!”

“Ah guess, jus’ lemme go take a bath or sumthin,” Fritter groaned. “Ah still feel rough from mah fight with Cider.”

“Mkay!” Joyful said as she leapt onto the larger couch, getting comfy and looking over to Apple Fritter. “I’ll be waiting.”

Fritter nodded, she just needed to get her towel from the guest room first…

A minute later, Joyful heard an ear piercing scream from upstairs. The small nymph rushed upstairs, wondering what could possibly be going on. Apple Fritter was sitting outside the guest room, her face was burning red and she held up her towel to cover it.

“What happened?” the small nymph asked with a tilted head. Fritter jumped when she heard the filly’s voice and her eyes cast a quick glance to the guest room.

“...nothing,” she managed to squeak out.

“You’re still a terrible liar,” the nymph pointed out. Fritter just groaned and then bolted for the bathroom, wondering if she should have a cold bath now.

“...Ponies are weird,” Joyful said before walking back downstairs.

“I still feel like I should go and do… stuff!” Scope protested as she followed Midnight to Amy’s place. She wasn’t at work, so Midnight may have cheated and accessed the Guard records to find out where the nymph lived. It was a fairly nondescript apartment building, one that both Midnight and Scope were rather disappointed in.

“You know,” Midnight said.

“Yeah, I also expected more,” Scope nodded as they went inside. They went to the top floor and Midnight looked at door numbers until she found the one she was looking for.

“Here we go,” Midnight nodded and raised a hoof to knock. It was suddenly unnecessary as the door creaked open to reveal Amy’s face. Presumably. She wasn’t disguised at all, and she was...sweaty and panting a little? What had she been up to?

“Oh hi mares!” the Pink changeling said happily. “I’m a little busy at the moment, can this wait?”

“Maybe?” Midnight said. “It’s about the wedding actually, and you’ve been proving difficult to track down.”

“Acey and I have a day off today, so I figured we’d make the most of it,” the pink nymph said without opening the door any wider. “Seriously, if you could come back in like an hour…”

Midnight blinked, and then her mouth opened a little. “Ah… oh, um… okay.”

The door suddenly opened as a large Griffon poked his weary head out. “Ahh, Midnight, my most beloved student. Please come in! Really, I insist!”

“Acey~” Amy said, looking up at the griffon. “You’re recovered already?~” She looked back at the mares and grinned maliciously. “Better make that two hours…”

“Our friends are here,” Ace said, dragging the bat inside. “It would be rude to turn them away after they came all this way,” the Griffon replied hastily.

“Oh sweet Hives it’s pink in here!” Scope exclaimed as she was dragged along with Midnight. “Seriously, there are other colours in the spectrum!”

“I had those too!” Amy chirped before looking at Ace. “They were on a wonderful blanket that somehow caught fire.”

“What can I say, spontaneous blanket fires are a common problem,” Ace shrugged. “Especially when they cause seizures.”

“I feel as though I don’t want to know,” Scope muttered, wondering if she should go and get some sunglasses.

“So ah… you sure we’re not interrupting?” Midnight asked, the scent of what they were up to was quite potent…

“Not at all!” Ace nodded quickly.

“You might be, but if you are, Acey’ll pay for it later,” Amy said with a wide, evil smile. “So, what’s up with the wedding?”

Midnight nodded as Ace wilted slightly. “Um, okay… well, we decided on a date.”

“Oh goodie!” Amy said as she trotted over to her calendar. Which was also pink. “What day? I need to put in a request ahead of time so I can have that day off.”

“Three weeks from now,” Midnight nodded and gave her the exact date. “Actually… I was wondering, if you still wanted a shared ceremony. Ledger and the rest agree if you want to.”

“That doesn’t sound bad at all,” Amy hummed as she marked the day down. “What do you think, Acey? Up for a shared ceremony with Ledgy?”

The Griffon walked over to her, taking one of her hooves and kissing it. “As long as I spend the rest of my days with you my love~”

“Flattery will get you everywhere except out of the bed,” Amy returned. Ace clicked his beak and flopped back onto the couch, using Midnight as a pillow.

“Ah well, was worth a shot,” he chuckled, as Midnight tried shoving the heavy Griffon off with no success.

“Sooo, details on where you’re all having yours,” Amy asked as she used her magic to extract the batpony from under her griffon.

“Aww, she was a comfy pillow,” Ace pouted as Midnight whacked him on the head with a wing.

“Well, we’re having it in Ponyville, in Twilight’s castle,” the Thestral explained. “And Princess Luna will be the one presiding over the ceremony.”

“I have...no problems with any of that,” Amy said before taking Midnight’s former place as Ace’s pillow, snuggling her gryphon happily. “What about you?”

“No problems here, and little Lulu will make for a fun day,” Ace chuckled, using his talons to try and fluff Amy up like you would a normal pillow, tickling her sides in the process. She giggled a little before looking over to Midnight.

“And are we to assume you’ve gotten most of the things taken care of, like catering and decorations and a cake?”

“All taken care of,” Midnight nodded. “All you gotta do is tell us how many guests you’ll be inviting and show up. Simple no?”

“Hmm, I don’t plan for anypony to come if it’s out of town,” the nymph replied. “The mares and fillies and colts I work with can’t come if it’s all the way out in Ponyville. Plus I still have to find a seamstress that will work with me on my dress, and don’t get me started about the wedding bands or the cake.”

“Huh? Have you been having some trouble?” Midnight inquired.

“Not everypony is ‘ling friendly,” Amy muttered under her breath, apparently forgetting about Midnight’s thestral ears. The next thing Ace knew, he was without a pillow as Midnight pulled the pink changeling into a tight hug.

“Ack!” Amy said, not having expected this. “What...what’s the matter?” she asked the thestral mare hugging her.

“Doesn’t matter that you’re a Changeling, every mare should be able to have the wedding she wants,” Midnight said, kissing the top of her head. “But don’t you worry. You and I are gonna have the most magical damned wedding EVER!”

“...I still need a dress, and my own cake,” the pink ‘ling pointed out. “Along with the wedding bands.”

“Right!” Midnight nodded and started to drag Amy to the bathroom. “We’ll get you cleaned up and then I am going to help get you those things!”

“But…” Amy weakly protested as she was pulled along. “But my day with Acey…”

“You’ll have all the time in the world with Acey, he isn’t going anywhere,” Midnight nodded as the Griffon crossed the room to whisper in Amy’s ear.

“When you get back, I ‘will’ see to it that you get what you want,” he said in a tone that even caused Midnight’s heart to skip a beat and shudder slightly.

“You’d better,” Amy replied in a tone that was just as husky. “Right, lead on Middy!” The Thestral simply dragged the nymph into the bathroom, muttering something about stupid sexy bugs and birds…

Scope sat on the couch and looked at Ace, seeing as he was the only ‘not-pink’ thing in the room. The Griffon stared back at her, and the two remained that way until Midnight dragged a freshly showered Amy back out a few minutes later.

“Mistress?” Scope asked, “Did you… actually bathe her?”

“Well she’d take too long otherwise,” Midnight nodded. Amy huffed and crossed her forelegs.

“Just because I asked if Acey could be the one joining me for a shower instead of you…”

Midnight turned and gave the nymph a bedroom gaze and licked her lips.

“Be glad I’m taken,” she purred and then looked back to her marefriend. “Could you go back to the house, tell them I might not be home tonight?”

“Really?” Scope asked. “Well, whatever. Sure. I can do that.”

“Aww...Fiiiiine, if it’s for the wedding,” Amy said before going over to Ace and giving him a kiss.

A really deep kiss. That didn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.

“Save it for later loverbug,” Midnight said. “He’s coming with us after all.”

“Sounds fun,” Amy said once the kiss broke, licking her lips as she looked her griffon over. Ace just shrugged. It had been a while since he spent any real time with Midnight, so this might actually be fun.

“Right, so tell Ledger you’ve eloped with Ace and Amy,” Scope chuckled and before Midnight could retort, she teleported from the room.

“So where’re we goin’, Middy?” Amy asked as she hugged Ace from behind, essentially riding the griffon.

“Ponyville,” Midnight replied. “So pack an overnight bag. Cause we’re going on a roadtrip!”

Author's Note

And on this day, we can see clearly that there is something stronger than Ace.

Like the story? Consider dropping me and Aus a dollar on my Patreon. It really helps.

Half the proceeds will not go towards finding a goddamn silver axe.

Chapter 66 - Roadtrip!

By the time the train arrived in Ponyville, Midnight thumped on the bathroom door.

“We’re here,” she called out. “Don’t make me come in there and get you two!”

There was a groan before Amy walked out a minute later, having cleaned herself of any mess her griffon had left behind. Midnight looked at the nymph and shook her head.

“You sure you’re not actually a Violet?” she asked, as Ace emerged, his feathers looking a little ruffled. Still, the cramped space had given him the chance to try a few new positions.

“Pretty sure,” Amy chirped. “So, this is where we’ll find ponies that’ll actually work with us?”

“In town somewhere, but we’ll hafta ask around, since I don’t know where they live…” Midnight smiled and shrugged. “Still, it’s a small town. Shouldn’t be too hard.”

“M’kay!” Amy said as she returned to riding her griffon, though less lewdly. “Mush!” she commanded Ace from his back.

“Commanding me like your personal mount?” Ace inquired. “Well, I guess that’s fine… but you’re wearing the saddle when we get home~”

“Promises, promises,” she said, draping herself over his form. “Let’s play ‘follow the bat’!”

“Fine,” Ace replied, following an already exhausted Midnight out into Ponyville. This was going to be a loooong day…

“Hee, that date was pretty fun,” Twilight giggled as she walked next to Ledger. “We should do it again soon~”

“Maybe when you’ve had some time with the others,” Ledger agreed. “Don’t want them thinking you only want one thing out of this relationship, after all.”

“Oh my dear Ledger, let us run away together,” Twilight swooned dramatically as they approached the homestead.

“I would, but I’m sort of promised to three other mares,” Ledger replied as he drew Twilight in for a hug. “But, I’ll never say no to seeing you again...especially at night, your highness.”

“Pervert,” Twilight poked at his chest. She still giggled and kissed his muzzle. “Now…” She looked at the house. “Do I really have to go back in there?”

“What’s wrong with the home?” Ledger asked innocently.

“I exploded the windows when I screamed at your mother,” Twilight replied, blushing with embarrassment. Ledger merely pointed to the windows in reply, indicating that they’d all been fixed by now.

“Huh? Well, how about that… Mom must have…” Twilight frowned. Now she’d have to apologise to her as well. “Well, let’s get this over with.”

“I’ll be right here,” Ledger said before punctuating his statement by kissing Twilight on the cheek. “By your side.”

“Yeah,” Twilight nodded as they stepped inside… and Ledger saw Joyful Heart talking with Apple Fritter.

And worse, Joyful Heart saw Ledger.

“BIG BROTHER!” she yelled and launched herself at the drone.

“Ack!” Ledger said as the pink missile impacted him and sent him back out the door. “Stallion down!” he called out to the mares.

Twilight and Fritter stood over him and placed a hoof over their hearts.

“Here lies Level Ledger,” Twilight said in a solemn tone. “Taken from us before his time. He was a wise stallion, a loving stallion, and a world-class pervert.”

“...What’s a pervert?” Joyful asked with her head tilted in confusion.

“Sumthin’ that appears t’be hereditary,” Fritter muttered as she glanced upstairs. Twilight just shrugged and hugged the little filly.

“And how have you been little Joyful? I’ve missed you,” she cooed, snuggling her with her fluffy wings. The little filly giggled before looking up at the princess.

“I’ve been good,” she said, hugging the lavender pony. “Me and miss Fritter have been having lotsa fun!”

Fritter nodded and Ledger finally noticed all the bruising, the scrapes and the rather impressive black eye she was sporting.

“Eeesh,” the silver drone said as he picked himself up. “What’d you do, get mauled by a manticore, Fritter?”

“Close,” Fritter chuckled. “Nah, me and Cidey were jus’ sparrin’.”

“Yoooooou’d better not tell Midnight, otherwise she’ll want to spar you both,” Ledger warned the farmpony.

“Yeah, it’s a rather well kept secret,” Fritter nodded. “Well, ah’ll jus’ tell her I fell down some stairs.”

“Has that ever worked?” Ledger deadpanned.

“Every time,” Fritter replied, a little surprised that it did.

“Big brother!” Joyful said, bouncing up and down. “You gotta save us!”

“What is it?” the drone asked his little sister.

“There’s something super scary upstairs, an’ Miss Fritter won’t let me up there!” Joy explained as Fritter blushed and waved her hooves. “An’ it even made her scream. You gotta save us innocent fillies Big Bro!”

“No, no he doesn’t!” Fritter replied. “You really, really don’t wanna go up there!”

“I’m not sure if there are any innocent fillies here besides you, sis,” Ledger said as he drew the little nymph close and gave her a hug. “But for you, I will gladly brave the upstairs!”

“Ah really don’t think you wanna do that Mr. Ledger,” Fritter said in a pleading tone.

“Why, what’s up there?” Twilight asked and Fritter blushed and looked away.

“Ah...ah can’t say…”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Ledger said as he passed the duty of hugging Joyful on to Fritter. “What’s the worst it could possibly be?”

Fritter just turned red again and mumbled something incoherently as she took the filly and watched Level leave.

“Ah warned ‘im,” she said quietly. There was silence for a few minutes, presumably as Ledger went to check what had frightened his little sister so, before he came back looking...haunted.

“Filly,” he requested as he sat back on his haunches, needing to hug his sister to burn that image from his brain.

“Ah told ya, also, Filly,” Fritter said as she passed her over. Ledger just hugged his little sister and tried desperately to not think about what he’d just seen.

“What happened up there?” Twilight asked, seriously concerned.

“You don’t want to know,” Ledger said instantly. “I’ll tell you later. When I’ve had some cider.”

“A lot of cider,” Fritter agreed. “Ah didn’t want to see that, ah never wanted to see that…”

Twilight and Joyful shared some confused looks, deciding that the two were just crazy. Eventually, Cider returned, looking just as bad as her sister.

“Oh, heya Levvy… huh, what’s wrong?”

“Don’t look in the guest room,” was his simple reply. Cider blinked, but shrugged and nodded.

Scope also returned, flashing into existence and Ledger found himself hugging two nymphs. Scope took one look at Joyful and groaned.

“Hiya!” Joyful said with a happy wave.

“Another Pink… wonderful,” Scope sighed. “Oh, speaking of Pinks. Midnight won’t be back tonight, she’s eloped with Ace and Amy.”

“...What is she really up to?” Ledger asked after a minute had passed and he’d processed the nymph’s statement.

“She’s off making wedding plans with them,” Scope said. Well, technically she wasn’t lying, just not giving enough context.

“For their own wedding, I would hope,” the drone said as he looked at Scope.

“Well, we’re sharing the ceremony,” Scope finally laughed at the look on his face. “So I’m still right.”

“Scope, you are unnecessarily mean to Ledger aren’t you?” Twilight said, poking the nymph.

“I like to think of it that I keep him from getting complacent,” Scope nodded.

“Or you make me go over everything you say with a fine tooth comb for the laughs,” Ledger deadpanned.

“That too,” Scope chuckled and then tilted her head back so she could look at him. “But you still love me~”

“That I do,” Ledger agreed as he kissed the nymph on her forehead. “Some days I wonder why.”

“Oh, you know why~” she said in a husky tone, then realised that Joyful was right next to them. “Uh, cause that’s what ponies in love do. Ah, oh hey Joy!” Scope decided a change in subject was in order. “Looking forward to being ‘Aunty Joyful’?”

“It’s gonna be fun!” Joyful said before giggling manically. Somehow.

“Aaand that’s my cue to head home,” Twilight said. “I have some duties that I need to take care of.” She gave Cider, Ledger and Scope a kiss. And with any luck, she could avoid the Madame, wherever she was.

“What about mine?” Joyful pouted from her hug.

“Aww, I’m sorry,” Twilight smiled and kissed the filly on the forehead, before she heard voices from upstairs coming closer. Oh ponyfeathers…

“Nope,” Ledger said as he just hugged Joyful harder. “Not thinking about them.”

Twilight blinked in confusion, as the Madame, Wishful and Peaceful descended the stairs, the Unicorn mare and the Alicorn mare locked eyes…

“Oh dear,” the unicorn said as she looked at her husbands. “Some...privacy please?”

They nodded and left the room, leaving the herd, Joyful, and Fritter to face the Madame.

“I think she wants to talk to you one on one,” Ledger said as he put both small changeling nymphs on his back. He gave Twilight a quick smooch before retreating as well. Cider and Fritter followed as Twilight frowned.

“Right by my side my hoof,” she muttered as she looked at the elder nymph. She placed a hoof to her chest and made a sweeping motion as she exhaled. “Okay.” she nodded to herself and then bowed her head.

“I want, to apologise for my earlier behaviour,” she said suddenly. “It was unbecoming of somepony in my station, and you didn’t deserve it. You were just worried about your son…”

“I should apologize as well,” the Madame replied. “I pushed a little hard and insinuated things that I had no business insinuating, all to get a reaction out of you.”

“Well, you certainly got that,” Twilight giggled. “Well, I guess we can both agree we were in the wrong this time.” She held out a hoof and smiled. “Start over?”

“I would...prefer that, and for you to understand my fears, miss Sparkle,” the nymph said as she shook the hoof, gently. “Has my son told you about his first relationship, yet?”

“He said he would, and to be honest, I think it would be best if he told me,” Twilight nodded. “Unless he says otherwise.”

“Very well, if you think that’s best,” the Madame replied. “Just...be sure to ask him at some point, when there’s a strong drink to hoof.”

“I will,” Twilight nodded, before the Madame started to get a buzzing in her head. Someone was trying to connect a Hivemind spell…

“Yes? Who is this?” she asked mentally.

“Devoted-Cause,” the voice replied. And he sounded pissed.

“What’s wrong?” the Madame replied, hoping it wasn’t too bad…

“Hmm, where to start? Oh, I know. How about with the fact we’re all fucking pink with purple polka dots!!”

“...Just so you know, that’s only partially my fault,” the Madame answered. “Still, I can be there soon to help if it’s that bad.”

“Well that’s fine and dandy,” he snarked. “The book that did this to us has rather specific instructions. That the only way this’ll be fixed is if you stop right now and do the chicken dance…”

“...Please tell me you’re joking,” she said with a sigh.

“I wish I was. The boys found a strange book on your desk, and when they opened it… Well, it was blank. Except for the words. ‘Blame that Silver-tongued fox’ and then this happened to us. Now the book is telling us that you doing a chicken dance, complete with all the motions, will end this curse.”

“I’ll get on that in a moment, then,” the Madame said before smiling at Twilight. “Some things have come up that I need to take care of back home. Take care of my son, please?”

“Um, I can do that,” Twilight nodded.

“Dear, now the book says that unless you do the dance now, this curse will spread to EVERY Changeling…”

“I am not doing the dance in front of Twilight, no matter the circumstances!” she barked back across their link. Before the Madame could go through with what she was thinking of though, she felt a weight on her back as Discord reclined there, wearing a floral shirt and sunglasses and sipping from a coconut.

“Oh don’t worry your pretty little head about it,” he replied as he snapped his fingers. “It’s the thought that counts.”

“Discord?” Twilight blinked, then her eyes narrowed. “What did you do?”

“Moi?” Discord feigned innocence, but once he saw that Twilight wasn’t buying it. “Oh relax, all I did was give her husbands a little makeover. Bring some cheer and whatnot. Apparently Changelings lack a sense of humour though.”

“They probably didn’t find it any more funny than I did,” the Madame replied. “And seeing as how we’re currently going through a small panic regarding colors changing back home…”

“Ah yes, I just took a little vacation there actually,” Discord said as he looked at the mare. “It’s not nearly as bad as you made it out to be though. Shame on you for thinking you could fool me… for long anyway.” He slithered around to look the mare in the eyes.

“Now, what if I told you I’m working on a little something regarding that. Well, I was, then I got bored and I’m gonna pawn the work off onto Twilight here.”

“She probably wouldn’t thank you for the increased workload,” the silver nymph observed. Twilight’s eyes were sparkling though as she looked a the Spirit.

“What is it?” she bounced. When Discord whispered into her ear, her eyes grew huge and she beamed and clapped her hooves. “Ohhh, this will be so much fun~” She looked at the nymph and her smile was still enormous as she nodded.

“Okay, I’ll do my best to solve this. I promise!”

“...Well, that’s...interesting,” the Madame observed. “Still, thank you for agreeing to help.”

“It’s no problem,” Twilight nodded and looked at Discord. “Right?”

The Spirit suddenly gave the nymph a big toothy smile as he donned a labcoat and some goggles. “For science!”

“So long as you keep in contact with Scope, I don’t see why we can’t collaborate,” the nymph said with a nod. “Thank you again.”

“It’s fine,” Discord hummed. “Bleh! Being good upsets my stomachs. I need a little Chaos to offset it. Hmm, what to doooo…” His eyes suddenly widened and he cackled with mad glee. “Ohohohoho, I need to go. This will be glorious!” and with a flash, he was gone.

“I...don’t like the sound of that,” Twilight frowned.

“Him being happy is typically not a good sign,” the Madame agreed, wondering just what Discord had found fun...

The trio that wandered through Ponyville had taken a small detour through the park when Midnight stopped and sniffed the air… before slowly turning and looking at Amy.

“Hmm,” she murmured as she stepped closer, all but burying her muzzle in the mare’s coat.

“What?” Amy asked as she looked at the sniffing thestral. “I got something mango-flavored on me?”

“You smell like mangoes~” the mare hummed as she gave her neck a lick. “And you even taste like mangoes~”

“Ehehe...why don’t you tone it down a notch?” Amy asked as she pushed Midnight away with a hoof. “We’re sorta in public, and Acey might get jealous…”

Ace’s wings were slightly extended as he just watched.

“Aww, don’t mind that,” Midnight hummed as she licked her neck again and nibbled on it. “Mmm, so tasty~”

“We came here to do a thing,” the pink changeling tried to remind Midnight. “Can we wonder about things like that later? You’re the one that knows where we’re going, after all.”

Midnight shook her head and pulled back. “Ah? Oh, um, sorry… just… why?” She frowned and did her best to block out that delicious scent. “You need to change your shampoo or something. Okay. Let’s go find Rarity.”

“I’ll make a note of that,” Amy said as they began following Midnight again, not mentioning that she didn’t even have a mango-scented shampoo.

After some walking, they eventually found the Boutique. A rather hyper Pegasus filly had pointed them in the right direction. Midnight walked up to the door and raised a hoof to knock.

“It’s open,” somepony called out and Midnight nudged the door open, walking inside as Amy and Ace followed. The building looked a lot bigger on the inside, and Amy already noticed some ponnequins against one wall, one was dressed in gleaming crystal armour, accented with lace and silk, along with a more traditional wedding dress, one in white and one in a cyan blue. There was also another dress, still white, but had lavender accents and a six-pointed amethyst star just above the breast.

“Hey Rarity,” Midnight waved at the white Unicorn that entered the room. Even Ace couldn’t help but notice how attractive she was. Not as much as his little Amy and Cherry, but still…

“Hiya!” Amy greeted the pony with a wave from atop Ace.

“Oh my, I certainly wasn’t expecting to see you here Midnight, and bringing some friends on top of that.” Rarity looked the two over, the Griffon definitely had some rugged charm about him, but that tattered red scarf was in desperate need of replacing in her opinion.

The mare… for some reason, reminded Rarity of Pinkie Pie. Must just be pink ponies in general.

“So what can I do for you?” she asked and Midnight smiled.

“Well, I know that you’re super busy and all, but… I was hoping you might have time for one more dress?” Midnight’s ears had flattened and her eyes went wide as she gave the Unicorn a puppy-dog stare.

“Honestly darling,” Rarity sighed and glanced at Amy. “Then I am assuming correctly that this is the recipient of said dress?”

Amy nodded and dismounted from Ace, giving him a peck as she passed his face. “Yup yup! Nopony in Las Pegasus does custom orders, and Middy said that if we join our wedding with hers, it’d end up being in Ponyville.”

“Join your wedding?” Rarity frowned and looked to Midnight for a more reasonable answer.

“I should introduce you first,” Midnight giggled. “This is Ace, my life-long teacher and Amethyst Cream, one of my bestest friends. And they’re getting married also. Not to our herd, just each other.”

“Ah, well congratulations,” Rarity nodded.

“Thanks!” Amy chirped. “So, d’you think you can squeeze in one more dress?”

“Well, I may lose a night or two of sleep,” Rarity nodded. “But, we can’t have a mare go without a dress on her wedding day can we?” She floated over a tape measure and a notepad. “Well, let’s get some measurements then shall we?”

“Ah, before you do,” Midnight spoke up. “There is something you should know Raribear.”

The mare raised an eyebrow at the nickname, but motioned for Midnight to continue.

“She’s one of my special friends, like Scopey and Ledger.”

Rarity paused and looked at the bubbly mare. “Ah, well… I guess I should ask. What you intend to look like first then.”

“Like this!” Amy said before her form flashed pink, her illusion dropping in an instant. A pink-highlighted nymph was now standing in front of the white unicorn, grinning widely. “Hi again!”

“She’s even pink as a Changeling?” Rarity now had to wonder about her hyperactive friend. “Note, cast a reveal spell on Pinkie at some point.” She stepped closer and took her tape. “Well then… let’s get started.”

“M’kay,” the nymph said as she stood as Rarity instructed for her measuring. She just hoped Acey and Middy could entertain one another in a way that wasn’t sparring while this was going on.

At that moment, there was a loud squeal and Amy felt some serious fear kick in as her head turned to see a little filly gaping at her, her eyes wide and her fur standing on end.

“Oh not again,” Amy moaned, recalling the moments before the foals of Las Pegasus accepted her with disdain. Her head hung and she sighed before looking at the filly. “Get it over with.” Rarity noticed then that the vibrant pink her guest had been sporting had...dimmed slightly.

‘Interesting’ The mare thought and looked at the filly with a frown. “Sweetie Belle! Don’t be so rude as to scream at my guests. Now come over here and introduce yourself!”

“B-But that’s… that’s a…”

“A Changeling,” Rarity deadpanned. “I told you about them already remember? Twilight told you also. We had that big town meeting? You have one in your class.”

“Oh yeeahhhh,” Sweetie said and Amy felt the fear vanish in an instant. “Sorry. My name’s Sweetie Belle. What’s yours?”

“I’m Amethyst Cream,” Amy said, perking up noticeably after their little back and forth. “Call me Amy, all the foals of Las Pegasus do.”

“Okay, and sorry about that Miss Amy,” Sweetie blushed from embarrassment. “I guess I was a little surprised.”

“It’s okay!” Amy said as she returned to being bright pink. “Still, we were kinda in the middle of something. Maybe we can have some fun later?”

“Okay, OH! I should go and get the others!” And before Rarity could stop her, the filly had all but vanished.

“Oh sweet Celestia, now you’re in for it,” the mare groaned as she resumed measuring.

“Let’s just hope they wait until after you’re done, whoever they all are,” Amy said with a happy hum. “They can’t be any worse than Pinkie and me working together.”

Rarity stopped, her brain processing that. Now she remembered this mare.

Warning. Rarity.exe has suffered a fatal error. Please reboot.

…

…

Reboot failed.

“You okay?” Amy asked, waving a hoof in front of the fashionista. “Hello in there.”

Rarity.exe is restarting in Safe Mode. The Unicorn blinked and finished taking the measurements.

“Thank you for visiting the Carousel Boutique,” she said robotically. “Your order will be ready in three to five days. Have a nice day.”

“Weird, but okay, I can live with that timeline,” Amy said as she walked back into the parlour. “Acey, I think I broke Rarity.”

Ace looked at Midnight, who smirked and held out a hoof. He grumbled as he placed a few bits on it and sighed.

“Damn, I thought it’d take you a little longer than that.”

“All I said was ‘they can’t be any worse than me and Pinkie working together,’ and she just stopped,” the pink nymph said as she redonned her illusionary disguise.

“Yeah, that’d do it,” Ace said, staring off into the distance. “A storm is brewing,” he muttered…

“Can’t be any worse than having Joyful around,” Midnight said. “You all worry too much. What’s the worst that can happen?”

“I dunno, but hopefully Rarity will be fixed soon,” Amy said as she looked back into the room she’d just come from. “We didn’t even discuss wedding bands…”

“We’ll have to go to a different store for that,” Midnight said as they left the Boutique. “And I know that there’s a nice place around here somewhere. Got a nice stone set into my first pair of wingblades. I think it’ll do.”

“Yay!” Amy cheered as she stood next to Midnight. “Lead on!”

Ace just chuckled as he followed them. At least this day hadn’t gotten too crazy yet…

At a certain clubhouse, on a certain farm, sat a certain group of foals.

And they were discussing a certain Changeling that Sweetie Belle had seen.

“So?” Scootaloo asked. “You think she’s here to take over the town?”

“Oh yes,” a small drone buzzed. “Because that’s what we Changelings do. Pillage and invade and steal all your ice-cream!”

“AHA! I knew it!” Scootaloo cried and the blue drone rolled his eyes.

“Well, she was a pink Changeling,” Sweetie started to say and the drone’s eyes widened.

“A Pink? You… you’re certain?”

“Yeah?” Sweetie replied slowly, wondering what her friends weird reaction was for. The drone stood up and walked towards the door.

“Nope. Mom said I should never mess with a Pink. I’m out!”

“Aww, come on!” Apple Bloom said. “You know the most about Changelings here.”

“Barely,” he replied. “I was born in Equestria. And Mom won’t tell me squat about the Hives. I know more about ponies than Changelings. But one of her rules was, never screw with a Pink.”

“So, she is a villain then?” Sweetie asked and the drone shrugged.

“I dunno, maybe?” he relied.

“So, we should capture her then!” Scootaloo said with a pump of her hoof. “We’d be heroes. Imagine the awesome Cutie Mark we’d get for that?”

…

…

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS CHANGELING CATCHERS! YAY!”

“That… is the very definition of messing with a Pink,” the drone sighed. Still, these fillies were his only friends as well. “Fine. But I’m getting a pre-emptive ‘I told you so’ in right now.”

“Well that was easy, and less hectic than Rarity’s,” Amy said as she walked out of the shop Midnight had led her to. “At least they didn’t scream at my reveal.”

“Miss buggy!” a little purple unicorn filly ran out, a slip of paper in her mouth. “You forgotted your recip-rescent-this thing!” she held the receipt out for Amy to take.

“Aww, thanks for reminding me,” Amy said, leaning down to take the paper and rub the filly’s head in thanks. She giggled and nodded.

“Yahuh! No problems!” she said. “Oh, my name’s Dinky! An’ Sparky inside is my big sister!”

“Is that so?” Amy said as she put the receipt away. “Well you go tell her thanks as well, okay? You both did great jobs today.”

“Yay!” she did some adorable little dance that had Midnight and Ace clutching their chests. “Oh? An, I hope you have a nice wedding Miss Amy!”

“Since all the little foals of Las Pegasus can’t come cause it’ll be too far...D’you think you can spread the word among your friends?” Amy asked the filly. “There’ll be cake!”

“We can come too?” Dinky whispered in hushed awe. Amy nodded with a smile on her face.

Dinky beamed and tapped her chin before nodding. “Akay! I can do that!” she giggled and ran back inside to tell her sister the good news.

“Well, I got my guest list sorted while we were here,” Amy said with a happy hum. “Cake next, Middy?”

“To Sugarcube Corner!” Midnight cheered. A cold chill washed over the town at those words. Amy just followed after the bat, recalling something she and Pinkie had gone over. Where did that pink mare say she worked again?...

Ace stared at the gingerbread house of a building, wondering if it really was made of gingerbread.

Edit. It was not. And Amy told him off for trying.

And when they walked inside, the door was unlocked, but it was pitch black.

“This is just a little spooky,” Amy said as she looked around in the darkness. “Hello?”

Light suddenly flooded the room as several ponies shouted out.

“SURPRISE!”

Midnight shrieked and dove behind Ace, fully intending to use him as a meat shield. The room itself was decked out with streamers, balloons and all sorts of cakes and snacks. Pinkie bounced to the front of the group and beamed at them.

“Do you guys totally love your ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party or what?”

Amy hummed for a moment, before walking over to the cakes and taking a small piece from each one. Very small. After sampling a few, she nodded and looked at Middy, who was still hiding behind Acey.

“You were right, Middy! She’s good at this cake thing!”

“I think I just had a bucking heart attack,” Midnight whispered and Ace nodded in agreement, it was about the only part of his body that would move at the moment.

“Whoohoo!” Pinkie cheered, tossing confetti everywhere. “Heya Creamy! Long time no see!”

“Hiya Pinkie, it’s been awhile since we last met up, huh?” Amy asked as she moved to hug the pink earth pony.

“Weeeel, probably not that long. But it’s felt like foreverrrr!” Pinke gave the nymph a bonecrushing hug as she held her up in front of her. “Sooo, what brings you to Ponyville?” She looked at Ace and Midnight and hummed. “Ohh, did you totally steal Middy from Levvy~?”

“Just for her tour guide services,” Amy said, returning the hug with as much enthusiasm as she could. “I’m actually here to see you.”

“Meee?” Pinkie tapped her chin as she thought about what the nymph could want. “Hmm, maybe you just wanted hugs? No, Oh! maybe you wanted to tell me you’re pregnant?”

“Nah, but not for a lack of trying,” Amy giggled. “I really, really need a cake for my wedding. Ledgy and I are gonna combine our ceremonies and have it here in three weeks, but I still don’t have a cake lined up for my wedding yet.”

“NO CAKE!?!?” Pinkie gasped, inflating from how much air she sucked in before deflating like a balloon. “That will not stand. I will make you the bestest cake EVER!!”

“I kinda want it to be about me, though the only really unique thing about me is that I work with ice-cream…” the disguised nymph hummed before a lightbulb flashed over her head. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Pinkie?”

“I think I am Goldie!” Pinkie giggled and the two mares looked at one another.

“ICE-CREAM CAKE!!” they cheered in unison.

“This won’t end well, will it?” Midnight said to Ace.

Ace was too busy watching the cute mares to complain. Amy pulled her scoops out of her saddlebag, eyes glinting as she considered how best to do this.

Yes, she’d packed her scoops. What of it?

“I don’t even question her anymore,” Ace said to Midnight before she could point it out. “Maybe we should leave them be for now? Enjoy the party?”

“Works for me I guess,” Midnight nodded. At least if Amy went off with Pinkie, that mango smell wouldn’t be so damned distracting.

“You got any ice cream around here, Pinkie? We should at least try this idea out while it’s still fresh!” Amy asked of her fellow pink mare.

“Follow me!” Pinkie said and pulled a lever, a trapdoor opening up and drooping the two mares out of sight. Midnight blinked at that, but again. Don’t question it. It’d just hurt.

Down below, Pinkie was giggling at Amy’s reaction to her Party Cave. The pink mare bouncing over to what appeared to be a large Vault and opened it…

Revealing what must have been EVERY flavour of ice-cream known to ponykind. Amy put her scoops down and wept slightly at the beauty of so much ice-cream gathered into one place. Eventually the nymph picked her scoops back up and nodded, ready to try and make her ice-cream cake.

“Let’s get delicious,” Amy said, tossing a scoop to Pinkie.

Pinkie nodded, twirling the scoop and smiling. This would be fun~

“Hmm...three flavors,” Amy said as the idea burned through her mind. “Strawberry, chocolate, mango.”

“Hmm, why mango?” the mare asked. “I dunno if that’d work with chocolate and strawberry.”

“Middy likes mango ‘cause she’s a batpony, and she’s probably going to invite her dad to the wedding,” Amy explained. “We’ll put it next to the strawberry and put the chocolate on the other side.”

“Well, if you want,” Pinkie said. “Just remember that this is your wedding also. I can throw in some separate mango stuffs for Middy and her folks.”

“Hmm...yeah, we could do that,” the pink ‘ling agreed. “How about vanilla then? For ponies that don’t get either?”

Chocolate, strawberry and vanilla swirl?” Pinkie said, already whipping up a small, cupcake sized one to try.

“Oooh, that sounds delicious!” Amy said as she watched the pink mare try hers. Pinkie held out one for Amy to try and she practically inhaled her ice-cream. Amy took the treat and chowed down, humming thoughtfully at the taste.

It was good. It was very good. An entire cake made like this would be even better. She looked over to Pinkie to see if she shared these sentiments. Pinkie had already finished her own treat as was now consuming a bucket of the stuff. She looked up, ice-cream coating her muzzle as she blinked and tilted her head.

“What?”

“We kinda need some of that for the cake,” Amy said, half-chidingly.

Pinkie nodded and put it away for now, before giving a little burp. And that was when Amy picked up on some emotions from the party above.

Foals.

And… A Changeling foal?

“I have to go!” Amy said, striking a dramatic pose. “The foals need me!...which way is the exit?” For all her looking around, she couldn’t spot one. Pinkie pointed at the slippery slide, while she was mixing a new batch of swirly ice-cream.

“Mkay!” Amy said as she walked up the slope. It was a stretch for her ability to walk up walls, but she was nothing if not persistent. As she reached the hatch and opened it, she saw Pinkie sit on the slide and just slide up the damned thing and out of the hatch.

“...That works too, I suppose,” Amy conceded as she rejoined the party, looking around for the foals she’d sensed earlier. She eventually saw them, huddled in a corner and whispering. And just as she sensed, there was also a little Blue drone with them.

Hmm, how best to approach?...maybe it’d be best to just listen from afar. She settled herself at the nearest snack table and waited.

“I still think this is a stupid idea, even for you guys,” the blue muttered.

“What? Y’all think our idea are dumb?” Apple Bloom protested.

“I still have tree sap stuck in my chitin from last time!” The Blue nodded.

“Ooh, maybe it’s a sign?” Sweetie giggled. “You could take Tree-Sap as your name?”

“Yeah, no.”

Amy giggled as she listened in on the little ones, before stifling it. She didn’t want to draw too much attention to herself…

“Well, what makes you think this is a bad idea Blue?” Scoots asked.

“Well, think about it,” he replied. “Would Miss Pinkie really throw a party for a villain? I really don’t think she’s out to steal our ice-cream you dodo.”

“I am not a dodo!” Scootaloo pouted.

“Guys!” Apple Bloom hushed them. “So what do we do then?”

“I don’t know… enjoy the party?” Sweetie suggested.

“Good idea,” Amy replied as she moved to stand in front of the foursome, grinning all the while. “Too bad you’re too late to enact it. Now you’re being visited by the hug monster.”

“Hug monster?” Sweetie deadpanned. She facehooved when the others shrieked and ran for it. Amy giggled before drawing the little unicorn into a hug.

“I just love foals,” the disguised pink nymph said as she nuzzled the little one. Sweetie Belle groaned, but at least the hug felt nice.

And that was when Midnight tacklehugged Amy.

“Cuddlepile?” Amy asked as she looked at the batpony.

“Cuddlepile!!” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo cheered, diving on top as well, followed by Pinkie and Dinky.

Blue sat to one side. He was too cool for cuddles.

“Somepony’s not joining in,” Amy called out. “Don’t make me find you~”

Nope. Blue made a beeline for the door...only to find himself encased in a pink aura as Amy giggled and zipped him over to the pile. Sometimes, only being under an illusion was fun. Now all she had to do was hope nopony saw that…

“Dang it,” Blue pouted as he was submerged into the hugpile. “This is totally not cool.” Still, he could help but feel tingly at all the love here. Ponyville was a freaking buffet.

“Mmm, I could get used to this,” Amy sighed happily. Foals were the best…

The clock tower outside chimed and Blue’s eyes widened. “Oh no! I gotta get home!” he said, launching from the pile like a cannonball and rocketing out of the room.

The pile had been suitably scattered from the blast, Scootaloo rubbing her head.

“Man, I gotta get him to tow my wagon when he does that. That’d be AWESOME!”

“He could probably cover the town in fifteen seconds,” Amy said, impressed with his speed.

“I know right!?” Scootaloo bounced up and down. Sweetie and Apple Bloom giggled as Scoots realised what they were about to say. “Don’t you even dare—”

“Scoots and Bluey, sittin’ in a tree!’ they sang as the Pegasus buried her face in her hooves. “H.U.G.G.I.N.G!”

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Amy reassured the little pegasus.

“Urghh! So not cool,” Scootaloo groaned. The other fillies just giggled as Midnight picked herself up, dusting herself off.

“So, how went the cake-making?” she asked. Amy hummed happily before replying.

“Well enough before I got distracted. Which remiiiiiinds me, I need to go over some details with Pinkie still…like the frosting and what I want it to say.”

“I know what kind of frosting you like.” Ace said, pulling her into a hug. Midnight giggled and pulled the Griffon back.

“I can’t believe that I’m the one saying this, but down boy.”

“Aww,” Amy pouted as the griffon was pulled away. “Still, I oughta find Pinkie and hammer out those details with her.”

“Ohh, can I help with the hammering?” Ace asked again.

“Maybe later,” the pink nymph said with a smile. “Back in a bit~” Amy went back into the party in search of a pink mare.

“I’ll be back too,” Midnight nodded. “I kinda need to organise a place for us to stay, and I have the perfect idea!”

In the Cider household, things seemed to have calmed down a bit, and now they simply enjoyed some peaceful respite in the living room, warmed by the fireplace.

At least until a scroll flash into existence in front of Twilight, causing her to flinch. She snared the scroll and read it, before giggling lightly.

“What is it?” Ledger asked, giving her a quick nuzzle.

“It seems that Ponyville is suffering from the combined efforts of one Pinkie Pie and one Amethyst Cream, sprinkled with some Ace and Midnight Song,” Twilight smiled. “And Middy is wondering if she can stay at the castle tonight.” She tapped her chin and hummed. “Hmm, I don’t know…”

“Probably not a wise idea,” Ledger said before shrugging. “Maybe send the message, ‘you break it, you buy it’? Amy’s kinda been...relentless about having a foal with Ace.”

“Hmm,” She wrote something down and chuckled before sending it. “There we go, one sexy-times free castle. That should put a little damper on it.”

“Dare I ask what magic spell you wrote down to ensure that?” Ledger asked, if only to make sure it wasn’t used against him.

“Ah, I don’t have a spell that could do that… well, not from this distance anyway,” Twilight said, enjoying the look of panic on his face for that. “As long as Spike doesn’t find out and they clean up afterwards, I don’t mind. Poor Middy is going to be all alone though.”

“Yeah, shame we haven’t worked out how to transfer other beings vast distances with your waypoint system yet,” Ledger said, before recalling the day Twilight had brought her friends over. “Hang on a moment…”

Twilight just gave him the biggest smile. “Yeessss?”

“...If I asked you very nicely, could you send me to Ponyville?” Ledger asked, testing the waters as to whether it was possible or not.

Twilight giggled and looked at the Madame. “Miss Gossip? Would you and everypony else like to come and visit my castle?”

“Unfortunately, I have to get back home,” the Madame said. “I can’t be away too long, and Las Pegasus is the only reliable destination I can teleport to from the Silver Hive.” She stood up and ambled over to her son, giving him a quick peck on the head. “Take care, son.”

“You too, mom,” Ledger said as his father and step-father stood up as well, Joyful clinging to Peaceful’s back.

“Bye big brother, bye new sisters!” the little pink ‘ling called from her father’s back. All the mares waved goodbye, Twilight teleporting out, before returning a moment later with a small box.

“I have a gift for you Joy,” she said. And when the filly opened it, it held a smaller replica of the Princess's tiara.

“For me?” Joyful asked, holding it like it was a priceless treasure.

“Mhmm, a little princess needs a tiara right?”

Joyful smiled even wider as she put it on her head, slightly crooked. Twilight giggled and fixed it with her magic.

“There we go, such a cute Princess, right Ledger?”

“Yep,” the drone agreed as he looked at his smallest sibling. “I don’t think anything could stand up to those levels of cute.”

“Yay!” Joyful cheered. Peaceful rolled his eyes, knowing she would be even more hyper now, and that he would have to deal with it.

Scope and Velvet waved from the couch they were sitting on, the Unicorn mare reading the book that Scope had been writing in for the last month or so.

“Well, I’ll guess we’ll see you all again for the wedding then?” Twilight asked.

“Wishful and I, certainly,” the Madame said with a nod. “The others, maybe.”

“I think I heard Inspired say something about looking his daughter up,” Wishful supplied as they made their way to the front door.

“Oh dear,” the Madame said. “That promises to be...exciting.”

“If I may ask,” Twilight said. “How many husbands do you have?”

“Six,” the Madame said. “My sons and daughters tend to take after their fathers, with the exception of Ledger and Joyful.”

“Yup, we’re ‘special’ as Mommy puts it,” Joyful giggled. Twilight Velvet looked at the Madame and nodded understandingly.

“Still, they mean the world to me, all of them,” the silver nymph said, looking at Twilight Sparkle pointedly.

“You’ve made that abundantly aware,” Twilight nodded, not backing down. “And I believe I have made you aware of where I stand as well,” and pointedly stood right next to Ledger.

“Just as long as neither of us forget, then I foresee no problems,” the mare said with a smile. “Take care, all of you.”

Twilight and the rest bid them farewell as they teleported away, the alicorn all but collapsing onto Ledger and sighing. “That was exhausting,” she groaned.

“Welcome to the family,” Ledger said, nuzzling her. “You get to put up with her just like I have.”

“Nope, I can teleport,” she said. Twilight Velvet just chuckled as she got up and placed a hoof over her daughter's shoulder.

“And now you know my pain, everytime we go and visit your Grandma,” she said in a knowing tone. “More than twenty years, and she still thinks I’m not right for her boy.”

“Is it too late to back out?” Twilight asked Ledger. “Can you get a refund on a relationship?”

“I’m not sure you ever asked for a receipt,” Ledger said jokingly.

“Dang, guess I’m stuck here then,” Twilight giggled. “Now, I think I might go as well. Somepony has to keep the little bat company tonight~”

“Didn’t you just offer a trip to all of us?” Ledger teased. “I wouldn’t mind helping~”

“I know you wouldn’t,” Twilight giggled, booping him on the nose. “But then, I haven’t spent any alone time with Midnight… and, I’m a little curious about something.”

“Mm, fair enough then,” Ledger conceded. “Just don’t forget to bring her back with you in the condition you found her in tomorrow.”

“Well, provided the experiment is successful, no promises~” Twilight said, wiggling that little purple plot at him before teleporting herself. Ledger looked over to the remaining mares, two of which he slept with and one of which was a parent to the recent teleportee.

“Are you satisfied I’m not a monster out for your daughter’s love yet, miss Velvet?” Ledger asked the older mare.

“Oh, you’re definitely a beast that wants her love,” she giggled. “But not in the context I initially assumed. Don’t worry, you pass Mr. Level.”

“Thank goodness,” Ledger said, sighing a little at her approval.

“Were you honestly that worried dear?” Velvet asked, still reading Scope’s book and making a few adjustments to the grammar. “Besides, I doubt you’d leave my daughter, even if I didn’t approve.”

“Yeah, Ledger’s kind of stubborn like that,” Scope agreed.

“Nor do I think Twilight is the sort to just take a command to leave her stallionfriend lying down,” Ledger pointed out. “And Cider’s parents were a little more shocked at the ‘dating a changeling’ bit than you, so forgive me if I’m cautious.”

“I said it’s fine,” Velvet said as Scope glared at him and stepped hopped off of the couch.

“Ledger. It’s all fine. No need to get hostile alright?”

“I’m just…” Ledger sighed before shaking his head. “I’m probably overthinking it anyways. Ah well.” He looked up at Cider and Scope before smiling softly. “So, what’s the plan for dinner?”

“Hmm, ah’m thinkin…”

“FRITTER FEAST!” her sister shouted from the kitchen, the table already being spread with a bunch of appetizers. Ledger smiled as he walked over, salivating already.

“Cider, I love your family. Have I mentioned this before?”

“Multiple times, and you can show aalll that love to me later. Right now?” She grabbed the large apple fritter he had his eyes in and wolfed it down. “If eaffin tum!”

“I can agree to that!” he said, snatching up two smaller ones and chowing down on one, tempted to let out a moan at the taste that flooded his mouth. Cider held no such reservation and let out a sensual moan as she bit into another fritter, the apple sauce running down her chin as she chewed slowly.

“Is there anything you can’t make delicious?” Ledger questioned Apple Fritter rhetorically between bites.

“Hmm, maybe? Dunno,” Fritter replied as she piled dish after dish onto the table. Velvet and Scope walked over, both licking their lips as Apple Leaves brought out a two fresh pots of coffee and apple tea.

“You know me so well,” Ledger said as he polished off the second fritter, pouring himself and Scope a cup of coffee and dunking a sugarcube in each. Scope thanked him and then looked at Cider, who was biting into a cupcake that had a cherry on top… and when she ate the cherry, Scope struck, pulling the mare into a deep kiss as she ate the fruit right out of her mouth with a long, low moan.

“Dinner and a show,” Ledger mused as he took the opportunity to sneak more snacks while they were snacking on each other.

“Apparently,” Velvet mused as she sipped at her tea and nibbled on a few of the treats.

Fritter had to turn away, she was not going to enjoy her own sister making out, regardless of how hot it was.

Eventually the kiss broke and Scope let out a happy hum. “Mmm, tasty~”

“You’re telling me,” Ledger said, as he’d eaten several of the snacks in the time they’d been kissing. Scope and Cider turned and started wolfing down food. Apple Leaves brought out the main course, a large serving of tasty apple salad and true to her words with Joyful, Fritter had made an effort.

In front of the two Changeling, she placed plates of fried fish, a small side of tartar sauce and lemon juice, along with some steamed vegetables.

“Oh my,” Ledger said as he looked the fish over. “This looks...quite tasty indeed. I can’t imagine it was easy for you to do…”

“Not really,” Fritter said. “But, ah’ve been awful rude to y’all. So consider this a little apology from me.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Ledger said, though he didn’t turn down the fish at all. He’d been planning to visit Fredrick’s now that he’d gotten some fish back in the city again. He still would, but Fritter’s efforts came first. “Still...thank you. Remind me to return the favor some day.”

“Ah said it’s fine,” Friter replied, looking a little abashed. “Jus’ hold yer horses until ya actually try it. Ah ain’t ever cooked sumthin’ like that before.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t still appreciate it and cook for you again some day,” Ledger riposted, before he delicately cut a piece off with his silverware. He popped the fish in his mouth and hummed as he tasted it.

“S’good huh?” Scope whispered as she had already polished off like half her plate. Ledger nodded and began eating his with gusto. Apparently the answer to his earlier question was no, there was not anything Fritter could not make delicious.

“Ah’m glad you like it,” Fritter beamed. Gah, the happiness, if Ledger was a Pink, he’d probably pop right about now. It still flavored the meal by making it seem extra-sweet, but he dealt with it.

“Like I said,” Ledger said as he got to the halfway point of his fish. “Remind me to cook for you one day. I’ve learned a few things from Fredrick that you might like.”

“Sounds good,” Fritter nodded. “Now, iffn y’all don’t mind, ah got somewhere to be tonight.” She filled a basket with some of the delicious treats and gave the group a nod. “Have a good night everypony.”

“Take care,” Ledger said with a wave as he returned to demolishing his fish. Scope extended the same courtesy, and then leaned over and licked some sauce off of Ledger’s lips, humming at the taste~

“Cheeky,” the drone said before returning the favor.

“You know it,” Scope giggled. “Oh, and just an fyi, Sugar may want to snuggle the crap out of you when you see her next.”

“Oh dear,” Ledger said with a sigh. “That sounds...bothersome.” Deciding not to think about it for now, the drone went back to polishing off his dinner.

“You’re telling me,” she sighed as she continued to stuff her face. Gods, this mountain of food didn’t seem to diminish in the slightest. Velvet and Leaves were busy chatting away, so it seemed to be up to Cider and the two ‘lings to attack this consumable beast.

Their efforts were valiant, but in the end, it was an enemy they couldn’t overcome, not with their biggest eaters in Ponyville.

“Urrghhh!” Scope groaned, rubbing her bloated belly. “So. Much. Foooood…”

“Blargh,” Ledger agreed, having had an equally large amount. “Tempted to just teleport up to bed, so I don’t hafta walk and drag this belly up the stairs…”

“Lazy magic users,” Cider and Leaves echoed, earning a small frown from Velvet, but she had to agree with Ledger in that department. “Hmm, that does beg the question though, I’m afraid that I didn’t make prior arrangements as to where I might be staying,” she hummed.

And nopony had cleaned the spare room when the Madame decided to… use it.

“Didn’t you get here because you used Twilight’s Waypoint system?” Ledger pointed out.

“Yes, why?” Velvet asked.

“Then your home is a teleport away,” Ledger concluded. “Which leaves us time to air out the spare room,” though he would really rather not, “and if we don’t manage it before nightfall, the living room is still an option for Leaves and Fritter.”

“Well, I guess I could just do that as well,” Velvet said, a little miffed that he basically just told her to leave.

“Don’t get me wrong, I would love to have you around,” Ledger said, picking up on her mood shift. “We just don’t have a lot of options at the moment. If we can get the spare room in order before nightfall, you’re welcome to stay.”

“But then Leafy and Fritter would be put out,” Velvet smiled. “Don’t worry dear. I’ll be heading home soon.”

“Well ah reckon mah daughter doesn’t plan on coming back tonight, and you are quite nice to talk to,” Apple Leaves said. “Come on Velvet. Stay?”

Twilight Velvet sighed and rolled her eyes. “Fine. But only because you insist. Now, let’s help these stuffed ponies upstairs and get cracking on that room. I could use some ammunition against Lady Gossip later~”

“You really don’t have to,” Ledger weakly protested, both not wanting to clean up the room himself, and not wanting to pawn that mess off to their guests.

“I cleaned up after a teenage colt all the time dear,” Velvet smiled. “Don’t worry, it can’t be any worse as to what he and Cadence would get up to…”

And later, as Scope, Cider and Ledger lay in bed, he could hear Velvet’s voice.

“Dear Celestia, this is sooo much worse…”

“I tried to warn her,” Ledger said as he just cuddled the mares.

The Love Shack was always far more active at night, and the farmmare got a few looks as she walked inside, carrying a basket that the most divine smells were coming from. Still, she looked left and right, wondering if she was still wanted here…

She got her answer when there was a pop off to her side and a familiar unicorn form appeared next to her. “Hello~” Sugar cooed as she came closer to the farmpony. She yelped from the sudden appearance, but quickly calmed her nerves a little.

“W-Well, ah’m here… like y’all asked,” she said. She glanced back at the food. “Oh, ah brought some stuff…”

“Dessert brought dinner?” the disguised nymph giggled. “That sounds delicious. Why don’t you come back to my room where we can all discuss it?~”

“Ah, sure, ah guess,” Fritter nodded. This situation was certainly new, and she wasn’t sure what this mare was more hungry for. When they arrived, Moondancer was going through one of Sugar’s books.

“Hmm?” She looked up and pushed up her glasses. “Ohh, you brought our new friend?”

“And she brought us food as well~” Sugar purred before walking over to Moondancer and giving her a quick kiss.

“Oh?” Moondancer inquired as Fritter nodded and opened the basket. The Unicorn took a look inside and inhaled. She lifted a fritter out and looked at the mare. “Hmm, lets see if it tastes as good as she looks~”

She bit into it and then froze, her eyes wide. Sugar blinked and waved a hoof in front of Moondancer, wondering what was going on.

The mare shuddered and then moaned, looking at the dessert. “Oh sweet merciful gods, I think I just came…”

“It can’t be that good,” Sugar said defiantly as she lifted her own fritter out of the basket to eat.

Moondancer didn’t respond, as she just nibbled on her fritter and sighed happily. A quick bite from Sugar found that yes, it could be that good. It was the nymph’s turn to shudder and moan at the food of the Apple family.

“Ah take it… that you like it?” Fritter said with just a hint of smugness.

“It’s a shame you don’t live here,” Sugar said as she eventually came back from the pure bliss the food sent her to. “Otherwise, I would bribe you to cook for us all the time~”

“As temptin’ as that sounds,” Fritter chuckled. “Ah have a farm t’run back home. But yer more than welcome t’come and visit.”

“Oh I am so doing that,” Moondancer sighed. “Now, should we tell her the reason we called her here?”

“I rather think she can guess,” Sugar replied, giving her marefriend a quick kiss again.

“Well, ah reckon ah do,” Fritter nodded and smiled. “But humor me anyway?”

Moondancer nodded, and looked at Sugar, at least waiting for permission first.

“Go ahead,” Sugar said to Moondancer. “You can go first~”

The Unicorn nodded and scooted closer, licking her lips. “Well, why do you think we invited you?”

“W-Well, if ah had to guess,” Fritter hummed. “It’s because ya’ll—” That was all she got before Moondancer sealed her lips with a sensual kiss. A teasingly slow one, nibbling her lower lip, her tongue teasing the tip of the other mares…

“It’s because we find you highly attractive,” Sugar purred as she felt the lust in the room start to rise.

Moondancer broke the kiss eventually and nodded with a satisfied smile. “I can safely attest that she does indeed taste as good as she looks~”

Apple Fritter just blushed and rubbed her forehooves together. It had been a long time since she’d been complimented like this. Sugar closed in next, wanting her own taste test with the mare.

“My turn~” she said, before drawing Apple Fritter into a deep kiss, intending to taste the mare quite thoroughly. Well this was different, and it reminded Fritter a little of Midnight. She moaned into the kiss though, her tongue was so good~

Eventually the disguised nymph broke the kiss and smacked her lips before nodding. “You’re right, she’s extremely tasty.” And then her look turned even more devious. “I wonder if she’s tasty all over?...”

“Hmm, why don’t you find out?” Moondancer hummed. “I’ll take notes~”

“Ya know, ah reckon that’s a mighty fine idea,” Fritter smiled and leaned back, giving the mares a little show. Sugar hummed and kissed the Apple mare on the lips again, before trailing her kisses further south as she began to explore her again~

Chapter 67 - Or, how I learned to stop worrying and love the bat

Twilight out a small sigh as she arrived back home. That trip had been disastrous for all the wrong reasons, and yet, so much went right as well. She looked at the massive crystal hall she arrived in and rubbed one of her eyes. This castle still seemed so empty, sure, it was nowhere near the size of Celestia’s or even Cadence’s… but they had servants, guards… Twilight neither had, nor really needed any of that, so she estimated a good eighty percent of the Castle of Friendship went unused.

“Twilight? Is that you?” Spike wandered out from the kitchen, wearing his apron and carrying a wooden spoon. “Hey, I thought I heard you teleport in.”

“Hey yourself,” Twilight said, hugging her little dragon. “And what are you doing back? I thought you’d still be at Rarity’s?”

“I was, but then I decided to tidy our new library up a bit and then Midnight showed up, asking if I could send you a letter.”

“Where is she anyway?” Twilight looked around. “I half-expected to be hugged the second I arrived.”

“Dunno,” Spike shrugged. “She went to get some friends of hers after we got your reply. So I got started on dinner. Zap Apple Jam sandwiches and herbal tea.”

“Ohh, my favourite,” Twilight hummed. “And… thanks Spike.”

“Huh? For what?” he asked. “It’s not like you can cook…”

“Not that,” Twilight giggled, ruffling his spines. “Just, thanks for always being here.”

“Like I’d go anywhere,” Spike said, straightening his spines back up. “We’re friends Twilight. Always have been, always will be. That’ll never change.”

“Mhmm,” Twilight hugged him and then looked around. “So… any idea when Middy might return?”

“Beats me,” Spike replied as he headed for the kitchen again. “Oh, what do you feel like for dessert? We have… ice-cream, or… nope, I think that’s all we have actually. We really need to do some grocery shopping.”

“I’ll do some tomorrow,” Twilight made a note of it so she wouldn’t forget. She wondered if she should go find Midnight, but then another thought occured. She walked into the kitchen and pulled Spike into a hug when he was done making another sandwich.

“Wha? Twi?” Spike looked up at her. “What’s wrong?”

“I was just wondering,” she said. “On what you think about me entering this relationship?”

She...really wanted his opinion? He thought about his answer for a good long while before he finally responded.

“Well, I think, that if you’re happy… then I’m okay with it,” Spike nodded. “Since I was born, it’s really just been you and me. I mean, we had Princess Celestia, and our Canterlot and Ponyville friends… but, when they weren’t around, it was always just us. So, I guess getting used to the fact that you’ll have somepony else around now. I dunno, its… weird I guess. And if any of them hurt you, I’m gonna set them on fire.”

“Heehee, I know, thanks Spike,” Twilight smiled, her eyes tearing up, both from happiness that he was accepting of this, and pride at how much he’d matured. “Have I ever said that you’re the best assistant and absolutely best friend a pony could ask for?”

“Hmm, maybe,” Spike winked. “You can tell me a few more times though.”

“I’ll say it as much as I need to,” Twilight smiled and let him go. “So, want some help making some sandwiches?”

“Twilight, I love you, really,” Spike said. “But you could set fire to water. So please go and organise the library or something and leave the cooking to me.”

Twilight pouted and poked out her tongue, but left the dragon to his job and decided that some nice book organising would do her mood some good right now.

Ace frowned as he followed his student, once again carrying his lazy marefriend through the streets.

“Midnight, do you intend to tell us where in Equus we are going?”

“Mmnope,” Midnight giggled, and turned so she was walking backwards. “It’s a surprise~” she sang.

“A good surprise?” Amy asked from atop Ace’s back.

“Aw, come on you yummy little changeling,” Midnight hummed, still walking backwards and sidestepping a few ponies. “When I’m involved, it’s always a good surprise.”

“Is she right, Acey?” the disguised pink ‘ling asked her mount.

“That you’re yummy? Of course you are,” Ace chuckled, turning his head to nibble at her with his beak. “And as for the surprise thing...eh, fifty-fifty.”

“Mmhmm,” Amy said, keeping her eye on the bat, even if she wasn’t keeping an eye on where she was going. That said, she seemed to be effortlessly avoiding every obstacle, and that was when Amy noticed the bat ears flicking around every now and then.

Midnight eventually turned around the right way and giggled as she raised a hoof. “Tada~ We’re here.”

Yeah… a giant castle tree made of crystal was kind of hard to miss.

“You got permission for us to stay here?” Amy asked incredulously. “How?”

“I know a pony,” Midnight hummed as she walked up the the large doors and knocked. And when a purple alicorn opened the door, she wasn’t able to survive the oncoming bathug.

“Gah! Mid-mmph!” Twilight went to protest but Midnight sealed her off with a deep kiss. Ace sighed and shook his head before leaning over and plucking the Thestral off of the princess.

“Midnight, I believe that’s assault against the crown.”

“Nuh-uh, not if she’s mine to begin with,” Midnight protested as Twilight picked herself up.

“W-Welcome,” she said, looking a little flushed. Amy looked between the two and shook her head.

“I reiterate, how? It doesn’t seem likely she would open her doors to us. You, possibly, but she barely knows us.”

“Any friends of Midnight’s are friends of mine,” Twilight smiled. “Besides, I have a feeling that Midnight came here with no plan or any kind of checklist whatsoever.”

“Checklist?” Midnight blinked, still being held up by Ace. “What would anypony need a checklist?”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” Twilight muttered and looked back at the engaged pair. “So, would you like to come inside?”

“If you wouldn’t mind having us,” Amy replied. Twilight shook her head and Ace strode in, still carrying both mares. Spike was in the middle of carrying a tray of sandwiches to the dining room and waved.

“Oh, hey guys,” he greeted them. “Good timing actually. Dinner’s ready.”

“Yay! What’s cooking, master chef?” Amy asked the small drake, hopping down from Ace’s back and looking at the tray.

“Nothing much,” Spike blushed under the praise. “Just some Zap Apple jam sandwiches.”

“Sounds tasty,” Amy replied, choosing to follow him to the table. The dining room was rather impressive, and hanging above it, was a massive chandelier made from tree roots, dozens and dozens of crystals hanging from it.

And almost instantly, Amy could sense the emotions of the memories stored within them.

“Oh wow,” Amy said, shedding her disguise and using her wings to hover in front of each photograph, taking them all in reverently. “You and your friends...are really something.”

Twilight blinked, that mare was a… wait, she looked familiar… wasn’t that the Changeling that Pinkie ran off with last time. “Um, well thank you Miss…?”

“Oh, I’m still Amethyst Cream,” Amy replied as she darted from one photo to the next. “Oh wow, this place is just full of happiness and joy and care…”

“Yes, my friends made this for me a little while ago… after everything I had was destroyed with my last home,” Twilight fell quiet for a moment. Okay, yeah, don’t dwell on that. “But then they made this for me. It’s just amazing.”

“I could tell you that,” Amy said as she looked at another photo. “It’s almost like all your happy moments were...preserved, forever, in these pictures. If you could see what I see, feel what I feel…”

“I think I can,” Twilight said, flying up next to her and holding one of the crystals. “Maybe not in the exact same sense… but when I look at these…” Her heart felt so warm.

“Hmm, it just feels the best, doesn’t it?” Amy asked as she zipped over to another one and basked in the emotions. “Like being all wrapped up in a nice big blanket on a cold day…So warm, but inside...”

“Mhmm,” Twilight smiled as she landed back on the ground, and getting almost instantly hugged by Midnight. “I should show Ledger this at some point, it wasn’t here the last time he visited.”

“Yup!” Amy said as she landed besides the ponies and looked over at Spike. The dragon had finished setting the table, placing plates of sandwiches as well as a pot of tea.

“Okay, dig in everypony,” he hummed, already taking a bite of his own food. Amy followed suit, but paused the moment the Zap Apple Jam hit her tongue.

“Amy?” Ace blinked, slowly lowering his own sandwich. “You… okay?”

She chewed, slowly, savoring the taste of her sandwich before looking over at Spike. After she swallowed, she had one question for the drake. “Zap Apple Jam, huh?”

“Yup, made right here in Ponyville,” he nodded. “The Apple family only makes it once a year, so it’s super hard to get a hold of.”

“Applejack keeps a jar aside for all of her friends though,” Twilight explained. “Peanut butter used to be my favourite, but after trying this… well,” she bit into her own sandwich and hummed delightedly.

“I see,” Amy said. “...And how hard would it be to acquire some? For curiosity’s sake.”

“Filthy Rich buys most of their stock and then sells it at his store,” Twilight explained. “It sells out fast though, so I doubt he has any left by now… but,” her horn lit up and a sealed jar floated into the room a moment later.

“Oooh,” Amy said, looking at the jar intently. “How much do you want for it?”

The jar floated over to Amy and set itself down on the table in front of her. Twilight just shook her head and continued eating.

“...Really?” Amy asked, daring to hope. “You would just...give me something as valuable as this?”

“Like I said, I get a jar every year, and I also bought quite a few as well.” Twilight smiled at the nymph. “Even if it was my last, I’d still offer it.”

“Isn’t she just the best marefriend ever!” Midnight giggled and hugged the Alicorn close, causing her to blush slightly. Amy nodded her agreement with Midnight’s assessment before picking the jar up and holding it close.

“Oooh, the plans I have for you,” she whispered.

“I feel like I’ve just been bumped down on her list of favourite things,” Ace mock-pouted.

“Oh don’t you worry Acey, I still have plans for you as well,” Amy replied, not looking up and making ‘plans’ sound far more husky the second time around.

“Just be sure to clean up after,” Twilight said without missing a beat, making Ace blush a little that Amy had said that in front of a Princess, in her own castle no less.

“Still, thank you for the gift, Twilight,” Amy said as she put the jar to one side for now. “I hope my plans for it come to fruition. Along with some other plans I have.”

“I’d ask,” Midnight mused while she pet Twilight’s mane. “But I doubt I’d get a straight answer.”

“What plans are we talking about?” Spike suddenly asked. “And why would you need to clean up after? Are you guys planning on making a mess?”

“Of the highest degree,” Amy said with a giggle. “Don’t worry, I have my ways of cleaning up after our messes~”

Spike blinked and frowned, it sounded like he was missing some context.

“Grown up things Spike,” Twilight said, shooting Amy a warning glance and tugging at the jar with her magic. “Maybe I should hang on to this after all hmm?”

“Nuuu!” Amy cried as she jumped onto the jar, wrapping her body around it. “Don’t take the jar of deliciousness from me, please! I’ll be good!”

Twilight hummed as she kept both the jar and the Changeling afloat. “Hmm, I don’t know… what do you think Midnight?”

Midnight licked her lips and grinned. “I say let her keep it.”

“Very well,” Twilight nodded, releasing her grip on them. Amy sighed and resumed eating her tasty, tasty sandwiches, now that she didn’t have to fear for the jar of jam. Ace chuckled and shook his head. Would it be too much to ask for a normal day? Yes? Ah well…

“Once you’re done eating, would you mind showing them to one of the guest rooms Spike?” Twilight asked.

“Sure,” Spike nodded. “Any one in particular?”

Twilight thought for a moment and smirked. “The most durable one we have.”

“We’re not that bad,” Amy retorted, sticking her tongue out at the Princess.

“Nope, you’re so much worse,” Ace chuckled as he finished his food and gulped down his tea. “Haaah! Much better. That was delicious.”

“Yep, Spike’s a great chef huh?” Twilight said, rubbing his head again.

“Gah, quit it,” Spike grumbled, straightening his spines. Amy was the next one to show him her affection, as she used her magic to pull him into a hug. A hug that probably didn’t hurt him only because of his scales.

“This is good stuff,” she said.

“Gah! Again!” Spike said, though he was used to rougher treatment from Twilight. “...And why do you smell like mangoes?”

“Dunno,” Amy hummed as she gave him a quick peck on his head before letting go. She then chowed down on what was left of her dinner, humming happily at the taste.

Twilight looked at Midnight, then recalled an earlier conversation. Her horn lit up as Amy shone with a magenta hue. After a moment, Twilight nodded and sighed.

"Chaos magic... that's why," she said. Her horn lit up once more and the scent vanished, much to Midnight’s relief and dismay.

“Oh?” Amy hummed after gulping down her sandwich. “Somethin’ wrong, Twilight?”

"Not anymore," Twilight replied. "Your new perfume was courtesy of Discord. I removed it though. Any longer and Midnight here might have tried to eat you."

“Yeesh,” Amy said, sticking her tongue out. “Only Acey’s allowed to do that.”

"Why would that Griffon try to eat you?" Spike asked. Amy just hummed happily, not answering Spike. It was a good thing he didn’t have emotion-sense. Otherwise he’d be able to tell the amount of Lust she was radiating at the very thought.

Spike looked at Twilight and frowned, as the Alicorn just sighed and gave the Changeling an exasperated glare.

'Don't worry about it Spike," Midnight giggled. "Just think of Amy as a Changeling version of Pinkie."

"Ah, gotcha." The dragon replied like some great truth had been revealed.

“Well dinner was delicious,” Amy said, licking her lips for any stray crumbs. “So, what was the dessert plan?”

"Ice-cream," Spike answered. "Provided that Changelings like ice-cream." He looked at Twilight for answers, but Amy beat her to it.

“I love ice-cream! I’m pretty skilled in serving up all manner of delicious dishes of the stuff!” Somehow, she had pulled her scoops out of her saddlebags. Again. “In fact, I could probably make dessert even better if you let me at it, Spikey!”

Spike was going to question this, "Oh right, Pinkie bug. Um, sure, if you want. I'll show you where the kitchen is." Spike got up and led her through the halls until they reached a kitchen that was probably bigger than her whole apartment. Amy marveled at the size of it, before she remembered she came here with a job to do. The pink ‘ling shook her head and looked at the drake for direction, hoping he hadn’t seen that...

"That was my first reaction too," he chuckled as he pointed at a walk in freezer. "Ice-cream is in there." When the nymph opened it, she was graced with what appeared to be a smaller version of Pinkie's collection.

“Not bad,” she hummed, observing the collection. “Not bad at all...okay, I can guess what Acey will want, and Middy’s a sure bet, but you’re gonna need to help me with Twilight and yourself, Spikey.”

“Twi loves chocolate, and as long as it's ice-cream, I'll eat it," Spike remembered the day he ate over a dozen buckets. That was an amazing day, painful, but amazing.

“Hmm,” Amy hummed as she got some containers out. Mango for Middy. Strawberry and cherry for Acey, she’d make a double-berry swirl for him. Chocolate and vanilla for Twi, to add a bit of variety to her dessert. She’d was about to just have strawberry, but decided on having chocolate as well. And that left Spike…

Aw, what the hay. She’d make him a strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla swirl. “Got any toppings?” the nymph asked as she floated her selection out in front of her.

"Uhh, I think we have sprinkles and some cherries?" Spike rummaged around until he found said ingredients.

“Whipped cream?” Amy asked as she arranged the containers. “And we’ll need bowls and spoons as well.”

Spike nodded and pulled out the things she required, but took a mouthful of whipped cream first. She giggled at his antics, before the nymph got to work.

Middy’s was first, a simple dish of mango ice-cream that had a bit of cream and sprinkles topping it, with one cherry. Spike didn’t look impressed...and that’s when things got delicious.

Amy pulled out some chocolate and vanilla, flattened them against the counter, then rolled them up into one scoop and served it up, repeating the process a few more times until she had a dish of chocolate and vanilla swirled for Twilight. Some whipped cream, a few sprinkles, and a cherry saw that dish done.

Acey’s was next, strawberry and cherry wrapped around one another in a delectable duo of fruit. Amy topped his dish of double-berry blast with just cream and sprinkles. He hardly needed another cherry in that dish.

Next was her dish, chocolate and strawberry would be interesting. Sprinkles, cream, cherry, done. She was in the zone.

Spike’s dish was involved and had three flavors, so as a result he got less scoops of it, but to be fair, they were big scoops. When the chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry were swirled around one another to her satisfaction, she topped it with some cream, sprinkles, and a single cherry before sticking her scoops in the sink and wiping some imaginary sweat from her brow.

“Whaddya think of that?” the pink ‘ling asked the drake.

“Whooaaaaa..." the dragon replied, licking his lips and smiling. “That was, you’re a true artist Miss Amy."

“I try,” Amy said, taking a small bow. “Now let’s get these served to the others before ya eat them all.”

“I wouldn’t do something like that," Spike replied, though it didn’t sound so convincing. Amy giggled and started to lift them in her magic, humming happily as she began to leave with the cold treats, the dragon following close behind.

When they returned, Midnight’s nose twitched and her ears gave a happy wiggle.

"Eeeeee, I smell something tasty~" she trilled. Amy smiled as she levitated Middy’s bowl over to her first. If only so the bat would finally have her mango. Midnight giggled and bat her bedroom eyes at Amy.

"Delicious treats from a delicious mare, Middy likes~" Amy did her best to blush before serving Acey and Twilight their dishes as well.

Spike had already consumed most of his ice-cream. There would be no survivors on that front.

Twilight stared at her treat, wondering if something so delicious-looking could really exist. She licked her lips and took a tentative bite, before humming in delight and giving the nymph a happy smile.

“I’m happy you like it!” Amy chirped before taking her seat next to Acey and eating her own ice-cream. Mm, this wasn’t half-bad, she’d have to try it again when they went back home.

“Almost as tasty as the one that served it,” Ace replied, nuzzling the Changeling. “And you finally have everything sorted, I believe that has been a wonderful day for you hmm?”

“Yup!” Amy replied, kissing Ace’s cheek. “Everything has been seen to, though I might want to revisit Rarity in the morning. Just to make sure she’s okay.”

“Why would Rarity not be okay?” Twilight asked, hoping her friend hadn’t freaked out over the Changeling thing.

“Amy mentioned about her and Pinkie working together,” Midnight said, still eating her ice-cream.

“Ah,” Twilight nodded as Spike licked his bowl clean and jumped to his feet.

“Don’t worry Rarity! I’m coming!” he yelled and charged from the room as Twilight facehooved.

“I feel safer already,” Amy said in a deadpan, before giggling. “Well, we seem to have, unintentionally, removed young ears from the building for a moment.”

Twilight nodded, before her eyes widened in realisation. “Oh no…”

Amy snickered before pointing at Midnight with one hoof. Midnight finished her ice-cream with happy hum and looked at Amy.

“What?”

“Just expecting you to take advantage of the fact that Spike’s out for the moment,” Amy replied before returning to her ice-cream. There was still a little left.

Midnight put a hoof to her mouth in shock, as she put on a startlingly good imitation of Cider’s accent. “Why Miss Amy, ah do declare! Whut kinda mare do y’all take me fer. Ah am a lady.”

Amy paused mid-bite to shoot an unamused glance at the batpony. “Emotivore,” she reminded the mare.

“Buzzkill,” Midnight retorted and shrugged. “Besides, what would I possibly say? That it’s surprising about dessert? Isn’t Ace supposed to be the one that fills you with creamy goodness?~”

“There’s the Midnight I was expecting,” Amy said after polishing off her ice-cream. “And maaaaaybe? It depends on whose turn it is to be on top.”

Twilight suddenly choked on her ice-cream. “What?” she managed to croak out.

“I’m not fussed over gender,” Ace explained. “It’s the heart that matters more that anything.”

“Mhmm, Acey loves me no matter who I am,” Amy said, hugging her griffon and nuzzling him.

“She can change gender pretty easily,” Midnight explained. “Apparently it’s difficult for most Changelings to do—” The dining room doors flew open as a grumbling Chrysalis strode and and sat down, her head thunking against the crystal table.

“Hiya Chryssie!” Amy said, waving at the disgruntled queen. The queen lifted her head and looked at the Pink, before groaning louder and headbutting the table again.

“Please don’t scratch the table, Spike just polished it,” Twilight said. “And what’s the matter. You seem irritated… well, more so than usual.”

“Discord,” she muttered. Amy hummed before shrugging.

“Eh, I’m sure he’s a nice guy,” the pink ‘ling said. “Maybe we could get together and-”

“Finish that sentence and I will eviscerate you with nothing but my horn,” Chrysalis warned the nymph.

“Acey, the queenie’s being mean to me,” Amy whined.

“I fear I must agree with her, well, aside from the whole evisceration thing,” Ace nodded, rubbing behind Amy’s ear. “You and Discord should never, ever work together, for the sake of reality itself.”

“...Is it like me and Pinkie working together?” Amy asked as she leaned into the rub. So he knew her weak points. So what, it felt nice.

“That, only worse,” Ace nodded, his rubs turning into scritchies. Amy sighed, before giggling at a thought which she then shared with the room.

“Imagine if all three of us worked together?”

One could practically hear a record screech as the room fell silent.

“Sparkle.” Chrysalis uttered.

“Chrysalis?”

“If you would accomplish anything in life, it will be that you see that that future never comes to pass.”

“Agreed,” Twilight responded. Amy just giggled again, before sighing as Acey resumed his work. It felt good...maybe Chrysalis only needed a good scratching and she’d loosen up?

“So… what are you eating?” Chrysalis asked, looking at Twilight’s bowl. The Alicorn rolled her eyes and levitated a spoonful over to the nymph, who looked at it for a moment, before opening her mouth and taking a bite…

“Oh my…” she murmured, tasing both the flavour, and the Creativeness that went into making it. Then she paused, chewing slowly before swallowing and looking at the Pink mare.

“....You?”

“Mmhmm,” Amy said, still enjoying the rubdown she was getting from Acey. “It’s sorta my job, after all.”

“Should have figured,” Chrysalis replied, now wanting to go and launch an invasion of the fridge. “This is why I didn’t use Pinks in my army, too… hmm, what’s the word I’m looking for…”

“Strange?” Midnight asked.

“Quirky?” Twilight added.

“No, no…” Chrysalis hummed. “Ah, nice. There we go… bleh. Yes, they loved you ponies far too much to attack you.”

“Most of the compound colors probably didn’t want to help you either,” Amy added. “They thrive on things like being appreciated, which you can’t really have when you’re invading.”

“Yes well, it was a good idea in theory, and at at the time,” Chrysalis nodded. “Anyway, that’s in the past, and seeing the rather disastrous invasion of Las Pegasus taught me a thing or two.”

“The less said about that day the better,” Midnight muttered, biting down on her spoon as she ate the last of her ice-cream.

“Agreed,” Twilight said, finishing off the rest of her ice-cream. She looked over to Ace and a blissfully happy Amy. “Would you like to be shown to your room before to get a little too comfortable?”

“‘m good,” was Amy’s reply as she lazily bat a forehoof towards Twilight. Ace made for a comfy pillow.

Ace rolled his eyes and picked up his lazy marefriend. “If you don’t mind my princess, I would be honoured if you would do just that.”

“Of course,” she turned to Midnight and Chrissie. “I’ll be right back,” she said, before leading the two off.

The Griffon strode through the halls early the next morning, while he felt great, he was currently wondering why he was doing this again.

And when that little pink devil on his shoulder giggled, he remembered why.

“So, remind me again how this is a good idea?” he asked idly as they looked for a certain somebuggy.

“Cause Chryssy’s probably all tense from holding that scowl on her face all day,” Amy giggled again as she pointed a hoof down one hallway. “Right here. She’s close. And if you can relax her, I’m sure she’ll forgive you for not asking if you can do it first.” She then leaned down to whisper in his ear. “You certainly do a good job relaxing me…”

“I am beginning to wonder if you Changelings are a terrible influence on the rest of us,” he said to nopony in particular. He also wasn’t going to show what influence her words had on a certain part of his anatomy.

He rounded a corner and into what appeared to be a living area. There were a few beanbags, some large cushions and a couch. A massive fireplace sat against one wall, an emerald flame roaring from it that produced heat, but no smoke. Amy recognised a magical fire when she saw it.

Chrysalis was laying on one of the cushions, idly flipping through a book and she wore a baby blue t-shirt with the slogan ‘Blame Celestia’.

“There she is,” Amy whispered to her griffon. “Remember the plan. Ears first to get her in the mood. More as she becomes more...receptive. I’ll monitor her to make sure she stays innocent in her advances.”

“This… won’t end well,” Ace muttered. One of the queen’s ears flicked as they walked closer, but didn’t turn away from her book.

“The fight-happy bird, and the happy little Pink,” she muttered. “What do you two morons want?”

“We’re just here to see you,” Amy chirped from atop Ace’s back. “You’re not easy to find, y’know.”

“Gee, maybe because I want to be left alone!” she snapped. “Hives, I already have to do the whole ‘friendship’ thing with Sparkle and her annoying friends. Don’t push it.”

“Hmm, so what are you reading?” Ace asked, ignoring her words and causing the queen to growl. She hadn’t noticed them taking a step closer with each word.

“A book far above your feeble comprehension,” Chrysalis said. “Get lost.”

“Is it about ice-cream?” Amy asked, buying time until Ace was in scratching range.

“Yes little Pink, it is about ice-cream,” the snark was strong with this one. “I’m beginning to wonder if you have ice-cream instead of brains.”

Close now… almost…

“My employers did ask what I was thinking, becoming two ponies just to take two jobs at the parlor,” Amy said. Something, anything to keep the queen distracted! “One of them a stallion at that.”

“Oh, you’re one of those Changelings,” Chrysalis replied. “Well, not that I can talk. I can do that too after all.” Nearly there….

“I did it with Acey a lot until I decided I wanted a foal more than I wanted to hear him squawk,” Amy said shamelessly.

Chrysalis spluttered and turned to look at the naughty nymph, but it was too late. She felt a claw on her head and a gentle rubbing behind one of her ears.

“W-WHAT ARE YOU Doooing,” her indignant rage dying off rather quickly.

“Just showing you a little bit what it’s like to be loved and cared for,” Amy said as she hopped down to look the queen in the eyes, a smile on her face. All she got was a glare, though Ace already seemed to be winning out over that.

“I will kill yoouuu aaaallll,” she murmured.

“I still fear for the moment I stop,” Ace replied as he started scratching, as Chrysalis’ hind leg twitched slightly.

“Yeah yeah, working on it,” Amy said as she looked Chrysalis in the eyes. There was a feeling that usually came with Ace’s ministrations. Namely, she would say anything to keep them going, and she hoped the queen was of the same mindset.

“So how’s that feel, Chryssy? Nice, right?”

“Nnrggh, muurduurrrr,” she whined pitifully, raising a hoof to strangle the pink, but getting nowhere fast.

“Do you want him to keep going?” Amy asked, testing the waters as to how far gone the queen was.

Ace now moved to a killing blow, moving both hands down to knead her shoulders and neck. Chrysalis groaned and sighed, her head flopping down onto the pillow as she closed her eyes.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Amy giggled as she followed the noble nymph’s head. Mainly so she could whisper to the queen. “And this is what he’s like because I asked him to be nice to you. Imagine what it’s like for me all the time.”

“Let’s find out,” Chrysalis purred as her horn flared and she created an empathic link between them. Amy just sighed and wrapped herself in the love Ace had for her, the joy they shared with one another...all the good memories they’d made together.

Earned love was the best.

And that filtered back to Chrysalis, who sighed contently as Ace wondered something about the noble nymph, and tried the technique he discovered last night.

The effect was rather instantaneous on both mares. Amy’s shell flicked open at the same time as Chrysalis did, because apparently, Chrysalis forgot to make the link one-way. Meaning Amy was feeling what the queen was.

Not that she was complaining! Her wings fluttered out as she felt Acey’s ghostly hands massage the sensitive skin underneath them. Both mares moaned before Chrysalis’s eyes shot open as she cut the spell and levitated both of them into the air, anger and a rather impressive blush adorned her face.

“W-What the hell?!” she gasped.

“Buzzkill,” Amy pouted as she folded her forelegs. “Just when the massage was getting good, too.”

“Massage my holey hoof!” Chrysalis said. “Y-You dare try that with a Queen? Try and seduce me?”

“I was attempting no such thing,” Ace replied, already planning on breaking the hold if things got dangerous. “I was simply doing as Amy requested and she is also about to get a big serving of ‘I told you so’.”

“I just wanted you to see what it was like to have somepony genuinely care for you,” Amy said with a sniffle, already turning on her cute powers. “Why do you have to be so mean whenever anypony wants to help you?”

“But he doesn’t care and neither do you,” Chrysalis retorted, releasing her magical hold. “He just said that he only did it because you told him to.”

“Because I care and I asked him to do it like he cared about you,” Amy replied as she leaned on Ace. “You may be mean, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still turn around and find somepony that cares about you.”

“Urgh! Not this again,” Chrysalis sighed. Then she smirked. Fine, they wanted to play like that? And besides, that Griffon was pretty cute.

She stepped close to him and gazed into his eyes. “Hmm, okay then, let’s see just how much he cares~”

“Ap!” Amy said, interposing herself between the two of them and giving Chrysalis a little glare. “Don’t think I didn’t catch that! This one’s mine. All mine.”

“Aw, and here you were saying such things about caring, and his claws were magical,” she purred, looking the Griffon over. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind taking a real nymph for a ride… or vice-versa~”

“...Not what I was expecting,” Ace replied honestly. Though, it was kinda cute watching Amy defend him.

“Let’s do a little math here, Queenie,” Amy said, sitting on her haunches in front of the griffon. “Ten years of helping the mares of Las Pegasus find their special somponies, and feeding their foals ice cream. Plus no real need to draw on my magic during that time, thanks to my Pegasi guises. Factor in that I passed all the advanced shapeshifting courses through sheer stubbornness...what does that tell you about what sorta Ursa you’re pokin’?”

“Now, now,” Ace said, petting Amy on the head. “No need to start a fight, and if you really must. I’m sure we can find a mudpit around here or something…”

Amy blinked a few times before shooting an irritated glare at Ace. She then turned to Chrysalis and tilted her head. “Ten minutes, hooves off. Make him pay for that comment, please. Deal?”

“Deal~” Chrysalis all but purred as Ace slowly backed away.

“H-Hey now, let’s not get hasty…”

“She said ‘No Hooves’, and made the mistake of that being the only limitation,” Chrysalis said, looking back at Amy to let that sink in. “And I am quite creative with my spell casting. And, don’t worry… fast is the last thing I am going to be~”

“I’m going to get breakfast,” Amy said as she left her griffon to his fate. “If I come back to a mess, one of you is licking it up. By force if need be.”

“You cannot be serious here?” Ace replied as Chrysalis snared him in her magic again. “Amethyst!”

“Maybe she just needs a good lay,” Amy said from the doorway. “Oh, and Chyssy, if I come back to a room that does not have a griffon, I will make you my new plaything. Got it?”

“Crystal,” Chrysalis nodded and once Amy left the room, she chuckled and dropped the Griffon again. “Oh don’t worry, you have enough loyalty there to feed the whole Blue Hive, and if I did something like this under Sparkle’s roof, she’d probably turn me to stone or something.” She flopped back down on her pillow and sighed.

“You nymphs are un-bucking-believable,” Ace groaned, rubbing his oncoming headache. “I can’t tell if Amethyst was being serious or not, nor you for that matter.”

“Oh? I was quite serious, but the last time I interfered with a relationship ended on a rather low note for me, so thanks but no thanks. That’s an issue I’d rather not deal with again. Ever.”

“Well, I’ll still offer that massage if you like?” Ace hummed, flexing his claws.

“Eh, fine, whatever,” Chrysalis replied after shrugging. And when Amy returned with food, she was greeted with no sexytimes at all…but one of the more adorable moments she could see, as Ace was massaging the queen. And every time he hit one spot, her hind leg let off a little twitch.

“Not what I expected, but I’ll roll with it,” Amy said before speaking louder. “I bring sustenance!”

“Oh?” Chrysalis hummed. “But I have all that I need right here, isn’t that right my beloved Acey~”

“All for my Queen.” he said in a flat tone, his eyes having taken a green hue.

“...I warned you, Chryssy,” Amy said, her tone going flat as she built up her magic.

“Oh relax, maybe you need one of these as well?” she sighed as she removed the glamour spell around Ace.

“You did just expect me to cheat on you,” Ace frowned.

“There’s a difference between just doing a nymph and her trying to steal you from me,” Amy replied. “Heck, you buck me every night. And when was the last time Chryssy got laid anyways?”

“A little before the invasion,” Chrysalis replied. “Shining Armor was annoyingly resistant to my advances, but other Guards were more than willing for a little fun with a loose mare~”

Ace grunted as he got up and walked over to Amy, before sitting down in front of her and holding up the hoof that had her engagement band on it. “You remember this?” he asked her. “This means I’m not going anywhere alright. Not Chrysalis, not even Celestia or the gods themselves could take me away okay. Just, try and think a little about my feelings hmm?”

“I...I know, it was pretty rotten of me to do that,” Amy said with a sniffle. “But...I can feel how negative she is. It’s like a toothache in all my teeth, like a cramp in all my muscles. And I’m running out of ideas as to how to help her. I’m almost willing to do anything to just make the pain stop.”

“Or just accept the fact that you can’t help everyone,” Chrysalis grumbled.

Ace sighed and kissed his mare. “While I will not and will never cheat on you my love.” He gave her a cheeky smiled and whispered into her ear. “I will not say no to spicing up our relationship a little~”

“I...I just want to see her smile, if only for a moment,” Amy said, looking up and hugging Ace. “If only so when she stops, it doesn’t hurt as bad. And I won’t hold it against you if you have to do...things, to coax it out of her.”

“Amethyst Cream!” Ace barked, using her full name. “I am not going to do something like that if it makes you that uncomfortable.”

“And I’m sorry you're so sensitive to a nymph that doesn’t deserve it,” Chrysalis added. “But really, getting your drone to do it instead of yourself. That’s just lazy is it not?”

“You’ve resisted or turned down all my attempts to get you to smile!” Amy said, her voice starting to break. “The closest we ever seem to have gotten is emotional manipulation, and that doesn’t count! I...tell me what to do to help you, please!” Amy’s colors were even now dimming as she fell into despair at the thought of never being able to help Chrysalis.

The nymph sighed as she got up and walked over to the mare, before promptly smacking her upside the head.

“Knock that off right now!” she ordered. “Shifting to a Black, all because you’re not getting your own way? What a spoiled little brat you are.” She then shocked everyone, maybe even herself as she pulled the nymph into a hug. “Let’s… let’s start as friends yes. And we’ll see where we go from there.”

“I can deal with that,” Amy said with a little of her usual pep. Yeah, she really needed to see somepony about that whole Black thing, but Chryssy didn’t have to hit her.

“Good, now stop crying already. Or you’ll give me a toothache,” she muttered.

“And now somepony else realises how sweet my Amy is,” Ace chuckled. He leaned in close and hummed. “We could still find a mudpit~”

Amy looked up to Chrysalis, a dangerous glint in her eyes. “Tagteam?” she offered the larger nymph.

“Ohh, now that sounds like a fun little bonding experience,” Chryssie purred. Amy broke the hug and circled around behind Ace, cutting off his escape route from the room.

“You can have first go, I get him all the time anyways,” Amy told the queen. Chrysalis chuckled as she stepped closer to the Griffon.

“H-Hey now, what happened to the whole, ‘I don’t do taken ones’ thing?” Ace bargained.

“Oh, this is more of a loan really,” Chrysalis replied, licking her lips. “Besides, as long as she’s watching, it’s not really cheating.”

“I feel as though I should raise an argument against this,” Ace prompted.

“You do, and I’ll not join in for round two,” Amy said as she secured the doors. “Besides, when’s the next time you’ll get this chance, Acey?”

“Still not convinced I want thischance in the first place,” Ace retorted.

“Didn’t you just make her feel good?” Amy asked. “Let her return the favor~”

“My massages do not include ‘happy endings’ for my clients!” Ace argued, even as Chrysalis stalked closer, wondering what limits she had here.

“They do when I get them,” Amy purred. “Go on Acey, do it for both of us?”

“I need more convincing,” Ace said. “I am not Midnight after all.”

Amy stalked a little closer, giving Ace her best ‘bedroom eyes’. “Please?” she asked, with more than a hint of lust in her voice.

“I don’t know…” Ace replied, this was Queen Chrysalis after all, and he really didn’t feel anything towards her. “I’m sorry, but I just don’t think I can do it…”

“Figures,” Chrysalis sighed, before looking at Amy. “Unless you want to.. ehem, warm him up first.”

“I’m the best at that,” Amy said with a giggle before she all but pounced Ace. The pink nymph drew him in for a deep kiss while one hoof stroked along his chest, trying to get some reaction out of her gryphon.

He just didn’t seem to be as into it as much, leaving Chrysalis to wonder what she could… hmm, he was close to that batpony right?

“Hmm, perhaps another form might help?” Chrysalis hummed. “I think you might go batty for this one~”

Amy looked over to see Chrysalis transforming into Midnight, and rapidly shook her head at the queen, indicating, hopefully, that it was a bad idea. She then used her hoof to point to herself, hoping to get the message across as to which forms Acey found preferable these days.

She shifted back, then the most brilliant idea formed in her head and she smiled wickedly. She stepped forward, even as emerald flames licked at her form.

~*~*~

“They did what with who!?” Twilight yelped from the kitchen. She groaned and applied her hoof to her face. Well, at least Chrysalis was getting along with somepony… in a sense.

“You know,” Midnight mused as she ate her cereal. “If Amy gets pregnant here, I’m going to rename this place ‘Sparkle’s Castle of Conception’.”

“Do that and I will send you to the moon a few hundred years,” Twilight groused as she bit into her toast. “This is totally Ledger’s fault. He brought this debauchery into my palace.”

“Nah, it was a group effort,” Midnight replied as she reached for the pile of toast… and found a Pinkie Pie there instead. “Um, waiter? There’s a pony in my food.”

“Heehee, heya Middy!” Pinkie giggled. Then, the most peculiar thing happened as her eyes blinked, she giggled snorted and then her stomach rumbled loudly.

“Okay, what in the hay was that combination?” Twilight deadpanned as Midnight stared in confusion.

“I need to find Amy!” Pinkie declared and raced from the room before anypony could stop her. Twilight looked at Midnight and shrugged, before resuming her eating.

Ace was starting to stir again, just as Chryssie and Amy concluded round three for the sake of it.

And that was when a puffy pink pony popped up from between the cushions, making Chrysalis scream in fright and surprise.

“Phew! Somepony’s been busy in here,” Pinkie waved a hoof in front of her face. Her eyes locked onto Amy and she squee’d. “AHA! I found you!”

“Pinkie!” Amy said as she hugged her fellow pink mare. “What’s happenin’?”

“I got a doozy of a combo this morning,” she explained like Amy knew what she was talking about. She suddenly flipped the nymph onto her back and stared at her belly, before putting her ear to it, humming for a bit. It took the nymph a second to realise she was humming a birthday song…

“Are you?” Amy asked, daring to hope again.

Pinkie pulled up and giggled. “Ten months, thirteen days, seventeen hours aaaaaand, three minutes… give or take.” She smiled widely and giggled. “Congrats Mommy.”

“Eeeeeee~” Amy said as she pulled Pinkie up into a hug. One that Spike would probably call too much, even with his dragon scales to protect him.

“I’m… supposed to be… Pinkie Pie… not, Bluey Pie!” she wheezed, turning quite a nice shade of blue as Ace finally woke up and rubbed his eyes.

“Huh? What the… another one?” he asked sleepily. “Seriously Amy… isn’t one extra enough?”

“Acey!” Amy said, letting go of Pinkie for a moment. “Surely you remember Pinkie? I showed her off to you in Las Pegasus and everything!”

“Yes?” Ace remembered her quite well, it was like seeing a pony version of Amy and to be honest, he might have also found her a little cute. “Is it her turn now?”

“Only if she asks~” Amy said semi-seductively. “Oh, Pinkie, I forgot to ask! Do you know what sort of foal it’ll be?”

“Hmm, too early to tell…” she suddenly vibrated and then her forelegs flapped like wings before coughing up a pink feather. “Whooo, nevermind. Feathers… yep, definitely a flyer.”

“Yay!” Amy cheered before hugging Acey. “Y’hear that, you studly griffon? It worked! It finally took!”

Chrysalis breathed a sigh of relief as Ace blinked and looked at the bug attached to his chest. He was still half-asleep…

“Um, wat?”

Amy leaned up to whisper to her griffon. “You’re gonna be a daddy.”

The Griffon paused and looked down, and when Amy nodded, a wide smile broke out onto his beak as he pulled her up and gave her a deep kiss. Amy just hummed happily into it, holding him close, before eventually coming up for air and looking at Pinkie.

“Thanks for telling us,” she said to the pink mare. “You don’t know...how long we’ve been trying.”

“Hmm, Pinkie Sense didn’t tell me that, but I’m guessing a while,” she replied. “Anyway, I have stuff to do, congrats again.” She turned and gave Chrysalis a look, before shrugging and bouncing away, singing some silly song.

It was also around then that a happy bat collided with Amy and sent the two tumbling across the floor. The pink nymph gave off several grunts as she and the thestral tumbled before the pair of them finally rolled to a halt, with Middy straddling her form. “Wow, everypony’s being suggestive around me today,” the pink nymph giggled. “Not that I’m complaining~”

“Maybe later,” Midnight said with a wink and kissed her nose. “In the meantime, I heard the news… Eeeeeeeeee~”

“I know, isn’t it the best?” Amy asked before pulling Midnight into one of her bone-crushing hugs. She was just so happy~

Ace chuckled at the two mares, before walking over and poking Amy’s nose. “Hmm, so no more of this Black nonsense then hmm? You have a cute little foal to look out for.”

“I’ll try,” Amy said as she looked up at Acey. “But I can’t promise anything. It just seems to come and go…”

“Ask Twilight,” Midnight said, still trapped in Amy’s grip. “She cured Levvy’s Blackiness.”

“I think I will,” Amy said, letting go of Midnight and standing back up as quick as she could. The pink nymph hummed a happy tune as she bounced out of the room, in search of the alicorn in charge around here.

Twilight sat at the kitchen table, reading the newspaper and sipping at her morning coffee. She was going to pretend that she didn’t know what was going on in that living room and to be honest? She was still a little jazzed about last night.

Okay, so she learned that she really likes mares now. That was a thing…

And then her vision was invaded by a changeling nymph with pink accents. “Twilight, ya gotta help me!” Amy said dramatically as she did her best to get the Alicorn’s attention.

“WHA!” Twilight cried out and fell backwards, hitting her head on the floor. “Oowwwww…”

“...Twilight?” Amy asked, looking down to the floor and cringing. “Oooh, that doesn’t look good…”

“You think?” she still managed to snark out. “Urgh, I can’t handle you and Pinkie in the same town… and what do you need help with? And I swear, if you say your burning desires or something…”

“Nah, though that’s a good line, I’ll save it for later,” Amy said with a giggle before turning serious. “No, my problem is that my color isn’t exactly...stable anymore.”

“You too?” Twilight asked, getting up off of the floor. “Well, we could try the same method I used with Ledger.”

“Ledgy had this problem as well?” Amy asked, tilting her head to one side. Well there was some news for her.

“Yes, only his case was far more worse, well, at least it is until I discover how severe your case is.”

Amy nodded and took a breath to brace herself. “Well, thanks to Pinkie, I know I have a foal on the way, so I can’t go Black before then. Wouldn’t be healthy for either of us. Do what you have to, Twilight.”

The Alicorn… looked a little sad now. “Well, there’s a problem with that. The cure I used… requires you to go Black.”

“Nope, nothing doing,” Amy said, shaking her head. “I am not doing that to my foal. Anything but that.”

“That’s understandable,” Twilight nodded. “And once he or she is born, I’ll be happy to help you. But right now, the only cure I have will only hurt you.”

“Well then, why don’t we get crackin’ on a new one?” Amy asked. “I mean, you’re a super smart pony, I’m a willing test subject, within reason.”

“Hmm…” Twilight was already going to work on thinking of how to stop it. The problem was how this was working in the first place. She hummed and trotted from the room, carrying Amy along with her magic.

“We have science to do,” she giggled with glee.

“Yay for science!” Amy cheered, wearing a pair of goggles that hadn’t been there a second ago.

Ace and Chrysalis wandered the halls of the castle, wondered where their little ball of hyper had run off to.

“She’s probably off telling all of Ponyville about her foal,” Chrysalis replied as she scanned the halls

“Hmm, no, she’d probably drag me along for that,” Ace said. Chrysalis chuckled, then he picked up on something.

“Ahh, found her. Why is she all the way down here though…”

The Griffon followed the nymph until they reach a rather inconspicuous door. But what was more alarming, was the voices that were coming from the other side. That was definitely Amy… and Twilight?

“I’m telling you Twilight, it won’t fit,” Amy’s voice said. “It’s just way too large.”

“Nonsense, you’re a big girl, you can take it.” Twilight replied. “Now quit whining and take it!”

“But I’m already tired and sore, I can’t take much more of your instrument,” Amy whined.

“But we’re only just getting started and I haven’t gotten what I want yet,” Twilight scolded her. “I’m not satisfied yet, and didn’t you say you’d do anything?”

“Anything within reason! That’s not being very reasonable!” Amy sounded a bit more stressed at that.

“Well, then what do you suggest?” Twilight replied, sounding a little miffed. “I have a variety of instruments here that we haven’t tried yet.”

“Anything that isn’t so large? And maybe go slower?” the pink nymph asked. “I can only take so much prodding.”

Ace frowned and applied his talon to his face with a low groan. “I'm starting to wonder if one of Amy's parents was a Violet…”

“I knew Sparkle was a little weird,” Chrysalis nodded. “But to think she’d have this particular type of dungeon.”

“Thaaaaat’s better. And it even feels nicer,” Amy said with a happy little moan.

“See, I knew you’d agree eventually,” Twilight giggled.

“I think I need to go in there,” Ace said, but Chrysalis stopped him.

“Shh, it’s just getting good,” she purred. “I want to see where this goes.”

“So, what do you think Twilight? Are you good for now, or do you want to keep going?” Amy asked.

“Hmm, it looks good, but I think I want to try a few other things first.” Twilight replied and the gap under the door lit up. “Now, let’s see if this tool of mine works as well as I think it does.”

“Ooooh, that feels funny,” Amy said. “But in a good way…”

“Okay, so this is now a thing,” Chrysalis hummed, already feeling up for it again. It was strange that she couldn’t sense any Lust coming from the room though. “Hey Acey~ Wanna go again?”

Ace sighed and opened the door, only to see Twilight in a labcoat and glasses as she held some sort of helmet over Amy’s head, as she checked some wires and blinking lights.

“Do… do I even want to know?” Ace groaned. Seriously, why did he get so worked up?

“Hi Acey!” Amy said as she held still, as per good test subject etiquette. “Twilight and I are just running a few experiments!”

“Awww, you mean this isn’t Sparkle’s kinky little sex palace?” Chrysalis whined from the door. Twilight blushed a bright red and waved a hoof at Chrysalis.

“K-Kin...Where the hell would you get an idea like that!?”

Ace coughed and nodded. “Well, without context… and what we heard…”

“Perverts,” Twilight muttered as she turned back to her printouts. “You’re all nothing but perverted degenerates.”

“Not all the time,” Amy chirped up from under her helmet. “In fact, I might tone it down a lot now that I know I’m gonna have a foal.”

“Awww,” both Ace and Chrysalis whined, as Twilight facehooved.

“Not completely,” Amy said with a lewd smile. “But it will go down to normal levels.”

“Just as I was getting used to this as well,” Ace winked at her. Chrysalis suddenly got a wide smirk and whispered something into Amy’s ear.

Something involving Meta and a bound and gagged Griffon…

“Oooh, that sounds like fun,” Amy giggled. “Let’s say...Saturday?”

Chrysalis looked at Twilight who just groaned and sighed.

“You know what? I dont care anymore. And we’re done here anyway, I have to compile all this data and try to find something useable. Go and bug Midnight or something.”

“Kay!” Amy said as she slipped her helmet off and began bouncing down the hallway, singing something about finding a silly bat. Twilight chuckled, now they were Middy’s problem.

“I still...don’t get...why I had… to do this!” Spike wheezed as he and Midnight finished another lap around the outside of the castle.

“Well little dragon-buddy. You’re lookin’ a little plump there. You think Rarity would go for it?” Midnight giggled as she paused and stretched.

“...Another lap then?” Spike asked, much more enthused now.

“Another lap,” Midnight nodded. “Hmm, what is that?”

“What’s what?” Spike asked, looking around.

“A weird sound,” Midnight said, her ears flicking. The faint sound of...singing. A familiar voice singing, and coming closer. “That sounds like Amy…”

Spike realised they were finally getting a break and collapsed, pouring his water bottle over his head as Midnight wondered if she could surprise the Changeling and hid behind a nearby bush.

The pink ‘ling bounced into view before looking at Spike. “Hiya Spikey!” she greeted enthusiastically, though only with a wave. “Whatcha up tooooo?”

“Ahhh, running… laps,” he sighed. He saw the Thestral creeping up behind the Changeling, masking her emotions so she couldn’t sense her coming. “You?”

“Twilight told me to, and I quote, ‘Go and bug Midnight or something.’ So I’m just doing as the princess said~” The pink ‘ling then looked around. “So, seen her?”

“You might say that,” Spike replied as a pair of hooves touched Amy’s flanks.

“Boo!” Midnight whispered into her ear.

“Yeek!” Amy said as she bolted for a moment, before turning and looking at Midnight. “You...how did you sneak up on me like that?”

“I have my ways,” Midnight winked at her. No need to scare the mare with what the Thestral could really do. “Payback for all the times you jumped me.”

“Of course you realize, this means war,” Amy said in a serious fashion.

Spike backed away slowly. A prank war in Ponyville never ended well for anypony.

“Aww, dont be like that,” Midnight said, snuggling the nymph. “Besides, you love me too much.”

“For now,” Amy said, her eyes already sparking with mischief. “But when we get back home, all bets are off, missy.”

“Yeah, yeah… ten bits says you forget completely by this afternoon,” Midnight chuckled, rubbing the nymphs head. “So what’s this about coming to bug me?”

“Twilight’s doing some testing and boring stuff, and apparently having me, Chryssy, and Acey all in the same room as her is really distracting,” Amy replied. “So she said I should bug you instead~”

“Ah, you know, speaking of that, what’s up with you and Chrysalis?” Midnight asked as Spike used this distraction to escape from the exercise-happy bat. Amy chuckled before waving a hoof at Midnight.

“Let’s just say, she really needed to unwind, and me and Acey helped her with that~”

“Well, that’s good… I think?” Midnight replied and looked at the nymph. “Sooo, watcha wanna do?”

“I dunno, I was just told to come bug ya instead of bugging Twilight,” Amy said. “Hmm...got any ideas?”

“Hmm, you said you had ideas for your cake yeah?”

“Yeah, loads now, and- ohmygosh, I completely forgot I wanted to check on Rarity,” Amy said as her wings flicked out from under her shell. “Wanna come with?”

“Sure, Spike seems to have run away,” Midnight giggled, wondering where her training buddy went. “Race ya!” And with that, she shot off towards the boutique.

“Oh no fair!” Amy shouted as she chased after the bat. It promised to be a hectic day for Ponyville yet...

Chapter 68 - Meanwhile, back on the farm...

As Level Ledger awoke, and headed for the kitchen in search of the sweet nectar that fuelled him from day to day, he saw that Twilight Velvet was already up, and that a fresh pot was on the table. However, as he made to reach for it, her magic held the pot of life just out of his reach.

“Let me be perfectly clear on this,” she said, before giving him the pot. “Your mother and I are going to have words.” She shuddered as she recalled what she had to clean up. “I mean, how the buck did they get it on the damned ceiling?”

“Don’t know, don’t want to know,” Ledger returned as he made his cup of coffee. “It was bad enough seeing it for a second.”

“I can imagine,” Velvet nodded as she pushed the bowl of sugar forward. “Also, I have one more piece of advice for you dear, but I really hope you don’t take it the wrong way.”

“I’m listening,” Ledger said as he dunked a sugarcube into the cup and stirred it.

“Do you ah, know any soundproofing spells?” she asked. “Because, you might want to think about using them next time. Those mares of yours are… enthusiastic.”

“...Oh dear,” Ledger said, blushing. “I, ah, thought I used them…”

“Well either you did and they failed, or you forgot while in the ehh, throes of passion as it were. I erected one before too much damage was done, but I fear Leafy was a little scarred after her daughter shouted something I care not to repeat.” Though, she would have Night try that on her later…

“Yes, I am terribly sorry about that,” Ledger said, still red and not touching his coffee just yet. “We, ah, normally don’t get many visitors on the farm...I guess I must be out of practice with my soundproofing spells.”

“Yes well… moving on,” Velvet blushed. She did look remarkably like Twilight when she did that. “Have you heard back from Twilight yet?”

“Not yet, but that’s typically how it goes with her,” Ledger said as he finally sipped his coffee. Nodding at the taste and setting it back down, he continued his earlier sentiment. “Sometimes she’s here several days in a week. Sometimes she can’t come over at all. She’s here when she’s here, and I cherish those moments like I do with all the others. Today I have to work, so it’s unlikely I’ll see her at all.”

“Such a shame,” Velvet sighed, and even as he did, a scroll winked into existence above Ledger, narrowly avoiding landing in his coffee.

“Then that happens,” Velvet giggled. Ledger took the scroll and opened it, with Twilight explaining that Midnight would be back by the days end, but she wasn’t sure if she’d be returning with her. It also told him of the rather wonderful discovery she’d made concerning the female side of his herd, and it explained how she’d come to that conclusion in her usual amount of detail…

As in, a lot. She even included diagrams for buck’s sake. Ledger blushed, but merely rolled the scroll back up and stuffed it in his saddlebags. He’d file that at work, in case he needed something for...reading later.

“Ahem. Midnight will be back by the end of the day. But with Twilight, it’s anypony’s guess. She may or may not have time to come over.” With that message delivered to Velvet, Ledger decided that his coffee was absolutely fascinating.

“Well, good to hear, I do hope I can see her again before I have to go home,” Velvet hummed as she floated her empty coffee mug into the kitchen. Scope eventually wandered down stairs, and grabbed the coffeepot with her magic, drinking it straight from the pot.

“And good morning to you too,” Ledger said with only a touch of snark.

“Refer to my usual cactus-based retort,” Scope replied in a flat tone as she drained the whole pot before taking it into the kitchen to refill it. “Urgh! I do not want to do anything today… Ledger, can I have a sick day?”

“It’s not like Celestia has moved her flank on getting the messaging service folded into the government yet, so I don’t see why not,” Ledger said. “Just keep in mind, you lose out on the chance to try and seduce me at work during lunch break.”

“Oh no, woe is me,” Scope replied with enough snark for him to choke on. Ledger just shrugged before finishing off his cup of coffee.

“Your loss,” he said. “Now that my paperwork has been automated, I find myself with a lot of free time, and very little to do with it.”

Cider limped down the stairs, each step earning a pained groan from the mare. Velvet gave her a curious look and looked at Ledger with a raised eyebrow.

“Note ta self,” Cider winched as she ambled into the kitchen. “Do not perform any strenuous activities after a serious sparring session with Fritter… owww…”

“You were the one that kept saying ‘harder’ last night,” Ledger pointed out, wishing that there was coffee left to give her.

“Y’all didn’t hafta listen to me,” Cider groaned as she stared at listlessly at the empty pot. “Awww…”

“Scope’s making more,” Ledger said as he scooted next to his mare and kissed her. “And a good stallion always listens to the mare.”

Cider just groaned as Apple Leaves walked in and placed a basket of vegetables that she’d just harvested from the garden. That was when Cider remembered something and hobbled from the room in a hurry, returning a few moments later with a slip of paper in her mouth.

“Hey Ledger?” she asked. “Think you could run this to the bank for me and cash it?”

“Yeah I can do th-” Ledger cut himself off mid-word as he looked at the check. “That is a lot of zeros,” he mumbled as he continued to stare at it.

“That was from one case,’ Cider nodded. “Imagine whut’ll happen when ah get to harvest a whole crop an’ produce a few hundred bottles?”

“Iiiiii think our money issues are well and truly solved,” Ledger said as he gingerly floated the check over to his saddlebags. “And that’s before Twilight and I get teleportation cracked as well.”

“Ah reckon,” Cider nodded. “Still, ah imagine the price will go down when I can produce more of it. An’ once it takes off, ah reckon ah won’t be the only one to get in on this, so this won’t last forever.”

“Still, that’s quite the sum for one case,” Ledger said. “We could be set for a while with that money.”

“Ah still don’t know why she paid me so much,” Cider said, staring at the empty pot as the coffee slowly dripped into it. “Ah won’t complain, ah jus’ don’t know if it was worth that much.”

“Considering how high-quality your produce usually is, I’m going to say she probably thought it was,” Ledger said, sitting next to Cider and hugging her from the side. “You’re probably right, though, in that others might not pay nearly as much…”

“Flatterer,” Cider blushed and looked away. Velvet giggled at the cute show, as did Leaves.

“Coffee’s done,” Scope announced, causing Ledger to hug the floor as Cider all but vanished and appeared next to her marefriend.

“I’d complain, but I’d probably have done the same if I’d been the last one down,” Ledger muttered before picking himself up. “Well, I suppose breakfast is the next item on the agenda,” the disguised drone mused.

“I can arrange that dear,” Leaves nodded. “Velvet, would you give me a hoof?”

“Of course,” the Unicorn replied. The two mothers quickly kicked the younger ponies out of the kitchen as they went to work.

“So did Fritter come home last night?” Cider asked, feeling much better with coffee in her system.

“I don’t think so,” Apple Leaves replied. “Perhaps her date went well?”

“I’d say so,” Scope chuckled. Ledger shook his head at the banter before easing himself into his chair and looking at his empty mug.

“You realize talking about her like that is just asking for trouble,” the drone rejoined. Scope refilled his mug and dumped a sugarcube or two into it.

“How so?” Cider asked.

“Well, any second now, Fritter will probably walk in that door about as bow-legged as you were,” Ledger explained. “Probably when we’re in the middle of discussing what a unicorn and a changeling nymph got up to with her.”

They all turned and stared at the door, honestly expecting her to do just that… And did so for a solid five minutes before they realised that life wasn’t that cliche.

“Ah well,” Scope hummed. “I think I’ll come with you anyway Ledge. I should check up on the others. See if they’re getting on alright.”

“If you want,” Ledger said as he drank his second cup. “I know I can’t stop you, after all. And I could do with company at the company.”

“All yer little buggy workers not enough company?” Cider chuckled. “Well that’s fine. Ah have a lot to do here today anyhow. Make sure mah fields ain’t sufferin’ any frost damage. Check the settin’s on the greenhouse, stuff like that.”

Ledger sat next to Cider again, kissing her cheek and leaning on her. “We both have quite a few things to do, don’t we? Ah well.”

“Hmm, true, but try and do some actual work, rather than jus’ doin’ Scopey huh?” Cider gave him a cheeky wink as Leafy and Velvet brought out some breakfast of eggs, toast and a simple salad.

“Breakfast is ready~” Velvet sang out, beating Leaves to her usual Apple holler of ready food. “Not quite as extravagant as dinner, but I imagine we don’t have time to dilly-dally today.”

“You imagine correctly,” Ledger said before digging into his breakfast, enjoying the taste all the same. Cider and Scope nodded in agreement, the two mares already tucking into their own breakfast.

Once they were done, Cider, Scope and Ledger cleared the table before the two Changeling’s left for work. So far it was shaping up to be a rather average day…

Scope had moved her chair into the middle of the room and slowly spun on it. Only two of her minions had actually answered her call, the one in Ponyville and the Baltimare one. Now she was bored out of her little buggy brain as she used her magic to make the chair spin faster or slower.

Ledger, on the other hoof, was bored as well, but that was because his job was going well. Half of it had been taken care of already, namely, the paperwork he had to oversee everyday. The other half?

Well, that was being seen to as well. Ledger would create a proposal for an idea he had, and then his spell would, based on past costs, tell him if it was a good idea or not.

Which left him really bored, as he was running out of ideas to run past it.

Ahh, the downside to creating a spell that was too efficient. He opened his desk drawer to take out something… and noticed a book he’d never seen before nestled in there, the papers around it were displaced, so somepony had teleported it inside.

It also smelled distinctly of sugar and wine, so he already had a guess as to who put it there as well. He pulled it out gingerly, expecting it to be trapped...before he saw exactly what it said on the title and grinning slightly.

“Ooookay, Sugar, I’ll play your little game...if only so I can learn a few new tricks to surprise Midnight with…” With that, the disguised drone pulled his book out from his saddlebags and flipped to the first open page as he began to read and record the information in this...very interesting book.

Midnight paused on her way to the bakery and shuddered. A great imbalance had been put in motion. She felt… both anticipation and uneasiness.

Ledger’s eyes drank in the information, already coming up with so many new ideas. Wonderful ideas. Perverted ideas.

He was also careful to keep the books away from the operating space of the spell, because he didn’t need it learning those things, or that much.

He also heard some commotion from down in Scope’s office, since it lay directly below his. It sound like she was jumping around the room for some reason…

He sighed before closing both books and suspending the spell, deciding to go check on the hyperactive nymph. He really didn’t have anything better to do.

After a short trip downstairs, he stood outside her office and knocked with a hoof, to gain her attention. She didn’t answer, and the sound seemed to be muffled, but he heard voices in there, as in, more than one.

An older mare, some strange foreign accent and Scope. Ledger rolled his eyes and knocked louder. Regardless of what was said after this knock, especially if they didn’t answer at all, he was going in.

There was a sudden crash, like something had hit Scope’s desk, before the mare he didn’t recognise started yelling.

“Okay,” Ledger yelled as he barged in, taking the scene in and pausing. “What in the...world is going on?”

A Pegasus pony he clearly recognised as Daring Do lay on the floor… and nopony else. She glared at her desk, like somepony was perched there…

“Okay Ahuizotl!” she yelled. “Where’s the treasure?”

She leapt at the desk and was engulfed in azure flames, turning into a creature that Ledger couldn’t even begin to comprehend. “MWAHAHAHAA! I have fooled you Daring Do! You will never find ze treasure now!!”

She quickly shifted into her true form and frowned. “He’s right, we have no idea where it could be. And we’re running out of time!”

‘Daring Do’ made another appearance and chuckled. “Heh, that’s what he wants us to think Secret. I wouldn’t...put it...ohhhh,” she finally noticed Ledger. “Um...hi?”

“...I see somepony likes role-play outside of the bedroom as well,” Ledger said with a small smile on his face. “Y’know, I actually ran across a setting for one of those books once?”

“One! You will tell NOPONY about this,” Daring said, her rose-coloured eyes filled with quite a bit of embarrassment. “And two… what? REALLY!?”

“Yup, old temple on the border of the Lands and Equestria, ran across it as I was border-jumping,” Ledger said as he sat at Scope’s desk. “Looked downright ancient as well, and I couldn’t resist a peek around.”

“Tell me!” she said, shifting back to her true form and jumping onto the desk, her muzzle almost pressed against his. “Tellmetellmetellmetellmeeee!”

“All right, all right,” he said with a chuckle. “Now this was...about a year and a half ago. I had just cleared the immigration office, with flying colors, and passed the last waypoint that said I was in the Lands. I had just been about to don my disguise and start hoofing it into Equestria, when I saw something through the nearby underbrush.”

“A treasure? A pygmy pony? What was it!?”

“Just a column of stone, but it was too smooth to be natural. So I looked at it, and then I saw that it had been engraved, worked over with tools. My thoughts at the moment were, if there was one, wouldn’t there be others? So I searched and found a small trail of columns, leading me to an ancient stone pyramid that seemed...really, really old. There was even a few trees growing on it.”

“A stone pyramid?” Scope tapped her chin. “Like in the book Daring Do and the Ring of Destiny?”

“Something like that, yeah,” Ledger said with a nod. “I made my way through the temple, narrowly avoiding the, somehow, still-active traps. Half of them had run out of...whatever ammunition they were using, but the others were simple mechanical devices. Fortunately, not everything was trapped, and it was when I reached the main chamber that I realized I’d seen this somewhere before...and that was when my time with that book came flashing back to me.”

“That book? Which book?” Scope was hanging off of every word now. Her blue eyes shining with excitement.

“The Ring of Destiny, of course,” Ledger said. “I recalled that there had been secret switches to get at some of the...less-trapped areas of the pyramid, and looked for one. Imagine my surprise when I found it exactly where the author wrote about it.”

“No way,” Scope whispered in quiet awe.

“Mmhmm. I found the treasure room, but there was nothing in it. Didn’t stop me from exploring the rest of the pyramid, though, and my memories of the book helped me avoid every last trap on my way out once I was done.” Ledger leaned back and watched Scope’s face for her reaction to his finding of the location of one of the Daring Do books.

The nymph was… yep, she was vibrating. Actually vibrating.

“Oh. Sweet. Hives,” she gasped. “That’s so awesome! You hafta take me there!”

“Maybe when we both take a vacation again in, hmm...six months time? That sounds about right. Then I can try to show you where it was. We’d have to go to the right Hive, though, and then journey north until we hit the border, then start looking around for the pyramid.” Ledger laid the scenario out for the nymph.

“Heeheehee, I can’t wait,” she giggled. “Just six months, Middy will be too pregnant, Cider will be in the middle of harvest. It’ll be just us, in the middle of nowhere…” she leaned in close and licked her lips. “Alone together~”

“Well, I can tell we won’t be sleeping,” Ledger wryly observed. “And perchance you forgot yon scholar of lavender? Perhaps she would like to join us on our expedition?”

“...Drat!” she muttered under her breath. She’d forgotten about her. “Ah, she’d likely be too busy with Princessey stuff anyhow.” She looked at him and then blinked. “What are you doing down here anyway? Don’t you have actual work to do?”

“Not with my paperwork spell chugging away and telling me which ideas are unfeasible or not,” Ledger said as he sat forward again. “It’s boring up there when the work completes itself.”

“Well, try doing it yourself you lazy drone,” she sighed. “Honestly, what did you expect from a spell that does your work for you.”

“That it’d turn out to be a wonderful boon that saved me time,” Ledger said. “I just didn’t expect the amount of time it saved me to be ‘all of it.’”

“Well, what ever will you do with all that free time?” she asked, batting her blue eyes at him.

“I tend to devote it to cracking the mysteries of teleportation so that we’ll be on top come the new upheaval, and just recently I took to telling stories to nymphs,” Ledger said as he moved to stand up again.

“Oh hah hah!” Scope replied with more than a hint of sarcasm. She shifted back to looking like Daring Do and pinned him to the chair. “And, I trust no-one is going to know about this hmm?”

“My lips are sealed,” Ledger promised, wondering what she was intending, if anything.

“Good,” Daring nodded. She had honestly figured that he’d make her doing something to keep her secret. Well, she had no idea that even level Ledger didn’t plot all the time. “You’re free to go then I guess.”

“Fair enough,” Ledger said as he stood up and cracked his neck. “I just got the most interesting book in the ‘teleportation-mail,’ and I’m eager to get back to it.”

“Yeah, sure, go back to your book,” she replied sitting at her desk and putting her hooves up. And she made sure he was looking when she crossed them the other way. “I’ll just be here… bored…”

~*~*~

The stone platform in Cider’s backyard glowed as three figures emerged from the light. Midnight stretched, never having been teleported that far before. It left her feeling a little dizzy.

“Bleh, can’t say I’m a fan of that,” she muttered. “And yet Ledger will insist on using it to go back to Ponyville…”

“It’s not so bad,” Ace replied, hugging Amy closer. “But I also prefer more traditional means of transportation.”

“Yeah, it’s a little weird, being moved so far so quickly, but you just watch those pair of smart ponies,” Amy said, returning the hug. “I’m sure they’ll work it out.”

“More than likely,” Midnight replied as they walked inside. She looked around, her ears flicked but nopony seemed to be home.

“Aww, and I was hoping for a big welcome back. But nooo, now I’m all alone,” she whined.

“You know the others are probably just busy with their work,” Amy said, beeping the batpony with a hoof. “I’ll bet you ten bits and a bowl of mango-ice cream that Cider will be back inside in ten minutes, even if it is just to cool off.”

Unfortunately, Cider was out checking the far fields, so around twenty minutes passed and nopony showed, Midnight sat there with a smug grin on her face.

“Mmm, looks like I get a sweet treat~” she purred.

“Fine,” Amy relented with a roll of her eyes. “You’ll have to come by the shop later, but I’ll at least stick around until you get some company if it means that much to you.”

“Nah, I’m gonna go find Levvy, and I’m sure you two wanna celebrate a little,” Midnight replied, giving Amy a small hug. “Though, you certainly seemed to be doing that with Chryssie huh?”

“That’s a headache waiting to happen,” Ace groaned. How in the hell did he even get into this mess? He looked at Amy and nodded. Oh yeah, it was her fault.

“I’m sure the queenie will be up to sharing, Acey~” Amy purred before giving Midnight a hug. “You take care, okay? Come by the shop sometime for that ice cream, or just to hang out if you’d like.”

“Will do,” Midnight nodded. She waved them off before heading to the bathroom to take care of a few necessities and then flew off towards the city. Time to go bug hunting~

Scope had woken up, and spent the last half hour plotting her revenge… though she had yet to come up with anything suitable. She suddenly sniffed and tilted her head, what was that?

Oohh?

“Hey Level?” she inquired innocently. “Maybe you should open the window? Let some fresh air in here. It’s starting to smell like Sugar’s place.”

“There’s spells in the floor, wall...everywhere to help with that,” Ledger said as he turned the page of the book he was reading. “Musta missed the spells for smells…”

“Yeah well, you’re closer and I’m still exhausted.” she reminded him. “Plus I may need an extra dose or five of my potion after that round…”

“Point taken,” Ledger said as he cracked the window open. “Plus they work better with an open window anyways.” His horn lit up, followed by the room glowing, before the smell...vanished, driven out of the open window by magic.

That was about when something brown and furry flew through the newly opened window and impacted him, pinning him to the floor and assaulting his form in kisses as Scope hummed thoughtfully.

“Ahh, right on time,” she mused.

“Ack!” Ledger cried from under the Midnight-missile. “I take it...somepony missed me?”

“Only *mwah* a little *smooch* How’d you guess?” she asked, her affection making the stallion look like he took a trip through a tumble dryer.

“It could be the slobber you’re trying to drown me with,” Ledger deadpanned as he still did nothing to remove the batpony. Her love was always the best, after all.

“What about me?” Scope asked and Midnight detached herself from Ledger long enough to give the nymph a hug and a kiss, before returning to nuzzle her drone happily.

“You can’t tell me you didn’t miss me,” she hummed. “Get up to much while I was gone? Or did you spend all your time lamenting that your love-bat wasn’t here?”

“I do miss you when you go, yes,” Ledger said as he hugged her. “But the others proved very distracting, and even with my new spell working to remove most of my work, I seem to have gotten a little something to do at the office.” Ledger’s eyes alit on the book he’d been reading a minute ago.

“Are you being naughty with Scopey again?” Midnight mused, running a hoof through his mane. “Isn’t there a rule about the boss bucking his employees or something?”

“Actually, not at this company. I always meant to ask Toll about that…” Ledger mused, before the thoughts of why she wouldn’t want that rule suddenly gave him vivid, vivid mental images. “Aaaaagh, my braaaaaain…”

“Levvy… are you okay?” Midnight blinked. She hadn’t really been paying attention so she missed what brought this on.

Scope decided to strike while the iron was hot. “Realise what those chains on the floor are finally for Boss?”

“Somepony poke out my mental eye,” Ledger moaned as he went limp. “With a flaming hot poker. I don’t want those images anymore.”

“What images?” Midnight asked and Scope chuckled.

“Oh, I bet he’s just realised that I’m not the first pony that’s probably been bent over that desk,” she laughed evilly. “In fact, she probably sat in that very chair, doing—”

“STOP!” Ledger shouted, pointing a hoof at her dramatically. “I do not need to hear about which underlings of hers you think she was bucking! Hives dammit, I need that brain! It’s the only one I’ve got!”

“I’m just thinking, maybe his muscles aren’t the only big thing about Cider’s new helper,” Scope pushed on, ignoring his pleas. Midnight just rolled her eyes as she fetched a cup of water from the cooler and stood to one side until this finished playing out.

“Argh, and she was probably blackmailing some of the stallions with...Dammit all Scope! I didn’t need to think about what’s been done in this office by her!”

“Don’t you mean who’s been done?” she cackled as Midnight sighed. Yeah, time to put a stop to this before Ledger teleported the nymph into the sun or something.

“Wanna know what I’ve been up to?” the bat asked, changing the topic.

“Please,” Ledger pleaded, desperate for the change.

Scope pouted, but she’d had her fun. Plus, she wanted to know as well.

“Okay,” Midnight started. “I went, because Amy’s had trouble organising stuff for her wedding, mostly because nopony here would cater for a Changeling. So, we went on an impromptu trip to Ponyville. It was pretty great. We got her a dress, a cake, which I wanna eat soooo bad, and a wedding band as well.” The Thestral tapped her chin as she decided to leave out a few details for now. “She also has something she wants to tell you, so there’s that. Oh, and me and Twilight discovered she likes mares, and Ace and Amy banged Chrysalis.”

“...I have no idea how to react to that last one,” Ledger said as his eyes unfocused, his brain refusing to process the image. Especially after its latest workout.

“Eh, it was more of a ‘you had to see it to believe it’ thing,” Midnight shrugged. “Dunno how that’s gonna play out in the future though. And Chryssie is still grumpy and snarky, just, not towards Ace and Amy.” She took a seat on the floor, since Scope was taking up the couch. “So what’s new with you lot?”

“Twilight and my mom talked things out and agreed that they both have my best interests at heart, my spell has proven to be ridiculously competent in telling me what would and would not be profitable, and I got a delivery from Sugar Darling,” Ledger said as he sat back in his chair and indicated the open book with one hoof.

“Hmm, what’s that?” Midnight inquired and Scope’s eyes widened.

“MIddy! You gotta run!” she said with a sense of urgency. “Run far and run fast!”

Midnight blinked and looked at Ledger. “Um, wat?”

“I have no idea what she’s talking about,” Ledger replied with a practiced smile. “This is just a book Sugar sent me.”

“A book of evil that has made his perversion increase a thousandfold!” Scope shot back.

“It’s just a book,” Ledger said with that same smile. “No harm ever came from reading a book.”

“No, but it does come from what you learn from that book!” Scope retaliated.

“Oh kay,” Midnight said, not really getting what was going on here as she backed up slowly towards the door. “I think… I’ll go do a thing… at the place…”

“Oh do stay, I just got to spell twenty,” Ledger said as he looked down at the page. “Oooh, heightened sensitivity, that could be fun.”

“That… sounds like trouble,” Midnight replied. “And possibly illegal. You do realise I can arrest you right?”

“Breaking out the hoofcuffs?” Ledger asked with a raised eyebrow. “Maybe I should use spell two…”

“Sweet Holes, not that bloody spell!” Scope said. “Nope, you’re on your own Middy!” With a flash of light and a cracking sound, Scope teleported from the room as the Thestral raise an eyebrow.

“What in the hay did you do to her?” the bat questioned.

“Probably something similar to what the Violets did to her,” Ledger mused as he flipped through the book. “This did, after all, apparently belong to a unicorn lover of Sugar’s...who managed to keep up with her, or so the foreword says…”

“That won’t end well,” Midnight shuddered, idly wondering what was in it. “I wonder if Moondancer has read it… Heeeeey Ledger. Can I borrow that once you’re done~?”

“I don’t intend to be done with it, or you, for a long time,” Ledger said with a smile. “And I’m going to copy the spells in it down to my own book, count on that. Let’s just hope Twilight doesn’t get Scope to translate that part of it for her, ey?”

Midnight nodded. Note to self, tell Twilight that Ledger has a book he says she can’t read~

“So, then what do you intend to do then?” Midnight asked. Ledger half-lidded his eyes and there was a click from the door as it locked.

“You,” was his response, in a tone that would have sent Twilight or Cider into a blush.

~*~*~

Later that evening, Ledger and his herd, along with Apple Leaves, Velvet, and Fritter, sat around the dining table, ready to start eating. There was a flash from outside, and the back door opened as Twilight ran in, panting slightly from exertion.

“Haah, phew!” She paused to catch her breath and sighed. “I hope I’m not late everypony.”

She looked… different. Her mane had been done up, the back was now spiked upwards and most of her mane was curled up over her head. She also wore a pair of half-moon shaped glasses and her lab coat.

“Accident in the lab?” Ledger asked. “Not that I’m complaining, the look isn’t half-bad. You should have your mane done more often.”

“I get my mane done, and he calls it a lab accident,” Twilight sighed as she took a seat next to Midnight and Cider. “No actually, I got it done earlier, and decided to go over the results of the testing I did with Amy, I guess I lost track of time though.”

“To be fair, wearing the coat to dinner doesn’t help,” the disguised drone pointed out.

“Yeah, well… pbbbth!” Twilight blew a raspberry at him. Twilight Velvet rolled her eyes and smiled at her daughter.

“Do try and show some maturity dear,” she hummed.

“Aww, I think nerdy Twi is cute,” Midnight hummed, kissing her cheek. Ledger hummed and nodded.

“She’s adorable all the time, but the coat and mane do show off her charm. The glasses don’t hurt either.” Ledger, having finished his assessment, gave Midnight a kiss, seeing as how Twilight wasn’t in range at the moment. The bat still passed the gesture along regardless, causing Twilight to turn an adorable shade of red.

“Well you look lovely dear,” Velvet replied. “Very chic.”

Midnight nodded and looked at Cider and Fritter. “So what happened to you two? Get in a fight or something?”

“Just settled an argument,” Fritter replied. “Nothing to worry about.”

“Nothing at all,” Ledger agreed, wanting to keep Midnight from sparring as much as he could.

Midnight quirked an eyebrow as she looked at the trio. “Hmm,” she tapped her chin and leered at them. “Very suspicious…”

Ledger just smiled knowingly at Midnight, before attempting to change the topic. “This is wonderful food, Miss Velvet. My compliments.”

“Many thanks,” Velvet replied. “I must say, even a mare of my age still learned quite a bit from Leafy here. You Apple’s sure know how to cook.”

“That we do,” Apple Leaves nodded. “What can I say, it’s in our blood.”

“Ah’m still better,” Fritter puffed out her chest and earned an eyeroll from Apple Leaves.

“I will admit that last night’s dinner does stick out in my mind,” Ledger said with a nod. “But that was then, and this is now. And now I’m famished.” The drone then started in on his food, humming appreciatively.

“Ah stallion after mah own heart,” Fritter giggled. “Why, if y’all weren’t taken and ah wasn’t a fillyfooler…” She giggled as Cider shot her a death glare and tucked into her own food. Soon, the sound of nomming ponies filled the room, silencing all conversation for a few minutes.

It was Midnight who spoke up next, winking at Scope and Ledger suddenly felt the air chill for some reason.

“Oh Twilight?” the bat said idly as she used her fork to play with a piece of apple. “Did you know that Ledger has a new book, a very interesting and one of a kind book?”

Twilight blinked and with a flash of her horn, she had swapped seats with the bat so she could sit next to Ledger. “Is that so?” she asked, her large eyes sparkling.

“Maybe,” Ledger said, already trying to think of how best to get out of this situation. “It was a delivery from Sugar, and I’m reading it and copying the information in it to my own book.”

“Hmm, I’ll have to see the original text, and you still owe me a sneak peek at that book of yours Ledger,” Twilight hummed.

“I’ll get it for you later,” Scope said, barely holding back her giggles. This was going to be amazing!

“I still have yet to field-test all the spells in this book, though,” Ledger said with only a slight smirk as he looked at Midnight. “It may be a long and lengthy process.”

“I think a study-buddy would go a long way in helping you with that,” Midnight shot back with a smirk of her own. “After all, it pays to have a, different perspective.”

“You ever get the feeling that they’re having two conversations at once?” Velvet asked Leaves, who nodded in response.

“Ah reckon it has to do with the bedroom, an’ their all jus’ sparin’ our brains on the details,” Fritter replied nonchalantly as she ate her food.

“Maybe when you have a few days off, I can show off the spells in this new text,” Ledger eventually conceded to Twilight.

“Yes, I have open Court for the first time tomorrow” Twilight said, then gasped. “Ohh! Why don’t you come? I could show you what I do.” She looked at her mother. “Could you come too? It’d mean a lot if you could be there Mom.”

“I’d love to dear,” Velvet responded.

“I suppose I can take a day off,” Ledger replied, not telling Twilight how effectively his spell had cleared up his schedule. Really, these days all he did was come up with new proposals to run by it.

He did double-check the work it was putting out, though. He wasn’t a fool. It all seemed to check out, though. The things that he was coming up with that cleared his spellwork, he asked a worker to look into trying.

“My paperwork won’t pile up too badly if I take one day off,” the drone said.

Scope snorted, before shooting Ledger a look that said she hadn’t forgotten before. If Twilight was going home, she wasn’t going back uneducated. Ledger gave a wide, fake smile as he lit up his horn, looking to grab both books from his saddlebags before anypony else could. When the books floated out, they vanished from his magic as Twilight’s easily overpowered his.

The Alicorn looked at both books and smiled gleefully. “Oooh, booooks~”

“...Well, we’re boned,” Ledger said. Deciding to spend his last few hours as a free pony before bed, Ledger resumed his meal, waiting for Twilight’s reaction to the book’s contents. He was quite surprised when Twilight floated the books back over to him, as Midnight and Scope almost screamed with frustration.

“I wouldn’t just steal your books Ledger. I like knowledge as much as the next pony, but they’re yours.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I do expect you’ll let me read them soon yes?”

“Perhaps,” Ledger said with a smirk. “One of them is written in your language, so you can read that one...tomorrow, maybe during the slow hours of your court?”

“That’d make for a fun...session,” Scope snorted. Midnight giggled and Velvet and Leafy just shrugged again.

“Okay,” Twilight nodded. “I could actually use your help tonight. Seeing as how my new research pertains to your previous… condition.”

Ledger paused, finished what he had in his mouth, then looked to Twilight. “Amy?” he asked, naming the only other changeling he knew that had some...difficulties in keeping her color stable.

“Yeah, and while I’d just use the method I did to help you… some, complications have arisen.”

Ledger hummed as he thought about it, before chuckling. “Oh hives, she succeeded, didn’t she? That’s probably the only thing stopping her from being cured right now.”

“Yes, I’ll spare the details and let you assume, since I believe she wants to tell everypony herself…” Twilight paused, she wondered why it was taking so long to do so in the first place. Hmm, perhaps she wasn’t quite as bad as Pinkie Pie…

“Yes, well, part of our arrangement is that I become your test subject, I’m pretty sure I knew that when we started this,” Ledger said before finishing off his dinner.

“That sounds…” Velvet frowned. “I am so glad your mother isn’t here to hear that Ledger. She might take it quite the wrong way.”

Twilight fell quiet and looked at her plate. “She really doesn’t like me much huh?”

Ledger finished off the food in his mouth before shaking his head. “It’s nothing...personal, Twilight. I swear. She likes the others a bit more because they helped...fix me. If she knew what you’d done to help me when I was at my lowest, she’d probably greet you like a daughter.”

“I didn’t do that much,” Twilight replied.

“Not to mention it’s my fault you got like that in the first place,” Midnight added.

Scope frowned and slammed her hooves on the table. “Well you know what. Who the fuck cares! This is our herd. Our family! We’re the ones who get to say who stays and who doesn’t and if anypony has a problem with that, they can go fuck ALL the cactusus!”

“I believe you meant cacti,” Twilight corrected her without missing a beat.

And that tore it, Scope’s big speech falling apart because of a grammar error was too damned funny. Ledger snickered first, at the sight of the smaller mare being so angry and defensive of her family.

“Oh shut up,” Scope pouted, sinking back into her chair and folding her arms.

“You’re right though,” Cider nodded. “While our situation is unusual, we’re th’ ones makin’ th’ rules here.”

“Agreed,” Velvet nodded. “As long as you all love one another. I see no problems with it. And I do apologise for my earlier distrust. My dealings with Changelings up until this point have been less than favourable. But I trust that my daughter knows what she’s doing.”

“I also agree,” Apple Leaves nodded.

“Thank you for your trust,” Ledger said, nodding at the older mares. “I only hope I prove worthy of it.”

“You have no need to ‘prove yourself’,” Velvet hummed. “We’re not a Griffon family after all. Just promise that you’ll take care of my little Sparkle?”

“Mooooom!” Twilight whined. “Don’t call me that in front of the others.”

“As long as she lets me,” Ledger chuckled. “I get the feeling she’s going to put me in as much trouble as I try to save her from.”

“Leedgeerrrr!” Twilight switched targets for her whining, only to be silenced by a kiss from Midnight.

“I think we’ve got it covered,” the bat giggled after breaking the kiss. The disguised changeling drone just snickered again, before he whisked his plate into the kitchen with his magic.

“Well, that being said, I’m going to go get caught up on my reading,” he informed the mares, giving the ones in his herd a quick smooch before he went off to the study. Twilight giggled and once he walked up the stairs, she vanished with a flash of light, ready to meet him in there.

“That’s going to end one of a few ways,” Midnight chuckled. “And he didn’t even notice my eyes are back to normal. Typical.”

“They are?” Cider and Scope leaned closer to peer into her once-again emerald eyes. “Ooh, they are!”

“But, I thought that wasn’t supposed to happen until later?” Scope asked.

“Yeah, I don’t really know either,” Midnight admitted. “And it’s not like there are any Thestrals around to ask. I think dad buggered off back to Canterlot without telling anypony again.” She sighed and then a thought occured. She could always ask her. Midnight shook her head and whimpered slightly at that thought. Asking that mare anything was just inviting trouble.

“Just ask Luna,” Scope shrugged. “She knows a bunch about Thestral crap right?”

“Oh yeaaah,” Midnight realised and made a note to see if she could get in contact with the Princess later on.

Upstairs, Twilight had used a reverse gravity spell to cling to the ceiling. Ledger would never see this coming~

The drone walked in, closed the door behind him, and paused before he got to his chair. “Emotivore,” he spoke up. “My range might not be as good as Scope’s, but I know you’re up there.”

“Tch! That’s gotta be some kind of cheating,” Twilight pouted, switching the spell off and landing on the floor. “How in the hay does Midnight get the jump on you all the time then?”

“She knows some freaky martial skill that sends her to a state of no emotion whatsoever,” Ledger said as he sat in the chair, putting both books in his saddlebags on the desk. “Can’t track that except with your eyes.”

“That sounds… interesting,” Twilight made a note to study that as well. Her new loves were just full of fun surprises. “Now. Wanna read together?”

“Iiii’m not sure you want to read this book,” Ledger said as he moved to move the book in question further from Twilight.

“Aww, please?” Twilight batted her eyes and gave him a puppy dog look. Ledger opened the book to the second spell and showed it to Twilight, trying to gauge her reaction. Twilight read it, her blush increasing as her eyes scrolled down the page.

“W-w-w-what is this?” she stammered. “Why do you have a book on… kinky magic?”

“Sugar sent it to me,” Ledger said as he pulled the book back. “I have no idea why, but I intend to make the most out of it.”

“I’ll bet you do,” Twilight murmured as she flicked through the book. All these new spells… Albeit, naughty, kinky spells… but new spells nonetheless.

“Midnight already showed she can break out of that denial spell by sheer will alone, so I was looking up some other tricks for later,” the stallion said as he watched Twilight flip through the book.

“Well, that spell’s all about manipulating emotions and nerves… and if she can do what you said she can,” Twilight pointed out. “Hmm, what’s a...oh my!” She turned a nice shade of pink and showed Ledger the page, one that showed how to… ahem, duplicate a certain piece of anatomy.

“Oh dear,” he said, going over the spell itself before looking at the top. “Ah...well, we can fault him on being unimaginative in naming the thing, but if this hemipeni spell actually works, I’ll make sure to not use it on you at least.”

“I’d appreciate that,” Twilight nodded as she dared to continue looking. Binding spells of various types, as well as a few other things she dared not think about too hard. She pushed the book back to Ledger with a blush and sighed. This was far too overwhelming.

“I warned you,” Ledger said as he looked over one of those spells again. Maybe he could adapt this one to work with his natural shape-shifting…

“You have your thinking face on again,” Twilight said. “Care to share? Or do I not want to know?”

“Just thinking on how to adapt some of these spells to my decidedly not-Unicorn body,” Ledger hummed.

“Ah, that’s right, you and Scopey can transform…” Twilight suddenly turned red and shook her head. “Okay, making an iron-clad rule here. No transforming into my friends for sexytimes. Got it!”

“I’ll be sure to tell that to Scope, though you may want to provide her a list,” Ledger said as he thought about showing off already. Then decided against it, for the moment.

“Good, I love my friends. Just… not like that,” she shuddered, remembering some rather, risque books that had been written, like ‘The Elements of Friendship and Love’. That had been a rather embarrassing couple of weeks. “I mean, how would you feel if Scope turned into… let’s say, Amy or Sugar?”

“That’d just feel wrong,” Ledger said, sticking his tongue out. “I care about them, true, just not like I care about any of you.” Ledger flipped the page as he continued reading.

“Somehow, I don’t think that bothers Scope,” Twilight said, remembering their disastrous first meeting.

“Not a lot does,” Ledger agreed, now confident he didn’t need anything beyond his natural shapeshifting abilities to pull off that spell.

“Well it’s usually fine, it’s who she is… I think,” Twilight said, crossing her eyes. “I really need to take the time to get to know Scope and Cider better.”

“Date nights with them,” Ledger said as he flipped to the next page. “Though I can tell you right now, Scope’s not one for dates. You’re probably going to have to trick her into it. Now is the season if you want to take Cider on one, there’s less, though not no, work to do on the farm.”

“Okay, so pencil them in quickly, and figure out how to trick Scopey…” She then smirked and pulled a calendar out of her pocket. “There is a Daring Do movie coming out soon…”

“That’d work, I can arrange to be busy on that day,” Ledger said with a smile. “I’m sure I can arrange for Midnight to be busy as well, and Cider should catch on to what we’re doing and conveniently arrange to be busy too..”

“Righto, so maybe a home-cooked meal for Cider, and movie night with Scopey.” Twilight wrote that down and smirked as she discreetly pinched his flank with her magic as she wrote.

“Yeep!” Ledger said, before looking up from the book. “Somepony’s feeling frisky,” he observed.

“Hm? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Twilight whistled innocently. Ledger raised an eyebrow before returning to his book, but not before sneaking a quick magical grope of Twilight’s flanks.

~*~*~

Author's Note

This book can only lead to things. I dread to imagine what sort.

Like the story? Consider dropping me and Aus a dollar on my Patreon. It's always appreciated.

Half the proceeds will not go towards making a beautiful factory on an alien world.

Chapter 69 - Of Castles and Empires

“I could write more interesting books than this,” Ledger mused as he flipped through his book. “I think I already did.”

“Nopony asked you Ledger,” Twilight sighed as they were in between petitioners. “And do you have to have a snarky comment for every idiotic request I get?”

“Have to, no. Want to, yes. Somepony needs to point out the obvious to them if you’re not going to,” Ledger said as he flipped the page in his tome, refreshing his memory as to the location of that temple he’d stumbled across once, long ago. He just knew Scope would not stop pestering him about it at the office.

“We’re all thinking it, that should be enough,” Twilight sighed. Make a note, have Ledger sit in on Celestia’s court sometime. That would be entertaining if nothing else. “Can you at least pretend to be nice?” she sighed.

And as if the Universe was out to make her day miserable, Filthy Rich of all ponies walked in.

“Celestia smite me now,” she muttered before putting on a serene smile. “Why hello Mr. Rich. What brings you here today?”

“Yes, yes, good day,” he replied with a wave of his hoof. “I have a rather pressing concern and I’d like it fixed posthaste if you wouldn’t mind.”

Oh great. “Well, what seems to be the trouble?”

“I require the use of Ponyville Park for my daughter’s birthday party,” he drolled. “But that...eugh, musician, and I use the term loosely, Vinyl Scratch is using it for some juvenile concert.”

“Well Mr. Rich, she did have the park booked in advance, all the required paperwork has been filled, along with all the booking fees. And really, this is an issue that you should be taking up with City Hall, not here.”

“I tried, but you and I both know that City Hall is about as competent as a Changeling Invasion.”

Twilight went to rebuke him, if only to save his life… she was too late…

“Translation, the ass went to the Mayor, she said no, and now the spoiled colt is running to a higher authority to get the dessert he wants,” Ledger snapped as he closed his book with an audible thud, now giving Mr. Rich his full attention.

“And who are you?” Rich sneered with all the love one might have for something scraped from the bottom of their hoof. “You think you can speak for her Highness?”

“Now gentlecolts…”

“Please Twilight, you know I don’t like that title. I actually worked to get where I am,” Ledger replied. “And I still consider that work to have been torture.”

“And you address her Highness so casually?” Rich stomped his hoof. “Now see here—”

“No, you will see,” Twilight rose to her hooves. “I am sorry Mr. Rich, but your request is denied. Ms. Scratch has done right and will have the park. Now, when is your daughter’s birthday?”

“The day after tomorrow,” Filthy replied, a little taken aback.

“Well then, I shall arrange that you may use the dining hall of the castle. Is that suitable?”

“Y-Yes, thank you Your Highness,” the stallion replied.

“Good! And Mr. Ledger, please refrain from speaking out of turn in my Court,” she leaned in close and smirked. “Or you will be ‘thoroughly’ punished.”

“Yes Twilight,” Ledger said, bowing his head, thoroughly, seemingly, cowed. His eyes still flashed with mischief though. And he was already contemplating flipping to the end, where he’d had copies of some of the spells made from that book he’d received…

“Good,”Twilight nodded. Okay, so flaunting her power like that was kinda fun. “I will provide the venue, but you will arrange everything else, yes Mr. Rich?”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

Twilight nodded and stomped her hoof. “Good. Dismissed.”

Filthy Rich bowed his head and left, perhaps a little hastily. Once he had and the doors closed, she slumped back into her chair and sighed.

“Still think he’s an ass,” Ledger grumbled as he opened his book up again, reading where he’d left off.

“You and half the town, but he has his good points as well,” Twilight nodded. She looked at the book he was reading and tilted her head. “So what has you so engrossed anyway?”

“Just the time I found the setting of one of the Daring Do books on my way over from the Lands,” Ledger replied as he flicked the page. “Scope was really interested in it, and made me promise to take her on vacation there.”

“Ahh, that sounds pretty fun,” Twilight giggled. “I’m a big fan of those books as well. So’s Rainbow Dash.”

“Hmm,” Ledger said as he flipped the page, now finally sure which Hive he’d have to leave from, or head to, in order to find the temple again. “That’s hardly a surprise. You love reading, and I’m sure she likes the stories of an awesome pegasus going out to gain treasure.”

“You would not believe the chaos she caused when I showed her that book,” Twilight giggled, remembering that day quite fondly, even if she was woken in the middle of the night. She then smiled and leaned closer, and when nopony was looking, snuck a little kiss in on him.

“And I was serious, speak out again, and it’s dungeon time for you… though, this castle doesn’t seem to have one, so my bedroom will have to make do~”

“Depending on what role I end up in, that might not be a bad thing,” Ledger mused. “I promise I’ll at least try to keep my comments to myself, or if I can’t, I’ll at least make them entertaining.”

“Good,” Twilight mused as she turned back to the door. “Now, let’s see if anypony else is waiting~”

Three hours later, Twilight was sitting upside down on her throne, some books orbiting around her in her magical grip.

“I’m a little bookshelf, tall and strong,” she sang.

“Holding up all the books all day long,” Ledger rejoined as he finally got to the point where Midnight entered the picture in his book.

“Fiction, non-fiction self-help and life~” She looked at Ledger and a cheeky thought entered her head. “Oh dearest Level Ledger, take me as your wife~”

Ledger sputtered and looked at Twilight with a bit of a blush on his cheeks. “You’re not the first to have pulled that, but I will give you points for being imaginative,” he conceded to the princess.

“Thank you,” she bowed. “Sorry, it just kind of entered my head. You’re not mad are you?”

“Not at all,” he said, shaking his head. “As long as you don’t try to officiate your own wedding here and now.”

“Hmm, I don’t think I can actually do that,” Twilight replied. “Hmm, but I think any of my friends could as members of the Council of Friendship.” Her eyes widened at the thought of Pinkie being able to marry anypony she chose. “Never, ever tell Pinkie Pie that.”

“You might want to tell them yourself and get them to promise to never use their matchmaking powers for evil, before somepony else gets ideas,” Ledger said with a snicker.

“If you do that, I will see to it that you never have sex again Ledger,” Twilight deadpanned. “I know an Impotency spell and Permanency. Don’t make me use them.”

“Hey, I wasn’t gonna say anything to them,” Ledger said as he turned the page of his book. “I just don’t think Pinkie should think too hard about what she’s allowed to legally get away with before you make her promise to not marry everypony.”

“Hmm, good point. I should hold a meeting and figure out exactly what they can and can’t do,” Twilight made a note in her book, one she now had a habit of carrying around with her. Yes, Ledger was rubbing off on her again. “Well, I don’t think anypony else is coming. Shall we abscond for the rest of the day Mr. Ledger?”

“If that is your wish, then I shall cater to your desires, milady,” Ledger said, bowing to the princess as his book snapped shut.

“You’re such a ham,” Twilight rolled her eyes as Twilight Velvet poked her head in through the door.

“I don’t think anypony else is coming dear. Did you want to keep going?”

“No, Ledger and I are going to take a break for a while.” Twilight tapped her chin and nodded. “Could you leave a note saying that we’ll be back for an evening Court?”

“Of course dear,” Velvet nodded. “Also, I have to head back to Canterlot. I dread to think what your father’s been like since I left. That stallion has no sense of self-preservation.”

Twilight nodded and flew over to the door to give her a hug. Velvet smiled, then looked at Ledger to come and get one as well.

“Oh, alright,” Ledger said as he put his book away, before standing up and making his way over to the pair of mares. “I suppose I can be hugged as well.”

Twilight giggled as Velvet pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. “Alright, keep out of trouble. And I hope to see you as a son-in-law someday soon my dear.”

“MOM!” Twilight blushed. “Please go home now.”

“See how rude she is?” Velvet swooned. “Be a dear and teach her some manners hmm?”

“MOM!!”

“Not sure if you would approve how I go about doing that,” Ledger hummed.

Velvet giggled and shrugged her shoulders. “I have Cadence as a daughter now dear, and she likes to give details. So I have a fair guess as to how you’re going to do that. My previous statement still stands.”

“MOM!!!!”

“Maybe I should work on her vocabulary first, then manners,” Ledger said with a snicker. “She seems to be stuck on that one word.”

“I will end you both!!” Twilight yelled, her face redder than Big Mac’s butt. Twilight Velvet just giggled and gave them one last hug before leaving.

“I swear,” Twilight huffed as she left. “You two are never allowed together in the same room as me again.”

“Even for the wedding?” Ledger asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Especially at the wedding,” the princess replied, huffing again. “I swear, do you two set aside time to rehearse how to embarrass me?”

“No, but that’s a good idea,” Ledger mused. “Maybe I should try it with Midnight and the others…set up a time to ambush you...”

“Sure, pick on the mare that can blow up entire cities,” Twilight groused as she headed for her room. “Maybe I should take a nap alone then.”

“Suit yourself, I was going to make a quick snack,” Ledger said as he decided he would explore until he found the kitchen, if she was going to be like this. “Maybe read a bit more.”

“Oh? What happened to ‘teaching me manners’?” she asked him, shaking her rump slightly. “Oh well, have a nice lunch then,” she sang as she walked off.

“...These mares will be the death of me,” Ledger sighed as he followed Twilight. “It will be a pleasurable death, but one day the lot of them will drain me dry.”

Contrary to the winter chill that was covering most of Equestria, the Crystal Empire was warm and sunny.

Well, inside the shield anyway.

Painted Palette frowned as he looked at his latest painting. He tilted his head, took a step back and looked again, before nickering in annoyance and tossing the canvas over his shoulder.

“Something wrong?” Critical asked as she walked out from the kitchen, a cup of coffee in her magical grasp.

“Bah! Nothing’s turning out right,” he said, glaring at the offending painting. It was a nice landscape piece that looked almost flawless, but to the stallion that painted it, it was little more than a foal’s hoofpainting. “Maybe your magic show tonight will inspire me?”

Oh yeah. Critical Gaze had a performance tonight, a small hall where she could demonstrate her skills for an audience.

“I do hope so, otherwise I would be failing in my role as a muse,” the changeling nymph said before drawing close and giving the stallion a quick peck on the cheek. “I’ve been practicing with something my brother wrote about and I read about, I hope the others like it.”

“Sounds interesting,” Palette nodded as he moved to pick up the canvas. “I still don’t think this is good enough… but we need the bits. Some tourist should buy it.” He placed it on a small pile of paintings of the Empire. Ones of the castle or the stadium where the Games were held, some of the city itself. Tourists just ate this stuff up.

Then there were the ones he did of Critical… while nowhere near as beautiful as the mare herself, they came awful close to it. He suddenly felt the urge to hug her.

So he did. She hummed happily at the appreciation before giving him another kiss.

“Go on,” she said. “Sell your paintings. I’ll be here practicing my routine, and I’ll be sure to have a nice warm dinner for you when you get home.”

“Yes dear,” Palette winked and kissed her back, she hated being called that. “Anything you need while I’m out and about?”

Critical grumbled a little at the moniker, before considering the question seriously. “Hmm...maybe a head of lettuce. We’re running low on some foods, and I can do a lot with that.”

“Righto,” he nodded as he loaded up the cart. “One lettuce, some more wine…”

“You really should cut back,” Critical sighed. “But I know you won’t listen.”

He kissed her on the cheek as he hitched up the cart. “Yes dear,” he grinned and trotted off down the road before she could swat at him.

“That stallion,” Critical huffed before drinking her coffee. She then set the cup to one side and began working her magic in the living room, trying her best to replicate things she had never seen. Fortunately, she had that Daring Do book to fall back on, along with her brother’s letters.

Hopefully her audience was in the mood for a little show made out of a famous book…

Painted Palette waved off another customer, another tourist in a stupid shirt and an expensive camera. He saw Ruby walking down the street, along with his wife and their foals and the stallion gave them a wave as another tourist approached.

As Palette turned to greet them with his usual enthusiasm, ie, a simple nod… He noticed, something familiar about the green stallion, but couldn’t quite place his hoof on it.

Oh well, he moved to one side to sit on his stool and continue his sketch of Critical as the stallion looked at his wares.

“What is this rubbish?” the stallion asked after a moment. “This is something a tourist would buy, not an artist would paint.”

Wait. What?

Palette looked up and frowned at the stallion. He had more than a few tourists think they were an artist and insisted that they could do better. He also had a sure-fire way of dealing with them.

He pulled out a small canvas, one the size of a large book as well as some paints.

“Think you can do better?” he huffed. “Then put your brush where your mouth is… tourist.”

“With a canvas that size?” the stallion huffed back. “I’d hardly be able to put any detail into it.”

Painted Palette rolled his eyes and pulled out some blank cards, the same size as a playing card. He’d use them to doodle on when he got bored and took his brush.

In about a half hour, he presented two pictures with an astounding detail, one of the Crystal Heart, and a portrait of Critical Gaze.

“Pick your subject and even a small picture can be detailed,” he said and he put the cards down. “Even detail isn’t that important depending on your style. Abstract certainly doesn’t need it.”

“Abstract,” the stallion huffed. He opened his saddlebags with a quick application of magic, and pulled out a few brushes. Putting brush to paint and periodically cleaning it soon had the green stallion presenting Painted Palette with a small, but very well-done picture of a silver unicorn mare. One that looked...familiar.

“I’ve seen that mare somewhere before,” Palette said as he looked at the picture. Then it clicked and he slowly turned to look at the stallion. “How… do you know my marefriend’s mother?”

“I could ask the same of how you know my daughter,” the stallion said, tapping the picture of Critical with a hoof.

Oh bucking buck with a side of buck! “Well…” he looked around and shrugged. “This is awkward.” He looked at his stall, seeing as he’d sold more than half his stock, he shrugged again. “Shall we go and get her first? Might be better if we explain together.”

“Very well, but don’t think you’re off the hook,” the stallion said, giving him a slight glare.

Oh goodie, this was going to be a fun bucking day wasn’t it? Palette let out an irritated sigh as he packed up his wagon and headed for home, his new guest following close behind.

As they got back, Painted swore aloud as he realised that he forgot the lettuce… and his wine. And he really felt like a drink at this point. He put the wagon away and headed up to the door, nudging it open.

“Honey I’m home,” he called out as he trotted inside. “And we have a visitor…”

“You call her that?” the stallion asked, looking at Painted with a scrutinizing eye.

“Only cause she hates it, and she’s cute when she’s mad,” Palette responded.

“I told you not to call me that!” Critical shouted from the living room. “And...visitor? Who is it this time?”

“Told you,” Palette said with a small smirk as he trotted into the living room. He moved to the couch and kissed the mare on the top of the head. “Well kid, I was hoping you could tell me that…”

“My little nymph!” the stallion said as he walked in, knocking Palette aside as he swept Critical into a hug, causing the nymph to try her best to break free. “Why didn’t you tell me anything? I had to blackmail your step-father to figure out where you’d gone!”

“Gee, maybe because I knew you’d do this,” Critical said before looking at Palette. “Help?”

“I might be inclined to do such a thing,” Palette mused, rubbing his flank. “But then, as long as you’re there, you can’t get me for forgetting the lettuce.”

“I’ll forgive you for forgetting the lettuce if you get me out of this hug,” the nymph tried to bribe the stallion.

“Hmm, those are some agreeable terms,” Palette nodded and looked at the unicorn stallion. “Sir, don’t rough her up too hard. She has to perform tonight after all.”

“Oh, she’s putting on one of her shows?” the stallion said before releasing his daughter. “Yes, it wouldn’t do to have her show up in a disheveled state...which...she can hide with illusions anyways…”

It was too late, Critical had escaped to the other side of the room already. “Thanks,” she said to Painted.

“Anytime...darling~” he added and kissed her on the cheek. Critical grumbled a little at the moniker, but didn’t fight the kiss.

“So daughter,” the green unicorn stallion said in a tone that was about as warm as the tundra. “Care to tell me how you know this stallion?”

“Ah,” the nymph said. “We are...that is to say…”

“She’s my marefriend, simple as that,” Painted Palette nodded. “I’m quite surprised that your own wife didn’t tell you about that.”

“They tried to keep me from knowing about this,” the stallion grumbled. “I don’t know why they thought me not knowing was a good idea.”

“Maybe because you’ve been critical of all my other relationships?” the nymph pointed out.

“And they all turned out to be bad ones, yes?” the stallion riposted. “I rest my case.”

Painted Palette couldn’t help it, he turned and smiled widely at the mare. “He’s been critical of my Critical?”

If looks could kill…

The stallion snorted and looked back at the unicorn. “So, do I have to prove myself to this one as well? That raises a question actually, how many family members do I have to do this with? I’d like to keep tabs on it at least.”

“Three of the others are occupied in keeping the Trio in line more often than not,” the green stallion said. “As for Peaceful, he’s our groundskeeper slash farmer, he doesn’t leave all that often...except when some nymphs get it into their head to hop the border…”

“I already apologized for that!” Critical said, moaning at the end. “You’re never going to let that go, are you?”

“Probably not, no,” the stallion said with a nod.

“Well, it led to her coming here, so I’ll not complain,” Painted Palette interjected. “I might still be doing nothing aside from moping and drinking if it wasn’t for this beautiful muse of mine,” he punctuated that statement by kissing her horn.

The stallion seemed to observe their interactions for a moment before returning to look at Painted. “Well, I can’t say I can approve of all the things about you...but you’re a fair sight better than the last drone she was courting, I’ll give that to you.”

“Maybe because I’m not a drone?” the stallion chuckled, then realised that that might have sounded a little speciesist. “No offense?”

“None taken,” the stallion said with a smile. “Though, there was that colt…”

“Dad, drop it,” Critical growled.

“Oh, now this sounds juicy,” Palette chuckled, hugging Critical close. “And I could always use new material to tease her with.”

“You do like my cooking, right?” Critical asked without turning her head.

Palette sighed, he could never go back to eating the pitiful excuse he called food when he cooked. “Oh fine then. Spoilsport.” He shrugged and looked back at her father. “I don’t suppose I’ve introduced myself yet have I? The name’s Painted Palette, best artist in the Empire.”

“And I’m Inspired Dream, the only one who could reasonably put up with that nymph you’re cuddling so fondly,” the green unicorn said with a smirk. “She was just so impossible sometimes.”

“Dad,” Critical said.

“Fighting with her brother. Disagreeing with her teachers.”

“Dad!” Critical said a bit more urgently.

“Everything had to be her way or it was no good.”

“DAD!”

“Hah! I have a little experience there, so I can deal with her sharp tongue with no problems,” Painted ran a hoof over her head soothingly. “Besides, her fiery spirit is just one of the things I love about her.”

“Well, at least you seem capable of putting up with her,” Inspired conceded.

“Not really, more like she’s putting up with me,” Painted replied and kissed the top of her head again.

“We’re putting up with each other,” Critical summarized.

“Which is the basis of any good relationship, knowing how to put up with your significant other,” Inspired voiced his approval.

“That it is, that it is,” Painted laughed. “My wife would always tell me what a chore it was to put up with me. Mind you, I’d tell her what a chore it was to eat her cooking.” He laughed harder and wiped away a tear. “That usually got me a wooden spoon upside the head.”

“I see,” Inspired said, now a bit more reserved, having caught on to that comment about Palette having been married. It was a look that didn’t go unnoticed by the stallion, and it was a look he’d received many times before.

“I suppose I’ll be upfront about that,” he said. “Yes, I had a wife and a son once… they’re… gone now.”

“My condolences,” Inspired said automatically. “I can’t imagine the pain you must have felt...though this does raise the question as to the age gap between you two…”

“Thank you,” Painted replied. It was still hard to believe that all that happened over a thousand years ago. He suddenly smiled and looked down at her. “Well, there’s only nine hundred years… give or take a century, between us.”

“Hah!” Inspired barked out. “Critical, I like this one. He has spirit.”

“‘s sorta why I like him as well,” the nymph said as she leaned against Palette. “Granted, some days he needs a kick in the flank to show it…”

“Bah! Says the mare that can’t even function until she has coffee,” Palette retorted. He looked back at Inspired and smiled. “The truth is that I’m thirty two years old. I married my wife when I was sixteen. So yes, I’m a little older than this brat here. Will that be a problem?”

The disguised drone mused the idea for a minute. “Hmm...well, I could point out a few things, but they’d sound awfully hypocritical, and I’d rather not give her any more ammunition...So no, I have no problem with your age.”

“Well, good to hear it all the same,” Palette replied. “Your show starts soon yeah? Should we get going?”

“We probably should,” Critical agreed as her disguise shimmered into place.

“Can I tag along?” Inspired asked. Painted shrugged and looked at Critical.

“I don’t see why not. As long as you buy a ticket like everypony else.”

“Wonderful!” the stallion said as he followed the pair.

The hall she was hosting her show in was... surprisingly full. A familiar pink alicorn and white unicorn stallion also sat in the front row, waving when Critical poked her head through the curtain.

When she moved back behind stage, Palette gave her a comforting hug.

"Feeling nervous?" He asked her.

“Just a bit,” the nymph said. “It’s been a month or so since my last little show, and it doesn’t help that I’ve never seen my latest piece in pony before.”

"I know you'll be fine," Palette replied and drew her in for a deep kiss. “You’re my stunning muse after all."

“Flatterer,” the disguised nymph said once the kiss broke. “I hope I’ll be fine. Wish me luck?”

"You have skill, luck isn't necessary," he said with a smile. "But I'll wish it anyway. Good luck love." He gave her another kiss, she might need the extra love energy, before he left to take his own seat.

“Right,” Critical said with a few deep breaths. “I can do this. I can do this. It’s only the rulers of the empire, my father, and my stallionfriend out there. I can do this.”

Funny enough, she was more worried about Palette and Inspired liking her performance than any of the other ponies.

"So what do you think we can expect?" Shining mused.

"I bet we'll see something unique, regardless of whether it's good or not," Cadence replied. "But I have a feeling this will be nothing short of spectacular."

Palette took his seat in the front row, a few seats down from the royal couple. This was going to be interesting. And given how hard the mare had been practicing...

She just had to make sure not to let nerves get the better of her.

Critical took another breath and forced a smile onto her face. “Showtime,” she said, stepping out beyond the curtain and taking a bow.

“Mares and gentlestallions, I am Critical Eye, and I welcome you to my art showing,” she told the gathered crowd. In the empty, except for them, hall.

One stallion raised a hoof, a grey pony with a fabulous silver mane and purple shades.

"I believe you may have forgotten something," he said. "Like your artworks perhaps?"

That earned a few chuckles from the audience. And Crit could feel Palette's desire to see this ponce with a few less teeth.

“Oh, my apologies,” Critical said as her horn flared, and hanging from the walls were several paintings that the mare had done over the past few weeks. “Did you imagine something like this?”

Before anypony could respond, Critical’s horn flared again, and the paintings were replaced by sculptures and pottery. “Or perhaps something like this?” Maybe now the true nature of her artwork was starting to become apparent.

"So these ponies paid good money to see something any half skilled Unicorn could do?" The stallion shot back.

Palette growled and went to get up. Critical didn’t deserve this and he was going rip that fancy do off of his head and make him eat it.

“Goodness no,” Critical said as her artwork faded out again. “I bring only the finest art of light and air. I bring to you...Canterlot!”

And with a flash, the interior of the hall had been replaced with the view from right outside the palace of Canterlot’s main gates. It trailed off into the distance a surprisingly long way.

The audience gasped, most having never set hoof outside the empire. Cadence just blinked in surprise. She doubted that even she could produce such a vivid and detailed illusion.

"This is Canterlot?" Palette wondered as he took the view in.

“Sadly I was only in the town for a day, and thus couldn’t quite get into the palace during my stopover. You’ll all have to be content with a little tour of what I did get to see,” the unicorn said as the illusion started to wind down Canterlot’s main road. The pony heckler, Hoity Toity, was suitably impressed also.

Painted Palette took in all of it. He was one of those ponies who ignored the outside world. He was now kind of regretting that decision.

“Oh, but that isn’t all,” Critical said as the illusion slowly faded to black once they reached the end of the main road. “Perhaps some of you will recognize this next city. But for everypony else, let me introduce you to the fine strip of Las Pegasus!”

The hall exploded into light again, as the main strip of Las Pegasus was suddenly around the ponies in the hall. From gambling dens to bars and nightclubs, some of which were...decidedly seedy.

Several ponies covered the eyes of their children as Inspired facehooved. Cadence giggled and poked Shining as she gestured to one place and the stallion blushed hard.

“Not to worry, I’ll not go into any of those places,” Critical said with a giggle. “Ah, but perhaps a change of venue is in order. Perhaps you all would appreciate...Manehatten?” Critical’s horn flared again, and the scenery changed once more.

Hoity was a well travelled stallion. He knew these places and could definitely tell that the scenes she showed were true.

Still, he wanted to see something unique.

"So, you're a decent tour guide," he prodded. "Now how about something with actual flair hmm?"

“But of course!” Critical responded as the scene around them faded. “Who here is a fan of Daring Do? Because I can show you all the settings from one of the books!” Her horn flared again, and this time, it showed no scene that the mare had actually seen.

Still, she’d practiced it a fair amount, and the ancient stone pyramidal temple that greeted their collective eyes was a faithful reproduction.

Hoity was suitably impressed. So she could create whole scenes just written word as well?

"Heh, Twily would love this," Shining chuckled, not wanting to admit his own inner fancolt.

"Now that's something else," Palette whistled. He could even hear the sounds of the jungle accompanying the scene.

“And now for a little something extra,” Critical said as her horn flared a final time. The scene didn’t seem to change much…

Until Daring Do poked her head through the foliage at the back, and began making her way through the crowd to the temple they were all seeing.

Several foals cheered and Critical could swear she heard Shining Armor's voice amongst them.

"She's gotten a lot better," Inspired-Dream mused. "That's my girl~"

“Let’s follow her, shall we?” Critical said as the illusion trailed after Daring Do and her adventures into the temple. Past one trap, barely dodging another. Fans of the series would hopefully recognize the setting and how much work the mare had put into it.

The foals cheered again, yelling at Daring to watch out for traps and booing when Ahuizotl showed up.

Palette had never read the books, but Critical was making him want to now. Even Hoity was silenced in awe.

“You are too late again, Daring Do!” ‘Ahuizotl’ said to ‘Daring Do’. “The Ring of Destiny is already within my grasp!”

“Let’s see how long it takes for it to slip out of your greasy hold, then,” ‘Daring’ replied as the pair got ready for their epic showdown of the book.

Fillies and colts held their breath as they waited for the fight to start. And when Critical glanced at Palette, not only was he entranced by the show, but he was also looking at her.

It didn’t take too long for Ahuizotl to show that he had the upper hoof in this fight, but he forgot about one thing that Daring carried around with her. With a quick crack of her whip, Daring Do snagged the ring right out of the hold of Ahuizotl.

The foals cheered as Daring started to make her escape from the crumbling temple. Shining had jumped to his hooves to cheer as well, much to the embarrassment of Cadence.

Even Inspired was giving his rapt attention. It wasn’t long before the pegasus was standing outside the temple, dust rising from its form as she put the ring in her saddlebags.

And just as the pegasus took off from the temple, a form climbed out of it and shook a fist in Daring’s general direction.

“Curse you, Daring Do! I’ll get you next time!” Ahuizotl yelled at the retreating pegasus.

Everypony in the audience exploded in cheers and stomping hooves. Even Palette and Inspired joined in on it. Critical smiled and took a small bow as the hall returned around them.

“Thank you, thank you,” she said. “I do have a few pieces of illusionary artwork that you can look over in the meantime, if you’re inclined to stay.” Sculptures of light and color took their places around the hall.

When she moved backstage, several foals calling for a Daring encore, Palette quickly joined her, scooping the young mare into a hug.

"You were amazing out there," he said. "More than amazing. I don't think I know the proper words to describe it."

“I just hope they appreciate how entertaining and enjoyable a good illusion can be,” Critical said as she returned the hug.

Palette snorted and tugged one of her ears with his mouth. "These things work? Because I don't think you can hear the room shaking cheers for you."

“Hey, quit it,” Critical said as she swatted at him with a hoof. “There’s a difference between them liking the show for the showmare, and them liking the show for what it was.”

“I know how you feel,” he nodded. “Sometimes ponies like my painting because of the content, some like it because I painted it, content aside. Still…” He peered past the curtain as a bunch of the foals were now looking at the pretty light sculptures. “I think you’re getting quite a bit of both love.”

“I can tell,” the disguised nymph said as she sighed happily. “Hmm...maybe in a bit, once my magic is refuelled and my nerves are settled again, I can go out there.”

“Well,” he gave her another quick kiss. “Don’t keep your new fans waiting too long.” He rubbed her head and trotted back out into the hall, just as Inspired walked in…

“You’ve gotten quite good with your illusions, dear one,” the disguised drone said as he gave his daughter another hug. “You can’t have had much time in any of those towns, yet you reproduced them perfectly. And creating something from fiction?”

The nymph looked suitably humble as she scuffed her hoof on the floor. “Well, it’s not...entirely from fiction, you know…”

The disguised drone blinked a few times before giving his daughter a scrutinizing glare. “Are you saying you visited the site of one of the Daring Do books?”

“Not personally,” the nymph responded with a shake of her head.

The curtain parted as Princess Cadence and Shining Armor entered the room, the Princess of Love had a wide smile on her face, as Shining just looked to one side, hiding his boundless enthusiasm. Or at least he tried… emotivore’s kinda had an edge over him there.

“That was an amazing show!” Cadence exclaimed, pulling the nymph into a hug. “You were amazing out there.”

“Ack!” Critical said as she was pulled from one hug to another. “Well, you know, it’s just what I do...can you stop trying to crack my shell, please?”

“Ah, my apologies,” Cadence giggled, releasing the nymph. “That Daring Do scene was so vivid and lifelike. How did you do that?”

“Well, I read the book a few times, and it didn’t hurt that I had a few letters from my brother about the location he ran across,” Critical said as she made sure her illusion was still up. “Plus, thanks to a small...misadventure I had some time ago, I have a...rough idea as to what it’s like to go through the jungle.”

“It sounds like you’re just full of stories,” Cadence giggled, then her eyes widened a little and she smiled. That annoying enigmatic smile that Celestia often wore. “Hmm, you’re still unemployed yes?”

“Technically yes, though I won’t be hurting for bits for a little bit thanks to this show,” the nymph said.

“Hmm, still, it must be boring having nothing to do most days,” Cadence said with a thoughtful hum. “Well, let’s leave this topic for now.” She turned to the other drone and smiled. “Ah, forgive me for not introducing myself. I am Princess Cadence, and this is my husband, Prince Shining Armor.”

“Hello,” Shining replied with a simple nod.

“And I am Inspired Dream, Critical’s father,” the drone introduced himself with a small bow. Shining’s eye gave a slight twitch at the thought of another Changeling being in the city, but he quickly fought that down. He’d heard that even Chrysalis had not only been found, but was staying with Twilight…

He’d be making a trip to Ponyville real soon.

“Well it’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. Dream,” Cadence said. “You must be very proud of your daughter here. That was an amazing display of skill and power.”

“Critical is quite skilled in using illusions,” the green unicorn said with a nod. “I’d like to think that if anypony back home saw that little display, they’d agree with her that illusions deserve to be their own form of art.”

“Daaaaad,” the nymph said, blushing a little at the praise.

“Illusionary Art is rare in Equestria, while practised, few possess both the skill and the showmareship to make it truly effective.” Cadence gave Critical a warm smile. “Your daughter has a true gift there.”

“She’s been practicing it since she was six,” the disguised drone said with a smile. “And I don’t think a day goes by when she doesn’t try to hold at least some form of illusion all day, just to help her deal with the strain.”

“Practise only takes one so far though,” Shining nodded. “Still, I hope we get to see this again someday. It was a… magical experience.” He smirked as Cadence groaned at the terrible pun.

“That was bad, and you should feel bad for making that pun,” Critical deadpanned at the prince.

“No regrets!” Shining smiled as Cadence shook her head.

“He will when he’s sleeping on the throne room floor tonight,” the princess giggled. “Now, I’m afraid we have to go. I have a lot of work to do. But, congratulations on a wonderful show nonetheless.”

“Thank you,” the disguised nymph said with a small bow to Cadence. “It’s always nice to hear appreciation for my work.”

“Always,” Cadence replied and the two royals bowed their heads before leaving.

“Well, I think that’s bolstered my nerves somewhat,” the nymph said before looking back to the two most important male figures in her life. “I suppose I should go out and greet my fans now.”

“We’re right here with you,” Palette nodded.

“Agreed,” Inspired nodded.

“Thanks,” Critical said before giving both of them a quick hug. With a smile, she was out past the curtain again, though this time she took the time to walk around the hall and talk with ponies about her artwork.

It didn’t take long for the Earth pony from before to approach her.

“Good evening Miss Eye,” he said. “My name is Hoity Toity. Quite the show you put on here.”

“I do try to impress,” Critical said with a small grin. “I might try to recreate some more famous scenes from novels, if it gets that sort of reception.”

“That might be interesting, but you’d need permission from authors should you choose to do that,” he nodded. “And, I do apologise for my earlier behaviour. I find that ponies can perform better with the right… eh, motivations. And you handled the pressure admirably. Kudos for that.”

“Your criticism did help me move on from one scene to the next and stop others from questioning the illusion too badly,” the mare said. “I find one heckler to not be a bad thing.”

“Well, you’ll find a tough crowd from time to time,” he said. “Still, that brings me to my next point.” he cleared his throat and lowered his glasses. “I have a business proposition for you.”

“Go on,” the disguised nymph said, giving him a bit more attention.

“I hail from Canterlot, and I’d like for you to come back with me. Put on a few of these shows, perhaps some of these magnificent light displays at my gallery. You could become an overnight success!”

“Hmm,” the mare hummed, thinking it over. At least, seemingly. “And would I be required to stay in Canterlot for the duration?” This question was a trap for him. One of the answers was wrong. And the other one? Her ticket out of having to agree.

“Well,” Hoity replied. “I was thinking of at least several shows a week. As well as art receptions, dinners, various meet and greets. And it is an overnight train ride to the capitol.” He tapped his chin and hummed. “If you are worried about costs, it will not be a problem. Your accommodation will be taken care of, the finest hotel in the city. Why, I could even arrange that tour of the castle you missed out on before.”

“So in short, you would arrange for me to be your pet illusionist, to be led around on gilded leash, all while trapping me in Canterlot,” the disguised changeling brutally summarized. “Do try and explain to me why I would like to give up any accommodations or life I might have here to live under your hoof.”

“I would do no such thing,” Hoity said, seemingly shocked by the accusation. “You would be free to come and go as you pleased, and if that many shows is too much, then we can arrange something else. I just feel that this talent should be shown to the world.”

“And a stallion I respect very much told me something simple when I was learning art from him,” Critical rejoined with. “‘Art is not meant to be rushed or caged. It comes when it comes. It is the duty of the artist to express it, however they can.’”

Yes, her father had been...quite infuriating when she was learning under him. But that was a saying that stuck with her. Mainly because he kept repeating it whenever she kept turning in half-done pieces to him.

“Very well, I’ll not push the matter…” He looked past her and shrugged. “Plus, your entourage seems to be in agreement with you.”

Inspired and Palette were busy glaring death and silently threatening dismemberment.

“Still, should you ever find yourself in Canterlot and wish to perform,” He hoofed over a card with his details on it. “Look me up and I’ll make it happen.”

“Of course,” Critical said, taking the card with her magic and waiting until he was out of sight.

Then she passed it on to Palette. “I don’t care how you get rid of it. I never want to touch it myself.”

She had a display of magical fire nearby, Palette thought it could use a little fuel…

“Well that went downhill fast,” he chuckled. Then frowned as he saw the card laying unburned. Oh yeah… illusion.

Bugger.

“Perhaps you could try to cook it later and get the same effect,” Critical said with a small laugh. “Better pick it up before some small foal does and it ends up traumatizing them.”

“I fail to see how an address would traumatize anypony,” Palette sighed as he picked up the card and placed it in his bag. “Well, whatever. Creepy stallions trying to take my Critical away aside. How do you think tonight went?”

“I feel like it went...really, really well,” Critical said with a happy sigh. “I cannot begin to express how nice it feels to show off my art again.”

“Probably like it was when you got me to paint again,” Palette said, nuzzling her softly. Critical giggled and hugged him, before looking over at her father.

“So father? Your verdict?”

The stallion hummed a little before drawing close to the pair, his scrutinizing gaze unrelenting as he examined the stallion currently snuggling his daughter.

“I’d say he likes it,” Palette chuckled, watching her indignant expression over the public affection. Mental note, snuggle her in public more often, it was adorable.

“I will say this, you two are good for each other,” the green unicorn said with a nod. “I had my doubts earlier, but you seem...right. Fit for one another.”

Even Palette sported a blush now. “Well, thank you,” he replied with a smile. “At least you're more reasonable than your other husband that accompanied your wife.”

“Yes, you don’t give my coltfriend perverse books,” Critical grumbled.

“Ah, so that’s who Wishful sent that translated copy of the Pony Sutra to,” Inspired commented. “I had wondered why he needed it translated from Changeish in the first place. Now I know.”

“Yes, and now you know why I want to place a scorpion in his bed,” Critical muttered, though, Palette had learn some… very nice tricks from that book. So she couldn’t complain too much.

“You liked page seventeen quite a bit,” Palette chuckled and wiggled his eyebrows. Inspired blanched as the implications hit him full force.

“So...you two have been…” he said, not quite capable of breaching the topic himself. Critical just blushed and looked away, not quite able to bring herself to say it.

“In our defense,” Palette started. “It didn’t happen straight away, and I always treat her with all the love she deserves. Though, that first night was just…”

“We are not discussing that with my father,” Critical said, turning even more red at the thought.

“Of course dear,” Palette chuckled. She was cute when she blushed, she was cute when she was mad.

Hell, she was just cute period.

“...I trust you’ve been taking the correct...precautions,” Inspired said gingerly.

“Dad!” Critical said, turning her ire from Palette to her father.

“Well, we had a tad of a scare at first, since pony potions aren’t that effective on Changelings,” Palette replied. “And I’m afraid I’d gotten a little carried away the first time. But in short, yes.”

“Ah, it’s just,” Inspired said, looking at his daughter. “She has a bit of a…”

“You can say the word ‘disability,’ dad,” Critical deadpanned. “It’s not like the world will end if you tell things like they are.”

“I fail to see how that’s an issue,” Palette replied with a bit more bite than he meant. “To me, she’s perfect. A little smartflank most times, but still perfect.”

“And you still have some rough edges, but it’s nothing I can’t help you see for yourself,” Critical said as she gave Palette a hug. “But yes dad. We’re happy together, and we’ll hopefully continue to be happy together for some time yet.”

Inspired sighed before looking at Palette. “Please take care of her? She means the world to me.”

“I think she’s taking care of me more than anything,” Palette replied. “But as long as she’ll be with me, I’ll take care of her.”

Critical nodded and gave Palette a quick squeeze before finally breaking their hug. “Well, I’m going to walk and talk with some of my actual fans,” she said, giving the artist a quick kiss before she left. Leaving Palette alone with her father.

“Well that’s a little harsh,” Palette mused. “I’d say I’m a fan of hers. Though that might be an obligation too.”

“She might have been talking about ponies other than that rich one,” Inspired pointed out.

“Ah,” Palette replied. “Well… how about a drink?”

“Are there any good bars in this city?” Inspired asked with a raised eyebrow.

“A few,” the wisend stallion replied. “Should let Critical know though, she gets mad if I don’t tell her. Scary mad, not cute mad.”

“I know that feeling,” the green unicorn said with a chuckle. “Go on, go and catch her.”

The stallion nodded and trotted off, once he caught her, he paused to figure out how to word it.

In the end? He kissed her on the head, said he was going drinking with her dad and bolted. He raced past Inspired and looked back over his shoulder.

“If you wanna stay alive, stay with me,” he said and continued to run. The green unicorn needed no further prompting and bolted after the crystal stallion, barely evading his daughter’s angry shouts.

“Whatever you did wasn’t very effective!” Inspired said once they were clear of the hall.

“If she burns out now, she won’t be as mad later,” Painted replied as they trotted down the road. Palette’s favourite place was a little hole in the wall… called ‘Hole in the Wall’ oddly enough. “As long as we don’t get too drunk anyway.”

“It’s you that has to live with her now, not me,” Inspired said as he followed after the crystal pony. “If you feel like you want to risk it, then by all means, let’s.”

“It’ll be fine,” he replied. “...maybe. Well, whatever.” He reached the door, one you might just walk past if you weren’t specifically looking for it, and nudged it open. A flight of stairs leading downwards.

“After you,” he nodded. Inspired trotted down the stairs with a minimum of fuss, and when he came to a second door, opened that one and held it open for Palette. When the two entered the place, it… wasn’t what Inspired had been expecting.

It looked more like the inside of a geode, thousands upon thousands of crystals lined the walls, the colours changing depending on how the light hit them. There was also nopony here at the moment, save for the barkeep.

It was a mare, a species that Inspired recognised quite easily to boot.

“Well, good evening Palette,” the Thestral mare greeted him. “And who’s your cute friend here? And more importantly, is he single~?”

“Sorry miss, I’ve been taken for twenty years now,” the green unicorn said with shake of his head.

“A pity, y’all are cute,” she sighed. “And I was hoping Palette would finally come to drink something that ain’t my spirits… and now he’s gone as well. Makes me just a little sad.”

“Oh, suck it up and pour us a drink Lily,” Palette deadpanned. “Or do I have to tell your husband you’re flirting with strangers again?”

“Spoilsport,” Night Lily replied and poked out her tongue. Inspired shook his head and chuckled at the back and forth.

“Well, at least you’re on good terms with her,” the unicorn observed. “Not sure how much of a plus that is, though…”

“Now that is just rude darlin’,” she said as she poured a dark amber liquid for him. “And careful with this. Burns like Tartarus going down, but really hits the spot.”

The disguised drone took a sip of his drink and coughed as the burn hit him. “I see what you mean,” the green unicorn said, thumping his chest a little. “And really, most things can be taken two ways. Yes, it’s good that he’s cultivated a good relationship with you both...but that does imply he’s a regular drinker.”

“Not as much as he used to,” Lily sighed as she looked at the disappearing crystal stallion as he trotted off to the bathroom. “Used to come in regularly after… well, what happened and all. But, lately he’s been quite a bit more infrequent. This is the first time I’ve seen him in weeks. Not to mention he’s never brought anypony with him besides old Ruby before.”

“I see,” Inspired said as he took another sip, this time braced for the burn. “I would ask if that was his wife, but that sounds more like a male name. Friend of his, perhaps?”

“Local Crystal berry farmer, he and Paint have been friends far longer than I’ve been here, I only moved here a few days after the empire returned, took over this place from an older stallion.” She wiped a glass and smiled. “It’s good though, I’m glad to see him happy again… No-nopony should have to go through that…”

“I can agree to that,” Inspired said as he took a bigger sip of his drink. Memories best left buried were starting to surface at the thought of all Palette had been through.

“And now I know why he brought you,” she said, opening one eye to look at him. That gaze of hers, it seemed to look right through him, past his disguises and illusions, past the facade he’d put up. To her, he was a foal’s storybook, and as easily read.

“You and he… aren’t so different.”

“We’ve had our share of troubles,” the green unicorn said as he put the glass down. “I can’t say I’ve ever lost anyone, but I’ve had times nearly as bad as him, I’d wager.”

“Everypony has bad times, from time to time,” she giggled as she put the glass on the counter and refilled Inspired’s drink. “But, in the end, bad times, are just times that are bad.”

“Passing off your fortune cookie advice again?” Palette said as he walked back into the room and took a seat. “Nopony listens to that crap.”

“You did for quite a while,” Lily riposted. “And I’ll have you know my advice has helped a bunch of you glass ponies.”

“Little tip, don’t antagonize the one pouring the drinks,” Inspired interjected.

“Oooh, I have to remember that one,” Lily giggled. And then she actually wrote it down. “So, what brings you boys here tonight anyhow?”

“Escaping life for a bit,” Palette replied as he sipped his drink. Then he looked up and saw something he hadn’t seen before. “Lily, what’s that?”

“Hmm, oh, something from Equestria that doesn’t taste like dishwater and apples,” she replied and pulled the bottle down. “It’s something called…” she frowned and looked at the label. “Mood Setter?”

“Oh dear,” Inspired said as he read the distinctly Changeish script on the edges of the label. The ponies would probably think it decorative or something. He read it clearly and now knew the contents of the bottle. “Palette, I think we should pass…”

“Hmm?” the stallion already had a glass to his lips and was sipping at it. “Why?”

“Let’s just say that drink’s going to be packing a surprise in more than one fashion,” the disguised drone said without saying too much.

“...Lily, did you spike my drink?” the stallion deadpanned. The Thestral mare blinked and looked at the bottle.

“Of course not! I just opened the bottle. And it’s not my fault I can’t read Changeish!”

Inspired just took another sip of his regular old, non-lust or happiness-spiked, drink. This...was going to get interesting, quickly. Possibly.

Palette finished his drink and put the empty glass down. “Bah! Too fruity,” he said. “This is a drink for mares or underage colts. Gimme some of that crystal berry wine Lily.”

“Yeah, yeah,” the bat pony chuckled and poured his drink. “What about you hotstuff? Want some of this weird buggy drink?”

“I’d rather not, I can read Changeish, and I’d rather avoid having my emotions tampered with,” Inspired replied.

“So that’s what this does?” she looked at the drink. “Maybe I shouldn’t serve this, especially since the Heart affects emotions as is.”

“I don’t feel a thing,” Palette replied. “Still, we should prolly get going soon. Critical is gonna be pissed as is.”

Inspired nodded as he had the last of his second drink and nodded at the thestral mare. “You should probably have some of that yourself before you decide anything regarding whether or not you sell any...maybe with your husband?”

“Ooh, so that’s why I jumped his bones so hard last night,” she said with a tone of realisation.

“And that’s different from normal...how?” Palette replied, earning him a swat with one of her wings.

“I warned you about antagonizing her,” the green unicorn said with a snicker.

“Bite me,” he muttered and the mare bared her fangs at him, making his scoot back a bit.

“Don’t worry, only my hubby gets these babies~” she said, biting the air. “Though, I could be persuaded~”

“If I know my daughter and my wife, neither one would like it if you succeeded,” Inspired said as he moved to stand up. “Though, thank you for the drinks and the charming company.”

“Anytime,” Lily nodded. “Hmm, if you ever find yourself in Las Pegasus, give my cousin a call. She’s always good for a laugh, even though I haven’t heard from her in a while…”

“Perhaps I will,” the green unicorn said with a slight smile. He only knew of one thestral in that city after all...It was a long shot, but it was probably a good one. “Come on then, Palette. Let’s get you back to Critical before either of us get in too much more trouble.”

“Yeah sure,” he replied and got to his hooves, wobbling slightly. “...Strange,” he muttered. He’d only had three drinks…

Well, whatever. Time to find his cute little mare.

By the time they got back, Palette had a lopsided smile on his face as he walked inside.

“Honey I’m home~” he sang out… actually sang.

“I told you not to call me that!” Critical said from the kitchen. She’d picked up the ingredients for a very nice salad on the way back from the hall and was now in the process of making it.

“Aww, don’t be like that,” he purred as he moved up behind her, trailing kisses along her neck. “Mmm, you smell nice~”

“Ack!” Critical said as she blushed. “You’re awfully touchy for you. Did you forget that you abandoned me to get drunk back at the hall?”

“M’not drunk,” he replied, now planting a light kiss on her horn. “I had very little to drink, but now I just want to show you how much. I. Love. You~” He turned her head and gave her a deep, Lust-fuelled kiss.

“Yeep!” the mare said as she blushed right through her disguise. “Before dinner? With my dad still around?”

Palette didn’t respond as he kissed her again, one of his forehooves caressing her neck, before moving down her neck and then to her side.

“Somepony’s trying to get dessert before dinner,” Critical giggled.

“Then blame yourself for being so sweet,” he replied, his caresses moving lower as his hooves found her flank. There was a cough from the doorway, and then Inspired spoke up.

“No, by all means, do keep groping my daughter in front of me.”

Palette blinked, before realising what he was doing and took a step… or three, back. “I uh… sorry, I don’t…” What the hell had brought that on?

“Don’t you remember that drink you had back at the bar?” Inspired asked, waiting for the artist to ask what was in it. That’d make for an interesting reveal.

“That fruity crap?” he asked. “Don’t tell me that she-bat did spike my drink!”

“What bat?” Critical asked. If somepony had done that to him… “I’ll kill her!”

“She didn’t spike it with anything, it already came that way,” the green unicorn said. “It was brewed by Violets, and had a bit of Happiness and Lust mixed in. Or so the label warns anypony able to read Changeish.”

“Fucking… Violets,” Critical facehooved and Palette just blinked and shook his head, before he smiled and trotted back over to Critical to nibble on her ear.

“Ack!” she said, pushing him away with a hoof. “Down! Let me finish making dinner before you start on that again.”

Palette shook his head again, before he trotted over to the sink and filled it with cold water, and then promptly dunked his face in it. Inspired had a small laugh then.

“Not used to having your emotions meddled with, are you?” the disguised drone asked as Critical finished with the salads. Painted Palette lifted his head, the freezing water had cleared it a little, except now he was cold and wet as water dripped onto his chest.

“Naw, I’m in love and she’s been messin’ with my emotions since she showed up.”

Then… he grinned, a wide, wicked smile as he walked closer to the nymph. “You know,” he hummed. “I think somepony could use a hug right now.”

“Meep!” Critical said, scooting back a step. “You wouldn’t do that to me, would you?” Her best cute face accompanied her question.

“Hmhmhm, you know me, I love hugs,” he chuckled as he stepped closer again.

“I am warning you, Painted Palette,” Critical said as she stepped back again, using the dreaded art of the Full Name. “Hug me like that and you will regret it.”

“Huh? I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you say my full name kid,” he said, pausing for a moment, before he grinned and shook his head, sending droplets of water everywhere. “Still won’t save you though~” He lunged forward to snuggle the nymph…

She ducked under the hug, barely, and managed to escape to the dining room.

“Eh, I’m too old to go chasing her around the house,” he shrugged as he grabbed a dishtowel and began drying himself off. He looked at Inspired and then realised what he’d done in front of him… again.

He paused, shrugged and went back to drying himself.

“Well, at least you and her have fun, that’s the important bit,” Inspired commented as he pulled the salads into the next room with his magic, making to follow his daughter.

“She makes me feel like a colt all over again,” Palette chuckled. As they walked into the living room, he looked around for the mare.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I don’t feel like getting you all wet now.” That smirk told her that he knew exactly what he had said too.

Critical slowly showed her face, blushing a little at the implications. “You...really need to work out that lust sooner or later.” Her blush faded as she considered what she just said. “Or not. You’re more fun like this.”

“I’m always fun,” Palette replied as he took a seat. “Grumpiness and disdain at modern culture just override that is all.” He picked up a fork and started to serve out the salad that Critical had made. “Food looks good… honey~”

“I should hope it does, I picked up enough ingredients to do this a few more times,” the disguised nymph said. “And don’t think I didn’t see a certain somepony’s look of wonder when I showed off modern cities.”

Palette shrugged and looked away. So the rest of Equestria looked interesting, big deal.

“Speaking of,” Inspired hummed as he sat down as well. “Will you be attending your brother’s wedding? It is in three weeks after all.”

“Brother? Oh, that one I sold the painting to?” Palette asked and the drone nodded in response. “So he’s getting married huh? Well, what do you say Crit?”

“Hmm,” the nymph said as she sat down, salad in her grasp. “Perhaps. If I can convince a certain stuffy somepony to come with me.”

“Well, it’s your family, so I guess…” Then he realised that he’d have to leave the empire. He shuddered and took a breath. “Yeah, guess I could do that.”

“Don’t worry,” Critical said, scooting a little closer to Palette. “I’ll be right next to you the whole way. I promise.”

“I’m not scared,” he huffed with indignation and stabbed at his salad. “Just… cautious.”

“I promise that the outside world isn’t as scary as you make it out to be,” the nymph said with a giggle before starting in on her own dinner.

“You may find yourself drawing a bit of attention to yourself, but you’ll emerge unscathed,” Inspired commented as he started on his meal.

“I’m just a painter, how would I draw attention to myself?” he asked. “If anything, you lot would get far more than me wouldn’t you?”

“That’s if we went out undisguised, which no sane changeling will ever do,” the drone said.

“You, on the other hoof, can’t exactly turn off your shininess,” Critical giggled.

Palette blinked, then closed his eyes and took a breath. His coat’s shimmer faded and after a second, he looked like a regular Earth Pony, with a rather glossy mane and tail.

“You were saying?” he said with a small smirk.

“Well, I will admit, that is impressive,” Critical said with a nod of her head.

“I thought for a second that there were three changelings in the room instead of two,” Inspired confessed.

“Our crystalness comes from positive emotions,” Palette said as his coat flashed and resumed it’s normal glamour. “That was pretty difficult though.” He looked at Critical and smiled. “I blame you for that.”

“So it’s unlikely you would be able to hold it for long outside the empire,” the nymph summarized. “Meaning that yes, you would still draw attention to yourself.”

“Ah well, I’m not that interesting anyway,” he said. “And if I’m away from the Crystal Heart, it’ll probably be a little easier. Heck, even non-crystal ponies get this appearance temporarily during the Crystal Fair.” He tapped his chin and hummed. “I wonder what a Crystal Changeling looks like?”

“Dunno, I wasn’t here for your fair the last time you held it,” Critical said with a hum. “Maybe you’ll find out next time~”

“Guess so,” he replied and kissed her forehead. “Well, let’s finish eating and head to bed. It’s been a long day for all of us.”

“Thank you for the offer, but I’m fairly sure I shouldn’t overstay my welcome,” Inspired said. “I just wanted to make sure you weren’t anything like her last relationships, which you’ve already done in spades.”

“Thank you, but at least stay the evening,” Palette replied. “I can only offer you the couch I’m afraid, but surely you’d like to take a look around the Empire while you’re here?”

“I will admit that it’s quite the nice city…” Inspired said. “But I shouldn’t impose…”

“Dad, take the couch before I chain you to it,” Critical deadpanned.

“It seems I’m staying the night,” the disguised drone said with a little too much cheer. Palette sighed and looked at his nymph, before he smiled again.

“Aw, and here I thought I was the only one you tied up~”

Critical blushed again and looked away. “You’ve learned far too well,” she muttered.

Palette and Inspired shared a laugh, only causing her blush to grow.

After dinner, Palette washed the dishes while Critical fetched some blankets and pillows for her father. And once the pair said their goodnights, she headed off to Palette’s room to wait for him… and that was when the thought of revenge struck.

~*~*~

By the time Critical awoke, she could smell and hear somepony cooking in the kitchen, but, Palette was sleeping next to her, mumbling and his leg twitching in his sleep. The nymph decided to investigate, carefully drawing herself away from the stallion next to her as she did.

As she got out into the kitchen, she saw Inspired humming along to the radio as he whipped up some pancakes. Rare was a peaceful morning for him, and he was determined to enjoy it.

“Oh, it’s you,” Critical said as she got to the kitchen. “Coffee?” she asked.

“Right over there,” her father said, using a hoof to point at the pot. “Just set it to brew before I started this. I know how you are.”

“Right, right,” the nymph said as she poured herself a cup of the wonderful stuff.

Inspired continued to hum his song, but lost the tempo soon enough and sighed.

“So, have fun working that drink out of his system last night?” he asked as casually as one would ask about the weather. He may have also waited on purpose until she was taking a sip of her coffee…

Her cheeks bulged as she tried to contain the spit-take, and barely succeeded. Of course, now she did have a mouthful of piping hot coffee to swallow down, which she barely managed to do. “Oh Hives, I forgot you were there and the soundproofing charm,” she said breathlessly.

“Yes, well, you’re lucky I didn’t,” he replied as he flipped the pancake. “I was enjoying some of the paintings in his storeroom, particularly the one of the mare and colt. There is a lot of love in that piece.” He flipped the breakfast onto a plate and poured the batter for the next one. “So imagine my surprise when I come back out and hear that going on. You ah… seemed to be enjoying yourself. I’m glad he’s treating you right.”

“Yes, well, he was...insatiable last night,” the nymph said, suitably embarrassed. “I might purchase a bottle or two of that stuff to give to him every once in a while, but if it became a regular thing, I would have trouble keeping up…”

“And now I regret bringing this topic up,” the drone blanched as he served up some pancakes for his daughter. “You and Secret are becoming far too much alike…”

“He did inspire my latest piece the other day, with his detailed description of the temple he found…” Critical mused.

“Ahh, so that’s where you got that from,” Inspired hummed thoughtfully. Perhaps he should ask the boy if he could peek at that book of his, he might find something to inspire his own art. “So, is there anything I can help you with before I go? You’re all set for supplies? Clothes?”

“We’re all set for everything, yes,” the nymph said with a nod as she started in on her breakfast. “I think I’m going to try and take Palette out of the Empire a few times, test the waters, so to speak, before the big day.”

“Hmm,” Inspired tapped his chin. “Well, after you cross the border, I believe that the closest town is… Vanhoover. And I believe that Cloudsdale is in the vicinity as well.”

“Sure, take the crystal pony and the unicorn-glamored changeling into a pegasus city,” Critical griped before eating her breakfast. Her dad’s pancakes were the best…

“It’s called a cloud-walking spell,” he replied with a small amount of snark. “It’s fairly low level, so I think even you could learn it.”

“I’d have to make a study of it,” the nymph said once her mouth was clear. “And even then, I’d have to be competent enough to cast it on two ponies, with enough power to keep us both from falling through the clouds.”

“You’d be surprised how lax Equestria’s security has become regarding our kind lately,” Inspired hummed as he ate some of his pancakes. He swallowed and smiled. “Did you know that we can walk around undisguised in Las Pegasus?”

“You’re kidding me,” the nymph said, not believing the news herself.

“You’re a Changeling, you can tell if I’m lying or not. And besides, would you want to call your mother a liar? She saw it for herself. As did Peaceful and Wishful.”

“Wow,” the nymph said, sitting back. The idea was a wonderful one. “Y’know, you hear a lot of talk about equality back home...Equestria might just beat us to it.”

“Would that be a kick in the flank for them?” Inspired chuckled. “The country we tried to invade accepts us faster than our own kind…”

“You all invaded my house, and I accept you,” Palette mumbled as he stumbled out of the bedroom. He wobbled over to the table and gave Critical a kiss as he passed, heading for the bathroom. “Some more than others though.”

“Hah, so it seems my daughter practices Necromancy now, seeing as she can wake the dead… both in and out of bed~”

Critical shot an unamused glance at her father while her magic worked on making Palette a cup of coffee. “That was bad and you should feel bad for that one,” she told Inspired.

“I thought it was funny. Now drink your coffee and you’ll find it amusing as well,” Inspired pouted as he sipped his tea. Not all Changelings were coffee-obsessed monsters after all.

Critical sighed as she continued to eat her breakfast, interspersed with occasional sips of her coffee.

After a quick shower, Palette eventually returned and took a seat at the table also, as Inspired served up a plate of pancakes and Critical floated some coffee over to him. He thanked the pair and tilted his head until his neck cracked.

“Urgh, my back is killing me today,” he complained.

“Maybe I could give you a massage later,” the nymph suggested as she ate her breakfast. “Or we could just visit a spa.”

“You want me, to go to some frou-frou spa?” he asked with a raised eyebrow and sipped his coffee. “Pass.”

“Suit yourself,” Critical said as she sipped her coffee. “I was going to have you get a massage, then have all the services that could apply to me done, see what you thought of me then. But if you’d rather not go...”

Palette folded like a deck of cards. “...Fine, if that’s what you want,” he muttered, taking a bite of his breakfast.

Critical beamed and gave her stallion a kiss. “I promise you, you’ll just get a massage.” And then we’ll see what you think of spas after that, she thought. Especially when I come back out~

“I reserve the right to retain my apprehension,” Palette replied. “And besides, do you honestly think they could improve what is already perfect? You already shine brighter than any crystal in the Empire.”

“Flatterer, and you never know,” the nymph said with a small blush. “They might find something they can do that’s good for me.”

“Ah, young love,” Inspired sighed and looked at Palette. “Well… mostly young.”

“Hilarious,” the crystal pony deadpanned.

“Dad fancies himself a comedian, I fear,” Critical said as she gave her stallion a quick kiss.

“Mhm, he shouldn’t give up his day job though,” Palette responded. “So, what time were you planning on heading home?” he asked the drone. “You might wanna catch a few sights before leaving.”

“I’ll take a quick tour of the city, see a few ‘touristy’ spots before I have to go home,” the drone said, with obvious sarcasm at the word ‘touristy’. “If you’ve any advice for any place I should be visiting, I’ll listen.”

“The Crystal Heart is a must, and since it’s right under the palace you could see that too,” Palette replied. “Hmm, aside from that, I don’t really know since I tend to avoid those places.”

“Fair enough,” Inspired said as he finished off his own breakfast. “Any sights that you would recommend, then? Places you find inspiring?”

Palette looked at Critical and smiled. “There’s a hill, just over the rise there. I won’t say anything else beyond that. It’ll ruin it.”

“I’ll put it on my list of places to visit,” the drone said as he finished his tea and moved to stand up. “Well, I’ll leave you two lovebirds to each other, then. Take care of each other.”

“Always,” Palette nodded and kissed his adorable mare. “Thank you for visiting.”

“Thank you for having me,” Inspired said with a small bow before taking his leave.

“...And now that that’s finally done with,” Critical said as she polished off her breakfast. “I feel like I could use some relaxing.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Painted said after seeing the stallion off. “It must be nice, having a big family like that.”

“Except when you realize that there’s six sets of fatherly eyes ready to catch you doing something you shouldn’t be,” Critical responded with. “Add in three younger brothers, an older one that I never got along with, and a younger sister who defies logic on a regular basis, and you start to get an idea as to how hectic my home can be.”

“Sounds like life would never be lonely at least,” he said quietly. The nymph’s eyes widened as she realised that he...had been alone for quite some time. She hugged him close and whimpered.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I...forgot.”

“Nah, it’s alright,” he said. Sad Critical wasn’t a Critical he liked. “Besides, I’ve had enough sympathy to last a thousand years. Besides...” He held her close and smiled. “I have you now.”

“Fair enough,” the nymph said as she kept hugging him. “Maybe one day we can get to work on giving you a family again. But let’s wait until after we’ve seen my brother’s wedding, hmm?”

The stallion nodded… then, he paused as her words sank in. “A...family...us?” he turned a rather impressive shade of pink and then performed an equally impressive impression of a fainting goat.

“Well, at least I know how to get under his skin,” Critical giggled.

Chapter 70 - Twilight and Ledger's bogus journey

When Ledger awoke, he found two things.

One, Twilight was bucking adorable when she was asleep.

Two…

“Hello handsome~” Discord said from his other side.

Ledger, to his credit, didn’t scream. But only just, and that was thanks to his previous dealings with the chaos spirit. “Discord,” he hissed. “We were having a moment here.”

“And the kitchen, and the dining room, and the shower as well I believe,” he hummed. “Trust me, everyone aside from Spike is well aware of yours and Twilight’s ‘moments’.” He raised his hands to make air quotes for that last part. Ledger rolled his eyes and pushed on the spirit with a hoof.

“Yes, well, I’d rather she not wake up to the both of us in her bed,” the drone said. Discord would have replied, had he not vanished with a magenta flash.

“Too late,” Twilight responded with a deadpan tone as the light from her horn died out.

“You have got to teach me that spell someday,” Ledger said as he kissed the base of her horn. She hummed and smiled, before drawing the stallion in for a deep kiss.

“Maybe… don’t know where I teleported him though… wasn’t aiming.” She yawned cutely and stretched her wings. “I think coffee is in order, then we will do science.”

“Sounds fascinating,” Ledger said as he gave her a quick nuzzle. “I assume I’m on coffee duty then?” Twilight smiled and petted his head.

“Three… two… one…” Someone knocked on her door and she smiled again. “Come in.”

Spike pushed the door open and saw the alicorn. “Oh, you’re up early for once,” he grinned. “You two want some coffee?”

“This drake speaks my language perfectly,” Ledger said.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Spike chuckled and closed the door behind him. There was a shout, and some yelling as it became apparent that Chrysalis had jump-scared the dragon. Then some pleading as she was denied the drink he’d gone to fetch for Twi and Ledger.

“I wonder if I’ll ever get used to her staying here?” Twilight sighed as she got up and moved to her dresser to brush her mane, her hips having a very nice sway to them. Somepony had been watching and/or taking lessons from Midnight. Ledger purred appreciatively as he watched Twilight get ready for the day.

“I’d suggest something more...active to wake you up with, but with Spike coming back with coffee, I doubt you’d agree,” the drone said.

“You are utterly insatiable,” she giggled, fighting with a stubborn knot on her mane. “Maybe later.” She used her magic to pull the back of her mane and and tie it into a simple ponytail. She stretched her wings again and looked at them, fluffing them up a little and humming.

“I have a question and some advice depending on the answer,” she said. “One, if you transform into… a Pegasus. Can you feel things? Such as your wings?”

“It’s, supposedly, a tricky spell to describe to any non-changeling, but the answer is ‘yes,’ with a whole list of things we shouldn’t do depending on the changes we make,” Ledger said as he finally got out of the bed. “Why do you ask?”

“All I’m going to say, is take a pegasus form, and ask Midnight to preen your wings,” she sighed happily at that memory. “It. Feels. Amazing~”

“Hmm,” Ledger hummed as he came up next to Twilight and nuzzled her. “Maybe we can try that some time then.”

“Trust me, it's worth it,” she replied. She lowered her wings and smiled softly. “I’m really glad I chose to do this. To ask if I could be a part of your lives, and for you all to be a part of mine.”

“I’m happy you did as well,” Ledger said before putting a soft kiss on her cheek. “I wasn’t expecting it, but I’m happy you chose to pursue us, even despite our...turbulent start.”

“Mhm,” the mare nodded, though, she had a plan on how to rectify that. She’d have to run it by Scope first, though she doubted that the the Changeling would disagree.

A short while later, Spike entered the room carrying a tray with three mugs of coffee on it, along with a jar of sugarcubes.

“Your ‘Start-the-day’ elixir is served,” he said with a small bow as he placed the tray on Twilight’s nightstand, while Chrysalis stood in the doorway, giving the dragon puppydog eyes.

“My thanks,” Ledger said as he took a mug and only dunked one sugarcube into it. He was still trying to cut down on the stuff.

Twilight put two in hers as Spike rolled his eyes and held up the third mug for Chryssie. She squeed and took the mug, dunking a half-dozen cubes in it and drinking happily.

“Honestly, I feel like a foalsitter,” Spike sighed and laughed a little. He looked around, and then beckoned for Ledger to step outside with him. Ledger held his coffee in his magic as he walked out into the hall with the dragon.

“So?” he asked the purple drake.

He scratched the back of his head as he peeked into the room to make sure the two mares weren’t listening. Satisfied, he turned his attention back to the drone. “I uh, was hoping I could get your advice…” He paused for a moment, then continued. “About how to get a mare to like you.”

Ledger took the request in for a moment before snickering and shaking his head. “Can’t help you there, buddy. I don’t know what I did to attract the mares I did. All I know is how to keep them interested.”

“Aw man,” Spike sighed. “I was hoping you could tell me how to win Rarity’s heart…”

“Like I said, I can’t help you,” Ledger said as he paused to take a drink of his coffee. “I might know somepony who could, but you’re just a little young for her advice.”

“Man, everypony says I’m ‘too young’,” he pouted. “Sometimes it sucks being a dragon, and since I can’t hoard, I’ll grow even slower…” He sighed and smiled. “Well, thanks anyway Ledger. And… thanks for taking care of Twilight. I know she can be a little neurotic, and somewhat OCD… I’m glad she found somepony though. I was worried she’d start collecting cats soon.”

“Not a problem, and I actually might have a little information for you,” Ledger said as he held a hoof out and summoned his book with a quick burst of teleportation magic. He flipped through it until he reached the yellow-marked section and cleared his throat.

“‘Among the many peculiarities of dragons, is that those that hoard physical goods, grow large and monstrous. However, those that do not hoard are seen as weak runts. But there is a third path for them. Those that hoard the intangible things. Like friends, or knowledge. They grow more mature while retaining their minds.’”

“Wait… what?” Spike blinked as he tried to wrap his mind around that. “Can you— You can actually do that?” This was news to him. “I… hmm…”

“What do you think this book is, if not my own little knowledge hoard?” the drone said as he flipped through it to demonstrate. “Two things you should keep in mind though, Spike. Sharing that which you hoard, if you hoard the intangible, only means your hoard and the world around you keeps growing richer. Knowledge for knowledge, friendship for friendship. And second...try not to grow up too fast? Enjoy your childhood while you have it.”

It was food for thought at least, Spike had a rather pensive look on his face and nodded. “Yeah, it’s something to think about anyway.” There was something he had to confirm first. He looked up and Ledger and smiled. “I’m gonna head out for a bit. Can you foalsit those two until I get back?”

“I might just get a headache around Chrysalis, but if that starts happening, I’ll throw sugar at her to shut her up,” Ledger replied. “Take care, Spike.”

“Yeah,” the drake fistbumped the drone and headed off. It was time he had a talk with Rarity…

Inside, Chrysalis was having fun messing with Twilight’s mane, now done up in a beehive style that went out of fashion thirty years ago.

“No… just, no,” Twilight groaned as Chrysalis giggled. Ledger walked back in as he sipped his coffee, slipping his book back in his saddlebags.

“If anypony gets to mess with Twilight’s looks, it should be me or Middy,” he interjected. Chrysalis shrugged and her horn flared again, changing Twilight’s hair back to her ponytail.

“Hm, if you insist little drone. You know, speaking of…” She turned and looked at him. “It has been a long time since I had a Noble drone. Could I borrow him Twilight?”

“No. Absolutely not.” She looked at Ledger, “Not unless he wants to?”

“When Tartarus freezes over, or Twilight decides you can go outside without a tracking spell on you,” Ledger deadpanned.

“Hm, so if I get to go outside… didn’t take you for a public act kind of guy,” Chrysalis chuckled. Ledger groaned and facehooved.

“I walked into that one,” he muttered.

“Yes, yes you did,” Chrysalis giggled and kissed him on the cheek as she walked past. “You’re cute, but the griffon and the Pink were cuter. Too bad for you.”

“Ledger, would you like to do some science now, or continue flirting with Chrysalis?” Twilight asked, wearing a bemused expression.

“Science please,” Ledger said as he put his hoof back down. “Science before I make more of a fool of myself.”

“Too late,” the nymph chuckled as she left the room. Twilight rolled her eyes and her horn lit up, teleporting Ledger and herself to her lab. It was a rather spacious set up, with chemistry sets, some machines with blinking lights and a strange looking gateway-shaped device.

“Oooh,” Ledger said as he looked around. “I could spend days down here…”

“I can as well, but Spike and a much more active social life won’t let me,” Twilight pouted. “See what I have to give up to be with you lot.”

“Aww, I’m sorry you have to put science second to our times together,” Ledger said, without a trace of sincerity.

“Good, you should feel bad, knowing how much sacrifice I have to make,” Twilight giggled. She gave him a brief tour of the place. “This is my alchemy set up, I have a smaller one upstairs that Applebloom uses on occasion. I’m currently working on something for Applejack, a potion fertilizer. Though, my last experiment caused the tree to disintegrate…” She shrugged and moved to the machinery.

“This can be used to scan everything about a pony. Once I have the readout from this, I’ll know more about you than you do.”

“Hmm,” Ledger said as he looked at the machinery. “I’m assuming you stuck Amy in here as well, to compare my readouts with.”

“Yup, hers were… interesting,” Twilight replied. They were about as consistent as Pinkie Pie’s. She stopped in front of the gate and looked at it. “This is an interdimensional portal I threw together,” so she said as casually as somepony would about making a sandwich.

“Wait, what?” Ledger asked as he looked over the gateway intently. “Is this related to our research?” He hoped he could remember enough of it to try and make another back home.

“No, I keep it down here so nopony tampers with it,” Twilight explained. “And it won’t work unless I put a certain object inside of it anyway.”

“Still, we could probably use the principles behind this for our little project,” Ledger pointed out.

“Maybe,” Twilight said, then smiled. “I could… show you what’s on the other side though…”

“Work first, leisure later,” Ledger said as he walked back to the scanning machine. “Though you’d better believe that you’re showing me later.”

“Sure, and I could show you my friends on the other side. Heehee, won’t they be surprised~” She clapped her hooves as she floated over Amy’s data she collected. “But yes, science first. So, here’s what I got from Amy. She seems to be in a similar position to what you were in, but her changing is… different. It seems to trigger whenever she feels negative emotions, but bounces right back whenever she feels positive.”

“Probably because she hasn’t gone fully Black yet,” Ledger said as he situated himself in the device. “From what I read, if a ‘ling goes full Black, that starts the process. She can be as tainted as she likes, but if her negativity ever truly wins out…”

“So as long as she stays positive,” Twilight hummed as she looked over the results. “The problem is how to cure it. We can’t send her Black, due to the fact that she’s pregnant now. Maybe... “ Twilight paused as she got an idea. Science Time with Twilight, Ledger was going to feast like a king here. “What about an over exposure to positive energy?”

“It would probably need to be pure love, or as close to it as we can get,” Ledger said. “The only place like that I’ve encountered has been…” Ledger smiled widely. “I think I’m going to recommend Ace take Amy up north on a vacation when they next get one.”

“The Crystal Empire!” Twilight’s eyes shone. “Why didn’t I think of that? You’re a genius Lev!”

“I try,” Ledger said. “So, uh...were you going to take any actual readings, or are we just sending the pair of them up north?”

“Let’s have that as Plan A, but it doesn’t hurt to have a backup plan or three,” Twilight nodded. Then a thought occured. “Would you say that Chrysalis is rather negative? Well, used to be, still is? I don’t know.”

“She seems to be, but we’d know if she was turning,” Ledger said. “It’s kinda hard to miss.”

“Well that’s just the thing,” Twilight said. “She would have been that way for years. She used brainwashing magic on my brother and forcefully stole his emotions. So… why hasn’t she turned yet?”

“...Hmm,” Ledger said. “Maybe there’s something more to a Black than just being negative…”

“So many unknowns, which is why helping her will be difficult,” Twilight sighed. “Perhaps we should ask Chrysalis? She might know why she hasn’t turned yet?”

“And if we want a straight answer, we’ll look in my book and conduct these tests,” Ledger replied.

“True enough,” Twilight sighed. “Okay, so what does your book say?”

Ledger held out a hoof and summoned the thing to him again, causing it to pop into existence with a flash of teleportation. He flicked to the middle of the book and sat down to read it, all while still remaining in the scanning device. “Hmm...interesting,” he said as he went over the words he’d painstakingly copied down while he still could.

Twilight looked at the readouts, but they didn’t show anything yet. “What’s interesting?” she asked him.

“Apparently...oh, that’d make sense…” The drone looked up from his book and looked at Twilight. “Do you know when Amy starts turning? What emotion she starts feeling?”

“I believe it was sadness, or something along those lines,” Twilight said. “She said she got like that the first time when she thought Ace had no chance against Tirek.”

“Every Color has an opposite, a negative, a gateway to being Black,” Ledger said. “For Silvers, it’s typically anger. Instead of wanting to learn more, we turn to destroying things. For Pinks, who thrive on happiness…”

“Sadness, or loss of hope,” Twilight finished his sentence. “So Chrysalis is a Green, which is Creativity… so, destruction?”

“Sloth, laziness,” Ledger supplied. “I’m not sure what a Violet’s would be. Blue, instead of Loyalty, would be betrayal. Yellow, instead of Courage, would be cowardice. Orange, instead of Kindness, cruelty. And Red, instead of Duty...hmm, that one’s not recorded either.”

“A Violet is sort of like Love, so perhaps hatred?” Twilight suggested. “And Duty… Hmm, a dishonourable act maybe? Still, Amy is a Pink, so we should focus on that for now.”

“Right. So basically, we need to keep her happy, which seems to revolve around keeping Ace alive. Tall order,” Ledger said. “Also, keep Chrysalis from getting lazy and uninspired.”

“All she’s done since she arrived is be lazy,” Twilight replied as she looked over his shoulder at the book. “And I think that if Ace couldn’t be killed by two of those Chameleos, then it’s a safe bet that he’ll be harder to kill than a Changeling in a stable herd.”

“I do seem to keep bouncing back from nearly-deadly situations, don’t I?” Ledger asked as he snuck a quick smooch in on Twilight. “So, your fancy machine say anything about me yet?”

“That you’re perfectly normal as far as a unicorn goes,” she replied. “It seems that your transformations also trick my computer into thinking you’re one.” She pulled off the helmet and adjusted a few wires. “Would you mind taking your true form?”

Ledger nodded and, with a flash of silver, took off his disguise. She paused to look his form over, it never failed to fascinate her. She licked her lips, then shook her head and put the helmet back on and switched the machine on.

A few moments later, it started to spit out some results which Twilight poured over.

“Hmm, your muscle strength seems to be average, though only barely. You magic power is impressive though, along with your capacity and mana reserves… And, not a trace of Dark magic corruption at all…”

“I would hope not,” Ledger said as he sat there, continuing to read the book. “Cider did do her best to rid me of it when pressed.”

“And she’s done quite a good job of it too,” Twilight replied. “I think the location might have been a contributing factor as well. This castle was born from the Tree of Harmony after all.”

“Fair enough,” Ledger said. “Though, we shouldn’t discount her love at all. Even a little would have been enough, and she gave me far more than that.”

“I would never discount it,” Twilight agreed. “I’m just saying that there was more at play than just that. Perhaps sending Amy to the Empire would be the most effective solution. But just getting a big dose of love might not be enough. We can’t use the same method as we did with you, and love alone might not be enough.”

“If you truly think that, then we really need to get you up to speed on the power of love,” Ledger said as he more fully returned to his book.

“Well excuse me for not being Cadence,” Twilight pouted. “There are just too many variables here for my liking. And if it goes wrong…”

“So long as she still has Ace, it can’t go wrong,” Ledger said. “It just won’t go optimally right, is all. That’s actually an idea, why don’t we ask Cadence if she’ll meet with the pair, see if there’s anything she can do to help?”

“That sounds like an idea,” Twilight nodded and pulled out a quill and some paper. “I’ll send her one once Spike gets back from wherever it is he’s gone.” She looked around her lab and sighed. “Not enough science has been performed today. Sad Twily is sad.”

“Aww,” Ledger said, nearly melting at the sight. “Well, what else is there to do?” If there was one thing he wouldn’t stand for, it was a sad mare when he could make them happy.

“Hmm, there is our project we could work on…” Oh! Lightbulb moment! “And I know somepony… well, someone that could probably help us!”

“Oh?” Ledger said. “Color me curious.” Which he already was. “Who is this being?”

Twilight smiled as she summoned a book of her own, one with a red and yellow sun-mark on the cover. She opened it and wrote something down before closing it and waiting. After a few silent moments, the book begun to glow and vibrate. She smiled and opened it, her smiled widening as she read.

“Perfect, she isn’t busy right now!”

“Dare I ask?” Ledger asked. “This is starting to sound quite complicated…”

“It’s more fun to surprise you,” she smiled as she floated the book into a notch on top of the gateway. The device activated with moving parts, flashing bolts of lightning and then a swirling portal hummed to life. “Let’s take a little trip shall we?”

“...Only if you promise I won’t be in any danger,” Ledger said as he sent his book back to his saddlebags with a pop.

“Don’t worry, it’s perfectly safe,” Twilight reassured him. “Just be careful though… the first step is a doozy.” And with that warning, she stepped through the portal and vanished.

“...The things I do for mares,” Ledger said as he followed suit.

The next thing Ledger felt was himself hitting a solid surface, possibly the ground.

And something felt… off.

Very off.

It felt sort of like the time when he’d transformed into a dragon. But...less large. And he wasn’t holding a transformation on himself at the moment.

“You okay Ledger?” he heard Twilight ask. But when he slowly opened his eyes, it most definitely wasn’t the alicorn princess he was dating looking down at him.

“Twilight,” he slowly asked as he got used to this...very weird body. “What fresh Tartarus have you gotten me into now?”

“Welcome to the human world,” she smiled as she held out her hand to help him up. His new body was… yup, very weird was an apt description. He was some sort of biped, though he seemed to lack a tail for balance. His chitin had been replaced with dark-coloured skin, while his silver mane hung down, stopping just past his shoulderblades. He also seemed to be wearing clothing of some kind. And… where the hell were his hooves? What the fuck were these things on his forelegs!?

“Twilight, I’m uncomfortable,” he said in a quavering voice. They were sorta like the dragon’s claws...just without the actual claws. He wobbled a little, not used to being tail-less on two legs.

“Yeah, it takes a little getting used to,” Twilight said as she held his arm so he wouldn’t fall. For some reason, she also looked a little younger, but that voice and manecut were unmistakable. “You’re what’s called a ‘human’. I think they evolved from apes or something,” Twilight informed him. “Still, you don’t look half-bad if I do say so myself.”

“Please tell me this is temporary,” Ledger said. “I’m uncomfortable with being forcibly changed.” He couldn’t quite read what was on his clothing, and his panic was preventing him from puzzling it out.

“You’ll turn right back when we go to home Equestria,” she told him and squinted at his t-shirt. “If you can read this… you’re too close,” she read. “Cute.”

“I didn’t pick that,” the now-a-human drone replied. “This is one of the weirder days I’ve ever experienced. And that’s including the day Midnight suggested we start a herd.”

“Did you know that Luna gave her that idea?” Twilight said as she looked around. They were standing in front of a large statue, with a massive building before them. It seemed quite at the moment, until another human approached and hugged Twilight. She had long orange and red curled hair and a rather fierce gaze.

“It’s good to see you again Twilight,” she said happily.

“You as well Sunset. Have you been doing okay?”

“Yeah, it’s been a lot better since you were here last. I can actually walk through the halls and not get accosted or have stuff thrown at...me…” She noticed Ledger and her expression changed. “Now, who is this~”

“Oh, this is Level Ledger. Level, this is the pony I was talking about. Sunset Shimmer. She used to be Princess Celestia’s student before me.”

“Ah, it does make sense that she’d have another student before you,” Ledger said as he looked at his...paw? “Twilight, help me out here. I’m all sorts of confused, still.” How was he supposed to hoofbump without hooves?

“So he’s a pony as well?” Sunset as as she took his hand and shook it. “Nice to meet you. Any friend of Twilight’s is a friend of mine.”

Twilight giggled at the baffled/fascinated look on his face. “What you have there is called a hand Ledger. Since humans don’t have magic, they evolved as a tool-using species. They possess digits with opposable thumbs and can build just about anything you can imagine.”

“Ah,” Ledger said with as little comprehension as he felt. “...Wait. Humans don’t have magic? I have no magic?!” Oh, there was the panic he’d felt all along. It was just waiting for him.

“Okay, Ledger, calm down,” Twilight said, then realised why he was panicking. Changelings couldn’t survive without magic. If he couldn’t draw emotions…

“Quick experiment time,” she replied and pulled Ledger in for a kiss that left Sunset’s mouth hanging open in shock. Ledger felt a gentle warmth fill his body, a familiar one as he absorbed some of her love.

“Okay,” Ledger said once the kiss broke. “It looks like your fancy portal either didn’t know what to do with me, or didn’t rob me of all my abilities. I’ll probably survive here.”

“Phew,” Twilight wiped her brow as Sunset just gaped at her.

“Huh? Wha? How… when? WHAT!?”

Twilight giggled and held his arm. “Oh yeah, a lot has happened for me as well. This is Level Ledger. He’s my coltfriend, as well as a Changeling.”

“A… wait, Changelings actually exist!?” Sunset exclaimed.

“Owch,” Ledger said as he looked at Twilight. “At least nopony doubts that Alicorns exist. This is a new low for me.”

“I thought Changelings were something that parents scared their foals with to make them behave,” Sunset explained. Even Twilight had a look of disbelief on her face.

“Sunset, you sure? There are documents all about Changelings. There have been for quite a number of years…”

Sunset blushed and looked away. “I… lived a sheltered life okay? And I had no interest in what I thought was a mythological creature… unlike Santa Hooves. I will prove he exists!!”

“...She’s gonna be like you were when you finally got over your fear of me, isn’t she,” Ledger deadpanned.

“I hope not, we came here to discuss teleportation, not Changeling biology… which would be meaningless in your current form,” Twilight replied. “So, is there somewhere we could take this conversation? I don’t feel like standing here all day.”

“Oh! Sure,” Sunset replied, breaking away from her thoughts. “We can use the practice room the girls and I use. It should be empty today.”

“Cool,” Twilight nodded and looked at Ledger. “Ready to learn how to walk?”

“This...promises to be a long and painful day, doesn’t it?” Ledger asked. Sunset giggled and took his other arm.

“One step at a time,” she said. “Don’t worry, it’s not that different from walking on all fours...”

Several faceplants later, they made it to the music room. And Ledger was starting to get the hang of his new body at least. Sunset opened the door and led them inside, closing it behind her.

“So… what brings you guys here anyway?” she asked.

“Twilight and I are running a little project to make teleportation available to the common pony,” Ledger said as he spied a seat and all but collapsed into it. “Apparently, she thinks you might have some insights.”

“Hmm, well, Teleportation was one of the fields I specialised in,” Sunset replied as she sat down on the floor. “So, what did you have so far? How do you plan on doing this?”

“I was thinking a crystal array to serve as the anchor points, along with a magical battery to cast the spell itself,” Ledger said. “We recently came up with the idea of addresses being used in the spellwork as well.”

“I see,” Sunset hummed, tapping her chin. “That’s… actually not bad. I think that would work. So what’s the problem?”

“We need to figure out how to get it to work with anypony,” Twilight said. “We’re using the Waypoint Spell as a base, but as you probably know…”

“Waypoint is tied to the caster, or those he or she has to be with to use it with them,” Sunset finished. “And really, no other spell would make for a decent base, not without drawing a lot of power from the caster.” She hummed and then pulled out her cellphone. “Too bad you guys don’t have these. Instant communication would make life a lot easier.”

“We Changelings do have a Hivelink spell,” Ledger said. “Instant communication across vast distances...at least, with Scope working it.”

“Hivelink?” Sunset scooched closer to him as her eyes shone. “How does it work?”

“It creates a bond between the minds of two changelings, or more, depending on how skilled the caster is at looping others in,” Ledger said. “It’s quite a weak one, though. Only words can get through.”

“Hmm, it’s actually similar to how a cell phone works,” Sunset replied. “You see this device? It’s linked to millions of others like it via a network that uses something similar to radio waves. And by using a series of antenna and satellites orbiting the planet, we have an information network called The Internet. Kind of like the biggest library you can think of, accessible from just about anywhere at any time.”

Ledger just sat back and drank the information in, before slowly looking at Twilight.

“Can I stay here for about a week or two?”

“If you’re good,” she giggled. “Trust me, I wish I could stay and study this place longer…”

“Well how about this,” Sunset said. “Your Hivelink is a spell yes? A magical connection between two or more individuals? Well, the books that Twilight and I have serve as the link between our worlds. So, what if you could somehow use Hivelink as a way to bridge your Waypoints?”

“...We’re going to be analyzing your book thoroughly when we get back and compare it to a typical Hivelink spell,” Ledger told the once-alicorn.

“Of course, we can also ask Celestia, since she’s the one that created the books in the first place.” Twilight said.

“It was a way for us to communicate when I was her student,” Sunset explained. “I heard you use Dragon Mail right? I believe it also uses a similar spell.”

“So, we kidnap Spike and Scope later?” Twilight asked the former drone.

“Spike yes, Scope, not needed, she taught me the spell,” Ledger said. “I can cast it and we can still get some readings.”

Twilight clapped her hands and hugged Sunset. “You’ve been a big help Sunny. Thanks a bunch!”

“Heh, glad I could help,” she replied as the door flew open and five girls charged in, burying Twilight and Sunset under a hug pile.

“Ack! Girls?” Twilight shouted from somewhere under the pile.

To Ledger… these new humans seemed… familiar. It was only when he looked at their manes that he put it together with some of the ponies from Ponyville.

“Well, there’s something you don’t see everyday,” the once-drone mused to himself. “Human versions of ponies you know. Besides yourself of course.”

They all looked at the unfamiliar voice and Pinkie was the first to be right up in his face.

“Wowzies! Who’s this hubba-hubba hunk?”

“Twilight’s new boyfriend apparently,” Sunset giggled as the princess blushed.

Ledger was suddenly the centre of attention as they all crowded around him, looking him over and whispering to themselves.

“Can I...help you?” Ledger asked the mare- no, they probably weren’t called mares here. Female humans? He’d have to ask Twilight later.

“We’re just wondering how the egghead over there scores a hottie like you,” Rainbow said rather blatantly. “I mean, don’t you and Flash Sentry have a thing here Twilight?”

Twilight turned an even deeper shade of red and hid her face in her hands.

“Oh, now this I have to hear,” Ledger said with a wicked smile. Assuming he could get Flash back home to believe him, it’d be a delicious story to tell him.

“Flash is just a very good friend in either world,” Twilight defended herself. “But Sunset is right, Level Ledger here is in a relationship with me.” She wasn’t going to bring up the topic of the herd, since most humans were a monogamous society.

“Well, I certainly approve of this,” Rarity stated as she looked him over. “Even if his choice in clothing is… bland.”

“Hey, his outfit is pretty cool,” Rainbow stated and Rarity sighed.

“I rest my case.”

“Next time I’ll make sure to ask for something a bit less bland then,” Ledger quipped. Rarity tilted her head, but Applejack beat her to asking the next question.

“So, is he one of them ponies like yerself Twilight?” she asked, even their voices were identical.

“Something like that,” Twilight said. “He’s a pony that can transform into other ponies…”

“Cooooool,” Pinkie and Rainbow echoed.

“I don’t even know if I could pull that off here,” Ledger said. “Magic for me is wonky as it is. I don’t know if I should try…”

“Perhaps an experiment for later,” Twilight said. “It might be best for you to get used to this place a little more first.”

“So what are you girls doing here anyway?” Sunset asked. “I have a free period, but don’t you all have class?”

“Yepper-deppers!” Pinkie said happily. “That’s why we’re here Sunny Smiles. It’s music class and we have a new teacher!”

“A new teacher?” Sunset asked as the door opened and a woman walked in. She was tall, curvaceous and her tight outfit showed those assets off quite nicely. She had flawless tanned skin and long, wavy platinum blonde hair. Her emerald eyes sparkled as she looked around the room at the students that had gathered.

“Ah, so my class is already here?” she asked in a voice that made Twilight gasp. There was… no way…

“Allow me to introduce myself,” she smiled as she walked towards the blackboard, her hips having a very nice sway to them. “My name is Midnight Song. It’s a pleasure to meet all of you cute little dears~”

“Ah, well, I’ll just...leave you all to it,” Ledger said as he stood up. “Twilight, I think we should abscond before complications arise.”

Midnight turned her head and looked at the pair. “I’ll have you know my hearing is quite sharp,” she replied. “What sort of complications might you mean young man?”

“I’m technically not supposed to be here,” Ledger said, telling a half-truth. “I’ll just go if you don’t mind…”

“Hmm, well you’re here now, so why don’t you stick around and learn a few things?” she asked with a half-lidded gaze.

“We have another class,” Twilight said suddenly. “Thank you for the offer Middy… I mean, Miss Song. We’ll ah, just be going… yeah.” She grabbed Ledger’s arm and bolted from the room, dragging him along behind her.

“Well now, that was strange,” Midnight replied and shrugged. “Well, let’s get started on this piece here…”

Outside, Twilight panted as she looked at Ledger. “That was… all kinds of awkward.”

“I nearly reacted from her voice and that gaze,” Ledger admitted. “Midnight did say she was older than me...guess that translates to her being old enough to teach here. I’m sorta glad we got out before we could see what else translated.”

“Well, I’m in my early twenties back home, and Sunset is older than that,” Twilight replied, “Yet here, I’m a seventeen year old human girl.” She took a deep breath and sighed. “Still, that was… surprising to say the least.”

“Just a little bit,” Ledger said as he realized something. “Um...we lost Sunset.”

Twilight looked back and smiled sheepishly. “Heh… whoops?”

“Twilight Sparkle?” a voice asked as Principal Celestia approached. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“Ah, hello… Principal Celestia,” Twilight replied. This day couldn’t possibly get any worse right?

“Hello...Principal Celestia,” Ledger followed, barely fighting down his urge to bow at the name. Celestia looked at him and tilted her head.

“A friend of yours Twilight?”

“Yes, from home,” she replied. That was also when four young girls rushed past, one bumping into Ledger and falling on her butt. She had short black hair and deep, crystal blue eyes.

“Gah! Hey! Watch where you’re standing!” she shouted at him.

“All I was doing was standing here,” Ledger replied. “I fail to see how I’m at fault.”

“Well, you are!” she retorted and then saw Celestia. “Oh… ahh, hey Principal Celestia… nice day huh?”

“Running in the halls again?” the woman sighed as the girl looked for an escape route.

“Hey Scopey! Hurry up,” Sweetie Belle called out and the girl nodded, running off.

“I apologise for that,” Celestia said. “She’s a real handful that one.”

“I can imagine,” Ledger replied, thinking of ‘his’ Scope back home. What, was this ‘Taunt Ledger with human forms of all your marefriends’ day? Next thing he knew, Cider would be coming around the corner…

What did come around was a tall woman with long green hair, a skin tone the same as Ledger’s and a permanent scowl on her face.

“I swear,” Chrysalis fumed. “Those little brats are going to be the end of me.”

“Rough day with the Crusader Club?” Celestia chuckled as Chrysalis looked at Twilight and Ledger, before walking off with the principal.

“If Apple Cider shows up, I am going to have a heart-attack,” Twilight whispered, waiting until the teachers were out of sight.

“I was just thinking that,” Ledger replied. “Or Amy, or Ace, or Fredrick...you get the idea.”

“I think we should go home,” Twilight groaned. “I don’t think I can take much more of this…”

“But I didn’t get one of those cell phones to look at,” Ledger pouted. “Or any information at all, really. We have leads, but there’s just so much here we could learn!”

“You do have a point,” Twilight sighed. “Alright, let’s go to the library here then. They should have books, as well as computers as well.”

As they turned down the corridor and headed for the library, they passed a few students, luckily none of which stood out to Ledger. As Twilight opened the door, a woman emerged, she had a pale complexion and long silvery hair.

“Thank you for meeting with me Miss Cheerilee,” she said. “The School Board will take this information into consideration.”

“It’s not a problem,” the teacher replied as they walked off down the corridor, the teacher giving Twilight a nod as they brushed past. “It’s always a pleasure talking with you Mrs. Gossip.”

“Weeeeeell that’s freaky,” Ledger said. “Almost makes you wonder if there’s another version of me running around here.”

“Two Levels?” Twilight hummed and blushed. “Ohh, I might like that~”

“Considering that you’re apparently younger, ‘I’ might be as well,” the once-changeling pointed out.

“Hmm, well from appearances, you look to be the same age as me here,” she said and pointed to a glass case on a nearby wall. “Have a look for yourself.”

Ledger did, and spent a few minutes poking at his new body, to familiarize himself with it. “Weird,” he eventually commented. “Weren’t we here to do a thing?”

“Yes! Learning!” Twilight said a with a small blush. No, she totally wasn’t wondering about seeing how all of their new bodies worked. Nope, not at all.

“Well, do you want to see this ‘Internet’ thing, or find some reference books?”

“We can’t do both?” Ledger asked with a bemused expression. “I mean, there are two of us here.”

“Uh, sure, I guess?” she said as she looked at the computer and blanched at her last attempt at using one. “Uh, you use that, I’m going to find a book or three.”

“Oh...kay?” Ledger said as he sat down in front of the device. Well, this was going to be interesting. He found the keys in front of him to be familiar with how a typewriter worked, though he wasn’t sure as to how all of them could possibly have some use. And what was the point of that device over to the right? He gave it a wiggle, and saw something on the...brightly lit thing move as well. Experimenting with the device again saw that same thing move.

“Oh, I see, some sort of secondary input,” Ledger mused. “Hmm. How hard could this be?”

“Do y’all need some help with that?” a voice asked from behind him. “Ya look a little lost here.” He turned as a girl that looked around the same age as Twilight stood behind him. She wore a pair of denim jeans and a flannel shirt. Her blonde mane was tied up into twin ponytails, tired off with some tartan ribbons. Her left breast pocket bore an embroidery of three apple cores…

“I’m unfamiliar with this sort of...computer,” Ledger said, taking great pains to pronounce the word correctly. “How exactly would I use the...internet, to look up something? Like, say, how a...cell phone works?”

“Oh, why that’s easy,” she giggled as she took a seat next to him. She placed her hand over his, the one that was resting on the computer mouse and moved the pointer until it was hovering over one of the icons. “Y’all jus’ click the the left button like so,” she pressed down on his hand to double click and a new image popped up. A white screen with the word ‘Goggle’ in bright letters written on it.

“Now, ya’ll jus’ type what you want into that little box there. Then press the ‘Enter’ button there.”

Ledger carefully typed in the question, ‘How does a cell phone work,’ guessing on the spelling, before hitting enter. The screen paused for a second, then switched to another screen with a whole list of answers.

‘In the most basic form, a cell phone is essentially a two-way radio, consisting of a radio transmitter and a radio receiver. When you chat with your friend on your cell phone, your phone converts your voice into an electrical signal, which is then transmitted via radio waves to the nearest cell tower.’

That was written at the top of the list, followed by a list highlighted in blue.

“There ya go,” the girl smiled. “That’s a basic explanation, or y’all can go through these links and find more detailed information.” She suddenly realised she was still holding his hand and let go. “Ah, heh, sorry bout that.”

“Not a problem,” Ledger said. “I will admit, I’m not used to cute females holding my hand, but I don’t mind it.”

The girl blushed and looked away shyly. “Ah ain’t that cute,” she mumbled. Then realised she still hadn’t introduced herself. “Oh, ah, mah name’s Apple Cider. You?”

“Level Ledger,” he introduced himself. “And thank you for your help.” He totally wasn’t planning to look up ‘How to use a computer’ when she wasn’t there. Nope, not at all.

“It’s… alright,” she replied, still blushing lightly as she stood back up. “W-Well, ah gotta run, see you later maybe?”

“Perhaps,” Ledger said. “And once again, thank you.”

“Yer welcome,” Cider nodded and walked briskly from the room, her heart pounding in her chest as Twilight walked back over, a massive stack of books obscuring her view until she placed them on the desk with a heavy thud.

“Phew! This is so much easier with my magic,” she sighed. She looked at the computer and hummed. “So, you figured it out so quickly? I’m a little jealous.”

“Apparently there’s a way to look up all sorts of things on this device,” Ledger said, putting in his newest question. Namely, how to use the computer effectively. “Including how to use it.”

“Again, why didn’t I think of that?” Twilight sighed as she pulled the first book off of the stack, namely, an encyclopedia. “So, what do you suppose we should study first?”

“I’m going to learn what makes this work,” Ledger said as he read the results of his latest search. “Then I’m going to learn what makes those Cell Phones different from a Hivelink spell.”

“The fact they use technology instead of magic?” Twilight deadpanned as she flipped through the book.

“True,” Ledger said. “But principles from one could be applied to the other. I’m starting to get the impression you could search for anything with this device and get an answer.” Reading the article, he also learned that if a computer was connected to a printer, then he could make a physical copy of what he saw on screen.

“Maybe you should ask it something totally ridiculous, just to see if you get an answer,” Twilight mused half-jokingly.

“Maybe I will, later,” Ledger replied. “Hmm...but for now.” He punched his earlier question regarding cell phones into the computer again, this time ready to print out his result. He clicked on the print icon and a machine next to them whirred to life, startling the hay out of both of them. A few seconds later, it spat out some paper with the information printed on it.

“An automatic book maker?” Twilight asked.

“This could be highly useful,” Ledger mused. “We could print all sorts of information to take back with us.”

“Well, hopefully it survives the trip through the portal,” Twilight said. “Well, guess we can find out later. Print away Levvy!”

“Your wish is my command,” Ledger said, deciding the next question would be how a computer actually worked. And then he would ask how the Internet worked.

He wanted to be sure he understood the tools he was using, after all. And see if they could be replicated back in Equestria.

An exact duplicate would be impossible without the technology, but who knows, the information could still be useful.

Twilight poured through a few books, mostly researching geography and the like, neither noticing the time slip away.

It wasn’t until they heard a ‘click’ as the lights went out that they realised it was already after dark…

“Guess we’ve been here a while,” Ledger chuckled as he picked up his pile of printouts. “Shall we be going, then?”

“Sounds good,” Twilight replied, her eyes hurting a little from reading for so long. And human eyes were so tiny… She pushed her chair out from the desk and moved to the library door… and then her eyes widened as she pushed against it and… it didn’t budge.

“Uh oh…”

“Okay, don’t panic,” Ledger said calmly. “When you fed me earlier, I felt something. Maybe I can try my magic to open the door?”

“Maybe,” Twilight said. “But we don’t know what effect your magic has in the world. The last time magic was used in the school, the front of the building was blown off.”

“So, gently then,” Ledger said as he focused on the door and his magic, willing one to unlock the other. He didn’t push too hard on wanting the door open, but every five seconds that something didn’t happen, he pushed a little harder. Hoping, praying that this would work.

The door creaked, and eventually the lock gave way as it swung open, revealing a darkened corridor. For some reason, an empty school at night was seriously creepy.

“Wow, so that really did work,” Twilight replied. “How do you feel?”

“Like I want to rest for a week,” Ledger panted. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

Twilight nodded as they walked through the empty halls, the only sounds were their shoes on the tiled floor. Ledger seemed to be a little unsteady and Twilight paused, then gave Ledger a light, but sensual kiss.

“Feel any better?” she asked, hoping a little love might have helped.

“A bit, yeah,” Ledger said, no longer panting or swaying. “Remind me never to try magic here ever again...if I ever come back…”

“Deal,” Twilight said as she pushed against the front doors of the school. “Oh you have got to be bucking kidding me!”

“These locked as well?” Ledger asked with a groan.

“Yeah, I think humans are obsessed with locking things,” she sighed. “Well, we could try and open these… or do what I did last time I was here overnight.”

“Let’s try it the subtle way,” Ledger said. “Though, I might need a bit more energy to do that again…”

“Subtle? No, I didn’t break anything,” Twilight explained, worried that she might have given the impression she was some sort of criminal. “I slept in the library, on a bed I made out of books!”

Oh gods, she sounded so adorably proud of that…

“...I’d rather actually go home, Twilight,” Ledger deadpanned. “Didn’t you have a date you wanted to go to with Scope?”

“Okay, okay,” Twilight replied. She looked around and then slapped her forehead as she turned a small lever under the handle of the door, which unlocked it.

“Not. A. Word!” she warned him as they stepped out into the cool night air.

“Hey, I probably feel just as foolish as you do,” Ledger said, making sure to flick that lever back before the door closed behind them. And with that, the door shut and locked itself behind them, leaving only one unlocked door in their wake.

“Alright, let’s go home,” Twilight said as she headed for the portal. Maybe, just maybe she’d toyed with a few less… professional ideas. Oh well. The portal rippled as she stepped through it, and after a dizzying moment, the once-again alicorn Twilight stepped out into her castle home.

“Well, here goes,” Ledger said as he stepped to the portal. It was like stepping through a sheet of water, and he soon found himself on his face in Twilight’s basement, the alicorn giggling at his less-than-graceful entrance.

“Smooth,” she giggled. Ledger just grumbled a little as he got his hooves under him again, before looking around for those printouts he’d been holding a moment ago. They’d been scattered thanks to his trip, but the information was intact.

“Yes!” Ledger said as he gathered them all up with his, thankfully restored, magic. “Oh sweet, delicious information.”

“I worry about you sometimes,” Twilight giggled as she powered down the portal and took the book out. It started vibrating almost right away and she opened it to see a message from Sunset, asking if she was okay and where she was.

“Ahhah, whoops,” Twilight said with a nervous giggled and wrote back, explaining what had happened.

One could almost hear the interdimensional facepalm.

Once that was done and the book returned to a safe location, Twilight nodded and straightened her mane.

“Well, shall we head back to your place then?” She inquired. “I still need a crucial component for my date.”

“We can do that,” Ledger said as he summoned his saddlebags and carefully stored the papers within. “I’ll send you a copy later,” he promised the alicorn. “For now, we have...Oooh, wait. I should probably go stand in your analyzer and cast the Hivelink spell real fast before we go, so that you can analyze everything else later.”

“Good idea,” Twilight nodded as she strapped him in and flicked a few switches. “Okay, fire away Lev.” His horn lit up as he established the connection, Twilight’s machine going to work on analyzing the frequency and mana flow.

However, it also found a connection.

A rather irritable Scope Lens.

“And where the hell have you been!?” she yelled into his mind. “Want to explain when I tried to call you earlier, the spell told me that the recipient ‘didn’t exist’!?”

“I’lllllll explain it to you later,” Ledger said back to her. “It’s not the most...believable of stories, and I have proof that it happened. So I won’t sound completely crazy when I explain it to you.”

The silence that followed that was deafening. “Nope, not gonna touch it. That’d be too easy,” she muttered. “Well, whatever. Your bat’s going crazy without you and Purple Smart around, and Fritter went home, so only Cider’s mom is still here.”

“Tell her we’ll be there soon. Love you all,” Ledger said, smirking as he pictured Scope’s reaction to that second bit.

“Oh bite me,” she replied, her face heating up as she cut the connection. Twilight tore the paper out and looked it over, humming thoughtfully.

“Interesting…” she murmured as she rolled it up and tied it with a ribbon. She looked at Ledger and tilted her head, “And what are you smirking for?”

“Let’s just say we’re going to have quite the surprise when we get back to the farm, assuming we survive,” Ledger said. “Make a note to scan your book later, and let’s be off.”

“You riled Scope up again, didn’t you?” Twilight frowned as she packed a few things and teleported down an overnight bag she kept packed at all times. “I really wonder how you two came to be in a relationship in the first place.”

“Traditional changeling way, we snarked at each other until we found something that worked,” Ledger replied.

“Yeah, I wonder about that,” Twilight hummed as she attached her saddlebags. “Well, I’m good to go. You?”

“I’m good,” Ledger said as he shrugged his saddlebags on. “Now?”

Twilight nodded and her horn lit up, she didn’t have time to react as two more individuals flung themselves at the mare and were whisked away along with them.

When they re-appeared on the stone plate outside Ciders house, Spike and Chrysalis were still in freefall, tumbling onto the soft grass.

“Wipeout,” Spike said dizzily, Chrysalis nodding in agreement.

“...For the love of love,” Ledger muttered. “Is there any reason the pair of you couldn’t just ask to come with us?”

“No time, we had to act!” Spike said as he picked himself up. “Still, I’ve never been to Las Pegasus before. So this should be fun.”

“I was bored, perhaps here, I’ll not be as bored,” Chrysalis replied. “I find you and yours most amusing little drone.”

“Liar,” Twilight giggled. “You’re here to see if you can get into Amy and Ace’s bed… again.”

The queen flushed crimson and looked away. Ledger blinked before slowly shaking his head.

“Noooot thinking about it,” he said simply. “Well, this puts a wrench in your plans,” the disguised drone said to the alicorn.

“Nope, you can foalsit her for a while,” Twilight hummed. “I have a date and you can’t stop me~”

Ledger just used a hoof to point at Spike, the one Twilight hadn’t mentioned.

“Hmm, Midnight can watch him,” she giggled as she skipped inside, humming a small tune. Spike shook his head as he walked closer.

“I am capable of taking care of myself,” Spike said. “Still… I just, didn’t feel like being in Ponyville tonight…”

“Aww, it’s okay buddy,” Ledger said as he drew the drake in for a quick hug. The drone then looked at Chrysalis and sighed. “You know they’re both crazy, right?”

“And the nymph that invaded Canterlot isn’t?” she winked. “I have already accepted that everyone in Equestria is insane to some degree.” She chuckled and looked at the drone. “So where might I find them? I wish to play a little prank.”

Ledger rattled off Amy’s address in Changeish, getting the information across as quick as he could. He’d never been there, but he knew where the Pink of Las Pegasus made her home. “Promise to at least try to behave, and put on a show of staying at home while Twilight goes out, and I’ll let you slip out once she’s gone,” he said in Equestrian.

“Hmm, I find these terms agreeable,” Chrysalis nodded.

Twilight had already gone inside, finding her target of the night in her pegasus form, perched in her little nest in the rafters.

“Good evening Scope,” she greeted her. “How are you?”

“Oh good,” Scope said snarkily. “The two of you decided to exist again. Maybe it’ll be better than when you didn’t. I doubt it.”

“Hmm?” ‘Exist’? Was she able to sense when they went to the human world? “Well, I apologise for worrying you,” Twilight said as she flew up to speak with her face to face. “I’ll let you know the next time we head off to a different dimension.”

“A different dimension?” Scope said with a roll of her eyes. “Puh-lease. More likely than not, you found a ward to block everything so the entire village wouldn’t hear the sounds of the two of you going at it.”

“I tried… even I don’t have that much magic,” Twilight sighed. “And I already missed out on a unique opportunity tonight as is. But I’m telling the truth. Ledger even has proof we went.”

“And the moon is made of cheese,” Scope deadpanned. “Whatever, not like I really care.” She went back to her book with a small huff.

Twilight smirked and decided to unveil her weapon. “So, I guess you’re a little mad then. I’m sorry Scopey,” Twilight replied. “And here I have two tickets to the premiere of the Daring Do movie as well… A.K. Yearling is even going to be there… hmm, guess I’ll ask Middy if she wants to go…”

“Iforgiveyoualreadynowlet’sgo!” Scope said as she all but bolted from her cloud and stood next to the door. “Whyareyoutakingsolong?”

Twilight giggled at the adorable reaction. She’d expected it, but not quite like this. Now she wished she had a cellphone to record it with.

“Okay, I’m coming,” she giggled, giving Midnight a kiss as the bat walked out of the kitchen to see what the fuss was all about.

“Huh? Twi? Where are you two going?” she asked.

“Movies!” Scope answered. “Ifsheevermovesherflank!”

“I wonder what would happen if you gave her sugar now?” Twilight mused as she opened the door with her magic. “Tell the others we’ll be back later.”

“Will do,” Midnight nodded as the pair headed off, Scope all but dragging Twilight out the door as she chittered in Changeish.

“Now, where’s my cuddle bug?” Midnight said, licking her lips. A Changeling walked through the door and Midnight pounced, pressing her muzzle against them and kissing them deeply.

Hmm, this didn’t taste like Level Ledger…

“As I understand it, Chrysalis is already involved with somepony, Middy,” Ledger spoke up from somewhere behind the duo. “You should probably stop now.”

“Hmm?” Midnight ceased her assault and dropped the changeling queen. “You’re not Levvy,” she said flatly as she stepped around the nymph and grabbed her bug. “Now, I think I’ll have the main course~”

“Ap!” Ledger said as he gestured to the drake riding him. “Not in front of Spike, please.”

“Huh? Oh, heya Spike!” Midnight waved, the drake waving back as he looked at Chrysalis.

“Uh, is she gonna be okay?” he asked the drone.

“Midnight is real easy to overdose on,” Ledger replied cryptically. “She should recover...eventually.”

“Oh, you wound me,” Midnight swooned. She looked at Spike and rubbed his head. “So what brings you and bugbutt here anyway?”

“Chrysalis was bored and I just want some time away,” Spike replied with a half truth. “I hope I’m not interrupting you guys at all…”

“You do realize you picked the worst town to get some quiet away time in, right?” Ledger asked. “Las Pegasus is second only to Ponyville for the sort of disastrous events you seem to get regularly over there.”

“Nah, quiet is the last thing I want right now,” Spike said. “Gimme all the crazy you got okay?”

“Oh really~” Midnight said in a tone that made Ledger shiver. “Well then dragonboy… I hope you’re ready…”

“I’m not,” Ledger said as he turned to Chrysalis. “Okay, by the time you can pull yourself together, they’ll probably be far enough away for you to go out to play.”

“Urgh… I’m full enough as is… how are you still alive!?”

“I make it a habit to burn through some magic regularly with my disguise, TK, magical research,” Ledger said, listing off his mana-consuming hobbies. “It’s barely doing the job, though.”

“Urgh!” she grunted and lifted her head, pushing the energy down into her reserves and her eyes widened. “I had to drain Shining for two days for this much energy…” She looked at Midnight, then to Ledger. “Can I borrow her for a week or so? I could overthrow ALL the alicorns after that!”

“Seeing as how I’m dating one, no, you can’t. Plus, she doesn’t exactly have good memories of your army,” Ledger replied dryly. “In short, mine. Go get your own.” He said the last part in Changeish to keep Spike from eavesdropping.

“It was just a joke,” Chrysalis retorted and looked at Midnight Song. Memories of her army huh? Chrysalis wondered what had happened to her. Well, she could find out later. She now had a ton of magic to use for her plans.

“Later,” the nymph smiled and teleported with a wink.

Midnight shrugged and looked at Level. “Idea. Wanna order some pizza and have a movie night?”

“Assuming Cider will go for it? Then yes,” Ledger said as he looked back at the drake still riding him. “What about you?”

“Movie night sounds cool, as long as it isn’t some sappy romance filly flick,” he nodded. Midnight smiled and agreed with that one. She trotted off to find Cider as Spike looked at Ledger.

“So what’s with that look you keep giving her?” he asked. “You’ve had it ever since you and Twilight got back.”

“Yoooou wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Ledger said.

“Lemme guess,” Spike deadpanned. He’d heard that line before. He’d said that line before. “It has to do with the human world and Sunset Shimmer, along with copies of all Twi’s friends?”

There was silence for a minute before the drone replied. “I take it you’ve been, then,” Ledger said.

“Uhuh, I went with Twilight both times,” Spike said. “I was totally awesome by the way. You should see how cool I look in the other world!”

“...Emotivore, I can all but taste your lies,” Ledger said. “Anyways, not the important bit. It had less to do with Sunset Shimmer and the copies of Twilight’s friends, and more to do with the copies of all the mares in my life.”

“Ahh,” Spike nodded as he hopped off of his back and stretched. “So, you saw their human copies?” he asked and smiled slyly. “Were they cute? Did they recognise you?”

“Some of them were, yes,” Ledger answered. “And none of them recognized me, no. Probably just luck on my part, though, as my mom certainly existed in that dimension.”

“Wow, now that’d be weird,” Spike answered. “Well, look on the bright side. At least you don’t turn into a dog…”

“...If I comment on that, it’s just gonna get taken all sorts of wrong, isn’t it?” Ledger asked aloud.

“It may or may or result in you getting set on fire, yes,” Spike nodded as Midnight soon returned with Apple Cider, the latter giving Ledger a kiss on the cheek as she leaned against him.

“So, Middy says we’re havin’a movie night?” Cider said, smiling at Spike. “Ah reckon that sounds good. It’ll gimme a chance to dust of mah projector at least. Ain’t used it in a loooong time.”

“It was more meant to be a question, but at least you’re amicable to the idea,” Ledger said as he hugged his sweet mare. “Twilight and Scope are off at the movies themselves, so we can have our own little show if you’re up for it.”

“Sounds good,” Cider nodded, leaning into the hug. “Ah reckon we could make our own pizza as well. Ah have all the ingredients fer it.”

“And Spike and I can go rent a few movies,” Midnight nodded. “Whaddaya say Spike? Wanna fly with a Thestral?”

“Cool!” Spike nodded. “You can’t fly as bad as Twilight does anyhow.”

“Twi sucks at flying?” Midnight hummed and tilted her head. Now she knew what she could do in place of her guard work for a while.

“We’ll work on food if you’ll get the entertainment,” Ledger said as he switched his hug from Cider to Midnight.

“Oh, you know just how to entertain me~” she purred, kissing his cheek. Ledger snickered and would have replied in the same vein, if not for the dragon in the room.

“Go on, you crazy bat,” Ledger said as he returned the kiss. “We’ll be right here, waiting for you.”

“Yup!’ Midnight nodded, as Spike saddled up and held onto her neck. “Alright, passengers please fasten your seatbelts and make sure your seats are in the upright positions. This is the Midnight Express service and will be flying at dangerously ludicrous speeds.”

“Wait, what?” Spike asked as Midnight flared her wings and shot out of the open door like a bullet, the dragon shouting something that Twilight wouldn’t approve of…

“Well, let’s get to work on that pizza before she gets back,” Ledger said as he made to walk into the kitchen.

“Sure,” Cider repled, trotting after him. Her mom had gone to visit Fritter’s farm for a bit, so she had the house all to herself.

Ledger never even noticed her closing the kitchen door behind her, a small smirk on her muzzle...

Author's Note

And thus spawned a plethora of other side-story ideas.

Like the story? Consider dropping Aus and me a dollar on my Patreon. It really is appreciated.

Half the money will not go towards the Gungeon.

Chapter 71 - Date and Movie night

Twilight rolled her eyes as the excited nymph dragged her along the path towards the city. She knew the mare liked Daring Do, but not this much.

Still…

“She’s awfully cute like this,” Twilight giggled to herself. The alicorn gave her wings a small flutter and cleared her throat.

“Now Scope, don’t worry, we’re not running late. Do you want to get something to eat beforehoof?”

“They...allow that?” the nymph said with a cocked head. So what, she didn’t quite have a complete understanding of pony society.

“Well, we could have snacks and stuff at the movie, but I’d like something with a little more sustenance first.” At that, Twilight’s stomach reminded her that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. “Ehehe,” Twilight blushed a little.

“Was that a hungry dragon or you?” Scope asked. “Whatever, we can get a quick bite to eat, as long as it’s quick. Don’t wanna miss the movie.”

“A premiere is a big event,” Twilight explained. “Trust me, we’re not going to miss it.” She gave her wings a flap and took to the sky. “But I think we’ll save quite a bit of time if we fly.”

Scope nodded and flapped her own wings, hovering near the alicorn. “So, where’d you wanna eat, then?”

“Well, Fredrick’s tends to be both delicious and efficient, otherwise, the nearest Burger Princess will do just fine,” Twilight said as they flew.

“So it boils down to fast or giving the playbird more ammo,” Scope said. “Which is closest?”

“Fredricks,” Twilight sighed. “Still, I suppose I would like some nicer food than takeaway for our date…”

“Wait, what?” Scope asked, nearly dropping out of the sky as that thought hit her. “That’s what this is?”

“I told you as we left the house, but it looks like you were a little too excited to listen,” Twilight responded as they flew down to land. “If you don’t want to…”

“...Just don’t tell the others,” Scope said, looking away to hide the blush from Twilight.

“Of course,” Twilight giggled as they neared the ground. The princess wobbled in the air and Fredrick’s restaurant was treated to an alicorn flying through the front door and faceplanting the podium at the entrance with a loud thud.

“....ow,” the princess groaned.

“I take it you want a table,” Fredrick said with a slight smirk. “Or would you prefer to dive headfirst at one?”

“...You’re hilarious,” Twilight groaned, clutching her muzzle. “Landings are hard…”

“That’s typically because of a thing called the ground,” Scope said as she walked in after Twilight. “You’re trying to miss hitting that.”

“Nope… pretty sure I hit it,” Twilight snarked back in a dry tone.

“I believe that was her point,” Fredrick said as he got two menus out from behind his podium. “Just you two tonight?”

Twilight smiled and looked at Scope. Ohohoho! Now she had all the power. If she told Fredrick…

“Yes, a table for two would be splendid,” Twilight smiled sweetly.

“Right this way,” the griffon said, leading them to one of his, surprisingly few, open tables. Business was picking up again, thankfully. He had just been about ready to swap out with one of his serving colts and take up his usual post at the kitchen. “Will this do?”

“I think this will be a fine spot,” Twilight nodded as she took a seat. “What about you Scope? Is this suitable?”

“No worse than any other spot,” the disguised nymph said as she sat opposite the princess.

“Your words, they wound me,” the griffon said dramatically before putting the menus before them. “If I recall correctly, your server has a talent for being on time, so he’ll likely appear right when you need him.” With that, the griffon was off to the kitchen.

“If Rainbow was here, she’d probably comment on Fredrick employing ninjas,” Twilight giggled as she looked at the menu. The vegetable soup looked filling, so she was going to go with that.

“Nah, but he does employ some pretty nice-looking stallions. If you’re into that sort of thing,” Scope replied as she looked her menu over. Hmm...she was in the mood for fish. Maybe the salmon? That sounded about right.

“Well, you seem to like Ledger a whole lot,” Twilight pointed out. “But what about Midnight and Cider? You’re… a difficult mare to figure out Scope.”

“Good,” Scope said. At Twilight’s bemused expression, Scope explained, only a little. “If I wasn’t difficult to figure out, I might as well not be a ‘ling.”

“Ah, well I guess you have a point there,” Twilight nodded. She still hadn’t answered her question about Cider and Middy, but Twilight figured she shouldn’t encroach the personal stuff yet. “So, tell me a little about yourself then. I barely know a thing beyond your names and and gender… and with Changelings, I’ve noticed that the latter is also difficult to pin down.”

“Only with gender-shifters, it’s not exactly common for one to be able to do that,” Scope said. “Hay, it’s not even common for nobles to be able to do it. Sometimes you get a ‘ling that can slip in and out of several different roles at once. Sometimes you get one that’s more or less locked into what they were born as. We’re not all the same.”

“Which is one of the more common misconceptions about you,” Twilight sighed as she recalled some books that had it terribly wrong. “I read one that said only a Queen had intelligence, and that standard nymphs and drones ran on instinct alone…” She snorted and shook her head. “Written by an uneducated idiot whose only information was second-hoof info about the invasion…”

“Y’should have heard Ledger muttering back before he met Chrysalis,” Scope said with a snicker. “Kept saying things under his breath about what he’d do to the queen if he ever did meet her. His mildest threat was he’d get a shovel and bury her out in the desert.”

“And I left her alone with him and your mares,” Twilight groaned. “I really hope they play nice… I’d feel really bad about banishing Ledger to the moon for a thousand years…”

“They’ll find a way to deal,” Scope said dismissively. “He’s nothing if not inventive.”

And then they met their server, who did a remarkable appearing job just to the right and slightly behind Twilight. “Good evening, mares,” the unicorn stallion said. “I am Ticker, and I will be your waiter for the evening.”

Twilight jumped, and barely avoided screaming from the sudden appearance. She placed a hoof to her chest to still her rapidly-beating heart and looked at the stallion. “Well, now my immortality is one step closer to it’s end...”

“Apologies, your highness,” Ticker said with a small bow. “It’s just my way to appear when I am needed.”

“And scare the hay out of everypony else in the process,” Scope said, not any more thrilled about the suddenly appearing stallion that Twilight.

“It is not my intention,” he said. “It merely seems to...happen.”

“It’s...fine,” Twilight breathed deeply and sought peace before continuing. “Okay, so order…” Her brain had rebooted after Twilight had forcefully shut down the ‘Obliterate the jump scare’ command. “I’ll have the vegetable soup and glass of this wine here please,” she motioned to the menu.

“Excellent choice, your highness,” the stallion said, making note of it on a floating pad. “And yourself, madam?”

“First, cut the madam,” Scope said. “Second, I’ll have a cider and the grilled salmon.”

“Of course, miss,” Ticker said as he wrote that down as well. “I will have your drinks ready shortly.” And with that, he walked off again, melting back into the crowd.

“Does Fredrick employ assassins?” Twilight pondered aloud as she looked at Scope. “What do you think, Madam Scopey?”

“Nah, they’re not nearly violent enough,” Scope replied. “And what makes you think I’ll let you get away with that? Or would you prefer I start calling you your highness?”

“Well, that is the proper term,” Twilight hummed. “But I see your point, plus, it was a joke Scopey. Or, should I call you Secret Treasure~?”

“Not in public!” the disguised nymph hissed, already a blush rising to her cheeks. “O-Only Ledger gets to call me that!”

“Oh? Why’s that?” Twilight inquired, smiling at her blush.

“...You mean, Ledger hasn’t educated you on Changeling society yet?” Scope said, now curious instead of embarrassed.

“Ledger hasn’t really explained a lot of things, and I keep meaning to get that book of his, only things keep coming up,” Twilight sighed.

“We really need to get you caught up on some things,” Scope said. Unfortunately, that was about when Ticker returned with their drinks.

“Your drinks,” he said, putting the wineglass in front of Twilight and the mug of cider in front of Scope. “Your meals will be another ten minutes. Do have a good time until then.” And then he was gone again.

“I’m really having trouble believing he is not a ninja,” Twilight muttered as she sipped her wine. Ohh, this was nice~ Fredrick really had some top shelf stuff.

“I’m telling you, he’s not nearly violent enough to be one,” Scope said as she took a sip of her cider. “What was I talking about again?”

“On why to have the name that you have,” Twilight said. “And why only Ledger is allowed to call you that.”

“Right, the thing you need to know about a changeling’s real name,” Scope said as she put her cider back down. “Is that we earn them.”

“So, you name yourselves?” Well that was certainly an interesting piece of information. No other sentient species did anything like that. Then, Twilight’s eyes widened with a sudden realisation. “Wait… Ledger’s name is Secret Hoarder… and yours is… oh…”

“Yeah, the other thing. Exchanging a bit of your name for a bit of theirs is sorta like...well, back in the Lands, it would be a marriage proposal, or close enough,” Scope said with a faint blush again.

“That’s so adorable,” Twilight giggled. “And the custom is romantic as well. Ponies do a similar thing, but not until after they’ve married. And not everypony does it.”

“Yeah, well, it’s tradition back there,” Scope said. “I’m surprised that any of Ledger’s step-dads or his actual dad haven’t done it...or maybe they have, I never heard them introduce themselves fully before…”

“I’ve only met a few myself, and I can’t understand Changeish so I couldn’t tell you,” Twilight said. “I know Cadence didn’t add anything to her name or vice-versa.” She sipped her wine again and hummed. “What about your own wedding? Are you excited, nervous?”

“None of that,” Scope said, shaking her head. “It’s just a ceremony and a slip of parchment saying what we already know: that Ledger’s too thick-headed to leave any of us.”

Twilight giggled as she put her glass down. “He’s a funny little stallion sometimes. Some of the things he’s said, like wanting to…” She suddenly paused, figuring that Ledger wouldn’t want all his little secrets spilled. “Well, let’s just say he has a few oddities and leave it at that.”

“A few?” Scope asked with a raised eyebrow. “And the sun is a little warm.”

“Well, that’s the pot calling the kettle black isn’t it?” Twilight mused, placing a hoof over hers. “I doubt a normal pony could deal with all of this.”

“Normal is the last thing any of us are,” Scope said with a snort. “I doubt we could ever go back to normal now.”

“I’ve been anything but since I was a filly, and if what I’ve heard about your past… would you want to return to that?”

“Point made,” Scope said. “I know Ledger and Middy probably would say the same things. Can’t blame them, either.”

“I know so little about any of you,” Twilight sighed as that set in. She knew bits and pieces… but so much had happened that she knew nothing about. It made her feel even more distant than she already felt…

“Eh, take a day off from Princessing come the weekend, we’ll ambush the pair of them and have a nice heart to heart,” the disguised nymph said. “Or you could take it slow, do Middy first, then I’ll send a message to you when Ledger has a day off.”

“I guess,” Twilight replied. “It’s part of the reason I asked you out tonight, I want to get to know all of you better. And to let you all get to know me.” She squeezed the nymphs hoof before blushing a little and sipping her wine again.

“I think Middy and Ledger already know you well enough,” Scope snarked, before taking a sip of her cider.

“It takes more than a roll in the hay to get to know a pony,” Twilight replied. “Contrary to what you little bugs like to think~”

“Oh?” Scope asked with that raised eyebrow again. “So you’re saying you did sleep with them and they don’t know enough about you yet? There might be...repeat performances in the future?”

“Well, a good portion of my life can be found in a book,” Twilight replied. “And Midnight did teach me that I’m not as uncomfortable with mares as I thought I’d be.”

“So you’re going to try and get in Ledger’s book, and Cider and I should watch out for your advances,” Scope summarized. “Got it.”

“Cute,” Twilight replied dryly as Ticker returned with their meals.

“Your soup, Highness,” he said, placing the bowl on the table with a small flourish, the contents barely shifting at all. “And, your salmon young Miss,” he nodded at Scope as the fish appeared before her, its aroma was divine~

Scope was too busy eating it to say thank you for it. Not that she likely would have, anyways.

“Thank you sir,” Twilight smiled and gave a disdained look at Scope. Once Ticker took his leave, Twilight levitated a spoon up to her lips and sipped at the soup. It was delicious~

“Your table manners are still terrible,” Twilight said once she’d had a mouthful. Scope eventually came up for air and replied to the lavender princess.

“Have you seen Ledger when Cider cooks?” she asked.

“So it’s a Changeling thing then?” Twilight mused. “I should write that down, so that future generations are made aware that Changelings have terrible table manners.” She’d seen Chrysalis eat as well…

“Hmm, I don’t know if peace can be made now,” the alicorn said with a wistful sigh.

“You didn’t hear?” Scope said with a tilt of her head. “Your princesses and our kings and queens already signed the treaty. In about a hundred years or so, they’ll make a bigger show of it, but yeah. We’re already officially ‘at peace’ Just give the current generation time to forget, and then you’ll get a ‘peace meeting’.”

“Nooo, we’re doomed. We’re doomed to an eternity of sloppy eating and ponies thinking with their genitals,” luckily she’d said it low enough that nopony overheard their princess talking like that.

Further proof that Ledger was a terrible influence, as was a certain Thestral.

“Like you’d really complain about that,” Scope replied in just as low a tone. “I saw that face our first night together. You loved it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Twilight replied, brushing the mare off with a hoof. “And this coming from a mare that turned into me, just to screw with Ledger both mentally and physically?”

“Are you complaining about what it led to?” Scope countered.

“No, and it gave me a rather fun-sounding idea for a bonding experience,” Twilight giggled and decided to share her little plan. “What do you say to making Ledger see double later~”

“That sounds like fun,” Scope said with a wide grin. “Just be prepared to play with yourself before we allow him any fun~”

“Hmm, I think I could do that,” Twilight giggled as she sipped at her soup again. She glanced at a clock on the wall and nodded. “Perhaps we should finish our meal and be off soon? Wouldn’t want to miss the movie after all.”

“Can do!” Scope said as she dove back into her fish, the sounds of her messy eating filling the air again.

After the meal, or in Scope’s case, the demolition, was concluded, Twilight finished the rest of her wine and looked at Scope before giggling.

“You ah, have a little something there,” she mused. Scope tilted her head in confusion, wondering what the princess could be talking about. She’d eaten all the fish!

Twilight hadn’t noticed Fredrick approaching as she leaned across the table, giving the nymph a half-lidded gaze. “Right here,” she whispered, planting her lips lightly on the nymphs and sucking some of the nymphs top lip with a small hum, before pulling back and licking her own lips.

“Mmm, tasty~”

“I’ll say,” Fredrick said at the scene. “I’ve often wanted to see two mares kiss. Now I find myself wanting to see it again~”

Twilight turned bright red and looked away, suddenly finding the view out of the window fascinating. Scope choked and thumped her chest to clear her airway, before glaring at the avian.

“And who said we asked you?” she demanded irritably.

“Nopony, but I can appreciate beauty when I see it,” Fredrick said, now causing the nymph to grumble even as she blushed. “Your bill,” the griffon said, presenting it to the pair of them.

Twilight was still red, but she looked at the bill and nodded, producing enough bits from her bag to pay for it all. “First that waiter scares the hay out of us, then this... “

“We really need ‘Blame Fredrick’ shirts,” Scope nodded. “Would save a lot of time explaining to anypony.”

“One of my serving-colts actually has a business selling shirts on the side,” Fredrick said. “Apparently he did a roaring trade in such shirts...until I started going steady.”

“I… can’t tell if you’re serious or not,” Twilight groaned. “Still,” she leaned forward and caught Scope in another kiss before leaning back. “Thankyou for the wonderful meal. It has made this date all the better.”

“Anytime,” Fredrick said as he scooped the bits up and put them in his apron. “Don’t be a stranger, now, and have fun on your date.”

“I think we will,” Twilight smiled and looked at the surprisingly quiet Scope. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah, I’m done,” Scope said as she stood up. “Movie?”

There were a lot of ponies here. A lot wearing fancy dresses and suits, along with reporters and hundreds of fans. A large red carpet was leading into the theatre and Twilight paused before they got too close.

“You ready?” she asked the nymph.

“Let’s just get this over with,” Scope said with a dramatic sigh. “They’re keeping me from Daring Do. Nopony keeps me from Daring Do.”

“Alright, alright,” Twilight giggled and ruffled her mane as they walked closer. The reporters took notice and swarmed her in an instant, Twilight keeping Scope under her wing so they would get separated.

“Princess Twilight! Are you looking forward to the movie?”

“Will you be upset if it doesn’t remain true to the book?”

“Did you bring a hot date for tonight?”

“Gentleponies, please,” Twilight waved a hoof to get a little breathing space. “A little room if you don’t mind. In order, yes I am looking forward to this film. I hear it has a lot of praise for both the acting and directing, and I did have a hoof in location settings as well.” Bet Scope didn’t know that~

“Second, no I will not. An artist is allowed a certain level of freedom after all. And if it was word for word with the book, it would be awfully predictable no? And thirdly…” She smiled and shrugged. “I have brought somepony very dear to me. Now if you would please, I do have a tight schedule to keep.”

They allowed her past and she stepped onto the red carpet, smiling and waving at the crowd as she looked under her wing, a lot of ponies trying to see who was under there as well.

“You doing okay there?” she asked.

“First Ledger, then you,” Scope muttered. “What next? Is Middy going to have talked with the author of the series? Is bucking Daring Do going to land in Cider’s fields?”

“Maybe,” Twilight giggled as the got inside and the doors closed, allowing the pair a little breathing space. As Twilight removed her wing, another pony approached, one wearing a hooded shawl and red-framed glasses.

“Good evening Twilight,” she said as the two shared a brief hug. “I’m glad you could make it.”

“Same here,” the princess nodded and looked over at Scope. “Oh, allow me to introduce my friend here. This is Scope Lens, somepony quite dear to me and a big fan of the series.” She smiled and paused for dramatic effect. “Scopey, this is—”

“A.K. Yearling,” the mare introduced herself. “A pleasure to meet you Ms. Lens.”

Scope paused. This was… no way. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t think!

“I get that sometimes,” Yearling giggled. “I’m glad Twilight brought a fan of mine along though. I hope you enjoy this film, I put a lot of effort into the script and you’ll find it’s like nothing I’ve written so far.”

“...okay,” Scope squeaked out, then remembered something important. She reached into her saddlebags and pulled out her Daring book, the only one she actually owned. It was a First Edition of the Rings of Destiny. The only thing she had back at the Hives…

“Oh, it’s rare to see those around these days,” Yearling smiled. “And, you want me to sign it?”

Scope swallowed hard and nodded. Yearling giggled and took the book and made a note inside the cover before handing it back over. “There we go. We should meet up after the movie and chat some more. But, now I have to hide from my editor and speak to reporters. Wish me luck Twiley.”

“Hiding from my Mom, yeah, not possible,” Twilight giggled as the mare ducked off. She looked down at Scope and smiled. “You okay there Scopey?”

There was silence for a minute, before the disguised nymph muttered something at a volume that only Midnight would be able to hear.

“What was that?” Twilight asked, her smile widening somewhat.

“Marry me?” Scope repeated at a louder volume. “Seriously, you know the author and your mom is the editor? I could die happy right now if you were in my life. D’you think ‘Sparkling-Secret-Treasure’ is too much?”

“Aww,” Twilight giggled and nuzzled her. “As adorable as that is, it would make me feel like I’m buying your love. Let’s go watch the movie and we can snuggle,” she said… just as Daring Do, or, the actress playing her in full costume anyway, walked past and smiled at the pair.

“...Seriously, offer’s wide open,” Scope said as she didn’t take her eyes off the actress for a second. “If it means seeing more of this when it happens, I’ll call myself whatever you want.”

“I’m flattered,” Twilight smiled and nuzzled her. “Though, I’d have brought you even if we weren’t dating.” She placed her wing over her again and headed for the theatre. “Now. Let’s go see if this movie is any good.”

What followed was two hours of Daring Do being totally awesome. A very convincing Ahuizotl actor and some amazing scenery. The movie was well paced and had just the right amount of character development.

Once it was over and a round of applause went out to everypony that had worked on the film, Twilight and Scope emerged from the dark cinema. Their eyes wide.

“That…” Twilight said with hushed awe.

“That was bucking awesome!” Scope said, less reserved about sharing her enthusiasm. She was so happy, she flew up in front of Twilight, and kissed her. Twilight sighed and returned the kiss happily.

It lasted for a few moments before they broke it to come up for air. “Well, I wasn’t expecting that,” Twilight giggled. “Though I’ll not complain.” She gave a quick look around, and saw that no reporters had caught that, most too busy with the actors from the movie.

“Well, not the reaction I was aiming from my movie, but hey,” Yearling giggled as she walked up, causing Twilight to blush. The mare looked at Scope and smiled. “So, I take it that film has your approval kiddo?”

Scope meeped before dropping back to the ground. She still couldn’t believe she was talking to the A.K. Yearling. Tonight felt like some sort of wonderful dream. One that she hoped would never, ever end.

“I think she’s still a little shy,” Twilight giggled and prodded Scope with a hoof. “But yes, that movie was much better than I anticipated, and I already thought it was going to be good.”

“Glad to hear it,” Yearling smiled. “Oh, I plan on going to the Ponyville premiere as well, though, it’ll be a little more low key than this one.”

“Ponville is a nice quiet town, though I think Rainbow will make enough noise to make up for it,” Twilight laughed. The Pegasus had already been super bummed that she couldn’t go to this event due to work and Wonderbolts training. So Twilight had arranged a special screening in Ponyville for her next week.

“Iknowsomeponythat’sbeentothesiteofoneofyourbooks,” Scope blurted out, the words tumbling out after one another. Stupid! she berated herself. Way to make yourself look intelligent in front of A.K. Yearling!

“Is that so?” Yearling responded, having been quite fluent in ‘fanfilly speak’ “Some of those ruins are amazingly dangerous.” She didn’t seem at all bothered, and Scope could even sense that she was being sincere.

“Y-Yeah...but he’d read your book, and came out alright,” Scope said, still not quite believing that she was having an actual conversation with A.K. Yearling. “He said he’ll take me there one day.”

“Hmm, well I trust you’ll be careful,” Yearling said. She moved her hood slightly to reveal a faint scar on her neck. “I got this from an arrow wall trap.” She raised a hoof and showed a hairline crack in it. “And this I got from bucking a stone golem.”

“A golem?” Twilight raised an eyebrow and Yearling nodded.

“Writing is a dangerous game kids,” she said, her rose-coloured eyes sparkling. “But I wouldn’t have my life any other way.” She leaned down and nuzzled Scope. “Still, take care. I’d hate to see something happen to such an adorable fan.”

Scope locked up, not even daring to breathe. Her favorite author was actually nuzzling her.

That settled it, if Twilight wasn’t standing next to them at the altar in three weeks time, she’d drag that lavender flank over.

“Well, I gotta run,” Yearling said as Twilight Velvet emerged from the theatre and her eyes fell upon the wayward author. “Oh buck. Gotta fly!” She turned and Scope caught a glimpse of what lay under that cloak, at the yellow fur and an ash-coloured tail… before she was gone, Velvet running after her, pausing to give Twilight and Scope a hug, before chasing after Yearling again.

“Well,” Twilight mused. “I think tonight went alright. What do you think Scopey?”

“...Yearling...Daring?” She asked, having drawn the connection. “But…” And nearly breaking because of it.

“Something wrong?” Twilight blinked and poked the seized up Changeling.

“Best...night...ever,” Scope said, nearly overloaded on pure joy.

“It was pretty good,” Twilight nodded. The reporters came flooding in and Twilight hid Scope protectively again as she answered a few questions. But once they started getting pushy, Twilight’s horn lit up and the two teleported, landing in a hay bale outside Cider’s barn.

“Well, not quite where I was aiming,” Twilight giggled. “Oh well.” She pulled Scope into a hug and sighed contently. “I hope you enjoyed our little date.”

“I want another,” Scope said as she hugged the alicorn back. “I want more and more dates like this. Especially from you.”

“Well, I can’t promise exciting movie premieres every time,” Twilight giggled and placed a small kiss on her nose. “But, I do promise to love you as much as I can… and take you to the one in Ponyville next week. Sound good?”

“Deal,” Scope said as she just sat there and basked in the moment. It was a good moment, shut up.

“Wanna go inside? Or stay here for a bit?” Twilight asked. Admittedly, the hay bale was pretty comfortable. Now she knew why Applejack slept in her barn sometimes.

“Eh, let’s wait until the house catches on fire, or they start screaming,” Scope said as she still didn’t break the hug.

“Deal,” Twilight giggled as she nuzzled the mare and held her close. “So, you figured out Miss Yearling?” She asked after a moment of peace. “That she’s an archaeologist that writes about the places she visits.”

“Ledger’s been to one,” Scope replied. “On the border of Equestria and the Lands. Didn’t think she’d write herself into her series, though…”

“It’s a little more than that,” Twilight explained. “While she does visit the ruins and come across the occasional trap or treasure, she does embellish a lot in her stories. Like the villians and the powerful magical artifacts. I mean, think about this. The Rings of Scorchero would cause unending sunlight yeah? Well, Princess Celestia controls the sun… so I doubt an artifact like that would work in real life.”

“...Okay, fair enough,” Scope muttered. “Still, having actually been to one of the sites of the books. I’ve got a lot on Ledger, thanks to this night, but he still has that on me.”

“Well, he said he was going to take you yeah?” Twilight nuzzled her and kissed her softly on the lips. “I have no reason to doubt him.”

“Yeah, but he said six months,” Scope moaned. “I mean, if you knew where it was, you’d probably take me there sooner.”

“More that likely, but I think Ledger would get a little upset if I stole his thunder like that,” Twilight replied. “Besides… I know the mare who’s been to all of them remember?”

“Ooooh,” Scope said. “Take me one day?” She tried her best to use what little cute-fu she could. She failed miserably, but she tried, dammit!

Twilight resisted the urge to squee and also failed as she hugged her tighter, proving she wasn’t lacking with Alicorn strength. “Promise… still,” she flipped the mare over and licked her lips. “I could take you right now~”

“Bring it,” Scope taunted the alicorn. “I’ve stood up to Middy and Ledger. You don’t scare me.”

“I don’t want to scare you,” Twilight softly said as she kissed her chest as her magic teased the mare’s wings. “I only want to love you, and hope you could love me in return.”

“After tonight, you’ve got me all but wrapped around your hoof,” Scope said. “Let’s see how long you can keep me there, though…”

“The mare doth protest too much,” Twilight smiled as she kissed her again. “Why don’t you get… more comfortable.” She had a few tricks to try out that Chrysalis had told her about, ones to get the upper hoof on Ledger.

~*~

The two had rested there for a while, just snuggling under the moonlight before it was time to head inside. A bed was still far preferable to a stack of hay for sleeping in.

"We're home," Twilight called out as they walked in, surprised to see of the lights off. "It's not that late," she murmured. "Where is everypony?"

A faint, repetitive sound could be heard from the living room. Twilight tilted her head and headed for the source of the sound. She giggled lightly at the sight that she came across.

Cider and Midnight had snuggled up next to Ledger on the ‘cuddlecouch,’ and Spike had fallen asleep in the large bowl the popcorn used to be in.

The movie they had been watching was just looping at the title screen, at least until Twilight switched it off with her magic.

“Hi,” Ledger said softly, not wanting to wake either mare next to him.

“Hey yourself,” Twilight said as she gently lifted Spike onto her back and floated Cider and Midnight up as well. “Here, let me help you with that.”

“Shoulda left him there,” Scope grumbled. “Oh, and Twilight is mine now. Get your own alicorn princess Ledger.”

“Isn’t the whole point of a herd to share?” Ledger said as he carefully stood up again. He’d been pinned that way for a little while and needed to get the blood flowing again.

Not that he was complaining. He’d been enjoying that cuddle.

“It was, but we’ve decided that we’re running away together. Twilight will be my bride,” Scope nodded. “Between the fact that she’s friends with A.K. Yearling! And the mindblowing sex I just had…” Scope sighed wistfully.

“Glad to see you two connected, then,” Ledger said as he walked over, before gently kissing the nymph on the head. “And hey, if you really want to give up me, and Midnight, and Cider...I won’t stop you, you know.”

“We’re not running away,” Twilight giggled and kissed Scope on the forehead. “But you’ll be glad to hear our date went amazingly well. We have a lot in common with our love of Daring Do, and my sparkling Treasure is just too adorable for words.”

“Excellent, our plan worked,” Ledger said with a smile.

“Plan?” Scoe tilted her head. “What plan?”

“The whole, getting you and Twilight on a date, plan,” Ledger said. “I told her she’d likely have to trick you into it to begin with, and she came up with the venue.”

“So… this was all just a trick?” Scope frowned and looked at Twilight. “You…”

“No, nononono!” Twilight said, pulling the mare into a hug as she looked at Ledger with a glare. “Ledger could have worded that better, but if I’d said from the start that I wanted to take you on a date, would you have come with me?”

“Well… I guess, I dunno,” Scope frowned. “I’m not one for those stupid frou-frou dinners and crap.”

“See?” the alicorn smiled. “I had a great time tonight Treasure. And I meant every word I said, I really do love you okay?”

Scope blushed and looked away, muttering something under her breath in Changeish.

“Yeah, well… guess I love you too… maybe.”

“Now say it so she can hear you properly,” Ledger chittered to her. “After all, she’s not Midnight.”

Scope dearly wished she could kill with looks alone, she’d just have to settle with pretending as she glared at the bug before sighing and looking at Twilight with a softer expression.

“I… love you as well Twilight. And you had better believe that you’ll be getting married to me! And… maybe those other ponies as well. But mostly me!”

Twilight brushed some tears from her eyes and nodded, holding Scope close. “Of course, my little Treas— oh, sorry. Scopey.”

“...No, you can call me that as well,” Scope said. She looked at Ledger and pointed a hoof. “Not. A . Word!”

“My lips are sealed,” he said, miming a zipper over his lips. “Now let’s all get to bed, before Cider and Midnight wake up.”

“TOO. MUCH. CUUUUTE!” Midnight hollered, scaring the ever loving crap out of Twilight as she squeaked and dropped the two mares in her magical grasp. The Thestral pounced on Scope, the small nymph letting out a squeak as the bat nuzzled her to death.

“Ah’m...gonna...kill ‘er,” Cider groaned from her rather indignant and revealing position on the floor. Ledger walked over and helped the mare to her hooves, before restraining her with a hug.

“She’s just...excited for Scope and Twilight,” Ledger explained.

“Well ain’t that jus’ grand,” Cider grumbled. “Ah wonder if she’ll like bein’ an earth pony…”

“Somebuggy help me!” Scope cried as the bat continued to nuzzle and squeeze her, the little ‘ling making a sound that resembled a squeaky toy.

“Either be gentler with her, Midnight, or I’ll let go of Cider,” Ledger warned the batpony without turning around.

“Ohkaayyy!” Midnight replied and snuggled Scopey more gentler. Twilight chuckled and nuzzled Apple Cider.

“So, would you like to go on a date soon?” she asked the mare. “I still need to spend some time with you after all.”

“Yeah,” Cider calmed down and returned the gesture. “Ah reckon that’d be nice.”

Ledger snuck in a kiss on both of them before letting go of Cider. “Well then. I’ll clean up here. You all can get comfy upstairs and I’ll join you when the job’s done.”

“If you’re lucky~” Scope giggled, teleporting from Midnight’s grasp and grabbing Twilight before teleporting the two of them away.

“I really wanna know what happened on that date,” Midnight mused as she moved to help Ledger.

“Ap,” Ledger said as he levitated their plates from the pizza up. “I said I’d get this done, and I will. Go and snuggle Scopey some more. I got this.”

“If you insist,” Midnight said, giving him one last look and trotting upstairs.

“Yer too nice,” Cider chuckled, helping out regardless. “But ah guess that’s just one of the things ah like about you though.”

“I did say I would get this,” Ledger sighed. “Fine, if you insist on helping, can you take care of the projector while I get the dishes?”

“And this is still mah house,” Cider replied as she unhooked the projector and packed away the film reel. “Besides, did y’all think ah’d really let you do this by yerself?”

“I did rather hope I would get the chance to clean up on my own,” the drone mused as he piled the plates neatly before sticking the popcorn bowl on top of them.

“Oh, and why’s that?” Cider asked as she placed the projector back in it’s case.

“Eh, it’s just a thing I like to do,” Ledger said. “It just feels right to put things in order.”

“Equal parts kind and strange,” Cider chuckled as she placed the projector away in a cupboard. “Well that’s done. Ah guess ah’ll leave you to it then.”

Ledger trotted over and gave her a passionate kiss, before nuzzling her. “I’ll be up in a bit,” he told the mare. “Go on and get comfy.”

Cider smiled and pulled him into a deep kiss, her tongue massaging his as she moaned into his mouth. Once she broke it, she gave him a half lidded stare and then turned, running her tail under his nose as he got a lungfull of her scent, followed by a peek of what was under that tail…

She was halfway up the stairs when she turned and winked. “Don’t keep lil’ol me waiting too long~” she purred and then sashayed off.

“...These mares,” Ledger said with a shake of his head as he went into the kitchen to do the dishes. “They are going to be the death of me one day.”

Amy trudged out into the kitchen. She was feeling a little sluggish at the moment and decided a sugar hit was just what she needed. Acey was taking a shower, and had a bad habit of using all the hot water when he did.

As she fixed herself some decaf coffee with a few cubes of sugar, a pair of talons made their way around her barrel.

“Hello beautiful,” Ace’s voice whispered into her ear.

“Heya stud,” she purred back to him. “Just let me have some sugar and I’ll be all yours…”

“Hmm, what if I don’t want to wait?” he purred.

“Acey,” she said, batting at him with one hoof while the other held her coffee. “I’m feeling kinda slow at the moment, some sugar is just what I need to perk back up.”

“Well I could give you some sugar,” he purred. “But, if you don’t want me…” The talons shifted with a green glow, morphing into black hooves as a new voice whispered into her ear.

“How about me?” Chrysalis chuckled.

“Chryssy!” Amy said as she used her magic to move her coffee out of the way. “You came back!” With that, the queen was subjected to a hug from a pink nymph.

“What can I say,” Chrysalis mused as she returned the hug. “I find you to be quite addictive.”

“You’re not half-bad,” the nymph said as she nuzzled the queen. “Maybe three-quarters, but not entirely.”

“Ooh, but I thought you liked me at least a little bad~” she chuckled and kissed the mare on the head. “Plus, I’d much rather deal with you than have that Ledger glare at me all the time. He’s utterly insufferable.”

“He kinda told us why he doesn’t like you though,” the pink nymph said. “The day after your little show in Canterlot? His boss pulled all her employees in and did a glamour-breaking spell on all of them. He...kinda blames you for the past year of forced servitude.”

“He should have escaped, or taken out the mare if that was the case,” Chrysalis retorted. “I’ll not take the blame for his own weaknesses.” She suddenly yelped when a certain Griffon poked her in the ribs, catching Amy when she was inadvertently flung by her startled reaction.

“Seems my bug infestation is getting worse,” he mused.

“This is my place,” Amy said, as if the pink everywhere didn’t attest to that. “If anything, my hot griffon to nymph ratio is going down.”

Chrysalis paused and looked around and shivered. “That… is a lot of pink…”

“I have tried, but it’s a battle even I cannot win,” Ace replied tersely. “I have had minor victories, but I do not think I can win the war…”

“Amy, for the love of all that is holey. You need to cut down on the pink,” Chrysalis said.

“Too much Pink Energy is dangerous,” Ace agreed.

“Really?” Amy said with a tilt of her head. “I’ve not had any problems yet…”

“So what brings you here anyway?” Ace asked the queen.

“Ponyville was...stifling,” she replied, sitting in her rump and sighing. “I needed to get away from there for a bit. And you two are the only ones in Equestria that don’t want to kill me.”

“Aww, you’re always welcome here,” Amy said as she finally floated her coffee closer. “Though...you’re probably gonna want to keep a disguise up around town, as the other changelings wouldn’t be so...understanding. And most of them probably had a job before you...yeah.”

“I know, I caused more trouble that half the residents of Tartarus,” Chrysalis sighed. “And given that I receive very little love, I’ll have a relatively short lifespan.” She snorted and floated a cookie over and munched on it. “So they’ll only have to worry for a decade or two, then…”

“Acey, sad queen! Deploy plan H!” Amy said as she squirmed free of his claws.

“Plan what?” Chrysalis asked, before chirping indignantly when the powerful Griffon scooped her up into a hug. “Gah! Lemme go!”

“Mnope,” Amy said as she sipped her coffee. “We’ll keep you here until you cheer up. Isn’t that right, Acey?”

“My Lady’s wish is my command,” Ace nodded as he held the bug queen close.

“...stupid,” Chrysalis muttered, looking at the floor. “Why do you even care? I ruined our entire species…”

“Because everypony, as long as they’re still breathing, can change,” Amy chirped. “You can still be helped as long as you want to be.”

“It’s not a matter of helping,” Chrysalis replied, still gazing at the floor. “I know I made a mistake. And it’s not one I’ll make again, I would never be able to gain the forces necessary to do so anyhow. But I am vilified by an entire nation. And you alone cannot change that. And no-one will ever believe I can change. You two are just… naive.”

“If you could go back and change what you did then, would you?” Amy asked seriously, which was a rare thing for her. Namely, acting serious about something.

“Maybe,” she said softly. “I might have gone about it differently. Maybe asked Celestia for help? I don’t know…”

“Being willing to change and acknowledging your mistakes means you’re not the same you you were when you made them,” Amy sade sagely. “Which means we aren’t wasting our time helping you. We’ll work on the way the nation sees you later. Right now we need to help you.”

“How?” Chrysalis snarked. “The entire nation despises me! I’m surprised I haven’t been hunted down and publically executed! Or worse!”

“They’re willing to deal with a reformed chaos spirit, even after he betrayed Equestria to a demon of Tartarus,” Amy said with a roll of her pupil-less eyes. “I’m pretty sure your invasion pales in the light of that.”

“So one would think,” Chrysalis replied, leaning into the hug and feeding on the small amounts of love. “I think it’s a lost cause…”

“Nothing is lost, as long as one pony remains to fight for it,” Amy said. “It might take you a while, but so long as you’re willing to keep trying, and keep making all the right moves, I’m sure you can eventually persuade Equestria that you mean no harm. And we’ll help you too, isn’t that right, Acey?”

“Your invasion caused my student and my dearest friend a great deal of personal grief,” Ace replied, holding the queen tighter. “Her entire life was destroyed because of you…”

“I…” Chrysalis was now rather terrified.

“And I won’t even get started on how many others suffered because of that,” he continued. The Queen very much wanted out of this hug now.

“Oooh, Acey! Idea!” the pink nymph said with a smile.

Ace looked up at his fiance.

“Let’s have her apologize to Middy and Ledgy, then for every ‘ling she makes an honest apology to, she can spend that much time with us,” Amy said, rather proud of her motivational idea.

“Midnight Song… that bat pony,” Chrysalis said in a quiet voice and she felt Ace flinch a little. That must be the student he was talking about. “She… and the others, already did that. I don’t know how sincere they were…”

“And now it’s your turn to do it in reverse!” Amy chirped. And then she went flat and serious again. “Otherwise, you can kiss any time with both of us good-bye.”

“I fail to understand what you're getting at,” Chrysalis retorted with a frown.

“She means you have to learn to forgive yourself,” Ace said, his hug resuming its gentleness. “I’m glad to hear that Midnight forgave you. And it means that I have forgiven you also. The Black responsible has been dealt with…”

“Black?” Chrysalis said, turning her head to look at him. “I didn’t have any Blacks in my forces. What Changeling in their right mind would work with those abominations!?”

“One hurt her, though,” Amy said sadly. “One hurt her there. One nearly hurt her here. Ledger...dealt with it. He’s not really a pony that throws a first punch. Seeing him in action like that just feels...wrong. It’s also probably why he didn’t deal with Toll Taker.”

“But I’m telling you I had no Blacks!” Chrysalis squirmed from Ace’s grasp and got to her hooves. “If one snuck its way into my army…” Her eyes widened and she suddenly felt sick… “Oh gods… What have I done…?”

It was Amy that hugged her then, whispering soft reassurances to the queen before looking over at Ace. The pink ‘ling gestured for him to join in on the hug with a hoof. Chrysalis would need all the love she could get.

“I...no… it’s impossible…” The queen shook, the mere thought of having one of those monstrosities nearby. It was no wonder that everyone hated her. That thing would have sucked all the love from that city… She broke from their hold, releasing the contents of her stomach in the sink.

“There there, Chryssy,” Amy said as she rubbed the queen’s back with a hoof. “If you really didn’t know, I’m sure you’ll be forgiven for it...though, how do you miss something like that?”

“I..” She wiped her mouth and groaned. “I can’t sense negative emotions. Nor can I absorb or consume them… I don’t know why, but I just can’t.”

“Oh wow, so you’re like the anti-me,” Amy said with a small, strained laugh. “I couldn’t be more sensitive to negative emotions if I tried.”

“Well, maybe I should recruit you for my army next time,” Chrysalis gave a dry laugh. She turned the tap on to wash out the sink and took a mouthful of water to gargle, before spitting that too.

“Hmm, Acey, I’m thinking of a plan here,” Amy said. “Chryssy here explains herself to Ledger and Middy, then gives them an honest apology for causing them any pain, even indirectly. And if they both accept, then she gets to come back to our bed, and this time, is the one in charge.”

“Pfft, like you can bribe me with sex,” Chrysalis replied. She frowned and her horn shone. “Maybe I should go…”

Amy walked over and drew the queen into a kiss, despite the fact that Chrysalis had just thrown up. Yeah, it was probably not going to taste good, but she needed it. Needed to be shown that they cared.

Chrysalis pushed the mare back with a hoof. “I...appreciate the gesture,” she said. “I’ll do what you ask, not because of what you offer, but because I want to. Simple as that.”

“See? Would the old you have done something like that?” Amy asked before looking out a window. “Whups, it’s late. Probably best not to bother them at this hour...and you just got here as well.”

“I’ll… sleep in their barn or something,” Chrysalis replied. “Sorry for bothering you so late.”

“Nope,” Amy said as she hugged the queen. “We’re keepin’ you for tonight.”

“But… you just said—”

“I find it best to just roll with it,” Ace replied, letting out a yawn. “It’s pointless arguing with her. You’d never escape either. I doubt even death would provide solace.”

“Besides, we can do things beyond bucking each other silly, silly,” Amy said. “We can just cuddle and go to sleep together. Show you we care beyond mind-blowing sex.”

“But the sex is still pretty amazing,” Ace chuckled. “But my little dessert has a point.”

“Tch! Fine,” Chrysalis pouted. “Can I get something to drink? My mouth tastes like crap.”

“One cider coming up!” Amy said as her horn lit up and the drink floated out of the refrigerator. A cup floated down in a similar pink aura, both being presented to the queen.

“So… this is that cider stuff the loud rainbow one is obsessed with?” Chrysalis took the drink and popped the lid, taking a tentative sip. Well, it was… tolerable. “I feel like I could use something stronger though… Some rum or scotch would be nice.”

“Sorry, the other ‘lings say I shouldn’t be drunk ever again,” Amy said with a bashful look.

“I don’t think I want to know,” Chrysalis deadpanned. “Well this is fine, and I feel a little better now.” Her stomach grumbled a little, since it was now devoid of food, but she shrugged it off.

“Somepony’s hungry,” Amy said, poking Chrysalis in the ribs with a hoof. “We have some leftovers from dinner tonight...surprisingly. Acey usually eats it all.”

“Meh, wasn’t that hungry today,” Ace replied, and as the two turned back to Chrysalis, she’d already gotten the container and started stuffing her face. She paused and looked up with stuffed cheeks, looking kind of like a buggy chipmunk.

“What?”

Amy said nothing, electing to giggle instead. Even Ace chuckled slightly as Chrysalis swallowed her mouthful and blinked. “What?”

“Nothing,” Ace hummed and headed for the bedroom, leaving his mare to fend for herself.

“Not sayin’.” Amy said with a snicker. Chryssy had looked so silly just then!

The queen frowned and inhaled the rest of the food before giving the smaller nymph an indignant look. “Do I have to get the answer out of you?”

“I’ll never tell, nevar!” Amy said dramatically as she struck a pose. Chrysalis chuckled as she stepped forward, her horn glowing with an emerald hue.

“I have my ways of getting prisoners to talk little ‘ling,” she said. “Last chance to tell your Queen.”

“Mmnope!” Amy said as she bolted for the bedroom. “Gangway Acey! Make room!”

“You cannot escape!” Chrysalis laughed, her evil laugh long since perfected as she chased after the mare. An idle thought passed her mind, on why she was acting like a grubling… But, the smile she wore wouldn’t disappear.

Ace shook his head and caught Amy, holding her close.

“Ha-HA!” Amy said as she turned to look at Chrysalis. “And now I am protected by the mighty griffon!”

“Is that so~?” Chrysalis cooed as Ace held her tighter.

“All is for my Queen,” he said in a flat tone.

“Good work my minion,” Chrysalis purred as she lazed on the end of the bed. “Initiate Protocol T.”

“Uh-oh,” Amy said, just now realizing the trouble she was in.

Ace nodded and shifted his claws… so he could tickle the nymph mercilessly.

“Eeek!” Amy said, doing her best to escape from her new predicament while giggling madly. “A-A-Ace! S-stoppit!”

Ace remained silent as Chrysalis cackled. “Do you give up little nymph. Swear your loyalty to your Queen!”

“N-N-Never!” Amy said as she squirmed again. “I’ll n-n-never surr-en-der!” Each stutter or halt in her speech was punctuated by a laugh or a giggle, as Ace just didn’t stop tickling her.

“You leave me little choice,” Chrysalis sighed. “Minion. Tickle her leg holes!”

Ace tilted his head and shrugged, moving his claws to do just that. Amy shrieked as her wiggling intensified, now needing to get out of the griffon’s hold before she couldn’t stand any more.

“Give up,” Chrysalis said, leaning closer to whisper into her ear. “Swear fealty to me.”

“N-n-no!” Amy said, with great difficulty. She decided to strike back against Ace’s ticklings, and used her hooves to tickle where his wings connected with his body, before drawing them over his ribs. She wasn’t going to go down like this!

Ace snorted as his hold on her weakened. Chrysalis rolled her eyes and used her magic to attack all of Amy’s points at once. The pink nymph collapsed in a giggling fit, going limp in Ace’s hold.

“Victory is ours!” Chrysalis cheered and fell onto her back. Amy eventually stopped laughing, only to start snoring instead.

“We tickled her to sleep? Are you kidding me?” Chrysalis snorted and closed her eyes. Being silly was exhausting!

“Sounds about right,” Ace chuckled. “When she gives birth, I am going to have trouble on telling who the foal will be.”

“Now that I can believe,” Chrysalis replied with a small smile. It soon faltered as she looked at the Griffon. “So,” she spoke quietly. “You sure you want me around?”

“I will be honest,” Ace replied as he stroked Amy’s mane. “Part of me still wants to tear you limb from limb for what you did to Midnight… but you weren’t directly involved. And for what it’s worth, I believe you you about not knowing about that monster.” He nuzzled the pink nymph and sighed. “Look, Amy has her heart set on helping you, and I believe that ponies should be given a second chance at least… within reason.” he looked at Chrysalis and smiled. “You’re worthy of that chance.”

Chrysalis nodded and turned her head away. “If only there were more like you,” she sighed. Ace shrugged and closed his eyes.

“Open your eyes, and you’d be surprised by what you see,” he said as he drifted off to sleep.

Once both of them were out, the queen nodded and with a flash of her horn, teleported from the home...

Chapter 72 - You can pick your friends...but your family? Not so much.

Chapter 72 - You can pick your friends...but your family? Not so much.

The sun had barely risen over the Las Pegasus skyline when Chrysalis stood outside the bar known as ‘The Love Shack’.

She was here to see somepony, she’d already felt that she was here, and Midnight had told her regardless.

Ponies were much easier to hypnotise when asleep.

She took a breath and teleported past the door. Looking around the still closed bar. She made no effort to hide her presence, she wanted to be found after all...

“Somepony’s an early bird,” the queen heard coming from above her. The form of Sugar, her real form, dropped down in front of her. “Fortunately, so am I.”

“Good morning, Noble Sister,” Chrysalis greeted her. “I thought I would get this over with, before you get any customers for today.” She smirked and looked her over. “A Violet outside the bedroom, rare case indeed~”

“The last time we met, it didn’t go so well,” Sugar said, not lowering her guard. “Why should I believe this time will go any better?”

“It doesn’t have to,” Chrysalis said and looked past the mare. “I’m not here to see you anyway.”

“So you’re here to see my marefriend,” Sugar deduced. “Again, why should I believe you? You’ve been nothing but bad for my business.”

“Again, what you want doesn’t matter,” Chrysalis replied, the conversation having roused the unicorn they were talking about. She looked at Chrysalis and froze, her eyes widening.

“You’d better make this count, Chrysalis,” Sugar warned. “Otherwise I might not take care when teleporting you out.”

Chrysalis smiled, and that was when she was flung across the room, caught within Moondancer’s magical aura. The unicorn screamed as she smashed the nymph against a wall, then against the ceiling…

“Moonie! Quit it!” Sugar said, catching the smaller pony in a comforting hug. “...She’s not worth the property damage!”

And that was also when the Violet nymph noticed that Chrysalis hadn’t been fighting back…

Moondancer ignored her lover as she slammed the queen against the ground… then her horn shone as she smiled and cast the feedback loop on her, all that pain coming back full force!

“Moonie!” Sugar said, using her magic to easily break the spell, though not before it did its work for a second. “She came here to talk to you, and she wasn’t fighting back at all! Honestly...I’d hate to see you in a real fight!”

“If I wanted her dead…” Moondancer replied as her telekinesis gripped Chrysalis’ heart… and squeezed a little. “Then she would be…”

“N-Noted,” Chrysalis gasped as the Unicorn released her, the queen collapsing to the floor. “Get it… out of your system yet…” Bucking buck that had hurt! Chrysalis would have rather gone horn to horn with Celestia again…

“Not quite, but I think Sugar would disagree to me dropping the whole bar on you,” Moondancer said, a little calmer now.

“You wouldn’t get any sex for a week if you did that. You’re already up to one day,” Sugar said with a nod.

“Only a week?” Moondancer said with a raised eyebrow, the rafters creaking slightly as she weighed her options… “Nah, some of my stuff is here.”

“Thank the hives…” Chrysalis moaned to herself. She’d expected such a reaction when she arrived. It was the whole point of being here… still, THE PAIN!!!

“Oh don’t you worry, you’re sleeping somewhere other than here tonight,” Sugar said. “And you’ll take your stuff with you when you go. Now are you going to listen to her, or do I have to increase the length of time?”

“Tch! Fine,” Moondancer sighed and pulled up a chair. “You have sixty seconds.”

“Urgh,” Chrysalis groaned. She’d have to shed her shell to repair some of this damage. “Look… I know, that an apology… will be meaningless to you…”

“Damn right,” Moondancer nodded, ignoring Sugar’s stares.

“I’ll offer it anyway,” Chrysalis groaned. “Nothing I can do will make up for the pain I caused you…”

“Pain?” Moondancer got and and took a step closer to her. “You want to talk about pain? Let’s talk then! Let’s talk ALL about the pain you feel when the love of your life, the pony you gave your heart to! About how they throw it away like it was nothing! I tried, for months! To rekindle those stolen embers, a spark. But nothing! She was never the same after that!!” Moondancer’s horn was shining again. “I will NEVER have her again! You TOOK HER FROM ME!!”

“Moonie,” Sugar said warningly. “Let her talk. I’m sure she has some explanation for all of this...or else I’ll deal with her.”

“I had… no idea that,” Chrysalis winced as the pain from her beatings wracked her body. “I had no clue that a Black was there, I… I cannot sense negative feelings. Right now…” She looked at Moondancer. “Aside from my eyesight, I can’t sense you at all… you must despise me…”

“Gee, you think?” Moondancer snarked.

“And I can barely feel that one there,” she said, looking at Sugar. “Guess all that hate can’t mask that Lust of yours.”

Then, Chrysalis felt Sugar’s emotions shift. From whatever she’d been feeling…

To a mixture of pity and kindness?

“You mean that?” Sugar asked. “You can’t feel any of the negative emotions?”

“None whatsoever,” Chrysalis laughed and coughed, that had been a bad idea, that hurt. “What a joke huh? The supposed ‘Queen’ of the Changeling can’t even sense emotion…”

“Yeah right,” Moondancer said and looked at Sugar. “You seriously aren’t buying this crap right?”

“Every changeling is different,” Sugar said as she stepped closer to Chrysalis. “There are some who can gender shift, and some who can’t. Some who can teleport, and some who can’t. Some who can Hivelink easily, and some that can’t hold the connection for a second. Ledger is one that can’t sense emotions fifty feet past himself. It’s not inconceivable that there would be one that simply...can’t sense negative emotions. Our resident Pink is hypersensitive to them. Surely a counterpoint must exist.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” Moondancer said and looked back at Chrysalis.

“I suppose it has a downside,” the queen muttered. “I can’t feel those emotions… I don’t know what it means to hurt like that… not until recently anyway.” She tried to get to her hooves, but failed and fell back to the floor. “What I did to you, to many, many others is unforgivable… I just… I just hope that you can eventually move forward again… and if taking my life will let you do that…”

“You won’t be dying here today,” Sugar said as she drew closer to Chrysalis and offered her a helping hoof. She then shot a look over to Moondancer. One that wasn’t kind at all, despite the smile on her face. “Right, Moonie?”

“Like I said, if I wanted to, you’d be dead already,” Moondancer said tersely. “Death would be far too swift anyway… not to mention it’d get me fired from my job.” The unicorn lifted the queen with her magic as a basic healing spell washed over her. “No matter what I do to you, it won’t change the past, I’ll never have my beloved Moon back again…” She looked at Sugar and smiled. “But… I’ve already moved on. I have somepony I can love again… even if she’s mad at me right now. We’re not friends Chrysalis, and I doubt we ever will be... But you’re trying, even I can see that.”

“Better,” Sugar said as she watched the spell work on Chrysalis. “Mmm, maybe you can stay the night...with some stipulations, which we’ll go over later. But Chrysalis, you know that was only one very hard apology. You have so very many more to make.”

“I have made the ones that matter,” Chrysalis said. Save for Cadence and Shining Armor. She was going to avoid them like a Violet avoided a chastity belt. “I’m leaving, nopony will ever see me again…” She stood on her own four hooves and headed for the door.

“You do know that Ledger cursed your name the most, yes?” Sugar said as she idly examined one of her hooves. “Out of all of us here in Las Pegasus, besides miss Song, he’s the one you caused the most grief. You won’t find a harder apology to make than one to him.”

“Sister, with all due respect, I don’t think I’d survive another apology…” Chrysalis winced again as she opened the door, not bothering with a disguise. She didn’t have the energy to make one anyway. Her love reserves were all but gone when she shielded herself against most of those blows. Moondancer had hit her so hard, if she hadn’t…

“Tch, what a pain,” Moondancer said with a sigh. “I’m going to escort her to the farm… and make sure that pain of a drone doesn’t kill her outright,” the unicorn said.

“He might just surprise you,” Sugar said. “He certainly keeps surprising me.”

“Oh you’d just love to have his surprise, wouldn’t you?” Moondancer could help but say. Sugar giggled before kissing her marefriend.

“In another time, I would have said yes without a second thought. But these days, I have you. Besides, I meant his spellwork with Lengthy Scroll. The two of them invented a new spell the other day that I think even you would find impressive~”

“Doubt it, but we’ll see,” Moondancer said. She paused and looked at Sugar. “I love you, you know that right?”

“I know,” Sugar said before pointing at herself for emphasis.

“You tamed a Violet Noble... “ Chrysalis shook her head. “If I hadn’t seen it for myself…”

“Oh, she’s far from tamed…” Moondancer hummed. “She just knows she’ll not find another pony that can keep up with her.”

“No, I could, but she’s already taken and doesn’t have a horn,” Sugar said before humming happily at the memories.

Chrysalis tilted her head as Moondancer facehooved.

“She’s talking about Midnight,” the Unicorn said. “And for good reason… that mare is good at what she does… and who she does~”

“I’m sorta jealous of Ledger these days, to be honest,” Sugar said before waving at the pair. “Tell him I say hi when you see him Moonie, I have a club to repair while the pair of you are out.”

Moondancer looked at the damage and smiled sheepishly, before ushering the queen out before Sugar got mad all over again. The two quickly disappeared…

“Ah well,” Sugar said as she turned around and lit her horn up. “Time to put my hoarded magic to actual use, I suppose…”

For the first time in a while, Ledger found himself waking up, buried in mares. All his mares.

Midnight and Cider sandwiched him quite nicely as Twilight had her wings draped over them, Scope laying on his chest as one of her hooves held Twilight’s.

He barely dared to breathe, he enjoyed this moment so much. Just...basking in their warmth. He didn’t want to accidentally wake one up with even a twitch. His ear flicked slightly as he heard some sounds from downstairs. Somepony was awake…

That didn’t make any sense, though. All the mares were here, which would mean…

Intruder, he thought with a snarl. Now if only he could get out of this pile easily, he’d deal with it…

It hadn’t been easy, but somehow he’d managed to substitute Twilight with himself, Scope chirping softly as she buried her face into Twilight’s chest fur. Standing on his hooves and now ready to deal with whoever this was, Ledger walked out into the house, his horn shining with power as he prepared to deal with the intruder. The noises were coming from the kitchen, the sounds of someone raiding the fridge and banging some pots and pans around…

Ledger walked to the doorway and looked into the kitchen, his nerves frayed as he looked around for whoever was making the noise. And that was when a short figure stepped right out in front of him…

Fortunately, Ledger was not so far gone into his paranoia to forget about the dragon that had come over last night. “Spike,” the drone sighed as he killed the power to his horn. “You scared me. I don’t normally have somepony, or somedrake, around that gets up before Cider to make breakfast.”

“Huh?” Spike did a double-take at the sudden appearance of the stallion. “Oh, wow, you scared me too,” he said, wiping his hand across his head. That was when Ledger noticed something a little odd about the dragon.

He seemed a little taller, perhaps an inch or so. His tail had lost a little of it’s stubbiness, and some of his baby fat he used to carry was gone, making him look a little slimmer.

“Sorry… you all looked tired when I peeked in earlier, so I decided to get everything ready,” he explained. “There’s some coffee that just finished brewing. I mixed a little hazelnut in it for flavour…”

Ledger raised an eyebrow, but prepared a cup to his usual standards, and sipped at it. He hummed appreciatively at the new taste before looking over to the drake and nodding.

“Not bad, not bad at all...and if this is what you do with one part of my usual morning, I find myself curious as to what you’ll manage with the rest.”

“I’m making waffles, eggs and fruit salad,” Spike explained as he walked back into the kitchen. Even his stride seemed to have lost its waddle. “Is that okay?”

“That works wonderfully,” Ledger said as he walked back into the dining room, coffee in tow. “Oh, and a little tip. Cider likes apples in her fruit salad, and Midnight loves mangoes.”

“Thanks,” Spike nodded as he added the fruits, making sure that two particular servings held the extra fruit Ledger mentioned.

A short while later, Cider came down to start breakfast, only to see her job already done.

“Wait… whut?” Cider blinked and looked at the spread.

“Yeah, Spike does good work,” Ledger said as he held a hoof out to the drake. Spike blushed and looked at the cooking he’d just done.

“Well, time to wake up Twilight,” he said. “She’ll sleep all day otherwise.” He took a breath and cupped his claws over his mouth.

“TWILIGHT!! YOU’RE LATE FOR A TEST!!”

“That seems cruel, but efficient,” Ledger chuckled before taking a sip of his coffee. He’d have to make a note of that one…

There was a shout from upstairs, followed by some panicked sounds and then a dishevelled alicorn tumbled down the unfamiliar staircase, landing at the foot of the stairs with a groan.

“Morning Twi,” Spike greeted her.

“I will end you,” she groaned.

“Coffee and waffles?” Spike countered.

“I love you Spike,” Twilight cooed, floating into the kitchen.

“Sometimes I wonder who’s taking care of who,” Ledger observed with a smile. Spike nodded as the alicorn emerged, humming happily at having coffee as she sipped from the cup.

“Ahh, better,” she sighed and then looked at Spike. “Thanks Spi—” She paused, the mug falling from her grasp as she stared with wide eyes. “Spike… you… you’re bigger?”

He looked down and nodded. “Yeah, woke up like this… ACK!” he yelped as the alicorn grabbed him and stared into his eyes.

“You’re not hoarding again are you?” she said in a panicked tone. “Spike. You know what happened last time!”

“I know,” Spike said, worming out of her grasp. “It’s… not like that this time.”

“This time?” Twilight groaned. “So you are hoarding again!?”

“I was following some of Ledger’s advice…” Spike started and the alicorn turned her head. He had about… oooh, a half second to explain.

“The Yellows have done a study on a number of creatures, dragons included,” he said as he speared some of his eggs with a fork. “Dragons that hoard material wealth become mindless creatures of greed, whereas dragons that hoard the immaterial, like friendship and knowledge, mature but retain their minds.”

“I won’t hoard things again Twilight,” Spike explained, hugging her tightly. “But… It’s time I grew up. Time I made some decisions for myself. I… think of all my friends, my family, I think of you Twi…” He wiped a tear from his eye and smiled. “I have the greatest hoard in the world. And when I started thinking like that… this happened.”

Twilight gasped, looking at her little, well, less little dragon now. She had no idea that he’d felt like that. And, this change because of his way of thinking, it was undeniably fascinating.

“I just wish you’d talked to me first,” Twilight said, hugging him close. “Silly dragon.”

“I was gonna after breakfast,” Spike said. “Trust me, this change is just as unexpected for me as it is for everyone else…”

“Not me,” Ledger said as he popped the egg in his mouth. After a quick chew and swallow, he elaborated. “I figured you’d change sooner or later, after I told you what I did. That look in your eyes...It all but screamed ‘I want to grow up.’”

“So he says,” Twilight giggled. “I say he’s just as surprised and too cool to admit it.”

Midnight, having stealthed her way into the room, dropped down in front of Ledger.

“Boo!”

“And good morning to you too,” he said, giving her a quick smooch. “One of these days, you’ll remember how to be sneaky around a Changeling.”

“And who says I shouldn’t misuse that skill?” she retorted. “Silly buggy. Besides, have you heard of the word, distraction?”

As an emotionally masked Scope attached herself to the back of his head…

“Yeep!” Ledger said, knowing that there was one mare left, but not having expected this from her. “Scope, I know we say you need to get ahead in life, but you’re taking it too literally here!”

She groaned and nommed on his horn for that terrible pun before letting go. She looked back at Spike and groaned again.

“Are you serious? Now I’m back to being the shortest one in the house again! Dammit!”

“Actually, I think you’re around the same height,” Twilight pointed out. Scope Lens wasn’t that small, about the size of a mare in her young teens. Still shorter than anypony else though.

“Speaking of growing,” Midnight asked. “Oh, congrats by the way Spikey. But Twi? Will you get as big as Celestia?”

Now… that was an interesting mental image. Ledger hummed at the thought before he had some of his fruit salad.

“Well, I can already guess that Twi’s day has been planned for her,” Ledger said, looking over at Spike as he said that. “And I can guess that Cider has various farm-related chores to do.”

“As always,” Cider said. “But it shouldn’t take long. Did… y’all want to go on our date tonight Twilight?”

“That sounds good,” Twilight nodded. “I’ll think of something while I do a few tests on Spike.”

“I’m gonna crash here,” Scope said and flopped into her nest with a plate of waffles. “Scope Lens will do squat today.”

“Ohh, so it’s just us?” Midnight asked, hugging Ledger close.

“Looks like,” Ledger said. “I could go in today and take care of the paperwork...but it’ll be there tomorrow as well. Not a whole lot changing these days.” He took another sip of his coffee before nuzzling Midnight. “So, whaddya wanna do, silly bat?”

Midnight giggled and hummed. “Ohh, wanna go out on the town? See if anything interesting happens?”

“I can get behind that,” the drone said with a nod. “Who knows, we might find something new.”

“Something new huh?” Midnight pondered on that as she ate a waffle. Ohh, these were delicious waffles!

“Yeah, you never know what you’ll find when you explore Las Pegasus,” Ledger said. “I found Fredrick during one of my little explorations, after all.”

“Hmm, maybe I’ll find a perverted, life-long friend?” Midnight giggled. But then, in the form of Sugar Darling, she already had one of those. Ah well.

“Couldn’t that be used to describe a lot of your friends?” Ledger deadpanned.

“Yeeaahhhh,” Midnight giggled. “Sugar, Moondancer, you, Scopey, Fredrick, maybe the Captain to some extent…” Midnight paused as a thought occured. “Am I a bad influence?”

Ledger didn’t answer. An honest one would get him in trouble. And even if he used a dishonest answer, she’d see right through it. He merely ate a little more of his breakfast to keep his mouth occupied.

“Your silence is worse than a lie Level Ledger,” Midnight huffed and her ear gave a flick. “There’s somepony outside,” she said, and a few seconds later, someone was knocking on the door.

“It’s not like there’s a right answer to that,” Ledger said when his mouth was clear. “Yes, my life and way of thinking have changed since you came into it...but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

“You’re not a bad influence Midnight,” Twilight said with a giggle as she nuzzled her. “But you are a sexy one~”

“Ohh, I like that,” Midnight hummed thoughtfully as she kissed both ponies. Cider had gone to see who was at the door and soon returned, with Amy dragging Chrysalis inside and Moondancer following soon after.

“Ow, Amy! Hey!” Chrysalis grunted. “I’m injured here. Stoppit!”

“Mkay!” Amy said before depositing the queen unceremoniously on the floor. “There, you’re here now~”

“I hate you all,” Chrysalis groaned.

“Hey guys!” Midnight waved and launched herself into a tackle-hug of Amy and Moondancer, effectively taking them out.

“Hah! Karma!” Chrysalis gloated.

Amy didn’t answer beyond snuggling the bat back.

“Oh, it’s you again,” Ledger said, looking into the room from his spot at the table. “I thought you were going to enjoy Las Pegasus and maybe not come back for a day. Or longer. Or ever.”

“Aww, I’m so sorry to ruin your fun… oh wait, no I’m not,” Chrysalis snarked back as she saw Spike walking around. “What’s up with that? You upgrade to a newer model Sparkle?”

“Nope, still me,” Spike said, puffing out his chest.

“Keep growing, and you might actually have a chance with that prissy unicorn,” Chrysalis replied and Spike wilted somewhat before looking away.

“Keep improving yourself, and other changelings might not want to strangle you when your back is turned,” Ledger snarked back. “Me included.”

“Ah yes, I heard aaaalll about you today,” Chrysalis retorted. “About how you couldn’t stand up to one little mare because of your hangups about nymphs.”

“You try walking a mile in my shoes,” Ledger retorted, taking a sip of his coffee and not looking at the nymph. “See how you like drones after one has his way with you against your will, then tries to dispose of you.”

The room fell into silence, as Midnight and Cider just looked at one another while Twilight…

The alicorn just stared with wide eyes, a hoof to her mouth in shock. “Wh...what?” she stammered. The room suddenly got rather chilly, as her eyes narrowed and begun to take on a white glow. “Who did this to you!?”

“Twilight,” Ledger said, turning to her and trying to calm her down with his voice. “Deep breaths...no need for violent magic inside Cider’s home…”

Twilight blinked, then placed a hoof to her chest and swept it out in front of her, taking a deep breath as she used the calming method Cadence taught her.

“Okay… okay, I’m okay,” Twilight said as Spike hugged her. “That’s… why would somepony do that?”

“Because back home, nymphs still have the power,” Ledger said. “There’s a push for equality, or was when I left. But you’d better believe that of the two, drones are the ones overlooked more often than not.”

Chrysalis sat there, now thinking she should choose her words a little more carefully. Moondancer poked her with her magic and cleared her throat.

“Did you come back here for a reason?” The unicorn prodded. The changeling queen sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Yes, yes. Sorry for all the drama that my mistake may have caused you drone.”

“May?” Ledger said, his ears twitching. “Oh there’s no may about it. Toll had me under her hoof from the minute she cast her glamor-revealer on me. I could tell you of crimes she had me hide away under threat of exposure that would turn even your stomach. Try again.”

“Humph! I still say that you were just weak, and you’re clinging to any pathetic excuse to avoid admitting that to yourself!” Chrysalis took a step forward and stared down at him. “Tell me. Why should I apologise to a lowly drone anyway?”

“Oh no, I fully admit that I was weak then,” Ledger said with a vicious smile. “I couldn’t act against any female, much less a nymph. But the key word there was then.”

The silver drone’s horn flared up, to demonstrate his point. “Time, the changelings of the city, and especially Midnight, have helped me get past my fear. I’m not afraid of you. In fact, the one thing I am is grateful I’m no longer capable of going Black. Because otherwise, I’m fairly certain I would be, right now.” Ledger had gripped the queen’s throat…and was starting to squeeze…

“Then do it!” Chrysalis said over a Hivemind spell. “That little unicorn didn’t have the guts. So hurry up and do it!”

Ledger seemed to consider it...for all of a minute...before he let go of the queen and shook his head. “I do that, I’m no better than Toll Taker. And I promised myself, when I took her chair, that I would never be like her. Keep your life. It’s not worth my honor.”

“Honestly,” Moondancer sighed as she powered down her own horn. She and Twilight had been preparing suppression spells in case Ledger had been serious, while Cider had gone to shield Spike and Scope.

Midnight had… where did Midnight go?

“You really suck at apologies, you know that right?” Moondancer said. “Can’t you just walk in and say ‘sorry’ like a normal pony?”

“Eh, it’s fairly standard changeling behavior,” Ledger said...before grinning. “At least, for a drone admitting he was wrong to a nymph…”

“You admitted that you were weak,” Chrysalis coughed. She rubbed her neck and sighed. “And I can admit that the invasion was an ill-thought out mistake. A Black had snuck its way into my army and caused irreparable harm to somepony you care for. I… cannot hope to apologise enough for that.”

“I met that Black some time ago,” Ledger said tersely. “He won’t be bothering anypony anymore. I used the Flames on him. He’s naught more than ash on the wind.”

“You can cast Flames?” Chrysalis said with an incredulous tone. Now she was glad she didn’t piss him off too much.

“Guys?”

“Is that some sort of Changeling spell?” Moondancer asked, excited over the prospect of new magic.

“Guys?”

“In a way,” Chrysalis explained. “I’m sure the drone could explain it far better than I though.”

“GUYS!” Scope called out, shivering and hiding under Cider. She pointed and the armed and armoured Thestral standing at the top of the staircase. “Ledger and Chrys may wanna kiss and make up real bucking fast!”

“Oh boy,” Ledger said. “Um...But...Gah! Fine, for the sake of keeping you alive long enough to earn it, I’ll forgive you for now, Chrysalis...provided you use my actual name. I have one, you know. I even told it to you!”

“Fine,” the queen rolled her eyes, unimpressed at Midnight’s display… but, she felt… cold for some reason. “I suppose I can do that… Secret-Hoarder.”

Ledger looked back to Midnight, hoping their little display had worked well enough to snap her out of her emotion-less state. If need be, he would intervene if she, too, sought...alternative ways for the queen to pay for what she’d done, on purpose or not.

“Oh goodie,” Midnight said as she stepped closer and Ledger saw that she wasn’t armed with her usual wingblades… but rather, had two wooden paddles under her wings? “But you see, I’m still spanking the pair of you… I hope you’re ready for this~”

“Yipe!” Chrysalis hid behind Ledger, holding him out. “Take him first, I’m too pretty to die.”

“You can spank me later,” Ledger offered with a saucy wink. “But you should probably do Chrysalis now, we don’t have her around very often.” With that, he squirmed free of Chrysalis’ hold and stepped to one side.

“What?” Chrysalis blinked and bolted into the living room, Midnight chasing after her.

“You… don’t really think that Midnight would actually…” Twilight started before they heard a loud ‘smack’ coming from the living room, as well as another sound that made Twilight move to cover Spike’s ears.

“Oh my,” Ledger said, before looking at Amy. “I hope you’re taking notes.”

“I dunno what you’re talking about,” the pink nymph said with a not-innocent smile.

“Yeah, you’re not fooling anypony,” Twilight deadpanned as she continued to cover up a pouting Spike. “Just… take care of her okay?”

“Not a problem!” Amy chirped, waiting for the sounds to die down before she went in to retrieve her noble nymph. “Though, I may need to borrow her from you…For a day...or a week...or forever.”

“If you want to deal with her on a permanent basis,” Twilight said with a wave of her wing. “I’m more than happy to announce her as redeemed.”

Midnight eventually emerged, giving Ledger a look as she glanced at her unused paddle, before shrugging and tossing them aside.

“Well, I’m finished… for now,” she said. “Wanna hit the town?”

“Sounds good to me,” Ledger said, taking the chance to polish off his breakfast and coffee. “Let’s see what we can find.”

Amy, on the other hoof, went into the living room to gather up her noble nymph. She found Chrysalis on the floor, her flank had a nice red tinge to it as she gave a few twitches, muttering something about being a good nymph and that apologies were painful…

“Come on,” Amy said, trying to pull Chrysalis up. “Up you get, you’re coming back with me now.”

Chrysalis just groaned, before a light pink aura picked the noble nymph up.

“I’ll give you a hoof,” Moondancer said, adjusting her glasses with a hoof. “It’s my fault she’s injured in the first place after all.”

“You hurt my new cuddle-buddy?” Amy said, glaring a little at Moondancer...before shrugging. “Eh, she probably deserved it.”

“Screw you,” Chrysalis groaned and Moondancer chuckled.

“Perhaps, but I shouldn’t have resorted to violence like that. Got me kicked out for a while anyway… You don’t happen to know how to get on Sugar Darling’s good side again do you?”

“Try showing up in edible clothing,” Amy chirped as she took Chrysalis from Moondancer’s magical grasp with her own. “I know a shop you can visit, if you feel like trying right away.”

“Edible clothing.” Moondancer tone was a flat as a pancake. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Are you telling me you don’t want her to slowly use her mouth all over you?” Amy asked.

“Point noted,” Moondancer nodded and shifted her glasses again. “Seems I’m going shopping this afternoon.” She looked the queen over, making sure she had no serious injuries before her magic reinforced Amy’s. “Alright, shall we get this sadsack home for you?”

“Sounds good!” Amy said. “Acey has today off, so he can look out for the queenie while I show you where that shop is.”

“Girls day out? Sounds good,” Moon smiled and the two left.

Sometime later, Midnight Song and Level Ledger walked the streets, no real destination in mind, just… wandering.

“Levvy, I’m boooored,” Midnight whined. Ledger blinked before looking at her...then chuckling.

“I’m sorry, I forgot you don’t have my senses. Even when we’re just walking like this, the city is still very fascinating to me.” He looked around and hummed. “Is there anything in particular you’d like to try and find?”

“Not...really,” Midnight nodded as they walked down a back alley. She was still wearing her armour from this morning, which had also deterred a potential mugger. “Sorry, my attention span isn’t the best…”

“It’s okay,” Ledger said as they emerged back onto the roads proper. “Hmm...I think we’re close to where dad and I went for...Yeah, that’s the shop right there.”

“Hm? What shop, and if Purple Pops is involved…” Midnight giggled and waggled her eyebrows seductively.

“Nothing like that,” Ledger said with a shake of his head, before pointing it out to her. The bat blinked as a small blush graced her cheeks. Midnight was hopelessly adorable when she did that.

“A… jewelery shop? Why would you… oh.”

“Mmhmm,” Ledger said as he led Midnight out of the high-class district they’d found themselves in. “He said he’d have them to me by the time of the wedding, and didn’t seem to mind that it was for a herd either.”

“Well that’s a good thing,” Midnight smiled, leaning against him. “Still, he was probably just looking forward to all the money you’re going to be forking over.” She mulled a thought over and decided to ask. “Twilight?”

“I included a band for her as well, just in case,” Ledger said. “Oooh, that looks like fun.” He’d just caught sight of a Neighponese themed restaurant. “Maybe later. I’ll make a note of it.”

“I overheard Scopey muttering that Twilight was joining whether she liked it or not,” Midnight giggled, shifting so she wasn’t leaning on Ledger anymore. “I think that date of theirs worked a little too well~”

“It’s nice to hear Scope’s bonding with others, though,” Ledger said as they continued their little journey. Of course, this being Las Pegasus, they eventually found...well, it was a shop he was certain his father would like.

“Ooh, I could use a new riding crop,” Midnight giggled. “And maybe some restraints that can hold Cidey~”

“I’ll make a note of it,” Ledger repeated, though he was blushing slightly at the thought of returning.

“Ohh, somepony’s thinking naughty thoughts~” Midnight sang, giggling and prodding him. Ledger snorted and shook his head.

“Kinda hard not to around you,” the disguised drone replied. “Or in this town at all.”

“True enough,” the thestral nodded, shaking her rump a little. That armour hugged her curves quite nicely, the golden metal gleaming in the sunlight. Ledger snorted again before attempting to lead the thestral mare away from the shop.

“Come on, let’s see what else they...have…” Only to find that they’d apparently stumbled across the motherload of kinky shops.

“Oh my~” Midnight said and giggled. “You really are in the mood aren’t you Ledger~”

“I swear this was not on purpose,” the stallion muttered. “Let’s just go before this gets any worse for me.”

“Oh? Now I’m kind of curious as to how this could get worse for you,” Midnight chuckled.

“I’m afraid to find out,” Ledger replied as he set off in another direction. “Let’s leave Pervert Lane for now.”

“Ev’ry party needs a pooper, that’s why that invited you~” Midnight sang as she followed him. Party pooooper~”

“Well I’m sure that now that you know where it is, you’ll be coming back later,” Ledger said. “Here we go, some nice, normal shops.” One of them selling, of all things, toys for foals.

“Somepony will be coming later,” Midnight replied, before the toy store caught her attention. She paused in front of the window and stared inside. At the cribs and cradles, the toys and games…

“It’s… this is really happening huh?” she murmured.

“Yup,” Ledger said as he stood next to her. “Don’t worry, though. I have every confidence that you, at least, will be an awesome mother.”

“Well, d’uh,” Midnight snorted, but Ledger could tell her bravado was forced. “I’m Midnight-freaking-Song. And I’m very good at what I do…” She looked back inside the store and her confident look fell. “...I hope…”

“I know,” Ledger said, giving her a soft kiss. “That, when the foal comes, you will be the best mother possible. Because you’ve been the best mare possible, to me. I’m still very honored you want me to marry you, you know.”

“Yeah,” Midnight sighed and looked at her stomach. “Well, you know… gotta give the kid a proper family and all. And… it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while now. Just, well you know why I couldn’t…”

“Yeah,” Ledger agreed, hugging her gently. “...You could still put this off or call it off, you know. There’s time, if you don’t feel ready.”

“NO!” Midnight yelled, then put a hoof to her mouth. “No… I couldn’t do that to any of you. It wouldn’t be fair.” Her ear flicked a few times, like something was bothering it. “I love you guys. All of you. And, it’ll make me super happy to marry all of you. Just, on the day, if I get cold hooves… don’t let me go okay?”

“I think that’d be more the job of the others than myself, but noted,” Ledger said as he didn’t let go of her. “I’ll let Scope know, she’ll probably deal with it.”

“But I want you to catch me,” she whispered to herself as her ears flicked again. She growled as her voice spoke up once more. “Argh! I’m trying to have a moment and some idiot won’t let me concentrate!!”

“Oh?” Ledger said, looking around. “What are you hearing that I can’t?”

“Yeah,” Midnight rubbed her ears. “Someone’s using echolocation, probably another thestral. Don’t they know that there are…” She paused and her eyes widened. “We have to leave.”

“...It’s your dad, isn’t it?” Ledger deadpanned. “That’s the only other thestral I can think of that would be around at this point.”

“Worse, oh so much worse!” Midnight panicked as she grabbed Ledger’s hoof. “Come on, we have to go before—”

Two thestral mares suddenly dropped from the sky, landing behind Midnight. They bore the armour of Princess Luna’s night guard as Midnight groaned and hung her head.

“Ohh, seems we finally found her,” one mare giggled.

“About bucking time,” the other said. Ledger wasn’t sure if their armour bore the same enchantments as Celestia’s, but they looked and sounded identical.

“Celestia smite me now,” Midnight groaned.

“Well, this promises to be more interesting than what we were doing,” the disguised drone observed. “Though, hasn’t Luna heard of a wonderful invention called the letter? It does a remarkable job of letting others know when you want them for something.”

“This has nothing to do with the Princess, stallion.” One of the mares quipped.

“Ledger,” Midnight said with a barely suppressed groan. “Meet Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber…”

“HEY!”

“They’re my cousins.”

“Oh,” Ledger said with a snerk. “Family business. Well if they think they can intimidate me, they’ve clearly not met my family. Or me.”

“We’re not here for you, so don’t flatter yourself,” the mare on the left said.

“Mom’s here,” the right one added and Midnight gasped.

“Oh buck me with sunfire! Ledger, time to book it. We need to be home yesterday!”

“If you actually think you can beat your mom home, then by all means, try and warn the others,” Ledger said as he let go for emphasis.

“Not my mom… theirs!” Midnight said as she took wing and left her drone behind with the other mares.

“Well, good to see she’s as scatterbrained as ever,” one of them chuckled.

“Do I want to know why her aunt invokes such terror in her?” Ledger asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Hmm, maybe?” one of them said. It was starting to get confusing on which one was talking.

“Sister, I suppose we should introduce ourselves, he looks terribly confused.”

“I suppose, sibling of mine.” The one on the left added. “I am Meadow Song.”

“And I am Sun Song. We’re twins and little Midnight’s older and far more experienced cousins.”

“Puh-lease,” Ledger said with a roll of his eyes. “I doubt anypony can actually match her for experience.”

“Well, who knows,” Sun replied.

“And you are Level Ledger yes,” Meadow said, stepping closer. “The Changeling drone that intends to marry our cousin, along with the rest of your herd?”

“Pipe down,” Ledger hissed, looking around before explaining. “While Las Pegasus is technically friendly territory for me and those like me, I don’t go parading what I am around.”

“If you insist,” Sun said with a small snort. “Perhaps you should move to our town? You could walk around undisguised and nopony would bat an eye at you~”

“Really?” Meadow groaned. “That was terrible sister.”

“Aww, you love my puns.”

“I see a love of puns runs in the family,” Ledger mused. “And for the record, she proposed to me.”

“She did?” Sun tilted her head. “Hmm… that doesn’t sound right.”

“No kidding, she hates marriage more than I hate your puns.”

“Hey!” Sun pouted and stepped up next to Ledger. “Well he seems to like them. So I’m gonna stand here with the cool ponies.”

“I wouldn’t say like, more like, can tolerate thanks to extended exposure to Middy,” Ledger clarified for the pair of them. “Dare I ask why you and your mother decided to visit Las Pegasus?”

“Weeeeell,” Sun hummed, clearly the sillier of the twins. “Mom was curious to see how our cuz was getting along. They haven’t talked in a looooong time.”

“Midnight hasn’t visited since she graduated from West Hoof Academy,” Meadow explained. “And I still think Mother is trying to convince her to join the Lunar Guard like all the others of our kind. Though I fear that will never happen.”

“Yeah, what with her being a specialist under the command of Celestia herself,” Ledger said with a snicker. “I can’t see her taking a pay cut just to oblige what somepony else thinks she should be doing.”

“She’s a Specialist?” Meadow blinked. They… didn’t know that. Celestia must have been keeping that secret. “Hmm, that’s interesting.”

“Soooo,” Sun said, leaning against the drone. “What’s it like being a bug pony?”

“Sun!”

“Whaaaat? It’s a question.”

“I could counter with, what’s it like to be a bat pony, but I’m not nearly so vindictive as that,” Ledger said. “Let’s...talk about this in softer tones, yes?”

“Don’t worry,” Meadow said as she took a more relaxed posture. “We’re not here to start trouble or anything like that. And we certainly won’t be foalnapping Midnight like that moron in the Oldlands.”

“What a dingus, he actually thought he could get away with it?” Sun giggled. “Good thing you and your mares went to play superhero huh? Means I got to have a day off.”

“Though your methods could have used a little… refinement,” Meadow nodded.

“The idiot took somepony dear to me,” Ledger growled. “He’s lucky that I didn’t write my uncle.”

“The Silver King,” Meadow nodded. “Perhaps, that might have started a war between our races… one that would not have ended well for you.” She leaned in close and hummed. “If that had happened… what side do you suppose Midnight would have chosen?”

“Please, do let me know how you can deal with an army of shape-shifting emotivores, who would have wreaked all sorts of havoc on the thestrals,” Ledger said with a cruel smile. “We can be everypony and nopony. And in an actual war, you would never see us coming.”

“Ohh, that’s funny,” she replied, her eyes dulling as she all but vanished from his emotional view. Ledger could feel that cold chill setting in, of seeing a pony that was there, but his senses telling him she wasn’t. “I could say the same thing~”

“Point, but still, all it would take is one infiltrator in the right place, and we’d be able to win a war, hooves down,” Ledger said, swallowing his fear thanks to the multitude of times he’d seen Midnight do the same.

“Hmm, somepony has seen this before,” she said and resumed her normal state. Sun sighed and put away her hoofblades, ready to stop a fight should one have broken out.

“H-Hey guys, we should stop all this ‘What if’ talk and go find Middy huh? Mom might wind up hugging her to death otherwise.”

“Oh dear,” Ledger said as he sighed dramatically. “Such a terrible fate, to be loved to death.”

“We deal with it on a daily basis,” Meadow groaned. “Come on, we can get there quicker if we fly. You can turn into a thestral right?”

Ledger looked around, ducked into a nearby alleyway, and emerged as a thestral stallion a moment later. He’d not done this often, but still kept his lessons in mind. “Ready,” he said.

“Mmm, not bad, not bad at all~” Sun purred, looking over his form like a fresh piece of meat. “Sun likey~”

“Later sis, and at least he knows who the better flyers are out of us and those hooved chickens,” Meadow snarked. “Now let’s go.” And with that, took to the skies. Ledger followed suit a moment later. He’d rarely been a member of the flying species, it took him a moment to orient himself. But once he did, he was after the pair of mares.

Heh. If any of the mares in his herd saw this…

Well… the farmhouse was still standing, so that was a good sign right?

Sun Song and Meadow Song landed near the front porch and looked around.

“Bleh!” Meadow poked out her tongue. “It’s so… rural.”

“I’ll be sure to tell that to Cider,” Ledger said as he landed. “The last time somepony insulted her home, she didn’t take it well. Nor did she spare them because they were my family.”

“Ah, the Earth Pony mare of formidable strength,” Meadow nodded. “Well, noted. I’ll hold my tongue around her then.”

“So is everypony else here?” Sun asked. “Like that little Scope Lens of yours. I heard she is adorably tiny~”

“Scope, might be here,” Ledger hummed. “I think most of the others are here now, come to think of it. The only one missing would be me.”

They stepped inside, and as Ledger crossed the threshold that separated the kitchen and living room. What he saw was… well rather standard around this family.

A thestral mare was busy snuggling a protesting Midnight, and looked up when Ledger entered the room.

“Oooh, so this is the little buggy I’ve read so much about,” she purred and got to her hooves. She was a stunningly beautiful mare, her long auburn mane and charcoal grey coat were well cared for. Her eyes looked like the purest of gold and her teeth glistened like polished marble. She walked over to him, her movements like flowing water. This was a mare a high class, on par with his own mother at least.

“Hello there Level Ledger,” she hummed, kissing his cheek. “It’s a delight to meet you finally.”

“I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage,” the disguised drone replied. The mare chuckled and looked at Midnight.

“Heehee, I like him already,” she said. “But you are correct. My name is Echoed Song. I am the leader of Hollow Shades. Mayor, Leader… titles are such trivial things.”

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Ledger said as he offered a small bow to the mare. “I assume you’re here because of the upcoming nuptials, then?”

“But of course. I cannot believe my own niece did not see fit to invite me.” She looked back and Midnight and sighed. “Such a rebellious little bat. But that is what I love about her.”

“Go suck a cactus Aunt Song,” Midnight retorted.

“She has quite the spirit, one of the many, many reasons I love her,” Ledger said with a nod.

"Indeed it is. It's one of her more admirable qualities," Echoed said with a light titter. "Still, I have come here for a reason beyond wanting to meet my future family."

“Oh?” Ledger asked with a head tilt, before remembering he was still in thestral form. “Ah, one moment please…” With a small burst of silver fire, the stallion was his usual unicorn form.

“Mm, that’s more familiar,” he said, stretching a little. “What was it you wished to talk about, ma’am?”

"Awww," both Midnight and Sun pouted. Ledger just smirked, making sure to make a note of Midnight’s reaction for...later.

"Well, one of the reasons I am here," Echoed continued. "Is so I may extend an invitation to Hollow Shades..."

"But mother!" Meadow protested. "A non-thestral has never set hoof inside the town before... Even those wed to one of our kind."

"Well I think it's time that changed," Echoed said. "That was the cause of the Oldlands becoming the way they are." She looked at the drone and hummed. "I'd like to show them what real Thestral culture is like."

“Hmm,” Ledger said, considering the offer. “A fair proposal, though I can’t imagine it will earn you any friends amongst the townsfolk. If you are certain you wish to extend such an offer to us, then I suppose we should accept...but, perhaps, not immediately.”

"I wouldn’t worry too much." Echoed moved to hug Midnight again. "It's not as though we hate outsiders. Ponies have a rather... negative perspective of our kind. They see us as monsters, creatures hiding in the dark... vampires."

Both Sun and Meadow snarled at that one.

"We kept them out to protect both them and ourselves," Echoed continued. "Much like the Changeling Lands. In fact, I think you'll find yourselves quite welcome."

“Ah, well, that’s good,” Ledger said, before shifting his eyes to his normal, silver-slitted ones, for emphasis. “And yes, out of everypony here, I think myself and Scope can relate to your little perception issue.”

"Someone call me?" Scope asked as she walked in. Sun Song's eyes grew huge as she leapt at the petite pegasus.

"Kyaaa~ She's so cute!!"

"The fuck!?" Scope yelped and countered with her telekinesis. Which resulted in Ledger getting a facefull of armoured bat mare. And after a tumble, it left them in quite a... comprising position.

“Please get off of me,” Ledger said, closing his eyes.

Sun blushed cutely, before Midnight hauled her off and growled.

"Mine!"

“Why does everypony keep throwing me?" Sun pouted.

"Ledger, who the hell are these bats?" Scope said. "If they're here to take Middy..."

“Nah, they’re just some more of Midnight’s batty family,” Ledger said, not shying away from using the pun. He picked himself up now that he felt he was freed of Sun’s weight, and dusted himself off. At least until Midnight pounced him.

Both Meadow and Echoed groaned at the pun while Sun giggled.

"He's funny, could I borrow him cuz?"

"When Taratus freezes," Midnight growled. "I repeat. Mine!"

“Yeah, and I have quite enough mares in my life as it is, thank you,” Ledger said. “Plus, there’s that whole ‘no family of anypony already in the herd’ rule.”

"Huh... well, whatever," Sun shrugged. "I still think he’s cute."

"Why am I related to you again?" Meadow sighed.

"So... we're going to another thestral town now?" Scope asked.

"No." Came Midnight’s curt response.

“You’re sure?” Ledger asked the bat currently attached to him.

"Oh sure, let's go to a town full of the things that tried to brainwash and rape me!!" Midnight yelled. "What do you bucking think!?"

“That would be like me swearing off going back to the Changeling Lands because of Free Spirit,” Ledger countered with. “Which, by the way, I haven’t. I’m just going to give mom and uncle more time to push their whole equality movement before I offer to show my home off to anypony that wants to visit.”

"Moonlight," Echoed came closer so she could nuzzle the pissed off mare. "What happened... it should never have occurred... and trust me when I say that it will never happen again." She sighed and took a step back. "But, I do think you shouldn't throw away your heritage. And I think your loved ones would like to learn more about you, no?"

“I am going to be giving over my book to Twilight,” Ledger said. “There’s really nothing more personal to me left. When the day comes that I don’t fear for myself back home, I’d show it off to you or anypony else in a heartbeat.”

He then gently slid Midnight off of him with his magic before giving her a soft kiss. “But this is your decision,” he said once it broke. “And if you truly don’t want us to go...I’ll abide by it.”

Midnight groaned and looked at the three thestrals. She'd never really gotten along too well with her own kind... But after seeing how far Ledger and Scope had come. And even Twilight...

"I guess... I should stop being such a foal about this," she said, more to herself than anyone else. "Fine. We have three weeks before the wedding. So let's get it over with."

"Well, I am glad to hear it," Echoed clapped her hooves. "This promises to be a wonderful trip."

"Trip? We're going somewhere?" Cider asked as she walked in after showing Twilight her greenhouse.

“Eventually, yes,” Ledger said before nuzzling Midnight. “Though I get the feeling Middy might want a day or three to psych herself up for it.”

"Perhaps," Echoed before she noticed Twilight standing there. "Your Highness? What in the moon are you doing here?"

"Spending time with my friends," she replied and looked at the group. "No... my loved ones."

"Loved..." Echoed frowned and looked at the herd. Princess Twilight was a part of it? Ledger, meanwhile, walked over to the princess, and greeted her, not with a bow, but with a hug.

"Hey you," Twilight giggled and kissed his nose.

"You must be the envy of every stallion on the planet," Meadow said.

“I know I’m certainly the envy of at least one of them,” Ledger said as he returned the kiss. “Though, I think he got over it when he...explored the city a little more.”

"Let’s not discuss Flash hmm?" Twilight replied, glad they'd avoided that encounter in the human realm. "So, am I invited as well?"

"Of course," Echoed smiled. "We'd be honored to have you visit our town Princess."

“Road trip it is then,” Ledger said with a smirk. “But that’s a thing for another day. How goes your day with Cider?”

"It was amazing!" Twilight replied excitedly. "I never knew you could grow crops the way she does!" Ledger spied a purple coloured tome under her wing, her cutie mark on the cover.

“Is somepony making notes?” Ledger lightly teased her.

"My book," Twilight said as she hugged the tome closer.

“Oh really?” Ledger said with a mischievous smile. “Well, I suppose I can just keep ahold of mine for a little while longer, then…”

"Uuuuu, Ledgeerrr~ You promised!" Twilight responded with her most adorable pout.

“True, but you’re a bit busy to cash in that promise today anyways, aren’t you?” the drone replied. “I’m sure you won’t mind if I keep holding off on giving you my book…”

Twilight stepped closer, until she had Ledger backed up against a wall. "Is that so?" She hummed. "You know, it has come to my attention that you have a few new spells you'd like to try out... And until I have that book... I guess you'll never find out if that little wish you have for me can come true or not hmm~?"

“And that is how to play this game properly,” Ledger replied. “Though, you really do have a day with Cider to attend to. Maybe tomorrow, if you’re around, I can loan you both the book and Scope.”

Twilight hummed and looked at Scope. "Hmm, am I allowed to borrow you, my little sparkling Treasure?"

“Eh, until your glorious Celestia gets off her glorious plot and tells us how exactly our new arrangement is going to work, I’m pretty much free,” Scope said carelessly.

That had both Twilight and Midnight suddenly standing over her, small smiles on their faces.

"Miss Midnight, I believe she just insulted the princess."

"I do believe you are correct Miss Twilight. What shall we do about this?"

"Punishment?" Twilight tilted her head and lifted Scope with her magic.

"Punishment~" Midnight replied as the two mares carried her upstairs…

“...Well, that promises to be...interesting,” Ledger said with a tilted head. “Though, she did have a point. Ah well.” The disguised drone shifted his eyes back to normal before looking over at Echoed Song again. “Was there...another reason you came here today, ma’am?”

"Hmm, well not really. I was mostly here to see my niece. And I was wondering if you were adding any Thestral traditions to your ceremony?"

“That’d be up to Midnight to discuss with the others,” Ledger said. “Though, you may want to bring it up with her once she’s done with...whatever she’s doing to Scope.” Which he wasn’t going to mention he could sense from where he was. Not one bit.

"I believe I shall," Echoed replied. "Well, I believe we will retire to our hotel for the evening."

"Awwww," Sun pouted as Meadow shook her head.

"Maybe we should leave her here," she said to her mother.

"Can you!?" Sun asked.

“Why do I get the feeling agreeing to look after her for any length of time will not end well for me?” Ledger observed aloud.

"Well, thank you for volunteering," Echoed Song said with a smile as Sun cheered. And before Ledger could mount any sort of reply, the two mares retreated, leaving Sun to wag her tail happily.

“...Just my luck,” the changeling sighed before dropping his disguise altogether. He was more comfortable like this, anyways. At least around the house, he didn’t have to worry. “So, how long do you think they’ll be busy with her?” he asked of Cider.

"Beats me," Cider replied with a shrug. "Ah'm more surprised to see Twi act like that."

"Like what?" Spike asked, walking in after exploring the farm.

“Like Midnight,” Ledger deadpanned. “She’s usually more...reserved than that. I guess we’ve all been a terrible influence on her.”

"Like Midnight?" Spike tilted his head. That was also about when Sun zoomed over to him.

"A little dragon? Awesome!"

Spike took a step away from the hyper batpony and looked at Ledger.

“Meet Sun Song, one of Midnight’s cousins,” Ledger said by way of introduction. “I’m sure you can see some family resemblance.”

"I guess?" Spike shrugged. "I dunno. All you ponies look the same to me." He stretched and gave a yawn. "Well I've been exploring all day. I think I might go take a nap before dinner..." He turned and started heading upstairs.

“Probably best you not go upstairs if you do,” Ledger said. “Twilight would be unhappy with me if you did.”

Spike stopped. He put a few pieces together and facepalmed. "Okay... now I get it," he groaned. "Yeah, this is all totally your doing..."

“The least we can offer is a couch in the living room, if you’re going to nap,” Ledger offered. “And hey, at least I care enough to warn you before letting you walk in on that sorta thing going on.”

"Yeah, thanks," Spike nodded and turned to head for the couch. "Actually... could I talk to you privately Lev?"

“Sure thing,” Ledger said as he left Cider to deal with Sun Song. “Where do you wanna do this?”

Spike gestured to the living room and Cider motioned for Sun to follow her, the thestral nodding and leaving with the mare.

Once they left, Spike took a seat and sighed. "Well... if you hadn't guessed already... I followed your advice."

“Regarding hoarding?” Ledger asked as he lay down on the ‘cuddlecouch’. “And how did that turn out for you?”

"Well I'm a little bigger," he replied. "Twilight said I'm about the equivalent of a twelve or thirteen year old pony." He sighed as linked his fingers together. "I... also talked with Rarity."

“Judging by your emotions, that didn’t go well,” Ledger said. “I’m sorry for you.”

“She said that I was very dear to her," he said in a flat tone. "One of her irreplaceable... friends."

“But I’m guessing she also said something that meant she didn’t think of you like you thought of her,” Ledger guessed. “I wish I could help.”

"Yeah, got friendzoned pretty hard," Spike chuckled dryly. "She put me down easy... still hurts though. A little because of that... a little because of how childish I've been."

“The only thing I can offer is advice,” Ledger said. “Namely, to not let this stop you. Mourn, grieve, for what could have been, yes. But you shouldn’t cling to it. Because then you’ll miss out on what could be, and it could be right under your nose.”

"Under my nose?" Spike chuckled, then sniffed. "I think I'm a little young for your herd Lev. Unless one of you had a cute sister."

“Technically, that answer is yes, but if you go after either one of my sisters, I’m gonna have to do my duty as a big brother to try and scare you off,” Ledger said mock-threateningly.

"Well, dating a Changeling seems to be popular," Spike laughed. "Maybe I should jump on the bandwagon."

“What I meant, was, maybe there’s somepony back in Ponyville that feels about you the way you felt about Rarity, who’s also about your age,” Ledger explained. Spike’s laugh stopped and he looked at his claws.

“I doubt that, heck, I think half of them see me as Twilight’s pet or servant,” Spike snorted, small emerald embers shooting from his nose. “Whatever, I’m done with love anyway.”

“I thought the same way,” Ledger said wistfully. “And then Midnight happened to me. Believe me Spike, you can think that way as long as you want. But when somepony walks into your life that you love, that you can’t do without...it’ll happen fast, and then you’ll be asking for all sorts of advice.”

“Well, if that happens, I’ll just ask you,” Spike resumed his dry laugh. “Unless you intend to dump Twilight before then, which, by the way, I am contractually obligated to set you on fire if you do.”

“Duly noted,” Ledger said. “And you never know. Ponies might surprise you.”

“I live in Ponyville Ledger,” Spike said as he got up. “Nothing really surprises me anymore.”

Chapter 73 - Just another day...

After Twilight and Midnight had finished meting out Scope’s pleasurable punishment, the thestral headed back downstairs after cleaning up. Sun and Cider were gone, the farm mare no doubt showing off her farm, while Spike and Ledger were chatting the day away. She smiled and trotted into the room, her hips having a slight sway to them.

“And how are my two favourite boys today?” she asked.

“Just giving Spike here a bit of a pep-talk,” Ledger said. “I’d offer him ice-cream, but I don’t think Amy stocks flavors for dragons at her store.”

“She doesn’t stock vanilla and chocolate?” Spike asked with a tilt of his head. “That’s a little weird isn’t it?”

“I thought you were going to ask for something with gems in it,” Ledger said with a sigh. “She’s got the normal stuff, sure.”

“I don’t have gems in everything,” Spike replied. “Just… most things. Besides, I think Amy would probably just make some on the spot anyway. She reminds me waaaay too much of Pinkie Pie.”

“I hear that,” Midnight nodded as she flopped on Ledger. “Aww, and our walk was totally ruined as well. Sad Middy is Sad.”

“At least we found a few things before your family came along,” Ledger replied. “And I’d like to imagine there are at least some limits to what Amy can do. The thought of there not being any is too terrifying.”

“Ohh, I have an idea!” Midnight said with a wide smile. “Wanna see what happens when you give her coffee liqueur?”

“Alcoholic coffee?” Spike blinked. “That’s a thing?”

“Yes, and no, we’re not giving any to Amy,” Ledger said firmly. “It was bad enough when she had coffee and alcohol separately.”

“So imagine if she had both!” Midnight cackled at the chaos that would be unleashed.

Elsewhere, a certain Draconequus felt rather proud for some reason, then realised why when he read through the script. Hehehe, time for a little trip to the City of Sin~

“So what’s bumming you Spike-O?” Midnight said as she got up off of Ledger and moved over to the dragon, but said dragon just blushed and looked away.

“His crush crushed him,” Ledger replied. “Poor drake’s sworn off love as a result.”

“Wow, thanks bro,” Spike said in a flat tone, then yelped as Midnight pulled him into a scale-crushing hug.

“Aww, you poor little guy,” she cooed, nuzzling him. “Don’t worry, Middy’s here to make you feel better.”

“And did you honestly think you were going to hide it from anypony anyways?” Ledger asked. “I’m pretty sure even a non-changeling would be able to pick up on your emotional state, as Midnight just demonstrated.”

“Dude, whatever, just help me out here!” he said, trying to escape the death cuddles. Midnight giggled and snuggled him again, causing the dragon to groan in defeat.

“Having fun down here?” Twilight asked, trotting down the stairs. “And do be careful with my assistant Midnight, he’s rather dear to me.”

“I’m pretty sure she’ll stop short of suffocating him...maybe,” Ledger said as he sat back to watch. “Might take her a while, though.”

“Meh, Spike’s a tough guy,” Twilight giggled as she settled in next to Ledger on the couch. “So… Scope wants me to marry you guys huh. Well, mostly her, but she said you lot are a package deal.”

“You must have made quite the impression on her,” Ledger said. “What are your thoughts?”

“Honestly?” Twilight answered. “I… I’ve been thinking about it, and the more time I spend with you guys, the more I’d like to… It’s just, I still haven't known you long. It hasn’t even been a month. Should I really jump right into marriage like that?”

“Honestly, probably not. But you’re a princess, if you think you’d like to join in on our wedding day, nopony will stop you. Likewise, I don’t think anypony besides Scope will complain too much if you decide you want to sit it out until later,” Ledger said as he watched the drake continue to get snuggled.

“I guess we’ll see,” Twilight replied. “Besides, even after you all get married, I don’t intend to go anywhere. Unless you want me to that is.”

Spike yelped again and a quick look from Ledger told him why. Midnight had grabbed the drake and was divebombing the snuggling couple on the couch.

“Cuddle Pile!” the insane bat pony yelled as she moved to tackle them with a mad giggle.

“Yipe!” Ledger said as he braced for impact. Twilight reflexively threw up a shield, the result was Midnight smacking against it… and slowly slid down the shield before falling on the floor. It took a second for the alicorn to realise what she’d done and gasped.

“Um… you okay Middy?” Twilight asked.

“Not...cool…” the bat groaned. “Level Ledger… avenge meeeee~”

“Well, you heard the mare,” Ledger said as he fired up his magic and began tickling the alicorn with it.

“Eeeaaahahahahahaa!” Twilight shrieked and countered with her own magic. Luckily, she had a spell she’d used recently and her tickle-addled mind could call upon it without much concentration.

Unfortunately, it was that spell that Scope liked oh-so-much, the one that touched the holes in her hooves…

Ledger squeaked, feeling incredibly aroused from what the alicorn had done to him, reflexively cutting his magic out of confusion. “Uh...Twi, maaaaybe not in front of Spike,” he said.

Twilight paused and blinked before she realised what spell she’d cast and blushed deeply. “Eheh, whoops?”

Midnight groaned and picked herself up, a purple dragon squashed under her. “Hugs are not supposed to be painful,” she groaned. “Urgh, well, whatever. I have a thing to do. So Imma bounce for a bit okay?”

“Sounds good,” Ledger said as he moved to check on Spike after making sure he wasn’t...showing. “You okay bro?”

“Urgh,” he grunted, mirroring Midnight's reaction. “One should not test the strength of a shield by body-checking it.”

“I said I was sorry!” Twilight moaned.

“Yeah, I know,” Spike chuckled as he picked himself up and dusted his scales off. “I think I might go with Midnight, get some fresh air.”

“Yeah, that’s fine with me,” Midnight replied. Ledger nodded and stood back, taking his place next to Twilight again. Midnight gave each of them a kiss, then giggled as she kissed Spike on the cheek as well, the dragon rolling his eyes and wiping it off.

“Really?” he deadpanned.

“I didn’t want you to feel left out,” Midnight giggled as she headed for the door. The two soon left, leaving Twilight alone with Ledger.

The alicorn smirked and looked at him. “Now,” she hummed and licked her lips. “Where was I~?”

Midnight trotted down a few side alleys and streets, taking every shortcut she knew to get to Fredrick’s restaurant.

“So where are we going anyway?” Spike asked, reclining on her back.

“You’ll see in a minute,” the bat replied. She stopped outside and took a breath, before walking in just as a serving colt was about to close up shop for the evening.

“Um, sorry Ma’am but—”

“Don’t worry, just here to see Freddy for a bit,” she nodded and passed him by, leaving him with a dumbfounded expression on his face. She walked further inside, only to see another waiter tidying the tables, but no griffon…

“Hmm, excuse me cutie,” she asked the colt. “You seen a big bird around these parts?”

“He’s currently tidying up for later tonight,” the colt said as he finished one table and moved to another. “Something about visiting Narrow at her place.”

“Ahh, perfect~” she giggled and looked upstairs. He must be up there. She winked at the colt in a way that ensured his dreams would be… interesting tonight and headed up the flight of stairs. She’d never been up here before…

It didn’t take long to find the griffon humming to himself in a mirror as he straightened a few feathers.

“You know, I’d make a joke about birds and preening in a mirror…” she hummed from the doorway, “but it would be too easy~”

“Midnight!” the griffon said, turning to look at her. “If you came for dinner or even dessert, I am sorry to say you are far too late.”

“Nah, I already had my fill,” Midnight said, not moving from the door. “But, I actually came to see you and Narrow about something important.”

“Oh?” the griffon asked as he gave himself a quick look over. “Well, if you are willing to accompany me to her place, I don’t see why you can’t come along and ask your question there.”

“That’s the plan,” she nodded. Spike peered from over her shoulder and the bat turned. “Oh, I have a guest as well. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Sup?” Spike waved.

“And a drake as well?” The griffon asked with a tilt of his head. “Midnight, I do hope this isn’t the second male Ledger talked about you adding, he seems rather young yet…”

Both Midnight and Spike stared at him, before Midnight replied in the flattest tone possible…

“Yes, oh my Celestia yes. I love Spike so much. He is my everything!”

Spike grinned and hopped off her back, taking one of her hooves in his claw. “Oh my dear Midnight, I was lost in the dark, until I found your light.” The two had a dramatic hug and Fredrick could swear he could hear some cheesy violin music.

“Very well,” Fredrick said as he moved to leave. “I see you two have this all wrapped up, then. So I’ll just go off to Narrow while you have a moment in my restaurant. Just don’t forget to clean up after yourselves.”

“Clean up?” Spike asked. “Why… oh?”

“Fredrick, you’re a real dodo sometimes,” Midnight huffed as she followed him. “But now I get to tell Narrow on you.”

“And I’m sure she’ll come up with an appropriate punishment for my little misdeed,” Fredrick said as the three of them finally left his home and place of business, passing by the same colt Midnight had slipped by on her way in. She turned and smiled at him, before following Fredrick with a hypnotic sway of her hips. The colt gulped and went back to locking up. Tonight was gonna be...interesting for him.

“So, might I ask your name then, young dragon?” Fredrick asked of their tailing companion.

“Sure, my name’s Spike. I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle’s number one assistant and currently out and about while she and Ledger make googoo eyes at one another.”

“Oh, I think they’re doing a lot more than that,” Midnight giggled, then realized who she’d said that to and swore under her breath.

“Ergh, I do not need to know that,” Spike gagged.

“It’s a perfectly natural thing,” Fredrick chuckled. “But what could the assistant of Twilight Sparkle need my help with?”

“Nothing, I don’t even know who you are,” Spike said. “I’m just tagging along with Midnight… but, if you have any romance tips, then I’ll gladly take them… why is Midnight laughing?”

“Oh dear,” Fredrick said before dropping back to pick the drake up and put him on his back. “Gaze upon the city, Sir Spike. Long and hard. Look at all of it, filled with ponies.” He waited for Spike’s reply that he’d done that before dropping his little world-breaking statement.

“Yeah… it has ponies… most places in Equestria do,” Spike snarked.

“If you see a mare pass us by, the odds are good I’ve bedded her,” Fredrick said. “I do believe I slept with most of the mares of Las Pegasus.”

“...Aaaand that’s why Midnight is still laughing,” Spike said. “Wait!” he looked at the bat horse. “Does that mean you and her…”

“She’s the one that got away,” Fredrick sighed dramatically. “She got involved with Ledger before I could try my luck with her, and the few rules I have don’t permit me to get involved with involved mares. Far more trouble than it’s worth.”

“Hey, I offered when Ledger and I weren’t a thing… well, much of a thing… and now,” She smirked and leaned in close. “You will never know~”

“Nor will you know of the skill I possess,” Fredrick teased back. “There is a reason so many came back after the first time~”

Spike looked from Fredrick to Midnight and then shrugged. He figured it was best to leave this the hay alone. “So uh, weren’t we going to do a thing?” he asked, reminding them of their task.

“Still on my way, good drake,” the griffon said as he pointed to a building. “My darling Narrow lives just there.”

“Ahh,” he nodded and Midnight giggled. This would be the first time she’d seen the Captain’s place as well. Tonight was full of fun surprises.

Once they arrived and knocked on the door, nopony answered for a moment, until the door opened of its own accord, Fredrick seeing Narrow’s magic around the handle.

“I do hope you’re not planning on jumping me the second I come inside,” Fredrick said before stepping so much as one foot inside her apartment. “I brought a few tag-alongs that say they need our advice, and last I knew, you weren’t into putting on a show.”

There was no response, and the apartment was empty save for a few half-eaten rations on the table that Spike sniffed at and grimaced.

“Urgh, who eats this stuff?” he recoiled. “That… cannot be healthy.”

“Oh dear Narrow,” Fredrick sighed as he moved to the kitchen to grab her trash bin. “You really need to just ask me to cook for you. It’s far more romantic than rations anyways.”

There was a splash from another room, before the door swung open and Narrow Gaze stepped out, a towel around her dripping from as steam rose from her lithe body. Her wet coat also made some of her scars visible as well.

“What the hell are you muttering about?” she asked, rubbing her mane with a second towel.

“Wondering why you intentionally make yourself suffer with subpar ‘foodstuff’ like this,” Fredrick said as he dragged the trashbin over and started putting her strewn-about rations into it.

“I was still eating that,” Narrow responded as Spike had already moved to her kitchen, finding a hoofstool to stand on and put a pot of water to boil.

“I will not let this culinary disaster stand,” he declared. He held out a claw. “Fredrick. Salt!”

“Salt!” Fredrick replied as he fetched it from one of her cabinets. He’d made sure she was stocked up on foodstuffs and materials to make proper foodstuffs the last time he came here.

Spike sprinkled a pinch in the pot of bubbling water, heated by his dragon flame. “Pasta!”

“What sort?” Fredrick replied as he opened a cabinet. Yes, premade stuff was inferior to making it yourself, fresh...but he needed something that wouldn’t go bad at the time.

“Hmm,” Spike tapped his chin and then he snapped his claws. “Linguini. I have an idea~”

“Got it,” Fredrick said as he passed the box over. Spike took enough for them and placed in the pot of water before looking around and seeing a suitable pan hanging from a rack.

“Do you have any frozen fish in the freezer?”

“I think I put one in there?” Fredrick said as he checked. “Yup, a tuna.”

“Perfect~” Spike said. “Think you could prep that for pan frying? I have vegetables to slice and dice.”

“My dear drake,” Fredrick said as he pulled the frozen fish out. “You are talking to the Fredrick. I do more than just woo mares. I cook as well!” With that, he pulled the pan down and began preparing the fish. He’d had the foresight to gut and clean it when he got it, but it would still need a few spices before he could call it ready for the pan.

“Excellent,” Spike nodded as he peeled and sliced vegetable with his sharp claws. “So I’m thinking a fish and pasta alfredo with white sauce. Sound good?”

Over all the noise, Midnight’s stomach gave a loud gurgle in agreement.

“That sounds splendid,” the griffon agreed. “Will you be handling the sauce, or I?” The fish was ready for the pan now.

“Hmm, well I can do that if you wanna keep babysitting that fish,” Spike said.

In the meantime, Narrow sat near Midnight as the thestral stole looks at the wet-maned unicorn. While she held no feelings for the mare, she could certainly appreciate when a pony was attractive or not.

“Not the one I wanted attention from… guess I’ll take what I can get,” Narrow sighed. “So what are you even doing here anyway Midnight.” She suddenly smirked and looked at Fredrick.

“I thought I said I wasn’t that kind of mare Freddie. Or were you up for some variety?”

“The pair of them came for something other than that, believe it or not,” Fredrick said as he got some ingredients for the white sauce out. “Whoop, I have to tend my fish now.” With that, the griffon went back to making sure the fish wasn’t burned.

“Huh, who’d have thought it?” Narrow shrugged and decided since Fredrick was now busy, she go and get dried off before she got a cold.

“Yep, believe it or not, other thoughts do cross my mind,” Midnight nodded.

“Yeah, they like to wave as they pass by,” Spike chuckled and Midnight sat there with an open jaw. She just got burned by a kiddie dragon…

“My word, you’re quite good at wordplay,” Fredrick said as he finally got the last of the ingredients for the white sauce out. “Aaaaand flip the fish. I suppose you really will have to handle the sauce, Spike.”

“Already on it,” he said as he melted the butter and mixed the flour, milk and salt. “And Midnight could be good at wordplay as well, but she’s usually busy playing with something else.”

“Oh come on!” Midnight threw her hooves up and groaned.

“Is that what you tell Ledger to do?” Fredrick quipped as he didn’t look up from his pan.

“I hate you all,” Midnight pouted. “Captain, they’re picking on meeee~”

“Suck it up… oh wait, does he tell you to do that too?” Narrow called out.

“And the theme for tonight is romantic dinner, peppered with corny humor,” Fredrick joked.

“And spiced with the brutal murder of three individuals,” Midnight pouted as Spike laughed and added some parmesan cheese and garlic salt to the sauce once it thickened.

“Okay, all that’s left is to mix it all together,” Spike nodded. “Also, sorry Middy, but it is pretty funny.”

“Yeah, yeah,” the bat sighed, waving a hoof. “I knew it was a mistake in dragon you along with me. You and Fredrick are like birds of a feather.”

“You must be desperate if you’re resorting to puns,” the griffon observed as he pulled the fish off the heat. “Hmm, we’ll need to drain that…” With a bit of rummaging, the griffon produced a colander from a cabinet and placed it in the sink for Spike to drain the pasta with.

“Yeah, I used to be funny… then Ledger’s cynicism rubbed off on me,” Midnight pouted as Spike picked up the pot and carried it over to the sink, holding the boiling thing with his bare claws as he poured the pasta out.

“Being fireproof must be handy,” the griffon observed.

“Yup, never need oven mitts,” Spike nodded. “I wonder if I could cook using lava…”

“That sounds like an idea even I think is a bad one,” Midnight replied and Spike shuddered. There was a common phrase in Ponyville. If Rainbow Dash wouldn’t do it, it was a really bad idea.

“Noted, I’ll stick with an oven,” Spike chuckled as he lifted the pasta and filled four plates with it. “Now we dice the fish and mix it with the veggies and sauce.”

“Dicing,” Fredrick replied as he gently slid the fish out of the pan and onto a cutting board, before pulling a knife out of a knife block and starting on that.

“So…” Narrow walked out, her mane done up in a bun and her tail was braided. “What did you come here for rookie? I highly doubt it was to cook dinner.”

“No, that is a delicious coincidence,” Midnight nodded. “I have something I want to ask you and Fredrick, but it can wait until he’s not busy… or holding sharp knives.”

“And done!” the griffon said as he presented the drake with the fish. Spike nodded as he added it to the pot, stirring the fish and veggies through the sauce before taking a ladle and spooning it over the pasta.

“Okay, I think that about does it,” Spike beamed.

“Tuna alfredo served over linguini,” Fredrick agreed with a nod. “This is a fine dish, sir Spike.”

“Many thanks for your assistance Sir Fredrick,” Spike nodded. “It’s nice to cook with somepony who actually can.”

“Ah, hear that Madame Song? It would appear you and Twilight should never enter a kitchen together,” Fredrick joked. “The poor thing would probably try to commit suicide if you did.”

“It’s not my fault that kitchens spontaneously combust when I’m in them,” Midnight pouted, folding her legs as Narrow fetched some wine. “Purely coincidence.”

“...Spike, make a note that Midnight should not be allowed in any kitchens you own,” Fredrick said to the dragon. “At least, if you like that kitchen.”

“Noted,” Spike nodded as they took a seat at the table. “Oh, why don’t you ask them before we eat, get it out of the way.”

“I guess so,” Midnight replied. She took a breath and exhaled, before looking at the couple. “Okay… so you guys know that I’m having a foal right?”

“I believe the topic has come up before, yes,” Fredrick replied. “What of it?”

“W-Well,” Midnight said, rubbing the tips of her hooves together nervously. “I’d uh… I’d be really honoured… if you’d be the tyke’s godparents.”

Fredrick blinked a few times before looking over to Narrow, wondering what her reaction would be. She looked equally as confused. It was sure as hell something she wasn’t expecting.

“You, sure about that rookie?” she asked. “We’re hardly model parents ourselves.”

“Maybe,” Midnight giggled. “But I trust you guys more than anypony else.”

Narrow nodded and looked at Fredrick. “Well loverbird? What do you think?”

“I think,” Fredrick said as he reached across the table to gently hold one of her hooves with his claws. “That I would be honored to be a godparent to Ledger’s foal, as long as it was with you.”

“Well, there you have it,” Narrow nodded and gave Midnight a small smile. “Don’t think this means I’m gonna spoil the brat though. It’s gonna be tough love from me.”

“I figured as much,” Midnight giggled. “Trust me, he or she is gonna get plenty spoiled as is. I need a tough godmom to balance that out.” She looked at Fredrick and smiled. “And a caring father figure that I know will be there for ‘em. Ledger’s gonna be outnumbered in that department.”

“Indeed he will be. Have you all told him how lucky he is yet?” Fredrick asked Midnight as he picked up his fork to begin eating dinner with.

“I’m pretty sure he knows.” Midnight responded as she ate some pasta, her ears giving a happy wiggle. “Mmmm, this is yummy~”

“I try,” Spike nodded and sipped at the wine Narrow had accidently served him, before he exhaled a small blue flame.

“Oh my,” Fredrick said, before looking at the drake. “Are you all right?”

“Yup,” Spike nodded. “Oh, I can’t actually get drunk or anything. Twilight says my internal body temperature is so high, it just burns off all the alcohol before it gets into my system. Turns my fire blue for a bit though.”

“Ah, just, do take care inside Narrow’s home,” Fredrick said as he munched on the fruit, well, pasta of their labors.

“I used to live in a tree that was full of books and eighty percent of the furniture was wood,” Spike replied as he ate. “I know a thing or two about not setting a place on fire…” He turned and looked at Midnight with a wide smirk.

“Oh. My. Celestia!” Midnight exclaimed. “You set a kitchen on fire a few dozen times and NOPONY let’s you forget it.”

“How did you survive before you met Ledger?” Fredrick asked.

“I ate a lot of takeout… or slept with ones that could cook,” Midnight admitted unashamedly. Fredrick snorted in amusement as he ate. Once his mouth was clear, he commented on that answer.

“You sound like some of the mares I used to know,” he said. “Sleeping with me because of the food.”

“Hah, if I’d met you any sooner, I have no doubt I’d be in Narrows spot right now…” Midnight looked at the unamused unicorn. “Eheh, hypothetically speaking.”

“The world may never know,” Fredrick said with a smirk. “Ah well. At least Narrow is mare enough to reign me in.”

“Not with a good deal of effort and luck mind you,” Narrow said as she ate her pasta. “I still don’t know how I did it somedays.”

“Nor I, but I blame your cloning spell,” Fredrick said, spearing another piece of pasta and munching on it.

“Heh, so Luna’s spell really paid off huh?” Midnight giggled as she licked her plate clean. “Makes me wonder what other tricks our Princesses have up their immortal sleeves.”

“Some days, I really do envy all those stallions that get to find out,” Fredrick replied, before gently pecking Narrow’s cheek. “But then I remember, I already have a heckuva mare.”

“Eh, you’re entitled to window shop,” Narrow shrugged. “It’s who you are after all. But thanks for the thought none-the-less.” She leaned over and returned his kiss as Midnight cooed and Spike just rolled his eyes.

“And how would I go about finding out?” Fredrick questioned. “Twilight is seeing my friend Ledger, so she’s out. Luna is seeing my old apprentice, so she’s out. And Cadence is married, so no go there. The only reasonable chance for me would be to try to attract Celestia’s eye somehow, and I hardly think she would be interested in me. I’ll stick with what I have, thank you very much.”

“Actually, hooves up on who’d wanna see Fredrick try and seduce Princess Celestia,” Midnight said as she raised a hoof. Narrow joined her and giggled at Fredrick’s incredulous stare.

“What? It’d be funny.”

“Judging by how Twilight ate three burgers by herself when she last visited,” Fredrick mused. “Perhaps all I would need to do is cook her a five-course meal.”

“Sooo, a way to a princess’s heart is through her stomach?” Midnight questioned, wondering why she hadn’t tried that with Luna and Celestia.

“Eh, it’d probably work actually,” Spike spoke up. He had spent years living with most of them after all. “Celestia really likes sweets and stuff. She also has a thing for banana bread.”

“I’ll make a note of it,” Fredrick said. “Unfortunately, while I have a good mind for what’d work as a dessert, I myself am terrible at actually making them. But I have come across a new cookie recipe lately...Perhaps a small package, preserved with magic and sent to the princess of the sun?”

“Fredrick, I love you, but I am still not sharing you with my boss,” Narrow said with a light chuckle. “Because the way our luck runs around here, that would actually succeed.”

“I’m confused; would that be a good or a bad thing?” the griffon asked with a chuckle.

“Both?” Narrow shrugged. “Yeah, on second thought, no flirting with Celestia.”

“Very well,” Fredrick said with a dramatic sigh. “Though, perhaps I will give the idea to my apprentice that bakes sweets...he has been complaining so about Scales attracting Luna…”

“I swear, if I read about a kidnapping in the near future…” Narrow warned.

“Hah, what are the odds that that happening?” Midnight giggled and drained her wineglass. “So, you guys are certain about the whole godparent thing?”

“If you’re certain about asking us to be one,” Fredrick said as he finished off his dinner as well...before one wing snuck around Spike’s form and drew him close. “And I suppose I can educate this young one on the ways of how to properly woo a mare while he is here.”

“Really?” Spike asked and Midnight blinked. Was that… a good idea?

Ahh, what could go wrong?

“Sure, how about I drop him off at your restaurant tomorrow?” the bat said.

“I can hit most of the major points that I typically drill into my apprentices fairly quickly,” the griffon nodded. “I can have him done in an afternoon. Though it will be up to others to make sure he remembers the teachings.”

“I’ll do my best Master Fredrick!” Spike saluted. The griffon chuckled and rubbed the little dragon’s head before letting him go.

“Ah, but you have a family to be getting back to tonight, do you not?” Fredrick asked.

“Dang,” Spike nodded. “Yeah. Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

Midnight giggled as she drained his wine glass as well and licked her lips. “Thanks for the grub guys. But we should jet and leave these lovebirds alone.”

“Yup, have fun guys!” Spike waved and the duo left.

“Well,” Narrow said as she levitated the dishes to the sink. “That was certainly an event and a half.”

“Indeed, it seems I’ll be gaining a new apprentice for a short while,” Fredrick said as he moved back to the kitchen, to get a start on the dishes. “One can only hope he will not misuse my teachings, or at least remember the ones about honor as well as the others.”

“Sooo, don’t become your brother?” Narrow asked, idly wondering where that griffon was skulking around these days.

“The world only needs one of him,” Fredrick agreed. “I think the last time he bothered checking in was a day or so ago...mentioned something about finding the best nightclub ever.”

“Oooh, that can’t be good,” Narrow shuddered. She had a feeling she knew exactly which club he was talking about. “Well, I did leave his balls bluer than Celestia’s sky last time we met… so that should have been fun for him.”

“And whoever he was with,” the griffon agreed as he continued cleaning. “Still, perhaps I should trawl through the strip someday in the near future, see if he can be...extracted from wherever he’s found himself.”

“Good luck with that,” Narrow chuckled. “Though, I wonder if he knows that they’re all Changelings there~”

“Oooooh dear,” Fredrick said, shaking his head. “That promises to be...problematic. I don’t think they’ll want to let him go…”

“Probably not, given their Colour,” Narrow said with a laugh. She got up and nuzzled up next to the griffon, her new pegasus-brand shampoo made her smell like fresh rainclouds. “Sooo, do you wanna pay me a little attention now~?”

“Mmm, I doooo,” Fredrick murred as he nuzzled her back. “Buuut, somepony has to do the dishes.”

Narrow groaned, first Midnight, now dishes? Everything was getting in her way.

~*~*~

Once Midnight and Spike arrived home, the two had just finished a riveting musical number.

"Whew, that was a lot of fun!" Spike laughed as they walked inside. "You're a great singer Midnight."

"Well it is my special talent," the bat responded. "Yo Levvy, you home?"

“Just in here,” Ledger said as he sat on the cuddlecouch, flipping through his book. Well he was until a certain bat flopped on him, giggling as she kissed his nose.

“And hello to you too,” Ledger said as he returned the kiss. “I’d ask where you’ve been, but I’d rather not argue with the results,” the drone said before looking over at the drake.

"We went to visit a griffon named Fredrick," Spike explained. "He's going to teach me about 'wooing a lady' as he put it."

“Oh dear,” Ledger said, before looking at Midnight. “And you’re going to take those teachings and add your own twist to them, aren’t you?”

"Spike-O will be swimming in mares by the time we're done with him," Midnight giggled. "Also... I asked Fred and the Captain if they'd be godparents for Fetus here."

“Mm...I wouldn’t have asked anypony else myself,” Ledger said as he gave Midnight another kiss. The stallion then looked at Spike and smirked. “So, you’re going to be learning from Fredrick what so many stallions spend years trying to learn? My sympathies.”

Spike tilted his head and blinked. "Um... come again?"

“That griffon takes on apprentices and makes them bus tables and cook for him while they try to learn how he got to be the Playbird of Las Pegasus,” Ledger explained. “Only when they can recite his rules back to him, does he teach them any of his tricks.”

"Hey Ledger, who do I assist again?" Spike replied with a knowing smirk.

“You have that going for you,” the drone agreed. “But he’s graduated about...five stallions from his teachings in the year I’ve been here.”

"Well, then I'll be the first dragon then!" Spike said with a confident smile.

"Atta boy!" Midnight grinned.

"Do I want to know?" Twilight asked as she trotted into the room.

“Maybe,” Ledger said as he patted the couch next to him. “I can definitely see you blaming us for this in the near future.”

"Oh wonderful," Twilight sighed. "Well, Cider and I are going out. So you're all on your own for dinner tonight."

"Meh, we already ate," Spike said and Midnight nodded.

“Ah, well, I can get my own dinner then, and test out something we found for myself,” Ledger said as he closed up his book. “Can I trust you two to not demolish the house while I do that?”

"Can do... I guess," Midnight shrugged. Ledger chuckled and looked over at Spike.

“You’re in charge, then,” Ledger told him. “Good luck.”

Midnight smiled as the dragon gulped and looked at Twilight for help, but the mare had already vanished.

"Aww crud," Spike sighed as Midnight's eyes danced with mischief. This was going to be a loooong night.

Princess Celestia sighed as she relaxed in her bed. She closed her eyes for a few moments, before remembering a package that had come today. After it had been deemed safe by her guards, she opened it to reveal a selection of mouth-watering sweets.

She lifted one in her magic and turned it over a few times, scanning for poisons or latent spells, but once those turned up negative, she smiled and popped the treat into her mouth...

...

...

By the sun! These were amazing! She glanced at the package, and while it didn't possess a name, it did have a return address. The alicorn smiled to herself as she idly munched on the treats. She would get Luna to run court tomorrow.

Princess Celestia had a small errand to run~

Author's Note

Nothing ominous going on here, no siree.

Like the story? Consider dropping me and Aus a dollar on my Patreon. It's always appreciated.

Half the money will not go towards a town filled with Perfect Fruit.

Chapter 74 - Princesses, Plans, and Proposals

Fredrick whistled a jaunty tune as he walked to his restaurant, having spent the night with Narrow. Hopefully now, that mare would just learn to call for him for food. Or eat something that wasn’t rations. He reached the main door and unlocked it with the spare key he kept very well hidden, before ducking inside to begin his day.

As he moved to place his sign outside, he heard somepony call out. He looked up to see his confectioner trotting towards him.

What happened next seemed to play out in slow motion, a sound played out, that of a swooping bird. There was a flash of white and sparkling pastel colours as something swooped down from high above, snatching the poor colt up and flying away as quickly as it came…

“...Well that’s unfortunate,” the griffon said. “Where am I going to get a replacement confectioner?...Suppose I’d better start advertising.”

In a castle, far, far away... Princess Celestia neatly deposited her package on her sizable bed as she wiped her brow. It had been a long time since she'd flown that far.

"I'll go and freshen up," she hummed and smiled at the colt. Before she disappeared into her bathroom, she turned and winked at him. "Don’t go anywhere ~"

“Sweet Cel-” the colt said, before clamping his mouth shut. “...Probably shouldn’t be saying that. Still, what have I gotten myself into?”

"I heard that!" Celestia called out. "I'm rather glad you think I'm sweet~"

The colt looked around the bedroom, looking for something, anything he could use to get away. He shakily moved off the bed and began his investigation. He soon found the reason for his kidnapping, an empty sweets box with his address circled in red ink.

“Oooooh buck,” the white earth pony said as he poked at the box. He remembered this. He’d gotten an idea in his head that maybe he should play to the rumors that Celestia had a sweet tooth big enough for her whole castle. He’d made some of his finest goods and packaged them up before sending them to the castle.

He’d regretted doing it after it was done, of course. What were the odds that Celestia would even get the box, much less take an interest in him?

Apparently, very, very high.

In the moment he had paused to reflect, the alicorn emerged from her shower. She had removed her usual regalia and her mane lay limp, rather than flowing on its own.

"In the time I just had, I have realised that I may have acted a tad hasty," she smiled bashfully. "I hope I haven't scared you too much my little pony."

“To be fair, I sort of asked for this,” the stallion said as he pointed at the box. “I, uh...take it you liked them, your highness?”

"I have lived a very long time my dear," Celestia took a seat on a vanity couch as she ran a long-toothed comb through her mane. "Those were some of the most delectable treats I have ever eaten."

“Glad to hear it,” the stallion said as he tried to inch his way to the door. Maybe if he were quick enough, he could get out.

"Guess I scared you a little too much," Celestia sighed as she opened the door for him. "Would you...at least permit me to reward you for your generous gift?"

The stallion paused in his retreat before actually drawing closer to the alicorn on the bed. “What did you have in mind, your highness?” Maybe she would be reasonable after all.

She leaned her head forward and placed a chaste kiss on his muzzle, before pulling back and blushing lightly. He blushed as well, looking away.

“I...guess you really liked my sweets, then,” the stallion said.

"You could say that," Celestia giggled as his adorable reaction. "Relationships are rather fleeting things for one such as I. But... I believe one should make the most with the time they have. Long courtships are tedious after the first hundred times or so."

“I see,” the stallion said before getting his blush under control. “I suppose that might explain why you just...carried me off then.”

Celestia chuckled nervously and smiled. "Ahh, I was feeling a little impetuous, and perhaps my sister has rubbed off on me a little. I do apologise for that. I'll have my finest chariot return you home..."

“Well, perhaps you shouldn’t send me back empty hooved,” the stallion suggested. “Maybe if you gave me a list of things you’d like me to try my hoof at making?”

“W-Well,” Celestia said. “Perhaps… something that would go well with a date? That is, if you’d like to.”

“Oh my,” the stallion said, blushing again. “You really liked what I made, didn’t you?”

“What can I say?” Celestia chuckled and gave the stallion a stare that could turn anypony on. “I like a stallion who knows how to please a mare~”

“Meep!” the stallion said, blushing deeply. “I...didn’t expect this reaction from what I did!”

“As I said, a long courtship is tedious,” Celestia said, crossing her forehooves. “I’ll not push you into anything my dear. And, if you have a relationship with somepony already…” Rats, she’d forgotten about that. More than once she has had to deal with a spurned lover, because their spouse was more infatuated with her than them.

“No, I’m not...with anypony,” the stallion said, rubbing one foreleg with a forehoof. “I just...didn’t expect you to want...that, so soon after you got my...gift.”

Oh my gods. He was the most adorable little thing! Celestia just wanted to snuggle him forever.

“Well, it might be a little hasty to just straight to that,” Celestia giggled, moving to her bed. “Maybe, you’d like to stay for a bit? Have some tea with me?”

“Tea sounds good,” he squeaked out before joining her on the bed.

“Excellent!” the alicorn trilled and her horn glowed for but a moment. A few seconds later, a maid opened her door and trotted inside.

“You called? Your Highness.”

“Indeed I did Sweet Leaf. Could you be a dear and fetch me a pot of Zebrican Tea, and some of those sweet biscuits I like?”

The maid glanced at the stallion, but did nothing beyond that. “Of course Your Highness.” And just like that, she had left as quickly as she came.

“Well, while we wait,” Celestia hummed. “I never did get your name dear.”

“Huh?” the stallion said before looking at the box. “Coulda sworn I put it on there...ah well. I’m Sweet Tooth, my talents lie in making all sorts of desserts. I’m, ah, normally employed by Fredrick of Las Pegasus…”

“Ahh, he is known to me, only through correspondence from a third party though,” Celestia chuckled, remembering Twilight’s rather lengthy report of her date the other night. “I am told he has quite the reputation.”

“It’s said that before he went steady, he had managed to sleep with almost all the mares of Las Pegasus,” Sweet Tooth agreed. “Mostly, though...they were the ones coming to him. He just...never turned them away.”

“That’s…” Celestia wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. Surely that must have been an overestimation. There were several hundred thousand ponies in that city. Her mind did some quick math and she blinked. “Does he ever leave the bedroom?”

“In order to run his restaurant, yes,” the stallion said. “And he does have a few rules regarding who he sleeps with...He’s just very, very good.”

And now he was taken for good? Celestia was a little annoyed she’d missed her window.

Oh well.

She had a cute little stallion right here, and she was going to make sure he was happy. The maid soon returned with their tea and bowed politely before leaving.

“Ah, here we are,” Celestia said as she poured their drinks. “And these shortbread biscuits are wonderful. They’re made by my own confectioner here in the castle.”

Sweet tooth picked one of them up and nibbled on it a little, tasting the thing and humming. “Not bad...not bad,” he said with a nod. “Not what I would make, but still not bad.”

“Oh?” Celestia raised an eyebrow as she sipped her tea. “You could do better than my royal chef?”

“I would do it differently, but I wouldn’t say I would do it better,” the stallion said. “My typical assortment of biscuits is dark, milk, and white-chocolate flavored. Tastes vary, so I try to cover all my bases. I’d serve a small tray with all of them with your tea.”

As he looked up, the princess’s eyes were wide with expectation, her ears drooping ever so slightly as her tail wagged back and forth. A puppy-dog face with a thousand years of practise was a dangerous weapon.

“Ack!” Sweet said as he held up a hoof in an effort to block out the look he was getting. “It’s not like I have any on me! Giving me that look isn’t going to make biscuits suddenly appear!”

Her bottom lip pouted out as she stared closer at him, a small whine building up in her throat…

“I’ll make you some later, just stop with the look!” Sweet begged. At those words and the promise of cookies, the Look vanished and Celestia clapped her hooves, relishing her victory.

“You could probably win wars with that look,” the stallion muttered as he sipped at his tea.

“Remove the ‘probably’ from that statement,” Celestia hummed as she sipped her tea as well and waited for that to sink in. The Yaks never were quite the same after that day.

“And now I’m suddenly aware of how futile resistance was,” Sweet said with a sigh.

“You lasted longer than most,” Celestia chuckled. “It makes me wonder how long you’d last in other ventures.”

The stallion said nothing, merely electing to gulp his tea to silence himself from saying anything. He didn’t need to be a student of Fredrick’s to know where that line of thought was headed!

“Oh, you are adorable,” Celestia giggled. “I’m sorry, but you have the cutest reactions. It just makes me want to tease you more.”

“M’not adorable,” Sweet muttered before chomping on a biscuit. “Fredrick’s officially graduated me...the moment I can actually use his teachings, that is. I just…never had the courage to try.”

“Oh, so he teaches his… trade as well? How interesting.” Celestia folded her forehooves and gave him an amused look. “Then try it. I promise I won’t think any less of you. But, I am curious.”

Sweet Tooth took a deep breath, then another, presumably psyching himself up, before he turned to Celestia with a...rather different expression than before. “I wonder which is hotter,” he mused aloud. “You, or your sun?” He looked the mare over a few times before shaking his head. “Definitely you. I doubt anything could outshine how attractive you are.”

“Not bad… but surely you can do much better than that little colt,” Celestia mused. She’d heard that one a couple of times. Then again, she’d pretty much heard it all by this point.

Sweet, however, seemed to be taking his deep breaths again. “Okay, and that was about all I could manage as-is. How does Fredrick do it?” he muttered.

He seemed, tense. Celestia moved next to him and draped a wing over the hyperventilating stallion.

“There, there, I’m sorry if I put you on the spot,” she hummed. “Take nice, slow breaths. In… out…”

Sweet Tooth followed her advice, regulating his breathing and calming down...until he realized one important factor.

Princess Celestia. Was touching. Him.

That was enough for him to start hyperventilating again.

“You really are quite skittish aren’t you?” Celestia sighed, removing her wing. She moved a few paces back and sighed. “Is this better?”

“Yeah, I’m just...not quite used to female contact yet,” the drone said, taking a sip of his tea. “It’s not something I have the...best of history with.”

“Something bad happened?” she asked, taking a seat on her couch and floated her teacup over. “Would you like to talk about it?”

“Let’s just say I was used,” the stallion said. “I’ve been getting used to the idea that not all females are like that...slowly.”

It didn’t take much for Celestia to put the pieces together. She gasped and put a hoof to her mouth, realising that her foolish actions had placed him in a very difficult position. She’d just swept him off of the streets, and he was scared of…

“I’m such a fool,” she muttered to herself.

“Nah, at least you got to know me before you tried anything like that,” Sweet Tooth said. “At least you care, unlike those…” He trailed off, not having any proper words for his torment.

“Your situation reminds me greatly of somepony else I know, a rather quirky stallion named Level Ledger,” Celestia replied. “I will not pretend to understand what has happened to you. But you have my sympathies, and my most sincere apologies.”

“Yeah,” Sweet Tooth said as he bit into his biscuit again. “I’m a lot better now. I can actually leave the kitchen during operating hours, and walk down the street without fear. It’s just...settings like this…”

“What can I do to make it up to you?” Celestia asked. She pondered and then her horn shone for a moment, as she coated herself with a glamour spell.

Soon, a rather attractive male alicorn lay there.

“Better?”

…she still had her normal voice though…

“...Noooot really, and you don’t need to make it up to me like that,” Sweet said with a chuckle. “A for effort though. Really, I had been about ready to try my hoof at a situation like this...just, not with you…”

Celestia giggled as she removed the spell. “Well, you could still practise if you like.” She smiled and nodded her head. “I could be your study buddy. And you can pay me in cookies.”

“Why does it sound like you’re getting the better end of the bargain?” Sweet mused aloud. The princess shrugged and nonchalantly sipped her tea.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about my Sweet.”

“No, see, cause you get cookies and to laugh at my expense, and I get...nada,” the stallion illustrated. “So...yeah, explain to me why I would agree to this?”

“Hmm…” Celestia tapped her chin and smiled. She hopped up and walked closer, until those large doe-like eyes were only an inch from his own. He could feel her sweet breath against his ear as she smiled.

“I think we could work out a suitable reward system~”

“Eek!” Sweet said, blushing again. “Oh dear. You’re...awfully blunt. You’ve...all but said what you want from me, multiple times.”

“But as I said, I won’t push you into anything… and, perhaps a slower courtship might be a nice change of pace.” She took a step back and smiled. “Does… that sound acceptable?”

“I suppose I can deal with that,” Sweet said with a nod. “So long as you don’t try to sweep me off my hooves again.”

“With some practice, perhaps you’ll be the one doing that next,” Celestia giggled. “I’ll go and arrange a carriage to take you home. You can relax here, or take a walk around the castle if you like.”

“I think I’ll stay here, for a bit,” Sweet said as he sipped at his tea. “It’s rather...soothing, this stuff. I might have to get some for my home.”

“I’ll have some ready for you to take with you,” Celestia nodded, and with one last look, left the stallion be while she went to make good on her word.

“Well,” Sweet said to himself as he nibbled the biscuit. “That went...very well indeed. At least for me.”

When Ledger awoke that morning, he noticed that he was down all but one of his mares. Only Scope was lying there, hugging a pillow at the far end of the bed. Twilight, Cider and Midnight were all missing.

Well, some noises from the kitchen told him where Cider was at least. Knowing better than to wake Scope up without coffee in hoof, the drone covered her up with the blanket before trotting out to check on the status of coffee and breakfast.

Coffee was waiting from him, as was an annoyingly perky Sun Song, glass of juice in hoof as she waved at him from the table.

“Yohoo! Morning Level~” she greeting him, her demeanor blindingly bright.

“Morning ponies,” Ledger grumbled as he retrieved his coffee. “I will never understand you.”

“And I will never understand why ponies insist on drinking that yucky stuff!” Sun motioned at the coffee, the sweet elixir of life itself. “Give me a glass of mango juice and I am good. To. Gooooo!!”

Ledger plunked a sugarcube in his cup before sipping it, sighing happily at the caffeine. “I have nothing against morning ponies or mornings in general,” he said. “So long as I’m caffeinated beforehoof.”

Sun responded, but the drone tuned out, sounds of ringing steel coming from outside as Midnight yelled at someone.

“Oh dear,” Ledger said, turning to a window. “Any clue what Middy’s up to?”

Sun hummed and nodded, rocking in her chair. “She’s teaching that little dragon how to use a sword. Dunno why though, apparently she just dragged him out there and started training. I swear, that mare is obsessed.” Sun remembered the last time her and her sister met the thestral mare. The twins had been put through the ringer before Midnight would even talk to them.

“Well, I’ll go out and try and salvage something of him to send to Fredrick on my way out,” Ledger said as he sipped his coffee again. “Who knows, there might even be enough of him left to count.”

“Doubt it, Cousin Middy is brutal when she gets serious… though, you probably know that already huh?” Sun giggled and fluttered her wings. “She’s so cool when she fights though.”

“True, but he is a dragon, the scales alone might help him,” Ledger pointed out.

“One can only hope,” Sun nodded as they heard another yelp.

“Let’s just hope they don’t wake up Scope with their training,” Ledger mused as he sat back in his chair.

It was around then that a little ball of hate and anger descended the stairs. It looked up at Ledger and bared its fangs, demanding a sacrifice to sate its insatiable appetite for destruction.

In other words, Scope demanded coffee!!

Ledger lit his horn up and levitated a thankfully prepared second cup of coffee off the table, plonked a sugarcube in it, and passed it over to Scope. The little nymph grabbed the cup, snarling at Sun, who was trying to sneak in a hug. The thestral ducked behind Ledger.

“Eek! Scary!”

“Meet Morning Scope,” Ledger said. “Get too close, she’ll take a hoof off.”

“Eeyup, that she will,” Cider nodded. Twilight followed her and walked right up to Scope, scratching her under the chin as the nymph started to purr before taking a swig of her coffee.

“And then there are some that can get away with anything,” Ledger said as he finally killed his morning coffee. “Sadly, I don’t think I’m one of them.”

“You ever tried?” Twilight asked, kissing his cheek.

“She starts hissing if I get too close when giving her coffee,” Ledger deadpanned.

“Aww, this little sweetheart?” Twilight cooed, nuzzling the purring nymph. “She’s far too sweet for that.”

“She’s just sweet because it’s you,” Ledger said. “I guarantee anypony else gets close, she’ll start taking limbs off.”

“I don’t think she would do that,” Twilight replied and headed for the backyard. “I should go and see if Spike’s still alive. Be right back.”

Leaving Ledger alone with Scope and Sun...and seeing as how he was intent on still living today, he left the little nymph alone.

“Whoo!” Sun cheered and nuzzled Scope, seeing as how Twilight said it was safe…

There was a frenzied motion of hooves, fangs, and the sounds of something being torn…

A few seconds later, Sun lay twitching on the ground, looking like she just lost a fight with a blender as Scope calmly sipped her coffee again.

“Sheesh,” Ledger said as he looked Sun Song over. “Is there anything you didn’t break?”

Scope just shrugged as Sun twitched again, before sitting upright and smiling. “Totally worth the absolute agony I’m in right now!” she said with her usual bright smile.

“Aaaand we shoulda seen this one coming,” Ledger said, only mildly shocked that he hadn’t. “Just as long as she doesn’t try again, I don’t see a problem…”

Sun had already pounced and snuggled the nymph, said nymph’s horn started glowing dangerously…

“Scope, no murder at the breakfast table,” Ledger said with a sigh.

“Fine…” The nymph pouted, then teleported the thestral… somewhere. “Have fun batbrain~”

Inside Sugar Darling’s bedroom, the nymph idly wondered why it had started raining dizzy Thestral mares. And whether this would be better or worse than the griffon she already had.

“You do realize that she’ll find her way back, just to snuggle you, yes?” Ledger asked the nymph.

“If she can make it back in the next half hour, I’ll let her snuggle me,” Scope chuckled darkly and told Ledger just where she’d sent her.

“Oh my,” Ledger said. “Well, I guess Midnight will have to raid a nightclub to get her cousin back…”

“If I tell her,” Scope nodded. Perhaps it was a little mean sending her there of all places… Still, Moondancer was there to keep Sugar in check…

Ledger just shot an unamused look at the nymph.

“Urgh, fine, whatever,” Scope sighed. “I’ll go and get her myself.” She got up from the table, stealing an apple to munch on for the trip as she headed out the door.

“My house certainly ain’t spoilin’ fer quiet no more,” Cider nodded. “It’s gettin’ rowdy around here.”

“Well at least you have some form of entertainment easy to hoof,” Ledger said as he blew a kiss to Cider.

She caught it and placed her hoof against her cheek. “You wanna get the others, tell ‘em breakfast is ready.”

“Can do,” Ledger said as he got up to fetch Middy and Twilight from the outside.

When he got outside, he saw Spike holding a wooden sword and shield, ones designed for earth ponies. Midnight was wearing her usual armour but her wingblades had been swapped out for dulled training ones.

And it looked like Spike had been run through the wringer and then some. Twilight was busy berating Midnight for being so rough on him, and Midnight was arguing back, saying how he’d never truly learn if she took it easy on him.

Ledger gently coughed, in an attempt to gain the attention of both of them. The two mares turned and looked at the interruption.

“Oh, heya Levvy!” Midnight waved as Spike groaned and held out a claw.

“Bro… save meeee…”

“When you two are done arguing, Cider says breakfast is ready,” Ledger said, hoping the promise of food would see them both inside. Midnight all but vanished, a bat-shaped dust cloud was all that remained as she zoomed inside.

Twilight shook her head as she helped Spike to his feet. “So, want to explain why you’re out here letting Midnight kick your flank up and down the yard?”

“Well,” Spike said slowly, twiddling his claws together. “She figured that one, I could use a little toughening up. And two, it’d be a little hard to act all knightly when I can’t even fight like one.”

“There’s more to being a ‘knight in shining armor’ than fighting,” Ledger said with a sigh. “It’s good to get some combat skills, yes. Even better if you never had to use them because you knew how to defuse a situation before it ever got to fighting.”

Spike nodded and groaned slightly as Twilight picked him up and put her on his back. “Come on then Sir Spike. I’ll let you ride me until you feel better.”

Ledger snickered, but decided to refrain from commenting directly. At least in front of Spike. He did wiggle his eyebrows at the mare suggestively, though. Twilight tilted her head and shrugged, walking past him and heading for the breakfast table. As she sat down, her ear gave a flick and her eyes widened as she blushed.

“You okay there Twi?” Cider asked, the alicorn just groaning and burying her head in her hooves.

“She’s just realizing what she just said,” Ledger commented as he followed the mares inside, before sitting at the table. “Which I will refrain from repeating in front of Spike or Midnight, for different reasons.”

“Aww, I missed out on poking fun at Twi-Twi?” Midnight pouted with a mouthful of toast. “Boo.”

“I’m sure you’ll have plenty more chances,” Cider giggled and now it was the alicorn’s turn to pout. Ledger rolled his eyes but began eating his own breakfast, not interfering for the time being. So long as they didn’t think to team up on him…

“So, what’s the plan for today?” Twilight said, wanting a change in subject.

“I got a job, well, aside from being your Number One Assistant,” Spike said proudly. “I’m gonna work a day or two with Fredrick at his restaurant.”

“Well, now that’s…” Twilight tilted her head and looked at Ledger. “I trust Fredrick’s going to take care of him?”

“He’ll probably put Spike through his paces in the kitchen,” Ledger mused. “But I trust him to take care of everyone under his wing.”

“And I’m not a baby Twilight” Spike huffed and folded his arms. “I can take care of myself. It’s you I’m worried about. You… tend to fall apart when I’m not around.”

“W-What?” Twilight coughed and spluttered. “I-I do not! I can handle myself just fine.”

“Says the mare who is capable of defeating ancient evils, but can’t even cook toast.” Spike snickered.

“I can so make toast!” Twilight defended herself. She wasn’t a terrible cook. Just… couldn’t make much beyond a sandwich or yes, some toast.

“Alright, but my point still stands,” Spike said.

Midnight watched the pair and looked at Cider and Ledger. “Is this how siblings act?”

“Yes,” Ledger deadpanned. “You would not believe the arguments my sister and I got into.” It was a toss-up some days between himself and Critical, and the Trio, for ‘most noise made in the house.’ Especially when they started separating the Trio. For their own good.

“Eeyup, ah reckon Fritter and I have had our share of scraps as well,” Cider chuckled, remembering their more recent one. “Now eat up y’all, busy day remember?”

Spike nodded and grabbed his plate, upending the entire contents into his waiting maw in just a second or two. “Done!”

“Somebody’s rather anxious to get started on the day,” Ledger chuckled as he ate his own breakfast in a slower, yet still quite quick manner. “Looking forward to more training?”

“Something like that,” Spike nodded and got up from his chair.

“And since you’re done eating, I guess you can take him,” Midnight said as she grabbed some more pancakes. Both her and Twilight had rather sizable stacks that they were currently mowing through.

“If it means skipping out on doing the dishes from your feast, sure thing,” Ledger said as he polished off his breakfast. “C’mon Spike, let’s skedaddle.” He stood up and stood near the door, waiting for the drake to join him.

“Roger!” Spike nodded, also glad he could skip out on chores. Once they left, Midnight frowned and looked at Cider.

“Seriously?”

“Ah wouldn’t worry, he can wash the dishes tonight,” Cider chuckled. And she was feeling… creative.

“And so Twilight completely snaps and enchants this old doll,” Spike giggled as he told the drone about some of his stories. “The whole town winds up in a hoof-to-hoof brawl over the thing. At least until Princess Celestia shows up to fix it.”

“Oh dear,” Ledger said with a small laugh. “Reminds me of the time my sister and I got into an argument so heated, we wound up casting the first spell we thought of at each other. She turned me completely white, whereas I…” The drone looked aside for a bit, coughing out his reply to mask it.

“Aw come on, tell me what you did,” Spike asked, poking his side with a claw.

“Fine,” Ledger grumbled. “She’s an illusionist, so I...may have made a small feedback loop. And applied it to her so she couldn’t cast anything. Mom got involved real quick then, forced us to make up and take our spells off each other.”

“Dude…” Spike whistled and shook his head. “Reminds me of when Twilight had spent all day writing a report to Celestia, and it wasn’t until after she sent it, that we found out that Rainbow and Pinkie replaced all her inkwells with disappearing ink.”

“Ah yes,” Ledger said with another grumble. “Amy thought she’d get me to smile if she did the same to me one day. But I got her back, though.” The drone was smirking at the thought as to how that vengeance had played out. Amy still hadn’t pranked him again after that one.

“Somehow, I don’t think I want to know,” Spike replied dryly. “But, if Miss Amy is anything like Pinkie Pie, then she’s just biding her time. I’d watch your back Lev.”

“My back is fine, it’s my front I’m worried about,” Ledger said. “Ah, here we are. This is your stop.” Ledger stopped right in front of Fredrick’s restaurant.

“Cool,” Spike nodded and waved to Ledger. “Thanks for bringing me here. I’ll see you later.” The dragon vanished inside… and when he would eventually emerge, he wouldn’t be the same drake…

Twilight had returned to Ponyville for a few Princess-related tasks. Cider and Midnight had tidied the house and while the earth mare tended to her greenhouses, Midnight lay on the back of the couch and groaned.

“Urgh, I’m sooo bored,” the thestral sighed and kicked her hooves into the air. She missed her Guard work, busting criminals and keeping the streets safe. She could still work if it wasn’t for her unpredictable transformations…

That was when she groaned and put her hooves to her forehead as she felt a rather terrible headache coming on…

“Hm?” Scope said as she peered over the edge of her little cloud nest. “Did you say something, Mistress?” The noise had gotten her attention, causing her to briefly pause in her writing.

“Nothing…” Midnight replied, rubbing her temples. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Yeah, I can see that’s a lie right off the bat,” Scope said as she shut her book and flew down. “So, what is it? Fever, nausea, foal chewing through your belly?”

“I said it was nothing!” Midnight snapped at her, her eyes a deep ruby red and her fangs appeared to be a little longer for just a moment, before they reverted back to normal.

“Yeah, and who do you think Ledger would chew out if it turned out to be something?” Scope replied. “You or me? C’mon, just tell me what it is, get this over with.”

Midnight sighed as she sat back into the couch, motioning for Scope to come closer so she could hug the nymph. “I’m just… worried about a lot of things,” the Thestral said as she stroked the changeling’s head. “The pregnancy, the wedding… I wish I could still do my job to take my mind off of it, but with my dangerous mood swings…” She trailed off and sighed. “Don’t ever get pregnant Scopey, it’s a pain in the flank.”

"I'll do my best," Scope said, not admitting that she enjoyed the cuddle. “But I don’t think you have to worry about either of those things. Don’t you have ponies doing things for the wedding?”

“Yes, and that’s the problem!” Midnight exclaimed. “I hate feeling so… useless.”

“You’re far from that,” Scope sighed. “You’re entirely necessary. You’re the one that got Ledger together again. Hell, even I could tell he was...shaken, for a drone, when we first met. How far he’s come just because of you…”

“I guess…” Midnight said and hugged Scope closer. “When did you get so smart anyway?”

“Are you saying I’m not?” Scope asked with mock hurt.

“You joined this herd, that hints at at least some degree of brain damage,” Midnight giggled and kissed the tip of her horn.

“I blame Ledger being so persuasive,” Scope said. “Though I’m certainly not complaining now.”

“Nor am I, you’re so danged adorable~” Midnight replied and nuzzled her. “Thanks though, I feel a little better.”

“M’not adorable,” Scope muttered. “And you really don’t have to worry about the foal either, y’know. I’m pretty sure you’re going to be an awesome mom that won’t let him or her play with sharp things, and Ledger...well, not even dying stopped him for long.”

“That… that scared the hell out of me,” Midnight admitted. “I don’t know if I ever told him that. And I know I’m going to be an awesome mom… as will all of you as well. He or she will be our foal, not just mine and Ledger’s.”

“If you’re sure,” Scope said, not sure how she’d fare as a mother to a foal. Heck, she was barely bigger than a teenaged colt or filly.

“Positive,” Midnight nodded and snuggled her again. “After all, I gotta have somepony teaching them how to out snark their dad after all~”

“It’s a good thing we picked up Twilight then,” Scope quipped. “She’ll teach them everything.”

“You know, given our personalities, I suddenly fear for this kid’s upbringing,” Midnight shuddered as the front door swung open and Sun Song stumbled inside. Her mane and fur were a mess and she panted like she’d just run a marathon.

When she saw Scope, her eyes narrowed and she pointed a hoof at Scope.

“Not… cool…” She groaned and collapsed on the floor. That griffon and those mares had been relentless. She’d barely managed to escape intact.

“Did I forget to go get you?” Scope asked ‘innocently’. “Whoops.”

“Scopey,” Midnight said in a low tone, a gentle squeeze reminding the nymph whose grasp she was still in. “What did you do to my little cousin?”

“I...sent her somewhere after she tried to cuddle me before I had my morning cup of coffee,” the nymph admitted.

“Well, while I agree that you shouldn’t poke a sleeping Ursa…” Midnight shook her head and looked at the dishevelled thestral. “You okay cuz? No injuries or mental scarring?”

“Having you as a cousin helps,” Sun replied from the floor. “But yes, I escaped relatively unscathed… Turns out that griffons also make good meat shields.”

“Griffons?” Midnight tilted her head. It wouldn’t be Fredrick, he knew better now. So… oh?

“Why do I feel as though an unstoppable force has met an immovable object?” Midnight said, wondering just how much of that club was still standing if Fred’s brother really was there…

Chapter 75 - Relationships and marriage

While Moondancer and Sugar were tending to one another, and the rest of the serving maids were picking up the pieces of their most recent… acquisition, said acquisition was…

“Aww, don’t tell me you’re done already?” Two-Step whined as she stroked his chest. “Come on big guy, is that all you got?”

“Hey, normally I’m the one asking that,” Jonathan fired back, rotating his claws that were firmly attached to the headboard via hoofcuffs. “An’ normally, I’m the one in charge as well.”

“Well, life throws curve-balls on occasions,” Two purred as she rubbed his chest. “And you came to us, so you play by our rules here.” She giggled as she nipped at his neck. “Besides, I didn’t hear you complaining. So I must be doing something you like~”

“Yeah, you kept up with me pretty nicely,” Jonathan admitted. “Most mares can’t outlast me. Makin’ me wonder how you did.”

“Oh, I’m just a very special mare,” Two-Step hummed as someone knocked on her door. “Yes? I’m a little busy here.”

“Just letting you know that Miss Moondancer has returned,” a voice called out and Two sighed with relief. Well it was about time, maybe now her mother would stop pouting all over the place.

“Thankyou, oh, and bring me a bottle of Mood Setter would you, someone here needs a little pick-me-up~”

“On it,” the voice said before it retreated.

“This stuff isn’t some sorta illegal stimulant, is it?” Jonathan asked, having picked up on what it likely did by context.

“Oh heavens no, Two-Step replied. “We would never do something like that. It’s just the latest in a new trend on infusing drinks with emotional magic. A changeling technique or so I’m told. I don’t know all the details. But it’s a drink that is both delicious and gives your libido a little jumpstart~”

“Fascinatin’,” Jonathan said as he rattled his bindings again. “Mind unchainin’ me so I can have some for myself?”

“And let you loose now?” she purred. “I’m not silly Mr. Jonothan. No, I think I’ll have you as my toy for a little while longer yet.”

“Joy,” the bird said with as much sarcasm as possible. There was a knock on the door, the serving-maid had returned with the bottle.

“Ah, here we are,” Two hummed as she pulled both the bottle and the maid closer with her magic. “Now, how about you be a dear and serve the good griffon his drink hmm?”

“I can do that,” the maid said, glad to be getting some manner of vengeance on the griffon that had gone through half of them before Sugar had gotten involved. She poured the drink out, discreetly charging it with just a little extra lust once it was in the glass. “Open wide~” she sang.

“You both are enjoyin’ this way too much,” Jonathan muttered before simply opening his beak and drinking the stuff the mare poured into it.

“Perhaps a little, but you reap what you sow Mr. Jonothan,” Two replied as she sipped her own drink and hummed at the taste. She leaned over and trailed a hoof down the maid’s back. “Hmm, perhaps I should have a little snack while the birdy recharges~”

“Please miss Step,” the maid said, shivering a little at the touch. “We’re all still dreadfully full after having tried to deal with your guest…”

“Oh alright,” Step hummed and placed a few kisses along her ear. “But only because you’re so cute. Would you mind fetching me the key for these cuffs though? I suppose I can’t leave him tied up all day…”

“Oh, I’m certain you could, but variety is the spice of life,” the maid agreed. “What sort of replacement bindings would you like?”

“Replacement?” Jon asked with a hint of fear. She...wouldn’t keep him all day, would she?

“Hmm, the ones for adolescent dragons are always fun, as are the anti-magic silk wraps for unicorns…” Two-Step hummed and closed her eyes. “Hmm, why don’t you surprise me?”

“I can do that,” the maid said with a giggle before leaving the bottle behind. The ones for minotaurs hadn’t seen much use, and should be more than strong enough to hold him…

“You’re really gonna do this,” Jonathan said with a defeated air. “You’re actually gonna try and keep me here.”

“Oh, I could if I wanted to, but that’s all kinds of illegal, regardless of whether you’d agree to it or not.” Two-Step hummed as she swallowed another mouthful of wine. “If you truly want to leave, then I have no objections…”

“I’m jus’ not used to bein’ tied down,” the black-feathered griffon said before rattling his bindings again. “In any sense. I’m much more of a free spirit, an’ I do my best work when I can move too.”

“Well, the maids certainly can attest to that,” Step hummed as she waited for the maid to return. “Perhaps if you can convince me, I’ll consider making you more of a ‘free-range’ meal~”

“I’ve spent most of my years traveling between cities, wooing mares and showin’ them my magic touch,” the griffon said, before smirking. “One time, I got a mare to finish with just one touch.”

“Either you are exaggerating, or she was woefully inexperienced,” Two-Step replied with a small huff. “You’ll find that I’m not so easily taken, as the last half-dozen rounds have proven~”

“Oh clearly not,” the griffon responded. “But I’m willing to bet that fifteen minutes under my claws will have you begging for another round, with me in charge this time.”

“Alright, fifteen minutes hmm?” Two-Step smiled and leaned in close. “And if you can’t live up to that, then you get to be my toy until sunrise~”

“As long as you agree to actually let me go, I can agree to that,” Jonathan said just as the maid came back with a set of really sturdy looking straps and buckles.

“The set for minotaurs, adjusted for our friend here,” she said before depositing it gently on the ground.

Two-Step purred and licked her lips. “Ah, very nice. I believe I approve of this quite a bit.” She looked at the maid and smiled. “Now I have one more job for you,” she said as her magic flared again as Jon’s bindings came off. “I need you to keep time, and let me know when fifteen minutes is up… starting, now.”

The maid merely nodded and pulled a watch out of...somewhere, while Jonathan rubbed his wrists to make sure they were still working properly for a moment or two. Then he realized that he was being timed, and went to work.

It started off like any other massage he would give one of his clients. Innocuous. Innocent, even. And then he trailed a claw down her spine when he went from her shoulders to her back, pressing a few points along the way.

“Hmm, not bad,” she hummed. It was a good thing that she used an actual transformation this time, or else she’d have not gotten much out of this. “Still, do you think slow and steady will win you this race?”

“I am only getting started,” the griffon said as he finished up with her back, making sure to grope her flanks once for good measure, before starting on her hindlegs. A few minutes had already gone by, and he would need to be quick and perhaps not so discreet in what he was doing. He still did his best to disguise hitting the points, but rushed as he was, he couldn’t hide everything.

“Ohh, somebody knows their pressure point techniques,” Two moaned a little. It did feel good, but that this rate, he was going to lose before she was barely luke-warm. The massage still felt good though.

That was when he went from her hind legs to her front legs, not coincidentally hitting more than a few points along her sides as he trailed his claws over her form. Hey, all you had to do was know what to look for and have a good memory, and you could find pleasure points everywhere. And he picked up his massage/molestation again as he worked over her front legs, humming happily as he did.

“Ohh, not too bad,” she remarked. Still, her transformations weren’t perfect, so a few times he’d aimed at a point that simply wasn't there. She may have been unicorn on the outside, but she was still changeling on the inside. “What’s the time little cutie~?”

“Nine minutes, thirty seconds,” the maid answered. Jonathan grunted and stepped his game up a notch, no longer trying to disguise or hide what he was doing. Now he was all after making this mare want him in five and a half minutes. And he knew exactly how he was going to do that.

He finished up with her forelegs before running his claws over her ribcage again, hitting a point here or there...before he went for the few points he knew every mare liked. One was having her mane tugged, but that was more for during or after. The other?

About six inches up the spine from the tail base, there was a point that, if he pressed it just right...like so. It got any mare riled up if they were already in the mood. Two-Step gave off a lewd moan as she twitched a little under that touch. Ohh, perhaps he did know what he was doing.

“Ohh, someone’s desperate to win our little game,” she purred. “But, I believe that there were no rules about me playing fair either~” She turned and winked at the maid. “Care to run some interference dear?”

“I could, but I recall what he did to me the last time I tried that,” the maid said, enjoying now the scene of miss Two-Step getting her own. “Twelve minutes, by the way.”

Jonathan smirked before pushing another spot that most mares had, what he’d dubbed a warming spot halfway between the first and their tails. “Mus’ feel bad when the help turns against you,” he commented.

“Ohh, she is going to be thoroughly punished later,” Two-Step replied, shooting a small glare to the maid. “Perhaps I’ll even employ a certain bat to assist with that.”

“You are of course assuming that your current lover doesn’t show you up, madame,” the maid replied, even as Jonathan went for her spine, tapping along it for points that sometimes were also warming ones.

“S-Such disobedience,” Step muttered, clenching her jaw to try and fight off the oncoming emotions. “And you are close Mr. Jonothan. I’d best hurry.”

“Oh, well with that,” he said, before touching one claw to the base of her tail. “I win.” And then massaged the thing so that it was pulled in all sorts of directions. If she hadn’t been all warmed up and hot and bothered, this wouldn’t have worked. And normally he’d put off doing this, but he was on a time limit. She gave off another moan and shuddered. Okay, what the hell was that and where had that snuck up from?

“T-Time?” she gasped, being rather caught off guard by that.

“Fourteen thirty,” the maid said, and Jonathan explained while he continued to play with her tail.

“See, the tail’s connected to your central nervous system, and if it’s in a state of arousal and sensitivity, doing this,” he said, massaging the base and jerking it to the right a little. “Sorta reminds your whole body that you’ve been teased. I don’t use this trick all that often, but it’s fun when I do.”

“That has, got to be cheating,” Two-Step moaned, both in defeat and arousal. “But a deal is a deal after all. So you’re free to go if you want.”

“Oh, who said I was going anywhere?” the griffon asked. “I got you all warmed up, after all...it’d be irresponsible of me if I didn’t...finish the job.”

“And on that note, I am leaving again,” the maid said as she turned tail and left.

“Deserter!” Two-Step called out. “Well, I guess this isn’t so bad. So,” she turned and licked her lips. “Round seven then?”

“I can go for that,” the griffon purred as he finally got to enjoy a tumble with this mare with his claws free…

After her talk with Scope, Midnight decided to head out and take a walk around the city. She’d left the nymph at the mercy of her little cousin… why she was even still there was anypony’s guess, but Sun was pretty harmless.

The thestral waved to a few ponies that greeted her as she wandered around, and even a few undisguised changelings.

“This place has changed so much,” she murmured to herself. “It doesn’t even feel like the same city anymore…”

Her tummy gave a rumble of protest and she decided to swing by Fredricks. She craved something sweet and hoped that the griffon could sate that need.

The restaurant in question was fairly quiet that morning, at least until Midnight made her usual dramatic entrance.

“Good morning~” she greeted anypony with a chipper tone. “Your favourite Thestral is here~”

“Ah, hello again!” Fredrick replied as he came down the stairs, ready to take his place in running his restaurant after a quick wash-up. “On your lonesome again today?”

“In this city, it’s hard to be alone,” Midnight quipped as she gave him a peck on the cheek. “And how about you? Doing okay?”

“Finally, yes,” Fredrick said with a smile. “I had a pair of undisguised changelings in the middle of my lunch rush yesterday, and nopony minded. I’d like to say we’re finally back in business.”

“Aww, I’m glad to hear that,” Midnight replied as she took a seat. “And I bet the Captain’s finally relieved to take a small breather as well.”

“You have no idea,” Narrow replied as she came down the stairs after Fredrick. “Still, I doubt this city will let me relax for long. The next disaster is always just around the corner… and usually Ledger-flavoured.”

“That colt does get himself into the most interesting situations,” Fredrick mused. “Maybe we could ask Midnight to turn traitor and give us advance warning?”

“Nah, I don’t think Levvy has anything planned… actually, scratch that, he always has plans…” Midnight tilted her head and hummed thoughtfully. “Now I’m confused. What if Ledger is planning something? What if he hasn’t told me!?”

“Great work, you broke her,” Narrow deadpanned as she watched the flustered bat pony.

“Like as not, whatever he’s planning, he’ll tell you eventually,” Fredrick said, trying to smooth it over. “And if you tell us first, I might be inclined to reward you with something from the dessert menu.”

“Dessert! That’s why I came in here!” Midnight suddenly focused on him. “Well, all that I know is that Levvy has a lot of free time now. So he could be planning something out of boredom…”

“I’ll pay a visit to his place of business later,” Narrow muttered. “Besides, it’s been a while since I checked up on him last.” She gave her griffon a kiss and smiled. “Will you be able to deal with this crazy bat all on your lonesome?”

“Not I, that’s why I have a confectioner,” Fredrick said with a chuckle. “Almost didn’t for half a day, but he came back. Do you know how hard it is to find a confectioner in this town?”

“Difficult I can imagine,” Narrow replied as she adjusted her armour. “Well, play nice. And I’ll see you tonight.” She gave him another kiss and trotted from the room, leaving Midnight to sit in her seat and wag her tail expectantly.

“Dessert?”

“Yes yes, I’ll have Sweet Tooth come along with a list of things he can make for you soon,” the griffon said as he turned to leave. “Behave, and I’ll keep my promise of it being free.”

“Yes Mr. Fredrick,” Midnight said like a bored schoolfilly. The bell at the door chimed as a Pegasus mare walked inside. She had a pristine white coat and a pastel pink mane and tail. Her Cutie Mark was a sun half-hidden behind a cloud. She was also stunningly beautiful…

She looked around and when she saw Midnight, she smiled and trotted over. “Excuse me Miss?” she asked, “Is this seat taken?”

“Free country,” Midnight nodded and waved at the seat. The mare smiled and took the seat opposite the Thestral and looked at Fredrick.

“So, this is the famous… or is it infamous Fredrick?” she giggled and bat her eyes at him. The griffon had turned to seat her when she arrived, but followed after and merely chuckled at her question.

“It would all depend on your point of view, I suppose,” he said. “Sadly I am taken now, so you’ll not be able to gauge the truth behind any rumors you may have heard on your way over, milady.”

“Oh? Well it’s good to see love bloom regardless. Congratulations on your relationship,” she smiled. “Oh, where are my manners. I am Sunny Skies. I’ve come all the way from Canterlot due to the rumours that this place has the most delightful confectioner. Am I… mistaken?”

“We probably couldn’t outdo any more dedicated place, like Amy is for our local ice-cream store,” Fredrick said. “But for desserts, Sweet Tooth is quite skilled at turning my visions into reality. Which is a good thing, I’m good at cooking, but baking is not something I excel in.”

“Hehe, I bet you’d love to put a bun in Narrow’s oven~” Midnight giggled, poking the griffon.

“That would only come much later, and you’re starting to act up, little bat,” the griffon reprimanded her. “So, you are here for the sweets as well? Shall I just send him over like I originally planned?” Fredrick questioned the pegasus of the pair.

“That sounds lovely,” Sunny nodded and smiled at him. Midnight nodded, but didn’t say anything else. Free sweets were on the line!

“Very well, then Sweet Tooth shall be out soon. Hopefully.” The griffon turned to leave. Sometimes that colt was downright skittish around mares. He’d been getting better as of late...maybe he’d just leave out the details as to who he would be baking for.

“So,” Midnight said once he left. “Your name is Sunny Skies?”

“That’s right,” the mare responded. “And I’m already acquainted with you, Miss Midnight Song.”

Now that got the bats attention. She blinked as she tried to recall where she’d seen this mare before. She really was getting the strangest sense of deja vu from her. But… where?

“Have we… banged before?” Midnight asked and Sunny blushed and shook her head.

“Um, no… not quite,” she smiled. “But we have a met a few times so…” She was going to continue, but a rather familiar-looking colt was approaching. “Seems our dessert is here~” Sunny giggled, licking her lips.

The white earth pony drew near, along with taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, before he stood in front of the mares like Fredrick had instructed him. “Hello, I am given to understand you two require sweets?” he asked politely.

“Ooh, I certainly know what sweet treat I want~” Midnight hummed and bat her eyes at him. Sunny smiled and giggled.

“That would be nice,” she said and looked at him. “But for now… I believe I was promised some cookies?”

Sweet Tooth actually stopped what he was doing, just looking at the mare and trying to work his jaw. That...that couldn’t be, could it? Best to check. “It’s nice to see that this time I’m not being swept off my hooves,” he commented.

“I thought about it,” Sunny said, showing off her stunning amethyst eyes. “But we agreed to take things slow yes?”

Midnight looked from the mare, to the colt and blinked. She was missing some context here…

“So I have her order,” the colt said before turning to Midnight. “What did you want to have miss Midnight?”

“Well, I’d say you, but it seems my new/old friend here beat me to that. So some chocolate cake with whipped cream sounds good,” the Thestral nodded.

“Oooh, cake, I like the sound of that as well,” Sunny smiled.

“So one order of cookies, and two orders of cake,” the colt summarized. “Anything else?”

Sunny glanced at the menu, everything just looked so good. As did the one that was serving them~

“I think some tea would also be nice, whatever you think will go well with those desserts,” Midnight said.

“I have just the brand in mind,” Sugar said with a wicked smile. “I’ll be back with your orders in a few minutes then.” With that, the red-maned earth pony turned and was off to the kitchen.

“So,” Midnight smirked once he left. “You know him?”

“We’re… acquainted,” Sunny replied. “We bumped into one another and he promised me some cookies. So I thought I’d come and surprise him.”

“I see,” the thestral nodded and looked at the retreating stallion. Her snack time just took a turn for the interesting. “Want some help snaring him? I have some experience in that area.”

“Hmm, I am a little out of sync with the whole ‘dating’ thing,” Sunny replied, making air quotes with her hooves. “I almost scarred the poor dear for life with my last attempt.” She looked at the bat and nodded. “Very well. Instruct away Miss Midnight.”

“Just leave it to the professional,” Midnight smiled and licked her fangs. “Okay, so here’s what I want you to say when he comes back…” She leaned across the table and whispered, Sunny’s blush growing with each word she spoke.

Eventually the colt returned, balancing a platter on his back as he stepped carefully, to avoid spilling it anywhere. He slid the thing onto the table and began serving them. “One order of cake to the both of you, and an assortment of cookies for you,” he said, putting the food where it needed to be.

“Mmm, almost as delicious as the one serving them,” Sunny smiled sweetly and licked her lips. The colt blushed and looked away, not sure how he should respond to those advances. Wait, no, he knew how to respond, he just didn’t think he could.

Sunny wondered if she’d said that right, he had responded and just kind of… stood there. She reached out with a wing and touched his shoulder. “Um, are you okay?” she asked out of concern.

“Fine!” he said with only a hint of a chirp to it. He chirped when he was nervous, and hoped they hadn’t heard. “Just...I thought I made it quite clear last time…”

Midnight’s ear flicked. She’d caught that familiar noise and her eyes widened slightly. He was… and the way he acted… ohhh dear, she’d gone about this all wrong. She suddenly grabbed Sunny and smiled at Sweet Tooth. “We ah, have to go powder our noses. Be right back!” and she zoomed from the room before either pony could protest.

“...Well that went about as well as it normally does,” the colt sighed.

“Miss Midnight?” Sunny reeled as they came to a stop inside the bathroom. “What is—?”

“Okay, I really screwed up because I didn’t know who he was,” Midnight nodded. “We need to change our tactics!”

Sunny just gave her a deadpan stare, quite the far cry from her usual cheery disposition.

“I know, I’m sorry okay!” Midnight replied and Sunny smiled, pulling the bat into a hug.

“It’s okay, I get the feeling he’s going to be a tough nut to crack.”

“He actually reminds me a lot of someone else,” Midnight said with a soft smile. “Okay… so, new plan…”

A few minutes later, only Sunny emerged and took a seat back at the table. Hopefully they hadn’t scared the colt off for good...eventually, Sweet Tooth walked by again, tilting his head at the absence of Midnight. “Is...Miss Midnight not eating with you?”

“Hmm, something came up I’m afraid,” Sunny smiled sweetly. “Don’t worry, she said she’ll come back a bit later. Why don’t you sit with me?”

“I...suppose I can do that,” Sweet said as he slowly sat next to the mare. “So, a disguise today?”

“Well, I’m not somepony that can move about easily without one,” she replied. “Do… you like it? Or am I not cute enough?”

“I’m not somepony that judges based on looks,” the stallion said with a shake of his head. “It’s what’s inside that matters to me.”

“What’s inside is tricky… and one that feels far too old for this dating game,” she giggled. She lifted one of the cookies and popped it into her mouth, chewing slowly before swallowing. “Mmm, I could be more full of these though. Absolutely delicious~”

“I keep a jar stocked at my place of the things,” the stallion commented. “And you’re hardly too old for the dating game. Besides, even if you did have those years on me, that just means you have more experience.”

“That makes me sound like I’m a corner mare from the Strip,” Sunny said with mock indignation. “I am a pure maiden Mr. Sweet.”

“You’re still a pony at your core, go on and try and tell me you weren’t thinking impure thoughts when you swept me off my hooves the first time,” the confectioner dared her.

“I…” Sunny paused and a light blush graced her cheeks. “I’ll admit that, certain thoughts may have crossed my mind at the time.” She paused and looked at the colt. “Hmm, since when did you become so bold? It makes me wonder if a certain bat has switched sides…”

“Dealing with two mares is twice as stressful as dealing with one. Especially when one all but ponynapped you for an afternoon, and the other is Midnight Song,” the stallion retorted.

“Why do I have the distinct feeling that the latter is still worse than the former?” she hummed as she ate another cookie. Sweet snickered before replying to that.

“Yeah, I get the feeling that if she hadn’t hooked up with Ledger, she’d be a lot worse. As it is, she’s manageable. I’m surprised that stallion is still alive, frankly.”

“Midnight Song is... “ Sunny stumbled to find the right words to describe her. “Exuberant. Yes, let’s go with that.”

“She wore out a nightclub,” the stallion deadpanned back to her. Sunny raised one eyebrow and glanced towards the bathroom, where the Thestral was likely still hiding.

‘Seems we have a lot to talk about at some point, my wayward guard,’ ‘Sunny’ turned back to the colt and shrugged. “Well, be that as it may, how did she become the focus of our conversation?” She nudged the plate of cookies forward and smiled. “You shouldn’t have told me you keep a supply at home. I just may follow you now~”

“Oh no, whatever will I do with a pretty mare back at my place?” Sweet sighed dramatically. “Probably nothing, truth be told. I’d more than likely just lock up once you did.”

“Sarcasm is unbecoming of a gentlestallion,” Sunny hummed as she took a bite of her cake. Oh by the sun, it was amazing~

“Fredrick’s said I’m one the moment I get over my anxiety and actually talk to a mare. Not sure this counts.” The colt sighed and put his head on the table. “I mean, I sorta already talked with you...and we’re not having the sort of talk he indicated might happen.”

“Oh, and what talk might that be?” Sunny asked as she placed her empty plate down and reached for Midnight’s abandoned one. “The birds and the Breezies perhaps?”

Sweet waited for her to take a bite before replying. “The sort of talk where the only words you’re saying are ‘harder’.”

Sunny coughed as the cake got stuck in her throat, her face turning a bright red as she reached for her teacup and hastily gulped it down. After a few deep breaths, she shot a glare at the stallion. “T-That… oh you little… that was mean.”

“It’s lighter than what you’d get for stealing Midnight’s cake from her,” he said with a smirk.

“Well, she can consider that her… just desserts~” Sunny winked.

“Yes, well, I don’t nearly feel up to the sort of talk Fredrick implied I should have one day,” the stallion said, brushing off the bad pun. “So I don’t know if you should follow me home or not.”

“Well, our date here is going alright so far,” Sunny hummed. “But yes, slowly it is then.” She sighed and lifted another cookie to her lips. “Perhaps another day…”

“...All right, fine, I suppose you can follow me home,” the stallion said, giving in to the guilt. “But no funny business, you hear? We’re just going back to make sure you’ve had enough cookies and for me to get used to mares.”

“Funny business? Moi?” Sunny put a hoof to her chest with a hurt expression. “Why, whatever do you mean?”

“Lady, a stallion would have to be deaf and blind to not see all the little signals you’ve been putting off,” the colt said to her. “Heck, I bet you could snag any other serving colt easily. Just bat your eyelashes at them. I dunno why you’ve decided on the most difficult one…”

“Hmm, why indeed,” Sunny hummed and tapped her chin. “Those others are easily readable. Like a book for foals. But you…” She leaned closer and stared into his violet eyes. “You intrigue me.”

“And you fluster me with a word sometimes, so we’re perfect for each other,” the stallion riposted. “Still, it’s nearly time for me to punch out...so if you wanted…” He trailed off, not able to finish the sentiment.

“Mm, I think I’d like that,” Sunny nodded. “Excuse me for one moment okay?” She kissed his cheek and stood up, heading for the kitchen.

“Well, that happened,” Sweet Tooth said as he rubbed his cheek with a hoof, not quite believing it himself. Plus, he knew who she actually was, so that was an added layer of stunning right there.

As Sunny Skies strode into the kitchen, it didn’t take long to locate the griffon she was looking for.

“Ah, there you are Mr. Fredrick,” she called out. “I have a few things to say to you if you don’t mind.”

“Listening, my dear, but I am sort of in the middle of something,” he said, not looking away from the pot he was stirring.

“Well,” she said as a golden glow surrounded her body and her disguise peeled away, revealing the regal Alicorn of the Sun. “For a start, I’d like to apologise for ponynapping your confectioner the other day. It must have caused you quite a bit of trouble.”

“I did nearly have to start advertising for another before he was returned via royal chariot, your highness,” the griffon said, not stopping his stirring for a moment. “I have heard rumors of your sweet tooth, but I didn’t think it so large you would have to go and ponynap mine.”

“Which is why I am apologising,” Celestia huffed. She certainly hadn’t expected this reaction from him. Was he used to alicorns popping up in his kitchen? “Well, regardless. I’d like to borrow him again if that’s alright. I’ll not stoop to ponynapping again though.”

“That’s fine, that colt finished up with his baking before taking your order out to you,” Fredrick replied with a wave of his claw. “We’re fully stocked for the coming night. Just do take care with him? I’ve been getting the impression that he’s not...quite comfortable around the fairer gender.”

“But he’s the one that invited me,” she giggled as she re-donned her disguise. “Now, I believe I have a home visit to make. Oh?” She paused on her way out. “Sorry about the trouble I also caused a moment ago. You should be able to deal with it though.”

“What trouble was that?” the griffon asked.

Sunny had already left though, and the kitchen doors swung open a moment later as a downtrodden Midnight skulked inside.

“Freddy… Sunny stole my cake~” she whined.

“We have more,” the griffon chuckled as he plated another slice of cake for the batpony. “Just give her a minute to sweep my confectioner off his hooves properly this time, and you can go out and enjoy it.”

“Fiiiine,” Midnight pouted, sitting on the floor as Spike chuckled, walking in from the storeroom.

“You’re running a little low on saffron and paprika,” he informed the griffon. “And the batch of tomatoes you have are a little under ripe.”

“Mm, I’ll send a runner out to pick some up,” the griffon said as he finally drained his pot of spaghetti. “How is the bread doing?”

Spike opened the oven and stuck a claw inside. “I’d say another five minutes…”

“Good,” Fredrick said as he turned his attention back to the small pot of white sauce bubbling away. “And then you will see the power it holds, I promise you. Watch.” The griffon cleared his throat, not even looking at the batpony. “Midnight, would you like a piece of bread?”

Her ear flicked and there was a shuffling sound before the Thestral was lying under him on her back, looking up at him with bright eyes. “That would make me most happy~” she said.

“See?” He said to the drake with a small laugh. “It’s not done yet Midnight. Up you get, you can have a piece when it is.”

“Whoo!” Midnight rolled out from under the griffon and hovered into the air next to Spike. “So dragonboy, how’s it going anyway? Learn any fun stuff?”

“I’ve learned a bunch,” Spike nodded as he checked the temperature of the oven. “But… I dunno if I’ll ever put it to practice…”

“Confidence, young drake,” Fredrick rebuked him. “You will find a pony that captures your heart again, one that is close to your own age even. But until then, you must never forget the things you have learned, one of which was…” he trailed off and let the dragon finish.

“Always be courteous and make her feel special, because she is,” Spike recited. “Respect her wishes if she says no and don’t force things. And don’t pursue mares in a relationship.”

“Precisely,” the griffon nodded, happy he’d learned so well. “I’m certain when you find the mare for you, you will remember those notes, and it will be a courtship for the ages.”

“Aww, I know it will be,” Midnight giggled, nuzzling the dragon.

“It’s just hard since my physical age can fluctuate,” Spike sighed. “It’s been fifteen years since I hatched, but…” He prodded his pudgy belly and sighed again. “Being a dragon is hard…”

“It’s not like being a griffon in Equestria, probably, and might even be stranger than being a changeling,” Fredrick admitted as he added a little oregano to the sauce. “But at least you seem to be on a path. Do you have the courage to see it through, is the question. Because nobody but you can walk it for you.”

“Haven’t got much of a choice,” Spike shrugged as he pulled the bread from the oven. “Ah well, being Twilight’s assistant keeps me pretty busy anyhow. Still…” His mind wandered to a certain white unicorn mare. “I guess I am still a kid huh?”

“Perhaps by your species standards, but you seem rather well-educated by ours,” the griffon said. “Were you a pony, I’d call you a teenage colt who knew just a little too much.”

“A scaley little know-it-all huh?” Midnight giggled, poking at Spike. “Sounds about right.”

“What was that?” Spike asked. “You don’t want any bread now? Okay.”

“Nuuuu, I’m sorry,” Midnight whined, batting her hooves at him. Fredrick just chuckled at the play, happy that the drake had fallen into the role of teasing so well.

“Don’t be too cruel to her, Spike, or she’ll tell Twilight on you,” the griffon warned.

“Nah, I play dirtier than that,” Midnight said in a husky tone. “He teases me too much, and I tell him what I do with Twilight in every, explicit, detail~”

“Eewwww,” Spike grimaced. The griffon shook his head as the oven dinged.

“Ahh, that’ll be the bread,” he said. “Spike, if you would?”

The dragon shuddered as he pulled out the loaf and set it on the countertop. “Fredrick, are the customers allowed in the kitchen?” he asked.

“Cheater!” Midnight responded.

“Normally no, but Ledger is an exception,” the griffon replied. “Can’t begin to list off how that stallion helped me with some of the things I was having trouble with. Now if only I could get a few recipes from him…”

“Maybe by giving his mare a tribute of cake and bread?” Midnight asked, wagging her tail again.

“You already have the cake, and if you asked nicely and promised to swipe a recipe from him, I could see to giving you two pieces of bread,” the griffon offered.

“Ledger might get mad at me…” Midnight weighed her options. But… Fred Bread! “Done deal!”

The griffon smiled and pulled out a large knife and sliced the loaf of bread up, before passing two pieces over to the batpony. After thinking about it for a second, he passed one over to Spike as well. Just to let him see how powerful it was.

“Nummy!” Midnight said gleefully as she nibbled the delicious bread. Spike blinked and picked a piece up and bit into it.

“Hmm,” he murmured as he chewed it. “Could use some ruby dust… but it’s not bad. Best I’ve ever had at least.”

“Family recipe, one that Ledger helped me properly adapt to pony tongues,” the griffon said. “I swear, that colt has a tongue I would love to have…”

“Oh?” Midnight said with a smile so wide it threatened to split her face. “You know, with enough cider I bet I could convince him to give it to you… provided I get to watch~”

“And I forgot all about how you like to twist conversations,” Fredrick said before looking over at Spike, to gauge the effect of her words on him.

The dragon had wisely ignored the mare, instead focusing on slicing up the bread neatly. He caught Fredricks look and shrugged. “The less I know the better,” he replied.

“So,” Midnight smirked. “Feel like coming over for drinks tonight?” she asked the griffon.

“I am making a note to stay far away from the farm,” the griffon said. “Especially during cider season.”

“Aww,” Midnight pouted and giggled as she polished off her bread. “Still… I wonder what Levvy’s up to right now?”

“Okay, so let’s try it again…” Twilight sighed as she floated the apple up to the plate. “And hopefully we don’t evaporate this one…”

“It wouldn’t be so bad if we knew where they were going at least,” Ledger said as he fed both plates a charge of magic. “I don’t want Narrow coming in and complaining about random apple-induced head-trauma.”

“And now he’s jinxed it,” Twilight shook her head and fired the spell. The apple vanished and if the test worked, it should return momentarily…

A second later, there was a pop and the apple re-appeared.

“Did we just?” Ledger breathed, daring to touch the apple with a hoof. The outer surface rippled like water and it suddenly exploded, soaking the stallion in apple juice and pulp.

“This is still an improvement!” the disguised drone said with a smile. “At least they’re showing up again!”

“The complete molecular breakdown is worrying,” Twilight sighed, floating over her clipboard to write down the latest result. She trotted over to Ledger and looked at him before licking his cheek. “At least this result is delicious.”

“Hey, I didn’t need an excuse to get you to lick me,” Ledger said with a small laugh. Before realizing they’d left the plates on his desk, where his paperwork spell was in idle mode. “Uh...oh. This…” A quill and inkpot had already levitated themselves up and were starting to make marks on the plates for some reason. “...could be interesting.”

"Is your paperwork spell... assimilating the teleportation spell?" Twilight asked worriedly.

“No, it looks like,” Ledger said as the marks continued. “It looks like it’s trying to...correct us. A...spell-checker.”

Twilight blinked. She almost felt insulted at the fact that a spell thought it knew better than her. The office door opened as Scope walked in, looking at the organised chaos.

"Ohh boy, what did you eggheads do now?" she asked.

“Science!” Ledger cheered from behind his desk. The paperwork spell finished making its marks on the plates and fell silent again. “You know, maybe I shouldn’t have let it look at my diary when I was bored.”

"I worry about you two," Scope shuddered as she looked at the plates. "So what did you even-" As she read the inscription, the plates shone and the nymph vanished with a pop, leaving the two alone once again.

Twilight froze... before her eyes widened in panic. "Ohno...ohnonononono!"

“I’ll admit that could have gone a lot better,” Ledger said as he started to panic as well. “But...maybe the spell works this time? Or better on changelings than it does on fruit?”

"We just vaporized our fiancé!!" Twilight screeched as she poured over her notes. "We'll be banished for our crimes. Scopey will hate us because we killed her!!"

“It’s nice to know I’m the reasonable one,” Ledger said. “Please tell me you’re kidding at some point.”

"Well with luck she was killed instantly... and didn’t suffer molecular deconstruction," Twilight buried her head in her hooves. "This is all my fault..." she continued to drown in her sorrows as a buzz filled Ledger’s head...

“Hold onto the blame for a minute,” Ledger said as he reached for the Hivelink. “Testing, testing, you there Scope?”

“...Fucking barely!” came the less than enthused response. “What the hell did you do!?”

“Apparently teleported you somewhere. Can I tell Twilight you’re not dead at least?”

“So… you have no idea where you sent me huh?” Scope’s tone was full-blown snark. “Well, here’s a fucking hint. Tell the princess that her brother says hi!”

“All the way up to the Empire? Wow. By chance are there a load of apples around them from our previous tests?”

“...I can’t believed you asked that,” Scope sighed. “Feh, no apples… lots of apple juice and pulp though. Which, coincidently, will be all that’s left of you two once I get home!”

“So it WAS working, and look on the bright side, at least you didn’t decompose like the apples.” Ledger’s eye fell on the other plate and he got a thoughtful expression. “I wonder…”

“What’s going ooonnn!?” Twilight wailed, shaking the drone as he just spaced out.

“Hivelink spell,” Ledger said, even as his magic activated the other plate, wondering if that would pull their nymph back from the Empire.

And if the plate had been in the same room as her, then it might have. All it did was glow and do not a whole lot else.

“Ah well, I suppose it was a longshot at best. Looks like you’re taking the train back, Scope.”

“Oh fucking joy,” Scope replied. “Your concern is noted…”

“Hey, like I said, that sauce is the remains of all our previous test subjects. I’m happy you didn’t end up like them, but maybe you should be thankful for not being exploded as well?”

“Thankful!? I’m going to—” She was cut off and Ledger could swear he could hear her being snuggled by what sounded like Cadence.

“Ledger, if you don’t tell me what’s going on…” Twilight said.

“Scope says hi, as does your brother and sister-in-law,” the drone finally said. “Congratulations, we made a plate that teleports something to the Crystal Empire and not ex...plode...I just got a wicked idea.” Levitating the return plate over the sending plate, Ledger activated the one that had stolen Scope away.

“Incompatible Inorganic material detected. Teleportation not completed.”

“Did… did the spell… just speak?” Twilight asked, wiping a tear from her eye.

“Yes, and now I want to know how we can send...idea. We could send them our notes. Or...bad idea, they might start sending us exploded apple instead. Hmm. Is it too much to ask for the ability to complete the loop?”

“We could try using Spike’s breath?” Twilight suggested. “It would only take a small tweak to make Cadence the recipient instead of Celestia.”

“He’s busy with Fredrick at the moment, but not a bad idea...still, I would want the ability to ship inorganic things via this system as well, so it’d be better to fix it now.” Ledger hummed at the thought, and even then, didn’t notice his quill and inkpot hovering nearby, ready to fix imperfection. Twilight did and pulled him over to her with magic as the writing utensils whizzed past him, ready to correct their mistake.

“That spell… is waaay too efficient,” Twilight replied.

“I know, right?” Ledger said with a nod. “I was thinking of researching golems with Lengthy Scroll next. If this spell does well enough until we get a working body made, I might just transport it from here into our best body. Assuming it has enough of a presence to transfer.”

“The thought that you’d most likely succeed scares me,” Twilight nodded. “Though the idea of creating a self-aware homunculus…” She smiled widely and beamed. “So we have our next project then?”

“Assuming this one works well, yes. Lengthy’s already researching good ways to make a body.” The writing utensils finished with a flourish before setting themselves down again. “Ready to try again?”

“Well, I would like her back,” Twilight nodded. “I just hope she isn’t too mad at us.”

“Oh, she’s plenty mad at being our first test subject,” Ledger said as he hovered the plates again. “And look on the bright side, you’ll be able to study this plate at least and determine how we got the results we did, and why it changed when it did.” With that cheery thought laid out, he activated the plate once again, in an effort to complete the loop. The first glowed and the second vanished…

A moment later, Scope’s voice came over the Link again.

“Do… I want to know what some stone plate showed up out of thin air and knocked out Shining Armor…?”

“That’s the counterpart to the plate that sent you there. Also, tell him sorry for us. It appears we haven’t worked out velocity just yet. Something I’ll mention in a minute.”

“Well, whatever, I’m staying here for a bit. There’s someone I want to visit. Might as well make the most of this little vacation.” She disconnected the link as Twilight waited patiently for a response.

“She’s going to stay in the Empire for a little bit, she’s taking it as a vacation,” Ledger said. “Also, we need to work out velocity. The thing clocked your brother and knocked him out.” At that mention, the quill twitched again.

“Ledger, you need to stop that spell before it ‘helps’ again,” Twilight said.

“Hey, I don’t want anything I ship to be accelerated to supersonic speeds,” the stallion said. “Plus, you’ll get more to study. Sometimes I feel like I could leave a question written for it, and it would answer. Which was sorta the point to the exercise, as a building block to self-aware golems.” The quill and inkpot floated over to the plate and started marking it again.

“I get the feeling that this won’t end well,” Twilight sighed. “On the upnote, I wonder if this spell could run my court for me?”

The quill twitched a little as it set itself back in the inkpot, and the plate flashed. “Sympathetic resonance established. Please give five minutes for a change to the partner plate.”

“We should probably tell Princess Celestia about this,” Twilight nodded as she penned out a quick letter. Somepony knocked on the door and caused them to look up.

“Ledger? You in?” Narrow’s voice called out.

“G’on, take our little science project and write your letter,” Ledger said. “I’ll foalsit mine while the good captain has words with me.”

Twilight nodded and teleported from the room as Narrow walked in, looking around.

“Talking to yourself again Ledger?”

“I make it a habit to think out loud,” the stallion quipped. “Sometimes that’s the only way I can get any intelligent conversation.”

“You’re marrying Midnight Song, your own intelligence must be called into question there,” Narrow chuckled as she took a seat, pouring herself some coffee from the pot on his desk. “So, how’s business?”

“Running as well as it could hope to be,” Ledger said as his daily overview floated over to him at her words. “Surprisingly, we actually got more business when my delivery-colts were, ahem, honest with the customers.”

“Yes, amazing how that works huh?” Narrow deadpanned. “And homelife? Midnight driven you nuts yet?”

“I think the one going crazy is her, honestly. She never struck me as one to like sitting still for long.” Waving his hooves out to indicate the office, he continued his thought. “Can you imagine her working in a place like this?”

“Honestly? No,” Narrow replied, sipping her drink. “That was why I let her take her paperwork home, rather than come into an office every day to do it. At least she’s getting it done on time… which surprises me.”

“I think she’s bribing the others into doing it for her,” Ledger admitted. “She certainly hasn’t been trying that on me as of late. Which is slightly offensive that she’d exclude me from the bribery games.”

“She could be using time with you as the bribe,” Narrow chuckled.

“And suddenly, it’s all made clear to me,” Ledger sighed as he let go of the overview, letting it float back into the outbox. “So, how are you treating my best stallion, or griffon in this case?”

“As well as I can be,” Narrow replied, looking at one of his reports. His company was making quite the profit, not as much as what it was under Toll, but still, all things considered. “I think he takes care of me more than anything though.”

“He takes care of all the colts under his wings, it’s not hard to think he would just want better for you if you’re seeing him,” Ledger returned. “He was always concerned about my aversion to mares, for instance.”

“You? An aversion to mares?” Narrow scoffed. “Funny how times change a pony huh?”

“Yup, now I tend to wake up with at least one and call it a normal day,” the stallion chuckled. “Have you had any difficulty in getting him to focus on you instead of the myriad of mares he could be pursuing?”

“None whatsoever,” Narrow nodded. “Unless he’s doing it behind my back. But I doubt it… and I trust him. Honestly, I don’t know why he hasn’t grown bored of me yet.”

“Probably because you actually love him?” Ledger said, tapping his horn for emphasis. “That’s what he’s always wanted, really. Not just mindless sex. But somepony he can come home to, somepony that will come home for him.”

“I guess,” Narrow replied, a slight blush gracing her cheeks. “Look at us, when the hell did we become friends that sit here and talk about our feelings?”

“Eh, it was bound to happen eventually,” Ledger shrugged. “Changeling friendships develop in a way you ponies would call ‘weird’ at best and ‘bucked up’ if you were feeling colorful.”

“Eh, can I blame Midnight leave it at that?” Narrow shrugged, finishing off her coffee.

“I do it every day, and frankly, I wouldn’t change out her influence on my life for anything,” Ledger said with a nod.

“Yeah, me either I guess,” Narrow nodded. She owed the mare her life during that Tirek thing. “Well, I guess you're not plotting to overthrow the town, and I had my coffee, so I’ll let you be.”

“Much obliged,” Ledger said, tipping an imaginary hat to the mare. “And for the record, overthrowing the town would be way too much work and responsibility, at a time when I’m already going to be caring for a foal in the future.”

“...I’m going to pretend you didn’t entertain the idea at all and leave,” Narrow replied. “Also, some reporters were poking around outside, saying they saw Princess Twilight come in here… I told them that they were mistaken.”

“Oh good,” Ledger said with a smile. “She’ll be appreciative of that.”

Narrow nodded and gave him a salute before leaving. Afternoon patrol was always eventful around this section of town. And now that she was gone… and Twilight was Celestia-knows where… he was alone.

Well, not entirely alone. He still had his spell. And now seemed like a perfect time to test as to how well it could actually think. He drew up a clipboard and a separate set of ink and quill, ready for testing. He’d make the first question simple. Then he’d ask how it knew what to do with the teleportation plates.

Moondancer followed Sugar Darling, as did Two-Step and Sweet Dream, another Violet nymph. The unicorn frowned as their little posse headed further into the centre of the city.

“Well, you plan on telling me where we’re going with this little excursion then?” Moon asked her marefriend.

“You simply made me a promise the other night, one I intend to collect on,” the disguised nymph said. Moondancer looked at Step for answers, but the mare just shrugged.

“Don’t look at me, I was told to grab a random nymph and follow.” She turned and looked at Dream. “Isn’t that right random nymph?”

“We just need witnesses, she’ll do for that,” Sugar agreed.

“I feel like an NPC,” Sweet Dream muttered. “Lucky we don’t survive on each other's love. I’d have starved by now.”

“Aww, we still love you,” Two-Step giggled.

“As do many other mares in Las Pegasus,” Moondancer nodded.

“I just want my little cuddlebug!” Dream whined. “Why won’t she let me cuddle heerrr~”

“Probably because she’s in a herd with Ledger,” Sugar offered as they turned. City hall was visible now.

“Now that is a drone I’d love to play with,” Two-Step purred. “Well, if Miss Midnight’s stories are to be believed anyway~”

“He is a noble Silver...but his father is a Violet,” Sugar said. “But he’s taken by multiple mares, and it looks like we’ve missed our chance to be any of them.”

“Oh poop,” Two-Step pouted as Moondancer shook her head. She looked up at the building they were approaching and tilted her head.

“City Hall? Why are we heading there… ah, you’re not going to tell me anyway,” she pouted.

“You’ll find out in a minute,” the nymph sang as they entered and approached the receptionist. “Hello, we’re looking for the clerk and recorder.”

“Fifth door on the right,” the receptionist replied. “You have an appointment?”

“No, is that a problem?” Sugar asked.

“We’ll see,” the receptionist replied as she pressed a buzzer on an intercom. “Hello? Yes… I believe they’re here for… alright… yes, yes.” She pulled her hoof off of the button and nodded. “He’ll see you now,” she informed them. “I trust you have some witnesses?”

“Got them right here,” Sugar said, pulling Two-Step and Sweet Dream close to her and giving them a hug.

“Then proceed,” the mare replied and turned back to her fashion magazine, one with a purple-maned unicorn on the front cover.

“Witnesses?” Moon asked in a worried tone. “This… isn’t about the damage I caused is it? I said I was sorry and would pay for the repairs!”

“Nope, this happened last night,” the disguised nymph giggled as she let go of the other nymphs and hugged her marefriend. And soon to be wife. “Believe me, it’s nothing that bad. I promise~” The party started their small journey to the clerk’s office.

“If you say so…” Moondancer replied. She trusted Sugar… but it wouldn’t hurt to keep a teleport spell handy yeah?

Inside the stallion’s office, well it was quite spacious. It had a large couch as well as two seats in front of his desk. The walls were lined with dozens of pictures of ponies that couldn’t possibly be related.

“Ahh,” he clapped his hooves. “If it isn’t Lady Sugar. I believe our newest population surge is thanks to you.”

“Nah, she uses protection,” Two-Step couldn’t help but giggle.

“While she is rather crude with her phrasing, yes, I’m not responsible for there being ‘more’ ponies in Las Pegasus,” the disguised nymph said with a giggle. “Just for you having to add a box for changelings to tick on their application forms.”

“Mhmm, I just finished making some changes to certain forms in fact,” the stallion nodded. “So tell me, how can I help you today? Well, as if I didn’t already know hmm~?”

“You’re quite the perceptive stallion,” Sugar said as she drew Moondancer close. “I’ve had no shortage of lovers over the years, but this one’s stolen my heart away. Maybe if I do this, she’ll give it back as a gift.”

“So, you and this fine young mare hmm?” the stallion nodded as he pulled out some paperwork. “You make a lovely couple. I’d love to be the one to bind you in matrimony.”

“Yeah… WHAT!?” Moondancer backed away slightly and looked at Sugar. “Okay, you need to tell me what the hell is going on. He’s talking like we’re here to get married!!”

Sugar didn’t say anything, merely sniffled in hurt. She...didn’t want this?...

“Was she not made aware of this?” the stallion asked. “I can only marry you if all parties consent Lady Sugar.”

“I thought she’d agreed last night,” Sugar said with a sniff and a slight sob. “I...guess I can’t hold her here against her will, though, nor would I want to…”

“Wait, waitwaitwait,” Moondancer closed her eyes as she tried to remember what happened. She was so tired after that she remembered Sugar saying something…

This was what she’d said. That they should get married? Moondancer groaned and put a hoof to her face. “Why couldn’t you have just told me before you silly pony?”

“Because...I thought you still remembered and were just playing?” Sugar said. “But I guess we can just call it off if you don’t want to…”

Moondancer sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. “Sugar… take your true form.”

The pony paused in her crying for a moment, hope flaring within her as she revealed her second usual disguise as any other nymph. Maybe this would be good enough?...

“Sugar, not that one,” Moondancer replied in a no-nonsense tone. With a defeated sigh, the nymph revealed her real self, that of a noble Violet ‘ling, in front of the clerk. Said clerk was certainly surprised, but given how the other ponies were reacting, then they must have already known. And he was a professional dammit.

“Better,” Moondancer nodded as she stepped closer until she was only a few inches from her lover. “After all, it wouldn’t do for me to marry anypony else but the real you right?”

“If you say so,” Sugar said with a smile. “Does that mean…?”

“I’m sorry, it just caught me by surprise,” Moondancer giggled nervously. “So, lemme make it up to you by doing this properly.” She cleared her throat as she knelt down in front of the mare. “Sugar Darling… would you do me the honour of becoming my buggy bride?”

There was silence for a moment, before there was a soft answer. “Yes,” Sugar whispered. “A thousand times yes.”

“Glad to hear it,” Moondancer smiled and kissed her while Two-Step and Dream cheered.

“Ah, love is always grand to see,” the stallion nodded. “Well, since they decided to skip right to the kissing part…. Hrmhrm, I now pronounce you wife and… Changeling?”

“Nymph,” Sugar absently corrected him. “But we use wife as well, so whichever.” She was more occupied with the mare she was hugging at the moment.

“And do either of you object to this union?” the stallion asked Step and Dream.

“None here,” Dream giggled.

“Hmm,” Step tapped her chin. “Nah, guess not.”

“Well, then once the couple and the witnesses have signed this document, your marriage shall be recognised by the Crown.” he said, pushing the paper forward. Under the ‘species’ section, Sugar noticed that Changeling was newly listed. She picked the quill up in her magic and deftly signed the thing, marking the appropriate box, before passing control of the writing implement to Moondancer. The unicorn smiled as she signed her name and ticked the Unicorn box.

Once Two-Step and Dream signed both it and the duplicate, the stallion nodded and rolled one up, tying it with a fancy ribbon. “Okay, I believe that does it. You two are now a happily married couple. Well, at least I hope you’re happy.”

“Oh don’t worry, if she’s not now, she will be,” Sugar said as she kissed Moondancer.

“Ohh, you gonna do something special for our honeymoon?” Moon wiggled her eyebrows. “Though I do regret that I couldn’t wear a pretty wedding dress…”

“We can make an official mess out of it later, I just didn’t want you to slip away out of my life before I could snag you for good,” the nymph said as she hugged her new wife. “And I might have an idea or three. Does a visit to a certain Empire sound romantic enough for you?”

“Ohh, I haven’t been there since it first showed up,” Moondancer nodded. “That sounds good.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do,” Sugar said as she looked at Two-Step. “Starting now.”

“I’ll get things organised for your departure,” Two-Step nodded. “I’ve already seen to it that your luggage is packed and a certain surprise to be waiting upon your arrival.” She leaned in close and hugged Sugar. “I’m really happy for you Mom,” she whispered.

“And I know you’ll take good care of the club while I’m gone,” she said back softly. “Just remember to feed your new toy and take him out for walks.”

“Mm, he ran away for the time being,” Two nodded as they bid the stallion a fond farewell and headed for home. “But he’ll be back… they always come back~”

“They usually do at least,” Sugar answered as she reverted to her disguise of a normal unicorn mare for the streets. “And it would be nice if you were set up with a nice enough male that could see to your needs.”

“Hmm, maybe I should marry some willing stallion so I can have a plaything anytime I want?” Two-Step giggled.

“I should think you’d choose marriage for a better reason than that,” Moondancer sighed and then gasped. “Rings! We don’t have any!”

“We’ll get some up there,” Sugar said as she hugged her marefriend- no, her wife. “I have no small amount of funds to my name, you know. I’ve been here a good few years.”

“My own bank accounts aren’t lacking either,” Moondancer responded. Hmm, she’d have to do something about her job. Commuting from here to Canterlot everyday would be a massive pain. Well, she’d cross that bridge when she came to it. As for now, she was going to go on vacation with her new wife…

Now that was something she never thought she’d say. “My wife huh?...”

“Yup, and you’re mine too,” Sugar said as she gave Moondance a quick peck. “Now it’s official, we’re stuck with each other.”

“Well dang,” Moondancer sighed. “Ah well, I guess I’m stuck with a pretty sexy pony that I love to death then. Not a bad way to spend the rest of my life.”

“I was about to say the same thing,” Sugar giggled before leaning in close to whisper to the mare. “Plus, if you ever feel like seeing a stallion...I’m sure we could strike a bargain with Ledger and Midnight to...borrow him.”

“If you get him to agree to that, I’ll eat my textbook,” Moondancer sighed. “Besides, I’m strictly a mare’s mare.”

“Then while I get him for myself, you could be his mare’s plaything in exchange,” Sugar offered.

“That’s better,” Moondancer nodded and kissed her cheek. “Now, we should probably hurry if we’re gonna catch that train to the Empire today.”

“Or we could cheat and teleport,” the disguised nymph pointed out.

“Uh, dear, I love that you have confidence in my abilities… but I don’t think even Twilight could teleport that far.”

“Fine,” the nymph said with a roll of her eyes. “I was only talking about teleporting to the train station…” Moondancer facehooved and blushed.

“Of course you were,” she groaned and lit up her horn. “Hang on to your buggy butt… actually, I’ll do that,” she giggled as she grabbed the mare’s flanks and they teleported with a flash, leaving Two-Step and Dream alone.

“Well, guess that’s that then,” Two hummed. “Now Dreamy, let’s go throw the wildest party we can while she’s gone!”

“Isn’t that what we do every night?” the disguised nymph asked with a tilt of her head.

“Oh ye of little experience,” Two-Step sighed. “Tonight, we blow the roof off of the place!!”

“So you’re inviting both Midnight and Jonathan over, I see,” the mare hummed.

“We should do that…” Two-Step whispered. “This could be the greatest party in the history of Equestria!”

“Just so you know, if it becomes so bad the guard get involved, as the new head of the club, you get the blame,” Sweet Dream pointed out.

“Middy will be there, so the Guard in involved by default,” Two-Step hummed. “Besides, it’s not a real party until somepony gets arrested.”

“Oh dear,” Sweet Dream said with a shake of her head. “At least be sure to invite a few cute mares, please? It’s been a while since I had a snugglebuddy.”

“I will invite ALL the mares,” Two-Step giggled. “I’ll even see about getting that cuddlebug of yours to make an appearance. Maybe distract Midnight and the others for you?”

“Yay!” Sweet Dream cheered, now fully on-board with this plan. “So, all the Mood-Setter we haven’t sent off? I’m assuming we’re going to be using it tonight.”

“Oh yes!” Two-Step giggled and rubbed her hooves together. Tonight was going to be spectacular!

As Moondancer sat on the train, she leaned into Sugar and sighed. “You think the kids will be okay?”

“If I know Two-Step, she’s already planning to throw Equestria’s largest orgy in our club,” the disguised nymph deadpanned. “I think they’ll be just fine.”

“A city-wide orgy is fine?” Moondancer asked. “Well, if you say so. Just keep in mind that Midnight Song is in that city.”

“She’s taken and pregnant, I’m pretty sure she’ll not attend,” the nymph said as she leaned over to kiss her wife.

It still felt a little weird to think of them as wives to each other, but it was the good sort of weird. Moondancer shrugged and returned the kiss. She knew Midnight better than anypony and she’d be looking for anything to distract her from the mundane by now.

“Well, not our problem. That’s Future Sugar and Moonie’s problem,” the unicorn giggled. She leaned into the mare and sighed. “I love you, my darling wife~”

“And I love you too, my dearest wife,” Sugar said as she kissed the top of Moondancer’s head. The two lay in each other’s embrace as the train made haste for the Empire...

Chapter 76 - Party Preperations

“So you really grew all this by yourself?” Sun Song asked the earth pony mare as they trotted up and down the greenhouse.

“Eeyup, well, ah had a lot of help settin’ all this up, but these are the fruits of mah labour,” Apple Cider chuckled as she checked her Berry trees. Her new mango trees were coming along nicely as well. Winter would be over in a month or so, and then she’d really be busy. “That reminds me, ah need to see which one gets wrapped up first, Ponyville or here.” She’d always visit Applejack’s farm to help out with the coming of Spring, and then she’d get help in return.

“Hollow Shades is much simpler,” Sun nodded. “We get pretty much the same weather all year round. The flora and fauna prefer it that way. And well, seeing as how the majority of the city is underground…”

“Wait, really?” Cider paused.

“Yup, big old cave right in the centre of town. Goes down about… a kilometre or so. Most of the city is built into that, but we do have some aboveground stuff as well.”

“Well ain’t that interestin’,” Cider whistled as she picked a Berry and tossed it to the mare. Sun caught it and gave it a sniff before eating it.

“Oooh~ yummy!”

“Mhmm, ah reckon ah could squeeze another bottle or three out of what’s here,” Cider nodded. “This one grows jus’ a little faster than the rest.” She turned and looked at the mare. “Wanna learn how to make wine?”

Sun nodded and the two went to work, the Thestral continuing to go on about her hometown while Cider gave her tips on gardening and cider-making.

In the Crystal Empire, Scope Lens decided to pay a little visit to a certain somebug.

“Hives, why the hell does she have to live in the middle of friggen nowhere?” she muttered as she climbed the hill to the home that Cadence said the changeling nymph resided. “What a pain in the ass…”

The house wasn’t much to look at, but the view around the place was nice at least. Scope climbed the stairs and knocked on the door, only now realising that she had no idea what she’d do if nopony was home.

It took a few minutes, but a rather bed-raggled stallion answered the door. He was sweating slightly and looked more than a little irritated as he stared down at the Changeling. He sighed and turned around, leaving the door open.

“It’s for you,” he called out as he trotted off to wash up.

“Who is it?” the voice of Critical sang out...with more than a hint of irritation to her tone.

“Princess Celestia,” Scope called back as she walked in.

“I highly doubt that, I would know,” the voice of the nymph responded from the bedroom. “Last chance, then I’m chucking you out the window.”

“Somehow, I don’t think your brother would appreciate that,” Scope said, now standing in the doorway to the bedroom. “Sorry I killed your funtime though. This visit is a little unplanned.”

“Oh?” Critical said as she turned from looking at the kitchen where her stallion was to the nymph. “...Just how did you get up here so quickly if it wasn’t planned?”

“Oh, well first, let me inform you that your brother is now dating another mare,” Scope said, leaning against the doorframe. “One that matches him in regards to intellect… at least until I figure out how to steal her all for myself that is.”

“For Hive’s sake,” the nymph moaned. “Will he never stop collecting mares?”

“Probably… maybe…” Scope shrugged. “Anyway, the two decided to try science. And thanks to that, I wound up being teleported here, all the way from Las Pegasus…”

“...Say that again. They...managed to teleport you...all the way here?” To say Critical was unbelieving was about as vast an understatement as saying outside of the weather shield, it was cold in the tundra.

“Oh yes, Level Ledger and Princess Twilight are trying to crack limitless teleportation… and I think they might have actually done it,” Scope groaned. “Now I have to wait for Lovebutt to figure out the plate so I can go home again. Figured I’d come and catch up with you…”

“You couldn’t have picked a worse time if you were trying,” the nymph said with a giggle.

“So I saw,” Scope smirked and looked towards the kitchen. “Didn’t peg you for the type that likes older guys. Or does he have something for younger mares hmm~”

“He’s an artist in need of somepony to call his own, and I can be quite persuasive,” Critical said as she blinked her green eyes at the nymph.

“You didn’t trick him or anything did you?” Scope replied. She knew how Hive-raised nymphs could be. She was one after all.

“Why don’t we ask him?” Critical said as she raised her voice. “Palette, little Scope here wants to know if I tricked you or anything to earn what you were giving me five minutes ago.”

There was a clatter from the kitchen, and the sound of somepony dropping their coffee cup. He cleared his throat and sighed as he started to look for his broom. “Define trick?” he asked. “Cause I think you know more than a few.”

“She’s talking manipulation and magical trickery. I wouldn’t do that sort of thing to you,” Critical said with certainty.

There was a pause, as the stallion pondered on his answer…

“Would I, Palette?” Critical said, using one of the many variations of The Voice.

“Don’t rush me, I’m thinking,” he called back and Scope burst out laughing.

“So, somepony wants to go to bed alone tonight,” Critical said as she picked out a Daring Do book and started to read it.

“Oh, you sure you feel like spending the whole night alone?” he teased back as Scope peered at the cover of the book.

“There was a time before you, you know,” the nymph said as she turned the page, trying to pick up as many details as she could for her next demonstration for the foals. She did them just to keep her magic sharp… And for their smiling faces. And the emotions. “I’m pretty sure I can last a night without you again if I had to make a point.”

“I could say the same,” Palette shot back as Scope laughed again.

“Oh wow, you two fight like an old married couple,” she giggled. “Wait until Ledger hears about this.”

“Yes, and the only reason we’re not one is because he’s still uncomfortable with the idea,” Critical said as she kept reading the story of the Sapphire Stone. “I’d probably have snapped him up in a heartbeat once I was ready, but he’s not.”

“Why’s that?” Scope asked as Palette walked in with three cups of coffee on a tray. “Still getting used to her being a bug?”

“Nah, she’s actually pretty cute,” Palette said, nuzzling the top of Critical’s head. “No sense in rushing things though. She’ll probably get bored of a tired old stallion moaning all the time soon enough.”

“The only time you really moan is when I try to get you to cut back on your drinking to something reasonable. Or sane,” Critical fired back. “Face it, I’m happy where I am, with you, here. You’d have to seriously buck up before I considered looking for greener pastures.”

“Meh, green would clash with your shell-colour,” Scope shrugged and sipped her coffee. Hmm, not too bad. “And you two are surprisingly cute together.”

“I suppose,” Palette nodded and nuzzle Critical again. “At least I’ll never get tired of hearing this one moan all night~”

“And hanging around you is quite filling,” the mare said with a smirk. “Seriously, what more do you need from me before you decide to try and spring a proposal on me? Would the phrase ‘I love you’ help?”

The stallion coughed and blushed, deciding that a view out of the window was suddenly rather interesting. Scope let out an amused snort and decided to give him a hoof and change the subject. She looked at the book that Critical held and smiled.

“You know I met her the other day?” she said. “A.K. Yearling that is.”

“Oh?” the nymph asked with a tilted head. “What was she like?”

“Pretty down to earth actually,” Scope nodded. “I of course, babbled like an idiot in front of everypony. But getting to meet her and the cast of the movie was pretty awesome. She even signed one of my books.”

“Could I ask a selfish favor of you then?” the green nymph said as she closed her book to look at the smaller of the pair of ‘lings.

“Like what?” Scope asked, taking a seat on the bed.

“Well, I sort of do a thing for the foals, bringing their Daring Do tales to life with illusion magic,” Critical said, looking at her book for a moment. “I don’t suppose you could possibly pass that knowledge on to her, so that she might come up and catch one herself, tell me what she thought of it?”

“Well, it’s not like we’re besties or anything,” Scope said, rubbing the back of her head. “But I’ll mention it if I ever see her again. Hmm, or I could tell Twilight about it. She might be able to tell her for me.”

“Thank you,” Critical said as she finally sipped at her coffee. “Mm, I’m surprised this isn’t burnt at all. You must be learning. Or finding new ways to not explode things.”

“Oh, so he’s like Midnight in the kitchen?” Scope inquired. “Why is it when ponies are bad at something, they’re amazingly bad at it? Think it has to do with the whole ‘Cutie Mark’ thing?”

“Nah, he at least has an excuse. Which means he gets to pay me back for my cooking in all sorts of fun little ways,” Critical teased.

“And she says she doesn’t trick me,” Palette smirked.

“Well, gotta make you stallions earn your keep somehow,” Scope nodded. “Hives know we work Ledger to the bone some days~”

“And I did not need to know that about my brother,” Critical said, sticking her tongue out.

“Aww, you don’t want to hear the details?” Scope teased. “Don’t worry, I’ll spare you that much at least.” She polished off her coffee and licked her lips. “So, will you be coming to the wedding in two weeks?”

“Assuming we’re not having our own by then, yes,” the green nymph said as she kissed Palette on one cheek.

“Somepony’s getting ahead of themselves again,” Palette blushed. “Why do you wanna marry me so bad anyhow?”

“Because you’re a kind, sweet stallion who deserves to not be alone after all you’ve been through?” Critical said. “I mean, if you have your eye on somepony else, then I’ll let you pursue them instead. But I wouldn’t mind being the one you chose.”

“Somepony else?” Palette raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Oh this I have to hear. How in this forsaken earth, did you come up with that one? Do you see mares lining up outside my door?”

“No, I just thought that if you weren’t interested in me like that, despite the fact that we regularly share a bed for more than just sleeping, that there was somepony else you might be eyeing,” Critical said as she resumed reading her book. Well she tried, until Palette took the book from her and stared into her eyes.

“For such a bright mare, you’re awfully dense sometimes. And that’s bad, coming from me of all ponies,” he said with a sigh. “Hmm, how do I put this so you’d understand…?” He tapped his chin and then kissed her firmly on the muzzle for a few moments before pulling back. “I love you, Critical. There isn’t anypony else, and I doubt there ever will be. Be damned if I’ll go through all this again.”

“And maybe I was just trying to get you to say it yourself,” Critical said with a victorious smirk as she just lay there, basking in his emotions.

“Why you little…” Palette groaned and sighed. “What were you just saying about tricking me?”

“It’s a gift all mares have,” Scope nodded. “Now I get the feeling you two are going to get all mushy again, so I’ll leave you be for now.”

“Oh, I dunno,” Critical said as she looked at her stallion with half-lidded eyes. “Do you feel...mushy, Palette?”

“I refrain to comment,” Palette replied, though the Changelings could clearly sense his emotions on the subject.

“I’m certain if you think long and hard on the topic, you can come up with a satisfactory answer,” the green nymph said, putting emphasis on those words for a reason as she slowly licked her lips.

“Aaaaand that is my cue to leave,” Scope said as she hopped off of the bed and drained her coffee cup. She suddenly paused and smirked widely. “Well, unless you don’t want me to that is~”

“I don’t think Palette here is much for performing, so you will have to leave,” Critical said as her horn gave off a small spark. “But if you want to listen in while you wait for Cadence to send you back…”

“A tempting thought,” Scope chuckled back. “But then I’d be all hot and bothered until I went home. Ah well, have fun~” She gave the two a wave and disappeared with a ‘pop’, teleporting back to the castle for now.

“Do I really want to know what the two of you were talking about?” Palette sighed.

“Nymph stuff,” Critical said as she nuzzled her stallion. “Feel up to picking up where we left off before she arrived, stud?” He smiled and flipped her over on the mattress, standing over her.

“What do you think?” he purred into her ear.

“Oooh, somepony’s feeling feisty,” she cooed appreciatively. The stallion chuckled as he rubbed her shoulders and nipped at her neck.

“Maybe a little~”

Twilight had been eager to show off her experiment results to Princess Celestia, except that she forgot that the solar diarch had Court at this time, and Twilight wasn’t one to just barge in, so she waited in line like everypony else.

It was a rather long line…

“I wonder what Ledger would do here?” she wondered to herself. She held the plate in her grasp and studied the runes on it for about the hundredth time. She’d already figured out where they’d gone wrong, but still didn’t know why the location of their teleports had been the Empire of all places. And Ledger’s spell was becoming alarmingly sentient. She really hoped that he’d reign that in before something really bad happened.

Or Discord messed with it. Or Pinkie… or Amy… or Midnight… oh hells, now she was panicking again.

She hadn’t even noticed herself move on autopilot until a voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she looked up to see herself standing in front of Celestia’s throne.

“Twilight?” Luna asked, looking down at her. “And to what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Luna?” Twilight looked around and clearly saw that the sun was still up. “Where’s Celestia?”

“Hmm, am I not good enough to solve your dilemma?” the Lunar princess asked with a mock hurt tone. “Tis a shame. I thought us to be friends…”

“We are!” Twilight waved her hooves. “Sorry, I was just wondering why you were at Day Court.”

“I know, We are only teasing you,” Luna chuckled. “The truth is that my sister has… gone off on a flight of fancy so to speak. Still, she has not taken a break in a thousand years, so I think she deserves at least the weekend off hmm? Did you need to see her specifically?”

“Well, not per say,” Twilight said. Luna’s knowledge might be more useful here anyway. “Let me show you something that Ledger and I have been working on...”

“So,” Midnight hummed as she walked through the streets with Spike on her back. “Wanna find a cute mare to test your new powers on?” she asked him.

“Um… I dunno,” Spike said. “That might be a little weird.”

“Hmm, well you sure you have enough confidence if the situation ever arises?” the Thestral asked.

“I dunno,” Spike shrugged and sipped the can of soda he had. “I wonder if that sort of situation ever would arise.”

“Aww, I know it will one day,” Midnight said, sipping her own drink and grimacing. “Ergh, how can anypony drink this Dr. Pony stuff?”

Spike shrugged and finished his. “Don’t want it, I’ll finish it.”

Midnight smiled and handed him the drink and waited til he took a sip. “So, you just wanted an indirect kiss huh?”

Turns out that doing that to somepony riding on your back was a bad idea. His spittake was quite impressive, as was the amount of soda that coated the back of her head.

“Eww,” Midnight sighed. “Well, chalk that up to being one of my less than brilliant ideas.”

Spike coughed and laughed at her as the Thestral groaned and turned. Ledger’s office was pretty close, and it had a shower she could use. “Well, looks like I’m paying him a visit after all,” she hummed and headed for the building.

It didn’t take much for every changeling in the building to feel that veritable ocean of Lust approaching. Oh how they loved working at this facility. The Boss’s mares were the best!

One knocked on Ledger’s office door. “Hey Boss, you got a visitor.”

“Send ‘em in,” Ledger said as he put the paperwork spell into sleep mode and hid the clipboard from sight. The door opened and Spike peeked in, looking around before stepping over the threshold. He could feel Midnight somewhere in the building, but where?

“Heya Spike,” Ledger said, greeting the drake. “What’s going on?”

“Not much,” Spike said. “Just finished my work and Midnight was taking me home… then I got her all wet and sticky so we needed to make a quick pit stop.”

Ledger snickered at what Spike said, not pointing it out himself. “So I guess that explains where she is, then, getting the results of your mess out of her fur,” the disguised drone said with more than a little snickering.

“What’s so funny…? Oh, seriously?” Spike blushed as he realised what he said. “Come on dude, it isn’t like that! I mean, sure, Midnight is really pretty and all but... “ he groaned. “I’m really not helping myself here huh?”

“Not in the slightest,” Ledger said, smiling widely. “And it’s because I know you and her that I can get away with jokes like that.”

“Somehow, I wonder what would happen if we repeated that in front of Miss Midnight,” Spike sighed as he sat on the couch. “So, what is it that you do here anyway?”

“These days? Not a whole lot,” Ledger said as he debated firing up the paperwork spell to prove his point. “Mostly I would be the one to determine if a given course of action is good or not, or to try and close a deal on a shipping contract the city needed. But the city already has most of the shipping it needs at the moment, so all I do is sign the paperwork that keeps the wheels turning.”

“Huh, sounds pretty boring if you ask me,” Spike shrugged. Another knock and one of his workers poked her head inside.

“Bossbug, that replacement desk you ordered finally showed up. Want it placed in the office now?”

“Scope’s office, yes,” Ledger said with a nod of his head. The mare nodded and gave him a wink before ducking back out. Spike watched her leave, catching that wink and blinking at it.

“So what’s the story there?” he asked.

“No clue, but I’m guessing they know why we need a replacement desk,” Ledger said as he just pulled out his clipboard and went over the answers his spell had given him to some written questions.

Yes, actual answers. The language was broken in places and mostly Changeish, but it responded. He could not be more happy about that.

A few moments later, his door swung open and a freshly showered Midnight sauntered in, her mane still damp as she smiled broadly. “Ahh, so much better.”

“And hello to you too, gorgeous,” Ledger said, drinking in her form.

“Mhmm,” Midnight nodded and made a small glide over to his desk, leaning across it from the other side. “It’s an unplanned visit, but not unwelcome I hope?”

“You are always welcome to drop in on me,” Ledger replied, leaning in to lightly kiss her. “How’s your day been?”

“I’m…” she shook her head and sighed. “I’m really, really bored. I mean, remember when I got stuck inside cause I was marked for death? Like that! Only worse!”

“Yooooou need a hobby,” Ledger said. “Something you can do without endangering anypony, including yourself.”

“Punching badguys is my hobby!” Midnight groaned, flopping over his desk. “You want me to take up quilting or something? Join a little old mare’s group?”

“You just need something to do,” Ledger said. “Something that will keep you engaged without being dangerous. Like...sparring. You like fighting, right? I’m sure Ace will put up with you if you asked nicely.”

“You’ve seen Ace and myself spar,” Midnight deadpanned. “And that was one of our more… docile sessions. Trust me, if Ace is involved, then danger goes hoof-in-hoof.” She tapped her chin and shrugged. “I wonder why he’s never asked Amy to spar with him. He’s always had a thing for strong significant others…”

“Maybe he likes more than one kind of strength,” Ledger said with a shrug. “Still, asking him if he knew any good hobbies a mare like you could take up wouldn’t be a bad idea. Because I know you hate to sit still.”

“Well sorry for being so... “

“Hyper?” Spike asked.

“Combative?” Ledger proposed.

“Excitable?” Spike continued.

“Active?” Ledger threw out next.

“OH! Loveable?” An excited Amy asked from over Ledger’s shoulder.

“Amy,” Ledger said, barely keeping his panic in check. “When did you arrive?”

“A little before Spikey made a funny about Middy,” she said. “Also, you need to clean under your desk more often.”

“I’ll put that on my list,” Ledger said after taking a few deep breaths. “What are you even doing here?”

“I dunno, I just had a feeling that my input would be needed here around this time. And now I hear you planning stuff for Middy to do?” Amy suddenly gasped and smiled gleefully. “She could totally help at my shop. We Mommies-to-be gotta stick together!” She grabbed the bat and smiled. “Imma batnap her for a while. Kaythanksbai!” She zoomed away, taking a shell-shocked Midnight with her.

“Well, that happened,” Ledger said with a sigh. “I can only hope they don’t break each other too badly.”

“Meh, what could happen?” Spike shrugged. “Now if Pinkie or Discord got involved…”

“Amy’s enough like Pinkie that I’m already worried,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “I don’t know what’s worse. If they didn’t get along. Or if they did.”

“Oh, they met when Amy came to Ponyville a little while back,” Spike said. “They’re planning the wedding together after all.”

“And Ponyville didn’t explode?” Ledger asked with a tilted head. “Huh, I guess reality is made of sterner stuff than I thought.”

“Yeah, I don’t really know what to say there either,” Spike shrugged. “Small victories and all that.” He looked around and blinked. “So where’s Twilight?”

“She’s off somewhere with our latest science project, probably dissecting the poor thing until it doesn’t work,” Ledger said with a dramatised sigh. “What did that poor device do to deserve it?”

“You left it alone with Twilight Sparkle?” Spike suggested.

“I suggested she take it to better understand it,” Ledger said with a shrug. “Who knows if I’ll get the same thing back or not.”

“Probably not,” Spike said. He’d dealt with her long enough to know that there were two possible outcomes. “One, you’ll get whatever it was back in pieces… or two…” The air was displaced with a loud ‘pop’ as Twilight, Scope and Luna appeared in his office in a tangle of wings, limbs and cursing from the small nymph.

“Huzzah! It works!” Luna cheered.

“Two, that happens,” Spike deadpanned.

“...I’m just going to close my eyes and count to ten, and whoever is left, I will deal with appropriately,” Ledger said, suiting action to word and closing his eyes so that he could internalize the stress of everypony appearing in his office at once.

“What, so you ship me off to the Empire and now wanna pretend it never happened?” Scope said. “Oh, and I totally met the stallion slipping it to your sister~”

“I will deal with that in a moment,” Ledger said, only up to four. “Like I will deal with whoever remains in my office at the count of ten.”

“Perhaps I shall take my leave for now then,” Luna said. “Farewell Twilight Sparkle. Best of luck with your scienceing!” She lit up her horn and vanished, leaving everypony else waiting for Ledger.

“Ten bits says he’s screaming internally,” Spike stage-whispered to Scope.

“Ten bits says I can get him to scream externally,” Scope chuckled.

“Ten bits says you won’t like it if you remain at the count of ten,” Ledger said, now up to eight.

“I’ve just been teleported across the country, I’ll take my chances,” Scope shrugged.

“You’re… not mad at me are you?” Twilight asked, her puppydog eyes coming into effect.

Ledger sighed and opened his eyes. “No, not really, I just needed to quickly bury my reactions and think calmly about the the situation. Scope, I’m sorry you got teleported across the country, it was an accident, please forgive us. Twilight, please tell me your first thought when you showed off the teleportation plate wasn’t ‘let’s poke it and see what happens.’”

“Of course not!” Twilight huffed and folded her hooves. “Mine was to bring Scopey back… Luna was the one that poked it.”

“So how did you get involved, Scope? Please tell me you at least did something with your plate before you ended up here.”

“I was holding it when it flashed and I suddenly found myself in Canterlot, specifically in Luna’s lap,” the nymph sighed. “Then the alicorn touched both plates at the same time…”

“And it triggered some sort of reset and brought us all back here,” Twilight finished and held up the cracked plates. “Though it does appear that teleporting so many ponies has overloaded them.”

“Tell me you got the patterns down before they cracked,” Ledger pleaded. “I would hate to have to work on it from scratch again.”

“Memorised and copied just in case,” Twilight nodded. “Don’t worry. We won’t be starting from scratch. Though we do need to start on a larger scale now. I think the small tablets broke because they were just that, small. But, if we were to create a larger, more permanent one…?”

“Something like your Waypoint, perhaps?” Ledger said. “We’d have to make it a pretty big thing, and anywhere we ended up teleporting to, we’d have to send supplies to build another one second.”

“Well, we could set up one in Canterlot, and see if we can’t tie it to the ones I have set up here and in Ponyville,” Twilight said as Scope groaned. They weren’t even back five minutes and the two were already nerding it up.

“Probably make it a separate network so that nopony randomly shows up in Ponyville,” Ledger said. “Plus, we’ll need to be able to change destinations on the fly, as some ponies might desire to go to one place or another. We’ll need a way to interface with the spell to select a destination out of the many addresses possible.”

“Well, that’s where Scopey and her friends could come in handy,” Twilight said with a smile. “One could be posted at each gate and communicate using that Hivelink spell, then open each gate accordingly.”

“Hmm...we did have somepony in Canterlot and Ponyville from when we did that test of our messaging services,” Ledger mused, before looking at Scope. “What do you say, little nymph? Feel up to trying to change Equestria again?”

“Meh, I guess so,” she shrugged. “At least it’ll give me something to do around here.”

“Excellent,” Ledger said with a grin. “Well then, I believe we have a plan. Just tell me what you need, Twilight, and I’ll do my best to get my hooves on it.”

“Well, I’ll need to lodge a petition to Princess Celestia to have a Waypoint built in Canterlot somewhere. But where…?” Twilight tapped her chin and muttered to herself as Spike coughed from his spot on the couch.

“What about your old tower?” he asked. “Lots of room inside that thing.”

“Ohh, that might actually work,” Twilight beamed. “You’re a genius Spike.”

“Nah, you’re the smart one Twilight. I just know how to poke you in the right direction.”

“Behind every great scientist is someone with a stick,” Ledger said, mock-sagely.

“Ohh, maybe I should get an actual stick to poke you with,” Spike giggled and Twilight just shook her head.

“See what you’ve done now Ledger?” she chided him. She sighed and looked at the drake. “So how was your day at work?”

“It was… interesting,” he replied. “I was taught some things that… well I didn’t think I could learn.”

“Like what?” Twilight asked and Spike tapped his chin before looking at Scope and smiling.

“Spike, I really don’t advise that,” Ledger said, trying to warn the dragon. “She might look like a cute little nymph, but she’s all fangs and pointy bits.”

“Oh fuck you,” Scope poked her tongue out. “Now that was just plain mean.”

“Yeah,” Spike said and took one of her hooves in his claws. “You have to be nice to them,” he stated. “Tell her how her eyes shimmer like sapphires, how her shell looks like polished onyx. Her scent is like a field of flowers in the springtime.”

“...Twilight, I am so sorry that Fredrick corrupted your assistant,” Ledger said, looking at the lavender mare.

“Somepony who gives me Daring Do, and somedrake who says stuff like that to me?” Scope actually blushed a little. “Forget you, I’m starting a herd with these two!”

“Um, wat?” Twilight blinked, unable to process what she was seeing.

“You do realize he’s still a kid by his species’ standards, right?” Ledger asked. “He’s growing up, but he’s nowhere near ready for the sort of activities you like at night.”

“Meh, I was just kidding,” Scope said, pushing Spike back with a hoof. “Don’t get your fetlocks in a twist.” She suddenly smirked and looked at Spike before inching closer with a half-lidded gaze. “Unless you want me to make you all grown up~”

“Don’t make me come over there,” Ledger warned. “I’ll do it if I have to.”

“Help me!” Spike said, moving to hide behind Twilight as Scope giggled from the couch.

“Aww, the little dragon bit off more than he could chew huh?” she teased. “And maybe I want you to come over here Ledger~” She was still feeling pent up from earlier, especially when Crit had opened that link for the hell of it. She would pay for that one later.

“You have a Twilight right next to you,” Ledger pointed out. “Take out that lust on her, why don’t you?”

“Maybe I might,” she licked her lips and the Alicorn squeaked and teleported the nymph out of reflex.

“Not aga—” Scope vanished as Twilight just blushed and hung her head. Hopefully Amy and Midnight would forgive the sudden intrusion…

“We really need to work on that panic reflex of yours,” Ledger said as he chuckled.

“At least she didn’t get sent to the Empire this time,” Twilight sighed as Spike laughed at the nymph’s plight as well. “So, did you find out anything about that spell of yours?”

“Take a look!” Ledger said as he turned the clipboard he was holding around. To reveal the entirely written in Changeish pages.

“I...have no idea what that says,” Twilight deadpanned. “What does that even mean?”

“Oh, right, you can’t read Changeish,” Ledger said, facehooving. “Sorry, forgot. Anyways, I wrote out a question for it. The basic, can you understand me. And it replied.”

“Thaaaat’s, a little freaky,” Twilight said as she eyed the clipboard. “I am seriously questioning if you should keep messing with that spell Ledger.”

“I can still turn it on and off at will, it’s not like it’s draining me of magic to maintain itself,” Ledger rebuked her. “And then I asked how it knew so much about teleporting, and it said it had learned because I wrote about it and showed it how a normal teleportation works. Along with how I normally tinkered with spells.”

“So, it basically created an algorithm based on your thought processes?” Twilight asked, taking a seat at his desk. “Do you mean to say that your spell is technically… becoming you?”

“It’s learning from me, that much is certain,” Ledger said. “I doubt it’ll become a copy of me. Though, since what I’ve let it read is basically my diary, the odds are looking good.”

“That’s... “ Twilight really wasn’t sure how to process that. But he seemed to be in a good mood and not too worried about the spell going rogue. “Just, make sure you’ll ask for help if something goes wrong okay?”

“If anything goes wrong, the first thing I’ll do is turn the spell off,” Ledger promised. “And then I’ll ask for your help in figuring out what happened.”

“Good, the last thing we need is you creating a magical version of Tirek,” Twilight groaned. Spike shuddered and looked away. That, had not been a fun day for anyone.

“Hey, considering it draws on my magic, and I sorta need it to live, I’m not wanting to make that either,” Ledger protested. “I’m just interested in seeing how far we can push it before it becomes something altogether new.”

“Just remember that there are limits to things for reasons,” Twilight nodded and took out her own book. “That said, I wonder what would happen if it learned from me?”

“Oooh, there’s an idea,” Ledger said as he fired up the spell out of dormancy. “Alright, new book. Go on and read it,” he told the spell. Twilight’s book levitated upwards and the pages turned so rapidly, it was beyond what even she could read at. In a matter of minutes, the book closed and levitated back into her hooves.

“Well that was fast, though I don’t have anywhere near as much in mine as you do,” the alicorn nodded. Spike shrugged and decided to leave the two bookworms be for now. If Amy dragged Midnight off, he’d go and see if he could score some free ice-cream~

“So what, now the spell is a hybrid of you and me?” Ledger questioned, before smirking and opening his mouth again.

“I swear Ledger, if you say it’s—”

“Did we just make a baby Twilight?” The disguised drone said with a wiggle of his eyebrows. Twilight suddenly smirked and wiggled her flank.

“Well I guess we did. So you can stop trying the conventional way hmm?”

“Mmm, I dunno, do you really want to leave the question ‘Can an Alicorn get pregnant’ unanswered?” Ledger fired back. “It’s usually quite a pleasurable attempt…”

“And one I’m in no rush to find an answer for,” Twilight retorted with a slight smile. “But yes, it is a pleasurable experience none-the-less. But I’d prefer us to be married before we truly find...out…” She suddenly blushed up a storm when she realised what she said.

Ledger walked around from his desk and looked Twilight in the eyes, his expression one of practiced neutrality. “Did you just imply you would like to join us two weeks from now?” he asked calmly.

“Well, that is to say, it’s a thought that has occurred, and maybe I’ve considered it, so I don’t…” One could almost see the steam coming from the poor mare’s fried brain. Ledger took one of her hooves and bowed to her before he asked his question.

“Twilight Sparkle, would you do me the honor of standing next to me at the altar in two weeks time, to join my herd as Luna marries us?”

Twilight blushed harder and flailed as her brain tried to come up with a valid response. She hadn’t expected him to be so direct about it, and…

“I… um…” her mouth opened and closed a few times as she turned a deep scarlet. “Okay.”

Ledger got back up from his bowed position and kissed her, kissed her deeply at that response.

Once he broke the kiss, she just continued to blush but did her best to ignore it. “S-So… what now?”

“Now, I want you to repeat what you just agreed to out loud, so that I know I’m not dreaming,” Ledger said, not letting her go for a moment.

Twilight giggled and blushed before she repeated it as a whisper in his ear. “Yes my silly Changeling. I will marry you and your herd.”

“Then now, I think we have options. We can either tell the others...or celebrate right here,” the drone offered in a husky whisper.

“You’d like that, but haven’t you broken one desk already?” Twilight giggled and booped him on the nose.

“In my opinion I’m not breaking nearly enough,” Ledger riposted. “I should be breaking a whole lot more.”

“Replacing them would get expensive, and besides, this is a very nice desk,” Twilight said. “Hmm, no, I want to tell the others and we can all celebrate together. How does that sound?”

“A tantalizing offer indeed,” Ledger murred. “How about you tell them and get them all...warmed up for me, while I finish analyzing this latest change to my spell?”

“Oh yes, but if you take too long, maybe we’ll celebrate all by ourselves,” she teased and kissed his nose, even as her magic teased another part of his anatomy for good measure before she teleported away…

“Those mares will be the death of me,” Ledger said as he prepared a new clipboard to test the spell with. “And a most pleasurable death it will be.”

“So… I just scoop the ice-cream like this?” Midnight asked as she placed a haphazard scoop in the cone. It kind of drooped to one side and was a size larger than necessary.

“Nearly there,” Amy said as she used her own scoop to center the thing a little better. “You’re a lot better at this than when I was when I started out, y’know. You don’t want to know how bad I was.”

“Hmm, now I’m curious,” Midnight said as she handed the treat over to a foal, who smiled gleefully and took it before running over to join her friends. “How bad could you have possibly been?”

Amy looked Midnight in the eyes and uttered three words. “Ice. Cream. Everywhere.”

“Sounds like a tasty disaster,” Midnight giggled as she cleaned off her scoop. “Still, this is actually kinda nice. I think I might actually like this job.” That said, it took a lot of willpower to not just inhale the tub of mango ice-cream.

“So long as I keep watching you, you mean,” Amy said, not missing that glance Midnight kept throwing to that particular container. “But I can’t really blame you, I do have a flavor I can’t help but love as well.”

“I’m half expecting you to say ‘Acey-flavour’, but go ahead,” Midnight giggled.

“How’d you guess?” Amy pouted. “Though, that’s not really a flavor we can sell to the foals…”

“Yeeah, even I won’t go there,” Midnight poked her tongue out. She looked around but nopony needed to be served at the moment. “So how are you and Ace doing? Especially since you seem to have Chrysalis roped into the mix now… by the way, how is that a thing!?”

“Simple, I was very, very persistent,” Amy said with a giggle. “And we’re doing good. Bedtime is especially fun now. Sometimes she plays the big bad bug...and sometimes Acey is the big, bad griffon~”

“I have mental images and I’m not sure what I should feel,” Midnight replied with a thousand yard stare.

“I feel happy!” Amy chirped as she made another foal a cone and passed it to her.

“I’m happy too!” the foal cheered as she got her cone. “Thanks Miss Amy!”

“Good to see you’re as popular as ever,” Midnight nodded. Several foals had been a little unnerved by Midnight, but she knew why. It was a Thestral’s eyes that usually did it, one didn’t easily trust the eyes of a predator.

“I’m sure once you get used to the job, you’ll get your own share of customers,” Amy said. “And what do you want little colt?” the pink nymph asked of the next customer.

“Umm, chocolate!!” he said before he caught the disapproving look from his mother and groaned. “Urgh, fine. Vanilla…”

“You’re up, Middy!” Amy chirped to the bat. The thestral nodded and carefully scooped some vanilla into a cone, before topping it with peanut chips and caramel sauce.

“There we go!” she replied and smiled. The colt eyed her fangs nervously but took his ice-cream anyway before running back over to his mother, who waved apologetically.

Midnight sighed and dunked her scoop in the bucket. “Maybe I’m not cut out for this…”

“Nonsense,” Amy said before gesturing to her currently undisguised form. “They got used to me, they’ll get used to you too.” The nymph hummed and tapped her chin before she smiled. “I’ve got it!”

“Oh this can’t end well,” Midnight moaned. “What did you come up with?”

“Why don’t you tell them some of your more heroic stories, to make them see you in a better light?” Amy asked. “I’m sure you have a few!”

“Seriously?” Midnight raised an eyebrow. “Well, I guess I could do that…” She looked at one group of foals and blinked. “Where the heck would I even start?”

“How about the time you and Ledgie took down Toll?” Amy suggest as she started on another cone.

“Hmm, dunno if it’s foal-friendly… but I could spin a few details,” Midnight said and trotted over to the group. What followed was a story about Midnight saving a Changeling princess from an evil, wealth-obsessed King, one who employed demons and monsters that she had to get through. It was quite the riveting tale and it did hold some grains of truth.

But honestly, she thought her version was much more exciting!

Twilight walked in and saw Midnight regalling some tale or another to some children and the alicorn trotted up to the counter.

“So what’s going on here then?” she asked Amy.

“I’m keeping the bat busy so she doesn’t wreck anything out of boredom,” Amy replied. “Want some ice-cream?”

“Hmm, something to celebrate with might be nice,” Twilight smiled. “What does the chef recommended for a mare who’s going to get married in two weeks?”

Amy stopped for a moment as she considered what Twilight had just said. “Are you...did you just…”

“Weeeell, Ledger did kind of propose a moment ago… and maybe I kind of said yes,” Twilight said, trying to fight her blush back down. That was also when a bat tackled her to the ground, peppering her face in kisses as the foals made various faces at the public display of affection.

“I’M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!” Amy said as she joined in on the hugging. Though just the hugging.

“Ah… get off,” Twilight groaned from under the pony pile.

“We get to hug Princess Twilight?” one foal asked and soon a dozen of the little things piled on as well.

“Resistance is futile,” Amy said with a giggle. “You will be snuggled.”

“Nuuuuu,” Twilight raised a defeated hoof. Midnight smirked and snatched her tiara, grinning gleefully.

“And with the fall of Princess Twilight, it’s now time for the rise of Princess Midnight!” she cackled.

“I dunno if that’s the best idea, Middy,” Amy tried to warn.

“Midnight is in no way responsible enough to be a Princess,” Twilight giggled. “Plus she’s kind of lacking a horn.”

Midnight opened her mouth to counter, but caught herself at the last second since there were foals around. The look in her eyes told Twilight that she was horny enough her her sakes.

“And suddenly I feel like we’ve discovered a new game,” Twilight sighed.

“What game?” a foal hugging her asked and Twilight blushed and looked at Midnight. She was a terrible influence.

“Um, the uh… cute little foals who get to try on Princess Twilight’s crown game,” she quickly said and floated her tiara over to the filly. “Would you like a turn?”

The filly beamed as the far too big tiara rested lopsided on her head, over foals staring enviously at her.

“Oooh, ooh, I want a try!” Amy said, waving a hoof around wildly.

“And for the biggest foal in the room,” Twilight giggled and floated her crown over to her. “All hail Amy, Princess of Desserts.”

“Yay, Princess Amy!” the foals cheered.

“My first decree is that all ice-cream is awesome, but especially chocolate,” Amy said.

“Ah, and we discover the Princesses weakness!’ Midnight said. Several foals also agreed with her decree, one siding with Midnight on mango being the best and others forming groups for vanilla and strawberry.

“T’would seem that civil unrest be on the horizon,” Twilight said with a serious tone.

“Then there is only one way to settle this debate,” Amy said as she levitated a scoop up. One loaded with chocolate ice cream.

“What is she doing?” Midnight suddenly realised that Amy might just go to war over the flavour of ice-cream.

“FOOD FIGHT!” Amy cheered as she lobbed the ice-cream at Midnight. Another scoop was already primed and firing at Twilight. The alicorn yelped and ducked as Midnight grabbed the foal on her side and ducked behind a table. Several foals cheered and soon the Great War commenced. The parents just shrugged and headed outside, mostly to discuss on how best to remove chocolate stains from their children’s coats.

Inside was pandemonium, ice cream of every flavour was being hurled and when Spike walked in, he had almost instantly been drafted to the Vanilla Confederate. Twilight was made general of the Strawberry Alliance and Midnight was leading the charge of the tiny, yet determined Mango State.

“For the Empire!” one foal on Amy’s side yelled and lobbed an orb of ice-cream, before receiving return fire.

“Take cover!” Amy cried as she opened up the back to the foals, to better shield them and hog all the ammo. Or it would have been, if Twilight hadn’t teleported all the ice-cream and divided it up evenly amongst the forces. Still, the counter would make for good cover, and Amy levitated their ammo along behind her.

After receiving an air drop from Twilight, Midnight and her lone foal looked at the ice-cream and shrugged, opting to hide behind their table and just snack on the stuff instead.

“For our King!” one foal cried out, and at Spike’s command, lobbed a massive ball of creamy goodness at Amy’s side. The thing impacted the sneeze guard and made a massive thunk, but didn’t get over the counter. Amy returned fire with all her foals, firing off a scoop of chocolate quite rapidly and in quick succession. It was a barrage of chocolate ice-cream.

“Nooooooo!” Spike’s army quickly fell to the barrage. It was total chaos, chocolate everywhere… twitching bodies…

“Harsh,” Midnight murmured as she ate, her little companion agreeing.

“And now all that remains is you!” Amy said as she got up and pointed a hoof dramatically at Twilight. “Prepare the double-fudge barrage!” she told the foals behind the counter.

“Uh, Princess?” one said and pointed at Twilight and her army. It was around then that Amy realised that all of the foals with the alicorn were Unicorn ones, and a strange light was filtering from the alicorn to them.

Magic boosting.

“Let howl, the dogs of war,” Twilight said as the strawberry blasts peppered Amy’s side relentlessly.

“Change of plans,” Amy said as she ducked back behind the counter. “We’re going to toss everything at them. All or nothing! You prep the boulder, and I’ll throw it at them!”

One foal rolled out a massive ball of chocolate and gave Amy a solemn look. “It is done your Highness. The chocolate to end all chocolate.”

“Ready,” Amy said as she lit her horn up, coating the ball in a similar pink glow. “Aim…” She peeked her head over the counter, getting a sight of where she wanted to fire the thing. “And FIRE!” And with that, she flung the boulder of chocolate towards the middle of Twilight’s group, hoping to take them all out at once.

Twilight’s eyes widened and she blasted it with her magic, except that all it did was cause the ball to explode and coat half the parlour in creamy goodness…

“Ah ha!” Amy said as she popped out from the counter again. “We are victorious this day!”

Until a foal teleported right behind her with a strawberry scoop. “For the true Princess,” she whispered and pelted Amy right in the back…

“Nooo!” Amy said, holding the crown up with one hoof. “It...is too late for me,” she gasped out. “Take my crown and continue the fight...I beg you…”

A hoof snatched the crown as a voice from above her sounded.

“Mango rules~” Midnight whispered from her place on the ceiling as she held the crown. “Winners by default!”

Amy couldn’t answer, she was pretending to be dead from ice-cream.

Ice cream dripped from the walls… the ceiling, pretty much everywhere really. Midnight returned the crown to Twilight, who was still trying to figure out how all this happened in the first place.

Note to self, never give Amethyst Cream royal privileges.

The door opened as a familiar Griffon and nymph poked their heads inside.

“What the hell happened here?” Chrysalis blinked.

“Hey! Language!” Amy said as she pointed a hoof at the nymph in the doorway. “There are foals here, you know!”

“Princess Amy’s alive!” her team cheered and buried her under a hug. Ace blinked as Chrysalis just facehooved.

“You appear to have had fun,” Ace chuckled as he stepped inside, careful to avoid the more… creamified areas.

“I’m not sure there’s words for what we did,” Amy said with a happy hum.

“I’d agree to that assessment,” Ace blinked as he looked around. “Uh… I hope the owners agreed to this chaos.”

“I’ll clean it up in half an hour, thanks to all this energy I’m getting,” Amy said. “They won’t know it ever happened. Except for needing to restock everything.”

“I’ll write an apology if that helps,” Twilight said, looking more chocolate than purple now. In fact everypony with the exception of Midnight and her friend were covered in ice-cream. Twilight looked at the Thestral and sighed. “How did you…?”

“It’s very hard to hit me,” Midnight giggled. “Okay Amy, I really like working here now.”

“Yay!” Amy said. “Okay colts and fillies. You’re going to need to wash up now. Can’t have you being mistaken for ice-cream by the next pony to walk in.”

“Yes Amy!’ they droned as Twilight tried her best to clean herself. Nope, this alicorn needed to soak to get all this out.

Midnight led the troops off to the bathroom as Ace shook his head and looked at his ice-cream coated mare. “What am I going to do with you?” he sighed.

“Wait for me to clean this place up, then take me home and lick me clean?” Amy suggested ‘innocently’.

“I can get on board with that,” Chrysalis agreed.

“Two horns are better than one,” the pink nymph pointed out.

“I don’t think I need to hear this,” Twilight groaned. “It’s bad enough that you used the living room of my castle…”

“I was talking about Chryssy using her horn to help me clean up this mess so we can get outta here sooner,” Amy said, beeping the silly alicorn with a hoof. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

"And here I thought you wanted Meta's horn instead," Chrysalis whispered into the nymphs ear before nibbling it.

“That too!” Amy chirped. “But we kinda need to clean up first, and then I can put in an order for refills, before we can get to any fun stuff.”

"I'll help clean the Princess," Midnight giggled and nibbled Twilight’s ear, causing her to shriek and push the bat away. It took a little while, but the parlour finally returned to some sense of normalcy. Having a few powerful magic users really helped out as well.

After a celebratory round of milkshakes, the bell rang as Two-Step wandered in and looked around. She saw Twilight and blinked.

"Trying out a new look?" She asked, noting her chocolate-stained coat.

"Something like that," Twilight nodded and the half-nymph turned to Amy.

"We're having a killer party at the club tonight," Two said. "To celebrate Sugar's getting married."

“Sugar got married?” Amy asked with wide eyes. “And she didn’t let me plan her wedding?”

"Eh, it was a spur of the moment thing," Two replied and nodded. "You can grill her about it when she gets back from her honeymoon."

“Oh don’t you worry, I will,” Amy said with a firm nod. “But Acey and Chryssy and me already have other plans for tonight, sorry.”

"Oh Holes, it won't be the same without you... but I guess it is kind of last minute..."

"Um," Midnight raised a hoof. "Who exactly did Sugar marry?"

"Well, Moondancer," Two-Step replied and Midnight looked away.

"O-Oh... of course..."

“Hey!” Amy said, sitting in front of Midnight and beeping her with a hoof that was still covered in ice-cream. “Don’t think I didn’t catch that!”

Midnight frowned and rubbed her nose. "Catch what? I'm perfectly happy for the pair of them. Why would I be down about Sugar marrying the pony I completely and utterly failed!!"

That was about when Amy hugged the thestral. “Shh, it wasn’t your fault,” the pink nymph whispered. “The only pony who could be blamed for it is gone now. And at least she’s still happy.”

"...Yeah," the bat nodded. She sighed and leaned into the hug. "Sugar better make her happy, or I'll bite her."

“Would that be a punishment, or a reward?” Two-Step asked, having heard about that particular ability of hers.

"Depends on where and when," Midnight giggled. "I once threatened to bite somepony while in a room full of Diamond Dogs."

“Sounds like a story for another time,” Two-Step commented. “Will you or any of your herd be joining in tonight’s...festivities?”

"Been a while since I've been to a party," Midnight nodded. "And I'm sure I can at least convince Scope and Sparkle to come along."

“The more the merrier,” the half-ling said as she smiled mischievously. Task complete, get cuddlebug for Sweet Dream. “I’m inviting all our regular members, and just generally anypony I can get my hooves on for this one.”

"Just make sure Middy isn't too wild," Amy warned her. "She's gonna be a Mommy soon... and if something happens to her..." All the warmth fled the room as the Pink mare left the threat open.

“I promise on my honor, that all the mares of the club will know better than to serve her anything alcoholic tonight,” Sugar vowed. “Anything beyond that is entirely up to her.”

"Good!" Amy chirped happily as Twilight rolled her eyes. She would go, if only to keep an eye on the Thestral. Plus it would be interesting to see a Changeling social event like this. She should stock up on quills and ink beforehoof.

"Well, see you tonight then," Midnight nodded.

“Mmhmm,” Two-Step said as she strutted out of the parlor.

“So who’s ready to help me get clean?” Amy asked with her eyes half-lidded as she looked in the direction of Acey and Chryssy.

"I feel as though we have little choice," Ace chuckled and Chrysalis nodded in agreement. She lifted Amy with her magic and carried her from the establishment, Ace shrugging and following them.

"Well, I guess that's that," Midnight said and ushered Twilight out, locking the door behind them once the building was vacated. "Shall we go and see the others? I'm sure they'd like to hear about your decision as well."

"Mhmm, I don't want Ledger spoiling the surprise," Twilight replied and with a flash of her horn, teleported the duo home.

"We're back!!" Midnight shouted as they appeared in the living room, right under Scope’s nest.

"Wah!" Scope said as she tumbled out of her cloud due to the surprise, landing on the ponies that had appeared out of nowhere.

“Ohh, it’s raining Scopeys,” Midnight giggled as she nuzzled the little ‘ling. “I could get used to weather like this.”

“Was there a reason for the pair of you to startle me?” Scope deadpanned as she didn’t fight the hug.

“Not really, I just figured I’d make the most of Princess Chocolight’s entrance,” Midnight giggled and the stained alicorn groaned and sighed.

“Oh har har,” she snarked. “I’m going to take a shower and pray this stuff actually comes out of my coat.”

“Hmm, I’m sure Scopey and I could come up with something,” Midnight said, licking her lips. “Would you like to help clean a delicious alicorn Scopey~?”

“After the date we had, I’d have to say she looks positively delicious,” Scope said, joining in the lip-licking as she looked at Twilight.

“Oh boy,” Twilight sweatdropped as she backed up a little. “Okay ladies, let’s not do anything tasty—Hasty!!”

“On three?” Midnight asked.

“Too much time for her to react,” Scope said, shaking her head. “Best to pounce now!” With that, the small ‘ling jumped from Midnight’s embrace and landed on the chocolate-coated alicorn.

“Gah!” Twilight yelped out in surprise as the cuddlebug latched onto her. Midnight giggled and pounced as well, the princess buckling under the weight of both ponies. She started to giggle as they licked at her fur, nibbling and biting…

“And I am back from the off- wow. Is it Friday night already? That’s normally the only time I see two mares licking a third.” The voice of Ledger cut through the air, carrying a tone of incredulity with it.

Midnight lifted her head and shrugged. “Just enjoying our little chocolate princess. You want in on this?”

“Don’t you dare!” Twilight yelled as Scope continued her attack.

“I can get behind that,” Ledger said as he took an open spot and started slowly licking the lavender pony. Almost teasingly. Twilight let out a moan and blushed, before her horn flashed and the three found themselves licking carpet.

“Awww,” Midnight pouted as she heard the shower start upstairs. Ledger spit out his unintended lick of carpet before turning to the mares still with him.

“Well, I don’t know about you two, but I’m still in the mood to lick something,” he offered.

Scope rubbed her chin...

~*~*~

Author's Note

Happy birthday to me! As a present, have an hour early.

Like the story? Consider dropping me and Aus a dollar on my Patreon. It's always appreciated.

Half of the money will not go to cake.

Chapter 77 - Party Shenanigans

Midnight had to hand it to Two-Step. She knew how to throw a party. There must have been at least a hundred or so ponies here and most of the city's Changeling population. A lot of them crowded the dancefloor, as DJ-PON3 herself blasted out some of her latest music. Midnight had thought that they arrived early... did she get the wrong time?

"Well, not too bad, not too bad at all huh?" Midnight whistled. Scope stayed close so she wouldn't get lost in the crowd.

“This doesn’t seem all that bad yet…” Ledger mused. “I’m still waiting for the other horseshoe to drop, though.”

"You're so paranoid," Midnight giggled as she looked around for their host. "Now, where do you suppose Steppy is?"

“MARES AND COLTS!” came a shout from the stage as Two-Step’s familiar form walked out holding a microphone.

“Found her,” Ledger deadpanned.

“GIVE IT UP FOR DJ-PON3!” The white unicorn raised a hoof and the crowd cheered, well, more like roared when she did. She dropped her hoof and the bass that came from her speakers shook the ground and made Ledger and Scope feel like their chitin was going to be shaken off.

“Aw yeah,” Two-Step said, not phased too badly. “Alright, just a coupla quick things tonight before we get started. First of all, this party is in honor of the Mistress of the Love Shack shackin’ up at last! Sugar Darling went and got hitched! Let’s give it up for her!”

There was another round of cheers as well as quite a few murmurs and whispers of disbelief. Sugar actually got married?

“Second, so we’re not havin’ this party under false pretenses.” Sugar cleared her throat and let the silence hang there for a moment. “Can all my fine ladies helping me see to all the ponies tonight do me the honor of showin’ them what you all really are?”

“Oh boy,” Ledger said, hanging his head. “And here’s where we get to stress-test the acceptance of the pony race…”

"There's no way..." Midnight whispered. "Is she really going to-"

Several violet flashes, then more, then more, answered that question. “That’s right, all of you are in a bona-fide Changeling rave!” And then, Two-Step dropped her disguise as well, showing off her natural form of a hybrid, shocking even Ledger into silence.

“Mom went off and got hitched, so that leaves me in charge! And when she’s away, I like to par-tay!”

"Ledger!" Twilight whispered. "What the hay is she?"

“A...hybrid,” Ledger whispered. “A cross between the two. I...I’ve never seen one before.”

"Huh, you didn't know?" Midnight shrugged. A few ponies had already run out the door in surprise and shock more than anything. "I figured that you knew about her being a half."

“I never saw her in anything but her pony form!” Ledger returned.

“Aww, some ponies don’t like the big, scary bugs?” Two-Step called after the retreating forms. “That’s okay, the rest of you get a round on me! Ladies, load up our house blend!”

About half a dozen changeling nymphs flitted around the bar, before revealing the barrels of Mood Setter, primed and ready for getting ponies drunk on alcohol and emotion.

"Well, this got interestin' real fast," Cider chuckled. "Ah reckon we're in for an interesting evening."

"Interesting is putting it lightly," Twilight agreed. She was sporting her cute-punk manestyle again while Cider had her usual twintails. Midnight opted for an elaborate bun and Scope... well Scope had decided to drop her disguise altogether.

“So relax!” Two-Step said. “We’re the nice bugs, we just want to have a good time with our pony pals. Have a drink, kick back. Oh, and PON3?” Here the half-ling looked up to the DJ booth. The dj quirked an eyebrow…

“Gimmie somethin’ to dance to. I get the feelin’ my stud is out here tonight, I wanna put on a show for him.” Vinyl grinned like a madmare as she spun her turntable as a steady beat dropped, a pulsating rhythm that she could... dance to.

“Awwww yeah, that’s the stuff. And with the announcements outta the way, mares and colts, the first Changeling Rave of Las Pegasus is officially on!” Two-Step tossed the mic behind her, and a nymph caught it before it could hit the floor. The half-ling stepped up to one of the poles on-stage, and began putting on the best show she could.

Where are you, Jonny-boy…. She thought to herself as she started her routine. Midnight found herself watching the show, torn over the fact that a hot mare was dancing like that, but it was also Sugar's daughter.

"Being aroused shouldn't be so damned confusing," Midnight muttered as she tore her eyes away and headed for the bar. Aw dammit! She couldn’t even drink...

"I regret everything!" She pouted as she thunked her head onto the bar top.

“Come on,” Ledger said, having followed after her once she headed to the bar. “Twilight, Cider, and Scope should have found a table by now, I’ll see if I can’t give you a little something during this party.”

"Fine," Midnight replied and followed him. The others found a booth table, one that had been reserved for them in advance by Two-Step.

"Wasn't expecting this," Scope said as they showed up. "And what has the Mistress in the dumps?"

“The fact that she can’t drink, but I can think of a way to get her some form of drunk,” Ledger said. “It’ll be interesting if it works. Probably temporary and with no real hangover, but we’ll see how this turns out.”

"You have an experiment in mind?" Twilight asked with a hint of interest.

“Mmhmm,” Ledger said, licking his lips. “Twilight, in our house, what do you think I primarily feed on? What emotion is most prevalent around me?”

"Knowledge yes?" The alicorn shrugged. "Or more like those 'aha' moments, for lack of a better word."

“That is what I like to feed on, and I no longer have to go to the library to get any. But with Midnight sitting right here, the answer is actually something quite different.” Ledger just smiled and waited for the alicorn to draw the connecting lines.

"...Lust," she eventually replied, hoping she hadn’t just offended the Thestral.

“Correct!” Ledger said...before turning to Midnight and giving back some of the bounty he’d had during their moment before the party. In one massive kiss. She hummed into the kiss, feeling at least a little more energised. And it also gave her an idea... a wonderful, terrible idea~

“I have no idea how much Lust I actually have stored away inside of me,” Ledger said once the kiss broke. “Nor do I know how much this party will generate. But I will do my best to see my little bat Lust-drunk if at all possible tonight.”

"You wanna generate some Lust huh?" Audio Erotica, thy name is Midnight. She smiled widely as she dredged up every perverted thought she could think of... but rather than thinking of Ledger, she just sat there. Twilight and Cider couldn't really see anything besides the bat just sitting there...

But to a Changeling? It was like an ocean of Lust and Love just pouring from her…

And normally, the Changelings seeing to the party would have taken that for the bounty it was, but Two-Step had given them very specific orders tonight. These were special guests, and barring the Thestral, they were to be given everything they wanted. And they were always supposed to ask first. Hay, they were supposed to ask first anyways.

Still, they did attract about a thousand percent more glances in their direction as the nymphs silently jockied as to who would be their server tonight...

Midnight looked around and noticed a few glances, but not much else.

"Well that was a bust," the Thestral sighed.

Scope was trying very hard not to cream herself in her seat. Being at the epicenter of that was...

"S-Some warning....haah, would have been nice," she panted.

“And I’m not going to be able to get up from my seat for about ten minutes,” Ledger agreed. He’d been living with Midnight for longer, he was used to it. Mostly. She tended to abuse that power of hers when she was horny and wanting him ready now.

"Well, two ain't bad I guess," the Thestral shrugged. Twilight looked at the two Changelings and blinked. Living with Midnight must have been...

"How are you two still alive?"

“I counter with, how could we ever live without Midnight now?” Ledger said, sighing softly. “Mmmnope, this is just not going down.”

"Need a hoof?" Scope asked as she stared at him and a disguise flickered across her form like the blink of an eye, one of a yellow-eyed nymph.

“Yeep!” Ledger said. “Okay, it’s dead, please stop looking like her. Please.”

"Well I'm not sure you'd have wanted the alternative," Scope said as she turned back to normal. “Nor would the Violets have wanted to clean that up so early in the evening."

“You’d be surprised,” Ledger deadpanned. “I did pay a visit to the Violet Hive, remember. I heard...things. All sorts of descriptions. And boasts. And brags.”

"Well then how about we get Mistress to do that thing again and then call a few of those nymphs over hmm?"

"Scope, stop whoring out our stallion," Cider admonished her.

“One of them did say it wasn’t a party unless all the private rooms were full,” Ledger mused. “I don’t even know where we’d find that here…”

"Ledger, stop thinking about expanding our herd fer the evening," Cider sighed. "Honestly, this is why ah like you Twilight, yer the only one that uses their head instead of-"

"Says the mare that seduced a taken stallion," Midnight retorted and Cider snorted, folding her forelegs.

"Um, what?" Twilight blinked in confusion. Were they fighting now?

“Mares,” Ledger sighed. “Don’t make me intervene. You’re both wonderful, but I would not play fair and you know it.”

"Dammit," Midnight and Cider swore. Scope looked around and blinked.

"Hey, isn't weird that nopony... or nobuggy has come to serve us yet?"

“Oh, that’s just cause I had to scare off everybuggy else before I could get to you!” A voice said. A voice from Scope’s nightmares. A voice of a nymph who loved cuddling with other nymphs. The voice of Sweet Dream. “But now that I’m here, I can cuddle you, snuggle-buddy!” A grinning, nearly psychotically so, Violet nymph, was waiting their table now.

"Oh sweet Hives!!" Scope yelped as she dove behind Twilight. "I have a Princess and I'm not afraid to use her!"

“I’ll say,” Ledger said in a salacious tone. “It’s always entertaining when you do.”

"You are not helping!" Scope pointed at him.

"You're just using me?" Twilight’s bottom lip quivered and the tiny nymph groaned and facehooved.

“Come over here, Twilight, I at least appreciate you,” Ledger said, raising the foreleg that Midnight wasn’t attached to. Twilight scooted over, leaving Scope wide open....

“Aha!” Sweet Dream said as she scooped up Scope. “Now you are mine!”

"Ahh, got off me," Scope tried shoving her away. "Shouldn't you be fetching our drinks like a good little servant?"

“I’ll get to them in a minute,” Sweet said as she just hugged the smaller nymph close. “I missed you,” she cooed, enjoying Scope’s presence.

"The feeling is far from mutual," Scope muttered. Midnight giggled as she sat closer to them.

"Oh?" She said in a husky whisper, her hoof trailing down Dream’s leg. "I am ever so thirsty though~"

“Mmm, fine, I suppose it’s technically my job to see to your drink needs,” Sweet said, still not letting go of Scope. “But we’re under orders, miss Song. No alcohol for you. We do have a drink we think you’ll like, though…Had to bribe Amy to get it made properly.”

"Amy had something to do with it." Midnight tilted her head. When she did, she noticed someone familiar in the crowd. Well, he stood out quite a bit actually.

"Hey Jonny-boy!!" She shouted over the music. The griffon turned and looked at them, before his eyes widened in surprise and he slowly started backing up. Apparently he was still treating them with all the care of a bomb about to go off.

"Now that is just rude," Midnight pouted and saw Two-Step sneaking up behind him. She smiled and waved, keeping his attention while she pounced.

“Ack!” Jonathan said as he bucked around a little, trying to get a better view of his attacker instinctively.

"Enjoy the show big boy~" she breathed huskily into his ear.

“...Two-Step? That you?” he asked, calming down a touch. Just a touch. The last time this mare had pounced him, hoofcuffs had come out. She looked at her chitinous hooves and realised he didn't know about this aspect of her.

"Eheh, surprise?"

“I didn’t realize you were this special when we met,” he muttered. “And do you really think I would have not slept with you if I knew?”

"You'd be surprised," she said softly as she let him go. "Genetics huh... what can you do?" She gave a nervous chuckle.

“Honesty helps,” Jonathan said. “If I recall right, you’ve got private rooms at this shindig, yeah? Let’s use one to be honest with each other. Any question you or I have.”

"The only question I have is how hard can you give it~" She was seriously turned on right now.

“Yeah, well, I have a few more, so you’re gonna have to wait to get that answer. So come up with some other ones.” With that and directions from a friendly nymph, Jonathan took the hostess of the party up to ‘party’.

Midnight smiled, having overheard that conversation. Good for her, she seems to have found someone nice... even if he was really rude to Midnight.

"So, I wonder how this party will go now the hostess is gone?" The Thestral wondered as Scope escaped Dream's grasp and now used Cider as a meatshield.

“We all have our orders,” Sweet Dream said with a smile. “Keep the party going until everypony and everybuggy is full of something.”

“Yeah, that sounds about normal for a Violet party,” Ledger said with a sigh.

"Good thing you got your fill already hmm?" Twilight winked and nudged him. Her 'Background Pony' spell seemed to be working as well. Nopony noticed the alicorn at all.

“Then you can get seconds!” Sweet Dream chirped. “Now, who here wants the house brew?”

"Ah'll admit that ah'm a might curious to see what ya'll have done," Cider nodded and smiled.

"You better not try anything funny," Scope warned her.

“All I want is to cuddle you~” Sweet cooed. “But no, I promise I will not alter the house brew in any way, shape, or form.”

"Yes, but you're not saying how far you'll go to get hugs," Scope deadpanned. “Well, make our night enjoyable and I might consider it."

“I’ll take that as a second order!” Sweet said with a smile and a nod.

“Three,” Ledger said, pitching in his own order. “I’m gonna test it myself. Just one mug.”

“Can do!” Sweet said before looking at Twilight. “And you?”

"Um, I'll just have water thankyou," the princess responded.

“Aww, okay,” Sweet said. “And we have the thing Amy helped us make for you Middy, so I have all your orders! Back in a bit~” With that, she was off.

"Okay, so what's her deal with Treasure?" Twilight asked, the small nymph huffing and folding her forelegs. She was still keeping Cider close by, in case that mental nymph tried a sneak attack.

“No clue,” Ledger said, looking at Midnight. “What about you?”

Midnight looked at Scope, who shrugged and waved a hoof. The Thestral nodded and looked at Twilight and Ledger. "She's the one that, ah... deprogrammed little Scope. She hasn't quite figured out how to let go."

“...Well, that’s more explanation than I thought I’d get,” Ledger said before looking at Twilight. “Especially when you consider how they might have done that.”

"Do I want to know?" Twilight asked slowly.

"No, no you do not," Scope muttered. "Now you know, drop it and never bring it up again."

“Dropping,” Ledger said before looking out over the crowd. “How long do you think it’ll take-”

“And here we are!” Sweet Dream said, appearing out of almost nowhere. Something on her tray smelled delicious to Midnight.

"Bloody hell!" Scope leapt back. She hadn’t been focusing and the mare had snuck up quite effectively.

Midnight stared at the tray, her mouth open slightly. "I. Smell. Mangoes~"

“Mmhmm, we needed something to serve you tonight and asked Amy for a good idea, and she whipped up a few Mango Milkshakes,” the nymph said, sliding a tall glass of the stuff over to Midnight. “And the water for the boring one,” Sweet Dream said, sliding Twilight her drink. “Which leaves the house special for the rest of you! You all take those slow, otherwise it’ll sneak up on you.”

"Psh, who do ya'll think yer talkin' to," Cider scoffed as Twilight stared at her glass of water.

"I'm... boring?" she said softly and sniffed. Ledger leaned over and softly kissed her cheek.

“To them you are, but you don’t have to prove anything to me. Drink or not, I’ll love you regardless,” the drone whispered into her ear. Twilight nodded and sipped her water as Midnight took a long drink from her mango milkshake.

She paused as her fluffy ears gave a cute little wiggle and she hummed delightedly. Ledger smirked, happy to see his bat was happy, before he raised his glass of the house brew towards the others. “To a wonderful evening,” he said. “Spent in wonderful company.”

"Cheers!" They all chimed and raised their own glasses. Ledger did his best to knock his against the others before downing a sip of the…

Oh. Oh now that was something all right. Oh, it was like a miniature bit of Midnight, all on his tongue. Which was also a fun way to spend an afternoon~

Midnight watched his expression and smiled. Twilight knew as well, having sampled the drink in the past, a venture that nearly led to her ruining Ledger’s office with him.

"Not bad," Cider hummed as she knocked back the whole glass and smacked her lips. "Not bad at all."

“Mmm,” Ledger said, stopping halfway. “No, no it isn’t...but now I’m hungry for a kiss.” And without further ado, he kissed Twilight on the cheek.

"Now look at what you've done," Twilight sighed and looked at Dream. "And he's insatiable on a good day."

“Now think about how many unprepared ponies are going to be drinking this,” Dream giggled mischievously. “This is why we throw raves with free alcohol~”

"This can't end well," Midnight said and looked around. "I suddenly wonder what would happen if I tried my trick again in an hour or so?"

“It probably wouldn’t be noticed by then,” Sweet said with another giggle. “Three rooms are taken already~”

"But... it's been like, a half hour," Twilight gaped and Scope sighed, raising her hoof.

"Mares and snarkycolt, I give you the Violets."

“Charmed,” Sweet said, taking a small bow. “We do try. The emotional harvest alone is going to set us for the rest of the year, easy.”

"It's too bad Steppy is already busy," Midnight said and rubbed her belly. "I bet Ledger has a bunch of questions seeing as our own halfbreed is coming along."

“Aaah, and that would be why she said no alcohol for you,” Dream said. “Well, I can pass a message along when she’s less busy, if you’d like.”

"Just that we're here if she wants to say hi," Midnight replied.

Scope frowned and watched Dream from the corner of her eye. She still didn't trust her much. But at least she seemed to be keeping her word so far...

Ledger downed the rest of his drink and gave Twilight another kiss, this one more of a full muzzle affair as he invaded her mouth with his suddenly thestral tongue.

"What the heck is he doing?" Dream asked. Midnight looked at the couple and sighed.

"Thinking he can one up me at a game I invented," she mused. "And it looks like he needs a refill already."

Ledger used his tongue to surround and squeeze Twilight’s lightly, kissing her deeply but not invasively. She moaned lightly into the kiss, tasting the drink on his tongue. Once he finally broke it, she licked her lips and smiled.

"Not too bad, I'll give it a six."

“Mmm,” Ledger said, pulling her into a hug. “Let’s see if I can’t get that up a little higher.” With that, he was back to holding the mare close and invading her mouth with his tongue.

“Well, I can see he’s taken to the drink well,” Sweet said before looking at Cider and Scope. “What about you two?”

"What about us?" Cider shrugged. "Yer drink is tasty, but it packs about as much buck as a kitten."

"And I live with Midnight," Scope shrugged, plus she had only taken a sip of the drink.

"Finished," Midnight declared, showing off her empty cup. "I'd thank Steppy for thinking of me like this, but I guess you'll have to do." She reached over and grabbed Dream, introducing the mare to a real Thestral kiss.

Ledger growled a little before he did his best to copy what Midnight had occasionally done to him with Twilight. He wouldn’t be bested in this, and he just knew that was what Middy was up to.

Midnight purred as she poured a little extra Lust into her kiss, before breaking it with a lewd pop.

"Mmm, still as tasty as ever," she hummed.

Ledger, not to be outdone and having felt that, poured more than a little Lust into his kiss before breaking it, panting heavily as he finally released Twilight. The alicorn groaned from all the attention as she moved back from Ledger and floated Scope in between them.

"Phew," she panted. "I think one drink is more than enough for you."

“Aww,” the drone whined. “But I have so much more to give you…”

"I'll bet," Twilight sighed and facehooved. She looked over at Sweet Dreams. "Are you okay? Not many survive Midnight like that."

“I’ll live,” Sweet said. “Somehow.”

Midnight sniffled, then… started crying?

“Whaaa! I’m so stupid!” she wailed as she thunked her head on the table. “I kissed another random pony…”

Ledger did his best to comfort her with small kisses and a gentle hoof stroking her mane. She was so happy a moment ago…

“Why would anypony love me?” she sniffed. “First I kiss your dad, now some random nymph… I’m the worst pony ever…”

“You’re just very open with your love,” Ledger said. “And that’s not a bad thing. We just need to work on your enthusiasm around ponies that aren’t us.”

“Yeah…” Midnight sniffled again. Scope just shrugged and sighed.

“I don’t see what the big deal is. It’s a harmless kiss. It’s not like you’re going out and bucking them, or marrying them. Yet you are with us, so it’s pretty easy to tell who you love more.”

“As crude as that was, ah’d have to agree,” Cider nodded.

“Plus I’ve learned trying to stop you from being you is about as pointless as asking Celestia to stop raising the sun,” Ledger said. He got a brief moment to breathe, before Midnight pulled him into a deep and loving kiss. One he was shocked by for a moment, before he returned it as enthusiastically as he could.

“You all sure you don’t need a room?” Sweet Dream asked as she just watched.

“Trust me, ah reckon they’ll at least save that for when we get home… ah think,” The apple mare tapped her chin. Midnight’s mood was all over the place right now.

“Perhaps another round of those mango drinks,” Scope suggested. “And one more of those Mood Setter’s for me. They’re kind of yummy.”

“One mango for Midnight, when she stops feasting on Ledgy’s face, and a Mood Setter for the cuddlebug,” Sweet said before looking at Cider. “Anything you wanna order?”

“Ah reckon a hard cider might be nice,” the mare nodded and looked at Twilight.

“Yes, a cider sounds lovely,” the princess agreed. “Something that won’t mess with my emotions…”

“Aww, fine, we’ve got plenty of regular hard cider as well,” Sweet said. “And it won’t be hard to tell them apart either, promise! Just shine a light on ‘em if you’re unsure!” With that, the nymph was off again.

“I still think she’s up to something,” Scope muttered as she looked at Midnight. “And how long are you going to lick his tonsils for anyway?”

Midnight pulled back with a slight pop and smiled. “Mmm, kissing is fun. Your turn!” she grabbed the nymph and proceeded to make out with her in front of everyone else, the struggling changeling unable to push her off.

“Hmmm, I kinda want to keep kissing, myself,” Ledger mused as his gaze fell on Twilight and Cider. “Who should I kiss?...Trick question, I’ve already kissed Twilight tonight!” With a pounce, Ledger fell on Cider and started kissing her.

“Mmph!” Cider was caught off guard as Twilight sat there and rolled her eyes before sipping on her water some more.

“The main problem with there being an odd number of ponies,” she said idly. She didn’t know anypony in this club, well, aside from a few that were all occupied anyway. So she just waited patiently for the rest of her herd to be done being silly.

Eventually Ledger came up for air and slid up next to Twilight. “Hello pretty mare~” he cooed to her.

“Oh no, you’ve had enough of this pretty mare for the time being,” she said as she put a hoof on his chest to keep him at bay.

“He’s...hah, really, really affectionate when he’s liquored up,” Cider explained. “That’s whut led to the herd thing in the first place.”

“Awkward to begin with, but now here we are,” Midnight said as she finally released Scope from her face-munching.

“Oooh, I haven’t kissed you yet Scopey~” Ledger cooed.

Scope smiled and waited a moment, and just as Sweet Dream got back to the table, she responded. “You’ve kissed me plenty today, just not on this set of lips~”

“Sounds like fun I shoulda seen,” Sweet said as she laid out the drinks. “Two hard ciders, a Mood-Setter, and another mango milkshake.”

“Whoohoo!” Midnight cheered, already happy again as she sipped at her delicious drink. Scope shrugged and sipped at her own.

“So, what prompted Sugar to suddenly get married?” Twilight asked, causing Midnight to cough into her glass.

“Beats me, I’m not the boss’s daughter, I’m not privy to all the details in her life. Although...I was present for their lack of ceremony…” Sweet said, laying the bait out for them.

“Lack of ceremony?” Midnight said slowly. “She didn’t even give my Moonie a proper ceremony!?”

“Just dragged her to the city clerk and recorder and got their marriage license,” Sweet affirmed with a nod. “Said she was too good to let go of, and wanted to hold onto her as long and hard as she could.”

“I will… be having words with that Changeling,” Midnight growled as she sipped at her drink. It’d be quite menacing if it wasn’t for the slurping sounds coming from her straw.

“Oh, by the way,” Sweet said with a smile. “Passed your message along to Two-Step. She said she might be done soon, so look forward to seeing her.”

“Yay~” Midnight clapped her hooves joyfully as Scope decided it would be best to ignore the mare with the emotional roulette wheel tonight.

“I think I’m going to need something stronger,” she muttered at her glass.

“Especially once Twilight starts poking and prodding her,” Ledger said with a snicker, now recovered from his emotional imbalance and only a little extra affectionate.

“I’ll poke and prod you,” Scope muttered back, then realised how that sounded and groaned. “You know what, let’s dance. I feel like dancing, who wants to dance?”

“The only dance steps I know are for formal balls and the like,” Ledger admitted with a sheepish expression. “I’d probably make a fool of myself out there.”

“Ohh, lemme teach you then!” Midnight said and dragged him out onto the dance floor. Unfortunately for Scope… that left her wide open again.

“Oh dammit,” she muttered as she stared at Dream. The expectant look in her eyes was almost painful to look at. “Urgh! Fine. You get one dance. ONE!”

“I woulda gone for hugs, but yay for dancing!” Sweet said as she all but dragged her cuddle-buddy out to the floor.

“Ah reckon that leaves us,” Cider nodded and held out a hoof to Twilight. “Will mah princess do me the honor of this dance?”

“Of course,” Twilight giggled and took her hoof as the two moved out to the dance floor as well.

Meanwhile, Midnight was standing in front of Ledger, showing him a few movements with her hooves. “So you see, when I move like this, you move like so…”

“Doesn’t seem that complex,” he muttered. “Far easier than teleporting, that’s for sure.”

“Well, I wouldn’t know about that, but it’s easier than flying,” Midnight nodded as she moved close to him. “Not really the song for slow dancing, but baby steps right?”

“I can learn a new style of dancing if it means I get to dance with you,” Ledger said. “So, what does my instructor recommend?”

“Well, let’s practise those steps first, then work on making them a bit faster… and what the hell is that?” She stared past him at an Earth Pony, and the Alicorn in front of her that looked like she was having some kind of seizure.

“Whatever it is, we shouldn’t stare. Otherwise we’ll be in trouble later,” Ledger said, barely managing to tear his eyes away. “Okay, practice. I can practice.” Ledger started off with the steps she’d taught him.

“Good, good, just like that,” Midnight smiled as she followed his steps. She placed her neck over his as she moved her hooves. He had surprisingly not stepped on hers yet and she smiled. “Ohh, somepony’s a natural at this~”

“Like I said, I got some dance instruction when I was younger. I don’t know what was worse. Learning with my mom, or my sister.”

“Aww, that would have been adorable,” Midnight cooed. “And, you know you’re going to have to dance with all of us at the wedding right? It’s tradition for the married couple to share the first waltz of the evening.”

“Won’t that be interesting, having all five of us dance,” Ledger joked. “Unless we all took turns, it would probably be an exercise in planning to rival even Twilight’s skills...speaking of, how’s she doing?”

Midnight peered over his shoulder and stifled a giggle. Cider had started to join in on her spastic dance, as did several other patrons. She did a small twirl, so Ledger could get a look as well.

“Owch,” Ledger said as he did his best to continue the twirl so that neither of them were staring directly at the event horizon. “I’m sure somepony will stop it before it gets too out of hoof.”

“Hopefully,” Midnight giggled as she picked up their pace a little. She used her wings to twirl Ledger and have him a take a step back before she brought him closer. It was also around then he realised he was the mare in this dance.

“Oh you-” Ledger said before he turned it on her as best as he could, giving Midnight a twirl...with a little help from his magic. “I admit that I don’t know how to lead, but you could instruct me instead of shunting me into another role!”

“Sorry, I got a little carried away,” Midnight giggled as she rubbed his nose with hers. She saw Scope and Dream, the latter doing less dancing and more hugging as the petite nymph just rolled her eyes. “Okay, we’re gonna start going a little faster—” Well she was going to, until PON-3 switched to a slower song that suddenly had couples up and dancing. “Or not…”

“Oooh, do I get to dredge up my old dancing instructions?” Ledger asked with raised eyebrows. “I can totally do that!”

“Please do,” Midnight giggled. “Let’s see what you got lover-boy.”

“Okay,” Ledger said, as he did his best to remember the ballroom dancing his mother had instructed him in...and then have him practice with his sister. Without all the embarrassing bits. “I think I have it,” he muttered as he started to lead.

“Don’t think I’m not going to ask for the details later,” Midnight giggled as she followed his lead. He was still pretty good though, not quite as good as some mares and stallions she’d danced with. But he loved her and she loved him, and that made it all the more special.

“Yup, and now I’m going to do something to stop this,” Ledger said as he began leading her directly to Twilight and Cider. “Hope you don’t mind being passed off, but I have a Princess to instruct.”

“Ah, to be handed down for a newer model, such is my shame,” Midnight sighed dramatically as she sashayed across the floor and scooped up Cider. “Come dance with me, my sweet apple princess.”

“Whut the?” Cider blinked at the theatrics as she was taken away by Midnight.

“And you, are going to get some proper dancing instructions, princess purple,” Ledger said as he took hold of Twilight and finally held her still. The alicorn blinked and looked at him, a little surprised at his sudden appearance.

“And what’s wrong with my dancing?” she asked. This was one of those moments, where there was only one right answer and the others would probably land him some alone time on the couch.

Unfortunately, Ledger took the Brutal Honesty route. “I could weaponize your dancing. I could put an entire army of Changelings in the hospital just by letting you dance in sight of them. They would be dying of laughter. However, I can help you fix that if you’ll let me.”

“You’re horrible,” she sniffed and gave him the mother of all pouts. A weapons-grade stare that could have turned even the foulest demons into a whimpering mess.

“I call it like I see it,” Ledger said honestly, having experienced this look more than once from her. Specifically, when she asked to see his book. “However, I had a very patient mother to instruct me in dances, especially ballroom dancing. If you would follow my lead…”

Twilight frowned but did as he asked. “Fine…” she pouted. Ledger kept it simple so she could keep mirroring his movements and not misstep. He’d get into things like twirling and dipping when she was more competent. About a year or so.

She stepped on his hooves once or twice, but she at least seemed to be able to follow along with him. Ledger just smiled and put up with her. He’d had worse from his sister. He still didn’t believe that all those ‘accidents’ were that.

“You’re a pretty good dancer,” Twilight nodded. “Who taught you?”

“Like I said, my mom,” Ledger answered. “I used to be terrible, but, thank goodness for exoskeletons. I eventually passed her tutelage, and my reward was to teach my sister.”

“Oh, oh my,” Twilight giggled. She hadn’t met this sister of his yet, but Midnight and Scope had told her a few stories. “That must have been… awkward.”

“We were still in our not-getting-along with each other phase. So there were more than a few accidents. Partially because she never followed my lead unless mom chastised her enough. And probably because we’re mostly opposites.” Ledger wondered when this slow dance was going to end. Mostly because he still didn’t know a fast one for when it did.

The song eventually did come to an end and the DJ resumed her more usual upbeat songs. Some of the couples left the floor after that and Twilight wiped her brow.

“Phew, that made me a little thirsty. Wanna take a break?”

“I can do that,” Ledger said as he began to lead her to their table. Once they got there, Twilight snared one of the drinks in her magic and hastily gulped it down… before she licked her lips and hummed.

“Hmm, this cider tastes a little… fruity.”

“Oh?” Ledger asked, curious despite himself. He’d already had his maximum tonight. Any more and he’d probably get more than a little touchy with the mares. Well, more than he had been, at least.

She floated the other glass over to him and nodded. Ledger put up a hoof and tried to decline. “Ah, no, I probably shouldn’t…”

“Well, if you say so,” Twilight said as she put the glass down. “Just be careful and remain hydrated. You did have quite the workout before coming here after all~”

“True, but alcohol wouldn’t help,” Ledger said, beeping her muzzle. “It’d just dry me out more.”

“True *hic*,” Twilight replied and giggled. “Heehee, you’re cute Levvy~”

“Glad you think so,” Ledger said as he drew her in for a hug. “I find you pretty attractive as well.”

“Mmm,” she trailed a hoof along his chest and hiccuped again. “Maybe we should find a room, and I’ll show you how attractive I can be~”

“Already?” Ledger asked with a raised eyebrow. “Didn’t I just see to you in the shower?”

“Is that a...no~?” Twilight purred, her lips grazing against his.

“This is more me wondering where this came from,” Ledger returned. “Hives know I’ll never turn down more time with you mares. I just wanna know what you’re thinkin’ here, Twilight.”

“Hmm, I’m thinking… I’m thinking… heehee, thinking is overrated!” She kissed him and he could taste the Mood Setter on her tongue.

Oh buck. Ledger wasn’t one for sleeping with a mare when she wasn’t in her right mind, so he decided to do what Changelings do best, and fed on her unbalanced emotions, trying to draw the extra Lust and Happiness from her into himself. Yeah, it’d be like if he drank it instead if it worked, but they could deal with him a lot better than he could deal with a crying mare.

Twilight took a step back as she felt the fog on her mind dissipate. She shook her head and blinked. “Urgh, wait, what?”

“Heh,” Ledger said, blinking a few times as he felt his emotions start to be unbalanced again. “Silly Twilight, drinking the Violet’s drink…”

“Ohh, I did?” Twilight looked at the empty glass. “Hmm, guess it didn’t affect me as much as last time… why are you looking at me like that?”

“Cause all that lust hadta go somewhere, and now I’m thinking of getting a room and giving it back to you,” Ledger growled.

“Oh my,” Twilight blushed as Midnight, Cider and Scope returned, the latter being carried by Dream though.

“What’s going on here?” the Thestral asked.

“Just Ledger’s Lust getting a teensy bit out of control,” Twilight replied.

“Gonna take you up to a room and buck the hell outta you,” the drone said as he tried to get close enough to Twilight to kiss her.

“See what I mean?” she said, trying to push him back. Midnight blinked at his sudden aggressiveness and then whapped him upside the head with a wing.

“Ledger. Sit!”

“I’ll get to you in a bit,” he returned, before trying for Twilight again. “Gonna make princess bookworm feel loved again.”

“I feel plenty loved,” Twilight replied, now using her magic to keep him still. “This is my fault really. I drank one of those weird drinks and Ledger absorbed all the emotion I got from it…”

“Oh, well fixing that is easy,” Scope said as she drew a little Lust from him. “Hey Dream, free Lust.”

“Yup, it’d be best to stop him before he got too much out of control, though he is still gonna be a happy little bug for a while,” Sweet Dream said as she started to help. Within thirty seconds, Ledger was blinking and looking around confused.

“What happened?” he asked, not sure why everypony was staring at him.

“You turned into a… what’s the word?” Midnight tapped her chin.

“A Changeling version of an aggressive Midnight,” Twilight responded, as Midnight poked her tongue out at her.

“Oh. Sorry about that,” he said, hugging Twilight at long last. “Mmm, this feels good,” he said, murmuring into the embrace.

“As long as that’s all you’re planning,” Twilight sighed. “And this is why I do not drink.”

“Yeah, leave it to the professionals,” Cider chuckled and downed her glass. “Pwah! Now that’s some good cider.”

“Mmm...Middy, come join our hug,” Ledger asked the batpony. He was apparently very happy right now. The bat giggled and smothered them both with a hug as Scope rolled her eyes, having ninja’d her way out of Dream’s grasp.

“I wonder if this is what Two-Step had in mind for her party?” she mused. Just then, Sweet Dream’s horn lit up, and she smirked before looking at the party of ponies.

“If you want a room, better get one fast. Only five left,” she informed them. “And that’s not counting Two-Step’s, she may be on her way to talk, but she’s gonna use that room again afterwards.”

“I think we’ll be fine,” Twilight groaned. “Is it always like this when you lot go out?”

“Violets don’t consider it a party unless there’s sex on the dance floor before the night is over,” Ledger answered automatically. “So no, but it may end up worse before the night is over.”

“I believe Two-Step's words were ‘City-wide orgy,’” Sweet Dream filled in. “I doubt we’ll get that, but she has her sights set high.”

“Unbelievable,” Twilight sighed. “You do realise that there are public decency laws in place yes?”

“I tried telling her that, but she was of the opinion that ‘the more guests, the merrier,’” Sweet Dream said. “And she’s getting preeeeetty close now, so I’m just gonna cut out before she hears me badmouthing her.” With that, Sweet vanished, though not without blowing a kiss to Scope.

Scope shuddered and glared at the nymph, but she’d already vanished. “I seriously need to watch my ass around her. I get the feeling she’d gobble it up.”

“Nuhuh, only I can gobble my little Scopey,” Midnight said, moving from hugging Ledger to hugging her instead. Cider patted the seat next to her, seeing as Ledger was now empty-hooved of mares. Something he rectified with another pounce, cuddling his sweet mare.

“Well, how can I help my honored guests?” the voice of Two-Step came from the front of the table. The half-ling, half-mare had appeared when most of them weren’t looking.

“Steppy!” Midnight cried, letting go of Scope to hug the new nymph. She sniffed and her eyes twinkled. “Hmm, you smell like you’ve been having fun~”

“And fun will only wait for so long before it comes out to find me and I lose the room, so while I’d like to hurry, what’s up?” the half-ling asked.

“Not much really, we just wanted to say hi to the mare that actually invited us,” Midnight nodded, not releasing her hug. “And what’s up with you and Jonny-boy? Aside from looking super-cute together~”

“He’s a pretty good lay, and a pretty understanding one too,” Two-Step answered. “Now all I hafta do is make him want to stay, and I might get myself a permanent plaything~ Especially now that I can be myself in company.”

“Always a bonus,” Scope nodded. “Still, wasn’t expecting you to be a halfer. That was quite a shock huh Ledge?”

“I only heard about them in the Orange Hive, I never saw one,” Ledger agreed.

“Oooh, he’s well traveled as well as well read,” Two-Step purred. “You have yourselves a fine catch here, mares...maybe I could borrow him for round two?...”

“Yeah, somehow I can’t see us agreeing that that,” Cider replied and Twilight nodded.

“Meh, only if I get to watch,” Scope nodded and looked at the mares staring at her. “What, it’s not like she wants to marry him.”

“Nope, got enough mare trouble in my life as it is,” Ledger said with a shake of his head as he nuzzled Cider. “Don’t need to go out looking for more.”

“Aww, pity,” Two-Step said. “So how are you all enjoying the party so far?”

“Aside from a few hiccups,” Twilight smiled and then frowned at her empty glass. “It’s quite lively. Though, a little… risque for my liking.”

“I think it’s fun,” Midnight nodded and smiled.

“Happy to hear that!” Two-Step chirped. “But if you don’t mind, I just got word my bit of fun is starting to stir. I’m gonna go make sure he doesn’t wander out of the room. Toodles!” With that, the hostess was gone as quickly as she’d appeared.

“Ah, so much for asking her about halflings,” Midnight shrugged. “Ah well, next time perhaps.”

“So whut now?” Cider asked, leaning against Ledger.

“Well,” Ledger said, finally re-balanced. “We can either stick around and keep dancing until the party devolves into that orgy she was after, or get a room ourselves if one is still open just to wait out the craziness.”

“Ohh, how about we order some food and have a little private group date?” Midnight suggested. “We get a room for a little quiet and just have some fun.”

“Not a bad idea,” Ledger said, letting Cider go at last. “I’ll go get the room and stand outside it for you mares, you all can order what you want. If I don’t go now, we might not get any room at all.”

“I hope they’re soundproofed,” Midnight said as she and Twilight went to order food. “The last thing we need is hearing others go at it.”

“That… sound so odd hearing you say that,” Twilight giggled, earning a flat stare from Midnight.

“Hey, I can be serious if I want to.”

“Oh yeah?” Twilight smirked and leaned in close. “Prove it. For the rest of the night, you can’t do anything pervy.”

“Hmm, what’s in it for me?”

“I’ll do whatever you want, whenever you want for a whole day,” Twilight said and Midnight smiled. This’d be the easiest bet ever.

“Fine, same for me if I lose.”

The two mares shook on it and smiled as they gripped hooves.

Elsewhere, Scope shuddered and looked out into the distance. “I feel a disturbance in the force.”

Ledger had managed to get quite literally the next to last open room and sat in front of it, waiting for his mares to show up. He’d double-checked the soundproofing on it himself, and found that nopony would be able to hear the outside world unless the door was open. Nor would anypony be able to hear them either. Just in case things did take a turn.

“Hmm, ah reckon it did get a might chillier in here,” Cider nodded as they approached the room. One stallion walked past and eye’d the Earth Pony, or more closely, her flanks. He gave a low whistle as she passed, causing her to frown. Ledger just smiled at the pair of them before opening the door with his magic for them.

They walked inside as the stallion gaped at Ledger… then his jaw hit the floor when a hot as tartarus Thestral walked in, followed by a cute Unicorn.

“Yup,” Ledger said, winking at the stallion. “Aaaaall mine. Though they prefer to think of it as I’m all theirs. And I am perfectly okay with that.”

He just opened and closed his mouth a few times as another pair walked past them. A familiar looking stallion and a Pegasus mare that Ledger could swear he’d seen before. At least, she reminded him of another pony… She saw the drone and blushed slightly before ushering the stallion into the opposite room.

“Good luck, oh, and if you don’t manage to get a room...don’t worry,” Ledger told the stallion. “The Violets don’t mind watching.” With that, he walked into the private room and closed the door behind him.

Said stallion just continued to do his impression of a goldfish as Ledger vanished. The drone turned as all four mares stared at him.

“Have fun?” Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“I think you all just broke a stallion, but yes,” Ledger said as he made his way to the large bed and got comfy on it. “Yes, I did have fun pushing him a little more.”

“You’re a cruel drone,” Scope mused as she got up onto the bed while Midnight and Twilight set out the spread they’d obtained. It was quite the haul of salads, bread and some non-alcoholic ciders.

“Only when I feel like I can get away with it,” Ledger snickered as he cuddled the little nymph.

“Obviously you think you’re untouchable then,” Scope replied with her own giggle.

“What else is new?” Midnight shrugged as she sat down. “And, isn’t it kind of weird having a picnic on the bed?”

“It’s better than having a picnic out there,” Ledger pointed out. “I’m pretty sure soon we’d be seeing ponies having sex in the booths, thanks to all the Mood Setter flowing.”

“And now I don’t want to leave until the club is empty,” Twilight grimaced as Midnight bit her tongue to avoid saying anything.

“Well, it’s a good thing we stopped you,” Scope snickered. “Or you would have been the one to start it Ledger.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Ledger said. “Plus, I’m pretty sure I might have pushed that stallion into maybe trying it himself.”

“You’re terrible,” Midnight giggled as Cider finished serving up some food. “So what’s gonna happen? Do we really wanna set hoof outside this room now?”

“Well when we want to leave, I can just teleport us,” Twilight nodded. “And Scope can as well.”

“I’d offer, but I’m not all that confident in teleporting more than myself,” Ledger pitched in as he kissed Midnight. Once that was done, he looked to the mares around him. “So, you’ve just attended the first Changeling Rave in Las Pegasus. Thoughts?”

“Fun, if incredibly perverse,” Twilight nodded. “Pinkie and Rainbow might have enjoyed this party.”

“It was alright,” Midnight nodded. “I’ve been to wilder though.”

“Do ah really want to know?” Cider replied and the Thestral shook her head. “Thought so.”

“Just give it time and I’m sure you could step out to find all the wild you want,” Ledger snickered as he picked out some bread to munch on.

“Pass,” Twilight and Cider nodded as they made a salad sandwich. Scope giggled again, drawing in some of the Lust permeating the building. Hell, free food was free food after all. Ledger just looked at Midnight, who hadn’t actually responded…

“What?” Midnight replied.

“I didn’t exactly hear a ‘no,’” Ledger pointed out.

“Meh, don’t really care,” Midnight shrugged as she nibbled on some bread. Dammit Twilight, you and your stupid bets.

“...Who are you and what did you do with Midnight?” Ledger asked, his head still tilted. “And for that matter, how’d you do it?”

“I’m still me silly,” she giggled and kissed his head. “There’s just more to life than sex.” Oh Celestia, what the hell was she saying?

“...If not for the fact that I would know if you’d been replaced, I’d be calling out Changeling right about now,” Ledger pointed out. “Scope, back me up on this.”

“Yeah, it is a little weird,” Scope nodded. “But is it really that big a deal? I mean, she wasn’t thinking sexy thoughts when she was kicking my flank all over the warehouse.”

“True, but she’s not in a combat situation right now,” Ledger pointed out. “Have you ever known her not to be a pervy bat when she isn’t kicking flank and taking names?”

“Hmm, true,” Scope rubbed her chin. “So what’s up Middy?”

“Oh my Celestia, is it that big a deal?” Midnight said with an exasperated sigh.

“It’s just not you to be acting this way,” Ledger pointed out. “And considering all your recent emotional swings…”

“Um, because I’m pregnant with your foal,” Midnight countered. “So excuse me if I act a little strange from time to time.”

“Strange I can give you, but this is just...un-Midnight,” Ledger pointed out. “Heck, I’m half-expecting Twilight to start trying to act sultry in your stead now.”

Midnight and Twilight looked at one another and the Thestral shrugged before Twilight moved next to Ledger, taking a sip of her water and swallowing in a way that would get any stallion hot under the collar. Ledger gulped thickly before taking a bite of his bread. He shouldn’t have said anything…

“Is something wrong Ledger?” Twilight whispered in a husky tone. Oh damn was Midnight a bad influence. The princess might have been rather innocent in comparison, but when she wanted to be sexy…

“You look a little… hot~” she cooed, nipping at his neck.

“Aheh...I thought we were just going to have food in here,” he said nervously, not expecting this attention so rapidly. He really shouldn’t have said anything. It was getting harder to conceal his arousal…

“Mmm, I do love to snack on something from time to time,” the alicorn pressed him, dragging her tongue along his neck…

“Ohkay, down girl,” Cider said, pulling the princess back. “Ah reckon you’ve made yer point.”

“You were saying?” Midnight smirked.

“And here I was thinking we weren’t going to use this room for its intended purpose,” Ledger said with a soft sigh.

“We’re not, yet,” Scope giggled as she ate her food. “Still, this fun, just the five of us together. And soon, it’ll be for the rest of our lives.”

“Something I didn’t think would have ever happened a year ago, to be honest,” Ledger said as he looked at Midnight. “Still blaming you, by the way.”

“What? What’d I do?” Midnight said. “You know, aside from bring you out of you shell… so to speak.”

“Exactly,” Ledger said with a nod. “Without you in my life...I don’t want to imagine it, but this would have never happened,” the disguised drone finished.

“I’m sure if not me, you would have met someone,” Midnight nodded. “Heck, I bet you would have even bumped into Cider at some point.”

“He’s right Middy,” Scope nodded. “The only reason I’m here is because you took me in instead of deporting me with the rest of my sisters.”

“Heck, the only reason I’m in the position I am in now is because you and I took Toll out together,” Ledger pointed out. “You’re...kinda the lynchpin in this all sticking together, you know.”

“Yup, ah’m here cause you chose to include me instead of turning me away,” Cider nodded.

“Well, Ledger is the main reason I’m here,” Twilight replied. “But Middy was the one that convinced me to stay.”

Midnight just blushed and fidgeted around, not used to all the praise. “Yeah but—”

Ledger shut her up with a quick kiss, not playing fair at the moment. Once he broke it, he softly shook his head. “No, no buts. Admit it Midnight. You’re awesome, and you’re the reason this is working.”

“Well, I guess I can admit that I’m awesome,” Midnight smiled. “But only works because of all of us. I’ve come close to screwing it up a bunch of times already remember?”

“The fact that you kept bouncing back and trying should attest to how much effort you’ve put into this,” Ledger retorted with a roll of his eyes.

“Yeah well… okay, fine, I’m completely and undeniably awesome,” Midnight said with a small smile. “There is nopony more awesome than me.”

Far away from here, Rainbow Dash felt irritated for some reason…

“At least nopony like you in my life,” Ledger said before kissing her again. “And frankly, I don’t think I could handle another one like you.”

“You know,” Twilight said. “In the Everfree Forest near Ponyville. There’s a pool that clones whomever enters it. Except that the clones have just one personality, that aspect of whatever is strongest within the original…”

“And if you value Ponyville at all, you will keep that knowledge away from Midnight,” Ledger warned.

“Strongest aspect of their personality?” Scope looked at Midnight and shuddered. A bunch of sex-crazed Thestrals swarming the city… Sweet merciful Luna.

“That does sound like a nightmare and a half,” Cider chuckled. “Ah reckon there ain’t enough mangoes in Equestria fer that.”

“Or enough of any of us,” Ledger pointed out.

“True that,” Scope nodded as Midnight pouted and folded her forelegs.

“Really, so this date is now ‘Pick on Midnight’ night huh?”

“Even you have to admit you’re a bit extreme when you get going,” Ledger pointed out.

“Nope, you’re all just wimps for not being able to handle me,” Midnight nodded. “I can’t help that I’m too sexy for my own good.”

“Aaaand you lose,” Twilight smirked and Midnight blinked before facehooving.

“Lose what?” Ledger asked with a bemused expression.

“I bet she couldn’t remain serious for the evening and not say something perverted,” Twilight smirked. “Now I have a little bat to do my bidding for a whole day.”

“This is all your fault,” Midnight grumbled at Ledger.

“Do you really think that doing as Twilight says for a day will be that bad?” Ledger asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Ohh, all the research I can have you do,” Twilight clapped her hooves. “I have quite a backlog of esoteric history to go through, as well as obscure reference guides to translate…”

“URGH!” Midnight thunked her head against the bed. Ledger smirked as an idea occurred to him.

“Oh Twilight~” he sang. “Bet you can’t keep your cool in a sexy situation without resorting to magic.”

“Hmm, bet I can,” Twilight said. “What's the wager?”

“I win, I get you, Midnight goes free. You win, you get me...and another few days of access at my book,” Ledger attempted to bribe the alicorn.

“Hmm, intriguing,” Twilight rubbed her chin. “Though I’m starting to wonder if I’ll ever get to see this book of yours.”

“You really need to just get a day off when you have nothing else planned, and I’d be happy to share with you,” Ledger said, still smirking. “So...do we have a deal?”

“As long as you play fair,” Twilight nodded. “Fine. We have an accord.”

“This won’t end well, but at least I’ll be free,” Midnight replied as she munched on some bread and butter. Ledger scooted over to sit next to the alicorn, letting the silence hang there for a moment. Waiting for her to ask what he was up to before he made his move.

She sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment. “So uh… yes?” she finally spoke up, doing a nice impression of Fluttershy. That was when Ledger kissed her, softly, on her cheek...while he magically pinched her flank as well.

The alicorn yelped and batted at him with a hoof while she blushed. “Hey!” she said, moving a little further away from him.

“We never said I couldn’t use magic, just that I had to play fair,” Ledger responded as he ran a touch of magic down her spine. Especially where her wings connected. She shivered and glared at him. Then she smirked.

“Keep going… I dare you~”

“Isn’t that kind of the point?” Ledger said as he then began to magically massage her wings. Although calling it that would be about as accurate as saying Midnight really enjoyed hugs. Ledger was after her sensitive points in her wings more than her comfort or relaxation.

She suddenly raised her hoof and Ledger realised a second too late that she held the tub of butter… that she smooshed right onto his muzzle. Undeterred, Ledger just tugged lightly on her mane next. He was going to get her so hot under the collar, she used her magic!

“Kya!” Twilight yelped and looked at Midnight. “I’ll reverse our bet if you can keep him off of me.”

“Ohh, a princess all to myself for a day?” she smirked as she pulled the tub off his muzzle, before she started to lick the butter off, very sensually.

“I’ll share if you help me,” Ledger offered. “Promise. Heck, I’ll even let you have first go.” He looked over to Scope and winked. “That goes for you too.”

They all looked at Twilight, who gulped and hid behind Cider. The earth mare rolled her eyes and looked at the herd.

“Now, now, settle down,” she chided them. “We’re supposed to be having a nice evening remember?”

“True,” Ledger said, not stopping his magical massage of Twilight’s wings. “And we still are...though I can tell you right now that the party outside has, ah, kicked it into a higher gear. Judging by the ambient amount of lust being generated out there.”

“Of course it has,” Cider sighed. “So we’re stuck here fer the night then?”

“Unless we get teleported out, yes,” Ledger said as he moved to gently massaging Twilight’s tail base.

“Ahha, quittit!” she cried out, batting her hooves at him again. Twilight really was terribly adorable when flustered.

“Mnope,” Ledger said as he debated how far south his magic would trail, before keeping to her tail for now. A few small tugs wouldn’t hurt, right?

She responded by folding her forelegs and doing her best to ignore him.

“Ledger, leave the poor mare be,” Cider said with a roll of her eyes.

“And lose the bet? Never!” Ledger responded with a kiss to Twilight’s cheek.

“You’re incorrigible,” Twilight pouted again. “So is there a time limit for this bet?”

“Until you use magic for a cause other than us leaving, or we agree to leave,” Ledger said with a smile. Then he regrew his fangs and used them to comb through Twilight’s mane, lightly tugging on it as he did. The Alicorn shuddered at the touch, but refused to use her magic. She’d show him…

“I feel like I should help… but I don’t know who,” Midnight mused, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

“Meh, we seem to be heading in the direction of everyone else here, without interfering,” Scope shrugged. “So, unless you don’t want to…”

“Still deciding,” Midnight replied.

Ledger decided to up his game a little and moved to licking. Specifically, licking a certain bony protrusion from Twilight’s forehead.

“That won’t work unless I use magic,” Twilight replied. She idly thought of teasing him back with her hooves, but that would just cause him to up his own game, and he was allowed to use magic.

“Mmm, fair enough, just thought you could do with a little...reminder,” Ledger said before he kissed her neck. Then he brought his hooves into the equation in a big way. In that now Twilight was getting not only a magical massage of her wings, but he was running his hooves along them as well.

“B-Bucking cheater,” she hissed, trying to keep a straight face. Think unsexy thoughts, think unsexy thoughts. Fractals, Pronouns, Advanced Magical Theory…

Why wasn't it working!?!? And now Ledger was running his hooves not along her wings, but...under, where the wing connected to her body. She shuddered again and snapped her wings shut, trapping his hooves under them.

“Hmm, now I have you,” she giggled.

“Oh do you now?” Ledger said as he wiggled his hooves a little, brushing them across her ribs. She giggled and tightened her wings.

“Yes, yes I do,” she replied as she used her own hooves to trace along the outer rim of his shell.

“Even if I do this?” Ledger said as he used his magic to try and tickle her where his hooves couldn’t.

She shrieked with laughter and released her hold to flap across to the other side of the room. “Y-You are… you’re just…”

“Mmhmm, use your words,” Ledger said as he slowly advanced on her, using his magic to both massage her and tickle her at the same time. He’d make her break eventually!

“Words, you want words?!” Twilight cackled as she tried to stare him down. “J-Just you wait. I will make you pay for this!”

“Better,” Ledger said as he decided to create a light breeze under her tail. He was probably flirting with the line at this point…

“Kyaa!” Twilight leapt again and hid behind Midnight. “Middy, Save meeeee~”

“Hmm, I might be persuaded to do that,” Midnight tapped her chin. “But I’m supposed to be a good bat tonight.”

“Pleeeeease?” Twilight pouted at her.

“I dunno…”

“Midnight, I should tell you, I have figured out how to apply the taste-changing spell to others,” Ledger said with a smile. “I could make Twilight here taste like whatever you want the next time you’re together.”

“Stop bribing them!” Twilight cried as Midnight considered this new option. One one hoof, she wanted to protect the cute Princess. On the other?

Mango-flavoured Twiley~

“You wanna cheat, then let’s cheat!” Twilight said. “As your Princess, I order you cease any and all advances towards me for the duration of the evening.”

“If that is truly what you want,” Ledger said, pausing for a moment. Now was the moment of truth. If it had worked, she’d react to his next two words. “Your Highness.” Especially if he said them like that.

“Oooh no, you are not going there!” she said, even though her face was bright red. Midnight looked at the pair, wondering what the story was there.

Cider and Scope just munched on popcorn, curious as to see how far this would go.

“Is that truly what you wish for, your highness? Do you truly wish for me to stop?” Ledger asked, using nothing more than his words at the moment.

“Ledger! Not. Another. Word!” she said, her blush growing fiercer.

“Surely your highness couldn’t find my words offensive?” Ledger asked, faking hurt.

“Dammit Ledger!” Twilight hid behind her wings. “Stoppit!”

“If you truly wish for me to stop, your highness, then command me again, and I will,” Ledger said with a bow. Moment of truth time…

“Argh!” with a flash of light, Ledger found himself dumped out in the center of the dancefloor, belly up as quite a few mares stared at him with a mixture of confusion and desire~

“Terribly sorry mares,” Ledger said as he got to his hooves. “But I have a date and a bet to collect on.” Hopefully they still understood no. “Word to the wise, stallions. Never anger a unicorn with the power to teleport you.”

“Aw, you’re leaving?” One mare draped herself over his shoulders. “Why don’t you stay and play big guy~”

“Because my bet was for the mare to end up doing whatever I wanted,” Ledger said as he gently removed her. “And I intend to collect~”

“Aww, well come back and play when you’re done. We’ll be here… All. Night~” She whispered huskily and licked his neck.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Ledger said, intending to forget about it the moment he was back in his room. It was a relatively short walk to the door, where he knocked and waited for somepony to open it.

“State the password!” Scope said from the other side. Some of those earlier mares were also watching from the end of the hallway, licking their lips.

“The password is the fact that I could teleport in there,” Ledger deadpanned. “Thanks to you, cuddlebug. Now let me in before I do so.”

“Hmm, well you could… if Twilight hadn’t erected an anti-magic field. Now,” he could almost hear her smirk. “Password please~”

Mares were getting closer.

“Hmm, considering it’s you...I’m gonna go with Daring Do,” Ledger said.

“Ohh, good try, but nope.”

Mares. Closer…

“...There isn’t a freaking password, is there,” Ledger deadpanned again. “You’re just messing with me until I get assaulted.”

“...Dang, he figured it out,” Scope said and the door opened, the stallion getting dragged inside at the last moment. Scope smirked proudly at him as Twilight fidgeted on the bed. This was gonna be…

“Well, I can be a gracious winner,” Ledger said, cracking his neck. “I’ll save that day for later. Oh, and Middy, feel free to be your normal self, that was a condition of our bet, wasn’t it?”

“Yes!” the bat cheered and pounced on him, nipping and kissing his neck enthusiastically. Ledger just smiled as he joined Twilight on the bed, enjoying the attentions of the batpony.

“Well, ah’d say this was a weird date… but ah feel it’s about normal fer us,” Cider commented.

“Agreed,” Scope nodded as she cuddled up to Twilight, who placed a wing over her in response. “Should we go home though? This place is starting to get a little… yeah.”

“We can hang out here for as long as we want to, or as long as the food holds out,” Ledger pointed out. “Heck, I could even cast an Emotional Dampening spell on the walls, to make sure you couldn’t feel anything out there.”

“Ah really don’t think there’s anything more for us to do here,” Cider nodded. “Ah reckon we could skedaddle.”

“Teleport?” Twilight asked, her horn glowing. “Even though I feel as though you lot were waiting for me to lose that bet…”

A round of silence came from the mares and Twilight blinked. “What? You were? You guys suck!”

“Yes, but leaving them here to walk back is petty revenge, and I know you wouldn’t do that,” Ledger said patiently.

“Plus I can teleport,” Scope nodded. Now that she thought about it, why hadn’t Dream come looking for her, especially with how things were getting out there.

“We really ought to be going, though, if you all want to avoid the party spilling over,” Ledger said. “More than one mare had their eyes on me when I was coming in, and I don’t know that all of them went away…”

“Leaving!” Twilight said and the room shifted, soon replaced with Cider’s living room. “There we go. Much better!”

“Urgh, I hate teleporting,” MIdnight said, holding her stomach. “I think Parasite disagrees as well…”

“We are not naming the foal Parasite,” Ledger deadpanned.

“I think it’s perfect,” Scope nodded. “She did get a little bug after all.”

“Oh, speaking of,” Midnight asked. “Are you positive that I’m not gonna lay a bunch of nasty-ass gooey eggs on the ceiling?”

“...” Ledger didn’t respond. There was nothing he could say to that situation. He just threw his hooves up in exasperation and left the living room, heading for the bedroom afterwards.

“What? It’s a legitimate question!” Midnight said. “You haven’t told me how your baby buggies are born!”

“The fact that I don’t have a huge family, and all my brothers and sisters are separated by at least a year, should have been all the clues you needed!” Ledger shouted back.

“But do you hatch from eggs?” Midnight asked.

“No Midnight, no we do not,” Scope groaned. “We’re share a few traits with insects, but that is not one of them. Now do try and not give Ledger an aneurysm.”

“Eheh,” Midnight giggled and followed Ledger upstairs. “I’m sorry Ledgie. Do you want hugs?”

“I could do with snuggles,” Ledger said as he opened the door to the bedroom.

As he reached the bed, there was another flash of light and he found himself buried under mares again.

“Aaah,” he said from under the mare-pile. “I can deal with this. This is a happy sensation indeed.”

“Ah’ll bet,” Cider chuckled, snuggling close to him as Midnight quickly took the other side. Twilight looked and shrugged before she snared Scope and lay down next to Midnight.

“...I’m going to regret losing that bet huh?”

“Eventually,” Ledger said with a smile on his face as he closed his eyes. “Ooooh, there are plans that I am scheming up…”

“Oh Tartarus,” Twilight sighed and hugged Scope closer. “Stars preserve me…”

Chapter 79 - An Imperial honeymoon

Moondancer ran about like an excited foal. The Empire had been quite interesting so far... then they found the Crystal Library.

Moonie could have died and gladly spent the afterlife in here.

"So. Many. BOOKS!!" she cackled, the elder librarian shushing her.

“Well I know what to get you for your birthday, and our anniversary,” the disguised Sugar Darling said as she did her best to keep up. “A book you haven’t read yet.”

"Whereas I could simply get you a nice saddle and some hoofcuffs," Moondancer smiled back as she poured over a large tome. "Oohh, this one is interesting."

“I did want to see what they had for wedding dresses and bracelets, you know,” Sugar mused. “What with the whole lack of ceremony we had, it’s the least I could do.”

Moondancer closed the book and smiled. "Yeah. Moonbutt always wanted a big ceremony. She may yell at you if she finds out we didn't have one."

“Think we could fake one and get enough pictures to convince her?” Sugar mused aloud.

"I wouldn’t let her hurt you... except in a way you'd enjoy." Moon giggled. "Still, maybe we could look into something..." the unicorn trailed off and her ear flicked. The sound of cheering foals could be heard from further into the library.

“Aww, little ones,” Sugar said. “I just adore them. Think we could sneak a quick peek?”

Moondancer shrugged and nodded. They followed the noise and soon found its source, as crystal bookshelves gave way to a dense jungle, as a khaki-clad pegasus fought against some weird cat-monster-thing. A group of foals nearby cheered and laughed.

“Well now,” Sugar said to herself, and to Moondancer. “This is...quite the application of illusion magic.”

Moon ran a hoof over a nearby plant, as it moved to her touch. "Force field magic, to give some solidity to the creations? This takes not only skill, but quite a bit of power as well.”

"Go Daring Do!" The foals cried out as the pegasus snatched away the statuette from Ahuizotl and flew off.

"Curse you Daring Dooooo!!" he screamed. As the scenery melted away, leaving a slightly breathless green unicorn bowing to her young audience and revelling in their joy.

“Interesting,” Sugar said with a smile. “I think I know something about our friend over there,” the disguised violet nymph said to her wife.

"Oh?" Moondancer asked as the unicorn spied them and trotted towards them. "Well, she’s coming our way."

“And what did you two think of the show?” Critical asked, always eager to get more opinions on her spellwork.

"You multicast illusions and force fields, along with acting out, word for word, Daring Do and the Sapphire Stone." Moondancer smiled and nodded. "I doubt even I could have done that. And I'm the Archmage for Princess Celestia."

“Oh, well, it’s just something I learned,” Critical said, trying to brush it off.

“Nonsense,” Sugar said. “When she praises skills that could turn others green with envy, you should take the praise,” the disguised nymph said as she dropped a not-so-subtle clue to Moondancer.

"Oh, so she's a bug?" Moondancer said about as bluntly as a hoof to the face.

“Shh!” both of the changeling nymphs in disguise hushed her.

“Not in front of the foals,” Critical added later.

“And outing somepony like that is rather rude,” Sugar tacked on, admonishing the mare for her rather public reveal.

"Right, my bad. I'm used to having them just walk around in the open in Las Pegasus," Moondancer said with a sheepish grin.

"Excuse me?" A voice asked from behind them. They turned to see a cloaked mare wearing large, red-rimmed glasses. "I'm looking for a 'Critical Eye'?"

“Ah, yes, that would be me,” the disguised nymph said with a nod. “Just…” At that moment, her horn began to glow, and she started, before looking at the couple in front of her.

“Hmm,” she hummed. “Ah, terribly sorry. But yes, I am Critical Eye. Who are you, madam?”

"Oh, just the mare who wrote the book you just acted out..."

Critical gulped as that sunk in. “Aheh. Miss Yearling. I suppose this was going to happen eventually, wasn’t it?” Her horn stopped glowing at this point, the message having been delivered.

"Indeed, when Princess Twilight told me, I came straight here to see it for myself," Yearling nodded. "I'd like to discuss it at length with you. But you seem to be busy right now and I didn't mean to interrupt. Would you mind if I came by your house later?"

“Of course not,” Critical said. “In fact, if you could wait here for a bit? I just have to escort these two mares to the palace for a quick meeting with somepony there. I’d be back to talk or walk back to my place with you afterwards.”

“Wait, what?” Sugar asked, bemused. “I don’t recall setting up any appointments to meet anypony…”

"I fear somepony has been meddling behind our backs," Moondancer smiled.

"Very well," Yearling nodded. "I'll see you in a bit then."

“Come along then,” Critical said as she made to leave the library.

“I’d be more amicable to the idea if you told us why we were going to the palace,” Sugar called after the other disguised nymph.

"I could, but where's the fun in that?" Critical smiled. "Don't worry sister, you and your bride there aren't in any trouble. Quite the opposite really."

"I'll keep you safe snugglebug," Moondancer cooed, kissing Sugar’s cheek.

“...Wait, how did she know?” Sugar pointed out.

“That’s for me to know and you to find out~” Critical sang as they continued on their way. Hopefully Cadence would be in the mood to see her.

The crystal palace was massive, and Moondancer simply had to stop to check out the Crystal Heart, and got annoyed when both mares wouldn’t let her take it to study it.

"Never get to do anything," the unicorn muttered as they approached the palace.

“Your tune’s going to change in a minute here,” Critical said as she looked at one of the guards. “Hello, could you please tell the mare in charge that Critical Eye and two guests will be waiting for her in the hall of art she’s putting together? I have a matter that should be brought up with her as soon as possible, privately.”

The guard looked them over and nodded.

"Can do Miss Critical," Flash Sentry nodded and trotted off to find Cadence.

"Hmm, somepony has a secret~" Moondancer hummed.

“And I’m going to keep it~” Critical replied as she began leading them to the place she’d only been to once before.

“Getting a social secret out of a Green is like trying to walk away from a Silver without learning something,” Sugar said. “It’d be easier and less painful to let this play out.”

"So, about as difficult as trying to get you to not think about sex then?" Moondancer giggled, causing Critical to splutter and cough.

“I don’t think about sex all the time,” Sugar tried to defend herself. “...Though, that’s usually just the afterglow.”

“Oh my, you two are going to have an interesting marriage,” Critical said as they neared the hall. “We’re heereee~,” she said, opening the doors and ushering them inside. “And now we wait for the mare.”

"A lot of effort to arrange an orgy with the Princess," Moondancer hummed innocently. "Well, at least you're cute Miss Critical."

“My current stallion wouldn’t be pleased at the implications you’re tossing around,” Critical said with a smile. “Though I will let him know you thought I could land a Princess, I’m sure it’ll be good for his self-esteem.”

"If Ledger of all ponies could get one," Moondancer giggled. "Then a cutie like you could quite easily." Moondancer hummed and tapped her chin. "You know, you could always join his ever growing herd. You'd get a Princess by default that way."

“I do not need to hear about my half-brother’s sexual prowess,” Critical said as she watched their faces for the reaction they would have to that reveal.

Moondancer blinked as she ran that sentence through her head.

"...ah." she said, turning a nice shade of scarlet and walked off quite briskly to look at some of the artwork. In particular, one of a beautiful crystal mare and a foal.

“So, you’re Ledger’s sister, then?” Sugar asked with a slight giggle.

“Yup, I’m sure he’s told you all about me,” Critical replied. “Came up here because he found a wonderful artist, and I’ve taken to helping him out very well.”

“I see,” Sugar replied as she joined Moondancer. “You know, you’re downright adorable when you’re embarrassed,” she told her wife.

"Oh shut up," she mumbled. "Stars, I look like an ass now. And you missy," she poked the mare. "Are a terrible influence and I blame you for that."

“What was it you said to me the other day? Something about some mare teaching Midnight about how to be perverted?” Sugar hummed as she kissed Moondancer on the cheek. “I wonder who that was?...”

"...Bite me," Moon huffed, turning her attention back to the painting. And then Sugar actually did, mockingly biting her ear.

"Kyaa!" Moon shrieked. Critical chuckled as she walked over to them.

"You really should have seen that coming," she smiled.

The double doors opened and Cadence literally bounded into the room, a massive smile on her face.

"Are these the ones!?" She asked excitedly.

“Now all I have to do is figure out how you knew before I told you,” Critical mused aloud.

"Alicorn secret~" Cadence chuckled and pouted when Critical gave her a deadpan stare. "Oh fine, Twilight told me. Party pooper."

“That makes more sense,” Critical said with a nod. “And yes, these two are the ones that I was warned about. Well, their descriptions match anyways. Think you’re up for it?”

"You doubt me?" Cadence asked with princess-level puppy dog eyes. "That hurts Critty."

"I am so lost," Moondancer sighed, then remembered that a princess was in the room and bowed.

"Ap! None of that," Cadence said, picking Moon back up with her magic. "You are Moondancer and..." She paused as she recalled the other name on the letter. "Waifu-Stealer?"

“I can tell Midnight had more than a little influence over how that letter went,” Sugar said with a chuckle. “No, I’m actually Sugar Darling. Might I ask what all this colluding is leading to?”

"Why, your wedding ceremony of course. Was this not explained to you?"

Sugar just sat there and blinked before looking at Moondancer. “Did...a Princess of Equestria...just offer that to us?” she asked in a disbelieving tone. “I mean, we did come up here for a honeymoon and all, and to maybe try and give you a proper ceremony, but…”

"Two Princesses actually, as this was partly Twilight’s idea," Cadence replied. "But Scope Lens is the true mastermind."

“Mmhmm,” Critical said as she tapped her horn with a hoof. “Little nymph got in touch with me not too long ago, told me to escort the both of you here and get an audience with ‘the pink princess of food’ if I could.”

"Pink Princess of Food?" Cadence deadpanned. "Is that really how you lot see me? That hurts you know."

“It was Scope talking,” Critical replied with a shrug. “I’m surprised she was so nice, to be honest.”

“Hmm, well I don’t know her enough to really get it,” Cadence shrugged. “Still, since Twilight’s dating them now, I really should get to know them more. Ah! But we’re getting off topic.” She looked at the couple and smiled. “To explain, some of your friends have asked if I could hold a wedding ceremony for you. The cake, the dresses, the whole deal. Does that sound good to you two?”

“It...sounds better than anything we were planning,” Sugar replied honestly.

“And since I have delivered them to you, I take my leave,” Critical said with a small bow. “I have an author to go get ahold of.”

“Oh, okay then,” Cadence nodded. “You and Palette are coming to the ceremony though yes?”

“Maybe, if my meeting doesn’t run long,” Critical said with a wide smile. “I might end up talking with her all afternoon.”

“Well, best of luck then,” Cadence smiled and gave the nymph a hug. Once Critical had left, the princess turned to Moondancer and Sugar. “Now, shall we start with a few dress fittings?”

“I get the feeling this is going to be an exhausting day,” Moon whispered to her wife as they followed the skipping alicorn. Yes, she was actually skipping. Or prancing… one of the two. Aaaaaand now she was singing.

“Admit it though. You like the idea of a nice ceremony,” Sugar whispered back while waiting for the alicorn to come back to reality for a very pertinent question.

“Well of course I do,” Moon replied, keeping their conversation hushed as Cadence said a few words with one of her maids. “I can’t wait to see you in a beautiful wedding dress.”

“Assuming they can find anything that goes well with black and violet,” the disguised nymph pointed out. Moondancer blinked as Cadence led them to a large room where a single Crystal mare was waiting.

“Here we are,” the alicorn hummed. “This is Dazzling Designs, the best tailor in the city really.”

“You flatter me Princess,” the mare chuckled and blushed slightly.

“Only because it’s true,” Cadence said. She turned and looked at the couple, Sugar in particular. “Now, the question remains… is on just who you would like to be for the ceremony.”

“Well,” Sugar said with a smile. “I did get married to her like I really am, so it only stands to reason…” With that, her body was consumed by violet flames before her actual self stepped out, Noble form and all. “That I get the ceremony done like this as well.”

She felt something flare inside Cadence, as the nymph greatly reminded her of Chrysalis when she did that. The alicorn nodded and turned away for a moment to compose herself as she looked at the Crystal pony, whom was looking at Sugar with a good deal of fascination.

“S-So, you think you can work with this?” Cadence asked, the slightest of trembles in her voice. Dammit all, she did not need those memories playing right now.

“I think so,” Dazzling hummed as she paced around the nymph, taking measurements and the like. “Mmm, perhaps something in blue… or a lavender.”

“Either color is fine by me,” Sugar said before leaning over to Moondancer. “She’s anxious about what I just did. Think you can help her?”

“Me? What am I supposed to do?” Moondancer whispered back and then sighed. “Alright, lemme see what I can do.” She left Sugar at the mercy of the seamstress, who was taking some other measurements, and approached the princess.

“Princess Cadence?” she asked as she got closer, the alicorn flinching. “Are you feeling alright?”

“W-What, oh, yes, of course I am,” she replied hastily, but wilted under Moondancer’s gaze. “Ehehe, guess I’m not very subtle…”

“Look princess,” Moon sat beside her and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “It’s perfectly understandable after what you’ve been through, and Sugar isn’t upset in the slightest. Or she’s hiding it a lot better than you,” the unicorn giggled. “But trust me, she’s not going to take over your Empire… I wouldn’t let her anyway. But maybe you could use this opportunity to face those fears hmm? Especially should you meet Queen Chrysalis again.”

Cadence took a deep breath and nodded. She knew that the queen had been staying with Twilight, but was asked by Celestia not to tell Shining, lest he flip out and go ‘rescue’ his little sister. Still, she’d have to face this at some point…

“Yes, and I am being terribly rude to your wife,” she smiled as she got to her hooves and walked over to Sugar Darling. “I’d like to apologise for that,” the princess said and held out a hoof. “I’d like to start over. I am Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but you may call me Cadence.”

“I’m fairly certain you couldn’t pronounce my Changeish name, so just call me Sugar Darling, or Sugar if you like,” the nymph said as she nearly made to shake the alicorn’s hoof, before Dazzling stuck it back to the ground forcefully.

“Honestly, can you keep still for one minute,” the mare grumbled. “It’s like trying to measure a foal.” She looked at Cadence and waved a hoof. “I have this under control Princess. Do you not have a ceremony to oversee?”

“I do, I do,” Cadence giggled.

“Whelp, looks like we just married Princess Cadence as well,” Moondancer giggled, causing the alicorn to blush and facehoof.

“Oh goodness, wouldn’t that be a scandal,” Sugar purred. “Not sure how the husband would take it…”

“He’d be reduced to an adorable spluttering mess,” Cadence giggled. “Now I should go… and tell him that you’re here actually. I really don’t want a repeat of last time.”

“That sounds like a story you should share when you return with him,” Sugar winked. “Reduce him to that sputtering mess a lot faster.”

“I suddenly feel like he both should and should never meet you,” Cadence hummed. “Well, just remember that he’s mine and we’ll be fine.” She gave a small flick of her tail and left them at the mercy of Dazzling, who had ducked into the next room to find a swatch of fabrics.

“So,” Moondancer grinned once they were alone. “Be honest, how much do you want to sheathe Shining’s sword?”

“He’s quite the interesting specimen of stallion, but he’s no you,” Sugar replied. “I’ve only heard about him as well, I’ve hardly met him. Though the fact that he impressed the Alicorn of Love speaks volumes. All in all, I’m merely...curious about him.”

Moondancer on the other hoof, knew him quite well. “Ohohoho, this meeting is going to be fun,” she smiled as Dazzling returned, quickly sweeping up the unicorn to measure her next. “Ah, hey! Watch that hoof… or at least buy me a drink and dinner first!”

“Yes, do watch your hooves around my wife,” Sugar said in a tone that would have frozen a lake...inside the barrier.

“Ooh, jealous Sugar is scary~” Moondancer grinned at her as Dazzling just ignored the both and continued her work. This would be her greatest masterpiece to date!!

“Forgive me if I’m a little possessive of the best pony to enter my life to date,” Sugar replied. “After all, I don’t marry ponies every day, and I want this to last.”

“That raises a question I have,” Moon hummed and looked at her. “Just how many ponies have proposed to you. I overheard one of the others saying you used to get them.”

“Oh, only about every stallion and mare I spend time with,” Sugar replied. “Though I can tell they don’t mean it of course. I forget how many have asked.”

“Hmm, well… I suppose I could just vapourise future suitors,” Moondancer mused and giggled in a way that may not have been entirely stable. Dazzling decided that this would be a most excellent time to start her alterations.

“Well, I have a good idea for your dresses, but I need to alter them for your sizes. I should be back in a hour or two,” Dazzling said and bowed to the two before leaving.

Moondancer blinked and looked at Sugar. “Uh, do we just… trust her. We haven't even seen the dresses.”

“I’m sure she knows what she’s doing,” Sugar said. “Plus, do you want to wander the halls before Cadence gets back?”

“Hmm, I wonder if there’s a library in this palace?” Moondancer wondered, already thinking of all the rare books in must have contained. Books unread for a thousand years. Ohhh, it made her giddy just thinking about it.

“Moony, sit. Stay.” Sugar said as she kissed her wife’s cheek. Moondancer looked up and her and raised one hoof, bending it slightly as she tilted her head and blinked.

“Meow?”

“You are adorable,” Sugar replied, kissing the top of Moondancer’s head. “But right now, we need to play the part of the nice guests that don’t go rummaging through our host’s stuff.”

“Aww, fine. I keep forgetting you’re actually a polite mare,” the unicorn giggled and nuzzled her chin with the top of her head. “All that rampant sex makes it hard to remember.”

“There are rules, dear, and it’s not hard to remember them,” Sugar said as she hugged Moondancer. “Just don’t go around randomly assuming that everything is yours to mess with. That’s a key part of manners.”

“I am well aware of manners… why do you think Midnight is as well behaved as she is.” She saw that look in Sugar’s eyes and smiled mischievously. “Oh yes, it is just as you fear. Midnight used to be a lot worse. Heck, she made you look as pure as Celestia.”

“And now I fear for Ledger’s sanity a bit more,” Sugar hummed. “Oh well. At least that problem is well away from us for the time being.”

“Yep,” Moondancer nodded. She leaned back, supporting herself with her forehooves as she idly kicked her hind legs. The flexibility this mare possessed was something else. “It’s funny you know, ever since me and Midnight… well, you know what happened don’t you? Anyway, marriage was the furthest thing from my mind. Research and teaching was all that mattered. Then… then I met you.”

“Mmhmm, I didn’t dare imagine that the little mare that passed out on seeing my real self for the first time would ever impress me to the point where I would want to marry her,” Sugar said. “Proved me wrong real fast. How’s that study of ‘lings coming along, by the way?”

“You are never going to let me forget that huh?” Moondancer groaned. “Not like I could anyway. It’s very hard for me to forget anything. But, my research huh? Well… about that…” She coughed into her hoof and decided that now was as good a time as any. “I… got an offer. To return to Canterlot and start a class on Changeling studies. Very well funded and the educational opportunities are second to none. I’d be working with some of the greatest minds in Equestria…”

“I see,” Sugar hummed. “And what did you say to them?”

“The chance to study something that nopony has? The chance to work with all those brilliant scientists, ecologists and philosophers? Not to mention what it would mean for my own career as a teacher. What do you think I said?”

“I read emotions, not minds,” Sugar pointed out. “Though, knowing you and Midnight, I wouldn’t put it past you to say something along the lines of ‘either come to Las Pegasus with me or it’s not happening.’”

“You are an extremely hard mare to surprise you know that? It makes you not-fun sometimes.” Moondancer sighed, dropping the theatrics. “Yes, I pretty much told them that. And while I am more than happy to give them my notes… provided we are fully credited for the research, I will not be leaving that city anytime soon. Unless you came with me, but that would be amazingly selfish.”

“Who knows?” Sugar shrugged. “Las Pegasus is all but ours now. Ledger supplies the city with what it needs, I supply it with what it wants...Maybe in a decade or so, when Two-Step calms down, I can actually leave it in her hooves, and we can go wherever you want.”

“Hmm, guess we’ll burn that bridge when we get to it,” Moondancer replied. “And it’s not like Canterlot is far away. I can always head up there for day or overnight trips whenever I need.”

“Plus, I’m sure once they’re done studying Las Pegasus, and how Changelings interact with ponies, the next thing they’re going to be interested in is the Lands themselves...which will be quite...interesting.” Sugar licked her lips at the thought. Oh yes, interesting indeed.

“Ohh, speaking of. I would love to visit the Lands,” Moon’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “My research is slowing down, since I’ve pretty much learned as much as I can. I want to see how a Hive lives without pony interaction. Think we could make a trip to the Violet or Silver ones? Or both?”

“It’s actually very hard to find a Hive without any pony interaction, downright impossible if the rumors regarding the complete destruction of the Blacks are true,” Sugar replied. “After all, we need to feed off of something to survive. I suppose...we might be able to visit the Violet one, but I don’t have very many friends in the Silver Hive for us to call on…”

“You have Ledger yes?” Moondancer asked. “And believe me, I know how much you want to… study with him.” She pondered a thought and smiled. “Perhaps me, you, Ledger, and Midnight could go?”

“It’s a thought, or at the very least, he could send word back home and have somebuggy meet us,” Sugar agreed as she perked up suddenly, looking at the door with interest. “I think I hear and feel somepony coming,” she explained.

True to word, somepony knocked on the doors and Cadence called through. “Are you two decent? May we enter?”

“We haven’t screwed in your house in the ten minutes we’ve been alone yet,” Sugar replied. “And even if we were, that would only be the foreplay.”

“Barely even that,” Moondancer replied as the door opened and both Cadence and Shining entered. “Remember that one night when we decided to test our limits and foreplay lasted for four hours?”

“Mm, we needed to take a break to rehydrate,” Sugar agreed. “And then there was the time we bet how long you could last.”

“That was a fun three days,” Moondancer giggled. “But was it ever exhausting. Fun, but never, ever again.”

There was a gurgling sound, as Shining Armor decided that now was a great time to look absolutely anywhere except the two mares in the room.

“Heh, hey Shiny,” Moondancer giggled. “Good to see you’re as easy to fluster as ever. I mean, seriously… how old are you again?”

“Oooh, you two know each other?” Sugar purred. “Why don’t you introduce me, then?”

“Sure, this is Captain Starbutt Sparkle, well, used to be until I dropped off the map and he got married and moved away.”

“Yes, Canterlot became a lot quieter when you and Midnight Song… well,” Shining coughed and decided that that was a topic better left untouched. “But they caused me an endless amount of trouble.”

“Bust up one bar full of perverts and delinquents and nopony lets you forget it,” Moondancer mumbled.

“That happens around me almost every night,” Sugar said with surprise. “What’s the difference between when you do it there and when you do it at home?”

“Because I’m guessing she actually left the bar in one piece at your home?” Shining suggested. “I swear, those two were a two-pony demolition team.”

“That bar was a health hazard and the stallion running it had an illegal prostitution ring going on in the back.” Moondancer defended herself.

“Hey, I never said you were in the wrong,” Shining shrugged before he got a good look at Sugar. “Ah, so ah… honey, you didn’t tell me about this particular aspect of our guests.”

“Surprises keep things fresh,” Cadence smiled.

“Go on, love, introduce me to the nice stallion,” Sugar suggested to Moondancer. Partly because she was curious. Mostly because she wasn’t sure if she should be offended about the prostitution thing she last broke up a bar for.

“We’ll talk about that later,” Moon said, picking up on her mood. “Okay, so in all seriousness. This is Shining Armor, former Captain of the Canterlot Guard and now husband to Princess Cadence. Shiny, this is Sugar Darling, Noble Violet nymph and now my legally wedded wife.”

“Well,” Shining said and stepped forward, taking one of Sugar’s hooves and kissing it. “A pleasure to meet you Miss Darling.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” Sugar said with a smile. “Mm, even being in the Empire is so...invigorating to a Changeling. I don’t know why I didn’t take a trip up here sooner.”

“Because most ‘lings believe that Shining and Cadence would disintegrate them on sight?” Moondancer suggested, causing Cadence to gasp in shock.

“Do… you really think that?” she asked.

“Well, we did kinda blow them out of a city with a big love-powered shield,” Shining pointed out.

“And one of them landed in Las Pegasus, none the worse for wear save the impact crater he left,” Sugar said with a small laugh. “Though, I do believe your distaste for our kind is well-known.”

Cadence and Shining chose to say nothing as Moondancer poked her wife in the ribs. Hmm, did Changelings have ribs? Or just an exoskeleton with a gooey center?

“What my wife means to say,” she cleared her throat. “Is that most Changelings don’t realise that you don’t really have a problem with their whole kind, just the actions of a few.”

“Few hundred, you mean,” Sugar said with a roll of her eyes. “That wasn’t the best reveal of Changelings to ponies as a whole. Nor could I blame you if you held a grudge against those that were there for it.”

“We did, for quite some time,” Cadence said. “But in the end, we both realised that we shouldn’t discredit the race as a whole. Now, I believe that this topic is done with. Shall we discuss what to expect for your ceremony?”

“Do lets,” Sugar said with a smile. “I’ve never had a ceremony, much less one for a pony wedding. I could do with a few instructions so I don’t look the fool on Moondancer’s day.”

“It’s all quite simple,” Cadence said. “Ah, generally, when two mare’s get married, one plays the role of the groom, and will wait at the altar while the bride makes her entrance. Have you decided which roles you will play?”

“It all depends on what Moonie wants to do,” Sugar replied as she gave said mare a quick kiss.

“Well, when Middy and I were planning ours, she was going to be the groom,” Moondancer explained. “I’ve always had a silly dream about walking down the aisle in a pretty dress. But, I want to hear what you want as well.”

“I am perfectly fine with sitting at the altar and watching you strut down the aisle in your dress,” Sugar said. “Whatever makes you happy.”

“You’re the best,” Moondancer squealed happily and gave her a rather passionate kiss. Once she broke it, she smiled warmly. “You won’t regret this in the slightest.”

“I can vouch for that,” Shining nodded. “Seeing your beautiful bride walk down the aisle is one of the greatest feelings ever.”

“I suppose I’ll get to find out,” Sugar said as she just hugged Moondancer close. “Mmm...love you,” she whispered.

“Love you too,” Moondancer smiled. Cadence ‘awww’d’ at the scene and smiled.

“Well, I’m afraid I’ll have to steal your bride away to get her ready. Do you mind staying with Shining and he’ll run you through things Miss Sugar?”

“I suppose I can do that,” Sugar said as she let go of Moondancer. “Just don’t take too long, I don’t know when miss Dazzling will be back.”

“Will do,” Cadence nodded. She left with Moondancer and Shining remained behind for a moment. Well buck, this was slightly awkward to say the least. He just sort of froze up and had no idea what to say. He was adorable. Dumb as a post, but adorable.

“Well mister Shining,” Sugar said as she strutted up to him. “Why don’t you walk me through what a groom is supposed to do?” No, apparently, she didn’t have an ‘off’ button when Moondancer was gone. That, or she was just naturally this seductive. She even batted her eyes at him for an added touch as she asked her question.

“Uhh,” his brain checked out as it tried to figure out whether this was attractive or not. A final decision was still in the works. “Uh, yeah, right. Okay. Follow me.”

“With a view like that, I could follow you anywhere~” Sugar purred. It didn’t take him long to put together what she was talking about.

He folded his tail down so it blocked most of her view as he snorted. “Just…” he couldn’t even respond to that one. One would think that a stallion married to Princess Cadence would be used to something like this… unless some of those rumours were true. That Cadence was still as pure as the driven snow.

“Tell me,” Sugar asked as she still admired those flanks. “Do you know what color corresponds to what emotion? And what mine is? Your empire is quite invigorating, yes, but I do have a preferred food.”

“I think Ledger mentioned Colours and the like, but I don’t know the specifics,” Shining replied, not looking back. He feared the look in her eye would cause his heart to stop… or overload. ‘I’m a married stallion, I’m a married stallion…’

“Mmm, I’ll give you a rundown then, because you might need it,” Sugar said. “Pink is Happiness, Red is Duty or Honor, they mean nearly the same thing to them. Orange is Kindness, Yellow is Courage. Green is Creativity, Blue is Loyalty, Silver is Learning, and Violet…”

Here she walked up next to him and whispered into his ear. “Violet is Lust, big boy.”

Shining shuddered as he moved his tail between his legs. “Ah, heh, good to ah, know?” he asked in a squeaky tone.

“Mmm, and you...you could do with a bit more lust in your life, I think. Or exposure to it.” Sugar said as matter-of-factly as though she were commenting on the weather. “I mean, seriously. The last time I saw somepony with as little lust as you, he was the guy designated to make sure all his friends got home safely from their night at my bar, and he was a coltcuddler to boot!”

“I am not a coltcuddler!” Shining said with a huff. “I happen to love Cadence very much and we do… ‘that’ sort of thing all the time. So there.” He snorted and nodded, looking rather proud of himself.

“You can’t even name it,” Sugar said with a small laugh to her voice. “Oh dear. I suppose the rumors were only ever so slightly wrong then.”

“I can so, it’s just not proper in front of a mare,” he replied. “Wait, what rumors?”

“That Cadence was still a virgin,” Sugar replied. “I suppose they should be calling you as pure as your white coat instead…”

Shining blushed and looked away. “Cadence and I have a healthy relationship. That sort of thing isn’t that necessary you know.”

“So you’ve done it, what, once? Twice?” the violet nymph asked.

“If you must intrude on our private life,” Shining muttered and looked around before he lowered his voice to barely above a whisper. “Cadence likes to do it about once a week or so.”

“So you’re not making any moves?” Sugar hummed. “Just, trust me on this one. I think you’d find her very receptive if you were to make a move on her.” An idea brewed in the back of her mind. Of an emotional cocktail to give to the stallion once Cadence came back. All she would need is a medium. Like wine or any sort of drink…

Shining chose to say nothing as he led her to the hall where the ceremony would take place. Ponies were bustling about everywhere as they set up tables, chairs, ribbons and curtains. Chefs were already starting to bring out some food which reminded Shining of something. “Oh, do you or Moondancer have any allergies in regards to flowers or food?”

“None that I’m aware of,” Sugar said. “Then again, we have been living in Las Pegasus. We have far too many good griffon-run restaurants to spoil ourselves with. If she has any, I don’t know it, and I don’t know of any that I have.”

Shining nodded and waved at the chefs to continue. “Ah well, I’m sure Moon is smart enough not to eat anything she can’t have. And you could just avoid anything too unfamiliar.” He led her to the front of the aisle and nodded. “You’ll be standing here, and Moondancer will come out of those doors over there. Cadence will give you your vows, you accept, you kiss and then it’s done,” Shining nodded. “And since you’re already married, there’s no forms to fill out afterwards.”

“True enough,” Sugar said as she watched the proceedings. “Hmm. Oh, there were a few things that we didn’t touch on. Like a cake, or wedding bands.”

“Ah, well our chefs will provide the cake, and we have some of the best chefs in the city.” Shining smiled. “But the wedding bands, that’s something a little more personal. Should we go and find Cadence and you and Moondancer could do a little shopping before the ceremony.”

“That sounds good,” Sugar said, before closing her eyes and humming. One hoof pointed in one direction after a few seconds. “She’s roughly that way, as is Moonie. I couldn’t mistake either one of them for anything else.”

“Quite the useful ability,” Shining chuckled as they started to walk. “That’d be good to have for interrogations. And that’s probably why Ledger was so impossible…”

“It is useful to know where ponies are and what they’re feeling,” Sugar agreed with a nod. “How else do you think we find any food back in the Lands?”

“So what’s it like to see emotion like that?” he asked, genuinely curious. “Is it like an aura or some sort?”

“The closest words that would translate over is like being able to smell out what you’re feeling in your heart,” Sugar said. “Though there is a visual component as well, it tends to evoke...a bit more of a more primal response if your Color and what you’re sensing line up.”

“Sooo, emotions have scents then?” he blinked. “And what do you mean by primal?”

“Scent and taste are closely linked, that’s why we use ‘smell’ instead of ‘sight’ to describe what we do. Plus, we don’t have to actually see our targets in order to be able to tell they’re there,” Sugar explained. “And ‘smelling’ what we most desire...tends to get our mouths watering.”

“Hmm,” Shining tried to picture that. “I think I get what you’re trying to say,” he nodded. “So when you...oh,” he turned a nice shade of red and looked away, unwilling to admit that he might have liked the thoughts in his head right now.

“Let me spell it out for you, big boy,” Sugar cooed. “When my girls back home take some lucky stallion into the back room...they’re drooling from more than one set of lips. And I enjoy every minute I spend with Moondancer, both in and out of the bedroom, because she never stops.”

Shining spluttered and coughed, his white fur now a nice crimson hue. Sugar just laughed and kept following her senses. “Wow, you’re easily embarrassed,” she said. “I think the last time I got a colt as easily flustered as you was the last virgin that came into the club that wanted to spend a night with ‘Miss Darling, the Queen of the Strip.’”

“I… ah…” His brain all but shut down at that one. Nopenopenopenopenope! He did not want to think about that. It was bad enough that he thought that Chrysalis might have done that with him. And now he was willingly picturing…

“I… need to use the bathroom,” he croaked and ran off very quickly. Sugar chuckled internally. Her, 1, Shining, 0. She wondered how much higher that number might get before the end of their stay.

Eventually she found the room Cadence and Moondancer were in and knocked on the door. “Sexy maid delivery!” she called out.

“Ohh, I have a few of those,” Cadence called out. “You… didn’t ponynap one did you?”

“No, but now you’ve given me an idea for later tonight,” the violet nymph purred.

“Oh dear,” Cadence groaned. “Oh, speaking off. Did Shining tell you that we have a suite set out for you here in the castle?”

“No, he ran off before he could tell me,” Sugar said as she pushed the door open and walked in at last. “He just couldn’t stand up to all of me~”

“...What did you do to my husband?” Cadence deadpanned. “And do answer carefully.”

“I just gave him about, oh, fifty percent of my usual sultriness and seductiveness,” Sugar said. “He got all flustered and ran off to the bathroom. I could help you find him if you’d like~”

“Only fifty percent?” Moondancer replied as she walked in. Cadence had been inspired by a recent photo from Twilight and decided to apply it to the unicorn mare. Her mane had been done up and her glasses replaced with contacts.

“Oooh, somepony’s looking fancy,” Sugar purred appreciatively. “But Shining did point out one thing before he ran off to attend to...personal matters. Namely, that we don’t have any wedding bands yet, Moonie.”

“Ohh, we don’t,” Moon nodded. “We need to fix that. Should we go now?”

“I can recommend a few fine jewellers,” Cadence nodded. “Crystal Clarity has a rather nice one in the South Quarter.”

“Aww, thank you,” Sugar said. “And I’ll bribe you now and later. Later, at the reception, if you give me a moment alone with Shining’s drink, I can infuse it with a few emotions to help him be more...well, a bit more like you’d like him to be,” Sugar said with a wink. “And for now, he is…” she closed her eyes and pointed in one direction. “That way. And oh my, he is really trying to work that lust out of his system. I don’t quite know how he intends to do that on his lonesome…”

“Hmm, perhaps I should help him,” Cadence nodded. “He’s been working awfully hard lately. Perhaps I should go and help with that hard load of his.” She hummed and trotted from the room, giving the mare a very nice view of her petite flanks.

“Is it normal to be envious of him right about now?” Sugar asked, watching those flanks go. She couldn’t help that she was attracted to ponies.

“Nope,” Moondancer licked her lips. “Sugar… would it be terrible of me to ask for a little roleplay at some point?”

“Tonight, I promise you a Cadence in a maid outfit,” Sugar purred. “But first, we have a shop to find!”

“I am so bucking wet right now,” Moondancer purred salaciously as she followed her wife out of the castle. “Tonight cannot get here quick enough~”

Back at Palette’s home, he was currently pouring some coffee for a strange pegasus mare that claimed she was here to speak with Critical.

“So… care to introduce me?” he asked his marefriend. “Or do I have to guess her name?”

“Honey, remember those Daring Do books I bring to life for the foals at the library?” Critical asked her stallion.

“I thought it was Sherclop Pones?” he remarked, and chuckled at her expression. “Yes dear, I am well aware of them. What of it?”

“Meet the author,” she said, gesturing to the mare across the table.

“Ah,” Palette nodded and smiled. “Well, how do you do Ma’am.”

“I am fine, thank you very much.” She smiled warmly as she looked at Critical Eye. “So, shall we get down to business?”

“Let’s, but first. I would like to say that I haven’t accepted any bits for doing the things I do with your stories, in case you thought I was making a profit off of your work,” Critical said before taking a sip of her coffee. “I would never do that to a fellow artist, no matter their medium.”

“The thought had crossed my mind, but I asked around when I arrived and have found that out already.” She smiled and sipped her coffee. “Thank you for that, it would have caused you quite a few legal troubles otherwise.” She set her cup down. “Now, I want to talk about the quality of your work.”

She paused and removed her shawl and glasses, revealing her yellowed coat, her rose-coloured eyes and ashy mane. “I have to say, it was like being there all over again.”

Critical blinked a few times before she slowly put her cup down. “...Okay, you’re going to have to help me here, miss Yearling,” she eventually said. “You write about...your own adventures?”

“In a sense,” Yearling smiled. “The locations in those books are quite real, as are some of the treasures. But, the young ones don’t want to hear about boring old archeology, so I spice it up with adventure and intrigue.”

“I see,” Critical said with a nod. “You know, I have a brother that stumbled across a ruin of yours. From the Ring of Destiny, I think it was. His description of his experience, combined with your book, made for a successful art opening for my illusions. As well, your book probably helped save his life, so thank you for that.”

“Well, glad to hear that,” Yearling smiled and nodded. “It’s a good thing I’m a stickler for details hmm?”

“So… you’re Daring Do?” Palette said as he sat down.

“Yes and no,” Yearling smiled. “She is me… I am her. She is what… I aspired to be.” Yearling sighed as she lost herself in foalhood memories for a moment. “My next book is going to be something,” she smiled and looked at Critical. “Now first of all, do you like acting out my books?”

“It brings smiles to the faces of foals, and it’s a decent challenge for my illusion magic,” Critical said. “So yes, yes I do like bringing the books to life for the foals.”

“Good to hear,” she nodded. “And, do you want to continue doing this?”

“I wouldn’t mind continuing to do this, no,” Critical said as she sipped her coffee again.

“Then,” Yearling got to her hooves and held one out to Critical. “How would you like to be partners? You’d get advanced copies of my books to use for your shows, and you’d be safe from a legal standpoint as well.”

“That sounds like a good deal,” Critical mused. “Though, a lifetime of learning how to pick apart my brother’s deals has taught me to ask for the catch…”

“Well, I’d like for you to travel a bit with your shows, and I could help as well. So yes, I’ll be using your skills for a bit of shameless self promoting. But I think we could have quite a bit of fun with it as well.”

“Hmm, a tour of Equestria, doing shows to all the little foals and drumming up business for you,” the mare hummed. “Fine, but you’re going to have to be aware of a little something before we shake hooves. I wouldn’t want to do this deal without you knowing.”

“And that is?” Yearling asked. Critical smiled before erupting in green flame, leaving a green-on-black changeling nymph sitting where she had been a moment ago.

“You’d find out when we shook hooves anyways,” the nymph said. “I’m one of the few of my kind that can’t actually transform.”

“Well that explains your skills in illusion.” Her emotions hadn’t changed in the slightest. “So, what of it?”

“Huh,” Critical said as she tilted her head. “I would have expected at least a little panicking from a pony at that display. You’ve got nerves of steel.”

“Not really, just never had a problem with Changelings,” Yearling shrugged. “You’re not any different from Minotaurs or Griffons really. Just another species living in Equestria.” She sipped at her coffee and hummed at the flavour. “So, we have a deal then Miss Critical?”

“It sounds like a good deal to me,” Critical hummed and stuck her hoof out for that hoofshake. Yearling took her hoof and shook it, smiling fondly.

“Then we have an accord.” She looked at her coffee cup. “Do you happen to have something a little more suited for celebrating?”

Palette smiled widely and looked at Critical with puppy dog eyes.

“Fine,” she said, not needing to turn to feel how eager he was. “You can break out a bottle.”

“Yes!” Palette pumped his hoof and returned a moment later with a some Crystal Berry wine and an assortment of fine cheeses.

“Ohh, Crystal Berry,” Yearling cooed. “I got to sample some when I was in Las Pegasus for the premiere of the Daring Do movie. This stuff is to die for.”

Palette nodded as he poured three glasses and passes two out to the mares. “To newfound friends.”

“Hear hear,” Critical said as she took hers and raised the glass. “To our ever-profitable friendship.”

“And may the profits be bountiful,” Yearling nodded and clinked her glass with theirs, before knocking back the wine in a single gulp. “Ahh, that’s the stuff.”

Critical was a bit more reserved with her sipping, before sighing delightedly at the taste. “It is rather nice, yes,” she admitted.

“Oh yeah, you haven’t had this before huh?” Palette asked, already on his second glass.

“I do tend to abstain from drinking as much as you do,” the nymph said as she sipped her wine again, now about half-through her glass.

"Well, later should be interesting," Palette mused.

"Lightweights tend to do funny things," Yearling nodded.

“I am not a lightweight,” Critical said as she sipped her wine again. “I can hold my liquor. I just choose not to imbibe as often as some ponies in this house.”

"She even argues like a lightweight," Palette chuckled and Yearling stifled a giggle as well.

"Ah, you two seem like fun to hang around with," she smiled and finished off her glass. "Too bad I can't stay long."

“True, I’d like to talk with you more,” Critical said as she finally polished off her first glass. “But I suppose you’re always busy. Still, don’t be a stranger. And I suppose I’ll get my first assignment in the mail, then?”

"No, I'd like to do the first one in person," Yearling smiled. "It'll be the launch of my newest book and I think you'd offer quite a bit to the live reading."

“Oooh, that sounds like fun,” Critical said with a smile. “I might be able to do that.” She then turned to Palette and gave him her best puppy-dog eyed look. “Do you think you could come with me when I go travelling?” she asked him.

"Hm? Does he have a job that keeps him busy?" Yearling asked with a slight head tilt.

“He’s an artist,” the nymph supplied. “Plus he just doesn’t like the idea of leaving the Empire at all.”

"Really?" Yearling asked. She couldn't fathom being such a homebody. "I love travelling. There's nothing like seeing a new sight, hearing a new sound or meeting a new pony." Her eyes positively danced with excitement. She was already feeling inspired to write again.

“I know, right? Seeing what the world has to offer, then becoming inspired to make something new based on it…” Critical sighed. “Of course, father was never happy I took so many unauthorized trips to the surface, but it was all worth it for the art I made afterwards.”

"Ahh, my parents knew that I was going to be either a writer... or a serial killer." She giggled and blushed. "I had some awkward teenage years. My early work was darker than your carapace."

“You should read some of the things my brother found, then,” Critical grinned. “Oh, the places he went. Despite everybuggy else telling him not to.”

"Oh?" Well now she was intrigued. "Maybe I should meet with him. I'm always looking for usable material."

“Good luck, he barely talks about the time he visited that Hive,” the green nymph said as she put her empty glass down. “You’d probably have to bribe him with that whole ‘Early release’ thing to get even one word out of him.”

"Perhaps," Yearling nodded. "I can be quite persuasive. So, what's his name and where does he live?"

“He goes by the name of Level Ledger,” Critical said. “He lives down in Las Pegasus now, and you’d be hard-pressed to mistake him for anyone else, these days.” She muttered under her breath, something about four mares.

"What was that?" Yearling asked. Even Palette didn't catch that.

“Let’s just say, he’s bringing the fine traditions of the Crystal Empire to Equestria as a whole,” Critical said with an eye-roll. “Especially those involving how many mares and stallions can be in a relationship.”

"O-Oh?" Yearling replied quietly and blushed lightly. She'd heard that herd practicing was still popular in the Empire, and that it was starting to make a comeback in Equestria. "Well, I guess that'll make him easy to find huh?"

“As long as you don’t try to get in on it, I have no problems with you finding my brother. It’s been a practice in the Lands for some time...but there, the nymphs are the ones calling the shots,” Critical said, declining to mention exactly why that would be so.

"One, I don't even know him, and I prefer my solitude," Yearling deadpanned. "And two, what do you mean, 'nymphs call the shots'?"

“Let’s just say that for the longest time, our society was matriarchal with a vengeance and leave it at that,” the green nymph replied.

"Hmm," Yearling was... writing that down? "Interesting."She gasped and smiled as a wave of inspiration hit her. "Oh...ohhhh, that's good~"

“Fortunately, word is through the grapevine that the, ah, driving force behind that has been dealt with,” Critical said. “So hopefully, with high-ranking nobles like uncle and mother around to influence society, there’ll be a shift back to normality.”

"Well, if your society has always been matriarchal, would that be normal?" Yearling shrugged and wrote some more stuff down. "Say, how tall would you say you are?"

“Apparently not,” Critical said as she got up to show herself off. Just a little taller than Twilight, and a little shorter than Cadence. “There once was a time when all ‘lings had value and worth. Hopefully we’ll make a return to those days.”

Yearling wrote a few things down and nodded. "Okay, got it. You're rather tall huh? May change that slightly. As for your Hives, it sounds interesting. Maybe I should pay them a visit if possible." She snorted at that, she was Daring Do. Of course it was possible.

“Good luck with that, the entrances are designed to blend in, as are the sentries assigned to watch them,” Critical said with a smile. “And the reason I’m so tall is because I’m a Noble.” Here the nymph indicated her slitted eyes with a hoof. “My heritage grants me a few perks.”

"So there are physical differences as well?" Yearling had so many questions, but her train left in a half hour. "Argh! Blasted time constraints!"

“You can ask my brother when you find him, he’s Noble as well,” Critical giggled. “Plus he did quite a bit of research on us and the differences being Noble granted us when he was in the Orange Hive.”

Now Yearling had to send Velvet a letter. The unicorn would likely hunt her down and tan her hide for it, but her quest for ideas demanded it. In fact, she could probably start an entire arc based around it.

"Alright, I have to dash, but we'll talk again real soon," Yearling nodded as she donned her cloak and glasses again.

“Take care out there,” Critical said with a wave. “I’ll be waiting for word from you.”

"Expect it soon," Yearling nodded. She turned as she reached the door and smiled. "Oh, if a really cranky unicorn mare shows up looking for me. I was never here." She winked and spread her wings, taking off into the sky.

“Well that promises to be entertaining,” Critical mused as she looked over at Palette.

"Why does everypony who shows up for you, turn out to be weird, troublesome or both?" He asked, sipping his drink. "Don't you know anypony normal?"

“Of course I do,” Critical said with a smile. “It’s just, my definition of normal is your definition of weird.”

"So, anyone fit the bill for my supposed definition of normal?" He asked as they headed back inside.

“Sorry, you’re going to have to rely on your friends for that,” Critical said as she leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"Hah! You're assuming a cranky old fossil like me has friends," he snorted as he put away the half empty bottle. "Now, what's that thing you said we were invited to?"

“Cadence is throwing a wedding for some friends from Las Pegasus,” the nymph replied. “It’s at the palace, though I don’t know why she invited us, to be honest. Still, she seemed rather eager to be throwing the wedding, so we should probably attend.”

"Huh..." Palette paused and nodded. "Well, on one hoof, it's free food and drink," he replied. "Besides, do these friends of yours have any of their friends with them?"

“No, it’s just the two of them, and they’re not even really my friends, but Ledger’s and Midnight’s. Still, Cadence seemed rather...enthusiastic to be in charge of their ceremony,” Critical replied.

"Well," Palette said with a knowing smile. "A wedding without guests would be dreadfully boring don't you think. Or worse, imagine a getting married and all your guests are maids and guards?"

“True,” the nymph hummed as she reapplied her disguise. “Shall we go and attend the ceremony then?”

"Why not," Palette nodded. He fetched his bag and bits pouch, along with a sealed bottle of wine.

"Don't give me that look," he said when he saw her expression. "It's a wedding gift, not for me."

“If you say so,” the disguised nymph said as she watched him put it away in his saddlebags.

"Yes I have and yes I did," he nodded. "Now let's skedaddle before we're late."

"Choosing a wedding band is hard," Moondancer pouted. "Why is it so hard Darling?"

“Probably because we want it to be perfect,” the nymph replied. There was a fine selection at this jeweler that Cadence had pointed them out to, but none of them said ‘Moondancer’ to her.

"Also because I don't wear a lot of jewelry," Moon replied and giggled. "Now, if we were to get me a nice collar..."

The jeweler nearby turned a nice shade of crimson. Note, Crystal Ponies were cute when they blushed.

“Well, now I have another thing to get you for your birthday,” Sugar said with a smile. “I don’t wear a lot of jewelry either, but then, I’ve never had much reason to before. I might see clear to getting a few things pierced for you…”

"Hm, you would look nice with a pair of ear...rings?" Moondancer trailed off as she looked at one particular band. It was made of rose crystal with a stunning diamond set as the centerpiece.

"Oh wow..." she breathed softly... then saw the price tag. That...was a lot of zeroes. Sugar turned and saw where she was looking, before looking at the band herself and softly whistling.

“That would look lovely on you,” she commented as she floated a checkbook out and started writing out a check for the price. “I’m buying it.”

"Darling! That band is waaay too expensive!" Moondancer exclaimed, her magic trying to wrestle her quill away. "You can’t."

“I most certainly can,” Sugar said. “If I think you’re worth the effort, then you are bucking worth the effort. It’s only money, dear. I can replace it with enough work.”

"But...I..." she looked at the jeweler with a pleading expression. "Help me out here?"

"Would you like that giftwrapped?" She asked with a friendly smile, causing Moondancer to groan.

“Perhaps a small box, it’s going to be used in a bit,” Sugar said as she yanked the quill free and finished writing the check.

"Well congratulations!" The jeweler smiled and hummed. She took the band out and went to test it against Moondancer’s leg before she paused. "Hmm," she looked at Sugar and winked. "Perhaps you should have this first."

“I can do that,” Sugar said as she gently grasped the band with her forehooves, before slipping it onto Moondancer’s right foreleg. “I was right,” she breathed. “It does look wonderful on you. Or you’re making it look amazing. I can’t tell which.”

Moondancer’s voice hitched in her throat. It really did look amazing. And it was for her, from a mare she loved. She wondered if the roof had a leak and the weather pegasi made a freak rain shower, because her face was wet for some reason.

Sugar gently wiped her wife’s face with a hoof, trying to help her stop any makeup she might have been wearing from running too badly. “I take it you like it,” she whispered, before motioning for the jeweler to get that small box they’d been talking about.

Crystal Clarity nodded and went to fetch the box, a happy smile on her face. She loved it when customers loved her work.

"This is..." Moondancer finally found her words and nodded. "I love it almost as much as the mare that gave this wonderful gift to me."

“Well then, I can see a future where I have to remind you to take it off every now and then,” Sugar teased. “Well, that’s one down.”

"And now you've set the bar impossibly high," Moondancer hummed. She saw one made of what looked like woven onyx. It was set with a stunning red ruby that seemed to flicker with an inner light.

"Is that... a Fire Ruby?" Moondancer asked aloud as Clarity returned.

"Ah, good eye," she said as she floated over the box to Sugar. "It took a long time to cultivate that. And onyx is a pain to mold."

“Oooh, that does look nice,” Sugar said as she eyed the bracelet. “Hmm. Perhaps if we got away from the front, I could properly try it on?” the disguised nymph suggested to her wife.

Clarity nodded. She'd been made aware by Cadence that these customers might require some... unique treatment. "You can use my backroom there," she said, motioning at the room she was in just a moment ago. "Just don’t touch anything please. Some of my tools are extremely delicate."

“I promise not to,” Sugar said as she gathered up her wife and the bracelet she wanted to try on with her magic. Since Moonie was still a bit shocked by the bracelet she’d just been given and all. The unicorn blushed at being picked up, but she didn't complain, Sugar’s magic aura felt really nice.

Once they were out there and Moondancer had been put down, she hummed as she took the bracelet. She knelt down in front of Sugar and took her hoof with her own.

"If my Lady would be so kind," she asked. Sugar blushed, but took her original form with a small flash of violet flames. Ohh, those flames always made her heart skip a beat.

She held the chitinous hoof and gave it a soft kiss before she slipped the ring on, sitting it snugly above one of the holes.

"A beautiful gem for a beautiful mare," Moon said, kissing her hoof again.

“Flattery will get you everywhere,” Sugar said. “Well...I like how it looks. What about you?”

"I think you'd make a rusted bracer look like gold," she said and kissed her muzzle. "I think you look stunning in it love."

“Mm, well then, we should probably get out of the back room before she gets curious as to what we’re up to,” Sugar said as she slipped the bracelet off and retook her disguise.

"Aww, and I thought we were having a moment here," Moondancer pouted. "Okay, let's buy it and then get married... again."

“You know you’ll love it,” Sugar purred as they returned to the main room. “Yes, this one will do nicely,” she informed the jeweler.

"Excellent," Clarity smiled. "I do love it when I can help a happy couple." She boxed up the band as Moondancer pulled out her own checkbook. Once the rings had been paid for, the couple headed back towards the palace, the unicorn leaning against her wife’s side.

"Mmm, this feels like a dream," she sighed. "One I never want to wake from."

“Considering we’re about to get married by Princess Cadence in her Empire, just let me know when it’s getting too dreamlike for you,” Sugar returned. “I’ll be sure to inject a little more sex into your dreaming.”

"Mmm, I don't mind the occasional wet dream, but reality is much more fun," Moondancer cooed and then gave Sugar's flanks a pinch with her magic before running off towards the palace, her own flanks having a nice shake to them.

“I get the feeling one of us is going to be the death of the other,” Sugar mused as she chased after her wife. Not only did she have a wedding to attend, but now she wanted to pay her back for that~

Petty revenge had to wait, almost the second they set hoof inside the castle, Cadence and about a half dozen maids made off with Moondancer, once again leaving Sugar alone with Shining and the orange pegasus that was guarding the door.

"Well," Shining nodded, and she noticed that while he was looking at her, he wasn't making eye contact. "If you'll follow us, we'll show you to your dressing room."

“Mmm, and what sort of dressing will I be doing?” Sugar asked. “Modeling beachwear? The latest in lingerie? Or maybe just a nice revealing outfit?”

Both stallions stumbled and the pegasus fought to keep his wings down.

"I walked into that one," Shining muttered. "If you must know, your wedding dress is ready..." He paused and added an afterthought. "And before you say it, we will neither be watching or assisting you in dressing. A maid will be waiting to do that."

“Maids, stallions, they’re all good to me,” Sugar purred before looking at the pegasus of the pair. “And I’m pretty sure if I asked this one, he’d jump at the chance to put his hooves on me.”

"I-I have a marefriend... or three... I think?" Flash stammered. Shining shook his head and sighed. He then flashed a smirk at Sugar. Wait til she finds out that he arranged the most heterosexual mare he could find... which was really hard for some reason.

“Good on you, colt,” Sugar nodded approvingly. “Still, I wouldn’t say no to you stallions watching me slowly slip my dress on...or off.”

"I'm married... as are you," Shining reminded her. "Honestly, I can't tell if you’re serious or not," he muttered.

"...Can I watch?" Flash asked. Shining facehooved and frowned.

"You'll be watching the tundra, from the outside in a minute."

“Aww, don’t be too hard on him for what I’m doing,” Sugar said. “And Moonie and I are already planning a little wife-swapping with a friend. I don’t think she would mind too much spending some time with Cadence while I got to know you better for practice~”

"Not happening," Shining said. Flash looked at him and opened his mouth, but a glare from the unicorn made sure no sound came out.

“Somepony had a bit of fortitude before coming to get me,” Sugar hummed. “You were much more fun an hour ago when you got easily flustered. What happened to that?”

"I now know my enemies tactics," Shining nodded. He had decided to take a military approach to this mare. His nerves couldn't handle her otherwise.

"The Captain and fun don't go in the same sentence," Flash nodded.

"Flash. Tundra," Shining warned and the pegasus zipped his lip.

“Aww, pity,” Sugar said with a pout. “Anypony that can impress the alicorn of love has got to know a few fun tricks~”

"Perhaps, but you'll never know," Shining nodded as they reached the room. "We're here...thank Celestia."

“Have fun thinking about a mare touching me all over, like Moonie does every night,” Sugar said with a wink and a swish of her tail as she passed by the stallions on her way into the room.

She heard a *pomf* sound as Flash couldn’t hold them anymore. Shining shook his head and looked at the Private.

"I'm going to make sure Cadence is still my wife. Guard this door and no peeking!"

"Sir yes sir," Flash mustered with a little enthusiasm. The prince shook his head and trotted off, and as soon as he was gone, Flash had his ear against the door. Hey, nopony said he couldn't listen.

Inside, a maid was waiting, along with a stunning outfit on a ponnequin. It was a rather dapper-looking coat. It was a rich, dark green with gold trim, and while the coat and vest fit the role of 'groom' it also had a long, multilayered dress that gave the outfit a feminine tone.

"The seamstress hopes you like your outfit," the maid said. Sugar walked around it and hummed for a second before nodding.

“It’s not exactly my color, but I am a creative mare. I’ll make it work. I’ll trust her judgement.” A thought occurred to her then, and she looked at the maid. “Ah, you’ll probably need for me to do my usual magic trick before this’ll fit me properly…”

"The princess has informed me," the maid nodded. "If you would kindly take the form you wish to use, we can begin the fitting."

With a violet flash, the mare was replaced with Sugar’s noble form, stretching out her legs and cracking her neck. “Never gets old, taking up this mantle again,” the nymph mused. “Ah well, I place myself at your mercy.”

"While amusing, your theatrics are unwarranted," the maid nodded. "And believe me, dressing you will be far more preferable to my last position." She removed the first pieces, a ruffled collar and the undershirt. Sugar just held herself still as she was dressed. If there was anything her time with the seamstress had taught her, it was not to move.

“Dare I ask what that was?” she asked nonetheless.

"Same job, different host," the mare nodded. "King Sombra was...rather particular about how he was clothed." She moved the vest letting Sugar step into it and buttoned it up. She then affixed the dress, smoothing some small wrinkles and humming lightly. "Is that too tight?"

“No, I’d say it fits just fine,” Sugar hummed. “And I am truly sorry for bringing up any painful memories...It was not my intention.”

"It's fine, at least it kept me out of the mines, and better fed," she added. The pain was there, just long buried and forgotten. As she moved the coat, the sunlight caught it and Sugar saw something interesting. The green had shifted to a deep violet hue. It seems that the colour would change, depending on the light and the angle you saw it from.

“Oooh, now there’s something you don’t see every day,” the nymph purred appreciatively. “I can safely say I’ve never seen that before.”

"Yes, she's rather skilled," the maid nodded. She heard a sound from outside as Flash slipped and banged the door. She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Colts..."

“They are rather fun to tease,” Sugar said with a giggle, before speaking up a little louder so that Flash would hear her. “I’ve never seen one change colors before. Do you know how she does it?”

"Nopony knows, trade secret apparently," the maid nodded. "Maybe you could... convince her?"

“I could certainly try, I’ve been told I’m quite persuasive,” Sugar purred. “Maybe I’ll track her down after the ceremony and ask her how she did it.”

There was another thump as he heard the out-of-context conversation and came to a very different conclusion.

"Too easy," the maid rolled her eyes again as she finished putting on the outfit. "Would you like something done with your mane and tail?"

“As long as you’re gentle with them, I don’t see a problem,” Sugar said with a nod.

"Oh? And here I was thinking that you were a mare that didn't mind it a little rough?" The maid chuckled as they heard a groan from outside.

“There’s a difference between a little rough and messing too hard with my mane and tail,” Sugar said as she flicked said tail. “They’re sort of...not the same sort of hair. No cutting.”

"I see, but I simply meant doing them up," the maid smiled as she ran a hoof over her tail. "I'm thinking some traditional Crystal braiding."

“As long as you’re gentle, I don’t see a problem with you doing me at all,” Sugar purred. To her credit, the maid reverted to her default eyeroll.

Flash was regretting listening in now, he wondered if the Captain would let him visit Canterlot…

“So, show me what you were thinking of,” Sugar said, looking in the mirror and waiting for the maid to make her move.

The maid nodded as she lifted a bit of Sugar's mane and her hooves moved in a way that the nymph couldn't follow.

"Took me a long time to learn this," she said. "The Princess has a traditional one that takes roughly six hours to do... and about the same to undo." She'd put her mane up into a bun and was now weaving crystals into it.

“Oooh, that looks nice,” Sugar said. “I can safely say I’ve never had that done to me before. And I’ve lived a long time in Las Pegasus.”

"I can't imagine you would, there are only three ponies here in the empire that can do this, and one Unicorn from Equestria apparently." She weaved in a few sapphires and then grabbed the amethysts.

“Mmm, blue and violet, good color choices for me,” Sugar approved. “Don’t suppose you could find a way to put a few pink-hued gems in there? Color means quite a bit to me, and I want to send the right message to my Moonie.”

"Pink...pink..." the maid frowned as she looked through the drawer. Crystals flew over her head as she flung them about. "Why are there no... COLT! GET IN HERE!"

The door flew open as Flash stumbled inside. The maid looked at him and nodded. "You have a mission. I want some small rose-quartz crystals and I want them yesterday!"

"Ma'am yes ma'am!" He saluted and flew from the room. The maid nodded and turned back to Sugar with a sweet smile, the polar opposite of what she was just a second ago. "We should have something in just a moment,” she said.

“I’m just waiting for that colt to realize that he’s come face-to-face with a changeling,” Sugar said with a small laugh. “He’ll probably be even more fun to mess with then.”

"So, if I may ask," the maid said as they waited. "Why do you disguise yourself? You don’t look scary, quite exotic in fact."

“Changelings didn’t have the best of introductions to ponies,” Sugar said. “In fact, one Noble nymph raised an army and assaulted the pony capitol for as much food as she could forcibly rip from the inhabitants. Ever since, our kind has been either hiding, or trying to repair relationships.”

"Well, I guess that would do it," the maid nodded. "Still, in case you forgot, this isn’t Equestria. You might get some curious looks and questions, but I doubt any Empire residents would harm you."

“True, but you have pony tourists,” Sugar pointed out. “Plus I doubt any of the changelings Ledger asked to be saved and shipped up here, instead of being deported, thanks to the second invasion of ‘lings in as many years, go around without their disguises either.”

"The world is a complicated place," the maid nodded. The door flew open again as Flash returned, a basket clutched in his mouth filled with sparkling gems. The maid moved over to him and sifted through the gems until she found a half dozen she could use.

"Thank you colt," the maid nodded. She moved back to Sugar and started to weave the gems into her mane. Flash stood there awkwardly, trying not to stare at the beautiful changeling.

“Ah, there we go,” Sugar said as she looked at the colors now appearing in her mane. “Color means something important to a ‘ling. Denotes which emotion you feed on. I like this set-up you’ve got in my mane Miss...?"

"Glamour Gleam," the mare replied. "Sorry for not introducing myself earlier."

“Miss Gleam,” Sugar said with a nod. “Wearing these colors to a wedding will certainly send the right message to my Moonie. Blue for Loyalty, Pink for Happiness, and Violet for Lust.” She said the last word while looking at Flash in her mirror, still intent on messing with the colt.

He gulped audibly and looked away, once again fighting his wings down.

"Colt, if you're going to stand there like a useless lump, hoof me that ribbon there," Glamour said. He held up a deep purple one and she nodded. As she laced it around Sugar's tail, she looked at Flash again. "Now hold this here," she ordered. He did, and noticed that his face was only a few inches from Sugar's flanks and he turned a deep red.

“Typically I don’t have stallions dressing me up,” the nymph said with a vicious smirk. “They’re more interested in dressing me down, among other things.”

"Uh-huh," Flash nodded as he just stared, her tail annoyingly blocking his view of anything.

"I give him two minutes before he passes out from bloodloss," Glamour chuckled as she weaved in some more crystals. Flash's hoof was pressed against the ribbon, holding it just above her tail.

“Mmm, I’d take that bet if I were able to move,” Sugar said. “Because then I could make him pass out sooner~”

"And done," Glamour hummed as she tapered off the ribbon and nodded. "You look wonderful." She paused and looked at Flash with a deadpan stare. "You can remove your hoof colt." He yelped and pulled back like his hoof was on fire, standing at attention.

“Aww, and I was enjoying that touch,” Sugar pouted. “Ah well, we can still use him for a little,” the nymph said as she looked herself over in the mirror. “Colt, what do you think of how I look now? Be honest~”

Honestly? Sure, she may have been a Changeling but...

"Beautiful," he said. "Your wife is a lucky mare."

“She keeps saying that every night,” Sugar said with a smile. “I feel lucky I even met her, though.” The nymph turned around and put a hoof under his chin before cooing. “Mm, it’s a shame I’m all dolled up now...I might be tempted to show you my skills first-hoof otherwise.”

He just stared wide-eyed at her, blushing profusely…

“Well, I’ve had my fun with the colt,” Sugar said as she looked at Glamour. “Where to next?”

He promptly imitated a fainting goat and Glamour shook her head. "You know he probably only abstained because you're married right? Equestrians are rather stingy about that."

“Dear, I work in a nightclub that also serves to help relieve the tensions of one of the more sinfully delightful cities in Equestria. I’m fairly certain I’ve slept with my own fair share of married stallions~” Sugar replied. “Still, I think I win that little bet of yours.”

"Seems so, but we never agreed on what we would bet," she smirked.

“Doesn’t matter, I got my prize of fainting stallion,” Sugar said with a shrug. “Now, shall we be off to where I need to be for Moonie? I get the feeling the ceremony is supposed to start soon.”

Glamour glanced at a clock and gasped. "We're late!!" She put her hooves on Sugar’s flank and all but pushed her out the door. "Let's hustle."

“Okay, okay!” the nymph said as she started to trot quickly. “Where do we need to be? It’d be faster if I knew where I was going!”

"The main hall where we have everything set up," Glamour said. They hurried along the halls, briskly so Sugar’s outfit and makeup would survive.

Once they were there, they were greeted with a hall full of ponies. Cadence must have invited half the kingdom to this thing.

And all of them were staring at Sugar when she entered…

Sugar did her best to smile and not panic. Being in front of this many ponies, undisguised, was not something most changelings did. Yes, there were those that were open about themselves back in Las Pegasus. She wasn’t one of them. At least, not normally. She was revealed, yes, she did handle quite a few changeling-pony relations questions, true. But she still came to work every day with her disguise on. It was just how she was at this point.

A somewhat familiar green Unicorn smiled at her, waving. Glamour paid them all no heed as she led Sugar to the alter.

"Alright. So you'll stand here as your wife enters. She'll walk down that aisle, you'll exchange vows, rings then kiss. Simple no?"

“I can do that,” Sugar said as she mentally compiled her vows. “I, uh, think Moonie might have the rings, though...she did when we came in the palace anyways.”

"Well, better hope she doesn't forget them," Glamour giggled and gave Sugar's outfit a once over, before nodding with a satisfied smile and took her seat a few rows back.

There was a moment of silence, some guests whispering amongst themselves before some music played. A simple wedding march with a small upbeat tone. Everyone turned in their seats as the large double doors opened. Some foals skipped down the aisle, scattering flower petals as a familiar unicorn appeared, looking nervous as hay.

She wore a long, lace dress. White as snow and linked to a golden necklace with gold wires and ruby beads. She also wore a golden tiara topped with heart-shaped gems. The gossamer veil covering her face couldn’t hide her blush as she slowly walked down the aisle.

Sugar couldn’t take her eyes off of Moondancer. Nor did she think she would ever want to. She had been under the impression that her Moonie couldn’t get any more attractive. And she was still right, but now that dress was highly alluring. Though, was it because it was on Moondancer?

She’d have to carefully remove it later. For science, of course.

Once the mare reached the podium where Sugar was waiting, the music stopped as Princess Cadence stepped up.

"You look beautiful," Moondancer whispered to Sugar.

“I’m tearing that dress off you later,” Sugar whispered back.

"Save it for the honeymoon," Cadence giggled and cleared her throat. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the union of these two mares. Overcoming the boundaries of species and social opinion, to show that love can find you, no matter who you are." She looked at the two and smiled. "Would you like to say your own vows?"

“I can do that,” Sugar said with a nod, before turning to look at Moondancer. “Moondancer, from the moment we met and I revealed myself to you, I can honestly say...I feared for my life and all the things you would do to study me,” the nymph said, to the chuckles of the crowd. “And when I revealed the entirety of my nature to you, I only had one thought on my mind. Namely, how long it would take you to wake up.” She was on a roll. “But ever since then, you and I have grown closer than ever. I’ve had lovers before, yes. But none of them were as accepting, kind, and loving as you were. You have honestly been the best thing to happen to me outside of investing in Ledger’s business, but unlike him, I can marry you to secure my future, and it would be my honor if you would accept me as your wife.”

Moondancer was on the verge of tears again. Dammit Sugar, stop being so sweet!

She took a deep breath to steady her nerves and nodded. Her horn shone gently and for a second, Sugar had the same glow, but it didn't appear to do anything to the nymph. Moondancer put a hoof to her neck and took a breath.

"My dearest Sweet-Lover," Oh Hives... she was speaking Changeish? "I never... never thought I could love again. Not like what I had before. But then, somehow, you sashayed into my life and proved me wrong." The polymorph spell ended and her vocal chords returned to normal. "Now, I don’t... I can't imagine what my life would be like without you in it. I don’t care what anypony says, I love you with all my heart, with absolutely everything that I have. I would cross oceans, brave deserts..." She paused and smiled. "I would even give up my magic if I had to. I love you. I always will."

Now it was Sugar’s turn to nearly cry. To hear that somepony would love you, no matter what…

It was every changeling’s dream. And Moondancer had said it again.

"Those were some beautiful words," Cadence smiled. "I can tell that you two will have a long and happy life together. Now, do you have the rings?"

Moondancer nodded as her horn shone and the boxes were teleported in. She looked at Sugar and smiled. "I um, also made a small change to yours."

“Then let me put yours on first, please,” Sugar said as she held out a hoof. “I want to be surprised after I make you look perfect.”

Moon nodded as Cadence beamed with happiness. "Well then, I shall say these words as you exchange your rings." She looked at Sugar. "Do you, Sugar Darling, take this mare? To love and cherish her. To support and hold her. For the rest of your lives?"

“I do,” Sugar said as she opened the box with Moondancer’s ring, before placing it on her wife. Yup, she looked even more perfect now.

Moondancer looked at it, smiling as tears stung her eyes. Cadence may have even wiped some of her own away.

In the front row, Shining Armor bawled his eyes out, hugging Flash as the pegasus patted his back awkwardly.

Moondancer took out her ring, and Sugar noticed the gem had a pink glow to it. Did she enchant it?

"Moondancer. Do you take this mare? To love and cherish her. To support and hold her, for the rest of your lives?" Cadence repeated.

"With all my heart, I do," Moon nodded as she slipped the ring on and immediately, Sugar felt it. That glow, Moon had infused raw magic into it. Her magic! The Unicorn was literally giving the nymph a piece of herself.

The thought did cause her to tear up, but she held it in for the time being. She supposed that would explain why the gem changed colors, then...

"Then, with the vows and rings exchanged," Cadence said. "As the Princess of the Crystal Empire, and in front of all these witnesses. I pronounce you blessed with love. You may kiss your bride."

There was a moment where neither of them moved, and then Sugar all but attacked her wife with her mouth, seeking to return even a portion of the affection she had been showered with.

Everypony exploded with cheers and applause as they kissed, some turning red from the rather... enthusiastic show of affection.

"Do try to leave some of her left," Cadence chuckled. Eventually, Sugar pulled up for air and hugged Moondancer close, unwilling to let her wife go.

"Well now, shall we escort the new couple to the party?" Cadence said as she stepped around the podium. "The celebrations have yet to begin!"

“Party?” Sugar asked her wife. “If you’re up for it of course.”

"There's cake," Moon nodded as they headed for the dining hall. The Prince and Princess ahead of them and the small army of guests behind them. "Besides, we'll party later, mkay?" She gave her wife a kiss on the cheek, the nymph feeling the pure love she had for her.

“I still have that promise to uphold as well,” Sugar said with a nod. “So, shall we see what the Empire managed to drum up on short notice?”

Turns out that the answer was quite a bit. A half dozen tables spread with more food than even Sugar had seen in one place. The centerpiece was a four-tier cake coated in chocolate and buttercream frosting, with little candy figures of Moon and Sugar atop of it.

"Well..." Moondancer was rather lost for words.

“What little I know of pony weddings says we have to cut the cake,” Sugar said as she approached the confectionary masterpiece. “Which is a shame, it’s a beautiful cake.”

"Cake is meant to be eaten," Moon nodded as she picked up the knife with her magic. "Together?"

“Together,” Sugar agreed as she added her own magic. With their combined effort, a piece was effortlessly cut from the top of the cake. The crowd cheered again as Moondancer smirked and enacted another wedding tradition. She held up a piece of cake for Sugar, and when she opened her mouth to be fed, she found the whole piece mashed onto her muzzle.

“...I would retaliate, but that would ruin that nice dress of yours,” Sugar replied as she did her best to clean her muzzle off.

"Heehee," Moondancer giggled as she licked the frosting from Sugar's nose and then licked her lips. "Mmm, delicious. And now I have... ideas~"

“We’ll have to try them out later,” Sugar said with a nod. “Oooh, is that wine over there?”

As they approached the table, Critical and Palette stood next to it.

"Congrats," Palette nodded. "A fine wedding if I do say so myself."

“I never thought I’d see the day when a ‘ling got married openly,” Critical agreed with a nod. “Makes me want to attend my brother’s wedding even more, if I can convince a certain stallion to come with me.”

"I have no problems with it I guess," Palette shrugged. "I suppose I could visit other areas for inspiration."

"That should be a spectacle and a half," Moondancer giggled. "If only to hear Scope’s vows."

“She is the most abrasive little nymph I’ve ever met,” Sugar giggled.

“I know, right?” Critical said with a snicker. “And yet, she’s with my brother and all that entails. Somepony tell me how that works.”

"A mystery for the ages," Moondancer nodded. "So what's that you have there Mr...?"

"Just call me Palette," he nodded and held out the bottle. "It isn't much, just some vintage Crystal Berry wine. A little wedding gift you you two."

“Oooh, that sounds delicious,” Sugar said. “We’ve only just gotten some down in Las Pegasus, but I will never say no to more~”

"Hmm, so Ruby was right about that Earth mare," Palette hummed. "Still, if she's the one that made what you've had, then you'll find this on a whole other level." He also made a note to poke his tongue out at Critical. "Told you they'd like it."

“Who wouldn’t like this wine?” Sugar asked as she took it with her magic. “Moonie, you remember the time I shared the Crystal Berry wine Cider made with you, yes?”

"Mhmm... I think?" Moondancer scrunched up her face and thought. "Did I get drunk?"

“Just a little,” Sugar said. “Though, you did try to drink half the bottle.”

"Ahh, then I must have liked it," Moondancer nodded and took the bottle with her magic. "Thank you for the wonderful gift you two."

“It’s only just occurred to me we never properly introduced ourselves,” Critical mused. “Though I do know who you two are. Misses Sugar and Moondancer, allow me to introduce my stallion, Painted Palette. One of the better artists the Empire has ever seen, in my opinion.”

"And this little flatterer is Critical-Eye. Illusionist, Art Critic and the one that both saved and inspired me," he said with a rare smile, nuzzling her. She blushed straight through her disguise at his very public display of affection.

“You two seem rather close,” Sugar noticed. “Will the Empire be seeing another wedding soon?”

"Maybe once I feel like I can go through that again," Palette said, and Sugar could sense a great sadness under those words. "But who knows, the kid here is quite the mare."

"And quite the glowbug," Moondancer giggled, motioning to her fierce blush. To her credit, Critical eventually got her blush under control again and hugged Palette.

“I’ll wait for you, as long as it takes,” she whispered to him. “I’m not saying forget them. I would never say that. I’ll just be here when you’re ready for me.”

"I know," he said softly. Moondancer figured that there was a story there, but didn't ask.

"If the happy couple would join us on the dancefloor," Cadence called out. "The first waltz is about to start."

“Oooh, do I get to show off my dance moves?” Sugar asked with a salacious smile to Moondancer.

"It's a waltz, not a striptease," Moondancer groaned. "...You can do that later."

“Aww, fine, I suppose I might have a few fancy dance moves in this brain of mine somewhere,” Sugar pouted.

"Well, this should be interesting," Moondancer chuckled as the guests made way for them, forming a circle around the dance floor. The band started a simple waltz, though they added a slight modern twist to it. That was when Sugar added her own twist to the dancing, twirling Moondancer around a few times with the aid of her magic, before she smiled and resumed her normal dance.

“I could get used to this,” she observed once Moondancer came to a halt.

"Used to what, holding me close? Sharing our love?" She closed her eyes and smiled as her horn shone. It wasn't until Sugar glanced down that she saw that they were dancing in midair. Moondancer’s powerful levitation keeping them afloat. "Because we have our whole lives to do this."

“You’re just lucky my dress is keeping my wings and shell pinned closed,” Sugar said with a wicked smile. “Otherwise I would show you how Changelings dance. There’s a reason our dance halls have high ceilings~”

"You must show me... and maybe I'll show you a trick of my own," Moon said and kissed her. The song soon came to an end and after a stomping round of applause, other guests started their own dance, with Palette dragging Crit out there as well.

“I really don’t think this is a good idea,” she tried to protest. Yes, she wanted to dance, but she never did well at the lessons...partly on purpose. It was only when her brother left and she had her father as her only dance partner that she actually got somewhere.

"Life is paved with bad decisions," he laughed. "Let's go little lady!"

Cadence approached the married couple, Shining and Flash keeping their distance lest Sugar start on them again.

"So, how have you liked your wedding?" She asked in a hopeful tone. "I hope we gave you a good one."

“I think this offsets the complete lack of one we had in Las Pegasus quite nicely,” Sugar said as she hugged Moondancer, waiting for her opinion.

"That was special, as was this," Moondancer nodded. "I got to live my dream today, well, with a few differences anyhow." She smiled and looked at Sugar. "I wouldn’t have changed a thing though."

"Glad to hear it," Cadence smiled brightly. "Come, let's mingle a bit."

The night continued with a wonderful dinner and some toasts by Cadence and Shining, even a few total strangers got up to wish the couple luck and happiness.

And soon it came time to throw the bouquet. Moondancer nodded as she turned and held the flowers with her magic. And once she closed her eyes and tossed it, she could hear the sounds of hooves and mares scrambling to catch it.

They wouldn't as Moondancer had a very specific target, as the flowers landed in the lap of a certain green unicorn...who, to her credit, only blushed a little before she batted her eyes at her stallion. As if asking why he hadn’t asked yet.

"Time and place love," he smiled enigmatically and kissed her nose. "Maybe you'll have to convince me."

“I’m very good at convincing you to do things,” Critical said as she kissed him back. “And when would it be more romantic than at one of the most romantic weddings this Empire has ever seen?”

He shrugged and got to his hooves, looking like he was headed for the buffet table. Instead? He moved around to stand before Critical before bowing down.

"Critical-Eye? Do you think you'd like to marry this cranky old stallion?"

Critical blushed profusely, before stammering for a second. After she remembered how to get her nerves under control and did so, the nymph let out her deep breath and looked him in the eyes. “I...would like nothing more, my dear Palette,” she replied.

"Glad to hear it," he said. Truth be told, his heart was hammering in his chest. He didn't know if he was nervous, excited, scared or all three. He stood up as the crowd exploded with cheers again. He leaned forward and trapped the mare in a kiss, before breaking it and blushing slightly.

“Well, I suppose Cadence is going to want to plan our wedding as well,” Critical mused. “Now the only question is, do you want it done before my brother’s, or after?”

"After," he said softly. "I proposed... but I think I need a little bit to let that sink in."

Cadence was practically vibrating. Shining rolled his eyes and caught her with his magic before she could rocket across the room to hug them.

“Just so you know,” Critical said as she hugged him. “I may have been protective of my brother...but I think he’s protective of me now. If Scope’s to be believed and he’s been muttering about you as often as she says he has."

"Heh, you think I'm worried about some kid," Palette nodded. "If I survived your parents, your siblings shouldn't be too difficult."

“My brother turned into a dragon,” Critical deadpanned. “At least, if Twilight is to be believed.”

"Then I'll wear my oven mitts," Palette chuckled and kissed her nose. "Sorry kid, but you're all mine now."

“I’m perfectly fine with that,” the disguised green nymph said as she returned his kissing. “You’re just going to have to make him see that as well.”

"If not... well, we live pretty far away," he nodded.

"And he won't dare, or I'll tell Midnight," Moondancer said as she walked over to them and hugged Critical. "Congratulations sweetie."

“Yes indeed,” Sugar said as she walked up as well. “Now, mister Palette. I’m going to give you one piece of advice to help you deal with Ledger.” She paused for a beat before smiling. “Don’t lie. Changelings can sense dishonesty. If he detects as much as a whiff of it, he’ll never trust that you have the best of intentions for his sister."

"No need to worry," he nodded. "I'm no liar. And my previous wife would have my head if I disrespected Crit like that."

“Then you have nothing to worry about,” Sugar said as she gave the stallion a small hug. “Ledger seems like a reasonable stallion. He might grumble a little, but he should be easily appeased that you’ve got nothing but good in you.”

"Oh, he can be good," Critical smiled and her eyes twinkled. "He can also be very, very naughty~"

“Seems like we won’t be the only ones having a party tonight, Moonie,” Sugar said with a giggle.

"Wanna share?" Moondancer asked, looking at Crit and licking her lips.

"Yeeeaahh.... no." Palette deadpanned.

“He’s allll mine,” Critical agreed as she walked over to Palette and pulled him into a hug and a nuzzle.

"Just kidding," Moondancer giggled and looked at her wife. "Shall we abscond for the evening? I believe we have a palace suite to break in."

“Let’s just check in with Cadence and make sure we’re allowed to abscond first,” Sugar pointed out. “She might want us to hang around for a bit.”

Cadence had finally escaped Shining and had all but materialised behind Critical, pulling her into a hug. "No, you two can go and enjoy each other’s company," she said, nuzzling the nymph happily. "Just keep my poor maids in mind when you do. I’d rather they not have to be worked too hard the day after."

“No promises, we might go through a few sets of sheets,” Sugar said as they walked past Shining and Flash. The unicorn just rolled his eyes as Moondancer remembered something and walked over to him.

"Thank you for putting so much effort into this," she said, causing him to turn to face her. "I can't believe you went to so much effort."

As he spoke with her, he had left his drink unattended...something that Sugar took advantage of and put one hoof to it. She wouldn’t be as good as Midnight, but she could still infuse the drink with a bit of emotions. Namely, Courage and Lust. She gave it what she could in that moment when nopony was looking at her and smiled before she gathered up her wife and continued on her way.

“Come, my dear. We have an evening to play with one another,” she purred into Moondancer’s ear.

Ohhhh, she had been looking forward to this. Still, "one minute," she said and got Sugar to put her down. Cadence waved at them as they paused to thank everyone for coming, everypony smiling and cheering as they left. The couple may have been gone, but plenty of food and drink still remained. Time to party til dawn.

Shining smiled as he sipped at his drink, and then paused as he licked his lips. He felt... hmmm...

Cadence nuzzled him and smiled. "What a wonderful evening huh?"

"Mhmm," the unicorn nodded, his horn shining. "It's about to get better~" With a pop, the couple vanished without anypony noticing. The Prince was going to play~

Author's Note

This day is going to be perfect~

Like the story? Consider dropping me and Aus a dollar on my Patreon. It's always appreciated.

Half the money will not go towards battling bamboo.

Chapter 80 - Reunions, plans, and a break in the monotony

Once the debacle of Two-Step’s party died down, it was rather uneventful in Las Pegasus for the following week. Ledger worked, Cider worked, Twilight did princessy things and Midnight sat on her butt.

The manager of the ice-cream parlour wouldn’t let her back in after that little civil war thing.

Which was why the bat was pacing up and down the train station, waiting for the Crystal Express to pull in.

“Come on, come on….” she muttered, tapping a hoof and her wings gave a twitch. She was going to fly out and meet the damned thing in a minute. That was about when she heard the train approaching, though from quite a ways off. Thestral hearing could be a bane and a boon sometimes.

“ARGH!” She turned and paced again. “For crying out loud. I wish Ledger and Twibuns would make that portaly, teleporty thing soon. This. Is. AGONY!!”

And after an eternity… or five minutes, depending on your perspective, the train finally pulled in. The second a familiar unicorn stepped off of the train, her Changeling wife saw a brown blur and her cute unicorn vanished, reappeared a few feet away, smothered under a thestral hug.

“Somepony certainly missed one of us,” Sugar observed aloud.

“You went and got married? And you DIDN’T TELL ME!?” Midnight yelled at her friend. “I swear Moonbutt. You are in so much trouble!”

Moondancer rolled her eyes and booped the bat’s nose before kissing her cheek. “I missed you too Middy.”

Once the thestral was properly reset, Moondancer floated her off and placed her on Sugar’s back as she took their bags. “Here, you carry that for a bit. Seems we have a little catching up to do.”

That was about when Sugar got a message from Ledger via Scope. Namely, of how bad Two-Step’s party was, causing her to groan aloud. “Oh, she didn’t…” the nymph moaned. “You might have to take up some step-mom duties when we get back, Moonie.”

“Oh?” Moondancer asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh yeah, Steppy got arrested, Ledger apparently tore her a new one and it was all pretty nuts,” Midnight nodded. “And the club got shut down by the Guard for like, a day or two.”

“So which do you want to be Moonie? The cool mom or the mom that punishes her? Because I’m of a mind to lock her in her room and not let her latest plaything in as punishment.”

“Alright, guess I’ll play good cop,” Moondancer said. “Was it really that bad?”

“Meh, I think it just got a little out of hoof,” Midnight said. “I dunno. But I missed you guys. How was your honeymoon? Did you like our gift?”

“Cadence was quite welcoming,” Sugar said with a hum. “Managed to help me give Moonie a proper ceremony. Moonie, where are the photos?”

“In this bag. We’ll come by tonight after we’re settled for a little show and tell,” she said and winked at Sugar.

“Oooh, naughty mare,” Sugar purred. “So, did everypony at least enjoy themselves?”

“Seems so,” Midnight said. “We got to tease Twilight an awful lot, and I think one of your nymphs is suffering from severe Scopey-withdrawals, but aside from that and the Guard arresting half the workers and guests… I think it was alright.”

“So how long do you think Two-Step will have to go without her newest friend before it sinks into her head to not throw parties that get so wildly out of control again?” Sugar asked her wife. “I’m thinking a month, myself.”

“Hmm, I give her a week,” Moondancer said. “What are the terms of the bet?”

“Hmm, how about...winner gets to request a night of their choosing of the loser?” Sugar offered.

“Sounds like a deal,” Moondancer nodded and shook on it. She looked at Midnight and smiled. “Wanna tell the others we’ll be back later?”

“Aww, can’t I hang with you guys for a bit?” she said as she hopped down. That was when Moon and Sugar noticed the slight bulge in her belly. “I’ve been sooooo bored lately. I need something to do!”

“Sorry dear, but...hmm, an idea strikes me,” Sugar hummed. “Additional punishment for Two-Step. Once we’re done with her...you can interrogate her ceaselessly about hybrids.”

“Ohh, sounds like fun,” Midnight nodded and looked at Sugar as they walked. “So uh, what’s it like… giving birth I mean. Will it hurt?”

“Oh, undoubtedly,” Sugar replied without missing a beat. “You’ll probably threaten to rip Ledger’s chitin off. And that’s if everything goes well. But I wouldn’t trade that moment of holding my little Two-Step for anything.”

“Fair enough,” Midnight nodded. Sure, she’d been hurt a bunch as a guard. And there’s the time of the invasion…

“Nope, not going there,” she muttered and shook her head. They reached the club and Moondancer held the door open for her wife and friend.

“Thank you,” Sugar said as she walked inside, before leading her wife to her private bedroom. “We’ll unpack first, then call her here and punish her, before we sic Midnight on her.”

“Sounds good,” Moondancer said, the two slipping off before any of the club workers could notice them. Midnight was left standing in the main hall and she looked at the stage… as well as a microphone stand.

Hmm…

As Moonie and Sugar unpacked, they heard music being played from the main room. It wasn’t a Harmony Song, but somepony just singing to a tune.

A rather familiar pony… or thestral in this case. Sugar smiled as she kept unpacking. It seemed like Midnight had found something to do.

“She has a lovely singing voice,” the disguised nymph said. “It’s a shame she’s not an actual worker for me.”

And that gave Moondancer an idea. “You know,” she hummed along with the song. “She did say how bored she was. And she can’t do guard work until after the foal is born…”

“Hmm, and she’s quite capable of holding her own if a customer gets unruly,” Sugar thought. “Do you think she would take a temporary job working for me?”

“Wouldn’t hurt to ask,” Moondancer nodded. “Singer, entertainer and bouncer all in one. And you’d only have to pay her for one job.”

“I’d still pay her well, of course,” the nymph said. “Ah, there we go. I think that’s me unpacked then. What about you?”

Several things floated out of her bag and she nodded. “Yup, all done.”

“Good,” Sugar said before resuming her natural form. With a pulse of her horn, she sent a message to her workers to send Two-Step to her. “And now, we wait.”

They headed out into the main room, just as Midnight finished her song. Several workers had stopped to listen, but bustled back into working when Sugar stepped into the room.

“Ahah… sorry about that,” Midnight said. “Didn’t mean to disrupt things.”

“Nonsense,” Sugar said. “You have a lovely singing voice. I’d be a fool to stop you from using it when you wanted to.”

“Still,” Midnight said, as Two-Step walked into the room, wondering what was up, and once she saw her mother… mothers, she turned abruptly and started heading back the way she came…

Until a pink aura snagged her and floated her over, dangling her in front of Sugar Darling.

“Uhhh… welcome back?” she smiled sheepishly.

“Either tell me honestly, or it’ll go so much worse for you,” Sugar said, her eyes lidded in anger. “How bad. Was it.”

“Uhh,” Sugar gulped and smiled awkwardly. “Define… bad.”

“What were the charges the Guard brought against you, bad,” Sugar said. “Whether or not they managed to stick them to you or not.”

Two-Step sighed and recited what Narrow had told her. “27 counts of public drinking and inebriation. 26 counts of public indecency. 8 counts of resisting arrest. 1 count of assault against an officer and a few counts of underage drinking.” She was still pretty proud of that though.

“...Moonie, I think a month would be letting her off lightly,” Sugar said, both impressed that Two-Step could throw a party like that, and angry that she had let it get so out of control.

“A year, maybe three?” she asked. “Better than the ten to twenty she’d get if those charges actually stuck.”

“Split the difference, call it two years,” Sugar said with a nod. “That long without her latest plaything should certainly send a message to her.”

“N-No way,” Two said. “You… you can’t. Seriously Mom, that’s… way too harsh. You have no idea how good he is! He’s like a catbird version of Midnight!”

“Then somepony shouldn’t have thrown a party that got the Guard involved,” Sugar said with a nod. Now, if Moondancer played her part right, once Two-Step pled for mercy, she’d intervene and assert her authority.

“Well, now that I think about it, that might be a little harsh,” Moondancer said. “Perhaps we should go a little easier on her darling. I mean, at least she didn’t burn the place down.”

“Yeah, I did okay,” Two-Step eagerly nodded.

“One month,” Sugar decreed. “Of no Jonathan in this club at all. And you’re not to leave it until I’m satisfied you’ve learned your lesson. And if you do very well, I might see fit to ending your punishment early.” Before Two-Step could cheer at that, Sugar continued. “Whereas if I’m not satisfied, you will stay longer without him.”

Two gulped and looked at Moondancer. Surely Cool-Mom could get her out of this?

“Sounds fair,” Moondancer nodded. “And good job by the way. I was just gonna lock her wings and teleport her a few thousand feet up. That usually gets most ponies to behave.”

“Before they hit the ground?” Sugar asked. “Now dear, do run along to your room and think about what you did.” With that, she nodded at Moondancer, telling her to release the nymph. The unicorn nodded and released her, the nymph wasting no time in scampering away.

“You two scare me, you know that right?” Midnight said, taking a sip of a mango smoothie. What? They were delicious.

“She needed to be scared straight,” Sugar said. “But you on the other hoof, need something different. How would you like a job here?”

“A… a job?” Midnight blinked and looked at the nymph. “Um, I don’t think Ledger would like that. And… I don’t exactly go for that lifestyle anymore…”

“I wouldn’t ask you to,” Sugar explained. “But your singing? It’s something else. Something we can’t replicate. I would only ask you to come and sing for us if you wanted to, dear.”

“Sing?” Midnight had received many offers to sing professionally. But then, she really didn’t have anything better to do right now… “Well, I guess I could give it a try.”

“Midnight dear, your singing alone could attract all the clients I would need to make up for Two-Step’s little debacle,” Sugar said with a smile. “Trust me. You’re that good. You just need an audience.”

“Well duh, I know I’m good,” Midnight said smugly. “I’m Midnight Song. I’m good at everything!”

“Then would you do me the honor of singing at my club?” Sugar asked with her head bowed, awaiting the thestral’s decision.

“Ahh, no need to be so formal Sugar,” Midnight blushed and waved a hoof. “I can do that. It sounds like fun really.”

“Fantastic!” Sugar said with a beaming smile. “I will of course pay you very well for singing at my club.”

“If you want,” Midnight shrugged as they headed out for her home. “I don’t care one way or the other, but I’m positive Ledger wouldn’t let me work for free. In fact, let’s settle on a price now, before he tries to haggle with you for some ludicrous amount.”

“Hmm, a typical singer at my club would earn at least fifty bits a night. You’re easily worth seventy-five,” Sugar said. “Feel free to name your own price, though. As long as you understand I can reject what I feel to be unfair wages.”

“Hmm, and how many nights a week are we talking here?”

“I’d like to ask for at least five, though that would also be up to you as well,” Sugar said. “I’m not going to force you to come in when you can’t.”

“Five sounds reasonable, but that might cut back as Parasite here gets older,” Midnight said. “Hmm, if my math is right…”

“375,” Moondancer responded almost immediately.

“That’s… almost as good as my Guard pay,” Midnight whistled. “You got yourself a deal there Sugar… no, Boss~”

“Excellent~” Sugar said, offering the thestral a hug. She returned the hug and may have copped a feel of those fine flanks of hers. Moondancer rolled her eyes and smacked the bat’s butt, causing her to yelp.

“Mine,” she said and Midnight just giggled sheepishly.

“Mmm, you’ll need to earn the right to touch these flanks, dear,” Sugar said with a wink. “Now run along and tell Ledger you have a job. I have a wife and daughter to see to before we come over and show you our pictures.”

“Righto,” Midnight said and gave Moondancer a quick nuzzle before she flew off.

“Well, that was a rather interesting greeting for getting home,” Moondancer said. “At least we’ll have the Empire…”

“True~” Sugar said before walking over to nuzzle Moonie. “Hmm...get settled in, or get settled in?” she asked her wife.

“We have an engagement, so it would have to be a quickie… which it never is with us, so you’re just going to have to wait,” Moondancer said, booping her nose. “Now I have some research to gather and send off. Be back soon.” With that, plus a very ‘not subtle’ flick of her tail, she trotted from the room, that flank of hers wiggling the whole time. Sugar sighed in defeat before she teleported herself to their room and started looking for all their photos, to make it easier for the coming meeting.

“And so I have a job now,” Midnight said happily. “I get to sing in Sugar’s club for her. And yes Ledger, only singing.”

“I wasn’t going to ask,” Ledger said as he nuzzled the mare. “I know you better than that.”

“Good,” Midnight nodded and stretched. “So Twi is still out with Princessy stuff? It’s been three days.”

“We knew that there would be days like this when she joined,” Ledger said, sighing. “We can only trust she’ll finish up with whatever it is soon and come back to us.”

“Aww, I actually like her,” Scope pouted from her nest. “Unlike you lot, she’s actually fun.”

“Oh, harsh Scopey,” Midnight said.

“I guess we’re just not cool enough for her,” Ledger said before turning to Midnight. “Run away with me, my love. Let us leave them all behind!”

"Oh? So you’d like to raise our foal on our own then?” she replied with a sly smirk. “Secret. This is a foal. A combination of you, a snarky, constantly-scheming Silver Noble. And me, the greatest thestral to ever live. Sexiest mare alive and one who can kick anyone’s flank six ways to Sunday. Is that really something you want to tackle alone?”

“It was worth a shot,” Ledger said with a shrug.

“Oh, don’t forget that we’re going on a little vacation tomorrow as well,” Midnight said. “I think we were supposed to go today, but I told them I wouldn’t leave until Moonie and Sugar got back.”

“Oh?” Ledger said as he went back to just cuddling the mare. “Refresh my memory. Where are we going?”

“Visit some of my normal family in Hollow Shades remember? I want to show you Thestral culture that doesn’t want to kidnap me.”

“That exists?” Ledger asked with mock shock. “Kidding. Yeah, I remember now. So is it just us going?”

“Well if Starbutt doesn’t show up between now and tomorrow morning,” Midnight said. “Besides, could she really afford to take a few days off?”

“Ah know ah can’t,” Cider said. “This cold weather is playin’ havoc with the greenhouses temperature controls. Ah gotta get ‘em recalibrated.”

“I’ll send a message to the company that made them, let them know to come around and make sure they’re all working right,” Ledger said. “They shouldn’t be acting up.”

“Looks like y’all got a bum deal then,” Cider said. “They’re running a few degrees higher than ah need ‘em too. But if ah turn em down, they get too cold cause the weather starts to ice ‘em up.” She sighed and rubbed her head. “Maybe this Crystal berry thing is more trouble than it’s worth…”

“We just need the fine controls to be more fine,” Ledger said. “I can check that out myself as well, just to be sure that it’s actually working, if you’d like.”

“Y’all can do that?” Cider asked. “Well, if ya think y’all can fix it, be mah guest.”

“Ledgie to the rescue,” Midnight giggled and nuzzled him.

“I can certainly try,” Ledger said with a nod. “Just, maybe after dinner.”

There was a knock at the door and Midnight raced towards it. Scope chuckled as she opened the door with her magic, and two yelps could be heard as the bat pounced their unwitting guests with a trilling cry.

“Is she always like this?” Sugar asked.

“Pretty much,” Moondancer groaned from under the pony pile. “Midnight… get off.”

“Ohh, but you used to get me off all the time~” Midnight cooed softly and giggled.

“...I walked into that one,” Moon groaned.

“You didn’t have to walk far,” Sugar giggled.

“You both suck,” Moondancer sighed, then facehooved.

“We could if you want us to~” Midnight said, her tone dripped like honey. She yelped when Cider picked her up with one hoof and slung her over her back.

“Apologies fer that, ah think we need a shorter leash fer our little bat.”

“Oooh, leashing the bat sounds like fun,” Sugar purred.

“It kinda does,” Cider agreed and licked her lips. “Still, we got guests. Come in, and ah’ll make sure she behaves herself.”

“Promises promises,” Sugar said as she helped her wife up. “I doubt anything could make that pony behave.”

“Midnight, if y’all don’t behave,” Cider warned her. “Then ah won’t do that thing you like…”

“I’ll be good,” she called back and took a seat on the couch.

“Sugar!” Ledger said as the pair walked in. “How was the Empire?”

The nymph hummed for a moment. “Sparkly,” she eventually settled on.

“...That’s it?” Midnight deadpanned from the couch. “I was… kind of expecting more.”

“Oh it was terribly romantic as well,” Sugar added. “Moonie and I got a nice, proper ceremony done up there. Cadance was very accommodating.” She giggled a little at a memory, putting one hoof to her mouth to hide her smile.

“Mhmm,” Moondancer giggled. “That she was. Whether she knew about it or not~” The Lust in her tone was kind of hard to miss for Scope and Ledger.

“You two did something up there, didn’t you,” Ledger deadpanned.

“Maaaaybe?” Moondancer giggled. “My little wifey showed me something fun, I showed her something really fun.”

“Details?” Midnight asked and Moondancer shook her head. “Aw poop.”

“Though I will say this,” Sugar said. “I think I’ve come up with a new drink for us to brew at the club. I think I’ll call it...The Bold Move.”

“That sounds… ominous,” Scope said. “As long as that perverted hug-crazy nymph doesn’t have any. She’s bold enough.”

“Nope, but the captain up there did, and I think Cadence appreciated it,” Sugar giggled.

“Oh boy…” Midnight shook her head. “Can I uh, enlighten you Sugar? You see, Chryssie sorta brainwashed him, made him love her… and then you gave him a drink that altered his emotional state… and didn’t ask him first.”

“Oooh, that might explain the dirty stares for the rest of our stay there,” Sugar hummed. “...Still totally shipping some Mood Setter up to the palace for Cadence.”

“Aaaand she doesn’t listen,” Midnight sighed as Moondancer shrugged. “Wanna show the piccies dear? Then we can move on to… other things?”

“Oooh, I can do that!” Sugar said as she pulled out a photo album from her saddlebags.

Everyone gathered around the table to take a look. Midnight took one look of a picture of Moondancer in her wedding dress and her heart gave a painful twinge. Why? Why wasn’t she over this yet? It wasn’t fair.

“Wow, you actually look pretty,” Scope said to Sugar. “Who knew?”

“And just wait until it’s your turn, dear,” Sugar said. “It was so wonderful. Standing up there, watching her come down the aisle…”

“I’ll bet,” Midnight said with a little more bite than she had meant. Crap! Hopefully nopony heard that.

“Oh dear,” Ledger said as he looked at the pictures of the dance. “Well, I’m surprised you didn’t show her how changelings dance...and also relieved.”

“I was tempted to,” Sugar said with a giggle. “But I didn’t think she had the fortitude for so many mid-air dance moves.”

“How do Changelings dance?” Midnight asked. Scope shrugged, dancing wasn’t really on her list of things she was taught.

“Show us?” Moondancer said to Sugar and Ledger.

“We’d need to use the outside, this place doesn’t have high enough ceilings,” Ledger demurred. Cider nodded as Scope opened the back door.

“Well, let’s see how y’all have a hoedown,” the earth mare smiled as she trotted outside.

“This ought to be interesting,” Scope said and shot a glare at Sugar. “Just remember who he belongs to!”

Sugar just smiled as she and Ledger walked outside. They took up opposite positions to one another and Ledger sighed. “Okay, so, traditional changeling dances,” he said. “I was always taught to start off with a ballroom dance…”

“Not needed, but a good bit of courtesy,” Sugar said.

“And then,” he said as he began leading the Violet Noble in a dance. “Once the first dip is done,” he said, doing so. “We would take to the air.” Ledger dropped his disguise as both sets of wings fluttered into activity.

From there, the dance became something that darted all over the place. Ledger kept leading the dance, and the motions were intricate, mostly so that neither ‘ling damaged the other’s wings. After a few minutes of dancing in the air, the pair of them landed in front of the ponies again and took a small bow.

“That… was it?” Cider blinked. “Y’all looked like moths attracted to a light. Ah couldn’t follow any of that?”

“I could… that was kind of interesting,” Midnight nodded. “Kind of impossible for a non-changeling since pegasi and thestrals can’t shift their axis like that in the air.”

“Plus, there are about a hundred different nuances to the flight and how you act at one stage can either end up sending a message of indifference to your wife, or telling a good friend you really want to bang them,” Ledger said.

“Yes, and you should be happy to know he didn’t bite on any of my lures,” Sugar said with a small pout.

“...Darling,” Moondancer said slowly. “If you are going to flirt with somepony, do it in a way I understand okay?”

“Aww,” Sugar said. “Fine, I suppose I can stick to verbal communication you can understand.” With that, she turned to Ledger and let out a grunt. “Me want you,” she said in bad Equish.

“Hilarious,” Moondancer deadpanned.

“At least she’s sticking to her own intelligence level now,” Scope said offhandedly. Sugar grunted and walked over to Scope before raising a hoof.

“Me crush puny nymph,” she said, still talking like a cavepony.

A blaze of azure flames and an attractive adolescent dragoness stood over her. “Puny huh?’ she smirked. “Care to reiterate that?”

“Okay, fine, I’ve had my fun,” Sugar said, giggling slightly. “But yes, your drone is quite loyal to you all. He firmly turned me down.”

“Because if I didn’t, they’d kill me,” Ledger deadpanned.

All the mare’s looked at one another and then to him, Midnight being elected spokespony. “And that’s stopped you in the past because…?”

“At first it was an accident, but it just grew out of control from there,” Ledger said, pausing for a beat. “And I wouldn’t change it for anything.”

“Ah have no idea how ah became so… receptive to the whole ‘herding’ thing,” Cider shrugged. “At least ah ain’t lonely no more.”

“Mmm, and I’ve always had a rather… loose definition of a relationship,” Midnight agreed. “Heck, it probably wouldn’t have even happened if me and Levvy actually worked things out sooner.”

“Still, like I said, I wouldn’t change this for anything,” Ledger said. “I love all you mares. I don’t know what I’d do without any of you.”

“Probably cry a lot,” Midnight said. “Or flip out and take over the world.”

“...Seriously?” Moondancer groaned again.

“I might be able to do it too,” Ledger shrugged. “But it would be a lot of work.”

“Still working on renting the world out?” Sugar teased.

“I’ll figure it out one day,” the drone grumbled.

“Oooohkay?” Moondancer said. Changelings freaked her out sometimes. “So, didn’t you want to ask these fine ponies something else dear? Something interesting?”

“It’s a bit early to ask them that,” Sugar pointed out. “They’re not even married yet!”

“Buuut, it would give them time to think about it,” Moondancer giggled. Okay, so maybe she was enjoying watching Sugar squirm a little. She was surprisingly cute when she was embarrassed.

“I’d rather wait for them to at least get back from their honeymoon,” the nymph demurred.

“Well, okay then,” Moon giggled, kissing her cheek as Midnight leaned over to Ledger.

“So what do you think that’s all about?” she whispered.

“I don’t want to know,” he whispered back.

“So, what’s for dinner?” Sugar asked.

“Well, wait, y’all are staying fer dinner?” Cider blinked. “Uh, I haven’t done any shopping, so ah don’t have enough ingredients…”

“Well, let’s eat out,” Midnight said. “I wouldn’t mind singing tonight and we need to celebrate their wedding as well. What do you think?”

“Fredrick’s?” Ledger asked.

“That or the Chop Shop,” Midnight shrugged. “Haven’t been there in a while, and that Wendy griffoness is cute.”

“Eh, I’ve been meaning to check on Fredrick, and he can cater to large parties better,” Ledger said with a shrug. “Unless our guests don’t like looking at stallions.”

“We have noooo problems with that,” Scope nodded and shared a hoof bump with Sugar. Moondancer just poked her tongue out and Cider was indifferent. Scope chuckled and looked at the other nymph. “Wanna see how badly we can fluster them without getting kicked out?”

“Oooh, I like the sound of toying with stallions,” Sugar said as she walked over to Moondancer and gave her a hug. And a kiss. A deep kiss. Midnight looked away, and leaned up against Ledger.

“So, we’re going to Fredrick’s for food and fun?” Ledger asked as he nuzzled his mare.

“Looks like it,” Cider said as she locked up the house, but not before they left a note for Twilight in case she came back while they were gone. “Alrighty, let’s go…”

As they sat in the restaurant, Scope and Sugar figured they should take turns. When the first colt approached, Scope bat her eyes at him and smiled.

“Well now, I do hope the food is half as delicious as you~” she purred. “Or can I order you to go instead~”

The colt didn’t even last past giving them their menus and telling them a waiter would be out shortly to take their orders. Scope giggled as he left, a small wobble in his step.

“Aww, that was too easy,” she hummed.

“My turn for the next one,” Sugar said as she went over her menu. Hmm...that shrimp dish looked good.

“Yes, yes,” Scope shrugged as a waiter came over. A rather handsome earth pony stallion. Cider and Moondancer just sighed as Midnight continued to cuddle up to Ledger. She hadn’t left his side since they left.

“Not that I’m complaining - Shrimp rigatoni,” he ordered. “But dare I ask why my bat is so cuddly?”

“I just am,” she muttered and looked at the waiter. “Pasta and salad please, with a soda for the drink.”

“Ah’ll have the apple salad,” Cider nodded. Moondancer looked at the menu and blinked.

“Fish?” she inquired. She’d never had that before. “Can ponies actually digest that?”

“It’s mainly for pegasi, changelings, and griffons, though we’ve had no complaints from others that have tried it,” the colt said. “Even I’ve had a dish or two. They’re really quite good.”

“Hmm, well, try anything at least once,” she said, not realising how Sugar would take that statement. “I’ll have an order of that and some hayfries then.”

“I’ll have the same,” Scope nodded, “but give me a salad instead of fries. Oh, and I’ll take an iced-tea for my drink.”

“Cider for me,” the earth mare added and Moondancer agreed.

Sugar hummed as she looked the menu over. “The spaghetti in the red sauce sounds inviting,” she said. “I’ll take an order of that, and your address as well.”

“I’m...sorry?” the colt said, not quite processing that properly.

“You’re cute,” Sugar said with a giggle. “I wanna know where you live, so I can look you up and take you out to dinner...then take you home and do all sorts of things~” The way she said that left very little to the imagination.

“SoI’llberightbackwithyourorders!” the colt said as he vanished.

“Ooh, nice work,” Scope mused, clapping her hooves. She’d taken an older-looking transformation, since Ledger was one of the few ponies around with a lolita complex. “I wonder if he’ll be back, or will we wind up going through all their servers?”

“You’ll just have to wait and find out,” Ledger said, knowing how this would play out next, deciding to nuzzle his bat instead of partaking in their games.

“Bleh, I wanna play, but everypony is immune to me here,” the thestral muttered. “I mean, seriously, I could get half of Canterlot to stand at attention with just a look. But Las Pegasus… nooo!”

“You’re a very good competitor, dear,” Sugar complimented the batpony. “We’ve just had time and lots of exposure to, well, my girls.”

“Not fair,” she pouted and crossed her forelegs. “I want a level playing field.”

“Hmm,” Sugar hummed. “Somewhere that’s heard of neither of us, so that we can have a sexy-off?”

“Oh you can’t be serious?” Cider said. “Wait, fergot who ah was talkin’ to.”

“Yup, I could totally beat you, hooves and wings down,” Midnight nodded. Sugar stuck a hoof out to Midnight, to let them shake on it. Midnight struck the deal and Cider and Moondancer facehooved.

“This won’t end well,” Scope said as she looked around for her next victim.

“It’ll probably end very well,” Sugar purred. “For us at least.”

“Mhmm,” Midnight giggled. “And better yet, give me ten more months and I’ll get Milf status~”

“Do I want to know?” Ledger asked. Midnight looked at him and tilted her head.

“You don’t know that that means?” she asked.

“Eenope,” Cider shrugged and Scope nodded, she didn’t know either.

“Well, it means ‘Mother I’d like to f—” She was paused as Moondancer zipped her lip with her magic.

“At least keep some level of decorum here,” she sighed. Ledger blushed to begin with...before leaning over to Midnight and whispering in her ear.

“You act like that’s not how I see you already,” he said huskily. She moaned a little, due to being unable to speak thanks to Moonie. Ledger snickered before nodding at Moondancer, trying to tell her to let the bat go. Moondancer shrugged and released her spell, and Midnight wasted no time in giving Ledger a passionate kiss, a rather lewd and sensual sounding kiss.

“Well, I can see they’re secure in their love-life,” Sugar said as she just sat back and drank in their emotions. At this rate, she’d be full before dinner arrived.

“Hey, they’re mine, so no eating their emotions,” Scope said as Midnight broke their kiss and smiled happily. A new waiter came over, several plates balanced on his wings as he expertly dodged tables and customers. Oh yes, Midnight was going to test her luck now.

Ohh, this one looked like fun. Scope hoped he was made of sterner stuff than the last two. She would at least wait until he put down their food first. The waiter eventually arrived at their table and began calling out orders. Once they were dished out, before Scope could even get a word out, Midnight had slid up next to him and her breath could be felt in his ear.

“Tell me,” she whispered huskily. “Does your establishment offer a feeding service~?” She opened her maw, as her long tongue flickered out, an expectant look in her eyes. The stallion squeaked before making his exit as rapidly as he could, not wanting to be around a thestral mare that had her eyes set on him.

He’d heard stories.

“Good job,” Scope said flatly as she pulled her plate closer. “I think you terrified him more than you seduced him.”

“Are you bucking kidding me!?” Midnight groaned and thunked her head on the table. “Stupid fangs…”

That was about when Ledger leaned over and nibbled on Midnight with his fangs. She didn’t really respond though, she was feeling a little bummed right about now.

“So… does that count?” Scope asked Sugar. “She excited him, just… not in that way.”

“Oh no, she did,” Sugar said. “It was buried under his fear, but he was aroused by the way she approached him. I daresay he was turned on by most of that.”

“You’re just saying that,” Midnight muttered. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to wake up beside a pony you took home, only to have them scream in your face because they were too drunk to notice what you really looked like. She paused and looked at Ledger, who already had his mouth open. “And you be quiet.”

Ledger just closed his mouth and smirked, while Sugar shook her head. “Dear, he was turned on by most of what you did. I don’t know where the fear came from, but if he hadn’t been afraid, I’d be calling that as a point in your favor.”

Midnight frowned… “Those… bucking, books!” she muttered and sighed. “Seriously, was there a sale on them here or something?”

“Oh, have you heard that they’re making a movie about them?” Scope said. Midnight just groaned and buried her face in her hooves.

“They’re sort of a sore point with her,” Ledger said.

“Got it, shutting up now,” Sugar replied as she returned to her pasta.

“Well, she and I found a way to enjoy them,” Cider blushed as Moondancer took a tentative nibble of her fish. Mmmm, this wasn’t bad. Not bad at all.

A while later, Fredrick himself came over, seeing as how his serving colts had complained about some teasing, and that last one was taking an extended bathroom break.

“Good evening troublemakers,” the griffon nodded.

“Trouble is more an unfortunate side-effect of what we do, not the main purpose of our gatherings,” Ledger pointed out as he dabbed at his muzzle with a napkin.

“Speak for yourself,” Scope nodded. “I always have fun causing trouble.” she looked at Sugar, since it was technically her turn. Or would she forfeit the game now that Fredrick was here.

“Getting into and out of trouble is so...exhilarating,” Sugar said, batting her eyes at Fredrick. The griffon paid her no heed beyond a simple roll of his eyes as he filled Midnight’s glass with a refill of sparkling cider.

“Aww, you used to be so fun,” the nymph pouted.

“Oh, I’m still fun, that fun is just aimed in one specific direction,” he said. “Though I hear that my brother is making good use of your services.”

“Shame to say he’ll not be allowed to see my daughter for some time,” Sugar said idly. “She needs to learn how to not throw parties that get the guard involved.”

“Wonderful, so I can look forward to him being insufferable for the near future… well, more so than usual.” He refilled Ledger’s drink and shrugged. “And sorry to ruin your little game. How about I send a fresh colt out with your check so you can solve the tie-breaker. Because Miss Midnight certainly did a number on that last one.”

“Yeah, by scaring him half to death,” she muttered, sipping her soda.

“By scaring you mean, he’s taking an extended bathroom break to… eh, rub out a small problem he’s currently having, then yes. If anything, you have a slight lead on these two.” He looked at Sugar and Scope, smiling slyly. “Better pick up your game ladies~” and with a jaunty whistle, he left them be.

“Well, that’s a thing,” Sugar observed. “I didn’t expect to be beaten by Midnight...though I really should have seen it coming.”

“Midnight, what are you when you’re doing something?” Ledger idly questioned.

Midnight smiled as she leaned across the table to cup Sugar’s cheek with a hoof, Lust practically gushing from her. “Oh, I am so very, very good~” she purred in a tone that had several nearby stallions wishing the tablecloths were a tad longer.

“And that’s why we love you,” Ledger said as Sugar just gulped.

“And suddenly I regret not asking them,” she observed.

“Told you,” Moondancer smiled knowingly. She loved Sugar with all her heart. But once you went Midnight, well, you always wanted more~

Soon, a young stallion returned with their check and some complimentary breadsticks. He had heard that this table was… difficult to serve for some reason, but none of the others would tell him why. He was a cute little unicorn, with a tan coat and a chocolate coloured mane and tail, and one of the best deep-fryers that Fred had.

“Oh look,” Sugar said, purring as she caught sight of the colt and blatantly eyeing him up. “Fresh meat.”

The colt gulped, but stood his ground as he placed the check on the table. Scope had moved next to him, one of her wings fluttered and while it didn’t touch him, it almost felt like she had.

“Such a cute little thing, and we haven’t had dessert yet~’

“Maybe he could… Fill. Us. Up~?” Midnight purred, that wicked tongue of hers licking her lips. He swallowed hard again and stammered.

“Y-Y-Your c-check,” he said in a small voice.

“Oooh, I’d love to check some things about you,” Sugar said. “Why don’t you come back with me tonight, cutie?~”

Moondancer made a show of clearing her throat and staring at the mare with a raised eyebrow. Midnight giggled and waved a hoof at her.

“Don’t worry Moonie, I’m sure she’ll let you watch.”

“Well,” the unicorn replied and sat back in her seat. “That’s alright then.”

“W-What?” the colt blinked. Why did he feel like a chicken surrounded by Timberwolves?

“I would never dream of forcing you to partake...or excluding you Moonie,” Sugar said, before turning back to the colt. “Whaddya say, stud? Feel like putting on a show tonight?”

“I...uh… think I have to ask my manager,” he said slowly, looking towards the kitchen, only to see Fredrick give him a thumbs up. Oh great, fat load of help he was!

“Oooh, is that the signal for ‘they get you for the night?’” Sugar asked as she caught sight of the griffon performing his signal. “I could go for that~”

“...Yay?” he surrendered and Scope rolled her eyes. It wasn’t fair when Sugar still had that option available to her. She could win every time, all because her and Midnight would never take that…

“You know,” Scope said. “I have an idea. Double or nothing!”

“Oh?” Sugar asked with a raised eyebrow.

“You have to try and get Ledger flustered,” she said with a smug smile. “A Noble of your… skills, should be able to do something as simple as that yes?”

“I already tried for quite a while,” Sugar said with a sigh. “I’m starting to think he’s just immune to nymphs that aren’t you.”

Scope looked at Ledger and the drone realised that this might be very bad for him now. “Alright then, how about this. I’ll tell you how to do it, and if it works, you have to concede defeat to me.”

“And if it doesn’t?” Sugar asked, causing Ledger to wonder what in the world he’d gotten into.

“Then I’ll admit that while I still have Ledger, you are a...ergh, superior nymph.” Scope shuddered at that. “Unless you have a better idea?”

“Deal,” Sugar said with a smile, scooting a little closer to the smaller nymph. She leaned over and whispered into her ear, Midnight’s flicked and she grinned.

Something about a ‘Twilight Sandwich’.

“Oooh,” Sugar said with a smile. “It’s such a shame I have...other business to attend to tonight.” She gave the colt a long, slow stroke of his mane as emphasis. “Otherwise I would love to try and fluster your stallion right now with that information.”

The Scope realised she’d been had. “Oh you sneaky little bit—”

“And that’s quite enough of that,” Cider said as a family walked inside, including a few small foals. “Now, didn’t we have something else to do? Like admire a certain Songbat?”

“Eehhhh,” Midnight blushed lightly. Now she felt all embarrassed for some reason.

“I can admire her just fine, thank you,” Ledger said as he nuzzled Midnight. “And I think we’re interfering on Moondancer and Sugar’s little after-dinner fun.”

“Not yet, not as long as the colt sticks around,” Sugar said, giving him a small kiss. He turned a bright shade of red and looked away as Moondancer sighed.

“Seriously, less than a day, and you’re already picking up strays? I hope you know that they’re a lot of responsibility to look after.”

“I prefer to catch and release myself,” Sugar said. “Otherwise I’d be a crazy cat pony. But with actual ponies.”

“Well, aren’t you kind of like that already?” her wife giggled. “All those nymphs running around? You have to keep them watered and fed, and they seem to go stir crazy when you’re not around.”

“Something which I will be sure to punish them for, in due time,” Sugar said. “But that’s tomorrow’s problem. Tonight is all about this colt~”

“Well, you could always let Midnight at them again,” Scope chuckled as she got a few confused looks, well, from everyone except Ledger and Midnight. “Ooh, that’s right, you were out that day. Do your nymphs have a thing where you might have returned to a club reeking of Lust and rooms full of stuffed nymphs?”

Sugar slowly turned to look at Midnight. Not believing that one pony could have been responsible for that.

“I said I was sorry!” Midnight pouted. “So I got a little carried away okay? Sue me.”

“...And suddenly I am glad that I don’t have to put up with her on a daily basis,” Sugar observed. “How are you two not dead yet?”

“How could we live without her?” Ledger countered.

“Well in any case,” Moondancer said with a small nod. “It’s getting late and I want to sleep sometime before the sun rises,” she gave off a small yawn, though she doubted she’d be getting any sleep soon. “Don’t forget your toy Darling.”

“Of course not,” Sugar said as she picked the colt up with her magic and carried him along after her. “Come along now, dear. You have duties to attend to~”

He cast a futile glance back to get Fredrick to help, but that feathered jerk just waved and smiled.

Moondancer rolled her eyes, being carted around like that was rather embarrassing… Oh well, not her problem. She gave the others a wave and left enough money to pay for the meal before she left as well.

“Please tell me our marriage won’t be that weird?” Cider remarked.

“Why? Did you want to go into restaurants and pick up strange stallions to pick up the slack?” Ledger asked.

“Can we?” Scope asked.

“Not once we’re married,” Ledger said. “Sort of implies that we’ll be together and faithful to each other.”

“Apparently not everypony thinks that way,” Cider said, looking at the pair that had just left. She was a little bit of a traditionalist at heart, despite her own… unique relationship. “Well, t’each their own I guess.”

“Let’s go home,” Midnight said and got up. “I’m in the mood to snuggle… or we can make a late night raid on Ponyville and kidnap a princess.”

“Or just take over her castle,” Ledger pointed out. “I might go do that anyways, I’ve only been there once.”

“So we’re going Castle Crashing?” Scope asked, her tail wagging. “Sounds fun!”

“Aye, and with Princess Twilight as the prize!” Ledger said as he gave Midnight a kiss. “Who’s with me?”

“Sounds like a fine plan matey!” Midnight cackled. She even had a hat for this at home. “Now let’s go and get us some booty!”

“...Oh dear,” Cider replied, following the crazy trio out of the restaurant. She looked up at the stars and smiled. “Sorry in advance for this Twilight.”

Twilight walked the empty halls of her crystal palace. She idly thought of hiring a few maids, maybe some guards… somepony to actually say hello to in passing or something. Spike was at a sleepover with the Crusaders and a few of their friends, the foals curious about his little growth spurt.

She let out a sigh that seemed to echo throughout the hall, before turning and entering the map room, giving it a small stare.

“You know, you could try sending me somewhere every now and then,” she muttered. “You’ve been awful sweet on Rarity lately. I’m beginning to wonder if you’re a magical construct version of Spike.”

In the kitchen, Midnight hovered there silently, wearing an eyepatch, her training wingblades and a large brimmed hat with a feather in it.

“Well First Officer Ledger, how goes the resupply?”

“I appear to have found the cake stash, Captain Midnight!” Ledger said as he pulled two cakes out from the pantry, quickly following it up with a third.

“That… is a lot of cake,” Midnight whistled. Now she wished that she had an alicorn’s metabolism.

“I found the whipped cream!” Scope cheered, pulling out a pressurized can of fluffy goodness.

“And ah got the apples!’ Cider said happily before everypony looked at her. “Whut?”

“That’s...not exactly what we’re here for,” Ledger pointed out, before ducking into the fridge. “Oooh, now this...Captain Midnight~” Ledger sang before he floated a mango out of the device.

“Mmm, the mango of a Princess,” Midnight drooled as her long tongue lashed out like a whip, snagging the fruit and pulling into her mouth. A second later, a dried up husk hit the floor near Ledger’s hooves as Midnight rubbed her belly happily.

“She appears to have a small bag full, Captain,” Ledger said, pulling the fruit out. “I think she might have been planning on a visit from you.”

“The sweet nectar is delicious,” Midnight said and then smiled wickedly. “But it’s oh so sweeter when licked from the body of a Princess~”

“Right, I’ll put them off to the side then,” Ledger said. “Oh! Found the chocolate!”

“Weren’t we here fer Twilight?” Cider asked, standing to one side. Midnight wave a hoof and tsk’d tsk’d at her.

“Look Cidey, we have to procure supplies first. Everypony knows that a pirate must plunder as much as possible.”

“She’s totally right you know,” Pinkie said as she leaned against Ledger’s back, snacking on an apple. “That’s pirate basics.”

Ledger started for a moment, before his Pink-reflex kicked in. “Hello Pinkie,” he said. “Do you ever not do that?”

“Do what?” she blinked cutely. “Ooh, should I go tell TwiTwi you're here? She’s been kiiiinda mopey lately.”

“Private Pinkie, feel free to inform the landlubber her pantry is being plundered,” Ledger said with a smile.

“Okie Doki Loki!” she said and bounced away. Midnight watched her go and looked at Ledger.

“Whyyyy did you give away our secret?”

“So we can plunder the other booty we came here for,” Ledger said with a snicker.

Mountains crashed and toppled, towns and villages burned as the Great Beast stomped across Equestria!

And, only one mare could stop it. Princess Twilight Sparkle!

She zoomed across the land using her super speed, the shadows of darkness tried to stop her, but her awesome magic was too much to handle. And when she finally reached the monster?

“HIYA!” it chirped in a high-pitched voice.

Twilight frowned. No, it was supposed to roar, she’d get to say her badflank one-liner then…

“AAH!” she screamed and fell back off of the table, her illusions she was playing with faded as Pinkie stared her in the face.

“Heehee, silly Twi, tables aren’t for sitting,” she giggled. “Also, there’s pirates raiding your pantry. Just fyi.”

Twilight blushed a deep crimson that she’d been caught, but by the time she looked up, Pinkie was gone.

“...Pirates?” she blinked. “What the…”

A short while later, she was walking towards the kitchen. No, she was not seeing if pirates were raiding her pantry, she was hungry.

And bored… so very, very bored. She flicked on the light and winced slightly at the chance… before she just stared blankly.

…..Aaaaand there’s pirates raiding her pantry.

“...Wat?”

“Aha!” Ledger said before pouncing on Twilight and holding her still. “I have the Princess, Captain Midnight!”

“Ahh, good work First Mate Level,” she cooed, stepping forward.

Twilight just stared flatly at them. “...What are you doing?” she asked.

“Ah, tis but a trifling matter,” Midnight said. “Me and me pirate crew are lookin fer a little fun! And you fit that bill quite nicely lass.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” Twilight replied flatly.

“Pirates never kid,” Ledger said. “She doesn’t look all that fun though, Cap’n. We might be better off just takin’ her prisoner and usin’ her for labor.”

“An interestin’ thought there,” Midnight said, rubbing her chin. “An’ wot sort of labor be ye thinkin’ of?”

“Hard labor, Cap’n. Unless she can prove she’s fun to be around,” Ledger said, before copping a feel of Twilight’s flank. The alicorn yelped and looked at the drone.

Then her eyes widened a little. Ohh, so that’s what this was all about.

“Oh no,” she cried dramatically. It was a really hammy performance. “I’ve been captured by the Dread Captain Midnight and her crew. Please don’t do anything to me~”

“That’s a tad over the top don’t you think?” Scope said and Midnight shrugged.

“Well, I see we could use her as a hostage,” Midnight said and looked at the food. “First Mate Ledger! See to it that our guest is made… comfortable while I finish up here!”

“Aye aye cap’n!” Ledger said, before sticking Twilight on his back with magic. “Hmm...where be the bedrooms in this sparkly castle of yours, lass?” he asked the lavender alicorn.

Twilight gasped, struggling in his grasp. "You'll not get away with this, you villainous fiends!"

“We’ll see about that,” Ledger said as he began walking to where he thought Twilight’s bedroom was. Or, a bedroom anyways.

After some subtle hints from Twilight every time he headed towards a wrong room, he found the princess's bedroom. It was larger than his whole apartment and had more books than a library.

“Aha, here we be,” Ledger said before ‘roughly’ tossing the mare onto the bed. “And now we’ll see what yer fate will be, lassie.”

~*~*~

Author's Note

This time I did go over all the links.

Chapter 81 - Welcome to Hollow Shades!

A little after midday, Ledger and Midnight arrived in the sleepy town of Hollow Shades. Scope had stayed behind, she was still a bit sore about the last time and wanted to keep Cider company while she worked. Twilight also had some duties to perform and couldn't tag along.

"Been awhile since it was just the two of us huh?" Midnight said as they rode the coach from the station to the town itself.

“Mmhmm,” Ledger agreed as he watched the world pass by. “Y’know, we still haven’t discussed what form I should take in the town.”

"Honestly, it's been a very long time since I was here, for obvious reasons, I avoided places with large Thestral populations." Midnight sighed and rubbed her temple. "I don't know their stance on Changelings, so a pony form would be best. Not your thestral one, they'll know right away something's up."

With a silver flash, Ledger took on his pegasus guise. White coat, sky-blue mane and tail. “Clear Skies at your service,” he said, giving off a mocking salute.

"Generic, but unassuming," Midnight nodded. "And just to clarify, we're not going to blame these thestrals for happened to me last time okay?"

“Wasn’t planning on it,” Ledger said with a nod. “The ones responsible have already been punished by Luna after all.”

"I don’t remember all that much, but I do recall how scary she was," Midnight said as the carriage jolted and Ledger felt that it had left the ground.

“Well, there’s something you don’t feel everyday,” he said, not daring to look outside the windows.

"You've never ridden a sky carriage?" Midnight said, a little surprised. "Remind me to take you to Canterlot and see the city by air at some point."

“I mostly walk everywhere, or take the train. Or the Princess Express,” Ledger replied.

Now she had an idea for a date night. After a few minutes, they felt the carriage descend and eventually come to a stop. One of their escorts opened the door and Ledger stepped out first, before being greeted with a truly unique sight.

The architecture was very similar to Midnight’s homeland, only less stone and more intricately carved wood. A thick canopy of trees covered the town, and it gave it a feel of perpetual twilight.

And there were thestrals everywhere. Flying about, running stores and stalls, or just chatting. The atmosphere was both magical, and laid back. But, he did notice one thing, the town was very... small. There were far too many thestrals and not nearly enough buildings to house them.

“...Is that normal?” Ledger asked Midnight. “I...I want to help them, but I want to know if this is how things are first…”

Midnight grinned madly. Oh he was going to love the hell out of this. She gave a flap of her wings and took to the sky, beckoning for him to follow. When he flew up to her, she kissed his cheek and hummed.

"Okay, I want you to close your eyes. Don't worry about falling, okay. Trust me?"

Ledger gulped, but did as she bade him do. She took his hoof and led him. It was... a unique experience, flying with one's eyes closed. He could also an odd sound, like Midnight’s cute little bat noise she made, only it sounded like a hundred of her was doing it at the same time.

After a minute, she stopped him and giggled again. "Kay, open your eyes." And when he did?

A deep cavern lay before him, carved into the earth and lit with countless torches. Carved into the cave walls were hundreds of windows and doors, an entire underground city…

“Wow,” Ledger breathed, instinctively borrowing a thestral’s eyes for his pegasus guise to see better in the dark. “It sorta reminds me of home.”

"Really?" Midnight asked. "Apparently Diamond Dogs helped carve this thing out, and quite a few still live here from what I hear." She took his hoof again as they descended into the cavern. At the very bottom, it was similar to the surface, fields of rolling grass and large, carved wooden buildings. Amongst them, one stood far taller, a large central spire that pointed towards the entrance of the cavern.

"That's where we're headed," Midnight said. "Moonspire Hall. It's where my aunt lives."

“Seriously, I need to show you around a Hive at one point,” Ledger said as he kept following her. “This place is making me quite homesick.”

"I wanna see it," Midnight nodded. "And I know TwiTwi would give her wings to see them." The thestral mare walked up to the large doors and rapped on them with a hoof. After a moment, the doors swung open slowly with a low creaking sound.

"Oooh, creepy~" Midnight giggled. One thing Ledger didn’t know about her yet. She was a massive horror buff. Come Nightmare Night, she was going to scare the hooves off of everypony!

“So do we just…?” Ledger asked, not willing to go across himself just yet.

"Come on, let's go!" Midnight giggled and trotted inside without a care in the world, quickly disappearing into the darkness. Ledger groaned before following after her. Hoping this wouldn’t end badly.

The second he stepped inside, the doors slammed shut, plunging the room into darkness, even his thestral eyes could barely see a thing.

...then he heard giggling... a voice that didn't belong to Midnight.

“Ooooooh buck,” he whispered, not liking this at all. He didn’t scare easily, as evidenced by the things he’d done, but he could still be caught off guard.

That was until a pair of ice-cold hooves slid around his neck, as something breathed down his neck.

"I found you~" a voice rasped in his ear...Causing Ledger to gulp. He’d heard that tone of voice before.

In his nightmares, when he was caught raiding the Black Hive.

“NOPE!” he said, charging forward in an effort to get away. Light suddenly flooded the room as a cackling Sun Song clung to him. Midnight stood to one side, trying not to giggle.

Y-You should see... your face!" Sun laughed.

“Not cool,” Ledger said, getting his breathing under control. Or trying to, anyways. “Not cool at all.”

"Really, caused I dunked my hooves in ice so they should be at least a little cool," Sun hummed. The sound of hooves descending the stairs caused her to stop as she got off of Ledger.

"My apologies for my daughter's exuberant greeting," the mare said. "And welcome to Hollow Shades, Midnight, Secret." Echoed Song smiled warmly.

“Actually, when I’m like this,” Ledger said, indicating his pegasus guise and unconsciously shifting his eyes back to normal. “I’m known as Clear Skies. I’d rather not draw attention to my nature just yet. I might one day go out as my natural self, but I still have a reputation.”

"That's fair," Echoed nodded. "And quite a few Night Guard live here, so your true form would attract very unwanted attention." She swept her hoof out over the building. "This is Moonspire Hall, our town hall of sorts. Though, only the first floor. My home takes up the rest of this building and is accessible to you... well, except my bedroom." She smirked and flashed an alluring gaze at him. "Unless you get lonely that is~"

“I think that’s what I have Midnight for,” Ledger deadpanned at her. “Quite literally, I think the reason I have her is because I was getting lonely, and she’s Midnight.”

"Yup," Midnight nodded. "We're sad little broken ponies that are perfect for one another for some reason."

“It’s not like I’m letting you go,” Ledger said as he walked over to Midnight and pulled her into a wing-hug. “We’re stuck with each other now.”

"HUGS!!" Sun cried out as she tackled the pair.

"Well, I'd love to stay, but I'm rather busy at the moment," Echoed smiled. "Oh, did you happen to bring some nice outfits?"

“I don’t own many nice outfits, and the one I do is hanging up at Cider’s farm,” Ledger said from under Sun Song.

"Hmm," Echoed hummed and tapped her hoof on the floor. A maid appeared next to Ledger, as silent as a ghost, her magenta eyes twinkled.

"Sweet Heart, provide these two with some dress clothes, and provide them with any other needs they might have."

"Yes Mistress," Heart nodded.

“You realize saying that next to Midnight is a terrible idea, right?” Ledger snarked.

"I am to provide anything you might need," Heart nodded. "Even if you require me in your bed tonight."

“Pretty sure I have Midnight for that too,” Ledger said. “I mean, we are nearly wed.”

"She is pretty cute," Midnight pointed out, as the thestral bowed her head in thanks.

"Alright dears, I must dash," Echoed said, giving the three a hug. "Try not to raise too much trouble Midnight."

Midnight giggled and nodded her head. No promises would be made. Ledger just sighed as he looked from the maid to Midnight, before pointing at the ground near him with a hoof.

“Midnight, if you don’t heel, I’m going to give you over to Mistress Scope when we get back,” he warned.

"I think you have that backwards Levvy," Midnight giggled as she trotted over to him none the less. "You think she and Cidey are doing okay on their own? I miss them already."

“I’m sure they’re doing fine,” Ledger said with an eyeroll. “Now why don’t we not make the poor maid’s job harder and follow her to wherever the dress clothes are stored?”

"Hmm, well I could make you harder," Midnight giggled as she followed the maid, her tail flagging and giving him a right good view as she did.

“You are going to be the death of me,” Ledger muttered as he followed along as well. “I hope you know that.”

The room they were shown to was huge, with outfits of all shapes, sizes and designs.

"You are free to take your pick," Heart said with a smile. "Can you dress yourself?" She asked the drone as her eyes flashed pink. "Or do you want a hoof?"

“I can probably dress myself, but I have no idea what looks good on me,” Ledger admitted as he looked around. “I don’t tend to wear a lot of clothes.”

"You want to avoid bright colours," Midnight said. "Most thestrals aren't fond of them. Hmm, maybe a nice vest would suit you?"

"I can be of assistance Mistress," the thestral/nymph said. Midnight nodded and she dragged the drone off to find an outfit. Midnight started rummaging through the dresses until she found something she liked...

"You needn't bother with anything overly dressy, or you'll be seen as pretentious," Heart explained. "I think a vest and jacket will suffice."

“Sounds reasonable,” Ledger agreed with a nod. “Do you have any colors in mind?”

“Your current form has light colours, so a slightly darker colour would work." The mare picked out a purple vest with gold trim, and a dark blue jacket. "These should work for you."

Ledger blinked a few times before looking at the mare. “...Okay, I’m going to go out on a limb here...but if I were to ask you your color…”

"Pink as pink can be Mr. Silver," Heart giggled. "And don't worry, Mistress Echoed is aware, but I would appreciate some discretion to my identity."

“I can do that, don’t worry,” Ledger agreed as he started putting on the vest. “It’s just...I know a Pink, and she’s...eccentric. And she’s just a regular nymph.”

"As am I," Heart nodded. "But this world is vast Mr. Skies, as the individuals that reside in it are many." She picked out a nice scarf to go with the outfit. A blood red one to add some colour. "I keep myself in check, try not to feel too much one way or the other. It keeps our sin at bay."

“Eh, being around a sane Pink is sorta...weird to me,” Ledger said with a shrug. “I mean, Amy’s a nice enough nymph. Heart of gold. Loves seeing others smile. She just...apparently is quite skilled at pulling things out of nowhere. Including herself. And don’t get me started on my sister.”

"That is the general mode for a lot of them," Sweet Heart nodded as she buttoned his vest with her magic. "It is also why we are so dangerous, the higher one goes... the harder they fall. Try to keep an eye on them alright?"

“My sister is back in the Lands, and Amy’s...stable for now. We have a plan to help her,” Ledger said as he shrugged the jacket itself on. “Heck, even I’ve had a brush with that sort of fall. But it was thanks to somepony loving me that we exorcised it. Nothing can stop love.”

The nymph paused. "You did what?"

“Nearly went Black, but came back,” Ledger said. “Just the smallest amount of love during the transformation itself stops it. And I haven’t turned back yet, though I have been in plenty of situations where I would have.”

The nymph looked... pensive. She eventually shook her head and snorted. "Curing the Darkness is impossible. As long as you can feel negativity, and draw power from it, the trigger will always exist."

“Oh yeah?” Ledger asked. “Here, watch me. I’m going to run through all the extremely negative situations I’ve been in in the past year. And nothing’s gonna happen.” Before she could speak up, Ledger had closed his eyes and was reliving some of the moments when he really, truly hated somepony else. When he just wanted to rip them asunder and kill them.

And his colors didn’t flicker once, either in his disguise or for his real form.

"Interesting," Heart said, taking a cautious step back. "I would appreciate you stopping now though."

“Have I proved my point?” Ledger said once he opened his eyes and stopped. “My name is Hoarder-of-Secrets, and I made it my mission to visit every Hive. It was only when I learned more why doing that with one was a bad idea...but I still did it and learned something really important while I was there.”

"I want to nothing to do with that accursed place," Heart said curtly.

“Agreed, I still have nightmares about it, but I learned how to fight the darkness there,” Ledger said. “It can be done. You just need somepony that loves you. Then, if you ever fall...they’ll be there to pick you back up.”

"I have no such pony," Heart said. "But I am fine, just avoid feeling such things around me in the future."

“Yeah, Amy doesn’t like sad ponies either,” Ledger said with a nod. “I can avoid feeling negative. I have Midnight after all. I just wanted to prove to you that it is possible to beat the darkness. You...don’t have to be so afraid of it all the time.”

"I am not afraid, merely concerned," Heart responded, tucking the scarf around his neck and tucking it into his vest. "There, the very vision of a gentlepony."

“My thanks,” Ledger said, tipping an imaginary hat to her. “Shall we go see what trouble my beloved Songbird has gotten into?”

Glad to be done with that line of discussion, she headed back out into the first room. Midnight had found a simple black dress, along with a silver necklace and shoes.

“Ooooh, somepony’s looking fancy,” Ledger said.

"Eh, just something simple," Midnight blushed a little. She'd wanted to wear her armour she'd brought with her, but Ledger and her aunt might have complained.

"None the less, it suits you well," Heart replied. "Also, feel free to keep those outfits. I can simply make more."

“If you’re sure,” Ledger said warily, not quite willing to just take a set of clothes from their host.

"I made all of these," Heart replied. "So it's fine, but I shall also ask Mistress Echoed if it makes you feel better." She gave the outfits a once over and nodded. "Would you like a tour of the Spire before dinner?"

“If you think we have time,” Ledger agreed. “Though, can we make one of the first stops a bedroom for Middy and me?”

"Oh?" The nymph winked. "Are you that desperate to tear those clothes off of one another?"

“More like I’d like to know where we can lay our heads once the time comes,” Ledger said.

The nymph giggled and led them up the central staircase. "We have two rooms you could use. One is in the left wing here. Or there's one at the top of the Spire."

“Which would you prefer?” Ledger asked while looking at Midnight.

"Meh, do the rooms have many differences Heart?"

"The Spire room has a better view," she explained. "And the wing room is a little larger."

"Well, I think the... um... I don't know!" Midnight cried.

“How about a follow up question,” Ledger said with a snicker. “Which room has the better bed?”

"Oh, the Spire room has a cloud bed," Heart nodded. "They are sooooo comfy~"

“Well, I think that’s answered that then,” Ledger said. “Spire it is.”

Sweet Heart nodded and led the up a long winding staircase until they reached a room at the top. She pushed the door open into a modestly sized bedroom. It had a dresser, the aforementioned cloud bed and some books and other nicknacks. Ledger walked around, taking note of all the things on the shelves before jumping on the bed and laying on it, all sprawled out.

“That settles it,” he said into the cloud. “Staying here. Go on without me Midnight, the bed has claimed me.”

"Hmm, dumped for a bed. That’s a new one," Midnight replied. "Ah well, I still have three other lovers, so it's your loss." She turned and looked at Heart. "I think we'll just rest here for a bit. It's been a long trip."

"Very well Mistress Midnight. I shall come fetch you once dinner is ready." Midnight nodded and the maid left, as the bat looked at her stallion with a bemused grin.

"So, I take it we're getting a cloud bed, and finding a way to turn Cider into a pegasus?"

“Cloudwalking spell,” Ledger said with a wave of his hoof. “Twilight mentioned them once. I’ll look it up if it means we can all snuggle on a bed like this. You should try it.”

"I own a cloud bed at my home in Canterlot," Midnight explained as she sat on the end of the bed. "I should take you there also."

Ledger didn’t say anything, just gestured for her to come closer for snuggles. Midnight scooted closer and snuggled up next to him.

"I can't believe I actually came back here," she sighed. "I know, that it's different... but I can't help but feel... scared."

“Believe you me,” Ledger said, raising his head to softly peck at Midnight’s cheek with a kiss. “I’m surprised you agreed to come as well, but I won’t let anything happen to you. You know that, right?”

"Yeah, I know," Midnight nodded. "Silly isn't it? I'm the Guard here. If anything, I'm supposed to protect you."

“We all have our off days,” Ledger said as he nuzzled the mare. “Now, I believe some enjoyment of this bed is in order.”

"Oh? You have something in mind?" Midnight asked, nuzzling him.

“Yeah, I’m gonna snuggle the buck out of you on the comfiest bed I’ve ever been on,” Ledger said, suiting actions to words. Midnight leaned into the embrace and and closed her eyes. She inhaled and took in the scents around her. The soft, rainy smell of the clouds. The dry, sandy smell of the wood, and Ledger’s own musk, a scent she grown accustomed to having around.

“Do you think we’re doing the right thing?’ she asked quietly. “Marrying all these ponies? And a Princess to boot? I mean, if Twilight marries us, then we’ll be royalty Ledger!”

Ledger didn’t respond for a moment, but when he did. It was with snickering and barely contained laughing. “I just had the funniest image,” he said. “Of Cider and Scope being told that. The world would never be the same.”

“I think Cider would ask to be the Princess of Apples and Booze. Scopey…” Midnight tapped her chin and nodded. “Let’s just not tell her. It’d be safer for the world that way.” Then she smacked his shoulder lightly and pouted. “And you got me off topic! I’m serious here Secret. What if we screw something up for Twilight, or… what if the marriage falls apart?”

“That’s what we’re all here for,” Ledger said softly. “So that things won’t fall apart. So that everypony else will help put those of us that fall apart back together.”

"I'm so done with that," Midnight sighed and snuggled under his wing. "I vote that Twilight does the fixing next time."

“Let’s just hope nothing comes up that she needs to fix, eh?” Ledger said as he kissed the closest part of Midnight. “Still, I’m sure Twilight has at the very least thought about what us marrying her means, and spent more than one day panicking over it before coming up with a solution. I mean, heck, I’m already a Duke back home. I don’t need any more promotions, thank you very much.”

"Princess-consort Midnight Song," the bat mused. "Hmm, not sure how I feel about that. I don’t think I'm really 'princess' material."

Ledger didn’t verbally respond, but those that knew him could feel his smirking.

Midnight responded by plucking a feather from his wing...causing him to squawk a little in pain as he was suddenly plucked. “What’s the big idea?” he said, still slightly smirking. “I hadn’t even said anything yet!”

"You were thinking it," Midnight replied smugly, holding his feather in her mouth, before tickling him under the wing with it. He snickered before realizing his error and forcing his mouth shut.

Midnight’s eyes widened and her smile spread widely. This was... an interesting discovery.

"Somepony’s ticklish~" she said and then pounced on him, tickling several points with her hooves and wingtips. Ledger laughed and did his best to fend her off with his hooves, failing miserably. He was just thankful there wasn’t anypony around to mistake this for something it wasn’t.

"Wait until I tell the others about this," Midnight giggled, finally ending her torture. "And once I have access to hoofcuffs again~"

“Just wait until I can return the favor,” Ledger said, finally catching his breath.

"Uhuh," Midnight smiled, unimpressed at the threat. She just lay atop of him, letting her form go limp. Ledger sighed as he ran a hoof through her mane.

“Wow,” he said simply. “When was the last time we had honest, clean fun?”

"I don’t honestly know," Midnight said and an idea formed. "Alright. We have three days here," she said. "For that duration. No sex. Just good, clean fun."

“Wait, what?” Ledger said as he looked at Midnight. “You suggesting no sex for a length of time? I must be having a nightmare.”

"I know... I feel... weird," Midnight said. "But seriously, let’s try it. Besides..." She shot him a look and that alone caused his loins to stir. "Think of how mind blowing it'll be when we do again?" She said as she leaned in close, her lips almost against his. "I'll want it so bad...I’ll need it~"

“If you can promise to at least try, then so can I,” Ledger said, closing the distance and kissing her afterwards.

Midnight just giggled into the kiss.

"Well, you two wasted no time in breaking in that bed," Heart said as Midnight screamed and shot straight up, clinging to the rafters.

“Totally thinking of getting a cloud bed and a cloudwalking enchanted earring for Cider,” Ledger said as he rolled over. “Hmm...what next…?”

"Dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes," Sweet Heart said as Midnight came back down from the ceiling. "Shall I escort you to the dining hall?"

“Only if you can promise Sun isn’t going to try and get the drop on me again,” Ledger grumbled as he begrudgingly left the cloud bed. “One heart attack a day is all I can handle.”

"Miss Sun is... exuberant," Heart sighed. "Now, if you’d follow me..."

The dining hall was massive. Situated on the second floor, it had large, curved rafters and was lit by a stunning and intricate crystal chandelier. The dining table was around twenty hooves long and made of a thick, sturdy oak. About a half-dozen thestrals were already seated, as well as two diamond dogs.

And all of them turned to stare at Midnight and Ledger when they walked in. Ledger rolled his eyes, before continuing on to the table and looking for two seats that were next to each other. He’d grown used to the idea of being stared at in the Lands. It wasn’t often a Noble drone went around to other hives on his own, after all.

"Hmm, so who might they be?" One elderly thestral mare said.

"Don't know," a stallion said that was seated next to her.

Sun Song waved enthusiastically from her seat, as Midnight smiled back, ignoring the thestrals talking like they weren't in the room.

"She is Midnight Song, my niece," Echoed replied as she walked in, causing the gossipers to flinch. "And one of her fiancés, Clear Skies. You will give them the proper respect!"

Ledger could tell, that the hidden threat in her words could quite easily be backed up. She reminded him a great deal of his own mother in a lot of ways.

"Yes Lady Echoed," they said obediently. The mare smiled and took her seat at the head of the table, beckoning Midnight and Ledger to sit either side of her. Ledger sighed dramatically as he sat on her left, before adding his two bits.

“Honestly, Lady Echoed, did you have to do that? I’d rather they treat me like a pony than a delicate vase.” Because that at least would mean they were treating me like a pony than if they were treating me like a bug… “Can’t we at least try the nice approach before you start to make me even more homesick with words like that? I got enough of that from mother.”

"Your mother? Well now I feel old," she replied with her own dramatic tone. "What a thing to say to a mare, do you have no manners?"

"His snark strangled them," Midnight giggled as she took her seat, as Heart pushed her chair in.

“I do have good manners,” Ledger protested. “I just have no patience for the honeyed game of words and shadows at a dinner of all things. Like I said, I got enough of that from mother. Made us at least try to outmaneuver her before we got to eat.”

"Sounds like fun," Echoed giggled. "But no, we don't get many outsiders here, so the manners of some might be a little... outdated."

"So, Pony of Silver Tongue," one of the diamond dogs said. Midnight giggled, if only he knew how literal that was. "What brings you to batpony city?"

“Lady Echoed extended the invitation, seeing as how I am going to marry Midnight,” Ledger said with a shrug. “Eventually we had nothing else to do, and we came to make good on the offer.”

"Oh, so I am merely a distraction from the mundane?" Echoed said, placing a hoof to her forehead.

"As I said, no manners," Midnight giggled. "But he's cute, so that's a plus."

“And as I said, I am in no mood to play before I eat, as I got enough of that when I was growing up,” Ledger commented. “For now, I’m not one to give roundabout answers if it can be avoided.”

"A simple, 'We're here because we were invited' would have sufficed," Midnight said. She looked at the other guests. "So, care to introduce us?"

"Of course," Echoed said. "Those two-" she pointed at the gossip pair "-are Duke and Duchess Evermoon. They’re our liaison to Roamania, and were amongst the first thestrals to settle here."

Echoed then motioned to the diamond dog pair. "This is Graphite, and his wife Ruby. Graphite here was the architect of the underground portion of our fine city and an old friend."

"Not as old as some," the dog chuckled and tipped his hat to the pair.

"And of course, you already know Sun here, my other daughter is in Canterlot on business, so she won't be joining us I'm afraid."

"Meh, Sis is a real party pooper anyhow," Sun shrugged.

"And last but not least, we have Nightshade, my captain of the guard here in Hollow Shades."

The young thestral mare, silent until now, nodded even as she kept a stern glare on Midnight. Ledger merely raised his eyebrow before looking at Midnight.

“I’m sensing a story here,” he said.

"Perhaps," Midnight replied as she smiled at the mare. It was an expression that he had never seen on her face before, as Nightshade snorted and turned her head away.

"Tell me," Echoed said as she rang a small bell and several servants brought out a selection of appetizers. "What do you know of Midnight’s history as a guard?"

“Only that she was one of the best,” Ledger said with a shrug. “We both know my past profession isn’t the best, and out of courtesy, I don’t inquire into her past either. If she wants to share, she’ll share.”

Echoed looked at Midnight and the mare shrugged and waved a wing, allowing the older mare to talk.

"You see, Midnight is the youngest mare to join the guard, would have been the youngest ever, had young Shining Armor not beaten her by three weeks." She looked at Nightshade, who decided that her bowl of salad and croutons was more interesting.

"Nightshade here is the only one that Midnight ever tutored... at least for a little. However..."

"With all due respect Ma'am," Nightshade suddenly spoke. "I doubt he is interested, nor is it his business."

“I’ll give you the second, though I am interested,” Ledger said as he started in on his appetizer. “After all, if Midnight taught you, then you should be at least somewhat good.”

She muttered something, which Ledger managed to catch.

"I'm better than her."

“Oh, I doubt that,” he said with a small smile. “I’ve seen her in action before.”

"She is good," Midnight finally spoke. "It's been a few years though. I'd like to see how much better you've become, but I've taken a sabbatical from fighting for a while."

Ledger caught the emotions coming from Nightshade, a mix of anger and jealousy. "May I ask why?" she said slowly.

"Personal reasons," Midnight said. She wasn't going to mention her pregnancy just yet. Not until she felt she could trust them.

"So," Echoed said as she switched topics. "Do you plan on having any thestral traditions for your wedding?"

“Entirely up to Midnight if she wants any,” Ledger said as he finished with the delicious appetizers, for the moment. “Heck, I would need to know some to begin with, but if she wants to add any, she is more than welcome to.”

"Honestly, I don’t know many myself," Midnight replied as she looked at her aunt. "For obvious reasons, I avoided a good deal of our culture."

"Understandable," Echoed nodded. "Well, I'd be more than happy to teach you a few later."

"Flying Pony," the female diamond dog, Ruby asked. "What make you want to marry batpony?"

“Let me put it like this,” Ledger said with a smile. “She came into my life when I was at my lowest, picked me up, fixed me, and stuck around when she could have easily left. If that isn’t love, I don’t know what is. She is one of the best mares I have ever met, and I’d like to hang onto that.”

"She does so love to meddle," Nightshade mumbled to herself, as Midnight’s ear twitched. Was she still pissed about that? That was six years ago now.

"And now you have quite the family," Echoed smiled. "Your wedding should be quite the delight. I look forward to it immensely, provided I am invited?"

"Of course," Midnight nodded. "As is Sun and her sister. You wanna come as well Shady?"

"I am not a foal, do not call me that!" Nightshade said as she got to her hooves. "I have patrol. Please excuse me." She bowed her head and hastily left the room as Midnight sighed.

“Well, there goes that story,” Ledger sighed. “And I had been so looking forward to hearing it as well.”

"Please excuse me as well," Midnight said as she got up and followed the mare out.

"Well, this got a little out of hoof," Echoed said wearily. "You see, Nightshade is rather... ambitious. And she has always been jealous of Midnight’s natural talent. Even after she left Midnight’s tutelage, she could never surpass her."

“Hmm,” Ledger hummed. “Well, Midnight did spend time under Ace, and he did kill two out of three ancient monsters in the desert...Maybe if Nightshade sought out Ace and asked to be trained by him as well?”

"She tried, he refused," Echoed replied as she took a dainty nibble of her salad. She paused and looked at Heart, who had reentered the room.

"It would appear that Nightshade has run off somewhere, so I don't think she'll be joining us for the rest of the night."

"Regrettable," Echoed sighed as Midnight soon returned. "My apologies for that Midnight."

"It's alright," the mare replied as she took her seat. "So what's for dinner?"

"I believe we have fresh fruit, roasted potatoes and vegetables, and some chicken," Heart said. "I'll go and see how long it'll be."

“Well, tonight promises to be interesting,” Ledger mused. He wasn’t sure if he should have some chicken or not. On the one hoof, he likely could eat it, but on the other, doing so as a pony might raise a few eyebrows...

"Can flying pony eat bird?" Graphite asked and Sun chuckled.

"Or is that cannibalism?" She giggled as Echoed raised an eyebrow.

"Wow... that was dark," Midnight said and she smirked. A pun was brewing and Ledger had but a second to intervene.

“I probably could,” he said, doing his best to cut Midnight off. “But one of my best friends is a gryphon, and I’ve not had chicken before, so I’d like to avoid adding ‘bird’ to my diet. Had fish, though, and a well-done fish dish is a blessing.”

"So, since Skies is feeling a little chicken over it, I'll have his share," Midnight giggled as Echoed repressed the urge to groan. Ledger merely smirked and fired up his own pun engines.

“And if you happen to fish up a good recipie for me, I’ll not tuna you down,” he told Echoed.

"Oh come on, those puns were fishy and you know it," Midnight said as everyone else let loose a facehoof/paw in almost perfect unison. Midnight smirked and high-hoofed Ledger. Tag team victory!

“We are a terror when we work together,” the stallion of the pair observed.

Heart trotted back in and Echoed gave her an exasperated glance. "Please tell me dinner will be ready soon?"

At Sweet Heart’s nod, several chefs walked in, carrying trays of food out. When one covered dish appeared in front of Ledger, he lid was removed to show a nice barbequed perch and vegetables on a bed of rice.

“We had heard that a pegasus would be present, and have made this dish especially. I hope you are pleased,” the chef said with a small nod.

“Thank you,” Ledger said with a small nod. The chefs finished handing out the rest of the food, and to Ledger, that roast chicken smelled delicious~

Still, he had an image to uphold. He decided to dig into their fish for now.

Dinner was a rather simple affair, small talk had been made, like how had Midnight and ‘Clear Skies’ met, along with what the stallion did for a living. Honestly, it was nice having such a relaxed meal, despite the earlier tensions. Once the chefs returned to clear away the table, one of Evermoon’s cleared her throat.

“If you don’t mind dear Echoed, I took the liberty of changing the dessert menu. It’s not everyday that you get outsiders here in our fair city, so I thought we could show them some traditional thestral cuisine.”

One could almost hear the matron’s heart plummet. “Please tell me you didn’t…” she said slowly, looking… apologetically? At Ledger.

A moment later, the chefs returned and Midnight’s nose twitched. “Um, are you sure…” she said as the trays were placed on the table and the chefs took their leave.

“Okay, now I’m starting to get worried if you are,” Ledger said as he looked at Midnight. He lifted the lid… and saw what lay beneath as everypony else did as well.

Very large chocolate-coated grasshoppers, as well as a small variety of some sort of beetle with some sugar glazing.

“Aaaand there goes my appetite,” Ledger said as he lowered the lid again. “I understand you probably did it with the best of intentions...but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m still not used to your culture or your more traditional food,” he said, looking at the Evermoons for that last bit. “Middy, if you want seconds on dessert, feel free to have mine. No sense letting it go to waste.”

Midnight was… conflicted. On one hoof, it had been a dogs age since she last had some grub like this. And grasshoppers were one of her favourites…

On the other hoof, her cuddlebug was sitting right there. There was a reason she hadn’t eaten them since she started dating him, or even mentioned that thestrals ate them. “I-I’m not that hungry actually. Dinner was pretty filling.”

Ledger merely raised an eyebrow at her. The same eyebrow and the same way he had every time he reminded her he was an emotivore. “It doesn’t bother me,” he said simply.

“But…” she looked at him and slowly picked up one of the beetles and munched on it. This felt so wrong… but they were soooo tasty~

“We shall discuss some things later,” Echoed said to the Evermoons. The diamond dogs hadn’t touched their either. Give them a good bowl of gems any day.

“So, aside from not having this on your wedding menu, have you made any other solid plans yet. A guest list at least?”

Ledger shrugged. “It’s going to be a pretty big ceremony, despite all our wishes to the contrary. A friend of mine is also getting married at the same time, in the same place. My sister has expressed interest in coming, as well as my mother and father. I’ll be lucky if my uncle doesn’t attend. And there’s more than our fair share of family also coming from around Equestria to see this event. It’s going to be hectic…”

“We just have to try and get Apple Cider to not invite her entire family,” Midnight said as she crunched on the grasshopper. Seriously, that thing was almost as big as Ledger’s leg. “And Le- Clear? I was hoping I could ask a favour?”

“I’m listening,” he replied as he tried not to wince at Midnight’s rather...enthusiastic demolishment of her insects.

“Well,” she said and swallowed a mouthful before grabbing a larger beetle and draining the thing down to a husk before tossing it over her shoulder. “I was wondering if I could invite a few of my guard buddies. Unless they saw it for themselves, they’d never believe I got married.”

“We’ll talk about it later,” Ledger said. Not willing to go over why that might be a bad idea in front of guests. And still slightly disturbed that she was doing that to her bowl of bugs. Only slightly.

...Okay, he would be terrified, but he trusted Midnight. If he hadn’t woken up to her munching on him before, then she likely wouldn’t start eating him in the not-fun way now.

After dinner, Sweet Heart showed them back to their room, as Midnight headed off to find the bathroom, Heart leaned against the doorframe and smiled.

“So, will you require any other services tonight?”

“Are you sure you’re not a Violet?” Ledger asked semi-rhetorically. “No, I’m good, thank you for asking. And please, if you were going to do me any favors, just do me one.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “Cheer up a little? It’s just three flavors of weird to see a sedate and normal Pink.”

“I’m happy on the inside,” she said flatly and giggled. “Though, how gross is it that they eat bugs? I mean, Hives… I nearly fainted the first time I saw that. I had nightmares for days!”

“And I’m sure I’m going to soon,” Ledger said. “Seriously, I think there’s a good reason thestrals are feared back in the homelands, and it’s not because of the few like Midnight…”

“She’s like that?” Heart blinked and looked towards the bathroom. “So that’s where she learned it… hmm…”

“Yeah, Middy can go invisible to our senses if she tries,” Ledger said with a shrug. “But I think the real reason we’re all told those stories about thestrals is because they eat bugs, and we let our fear get away with ‘what if they met one of us and were really hungry?’”

“I’d rather not think about that again,” Heart shuddered. “Well, I should leave you be. Have fun.” She gave him a small smile and left, closing the door behind her. Ledger merely yawned and climbed onto the cloud bed.

He seriously needed to enchant an earring with the cloudwalking spell, or get Twilight to, and give it to Cider so that they could get a cloud bed. Now that he’d experienced this fluffiness, he was loathe to go without it again.

He soon had fluffy on top of him too, as Midnight landed softly on the drone.

“Hugs?” she inquired with a cute tilt of her head. Ledger merely chuckled and snuggled his mare a bit before sighing and talking about why inviting members of the Guard to their wedding might have been a bad idea.

“I kinda wanted to get married to you as myself,” he said quietly.

“I know,” Midnight said and nodded. “Well, do you think we could at least go and see them on the way home then?” she asked. “I mean, these are guys I lived, trained, and nearly died with. I at least owe them something of an explanation as to why I never returned to Canterlot.”

“We can visit them if you like,” he said. “And if you don’t think they’d react badly to the news as to what you’re marrying, then by all means, invite them. Just so you know, though, I am waiting for you at the altar as my natural self.”

“That should be fun, especially with all of Cider’s family there… and Twilight’s…” Midnight shivered a little. This wedding was going to be amazing…

Or it was going to be a bloodbath.

“With all the love you mares have given me, I could hold up my own personal shield for the entire bucking ceremony, and none of them would be able to get through,” Ledger boasted.

“Oh? Think you could even outperform Shining Armor?” Midnight giggled.

“I wouldn’t have to worry about him, he and I have crossed horns before, and I probably could outlogic him again...or just ask Cadence to rein him in,” Ledger snickered.

“Distract him long enough and I could probably get a second princess~” Midnight said and placed a kiss on his head. “Mmm, sleepy Middy is sleepy.”

“You can show me around tomorrow,” Ledger agreed. “Let’s get some sleep.”

Midnight nodded as she rolled off onto her side, hugging the stallion close as she drifted off to sleep…

Twilight paced around the large crystal map in her throne room. Once again, she was so amazingly bored. Cider was busy with getting prepared for the spring in a month and a half’s time, some of Twilight’s friends were off on another adventure.

One that didn’t require Twilight.

Again.

“Whhyyyy do you hate meeeee!?” she yelled at the table. “I mean, come on. I’m the Princess of Friendship! This is kind of my thing!” She scowled at the inanimate object and groaned. “Why am I so bored? Even Chrysalis won’t hang out with me anymore…”

Scope had decided to visit the alicorn, though she had to take the train because she couldn’t figure out that blasted Waypoint thing. She’d also come to check up on the changeling living in this town, visiting Twilight was just a sexy bonus~

Spike had answered the door and the look of relief on his face was quite startling.

“Oh thank Celestia,” he said, almost dragging the nymph inside. “You have to do something about this!”

“What is she blowing up this time?” Scope asked with a roll of her eyes.

“Nothing yet… give her time though,” Spike replied dryly as he led her to the throne room. Twilight was busy laying on her back on the table, little holographic clouds circling her head. She also seemed to be singing some silly little limerick that was not made for foals ears.

Ledger and Midnight were terrible influences.

“Oh Twiiiiiiliiiiiight,” Scope sang. “I have something you might waaaaaaant~”

That was all she got out before Twilight teleported across the room and tackled the nymph, peppering her face with little kisses.

“Well, now that you’re here, I’m off,” Spike nodded and walked away. He had a date with a cute filly in an hour.

“Up!” Scope demanded. “Lemme up or you don’t get your Princess Treats!”

Twilight sat up and sighed. “Aw, but I’ve been so bored,” she whined. “Cider’s been busy, Ledger and Midnight ran away, they probably eloped and you’ve been… doing Scopey things.”

“Yeah, I had to check on the nymph here,” Scope said as she sat up. “But Moonbutt and Smartypants wouldn’t elope. If anything, he’d bring her back exactly on schedule...or is that you I’m confusing him with?”

“Probably me, I always have a schedule,” Twilight nodded. “You know, I could make you one for your work. It’ll make co-ordinating with your changeling friends a lot easier. Plus you can account for time differences, other jobs they might have. Some—”

Scope stopped her by the one mean she could. Namely, by levitating a book out of her saddlebags. A book she knew the unicorn hadn’t read yet. Ledger’s.

Twilight stared at the book, gulping loudly as she held out a hoof. “Is… Is that…?”

“Mmhmm, I figured you could get the days he promised you in while he’s off at...wherever Moonbutt dragged him.” Scope levitated it a little closer, but still out of reach. “Now, promise me you won’t damage this thing at all? If he notices when he comes back, we’ll both be in for it. And he can also turn into a dragon.”

“I won’t damage it!” Twilight said, insulted that the nymph would have the gall to suggest that she’d willingly or even accidentally damage a book. “But, it’s written in Changeish right? How will I read it?”

Scope tapped the side of her head. “I know Changeish too, ya’know. You could probably use me for some sort of translation spell.”

“Or maybe we could head upstairs and you can read it to me~?” Twilight said, brushing the nymphs side with a wingtip.

“Yeah, maybe, but there are parts of this thing I’m pretty sure I don’t want to read,” Scope said, pointing at the black bookmarked section for emphasis.

“Well we can avoid those for now,” Twilight said. “And perhaps stay the night? I mean, Rainbow and I were planning to go to Canterlot tomorrow for the launch of the new Daring Do book, and Miss Yearling doing a live reading…”

“Yeah, okay, you convinced me,” Scope said with a nod. “Though, I didn’t think you wouldn’t want to learn a new language or read such a weighty tome for yourself…” Scope demonstrated what she meant by dropping the book.

The thud that it made hitting the floor actually echoed.

“How does it…?” Twilight looked at the book, already using several scanning spells. She suddenly wanted to dismantle them, learn how they worked… but Ledger might not like that.

“As for a translation spell, I could glean the knowledge from you, but if I miscast the spell, you could wind up with amnesia…”

“Then let’s take this to your room, where it’s nice and quiet,” Scope suggested. “And you don’t miscast the spell. Go slow if you have to. Besides, don’t you want to surprise Secret when he comes back?”

Twilight nodded, then she got an idea. “You know, I think I have something that might work. A way for the language to stick easier. Trust me?”

“Of course,” Scope said with a nod. “...Though I’d still like to know…”

Twilight’s horn shone as a glow generated from Scope as well. And once the light died, Twilight Sparkle was gone.

What remained was… different.

"What do you think?" she asked her nymphfriend, her voice having that odd duality to it like Chrysalis's does.

“Never took you for a Violet,” Scope said, looking her former-marefriend up and down. “Is Midnight really that bad an influence on you?”

“The spell is born from you, so you must have Violet somewhere in your heritage… or Midnight really is that bad an influence.” Twilight replied as her eyes shone for a moment. “Oh… oh wow! Is that what emotion tastes like? It’s… different.”

“Yeah, just wait until you get a taste of love,” Scope said with a sigh. “There’s nothing else like it…”

“Well, let’s go. I’d hate to see what would happen if somepony found out that their Princess became a Changeling,” Twilight replied and headed for her room. “And… don’t tell Ledger. Who knows what he’d do with this information.”

“Probably the same thing you do with me and him,” Scope said with a snicker. “Tease all your holes.”

Out of curiosity, Twilight ran some magic through one of her leg holes and shuddered, letting out a quiet moan. “O-ohh, well… that’s something.” she paused and looked at her. “How do you fly in your true forms if that happens?”

“Instinctual thing,” Scope said with a shrug. “Once we’re flying, something about our bodies just cuts out any pleasure we might get from air rushing through our legs. I think the same thing happens with Pegasi and their wings...or at least, most of them anyways. Otherwise, we’d like flying for all the wrong reasons.”

Twilight suddenly wondered why Rainbow liked flying so much.

“Nopenopenope! Noooot thinking of my friends in that way!” she said, shaking her head. But those images tasted sooo good~ Scope just chuckled lewdly as she kept following.

“Ya’know, you could probably use your shapeshifting to spy on your friend’s emotional states, see what they really like,” the nymph pushed. “Maybe even see if they have some special ponies in their lives?”

“I could help them~” Violet Twi purred, licking her lips. “And if all else fails, I bet I could provide a more… direct form of assistance~”

“And now you’re acting like the Violet you look like, without any of the restraint they typically learn,” Scope said, jabbing her in the side with her horn. “Reel it in there Sparkle.”

Twilight yelped at the touch and looked at Scope. “Oh you wicked little…” She paused and licked her lips. “Hey Scopey… run.”

“Oh crap,” Scope said, before bolting towards Sparkle’s room. If she remembered right, there was all sorts of furniture she could use to barricade the door. That ought to keep her out for a minute or two once she actually got there.

When she got there and closed the door, Twilight teleported in front of her and scooped her up into a hug.

“Princess of Friendship with Benefits huh?” she smiled and dragged her tongue across Scope’s horn. “That’s what you lot called me once~”

“Twilight Sparkle,” Scope said with as much threat as she could muster up. “If you do not start acting like yourself, I will start burning books.”

Twilight pouted and released the nymph. “I was just having some fun. I’ve been really bored okay?” She sighed and placed the book on her bed. “Okay, want to give this translation spell a try? With me as a Changeling, it should be able to stick a lot easier.”

“Sure thing, let’s see how this goes,” Scope said as she walked closer to Twilight. “By the way, once you learn how to control yourself as a ‘ling, we totally have to surprise Secret with this.”

“We’ll see,” Twilight nodded. Her horn began to glow as Scope felt her own light up without her willing it to. She felt a small tugging sensation, and her head started to itch. A line of what looked like glowing script begun to flow between the two, as Twilight closed her eyes and begun to murmur to herself. That murmuring soon turned to a low buzz, and it took Scope a second to realise that she was speaking Changeish.

“This is some fancy spellwork,” Scope said in the same tongue.

Twilight gave a small nod, but she had to concentrate. The last thing she wanted was her marefriend becoming a vegetable. She was also quite glad that changelings couldn’t sweat.

After a few more moments, the spell faded and Twilight took a deep breath before she cancelled the transformation spell as well, returning to her pretty pony self.

“Phew.. that… was harder… that I thought,” she panted. “Are you okay? Not forgetting anything important?”

“Not that I can tell, and if I had forgotten anything, how would I know?” Scope fired back.

“Okay, what’s your name? What’s mine? What are we doing in a week and a half?”

“I’m Secret-Treasure, you’re Twilight Sparkle, and in a week and a half, we are doomed to Midnight Song, forever.”

“Okay, good,” Twilight wiped her brow and sighed with relief. “And now that we’ve seen that your memory has less holes than your legs. We’ll see if it actually worked.” She took the book and floated it over. After taking a deep breath, she opened it and stared at it.

And just continued to stare at it.

“You’re...not saying anything,” Scope said, prodding Twilight with a hoof to garner a reaction. Twilight waved a wing at her.

“Shhh, I’m reading.” The alicorn turned and headed over to her bed as she flipped the page. She reached some yellow tags and her breath hitched. “Oh… oh no…”

Scope tilted her head before she looked at the parts of the book she’d gotten to and sucking her breath in. “Oooh, yeah...I can’t imagine him not writing about that…”

“And you’ve teased him about this!?” the alicorn exclaimed. “Scope ‘Secret-Treasure’ Lens! You must never do that again.”

“Hey, Yellow is a legitimate color a nymph can be!” Scope said. “He needs to get over his hang-ups regarding Yellow nymphs! You can’t just have him paralyzed when he sees one walking down the street! He needs to be a stronger drone, Twilight!”

“And I understand that, but perhaps some more controlled exposure therapy would be best,” she replied as she continued to read. It was hard to, with the way he’d written it. It snared her heart and twisted it something fierce, but she felt like she needed to, she needed to understand him better.

Then she got to the part about the zombies…

“He… was telling the truth?”

“Yeah,” Scope said as she pulled up a Daring Do book and started to read as well. “Ledger rarely lies. Even I heard about the burial mound of the Reds. Didn’t know he went there until he started mouthing off that Black…”

Twilight noticed a few black marked pages. No awards for guessing what they contained. Well, perhaps she’d get to those later.

Then, then she came to the part where he first met Midnight Song. “Oh my… he really thought that about her at first?”

“They’ve been...well, I came in about halfway, but from what I can tell, Secret and Midnight haven’t always had the best of relationships...what did he write about her, anyways?”

Twilight cleared her throat and read aloud. “Today I met my new roommate, Midnight Song. She’s...well, if I had to put her personality into words, a beacon for the Violets. She even tried hitting on me. But regardless of that, she is still a Guard. Maybe I can use her. Maybe I can finally end this nightmare without any ponies finding out my secret. I’ll try my plan tomorrow. There’s going to be a kidnapping, and I know where it’s going to be. I’ll tell Midnight as soon as I can.”

“Yup, sounds like a more stuffy, stuck-up Secret to me,” Scope said as she kept reading.

Twilight nodded. She’d gotten a little off of Midnight, as the thestral explained her mission in Las Pegasus. Seems that they’d been using each other at first, and never even realised it. She flipped further ahead and giggled. “Oh, he has some stuff in here about you.”

“Oh, now I have to hear this,” Scope said, closing her book and turning to Twilight. She cleared her throat again, and began to read.

“Today one of my worst fears has come to pass. There is a nymph in my home. An actual, changeling nymph, is residing with me. She’s a surly little thing, that adheres to the traditions of the Lands and satisfies her instincts more than she listens to the rules of Equestria. Midnight beat her in a fight, though, and at least she listens to her. And she’s Blue as well, so at least her loyalty, once earned, won’t be in question. The only problem will be surviving until we do.”

“Wow,” Scope said with a slightly questionable sounding chuckle. “I really left an impression on him, didn’t I?”

“So it seems,” Twilight giggled. “It seems to go for a bit like that. Heehee, the line ‘Creepy little doorstop’ and ‘Unwanted crashmat’ are interesting. Want to explain that one?”

“Secret seems to think I have a talent in breaking moments,” Scope said as she opened her book again. “For the first few weeks, whenever I walked into a room with the two or three of them in it, it was more likely than not that I’d just walked into a sappy moment.”

“Yes, he mentions that too. And apparently he also liked to quote on how cute you were… before you started dating~”

“Idiot,” Scope muttered, even as she blushed. “I mean, really, all it would take is one minute alone with his book, and I’d see that for myself…”

Twilight continued to read, and got to the part where the group had gone to the Crystal Empire. The events on the train were cute and funny and then…

“Oh wow… now this is interesting,” she smiled slyly. “He wrote about the night you confessed to him.” She grinned and started to read aloud again.

“...I cannot actually believe that a nymph likes me. Nor can I believe that I like a nymph! If I’d thought that a year ago, then I’d wonder what I was drinking. But that little Blue nymph that Midnight beat up and we took in to reeducate has...actually fallen for us. For me. My perception of reality is twelve shades of weird right now. Mostly because I accepted her confession of love, and we all...well, slept together. As one herd. Still...this feels right.”

“He’s such a sappy moron,” Scope said as her blush intensified. “Even in writing.”

“So he seems,” Twilight said. “Though… I’m a little jealous. You all seem to have these deep connections, these amazing stories that have bound you all together. And then, there’s me. I feel like I just… stepped in on all of this.” She sighed and put the book down.

“Yeah, but keep reading, I’m sure there’s a part on you too,” Scope said once her blush was under control. “I mean, is that his research book for the Silver Hive, or his journal?”

“It looks like both,” Twilight said as she picked up the book and flipped the pages. “I could spend days reading his notes. But, right now his journal feels more important.” She skimmed over the next lot. Like the time that Tirek attacked. And, Midnight could have killed him? She can do that? “Did he tell you Midnight tried to sacrifice her life to kill Tirek?”

“Yup,” Scope said with a nod. “And according to Secret, Discord stopped her for some reason. I still think that patchwork creature needs to be torn a new one, but he keeps telling me to let the past lay there. It wasn’t long after that that Secret went...Black, and you know that story.”

But not from his perspective. She read through the time that Midnight got kidnapped, gasping at the dark thoughts that went through Ledger’s head.

The she reached the part where they visited her castle. Luna had sent her a note saying to expect some unique guests. Changelings were the last thing on Twilight’s list.

And then she found the entry, the night she’d accidently kissed him…

“Sweet. Everloving. Hives! Princess Twilight freaking Sparkle kissed me! I mean, I’ve read a lot about her. She was one of the ponies I actually wanted to meet in my time in Equestria. She’s like a pony version of me, only she actually got rewarded for her hard work and diligence! And now that I have...well, she’s not perfect. Her first reaction to meeting me sort of proved that. But...she was able to get past my form a lot faster than I would be able to get past meeting a Black, so I’ll give her that. But when we were working together, researching my condition together...I could go for months thanks to an hour spent with her, and that’s without her actual love or care for me specifically!”

“Um…” Twilight wasn’t quite sure what to make of this. It almost reminded her of Scootaloo whenever she talked about Rainbow Dash. “Does Ledger… have a fancolt crush on me?”

“He’s a Silver,” Scope said. “Any Silver that knows about you wants to spend time around you when you’re studying. You’re like a miniature version of the Heart to them. The only difference between Secret and any other Silver is that he actually cares about the pony you are, rather than just the things you’ve done.”

“I’m going to get mobbed if I ever visit the Silver Hive huh?” Twilight said flatly as she continued to read. She suddenly snorted and giggled when she reached the part of their next encounter. Their incredibly awkward second encounter.

“Well...two notes to make today. Number one, Scope can turn into Twilight Sparkle, and will probably continue to do so to garner a reaction out of me. And number two...Twilight...probably won’t be coming back to speak to me again. New note. Clean that desk. Toll made sure to make it easy to clean. I’m going to take advantage of that fact. I might just clean the whole damn office while I’m at it. I don’t know how long ago it was that she did.”

“I remember that,” Twilight said and looked at the nymph. “I still haven’t gotten my revenge either. I think I know how now though.” She could become a changeling and return the favour… all over Scope’s desk~

“Something tells me to stock up on the cleaning products at work,” Scope dryly commented. “And when is your Sun Princess going to move her flank on integrating our Hivelink abilities with the government? I’m getting bored sitting around and doing nothing all day!”

“I don’t know, I haven’t spoken to her in a while,” Twilight replied. “We could visit her tomorrow if you like? We will be in the city after all.”

“Yeah, and then you can bring up that whole teleporting thing you and Secret have almost figured out. What’s the status on that one, by the way? I wanna know when I have to pretend to work again.” Scope turned another page in her book, only half-paying attention.

“It’s getting there,” Twilight said. “I need to tweak the actual design of the device and I have a friend helping me with that. She says that some fictional media where she lives has given her a few ideas.” The alicorn picked up the book once again, and reached the page, a recent one actually. A conversation that she and Ledger had about the wedding.

Scope might like this one~

“Sweet merciful Hives, but this wedding is going to be a nightmare to plan. If it wasn’t for Twilight’s organizational skills, I doubt we’d be able to get it done at all. Cider’s family, Middy’s family, my family...and now Twilight’s family. And let’s not mention the other wedding we’ll be having at the same time!”

Scope slowly closed her book before looking at the alicorn laying on the bed. “Did you just read out a section that implied you would be marrying us?”

“Hmm, is that what that implies?” Twilight said with a cheeky smile. “Well, Ledger never lies right. So it must be true. Unless, you don’t want me to marry you? I know it’s a tad sudden, and more than a little foolish to just jump in like this…”

The rest of the lavender mare’s words were cut off as Scope lunged and kissed the larger mare. Twilight blinked at the sudden attack, but they soon closed as she leaned into the kiss, her tongue parting the nymph’s lips and caressing her own. Once they parted, she ran a hoof along her chitin and smiled. “So, that’s a yes I take it?”

“You have no idea how hard I want to rut you,” Scope said. “Or how hard I’m going to rut you tomorrow once we’re done meeting everypony of little importance and Yearling.”

“Such a naughty little nymph,” Twilight giggled, then remember her newest trick and blushed. “I’m going to get it, aren’t I?”

“Maybe once you’re done reading that thing,” Scope said as she straddled her alicorn’s back and called her Daring Do book back to herself. “I know how you are with books. Though if you take too long, you might just get a surprise…”

Admittedly, Twilight might have considered taking her time, just to see what the surprise was.

Yeah, why not? She shrugged and returned to the book, now going over some of his research notes. Then she found something that made her grin look a little unsettling and she poked Scope to take a look.

A list of Ledger’s more… recently aquired spells.

“Where the buck did he learn that spell?” Scope said, pointing at the book. “There is no way there is a spell to make his...thing, prehensile!”

“I think this is an important discovery Scopey,” Twilight said as she copied them all down. It was time that a certain Silver noble had the tables turned on him. Ohh, there was that flavour one~

And…well there was that stamina one. And something about a feedback loop? And that looked like the spell he kept casting on Scope whenever they had sex. But here was one he hadn’t cast yet. One that had to do with ‘more volume.’ Notes off to the side said something about it not being needed.

“This ‘Sensitivity’ one seems interesting,” Twilight said. “Oh, and he has a spell for checking quite quickly if you’re pregnant or not. I’ve never seen this in my medical textbooks…”

Out of curiosity, she used it on herself and Scopey, especially after last night, but both turned up negative. “Well, that busts his theory about my castle huh?”

“Maybe if he’d gone at you more than once, or Cider and I hadn’t cleaned up most of the mess,” Scope said with a giggle. Twilight nodded, and Scope felt a small pang of sadness.

“Can I… tell you something?” the princess said. “Something you can’t tell anypony else. Especially Ledger.”

“I keep my own secrets from the silver know-it-all, but if it’s that important, I can both lend an ear and advice afterwards, if I think you need it,” Scope said as she snapped her book shut. She’d picked up more than one thing from this relationship. Least she could do is route it back around where need be.

“Well, when Ledger first brought it up, him wanting to have a foal with me… well, to be honest, that scared the hell out of me. I’d barely known him by then, and he says that he wants a foal? I almost left then and there.” She sighed and lay her head on the bed. “But, it also got me thinking, that for a thousand years, why had Princess Celestia not had one? I know she’d taken lovers in the past so…” She closed her eyes and got lost in thought for a moment, calming her emotions and beating heart. “I asked her about it.”

“I’m guessing by your emotions, it didn’t end well,” Scope said, holding off on what she knew about Secret’s heritage and what it meant for his kinks for the moment.

“She said that… once, a long time ago, she tried.” Twilight opened her eyes and stared at the open tome before her. “She found out, after a lot of experiments and tests… that alicorns can’t get pregnant. She’s, not sure about Cadence and I, seeing as how we weren’t born alicorns. But… the chance exists, that I can never have a foal.”

“I,” Scope said dramatically. “Am calling total bullshit. I’m guessing that they simply lost their chance a while ago. And you and Cadence still have one, but it’ll probably close fast. The Orange Hive did a study into pony and changeling biology and- oh just turn the damn pages to the orange tab!”

Twilight blinked at her sudden outburst and nodded, leafing through until she reached the pages Scope mentioned. She pointed at one set and read aloud.

“Today I learned all about reproduction. I feel...violated. But still. I have no reason to believe that ponies and changelings are very different...A nymph has eggs that she releases when properly...stimulated, or during one part of the year. A drone has sperm that he can release when he’s...stimulated as well. I am assured ponies function similarly, with heat periods taking the place of a nymph’s season. This is...something to be aware of, for sure.”

Scope paused for a bit before asking the question. “So have you had a Heat as an Alicorn yet? Because if so, you still have a chance.”

“No, but I guess we’ll find out when spring rolls around,” if that happened, and with the combined strength of all four mares… Ledger might not survive the coming season.

“Yup, so it’s really more of a question of, if you have a Heat this year, do you want a foal? Middy’s already got hers on the way, and I don’t know if Cider wants one. I probably won’t be able to have one because of my size.” Twilight lifted the nymph so she could snuggle her. She hadn’t thought about that. And here she was going on about herself when Scope couldn’t…

Still, she did ask a good question. Did Twilight want a foal? Well, of course she did, she wanted kids eventually… just, she wasn’t sure if she wanted them now.

“I don’t know,” Twilight replied. “I think it’s a bit too soon. And with all this stuff popping up, like these ‘Friendship missions’ and Cutie Mark magic…” She had too many responsibilities…

“Your choice,” Scope said with a shrug. “Though that does put a heckuva deadline on you, then.”

“Make a hasty decision and have one, or see if I go into Heat again next year,” Twilight replied. “Provided I even get one in the first place.” She frowned and sighed. “This is heavy… I don’t think I can make a decision right away.”

“Not expecting you to,” Scope said with a smug smile. “Just expecting you to plan for the future in which you do have a Heat and don’t want a foal.”

“You think Ledger’d give me an option?” Twilight giggled. “You should have heard one of his little fantasies. Very… um, well… I’m not sure how I’d put it.” She flipped through his book, and like she’d expected, he had written about it.

She showed Scope, the one he had about a pregnant Twilight servicing him on her own throne.

“Oh yeah, meant to mention,” Scope said with a giggle. “Secret might be a Silver on his mother’s side, but he’s also part Violet, and that’s where he gets his little kink from. Silvers have to be convinced it’s a good idea before they’ll have sex, they’re attracted to those with intellect. But Violets...there’s nothing a Violet drone likes more than knocking up a female.”

“Huh,” Twilight hummed and decided to turn to the Violet marked pages. “Let’s see what we have here…”

“So,” the page read. “I, uh, arrived in the Violet Hive today. I can safely say I’ve never been propositioned more for sex in my life. No less than three regular nymphs and two Noble ones offered to take me somewhere private before I arrived at their library, and only one of those was in season. Plus I hear that there’s going to be a big party later tonight, with changelings and ponies invited. I don’t want to think what the purpose of it is. And the books here are...yeah, they’re like ninety percent sex aides. I can tell my time here is going to be fun.”

“Wow, I can almost hear the snark in his words,” Twilight giggled. “I wonder what he’d do if I sent him a note that just said. ‘Breed me. Love, Twilight’?”

“Probably assume that your season had started and abandon Mistress to ‘take care’ of you until it had passed,” Scope said.

“Oh my,” Twilight giggled. Okay, do not tease Ledger with that. Not if she wanted to walk straight afterwards. Still, if her season rolled around and she didn’t want one. She’d probably have to leave while she was afflicted with it.

The moon should be far enough away from him.

“But if he got wind of you being in season at all after we were married,” Scope continued. “He’d probably drop everything anyways just to chase you down and fulfill that fantasy of his. Violets...rarely leave a fantasy of theirs unfulfilled if they can help it.”

“And what about a Blue?” she asked and nuzzled Scope. “What little fantasies run around that head of yours?”

Scope blushed and looked away before muttering something. Twilight’s ear flicked and she smiled.

“I didn’t quite catch that,” she hummed. Scope muttered it again, louder, but no more understandable than the last due to her mumbling.

“Oh come on Scopey,” Twilight pouted, her eyes growing huge as she stuck out her bottom lip. “I promise I won’t laugh. Do you think I’d do that?”

“Fine!” Scope snapped. “I want him to be sweet to me! I want him to be gentle! I...I want him to say those words in a week and a half and mean them. Is...that so much to ask for?”

“No, no it’s not,” Twilight replied and hugged her. “Do you want me to talk to him about it?”

“Somepony needs to,” the nymph grumbled. “Him being rough isn’t so bad, but occasionally I just want...him to love me.”

“I understand,” Twilight said and kissed her forehead. “We all love you, my little Treasure. I think Ledger just has… some difficulty expressing himself like that to another Changeling. But still, I’ll sit him down and make him listen okay?”

“Thanks,” Scope said, sniffling a little at letting all this emotion out. “Just don’t tell him about this part. Otherwise I’ll sound like a total softie.”

“Of course, my tough little bug has a reputation after all,” Twilight giggled and wiped her tears away with a hoof. “If he asks, I tell him you threatened to kick my flank.”

“That works,” Scope said as she just lay there. “Meh, I’m not feeling up to surprising you anymore. Cuddle?”

“Hmm, and I was curious to see what you’d do,” Twilight giggled as she cuddled the nymph closer. She set the book down, no longer in the mood to read it. She smiled as she lay back, hugging the nymph to her chest. “Love you Treasure.”

“Love you too, Sparkle,” Scope said as she settled in for a quick nap. She soon found herself drifting off to sleep, as Twilight hummed a small lullaby.

Chapter 83 - Show and tell

Dinner that night was a more subdued affair. Sun and Nightshade were the only ones present aside from Lady Echoed.

And the Lady made well sure that insects weren’t on the menu tonight… despite how delicious and nutritious they were…

“You know,” Echoed said to Ledger. “It’s just us tonight Mr Ledger… so if you want to be more comfortable, then that is fine.”

“Just us, aside from all the staff,” Ledger pointed out. “I admit everypony in the room is read in to what I am, but there are those that might be listening at the cracks.”

“Nopony does anything in my home without me knowing about it,” Echoed replied firmly. “But I understand your concerns. I am sorry that your stay has been… stressful.” She shot a look at Nightshade at that last word.

“No less stressful than if I had my secret found out by a pony in Equestria,” Ledger said. “The only difference here is that she at least came back to understand me a little better. I’m willing to bet that if I showed myself off in any city not my home, I would not get nearly that level of response.”

“Oh, you’d get a response alright,” Midnight mused as she played with her fork. “But hey! At least Shady didn’t arrest you like Shiny Flanks did.”

“Probably because she’s not nearly as irrational as he is,” Ledger pointed out.

“Hah! When she first got the job, she wanted to arrest my entire kitchen staff because I nearly choked on a small chicken bone,” Echoed laughed loudly as Nightshade buried her face in her hooves. “She thought they were trying to assassinate me.”

“Huh,” Ledger said with a small smile. “Well, at least my little reveal to all of you hasn’t been as dramatic as it was when Midnight found out.”

“Ledger, No. Shut up!” Midnight replied. “Don’t you bucking dare—”

“Aw come on,” Ledger said with a wider, mischievous smile. “It’s a good story~”

“Ooh, do tell!” Echoed giggled.

“Story, story!” Sun chanted.

“I hate you,” Midnight muttered. “Fine. Tell them. Just know that I hoped you enjoyed that last cuddle. It’ll be the last you get for a while.”

“It’s a nice story,” Ledger said. “A little backstory. I, uh, used to work for a mare known as Toll Taker, she was the head of Pegasus Air, a shipping company based in Las Pegasus. I kept collecting intel on her deals and trying to find a way to bring her down covertly, when lo and behold, Midnight falls into my apartment.”

“Literally?” Shade asked.”Because she’s done that… several times.”

“Not quite,” Ledger chuckled. “And after a few missions where we disrupted Toll’s activities, she wised up to who was responsible, and told me to kill Midnight. We were coming up with a plan to get Midnight out of town before dawn and make them think she’d died...when some of her flunkies showed up.”

“Well, it can’t have ended badly seeing as how you are both—”

“Mom! Shhhhh!’ Sun hushed her. “He’s getting to the good part!”

“I was knocked out,” Ledger admitted. “When I came to, it was to Midnight yelling my name, and to a sense of incredible hostility and anger behind me. I had only a fraction of a second to react, and I did so by partially turning my neck into my carapace and strengthening it. It was more of a reflex than anything else. I have to thank my step-dad for that one.”

“You can do that?” Nightshade asked, she was rather impressed. “Sounds like a useful ability.”

“Yeah, it still hurt,” Ledger admitted, rubbing the back of his neck at the memory. “But I still managed to get up when they said they were going to kill Midnight. The looks on their faces when I got up and transformed back to my normal self...Oh, normally I don’t like being feared, but right then? It was delicious.”

“Ledger, your villainous side is showing,” Midnight idly pointed out as she sipped her juice. Gods what she wouldn’t give for a hard cider or some mead right now.

“It gets worse, remember?” Ledger pointed out. “I screeched at them, before grabbing them with my magic and knocking them around the room a few times. I was fully prepared to beat them to death...when Midnight pulled me back from my rage.”

“Yeah well, even if it was in self-defense, I’d have really hated to arrest you for murder,” the thestral mare replied. Ledger responded by leaning over and kissing her, before continuing the story.

“So with a quick and dirty mind-wipe on the two flunkies to make sure they didn’t remember me, I got them sent up to the Crystal Empire so that they’d not be able to interfere with our plans anymore. Meanwhile, Middy enacted the plan that we’d concocted to make it look like she’d died, and she and I got used to each other before taking out Toll. I have to say, some of your questions were just silly, Middy.”

“Oh, and like yours weren’t,” she replied, poking her tongue out at him. “Or do we really have to go into the whole vampony thing?”

Everybat stopped and all of them turned and looked at Ledger.

“I had to come up with something to throw at her,” Ledger defended himself. “We were trading questions, and I eventually ran out of reasonable ones.”

“Those damned books,” Sun, Echoed and Nightshade all muttered at the same time. The Guard of the trio groaned and sighed.

“If the author herself was a pony, we’d have had her on slander and the like…”

“If it helps any, I didn’t believe a word they said,” Ledger replied. “I’m a well-educated stallion. So despite my experiences with the undead already, I was more than a little skeptical of the vampony books.”

“Exactly,” Nightshade said with a nod. “I mean, who writes that sort of thing about her own bucking species!” The mare panted and then looked at him with a curious look. “Wait… undead?”

“Yeah, zombies are actually a thing apparently,” Midnight nodded. “Who knew?”

“And setting them on fire does not help,” Ledger said with a suppressed shudder.

“And this has suddenly become a topic not meant for the dinner table,” Echoed blanched as the chefs deposited the trays of food onto the table before leaving. “Seeing as how you missed out last time,” the mare continued. “I had them whip up some more of that delicious roast chicken.”

Ledger sighed before pulling the lid off and staring at the food. “Well...are we sure they’re not eavesdropping?”

Echoed looked around the room and nodded. “Please trust in the professionalism of my staff,” she smiled. “And the fact that I told them that they could have the night off to go drinking once we had our dinner.”

Ledger could almost hear the cheering Thestrals abandoning the home enmass. He shifted back to his natural form before carefully cutting a piece of the chicken off and popping it in his mouth. It was less likely he’d be unable to palate it like this.

Though, eating felt a little awkward when everypony was just staring at you with curious eyes. He eventually finished chewing the mouthful and swallowed.

“Not bad,” he said. “Not bad at all.”

“Glad to hear it,” Echoed responded as she tucked into her own food. Midnight and Nightshade seemed to be having a race on who could eat first, while Sun was constructing a castle out of her mashed potato.

“Aaah,” Ledger said between bites. “Just like home. My brothers were always racing each other, while my youngest sister was more interested in playing with her food.”

“Oh?” Echoed inquired as she sipped her wine. “You mentioned something like that yesterday. Is my home truly that reminiscent of your own?”

“Changeling cities are built into the earth, in huge caverns that we either found or made over the years,” Ledger said. “The entrances are concealed within the natural environment found above the city. Though we do have farms built near the entrances as well, to provide for the citizens while still being capable of being defended by the patrols. The first time I opened my eyes in this town, I thought I’d found my way to a new Hive for a minute.”

“How interesting,” Echoed hummed. “Hmm, perhaps we aren’t so different, your species and ours.” She was getting… an idea. One that Ledger and Midnight might be able to help with.

“Yeah, except for the fact that your species eats bugs, and ours are part-insect. Seriously, there are tales about the ‘bat winged terrors’ in most libraries, meant to scare little ‘lings into behaving again. And now I think I know why.” Ledger paused before looking at the others. “What?”

“Really?” Nightshade deadpanned. “You cannot be serious.”

“We eat Changelings?” Sun blinked and looked at her mother for clarification.

“According to them it seems,” Echoed chuckled. “Fret not Ledger, we don’t eat bugs bigger than our head. Though… there was that one poor fool who decided he’d go after a giant spider.”

“Oh good,” Ledger said before resuming his eating. “At least I don’t have to worry about waking up covered in chocolate and Midnight eating me.”

“Oh no, that’s a very real threat,” Midnight said in a smouldering tone that may have caused Nightshade’s wings to stiffen slightly. “I’m just very particular about which… parts get coated in chocolate and licked~”

“Remember our little bet,” he said before sipping his wine. “You started it, after all.”

“I never said when~” she hummed. Though, she was sooo tempted to throw that bet out the window. Still, she had to win at least one in her life with this smug bug.

“We’re going to have such a hard time not going at it on the train ride back, aren’t we?” Ledger asked before going back to his chicken.

“Oh, so the train counts as well?” Well… buck. She thought she’d at least have him there. She had planned to buck him hard enough to derail the train.

“I’m going to count any moment where we aren’t at one of our homes as a moment when we can’t buck,” Ledger said with a smile. “I’m not losing this one if I can avoid it~”

“You seem awfully determined,” Echoed giggled, reminding them that there were other ponies in the room. “I take it that the wager is quite high?”

“We keep finding out new things that we’d love to try out, if not for the bet,” Ledger said before spearing the last of his chicken with a fork. “I imagine that once we actually do get home, it’ll be quite the experience.”

“Heehee, I bet Lady Midnight won’t let you walk for a week,” Heart whispered into his ear, having appeared out of freaking nowhere. Ledger’s breath hitched for a moment before his Pink-Reflex kicked in.

“Hello Heart,” he said with an exhale. “I see you’re still here.”

“Oh, I’m always here,” she replied. “It wouldn’t be good if I got drunk and lost control hmm.”

“It is good to know your limits,” Ledger said as he finished off the last of his dinner. “I know I can’t drink too much, otherwise I get...amorous.”

“Yup, that’s how we got Cider,” Midnight giggled. “Drunk Ledger is a silly Ledger.”

“...” Nightshade may or may not have concocted a plan to get him wasted so she could use the distraction to steal Midnight away…

“I should probably stop after this glass, as a matter of fact,” Ledger said before downing the rest of his wine. “Ah well. Dinner was lovely.” He formshifted after that into his Pegasus disguise before bowing his head to Echoed Song. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” she replied. “But my chefs are the ones that did all the work. The gratitude is theirs rightfully.”

“So… it’s still early,” Midnight said. “What’s the plan for tonight?”

Sun almost vibrated before her hoof shot up. “SLUMBER PARTY!!”

“Oh Hives,” Ledger said. “This is...not going to end well, is it?”

“Probably not,” Echoed said as she got up. “Well, I have work that must—”

“Nope!” Sun grabbed her hoof and beamed. “We’re ALL going to have fun!”

“Oh… bollocks,” the older thestral swore.

And so somehow, despite his best attempts to avoid this.

Ledger found himself in Sun’s bedroom, along with everypony else… in their pyjamas, as the mad thestral mare spun the bottle, before it landed on Ledger.

“Ohhh, truth or dare Ledgie?” she giggled.

“Hmm,” he said before shrugging his shoulders. “Truth.”

“Aww,” Sun rocked back and forth before she came up with something. “How’s it feel getting married to Midnight of all ponies?”

“...I can’t come up with anything other than right,” he said. “It feels like this is something that I’m supposed to be doing.”

“Aawwww,” all the mares sighed and he could drink the affection they all had for days. And then he also realised that it was his turn to spin the bottle~ He tapped it with a wing...and it landed on Midnight.

“Middy, truth or dare?” he asked.

“Dare!” she smirked. There was no way he’d do anything perverse with all these other ponies in the room… unlike their last game with Cider.

Speaking of, they haven’t played it with Scope and Twilight yet. That needed to be rectified.

“I dare you to...” he trailed off before smirking. “Flirt with Nightshade.”

Nightshade’s eyes widened as wide as saucers as Midnight blinked and sighed. “Haah, and here I thought you were going to make this challenging for me.” She got up and walked closer to the mare, licking her lips.

“Such a pretty little bat,” she purred, as Nightshade turned red and scooted back a bit. “Maybe we should go and see what fun the night can bring hmm?”

“I...um, nothatsquiteokay!” she said quickly as Midnight giggled and took her seat.

“Too easy.”

“Your turn then,” Ledger said, pointing at the bottle with a wing. She slapped the bottle with a hoof and it spun until it landed on Sweet Heart. Midnight hummed and looked at her.

“Truth or dare?” she asked and the nymph hummed and beamed.

“Dare!”

Midnight’s smirk grew and she looked at Ledger. “I dare you to flirt with Ledger~”

“Oohhhh.” Sun and Echoed said as the nymph giggled and nodded, scooting closer to him.

“Well now,” she purred and bat her eyes at him. “Where should I start with you? Well, aside from the bed of course~”

“Nice try,” Ledger said. “I’ve lived with Midnight for months. You’re gonna have to do better than that to get me flustered.”

“Hmm, is that so?” she hummed, briefly glancing at Midnight as she nodded. Well, now that she had the green light…

The tip of her wing trailed up his side as she unleashed all her pent up Lust against the drone. She knew he’d had a glass or two of wine, and he was a Changeling, then with her being this close, he should start smelling her sugary perfume.

“You know, I’d be more than happy to show you a few tricks even you haven’t seen my sweet Silver~”

Ledger just grunted a little before laying on his stomach, to hide the effects of what Sweet Heart was doing to him. “Okay, better,” he conceded. “Still not interested, though.”

“The dare was to flirt, not to succeed,” she smiled and leaned in close as he felt that thestral tongue against his ear. “That’s just an added bonus. Besides…” she tasted his Lust and hummed. “It seems not all of you is agreeing with those words.”

“Weren’t we playing a different game?” Ledger asked.

“Nice deflection,” she mused and smacked the bottle with her tail as it spun slowly and landed on Echoed. Hearts eyes twinkled with mischief as the mare replied with ‘Dare’.

“What do you think?” she whispered into Ledger’s ear. “Want the hot milf bat to make out with yours?”

“And now it’s exactly like home, Violets and all,” Ledger deadpanned.

“I didn’t hear a no~” Heart sang as she smiled at Echoed. “Okay my Lady. I dare you to… make out with Nightshade!”

“Why me!?” Nightshade glared at her.

“Well, I’m happy riiiight here and she’s related to the other two,” Heart giggled. “Now pucker up Captain!”

Echoed chuckled and gave the Guard a kiss on the cheek, which was still enough to fluster her into a stammering mess.

“Aww, what a cop out,” Heart pouted. Ledger sighed as he got himself under control again, wondering where the bottle would land next. Echoed hummed and looked up.

“As fun as this game is, how about something else. I fear something untoward may happen if we continue.”

“But that’s the best part~” Heart and Midnight whined.

“My point exactly,” Echoed nodded and then she looked at Ledger. “Why Sunny? I do believe we have some ponies in need of a makeover~”

“Oh no you don’t,” Ledger said, getting to his hooves. “You don’t get to do that to me.”

All four mares started advancing on him as Heart ducked her head out of sight for a moment, and he heard the door lock with a light click.

“No, no, and no,” Ledger said as he flashed into his unicorn form. “I am not standing for this! I know how to teleport! Don’t make me!”

“Oh? I have wards that prevent ponies from teleporting in or out of this building,” Echoed said with a small smile. Midnight was the first to pounce as she landed on his back with a light giggle. Ledger did his best to instinctively buck her off of him, his horn already charging up for a teleportation within the building.

That was when Midnight’s tongue shot out and wrapped around his horn, giving it a lavish lick. Ledger let out a throaty moan at the feelings before his knees buckled, the charge dying most of the way. Only a residual amount remained, just enough in case Midnight decided to lick again. Something he had no real control over. She grinned like a madmare at her newfound superpower and decided that a combo was needed.

So she thought of a plethora of erotic thoughts as she licked his horn again, adding a small suckle followed by biting the tip lightly. Ledger let out another, louder moan before dropping to his stomach, to hide his growing arousal from the other mares.

“Mid...Middy...stop...or I’ll...say you lose…” he said. “Too...arousing...to not be...foreplay.”

“Aww, okay!” she chirped and jumped off of him as the other mares stared at her. They were starting to wish that there were more unicorns here in town. Ledger shook his head as he tried to think unsexy thoughts, so that he could stand up without fear of ‘showing off’ to the other mares in the room.

“Well… that was interesting,” Echoed smiled. “And I think we’ve learned far more about the happy couple than we needed to.”

“What can I say, except Midnight is Midnight,” Ledger said, before remembering he was supposed to be running. “Oh Hives.”

Sun cackled as she grabbed one leg, with Midnight grabbing the other.

“Aw, don’t worry Ledgie~” Sun hummed as they dragged him off. “You’ll feel sooo pretty afterwards~”

“Noooo!” Ledger said as he tried to squirm free. “No no no!”

“It’s no use dear,” Echoed said as she lit up a long-necked silver pipe. “Resistance is futile. Besides, one such as yourself should be used to a few cosmetic changes hmm?”

“Not like this!” Ledger said, seriously contemplating whether or not to use his combat training to break free. The question is, could he outfight both Midnight, Nightshade and Sun? Probably not, especially with them restraining his limbs. Wait! A sleep spe- And Midnight would probably just lick his horn again once she saw it light up.

There were no good escape routes.

“Time to make you fabulous!” Sun cheered and Heart was next to them too.

...A Pink was going to give him a makeover. That just sunk in…

“Kill me now,” he moaned, looking at Nightshade. “Please.”

“Tempting, but then Midnight would be mad and stuff,” Night giggled as they dragged him into another room, Echoed waving cheerfully as they did.

A continent away, Twilight’s ear gave a flick and she looked off into the distance. “You know Scopey,” she said to the nymph on her back. “I could swear I just heard Ledger scream…”

“Eh, he’ll be fine,” Scope said. “So when’s the show?”

She got her answer as the lights dimmed and the hall was replaced by a vast open desert. They could even see the heat ripples in the air as Daring Do trudged wearily through the sands.

“In the Great Zebrica Desert,” Yearling’s voice came out, narrating the story with Critical. “This is where our adventure begins…”

“Okay, I might have ripped on her before, but she’s pretty good with these illusions of hers,” Scope said as she sat up and paid attention.

“In the sweltering heat, it was hard to determine what was real, and what wasn’t,” Yearling continued. “And after being poisoned by an agent of Caballeron, she was already in the throes of the hallucinogen.”

Daring was swinging wildly at nothing, and a few times, the scenery would flash to a darkened version of itself, a blood red sky and dark shifting sands as the crowd witnessed the monsters that Daring’s poison-addled mind conjured.

Dash yelped as monster passed by her and she went to swing at it, nearly taking Scope’s head off in the process.

“Dash, it’s not real,” Twilight giggled and screamed as another appeared right in front of her face and she reared up, nearly knocking Scope off of her back. Scope just grabbed on and waited for the monsters to pass, before she giggled and whispered into Twilight’s ear.

“Sure seem real enough to fool you, Sparkle~”

“Oh shut up,” Twilight blushed.

The story continued, and they saw Daring fight off smugglers in an abandoned desert town, and finding the ancient buried city ‘The Celestial Pillars’ and the powerful artefact that lay within its walls.

Yearling smiled from her hiding place. Her little surprise was just around the corner. Let’s see what her newest fans thought of this one.

“Upon sending the coward Ahuizotl scampering away, she was disappointed to find that the artefact was already gone. It had seemed that the jungle king had won this round… at least for now.”

The scene shifted and they were now in a small cafe in Las Pegasus, as Daring sat against one of the walls, sipping at her coffee.

A figure approached and hummed. “So are you the one?” it said. “The famed Daring Do?”

“Who wants to know?” the pegasus replied, setting her cup down. The figure chuckled, one that had an underlying buzz to it as they pulled back their hood, a Changeling nymph with sparkling blue eyes staring back.

“I’m your guide to the artefact you seek. It lays deep within our Lands. So… ready for a whole new adventure?”

“Wait, what?” Scope said, staring at that form. “Did she just?...”

“In this exciting lead up, will Daring Do be able to retrieve the Lunar Spear? Will she be able to survive the Changeling Lands, a civilization that has eluded equinekind for centuries? And what of her new companion, Level-Lens? Stay tuned for my next book in the new ‘Changing Songs’ arc!”

“...Well, that’s going to be a book or two, at least,” Scope said, already debating as to whether or not she’d contact the Madame about this. Yearling had basically announced her intentions to study the Lands for her latest books, she would need permission…

The illusions faded and the lights came back on, as everyone cheered and stomped their hooves. Yearling was quite relieved that it went down so well. The mare approached Critical and smiled.

“Heh, sorry to spring that on you so suddenly. You handled it amazingly though.”

“I’m not one to act, though I can improvise very well,” Critical said as she bowed to the cheering crowd.

Yearling joined her before she had to head to another brief signing session. And around an hour later, the convention was wrapped up as the last of the fans left the hall and Yearling slumped over a table and groaned.

“Urrgghhhh… that was exhausting. Seriously... fun, but exhausting.”

“Describes my illusions to a T,” Critical said with a giggle. “They’re draining to cast, but once the appreciation starts flowing in, they’re not so bad. Now, just a few questions for you if you don’t mind.”

“Fire away,” the pegasus mumbled from her table/pillow.

“You intend to visit the Lands next, right? That’s what your little show today indicated anyways.”

“Well yeah!” Yearling got some more energy and sat up. “I mean, you guys are so mysterious and exciting! And your home is something almost nopony knows about. And I mean, there’s a bunch of you here in Equestria, so I figured that door swung both ways.”

“I see,” Critical mused. “Do you want me to pull a few strings, make it a lot easier for you to get into the Lands and our cities?”

“You can do that?” Yearling asked. “I mean, that’ll suck some of the fun out of it, but I guess everywhere has their rules and regulations.”

“I might be a Green, but my mother is the second-highest ranked Noble Silver, and my uncle is the current High King of Changelings,” Critical said with a wink. “I’m sure I can do something if little Scope links me up with mother. When were you planning to take this trip?”

“Hmm, as soon as possible really,” Yearling nodded. “The more time I have to play with, the better.”

“And when the hell were you planning on telling me this!?” Velvet said as she walked over, floating over two large coffees for the mares.

“Ehhh, when I got back?” Yearling giggled sheepishly.

“Is she always like this?” Critical asked of neither mare in particular.

“Yes!” both of them responded and looked at one another before giggling. Twilight and Scope trotted over, the smaller nymph walking now that the crowds were gone.

Plus Twilight had a sore back from carrying her around all day. She was the Princess of Friendship. Not the Princess of Fitness.

“That was an amazing show!” Twilight smiled brightly. “Truly outstanding.”

“Thank you,” Critical said with a small bow. “I wasn’t expecting the bit at the end, but apparently authors have the privilege to edit shows on the fly.”

“I said I was sorry!” Yearling replied with an exasperated sigh. “Whatever must I do to make it up to you Lady Critical?”

“I’ll think of something,” the Green Nymph giggled before looking at Scope. “I don’t suppose I could make use of your abilities to contact my mother, before I forget?”

Scope sighed and rolled her eyes before flashing into her nymph form and lighting up her horn. The conversation that passed, she kept out of. Eventually Critical smiled and the connection was broken, before looking at Yearling with a...mischievous glint in her eyes. “I think you’re going to enjoy your time in the Lands,” she said.

“Should I be concerned about that tone of voice?” Yearling asked Scope and Twilight, the Princess merely shrugging. It seemed that Ledger’s sister was a lot like him.

“I’d brush up on your Changeish, or at the very least, buy some sort of trinket that’ll translate the language for you,” Scope said. “No telling what she asked for.”

“Wonderful,” Yearling sighed and Twilight suddenly got a marvelous idea.

“Miss Yearling, might you be busy tonight?”

“No, I was going to prepare for my trip, but that’s about it… why?”

“Why doesn’t everypony come back to my palace tonight?” Twilight smiled brightly. “I have something you might find amazingly useful for your trip. A little insider information if you will.”

“Hmm, sounds interesting,” Yearling hummed and looked at Velvet. “Whaddya reckon Vel. Wanna go and chill with your daughter?”

“It’s been a while since I visited,” Velvet nodded. “Alright. But only if Miss Critical and her husband join us as well.”

“He’s not my husband,” Critical said with a blush. “Yet. We’re just fiancees now. I don’t even know where he got off to.”

“Don’t bust your brushes, I’m right here,” he said as he ambled over. A fine sheen of sweat coated him and it looked like he’d just run a marathon. “Phew… this city is too damned big. The air’s too thin and what is everypony gawking at?”

“My big, strong stallion,” Critical cooed with her eyes half-lidded. “You should come and kiss your mare~”

“I should, but I got something important to do first,” he replied as he walked over to her and fished something out of his bag. A small red velvet box. He opened it as a gold ring with a gleaming diamond sat inside.

“Figured that my fiancee couldn’t walk around without a ring,” he smiled as he slipped it over her horn. She held a hoof to her mouth as she looked at it, tears brimming in her eyes before she jumped him and forcibly kissed him. He smiled as he returned the kiss, and she could feel the amount of love the item seemed to have.

But… how did he even afford it?

“So,” he said quietly as he kissed her nose. “I take that you like it?”

“I love it,” she whispered. “I take it this was the thing you wanted to get?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “Wanted to surprise you with it, and I know that Crystal Clarity can’t keep her mouth shut.” He touched the ring lightly and smiled. “It used to be hers you know? I’m sorry I couldn’t afford anything new. I’ll get you something once I can. But… I know that she would have wanted you to wear it. The sweet little mare that brought colour back to my life.”

“Oh Palette,” Critical said as she kissed him again. “You don’t have to get me anything new, I’m happy with you. I really am. And I’m sure she would be happy that you’re happy.”

“Well, this just got slightly mushy,” Scope said.

“Aawwwww~” Twilight and her mother cooed, gushing over how adorable the whole scene was.

“The sap is strong with these two,” Yearling nodded and drained her massive coffee with a few gulps. “Paah! Okay, so what are we doing? Heading back to the palace?”

“You have a palace?” Critical asked as she looked at Twilight.

“Of course I have a palace,” Twilight nodded. “Grew it myself and everything!”

“To the palace!” the nymph dramatically declared with a hoof in the air.

A few hours later, the group stood in front of Twilight’s Palace of Friendship. Yearling gave a low whistle as she stared up at the crystal treehouse.

“Not bad, not bad at all,” she said. “Wasn’t what I was expecting anyhow.”

“Hmm,” Critical said before leaning on her stallion. “Sorry, I already have a shiny thing I prefer to look at.”

The stallion sputtered and blushed as the mares giggled at his expense. “That… why… bah!” he snorted and stomped towards the door as the mare’s laughing grew louder.

Inside, Spike was reclining on a couch, reading to a cute filly with a yellow coat and an off-white mane. Scope hummed a little before she looked at Twilight, wondering what she thought of the situation.

“So,” Twilight giggled. “Who’s your friend there Spike?”

The filly looked up as Spike had an expression of a colt that got caught looting the cookie jar.

“Hi, I’m Sunny Daze!” she said happily. She was like a ray of sunshine given form. “Nice to meet you all!”

“She’s… so cute.” Twilight said under her breath.

“I’d say too cute,” Scope said as she put a hoof to her chest. “This one practically radiates joy.”

“We’ve had a pretty good day right?” Spike said, closing the book.

“Ya-huh!” the filly blushed slightly and smiled. “See you again soon?”

“As long as I get to see that cute smile,” Spike nodded and the filly blushed harder before she left, leaving Spike to sigh wistfully.

“Whelp, I’m out,” Scope said as she walked off. “Not getting anywhere near that conversation.”

Twilight nodded and the group headed further in while she spoke with Spike privately.

“So… you keep dragons here?” Palette asked as they walked. “Equestria really is different huh?”

“Just the one,” Scope said as she kept looking for the table room. “Sparkle hatched him.”

“Weird things do tend to happen in Equestria,” Critical said as she kept pace with her stallion.

“Spike and Twilight have been together for years,” Velvet explained as they arrived in Twilight’s study. “She’s been a mother/sister to him ever since.”

“Which is why I didn’t want to be anywhere near that conversation,” Scope said. “I suppose this’ll do.” That said, she pulled up a chair and relaxed.

“Would you prefer her bedroom?” Critical giggled.

“Don’t tease her,” Palette chided as Velvet giggled, floating over a few more chairs for them to sit on. “She’s just a kid.”

“He did not just say that,” Scope said, looking more at Critical than at Palette.

“Oh dear,” Critical said as she stepped to one side, to get out of the line of fire. Palette looked confused.

“I don’t get it, she is just a kid right? I mean, she’s almost half your size I just thought—”

“I’m a runt,” Scope bluntly cut him off. “I’m never going to be bigger than this, barring special circumstances. So yeah, I might look like a kid, but I’m an adult, thanks for asking.”

One could hear the crickets chirp as an awkward silence set in.

To his credit, Palette looked and felt sincerely apologetic. “I’m very sorry Miss Lens,” he said. “You’re right, I should have asked, rather than assumed.”

“Eh, at least you said sorry,” Scope said before she pulled up, what else, a Daring Do book, to pass the time. At least she tried, before Velvet pulled her into a tight hug.

“And she’s soooo adorable,” the unicorn mare cooed. The doors swung open and Twilight walked in, looking at the scene unfolding.

“Mom… why are you suffocating one of my marefriends?”

“Halp,” Scope said as she tried to reach for Twilight. “Too...much…”

“I’m afraid once you’re caught in a Mom hug, there’s no escape,” Twilight giggled, but teleported the nymph out of her grasp and into her own, softer hug. “Unless your marefriend is a super powerful alicorn princess~”

“Better,” Scope said as she relaxed into the hug.

“So what’s this thing you mentioned earlier Twilight?” Yearling spoke up. “Some information on the Lands?”

“Ah, oh right!” Twilight’s horn flashed and a small stack of papers appeared in front of the mare. It was a copy she’d made of Ledger’s journal, just the stuff about each Hive anyhow. “You might find that interesting.”

Yearling flipped through the pages, her eyes widening. All of this could happen? How… interesting. Still, this should be a great help. But, one question did remain.

“How exactly do I get there?” she asked the changelings in the room. “I mean, it's not like it’s on the train timetables.”

“South,” Critical answered. “Las Pegasus would probably be your best bet for a starting point, or maybe Appleloosa. Depends on which Color you want to run into first. Then you just fly south for a few days, and if you know what landmarks to look for, you should find the border soon. After that, they’ll find you.”

“That… sounds ominous,” Yearling gulped. So, she’d be doing a lot of flying for this one huh. Well, good thing she never skipped wing day.

“We have guards for a reason,” Critical said with a smile. “Don’t worry, I put in a good word for you. It should actually be a fun experience for you.”

“I hope so,” Yearling gulped. Well, it wouldn’t be the first time her life had been put at risk. It actually sounded like fun!

“Ohh dear, I know that look in her eyes,” Velvet groaned. “It seems your Hives are in for quite the experience.”

“It’s a good thing she’s doing this now, rather than ten or fifteen years ago,” Critical said. “Let’s just say that drones weren’t the only ones treated poorly.”

“Mmm, I’d rather not be seen as a snack,” Yearling replied dryly. “I do hope that they know that.”

“I made that quite clear,” Critical said with a nod. “You’ll be seen as mother’s guest for the duration, and if uncle agrees, you might even be a King’s guest. You’ll not be molested at all if they know what’s good for them.”

“M-Molested?” Okay, now the pegasus was having second thoughts. “You know… maybe Twilight’s notes will be enough… heh...heh…”

“Where did you get those notes anyways?” Critical asked of Twilight as she tried to look at them.

“Hmm? Oh, I just copied them out of Ledger’s journal. I left out all the private details though.”

“Well on the one hoof, I hope you know what you’re doing, but on the other…” Critical turned to her employer and smiled. “Try the Red section, I know he wrote about something that’ll catch your eye there.”

Yearling blinked and flipped through to the pages she mentioned until she came across it.

“...Critical?”

“Mmhmm?” the nymph asked.

“This… um, this mentions zombies.”

“Yup,” Critical said. “Apparently the burial mound of the Reds is home to the restless dead. Oooh, or you could try the Yellow section, he wrote me about their decorations…” And something else, but Twilight would have taken that out.

Yearling smiled and flipped through to the Green section. Her eyes dancing with inspiration already. Okay, this Hive right here would be her first point of call, or her last, since she’d likely not leave once there.

This trip was going to be fun.

Twilight looked down at the nymph still in her hooves and smiled. “Comfy there? You’re usually averse to long hugs.”

“Meh, it’s you, and it’s not like you’re trying to suffocate me,” Scope said as she just relaxed. “Oi, Yearling, if you’re going to the Lands, make sure you read up on the Violets as well. That’s where the danger from molestation really comes into play.”

Yearling yelped and dropped the stack of papers, scattering them everywhere. “Oh ponyfeathers,” she muttered as she and Velvet moved to pick them up. Why was that topic such a big button for her?

“Weird,” Scope said.

“That’s the second time she’s panicked…” Critical mused.

“Oh shut up,” Yearling pouted as she finished picking them up. Another flash from Twilight’s horn saw them put back in order.

Twilight Velvet giggled and petted the pegasus on the back “She’s just all embarrassed because she’s a vi—”

“VELVET!” Yearling shouted and blushed. “They do not need to know that!”

“Buuuut, now that we doooo,” Critical said with a malicious grin.

Twilight looked down at Scope. “You’re going to tease her relentlessly aren’t you?” she said in a flat tone.

“Maybe just suggest she visit the Violet Hive first, find a nice drone at a party, of bucking course we are,” Scope deadpanned back. “When have you known me to not?”

Twilight just sighed and shook her head. “Just, try not to tease the author of your favourite books too much hmm?”

Scope gulped and looked at Yearling with trepidation, before Critical spoke up. “I can pick up the slack~” she sang. “What do you want to know about the drones of home? I can tell you what they like~”

“Critical. Sit!” Palette barked. “Stop teasing the nice mare.”

The nymph whined a little as she nuzzled her stallion. “But Palette,” she said.

“Nope! Now be a good girl or you’ll get a spanking that will not be pleasurable for you,” he said into her ear. Critical whined again, but stopped her teasing. Just in time for Yearling to read the notes about the Violets. The pegasus yelped again and tossed the notes back to Twilight.

“Nope, changed my mind. nopenopenopenope!”

“Too late for that,” Scope said. “You did just make a promise to all your fans today.”

“...Oh bollocks,” she muttered. Well, fine! But she wasn’t setting a single hair inside that Violet Hive. It didn’t look like they had anything to offer anyhow. GAH! Anything that pertained to her story.

“This is going to be hard,” she muttered.

“Still, think of the implications if you did manage a story on us,” Critical said. “It’d be the first true story about us that Equestria’s seen ever since we became public knowledge.”

“I know, even if it is in a fictional book…” Yearlings eyes widened and she suddenly smiled.

“Oh dear, I know that look too,” Velvet sighed. “You just got one of your ideas huh?”

“Yup!” Yearling clapped her hooves and smiled. This was going to be such fun!

“Well, at least you’ve realized that it won’t be all that bad going there,” Critical said. “So husband to be. Where shall we spend the next week and change until my brother gets married?”

“Hrmm…” he tapped his chin and shrugged. “It’d be a pain to travel all the way back home, just to turn around and come back again.”

“We could just ask where the ceremony will be held,” the green nymph said while looking at Twilight.

“Huh? Oh! The ceremony will be held right here in my palace,” Twilight replied.

“Fantastic,” Critical said before nudging her stallion. “What say we stay in town until the big day? We wouldn’t have to go anywhere.”

“Rrmmm, fine… I guess,” he grumbled.

“Well, I have to go to Las Pegasus tomorrow to meet Ledger and Midnight when they return from Hollow Shades. Why don’t you come with me?” Twilight beamed brightly. “It’ll be such a great surprise!”

“That sounds like a fine idea,” Critical said. “Get this grump to see more of the world, meet my brother, introduce the two...I can’t see how this could possibly go wrong.”

“Oooh I bet I can,” Scope muttered under her breath.

Though Twilight hadn’t heard and nodded. This will be quite fun!

Author's Note

So long as they don't think it, it doesn't count, right?

Like the story? Consider dropping me and Aus a dollar on my Patreon. Every dollar is appreciated.

Half the money will not go towards a new video card.

Bonus Chapter 2 - A Pegasus in the Lands

Yearling… no, when she was out like this, she was Daring Do. She paused and checked the map that Critical had made for her. She seemed to be going in the right direction anyway. She always had an amazingly accurate sense of direction. In fact, she’d never once gotten lost.

“Still, I don’t see anypony… or anything,” she muttered and adjusted her pith helmet. “What a pain.” She put the map back in her bag and continued flying. She’d have to land soon though, she was starting to get tired.

That was when she heard chittering from right next to her, as a changeling appeared out of nowhere.

“Gah!” Daring flinched and then sighed. “Well, good to see I’m headed in the right direction.”

The blue changeling flashed into a copy of her before speaking again. “Follow me,” it said in a copy of her voice. “We go to meet the Madame.”

“Well, good to see I’m so helpful,” she chuckled. She remembered something that Twilight whipped up for her the other day and fished around in her bag as she flew, before pulling out a black gem attached to a thin chain. A translator that could help her out.

Little did she know, Twilight gave it a second enchantment that muted her emotions from a Changeling’s sense. It would also make it harder to consume her emotions.

The copy of her led her to a small hill, where another Changeling was waiting. Only this one was about as tall as Princess Cadence, and silver in color. Once Daring Do was where she needed to be, the first changeling flashed back to blue, saluted, and flew off again.

“Ahh, A.K. Yearling,” The taller ‘ling said. “I have been waiting for you.”

The Pegasus nodded and gave a smile. “So, you must be Critical’s mother, Madame Gossip?”

“Indeed I am, and thank you for giving my daughter a job,” the Madame said with a smile. “She tells me you’re here to study us from a pony’s point of view?”

“Yes,” Daring nodded as she followed the nymph. “I thought about using the Hives in my next book. And, I’d also like to document what I see and publish a documentary of sorts. Let ponies know what you’re all really like.”

“Quite bold of you,” the nymph said as she continued leading them around the hill. “My brother agrees, and told me to give you this.” From her saddlebags, a silver key on a chain floated out to hang around Daring’s neck. “That denotes you as a guest of the High King of Changelings, meaning you have access to nearly everything you could want during your stay.”

“I… uh,” well she certainly wasn’t expecting that. Critical had said that her uncle was a King, but even so...

“Thank you,” Daring nodded. “I can’t wait to get started. There’s already so much to see…”

“Quite true. However, I cannot be the one to guide you. Fortunately, my brother remedied that problem as well.”

“Indeed he did, Madame,” another voice said as another changeling shimmered into view on the other side of Daring.

Daring yelped and groaned, she was never going to get used to that. “Aheh… and, you are?”

“My name would translate to Devoted Cause,” the blue drone said. “The King has assigned me to be your...chaperone, for lack of better term, around the Lands.”

“Seeing as how I am a busy nymph, with quite a few things to do, I leave you to your exploration...as long as you remember two things,” the Madame said before pointing at the necklace. “Never. Lose that necklace.” And then she pointed at the drone. “And never. Ignore Devoted Cause here. If he tells you something is bad, believe him. If he tells you to get out of the way, move. He is your guide, and the Lands are not tame. Not even in the Hives.”

Daring nodded and gulped. Okay, so this might not be quite as fun as she thought.

It was going to be WAY more fun that she thought~!

“Can do,” she smiled and saluted. She looked at Devoted and smiled. “So, guess you're my knight in shining chitin huh?”

“Appropriate,” he said with just the faintest hint of a smile.

“You two take care now,” the Madame said before firing up her wings. “I have to get home.” With that, she assumed a pegasus guise and was flying off into the distance.

“The Hive just beneath us is the home of the Blues,” the drone said. “Shall we?”

“Mind if we rest up somewhere first?” she asked and stretched her aching wings. “I’ve been flying for two days now and I’m kind of tired.”

“That is fine,” Devoted said. “There is a barracks just within the entrance to the city. I am certain they would not mind providing a spare cot for a mare in need.”

“Sounds like a plan,” she nodded as they kept walking around the hill. “So… how long has it been since a pony came here?”

“Willingly? We find that ponies tend to avoid us,” the drone said before his horn lit up and a segment of the hill melted away, to be replaced with a large door. “If such a thing has happened, it is beyond my knowledge.” Another glow saw the door opening and he bowed. “The entrance to the Blue Hive.”

“So, I’m the first?” she said as she stepped hoof inside. She felt like she was stepping hoof onto the moon, it was so… alien. And there were Changelings everywhere. She’d never seen so many in one place, and she’d seen the photos from the Canterlot invasion.

Aaaand now there were a lot of Blue-eyed ‘lings staring at her.

“Um… hi?” she said quietly, offering a small wave of her hoof.

“A pony wearing the Key?”

“Such a thing has never happened before.”

“Are we certain it is meant to be?”

“Enough!” Devoted said to them, causing them to all shut up.

“What?” Daring looked around, then at the Key hanging around her neck, clinking softly against her amulet. “Why are they so surprised about this Key?”

“It is a sign of the King’s favor,” the drone said to her. “It basically translates to ‘hooves off’.”

“Huh…” She looked at the Key and hummed. Well that was interesting. She gave a loud yawn and covered her mouth with a hoof. “Oh, excuse me.”

“Right,” Devoted said, before leading Daring to a nearby tunnel. “Wait here, I will procure a cot.” With that, he marched ahead.

“‘Wait here’ he says,” she looked around at the hundreds of Changeling’s still staring at her and whispering. “This… this is going to be a thing, isn’t it?”

It was a minute before Devoted returned, with a bundled-up cot in his magical grip. “Now, would you like to return above, or would you prefer to rest down here?” he questioned the adventurer.

“Huh? I assumed I’d be napping in the barracks,” Daring nodded. “Well, we’re already here. So down here will be fine…” She looked around at the Changelings staring at her and tried not to shiver. “I will be fine here… right?”

“You should be,” the drone said before turning around. “Come, follow me. I’ll get you set up in the barracks then.”

She nodded and cast a glance to the changeling group they were leaving behind. She couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy now. Just… what had she gotten herself into?

Daring rolled around in her cot. It was no use, she just couldn’t sleep. She’d heard some chittering coming from outside and just knew that there were some Changeling buzzing about. She reached over and pulled the Key and the amulet closer as she closed her eyes. This was stupid, why was she so afraid anyway? She knew Critical would never have let her go if it was life-threatening. She let out a loud groan and buried her face in her pillow.

Outside, two changelings tried peering in through a window, there was a freaking pony in there. Hives, they’d never even seen a real one before.

And love crystals could only give you so much. Imagine what the source must have been like? But still, she had that Key. So if somebuggy caught them…

That was when Devoted cleared his throat behind them. Loudly. “She is under my protection,” he said simply. The two younglings yelped and turned to see the Blue Changeling soldier.

“Uh… oh, um… H-Hi Devoted…” one gulped. Oh crap, they were screwed now.

“If you wish to see her,” he said in a menacing tone. Before he calmed down a bit. “Then you can catch sight of her when she’s out and about the Hive. But anybug that drains her emotions so much as a drop.” And then the menacing tone came back. “Will answer to me.”

The two Changelings just shook, their eyes wide with fear before they screamed and flew off.

“...Well that was something,” Daring chuckled as she leant against the doorframe. “Though, I think you were noisier than they were.”

“The young need to learn where the line is drawn before they cross it,” Devoted said with a shrug. “And now word will spread that you’re not to be touched.”

“So my purity is to be spared hmm?” he was surprisingly sweet, though she knew he was just doing it because he was ordered to. “Sorry I’m such a hassle for you. I’m sure you’d rather be doing a hundred other things than foalsit me.”

“I am loyal to my king, and he has taken an interest in you,” the blue drone said. “When he assigned me to be your guard during your stay, I did not question it. I merely asked where I could best receive you. Your well-being is my priority.”

Well, he was certainly loyal to his cause at least. “So, what’s first on our itinerary then?” she asked. “Anything here to see?”

“The Blue Hive is one of Loyalty, and military training,” Devoted said. “They pride themselves on holding true to their causes, no matter what. If you would like to take a tour of the Hive, I can accompany you.”

“That would be lovely,” she giggled at his charm. “Lead on good sir.”

The drone led her back out of the barracks and back into the tunnel he’d shown her when he opened the doors, to a winding spiral staircase that led deep into the earth. When it finally stopped, what was revealed was astounding.

A huge, expansive cavern lay before Daring Do, with sapphires jutting out everywhere, each and every one glowing brightly. In the middle of the underground city, a huge spire of stone had been fashioned into a castle, and all the houses and buildings appeared to be carved from the very rock itself. Changelings were flying around everywhere, some stared at her for a moment before continuing on their way.

“Wow,” Daring looked around. “Just how did you make all of this? Magic?” Her hoof brushed up against the smooth stone. The craftsponyship was impeccable.

“Time and our natural abilities to dig,” the drone replied. “The Hives were built over a long period of time, in areas that either already had a cavern, or where one could be made...with the exception of the Yellow Hive.”

“Hm? The Yellow one is different?” she asked as she peered into a shop. It reminded her a lot of a pony one. “How so?”

“As the Hive of Courage, they are the only ones that build their Hive aboveground,” Devoted said.

“Ah, so I take it that that’s rather courageous for your kind?” she said, poking at something on the shop’s shelf. She wasn’t quite sure what it was. Some kind of glowing pink crystal. It looked pretty though.

“We normally build our Hives belowground,” the drone replied with a nod. “It helps avoid detection. The Yellows claimed that doing that would cut down on the time between when the alarm was sounded and when they could respond to monster attacks.”

“Well, I guess that’s one way of looking at it,” Daring nodded as she looked at a shelf that held… Oh sweet Celestia, Changeling books! She grabbed one and flicked through it, frowning that her gem couldn’t translate written text. But still, whatever was in this book, it must be something that nopony has ever read before.

Even through the emotional barrier of her gem, the pink crystals on the shelf begun to glow a little brighter and she noticed and gasped. “Ohmigosh! What did I do? Are they gonna blow up?”

“No, they’re just absorbing your ambient positive emotions,” Devoted said. “You must really love discovering things or reading things if they can get that much from just being near you.”

“Well, I am a writer,” she said as she looked at the book. “But, what I love is adventure, to discover something lost or something new, something that others want to know about.” She picked a few more books and then a thought occured. “Uh, do you guys take Equestrian currency?”

“We can,” the drone said with a shrug. “Though I think the shopkeeper would be more inclined to give them to you for free, thanks to the charge you just gave those crystals.”

Daring looked at the shopkeep and held up the books. “How much?” she asked him. The shopkeeper just waved at her, those weren’t the only crystals she had charged. He had enough to last for a month upstairs now, and he could sell the others for a much higher price. Though he did chitter something.

“Enjoy your copies of the Pony Sutra,” he said.

Daring blinked. Looked down at her books and then dropped them in surprise. “M-My WHAT!?” Her face ignited in a fierce blush and she groaned. Well, maybe she could give them to Critical or something. “Well…” she muttered as they walked out. “That was bucking embarrasing.”

“I was wondering why you were holding such books,” Devoted said. “Maybe a trip to the Violets would be in order?”

“NO!” Daring shouted louder than she had meant to. “W-We are not going to that Hive. Like. Ever!” She blushed harder as her stomach rumbled.

“Perhaps you’d like some food?” the drone said. “I can think of a restaurant nearby that should serve something you’d like.”

“That sounds good,” she mumbled, still embarrassed by her… purchase. And the fact that she’d essentially bought se-s-... those kinds of books with love no less. “Hopefully I’ll die of food poisoning…”

“Unlikely, it’s a regulation of the Hives that every Hive have no less than five places where ponies can get food for cheap,” Devoted said. “And they must staff and pay ponies a fair wage as well. We’re rather close to one right now, actually.”

“Wait, so there are other ponies here?” Daring exclaimed. “I thought you said…”

“What ponies remain aren’t necessarily...allowed to leave,” Devoted said. “We need to feed off of something after all. Every Hive has a population of ponies, and they’re allowed to go from one Hive to another. You’d...be the first to be allowed to leave the Lands.”

She paused and looked at him. “You… you keep them prisoner!?” Her anger flared, along with her wings.

“We need to feed off of something!” Devoted replied. “Or would you rather have us invading and kidnapping constantly? If it helps, they’re being treated very well. We just can’t let our food leave, or we risk starvation ourselves. They feed us, and we shelter them and can keep going. It’s not...entirely parasitic.”

“No, you just treat them like livestock,” she replied and turned around. She was going to go and have words with that Madame mare. Very strong words.

“That was true,” Devoted whispered. “We’re doing better now. Except for the fact that they can’t leave, you’d almost mistake them for a pony back in Equestria.”

Daring paused and then started walking towards the restaurant. She was going to meet one of these ponies face to face. But at the very least, she was done talking with Changelings for now. Devoted followed after her, still intent on keeping her safe.

Inside the restaurant, she quickly spied one such pony, since all the changeling’s there were undisguised. The pegasus took a seat and clopped her hoof on the table to garner the mare’s attention.

“Hi, and welcome to our restaurant,” the mare said chipperly. “I’m Daisy, I’ll be your waiter today.” She even had a menu to give to Daring.

“You… you just,” she looked at the menu and then to the other changelings. “This doesn’t bother you? Being kept a prisoner here?!”

“Nah, it’s not so bad here in the Hive,” the mare said with a shrug. “They let me out to exercise my wings, and they’re all concerned with my safety. Plus, have you seen some of the monsters normally running around in the Lands? They make Changelings look like ants.”

Daring frowned, she just couldn’t wrap her head around this. “But… don’t you have family in Equestria? Ponies that probably miss you?”

“Nope, Hive born and raised! Though my mom did cross the border when she was young. That’s how they got her.” Daisy poured Daring a glass of water. “Still, if I went the wrong way trying to leave, I might just end up next to the Yellow Hive instead. That would be a short walk.”

“Again with this Yellow Hive,” Daring muttered and scowled at Devoted when he walked in. “So, are all the ponies here born here?”

“Most of us are, though we do get an occasional border-jumper,” Daisy said. “And yeah, we know the ‘lings feed off of us, but it’s a small price to pay for safety. I visited the Yellow Hive once, and I quickly came back. The guards...they didn’t make it.”

“They… these Changeling’s kill you if you try to leave!?” Daring’s rage was only growing now, the gem around her neck glowing to keep it contained, but most ‘ling’s close by could still feel it.

“No, you’ve got it all wrong. I visited during Tatzlwurm Spawning Season...the guards died to see me to safety,” Daisy said sadly.

Daring’s anger vanished, well… great, now she felt like total manure. They, these Changelings gave their own lives to keep a single mare safe?

“I’m sorry, I misunderstood,” Daring said softly and looked around. “Maybe… maybe I’m misunderstanding quite a bit. But… I don’t know, I heard that you were being kept here, possibly against your will and my blood boiled.”

“Nah, we’re safe here,” the mare reiterated. “We’d rather not spend a night aboveground in the Lands. Days are safe...mostly. It’s the nights we have to worry about. Haven’t you ever wondered where the other constellation beasts roam? More than a fair share of them roam through the Lands and are active at night.”

“Like the Ursa Minor and Major?” She suddenly slammed her hooves on the table. “You mean there are others like them? Oh that is something I have to see!”

“You really don’t want to,” the mare said. “There’s like...one docile one, and five that would attack. That I know of.”

“Ooh~” Daring was intrigued now. She wondered how Daring Do would fight one. Oh! Maybe Ahuizotl would find some spell or something that lets him control them! She was grinning from ear to ear as she wrote down her thoughts as they came before she paused and coughed, before putting her notebook away.

“Ahah… sorry,” she replied. She sighed and looked at Devoted. “And, I owe you an apology as well. I was thinking of how Equestria runs, and yet, you guys are totally different.”

“We may look like it, but we’re not monsters,” the drone said softly. “We...do care. It’s only recently that the Silver King took control and made us act like the responsible ‘lings we are.”

“Aww, don’t you worry,” the mare said, before leaning over and actually hugging Devoted. “She just needs to get over the culture shock is all.”

Okay… that looked really weird. And yet…

“Aww, he’s blushing,” Daring giggled, pointing out the drone’s flushed cheeks. He sputtered a little, but made no move to remove Daisy. She eventually stopped hugging him before looking over at Daring.

“So,” she chirped. “What can I getcha?”

She looked at the menu and saw that there were things here that a pony could eat. “Um, well I guess I’ll try the salad and hay fries,” Daring said.

“I shall have the same,” Devoted said before he pulled out a small crystal from his saddlebags and passing it to the mare. “This should pay for it.”

“You betcha, that’ll be out before you know it!” With that, Daisy skipped off, leaving the two alone together. Once she left, Daring looked at her guard/host/tour guide.

“So what was that crystal you gave her? Stored emotions of some kind?”

“Of a sort,” Devoted said with a nod. “Acceptable currency in the Lands, if charged enough. It’s how we store emotions outside the body.”

“Hmm, perhaps I should get a few, just in case my Bits aren’t enough,” she said to herself. “Are empty crystals easy to get?”

“I’ll probably end up creating a few during our time together,” the drone said. “Don’t think I haven’t caught on that you’ve found a way to mute your own emotional output. Wise, but it’ll mean I have to cut into the stipend just to survive.”

“Wait, I’m doing what now?” she asked. She gave him a stare and tilted her head. “Thaaaat sounds like something a unicorn could do, not a pegasus.”

“And that other stone around your neck is rich with the scent of magic,” the drone pointed out. “An enchantment?”

“Twilight didn’t tell me about anything it had besides a translation spell,” Daring said as she took it off to look at it, and almost instantly, the room was flooded with pent up Inspiration, Loyalty and just a hint of Love.

For her work, not anypony in particular. But the gem forced those back like a dam, so when she pulled it off...? It was like a feast to all the ‘lings there, who promptly groaned in unison and stopped eating anything else.

All except Devoted, who noticed the looks Daring was now getting and motioned for her to put the gem back on. “Quickly, before they get ideas.”

She just nodded and slipped the gem back around her neck, and the fountain of emotion stopped like a faucet being turned off. “Well… woulda been nice if Princess Twilight told me about that.”

“Still, it was wise of her to take that precaution,” Devoted said. “It’s like a typical emotional damping spell some nymphs and drones learn when they’re young and want to sneak up on their parents.”

“I know a pony that can do something similar, only she can switch them off entirely.” Daring glanced at a few Changelings still looking at her and pulled her hat down over her eyes. “I hope I didn’t upset them or something.”

“They just weren’t expecting such a feast,” Devoted chuckled. “As well, they’re Greens, they’re always on the lookout for creative ponies like you.”

“Ah, so like Critical then?” she looked around and saw a mix of Green and Blue changelings. So many Criticals and Scope’s. “And note, never remove this amulet again.”

“If you think you can,” Devoted said. “Surely it would crack under the pressure eventually.”

Just then, Daisy came back with their salads and fries. “And here you two go! Lunch for the hungry! Oh, also, the owner said you could have this back,” the mare said before putting the crystal on the table again. “Said something about the emotions he’d just snagged being payment enough.”

Daring looked at her gem and smirked. “You know… timed right, I’d not have to pay for a thing while I’m here~”

“Yeah, that’s typically how ponies pay for things in the Hives,” Daisy said with a nod. “A saddlebag of crystals that they carry around during the day that they charge with positive emotions. Sometimes it takes a while...sometimes not so much.”

"Ah,” Daring bit a fry and hummed at the taste. “So… what about negative emotions then?”

“We don’t talk about negative emotions,” Devoted said as the conversations around them stilled. “I’ll tell you about them when we’re not eating.”

Well, that seemed to be a touchy subject. She made a note of that too. It didn’t take too long to finish their meal and Daring even managed to snag some coffee for the road. She didn’t really sleep before, might as well stay awake until sleep just sneaks up and kicks her flank.

“So, anything else that’s interesting around here?” she asked.

“Some of the Noble houses might be interesting to you,” the drone said. “Have you noticed how there seem to be things carved into the houses we’ve been passing? Those are tales of loyalty, or a house’s creed. The Noble ones cover their entire houses.”

“Whoa,” Daring said as she looked at the carvings, though she couldn’t read them. An idea formed and she took out a camera. “May I?”

“Most would be proud of having their creeds or tales told, though you might want to wait and use your film on the Noble houses more.” Still, Devoted waved a hoof to tell her she could if she wanted to. She nodded and snapped a few, she’d brought a ton of film in any case.

But those Noble houses sounded interesting. Devoted eventually led her to much larger structures, that had two changelings standing outside the door, and carvings all over the place.

“Wait a moment,” he said, before going over to talk to the guards. There was a short, intense discussion as to whether or not she’d be allowed to take pictures, before he walked back and nodded. “No more than three pictures of the house, they say.”

“Okay,” she flew into the air to get the best angles and as many of the carvings as she could. She landed a few minutes later and nodded. “Too bad you guys don’t have a book or something with all these tales in them.”

“Those would be in the local library, but they’re all written in Changeish,” the drone said. “I heard that the Silvers have a compendium of it as well, and using their magic, they’ve managed to compress it all into one book...” he paused as the mare in front of him was practically salivating at the thought of getting her hooves on that book.

“I take it our next destination once you’re done with the Blue Hive will be the Silver one?” he asked semi-rhetorically.

“Quite possibly,” she nodded and wiped her mouth. “As long as we avoid the Violet one. My… friends have said that a mare like me would be, erm, popular there.”

“A pity,” Devoted said. “Violets always throw the best parties. I’ve attended two, I’d been hoping to make it a third.”

He looked kind of disappointed, and it would be because he had to look after her that he’d miss out. But still…

“W-Well,” she said quietly. “If they… try anything, does ‘no’ mean something to them?”

“They’ll stop if you say no, yes,” Devoted said with a nod. “Though, expect to be hit on several times regardless. They are very...loving, at that Hive.”

“Well,” Daring blushed harder as she put her camera away. “I-I guess you have to accompany me to a Violet party at some point."

“I’ll put it on the list,” Devoted said with a grin. “Now, where to next?”

Over the course of the next few days, she’d visited the Red and Silver Hives, but hadn’t managed to get a hold of that book yet. Oh but she will… it was only a matter of time.

And today, she was staying with Ledger’s family, who had so graciously opened up their home to her.

“Thank you very much for this,” she nodded. “I hope that Devoted and I aren’t putting you out at all.”

“Dear, have you seen my other children?” the Madame deadpanned at her. “Three of them are demolitions experts, and the last defies the laws of physics if given half a chance.”

“Well, I haven’t met them yet,” Daring nodded. “Well, aside from Critical-Eye. You should be proud of her. She’s doing amazingly well with her craft, and she’s even getting married now.”

“...I see,” the Silver Noble said as she floated over a calendar. “Note to self, add grilling a stallion and my daughter to the day I get to see my son being married,” she muttered as she marked something on it.

Daring suddenly had a thought that she’d said something that she shouldn’t have. Oh well.

“I can’t believe how amazing these Hives are,” she said as the Madame showed her to her room. “Especially all those carvings in the Blue Hive. I still have chills on seeing that… and the absolute foal I made of myself in the restaurant.”

“Ah yes, the Blue’s tradition of carving a creed or their family’s loyalty into their homes,” the Madame said. “The Noble family of the Blues is actually running out of space to write with, you know? They’ve requested we come over and lend them one of our books.”

“Those magical, ‘bigger on the inside’ books,” Daring made a sour face as she set her bags down on the bed. “Stupid library wouldn’t let me borrow it.” She removed her necklace and sighed as it gave off a glow as the enchantment wore off and it powered down. The Madame let out a sigh as the wave of emotion passed through her house, and likely went for a good distance beyond.

“I should very well hope not, those things require a properly trained Noble to make,” the nymph said. “Very few outside of the Silver line try their hooves at it. Although…”

“Although?” she could feel the mare’s excitement pick up. The Madame floated out a thin, unassuming book from her saddlebags and held it in front of the pegasus mare.

“Although, I am well-trained in how to bind a pocket dimension to a binding,” she said. “I proffer you this gift, in exchange for a hopefully positive review of my home in your documentary.”

She took the book as if it was some priceless treasure. “Is… is this, what I think it is?” The joy she had was barely contained, she felt like she was about to explode.

“Your very own ‘bigger on the inside’ book,” the Madame affirmed. “Plus I had a word with the Archivists, they should allow you to at least read our collection of the same tomorrow.”

“This is amazing,” she said in hushed awe. She’d likey not ever need a notebook again! “I just wish I could read Changeish.” She knitted her brow and an idea formed as she looked up at the mare. “I don’t suppose you have translation guides? If a spell can’t help, then I’ll learn the old fashioned way.”

“Actually,” the nymph said as she floated a small, glowing diamond out of her pack next. “I was told by Devoted that you’ve been having trouble with the written tongue. So I put all that I know about the Changeish tongue into this gem and made it into a nice accessory. Though, I should warn you, it’s not permanent, and only lasts as long as the gem is on you. Still, it’s something.”

“This is too much,” Daring said, still taking the gem gratefully. “You invite me in courtesy of the King. You let me into your home, give me gifts that could not have been easy or cheap to make…” She hung her head, “I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but it can’t have been worth all this.”

“Simple, dear,” the Madame said. “We’re exposed. It’d be better to get good press out than let the word continue to be silent. And in case you had any doubts about my brother being good...one of the reforms he made to how we treat ponies? Involved letting new arrivals go if they wanted to. We lost...quite a few ponies because of that, but the rest that stayed...could not have been more loyal to the Lands.”

“I saw,” Daring nodded as she set the gifts aside with the rest of her things. “I spoke with a mare named Daisy in the Blue Hive, and… I may have accused you changelings of some horrible things. I… was a little blind to the whole picture. But between what she told me, and what you’ve just said. I think I’m starting to see the story unfold here.”

“Mind, it used to be very bad before my brother took the throne...and we made a few...corrections as to who was in charge of certain Hives,” the Madame said with a small glint of steel to her eyes. “But once the majority of leaders were Kings instead of Queens, equality and fair treatment for all wasn’t hard to push past them at all.”

Daring paused, there had been something in the way she had said ‘corrections’. But that was a matter she wasn’t going to press right now. It sounded like a heavy topic. “Yes,” she said, coughing into her hoof. “Scope Lens and Critical mention that if I’d come here a decade or so ago…”

“Yes, that was when the fair treatment for ponies act passed. Before, they were treated like cattle. Nowadays, they’re respected citizens. They’re housed near the guard barracks and shelters, so that if something were to happen, they’d be protected and be able to get to safety quickly.” The Madame sighed. “I am...not proud of what others have done. But I at least strived to treat ponies in my house with dignity.”

“And I’m thankful for that,” Daring nodded. She sparked another idea in her mind. This mare was just full of them. Even subconsciously, she was writing tales in the back of her mind before they vanished, the more enticing ideas sticking around so she could write them down later. “If I may,” she asked. “Would you be amicable to an interview at some point?”

“That would be fine, though you will have to make it happen in the next few days, my son is getting married soon and I would like to be there,” the nymph said. “Dinner will be served within an hour, and I have an inspection of the house to complete beforehoof, as my Trio of Terror have been unsupervised for all of five minutes.”

“Ah,” she’d forgotten about that wedding. Twilight had invited her, but this exploration could take a while, around a month, maybe two?

Well, she could afford a small break anyway. She could accompany Madame Gossip if she didn’t mind.

“How about I give you a hoof?” she offered. “I have a lot of young fans, so I’m used to dealing with hordes of rowdy foals. How bad could three of them be?”

“Bad enough that we don’t even let them sleep next to each other,” the Madame said. “I’d rather you stay out of it, but if you do come across a Red, Yellow, or Blue drone, or Hives forbid, all three, please try to stop them until I or one of my husbands arrive?”

“I think I can do that,” she smiled. “So, where would you like me to start?”

“They were last seen near the kitchen,” the nymph said. “No idea where they went from there.”

Daring nodded and just picked a direction before she started walking. Now, if she were three naughty foals, where would she hide…?

She poked her head in one room. And promptly wrinkled her nose. Okay, she found the room that said foals were likely made in at least. She closed the door and headed for the next one, opening it slowly...to reveal what looked a lot like a forest glen, painted into the walls of the room. There were even animals and a fake sun painted into it.

“This… this is…” Daring paused as she took it all in. She just knew whose room this was. It had to be Critical’s, no doubt. These paintings gave off the same vibe as her illusions did. And they were just as breathtaking to behold. “Wow…”

“Yeah, sis is pretty good with the artsy stuff,” a new voice said from behind her. “I come in here to calm down sometimes.”

“Yeep!” Daring gave off a rather filly-like squeal and turned to see a small Pink Changeling. Critical and Scope had warned her about this one.

“Joyful-Heart,” she said slowly. “Yes?”

“Yup! And you’re the pony mom’s been going on about visiting!” the Pink ‘ling said before beeping the mare’s nose with a hoof. “Y’know, you’re kinda silly. I was sitting here for a little bit and you didn’t notice me.”

“Really?” Daring was usually pretty observant. She smirked and leaned down to look the filly in the eyes. “Are you a spy?”

“Nope, I just have a talent for surprising everypony!” the ‘ling said. “So what’s your name?”

“Hmm,” Well my name is Amy Yearling,” the mare replied and looked around before whispering. “But you can call me Daring Do.”

“Cool,” the Pink nymph said with a nod. “So, whatcha doin’ in Crit’s room?”

“Well, I’m supposed to be looking for three young colts,” she replied. “But then I got a little distracted by these paintings. I knew she was skilled in illusions, but her talent with a brush is just as amazing.”

“Yeah, Critty’s not bad with artsy stuff. I mostly came in here to sneak out some paint for my latest prank,” Joyful said. “And you’re looking for the trio? Good luck, you’d need it.”

“Hmm, Lady Gossip said the same thing,” Daring replied. “Do you know where they might be, little Joy?”

“Maaaaaybe,” the nymph said. “What’s in it for me?”

“Oh? Hmm...what would you like?” Daring asked. This little mare was more shrewd than she looked.

“I dunno...I’ll think of something. Sure you wanna know?” Joyful still hadn’t lost that mischievous look.

“I feel as though I’m striking a deal with Tirek,” Daring muttered. “Okay then Joy, you have a deal. Now, those colts?”

“Yup,” Amy said, sticking her tongue out and concentrating. “Hmmm...they’re holed up in Ledgy’s room. Mostly because it’s one of the last places anybuggy would go to look for them.”

“But… I was just there… and so are my things!” Daring raced out of the room and down the hall. Joyful called after her, wishing her luck.

Daring reached the room and took a breath, before opening the door and witnessing what was inside...Three drones all examining her bag with curious looks.

“I dunno,” the Red one said. “Mom’s been going on about a guest, we shouldn’t mess with it if it belongs to her or him.”

“Still, we can’t just ignore it either,” the Blue one said.

“Why don’t we take a peek, then close it all back up if we don’t see anything interesting?” the Yellow one posed. The others agreed, and they’d just been about to open her saddlebags…

“AHEM!” Daring cleared her throat as she stood in the doorway. “Don’t you boys know it’s rude to touch a lady’s things?”

“Ummm,” they all said, slightly shocked by the (to them) sudden appearance of a pony in their favorite hiding spot.

“Hey, wait a minute...you’re not part of the staff,” the Yellow one pointed out.

“No, no I’m not,” Daring replied, still blocking their only escape route. “My name is Daring Do, a guest of your mothers…”

“Oh buck,” the Blue one said. “Um...you’re not gonna tell her what we were about to do, were you?”

“Hmm, maybe I might,” she said taking a step forward. “After all, that book you have there was a gift from her. I’d hate to think what she’d do if you damaged it…”

“Please don’t tell her,” the Red one pled. “We were only gonna look, honest!”

“Maybe,” she replied and took a seat on the bed. “How about this. I won’t tell her if you agree to listen to one of my stories. I’ve been told I can tell a pretty good one.”

“...That sounds like a pretty good deal,” the Yellow drone said. The other two quickly agreed and they formed a semicircle in front of Daring, all willing to listen to the story she had to share.

By the time the Madame and some of her husbands found them, they were enraptured as Daring spun a great tale of action, adventure and intrigue. She was just making it up as she went along, a little collaboration of some ideas in her head. But it was an impressive story none the less.

And even more surprising…

The Trio were… quiet?

“Well,” the Madame softly said. “I’m glad you found my wayward sons, and managed to keep them from any errant mischief.”

Daring continued her story, but offered the mare a slight nod to show she heard.

“Unfortunately, as enticing as your story is, dinner is about to be served, so-”

The words cleared the Trio out of there faster than could be believed, leaving just dust clouds shaped like themselves behind.

“Wait, what?” Daring looked around. “Oh, but I wasn’t finished…”

“Sorry, but that is one of the few ways I have to corral them,” the Madame said with a small smile. “Though, that was a good story. Will you be joining us for food?”

Daring’s stomach gave a loud grumble in response in reply. “Heh, guess that’s a yes,” she blushed slightly. “Oh, but where’s Devoted? I haven't seen him since I arrived.”

“He went to check in with my brother,” the nymph said as she began leading the mare to the dining hall. “He does still technically report to him after all. He’ll be back after dinner.”

“Oh, okay,” her heart briefly skipped. Of course he’d be off meeting the King. He had been sent by him after all. She knew he wouldn’t have left without saying goodbye… right? She snorted and shook her head before looking at a stallion with Violet eyes smiling at her.

“Um, yes?”

“Oh, nothing,” the drone said with a smile. “Just thought I tasted a little affection there for a moment.”

“A-Affection?” She spluttered and stared at him. “What, they’re cute kids alright. That’s all you sensed. Got it?”

“If you say so,” the drone said with a cheeky wink, before they arrived at the dining hall.

“Yes I say so!” Daring huffed and followed him. So she cared about her friends. Big freakin whoop! The hall was long, with a table to match, and it had easily two dozen chairs at it. Either this nymph had a much larger family, or she entertained guests enough to warrant the extra chairs. The smaller members of the family were already seated, and the husbands were slowly filing into the room as well. The Madame took her place at the head of the table, and gestured to a spot between the adults and the children for Daring to sit at.

The pegasus nodded and took a seat, offering a smile to the other Changelings. The drones softly returned it, while the young ones were more anxious for the food than anything else.

“Ah, and here we are,” the Madame said as a unicorn wheeled in several carts. “Freshly cooked fish. My compliments.”

“Much appreciated,” the pony said before he served them all.

“Fish huh?” Daring looked at her plate and hummed. “Haven’t had this in a loooong time.”

“There’s a river running nearby, we get decent sized fish every now and again,” the nymph said. “It’s quite tasty when we do.”

Daring nodded as she took a bite, her wings flickering in delight. Living in the middle of a forest meant that she often had basic meals. She even recalled the time she lived of old military rations she bought for a month.

“Well, I’ll give you guys this,” she said inbetween bites. “You know how to make some good grub.”

The other changelings paused for a minute, but the Violet drone sitting next to the Madame smirked and kissed her on the cheek. “Oh, we sure do,” he said in a tone of voice that suggested something other than food.

She’d caught that tone, Critical used it when teasing her. “Okay, clearly I said something wrong there,” she stated.

“Little changelings are referred to as grubs during their formative years,” the Madame said, letting that sink in. Daring blinked and went over what she just said with that new context. She suddenly turned an adorable shade of pink and covered her face with her wings.

“Aww, she gets it,” the same violet stallion cooed.

“It’s still better than when you ‘instructed’ us,” one of the other husbands spoke up. “Hives, that was embarrassing.”

“I really don’t want to know,” Daring replied, but she had a feeling that the Violet was going to share anyway. A feeling that turned out to be false, as the Violet merely chuckled again before resuming his eating.

“I still have dreams where Secret-Hoarder walks in,” one of the others complained.

“Secret-Hoarder?” Daring asked as she chewed on a piece of broccoli.

“Ledger’s Changeling name,” the Madame supplied. “We earn our names, dear. And he earned his for being one of the few ‘lings to go about learning all the secrets he could from all the Hives.”

“Ledger did all that… and he… oh my,” she blushed again and decided it was best to to ask questions. At least as long as that Violet one was around. And oh sweet Celestia, she was going to a Hive full of them tomorrow.

“What the hay am I thinking?” she muttered and ate her potatoes.

“Well, how do you like your dinner dear?” the Madame asked. Daring swallowed, thankful for a normal question.

“It’s quite delicious,” she nodded. “Like I said before, the food here is amazing. Almost as good as the stuff in Las Pegasus.”

“Glad to hear it,” the Orange husband spoke up. “I spend a lot of time helping out on the farms where I can, it’s nice to hear that my efforts aren’t in vain.”

“You guys have farms here?” Daring asked as she finished her meal. “I haven’t seen any.”

“Not underground, no,” the Madame replied. “But aboveground, there are fields of wheat and other vegetables, groves of fruit...we keep it well-hidden, of course. Nothing says ‘there’s a massive city here’ quite like a massive farm.”

“True enough,” Daring nodded. “But, how do you keep it safe from monster attacks? Wouldn’t all the food attract them?”

“That’s part of the duty of each Hive’s guard,” the Red husband spoke up. “Protect the citizens and the food. Driving off monsters is just another duty we do every day. Over the years, they’ve learned to avoid us or risk pain. Nowadays we only get young ones that need to be taught that same lesson.”

“Monster Hunter’s huh? Sounds rough,” Daring wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Oh, I don’t think I’ve introduced myself yet. My name is Yearling, but you can also call me Daring if you like.”

The Madame gestured to her husbands, and the Violet one spoke up first. “I’m Wishful Hope,” he said.

“Inspired Dream,” the Green one spoke up next.

“Peaceful Heart,” the Orange one added.

“Devoted Cause,” the Red one spoke up next, causing the mare no end of confusion.

“Brass Boldness,” the Yellow one said.

“And I am Honorable Service,” the Blue stallion finished.

Daring Do nodded, but still gave a confused glance at Devoted. Were they related perhaps?

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you all,” she said. “Thank you for allowing me into your home as well.”

“The honor is mine, dear,” the Madame said. “And in case you’re wondering...it’s not uncommon for those who serve in our military to earn similar names. There is a difference in their Changeish names.”

“Oh, I see,” Daring nodded. She looked at the kids next. “Well, I already know who Joyful-Heart is. But what about these little troublemakers?”

“I’m Brute,” the Red one spoke up.

“Tank,” the Blue one introduced himself.

“And I’m Lightning-Wits,” the Yellow one finished.

“Well, nice to meet you three as well,” she almost added the saddlebags bit, but she did promise she wouldn’t tell. She looked at Inspired and tilted her head. “So, I take it that you sired Critical?”

“Indeed I did, and I heard that you employed her,” the Green drone said with a bow of his head. “My thanks for looking out for my daughter.”

“The pleasure is mine,” Daring nodded. “She’s amazingly talented, I just want to help her become even greater.”

“Still, thank you for helping her,” the stallion said. “Any job she gets that promotes her artwork is a boon.”

“She helped with my newest book release. I think most of the fans were there for her.” Daring chuckled as she recalled the numbers. “I wonder if she knows how many were in the audience. At least a thousand, along with two Princesses.”

“And suddenly I no longer fear for my daughter starving,” the drone idly commented.

The Madame coughed lightly to regain control of the conversation. “It is getting late, dear. I’m going to head up to bed now, and take care of a few studies myself. Feel free to wander the house as you will.”

“Oh? Um, sure…” Daring said, the sudden announcement catching her off guard. A glance at the clock told her that it was only eight o’clock… Maybe she was an early riser or something. And that was when Wishful, the Violet husband, kissed the Madame before the pair of them walked off.

“Um,” Daring watched them leave and then looked at the others in confusion. “I didn’t say anything offensive did I?”

“No,” Inspired said with a shake of his head. “But I very much doubt she’ll be studying much of anything…”

“Unless it’s anatomy~” Devoted chuckled into his mug.

Daring squeaked and flushed pink again, pulling her hat down over her eyes. “O-Oh… okay.”

That was about when the other Devoted walked into the hall and took note of Daring’s flushed expression. “Did I miss something?” he questioned nobody in particular.

“Oh, just the little miss getting some lessons on the way of life,” Devoted replied back. Daring just blushed harder, even more embarrassed that her Devoted was hearing this and seeing her act this way.

“Ah,” the blue Devoted said as he sat next to Daring, nudging her with a hoof. “Did you seriously think a happily married nymph wouldn’t engage in such activities?” he asked her.

“Oh bite me,” she muttered with a slight accent and then flushed again. “I know that! It’s just… GAH!”

“Something tells me her trip to the Violet Hive will be quite...educational,” Peaceful commented aloud. “Assuming she ever works up the nerve to visit.”

“Look! I said I’d take you to that party,” she said to her Devoted. “And I will. Just… quit teasing me would you?” She looked at Joyful with a pouty face. “Joooy, tell them to stop teasing.”

Joyful gave off a salute and then pulled out a pound bag of sugar from nowhere. “All right everybuggy, either you stop teasing Miss Daring, or I’ll eat this whole thing.”

Silence reigned. None of them dared say a word or even move under that threat.

“...Seriously?” Daring blinked and looked at the little pink bug. “Sugar is what gets you all to shut your traps?”

“Y’know how mom wanted you to find us?” Brute said.

“Sis on sugar is ten times worse than she normally is,” Tank added.

“And she’s sanity-warping on a good day,” Lighting-Wits finished.

“But… she’s so cute,” Daring argued. “How can something so adorable be so…” Then she recalled Parasprites, Twittermites… cute was deadly.

“You know, never mind,” Daring said, going back to her wine. After a moment longer, Joyful smiled and put the sugar back from wherever she got it from.

“So what’s the plan for tomorrow?” the Blue Devoted asked Daring.

“Well… you wanna head to that party right?” she said with a slight blush. “So, I suppose I should take a look around the Hive. I have to document as much as possible.”

“Something tells me she’s going to learn more of anatomy than if she visited the Orange Hive and studied one of their hospitals,” Peaceful commented. At that point, the bag of sugar reappeared, and the husbands shut up again.

“This is going to suck,” Daring moaned and thunked her head against the table. “This party had better be worth it Devoted.”

“They typically are,” the blue drone reassured her. “And I’ll do my best to protect you from anything you don’t want.”

“Well, as long as you have fun, then it’ll be worth it,” she replied. “Well, I guess I should hit the hay as well. Seems we have a long… and arduous day ahead of us tomorrow.” She bade the others good night, and hoped tomorrow wouldn’t be too stressful...

Chapter 84 - Brothers are always the last to know

It had been an… interesting couple of days for Midnight Song. She’d come to appreciate some things about her species, something she’d never thought she’d do. But, Hollow Shades was a pretty cool place.

Hell, she’d probably live here if she wasn’t in any relationships. And quit the Guard. And had absolutely nowhere else to go.

Still… It was a step up from Roamania.

And watching Ledger be dressed up as a pretty, pretty princess was a memory that would stay with her forever. And it would forever bring a massive, shit-eating grin to her face.

Life was good sometimes.

“You know that stuff comes out with water right?” she called out to the drone in the bathroom, still in the same place he’d been for about two hours. “Though you gotta admit that Heart did a good job enchanting your mane to look like Celestia’s.”

Ledger didn’t verbally respond with anything more advanced than a grunt as he kept trying to get his appearance back to normal.

“Aww, don’t tell me it bugged you that much? You really should just shed all that anger.”

“Using your puns isn’t helping the situation,” Ledger grumbled. “Sweet Hives, not even shifting is getting me back to normal!”

“Wow, they did a good job huh?” Midnight giggled and ambled into the bathroom to give him a hand. “Alright, let’s see what we have here…”

She took one look at his half disguised form, still covered in make up and she doubled over laughing.

“Very funny,” Ledger deadpanned. “Like the pictures Sweet Heart took won’t help you remember this. No, go on, laugh a little more.”

So she did for a good few minutes before she finally stopped, taking a long-winded sigh. “Pheewwww, heh, oh man, that’s never going to get old.” She walked over to him and reached up into a cupboard and pulled out a cloth and some kind of bottle.

“Try this stuff,” she said. “Make up remover. Otherwise known as acetone for the eggheads.”

“At this point I’ll try anything,” Ledger grumbled as he took the bottle and cloth in his magic. He gave the cloth a quick application of the acetone before he started wiping himself off with it. The stuff was coming off pretty easily now, and it looked like the enchantment on his mane was wearing off as well.

“Aww, and I was just getting used to dating a second princess,” Midnight giggled.

“Yes, well, I’m not one, and I’d rather not impersonate one for longer than I have to,” Ledger said as a memory tickled the back of his brain.

“Hmm, you have your thinking face on,” Midnight said, her muzzle suddenly pressed against his. “Whatcha thinkin’ about?”

“Just wondering why you were so eager to see me all dolled up like a Princess,” Ledger said. “Also remembering that I told you I could become a male version of one if I was fed enough. Does somepony like the Princesses?”

Midnight blushed and looked away. “S-Shut up! When did this become about me?” She gave a flick of her tail and started to walk from the room. Ledger smirked before he shut the door from afar with his magic.

“Just give me a minute,” he said as he kept wiping the makeup off. “Nearly done, then I want to try something.”

“Try what?” Midnight replied. She wasn’t going to tell him of her little crush on certain sisters. Especially since it wasn’t proper for a guard to do something like that.

And she wasn’t Twilight’s guard, so Princess Bookworm was fair game. Eventually Ledger had himself cleaned off, and there was a silver inferno in the room…

That died down to reveal a very male version of Princess Luna.

He had never seen Midnight blush so hard. It was actually kind of adorable to see her act like that. She just stood there and stammered, her eyes wandering over his form. He even decided to roleplay a little.

“Does Our subject find Our form appealing?” he asked, striking a small pose to show off. Midnight swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded.

“Y-Yes, you’re… wow.” Her eyes just drank this form in. He looked...delicious~

“Thank thee for thine compliments,” the Prince said as he looked Midnight over. “We must admit, your own form is not unappealing either.”

“Um...thank you?” GAH! Why was she so damned flustered. This was Ledger. LEDGER! It wasn’t a divinely sexy Prince Luna. Hmm, nah… Ah! Prince Nocturne. Now that sounded cool.

Then the blue alicorn drew closer to Midnight and gave her a simple peck on the cheek. Her face lit up and she gave a small squeak as her legs trembled.

“W-W-What? I… ah…” Words failed the bat as she just stood there.

“Hmm, t’would appear there is a way to render Our subjects speechless,” the alicorn said before he moved to gently kissing Midnight on the lips. She just melted into the kiss, humming pleasantly.

Once the kiss broke, she looked up into his eyes. “W-What does my Prince wish of me?”

“The pleasure of thine company, for now,” the Prince said. “Join Us in the bedroom at thine convenience.” With that, he walked off before vanishing in a flash of silver, presumably to their bedroom.

“Yeah. Sure. Okay!” Midnight squeaked out and followed…

But, what was waiting for her wasn’t what she expected.

Instead of a blue alicorn resting on their cloud-bed, it was a white one with a reddish mane and tail, with a sun for a cutie mark. The alicorn looked over to Midnight and smiled softly.

“Ah, my most trusted guard,” he said, before patting the bed next to him. “Come, join me.”

Midnight just stared with wide eyes and she was pretty sure her blush had spread to her entire body. Even so, she nodded and slowly made her way to the bed. The regal alicorn drew her in for a hug with one massive wing, even going so far as to nuzzle Midnight.

“Y-Your Highness,” she whispered. “This… isn’t proper…”

“I am one of the rulers of Equestria,” the white alicorn said. “I decide what’s proper. And I think my most loyal and hardworking guard has earned a bit of royal cuddling.”

“B-But, ponies will talk… your reputation…” Midnight replied bashfully.

“In fact, you’ve served me for such a long time,” the alicorn said. “I think you deserve an additional reward.”

“But, serving you is reward enough,” she said, but the hug was nice. She found herself wondering what a hug from Celestia would feel like. Or Luna…

That was about when the white alicorn started kissing her.

Oh sweet Celestia, Stallion Celestia was kissing her!

And she was too flustered to even respond in kind. The stallion’s tongue prodded her lips, seeking entry. They parted and allowed him entry, her long tongue already pressing against his. The time they spent locked together like that seemed to last for longer than it should, before the stallion broke the kiss and winked at Midnight.

“My, somepony certainly is a good kisser, for somepony that thinks serving is reward enough,” he commented.

“I, because you, that is...” the mare swooned again. “You’re cheating…”

“Did you think I didn’t know about where your eyes stray when you’re in my presence, dear Midnight?” the stallion asked before pecking her on the head. “Just admit your little crush to me, and I promise to kiss you again~”

“But, I…” Midnight blushed again, or, more like continued the constant one she had since he started this little game. And for some reason, she couldn’t help but play along. “I’m… not worthy of notice.”

“All my little ponies are worthy of notice, Midnight,” the stallion said. “All you have to do is admit how you want me to notice you, and I will.”

“I do, but… I’m no princess, just a lowly guard…”

“Everypony is worthy, Midnight,” the alicorn said as he kissed the top of her head again. “I love all of them...some more than others, have you seen the nobles lately? But those that take it upon themselves to guard me, protect me, serve me...they need only reach out their hooves, and they can touch me too~”

“S-Serve you… yes, I think, I want to do that,” Midnight nodded and licked her lips. No, wait, she had that bet… Oh but Stars above was he bucking hot! This wasn’t fair…

“Then show me how, dear Midnight, my most loyal guard,” the alicorn said before kissing her again. She moaned into the kiss, he tasted sooo good. She placed a hoof against his chest and blushed.

“But… there’s somepony else I love.”

“Oh?” the alicorn said with a carefully raised eyebrow. “And you would choose them over me?”

“Yes, as he has stolen my heart,” she smiled. “But he is also rather devious and is trying to cheat his way into winning this bet!”

“So be it then,” the alicorn said as he finally released Midnight from the wing-hug. “I’ll let you go to him.” Clearly he wasn’t going to transform back with her right there, it’d ruin the fun~

She closed her eyes and giggled. “Where oh where might my beloved Duke be~?”

There was a soft ‘whomp’ noise, as Ledger’s pegasus form took the place of the male Celestia he had called into being. “Bleh, that was draining. If you don’t mind, I’m just gonna lie here and recover.”

“Aww, you’re so sweet,” Midnight giggled and kissed his cheek. “Given all the love you surround yourself with, I’m surprised you still take a standard pony form. Is taking an alicorn’s really that draining?”

“Just a little,” Ledger said. “I’m lucky I only tried teleporting as Luna. Too much high-level magic...I mean, thanks to you and the others, I might be able to impersonate one again real soon, but I’m not doing it again on this trip.”

“Fair enough, but I’m totally calling dibs and…” She paused and looked at him. “You had better not tell the others about this.”

“I won’t need to tell them anything,” Ledger said as he beeped her muzzle with a hoof. “You lit up red nearly instantly when I took my form the first time. I’m pretty sure they’d work it out after seeing you around me once.”

“Oh bite me,” the thestral pouted. “So I have a crush on the princesses. Big friggen whoop.”

“Everypony has their crushes,” Ledger said as he drew Midnight in for a hug. “Mine was Twilight in an academic sense. Then you walked into my life. Then she did.”

“She?” Midnight asked. “Oh, Twilight. Eheh, I think I’m starting to lose track of everypony.” She opened her mouth in a loud yawn and sighed. “Sleepy already... “

“Yeah, let’s just settle in for the night,” Ledger said as he laid down on the cloud bed. Midnight nodded as she rolled over onto her back, tucking her wings against her sides as she closed her eyes. They’d be heading home tomorrow, but slowing down… Yeah, that wasn’t gonna happen.

Midnight hadn’t been expecting all that much as she and Ledger boarded the carriage to take them to the train station.

She definitely wasn’t expecting half of the city to turn up to see them off.

“Well, I do hope your opinion of thestrals has lifted somewhat,” Echoed said to Ledger.

“After that little...incident up in Roamania, the only way my opinions could be lower is if you actively tried to start a war,” Ledger said with a slight laugh.

“Oh Stars no,” Echoed replied with a wave of her hoof. “We don’t know enough about the layout of the Hives to do that yet.”

“I’m pretty sure the Lands’ beasts would serve as a natural deterrent to anypony trying to invade,” Ledger said with a smile. “After all, all the monsters have to exist somewhere.”

“It’s a joke Ledger,” Echoed deadpanned and then smiled. “Still, we’re well aware of the monsters that roam those lands. How you actually got a thriving civilization to work there is beyond me. Though, I guess we’ll see soon enough.”

“Oh?” Ledger asked with a tilted head. “How so?”

“Hmm, I wonder?” Echoed smiled, that practised ‘I know something you don’t’ smile on her face. “You’ll see.”

“Oh come on! Get off!” Nightshade groaned as Midnight hugged the life out of her and Sun.

“And that just seems off,” Ledger commented. “I sorta expected Sun to be the one doing the hugging…”

Sun was happily expecting hugs as Nightshade rolled her eyes in annoyance, though her cheeks were tinged with a slight blush.

“Oh! Are you guys coming to the wedding?” Midnight asked. “And you can come too Shady!”

“Why would I want to go to your wedding?” Nightshade huffed. “Well, I guess if I can meet the ponies that turned you into such a softsack…”

“At this rate, the wedding will be attended by half of Equestria...with Cider’s family providing the other half,” Ledger sighed.

“Yeah, I really hoped she reigned in that card a bit,” Midnight nodded as she flew over to him. “Well, at least the castle is pretty big…” Then she snorted and laughed out loud.

“And I’m missing something,” the currently-Pegasus observed.

“I’ll tell you later,” Midnight giggled. Granted it was a terrible and foalish joke. But she found it amusing none-the-less. “Just think about what we call that castle, abbreviate it and add what I said.”

“...Oh Hives,” Ledger groaned. “Let’s just get home before you get any worse from being so pent-up.”

“...Yeah, I think that’s a really good idea,” Midnight nodded. “Well, this visit has been a blast. We’ll come and visit again soon okay? And we’ll try and bring everypony else next time.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Echoed nodded and gave both of them a hug. “I’ll see you in a week and a half, provided your mother doesn’t flay me alive Middy.”

Yeah… Moon and Echoed really didn’t get along for some reason. Even Midnight didn’t know why.

After another round of farewells, Ledger and Midnight Song boarded the carriage, before beginning the long trip back to Las Pegasus. Well, after a small stop in Canterlot first…

Canterlot was as bustling as ever as ponies went about their business. Rare was it when a pony in Canterlot had nothing to do. Work, shopping and socialising were on almost everypony’s calendar.

There was something about this city Midnight loved. Las Pegasus was nice, and there was never a shortage of excitement there, but Canterlot was her home and always would be.

Plus seeing the look on Ledger’s face when she just walked right into Canterlot Castle without any questions asked was too precious.

“Something the matter?” she asked.

“Just wondering why we’re here, and why you can get into the castle so easily,” Ledger replied. “Wait, no, scratch that last one. You’re Midnight. Case closed.”

“Ohh, somepony’s learning~” Midnight cooed and kissed his cheek. “Now, follow me.” She led the drone through the castle until they came out into a larger field. Ledger saw dozens of Solar Guard running around a massive track as one in particular shouted at them to run faster.

“Oohhh, this brings back memories,” Midnight hummed. Her wings twitched and she thought about jumping onto the track and running with them.

“Reminiscing about when that was you?” Ledger asked.

“Yup, good times,” Midnight smiled and walked up behind the drill sergeant. She poked him and he turned his head, his eyes widening as Midnight asked for the megaphone he had. He grinned and hoofed it over as Midnight took a breath.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’VE BEEN TOLD!” she shouted out as a marching song.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’VE BEEN TOLD!!” the guards shouted out in response.

“BUT CELESTIA’S FLANKS ARE NICE TO HOLD!”

‘BUT CELEST—” the guards stumbled as they realised what their suddenly female drill sergeant shouted. The group soon became a pile of pony and armour as Midnight cackled.

“You’re incorrigible,” Ledger said from the sidelines. “And I think going so long without getting any yourself is making you worse.”

Once the stallions had recovered, they trotted over to meet their old teammate with a round of cheers and backslaps.

“So, how’s our resident pervbat been?” one asked.

“Being good at everything. As always,” Midnight nodded and grinned. “I figured I’d swing by and see you guys before I got married…”

The training grounds became so silent you could hear Fluttershy speak. Ledger suddenly had the eyes of EVERY. SINGLE. ONE of them on him.

“He the one?” one particularly large guard said, stepped up to him. Oh sweet Celestia, Ledger only came up to his guy’s chest. He looked like he picked his teeth with friggen redwood trees and bench pressed trains.

In short, he reminded Ledger of a Earth Pony that used to work for Toll Taker. So some reactions were inevitable.

“No, she’s talking about the invisible dragon that accompanied her,” he snarked.

“Boulder, be nice,” Midnight scolded him. “His name is Level Ledger and he’s very cute and caring. If you rough him up… well,” her eyes narrowed and it felt like Celestia’s sun just froze over. “It would be very bad for all of you~”

The guards shivered and then beamed, pulling Midnight into a massive group hug. “We missed you little bat,” one said. Even Boulder wiped a manly tear from his eye.

“Well, that happened,” Ledger said with a soft sigh. “I assume these are the guys you wanted to meet?”

“Yup, this is my old squad, we went through Tartarus and back together,” Midnight nodded from within the pile of stallion.

“Only because you sent us there in the first place,” one said.

“Eehhh, details,” Midnight shrugged and ruffled his mane. “And what about you Lancer? Got yourself a special someone yet?”

“Eh, hard to find somepony as special as you little bat.” There was a collective murmur of nods and grunts.

“Midnight, please tell me you didn’t sleep with everypony on your old squad,” Ledger deadpanned. His reply was a deafening silence, which he answered with another sigh.

“Are the Princesses seriously the only ponies you haven’t slept with?” he asked rhetorically.

“Well…” Midnight wiggled her eyebrows. She nailed at least one princess.

“And yet you got her to settle down huh?” Lancer walked over to Ledger. He was a lanky unicorn, but his eyes were like a hawks. They seemed to stare right through him. “Must be something special huh?”

“It took a bit of finagling, but I think I found a way to get her to agree,” Ledger said with a smile.

“Yeah, it was touch and go for a while, lotsa stuff happened,” Midnight agreed, extracting herself from the stallions. “But I love him, that’s never gonna change. Plus…” she looked down and smiled. “We have this one on the way as well.”

Again, silence reigned supreme as all the guards looked at Ledger again.

“Complete accident,” Ledger said in defense of himself. “Forgot she was off her potion and didn’t take any precautions myself. Still doesn’t change how I feel about her.”

“So, my life has gotten waaaay different,” Midnight giggled. “I wanted to give you guys a heads up anyway.”

“So where have you been?” Lancer asked. “You just up and vanished.”

“Well, I got assigned to a mission by Princess Celestia in Las Pegasus. Stuff went down and that was also where me and Ledger met. After the mission, the Princess promoted me to Specialist…”

“She… she made you a Spectre?” another yet-to-be-introduced guard asked.

“I know right? I was surprised as well. But now I sort of help out the LP Guard whenever they need it. No shortage of shit in that city, believe me.”

“Though I am doing my part to help as well,” Ledger said with a nod. “You would not believe what we find in the city on a daily basis.”

“Oh, so this one thinks he’s a tough guy?” Boulder chuckled. “The Boulder disagrees.”

“...Midnight, if I were to do anything, you think it’d go over well?” Ledger asked with a smile on his face.

“Hmm,” Midnight looked at the two and then at the grinning drill sergeant. “Whelp, if you want. We can make this a duel.”

“Midnight, you know how I fight,” Ledger said. “It wouldn’t last long.”

“You think you can beat The Boulder?” The stallion rumbled and stepped forward.

“Duel accepted. Just don’t kill each other~” Midnight smiled. Ledger sighed and shook his head.

“You don’t know what you’re getting into,” he tried to warn the stallion. “Last chance, back off. I don’t want to hurt anypony.”

“The Boulder isn’t afraid of a little hornhead,” he rumbled and charged, the ground actually shook lightly as he did. Ledger did a quick blink out of the way just in time before he fired up his TK to start hitting nerves. He’d start simple.

“Right hindleg,” he said, using his magic to hit just behind the joint and deaden Boulder’s ability to use it.

And yet the stallion kept coming! He snorted as his hind leg dragged, but he didn’t even slow down. If Ledger didn’t do something…

He blinked again, this time behind the massive pony and used his TK again. “Left foreleg.” Yeah, calling his shots might seem a little arrogant, but he figured the pony deserved a little warning. Let’s see him keep coming with only two legs.

Oh for Hives sake! He was slower, but the stallion grunted through the pain, flinging his dead legs as he kept bloody coming!

“You just don’t stop, do you?” Ledger observed. “Fine. Say goodbye to your legs.” With that, Ledger fired his TK up one last time. Surely, this fight would be over now. Well, provided he hadn’t jumped before he fired the spell, the now airborne Earth Pony falling at him, shouting some sort of warcry.

Ledger let out a ‘meep!’ as he blinked again, thankful that Scope had taught him this spell so long ago. “What does it take to get you to stop?” Ledger asked as he reappeared out of the target range. Once the stallion landed, he’d try to hit the legs again.

There was a rumble and a cloud of dust when the stallion impacted the earth. And once the dust cleared?

All he saw was a pair of hips and hind legs flailing, the rest of him buried in the dirt.

Several guards exchanged bits, some grumbling as Midnight collected her winnings.

“Well, that was painless on my part,” Ledger said as he used his magic to try and pull the stallion out of the earth. He could be a gracious winner when his life wasn’t on the line.

He came out with a loud pop, as Lancer used his own magic to bring feeling back into his friend's legs.

“You aren’t bad kid,” the sergeant clapped him on the back, causing his legs to buckle. “Wanna join the guard?”

“Luna made the same offer,” Ledger said. “I told her the same thing I’m telling you: I’ve got very few tricks in my repertoire. It’s how I use them that’s impressive.”

“Eh, all Boulder’s good at is charging things and taking hits like a champ,” the sergeant grinned. “You can be good at just one thing, but it’s as you say, it’s how you use that skill.” All the guards gathered around him and stared at him stoically.

“Now,” Lancer said. “We’d give you the whole ‘You hurt Midnight, we force-feed you your own horn’ talk. But I get the feeling you’re a stallion who isn’t easily intimidated.”

“Don’t get me wrong, you’re all quite impressive,” the brown unicorn said with a nod. “It’s just, I worked for somepony that scared me on a more personal level for a year. So everything else kinda pales.”

“Yep, then I saved him like a damsel in distress,” Midnight nodded and puffed out her chest.

“What is your fascination with treating me like a mare?” Ledger said with a roll of his eyes. Midnight just shrugged and looked at the Captain.

“So, you’re in charge now? I do hope you’re keeping them in shape?”

“I try,” the stallion said. “I just don’t have your charisma.”

“There is only one me,” Midnight nodded. “Unless you got a changeling, then you could pretend to have a second me.”

“Speaking of,” the Captain, Named Captain actually, said to her. He leaned over and whispered something into Midnight’s ear, something that made her eyes widen.

“She’s… planning to do what?”

“I know, I just know that that, and your name was brought up in a conversation recently. Mind you, it’s just a rumour floating around, so it’s validity…”

“No, that sounds exactly like something she’d do,” Midnight sighed. “Alright, I need to get home and see to this then.” She looked at her friends and smiled. “Wish me luck for my wedding?”

“OORAH!!!” They roared with a single stomp of their hoof. Midnight beamed happily and gave each and every one of them a hug.

“You take care of her,” Lancer said, walking up next to Ledger. “She’s special.”

“Don’t need to tell me twice,” Ledger said with a nod. “Plus, I don’t think the world could handle more than one of her anyways.”

“Hah, truer words have never been spoken,” Lancer chuckled. Midnight looked back at them and smiled. And soon, the couple found themselves back on a train and speeding towards home.

“So, you liked them?” the thestral asked Ledger, leaning against him.

“They were interesting, I’ll give them that,” Ledger said. “I’m just glad I didn’t have to break out any of my more interesting techniques to win that little duel.”

“Yeah, lucky you were fighting Boulder. He’s strong… buuuut, he’s not the brightest star in the sky. But sweet Celestia can he bu—”

“And you need to get home desperately,” Ledger said as he kissed Midnight’s head. “Otherwise I fear you’re going to explode into some sort of lust-crazed bat that is worse than your normal self.”

“Mmm, just unleash me on those little Violets at home. I bet they could do with a second chance to try and wear me out~”

“Something tells me that Sugar wouldn’t be too appreciative of you disturbing her operations again,” Ledger said as he hugged his mare.

“Aww, but she missed out last time, and I bet she could actually do it too,” Midnight nodded. “Hmm, I think you might be onto something here. Also, we never discussed what would happen when I win this bet.”

“Nor I,” the unicorn said. “Nor did we determine who would actually win if the both of us resisted each other until we got home.”

“Hmm, wanna team up and buck the rest of them until they can’t walk straight?”

“Sounds like a plan, assuming we both manage to make it,” Ledger replied as he just cuddled his mare a little closer.

“I wonder,” she mused. She really did wonder how Ledger was handling this. She wondered if he wasn’t bothered at all by it. What she wouldn’t give for a peek inside his head. She just sighed and leaned against him, her scent filling his nostrils.

“Mmm,” Ledger sighed as he just held her. “I could stay like this for a long, long time…”

“I’ll bet,” Midnight nodded, placing a wing around him. This was nice…

“Wanna find a private area?”

“Nice try,” Ledger said. “I’m good here, thanks.”

“Aww…”

By the time they got home, it was already getting dark. And the second they stepped hoof off of the train, a magenta flash saw them standing in the living room of their home, Scope, Twilight and Cider waiting for them.

“Welcome home,” Cider greeted them, giving the pair of them a tight hug and a kiss. “Have fun?”

“Mhmm, we had a bunch of fun,” Midnight nodded. “I’m a bit tired though.”

“As am I, actually,” Ledger said with a yawn. “I dunno what it is, but transit by train wears on me.”

“Well, we need to have a little chat before you do,” Twilight said with a small nod and looked at Scope. She gave the little ‘ling a peck on the forehead and then whisked herself and Ledger away with a spell, leaving Midnight to look at the nymph with a confused expression.

“What?” Scope asked. “Do I have something on my face?”

“Just wondering what’s up with Twilight,” Midnight said. “Does this have to do with the really pissed off sounding scroll she sent Ledger?”

“Maybe?” Scope said with a shrug. “We’ll know if he comes back singed.”

When they re-appeared, it was in Twilight’s study in Ponyville.

“Guess who’s been practising her teleport spell?” the alicorn said as she took a seat and opened up a book.

“Yeah, I really should do that with mine,” Ledger said as he looked for another seat to occupy.

“So… do you know why we’re here?” she asked, her tone was rather calm, but had a little bite to it. “Or should I explain?”

“You sent a letter, saying something about how we need to talk about Scope,” Ledger said with a shrug. “I’m an emotivore, not a mind-reader.”

“So, you really haven’t noticed?” she asked, closing her book with an audible snap. “How you treat her?”

“We have a typical Changeling relationship,” Ledger said, not sure what the problem was.

Twilight sighed and placed a hoof against her forehead. "Okay Ledger. I'll admit that I don’t know how a typical changeling relationship works." She got up and walked over to him, her emotions saying that she was... less than happy. "But when my wife-to-be breaks down crying, because she thinks you like her as nothing more than a toy to play with..."

“Oh,” Ledger said, far more subdued. “I...I didn’t know it was that bad. She...doesn’t really talk to me.”

"I understand that, Treasure likes to keep to herself." Twilight sighed and sat down in front of him. "But, I think you should talk with her. She's... jealous? I don't really know. She just thinks that you treat the rest of us better that her. That the sex is the only reason you keep her around."

“That’s...not it at all,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “I do care about her. I do. I...guess I was falling back on the relationships I saw when I was in the Lands…” The brown unicorn looked up at Twilight with a pleading expression. “How...can I fix this?”

"Well, that all depends on what Treasure wants," Twilight replied. "But showing her you care, that you love her is a good start. And something that doesn't involve the bedroom."

“I...think I have an idea, then,” Ledger said. “Okay, do you know where she is? I’d...like to make as quick a start on showing her I care as soon as I can.”

"She's back at your home," Twilight said. "Oh, and you might want this back..." Her horn shone and Ledgers book appeared in his lap.

“...Y’know, I was wondering why it wasn’t in my bag,” Ledger said. “Guess you got a nice long look at it then?”

"Read it cover to cover," Twilight nodded and her expression softened into one of slight sadness. "Even the yellow section."

“She actually came back and found me, you know?” Ledger said softly. “Wants me to forgive her. Said she was under too much pressure and wasn’t raised right. Think you’re up for intimidating her the next time she finds me?”

"I think everypony deserves a second chance," Twilight said. "If Chrysalis can change for the better, then this nymph could as well. It just takes one to extend a helping hoof."

“The reason she came back to find me was because of my Noble status,” Ledger deadpanned. “She was going to use me to get out of an arranged marriage.”

"I never said it'd be easy," Twilight frowned. She was never going to forget those first few weeks with Chrysalis. "Well, if she shows up again, I'll meet with her." Her horn lit up once more and she smiled. "Now I believe you have a tiny nymph to talk to." And with a flash, they teleported to Cider’s farm.

The first thing Ledger did, upon not seeing Scope at all when he entered the farmhouse, was put his book away again. And this time, he made sure he knew where it was.

A Silver losing track of their book was just...insulting.

The next thing he did was set about looking for the little nymph.

Said nymph was on the couch, snuggled under one of Midnight’s wings as she regaled her with tales of her and Ledger’s batty adventure.

"O-Oh Hives...he, he really dressed up...as a princess!?" Scope cackled. "Please tell me you took pictures."

“All left there with the family,” Ledger said as he sat next to the couch, and did his best to pry Scope free of Midnight so he could snuggle her instead. “Hello you.”

"Mhmm," Scope replied, giving his cheek a light kiss. "Where'd you run off to?"

“Twilight wanted to have some words with me about what she read in my book,” Ledger said before beeping her muzzle. “Now how did she get it and read it, I wonder?”

"I stole it," Scope replied with absolutely no shame. "But you promised her, I was merely collecting that promise."

“Fair enough,” Ledger said as he kept cuddling her. “Also, it has been drawn to my attention that perhaps, just perhaps, I don’t show you as nearly as much appreciation as I could.” With that, he began doing something Nobles were known for, and that other ponies couldn’t sense.

He began radiating love for her. Mainly because he was using his stored emotions to do so.

Scope froze and blushed. Twilight actually said something? "Y-You don't have to..." she started.

“But I should have far sooner than this, and I want to,” Ledger said as he kept holding her. “It’s not right that I rely on old models for what a Changeling relationship should be. Can I ask you to help me redefine it?”

Scope fell quiet for a moment. He did seem to be genuine about this. So...

"Can... we go on a date?" She asked. "Just the two of us?"

“Do you want us to?” Ledger asked. “I’ve done that with the others, if you want to go on one as well, then I’ll do so happily. You’d just have to tell me what you’d like to do. A nice dinner, a little entertainment…”

"Everything." Scope nodded and smiled. "I want the whole package..." Midnight snorted in amusement and Scope frowned. "Not that package, perverted idiot."

“Hmm...tonight too soon?” Ledger asked her.

"Aren't you tired from your trip though?" The nymph hummed and rocked her head from side to side. It was adorable.

"Tomorrow. You'll have an entire day to plan, so even you couldn't screw it up..."

"Oh I know something he could screw~♡" Midnight said in a husky tone.

"Alright, the hell is her problem?" The nymph demanded. "I haven't seen her like this since...since..." she trailed off as she got a faraway look in her eyes, like when war victims were remembering the days.

“Middy and I made a bet as to who could hold out longer up in Hollow Shades,” Ledger said. “For the last few days, we’ve not been screwing each other. And I think she got worse as time went on.”

"..." Scope looked him. "Bullshit."

“Is her current behavior not proof enough?” Ledger asked with a carefully raised eyebrow.

Cider walked into the room and the bat vanished from sight.

"Howdy ya'll," the chipper mare greeted the changelings. "Huh? Ah thought Little Bat was here?"

“She was,” Ledger mused. “I don’t know where she’s gone…” Ah well, he had a Scope to cuddle and lavish with affection.

"Wait, ah could swear she was..." Her eyes widened with a certain realisation. "Aw horseapples-" Cider reacted as Midnight pounced on her from the ceiling, flipping the thestral onto her back and pinning her there.

Midnight blinked. "Wha...huh? How do you keep doing that!?"

“Probably something along the lines of ‘years of practice,’” Ledger replied as he kissed the top of Scope’s head. This...this felt far nicer than a typical ‘ling relationship.

“Sumthin’ like that,” Cider nodded and yelped when Midnight quickly switched their positions, slinging the earth pony over her back and trotting away.

“I’m stealing her for the night~ Don’t wait up!” the thestral called as she hauled her prize away.

“Well, that happened,” Ledger commented. “Y’know, if we were still betting, I’d be willing to say she gave into her lust before I did.”

“I can’t believe you went three days without sex,” Scope replied. “I’m even more surprised one of you didn’t molest the other in their sleep.”

“Midnight nearly crossed the line a few times,” Ledger said. “Though, I’m pretty sure I didn’t help.”

“Encouraged sounds more like something you’d do,” Scope chuckled. “Um… sorry for stealing your book. But Twilight’s smile is really addictive.”

“I hear that,” Ledger said as he nuzzled the smaller nymph. “You’ll have to tell me all about it while I cook dinner.”

Scope’s stomach gave a loud rumble in response. “Oh yeah, that needs to be a thing that happens.”

“Casserole?” Ledger asked as he stood up, finally releasing Scope from his hug.

“Sounds good… oh, and guess what?” She paused and let him stew for a moment. “I met Critical’s looove stallion~”

“I swear if he isn’t treating my sister right,” Ledger grumbled as he made his way to the kitchen. “I might just try for becoming a dragon a second time, and have crystal for lunch.”

“Ahh, leave the dragon transformations to me, you kinda suck at it,” Scope giggled. “Maybe if you’re lucky, a certain dragoness will come and visit you again~”

“Well I never needed to be a dragon to blend in,” Ledger groused as he started the various processes to start dinner. “I mostly set up long-term disguises or useful ones. A dragon in Equestria isn’t all that...inconspicuous.”

“True,” the nymph nodded as she floated a few pans and ingredients over to him. “I don’t even know why transformations come so easily to me.”

“Probably the same reason that TK and the variety of spells and research I do come so easily to me,” Ledger replied as he filled a pot with water to boil the macaroni in. Another pot was set on melting cheese, and he prepared a cutting board with a few potatoes on it. “Hmm. Where are the breadcrumbs?...they’re my topping, and I can’t seem to find any…”

“Want me to duck out and get some?” Scope offered.

“Let’s make a list as to what I need first,” Ledger said as he rummaged. “Hmm…” He perused Cider’s spice rack and nodded. “Yeah, I just seem to be missing a topping...though if you come up with anything you’d like to try in the casserole, feel free to mention it. It’s an evolving recipe.”

“I honestly don’t know. I never ate much pony food before coming to Equestria…” She looked at the large kitchen as some old memories played. “Heh, I was lucky to eat anything at all…”

“You know we’re here for you, right?” Ledger asked as everything paused while he looked at Scope.

The nymph blinked and looked at him. “Ahh, don’t worry about it. The past is the past right?” She chuckled and shook her head. “Unless it comes back to eat your soul, or kidnap you into marriage… You know, we really should find out if Cider has a troubling past that needs to be dealt with.”

“True, she’s pretty much the only one in our herd that hasn’t had a secret come out of the woodworks to mess with her life,” Ledger said as everything started up again. “Ah well. If anything happens, it happens. And if not, then we don’t need to go looking for it.”

“Plus we have the Princess of Overpowered Magic on our side now,” Scope nodded as she wrote down a list. Breadcrumbs. Sugar. Milk. Sugar. ummm… sugar.

“Try to be back with the breadcrumbs soon,” Ledger said as he gave the nymph a small kiss. “This won’t take long, and I’ll need a topping when it’s ready.”

With a nod and a magical ‘pop’, the nymph was gone.

Narrow Gaze walked the streets of Las Pegasus. The city had become… a little dull actually. Sure, they still had the occasional mugger or thief, but crime had really come a long way. Even the other crime families were still quiet. Though, that gave her reason to worry more than anything.

And that was when she tripped over a small mare that appeared right in front of her. The unicorn tumbled to the ground with a yelp, before picking herself up and glaring at the roadblock.

“Hey! Watch where you’re… huh? Oh, it’s you.”

“Geeze, can’t even teleport without somepony tripping over me,” Scope groused as she got up as well. She had a mission to complete, and the fact that there was sugar on the market as well was a total coincidence. Yup.

“You know there’s a rule about teleporting into the middle of the street because of just such an incident yes?” Narrow rubbed her sore snout and sighed. “Well whatever. What are you doing out so late?”

“Snark-bug has run out of ingredients for dinner,” Scope said as she looked for a market to buy the sugar and breadcrumbs from. “Sent me out to pick some up.”

“Ah,” Narrow nodded, realising that she should probably stock up soon, or incur the disappointed sighs of her birdfriend. She started following Scope as the little nymph headed into the markets. “So how have you and the resident pain-in-my-flank been doing?”

“...Better,” Scope said with a nod. “Better now that he’s actually talking and listening to me.”

“Something wrong with the two of you before?” the unicorn asked, holding Scope’s basket for her as she filled it. “I thought you all got along fine.”

“It was a typical relationship for us...but that wasn’t what I wanted,” the nymph said as they came across the sugar. “He’s...kind to the other mares. Nicer. I wanted that, and now he’s actually giving it to me...or will be anyway.”

“Huh… Note to self, changelings are weird…” Narrow suddenly winced as the nymph loaded up the basket with sugar. “Uh… are you trying to bake a mountain-sized cake or something?”

“Nah, this is just for me and Ledger,” Scope said as she was finally happy with what she had. “Mostly me.”

“...I don’t…” Narrow just shook her head. This was probably something best not thought about. “So, hearing that Sugar Darling got married was quite a shock. Never would have thought that’d happen.”

“Guess she just found a pony she couldn’t let go of,” Scope said as she pulled out her bit-bag. “Sorta like Ledger and Midnight, really.”

Narrow nodded and a thought occured. “Oh, speaking of our resident bat. Could you tell her that I’d like to see her tomorrow?”

“Maybe,” Scope said. “Assuming I see her at dinner. She’s currently feasting on Cider after a fast of intercourse during their vacation. She might not come down.”

“...That’s a mental picture I did not need. Thank you,” Narrow deadpanned. And thanks to Fredrick’s… influence, she really did picture that… NOPE!

“Dammit Scope…”

“I try~” the little nymph chuckled as she took her purchases from the captain and made to pay for them. “Though, you should really try living with them.”

“Pass, though you have my sympathies.” Narrow snorted and shook her head. That would be something from her worst nightmares. “Well, I suppose I should stop socialising and get back to work.”

“Yup, and I should get this stuff back to the chef,” Scope said. “Nice talkin’ to you.” With that, the nymph vanished in a flash of light.

Well, that was abrupt. Narrow turned and headed down one alleyway. Even these places weren’t all that dangerous anymore…

“Wow… that conversation is the most fun I’ve had all day,” she sighed. “What has my life become…”

By the time Scope returned home, she was greeted with the scent of dinner, and the overwhelming wave of Lust pouring from upstairs…

Also, Twilight was here~

“Twilight, is Scope back with the breadcrumbs yet?” Ledger called from the kitchen. “Everything’s ready!”

“She’s here,” the alicorn replied, before pulling the nymph in for a hug. “She has to pay the cuddle tax first.”

“Then can I at least have the breadcrumbs?” Ledger asked. “Otherwise the casserole won’t have a crust!”

“He’s such a worrywort,” Twilight sighed as she floated in the breadcrumbs and then looked at Scope’s supplies. “Uhh, is there a reason you sent her to buy thirty kilograms of sugar?”

“Scope!” Ledger said even as he began applying the breadcrumbs. “Did you spend all your bits on sugar again?!”

“Noooo?” Scope replied from her lavender-scented hug. “Just… most of them.”

“Do I have to get Midnight to ration your sugar intake as well?” Ledger said before popping the casserole into the oven.

“Hey! I’m not the one that turned his relationship into a herd because of sugar and alcohol,” Scope retorted.

“No, but you are the one that just spent most of her bits on sugar,” Ledger deadpanned as he trotted out. “I keep my intake reasonable. No more than one cube in my coffee, and that lasts me the entire day. All thanks to Midnight.”

“Ohhh, so that’s why you’re so boring,” Scope realised. “Midnight took away your fun stuff.”

Ledger couldn’t stop himself. His smile widened to truly wicked size before he replied. “Noooo, pretty sure that’s still attached. Wanna check?”

Scope’s mouth widened, showing off her razor-sharp fangs before gnashing her teeth together like a falling guillotine. “Sure~”

The drone pouted before looking at Twilight. “She’s no fun anymore,” he mock-pouted.

“She is,” Twilight nodded and petted the small nymph. “You just have to know how to play with her~”

“Oh Ledger,” Scope sang as she looked at the alicorn. “Did you know Twilight can turn into a Changeling~?”

“Scope!” Twilight put her hooves over the nymph’s mouth. “Ahehe, she’s uh, kidding of course!”

“We both have transformation tricks we picked up during our vacation, it seems,” Ledger mused before he showed off his male Celestia form to Twilight, trying to see if she liked it near as much as Midnight had.

The alicorn looked and tilted her head. “One, you’re the wrong gender. Two, Princess Celestia’s horn is exactly point-oh-three inches longer than that. You have one too many spires on the cutie mark and your mane isn’t wavy.”

Ledger made the adjustments he could before brushing the mane with a hoof. “I wish I could do a similar spell to my mane to make it behave like hers,” he bemoaned. “But I’m not quite Alicorn material. Thank you for the other errors that you spotted, though.”

“It’s what I do,” Twilight nodded and sniffed the air. That cassarole smelled delicious. “I just hope Spike is taking care of the others at home. I haven’t had this many guests over for a while.”

“Oh?” Ledger asked before flashing into male Luna, wondering if the studious alicorn could help him correct any errors with this form as well. “And who, praytell, doth thou have over?”

“One, Luna doesn’t have Old Equestrian speak much now. She’s getting there. Two, you’re missing a blueish spot right about… there,” she said, pinching his flank with her magic. “And three, I have your sister, her coltfriend, as well as my mother and father over.”

“Well, according to Fredrick, Spike’s a capable young cook,” Ledger said as he made the minor adjustment. “Which means that Palette won’t end up poisoned...which I’m not sure is a good thing or not.”

“Level Ledger,” Twilight admonished him as she looked the form over and nodded. “You be nice. He’s a very nice stallion who cares a lot for Critical. Otherwise he wouldn’t have—” She stopped herself by jamming a hoof into her mouth.

“Wouldn’t have what?” the male Luna asked, glaring a little at Twilight.

“Um, nothing?” she said, looking away. “Slip of the tongue. Aaaanyway, I really should be getting back…”

“Before you’ve even tried my casserole fresh from the oven?” Ledger asked, flashing back to his normal form. “Just say it. I promise I won’t flip out.”

“I can’t, it’s not my story to tell,” Twilight replied. “I’m sure she’ll tell you when she wants.”

“Just like Scope’s story wasn’t yours to tell?” the brown unicorn pressed.

“Hey! I asked her to, since you probably wouldn’t have listened to me,” Scope finally spoke up. “Besides, Crit wants to tell you herself that she’s…” Aw horseapples…

“The both of you know?” Ledger said with a sigh of exasperation. “Please. This is family. I should know,” the disguised drone said, with a slight pleading tone to his voice.

Scope rolled her eyes and her horn shone. A moment later, she connected to Critical in Ponyville. A second spell saw the area of effect put in place, so Ledger could hear and speak too.

“Sis, is there something you need to tell me?” Ledger asked aloud.

“...Ledger? The fu- Scope!”

“Why does everybuggy keep saying my name like that?” Scope muttered.

“Don’t focus on her, focus on me,” the drone said. “I keep getting vague hints and it’s annoying me. So please, tell me straight, what you have to tell me.”

“Oh, I’m here for your wedding thing?” she said.

“Besides that,” Ledger deadpanned. “They keep saying it’s something you have to tell me, they could have told me that.”

“Huh? Oh, that I’m getting married?” she asked idly. “Or that you keep butting into my personal affairs?”

“Like you didn’t have a similar reaction when you heard about how I was in a relationship again,” Ledger snarked back.

“I had a good reason, if you remember a certain Yellow bitch that Mom still want to eviscerate,” Critical replied. “Well now you know. Are we done here?”

Ledger was silent for a moment longer before replying. “Is he good to you? A nice stallion?”

“Yes and yes, more than anyone ever has been,” she said back, also calming down. “Look, why don’t you meet tomorrow and you can put on the whole ‘big brother’ shtick. Hives knows what Mom’s going to do to the poor guy when she gets here…”

“That sounds good,” Ledger said. “It’ll have to be a quick thing, though. Can’t stay, I have a date tomorrow with one of the mares.”

“Oh, so you finally get a proper date out of him midget?”

“Go fuck yourself,” Scope retorted, wearing a fierce blush.

“Nah, I have a handsome stallion that’s going to spend most of the night doing that~”

“You’re not winning points for him by telling me what he’s doing to you,” Ledger grumbled good-naturedly. “Take care of yourself, sis.”

“Again. Stallion. Doing that,” she could almost hear her grin. “But I will, always have.” The connection severed and Ledger’s two mares stood there, wondering how he’d react to this news.

“I promised you that I wouldn’t freak out, didn’t I?” Ledger said calmly. Almost too calmly.

“Yes?” Twilight replied slowly and looked at Scope.

“Oh, you can bet your fluffy wings that he’s freaking the fuck out on the inside,” Scope replied. She’d seen this reaction before. “Juuust give it a minute.”

“No, I promised,” Ledger said before his eye started twitching. “I’m...not going to freak out.”

“Aaaany second now,” Scope nodded as she watched him twitch. It was kind of funny really, and beautiful, and a little scary. Like knowing a trainwreck was going to happen, one part wanted to see it go up in flames, the other wanted to save it.

Scope liked watching things burn~

“I just have to accept,” Ledger said as he started breathing heavily. “That she’s a grown nymph now and can do whatever and whoever she wants...and everything’s peachy!” That grin couldn’t be healthy.

“Should we run?” Twilight asked. “I could teleport out of here…”

“Oh, but the fireworks are about to begin,” Scope replied, kind of wishing she had popcorn now. Dang, where was Amy when you actually wanted her around?

“I mean, it’s not like I’m her big brother or anything, or had to weasel the answer out of her,” Ledger said as he started ranting a little. “It’s not like she didn’t have to tell me she was seeing anypony, much less getting married!”

“Ahh, I’ve been there,” Twilight nodded, putting a wing around him. “Just take deep, calming breaths and think of all the ways you want to break them.” She suddenly giggled at the irony of something. “At least the bride is supposed to be a changeling.”

Ledger started taking deeper, supposedly calming breaths as he went over how he might handle the situation tomorrow. Poorly, was the only word that could describe how all the scenarios ended. “I hope Ponyville has rampaging dragon insurance,” he muttered. “I feel like I should go there, turn into one, and then meet this stallion for intimidation factor.”

“Weeeell,” Twilight said in a drawn out tone. “We kind of do have dragon insurance after a certain incident. But, you do realise I’m not going to let you do that right?”

“Just a little?” Ledger pled. “We’re talking about the stallion that’s bucking my sister. A little intimidation is good for the soul.”

“And with what he’s been through, would you like to incur a wrath like you’ve never seen?” Twilight asked. “I don’t know the story myself, but I think you and Palette might have a lot in common.”

“We’ll just have to see,” Ledger said.

“This can’t end well,’ Scope sighed. “Oh, and I think your dinner is burning.”

“Nope, just finishing up,” Ledger said as he walked into the kitchen. “Who wants to get the others?”

“Not it!” Twilight and Scope echoed before heading into the living room.

“Dammit,” Ledger complained. Still, the casserole would have to cool before it was cut. He pulled it out with his magic and set it on the counter before he sighed and made the trek upstairs, wondering what he’d walk in on this time.

Cadence hummed a small tune as she skipped through the palace. She didn’t really know what Sugar Darling did that day, but ever since then…

Shining was… Mmmmm~

The alicorn strode into the throne room, just as a messenger pony was leaving. Mercury gave a polite bow to the princess before she zoomed off.

“Hmm? We got a message?” Cadence asked her husband. “From who?”

“Twilight,” Shining said as he cleared his throat.

“Oh? How nice,” Cadence said as she climbed up next to him and snuggled his neck. “Good news I hope? I’d hate to see if Chryssie is giving her too much trouble.”

“You are cordially invited to Twilight Sparkle’s...Wedding?!” Shining bellowed.

“W-Wedding?” Cadence blinked as a few gears turned before they self-destructed and the alicorn just stopped. “Wedding…?”

“To be held at her palace in a week’s time…” Shining just grew more and more furious. “She’s getting married, and this is how she tells me? To some…’Duke Secret-Hoarder?’ I don’t even know the guy!”

Cadence paused as she made a realisation. A horrible, terrible realisation.

“Shiny, honey?” she said quietly. “Do… Do you remember our wedding day?”

“It’s kinda hard to forget,” Shining said, still fuming. “We’d just repelled Chrysalis and repaired Canterlot, and managed to get the proper ceremony set up...why do you ask?”

Cadence gulped and nodded. “R-Remember… how Twilight found out about our wedding?”

“That would be...because I sent her...an in...vi...tation…” Shining’s eyes fell on the letter and realization dawned on his face. “She said she wouldn’t hold it against me.”

“Well, maybe, it’s a prank?” Cadence said, looking at the letter. “She has been getting rather… playful lately.”

“One thing’s for sure,” Shining grumbled. “We should pay a visit to Twilight soon. Just so we can get to the bottom of this, if nothing else.”

“I’ll start packing,” Cadence nodded and left the prince to his own thoughts. Twilight wouldn’t up and get married so suddenly like this. Right?

Bonus Chapter 3 - Pegasi, Bugs, and Violets, oh my!

“Dammit Devoted! Fly faster!” Daring screamed at her changeling guard. “It’s getting closer!!”

“I’m flying as fast as I can!” Devoted said as he trailed behind her. “I also have to try and scare this thing off! We can’t let it get too close to a Hive!”

The giant Star Scorpio was gaining on them, its massive stinger striking the ground as it narrowly missed Daring by inches. She shrieked, tumbling through the air before she managed to right herself.

“Dammit!” Devoted said as he dodged another strike. “Okay, I think I know a spell that should work! If it doesn’t, keep bucking running!” With that, he charged up as much magic as he could, converting his raw emotions into magical energy before firing a beam at the Scorpio.

The beast took the blast right in the face, causing it to crash into a nearby cliffwall. This prey was more trouble than it was worth and it turned around, skulking off to find something easier to hunt.

“Ohmigosh,” Daring panted. “That was… I thought that they only came out at night?”

“They’re supposed to,” Devoted said, panting as well. “Some of them don’t, though, and sometimes they might be restless.” Then Daring noticed a hole in Devoted’s chitin. One that was oozing slightly.

“Uhh, is that hole normal?” she asked dubiously. Devoted looked at it before his eyes widened.

“Oh buck,” he said. “It must have gotten me.”

“Okay, um, okay!’ Daring looked at him. “We should head back, get you to a hospital.”

“There’s...one in every Hive,” he said. “And we’re close to the Violet one anyways. Let’s just...get there…” He was starting to wobble a bit now. There was no way he’d make it. The monster must have had poison…

She blushed furiously and put a hoof against him. “Hold on,” she said as she positioned herself under him and lifted. He was… a lot lighter than he looked actually. She held his hooves around her neck and took to the skies, trying not to jostle him around too much.

She just hoped she could make it in time. She was no Rainbow Dash, but she might as well have been with the speed she flew…

A short time later, Daring paced around the small waiting room, hoping that she’d hear news about Devoted. An Orange nymph eventually came out and looked at her.

“Are you the one that brought Devoted Cause here?” she asked the mare. Daring turned and looked at her, nodding her head.

“Is he okay?” she asked. “Please tell me he’s going to be alright!”

“He’ll be fine with rest,” the nymph said with a nod. “You were lucky you got him here when you did. A minute later, and the poison would have progressed too far.”

Daring breathed a long held sigh of relief. “That’s good,” she said softly. “Um, is it okay if I see him?”

“He’s not conscious right now,” the nymph said. “His body is still processing the cure and recovering from the poison. He should wake up in about eight hours, and it’ll be another eight before we’ll feel safe taking him off the antidote.”

“So not until tomorrow,” Daring sighed again. “Well, do you have a spare bed I could borrow then?” She really didn't want to walk around this place without her bodyguard.

“I’m sorry, but no,” the nymph said with a shake of her head. “All ours are filled up at the moment. If there was a bed free, I would offer it to you, but we’re full up for the time being.”

“Well… the floor looks… comfy?” Daring smiled sheepishly, and looked at the nurse’s deadpan expression. “Yeah, guess I’d be in the way there…” She looked outside and gulped. Well, guess she had no choice.

Who knows, maybe Crit and Scope were just exaggerating. Yeah, that was probably it. No need to worry!

“Well, I’ll go and find someplace to stay. Should he wake up before I come back, please tell him I’ll see him soon okay?”

“I can do that,” the nymph said with a nod. “Take care out there.”

Daring nodded and opened the door to the Violet Hive. Well, she had her whip, and… well she could always fly away. They seemed to be slower than a pegasus.

“Here goes…” she muttered and headed out.

“Hey pretty mare, you looking for a good time?” a Violet drone asked Daring as she passed by. “I’m always up for showing a pretty pony around~”

She yelped and ran further down the tunnel, seriously? Not even five bucking minutes? Five minutes and somepony was hitting on her?

“Why do I get the feeling that Crit and Scope were underestimating this place?” she groaned as she came out into the central hub.

Well hey, it’s not like the only pony in the Hive would draw any attention right?

“Dat flank!” she heard from her right.

“I know!” was the reply.

“Sweet Celestia kill me now,” she sighed, her face seemingly taking a permanent pink hue as she ducked into one of the stores to look around. She really wished she’d had her cloak and sunhat now, rather than this form-fitting khaki vest. “Maybe I’ll find something interesting in here…”

She did find a book she liked. Using her crystal to check the title, it was one on how a Hive was constructed. Oohhh~

But as she took it to the counter, and she rummaged around in her bag.

“...Of course I forgot my purse,” she muttered. Then an idea formed and she looked at the shopkeep. “Um, I don’t suppose you sell those emotion-crystal-things?”

“I have a few empty ones,” he said, pulling five out and dropping them on the counter. “If you can fill these, you can have one and I’ll consider your book paid for.”

“I think I can do that,” she nodded. “Um, you might feel a bit of a rush, so you might wanna brace yourself.”

The shopkeeper arched an eyebrow before stepping back a little and waiting for whatever this pony would do. She closed her eyes and focused. Devoted said that she could emit certain emotions if her thoughts were strong enough. She knew they liked love, so she focused on something she loved. Like writing her adventures, seeing the smiles of her fans… She removed the necklace as the emotions begun to pour forth.

A certain blue-eyed stallion…

That got a much larger rush as the flood the gem held back spilled forth. There were five pinpoints of light as the crystals on the counter filled up, and the stockpile the shopkeeper was holding below the counter also started filling up as well.

This mare had just made sure he wasn’t going to starve today. The torrent was still coming, and he did his best to soak up the emotions she was letting loose.

She saw the gems shining brightly and quickly slipped the pendant back on, the dull glow sealing off the output of emotional energy.

“Um, is that enough?” she asked.

“Yes, you’ve done me quite a service,” the shopkeeper said, before pushing the lot of crystals towards her. “Take them and your book, it’s fine.”

“What, wait, really?” she asked. “I mean, it’s a bit much don’t you think?”

“I had more empty ones under the counter,” the shopkeeper said before smiling. “Had. They’re all filled now. It’s the least I could do for what you’ve done.”

“Oh... well, I didn’t mean...” Well, she certainly wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth and nodded, putting the book and crystals in her bag. “Thanks a bunch.” At least now she had something to use to pay for a room and some food as well.

“Well hello there,” a smooth voice spoke up from behind her. “What’s a pretty mare like you doing in a Hive like this?” She yelped and turned, to see a Violet drone looking at her.

Seriously. Again?

“Shopping,” she replied and tried to brush past him. “Please excuse me.”

“I can think of something I’d like for you to check out,” he said with a lascivious smirk.

Her blush brightened and she frowned. “Sorry, I’m not interested in small purchases.”

“Shot down!” the shopkeeper said. Okay, so Daring might have smirked a little over her victory. She didn’t even know where that line came from, it just popped into her head. She pushed past the stunned drone and out into the market.

“Phew… Now if I can find a hotel, I can get out of this nuthouse…” Her stomach gave a loud growl and she sighed. “Of course…”

“Psst!” she heard off from her side. She looked around and saw a Yellow Changeling looking at her.

“Urgh! It’s bad enough that all these Violets are trying to hit on me,” she muttered and turned to walk away from him.

“I know,” he said simply. “I get enough as it is. I figured you could do with a little help.”

“Waitwhat?” she turned and looked at him. Yellow was… bravery? She couldn’t remember. Just that all the crazy happened in their Hive. “What do you want exactly, and I swear if you say me in bed I’ll—”

“I just want to help,” he said, before pointing at her neck. “I saw that before you went in. Which means you’re new to the whole Violet Hive thing, and probably could do without all the attention you’re getting. Truth is, so could I. If we at least travelled together, we’d attract far less attention.”

Daring’s wings gave a slight twitch, a small tic she had when she didn’t completely trust somepony. Still… it was better than dealing with a Hive of perverts.

“Alright, but I’ve got my eye on you…? Uh, what was your name again?”

“Oh, sorry for not introducing myself,” the drone said. “I’m...you’re going to laugh at what my name means in Pony, I just know it.” And now he was looking actually embarrassed.

“It can’t be that bad,” she replied. “Trust me, I’ve heard a lot of names.”

The drone sighed before looking at her. “Lucky Bastard.”

“Huh, so you’re lucky then?” she asked. “Or lucky at getting lucky~” She clapped a hoof to her mouth and gasped. “Oooohmigosh! I did not mean that!”

“It’s the first,” the drone said. “Things that routinely wiped out platoons of my fellow soldiers, I would survive. After it happened for the fifth time against a Tatzlwurm, the name just stuck. On the upside, I’ve learned a lot of what not to do in a fight.”

“Not get in one in the first place?” Daring said as they started walking. “My friend and I got attacked by a Scorpio on the way over from the Blue Hive.” Oh, she should mention that to a guard or something right? In case it was still around.

“Yup, that was platoon wipe number three for me,” the drone said as he followed along with her. “I learned to never go into combat without a full charge of emotions from that one. My beam was the only thing to drive it off. Five of my fellows survived, and we were all reassigned.”

Geez, how dangerous was it around here? And how many Changelings did they lose on a regular basis?

“You uh, seem rather relaxed about that though,” she replied softly, hoping she hadn’t offended him.

“I’m just happy any of us survived that one,” the drone said with a sigh. “The Yellow Hive isn’t known for it’s high survival rate. Then again, maybe if they didn’t actively go after every monster...still, somebuggy has to try and make it safer around here. If not us, who?”

“Well,” Daring thought about it. “Have you ever tried asking Equestria for help? Or the Griffons? I’m sure Princess Celestia and especially Princess Twilight would help out however they could.”

“Think about it,” the drone said. “If you drive the monsters from our Lands...where will they go?”

“Equestria,” she said, knowing it was the closest. “But, we have our own, when they’re not locked up in Tartarus or the Everfree Forest.”

“Maybe you should mention it to the Nobles when you can,” the drone said. “By the way, where were we going?”

“Well, I wouldn’t mind a bite to eat,” she replied. “Oh! My name is Daring Do, by the way.” She held out a hoof.

“Just call me Lucky,” he said as he shook her hoof. “Okay, nearest restaurant is this-a-way,” he said, before leading her down another street.

Lucky was quite a nice stallion, and she noticed that not a single Violet had approached since she started walking with him.

“So… do Violets not like Yellows or something?” she asked.

“No, they just figure you’re taken already,” the drone replied.

That caused her to pause and blush a deep crimson. “But...but we’re not... “ She swooned and promptly fell backwards, her twitching ear the only sign she was still alive. Lucky paused before doubling back and putting her on his back, before continuing on to the restaurant. With any luck, she’d wake up before it was time to eat.

By the time she awoke, she groaned and looked around.

Why was she at a table?

Why was a Yellow Changeling sitting across from her?

Why was he eating a breadstick?

“....what?” she groaned and rubbed her head. “I think… where the hell am I?”

“Nearest restaurant,” the drone said as he kept munching the breadstick. “You passed out and I carried you here. Your pasta in red sauce should be out shortly.”

She stared at him, before a serious case of the giggles broke out as the mare doubled over, her cute giggles erupting into full-blown laughter.

“Aaaand I missed something,” the drone said.

She was laughing so hard that she couldn’t breathe, but after a few moments, she calmed down enough to speak.

“Hahehehe! Ah.. hee, I’m sorry,” she giggled, wiping some tears from her eyes. “It’s just… heh… a girl faints, and what do you do? You take her out to dinner and buy her a meal.”

“You said you wanted something to eat,” the drone said with a shrug. “I was just doing my best to help.”

“I know, and thanks,” she said as she took a few deep breaths. “I just found it funny is all. And, I guess I’m worried about my friend. So sorry for that.”

“Eh, it’s fine,” Lucky said. “It’s better than the nymphs here cooing adorably when I try to return fire. I can take laughter.”

“Heh, I suppose.” She looked back towards the shop, well, in the direction she assumed it was. “I wonder if I should apologise to that stallion from earlier. I didn’t mean to insult him like that. It just… slipped out.”

“Sometimes they need a more forceful ‘no’ to shut them down,” the drone said. “It’ll be fine.” Just then a green drone walked over and delivered two bowls of pasta to Lucky and Daring.

“Oh, thank you,” Daring nodded and fished around in her bag until she pulled out one of the five brightly glowing pink crystals. “Will this be enough to cover the food?”

“I already paid,” Lucky said as he picked up a fork with his magic. “Though, thank you for trying.”

“What, but you carried me here,” she said. And now she realised he could just have easily dragged her into a dark alley and…

Okay! Totally derailing that train of thought.

“Well, I insist on paying for the drinks then,” Daring nodded.

“Covered as well,” the drone said with a small smirk. “What sort of coltfriend would I be if I made you pay?” Though he did cough a little around the word, the message was clear as to what sort of image he was trying to project.

She just blushed again and lowered her head. “Yeah… okay, sure…” Gods above this was embarrassing. Lucky just ate his pasta and raised an eyebrow at the mare.

Food. Yeah, food was good. She just focused on eating that and nothing else! Definitely not the charming and surprisingly handsome changeling opposite her…

Suffocating herself with this pasta seemed like a good idea now…

“Whoa, slow down,” Lucky said. “The idea is to eat it, not inhale it.”

Daring just grumbled as she ate her food. She solely and utterly blamed Scope and Critical for this. Ohh, the letter she was going to send them!

“Look, I promise you, I’m just looking out for the both of us,” Lucky said. “There was a...study, done by the Oranges recently. And once the Violets heard about it…”

“Study?” she perked up, looking at him expectantly. Now he had her attention.

“Yeah, they were looking to see which, out of all the colors, would be the most...productive. And the Violets lost. Apparently though they are the Hive of Lust, they’re second place when it comes to...foaling.” Lucky was now a nice shade of red in his cheeks. “Yellows won. And once the nymphs here heard about it...suddenly I’m a hot topic.”

Daring couldn’t help it. She poked out her tongue cheekily and smiled. “Just your luck huh?”

“Yeah, but I’m still getting used to the whole equality movement myself,” Lucky moaned. “It’s...weird being allowed to say no to a nymph. Plus I’ve…” Here he looked away and mumbled something.

“Hmm, what was that?” Daring was eating and figured she misheard. Lucky sighed before speaking up.

“There wasn’t time to try anything with any of the nymphs in my squads,” the drone said. “And once I got my name, none of them wanted anything to do with me. They think I’m either incredibly unlucky, or my luck is the only reason I’m alive, not my skill.”

“Ouch,” Daring winced and looked apologetic. “Sorry, well… if it’s any consolation. I’m in the same boat, floating down the River Loneliness.”

“Yeah, well, we can be lonely together,” the drone said, before chuckling. “I mean, unless you wanted to attend the night’s party.”

“Well, I came here for Devoted’s sake, and nearly got him killed in the process.” Daring sighed and stared at her half-eaten food. “Some friend I turned out to be. All I wanted was to give him some time off from foalsitting me in this Celestia-forsaken place!” She was stressed, annoyed and most of all, feeling guilty as buck about the whole thing. “And now I’m on some date with a stallion I barely know, and I feel bad that I’m enjoying myself while he’s suffering.”

“I’m sorry for him,” Lucky said. “But at least the Oranges have had the antidote to almost every poisonous creature in the Lands for centuries now. He’ll make it. Short of a detached limb, those ‘lings can fix anything.” Then he processed the other half of her words and blushed. “And...thanks for at least...seeing it as a date…”

Now it was the pegasi’s turn to blush as she realised what she’d said in the spur of the moment. “W-Well,” she started, rationalising more to herself than anypony else. “You brought me here. Wined and dined me. We’re having a pleasant conversation. So.. doesn’t that quantify? I’ve never… been on one before…”

Lucky got his blush under control before he tried a bold move. One that, if it were a combat situation, would either end wonderfully or terribly. “You know what you need?” he asked. “You need to unwind and relax. I’d say the party tonight would be the perfect chance to do so.”

“I don’t know…” Daring nibbled on her cooling food. Sure, she’d gone to after parties and premiers and the like. As well as that cutesy one a crazy pink mare in Ponyville threw for her. But, she had the distinct feeling that a party here wasn’t anything like the high-class events she was used to.

“C’mon, you know you want to see what it’s like,” the drone said. “Sakes, I’ve been avoiding going to one myself because I’d end up going alone and I’d rather avoid the nymphs. But if we went to one together instead of sat it out, and left before things got too...steamy, then we’d at least have a good time.”

Honestly, she could use a drink after today. And, she could always scope the place out for Devoted. She was just going to let him go on his own while she stayed at a hotel or something…

“Fine… alright. Just, lemme get a hotel room first so I can put some of my things away.”

“I’ll go with you, just so I know where it is,” Lucky said. “We kinda need to keep playing the role, but we can ask for one with two beds.”

“Cute as you are, I dunno if I’ll share a room with you,” she replied. “I highly doubt a hotel manager will spread the word.” She got up and adjusted her hat. “Well, shall we?”

“Yup,” Lucky said as he got up as well. “I actually know of a hotel nearby, I’ll lead you there.”

Daring nodded and followed the stallion. Well, at least this visit wasn’t turning out too badly…

Daring’s eye twitched as she looked at the room. Particularly the mirrored ceiling above the only bed and the plethora of red and violet silk that adorned the bedroom. A bathroom was off to one side, which the glass doors allowed a perfect line of view into the shower, and a familiar-looking book lay on the nightstand.

“The… the hell is this?” she said in a slow and scarily calm tone.

“Probably their most popular room,” Lucky said from just outside the door. “Especially on nights like this one. He probably expects you to bring some lucky stallion or drone back here…”

“Nopony will ever find the body,” Daring whispered as she turned and started heading for the front desk.

“Ooooor, you could stay with me,” the drone said. “Got their last room with two beds just in case you changed your mind.”

“I feel all sorts of violated in a room like this,” she replied. “You know what, bunking with you is a far better idea.” She turned and pointed a hoof at him. “Just don’t get any funny ideas.”

“I’ll be on my best behavior,” he said with an upraised hoof. “C’mon, my room is this way.” He led her just a short ways away, and opened the door to reveal a standard two-bedroom apartment. “Choose whatever bed you want,” he said.

Well this was far more normal. She picked the bed furthest away from the window and placed her bags on it, tilting her head until her neck gave a satisfying crack. “Ahh, much better,” she sighed as she took off her hat and jacket as well before stretching her wings.

“Yup, just don’t remove your accessories and if you’ve got a camera, bring it,” the drone said. “The pictures might be one of the few ways you’ll have to remember tonight.”

“I don’t plan on getting drunk,” Daring laughed, but took her emptier bag regardless. “Unless you want me to take photos of you making a foal of yourself? I could even do a book on it~”

“You say that now,” Lucky said. “But I haven’t told you the best part about tonight yet.”

“Best part?” she asked, a little hesitant now.

“Once a month, the Violets throw a party like this. They don’t tax their breweries, and for good reason. Tonight, all across the Hive, the liquor is free.”

Daring blinked as she considered the ramifications of that. An entire Hive of perverts and no limit or cost on alcohol. She promptly turned and sat on her bed, pulling out the book she bought earlier.

“No way, and no how, are you getting me to go anywhere near the exit of this building.” She nodded adamantly.

Outside the club, a scowling pegasus stood next to the Yellow drone.

“Just know that no matter what happens tonight, I bucking hate you,” she grumbled.

“I’m pretty sure you’d hate yourself more if you didn’t see this,” Lucky said. “I’m just lucky I overheard this earlier today, otherwise there would have been no moving you.”

“You’re just lucky you know the Noble and that I want to speak with them. Then I’m gone,” Daring said as she stepped up to the door where two very large drones stood.

“We’re here for the party,” Lucky said, and they gave them both the once over before one of them stood to one side. The other cleared his throat.

“Any trouble, and we will toss you out, understood?” he said, clearly trying to intimidate them.

“Got it,” Lucky replied. Daring stifled a snort of amusement. They reminded her of the goons she wrote about in her books. It was absolutely adorable.

Inside, it was a typical club scene that one would expect from Las Pegasus, just...adapted to the Changeling Hive. There was even a stage and a pole.

“Huh? It looks… surprisingly pony-like in here,” Daring noted as she wrote it down and snapped a quick photo for reference. “I was expecting something… I dunno, more exotic I guess.”

“Yeah, the Queen made this place after her niece wrote about the success she was having,” Lucky said. “Said she wanted to honor her family, even if they weren’t here anymore. C’mon, let’s grab a table.”

Daring nodded as they found a corner booth that could offer some privacy if needed. It was fairly close to the bar as well, so no need to travel through a horde of pony… changelings to get a drink.

“Well, it seems pretty quiet here so far,” Daring nodded. “I wonder if it’ll get busier than this.”

“We got here really early,” the drone pointed out. “The party is supposed to start just when the sun goes down. So...half an hour or so. I’m guessing that’s when the show starts as well.”

“Hello!” a Violet nymph said. “Hi, and welcome to Darlings’, you can call me Sweetie, I’ll be your waitress tonight!”

Daring nodded. “I’m Daring, this is Lucky. Think you could start us off with water for now?”

“Not a problem, I’ll be right back with that,” the nymph said before walking back to the bar. Not a minute later, she was putting two glasses of water in front of her customers. “Anything else I can getcha? Appetizers?”

“We just ate, so we’re fine thanks,” Daring said and looked at Lucky. “Unless you want some?”

“I’m good for now,” the drone said with a nod. “Though thank you for offering.”

“Not a problem!” the nymph said. “I’ll be back after the party starts, so if you have anything you want to try then, I’ll take your order then.”

Daring nodded as the nymph left. She and Lucky shared some idle conversation as the club slowly filled and after about half an hour, it was getting pretty packed. The lights dimmed as a few spotlights shone on the stage.

“Hmm? Now what?” Daring asked as she peered over the wall of the booth.

“Nymphs and drones and ponies, please look to the stage and get ready to welcome the leader of the hive...Queen Soft-as-Silk!” an announcer said as the curtain pulled back to reveal a Violet Noble nymph. Said nymph walked forward a few paces before smiling at the crowd.

“As is tradition,” she said in a, what else, silky smooth voice. “I am here to start our monthly party to all things worth celebrating. But first, a moment of silence for those that we have lost in our constant efforts to tame the wilderness around us.”

Silence fell in the club for about thirty seconds, and then the nymph nodded. “Thank you. As we honor the fallen, we drink to tomorrow and a dream we constantly strive for. A day when we can walk the surface freely. And today, I have something special for you all.”

The crowd murmured at that. Something special? The queen smiled at them before the barkeeper levitated a barrel up from behind the bar to rest with the rest.

“My niece in Equestria says she has a drink for us to try, so at this bar tonight, I offer you the fine drink she brewed us and offers us. Mood-Setter, she calls it. I ask you all to test her contribution to our traditions.”

The queen took a step backwards and bowed. “And with that, I declare this party on!” The last part was nearly roared, and the patrons joined her in that, before they all rushed the bar trying to get their free drinks. And try out this new one.

“Hmm, that drink sounds familiar somehow,” Daring mused. “And what did she mean by ‘walk around freely’? Haven’t you guys heard?”

“She’s talking about how we can’t always count on the surface and it’s creatures to allow us to get between Hives easily,” Lucky pointed out. “Don’t you have a friend in the hospital?”

“Oh, I thought she might have meant Equestria,” Daring replied. “You know, I’m surprised that you guys just don’t build tunnels that connect them.”

“The Hives don’t always get along,” Lucky muttered. “It’s been a hundred years since the last inter-Hive war. But tensions are still high after that equality measure passed. Maybe if we make it another hundred, they’ll consider it.”

“Ah,” Daring nodded and drained her water before waving Sweetie over. “Well, I’m sure you’ll get there.”

“Hi again!” the nymph said as she bounced over. “So do you guys wanna try any of our drinks tonight?”

“I’ll try this Mood Setter,” Lucky said. “If a relative of the Queen made it, it should be good.”

“That’s a popular line of thinking tonight,” the nymph giggled before looking at Daring. “And you?”

Daring thought it over. “Well, you only live once. Why not.”

“Two Mood Setters? Alrighty, but it might take me a minute, that drink’s pretty popular right about now.” With that, Sweetie was gone again. And then silence descended in the club as a tall figure made her way over to Daring’s table. One they’d just seen on stage.

“Well hello there, honored guest,” the Noble nymph purred as she drew closer to them. “Could you introduce me to your...companion? He’s not who I was expecting…”

“Ah, hello Your Majesty,” Daring said and bowed her head respectfully, the silver key clinking against her amulet. “And, yes, this is Lucky. He was kind enough to help me out while my friend recovers in your hospital.” Not to mention he’s been the only one so far that hasn’t hit on her.

“I see, how unfortunate that your guide got injured. He’ll recover, yes?” the nymph asked of Daring.

“Well, the nurse said he should be awake by tomorrow. I’m just glad he fended off the Star Beast when he did…”

“What one was it?” the queen asked idly. “We have more than a few that might have been responsible...though I think I might know.”

“A Scorpio, I believe that’s what Devoted Cause called it,” Daring said with a soft sigh. “It was bigger than a house, and meaner than a Hydra in Heat.”

“I thought so,” the queen said with a nod. “The guard reported that a very angry Scorpio actually left our territory as they were mustering up a defense force to deal with it. I apologize for the lack of response on my part. Rest assured, I will be informing my guards why speed is needed once tomorrow comes.”

“Well, he’s going to be fine, so there’s that,” Daring nodded and licked her lips. The Queen was rather imposing for some reason. She seemed soft-spoken and polite, but her eyes held a dangerous glint to them. Yearling was rather good at reading ponies, and something told her to be careful around this mare.

“There is a reason why the King assigned him to you,” the Queen said with a nod. “Do take care with him, won’t you? He’s one of the best guards.” With that, the Violet Noble nodded once more and walked off into the night, to enjoy the sensations of her Hive tonight.

“Well, I’m gonna say it for you,” Lucky said once she was gone. “She’s bucking terrifying up close.”

“So I’m not the only one,” Daring muttered, trying to calm her racing heart, her gem glowing to contain the fear she’d felt. “Yeah… could really use that drink right about now…”

“Hiya!” Sweetie said as she appeared with their drinks in her magical grasp. “I got your drinks done in the lull, so I figured I’d come over when you weren’t busy anymore!”

“Thanks,” Daring said, taking the drink with a shaky hoof and knocking the entire thing back with a single gulp. Ooh, fruity~

“I’ll have another” she said, not noticing the gem around her neck glowing a little brighter.

“Not a problem, we’ve got plenty,” Sweetie said as she looked at Lucky, who’d mimicked her actions and sighed.

“Yeah, I could do with another myself,” the drone said. “Meeting the Queen...is something else.”

“Two more, coming right up!” the nymph said before trotting off.

“Uh, Daring, your necklace is sorta...glowing,” the drone said once the nymph was gone. “You doing okay?”

“Huh?” she looked down at it and tilted her head. “I dunno, it seems to do that every now and then. Maybe it needs to cool down.” Without any deeper thoughts, she slipped it off of her neck and set it on the table, the glow dying off...And unleashing her pent-up emotions all over the place. The Changelings there sighed as the nova was unleashed, drinking their fill of the mare’s emotions before they went back to just drinking.

“Wow,” Lucky said. “That thing is the reason I couldn’t really feel your emotions?”

“Yeah, Princess Twilight did some magicky stuff with it,” she replied, her emotions an interesting blend of happiness and satisfaction, with some underlying tones of lust and fear. She felt… weirdly placid for some reason. Meeting that Queen really threw her out of whack.

“You shouldn’t wear it so much, you might wear it out,” the drone pointed out. “Maybe take it off at night or something?”

“I do, but it seemed to overload pretty quick this time,” Daring said as she rolled the jewel around in her hooves. It was a little warm to the touch. “I don’t think I could handle meeting more than one of your Royals at a time.”

“Not all of them are like that,” the drone defended himself. Just then, Sweetie returned with their drinks.

“And here you two are, two more Mood Setters!” the nymph chirped.

“Thanks Sweets,” Daring said with a small giggle as she sipped at the drink. “Mm, this is pretty tasty~”

“Yeah, this stuff is pretty good,” the drone said as he nursed his, sipping it occasionally.

“Thanks!” the nymph said. “I’m gonna pop over to some other tables then, you two flag me down if you need anything else, okay?”

Daring sipped her drink and giggled as she ran a wingtip along the nymphs flank. “Sure thing cutie~” The nymph just giggled and skipped off, leaving Daring alone with Lucky.

“Somepony’s frisky,” the drone pointed out.

“What? I’m just being friendly,” Daring replied and sipped at this delicious drink. Some music started and she grinned. “We should totally dance!” She downed the rest of her drink and grabbed his hoof. “Come on, let’s par-tay!!”

Lucky followed suit and followed her onto the dance floor, now that he was fortified with liquid courage. Not like he needed it in the first place, but it was the thought that counted.

Turns out that Daring was actually a rather good dancer, and now that she wasn’t weighed down by her bags and jacket, she was a surprisingly slim mare. She had muscle in all the right places as she shook that tight flank on the dance floor, giggling and smiling. Lucky did his best to restrain himself, but he couldn’t help but get a little close to the mare and bump flanks with her, to test the waters.

Hey, making stupid, yet right moves, was his modus operandi at this point.

She just smiled and bumped his back, before she flew into the air and pulled off some nice pegasi moves, using her wings like fans as she slowly twisted and turned. Lucky followed her into the air and did his best to dance with her like his kind did, darting around her and trying to stay in her line of sight as his hooves…

Well, his hooves might have strayed a little, but nothing perverse or obscene took place. He did want to see how firm that flank was, after all.

Ohh, it was nice and tight. Though she did give him a playful slap with one of her hooves before grinning and pulling away. He chittered a little and stayed a respectful distance away from her, sufficiently chastised for his actions, but still wanting to touch her more.

Her rose-coloured eyes were intoxicating, and he could feel her Lust grow, now uninhibited by the amulet, left forgotten on the table. She flew past him, swiveling to return his gesture as he felt her hooves glide across his flank. She then gave him a flick with her tail and glided back to the booth. Lucky flitted back into his seat, and now that one aerial dance had taken place, the club buzzed into activity as more started happening as well.

Meanwhile, the drone was being bold. “Uh...Daring...I wanna ask you a question and not have you hate me for it,” he said. “Can I...kiss you?”

She paused, not having heard him properly over the loud music. “What?”

“Can I kiss you?” he asked louder. She blinked and tilted her head. He wanted to what? She grabbed her glass and went to drink from it, only to find it empty.

“Um, why?” she asked.

“Cause, you’re the first pretty mare to actually show an interest in me, and I’ve...never kissed anybuggy or anypony before. I’d like to kiss somepony that I like…” The drone’s sentence trailed off before he sighed. “Yeah, that sounds like a dumb reason-” He was silenced as Daring placed her lips lightly against his for a second, before she pulled back and blushed brightly.

“...Y’know, I kinda liked it,” he said, licking his lips.

“That…” she stammered as she realised what she just did. “That was… my first…”

“Mine too,” the drone said. “Though...I wouldn’t be adverse to more…”

Daring considered it as she slipped her pendant back on. It wouldn’t do to lose something so shiny. And when it fell around her neck and glowed, she blinked as she was brought back to a sense of clarity and she realised what she’d done, her face erupted into a blush and she hid under the table, too embarrassed to come back up. That was, until Lucky pulled her into the booth seat right next to him and gently pecked her cheek, not willing to stop his affections or leave her under there for very long.

“B-B-But… we… we barely know… one another,” she blushed harder, trying to put a little space between them.

“True, but I’m willing to find out anything you’re willing to share,” the drone muttered into her ear. Daring let out a small noise, kind of like a balloon deflating before she grabbed the rest of his drink and downed it, trying to calm herself down a little…

“Sweetie, two more,” the drone said to the passing waitress, who merely nodded and winked at them. “So why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself,” Lucky said to Daring, scooting a little closer so their hooves were touching. She seemed to flinch a little as her gem glowed again, but she didn’t move away.

“W-Well, for one… my name isn’t Daring,” she said with a soft sigh. “It’s Yearling. Daring is just a character I write about… and she’s everything I’m not.”

“It’s good to have goals to aim for,” the drone said. “Lets you know that there’s more to do in the world yet.”

“It’s hardly a goal,” Yearling scoffed and sighed. “Daring is brave, resourceful and amazing… I’m… well, not. Daring can do anything she sets her mind to. I have trouble deciding what to have for breakfast in the morning…”

“Nopony is perfect,” the drone pointed out. “Just because you’re not exactly the pony you write about, doesn’t make you any less amazing. I’m sure you’ve done plenty of things that others wouldn’t. Like coming to the Lands!”

“Only because I seem to be crazy,” she said softly. “I’ve seemed to have caused nothing but trouble since I got here. I’ve been given gifts and boons I don’t deserve. I nearly got my friend killed, your Nobles scare the bucking hay out of me and now I have you here wasting your time with me when you could be out with any other mare, nymph… whatever.”

“I hardly think of it as a waste, I’m keeping you from being hit on by all the other ‘lings,” the drone protested. “And the fact that both of you managed to get away from a Scorpio is amazing. The Queen scared me as well, you know. All in all, you sound like a perfectly reasonable pony. Not some sort of sad-sack that needs to feel sorry for herself.”

“I’m not feeling sorry for myself,” Yearling replied curtly. “I’m perfectly happy with myself, I’m one of the most famous authors in Equestria, I have countless adoring fans, more than half would give their legs to be in your position right now.” She snorted and gave a small nod. “You should feel honoured.”

“Sitting next to a pretty pony? A’course I do,” the drone said as he pecked her cheek with another kiss. That was about when Sweetie came back with their third round, before giving them a knowing smile and walking off to see to her other guests.

“What was she looking so smug about?” Yearling muttered as she sipped her drink. “And stop kissing me without permission.”

“Only if you admit there’s a chance I’d get it if I asked,” the drone said as he started in on his drink.

“Get what?” Yearling replied, nursing her glass close.

“Permission,” the drone explained. “Otherwise, the feeling of kissing you is too good to just pass up.”

She just snorted and sipped her drink again, her face red. “You're just as incorrigible as the purple ones.”

“Nah, they want to buck you,” Lucky said. “I just wanna kiss you...and don’t think I didn’t feel those hooves on my chitin when we were on the dancefloor, miss Yearling.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied, folding her forelegs and pouting. Her mind buzzed and she had the feeling that she might have had too much to drink.

“Admit it, you touched my flank,” the drone said. “S’okay, I sorta touched yours first.”

“Wait, youdidwhatnow?” She said in a loud whisper and blushed a deep crimson. “I knew it. You are a pervert.”

“Nah, it just looked too fine to not touch,” the drone said. “But I promise to get your permission before I do anything. Fer example...may I kiss you again?”

Her blush seemed to be permanent by this point, she sighed and turned her head, presenting her cheek to him.

“That wasn’t a yes,” he observed before he drank a bit more of his drink.

“Rrr, alright, fine,” she replied in a slightly irritable tone. “Do whatever you want.”

“Be careful what you wish for~” Lucky said before kissing her again. She just frowned and sipped at her drink once more.

“I think I’ll switch to water now,” she replied. “S’getting hard to think…”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” the drone agreed. “I dunno what this drink is made of, but it’s good and easy to get lost in.”

Yearling nodded and ran a hoof through her mane. She was getting a little warm now. Probably from all the… ohsweetcelestia! She pointed at two Changelings doing… something nearby.

“W-w-w-what are they doing. In public!”

“Wow, guess this stuff really works!” Lucky said. “Yeah, more often than not, that happens at these parties. I was gonna suggest we go back soon to avoid it, but I guess it happened a bit sooner than I thought it would. I’m all for going back to the hotel if you are...” He turned to look at Yearling, only to see the pegasus mare running out of the door, a small spinning crystal on the table as a tip for Sweetie.

“Welp, guess I better go as well,” the drone said. “If only to make sure she makes it back there.” With that, he was off after his temporary roommate.

Chapter 85 - He's seen worse

“For the last time, Twilight, I will not harm this stallion. My sister wouldn’t forgive me if I did,” Ledger said as they appeared in Ponyville.

“Well, doesn’t hurt to be safe,” she replied, having cast a lock spell on his transformation. He would only be able to shift from his unicorn form and his true form. Though it required a constant upkeep to cast. Celestia had taught it to her when she agreed to look after Chrysalis.

It didn’t take long to reach her castle. She would have teleported straight there, but wanted to give Ledger some time to think, and Critical time to prepare. “So, think you can behave yourself?” she asked her stallion.

“Reasonably sure,” Ledger said with a nod of his head. “Though I don’t know why you had to ground me from all other forms. I wasn’t seriously gonna turn into a dragon. That’s intensive, even for me.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and cancelled the spell. “Fine, but you’d better be good, or Midnight isn’t the only mare you won’t be sleeping with.” She opened the doors and they entered the castle, the alicorn almost instantly assaulted by Spike as he hugged her.

“Hey, you’re back late. I thought you were coming home last night?”

“I got… distracted,” Twilight blushed slightly. “Is anypony mad?”

“Nah, though I think Critical and Mom were trying to see who could out do one another in a TMI contest.”

“Sis is like that,” Ledger said as he walked up. “She’s not ashamed to pull out any detail if she thinks it’ll win her an argument.”

“Yeah, it’s a good thing Palette and I beat a hasty retreat. I don’t want to know what they said after we left.”

“Where did you go?” Twilight asked as they headed towards the living room.

“Just out with Big Mac and the Doc, oh, and Thunderlane as well. We had a guys night. It was awesome. Oh, and I recruited them for your bachelor’s bash Ledger dude.”

“Joy,” Ledger deadpanned. “Because what I needed was more stallions throwing a party for me.”

“Aw come on, it’ll be fun,” Spike said. “And seriously, do you actually have any friends aside from Fredrick?”

“...Fair point, let’s just hope they don’t ask any questions I’d be uncomfortable answering. Now where is Palette, I’d like to talk to him.”

In response, somepony cleared their throat as they entered the room. Critical was sitting undisguised next to a crystal stallion, though he didn’t have his usual gleam. Too much time outside the Empire could dull it.

Critical’s expression said one thing.

‘Hurt him and I break you!’

“Sis!” Ledger said before walking up to her and doing his best to ignore the murderous glare she was giving him. “Been too long. Hug?”

She did so, though at such close range, he could hear the growl in her throat.

“So…” Palette spoke up. “This is the brother kiddo?”

“Yes, and if he knows what’s good for him, he’ll be civil,” Critical grumbled, before whispering into Ledger’s ear. “Or else I won’t be. And there’s plenty of farmland for hiding bodies.”

“Such a charmer, my sister,” Ledger said, patting her on the back before letting her go. “Probably explains why you fell for her, huh?” The drone directed his question to the crystal stallion.

“Nah, she just kept bugging me,” Palette chuckled. “But her persistence paid off huh?”

“I’d say so,” Critical said, her mood brightening slightly.

“So what’s this I hear about a marriage?” Ledger asked with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

“Well, you heard right,” he replied, seemingly unfazed. “If your eyes are working right, then you’ll see that shiny ring around her horn.”

“I did see that,” Ledger said as his eyes flicked over to his sister’s horn. “So, the both of you are serious about this, then?”

“It wasn’t what I intended when I went up to the Empire, searching for the artist that sold you that picture, but I’m certainly not going to turn it down now,” Critical said as she hugged her stallion.

“And getting married again was the last thing I intended to do,” Palette nodded and returned her hug. “But she brought light back to my life. I love her and I’ll be damned if I’ll ever let her go, no matter what nopony says.”

Ledger sat there for a moment as he gauged the stallion, before sighing. “Y’know, I would do the whole ‘you break her heart, I break yours,’ thing. But something tells me, that’s the last thing on your mind.”

“Boy, a while ago, I would have replied with ‘I don’t have a heart to break’.” Palette sat down and hugged Critical closer. “She gave me back something I thought I lost forever…”

“Then all I ask is that you take care of her,” Ledger said. “She may be an ornery, stubborn nymph at times, but she’s still my sister.”

“And you may be an argumentative jackass of a drone, but you’re still my older brother,” Critical replied, looking to Twilight. “I know I’m asking a lot, but can you make sure he doesn’t do anything idiotic?”

“That’s a pretty tall order, given that I have to look after Midnight as well,” Twilight replied and looked at Ledger. “But I promise that I’ll take good care of him.”

“And suddenly, I am concerned,” Ledger said aloud.

“Why’s that?” Twilight replied as she moved over next to him. “Because your little sister and your super-powerful alicorn wife-to-be are bonding?”

“Yup, that’d do it,” Ledger said with a nod. “I mean, you read my book. You know how we didn’t get along.”

“Wow, he let you read his book?” Critical said as she looked at Twilight.

“He didn’t have a choice, Scope stole it, and I memorised it,” Twilight said and then realised something. “Also, I maaaay have given some information out of it to another pony.”

“What?” Ledger asked, now looking at Twilight. “You didn’t mention that.”

“None of your personal stuff, I promise,” Twilight responded, waving her hooves. “Just some info on the Hives themselves, since a friend was going to visit them.”

“I think somepony’s in trouble,” Palette whispered to Critical.

“Shh, it’s about to get good,” Critical whispered back.

“You...told a pony. Where the Hives are.” Oh dear, that twitch was back.

“Well, she’s been there for couple of days now. I believe your mother said she’d help her out…” Twilight explained and looked at him. “And why are you twitching like that? Did you forget your morning coffee?”

“Oh no, it’s fine!” Ledger said with a bit of forced cheer. “You just divulged one of the things keeping us hidden and safe to another pony. Why wouldn’t I be happy about that!”

“Ledger, calm down,” Twilight said sternly. “She’s not going to go to war with you. She just wants to see how the Hives work. And maybe even show ponies that we’re not all that different. I highly doubt Miss Yearling will do anything to compromise the safety of your home.”

The drone took a few deep, calming breaths, and Critical sighed. “Aww, show’s over already?”

“Apparently,” Palette nodded and looked at Twilight. “She’s good.”

“Yeah, she calmed Ledger down before he could properly rant,” Critical said. “Never seen that before.”

“She’s good at doing that,” a voice said as a pair of chocolate-coloured hooves wrapped around Critical’s neck. Midnight giggled as she kissed her cheek. “Hello Critty~”

“Hello Midnight,” Critical said. “When did you get here?”

“Aww, I couldn’t scare you either?” Midnight sighed. She looked over at Ledger and pouted. “I blame you for me not being scary anymore!”

“You should really blame our sister,” Critical said. “There are just things you lose when you grow up with a Pink. Like being easily scared or startled. Otherwise, you’d go mental.”

“Aww, that’s why I can’t scare Twilight, cause Pinkie already broke her,” Midnight pouted again. “Well, I’m bored, I’m gonna go home now.” She gave a flap of her wings and took off as Palette finally calmed down from the mild heart attack that the bat-like mare had given him.

“What… the buck… was that?” he gasped.

“Midnight Song, on a good day,” Ledger said with a smile. “What I don’t get is why she didn’t ask Twilight to teleport her back.”

Twilight’s horn glowed for a second and she smiled. “There we go, one bat delivered to… somewhere in Las Pegasus. My aim is a little off from this far away.”

Midnight lay on Sugar Darling’s bed, staring up at the ceiling.

“Well… this is interesting,” she said to herself.

“Very much so,” she heard as the full form of Sugar Darling rose up from the covers. Midnight looked over and nodded.

“I’m going to be honest… I have no idea how I got here.”

“Ordinarily I would entertain the notion of entertaining you, but I am a married nymph now,” the Noble Violet said.

“Yeah,” Moondancer replied, cuddling the bat. “Still, can I keep her? I promise to feed and water her, and take her for walkies.”

“Moondancer, we don’t keep other ponies as pets,” Sugar said. “That’s my job, and I’ve already got my hooves full with you.”

“Didn’t stop that colt from filling something else the other night,” Moondancer giggled as Midnight returned her hug. “But seriously Middy, care to explain how you teleported here?”

“Twilight.”

“And now I’m not surprised anymore,” Moondancer said. “Wanna do breakfast?”

“Yup.”

Moondancer leaned across and kissed Sugar on the cheek. “Wanna come?”

“Wasn’t that what we were doing before we were interrupted?” she asked.

“Ohh yeah,” Moondancer looked at Midnight “Ten… no, thirty minutes?”

The thestral giggled and kissed both of them on the cheek, whispered something to Sugar about Moondancer’s horn and tracing the grooves in it and left them be. She was gonna go see if Amy wanted to play for a bit.

“Whaaaat did she tell you?” Moondancer said, a hint of worry in her voice. She never trusted that kind of grin on the bat’s face.

“Oh, why don’t you come over here and find out?” Sugar asked.

“Eh, I’m sure she’s fine,” Twilight shrugged. “Now, are you done grilling your sister’s fiance?”

“I suppose so,” Ledger sighed. “Still, it’s early yet. I might just take a quick walk around the town before I ask you to send me back.”

“Fair enough, just beware the Pinkie,” Twilight nodded as a thought occured. “I do hope Miss Yearling doesn’t say anything to your mother.”

“Like...what?” Ledger said before leaving entirely. “What could she say that you’d rather she didn’t?”

“Well, she knows about the wedding, Critical invited her after all, and I invited her to ours. Crit? Did you tell your Mom about your engagement yet?”

“Nooooot yet,” Critical said with a shake of her head. “Mom can be...scary when she’s riled up.”

“Well… I doubt she’d say anything unless she was asked… you did tell Yearling to keep it a secret for now, yes?”

“I...might have forgotten to mention that,” Critical said as she tapped her forehooves together.

“Well,” Twilight replied and giggled lightly. “What’s the worst that could happen huh?”

Ledger and Critical both looked at Twilight, before the drone of the pair walked out the door. “I’m going to go deal with Pinkie, it’s safer than answering your question,” Ledger called out over his shoulder.

“You...really don’t want the answer to that, Twilight,” Critical said with a shake of her head.

“Huh?” Twilight blinked. Then she remembered her encounter with the Silver Mistress. She looked at Palette and shook her head. “I’m sorry…”

Palette looked between both mares and blinked. “Alright, explain. What is so scary about this mother of yours?”

“I’m sure you’ll find out when she arrives,” Critical said with a shake of her head. “She’s...an experience.”

“Well, so are you and I do just fine,” Palette nodded. He doubted she could be all that bad. Hell, he’d met Princesses!

“Mom is worse. Oh so much worse,” Critical said with a shake. “She’s nice to us, but...talking to her is like trying to navigate the Lands at night back home. If you’re not careful, something you hadn’t thought to look out for will just ambush you.”

“We’ll see,” Palette nodded and looked at Twilight. “So, what do we do now? It’s still a week before your wedding right? Is everything planned?”

Wedding?

Oh right, her wedding.

...Twilight’s eyes widened as she rocketed off, screaming something about checklists and plans.

“Well that worked to distract her,” Critical snickered as she hugged Palette. “Seriously, I’m afraid for you when mom next visits now.”

“Why? I’m not going anywhere,” he replied and kissed her forehead. “I meant what I said you know. Nopony is gonna keep me from you.”

“Good, let’s just hope you keep that attitude when she eventually shows up,” Critical said as she just kept hugging him.

“You worry too much,” Palette said. “Come on, let’s take a look around town. It’s nice a quiet here and I’m feeling inspired. I think I might paint…”

“And I’ll be right there with you,” Critical said as she kissed him. “Assuming my brother doesn’t mess things up today, I get the feeling it’s going to go well.”

Palette nodded and smiled, before that smile faltered. “Mess things up… how?”

“It’s my brother, I’m sure he’ll think of something,” Critical said with a roll of her eyes.

Ponyville was a nice town. Peaceful, quiet, unassuming.

At least until an explosion and a massive plume of smoke shattered that silence like a drunk Minotaur in a china shop. Yet, most ponies glanced in the direction of it, before shrugging and going about their business.

“...And why nopony but me is worried about this, I will not know,” Ledger said before he started to make tracks for the site of the explosion. Somepony could need help after all.

By the time he got there, he saw a house… or, what remained on one anyway.

A grey pegasus mare lay on the road, her coat stained with minor burns and soot as an earth pony stallion stumbled out of the ruins.

“Well, that was a total bust,” he muttered. “So… maybe I shouldn’t proceed with experimenting with nuclear fission…”

“Everypony okay here?” Ledger asked as he delicately stayed out of the crater.

“Hm? Oh, somepony… showed up?” the stallion climbed out of the crater. “Ditzy dear, are you alright?”

“Wheee~” Ditzy said, her face still in the dirt.

“...And what have we learned?” the stallion deadpanned.

“Never push the red button,” she replied, pulling herself up and looking at Ledger. Her eyes were going in opposite directions and she smiled cutely. “Ohh, hey there!”

“Hello,” the disguised drone greeted them. “Dare I ask what in the world happened? Or would I be better off not knowing?”

“Oh, just a little experiment with an accessory that would grant unicorn magic to pegasi and earth ponies,” the stallion said. “But, it would seem that the magical reactor… hiccuped.”

“I see,” Ledger said. “Well, do you need any help here?”

“Well, I fear that the mayor will yell at us again,” the stallion sighed as he picked up a broken and scorched piece of… something. “Well, this was a total bust.”

“I’m sorry Doc,” Ditzy said with a soul-crushingly sad expression.

“It’s not your fault my dear, I should have made that button less conspicuous. Coincidently,” he turned and looked at Ledger. “You seem to be an educated fellow that enjoys the sciences of technology. We should swap notes sometime.”

“I’m more of a magical researcher than a pony of science, but you’re not wrong about being educated,” Ledger said with a nod. “I mostly tinker with existing spells to see how they can be deconstructed into their component parts and applied elsewhere. For example, I’m currently working with another pony to make a system of teleportation gateways. We’ve made a lot of progress, but are currently stuck teleporting things to the Crystal Empire and back.”

“Great whickering stallions! You’re attempting such a goal!?” The stallion beamed brightly. “Why, I believe I may be of assistance!”

“Oh, me too!” Ditzy giggled.

“I’m never one to turn down help, but are you sure you can do it with your house in this...state?” Ledger said as he looked around at the rubble.

“Ah, this was just one of my reserve labs for unstable experiments. I have another on the opposite side of town.” He turned and looked at the wreckage. “A pity, that had a vase that I liked. Oh well.”

“Muffin?” Ditzy asked Ledger, holding out a baked treat for him.

“I...thank you,” the disguised drone said as he took the good. “Breakfast was a bit of a rush job, so I’ll take more.” He bit into the thing and hummed. It was… oh sweet Hives above, even Cider couldn’t compare to this.

“Well, I found a new favorite baked good,” Ledger said with a firm nod. “Ah, after you…” Ledger trailed off as he realized he didn’t even know the stallion’s name.

“Oh, I’m Time Turner, but everypony calls me Doc,” the stallion introduced himself.

“And I’m Ditzy Doo,” the pegasus mare said with an infectious smile as her eyes wandered again. “Nice to meet you Mr. Unicorn.”

“I’m Level Ledger,” the brown unicorn said with a small bow. “Lead on, good sir.”

“Very well good sir,” Doc chuckled and led the two back to his other lab.

When they arrived, the first thing Ledger saw were machines. Machines that even his dreams couldn’t hope to conjure. Buttons, levers, lights and things he didn’t know the words for littered the room.

“Welcome to my lab,” Doc said as he tossed his bag to one side. “Though… try not to touch anything you don’t recogn—”

“Wheee!” Ditzy cried out happily as some kind of crystal made her float upside down.

“That pretty much covers everything,” Ledger said as he kept looking around. “It’s...I don’t know if I have the words to describe it.”

Doc loved that look on a pony’s face. The pure sense of wonderment. As Ledger passed by a silver rod, a crystal suddenly glowed a bright green colour and the Doc gulped.

“Uh, well… glad, you like it?” he asked. Ledger could sense his building fear.

“I must admit, it’s nothing like you normally expect when you hear the word ‘lab,’” Ledger said. “I mean, I’ve been in Twilight Sparkle’s clutches before, and that was nowhere near as complex as this.”

“So…” the earth pony looked at him as he placed himself between Ledger and Ditzy. “How does a Changeling know our illustrious princess?”

“I’m sorry?” Ledger asked with a tilt of his head. “I must have misheard you, you seem to think I’m a Changeling.”

Doc pointed at the crystal that glowed everytime Ledger walked by it. “Changeling detector. Built it after the Canterlot invasion.”

“Interesting, but it could be malfunctioning,” Ledger said. “I can assure you, I am not-” The crystal then switched to a blue hue… and Ledger felt his disguise peel away.

“It… also cancels transformations,” Doc replied, surprised it actually worked.

“Hives dammit,” Ledger cursed. “Do you have any idea how wrong that feels, not transforming back on my own power?”

“I’m...sorry?” the stallion replied as he flipped a switch and the device powered down. “To be honest, I didn’t think it worked.”

“Yes, well, now we’re into the interesting bit, aren’t we,” Ledger said as he eyed the stallion. “Because now you know, and that’s potentially bad for me.”

“Are you not supposed to reveal yourself?” he asked as he made sure no other devices that could harm the changeling were switched on. “I promise I won’t tell anypony.”

“Are you a Queen?” Ditzy asked, staring up at him. “You don’t look like Miss Aphid.”

“No, but I am related to royalty back home,” Ledger said as he shook off the wrong feeling and resumed his normal unicorn form. “My uncle is the King of my home hive.”

“Ah, so not only an educated fellow, but one of noble lineage at that.” Doc smiled and nodded. “Ditzy dear, could you fetch Aphid. I think they should meet.”

“Okie Doki Doc!” Ditzy saluted and flew from the room. Once she left, Time Turner sighed and looked at him.

“Look, I doubt that Princess Twilight would let you just wander around if you were a threat. Plus, you wouldn’t have let Ditzy leave if you were. That’s enough for me.”

“True enough, but that’s mostly because you promised not to tell my secret,” Ledger said with a nod. “And it’s not like it’s going to be a secret for very much longer anyways. Plus, why would I do you any harm while you’ve got all of this going on that I could learn from? It’d be counter-productive!”

“And we agree,” the stallion nodded as he swept a hoof around the room. “I believe that technology is the way of the future! Magic can only accomplish so much, we have spells for moving the sun and moon, spells for travelling through time and space! What more could we possibly do with just them alone?”

“Well, like I just said, Twilight and I are working on transportation, but we don’t know why we’re currently stuck on the Crystal Empire,” Ledger explained.

“Well, are you using a spell as the base?” he asked. “How exactly are you accomplishing the movement of matter?”

“Teleportation plates engraved with runes,” Ledger said. “It works for the most part...Now that we’ve adjusted them and aren’t making applesauce out of the apples.”

“Runes are tricky,” the stallion said. “And, what’s your overall goal?”

“Being able to transport anything to anywhere that has a compatible system,” Ledger said. “It’d revolutionize Equestria overnight if shipping things was as simple as that.”

“So, you want it for mass teleportation. That spell exists, but requires a lot of magical power.” The stallion tapped his chin and then his eyes widened. “Maybe that… YES!” He trotted to one corner of the room and started tossing things around. “Where is it, where is it…”

Ledger just sat back and watched, waiting to see what this stallion would come up with.

He eventually found what he was looking for. A pile of old scrolls that had quite a bit of dust on them. “Aha! I knew they were here,” he laughed victoriously. “Now, I heard a rumour once upon a time, that the Princess had created some kind of gateway to another world. Now, I can’t confirm or deny it, and… she won’t tell me either. BUT!” he slapped the scrolls down on a table. “I found out that something similar used to exist in Canterlot. Some kind of… mirror I believe.”

“Okay,” Ledger said, deciding not to tell this stallion about his trip through Twilight’s portal until after they were done for the time being. “And…?”

“Well, I once tried myself to create one,” his jubilance fell for a moment. “It was… less than successful. BUT!” he smacked a hoof on the drawings on the page. “What if we were to try a local version. Combine my gate design, with your teleportation spellwork?”

“That...might work,” Ledger mused. “Twilight still has to work out a way to input addresses to the system, but this sounds like a feasible plan…”

“Addresses?” the stallion paused and his eyes widened. “That’s… That’s GENIUS!!” He roared a warlike cry and started drawing up something, before darting over to some kind of large machine and pressing a sequence of buttons. “Let’s see, carry the one… and, hmm, no… HAH! wait, not quite… Blast it!”

“I’d offer to help, but that would require I know what you’re doing,” the brown unicorn offered.

“Just a little physics and some advanced math… nothing too complicated,” he replied. “This might take a little longer than I thought…” And that was when Ditzy flew back into the room and went facefirst into the machine, causing it to spark, crackle and then die.

“Make that… a lot longer,” he sighed.

“Ah well, I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Ledger said as he looked the scrolls over. This looked like nothing he’d ever seen before...but he was sure to try and remember the details.

“Ah, feel free to borrow those if you like, I have them memorised,” Doc replied and waved his hoof, now looking under the machine. “And if Ditzy’s back, Aphid must be here. Go and meet her. This repair might take a while.”

Ledger nodded, rolled up the scroll, and looked to the pegasus mare with a smile. “Would you do me the honor of showing me the way?”

“Sure!” Ditzy smiled and took his hoof, leading him upstairs. “Doc’s a pretty funny guy huh?”

“Just a bit,” Ledger said as he kept following her. She led him into a rather plain-looking living room. And standing there was an undisguised changeling nymph.

“This is Aphid,” Ditzy said, completely undisturbed by the bug. “Aphid, this is a bigger bugpony~”

“...Well I suppose I could drop the disguise now if you’d like,” Ledger said to Aphid. The nymph looked at him and bowed her head.

“If it pleases My Lord, you may.”

“Oh, please don’t do that,” Ledger said as he flashed into his Noble form. “I’m so not used to it.”

"You are a Noble, one of the illustrious Silver clan no less," the Blue nymph dropped down into a formal bow now that he was in his true form. "May I ask... why you are here? I am not being taken back to the Lands am I?"

“I was just on a trip to Ponyville, and Time Turner said I should see you. Nothing more, nothing less.” Ledger moved to prop the Blue nymph up.

“But I… why would a Noble…” she looked quite confused.

“Are you some sort of fancy buggy?” Ditzy asked.

“I’m the nephew to the current Silver King, yes,” Ledger said. “Um, miss Ditzy...where exactly did you get this nymph from?”

“Oh, please allow me to answer that,” Aphid said. “I was… rescued by Mistress Secret-Treasure. After that… unpleasantness in Las Pegasus. I work for her here in Ponyville, as part of her communication network.”

“Still, I am not used to other ‘lings falling head over hooves to please me,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “So please don’t.”

“I’m sorry!” she squeaked and bowed again. “I’m sorry. Please don’t be angry.”

“It’s like I’m talking, but she’s hearing nothing,” Ledger observed as he righted the nymph again. “Look, there’s one thing. Just one. That I want you to do. Can you promise me that?”

“Um, yes My Lord?”

“Treat me like you want to be treated. Not like some fancy Noble. Not like someone who’s going to hurt you. Just treat me like a changeling wants to be treated.”

And just like that, the nymph was crying. Ditzy moved over to comfort her as she looked at Ledger, silently asking what the heck brought this on.

“I...don’t get it,” Ledger said. “Why...that’s all I wanted during my time in the Lands. I thought...if she was told to do that...I might be able to have an actual conversation with her…”

After a few minutes, the nymph finally calmed down enough to speak. Her cheeks were tinted red with embarrassment as she looked at the noble drone.

“I’m sorry about that,” she said quietly. “It’s just… I’ve, I’ve never seen such kindness from a Noble before. The Red Queen, well, the previous one.. she… she would…” The nymph shuddered and fell quiet.

“You know the Lands are changing, right?” Ledger said. “Slowly and surely. Of course, it’s helped by the fact that half the Hives have new leadership.”

“I-I know of this, Mistress Treasure has told us as such… but,” Aphid sighed and shook her head. “I’ll not go back there. My daughter is safe and happy here. And hers is all the joy that I need.”

“Fair enough,” Ledger said with a shrug. “I’m not one to tell anyone that they have to go back.”

“Aww, now we’re all friends~” Ditzy giggled and hugged them both.

That was also when two blurs raced in, one attaching to either mare with enough force to make them stumble. When they stopped, Ledger observed two tiny ponies attached to them.

“Your foals?” The drone observed. Well, there was no screaming yet…

“Whooaaa!” the little pale purple unicorn leapt off of Ditzy and stared up at him. “You’re a big buggy pony!”

The small changeling foal just stared at him shyly.

“This is Dinky, my little muffin and my joy,” Ditzy said.

“And this is my daughter, Flutter,” Aphid nodded.

Ledger nodded and bowed to the both of the foals. “A pleasure,” he said. “My name is Level Ledger.”

Dinky stared at him and smiled brightly. “A’kay!” She observed the tall changeling. Let’s see. He was big. He had wings. And a horn… Dinky gasped and bounced.

“Are you a Princess!?”

The first thing to come to mind was last night’s play where he’d taken on his gender-bent Princess forms, causing him to snicker and shake his head. “No, but I can act like one,” he said with a smile. “Very much just another Changeling. Albeit a bigger one.”

“Ohhh! So cool!!” Dinky giggled and then latched onto his chest with a hug. The pure love that shone from this filly was as great as Midnight’s lust. Ledger used one hoof to hug her back before looking at the other filly of the pair, smiling in amusement.

“I promise I don’t bite,” he said to Flutter.

She nodded, but didn’t let go of her mother.

“I wanted to name her Fluttershy, but that name was taken already,” Aphid giggled. “She hasn’t run off though, so she must like you quite a bit.”

“I can never recall being that shy,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “None of my siblings either.” A thought struck him, and he gently detached Dinky from himself before turning into his usual unicorn disguise. Maybe this would help?

At the very least, the tiny nymph smiled slightly.

“Hmm, why don’t you kids run off and play?” Dinky suggested. “Don’t you all have some kind of meeting about something?”

“Th’wedding!” Dinky shouted, grabbing Flutter. “There’s a nice pony gettin’ married next week. An she want’s all us kids there! So we’re gonna do sumthin’ special!”

Ledger just watched them go, having a good idea as to what was going on and smiling. “Well, they’re nice foals at least,” Ledger said with a nod.

“They’re the best,” Aphid nodded. “Um, Miss Ditzy, should I be getting back to work?”

“Oh yeah,” Ditzy nodded. “I kinda did drag you away from your job. My bad~”

“My apologies,” Ledger said before bowing to the mares. “I didn’t mean to intrude so badly.”

“It’s alright, Carrot’s a friend of mine,” Ditzy smiled. “But yeah, we should get you back to work. Have fun Mr. Ledger. It was nice meeting you.”

“Yes… thank you,” Aphid smiled. Ledger rose and smiled at them both as they left before working his way back to Time Turner.

The stallion still had quite a bit to fix. Ditzy’s butt had broken it rather well. But he did allow Ledger to borrow his notes and they exchanged addresses, so that they could communicate via mail.

That now left Ledger alone in the town once more.

“HIYA LEDGIE!!” Pinkie said, having somehow appeared under him, staring up at him with a blinding smile.

“Gah!” Ledger said, actually flinching this time. He hadn’t accounted for Pinkie. A critical error. “How on earth do you do that?”

“Do what?” she blinked as she stood up in front of him. “Heehee, you’re silly~”

“No, I just like explanations for phenomena,” the disguised drone grumbled.

“I’m Pinkie!” she said like it was the most obvious answer in the world. “I just do what I do because I can do it.”

“...I’m guessing Twilight already tried to figure you out,” Ledger deadpanned.

“Yepper deppers, that was fun, well, except when Ditzy dropped a piano on her...and the wagon… and the safe... That looked painful.”

“Yeah, I’m not going to try,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “So what do you normally do around here, Pinkie?”

“Me? I do aaaallllll sorts of things. I throw parties, I make ponies smile, and no matter what, I’m always there for my friends—”

“PINKIE!” a voice hollered out. “Where’d you go!?”

“Whoopise, forgot I was helping Mr. Cake make and bake a big old cake, such a break I didn’t mean to take~”

“...Pinkie, I just got a delicious idea,” Ledger said with a smile. “Let me go back with you, I’ll fill you in on the way.”

“I love ideas! Especially delicious ones!” Pinkie giggled. Ledger blinked and he found himself inside a kitchen, along with an exasperated earth pony stallion and a giggling Pinkie Pie.

He was also wearing an apron that said. ‘Kiss the Cook’.

“Really Pinkie?” Ledger deadpanned.

“Whaaaaat?” Pinkie said and kissed his cheek. “See? It works!”

“I feel for you,” Mr. Cake said as he took a tray from the shelf. “Sorry she dragged you into this.”

“No, it’s okay, and I have an idea I want to try with her anyways. Uh, Pinkie, come a little closer? I kinda want it kept secret for now.” He didn’t want the stallion overhearing some of the terms he’d be using, otherwise it’d reveal his secret.

Pinkie leaned in close, he could smell the sugar in her mane and the sweetness of her breath. She was basically sugar ponified. It actually got his mouth watering for a moment, causing him to swallow before he got himself under control.

“Okay, so I can put emotions into things as well as take them out. What I want you to do is, during the mixing of the cake, think about all the reasons you love sweets. I’ll absorb that and put it right back, only into the mix instead of in you. This should make it taste just...better.”

“Ohhh, you can do that?” Pinkie said and tilted her head. “You sure about this Ledgie?”

“Yup, I do it whenever I make my casserole,” Ledger said with a nod. “The other ponies love it.”

“Well, I guess we could try it,” Pinkie hummed. She knew he was a good pony, so he wouldn’t try to hurt anyone. “Okay! Let’s bake a Love Cake!”

“A...A what now?” Carrot Cake said as Pinkie giggled and started throwing ingredients in a bowl.

“Magic Mr. Cake. Magic!” Pinkie cackled.

Ledger just shook his head and sat next to the counter and the mare doing the mixing, focusing his thoughts and mind on giving back what he’d be taking in. Waiting for his cue from Pinkie to start.

Pinkie started humming as she mixed. Happy thoughts were easy to come by. She loved to bake and sing and she loved her friends. A wave of it was pouring from her, far sweeter than anything he’d ever felt or tasted. Ledger nearly gagged on how sweet and pure it was, before reminding himself it wasn’t for him and began putting it into the mix she was making. A narrow beam shot out of his horn and impacted the mixing bowl, suffusing it with Pinkie’s emotions.

Carrot Cake sat back and watched. It was pretty interesting actually, and this was the most quiet he’d seen Pinkie in… well, since forever.

Soon enough, the mare was done and she slid the cake into the oven to bake.

“And now we wait,” she said.

“Well, that was interesting,” Ledger said as he powered his horn down.

“What in Equestria was that?” Carrot asked. “You cast some kind of spell of the cake?”

“A spell of love, friendship and rainbows!!” Pinkie declared proudly.

“Something like that,” Ledger said with a nod. “I do it all the time with the food I make, and it hasn’t harmed anypony yet. I wanted to try it out here to see if other ponies like it half as much.”

“Hmm, well we should try it ourselves first,” Carrot said. “I don’t care if Pinkie trusts you, but I can’t have a stranger waltz in and cast unknown spells on our food.”

“Perfectly reasonable,” Ledger said with a nod. “To be honest, I would have been disappointed if you did trust me right off the bat. Testing the food is your prerogative, and I’ll not stop you.”

Carrot nodded, at least this stallion seemed reasonable enough. Though if it weren’t for Pinkie, he’d have kicked him out by now.

“So who might you be anyway? Pinkie’s coltfriend?”

“Hardly,” Ledger said with a hoof extended. “Level Ledger, just visiting town for the day. I might want to get back home soon, actually…”

“Ah, my mistake… Carrot Cake by the way,” the stallion shook his hoof and smiled.

“Yay! Everypony’s friends now!” Pinkie cheered as she watched the oven like a hawk. Just… sitting there and staring at it.

“You do realize watching it isn’t going to make it finish any faster,” Ledger said in amusement.

“You have to believe Ledger!” Pinkie said, zooming up to him and staring him in the eyes. “Do you believe in the power of cake Ledger!?”

“I also believe in a little thing called ‘time’ and how little we can effect its passage,” Ledger said, only slightly unnerved she had gotten so close so quickly.

“Eh,” Pinkie shrugged and looked back at the oven. “If you say so…”

“We’ve learned it’s easier to just not question it,” Carrot said. “Believe me…”

“Well it’s not like the cake is going to get done just because Pinkie looks at it,” Ledger said. “That’d be crazy.”

The oven dinged and Pinkie pulled out a fresh cake, it looked so delicious and moist…

“...What was that you said just now?” Ledger asked Carrot Cake. “Something about not questioning it?”

“Just smile and nod, your mind will be grateful for it,” Carrot said with a faraway look in his eye. Ledger did just that as he waited for Pinkie to finish whatever she was going to do with the cake, so that the others could test it out.

In a matter of seconds, she had the caked iced and frosted. Her coat was matted with sugar and icing as she wiped her brow and smiled. “There we go! One Love Cake ready and waiting~”

“By your approval, sir,” Ledger said, bowing slightly to Mr. Cake.

Carrot nodded and examined the cake. He took a few sniffs and then put the smallest piece in his mouth. Well, for one, it was possibly one of Pinkie’s better cakes. The taste was impeccable. The texture and flavour was outstanding and there was something else, something he couldn’t quite place his hoof on…

And when he saw his wife walked past, his eyes widened and he smiled. “Pinkie?”

“Yes Mr. Cake?”

“Could you watch the twins?” and with that, he was already leading the mare upstairs and Pinkie’s head slowly tilted.

“Um… okay?”

“Hmm,” Ledger said with a hoof to his chin. “Maybe I overdid it on the Love?”

“Wow! That was really something,” Pinkie giggled. “Sooo, what do we do with the rest of it?”

“I dunno,” Ledger said with a shrug. “I’m not sure you can market a cake that does something like that...except maybe on Hearts and Hooves day.”

“Ohh, that’s an idea~” Pinkie giggled. So many happy special someponies! She took a large chunk of the cake and wolfed it down, humming happily at the taste. “Ohh, I feel all tingly~”

“Does it at least taste good?” Ledger asked as he mentally resigned himself to whatever she was going to do. A small taste made his husband lust after his wife. The amount Pinkie had...he had no idea what was going to happen next.

“Mmmm, sooo tasty~” she hummed and grabbed a hooffull, shoving it in his gob. Ledger nearly gagged at how sweet it was, on multiple levels. He suddenly knew that adding Pinkie’s love directly to the cooking was probably a mistake. At least, as much as he did. It hardly needed it. And that influx of extra love would need to be processed quickly if he didn’t want to be unbalanced. He probably was going to be anyways…

“That,” he said after he cleared his mouth. “Was one of the sweeter things I have ever eaten.”

“Oh?” Pinkie gave him a half-lidded gaze and licked her lips. “Wanna taste something even sweeter~”

“Pinkie,” Ledger said as he put a hoof up to keep her at bay. “You’re probably not thinking straight right now...wait, bad example, you’re a Pink in pony form.”

“Aw come on,” she pouted. She looked at her icing-covered form. “It’s just like licking the spoon, only better~”

“Pinkie, I have enough mares in my life as it is,” Ledger said, shaking his head. “I’m not in any mood to-”

Aaaand now Pinkie was hugging him… and her hooves were wandering over his flanks. And sweet Hives that sugary scent~ Ledger couldn’t help himself. He couldn’t. Though he’d been brought down to one cube thanks to Midnight...there was just something about sugar that called to Changelings.

He gave Pinkie a lick.

She giggled at that, she tasted better than any sugar that he’d had before. He had to have more. The changeling kept licking at her, looking for any spot where there was batter or frosting on her.

That was when Pinkie blinked and pushed him back. “Whoawhoawhoa! What the hay buster!?”

“Uh,” Ledger said as he backed off and shook his head. “Sorry. Sugar and Changelings is a mix that’s only beaten by wood and fire. And you were sort of coated in the stuff…”

“Huh?” Pinkie looked down at her now semi-cleaned off coat. “Urgh! What was in that cake?” She looked at him and frowned. “Dangerous cake is dangerous.”

“Maybe if we make it again, only a touch of love, not all of it?” Ledger suggested. “I don’t put more than a little in myself. Guess I just got...swept up in the moment.”

“Uhuh, and let’s not tell Twilight I did that,” Pinkie blushed and looked away. “I think I might have to…” she sniffed and hung her head. “Destroy the cake…”

“Better option,” Leder said. “Give it to the ‘lings in town, they’ll be able to handle it better.”

“Oooh, I can do that?” Pinkie got an idea, a wonderful, marvelous idea. A menu just for changelings! “This. Is gonna. Be EPIC!!”

“But first, let’s replace the cake with a non dangerous version,” Ledger said. “This time I won’t use much more love than I would if I were making my casserole.” He snickered a little. “Maybe we should find a way to measure it so this doesn’t happen again.”

“How do you measure emotions?” Pinkie pondered. “Oh? What if I just don’t think of everything that I love, and just… hmm, my friends?”

“Yeah, plus I’ll be regulating it as well,” Ledger said with a nod. “I’ll make sure not too much gets in this time. So, shall we?”

“Okie Doki Loki!” Pinkie beamed as she turned around, her poofy tail swinging and giving Ledger a nice little show as she rummaged around in a low cupboard to find a fresh mixing bowl.

“Are you sure that cake’s worked it’s way out of your system?” Ledger asked as he looked at the ceiling.

“Why?” she asked, pulling out the bowl and some sugar. She then moved to the fridge to get some eggs and milk and finally, some flour from on of the high cupboards. “Okay Ledgie! Let’s get this bun in the oven!”

“You just seem to be doing things that Midnight wouldn’t find innocent,” Ledger said as he drew closer to the Pink bundle of impossibility.

“Silly Ledgie,” Pinki said and rubbed his head. “Okay, Imma stir this, so make with the magic!” She grabbed a wooden spoon with each hoof and began beating the heck out of the mixture. An electric mixer would have been slower. Ledger focused his thoughts and began feeding the bowl with just a trickle of emotions, just a small amount, so they didn’t have a repeat of the cake they already had.

And once again, Pinkie’s… exuberant stirring left almost as much batter on her as there was in the bowl.

“Okay! This one is good to go,” the pink mare said and slid it into the oven. “Sure we won’t have the same problems as the Sexy Cake over there?”

“I fed it much less Love this time,” Ledger said with a nod. “Before you were like a bonfire of Love. This time it was like a slow-burning flame. One that I slowly fed into the cake. It should just be enough to be tasted, not affect anypony adversely.”

“Okay,” Pinkie nodded and hummed. “So what should we do while it bakes? We have some time.”

“You should probably clean up,” Ledger said as he pointed at her form. “I’ll watch the foals while you do. Where are they anyways?”

“Probably in their playpen,” Pinkie said as she trotted towards the door. “Good luck~”

Ledger decided to seek out the little ones, just so he could keep an eye on them while the others were busy.

They were adorable little things. A little unicorn and a teeny pegasus. And just seeing them reminded Ledger that he was going to have his own soon enough. He decided to just sit there and keep an eye on them while he thought about how he was going to be a dad.

Honestly, the thought still scared him, but he knew that together, he and his mares could accomplish anything. The fact that one of them was an alicorn princess was just...heh, icing on the cake.

“Cake?” Pinkie said from right next to him. “Is it done already?”

“I don’t know,” Ledger said as he just watched the foals. “I sorta got a reminder that I’m going to be a dad and haven’t been watching it.”

“Oohh, really!?” Pinkie bounced and vibrated. “We...We need to throw a party! A super-duper-awesomefantastic PARTY!!”

“We already are, Pinkie,” Ledger said with a slight touch of amusement. “It’s called a wedding, remember?”

“But Ledgie, you need a baby shower as well, so ponies can give you all sorts of free stuff for the baby.”

“Tell you what,” Ledger said as he put a hoof to Pinkie. “You can throw one for us...if you can get the stuff for one to Las Pegasus before the foal is due.”

Pinkie sat there and stared at him as she vibrated more, before pinging around the room like a fireworks display gone out of control. The two foals watched the lightshow, ‘ooh’ing and ‘ahhh’ing.

“But first you should see to the cake,” Ledger reminded the Pink pony.

“Okie Doki!” she paused in midair and floated back down before skipping off into the kitchen. She returned a moment later with a wonderfully decorated cake that had a mild, yet sweet scent of Love wafting from it.

“Why don’t you take a small piece from it, to see how well we did?” Ledger said to Pinkie.

Pinkie nodded a cut a small slice, before taking a nibble and tilting her head slightly.

“So how’s it taste?” the unicorn stallion inquired.

“Mmm, like I just wanna hug EVERYPONY!” Pinkie cried and pulled Ledger into a hug, before dropping him and giving the twins one as well.

“Well, I guess that’s arguably better,” Ledger said as he watched the pink mare’s antics.

“Wheeee!” Pinkie ran around with giggling foals on her back as the two parents descended the stairs, their manes a mess and they looked quite worn out.

“Where the heck does she get that energy?” Mrs. Cake wondered aloud. “Oh? Hello there dearie. One of Pinkie’s friends?”

“Yes indeed ma’am,” Ledger said with a small bow. “I was helping Pinkie with making magical foods, but apparently we’ve yet to fine-tune the amount of magic we should be putting into it,” the disguised drone said. “That, or she just reacts a lot more to what I do.”

“Yes, well, I think that cake you made has just a little bit too much kick in it,” Carrot said and then leaned in close to the stallion. “Don’t worry, we’ll make sure it’s… taken care of responsibly.”

“And the one we just made has Pinkie doing...this,” Ledger said before gesturing to the pink mare. “I’m not sure how low we have to go before we get a cake where you get a nice taste and no aftereffects…”

“Hmm? Oh, that’s just Pinkie being Pinkie,” Cup Cake said with a titter. “Don’t worry about her dear.”

“But now we have to clean up… again,” Carrot sighed as he looked into the warzone that was their kitchen. How did she get frosting on the ceiling?

“Oh, let me help,” Ledger said as his horn sparked again. “It’s the least I could do.”

“Oh, we couldn’t ask you to do that,” Mrs. Cake started.

“Then don’t, and I’ll still do it,” Ledger said with a smile. “All this happening is partially my fault, I should help clean up.” With that, Ledger walked into the kitchen and began organizing.

The pair just watched as he went into meticulous detail, he missed nothing.

“It reminds me of the time we had Twilight in here,” Carrot chuckled.

“Heehee, you’re right, oh, we should introduce them to each other sometime,” Mrs. Cake agreed. Eventually Ledger killed the glow to his horn and nodded once.

“I think that’s everything,” he said. “Did I miss anything?” He wiped a little bit of sweat from his brow from the exertion of cleaning it all up.

“Son, I’m pretty sure I never want to use this kitchen again in fear of messing up your work,” Carrot smiled. “Is organising your special talent or something?”

“Something like that,” Ledger said as he pointed at his cutie mark, of a book with a set of ledgers drawn in them. “I can put things in order if I know where they go in a book. It was only a short step from there to trying to put all sorts of things in order. Something I have a knack for. My TK gets a workout, but I’m more than capable.”

“You’d make a small fortune in this town,” Cup giggled. “With the likes of Pinkie, Ms. Ditzy and Rainbow Dash at least.”

“I’ll keep it in mind,” Ledger said with another bow to them. “But I should really get going if I want to get back home in time for my date.”

“But of course, thank you for all your hard work,” Carrot said as he placed a few bits into his bag, along with some cupcakes. “There, that should do it.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Ledger said in slight protest. “I was just cleaning up after the mess I helped bring here…”

“It’s fine, honest pay for honest work. That’s the earth pony way,” Carrot said and patted him on the back. “Now go on, don’t keep your date waiting.”

“Have fun dear,” Cup said with a smile. “Pinkie is quite a hooffull.”

“Yes, yes she is,” Ledger said as he left the three there and made his way back to the crystal palace.

Scope sat in front of a roll of paper spread out on the table. She had made dozens of plans for the date, but none of them sat right with her.

Cider trotted in, seeing the pegasus still hard at work.

“Havin’ trouble?” she asked.

“Yeah, I can’t figure out where I want to go tonight,” the nymph sighed. “You and Ledger went on a date, right? Can you...help me?”

“Well,” Cider took a seat as she went over what the nymph had. “Ah reckon it’s gotta be something you both enjoy. An’ of course, it’s gotta be romantic.” Why was skydiving on this list?

“Hmm, how about dinner and a movie?”

“That sounds a little...simple,” Scope said as she frowned. “Is it really that easy? I mean, with Twilight, it was something a bit more involved than that...mostly because of what the movie was…”

“Well, ah guess it would have to be a movie you both like… or really hate. Ah could see the two of you laughing over how bad it’d be.”

“I can hear his snarky tone now,” Scope said with a snicker. “Y’know what, that sounds like fun. Are there any really bad movies playing that we could make fun of?”

“Ah have no idea,” Cider shook her head. “Ah haven’t been to a movie in a long time. That sounds like something that Midnight might know… wherever the heck she’s run off to.”

“Hmm,” Scope said as she turned to the newspaper. More specifically, the part detailing movie listings. “Well I already think I know where dinner’s gonna be, so how about we go over the listings and see what’s playing?”

Cider nodded and her breath hitched. There was a movie… about a certain series of books that she liked. Scope took one look and snickered. “Oh boy, they made that into a movie?”

“I kinda wanna go and see it,” Cider whispered.

“Nopony’s stopping you, but fair warning, if Ledger and I end up seeing that tonight, be prepared for a lot of snarky commentary,” Scope warned the earth pony mare.

“And that’s different from any other day… how?” Cider retorted with a raised eyebrow.

“We’d be ragging on something you like while you’re in the same room,” the nymph supplied. “You’d probably have to avoid strangling us by the time the night was over.”

“Again. Different. How?”

“Just figured you deserved warning,” Scope said with a shrug. “It’s best to cover all the bases.”

“Well, y’all are goin’ on a date, and ah reckon ah might spend some time with our princess. So, that leaves the two of you to have fun on your own.”

“Yup, thanks for the help,” Scope said as she put the paper back and wrote out her short and simple plan on the scroll still in front of her.

Dinner at Fredrick’s (Likely)

Movies - See the vampony film. Snark at it.

Cider had packed a nice picnic dinner. She had a plan to go to Ponyville and spend the evening with Twilight. They hadn’t had much alone time together at all.

She had the strangest feeling she was forgetting something though…

“So, when do you think Midnight’s coming back from...whatever she’s doing?” Scope asked as she rolled up her scroll.

“Ah!” that’s what she was forgetting. “If we’re all goin’ out. That leaves Middy all on her lonesome.”

“Hmm,” Scope said, tapping her chin. “And Mistress does get awfully lonely…”

“And when she gets lonely or bored… things tend to get broken,” Cider sighed. “Oh wait, doesn’t she have that singin’ thing?”

“She did mention that,” Scope said with a nod. “So hopefully that’ll keep her distracted. And out of the house.”

“Well, it seems we’re all settled then,” Cider nodded as she placed a mug of cider on the table for herself and hoofed over a juice box for Scope.

“Yup,” Scope said as she started in on her juice. “Now when do you think Ledger will be back?”

Cider couldn’t, or just didn’t answer. The sight of little Scopey drinking from a juice box was just too damned adorable. The earth pony let out a little ‘squee’ before moving around the table so she could huggle her.

“And everypony is really huggy for some reason,” Scope observed, not really complaining. That was about when Ledger walked in the front door, before laying down on the couch and sighing explosively.

“Cider, if you know anything that could snap Twilight out of a mood, now would be the time to use it,” he said.

“...What did y’all do this time?” Cider deadpanned. “Did you make her mad again…” Cider paused when she walked over to him and sniffed. “And why do ya’ll smell like sugar?”

“Different matter altogether,” Ledger said. “I gave her some notes from a research associate, and she said, and I quote, ‘This is the last piece of the puzzle that we needed to perfect our teleportation platforms!’ And then it took me three attempts to get her to notice me before she’d teleport me back.”

“...Ah got no response fer that,” Cider said and sighed. “Ah’m gonna go and take a shower. Be back in two shakes of a bunny’s tail.”

Ledger nodded as he just lay on the couch for a moment longer. After Ponyville, he needed to unwind.

“So… any reason why you smell like sugar and have Love and a little Lust wafting off of you?” Scope said once Cider left. Ledger just groaned and muttered something into the fabric of the couch.

“Ledger. Explain. Use your words,” Scope said in a condescending tone.

“I found out there’s such a thing as too much Love in a food,” Ledger said once he raised his head out of the upholstery. “I just wanted to make a cake ponies would like...the first cake made ponies really like each other.”

Scope paused. She took a deep breath. In… out. Okay, murderous rage is now suppressed. “Ledger. I will ask once. Did you buck some random mare because of cake?”

“No, it wore off before anything happened, and I wouldn’t cheat on all of you anyways,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “Besides, it’s not like I was pouring lust into the cake. Just too much love.”

“Well, whomever it was, guess they had a lotta love to give,” Scope leaned over and socked him in the shoulder. “That’s for almost bucking a random mare!” she stated and then gave him a kiss. “And that’s for not bucking a random mare.”

“I’m not entirely stupid,” Ledger said as he rubbed where she’d punched him. “Though I do have my moments.”

“Yes, yes you do,” Scope nodded. “Well, I’d better go and get ready for our date. Be back in a bit…”

Ledger just lay there as he watched the smaller ‘ling walk off. He still needed to decompress from one day in Ponyville.

“I don’t know how Twilight lives there all the time,” Ledger said with a roll of his eyes. And as soon as he did, there was a knock at the door.

“Can y’all get that!” Cider hollered out from upstairs. Ledger pried himself off the couch and ambled over to the door, before opening it.

Standing on the other side was Bludgeon, the massive wall of muscle and pony just staring down at Ledger.

“...”

“Hello Bludgeon,” Ledger said with more than just a bit of steel to his voice.

“Ledger…” the earth stallion rumbled. “Is Miz Cider in?”

“For the time being, yes,” Ledger said. “She’s home. Why?”

“I want to tell her I’ve finished the west orchard,” he said. “And that the greenhouse is fixed…”

“She’ll be down soon,” Ledger said as he stood to one side. “You can wait inside and tell her yourself.”

He looked… uncomfortable with that idea. “No… just, tell her for me.” He turned and started to walk away before he paused. “For what it’s worth. It… wasn’t personal. Just a job.”

Ledger sighed before doing something he knew he’d regret. “Do you regret doing it?” he called to the stallion. “Any of it? At all?”

That caused the stallion to think. He hated thinking. He dwelled on things that were best not dwelled upon. All the things he’d done, all the things he could have done. He sighed and looked up at the sky.

“Did you know,” he said, wanting to get this off of his chest. “That I was sent here to kill Miz Cider?”

“I was reasonably sure of that, yes,” Ledger said with a nod.

“But…” The stallion paused again. He never talked this much, especially with a target that had escaped him. “She was… kind. I didn’t think anypony could be like that, They lie, cheat and steal. Take what you want, crush any who oppose. I was the one that crushed for the one that wanted… but, you already know that.”

“A lot of ponies can be kind, if they’re given the chance and shown the same kindness,” Ledger said softly. “That’s why I hated working for Toll.”

“Well, do you know what happened when I told Miz Cider this?”

“No,” Ledger said. He knew the results, but not the intervening story.

“She… she said that that didn’t matter. That she was glad I was honest with her.” He sat down, causing the floorboards to shake. “What kind of pony does that? Forgives somepony that had to kill them?”

“A stronger pony than me,” Ledger said. “I...when I look at you, I still see you holding Midnight down that night. That night that I nearly…” Ledger closed his eyes and shook his head. “I don’t think I can ever forgive myself or you for what nearly happened that night. But Cider...she’s stronger than either of us, where it counts. She’s got a big, strong heart.”

“And hooves that could snap a tree in two,” Bludgeon rumbled. He didn’t want to admit it, but if he’d gone hoof-to-hoof with that mare…

He sighed again and stood up. “And to answer your question… I can’t allow myself any regret. I’d drown in my guilt otherwise. Miz Cider has given me a chance to start over. One I never deserved.”

“Everypony deserves a second chance,” Ledger said with a nod. “It’s what you do with it that matters.”

“That’s why I’m here. To do something right for once,” the stallion nodded his head and turned away. “Have a good evening Mr. Ledger. And… for what it’s worth. I am sorry…”

“...I am too,” the disguised ‘ling said before the stallion walked off. “I am too.”

As the drone turned, he saw Cider standing at the top of the stairs, smiling at him.

“Ah’m real proud of you snugglebug,” she said softly. “That took a big heart.”

“He was sincere,” Ledger said with a shrug. “The least I could do was be sincere back.”

“Still, you could have just ignored him, yelled at him, even attacked,” Cider replied. “So ah’m proud...also, heads up.” She smiled as a bat flew right at Ledger from behind.

“Ack!” Ledger said as he was attacked. “Midnight?”

“Levvy!” Midnight giggled and kissed him before pulling back. “Whhyyy do you taste like Pinkie Pie?”

“We were baking a cake together...and how do you know what Pinkie tastes like?” Ledger asked.

“...No reason,” Midnight replied and changed the subject. “And what’s the big idea teleporting me away? I’m gonna have words with that princess!”

“She just wanted to make sure you got back quickly,” Ledger said as he covered for Twilight. “Faster than the train, right?”

“I wound up in Sugar and Moonie’s bed…”

“Something I’m sure you’ve been pining for,” Ledger said without missing a beat. Midnight paused, not having expected the comeback as she just opened and closed her mouth a few times.

“Well… that’s a first,” Cider noted.

“So who took advantage of who in that threesome?” Ledger followed up with.

“Oh. My. Celestia!” Midnight said, blushing up a storm. “Nothing happened!!”

“There’s a first,” the drone quipped. “Midnight not using a bed for something other than sleeping.”

“I don’t think about sex all the time!” Midnight shot back, still blushing. Even her ears were turning red by this point.

“True,” Ledger said with a nod. “Sometimes you’re asleep.”

“Oh shut up,” Midnight said and walked over to the couch and flopped on it. When you couldn’t win an argument? Just walk away…

Ledger sighed and gave Cider a kiss before walking over to Midnight and giving her one as well.

“You still suck,” Midnight pouted, but the kiss made her smile a little.

“I try to make up for it,” Ledger said as he kissed Midnight again. “Is it working?”

“Maybe a little,” Midnight replied as Scope glided downstairs and looked at them.

“Well, ready to go Ledger?”

“Go?” Midnight looked at him. “You’re going somewhere?”

“Just on a date, to get to know one another better,” the unicorn said with a nod. Midnight blinked and then nodded.

“Oh, well at least I still have—”

"Well ah’m off,” Cider smiled as Twilight teleported in. “Have fun on yer date, and ah’ll be havin’ fun on mine.”

“Don’t worry, Middy,” Ledger said as he kissed her again. “Don’t you still have that singing thing with Sugar?”

“Huh? Well… I guess so…” Midnight sighed. She didn’t feel like singing right now. “Well, guess I have nothing else to do right now…”

“Don’t worry, we’ll all come home,” Ledger said with a nod. “You won’t be alone forever. Just a bit of the night.”

“Still sucks…” Midnight muttered. “Fine. Go on your dates. I’ll be here. Alone. By myself. Nopony to love me…”

Ledger replied by giving her a massive, Love-filled kiss.

“Emotion-manipulating jerk,” Midnight pouted as he broke the kiss. “Just go on your dates already. I’m going to show Las Pegasus that I’m good at everything.”

“Just as long as you’re sure you’re fine,” Ledger said to her. The thestral nodded and cracked her neck. Right, time to go to work~

Author's Note

Let's all say it together now. Ponyville is crazy.

Like the story? Consider dropping Aus and me a dollar on my Patreon. It's appreciated, always.

Half the money will not go towards drama resolution.

Bonus Chapter 4 - Guilty Ponies, Guilty Pleasures

Yearling groaned slightly as her eyes slowly opened. Her head was pounding and her mouth felt like she’d been eating sand.

Yeah, she was hungover alright. How much did she drink last night?

And when she spied the sleeping Yellow drone next to her, a serene smile on his face, her heart nearly leapt out of her chest. Apparently the answer to her question was a lot.

Did… did they do… that?

Well, she didn’t feel sore or anything down there… so, maybe not? She closed her eyes and tried to remember what happened, and the flashes she got made her turn a bright red. Did… she really do that sort of stuff with him?

Well, that explains his stupid smile at least.

It was also kind of cute how devoted he was to a mare he just met…

Wait…

“Devoted!” she yelled, leaping out of bed and running into the bathroom to freshen up. She had to get to the hospital ASAP!

Lucky yawned as he woke up thanks to Daring’s jump out of the bed. “Was’ going on?” he managed. He was not a morning-changeling.

She remerged from the bathroom a few moments later, her mane still damp from the quick shower. She shook herself off and nodded. “I gotta get going for a little bit, Devoted should be up by now and I wanna see if he’s okay.” She paused and scuffed her hoof on the ground, before blushing lightly and pecking the changeling’s cheek.

“Thank you for being such a gentlestallion last night.”

“My pleasure, even if we didn’t actually do a whole lot,” Lucky said. “G’on and check on your friend, I’ll be here.”

“You sure?” she asked. “You’ll really wait for me to come back?”

“Even if it’s just to say goodbye, I’ll be here,” the drone said with a nod. “Just...please come back.”

“I promise,” she nodded and gave him another peck on the cheek before she galloped out of the room. The drone sighed and rolled over in the bed, his eyes glancing at the table…

And at the Key and gemstone that still sat there…

“Oh buck,” the drone said before scooping them up and darting after her. “Daring!” he called out. “DARING!” He looked out of the window as he saw her flying out into the central chamber, holy crap that pegasus could move.

“No helping it,” he said, adopting a nondescript pegasus guise so that he could chase after her. “I’m not letting her go out there without this!” Putting action to word, he chased after the mare as quickly as he could. If he was, heh, lucky, he could get ahold of her before any trouble started.

Daring darted into one of the tunnels. She wasn’t expecting it to be so busy today, and worse was that her head still hurt from last night. She closed her eyes for just a second and ended up flying right into a tall Violet drone.

“Oh, excuse me,” she replied and helped him back to his hooves.

“Eh, after last night, it’s understandable,” the drone said, before giving her another look. “Oh, a new pony? How...delicious.”

“Yeah, pass,” she deadpanned and started to walk off.

“Oh, but you don’t know what you’re missing,” the drone said as he walked after her. “And I can say I don’t want to miss out on you.”

“Well, I live to disappoint,” she said. Geez, this one would not take a hint. Maybe she should have brought Lucky with her. “If you don’t mind, I’m running late—”

“Then it wouldn’t matter if you were a little later,” the drone purred. “And I can give you quite a good excuse~”

Yearling growled and turned to face him. “Look buddy. Don’t you see this Key?” She put a hoof to her chest and paused. Wheeeerrreee was her key? Oh bucking buck.

“No, I don’t. Which means you’re fair game for my game,” the drone said as he walked a little closer, licking his lips as he did. “I make it a point to play with all the pretty ponies that come through this Hive~”

“Well, guess you’ll have to miss a turn,” she said, backing up a little. The ceiling was too narrow to fly away as well, and the hustle and bustle of other changelings meant she couldn’t dart off on her hooves either. “Now back off, or I redecorate the walls with your face.”

“I like them feisty~” he purred. And that was when Daring was saved by a pegasus dropping in front of her and flinging something around her neck. Something familiar. While she looked at it, the pegasus in front of her turned into Lucky and growled at the Violet drone.

“The lady made her point, mister,” Lucky growled. “Back. Off.”

The Violet drone looked at the Key now around Daring’s neck and sighed, before walking off. Daring took a relieved breath and shot a grateful smile at Lucky.

“Thanks a bunch for the save… he was really persistent.”

“They don’t always take no to mean no. Sometimes they just think it means to try harder,” Lucky growled. “You good?”

“Yes, my innocence is saved by my Yellow knight,” Daring giggled. “Um, though I don’t suppose my knight would like to accompany me? Just in case?”

“I can do that,” Lucky said. “I was just gonna lie around the room anyways. At least this way you’ll not get hit on so much.”

“Yup, only you’re allowed to do that,” Daring nodded and a hoof shot to her traitorous mouth. “Ahaha, letsgetgoingrightnowokay?” She swiftly turned and started heading towards the hospital once more.

“Something tells me the rest of your stay is going to be...interesting,” Lucky mused as he followed along after her. He wasn’t complaining, it meant he got to look at that flank some more.

It was rather quiet in the hospital, despite the fact they’d just finished seeing to the horde that enjoyed themselves a little too much. Daring raised an eyebrow at the nurse, noting she had a slight limp as she walked towards them.

“Rough night?” the pegasus asked, trying not to throw some innuendo in there as well.

“Just a little, the husbands and I had quite the night,” the nymph said. “I don’t know where they got that book...but I quite enjoyed how they treated me last night.”

Husbands? Is that some sort of thing around here? She knew the Madame had quite a few as well.

“Well, at least you had fun,” Daring chuckled weakly, fighting down her blush. “Um, is a Blue stallion named Devoted Cause awake yet?”

“He just woke up asking for a Daring Do,” the nymph said with a nod. “Am I to assume that’s you?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Daring nodded. It was still a bit weird to walk around such crowded cities and not have anypony recognise her.

“He’s still a little weak from recovering from the poison, but we do project that he’ll make a full recovery,” the nymph said as she began to lead them. “There were no complications during his treatment, and nothing erratic showed up as he was recovering. He should be good to leave by this time tomorrow, if all goes well.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Daring nodded. So, she was stuck in this Hive until then huh? She hoped that Lucky would be willing to stick around, though she felt a bit guilty using him as a shield. Maybe she’d be better off just fending for herself…

“Well, here we are,” the nymph said as they walked up to one door. “Now do be careful. He still needs a bit of rest, but he seems intent on seeing you.”

Daring nodded and opened the door slowly. She peekd her head in and smiled.

“I heard there was a hero that wants to see me?” she asked with a cheeky grin.

“Daring,” the blue drone said from his bed. “It’s...good to see you made it.”

“Well, couldn’t let that noble, if not stupid sacrifice of yours go in vain now,” she chuckled as she stepped into the room and walked over to the bed. “Though, try not to do that again alright?”

“My duty is to see you safely to each Hive,” the drone said with a shake of his head. “I’d fight off a hundred beasts if it meant you got away.”

And that was when he felt the mare hug him, and her tears stained the bedsheets. “It’s all my fault,” she shook. “You… you just wanted to go to a s-stupid party and… and I…”

“You couldn’t have known that the Scorpio would be there, Daring,” Devoted said as he did his best to hug her back. “None could have known.”

“A-And worse, I… I had fun while I was here… you were lying here, probably dead for all I knew… and I… I went on a bucking date!”

“That’s perfectly fine,” the drone said. “It means that you got a bit more study done for your book, and-”

“And I abandoned you to do it,” she said, not releasing her hug. “I’m the worst pony ever!”

“You hardly abandoned me,” the drone protested. “You saw me to the hooves of the Oranges so that I could recover. A terrible pony would have just left me there, and you didn’t do that.”

“Well of course not! I’m not a monster!” she replied, punching his shoulder lightly. “Well, you were right about those Violet parties in any case. They were… something else alright.”

“I missed the party?” the drone said with a sigh. “Guess it was too much to hope that I’d recover in time. Ah well, there’s always next month.”

Daring’s smile faltered. He’d really been looking forward to it as well… She wondered if there was anything she could do… “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” the drone said. “It’s not like there won’t be another. So, did you attend the party at least?”

“Yeah, still don’t know why,” she said as she sat next to the bed. “I met the Queen as well. I’m pretty sure she shaved a few years off of my life just by looking at me.”

“The queens are known for their ability to hold their thrones, no matter who challenges them. It’s only fitting that they’d become a bit...scary over the years.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Daring nodded. She looked towards the door and knew that Lucky was still standing out there. “Oh, I did meet somepony that helped me out. These Violets are… persistent.”

“Oh?” Devoted said. “Do I get to meet this being?”

“Lucky?” Daring called out. “Come and say hi.”

The Yellow drone walked in and looked at the bedridden Blue. “Hi, I’m Lucky,” the drone said, holding out a hoof.

“Is he?” Devoted asked Daring.

“I guess?” Daring replied, the subtle question going over her head. “He’s nice. A bit silly, but nice.”

“I see,” Devoted said before shaking Lucky’s hoof. “You’d better take good care of her until I get out,” the Blue warned the Yellow.

“I will,” Lucky said. “Whatever she needs, I’ll help her find.”

“I’ll bet,” Daring mumbled to herself, blushing slightly. “So the nurse says you should be out by tomorrow if everything goes well. Anything you need at all? If this is anything like Equestria, I bet the food sucks.”

“...I don’t suppose you could take off your gem for a moment?” the Blue drone asked. “If I got a small boost of emotions, it’d help me a little.”

She nodded and slipped her gem off. Instantly, he could feel the wave of concern she’d been holding onto. For him. He sighed and drank his fill before nodding at Daring, telling her she could slip the gem back on.

She did so, and then an idea formed. She reached over and took the bag that Lucky had been carrying. She rummaged around inside and pulled out one of the brightly glowing Love Crystals she had in there, setting it next to his pillow.

“That’ll help too,” Devoted said with a smile. “Just, take care out there, okay? You don’t have me to protect you until tomorrow.”

“Not a problem,” the Yellow drone said. “I’ll keep her safe.”

“Such big strong stallions,” Daring pretended to swoon like the damsels she sometimes wrote about. “Ah just don’t know whut ah’d do without you~!”

“Probably get hit on constantly,” Lucky said. “The drones here are relentless.”

“Well, it’s good to know such handsome stallions are looking out for me,” she smiled and winked at them. Lucky blushed, while Devoted just chuckled.

“Dare I ask what you two got up to last night?” the Blue drone inquired.

Daring squeaked and Devoted soon found that he had a pegasus hiding under his bed, mumbling something under her breath.

“A gentlestallion never tells,” the Yellow drone said as he gently poked Daring. “Come on, we’ll find something to do away from here,” he said to the pegasus under the bed. “Leave him to stew in his accusations.”

“Urgghhh,” she groaned and extract herself from the bed. “We just kissed and stuff, I’m still… well, you know.” Stupid Devoted.

“I’m surprised you retained it for this long in this Hive,” the Blue drone commented. “You even have a fine example of a drone here.”

Well, to her credit, she didn’t faint this time. Just wobble slightly. “Look. We’re getting one thing straight!” She pointed at both stallions, even as her face turned scarlet. “My first time is going to be romantic and magical. Not a drunken one-night stand. Got it!”

“So, take you out to a nice restaurant beforehoof, got it,” Lucky said cheekily, even as he blushed as well.

“You...I...GAH!” Daring turned and walked out of the room “Stallions!” they heard her shout from the hallway. “Perverted. Bloody. Stallions!!”

“I should have you know that if you don’t treat her right, I’ll pull your shell off. Slowly,” Devoted said. Lucky gulped, saluted, and galloped out after Daring.

“Young love,” the drone said with a sigh. “Let’s just hope he doesn’t buck it up.”

Once they’d left, Daring was still steaming a little. But, she was also happy that Devoted was alright. Though, crying like that made her look rather uncool.

“So…” she said to the drone tailing her closely. “You going to actually say anything?”

“Just that I’m still following your lead,” the drone said. “Wherever you want to go, I’ll follow.”

“You’re like a puppy,” Daring noted as she wandered around the Hive. They’d eventually found themselves at the bar they were at last night as Daring’s stomach rumbled, realising that she’d skipped dinner and breakfast. Maybe this place had something to munch on.

Plus, she wanted to know what was in that Luna-forsaken drink. One that made her do those… things last night. With a small nod to herself, she nudged the door open and strode inside. Lucky followed after her, and they found the booth from last night still open, which he sat in without a moment’s hesitation.

“As long as the Queen doesn’t pop up again,” Daring muttered as she took a menu and browsed through it. Hmm, mostly bar food, but it looked like they had small breakfast menu, probably for the ones that got too drunk to walk home the night before.

“Well hi again!” A chipper voice said from in front of them. Sweetie apparently worked now as well. “And how did last night turn out for you two?”

“Better than I expected it to go, in certain ways,” Daring replied as she put down the menu. “Though, I have a feeling that a certain drink you were selling had something to do with that.”

“Maaaaybe,” the nymph said with a grin. “I might tell ya if you order something~”

“Some eggs on toast if you don’t mind, and coffee. Black, no sugar.” She set the menu down and looked at Lucky. “You?”

“I’ll have the same,” Lucky said with a nod.

“Great, that’ll be out in ten,” the nymph said before sticking a hoof out.

Daring blinked and then her eyes widened as she realised what the mare wanted. She took one of her gems out and placed it in the mare’s waiting hoof. Now she was down to her last one. And that would probably have to cover her room for tonight as well.

“Thank you,” the nymph said with a nod before walking off.

“Yup, happy hour is all over, now we have to pay for things again,” the drone said. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to visit the last place I stayed to get my stash of empties. Maybe you can charge a few and we’ll be able to afford a longer stay.”

She nodded as it occurred to her that he might have had plans before he met her. “I’m not being a bother am I?” she asked. He shook his head.

“After the latest stint that ended up with all my squadmates dying, I was told to take a vacation, think about if I wanted to be a part of the army,” the drone said. “I was taking a small tour of the Hives before I came here and that study came out. I’d be happy to leave now that I’ve seen everything that’s unique about this one.”

“Unique huh?” Daring mused as a joke came to mind. “You’d rather present your bravery, where as a Violet would rather just present themselves?” Okay, nopony said it was a good joke.

“Got it in one,” the drone said. “Something about feeding on lust all the time makes the Violets…” he trailed off, not knowing how to put it.

“Perverted?” Daring replied and tapped her hoof on the table lightly. “Maybe not just them. I’ve been… well, let’s just say I’m surprised last night even happened at all.”

“I suspect our answer lies with the drink we consumed,” the drone pointed out. “Your gem glowed when you put it on last night, and I can barely feel your emotions now. But it’s not glowing now.”

“Weird,” Daring replied, looking at the gem. “I wish Twilight had taken the time to explain it.” At least they didn’t have to wait long for their food, and more than that, Daring wanted an explanation.

“Alright Sweetie,” she asked the nymph once she returned. “Fess up. What’s with the weird love juice you had last night?”

“That was stuff given to us by the Queen’s niece,” the nymph said as she put their food in front of them. “The label said it was regular apple cider, brewed with Lust and Happiness. Apparently it works~”

“What… how is it possible to infuse emotion into a drink?” Daring frowned. “I couldn’t understand why that might work for a Changeling… but me? I’m certain I’m a pegasus, not a bugpony.”

“Oh, that’s easy!” Sweetie said. “It’s not hard at all to infuse water with extra emotions, or any liquid really. The crystals we use to pay for things actually have to be spelled to catch emotions, they wouldn’t do it on their own. But yeah, getting back to the cider. It’s really easy to infuse liquids with extra emotion. A Noble would just have to make contact with the stuff and focus on giving back instead of draining.”

“So, it’s a kind of magic then?” Daring frowned and looked at her coffee. “Well I hope this is just regular coffee. And it seems that I’m going to have to watch what I eat and drink around here. Especially this Hive.”

“Yup, it’s something ‘lings can do if they’re talented,” the nymph said with a wink. “And don’t worry, we don’t do that to customers here unless they ask for it.”

“Given what I’ve experienced so far, I’ll hang onto my doubts,” she replied as she sipped her coffee, keeping an eye on the gem around her neck.

“Last night was special,” Sweetie said with a shake of her head. “But whatever floats your boat.” With that, she was off taking care of others. Daring then realised that she might have come across as insulting and looked at the drone opposite her.

“Did I go too far?” she asked.

“You just came across as cautious; understandable, considering what happened last night,” the drone said. “Mind, I kind of liked last night…”

“You would,” she replied, though she had a small grin as well. It did feel nice, and he was kind enough to not push it too far. “I hope you’re not too disappointed that… well, that I want to wait.” she said slowly.

“I might have hoped that we could lose ours together, but if you don’t want me, you don’t want me,” Lucky said with a shrug. “Though, if you’re still up for that, I do know a nice restaurant in the Hive…”

“You’re incorrigible,” she sighed and giggled. “Well, we’ll see. But first, let’s finish our breakfast and get those jewels.” She giggled again, an unknown place, a helping stranger and the thrill of danger, it was like one of her books.

“I like to think of myself as bold, and so far, it’s paid off,” the drone said as he knocked back his coffee. “It got me this far, and you enjoyed yourself, so that’s a win in my book.”

“Take what you can get kind of guy huh?” Daring had to admit that he was nice. She quickly finished her own food and coffee. Well, onwards to adventure then.

Later the next day, Daring (now she was in her outfit again) paced around the waiting room as they waited for Devoted to get discharged.

"How long does it take?" She frowned. "Seriously?"

“It might take them a while,” Lucky said as he sat in one of the chairs. “Or he might just not be ready yet.”

"Yeah," Daring flopped onto one of the chairs and pulled out her notebook before she started writing. At least this Hive has offered a few ideas, nowhere near as much as the Blue and Silver though. She couldn’t wait to visit the Green.

That was about when Devoted walked out, nearly the perfect picture of health if not for the bandage on his side. “Did somepony miss me?” he asked cheekily.

"Devoted!" Daring launched at him and pulled him into a tight hug. "Feeling better now?"

“Much, now that I’m not poisoned,” the blue drone said as he hugged her back. Lucky walked over and smiled at the reunion.

"Glad to hear it," she said and smacked his shoulder and frowned at him. "Stupid bug, you had me really worried."

“My duty is to see you to safety,” the drone replied as he rubbed at that shoulder. “No matter what, you’re to be safely escorted around the lands.”

"Yeah, you're so not romantic," Daring giggled. "Now, how are you feeling? Because I have a little surprise for you." Yesterday, she borrowed some crystals from Lucky, but hadn't told him why.

“I’ve been told to avoid fighting off any star-beasts until my next set of chitin is ready, so beyond that, I should be good,” the drone said. “Why?”

She just giggled again and trotted away, beckoning for them to follow. Devoted looked to Lucky, who shrugged, before the pair of them followed after her.

They thought about engaging in a bit of talk, but decided it could wait until Daring was done being so mysterious.

She led them through the Hive until they came to the bar that Daring was getting used to by now. The larger bouncers looked at them and nodded.

"They with you Miss Daring?"

"That's right, we have the guest of honor after all," she grinned and pushed the pair inside.

“Okay, now I’m concerned,” Lucky said.

“Just roll with it,” Devoted offered. “Daring is as Daring does.”

"Because I'm Daring Do," she finished as they headed inside. A party was already under way and when they saw Devoted, all the patrons cheered.

"You missed the last party," Daring said softly. "And you saved my life, so I arranged this for you. Apparently they really liked the crystals I offered them."

“Yup!” Sweetie said as she showed up and smiled at the trio. “If you had offered us, oh...twenty more? We would have paid for the first few rounds for everybuggy!”

"I wasn't going to ask Lucky for thirty crystals," Daring said. She already felt bad asking for the dozen she did get.

“So this is what you did with them,” Lucky mused. “I did wonder.”

"Yup! I'm just glad they agreed to do it," Daring nodded and looked at her guard/friend. "And I hope you like it. I know it's not the party you were expecting..."

“It’s...still more than I thought I would be getting,” the drone said with a smile. “Somebuggy get me a drink, please?” Sweetie hastened to comply before handing him a standard cider. “Let’s hear it for Daring, the mare that organized this party!” There was a cheer from the bargoers.

Daring just blushed and waved a hoof. "Devoted, quit it..."

Lucky managed to get a drink as well and held it up. “And let’s hear it for Devoted, everybuggy! He fought off a freakin’ Scorpios to see her here safely!” Another cheer went up this time, and Devoted got more than his fair share of eyes examining his form.

Daring smiled at the nice save, but she caught those stares he was getting, as well as the ones the Yellow was.

That... made her frown for some reason. Sweetie just led them to their booth and smiled before leaning over to whisper to Devoted. “If you wanna spend some time with a nymph, big bug...I’m sure I can take a break to show you my appreciation,” she said huskily before bounding off.

That was when they... was Daring... growling?

“Daring,” Devoted said without looking at her. “I’ve been to these parties twice before you know. I’m no stranger to what goes on in this hive. Hives, for all I know, I’m already a father and don’t know it.”

Well that got a blush and a cute squeak out of her. She looked a tad embarrassed and then glanced at Lucky. Why was she even so annoyed in the first place?

“Devoted, I think she might be possessive of us,” the Yellow drone observed.

"I... wait, WHAT?" Daring sputtered and blushed. "I am not! Devoted is a big stallion and he can buck any mare he wants!"

“So if I were to take that waitress up on her offer,” the Blue drone said, trying to gauge her reaction.

She gave a slight twitch and looked away. "D-Do whatever you want. I'm not your mother."

“And that’s a lie,” Devoted said. “Yup, I think she likes the both of us Lucky. What are we going to do?”

“Well, there is an option, but it would be up to her to take it,” Lucky pointed out as he sipped his drink.

"W-What the hell? Where did you get that from?" Daring replied, folding her forelegs. "I mean, Lucky's the only one that I've had seee....." she trailed off as steam came out of her ears and her face met the table.

“True as that may be, the very idea of me having sex with anybuggy here is enough to get you riled up,” the Blue drone said.

“Only one thing for it, if you want to keep us both,” the Yellow drone said. “You’ll have to claim us both.”

"We can't be talking about this," Daring groaned. "I'm... still figuring out my feelings for you Lucky... and, and Devoted is... he's just..."

Oh for the love of Celestia’s cake-stuffed flanks. She really did like them both. The mare just groaned, smacking her head on the table. That was about when Sweetie showed up with a cider for the mare, pausing only to give Devoted a quick kiss on the cheek.

And that might have coincidentally been when the table cracked slightly under Daring’s grip. The nymph just giggled and wandered off.

“Yup, face it. You like us both,” the Yellow drone pointed out.

"God-bucking-dammit," Daring groaned. "Whyyyyy?"

“Well, it’s not uncommon for a nymph to have more than one drone she likes at a time here,” the Blue drone pointed out. “There are cases where the nymph hoards drones to herself...but two is a perfectly healthy number for a nymph to have.”

"But I'm not a nymph!" Daring exclaimed. "I'm a pony. We marry one other. I... I shouldn't be having these sorts of thoughts!" It was her oncoming Heat. Yeah, that was it.

“That’s still not that uncommon here,” Devoted pointed out. “Sometimes a mare will find that she likes drones instead...and sometimes she’ll like more than one drone. Hybrids happen.”

Daring had no idea how to process this. She had no idea how to deal with this. She... she needed to talk to somepony that wasn't trying to get her in bed... again.

"Can, we discuss this back at the Silver Hive?" She asked. "I...I need time to think."

“Sure thing,” Lucky said as he finished his drink. “But for now, I’m going to relax and enjoy this atmosphere.”

“As will I, and out of deference to you, I’ll not try to sleep with any of the nymphs here,” Devoted said with a bit of cheek to his voice.

"Great... now I feel guilty again," she muttered, taking a sip of her drink.

“Nah, it’s okay,” Devoted said. “Doc said to avoid anything strenuous anyways, and I think a backroom rutting would count.”

Daring just blushed and hid under the table again. Maybe she'd get lucky and the Hive would explode…

“Ap!” Lucky said as he ducked down and pulled the mare back into her seat. “None of that now. You organized this, the least you could do is attend it.”

"Nuuu, lemme crawl into a hole and die," she whined. Lucky did his best to shut her up with a kiss to her cheek.

"Cheater," she mumbled, but returned the kiss. She thought for a moment and...well, it seemed okay so... She decided to test the waters and gave one to Devoted as well.

“Somepony’s feeling affectionate,” the Blue drone teased, but returned the kiss. “What happened to the shy scholar who couldn’t even hold her books that I met?”

"She's still mad you didn't tell her she was buying pony sutra books," Daring muttered as she sipped her cider.

“Hah, I shoulda seen that,” Lucky said with a laugh.

“She was adorable when the shopkeeper told her what she was buying,” Devoted replied with a nod.

"Go get eaten by a star beast," Daring grumbled and blushed. "...Stallions."

“You heard the lady, what star beast shall we take on?” Lucky asked.

“Hmm, I’m partial to Scorpio at the moment, I feel like I owe one a quick buck up the head,” Devoted mused.

"Hilarious..." Daring replied dryly, but she still smiled. The two drones made to get up as if to comply with her request...

"Whoa, whoa!!" Daring said, grabbing their tails. "And where the hell are you two going?"

“Nowhere,” Lucky said as he sat back down and kissed her cheek.

“Just checking to see how much you like us,” Devoted replied as he kissed her other cheek.

"You two suck!" Daring pouted and crossed her forelegs. "Quit teasing me."

“Sorry, couldn’t help ourselves,” Lucky said.

“It’s part of what a drone does when they get in a relationship with another drone and a nymph,” Devoted said. “They test to see if they’re wanted. Otherwise, they seek to leave it.”

"I-I don’t even know if this is going to be a thing yet," Daring said and drained her glass. "I mean, I'm going back to Equestria eventually. What then?"

“A fair point,” Devoted pointed out. “I would likely remain here, to serve my king.”

“Whereas I’ve had my fill of the Lands,” Lucky said with a shake of his head. “I’ve seen way too many squads die. I’d like to get out.”

"So...in the end, this can't happen," Daring said. Great, now she was getting depressed. Well, that's even if this... whatever it was even worked in the first place.

“Still, I wouldn’t mind spending some time with a nice mare like you,” Devoted said before kissing her again.

"Dammit, stop being so damned nice!" Daring said. "I...I don’t..." She didn't know what to do. She liked them both, but Lucky was the only one she’d spent time with. Said drone gave her another kiss before returning to his drink.

“You are a nice mare, Daring,” Lucky said. “You genuinely care about us. We can feel that through your necklace.”

"I do care," Daring said. "Lucky, you've been so nice and patient with me, and Devoted, I don’t care what you say, you've gone well beyond the boundaries of your duty to keep me safe." She sighed and rolled her empty glass between her hooves. "This... it's something I never expected to happen and it's a lot to take in..."

“Take your time,” Devoted said. “You have all the time in the Lands to come to terms with this.”

Daring nodded as she spun the empty glass on the table. “You know…” she said idly. “I have to go back to Equestria in a few days for a friends wedding. Do you… want to come with me?”

“We could if you wanted us to,” Lucky said before looking at Devoted, who nodded.

“As long as you intend to return, I can accompany you for a short trip outside the Lands,” the Blue drone said.

“Well of course, my studies are nowhere near done yet.” Daring found herself smiling for some reason. She… well, she just felt happy. “So Devoted, when will you be up for travelling again?”

“I can right now,” he said before gesturing to his side. “I just need to remember to take breaks and keep changing my bandages until my next set of chitin comes in. It’d be foolish otherwise.”

“So, you shed?” she asked, looking at his shell. “Interesting…” She pulled out her notebook and an idea came to mind. She grinned to herself as she wrote, ohh, this scene was going to be delightfully chilly~

“Yeah, I should be good in a week or so,” the drone said. “Give my body time to form a new shell under the old.”

“Sounds… itchy,” Yearling nodded as she wrote. “Oohh, this might go well here. I need to visit the Red’s burial mounds though. I have a feeling they might help with this…” She continued to write and mutter to herself while doing so.

“Ever get the feeling you signed up for more than you bargained for?” Devoted asked Lucky.

“All the time,” the Yellow drone replied.

“Huh, what?” Yearling looked up as she put her book away. “What?”

“Nothing,” they both said in unison. The pegasus mare gave them a dubious stare, before her eyes widened slightly.

“I was doing the writing thing again huh?”

“Maybe,” Lucky said. “Though to be fair, you were adorable when you were.”

“I...what? I’m not adorable!” Yearling protested. “Plain, boring and perhaps a bit of a dork, but I am not adorable.”

Lucky’s retort was simple to sum up. He leaned over and kissed the pegasus mare on the cheek.

Yearling just pouted and then shot him a smirk. “I have an idea,” she said and then flicked his nose with a wingtip. “Let’s dance Devoted!” she got up and dragged the Blue away before he or Lucky could protest.

“Well, that happened,” Lucky said from the booth as he decided to watch. The Blue drone, though he was injured, could still dance pretty well, and demonstrated as such to the mare.

“Ohh, somepony knows their dance moves,” Yearling giggled. She idly thought of showing him the dance she did with Lucky, but… well that was kind of their thing.

And she in no way noticed all the jealous stares from the nymphs that watched her taking the two best drones in the room for herself. Devoted did, though, and decided to turn what would have been a dip into a passionate embrace with an even more passionate kiss. Just to scare the others off.

It also had the delightful side-effect of surprising the ever loving hay out of Yearling. Though she returned the kiss, he was waaay too good a kisser not to.

Sorry Lucky, but there is something to be said for experience. Devoted eventually broke the kiss and swept his gaze around, noticing to his satisfaction that the other females in the bar were now directing their glares elsewhere.

“Um…” Yearling blushed deeply and looked away shyly. “That was… uh...wow.”

“I’m glad you liked it,” Devoted said before whispering to her. “And imagine what else I can do with my tongue~”

Aaaaand now he held a fainted mare in his forelegs. The drone chuckled before putting her on his back and carefully walking back to the booth. Once he arrived, Lucky helped put the mare back in her seat and the both of them waited for Daring to come to.

She eventually did, but for the rest of the evening, she couldn’t look at Devoted without blushing. The party sort of wound down after that. Nothing like the intense one a few nights ago, though, the fact that they had to pay for drinks might have been a contributing factor.

And when the trio returned to their hotel, a forgotten problem arose.

There were three of them… and only two beds.

“Um…” Daring looked at them. This, might not be pretty.

“We could always bunk together,” Lucky said. “It’s not like we haven’t done worse.”

“True, and bonding experiences are necessary,” Yearling nodded as she slowly took off her bags and jacket, letting the article slide off her body as those tight flanks wiggled slightly.

“And suddenly, I feel like I should be jealous,” Devoted said. “Still, doc said no strenuous stuff.”

“So… are the two of you really okay with the situation?” she asked. “I mean, I’m not used to it… but, I can at least try. But I can’t if the two of you are uncomfortable.”

“It’s not uncommon here,” Lucky said with a nod. “We’ll be fine.”

“The only oddity is you being a pony, but since you actually care about us, I think we can overlook that,” Devoted added before climbing into his own bed. “Just keep the noise down, or let me watch if you two get up to anything-” That was when he had a pegasus mare atop of him, kissing him gently as her hooves rubbed the unbandaged sections of his chitin.

“Guess she’s taking turns,” Lucky snickered as he climbed into the other bed.

Not quite, though she was testing the waters at least. It was just weird, she and Lucky had already had se...that. And now she was on a bed, kissing a changeling in front of him.

Yup, her life could not possibly get any weirder than this. Devoted did his best to return her sudden affections. He wasn’t complaining by any stretch of the imagination. His tongue danced with hers while his hooves roved over her flanks.

She moaned into the kiss and pulled back to catch her breath. "I'm not hurting you am I?" she asked the Blue soldier.

“Nah, it’d take more than this to really start hurting me,” the drone said as his hooves started massaging her Cutie Marks. She gave a contented sigh and looked at Lucky.

"And what about you?"

“I’m fine with watching,” the Yellow drone said as he did just that. “Might even pick up some pointers.”

“I am moderately skilled at this,” Devoted said as he drew Daring in for another kiss. She put a hoof to his lips and blushed.

"Just so you know, I'm not very good at this."

“That’s okay, it’s like any other skill,” Devoted said before pecking her on the lips. “You can learn.”

"Oh, and I suppose you're going to teach us?" Yearling tried a seductive tone. It wasn’t a bad attempt at all.

“Yes, just like school, only this time, the point is to screw the teacher,” Devoted said with a chuckle.

Much to Lucky’s disappointment after their 'session', a shower was all she was interested in, and now the mare lay on the bed next to Devoted.

"A small question," she asked as she ran a washcloth over his chitin. "Are changelings capable of using pony spells?"

“There are some spells that overlap, yes,” the drone said as he enjoyed the feeling of being cleaned. “Though, there are some that won’t. For example, I’d like to see a pony take or give back emotions.”

“Though those are technically just extensions of our natural abilities, I’ll concede the point stands,” Lucky said. “There’s also the famous technique of burning love or other emotions to give ourselves a boost.”

"Hmm, well," Daring paused, perhaps for dramatic effect. "I was thinking transmogrification."

“Turning things into other things?” Devoted asked. “We have a bit of an affinity for that thanks to our natural abilities, though rare is the ‘ling that decides to pursue it past disguises.”

"Perhaps Mrs. Gossip might know somepony," Daring said. "Because, what were to happen if my physiology were to drastically change? Even a temporary one?"

“And why are we discussing this?” Lucky asked.

"Well," Daring said and booped his nose. "What if Mr. Loyal here has succeeded? If I were to be transformed...?"

“Transformed?” Devoted asked with a head tilt. “It’s not like hybrids are a new thing. Nor is the path to making one littered with transformative magics.”

“Yeah, the only thing that’d change if Devoted succeeded would be you getting pregnant, not you turning into a Changeling,” Lucky said with a nod.

Daring facehooved. "If I'm pregnant, wouldn’t me being transformed into something biologically different negate it?" She explained. She recalled Critical telling her how careful she had to be, since she couldn’t transform.

“Yeeeeah, but you’re not a Changeling,” Lucky said.

“It’s a nice thought, but the ability to change others is one of those hit-and-miss talents that some Changelings have, and some don’t,” Devoted said. “And once again, we rarely look for such talents or hone them.”

"...That’s totally not fair," Daring pouted. "Argh! Whatever!" She rolled over, cuddling up to Devoted and closing her eyes.

“Though, look on the bright side,” Lucky said as he walked over to her free side and cuddled her there. “She’s got six husbands, staff, and some kids. One of them’s bound to know something.”

"It's not like the idea of having a foal is that bad," Daring said quietly. "But, we've been together for less than a day. So jumping right to babymaking is one I'd rather not get to so quickly."

“Fair enough,” Devoted said as he kissed Daring. “Hold off on sexytimes until we get back to Equestria?”

"No... I think I like it too much for that," Daring said, blushing slightly. "Just... be a little more careful."

“We can do that,” Lucky said as he nuzzled Daring. “Though, to be fair, we probably should have read Devoted in before we started.”

“I said sorry,” the Blue drone said with a sigh.

"Not your fault," Daring said, kissing his cute pouty face. "It did feel nice~"

“Let’s just avoid a repeat performance,” Devoted said. “For now, nap?”

"Nap," Daring nodded as she rolled over onto her belly. She spread her wings over the both of them. So...laying claim huh? She wondered how that worked. For now, the drones merely nuzzled her before they drifted off…

Chapter 86.1 - Snark and Sarcasm in Las Pegasus

Ledger whistled a happy tune as he led Scope past Fredrick’s, on the way to something completely different from his place or the Chop Shop.

“Okay,” Scope said as they passed by both places. “Where are we going?”

“Just a little place Middy and I found the other day,” Ledger said as he kept leading the smaller mare. “I’ve been meaning to try it out for a while.”

Hmm, well now she was curious. Mind you, she didn’t tell him what movie they were going to see either. So it was fair.

“Well, I’ll have you know that I have very refined tastes Mr. Secret. You’ll have to work hard to impress this cultured mare.”

“I just hope this place is up to your standards then,” Ledger teased back. Turning the corner, the restaurant was in view now, with it’s quite obvious difference from the buildings around it helping it to stand out even more. It wasn’t every day you saw a Nieghponese building in Las Pegasus after all.

“Huh?” she looked the building over and tilted her head. “I’ve never seen this place before… and what’s a ‘Neighpon’?”

“A country,” Ledger said as he walked up to the building and pointed at the words at the bottom of the sign. Namely, Diner, Grill, and Bar. “And our destination for tonight.”

Scope nodded as he held the door open for her. She giggled at the theatrics of his gentlestallionyness and walked in with her head held high. She’d used a little more power and crafted a disguise that was her pegasus form, only in a size similar to a standard mare. She didn’t want another father/daughter issue.

“Hello,” the greeter said, bowing his head slightly to the two of them. “Table for two?”

“Yes please,” Ledger said, bowing in turn, before each stallion stood up straight.

“Follow me,” the greeter replied as he pulled two menus from behind the podium and began leading the ponies to one of the open chefs.

Scope looked around the place, ponies sitting on small cushions instead of chairs and theer was some large metal plate set into each table.

“What a weird design,” Scope said aloud. Ledger just smiled that enigmatic smile of his as he took it all in. He was sure this was going to be interesting. And hopefully fun.

Eventually they were led to a pony who had two open cushions in front of him. The server bowed as he presented the pair with their chef for the evening, who also bowed. Ledger, caught up in the bowing-fest, did his best to reciprocate, before taking his seat.

“Well, this must be a familiar sight, Duke Secret,” Scope chuckled as she took a seat. Ledger just shook his head before their chef talked to them.

“Greetings,” the earth pony stallion said to them. “I am to be your chef for tonight. My name is Cutting Board. Have you eaten at this establishment before?”

“Nope, first time,” Ledger said as he perused his menu.

“Oh, you are in for a treat then,” Board said with a smile.

“So what’s with the metal plate?” Scope asked, as bluntly as a hoof to the face. “Seems like an odd choice in decor.”

“Why don’t you order something and find out?” Board asked.

“Okay…” Ledger said as he looked the menu over. “How about...Egg fried rice?”

Board nodded and ducked behind the counter, before pulling out an egg and cracking it on the plate. Instantly, the egg sizzled and started to cook. The stallion then added a few cups of rice to the mixture and pulled out a large, shiny, sharp spatula-looking object to help him stir up the rice and egg. There was even a moment when he had nothing better to do and flipped it in the air to his other hoof, before resuming cooking the dish in front of them. A moment later, the stallion nodded and put two plates in front of the ponies, before serving them each equal parts of Egg Fried Rice.

“So… you cook it right here?” Scope blinked. And dang that rice smelled delicious.

“That is the way of this establishment,” Board said with a nod. “Anything you order is cooked fresh in front of you.”

“Interesting,” Scope said. And the show had been quite enjoyable to watch. Now she wanted to order something complicated, if only to test his mettle. Still, eating this rice came first.

And she did so with all her usual grace and elegance. By diving in muzzle-first and scarfing it down. Ledger just rolled his eyes and used his magic to operate a pair of sticks into holding it for him in lieu of a fork. At least, he assumed this was how things were supposed to work. He had no idea how he’d do it with hooves.

He found that the chopsticks worked rather well with his magic, that he barely needed to make a conscious effort to use them. Scope finished inhaling her food and belched. “Ahh, that was delicious! My compliments Mr. Board~”

“Thank you,” the stallion said with a smile. “What next?”

“Hmm,” Ledger said as he looked at the menu. “What’s sushi?”

“Seaweed, wrapped around rice and a filling of your choice, more often than not, fish,” Board replied. “You can apply condiments to them to make them taste more savory or spicy if you like.”

“Ohh, I love spicy food!” Scope beamed, her tail wagging slightly.

“Shrimp sushi, and make hers spicy,” Ledger said with a nod. The order given, Board got to work.

Shrimps were pulled out and grilled right in front of them, right next to strips of seaweed that only took a second. Once they were done, they were given a coating of rice and had the shrimps put inside, before the whole thing was rolled up and placed on one of their plates. The process was repeated a dozen times, and the stallion pulled out a small bottle of some sort of orange sauce that he lightly spread over Scope’s sushi.

“Hmm, what’s that?” the pegasus asked. “You didn’t put a whole lot on…”

“Trust me, you won’t need a whole lot of the house sauce before you feel the burn,” the stallion said. “It’s no wasabi, but it’s plenty hot on its own.”

“Wasabi? Ohh, it even sounds hot! I wanna try that!” Scope declared.

“Why not try their normal stuff first?” Ledger offered as he picked up a roll with his sticks and popped it in his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully before nodding and smiling.

“Oh fine,” Scope replied and took a bite. The sauce did have quite a kick to it, and she hummed pleasantly as she ate. “Not bad, not bad at all.”

“These are quite delicious,” Ledger said. “Still, I don’t think I’m full yet.” When had all of his sushi disappeared?!

Scope looked at the menu and something caught her eye. “Oohhhh, I want that!”

“Hmm?” Ledger said as he looked at the menu. “What is the spicy tuna roll?”

“Similar to the sushi you just had,” the stallion explained. “Only treated with our sauce in the middle of making and wrapped in panko for a crunchy exterior instead of seaweed. And if the miss does desire it, then wasabi is available for her to use for this dish…”

“Ohh, that sauce didn’t have enough kick, so lay some on me Mr Chef.”

“Two tuna rolls,” Ledger said with a nod. “She can have wasabi on hers, I’ll just take a normal one.”

The stallion nodded and pulled out two fillets of tuna, slapping them on the grill and showing off as he sliced them up into a perfect shape for the roll. With an application of sticky rice and spicy sauce on both of them, he rolled the tuna up into one long tube, before sprinkling a little of the breadcrumb substitute that they used here to make things crunchy. Each roll found its way to a plate before the stallion put a very small dollop of light green sauce on Scope’s plate.

“What the heck is that?” Scope said. “A foal would find that amount paltry.”

“Believe me, miss, it’s more than enough,” the stallion said. “A single drop of that can have seasoned stallions begging for milk.”

“Sounds like a bunch of simpering fools,” Scope scoffed. “Now, gimme more Chef!” The stallion gulped before doubling the amount of sauce on her plate.

“Scope,” Ledger said. “Maybe you should try a little before you say it isn’t enough?”

“Bah!’ Scope rubbed her roll in the sauce, giving it a generous coat and beamed. She opened her mouth and took a large bite and chewed…

Then… she chewed a little slower…

Then she stopped, as Ledger could see her coat turning red…

“I don’t suppose you keep any milk behind that counter of yours, do you?” Ledger asked the chef conversationally.

“Yup,” Cutting Board said as he pulled a pitcher and a glass out for Scope, pouring her a tall glass of the white stuff. She reached across and grabbed the pitcher, before gulping the stuff down as fast as she could.

“Told you~” Ledger said as he started eating his own roll, humming thoughtfully at the taste. It wasn’t bad, all things considered. A little spicier than he normally ate his food, but he could handle that.

Scope finally finished drowning her face in the milk and panted. That was… that was like sticking her tongue into the fires of Tartarus. That… that stuff wasn’t fit for consumption.

“Did the spice fiend finally find something she can’t handle?” Ledger asked as he finished up his tuna roll.

Oh he did not just bucking say that. She picked up the rest of her roll and stared at it, gulping and then shoved it into her mouth…

Oh Sweet Hives! The pain!!

“She’s...stubborn,” Ledger said to Cutting Board.

“I can see that,” the earth pony replied. “To not only eat it once, but twice…”

She gulped down more milk and sighed. Her mouth burned like hell, but she finished her roll.

“N-Never… waste food,” she said slowly. It sounded like her vocal chords lost a fight with a cheese grater.

“Still, I think we finally found something you won’t eat,” Ledger said. “Or can’t, I’m not sure which.”

“Oh this stuff is great,” Scope chuckled. “A worthy challenge.”

“Your total for tonight will come to forty-two bits,” Board said. Ledger pulled out some bits from his saddlebags and placed them on the table, while waiting for Scope to recover.

She took a few breaths and sipped more milk before she nodded. “Okay, I’m good now.” She got up from her cushion and glanced at a clock. “Oh, we’re gonna be late if we don’t move.”

“Well, let’s try not to be late then,” Ledger said as he stood up and bowed to Board. “My thanks for the meal.”

“Most kind of you,” the stallion said with a similar bow. With that, Ledger was following Scope to their next stop.

“Okay, we’re at the movies,” Ledger said as he looked at the theatre. “Will you tell me what movie we’re here to see?”

“You’ll see~” Scope giggled as she purchased two tickets and then led Ledger to one of the rooms. “You should like this. It’s right up your alley~”

The drone caught sight of the name on a poster as they entered the screening room.

~Crystal Vamponies. The Movie~

“You are joking. You’re joking, right?” Ledger asked. “I mean, I can think of three things wrong with the movie from the poster alone.”

“The fact they couldn’t even come up with a title?” she said as she gave some bits to a serving colt to get them some popcorn and soda. “Come on Secret, this’ll be fun.”

“I fail to see how this could ever be fun,” Ledger deadpanned. “I’m going to have trouble holding in all the snark that I’m going to feel during this movie.”

“Oh? That’s the reason we’re here,” Scope replied. “We’re going to snark the ever loving Hives out of this travesty.”

“...Come again?” Ledger asked. “I’m pretty sure you just said we were going to completely ruin this movie.”

“We are going to destroy it,” Scope cackled like the teeny super villain she was. “We will unleash our snark upon this thing. None shall survive!”

“...Sometimes I think you really love me, you know,” Ledger said with a grin that was too wide to be sane. “Setting snark to maximum.”

“Of course I love you… stupid drone,” Scope blushed and muttered before shaking her head. “Right! Once our supplies arrive, we can start!”

As if on cue, the colt returned with a massive bucket of popcorn and two sodas. Scope smiled and tipped him, then he left and the theatre dimmed as the movie started.

Let the carnage commence~

The opening credits rolled as they were shown a misty forest, as the main actress gave a voice over.

“I’d never given much thought… as to how I would die…”

“Well no,” Ledger said right off the bat. “Otherwise you’d be seen as crazy and locked up, and then we wouldn’t have a movie.”

They heard a twig snap, as the camera panned around at a dizzying pace. Trees are dodged and weaved through as the pace picks up. And then they’re finally greeted with the prey they’d been chasing.

...A bunny.

“I’m sorry to say, bunny, but you’re doomed,” Scope said in a solemn tone. “We will inform your three hundred brothers and sisters of your sacrifice to bad movies everywhere.”

The bunny runs and the camera chases. A light can be seen in the distance and the bunny makes for it, as the pursuer comes to emerge from the darkness. The bunny suddenly leaps in a high arc, the white glare from the sun filling the screen as the voice over starts again as the white glares consumes the screen.

“But dying in the place of somepony I love seems like a good way to go…”

“Or, and this is just a theory, you could push them out of the way,” Ledger said. “And then duck yourself. Hey presto, no death!”

The camera opens on an earth pony mare. An alabaster coat with a dark mane and tail. She is quite lovely looking, aside from the blank slate expression on her face as the sun filtered on her.

“...So, I can’t bring myself to regret the decision that brought me here to die…”

“Pretty sure I’m regretting spending my bits already,” Scope said, “As they don’t give refunds.”

The camera turns and they see a quaint little setting of houses that all look the same. The mare leans down and carefully lifts up a little cactus plant.

“The decision to leave home…”

“And take my pet cactus, Boris, with me,” Ledger filled in. “As he would prove to be a traitor.”

“Ledger, y’know how the mistress keeps telling you to go buck a cactus?” Scope said before pointing at the screen. “I think she’s talking about that one.”

She stares the cactus in a state of reverie, three unicorns with bleached white coats and blonde manes and tail spoke up. They looked impossibly perfect.

“Bye Bell~ Have fun at your new school~”

“Yes, the new school where nopony knows you and you will be tormented for loving a cactus like you do,” Ledger spoke up.

“Forget the cactus,” Scope said. “What, did we clone the same guy twice? Once should have been crime enough!”

"Don't forget to write!" The stepford clones smiled. "Have a good--" *smack* Bell trips and faceplants the ground. "--life."

“I would have gone with trip, myself. Too obvious?” Ledger asked.

“Little bit, pass the chocolate,” Scope said.

Bell's mother appears, she looks like a stereotypical housewife. She hoofs over some sort of device.

"The telepathyphone won't work again Bell. Fix it?"

Here it seems to show that Bell is supposed to be wise beyond her years as she presses a few buttons. "You had and hold... and dialed Mexicolt..."

“Long way to go for traditional Mexicolt food, mom,” Ledger snarks.

“But I like my tacos!” Scope whines.

Bell's dad emerges from the cloned house. He's in his mid 30's, handsome and has an athlete’s body.

“Well, we found the originator of these clones,” Ledger points out.

“It’s too late, he’s already had kids,” Scope sighs.

After a brief exchange, the family part ways. Mom and Dad off on a romantic road trip as Bell goes off to a small town high school. Her face shows doubt, anxiety and regret, as she struggles to keep up the happy facade as the title rolls.

“Because we thought it worked well as a book and wanted to see this horribleness in movie form, it’s Crystal Vamponies, the movie!” Ledger says.

“Starring ponies that will never get another job after this!” Scope adds.

“And directed by ponies that could have done better if they cared!”

For the next fifteen minutes, the movie is nothing but rolling credits and a pegasus eye view of changing scenery, shifting from an arid desert region to a dense forest area.

“So we’ve gone from outside Las Pegasus to the Everfree in a blink of an eye,” Ledger muses. “That or we’re in two different movies.”

The credits ended and the scene shifted to the inside of a carriage, as Bell sat beside an introverted-looking stallion in a police officer's uniform.

"Your mane's longer," he said blandly.

"I cut it since I saw you last," she replied, staring out of the window.

"Guess it grew out again."

She just nods.

“Ladies and gentlestallions, we have found more bland topics than the weather,” Scope says.

"How's your Mom?"

"Good..."

More silence. They pass a sign that says. 'Welcome to the City of Spoons. Population 3246.’

“None of them interesting,” Ledger quips.

Several scenes play out, as Bell moves into her father's home. They share some stilted and awkward lines as Bell stares at a photo of a younger version of her parents.

“Oh look honey, it’s us when you weren’t around,” Scope says. “And when your mother was.”

A red carriage pulls up outside, as a ridiculously handsome native earth pony gets out and helps his father into a wheelchair.

"Hey Bell, you remember Bucky Black." For the first time, the stallion playing her father actually had emotion in his tone.

“Oooh, he must be important to warrant the use of dad’s ‘interested’ voice,” Scope said in a mockery of Bell’s voice.

The two stallions shared some banter and small talk as the son just stood around, blushing shyly every time he looked at Bell.

"Hey Bell, you remember my kid right? You and Wolf here used to play together as foals."

"...We made mudpies," Wolf said awkwardly.

“Aww, awkward friend you haven’t seen in years,” Ledger said with a sweet tone. “What’s the betting that he’s important in some way?”

“2 to 1,” Scope said as she passed the popcorn.

More conversation. Scene change to the next day as Bell arrives at her new school. All the sterotypes are there in force. The jocks, the nerds. Cheerleaders and the like. Bell falls in a puddle the second she gets there. And being the new pony in a small town meant that everypony was talking about her.

"This is my Tartarus..."

“Oh please,” Ledger said with an eye-roll. “She can’t muscle past a few rumors on day one? I was unaware we were watching the chronicles of the mare who wouldn’t try.”

She was interrupted by a nerdy-cute colt from the school paper, but brushes him off quickly and heads to class.

“Well, that was a smart move. Alienate the press so you can’t fix your image,” Scope quips.

After that, it cues to gym class. Bell shows that she can spike a volleyball and beaned the prettycolt jock right between the eyes.

“Match point!” Scope cheered.

“Remind me not to get on her bad side if she’s ever got a volleyball lying around,” Ledger added. “That looks like it hurt.”

The scene showed that the jock was completely fine with it. Even his pretty cheerleader marefriend was okay with the fact that the new girl nearly took her colftriend’s head off.

The scene soon shifted to the cafeteria, where the same cheerleader, still in her cheerleader outfit was introducing Bell to her friends and gossiping.

“There is no way this can possibly go wrong,” Ledger said as he took a hooffull of popcorn.

The double doors to the cafeteria swing open, as the four most beautiful pegasi walk in. Two mares and two stallions Their features are flawless, aside from their pale coats and dark rings under their eyes.

“Who are they?” Bell whispered to her apparent new friend.

“The Crystals. They’re the adopted kids of Doctor and Mrs. Crystal. They moved down here from the Crystal Empire about two years ago.”

“And if we use the word ‘Crystal’ any more, we’ll all start sparkling, and we can’t have that,” Ledger snarked. “It’d be impossible to tell us apart from your love interest.”

“Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt,” Scope added.

The Cheerleader, named Cheery, pointed out the first two. “That’s Rosy, and that’s Pellet.” Rosie was slender and beautiful, like a supermodel. Pellet was huge and brawny like a weightlifter, but had a playful glint in his eye.

“They’re a thing, I’m not even sure that’s legal.” Cheery nodded

“...And they’re related?” Bell asked dubiously.

“Not by blood… or so I hear,” Cheery replied.

“On a sidenote, do you hear that banjo music?” Scope asked.

“Just a little,” Ledger said before passing the popcorn back.

“So we’re saying thestrals are not only vamponies, but also promote incest?” Scope said with a raised eyebrow. “I’m beginning to see the Mistress’s point here.”

“Well somepony certainly is promoting it,” Ledger said as he pointed at the two that were said to be a thing.

The other two were now pointed out. A rail-thin pegasus in a goth loli outfit and a sickly-looking blonde stallion.

“That’s Wonder, the little one, and Whisper, the stallion,” Cheery said. “They’re also a thing. Their dad is kinda like an adopter-slash-matchmaker.”

“And suddenly it starts to make sense,” Ledger said. “Eugenics at its finest.”

One more stallion enters. He has a bronze mane and tail, and the same pale coat.

“That’s Featherward Crystal,” Cheery said as Bell refused to take her eyes off of him. He was gorgeous, perfect… “And he’s totally out of your league, or anypony else’s for that matter,” Cherry added. “So don’t even think about it.”

“Wasn’t planning on it,” Bell murmured as hers and Featherward’s eyes met.

“I’m just going to coincidentally plan to be around him for the rest of the day, see if he’ll even talk to me,” Scope snarked.

He continues to stare at her, a frown on his face. And when the scene changed to biology class, she walked past him, the breeze she created lifted a piece of paper on his desk. He inhaled sharply and stiffened, before scrunching the paper in his grasp.

“No one must know what I write of,” Ledger intoned dramatically.

“She must never see my changeling boy-love fanfiction!” Scope added.

The biology class continued, as Featherward got more and more angry, his rage-filled eyes never leaving Bell. And when the bell rang, he couldn't leave the room fast enough.

“Just accept that he’s not that into you and move on,” Ledger moaned.

Bell later finds the stallion trying to sweet talk a teacher into letting him change classes. And though it seems to be working, there are simply no other classes to take. When Bell makes her presence known, Featherward turns to her with a hate-filled gaze before storming off, leaving the mare to lean against the wall, hugging herself out of fear.

“Well this romance story is off to a rousing start,” Ledger said.

“Heh, a rousing,” Scope giggled.

“You are such a foal sometimes,” the drone replied with a sigh.

Later, Featherward is seen getting into a fancy carriage, while Bell is stuck with the dingy one her father gave her. You can see the hate in her eyes.

“Yes, hate him for having more, that’s mature of you,” Scope said with a roll of her eyes. “Seriously, how do you intend to win him? Personality is out.”

"Personality was in to begin with?" Ledger asked.

The scene shifts, and now we have a stallion, a civil worker. He's making small, frightened breaths, trying not to make a sound, but a shadow moves, blindingly fast and he bolts.

The camera chases him at insane speeds, to show how fast the thing is that's chasing him. He exits a door onto a stair railing, but trips and loses his footing.

“And we have found the second sacrifice of the evening,” Scope says with a cackle. Right before a hoof darts out and grabs him by the shirt, keeping him suspended in the air.

“I, uh, don’t suppose you could let me down?” Ledger asks, as though speaking for the stallion.

The hoof yanks the stallion up and you can hear a guttural scream as blood sprays the landing before the scene fades to black.

“Guess that’s a no,” Ledger says before taking a sip of the soda.

“High quality red paint there, but they really should have painted the whole thing,” Scope agrees.

The next scene is an awkward family dinner, Bell's dad's friend's reminiscing as Bell clearly remembers none of the stories. She soon gets a phonecall from her wayward mother, stuck at some podunk hotel in the middle of nowhere.

“Yes, because that doesn’t scream ‘trap’ at all,” Ledger snarks. “‘Come out to the middle of nowhere inn, where nopony will hear you scream.’”

"So how's school? Everypony treating you okay?" The mother asks.

"Yeah, just great," Bell lies. "Everypony's been pretty... welcoming." The look of rage returns to her face.

“Except for the colt I totally don’t have a crush on,” Scope says in a high-pitched voice.

The next is a montage of scenes at school over the next couple of days. Bell is ready to confront Featherward, but he never shows up for school like the rest of his siblings. And after hanging out with her new circle of friends, she finally seems to have forgotten about him.

“Well, I guess we’ll never see him again,” Ledger says with false confidence.

A few days later, in the school cafeteria. Her friends are discussing proma night, when Bell glances to one side and sees Featherward sitting at a table by himself. She nods to herself and strides over to him, dropping her books confidently on the desk, ready for a confrontation...

“‘Look, I want to know if you can help me with problem five or not,’” Scope says in that falsely high tone again.

“‘Would you cut it out, I have real work to focus on,’” Ledger replies in a gruff voice.

"Hello," he replies, precise and like it required a great deal of effort. "I believe I haven't introduced myself yet. I am Featherward Crystal."

Bell is too stunned to reply.

“‘Would you like to see my fanfiction?’” Ledger tacks on.

"You're Bell..." he tacked on, prompting the mare to actually say something.

"I...um, yes?" She said awkwardly and sat down as Featherward moved away from her.

“‘Don’t touch me, you’ll get your ‘New Girl’ness all over me,’” Ledger says.

“‘Well that’s going to make my plan a lot more complicated,’” Scope replies.

A few scenes later, during another Biology class, Featherward and Bell share a table, staring down a microscope.

“Enjoying the rain?” Featherward asks.

“Are… you seriously asking about the weather?” Bell replied incredulously.

“It appears so,” Featherward said plainly.

“‘It’s not like there’s anything else going on in this town, like, at all,’” Ledger says in that gruff tone again.

“And we’ve come full circle to the awkward small talk once again,” Scope observes. “Next he’ll say something about her mane.”

“Your mane would look better in a ponytail,” he said as he peered into the microscope.

“I bucking called it!” Scope said. Ledger groaned and gave her five bits.

Bell just stares at him, he was flawless. Those cheekbones, those lips, like a sculpture.

“So why did you move here?” Featherward asked.

“It’s… complicated.” Bell replied.

“I think I can keep up,” he smirked.

“‘Well, mom moved in with the creepy parade, and dad had an open room, oh...guess it wasn’t so complicated,’” Scope says in her ‘mocking Bell’ tone.

“Mom remarried,” Bell said.

“Oh, very complex,” Featherward barely held back the snark.

“Dammit,” Ledger said as he fished out five more bits to give to the smirking Scope. “It’s uncanny how you do that.”

“So you don’t like him?”

“He’s fine, a little young for her, but nice enough.”

“Yes, admit that you checked out your new stepdad,” Ledger said in a snarky tone. “That’ll win you points.”

“Well the rest of his siblings are doing each other, it actually might,” Scope replied.

“Seriously, I keep hearing banjo music in the background,” Ledger said before offering Scope the popcorn.

Later, out in the hall, the conversation continues.

“So why didn’t you stay with your mom and stepdad?”

“He’s a minor league hoofball player. So he travels around a lot. Mom used to stay at home, but… she was unhappy. So I decided to spend time with my dad.”

“‘And get away from my identical triplet stepsisters,’” Scope spoke up. “‘They do this thing where they speak in unison. Creepy~’”

“And now you’re unhappy…” Featherward said as Bell turned away, looking embarrassed. “I’m just trying to figure you out,” he continued. “You’re very hard to read.”

“Noooo, I’m pretty sure she’s about ten pages long, at that,” Ledger said. “Seriously, she’s the wading section at a pool levels of deep.”

She peers at the pegasus, “Did you get contacts?”

“...no.”

“Your eyes were black before, now they’re a golden brown…”

“It’s just the fluorescents,” he snapped before turning and walking away abruptly.

“Mental note, fluorescent lights are more effective on crushes than previously imagined. Also, don’t let Twilight subject us to weird light experiments,” Ledger says aloud.

“To be fair, you did the whole ‘Angst and eye colour shift’ thing as well dear Secret.”

“I at least had a legitimate reason,” the drone defends himself. “And I certainly didn’t sparkle in the sun when I was.”

“Yeah, you would have been much less edgy if you did.”

Later outside, the rain had stopped but the ground was pocketed with black ice. As Bell moves to her carriage, she can see Featherward in the distance, getting into his own when she hears a shout. A carriage barrels towards her, out of control. And in a split second, Featherward is on top of her, one hoof pressed against the oncoming carriage, stopping it cold.

“Faster than a speeding locomotive, more powerful than the guard-” Ledger starts, before Scope socks him one.

“He’s not SuperColt, you dolt,” she says with a roll of her eyes.

Later in the hospital, we meet Featherward’s father. A stallion in his 40’s and movie star handsome. There’s some tension in the air as scenes pass and she encounters Featherward once again and confronts him about the earlier incident.

“You stopped it. How?”

“No I didn’t, you’re mistaken.”

“I know what I saw!!”

“Can’t you just get over it and thank me?”

“So, first you did nothing, and now you’re wanting to be thanked,” Ledger muses. “Well, which is it?”

“Thank you. Now tell me.”

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“No.”

“After all, you did just admit that you did something,” Scope points out. “Tactical error there.”

“Then prepare to be disappointed,” he replied and walked away.

“Well, tactical retreats are still tactical,” Ledger says with a laugh.

As the scene faded, Bell’s voice over layed again. ‘That night, I had my first dream about Featherward Crystal.’

“‘And I woke up to wet sheets,’” Scope filled in.

“‘It turns out I had one too many glasses of water before bed,’” Ledger tacked on. “‘Get your mind out of the gutter.’”

A few scenes later, Belle and her friends are at a beach. It looks cold and overcast, but hey seem to be having fun. Wolf is telling her of an old legend, that his family are supposedly tied to the spirits of the wolves and the forest, while the Crystal’s are… an enemy clan. But he quickly shrugs it off and laughs.

“Yeah, like that’ll ever be important,” Ledger says with a laugh himself. “Colts will say anything to get the attention of a filly.”

“Speaking from experience?” Scope giggled.

“I dunno, did it work?” Ledger fires back.

“Your application is still being processed.”

More pointless scenes… then we cut to a fisherpony on a mist covered lake. His dog is barking from the shoreline, before it yelps and falls silent.

“Sacrifice three has been offered up, sacrifice four is pending,” Scope says while making markings in the air with her hooves. “At this rate we’ll be in the low twenties for bodycount before the end of the movie.”

As he turns to investigate, he sees three thestrals standing on the shoreline, tossing aside a severed dog’s leg. The large stallion leaps, and lands on the bow of the boat without even opening his wings to fly.

“H-How did you do that?” the fisherpony stammers.

“Oh, very easily,” Scope says, timing it just right. “Like this!”

The mare leaps and lands on the boat, followed by the younger stallion.

“Sir, you did not pay to use our lake,” Ledger says in a nasally tone. “I’m afraid you’ll have to pay right...now.”

“Always the same inane questions.”

“What do you want?”

“Why are you doing this?”

The mare smiled viciously and licked her lips. “What you should ask is… will it hurt?” And with that, she lunged and the scene darkened.

“Maybe if we sacrifice enough ponies, the bad movie will go away,” Ledger muses.

The next few scenes played out and we discover that the Crystal’s ditch school every time the weather’s nice, and it’s said that their family takes them hiking and camping. The prom is the talk of the whole school and later that night, Bell visits a bookstore before heading home. It’s already well after dark and it quickly becomes apparent that something is following her.

“Gooooood evening Bell, and welcome to the Love Connection!” Ledger says in a hammy tone. “Now, we’ve found a few eligible bachelors that you can be dating during your high-school years, let’s bring our first contestant out now!”

It’s not vamponies, but rather, four drunk frat colts looking for a little fun. Bell freezes as she backs up a little and holds out her purse.

“L-Look, just take it and go,” she said.

“Oh, we don’t want your money,” one said and licked his lips as he ogles her flanks.

“Bachelor number one has his eyes on the prize and is refreshingly direct in his approach, will it woo over Bell? Let’s find out!” Ledger says in that same tone.

Bell shrieks as he lunges and smacks him right in the groin with her bag… laden with heavy books. He squeals and pitches over.

“De-nied!” Scope cackles.

“Oh, but bachelors two, three, and four don’t like that,” Ledger says. “They might just have a few words for the little lady.”

As they start to advance, a carriage pulls up and the door opens as Bell is yanked inside. She goes to attack her new assailant, only to find that it’s Featherward. He nods as the carriage pulls away, leaving the frat colts to eat dust.

“But what’s this? Bachelor number five, a surprise contestant from out of nowhere!” Ledger says in that hammy voice still. “Maybe he’ll sweep her off her hooves?”

She stares at him as he growls in rage. “I should go back and tear their heads off.”

“Yes! More sacrifices!” Scope cheers. “Blood for the blood god!”

“How did you find me?” Bell asks, still shaken up.

He just remains silent as they continue down the road…

“‘I’m trying to come up with a non-creepy response and failing utterly,’” Ledger says gruffly, in mockery of Featherward’s voice.

A few more scenes, and the two of them now sit in a cafe, though Bell seems to be the only one eating anything.

“So, how ‘bout some answers?”

“Yes, no. To get to the other side and 1 point 772453851.”

“Also, the two of diamonds is your card,” Ledger tacks on.

“I didn’t ask for the square root of pi,” Bell deadpanned.

“You knew that?” he asks, genuinely surprised.

“‘I’m not a nerd!’” Scope says in her high-pitched voice. “‘Anypony would know the square root of pi if you asked, really!’”

“Were you following me?” she asked. He remained silent and she got up to leave.

“No, please don’t go!” he said, seemingly torn by an internal dilemma.

“‘I swear I’m not that creepy!’” Ledger says gruffly. “‘Only mostly creepy!’”

“Then I’ll ask again…”

“I… feel very protective of you,” he finally admitted.

“‘That’s why I keep shoving you away instead of telling you important things,’” Ledger adds.

“Yes, I followed you. I was keeping my distance… until you needed my help.”

Bell thinks for a moment. Putting all that together with what he said last time. “So… you can read minds or something? You said you knew what those creeps from last night were thinking.”

“Bell, they were teenage colts with too much booze and too little sense,” Scope says with a sigh. “Everypony knew what they were thinking.”

“I’m thinking of getting a crystal ball,” he shrugged as Bell gasped.

“Okay, so you can read minds. Tell me what I’m thinking….okay, now!”

“‘I’m getting a large void from in front of me...wait, that’s your head,’” Ledger says before snickering.

“I have no idea. I can read every mind except yours.” He points around the room. “Money, sex, work, sex, sex, coltfriend… also sex.” He moves to her. “Nothing. It’s quite frustrating.”

“She’ll be taking offense to her mind being a void in three, two…” Scope predicts.

“There’s something wrong with me?” she asked, concerned.

“I tell you I can read minds, and you think there’s something wrong with you?” Featherward chuckles and looks out of the window.

“‘Well yeah, I can’t read minds as well!’” Scope says in that mocking tone as well. “‘Teach me!’”

“I don’t… have the strength to stay away from you anymore,” he sighed.

“Then don’t,” she said and went to place a hoof on his, but he shies away.

“‘I’m allergic to touch,’” Ledger says in that mocking-Featherward voice again.

“We should go, you’re getting cold,” Featherward said as he left before she could ask any more questions.

Inside his carriage, her hoof finally makes contact with his, and she finds him to be ice-cold…

“‘And I thought my mom was cold for remarrying so quickly,’” Scope snarks. “‘You’ve got her beat, hooves down!’”

When they return home, they see her father’s police wagon out front, along with a medical one. As the two approach, they find their fathers discussing something, and they soon learn of the attack on the lake, and the stallion that was supposedly butchered by an animal.

But as the body is being loaded into the wagon, Bell catches sight of the body, twisted at an unnatural angle.

“Well, there’s something you don’t see every day,” Scope quips.

Several scenes flash by, as Bell gasps, putting together the puzzle and she makes a break for the library, leaving behind a few confused ponies...

We soon see her leafing through a thick tome as she looks at pictures and texts.

“Ah yes, the bane of every secret-keeper in Equestria. Records and ponies that love to read,” Ledger said with a nod. “Seriously, why didn’t he move to get rid of incriminating evidence? That’s like step one!”

Several words leap out. ‘cold-skinned’, ‘speed’, ‘strength’... ‘Immortal’.

She gasps again as she sees a picture of a handsome stallion. Depicted with bat-like wings and pointed ears, biting the neck of a mare.

‘Blood drinkers’.

“And they also enjoy mangos,” Ledger added on. “Though, don’t try to distract them with one.”

She then pictures Featherward biting her neck and recoils from the book in shock. “It… it's not possible…”

“And she’s clearly progressed to denial,” Scope says with a nod. “I wonder when she’ll try and confront him?”

“I give it a day. Maybe two,” Ledger says before slurping on the soda.

The next day. It shows her watching him like a hawk. When the bell rings, the students rush to exit the school, except for Bell. And when Featherward notices, he stops and heads towards the forest bordering the school, Bell following him...

“‘Yes, I’ll just go and confront the possible monster alone without telling anypony or any sort of plan or backup plan,’” Scope says in that high voice again. “‘After all, it’s not like anything could go wrong.’”

When she gets there, she's the first to speak up.

“You're impossibly fast and strong. Your skin is pale and ice-cold, your eyes change colour and you speak like you're from a different time…”

“How old are you?”

“‘Don’t you know it’s rude to ask a lady her age?’” Ledger asks in that gruff tone.

“‘Oh yeah...hey, wait a minute,’” Scope replies.

“Seventeen…” he replied after a moment.

“And how long have you been seventeen?”

Featherward sighed. “A long time…”

“Even I do better hiding things from Midnight,” Ledger said with a sigh.

“I know about you…” she said and Featherward frowned.

“Say it… out loud,”

The sound falls silent as Bell's voice is scarcely a whisper.

“Vampony.”

“Now this is what you do,” Ledger said sternly. “You say no, you come up with several medical conditions, and you walk away.”

“Revea in three, two, one…” Scope countered.

Featherward stepped forward into the sunlight that shone through the trees as the illusion dropped. His ears were pointed as his pegasi wings were replaced with leathery bat-like ones.

And his coat shone and sparkled like glittering diamonds.

“And you’ve just blown your secret for a mare,” Ledger groaned. “Not even any extenuating circumstances or anything! Heck, I did better for longer!”

“Barely,” Scope giggled. “At least he didn't pop a boner~”

“We don’t know that one yet,” Ledger said. “And I don’t want to know either. I have no interest in the boners of the undead.”

“I'm a killer, a monster,” he said, pulling back into the darkness.

“You’re beautiful,” she murmured. “You're no monster.”

“...Ledger, is the Mistress as sappy as this with us?” Scope asked.

“No, but if she ever gets like that, don’t bring this up.”

“You have no idea how much I want you,” he said, drawing nearer to her. “Your scent, it's like a drug to me. I have to fight with everything to not just…”

“‘Lick you,’” Ledger said in his gruff voice again.

She moves closer, her neck near his lips as she draws him in for an embrace, and then he's just… gone.

“Featherward?” She looks around to see him over at a tree a few feet away.

“I've… never wanted a pony more in my entire life. I'm dangerous to you.”

“I trust you,” she smiled.

“Bad move, bad move!” Ledger calls out to the actors.

“We learned to control our urges, only hunt animals… but, around you… I… don't know if I…”

“It’s alright, I know you can,” Bell smiled.

“Come on, sacrifice five,” Scope said. “Let there be more badly-faked blood!”

“I wish I could understand this thing you see in me.”

“I am afraid you know,” she says and the stallion looks devastated. “Afraid of losing you…”

The look in his eyes is one of relief, elation… he draws closer as the camera pans upwards to the clear sky and fades to white.

“And act one done, we only have far too many left in this travesty of a movie,” Ledger says before shaking the now empty soda around and hearing the ice-cubes rattle. Upon looking at the popcorn, he sighs. “I’m gonna get a refill, you think you can handle the movie without me?”

“Depends, I think my soul has gone on hiatus,” Scope replied as she emptied the popcorn into her mouth. “Or we could go and find something else to do?”

“This was your idea, so I’ll let you call the shots,” Ledger said before kissing her cheek.

“The snarkfest is fun…” Scope weighed her options. Gods, this movie was only at its halfway point. “Screw it, let's find something else to do.”

“You lead, I’ll follow,” Ledger said as he bowed to her. She giggled and tapped her chin.

“A small part wants to go home and set fire to Ciders bookshelf,” Scope mused. “You got any ideas?”

“I wasn’t really a very social stallion growing up,” Ledger said, before a thought occurred to him. “Hey...silly question. Do you know how to dance?”

“Dance?” Well that came out of nowhere. “Well let's see. I was abandoned as a group, raised with a hundred others like me for the sole purpose of infiltration. So… no, I do not believe the fine etiquette of the ballroom was on the itinerary.”

“Then we can go home, and I can teach you how to dance properly,” Ledger said. “That’s a safe activity we can do together.”

“Aaaand, why do I need to know a sissy activity like that?” she asked, but still followed him.

“It’s traditional for the married couple to share the first dance,” Ledger said simply. “I have no idea how the five of us will manage, but you should at least know the basic steps if you intend to follow through.”

“...You're kidding, right?” Scope flushed red at that thought. “I am not dancing in front of everypony. Especially that mother of yours!”

“Which would be worse?” Ledger asked her. “Dancing in front of her like we should, or not and disappointing her?”

“I was planning to liberate some cake and hide under the table all night,” Scope said. “You haven’t seen the way she looks at me, all thanks to a certain Yellow…”

“Look at it this way,” Ledger said as he threw a hoof around her. “Becoming family means you’re off the list of ‘available targets.’ She’d never harm family, in-laws or not.”

“...Fine, whatever,” Scope pouted. “I'll learn this stupid dance…”

“You have a dedicated and kind teacher,” Ledger replied. “Now the only question is, do you want to dance as a pony, or as you? There are multiple different types of dances as well…”

“Well you're going as you… but,” she looked herself and sighed. “Everypony would think you're marrying a foal with me…”

“You can’t just use some of your stored emotions to make yourself a larger version of you?” Ledger questioned the nymph.

“I dunno, maybe?” Scope said. “It's just… I hate it. I hate being like this. I hate not being… normal.”

“Well I can’t promise you that I’ll manage a miracle before we’re married,” Ledger quipped. “But if you are really that disturbed by it, then I’ll look into some treatment options, or creating some, for your problem.” He already had one idea, thanks to their brief stint in the Crystal Empire.

“You can't fix genetics Ledger,” Scope frowned and walked ahead of him. “You can't solve everything.”

“Not on my own, perhaps,” the disguised drone replied. “But as always. I have a plan already.”

“You always do,” she sighed and with a flash of her horn, they were home. “Well, let's get this frou-frou crap over with.”

“Aww, don’t look at it like that,” Ledger said as he moved a few pieces of furniture in the living room so they’d have a big enough space. “You might actually enjoy this.”

“Yeah right,” Scope muttered. Ledger stood in front of her and bowed slightly.

“May I have this dance, milady?” he asked with all the due formality required of him.

Scope rolled her eyes, but nodded none-the-less. “If you insist, I suppose I could grace you with that honour.”

Ledger straightened before extending a hoof to the nymph in invitation. She took it, but had no idea what to do beyond that. Ledger drew her a little closer, pressing their fronts together as he started counting off beats in his head. “Follow my lead,” he said, before starting to step slowly and surely.

She did so, but the height difference was making it difficult. She sighed as her body shone with blue flames, and a taller version took her place. It was already straining her magic, but if she were a Noble, this is what she'd look like. She had a tall, slender figure like Chrysalis, and her mane shimmered with a light cobalt colour. She even had the slitted eyes of a Noble, the light reflecting off of them. Her horn was long and simple, like a unicorn’s, only it had a slight curve to it.

“Don't laugh,” she muttered and blushed. Ledger didn’t; if anything, he kissed her cheek and started radiating stored emotions for her to pick up so that her magic could hold out longer.

“You shouldn't give another Changeling emotions,” she chided him. “Alright, let's try this again.”

“Just doing my best to help out,” Ledger said as he started the dance off again. She was able to follow along much easier now, well, she stepped on his hooves a few times. Longer limbs could be a pain.

“Bleh, told you I'd suck at this,” she muttered.

“Took me months to learn, and my sister,” he replied. “I’m used to it. Let’s go a little longer and we’ll see what the problem is.”

“Mostly not used to being so tall, cept as a dragon,” she said. She was getting a little better. If anything, Scope was a quick learner.

“See, you’re getting the hang of it,” Ledger praised her. “I’m willing to bet you’ll put on a heckuva show at the wedding, no matter the form you take for it.”

“Well, get ready to be disappointed,” she smirked, stealing a line from that movie.

“Don’t think like that, and please don’t remind me of that garbage,” Ledger moaned. “As long as you keep learning, then I’m sure you’ll manage at least one dance. Now the question is, do you want to try a Changeling dance as well? If so, we’ll need to go outside.”

“Guess it couldn't hurt,” she replied. She'd heard that ‘ling dances were also mating displays. So that should be a thing that needs to happen.

“Let’s finish up in here first,” the drone said. “I’d like to get through one set with you performing excellently before we move on to a new dance.”

Scope nodded, she really was having fun… which was why she didn't sense it until the last minute. Her ear flicked and she turned towards the door and hissed! She tried to break away from Ledger as somepony knocked on the door. The drone sighed and stopped the dance before breaking away from Scope and moving to stand next to the door.

“Who is it?” he called out, wondering who it could be.

“I-It’s me,” the familiar voice of the Yellow nymph said through the door. Ledger quickly backed up, not wanting to deal with her now. He was getting married soon, for goodness’ sake. He looked over at Scope, wondering if she had any ideas for getting rid of her.

“I'll tear that bitch to shreds,” she snarled, baring her fangs. “There won't be enough left for worms to feed on!!”

“You can scare her off, then,” Ledger said as he got out of the way between her and the door.

Scope opened the door and before the Yellow could even get a word out, Scope slammed her with a concussive blast of magic.

“I hope your life was a good one, because it's over now,” the nymph said. Emotive magic was pouring from her. She was preparing something… big.

“Scope, the one rule this family has is no killing,” Ledger warned her. “Please don’t break it so close to the wedding.”

“Rules are made to be broken,” she said darkly as she shifted… And a cobalt Chameleos replaced her. “Snack time bitch~”

“I-I-I…” the nymph tried to find her voice. “Apologise...I…”

“Scope,” Ledger said sternly. “Even I was more welcoming of her than you, and I have more reason to hate her than you. Either let her talk…”

The threat hung there, unspoken, yet powerful all the same. Or else.

Scope looked at him and sighed, shrugging her shoulders. She shifted back normal and snuggled up next to him. “Fine… she probably tastes like crud anyway.”

Free Spirit looked at Scope, glad she was off the menu and sighed with relief. “Thank you Secret…”

“You’re buying your continued existence with words, words that I’m not hearing,” the drone said sternly.

“I… I wanted to try apologising again,” she said with a dejected tone. “Please, I just… I want to make things right by us.”

“Things will never be right by us,” Ledger said firmly. “You can’t undo what you did. You can’t make up for it. The most I am willing to do for you is keep your name and location from my mother...because she nearly went to bloody war with the Yellow Hive because of what you did.”

That caused her to fall silent. Would the Silver Noble really have done something so drastic?

“I'll not give up,” she said with a nod of her head. “I don’t care how long it takes. What I have to do…” she fell quiet before she shook. “I left them you know. My family. They don't deserve a disgrace like me.”

“I have...an idea,” Ledger said as he smiled wickedly. “If you are capable of taking any and every non-lethal punishment the mares in my life want to give you and live, I’ll finally call us square.”

“I…” she looked at the little nymph and shuddered. She gulped and squeezed her eyes closed. “Fine.”

“Oh goodie,” Ledger said before kissing the top of Scope’s head. “Well, she’s here,” he told the nymph. “Just remember, she has to live for the others to have their fun.”

Scope grinned and Ledger could swear that it suddenly became overcast. The nymph stepped forward, her horn shining as she glanced at Ledger.

“I read your book you know. Including all those nifty biology notes~”

“Oh did you now?” Ledger asked, curious as to where she was going with this.

Scope had a multitude of thoughts pass her mind. Could a nymph survive having her wings torn off? Maybe she'd peel off some non-vital chitin?

But as she reached the shaking nymph, she paused. Why… did she even care? Sure, this bitch hurt Ledger in the past. But then, who hasn't been?

Besides…

She leaned down and whispered something, just loud enough for Ledger to hear.

“I don’t have to hurt you. Because I have the one thing you never will. You're a perfect little nymph, rich, powerful...normal. Me? Look at me! I'm a runt. A tiny little defect that isn't worth anything… and yet…” She looked at Ledger. “I have his love. Willingly. And I didn't have to break or force him to get it.”

“You got it just for being you,” Ledger said with a nod. “You’ve earned it by now.”

“You’re… dating a nymph?” Spirit asked, hardly believing it.

“I’m marrying a nymph,” Ledger countered. “She helped fix me from what you caused.”

“I see…” Free Spirit turned away. “I'm… happy for you.”

“It took years, and multiple mares that wouldn’t give up on me, but I am back to what can be considered normal now,” the silver drone said with a nod of his head. “And almost all of them know of you. I don’t know if Cider does…”

“Doubt it,” Scope said. “Well whatever. Can you leave now? Ledger and I were having a moment.”

“Yes…” she turned to leave. “Also… I'm going to confront Madame Silver…”

“I wouldn’t advise that,” Ledger warned her quickly. “At least, if you like living.”

“Not much point to that anymore…” she said as she walked off.

“Dammit all,” Ledger said as he followed after her. “Look, the rule of the family is no killing. And letting you walk into my mother’s home, intending to confront her? That’d be as bad as killing you myself if I didn’t try to stop you. I might not like you. You might have to go through Tartarus for me to even consider forgiving you. But don’t you fucking dare throw your life away.”

She paused, hearing him out and then continued her trek. “I'll consider it,” she simply said.

Ledger just watched her go and sighed. “Dammit,” he said softly. “Can’t I...save anypony?”

“Is she even worth it?” Scope replied. “Was Toll Taker? Or that Duke?”

“Nopony should die just because of their misdeeds,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “They should always have a chance to atone.”

“This, coming from Mr. ‘You must pass my trials’?” Scope scoffed and her horn lit up, teleporting Free Spirit back as the Yellow nymph looked around, confused.

“Just because I have high standards, doesn’t mean that they’re impossible,” Ledger replied. “And...I know for a fact that the only way you’re going to survive meeting my mom, if you ever intend to, is if you actually have my forgiveness. Otherwise, she might just incinerate you.”

“And that makes me feel sooo much better about meeting her again,”Scope muttered. She was probably going to get hugged to death by everyone else.

“The way mom tells it, she rescued my father and step-fathers while killing more than a few nymphs in the same fight, with the same spell,” Ledger replied dryly. “Apparently, she aimed it juuuuust right.”

Scope and Spirit were now hugging each other out of fear, just muttering the word ‘Nope’ over and over...

“Aww, see, you’re bonding!” Ledger said, pointing at them with a hoof.

“Go buck a cactus!” they echoed, pushing each other away.

“And you all wonder why I’m still snarky, even though I love you all,” the drone mused. “I have to have responses to that line, after all. Can’t be outdone in the snark department.”

“L-Love!?” Spirit blinked and blushed.

“I was talking about my mares,” Ledger deadpanned.

“S’what you get for not being specific,” Scope sighed and looked at Free Spirit. She didn’t feel her anger anymore. Just… pity really. “You… I dunno, want some coffee or something?”

“It’s kinda late for that,” the drone pointed out.

“Good point. Can you come back tomorrow? Ledger and I are gonna go have sex now.”

Free Spirit had no idea how to respond to that. Ledger just sighed and rolled his eyes. Leave it to Scope to be that blunt.

“um, okay…” Free Spirit turned slowly. “Um, see you later then?”

“Yup,” Ledger said as he waved the yellow nymph off. “Feel free to come back and introduce yourself to the other mares when they’re here.”

“My joy knows no limits,” Spirit deadpanned as she walked off.

“Whaddya think her odds of survival are?” Ledger asked Scope once Free was out of earshot.

“I don't take bets I know I'll lose,” Scope said.

Chapter 86.2 - Cider at Twilight and a Song from the heart

Cider groaned and shook her head when she and Twilight arrived in Ponyville. Long distance teleportation made her head spin and her stomach churn.

“You okay?” Twilight asked, putting a hoof against the earth mare’s forehead.

“Yeah, ah’m fine. Jus’ a little woozy from the teleport.” Cider took a few breaths and nodded slowly. “Okay, ah think ah’m fine now.”

“I’m sorry,” Twilight replied. “I’m so used to it that I tend to forget about other ponies. Would you like to rest for a little bit before we head out to… whatever it is you have planned for us.”

Cider shook her head as the feeling passed. “Nah, ah reckon ah’m right to get goin’.” She hefted the picnic basket on her back and smiled. “Ah called in a little favour, so ah hope you don’t mind a bit of a walk first.”

“No, that’s fine,” Twilight nodded. “Where are we going?”

“Sweet Apple Acres,” the mare nodded as they headed out. First Twilight let Spike and her guests know where’d she’d be for the next few hours and then they headed for the farm.

“I could teleport us again,” Twilight pointed out.

“Ya could,” Cider nodded. “Or we can walk. Y’all don’t have to be in such a rush t’get everywhere. S’the problem the rest of mah herd has. Just relax.” She smiled at the alicorn and gave her a peck on the cheek. “‘Sides… it gives us time t’get t’know one another a little hmm?”

“R-Right,” Twilight blushed. Cider kind of reminded her of Applejack mixed with Fluttershy. The alicorn couldn’t help but smile in the presence of the country mare.

“So, y’all really forgave Discord during that Tirek event?” Cider replied. “Ya’ll got a pretty big heart Twi. Still… ah’d have prolly done the same. After a flank whuppun however.”

“I think Fluttershy might interject, but that’d be a sight to see,” Twilight giggled. The two had been swapping stories the whole way, Twilight hadn’t even noticed the time pass.

Apple Cider had led her to a hill overlooking the whole orchard. The sun was beginning its descent to the horizon, the land bathed in a brilliant collage of red and orange.

“Wow!” Twilight said in a breathless whisper. “This view is amazing!”

“Its mah favourite spot on the whole farm,” Cider smiled. “Whenever me and Fritter come t’lend a helpin’ hoof, we always come here to watch the sun set.”

“You really get along well with your sister huh?” Twilight smiled as she lay out the picnic blanket with her magic.

“Ya don’t get along with yer brother?” Cider asked as she started laying out some of the food she made.

“No, we get along great,” Twilight nodded as they lay down. “He might be a little mad when he comes for the wedding though…”

“Why, does he not want you t’get married?” Cider replied as she placed a sandwich on Twilight’s plate.

“No, it’s not that,” Twilight replied and took a bite of her sandwich, murring at the delicious taste. Cider was such an amazing chef. “I just returned a small favour that might not go down well. It’s a sibling thing.”

“Ah know how that goes,” Cider chuckled as she took a bite from her own sandwich. “Me an’ Fritter get inta rows all the time. But we always settle ‘em right quick.”

“Yeah, I don’t think Shining Armor and I have ever had a fight… no, wait. I guess we’ve had… two?”

Cider raised an eyebrow as she opened two bottles of her namesake. “Jus’ two?”

“When he first left for the Guard Academy. We had an argument, and I locked myself in my room…” Twilight sighed and put her sandwich down. “To this day I regret not seeing him off properly.”

“An’ the second?”

“His wedding, when I accused Cadence of not being herself, despite having no physical evidence…”

“But you were right,” Cider pointed out.

“Well yes, but that’s beside the point. He still has that memory of his LSBFF trying to ruin the other great day of his life…” Twilight sniffed and rubbed her eye, before blinking as Cider pulled her in for a hug.

“Look Twilight,” The earth mare stroked her mane and smiled. “Siblin’s fight. S’just the way it is. But did ya make up afterwards?”

Twilight nodded. She’d sent Shining a letter after he left for the academy, apologising for being so selfish. He’d replied by saying that he should have taken her feelings into account, rather than just snapping at her. And then at the wedding, Shining and Cadence had been so happy, despite everything that had happened.

“See, an’ ah reckon yer brother isn’t the type t’lie to ya, so ah reckon y’all are fine. Though… ah might keep yer eyes peeled fer a prank or sumthin’ later.”

“Yeah,” Twilight wiped her eyes again and giggled. “You’re so kind Cider. I feel like… well, I guess I just feel at ease when you’re around. Ledger’s dependable, and he loves us with everything. Midnight will go above and beyond to protect us and Treasure is so adorable it hurts.” Twilight kissed her cheek and smiled. “But you? I know that no matter how bad my day might be. How low I’m feeling. If I’m scared or worried… that you’ll always be here with that gentle smile of yours.”

“Ah shucks,” Cider blushed and rubbed her cheek. “Y’all are embarrassin’ me…”

“But it’s true,” Twilight nodded. “Heck, if you’d been with me the night Nightmare Moon returned, i think that the elements of Kindness, Honesty and Generosity would have had quite the argument to see which one gets to be represented by you.”

“Ahhhh,” Cider blushed harder and pushed Twilight away gently. “Quit teasin’ me.”

Twilight just giggled and hugged her back this time. “Love you Cider.”

Apple Cider took a deep breath. Twilight was a princess, one of only four alicorns in all of Equestria. But sitting beside her now? She was no unobtainable princess, a being that no mere mortal could touch. She was just a mare. A sweet and loving mare that snowballed into their lives and Cider couldn’t be happier. Cider didn’t care if their herd had five mares or five hundred. If they loved her as much as Scope, Midnight and Twilight did? Then she’d give them all her love right back.

“Ah love you to, mah little bookworm…”

Back at the Castle of Friendship, Cider couldn’t help but stare around in wonder. This place was so magnificent and humbling.

And yet, she felt as though it didn’t really fit Twilight. Aside from that wonderful room that her friends made, and of course, her little bookworm’s library.

“I know that look,” Twilight smiled as they placed the remains of their picnic in the kitchen, and Twilight whisked the blanket off to the washroom. “Because I wear it myself. I went from a home, to a castle… And, I guess it’s still sinking in really. I think it’ll be a long time before I’ll truly get used to this place.”

“Ah hear that,” Cider nodded as they moved to the living room. Even this room was huge and dauntingly spacious. “Ah don’t know if ah could live in a castle like this.”

Twilight let out a small sigh as she lay on the rug. “That… actually raises a topic that’s been mulling around in my head.”

“Oh?” Cider asked as she lay next to her.

“When… when we all get married. Where will we all live?”

“Well on the…” Cider cut herself off. Twilight… wouldn’t be able to live at the farm. Not when she had a role here as Princess. Not much point in a castle if the princess didn’t even live in it. And Cider could live here, as her farm required constant tending.

“You see,” Twilight said. “I don’t know what to do. I can’t be a wife that only visits on weekends or something. What kind of mare does that?”

“Ah don’t know,” Cider said quietly. “Let’s say you and Ledger got that magic portal doodad running. Even then…”

“A castle isn’t a home if I’m never here,” Twilight finished. “And you can’t just move an entire farm here. Or Ledger’s business. And there’s also Spike. He’d be alone here every night.”

“Ah… ah hadn’t thought of that,” Cider stammered. Her elated mood was crashing quicker than one of cousin AJ’s barns. “One… One of us would have to make a sacrifice…”

“From a logical point, I have the least amount to lose,” Twilight said. Her tone was calm and methodical.

“Ah can’t do that to you!” Cider exclaimed. “Y’all shouldn’t have to give up somethin’ like this… jus’ fer the sake of being with us.” She closed her eyes and thought. “T’be fair, ah only set up in Las Pegasus cause ah have no competition there. Ah mean, ah could always talk to Applejack, see if ah could move mah greenhouses onto her farm. Ah could split the profits from the Crystal Berries to compensate her fer the trouble and Ledger doesn’t live at his job. So once ya get that thingymajig up an’ runnin…”

“Do you any idea how selfish that is?” Twilight replied. “I’m the same. You will not give up what you’ve spent your life building because of me. Look Cider, we’ll figure something out and we’ll bring it up with Ledger. Knowing him, he’s probably already thought about this and has a half dozen ideas already.”

“Probably,” Cider replied rather unenthusiastically. This was it wasn’t it? because of her stubborn nature and her blasted farm, they’d probably end up losing Twilight—

She was so lost in thought, it took a few moments for her to realise that Twilight was hugging her.

“Hey now,” the alicorn said. “Don’t worry okay? We’ll sort this out easy. If I can save the world multiple times. Figure out a thousand year old prophecy and become an entirely new species. Then I think I can figure out something as simple as where we’re all going to live okay?”

“Mhmm,” Cider sniffed and wiped away some tears she realised she was leaking. “An’ you say ah’m the dependable one…”

“We’re allowed our moments,” Twilight giggled. “As Rarity would say. “It’s a Lady’s prerogative to make some drama on occasion!’ Or, something like that.”

Cider laughed harder now and leaned into Twilight’s embrace. “Ah guess so.”

“I know so,” Twilight smiled and lightly placed a kiss on the mare’s lips. “Now, you wanna cuddle here…” Twilight paused and wiggled her eyebrows. “Or in my bedroom~?”

“Little Bat and Ledger are a bad influence on you,” Cider mused and returned her kiss. “Alright princess. Ah’ll show you how a real mare rolls in th’hay.” She effortlessly picked up Twilight and slung the mare over her shoulder. Twilight gasped and blushed, before giggling and pointing out the direction of her room.

Midnight approached the bar she would be frequenting in the coming months, well, provided she didn’t completely bomb tonight that is. And from the line outside, she could already tell it was going to be a busy night.

“Just my luck,” she muttered as she passed by the bouncer and walked in. Hopefully at least Moondancer would be away so she wouldn’t have to see the thestral embarrass herself.

One booth with a small pile of books told her otherwise. Stars dammit!

The thestral looked around for the changeling hostess, maybe she changed her mind?

A flash of violet told her otherwise, as Sugar appeared right in front of her to hug her. “Midnight, darling, I’ve been looking forward to this,” she said. Midnight returned the hug, but not quite as enthusiastically.

“Yeah… me too,” she said, her eyes not quite making contact. “So, what did you want me to do first?”

“So long as you sing from the heart, dear, I don’t have any preference,” Sugar said. “It just has to be something enjoyable, for both you and the guests.”

“My heart huh?” That was the problem. Her heart was all over the place right now. She still had some… unresolved feelings. Her eyes darted towards the table that held Moondancer and she sighed. “Yeah… sure.”

“If you want to talk with her before you perform, feel free,” Sugar said as she stepped to one side. “Who knows, she might be able to help you lift your spirits.”

“Huh?” Midnight waved a hoof. “Spirits? Me? Pshw! I’m fine… totally fine!” She wore what must have been the fakest smile ever. Sugar coughed and indicated her now-slitted eyes by raising her eyebrow, silently saying one thing. Emotivore.

“Cheating bucking changelings,” the thestral muttered under her breath. She sighed and headed towards the back of the stage, motioning for Sugar to follow, which she did after wondering why she was being led away from Moondancer.

Once they were alone, the thestral wilted and Sugar could sense the overwhelming confliction in her heart. “Does… does Moonie hate me?” Midnight asked. “I know, that we’re friends now… sorta… I think. But…” She growled and scratched her head. “Dammit! I don’t even know how to word this right!”

“Shh,” Sugar said as she gathered Midnight up for another hug. “If I tell you something we’re planning on doing once you get married, do you promise to keep it a secret?”

“Heh, I’m pretty lousy at secrets, especially if Ledger knows I have one. He’d stop at nothing to get me to tell him.”

“Silvers like learning things,” Sugar said with a nod. “But this is a pretty big secret, one we want to spring on you, and one I think you could do with knowing. Promise to try?”

“If it’s that big… I might be better off not knowing. I’m kinda messed up right now…” She sighed and sat down rather suddenly, or would have if Sugar hadn’t been hugging her. Now she held a rather limp thestral in her grasp. “It’s just… I don’t remember if I ever apologised to Moondancer. Properly anyway.”

“I can tell she still has feelings for you,” the disguised ‘ling said as she gave Midnight a kiss. “Just like I still have a slight crush for your bug.”

“Oh, that’d go down well with Ledger,” Midnight giggled. But, did Moondancer really…? And Midnight still had all this ‘bleh’ness’ in her heart. Shut up, it is too a word.

“I think I know what I have to do,” Midnight nodded. “With your permission of course. I’ll solve this my way.”

“Just as long as you don’t take too long and are back in time to perform,” Sugar said as she finally let go of Midnight. “Then you can do whatever you need to.”

“Huh?” Midnight blushed a deep crimson. “What? NO! Not like that! Pervy bug… Geeze. What the hay?"

“Just checking,” Sugar said with a grin. “You never know.~”

Midnight pouted and Sugar could sense she was actually embarrassed. Oh, this could prove most fun for the nymph. For some reason, the indomitable thestral seemed rather flustered over a little dirty talk.

"I'm going to sing something," Midnight said quietly.

“And I hope she’ll hear you,” Sugar said. “Want me to go make sure she’s paying attention?”

Midnight nodded. "Thanks... and, sorry I'm such a pain."

“Hardly,” Sugar said with a shake of her head. “You should have seen some of my previous suitors. Now, they were pains in my flanks.” With that, Sugar gave Midnight a quick smooch on the cheek before walking back out onto the floor, in search of her wife.

"Okay... I can do this... just gotta bare my soul, not a tall order..."

She really wished that her loves were here right now...

In her booth, Moondancer was going over some work Twilight had sent her a few hours ago. Something about a teleportation gate system. She'd also lent her some book that was connected to another owned by a 'Sunset Shimmer'.

At least Moondancer had some intelligent conversation for once.

And then her wife slid into the booth next to her and snuggled up next to her.

"Hello," Moon said without looking up from her notes. "I thought you'd be busy all night?"

“Taking a small break to listen to our newest entertainer,” Sugar said as she gave Moondancer a quick peck on the cheek. “You should too, you might find her entrancing.”

"I've heard Midnight sing dozens of times," Moondancer responded, still muzzle deep in the research. Well there was no way that would work. Hmm, maybe if they ran this sequence of runes--

“For me? One song? She said something about you as well, like she wanted you to hear it,” Sugar asked, layering on the sweetness.

Moondancer sighed and rolled her eyes. "I swear, if you two have planned something ridiculous..."

The curtain opened as Midnight stood there. The lights dimmed as patrons became aware that something was about to start.

"Uh, hello everypony, and everyling also," Midnight smiled slightly. "So, I've been asked to provide a little musical entertainment. But... there's something I'd like to get off my chest first, so please bear with me."

"What... is she talking about?" Moondancer asked her wife.

“Just listen, and look up at her,” Sugar said, kissing her wife again. “She’s really torn up about this, you know.”

"Really..." Moondancer looked up from her research and looked at the batpony. She knew her inside and out, but... what in Equestria was she planning?

Midnight took a deep breath. She was probably going to make a fool of herself, well... here goes.

Soft piano music started to play and after the introduction melody, Midnight started to sing.

It wasn't exactly club music, and yet, every changeling could feel the pure emotions that poured from her. Feelings of loss, regret and loneliness. But, also ones of great happiness and love.

Moondancer listened. The words she sang, the feeling she put into them... It was how the thestral had felt during that time. While she had brushed off the uncorn’s love on the outside…

On the inside?

The studious unicorn didn’t even notice the tears running down her face. Her wife did, though, and gently hugged Moondancer before kissing her on the cheek.

“Perhaps you have something you want to tell her as well?” Sugar asked.

"Stupid bat," Moondancer mumbled as Midnight’s song came to a finish. Midnight was apologising, for something that was never her fault. Moondancer had been the weak one, she’d given up on Midnight... when she'd needed her most.

Midnight gave a bow to the club's patrons, her eyes lingering on Moondancer for a moment before she vanished backstage. And once she had, the changelings felt her emotions vanish, like somepony flipping a switch.

The thestral didn’t want to use her Trance like that. But... just this once.

“Well that was interesting,” Sugar observed before nudging her wife. “Go on, I know you want to talk to her.”

"I..." Moondancer didn't even know what to say. How was she supposed to respond to that. Even so, she found her hooves moving towards the stage.

Midnight sat on the cool floorboards. She had tried to use Trance to calm herself, but she couldn't focus, and the skill petered out. She fully expected Sugar would fire her after that little stunt.

She didn’t even look when the sound of hooves penetrated the silence.

"Guess I bucked that up huh?" the thestral muttered, then yelped in surprise when a pair of creamy hooves wrapped around her.

"Maybe, but I thought it was beautiful," Moondancer replied quietly. "But... why--?"

"That's how I felt," Midnight said, cutting her off. "Even when I lay in that bed, deep down, I cried every time I hurt you..."

"Silly bat," Moondancer replied, hugging her tighter. "There's nothing to forgive, because you did nothing wrong. For... for a long time, I did blame you. And then you showed up out of the blue, saying you were in another relationship?"

"You got married to Miss Pervy Bug out there," Midnight retorted. "I'm pretty sure you one upped me there. And you never invited me."

"Hey, she sprung that wedding on me out of the blue," Moon said. "Not that I regret it. She's a lot like you in a way."

"Because she's a sl--?"

"Because you're both wonderfully caring individuals," Moon said, booping the bat’s nose.

"Am not," Midnight replied, scrunching up her face. "I'm awesome and sexy."

"Now that sounds more like the Middy I know," Moondancer replied and kissed the thestral’s nose. "Now, wanna sing us something else? It was a beautiful song, but I think you really...uh, what do the foals say these days? 'Harshed their mojo'? Or, something like that."

"I wouldn’t be surprised if Sugar kicks me out after that selfish performance," Midnight sighed. Still, at least she got all that off her chest.

“On the contrary,” Sugar said as she made her presence known. “It went down very well with our ‘ling customers. We could feel how much you cared for, well, whoever you were singing about, and I’m more than willing to give you a second chance at this singing thing.”

"Don’t be so dramatic, you know exactly what that song was about," Moondancer giggled at her wife, giving her the nose boop treatment as well. "And Midnight is like decadent chocolate for you Violets."

“That she is,” Sugar agreed with a giggle before looking at Midnight. “Feel up to another song, miss chocolate?”

"I think I have a few more in mind," Midnight nodded and then hugged them both. "I don't know if I ever told you, but I'm happy for you two. Like, super happy."

“I can tell, but it doesn’t hurt to hear it,” Sugar said as she returned the hug to the best of her abilities.

"Alright time to blow the roof off this place!!" Midnight declared.

"Well, now we're in for it," Moon giggled. Sugar nodded before kissing both Midnight and her wife.

“Knock ‘em out,” the nymph said to the thestral.

Said thestral stood there and blinked as her wings shot open with a loud 'thwap' sound. Her eyes were wide and her face was the most lovely shade of pink.

Moondancer looked at the odd... well, odd for Midnight reaction, before she raised a questioning eyebrow at her wife.

"What did you do to her?" The unicorn asked the nymph.

“Nothing that bad,” the nymph said with a shake of her head. “She’s just...sensitive right now.”

“Really~” Moondancer smirked and looked at the bat. “Oh… we can abuse this yes?”

“We could, but she has a performance to do,” Sugar said as she nuzzled Moondancer. The unicorn shrugged and nodded her head.

“Later?”

“Later,” Sugar agreed before looking at Midnight. “I promise to refrain from teasing you until you get done with your singing,” the nymph said.

Midnight just turned and walked robotically towards the stage. She took a deep breath and turned to face the mares, blowing them a kiss and taking a leap back, twisting in the air and landing on the stage.

“So, who’s ready for a lighter song?” she asked the crowd. She got a general consensus from the crowd that yes, they would like a lighter song. Mostly in the form of them yelling ‘Yeah!’

“Then you all asked for it!” Midnight grinned as she pulled out an electric guitar and plugged it into a massive amp. She strummed a hoof over the strings as a deep rumbling came from the speakers.

“Ohhhh yes,” she purred and then started to play.

Outside and back in her booth, muted by the rocking thestral was the sound of Moondancer facehooving.

“She is quite talented,” Sugar hummed next to her wife again. “That’s twice she’s distracted you from your work.”

“It’s a wonder I got anything done when we were together,” Moondancer sighed. “Oh well, at least it’s a pleasant distraction. Much like you really. The two of you really are alike.”

“In that we both love you? Then yes, yes we are,” Sugar said as she kissed Moondancer on the cheek. “And you know that if you work for too long, you’ll get stressed and miss something.”

“Like a certain somebuggy’s proposal? Yes, I won’t make that mistake again,” Moondancer nodded. She had it pretty good now, a loving wife, a certain thestral who was even dearer to her now than before.

Life was good.

“I would certainly hope not,” the disguised Noble ‘ling said as she hugged her wife. “What are you even working on, anyways?”

“Something for Twilight. It’s classified,” Moondancer smirked.

“Will I like this classified thing?” Sugar asked as she did her best to look at the papers.

“Maybe?” Moondancer mused. “It’s only going to revolutionize all of Equestria.”

“Sounds fun,” the nymph said. “Hooooow?”

“...Classified.” Moondancer smirked.

“Aww, come on,” Sugar said as she hugged her wife. “A little hint? Please?”

“I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you,” Moondancer said in a professional tone.

“Nah, I plan to die of old age,” Sugar said with a shake of her head. “In my bed, surrounded by my loved ones.”

“Well, good thing that's a ways off yet,” Moon smiled and kissed her cheek. “Eh, it should be fine. But how much would you like to know~”

“Just enough to know if I should be battening down the hatches, and if so, when,” Sugar said. “I’ll leave the rest of your classified details alone, but I’m a business owner.”

“Aw, well I might talk if you tortured me enough…”

“Is that an invitation?” Sugar said with her fangs gleaming in the low light as she smiled wickedly.

“I think I've spelt it out already,” Moondancer said as she turned back to her notes. “I'll be here until you figure it out.”

That was when Sugar started using her magic in an attempt to tickle Moondancer into submission. The mare didn't react much. Moondancer wasn’t a ticklish mare. Sugar changed up her game, now using her magic to rub Moondancer behind the ears and massage her shoulders.

“Mmmm, Moonie likes,” she purred.

“I could do more, if you were willing to divulge some details,” Sugar purred into the mare’s ear.

“Mm, I'll never tell you, villainess!” Moondancer replied, trying to squirm away. Sugar grinned and massaged lower down the mare’s back, both with her hooves and her magic, trying to work her into a state of compliance.

“You’re kind of terrible at this huh?” Moondancer was enjoying the massage though.

“I don’t do terrible, I prefer to work my victims into submission,” Sugar said as she kissed Moondancer’s horn.

“Hmm, not bad… maybe Midnight should teach you a thing or two though,” Moondancer smiled and returned the gesture. “Well, it’s like this. Our beloved Princess of Friendship, along with that drone you have a thing for. They’re working on some kind of teleportation gate network.”

“Sounds interesting,” Sugar said as she kept massaging Moondancer. “Trust Ledger to break the barriers of what can and can’t be done. When do you think they’ll be ready?”

“Judging from this, could be a few months before a working prototype can be made,” Moondancer said, rolling her neck as Midnight finished her song.

“So we’ve got time, unless my brilliantly talented unicorn wife can come up with something to save them time,” Sugar said as she just stopped massaging Moondancer and hugged her instead.

A few dancers took to the stage as Midnight moved over to the pair, sipping at a mango smoothie.

“So, what are you two lovebirds up to?”

“Discussing taking over the world,” Moondancer hummed as the nymph draped herself over her. “Done singing?”

“For the moment, I think the patrons wanted a little less song and a little more booty, and I’m not getting paid to dance on the pole.”

“Nope, nor will I make you,” Sugar said as she just hung onto Moondancer. “I have some respect for the fact that you’re a taken mare and all.”

“That, and I’d hate to put your other girls out of work,” Midnight smirked. “Once you go bat, you never go back~”

“For stars sake…” Moondancer facehooved.

“So, what, should I look into hiring a Thestral or two?” Sugar asked. “I have my doubts any can be as alluring as you are.”

“Well, you do have Changelings here,” Midnight replied. “It might be hard finding any actual thestrals that would work in a place like this… uh, no offense.”

“None taken, just makes you all the more unique,” Sugar chirped back. “Still, if I can find one that will, it’d provide my clients with something...new. And I wouldn’t even require her to work like the others do~”

“You’d just need to pay her in Bits instead of Lust,” Midnight giggled as a stallion approached the table.

“Hey Sugar-baby,” he smiled. “Are you and the little bat here up for… an after party~?”

“She’s taken,” Sugar said flatly. “And you know I am as well, now.”

“Aw, come on,” he said, moving closer to Midnight. Moon’s eye twitched and her horn shone. The stallion vanished and they heard a crash in the dumpster out back.

“Heh, 10 point landing,” Moon mused as she turned back to her notes.

“Maybe I should hire you on as a bouncer,” Sugar mused before kissing the base of Moondancer’s horn.

“Hmm, but we can’t have an inner-work relationship,” Moondancer replied. “Besides, we both know how well I control my temper sometimes.”

“Still, it’d make paying you for dealing with those slobs a lot easier. As it is, I’m just stuck compensating you in other ways,” Sugar commented as her voice dipped into a sultry tone.

“Aww, and I only get shiny coins,” Midnight pouted. “Being taken sucks.”

“Mm, but I suppose I should stop distracting my dear Moonie from her highly important research,” Sugar said as she scooted back into her own seat off of Moondancer.

“Better run Middy, lest she use you to amuse herself,” Moon replied, her eyes not leaving her work. “And don’t worry dear, I'll sex you up in all sorts of unspeakable ways after I’m done.”

“Just let me know if there’s anything you need, dear,” the nymph said before kissing her wife on the cheek.

“I could use a drink,” Moondancer said. “And perhaps check on Two-Step, she’s been rather quiet recently.”

“Good plans, I’ll ask one of the girls to give you a cider while I go check on Two-Step,” Sugar said as she made to stand up. She paused before looking sideways at Midnight. “Now, play nice, you two.”

“Mm, I might go with you,” Midnight said. “I haven’t seen Steppy in a while. And I don’t wanna distract Moonie.”

Sugar nodded as her horn flared, before setting off for her daughter’s room. Midnight wondered what was up with the magic, but shrugged and followed her.

“So… I take it she got in trouble for that party,” Midnight asked as they walked.

“Not allowed to have her latest friend over for a month unless she’s proven she’s learned her lesson,” Sugar said with a nod, confirming what Midnight had just said.

“Huh? Doesn’t sound like much of a punishment… but you’re the mom I guess.”

“Her latest friend is basically a male griffon version of you,” the nymph said with a smile as she glanced back at Midnight.

“...Fredrick’s brother?” Midnight deadpanned. “He’s scared of me.”

“To be fair, if an outsider described your family and the things that happen around you regularly, I would have to wonder if you were auditioning for parts as the next Elements of Harmony, you attract so much chaos to yourselves.”

“True enough, but at least we aren’t boring,” Midnight smiled and then suddenly draped herself across the mare’s back. “So there’s a question that’s been… bugging me. Word is that you have a little crush on my Levvy~”

“Ever since he introduced himself to the rest of us,” the nymph said with a nod. “Do you know how rare a Noble drone is around Equestria? We see one about once every twenty years. If that. So yeah, I may have had a few fantasies revolving around your Ledger helping me have another kid…”

“Aww, that’s so cute,” Midnight nuzzled her and giggled. “So, you’re more interested in the fact that he’s a Noble more that anything?”

“Well, I heard all the things he’s done since then, and he really lives up to the title of Noble. So...while I don’t know him as well as you, I wouldn’t have minded helping fix him first so I could have had a shot.” The nymph sighed before shaking her head. “But there’s no use dwelling on what might have been…”

Midnight pondered on something. Hmm, perhaps she’d need to talk to Ledger about it later.

“Well, let’s go find your daughter hmm?”

“Mmhmm,” the Violet Noble hummed her agreement as they neared one door in particular, pausing before it and frowning. “I think she’s learned Ledger’s emotional insulation trick...and applied it to the whole room. Because I can’t sense anything from in here. Either that, or she’s just not in there…”

Midnight’s ear gave a flick, but she couldn’t hear anything. “Think she’s prepared an ambush? Teenagers can be… tricky.”

“That or she’s snuck her friend in under cover of magic,” Sugar said before putting one hoof out and resting it on the handle. “This is either going to be interesting now, or interesting later.”

Midnight nodded and braced herself…

Sugar flung the door open...to reveal absolutely nothing on the other side. Except for the fact that one of the false walls that disguised a tunnel down into the Hive below...was ajar.

“She… dug her way out?” Midnight said, looking at the hole. “She’s determined, I’ll give her that.”

“No, that tunnel was there to begin with,” Sugar sighed. “Meaning she could be anywhere in the Hive…”

“Do… you want me to find her?” Midnight asked. Maybe a small part of her was looking forward to the hunt.

“I’ll not push you into doing it if you don’t want to, but an extra pair of eyes helping me look for her wouldn’t go amiss,” the nymph said as she drew nearer to the tunnel.

Midnight nodded as she sniffed the air, then drew closer to the nymphs bed and sniffed again. She nodded once and headed for the entrance. “Got it. Let’s go.”

Sugar flipped her shell open as her wings buzzed into life, before she darted down the tunnel in search of her errant daughter.

Midnight paused as she opened her mouth and let out a high-pitched screech, her ears flicked and she sniffed the air before flying down another tunnel. She'd never been in a Hive before, but she couldn't get distracted just yet.

Sugar buzzed around the Hive, taking in the distinct trails and looking for her daughter’s...before finding it entwined with another. One that she’d sensed once before. One that she’d forbidden from coming back for some weeks yet.

Midnight flew down a tunnel as she picked up on Step’s scent. She made a sharp right, flying close to the ceiling until she could feel that she was getting closer. She shifted into her battle state, dampening her emotions so she couldn’t be sensed and then clung to the ceiling so the griffon couldn’t read the air currents, provided he’d been capable of such a skill.

It was a moment later, that Two-Step heard a voice echo all around her.

“I found you~”

“Oh bugger,” the hybrid swore as she looked at her griffon friend below her. “Well it looks like this is going to end up cut short.”

“So whaddya want me to do?” Jonathan asked as he momentarily stopped what he was doing.

“Mommy’s very angry~” the voice sang out again.

“Let’s just run for it,” Two-Step said as she got off the griffon she’d been cuddling. “I know the Hive better than anypony except mother.”

“Sounds good to me,” the griffon replied as he followed after his mare. The two made for an exit on the far side of the room…

That was until a thestral dropped from the ceiling, her wings spread.

“Ah, tut, tut,” Midnight said. “You can’t leave just yet, the guest of honor isn’t here~”

“Other way!” the hybrid shouted as the pair of them turned and went for the other exit…

Only to have Sugar show up in her Noble form, blocking that exit as well. “Oh dear, you brought me a snack,” the nymph purred as she looked at Jonathan.

“Mom, quit it. I didn’t bring him here for you or that. I just…” Two-Step scuffed a hoof on the ground before replying. “I...missed him, okay? A month without him is kinda hard.”

“Speaking of hard,” Midnight giggled and looked at Jon. “Well, aren’t you a brave soul, delving into a Changeling Hive.”

“I accepted this part of her a little while ago,” the griffon said with a shrug. “She said she wanted to cuddle somewhere else, and I followed.”

“I thought it’d get us out of sight and out of mind for the night,” Two-Step said before looking at her mother. “That clearly didn’t work.”

“You are being punished, dear, for getting the Guard involved with your little party,” the elder of the two replied. “And until I’m satisfied you’ve learned your lesson, I’ll not rescind your punishment.”

Midnight looked at the pair. “Seriously, Sugar is not a mare I’d wanna piss off. I’m beginning to wonder who has the bigger balls out of the two of you.”

“I’ve learned, okay?” Two-Step said with a bit of a snap to her tone. “I know better than to throw any more wild parties. Especially ones that get so out of control, they spill out into the street. That’s how we got in trouble last time.”

“...Midnight, please slap her for me. She’s learned nothing,” Sugar said dryly.

Midnight shrugged and with a resounding ‘thawp’ Two-Step was smacked upside the head by a leathery wing.

“That’s part of it, yes,” Sugar said with a shake of her head. “The other part is to not invite the entire bucking city to your party. Even I only spread information about what events we’re going to have by word of mouth. Our customers take care of it from there!”

“Fine, I get it,” Two-Step muttered. “The real lesson is be more discreet.”

“Exactly!” Sugar crowed. “Because in order for them to catch you doing something wrong, they need proof. Proof that you all but gave them.”

“...Royal Guard. Standing. Right here.” Midnight deadpanned.

“We know,” the mother and daughter said in unison, causing Jonathan to shudder briefly.

“They’re creepy when they do that,” he said.

“Eeyup,” Midnight nodded. Though, she’d nailed twins before. Damn that’s been hot… She coughed into her hoof and sighed. “Can you not plan illegal, or at least borderline illegal things around me. It makes me feel bad when I gotta arrest friends.”

“Don’t worry, Two-Step’s learned her lesson, hasn’t she?” Sugar said before glaring at her daughter. Said hybrid shook for a moment before nodding rapidly.

“Yes, yes, I’ve learned my lesson, my education is not complete, please, please don’t punish me anymore.”

The mother hummed for a moment before grinning at them both. “You know what? I’m in a good mood. You can see him again...but! Only for things like cuddling or socializing. No actual sex.”

“Wait, what?” Jonathan asked with a tilted head. “You want me to, what, get to know her and play nice instead of just banging her?”

“Can I hit him too?” Midnight asked hopefully, cracking her neck and flexing her wings.

“Please do,” Sugar replied with a nod. Jon blinked as Midnight’s hoof smacked him across the back of the head, strong enough to make him faceplant the floor.

“There’s more to life than sex,” Sugar said, fully aware of the irony. “If you two are going to make this a serious thing, the least you could do is act like it.”

Midnight looked at Sugar like she’d grown a third head. “Well, I guess you have a point. I mean, you got married…”

“And still fucks other ponies, hypocrite,” Two-Step muttered.

“I actually don’t,” Sugar said with total honesty. “I did right up until I got married, but that was toning down the longer I spent around Moondancer. Nowadays I don’t sleep around anymore. That whole ‘loyal to your mate’ thing.”

“You brought that colt home from Fredrick’s the night you got home!” Two-Step argued. “What, did you sit down for tea and fucking biscuits?”

“No, we just had a nice, long talk about how to properly please a mare,” Sugar said. “Poor dear was a virgin, needed to know what to do the first time he gets laid.”

“...You have got to be kidding,” Two-Step replied.

“Really?” Midnight asked, also not believing what she was hearing.

“Hey, I know I liked my uncle’s instructions in what I was doing the first time,” Jonathan argued. “I’ve built offa them to make my own rules, but yeah. Knowing what I was doing the first time was hella useful.”

“And now whatever mare that poor dear ends up with won’t be entirely disappointed either,” Sugar said with a smile. That was when she got glomped by Midnight.

“I’m so happy you’re treating my Moonie so well~”

“I’m pretty sure she’d let me know if I was doing poorly, dear,” Sugar said as she returned the hug to the best of her abilities.

“Uh… what about us?” Jon asked as he looked at the sight of the thestral hugging the large Changeling.

“The both of you can return to the club proper, but if I catch a single whiff of you two sleeping together, I’ll ban him from coming back until your month is up,” the Noble said.

“And I’ll tell Fredrick, I’m sure he’d love to know what his brother has been up to,” Midnight replied.

“No!” Jon said with a shake of his head. “No no no, no need to do that…”

“Awww but I haven’t talked with him in a while, and this is the perfect chance~” Midnight cooed.

“Why don’t you want him to find out?” Two-Step asked as she looked between Midnight and her griffon friend.

“...I might’ve teased him for a while when he told me he was going steady,” Jon admitted.

“Gottagoandtellhimberightback!” Midnight cackled and went to fly out of the room…

“And now you’re afraid of him returning the favor,” Two-Step deduced.

“One thing’s for sure,” the griffon said as he watched Midnight’s retreating form. “My home life is about to become a lot more interesting.”

“Sucks to be you,” Two-Step replied. “Now come and buy me a drink and we’ll swap life stories… or, whatever it is that couples do.”

“I can do that,” the griffon said as the pair of them began making their way out of the Hive.

Midnight blasted into Fredrick’s restaurant, landing before the doors even had a chance to close as a manic grin was plastered across her face.

“Oh dear Fredriiiiick~” she sang out. Said griffon poked his head out of his kitchen, before catching sight of Midnight and cheering.

“And the vision of the night’s beauty returns once more,” he flattered her. “What is it you desire?”

“Weeeeell~” she also recalled an earlier promise and fished something out of her bag. “First, I have a recipe for youuu~”

“Excellent!” the griffon crowed as he took the card and stuck it in his apron. “I will have to see about using it in the future.”

“And second, a little extra present because I love you so much,” Midnight giggled and whispered into his ear. “Little brother has a little nymph-friend~”

“Oh dear,” Fredrick said as he looked at Midnight. “Is it serious?”

“Seems to be~” Midnight smiled. “Her mom prevented them from meeting up just for sex, and he’s still sticking around.”

“Oh dear oh dear,” the griffon tutted. “I’m afraid the only medicine I can prescribe for this is relentless teasing.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Midnight cackled. “My mission is complete and I’d best return to the job I realised I just ditched. Later loverbird~”

“Take care,” he said with a wave.

As Midnight left, Narrow came downstairs, her mane a mess from sleeping in as she yawned.

“What was all that about?” she asked as she nuzzled Fredrick.

“Just a little something regarding younger brother,” the griffon said as he gave her a peck on the cheek. “Remember all the teasing he did because you and I were going steady? We’ll get to do it back to him now. He apparently has a nymphfriend.”

“Interesting,” Narrow mused. This should be fun. “Did she say who he was seeing?”

“Nope, just another thing to press him on when he comes back,” the griffon replied as he hugged her with a wing.

In the club, Moondancer glanced up as she saw Two-Step and a griffon she hadn’t seen before. The black feathers were interesting though, one didn’t see that colour plumage often.

She wondered if she could get a sample for genetic testing.

With a pop, Moondancer teleported in front of the pair. “So little daughter-in-law,” she hummed. “Who’s your interesting friend here?”

“Moondancer, this is Jonathan,” the half-ling said as she introduced the pair. “The most stubborn perverted bird I’ve met. Jonathan, this is Moondancer, my new mother-in-law.”

The griffon looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “Wait...does that mean you married…?” He trailed off as he finished that thought.

“Yes, I married that lovely Noble nymph,” Moondancer said. “If you have a problem with that… well, I hear the surface of the moon is lovely this time of year.”

“Not sayin’ anything,” the griffon said with a shake of his head. “Everypony likes what everypony likes. Lookit me, takin’ a half-changeling, half-pony to the bar. Can’t complain.”

“...” Moondancer looked at the pair as they could almost hear her mind going to work. Any Silvers nearby would have gone into cardiac arrest from the buffet they just got.

“Really now,” she finally spoke. “How very… interesting~”

“Jon, run for it,” Two-Step said as she backed up slowly. “I don’t know what she has planned, but we need to make a run…”

They found themselves snared in her magic as she dragged them over to her booth. “Time to tell Mommy Moondancer aaaaaaallll about it~”

“Sweet Celestia!” Jonathan said as he was dragged along. “Step, is everypony in your life crazy?”

“Pretty much, yes,” the nymph said with a sigh. “Welcome to the family.”

“Okay!” Moondancer said as she plopped them down onto the seats. “Now, tell me how you kids met~”

“Well, Johnny here was going through the nymphs one by one, before mother took things into her own hooves,” Two-Step explained.

“That mare took one long glance at me before passing me off to Two-Step here, and we’ve been banging ever since,” the griffon finished.

“...I should have seen that coming,” Moondancer facehooved.

“It’s how most Violet relationships start,” Two-Step said with a nod.

“Well, I guess it’s how Sugar and I met,” Moondancer nodded. “So, when’s the wedding~?”

The pair of them sputtered and vehemently shook their heads in denial of the very idea.

“Ahh, you say that now,” Moon giggled. “It’ll happen before you know it…” She hummed and then looked at Jon. “I hope you’re using protection as well Mister.”

“I’m on a potion,” the half-ling said. “Mom makes it for me.”

“Potions aren’t a hundred percent accurate, so he should be packing as well,” Moondancer nodded. “Honestly, you kids think you’re invincible or something.”

“Fine, I’ll look inta gettin’ something for myself,” Jon said with a roll of his eyes.

“There’s a good stallion… er, griffon.” Moondancer pinched his cheek with her magic. “Ah, and before I forget, may I have one of your feathers dear sir?”

“...Not the weirdest request I’ve gotten, though usually mares ask me for that after I’ve slept with ‘em,” Jon said before extending one wing and plucking a loose feather out. He handed the thing over to Moondancer.

“Your coloration is rare, I’d like to study that,” she smiled as she summoned a glass tube and placed the feather inside before corking it shut. “Now, I’ll let you two get to know one another. And give my regards to your brother when you see him.”

“Yeah, sure thing,” Jon said before drawing his wing closed...and Two-Step into a hug thanks to the feathery appendage. “Seeya ‘round.”

“Bye Moony!” Two-Step called as they went to the bar.

“Hmm, such a cute couple, they seem perfect for one another,” the unicorn mused as she turned back to her research. “Though they’ll probably cause more trouble before the night is over…”

Sugar made a reappearance by her wife’s side before too long, this time just nuzzling her. “I love you,” she said simply. “I don’t know if I’ve said it enough yet.”

“You say it all the time, though I am curious as to what brought this on,” the unicorn said as she read over Ledger’s notes. “Did I do something right?”

“Being you,” the nymph said as she just sighed. “Though the way you approached that whole potential son-in-law thing also helped.”

“Oh that, well they're not engaged, so there's no need to scare him… yet~” Moondancer chuckled as her horn glowed. “I have time to plan.”

“I also like that you didn’t immediately turn Two-Step into a project as well,” Sugar hummed.

“I have a sense of ethics you know,” Moondancer huffed and folded her arms. “Though now you bring it up…”

“Only with her permission,” Sugar said before beeping the silly unicorn with a hoof. She scrunched her muzzle and frowned.

“Would you kindly stop doing that.”

“But you look adorable when I do! Plus it makes a point.” Sugar just leaned on her wife and sighed. “Still, it’s nice to know that I won’t walk into her being strapped down while you perform tests on her.”

Moondancer paused and looked at the nymph. Sugar could almost hear the sound of her wife’s brain ticking before a wide smirk crossed her face and her horn lit up.

“Don’t you have research to do?” Sugar asked pointedly.

“Oh? I think I found a new line of study that demands my immediate attention~” she breathed into her ear as she picked the nymph up in her magic and started heading for their room. “Namely; How much does a Violet Noble like being tied up~?”

“Oh dear,” Sugar said. “This promises to be...interesting.”

Midnight flew back in, just in time to see them leave. “Aww, and now they’re gonna have fun while I have to work. Totes not fair.”

When Midnight got home later that night, she gave a loud yawn as she climbed the stairs. Singing was fun, but she was exhausted.

She opened the bedroom door and barely held back the urge to squeal. Ledger and a larger, Nobley version of Scopey were cuddling on the bed.

“So… cute…” she whispered. She was tempted to let them cuddle and take the couch…

But the bed was soooo comfy~

Chapter 87 - Just another day

Twilight Sparkle liked to think she was a prepared pony. One that had a plan for every outcome.

For instance, that knock at the door could have been a few things. A pony with a friendship problem. Ledger wondering where two of his fiance's got to…

The angry face of Prince Shining Armor wasn’t on her list though. This much was evident by Twilight screaming and slamming the door in his face.

“Twilight Starshine Sparkle,” the voice of her brother came from the other side of the door. “Open. This. Door.”

“Uh, I’m sorry, you appear to have the wrong address. Your Princess is in another castle!” Twilight shouted back as she started a long distance teleport.

“Twilight, so help me, open this door, or my next stop is mom.”

“Twilight, open the door for your brother,” he heard his mother say from inside the castle.

“Nope! I don’t have a brother,” Twilight shook her head.

“Twilight, don’t make me get Cadence as well,” Shining said. “And does mom know how you told me? I’m sure she’d open the door if I explained it.”

Twilight grumbled and opened the door, “Fine, there. Happy?”

“It’s a start,” Shining said as he walked into the room. “Now would you mind explaining your letter to me?”

“Why, I wrote it in plain Equuish,” his sister said. “Just like the one you sent me.”

“Yes, but I thought you were seeing this Ledger guy, and his herd,” Shining explained. “Now all of a sudden you’re getting married to ‘Duke Secret-Hoarder’? It doesn’t make much sense.”

Twilight’s Sparkle and Velvet looked at one another… then started laughing. A laugh that kept going, even as Cider stumbled into the room half asleep. She hadn’t put her mane up yet, so her golden locks spilled everywhere as she rubbed her eyes.

“Ergh… whut’s so dadgummed funny this early in th’mornin?” she mumbled.

“I haven’t the faintest idea,” Shining said as he turned to her. “All I did was ask them about this ‘Duke Secret-Hoarder’ and they started laughing.”

“...What’s so funny bout Ledger?” Cider blinked.

“Wait...you mean they’re the same pony?” Shining asked with wide eyes.

“D-Duke Secret Horahahahaaa…” Twilight giggled. “That’s...whew… that’s Ledger’s changeling name.”

“...Like how Cadence has a long and fancy name,” Shining deduced.

“It's cute how you never use that name,” Princess Mi Amore Cadenza chuckled as she leaned against him. “So Twilight. Does that mean you're getting married to four ponies?”

“Eeyup,” Cider yawned, leaning against Shining’s other side. “She’s gonna be our pretty princess…”

“Right, next stop, Las Pegasus,” Shining said. “I have to have...words with some ponies…”

“Good idea!” Twilight saw an opportunity to deal with this once she was prepared and with a flash of her horn, she teleported him right there.

Cadence and Cider yelped as their resting place vanished and they fell in a heap on the floor.

Shining Armor now found himself in the living room of Cider’s farmhouse…

“Well, I didn’t mean instantly,” Shining mused as he looked around.

The sound of somepony coming down the stairs got his attention as Midnight Song yawned, brushing past him on the way to kitchen. “Hi Shining,” she murmured, her true goal being the fridge. It was time to raid.

“Midnight, where is the changeling known as Ledger?” he asked the thestral. “I want to have...words with him.”

He heard her rummaging around in the fridge, until she found her milk and gulped it down.

“Pwaahhh~ So much better,” she smiled and then blinked. She walked slowly back out into the living room and looked at the stallion.

“I've had this dream before…” she muttered. “But it involved hoofcuffs…”

“Left mine in Ponyville,” the stallion says before looking up the stairs. “Is he up there?”

“Probably,” Midnight sighed. “Do try and leave some left for-” She was cut off as the front door opened and Chrysalis poked her head in.

“Midnight, have you got any sugar? Amy used ours and… oh, hello Former Husband.”

Shining reacted without thinking about it, pulling the large ‘ling into the room and putting a shield around her.

“Well that was rather dramatic,” she sighed. “I understand you missed me. But I'm in a committed relationship now.” She seemed rather unfazed.

“Shiny, please let Chryssie go,” Midnight said as she fetched the nymph her sugar.

“It was my understanding that she was supposed to be in Ponyville, under Twilight’s watch. Bad enough, really, but now to not be there?” Shining asked, not letting the shield up at all.

“Twilight says she's good to go,” Midnight explained. “Chryssie here even has a pair of lovers, one of them being Aerial Ace. You know him yes? The griffon that no student ever bested!”

The white stallion blinked a few times before looking at the changeling queen. “You cannot be serious,” he said simply.

“Do I look like I'm kidding Shining?” Chrysalis was starting to get annoyed. “Now let me out. Don't make me summon her.”

“Summon who?” the unicorn asked with a raised eyebrow. “I think I can hold this until Twilight tells me herself that you’re allowed to be out.”

Chrysalis sighed and closed her eyes. “You had your chance to escape. Oh Amy, your nymph is in trouble~” She sang out and Midnight ducked under a table.

“Then I guess it’s time to make it double~” the voice replied, seeming to come from all around them.

“What the...what the buck is that?!” Shining asked as he turned around, trying to catch sight of whoever talked.

“Your worst nightmare,” Chrysalis smirked. “Last chance Shiny Hiney.”

The stallion shook his head, and if anything, the shield around Chrysalis seemed to grow stronger.

“A Queen in a cage,” she sighed. “Amy dear, if you'd be so kind…”

“Hiya!” the Pink nymph said from right behind Shining Armor. The stallion turned as he took stock of the situation, only seeing a Pink changeling sitting behind him.

“And you are?” he asked.

“Oh, I’m Amy!” the nymph said happily. “And you have my nymphfriend in a cage.” And then her demeanor turned...one shade darker. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“Amy, no murder, Cider will kill us if you get blood in the carpet,” Midnight said from under the table.

“Oh, can I borrow your kitchen for a little bit of fun then?” Amy said with her demeanor still not bright and cheery.

“...The fuck is going on down here?” A tall Blue Noble said from the top of the stairs. “...Amy, should have guessed that strangled cat voice belonged to you.”

“And good morning to you too Scopey!” Amy said before she reached out and started dragging Shining Armor into the kitchen. “But if you don’t mind, I’m going to convince this pony to let my Chyssie go.”

“Get your...leggo!” Shining said as he tried to break her hold. Tried, and failed.

“Shining…? LEDGER! Get down here!” Scope called out as she looked at Chrysalis and giggled. “You look like a goldfish.”

“Oh shut the fuck up,” Chrysalis pouted. “I can't help that Shining has this weird fetish.”

“I do not have a-” Shining got out before the door to the kitchen was closed. Ledger slowly walked up behind Scope and gave her cheek a kiss.

“About time,” Scope grumbled. “ Can you go make sure Amy doesn't kill Twilight’s brother for his weird shield fetish?”

“Oh, ‘zat all?” Ledger said as he walked up to the shield and hummed. “He does good work with these things...Hey Chryssy.”

“I swear if someone doesn't let me out… then I will murder so many ponies!!”

“Let’s try something,” Ledger said before putting a hoof on the shield. “Right here. Standard beam. On three?”

“Ledger, it won’t work,” Chrysalis said. “But by all means, embarrass yourself. I could use a good laugh.”

Ledger just shrugged and touched the shield again. “Suit yourself. I just thought if there wasn’t a weak point, we could make one if we worked together.”

“He protected a whole city, even under my influence,” Chrysalis explained. “What are our chances that-” With a small ‘pop’ the shield dissipated. “Oh… look at that.”

Amy walked out of the kitchen, all smiles, as she hugged and nuzzled Chrysalis. “Hey you,” she purred.

“Mmm, knew I could count on you,” Chrysalis murred back and kissed her. “Did you let him live at least?”

“Yeeahh, Cadence and Twilight might get mad if you didn’t,” Midnight said, finally coming out of hiding.

“Oh, he’s alive,” Amy said dismissively. “He was just subjected to what a Pink can really do when they’re angry.”

Chrysalis shuddered and closed her eyes. “I almost feel sorry for him. Now… should we get going?” She lifted the satchel of sugar Midnight got her. “I have secured the goods.”

“Yay, more baking!” Amy said as she kissed Chrysalis. “Mmm, let’s head back and say good morning to Acey~”

“Ohh, so were gonna do some frosting then?” Chrysalis grinned and trotted from the home, as Scope shook her head once they left.

“...Why the fuck is Shining Armor in our house?”

“I don’t know,” Ledger said as he walked into the kitchen. A few seconds later, a frozen white stallion was floated out and placed in the living room. “But he’s not stopping me from having my coffee.”

“You are surprisingly agreeable this morning,” Scope nodded, already setting the pot to brew. “Were cuddles that good?”

“Cuddles are always good,” Ledger said as he sat down and stared at the pot, as though willing it to go faster. “Cuddles with ones I love are even better.”

“And my newest form? You like?” Scope asked, doing a little twirl.

“I give it the Midnight Stamp of Approval,” the thestral nodded and licked her lips.

“Now all we have to do is find a way for you to hold it for ten months or so on end and all our problems are solved,” Ledger said before kissing the nymph, still not taking his eyes off the pot if he could help it.

“Honestly, you'd impregnate us all if you could huh?” Scope rolled her eyes as she turned and started to pour the coffee slowly. “What’s with that anyway? Foals are noisy, obnoxious little balls of snot and tears.”

“They’re also the only link you have with the future,” Ledger said. “The only way you have to pass on a bit of you to the next generation. And I’d like to think I’m going to do my best to raise my kid to be better than myself.”

“Well on the plus side, you haven't set the bar very high,” Scope giggled.

“Plus he forgot that it's a Violet thing,” Midnight added. “Sugar told me last night that she still wants Levvy’s babies~”

Ledger coughed, sputtered, and looked at the Thestral. “She what?” he asked inarticulately.

“Well, apparently you're the only other Noble in the city, and you're the only one she actually respects enough to want to do that apparently.” Midnight wondered why she wasn't really bothered by it. Eh, she blamed Ledger.

“Coffee, then process that,” Scope said, setting the mug down in front of him. Ledger nodded and added his customary cube before stirring it up and starting in on his coffee.

“One for you,” she set one down before Midnight. “And even one for Captain Dumbass here,” she said, poking Shining. The stallion reacted enough to hold the cup, though not do much else.

Scope shrugged and sat on the couch, taking her true form and nursing the mug as she drank it, the room falling into silence as they did.

It wasn't for about fifteen minutes that somepony finally spoke.

“Shining, did you come here for a reason?” Midnight asked. “Perhaps related to a certain wedding?”

“The pink fury…” he muttered. “Never...make her mad again…”

“Well he's out,” Midnight shrugged then an idea formed. She straightened up and cleared her throat.

“Shining Armor! Ateeeen-SHUN!!”

The stallion snapped to, saluting to Midnight before he caught on and lowered his hoof. “What...happened?”

“Nothing, you came to visit then just conked out. You must have been tired,” Midnight replied, whistling innocently. “You wanted to see Ledgie yeah?”

“I… uh, yes,” Shining said and shook his head. “So tell me, what's all this about you marrying my sister!?”

“She’s grown so attached to us, that when I asked if she wanted to join us on our big day, she said yes,” Ledger said as he sipped at his coffee. “She’s quite the mare, you know.”

“I'm very well aware of that,” Shining said. “And yet here I am, wondering what you hope to gain from this.”

“A loving relationship?” Ledger said with the bare minimum of snark. “Honestly, it wasn’t planned by either of us at the start, but I’m not complaining.”

“Don't you think it's a little soon?” Shining riposted. “You and your herd have only known her for a month or so.”

“And yet, we probably know her better than anypony save her family,” Ledger riposted Shining’s riposte. “After all, if she didn’t share our feelings, then she was perfectly welcome to say no.”

“You sure it's not because you're a-”

“OKAY!” Midnight interrupted before he could finish that suicidal line of thought. “Look Shine. We love Twilight. We love her as much as we love each other, and isn't that enough? We can't guarantee that it'll all work out. But we're going to try our hardest okay?”

Shining paused and frowned as he closed his eyes. “Fine. And… sorry Ledger. I'm just annoyed at how I found out about all this.”

“If it helps any,” Ledger said as he finally killed his coffee. “When I found out how she told you, I said it was a bad idea.”

“Yeah well… Twiley never did have a firm grip on what was funny and what wasn’t,” Shining sighed and drained his own mug. “Now… I just need to figure out how to get back…”

“Well, seeing as neither of us are her,” Ledger said before looking at Scope. “Think the nymph in Ponyville is up for taking a message to Twilight?”

“How do you know about that?” Scope blinked. “The names and locations of my minions are a secret…”

“I helped you set them up, remember? We both went over where nymphs were needed together,” Ledger deadpanned.

“...Oh yeeahhh,” Scope nodded and her horn lit up. She paused and then blinked. “Huh? I already have a message waiting. ‘Dear Shining Armor. You can’t come back until you stop being mad. Love, Twilight.’”

“How about this one? ‘Dear Twilight Sparkle. Please come fetch your brother before he runs into Chrysalis. Again. Love, Level Ledger.’”

She nodded and sent the message, there was another pause and with a flash, Twilight teleported into the room and looked around.

“Oh Shiny, please tell me you didn't hurt Chrysalis,” Twilight said. “Oh, and Ledger, almost forgot about him.”

“No, Amy dealt with him,” Ledger said as he floated his cup into the kitchen. “I take it you forgot our little friend was living here until just now?”

“Pretty much,” Twilight nodded. “So Shiny, I take it you're better now?”

“Better is… a relative term,” Shining nodded. “But yes, let's go with that.”

“Maybe one day, we’ll get that Changeling phobia of yours properly treated,” Ledger said. “Picture it, Twilight. Your brother and Chrysalis exchanging Hearth’s Warming presents and not even caring about who they’re from.”

“That will be a warm day in the tundra,” Shining muttered.

“Well you'd better get used to it, because she'll be at the wedding,” Twilight said then giggled. “I wonder how she'll react to a wedding she's invited to?”

“That promises to be interesting,” Ledger chuckled as well. “Still, I rather think his business here is concluded, Twilight.”

“No, we'll be back. We have our respective parties tonight,” Twilight reminded him.

“Oh dear,” the drone said as he put a hoof to his head. “I can feel the headache already.”

“Wait, that’s tonight?” Scope and Midnight echoed. With Amy, Sugar and Chryssie…?

“I know our feels Levvy,” Midnight groaned.

“Tonight is going to be interesting,” Ledger agreed. “Assuming we can remember it.”

“Well I can’t drink remember,” Midnight spoke up. “So at least I’ll remember every embarrassing little thing that everypony else does! Although…” She leaned in close and grabbed Ledger’s shoulders, glaring into his eyes. “I know what you’re like when you get drunk. And you had better not come home with another wife Duke Secret-Hoarder!”

“I will do my best to come home with no more than I leave with,” Ledger said with a hoof raised.

The thestral turned her glare to Shining Armor. “And I expect you to make sure he remembers that promise Mr. Armor. Or Twilight will be down a husband and a brother.”

The unicorn gulped and nodded, saluting quickly. “Ma’am yes Ma’am!”

“There’s a pair of good stallions,” Midnight giggled and pinched their cheeks. “Remember to have fun ‘kay?”

Once the thestral headed upstairs to wash her face, Twilight following her. Shining turned to Ledger with wide eyes.

“Dude… she scares the buck out of me…”

“Just be glad you’re not marrying her,” the drone replied.

“Done and done,” Shining nodded. He sipped at his coffee again and sighed contently. “And sorry about the… dramatics. Seeing Chrysalis off of her leash doesn’t sit well with me.”

“It didn’t sit well with me either,” Ledger said as he sipped at his own coffee. “She should be thankful I already went Black once. Otherwise I might have gone Black if I met her before these mares did their miracle work on my psyche.”

Shining decided it was best not to comment on that. It sounded like a story in and of itself. “So who’s coming to this bachelor thing of yours?”

“Fredrick,” Ledger listed off. “My father, Midnight’s dad. Flash Sentry. You’re welcome to join if you want as well.”

“Are you sure?” the unicorn asked. “I mean, I wouldn’t want to impose…”

“This will hardly be any different than the time we went out drinking in the Empire,” the drone pointed out. “We’ll just have more ponies along for the ride.”

“True enough, well, then I accept your invitation,” Shining nodded, just as the door burst open and Aerial Ace flew in, looking around and sighing.

“Phew… finally got away…”

“Having two nymphfriends finally catching up with you?” Ledger asked with a smirk.

“You… have no… idea,” Ace panted. “They are insatiable!”

Ledger just raised an eyebrow, waiting for the gryphon to catch on to his predicament. Heck, Midnight alone was insatiable some nights.

“Well,” the griffon coughed. “Perhaps you would understand…” He looked at Shining and nodded. “You have no idea the suffering we endure.”

“And I am ever thankful for it,” Shining replied.

“Isn’t Cadence the Princess of Love?” Ledger idly asked.

“Don’t you dare give her any ideas!” Shining pointed a hoof at the pair of them. “I am very happy with with my one and only wife.”

“Who said we were going to give her any ideas about adding more wives?” Ledger asked mischievously.

Shining blinked and tilted his head, something Twilight also did when she was confused… then it clicked and he spluttered indignantly. “W-W-WHAT!?”

“I’m just saying, keeping up with an alicorn can’t be easy for you,” Ledger said before killing his coffee.

“We could say the same to you Ledger,” Ace chuckled as he fetched his own mug. Hopefully Amy and Chrysie wouldn’t check here first. “Princess Twilight must be… studious~”

“That’s my sister you're talking about birdbrain!” Shining said sharply. He did not want to think about Ledger and Twilight… like that.

“Out of respect to Shining here, I’ll refrain from saying too much more,” Ledger said. “Well gentlestallion and sir griffon, I have a company to run today. I’ll leave the abduction of me from it for my party up to you and the others that come here for it,” the drone said with a nod to the white unicorn before his usual disguise shimmered into place.

“Fair enough,” Ace nodded. “Perhaps I shall accompany Shining here back to Ponyville…” No, he totally wasn't thinking of skipping town so he could enjoy a small respite.

“If you like… not sure how we're getting back though…”

“Forget about me already?” Twilight said, tapping her hoof against the hardwood floor. “That cuts deep boys…”

“To be fair, our little project is still a secret,” Ledger said to the alicorn before walking over and giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Maybe give them a taster?”

Twilight smiled and returned Ledger's kiss much more passionately, before nodding and firing up her horn. “About that, wanna see something neat?”

“Do tell,” the brown unicorn said, now intrigued.

Twilight giggled and headed towards the backyard. “Follow me lovercolt,” she winked, her tail swishing.

“I blame you completely and utterly for her new behaviour,” Shining groused as he followed her as well.

“I blame Midnight for my new behavior,” Ledger said as he wondered what Twilight could show him. Not that he was complaining, the view was awesome.

“Aaaand he's ogling your flanks,” Shining groaned, Twilight replied by shaking them again as her tail swayed, keeping her modesty barely hidden.

Once outside, Ledger saw a large wooden crate and an even larger smile on Twilight’s face. Both Shining and Ledger knew that was the smile she got when she was plotting something.

“Twiiiiliiiight,” Ledger said. “What are you planning?”

She beamed brightly as she opened the crate with her magic and a maelstrom of bits and pieces whirled around. Within a few moments, Ledger beheld a device he instantly recognised, the portal to that weird ape world. Or at least, something aesthetically similar.

“Copying off of a design that works?” Ledger mused. “Interesting.”

“Moondancer sent me some notes last night.” Twilight trotted in place, she kinda looked like she had to pee. “This is just a prototype… but if it works?”

“It would be awesome,” Ledger agreed. “Though I don’t think your brother or Ace should be the first test subjects. Maybe send an apple first, then try and bring it back?”

“For SCIENCE!!” Twilight yelled and flung an apple through the arcane vortex.

All was silent…

“Did… did it work?” Shining asked.

“Maybe somepony on the other end is eating it,” Ledger mused. “Maybe attach a note to the next one asking them to send it back?”

Twilight frowned and teleported. A moment later, she emerged from the portal with a slight stumble and a sheepish grin.

“Good news, the portal seems stable,” Twilight said and gave Ledger an odd look.

“And the bad news?” Ledger immediately asked, not foolish enough to believe there wouldn’t be any.

“W-Well, it appears that an object going in the portal, comes back out at a slightly increased velocity…”

“What if we turned it off, then activated the portal around them? They’d have no velocity to increase,” Ledger asked. “Is that feasible?”

“There’s a chance the activation will tear them apart at the molecular level… I'll discuss it with Moondancer and the Doctor… also, Iaccidentallyknockedoutyoursister…”

Ledger blinked before facehooving. “So basically,” he told Ace and Shining when he was done with that, “Walk in until you’re in the palace, then stop, otherwise you might trip and fall.”

They nodded and stared at the portal, gulping and slowly entering it.

“So… what do you think?” Twilight asked now that they were alone.

“Well, I won’t deny that there are some bugs with this system, but maybe when you and Moondancer have a minute, you can work them out,” Ledger said, grinning at his own joke.

“That was terrible,” Twilight chuckled and kissed him. “Oh, I sent a letter to the Princess a day ago. Wanna know what it was about?”

“The same thing you sent a letter to your brother about?” Ledger asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Nooo,” Twilight grinned and leaned in close. She was walking backwards slowly, as he followed.

“Let's just say a little dream of yours could be so. Much. More~” And with that, she vanished through the portal, the device closing behind her.

“Right, number one priority is to work out the bugs in this device. Number two, become familiar with it so that she can’t escape so easily again,” Ledger said before turning around. He walked off to work, though not without casting another glance back at the portal.

Now...which dream could she be talking about?...

When Ledger arrived at work, his warehouse was buzzing with activity. Things were being loaded into containers and being sealed with locks both physical and magical.

One of his interns was running about in a panic, a mare named Bookmark. She worked whenever Scope wasn’t around. Which was often.

“Bookmark!” Ledger said, trying to gain her attention.

“Kyaa!?” She stumbled as a pile of paperwork she was levitating went everywhere. “Oh blast it!” she muttered as she started picking it up before realising Ledger was there. “Oh! Um, Mr. Ledger… hello.”

“Can you tell me what’s going on here?” Ledger said as he helped her with her paperwork.

“Ah, um… that is to say…” The mare shrinked back, her ears folded down in fear. “We might have had… a small break in…”

“What did they take,” Ledger said, already running the calculations as to how to recover from this.

“That's the odd part,” she replied, pushing up her round glasses. “They took the next shipment that was meant to go out. They knew exactly what it was and where it'd be.” She sighed and rubbed away an oncoming headache. “This is a right bloody mess. That shipment was worth around eighty thousand…”

“Fortunately,” Ledger said with a smile. “On all my morning walkabouts, I hit every shipment with a tracking spell. It usually wears off in a few weeks or so, more than enough time for our shipments to get where they’re going… but in cases like this?”

“We can locate it,” Bookmark smiled. “I've already informed the PD of the theft…” She sighed and rubbed her head again. “It's a very odd feeling to be laughed out of a police station.”

“Then we go one step higher,” Ledger said. “We inform the Guard. I have a friend there. Think you can take a message to Captain Narrow? Tell her I’m doing something stupid again? That’ll get her over here very quickly.”

“I'm on it,” Bookmark said. She was a cute little thing. She had a lime green coat with a lighter green mane and tail that were both braided. Her cutie mark was a closed book with a feather sticking out. “I'm sorry about this. If I'd only made sure the warehouse was more secure-”

“Not your fault, that’s on me,” Ledger cut her off with a shake of his head. “But those that stole from us are going to get a rude awakening if they think we’re soft. I will tear apart every last crime family in the city if I have to in order to send that message.”

Bookmark had heard stories of how fierce the boss was, and yet he was nothing compared to his collection of mares. A batpony, an earth mare, a changeling and a powerful unicorn…

Well, this city was screwed eight ways to Sunday.

“I'll run that message now,” Bookmark nodded and levitated the paperwork over to him. A manifest of what was taken and the report she attempted to hand over to the police.

“Thank you,” the disguised changeling said, waiting for her to walk off before he corralled his workers. The assortment of changelings were assembled, ready to be chewed out for failing their boss and Duke.

“Listen up!” Ledger said. “I do not blame you all for the theft. It was on me to think that the other crime families might take offense to our prosperity. What I do blame you all for is this exact theft. Somepony knew how to hurt us, and hurt us badly. They hit us in our pride as a reliable shipping company.”

“Did you think it was an inside job?” There was a nervous chittering, as eyes glanced around, looking for a potential traitor.

“At the moment, I don’t know,” Ledger said, considering the options. “Three teams. Team one, will carry on our operations as normal. Team two, will investigate everybuggy. And I will investigate them if they fail to turn up anything.”

“And Team Three sir?”

“Will get a dose of the tracing spell from me, the one linked to the shipment that went missing, in case the Guard don’t move fast enough. We take care of our business.”

The changelings nodded, before they started seperating into groups. The Blue’s made up the investigation team, while Red's and Yellow’s were the tracking group. Everybuggy else went back to work prepping the next shipments.

“Right,” Ledger said, firing up his horn. “Form a line, get your dose, then work together to find out where the shipment is. Upon finding it, do not engage unless you think there is a dire need to. We are still going to talk to the Guard. If they fail to turn up any useful leads after four hours, I hereby give you all permission to reclaim our stolen property.”

The changelings saluted, a little eager to get some action. Working for Ledger was great… but it was also pretty boring.

And that was when somepony teleported in behind Ledger, and he could feel the familiar itch of irritation coming from them.

“Ledger, what the ever-loving hell are you doing now?” Narrow said. The drone merely passed the paperwork that Bookmark had given him to her while he quickly hit as many changelings as he could with the tracking spell he still had on himself.

She flipped through the pages and her brow furrowed. “Celestia-damned mother bucking….” What followed was a string of curses that made several Reds blush.

“Apparently the police find us being robbed funny,” Ledger said as he kept hitting ‘lings with the tracking spell, waving each one off to remind them to go out and look afterwards.

“With Toll’s reputation still hanging over your heads?” Narrow replied. “Doesn't matter, I already know who did this.”

“Oh?” Ledger said as he hit the last ‘ling with the spell and sent him off. “Do tell. I’m curious to know who thinks they can rob us and get away with it.”

“The Raptor family, a bunch of Pegasi elitists,” Narrow said. “And you will leave this to the Guard, got it!”

“Of course,” Ledger said, already breaking his word thanks to what he did. “Though, we do have a reputation to uphold. Maybe once the fighting starts, you would see fit to turning a blind eye to some of my workers...reclaiming the shipment?”

“I mean it Ledger,” Narrow glared at him. “Your shipment has likely been separated and spread across half of Equestria by now. If you or anyone even remotely linked to you does anything, I'll have you arrested for obstruction.” She sighed and gave him a softer look. “If I find your shipment, I'll have it returned as soon as possible… but Raptor has some of the best and efficient fences on the market. It's likely you'll not see that stuff again. I suggest contacting your insurance company asap.”

“Tracking spell,” Ledger said simply, letting her put it all together.

“I hate you, you know that right?” Narrow sighed again. “Fine, give me the location and I'll set up a task force. If we find your goods, we can use it as evidence to finally take him in.”

“I don’t know where it is,” he said, before indicating the open door behind her with a tilt of his head. The one that the last worker had just flown through.

“Celestia-dammit Ledger!” Narrow pointed at the window. “I will seriously arrest your chitinous ass!”

“I told them not to move in unless they needed to, and I even gave you a generous window to mobilize the Guard,” Ledger said. “Four hours is more than enough time, right?”

“All of my hate Ledger!!” Narrow called out, even as she was running for the door. “Don’t assume we're done with this…”

“Of course not,” the drone said as he decided to pitch in and help with the rest of the shipments. There was plenty of work to do, and for once, he was going to help do it.

Midnight was having fun. Narrow had called and asked for some help and hotdamn did it feel good to be in armor again. They’d surrounded some kind of club in the seedier section of the city and while Midnight wanted to be on point, she was stuck playing spotter, in case anypony tried to make a break for it.

And there was no way she was telling Ledger she was doing this. He'd likely pitch a fit over it.

What she didn’t notice was one of his scouts leaving the scene…

When he returned to Ledger, he told him everything. From the methods the Guard was using, the fact that their goods still seemed to be there… and Midnight’s presence.

Ledger, to his credit, did not lose his composure. It was a near thing, though. Instead, he calmly told the scout to go back and tell the others to aid the guard in making sure nopony escaped, and especially not to get in Midnight’s way.

He saluted before taking off again as Bookmark approached the drone.

“Somethin’ wrong boss? You look tense.”

“Midnight’s in her armor again,” Ledger said before looking up to his office. “I could use a drink right about now, she drives me to it sometimes…”

“Your batpony partner?” she asked as she followed him to his office. “She's a guard though yes? Why wouldn't she be?”

“Tell me,” Ledger said as they reached the floor his office was on. “Would you say a pregnant mare can be...hormonal?”

“Well, I guess so,” Bookmark replied, going by her mum’s complaints.

“Midnight is worse,” Ledger said simply, letting her put two and two together as he opened the door to his office.

Bookmark had admittedly never met the mare for more than a second. But she'd heard the stories…

“You have my sympathies?” she offered as he took a seat.

“Yeah, and now she’s back in the armor again,” Ledger said as he fished out the rum and a glass. “And she gets worse if she’s in a combat situation sometimes.”

“You're worried huh?” Bookmark took a seat and rubbed her sore hooves. Running around everywhere was not her usual bookish activities.

“I’m worried for everything around her,” Ledger clarified. “I know she’ll get the job done. I just wonder what she’ll think the job is when she’s in the thick of things like she is.” He poured a small amount of rum into the glass, not even enough to get him tipsy, and knocked it back.

“Well, do you trust her?” Bookmark asked.

“Yeah,” Ledger said with a sigh. “I trust her. I just wish...well I wish for a lot of things, but it boils down to...I wish I’d had warning that she’d be doing this.”

“Mares are unpredictable at the best of times boss,” Bookmark giggled as she put his booze away. It wouldn't do to have him drunk on the job. “Now what say we get to work hmm?”

“Yeah yeah,” Ledger said. “And in the meanwhile, I have to worry about Midnight levelling half the city and dropping a building on our shipment.”

“...wat?” Bookmark paused and then snorted. “Aren't you overreacting just a smidge?”

“Don’t you recall the bank she ‘helped’ save?” Ledger deadpanned.

“That was her?” Bookmark blinked as they headed out to the floor.

“To be fair, she had help, but I’m still willing to blame her for the bank needing repairs in excess of what they were being robbed for,” the drone says. “Let’s just hope we still have a shipment when she’s done with helping…”

A few hours later, Narrow returned, looking like she’d seen better days. Her armor was scuffed and dented, and she was clearly showing signs of magical and physical exhaustion.

“Well that… that was… interesting,” Narrow sighed.

“I can only assume so,” Ledger said. “You know that all you would have had to do was ask nicely, and I’m certain you would have had backup in the form of my workers, yes?”

“You mean the workers that aren't allowed because they aren't guards?” Narrow replied with a weary sigh. “I need a copy of that manifest so we can sort through what we confiscated. Also, Midnight will be a bit. She had to go to the hospital.”

“Well, that eases my concerns by about none at all,” Ledger said before looking over for Bookmark. “I gave it to my latest intern, she might still have it…”

Narrow nodded. “Look Ledger, when one of Raptor’s guys escaped, she pursued instead of relaying like she was supposed to… she took a blow to the stomach…”

“And that’s why she went to the hospital,” Ledger said. “I wouldn’t worry if I were her, though. Changelings grow up tough, even at birth and before.”

“She’s still worried, and it’s my fault for asking her to help in the first place,” Narrow sighed and sat down. “If something happens… it’s my fault.”

“Do you honestly think you could have stopped her from doing what she truly loves to do?” the drone asked with a raised eyebrow. “I highly doubt there will be any damage to the foal, as I don’t think it’s even formed enough for that yet. Plus, maybe this will make Midnight want to tone down her involvement herself. Though, I will admit the possibility something happened to the foal is weighing on my mind. Just, not as heavily as it is yours.”

“Yeah well…” Narrow frowned and looked away. Midnight had been terrified and begged her not to tell Ledger. Still, she prayed that Ledger was right about this. “Your foal’s only half changeling remember?”

“Fair point, but pony foals are pretty resilient as well,” Ledger said. “It’s too bad I already had a drink. I could do with another one.”

“I’m sure you’ll get plenty tonight,” Narrow replied. “Still, I’d go see Midnight. She was freaking out pretty bad, even if she’ll never admit that.”

“I can do that,” Ledger said. “Why don’t you help yourself to a drink while you’re here? Get a small break before having to go back out there?”

“On duty, so I’ll have to pass,” Narrow said as Bookmark brought her the list, the guard unicorn thanking her. “Well, back to the salt mines I guess…” She turned and left, leaving the drone be once more.

“For the record, Captain, you were our first choice,” Ledger said. “I just didn’t want to take the chance that you might not respond favorably.”

“...First?” Narrow paused and turned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that once the police laughed our concerns off, you were the first idea that came to mind,” Ledger said. “That whole, sending the squad of workers out to find our stuff thing was secondary. My backup plan. One I hoped I didn’t have to use.”

“Look Ledger, my guards are well trained. We know this city and how it works. If you have any more problems, and I highly think you will. Come directly to me alright? We may not have handled that Black, or Tirek… but for something like this. This is why we’re here.”

“I know,” Ledger said. “I know. If this happens again, I will come to you first and hold off on telling the workers to go out and find our stuff...though, I might just send out a few to help you narrow down where it is.”

“I have some changelings on my payroll now. You can work with them to help okay?” Narrow shook her head and rubbed one of her ears. “I’m going to get this done, then enjoy a long bath at home. Later troublemaker.”

Ledger nodded before looking back as his workforce. “You lot got this handled by yourself?”

They saluted as they prepared the last shipment for the day. “Go on Boss. We got this!”

With that, the drone returned their salute before double-checking his disguise and walking out. He had a mare to see at a hospital.

Midnight lay on the bed and sighed. Today had… not gone according to plan. The doctors had told her that everything was fine, but she just wanted to rest a bit away from the prying eyes of her herd.

That was about when she heard the sounds of somepony coming home, thanks to her Thestral hearing.

“Oh for the love of the stars,” she swore, she moved to make a break for it out the window, but the damned thing was stuck. When Ledger arrived, he saw his bride-to-be with one hoof out of the window, smiling sheepishly.

“Uh… hey,” she said weakly.

“You know, if you didn’t want to spend time with me, all you had to do was say so,” the drone said as he sat down in the doorway.

“Uh… this isn’t what it looks like?” she said and removed herself from the window. “I uh, just wanted some air…” She looked at his deadpan stare and sighed. “Yeah, I know ‘Emotivore’.”

“You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to,” he said simply. “Just know that I’m here to listen if you do.”

“It’s just… I’ve been so bored. I feel useless and…” she sighed and flopped onto the bed. “And now I can’t even do the one thing I’m good at…”

Ledger didn’t even draw close for a cuddle, he wanted to make sure she worked this out verbally before she worked it out physically. As in, on him. “You know you’re not,” he said simply. “You’re far from it. You might be...benched, for the time being, but there’s no reason you can’t still exercise or spar. So long as you and your partner take care in where your blows land…”

“My only partner is Ace, and he only has one setting,” Midnight complained. “No. I’m destined to get fat and lazy and you’re gonna not like me once I’m fat…”

“Aheh,” Ledger said with a rub of his head. “Maaaaybe it’s time I tell you about a little...kink, Violet drones have.”

“...wat?” Midnight actually paused and stared at him. “Ooookay?”

“Violet drones...are nicknamed breeders for a reason,” Ledger said with a slight blush. “There’s, ah...nothing more they like than knowing or seeing their efforts to get a mare pregnant paying off.”

“...wat?” Midnight repeated. “And you… share this… kink?”

“I’ve had dreams of all of you getting pregnant,” Ledger admitted. “Kinky, sexy dreams.”

“Oh?” she moved closer and he could feel her feeling more like… Midnight. “Tell me about them~”

“They typically start when it’s the spring,” Ledger said. “And when the season is rolling around. Apple Cider gets me first, and rides me until she can’t stand up straight anymore. Scope wakes up halfway through the first round and, ah...services us, or makes herself available.”

“Hmm, interesting,” Midnight mused, now sitting behind him and rubbing his ears. “Then what?”

“Well then I naturally see to you, of course,” Ledger said. “Paying attention to your belly all the while and telling you how much I love you and love the life you’re working so hard to grow in you.”

“Mmm, I do like being told such things,” she said, licking the side of his neck and nibbling his ear. “And yet, I bet you're saving the best for last~”

“Well then, Twilight comes over to see me, and takes me back to her palace in Ponyville,” Ledger said. “Where we spend days using every room in her palace. Eventually we end up in the throne room where I do her while sitting in her throne.”

“Ohh, I’d like to watch that,” Midnight purred as her wings teased his sides. “Lemme guess, somepony wants an alicorn/changeling~?”

“The thought is something that I’ve spent several session teasing her with,” he admitted. Then, the princesses words from earlier suddenly made a good deal of sense…

“And suddenly the spring is looking very attractive,” Ledger mused.

“Oh?” Midnight asked, her wingtips now teasing his belly as she sat behind him, nibbling his neck. “Why’s that?”

“Let’s just say I’m looking forward to the idea of adding more members to our little family,” Ledger said as he leaned back into her. “Though that depends on the others being willing to help, of course.”

“Hmm, guess we’ll have to see,” Midnight nodded. “We’d have to work out finances and whether or not so many of us can take time off of work,” she said and showed him a little trick she hadn’t before. She wiggled the soft barb-like things on the elbow of her wings, scratching at his belly.

“Oh, that feels good,” Ledger murred. “But yeah...are you satisfied that you’ll never be ugly to me?”

“I am,” Midnight replied, her mind already concocting ways to seduce him. Her scritchies moved lower and she gave him a fanged grin. “Maybe I should have you show me, you know, just to be sure~”

“Well I am back for the day,” Ledger mused...

~*~*~

Once he was done, and Cider had showered as well, the two went downstairs to see quite the party waiting for them. Shining Armor, Painted Palette, Flash Sentry and Grissom Gossamer were waiting patiently.

“Uhh,” Cider looked around and decided to shyly stay in one far corner of the room with Scope, having so many stallions that weren’t family around was a bit unsettling.

“I hope I didn’t keep you all waiting too long,” Ledger said as he surrendered himself to his fate.

“Just a bit,” Palette muttered. “We ain’t getting any younger waiting around here all night.” Critical wasn’t here, so he was in full surly-stallion mode.

“Well then gentlecolts,” Ledger said with a bow. “I am at your mercy.”

The stallions smirked as Shining nodded and snared the drone with his magic. “Well ladies,” Grissom bowed. “We’ll be taking him now. We’ll… try and bring him back alive, I mean, in one piece.”

“And suddenly I fear for my life,” Ledger said as he double-checked his disguise.

“Ah, I wouldn’t worry about that, colt,” Palette chuckled. Flash just nodded and grinned widely. They’d be meeting the rest of their party downtown.

Midnight waved goodbye as the stallions left, then yelped as a familiar hug found its way around her. She turned her head to see her mother hugging and nuzzling her.

“My little Nighty, it’s been so long,” Moon Song cried, kissing her cheeks.

“Ergh! Mom, getoff,” Midnight pouted as Scope chuckled. It was about time that the Mistress got a taste of her own medicine~

Outside, Shining just continued to carry Ledger, in case he decided to make a break for it. “So,” he asked the drone. “Ready for a night you might not remember?”

“I can walk, you know,” the drone deadpanned at them.

“That means you can also run,” Grissom nodded and Shining put the drone down. “Now, we have a nice full itinerary planned for this evening. Now, is there anything you’d like to know first?”

“Just one thing,” Ledger said before looking at Grissom. “We aren’t going to the Love Shack, right? It’s more than a little familiar to me, as it’s home to the Violets of the city.”

There was a pause, as the stallions looked at one another.

“Okay,” Grissom coughed. “That’s one less thing on the agenda. First stop. Fredricks!”

“Oh good, I was getting hungry,” Ledger said as he kept up with the stallions. They looked at each other again and chuckled. He was so adorably innocent sometimes.

“What?” Ledger said, looking at them. “A good meal means there’ll be more in my stomach to help absorb the alcohol I’ll likely be consuming over the course of this night.”

“Aye, we’ll have a light meal first,” Grissom nodded. “Then the real fun can begin~”

Author's Note

Begin the madness!

Like the story? Consider dropping Aus and me a dollar on my Patreon. It's always appreciated.

Half the money will not go towards grinding away in the RNG mines.

Chapter 88 - The set-up

When they arrived at Fredrick’s place, Ledger found his best friend and said friend’s brother. Along with Time Turner and… Big Macintosh?

“Well now, isn’t this a surprise,” Ledger said. “I never expected such a turnout for my bachelor party. Heck, until I was told I had to have one, I never expected one to begin with.”

“Well, it’s not something you have to have,” Shining nodded. “At least you got one though. Twilight put Spike in charge of mine… one he was bragging about having when Cadence and I were going to our honeymoon.”

“That, is quite unfortunate,” Fredrick said.

“Maybe we should make it a twofer?” Jonathan asked. “One fer Ledger here, and one for the one you didn’t get to have?”

“Nah, don’t worry about it-” Shining started.

“That’s a great idea!” Flash nodded. “Aw man, this party is gonna be sweeeet~”

“Ah great, the brats are getting rowdy,” Palette grumbled. “Well, let’s try some of this fancy griffon grub then.”

“Certainly,” Fredrick said. “Due to the size of our party, and the need to be quick, I prepared our dinner in advance. Come in, and I’ll pick it up from the kitchen and serve us all.”

“Does your mare know you swing that way bro?” Jon chuckled and clicked his beak. Fredrick responded by cuffing him upside the head with a wing. He laughed again and Grissom snorted in amusement as well.

“Well, I think some of us haven’t been introduced yet,” the Thestral nodded as he went to sit down. “So let’s start with names, and how we know this stallion here.”

“Fair enough, but first, let me seat you all,” Fredrick said, leading the stallions inside and to one of his larger tables, meant to host such a large party with ease. They moved to the table and took a seat. Once they were done, everypony was silent, deciding on who would go first.

“Eh,” the crystal stallion went first. “The name’s Painted Palette. I met him on his vacation to the Crystal Empire, and now I’m engaged to his little sister.”

“I am Fredrick,” the owner of the restaurant said. “I met this stallion a year ago, and he and I became fast friends when we started exchanging recipes.”

“Grissom, father of one of his mares. I don’t think I have to tell you which one,” he chuckled. “I helped this one out a few times. Particularly when he started his new business venture.”

“Th’ names Johnny,” Jonathan said. “I barely know the guy, but I know that crazy follows him around like fleas do a dog, so I’m steerin’ well clear of him and his herd.”

“The fact that you’re here means you’re not far away enough,” Flash laughed. “So yeah, names’ Flash Sentry. Captain of the Crystal Guard and Ledger’s other best buddy!”

“Also, probably the only stallion here that will actually remember tonight,” Ledger pitched in.

“True that, my superpower is for real,” Flash nodded. “Oh, and I totally have to thank you Fredrick-bro!”

“I take it things went well for you after you left my place of business last time?” the griffon said with a chuckle.

Flash winked and made a gesture with his wing. “All three.”

“Very nice,” Fredrick said, before turning to Shining and Time Turner.

“Well, I’m Shining Armor, and I first met Ledger when I arrested him in the Crystal Empire.”

“Yes, but I got better,” Ledger said. “That, and your wife called you out on what you were doing.”

“That too,” Shining nodded.

“Well, I suppose I am next,” Turner nodded. “Admittedly, I only met Mr. Ledger a few days ago. But I am honoured that I was invited to this night. It’ll be my first.”

“Eeeyup.” Mac nodded.

“Seriously, it’s like almost every male I had just a bit of contact with was asked if they wanted to attend,” Ledger said with a roll of his eyes.

“Friends come from strange places,” Shining nodded. “But just to be sure, who got a written invite from Princess Twilight?”

Flash, Turner, Mac and for some reason, Jonathan, all raised hooves/talons in response.

“Figured,” Shining nodded. “You’re marrying the Princess of Friendship. Expect this to happen a lot more.”

“Well, this promises to be...interesting,” Ledger mused.

“And on that note, I will be right back with our dinner,” Fredrick said before making for the kitchen.

“So, I’d like to hear what the groom thinks we have planned for him tonight,” Grissom nodded. “Just curious.”

“I honestly have no clue,” Ledger said. “Such parties aren’t...typical, for me.” He didn’t know if Jonathan knew, and didn’t want to give it away in public anyways.

“Ah well, then a night of drunkenness and debauchery awaits,” Grissom said and gave off a deep laugh. While he was an astute professional at work, he also enjoyed a night on the town when he was allowed to cut loose.

“I get tipsy easily, guys,” Ledger warned. “And Midnight’s already said that I’m not allowed to show off my more amorous side tonight, for fear of attracting yet another mare into my herd.”

There was a pause before everypony started laughing… then they stopped when they realised that Grissom wasn’t.

“You’re serious?” Flash said. “I mean, come on dude, even you can’t be that freakin’ lucky.”

“I don’t know what it is about me that attracts mares to me,” Ledger said with a shrug. “All I know is Drunk Ledger isn’t allowed to make any moves on any mares tonight.”

“But… it’d be funny,” Flash pouted then stiffened as Grissom glared at him. Okay, mental note. Thestrals were bucking terrifying.

“Eeyup,” Mac nodded again. That was about when Fredrick returned with a small cart. He started dishing out something that was very familiar to Ledger to the gathered stallions.

His casserole recipe.

“Mmm, this looks divine,” Grissom nodded, inhaling the savoury scent. “I still wonder how you aren’t the biggest restaurant in Las Pegasus with your skill.”

“I’m happy where I am, thank you,” the griffon replied as he took his own seat. “I have a job doing what I love, and I get to educate colts in what it means to be a proper stallion. Steady marefriend for the first time in my life. No, I think I’m good with what I have.”

“Aye, tis sad to see how far my bro has fallen,” Jon wiped a tear from his eye. “Uncle Zebby’d be rollin’ in his grave… if he were dead.”

“And what’s this I hear about you having a steady marefriend?” Fredrick riposted.

“Slander,” Jon replied, not making eye contact.

“Thith ith gud!” Flash said with a mouthful of food.

“It should be,” Ledger said as he took a bit, not wanting to inform them about where this recipe came from until after they’d finished eating.

“I don’t know, information from Midnight is usually pretty good,” Fredrick answered.

Jon just decided to remain silent.

“So, anypony know any interesting stories about our groom-to-be?” Shining smirked and Palette raised his hoof, smirking even wider. Critical had told him… things.

“I’m not going to like this, am I?” Ledger deadpanned.

“Well, not unless everypony already knows how you learned about the birds and the breezies,” Palette chuckled.

“That’s definitely not a story that I’m going to like being told to the others,” the drone said before digging into his own food.

“Do tell,” Shining smirked and Palette nodded, revealing the fact that he’d walked in on his parents… more than once and that had everypony in stitches.

“Laugh it up,” the drone said. “I could talk about the time Midnight kicked your behind with a sneak attack, Flash and Shining.”

“Let’s not forget that poor mare that tried to hit on you a few days after you and I first met,” Fredrick nodded. “It took days to get her back in a good mood.”

“Something I’m sure you ‘helped’ her with,” Ledger said, using his hooves for airquotes.

“Thoroughly,” Fredrick nodded without a hint of remorse. “She could do this thing with her tongue that—”

“And that’s something I don’t need to know,” the drone said, cutting Fredrick off. “I have more than enough mares myself, I don’t need to hear about the ones you had.”

“But, I have so many stories, and yet… none compare to some of the ones I could say about my darling Blossom~” Fredrick chuckled as he nibbled his food.

“Well, tonight’s off to an interesting start,” Palette chuckled as Turner and Mac sported slight blushes over the conversation topic.

“My fellow stallions, the griffons of Las Pegasus, tamed. Somepony tell the presses,” Ledger said with a sweeping hoof.

“Hah, hah,” Fredrick replied. “You actually getting a marefriend is much more newsworthy.”

“So what does that make me getting four marefriends?” Ledger asked.

“A lucky bastard!” All the stallions said simultaneously.

“I mean, seriously, HOW!?” Flash said. “I mean, sure, I kind a have this thing that I have no idea what it is with three mares. But still. What the hell man!?”

“Well let’s see,” Ledger mused. “I saved the life of one, the second one seduced me, then the herd started up. The third one had a crush on me for some reason, and the fourth one walked in the most awkward scene possible...and went with it. That’s where we are today.”

All the stallions just stared at him.

“Sooo… you plan on writing a book or something?” Turner asked. “I’d love to know your secret.”

“E-Eeyup.” Mac nodded.

“I’m not sure if there is a secret beyond ‘be yourself’ and ‘put her first,’” Ledger said with a shrug. “That’s the only thing I can say for sure works with all the mares. Simple pieces of advice, but they still ring true.”

“No, it’s the fact you got them to agree to all be together,” Flash nodded. “I’d think that a whole lotta mares wouldn’t agree to that normally.”

“How you got Twilight to agree is still beyond me,” Shining grumbled.

“I am wholly blaming Luna for putting the idea for herds in Midnight’s head,” Ledger said. “And don’t think for a second this herd thing is easy. It’s not. It’s a lot of work, making sure every pony is happy with things as they’re going. I have to keep four mares’ moods in mind every day. I have four times the work the average stallion has to do to keep a typical relationship. Take my advice, stallions. One is enough!”

“Yup,” Palette agreed. “You wouldn’t believe the crap I have to deal with. Critty has turned my life upside down… mostly for the better mind you. Just wish she’d stop hiding all my liquor.”

“She has a good heart,” Ledger said. “It’s just buried under her thinking she knows what’s best for everypony else.”

“Don’t I know it,” Palette sighed as he finished off his food. “Damn Fredrick, you need to give Critty the recipe for this.”

“Or I could,” Ledger said as he noticed everypony had finished their food. “Seeing as how it’s my recipe.”

Everypony looked at him, then turned at looked at Ledger.

“Well, you did say you swapped his recipes,” Shining said.

“This wasn’t one I gave him,” the drone said simply.

“This was one his marefriend gave me,” Fredrick nodded, throwing Midnight under the carriage. “In exchange for chocolate cake I believe.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t need to break out a mango,” Ledger said with a sigh.

“Nope,” Fredrick smiled and passed him something. “My cheese risotto recipe, as recompense my friend.”

“Ah,” the drone said, before sending it off to his study with a quick burst of teleportation. “I’ll add it to my cookbook later,” he said with a nod. “Thank you.”

“Well, once our meal is done, we should be off,” Grissom said. “A merry night awaits us friends. And yet, I cannot help but wonder what our mares might be up to.”

“Probably something equally debaucherous,” Ledger said as Fredrick started gathering up their empty plates.

“I’d like to think that Twilight and Cadence will keep them in line,” Shining nodded.

“Clearly you’re underestimating the influence Midnight and I are on her,” Ledger said. “And as for your wife keeping them in line...yeah, fat chance.”

Shining just blinked and stared at Ledger. “What kind of influence…?”

“Midnight’s taken to calling her the Princess of Friendship with Benefits,” Ledger deadpanned.

Shining just stared at him. If looks could kill, Ledger’d be six feet under already.

“Okay, so the moral integrity of Ledger’s mares aside,” Flash said. It was kind of unsettling he was the reasonable one here. “Let’s go and get our party on!!”

“You are going to make me regret this night, aren’t you?” Ledger asked as Fredrick gave the empty cart to a passing colt to take back to the kitchen.

“Only if you remember it,” Grissom nodded as he started herding Ledger towards the door. That was when they were greeted by two more stallions. A tall blue unicorn and a slightly smaller earth pony.

“Hello there,” the unicorn nodded. “I trust we aren’t too late?”

“You just missed dinner, and introductions,” Ledger said.

“My apologies. I am Balanced Scales, and this is Sweet Tooth, our marefriends happen to be friends of yours and asked us to come tonight. I hope that isn’t a bother?”

“The more the merrier,” Ledger said as he waved them into their party. “Plus, this just gives us more chances to remember tonight.”

“True enough,” Scales nodded. “Well, pleasure to meet you again Mr. Ledger. Perhaps if I say that we both have worked for Master Fredrick, that you might recognise us?”

“Aaaah,” the disguised ‘ling said as he looked at them. “Now I know why you looked familiar. Yes, I remember you both now. Well, welcome aboard.”

“More whippersnappers huh?” Palette chuckled. “Well alright. Let’s get this trainwreck under way.”

Scope Lens paced around Twilight’s lab, a small smile still on her muzzle over Critical being knocked out by an apple, something Twilight had apologised profusely over. It’d been a while since the Changeling returned to Ponyville, waiting for everypony to get ready so she could escort them all through the portal to Las Pegasus.

“Come on, come on,” she muttered. “How much make-up do you mares need?”

“Not all of us are gifted with shape-shifting Lens dear,” Twilight Velvet replied as she entered the room. “So it takes more than a few seconds for us regular mares to get ready.”

“Well then what’s her excuse?” Scope said, pointing to her fellow changeling, who was still in front of a full-body mirror, checking and rechecking her illusion disguise. “For crying out loud Critical. It’s fine!”

“Pardon me if my illusions are my pride and joy,” the Green nymph said over her shoulder. “Some of us turn around in a mirror more than twice to make sure our disguises hold.”

“You’re showing some chitin,” Scope said dryly, pointing at her flank. Critical took note of that and recast her disguise. Again. And started the whole process of checking herself over once more.

Scope idly wondered how long it would take her to realise she was only joking…

“Sorry, sorry,” Cadence said, trotting into the room. “It took longer than I thought, I hope I didn’t keep anypony waiting?”

“Nope, just letting my old age kick in,” Scope replied. “Right, so is this everyone?”

That was also when Twilight’s friends came in, the charge led by Pinkie Pie. Scope yelped at the sight of a Pink and hid behind Cadence.

“Silly Scopey, Princess Cadence is pink as well,” Pinkie giggled.

“Really, well my wings do have a violet hue to them,” Candence replied, not realizing what she was insinuating. Scope decided to hide behind Twilight next. Surely she wouldn’t throw her to the Pinks!

“Glad everypony could make it,” Twilight smiled. “Now, just take care going through the portal. Things tend to come out the other side a bit faster, so take it slow and be careful not to trip—”

Pinkie barrelled through the portal at her usual pace, rocketing out the other side and straight into the barrel of a larger changeling nymph. Pinkie stared up at her Violet eyes and grinned.

“Heya! I’m Pinkie Pie!”

“Well aren’t you an interesting one,” Sugar said before looking over at Moondancer, about to ask a question.

Moondancer peeled the pony off of her wife and sighed. “This is one of Twilight’s friends,” she explained. “And speaking of…” The portal shimmered as the large party came through. “Hello everypony.”

“Hi Moondancer!” Twilight beamed and hugged her friend, before offering Sugar a friendly smile. Sugar just pulled Pinkie into a hug and asked the question she’d meant to ask.

“Moonie, can we keep her? She looks like such fun!”

“No,” Moondancer replied dryly.

“Silly Sugar, I’m a pony, not a puppy!” Pinkie giggled. “But we can still be friends… AMY!” Sugar found herself grasping at a dotted outline of the pony as she all but teleported over to the Pink ‘ling, glomping her to the ground.

“Pinkie!” Amy said, somehow gaining the upper hoof and returning the hug with all her might. “I was counting the days when I’d get to see you again!”

“Well, that looks like something that could break the world,” Rainbow chuckled. She looked at Sugar and nodded. “Sup? I’m Rainbow Dash. Best flyer in Equestria.”

“And I,” Sugar said, deciding to go for an equally hammy entrance. “Am Sugar Darling. Leader of the local Violet ‘lings. Heir Apparent to the Violet Throne.” Then she pulled Moondancer into a hug. “And happily married to this mare right here.”

“Stoppit,” Moondancer blushed, trying to push her wife away from embarrassing her.

Twilight smiled and introduced her other friends, though Fluttershy seemed to shy away from Sugar, the mare reminding her quite a bit of Chrysalis.

And speaking of, a pair of chitinous hooves snaked their way around Sugar’s form as Chrysalis chuckled in her ear. “Ohh~ Are we scaring the little ponies sister? Can I help~?”

“You might want to pull the Pink ones apart before they start breaking the fabric of reality,” Sugar said. “As it stands, I think we might be close to a perpetual magical machine if they keep feeding each other’s enthusiasm like that.”

Chrysalis’ horn shone as she pried the pink ponies apart, before releasing Sugar and replacing the object of her hugging with Amy. “Mine.”

“Yup, as long as you don’t forget who owns you,” Amy said as she did her best to return the hug.

“The mighty queen Chrysalis, now hugging a Pink ‘ling,” Sugar mused. “I wish I had my camera.”

“Go suck a cactus,” Chrysalis replied and poked out her tongue. “Besides, I’m not a queen. Guess I never was really. So, just call me Chrysalis.”

“About that,” Twilight asked her. “I’ve been meaning to ask. Is that your Changeling name?”

Chrysalis flinched and shook her head. “No… it’s not.” There was no way in bucking Tartarus she was telling anyone about that. Even Amy.

“Aw come on,” Amy said. “It can’t be all that bad...unless you didn’t earn one…”

Chrysalis flinched again, before chuckling nervously. “Pfft. Not even. My name is a secret is all...” That Pink was way too observant.

“If you say so~” Amy sang. “Though, we are going out to get drunk tonight - those of us that can, anyways. So you might wanna get all your embarrassing secrets out now before the alcohol helps, mares.”

There was nothing but silence, seems some secrets were going to stay buried for the time being.

And then the last of the large group showed up. Midnight, Cider and their mothers. As well as Apple Fritter.

“Hey ladies.” Midnight said and looked around. “So many cute mares. I think I’m in heaven~”

“I know, right?” Sugar said before kissing just below Moondancer’s horn. “But I already have mine, so I have to abstain from partaking of the favors...or is that guests?”

“Either one,” Midnight replied, giving Twilight, Cider and Scope kisses. Fritter pouted and the thestral rolled her eyes, giving her and Moondancer one on the cheek. She looked up at Sugar. “You want one too?”

“Thanks for the offer, but you really shouldn’t tempt me like that,” Sugar said, waving the batpony off. “So, I have a destination in mind. Who here likes watching colts serve them delicious food?”

There was an almost unanimous show of hooves. Rainbow, Fritter and Moondancer kept their hooves on the ground. Sugar raised an eyebrow, already mentally adjusting tonight’s itinerary.

“Well, I know of a restaurant that hires colts and serves some of the most delicious food in the city,” Sugar said. “And then the real fun can begin~”

“So, she’s the one in charge then?” Applejack asked as she shared a hoofbump with her cousins. “Should be interestin’.”

“Eeyup,” Cider nodded. Sugar knew, thanks to the collaborating she and Ledger’s father had done last time he was here, that by now the colts would have left Fredrick’s.

Which led to her leading her herd of mares to the restaurant.

“So… we’re going to Fredricks?” Midnight blinked. “Well, I guess he does have a bunch of cute colts working there.”

“By far, this place is one of the jewels of Las Pegasus,” Sugar said as she held the door open with her magic. “Either for the cute waitstaff, or the delicious food.”

When the mares walked in, two of the waitstaff on duty stared at them as one ducked out back.

“Boys. Code RED! We have a Code RED!!”

“Does one of you have a reputation?” Sugar asked as she brought up the rear of her gaggle of mares, counting to make sure she hadn’t missed any.

Everypony just stared at Midnight and Sugar.

“Define reputation,” Twilight eventually said.

“A previous trip that ended in them being given reason to fear you,” Sugar clarified.

Again, Midnight and Sugar received dubious stares.

“Psst!” Midnight leaned closer and stage-whispered. “They’re onto us.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sugar said. “I didn’t do anything terrible to that colt, and you can’t prove otherwise.”

“No, but I can,” Moondancer replied with a smirk. “I’ve memorised that little notebook of yours~”

“Are we going to have to go elsewhere to get service?” Critical asked with a raised eyebrow as she took notice of their banter.

“No, I think we’ll be fine dear,” Velvet smiled. “I think the young colts are just a tad flustered over so many pretty mares. Let’s make this a night to remember hmm?”

“Ohh, that sounds marvelous,” Rarity tittered and walked up to the one serving colt that didn’t flee. “Hello there~” she said with a silky tone and bat her eyes at him. “I do hope a party of our size isn’t… intimidating?”

“We’ll have to use the special occasions room, but I think we can handle you all,” the colt said as he decided to grab as many menus as he could before leading them into the restaurant.

“Ohh, I just bet a strapping young thing like you really could handle so many mares~” Velvet joined in, giving him bedroom eyes.

“MOM!!” Twilight blushed. “Really!?”

The colt, for his part, didn’t react, and kept leading the mares to the room that was usually reserved for privacy. Fredrick had refit it to handle large parties, as he had gotten the sneaking suspicion that his staff would have to handle a group of mares without him.

“Will this do?” the colt asked as he showed them the room.

“This will do just fine,” Velvet nodded and looked at Sugar. “Your thoughts my dear?”

“This should suit our needs perfectly,” the nymph nodded. “Shall we?”

The mares all took a seat and once the colt gave them their menus, he stood by, waiting for their drink orders. A round of cider and a pitcher of water was ordered and he was off to retrieve them. Then the next few minutes were spent on introductions and the like. There were quite a few mares that didn’t know one another after all.

“So Scope,” Rainbow spoke up. “How’s it feel that you’re marrying a Princess?”

“Like I’m marrying the mare that I shoulda been looking for for all the time I was in Equestria,” Scope said. “Her title and the others are just extras.”

Everymare paused and stared at her, before letting out a combined ‘D’aawww!’ Twilight blushed and her horn gave a pale glow, and to Scope, it suddenly felt like the alicorn had kissed her cheek. She rubbed it before grumbling and looking down at her menu again, looking for something she’d like to eat.

“I still can’t believe my little girl is getting married,” Velvet said, wiping her eyes. “She’s all grown up now~”

“What was I before then?” Twilight said with a raised eyebrow. “I’m twenty five for Celestia’s sake.”

“You’ll always be my little filly,” Velvet nodded. At that, the door opened and two more mares walked in. A white unicorn and a blue pegasus.

“Sorry we’re late,” the unicorn said. “My sister here decided a three hour shower was in order.”

“Well excuse me that I wished to be presentable,” the pegasus replied. “Sunny Skies and Starry Nights at your service by the way.”

Cadence had to choke down a snort. Sugar merely raised an eyebrow before gesturing to the table. “Do come and join us,” the nymph said. “We were just considering what we wanted to order.”

“Ohh, how delightful,” Starry said as she took a seat next to Pinkie. Sunny opted to sit next to Moondancer, who just rolled her eyes and chuckled.

“So Sunny? How’s Canterlot?”

“Same old, same old,” she replied. “A lot quieter now a lot of my friends have left. You really should come visit sometime.”

“If Moony and Twilight manage to create their portal network, something tells me travel everywhere isn’t going to be a problem anymore,” Sugar said.

“Sunset and I are just working out the logistics, this baby is all Twilight and Ledger,” Moondancer nodded.

“Sunset? You mean, Sunset Shimmer?” Sunny asked and looked at Twilight. The alicorn nodded and smiled as Sunny wiped a tear from her eye. “It’s good to see that she’s doing well.”

“So Amy,” Pinkie spoke up. “Is Chryssie getting married along with you and Acey?”

Chrysalis turned a bright red and decided that the ceiling was a good place to observe.

“Y’know, we wouldn’t mind,” Amy said before kissing Chrysalis.

“Pfft, oh yes, Queen Chrysalis at a royal wedding. What could possibly go wrong with that scenario?” she snarked.

“I dunno about queen,” Amy said. “Didn’t you just say not to call you that?”

“My point still stands,” Chrysalis retorted. “I doubt anypony besides you and Aerial would want me there.”

“Oh, why don’t we ask the one doing the marrying?” Sugar said before shooting a knowing wink at Starry Skies.

“How?” Starry sighed as she looked at the nymph. “Oh right, you’ve seen this disguise before…” She sighed again and peeled away her disguise, revealing Princess Luna. Sunny did the same as Celestia took her place.

“That, and you two had far too much energy for normal ponies,” Sugar said. Something Amy confirmed with a hum.

“I mean, they were well-crafted illusions and all,” Critical agreed. “But something like that is quite obvious to anypony who knows what to look for.”

“Well, we were only trying to fool the common pony,” Celestia replied as she and her sister took their disguises before the serving colt returned. “So we didn’t put a whole lot of effort into them for this.”

“They’re also easier to maintain,” Luna nodded. “Much better should we need to keep them all night.”

“In which case, I’ll refrain from pointing out any errors you might have made with them,” Critical said before the door opened and the colt came back with enough cider and water for everypony.

Chrysalis was glad that the conversation has steered away from her, as she floated over one of the ciders and popped the top, chugging it down.

“Still, this wedding is going to be quite the event,” Velvet nodded. “Are you all prepared for it?”

“Get dolled up, walk to the altar, say some lines, get married to the mare of my dreams, easy,” Scope said. “They already have my loyalty, this isn’t all that big of a step for me.”

“Mare?” Midnight said. “As in, singular? Cider dear, I do believe we have been forgotten about.”

“Mhmm, perhaps we should remind ‘er,” Cider replied and licked her lips.

“She didn’t mention Ledger either?” Twilight offered.

“Eh,” Cider and Midnight shrugged.

“Ahem,” the colt said as he levitated a pad of paper and a pencil out, ready to take their orders.

“Hmm, I wonder if we can get it served on the serving colts?” Apple Leaves mused.

“You’re not the first one to have asked that,” the colt said. “But we’re not that sort of establishment.”

“A pity,” Velvet smiled and gave him a hungry stare.

Midnight rolled her eyes. Time to show these mares how this was done. As the colt came around to her to take her order, she smiled, showing off her small fangs and licked her lips.

“I know of something I’d like to eat,” she purred, using a tone she usually reserved for the bed. The colt just rolled his eyes, used to this sort of treatment. Granted, she was good, but training under Fredrick had given him self-control.

Midnight pouted. She should learn not to do that in Fredrick’s place. His colts were just too damned immune to it. “Fine… just gimme the fish.”

The colt nodded and continued on his way around the table, taking orders from every mare before nodding once. “That...will probably take some time, but we will endeavor to have it all out in half an hour or less,” the colt said.

“Many thanks,” Velvet smiled. “We’ll try not to be too much trouble for you.”

“Yeah, I’ll believe that one,” the colt said before shooting a glance at Midnight.

“What?” Midnight said. “Oh sure, blame the pregnant mare.”

“And you still tried,” the colt said before ducking out of the room.

“Y’know,” Amy said. “You’re not the only one.” She tapped her glass of water for emphasis.

Everyone paused and stared at Amy. Well, Pinkie and Midnight already knew. But for the other Changelings present, namely Scope, Critical and Sugar. All they heard was. ‘The resident Pink is reproducing!’

As one, they all edged their seats away from her just a touch. Just in case.

“What, are you expecting it to burst out of her chest or something?” Chrysalis deadpanned. “Honestly, I don’t know why you’re all so scared of one little Changeling.”

“She’s a pink,” Critical said. “I grew up with one. The thought of there being more than one around scares me.”

“Well it’s also going to be part Aerial Ace,” Chrysalis nodded, causing Sunny and Starry to shudder as well. That was a…potent combination.

“Best of all, ours should be born around the same time, so they can grow up as the bestest of friends!” Midnight giggled.

“Yuppers!” Amy said. “And with your love of combat and Ledgey’s love of learning, your foal is going to be the perfect friend for mine!”

“They’re going to destroy the world,” Sunny replied in a flat tone.

“Ledger won’t let them, as long as his stuff still resides on the world,” Critical said. “At worst, they’ll probably have to pay several property destruction fines.”

“Perhaps we should see about dividing the Sparkle Fund,” Starry said. “We may need it.”

“...Sparkle Fund?” Twilight blinked.

“Insurance for anything that you and your friends destroy in Ponyville,” Sunny said. “It’s been used quite a few times.” Twilight had no idea how to respond to that.

“If you tell Ledger about it, he might invest in it now,” the green nymph said. “Just to save himself a headache further down the line.”

“We’ll make a note of it,” Sunny nodded.

“So Chrysalis,” Starry grinned. “You still haven’t said if you’ll be getting married or not?”

Chrysalis spit her drink and coughed. “W-Well… I.. uh…” Dammit, why couldn’t the bitch just drop it already. That was when Amy leaned over into her and purred.

“No! Don’t you dare use that face!” Chrysalis said. “It won’t work!” Amy gave her the best puppy-dog eyes and a little sniffle as well, still not saying anything.

“Nope! I know you’re faking it!” Chrysalis said, not looking directly at her. Then the Pink ‘ling started whining a little. It was a low thing, in the back of her throat, but it was still reminiscent of a puppy that wanted attention.

“Nopenopenope! I can’t hear you! Lalalalala!” Chrysalis plugged her ears and closed her eyes. She wasn’t caving. Then Amy pawed at her with a hoof, begging for attention more directly. She just knew that if Chryssy looked at her once, she’d cave!

Chrysalis did happen to look, hopefully the mare had given up— FUCK! She copped a full blast of Amy’s pouty-face.

“ARRGH! Dammit. Fine! I’ll be at the bloody wedding!”

“Will yew marry me, Chryssy?” Amy asked in the cute voice.

Chrysalis’ face exploded in a fierce blush and looked away. “W-Well… I…” she swallowed hard and then she discovered a way out. “W-We need to discuss it with Aerial. We’ll talk about it later.”

“Pwease?” Amy asked.

“I’m sorry, I don’t marry foals,” Chrysalis replied haughtily. Amy humphed and finally stopped the cute face, though she was pouting a bit more.

Chrysalis breathed a sigh of relief and then Starry spoke up.

“So… are you marrying her?”

God. Fucking. DAMMIT LUNA!

“I… but…” she looked at Amy and sighed. This was a battle she couldn’t win. “...fine.”

Amy cheered up very quickly and hugged Chrysalis from the side, before starting to plant an endless stream of kisses on her chitin.

“Bleh, your love is too sweet,” she said, poking out her tongue and blushing. She couldn’t help but smile lightly though.

“Well that means no invasions right?” Starry smirked.

“Oh that is it! I am ending you!” Chrysalis roared. Amy reached up with a hoof and booped the noble’s muzzle.

“Nope, no ending anypony before the party,” she said simply.

“Not even a little?” Chrysalis asked with her own pouty face. “I’ll only dismember her a little.”

“You can’t dance with three hooves,” Amy pointed out. “Well, not well at any rate. So no. Or I’ll tell Acey on you~”

“Mmm, fine,” Chrysalis pouted.

“So Amy dear,” Apple Leaves spoke up. “Do you have any family that will be attending. Parents? Siblings?”

“Nope, mom and dad are out studying dragons, and I’m an only child,” Amy said. “They did send a letter back, wishing they could come, but they’re sort of in the middle of their studies.”

“Well that’s a pity,” Velvet said. “A parent shouldn’t have to miss their child getting married.”

“So, are they Pink’s like you?” Midnight asked.

“Mom is,” Amy said. “Dad’s a Violet.”

“That explains a lot,” Chrysalis muttered. “And now I fear for this child of yours too, seeing as how it will almost certainly be a Pink.”

“Yup!” Amy said with a nod. “Sooo, how about you Princess Twilight? You all set to get hitched up to Ledger’s herd as well?”

“That’s… going to be an experience,” Twilight admitted. “I mean, I love each and every one of them, and adjusting to a herd dynamic was a lot easier than I expected. But of course, given that ponies used to do it a long time ago, I’d say there’s something to be said for genetics and hereditary memory. If we look back to the early Pegasopolian era—”

“That’s a lot of words for saying something as simple as ‘Of course I’ll join them, I’d like nothing more,’” Critical observed.

Twilight blushed, realising she’d gone off on a tangent again. “W-Well, yes. I am looking forward to it. But, I’m also a little nervous as well.”

“You aren’t the only one,” Midnight admitted. Moon Song glanced at her daughter, peeling away from the conversation she was having with Velvet. Even now, she knew her daughter might still be apprehensive deep down.

“Same here,” Critical said. “I mean, I know he only just proposed, but I’m just a little anxious about marrying Palette myself…”

“Tis the season for wedlock it seems,” Starry nodded. “Perhaps we should make a holiday of it sister. Something like… Marriage Day or something.”

“That… is just the most terrible name,” Sunny sighed.

“And while I appreciate the thought, don’t we already have Hearts and Hooves day?” Critical asked before looking over at the pink Alicorn at the table.

“But that’s just for love in general,” Starry said. Cadence snorted and waved her hoof.

“Oh come on Aunt Luna, love is wonderful in all it’s forms. You should have seen the wedding for Moondancer and Sugar. Such a grand evening. And Critical got engaged as well. I’d say that night was perfect!”

“I’m not doubting that,” Critical said. “I just think we could come up with a better name than marriage day. As is, don’t a lot of marriages get proposed on Hearts and Hooves day anyways?”

“Proposals yes, but we should have a day for marriages,” Starry nodded. “And we can’t forget the fun of consummating the marriage as well~ Hmm, best of luck there Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight ‘meeped’ and hid under the table as Midnight and Cider chuckled.

“Well, best of luck with that,” Critical said. “I suppose we’ll be hearing about Wedlock Day sometime in the near future.”

“We’re not having a ‘Wedlock Day’,” Sunny sighed. “Honestly Luna…”

“What?” Luna pouted.

Fluttershy finally spoke up about something. “I um, I hope Mr. Ledger and his friends will be alright.”

“He’ll be fine,” Scope commented. “Unless they get him too drunk, of course. Then he’ll be in trouble when he comes home.”

“W-Well, it’s just… a friend said he might crash their party is all…”

“Whelp, things just got more interesting for him,” Scope chuckled before she took a pull of her cider.

As Ledger and his group reached their next destination, they found two more stallions waiting for him. Well, one stallion at least as Night Light gave a polite nod to Ledger.

“Hey buddy!” Discord waved. “It’s about time you got here!”

“Hello Discord,” Ledger said with a polite nod. “I suppose we can take whatever plans we had and toss them out the window with you showing up.”

“Oh pish posh!” the Draconequus waved a paw. “I’m all for whatever the Daddies-dearest planned for you. I’m just here to see if we can be friends again. Burning bridges and the like,” he said as he snapped his talons.

Nopony knew why the Manehatten bridge burst into flames that night…

“I don’t recall us having done too much wrong by each other before we went our separate ways last,” Ledger said with a shrug. “I’d be more than happy to call you a friend again. Oh, and speaking of...There might be a bit of an upheaval in the days to come.”

“Upheaval?” Discord scratched his head as a lightbulb dinged, before he grabbed it and ate it. “Are you planning chaos? Without me!?”

“Of an Equestria-spanning scale,” Ledger said with a nod.

“Ohohohoho!!” Discord cackled. “Whatever it is. Count me in!!”

“Oh hell,” Grissom sighed. This couldn’t possibly end well. “I should ban you two from interacting like this.”

“You shouldn’t even need to do much, just sit back and watch once we’re ready,” Ledger said, before looking over at the others. “So, where were we going?”

Most of the stallions shrugged. Ledger’s father had made most of the plans, but he seemed to be absent.

“Well, we had a few ideas,” Flash nodded as he pulled out a list. “Lesse, first we had dinner. So that can be crossed off. Next was... “ He smiled.

“Ohh, we’re off in this direction,” Flash nodded. “We’re going for the ‘entertainment’ portion of our little outing~”

“Why does the sound of that fill me with dread?” the disguised drone asked aloud.

“Oh relax dude, the Captain is supposed to be the one with a stick up his butt,” Flash chuckled.

“Hey!” Shining said, ready to smack the pegasus one for that.

As they walked, Night Light moved up next to Ledger. “Hello there,” he nodded. “I don’t suppose we’ve had the pleasure yet have we?”

“I don’t think we have, no,” Ledger agreed. “Level Ledger myself.”

“Night Light, Twilight Sparkle’s father,” the unicorn nodded.

“Pleased to meet you,” the disguised drone said. “I assume at some point tonight you’re going to give me a proper speech about how to treat your daughter correctly and all.”

“I could, but Twilight speaks quite highly of you,” the stallion replied. “And she’s a smart mare, so I trust her judgement. Though… the fact that you’re a changeling had me concerned at first. But Grissom there vouched for you.”

“I’m glad that you don’t intend to spread my secret all over Las Pegasus,” Ledger said. “Though it soon won’t be a secret any longer.”

“Relax, we all have secrets son,” Night patted him on the back. “Your head would spin if you knew some of mine. But for now, let’s enjoy the night hmm? I’d like to get to know my soon-to-be son in law.”

“Fair enough,” the disguised ‘ling replied before looking at Flash. “Where is this place you’re leading us?”

“It’s called the ‘Honey Pot,’ a gentlestallions club,” Flash nodded. “Much more upper-class and respectable than the strip joints around here.”

“Well suddenly, I no longer fear for my sanity,” Ledger said. “This sounds like a fine way to spend some time together.”

“Yup, alcohol, snacks, strippers, this night is gonna be great!” Flash nodded.

“This was most certainly his idea,” Grissom nodded. He glanced at Balanced Scales and Sweet Tooth. “You know, you two look familiar. I swear I’ve seen you around the castle lately.”

“I can neither confirm nor deny that I may or may not have been spending time in Canterlot,” Scales said.

“I just hope our marefriends don’t mind us going out tonight,” Sweet Tooth added. “It’d be a heckuva way to go out if they did…”

Some of the stallions gave them a curious look before Shining shrugged. “Well boys, I’m married to a Princess. So if I can be allowed, I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

“Quite, I’m sure one of my mare’s anger far outdoes what yours could be capable of,” Aerial nodded. He placed himself inbetween Jon and Fredrick. “A night out with my kinsmen! This will be GLORIOUS!!”

Scales and Sweet shared a look, before bumping hooves and coming to an agreement. “Afterwards,” they said together, before continuing on with following Flash.

After their meal, the mares left Fredricks restaurant, giving the colts within a much needed reprieve.

“So, what’s the plan Pervybug?” Midnight asked the Violet Noble.

“Well, I’ve got two plans in mind,” the noble said to their party. “Originally I was just going to lead you all to the strip club I have in mind that hires stallions for the viewing pleasure of mares, but I know two of you wouldn’t like that. So, I could just go ahead with it, or…”

“Or?” Moondancer asked.

“Or, you could lead the mares that would prefer it back to my club,” Sugar said as she gave Moondancer a kiss.

“So you wanna split up?” Midnight asked. “That sounds a little…”

“Hmm, I suppose that would make most ponies happy,” Velvet said. “But in the end, this is about five particular mares. This is their night after all.”

“True enough,” Apple Leaves nodded. She turned to look at Amy. “So what do you think about this dear?”

“I want ponies to be happy,” Amy said. “It’s sorta my thing. And if ponies would be happier at a different club, then I won’t hold it against them.”

“Figured you’d say that,” Midnight giggled and hugged the Pink changeling. “I’m fine with either. Though I wouldn’t mind something new.”

“Well, ah don’t wanna hafta split up,” Cider said. “Isn’t there something we could do?”

“Yes, I have a plan,” Sugar hummed. “There’s also a club that I know of that hires both stallions and mares. Something for everypony~”

“Well the why didn’t y’all jus’ mention that in the first place?” Applejack said. “Though… ah don’t know how ah’ll handle that sorta thing…”

“Me neither,” Fluttershy said.

“I guess we’ll see how the night goes,” Sugar said as she began to lead the pack again. “I can guarantee you’ll loosen up with a few drinks in you, dears. Just be glad we aren’t going to my club, the drinks there pack more than their fair share.”

Twilight and Chrysalis suddenly gulped and were very glad they weren’t going there.

Though that didn’t stop Chryssie from wondering what Amy would be like after a Mood Setter or three~

She wondered if she could buy a few bottles to find out.

“So mares,” Critical spoke up. “You’re marrying my brother. Frankly I’m surprised that he pursued a relationship in the first place, but at least I can count on you all to make sure he doesn’t do anything too stupid.”

“I wouldn’t be sure of that,” Scope muttered.

“Yeah, Ledger’s done a ton of stupid stuff since we met him,” Midnight nodded. “I don’t think anypony could stop him from doing that.”

“That sounds like him,” Critical sighed. “Well at least there are no dangerous secrets in Equestria for him to go about finding.”

Sunny and Starry remained perfectly quiet. There was a lot that only they knew about. Even Twilight had minimal knowledge of some of Equestria’s… darker secrets.

“Your silence fills me with so much hope,” the disguised ‘ling deadpanned.

“As it should, of course we have secrets, one that will remain buried,” Sunny nodded. “You can be sure that nopony will find them again.”

“Ledger willingly went into a crypt of undead ‘lings, just to see if they were really undead,” Critical illuminated. “Granted, he was dumber then, but that’s the sort of ‘ling that is in your lands.”

“The undead aren’t that bad,” Starry replied. “But here, let’s see if he’s willing to traverse Tartarus itself?”

“You are not tempting him with that,” Twilight deadpanned. “He’d actually do it.”

“Yeeahhh… I can see that,” Midnight nodded and Cider agreed.

“That’s not even his worst offense against common sense,” the green ‘ling said.

Everypony stopped and stared, before Midnight looked at Sugar. “Still want to have a foal with him?”

“It would still be a foal with a great amount of potential,” the mare said as she kept leading them. “Though, now I’m curious. What was his worst offense?”

“He willingly snuck into the Black Hive...for a book.”

Midnight paused. Yeah, she was totally going to smack him for that one.

“Ah… have no words,” Cider sighed.

“Mares, my brother. A moron when it comes to common sense and a secret he doesn’t know,” the green ‘ling said dramatically.

“...Was it a good book?” Twilight asked as Cider, Scope and Midnight, along with most of her friends and family groaned and facehooved.

“He said something about copying it into his book even though he couldn’t read it,” Critical said with a shrug.

“Must have been those black pages I couldn't read,” Twilight replied. She wondered if a translation spell would work on them… wait!

“That must have been the section we were studying when he turned Black himself!” She said. “It was the cure…”

“And if I know my brother, he probably translated it while he could,” Critical said with a sigh. “Because he would, for some reason, want to read it again.”

“It's like that,” Twilight nodded. Sunny made a note to get that information from him at some point. It could be useful for the future.

“So, where’s this club, Mexicolt?” Midnight asked. Sugar merely pointed out a sign further down the road.

‘Fond Desires,’ the sign read.

“Oohh~” Several mare cooed. This could be fun.

“I don’t understand what you see in ponies,” Discord said as he and Ledger watched one particularly flexible mare work a pole. “They're so… plain.”

“It’s what inside that matters,” Ledger said simply. “Any pony is capable of great feats if they try. And their very presence sustains me. True, they might not be as interesting as a ‘ling, but it’s their strength of heart that matters.”

“True enough,” Discord replied, his thoughts wandering to a certain pegasus, and for a moment that lasted the span of an eyeblink, Ledger could feel his chaotically shifting emotions settle in a single moment of… affection. Any other day, Ledger would have taken the moment and turned it on the draconequus...but his heart wasn’t in it. Instead, he just watched the mare for a moment longer, admitting she was quite skilled on that pole of hers.

Palette had opted to sit at the bar and drink every other stallion there under the table, saying that the stripping was demeaning to mares.

Flash was busy trying to pass a bit off to the mare. She took it gratefully, and made no small show of where she'd put said bit, before she winked as the bit popped out with quite a bit of force and bounced along the stage and out past the curtain at the back.

Balanced Scales and Sweet Tooth were doing their best to not ogle the mares too much, as they knew that if their marefriends ever found out they were here…

“You know,” Discord whispered as he slithered up inbetween them. “Tia and Lulu are enjoying some stallion eye candy right now. So you boys best enjoy yourselves too hm?”

“That’s different,” Sweet Tooth replied.

“We can’t call upon the magic they can if we catch them out enjoying themselves,” Scales said. “Whereas if they learn what we’re up to right now…”

“Oh lighten up,” Discord said as he snapped his fingers as the stallions started glowing. “Just think of it as… window shopping.”

“...I suppose I can do that,” Scales eventually conceded.

“Looking never hurt anypony,” Sweet Tooth added.

“Exactly!” Discord beamed. “Learn to live a little!” He also made a note to prank the heck out of these two at some point.

“So how's being ‘Father of the bride’ working out for you Night?” Grissom sipped at his drink.

“About the same as you I'd think,” Night nodded, sipping his own drink. “I still don't know if I'm prepared for this.”

“Well, you already married a guard off to a Princess,” Grissom chuckled. “Now you're marrying a Princess off to a guard.”

“Hah, there's one way of looking at it.” He whistled and motioned for Ledger to come and join them. The stallion picked his drink up in his magic and walked over, taking a seat at their table.

“You rang?” he asked.

“Indeed, come have a drink with your future in laws,” Night nodded, pouring him a more substantial glass of scotch. Ledger sniffed, scrunched his nose up, but took a sip anyways.

“Not bad,” he eventually said. “Though I think I still prefer cider.”

“Bah! Cider’s for mares and teenagers,” Night nodded. “Now this, this is a stallion’s drink. Might even put some hair on that chitin of yours hmm?”

“I very much doubt it,” Ledger said, taking another sip.

“We'll see,” Night Light chuckled. “So tell me son, what do you love about my daughter?”

“Gosh,” Ledger said, already a little loosened up. “I just love everything about her. From the moment I read about her ascension, I just knew that this was a mare I had to meet. She was living proof that hard work and dedication are rewarded. Now, I’m not expecting to suddenly wake up as an alicorn one day, but we...we just play off each other so well. Her drive and energy, and my way of thinking about things unconventionally. We fit together.”

Night nodded. He seemed satisfied with that answer. As long as he wasn't after her because of her title or solely her looks…

“Well, you passed that one at least.” He smirked and sipped his drink. “You lose points for saying ‘Gosh’ though~”

“Eh, I’ll live,” Ledger said with a shrug before he took another sip from the scotch he’d been poured.

“So,” Grissom looked at Night Light. “What’s the ex-captain up to these days?”

“Not a whole lot really,” Night Light said, swirling the liquid in his glass. “Mostly astronomy, enjoying the retired life I guess. I need a hobby though… without the kids around, the house is pretty quiet.”

“As long as you don’t pick ‘spoiling the grandkids’ as one, I think I’ll live,” Ledger said.

“Oh?” Night Light looked at him. There was a dangerous gleam in his eyes. “Don’t tell me you and Twilight—”

“No, but since she’s marrying into the herd, don’t technically all the kids any of them have also become your grandkids?” the disguised drone posed.

Grissom and Night Light finally realised what they’d be inheriting when this wedding happened. Dear gods above…

“Well… hopefully somepony doesn’t go overboard with giving us a mountain of grandfoals,” Grissom replied. “Oh, I probably should warn you as well…”

“Warn me about what?” Ledger asked.

“That the odds of twins and triplets are pretty high with thestrals,” Grissom said as he sipped his scotch. Ledger looked at him before pounding back the rest of his drink.

“Or not… I can’t remember,” Grissom chuckled.

“I swear, I end up with two foals to look after, I’m blaming you,” the drone said. “...Does that make sense?”

“No, that’d be the fault of genetics and such,” Night said. “Though, Griss here probably jinxed it… hmm, we may need a second opinion.”

“Opinion of what?” Aerial asked as he plopped himself down next to the table. Jon hadn’t been able to take his eyes off of the dancers, and Fredrick was soundly beating three other stallions in a card game.

“On whose fault it is if Middy has twins,” Ledger supplied.

“Well, I imagine the fault lies with the stallion, seeing as how he laid the seeds of life in the first place,” Ace nodded.

“Not helping,” Ledger grumped.

“Aww, there there,” Ace thumped his back. “You’re the one with four mares. I’d expect at least a half dozen foals out of you in the next year or two.”

“At which point, the mares and I will be outnumbered. I’d like to avoid that fate if at all possible,” Ledger said. “Otherwise they’ll outvote me constantly.”

“You have quite a few siblings yourself yes?” Ace nodded. “Like those brothers of yours. So the genetics are there. Who knows, you could get thestral filly versions of them.”

“At which point, we would just have to write off Las Pegasus,” Ledger deadpanned.

“Pfft, I doubt it’d be that bad,” Night chuckled. “I looked after a filly Twilight Sparkle. The same filly who turned her parents into potted plants during her entrance exam.”

“My brothers are demolition experts when somepony isn’t watching them at all times,” Ledger returned. “They’re not even allowed to sleep next to one another.”

“Heh, now imagine them with some of Midnight’s personality traits,” Grissom chuckled as he knocked back his glass.

“I am, and I’m imagining her training them,” Ledger replied. “The city would be levelled in a month.”

The mental image of little filly thestrals tearing apart a city had several of them chuckling.

“Midnight Song, destroyer of worlds,” Grissom laughed.

“Whelp,” Ledger said, raising his empty glass. “Here’s to my sanity. I’ll sorely miss it.”

“You’re marrying my daughter, your sanity has always been in question,” Grissom nodded as he waved at a bartender to refill their glasses.

“Could be worse,” Night Light said. “He could wind up having alicorn triplets.”

“If they’re Twi’s kids, you could just distract them with a library,” Grissom laughed and Night socked him in the shoulder before laughing as well.

“I’d be more pissed if it wasn’t true,” the unicorn said.

“To the future,” Ledger said, raising his glass that now contained more scotch. “And all the craziness it’ll bring me. May I somehow persevere.”

“To the continued survival of us all,” Night agreed as they raised their glasses.

“In all seriousness,” Grissom said as they lowered their drinks. “We’re glad you make our little girls happy. Just… take care of them okay?”

“I will do my best,” the drone agreed. “I can’t possibly catch everything, but I will do my best to keep them all happy.”

“As long as you try your best,” Grissom nodded. “Now where’d everypony else run off to…?”

On the stage, one particularly lithe mare had been dancing in front of Jon, though her face had been hidden by a veil the whole time. And as she turned and winked at him, the veil dropped to reveal Discord’s face.

“Hello pretty birdy~” he laughed.

“Gah!” the griffon said, jerking back and putting a claw over his heart. “Don’t do that to me!”

“Bahahahaha!” Discord resumed his normal form and chuckled as the bartender shook his head. The moment the spirit showed up, he knew tonight wouldn’t be normal.

“So…” Grissom cracked his neck. “Who wants to see if they can beat this old bat in a hoof wrestle?”

“Not it!” Ledger claimed, not foolish enough to even try.

Ace sat down in front of him and nodded. “I’ll take your challenge!’ he said in a loud tone. “Let the battle begin!!”

It was back and forth for a bit, but Ace won once he got bored. The thestral stallion wincing at his sore shoulder.

“A grand effort, but none can beat me,” Ace nodded.

“Eh, I probably could if I wasn’t so concerned about keeping my secret,” the drone replied flippantly.

Ace cocked an eyebrow and looked at him. “No offense friend Ledger. While your magical prowess is impressive… your physical… eh, not so much.”

“Dragon,” he said simply. “It’s an extreme sort of thing, but I’m pretty sure I’d beat you then.”

“Hah! I’d take that challenge anyday!” Ace roared. “Bring it on!”

“Maybe later, when I’m not concerned about my secret,” Ledger said with a wave of his hoof. “And I’ve got more magic stockpiled to hold it for long enough to beat you.

“I’ll hold you to that,” Ace nodded.

“So,” Ledger asked. “Everybody havin’ fun?”

“I’m waitin’ for Fred to beat those stallions!” Jon called out. “I need more bits for this sexy thing~”

“Spend your own bits,” his brother called out as he showed off yet another winning hand to the stallions. “I fully intend to buy Narrow something nice with these.”

“What a gip,” Jon frowned and turned his attention back to the sexy dancer.

“So, more drinks for everyone?” Flash asked as he poured some more shots of some pale-blue liquid. Shining grunted and took one, knocking it back. He was next up to challenge Ace, and the two seemed to be deadlocked for the time being.

“Oh, you know that your mare, whoever she is, would likely appreciate something shiny as well,” the griffon said before he dealt the next hand. “That is, if you intend to keep seeing her on a regular basis. Don’t think I don’t know where you go at night, you always fly off in the same direction.”

“Hey Ledger dude?” Jon asked. “Those crazy mares from the club are with the others right?”

“Probably?” Ledger said, his mind having a little trouble focusing. “I mean, Sugar’s running their thing, and I can’t see her leaving Moondancer behind...they’ve been practically joined at the hip since they were married…”

“I just remembered something I gotta do, you guys are fun, laters!” he tossed some more bits at the dancer and flew out of the door.

“Kinsman? I think your brother has flown the coop,” Ace called out as he soundly thrashed Shining Armor.

“And he says that he’s not in a steady relationship,” Fredrick said before folding, not wanting to lose too much in this hand.

“So, this is… interestin’,” Applejack replied as they watched some oiled up stallions dance on a raised stage. “Twi? Ah reckon y’all got some… interestin’ new friends.”

“That’s putting it lightly,” the princess nodded. Sweet Stars, look at those flanks! You could bounce a bit off of those.

“Whoo! Shake what your Mama gave ya!” Pinkie and Midnight cheered, slipping little coloured pieces of paper into the dancer’s thongs, the colours representing how many bits they were worth.

On the other side, Rainbow was oggling a mare dancing in a Wonderbolts uniform. Damn she could bend~

“O-Oh, um.. ohmy,” Fluttershy hid behind her mane, her face redder than Big Mac’s coat.

“Relax dear,” Sugar said as she pulled up a cider for Fluttershy. “Have something to drink. I promise it’s just a normal cider.”

Fluttershy took the drink, but continued to hide behind a wall of pink.

“Shyshy is shy,” Pinkie giggled and hugged her friend. “But she’s adorable and we love her.”

“I can see that,” the nymph giggled. “She just needs to relax, unwind a little. Nopony here is judging her.”

“But.. I’m so… embarrassed,” Fluttershy said, blushing harder.

“Aww,” Pinkie hugged her again.

“Hey Sugar, are we allowed to keep them?” Midnight asked as she pointed at the dancers.

“Only if you can convince them to work for me,” Sugar replied.

Several dancers were curious at the bat mare. They’d never seen a thestral before, at least not one this close.

“Dang it Midnight, stop hogging all the sexy ones,” Rainbow said. Even some of the mares were flirting with the batpony.

“Midnight is as Midnight does,” Sugar commented. “Though...maybe if somepony were to show that she’s already taken…”

Scope caught the none-too-subtle hint and turned before planting a kiss on Midnight’s lips.

The thestral gave a muffled yelp of surprise, as the dancers all pouted a little, but returned to their job of entertaining.

“Just… how does she do that?” Rarity asked.

“You’ll have to be more specific,” Critical pointed out. She hadn’t strayed too far from Rarity at all tonight. The mare was practically a beacon to her.

“Midnight darling. How does she attract other so easily? I mean, she is a good-looking mare, but they’re like bees to honey when it comes to her.”

“She’s something we don’t see much of,” Critical explained. “That...allure of the exotic. The idea of something new. Something fresh and bold. Surely you understand?”

“I see,” Rarity nodded.

“Plus that’s just how she is,” Moon Song said as she took a seat next to the mares. “Midnight has a charisma that just draws others to her… despite her, eccentricities.”

“One might think her eccentric behavior is a boon in attracting mares to her,” Critical pointed out.

“And stallions.. griffons, dragons…” Moon sighed. She’d walked in on the mare way too many times. “Still, she’s a good girl. And I’m finally getting some grandfoals out of it~”

“Speaking of,” Apple Leaves said. “When am I getting some?”

“And me,” Twilight Velvet nodded.

“MOM!!” Twilight and Cider both blushed.

“If this is a herd marriage, aren’t technically all the foals your grandfoals?” Critical pointed out.

Velvet and Leaves looked at Midnight, who was now shooting a dirty glare at Critical.

Twilight and Cider were breathing sighs of relief.

“Ah reckon they’ll do that when they’re all good and ready,” Applejack nodded. She brought over another round of drinks and smiled. “So, who wants ta get to the presents?”

“Oooh, you brought presents?” Sugar said. “For who?”

“Fer the mares-of-honor a’course,” Applejack nodded. “Y’all… knew you were supposed t’get gifts right?”

“To be honest, Bachelorette parties and Bachelor parties aren’t necessarily a thing we have in the Lands,” Critical pointed out. “Marriages are mostly quiet affairs.”

“Ahh, that explains it,” Applejack said.

“I wouldn’t worry too much darling,” Rarity said. “It’s just a little fun really. These presents can be a little… risque.”

“Ah, then our choice of venue is apropos for such an occasion, is it not?” Sugar asked.

“True that!” Rainbow Dash said as they all took a seat around the corner couch and table. “So who actually brought gifts?”

Twilight’s friends, as well as the princesses raised their hooves. Moon Song also did and Midnight gulped. Her mother could have an… odd sense of humor sometimes.

“Alright then,” Scope said as she sat next to Midnight. “Hit us with your best shot, ponies!”

The first one was for Twilight, from Rainbow Dash of course. She also had one for Scope.

“You can go first,” Twilight said, poking her little changeling. The nymph opened the package to find a new Daring Do hat…

Then she also heard Rainbow snickering and saw that the size was meant for fillies, despite the fact it would be a perfect fit for her. She just put it on and smiled widely at the blue pegasus, holding her arms apart for a hug as she let her fangs creep into her grin.

“Scopey, be nice,” Twilight said and kissed her cheek. “Besides, you look very cute in that~”

“Aww, I promise I won’t bite,” Scope said, pausing for a second. “Much.”

Twilight leaned in and whispered into her ear. “Wouldn’t you rather go home and bite me instead~”

The nymph shuddered a little at the tone and the implications before lowering her forelegs.

“Come on, open yours TwiTwi~” Pinkie giggled as the alicorn rolled her eyes and opened her gift, carefully removing the wrapping paper. (What? you could use it later)

It was a blank book. Labelled: ‘Pony Sutra, Alicorn edition. Write your own.’

Twilight coughed and spluttered as she glared as a cackling Rainbow and Pinkie. “W-W-What the hay?!”

“Hahaha! Oh wow, the look on your face,” Rainbow fell off her chair, kicking her legs as she howled with laughter.

“I had been meaning to ask you about something along those lines,” Sugar Darling said.

“Ask me what?” Twilight said and then glanced at the book. She blushed and stared at the nymph. “I am not going to tell you about my sexlife!”

“At least one of you won’t,” Moon Song giggled, shooting a glance at her daughter.

“Aww,” Sugar said, actually pouting a little.

“Should we be concerned on the fact you wish to know such a thing about our daughters?” Apple Leaves asked the nymph.

“Violets have so little information on some of the more exotic species on Equus,” the nymph replied. “We only just got some information on Thestrals thanks to Midnight here. I would love to write the volume on Alicorns, but something tells me that Twilight will be...less than helpful.”

A pair of pink hooves snaked their way around Sugar’s neck as somepony hugged her from behind.

“Why didn’t you say so?” Cadence purred, nibbling her ear.

“Indeed,” Celestia said, having taken her true form now that they had some privacy. She sided up next to her as Luna moved to Sugar’s opposite. The nymph literally surrounded by alicorns.

“So girls, should we teach her?” Luna giggled.

“Ah, presents!” Sugar said. “Don’twehavemorepresentstogive?” That, had been unexpected.

Moondancer and Midnight just blinked. Was Sugar Darling, a Noble Violet, actually flustered over that?

There was a flash as Midnight lowered a camera. “Perfect~” she giggled.

“You try dealing with an absolutely overwhelming amount of Lust being directed at you by three alicorns,” Sugar grumbled. “See how you fare.”

The three princess giggled and moved away, but Cadence leaned in one more time.

“I never said I was kidding~” she whispered and then bounced over to the other side of the couch, sitting next to Chrysalis.

“Well, now I know to be careful what you wish for. As you just might get it,” Sugar said with a shudder. Hives...she would probably be fed for a month thanks to that.

Midnight was busy thanking Pinkie for the new camera, as Cider got a present too. She quirked an eyebrow and opened it, to reveal a set of bondage straps designed for adolescent dragons.

“Now you won’t break these ones in a hurry,” Midnight giggled as the earth pony turned a deep scarlet.

“Such a shame I haven’t used mine in so long,” Sugar sighed. The last dragon to come through Las Pegasus had been...memorable.

“Tell me about it,” Midnight sighed wistfully. “I wonder if Ledger wouldn’t mind a little… experimenting~”

“I call dibs if he says yes,” Scope said quickly.

“What, no way!” Midnight said. “I totally have first dibs on Dragon-Ledger.”

“And why are you making my brother turn into a dragon?” Critical asked. “I wasn’t even aware he could do that.”

“Well obviously, we’re gonna do it so he can buck us into the floor,” Midnight said shamelessly. “And yeah, he can pull one off for a little bit, though Scopey here can maintain a full grown dragon form for about an hour.”

“And I can kick your flank as it,” Scope said just as shamelessly.

“You tried to eat me!” Midnight replied. “You did eat me! You even swallowed!”

“That’s what she said,” Several mares giggled.

“I can’t help it you were so tasty, Mistress,” Scope replied. “It must have been all those mangoes you eat.”

“Thanks, but vore is one kink I don’t do,” Midnight nodded, then her eyes shone mischievously. “Heeey Scopey, wanna see level ten?”

“NO!” Moondancer shouted. “Bad Middy!”

“Awww,” the bat pouted.

“Let’s just open up more presents before she actually tries that on one of us,” Scope said.

“Whut in the hay is level ten?” Applejack asked.

“Something that probably involves a safeword,” Rainbow giggled as Midnight gave them all a predatory smile.

“Safewords are for kids,” she said, letting that sink in.

“Quickly, we need more offerings!” Scope tried to find another thing they could use to distract Midnight.

Midnight was faced with another present and opened it. “Let’s see what Mom got… me…” She pulled a very large double-ended dildo out of the box. “Uhh…”

“It’s mango flavoured,” Moon Song giggled.

“I think this might even be bigger than Ledger,” Scope pointed out. She would have to get them both in the same room for a comparison, though.

“We’re so comparing them later,” Midnight nodded as she put it away. “But hmm, who to test it on first~”

“That, we do not need to know,” Moon Song added.

“Is that it?” Critical said as she looked at the mares. “I honestly hoped for a bit more...originality with these presents.”

“Oh?” Rainbow asked. “So I take it that you got a better idea?”

“Maybe something they can use,” Critical replied. “Like baby things for Midnight.”

“That’s what the baby shower is for,” Velvet explained. “A night like this is usually reserved for gifts of a more perverse nature. As long as it’s fun anyway.”

Speaking off, Fluttershy actually had a gift. She nudged it towards Twilight, and when the princess opened it, she looked… confused?

“Um, this is a nice gift,” Twilight said as she pulled out four collars. “But, we don’t have any pets that would use them…”

“Something tells me Ledger will find a use for them alright,” Critical cackled.

“Does Ledger have a pet?” Twilight asked, still not getting it.

“Yup,” Critical said, staring at the mares in Ledger’s life. “I’m lookin’ right at ‘em.”

MIdnight facehooved as Twilight finally understood and blushed brightly as she looked at Fluttershy.

“Whoa, go Flutters,” PInkie giggled.

“Indeed, I didn’t think you had it in you darling,” Rarity agreed.

“Something tells me he’s gonna break us in the day after we break him in,” Scope said, nudging the bondage gear with a hoof.

“Oh, um, if you don’t like it…” Fluttershy stammered. Scope just rolled her eyes and used her magic to add the collars to the pile.

“Nah, we needed something new to try out in the bedroom anyways,” Scope said.

“Oh, um, ohmy,” Fluttershy blushed again.

Midnight was giving them a dubious look though. The last time a collar was put on her…

Nope! Not thinking about that! This was supposed to be a fun night. Scope, however, caught that whiff of soured emotions and moved to hug her.

“...Thanks,” Midnight replied as she returned the hug. “Sorry for being a sadbat.”

“It’s okay,” Scope said softly. “You know the big lug wouldn’t do something like that to you.” She then used one of her hooves to gesture for something, anything new to distract Midnight.

Cadence pushed a box forward and Midnight opened it, before snorting and then exploding with laughter. “Oh my gosh… I think it’s a bit late for this one,” she cackled as she pulled out a box of flavoured condoms.

“Still, at least now Ledger has options when it comes to the others,” Scope pointed out.

“True that, if they work on him,” Twilight nodded. “He’s very… generous.”

“That he is,” Cider nodded as several mares all shook their heads.

“That… is waay too much information,” Applejack grimaced.

“And us comparing him to the strap-on wasn’t?” Scope replied.

“Definitely, I didn’t need to know that about my brother,” Critical said dryly.

Celestia pushed her gift over. And Twilight unboxed it and blushed as she held up a copy of the Pony Sutra; Changeling Edition.

“Oh my~” Apple Leaves whistled. “Ah’d be watching out there little Scope~”

“Feh, it’s not like Ledger didn’t have knowledge of what to do to me anyways,” the little ‘ling replied with. “Now I’m just never going to get a break.”

Luna sent hers over to Scope. And she opened it to reveal the same book, only for ponies.

“It also has a special section I wrote for thestrals,” she winked.

“I know what I’m reading tonight~” the little ‘ling sang.

“Oh boy,” Midnight sighed. “Just don’t let Moondancer or Sugar read it. I’ll lose what leverage I have over them.”

“You had leverage over us?” Sugar asked.

“Do I?” Midnight asked. “I dunno. I know that you still know squat about thestrals~”

“So our little...research session didn’t reveal everything?” Sugar asked, before turning to the princess of the night. “Can I have a copy of that book please?”

“That’s the only one I’m afraid,” Luna shrugged. “Unless you paid a visit to Hollow Shades, though, I doubt they’d even let you in the front door.”

“Pity,” Sugar said before turning to Scope. “I may have to borrow that book for my own research purposes.”

“When Tartarus freezes over,” the smaller ‘ling shot back.

“Is that everyone?” Midnight asked. Applejack had given Cider a cute, frilly saddle and she’d gotten Twilight a book on how to tie knots. For… various reasons.

Rarity had given all four something interesting. A cupon for her new Canterlot boutique.

“Y’know, Changelings as a rule don’t typically wear all that many clothes,” Scope pointed out. “I suppose that explains my lack of one?”

“Which is why we must rectify that darling,” Rarity nodded. “Sassy Saddles runs that store for me. She’ll see to it that you positively shine!”

“Y’sure she won’t freak out about the whole, y’know?” Scope asked before gesturing to herself.

“I have made her aware that some of my customers are… unique,” Rarity nodded. “Why, it’s thanks to you that I’m able to follow this path. My new line of Changeling fashion will be my masterpiece~”

“If you say so,” Scope said, before looking at Pinkie. Both dreading and wondering what she could possibly have in store.

The mare whipped out a wide, flat box and plonked it down before pulling it out herself.

The board game ‘Twister for Adults’ could be seen on the front, along with a mar and stallion that should not be seen by children.

“Something tells me we’ll be getting a lot of mileage out of this game,” the small ‘ling observed.

“Could I get a copy?” Critical asked.

“Me as well?” Sugar pitched in.

“I do owe you a wedding gift,” Pinkie nodded as she pulled another one out of her mane and passed it to Sugar. “You’ll have to wait for your party though,” she said to Critical.

“I can wait,” Critical said. “I just wanted something new to try with my stallion~”

Sugar, meanwhile, was making bedroom eyes at Moondancer.

Said unicorn rolled her eyes as Pinkie nodded and passed one to Critical. “Well, Okie Doke. Consider this an early birthday present.”

“I can do that, though how do you know when my birthday is?” the nymph asked.

“I know,” Pinkie nodded. “Pinkie Pie always knows.”

“So is that everyone?” Scope asked. “We had the shy one, the walking buffet, the apple ponies, the fabulous one, the pink one, and even the pretty princesses. Plus the parents. Can’t forget the parents.”

“I’m afraid I didn’t bring anything,” Velvet said. And Apple Leaves agreed. Money had been a little tight lately.

“It’s the thought that counts,” Midnight nodded. “I’m just glad to have so many of my friends and family here.”

“And soon to be family,” Scope pointed out. “After all, this is a herd marriage. We’re all about to be one big happy family here.”

“True,” Midnight nodded and looked around. “Where’d Amy go? I haven’t seen her in a while.”

“Whoo!” the pink ‘ling said as she and Chrysalis were watching some of the stallions. “Yeah! Shake it!”

“That explains that,” Midnight nodded as she set aside a few gifts for the nymph. Then she smirked. “Hey Amy! Maybe Chryssie and Sugar should dance for us! We need some Changeling flank up there~”

“Didn’t we come here to relax?” Amy asked, turning back to the others with a curious expression on her face.

“Uh, ah reckon we’re here to watch ponies dance fer our money,” Apple Cider replied. “And Middy, those are our guests. What if ah asked yer Mom to dance?”

“Point taken,” Midnight replied. “Sorry…”

“Besides which, I’m happily taken,” Sugar pointed out. “If you wanted to see changeling flank, all you had to do was go to my club, after all.”

“True enough,” Midnight nodded. “Mind you, you sure we wouldn’t run into the boys there?”

“Highly unlikely,” the Violet nymph said. “After all, why would Ledger want to go to my place? He’s still a little uneasy around nymphs that aren’t little Scope there.”

“We are not going there, the last thing this already tipsy group needs is some of the Mood Setter drinks,” Twilight deadpanned.

“Oooh, now there’s an idea,” Sugar purred.

“No Sugar,” Twilight replied.

“Mood Setter?” Celesta, Velvet and Leaves echoed.

“A drink I brew with a little extra Lust and Happiness added in,” the nymph said. “It gives the drink that little extra kick that really helps ponies unwind…” She then looked at Fluttershy and winked. “Mmm, one glass of that would help even the most timid soul.”

“Ohmy,” she said and hid behind her mane again.

“Whoo! LET’S DO IT!” Pinkie cheered, happily going wherever the party was.

“I’ll not force anypony to attend my club that would rather not,” Sugar said. “That would be most rude of me.”

“I have an idea,” Midnight said. “A wonderful and glorious idea~”

“Run,” Scope said simply.

“Nonnonono, hear me out,” Midnight said. “We swing by Sugar’s place, pick up a case or two of those drinks. Then, we got to Twi’s castle for a sleepover. We’ll be in a place where if somepony gets too drunk, then we can be sure they’ll stay safe. Unless the thought of wandering the streets of this city totally sloshed is your idea of fun.”

“That...actually sounds workable,” the violet nymph hummed. “I think I can do that easily~”

“WOOHOO! Party at TwiTwi’s!” Pinkie cheered.

“Aw yeah, that sounds like fun,” Rainbow nodded.

“Y-Yes, it really does,” Fluttershy nodded, glad to be going somewhere familiar.

“So I can swing by the club and gather up two cases of Mood Setter, and I’ll meet you all back at the farm,” Sugar said. “Then we’ll hop through the portal and enjoy the fruits of my labors. Sound fair?”

“Sound like a plan!” Pinkie cheered as she started ushering ponies out of the door. She left a generous tip for the establishment as everypony was left wondering how crazy this night was gonna get.

Chapter 89 - Party Hard

It had been a while since the testosterone-filled party had arrived at the Honey Pot, and more that a few were… a little inebriated.

“S-So ash I wash saying!” Night slurred. “You can’ts jusht…. um, Oh yeah! Yer sleepin with my little girl! What the heck?”

“Hey, she...she’s free to leave aaaaanytime she wants to,” Ledger said. “Can’t imagine why she sticks around for a guy like me…”

“Ah, yer coooool,” Night said and slapped his back. “Twi...Twi… Twibright is a worrywort. S’aaaaaaal good.”

“If yew say so,” Ledger replied, sipping at his drink.

“Ponies just cannot hold their liquor,” Ace chuckled as he poured himself and Fredrick another glass. “Then again, this is hardly Griffon liquor either. Pony stuff is too weak.”

“Some days I wonder how they’d react to stuff from the homeland,” Fredrick said before he raised his glass. “Ah well. Tonight was interesting nonetheless.”

“I gots an IDEA!” Night suddenly announced. “Let’s go bowling!”

“Do we even have any bowling alleys around here?” Ledger asked.

“I’m sure there’s oneaone!” Night nodded.

“Hmm? Seems we’re off to see something interesting,” Ace mused as he finished his drink. To be fair, he was getting a little bored of this place anyhow. “Shall we see this through to the end Kinsman?”

“If only to stop them from dropping bowling balls on each other,” Fredrick said with a wry grin. He was curious where this was going as well.

As they were walking around the city looking for a bowling alley, they passed by the Chop Shop.

“Oh! One moment, I require sustenance!” Ace declared as he walked inside. The griffons working there cheered as Ace walked in, and there was even a cute waitress waiting for him…

“KINSMAN!” Ace cheered. “I require some sustenance for the evening. Perhaps I could get something to go?”

“We have quite the selection of things to-go,” the waitress said before flipping a menu around to Ace. “What do you want?”

“Ohh, these ribs look delicious. But then…” he paused and looked at one item. “A bucket of hotwings?”

“For those that love spice on the go,” the griffoness said with a nod. “We can have that done in about a minute.”

“Make it so my feathered beauty,” Ace nodded. “And some of this chili salad for my equine compatriots outside if you don’t mind.”

“How many servings of that do you need?” Wendi asked. Ace counted on his talons.

“Let’s see, about a half dozen should cover it.”

“We’ll just give you another bucket,” the griffoness said. “I think we have some of that simmering right now, actually. So that’ll come out to about twenty bits.”

The griffon nodded and placed thirty, “A little tip for the always excellent service my dear,” he winked. She blushed a little before calling out Ace’s order to the kitchen. In short order, he found himself holding two metallic buckets. One filled with hot wings, one filled with chili salad.

“The stuff we use for spice just eats through paper buckets,” the gryphoness explained.

“Ohohoho! I like this already,” Ace chuckled. “Many thanks fair maiden!”

“Take care,” Wendi said. “You might want some milk for the ponies you plan on feeding that chili to.”

“They’re likely too drunk to notice,” he chuckled and winked at her again before leaving. Once outside, he moved next to Fredrick, offering him a hotwing. The restaurant owner picked one out and ate it, humming thoughtfully at the taste.

“Not bad,” he said. “Not bad at all.”

“C’mon, we got a bowling alley to find,” Ledger said. Everyone else nodded as Discord floated idly in the air, conducting a silent orchestra. He was outstandingly bored…

He smiled and snapped his fingers. Time to… liven things up a bit~

Rainbow paced in a small circle as they waited for Moondancer and Sugar Darling to reach the farm.

“Seriously? I could have been there and back in ten seconds flat,” Rainbow said aloud. “What is taking those slowpoke ponies?”

“Sugar is the head of her club, quite an important pony,” Critical pointed out. “It’s probably like asking Celestia what’s taking her so long when she just stepped into the castle to retrieve a book. I’d be willing to bet that at least a dozen ponies would be on her in ten seconds.”

“She would like a dozen ponies on her,” Scope retorted.

“That’s… probably true,” Twilight giggled. “Just be patient Rainbow. I’m sure they’ll be along-” A magical flash and Moondancer teleported in, along with her wife. “-sooner than I expected.”

“I had more than three ponies hitting on me, and at least two minor crises to resolve before I could even get my hooves on this stuff,” Sugar said as she showed off the two cases of Mood Setter. “And another problem cropped up on my way out, and at least five stallions tried hitting on me while I was solving it.”

“And I wasn’t allowed to vaporize any of them,” Moondancer pouted as she levitated one of the cases.

“She does like to take the fun out of things,” Chrysalis nodded. “Most Violets are like that. If they can’t screw it, it’s not fun.”

“More like, it would set a bad precedent if we started vaporizing ponies in my club, dear,” Sugar said before kissing Moondancer on the head. “I’d lose all my business in a day. Tops. Plus Narrow would get involved.”

“That’s true, pony law enforcement is a real buzzkill,” Chrysalis nodded. “Well look on the bright side. All these mares are about to get utterly blitzed and then we can prank the hell out of them~”

“I am regretting all of this right now,” Twilight muttered. Mostly because she knew Chrysalis would do that.

“Oh don’t worry Twilight,” Sugar said, only glancing a little at Fluttershy. “You’re not my first target.”

“Well… do try and keep them in line Middy?” Twilight asked her marefriend.

“Will do TwiTwi,” Midnight saluted and looked at the Changeling’s. “I’ll make sure they play nice~”

“This is revenge for not being able to drink yourself, isn’t it?” Sugar deadpanned.

“Immensely so,” Midnight giggled as she pulled a mango out of Pinkie’s mane and nommed on it. Critical didn’t react too badly, as she’d grown up with Joyful. Sugar, on the other hoof…

“Let’s...let’s just go before I start questioning reality,” the noble nymph said with a sigh.

“Huh?” Midnight and Pinkie blinked. The earth mare giggled and snorted. “You want one too? I think I have one in here somewhere…” She rummaged around in her mane, tossing out some items like bowling balls, some cupcakes (which she ate) and eventually found a pear. “Huh? Guess I’m outta mangoes.”

“That did not help,” Sugar moaned as she rubbed just under her horn. Now she was getting a headache. “Princess Twilight, please fire up your portal so we can go to your palace and get your party started up again.”

“Sugar, meet Pinkie Pie,” Twilight giggled as she opened the portal to Ponyville. “Alright, just watch your step-”

Pinkie launched herself through the device. “Wheeeee~”

Scope decided to hang back, and let a few other ponies go before she walked through to where that Pink pony had just gone. More of a buffer meant she was less of a target, right?

Amy giggled and went next, followed by Twilight’s friends. Midnight paused and got a reaffirming look from Twilight that it was safe before she trotted through. Critical trotted on through, followed by the Alicorns that weren’t Twilight, leaving only the mothers, Sugar, and Moondancer with Twilight.

“Well, tonight is certainly going to be interesting,” Moon Song smiled. “And I get to see Twilight’s castle, so this night is just getting better.”

“It’s not, that fantastic,” Twilight blushed. “I don’t even use most of the rooms really…”

“Something tells me you’re going to find out how many there are once you’re married,” Sugar said before she took a case and trotted through the portal.

“What… does she mean by that?” Twilight blinked as she followed her through.

A while later, the mares were occupying Twilight’s living room. Applejack and Fluttershy had fetched some glasses, while Rarity and a few other retrieved pillows and the like as Twilight lit the fireplace.

“So, let’s get this Party 2.0 underway!” Pinkie cheered as she jumped, confetti exploding from her body.

“First of all,” Sugar said as she opened one case. “A round for everypony that can have one.” The bottles floated out and were passed around to Twilight and her friends. “I promise it tastes just like normal cider. It just has a bit more of a kick to it.”

Everyone took their bottles, some staring at them with apprehension.

“Fair warning,” Twilight said. “This drink is designed to put you in a—”

Scope took the chance to silence the Alicorn and stuffed a hoof in her mouth. “Pay no attention to the lavender alicorn,” the little ‘ling said with a wide smile. “Drink up, it’s good!”

Several of them shrugged, taking sips as Rainbow Dash just chugged the whole thing. Chrysalis was wisely not touching hers, and Moondancer just took small sips. Scope unplugged Twilight and took her own, only taking a sip or two, and Critical read the label carefully before also joining in the sipping crowd.

“This is going to end in tears… and other secretions I’d rather not think about,” Twilight groaned, joining Chrysalis in not drinking hers.

Midnight opted to sit back and watch the chaos unfold.

“Aww, c’mon Twilight,” Amy said as she nearly matched Rainbow Dash for disposal speed of a drink. “Or are you saving yours for when Ledgy is around?”

“Trust me, you do not want me drinking this,” Twilight said. Actually, the thought of Pinkie drinking this was… “Pinkie!” It was too late, Pinkie was already on her second bottle.

“See, she’s in the partying spirit,” Sugar chuckled as she took the empty bottle. “All right mares. How about a little truth or dare?”

“Ooh, we haven’t played that since Twilight joined,” Midnight giggled. “Or Scopey either. So tradition dictates we must play!”

“I’m all for that,” Pinkie giggled.

“I haven’t played that since I was a filly,” Velvet giggled, as Moon Song and Apple Leaves agreed.”

“What is… Truth or Dare?” Luna asked as the alicorns took their true forms.

“Simple, I spin this bottle, and whoever it points at either has to answer a question truthfully, or do a dare that I think up,” Sugar said, idly turning the bottle in her magic. “Then they get a go. And if you fail a dare, you take a drink.”

“Ah, those seem like simple rules,” Luna nodded. “So, shall the oldest go first?” she smirked as she hoofed a bottle to Celestia.

“Oh hah hah,” the white alicorn deadpanned and spun the bottle with her magic. It eventually landed on Sugar Darling. “Hmm, well. You know the drill dear.”

“Truth,” Sugar said. “I have nothing to hide.”

“How is it you became leader of the Violet hive in Las Pegasus?”

“Intimidation,” the nymph said with a toothy smile. “While I’m not as gifted at shapechanging as some nymphs I could name, my magical prowess leaves little to the imagination. I managed to get them all to fall in line very quickly...once I’d worked up the power to back up my threats, of course.”

“Aww, you do our kind proud,” Chrysalis purred. “Such a model changeling.”

“Somebuggy needed to instill order in those nymphs before they blew the secret,” Sugar retorted. “Or would you liked to have been unmasked within moments of trying your little ploy?”

Chrysalis just shrugged and took a rather zen pose. “You must learn to live and forget dear sister. The past is the past. Let inner peace flow through you.”

“I’d call you out, but I’m more interested in learning who I get to embarrass next,” Sugar said as she took the chance to spin the bottle with her magic. It spun and spun, before landing on Rainbow Dash.

“Aw yeah, bring it bug lady!” the cocky mare said with a wide grin.

“Truth or dare?” she asked simply.

“Dare! Rainbow Dash is up for anything!”

“I dare you...to kiss anypony here,” the nymph said with a grin.

Rainbow Dash paused.

Rainbow Dash blinked.

Rainbow.exe has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down.

“And I think we lost her,” Scope said with a snicker.

It took a moment before Rainbow rebooted. So, anypony huh? She stood up and marched over to Moondancer, placing a deep kiss on her lips before smiling smugly at Sugar and took her seat again.

“Very well done,” Sugar purred, before motioning to the bottle. “I believe it’s your turn.”

Rainbow smacked the bottle and it spun and spun, until it landed on Amy of all ponies.

“Truth or Dare Pinkie 2.0.”

“I’ll start with a truth, for now,” Amy replied.

“Mkay,” Rainbow looked at Chrysalis and nodded to herself. “What the hay do you see in her?”

“The same thing I see in everypony,” the pink nymph replied. “Somepony that needed help. But it grew into something more, and I don’t regret a bit of it.”

“Not yet anyway,” Chrysalis muttered and sipped her drink absently.

“Besides which, she is just amazing in bed. I mean seriously, I’ve never had a fellow ‘ling before, and she can do this thing-”

She was cut off as Chryssie’s impressive spit take drenched the smaller changeling.

“Amy!” Chrysalis coughed. “Don't you fucking dare tell them anything!”

“Kay!” Amy chirped. “Is it my go now?” Rainbow nodded and the nymph spun the bottle, before it finally settled on… Fluttershy.

“Oh, um...oh dear,” Fluttershy squeaked.

“Truth or dare?” Amy asked. “Or you can just take a drink to have us skip you.”

“Nn-No...that's okay. I pick… truth.”

“Mkay,” the pink ‘ling said. “So do you have a stallionfriend?”

The pegasus squeaked again and ducked behind her mane, shaking her head.

“Kay, your go now!” Amy replied. Fluttershy spun the bottle, before it landed on Critical.

“Um, truth or dare Miss Critical?”

“Let’s liven it up a little,” the green nymph said. “Dare.”

“Oh...um, okay...let's see…” Fluttershy thought for a moment. “I dare you… to hug Princess Celestia.”

“Easy,” the nymph said, walking over to the alicorn and giving her a hug. Celestia returned it and smiled.

“Argh, that was such a weak dare,” Rainbow groused.

“Oh, I'm sorry,” Fluttershy replied. “Also, it’s Miss Critical’s turn.”

Critical smiled and went to spin the bottle again, this time it landed on Applejack.

“Truth or dare, Apple pony?”

“Ah reckon ah’m game fer a dare,” the farmmare nodded.

“All right,” Critical said. “Just hold still a moment…”

“W-What are y’all doin’?” Applejack asked with a hint of apprehension.

That was when Critical’s horn sparked into life, and the farmmare was wearing a dress that seemed far more fitted for the nobility of Canterlot. “Dare you to wear that for the rest of the evening,” the nymph said. It even moved with her.

Applejack looked at it and shrugged. “Ah’d expected this from Rarity at some point. So ah’m not surprised.”

“Indeed darling, you completely stole my thunder,” Rarity pouted.

“I just wanted to see how she’d look like if she dressed the part,” Critical shrugged. “Though if you have any opinions as to how this should look, I’ll listen. It’s the least I could do.”

“Reminds me of mah time as ‘Apple Jewel’,” the mare giggled.

“Urgh, let’s not bring that up again,” Rarity blanched and poked out her tongue. Applejack giggled again and spun the bottle before it landed on Princess Celestia.

“Oh my,” the alicorn chuckled. “Well then, I’ll choose dare. Don’t hold back now.”

“Alright,” Applejack said, having not expected that and having to come up with something. “Um, I dare you…” Then she remembered the books Ledger’s mares had received and grinned. “Hey, are we allowed to get other ponies involved in dares?”

“Why not?” Midnight shrugged and grinned. She sensed shenanigans.

“Twilight, would y’all happen to have some sort of magic learned from that bug of yours?” the Apple mare asked.

“Yes… why do you…?” she paused and gave a hard stare at the apple mare. “You wouldn’t?”

“Ah dare you to stand up to one spell of Twilight’s choosin’,” Applejack said with a nod.

“Interesting,” Celestia giggled. Twilight blushed and flailed around.

“No, I-I can’t do that! No way!”

“Go on Twi, show us the love you have fer Princess Celestia,” Applejack urged her.

“That’s not the kind of love I have for her,” Twilight deadpanned and Celestia giggled.

“Oh my, what sort of thoughts might be running through your head Twilight?”

Twilight turned a bright red and shook her head rapidly. Her horn shone and she cast a spell that made Celestia’s mane change so it looked like Luna’s.

“Ohh, this is quite impressive,” Celestia nodded. “Very well done Twilight.”

The smaller alicorn gushed under the praise from her beloved teacher. Then Celestia reached out a hoof and tapped the bottle, causing it to spin around rapidly, before landing on Luna.

“Oh horseapples,” the younger sister swore as Celestia smiled darkly.

“Truth or dare little sister~”

“Both choices are a trap,” the lunar alicorn mumbled. “Fine. Dare. Do your worst!”

“Heh. heh. Heh.” Celestia chuckled and pondered for a moment. “I dare you…” She leaned over and whispered something into her ear.

Luna blinked and smirked as she looked at Sugar. Before she closed her eyes and the alicorn dredged up every perverse thought that came to mind, and imagined all the changeling’s present.

Sugar let out a low moan and hugged her wife, whispering something into her ear. Scope felt it but was barely affected by it; she was Loyalty, not Lust. Critical merely shrugged as well. But Amy?

She seized up for a moment before hugging Chrysalis and also whispering something into her ear. The odds were pretty good that they were whispering the same thing.

“Two out of two isn’t that bad,” Celestia chuckled as everyone thought that she’d just used that turn as an excuse to mess with the changelings. Luna spun the bottle and it landed on Midnight Song.

Everyone held their breath. This was going to get-

“Dare!” Midnight said before Luna could even bother asking.

“Hmm,” Luna said as she tapped a hoof to her chin. “I dare you...to choose one of your herdmates to make out with.”

“Really? That’s the best you got?” Midnight blinked. “Come on Princess, I do that on a regular basis.”

“Perhaps you did not hear me correctly,” Luna said with a grin. “I dare you to choose one of your herdmates to make out with.”

“Eh,” she shrugged and looked at the three mares. Then she realised her problem. She had to choose one over the others. “Oh son of a-”

“I am waiting~” Luna sang.

Midnight motioned for her three mares to sit together, and as they did she made them lean closer. Their muzzles were almost touching when she leaned closer and planted a kiss on them, managing to touch all three at the same time.

“Done~” Midnight giggled.

“An...unconventional solution, but I suppose it works,” Luna muttered, relinquishing the turn to Midnight.

“Well of course,” Midnight nodded as she spun the bottle. “We’re one after all.” The bottle landed on Chrysalis and she smirked.

“Well Chryssie~?”

Chrysalis took a drink and shook her head. “Even I’m not that insane.” It was then her turn to spin the bottle, and it landed on Cadence of all ponies.

“Uhoh,” Cadence stopped as Chrysalis cackled manically, lightning even flashed in the background.

“Oh this will be simply perfect~” the changeling nodded. “Alright Princess, what will it be~?”

“Hmm, truth?”

“Oh goodie~” Chrysalis giggled and clapped her hooves. “Well then Candy flanks. Let’s hear the kinkiest thing you’ve done with Dull Armor.”

Cadence blinked. “B-But Twilight and Velvet are right here.”

“Yeah, I really don’t need to hear about my brother and sister-in-law’s bedroom activities,” Twilight Sparkle nodded.

“Aww,” Chrysalis pouted. “Hmm...how about, did you have a stallion before him?”

“W-Well, that is…” Cadence blushed and looked away. “There aren’t any…”

Chrysalis blinked a few times before shaking her head. “Wait, were you a virgin before you met Armor?”

“Mhmm,” Cadence nodded. “Shining Armor is the only stallion I ever loved and have ever been with.”

“Well, that’s enough to satisfy that question then,” the nymph said as she relinquished the bottle. Cadence nodded and spun the bottle, before it landed on Rarity.

“Well, this should be interesting, I pick Dare.” the unicorn giggled as Cadence wore a devious smirk. Time to take a page from her aunt's book.

“Well Miss Rarity, if you could design a gown for me, what would it look like?”

Rarity’s eyes sparkled and she rattled off idea after idea, the creativity flowing in a torrent as she imagined all sorts of beautiful gowns for the princess. Critical sighed as she just sat there, in bliss at the amount of emotion this mare was giving off. And it wasn’t stopping. If anything, it was getting stronger.

“You okay there Greenie?” Cadence laughed as Chrysalis suddenly pitched over onto her back, rubbing her bloated belly.

“Yeah, I think she’s just fine,” Critical said as she rubbed her own stomach. “Sheesh. The Green Hive back home would love you, miss Rarity.”

“It would seem that our traits can be used for more than just wielding the Elements,” Twilight giggled.

Rainbow Dash blinked and looked at the tiny Blue nymph next to her. “Oh really?” she smirked. Scope did not like that look. That was a look she liked to wear. This wasn’t going to end well, was it?

Rainbow decided to experiment as she thought about their adventures, how she felt about her friends. All that Loyalty just rolling off of her as she grabbed Scope and held her close for good measure. The blue nymph groaned and actually did her best to break free from Rainbow’s hold. There was enough, and then there was too much.

“Aw, is the little ‘ling getting a tummy ache?” Rainbow teased. Scope just nodded and tried to break free again. It was like a session with Ledger and that spell of his!

She was tugged out of the mare’s grip and pulled into Twilight’s as the alicorn gave the pegasus a small glare. “Mine,” she said, rubbing Scopes belly with a comforting hoof. Scope groaned slightly, already feeling better.

“So, are we done with this game?” Twilight replied.

“Trust me, you don’t want to make this one the same as when we play with Ledger,” Midnight giggled. “With all the ponies here… I doubt Twilight would ever get the stains out of the floor.”

A round of blushes passed most of them once they finally got it as Moondancer groaned and facehooved.

“That sounds delicious,” Sugar purred.

“Oh?” Midnight said and bat her eyes at her. “Wanna come over and play sometime~?”

“Midnight, stop propositioning other mares,” Twilight groaned. She’d have blamed the drink if she didn’t already know that the thestral hadn’t had any.

“Heehee,” Fluttershy giggled as she polished off her second glass. “You’re funny Miss Midnight.”

“Oh hello dear,” Sugar said, switching targets. “And how are we feeling?”

“I’m doing okay,” Fluttershy replied with a soft smile. Midnight raised an eyebrow at Sugar. She seemed rather intent on Fluttershy all night. What was she scheming?

“That’s good to hear,” Sugar replied, smiling. “So Fluttershy, I’m afraid I don’t know all that much about you. I mean, I’ve read the papers and all, but I want to get to know you.”

“Oh?” the pegasus shifted and swapped places with Amy so she could sit next to the nymph. “What would you like to know? Though, I’m afraid my life isn’t all that interesting.”

“Nonsense!” Sugar said as she put a hoof around Fluttershy. “You were once a model, and might I say, quite a beautiful one. You were one of the elements of Harmony. Surely such a mare as yourself has an active social life to go with it.”

“Ooh no,” Fluttershy shook her head. “I didn’t like being a model. All those ponies staring at me, and I never got to see my friends. It was dreadful. Besides, taking care of all the cute animals keeps me really busy.”

“But surely, somepony as stunning as you has stallions lining up at her door for a chance to date you,” the nymph said.

“Oh my goodness no,” Fluttershy shook her head. “I couldn’t date somepony… I’m.. far too shy for that. And…” No stallion wanted to be around all her animals.

“I’m sure that there’s somepony out there for you,” Sugar said with a sweep of her hoof. “Somepony that will love you for who you are. Shyness and all.”

Fluttershy didn’t respond, she just looked away. Sugar gave her a peck on the head. “I’m sure somepony comes to mind,” the nymph said. “Maybe one day, you’ll see that I’m right.”

“One day,” Fluttershy said as she sipped at another drink.

“Sooo, now whut?” Apple Fritter said. She hadn’t gotten a turn at the game, and was feeling pretty bored.

“Well, Miss Sugar has arranged this party, perhaps she has an idea?” Twilight said, passing the bit to the nymph.

“Hmm,” the nymph said before looking at Pinkie. “What does one normally do at non-Violet parties?”

“Play games, eat sweets, drink punch, dance and stuff,” Pinkie giggled. “Why? What do you do at a Violet party?”

“You don’t want to know,” Twilight deadpanned.

“Got any more games we could play?” Scope asked.

“The only ones we have on hoof are the one’s that… Pinkie… gave us…” Twilight turned a deep red. “No. Sugar.”

“Please?” The nymph asked with wide eyes.

“We are not playing erotic Twister!” Twilight blushed.

“Please?” Midnight giggled, joining in on the fun.

“Why not?” Amy asked, now turning on the Alicorn.

“I am not playing an erotic game with my mother, my soon-to-be mother in laws and the princesses!” Twilight almost shouted. “If you perverts wanna play it, go upstairs.”

“Party in Twilight’s room!” Sugar called out as she levitated a box over to herself.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Twilight groaned as she applied her hoof to her face.

“I don’t think she kids,” Midnight replied. “Are you Sugar?”

“I kinda want to try it out beforehoof, so no, I’m not kidding about the game. Or the drinks,” Sugar said. “Though I am kidding about doing it in your room, Twilight. Any room will work for me~”

“Of course it would,” Twilight replied. “I’m half tempted to throw you in the dungeon. And before you ask, no, hoofcuffs and swings will not be included.” She sighed and rubbed away the oncoming headache. “I suppose we should decide what rooms you’ll all be sleeping in though. For those that are staying the night anyway.”

“Fair enough,” Sugar replied as she pulled Moondancer close and kissed her. The unicorn melted into the kiss and returned it just as eagerly.

“Well, Luna and I will have to return to Canterlot I’m afraid,” Celestia said as she got up. “But, tonight was quite fun. Thank you for inviting us Twilight. We look forward to the wedding.”

“Provided somepony doesn’t forget the gift this time,” Luna muttered as Celestia’s eye twitched.

“That was your fault and you know it. Don’t pin the blame on me!”

“Well you should have-” the rest of the argument was cut short as the two vanished from the room. First to pick up their stallions, then to go home and work out the drinks in their system.

“Were the great and grand rulers of your entire nation… bickering like actual siblings?” Scope asked. “Huh, who knew?”

“Because they are sisters,” Twilight deadpanned as she stood up. “Come on, I'll show everypony where they'll be sleeping.”

Cider shot a look to Amy and Sugar. “Why do ah have the feelin’ that not all of us are gonna be sleepin’?”

“Possibly because you know me,” Sugar hummed. At some point she’d opened up the box and was now reading the rules for her game.

Chrysalis looked at Amy. “You're planning on sneaking into her room aren't you?” The pink had been acting… odd, ever since she'd downed that drink and Luna had tried her Lust trick.

“I’d say I’m more than planning on it, lovebug,” Amy purred as she hugged Chrysalis. “The real question is, are you coming with me?”

“If only to keep you out of trouble,” Chrysalis said. Truth be told, Amy and Sugar… her morbid curiosity was going to be her downfall one of these days.

“Twilight dear, perhaps some soundproofing spells wouldn’t go astray?” Velvet pointed out and Twilight nodded. She cast them on the rooms as she showed them.

It took about twenty minutes, and Fluttershy had been giving Sugar Darling curious glances the whole time. It didn’t help when the nymph returned them, and even gave the previously-shy mare a wink and a tail-flick. The pegasus blushed, but didn’t object to them…

Then Sugar was right there, whispering an invitation to join them in her ear.

“Meep!” Fluttershy blushed and hid under her wings as Moondancer cooed at the adorableness.

“Please don't tease my friends,” Twilight sighed.

“Yeah!” Rainbow said, moving between Fluttershy and Sugar, glaring defiantly.

“I’m merely offering her the chance to observe, she doesn’t have to take it,” the Violet Noble said. “As a matter of fact, that offer is open to anypony that wants to join us in a little...after hours recreation.”

There were a few awkward coughs, and Fritter’s hoof shot up as she beamed.

“Yes, don’t think we’ve forgotten about you dear,” Sugar said, nodding at the Apple mare. “You’re more than welcome to join us for some fun~”

“Seriously Fritter?” Applejack stared hard at her cousin.

“Ah lighten up AJ,” Fritter waved.

“Watching other ponies have sex? Gross,” Rainbow shuddered. To which Sugar raised an eyebrow.

“Who said she was going to just watch?”

“Ewewewewewewwwww~” Rainbow poked her tongue out and darted down the hall towards her room, taking Fluttershy with her.

“Oh dear,” Sugar sighed dramatically.

“We shall pass as well,” Velvet said. “We're married after all.” Cadence, Moon Song and Apple Leaves all nodded in agreement.

“Ah still think it ain't proper, but t’each their own ah suppose,” Applejack said and followed Rainbow.

Sugar just smiled, she knew the effects of those drinks would kick in sometime, and led Amy, Moondancer, Chrysalis, and Fritter into the same room.

Twilight cast a triple layer soundproofing spell… just in case.

“Try to leave my castle in one piece,” she replied. “Also, I will not let Spike clean up after you lot rutting like rabbits. So enjoy~”

“Oh, we will,” Sugar purred. “Offer’s still open~” she called out before closing the door after her.

Pinkie just smiled as she walked away…

“Sooo,” Night Light slurred as he stared down the bowling lane. “Just gotta… roll with it?”

“Yeah,” Ledger said with a nod. “I’m sure the point’s around here somewhere…”

“We're havin’ a real ball huh?” He chuckled as he flung the ball. It bounced, rolled, then scored a strike… three lanes over. The drone chuckled at that before rolling his own down his lane...and not even getting close to the pins before it went into the gutter.

“Whelp, guess my mind and my balls are in the same place,” Ledger observed.

“Hah!” Night Light laughed. “Big heavy balls and hard, rigid objects? Truly a stallion’s sport!”

“And now this game is ruined forever,” Sweet Tooth said.

“It could be worse,” the drone observed. “They could be more phallic...” Discord smiled and snapped his fingers. There were no foals or ladies around at this time of night, so he was free to unleash some more… adult-related chaos.

“Well,” Ledger said as he looked at his lane. “Ask and ye shall receive, I guess.” That being said, it didn’t stop him from rolling his next ball down to knock a few of his new ‘pins’ down.

The pins also gave a high-pitched whinny when he did.

“Well, this is… interesting,” Fredrick mused as two unicorn mares teleported in. Absolutely ravishing beauties, one had a coat that was as black as night and the other was a golden yellow.

“This is...interesting as well,” the griffon mused. “Were I not taken, I might actually be interested.”

“You'd not be able to handle either of us dear Fredrick,” the yellow mare smiled. “We've come for some stallions and we'll not leave empty-hooved~”

“We do have quite the fine selection of males tonight,” the griffon said with a smile. “Is there any particular preference you have tonight ladies? If your tastes run more to the gryphon side of things, we still have a nice selection there as well~”

“Balanced, Sweet? Get those fine flanks over here!” the darker mare barked. The two stallions, semi-used to this sort of treatment, fell in line quite quickly.

“Ah...Sunny? Are you okay?” Sweet Tooth asked.

‘Sunny’ dragged her tongue along his neck and giggled before kissing him. “Mmmm, you taste as sweet as you sound~”

“Nightshade, please tell me you’re not as bad,” Balanced Scales asked his marefriend.

“Of course not!” the mare scoffed. “We're going home, rounding up a few friends, and we'll have our own little party~ Ah, also sex. Lots and lots of sex.”

“Nightshade,” The unicorn said in a warning tone of voice. “What did I tell you the last time you tried to start an orgy with me? I believe it was something along the lines of ‘you can have this, or me, but I don’t do this.’”

“Fiiiiine,” ‘Nightshade’ pouted as Sunny chuckled and whispered to Sweet.

“I have a maid outfit and some new hoofcuffs… Master~”

“Throw in a little playing to my kink and you have a deal,” he whispered back. She giggled and kissed his ear.

“Breed. Me?” Yup, that did it, her stallion just let out a snort and licked her back.

“Lucky,” Nightshade pouted and looked at Scales. “Go home and make love?”

“I can do that,” Scales affirmed with a nod. “I won’t turn you down for a little personal time, as long as you don’t take me out of my comfort zone.”

“We'll see~” Night chuckled as the four vanished from the room.

“The buck?” Discord blinked. Clearly he'd missed something at some point. That was Lulu and Tia in disguise. So…

“I think I just hurt myself.”

Ledger just chuckled and waved a hoof around. “There’s an explanation, y’know. I could feel it from here.”

“Sugar's special blend?” Fredrick asked. He'd heard about the drink from Narrow.

“Yup,” the drone affirmed. “Whoever they were,” he said, keeping the secret. “They were afflicted with excess emotions not their own. Full of Lust and Happiness.”

“You changeling’s are scary man,” Flash nodded as he continued to bowl a perfect game. Shining had yet to score a point. “No offense, but remind me never to date one.”

“‘S your call,” Ledger said with a shrug as his next ball knocked half the pins down at once.

“What’s up with that?” Shining said as he sipped on a Big Gulp. “I mean, Midnight’s dating a Changeling. Instructor Ace is dating a Changeling. My sister is dating a Changeling. Was there a bargain sale on very special somelings that we missed or something?”

“Eh, I dunno,” Ledger shrugged. “Maybe others are just seeing we’re not monsters fer once.”

“If it helps,” Flash patted him on the shoulder. “I still think you look like somepony from my nightmares.”

“What, afraid of accountants?” the drone asked.

“Yeap, you keep taking my taxes,” Flash laughed.

“Well if you paid them,” Ledger said before rolling another ball down the lane. This time, he got a spare and pumped a hoof. “Awesome!”

“How are you better drunk?” Light pouted. “Bloody changelings. You're cheating!”

“Dude, I don’t even know,” Ledger said. “I can barely bowl when I’m sober.”

“Maybe you’re a...a grn...geeen...uh, smart bug!”

“Doubt it,” Ledger said before walking over to the griffons for a bit of sustenance. “I am constantly being reminded what an idiot I am by the mares. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Do you regret it?” Shining asked as he trotted over. “Dating four mares must be next to impossible.”

“They listen when I ask for space,” Ledger said with a shrug. “And I offered them the option to add another stallion, but they all declined. Though between them all, I do fear for myself come spring.”

“So you’re screwed literally and figuratively,” Ace chuckled. “Reminds me of one of Midnight’s Heats. She locked a stallion in her room for a week!”

“Yeah, I’m trying to figure out how to survive come the spring and coming up blank,” Ledger replied. He took a bite of the chili salad and hummed. Not bad.

“Short of knocking them out or running away to the other side of the world…” Ace hummed. “Do nymphs have a season by chance?”

“Yeah, but theirs take time to understand, every nymph is different,” Ledger replied. “Some might have them in the spring, others might have them in the winter.”

“Well, it's winter now,” Ace replied. “And Amy is already with a youngling… Say Ledger, would you like to accompany me on a season-long training trip come Spring?”

“That won’t save you from Chryssie,” the drone pointed out. “You’ll have to spend time with her to find out when her season is, and by then, it’ll be too late. It could be tomorrow, it could be five months from now. And I have no clue when Scope’s is, she hasn’t told me.”

“Hah, guess you're both screwed,” Shining chuckled as he stuffed his muzzle with nachos.

“Hmm, I wonder how Narrow will be come Spring,” Fredrick mused.

“Ah crap, I really should ask Critty,” Palette said. Then he glanced at Ledger. “Unless you know?”

“She has hers in the fall,” Ledger replied. “You’re good for a while yet.”

“Ah, good to hear,” Palette nodded.

“Yeah, now all I have to do is survive my own,” Ledger said with a nod. “Now, is it my turn again?”

“Yup, ah reckon mah flank is getting well and truly whupped though,” the crystal stallion said and hiccuped, his coat switched to the crystal shine. The drone smiled and walked up to the balls, picking his up and rolling it down the lane. It wobbled a little as it went down before leaving him a classic 7-10 split.

“Oooohhhhh!” the males cheered as they saw it.

“Can Ledger pick up the spare and win the game?” Discord announced as he returned the pins to normal and grabbed a microphone. “Or will he fail harder than Twilight at a dance party?”

“I got this,” Ledger said as he picked his ball up again once it returned to him. He considered the problem carefully...before taking aim at one of the pins and doing his level best to knock it over as violently as possible.

His plan was to make the one pin knock the other over…

It spun rapidly, knocking the other pin down, but the first kept going and wiped out the pins in the next lane over as well.

“Uhh, did he win?” Palette asked.

“I dunno,” Ledger said as he scratched the back of his head with a hoof.

“Your pin left the lane,” a mare said as she walked up behind them. She was a unicorn mare with a creamy-yellow coat and an electric blue mane and tail. “Sorry sport, but no points for you. A for effort though.”

“Guess I lose then,” Ledger sighed. “Ah well, it was fun anyways.”

“You were pretty good for a guy wobbling around like that,” the mare giggled. “You must be amazing when sober.”

“Can’t throw a ball straight when I’m sober,” Ledger replied. “Dunno why I can bowl when I’m drunk…”

“Huh, well clearly you have some skill deep down,” she said and smiled. Some of her team members bat their eyes and giggled at the male group. “My name’s Pinny Lane. Maybe I could teach you how to use your balls~”

“Sorry, I got four mares that show me how to do that nightly,” Ledger chuckled. “I don’t need any help in tossing my balls around, they do that enough for me.”

“Is that why you're so good?” Pinny asked. Apparently she hadn't meant anything risqué in her previous comment.

Still didn't stop his friends sniggering at it though.

“Oh yeah, I’m real good in using my balls,” Ledger said. “I’d offer to show you, but Midnight said not to.”

“Oh? You have a secret technique or something?” Pinny said, leaning in close as her eyes sparkled excitedly.

Ledger’s friends giggled harder…

“I’ve learned quite a few nifty spells, but I’d earn a hoof upside the head if I showed them to you,” Ledger snickered. “Plus they wear out most mares when they try to keep up with me.”

“Hah! I can go all day!” Pinny declared. “I haven’t met a stallion that can one up me yet!”

“Hmm…” Ledger hummed. “Anypony want to touch that with a ten foot pole?” he asked of the stallions behind him.

“This one is aaaaalll yours,” Fredrick laughed. “You've made the bed, now you can lie in it.”

“I'll have you know I'm one of the best!” Pinny said, her brows furrowing.

“Oh really?” Ledger said with a devious smile.

“Okay,” Shining said as he stepped forward. “I'm cutting in here before it gets out of hoof.”

“What do you mean?” Pinny asked as one of her friends whispered into her ear how her words might have been interpreted. She flushed a bright red and looked at the ground.

“Party pooper!” Ledger said, pointing a hoof at Shining.

“Midnight Song,” Shining simply replied, letting that sink in.

“Fiiiine, it’s not like I was planning something,” Ledger said. His tone of voice wasn’t very convincing.

“Right, and I'm the illegitimate son of Princess Celestia,” Shining deadpanned. He looked at the mare and nodded his head. “I'm very sorry miss. He's uh, affectionate when drunk.”

“I-It’s alright,” she nodded and returned to her friends. Ledger let out a little ‘aww’ as she walked away.

“I think we should call it a night,” Palette nodded. “I reckon our mares might not like us out too late.” A chorus of murmured agreements sounded. Then it sunk in on how whipped they all were and sighed.

“Still, this was fun,” Flash nodded, eying a few of those mares. “We should do this again.”

“Or you could go for it,” Ledger said. “I’m sure they wouldn’t mind one stallion flexing and showing off to them…”

“I could…” Flash nodded. But then, he wasn't sure where he stood with those other three. Sure they had fun, but were they a thing now? He didn't know.

“Aw forget it, let's just go home,” the pegasus sighed.

“Call me!” Ledger called out to Pinny as he led the stallions out of the bowling alley.

“No she won't,” Shining muttered as he lifted the drone with his magic and walked out.

After that, several of them went their separate ways, as Ledger, Shining, Palette, Ace and Night Light went through the portal to Ponyville.

And quickly learned that one should not enter an ethereal vortex while under the influence…

Ledger barely managed to hold his stomach’s contents down, but that was with the aid of a spell. One he’d learned from the Orange Hive. He didn’t think to spread it to the others…

Everypony else lost the contents of of their stomachs all over the floor.

“Bleh,” Palette muttered. “Well, I'm off to bed.”

“And I have a mess to clean up,” Ledger sighed. “I’m not gonna leave this lying around any place I lay my head.” With that, he was off to the kitchen for a bucket, some water, and some soap. And a sponge.

After a moment to rest, the others helped and once Twi’s lab floor was clean once more, they started to look for their respective partners.

Ace was first, and while he found a room that had Amy’s bag in it, both of the nymphs were nowhere to be seen.

“What the… are, they not back yet?” Ace replied as he looked around the darkened room. He was a little sad actually, he wanted to cuddle his little bugs. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he meditated. He felt a room above him that seemed to have a good deal of magic surrounding it. Though it was strong, he could sense Amy’s aura in the room.

“Now what are you up to?” he mused as he exited the room and followed his marefriend’s magic.

Palette groaned as he found the room that Ledger said he sensed his sister in. It was dark, so she must have been asleep already. But then, it was already after midnight.

That was also when his hooves slipped on the crystal floor and he fell with a loud thud.

“Who’s there?” Critical groggily asked.

“Jus’ me,” Palette asked. “Goddamn that hurt…”

“Mmm, c’mere,” the nymph said, patting the bed. He grunted and picked himself up before walking over to the bed and falling onto it, landing next to the nymph.

“I’m getting too old to hang out with the colts,” he muttered. Critical didn’t say anything, she just started kissing him, doing her best to kiss away his pain from landing on the floor.

“Mmm, that feels good,” he said and embraced her. “So… in the Fall huh?”

“Mmhmm,” she said in her sleepy tone. “We’d better be married by then…”

“Planning on foals already?” he chuckled and kissed her horn. She hugged him and sighed.

“You’re kind to me...wanna be kind back to you,” she said. “Even though I’m a Green…”

That… that confused him. What did her colour have to do with anything. Ah well, she was probably too sleepy to explain.

Still, his curiosity got the better of him and he nudged her. “Hey, what do you mean by that?”

“Orange’s are the Kind ones,” she said, nuzzling him. “Still think you deserve more from me for everything you do for me.”

“You’re still a brat kid,” he replied and kissed her again. “Now get some sleep, we’ll talk more in the morning.”

“I can do that,” Critical said, hugging him close. “You too though.”

“I suppose, you’re prolly gonna hit me in the morning for drinking so much anyhow,” he chuckled and drifted off in her embrace.

Ledger did his level best to locate Twilight’s room. His memory was slightly impaired thanks to all the alcohol, but he thought this time it was right.

Unlike last time, when he found a broom closet.

He opened the doors, and…

That was far more of Shining Armor and Cadence than he ever wished to see. Especially when Cadence saw him and winked before closing the door with her magic.

Take three then.

He maneuvered up some stairs and nudged open another door. Oh hey, a bed full of mares. This must be it. He still decided to check for the correct coat colors and species though. Just to be sure.

There were three mares there, one much smaller than the others. Hmm… three?

Bugger.

A fourth pounced from the ceiling, landing on his back and nibbling his ear.

“Hello poppet,” Midnight purred in a Trottingham accent.

“Hello there Middy,” Ledger said, wobbling only slightly. “Did you have fun tonight?”

“It was alright,” Midnight nodded and wrapped her forehooves around him. “It was fun hanging out with everyone. Though trying to work a Mood Setter out of three ponies was exhausting, even for me!”

“Oh, you all had that?” he asked, slowly walking towards the bed. “I had fun as well. Mostly spent getting to know the other males I’ll end up related to…”

“Aww, I’m so glad Ledgie has friends now,” Midnight nodded and hugged him tighter. “Yeah, Sugar went and got a few rounds… then dragged half the party away for an orgy I think. I dunno.”

“Violets,” Ledger said as they finally arrived at the bed. “What’re you gonna do?”

“Bang them apparently,” Midnight giggled as she leapt from his back onto the bed, waking up the others.

“Urgh! I will stab you if you don’t have a good reason,” Scope groaned.

“Well, guess I’m getting stabbed,” Ledger said as he crawled into the bed. “It was a good life while it lasted. I always knew Scope would be the one to kill me.”

“Urgh, you’d just haunt me, snarking constantly,” the nymph muttered and cuddled up to his chest.

“That he would,” Twilight giggled. “Have fun love?”

“Got drunk with the stallions, went bowling, made a mare turn red when she didn’t understand I was flirting with her- and I wasn’t supposed to say that, was I?” he asked himself.

“Ledger…” Midnight’s grip around his neck got a lot tighter. “What did I tell you…?”

“I didn’t bang her!” he said. “Just played with her a little. The others stopped me.”

“I don’t think you’re helping your case,” Scope nodded as Midnight tried to choke him through his chitin. Ledger sighed and rolled his eyes before clarifying.

“Nothing happened. Just a little wordplay thanks to the fact we were at a bowling alley. And I wouldn’t have done anything with her anyways. You told me otherwise, and I remembered.”

“Meh… tired, kill you later,” Midnight said as she flopped onto the bed and grabbed Cider. “You are my designated cuddlepony for tonight.”

“Ah reckon ah don’t have a choice huh?” Cider yawned.

“Nope~” Midnight giggled.

“So this is my life now huh?” Twilight giggled and drew Ledger in for a kiss. “At least it can’t get any crazier.”

“I thought that too...then Joyful happened,” Ledger replied before hugging Twilight. “Sleepy. Time we slept together in a non-sexual way, I think.”

“I find it funny that you actually have to clarify that,” Twilight smiled and she closed her eyes again. It didn’t take long for the group to fall asleep...

Chapter 90 - Coming together

There was a loud knock on the castle door, as Twilight had enchanted it so she could hear it no matter where she was inside the building. She groaned as she rolled out of bed, her mane sticking out all over the place and her wings could use a serious preening.

She stumbled to the door, taking a second to rub her eyes before she opened it and yawned.

“...What?” she said sleepily, before blinking at the sunlight reflecting off of the unicorn mare’s silver coat.

“I realize you have a harder time of it than I do, dear, and I probably am catching you first thing in the morning, but one would think you would put a little care into your appearance,” the mare said in a familiar voice.

“Bwha?” Twilight blinked and rubbed her eyes again as she looked at the gathering of ponies out front of her home. When she recognised whom it was, her coat turned several shade whiter and her horn flared, her teleport substitution causing her to vanish and leave a really bucking confused Ledger in her place.

“...Mom?” he asked. “And who’s this?”

“Ah, permit me to introduce Devoted Cause,” the unicorn said as she pointed at a blue pegasus. “Lucky Bastard,” this time, she pointed at a yellow pegasus. “And A.K. Yearling, the center of their little group.”

“Heya!” Yearling nodded as she adjusted her glasses and large hat. “Also, if you don’t mind Madame, I’d rather not have my name spoken aloud so readily. Not unless you want a mob of fans following us everywhere.”

“I very much doubt you won’t find a fan of your work in here,” the Madame chuckled. “And I really don’t think I need to introduce your own father, Ledger.”

“I would hope not,” Wishful said with a cheeky smile.

“That would require more alcohol than I drank last night,” the drone deadpanned. “Well, come on in and make yourselves comfortable, I’ll go see about waking the dead.”

“Not literally, I hope,” the Madame replied as she strode in first.

“Ah, so this is the Red Hive all over again huh Ledger?” Yearling winked, making it clear on the pony Twilight had given his notes to. And the pony that had gone to the Lands and returned.

“Yeah, but all I need to do to wake these ponies up is make a simple pot of coffee...or three,” the drone replied. “Much less than instilling them with a sense of duty that lasts beyond death.”

With that, the drone disappeared into the hallways, looking for the kitchen so he could make that sweet ambrosia of the morning.

As soon as the Madame crossed the threshold, her vision was filled with pink as Amy and Pinkie greeted the mare chipperly.

“Hiya!” they chirped together, the power of pink now coming to her in stereo surround sound.

“Oh dear,” the Madame replied. “Double the pink.”

“It’s like Joyful, but all grown up,” Wishful noted.

“Oh they have the potential to be sooo much worse,” Ace chuckled as he walked past the group towards the kitchen. “Thanks for distracting them long enough for me to get food.”

“I’ve never met a Pink,” Lucky whispered to Yearling.

“Me either,” Devoted added.

“You haven’!?” Pinkie and Amy chirped again as they all but materialised in front of them.

“Why Miss Pinkie. Should we educate them?”

“I believe so Miss Amy. Let’s teach them!”

They grabbed the drones and music started up from… somewhere.

:Pinkie:

In this wide wide world, you never did see~

A pony like you~

:Amy:

A pony like me?

:Pinkie:

To spread happiness and cheer to all we can~

You know a Pink’s here when the fun hits the fan!

:Amy:

Some sugar, spice and just a little flair,

To find somepony like us, to you I dare~

Through and through, we’re Pink to the core.

Just a little taste will leave you wanting more~

:Pinkie and Amy:

To spread happiness and cheer, that’s why a Pink is here!

We’ll confuse you and amuse you, make you laugh and smile.

Wanna come with us and party for a while?

At some point, the two had pulled out an impossible number of instruments and started playing all of them. At the same time!

:Amy and Pinkie:

So in short, what you want, is some reasonable information.

But we Pink’s are ones that defy explanation.

But just remember, we’re here all the same. Because we’re ponies like you.

And you’re ponies like me~

“For the love of the stars, shut the hell up!!” Scope yelled as she came downstairs. “I’m feeling really stabby right now, just FYI.”

“Okay~!” Pinkie and Amy giggled as the instruments vanished and they smiled brightly.

“I now know more than I ever wanted to know about Pinks,” Lucky said with a thousand-yard stare.

“Can somepony help me forget the past five minutes?” Devoted asked. Meanwhile, the Madame had taken notice of Scope…

“Oh buck me!” Scope swore as she saw who it was and turned to bolt as fast as she could…

It was too late. With a soft glow of her horn, the silver unicorn grabbed ahold of the nymph and pulled her into a cuddle.

“Gawddammit!” Scope pouted. Resistance was futile after all.

And that was when the Madame caught sight of Critical running down the stairs, giggling as a stallion chased her with a grin of his own, nipping at her flank and causing her to squeal in delight.

“Ah, young love,” the Madame sighed. “Well, half-young at any rate.”

Scope teleported from her grip during the distraction and re-appeared a few feet away. She groaned and wobbled before pitching over and holding her head.

Mental note. Teleporting while suffering from a hangover was not recommended.

“So, why did we come here again?” Devoted asked Yearling. “I mean, I know why they’re here. They didn’t shut up about it.”

“Because the wedding is in a few days and I was invited,” Yearling replied and bumped his hip. “Besides, I wanted to show you two Equestria, and get to know you a little more.”

“I can work with that,” Lucky said as he bumped her hip with his own.

Palette paused and coughed. “Oh, uh… hello lady Gossip,” he replied, poking at his marefriend. “Honey? Seems we have guests…”

“Indeed,” the Madame said with a vicious smile. “Now, a little bird told me the pair of you are engaged?”

“How did she find out?” Critical hissed to Palette.

“How would I know?” he whispered back. “Can she read minds or something?”

That was also when Critical recalled that Miss Yearling had been staying with her mother in the Lands...she shot a glare over to the author. She...she wouldn’t, would she?

Yearling blinked and she realised what she did. She offered the nymph a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of her head, looking away awkwardly.

“Aheh...yeah, well,” Critical said. “He asked me. How could I say no to him?”

“And you?” the Madame asked, now turning to Palette.

“I love Critical with all my heart,” Palette nodded. “You know a little of my past and you know that proposing to her is something I did not do lightly, or on a whim. If you do think that, then we’re going to have problems.” He gave the intimidating mare a hard stare right back. He wasn’t buckling under her gaze in the slightest. “So my to you question is this. Do we have a problem?”

“Of course we don’t!” Wishful said as he walked up to the stallion and gave him a manly hug. “We admire a stallion that can stand up to her for what they love. Don’t we, dear?”

There was silence for a moment before the silver unicorn mare sighed. “You know that’s unfair. I wanted to be intimidating to him for a little bit longer.”

“No intimidating the future children in law,” the violet stallion said simply. “You’ve done enough of that for one life.”

“I blame Ledger for getting involved with so many mares,” the Madame muttered.

“Your family is crazy,” Palette sighed to Critical and hugged her. It was also then that a new guest entered the hall, searching for her mare and griffonfriend.

“Dammit all, why didn’t they wake me?” Chrysalis muttered as she bumped into Madame Gossip. “Hey! Watch where you’re…” Her eyes widened when she saw who it was. “Aww fuck…”

“Hello there dear,” the Madame said with a wicked smile. “I’ve only looked forward to meeting one other nymph as much as you~”

“Yeah, no,” Chrysalis said and turned to walk away. It was too early and she was not caffeinated enough to deal with this.

“Aww, come back,” the Madame pouted. “I only want to dismember you a little~”

“Find a cactus, and insert it where the sun doesn’t shine!” Chrysalis said. “Besides, you don’t stand a chance against me anyway!”

“You say that like you don’t know who I am~” the Madame said, before saying her name in Changeish.

“I know damn well who you are you silver slut,” Chrysalis barked back in their tongue. “And I’ll have you know that picking a fight with me means picking a fight with the most powerful Pink I have ever seen, and a Griffon that exploded a Black in close-quarters combat!”

“You just watch yourself, little upstart,” the Madame replied. “Because there might come a day when nobody is around to protect you, and I’ll pay you back for that little insult. Before I just wanted to talk to you. Now I actually want to dismember you. And they still don’t know how many nymphs I evaporated that day I freed my husbands.”

“Oh, you wanna fight then!” Chrysalis roared, her horn flaring with emerald energy. “Sorry Ledger, but I’m going to leave you with one less parent—” She suddenly yelped when a talon gripped her horn and gave the tip a hard flick. She shouted as the pain caused her magic to peeter out as Ace stared down at her.

“Chrysalis! We do not fight with friends and family. Not out of hatred or spite!”

“B-But—”

“No buts!’ Ace said as he released her horn and kissed her cheek. “Come now. Apologise and we shall start anew.”

“I will not—”

"Chrysalis…” Ace warned her.

The nymph paused, looked at the griffon and then sighed before mumbling something under her breath.

“Louder,” the griffon instructed.

Said mumbling increased by a single octave.

“Louder Chryssie.”

“Urrgghhhh! FINE! I’m sorry alright!”

Ace shrugged and looked at the Madame. “That might be the best you’ll get out of her for now.”

“Oh, that’s fine,” the Madame said with a wave of her hoof. “I can always tell her grandfather on her.”

“The hell you will!” Chrysalis shouted as Twilight returned, looking like her normal self, but still had a wary expression around the Silver nymph.

“Chrysalis, be good or I’ll send you to the blasted moon,” she sighed and teleported the nymph to the kitchen, where Amy was waiting with coffee and scones. “Right, so this morning is a total write-off. How may we help you Madame Gossip. Wishful-Heart?”

“I heard there was to be a wedding and took some time off from home to see if I was required,” the silver mare said. “As well, I wish to attend it. The first of my children is getting married. Ideally I would like to attend all my children’s weddings…” here her eyes flicked over to Critical and Palette. “But that would require some of them even telling me they were getting married in the first place.”

“I totally was going to,” Critical replied. “When there was less time for you to object to it.” The mare frowned and looked at Yearling. “Then Daring Dope here went and blabbed.”

“I didn’t know it was a secret,” she said. “Besides, don’t you have that Changeling-telepathy-thing?”

“Not all of us are as gifted as little Scope,” Critical deadpanned. “Talking across countries is nearly unheard of.”

“Fuck my life…” Scope groaned from the corner. Her head was still killing her.

“Of course you can attend the wedding,” Ledger said, arriving with coffee for everypony. “Why wouldn’t we let you?”

“This wedding is gonna be so totallysuperfatabulousfunneriffic!” Pinkie declared and gasped. “Oh my gosh! I totally have to start preparing for that!” She gave Ace and Amy a kiss on the cheek and then blurred out of the room. They heard a shout from Chrysalis, followed by the sound of somepony making out, before Pinkie ran back in and looked at the Changelings that had just arrived.

“Also gotta have a ‘Welcome to Ponyville and thanks for not murdering my nymphfriend party’!” she nodded and then bolted from the castle.

“So...do you feel like taking Pinkie out to dinner, maybe getting to know her a little bit?” Amy giggled as she hugged Ace.

“I’m so confused,” Ace sighed. “I seem to be amassing a collection.”

“Too. Much. Pink,” Chrysalis groaned as she stumbled back into the hall with a slightly bloated stomach and lip marks all over her face. “Bleh.” She fell to the floor and fainted.

“Aww, I think Cryssy needs some mouth-to-mouth,” Amy said before hopping over. “I volunteer to be the one to resuscitate her!”

“Be my guest,” Twilight sighed and waved a hoof. “Honestly, I wasn’t expecting you all until tomorrow. And…” she paused and looked at Yearling, then at the two drones she had next to her.

“Well, what do we have here~?”

“N-Nothing!” Yearling blushed and moved away from them. They responded by giving her hurt looks, like her moving away had actually pained them. Yearling sighed and stepped closer to them.

“They’re my coltfriends,” she murmured quietly, just enough for Twilight to hear.

Unfortunately, Ledger’s hearing was also pretty sharp…

“Ah, I see you’re taking on some of the fine traditions of our homeland,” the drone chuckled as he passed them all a mug of coffee.

“Oh shove it,” Yearling pouted. “I blame the Violet Hive. That stupid place is a bad influence!”

“Agreed,” Ledger said, causing Wishful to pout.

“Are you saying I’m a bad influence?” the violet unicorn asked.

“Yes,” the Madame said without missing a beat.

“Ohh, another Violet?” a mare purred in a velvety tone as she draped herself over Wishful. “Hello dear. Would you and your gorgeous wife here want to come play with me and mine~?”

“Sorry, happily married,” the stallion said without looking at her.

“And I’ve no intention to share any of my husbands,” the silver unicorn replied.

“Aww, but you’re hogging all the cute ones~” Sugar pouted. “Come on Gossy! Be a pal.”

“Sugar, quit pestering the ponies,” Moondancer said irritably as she lifted the Violet noble with her magic. “Or do I have to put you in a corner?”

“You’re off by a bit, dear,” Gossip said as she showed off her briefly slitted silver eyes, before changing them back to normal.

“Silver… so you’re related to Ledger then,” Moondancer nodded. “I am Moondancer, wife to this mischievous one here. A pleasure to meet you.”

“I am Madame Gossip, the second most important Silver Changeling in the Lands,” the disguised nymph said with a tilt of her head. “And unless I miss my guess, she is related to the current ruling body of the Violet Hive.”

“Daughter of the Queen was it?” Moondancer asked her wife. “I can’t quite remember.”

“Niece, actually. Current heir apparent because of my work, though,” Sugar replied.

“How interesting,” the Madame said with a slight smile. By this point in time, Amy was doing her best to revive Chryssy. With copious making out involved.

Chrysalis groaned and pushed the enthusiastic nymph off of her. “You sure you’re a Pink, and not a Violet in disguise?” the Green noble deadpanned as she stood up, floating the smaller mare next to her.

“Pretty sure!” Amy chirped, doing her best to try and hug her silly Chryssy from the hold she had her in.

“Well, I’m not convinced,” the nymph sighed and shot the Madame a wary look before retreating upstairs for cuddles.

“This wedding is going to be… interesting,” Moondancer said idly and Twilight nodded in agreement.

“It’s a good thing we aren’t publicising it more, otherwise we’d probably run out of room for everypony to sit,” Ledger said as he finished giving coffee to everypony and sipping on a mug himself.

“There’s still Cider’s family,” Scope replied, having recovered somewhat. The two Changelings accompanying Yearling had some tasty Loyalty. And Rainbow Buffet was still around here somewhere…

“Like I said, it’s a good thing we aren’t publicising it more,” Ledger replied with a smile.

Twilight nodded and then with a flash of her horn, she teleported every living being in the castle into the living room.

“Right,” she said, ignoring some of the looks she was getting. “First and foremost, I want everyone to promise they’ll at least be civil until the wedding is over.” That statement was pretty much directed at Chrysalis and everypony that still had a problem with her. And the ones she had a problem with in return.

“I swear I won’t lay a hoof on her,” Madame Gossip said with a hoof held to her chest.

“I guess I can put up with the other Nobles for now,” Chrysalis said flatly. She sighed and looked at the stare that Amy was giving her before looking at the Madame. “And I’m sorry for insulting you. Please accept my apologies.”

“You’re forgiven,” the silver unicorn said with a smile. “And Ledger hasn’t throttled you yet, so clearly you’ve made up for your past as well. That or he’s been discouraged from doing so.”

“Six of one, half dozen of the other,” Ledger said as he sipped his coffee. “Twi, there’s more pots of the stuff in the kitchen, I didn’t know when your friends would be down to drink it…”

Twilight nodded and the coffee pots appeared in the living room, along with a pile of mugs and teacups, and a few jars.

What? She’d never thought she’d entertain so many guests.

“Well that’s good,” Chrysalis nodded and then draped herself over Shining Armor. “So Ex-Husband. You wanna join in on the forgiving game? Everypony wins at it!”

“I’m still getting over the influx of changeling workers we seem to have acquired for our mines,” Shining replied dryly.

“Ah, so Daddy’s been helping then?” Midnight replied, having just woken up and yawned. “Whoa! That’s a lotta ponies.”

“Morning love,” Twilight giggled.

Midnight looked at Shining, then at Chrysalis and finally at the Madame. “Chryssie’s still breathing? Huh, who knew?”

“Unfortunately, so are you,” the green Noble retorted.

Midnight poked out her tongue in return and looked at Wishful. “Oh, heya Purple Pops!”

“Hello again,” Wishful said with a tilt of his head before resuming his morning coffee.

“Might I propose a second order of business?” Ledger said with a hoof raised.

“Mr. Ledger has the floor,” Twilight nodded , taking a step back.

“I would like to propose that if the Apple mares in the room feel up to it, that breakfast be made by them. Because it would be delicious.”

“Well Cider? Fritter?” Applejack asked. “What do y’all say to this?”

“Well for one, flattery can only get you so far,” Cider nodded and looked at her fiance. “But then, who here hasn’t had a meal prepared by us?”

“You all could open a restaurant that would give Fredrick a run for his bits,” the disguised drone replied. “Plus I’m sure Twilight’s friends would be appreciative at the very least, as well as my parents.”

“Well, ah guess we could blow away yer tatse buds,” Fritter nodded and looked at her sister and cousin. “Fritter Feast?”

“Hmm, ah reckon so,” Applejack nodded.

“We’ll have ‘em happier than rabbits in mating season,” Cider agreed.

“Oh my…” Fluttershy blushed and Rainbow Dash suddenly took an interest in the ceiling, both refusing to meet the gaze of Sugar Darling. The nymph just chuckled and sipped her coffee. She could guess how last night went~

“Well, let’s get ‘er done then,” Cider nodded as Applejack led the three mares to the kitchen, Apple Leaves also got up and went to assist.

“So, is there a reason you did that?” Twilight Velvet asked.

“I figured if we were going to have a big, semi-official meeting here, the least we could be is well fed,” Ledger replied. “Leads to happier ponies overall.”

“They’re that good of a cook?” Velvet asked and Twilight, Scope, Midnight and Ledger all shivered in delight. All food was forever ruined after an Apple feast.

“Look,” Twilight said as she calmed down. “I just want this wedding to go off without a hitch—”

“So no invading this one Chryssie,” Cadence called out with a cheeky smile.

“Fuck you Cadenza!” the nymph shot back.

“Ohh, can we Shiny?”

Twilight and Shining Armor just groaned and facehooved. Urge to vapourise all living things, rising.

“So help me,” Ledger said calmly. “If you all don’t make some effort to get along, I will turn into a dragon and hold you all down until you’re worn out.”

“Ohh, your son is offering kinky things again~” Chrysalis called out to the Madame. “Tell him not to make promises he can’t keep~”

Ledger snorted and then flashed silver, turning into an adolescent dragon that was glaring at Chrysalis. “Seriously, last warning,” he said. “Calm down, or I’ll calm you down for you.”

“I have an Amy and I’m not afraid to use her,” Chrysalis countered.

“You are being kinda snippy, lovebug,” Amy said.

“Nrrgh,” Chrysalis just sat down and folded her arms. “Well excuse me for being nervous about sitting a room full of ponies that wanted to kill me at one point or another.”

“You’ve got Acey to protect you, what are you nervous about?” Amy asked her.

“Because I doubt Ace could beat Miss Gossip over there,” she replied. “She’s a changeling, she cheats.”

“That I do,” the mare said with a nod.

“We good?” Ledger asked, still a dragon and still drinking his coffee.

“Ledger, turn back before you hurt yourself,” Scope said, poking him. “Being a dragon is my thing. Quit copying.”

Telling a Changeling… to quit copying?

She couldn’t help it, Twilight burst into uproarious laughter. Ledger snorted a few laughs himself before turning back to his unicorn self.

“Okay, so should we address what we did last night with each other yet or no?” the disguised drone asked of the room as a whole.

“Ohh, do I get to tell you what I did~?” Sugar purred, the Lust just oozing from her. “I had a lot of fun~”

“I was more asking if Midnight was going to attempt to kill me again,” Ledger asked, causing the Madame and Wishful to stop drinking and slowly look at the batpony.

“Well maybe if somebuggy would stop getting drunk and flirting with mares,” the thestral defended herself and looked at the pair. “I wonder Ledgie? Have you told them that they’re gonna be grandparents yet?”

The silence was such that you could drop a pin and hear it hit the floor.

“Mmm, guess not,” Midnight mused. Checkmate Level Ledger. Now he was the one getting the stares from his parents.

“Iiiii was going to bring it up later?” Ledger offered.

“How much later?” the Madame said icily.

“‘Oh look, we’re back from our honeymoon’ later?” the drone asked more than said.

“That makes sense, but once it happened, you should have told us,” Wishful said. “Honestly, I thought your mares were helping you to be better. Yet you still pull something like this?”

“Because we know how you are!” Ledger and Critical said at the same time. Then looked at each other and chuckled, for once glad that they agreed.

“You might want to clarify that they’re only getting one from your brother… for now,” Palette said as he saw the Silver mare’s gaze drifted towards him.

“Yeah, but I can still say that for not telling them I was getting married right away,” Critical said, directing a quick glare to Yearling and her drones.

“Oh come on,” Yearling pouted. “I said I was sorry. But perhaps I should rescind the offer I had for you, since you’re so mad at me.”

“Fine, fine,” the Madame said. “If it helps any, I promise to try and control myself in reaction to this news.”

Ledger and Critical audibly sighed in relief. The nightmare was past now.

“Oh come on,” Rainbow Dash said. “She doesn’t look that scary. Bunch of pansies.”

The mare smiled at the chromatic pegasus and assumed her true form in a flash of silver fire. Rainbow blinked and shrugged. She’d seen so many that a changeling didn’t surprise her anymore.

“Point still stands,” Rainbow nodded. “Still, when you’re as awesome as me, I guess it’s hard to compare.”

“Knowledge is power,” the nymph said. “That is the creed of the Silver line. We know as much as we can, we learn everything we can get our hooves on. There’s probably more books in the royal vault that we’ve forgotten about than anywhere else. And I know so very much magic, dear. I once melted an intersection with a single blast. And rescued my husbands to be with that same blast.”

“Eh, I suppose that’s kinda cool,” Rainbow said and rubbed a hoof against her chest. “I went up against Nightmare Moon, and entire swarm of you guys, Sombra, Tirek, Cerberus, Discord… twice. Hmm, what else…?”

“I could have been High Queen of the Changeling Lands,” the nymph countered with. “I chose not to be, so that my brother could live the equality our parents preached. Then I orchestrated the Red, Yellow, and Blue Hives shifting from having Queens ruling them to Kings. It was almost too easy.”

“I possess the Rainbow Power, a magical force stronger that the Elements of Harmony,” Rainbow said back. “Oh, and let’s not forget I’m the only pony in Equestria that can do a Sonic Rainboom.”

“I’m certain I could dig up an artifact or three in the vaults if I cared to that might add to my already considerable might,” the Madame said with a smile. “And all the line of Noble Silver ‘lings get access to the Flames of Knowledge, a semi-sentient spell that obey us and us alone.”

“We have a magical castle that can point out friendship problems and tell us exactly who needs to go and solve it. Oh, and our Cutie Mark’s glow.”

“For the love of…” Twilight growled as she surrounded the two with a silence bubble. “Does anypony have anything relevant to add to this meeting?”

“Yeah, why did you wake a thestral before moonrise?” Grissom muttered, having finally woken up and leaned sleepily against his wife.

“Such is life Pops,” Midnight shrugged. Ledger just waved a mug of his coffee under Grissom’s nose, wondering if it would help his future father-in-law.

“Ahhh, I knew I liked you for a reason,” Grissom sighed and took the mug, drinking deeply from it.

“Ledgie is just that helpful,” Midnight pointed out. “So what did you boys get up to last night?”

“Drinking,” Ledger supplied. “And bowling. Beyond what I already told you, my memories are hazy, but I know we did that.”

“We went out and got food, then went to a gentlestallions club and drank while watching strippers,” Flash Sentry spoke up, being the group’s official record keeper. “Discord showed up and the night got more interesting.” Twilight removed the silence bubbles around the two mares just as Flash finished.

“Then we went bowling for giant cocks.”

“I’m...sorry?” the Madame said.

“Oh, so that explains that dream last night,” Ledger muttered.

“Discord turned the bowling pins into giant penises,” Flash said without any sense of regret. “We just… rolled with it after that.”

“Still explains why I saw-” Ledger shut his mouth before finishing and shaking his head.

“Saw what?” Midnight purred, draping herself over him. “Care to share with the class Levvy~?”

“Nothing doing,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “That is one memory I do not need to share.”

“Oh you can bet you’ll tell me later,” Midnight said. “Trust me, I can make you talk… or moan, or whatever noise I like really~” She giggled and poked his nose. “Even chirp~” Then her eyes widened and she looked at the Madame. “I wonder…”

“So, ah,” Ledger asked. “After that?”

“After that,” Flash continued. “You flirted with a cute unicorn, because she said things that could be taken into a certain context. Shining stopped you from boinking the mare right there in the alley and we came back here.”

“And I’m glad he did, otherwise I very much doubt I would be alive right now,” Ledger said, subtly edging away from Midnight.

Said thestral gripped him just a little tighter.

“So what about you ladies?” Grissom asked. “Get up to much mischief?”

“Well,” Twilight paused and thought. “We went out to eat at Fredricks, and Sugar and Midnight teased those poor colts endlessly.”

Midnight’s grip softened as she edged away a little...only to be caught in Ledger’s hug now. “Do go on,” Ledger said with a wide smile.

“Well, after that, Sugar Darling took us to a place with… ehem! Some strippers… and we all got gifts.”

“Ohh, you mean like the kinky boardgames, flavoured condoms and the giant rubber dong?” Midnight said.

Her words had the desired effect of making Twilight blush and hide under her wings. A rather nice imitation of Fluttershy.

And yet, Fluttershy was standing strong… even as her legs trembled like leaves in a wind storm.

“I may want to examine these gifts later,” Ledger said. “They sound...interesting.”

“Oh! What about the collars we got?” Midnight grinned maliciously.

“Collars?” Ledger asked with a tilted head. “I don’t have a pet. Much less multiple.”

“How long do you think it’ll take him to figure it out?” Sugar whispered to Wishful.

“Right up until they slip them on in front of him,” Wishful whispered back.

“I feel sorry for those mares,” Sugar sighed. “They got four collars Ledger dear. Do the math!”

“Sugar!” Twilight said with a furious blush adorning her face. One that Ledger matched.

“Um,” he said, before looking at Midnight. “Are...are you...okay with that?”

“Maybe… I dunno,” Midnight said, as most ponies in the room had a look of confusion, save for Scope, Cider and her parents. “Maybe… not right away. Sorry…”

“That’s fine by me,” Ledger affirmed with a nod. “I wasn’t even expecting that. So of course I’ll listen to you when you say you don’t want to wear one.”

“Is… there something wrong?” Fluttershy asked. “I knew I shouldn’t have gotten them. Ohh, what was I thinking?”

“She just has a bad history with collars,” Ledger said. “You couldn’t have known.” And then he winked at Midnight. “Besides, something tells me that she won’t be wearing it right away.”

“I could make you wear it,” she smirked and trailed her hoof along his flank. “Such a bad bug. You need to be punished~”

“Aaaand I’m sure my mother needed to hear all about that,” the drone deadpanned.

Midnight blinked and looked around. “Oh, you’re all still here?”

“Yes, yes we are Midnight,” Twilight sighed. “Aaanyway. After that, Sugar Darling here retrieved some drinks from her club and we came back here and played a few games. Nothing more.”

“A game you’re quite familiar with,” Midnight purred, nibbling Ledger’s ear.

“I thought I had to be here for you all to play that game,” Ledger returned.

“Sorry Ledgie,” Midnight replied. “We can play our version later. After all, you still gotta play with Scopey and TwiTwi~”

“We’re right here you know?” Shining, Twilight’s parents and Scope all shouted.

“It’s kind of hard to forget about any of you when you’re yelling,” the drone said as he used a hoof to clean out one ear.

“So that’s that,” Twilight replied. “As for the wedding. It’s going to be held here in the castle in three days.” She looked at the Madame and her entourage. “Do you have a place to stay? Or will we be housing you all here for the duration?”

“I’m sure I can find somewhere to stay,” the Madame said.

“That’s a ‘no, we don’t have anywhere to stay’,” Wishful spoke up.

“Then I’m more than happy to have you here,” Twilight smiled. “It’s not like I don’t have the room.”

“Charge them rent, you could make a killing,” Discord said as he reclined on the Madame’s back. He munched a carrot and smiled. “Eh, what’s up Bug?”

“Just getting acquainted with everyone aiding in my son’s wedding,” the Madame replied.

“Ohh, that will be fun!” Discord chuckled. He was looking forward to it. “And remember Chryssie…”

“I will murder you in your sleep!” Chrysalis growled. “Actually, you know what. Forget it. I don’t care anymore because I’m not getting married!” And with that, she blasted from the room with an explosive teleport.

“I fear I have err’d,” Discord said and stroked his goatee. Amy sniffed and started sobbing quietly, even as her colors began to dull…

The doors flew open and Chrysalis came running back in the second she realised her error and what might happen.

“Ohcrapohcrapohcrap!” She bowled Twilight and the Madame over as she scooped up the little Pink. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it! I was just so mad and… I’m really sorry Amy. I’m still going to marry you and Acey. Please oh please cheer up!”

“You mean it?” Amy said, her discoloration halting but not reversing.

Chrysalis gulped. She looked at the crowd and the look in her eyes said that she would eviscerate anypony who said anything about this. She nodded and sat on her rump.

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” she said, going through the motions. “I uh… I was waiting for a better time but…” She pulled out a box and opened it, revealing a black ring with a stunning green emerald. The gem shimmered and Amy saw it was no emerald, but a crystalised piece of her magic.

The pink nymph’s breath hitched. “For...for me?” she asked softly.

“No, it’s for Ace,” Chrysalis deadpanned. “Yes you little pink doof. It’s yours. A little piece of myself, so you’ll never, ever be alone.”

Amy’s colors rapidly brightened back to normal before she started vibrating in place. Then she was hugging and kissing Chrysalis like no tomorrow, saying only one word over and over. “Yes!” she said between kisses. “Yes yes yes!”

“Well, guess she only likes it a little,” Chrysalis smiled. A genuine one as she held the little pink mare. “And I don’t have to say what will happen to the next idiot to make an invasion joke.” She turned her head and glared at the crowd. “Do I!”

“Nope,” Amy said as she kept hugging Chryssie. “Cause the next pony to even think about making one will get me. I’ll deal with them for you Chryssy~”

“Nope!” Shining said and got shakily to his hooves. “Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope.” Each step punctuated by that word until he left the room.

“Shiny?” Cadence blinked. “What the…?”

“Maybe you should go after him,” Ledger urged the pink alicorn. “See what that was all about.”

“Oh that?” Chrysalis chuckled, revelling in the love that Amy was giving her. “My little Creamy just scarred him for life for trying to arrest me is all. He’ll be alright… one day.”

“Oh dear,” Cadence sighed, walking from the room to find and console her husband.

“Well, I apologise,” Discord said, actually genuine about it too. “This friendship thing is… difficult to master.”

“The important part is you try,” Ledger said. “And learn from your mistakes, that’s another big one.”

“Says the pot to the kettle,” Discord said to him. “Oh Madame dear. Are we expecting some royal visitors from your end? This is the first official wedding between a pony and Changeling after all.”

“My brother wishes he could attend,” the nymph replied. “But sadly, affairs of state are keeping him busy at the moment, and likely will until long after the wedding is over..”

“A pity, I was so hoping to meet that delightful Violet mare again,” Discord said and licked his lips. “Oh well~”

Yearling visibly shuddered at the thought of that terrifying mare. She wasn’t wearing her amulet, so her fear was easy to read by the changelings present. Devoted was on one side of her, Lucky took up her other side, and both of them were trying to comfort her with a hug.

“That mare… scares me,” Yearling said. “Something about her…”

“She was a good help in pointing me to the right sort of changelings I would need to help change the regimes of half the Hives,” the Madame said.

“Speaking of,” Yearling wanted to switch topics. “Can we speak privately later?”

“Of course, after breakfast,” the silver nymph said.

Speaking of… Ledger and his mares heard a familiar sound, and caught some familiar scents.

“SOUP’S ON!” they heard Cider hollar from the dining hall. Ledger smiled before getting the door and opening it wide for the ponies. The filed through and several of them gasped when they saw the literal feast laid out for them.

“Whoa…” Night Light said and looked at Ledger. “And… you eat like this… all the time?”

“Not like this, but with Cider, the restaurants of Las Pegasus, and their abundant love, I’m never hungry,” Ledger replied before taking a seat.

“I’m… kinda jealous bro,” Flash said as he sat down. His voice lowered to a hushed whisper. “You remember those mares right, from that one time?” He didn’t exactly want to spill an major details with Twilight in the room.

“Vaguely,” Ledger replied.

“Three mares bro. Three! And not a single one of them can cook to save their lives…”

“You just got unlucky,” Ledger replied as he put some food on both his and Flash’s plate. “Try the fritters, they’re delicious.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” he said as he took one. One of his eyes wandered to the pony of the same name.

“Amy… can we move in with them?” Chrysalis said with huge puppy eyes. This food was… indescribable~

“I think they have enough ponies in their life as it is,” Amy snickered. “Though this food is giving me all sorts of delicious ideas~”

“I still stand by my statement that you’re secretly a Violet,” the older nymph sighed and looked away, blushing. “Well, whatever, your ice-cream is a million times tastier…”

“Mmm, nope, it’s a tie,” the pink nymph said. “My stuff is for dessert or a snack, this is the tastiest breakfast I’ve ever had. I can admit defeat gracefully too, y’know.”

“Can’t seem to take a compliment though,” the changeling muttered into her Prench toast.

“Ah reckon yer skills have gotten way better though,” Applejack complimented her cousins. “Heck, ah still remember when you two could do little more than burn water…”

“Ahh, don’t tell them that!” Cider and Fritter said together in perfect unison.

“Not saying it,” Ledger said simply, tempted to but knowing better than to bring up Midnight’s lack of expertise. Maybe one day he’d help her get better.

“Not saying what?” Scope said. “That Midnight totally sucks at cooking. That kitchens spontaneously combust at the mere thought of her walking into them. That the demons of Tartarus fear her cooking more that the light of Celestia?”

“There’s this thing called tact,” Ledger dryly replied. “I was trying to practice it.”

“Meh, pull no punches and take no prisoners,” Scope nodded. “Such is life.”

“You’re soooo meannnn~” Midnight pouted and folded her forelegs. “No hugs and kisses for any of you now!”

“Told you so,” Ledger said as he blew a kiss at Midnight. “And for the record, I believe that with the right teacher, you can learn to cook, Middy.”

“Doubt it,” Midnight pouted.

“Believe me, I’ve tried,” Moon Song sighed. “It’s a lost cause.”

“So was I when I started out,” Ledger said.

“It’s true,” Critical pitched in. “He couldn’t even make toast without it turning into charcoal.”

“Ooh, do we have any more embarrassing stories about Ledger?” Scope chuckled. “Picking on him is always fun.”

“He was the reason we had to eat out as often as we did,” Critical pitched in. “Using up ingredients in his ‘experiments’ in cooking.”

“In my defense, those should have worked,” the drone defended himself.

“And then he learned how to read a recipe properly.”

“Still burned my fair share of things, but I got better over time,” Ledger grumbled.

“Your first casserole was charcoal,” the green nymph deadpanned. “I don’t know how you forgot about it as long as you did. You’d think the smoke would have been a clue!”

“That’s generally a good sign,” Shining chuckled. “You should see Twilight’s attempts at cooking. Heh, and you all think Tirek was a threat to the world.”

“Shut up,” Twilight mimicked Midnight’s pout.

“I realize I might have a slight advantage over a pony in learning how to cook,” Ledger said between bites. “But I still think it’s worth the effort of teaching her.”

“If you survive the ordeal that is,” Scope giggled. Her teasing was relentless.

Midnight just hissed at them and cuddled up to Twilight. “You’re the only one that understands me,” she said to the princess. “We should leave these boors and run away together.”

“I did say I would teach you,” Ledger pointed out. “Plus it’d be novel to teach a princess something new.”

“You say that like you haven’t already~” Twilight said and gave him a half-lidded gaze. Quite the opposite to the glare he was getting from her parents and brother.

“Something you can use outside of the bedroom,” the drone replied dryly.

“Ahh, and now this is the perfect breakfast,” Sugar Darling hummed.

“I can’t take you anywhere, can I?” Moondancer sighed.

“You say that like you could take me anywhere to begin with,” the nymph countered.

“I give up,” Moondancer sighed. “You changelings are impossible.”

“That we are,” Chrysalis nodded. “Pink’s especially so…” Her eyes wandered to the two drones that had accompanied that yellow pegasus mare. “So who are these delicious little morsels?”

“My drones,” Yearling replied absently. She was too engrossed in this tasty food to really think about her answers. “So bugger off.”

“Your’s huh?” Chrysalis smirked and looked at the drones. “So, has she used the Right of Claiming yet?”

“Not yet, but I’m a free agent,” Lucky said as he ate some of this delicious food. “So I go where I please, and it pleases me to stay by her. She doesn’t need to do something like that for me.”

Devoted, however, was oddly quiet…

“Ohh, so only one of you is eager huh?” Chrysalis pressed him. “A Blue named Devoted… yes, I’d say King and Hive come first for you hmm?”

“I...want to stay by her, but I am loyal to my king,” Devoted Cause said quietly. “When our time together is over…when she is done exploring the Lands...”

Chrysalis stared at him then looked at the pegasus mare. She felt sorry for her. Blues could be… problematic to court, for that exact reason.

And yet, Yearling just looked at her drone, then glanced over at the Madame.

“So whut’s the plan after breakfast?” Applejack asked.

“Actually, I’d like all the brides and bridesmaids to come back to my shop,” Rarity said. “I’d like to do a final fitting for the dresses and make any necessary adjustments.”

“Ledger,” Wishful spoke up. “Don’t you have that order to check up on?”

“Yup, and I have a suit to obtain as well,” Ledger said with a nod. “I’d rather not give miss Rarity here another task to do today if at all avoidable, so the tailors of Las Pegasus will have to do.”

“You know that I am quite popular in certain circles of the industry,” Rarity nodded. “Why don’t you take a little day trip to Canterlot? I know a boutique that would suit you to a T.” She giggled at her little pun.

“Mmm, fine, but Twilight will have to show me how to work her portal device,” the drone said. “I really need to head back to Las Pegasus today and pick up that order.”

“It’s simple enough, even Chrysalis could figure it out,” the alicorn giggled.

“I feel like I should be insulted,” Chrysalis pouted and looked at Amy. “Should I be insulted.”

“You can be insulted later,” Amy said as she beeped Chryssy’s nose. “Today you have a fitting! You’re gonna look so pretty~”

“Oh hells,” Chrysalis frowned at the thought of Rarity using her as one of her ponnequins. “This is going to suck…”

“I promise you it’ll be fine,” Amy said. “I got a fitting done and it wasn’t that bad.”

“So many designs to work with, I can’t wait~” Rarity squealed in delight.

“That just leaves us old ponies to our day,” Grissom chuckled. “I’ll admit I’m quite lost to what I’ll do when I’m not working.”

“We could just explore Ponyville,” Wishful said.

“That sounds like a nice way to spend the day,” the Madame mused. “It would give me time to get used to this place before the wedding.”

“This poor town will never know what hit it,” Moon Song giggled. “Three unicorns, two changelings and a thestral walk into Ponyville… now all we need is the punchline.”

“We can work on that while we’re out there,” the silver nymph said with a smile. “I must admit I am eager to spend time with you all as well~”

“Does that line fill you with dread?” Scope whispered to Ledger. “I don’t like it when your Mom smiles… reminds me of a dragon that’s about to eat somepony.”

“Mom, be nice out there,” Ledger said. “We don’t need the ponies here afraid of another changeling invasion.”

“I could take this town over in a week, if not for the mares right here,” the mare said before gesturing at the former Bearers.

“Trixie did that in a half hour,” Rainbow nodded as Twilight groaned and facehooved.

“Let’s not bring that up again.”

“And me in even less time,” Discord said. “Really now, Ponyville isn’t exactly… challenging. It’s like the tutorial level or something.”

“The trick seems to be holding onto it,” the Madame mused. “I could work something out with a day in the archives, if I felt like it. And I always have wanted a summer home in Equestria…”

“Mr. Wishful?” Twilight said with an exasperated sigh. “Could you please ask your wife not to invade Ponyville. It wouldn’t end well.”

“Honey, it would sort of violate that whole ‘no invading’ rule for our son’s wedding,” Wishful said.

“Oh fie,” the nymph sighed. “Very well, another day then.”

“Just remember that we’re here,” Midnight pointed out. “That said, fighting you would be fun~ I’d love to see what kinds of tricks you’d pull out.”

“Unfair ones,” the Madame smiled. “But that’s another day.”

“Fair enough,” the bat nodded. “I’mma borrow your room to exercise for a bit,” she said to Twilight and kissed her cheek. “Catch you later~” She moved and gave three of the Apple mares a kiss as well, leaving Applejack a little flustered as she went to fly from the room…

Before Rarity’s blue aura snagged her as the unicorn sighed. “And where do you think you’re going?”

“Um… exercise?”

“As admirable as your devotion to your physical health and physique is, we have a fitting to go to.”

“Nnnnuuuuuu…” Midnight cried out as she was carried from the room, the rest of the mares involved follow them. “Ledggeerrrr! Save meeeeee!”

“I’ll take my punishment for leaving you to your fate when you’re all prettied up,” Ledger said as he continued to eat.

“You suuuuuck,” her voice called out before they left altogether.

“So, what did you guys wanna do?” Yearling asked her entourage. “Any place you’d like to visit.”

“We’ve never been out of the Lands,” Lucky pointed out. “You’d have a better idea of what’s going on than us.”

“Well, let’s… um…” Yearling frowned and tapped her chin. What could she do here?

“Oh Yearling,” Velvet sung and the mare froze. Oh sweet Tartarus, she forgot that she was here. “How’s that book coming? You know, the one I was supposed to have a draft for already?”

“Heey, you know what? Let’s just go,” she said and flew from the nearest open window. Hopefully those two would follow her.

Lucky and Devoted took the chance to finish off what they were eating before darting after the mare. Food this delicious should be eaten! Then the pair of them flew out the same window she did.

“Well how do you like that?” Velvet sighed. “Honestly, if she wasn’t such an amazing writer I’d…”

“Be bored out of your skull I’d wager,” Night Light said with a chuckle. “So, shall we finish up here and head out together?”

“Sounds good,” Wishful hummed. “Once Ledger actually starts up the portal and is off, we’re free.”

“And with that, I’m suddenly all out of confidence that I will be able to,” the drone sighed. “Oh well. How hard could it be?”

“Gee, if only there was somepony here who lived with Twilight most of her life, and knows almost as much about magic as she does,” Shining Armor said with no small amount of snark.

“Play nice Shiny,” Cadence chided him. “Go with Ledger and see if you boys can figure out Twilight’s little device.”

“Yes Ma’am,” Shining replied and chuckled. “Come on bug, let’s go and start thinking with portals.”

“I should probably learn it, if only to see if I can replicate it for my own business,” Ledger said. “Two heads are better than one, though. And I can already imagine the applications you’d have for it.”

“And us,” the Madame pitched in.

“You can have it when you can hold the peace and not declare war for every slight,” Ledger shot back as he led Shining out of the dining hall.

“That was one time!” she replied.

“My, my. Everypony certainly seems spirited this morning,” Moon Song giggled.

“Ah, are we talking about that Yellow nymph?” Ace asked. “My student mentioned her to me one time.”

“Yes,” the silver mare said before taking a sip of coffee. “I was merely returning insult for insult. I would have stopped with her head for what she did to my son.”

“Violence begets violence,” Ace nodded. “You seek revenge, and then hers would have sought revenge in kind. A never ending escalation, a battle that no-one wins.” He nodded and gave her a small smile. “Perhaps… there are other ways?”

“I am not going to forgive her for what she did,” the Madame replied bitterly. “An insult like that, what she did to my son...he’s too kind, too forgiving. She should pay for what she did.”

“No one is perfect and anyone can make a mistake,” Ace nodded. “I know not what this individual did to incur such fury. That particular detail was left out, as it was not my place to know. I simply wished to know why my student had almost killed somepony out of anger.”

“It’s not my place to say, really,” the Madame said simply. “But there are very, very few things that would make a mother want to behead somepony for what they did to their child. Take a guess, I’m sure you’ll come up with something.”

“Any ideas that are coming to mind are one’s I’d rather not voice,” Ace said. “And very few things rile up Midnight to that point. Still, I hear that this Yellow mare is attempting to make amends. To… minute degrees of success.”

“My brother and I are trying to come up with appropriate punishments for what nymphs like her did to drones because they could,” the Madame rejoined. “I’d be glad to have a case one to impart our punishments onto when we come up with them.”

“As long as death isn’t the first choice,” Ace said. “Anyone can change. Take Discord and Chrysalis, one once ruled this world and the other tried. And yet, you just shared a friendly breakfast with them.”

“...I dislike logic being applied to this situation,” the Madame frowned.

“You have to admit, he has a point,” Wishful replied. “Granted, I still want that nymph to be punished as well, but you can’t let your emotions cloud your judgement.”

Ace nodded. “Emotions are a powerful thing, something your kind should know better than anyone. Perhaps she had her own reasons? Details can be lost in the heat of the moment, even to those that were involved. Just, keep that advice in mind hmm?”

The silver nymph sighed. “Fine. Have it your way. I promise to try to reign in my murderous urges the next time I see her. Try.”

“I mean no disrespect,” Ace said as he got up. “All I ask that you keep your options open. Regret is something that is difficult to amend.” He gave the couple a polite bow and left the room.

“Wow…” Apple Leaves and Twilight Velvet said.

“Like I’d regret putting that nymph in her place,” the silver nymph muttered to herself.

“Dear,” Wishful said.

“Fine, I’ll stop trying to find the damn nymph that-” she cut herself off before finishing, shaking her head.

Wishful shook his head and placed a hoof around her. “What do you supposed he meant by her trying to make amends?”

“I suppose we’ll find out one day, like she actually can make amends for what she did,” the nymph muttered.

“It’s not easy, letting go of anger like that,” Moon Song said as she sipped her tea. Her expression was unreadable, and even her emotions felt masked somehow. “But you can do it. I did after all…”

“That’s...yes, I recall,” the Madame sighed. “Ledger wrote about that. Very well. I’ll...work on it. Eventually.”

“Okay,” Velvet clapped her hooves together. “What say we go out and paint the town red…” She smirked and looked at the Madame. “Not literally of course~”

“I can do that, but first,” the Madame replied as she gathered up the empty plates. “I’ll just take care of these for you all, then put my make-up on and join you.”

Velvet’s horn shone and the dishes disappeared into the kitchen to be washed later. “Allow me,” she smiled.

“Handy,” the nymph said with her usual smile, before her horn shone again and her usual unicorn disguise was in place once more.

“Handy,” Velvet and Moon echoed, watching her apply the disguise so easily. “No wrinkles or grey hairs…”

“Not that you could tell,” Wishful said with a smirk. “She’s always silver in color.” That remark earned him a quick punch from his wife.

That earned a round of chuckles and giggles.

“You two are such a cute couple,” Velvet said as they left for their walk around town. Apple Leaves was reading a letter she got just as they left and she squealed happily, hugging the parchment.

“Good news I take it?” Moon giggled and nudged the earth mare.

“Mhmm, we have to swing by the train station around noon if that’s alright,” she nodded happily.

“I think we can squeeze it into our vast clear schedule,” Wishful replied.

“Thank yew kindly,” she replied, her accent slipping. “Ah reckon this is gonna be a real fine day~”

“Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored,” Midnight chanted as she stood perfectly still. Rarity’s eye gave a slight twitch as she adjusted a seam.

“You have to look perfect on the day,” she said calmly, though she grit her teeth to keep that tone calm. “And we’re almost done so if you don’t mind…” she looped the needle through and pricked her flank, causing Midnight to yelp.

“OW! Okay, I get it… yeesh,” she looked over at Scope, who was, surprise surprise, discussing Daring Do with Rainbow Dash.

“Hey Scopey, you wanna add Fangirl Dash to the herd as well huh?” she called out.

“Hey, any fan of Daring is good by me,” Scope replied. “Plus she’s a useful buffet. She just never runs out of Loyalty.”

“I am not joining your pervy herd,” Dash said and poked out her tongue. She shot a glance to Sugar Darling and blushed. That nymph had better keep her mouth shut about last night…

“So?” Moondancer said as she leaned against her wife. “You were gone for quite a while last night. Everything alright?”

“Let’s just say all they needed was a little push. One that I was happy to provide,” Sugar hummed.

“You slept with two of the Elements of Harmony?” Moondancer said in a hushed tone. “I’m surprised you’re not preening more.”

“Not personally, no, but I did give miss Dash there a little push towards her friend,” Sugar hummed.

“Oh? You didn’t stay and instruct them?” Moondancer replied with a light titter. “It’s what I would have done~”

“It was hard enough getting Miss Shy to agree to try, I didn’t want to push my luck,” the nymph said. “Though I will say that the lust they gave off afterwards was so great I could taste it.”

“Aww, I’m happy for ‘em,” Moondancer giggled. “It’s too bad you missed out on the show back in our room. I think I learned a few new things from watching though. Including a few for changelings~”

“I could feel that too~” the nymph purred. “I think I won’t go hungry our entire stay in Ponyville~”

Moondancer giggled and leaned in closer, her lips against her ear. “A male Chrysalis in one end, Ace in the other. And wanna guess what I learned~?” she giggled as she took one of the mare’s hooves and kissed it, as her tongue brushed the rim of one of her leg holes. “Guess who learned an erogenous zone~”

“Oooh, you’re good~” the nymph replied. “Still, let’s try to avoid making a scene in Rarity’s place of business?”

“Like you’d object to me taking you while they all watched,” Moondancer said and smiled. “Still, fun times will have to wait. Best of luck my love.” Sugar was about to ask what she meant by that, before she caught sight of Rarity stalking towards her in the corner of her peripheral vision.

“I take it it is my turn next?” the noble Violet asked.

“Indeed darling,” Rarity nodded. “Though, what form shall you be taking for the event?”

“Myself of course,” the nymph replied.

“So your changeling form then?” Rarity tapped her chin and nodded. “Yes, I believe I can work with this.” She floated over a few bolts of fabric, namely the divine one she'd invented a while ago, the one Suri had blatantly stolen.

It would look simply perfect to highlight the bridesmaids dresses.

“Now hold still darling.” Rarity smiled and nodded. “Let's get fabulous!”

“Hey! That’s my line!” Amy pouted.

The chilled wind blew over Las Pegasus as Level Ledger headed for his destination. A little jewelry store. One he’d been to before, to place his order for multiple wedding bands. He just hoped the owner had been up to the task.

The door let out a little chime thanks to the bell over it when he walked in. “Hello?” he said.

There was a crash from out back, before the stallion stumbled out of his backroom, looking a little dusty. “Ah, I’ve been expecting you colt. Welcome!”

“And a good day to you,” Ledger said with a smile. “Do you have that which I ordered?”

“Ah, about that, there’s… a small problem,” he said as he took out four small boxes.

“What is it?” Ledger asked as he braced himself.

“Well, you see. They turned out much better than I expected them to,” he said as he opened the boxes, revealing four immensely beautiful rings. “I almost don’t want to give them up now.”

“I see,” the disguised drone replied. “I can imagine the price tag on them will be quite high, then.”

“Hmm, they were a joy to make, and given the nature, I doubt I’ll ever reproduce them,” the stallion said. “Still, I’d like to think I got a little better at my craft thanks to these. So I’ll abide by our agreed upon contract.” He held up the boxes and smiled. “Just take care of the ones these rings are destined for.”

“My thanks,” Ledger said as he pulled out a checkbook and wrote out a check for the agreed upon amount. Yeah, this was going to sting. But he’d been saving up for this day, so he could take it.

He wouldn’t be making any expensive purchases for a while, though…

“And my thanks as well,” the jeweler nodded as he wrapped the boxes and placed them into a bag. “And be careful on your way home. A group of muggers have been rather active of late.”

“They should know better than to mess with me,” Ledger said with a cocky grin. “Besides, I have an appointment in Canterlot to attend to. I’ll let nothing stop me on my way.”

“Well, best of luck. And have a wonderful life with those mares,” the stallion grinned. “Feel free to call back should the bands need adjusting.”

“I’ll let them know where to go,” the brown unicorn said with a nod, carefully packing the bag away in his saddlebags and giving a bow to the stallion. “Take care.”

The older stallion waved him off as he left. All he had to do was head to Canterlot, get a suit… then… get married…

No, bad Ledger. No panicking. This was Midnight, Cider, and Twilight. They’d never hurt you. Scope might if she was in a bad mood, but she likely wouldn’t either. And they’d be supremely disappointed if you failed to show up for your own wedding.

Thus having reassured himself, Ledger whistled a tune as he went on to the train station. Hmm...would it be faster to go from here or Ponyville, he wondered.

“Hey guy…” a voice said as he entered one alley. “Whatcha got in the bag?” Another half dozen ponies joined him, sealing off both ends of the alleyway.

“Stallions,” Ledger said. “You don’t want to do this.” Already he was calling up his magic.

“Oh really?” one said as his own horn shone. “The way I see it, you just came from that jewelry store with a nice, big bag. So why don’t you hoof it over and you won’t get hurt.”

The rest of the group chuckled, several brandishing lead pipes or chains. One pegasus even had some wing blades.

Scare tactics. Then neutralize first threat. With that in mind, Ledger dropped his disguise and screeched, before sending a blast of his magic at the unicorn’s horn. With luck, he’d be able to follow it up with a stun spell. He did this smoothly and quickly, like his step-fathers had trained him to.

“Aw shit, it’s a friggen bug!” one of them yelled.

“Good, means no-one’ll miss ‘im,” another said as the unicorn went down. “Feckin’ idiot!”

The pegasus launched at him, his wings blades drawn…

Ledger held up a hoof and willed his carapace to be harder, it almost gleaming and drawing his leg back down. Scare tactics. Neutralize second threat.

The blade scraped against the rock-hard chitin, sparks erupting from the glancing blow as Ledger’s hoof came down on one of his wings with a sickening crack. The pegasus yelled and tumbled away, clutching his broken wing.

“Would it kill you idiots to fecking kill him?!” the apparent leader yelled. Two earth ponies ran forward, swinging down with heavy lead pipes. Ledger used his magic to yank them out of their grips at the height of their swing, then returned the favor they had been about to impart on him. Upside their heads.

The first received a direct blow, knocking him out cold as the second back-stepped out of pure reflex, avoiding that fate. In less than a minute, Ledger had already wiped out nearly half of them.

Some were starting to have second thoughts.

“Celestia-damned-fecking-morons!” the leader snapped and pulled something from his coat. An experimental weapon developed by the griffons. It was a tube-shaped device that fired a small projectile with a tiny, controlled explosion. Essentially a miniature cannon.

He never got to fire it though. A glow surrounded his body as he was flipped upside down, two sets of hoofcuffs had him trussed up in less than a second.

“And what a bucking surprise, you’re here,” Narrow Gaze frowned as she locked eyes with Ledger. “Doing a little bounty hunting on the side now?”

“Not really, but if there is a bounty on them, I totally claim dibs,” Ledger said cheekily. “I was just on my way to the train station when these morons decided to jump me. I’d just been about to educate that bucker in pain when you came swooping in to save him.”

“My feckin’ ‘ero!” the guy drolled before an errant kick from Narrow knocked him out.

“Whoops, he’s unconscious now. I hear that’s quite contagious actually…” Her horn shone and she blurred, crossing the distance between herself and Ledger almost instantly, uppercutting the stallion Ledger’s last counter missed. “See what I mean?”

Ledger turned and looked at the remaining muggers with a smile that had way too many pointed teeth. “So, the way I see it, you have three options,” the drone said idly. “Come quietly, get knocked out by the captain here...or face me.”

The three remaining colts looked at each other and chose option four. Get the ever-loving buck out of here! They turned to bolt and Narrow smiled and looked at Ledger.

“I love it when they try to run~”

“Me too~” Ledger said as he let loose a minor stun spell, aiming for their legs.

Narrow aimed a concussive blast just under their newly stunned hind hooves, causing them to flip several times in the air and land face first onto the cobblestone pavement.

“You have the right to remain unconscious,” Narrow said.

“Anything you groan can and will be brought up to embarrass you in court,” Ledger said with a cheeky grin.

“Well, thanks for the assist,” Narrow said, not wanting to admit how fun that was. “Glad you took it easy on these ones.”

“You just got here in time,” Ledger said. “I was fully prepared to educate that stallion in pain. Maybe you can use that to get him to understand just what a bucking mistake trying to mug me was?”

“It was on purpose,” she said. “Remember that guy that stole your shipment? These bottom-feeders are his lackeys.”

“...Narrow, I’m getting married soon,” Ledger said calmly. “If that pony isn’t behind bars when I come back, he’ll wish he was when I do.”

“I’m working on it,” she sighed as she cuffed the rest of them, some more guards filtering into the alley to haul them off. “He’s a slippery sonofasnake though. And it looks like he’s not in the city right now.”

“He’d better not be in Ponyville,” Ledger growled. “I won’t have anything ruining our day.”

“No, we have reports saying he’s in Trottingham. Making some kind of deal there. I’m heading out in a few hours. See if I can’t get two scumbags for the price of one.”

“See you later then, Captain,” Ledger said, waiting for everypony to leave before he even considered throwing his disguise back on.

She nodded and turned. “I’ll… try to make it back in time for the wedding okay?” Her tone seemed to lack confidence though.

“Don’t worry if you can’t,” Ledger said. “I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures. I can understand that your job is important.”

“Yeah,” she nodded and turned around. “The bounty on these guys was about five-hundred bits. Swing by the station to pick it up.”

“I’ll make a note of it, but it might not happen until after my wedding day, depending on how long the wait is for a train,” the changeling said. Once the last guard had gone besides Narrow, he shifted back to his normal disguise and cracked his neck.

“There’s one in fifteen if you hurry,” she said. “Good luck Ledger.”

“And you as well,” the now-disguised drone said. “Keep those bits ready for me, I’ll be back in a few days to pick them up. I’m gonna need them, what with four rings and a suit to obtain for my day.”

“Noted,” the mare replied and the two parted ways, the changeling soon seated on a train and heading towards Canterlot. Just a few more days...

Chapter 91 - Fancy Fittings and Claims of Love

Ledger walked through the streets of Canterlot, humming a merry tune to himself. Sure, he didn’t know where he was going, but he presumed he would know the place when he saw it. Rarity’s was certainly unmistakeable, after all.

Most of the architecture in Canterlot was very similar. But when he saw a group of well-dressed ponies exit one building, and he saw ponnequins in the bay windows… well, it didn't take a genius to figure out the store’s purpose.

He walked into the building, hearing the tinkle of the bell and smiling happily. He needed to instill good feelings in whoever ran this place if he was to get truly suited up.

“Welcome to Rarity’s Canterlot Boutique!” a chipper unicorn mare smiled. She had an ocean-blue coat and a styled orange mane. Her form was tall and slender, and she wore a rather appealing black skirt and saddle.

“Sassy Saddles at your service!” she beamed.

“I am Level Ledger,” the disguised ‘ling said with a tilt of his head. “I was wondering if you could possibly fit me for a suit? I’m getting married soon, and I don’t seem to have a fitting one for such an occasion.”

“Ohh, a wonderful occasion,” she said and nodded. “Well then, let’s get some measurements then. Would you follow me to the dressing room?”

“I can do that,” Ledger said, already calling to mind his locking and soundproofing spells. He’d need them at the ready in case she screamed…

“Okay, so what sort of suit are you thinking of?” she asked as she held the door open for him. The room was circular and the walls were surrounded by mirrors.

“Ah...I don’t suppose we could keep this fitting private?” Ledger asked. “My intentions are completely honorable, I just...don’t wish to be seen by anypony but you during this.”

“The customer should always be made to feel comfortable,” Sassy nodded as she closed the door. “I was about to close up for lunch anyhow, so a few extra minutes shouldn’t matter.”

“On being comfortable…” Ledger said with a sigh. “Okay, I’m...hesitant to do this. But I want you to promise you will hear me out when I make my request and not immediately dismiss me.”

“...You’re not going to do something perverted are you?” Sassy deadpanned. “Because if you are then you can just—”

That was when Ledger’s form ignited and was replaced with his actual form.

Sassy yelped and took a step back when he burst into flame. She raised a hoof and bit into it when she saw his true form. It took a minute for her to calm down and she lowered her hoof, a little red from how hard she bit it.

“W-Well, this is… so this is what she meant.”

“I kind of want to get married as myself,” Ledger said. “And my secret won’t be very important after that. Heck, I plan to walk the streets of my home as me after my wedding day. But...I need a suit. And Rarity did recommend this place.”

“R-Rarity did inform me that I might receive a… unique guest today. I wasn’t expecting a Changeling though.” She sighed and followed up with a deep breath. “I apologise for my reaction. And yes, I’d be glad to assist you. Though I must ask,” she took out a measuring tape and started. “Who is the lucky mare? Or lady-changeling?”

“Ah, well, that’s a bit of a complex answer,” Ledger replied. “As there isn’t just...one.”

“More than one?” Sassy blinked as she measured his forelegs. “A herd marriage? You can still do those? I thought they only existed in cheesy romance novels.”

“Yes, well, the mare that started this with me decided to bring it back,” Ledger said. “Though it’s totally my fault we’re in one. I wouldn’t change it for anything, though.”

“Mhmm, such a juicy romance,” she tittered as she measured along his back. “No wings?”

“I don’t normally use them, but if you want me to show off…” Ledger said.

“Well, I’ll need to know if you’d like the suit to contains holes for wings,” she said. “You hide them somehow?” The drone flicked his shell open before displaying his wings, fluttering in the shop. He was careful not to actually take off, though.

“How interesting,” Sassy murmured as she made a few notes. Some ideas came to mind and she wrote them down as well. She’d bring them up with Rarity at some point. “I think I could work something that will allow you to use them if need be.”

“I was planning on using them after the ceremony,” the drone said.

“Well there we go, just leave it to Sassy!” She giggled and measured his hindquarters and back legs. “So tell me about yourself a little. Do you have hobbies? Interests of any kind?”

“Magical research,” Ledger said. “I love taking spells apart and figuring out how they tick. Makes putting together a new one so much fun.”

“How interesting,” Sassy replied, now measuring his inner thigh. “Anything else?”

“I also run a shipping company, and we’re doing a lot better about staying on the right side of the law as compared to the previous boss,” Ledger said. “It’s almost become a hobby of mine to help the guard-captain bust crime.”

“You seem to lead quite the interesting life,” she giggled as she measured his torso and belly. “Oh, do try and hold still. I’ll be done in just a moment.”

“I can do that,” the drone said, waiting for her to be done.

After a moment or two, she rolled up the tape and nodded. “Okay, I have everything I need. Do you have a preferred colour?”

“I rather think a black suit is kind of redundant for a ‘ling,” Ledger said with a chuckle. “I trust your judgement beyond that, though."

“Given your colouration… I’m thinking…” Sassy hummed and closed her eyes. “Perhaps a dark grey or blue… Maybe even a very dark green would work.” She wrote down some more things and nodded. “Well, leave it with me. I’ll try not to disappoint.”

“Thank you,” Ledger said with a nod as he resumed his usual guise. “Approximately how long do you think it’ll take?”

“Hmm, I have no pressing orders at the moment, so, perhaps two days or so?”

“I need it by tomorrow,” the disguised ‘ling said. “I don’t suppose there’s anything I could do…”

“I would have to work through the night,” Sassy said with a small frown. “And that’s if I started right now… If you picked a suit I already have, I could modify it in an afternoon. But to create something from scratch. You really should have done this sooner.”

“Give me a break, this is the first time I’ve been married,” Ledger replied with a small laugh. “Okay, do you think you have one on hoof that you could alter to fit?”

“Perhaps... “ Sassy opened the door and trotted out into the main room. He heard the front door open and somepony come inside. The disguised ‘ling wasn’t afraid, though. He had his disguise up, there was no reason anypony would suspect him for what he was.

“Coco!” Sassy all but pounced the mare that walked inside. “Oh buttons and bobpins! You have come at the absolute most perfect time!”

“I-I have?” the small earth mare said from under the crushing hug. Well, this was...interesting. Ledger decided to wait and see how this would play out.

“Yes, I just received an urgent order from a friend of Rarity. But the problem is that it’s a rush order. It’s needed by tomorrow!”

“T-That’s awfully fast,” Coco said “Wait, so why am I…? Oh.”

“Please help meeeee!” Sassy begged, giving her huge puppy-dog eyes and a pouty lip. “I’ll be ever so grateful.”

“Well, I came to see Rarity about-”

“Pleeheheheheeeese!” Sassy turned up the pout to 11.

“...Alright,” Coco caved. “But you owe me Sassy. Dinner and lunch tomorrow!”

“Deal!” Sassy beamed and perked right up. “Good news Ledger, you might just get that suit after all~”

“Don’t think I didn’t hear that,” the disguised drone said as he walked out of the fitting room. “I’m all for getting help, but you should still check to see if there’s a suit that you can alter before having this poor mare work on a new one.”

“Oh, I don’t mind,” Coco said, she reminded Ledger a lot of Fluttershy.

“We have the suits over there,” Sassy said, resigning to his logic. “And yes, you’re quite right. I did not mean to pressure you, lovely Coco.”

“Please help me, I fear I may just spring a leak,” Ledger said in a near-perfect match of Sassy’s voice. “Even I would call that just a bit of pressure, miss.”

Sassy blushed and spluttered as Coco giggled. The earth mare stepped forward and smiled.

“Oh, don’t pick on her sir, she doesn’t mean any harm by it.” She held out a hoof. “I’m Coco Pommel, and trust me, she is nothing compared to my last boss.”

“Level Ledger,” the brown unicorn introduced himself before taking her hoof and lightly kissing it. “Charmed at making your acquaintance, dear. Shall we see if there’s a suit that suits me here?”

Coco just blushed and stammered, frozen in place by his gesture. Sassy giggled and nudged her with a hoof. “Is she not the most adorable thing you have ever seen? And yet, I’d say her skills with a needle and thread are second only to Miss Rarity.”

“Sad to say, I’ve seen cuter,” Ledger said with a wink. “Not by much, but she’s not half-bad in the cute department.”

Poor Coco’s blush only deepened as Sassy chuckled. “Well, we have a few designs here. The most popular being this one.” It was a black suit with white cuffs around the hooves and a ruffled curvat. A high, gold-trimmed collar and long coattails that ran down the flank.

“I dunno,” Ledger said. “I can’t see myself wearing something like this more than once…”

“And you think the brides would wear their dresses on a regular basis?” Sassy countered. “You get one shot at this. And it’s best to make an impression.”

“True, but I’m not from Canterlot, I don’t need to wear the ‘in’ thing,” the disguised ‘ling said. “Las Pegasus is my home, and I’d like something that suits me.”

“So, something in white with a lot of rhinestones then?” Sassy laughed.

“White, maybe. Rhinestones, not so much,” Ledger said. “I was always of the opinion that less was more when it came to jewels on clothing.”

“Rarity does like her razzle-dazzle,” Coco giggled. “No, I think that custom order is the best bet. Trust me, with me helping, you’ll have it by tomorrow morning.”

“Coco here sowed six dresses in one evening,” Sassy nodded. “But, we will charge you a little extra~”

“I’d be willing to pay even more if you can have it delivered to Ponyville first thing tomorrow,” Ledger replied. “I’ll be ready and waiting for it there.”

“No small feat to be sure,” Sassy said and looked at Coco. The little mare nodded and Sassy grinned. “So be it Mr. Ledger. We shall endeavour to excel.”

“Okay, oh,” Ledger said, checking the windows before looking at Coco. “And in case the order seems strange or the measurements seem off…” With that, his eyes shifted to the ones Sassy had seen briefly in the fitting room, before shifting back to normal.

“What?” Coco blinked. Had that been a trick of the light? His eyes looked different.

“He’s a changeling dear Coco,” Sassy said. “And a friend of Rarity, so don’t be afraid.”

“Afraid?” Coco smiled at him. Gods above it was cute. “I live in downtown Manehatten. This is pretty normal.”

“I’d show off, but I have a wedding to help plan. Pretty sure I need to attend a rehearsal something-or-other by now,” the disguised ‘ling said before winking at Coco. “You take care now. Don’t burn yourselves out making my suit.”

“It’s not a problem,” Sassy smiled and Coco nodded. “Say hello to Rarity for us, and we’ll see you tomorrow.”

“It was a pleasure meeting you both,” the ‘ling said before leaving.

“Well Coco dear,” Sassy bumped her flank with her own. “Let’s get started, then I’ll treat you to that meal~”

Apple Leaves paced up and down the train platform, glancing at the wall mounted clock every few seconds, before looking at the currently barren train-tracks.

“Come on, come on,” she muttered. Where was he?

“Somepony’s impatient,” Velvet giggled, but the earth mare didn’t seem to hear her as she resumed her irritable pacing.

“She’s probably just misses whomever it is we’re waiting for,” Night Light said. The shrill sound of a whistle sounded as the train came over the horizon line. And when it drew closer, the changelings could sense quite a bit of determination, as well as some love as a single massive earth pony dragged the train into the station. He had a similar build to Big Macintosh, only he was a little bigger. He could have easily looked the madame in the eye in her true form.

“Honey!” Apple Leaves launched herself off of the platform once the train had come to a stop. The stallion barely had time to unhook himself from the train before the slender mare landed on his back, hugging his neck.

“I take it he’s the father to Apple Cider,” Wishful said aloud.

“I believe that to be a safe assumption, unless Apple Leaves is this huggy normally,” the Madame said with a chuckle.

Eventually, the pair made their way up onto the platform as the stallion looked over the group.

“Everypony,” Apple Leaves said with a wide smile. “This is my husband, Full Steam. Steamy? These are the parents of our future son and daughters-in-law.”

Full Steam nodded politely. The Madame smiled and tilted her head slightly in greeting, a sentiment that Wishful echoed.

“Nice to meet you,” Night Light nodded and extended a hoof. Full Steam took and and shook, it was surprisingly normal, despite the fact that he’d just hauled a freaking train.

“I trust my wife hasn’t been too nosy?” he rumbled in a deep tone, causing Apple Leaves to swat his flank with a hoof.

“She’s been quite the charming guide around town,” Wishful replied.

“Exactly, I haven’t pried into anyone’s private life… yet,” Apple Leaves nodded.

Steam chuckled and looked at the group. “So, might I ask who’s who here?”

“Night Light and Twilight Velvet,” the blue unicorn said with a nod. “We’re Twilight’s parents.”

“I am Moon Song, and this grumpy bat is Grissom,” the beautiful mare smiled. “We’re Midnight Song’s parents.” Grissom rolled his eyes at the introduction, but nodded his head nonetheless.

“I am Madame Gossip,” the silver mare introduced herself.

“And I’m her better half, Wishful Hope,” the violet unicorn stallion said with a smile. “We’re Ledger’s parents.”

Full Steam looked around. The miniscule amount of passengers had disembarked and the group was all alone on the platform.

“So,” he asked. “You’re like him then?”

“Mmhmm, but we’ll refrain from causing a panic in the town,” Wishful said. “Won’t we dear.”

“I still say I could-”

“Won’t we.”

“Fine,” the Madame said with a roll of her eyes. “I won’t do anything.”

Full Steam raised an eyebrow at his wife, who just shrugged in response. She’d not taken anything they’d said seriously since breakfast.

“Well, one would want to hope you wouldn’t upstage your own son’s wedding hmm?” Steam nodded as the group started heading back into town.

“Or break the whole ‘no invading’ rule,” Wishful said with a nod of his own. “We’re here to relax, not stress anypony else out.”

“It’s Ponyville,” Apple Leave chuckled. “You could waltz in with an army and I doubt they’d even offer you a second glance.”

“See, I could totally-”

Wishful cut his wife off with a quick swat across the nose. “No. No invading, no doing anything that could upset the ponies before our son’s wedding.”

“Alright, I’m curious,” Velvet said. “This town has not only an alicorn princess and the Elements of Harmony, but Aerial Ace, one of Celestia’s finest combat instructors, Former Queen Chrysalis and Midnight Song, whom I have been told, has gone hoof-to-hoof with Tirek. Exactly how would you take this town, and keep it for more than fifteen minutes?”

“Simple,” the Madame replied. “I’d run for mayor.”

Everypony stopped and stared. That… was her grand plan?

“Hate to break it to you,” Grissom said. “But you must be an Equestrian citizen to run for a government position, and have been one for more than three years.”

“And what makes you think I don’t have a certificate of citizenship locked away in my home, and a form to use it with?” the silver mare countered with. “Plus it’d be nice and legal.”

“Because I’m the one that handles citizenship for Changelings,” Grissom replied with a smug smile of his own. “I know you possess no such thing.”

“And how long have you been running that business?” the Madame said with that same enigmatic smile.

“Long enough to know that ever since Chrysalis’ little ploy, we revoked the citizenship of all Changelings in Equestria. Only the ones that went through the right channels to get them back are accepted. So if you have one from before that, and never got it renewed… I’m afraid it’s worth about as much as toilet paper.”

“Still, you would have to know which persona of mine it goes to,” the Madame hummed. “And the Royal Silver line has more than a few investments in Equestria. Investments that I keep on top of when I can. Good luck finding me, Captain~”

“Well, it’s just a matter of when,” he said with his own fanged smirk. Oh he just had to play chess with her sometime.

“Okay, say that it works, and you are now Mayor of Ponyville,” Moon Song said. “Then what? The first act from you that could be considered immoral or evil would bring rainbows down on your head.”

“Of course I wouldn’t overtly act against anyone,” the mare said. “All I would do that could even remotely be suspicious is authorize the construction of new houses and welcome the new members of Ponyville personally.”

“New members?” Moon asked.

“More changelings I’d wager,” Velvet said. “Perhaps enough to outnumber the pony citizens? And likely ones that are extremely loyal to you personally.”

“Not for a long, long time,” the mare said. “I’d play the long game. Welcome them over the years, to not seem suspicious. Make an information network, to discreetly see if any of the citizens are suspicious of anyone that actually is a ‘ling. I doubt I’d ever actually get to the point where Ponyville was more changelings than ponies in my lifetime. I’d end up passing the work over to Ledger in the end.”

“Provided he’d do something like that,” Grissom nodded. “He’s about to become a Prince-Consort after all.”

“What pony wouldn’t want a town of their own?” the Madame countered with.

“It’d probably work, provided you could keep the office of mayor long enough,” Twilight Velvet said as they passed Town Hall. “But honestly, it still sounds dreadfully boring. But then, flashy and dramatic hasn’t seemed to work out so far.”

“Plus Las Pegasus is already mostly changeling-friendly,” the silver mare said. “I may not have to do too much before Equestria just looks at changelings as another sort of pony.”

“That is what we’re working towards,” Grissom nodded. He chuckled and looked at Town Hall, just as the mayor emerged and gave the group a friendly wave. “Besides, this town’s been invaded so many times, there’s probably a standardized form you could just fill out.”

“I’ll keep it in mind, and work on suitable action-thriller one liners for the inevitable confrontation,” the Madame said with a chuckle.

“Hmm, there’s a question,” Leaves mused. “Let’s say it all goes south and you’re facing Twilight and her friends. You have a plan for getting out of that without becoming a lawn ornament?”

“Pfft, at least her stony expression would be more literal then,” Wishful snickered.

“Hmmm…” the mare hummed. “I think the best thing I could do would be to research some sort of charm that could reverse a stoning spell like that, and cast it right before they impacted me.”

“Been there, tried that,” Discord said, a tiny version sitting on the Madame’s head. “Trust me, once you taste the rainbow, there’s no going back.”

“Hmm. Anti-magic spells? Ones designed to stop all magic, cast in an area?” she asked the tiny spirit of chaos.

“Nope, and shields, barriers and simply trying to dodge doesn’t work either.” Discord. “Oh, and their new powers? Stronger than all the pony magic in Equestria combined, and that includes all four alicorns.”

“Well, then I have a simple plan,” the Madame said with a grin. “I’ll have to research ancient artifacts and see if any of them might even possibly be capable of standing up to such magic. Otherwise, well, I’ll just have to strike my best pose, but that’s a risk I’d have to be willing to take if I were to go into this venture.”

“I mean, breaking their friendship doesn’t work,” Discord said.

“Yes, but you tried hypnosis,” Moon Song said. “It’s far more effective to be subtle about it. And using false evidence won’t work either.”

“Now you’re plotting?” Grissom chuckled. “Hoo boy.”

“Scapegoats always work. The flashier the better,” Velvet mused. “I mean, Chrysalis made for quite the stunning display, I’m surprised that nopony tried anything while she had the entire guard focused on her.”

“Hmm, so part of my long game should be breaking up the former Bearers, and doing so subtly,” the nymph mused. “Already, the wheels turn…”

“Stop giving her ideas,” Wishful groaned. “Still, there’s one thing you haven’t accounted for dear?”

“Do tell,” the nymph said. Yes, seeing to it that Miss Dash had a spot in the Wonderbolts would do for one. Maybe help Miss Rarity and Miss Applejack get greater publicity for another few?

“That going up against his mares might just annoy Ledger. It might force him to choose between them and you…”

“True,” the Madame sighed. “Ah well. Maybe another town then. I hear good things about Manehatten.”

“Wait, you’ll take on princesses and rainbow powers, but not Ledger?” Discord asked.

“If there is one thing you should take to heart, spirit, it is that my love for my son surpasses all things,” the nymph said. “You should see if you can adopt, maybe then you’ll understand. He’s my firstborn...and if it ever came down to where I was forcing him to choose between his wives and myself, then clearly, I’ve done something wrong.”

“Adopt? Me?” Discord flashed and reappeared full-sized. “That would be a very, very bad idea. I’m not exactly parent material.”

“Pity, I guess that’s one thing we mortals will always have on you,” the Madame said with her smile.

“It’s one thing to know the truth,” Discord said and looked directly into her silver eyes. “It’s another to rub it in.” And with that, he was gone.

Not before he turned her mane a bright plaid though…

“He really should learn to relax a little,” the mare said, deciding to roll with the mane for now and pass it off as a prank from the spirit. Far less problematic than trying to shift it back and having to explain that. “I’m sure if he actually tried, he might find himself at a point when he wants to be a parent.”

“Could you imagine somepony raised by Discord?” Velvet chuckled. “Nice mane by the way. Very…” she paused and then shrugged. “I’ve got nothing.”

“I’m sure it’ll wear off eventually. That, or I’ll be able to cancel it out with the right spells.” The mare looked at them all and giggled. “So, where to next?”

“It’s hard to take you seriously like that,” Wishful giggled. “And perhaps some lunch is in order…” Another whistle sounded as the train from Canterlot pulled in.

“That sounds good to me,” she said with a nod. “Shall we?”

“Sure!” Apple Leaves nodded as she cozied up to her husband. The group walked off, and a few moments later, the Canterlot train disembarked, leaving a brown-coated unicorn on the station. The residual emotions clearly telling him his parents had been here.

“...Well, on the one hoof, I want to follow, but on the other hoof, Twi’s a stickler for schedules,” Ledger sighed. “I’d better head to the boutique and see if I can catch her there.”

As he got closer to the oddly designed building. I mean, really? Was it designed like a carousel because of the name? Or was it named because of the design of the building?

Either way, the doors were nearly blasted off of their hinges as a rainbow maned pegasus and blonde thestral flew out at breakneck speeds, hollering something about freedom.

“Rainbow! Midnight! GET BACK HERE!” Twilight yelled before sighing. “Celestia dammit.”

“Well, that tells me the fitting is done,” the brown unicorn said before walking up to Twilight and giving her a kiss on the cheek. “I could go look for them if you’d like…”

“You think you could catch them?” Twilight sighed again and returned his kiss.

“Those two have been antsier than a timberwolf near a wood chipper,” Cider agreed as she walked out as well. “Th’ fittin’s done anyway. Well, at least fer us. Chryssie and Twi are gonna be stuck here a little while longer.”

“Speaking of,” Twilight said. She looked at Ledger with those soul-crushing doe eyes. “I was supposed to run an Open Court this afternoon…”

“You want me. One of the snarkier changelings in Las Pegasus. To run your open court,” Ledger said, illuminating the problem with that idea with his words.

“All of my friends are busy, so it’s either you…” She waved a hoof and pointed at a certain pink pony. “Or Pinkie Pie. Do you want to put Pinkie in a position of actual authority?”

“Nope, in fact,” Ledger said before speaking up. “Hey Pinkie!”

“What’s up?” Pinkie said and bounced over. She even made little ‘boing’ sounds as she did. “Heehee, I’m a kangaroo~”

“Middy and Rainbow are hiding, do you think you could find them?” the disguised drone asked of the Pink pony. Pinkie gasped and zoomed off in a pink blur, returning even before her afterimage faded, a pegasus and a thestral in her grip.

“Found ‘em~”

“Good work Pinkie!” Ledger said. “Make sure they don’t go anywhere before Twilight says they can.” With that, he gave both Midnight and Twilight a kiss before making his way back to the large crystal tree-palace-thing. He could do this for Twilight.

Probably.

And so, he sat upon Twilight’s chair, the massive round table gleaming softly in the gentle light of the afternoon.

And he was so immensely bored.

Not a single pony had walked in all afternoon. Which might have been fine…

If that meant he didn’t have to be alone in the same room as Sugar Darling. Fortunately, he’d grown quite skilled at tuning her out.

It helped that he had his book to fall back on for entertainment.

“Bah, you’re no fun at all,” Sugar pouted as she reclined on Pinkie’s chair rather provocatively. “How your mares get any fun out of you is a mystery.”

Ledger didn’t reply, instead choosing to focus on the mystery of Twilight’s device. If he could unravel the principles behind it, he might be able to figure out how it worked and replicate it.

“I’m beginning to think you have no sex drive at all, and your mares are just covering for you,” she continued. She glanced up and looked at the stoic stallion, his muzzle buried in his book. “You know it’s rude to ignore a lady right?”

Ledger, once again, said nothing. Hmm, these notes from Time Turner were proving interesting as well…

“I bet I could take you in my mouth right now and you’d not even notice.”

One more, the only response from Ledger was silence. The notes from their teleportation plates might also tie into this mystery…

“And I’d do it too… if Moonie had said I could,” Sugar continued. “But I’ll be a good mare and remain faithful… for now anyway~”

The only thing that came from the drone was the sound of pages turning. This really was proving to be quite the puzzle. But he’d figure it out. He always did.

“Oh Ledger~?” Sugar said, mimicking Midnight’s voice. “You wanna play with me~?”

The drone didn’t even twitch.

She stood up and marched over to him, then moved around behind the throne and started reading over his shoulder. She switched to Twilight’s voice and started reading aloud to him in a husky tone.

Once more, the only thing he did was read before turning the pages. He was going to figure this out, and without anypony coming into this court, he had all the time in the day to do it too.

“Seriously? Nothing?” Sugar pouted and sighed. “Fine. I get it. You don’t like me. Fine! I’ll just leave!”

“Hmm?” Ledger said as he looked up. “Did you say something?”

Sugar just blinked as her hoof made it’s way to her forehead. It was also around then that the door opened and two ponies walked in. They were both earth pony females. One had a cream coat and a two-tone red mane while the other had a light pink mane and tail with a sky-blue coat.

“Ah hello!” Ledger said with a smile. “Welcome to open court! Sadly, Princess Twilight and all her friends are very busy today, so they have left running this to me. What can I help you with?”

“Huh? Twilight isn’t here?” the cream mare looked around.

“At least it’s something,” the other said with a thick accent. “I am Lotus, and this is Roseluck!!”

“We need a dispute settled,” Rose replied.

“Please, present your case,” Ledger said as he snapped his book shut. Sugar rolled her eyes and sat on another throne, looking at the cute mares.

“We buy our roses from Miss Roseluck here,” Lotus said. “We require them for our spa services. But out of the blue, she raises the prices on us, despite the amount we purchase from her.”

“Because it’s harder to grow them in the winter,” Rose argued. “Normally I have an abundance of stock, but right now, I can barely fill your regular order, let alone anypony else who wants to buy some!”

“I see,” Ledger said. “And when the spring returns, you would find it easier to grow roses again, Miss Roseluck?” He tapped the horn on his head for emphasis. “I don’t do a lot of growing myself.”

“Of course.” Rose sat down and went into detail. “Winter is the ideal time to plant roses, but they won’t bloom until early Spring. I simply don’t have the supply to maintain the demand during Winter. And it doesn’t help that they’ve ordered more than usual as well.”

“We expanded and added two new baths,” Lotus said. “We have already explained this to Miss Roseluck in advance and said we’d be increasing our order by an additional twenty five percent.”

“But you have to take into account the winter months!” Rose argued back. “And I need some for Hearth's Warming in a few weeks!”

Ledger cleared his throat in an effort to regain control of the situation.

The mares stopped and looked at him.

“Ladies,” he said simply. “I don’t see why you can’t come to terms and maintain this mutually beneficial relationship...as long as you both make it clear what you can and cannot do, and don’t expect unreasonable things from the other party. Respecting the other pony is how true friendships are maintained and grow stronger over time.”

The two looked at one another and then smiled.

“Well, the winter months are a little quieter. I suppose we could lessen our order and increase the price of the rose baths a little to compensate.”

“And I’ll stick to our agreed upon price, but I still need to keep some in stock for other customers,” Roseluck said. “Though, if I can’t make your whole order, then I’ll give you a discount.”

The two mares smiled and shared a brief hug before thanking Ledger and leaving. Once they’d gone, Sugar chuckled as she picked up his book with her magic.

“Well that was a sappy friendship speech there,” she giggled. Ledger teleported the book next to him and cracked it open once again.

“Works for both ponies and maintaining a healthy business relationship between my company and others,” the drone said as he resumed his reading.

“I’m well aware on how friendship works Ledger,” Sugar replied and hummed. “Well, not that you’d know it from watching us.”

“I still don’t know why you’re here,” Ledger said as he turned a page. “You have an entire castle you could be exploring, and you choose to be in the one room with me in it.”

“Because nopony else is here and I’m lonely, a Violet doesn’t do lonely very well love.”

“I’m picking up on that,” the disguised ‘ling said. “But seeing as how I’m predominantly a Silver, it’s not something I mind all that much for long...still, I won’t make you leave. Just don’t expect a lot of interaction from me.”

“Hmm? What was that? I’m having the most delightful conversation with this wall.”

“Alright, I get it,” Ledger said with a chuckle. “I probably could have been a bit more...interactive. I just found something I don’t understand and I’m trying desperately to unravel its mysteries. Sort of like you with that Thestral book you’re trying to write.”

“That’s a dead end until I can get one to… test a few theories with,” Sugar sighed. “And the only one I deem worthy is all but taken. Life is so cruel…”

“You know there’s a colony of them up in Hollow Shades, right?” Ledger asked. “I’m sure if you wrote them and asked quite nicely, they could send you a few test subjects. You’d probably have to pay them to make the journey, though…”

“But they’re not like her,” Sugar replied. “Besides, I have Moondancer now. Which means no more sleeping with anything that has a heartbeat. Though, there was that one stallion that could work the most detailed magical constructs…”

“And that’s more about your sex life than I ever needed to know,” Ledger said, already regretting his decision to listen to her and wondering when Twilight and the others would be back.

“Oh, I’ll gladly share any little tidbits,” she giggled. “Remember that delightful book you got? Who said it was a complete one?”

“I’ve not yet had a chance to work through the books I did get,” Ledger replied. “The mares are understandably wary of letting me try new spells in bed. One of their first moves now is to try and disable my magic so that we have a normal night.”

“Ohh, did somepony get a little too ambitious?” she giggled. “Tell me.”

“Let’s just say they’re tired of me using my magic to cheat in bed and leave it at that,” the drone said, blushing a little at sharing that much with her.

“Cheating?” Sugar mulled that word around in her bed. “Now I highly doubt that you’d try and bring in another mare. You’re not that bold. And you probably don’t have the magic for that construct spell.” She grinned wickedly and licked her lips. “Now I must know.”

“A number of the spells in that book work wonderfully when used together to nearly melt any mare I use it on...except Midnight. She can break out of the Denial one by sheer will,” Ledger said. “All the others, I can put them into a state where they can’t finish but want to with the right spells and touches. She breaks free.”

“She… she broke the Denial spell?” Sugar replied slowly. “Ledger… can I please borrow her? I have to now.”

“Sorry, she’s ours,” Ledger said. “Though she does have a cousin or two…”

“You can’t beat the original,” Sugar pouted. “And she did that neat thing to Moondancer that made her insatiable. That’s just… between her skills and that delicious gift of yours… It’s not fair dang it!”

“Things are rarely fair,” the brown unicorn said. “They are what they are, it’s up to us to make of them what we will.”

“You are insufferable,” Sugar pouted. And it was around then that Midnight wandered into the room. She locked eyes with Ledger and smiled, her wings flaring…

Ledger sighed and closed his book, preparing himself for the incoming hug that he thought he was about to receive.

That was when something booped his nose and giggled. He opened one eye and sighed in relief that he hadn’t been pounced.

Then she pounced him, giggling as she hugged him tightly.

“There’s the Midnight I know and love,” he said, hugging her back. “So, where’re the others?”

“I dunno,” she shrugged. “I ditched them back at the Boutique. And really? Siccing a pink on me? It’s a good thing Rarity has an old-fashioned radiator heater and I carry hoof-cuffs everywhere.”

“Kinky,” Ledger replied automatically. “Though I don’t think you’re going to get away with that for very long…”

“Long enough to get a hug and some kisses,” Midnight replied and looked over at Sugar. “Huh? It’s rare to see you two in the same room alone. Are you seducing her Ledger?”

“Mnope,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “I’m faithful to you mares, you know that.”

“He couldn’t charm this crystal table with his current attitude,” Sugar giggled.

“Aw, but those silvery eyes of his are so pretty,” Midnight said and kissed him lightly on the lips again. “So, having fun, Princess Ledger?”

“Hardly,” the drone replied. “I got more action from the table than the ponies today. Nopony seems to need the court to solve a dispute.”

“You must be the only pony on the planet that likes work,” Midnight giggled. “You and Twilight are so made for each other.”

“Ledger… share?” Sugar pouted, moving up next to Midnight.

“No,” Ledger replied, hugging Midnight a bit closer. “She’s my crazy batpony, and you can’t have her.”

“Not even a hug?” Sugar pouted with big sparkly eyes.

“Mine,” Ledger said, even hissing a little at the older nymph.

“Ledger, play nice,” Midnight said and booped his nose. “It’s not like she’s going to gobble me up or something.”

The drone crossed his eyes and shook his head, before glaring at the nymph, still clearly reluctant to allow her anywhere near his bride-to-be.

“You’re so silly,” Midnight giggled and kissed his nose before nibbling his ear. “You know, it’s a quiet day, there’s a big old crystal table that needs breaking in…”

“On any other day, I would, but ponies can still show up for Open Court,” Ledger sighed. “I’d rather not tell them to come back because we’re doing something they shouldn’t be seeing on the table.”

“Aww, and seeing that the table can do this,” she bumped it with her hip and the holomap popped up. “We could literally do it all over Equestria~”

Sugar didn’t even bother to hold back that snort of amusement.

“Don’t worry, I have a plan for that,” Ledger said before kissing her. “But for now, you’ll have to restrain yourself.”

Midnight paused and pondered the foreign word. “The only ‘restraint’ I know involves ropes and hoofcuffs.”

“Why does that not surprise me,” the drone said dryly.

“Because I am me and you love me,” Midnight giggled and kissed his ear. “Wait til you see me in my dress. I look amazing~”

“You say that like you already don’t look amazing,” he replied.

“There’s more sap here than a forest,” Sugar said. “Well, I’m going to find Moondancer now. Do everything that I would do~” She leaned down and gave each of them a kiss on the muzzle before leaving.

“That nymph,” Ledger sighed. “Well, it’s back to watching Twi’s court for me.”

“I bet you’d like to watch something else of Twi’s,” Midnight giggled and sat in Rainbow’s throne. It wasn’t long before another pony entered.

“Hmm, Princess Twilight isn’t here?” the brown-coated stallion asked. “Oh? Mr. Ledger. Good to see you again old chap!”

“Time Turner,” Ledger said with a smile. “Those notes you provided proved quite useful, Twilight’s got a working portal up now. And yes, she and her friends are off doing a thing today, but she was loathe to close the court. So, it falls to me to answer your woes.”

“Woes? Hmm, yes, I suppose I do have a few of those,” he looked and Midnight and smiled. “And who’s this lovely young lady?”

“I’m Midnight Song, beautiful Thestral, Solar Guard and all around Best Bat,” she smiled. “So you’re one of Ledger’ buddies huh? What can we do for you.”

“Well, it’s… something of a private matter, and a mare’s insight would prove helpful,” he said. “You see, there’s a… a certain mare that I have my eye on, but…”

“Middy, is he seriously asking this?” Ledger asked aloud.

“Be nice!” she hissed and jabbed his ribs. “Not every stallion has four gorgeous mares fall into his lap. Now,” she turned to Turner. “You want to get somepony’s attention?”

He nodded.

“Good. Then the best advice is be yourself. If she can’t like that, then that’s that.”

“It’s… really that simple?”

“Don’t lie to her. And make your feelings clear okay. Trust me on this.”

“If there’s anything there, you’ll know right away,” Ledger agreed. “And if not, at least you’ll know that way as well.”

“Ah, wonderful,” Turner sighed and nodded. “There was something else though, regarding the notes I gave to Princess Twilight regarding the transmorphic gates.”

“The what?” Midnight said as her brain checked out. It wasn’t awesome or sexy sounding, so she was out.

“Do tell,” Ledger said, giving Time Turner his undivided attention.

“Well, I have determined that there is a slight chance of an… error, occurring in the wormhole it generates,” Turner said with some slight trepidation.

“Define slight,” Ledger said. “And what would the error consist of?”

“Well, the margin of error is about oh-point three percent,” he said. “And the error itself, well, one is that the wormhole could open up in a different location. Another… well, even I don’t know. Another dimension, a different time… magic is, unpredictable at times.”

“I don’t like the idea of errors happening in our teleportation,” Ledger said. “Maybe if we get Twilight over here, you can tell us what the problem itself is. In the meantime...Midnight, would you mind escorting Turner to the portal itself? Maybe he can come up with something.”

“Ehhhh?” she frowned and sighed dramatically. “Why do I get stuck with the egghead stuff?”

“Because you surround yourself with eggheads,” he said before kissing her. “I’m not asking you to stay with him, but I hafta stay here. Just show him where it is and come back, if you like.”

Midnight just shrugged and hopped off of her chair, sauntering out of the door with a slight sway in her hips. Time Turner gulped and looked at Ledger, tugging at the collar of his tie.

“She’s uh, quite the mare isn’t she?”

“That’s one way to put it,” Ledger said with a snicker. “Well, I’ll let Twilight know when she shows up that she should see you. I’m sure that between the two of you, you can figure out her portal device.”

Turner nodded and followed Midnight, those he tried to keep his gaze off of those swaying flanks of hers.

And as he left, Ledger heard the door open almost right after, as a line of about thirty ponies could be seen waiting.

“Oh boy,” Ledger said as he sat back in Twilight’s chair. “Today just got longer.”

By the time Princess Twilight returned, she saw a few ponies exiting her castle, giving her a friendly wave as they did. Twilight quirked an eyebrow and trotted inside. They weren’t upset? Miffed? Even mildly disgruntled?

Did… Ledger just not see them?

“Ledger?” Twilight called out as she walked in. “You still here? Or did a Changeling replace you?”

“Uuuuuugh,” Ledger said as he slumped in Twilight’s chair, his head on the table.

“Hmm, you sound like Ledger,” she chuckled as she walked closer. “But changelings can be tricky. How do I know it’s really you?”

“Ponies are too high-maintenance,” Ledger said. “I’m gonna run away with Scope now.”

“Run away huh?” Twilight took a seat in Rarity’s chair and hummed. “Well I guess you could. I mean, provided Treasure would actually go with you. Oh, and if you think you can escape Midnight.”

“Fifteen disputes. Fifteen. None of which needed more than a kind word and the right bit of wisdom to get them to resolve it on their own.” Ledger groaned again. “Just...how do you live here?”

“Hmm, seems you’ve learned quite a bit today,” Twilight giggled and her eyes sparkled. “You should write a letter to Princess Celestia about it!”

“I’ve learned how exhausting your job is,” the disguised drone said. “Oh, I remember. Time Turner, the stallion who gave me those notes you positively exploded over? He says there’s a chance of an error with the portal device. Now I’m sure you checked it over, but he’s waiting by it nonetheless in case you want to hear him out.”

“Hmm, alright, I’ll go and have a talk with him,” Twilight teleported in some paper and a quill. “Meanwhile, you can get started on that letter~”

“When my brain recovers,” Ledger groaned. “Can you see to the stallion, please? And Midnight’s loose in the castle somewhere.”

“You let her run free, oh that’s just peachy,” Twilight sighed. Now she could likely get pounced from anywhere. She just giggled and left the room, heading off towards her lab and the portal within.

Ledger just sighed and stared at the paper. Maybe another cup of coffee would help him think of what to write…

In the basement, Twilight found Midnight and Turner, the former poking at some potion bottles on the shelf.

“Don’t touch those,” Twilight warned her. “Some earlier results of Appleblooms alchemy. I haven’t been able to dispose of them properly yet.”

Midnight shrugged as her marefriend and Turner started talking in terms that just flew over her head.

“And now I am bored,” she sighed. Deciding to leave them to their nerd things, she headed back up stairs, only to see Ledger writing away at something.

“Everypony has something to do but me,” she said to herself. Well, time to explore Ponyville then~

The parents had enjoyed a nice lunch and had now gone their separate ways for the time being. The Madame and Wishful had only just started to look around when Miss Yearling reappeared, though, she was without her two escorts.

“Hah, finally found you,” she said. “You’re not an easy mare to find, even in such a small town.”

“I do pride myself on only being found when I want to be,” the disguised nymph said with that enigmatic smile. “I take it you have questions you wish answered?”

The pegasus nodded and looked at Wishful. “Um, I don’t suppose, we could have this chat privately?” Even in the evening sun, her blush was unmistakable.

“I’ll be nearby,” the drone said before giving his wife a kiss. “Play nice now.”

“No promises~” the nymph said as her husband walked off. Once he was a fair distance away, she gestured for the mare to ask her questions.

She paused, making certain the stallion was gone before she sighed lightly. “This… is probably going to sound a little weird,” she said. She flittered her wings and looked away. “I was wondering, if you could tell me about the uh… the ‘Right of Claiming’?”

“Ah yes, one of the Blue ceremonies, used by nymphs and drones alike to stake a claim on one of their members of the military. It boils down to the significant other of the ‘ling in question challenging the commanding officer of the one they love to ‘earn their freedom and loyalty’. It’s all terribly dramatic.” There was a pause then, and the mare smiled. “Does this mean?...”

Yearling blushed harder and closed her eyes. “I know it’s weird alright. But… I really like Lucky and Devoted. And…” She sighed again and looked at the sliver mare. “Is it… exclusively for changelings?”

“No, anyone can make the challenge. Though, if you want to know who Devoted’s commanding officer is…” the mare hummed. “He was a gift from the Blue king to my brother, to be the best bodyguard possible. I persuaded him to give him over, so I could assign him to be your bodyguard during your trip. I assume any of those would work, as long as he was there to observe it.”

“So, either the King of the Blue Hive, or your brother? And Devoted has to be there to witness it.” Yearling nodded as she committed it to memory. “And, exactly how would one go about this? You know, hypothetically speaking.”

“It starts simply, with a challenge to the authority in question for the right to court the nymph or drone they like. After a bit of back and forth about loyalty and what the one doing the challenging means to them, it ends either one of two ways.”

“Um, would you mind waiting right here?” Yearling suddenly said and zoomed off so fast, her hat and cloak were left fluttering in the air where she stood but a moment ago. It didn’t take long for her to return, dragging a slightly struggling Devoted and Lucky with her.

“Haah, o-okay.. back,” she panted. That was probably the fastest she ever flew.

“Interesting,” the silver mare said with a raised eyebrow.

“Yearling, what the buck?” Lucky said.

“I second that question,” Devoted added. “First you ditch us, then you find us and drag us back with you.”

“Okay, yeah, sorry… had to, check on something,” she said as she stopped to get her breath back. “Alright!” She nodded and stretched her wings as she psyched herself up mentally. “Now, I am to understand that you are the sister to the King of the Silver Hive yes?”

“Indeed I am,” the Madame said. “What of it?”

“Then I, Amy K. Yearling, also known as Daring Do. Hereby request the Right of Claim to one Lucky Bastard and one Devoted Cause!”

“Do you now,” the Madame said, before looking over at the drones. “Drones, step forward. Do you have any current contracts with any current military of the Lands that would prevent you from answering her claim?”

Lucky shook his head and said a simply denial. Devoted, on the other hoof…

“I am contracted to you, Madame, to protect this mare for as long as she is writing her book on the Lands,” the blue stallion said. “And after that, my duty is to protect the Silver King.”

“Indeed,” the Madame said. “Do you claim that your right to Devoted Cause is of such great need that you could break his contract?”

“I…” Yearling paused at this. She had only known him for about a fortnight, yet he’d already risked his life for her. And that night in the Violet Hive had been… magical.

Still…

“I wish for him to keep his contract as my guard.” Daring said. She turned to the both of them and smiled. “I still want to get to know the both of you more. And, once my book is done.” She looked directly at Devoted. “Then I’ll have my decision.”

“Then your right of claim is suspended, for now,” the Madame replied. “Return to me when you’ve made up your mind, and we shall resume your challenge for him.”

“So I can’t claim Lucky either? Until my decision about Devoted is made?” A thought occurred and she looked at the pair. “I suppose the real question is… would the two of you even want to be with me? I’m kind of flighty and stubborn. I’m always travelling because of my work and I write, like a lot.”

“Oh no, you can claim Lucky now,” the Madame said. “He has no previous engagements, so he’s fair game. Devoted, however…”

“And you really need to ask that question?” Lucky said. “As long as you promised to be good to me, I promise to stay by you. Heck, I’d probably be right there with you on the front lines for some of these books.”

“And...I want to stay by you, I do,” Devoted said. “I just...can’t leave a contract I’ve taken.”

“Can… can I ask why?” Yearling replied. “Why do you two want to be with me? Somepony who isn’t even the same species. Somepony you barely know?”

“I’d like to think we’ve gotten to know one another pretty well over the past few days, at least, during those rare moments when you had your necklace off,” Lucky replied. “You’re brave, courageous, diving headfirst into every situation. When you became aware of where the Lands were, your response was ‘Sounds like excellent material for a book.’ Most ponies from Equestria would probably have said ‘Let’s avoid that,’ and that’s before you tell them about the monsters.”

“And I have grown to be quite fond of you, Yearling,” Devoted added. “Something we who are trained as bodyguards are warned not to do. But...I can’t help it. You could have left me there. You could have run and saved yourself. But you...saved me. Most ponies would have fled.”

Yearling sniffed and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Madame?” she said with a cracked voice. “I’ve changed my mind. “I am Claiming the bucking hay out of these two!”

“I would ask you what you know of Loyalty, to test yours against Devoted’s contract, but I think he did that for you,” the Madame chuckled. “Do you vow by all you hold dear to take care of these drones as though they were your own flesh and blood?”

“Is there any other way?” she asked. “Of course I’ll care for them, since they’re so willing to put up with me in return,” she smiled and gave them both a brief nuzzle.

“Do you promise to care for all their needs?” the Madame continued. “I have to ask, since you’re a pony claiming a ‘ling.”

Yearling gulped. “You mean to feed them right? My love?”

“Something along those lines, yes,” the Madame said. “We do require emotional sustenance, you know.”

“Well, Devoted said you feed off of passive emotion in the air, but…” she swallowed the lump in her throat and looked at her. “I’m guessing you mean something a little more direct.”

“They can feed off you passively and sustain themselves for days at a time that way. But if they ever needed to feed off you more directly, would you feed them?”

Yearling was silent for a moment and then turned to the drones. “Does it hurt?”

“If done right, no,” Lucky said. “And I would never hurt you.”

“Nor I,” Devoted added.

Yearling nodded and gave them a smile. “Then, I want you to do it right now.”

Lucky and Devoted shared a look, and the blue pegasus tilted his head. Lucky took that as his cue, and walked forward, nearly kissing Yearling with how close he stood to her. “You may notice a slight tingling sensation,” he said. “Don’t jerk away. Then it will hurt.”

She nodded and remained still. “I trust you.”

Lucky smiled and gave her a light kiss, just on the lips, before activating his more...well, active method of feeding on her. Her wings flared out at the sensation, but she did as he instructed and didn’t pull away, despite all of her pony instincts screaming at her that this was a predator. She should run…

Sooner than she thought, the kiss was broken and Lucky was smacking his lips. “Wow, that was some good courage right there, standing still in the face of your fears,” he complimented her. “I’m good for a while now.”

“Courage? Oh right, Yellow…” Yearling blushed and rubbed her head. “Well, step on up Devoted. Your turn.”

Lucky stepped back, and the blue pegasus took his place. “I promise this will be over soon,” he said simply. Then it was him kissing her. She returned his kiss this time. She wasn’t going to let him get less of an experience than Lucky after all. And she’d prove to the Madame that she could care for these two.

All too soon, though, the kiss broke and he smiled at her. “That...was some high-quality loyalty,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve had better.”

“Glad to… hear it?” Daring stumbled and swooned. “Whoo, dizzy…”

“Take a moment,” Devoted said as he caught her and held her still. “Most ponies don’t feed ‘lings as quickly as you do because they start to pass out due to lack of energy. Feeding the both of us back to back isn’t good for you.”

“W-Well, she asked…” Yearling said weakly. Her head was spinning and she felt really tired. “Just… don’t ask for this to be a regular occurrence.”

“Of course not,” Devoted said.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Lucky followed it up with.

“You have laid your claim, and proven your loyalty and ability to feed both of them,” The Madame said. “At this point, there is only one thing left to do. Devoted Cause!” At that, the blue stallion stiffened. “I hereby release you from your contract, and give you a better one to follow. This mare. Be loyal to her, Devoted.”

“With every beat of my heart,” the stallion said before kissing her again. Daring blinked at the kiss. Wait, what? That was it?

She now had two loyal coltfriends…

Critical was going to have a field day with this.

Twilight walked back upstairs as she and Turner finished discussing the possible issues with the gate. While they hadn’t found any solutions yet, they’d thought it best that the gate shouldn’t be used anymore. Just in case.

She bid the stallion farewell and entered the throne room to see Ledger still hunched over the desk.

“Are… you still writing?” she asked.

“Yes, because I want to get it right,” Ledger said. “Far too many of my letters started out snarky. Or just plain rude or demeaning. Though after the afternoon of those ponies and having to put up with Sugar being herself, I think I’m entitled to it.”

“Sugar isn’t that bad,” Twilight replied. “You’re just not a ponies’ pony. Just… tell the Princess what you learned today.”

“I’m working on it,” Ledger said. “It’s kind of hard to put it all down into words...but I think I’m getting there.” With a bit of a flourish, the quill wrote out the last few sentences and signed his name, before the letter was presented to Twilight, for her approval.

Princess Celestia,

Level Ledger here, or as you might know me, Duke Secret-Hoarder. Today, I ran Twilight’s open court, and I learned a lot of things.

I learned that ponies can be incredibly stubborn until somepony in a position of authority helps them see the right way. I learned that ponies can be incredibly kind and forgiving to their friends.

Most of all, I learned that I don’t envy Twilight’s job. Or yours, or Luna’s, or Cadance’s. If there is any way to ensure that I never have to do this again, I’m all for it. When they say ‘heavy is the head that wears the crown,’ they damn well mean it. And I thought running my company was hard!

No, I think this little stint has burned out any thoughts of taking over anywhere from my being. Amusing as it may have been to contemplate, now that I have a little experience in it, I can safely say I don’t want it. You can keep Equestria and all the high-maintenance ponies. I’m happy with what I have, thank you.

Sincerely,

Level Ledger

Twilight just blinked as she read the letter. “So…” she said, her tone flat and even. “I’m ‘high maintenance’ huh?”

“I’ve heard horror stories from Spike,” Ledger replied with.

“You’re terrible,” she muttered as she rolled up the scroll and bound it with a gold ribbon. “Spiiiiike?”

“Mm?” the dragon walked in and rubbed his eyes. He’d been napping all day and it’d been great. “Yeah?”

“Could you send this to the Princess please?” Twilight asked, floating over the scroll.

“Huh? It’s been a while since you send her a Friendship Report,” the drake nodded and inhaled before incinerating the note, the wispy smoke filtering out of a window.

“Out of curiosity, how long does it typically take for her to reply?” Ledger asked.

Spike put a claw to his mouth and belched, a gout of flame erupted and a scroll winked into existence above Ledger’s head, before landing on the table in front of him.

Ledger pulled the thing open and began to read…

‘Dearest Level Ledger

I was quite surprised to get a Friendship letter from you of all ponies. It seems Twilight has indeed been a positive influence on you.’

Twilight giggled and blushed.

‘And while my little ponies can get worked up on small things, try and go a little easier on them hmm?

And yes, running a country can be quite difficult. But so few understand that. I’m glad to see you do.

With Love.

Princess Sol Celestia.’

“Something tells me this isn’t the end of this,” Ledger sighed.

“Probably not,” Twilight smiled and leaned over to nuzzle him. “Maybe I should get you to do this more often?”

“What, the court thing?” Ledger asked, before shaking his head. “No, once was enough, thank you.”

“Aww, but I quite enjoyed my day off,” Twilight pouted. “You didn’t enjoy being King for a day?”

“It was good to begin with, but apparently everypony decided to visit when you weren’t here,” Ledger replied. “If you take another day off and put me in charge and it happens again, I’ll call it a trend.”

“Aw, maybe they just like you,” Twilight said and leaned in close to kiss him… before two earth pony mares burst into the room. One was a watermelon red with a blonde mane and the other was violet with a green mane.

“Princess Twilight!” they cried out. “It’s terrible. It’s a disaster. The horror, the horrorrrrrr!!”

Ledger raised an eyebrow, before turning to Twilight.

“What is it this time ladies?” Twilight said in a tone drier than the badlands. “Another bunny stampede?”

“Worse!” Liliy cried.

“It was so shocking!” Daisy added.

“This is starting to sound slightly ridiculous,” the drone muttered.

“We saw a mare surrounded by three ponies, and then two of them kissed her and she looked really weak afterwards!” Daisy said. “What if… what if the changeling’s are invading again!?”

“Girls, for one, the changelings are our friends now,” Twilight sighed and rubbed her temple. “So I highly doubt it’s an invasion.”

‘Unless it’s Ledger’s mother.’

“And two, were the stallions that kissed her cute?”

Daisy and Lily blushed.

“I’ll take that as a yes, she was probably just swooning from the attention. But! I promise I’ll look into it okay?”

“Thank you Princess Twilight,” Daisy and Lily smiled, already back to their normal selves and trotted from the castle. Twilight sighed and pulled something out from her throne. A bottle of cider. She popped the cap and took a deep swig before sighing.

“Is that a regular thing?” Ledger asked his marefriend.

“Those three would have come in here in a tizzy because of a broken flowerstem,” Twilight groaned. “And no, I’m not exaggerating. They really did do that…”

“That explains the cider bottle,” Ledger hummed. “Still, I think I’m more than happy to give you your court back.”

“No refunds,” Twilight said as she closed the door, along with Court. “Eh, we’re done for the day anyway. Just gotta wait for the others to return now.”

“And hopefully, the other ‘lings in town won’t be so blatant about their feeding,” the disguised drone said. “Otherwise there might be a panic on our hooves tomorrow, before my big reveal.”

“And that would be a headache and a half,” Twilight said and looked over her coltfriend. “Hmm, hey Ledger? Who’s chair do you think you’re sitting in right now?”

“You told me to take court,” he replied with. “None of the others felt right.”

“Well, I want you to keep that in mind. Now close your eyes please.”

Ledger did so, wondering what she could possibly have in mind...

Chapter 92 - Love comes in all flavors

It was early the next morning, the day before the wedding, the event that would change all their lives.

When Level Ledger awoke, Celestia’s sun peeked through the curtains. Just enough to get him, and just him, right in the eyes.

“Darnit Celestia,” Ledger grumbled. Still, since he was up, he figured it was time to make some coffee for the others. He noticed that Midnight was missing, as was Cider. The latter already in the kitchen preparing breakfast.

The former? With a stretch of his changeling senses, he could feel her a bit deeper in the castle. And he recognised her in combat situation.

“Well, let’s leave her to it,” he muttered to nopony in particular. He ambled over to the kitchen, in search of that glorious nectar of life.

It was a gathering of Changelings. Ledger’s parents, Amy and Chrysalis. Along with Critical and the two drones that accompanied Yearling. Only Scope was missing.

And Cider, who currently had a half dozen pots of coffee brewing. He offered the apple mare a kiss as he waited for the pots to finish.

“Heaven help if a friend of mine ever went to the Hives,” Apple Cider replied after returning the kiss. “She runs a little coffee place in Canterlot. Ah reckon ya’ll would never let ‘er leave.”

“Probably not, no,” Ledger said. “We love the stuff.”

Cider looked at Amy and giggled. “Should you really be having coffee? Yer hyper enough as is.” She took the first pot off and started pouring it into mugs. “Like that time Middy gave some to lil’ Joyful.”

“I only drink decaf anyways,” Amy said with a smile. “The others don’t let me at the stuff anymore.”

“Amy dear,” Chrysalis yawned. “I love you, but the thought of you with caffeine in your system terrifies me.” She gave another loud yawn and looked at Lucky and Devoted. “So who’s the fresh meat?”

“We’re Yearling’s,” Lucky said. “She laid claim to us just yesterday.” Devoted opted to nod at that statement.

Everyling paused, aside from the Madame, and stared at the two.

“Come again?” Chrysalis blinked.

“Yearling,” Lucky said slowly. “Laid claim. To us.”

“...A pony can do that?” the noble Green asked. “Huh, better not tell Ace that…” She paused and looked at Amy. “No.”

“Whaaaaat?” Amy asked, with her usual wide smile.

“I know what goes on in that little pink head of yours,” Chrysalis said. “You are not getting Ace to claim us. Which, might I remind you, is a thing in the Lands. Not something that concerns some Hiveless like us.”

“You’re silly, Chryssy,” Amy said before booping her nose. “He doesn’t have to worry about you.”

“...Wat?” for the second time in as many minutes, Chrysalis was confused. The Madame took the chance to reveal some key information to the other ‘lings present.

“It was revealed at the latest diplomatic meeting, thanks to the Pink Noble attending, that the Pinks aren’t exactly Hiveless. They just….consider all of Equestria their home.”

“Yeah-huh!” Amy said with a nod. “I’m surprised Acey hasn’t had to talk to the noble of Pinks regarding me yet.”

“Because he probably doesn't know,” Chrysalis said. “You can go tell him if you want, if you feel like getting between those two going at it.”

“Nah, I’ll wait for him to show up and tell him when he does,” Amy said. “So what’re we doin’ today, Chryssy?”

Chrysalis had reached the limit of how much she could function without coffee. She just thunked her head on the table and made a small gurgling noise.

“She’s silly sometimes,” Amy giggled.

The next pony to walk in was Scope, but she was currently in the snuggled grasp of Sugar Darling.

“I swear if you don’t let me go,” Scope growled. “I will bite something off!”

“With your cute little fangs?” the mare cooed before nuzzling her a little more.

“I will murder you all!” she threatened.

“You’re so adorable when you’re screaming bloody murder,” the Violet noble said.

“Hives fucking dammit,” she now yelled in changeish. She continued to spout threats before Cider waved a coffee cup under her nose. She took it and took a generous sip. After a moment, she sighed and looked up.

“Good morning~” She chirped happily.

“Amazing how much a difference the right amount of caffeine can make,” Ledger said as he stirred his own cup.

“Insert my cactus threat here,” Scope said and nuzzled Cider. Then she smirked and hugged Chrysalis.

“Gah! The hell!?” the older nymph yelled.

“Now I'm not alone in being uncomfortable,” Scope smiled.

“Yup, I can foresee the first great trade agreement now,” Ledger said dramatically. “Equestria will trade sugar and coffee to the lands, in exchange for...eh, I dunno. Maybe our mineral deposits.”

“Ohh, shiny things!” Sugar, Chrysalis and Scope echoed. “Coffee and shiny!”

“And thus, was Equestria doomed,” Ledger intoned. “For by giving the Changelings more coffee, they all became capable of feats only the Pinks were previously.”

“I should have hopped my army up on sugar and coffee,” Chrysalis said as she sipped the life giving elixir.

“It would have been more effective that whatever you were using,” the drone agreed. “The downside would have been once they found out how easy those things are to obtain in Equestria, your army might have disbanded instantly.”

“Maybe that's why the Pinks moved to Equestria,” Wishful mused. “Sex and coffee~”

“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Amy chirped.

“So, uh,” Lucky began to ask.

“Any idea when Yearling will be up?” Devoted finished.

“Okay, one,” Chrysalis said. “Don’t finish each other's sentences like that. It's creepy. And two, how the hell would we know? You sleep with her right?”

“She usually doesn’t wake up for anything less than ‘the next page in her book,’” Lucky started, now doing it on purpose to creep out Chrysalis.

“Or a good breakfast,” Devoted finished. “And we can’t cook.”

“Proof that a drone is useless without a good nymph around,” Chrysalis smirked. “I don’t know, go wave a hash brown under her nose or something.”

“That would require that we have more than coffee,” Ledger pointed out.

“Ah’m workin’ on it,” Cider replied with just a little bite. “So don't go gettin’ yer tails in a twist.”

“I know you are,” Ledger said. That was when Lucky and Devoted took a mug of coffee out of the room. They were apparently going to go try and wave a mug of coffee under Yearling’s nose.

Yearling was enjoying a nice dream…

Okay, a really nice dream if the Lust she was giving off was any indication. As the drones walked in, she gave a happy little murr in her sleep, licking her lips.

“I almost don’t want to wake her,” Lucky said.

“Especially not after last night,” Devoted agreed, before snagging the mug. “Still, she should wake up for breakfast.” It was then passed under her nose.

Said nose twitched and her eyes slowly flickered open, ash-coloured irises staring sleepily at the cup before she groaned and sat up.

“Nrgh, such a nice dream too,” she sighed. She looked at her drones and hummed. “You were in it… and you were too~”

“We could tell,” Devoted said with a smile before passing over the mug. “Still, breakfast is being made. Thought you could use a pick-me-up beforehoof.”

“Thanks,” she said as she rubbed her stiff wings before taking the mug. She moaned at the strong drink as her ears flicked once.

“Such a virile drone, dream or no dream” she giggled as she looked at Devoted, then her gaze changed to Lucky. “And you… you took it like a champ~”

“I’m beginning to think we were the only beings in her dream,” the yellow pegasus dryly said.

“Same here,” Devoted agreed with a nod. “I wonder if we should just go before she says anything else lewd…”

“Aww, and I thought we were in this together?” Yearling pouted. “You two are no fun at all.”

“We are in this together,” Lucky pointed out. “But I rather think Devoted and myself would like it if your dreams revolved more around threesomes.”

“Amen,” Devoted said. “You’d have your work cut out for you if you were after anything like that.”

“Hmm, we are in this together,” Yearling nodded. “You two don't like each other?”

The two looked at each other before shrugging and looking back at Yearling. “I don’t mind him,” Lucky said.

“And he doesn’t annoy me too badly, unlike several Yellows I’ve worked with in the past,” Devoted admitted. “But I don’t think we like each other like that.”

“Yet…” Yearling smirked. She had a goal now. “Alright, let's go get breakfast.”

The two drones hummed happily at the thought. Lucky offered the mare a helping hoof up if she needed it, while Devoted went to get the door.

“Such lovely gentlestallions,” she said with a flawless Trottingham accent. She gave each of them a kiss on the cheek and trotted from the room, giving her flanks a nice sway as she did. Something both of her drones appreciated as they followed after her.

Midnight Song and Aerial Ace circled around one another, a dozen or so feet between them. Neither blinked, their breathing matched and they barely moved, save for the hooves/talons that carried them.

“It’s annoying that I have to take it easy on you,” Ace said, his beak clicking. “But you just had to forget your potions hmm?”

“Well, I’m sorry that a kidnapping and subsequent brainwashing made me forget a few priorities,” Midnight replied back. “I’ll be sure to remember next time.”

Ace shot forward first, before his left wing swept out, trying to trip the mare. She extended her right hoof to meet it, before letting the momentum flip her up and over him. WHile above him, she lashed out with her wingblades, the tips just grazing his back before he crouched, avoiding the blow directly and rolling away.

“Your reflexes have improved quite a bit,” he commented. “I’d love to see how much you’ve improved once you stop holding back.”

Midnight’s eye twitched slightly. It was annoying that she was subconsciously doing that. But then she didn't want to hurt the life growing inside of her.

“Yeah, well maybe you’ve just gotten soft from being a housebird?” she taunted.

“Perhaps a little,” he chuckled. “I really have let myself go a bit. But my training partner isn’t up to snuff either.”

“Maybe you should train Chrysalis?” Midnight said. “Actually, scrap that. She’s way too delicate. Such a little flower.”

“Magic is her forte, which isn’t one of mine,” Ace nodded as Midnight rushed him this time. He stared her hoof with a claw and lifted her, pirouetting on his hind leg, he continued the momentum downwards now, intent on slamming her into the floor. She struck the ground with her front hooves and flared her wings to act as air brakes to slow her descent. As she hit the ground, she immediately sprung upwards and flipped away from him again.

“I’d say to ask Moonie or maybe Ledger, but I doubt either of them would teach her,” Midnight replied, the sparring not interrupting their conversation in the slightest. This was because they weren’t taking the match all too seriously.

“We could ask,” Ace said as he flexed his wings. “Probably woudn’t hurt.”

“Twilight might do it,” Midnight pointed out. “Maybe the student could become the teacher?”

“Like you with those little brothers to Ledger?” Ace asked.

“Eh, all I did was run them through an impossible obstacle course,” Midnight brushed it and as she stretched her wings as well. “They figured out a lot on their own.”

Ace stopped and sat down, signalling to take a breather. “So… what will you do?” he asked. “After the wedding that is?”

“Well, I have a gig in singing at Sugar’s club,” Midnight said as she sat and took a zen posture. “I can do that almost up until I deliver.” She sighed as she switched positions, balancing on a single forehoof, her wings at her side to prevent cheating. “Not looking forward to getting fat though…”

“It will certainly be a new look for you,” Ace laughed, earning a glare from Midnight. He raised his talons in a surrender pose and the bat huffed and lay on her side.

“...Aerial?” she said softly, garnering the griffon’s attention. She almost never called him by his first name.

“What is it Little Bat?” he replied.

“I’m scared,” she said, hugging her body. “This whole wedding thing. I know… I know it was my idea and all but…”

“The past is a hard thing to leave behind,” he finished.

“Yeah…” Every time she thought walking down that aisle, it was accompanied by memories of him. She hugged herself tighter and shook. “It’s not fair… why do I have to be so-so broken?”

“You’re not broken,” Ace said as he moved over to her, placing a wing over her. “Fear is something we all face. And, to be perfectly honest, I’m a little scared of tomorrow as well.”

“It sucks,” Midnight muttered, leaning into his warm hug. “I hate being responsible.”

“Aye,” Ace nodded. “But look on the bright side.”

“Bright side?”

“Mhmm,” Ace’s eyes twinkled and he smirked. “Soon we’ll have our own little hatchlings to teach all our bad habits to.”

“Ah,” Midnight thought about that and giggled. “That too.”

For a while longer, teacher and student, two best friends, just stayed there enjoying eachother’s company and working up the courage to face the coming days.

Once breakfast had been summarily devoured by everypony present, Ledger kissed his mares before heading to the train station. He had a very important delivery to pick up, and hopefully, if it needed any adjustments, there would be time to make them.

He made it just in time, the shrill whistle of the Canterlot train was pulling in just as he trotted up to the platform. Coco and Sassy were amongst the first to emerge from the train, along with an older, yellow-coated stallion that… well something about him seemed off to the drone.

“Ah, our friend even meets up at the station!” Sassy said as they trotted over to him. “We managed to finish your order Mr. Ledger. You may now proceed to worship our greatness.”

“I most certainly will, especially when I take a look at it myself,” the brown unicorn replied. “I’d offer you some breakfast, but the crowd of ponies where I’m staying for the duration sort of...left nothing behind.”

“It’s alright, we ate before leaving,” Coco smiled. “Should we get to Miss Rarity’s? We can try the suit on there.”

“My sentiments exactly,” Ledger said. “Assuming she’s open anyways.”

“This early? Perhaps,” Sassy pondered. “Still, she should open for us regardless.”

The yellow coated stallion marched right up to Ledger and looked him over.

“So, you’re Gossip’s grub huh?”

“Ah...yes?” Ledger said, giving the stallion his own attention. “Mares, who is your most intriguing friend here?”

“Well, we’re not entirely sure really,” Coco said softly. “We were talking about the wedding here tomorrow, and he said he was going…”

“Gotta make sure that whelp doesn’t pull anything stupid,” he muttered. “So, do you know where that little princess might be?”

“Gonna need a bit more information than that,” the disguised silver drone said. “You could be talking about quite a few ponies.”

“The little purple one, can’t remember her name,” he said. “Princess Twinkle or something.”

“Twilight,” Ledger automatically corrected him. “Huge crystal tree-castle. Can’t miss it for love nor money.”

“Ah, thanks kid,” he nodded his head. “Hopefully my ungrateful granddaughter is there. Little brat hasn’t sent me a single letter since moving here, you know that?”

“I at least send letters home, so that my mother and father know what I get up to,” Ledger said. “Well, I hope your little family reunion works out for you then.”

“Yeah, you’re a good kid,” he smiled and thumped Ledger on the back. “Good to see Chryssie hasn’t burned the town down yet.” He hefted his bag and cleared his throat. “Well, I’m off.” he gave a nod to the two mares and gave their hooves a kiss before walking off.

“Charming fellow, terribly odd name though,” Sassy said as they started to walk towards Rarity’s.

“Yeah, well, most ‘ling names are,” Ledger said. “Considering we earn them and all.”

Sassy blinked and looked at him. “Earn? Okay, I must know. How does one earn the name ‘Brass Balls’?”

It was Ledger’s turn to blink before looking back at where the older stallion disappeared. “That...could not have been the Brass Balls,” he said. “He’s...practically a legend back in the Lands. The oldest Yellow general.”

“He’s famous?” Coco asked. “He was pretty funny. And he told some really good stories.”

“His career is well-documented,” the Silver ‘ling said. “He earned the Balls part of his name for being the first to charge into his first battle, and come back alive. Not just alive, but with the largest count. Brass was for heading up a expedition to deal with a dragon that was threatening the Yellow Hive...and once again, coming back victorious.”

“Way he told it, it was an entire nest of dragons,” Sassy giggled as they neared the over-decorated building. “And a horde of chimera’s.”

“I’ve no doubt the story gains more fiction every time it’s told. But the scary part is, the way he earned ‘Enormous’ is because...when the equality movement started, and he voiced his support of it, not everybuggy liked the idea, and wanted to shut him up, because his voice carries a lot of weight. The ones against the movement sent a team of assassins to silence him. He beat the team to death with one of their own.”

“Oh my,” Coco said as Sassy knocked on the door. They heard Rarity’s voice call out from beyond the threshold and the tall unicorn mare opened the door as the dressmaker floated a ponequinn into her fabric room.

“Sassy? And Coco?” Rarity smiled as she trotted over and hugged her two friends. “What a delightful surprise. I wasn’t expecting you until this evening.”

“We would have been here later, but this customer is quite impatient,” Sassy said and poked her tongue out cheekily.

Rarity turned and saw Ledger. “Oh? And whatever brings you here darling?”

“Just making sure a purchase of mine fits properly when I wear it,” the disguised drone said. “And you are the best seamstress in Ponyville.”

“Naturally,” Rarity bowed. “And flattery will get you everywhere.”

Sassy pulled a trunk over with her magic and opened it, and Ledger got to see the suit they made for him. A fine silvery velvet with black highlights, it also had a deep, dark green cloak over the back that hung to one side. The velvet itself had some intricate pattern-work on it. And then he noticed something interesting.

Each of the four cuffs had a different pin. And a closer look showed why.

A purple star.

A red apple.

A gold song note.

An onyx heart.

A small tear of joy gathered in one eye once he realized what they all symbolized. “This suit...I’m not even wearing it yet, and I can tell it’s perfect,” he said softly.

“I’m glad to hear it,” Sassy nodded. “Still, that order last night that came through with the four buttons was interesting. Why did you choose four different ones?”

“...I didn’t do that,” Ledger said. “I mean, I can tell what they symbolize. But I didn’t order it like that…”

“But, we got the package last night,” Coco said as she pulled out a letter. “You even wrote this letter…”

As she handed it to Ledger. He stared at it with a small frown.

‘These are for the suit I ordered. And they are ‘very’ important. Please add them.’

‘Level Ledger’

“That was not me,” the drone said. “There are very few ponies with the resources to send you these buttons and knew that I was getting a suit...made…”

His gaze fell on Rarity then, as she had been the one to suggest getting a suit made there to begin with.

“Don’t look at me darling,” Rarity said.

Then as Ledger’s magic touched the letter, a small footnote appeared at the bottom.

‘You’re welcome.’

P.C.

“Let’s...let’s just see how the suit fits, before my mind breaks even more,” the drone sighed.

The three mares nodded, deciding that was for the best. Rarity ushered him into a dressing room, as Sassy Saddles assisted him in dressing.

The result was…

“My word,” Rarity said in a hushed tone as he re-emerged. “Sassy? Coco? I do believe you dears have outdone yourselves this time.”

“Oh we are good,” Sassy smirked and Coco just blushed and nodded.

The suit fit to a tee, and not only that, Ledger noticed another feature. Underneath the cloak, a portion of the back was removable, held in place by four silver buttons. If the panel was removed, it would allow his shell to open unrestricted. The fabric itself had a little elasticity to it, it allowed quite a range of movement.

“The suit also has a flame retardant charm,” Coco pointed out. “In case you need to transform… um, I wasn’t sure of those flames were hot or not, so I took the precaution just in case.”

“Quite reasonable, and the magic can affect things, depending on how much we put into changing,” Ledger said as he looked himself over. “I dare say this suit will be worth every bit. I might actually wear it again after the wedding, it looks so nice.”

“Is it comfortable?” Coco asked, checking over it, making sure there was strain on the seams. Ledger did a quick turn and inspection himself as he thought about the question.

“It seems comfy to me,” he mused. “Maybe I should walk around in it a little, get a feel for it?”

“Please do,” Sassy nodded as Rarity cleared a space in the showroom of her boutique.

“There we are darling, and perhaps try some flight if you want?”

“I think I will,” Ledger said as he walked around the showroom a little. Hmm, it wasn’t too tight anywhere, and the suit just seemed to flow over his chitin. With a soft glow of his horn, he undid the buttons holding the back in place before flicking his shell open and starting to buzz into the air.

“Felts and Fabrics! He looks divine!” Sassy purred and smiled. “How does it feel Ledger?”

“Very comfortable,” Ledger replied. “It’s not pinching anywhere, and it looks amazing to boot,” he said before landing and looking at the back portion, so that he could easily button it back up with his magic. “I must say, I doubt I’ll ever own a suit this fine again.”

“Rarity!” Sassy suddenly said a little loudly. “Do you know what this means? With the Changelings as our friends, we have a whole new client base that is completely untapped right now!”

Rarity’s eyes went as wide as saucers as a small squee escaped from her lips.

“And now we have a mountain of work ahead of us,” Coco chuckled.

“And I have something to pay you,” Ledger replied as he pulled his saddlebags closer to himself. “How much do I owe you for this wonderful garment, ladies?”

Sassy rattled off a number, it was expensive, but nowhere near as much as he’d assumed.

“As small discount, as thanks for opening up a new business prospect,” she hummed.

“And naturally, we’ll need a fine shipping service should this enterprise go Equestria-wide,” Rarity mused.

“Something I will be all too happy to help you ladies with,” Ledger said as he pulled out his checkbook and wrote off hopefully the final check he’d need to for this event. He wasn’t sure his bank account could take too much more.

“So, have you everything else in order?” Rarity asked. “The caterers? Making sure the decorations are done and the like?”

“I have your other friends to thank for that,” Ledger said. “Plus I don’t think Twilight will let this event be unorganized.”

“True enough,” Rarity giggled as she helped Ledger out of the suit. “Still, I do hope it all goes well for you darling.” She paused and wiped a tear from her eye. “Our little Twilight, all grown up now.”

“I promise to take good care of her,” Ledger said with a nod. “If she’ll let me.”

“I can imagine she’ll cause you no end of troubles,” Rarity smiled as she placed the suit into a protective bag. “And if you’ll be frequenting Ponyville, then you’ll no doubt get caught up in our adventures from time to time.”

“Hopefully not,” Ledger said with a shudder. “I have enough of my own, thank you.”

“He thinks he has a choice,” Sassy giggled, causing the other mares to chuckle.

Level Ledger’s future did not bode well.

“Am I the fucking door greeter now?” Chrysalis grumbled as she put on a pony disguise, just in case. “Seriously Sparkle. Hire a servant or three.” She continued her muttering as she opened the door to the Yellow stallion on the other side.

“What the hell you you…” Her eyes widened and she slammed the door shut before cantering down the hall yelling ‘nope’ repeatedly.

“That’s about as rude as I expected her to be,” Brass said before knocking again, louder this time.

The door soon opened again, a cream-coated unicorn with a red and purple mane stared at him from behind her glasses.

“Sorry about that one, she has no manners,” Moondancer sighed. “How may we help you today?”

“I’m here to see my granddaughter,” the disguised drone said. “I heard she was staying here?”

“Granddaughter?” Moondancer blinked. Was he lost or something? “What’s her name?”

“You might know her as Chrysalis,” he said.

“...Ah.” Moondancer turned and pointed down the hall. She was the idiot that was running that way. “Though, a word of advice. Do avoid upsetting her… you won’t survive the ordeal.”

“Please,” the old drone said with a roll of his eyes. “I’ve been through worse.” With that, he was after the nymph.

“You’ve never dealt with Amethyst Cream,” Moondancer said as he walked off. “Oh well…”

Chrysalis burst into the living room, causing Twilight and Sugar to jump as she ran over and grabbed Amy, clutching her to her chest.

“Amethyst! You have to save me!” she cried. The pink nymph’s eyes went wide.

“What is it? Random monster attack?”

“That’s… a surprisingly apt description,” Chrysalis nodded. “He wants to hurt me, you’ll protect me right!?”

“Of course!” Amy said with a nod. “Nothing’s hurting my huggle-bug!”

Another knock at the door and Chrysalis flinched. Twilight rolled her eyes and answered the stallion on the other side.

“Ah, hello sir,” she smiled. “We meet again it seems.”

“Have we met before?” he asked, tilting his head. “Can’t remember.”

“When your granddaughter was first dropped of here,” Twilight said and glanced at Chrysalis, who was using Amy as a shield. “She’s over there.”

“Back!” Chrysalis said. “The power of Pink compels you!”

“Ah, hello there little one,” the stallion said as he looked at Amy. “Don’t suppose I could talk to my granddaughter, could I?”

“You’re Chryssy’s granddad?” she asked.

“I am indeed, and I just need to have a quick word with her,” the stallion replied, looking at the nymph behind her.

“Nope,” Chrysalis said. “You brought that bloody paper didn’t you?”

“Just picked one up this morning!” the stallion said with a smile.

“Aaaaammmyyyy~ Don’t let him get meeee~” Chrysalis whined and hugged her closer.

“Sir, I’m going to need a promise that you won’t hurt my cuddlebug before I’ll allow you any closer,” Amy said, folding her forelegs. The stallion sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Fine, I promise I will not hurt my granddaughter if you allow me at her. I only want to talk at her.”

“Works for me,” the pink nymph said before squirming free and walking off. “She’s all yours~”

“TRAITOR!” Chrysalis yelled, before sighing and looking at the drone. “Well, fine. Let’s hear it then. Let’s hear how massively disappointed in me you are… as usual.”

“The only thing I’m disappointed in is that it took Celestia to tell me you were planning on attending another wedding,” the drone said. “What, too embarrassed to write a letter to your old man every now and then?”

“Considering how you just pawned me off to the ponies, it was pretty clear you were done dealing with me,” Chrysalis muttered.

“I pawned you off so you could learn a few things while you were here, not so you could fall off the face of the earth!” the stallion sighed after expressing his disappointment. “You do know your little exile is temporary, right?”

“Why would I even go back to the Lands?” Chrysalis retorted. “Most of the Changelings there want me dead. Hell, half the changelings in Equestria want me dead too.” She sighed and looked at Amy. “So I’m done. I’m done with the Lands. I’m done with all the idiotic politics. I’ve already renounced my title, not that it meant much anyway.”

The stallion actually sniffed and smiled at that. “So you have learned a little something while you were here. I can’t imagine the old you saying something like that.”

“The ‘old’ me died when she was blasted away from Canterlot,” Chrysalis said, her tone lacking the bite it once had. “I have Amethyst and Aerial. That’s all that matters now.”

“I’m so proud of you,” the stallion said, before unexpectedly wrapping her up in a hug. “You’ve learned what really matters.”

“...You’re kind of creeping me out here,” Chrysalis said, awkwardly hugging him back.

The door to the room opened as a griffon walked in with a pink nymph on his back.

“Hmm, and what’s this?” Ace said aloud. The stallion hugging Chrysalis slowly broke it before looking at the two arrivals.

“Okay, guessing that she’s Amy,” he said, jerking his head at the nymph on Ace’s back. “Would that make you Ace then?”

“Aerial Ace, chief close-quarters combat instructor of the West Hoof Guard Academy,” he nodded and adjusted his scarf. “And you are?”

The stallion burst into flames before resolving into an old, Noble Yellow ‘ling. “My name would, loosely, translate to ‘Enormous Brass Balls,’” he informed the room. “I’m Chrysalis’ grandfather. I take it you’re the reason she’s become something to be proud of once again.”

“She was doing fine before I met her,” Ace nodded and smiled at his other nymph, who just blushed and looked away. “She simply made a mistake is all. Deep down, she’s always been a mare you should have been proud of.”

“S-Shut up… idiot,” Chrysalis muttered and turned even redder.

“She just needed some cheering up,” Amy chirped. “And Acey here is great at that.”

At this point, Chrysalis would be mistaken for a Red Changeling now. Ace just wiggled his eyebrows as steam came out of her ears.

“I’ll take your word for it,” the old general said with a laugh. “Ah. So I was just telling Chryssy here how proud I am of her. I might not even break out the newspaper or photo album this time, if she promises to write more.”

“Go fuck a cactus,” she muttered as Twilight tilted her head.

“Um… about your name…”

“And of course the perverted Bookworm brings it up,” Chrysalis sighed.

“Ah, my actual name is a little longer,” the stallion said. “Earned a new bit of it for every great thing I did, but those three parts of it I’m most proud of. Charged into a skirmish, brought my whole troop back after having dealt with more than our fair share of foes. Cleared out a dragon’s den and the beasts that took up residence with them before they could threaten the Yellow Hive any more. And of course we can’t forget about the assassins I beat to death with each other.”

Ace was practically vibrating as he cracked his knuckles. “Ohh, ohohohoho! You, you and me! Let’s fight!!!”

“I came to relax, hatchling,” the old general chuckled. “But if I have time before I catch my ride home, I’ll give you that fight you’re itching for.”

“Outstanding!” Ace roared as Midnight walked in and rubbed her ear.

“Okay, who challenged the birdbrain?” she asked.

“He seems to think that picking a fight with the oldest Yellow General alive, who is a master of various fighting styles, especially in using everything as a weapon, is a good idea,” Brass informed her.

“Oohhh, can I have a turn?” she purred, walking closer as she gave him a half-lidded gaze. But to every changeling in the room, the aura of death she was emanating was almost overpowering. “I promise I’ll be gentle~”

“Only if I’ve got time between now and when I leave,” the drone said. “You two can fight over who’ll get a turn with me first.”

“Age before beauty,” Midnight chuckled to her partner.

“Should you really be fighting properly in your condition?” Ace countered as Midnight frowned and stomped her hoof.

“Stars dammit!”

“So, with that settled,” Brass said before looking at Ace and Amy. “I’m trusting you two to look after my granddaughter and make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid while I go check the train listings.”

“Go throw yourself in front of it!” Chrysalis retorted.

“On it, sir!” Amy said with a salute, before bouncing off of Ace and giving the other nymph a hug.

Chrysalis just pouted as Ace chuckled and ruffled her mane.

“Just for that, no kisses for either of you,” the nymph said and folded her forelegs.

“If you’re gonna be like that,” Amy countered. “Then no ice-cream for you.”

“…” Chrysalis frowned and sighed, kissing Amy’s cheek. “Cheater.”

“I’ll be right back,” the old drone said before donning his disguise and leaving the room.

“Well,” Sugar said. “He was certainly an interesting fellow.”

“Yeah… ‘interesting’,” Chrysalis said. Still, it wasn’t a bad visit anyway. At least he didn’t bring out that damned newspaper this time. She stared the Violet Noble down and sighed. “And what are you smirking at?”

“She’s probably going to say something lewd,” Moondancer said, not looking up from her book.

“So, does Amy rule the bedroom then?” the Violet asked. “She certainly seems to be in charge out here~”

“Huh? And here I thought it’d be about that stallion’s name,” Moonie said, genuinely surprised.

“Actually,” Chrysalis smirked and saw her chance to embarrass Amy for once. “This little one just loves being dominated by a big male~”

“And I have all the males I could want right here,” Amy said, not even turning red before nuzzling first Chrysalis, then Ace.

Chrysalis frowned at her failed attempt. Ace laughed and picked the pink nymph up to nuzzle her. “This one loves my talons,” he mused. “She doesn’t want you Violets finding out just how good I am~”

“Oh really?” Sugar said, now paying more attention to the griffon. “Do tell~”

Ace shrugged and deposited Amy in her lap before moving to hug Chrysalis, one of his claws trailing down her neck as she shivered and let out a small moan at his touch.

“How very...interesting,” the Violet nymph said as she started making mental notes.

“And yet the pink in her lap gets ignored,” Moondancer giggled. Clearly this mare had not interacted with Pink changelings enough.

“Speaking of…” Midnight mused and looked at the Madame, who was just walking in. “Maybe I should summon little Joyful~”

“Please don’t,” the Madame said. “I like this palace. I’d prefer if it didn’t end up suffering under her.”

“Aw, Joy’s not that bad,” Midnight said. “She’s so sweet and cute. And besides…” She decided to play her trump card. “I can’t imagine Miss Amy not having such a foal at her wedding…”

“It’s okay,” Amy said with a wave of her hoof. “I asked the foals to attend not too long ago. In fact, I should probably apply an illusion and go out and ask them again. I’d love it if they could come to my wedding, seeing as how I can’t get the foals of Las Pegasus to all come out here.”

“Foals… joy,” Chrysalis said. “Little balls of tears and snot. I still can’t fathom why you like the squealing little meatsacks so much.”

“Because it’s so easy to make them happy~” Amy cooed.

“Bleh,” Chrysalis poked the nymph belly. “And this one… Your Pinkness and Ace’s… exuberance. Gods, this one will destroy the world.”

“Nah,” the pink ‘ling said with a wave of her hoof. “Wound it, maybe. Though, maybe if our foal and Middy’s foal get together, you should worry about the world.”

“Hmm, maybe?” Midnight looked at the Madame. “We’re breeding your rivals~”

“I look forward to the day when one can oust me from my position,” the Madame said honestly. “It’ll mean I can relax and plot other things for once.”

“She’s just jealous because I tried it first,” Chrysalis smirked at the mare.

“And look where that got you,” the silver unicorn retorted. “Plus, I do believe that in chess, the pawns go first.”

“Think Ledger would miss his mother if I vapourised her?” Chrysalis asked her pink finance.

“Little bit,” the pink nymph said. “I’d send you to the couch for sure.”

“Hmm…” Chrysalis pondered on that, even as her horn had a green glow to it.

Then Level Ledger returned…

“Hey there,” he said. “Just got my suit, it looks amazing.” He then walked over to Twilight and gave her a kiss by way of saying hello. She hummed and kissed him back, draped her hooves around his neck and making the kiss even deeper as she moaned into his mouth. Ledger didn’t complain at the treatment at all, hugging her and giving her mane a few strokes as he held his mare close. Though, he wondered how far she was planning on taking this…

She soon released him as Midnight pounced, determined not to be outdone as she kissed him deeply, feeding him her thestral tongue.

“You alright there dear?” Moondancer asked her wife.

“I’m fine,” Sugar said as she closed her eyes and just sighed at the amount of lust these ponies had. “They’re just...intoxicating.”

“Guys, stop making my wife drunk,” Moondancer sighed and looked at Wishful. “You alright?” He wasn’t a Noble, so his tolerance might not be as high.

Her worries came to fruition when the violet unicorn bent over to his wife’s ear and whispered something in it...causing her to actually blush.

“Did somepony say something interesting?” Moon teased and wiggled her eyebrows at them.

“Wishful!” she said. “Not here!”

“That’s not what you said last night,” the drone teased.

Now Moondancer and Sugar had a new target, as did Midnight once she came up for air. All three mares just continued to stare expectantly. Something that made the indomitable Madame Gossip blush had to be good.

“Down!” she commanded her husband.

“Mmnope,” he replied, before kissing her on the lips. “I think it’s time we experimented with our new location~”

“Somebuggy has plans~” Midnight giggled. “Care to share with the rest of the class?”

“Just that I’m glad for my soundproofing spell,” the stallion said before actually picking his wife up and walking off with her, even as she complained and told him to put her down. “See you all at dinner~”

“Need a helping hoof?” Sugar called out after them. It’d been a while since she had a Violet drone~

“I’m good, thanks,” the stallion replied before moving to leave. “I do my best work alone~” With that, he was gone, the Madame with him.

“Want me to get the brain bleach?” Midnight asked Ledger.

“Too late for that,” Ledger said simply.

Sugar and Chrysalis kept that scene in mind. Seems the Madame was quite weak to her husband’s will.

“So what were we up to before it became ‘make out with Ledger day’? Not that I’m complaining about that,” the drone said.

“Well, Pinkie is decorating the room we’re using for the wedding-” Twilight got out as the pink mare in question blurred into the room and grabbed Amy.

“You’re coming with me,” she said and blazed out of the room once more.

“Um...wat?” Chrysalis blinked, finding her hooves empty before she could blink.

“That’s Pinkie for you,” Ledger said. “I swear she’s a Pink in pony form.”

“Do we know she’s not?” Chrysalis asked seriously. “I mean, has anyling ever actually checked?”

“Nope, and I can’t blame them,” Ledger replied. “Would you want to?”

“Could be something to do when we’re bored,” Chrysalis nodded and then her eyes widened. “Oh sweet Hives! Are… are we bonding?”

“Hey, once you get past the usual snark and sarcasm, we actually can get along,” Ledger replied dramatically. “Who’da thunk it?”

“I’m scared Acey,” Chrysalis said and held her griffon. The bird just chuckling and hugging her back.

“So,” Twilight spoke up. “We have a rehearsal in the evening. What would you all like to do on your last day as a free pony?”

“I had an idea,” Ledger said. “To make getting between our homes a lot easier, and help us remove having to choose between two homes.”

Twilight and Cider perked up at this, the latter having been rather quiet until now.

“Y’all… really have an idea?” Cider asked. She’d been worried about it ever since she’d brought the issue up with Twilight.

“Mmhmm, now bear with me, this is a little elaborate,” Ledger said. “Twilight, do you think you could apply the same principles behind your portal device to something a lot simpler?”

“I… guess I could try,” Twilight nodded slowly. “Why?”

“I was thinking we could install a pair of doors that would act as a portal between here and Cider’s farm,” Ledger said. “That way, in case you wanted to come over, or we wanted to spend some time with you, it would be literally as though we were already right there.”

“Hmm, we could try it,” Twilight nodded. It sounded almost too simple an answer. “Alright. Do you want to go and see if we can set it up now?”

“Unless anypony has anything else they’d rather do?” Ledger said before looking at Moondancer. “We might need all hooves on deck for this.”

“Sounds like fun!” Moondancer giggled. She kissed Sugar’s cheek and beamed. “Be back later honey. Imma go and play science with Twi and Lev.”

“Just remember to be back in time for dinner,” the nymph replied.

“I’ll try,” Moon smiled. And with that, the three trotted from the room. That just left Ace, Chrysalis, Cider, Sugar and Midnight behind.

“Soooo,” Midnight said once they were alone. “Now what?”

“I would ask for a demonstration of your claws,” Sugar purred to the gryphon in the room. “But I get the disturbing feeling that if I did that, little Amy would come back to stop me.”

“Well, a harmless one might be on the table if you can get Chryssie and Amy to agree,” Ace said and wiggled his claws. “If you really want to know…”

“But a harmless one doesn’t sound like fun at all,” the Violet nymph pouted.

“I do not even know you, so I’d not do anything like that,” Ace nodded. “You’re married and I am to be married tomorrow…”

“Oh, you think that’ll stop me. That’s cute,” the nymph giggled before looking over at Midnight with what could only be termed a seductive smile.

“Ace is a noble sort,” Midnight said, blushing a little at the look she was getting. “So sorry Sugar, no Griffon lover for you.”

“And again, you need us to say yes first~” Chrysalis smirked. “He’s our griffon~”

“Oh, once again, you think somebirdy is my target, when he isn’t,” Sugar said. “Really adorable of you.”

“What in the apples are y’all getting at?” Cider asked with a tilt of her head.

“I promised I would only ask once you all were done with your honeymoon,” the nymph said. “It’d just be rude of me otherwise. We got to enjoy ours, after all...even if half of it was spent in the bedroom.”

Midnight just shrugged and hugged her earth pony mare. “She’s just being silly. Trying to get me all flustered no doubt.”

“You? Flustered?” Ace laughed. “Since when?”

“Mnope, I’m being quite serious,” Sugar said before turning back to her book. “I’ll have a nice surprise waiting for you when you get back~”

Midnight blinked and looked at the mare. “Should… should I be worried about this?”

Sugar’s only reply to that was to chuckle.

“Ah reckon y’all should be very worried,” Cider said and looked at Sugar. “Y’all better not be planning t’hurt mah family Sugar. Ah’d hate to hafta break you.”

“Oh no, I know better than to threaten your family,” the nymph said before turning the page. “But I promise this will be a nice surprise, or one that you can easily return, anyways.”

Cider and Midnight looked at one another as Ace was glad that her attention was no longer on him.

Chrysalis whispered something to him and he smirked. He stood up and started walking towards her.

“What are you doing?” Sugar asked as she looked up.

“Hmm, such a pretty little nymph,” he purred, turning his charm on. He cupped her cheek with a talon and licked his beak. And all alone too, perhaps I should… play with you~”

“Oh please do,” the nymph said, playing along and even half-lidding her eyes. “My wife has gone and left me all alone~ I could do with the companionship.”

“Mmm,” he moved around behind her as his claws trailed down her neck and onto her shoulders. And once he was behind the chair she was sitting on, he started to massage her.

“Oooh,” she said. “That feels...niiiiice.” She’d never been touched like this before. Moondancer was no masseuse.

“Oh, it gets… So. Much. Better~” Chrysalis purred into her ear. Ace nodded as he moved his claws down a bit, rubbing her lower back as he pressed a few points with his claw tips, points that never failed to… warm his mares up. Sugar let out a lewd moan as Ace did that.

“Ooooh, so tempted to try and take you for myself,” the nymph said. “You know where all my buttons are~”

Chrysalis giggled and nodded to the griffon. He had permission.

Midnight and the others watched as he moved his claws, slowly sliding them under her shell. He then started on the sensitive skin underneath, slowly scratching and rubbing it. Sugar panted before one of her hind legs began to twitch. If she hadn’t been sitting on her haunches…

Ace chuckled at the response, Amy had a similar one.

“Oh Acey~” Chrysalis purred and looked at the nymph, licking her lips. “Finish her~”

“As my love commands,” he nodded as he rubbed his claws up and down her spine, before moving to her flanks, only a few scant inches from a much more… intimate place as he triggered some well-practised places…

Sugar let out a louder moan before she slumped in her chair and let out a soft sigh. “And now I owe Sparkle for this cushion,” she mused.

He gave her shoulders a once over and them moved away as Chrysalis smiled.

“And that? My dear Noble sister. Is what Amy and I have access to all the time~”

“You okay Sugar?” Midnight asked.

“I’m fine, just incredibly jealous that I didn’t make a move on this griffon when he first showed up in the city,” Sugar said with a wave of her hoof.

“You know,” Ace said as he nuzzled Chrysalis. “That kinsman of mine, the black griffon? He’s even more skilled in this art than I am…”

“He’s with my daughter,” Sugar sighed. “Plus he’s not quite good enough in the bed for me. He’s good, but not quite good enough. He’s more boasting than action.”

Chrysalis gasped and then trotted over to her, pressing her lips against the nymph’s ear.

And that was when she passed along every sordid detail of what Ace could do. Sugar actually blushed before looking at the griffon. “And...you say he’s better?”

“Only in the art of massage,” Ace nodded. “However, I am getting plenty of practice~”

“Why is it that all the good griffons are taken?” Sugar lamented.

“Perhaps my soon-to-be wives would share sometime?” Ace chuckled and pecked her cheek. “I wasn’t lying when I said you were pretty~”

“I’ll keep that in mind for the future,” Sugar said with a nod. “Call for me sometime?”

“Provided Amy says yes, or that was the last you'll get of me,” Ace nodded and resumed his hugging of Chrysalis.

“How in the heck did Aerial Ace get better at seduction than me!?” Midnight exclaimed.

“Practice,” Sugar suggested.

“S’not fair,” Midnight pouted as Cider petted her back and rolled her eyes.

“You say that now,” Sugar pointed out. “You haven’t heard what my surprise is going to be yet~”

“Doesn’t matter,” Midnight replied, looking a little dejected. “Maybe I wasn’t as good as I thought I was…”

“Aw, don’t be like that Middy,” Cider nuzzled her. “Ah think yer one of the sexiest mares ah’ve ever met.”

“Then why do I feel like Ledger likes Twilight more than me? Why do I even care that he does…” Midnight smacked her hoof against the floor, causing Cider to flinch. “Why am I so bucking pissed off!?”

“Ah, I remember when I was pregnant,” Sugar reminisced. “I was capable of snapping at a moment’s notice as well.”

“Being pregnant has nothing to do with it!!” Midnight snapped and bared her fangs, before she got a look of realisation and started to cry. “I’m soooo sorry…..”

“Take it easy dear,” Sugar said before getting up and walking over to Midnight, looking at Cider and motioning as if to hug the batpony. She wanted her herdmate’s permission before she did.

“Go ahead,” Cider nodded. “Ah can’t rightly relate to her with this problem ah’m afraid.”

With that, Sugar pulled Midnight in and gave her a comforting stroke down her back. “There there, dear,” she cooed. “At least you’re in a better position than I was, you know. You have the good fortune to marry the father of your foal.”

That only served to make the poor mare cry harder, as now she was sad for Sugar and Two-Step.

“Wow… you’re an expert at this huh?” Chrysalis snarked.

“Just keep in mind, dear,” Sugar said. “Ledger does love you. Otherwise he wouldn’t be going through all this for you. You were the first mare into his life. I can promise you, that drone loves you to bits.”

Midnight didn’t reply. She didn’t want to voice the dark thoughts floating around her head. She just sniffed and leaned into the hug more, hoping they’d go away.

“And look on the bright side,” the violet nymph said. “He’s too smart to ever be disloyal to any of you.” Sugar hummed before a wicked smile crossed her face. “You know, I think I might know why you’re having such quick mood swings, dear. I mean, beyond the pregnancy.”

“Oh this should be good,” Chrysalis chuckled, before yelping as Ace swatted her flank.

“Have you considered what you’re pregnant with?” Sugar asked. “And what it might need for sustenance beyond normal food?”

You could have heard a pin drop it was so silent.

“Wait…” Midnight looked at her. “Is that… is that why I feel so sick whenever I’m sad?”

“Most likely,” Sugar nodded. “‘lings need normal food and emotional food, dear.” Then she leaned in and whispered a dark secret to Midnight’s ear.

“You know...you could probably influence the color of the little one by feeling the right emotion during your pregnancy.”

That… that worked? Midnight gaped at her and then she smiled. A smile that if Ledger saw, he’d want to evacuate to the Lands as soon as possible. She got up and gave Cider a kiss, and after a little contemplation, gave a deep kiss to Sugar as well.

“Mm, you always taste so divine,” Sugar complimented her. “But I’ll refrain from touching your emotions. You’ve a little one to feed as well, you know.”

“Oh, I know,” she purred and smiled brightly. “Now, if you’ll all excuse me, I have a happy little friend to go and see.” And with that, she trotted from the room to go and find Amy, singing a little song about flowers and fairies while she was trotting.

“Something tells me I may have doomed Las Pegasus,” Sugar said. “Or at the very least, made the future far more interesting.”

In the ballroom, Amy and Pinkie were running around, making sure everything was absolutely perfect.

Pinkie wiped her brow and sighed contently. “Whew! Thanks a bunch Amy. I never could have got this done without your help.”

“Not a problem, fellow Pink pony!” Amy said before holding a hole-filled hoof for a hoofbump. “I’m always happy to help.”

Pinkie returned the gesture as her tail vibrated. “Ohh, twitchy tail!!”

“Uh-oh,” Amy replied. “What’s that one?”

“That something’s about to fall,” Pinkie said before something heavy landed on Amy’s back, pulling her into a tight hug as Midnight nuzzled her.

“Amy, I need an infusion of happy,” the bat said into the back of her neck.

“Sure thing!” Amy said before looking at Pinkie. “Can you find my saddlebags and open up the non-magically chilled one? I got a little leftover somethin’ that’ll cheer this bat right up!”

“Yupperdeppers!” Pinkie giggled and pronked over to her bags and rummaged through them until she pulled out a container and brought it back to Amy.

“Here we go,” Amy said as she pulled out a spoon from Pinkie’s mane. “Open wide, Middy!”

The thestral mused and nibbled Amy’s ear before complying. “The things I do for you~” she giggled. Then Amy had scooped up a spoonful of whatever it was and plopped it right in her mouth. Midnight bit down over the spoon before her eyes widened a little and she moaned around the spoon, her ears wiggling.

“Shhooo guuud!” she purred.

“Knew it, called it!” Amy said, hoofpumping. “Hey Pinkie, can you open up the chilled one and move the stuff I made to the castle freezer before somebat gets at it?”

Pinkie saluted as Midnight perked up.

“Amy~ What’s in the bag?~” she purred.

“Nothing for you!” Amy said, pulling the spoon out and beeping her muzzle with it. “I need it for tomorrow!”

“Mmm, fine,” Midnight pouted. “Can I have some then?”

“Sure thing!” Amy said. “But first, you should have whatever cake Pinkie’s cooked up for you. Then you can have some of mine.”

Pinkie yelped in surprise as she suddenly got wrapped up in a hug with Amy and Midnight. Wait, when did the bat…?

“I don’t deserve friends like you,” Midnight said softly as she nuzzled them both. “But I’m glad you are.”

“Aww, silly Middy! I’m friends with everypony!” Amy said before returning the nuzzle. “And how could I not be your friend? We’re both gonna have foals soon, and they’re gonna be best friends! It’d just be silly if we didn’t get along!”

“About that,” Midnight said. “Is it okay if we hang out more? I’d like some friends that I don’t sleep with.”

“I can do that,” Amy said with a nod. “I think Acey would get jealous if I did sleep around anyways. We’ve got Chryssy and that’s enough for him, I think.”

“Actually…” Midnight giggled awkwardly. “You ah… might wanna get back to those two. Chrysalis made him show Sugar his magic claws. Sugar now owes Twilight a new pillow…”

The pink nymph gasped before looking at Pinkie. “I have to go, my griffon needs me,” she said dramatically. “Can I trust the happiness of this batpony to you, Pinkie?”

“Sure!” Pinkie giggled and took over hugging Midnight. “Go and save your catbirdfriend!”

With that, the pink nymph had wiggled free and was bouncing through the halls of the castle again, in search of Acey.

“Whelp, Sugar’s doomed,” Midnight giggled as she returned Pinkie’s hug. “So, do you want any help here?”

Ace was trying to hold Sugar back as Chrysalis just watched, being no help whatsoever. Cider had left once Midnight vanished, so it just left the griffon alone with the two Noble nymphs.

“Oh come on, Acey,” Sugar purred. “I only want to play~”

“A game not suited for a gentlebird such as myself I’ll wager,” Ace replied with a dry tone. “Chrysalis dear, a little help?”

“Mmm, I’ll think about it,” she smirked. This was too much fun to ignore.

“You were pretty willing to show off the other night,” Sugar pointed out. “What, are you only into pink mares?”

Chrysalis coughed and motioned towards herself.

“Amy and Chryssie were also present,” Ace replied.

“One of them is now,” Sugar pointed out. “And you gave me such a good warm-up~”

“Because it was still harmless enough,” Ace said, trying to push the nymph away without hurting her. But by gods was she persistant.

“I promise to be gentle~” Sugar cooed.

Ace just quirked an eyebrow. If he could reach a spot behind her neck, he could render her unable to move for the next hour or so…

That was about when Amy burst into the room and pointed a hoof at Sugar. “Get your hooves off my griffon!” she proclaimed before jumping between them and acting as a shield for Ace. “Nopony touches him without my approval!”

“Awww,” Sugar whined. “But-”

“No!”

The violet just pouted.

“Is the fun over already?” Chrysalis asked. “Oh well…”

“Many thanks my love,” Ace kissed the back of her head. “Somepony doesn’t know when to quit.”

“I was told you needed me, and here I am,” Amy said as she leaned back into the griffon. “Now go on, get,” she said, shooing the Violet off. “Go wander somewhere else and bother somepony else.”

“Oh fie, fine,” Sugar said before wandering into the hall. Maybe she’d go see what Moondancer was up to…

“You didn’t have a problem with Acey railing Pinkie,” Chrysalis mused. “Hmm, or are you jealous we didn’t invite you dear?”

“I wasn’t going to do anything to her,” Ace nodded.

“Plus Pinkie and Acey already know each other,” Amy pointed out. “She came for a visit once, before you were a thing.”

“Seriously?” Chrysalis asked and looked at Ace, who just nodded in response. “And yet… you picked me over her?”

“Because you needed us,” Amy said softly. “And my mom always said you should help those that need it over those you want to help. I woulda liked to have Pinkie, true...but you needed us more.”

“And now you’ve ‘helped’ me?” Chrysalis asked. “What now? How do you feel?”

“I feel happy,” the pink nymph said. “Because I helped bring just a little more happiness and joy into the world.”

“You are far sweeter than the treats you create, you know that?” Chrysalis moved down next to her and kissed her cheek. “I just hope I can continue to make you happy.”

“You already do,” Amy said before hugging the larger nymph. “Especially ‘cause you agreed to marry us tomorrow~”

“Yeah yeah,” Chrysalis blushed. “Let’s not make a big deal of it alright.”

“Aww, but I wanted to make you blush with three little words,” Amy pouted.

Chrysalis looked down at her with an unamused stare. “Don’t you even—”

“I love you,” Amy said before Chryssy could finish. The nymph turned a deep scarlet and looked away, muttering under her breath about adorable nymphs.

“I like her like this,” Amy chirped. “How about we take her back to the room and you give her a nice massage, to make her nice and pliable, Acey?”

“I can do that~” he hummed and picked up the nymph, before giving Amy a kiss. “Don’t wait too long, or we’ll play without you~”

“Just gotta make sure all the ingredients are in place for tomorrow,” Amy said before prancing off.

“Hmm, now, where was I?” Ace murred and smiled at Chrysalis. “Ah yes, I have a Queen to pamper and seduce~”

Chrysalis just blushed more as Ace carried her off, passing Sugar in the corridor as they headed for their room.

“Ace,” she said, nodding her head. “Just have to find the labs, I’ll leave you be.”

“It’s fine, sorry for taking the back rub so far,” he replied. “Still, talk to Amy sometime. And if you want the lab, take that staircase there all the way down, then the third door on the left.”

“Thank you,” Sugar said as she stood to one side. “I can tell you’re in the middle of something, so I’ll just let you pass first.”

Ace nodded and brushed past her, Chrysalis toying with the idea of a little prank...but before she could cast her spell, the pair of them were out of range of the nymph.

“Ah well,” she mused. “Another time then…”

Chapter 94 - Wedding day jitters

It was after midnight, and a certain Thestral couldn’t sleep. Between the gentle snores of her partners, or perhaps the chirping crickets… who knows.

She gave a small frustrated sigh and slowly edged her way out of bed, being careful not to wake anypony before heading out of the door and towards the kitchen.

A nice mango should help her relax.

…

…

Twilight was out of mangoes.

“Well, buck me,” she muttered. She sighed louder this time and placed a pot of tea on the stove, not really focusing as a myriad of thoughts ran through her head. Despite what she’d said to Ledger before, she was still nervous as all hay about tomorrow. She was going to be Mrs. Midnight Song.

She stared down at her stomach as the pot bubbled away. “And then there’s you as well. Married and a Mommy… gods above, how the hell did this happen?”

“My son always did have a way to do exactly what we didn’t expect,” the voice of the Madame came from the doorway. “It was really bad when he simply locked himself in his room for several hours at a time to study. He’d always come out with some new trick that he’d pieced together from watching others…” She looked around at an empty kitchen, save for a boiling pot, then looked up to see Midnight hanging from one of the light fixtures, her eyes wide and fur on end.

“D-Don’t sneak up on a pony like that,” she finally stammered as she dropped back down to the floor and grabbed the pot handle in her teeth. She placed it on the counter and sighed before offering the nymph a smile. “Maybe he’s got a little Pink in him after all~”

“The worst it ever had been was when his sister cast an illusion on him to turn him white,” the older mare tittered. “He locked himself in his room for an entire day before coming out with a feedback loop spell, to prevent her from casting any magic at all. Including her illusions. That was when I got involved.”

“How do you deal with it?” Midnight suddenly asked as she poured two cups of tea. “Being married, having kids... I don’t… I don’t know if I can do this.”

“I thought that as well, when I first rescued the six drones from that black market,” the Madame said. “Nobuggy wanted them, and they were all...scarred. So I claimed them for myself, and began fixing them up as well as I could. It was always my intention to release them back into the public when they were functioning again…”

“You make them sound like Fluttershy’s pets or something,” Midnight giggled and sipped at her tea.

“I most likely did, right up until the day that Wishful asked if he could marry me,” the silver mare stated. “It was then I realized two things. One, they were living, intelligent beings that I had been sharing my home with for quite some time, not just some project to show that I could do better than the majority of nymphs.”

“And the second?” Midnight was really beginning to wonder how the Changeling Lands worked.

“Even if I accepted, my life wouldn’t be over just because I was now married,” the mare said before sipping her tea. “It would just enter a new, richer chapter, because now I was sharing it with another.”

“I’ve ‘shared’ with countless others,” Midnight said quietly. “Some more special than others though. Yet, I’ve always known how my life would go. Where I would end up. And then I got sent on that mission to Las Pegasus. Befriend some unicorn named Level Ledger and use him to bring down Toll Taker.” She sighed and stared at her half-full mug. “Now so much crazy stuff has happened, I can’t see the future at all. I don’t know what’s going to happen next…”

“That’s the thing that happens when you open up and share your life with others,” the Madame said. “So many things can happen, you don’t know which one is most likely. Though, if my son is to be believed, I know of one thing that is going to happen…” Her eyes strayed to Midnight’s midsection for a moment before returning to looking at the batmare in the eyes.

“You’re about to say something really sappy, even after checking me out like that huh?” MIdnight smirked and winked.

“Let’s just say I’m looking forward to greeting my grandchild,” the mare said. “I really should check in on Ledger more often if this is what he does when I don’t.”

“You have no idea what happens when you’re not here,” Midnight giggled and sipped at her tea again. “And… I want to apologise to you. A while ago, I did something I shouldn’t have.”

“Oh?” the Madame said with a raised eyebrow.

“The last time Purple Pop… uh, Wishful Heart came to visit,” she said. “We were out and about, and wound up talking with Sugar Darling at some point. I don’t know how, but the conversation turned and Wishful mentioned that nopony aside from you would ever love him and…” She closed her eyes and waited for the yelling. “So I fell back into old habits and proved him wrong and kissed him. It’s just, I couldn’t stand seeing somepony talk like that about themselves, not when he’s so kind and funny and… I’m really not helping my case am I?”

To Midnight’s surprise, all she heard was giggling from the Madame.

Midnight dared to open one eye and peeked at her. “That’s… uh, a really odd way to yell at somepony.”

“He told me just today, dear,” the Madame said. “And I don’t blame you for what you did, not really. All my husbands still have a few confidence issues from time to time, and I prove them wrong similarly. Even when I’ve born them all children, they doubt as to whether or not I love them.”

“And yet, I’m the one that’s doubted Ledger a few times,” Midnight chuckled at the reversal of their situations. “Mind you, when he curses Twilight like that, he makes it easy enough to believe. Silly little drone.”

“His anger always was something to watch out for,” the silver mare said. “He didn’t get very mad often, but when he did...it was either him cursing us out, or worse, he plotted.”

“Heh, maybe Twilight got off easy then, well… she got off a couple of times after that actually~” Midnight giggled and licked her lips over the delicious make-up sex they had. “Guess she won’t turn him into a foal again any time soon.”

“...I would ask, but I’ve learned better than to do that thanks to my daughter,” the Madame said.

“Ledger’s ‘special’ coffee and an Age Spell,” Midnight nodded. She gazed down and gave her tummy a rub. “Found out some interesting things about Parasite here too. Something about influencing the Colour…”

“True,” the Madame said. “You either can choose not to, and the foal will likely take after the parents, or you can try to do so, and end up with a foal that could...more directly take after one of the aspects of your personality.”

“Oh boy, this thing will almost certainly turn out Violet if that’s the case,” Midnight giggled. “I don’t know if I could handle that. Sugar and Two-Step are more than enough for me to handle.”

“It takes a lot of effort to force a Color onto a foal,” the Madame said. “The best we’ve been able to do is try and make sure that one trait will be more dominant.”

“And yet, you’re a Silver and Joy’s dad is an Orange yeah?” Midnight paused and thought about that. “Was Joyful a product of Colour selection?”

“No, it turns out Peaceful has some Pink in his family tree,” the mare said. “Apparently. I did a spell once she was born, and found that my Orange husband had a Pink grandfather.”

Midnight nodded and finished off her tea. “Well, if it’s genetics, then my foal will be Violet or Silver. So that should be fun.” She paused and looked at the mare. “Has there ever been a union of Changeling and Thestral before?”

“No, out of fear...on our side,” the mare said. “There’s still more than one story circulating about how Thestrals are the boogeypony that will sneak into bad little ‘ling’s rooms.”

Midnight gave her fluffy ears a wiggle and her eyes widened cutely. “But we’re such adorable little bats~ How can you be scared of us?”

“Tales from when one troop found a village and encountered a thestral guardian that didn’t feel anything while it denied them entrance,” the silver mare replied. “Which rapidly spun out of control when they got back home.”

“Ooh, yeah, some of us can do that,” she nodded. “Me included. Scared the hell out of Ledger the first time I did it.”

“As it would,” the mare said. “Imagine that you were trying to fight a pony that could turn invisible at will. Becoming somepony that doesn’t feel renders us blind to you with our emotion-sensing abilities, something we grow up with and hone from the youngest of ages.”

“Yeah, well I don’t use it much anymore. Don’t have to.” Midnight yawned and licked her lips. “So, anymore sage advice for your soon-to-be daughter?”

“Yes,” the mare said with a chuckle. “I know that when you actually give birth, you’re going to want to tear the chitin off my son. Please don’t, I can’t replace him.”

“I’ll try, but if he offers his hoof, I’ll likely bite it,” she giggled as she put her mug in the sink. “I suppose I should get back to bed. Ledger might panic and think I’ve run away if he wakes up and I’m not there.”

“Yes, please don’t cause him to think that,” the Madame said before adding her own mug to the sink as well. “I can tell he loves you, and he’s probably looking forward to tomorrow a lot.”

“I love him too,” Midnight said with a smile. And it was true, the pure love that washed from her was divine. “And underneath my nerves, I’m looking forward to tomorrow as well.” She shook her head and smiled, waving at the nymph before trotting off.

“Now let’s just hope that tomorrow goes well for all parties involved,” the Madame muttered. “And hope I don’t have to...persuade anypony out of acting on their nerves.”

The next morning, when Ledger awoke. The first sight he was greeted with was all of his mares sleeping in the same bed as he. Twilight and Cider snuggled him while Midnight lay off to one side, one hoof dangling over the edge of the bed while the other clutched Scope like a teddy bear.

And to think, after today, he might get to see it every morning. He sighed softly at the thought, before doing his best to get out of the bed without waking anypony. He wanted to make them breakfast for once.

He managed to extradite himself successfully, but as he got to the kitchen, he saw that it was already occupied by a purple drake and a lazy Changeling queen.

“Spiiiiike, more coffee,” Chrysalis moaned.

“You’ve already had five cups, your Highness,” he responded. “Oh, hey Ledger. ‘Sup?”

“Ledgeerrrrr…. coffeeeee~” Chrysalis pouted at him. It actually was kind of cute.

“Nahmuch Spike, just wanted to help make breakfast today,” Ledger said. “I can cover the coffee if you’d like.”

“Nah, Princess Crankypants there has already had her share…” Chrysalis poked her tongue out in response. “Think you could whip up something to eat. I already have pancakes going on here. And Twilight loves her pancakes…”

“Like the time she fell asleep in them?” Chrysalis snorted, causing Spike to laugh out loud.

“Hmm...how about a quick fruit salad?” Ledger offered. “Or I could fry up some scrambled eggs if you think the others would appreciate it.”

“Hmm…” Spike pondered. “How about some quiche, along with some scrambled egg with tomato and basil? Think you could make that?”

Chrysalis’s stomach gave a loud gurgle to voice her approval of this dish.

“The scrambled egg, yes, the quiche, I make no promises,” Ledger said. “Never done that before. Would you be so kind as to instruct me?”

“Sure,” Spike nodded as he tossed Chrysalis the spatula he was holding. “Take over princess. I have deliciousness to create!”

Chrysalis blushed at being called ‘princess’, grumbling under her breath as she flipped a pancake with her magic. Spike pulled some rolled pastry sheets from the fridge and begun showing Ledger how to make a zucchini and feta cheese quiche.

“This is basically scrambled eggs in a pastry, but we’ll make some separate for ponies that don’t like quiche,” Spike said as he cut the pastry with a knife and crushed some garlic cloves. “Can you grate that cheese and then put it, along with four eggs and a quarter cup of cream into a bowl?”

“On it,” Ledger said as his magic started to multitask, something he was good at. While he put a minimal amount of focus on the cheese grating, his attention split to measure out some cream and grab ahold of some eggs. A bowl floated down to hold all the ingredients once he was done with them.

Spike had already pre-heated an oven. It was amazing how much faster they’d heat up when you could breathe fire. He took the crispy pastry base out of the oven and layered the zucchini and feta in it.

“Once you’ve mixed all that together, pour it on top and bake for about a half hour,” Spike said as he turned back to Chrysalis. The nymph was… surprisingly good at cooking. Her pancakes were a delicious golden brown and smelled perfect. Ledger nodded and mixed the ingredients together, blending them to the same consistency before adding the mixture to the top of the base of their quiche.

“So explain why we have pancakes now, but that won’t be ready for another half hour,” Chrysalis stated as she flipped the last of the pancakes.

“Because, this is for the invasion force,” Spike said and as if they’d been waiting for that cue, the resident changeling’s stumbled in, moaning and groaning, only to be treated a spread of coffee with pancakes and a variety of delicious toppings. Syrup, berries, chocolate chips, whipped butter and powdered sugar.

“Good thinking,” Ledger said, before starting in on some scrambled eggs for everypony. It would take him a minute, and the pancakes would distract the others.

Chrysalis placed the final plate in front of Amy. Along with some decaf coffee, she was also served some heart-shaped pancakes, topped with cherries and strawberry syrup. The pink nymph chirped happily before kissing Chrysalis in thanks.

Peaceful and Wishful soon followed, giving their wife a kiss on each cheek as they sat down. Both were looking rather chipper, despite being uncaffeinated. Yearling’s drones sat down and happily dug in, enjoying the food for the deliciousness it promised and delivered on.

“Urgh, aren’t the four of you just a bundle of happiness today,” Chrysalis said. While she couldn’t feel negative emotions, positive ones were more sensitive in kind. It was how she was able to draw so much power, even from a brainwashed Shining. “Try and tone it down a few notches hmm?”

“Can’t,” Devoted said.

“Too busy eating,” Lucky added on.

“That’s still creepy,” Chrysalis muttered as she turned back to the stove. At some point, Amy had slipped a frilly pink apron on her without Chrysalis even noticing, so when the nymph finally did and turned to her marefriend with a raised eyebrow…

“Sure!” Amy said before kissing her again.

Chrysalis blinked and looked down, seeing ‘Kiss the Chef’ sewed on the front. “Of course…” she mutted and then smirked, turning to Ledger and waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“Sorry, happily about to be married,” Ledger replied as he cast an amused smirk over to her. He was still working on his eggs as well.

“So was Shining,” Chrys smirked as she walked slowly towards him making kissy faces.

“We’d like this wedding to go off without a hitch,” the drone replied. “Why don’t you focus on your wife-to-be instead?”

“Aww, she doesn’t mind,” Chrysalis purred, still walking closer. “Hey Amy, wanna see me kiss Ledger~?”

“Not really,” Amy spoke up. “He doesn’t want it after all.”

“Bah! None of you are any fun at all,” Chrysalis pouted, then smirked and planted a big sloppy kiss on his cheek before cackling and running off to eat pancakes with Amy.

“Spike, make a note to get her back for that later,” Ledger said as he finished off one plate’s worth of scrambled eggs.

The drake nodded as the first of the ponies arrived, namely Yearling and Cider.

“Mornin’ y’all,” the earth mare yawned sleepily. She nudged Amy as she walked passed. “Ready t’be hitched lil’ lady?”

“Mmhmm,” the pink nymph said. “What about you?”

“As ready as ah’ll ever be,” Cider nodded before trotting over to Ledger and invading his mouth with her tongue with a rather exuberant good morning kiss. Once she released him, she licked her lips and nodded to herself before taking a seat.

“And good morning to you too,” Ledger replied. “Breakfast is either pancakes now, eggs now, or a fancy quiche Spike and I put together later. Your choice.”

“Hmm, some pancakes might be nice, but save me a slice of that quiche,” she nodded as Chrysalis served her some pancakes. Cider eyed the apron and giggled. “Don’t mind if ah do,” she hummed and kissed the nymph’s cheek as she leaned down to place the butter on the table.

Chrysalis squeaked and turned a nice shade of pink as she jerked back and frowned. Cider only giggled harder before she started to eat, the flustered nymph going back to her fiance.

“I blame you for this,” she pouted to Amy.

“Admit it, you like it~” the pink nymph sing-songed.

“Oh bite me,” Chrysalis retorted as she nibbled a pancake. A pair of talons gripped her shoulders as someone’s warm breath washed over her neck.

“Don’t mind if I do~” a voice purred before Ace nibbled her ear.

“Kyaa~!” Chrys shrieked in surprise and pleasure. It was… a very filly-like shriek, despite the fact the nymph had a rather deep voice normally.

“And thank you Ace, for getting my revenge for me,” Ledger said as he started in on another pan of eggs.

“Hmm? Well, if you say so,” the griffon shrugged. Chrysalis was at the end of the table, Amy next to her and then Peaceful next to Amy. Ace frowned and then picked Peaceful up effortlessly, depositing him in the next available seat before sitting down next to Amy and nuzzling her contently.

“Oh dear,” Peaceful said. “You, could have asked…”

“More effort that way,” Ace shrugged. “Besides, you have a cute flank~”

Peaceful blushed, the Madame blinked, and Wishful gave the griffon a thoughtful glance. “I’m not sure if I like him or not,” the drone eventually said. “On the one hoof, he’s fun, but on the other hoof, he hit on one of your husbands…”

The Madame waved it off with a smile. “I’m sure he only meant the best of things with his little compliment there.”

“Thanks to these two, I have come to appreciate the finer aspects of Changeling physiology,” Ace nodded. “Also, I did not mean to offend. I did mean that as a compliment. My apologies if I made you uncomfortable.” He sighed and tugged at his scarf, “Not everypony appreciates my… preferences.”

“I know I do~” Chrysalis purred. She sighed and leaned against Amy. “He makes the cutest little squawks~”

“Chrysalis!” Ace blushed.

“They were cute, when I could make him make them,” Amy said. “Now I hafta rely on you.”

“I don’t hear you complaining at the time,” Chrysalis said and kissed Amy’s neck. “But I’ll not do it anymore if you don’t want me to.”

“No, it’s fine,” Amy said with a wave of her hoof. “But you’d better believe you’re both getting a visit from Cherry once I’ve had this foal.”

“I look forward to it love,” she purred and nibbled her neck again. The she dropped her voice so only Amy could hear her. “Maybe I could have the next one~?”

“What do you think I’ve been trying to get you and Acey to do?~” the Pink purred back before biting into her breakfast again.

Chrysalis let out a throaty chuckle and nibbled her ear. “No dear. I. Want. Yours.”

“Oooh, that sounds like fun,” Amy replied. “But let’s get married before we think about overrunning Las Pegasus with foals~”

“Got it. Marriage, then invasion,” Chrysalis laughed and bit into her pancake, making a show of moaning lightly as she licked syrup off of her lips sensually. Amy shuddered a little in her chair before she focused on the food. She could have Acey punish the nymph later~

Around that time, Ledger suddenly felt a weight on his back as Scope teleported in, reclining on his back with her hooves behind her head.

“Sup bugbutt?” she said with a small yawn.

“Breakfast,” Ledger said. “What’s your fancy?”

“Harvested foal souls and the anguished tears of the lost, with a side of bacon,” Scope said. Ledger rolled his eyes and levitated the plate of scrambled eggs he’d already made, ready for consumption.

“Meh, guess that’ll do,” she said as she took the plate, placing it on her belly and started eating, not moving from his back. “Couch Ledger is Best Couch,” she commented with a mouthful of eggs.

“You’re just lucky I love you too much to make you move,” Ledger said as he started plating the second batch of eggs. “Lemme know how they turn out, a little dragon told me to add a few things.”

A second later, an empty plate hovered in front of Ledger as Scope belched. “More please.”

“You are a regular breakfast destroying monster, aren’t you?” Ledger said with a sigh. The plate was removed and replaced with the second, fresh batch of eggs.

“And yet, you just said you love me~” she said, taking the fresh plate. She looked over at the Madame and winked. “Bet you never thought you’d hear your colt say that to another nymph huh?”

“After his last encounter with a nymph, no, I rather thought I wouldn’t,” the silver nymph replied. “Thank you once again for helping to fix him.”

“Oh, then watch this~” He could feel her shift as a yellow tail flicked his side. “See? And he’s only mildly freaking out.”

“Mostly because I know it’s still you,” the drone said. “I’m pretty sure that one day, you won’t even be able to use that against me.”

That was when some very light pheromones tickled his nose, causing him to breathe deeply for a moment before shaking his head. “Dammit all Scope, you know I don’t like it when you do that,” he muttered. “Especially not in front of others.”

“And as you said, the more I do it, the more you’ll get used to it until it doesn't affect you at all,” she said, still eating her breakfast. Ledger snorted as he started on a third pan of scrambled eggs, doing his best to ignore the pheromones.

She eventually stopped and reverted back to normal. No reason to antagonise him too much before the wedding.

Plus his mother was giving her a murderous glare, so there was that.

And then every changeling could feel a wave of Lust approaching, like a storm on the horizon…

“Spike, quick! How much longer on that quiche?” Ledger asked. “The Midnight approacheth.”

“About ten minutes?” he replied. “Is that a bad thing?”

“She’ll certainly be here before then,” Ledger muttered. And him without any eggs. He would glare at the nymph on his back, but he had a pan to attend to. “Crap, we need to stall her somehow until something is ready for her…”

“Why don’t you throw Joyful at her?” Scope suggested. Speaking of, they were still two Changelings down. Joyful and Critical were absent.

“Not only do I not have her, I only want to stall her, not give her the means to level the castle,” Ledger said. “Hmm…” He then got a wicked smirk on his face. “Oh Scoooope~”

“...What?” she asked dubiously. This wasn’t going to end well…

“Do you think you could distract Middy until I have some eggs to offer her?” he asked sweetly.

“Distract me how?” Midnight’s voice said and everypony looked up to see her standing on the ceiling, looking down at Ledger. The drone laughed weakly as he looked up.

“Oh, you know, in any way possible until these eggs are done. Shouldn’t be long, but I like to have my options open.”

“Huh? If you say so,” she shrugged and fell from the roof, landing in a seat next to Lucky. She turned and looked at the two drones. “I can wait for breakfast. Meanwhile…” She licked her lips and looked at them. “I believe I need to get to know these two better~”

“Not much to say,” Devoted said with a shrug. “I’m one of the best bodyguards to come from the Blue Hive, and now I belong to Yearling.”

“And I’m just the luckiest drone to come out of the Yellow army,” Lucky said. “They actually asked me not to come back if I could avoid it.”

“You’re lucky, so they asked you not to come back?” Midnight said with a raised eyebrow. “And you’re the best huh…?” She looked him over and hummed. “I suppose… well, how am I to judge how effective a Changeling guard is.”

“I kept her alive in the Lands so far, no easy feat,” Devoted said.

“And they asked me not to come back because of a simple fact,” Lucky added. “I survived, yes. My squadmates...not so much.”

Midnight blinked, then her eyes moistened as she looked at Ledger. “Honey? Can I cuddle them? I think they need a hug.”

“You might want to ask Miss Yearling if you can do that,” the drone said as he flipped some of the eggs over so as not to burn or undercook any part of them. “Though I suppose what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her…”

“Yup! Hug time!” Midnight declared as she grabbed both drones into a warm hug. Her leathery wings certainly felt different to Yearling’s feathery ones. And they were a lot warmer. Her fur was a little shorter, but incredibly soft and just radiated harmless affection.

“Well, this is different,” Lucky said.

“And not altogether unpleasant,” the blue drone added.

“Enjoying yourselves?” Yearling said from behind them, her tone flat and unamused. Midnight giggled and moved away as Yearling looped her hooves around their necks. “So… canoodling with another mare while I’m asleep huh?”

“She started it,” they said at the same time.

Yearling gave them a stern glare, before it softened and she broke down into tears of laughter. “Ahahahaooomygosh! You should see the looks on your faces!”

“Wow, and I thought I was unnecessarily mean,” Scope whistled.

“Are you finally admitting that your harsh ways are unnecessary?” Ledger asked before plating the third set of eggs.

“To any except you,” Scope nodded. “But just because it’s unnecessary, doesn’t mean it isn’t fun~”

“Truth,” Yearling giggled and kissed her two drones. “So, what’s for breakfast? I need fuel for my creative juices!”

“Sorry, but if you want eggs, you’ll have to wait,” Ledger said. “This plate’s for Midnight, and I can only scramble so many at a time. There might or might not be pancakes left over, thought there will be a quiche in…”

‘DING’ the oven pinged and Spike reached in to pull out the large pastry, his bare claws gripping the red hot pan.

“Ahh, cooked to perfection,” he hummed, looking at the crispy pastry and soft eggy interior.

“Magnificent, so that’s another bit of breakfast out of the way,” Ledger said. “At least, once it cools off a little. Don’t want them to burn themselves eating it.”

“I smell something delicious~” Twilight hummed as she teleported in. She kissed Ledger and Scope on the cheek and smiled. “Ready for today?”

“I am, but first we have to survive breakfast,” Ledger said. “Spike, I can only man one pan at a time here.”

“Yeah, yeah,” the drake said as he put the quiche on the bench and moved over to the stove. “Perhaps if you ditched your little accessory there…”

“You know, roasted dragon sounds pretty tasty right about now,” Scope said with a fanged grin.

“I wouldn’t say that again if I were you,” Ledger said. “She’s been known to bite.”

“She can bite through dragon scales?” Spike asked with a small smirk. “Besides, wouldn’t she rather bite you instead?”

“He makes a compelling argument,” Scope nodded and turned so she was on her belly and nibbled his neck.

“She can turn into a dragon, I’m sure she could do it then,” Ledger said as he started on a fourth pan of eggs.

“True, but that would take effort, I’d need to nap and I doubt I’d be allowed to sleep through the ceremony,” Scope said.

The last to arrive was Sugar and Moondancer, followed by Palette and Critical.

“I really hope our own wedding won’t be so crazy,” Palette muttered. “I doubt the Crystal Empire is as laid back about it as this place.”

“I suppose that would depend on if Cadence got involved or not,” Critical hummed. “She certainly made a spectacle of the last wedding~”

“True enough,” he replied. A thought occurred as they walked past all the others and he chuckled. “Maybe I should just take you away and elope?”

Critical moved to reply, but the Madame beat her to it. “I would hunt you down for that,” she said, sipping at her coffee. “I would hunt you down and do all sorts of terrible things to you if you did that to my daughter. And then I’d let Inspired have a turn.”

Palette shrugged. “In the end, it’d be our decision. But I wouldn’t do something like that. I have a wonderful wedding with my wife, and Critical here deserves no less.”

For that, he got a kiss from the green nymph, and several changelings saying ‘aww’.

“Yeah, well…” the stallion just blushed and mumbled, even as his coat shone with his Crystal effect. He couldn’t help it whenever Critical showed him enough affection. She hugged him and practically radiated happiness.

“Aww, they’re so adorable,” Sugar cooed. “Moonie?”

“Mm,” Moondancer replied listlessly, already muzzle-deep in a mug of coffee. “Too early, don’t care.”

“Don’t they remind you of somepony?” the violet mare asked.

“...They do?” Moondancer replied. They’d been up half the night with Sunset, and she was exhausted. “Context.”

“I remember a time when you were easily flustered as well,” the nymph said. “Specifically when I first dropped my disguise in front of you. You were adorable all passed out like that.”

“Ah…” Moondancer shrugged as she sipped her coffee, before her head thunked on the table and she started snoring.

“Oh dear,” Sugar sighed. “Ah well. Hopefully that coffee will kick in soon. Ponies, how do you manage without emotions to draw on for energy?”

“We live,” Twilight replied as she took a slice of the quiche and nibbled on it. Midnight did the same, her ears giving a happy wiggle, a sign it was truly delicious.

“Apparently so,” Sugar said. “Ah well. She’ll come around for something to eat soon enough, I hope. I’d rather she was awake for the ceremonies today.”

“You… don’t know yet?” Midnight said with a raised eyebrow. “There’s a surefire way to wake her up you know.”

“Do tell,” Sugar said, now giving the batpony her undivided attention. Midnight looked at Ledger, waiting for him to give her the green light.

“Your call,” the drone said as he minded his latest pan of eggs.

Midnight giggled and got up, moving behind Moondancer. “Paying attention love?” she said, putting on a Trottingham accent. “I’ll only show you once.” Sugar nodded as she waited for the show.

Midnight leaned forward, and then suddenly and sharply, nibbled the base of her neck, just to the side of Moondancer’s mane. The reaction was instantaneous, the unicorn yelping sharply as her head snapped up, her eyes wide.

“I’m up, I’m up!” she said.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, love,” Sugar said, tittering slightly before kissing her cheek.

“Huh? Wha? Midnight Star Song!!”

Midnight paused and looked at her. Sometimes a pony was given a middle name, hers being her grandmother’s ‘Star’ part. And Moondancer had just said that in front of everypony… The bat turned and looked at Ledger, pointing at him.

“No!”

“No what?” Ledger said innocently.

“Whatever it is you’re thinking. Banish it to Tartarus now!” Midnight declared. “That goes for each and every one of you!”

“You are no fun at all,” the drone said. “How do you know I wasn’t thinking something sexy?”

“...wat?”

“Ah well, I guess there goes that idea,” Ledger said. “After all, you just said…”

“Ledger. Explain. Now!” Midnight said, stalking closer to him.

“Nope, you just said not to even think about it,” Ledger said, thoroughly enjoying this.

“Ledger, stop teasing her,” Twilight said and booped his nose with her magic. The drone crossed his eyes and shook his head before snorting.

“Well, I guess I can tell her I was already planning on what we’d do tonight, but since she said not to think about it…”

Midnight snorted, then smirked. “Mmmmaybe I should show off my super power~” she purred. “And there’s so many drones in the room right now too~”

“We do have a wedding to get ready for,” Ledger pointed out. “We’d never get there in time if you did.”

“True… plus I might just get murdered if I did that.”

Wishful blinked and looked at his wife. “What the heck is she talking about?”

“I get the feeling we don’t want to know,” the Madame said. “Shall we go and bring some breakfast to little Joyful?”

“I guess, I wonder why she sleeping in so late, normally she’s…”

Pinkie trotted in, little Joy on her back with a very round tummy as she burped.

“Best. Cupcakes. EVER!” she cheered.

“Oh dear,” the Madame sighed as she pulled her daughter to her, in an effort to separate and contain the amount of Pink in the room. “And what have we told you about having sweets for breakfast?”

“Um… that I could?” she blinked cutely and smiled. The silver nymph just beeped her silly daughter’s nose before shaking her head.

“Eh, was worth a shot,” Joyful shrugged.

“Don’t worry Mrs. Gossip Ma’am!” Pinkie saluted. “They were sugar-free.”

“Oh good, the last thing we need before the proceedings is this one getting all hyper,” the Madame said before nuzzling her daughter.

“Aww, but I could make this wedding fun!” Joyful grinned and looked at her brother and sister expectantly.

“You can make the party fun,” Ledger said. “I’d rather there not be any hiccups in the actual ceremony, thank you.”

“Aww, party pooper!” Joyful pouted. Pinkie had vanished, off to set up the ceremony as breakfast finished without any further ado.

“So…” Midnight stood in Twilight’s room with the others. “Just a few more hours huh…?”

“Yup,” Twilight said as she pulled out a checklist. From somewhere. Supposedly. “So that means we’d better get started right now to make sure we’re ready when the time comes.”

“You and your checklists,” Scope sighed. “I’m surprised you don’t have a checklist for your checklists…”

The lavender mare coughed and looked aside, a small blush adorning her cheeks. “I’m not that bad,” she said.

“Oh. My. Gods.” Scope blinked, even as a smirk split her face. “You totally do, don’t you?”

“Not saying,” Twilight replied, clearing her throat loudly. “So, first up-”

“At least Ledger doesn’t keep a book about his books,” Scope continued. “Or…” She paused and tapped her chin. “Actually, I got nothing for this.”

“Well that was short-lived,” Midnight giggled. “Hehe, Scope was short lived…”

“Mistress, I will smother you in your sleep,” Scope muttered. “And nopony will find the freaking body.”

“Now, now,” Cider chuckled and ruffled Scope’s mane. “Be nice Scopey. We’re all family, or will be soon enough.”

Twilight was getting completely and utterly ignored…

“Rarity!” She called out. “Time to fit us!”

“Oh cripes,” Midnight cursed as Rarity all but materialised into the room, dragging a rack of dresses behind her.

“Excellent, I’ll be taking care of the brides. Coco is seeing to the bridesmares and Sassy shall see to the grooms.” She turned and looked at Ledger. “Head down a floor and take the first door on your right if you would.”

“I can do that,” Ledger said before giving all his mares a kiss. “Now, all I ask is that you be gentle with them,” he said to Rarity.

“We shall be fine,” Rarity waved a hoof and smiled. “Now say goodbye, for you shan't see them until the ceremony.”

“Bye dears,” Ledger said, waving at them. “Take care, and try not to give Rarity too much work?”

Rarity turned, her horn aglow as she smirked. “Aww, that’s so cute. You think they have a choice~”

The last thing Ledger heard was Midnight and Scope calling for help before the door slammed shut. He shrugged before going on to his appointed place, whistling a small tune as he went.

By the time he reached the afore-mentioned room, he opened to door to see Aerial Ace frowning over the suit he was in. He frowned as he tugged at the collar, which didn’t hide the massive scar around his neck.

“I will be wearing my scarf regardless,” he said adamantly.

“But it clashes with your suit,” Sassy argued. “Why must you be difficult…?” She turned her head as Ledger walked in. “Ah, perfect timing. Do talk some sense into him. A wedding is no place for wearing such a ratty old scarf.”

“You have a point,” Ledger mused. “What happened to that pink one I saw you in every now and then? At least it goes with Amy.”

“Ledger. Not helping," Ace frowned.

“I don’t see the problem,” Sassy sighed. “Scars are supposed to be all masculine aren’t they? I really do not think anypony will mind in the slightest.”

“Oooh, or, idea,” Ledger said. “You could make him a new scarf specifically for this wedding.”

“How am I supposed to create something like that in such a short amount of time?” Sassy sighed again. “Loathe as I am to admit it, I am no Rarity.”

“Well then, I doubt I could talk him out of wearing his scarf, even if I had years to try,” the drone replied. “I mean, I could speak up with how he’s spent so long with Amy and Chrysalis that I’m sure they’d be able to overlook his lack of a scarf for one day. Or even how a changeling with scars is actually one of the most attractive things to a nymph. Shows them the drone’s a survivor. But in the end, it’s his choice.”

Aerial stared at him, his stoic expression boring into the Changeling like it had the first day they’d met. How he’d seen through his disguise like it wasn’t even there.

“So help me Level Ledger…” he said slowly, meticulously. “If you are lying to me…”

“No, seriously,” Ledger said. “I saw a squad of Yellows walk into the Violet hive, scars crisscrossing their chitin. All ten of them were taken by nymphs to their ‘private rooms’ in two minutes.”

Ace sighed, and for the first time ever, Ledger could feel his emotions. He seemed to be just as nervous as he was.

“I’d rather fight a full-grown dragon,” he muttered under his breath. “Fine. Then I shall go without. Any negativity is on your heads though.”

“So be it,” Sassy smiled and patted his shoulder. “Trust me, it matters not what anypony thinks. As long as you and those mares are happy, that is all that matters.” Then she turned to Ledger and smiled widely. “Your turn~”

Ledger sighed and took his natural form in a flash of silver. “Honestly, it’s going to be such a relief, not hiding this anymore,” he said.

“Hmm, it’s rather intriguing,” Sassy said as she started putting his suit on him. “Those fangs and eyes just scream ‘predator’ to me, and yet… I’m not really all that bothered by it.”

That was when the door opened and Fredrick, along with Shining Armor entered, both wearing the same suit.

“Well now, so that’s what you look like huh?” Shining gave Ledger the once over. “Do I still call you Ledger? Or is Secret-Hoarder the preferred name now?”

“Either’s good,” Ledger replied. “Though, I’ve been Ledger for so long, it just fits me now.”

Shining nodded and bumped Fredrick with a hoof. “Fred and I have just been getting acquainted. Apparently you never told him about your little bout of karaoke in the Empire~”

“I can barely even remember that, thanks to all the alcohol I had,” Ledger grumbled.

“Perhaps we should go out sometime then?” Fredrick chuckled. “I rather enjoyed our night out before. We should do it more often.”

“Maybe if Cady lets me,” Shining agreed. He looked Ledger’s suit over and whistled. “Nice!”

“Why thank you Mr…” Sassy paused as she finally realised who was there. “P-Prince… Shining… Armor?” She squeaked and swooned, ready to faint.

“Focus, Sassy,” Ledger said. “Wedding first, Prince second.”

The unicorn mare blinked and shook her head. “R-Right. Of course, forgive my unprofessionalism.”

“It’s quite alright,” Shining nodded and lifted her hoof to kiss it. “Thank you for setting time aside to help us with this.”

Sassy did faint that time, Ledger substituting as a fainting couch. He grumbled and looked over at Shining with a disgruntled expression. “And now I can’t even get my suit on.”

“What?” the unicorn shrugged. Sassy eventually revived and resumed her task of dressing Ledger, even as a permanent blush adorned her face.

“I wonder how our mares are doing?” Ace idly wondered.

“Trying to put Midnight, Scope, and Cider in a dress,” Ledger said before wincing. “I can’t imagine that’s going well at all.”

“Oh come on!” Chrysalis said, holding a dress in her magic. An exact copy of the one Cadence wore to her wedding. “It’ll be hilarious.”

Rarity’s eye twitched and she looked at Twilight for assistance.

“Chrysalis,” she said. “Your grandfather had the most interesting of ideas to help make you behave~”

Chrysalis yelped as her magic flared and the dress was incinerated. “You know Lady Rarity, I do believe whatever you have crafted for me will be perfect.”

“Naturally,” Rarity nodded. “And where the heck is Miss Amethyst? She’s cutting this awfully close…”

“Here I am!” Amy said as she appeared behind Chrysalis. “Had to make some minor changes to the decorations with Pinkie, she needed the help of all the Pinkness she could get her hooves on.”

“I shudder to think how that might have gone,” Rarity sighed as she lifted the mare over to her. “And I thought that Midnight would be the difficult one. Turns out Chrysalis isn’t quite as reformed as I’d thought.”

Chrysalis just poked out her tongue.

“Chryssy,” Amy said. “Unless you’re going to use that tongue of yours, stick it back in your mouth.”

“Yes Mom,” she replied, folding her forelegs and pouting. The door to the adjacent room opened and Midnight emerged, the gleaming Crystal Armour polished so it would sparkle, but not enough that it would blind those to the mare wearing it. It wasn’t a complete suit, and a long, intricate lace train flowed from the back of it. In place of a helmet, she wore a silver tiara, nestled in a flower crown as a lace veil covered her eyes.

“I feel ridiculous,” she muttered. “This armour isn’t practical in the slightest…”

“You’re the one that wanted to wear it,” Twilight pointed out. “You could have had a nice dress, but you were set on your armor.”

“Cause it’s pretty and…” she sighed, realising she was contradicting herself. “I’m so not ready for this…”

"Ah reckon y’all will be fine,” Cider replied, nuzzling her lightly. Her dress was a light cream colour, a ruby red apple brooch pinned to the centre of her chest.

“I guess,” Midnight nodded. “Just gotta go for it huh?” She gave a weak chuckle and pointed at the other room. “I think Scopey’s more worse off than me.”

“More worse off isn’t a phrase, Mistress,” Scope’s voice came from the other room. “...I’m not coming out there like this.”

“Aw come on Scopey,” Midnight replied. “You can’t get married locked in a closet. I would if I could, believe me.”

“Whut’s the matter?” Cider asked in a soothing voice. “Why won’t y’all come out love?”

“I look ridiculous like this,” Scope moaned. “Secret won’t want to get married to a foal.”

“So it’s your size?” Cider gave a soft sigh and smiled. “You know Ledger isn’t bothered by that.”

“...I am,” the nymph said. “I don’t want to give anypony any reason to try and stop today. He wants it too much for that...”

Cider had no reply for that. She knew that was a very real possibility. Heck, she hadn’t told half her family she was marrying Changelings.

“Well,” Midnight spoke up. “What about a disguise? I’m sure Ledger won’t mind. And I don’t. I know that a cute little nymph is underneath it~”

“I...I could do that,” Scope said. “I think I have a disguise that could even work with this dress…” There was a blue flash from the edges of the door, and when it next opened, Scope’s more Noble self walked out. “What...do you think?” she asked.

“Well,” Rarity was the first to speak. “Now I’m thinking I have to resize the dress…”

“Well,” Midnight moved up next to Scope and nuzzled her. “I think you look beautiful, no matter your form~”

The nymph just blushed and did a remarkable impression of Fluttershy. “”m not,” she said.

“Well ah think you are,” Cider joined in, nuzzling her other side as Twilight grinned and placed a chaste kiss on her lips.

“We all do,” the alicorn said. Scope just blushed harder and ducked her head again. She couldn’t take such compliments very well today.

“A few minor adjustments, and this dress will be almost as stunning as the one wearing it~” Rarity chimed in as she removed the dress to do just that.

“‘m not beautiful,” Scope muttered. “I’m an ugly little runt…”

“My dear, would even be here if that was the case?” Rarity tittered. “I mean, honestly. You just had three wonderful mares tell you how much they love you. And since you aren’t wearing a dress to mess up right now…”

It took a half-second for Midnight to get that cue and pounced on the now-Noble nymph, kissing her deeply. Scope moaned at the feeling of her love, instinctively returning the kiss and finally accepting that maybe…

Just maybe…

They actually found her beautiful.

“Oh look, it seems she finally gets it,” Midnight mused as she pulled back and booped her nose with a hoof. Apple Cider and Twilight each took a turn showing their love as well.

“I suppose if we get our kisses out of the way now, we won’t hold up the end of the ceremony too much,” Twilight giggled.

“You all love me,” Scope said. “Actually love me, for who and what I am...I can’t hide from that. So I guess I’ll just have to accept that either you all have brain damage, or I’m actually beautiful.”

“In Middy’s case, maybe both?” Cider smirked as Midnight swatted her shoulder, then got yelled at by Rarity for trying to damage the dress.

“Of course you’re beautiful,” Twilight hummed softly, pulling her into a hug. “More than the stars in the sky.”

Scope blinked a few tears from her eyes before she returned the hug with all she was worth, earning them another reprimand from Rarity about the dresses.

“Honestly, it’s like you want to go out naked instead,” the unicorn muttered as she finished making the adjustments to the dresses. “Even Amy is standing still. So how is it possible that you cannot?” Still, she wore a smile as she re-dressed Scope in her wedding gown. “There, simply lovely~”

Scope did a little twirl in front of a mirror, to look at how she looked at, before sitting down and softly crying. “There’s...no way I can be this pretty,” the nymph said.

“Well, I’d like to voice my disagreement to that statement,” Twilight giggled as Scope got nuzzled by Midnight and Cider. “Hehe, and here I thought Midnight would be the one most nervous about getting married in front of all these ponies…”

That was when Midnight’s eyes widened and she went as stiff as a board. Scope caught on to the fear and moved to sit in front of Midnight, before placing a hoof on her withers.

“Mistress,” she said. “You know this isn’t like then. I promise you, Ledger loves and cares about you. He’s doing this for you, not him. For you and the foal.”

Midnight nodded slowly as Twilight sighed and her horn lit up. A pleasant scent filled the room as Midnight became much more relaxed.

“Uh…” Cider sniffed the air. “That, that smells like…”

“Mmmaangooeessss~” Midnight giggled. “And I’m okay now. Thanks Scopey. I was being a bit silly huh?”

“You’re always silly,” Scope retorted with. “That’s just one of your charms that attracts changelings to you like mangoes do you.”

“Really?” Midnight tilted her head and wiggled her ears. “You like me being silly huh?”

“More like we’ve learned to deal with it. I’m pretty sure normal went out the window when you started dating changelings.”

“Why be normal when it’s so much fun not to be?” Midnight giggled and gasped as Rarity tugged at her mane with a brush. “Careful now Rare Bear,” Midnight winked and gave her a sultry stare. “At least buy me dinner before we get to the mane pulling~”

Rarity sputtered and blushed, deciding she’d assist Amy with her mane first.

“Like we’ve said so many times before,” Scope sighed. “You’re just completely incorrigible.”

“And yet you love me for it~” Midnight pulled all her mares into a hug as she got a whack on the noggin via Rarity’s brush. She just giggled and hugged them anyway.

“So,” Wishful asked his son as he walked up towards the hall. “Feeling the nerves set in yet?”

“Oh, just a little,” Ledger said. “Mostly because I’m so not used to walking around as myself for as long as I have.”

“I still can’t believe you’re doing that,” Wish nodded. “I mean, kudos and all. But that form in this country? I can’t tell if you’re crazy, brave or simply brain damaged.”

“Who said I had to pick?” Ledger asked. “I’ve been around Midnight enough that all three are entirely possible.”

“I seriously wonder how you dare tempt fate like that,” Wishful sighed. “But yes, that mare is… unique. You make sure you take care of her and the others hmm?” He paused and then stopped walking, placing a hoof on Ledger’s shoulder. “I’m proud of you son.”

“Thanks dad,” Ledger said, giving him a quick hug. “So, ready to watch your son get married, pony-style?”

“This should be an event. Oh, and I made sure one of the windows was left open… you know, just in case.”

“I highly doubt that anypony will need to make a quick escape,” Ledger sighed. “You’re just inviting Midnight to dive through it in an escape attempt.”

“I think you’ll be fine.” He gave a deep belly laugh and pointed at his wife in the front row. “Your mother’s on bat-catching duty. Her wings so much as twitch and it’s TK Time.”

“Yowch,” Ledger said. Out of everypony in his house, his mother was the only one that outmatched him in TK. And that probably just because of age and experience. “I almost pity Midnight if she tries to run.”

“As do we all,” Wishful nodded. “Well, I think it’s almost time. Ready to become a husband to four mares?”

“Not really, no, but I can’t put it off any longer,” Ledger said as he took a deep breath.

“You know,” Wishful hummed as they walked down the aisle. Ledger could already hear some hushed whispers and gasps over his form. And even above the joy that everyone had, he could feel some wisps of fear. But his father’s voice cut through all that.

“Get two more mares, and you’ll be just like your mother~”

Ledger did his very best to not picture or respond to that at all. Plus, who would he even ask? What, was he going to add a regular unicorn and pegasus, to round out the type of mares in his herd? Not bloody likely.

As if reading his mind, Wishful kept poking. “You know, Twilight’s got some cute friends. Like that Fluttershy mare, or Miss Rarity? I wonder how close they are as friends hm?”

“Dad, shut up,” he hissed. He didn’t need those thoughts at all. Plus, Discord would never forgive him or stop pranking him if he went after Fluttershy. He’d had enough of the Chaos Spirit to last a lifetime.

“What about that Rainbow mare? She has flanks you could bounce a bit off of.”

“Seriously dad, stopit,” Ledger whispered.

Wishful chuckled and left his side to take his seat, Ledger finally realising that the talk had completely distracted him from everything else. He and Ace now stood at the altar, Princess Luna on the other side, wearing a stunning cobalt and silver dress. Ledger felt very small, even in his Noble form, and just stood there, waiting for the inevitable.

“Buck up,” Fredrick chuckled. “You’re only about to change your life forever after all.”

“Not helping,” Ledger whispered back.

“I’m here to look good and hand you your rings, not help,” the griffon chuckled. “That’ll cost you extra.”

“I’ll give you that damn fish recipe I bartered for in the Crystal Empire if you stop talking.”

Fredrick smiled and zipped his beak, Narrow was in the second row and rolled her eyes at her griffon’s antics.

Ace fidgeted awkwardly, his eyes darting around, assessing everything. Ledger chuckled and whispered to his fellow groom. “You know, it’s just a wedding, not a combat situation.”

“Tis a battle none-the-less, one I must win!” he whispered back.

“I think you’re both being a tad overdramatic,” Luna whispered and smiled. “Hello again Ledger. It has been a while.”

“Indeed it has,” Ledger said with a nod. “Thank you for helping to keep the nightmares at bay. I don’t think I’d have healed half as well if you hadn’t.”

“Tis nothing friend Ledger,” Luna nodded and tossed her head proudly. Unfortunately, that was taken as a sign to start and music started to play as Luna looked around flustered. “Oh ponyfeathers.”

“Well, this will be interesting,” Ledger mused. Ace gulped and nodded. Well…

Here they go.

Author's Note

Wedding march - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLoJW0YFHkM

Chapter 95 - The Ceremony

At Luna’s accidental nod, the music started and everypony in the hall fell into a hushed silence. During the quiet, Ledger could finally see who was present for this event. He saw his parents of course, along with a vibrating Joyful. He saw Midnight’s parents, along with her aunt and cousins. And that loudmouthed guard.

Then there was Apple Cider’s family. He saw her parents, as well as half the hall that probably belonged to her as well.

That was a lot of Apples.

There were a few mares missing, presumably his girl's bridesmaids. The fathers of the brides were also absent. Princesses Celestia and Cadence stood beside Luna and three full rows were full of foals.

And to his delight, he saw an undisguised Changeling foal amongst them. He smiled and gave them all a polite wave before returning his attention to the door. He didn’t want to miss a moment of his mares walking down the aisle for anything.

In the hallway, they were getting ready to walk in. Midnight looked around and then something occurred…

“Amy…” she said softly. “Who's walking you down the aisle? I don't see your parents or anything.”

The pink nymph had been about to say something, when a pink mare showed up and smiled at them. “I’ll take care of that,” she said. “I’d be happy to.”

“...And you are?” Midnight said warily. The last thing she wanted was for some strange mare to make a scene.

“Let’s just say it is my noble duty to see to the happiness of pink mares everywhere,” the pink mare giggled. Amy’s eyes widened a touch as she realized who this could possibly be.

“Is that so?” Chrysalis said, baring her fangs. “If you think you can just waltz in here and--”

“Chryssy,” the pink mare said before her eyes went slitted for just a second. “Your army was silly and you should feel silly.”

“Oh sweet fucking Celestia…” Chrysalis bowed her head in respect. “Well, there goes any hope of a normal ceremony.”

Midnight blinked and tilted her head. Well, if Chrys and Amy were alright with it.

“Chrysalis. Language!” her grandfather warned her, then winked at the new mare. “Well, shall we?”

“Mmhmm~” the mare nodded. “So who’s going first? Sorry I wasn’t here for the recital, I had a few things to smooth over in Baltimare.”

“Amy and Chrysalis will go out first,” Rarity said, looking at a list. “Followed by Twilight, then Scope. Apple Cider and finally Midnight.”

“So it’s both of our cues then?” the pink mare asked.

“Seems that way,” Chrysalis nodded. “Shall we go before our eagle turns into a chicken?”

“Yup!” Amy said, before standing next to the new arrival. The mare, to her credit, only smiled once more at them and pushed the doors open, ready to lead her little nymph down the aisle.

At the other end, the two males saw the heavy doors swing open and the first of the mares emerged. Chrysalis was wearing a cream-coloured dress, one that contrasted her dark carapace quite nicely. Amy had a light pink one, topped with a large bow on her back and a long, lacy train. Chrysalis’s grandfather walked by her side, with the pink mare on Amy’s.

Several ponies just stared wide-eyed at the queen, causing her to chuckle and flash her fangs, making them shrink away. Both the pink mare and her grandfather said the same thing to reprimand her. Namely, her name, at the same moment.

She responded by poking out her tongue, then nearly bit it when she gasped and nudged Amy, motioning subtly towards Ace.

Namely Ace in a sexy suit and no scarf…

“Hot,” the pink nymph whispered to Chryssy. “Almost don’t want to wait to pounce him.”

“I've never seen that scar before,” Chrysalis let out an actual purr.

Once they reached the altar, the pink mare and the yellow stallion left them, taking their assigned seats as Aerial Ace smiled down at them.

“I… I know not the words to describe how beautiful you two are,” he said gently.

“I’m pretty sure you do, but there are young ears in the audience,” Amy giggled.

Several of the foals waved to Amy, one particularly cute filly was wearing the same dress as the bridesmares. The music soon started anew and the next pony entered. She had Night Light to her left, and Fluttershy to her right. She wore a dress as white as snow, trimmed with gold as her tiara sparkled like the night sky.

Twilight Sparkle couldn’t possibly be more beautiful. Ledger barely managed to keep his jaw shut as she walked towards him. Then he remembered he had three other mares to be stunned by.

“Are you going to be able to survive this?” Fredrick chuckled lightly.

“Probably not, no,” Ledger said. “I only hope I can remember my vows.”

“Don't worry, I wrote them down for you,” Fredrick said. He had his friends back afterall.

A moment later, a new mare emerged. Her chitin gleamed like polished onyx. Her brilliant sapphire eyes scanned the crowd, the ponies unsure if they should be scared of the Noble nymph, or in awe.

Her dress was a ocean green, made of many layers and the train slowly descended into a topaz hue.

Ledger was once more in awe of what he was seeing. He had no idea Scope could be this beautiful. But he wasn’t complaining at all~

Once she reached the altar, she looked away shyly.

“Sorry… but I… I had to use a disguise…”

“I’d kiss you to show I don’t mind, but I’m supposed to save that for after the ceremony,” Ledger said wryly.

Apple Cider was next, flanked by her father and Apple Fritter. She wore a pale yellow dress, and looking like a radiant ray of sunshine. Several changelings she passed sighed happily, her kindness was like a warm blanket on a cold day.

“Well aren’t you the very image of an autumn meadow?” the drone chuckled.

“Ah try,” she smiled and kissed Scope’s cheek, causing her to squeak.

“Now now, not just yet,” Luna chuckled.

Then, as the music reached its crescendo, she entered. Under the sunlight streaming through the windows, her crystal armour sparkled brightly. Her long, flowing dress hovered like gossamer, as Grissom and Moondancer walked beside her. Her emerald eyes shone, but Ledger could see the nervousness hidden just behind. Still, Midnight Song smiled brightly as she walked towards the altar.

“And finally, we are complete once more,” Ledger said by way of greeting her.

“Wouldn’t be a party without me,” Midnight nodded. The music came to a stop as Luna cleared her throat.

“Art thou ready? My friends?” she whispered.

“As I’ll ever be,” Ledger said. “I think Ace should go first, though, so we don’t overshadow him with a royal wedding.”

Luna nodded and took a breath.

“Dearest friends!” she called out over the hall. Her voice wasn't loud, it just seemed to come from everywhere. “Today, we have gathered here for a most joyous occasion! The binding of these wonderful individuals. They have overcome many things. Be it a difference of opinion, their own or others. Or a difference of species. Today, we are witness to their unbridled love. First, to these three…” She turned to Ace and his nymphs and smiled.

“Since my return, We have enjoyed our bouts, both in combat and wit.”

“And one day, you might just win one,” Ace smirked and the crowd chuckled.

“Indeed. And it makes Us proud to see you so in love with these mares… no, these nymphs.” She looked at Amy. “Your unbridled joy will no doubt bring your beloved's happiness for the rest of their days.”

“It’s what I do!” Amy chirped. “Well, that and ice-cream.”

“And you…” Luna looked at Chrysalis. She was silent for a moment before she smiled. “I trust you'll have the tenacity to keep these two in check.”

“Someone has to,” Chrysalis shrugged.

Luna smiled and nodded. “Your vows?”

Ace cleared his throat and smiled. “I am a warrior, a drifter and one that thought he would never settle down.” He cupped the cheeks of both of them and smiled. “I'm not one for fancy speeches. But my vow is this. For the rest of eternity, I shall be by your side. My love will never waver, and I will do whatever it takes to make you happy.” He grinned and kissed their hooves. “Of that, you can be absolutely certain.”

Amy sniffed and nearly cried before nodding and wiping the moisture from her eyes. “I’ve lived in Las Pegasus for a long time,” Amy said. “Day in, day out, my job was to make foals happy with ice cream. It paid well, both in money and in pure unbridled joy. And then I met the most amazing griffon in the world, one who didn’t care who or what I was...one who just wanted to make me happy.” She took ahold of one of his claws with one of her forehooves and smiled. “Acey, it would be a great honor...if you would marry me today.”

“Yeah, ditto…” Chrysalis shrugged and looked at the stares of everypony. “What? Oh fine…” She took a breath and smiled. “After what happened, I was convinced that there was nothing left. The Hive I commanded was gone, half the world wished me harm… or worse. And yet… somehow, you two idiots wormed your way into my life.” She gave them a bemused stare and then smiled gently. “And I wouldn't have it any other way. I don't care if the whole world is against me. As long as I have the two of you… well, three soon,” She poked at Amy’s belly. “Then that is all I need.”

“Aww, I love you too Chryssy,” Amy giggled. “You just need somebuggy to love you and you’re a big softie.”

The noble nymph blushed and looked away, pouting cutely.

Luna smiled and nodded as the little bridesfoal approached, holding a cushion with three rings. Three gold bands, each with a single gemstone in each. Ace took two, one with an emerald, the other had a rose quartz. First, he moved to Amy and slipped the ring over her horn.

“To my happy little one, may you keep bringing me endless joy. Accept this symbol of my undying love,” he said gently, then moved to Chrysalis. “And to my lovely spitfire, may you keep bringing a delightful challenge to my life. Accept this symbol of my undying love.” He stepped back and grinned. “I love you both so very much.”

Amy sniffed and nearly, nearly burst into tears before she reaffirmed her resolve and went for the last ring. A gold band for his talon, set with a shining garnet. “And to you, our brave warrior,” she said. “May your battles always end in victory as you defend us and the world from danger. Please, accept this symbol of our love,” the pink nymph said as she floated the band closer to the griffon.

She then felt Chrysalis’s magic mix with hers, emerald and vibrant pink together as the noble smiled and cleared her throat.

“Don’t screw it up,” She chuckled in Griffic as they slipped the ring onto one of his talons and looked up.

...Was… was that a tear in his eye?

“Acey, hold it together until Luna says you can kiss us,” Amy whispered.

“Vows and rings hath been exchanged. By my authority, I now declare this herd wed in sacred matrimony. May the Creator watch over you all.” She smiled and winked at them. “You may now exchange a kiss as well~”

Amy smirked and waited for Acey to choose who he would kiss first. She wouldn’t hold it against him if he chose Chryssy, but just the thought of watching him squirm~

And he did look a little confused, before Chrysalis smirked and grabbed Amy, giving her a deep passionate kiss as Ace just shook his head and chuckled. Amy squealed happily at the surprise, and in the audience, a particular pink mare was suddenly replaced with a Noble Pink ‘ling…

“I love weddings!” she proclaimed. “Especially Pink ones!”

Several ponies next to her flinched at the sudden appearance of the Changeling as Ace laughed and took his little pink mare, kissing her next.

“The Noble Pink?” the Madame said with a raised eyebrow. “Now I’ve seen everything.”

“Yup, I make it a point to attend as many Pink weddings as I possibly can,” the nymph said with a smile. “They’re always such happy things~”

Ace finished up with a kiss for Chrys, before the trio stood to one side as Luna turned to Ledger and his mares.

“Your turn,” she smiled. Ledger shook his head and motioned to the mares, indicating that they should start.

“And now, for our other lovely herd,” Luna grinned. “We never thought We would have friends such as these. Such wonderful, irreplaceable friends.” She smirked and looked at Ledger. “Yes, even you.”

“A chore I am well versed in,” Fredrick replied with a cheeky wink.

“I’m sure half the city would still be your ‘friend’ if not for your marefriend,” Ledger sniped back.

“Very true,” he nodded, utterly unfazed.

“So how shall thy vows be delivered?” Luna asked and Twilight smiled.

“We have come from all walks of life,” the alicorn started. “I doubt we could be anymore different if we tried.”

“And yet,” Scope continued. “Here we are, sharing the love we have for one another.”

“Through thick an’ thin. We'll always be together,” Cider smiled brightly. “Ain't no stronger bond, than that of family.”

Midnight was quiet for a moment, Ledger could sense that her nerves were winning out. He merely smiled at her and nodded, letting her know that he trusted her with actions rather than words. He wouldn’t try to make her stay. He wouldn’t hold her here.

He trusted her to do what was right.

She shuddered and her wings twitched as she glanced at the open window… Before taking a deep breath and smiling.

“But no matter what,” she said softly. “We'll always be here for each other. No matter how scary it might seem. Our love is stronger than that.”

Ledger smiled softly at them all before clearing his throat and saying his vows. “You all mean so very much to me. One of you is the steady rock of this relationship, the one who will remind us what matters and bring us back to earth when we need it. One of you is a researcher, ready to help us all chart new unknowns and bring them back to Equestria. Another is our most precious jewel, who shines all the brighter the longer we know you. And the last...is the mare who helped fix me when I was at my lowest.” He brought the rings closer to himself and levitated them in his magic. “It would be my greatest and most sincere honor...if you would agree to marry me today.”

They all were on the verge of crying, their eyes moist as Twilight rubbed at hers. Scope looked away, trying to play it cool.

“And now,” Luna said. “The rings?”

Floating close to Midnight was a golden band with three blood diamond set in it that settled snugly around one foreleg with just a touch of magic from Ledger. Cider received an aquamarine trio set into a golden band, while Twilight had an intricate amethysts-in-silver band for herself. And even Scope had a band. One of sapphires-on-silver.

The mares gasped at how beautiful they were. Cider and Midnight lifted their left forelegs, whilst Twilight and Scope presented their horns. The rings settled snugly onto the horns for the mares that had them, while Ledger merely readjusted the band on Midnight’s leg before giving Cider hers.

The mares took a moment to admire their rings. Before Moondancer stepped forward and floated over a small pillow with a ring. It was a plain silver band, but when Moon lifted it over to Midnight, he saw an inscription on the inside.

‘Together forever, forever as One.’

The other three smiled and nodded as Midnight slipped the ring over his horn, though he did have to bow his head a little so she could reach without using her wings.

“You’re too tall,” she giggled as she kissed the tip of his horn.

“The rings and vows hath been exchanged!” Luna said as the crowd clapped. “Now, you may kiss your beloved brides Level Ledger.”

Ledger nodded before deciding to do it in order. With that, he swept Midnight up into a kiss, making sure to make it deep enough that she knew she was loved, yet shallow enough so that he could break it quickly. He had other mares to kiss after all.

She moaned softly into his kiss and her love could be felt by every changeling in the town. Regrettably, and all too soon, Ledger had to break the kiss, though not without leaving another, softer one behind.

“Sorry love,” he whispered. “I have to go, the others need me too.”

“Aww, well I guess I can share,” Midnight giggled and pushed him back. “Don’t keep them waiting~”

Ledger nodded and turned to Cider next, drawing her close and whispering his usual greeting to the mare. “Hello there, my sweet mare,” he murmured, before kissing her as well.

“Mm, hello yerself,” she giggled as the Apple clan cheered louder than anypony at that point. Ledger held it for a good few seconds before breaking it and pecking her again, smiling softly.

Next up was Scope, who smiled as she looked him in the eye. “Never thought this’d be something I do.”

“Life is better when it’s unplanned,” Ledger said as he drew close to her. “Makes those sweet moments just that little extra bit sweeter.” With that, it was time for two changelings to go at it and kiss one another in front of everypony present.

That was when the shapeshifter portion of the audience erupted into cheers. And once Scope broke the kiss and blushed, it was time for the newest member of their herd, and the pony that Ledger never could have imagined he’d be in this situation with.

“If your highness would permit me to, I would greatly enjoy kissing you,” Ledger said, hamming it up in this moment.

“Like you’ve ever asked for permission before,” Twilight smirked and then pulled a page from his book, grabbing the drone with her forehooves and yanking him into a deep and passionate kiss. The crowd altered between total shock at Twilight doing that and cheering as loud as they could. Ledger for his part rolled with it and gave as good as he got, not caring that others were watching. After all, that was kinda the point.

She broke the breathless kiss and smiled. “Well… so that means…”

“Congratulations!” Luna’s excited voice reverberated across the hall. “With that, this ceremony is complete. We are most proud to announce you all as husbands and wives!”

Then the entire hall exploded in cheers and hoofstomps of applause. Ledger for his part just sat back on his haunches and opened up his forelegs, a silent gesture that he was willing to just hug any of his mares that needed it.

Midnight certainly did as Ace and his new wives begun to file out of the hall, to where the reception and the meet and greet was happening.

“So… we’re married now huh?” the thestral said as she leaned into him.

“Mmhmm, and we can go out there and join them whenever you’re ready,” Ledger said as he kissed Midnight’s head. “I promise you that nothing terrible will happen. I won’t let it.”

“I know, my nerves might be totally shot for a while. But, it’ll pass.” She took a deep breath and smiled. “So, what do you think of our dresses? We’re totally gorgeous and beautiful right?”

“I’m having a hard time not tearing them off of you, you all look so ravishing,” Ledger agreed. “Still, that comes later.”

“Mhmm,” Midnight kissed his cheek. “Alright, let’s go and see what everypony has to say hmm?” She tugged on his leg as she led him down the aisle and into a side room where they could rest a moment and let the ceremony sink in before they met everyone.

Ace was rubbing at his neck, still a bit self conscious. “Well… that was one of the more nerve-wracking experiences of my life,” he chuckled.

“Yeah, and you’re going to have plenty more where that came from,” Ledger said before tilting his head at Amy.

“Yes, I have a little hatchling on the way,” Ace nodded. “I can’t wait to teach him how to fight!!”

“And if I know Middy here, she’ll be all for signing up our foal to your teachings as well,” Ledger said before nudging the bat with a hoof.

“Damn straight,” Midnight nodded. “Little Parasite is going to kick so much ass.”

“I am now uncertain of these children's futures,” Scope said flatly as she looked at Amy.

“Aww, they’re gonna be the best of friends,” Amy giggled. “Who knows, they might even be best friends when they grow up~”

“When you say best friends,” Chrysalis said, noticing the inflection she’d put on that word. “Are we talking you and Midnight best friends, or Me and you best friends?”

“We’ll just have to see~” Amy giggled, refusing to give a straight answer.

“This is apparently now my life,” Chrysalis sighed and looked at Twilight. “So I take it I won’t be living with you anymore huh?”

“Have you been for the past few weeks?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow. “My morning snark levels have dropped drastically.”

“Guess I’ll have to come by more often, can’t have you getting complacent,” Chrysalis chuckled.

Rarity poked her head through the door. “Everypony is ready, so whenever you darlings are…”

“Just a moment,” Twilight nodded and Rarity gave a little salute and vanished.

“So… we’re married now,” Cider said. “Ah still don’t think it’s sunk in yet.”

Ledger merely raised her forehoof, the one that had the wedding band on it, and kissed her hoof.

“Yer sweet, but it’s still gonna take a while,” Cider blushed slightly.

Midnight pulled her ear away from the door and frowned. “There’s a lot of ponies out there. This isn’t going to be fun…”

“I’ll be right here,” Ledger said, turning to her and giving her a hug. “You don’t have to do more than the opening dance if you don’t want to.”

“Eh, it’s the meet and greet that’s freaking me out,” Midnight admitted and shivered. “Whelp, let's get this over with. We have a party and a honeymoon to attend to.”

That was when Ace paused. “Honey… moon? The heck is that?”

“A small vacation you take with your new brides to help...consummate your relationship,” Ledger chuckled.

“I have planned no such thing!” Ace exclaimed, now feeling like he’d failed his new brides.

“Fortunately, we have an idea for you, we’ll discuss it later,” Ledger said before winking at Twilight. The alicorn blinked and tilted her head, before she remembered and nodded.

“Yep, don’t worry your feathery head. We have it aaaallll planned out~”

Ace looked at his wives, Chrysalis shrugging and shaking her head.

“Meanwhile, we have a nice vacation of our own to attend to, but that’s later,” Ledger said. “For now…” he paused before stepping back. “Why don’t you three go first, take a little attention off of little Songbird here?”

“Oh sure, push us under the wagon why don’t you?” Chrysalis snorted and smirked as she strode out as proud as a peacock. “Behold your Queen!!” she cackled as her voice boomed out.

“Somepony get me a newspaper!” an elderly stallion said. “Little whelp’s getting uppity again!”

“Bite me you old coot~” Chrysalis continued to cackle. “Nothing can ruin this day for me now!”

“Be nice,” Ace said, tugging lightly on her ear. “Or you get no cake.”

“...I’ll be good,” Chrys said with a small nod.

Twilight and Cider emerged a moment later, as Scope stayed behind with Midnight. The nymph had no family here, so she didn’t care much for meeting the others just yet. Ledger just continued to stroke her back as he kept reassuring her.

“Best to get it done all at once while the others are distracting the crowd,” Ledger said. “Like ripping off a band-aid. Which we might have to do if mother comes back here.”

“What about your mother?” Scope asked, not having listened. Maintaining this form for so long was starting to drain her a little.

“She might just drag us out there if we take too long,” Ledger said. “Also, I saw that. Do you need a little boost to make it through the dance?”

“I’m good,” she said with a small nod. “For now anyway.”

“Let’s go,” Midnight said suddenly. “Ledger’s right. Can’t hide in here forever. Besides, it wouldn’t be fair to everypony that came all this way to see us.”

The drone smiled, kissed her again, and then held the door open for his wives with his magic. They each gave him a kiss as they walked past and out into the second hall, where a grand party had been set up.

A dozens of ponies waiting to meet them.

The first up was Midnight’s parents, who immediately embraced Ledger and smiled.

“Welcome to the family… my son,” Moon Song said and kissed his cheek.

“It feels right to be here,” Ledger said, returning the hug but not the kiss.

“Yep, you’re crazy enough to marry my daughter,” Grissom chuckled. “So you’ll fit right in.”

“And all my new daughters,” Moon squealed happily as she dragged the other three mares in for a hug. “Best. Day. Ever~”

“You got that right!” Pinkie called out from somewhere.

Scope suddenly gulped when Ledger’s mother and father approached. They hadn’t seen this form before, and the nymph was a little nervous about it.

“Y-Yes?” she asked, backing up only slightly. The Madame looked her over with a critical eye before smiling and nodding.

“Yes, she’s the same nymph Wishful,” she said to her husband. “I wouldn’t mistake that sarcastic little Blue for anypony else.”

“I’m just saying, if she always was a noble in disguise, then it’d make more sense than this,” the drone muttered.

"The same…?” Scope frowned and glared at them. “I look like this so Ledger wouldn’t cop crap for marrying a bloody foal. That’s why I—”

“I figured that much,” the Madame replied. “I really couldn’t see you trying to marry him as you were, but I didn’t know you had a Noble transformation you could fall back on.”

“I… well I only came up with it recently, thanks to a certain event in the Empire,” Scope admitted, her anger dying off quickly. “Turns out I have a little Noble blood, but it’s still hard keeping this form for so long. I’m burning through my reserves like crazy.”

The Madame smiled and gave the nymph a small kiss on the cheek while their horns crossed. She also took that moment to give the little nymph in disguise a good jolt of her reserves, more than enough to help see her through quite a bit of this party if she should desire to attend. After all, what bride shouldn’t enjoy their own wedding day?

“T-Thanks,” Scope muttered, blushing lightly.

And that was when Midnight looped a hoof around the Madame’s neck. “So, I guess you’re Mommy Gossip now huh?”

“I already was, dear,” the Madame smiled. “But I’m never adverse to the idea of one of my children finding love and adding to the family that way.”

“I wonder if you’ll say the same at Critical’s wedding?” Scope chuckled and spared a glance at the Green nymph and her surly stallion. “Ah well, guess I’m part of this crazy now…”

Midnight gasped and then flew off, returning a moment later with Joyful in her grasp. “I finally have a cute little sister~!”

“And I have four new sisters myself, not three, miss Middy!” Joyful replied.

“Oh great, now I’m related to a Pink,” Scope rolled her eyes and sighed overdramatically.

Ledger turned, only to see a huge earth pony stallion standing in front of him as Apple Leaves fussed over her daughter.

“So…” Full Steam said.

“Hello again,” Ledger said with a slight tilt of his head. “I suppose you can get all the usual questions out of the way now.”

“No questions,” he rumbled. “You make my little girl happy. That’s enough for me.” He pulled the stallion into a hug, and Ledger could tell where his mare got her strength from. He could swear he felt chitin creak under his assault. And he was probably holding back.

Then Fritter joined in on the hug, squeezing them tightly.

The rest of the meetings went smoothly, though a few of the Apple’s had given Scope and Ledger some questions, having not known they were changelings until today.

Last but not least was Celestia and Luna, the former presenting an envelope to Ledger. The drone raised an imaginary eyebrow as he took it, not opening it just yet and wondering what it could be.

The alicorn giggled and smiled at him. “Our wedding gift, since we are unable to stay for too long,” she said. “In that envelope, are your airship tickets and a five-day pass to the Rainbow Falls resort. I hope you enjoy your honeymoon Mr. Ledger.”

“I thoroughly intend to,” Ledger said with a smile. “This beats out my old plan of the Neighagra falls by a mile and a half. We’ll just have to go to them another day.”

“Ah, I didn’t think you’d have plans,” Celestia cursed her hindsight. “I can change them if you like…”

“No no, it’s fine,” Ledger said with a wave. “I didn’t actually pay for anything, just asked around if there would be an opening for a honeymoon suite around this time. I can always go there later. These,” he said, waving the envelope around, “are much better than my half-baked plans.”

“I’m glad then,” Celestia smiled and Luna positively beamed. She’d had so much fun doing this wedding.

“We too have a gift for you,” Luna chuckled. “It will be waiting for you when you arrive.”

“Y’know, I was kinda hoping for a different sort of gift,” the drone mused. “One that looked like a prepared press statement...saying something about the new messenger service the government was opening up...you remember that, right?”

“I do,” Celestia nodded. “Until Twilight sent me the most interesting letter last night. We will begin constructing the teleportation platforms as soon as possible, and run the message service alongside it.”

“Well that works out wonderfully,” Ledger smiled before pecking Twilight on the cheek. “And I’m sure Equestria will recover from the shock of this service eventually.”

“Eventually,” Celestia agreed. “We must be off, but congratulations again, and to you dear Twilight. I’m so amazingly proud of you~”

Twilight giggled and blushed, pawing at the ground with a hoof. The Alicorns chuckled and bid them a final farewell before they were off.

And not long after, it was time for the party.

The musicians Twilight had chosen were quite skilled. Lyra Heartstrings and Octavia Melody were providing some beautiful string music, while DJ-PON3 would switch it up with some wall shaking techno music.

And best of all? Ponies and Changelings were mingling perfectly, most of the latter weren’t even disguised.

As Ledger moseyed to the beverage table to get some punch, a tall Violet nymph pounced him, giggling gleefully.

“Sugar,” he said with a sigh. “What are you doing?”

“Congratulating you, of course,” the nymph said. “I’m so happy for you~” she cooed. “Not just one, but four, and a Princess besides! I thought you would never settle down when we first met~”

“I blame Midnight completely and utterly,” Ledger said.

“I can believe that,” the nymph said with another giggle. Then her tone turned even more sultry. “So, what are your plans for tonight? Going to ravish your mares?”

“If I was going to do something like that, I certainly would not tell you so readily,” the drone replied before looking around. “Shouldn’t there be somepony to watch you and make sure you don’t do something like this?”

“Why do you always assume the worst of me?” Sugar replied with a hurt pout. “I'm just teasing after all. I know better than to force anything upon you.” She paused and her voice dropped to a near-whisper. “I like you far too much to do something like that.”

“I know,” Ledger sighed. “And maybe if I hadn’t been so...broken when we first met, I might have...responded to your advances. But what’s done is done. We’re both married now.”

“Yes, yes we are,” Sugar purred, the drone could feel her smirk without even looking. “Enjoy your honeymoon love~” She gave him a kiss on the cheek and pranced off to find Moondancer, a noticeable spring in her step. The drone shook his head before helping himself to some punch and wondering who would be next.

The happy squeals of foals could be heard as the group that Amy invited mobbed her, the Pink ‘ling guarding the massive cake she’d created…

Then from amidst the children, an armoured bat emerged.

“Caaaaaakkeeeee~” she groaned, stalking towards it.

“Back!” Amy said. “This cake shall be tasted by Acey and Chryssy first! You have your own!”

Speaking of, the green nymph was currently getting swarmed by the other changelings present, half of them not even believing it was the real Chrysalis.

She turned to her grandfather and sighed. “So… I guess my parents didn't care to show up after all hmm?”

“You know they’re busy bugs,” the stallion replied. “They just couldn’t get away, and they send their apologies. Expect to be swarmed when you get back from wherever you’re going for your honeymoon, though. They’ll probably want all the details.”

“What, that their failure of a daughter did something without screwing it up… yet.” Chrysalis snorted, but even she had trouble getting into a bad mood today.

And why was her chitin so damn itchy?

“Aww, don’t be like that,” a bubbly voice said from behind her. “After all, one of my darling little ones has taken a shine to you, so you can’t be all bad~”

Chrysalis flinched and turned to see her. The Queen of the Pink race.

“I still have no idea what she sees in me,” Chrysalis replied. “But I'll not complain. I'm happy and I'll care not what anyone else thinks. Including my parents.”

“That’s the way to do it!” the Noble Pink said before hugging her. “Being happy with yourself is the first step, and I’m happy to see that she’s helped you to do that!”

“Her and that dumb bird,” Chrysalis corrected. “He's gone a long way to make me feel loved. And now I'm more powerful than ever~” She glanced towards the mountain-side city and smirked.

“Ap!” the pink ‘ling said before beeping her nose. “Don’t think I didn’t catch that! I’ve done a lot of work to fix things after what you did, missy! I don’t need you going back and poisoning the well again!”

“Meh, I don’t care for that anymore,” Chrys replied. “Besides, Equestria is so…” she milled her thoughts for the right word. “Well, you Pinks are here. That’s reason enough to leave it well alone.”

“If you say so,” the noble shrugged. “So, are you going to enjoy that cake, or will you let the little foals get at it before you?”

Chrysalis’s eye's widened and she started stalking towards the foals and snapped her teeth. “If I can't have cake, I guess I'll eat you!”

The foals squealed and ran for it, Chrysalis cackling and chasing after them.

“Aaah, it’s so nice to see her being happy...as long as she keeps it to play,” the noble pink mused.

“Oh she will,” Brass said. “Otherwise, she knows I’ll find a newspaper.”

She'd caught one, Sweetie Belle to be precise, and nommed her belly, blowing raspberries as Sweetie howled with laughter.

“Okay, okay,” Amy said as she pulled a large knife off the table next to the ice-cream cake that had been kept magically chilled until right this moment. With a few deft swipes, she cut off a few pieces of the cake...revealing it to have all the colors of the rainbow within. She then levitated them next to her new husband and bride and smiled at them. “Come on, it’s time for cake you two. Tell me how you like it~”

Ace nodded and took a generous bite, his eyes widening and he purred happily.

“I am normally not one for sweets,” He said after swallowing. “But this cake is most delicious my love~”

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow and took a dessert fork, spearing the dessert and taking a nibble.

Then… she just… stopped. Amy looked at her and looked at the cake. “Is...is it not good, Chryssy?” she asked. “I put a lot of work into it…”

Finally, the changeling found her tongue and spoke in a small voice.

“How-how much love… did you put in this?”

“A lot!” Amy chirped. “First I had to make the Zap-Apple Ice-cream. Then I had to work on getting it all into a sheet. And then I had to learn how to make frosting, and find one that wouldn’t break apart due to the cold. It was an uphill battle and a labor of love to make this cake. But I’d say it was worth it~”

“I see…” Chrysalis said. Her body seemed to have a faint glow to it, one that was getting brighter. “I feel weird…”

“Chryssy?!” Amy said, having noticed the glow. “Please tell me my cake isn’t killing you! I don’t think I could live with myself if it was!” Then the little nymph grabbed onto the larger one’s neck and started shaking. “Don’t go into the light, Chryssy!”

“S-S-S-Stop. s-s-shaking mme-e-eee!” Chrysalis almost shouted. The jolt caused the light to die down, but Chrysalis felt something inside, a buildup of some kind.

Did that cake give her indigestion?

“Only if you promise you’re not dying,” Amy said, finally calming down. After all, Acey was doing okay. Right?

Then again, he had taken on quite a few monsters and lived...A cake probably wouldn’t be enough.

He was fine. He was already on his third piece.

“Bleh… the hell was that?” Chrysalis asked aloud and bit into her cake absently. And there came another rush of an insane amount of love. It had been building up and Chrysalis gasped, before closing her eyes and smiling as the glow came back, stronger than ever.

“Wow, guess I really did put a lot of love into it, huh?” Amy asked. “You’re glowing, Chryssy~”

And when the glow stopped, a green nymph wasn’t there anymore…

“You sure you didn’t do anything weird to this cake?” she asked.

“Chryssy...Look at yourself,” Amy said. And now the ‘ling was beautiful. She’d been pretty before, but now it was a part of her very being.

Chrysalis looked down and her jaw opened. Her pristine white coat. Those dainty, yet beautiful emerald wings. That luscious aqua mane and tail.

“I...I'm… a pony?”

The yell brought her attention from all the guests, and the news quickly spread like wildfire amongst the ‘lings that apparently, this cake could turn a changeling into...whatever that was.

Some avoided it. Some eyed it. Ledger walked closer to Chrysalis and looked her up and down. “Well, this is new,” he said. “I like learning new things.”

“Ohno, you can back the hell up until I figure out what the fuck this is!” Chrysalis panicked. “Look at me! I'm hideous!”

That was when the now-white mare found her mouth playing host to Amy’s tongue. Apparently one nymph didn’t agree with her about that…

She wanted to enjoy the kiss. But she was too busy having a freaking panic attack. Amy pulled away and had been about to say something…

When there was a familiar sensation of paper impacting the backside of Chrysalis’ head. At speed.

“Gah!” Chrysalis turned and glared at the old drone. “Where do you even get a newspaper at a wedding!?”

“Picked it up this morning,” the stallion said. “Now what good will panicking do anybody? Calm down and approach it rationally, or I’ll hit you until you do.”

“Calm down? Calm down!?” Chrysalis screeched. “I'm some weird fucking bug horse!!”

“So, yourself then?” Amy quipped. She really couldn’t stop it. “Seriously Chryssy, you know I love you for you, not what you look like.”

“That doesn’t mean I'm freaking the fuck out! I just changed species! Who does that?”

Twilight coughed and fluttered her wings. “I just thought I'd point out that you're a Flutterpony, but, whatever.”

“And now I wished I’d read what that old silver drone had given me,” Ledger said before holding his hoof out and summoning his book to himself. He rapidly flipped to the section immediately after the Black one, the one he’d marked as Silver, and looked to see if there was anything from what he’d been given that could shed any light on this. Specifically, on the origin of the Changeling race as a whole…

It was small, barely a paragraph. But it definitely mentioned ‘Flutterponies’ and something called ‘Rainbow Valley’.

“Well,” Ledger said. “Congratulations, Chrysalis. You’re the first in some time to return to what we used to be.”

“Oh that's real fucking helpful!” Chrysalis groaned. “I turned into a Tartarus-damned alicorn princess.”

“Unless Amy here is especially gifted in making magical foods, there’s no reason to think this is a permanent thing,” Ledger pointed out. “Like how the crystallizing effect that happens up in the Crystal Empire during their faire isn’t a permanent thing.”

“Only for you non-crystals,” Palette pointed out.

“Chrys?” Ace stepped forward and tapped her horn. “Focus. Your magical signature hasn't changed.”

“That means…” Chrysalis closed her eyes and concentrated. A sparkling veil covered her, a stark contrast to a changeling’s transformative flames.

And a moment later, Chrysalis was her chitinous self once again. Though, her legs and wings lacked the holes they once had.

“Iiiinteresting,” Ledger said. “Amy, I know it’s your cake and all, but I think I should also subject myself to some. For science.”

“Lemme just snag a piece for myself, and sure thing Ledgy,” the pink nymph said as the knife flashed into motion, quickly dividing the remaining cake up into many, many portions. So that every ‘ling and foal could still have one, and there would be enough left for the ponies besides. She floated a piece over to herself and waited.

Ledger gently took ahold of his piece of cake and smiled at his mares. “For science,” he said before biting into the cake.

It certainly had a decent amount of love, as much as Midnight could give him in a single dose. And it was pretty damned tasty too.

But after a few minutes, he certainly wasn't transforming into a long forgotten race.

“Hmm,” he pondered. “Maybe it’s something else. Like something that’s different between the two of us. I mean, that cake was made with them in mind, it probably wouldn’t do as much for me or any other ‘ling. I would probably need an insane amount of love on top of what you’ve put into this cake to spontaneously transform, if it’s just based on love…It could be something else, like lineage. Or just a random accident.”

“Lineage huh?” Brass looked thoughtful about something. “Well I'm sure we can work this out later. I think you all have a wedding to finish eh?”

“Aww,” Twilight pouted. “Can’t I experiment just a little?”

“Yeah, no!” Chrysalis said and finished off her cake, without transforming this time.

“I’m actually kind of disappointed we haven’t managed to replicate this yet,” Ledger said before finishing off his piece of Amy’s cake. “I mean, then we’d have a pool of test subjects greater than one uncooperative nymph.”

“Ledger, go fuck a cactus,” Chrysalis snarked and looked at Scope. “But she looks occupied…”

“I'll kill you later,” Scope called back.

“Can we please get back to our wedding?” Cider pouted.

“Oh, very well,” the drone said before walking over to Cider and giving her a kiss. “For you.” He then turned to the layered, massive cake that Pinkie had crafted and held up the pristine knife in his magic. “I say it’s time we had our cake, my lovely wives.”

They nodded and as Ledger lifted the knife with his magic, he felt Twilight and Scope’s mix with his. Midnight and Cider placed their hooves on the handle and together, they made the first slice as dozens of cameras flashed and the crowd cheered. Ledger just smiled and gently moved the knife, slowly, so as to slice a small piece from the top off. He’d have to make several more cuts if he was to get a piece for everypony at the same time, but it’d be worth all the effort.

Soon enough, the top was well-sliced, and Twilight, Cider, Scope, and Midnight all had a slice of cake on a small plate in front of them.

Midnight’s didn't last long, the cake made an honorable sacrifice to the bat goddess as she devoured it with something akin to a feeding frenzy. She licked her lips and hummed happily.

“Ohhh, now that is good cake,” she purred and grabbed Pinkie Pie as she walked past. “You! I’m marrying you next!”

“Aww, thanks Middy, but I don't think Ledger could handle me,” she spun around and winked at the drone. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Ledger replied. “You’re quite the unique individual, and I’ve really had my share of pink nymphs and mares already.”

“Yup, you don't get pinker than Pinkie!” she giggled and then gasped. “One moment!” She zoomed over to where the Pink queen stood and gave her a scrutinizing stare. “Hmm…”

“Well you could pass as one of mine easily,” the Pink queen giggled. “You’re certainly unpredictable enough.”

“Maybe,” Pinkie giggled and presented the nymph with a piece of cake she somehow produced from thin air. “Thanks for helping Amy. I was a little worried about her for a moment.”

“Aww, it’s nothing,” the pink mare said before taking the cake like nothing had happened. “I make it a point to attend as many Pink weddings as possible. Nearly missed this one, though. I’m getting rusty in my old age.”

“Aw, you’re still young,” Pinkie giggled and hugged her. “Anyway, enjoy the party Your Majesty~” And with that, she bounced off.

The dinner had been amazing, enough that even Fredrick complimented it. And then Pinkie and Queen Surprise jumped up onto the stage, the latter deciding to assist the earth pony.

“I hope you all enjoyed the feast party ponies!” Pinkie declared.

“Cause now it’s time to shake your booty!” the nymph added.

“I take it this is where my dance lessons are about to come in handy,” Ledger sarcastically observed.

“Precisely!” His mother said from beside him. “Try not to embarrass me dear.”

“It’s not me I’m worried about,” Ledger said, exerting a remarkable amount of control to not look in Twilight’s direction.

Twilight still caught that minor twitch and looked at him. “What?”

He declined to rise to that, though, and merely waited to hear what the first song of the night would be. That would determine who he’d take out on the dance floor.

“Given the unique situation of our married parties,” Surprise said. “How would they like to proceed?”

With that, Ace grabbed Amy and dragged her out to the dancefloor as he nodded at the band.

That was when the nymph’s favourite song started to play…

“Acey,” she said with a smile. “You remembered?”

“Of course I did,” the griffon replied as he nuzzled her, swaying slowly to the music. “I love you my dear. More than anything.”

“Hmm, well, which of my mares would like to accompany me on this, the first dance of the evening?” Ledger said, looking at them all now and bowing slightly.

Twilight was hesitant, but Midnight stepped forward and smiled. “I will, my awesome dancing will give the rest of you something to aspire towards.”

Ledger smiled and walked Midnight out to the dance floor. Amy and Ace finished their dance and once they cleared the floor, earning a round of cheers, the band started up a nice waltz. Midnight turned, letting the train of her dress flow as she offered her hoof to Ledger. He took it and began leading the dance, putting all of his lessons to use in giving Midnight a nice, wedding-day dance.

Of course, he’d still have three more to go after this one, but it was the thought that counted.

Her steps were timed perfectly, showing that once again, she was good at what she did. The truth was that her mother had taught her over many years, and her fighting prowess kept her in peak condition.

“You're not too bad,” Midnight giggled, draping her neck over his as she led him across the dancefloor. “A solid B+.”

“And I suppose you think you know what deserves an A,” Ledger replied out of habit.

“Not the time,” She murmured and gave him a light kiss, when he returned it, she smiled. “That bumped you up to an A-.”

“You’ll have to show me one day,” Ledger replied with a cheeky wink. “For now, let’s just enjoy the music.”

“Mhmm,” Midnight held him a little tighter and led him into a spin. But all too soon, the dance had to end and the crowd cheered and cooed as they left the dancefloor, making way for Ace and Chrysalis.

And… why was Scope laughing at Ledger? He almost asked, but he refrained.

He’d have to dance with her after all. He could ask then.

“So,” the nymph said as she moved up next to Ledger. “Shall we show them how changelings dance, my lovely wife~”

“That was kind of the plan, when your song comes up,” Ledger said, eyeing the ceiling as he said that. “Hmm...we may have to adapt our moves a little…”

“Well, I don’t know how steady my flying will be in this larger form,” Scope said and sighed. “Catch me if I fall?”

“Always,” the drone replied instantly. “You don’t even have to ask, because I know you would do the same.”

Scope paused. “It would be pretty funny to see your ass fall…”

“On this day?” Ledger said. “You know it’d ruin it more that it’d make it.”

“True,” Scope nodded. “Ah well, another time then.” She watched Chrysalis and Ace dance, the nymph looked so happy. “Hard to believe she was once the big bad Queen Chrysalis huh?”

“She’s come such a long way,” Ledger said with a knowing nod. “As have we all.”

“The scourge of Equestria… now it's hard to imagine we were ever enemies at all,” Scope said as the dance finished, Chrysalis squeaking as Ace picked her up and carried her off of the dancefloor.

“I do believe it’s our turn,” Ledger said with a smile. “Ready to show them how ‘lings dance?”

“Hell yes,” Scope purred and then grabbed him, pulling him into a deep kiss before letting go and prancing out onto the dance floor with a giggle. Ledger sighed, but smiled, and led her into a normal dance to start with. He was counting down the seconds until he could show everypony here how Changelings danced.

“Just say when,” she whispered. “ And we blow their non-buggy brains~”

Ledger waited until the dip before smiling at her and using his magic to remove the back of his suit. “And now,” he said once they came up. With that, his shell flicked open and his wings buzzed into flight, lifting the drone into the air.

Scope followed suit, her backless dress allowed her shell to open and she followed him into the air, ducking and weaving and she smiled softly. Every motion Ledger was going through just spoke volumes about his commitment to not only her, but the others as well. And he was even using just a touch of magic to link with her as well.

“So I’m thinking tonight, you all call the shots. Only seems fitting.”

“Oh, we’re talking about this now?” Scope chuckled and looked at the other mares. “What happened to tearing off our dresses and ravishing us?”

“If I did that, Rarity would kill me,” Ledger replied as their dance got a little closer. “Besides, with only one me and four of you, I think it’s safe to say that I’m very much the minority here.”

“Aw, don't give up so easily,” she cooed, throwing in a few mating dance moves. “I'm sure you could think of something~”

“Well Twilight apparently has a collar, so if I can convince her to wear it again, that’s one,” Ledger replied. “That still leaves you, Cider, and Midnight.” He responded positively to those moves, though not too strongly. There were changelings in the audience, after all.

“Yeah, Midnight is kind of hard to one up,” Scope giggled as she swooped around him and kissed his nose. Her eyes widened slightly and she smiled. “Well isn’t that interesting,” she hummed. “Seems she was able to make it after all~”

“She who?” Ledger asked as he took advantage of one of the dance’s turns to scan the crowd. Then he saw a familiar unicorn, still wearing her gleaming golden armour. “Oh, Narrow!” He actually waved at her before returning to the dance, though he did make sure that waving wouldn’t be offensive for the dance they were pulling off first.

“Waving at another mare while dancing with me?” Scope said and her eyes gleamed. “You’ll pay for that one~”

“It’s Narrow, for all the things we put her through, a wave is the least I could do. You’d better believe I intend to greet her between dances.” Still, their dance was winding down now. Only a few moves left…

Scope weaved past him and performed a move that put a heavy blush on several of the resident changeling’s faces. She was all but shouting her desire to rut Ledger into the floor~

Ledger responded with a finishing move that had the rest of the changelings blushing. Basically all but announcing his intention to take a firm hoof in the bedroom and punish her. Sexily.

Midnight was standing next to the Madame, and she noticed a curious expression on her face.

“Hey,” she nudged the large nymph. “You okay?”

“Something tells me you’ve been a terrible influence on my boy,” the Madame said as she fought to get her blush under control as the pair of ‘lings landed. “A terrible, sexy influence.”

“Guilty as charged~” Midnight grinned, not knowing what that brought that on. Moon sighed and shook her head.

“I am so sorry for everything Midnight-related,” she said.

“And so will she be,” the Madame replied. “At least, if he means that with the rest of you as well.”

Midnight tilted her head and looked at Ledger and Scope. Was she missing something here?

On the other side of the dancefloor, a pair of hooves found their way around Fredrick’s eyes.

“Well, what do we have here?” a husky voice whispered into his ear. “A handsome griffon all alone? We can’t have that now~”

“Mmm, my delicious Peach Blossom is riding me so early?” the griffon asked as he felt the weight on his back. “Is it Friday already?~”

She responded by lightly tapping his beak. “I told you not to call me that in public. It’s embarrassing.”

“No argument on the other thing I said though,” the griffon mused. “Very well, we can sneak off and find a nice room if you want-”

“We are not having sex in a Princess’s castle!” Narrow blushed and bopped his beak again. “I could get fired for something like that.”

“Pity, ‘in a castle’ was one of the few places I had yet to have sex,” the griffon sighed. “I suppose that dream will remain forever unfilled, and will be something Ledger will always have on me.”

“Well, sucks to be you,” Narrow said and giggled. “Maybe if you’re good okay?” She gave him a kiss on the beak, just as Ledger walked over.

“And here comes trouble,” the mare chuckled. “Impressive. The castle still stands, despite you and Midnight being inside it for an extended period.”

“It’s not like I try to cause trouble wherever I go,” Ledger said. “That being said, I am surprised that the Crystal Empire’s castle didn’t fall over while we were there.” He smiled at the mare before continuing. “It’s good to see you Captain. I take it by the fact that you’re here that trouble abroad is wrapped up enough for the time being?”

He heard a small growl come from her throat and she stomped her hoof lightly. “Son of a Breezie got away. By the time we got there, he and most of his assets were on a ship bound for Celestia-knows-where.”

“Ah,” Ledger said with a sigh. “Well, you win some, you lose some. And at least you tried.”

“Should have tried harder,” she muttered. “Also, I kinda rushed here, so I didn’t get you a present…”

“It’s fine,” Ledger said with a wave of his hoof. “I can tell you right now, most of these gifts are going to be for the mares. So very few ponies know exactly what a Silver likes. I’m used to it.” He winked at her before finishing his statement. “I am just impossible to shop for.”

“Oh, you’d think so,” Narrow said and he saw a rare, mischievous gleam in her eye. “But I did come up with something. A gift just perfect for you in particular~”

“What, happen across a rare spell tome?” Ledger asked. “I hear the Inspiration Manifestation is still missing, at least to the Green Hive. That’d do it.”

“Not quite,” Narrow said as Rarity and Spike gave an awkward cough. She handed him a slip of paper and smiled. “A little spell I know of. But don’t share it with anypony else okay?”

Ledger read the spell. Paused. Reread it. And read it a third time, just to be sure he was reading this correctly. “Does this spell do what I think it does?” he asked in a quiet voice.

Fredrick leaned in close and his grin couldn’t be wider. “It was what she used to tame me!”

“Ohhh, we are going to have fun with this spell,” Ledger chuckled as he used a little magic to reinforce his memory of this particular spell. He never wanted to forget it. Heck, he was planning on burning this scrap of paper, so that Twilight couldn’t copy it.

“In all fairness,” Narrow smiled. “You have until after your honeymoon. Then I’ll be telling Twilight and Scope how to use it as well.”

“Oh no you don’t,” Ledger said, pointing a hoof at her. “This is something I alone should know. After all, I was the one telling them they needed to get another stallion because they were wearing me out. Too many extras, and you just know they’ll abuse it and me.” He crossed his heart with a hoof. “I Pinkie Promise that I will only use this spell to keep up with the mares in bed, as long as you don’t tell them how it works. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. You break your end of it, I’ll start dissecting it.” His grin was manic now. “I wonder how you’d deal with two...or three...or four Ledgers running around in your city.”

“I’d put Midnight and Princess Twilight on clean-up duty,” Narrow smirked. “...Or call your parents~”

“And if Midnight got duplicated?” Ledger innocently asked.

“Amy. Big ‘ol bag of sugar,” Narrow countered. “Then I’ll move back to Canterlot once they destroyed the city.”

“I’m sure a destroyed city would look bad on your resume,” Ledger mused. “Still, let’s tone it down a little. Please, please don’t tell them how it works. I need this.”

“Oh fine, it’s more fun holding this over you instead,” Narrow giggled. “I wonder if changelings sweat~?”

“Technically the answer is yes, but you normally can’t see it because of our chitin,” the drone replied as he summoned his book and wrote the spell down, then cast a spell on it to make it invisible, before shutting it and sending it back. After that, he had an unappetizing meal of paper, to make sure it was destroyed. Once that task was done, he continued his original thought. “If you can actually see a changeling sweating at a joint or thin point in their chitin, then you know they’re nervous.”

“Huh? Good to know,” Narrow replied. “I just hope Two-Step hasn’t wrecked the city again in our absence… Gah!” She yelped as Midnight pounced on her, hugging her friend tightly and giggling.

“Aww, you made it!” she beamed. “Now this is the best day ever~” The thestral turned and looked at Fredrick. “So when are you putting a ring on her hmm?”

“When I feel the time is right, or she tells me she’s carrying my chick,” the griffon replied.

“Yeah, that won’t be happening anytime soon,” Narrow said. Foals just… weren’t her thing. And just as Amy happened to walk over to say hello…

“Besides, I don’t think I’d be a very good mother.”

Amy gasped and looked at Narrow. “But...but foals are the best thing ever!” she said. “I don’t know why some ponies don’t like them.”

“Because they’re whiny, crying little bags of poop and snot?” Narrow shrugged. “Sorry kiddo, just not my thing.”

“There’s also the good moments,” Amy countered with. “I wouldn’t be having one if there weren’t some good things about them.”

“You just wanted to test if Twilight’s castle was good for conception,” Ace chuckled and lifted the nymph to kiss her. “Apparently the answer is yes.”

Narrow blinked and looked at Fredrick. “No.”

“I didn’t even ask a question,” the griffon pointed out.

“Pre-emptive strike,” Narrow nodded as Cider brought her some punch and cake. “Ah, thank you Apple Cider. You look beautiful by the way. Congratulations on getting married.”

“Thankyou,” Cider replied with a smile and then looked at Ledger. “Now, why do y’all look like the cat that got the cream?”

“You’re just imagining that,” Ledger said, trying his best to suppress his smile. “Now, how about I treat my bride to a wonderful dance?” He held out a hoof to her and tilted his head in the direction of the dance floor.

She took his hoof, but nickered lightly. “Ledger. Whut family am ah a part of?”

“The Apple family, and I suppose I am too, now,” he mused as he led her onto the floor for her dance.

“An’ whut Element are we famous fer?” she said as she pulled him into a hug as they danced.

“Your cousin Applejack was the Bearer of Honesty,” he said. All still technically true.

“So ah’ll ask again, what are y’all so happy about?” she said as he spun her.

“Can’t I just be happy about today?” Ledger asked. “I mean, I married four wonderful mares. Most stallions would be happy with one.”

“True enough ah suppose,” she smiled and kissed him again. “Y’all have a secret, but ah reckon ah’ll not push ya too hard over it.”

“It’ll all be clear by tonight,” Ledger said with a chuckle. “I promise, this is a good secret.”

“Hmm, if ya say so,” she mused and kissed his cheek. “Ah love you, mah handsome stallion~”

“And I love you, my sweet mare,” Ledger replied as he dipped her. The crowd clapped and cheered as they started to move onto the dancefloor as well, several couples now getting into the swing of things.

And Painted Palette of all ponies showing Critical that he could indeed dance, and was quite good as well. Ledger escorted Cider off the dancefloor before retrieving the last mare of the hour. Twilight herself. He bowed to her and offered his hoof.

The alicorn princess snorted and shook her head. “Sorry Ledger, but I am painfully aware that I cannot dance.”

“I know,” Ledger said. “I was the one that told you. But the dance we shared afterwards wasn’t bad.” His tone took a pleading turn. “Just give it a chance, please. I’d like it if all the mares I’m married to had one dance on their wedding day.”

Twilight looked at his pleading expression and sighed. “Alright, fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you-”

She didn’t get to finish before Ledger swept her off her hooves and onto the dance floor, a smile on his face.

“You seem awfully pleased about this,” Twilight deadpanned.

“I’m completing the set,” Ledger explained. “My OCD is just as bad as yours. I sorta needed this.”

“...Seriously?” Twilight said, her frown deepening. “So, you’re only asking because you have to?”

“That’s part of it,” Ledger said as they took their positions. “The other part is, I want to see you smile on a dance floor, and I think today of all days, you will. Just follow my lead.”

“I happened to like dancing, until somebuggy said how bad I was,” Twilight pouted.

“Nopony else was,” Ledger said. “Still, I can dance, and I can teach you if you give me time.” He took a step, and Twilight, remarkably, did not step on his hooves when she followed suit.

“You just like the idea of teaching me something,” Twilight smiled, touching his horn with hers as a small spark leapt between them, and he felt her magic link with his. It wasn’t unpleasant, and Ledger kept leading Twilight through the dance. If she kept up with her stunning performance, he might even try a twirl and a dip with her.

And that was when he felt her telekinesis around him and she twirled him around, poking her tongue out in cheek when she did. Ledger got his revenge when the twirl stopped by immediately dipping her with his magic and sneaking a kiss in as he did.

“Cheater,” she smiled and kissed him back. “So, happy I joined in on this wedding then love?”

“Absolutely,” Ledger said as the dance resumed. “It just wouldn’t be the same without you.”

“I doubt it’d be too much different,” Twilight replied. “But thank you all the same.” She leaned in and held him close as they finished off the dance. As they moved around the floor, they wound up next to somepony and Twilight smirked.

Partners were switched and Ledger suddenly found his sister in his hooves, rather than a purple princess, whom was currently waltzing with Palette.

“Well this is familiar,” Ledger mused as he danced with Critical.

“I promise to keep the hoof-stomping to a minimum,” the green nymph said with a giggle. “Wouldn’t want to ruin your ability to dance later. Your mares might want to go again.”

“So you admit that you weren’t always so innocent or accidental when it was my turn to be your partner then?” the drone asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I will confirm nothing,” she replied as the waltz continued. “...I’m really happy for you, brother,” she eventually said.

“Thank you,” Ledger replied. “And Palette seems like a good sort as well. Just promise not to do to me what Twilight did to her brother?”

“Which was?”

“She sent him an invitation,” the drone deadpanned. “Detailing when and where she’d be getting married, and nothing else before or after.”

“Owch,” the green nymph said. “Yes, I promise to tell you when I’m getting married with a letter, once we pin a date down.”

“That’s all I ask,” Ledger replied as the song came to a close. He and his sister bowed to one another before they vacated the dance floor. Him in search of another of his mares that might wish to dance, and her for cake and punch.

The former soon found a mare to dance with, or rather, one found him. Sugar Darling giggled as she pulled Ledger into a close dance, batting her eyes at him.

Critical had almost made it to the edge of the dance floor before she was snagged by Yearling and her drones, Lucky being the one that got to dance with the Green nymph.

“Aww, and I was so close to the cake,” the green nymph-mock whined.

“Sorry, orders are orders,” the Yellow drone said as they began to dance.

Meanwhile, Ledger was dealing with a rather touchy Violet. “You just seem to be fixated on me today,” the drone observed.

“What can I say?” she giggled as a hoof of hers roamed. “As long as you’re not saying no…”

“I rather think your wife wouldn’t appreciate you touching me like that, especially on today,” the drone replied tiredly. “You’re quite bad today, is everything okay? Moondancer didn’t turn you down last night, did she?”

“What? No, my Moonie would never do that,” Sugar scoffed. “Sorry, there’s so much Love in the air here I just can’t help myself.” She spared a glance to Chrysalis, who was chowing on some of Ledger’s cake. “I hafta hand it to her for keeping her composure the first time…”

“First time?” Ledger said with a head-tilt. “First time of what?”

“The wedding she invaded,” Sugar said. She took a step back and smiled. “I’ll leave you be now, lest I do something that might ruin our friendship…” She winked at him and vanished into the crowd…

“She’s just getting worse as time goes on,” the drone said before he sighed and made his way to the refreshment table, intent on getting some cake for himself this time.

Luckily, he was actually able to make it this time, Twilight had just finished cutting it up into equal slices.

Yes, she’d done the math too. Ledger just smiled and took a piece for himself, biting into the cake. Pinkie had really outdone herself this time. This was one of the best cakes he’d ever had.

After a while, Midnight turned to the crowd and smiled. “Okay you unmarried mares!” she shouted, “Form up! We have some bouquets to toss!”

There was an excited clamour as they all lined up and Ledger’s mares got ready. Amy as well… Chrysalis had eaten hers.

What? Chrysanthemums were tasty.

Midnight looked at the others and grinned. “Ready?”

“Eeyup,” Cider nodded.

“All good here,” Twilight agreed. Ledger just sat back and wondered how they’d go about this. Would they throw them one by one, or would they go all at once?

Chaos it was, as all five mares tossed their flowers.

The ones waiting scrambled over each other to catch them, the first being snagged by one of the musicians and a friend of hers, the mint-green unicorn blushing slightly as she locked eyes with her earth pony friend.

The second landed in the lap of one Narrow Gaze. The mare looking at the flowers and then towards Fredrick…

“Well, my life just got more interesting,” the griffon chuckled. “Be sure to make your proposal good, dear.”

Narrow just squeaked and ducked under the table.

The third bouquet was snagged by Yearling, the yellow pegasus smiling and then looking at her two drones that stood to one side, next to Ledger.

“Devoted, I’m not sure I like that look in her eye,” the yellow one said.

“Me either Lucky, but you know we can’t exactly leave her,” the blue one said.

“This is worse than that morning she woke up and told us about her dream,” Lucky moaned.

“That it is,” Devoted agreed.

“You can’t leave?” Ace asked. “Why not? Are you unhappy in your relationship?”

“More like, we’re hers now,” the yellow drone replied. “We’re happy, but we’re also her responsibility.”

Ace clicked his beak and pondered on that. Some questions arose and he looked at his brides…

The next lot of flowers landed, snared by a pony.

Namely a certain Pink Queen…

“Uh-oh!” the nymph said as she looked at it. “But I don’t even have a stallion! I’m way too busy for one!”

“Get a mare then,” some nearby pony said and several others laughed. The Pink Queen joined in, giggling as well.

“True, that could work...and several of you are looking quite fine~”

The last set of flowers soared through the air, accidentally snared by a mare that flew past to get some punch.

Rainbow Dash stared at the bouquet. Blushed hard and spluttered before tossing them. “Yeah, like hay!”

And that was when Fluttershy caught them, and blushed even harder, squeaking as she hid behind her mane, but didn’t throw them away like Rainbow did. The rainbow mare turned and when she saw who caught them, blushed again and pointed at Amy. “You totally planned that!”

“No, but I am willing to take full credit if one of you acts on it,” the pink nymph said. Both mares blushed and looked away from one another as Moondancer giggled and nudged Sugar.

“Don’t think I didn’t see that~” she said. “Your magic is sneaky… but not quite enough~”

“The two are absolutely adorable together,” Sugar said. “I can’t be the only one that sees it. They just need a little...push, every now and again.”

“If you were in charge of ‘pushing’,” Moondancer mused. “They’d be between the sheets right now making good on that bouquet’s meaning.”

“A nymph can hope,” the violet sighed. “They don’t seem to be rising to the bait. And I so hoped they’d gotten to the point where they would be willing to put on a little public display of how much they loved each other...Ah well. Another time, perhaps.”

“Speaking of public displays,” Moon said, poking her in the side. “You’ve been rather clingy to a certain drone today~”

“I very nearly can’t wait to spring our proposal on him,” the nymph said. “Can you imagine if he says yes?”

“Yes, well I’m hoping that is the case, but it lowers our chances if you keep pestering him like that,” Moondancer said with a soft sigh. “And there’s no guarantee that his mares will say yes either. And you know Ledger, if even one of them says no...”

“Another reason for me to get in my feels while I can,” the nymph said. “After this, it’ll change the way they see me. I’d rather be able to flirt with him while I can before they second-guess everything I do.”

Moondancer shook her head and kissed her silly wife. “Well, you seem to be having fun. So go nuts.”

“I’m good with the amount I’ve touched Ledger for now,” the nymph said. “I’m actually wondering if you’d like to dance.”

“I would love to,” Moondancer sighed happily and dragged her wife out onto the dancefloor, nuzzling her closely as they swayed to a quiet rhythm.

Several guests had left by this point, and the party was starting to die down. Twilight had gathered up her husband and wives, smiling brightly.

“So, are we ready to go?” she asked. “I’ll be teleporting us to Canterlot to spend the night, then we’re on an airship first thing tomorrow for our honeymoon.”

“Aww, so no staying up late?” Ledger asked with wiggling eyebrows.

“We can, as long as you promise to get up in the morning without complaint,” Twilight giggled. She was pulled away by her friends suddenly, the group sharing a hug before the alicorn left.

As was Apple Cider, the mare getting mobbed by her large family.

“I love having next to no family,” Scope mused. “My life is so much quieter because of it.”

Ledger pulled the still-noble nymph into a hug and pecked her on the cheek as an impromptu remedy to the situation. His cheesy line cemented it. “You’re our family now, Scope,” he said softly.

“Oh for the love of…” Scope rolled her eyes. “That was so damned cheesy, it’d give Twilight nightmares.”

“Doesn’t mean it’s not true,” he riposted.

“Gag,” Scope said and shook her head. “The sentiment is still cute though. Thank you Ledger. And yes, I love you too.”

He just kissed her again as he watched Midnight get all but mobbed by her mother and father.

“Gaaaah, getoffame!” Midnight whined under her mother’s hug before she saw the Madame approach. “Aw crap. No, no more hugs!”

Scope smiled. “Hah, I’m totally too tall to hug now!”

“Nopony is too tall to hug,” the Madame said. “But luckily for you, you’re not my target. Now miss Song, if you’d let me at your daughter, I have a hug to impart.”

“But of course My Lady,” Moon replied and released Midnight, who spread her wings and was about to bolt…

Right when the Madame showed off her magical prowess and pulled Midnight in for a hug, using it to hold her closer.

“Noooooo~” Midnight pouted as she was subjected to the hug. “Ledger…. avenge meeeee~”

“Oh hush,” the Madame said as she nuzzled the mare. “You deserve a hug for fixing my son from everything he was subjected to.”

“Oh fine, just know that you look cute hugging me,” Midnight said and returned the embrace.

“It’s true,” Wishful nodded. “Very cute~”

“I can live with that,” the mare hummed. “And now, I think I’m good.” With that, she released the thestral and smiled at her. “Take care of them, please.”

“Like you even have to ask,” Midnight smiled and nodded. “Somepony has to pull Secret’s ass out of the fire when it inevitably finds itself there.”

“It’s not like I go looking for dangerous situations,” Ledger moaned. “They just...happen sometimes.”

“Suuurreee,” Midnight and Critical said together.

The drone just huffed and crossed his forelegs.

“Well if this is all,” the Madame said, looking around, “Then I have a Hive to be getting back to. Me and my husbands...and Joyful. Wherever she is.”

“I lost her around the time the cake started being served,” Peaceful said.

“Caaaaaaaaaakkeeeeeeeee!” Joyful buzzed around the room at almost hypersonic speeds.

“Found her,” the Madame deadpanned. “Joyful, please come down here,” the nymph asked of her daughter.

“Neevvaaahhhhhhhhh!” Joyful screamed and tore off into the castle, squealing loudly as she did.

She had a castle to modify.

“Joyful, either come back here, or you won’t get any sweets for a month when we go back. To include ice-cream,” the Madame said to the castle at large.

“Pllaaaaaaaaiiiiiddd!” was her response.

“Oh for the love of-” Twilight horn flashed and a moment later, a glowing ball floated into the room, Joyful trapped inside.

“I have got to learn that spell,” the Madame said.

“I’ll teach it to you,” Twilight nodded. “Number Sixty One. Hamster Ball.”

“That must be useful,” the silver mare said. “How long will this hold her for?”

“As long as you maintain the upkeep? As long as you want,” Twilight nodded. “It’s a variant of my brother’s shield spell. Useful for dragons in libraries that have the sneezes.”

“Imma ball?” Joyful poked at the bubble. At least it was a pink ball~

“Let’s just hope the ball stays in place,” the Madame said. “We hardly need her to be able to cause more chaos.”

Twilight giggled and handed the balled up Pink to the Madame. “You could almost put her in your pocket-”

“TWILIGHT!” Chrysalis stormed over and glared at her. “You had better not be thinking of running off. Not without telling me how you know what I’ve turned into thanks to Amy’s magic cake.”

“Magic cake? Well there’s a new name for it,” Twilight smirked. “Though I think the most common term is pu-”

“Just, tell me,” the nymph cut her off. “And if you can do it quickly, I suppose you can scan me once, if you promise to tell me how much longer this will last for.”

Twilight smiled and petted the nymph on the withers. “Look, in my bedroom you’ll see a bookshelf against the furthest left wall. There’s a book with a blue spine titled ‘Forgotten Races and Mythical Cases’. All the answers I could give you are in that book.”

“Fine, I’ll take it to read on the trip to wherever we’re going for our honeymoon,” the nymph muttered. “I’m surprised you didn’t scan me, to be honest.”

“I already did the first time,” Twilight winked. “But it didn’t tell me much. Your magical signature hasn’t changed. Your vital signs can be considered normal. Well, for a changeling anyhow. I picked a slight increase in your mana reserves though.”

“So, what, burn through enough magic and I’ll turn back?” Chrysalis asked.

“No, you just have more magic to play with,” Twilight replied. “If I had to hazard a guess. By the way, I hate guessing. I’ll be doing a full and thorough investigation when I get back.” Ledger might not like it if she blew off their honeymoon to observe a new species. “Where was I? Oh! Well if you absorb enough love, it might trigger the transformation again.”

“Joy, so basically half of my life around those two is going to be spent as a freaking Flutterpony,” the tall nymph deadpanned.

“Well, Ledger might be onto something about it being hereditary,” Twilight nodded. “Perhaps you should take a closer look at your family tree?”

Brass gave a small cough.

“What?” Chrysalis asked. “It’s not like you have a freakin’ family tree dating all the way back to whenever this was a thing.”

He remained silent.

“...Y’know what, I’ll believe you if you have a bit of that cake yourself,” the nymph said.

He took a piece that Amy suddenly offered him and ate it slowly. What? He was old and got indigestion sometimes.

“Later,” he said. “We’re gonna have a long talk regarding your mother. Your real mother…”

“Well that’s just wonderful,” the nymph said. “Are there any other touchy topics you’d like to bring up on my wedding day?”

“You asked,” he replied and gave his tail a flick. “Look, we’ll discuss it later alright? Go and enjoy your honeymoon kiddo. You’ve earned it.”

That was about when Chrysalis was the victim of one of the other Pinks in the castle. Namely, the one she was married to decided she needed a bit of cheering up, and acted appropriately. That is to say, the pink nymph all but fed her wife her tongue.

“Forget love shields, now we have a sure-fire way to defeat the great Queen Chrysalis~” Twilight giggled. “Oh Ledger? Did you have everything packed and ready to go?”

“I think so,” Ledger said. “But it wouldn’t hurt to have you check it over real quick, in case I missed something.”

Twilight teleported from the room, and after a few minutes of waiting around, she returned and nodded.

“You forgot a couple of things. But now that’s fixed and I delivered our stuff to Canterlot.”

“Guess the only thing left is us,” Ledger said. “Oh, and telling Ace where he’ll be honeymooning in.”

“That would be good,” the griffon nodded as he clapped a claw over the drones shoulder. “So, let’s hear it.”

Ledger smiled and whispered a few words into the griffon’s ear, taking care to make sure neither of Ace’s wives could hear him. As he explained, it had to be a surprise to them. The griffon grinned and nodded.

“Oh yes, I like that plan quite a lot,” he smiled as he looked at his wives.

“So, where are we going?” Chrysalis asked, earning a tut-tut from the griffon as he waved a claw.

“That. Is. A. Secret~” he chuckled, earning a pout from the nymph.

“Noooo,” Amy said before pointing at Ledger. “That’s a Secret.”

“Amy…” Chrysalis sighed and shook her head. “That was terrible and you should feel bad.”

“No regrets!” the nymph chirped.

“Well then, I think that’s everything...except for one thing.” Ledger cleared his throat and said, quite simply, two words. A name. “Pinkie Pie.”

Yeppers?” the pink mare said, popping up from behind him. “You rang Levvy-devvy?”

“Can we trust you to clean up after this party?” the drone asked. “We’ll be gone for some time afterwards, and I get the feeling that hardly any of it will be spent resting.”

“Okie Doki Loki~” she giggled and zoomed in, her nose pressed against his. “But this means you'll owe me a favour Levvy~♥”

“So long as it’s reasonable and can wait until after our honeymoon, I have no objections to this,” the drone replied.

“Goodie!” Pinkie cheered and hugged him. “Now. Tell me your birthday and your word that I can throw the next one for you!”

“My birthday was in November, on the 20th,” Ledger said. “Sorry, but you’ll have a wait if you want to throw me another party.”

Pinkie sighed and all his mares paused.

He suddenly had four sets of irritated eyes staring at him.

“What?” he asked.

“You didn’t tell us your birthday!?” Twilight exclaimed.

“It happened shortly after the Tirek incident, which was also the precursor to another incident in this family,” Ledger said. “My birthday was less important than what was going on.”

“Pinkie Pie?” Twilight said calmly. “Plan B please.”

“WOOHOO!!” Pinkie blurred around the room. And soon a banner that said ‘Happy Belated Birthday Ledger!’ was hanging from the ceiling.

Also, a three tier cake loaded with candles was present.

“What?” Ledger said, tilting his head. “Do...we even have time for this right now?”

“Everypony?” Pinkie called out.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEDGER!!” the crowd cheered.

“Where… did you even…” Midnight’s head hurt.

“I keep birthday supplies stashed all over Equestria,” Pinkie explained. “In case of birthday emergencies.”

“That makes about as much sense as anything else a Pink does,” Ledger said.

“Mommy!” Joyful said from her spherical prison. “I have found my new teacher!”

“Yes, I’m sure you’d love to come to Equestria to learn from all the Pinks here, and ponies that could pass as them,” the Madame said.

“Can I?!” Joyful exclaimed.

“Maybe when you’re a little older,” the silver mare said. “I’d like you to finish growing up first.”

“Bleh, I wish I was a big Changeling,” she pouted.

Pinkie had finished feeding Ledger some birthday cake. She’d also gotten a present from somewhere, telling him to open it later.

“Well,” Twilight said once Pinkie had finished molesting her new husband. “Are we ready to go this time?”

“I suppose we are,” Ledger said as he held his present close. “Unless something else is going to come up at the last minute.”

“Not giving it a chance,” Twilight said and looked out over the crowd. “I'd like to thank everyone for coming today. You've made it all the more special for us.”

“Indeed,” Ledger agreed. “The sight of so many changelings and ponies getting along warms my heart.”

The two species looked at one another. They really were alike in a lot of ways.

“Thanks a bunch everypony!” Midnight smiled and wiped a tear from her eyes. “This… this is what a wedding is supposed to be like.”

Almost everyone save for her parents and a few others were a little confused about that last statement.

“It was okay I guess,” Scope said quietly. Ledger pulled the nymph into a quick hug and pecked her cheek, not saying anything that his actions couldn’t.

“Ah reckon this was about the best day of mah life,” Cider said with a happy smile. “And ah wanna thank all the ponies that made it possible.”

Midnight turned to Ace, Amy and Chrysalis. “And we're not the only ones. You guys shared this special day with us. I love you guys.”

“Aww, and I love you too Middy,” Amy said. “In a completely friendly way.” She then turned and looked at the crowd, beaming brightly. “Thanks for attending, ponies and ‘lings. It really made a difference when you all didn’t freak out too badly about there being ‘lings at the altar.”

“Ah reckon that'll come later,” Apple Leaves giggled.

“That’s not the only thing that'll come later~” Midnight purred and nibbled Ledger’s ear.

“You are insatiable,” the drone said.

“And you're complaining~?” Midnight replied.

“Get a room,” somepony called out.

“That’s the idea~” Midnight shot back with a gaze that made several stallions and mares cross their hindlegs.

“Quickly, before Midnight gets too much worse,” the drone urged the lavender princess.

“She gets worse?” Twilight asked and shook her head. “Alright. Well, thank you all again, and we'll see you when we return.”

“Son!” Wishful called out. “Do everything I would do.”

And for a moment, one brief moment before the five teleported away to Canterlot...the guests could see a sharklike grin on Ledger’s face. The message was clear.

That’s the plan.

Author's Note

Originally the plan was to have the original pair be married, and end the story after 'I do.' You can see how well that worked out for us.

Like the story? Consider dropping Aus and me a dollar on my Patreon. It's always appreciated.

Half the money will not go towards repairing computer crashes.

Chapter 96 - The Honeymoon

Twilight groaned as the group flashed into existence in Canterlot, specifically, Twilight’s old tower home. She’d come here a few days ago to give it a thorough cleaning, and make sure her Super Princess-sized bed was in place correctly~

“Whew!” she said, wiping her brow. “What a day…”

“Yup,” Ledger said as he just hugged the closest of his wives. Which turned out to be Scope. “I think I’ll be remembering this day for a long, long time.”

“You’d better,” Scope said. “Because so help me if you forget our anniversary…”

“I get the feeling that I will be scrambling for gift ideas for the foreseeable future,” the drone wryly observed.

“More than likely,” Midnight smirked as Twilight unlocked the door and led them inside. Scope shrunk, returning to her true form and sighing.

“Hives above that was fucking exhausting,” she groaned.

“I can imagine,” Ledger said. “It’s just so...liberating being myself for so long.”

“Lucky you,” Scope muttered.

“I think we need to get out of these here dresses,” Cider replied as she cracked her neck. “They’re amazing dresses, but ah need to not be in it anymore.”

“Agreed,” the other three mares nodded. Ledger licked his lips at the thought before he made his offer.

“If you’d like, I could help you all out of those dresses…”

“You’d like that huh?” Midnight purred and flicked his nose. “No, we want to keep these in one piece, and I don’t trust you to restrain yourself.” She kissed his muzzle and then led the mares into the room. “Wait a few minutes and then you can play okay~?”

That was perfectly fine by Ledger. It gave him time to practice the spell that the Captain had just given him. He didn’t expect miracles right away, but if he could pull this off-!

“Don’t wait too long though~” Twilight smiled and kissed him, right as they closed the door, her horn flashed and he felt the warming spell hit him. Ledger grumbled, but was determined to try and get something from this spell before he opened that door. Heck, if it worked, he could have twice the fun. He set his mind to furiously trying the spell in the short amount of time he had, though he was also careful enough to not miss a step at all. Miscasts were worse than nothing.

Ten minutes passed. Then fifteen, then twenty… and he hadn’t heard a peep from the room. They were probably just entertaining themselves by this point. Or each other. Or they’d had Scope gender-shift. In one last desperate attempt, Ledger put his concentration behind the spell one more time. If this didn’t work, he’d fall back on his old tricks for tonight.

For a few moments, something wavered in front of him and he found himself staring into a mirror… minus the mirror.

But it was just a few seconds and the spell vanished, along with the clone. This thing was ridiculously hard to maintain. And Fredrick said that Narrow could hold three clones for over an hour?

Fortunately, now that he’d tasted it, he was more resolute. He only needed one clone, for now. And he had a ridiculous amount of love to call on for back-up power. With a more firm push, the drone tried to will a clone of himself into being, putting a lot more strength into it.

The clone appeared once more, and seemed to be staying this time. But it was burning through his love energy like a wildfire. Then again, this was a pony spell…

Ledger let the spell drop for a moment and considered if there was possibly a way to make it better. After a few mental calculations and readjustments, mostly so that it would work with changeling magic a bit better, he tried one more time. This time, he threw caution to the wind and gave the spell everything.

Once again, the clone formed. This time, it didn’t seem to be burning through his magic quite as quickly. A rough calculation in his head told him that he could maintain it for maybe a half hour?

Not to mention he had three ponies to draw more power from. Maybe he could link it to his spell. Have their energy feed it?

“Do you know about the spell that made you?” Ledger asked the clone.

“Yes, and I think if you altered it a little, like this,” the clone said, illuminating his horn and showing off the spell diagram, before altering it slightly, “You could improve efficiency by about fifty percent.”

“I had been thinking that as well,” the original said. “Sorry about this.”

“Don’t be, we need to refine this spell so that we can maintain it for long enough that upkeep isn’t an issue,” the clone said, before he winked out of existence. A moment passed as Ledger cast the refined spell, and the clone returned again.

“That’s weird, but not easily describable,” the clone said with a shudder. “Coming into and fading out of existence like that.”

“We can work on it later,” the original said. “Hmm, if I fed on the mares while feeding your spell, I could probably maintain it indefinitely now. And if we do happen into a lusty situation, there will be plenty of food for me.”

“I concur,” the clone said with a smile. “And I am aware this is why you called me into being. Shall I scout the room?”

“Please do,” Ledger said, stepping back from the door as he took his suit off himself. Yes, he hadn’t even done that yet. And he didn’t want to give the mares any hints.

A moment later, Ledger-2 returned with a small frown on his face. “Perhaps… you should see for yourself.”

“Very well, but wait out here,” Ledger said. “Don’t want to spoil the surprise early.”

“Once again, I concur,” the clone said, stepping out and waiting to one side, and this time, the original Ledger walked into the room.

All his mares…

Every. Single. One…

Was sound asleep. Twilight and Midnight still wore bits and pieces of their dresses. But everymare was well and truly in Luna’s realm now.

“Well, guess we took too long,” Ledger sighed. With a soft glow of his horn, he dispelled the clone from afar and climbed onto the bed, intent on joining them.

It was around then he realised how exhausted he was, and he hadn’t gone through half of the preparations they had.

Sleep… Sleep would be reeeeaaal good right now…

As he stirred, he felt a weight on his chest. And something warm on his face, washing over him rhythmically. When he opened his eyes, his world was filled with an emerald hue. And it took his sleep-addled brain a moment to realise that Midnight was straddling his chest, her eyes just an inch away from his own.

“Morning, love,” he greeted her. “Morning, my beautiful wife.”

“Gooood morning~” she purred before invading his mouth with that expert tongue of hers. Ledger just lay back and let it happen, knowing that resistance was futile anyways.

She eventually pulled back and giggled as she kissed his nose. “Ready to start our day soon? We get to ride on an airship today~”

“I can do that,” Ledger said. “All our things still packed for the trip?”

“Twibutt did that already,” Midnight said. “Applebutt is making some breakfast and a packed lunch for the trip. And Bugbutt…” Midnight looked around and shrugged. “I have no idea where she is.”

“Probably laying in wait for us,” Ledger said. Then he remembered something. “Oh, where’d that gift from Pinkie get to? She told me to open it later, and I’m assuming now counts.”

Midnight looked around, then saw the box near the bed. “This one?’ she hummed and passed him the box. “Anyway, I need to pee for like, the third time today. Be right back~” She kissed his nose again and flew from the room. With that, Ledger was free to open the wrapped box, which he did. He was curious as to what was in here, after all.

It was… A purple headband with cat-ears on it. And a pair of fluffy hoofcuffs? He suddenly got the idea that this was something he should pack into his saddlebag and not show off until they’d reached their destination today, so he moved to do just that. It didn’t help that they had little nametags attached to them, telling him who to use them on/with.

And he felt some sort of magic on the cuffs and ears. Weird.

Soon enough, Midnight returned and sighed as she sat on the bed.

“Being pregnant sucks,” she pouted. “My hooves hurt, I have to pee all the time. And I get irritated at the drop of a hat.”

“Aww, but look on the bright side,” Ledger said as he drew Midnight in for a hug. “You’ll get a little foal that’s part me and part you to corrupt thoroughly as they grow up.”

“I am making his or her life a living hell once they’re old enough,” Midnight continued to pout. “And… apparently I can influence the Colour. Look forward to that.”

“A baby changeling is a blank slate,” Ledger mused. “What they’re fed when they’re in the womb does help influence what they’ll be when they’re out.”

“I know, Sugar told me as such,” Midnight nodded. “I’m thinking that Pink is such a cute colour…”

“Oh hell,” Ledger said. “I grew up with one...raising one is going to be a chore and a half if it does turn out Pink…Plus you know Scope would never forgive you.”

“So just keep that in mind,” Midnight giggled. “I can make all your lives hell as well~”

“You wouldn’t do that to us, would you Midnight?” Ledger asked with a big, pouty expression.

“You know how much I love Joyful and Amy,” Midnight giggled. She leaned in close and a wicked glint filled her eyes. “The real question should be… why wouldn’t I?” She booped his nose and flew downstairs. Breakfast awaited!

“Well I can tell that my future just got a lot more interesting,” Ledger sighed before climbing out of the bed to follow after her.

Breakfast was as amazing as always, though with Cider at the helm, was there ever any doubt?

And after some preparations, the group were headed for the Airship Docks, located on the level below the castle.

And the ship they were to board… It was huge.

Ledger noted that it wasn’t supported by a balloon like most airships, but rather, six massive propellers. The hull was made out of beautiful polished wood, and possessed a rather unique sail design.

“Well, this is interesting,” Ledger mused as he looked the ship over. “I’m sure there’s a lot to learn about how it stays afloat, but for once, I’m not curious about something new. I have a vacation to enjoy with my lovely wives.”

“We have a few hours to get there, I’m sure there’s plenty of time to...investigate…” Twilight trailed off when she saw Midnight Song. “Middy. No.”

“What?” the bat said, wearing her pirate captain getup from last time.

“They won’t even allow us on if you wear that,” Ledger said. “Though, kudos for packing it.”

“Aw come on!” Midnight said and struck a pose. “Sky Pirate Midnight Song! It’ll be awesome~”

“Ledger… please stop your crazy wife,” Twilight said as she trotted on board.

“Yup, you’re stuck on batsitting duty,” Scope agreed.

“Midnight, if you put the getup back from wherever you got it from, I promise to have a surprise when we get there, ready and waiting for you,” Ledger offered.

“Aaawwwwww….” Midnight whined and pouted, but none of them seemed to be budging, so she sighed dramatically and put the outfit away.

“I’m keeping the hat,” she said as she stomped on board.

“Nopony said you had to give it all up, just enough so that we can board,” Ledger said.

“Bleh!” she poked out her tongue and flew aboard, Scope and Cider shaking their heads and following her.

“We’re in for an interesting vacation, aren’t we?” Ledger mused as he followed after.

Everypony aside from Cider had flown at some point or another.

But the feeling of standing on the deck of an airship? Letting the wind rush through your mane as the hum of the propellers filled the air? Simply amazing!

Ledger would have stayed out there for longer, but he couldn’t both marvel at how the ship worked and work on his latest spell at the same time. He’d get distracted too easily, and he wanted to surprise his mares with a spell that wouldn’t drain him constantly to cast. With a heavy sigh, the drone eventually turned to walk into their cabin.

It was late in the afternoon by the time the airship dropped them off at Rainbow Falls. It was rather spectacular, seeing the liquid rainbow falls up close.

“I wonder what they taste like?” Midnight asked, causing Twilight to giggle.

“We can put it on our list of things to try out,” Ledger said. “Assuming they’re in the business of letting tourists do that, of course.”

“Oh this will be good,” Twilight snorted again. “As long as I have a camera, I’ll let you taste the rainbow, my silly little bat.”

“...Ledger?” Midnight replied. “I feel as though we have been a bad influence on our innocent princess.”

“What was your first clue?” the drone asked. “Okay, where are we staying, Twilight?”

“Umm…” Twilight looked at her map then pointed towards a massive hotel. “That one there. We have what’s called the ‘Lovey-Dovey Suite’?”

Twilight Sparkle was beginning to question her mentor’s sense of humor.

“Oh, this will be interesting,” Ledger said. “I’m willing to bet that they have a newlywed suite as well.”

“I’m willing to bet that is their honeymoon suite,” Scope grumbled as she put her Noble disguise back on. “I hate this…”

“You could just take a normal pony guise,” Ledger said. “It would be less draining and raise less eyebrows.”

“...” Scope groaned and switched disguises, a more adult version of her pegasus one. “Why did I do this at the wedding?” she sighed.

“Because you were being you?” the drone offered. “I’d have married you without any disguise on, you know.”

“And what would some of those ponies have said if I did?” Scope argued as they walked. “They’d have accused you of marrying a bloody foal!”

“I’m sure a word from Luna about how you’re just predisposed to be smaller than your average ‘ling would have set them straight,” the drone said with a shrug. “Still, what’s done is done.”

“Mhmm, we’re married and everyone can get bucked,” Scope giggled.

“I thought that was my job?” Ledger asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Soon enough~” Midnight giggled as they walked in. Twilight had the tickets, so she handled the checking in. Once that was done, a valet led them to the elevator and they headed up.

It didn’t stop until they reached the top floor of the hotel.

And that was when Ledger saw that the top floor was the room. The entire thing!

“Wow,” he breathed. “She doesn’t do things by half, does she?”

“No…” Twilight sighed as they walked in. “No she does not. It’s very sweet of her but—”

“But nothing,” Midnight declared. “This room rocks!”

“Twilight,” Ledger said as he drew her into a hug. “If your mentor is going to be this gracious for your honeymoon, I say take it and thank her for it when we get back.”

“Yes, yes we should,” the princess sighed as she floated their bags inside and tipped the valet. “Well, shall we see what this room has to offer then?”

“But of course m’lady,” Ledger said as he bowed, then lifted one of Twilight’s hooves to kiss it. “After you.”

“Such a gentlecolt,” she giggled and walked further into the room. They found the bedroom, with a bed that could have probably fit all four alicorns on with room to spare.

“Well, guess there’s no problems here huh?” Cider chuckled.

“Thankfully not, no,” Ledger agreed. “Though it makes me wonder who they think will be using this suite…”

“W-Well,” Twilight blushed lightly. “I know that Cadence and Shining used this room… it’s, well it’s kind of for the princesses…”

“Bet you anything they’re saying something like ‘two down, two to go’ downstairs,” Ledger grinned.

“Ledger!” Twilight blushed and thwapped him with a wing. “Seriously?”

“What?” He asked while rubbing his head. “I mean, they’ve had two alicorns stay here already, now. Why wouldn’t they look forward to the day when the other two did as well?”

“I guess…” Twilight still blushed. “But I do not want to think about Cadence, Luna and Celestia doing what we’re probably going to be doing on that bed!”

“Nopony said you had to,” Ledger said. “Though now I’m curious as to what you were thinking…”

Twilight turned even redder if that was possible, squeaked and flew into the room, closing the door behind her.

“Ah well, she’ll have to open the door eventually,” Ledger said. “What say we explore this place without her until she does.”

Midnight pulled her head out of the fridge and sighed. “Aww, there’s only alcohol in here. Can we go and get some juice and water for me?”

“We can make a shopping trip,” Ledger agreed. “Juice and water. What else we got in stock?”

“Some weird bottles with a blue liquid in them,” Cider said and held one up. “Says it’s called a… Booster? And that only stallions should take it. There also seems to be a pink one labelled ‘Sunrise Surprise’.”

“Well, I guess we should have expected this,” Ledger said. “Honestly, I don’t think we need those sorts of things. What’ve we got in the way of actual food?”

“A few packets of nuts, and… bananas?” Cider tilted her head slowly. “That’s a weird thing to keep in stock.”

Ledger snickered. “Okay, so I’m going shopping for food, apparently.” He looked around at the mares that hadn’t locked themselves away in embarrassment. “Who’s coming with me?”

“Ah will,” Cider nodded, pointing at the open window that Midnight and Scope had just flown out of. “Ah’m the only one left, and y’all can’t carry everything by yerself.”

“True enough,” Ledger said with a nod. “Well, shall we go get something for dinner then?”

“Eeyup,” Cider nodded and trotted next to him as they left to procure sustenance.

A few minutes later, Twilight emerged from her room and looked around. “Huh?... Where’d everypony go?”

Scope and Midnight met the other two as they returned to the hotel, now laden with several bags worth of food and drink.

“You know,” Scope asked as they walked in. “We could have just gotten room service you know…”

“And in case we just wanted the satisfaction of making a meal ourselves?” Ledger asked. “Plus, don’t tell me you want to go this whole vacation without eating something Cider’s made.”

Scope rolled her eyes, but he did make a point.

But…

“Oh?” Cider said calmly, the leg she had around Ledger tightened. “So ah’m expected t’cook on our vacation as well huh?”

“It’s you, me, or Scope,” Ledger pointed out. “Don’t think I won’t contribute, but if we want quality food, we’ll likely have to either pay for it or make it ourselves. This takes care of that option.”

“I could make something?” Midnight offered. Her response was a very careful bout of Ledger not looking at her. The very idea was quite silly.

“You guys suck,” Midnight pouted when she was greeted with silence.

“So, where’s Twilight?” Scope asked. “Didn’t she go with you two?”

“Nah, she was still in embarrassed mode.” Ledger smiled as he finally looked at Midnight. “You’d think that being around you all day would have burned that out of her by now.”

“I try, but it’s a slow process,” Midnight sighed. “She’ll get there, Princess of Friendship with benefits is going to be a thing~”

“There is no hope fer any of y’all,” Cider sighed as she opened the door. Twilight was laying on her back in the middle of the plush rug, Ledger’s book in her grasp as she leafed through it.

“Sorry we took so long, love,” Ledger said as he walked over. “Just out procuring supplies for our stay in case any of us feel like cooking.”

“Uhuh,” Twilight grunted as she reached the Black section. She really wished she could read this part. Oh well… “Well, I’m just here, reading, because you all forgot about me. It’s fine…”

“Aww, I’m sorry,” Ledger said as he lay next to her and nuzzled her. “You did kind of lock yourself in here though. Still, what will it take to make this right?”

“One, the door was never locked. You could have walked in at any time,” Twilight explained. “As for making it up… hmm…” She smiled and licked her lips. She carefully placed the book down and then lay there for just a moment, before pouncing him and thoroughly introducing her tongue to the inside of his mouth.

Ledger didn’t fight it at all, if anything, he ran his hooves over her form and tried to give back as much as he could. He just hoped that Cider would handle the putting away of all the groceries in his absence.

“Well, two down,” Cider replied as she put the groceries away, or would have if Twilight wasn’t multitasking. Her magic put away the food and drinks, while she continued to make out with Ledger.

Ledger smiled as he lay under the mare, wondering what her goal was. Just a simple make-out session, or something...more?

That was when Twilight yelped and pulled back, as Midnight had walked past and given her horn a lick while it was active.

“Midnight!” Twilight blushed. “Really?”

“Oooh, Midnight wants to play?” Ledger asked.

“Messing with you is fun,” the bat purred as she stood over them. “But if you really want me to play~?”

“No qualms here,” Ledger said.

“Of course you’d say that,” Twilight giggled as she put the rest of their things away. “Is this the place we want to start this though?”

“True, we do have a very large bed,” Ledger pointed out. “We could probably be a lot more comfortable on it rather than the floor.”

There was a magenta flash and the entire group found themselves on the bed.

“A lil’ warnin’ would be good next time,” Cider groused and rubbed her head.

“Oh, sorry,” Twilight winced and bowed her head. “I forgot teleporting makes you dizzy.”

“‘S fine,” the mare replied. “Jus’ gimmie a minute. Y’all… ah dunno, do things.”

“I can do that,” Ledger said, looking at the others. “So, what am I doing?”

“Well Ledger,” Scope started.

“You have four lovely brides,” Twilight continued.

“Do. Whatever. You. Like~” Midnight said in a tone that would have overloaded a Violet.

~*~*~

About two hours later, the bell at the door chimed, signalling that food was here. Ledger managed to extract himself from the pile, giving each mare a quick kiss, before walking to the door and answering it. The serving maid on the other side presented a cart laden with their orders.

“Also,” she spoke up. “Should you require fresh sheets, just ring and we shall deliver.”

“Maybe tomorrow,” Ledger said with a smile. “We did use up the spare set already, though.”

The maid blushed and nodded, before returning to her duties.

“Aww, she was cute,” Midnight said from behind him. “You should have invited her over to play~”

“I have more than enough playmates as it is,” Ledger said as he wheeled the cart in.

“One can never have enough playmates,” Midnight said is a sage-like tone, before earning a smack from Cider. “Ow, whaaaat?”

“Middy, if you had yer way, Ledger’d wind up married t’half of Equestria.”

“Yeah, the other half he’d be related to, because they’re all Apples,” Scope giggled.

“I am sure history will look back on our marriage as something either great or terrible. Or terribly great,” Ledger said before wheeling the cart to the table and starting to pull dishes onto it.

Twilight nodded as she helped Ledger setup dinner. If her first plan didn’t work, then she’d make sure that history never forgot them.

“So, what’s the plan after dinner?” Scope asked.

“Rest, recuperate from that session,” Ledger said. “Maybe research a little as to what the local sights are for the rest of our stay.”

“Research?” Twilight’s eyes gleamed and she grinned as a dozen or so books appeared, all about the area they were in. Ledger rolled his eyes.

“Not like that,” he said. “More like, ask the locals what’s good. Get some common knowledge. I mean, if you want to stay cooped up in here with your books, feel free. I’d much prefer to see the sights while we’re on vacation.”

“But… books?” Twilight pouted and looked at them. She sighed dejectedly and put them away. “...fine.”

“You can read later,” Ledger said as he walked over and gave her a kiss. “The purpose of a vacation is to see new sights and relax. Enjoy the atmosphere.”

“The atmosphere being, ‘Twiley wants to read’,” Midnight giggled and kissed the alicorn. “Don’t mind Ledger, he’d just as soon bury his nose in his own book as well. But he makes a point, the ponies that live here would probably know a little more. Maybe you can cross-reference?”

Twilight nodded and smiled, returning Midnight’s hug. “Alright, let’s eat and then head out.”

“A plan I can get behind,” Ledger said as he sat at the table. “I did just burn a lot of calories and magic, after all.”

“Don’t forget to stay hydrated,” Cider said as she poured him a glass of water. The drone nodded and poured himself another.

What, he was thirsty.

Meanwhile, in the far off town of Ponyville.

“Well,” Painted Palette said to the other married couple. “You about ready to go?”

Ace smirked, he still hadn’t told the others where they were going yet…

“Yup!” Amy smiled as she all but bounced onto the griffon’s back. “This big lug is doing a good job keeping our destination secret, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out sooner or later!”

“Maybe,” Ace smiled and turned his head to give her a kiss. “Now where’s Chrysalis…?”

“I’m here,” a voice rang out as the large changeling strode into the hall. “Had to see my grandfather off. So… where are we going Aerial?”

“Somewhere,” the griffon chuckled. “We’ll be sharing a train with Palette here and his lovely fiance. We’re headed in the same direction after all.”

“Same… direction?” Chrys pondered on that. There were over a dozen locations where they could be going. And she was pretty sure Cloudsdale was in that vicinity as well.

“Oooh, that gives me a line to guess on!” Amy said. “Still, for now...mush!”

“What, am I a mount for you now?” Ace chuckled as he started walking.

“In more than one way,” Amy purred into his ear. The griffon paused and chuckled again. Oh, this honeymoon was going to be fun~

Chapter 97 - Every Empire needs a Queen

Chrysalis yawned as she stared out of the train window. Amy had hogged this seat for most of the trip, but pregnant mares needed to pee sooner or later, so the queen pounced the second she left her seat.

Unfortunately, the scenery was boring. Snow, rocks, snow, mountains… did she mention snow yet?

She really hoped Ace’s idea of a honeymoon wasn’t some survival hike or some such nonsense. That would put a dampener on things.

Then she suddenly shuddered, like she just had her face pressed into water for a moment. What the ever-loving fuck was that?

Oh, now you’re an interesting one… she heard in her head. Not like your friend at all…

There… there was a voice in her head.

…

Why was there a voice in her head?

She gulped and closed her eyes. Nope. She wasn’t going crazy. Not at all. Just… just ignore it. Yeah. That was a good plan.

You know, I don’t really like being ignored, little form-changer. I know you can hear me…

Lalalala! I can’t hear you. Not going crazy, can’t hear voices. My Little Pony~ My Little Ponnyyy~

Oh, you’re going to be like that, are you? Perhaps I should tell you who I am. I’m the Crystal Heart. It’s my job to keep the Crystal Empire safe.

You could almost hear the record scratch on Chrysalis’s mental song.

“Crystal… Heart…?”

Then she started screaming and running for the back of the train. Her screams quickly became the ones that were drowned out, though.

Because now, Amy was screaming from the bathroom. And they were screams of pain.

“What the pluck?” Aerial Ace looked at his two wives and why they had snapped. He frowned and stood up, grabbed Chrysalis and planted her between Palette and Critical. “Watch her please,” he said and moved to the bathroom. “Amy dear, what’s wrong. Are you hurt!?” He sounded rather panicked.

The only reply Amy gave him was a low groan before she started screaming again. Chrysalis, however…

I have one job above all others, the Heart said to her. I am to protect this city from darkness. Darkness which you have brought here.

Chrysalis’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “If you hurt her,” she said. “You think you know Darkness? You think you have seen evil? If you hurt my beloved Amy… then I will stop at nothing! Nothing until you and your entire Empire lays in ruin!!”

Darkness must be purged, the Heart responded. If she is strong and gives into the process, she will come out stronger for it, cleaner. If she resists…

“I swear to the Hives I will feed you to a fucking dragon…” Chrysalis growled as she moved to the bathroom. “Move Aerial.”

The griffon didn’t even get a chance to respond before Chrysalis tore the door off with her magic and stepped inside, taking Amy and holding her close. “Shhh, it’s okay,” she said in a surprisingly soothing tone as she moved a hoof through her mane. “I know it hurts. But trust me, it’ll be okay. Stop fighting. Do you trust me, love?”

“C-Chryssy,” Amy moaned as what looked like a black cloud escaped from her mouth. “It...it hurts…”

Chrysalis fought the urge to recoil, Ace seeing this and moved to the doorway, to block anypony else from coming in.

“I know…” Chrysalis said, holding her closer. “It’s okay. Just… just think of it like some icky medicine. It’s yucky now, but you’ll feel better soon. I promise.” Because that Empire will fucking burn if she wasn’t.

The Pink nymph nodded shakily, taking a deep breath, and letting out a long, shuddering cough. With each exhale, more of that black smoke was ejected from her. Chrysalis twitched and she felt sick to her stomach. What was that disgusting stuff?

She closed her eyes as her chitin was replaced with white fur, her mane switched with a full-bodied teal one and her wickedly curved horn made way for a long, white spiralled one. Her Cutie Mark, a pair of beautiful butterfly wings, shone softly as she opened her mouth and started to sing a lullaby, as her horn gave of a gentle and calming glow.

Eventually Amy fell into a nap, as the last of the black smoke was pulled from her.

Darkness has been purged, the Heart said to Chrysalis, before the cloud of blackness dissipated. No longer is she a threat.

“She was never one to begin with!” Chrysalis found herself replying. “I swear, if you’ve hurt her, or the little one she’s carrying…”

All I did was pull the taint and possibility of Dark Magic from her. This city has suffered under one such unicorn already, thank you very much. Yes, it might have been a little...proactive. But I would prefer to treat it now than to let it fester.

Chrysalis snorted and decided that ignoring this… thing, for now was the better idea. She was going to have words with Cadence though.

Words that might involve a hoof to the face.

I am sorry that you had to be greeted in such a way. But welcome to the Empire nonetheless. I hope your stay isn’t fouled by this occurrence. With that, the Heart stopped talking to her.

Fouled he says… yeah, that introduction was real smooth.

“Is she okay?” Ace finally dared speak. For all the beauty his wife had, the look she had in her eyes now… it terrified even him.

“Won’t know for sure until she wakes up,” Chrysalis sighed. ‘But I believe so. If… what I know is to be believed. Then, she should be better than what she has been for a long time…”

Once they reached the Empire, the trio bid farewell to Palette and Critical, before the Changeling Queen marched right towards that gaudy palace. Seriously, did Twilight’s come from here as well?

“Chryssie?” Ace said, walking next to her as Amy rested on the nymphs back. “The hotel isn’t…”

“We’re not going to the hotel just yet,” Chrysalis said as she continued her stride. “I have a meeting to attend to first.”

Aerial Ace blinked and then moved to stand in front of her. “Chryssie. What’s going on?”

“Oh, that’s simple~” she giggled and kissed his beak. “I just need to have a little chat with the princess is all.”

As she walked off, Ace shook his head and followed. The least he could do is stop her from doing something stupid.

Getting past the guards at the entrance had been… well, Chrysalis understood why she was able to invade Canterlot so easily.

And when she strode into the throne room, just as Cadence and Shining Armor finished a conversation about something, she resumed her changeling form and smiled.

“Hello Lovebirds~” her voice dripping with venom.

“Chrysalis?” Cadence said. “I knew you were coming, but you’d think you’d be a little at ease here. The other changelings that live and visit here certainly are…” She didn’t finish as the back of the changeling’s hoof met the side of the alicorn’s face.

“At ease?” she spat. “At ease!?” Chrysalis was currently the embodiment of rage right now. “Then explain why something called The Crystal Heart, tried to kill my wife!?!?”

That was about when she found herself in a glowing pink bubble and moved far away from Cadence, thanks to Shining Armor standing nearby.

“Aerial!” Chrysalis had completely forgotten about Shining. What? He just wasn’t a memorable pony. “Do your pretty wife a favour. Tear of his horn and shove it up his a—”

That was about when Shining added a silence spell as well.

“Oh dear,” Ace sighed as he stroked the shield. “I’m sorry about that. But she is speaking the truth believe it or not. Once we passed the barrier to your country. My dear Amy found herself in excruciating pain. She has yet to awaken from the ordeal.”

His tone was polite and calm… so why did it feel like he was currently the most dangerous being in the room?

“That’s highly unlikely,” the pink alicorn said as she rubbed the side of her face. “The Heart only reacts like that when there is a presence of Dark Magic within its sphere of influence. When it detects anything like that, it does its best to purge the Dark influence from whatever it’s sensed.” She looked to the little sleeping nymph still on Chrysalis’ back. “And she seems far too cute to be any sort of dark wizard.”

“I am sworn to protect the Princesses,” Ace said. “But I warn you. Do be very careful of what you’re accusing my wife of.” He raised a fist and smacked it against the shield surrounding Chrysalis. Spiderweb-like cracks formed across it, before it shattered completely.

“Oh goodie, can I spill some blo-”

“Be good,” Ace said sternly and took Amy from her back. He walked towards Cadence with a serious expression on his face. “You have medics here yes? I want to know if my Amy is alright.”

“I’ll send for a doctor,” Cadance said. “But if what you say is true and she’s still breathing, then she should be fine. She might be a little tired when she wakes up, but the Heart primarily tries to save ponies from Dark Magic. The only real observed instance of it doing otherwise was when Sombra…”

Ech, I hate that name, the Heart whispered into Chrysalis’ mind. Memories of a time I could have done better.

“Oh shut the hell up!” Chrysalis said aloud and then looked at the ponies staring at her. “What? That snarky Heart of yours just talks and talks…”

Shining and Cadence shared a look before the pink alicorn spoke up. “Impossible, the Heart is just a very powerful artifact. It isn’t alive.”

Just because she can’t hear me...has she even tried?

“Yeah, have you even tried?” Chrysalis agreed. Then she frowned. “Oh great, now I’m agreeing with the stupid thing that hurt my Amy!”

Hey, I would like to see you treat that Dark Magic of hers any other way! Yeah, it hurt a lot taking it out of her like that, but on the bright side, now, her foal can’t be affected by its presence in her anymore!

Meanwhile, Cadance was voicing her disbelief. “I’ll take you to where the Heart is and prove to you that it’s just an artifact, if it’ll stop this ridiculous train of thought.” She turned to Ace and bowed her head. “If you take...Amy? there, to the medical floor, they’ll treat her as best as they can until she awakens.”

“Thank you, your highness,” Ace nodded and kissed Chrysalis. “Try not to do anything foolish while I’m gone?”

“No promises,” Chrysalis said and turned back to Cadence. “And… sorry for punching you. I was just really mad and… yeah, sorry again.”

“I of all ponies can understand fighting for what you love,” Cadence said with a wink. “I suppose I should have expected you to be at my throat within a few minutes of walking into my city, though.”

“I’ll lead you to the medical floor,” Shining said to Ace. “It’s the least I can do to help.”

“Thanks Captain,” Ace sighed. “I can’t believe she hit Princess Cadence…”

“Grr, Fine!” Chrysalis stomped her hoof. “You get one free shot alright, though I should take that last snide remark as one.”

“Maybe later,” Cadence said. “Come on, let’s go see the Heart and put this ridiculous notion to rest.”

“Oh, this is going to be fun,” Chrysalis muttered as she followed the alicorn.

The Heart hung there, slowly turning under the palace and surrounded by no less than a dozen guards. With a nod from Cadence, they parted to allow her and Chrysalis access to the artifact.

“See?” Cadence said as she showed it off to the changeling. “Just an artifact.”

“Ohh, so it really is just a floating crystal?” Chrysalis said. “Now, where did I put my sledgehammer..?”

Hey! the Heart said as it spun a little faster. I don’t think about overloading you with so much love that you’d explode! Do me the same favor of not trying to kill me!

“That’s odd,” the alicorn said. “It normally just hangs there, it doesn’t spin like that…”

“Because it’s begging for it’s life,” Chrysalis purred. “I do love that. You know just how to moisten me up Heart~”

I’m not joking, the Heart said. I likely could overload you with love if I thought I was in any real danger. Granted, I wouldn’t be able to talk to anyone for about a month afterwards, but I have a way to defend myself if I really think I’m in danger.

“And yet, Sombra locks you in a tower like a foalnapped Princess,” Chrysalis smirked. “Besides, you could do that… if I were still a Changeling~”

Okay, A) he used his dark magic to sneak up on me and take me out of here, where I’m strongest. And B), what are you talking about?

“You don’t know?” Chrysalis asked. “I’m something called a… what did Sparkle say it was again? I left that book behind by accident.” She tapped her chin and closed her eyes for a moment. “Oh yes! A Flutterpony.”

I haven’t seen one of those for a thousand years, the Heart said. And I’m even taking the bloody time-stop out of the equation when I say that. Goodness me, but aren’t you a rarity. I had wondered where all the Flutterponies had gone to...guess some of them became Changelings.

“What’s going on here?” Cadence finally said, getting annoyed about a one-sided conversation.

“He’s about to tell me all about Flutterhorses,” Chrysalis said.

“This is ridiculous,” the pink alicorn said. “You know how silly this seems, right? You could just be making it up to make me look bad. What proof do you have that this artifact is actually sentient?”

Tell her that I’m happy all her work at producing an heir has finally paid off~

“Oh, you’re pregnant?” Chrysalis looked at Cadence. “How wonderful~”

“How did you know that?” the pink alicorn hissed. Chrysalis relished in her expression and smiled, pointing at the Heart.

“Ask him~”

“This is just insanity,” the alicorn said. “How in the world can you expect me to believe that you actually talked to the artifact keeping us all safe? How could I even verify that?”

There’s a lovely scroll down in the library, detailing a spell that rulers used to communicate with me, the Heart said.

“Spell in your library,” Chrysalis abbreviated. “I’m sure you can figure out the rest on your own. I have a wife to check on.”

“Of course,” Cadence said as she looked at the Heart one last time. It was just crazy, right? There was no way the Heart was sentient. No way at all. Somepony would have told her, surely.

In the medical wing, Chrysalis wasted no time in just teleporting directly to them, appearing right in front of Shining Armor.

“Oh, hello former lover. Are you doing well?”

“Better every day you’re gone,” the white unicorn said. “You’ll be happy to know that the pink changeling will be fine with some rest. The doctors have put her on an IV just in case she doesn’t wake up for a while. Took some doing to get one under her chitin, but we managed.”

“Good, and your wife is still alive as well, though she’s a bit confused and annoyed.” Chrysalis went to walk away, before pausing and smiling. “Oh, and congrats about that bun in her oven~”

Shining sputtered before shaking his head and walking away, muttering something about changelings knowing too much for their own good.

“Oh that’s going to be…” She paused. She couldn’t help it. It had to be said.

“Don’t forget to tell Twilight via letter once the foal is born.” she called out. There was the sound of a pony tripping down the hall.

“Hehehe,” Chrysalis giggled and walked into the room to see Amy on the bed, that ridiculous machine hooked up to her. “Well this is a fine fucking way to spend our honeymoon,” she muttered. Ace wasn’t here, and a word from the nurse said that he’d gone to procure some drinks and food. In case Amy was hungry when she woke up.

“You’d better wake up soon,” she sighed as she lay her head on the bed. “Or I’ll steal Acey all for myself.”

Remarkably, there was a slight, near-imperceptible twitch from the nymph when Chrysalis said that.

“And there’s your not-as-secret-as-you-think-it-is stash of ice-cream at home,” Chrysalis giggled. “I’ll be sure to eat that in your honor.”

Another twitch, this time of one eyelid before it closed again.

“Ooh, and our foal. I’ll be sure to raise it to be a good little overlord. We’ll rule Equestria together!”

The nymph let out a groan this time, and turned to one side, trying her hardest to stay asleep. She hurt so much…

“But none of that matters,” Chrysalis said softly. “Not without you here…”

“Chryssy, shutup,” Amy muttered. “Tryin’ to sleep here…”

“Don’t tell me to…” Chrysalis paused and blinked. Before she squealed happily and pulled the pink nymph into a hug.

“Hurts!” Amy said. Chrysalis had pinched the IV line in her haste to hug her, and it hurt! The nymph gasped and put her down, bowing her head repeatedly as she apologised again and again.

“Whats going on in here?’ Ace said was he walked in and saw Amy awake.

That was when she had to suffer through another hug. Fortunately this time, Acey hadn’t pinched anything delicate, so she simply groaned as her sore body was subjected to another hug that she was unprepared for.

And that's when Chrysalis sniffed, and started to cry.

“Acey,” Amy said. “Go cheer up Chryssy, I’m not ready for a hug just yet.”

“I was worried about you, you pink idiot!” Chrysalis sniffed as Ace put an arm around her shoulders.

“It’s true,” Ace nodded. “She carried you here all the way from the train. Oh, and she punched Cadence in the face…”

“Chryssy,” Amy moaned. “Why would you do that? Now Shiny’s gonna be on us for our whole stay…”

“It'll be alright,” Ace said and kissed his little pink mare. “We were just really worried about you is all.” He brushed her mane a little and smiled. “Would you like a drink? Something to eat?”

“I’ll tell you what I want,” Amy said. “I want you to turn off those machines and unhook me from them, so that it doesn’t hurt when I’m hugged wrong.”

Ace nodded and he reached over and flipped the switch, before taking the needle that was in her leg. “This will pinch a bit, okay?” He leaned over and kissed her, slowly removing the needle as he did. She hissed a little, but let out a sigh in relief at finally getting that out of her.

“Thank you, Acey,” she said. “Thank you, Chryssy. Now I want to drink a gallon of water and rest for a day. Whatever happened to me left me feeling drained.”

“Can do,” Ace said and poured her a glass, leaving the pitcher beside her bed. He also turned and did something she couldn’t see, and when he turned back around?

He presented her with a bowl of strawberry ice-cream.

“Aww,” Amy said, touched by the gesture. “You remembered.”

“Of course,” he replied and kissed her again.

“Still gonna smash that stupid Heart,” Chrysalis muttered. “I don’t care if he did help…”

Little one, the Heart said, speaking to both Amy and Chrysalis. Did you want to be touched by Darkness anymore? To hear the call of darker powers? All I did was remove it...but Darkness...it never relinquishes a host easily or painlessly. I did what I could to lessen the pain...but it fights me to stay in…

“Chryssy, why am I hearing a voice in my head?” Amy asked aloud as she went for the water first.

“Oh, well apparently the Crystal Empire, which is where we are coincidentally, is protected by a crystallized version of Ledger.” Chrysalis snarked.

I remember that Changeling. He was fun~ the Heart said.

“So this...Heart, it...removed the Black from me?” Amy asked slowly. “I can’t...ever go back, no matter how sad I might get?”

That is what I did, yes. And I’m sorry it hurt so badly. Apparently it really didn’t want to let go of you for some reason…

“Because Amethyst is far too cute to ever let go of,” Chrysalis added.

Then the pink ‘ling said three little words.

“I forgive you.”

Ace and Chrysalis paused and looked at her. “Well there you have it,” the griffon chuckled. “Amy can never stay mad at anyone… besides…” He leaned over and rubbed her cheek. “I'm just glad I have one less thing to worry about with her.”

“So’m I!” the pink nymph chirped, now that she’d drank her fill. She then moved to the bowl of ice-cream and looked at the gryphon. “Spoon?”

He held a spoon, as did Chrysalis…

The griffon started, by taking a small spoonful and smiling. “Say ahh.” The pink nymph obligingly opened her mouth wide. The griffon fed her as Chrysalis took her spoon, waiting for the nymph to finish before she mirrored Ace’s actions.

“Y’know, if not for the whole excruciating pain bit, I think I could go for this sort of action more often,” the pink nymph observed.

“Then look forward to ice-cream in bed more often,” Ace chuckled. Chrysalis pouted and the griffon rolled his eyes. “Fine, you can have ice-cream as well.”

Chrysalis smiled and mimicked Fluttershy’s voice. “Yay~”

“Sorry for being such a downer on the first day of our honeymoon, guys,” Amy said sadly.

“Ah well, such is life,” Ace shrugged. “It just means you can make it up to us later.”

Then Chrysalis chuckled…

“Still,” Amy said wistfully. “At least now we don’t have to worry about me or the foal anymore!”

“Trust me love, you still give me plenty to worry about,” Aerial deadpanned as he fed her more ice-cream and took a bite for himself. “But yes.”

Chrysalis nodded and closed her eyes. “For what it's worth… thank you Heart.”

Just doing my job, the Heart replied. Just doing what I was made to do.

“Doesn't matter. You helped her when you could have ignored her…” Chrysalis smiled and captured Amy in another, gentler hug. “Also, have fun screwing with Candy.”

I could never ignore anypony in need of help, the Heart said, before his tone turned far more wistful. And oh, do I ever intend to mess with Cadence~

“Excellent~” Chrysalis purred as she took a bite of ice-cream and then fed it to Amy… with her mouth~

The pink nymph moaned into the kiss, enjoying it quite a bit. Both for how it tasted and who was doing it. Eventually though, it had to break. “Whew,” Amy said as she smiled at the pair of them. “So how about we get me checked out of here and we find our hotel before things get any more steamy in here?”

“You sure you're up for leaving?” Ace asked worriedly.

“I already feel a little better than when I woke up,” Amy said, stretching a little. “Now it just feels like I exercised way too much.”

The benefits of being in a love-rich environment, the Heart said. Also the least I can do by way of apology to her.

“Well, isn't that convenient,” Chrysalis mused as she gently lifted Amy and placed her on Ace’s back, amidst his soft feathers. “Let’s go then. I find pony hospitals to be a bit depressing.”

Amy demonstrated that she was already feeling a bit better by doing one simple thing.

“Mush!” she commanded Ace.

The griffon rolled his eyes again before giving a noise that was a mix between a neigh and a roar, before prancing off like a showpony. Chrysalis snorted and followed them. This week should be interesting.

Princess Cadence poured over some scrolls, rubbing at her eyes as she yawned. Studying was Twilight’s shtick.

And then she found something. A spell called Heart to Heart.

“Is this it?” she wondered aloud. It didn’t look that difficult to cast…

So she lit up her horn and cast the spell…

Finally! It only took you a bloody year to open your heart up to me! Did you never think that maybe, just maybe, I wanted to talk to you?!

Cadence responded like any other pony would.

She let out a filly-like shriek and fell off of the back of her chair.

“Owww,” she moaned, rubbing her flanks. “W-Who’s there?”

I’m the little voice in your head~ Also the little gem at the base of the castle, in case you were wondering. Hi, I’m the Crystal Heart, thanks for finally finding that scroll. I’ve been bored out of my metaphorical head until the Changelings came along. They can hear me without needing to jump through any hoops.

“Unbelievable,” Cadence thought to herself. “Was Chrysalis actually telling the truth?”

I mean, don’t get me wrong here Candy, you’ve done quite well by the residents here. And if you see that purple unicorn again, tell her good work on getting me out of that tower before Sombra took over again. But maybe, just maybe, you should have had someone go over what was in the library on day flipping one?!

“To be fair, I had higher priorities than reading,” Cadence replied. “But I am sorry. Still, we're talking now yes?” This is still so weird…

Fair enough...Like I said, you genuinely care about the ponies here, so you’re automatically good in my books. Still, the tradition was a new ruler would at least try to talk to me once they took the throne. I was waiting for so long…

“Well it didn't help that Sombra burnt a lot of the books that were in the castle,” Cadence said. “If it wasn't for the advice of my Aunt Celestia, I doubt I'd have even made it this far.”

I sort of saw what he did when he locked me away. My range was reduced to the castle, but I could still see... Don’t worry about the books, though. I’ve got a wonderful memory~ And I want to talk to this Aunt of yours, if she’s wise enough to have gotten you here when you were needed.

“Aunt Celestia is a wonderful pony,” Cadence smiled. “I'll send her a letter, I'm sure she'd love to meet you too.”

So, yeah. Hi. I’m the one keeping the cold weather out. Thanks for finally talking to me. And, uh, I’m sorry for hurting that nymph on her way in. She was touched by Dark Magic, though. Had to drag it out of her, because it didn’t want to let go. I’m sure she’s nice, but after Sombra, I’m not letting a scrap of that stuff in here if I can avoid it.

“Yes, well… apparently it's a common problem amongst them,” Cadence sighed. “Ledger suffered from it as well. But Twilight was able to heal him.”

Iiiiinteresting. Do you think you could ask her for her notes on the matter? It might help me in case any of the other little ‘lings in the city come down with it.

“I'll ask, but I'll warn you now. Twilight Sparkle is… inquisitive.” Cadence giggled and smiled. “She’s very cute though.”

I’m an inanimate hunk of rock, I can’t do any of that. Not that I haven’t watched. The stories I could tell~

“Oh?” Cadence’s eyes twinkled. “Do tell~”

Well there was this time a particularly pink pony and a white one decided to invite a changeling into their palace for a wedding-

“Okay! Not so curious now!” Cadence blushed and looked around. “Geez, seriously?”

Hey, I see everything in the city. Including what you and your husband get up to. There is quite literally nothing I can’t see if I don’t look. And for the longest time, I was just following you around, waiting for you to actually talk to me. I might look around now that that’s happened.

“You mean… you saw… when we… in the throne…” Cadence’s speech devolved into splutters and squeaks as her blush grew.

I have to say, I approve of the way you broke in your new throne room~ And in case you were wondering, you are far from the first.

“Dammit,” Cadence coughed and shook her head. “Right. So, now what? Are we permanently linked, or something like that?”

Oh, no, not at all! But now if you want to talk to me, you know the spell. And I can actually send a message to you through any ‘ling in the city if I find something I think you need to know and want to talk to you!

“Just don't bug them too much, I think most of them have short tempers.” Cadence stifled a giggle. Maybe she could give one a job as the Official Translator for the Heart.

I know, they think I’m just a spooky ghost...something I may or may not have done just as a prank...that really backfired. Most don’t even respond to my calls anymore.

“Well that'll teach you,” Cadence giggled. “I should get going. I have a lot of work to do now…” She paused and looked in the Heart’s direction. “And no more spying on my time with Shiny!”

I’ll try not to, but you’re just so amorous...I am going to pay attention when there’s something going on, of course, but I apologize in advance if I happen to see something.

“Well, maybe I'll put on a show~” Cadence replied in a husky tone and cut the spell before the Heart could reply. Hee, won't Shiny be surprised to learn of this.

Well, the Heart thought to itself. My life just got a lot more interesting~

Ace, Amy and Chrysalis finally arrived at their hotel, a very fancy place with a rather courteous steward. When they were shown to their room, Ace saw a large bed expertly created from cloud.

“Never seen a place use cloudbeds before,” he mused.

“One of our previous guests came up with the idea,” the steward replied. “We've employed the idea ever since.”

“Clouds are fun,” Amy said from atop Ace. “Remember our first date?”

“How could I ever forget?” Ace replied, pecking her cheek.

“Never slept on a cloud before…” Chrysalis said. The griffon chuckled. She was in for quite the treat.

“Should you require anything, do not hesitate to ask,” the steward said courteously. He bowed his head and left after Ace passed a few bits his way.

“Well, shall we rest for a bit?” Ace suggested.

“Resting on a cloud bed sounds good to me,” Amy agreed.

Chrysalis looked at the bed and frowned. “Can… can a changeling actually sleep on clouds?”

“A fair point,” Ace said. “Amy… or rather, Cherry was a pegasus at the time.”

“Only one way to find out!” Amy said. “I know you’ll catch me if I fall through, so go on and put me on there, Acey.”

“Here we go,” Ace replied as the nymph sunk into the clouds, before they sprung back, allowing the mare to rest comfortably on them.

“Hee, this bed is nice and comfy,” the nymph said, giggling a little. “Just like how I remember it. C’mon on Acey, Chryssy.” She patted the bed on either side of her. “Plenty of room here~”

Ace wasted no time in climbing on as Chrysalis placed a hoof against it and pressed. The cloud seemed to resist…

“Well… here goes,” she murmured and climbed on, wobbling a little before falling down next to Amy.

“And now we’re starting this honeymoon off right,” Amy said as she drew her griffon and nymph into a hug.

“A few bumps along the way,” Ace nodded. “I wonder if Ledger passed his usual troubles off onto us?”

“Sparkle totally cursed us,” Chrysalis nodded. “I think the cure lies in cuddles, kisses and… other things~”

“I’ll say yes to the first two, but I’m still pretty sore and ready to nap to recover from what happened,” Amy said. “I might just nod off while cuddling you two, actually.”

“Fair enough,” Chrysalis nodded and kissed her passionately. “A little taste of later~”

“You know, I think stallions are onto something here,” Ace nodded. “Two mares making out is pretty hot.”

“Mm, don’t let me stop you if you want some time alone with Acey, Chryssy,” Amy said as she hugged the larger nymph. “I can scoot out of the way and watch the show~”

“No, it’s not fair to you,” Chrysalis said with a shake of her head. “Plus, I kind of want to know more about my new form before rutting like ponies in heat with it.”

“So, cuddles then?” Amy offered.

She got her response as she was snuggled between the two larger beings, fur and feathers nestled her softly. She sighed and closed her eyes, and soon the sound of soft snoring came from between them as she slept her ordeal off.

They wound up sleeping right through until the next morning and when Amethyst Cream awoke. She didn’t feel good…

She felt amazing!

“Oh wow,” she said to herself. “Is this what it’s like to not have to worry about that icky Blackness taking me over?

Something like that, she heard in her head. Now that you’re not burdened by dark magic, you’ll have a lot more energy.

“Oh geez,” Chrysalis groaned as she awoke to the Heart in her head. “Are you serious? She was bad enough…”

“I feel great!” Amy said as her wings buzzed into life, lifting her off the bed as she started darting around. “I wanna see everything this shiny city has to offer! I wanna give the Heart a hug!” Settling for her husband and wife, the nymph landed back on the bed and gave them a powerful hug instead.

“Bones… breaking… lungs… crushed…” Chrysalis wheezed as she gasped for air. Ace didn't even wake up.

“I want to see and do it all!” Amy buzzed as she let go and zoomed around the room, before landing in front of Chrysalis and giving her a half-lidded gaze. “And then we’re coming back here...and we’re all going to have a good time~”

“Oh… kay?” Chrysalis blushed as she looked at that smouldering gaze.

Ace just continued to snore.

“But first!” Amy proclaimed with an upraised hoof. “Breakfast!”

“What about the overgrown catbird?” Chrysalis asked, poking the unconscious griffon.

Amy drew close to him and whispered in his ear. “Acey~ I’m stealing your scarf~”

She only had to blink before the griffon awoke and pinned her to the bed.

“Mine~” he growled and nipped at her neck.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, love,” Amy purred before flipping him thanks to her abundance of energy. “We were waiting for you~”

“How the… what?” Ace blinked as a mare a little over half his size and weight did that without magic. “What?”

“I’m all better now,” she said, pecking his beak. “And I feel like I could take on a dragon and win! I might do that!”

“You are not fighting a dragon!” Chrysalis said adamantly. “Now let's go eat… and you Missy, are getting decaf coffee.”

“Don’t I always?” Amy said before hopping off the bed and actually prancing out of the room.

“She is going to be utterly insufferable,” Chrysalis sighed as she followed, pinching the nymph’s flank with her magic. Amy paused in her prancing to shoot Chrysalis what could only be termed as a lusty gaze.

“Later~” she whispered before darting out of the room at nearly-sonic speeds, ready to start the day off her way.

Ace blinked and then shrugged, turning over to go back to sleep. He suddenly squawked and barely had time to grab his scarf before Chrysalis dragged him out of the room with her magic. She had a kitchen to save.

“I cannot believe you ate that much,” the nymph sighed at her wife and husband. “There should be a limit to how much an individual can consume.”

“I’m hungry,” Amy said with a shrug. “Have to keep up with all the energy I’m burning somehow.”

“And I always eat that much,” Ace nodded as he rubbed Amy’s shoulder, kneading it with his claws gently.

“Your food bills must be monstrous,” Chrysalis muttered.

“We usually eat out,” Amy pointed out. “That way, we know we’re getting good-sized servings. Though, the Chop Shop has stopped letting Acey do their challenge. They say they can’t afford the loss anymore.”

“A pity,” Ace sighed. That steak was delicious~

“Maybe I'll cook sometime,” Chrysalis mumbled.

“Think you can keep up with our appetites?” Amy grinned. She’d apparently heard that.

“I'm beginning to doubt that,” Chrys sighed. They'd wandered into the markets. And Amy noticed one thing…

So. Many. Shiny things!!!

“This empire is officially the greatest!” she cheered as she fired up her wings to dart from stall to stall, examining their wares for herself.

Several crystal ponies… like, all of them were giving her a curious look. They'd never seen a Changeling before.

Then she found the store that sold Flugelhorns…

“Oooh, these look like fun~” Amy said as she looked them over. “How much for two?”

“That’ll be 40 Bits or 5 gems,” the stallion replied. Amy pulled out a sack of bits from...somewhere, and poured out forty onto the counter before putting the sack back and picking up two Flugelhorns.

“Thanks!” she chirped before zooming off to the next thing. One for now, and one for when they’d confiscated it from her.

“I’ll buy some painkillers later,” Chrysalis sighed.

“Appreciated,” Ace nodded.

During her whirlwind visit, she stumbled across a stall that sold the most wonderful paintings. And manned by a very familiar stallion and mare.

“Critical! Palette! Hi again!” Amy said as she waved to them both. “It’s so nice to see you again!”

“Are...you okay, Amy?” Critical said, backing up a half step. “You look a little...pinker than usual.”

“She’s not usually this pink?” Palette asked, worried that she’d damage his paintings by accident. “And… undisguised?” He looked at Critical. “Told you nopony’d care if you did.”

“I do,” she shot back. “Maybe if you actually marry me one day, I’ll do it like my brother did and go au natural. And can’t you see how her color is practically...pulsing?”

Indeed, if either of them looked at Amy, she was practically glowing pink by now. “I feel awesome thanks to the Heart doing what it did to get rid of that icky Blackness from me,” Amy said. “I bet I could totally take Cadence in a hoof-wrestle.”

“I'd pay to see that,” Chrysalis said as they finally caught up.

“We'll get married,” Palette grumbled and folded his legs while pouting. “Gave you that ring didn't I?”

“True,” Critical said as she looked at the ring on her horn, before turning to Ace and Chrysalis. “Do you need a leash for your nymph? I can think of a few shops you could visit…”

“Oh, do tell~” Chrysalis purred. She’d leash that nymph, in public too.

“Yipe!” Amy said, before darting off again, though not without bidding Critical and Palette a farewell over her shoulder.

“Yeah, I think I'll need that leash,” Chrysalis sighed as she moved to follow her wife.

Ace just shrugged and bid the two farewell before following.

Pretty soon, Amy had reached the one place she thought she could hide. The very center of town itself! Surely they wouldn’t think to look anywhere near the Crystal Palace!

And coincidentally, near the Crystal Heart itself.

Chrysalis and Ace were still searching the marketplace, so they were hopelessly lost.

“Ooooh,” Amy said as she watched the Heart spin. “Shiny…”

Well, thank you for the compliment, but don’t you have a wife and husband to be getting back to?

Amy shook her head at the voice before nodding a few times. “Right, right. Gotta go surprise them. Hmm...Yeah, aerial attacks usually work!”

With that, the nymph was off again, taking to the air so she could see her significant others and get the drop on them.

Life is interesting indeed… Hey! No flash photography!

Ace and Chrysalis sighed. Amy had darted off to Celestia knows where, so the two decided to take a seat at a nearby cafe and get a milkshake.

A single one with a loveheart-shaped straw~

“Amy’s gonna be mad she missed this,” Ace chuckled.

“Serves her right for running off,” Chrysalis said as she sipped the drink.

Then the two of them suddenly felt like they were being watched.

“You… feel that?” Ace asked.

“Mhmm,” Chrysalis nodded and slurped her milkshake again.

There was a moment of silence as Amy got a little closer to her target.

“She certainly thinks she's sneaky,” Ace whispered.

“Mhmm,” More slurping.

And then the pink nymph flew out from the crowd, ready and primed to hug Chrysalis as she flew directly at the nymph, forehooves outstretched. There was a flourish of magic, and a clicking sound.

Amy found herself in Chryssie’s lap, with a collar and leash around her neck. “I warned you,” the mare chuckled. Amy pawed at it with a forehoof before turning her pouty eyes on full blast.

“But...why would you do this to me, Chryssy?”

“Because pet,” Chrysalis leaned down and smirked. “You look so adorable~”

“Chryssy,” Amy whined. “This is embarrassing…”

“Should have thought about that sooner,” Chrysalis purred as several ponies whispered as they walked past. Ace sighed and reached over, removing them and placing them in his bag.

“Be nice,” Ace said and looked at Amy. “Have fun did you?”

“Yeah-huh!” Amy said with a nod. “I saw all sorts of things! Mostly shiny ones!” Then she took notice of the milkshake and pouted. “Awww…I missed out on milkshakes?”

“Yes,” Ace nodded and rubbed her mane. “You ran off without telling us pet. We were worried.”

“I’m sorry,” Amy said. “I just had so much energy and had to see everything…”

“We have a week,” Ace laughed. “Plenty of time to see it all.” He pulled her over into his lap and nuzzled her. “I believe I know a way to burn off that energy~”

“Mmm, tonight,” Amy said. “I’m gonna be counting on the both of you to help me burn it all off.”

“You better believe I'm using that collar and leash on you,” Chrysalis purred and offered her straw to Amy.

“Yay!” The nymph said before taking a sip. Ace smiled and rubbed her belly as he murred.

“I'm glad this one will be okay as well,” he said and placed a kiss on her belly. “He or she is going to grow to be a fine warrior.”

“You’d better believe it!” Amy said with a nod. “Nothing’s gonna put me down for long, and I’d expect no less of our foal!”

“Really?” Chrysalis asked, genuinely surprised. “I’d have thought you’d want he or she to follow your hoofprints. Make candy or ice-cream, or become a school teacher or something.”

“Just because I’m a pink doesn’t mean I don’t know how to fight,” Amy said. “It takes a lot to get me angry, though.”

“You?” Chrysalis snorted. “You know how to fight? Sweet, adorable little Amy?”

“I’m a master of the Thunder Hoof style,” Amy said. “I just don’t use it much.”

Now Ace and Chrysalis were gaping at her. “Seriously?” they said together.

“Yup,” Amy said with a nod. “Going through the motions is really relaxing. Helps when I’ve had a stressful day.”

“You’ve never even told me that,” Ace pouted and sipped his end of the milkshake.

“I am suddenly very glad I did not invade Las Pegasus,” Chrysalis muttered.

“Aww, I’m sure you would have lasted a whole minute against me,” Amy said with a smile that was more teeth than it should be.

“I’m suddenly very afraid for any domestic fights we’ll have later down the line,” the older nymph muttered and stared at her hooves.

“Don’t worry dear,” Ace laughed. “I’ll protect you from the big bad Pink.”

“Yeah, you’d have to really get me mad for me to pull out my skill,” Amy said before slurping on the milkshake again.

Chrysalis decided to wisely drop this subject and Ace brought up a new one.

“So,” he asked as he licked a bit of milk from Amy’s lips. “Who’s looking forward to our dinner at the Royal Palace tomorrow evening?”

“I am!” Amy said. “When did we get invited?”

“At the wedding, I just figured I’d at least let you know about this one in advance,” Ace replied and Chrysalis groaned. Dinner with Cadence and Shining Armor. Oh yes, what could possibly go wrong there?

“And we didn’t even bring dresses,” Chrysalis muttered.

“They seem like cool ponies,” Amy said as she finally relinquished the milkshake. “I’m sure they won’t mind if we don’t show up in fancy attire.”

Ace let out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding. “Huh. And here I expected you to go crazy and take Chrysalis on her very first shopping trip…”

Chrysalis facehooved.

“That’ll be tomorrow,” Amy said with a wave of her hoof. “We’ll go out, see the sights, bond a little. It’ll be fun~”

Chrysalis frowned and looked at her. “You’re being-”

“-Remarkably reserved,” Ace finished. “Has all that Pink in you worn off already?”

“Nah, I just realized I was neglecting what you guys wanted to do,” Amy said. “So the rest of today is alllll you.”

Chrysalis and Ace looked at each other… before the pink nymph found herself smooshed into a three-way hug as they nuzzled her.

“Aww, I love you guys too,” Amy said, doing her best to return it. “Seriously though, what do you guys want to do today?”

There was a pause, neither of them had really thought about it. Ace wouldn’t mind checking in on the Crystal Guard at some point. He was curious as to their level of training.

“I still want to know more about this ‘Flutterpony’ thing,” Chrysalis said. “The Heart seems to know something, but I suppose I could ask it at anytime.”

“So, no real plan?” Amy asked.

“None whatsoever!’ Chrysalis declared gleefully.

Ace rolled his eyes and put Amy on his back. “Let’s just look around and see what this place has to offer. We could scout a few locations for places to eat too.”

“Sounds good to me!” Amy chirped. Chrysalis pouted as they walked.

“How come you never carry me around?”

“I could if you truly wish,” Ace mused and clicked his beak. “You’re not that heavy. And seeing you blush as I cart you around in public would be adorable~”

“I revoke my request,” Chrysalis muttered and blushed.

“Mush!” Amy said from the back of Ace. “We have scouting to do!”

“Yes Ma’am,” Ace saluted and then smirked as he reared up and then bounded down the street. Chrysalis watched them go and shook her head before following at a much more reasonable pace.

Amy woke up feeling refreshed and rested. The very first thing she did?

Take the collar and leash off herself and slip it onto Chrysalis, unhooking the leash from it in the process. She wanted her little pet flutterpony to wear this all day~

Ace was the next to wake up and looked over, seeing what Amy had done. “You know she’s probably going to kill you right?” he griffon chuckled, looking at the black collar stand out against the mare’s white fur.

“She can kill me later,” Amy chirped. “Do we have a camera?”

“Somewhere in that bag,” Ace motioned to one of his cases. “It was a present from Miss Narrow.”

Amy bounced over to it and began rooting around, looking for the device so that she could remember this moment forever.

Chrysalis begun to stir just as she found it. “Say cheese!” Amy said as she held up the device, making sure to get Chrysalis in the view before pushing the obvious button. The device fashed and clicked, just as Chrysalis awoke and rubbed her eyes.

“What the… Amy? What are you doing?”

“Making memories~” the nymph sang.

Chrysalis frowned and stared at the non-sensical mare. “And what’s that supposed to…” She reached up to scratch and itch… and found something around her neck. “Amy. Give me that camera so I may burn it.”

“Nope!” Amy said with a smile. “Good little Flutterponies don’t burn things~”

“You lost that bet remember?” Ace reminded her and Chrysalis's eyes widened. “Seems you’re a little pony pet today~”

“Oh buck me,” she groaned.

“Later!” Amy chirped. “For now, we have breakfast to get, then shopping to do!”

“Aww, and here I was hoping to play a little,” Ace sighed. “After all, our pet was a little neglected last night~”

“Truuuue…” Amy said. “Tell you what. I’ll go get some room service. You two can play while I’m gone!” The nymph jumped off the bed and smiled at Chryssy. “You are to do everything he says while I’m gone, understand? And if he says you haven’t been a good little Flutterpony, I’ll just make our shopping trip longer.”

Chrysalis blinked as Amy pranced out of the room and turned to look at Ace, who was already licking his beak. “Um,” she asked as he brought her closer. “Be gentle?”

“Mm, nope,” he smirked.

Chapter 98 - This is how we do it~

It had been a fun few days so far, though the best had been when Midnight decided to see what a Rainbow tastes like…

She on the other hoof, did not find it a funny as everypony else did.

“Taste the rainbow she says,” Midnight muttered as she looked at Twilight. “Trust me she says…”

“Now I wish I knew where her collar was,” Ledger mused. “Then I’d slip it on her and turn her over to you for the night for that one.”

“Huh? Aren’t they in Twilight’s bag?” Midnight asked. “That’s where she says they were…”

“Oooh, she packed it?” Ledger said as he looked at the alicorn.

“She told us mares she did,” Midnight nodded. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at her husband. “Are you planning shenanigans?”

“Maaaybe,” Ledger said. “All I knew was that Twilight had one. Are you telling me there’s more than one? They implies plural.”

“Ah, yeah, we all got one…” Midnight suddenly realised that she probably shouldn’t have told him that.

“Interesting,” the drone said, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “Tell you what. You don’t ask, and I don’t tell you about any of the fantasies running through my head~”

“I think I already have a rough idea of what goes through that little buggy brain,” Midnight replied. As long as none of them involved her with a collar, she was fine. “I’m going to regret telling you this aren’t I?”

“Maybe~” Ledger sang. “So what’s next on our list Twi?”

“Huh?” the alicorn paused and turned, as the rest of the group had been walking ahead of the pair. “Um, let’s see… we have dinner at the Rainbow Valley Restaurant tonight. But right now? Not much.”

“Hmm,” Ledger hummed. “Shall we just continue to explore then?”

“Ah heard the woods near here are suppos’d to have a lot of pretty flowers,” Cider spoke up and then looked at everypony staring at her. “Whut? Ah like flowers.”

“Very well, so long as we all take care, we can go flower-hunting,” the drone said with a chuckle.

“Fine, ah’ll go by mahself then,” Cider pouted and started heading towards the forest.

“Whoops,” Midnight giggled. “You went and made her mad Ledgie.”

The drone sighed and gave Twilight, Scope, and Midnight a quick kiss. “Will you all be alright while I go fix this?” he asked them.

“Uh, we're coming as well,” Twilight said, not even noticing that her butt was glowing…

“Well then, let’s go see to Cider,” Ledger said, before turning and trotting after the wayward Apple mare. Midnight nodded and followed as Scope frowned.

“Twilight,” she said. “Your ass is glowing.”

“Wha?” The alicorn turned and looked, before frowning. “Now? As in, right now? SERIOUSLY!?”

“Why is your ass glowing?” Scope asked, causing Twilight to sigh.

“Because the map is summoning me… there's a friendship problem I have to go and solve, and the map is telling me that my particular skills are needed.”

“So… you have to leave?” Scope frowned.

“Yes,” Twilight replied. “I'll try to be as quick as possible. I promise.”

“Nuts to that, I'm going with you,” Scope nodded and lit up her horn. “Hey bugbutt, you there?”

“What is it Scope? You’re not too far away to just tell me…”

“Twilight has some urgent Princess stuff to do. So I'm going with her to help.”

“...Seriously? Fine...just try to have her back by dinner, if at all possible,” the drone replied. “We knew getting into this there’d be days like this one. I just kind of hoped that one of them wouldn’t be our honeymoon…”

“...If it's any consolation, she's now crying about it…” Scope sighed and shook her head. “We'll be back. Try and keep Midnight out of trouble till then.”

“Only if you promise to try and lift her spirits while you’re gone,” Ledger returned. “I’ll do the same over here, of course. We can’t be having sad ponies now, can we?”

“No we can’t,” Scope replied and cut the connection.

This friendship problem could never be prepared for Scope Lens…

Meanwhile, Apple Cider had found herself in a field full of golden roses. Well, they were more yellow, but ponies named them gold because of their difficulty to grow.

“This is pretty,” Ledger said as he looked around.

Cider flinched before looking over her shoulder. “Yeah… ah guess so.”

“I mean, seriously,” Ledger said as he looked at the roses. “These just look amazing. They must have taken some serious effort to raise.”

“‘S a naturally occurring field,” Cider explained. “That’s whut makes it so special. Read that in the guide.”

“Oh wow,” Ledger said, now thoroughly impressed. “I’d suggest we try to take some back and grow them at home, but something tells me the natives here wouldn’t appreciate it.”

“Tried befer, a long time ago. The climate is right an’ everything,” Cider sighed. “But ah couldn’t do it.”

“Guess some things are just meant to be enjoyed,” Ledger said as he sat back and just looked at the flowers.

Cider remained silent for a few minutes. “You don’t have to pretend to enjoy it fee mah sakes,” she said. “Ah know yer bored.”

“I can find beauty in the simple things too,” Ledger replied. “Granted, a part of my mind might be wondering heavily about this field of flowers and trying to work out why you of all ponies can’t grow them, but the rest of me is taking my own advice...and relaxing.”

“Ah see,” Cider said quietly, her irritation long since vanished. She was a mare that just couldn't stay mad. “Believe it or not, but ah ain’t that good at growin’ stuff. And these flowers are one of the hardest things in Equestria t’grow…”

“You’re putting yourself down a little bit there, aren’t you?” Ledger said. “I mean, you’re the one with a nice, big orchard to yourself, and you’re the mare who’s brought Crystal Berries to Las Pegasus.”

“Ah guess,” Cider replied, blushing lightly. “Still, even you could prolly do what ah do with a lil’ practice.”

“Looking after an entire orchard? No thank you,” Ledger said, shaking his head. “My step-father Peaceful? He can do something like that and just lose himself in it. He’d really love it here and might even try his own hoof at growing these.”

“Maybe we should tell him sometime?” Cider replied with a soft giggle. “Speakin’ of, ah hope mah farm is doin’ okay. Fritter gets… distracted easily.”

“So long as she remembers to look after your farm before she goes looking for Sugar and Moondancer, we shouldn’t have any problems when we go home,” Ledger said.

“Mhmm,” Cider hugged one leg with the other. “Sorry fer gettin’ mad. Ah take it that's why the others ain't here?”

“I may not know where Middy is,” Ledger said softly before shaking his head. “But some sort of magical artifact in Twilight’s castle told her to basically ‘come back and solve this friendship problem,’ so she did. Scope went with her.”

“Well that’s…” Cider frowned. “Well ah guess we shoulda seen that coming. Woulda been nice if the thing waited another couple of days though…” Cider paused and her eyes widened. “Scopey went with her?”

“Presumably to help,” Ledger said with a smile. “Though probably just to pester me about advice when things go south because she went there to help.”

“Yeaahh… Scopey and friendship… that’s gonna end in tears, and prolly fire. Lots and lots of fire…”

There was a rustling in the trees, as the two ponies heard a bird chirp.

“Wanna take a few roses back to the room for when they get back?” Ledger asked the farmmare.

“Well, ah guess they won't miss a few…” Cider said, before Midnight dropped from the trees.

“Stop right there, criminal scum!” she announced and smirked. Ledger barely concealed his own laugh before he started playing along.

“We haven’t done anything,” he said, smiling all the while.

“Deny it all you like,” Midnight declared and looked at the pair. “But the crime of being too sexy is plain for all to see.”

“Wut…?” Cider blinked.

“And what is the penalty for such a crime?” the drone asked.

“Oh?” Midnight stepped forward and smiled. “I'm afraid a rigorous and thorough interrogation is in order…”

“Well ah don't think ah’m guilty of that,” Cider smiled. “But you seem to be breaking that law in spades officer.”

“Er…”

“Get ‘er Ledger.”

With a small cry, the drone pounced the batpony, drawing her in for a kiss as they tumbled through the field.

“Aaaand they smush the flowers,” Cider sighed and shook her head as she walked over to them. She reached down and rubbed their heads as the bat was kissed. “Been awhile since it was jus’ the three of us huh?”

Ledger withdrew from Midnight and nodded. “Some time indeed,” he agreed.

“Yeah,” Midnight agreed as she pulled Cider into a hug and fell back into the flowers. Ledger was offered a view of two of his pretty mares lying amidst the golden roses.

“Now that’s one for the scrapbook,” Ledger mused aloud. “Assuming I had my camera anyways.”

Midnight raised a hoof and pointed to her bag, laying up against a nearby tree. Ledger went to it and rooted around, soon finding a camera and smiling before trotting back over. “Say cheese,” he said, readying himself to take a picture.

The two mares put on a pleasant smile, hugging each other as they looked at Ledger. The camera flashed as he took a picture of that perfect moment.

The three remained there for a while, whether it just enjoying each other’s company or talking about the not so distant past.

And later that evening, when they were back at their hotel and getting ready for dinner, the air cracked and Twilight and Scope teleported in…

And they reeked of pumpkin…

“What in the world did you two get up to?” Ledger reflexively asked. “And why does it smell like you stomped through two fields of pumpkins?”

“Don’t. Ask…” the mares muttered as they headed for the showers. “We're going to shower and the we are going to have a nice, normal, non-weaponized dinner,” Twilight stated.

“And the first being to mention pumpkin and tomatoes gets eaten,” Scope sighed.

“Would you really do that to us?” Ledger asked the nymph.

“Fucking try me!” the nymph growled and followed Twilight into the showers.

“Do… do we really want to know?” Midnight said.

“Not that badly,” Ledger replied. “Let’s just hope there’s nothing with pumpkin or tomato at the restaurant. I’d hate to have to explain that to the manager.”

“On why Scopey flipped out and burned down the place?” Midnight giggled. “Yeah, that could be hard to explain.”

About a half hour later, the pair emerged, looking and smelling like totally different ponies.

“I can’t believe you deal with that stupidity on a regular basis,” Scope said to the princess. “Hives above…”

“It wasn’t so bad,” Twilight said as she nuzzled Ledger. “And I'm so sorry I had to skip out like that.”

“It’s okay, I took a picture and can take you to that field tomorrow,” the drone said. “Plus we still have a nice dinner to get to tonight.”

“True,” Twilight nodded. “Okay, this princess is officially off duty now. Let’s go have a nice meal.”

As they left, Midnight looked at Ledger. “That smile on your face… should I be concerned about the dessert you seem to be intent on claiming?”

“Only if chocolate-coated pony is wrong to feast on,” Ledger said. “I think we even have the syrup.”

“Oh boy,” Midnight chuckled. “I have taught you far too well.”

“Yup, you are entirely to blame for my new attitude,” Ledger said with a nod. “And I am not complaining in the slightest~”

“You tend to have amazingly hot sex with some level of frequency,” Midnight said. “Any self-respecting stallion wouldn’t complain about that in the slightest.”

Now all she had to do was finish corrupting Twilight…

“Now all I wish we had were hoofcuffs,” Ledger said, discreetly leaving out the fact that Pinkie had given him some.

“You know that I tend to keep a pair on me for Guard reasons yes?” Midnight replied as they headed towards the restaurant. “Just saying…”

“Oooh, so tonight just got more interesting…” Ledger said with a smile. “Mmm, the plans I am cooking up~”

“And again, I have many regrets,” Midnight said and shook her head. “And I suppose I am to keep quiet to the others.”

“Others?” Ledger said, now thoroughly interested.

“You know, your other wives?” Midnight deadpanned. “Remember them?”

“Oh, sorry,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “I read into that wrong. I thought you were implying that they all had hoofcuffs as well.”

“Huh? Nah, at least, I don't think so… we did get sexy Twister though...” She groaned and facehooved. “I need to stop talking.”

“Sounds like a fun night sometime in the future,” Ledger said wistfully as they finally arrived at the restaurant. “But for now, food.”

“Fooooood~” Midnight’s stomach rumbled. They entered and were shown to their seats by one of the staff. They didn't have to wait long for their waitress either, as a thestral mare approached the table.

“Well hi there!” she chirped happily. “I’m Starry Wishes. And I'll be serving you tonight~”

“Thank you for agreeing to do as such for us,” Ledger said. “I make no promises that you’ll be saying the same, though. This family is a little...rowdy, sometimes.”

“Ohh, you’re cute~” Midnight purred and the thestral blinked. It was rare that she saw her own kind.

“Aww, thanks!” She replied. “This uniform is super cute! It's part of the reason I chose this place to work at.”

Already, it begins, Ledger thought to himself. “So, what drinks do you serve here?” He hoped he could successfully divert the course of the conversation.

“Almost whatever you want,” Starry replied. “Soda, cider… or we have some things that give a little kick to your evening.”

“I’ll take a soda,” Ledger said. He wanted to be able to remember tonight, after all, and not end up like Midnight.

“I want Cideerrrrr~” Midnight whined. “Argh, can I have mango juice please?”

“Mmmmangoesss~” Starry sighed.

“Guessing that’s a no,” Ledger said.

Starry wiped her mouth and nodded. “I can do that. Anything else I can get for you~♥?”

“What do you want to drink?” Ledger asked the other mares.

“Do y’all really hafta ask?” Cider deadpanned.

Scope shrugged and looked at the list. “This Rainbow Cocktail sounds interesting.”

“Just be careful with that,” Ledger said. “We already learned that the rainbow is spicy today…”

“No pain, no gain!” Scope declared as that and an apple cider were ordered. Twilight settled on a rich red wine. After a day like today, she needed a freaking drink.

“I'll be right back with your orders~” the bat said in her bubbly tone and trotted away.

“I assume if I ask about how your day went, Scope will bite my head off,” Ledger observed aloud to Twilight.

The princess groaned. “Two families, fighting for so long that they forgot why. So they fought for the sake of winning.”

“Bunch of stupid, inbred hicks,” Scope said as she folded her legs. “They would have kept fighting if it wasn't for Fluttershy and her animals.” The nymph snorted and looked at Twilight. “Or if princess here took another tomato to the face. She probably would have gone total Friendship Cannon on their collective asses.”

“I would not… and what the hell is a Friendship Cannon?”

“I don’t want to find out,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “If that ever happens, then I will know that I have failed in keeping you happy so badly…”

Twilight continued to think and then looked at Scope. “Do you mean that spell I used against Tirek?”

“Yes!” Scope cheered and bounced in her seat. “Holy crap that fight was awesome!!”

“And now the reason you gravitated to us in the beginning becomes even more evident,” Ledger said with a snicker.

Twilight tilted her head and blinked. “What do you mean by that?”

“Let’s just say Midnight got to demonstrate some martial prowess when they first met,” Ledger said with a snicker.

Twilight blinked again and looked at Scope.

“She nearly killed me,” Scope shrugged. “No big deal now.”

“Midnight!” Twilight scolded her.

“What?” Midnight replied. “She was a bad guy at the time.”

“Not dissimilar to yourself and a certain spirit,” Ledger pointed out.

“And Chrysalis,” Midnight added.

“Or just the majority opinion of changelings in general,” the drone pointed out.

“True that,” Scope nodded. A few minutes later, Starry returned with their drinks, balancing them on trays with her outstretched wings. Twilight took them with her magic once she was close enough.

“There we go~” she chirped. “I hope you guys enjoy~”

“I know what I want for dessert,” Midnight purred, licking her lips.

“Why don’t we order some actual food first?” Ledger chuckled.

“So you’ll let me?” Midnight winked and Starry blushed as she held her clipboard up in front of her face. The drone sighed and shook his head.

“I’d apologize for her, but if I started, I’d never stop,” Ledger said. “Your pasta caught my eye, I’ll have a bowl of rigatoni with a white sauce, please.”

“Always with the pasta or fish,” Midnight giggled and looked at the menu. “Tropical Chicken Schnitzel? Ohh, that sounds tasty~”

“M-Meat?” Twilight paled. “But… you’re a pony…”

“We thestral are omnivorous,” Starry spoke up, robbing Ledger of his chance to educate the alicorn. “We also eat insects and fish.”

“And I’ve found that ponies can eat seafood,” Ledger said. “They just don’t tend to have a taste for it. It’s more common in pegasi.”

“I knew that much,” Twilight blushed slightly. “And… well I…” She had eaten meat before… well, she didn’t know it was at the time. Until Sunset told her.

That had been an interesting trip to the bathroom.

“Also,” Midnight said to Starry.”Can you top it with peanut butter and apples?”

“That… uh,” Starry put a hoof to her mouth and turned slightly green. “What?”

“Let’s just say there are more than two thestrals at this little meeting,” Ledger said cryptically.

Starry blinked and nodded. “Ahh, okay, yeah.” Pregnant Thestrals could get… strange. “Well I don’t know about the peanut butter, sorry.”

“Ah, okay then,” Midnight nodded. She could always pick up a jar on the way back. “I’ll have to settle for your normal food.”

“Thank the stars for that,” Twilight and Scope muttered and then placed their orders, along with Cider. Starry finished writing them down and left their table once more.

“I’m glad you got your thing done in time for dinner,” Ledger said to both Twilight and Scope.

“Same,” Scope agreed. “Are all your friendships problems like that?”

“Not always,” Twilight replied and took a sip of her wine. Ohh, that hit the spot. “Rarity and Applejack took three and a bit days for their last one.”

“Glad it wasn’t like that,” the drone commented. “You could have been gone so long, you missed everything.”

“They wouldn’t have missed anything because we would have waited for them,” Midnight said sternly. “Isn’t that right Ledger?”

“I would have done my best to see to it that they didn’t end up missing a thing,” the drone said with a nod. “I fully intend to take them to that grove we discovered, for instance.”

“That sounds interesting,” Twilight smiled.

“That sounds boring,” Scope replied.

“It’s still something we found and you didn’t get to see, so I’m going to take you to see it.”

“Fine, whatever,” Scope shrugged, but a light blush on her cheeks was present. Midnight giggled at her. She was so adorable when she was acting all tsundere like that.

“Oh!” Scope suddenly said. “Starbutt here learned a new spell.”

“Oh?” Ledger said, looking over at Twilight.

“She can freeze ponies in time,” Scope replied. “Like, about two dozen or so at a time.”

“That, sounds interesting,” the drone mused. “I assume you had to use it on your little adventure?”

“Only to get everypony to stop fighting for five Celestia-damned minutes!” Twilight groaned and took a longer swig of her wine.

“Careful there Twilight,” Ledger said. “It may not be a Mood-Setter, but you don’t need to be getting drunk before our food gets here.”

Twilight frowned and set her glass back down. “I am never touching that drink again,” she said. “Honestly, couldn’t that drink be classified as some sort of emotional manipulation? What if some underage colts or fillies got a hold of it?”

“Then Celestia help them,” Ledger said. “If there’s one thing Sugar doesn’t tolerate, it’s underaged drinking in her establisment. And I don’t think she’ll be selling that stuff off anytime soon. At least, I hope so.”

“I’ll have a talk with the Captain about it,” Midnight said. “Maybe we can add some sort of regulation or prohibition on it. And since it’s a drink of a magical nature, it’ll need to be examined by the Archmage and the Committee of Foods and Drinks before it’ll be allowed to be sold to the public…” The thestral paused and looked at everypony staring at her. “What?”

“It’s easy to forget that the Mistress is actually a competent Guard sometimes,” Scope said.

“Midnight is good at what she does,” Ledger countered with. “I just don’t know if it’s worth causing Sugar all that grief over one drink.” Then he paused. “Then again, considering what Two-Step did with it…”

“Exactly,” Twilight nodded. “Sorry, but if she intends to distribute it, then she’ll have to jump through a few hoops first.”

“Sounds like you want to work her really hard~” Midnight said, giving her a fanged grin. Twilight missed the innuendo and nodded, only causing Midnight to smile wider.

Twilight looked at her grin, then it clicked and her eyes widened before she squeaked and blushed, hiding behind her wings.

“Aww, Middy,” Ledger whined. “You know it takes me ten minutes to unstick Twilight when you freeze her like that.”

“Hehehe,” Midnight just giggled louder and Cider rolled her eyes.

“Ah think she’s happy to have a pony her little jokes actually work on,” the earth mare said.

“Besides,” Midnight looked at Ledger and licked her lips. “I thought you liked our princess all sticky~”

Twilight’s blush only deepened.

“I like getting her that way, yes,” Ledger said. “Fixing the process is another matter.” With that, he turned to Twilight and would have begun unsticking her, if not for her wings. “See? I can’t even try to fix her when she’s like this.”

Midnight smiled and walked around to the table. “Observe.” she simply stated and pressed a small spot on Twilight’s spine. Her wings snapped out and folded up, leaving the princess very confused as to what just happened, and also very open to Ledger kissing her.

Twilight soon responded and kissed him back as Midnight went back to her seat. Eventually the kiss broke, and Ledger smiled at her. “Better?” he asked the alicorn.

“Sorta,” Twilight blushed and looked at Midnight. “Seriously? How can you say stuff like that in public?”

“It’s easy,” Midnight said. “I don’t care what others think of me. I’m me and I’ll always be me.”

“Wise words from a wise mare,” Ledger said as sagely as he could.

“Damn straight,” Midnight nodded. “Don’t worry Twi, I’ll get you slinging innuendo’s and sexy jokes before you know it.”

“Celestia save me,” Twilight groaned.

“She’s too busy listening to the whiny nobles,” Ledger said with a snicker. “Face it love, you’re stuck with us.”

“Oh goodie,” Twilight snarked. “Did you at least come with a gift receipt?”

“No exchanges or refunds,” Scope replied in a sale-pitch tone. Ledger took this chance to steal the joke Shining and Midnight had once used on him.

“Sorry, but brides and husbands don’t come with receipts,” he said. “We come if you’re good enough~”

Ledger and Midnight shared a high-hoof as Twilight blushed again and ducked under the table.

Starry chose that moment to return with their food.

“Oh? Your unicorn friend has left?” she asked.

“She just ducked out to powder her nose,” Ledger said. “She’ll be back momentarily.”

During her shuffling, Twilight’s tail brushed up against Ledger…

Meanwhile, Midnight and the other’s took their food, it looked and smelled amazing~

“My compliments,” Ledger said as he took his food, doing his best to ignore the shuffling from down below. “It looks delicious.”

“No problems~” Starry smiled. “I’ll go and fetch you some refills for your drinks. Be right back loves~” She trotted off as Midnight smiled.

“You gotta admit, that flank is niiiice~”

“No, because if I did admit anything, I would be in trouble,” Ledger said as he took a bit of his pasta. It tasted even better than it looked.

“You know I don’t mind if you think another mare is pretty right?” Midnight replied. “We know you love us. You got married to us after all.”

“True, but I think my bed is full enough as it is, I don’t need to go adding to it.” Ledger took another bite of his pasta…

“Point, you and Scopey are changelings,” Midnight countered. “No harm in looking for a… little inspiration~”

“True, but if that were the case, I would expect you to start pointing out stallions,” Ledger countered her counter. Twilight had been under there for some time now…

That was when Midnight stiffened in her seat, her eyes widening as her ears twitched. A fierce blush could be seen covering her face. Ledger tilted his head curiously at this behavior. “Everything okay, love?” the drone asked his wife.

“E-Everything’s greAHH!~” Midnight stuffed a hoof into her mouth and bit down on it. Ledger got an idea as to what was going on and was suddenly quite thankful for the tablecloth.

The thought of Twilight doing...that, in a public place, gave him a hard-on quite fast.

Midnight stifled another moan, seems that Twilight had gone for a very direct form of revenge.

Scope and Cider just looked at the other pair with a curious expression. Ledger just shook his head and tried to ignore his throbbing case of wood as he ate. Part of him wanted to know what was going on. Part of him was curious as to what Twilight would do after she finished with Midnight.

Midnight for her part, did her damnable best not to show what was going on. Scope figured it out soon enough, and it didn’t take Cider long either.

And that’s when Twilight’s tail brushed up against Ledger again. He stifled his own moan, passing it off as just an accident like before.

After a few more minutes, Twilight chair moved and she sat back up, wiping her muzzle and looking like absolutely nothing was wrong.

Starry trotted back over, a little confused that the unicorn had shown up out of nowhere. “Um, would you like another drink Miss?”

“No thank you,” Twilight said and smiled at Ledger and Midnight. “I’ve drank plenty as is~”

The drone just sighed and resigned himself to having to put his problem away the hard way. Apparently Twilight wasn’t in the mood for him.

Twilight brushed some of her fringe as she picked up her fork with her magic.

That also served to hide what else her magic was doing....

She hadn’t forgotten, no… she just wanted to eat as well~

It was now Ledger’s turn to gasp as he felt something stroking him. Well, apparently Twilight was all for showing off today. Not that he minded at all.

Maybe he’d take it easy on her when they got back to the room tonight.

She continued to stroke him, eating like it was all normal. Midnight hadn’t quite finished, so she just stared at the alicorn with a heated gaze. Oh she was going to get it tonight!

“Gotta say, Twi,” Ledger said in a slightly strangled voice. It wasn’t easy trying to talk normal when your wife was stroking you under the table. “I’m surprised at how bold you’re being.”

“You have nopony to blame but yourselves… and probably the wine,” Twilight replied in between bites. “Are you alright? You seem a little… strained?”

“I’ll live,” Ledger growled. “I’ve been in tighter situations.” And would be again.

“Is that so?” Twilight replied as her magical grip tightened and begun to heat up a little. Ledger muffled his moan by having a bite of food, doing his best to not outwardly react. The alicorn merely smirked.

“Ah swear, ah cannot take you lot anywhere,” Cider sighed and shook her head. The drone properly composed himself before retorting.

“I will point out that I did not start this,” he said.

“Yer comments did,” Cider nodded. “Seriously Twi, just think about whut yer doin’. In public.”

Twilight blinked, what the hay was she doing? Her magic touches stopped and she blushed as she hung her head. “Sorry…”

“...And now the regret sets in,” Ledger sighed. “Then again, you are supposed to be the down-to-earth one for when we get like this…”

“I blame you two perverts!” Twilight said and pointed at Ledger and Midnight. “Also wine… alcohol is evil…” She raised her glass and took a sip.

“I hardly need for my inhibitions to be any looser,” Ledger agreed.

“Yeah, again, that’s how this whole herd thing got started,” Cider giggled. “Still, ah am curious as to whut would happen…”

“I’m not,” Midnight replied. “I heard what happened at that bachelor party. Ledger almost ‘scored’ with some mare while he and his friends went bowling.”

“Yup, from what I hear, you should be proud of your brother, Twilight,” Ledger said as he kept eating. “Made me think about what I was doing and stopped me.”

“I am,” Twilight replied. “Still… I do hear the surface of the moon is nice this time of year~”

“We did just go for a quick visit,” Ledger mused. “It might not be so bad, going up there again...assuming I could come back.”

“I’d say Twilight’s offer has a thousand year long lease,” Scope giggled as she finished eating.

That was also about when Starry all but materialised behind Ledger. “Oh hey, I’ll take those. And do you want to order dessert~?”

Ledger, to his credit, didn’t do more than flinch. Still, he’d grown up with a Pink sister and this had surprised him. “I’m good on dessert,” the drone said. “What about you all?”

“Ice-cream!” Scope declared.

Seconded,” Twilight nodded.

Midnight had ordered some monstrous parfait, while Cider shook her head, declining as well. The waitress smiled at them all before walking back off, to place their orders.

“Okay, so far?” Ledger said as he wiped his mouth. “The honeymoon has been amazing.”

“A few hiccups, but all and all, I’d have to agree,” Twilight smiled.

“Urgh! But we have to go back next week…” Scope groaned. “I dunno, can’t we all go and live on a tropical island forever?”

“Maybe when I can afford to buy one,” Ledger chuckled.

“Oh good, something to look forward to,” the nymph giggled as Cider got up to go to the bathroom. “And hey, an opportunity to ‘relieve’ yourself as well~”

“Nope, I can wait,” Ledger replied. “I don’t see Midnight going to pounce her, after all. I can show restraint sometimes.”

“Maybe because Midnight is waiting for that mango parfait,” Scope shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

“Aww, are you two having private conversations again?” Midnight pouted. “That’s rude.”

“She’s trying to get me to go after the others when they show the slightest hint of being available,” Ledger replied. “I’m of the opinion that we have a bedroom for a reason.”

“...Why didn’t I think of that?” Midnight said as she looked towards the earth mare returning. “Ah well.”

Starry soon returned, and delivered sweet treats to the three mares. And they wasted no time in demolishing them.

“Ehehe~ I hope you guys had a great meal and an even better time,” Starry said as she presented the bill, which Twilight signed for.

“We certainly did,” Ledger said as he politely sat there and waited for the mares who’d ordered dessert to finish. Twilight and Scope finished and Midnight noticed she was the last one. That tongue of hers went to work and the large glass cup was licked clean.

“Ohh, that’s some control you got there,” Starry clapped.

“Practice,” Midnight nodded. Ledger didn’t even want to imagine how’d she gotten it. It’d probably just get him hard again.

After bidding the bubbly batpony farewell, the group headed back to the hotel, opting to walk over teleporting to help ease off some of that meal.

Even so, it was well after dark before they got back, yet a concierge was still waiting to escort them back to their room.

“Mmmmm…” Midnight stretched and flopped onto the bed. “That was good~”

“And so isn’t this view,” Ledger complimented her.

“Huuh?” Midnight turned and looked behind her, before lifting her tail to one side and wiggling her hips.

“And now it’s even better,” Ledger said. “Seriously tempted to just jump up there and join you for some nighttime activities.”

She rolled over and got up before trotting over to him. “And here I thought you had plans,” she whispered and headed out into the kitchen to get some water.

“Oh, I do,” Ledger said, before looking at Twilight. “So,” he said aloud. “I’ve been informed that there’s something I might want to have been aware of on the subject of collars…”

Author's Note

Pretty risque, but I moved the more explicit stuff into the side chapter.

Like the story? Consider dropping Aus and me a dollar on my Patreon. It's always appreciated.

Half the money will not go towards Steam's plethora of interesting looking games.

Chapter 99 - Burying the hatchet

The sun had just started its ascent over the horizon as Ace wiped his claws. Chrysalis and Amy were sleeping and he felt the need to exercise.

So naturally, that led to him testing the Crystal Guard.

He had been sorely disappointed.

“Honestly Shining,” the griffon sighed as he looked over the stadium they were using. Several dozen guards lay defeated on the ground. “How have you been training these wet noodles? And I heard that you lost a joust against my student. Has the royal life softened you up that much?”

“I would love to have an Everfree Forest up here to train my troops with,” the stallion grumbled. “Send them in on survival missions against the fauna...and flora. Sadly, the only thing up here is the tundra, and it’s mostly barren.”

“Well that is unfortunate,” Ace nodded. “Still, the Yak’s live nearby. Perhaps you could arrange to train with them?”

“That might work,” the stallion mused. “Maybe arrange a training program with the yaks...yes, I can see how this could work...and for your information, that joust’s rules prevented me from bringing any of my magic to bear.”

“You’re still a stallion and one that is physically stronger than her to boot. But then… Midnight cheats,” Ace chuckled. “And still, I am surprised that your Empire remains mostly untouched. Ledger has done much to curb her more… voracious tendencies.”

“I know that she was worse, but she was never the same after my wedding,” Shining said. “You can’t give that changeling all the credit…”

Ace visibly twitched when he mentioned the wedding. Being able to beat down the monster that broke his precious student. That had been one of the more satisfying moments of his life. “Yes well… she’s gotten better since then, and has conquered a lot of her fears.” He coughed into his talon and adjusted his scarf. “Well, enough about that. I do hope you intend to train your guard a little better.”

“I thought I trained them well to begin with,” the stallion sighed. “Back to the drawing board, I guess.”

“It’s simple,” Ace chuckled. “Train them how I trained you… only, unlike you, make sure they listen and apply the lessons.”

“I know, I know, I got enough of that when I stepped out of line when that change...Ledger, visited.” Shining paused for a moment before sighing. “Did you know that there are changelings applying to be a part of the crystal guard?”

“Oh?” Ace chuckled at that. “That must be new for you. I trust that you’ll treat them like you would a pony though.” The griffon cracked his knuckles and stared at Shining. “I’d hate to have to remind you what being a fair and just Captain is all about.”

“It’s… not easy for me either,” Shining said. “Especially with your wife here...but...I can give them a shot.” He visibly slumped as he said this. “Ledger proved that not all changelings are the same, and I would be...remiss, if I didn’t let them try.”

“There’s a good lad,” Aerial nodded and patted him on the back. “And, I know what Chrysalis did was...well it wasn’t good. But, she’s working hard to not be that pony anymore.” She smiled as his eyes twinkled. “She’s really quite adorable when you get to know her. Perhaps… perhaps it might be good for you and Cadence to spend a little time with her. Bury the hatchet and the like.”

“Maybe,” Shining said. “For now I have a training regime to go over and some applications to review.”

“Best of luck,” Ace nodded as he turned. “And, give me a call should you need help whipping these foals into stallions and mares.” With that, he spread his wings and took off. he had some wives to find and smother with affection~

“I can’t believe he ditched us like that!” Chrysalis ranted as she and Amy walked the streets of the Crystal Empire. “That ungrateful, little, chicken-skinned…”

“Chryssy~” Amy sang as she kept walking the street. “Why don’t you put your energy to something more productive?”

“Such as?” the queen replied with a raised eyebrow. She was probably going to say something sappy...

“Thinking up a way to get back at him,” the pink nymph explained.

“...I knew there was a reason I married you~” Chrysalis purred and kissed her on the forehead. She pulled back, there was a blur, and the nymph was gone, leaving a few scattered feathers and a confused Pink changeling.

“Hmm,” Amy said as she picked up a feather. “Preliminary analysis tells me these are griffon feathers, and there are approximately ten griffons in the Empire at this moment. So either one of the other nine has made off with my wife, or Acey just pounced her.”

Ace landed a few moments later, a frazzled Chrysalis still in his grasp.

“Good morning my loves,” he smiled widely. “How fare you today?”

“I. Will pluck. Every feather from your body!!” Chrysalis finally managed to speak.

“I love you too~” Ace replied, kissing her again.

“Yay, I was right!” Amy cheered before joining in the hug, squishing Chrysalis between her and Ace.

“I hate you all,” the white mare groaned as a carriage pulled up next to them, a familiar pink alicorn poking her head out of the window.

“I found you~” she grinned as her magic shone, snaring the two mares and pulling them into the carriage before it took off, leaving Ace alone and confused…

Amy couldn’t help herself. She just had to. She climbed up to the window and waved at Ace, before making a pleading statement.

“Acey, help! There’s no sweets in here! Hellllp!”

Cadence responded by pulling out a bag of crystal rock candy.

“Nevermind, I’m good!” she chirped before hopping back down. “These look interesting~” she said, before picking one up and popping it in her mouth.

“You are such a foal,” Chrysalis sighed and looked at Cadence. “What, finally given up on Shining and kidnapped some new brides then…? Well, a bride and a child~”

“Aw come on Chryssy, try some,” Amy said, picking up a piece and holding it out to her fellow wife. “It’s tasty~”

“I stand by my previous statement,” Chrysalis deadpanned.

“No, it’s nothing like that,” Cadence giggled. “I still love Shiny very much… Though Midnight was an excellent kisser~”

“I did not need to know that,” Chrysalis deadpanned and looked at Amy. “And why are you blush… You kissed her, didn’t you?”

“More like she kissed me,” Amy said. “That batpony tongue...it gave me ideas…”

“This is my life…” Chrysalis groaned. “So what do you want you perverted princess?”

“Oh? That’s easy,” Cadence said, not denying the title. “It’s a sacred tradition amongst us mares. One I simply have to share with you.”

“Oooh, what’s that?” Amy asked as she got over her blush.

The carriage came to a stop and Cadence opened the door, motioning towards the glass domed building. “Spa Day~”

“Nope.” Chrysalis simply stated and got out, before beginning to walk away.

“Agent Amy!” Cadence smirked. “Secure and restrain the target!”

“On it!” Amy said before pouncing Chrysalis and casting a spell on herself to make her seem to be extremely heavy. The older mare winched as the weighty nymph landed on her, her legs almost buckling under the strain.

“You have, to lay off, the sweets,” she groaned as Cadence smiled and snared her with her magic.

“Nnnuuuuuu!” Chrys grabbed at the ground in a futile attempt to escape the pampering. “You can’t make meeee!”

A few moments later…

“Aaahhhhh~” Chrysalis sank into the warm bath and sighed contently. “Now this is the life~”

“Cadence, remind me who was whining on our way in?” Amy asked.

“I believe it was the relaxed Flutterpony there,” Cadence giggled as she received her massage. “How’s that hoofjob Amy dear?”

“It’d be better if they believed me when I said I wasn’t gonna break if they were a little firm with me,” Amy replied as she just lay there. “I mean, really, chitin can stand up to a surprising amount of stuff…”

“No kidding,” Chrysalis sighed. “That hardening spell was what saved me when I was blasted from Canterlot.”

“Yeah, it’d take something like a spear to actually puncture the stuff,” Amy said, waving at an attendant. “So c’mon, lay it on me! I could do with a little relaxation therapy.”

Chrysalis whispered something to them and they nodded. And when Amy opened her shell as the older mare’s request, she found herself on the receiving end of a massage as another pair of cute crystal twins went to work on her hooves.

“Aaaaaah~” Amy sighed as she just melted under their hooves. “You girls know how to work a ‘ling, that’s for sure…”

“We’ve never had a Changeling customer,” one of the twins said.

“We’d love to… work you some more~” the second finished.

“Sorry girls, happily married,” Amy said. “But please, don’t stop.”

“We’ve heard those lines before… and at the same time,” they giggled together as they continued to file and polish her hooves.

“Mine. Get your own,” Chrysalis said from the tub. She was so damned relaxed that they could run off with Amy and she’d likely not lift a hoof. “Though if you do go, take pictures for me.”

“Nah, I’m good for now,” Amy said. “I mean, we had our usual morning wake-up call, I’m sated for a little while.”

“So,” Cadence said as they placed cucumbers over her eyes and begun the seaweed wrap. “What’s it like being married to a griffon?”

“He’s always looking for trouble or a fight,” Amy started.

“He’s louder than a room full of Minotaurs and eats like a starving dragon,” Chrysalis continued.

“He’s occasionally a little overprotective, to the point where stallions cross the street because he glared at them,” the pink nymph continued.

“Hah! That one stallion nearly crapped himself,” Chrysalis laughed. Good times. “But still, even after all of that…”

“I wouldn’t trade him for the world,” Amy sighed.

“He’s amazingly loving, and all of my flaws and mistakes? He doesn’t care,” Chrysalis agreed. “He’s so open about his feelings, and his love is delicious~”

“Plus we can’t forget the mornings or the evenings,” Amy purred. “The way he sees to both of our needs...doesn’t complain no matter who’s on top…”

Cadence gasped, as did several of the spa patrons and workers. “You mean he’s…”

“He takes as good as he gives,” Chrysalis giggled. “It is So. Damned. Hot~”

Many of the mares present blushed profusely, some giving small giggles as their thoughts ran wild.

“Yeah, I just gotta wait a year until I can join in on that again,” Amy giggled. “He was so much fun~”

“Hehehe, he’s all mine in that regard,” Chrysalis nodded as she moved over to the mud bath. It looked repulsive… but by the Hives did it feel good.

“I’m happy for you both,” Cadence smiled warmly. She looked over at Chrysalis and her smile grew. “And you… I forgive you now.”

Chrysalis spluttered and coughed, before sinking further into the mud to hide her blush.

“Aww, look, I thought I was the only pink~” Amy giggled.

“Oh shut up,” Chrysalis replied, blowing bubbles in the mud. Cadence giggled and looked at Amy.

“She’s rather adorable isn’t she?”

“I’m not adorable!!” Chrysalis protested.

“She’s more like a rosebush,” Amy mused. “Thorny but beautiful.”

“Keep going and I’ll show you thorns,” Chrysalis blushed harder.

“She should never be in the same room as Scopey,” Cadence nodded. “The tsundere levels would be through the roof.”

“Oooh, now I kinda want them to meet,” Amy cooed.

“...And now I do too,” Cadence nodded after a moment of contemplation. Chrysalis frowned, wondering when the teasing would actually stop.

“Still, we’re here to relax,” Amy said before she lay back down. “So we’ll have to wait on plotting.”

“True enough,” Cadence sighed as she moved over to the mudbath as well. The twins had brought over a small tub filled with a special solution and now soaked Amy’s hooves in it. The third mare tending to her had finished the massage and now polished the rest of her chitin. The nymph just sighed and lay there, enjoying the treatment by what she felt was surely an unhealthy amount.

“Sooo, what about you?” the pink nymph asked. “You got to ask us all sorts of questions, what about any juicy details going on in your life?”

“Mmm…” Cadence thought about it, but Chrysalis beat her to it, giving the alicorn a predatory grin.

Time to unleash the Pink…

“Oh, she didn’t tell you?” Chrysalis nodded and switched to Changeish. Didn’t want to spoil it to the spa attendants. “She’s going to be gifting the world with an alicorn foal~”

The pink nymph practically vibrated on the table as she did her best to contain her energy. Her best, and she failed. With a high-pitched ‘squee’ noise, she jumped into the mud bath and splashed the others as she hugged Cadence.

“I’m so happy for you!” she cried out.

“Gaah!” Cadence gagged as the nymph hugged the life out of her. How was she so strong?

“Hehehe, feel my pain,” Chrysalis chuckled as she wiped mud from her face.

“Can’t...breathe…” Cadence gasped, tapping Amy on the back. Eventually the pink nymph let her go, just to nuzzle her a moment later. And was she actually purring?

Cadence looked at Chrysalis for help, but received a shrug in response. The alicorn rolled her eyes and petted Amy on the head. “Yes, I have a feeling I know what she told you. But, do keep it a secret for now okay?”

“Awwww,” Amy pouted. “But-”

“No buts, I need to figure out how best to address this okay,” Cadence hugged her back. “It’s pretty exciting though huh?”

“Yup~” the nymph hummed. “Oooh, yours should totally know ours! I’m having one, and so is Middy~”

“Hmm, that sounds fun,” Cadence nodded. “And with Twilight being married now, I guess Midnight’s will be related in some way or another.”

“Oh great, this should be fun,” Chrysalis replied. “I can’t imagine what kind of trouble three foals could get into…”

Rainbow, Applejack and Rarity all sneezed and looked at one another. Was there something going around?

Meanwhile, a country away, a certain silver nymph paused as she suddenly felt cold and shivered for some reason.

“Plus we have to take into account that Ledger has three others, and Chryssy’s already said she wants mine next,” Amy pointed out. “They could have a lot of family to get in trouble with.”

“Oh joy…” Chrysalis deadpanned as Cadence turned to her and smiled.

“So… you want—”

“Oh shut up,” Chrysalis drowned herself in mud again…

“I think it’s sweet,” Amy said. “Plus it’s a lot of work for a nymph to actually have one in Equestria. I have to actually not shift for a while.”

“Why can’t you… oohh,” Cadence finally understood. “Okay, I get it.”

“It’s a real pain,” Chrysalis nodded. “And once it is born… between mother and child, I don’t think there’s enough ice-cream in Equestria…”

“That’s why I work where I do!” Amy chirped. “But I can’t give a foal ice-cream, silly. I hafta wait a few years first.”

“Yeah… your foal will have ice-cream within the first hour of life, calling it now,” Chrysalis nodded.

“Nope,” Amy shook her head. “I will make very sure not to feed a foal ice-cream until it has graduated from yogurt first.”

“If it’s pink, then there’s no stopping it,” Chrysalis nodded and shuddered. She was still getting used to the amount of love that the Crystal Empire generated. She suddenly gasped and sneezed.

And her mane and coat took on a crystal hue…

“Aww, now you’re shiny!” Amy said, before looking at herself. “Hmm, wonder why it hasn’t worked for me…”

It would require a higher dosage of love for you, the Heart responded. I could try…

“Nah, I’m good, I was just curious,” Amy replied aloud before looking at Chrysalis. “Seriously, the longer we stay here, the hotter you get.”

“What the hell…” Chrysalis looked at herself. “Now this is just friggen creepy…”

“Nah, just wait until Acey sees you, he’ll back me up on this,” Amy said before looking at Cadence. “Is there a way to take like a shot of this Empire back with us, so that she can look like this again?”

“If I memorise it, I could probably transform…”

Actually, the Flutterponies have a close tie the Crystal Ponies… The Heart informed them. Now that this has happened… I bet if she soaked up enough love…

“Oh you just had to go and tell her that,” Chrysalis groaned.

“C’mon Chryssy, don’t you want to be the world’s first Flutterpony in who-knows-how-long?” Amy asked. “I mean, you’re pretty, and like this, nopony would recognize you!”

“I like being me!” Chrysalis argued. “I’m not some…. butterfly horse. I’m a Changeling!”

“Suit yourself then,” Amy said with a shrug. “I’m sure you won’t ever be curious as to what it would be like to be a Flutterpony, then. Or why you seem to be one.”

“Yes, well… my grandfather seems to have an answer there,” Chrysalis responded. She hadn’t told Amy yet, but this seemed to be her true form now. Her changeling form was a transformation like any other. Well, at least she still had that ability… for now.

“It was pretty scary when I first became an alicorn,” Cadence nodded. “I mean, I went from a pegasus to being able to use magic…” She gave a nervous giggle. “Aunt Celestia was not amused when I accidently set a six hundred year old tapestry on fire.”

“Plus it’s not like you couldn’t turn back,” Amy pointed out. “You did the first time it happened. You can still turn into your old self, right?”

Chrysalis sighed, no use in lying to her. “I can transform into a Changeling…”

“So...what, you’re naturally a Flutterpony now?” Amy asked. “Wow. I wonder if you stay longer, it’ll stick forever?”

“Probably…” Chrysalis sighed. “I can no longer feed on emotions now. I feel… weird to have to rely on actual food and drink to survive. And don’t get me started on how strange my magic feels…”

“Y’know, you and Twilight could probably go over all the changes together if it sticks,” Amy pointed out. “Would understanding your new body make you fear it less?”

“I don’t fear it!” Chrysalis almost shouted. “I’m not afraid of anything… it’s just, weird is all…”

“And ponies find us weird as well,” Amy said. “It may be weird, but I’d embrace it if it were happening to me.”

“Well, we’re rather different nymphs,” Chrysalis replied and held up a mud-covered hoof. Which reminded her… She scooped up a large hoof-full and smirked at Amy.

“Oh no you don’t,” Amy said, scooting away. “We’re here to relax.”

That was when Cadence dumped her hoofload of mud over the nymphs head.

“Should have thought that before you splashed us,” the alicorn smiled sweetly. Amy sputtered and shook her head a little, before she replied in a low tone.

“Of course you realize, this means war.”

And that was when Chrysalis splatted her as well.

Then Amy levitated huge clumps of mud above the other mares and smiled at them sweetly...before dropping them atop the others.

“Oh, so we’re using magic?” Cadence said, wiping mud from her eyes.

“Please don’t start a mudfight…” one of the spa workers sighed.

Amy nodded and lay back against the side of the tub, just relaxing in it for the time being. So long as they did nothing, she’d do nothing.

Cadence and Chrysalis smiled, and sandwiched Amy in a big, muddy hug.

The attendants rolled their eyes. Seems that they’d have a lot of cleaning to do this afternoon…

Amy just sighed and enjoyed it. Hopefully Chryssy would get over her hang-ups regarding her new form. It was pretty and apparently what she was supposed to be.

She just wished she could join her.

You’d want to be a Flutterpony as well…?

“Yeah, I mean, if it’s possible. Maybe then Chryssy wouldn’t be so nervous about her form.”

Is that so? The Heart sounded… like he might be hiding something. Perhaps once her power develops…

“Oooh, sounds neato, and like something Twilight should look into! But for now, if you can, maybe you should hurry her transformation along a little? Make it so it finishes before we leave? I’ll try to keep her spirits up about it, but she should totally become one on our honeymoon~”

You changelings do love to give me orders huh? The heart snarked and sighed. We’ll see I guess. It depends a lot on her though…

“That’s what me and Acey are here for! So what do I need to do?”

She cannot take a form she cannot accept. How you accomplish it is up to you though. The Heart sighed again. Bear in mind, her mind is in a fragile state. Push too hard… and your trio may be down to two…

“I’ll do my best,” Amy said with a mental nod. “What she needs is to understand that we love her, no matter what. And I can do that.”

I hope so…

“Amy?” Chrysalis poked her. “You okay? You kind of zoned out there…”

“Just peachy~” Amy said before hugging her wife. “I love you. You know that, right?”

“Yes Amy, I am well aware of that,” Chrysalis smiled and rolled her eyes.

“Good,” Amy said, sighing happily. “Mmm...this is great, Cadence~”

“Every mare needs a spa visit at least once a month,” Cadence as she got out of the mud and headed for the shower to rinse off. Chrysalis couldn’t help it and called out.

“Oh, you flaunt those flanks you dirty mare!” she catcalled, causing Cadence to stumble and blush in surprise.

“You could join her, make the show for me twice as good,” Amy told Chrysalis.

Chrysalis smirked and climbed out of the mud bath, making sure it was slow and sensual, her hips swaying hypnotically as she bat her eyes at the nymph. Amy cooed and let Chrysalis feel the love and lust she had for her new form, just as great as they had always been.

The flutterpony blushed and moved to the shower room, leaving her crazy wife behind.

A few hours later, the three mares reemerged, positively glowing after that pampering session.

“Aaahhhhhh~” Chrysalis stretched. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt this good.”

“Now I see why you took us there,” Amy sighed. “I feel sooo much better~”

“Mhmm,” Cadence sighed as well. “Such a great way to spend the day. Now, I have some work to do. But we’ll see each other for dinner yes?”

“Sure, we can do that!” Amy chirped. “Just as soon as we find our husband, we sorta left him alone for longer than five minutes, so he could be anywhere by now.”

“True, I’m sure Shiny is feeling lost right about now,” Cadence giggled. “I think I might go and de-stress with him~” She looked at the two mares and smiled. “Would you like a lift anywhere?”

“Nah, but thanks for the offer,” Amy said. “We can find him our way. We’ll just look for the biggest disturbance in town and go from there.”

“You have so much faith in him,” Cadence giggled as she got into her carriage. “Alright, have a good day ladies!” She climbed into her carriage and the muscled, armoured stallions gave the two mares a look as well before trotting off.

“Mmm, I do love a stallion in armour~” Chrysalis purred, ogling their retreating flanks.

“That explains so much,” Amy said before nudging her wife. “Wanna go find our griffon and see if he notices anything?”

“Sure,” Chrysalis shrugged and the two headed off.

They found him in the exact spot they’d left him. Turns out that he’d walked to a nearby cafe and waited there for them.

“Ah, so my lovely wives finally...return…” Ace paused and looked them over. “Oh my…”

“He noticed~” Amy giggled. “Does our little birdy like?” She showed herself off a little, turning this way and that to display nearly every inch of her body.

“I didn’t think it was possible for you to get even more beautiful,” Ace nodded as he got up. “It makes me want to take you back and make love to you two again and again.”

“Too bad for you, we have a dinner with Cadence to attend,” Amy said. “Can’t go undoing all her hard work before then.”

Ace sighed and hung his head. “Oh well. I guess I should go and get ready. I feel rather underprepared now. Can’t have you lovely ladies drag a ratty cat like me around.”

“You act like we don’t already do that,” Chrysalis giggled.

“I’m sure the spa would see to you to, Acey,” Amy said. “Just watch out for the twins.”

“Twins?” Ace asked.

“You’ll see~” Chrysalis giggled and soon the griffon was at the same spa his mares had just been at.

“Well,” he coughed and walked in. “This should be interesting… well, when in Roam…”

“Hello,” the mare at the desk greeted him. “Just the one?”

“Please,” Ace nodded. “Ah, you do serve Griffons yes?”

“You’d be our first, but the twins have seen to pegasi before, so I don’t really see the issue,” the mare said before checking a clipboard. “Room three should be clean by now.”

Ace nodded and walked further inside after paying some bits. He eventually found room three and poked his head in. “Ah, hello?”

“Oh look,” one of the mares there said. “Another customer~”

“And a big, strong, handsome male to boot,” the other purred.

Twins. Amy warned him of these and they seemed to give off a familiar aura. One he often sensed from a certain batpony. “Ah, I seem to have the wrong room—”

“Oh no, you’ve got the right room all right,” one of them said.

“We’d be all too happy to...service you~”

“Uuhhh, I just need cleaning up,” Ace replied as he walked in. The mares sighed, but pointed him to their herbal bath, proven to be relaxing and effective.

He nodded as he took off his scarf and eased himself into the bath, sighing lightly. “Ahh, this isn’t so bad after all…”

“Are you certain you don’t need any of our more relaxing techniques?” one offered.

“We are very good at massaging,” the other added.

“Perhaps,” Ace nodded. “My wings have been feeling quite stiff. And my activities have been rather… rigorous lately.”

“We can help~” one of the twins cooed.

“We’re very good at relieving tension~”

“Well, you seem to be the experts,” he shrugged. “Sure.” They reminded him of Jonathan in a way. Still, that bird was utterly incorrigible. These mares would remain professional, right?

The both of them waited, giggling, by the massage table. “Whenever you’re ready~” one cooed.

“We’ll help you get all your tension out~” the other added.

Crystal ponies were quite friendly huh? Still, Amy, Chrys and the Princess used this place…

“Most of my tension is in my shoulders,” he said.

“A pity,” one mare said. “Still, we can work with that.”

“And while she helps you with your shoulders, I’ll give the rest of your body an examination, to make sure you’re not holding on to tension anywhere else.”

“So long as we swap after you’ve had your turn,” the first twin said, to which the second twin nodded.

“No, just my shoulders,” Ace nodded. “Trust me, I’d know if anywhere else was troubling me.”

“Better safe than sorry~” they both chimed.

“I fear as though I have made a terrible mistake,” Ace muttered.

The only response both mares gave was to giggle and pat the bench with a hoof.

A few moments later, Ace had dried off and was exiting the spa. “I think that’s enough relaxation for me,” he said as he left.

“Aww~” both mares pouted.

“But don’t you want your massage?” one asked.

“It’d be very...relaxing~” the other added.

Ace rolled his left arm until his shoulder gave a satisfying pop. “Tensions gone,” he said and bowed his head. “Good day ladies.”

And with that, the griffon had left, flying out into the open sky.

“They don’t make them like that anymore,” one sighed.

“I dunno, have you seen that pegasus guard? Flash something? He’s pretty confident about himself these days.”

“Oooh, maybe if he ever shows up here…”

“I fear I should have taken your warnings more seriously,” Ace said as they headed to the castle for dinner. “Honestly, I am not that desirable…”

“You are to me,” Amy chirped.

“As you are to me,” Chrysalis nodded. “And, I also have a set of twins to hang by their ears when I see them next,” the mare growled.

“I get the feeling they might enjoy that,” Ace sighed. “Still, enough about that. Are you excited to dine with royalty again?”

“You do every night with me,” Chrysalis nodded. “So the feeling is rather underwhelming.”

“True, but this is the first time you’ll be dining with both Shiny and Cadence at the same time~” Amy chirped. “Now remember to be nice.”

“I’ll be as nice as I usually am,” Chrysalis promised.

“That’ll have to do,” Amy sighed.

Chrysalis nodded and smiled proudly. Ace just shook his head, this dinner should be entertaining if nothing else.

By the time they got to the castle, the sun was descending and bathed the sky in a brilliant show of reds and oranges. The guards had actually stopped them this time to ask them of their business.

Aww, they were learning~

Still, once inside, they not only found Cadence and Shining waiting for them, but Critical and Painted Palette as well, the latter still getting used to dining with royalty.

“Good evening,” Ace bowed his head politely.

“Hello ex-husband,” Chrysalis smirked.

“Please come join us,” Cadence said, smiling at the three of them.

“As long as you keep a watch on her,” Shining muttered, only to receive a thwack upside the head from one of Cadence’s wings.

“Why wouldn’t they?” Chrysalis purred as they sat down. “I’m stunningly beautiful now no? Even you must admit that ex-husband…”

“You do realize we were never actually married, right?” Shining said. “I mean, we nearly were, but you kind of were stopped at the last moment.”

Chrysalis's smile grew. “Ohohoho, you seem so sure about that,” she smiled. “Las Pegasus was just a hop, skip and a jump away. I had you enthralled for over a week you know~”

“I’m sure somepony would have told me if I’d gotten married before my actual wedding,” the stallion said without batting an eye. “If nopony else, the tabloids would have had a field day.”

“And who is the master of disguises?” Chrysalis smiled again. The stallion rolled his eyes before laying out his ultimatum.

“If you can produce any piece of actual evidence, then I’ll listen to your boasting again.”

Chrysalis paused, looked at the stallion and then sighed. She turned to Cadence and pointed at him. “What gives? I thought you made him fun? He still has the personality of cardboard.”

“I may have worn him out a little when I got back,” Cadence said with a giggle, to which Shining did his very best to not blush.

“Ahh,” Chrysalis, Critical and Amy smiled and giggled.

“Seems we are stuck with insatiable and sexy mares,” Ace mused at the stallions.

“I’m still learning how to deal with it,” Shining sighed.

“Bah, you’re almost half my age,” Palette replied with a wave of his hoof. Truth was he had no idea how old the Prince was. “Why are you complaining?”

“Because some days, she’s insatiable,” Shining sighed.

“I prefer enthusiastic,” Cadence said with a giggle.

“Oh, I bet most stallions would give a leg to have your problem,” Palette replied. Princess cadence was stunningly beautiful after all, no denying that. He motioned towards Critical, “And you think this one isn’t?”

“I let you sleep,” Critical replied. “Sometimes.”

“My point is made,” Palette nodded.

Chrysalis chuckled again. “Poor Shining, you didn’t gripe with me like that. Well, it could have been the mind control, but still…”

“Some days I wish I could get my point across as easily as you did,” Cadence sighed.

“How do you mean?” Chrysalis asked. She looked at Shining and smiled. “And don’t worry love, you and I didn’t do anything like that. You somehow resisted any of my advances.”

“Some days he just doesn’t get the hint,” Cadence said. “I have to basically tell him to-”

“And that’s enough of that,” Shining said. “So what would everyone like to eat?”

“Well, I know what Cadence wants to put in her mouth~” Chrysalis smirked before Ace poked her in the ribs.

“That’s quite enough of that,” he sighed and looked at the pair. “Sorry about her.”

“I quite like her, now that we’re not on opposing sides anymore~” Cadence said.

“Oh great, they’re bonding,” Shining moaned.

“Ohh, Cadey is going to be my very first PFF,” Chrysalis clapped her hooves.

Shining just groaned and thunked his head on the table. Palette chuckled and Ace just shook his head.

“It’s not so bad, eating with royalty,” Critical said before nudging her stallion with a hoof. “This one was fussing for longer than me over his looks.”

Palette just grumbled something under his breath and looked away.

“Two down,” Chrysalis giggled and looked at Ace. “Hey Amethyst? Think you can make it three for three?”

“I dunno, Acey’s awfully hard to ruffle,” the Pink nymph said. “I think I’d have to survive stealing his scarf to even get close.”

“What’s with that scarf anyway?” Chrysalis asked. “I mean, I know why you wear it, but you really don’t have to you know.”

“Come to think of it, I don’t think I know how you got that scar,” Shining agreed.

“This?” Ace said as he touched his neck. “This is what happens when you push somepony too far. That’s all.” He sighed as a few memories played over in his head. “Midnight gave me this scar…”

“Thought as much,” Amy said. “You don’t have to tell us more if you don’t want to.”

“No, I don’t want you to blame her after all,” Ace replied. “It was when I was teaching her Trance. The first time she pulled it off, I had to gauge it, so I made her angry intentionally… and said some things that I shouldn’t have. I was… caught off guard. It took her weeks to stop her from blaming herself after that.”

“Whoa…” Shining simply said. Note to self, never piss Midnight Song off.

“So, I’m really lucky she likes me, then?” Amy said with a cute head-tilt.

“Midnight would never hurt anypony intentionally,” Ace said as he sipped at a glass of water on the table. “If she didn’t like you, she’d simply ignore you.”

“Ooh, remember the time Blueblood hit on her?” Shining spoke up and Ace let out a hearty chuckle.

“Do I? That colt didn’t sit upright for a week,” he laughed.

“Sounds like a fun story,” Amy agreed.

Shining nodded. “Well, a while back, when I was still a lieutenant in the Guard, Midnight was an up and coming cadet. She’d aced almost every test the Academy could throw at her. So then, this high and mighty noble by the name of Blueblood decides that… hmm, how did he put it again?”

“That Midnight would have the ‘deepest honour’ of becoming his prize,” Ace continued.

“Sounds like a bad idea already, mixing those sorts of things together,” Critical commented.

“So, Midnight responded as Midnight does,” the griffon laughed. “She challenged him to a duel. If he won, she would concede to his wishes… if she won, he was to become her personal servant for a week.”

“Oh my,” Cadence said with a grin. “What I wouldn’t have given to have seen that.”

“Naturally, Bluey tried to cheat,” Shining nodded. “Midnight knocked him out in less than three seconds… when he woke up, Midnight had dressed him in one of the maids outfits…” Shining cackled. Amy, Cadence, and Critical all joined in the laughing, each one picturing different things happening to the stallion. Two of them hadn’t even met him.

“Of course he didn’t take that little prank well at all,” Ace nodded. “He said that Midnight cheated and he went to use his magic… When he pulled that little stunt…”

“Let’s say he wasn’t bedding any mares for a while,” Shining winced.

“I can imagine,” Amy said. “That’s not something you recover from quickly.”

“No, no he did not, and he never went near another batpony again after that,” Shining smirked. “Anyway, who’s ready to eat?”

Amy’s stomach let out an audible roar at the mention of food.

“That’s voice enough for the three of us,” Ace laughed and rubbed her head. Critical and Palette chuckled as well as the waiters brought out the first dish of the evening, a serving of coconut prawns, salad and pasta, along with some bottles of wine, cider and water.

Palette’s eyes lit up as he reached for the wine…

“Slow,” Critical said. “You don’t want to not remember tonight, after all.”

“I know, I know,” Palette sighed and rolled his eyes. “When was the last time I got that drunk anyway?” He leaned over and nuzzled her. “I drank to forget… and why on earth would I ever want to forget your beautiful face?”

“Aww,” Amy cooed, causing Critical to flush straight through her disguise.

“Silly sappy stallion,” the nymph muttered.

“You’re still cute when you blush,” Palette chuckled as he poured a half-glass and pulled over one of the entrees.

“I think it’s a changeling thing,” Ace nodded. “They are all so ridiculously adorable when blushing.” He leaned over and gave Amy a nuzzle as well. “Isn’t that right my little sweet treat~?”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Amy said. “I’ve only seen Chryssy blush before.”

“Amy’s rather hard to fluster,” Chrysalis nodded. “Though, that might be a Pink thing in general.” She took a bite of the dish and hummed delightedly.

“It’d take a little work from Acey to get me to blush,” the Pink nymph nodded.

“Hmm, like telling you how I love how your eyes sparkle?” he cooed as he caressed one of her ears. “How you always make me smile with that bubbly personality? Or how more than anything, I love you oh so much?” He pecked her lips with his beak just as her cheeks flushed pink.

“There we go,” Chrysalis smirked. “Yup, just as cute~”

“Indeed,” Ace nodded and kissed Amy again before turning to his dish.

“You guys don’t play fair,” Amy huffed.

“Such is life,” Chrysalis nodded. This was… it was weird. A new form, new friends… well, the fact she had friends at all seemed like a miracle. Amy pouted but eventually returned to eating the food she’d been presented with.

“So I hear a congratulations are in order for you Shining,” Ace said once he’d swallowed his meal in a single bite. “Being the prince, captain of the guard and now a father?”

“We’re trying not to make it publicly known just yet,” Shining replied. “We need to approach the topic gently.”

“Ponies are going to make a big deal out of it, no matter how you approach it,” Chrysalis said with a wave of her hoof. “It’s like a thorn in your hoof. Best get it out of the way now, rather than let it fester.”

“Your words have some merit to them,” Cadence mused. “Still, we’d like to do it on our terms.”

“Suit yourself,” Chrysalis shrugged. “Oh, and Shiny? I’d probably tell Twilight in person, rather than a letter this time, not that it wasn’t funny mind you.”

“Since I’m not holed up here having to hold up a city-wide shield anymore, I think I can do it this time,” Shining replied. “I’ll just invite her up here one day…”

“Ooor, you could make the effort to go and see her,” Chrysalis replied. “Your choice I guess. Just… be careful once that Pink Abomination finds out.”

“What? Amy already knows,” Cadence said with a straight face.

“Not that one, the other one. One of Sparkle’s friends… I can’t remember her name.”

“Ah, the delightful Pinkie Pie,” Ace hummed. “She’s… enthusiastic in all the right ways~”

“Seriously?” Shining deadpanned. “Aren’t you married now?”

Ace shrugged, “That doesn’t mean we can’t bring in somepony else to have a little fun from time to time…”

“I’m getting ideas~” Cadence sang. “Wonderful ideas~”

“Hah! Sucks to be you Shiny…” Chrysalis taunted and then gasped. “You know, I think I just came up with a wonderful bonding exercise~”

Palette decided he’d refrain from commenting here.

“After all,” Chrysalis continued and looked at Cadence. “She is Ace’s type~”

“Mmm, maybe when you’re not on your honeymoon and I know you all a little better,” Cadence replied. “Though I’d pay bits to see him with Shiny~”

“Cadence!” Shining protested as Ace let out a deep chuckle.

“What about it Amy?” Chrysalis smirked. “Wanna see the boys… play~”

“Oooh, it sounds like fun~” Amy purred. “Plus you could see to us while we watched Acey~”

“Mmmm,” Chrysalis licked her lips.

“I cannot believe they’re propositioning royalty,” Palette sighed and whispered to Critical.

“Guess that proves that they’re regular ponies rather than ponies on pedestals,” Critical retorted.

“They still deserve some level of respect,” Palette countered. He sighed and hung his head. Catching up to modern times was tougher than he thought.

“I’m pretty sure that griffon will be showing the royal couple his version of respect in a few hours,” Critical said with a giggle.

Palette paused and once that comment registered, he blushed and groaned at the joke.

Chrysalis giggled as well, that’d been pretty funny.

Soon, the waiters returned with the main course. A Crystal Empire delicacy of vegetable soup, made from Empire-exclusive veggies, along with dipping bread and oil, as well as two chilled bottles of Crystal Berry wine, ones Apple Cider had sent a few weeks back.

“Oooh~” Amy purred as she looked the meal over. “I like the look of this!”

“Mmm,” Ace wasn’t overly fond of soup, mostly because of how difficult it was to eat with a beak. It did look quite delicious though.

Even Chrysalis hummed at the scent.

“Hrrm, haven’t had this in an age… literally,” Palette chuckled. This dish had been one of his wife’s specialties, one he’d missed greatly.

“Then I’ll see if the chefs are willing to part with the recipe,” Critical said as she had some herself.

“Recipes easy enough to come across, I have it at home,” the stallion replied. “Just… haven’t had it since… well..”

“Then I’ll do my best to learn it,” the nymph said with a nod. “If you have any others, I’d like to know. It’d be something nice I can do for you.”

“I’ll… give you the book when we get home,” Palette blushed lightly. “I just… didn’t want to tell you, make you feel like a replacement…”

“It’s not unthinkable that there might be some overlap,” Critical said with a soft smile. “And I know I’m not just a replacement. You love me, yes, but I’m not exactly like her.”

“No, you’re beautiful in your own way,” he nodded and kissed her cheek. “It was because of you I found my heart, and my love again.”

“Awww,” Cadence and Amy said at the same time.

“Gods, that’s sickenly sweet,” Chrysalis gagged. “And I married a Pink…”

“You know you love me,” Amy chirped. Chrysalis shrugged and nodded.

“Well, I suppose if I have to…”

“And see?” Amy pointed out. “I love you, and Acey loves you. It all works out.”

“We’re all one big happy family huh?” Chrysalis gave up trying to use the dainty little soup spoon and just lifted the bowl to her lips, sipping from it directly.

Shining and Ace were now in a heated competition to see who could guzzle down their soup first. Critical just continued using her spoon, as did Cadence. Neither one were in any particular hurry.

Amy took in the competition and giggled before she lifted her bowl to her lips and made a long, slurping noise.

Soon the two boys finished, slamming their bowls down and letting out a large belch.

“Hah! I win,” they said at the same time. “Drat!”

Amy lowered hers a second later, it had been completely drained. “Aww, and I came so close too,” she said with a small pout.

“You’ll beat them next time,” Chrysalis offered, patting her back. “Besides, those boys are idiots. Honestly, why can’t you be more like Mister Palette over there. Now he is a true gentlecolt.”

“Huh?” Palette looked up in confusion.

“He’s really just concerned with showing royalty the proper respect,” Critical said. “Whereas I know that you two are normal ponies and want to be treated like that when you’re not in court.”

“It’s fine either way,” Cadence replied. “We know that adjusting to another age can be difficult Painted. “But Chrysalis does make a point, you are a fine gentlecolt.”

Palette just blushed as Chrysalis looked at Shining and Ace. “Whereas these two knuckleheads could use a little lesson in decorum.”

“He challenged me,” Shining defended himself.

“And he should know better,” Chrysalis chided her griffon.

“As should my husband,” Cadence nodded.

Just then, Amy let loose her own massive belch from practically inhaling her own soup.

“Um, ‘scuse me,” she said with a sheepish smile.

“And there’s just no apologising for this one,” Chrysalis sighed. “There’s not enough breath in my body for that.”

“Your lives must be...interesting,” Critical settled for that term.

“That’s a… polite way of putting it,” Chrysalis chuckled. “Everyday's an adventure with this lot.”

“Yup,” Ace nodded. “It’s never dull.”

“I like it when things happen!” Amy chirped.

“If you ever have a child,” Chrysalis looked at Critical. “Pray to all that it doesn’t turn out Pink…”

“I grew up with one,” Critical said.

“You have my sympathies,” Chrysalis nodded. “My Pink population is going to double soon. I can’t see Amy having anything else…”

“You never know,” Amy said. “It could be anything~”

“And yet, I doubt that,” Chrysalis replied dryly.

“It’s not like you won’t have your own,” Amy said with a giggle. “I doubt it’d be Pink that time~”

“Not if I can bloody help it,” Chrysalis nodded. “I’d like it to be a Green, or perhaps a Blue…”

“Whatever our foals will be,” Ace replied. “They will be loved all the same.”

“Count on it,” Amy said with another nod.

Eventually, the waiters brought out dessert, an assortment of sweet rolls, ice-cream, pudding and cakes.

“Sweet Celestia,” Chrysalis breathed. “Did we just die and go to cake heaven?”

“I hope not, I have more ice-cream to make when I get back,” Amy said. “Though I won’t turn down extra sweets~”

“Amen to that!” Cadence giggled. “I do love my sweets…”

“Pretty sure it’s an alicorn thing,” Shining mused and received a wing smack from his wife.

“Nope, it’s a mare thing,” Amy giggled. “We all love our sweets~”

“Agreed,” Critical nodded and Palette shook his head.

Leaving the mares to their sweets, Ace, Palette and Shining headed out onto the balcony to chat and drink. Once they’d gone, Chrysalis raised an eyebrow at Cadence.

“So,” she asked, sounding a little reserved. “How serious was all that?”

“Mmm,” Cadence hummed. “I’d like to get to know you a little better before we do anything like that.” She motioned with one hoof to the nymph’s new form. “I mean, you’re clearly changing, and hopefully for the better, but I would like to actually spend some time with you before we spend some time together like that.”

Chrysalis actually blushed. “Wait… so, so you thought I was… but, I was only saying that to mess with Shiny…”

“So was I to start with, but then I got that great idea~”

Chrysalis gulped, just what in the Hives had she started? She looked to Amy for assistance.

“What?” Amy asked. “Don’t even start to think you don’t want to see Acey on Shiny. Or taking it from Shiny.”

“I… WHAT!?” Chrysalis nearly spat out her ice-cream. “J-Just what in the hay are you imagining!?”

“The entertainment we’ll be getting while you see to us, of course,” Amy said. “What else?”

“Of course…” Chrysalis groaned. She looked at Critical, hoping her fellow Green would offer better advice.

“You want me to stop a Pink with a notion in its head?” Critical asked with a raised eyebrow. “That’d be like stopping Palette from painting. Can’t be done.”

“Oh great help you are,” Chrysalis sighed.

“Oh Amethyst?” Cadence sang. “I feel… a need to tease somepony~”

“Just mention how pretty she is, Chryssy usually shuts down after that,” Amy mentioned casually.

“Oh?” Cadence bat her eyes. “Now that you mention it, she is quite striking isn’t she? Such a pretty little mare~”

Chrysalis blushed deeper and moved to hide under the table…

“No you don’t,” Amy said before hauling her back into her seat with an aura of pink magic. “You take your compliments like the mare you are. Maybe hearing them from somepony other than me and Acey will help them sink in.”

“She’s only saying it to tease me,” Chrysalis pouted. “And you only say it because you love me…”

“Nope, I’m telling you right now,” Amy said before pointing at Cadence. “She’s being one-hundred percent honest when she says those things. Speaking of...Cadence, if you would?”

“I am being truthful,” Cadence said. “I’d never tell somepony that just to tease them.”

“I meant say more things,” Amy prodded her fellow pink mare verbally.

“Ooh, well, I like the colour of your eyes,” Cadence said. “And your fur is absolutely stunning. Like fresh snow.”

“Fine, whatever, I’m pretty by pony standards,” Chrysalis huffed. “Can we move on please?”

Then she was being hugged by her wife, who didn’t need to say anything to get her message across:

You’re pretty in my eyes too.

“Yeah…” Chrysalis returned her hug. “Look, I’ve never had a problem with how I look alright. Though… I doubt any of my remaining family would want to see me now…”

“Then if they can’t accept that you’re you, no matter what you look like, then you feel free to start up a new family with us,” Amy said.

“Yeah… well, I suppose I should still meet my father,” Chrysalis said. “I… I said some nasty things to him before I left.”

“All the more reason to reconcile,” Cadence nodded.

“...” Chrysalis remained silent and munched on cake instead. Amy gave her one last squeeze before returning to her own sugary goodness.

“So how are you enjoying the married life?” Cadence asked the couple.

“Eh, it’s alright I guess,” Chrysalis replied. “Not really all that different from before we got married.”

“That just means we’re doing it right!” Amy chirped. “Sure we have the occasional misunderstanding, but no real arguments yet. And Chryssy here has been a treat to have along~”

“I’m surprised,” Cadence said. “Not because it’s Chrysalis, but you haven’t known each other all that long yes? Same for Ledger and Twilight.”

“Acey has pretty thick skin, and you’d have to work to make me really mad at you,” Amy said with a smile. “You’d know, trust me.”

“No, I meant that I’m a little surprised you got married so quickly,” Cadence clarified. “Especially to see that you have such a powerful relationship as well.”

“Well, I was already planning on marrying Acey,” Amy said. “Once I’d tamed that bird, I wasn’t going to let him go so quickly. Chryssy was a surprise, but a pleasant one as well. And I wouldn’t do it again any other way.”

“Bleh, you’re sweeter than anything on this table,” Chrysalis poked her tongue out and then smirked. “But then, I do so love eating you up~” she purred and nibbled on the nymph’s neck. Amy let out a cute little moan at the stimulation, before blushing and batting a hoof at Chrysalis.

“Chryssy, not at the table~” she mock-whined.

“Hrrmhmhmhmm~” Chrysalis gave her a fanged grin as she moved in, nipping at her neck as a hoof caressed her. The pink nymph moaned again before doing her best to free herself from Chrysalis’ attentions.

“You cannot escape me, my delectable little treat~” Chrysalis chuckled as her horn shone and Amy was filled to the brim with love energy. The nymph moaned and rubbed her stomach, filled to bursting already. She even pushed her plate away and tried to recline in her seat, she was so full.

“Are you full already?” Chrysalis hummed. “Huh? Wait. You… you actually fed on that?”

“So full,” Amy moaned. “Please, no more Chryssy…”

“But… I don’t feel drained,” Chrysalis said, clearly puzzled.

“What do you mean?” Cadence asked.

“If she fed off of my emotions, then I should feel incredibly drained,” Chrysalis explained. “It’s why we need ponies, because we cannot replenish lost energy on our own. It’s like… pouring water from one glass to another. You’d fill one, but the other would be less so.”

“And…” Cadence started.

“And, I don’t feel drained. Not in the slightest. My magic reserves are as strong as ever, nor do I feel any great hunger for emotional energy…”

“Guess being a Flutterpony...comes with some perks,” Amy observed.

It’s what a Flutterpony does, a familiar voice spoke up. Rather than steal the love of others. They can give and give, like a fountain of energy. The love to drive back darkness…

“Yup, that’d explain it,” the pink nymph said with a nod. “We totally should have expected that you’d have cool new powers with your new form.” Then she gasped. “Imagine what would happen if the ‘lings in Equestria found out? You’d be so popular, like on par with the Princesses popular!”

“Imagine if they found out!” Chrysalis suddenly gasped. “I’d be treated like a friggen buffet!”

“You’ve got Acey and me to protect you,” Amy said. “Plus the ‘lings in Las Pegasus are really nice. We could start there.”

“Yeah, no. I’m keeping this under wraps for now,” Chrysalis said. “The two of you, and I might tell Ledger if he’s good. Possibally Sugar since she knows how to keep her mouth shut.” Chrysalis sighed. “Look Amy, not everyling is as nice as you are. Back at the Hives… I would completely expect someling to try and use me for a coup.”

“And then I would break things until I got you back,” Amy said, smiling all the while. Critical shuddered a little at that smile and edged away from the crazy mare.

“Amy, I love you,” Chrysalis smiled. “But sometimes, you scare the ever-loving fuck outta me.”

“I try!” Amy said before she hugged Chrysalis again.

“You try to scare the chitin off of me?” Chrysalis sighed and hugged her back. “I sometimes wonder if going Black would have been the less terrifying option for you…”

“Probably,” Amy hummed. “Cause then I’d just be all mopey all day. Whereas now, I can still recall how to properly kick a unicorn’s flank.”

“Why specifically a unicorn?” Cadence decided to ask as she rolled a cherry between her teeth.

“Pegasus fighting styles all emphasize how to counter a Unicorn’s magic,” Amy said. “I mean, there’s some covering for dealing with another pegasus and earth ponies, but a unicorn using their magic on you is one of the universal fight-enders.”

“Not always,” Cadence replied. “And I suppose it would come down to the skill of the caster as well. Admittedly, I’m not really one for a fight, nor is Twilight.” She smiled and tapped her chin. “Now, if you picked a fight with Aunt Luna…”

“Nope, not that crazy,” Amy said with a shake of her head.

“Not many are,” Cadence grinned. “Well, except for Midnight of course.” She took the cherry into her mouth and rolled it around before swallowing. Then she spit out the stem, tied in a perfect knot.

“Ooooh~ Now I sorta regret that we don’t know you better,” Amy said. “Then we could totally talk Acey into a group session~”

Cadence just giggled and poked out her tongue. “Well, I don’t mean to brag… but I was able to shut Midnight up with a small kiss~”

“Chryssy, do you think the palace would mind if we borrowed her for a night?” Amy asked her wife.

“Probably,” Chrysalis smiled, then she got an idea. “Hey Cadence?” she piped up. “When was the last time you had a sleepover?”

“Hmm, quite a while,” the princess nodded. “When I was still a filly I think, why?”

Chrysalis turned to Amy and her smile widened…

“Sleepover?” the pink nymph asked cutely.

Cadence paused. There was… that was just so…

So. Damned. CUTE!

“Alright,” the princess caved. “Seems we’re having a Royal Sleepover.” She turned and looked at Critical. “Will you stay as well? I fear I’ll need at least one voice of reason.”

“I don’t think I could talk Palette into it,” the nymph said before polishing off her dessert. “So it’s going to be you and them. Good luck~”

That was when she had a pink alicorn in front of her, unleashing the full power of the ‘Princess Pouty Puppy’ expression.

Surprisingly, the nymph didn’t cave. She’d grown up with a Pink and was, more often than not, tasked with looking after her little sister. She’d grown used to that sort of expression. Plus, she had a stallion to think about as well. “Sorry, but I really don’t think I can…”

“Pleeeeease?” Cadence replied. “I’d like all my friends to come. I bet Palette would like to spend more time with Shiny and Aerial.”

“Tell you what,” Critical said before playing what she thought would be a trump card. “You convince him, then I’ll stay.”

Cadence smiled. A rather predatory one. She got up and walked over to the balcony. “Oh boys”~

“Yeah hon?” Shining turned around.

“The girls and I are gonna have a little sleepover. You don’t mind entertaining one another for a night do you?”

“I get the night off?” Shining asked.

“Yup!”

“Sweet!” he turned to the other two. “Wanna hit the bar tonight?”

“Sold!” Palette grinned.

“Sounds like fun,” Ace nodded. Cadence turned to Critical and smiled sweetly. The nymph sighed, but smiled. Well, she did agree…

“Victory!” Cadence beamed and clapped her hooves. Three maids appeared and the alicorn turned to them. “We’re having a small get-together tonight. Could you please bring some snacks and drinks to my room?”

“At once your highness,” the mares saluted and dashed off.

“Aww, how come I don’t have servants?” Chrysalis pouted.

“We can work on that when we get back,” Amy giggled.

“Really?” Chrysalis smiled and hummed. “I wonder who I should enthrall first…”

As the guys walked past, Ace paused and leaned down to Critical. “Don’t worry,” he whispered. “I’ll make sure Palette doesn’t go overboard.”

“Thank you,” she replied. “I trust him, but I worry too.”

Ace nodded and patted her on the shoulder as they left.

“Okay!” Cadence clapped and looked at the trio of changelings. “Let’s get started~”

Chapter 100 - Homecoming

Midnight sighed as the group finally arrived home. It’d been a looong trip and the thestral was exhausted. It’d been more than a month now since she fell pregnant and she was still trying to fight a lot of her mood swings.

Twilight had returned to her castle via portal to check on Spike and the amount of work that she’d missed over the last week.

Ledger dreaded the mountain of paperwork that most likely awaited him. Then again, with his spell, it’d only take him a few days to get through it all.

Maybe.

“I was enjoying that time off,” Scope sighed. “Not really looking forward to working again.”

“I wish I could work again,” Midnight sighed. “Maybe I should go and take a ten month vacation somewhere…”

“Do that, and I’ll look for you no matter where you may roam,” Ledger said.

“You would too,” Midnight giggled. She winced and put a hoof to her head. Another headache…

“Ah’m gonna check on mah trees,” Cider said as she went to trot out of the door, only to be pounced on by Fritter.

“Well, Cider’s out of commission,” Scope said. Her ear flicked and she stepped to one side as Twilight teleported into the room, her face was… rather pale.

“Twilight?” Ledger asked her. “I thought you were going to check up on your work…”

“I… I did… and I had to run a few tests…” she said quietly. “You… you remember that potion yeah?”

“Yes, it said something about stimulating a mare’s season,” Ledger replied. “Why?”

“W-Well,” Twilight have a nervous chuckle as her eye twitched. “Seems… seems that it was enough to…” She trailed off into nervous giggles again. Ledger got the gist of it and just stared at her for the longest time.

Midnight blinked and looked at the pair. “Twilight,” she asked bluntly. “Are you pregnant?”

“Probably!!” Twilight cried. “It’s still too early to tell for sure, but the first test couldn’t provide a definite negative answer.”

Wordlessly, Ledger summoned his book and flipped to the spell section from the first dirty book he’d found. Once he’d located what he was looking for, he turned the book around and showed Twilight the pregnancy-detection spell.

“I already used that one, along with a half-dozen other ones,” Twilight said and stomped her hoof. “And why aren’t you saying anything? I am seriously freaking out here!!”

“Because panicking won’t make anything better,” Ledger said calmly. “You’ll just work yourself up and overlook something obvious.”

“Ohh, I know that tone,” Midnight mused. “Trust me princess. He’s freaking out waaaay more than you are. He just does it on the inside.” Midnight got an idea of getting him to open up.

“Hey Ledger? How does it feel to be the first pony to impregnate a princess?”

“Like my heart is going a mile a second and my brain can’t decide where to go to freak out about this,” Ledger honestly replied. “If not for the fact that Twilight needs me here at this precise moment, I’m fairly certain I’d be screaming somewhere.”

“You know, she could just take a potion, that’d give you a definite negative result,” Midnight said. “I can tell that neither of you are in any way ready for this.” She sighed and sat down. “Look, what happened with me was an accident, and it freaked us all out pretty bad. What say we actually plan the next one?”

“Planning sounds good,” Ledger replied. “What’s the plan if she’s actually pregnant, though?”

“Well, like I said. Take a potion, make sure she isn’t and we can plan for the next one.”

Twilight gulped and looked at Ledger. “Should I be scared that Midnight is being the responsible one here?”

“Hey!”

“Maybe a little,” Ledger said. “Whatever you choose to do, Twilight, I will stand by you.”

“W-Well, you know me. I like… to be prepared,” Twilight said and gulped. “Would you be mad… if I took that potion?”

“Not at all,” Ledger said. “I honestly think Midnight should have her foal before we go adding more to the family, if at all possible.”

“I have an idea!” Midnight suddenly said and flew upstairs, leaving behind two confused ponies.

Ten mintes of awkward silence later, she returned, dragging a puffy pink pony along for the ride.

“Wheeee!” Pinkie giggled as she rode of Midnight’s back. “Oh! Hey guys!” she suddenly gasped. “You’re back? I should throw a party—”

“Midnight,” Ledger said. “What is your plan?”

Midnight pointed at Twilight. “Early warning detection system. Pinkie Pie ACTIVATE!”

Pinke twitched as she zoomed over to Twilight and stared her in the eyes.

“Y-Yes?” Twilight stammered.

“Hmmm….” Pinkie stared closer, so close that their eyes were almost touching. “Nope. I got nothing. No Pinkie Sense happening here.”

“So...what does that mean?” Ledger said.

“Pinkie, is Twilight pregnant?” Midnight asked.

“Nopey-dopey! No Mini-princesses here,” Pinkie giggled. Ledger let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

As did Twilight, and Pinkie giggled. “The only birthday I sense is from Middy. Still, the look on your faces was pretty funny~”

“As long as we get to plan out our next few foals, I will be happy,” Ledger said with a sigh. “I’d like to be a bit more financially secure before we add more mouths to feed.”

“That’s a good plan,” Pinkie giggled as she bounced for the stairs. “Later-taters~”

Twilight all but fell to the floor. “I don’t need this kind of excitement right now…”

“Neither do I,” Ledger slumped. “I vote for eating at Fredrick’s tonight and just cuddling at home to relax.”

“I am all for that,” Twilight nodded as Midnight headed to the door, opening it just as Sugar was about to knock.

“Sup lovebug?” Midnight smiled and booped her nose. “Heard you coming~”

“I heard you’d come back,” Sugar said as she uncrossed her eyes from the booping. “So I wanted to extend a small invitation to my club for all of you, so that we can...discuss, something.”

“Huh? We were just planning to go out as well,” Midnight said and looked back into the room. “Hey Ledgie! We got an invite to Sugar’s place!”

“Isn’t that the very opposite of relaxing?” Ledger asked. “I mean, that club would just end up winding us up again.”

“He has a point, we’re a little tired and just had a scare like you wouldn’t believe,” Midnight nodded. “Hey, why don’t we get the private room at Fred’s? You and Moonie can join us if you’d like?”

“That works,” Sugar hummed. “Dinner, then?”

“It’s a date,” Midnight nodded. “Hear that Levvy? We’re gonna do dinner with Sugar-flanks and Moonie~”

“So long as she behaves, I don’t see an issue,” Ledger replied.

“I’ll be on my best behavior,” the nymph purred.

“Yay!” Midnight trilled and kissed her nose. “Nice to see you again as well. See you later?”

“But of course,” The nymph said before giving them all a saucy wink and leaving. And were her flanks swaying?

“...Was Sugar being like… Extra Sugar?” Midnight questioned.

“Not that I could see,” Ledger said with a shrug.

“Eh, must be my imagination,” Midnight said and closed the door.

A few hours later, Cider was able to free herself from her sister and the group headed into the city. And once they reached the Strip…?

There was a lot of undisguised changelings in the city. Most of the population must have not bothered.

And yet, the ponies didn’t seem fussed in the slightest. In fact, several were holding conversations and Ledger saw more than a few couples.

It only made him happy that he’d finally decided to go out without his disguise.

“Whoa, Ledger’s stripping,” Scope giggled. “Is this some weird alternate dimension where a fun Ledger exists?”

“Nope,” Ledger said as he emerged from the shape-change. “Just...don’t need it anymore. I have my company, I have my mares. What more could I ask for or possibly need? My disguise is worthless, because you all married me for me.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say worthless. I bet there’s still ponies that have issues… besides,” she trailed off, but Ledger made out something about his unicorn form being cute.

“Eh, ponies with issues can take it up with me civilly,” Ledger said. “I’m openly a ‘ling now and I’m not going anywhere. And I have plenty of forms I can take.”

“Well I think that’s wonderful,” Twilight beamed and kissed his cheek.

“Yup, and we can tell everyone that you’re our cuddlebug!” Midnight said and sucked in a lungfull of air. “YOU HEAR THAT LAS PEGASUS. THIS CHANGELING IS MY HUSBAND!!”

Ledger and the others learned two things that day.

One, Midnight’s voice could project exceptionally well. Level Ledger was pretty sure half the city heard that.

Two. Almost everypony in visual range had stopped to stare at the hollering.

He merely smiled and waved at them. Hopefully being normal would counter Midnight’s personality.

Three. Almost everypony smiled, waved back, hell, some even cheered and clapped. Midnight took a bow and made a big show of grabbing Ledger and kissing him right on the lips, earning more than a few catcalls and whistles. The drone merely rolled with it and kissed her back, wondering when she’d stop putting on such a show.

She broke the kiss, took a bow and then continued walking like absolutely nothing was wrong.

Cider and Twilight had ducked out of sight somewhere, appearing further down the street. Scope was attempting to shake down some ponies for money for the show…

Ledger sighed again as he followed after Midnight. Some things would never change. Nor would he ever seek to change them.

They eventually reached Fredrick’s place without further incident, well, until Midnight walked inside anyway.

“You home Loverbird?” she called out.

“Yes indeed,” he said, before taking in Ledger’s form and blinking a few times. “Well well. Somebody got courageous over their honeymoon.”

“I just don’t need the disguise anymore, Fred,” Ledger replied. “Think you could set us up with a private room? And let in Sugar and Moondancer when they arrive?”

“I can do that,” the griffon said with a nod before he started to lead their party to the room they’d requested. Midnight’s ear flicked and she suddenly turned, leaping over Ledger and there was the telltale thud and annoyed shout of her pouncing on somepony.

“Dammit Midnight, get off!” Narrow shouted, trying to shove the huggy batpony away.

“Oh, I got off a lot recently~” Midnight giggled and kissed her cheek. “I missed you Cap.”

Narrow rolled her eyes and returned the hug. “Yeah, the city has been nice and peaceful without you lot around. Glad to have you back.”

“Glad to be back,” Ledger said. “Oh, do you still have that bounty I earned? I could use it after all the purchasing I did for the wedding.”

“Yes, I’ve kept it aside for you,” Narrow replied as Midnight looked at the pair of them.

“Bounty?” She suddenly gasped. “Did you go on an adventure with the Cap and not invite me? Oh! I see how it is, I’m being traded in for a magic model. Fine. Whatever!”

“More like trouble found me while I was getting all your rings,” Ledger replied. “I certainly wasn’t going to stand there and be mugged, and she’s probably the only reason any of them can walk.” His step-fathers had emphasized that if a threat continues being a threat after you disable them...take it a step further and neutralize them.

“You’re lucky I didn’t charge you with excessive force,” Narrow sighed. “In the future, can you just knock them out or something?”

“...If I knew a knock-out spell, I’d say yes,” Ledger said sheepishly.

“I’ll teach you one,” Narrow nodded. “Anyway, sorry for disturbing you. Here’s your bat back.” She lifted Midnight with her magic and put the giggling Thestral on Ledger’s back. “Have a good dinner. And we’ll catch up soon.”

“I’m sure we will,” Ledger said with a smile. “If only so you can determine what I’m doing next and how to react to it ahead of time.”

“That would be a goddess-send,” Narrow laughed. “A future-sight for Ledger’s actions. I feel my headaches clearing up already.” The unicorn chuckled again and headed off after giving Fredrick a kiss on the cheek.

“Sometimes I fear that you are making my marefriend’s life far too stressful for her,” Fredrick sighed before leading the party of ponies and ‘lings to the private room.

“S’not my fault I’m a trouble magnet,” Ledger said. “Though I will take credit for how I react to said trouble.”

“My point still stands,” Fredrick sighed again. Midnight giggled and kissed his cheek as well. She was being very affectionate today.

“Sorry Freddy. Once I’ve popped this Parasite out, I’ll do what I can to make the Cap’s life easier.”

“That would be very appreciated,” Fredrick said before opening the door to the room. “I will see you all again soon, I’m sure.”

“Yup~” Midnight trotted in, curling her tail around Ledger’s leg as she dragged him inside as well. It took a few moments for everypony to get seated, before they made their usual order of garlic bread and a round of cider… and juice for Midnight. The griffon nodded at them and closed the door behind him as he left. Now all they had to do was wait for their guests…

True to form, Sugar kept nopony waiting too long as the doors opened a few minutes later, the nymph practically prancing into the room as Moondancer made a much more reserved entrance.

“Hey guys, welcome back,” the unicorn greeted them, getting a hug from Midnight and Twilight. “Enjoy your honeymoon?”

“The cleaning staff sure didn’t~” Midnight chuckled and wiggled her eyebrows.

“Though the trip was certainly fun for all of us,” Ledger said. “I had no idea I could do so much in such a short timespan.”

“Or do us so many times~” Midnight tacked on with another throaty purr.

“Oooh, do I smell a juicy story?” Sugar asked as she sat in her seat.

“Oh, it involves juices alright~” Midnight added, causing Twilight and Cider to groan and facehoof.

“Don’t encourage her,” Twilight sighed. “Or she really will tell every sordid detail.”

“But I like the details,” Sugar pouted. Midnight grinned wider as a blush appeared on Cider and Twilight’s face. Scope just tuned them out, having a mental conversation with the changeling in Ponyville.

“Weeeell,” Midnight started. “Levvy learned a few new spells, like one that makes a very real and anatomically correct in all the right places clone.” She smirked and let that sink in. “Oh, and he can produce two at a time~”

“I’m trying to get it up to three, but it’s not easy,” the drone said.

“I like this story so far~” Sugar said.

“Well, it let him ‘divide and conquer’ as it were… until all three decided to gang up on one pony. A cute and sexy Levvy in each hole~”

“And now I’m jealous that I didn’t try harder,” Sugar pouted.

“Combined that with the spells you gave him,” Midnight said, now sitting next to her and whispering into her ear. “And throw some Booster and Heat potions into the mix. We destroyed that room~”

“Oooh,” Sugar said as she shivered a little. “I do hope you paid extra for all the damage you incurred that the cleaning staff had to fix.”

“Ah, it wasn’t as bad as I make it out to be. I mean, some of my screams broke glass. But mostly it was the bedsheets being wrecked.”

“Let’s not forget the time you bit Ledger,” Scope added offhandedly. Ledger just blushed and looked away, and Sugar grinned.

“You know, we never did test your bite on a Violet,” she mused.

“Truuuue,” Midnight smiled and licked her lips.

“No biting Sugar at the dinnertable!” Moondancer said adamantly as she teleported Midnight back next to Ledger. “She’s bad enough as is.”

“I can’t be all that bad,” Sugar said. “After all, I let you sleep at night instead of screwing you senseless.”

“Only because I threatened to knock you out,” Moondancer groaned. “Midnight's bite is not to be underestimated.”

“You were fun when she bit you~” Sugar purred.

Moondancer glowered and mumbled.

“Hmm, I haven't tested it on anypony else here either,” Midnight mused and looked at Twilight. The Alicorn gulped and shook her head.

“Don’t even think about it,” the princess said.

“At least, not here, not now,” Ledger said before kissing Midnight. “We’re trying to have a nice, normal outing here.”

“Since when is anything we do normal?” Midnight giggled. “We’re in the first herd marriage in a century, the first Changelings to legally marry a pony in their true forms, and the fact you also married one of only four alicorns in the world…”

“I like to try to be normal sometimes,” Ledger said. “Some days I can almost see it from where I am. I like to wave at it as it passes by.”

Scope and Twilight stifled giggles at that.

“Ah, I feel your pain,” Moondancer sighed. “It’d be nice if all the other Violets would stop hitting on me at the club. Even after marrying Sugar, I think it only made them worse…”

“Now you’re the forbidden fruit,” Sugar said. “They know better than to force anything with you, but they all want a piece of the mare that could tame me.”

“Oh, most have been very adamant that they want you as well. Apparently we’re a package deal,” Moondancer said. “Even threatening them with vaporization doesn’t work anymore.”

“Please refrain from incapacitating my workers,” Sugar said. “I sort of need them to make money.”

Moondancer nodded and then blinked. “Wait, tamed? How in the seven circles of Tartarus are you of all ponies, tame?”

“Look at it this way, I’m not gunning for Midnight or Fredrick anymore,” the nymph giggled. “I have everything I need with you beside me.”

Moondancer blushed as Midnight cooed.

“Awww~” Cider, Twilight and Scope all said together.

“I share your feeling,” Ledger agreed with a nod. “So long as my mares stay by me, then I can face anything.”

“Urgh, are all Nobles so damned sappy?” Scope asked. “Seriously, I’m just glad a Pink isn’t here or the sweetness would be lethal.”

“Keep up the taunting, I’m sure one of the Pinks in our lives will hear you,” Ledger said.

“And that’s what scares me,” Scope nodded. “Is that that is entirely possible…”

“Never underestimate Pinkie Pie,” Twilight murmured with a faraway look in her eyes.

“So…” Midnight coughed to clear her throat. “You wanted to ask us something Sugar?”

“Yes, but let’s wait until after dinner,” the nymph said. “I would rather not put you off your meals if at all possible.”

Soon enough, Fredrick returned with a round of breadsticks and cider, as well as a glass of juice for his favorite thestral customer. Midnight thanked him with a sultry wink as she sipped her juice.

Once he left, the batpony spoke up. “If you insist. But know that by now, it’s pretty hard to piss us off.”

“I know, I’m counting on that,” Sugar said. “It’s...not exactly easy, what I have to ask you…”

Now Midnight was curious, but the nymph seemed apprehensive, so she would push it. But stil…

“Is it dangerous?” Midnight asked. “I’ll not let anymore harm come to my family.”

“Not at all!” Sugar said with a shake of her head. “It’s just...weird to ask you, and it probably will have you saying a few things…”

Now Midnight was curious. The violet nymph normally seemed so… indomitable. “Well, alright then. I think we can all promise to at least hear you out. You are our friend after all.”

“Thank you,” the nymph said with a genuine smile before she tried a breadstick. “Mmm, just as good as I remember them~”

As they ate, Twilight spoke up this time.

“So, I noticed that there are quite a few changelings out and about now,” the princess said. “Even you seem to have forgone a disguise.”

“The ponies here are very accepting of us after everything we’ve done and are doing to help keep this city safe for us all,” Sugar said. “It’s not easy, repairing the damage from a second invasion, but I think we’ve managed it at last. To the point where it seems even your drone here is going without his usual costume.”

“I got married as myself,” Ledger said with a shrug. “There’s no real reason to not be me anymore.”

“That’s the excuse he uses anyway,” Midnight giggled and bumped his flank with hers. “But I love him no matter what he looks like, so it’s fine.” The bat took a sip of her juice and hummed. “Mmm, delicious. Now, how’s Steppy doing? Still causing mischief?”

“Actually, having a steady griffonfriend, and having that threat of it being taken away at any moment should she misbehave, has toned her mischief down a lot,” Sugar said. “I will have to thank the host for his brother being an effective bargaining tool.”

“You’re evil,” Midnight giggled as said host walked back in with their main dishes. A plate of everyone’s favourites.

“Don’t forget you still owe me that recipe,” Fredrick chuckled, nudging Ledger. “But, I have a few new ones you might like~”

“I have a good cookbook to bargain with, and some of them are more effective if you have a ‘ling around to add...certain spices,” Ledger said. “Just, not too much.”

“Hmm, I get the feeling it’s similar to a certain drink served by a certain changeling mare,” the griffon nodded, looking at Sugar.

“Only if you add too much of a certain thing,” Leder replied. “If you just add a touch of love, ponies will love your food a little more.”

“Hmm, I’d like to think that my skill and the love I put in is enough,” Fredrick nodded. “But! We also have a whole new clientele of emotivores to serve, so catering to their tastes is something I should look into.”

“Hmm, did I ever show you what I could do to a drink?” Midnight said to Sugar.

“On the very day we met~” Sugar purred.

Midnight scratched her head as she thought back. “Oh yeahhh... “

“I’ll leave you to it, give me a call when you’d like dessert,” Fredrick nodded and gave Ledger a pat on the shoulder before leaving. The drone rolled his eyes as he continued eating his dinner.

“What’s with that look?” Midnight giggled and licked some pasta sauce from his lips. “I think it’s great that you have such a good friend.”

“You wouldn’t be saying that if you knew some of the things he got up to, and tried to get me up to,” Ledger replied. “I swear half the mares he slept with, he did to try and set them up with me.”

“Only half?” Midnight giggled. “And I sense some interesting stories.”

“All I’ll say is I’m surprised you got me to sleep with you,” Ledger said. “I’d ordinarily turn mares away when it was just me. Something I got very good at over time.”

“Not that good apparently,” Scope laughed.

“Yeah, not to mention ah seduced ya pretty easily as well.” Cider grinned and looked at Moondancer. “Lil’ tip. Try rubbing sugar into yer coat, see what happens?”

Moondancer blinked and looked at Sugar Darling. The nymph just shook her head, smiling all the while. “You’re plenty sweet as-is, dear,” she said.

“I say do it,” Scope giggled. “Darlings reaction should be good.”

“We'll see,” Moondancer hummed and ate her sunflower salad.

“Let’s just say there’s a reason Cider is my ‘sweet mare,’” Ledger said.

“Ledger…” Cider growled. “You are not telling them that!”

“That’s all I’m saying,” Ledger said before miming a zipper over his mouth. Cider pouted and pointed at Sugar.

“Any you can stop imaginin’ it. You slept with mah sister, so ya don't get to think of me as well.”

“Too late~” Sugar said with a happy grin. “Oooh, I can picture it now…”

“Ahh,” Cider groaned.

“It could be worse,” Midnight said and petted her wife's head. “She could be imagining you and Fritter together.”

“...Ah swear y’all do this on purpose,” Cider sighed.

“She is Midnight,” Ledger pointed out. “We really should have expected more from her.”

“If it helps,” Midnight smiled. “I've imagined having you and Fritter at the same time~”

The stare Cider gave her caused the pan apocalypse.

“What? Sisters are hot!” Midnight defended herself.

“Mares, I give you Midnight,” Ledger said. “I can’t make this stuff up.”

“Thankyou, thankyou,” Midnight bowed as Moondancer, Scope and Sugar gave her a round of applause. “I'll be here all week.”

“I should pass a new law,” Twilight mused. “Make it illegal to encourage Midnight in any aspect.”

“Do that, and I promise you she’ll find a dozen ways around it in a day.” Ledger paused for effect. “Mainly because she’d ask me to find them.”

“Yup, Ledger is my cheat code for life,” Midnight said and hugged her bug.

“Just eat your dinner,” Twilight sighed and Midnight smacked the edge of her plate with a free hoof, launching her food into the air. She opened her mouth and with a single gulp, swallowed the lot.

“Well, there’s a new trick,” Ledger responded with. “And how often do you have to use it?”

“Everytime I take a certain something into my mouth~” she purred into his ear, just loud enough for everypony else to hear…

“Ah,” he said with a nod. “That explains quite a bit.”

“You okay there love?” Moondancer petted her wife’s back. “You’re shaking…”

“So...much...lust,” she replied. “Urge to pounce...rising…”

“Oh dear,” Moondancer looked at Midnight. “Better tone it down Little Bat. Sugar is reaching breaking point.”

“Huh? But I'm just getting started,” the thestral grinned. The violet just shuddered again and did her very best to restrain herself.

Something she didn’t have a lot of practice in…

“Midnight, stop playing with the changeling,” Twilight said Midnight giggled.

“Here in Equestria, food plays with you!”

Twilight groaned and joined Cider in smacking her face on the table. Ledger just rolled his eyes as he finished off his own meal.

“Sugar.” Moondancer said warily. “Calm. Deep breaths. Foalnapping Midnight won’t help you.”

“I disagree,” Sugar said. “I could live forever with her by my side.”

“Oh, so she’s the source of immortality now?” Moondancer giggled. “Just what her overinflated ego needs to hear.”

“I have to admit, I’m kind of envious of you now Ledger,” the violet said.

“I imagine most ‘lings are,” the drone replied. “Fortunately, all these mares can handle their own if push comes to shove.”

“All my pity goes to the idiot that tries to mess with us,” Scope nodded.

“All the overpowered ponies live here,” Moondancer giggled. “Oh well.”

“And don’t be too envious,” Midnight smiled. “You got to marry Moonie~”

“True, I do love my wife,” Sugar said as she gave her a quick kiss. “She’s like a unicorn version of you, Midnight. And fortunately enough, I knew a unicorn some time ago. Maybe I’ll even show her all his journals one day.”

“In a box under your bed, sealed with a Type-3 magilock,” Moondancer said as she sipped her cider.

“...You’ve already read them, haven’t you?” Sugar deadpanned.

“I got bored one day while you were out,” Moondancer shrugged. “One of your Violets was very persistent. I hit him with the Warming, Feedback and Denial spells~”

“That would explain something I’d been wondering about,” Sugar mused. “Ah well, I suppose I should expect to see some of my tricks turned against me in the near future.”

“I was going to surprise you with them,” Moondancer smiled and then leaned in to nibble her ear. “I know you’re barely hanging on as is… maybe that Warming spell might be applied to you as well~”

The nymph moaned and did her best to restrain herself again. It was hard, though. Especially with the topic they were going to bring up and the amount of lust flying around…

“But I won’t be that mean to you… yet~” Moondancer gave her ear a kiss and pulled back.

“Heehee, Ledger likes those spells,” Midnight said. “But he hasn’t used the Denial one since I broke it…”

Sugar’s jaw dropped as she looked at Midnight. “That’s it, I’m stealing your wife,” she said to the herd. “She’s too good to not sleep with.”

“I’m half-tempted, just for a night of peace,” Twilight smiled. “Take Ledger as well, then we might actually get a full night’s rest for once.”

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Ledger said.

“Apparently not,” Scope giggled. “Don’t worry. We’re not going to feed you and Midnight to the lusty ‘ling.”

“Actually…” Sugar said. “I think now is a good time to bring this up…” She looked to her wife for confirmation.

Moondancer smiled and nodded, this was either going to go well, or not. But she knew they’d still be friends afterwards. Midnight wouldn’t let something like this get between them…

Well, Midnight might get between them anyway~

“So, what’s this big question already?” Midnight asked, bouncing slightly in her seat. The anticipation was killing her.

“To, ah, put it simply,” Sugar said before deciding to go for the blunt route. “We want to propose that...well, someday in the future, we swap spouses.”

Midnight had raised a napkin to her lips… only to have it drop to the table as she froze. Twilight and Cider were in a similar position, Scope…

Honestly, Scope wasn’t fazed much. She’d expected this from the nymph at some point. Still, it was a small shock to hear her actually ask.

Ledger was actually frozen as well. Apparently the idea really shocked him.

“Aaaand you broke them,” Moondancer sighed and patted Sugar’s back. “Okay, now how to unstick them…?” She shrugged and her horn lit up, giving each of them a sharp pinch on the rump.

Ledger let out a sharp cry as he came back to himself, shaking his head to clear it. “Okay, did I just hear what I thought I heard?” he asked. “Did you just suggest?...”

“That we do a little swinging?” Moondancer said. “Yes, that’s exactly what she asked. Look Ledger…” Moon paused and sighed. “I’m going to be honest with you here. I still have feelings for Midnight. I always have and I always will. I love Sugar with all my heart, but there’s a special place for that silly bat that can’t be filled by anypony else.”

“And I sympathized with you from the moment I met you,” Sugar added. “I dearly hoped that I would be the one to show you that nymphs weren’t to be feared or hated, and kept hoping that one day you would show up at my club...only to hear that you’d already entered a relationship. So I kept my silence and hoped that maybe you would see clear to including me...and then you went and got married.” She shook her head. “Nothing against you mares, of course, but I can’t help but look and wonder ‘what could have been?’”

“To be fair, you got married first,” Midnight replied, rubbing the spot where Moondancer pinched her. “Well… this is, well you know me, I’m always open to a little fun. But…”

“What exactly does ‘swinging’ mean?” Twilight asked.

“It’s, ah,” Ledger said. “It’s where a pair of married couples...exchange spouses, sometimes once. Sometimes regularly. It wasn’t exactly...an uncommon practice, back in the Lands...”

“Okay, exchange for what pur...pose…” Twilight facehooved. “We’re talking about sex aren’t we?”

“What gave it away?” Sugar asked innocently.

“Because it’s all we seem to talk about when we’re together?” Twilight deadpanned.

“Ah honestly… ah don’t know whut to think here,” Cider commented. “Ah mean, ah think yer lovely mares, but ah don’t know if ah’d sleep with y’all.”

“We’re not suggesting quite that,” Sugar said. “What we’re proposing is more of a...trade. One night, Moodancer for Ledger.”

Midnight turned to Ledger. “You… okay?”

“Not really, no,” Ledger said. “I...don’t know what to think about this.”

“Well,” Midnight looked at the pair. “The old me would have no qualms about this. And… well I still…” She couldn’t quite say love. She wasn’t sure what she felt for the unicorn across from her. And then there was the thought of Ledger sleeping with Sugar.

Admittedly, she kind of wanted to watch that.

“Honestly,” Scope replied. “I don’t like the idea of Ledger sleeping with another nymph. Not after what I had to go through just to get a relationship with him. I had to work my bucking ass off and I was worried and panicked and irritable…”

The drone bit his lip, biting back the initial retort that came to mind. It would only get him in trouble anyways.

Too bad half his mares were masters of reading him.

“Something up Ledger?” Cider asked.

“Nope,” the silver ‘ling said. “Nothing at all.”

Cider raised an eyebrow, as did Scope.

The word flashed through his mind. Scope didn’t even need to say it.

‘Emotivore.’

“You all can stop looking at me,” Ledger said. “I’m not saying it.”

“If you got something to say, then say it or I’ll reach into your mind and find out myself,” Scope said calmly. Ledger shook his head and cleared the comment from his mind, exhaling as the thought finally left him be.

“Better now,” he said. “So what were we talking about?”

“About whether or not we’re trading you for Moondancer,” Twilight sighed. “Why is this even a thing…?”

“Right, that thing,” Ledger said with a nod.

“You don’t have to give us an answer right now,” Sugar said. “I just wanted to put the offer on the table. Both of us still have feelings for members of your herd, and if you ever decide to take us up on it...you know where to find us.”

That was when Midnight promptly got up and walked out of the room without a word.

“Uh-oh,” Ledger said. “Um...mares, if you’ll excuse me…” With that, he was up and after her, knowing that she would likely want or need him there to talk/vent to.

Outside, Midnight paced up and down the alley beside the restaurant. Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and any poor changeling that tried to get a fix on her would likely end up with motion sickness. Ledger didn’t say a thing as he stood to one side of the alley, giving her her space but being close enough to show up if she needed him.

“I… I had to leave,” Midnight muttered. “Because if I opened my mouth, I would have likely made you all hate me.”

Ledger didn’t say anything, just sat there and waited. She would say if she wanted him to say anything, and she likely needed to work this out herself.

“Because if I said I was actually considering it, then you’d likely think that I didn’t think much of our own relationship, or I was slipping back into old habits…” She paused and glared at him, her crimson eyes glowing in the dark. “Well? Say something!?”

“I would never think less of you, Midnight,” Ledger said honestly. “I love you like I love the others: Fully and unconditionally. I could never hate you.”

“And what about you?” she hissed, her tail thrashing about. “What’s your thoughts on this. And don’t you even think of lying to me Secret!”

“I think we should spend a lot longer being married before we consider this, though there is one, very good reason, we should,” Ledger said. “And it involves why she would ask in the first place instead of be content with her marriage with Moondancer.”

“And that is?” Midnight asked, clicking her teeth.

“Moondancer can’t give Sugar a foal, Midnight,” Ledger said. “Maybe that’s what she’s after.”

Then… Midnight’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

“She wants… my mate’s foal!?!?”

“Probably just one that won’t be as big a troublemaker as Two-Step,” Ledger said. “And it isn’t very often that you see a Noble drone in Equestria...like I said, we should consider it for a while, together, before we get back to her with a definite yes or no answer.”

Midnight turned and trotted back inside. She entered the room and walked straight over to Sugar Darling.

“Answer me this,” she said, her glossy eyes showing that her emotions were unreadable. “Do you want a foal?”

“Perhaps one day in the future,” Sugar mused. “When Two-Step is grown up enough to stake out her own place with her griffonfriend. And when I’m feeling lonely, even with Moondancer here. Then maybe then I would want another foal. Plus, it would give Moondancer somepony to raise and corrupt. I’ve already done that with Two-Step.”

They could just adopt. That was what Midnight had planned when she was going to marry Moondancer…

And yet, being with a foal herself… she could understand Sugar’s point of view.

“You just had to pick Ledger didn’t you…” she sighed. “Look. I guess… the idea of a swap, is a little appealing. But having a foal with Ledger…”

That was when his other three mares all coughed and spluttered.

“Right now? I’d likely tear you apart. And I mean that very literally,” Midnight said. “Thestral hormones are crazy and I’m fighting the urge to tear your throat out for even thinking about it…”

“And I thank you for that,” Sugar said. “Perhaps, ah, we should...postpone talking about this until you aren’t pregnant then?”

“I think that would be best,” Midnight nodded. “But, if we’re going to do this. If you really want this swap to happen…” She looked at her wives. “You’ll need to convince them as well.”

“I would expect nothing less,” Sugar agreed. “But not now. I’ll give you all your space for the time being. You’re still newlyweds, after all...I merely agreed to propose this to you once you came back from your honeym-Mmph!?”

Midnight was kissing her.

Oh wow that was some tongue.

After a few breathless moments, Midnight broke it and smiled. “I’m not saying yes right now… but I’m not saying no either~”

“...Now I wish we were swapping me for Ledger, but Moondancer wouldn’t accept that unless it was a study session,” Sugar sighed.

“I don’t do stallions,” Moondancer nodded. “Come back when he can gendershift and we’ll talk.”

“Look, I have a few things to talk about with the others,” Midnight said, a few ideas forming. “Can we meet up again soon?”

“You know where to find us,” Sugar said. Ledger, meanwhile, couldn’t meet Moondancer’s gaze.

“Something wrong?” Moondancer asked him, noticing his aversion.

“I...technically can gendershift,” he said. “I just...don’t.”

Another silence fell across the table as Midnight slowly shifted into a wide smirk.

“Oh rreeeaalllyyyy~?”

“Yes, why?” Ledger asked. “It’s not like I’m gonna…”

“Do it.” Midnight said. The drone stubbornly shook his head. The thestral grinned and pointed at Sugar. “I’ll bite her, right here, right now if you don’t.”

Ledger sighed and met her halfway, cloaking his form in an illusion of him having gendershifted.

“Oh Sugar Darling~” Midnight sang. “Be a dear and tilt your head ever so slightly~”

“All right, FINE!” Ledger said as he actually shifted and pouted. “Are you happy now?” He really didn’t want to see what would happen if Midnight bit Sugar. It couldn’t end well.

“You’re…” Twilight started.

“So…” Scope continued.

“Freakin…” Cider whispered.

“ADORABLE~” Midnight squeed and pounced him...well, her. And nuzzled the hay out of her.

“He does make for a rather cute nymph,” Sugar observed.

“Eh, s’alright I suppose,” Moondancer shrugged. She was cute, but the unicorn knew she was a he at heart, and that was enough to warrant no attraction to her. “You can change back Ledger, it doesn’t do anything for me.”

Her only response was a hoof raising up from under the thestral mare. Apparently she needed help to get out from under Midnight.

“Hmm, no, you’re on your own there,” Moondancer giggled. “Unless anypony else is brave enough to pry Midnight away.”

“I’m not that stupid…” Scope nodded and then she smirked. “But I bet a nymph could score a free hug if she was successful…”

“Sorry, I’m experiencing too many d’awws to want to stop this,” Sugar said.

“Sorry Ledger, seems you’re stuck,” Scope giggled. “Too bad~”

“Now I have all the wifeys,” Midnight purred and nuzzled Ledger again.

“Somepony...help me…” she croaked out.

Twilight rolled her eyes and lifted Ledger with her magic, leaving Midnight to pout.

Then Twilight smiled.

Then Twilight floated her over to Sugar Darling~

“Oooh, my very own nymph,” Sugar purred as she hugged the now-female Ledger. “Mmm...but the drone version was so very...yummy.”

Moondancer chuckled and shook her head. “As they said, give them a little time love-Yipe!” Moondancer finished with a yelp as she was taken by Midnight.

“My unicorn now,” the bat giggled and then grabbed Twilight as well. “Double magic nerds!” Then she looked from one to the other. “You know… you two could be sisters. Don’t they look alike?”

“They do look awfully similar,” Sugar conceded as she finally released Ledger from her torment. The nymph walked back over to her seat and sat down with a sigh of relief. “I wonder how they’re alike in...other aspects?”

“Ohh, they are both very enthusiastic and have an eye for detail,” Midnight purred as both mages rolled their eyes. “Moonie has experience and the most amazing tongue. Twiley is adorably innocent, even now.”

“I refuse to believe that anypony that can associate with you is innocent,” Sugar said. “You’re like a walking ocean of Lust.”

“Trust me, it’s really easy to fluster her. And another point is that she didn’t even know what swinging was.”

“Oh shut up!” Twilight blushed. “So I’m not a pervert like the rest of you. Big whoop.”

“I rather think that if you were, it would detract from your adorable charm,” Ledger said, leaning over to kiss the mare.

“Nope!” Twilight pushed him back with a hoof. “No kisses until everypony stops picking on me.”

“But I wasn’t,” Ledger pouted. “Why should I be punished because of everypony else?”

“Penalty by association,” Twilight nodded.

“Ooh, harsh,” Moondancer giggled as Midnight released her and she snuggled back up to Sugar. “Alright, should we get going? Celestia knows that Two-Step might burn the place down if we’re not there to watch her.”

“Or just invite her griffonfriend over and not watch it at all,” Sugar said. “It was lovely seeing you all. We’ll have to do this again sometime.”

“Sure,” Midnight nodded as the couple left, but not before Moondancer left enough bits for their share of the meal. And after paying and saying farewell to Fredrick, Ledger and his mares also returned home.

Once there, Midnight decided to share her thoughts.

“Okay,” she said as she paced around the room. “My thoughts are this… We should totally let Ledger and Sugar bang.”

“How eloquent,” Ledger said. “What if I would rather not?”

“Okay, hear me out,” Midnight said. “I want you all to think about this. What is it we all do for a living?”

“Well, I run Pegasus Air, you’re normally a guard, Cider runs this farm, and Twilight is a bucking Princess,” Ledger listed off. “I’m not sure who Scope actually works for.”

“I don’t know either,” Scope admitted.

“See, we all, well, mostly all of us, have jobs, careers, etc… That take up a lot of time,” Midnight said. “If I ever got posted somewhere, there’s a chance I could be gone for months at a time, maybe even a year.”

“Still failing to see a good point behind your original argument,” Ledger mused.

“Look, I’m trying to say that there’s a chance that one or more of us won’t be around for long periods of time,” Midnight explained as she sat down. “And… I don’t want you to get lonely. Plus… there’s also the foal thing…”

“I still feel kinda uncomfortable about the idea,” Ledger sighed. “It feels way too close to being disloyal to you all…”

“Well, I suppose there’s that,” Midnight nodded. “But, it’s not like you’re going to run off and marry her. It’s just sex. And… well I guess that if I know you have somepony else to look out for you if I ever…”

“Don’t even think it,” Ledger said as he gave her a hug. “I have faith that you will be the best at what you do, no matter what. And that you would never give up, and always try to come back to us.”

“And what if I don’t?” Midnight replied a little harsher than she meant to. “What if I leave you all without a wife. A foal without a mother? What if…”

“Then I would find a way to get you back,” Ledger said. “I would cross any barrier that separated us and get you back. You mean that much to me.” He looked at the others and smiled. “You all do.”

“I doubt even you could bring back the dead,” Scope replied. “But the sentiment is nice.”

“So…” Twilight wasn’t even going to think about Midnight being harmed. “I take it that it’s a ‘no’ for Sugar’s request then?”

“For now, at the very least,” Ledger said. “We can always think about it a little more later. But I’d rather we have this foal before we start seeing about me making any more.”

“Well, I think the foal was more of a long-term thing for her,” Midnight said. “And well… I know Moonie always wanted one. Is it… is it selfish of me to want to help them?”

“I think it’s the very opposite of that,” Ledger said. “But...I think we really should think it over as a family and talk about it later.”

“I know,” Midnight said. “Well, I’ll go and tell them what we’ve decided. I’d hate to be kept waiting if I was in her position…”

“We don’t really have a whole lot to tell them,” Ledger pointed out. “Just…‘not at this time.’”

“I’d at least like to tell them what we discussed, and maybe hear a little more from them,” Midnight nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back in a flash.” She kissed Ledger on the cheek and flew out of the door. The drone sighed before looking at the others.

“Well, I’m beat,” he said. “I’m just gonna read a little before I go to bed.”

“I should head home to check on things,” Twilight nodded. “Any of you up for coming with me?”

“I will,” Scope said and climbed up onto her back, letting her legs dangle over Twilight’s sides. “Let’s go Couchicorn.”

“Hilarious,” Twilight rolled her eyes and headed upstairs to use the portal.

“Guess that jus’ leaves us,” Cider mused.

“Unless you want to do something, I’m likely just going to read and then go to bed,” Ledger said.

Cider tilted her head in thought before she reached up and pulled out her ribbons, letting her long blonde locks fall free. “Ah think ah might take a shower befer bed,” she hummed and trotted upstairs, her flank swaying softly as her tail flicked from side to side.

“To be clear,” Ledger asked after her. “Do you want company in that shower?”

“Do ah really gotta spell it out fer you?” Cider called back and winked at him.

“You never know,” Ledger said as he followed after her, enjoying the view. “Sometimes a shower could just be a shower.”

“An’ when yer wife sends signals like this, ah’d like to think ah’m bein’ pretty clear. Ah ain’t no Midnight. But ah try…”

“None of you have to be Midnight to get me to sleep with you,” Ledger said. “I just don’t want to force myself on any of you…”

Cider turned and pointed a hoof at him. “Look Ledger. Ah know whut kind of stallion you are. And you’d never force yerself on a mare, nymph or otherwise. Now, y’all gonna come and give yer Sweet Mare a good scrubbin’?”

“I can do that,” Ledger said. “Just how through would you like this cleaning, and what sort of brush should I use?”

Cider smiled and she pulled out something that he hadn’t seen her holding.

A bag of icing sugar.

Whose contents were now rubbed into the fur on her flank.

“Mmm, something tells me a tongue-bath is what you require,” Ledger said as he licked his lips. He saw her sugar-coated hoof move between her legs for a moment, before she winked and gallopped towards the bedroom.

“Mine,” he chittered in Changeish before darting after her.

At the farm, Twilight returned after a night of thinking. She walked downstairs, to see Ledger and Midnight snuggling on the couch before the drone would have to leave for work.

“Ah, just the pony I needed to see,” Twilight smiled. “How are you two this morning?”

“Just fine,” Ledger said. “Going to have a mass of paperwork to take care of, but I can handle it, no problem.”

“Same here, only I don’t have a cheating paperwork spell to do it for me,” Midnight sighed. “So, what’s up Sparky?”

“Well,” the alicorn smiled. “I’ve been thinking about what you said last night. About the possibility of being posted somewhere dangerous. I… don’t know if I could handle that.”

“Twilight,” Midnight got up. “If you’re going to suggest I leave the Guard…”

“No! I would never ask that,” Twilight said. “But, what if I could do something that made sure you’d be relatively safe, and that you’d still be doing a great service to Equestria?”

“...Go on…” Midnight said slowly, wondering what the princess was getting at.

“Well, you said you were also concerned with leaving us for long periods of time,” Twilight continued.

“What is it with you smart ponies and not getting to the point?” Midnight asked Ledger.

“It’s called tact and trying to approach a situation delicately,” Ledger replied. “Not everypony goes at their problems head-on and bluntly.”

“Twilight. Blunt version please?” Midnight replied.

“I want you to become the Captain of my Personal Guard,” Twilight responded.

“That’s...a solution, I suppose,” Ledger mused.

“Captain…” Midnight had always wanted that. It was her dream to one day be captain of Celestia’s royal guard. Or Luna’s, or Cadence’s…

So she liked the Princesses, big deal.

But still…

“It… it’s a tempting offer,” Midnight finally replied. “But, this is something I should earn, not something you want to give me because you’re scared you’ll lose me…”

“Earned?” Twilight’s eyes twitched. “Come on Midnight. I can’t think of more than a hooffull of ponies that haven’t earned that title by now. You took on Tirek and protected an entire population of Changeling’s in the process. You’d give your life to protect those you care about. Your performance record is second only to Shining Armor…”

“Second? I still haven’t beaten him yet?” Midnight frowned. “And yeah, okay, I get your point. But… it still feels like you're just handing it to me because of our relationship. At least, that’s what other Guards and nobles will say about it…”

“How about a test?” Ledger said. “One that Midnight will have to pass before she can properly become your guard. Would that satisfy both of you?”

“What kind of test?” both mares asked.

“Hmm,” Ledger pondered. “Definitely not written, otherwise it’ll be longer than she’s willing to sit still for.”

“I have an idea,” Scope spoke up from the stairwell.

“Scopey!” Ledger said, before holding a hoof up to her and exposing his side. “Come, join the cuddling while you explain your idea.”

Scope nodded and flew over to him, snuggling up next to him. She had been… strangely affectionate recently. Her horn lit up as she connected with Madame Gossip, waiting to see if she’d answer…

“Yes, who is it?” the Madame replied.

“Your adorable daughter-in-law,” Scope replied. “We need a test for Midnight to prove herself as a Guard. So I have a favour to ask…” Scope switched the spell to project so everypony could hear.

“I want you to try and assassinate Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“Oh my. Kill my own daughter-in-law? I’m not certain I can do that. I’m quite sure Ledger would kill me back for it. And I know he can, too.”

“Scopey…” Twilight’s eyes twitched again.

“Hear me out,” the nymph projected. “I don’t mean to ‘actually’ try. I’d do it myself if I thought I stood a chance of winning. But I need someling ruthless enough to even have a small degree of success. So I instantly thought of you… Mom~”

“Well I am quite ruthless. I did after all have a hoof in the regime changes of half the Hives. I could probably hire a small army to try and assassinate Twilight. I wonder if they’re still a unit…”

“Wow… just, wow…” Twilight deadpanned. “I simply love how casually we’re talking about murdering me.”

“It’s only pretend, we just need somepony with a little experience to one-up Midnight… or at least try to,” Scope said and blew Twilight a kiss.

Midnight smirked. This… could actually be kind of fun.

“I don’t know…” the bat hummed. “I think dear old ‘Mom’ is a bit too on in years to try and beat me.”

“Dear, I’m not rising to that bait,” the Madame replied. “I still have things I have to do back here. I can’t go gallivanting off on any old adventure that tickles my fancy. But...I think I do have something you can do by way of testing yourself.”

Dang, Midnight had kind of been looking forward to taking her on. “Well, let’s hear it then.”

“There is a squad of drones that have banded together as a sort of mercenary group for hire. They’re beholden to no Hive, but if you have any true need of their skills and can find them, then they might very well hear you out. They’re the ones I went to for the regime changes I facilitated. They are quite literally the best the Lands has to offer. Their teamwork is unparalleled. They’ve never lost a mission. They’ve toppled queens. And if I can get a hold of them, then in a few day’s time...they’ll be coming for your princess.”

“Ohohoh!” Midnight rubbed her hooves together. This was going to be fun!

“I have a baaaad feeling about this,” Twilight groaned. “They uh… on the chance they succeed… they won’t actually kill me… right?”

“I’ll explain the full details of the mission to them, no worries. I’m not certain they’ll like being hired as punching bags, but I’ll offer them extra pay if they ‘succeed’ in their mission.”

Scope chuckled and leaned into Ledger’s hug. “Thanks for the help Mommy~”

“Oh, no problems dear. Just, Midnight, try to leave them alive. They’ll charge me more if you don’t.”

“No promises~” Midnight sang as Scope cut the connection. She looked around and shrugged. “What? I’m not going to kill them. Unless they hurt Twi… then they die~”

“I repeat… this is not going to end well…” Twilight groaned and went back to her palace to await her hired assassins…

“Well, fun as this cuddle is,” Ledger said before kissing Scope and Midnight. “I have work to do.”

As he got up, Midnight giggled at the changeling nymph still attached to his side. “Nice saddle bag Levvy~”

Ledger looked at the nymph and gave her another kiss. “What’s up with you? You’re being rather clingy for you.”

“M’coming with you,” she pouted and flashed her big, blue eyes at him.

“Not like that you’re not,” Ledger said before moving her to his back. “I suppose if you did want to come to work, you do have your office…”

“And yours~” she purred and nibbled his ear. Ledger shuddered a little before looking back at the nymph.

“Is there something going on I’m not aware of?” he asked.

“Huh?” Twilight paused at the top of the staircase. “Oh yeah, that was the other thing I was going to mention. She’s in Heat apparently. So uh, best of luck with that~” And with a crack, the alicorn was gone, Midnight flying after her a second later.

“We’re going to have such fun~” Scope giggled and nibbled his neck.

“I’m going to break another desk, aren’t I?” Ledger sighed.

Well, this was his life now. And to think a year ago, he was a lonely, terrified drone hiding in the largest city in Equestria. Now he was married to four wonderful mares, soon to be a father and the owner of the business that once enslaved him…

All in all, life was good. Even if he was going to end up with more paperwork by the end of today...

Chapter 101 - Testing the bat

Scope and Ledger lay in the destroyed office. Even now, they had no idea how some that stuff got on the ceiling. Things had gotten… weird at some point.

“Do you even have enough money to replace the furniture we literally fucked up?” The nymph yawned and rubbed her belly. “Hives I'm full…”

“I have a few savings funds set aside, under various names and aliases,” Ledger replied. “Of course, this was when ponies were less paranoid about changelings...it’ll be, fun, getting all that money again.”

“Meh, I'm sure you'll be fine,” Scope shrugged and nuzzled him. “You always are.” She stretched her front legs and groaned. “You think Middy will be alright? It seemed like a good idea at the time to sic your mother on her.”

“I’m sure Middy will come out on top,” Ledger said before kissing the nymph. Once he was done with that, he continued the thought. “Very little has succeeded in beating her, after all. Ace and Tirek come to mind, but that’s about it.”

Scope nodded, “But still… these are changelings, and if Gossip is to be believed, skilled ones at that. I'm… a little worried I guess.”

“And if she is to be believed, they won’t cause any serious lasting harm to either Twilight or Middy during this little test,” Ledger reminded her. “I’m sure she’ll be fine. And if she succeeds, and we know she will, then she’ll have a nice, secure job.”

“Well, I hope you’re right,” she said and nuzzled him again. “Though, with Middy’s pregnancy hormones, I should be hoping those mercenaries are the ones that come out unscathed.”

“I rather doubt anyone is going to come out completely unscathed, except for Twilight,” Ledger said. “I’ll be surprised if her palace is still standing at the end of the night.”

“Sucks to be Ponyville I suppose,” Scope giggled and stretched again before gazing at Ledger. “Buckle up. Round Seven starts now~”

“Hives, aren’t you sated yet, you lusty nymph?” Ledger mock-complained. “I would think that after I made sure so many times you were carrying my foal that your heat would eventually slacken a little.”

“Huh?” Scope blinked and then giggled. “Ah, my Heat was sated after the Cadence bit.”

“...So we’ve been wrecking furniture for no reason other than you wanting to imitate a Violet?” Ledger asked.

“Are you complaining?” the nymph smiled and gave him a brief but passionate kiss.

Once it broke, Ledger smirked at her before running a hoof along her flank. “Only that we’ve run out of furniture...again.”

“Hmm, wanna see if we can use a storage container without getting caught?”

“Unlikely,” Ledger retorted. “With the way you scream, I’m pretty sure somebuggy’d hear us, even with a soundproofing charm.”

“Damned emotivores,” Scope muttered and smirked. “Wanna do sexy science~?”

“What will be the nature of the experiment?” Ledger purred.

“The effect of Blue pheromones on a variety on unsuspecting colors,” she giggled and looked towards the door.

“So long as you can do it without getting caught,” Ledger mused. “Then I suppose I can lose one day’s worth of productivity...so long as you ask quite nicely.”

“May I please mess with your workers?” Scope asked cutely. Even in a larger, older-looking form, she was cuteness incarnate.

“Once again, as long as you don’t get caught,” Ledger said before pecking her on the nose. “Then sure thing. Though I’m going to have to sit outside my office and intercept complaints before they see the damage we’ve done to the inside…”

Scope winked and walked over to one of the ventilation ducts in her office. After creating a generous amount of pheromones, she used a breeze spell that Twilight taught her and flooded the air ducts with them.

“And now we wait~”

“You can be so evil sometimes,” Ledger said, gesturing for her to join him on the floor. “Quick snuggle before I have to go ward off the complaints?”

“I'm curious to see what the complaints will be about…” Scope smiled and snuggled against him. Mmm, nice and warm~

“Probably something along the lines of the drones being too horny to work properly due to all the pheromones in the air,” Ledger snickered. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they started imitating us soon.”

“Wanna go watch?”

“Teeeempting,” Ledger hummed. “Better idea. You use invisibility and go watch from the rafters, while I play the part of a concerned manager. You could even add more pheromones from up there, you know, in case you think the party isn’t lively enough.”

Scope vanished, the only thing that remained was a mischievous giggle and a closing door. Ledger lay there for a minute more before getting up and walking back to his office and sitting down in front of it. At times like this, he wished he really knew a repair spell. It would make fixing the mess so much easier.

The sheer amount of Lust that hit him when he exited the office… it made him wonder if Midnight was here for a second…

Well, this should prove entertaining. He sat in front of his office and pulled out some paperwork that he could pretend to do while waiting for his first customer.

“Dance my little fuckpuppets. Dance! Mwahahahahahahaaa!!”

“Somebuggy’s enjoying this a little too much,” Ledger thought back at her.

“Maybe a little. Somebuggy needs to step up now Chrysalis is a goodie-horseshoes.”

“Just keep in mind, we’re not the Violet Hive, nor do we need to be nearly arrested like they were.”

There was a pause and the pheromones dissipated as Scope sighed. “Fine. Party pooper…”

“I’m just saying, try to make sure they all stay inside. I’m not saying you can’t, but there is such a thing as public decency laws.”

“I'm aware. Also. Incoming.”

A Yellow nymph hobbled towards him, her magic keeping several amorous drones at bay.

“Boss. Lil’ help here?”

“What seems to be the trouble?” Ledger asked, not looking up from his paperwork.

“Are...are you serious?” she blinked. “I have five drones that seem to think that fucking my brains out is preferable to work. That's what!!”

“I see,” Ledger said as he flipped through the papers. “Have you tried telling them no?”

“Have I… what the fuck do you think!?!?” Her magic flared and she tossed them over the side of the railing. “The hell is going on?”

“I don’t know myself, but I assure you, I will look into it,” the drone said. “Right after I get done with my paperwork.”

“...” The Yellow sighed. “Boss. I love you man. But if you don’t fix this. I will send you home in a tiny box.”

“I have paperwork from all of my honeymoon to go over, even though you all could have looked it over yourself and determined whether or not it actually needed my approval before just shoving it on my desk,” Ledger retorted. “I’m sure you can deal with a little discomfort while I deal with a full desk.”

“A little discomfort?” The nymph looked ready to murder. Then, she suddenly smiled and looked away. “Okay. Best of luck with your work Boss~”

“I’m glad we could resolve this,” Ledger said. “Take care out there.”

And that was when three nymph’s descended on him, two Red’s and a Silver.

“Such a big, strong drone~” One of the Reds purred and nuzzled him.

“And we know how virile he is~” the Silver giggled.

“Ladies, I’m flattered,” Ledger said, before teleporting out of their grasp. “But I’m also taken. Many times over. I’m not in any mood to give my wives reason to strangle me.”

“Don't be like that,” The second Red grabbed him from behind. “We just wanna play a little~”

“Hah, do ‘em hard Levvy~” Scope cackled from her perch.

“Sorry ladies, I’m not interested in being your plaything,” Ledger said before he mimicked the nymph from earlier and tossed the amorous nymphs over the railing...right onto the group of amorous drones.

“Aw, I was waiting for you to sick your clones on them,” Scope laughed.

“Not happening, I’m a married stallion, unless they’re spontaneously one of my wives, I’m not even considering it.”

Just like that, the pheromones dissipated and left quite a few embarrassed changelings milling about.

The nymphs had still dragged those drones off for...things.

“I have an idea!” Scope said, teleporting right in front of him. “Let’s go home!”

“Okay,” Ledger replied. “Why?”

“Because Cidey is home aaallll on her lonesome,” Scope pointed out. “Wanna go and play with her?”

“I thought this was all about you,” the drone replied. “Sure you want to get her involved as well?”

“Mhmm, I'm sated for now. What I want-” she leaned in close and licked his ear. “-Is for you to push her up against one of her beloved apple trees and buck her til she can't walk~”

“Then lead the way,” Ledger purred. “I’m all for seeing to more of my mares~”

“Yay!” Scope grabbed him. “Early day for everyone!” she shouted and then teleported him off.

The workers were confused for a moment, at least, those that still weren’t affected by her earlier pheromones. Then they shrugged and decided to roll with it.

The boss and his mares always were crazy.

Midnight had followed Twilight back to her castle. She didn’t know when these assassins would show up, so she planned to shadow the alicorn until they did.

Added bonus, it was a nice flank to follow~

“Now Midnight,” Twilight said as they walked the halls. “To be fair, you are not the only candidate for this job. While Princess Celestia said I could test you like this… she also recommended another guard.”

Well, this was interesting. Tia thought there was another pony that could keep up with her?

“And please play nice Midnight,” Twilight said sternly. “Promise?”

“Bat’s honour,” Midnight replied and crossed over her heart with a wingtip. They headed down to the training room Midnight and used a few times and the thestral saw the guard in question.

It was a unicorn stallion, his coat was an off-white color, more of a cream really. His mane and tail were quite the contrast, being a blazing hue of oranges and reds. His cutie mark was obscured by the leather barding he wore, but…

Holy crap! He just bucked that training dummy clear across the room.

“We’re back,” Twilight called out, getting the stallions attention. He stopped his training, turned and saluted, before his gaze fell on Midnight. “Midnight Song, this will be your partner and your competitor. Flare Blitz.”

“Hello,” he replied, his voice was pretty young-sounding. “Nice to meet the infamous Midnight Song.”

“Oh? I’m infamous?” Midnight grinned and bat her eyes at him.

“Only if the rumors are true,” he smiled back.

“Believe me, they’re true alright,” Twilight sighed. “Now, neither of you will be getting special treatment on this. And you’ll be judged in several categories. So act to the best of your abilities okay?”

“Yes ma’am!” both ponies saluted, though Midnight also gave her a sultry wink and blew her a kiss.

Twilight just rolled her eyes and turned, leaving to two alone.

“Aww, my little wifey princess loves me,” Midnight giggled. “And yes Flarey, before you ask, we actually are married. But that won’t count for anything. I trust Twilight to remain professional.”

“Yes, and I already knew that,” Flare replied. “As soon as I found what what this job would entail, I studied extensively on whom I’d be working for and who with.”

“Oh?” Midnight giggled and turned towards him. “I bet I could teach you a few things about myself that no report could tell you~”

“A year ago, perhaps,” Flare smirked. “But I know you wouldn’t now. Especially after getting married.”

Midnight actually blinked and took a step back. Oh. He was good.

“Well, seems I’ll have to try harder to get you all flustered then,” the mare smirked, only for Flare to lean closer, his lips almost touching hers.

“Good luck,” he said in a husky tone. “I welcome the challenge of you, cute little Miss Midnight~”

Midnight blushed and backed up rapidly as Flare laughed. Fighting fire with fire seemed to work well. He’d have to thank Luna for that little tip.

“W-Well, just… GAH!” Midnight turned and flew out of the room. Flare just laughed harder.

Tomorrow morning, Twilight had open court as Midnight and Flare stood on either side of her throne. They both agreed that training could wait until Twilight wasn’t so easily assessable.

It didn't stop Midnight from wanting to ‘access’ Twilight all over her throne. It took a solid twenty minutes for the princess to stop blushing.

Some ponies had come and gone and it was almost time to close up shop for the day.

“Well, today has been… uneventful,” Song yawned.

Then one last pony walked in. He had a yellow coat, a brown mane and tail, and orange eyes. He lacked either a set of wings or a horn, and he wasn’t a resident of Ponyville at all. At least, as far as Twilight could remember.

“Hmm, somepony from out of town?” Twilight spoke up. “Welcome to Ponyville good sir. How can I help you today?”

“I’ve...been hearing all sorts of things about Equestria’s stance on Changelings,” the Earth Pony said. “I just...wanted to know, what the official stance is regarding them.”

Twilight smiled and nodded, though her mind was working. So, he was either from a remote region of Equestria, or he might have been…

“Our stance on Changelings is quite simple,” Twilight said. “They are free to enter Equestria like any other species. They must obey our laws of course, as does everypony else. Nor are they allowed to drain emotions against the victim's will. I am fully aware that you can absorb ambient amounts from the atmosphere, and I was informed recently that we’re setting up special facilities where a Changeling can get freely given love from a pony, much like a griffon could order meat from a restaurant.” Celestia hadn’t told her the details though. “So our stance is simple. Changelings are our friends and are more than welcome.”

“That’s...interesting to hear,” the pony said. “For a moment, it sounded like you thought I was one…”

“I make no assumptions,” Twilight continued her regal smile. “Even if you are, you’ll find only friends here. Otherwise, I’m also glad I could help you, my little pony.”

Wow it sounded weird saying that.

“Thank you all the same for clearing that up, your highness,” the stallion said, bowing to her.

“Quite alright,” Twilight smiled. “Have a safe journey.”

With that, the stallion walked out of the room again. Once he’d left, Twilight turned to Midnight.

“Well?”

“Maybe,” Midnight replied, her eyes had been narrowed the whole time, so it looked like she’d been glaring at him. “I’m still training to read leylines like Master Aerial. But… there were… similarities to Ledger and Scopey. I’m going to hedge my bets he was a changeling.”

“That’s an impressive ability,” Flare noted. “Could I learn something like that?”

“Maybe,” Midnight said, rubbing her eyes. “It’s something that just seems to come naturally to Ace, so teaching it is difficult. Besides, you’re a unicorn, you could simply use a spell to do that.”

“I guess,” Flare replied. “But I’m only skilled in offensive and defensive magic. Even my basic levitation is somewhat below average.”

“I’d be happy to teach you some basic spells,” Twilight smiled. “And I’d know I’d feel safer with more skills under your belt, so to speak.”

“He is cute,” Midnight smirked. “Wanna see what else he has hiding under that belt~?”

Flare blushed and Midnight was smacked upside the head by Twilight. “Bad Middy. Sit. No picking on the cute stallion.”

“Oh? So you admit he’s cute too?” Midnight smiled. Twilight blinked and blushed, smacking Midnight again and groaning. Midnight just giggled and rubbed her head.

“Heh, always fun teasing you,” she kissed the alicorn’s cheek. “Okay Flarey. Let’s go practice. You get to make me all hot and sticky~”

“I’m never going to survive this,” the stallion sighed and followed her regardless. He couldn’t help but let his eyes wander over her flanks though…

A few days later…

“Well, so nopony turned up for court today,” Midnight groaned as she and Twilight wandered the halls, heading for the alicorn’s room.

“Well, it’s usually like this, unless Filthy Rich is asking me to attend some event, or the Flower Sisters fainting over something like a broken flower stem…” She really wished she was kidding about that last one. “I’m just going to go to bed and read for a bit.”

“Okay, I have to swap shifts with Flarey anyway. Oohh~ Should I send him for some quality time with his Princess?”

“You need to stop teasing him,” Twilight sighed. She did blush over the mental images in her head though. “Gah! You’re impossible!”

“No, I’m Midnight,” the bat smirked and kissed her cheek. “See you later TwiTwi.”

“Yes, good night Midnight,” Twilight replied and returned the kiss before heading into her room. When she closed the door, she shivered and looked around. There was a draft from an open window, the alicorn sighed and moved over to close it…

When two changelings dropped from above and pinned her to the ground with their weight.

She shrieked as her horn flared, a bubble-shield bursting out from her body and blowing them back. One of them chittered, and a beam of magic came from above and impacted the shield, severely damaging it.

Three of them? Oh Celestia, this was it. And…

Why were they actually trying to kill her!?

She grit her teeth as she strengthened her shield. “I’m afraid you won’t find this so easy!” she yelled.

That was when three of them blasted her, as the entire team dropped down to reveal a team of five changelings all told. “Sorry,” one of them said. “We’re under a contract that we have to make this as real as possible, excluding the usual last step. And we’ve taken down Queens before.”

“But you’ve never fought an alicorn,” she smiled and then dropped the shield. “Oh, permit me a little question. Do you know what Changelings and Thestrals have in common?”

“No, what?” one of them asked.

“They can walk on walls too~” a voice said from above them as one changeling felt himself being thrown out of the window. The other four turned to the new player in the game, as she was the one they were meant to be testing, and decided to try their magical might on her.

The the door exploded and a second changeling was tackled, as Flare Blitz grabbed one of his hooves and tossed him into the wall so hard it left cracks in the crystal surface.

“Aw Flarey, pull your punches at least a little against the cute little buggies,” Midnight cooed as she side-stepped one of the beams fired at her. The one she’d thrown out the window had come flying back in, and the four still standing split their attention between the two targets. This hadn’t been in the mission briefing, but they’d expected it thanks to the scouting mission the other day. They could handle it. Most likely.

“We got this,” Midnight said as Twilight had snuck around the group and fired up the portal to Las Pegasus. “Get out of here Twiley. We gotta house to clean.”

“Oh no you don’t!” One of them said as he darted at the portal and removed what looked like an important part, even if it was just a book. “You’re not going anywhere!”

“Damn!” Twilight swiped at the book, but the changeling was too quick. She looked at Midnight and Flare, the bat nodding as Twilight teleported away.

“Aww, too bad, she’s probably halfway to Canterlot now,” Midnight said. “So little buggies. Wanna play?”

“Dammit,” one cursed. “We can hardly make this a fair fight if you’re not trying to ‘protect’ her. That’s sorta the whole point of this.”

“Well, you’re taking on one of the four alicorns,” Flare pointed out. “You didn’t think to set up some kind of anti-magic field?”

There was a zapping sound, and Twilight teleported back, looking a little frazzled.

“Apparently there’s an anti-magic field around the castle,” she groaned.

“We did,” one drone said. “We used standard protocols for taking a queen out. Anti-magic, wait until they’re at the end of a long, boring day. All that’s left to do is wear her down with teamwork and our wonderful hex spells.” With that, two of them shot beams of magic at the Alicorn.

She shrieked, but her magic was still too zapped to put up a shield.

She didn’t have to, as Midnight dived in front of her, ebony blades intercepting the spells as they shimmered with a dark glow, dissipating the magicks.

“Flare, shield Twilight, I got this!”

“On it!” the unicorn said, surrounding Twilight with a crimson barrier. Of course, that didn’t dissuade the two that had sat out the latest barrage in the slightest, as they now joined in on the ‘let’s try to get to Twilight’ fun and fired their own hex spells at it.

Midnight rushed forward, “Silent Symphony,” she hissed as she spun around and her wingblades detatched, whipping around using wires as one hit the wall, shearing through the crystal like it was paper. The changelings in the room rapidly moved out of the way, or at least tried to. One didn’t quite make it…

The blade narrowly missed his neck as Midnight whipped it back. Though to did leave a hairline scratch along his chitin.

“You know you’re missing a head,” she smiled sweetly.

“Dammit,” that one cursed. “Ah well. Guess I’ll have to sit this one out. Take it easy on my fellows, I’m the one that has to patch them together.”

“Aww, you killed the medic?” Flare called out. “That’s rough.”

“Always go for the white mage,” Midnight smirked and looked at the remaining three. “Well, any of you got armoured balls? You’re gonna need ‘em~”

The other three got in a line and all shifted...into Earth Pony forms. “Bring it,” they all said at once.

“Ohh, sparring huh?” Midnight folded her wings and smirked. “This should be fun~” She charged at the closest and dropped into a slide to take his hooves out from under him. He rolled and tumbled for a bit while one of the others closed with her to try and get a few easy punches in. They struck her armour, but one managed to clip her head and she winced and jumped back.

“Ahh, you guys aren’t playing huh?” she rubbed her head. Well as long as Flare was shielding Twilight, she could cut loose a little. But this area…

She smirked and charged at the three, before flinging herself sideways and letting momentum carry her like a battering ram…

One that launched all four of them out of the window.

“Wow,” the ‘dead’ one said before walking over to the one that had been embedded into the crystal wall and trying to extract him. “Guess she really wasn’t overselling how bad this could be. Even as a job where we’re just testing someone.”

“Unless you start taking this seriously,” Twilight explained from behind the shield, rubbing her aching horn. “She’s going to chew you up and spit you out.”

“Oh, don’t worry, the other three are pretty good at close-combat,” he said before pulling his comrade out and laying him on the ground. “I doubt they’ll go down without a fight. If at all.”

Outside, Midnight spread her wings and took to the air as the three ponies fell towards the ground. She wasn’t even going to let them transform as she screeched and dove towards them…

Of course, panic can inspire ponies in all sorts of wonderful ways. By the time she’d caught up with one, the other two were midway through a transformation into their more airborne guises. The third was torn between fighting her and flying.

Midnight grabbed the third one and tussled with his as she spun and tossed him through another window. She wasn’t actually going to let them splatter on the ground. She then whipped around to face to two airborne ones. “Two down,” she smiled.

“Bring it,” they said again, both of them flying to be only slightly above her.

Now things could get tricky, they could fly and cast. It was like fighting little alicorns. Only cute little buggy ones…

Her eyes widened and she figured out how to win. She drew back her lips and screeched as she flew directly at one of them. They hadn’t been too disabled by the screech, seeing as how they were changelings underneath their disguises and had heard and used similar themselves, but her sudden charge took her victim off-balance. Whereas the other grew a horn and tried to blast her mid-flight.

She spun, the spell grazing her flank and scorching the armour covering it. She hissed a little, but still grabbed the changeling she was charging at. She smiled and then kissed him, pumping every ounce of love and lust she had into the hapless bug. He moaned a little as he was overwhelmed before lazily falling from the sky, no longer interested in fighting.

“And then there was one,” she giggled and wiped her lips. “Do you want a hug little bug~”

“I am not in the mood,” he retorted before firing another blast at her. She dodged again, though his aim was getting better.

“You seem a little frustrated,” she said. “If it helps, four changelings in five minutes is a personal best for me~”

“And we don’t fail our contracts,” the disguised drone said. “Never have.” Another blast charged…

Midnight moved to dodge, but the changeling anticipated it this time and turned his head. The beam struck her in the chest and the thestral screamed as she fell into the darkness below…

“Well,” he said. “Guess that just leaves the original contract to follow through on…”

“Permission granted. Activating Trace state.” There was movement next to him, before a thin cut appeared on his chitin…

“Holy hell!” the drone said, jumping back and touching it. “That stings, you-” He looked up as he saw the bat hovering a few feet above him. Her crimson eyes shining against the darkness. he could see her, hovering there like a silent wraith.

So why the fuck couldn’t he feel her. Just an empty, cold space where she should be…

“Oh bloody hell,” the drone whispered. “Those stories are true?”

“I am the sacred blade of my Princess…” Midnight’s voice came out and his chitin crawled, his instincts screaming at him to run. “Dirge… of Death!” She done at him, her dark blades humming with magical power…

The drone tried, he really did. Quick winking teleportation to avoid her blades could only take him so far, though. This…

This wasn’t something they’d prepared for.

He rounded a corner as Flare’s hoof came out and tagged him. “And you’re dead,” he smiled as he looked up. “Thanks Midnight.”

Her blade impacted the hall just a few scant inches short of the changeling’s head. Whatever magic coated her blade didn’t cut the crystal, it melted it…

“Huh? Aww, are we done already? I was just starting to cut loose a little,” she pouted, becoming the mare she was a few moments ago.

“You just took down the best the Lands had to offer in under twenty minutes,” the drone said. “We’ve taken out queens before. Yet even when we had your charge nearly dead to rights, you protected her. You two will be a formidable team for her protection.”

“Whoo!” Midnight cheered and kissed Flare on the cheek. “Thanks for the awesome shield-work by the way.”

“Well, I did learn everything I could from Captain Shining Armor,” Flare nodded.

“If we didn’t have to worry about her, I’m pretty sure we’d have worked our way through your shield soon,” he said. “Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to gather up my team before we have to limp back home.”

When they returned to Twilight’s bedroom, she’d gotten the other changelings sitting down at a table, drinking tea and eating cookies.

“Oh? You’re done already?” the princess asked. “Who won? Am I dead?”

“Sadly no,” the drone said. “Your duo of guards here bested us all. You should be proud of them.”

“I am,” Twilight smiled as she kissed Midnight and even offered Flare a kiss on the cheek, which had him turning redder than his mane. “I am very proud of my protectors.”

“Still, if this had been real…” Midnight shook her head. “Oh, you’d have been lucky it was us you fought.”

“We normally do things over a longer period of time, destabilize the queen’s grip on the surrounding Hive, get them paranoid and jumping at shadows, distrustful of their guard...but we were sort of rushed here,” the medic said. “Otherwise we would have played the long game for sure.”

“Middy’s got no patience for that,” Twilight giggled. “The moment she figured out something was wrong, it’d be you jumping at shadows.”

“This was quite fun though,” Flare said as he bit into a cookie. Sweet Celestia these were good. “Hmm, you know that the Crystal Guards and Canterlot Guards are looking at making some sort of Games for us to compete in. Maybe we could get some Changeling Guards in on it too?”

“That would require that the Hives be unified for longer than ten years at a time,” one of the drones said.

“And if they were, that would mean less work for us,” another said.

“Though, that Madame always knows exactly where to find the interesting jobs,” a third mused.

“Maybe you could try that slow and steady pace sometime?” Twilight said as she put her book back in the portal and turned it on. “Might be good in case a pony tries it.”

“Lemme guess, I’d have to stay out?” Midnight giggled.

“Probably,” Twilight said. “Though… I have a Ledger.”

“Ah well,” one drone said. “We technically didn’t fail, as we still tested your guardians. The fact that they bested us is commendable.”

“Though I’m sure they’ll count this as a win for them,” another said. “Also, thank you for not seriously hurting them.”

“S’all good,” Midnight nodded and bumped the last of the changeling’s she fought. “You okay there? I didn’t scare you too badly did I?”

“Oh, I’m surprised I didn’t shed my chitin out of sheer fright,” he said. “You could scare off any changeling with that skill.”

“I have… a couple of times,” she said, her tone only just holding back some sadness. “Ah well, That was fun none-the-less.”

Twilight gave a curious look to the one Midnight kissed. “Um, is he… okay?” she asked, pointing at him.

“He’ll be fine,” the medic said, waving her concerns off. “He’s just a little overcharged, once he processes all that he’s taken in, he’ll be even better.”

“And all he got was a little kiss,” Midnight smirked and licked her lips.

“Well, that’s one way to defeat the enemy I suppose,” Flare chuckled.

“I should have used my superpower…” Midnight started before her muzzle was silenced by magic.

“No!” Twilight almost yelled. “Absolutely not!!”

“We already got beaten,” one of the drones said. “I think it’s pretty definitive that you can keep her safe.”

“It’s not like we needed to bring back a story of a complete and utter humiliation,” another added.

“Mmmphhh!” Midnight wiggled and Twilight sighed before releasing her. “Phew, and hey, don’t beat yourselves up. You did well for not having a lot of intel. Shoulda posed as somepony and watched us train or something. Get a feel for what we could do.”

“Yeah, well, normally we play the long game,” one said. “We were told to do this quick, though. And now I’m regretting it.”

“Well, thank you for assisting,” Twilight said. “Would you like to stay the night? Get some rest before travelling home?”

“Only if you’re sure you’re comfortable with having a mercenary group in your home,” one of them said with a wicked smile.

“Did you guys happen to see the Everfree Forest on your way over?” Midnight asked as Twilight went to fetch the spare blankets. “Or more importantly, a section of it missing?”

“No…” they said as one. “Why?”

“Oh.” Midnight flashed her fangs as she looked towards the alicorn that had annihilated said part of the forest. “No reason.”

“All in favor of not asking?” one drone asked before they all raised a hoof.

“Aww, party poopers,” Midnight giggled. Twilight had raided enough pillows and blankets as Spike came back through the portal.

“Everything all cool now?” he asked.

“Yes, I’m fine,” Twilight giggled and nuzzled him. “Think you could whip us up some of your nachos?”

The dragon sighed and looked at the merc group. “Well, only because you asked nicely,” he smirked and walked off after giving Midnight a hug and Flare a brohoof.

“Okay, so now we’re all friends…” Midnight grinned and leaned over the table. “Got any wicked stories?”

“Only ones from when we all took various jobs,” the apparent leader, a Yellow, stated.

“Like the time we helped out the Yellow Hive from a bit of a problem with a never-ending infestation of Scorpios, or when we were hired to help work out a kidnapping,” a Red said.

“Though we had a lot of fun with the Madame,” the Blue of the group said.

“Oh?” Midnight smiled as her Lust permeated the room. “What kind of… fun~?”

“She always had the best jobs, though the ones she paid us well for, we can’t really talk about,” the medic of the group, an Orange, said.

“Shame, too,” the other Red said. “I mean, if others knew exactly how we took down the targets she assigned us, they’d prepare for us, and by extension, her.

“Aww, is that all?” Midnight pouted.

“Not everything involves bedsheets Midnight,” Twilight sighed as her portal rippled and Apple Cider bolted inside, hiding behind Twilight.

“Y’all gotta help me,” she panted. “Those blasted bugs. They're worse than a tomcat in heat!”

And then said bugs arrived, having chased the mare here.

“Boys,” Midnight addressed the mercs. “Meet my cuddlebugs.”

“Cider,” Ledger whined. “We just wanna play~”

“Then why do y’all got those hoofcuffs!?” she yelled back. “Ah got an alicorn and ah ain't afraid to use ‘er!”

“We can play with her next~” Ledger cooed. “Now just come a little closer, sweet mare…”

“Eat alicorn!!” Cider yelled and cranked Twilight’ s tail as the princess yelped and unleashed a barrage of stun bolts. Ledger yiped and fell back under the barrage, doing his best to shield himself.

Cider cackled… then everyone paused as an aura of death filled the room. One that may have lowered the temperature a few degrees.

“What. Are. You. Doing~” Midnight said in a frosty tone, her eyes gleaming crimson. Cider yelped and dropped the alicorn minigun as she cowered behind Ledger and Scope.

“Middy!” Ledger cooed before jumping at her and giving her a snuggle. “Wanna help us recruit the others for fun?”

The thestral vibrated with a low growl as she pointed at the mercs. “We have company. Could you make our family look at least somewhat normal?”

“I am so confused,” Flare said as he sipped his tea.

“So am I,” Ledger said as he looked at Midnight. “What’s ‘normal’? Is it something you eat?”

“...Did you hit your head or something?” Midnight questioned. Ledger was acting weird, like he did in the Crystal Empire…

She raised a wing and whapped him upside the head. The drone shook his head a few times as the cloud of pheromones stopped fogging his mind. “What…?” he asked.

“Y’all chased me halfway across Equestria!” Cider complained. “And that was after y’all had yer way with me a half dozen times!!”

The mercs and Flare all wore a fierce blush at that comment.

“I...I did that?” Ledger whispered.

“Ah believe yer words were ‘Ah’ll buck the apples out of you’... or somethin’ like that.”

Silence pervaded the room… until almost everypony burst out laughing.

“Scope, make a note. Until I’m used to pheromones again, you’re to use yours in lighter quantities.”

Scope just shrugged and looked at the five mercs. The now Blue Noble licked her lips. “So who's the fresh meat… uh, guests. Yes. That's totally what I meant.”

“...Is she in her season?” the Yellow asked, as all five drones subtly edged away from her.

“Eeyup,” Cider sighed. She looked at Flare and smiled sweetly. “And who's this handsome stallion?”

“Captain Flare Blitz.” Twilight smiled as both Flare and Midnight looked a little confused. “Well, Midnight’s pregnant, so I thought you could both share the position of Captain…”

“I'm… a Captain?” Midnight blinked.

“You’re a Captain?” Ledger echoed.

“Yes, they both are,” Twilight explained further. “I've read your file Captain Blitz. You're something of a night owl?”

“Perhaps a little,” the stallion nodded.

“Well, once Midnight returns to full duties, would you like to stay on as my Captain of the Night Guard?”

Flare’s eyes widened and he nodded.

“Excellent, so until then, you'll be sharing the position.”

“That’s not the only position I'd like to share…” Flare smiled at Midnight. Unfortunately for him, seven emotivores also resided in the room.

Two of whom were married to the mare he was flirting with, and started to growl a little at him…

“Hmm? Now what?” Midnight said and poked Ledger. “Do I have to smack you again?”

The drone merely pulled her close and chittered at the stallion in Changeish.

Flare blinked and looked away as Midnight rolled her eyes.

“He's a jealous sort,” she giggled. “Don't mind him Flarey.”

The unicorn nodded and decided that a late night exploration of the castle was in order. He excused himself and left on his ‘patrol’.

“Aww, you scared him away,” Midnight pouted.

“Mine,” the drone chittered before nuzzling her.

“Such a foal,” Midnight giggled and nuzzled him. “Remind me again on whose idea it was to get a second stallion? Flarey is awfully cute.”

“Too late, married now,” Ledger said. “You all didn’t take me up on the offer then. You’re stuck with me now.”

“I suppose I can live with that,” Midnight nodded and looked at Scope. “So is cute little Scopey now big sexy Scopey?”

“Tryin’ to get pregnant,” Scope said as she munched on a cookie.

“Okay,” Midnight nodded.

“And we may be conducting a magical experiment,” Ledger said. “To help keep her stable.”

“Ohhh~” Twilight’s ears perked up at ‘magic’ and ‘experiment’. “Let me get a fresh scroll and you can give me all the details!”

“Maybe when we’re not in front of mixed company?” the drone suggested.

“Believe it or not, this is normal for us,” Midnight sighed and gulped down her tea. Her eyes shrank as her ears flattened against her head.

“Hooooooooot…” she rasped.

Ledger snickered a little before kissing his silly bat. “What are we going to do with you?”

She grabbed the small pitcher of milk and gulped it down, sighing as the ice-cold liquid soothed her burnt throat.

“Oh?” Twilight smiled and looked at the mercs. “Guess what Ledger, Midnight set a new personal best tonight.”

“Pfft, I bet you guys got fucked up so hard,” Scope snickered.

“We’d normally be the ones on the winning side,” the Yellow of the group said.

“This is the first mission we’ve failed,” one of the Reds added.

“Though even in failure, there is a measure of success,” the Blue finished.

“Oh? That you actually survived a fight with a Changeling Hunter?” Scope mused and licked her lips. “The Madame did tell you what Midnight is capable of yes?”

“She wanted to keep that a surprise,” the other Red said.

“Surprise,” Midnight giggled and booped the Red’s nose.

“Yeah, if we’d had more time to prepare, we would have been able to take care of Princess Twilight without any problems,” the Orange said.

“Excuses, excuses,” Scope sang. “All I see are five little drones pouting that they got beat by one sexy mare.”

“Flare helped too,” Midnight said.

“You’re just lucky we were only contracted to test your capabilities in a combat situation,” the Yellow said. “And only the once as well.”

Scope leaned in close and her smirk grew. “You do realise, that if my Mistress was serious, one chance is all you’d get. We’d not even be having this conversation if she thought Twilight’s life was really in danger.”

“Which is why we usually only try the once,” the Orange said. “It’s too much trouble to fail.”

“Well, all that aside, thank you for not killing me,” Twilight smiled as Cider shook her head. Conversations with this family never failed to get weird.

“Maybe you guys should come back sometime, I could teach you a few tricks~” Midnight giggled.

“Mistress, they do not need to know how five stallions can take one mare,” Scope groaned.

“So you want four clones now?” Ledger asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I could totally take ‘em,” Midnight smirked, before blinking. “Wait, what are we talking about?” She had the sneaking suspicion she was misunderstood.

“I’ve lost track,” Ledger admitted.

“Eh,” Scope shrugged and licked her lips again as she gave the five drones a half-lidded gaze. “Now, let’s see about putting these cute little drones to good use~”

“Scope,” Ledger said. “Down. We don’t need to terrorize them.”

“I don’t want to scare them,” she purred. “I just want to play for a little while~”

“What’s wrong with her?” Midnight said. Scopey was never this forward to anypony outside of their marriage.

“I dunno,” Ledger admitted. “I think she was lying when she said her season was sated.”

“Mine~” Scope chittered and leapt across the table, pouncing on Ledger. The drone fell back under the assault before kissing her.

“Something’s gotten into you, and it wasn’t me,” he observed.

“Not yet anyway~ Give me a second, I’ll fix that riiiight up~”

“If a Changeling’s season is like a pony’s,” Twilight said as Scope rubbed herself against Ledger. “She’ll be like this all week.”

“It should have stopped once I sated her,” the drone mused. “Changeling seasons typically do…”

“There’s a simple explanation fer that,” Cider smirked as she dangled an empty bottle from her hoof and pointed at Scope’s teacup. “Revenge is a dish served sexy.”

“...So you’re doing this just to mess with us?” the drone asked Scope.

“Mmm, I’ll make you mine~” she purred as Cider gave him a closer look at the bottle she’d spiked Scope’s tea with. ‘Heat in a Bottle’...

“Oh you little…” the drone said.

“Have fun~” the earth mare winked and smiled at him.

“Cidey…” Midnight frowned at her before smiling widely. “Good job!”

“She was insatiable before,” Ledger sighed. “We broke the furniture in both of our offices.”

“Oh wow,” Midnight said and looked at Scope. “Maybe I should take her off of your hooves then~”

“Help would be appreciated,” the drone said.

Midnight sat back and pondered her options. She shrugged and bid goodnight to the mercs, before taking Scope’s tail and dragging her out of the room…

“Glad that’s sorted,” Ledger sighed. “I’ll probably join her once I have a minute or two to recover.”

The Yellow drone snorted and shook his head. “Tonight has been… weird…”

“Welcome to our house,” Ledger said.

Oh, they were going to have some interesting words with Madame Silver when they got home. That was for sure.

Until then?

Might as well enjoy tea with the Princess.

Author's Note

In which a bat cuts loose in more ways than one.

Apologies for this one being later than usual, the site was being...weird.

Like the story? Consider dropping Aus and me a dollar on my Patreon. It really does help.

Half of the money will not go to the valley of stardew.

Chapter 102 - Being bugged by batty problems

Ledger was sitting on the porch of their homestead. Cider was out tending to her berry crops and it was a pleasant summer day.

He was just glad spring was over. Seriously, fuck that season. Fuck it to Tartarus.

He still hadn’t worked out when Twilight constructed that kinky sex dungeon…

The peaceful silence was shattered when Ace and Amy had stopped by to see Midnight, and Ace wound up being thrown through a window, hitting the ground near Ledger.

“Ow…” he muttered into the dirt.

“Okay, that’s different,” he said. “What happened?”

“I believe the term is… your wife threw my husband out of a window,” Chrysalis replied as she walked out of the house to check on Ace. “She’s rather irritable today and Ace made a comment about her belly.”

“Does she need to be calmed down?” Ledger asked as he marked his place in his book.

“Amy’s working on that… you’re out of mangoes and ice-cream now by the way.” Chrysalis helped Ace up and sighed. “Where’s Sparkle? I thought she’d be here today?”

“She’s off on some magic lecture in Canterlot,” Cider said as she trotted up to them and raised an eyebrow at Ace. “Apparently she’s giving one about Cutie Marks…”

“I’d have offered to go with, but as a non-pony I’m sort of disqualified from talking about Marks,” Ledger said.

Chrysalis turned and looked at her own, a rather stunning pair of sparkling butterfly wings. “And yet I have one and know zip-all about them…” She turned and looked at Ledger. “So what’s this I hear about Sugar propositioning you and yours? Rather bold of her.”

“She seems to think that swapping Moondancer for me for a night is a good idea,” Ledger said as he returned to his book. “I’m not certain I’d be up for a deal like that.”

“Aww, is Ledger afraid of the big bad changeling?” Chrysalis teased. “But I can see her point, you’re the only other Noble in the city… hell, probably the only Silver one in all of Equestria.” The mare took a seat and stared up at the clouds. “And it's not like you're cheating on your wives, unless you intend to marry the nymph…”

“I really don’t,” Ledger said as he turned the page. “I don’t even want to screw her at all.”

“Well then don't,” Chrysalis replied. “Just say no, she'll back off.”

“But then I would have to deal with Midnight asking why she didn’t get to spend any time with Moondancer,” Ledger said. “And I can’t really say no to her.”

“Yes you can. You say no, it's as easy as that,” Chrysalis said sternly. “You think they're going to stop beings friends because they can't have sex? Not everything revolves around the bedsheets Ledger.”

“Have you met Midnight?” the drone asked.

“Yes, she threw Ace out of the window, it was pretty hilarious actually,” Chrysalis sighed and looked at the drone. “Have you even talked with her about this?”

“She’s talked with me about it,” Ledger said. “A few times. I haven’t said anything.”

“Then you're an idiot,” Chrysalis said. “And it sounds like you have no intention of taking my advice anyway. Despite the fact I'm in the same position as you.”

“Oh?” Ledger asked as he looked over at her.

“Don’t tell Sparkle, though her freakout would be epic,” Chrysalis smirked as she pictured the city burning. “But when we were in the Empire… Cadenza may have… given us an offer.”

“Oh wow,” Ledger said. “Yeah, that...would be reason for her to freak out alright.”

“Yes, and now you can see why my advice is valid,” Chrys said and brushed a lock of her mane from her eyes. “Could you imagine Shining’s face? I think he's already paranoid we did something, despite me telling him we didn't.”

“Yes, well, he did have a traumatic experience with changelings before,” Ledger pointed out. “It’s only natural that he be skittish around them now.”

“I think we're getting off topic,” the mare sighed. “Look Ledger. My point is. You don’t have to if you don't want to. Or will you be a good little drone and follow orders?”

“I don’t want to,” Ledger said. “But I don’t want Midnight to be unhappy either. Maybe I’ll let her try to convince me again, if she’ll let me talk about why I don’t want to go.”

“For the love of…” Chrysalis’s horn lit up as she lifted Ledger with her magic. “We’re going to talk with Midnight now, as I'm starting to get a little pissed off.”

“Have fun,” Cider and Scope waved after them.

“Wait, what?” Ledger asked, thoroughly confused. Chrysalis carried him upstairs and opened the door to Ledger’s bedroom. Midnight was sitting on the bed, balancing a bowl on her round belly as her irritation was sated for now.

Who knew a Pink would be a viable solution to a thestral’s volatile pregnancy hormones.

“Seriously, what?” Ledger asked. “I don’t understand.”

“Midnight!” Chrysalis barked as she threw Ledger onto the bed. “Your drone has something he'd like to say and you will fucking listen to him.” She put Amy on her back and walked out of the room.

“Oh...kay?” Midnight blinked and looked at Ledger. “What’s this all about?”

“Apparently she thinks I should express myself more,” the drone said with a shrug. “I don’t get it.” He took a deep breath before saying what he had to say. “Middy, I’m really uncomfortable with the idea of agreeing to Sugar’s proposition. It feels way too close to cheating for me to be comfortable with it.”

Midnight sat there as his words spilled out. Once he was done, she was silent for a moment. Then, she had her response.

“Okay.”

“...Wait, that’s it?” Ledger asked with a tilt of his head.

“Well, yeah,” Midnight said and slowly rolled over. “Look Ledger, I was confused when she asked. And I'm not going to ask you to do something you don't want to just so I could relive days past. What Moondancer and I had? It was something special. But what we have? It's just as special, if not more so. And I'm not going to put that at risk because I got greedy.” She closed her eyes and he could feel the regret roll off of her. “If anything, I should be apologising to you. It's a situation I shouldn't have put you in… I just hope you can forgive me…”

Then Ledger was kissing her, softly on the lips, before drawing back and smiling at her. “You silly bat,” he said gently. “I will always forgive you.”

“Heee~” she giggled and booped his nose with hers. She suddenly gasped and grinned widely.

“Is that a good thing or a bad one?” Ledger asked. She just continued to smile and she took his hoof and placed it against her belly. All was silent for a moment…

Then he felt something kick his hoof…

“Oh wow,” he whispered. “Hi there. I’m your daddy.” It kicked again as if responding as Midnight smiled.

“When I went to the doctors yesterday. I found out what gender it was,” she said.

“I’d rather not know,” the drone said. “I prefer to be surprised.”

“I think I might still be,” the bat giggled. “Sugar said that the foal is prone to spontaneous gender changes as their magic sets in.”

It gave another kick and Midnight winced. “Aaaand that was my bladder. Now I need to pee. Help me up?” Ledger offered her a hoof to pull her up with as he stood off to the side of the bed. She wiggled around and got up, before waddling over to the bathroom. It was pretty funny to watch.

“You don’t want to be laughing at me Ledger,” Midnight warned as she closed the bathroom door. “Revenge will be swift and embarrassing.”

“I would never,” Ledger said honestly. At least, not openly.

“Good, cause Silver-Mom told me about a certain practice, and a certain somebuggies first shedding…”

“I have no idea what you could possibly be talking about,” the drone said.

“I know what's in your closet~” she sang out.

“There is absolutely nothing in my closet,” the drone returned. And there wasn’t. He had hidden it somewhere completely different.

“Then I'll ask Joyful to find it~ You know she'll use her weird Pink Powers to do it too.”

“Find what?” a small voice chirped from Ledger’s back.

“Joyful,” Ledger sighed. “You know you’re not supposed to just leave home like that. Especially not alone.”

“M’not alone,” she replied. “Mommy was bringing Miss Daring back to Equestria, so me, Mommy and the brothers are visiting.”

The house shook with a distant explosion, followed by Cider yelling at someone.

“You brought. The trio. Here.”

“It was Big Sis Scopey’s idea,” Joy hummed as she braided Ledger’s mane.

“That does not make it a good one,” Ledger pointed out. Joy just shrugged as she finished and tied the braid with a pink ribbon.

“I dunno, Sis just said she wanted to try something…”

The portal to Twilight’s place opened and Rarity poked her head through, before three little fillies raced through. “Ah, wait you little… Oh, hello Ledger dear.”

“Was that…” Ledger asked as his voice failed him. He’d heard of those fillies before. Twilight had told stories about their legendary destructive prowess.

“Hmm, did Scope not tell you?” The unicorn stepped through the portal. “She agreed to foalsit for the evening...”

“Rarity, have I ever told you about my brothers?” Ledger said. “I have three younger brothers, and they all have a unique knack for destroying anything in any possible way. And right now, they’re making an unscheduled stop at this very farm.”

It didn’t take long for Rarity to put two and two together. Sure, those fillies had calmed down a little since getting their Cutie Marks… but even so…

“W-Well… best of luck Ledger love.” And with that, the unicorn bailed, leaping back through the portal.

“Big brother?” Joyful said in an eerily calm tone. “I can feel it…”

“Don’t you dare,” Ledger said. “I have enough problems as it is.”

“The end is coming Big Brother…” Joyful vibrated as something else exploded outside and the drone could hear six distinct voices.

“And if you do nothing, I can still stop it,” Ledger grumbled before sticking Joyful on his bed. “Stay. Put.”

“Haaaaai!” she cheered as Midnight re-emerged from the bathroom.

“Bleh, what’s all the noise? Oh! JoyJoy~”

“The parts for the end of all things have been brought together,” Ledger explained. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders and my brothers are in the same place at the same time. All of reality is doomed. Be right back.”

Midnight watched him leave as she sat on the bed and huggled Joyful. “I give him five minutes before he’s screaming for help,” the bat giggled.

“Bro’s pretty good at magic,” Joyful hummed. “Fifteen, tops.”

“You’re on,” the bat replied, bumping hooves with the filly.

Scope Lens was relaxing at a spa in the city, a black-feathered griffon rubbing her aching hooves. Pregnancy sucked.

“Mmm, thaaaaaat’s niiiice,” she purred. She cracked open one eye and looked at the catbird. “So… how are you and Steppy doing?”

“Still going steady,” the griffon replied. “I swear, that mare, she’s more insatiable than me. And every new story I tell her makes her wilder.”

“She’s half Violet, and from what it sounds, all the Lust and very little of the control,” the Blue nymph shifted around on the table and groaned. “Urgh! Being pregnant sucks. Why the fuck did I ever think this was a good idea…”

“Probably something along the lines of love or something sappy like that,” Jonathan replied. “I wouldn’t know, I’m not ready to be a dad myself.”

“No offense, but the mere thought of you and Two-Step breeding fills me with dread,” Scope said. “Ahh~ Mmmm, yeah, right there…”

“I’m gettin’ better at giving massages to changelings every day,” the griffon said with a chuckle. “Mostly due to my off-hours practice…”

“Aaaaand that was a mental image I did not need,” the nymph sighed. Her ear flicked… somepony was trying to open a link with her.

Ledger?

“What is it? I’m enjoying the skills of a handsome griffon right now.”

“You have doomed us all, I hope you know,” Ledger replied. “Cider is calling for blood, and I am two seconds away from telling her that this was all your plan.”

Huh?

Ohhh. Rarity actually came through on her end.

“Sorry… kssh… can’t...rrrk! Breakin—” She cut the connection and giggled.

“Somethin’ funny?” the griffon asked as he paused for a moment.

“I think I may have either solved a great problem, or brought destruction and ruin to us all,” the nymph giggled. “Now get back to those hooves, I still have fifteen minutes left~”

“If you say so,” Jonathan said. “Maybe we should offer just a hoofrub service for pregnant mares?”

“You would make soooo much money,” she purred as he rubbed her swollen hooves.

Three fillies stared at three colts. There was… something about them. Something… familiar.

Sweetie Belle was silent, too shy to say anything. Scootaloo didn’t really care so it was up to the little Apple to break the ice.

“Howdy!” she chirped and held out a hoof. “Mah name’s Applebloom, and these here are mah friends, Sweetie Belle an’ Scootaloo.”

“I’m Lightning-Wits,” the yellow pegasus colt said. “These are my half-brothers, Tank and Brute.” They shifted a little and nodded at being introduced.

“Well it’s nice ta meet y’all!” Applebloom smiled as she shook his hoof, the strong little filly nearly taking his leg off.

“Heckuva hoofshake,” the colt complimented her. “You must exercise every day.”

“Ah help out mah sis and brother on the farm, so ah reckon so,” she smiled.

“So who are you lot?” Scootaloo said as she stared at them. “Haven’t seen you before.”

“We’re all half-brothers,” Wits said.

“Different dads, same mom,” Brute expanded.

“We’re here visiting another brother of ours,” Tank finished it off.

“Brother…?” Sweetie tilted her head and put the puzzle together. “You’re Mr. Ledger’s brothers?”

The three pegasi simply nodded in unison to her statement.

“Dude, Ledger’s family is freakin’ huge,” Scootaloo commented and brushed her fringe aside. “He’s like the changeling version of Apples.”

“So ah have a big family,” Applebloom replied and waved at Cider. The mare had been watching the trio… it was a little weird.

“So… wanna do something?” Scoots said and shrugged. “Rarity got a sudden order, so we’re stuck here for the night.”

“We were gonna see if our sister’s obstacle course was still here,” Wits explained. “Our dads only were gonna let us stay if we got a little exercise in while we were here.”

Cider breathed a sigh of relief. It had taken her weeks to dismantle that deathtrap.

“I don’t see one…” Scootaloo said, peering out in the direction they were pointing.

“We could build one though…” Applebloom started.

“You’re changelings yeah?” Sweetie asked.

And just as Ledger emerged from the house… the dreaded words filled the air and shook the earth.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS OBSTACLE COURSE BUILDERS! YAY!!”

“Oh buck me to Tartarus,” Cider groaned.

“This is only going to end in tears,” Ledger agreed. “Quick, we have to try and separate them, contain the damage.” The two turned, only to see six dotted outlines in place of six insane youngsters…

“To the shed!” Ledger proclaimed. That was where all the tools were. If they could stop it there…

They raced to said shed, and all they saw was a swinging door and an empty space where the tools should be…

Oh sweet Celestia, even the magitech tools were gone.

“Maybe we should bring in Ace on this one,” the drone mused.

“Prolly,” Cider nodded. “Wait, where did those three get to anyhow?”

Chrysalis was dragging both Amy and Ace along in her magic as she headed for home.

“No way and no how am I sticking around if those little harbingers of destruction are there,” she muttered.

“Aww, but I kinda like it~” Amy pouted. “Just seeing what they’ll get up to…”

Chrysalis paused. She’d almost forgotten who Amy was. “Oh yes, foals are your thing, so you could diffuse the situation couldn’t you?”

“But that wouldn’t be fun!” the pink chirped.

“Why are they even here?” the Flutterpony moaned. “Don’t tell me Gossip is here too. I was having such a good day today and everything.”

“I dunno, but I kinda want to join them~” Amy said.

And like that, the Pink was gone as Chrysalis sighed and released Ace. “Well, shall we join them or find shelter?”

“I believe you have work soon,” the griffon nodded and looked at a clock in a nearby storefront.

“Urgh…” Chrysalis groaned. “Those little brats get ice-cream everywhere…”

Suddenly the Pink was back in her face and giving her a stern expression. “You remember our deal, Chryssy,” she said. “You have to prove you can stand foals before I’ll give you one.”

The mare was only a little startled by her sudden appearance. “Yes, I know,” she groaned. “Fine, I’ll only think about locking them in the freezer…”

“Better~” Amy chirped as she fell back in line. “I’m sure you’ll be a lot more friendly to foals once you’ve had your own. Though you could always just ask Acey to help you with that~”

“Mhmm, I’d be glad to help,” he purred and kissed his wife. “Now there’s a thought~ Let’s wait until you can shift again, and we’ll see who can get this one pregnant first~”

“Ooooh~” Amy giggled. “A game we’ll have all sorts of fun playing and have to wait at least nine months to figure out who won? Count me in~”

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Chrysalis deadpanned.

“Stop asking silly questions, silly,” Amy said before beeping her nose. “You do get a say. You get to say how hard you want it~”

“I swear you’re a Violet in disguise,” the mare muttered. “I’m going to work… and maybe drown myself in the chocolate sauce.”

“They don’t stock nearly enough for that,” the pink said dismissively.

“They do now,” she replied. Chrysalis loved chocolate. Her last dessert she had, (which she didn’t tell Amy about) Was chocolate cake, topped with chocolate icing, filled with chocolate fudge, drizzled with chocolate sauce and sat on a bed of chocolate pudding.

“Darnit, now I wanna work again,” the pink pouted.

“I even got to make my own special flavor of ice-cream,” the mare taunted as she turned around. “One that will get discontinued when I stop working there~”

Ace sighed and picked Amy up before she tried to follow Chrysalis to work. “Alright, stop teasing Amethyst. You know she has to go easy on the sweets…”

“Whyyyyy did they do that to meeeeee~” the nymph moaned dramatically. “Sweets are practically my life-blood…”

“Because too much sweets is bad for the foal,” Ace said. “Everything in moderation.”

“Vanilla mint swirl with nuts and lime syrup,” Chrysalis continued as Ace rolled his eyes. “All inside a chocolate waffle cone~”

“Acey~” Amy asked sweetly. “If I give you the bits, would you go out and get us some new gear for tonight?”

“Such as?” the griffon replied. This was going to get ugly…

“Oh, you know,” Amy said. “Bindings, locks, gags, cuffs, magic inhibitors…”

“Amy, that stuff is expensive,” Ace sighed. “Chrysalis. Go to work already.”

“Yes love,” she giggled and gave them both a kiss on the cheek before teleporting off.

“I swear…” the griffon said as he put Amy on his back.

“Aww, and I just wanted to have a little fun with Chryssy~” Amy mock-whined.

“And yet, I somehow imagine that most of the work would fall to me,” he replied, poking her belly with a feather. “Come on. Let us see if we can prevent city-wide destruction at the hooves of foals.”

“Prevent?” Amy asked with a tilt of her head.

“Oh sweet Celestia,” Ace groaned as he headed back to the farm. This wasn’t going to end well…

They had done it.

Ledger wasn’t sure how…

But the Crusaders had somehow built a course more dangerous than the one Amy made…

And now his brothers were running it.

“Ah… ah have no words…” Cider sighed.

“I don’t know who’s crazier,” the drone admitted. “All I do know is they’re getting along like fish and water.”

“W-Well,” Cider replied with a thousand yard stare. “At least yer brothers have some pony friends?”

“They hardly needed more help in destroying things,” Ledger replied with a deadpan. “I don’t know how to stop this.”

“Ah… ah have no idea,” Cider replied.

And that was when disaster struck. The mountain of barrels that had been stacked for them to climb over collapsed. Several heavy barrels started to fall towards the triplets…

Cider ran forward, delivering a powerful kick that completely obliterated the falling barrels, reducing them to nothing but splinters before they could crush the bugs.

And yet, they kept going like nothing had happened. Nothing apparently phased them.

“Unbelievable…” Cider sighed as she sat down. Applebloom ran up to her, as did Scootaloo.

“That. Was. Awesome!!” the petite pegasus cheered.

“Was that one o’yer Shattered Boulder techniques?” Applebloom asked.

Cider blushed a little from the attention. “Eeyup.”

When the trio reached the end of the course…

A rather pregnant thestral was waiting there…

“RUN FOR IT!” they shouted in unison as they made to do exactly that. They hadn’t forgotten last time.

“MAGGOTS! FRONT AND CENTER!!” She yelled, her voice carrying quite far. Ingrained responses had them falling in and saluting to her before they even realized they were doing it.

“Disrespecting a Captain of the guard like that,” she said sternly. “I should string you up by your leg holes.”

“WHATEVER YOU SAY, MA’AM!” they responded.

Midnight snorted and paced up and down in front of them. She looked them over and clicked her tongue. “Have we been keeping up our training? Or have we been slacking off?”

“MA’AM, WE HAVE BEEN DILIGENT, MA’AM!” they responded as one. As long as she wasn’t shouting at them, they would keep doing this.

“Inside voice if you don't mind,” Midnight winced and rubbed her ear. “And you can give Cider some gratitude, seeing as how she saved you three from becoming roadkill.”

“Yes Ma’am!” they replied, a little softer but still all at once. Then the three of them turned to Cider and inhaled…

Cider blinked and braced herself.

“Thank you, Ma’am!” they practically shouted at her.

Cider adjusted her mane from the breeze that yell generated. She nodded and smiled. “Jus’ try and pay a lil’ more attention to yer surroundings okay? We don't need yer momma flyin’ off the handle cause y’all got hurt.”

The three fell into muttering agreement that no, nopony wanted that.

“Scary Gossip is scary,” Midnight agreed. She winced as she put a hoof to her tummy. “Parasite agrees with that assumption.”

“Are you still callin’ it that?” Cider deadpanned.

“Well until it stops using my body as a source of nourishment and growth, I'll keep doing so, yes.”

The three colts just kept silent, not wanting to draw any attention to themselves during this little argument…

Cider sighed and turned her attention to the three fillies trying to sneak away.

“An’ you three,” she said, causing them to flinch. “You an’ these colts are gonna clean this darned course up.”

“But-” Scootaloo started but a stern gaze from Cider cut her off.

“Yes Mrs. Cider,” they droned together. The mare turned to the three changelings and pointed. “Well, don't jus’ stand there, git helpin’.”

“Hup to it soldiers!!” Midnight ordered. “And if I hear one word of complaint, then you can do it without your magic.”

The three drones surprisingly didn’t grumble at all as they marched off to help the fillies. Midnight turned to Ledger and smiled.

“See, aren’t they just the sweetest?”

“I have no idea how you did that,” the drone said. “I’m just surprised the farm’s intact.”

Midnight just shrugged and started to head back towards the house. All that yelling made her tired…

“Don’t worry Levvy, I’m here to remedy that~” Amy giggled from his back.

“Amy,” Ledger sighed. “Please don’t. The farm couldn’t take it.”

“Couldn’t take what?” Joyful said, appearing on his head. Amy squeed and grabbed the pink, hugging her tightly. Cider decided that this was not a safe place to be and bolted for her greenhouse, yelling something about some sudden chores popping up.

“And now the world is triple-doomed,” Ledger deadpanned.

A new set of emotions spiked on his radar, that had just popped up out of nowhere and seemed to be coming from the house. Exhaustion, irritation… and depression?

“And now I have to tend to one of my wives,” Ledger sighed. “I will be right back. Don’t go anywhere.” He removed the Pinks from himself with magic and stepped inside, searching for the source of the negativity.

It was easy enough to find, as the alicorn princess lay on her back on the bed as Midnight pet her tail. The bat pony giving Ledger a glance when he walked in and motioned for him to not make much noise.

Ledger nodded and just sat near the door, waiting for this situation to unfold so he would know how best to approach it.

“Are you feeling better?” Midnight asked, kissing one of Twilight’s hindhooves.

“Buck. My. Life…” Twilight sighed and put a hoof over her eyes. “No, actually… Fuck my life. Fuck it to Tartarus and back.”

Ledger, wisely, stayed quiet. He didn’t know enough yet, and would only get in trouble if he tried to help before he did.

“So what happened?” Midnight asked, still stroking the mare’s tail. “Did the lecture go bad?”

“The lecture?” Twilight’s eye twitched. “Oh no, the lecture went great! Having to go back through time and watch Equestria get progressively worse and worse. Now that was fun!” Her tone had gone well beyond safe levels of snark. “Sombra, Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis… the end of the world. Totally. Fucking. Great!” Her horn gave off a few sparks.

“I’m not even going to pretend to understand how that’s possible,” Ledger said. “I can only assume alicorn magic shenanigans were involved.”

“No… just Starswirl’s magic. One unicorn that had way more potential than I ever imagined. Oh, and a vendetta against me. It’s fine, we’re friends now. I don’t blame her...much. I just… I need to vent a bit…”

“Hmm,” Ledger said. “I think the last time you vented was during that Tirek thing, and I’m pretty sure the landscape never was the same again.”

There was another explosion from outside and Twilight squealed in surprise and flinched.

“See what I give up stopping to console you?” Ledger said mock-dramatically. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders, my brothers, and my little sister and Amy are in the same place at the same time. I’m surprised the world hasn’t broken yet.”

Midnight let out a gasp and the tail she was petting vanished as Twilight teleported outside, right in front of the group that were about to start another round of demolition.

“Hiiiii guys~” she said with a waaaay too-wide smile and a slightly twitching right eye. “Watcha dooooin~?”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders took one look at that and bailed as fast as their hooves could carry them. The three drones in disguise had no idea what was going on, but decided to follow the fillies, even going so far as to fly after them and offer them a lift. An offer the fillies didn’t turn down, though Scootaloo looked a little annoyed.

“What’s happenin’?” Joyful asked Amy.

“Twilight?” Amy had to approach this carefully. “Now, it’s alright. Just calm down okay sweetie?”

“Calm? Oh. I’m perfectly calm.” She whirled and saw what was left of the course. “A little demolition huh? Lemme just help you with that!” She fired up her horn and aimed…

“Yipe!” Joyful cried as she turned away and covered her eyes.

Part of the track looped through one of Cider’s barns…

That barn and the surrounding area no longer existed…

“Uhoh,” Amy pointed out. “Cidey’s not gonna be happy you did that to her orchard, Twily…”

Twilight panted as said mare came running over to see what all the noise was about. When she saw the hole…

“Twahlight,” she said a little too calmly. “If y’all tell me the truth on whut jus’ happened here. Ah promise ah won’t make sure that Equestria goes back to havin’ jus’ three princesses…”

“C’mon Joyful,” Amy said before putting the filly on her back. “Let’s go before this turns ugly.”

“Where’re we gonna go?” the filly asked cutely.

“To somewhere that isn’t about to be an imminent regicide scene,” Amy said. “How about my shop? I’ll even get you some ice-cream.”

“Yay!” Joyful cheered as they left.

“I… ah... “ Twilight froze. She-she hadn’t meant to do that. Well, she did, but she didn’t mean to destroy…

And now the Princess of Friendship was crying.

Apple Cider sighed and sat next to her, rubbing her shoulder. “Hey now. S’alright. It was an old barn anyway. But honestly Twah! Ya can’t go around blowin’ up mah stuff. A good wife don’t do that.”

“I’m *hic* sorry,” Twilight sniffled. “It’s just… today was so… and I was… I’m sooooorryy…”

“It’s fine, the princesses extended the ‘Sparkle Fund’ to cover mah farm as well, so it’s alright.”

That got the alicorn to calm down a little as Ledger came out to see what in the hay all that noise was. “S-Sparkle Fund?”

“Anything in Ponyville destroyed by you an’ yer friends is covered by it,” Cider nodded. “‘Cept AJ’s barn… ah swear that thing gets destroyed on a monthly basis…”

“That explains so much,” the drone said.

“Oh bite me,” the alicorn sniffed. “I’m sorry though… I shouldn’t have lost control like that.”

Cider nodded and nibbled her neck, causing Twilight to giggle. “One, ah bite you whenever you want~ An’ two? No y’all shouldn’t have. It was irresponisble an’ ya really coulda hurt somepony… or worse.” Twilight shrank back. She was right. What if somepony had been in that barn?

“But!” Cider continued. “Ah also can’t imagine whut y’all go through, both as a princess and one of the ponies that keep the whole world safe. So iffn’ y’all need to vent sometime. Jus’ ask okay? Ah’ll go a round or two… or we could jus’ hit mah special reserve of cider stock~”

“I had been about to ask you if you wanted to go and get drunk to help you relieve the stress of today,” Ledger pointed out. “I’d gladly be your chaperone for the trip.”

“Now there’s an idea,” Cider nodded. “Ah’ll grab a few barrels. We’ll go back to yer shiny treehouse and get absolutely shattered. Jus’ the three of us.”

“Oh no,” Ledger said. “I need to stay sober to make sure that you both don’t do anything too embarrassing.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Cider shrugged. “Suit yerself. Y’all can take Princess Hotflanks here home. Ah’ll fetch those barrels.”

“Princess Hotflanks?” Twilight hiked an eyebrow and giggled. “You sure you haven’t been hitting it already?”

“Naw, but ah got y’all to smile,” Cider giggled and booped her nose.

“And right now, that’s the important thing,” Ledger agreed. “Besides which, those flanks of yours are pretty hot.”

Twilight blushed and pushed him with a hoof. “Perverted changeling,” she giggled and spread her wings. “Race you back to the house?”

“Spare me, you know I’d lose,” Ledger said. “Though if you want to stick your flank in my face, by all means, do. I’ll be sure to appreciate the view~”

“Aww, don’t be like that~” Twilight smiled and half-lidded her gaze. “Winner gets to tell the loser what to do for a whole hour~”

“Well in that case,” Ledger said, before flashing into his Pegasus guise and spreading his newly-feathered wings. “You’re on.”

“I’ll give you a five second head start,” Twilight smirked. Sweet Celestia. The alicorn licked her lips and looked him over. His pegasus form was hot~

“You know,” Ledger said before his wings twitched. “If not for the fact that I needed my magic to do my job to any degree of proficiency, I would have arrived as a Pegasus.” And with that, he was off. He was going to enjoy this. He only hoped her friends hadn’t taught her too well in how to use those wings of hers.

Twilight mentally counted as she watched him fly. Five, four, three, two...one~ Her horn flashed and she teleported to the house just before he arrived.

“I win~” she smiled sweetly.

“I call a foul,” Ledger said. “The terms of your participation were hardly laid out beforehoof.”

“And whose fault is it for flying off before questioning it?” she asked.

“Whose fault is it for not clarifying it before saying what the prize would be?” Ledger countered. “I call this round null and move for a more proper, Pegasus race as a redo.”

“You’re just pouting because I won,” she smiled. “How about a compromise then? You take a form of my choosing… and I’ll wear whatever you like~”

“But you know I like you best in nothing at all,” Ledger countered. “That’s hardly fair to me.”

“Huh, that’s too bad,” Twilight said and turned around, flicking her tail. “And I just got this sexy librarian outfit to try out. Hmm, maybe Midnight would appreciate it more~”

“All right, fine, you little minx,” Ledger grumbled as he flashed back into his normal form. “You can have your bloody compromise. Though I still get the feeling that I’m being played and used.”

“Oh cheer up, I’ll buy you something pretty,” Twilight giggled as she trotted upstairs. The drone rolled his eyes before following after her. Tonight was going to be no end of torment, he was sure.

Chrysalis groaned and thunked her head on the table. It was a slow day and there had been this one filly that wouldn’t stop staring at her!

“Look kid, for the last time, I am not a butterfly,” Chrysalis said. “Seriously. Go home.”

“Pwetty fwuttapony,” the filly replied.

Chrysalis groaned and facehooved. At least she got that right. But she was still staring…

Then the door opened and Chrysalis could feel the chaos approach. She looked up to see her wife walk in, with a little pink filly on her back.

Okay, so either she gave birth and aged it up a few years or…

“No. No Pinks!” Chrysalis said. “My day is just fine!” Except for that filly and the fact she was staring into her freaking soul. Seriously, she looked like she’d reached some state of enlightenment.

“Silly filly!” Amy chirped. “I came here to get away from some chaos, not cause more!”

“So you say,” Chrysalis sighed. She looked at Joyful as her teal eyes narrowed. “So if you’re here, I’m guessing your mother is as well?”

“Yeah, but she’s not here,” Joyful said. “Said something about making sure miss Daring was safe. She really shouldn’t have left me and my brothers unsupervised.”

“No… no she should not,” Chrysalis replied, also noting that this was only mildly terrifying that the filly actually pointed that out. She was scarily smart for her age. “Alright, so what do you little envoys of chaos want?”

“I was thinking some ice-cream for the filly,” Amy said. “She nearly saw a very disturbing thing, so she’ll need something sweet to recover.”

“...” Chrysalis gave the mare a flat stare. “You’re drooling…”

“Whoops,” Amy said as she wiped her mouth. “Sorry. It’s just...I’m so...hungry…”

“I can’t tell if you want the ice-cream, or the one serving it,” Chrysalis sighed as she got out two cones. “Fine. Two Chryssy specials, just don’t tell Ace.”

“I won’t say a thing!” Amy promised.

Chrysalis lit up her horn as the ice-cream literally danced in the air. Amy was good at her job, hell, she was one of the best.

But there was something to be said for the artistic skills of a Green. Even as a Flutterpony now, she seemed to have retained some skills as the mint and vanilla combined like swirling water. Nuts fell across the top like snow as she drizzled the butterscotch sauce, and both mares properly ‘ooo’ed and ‘aaah’ed at the sight.

“Y’know, you work on your issues with foals, I might could get you a job here as my assistant,” Amy said.

“I don’t have an issue with foals,” Chrysalis said as she floated over the treats. “I am fully aware the little snot factories are what they are. Ours will be different. She or he will be a foal of the highest caliber.”

“So I’ll only be able to trust you back there once you have one, got it,” Amy said with a smirk.

“You’re impossible,” Chrysalis sighed. “Just eat your ice-cream already. I have to go and make sure that forgetful old bat got our next order right…”

“Aww, I’m sure she did,” Amy said. “And you should be a little nicer to her. She’s fun when you get to know her~”

“I’m perfectly nice. Except when some old crone I don’t even know tells me I have good child-bearing hips.”

“Miss Amy, where do foals come from?” Joyful asked.

“I’m not telling,” Amy said. “You should ask your mother when you’re older. Like, a lot older.”

“Arrgh! Everyling keeps telling me that!” Joyful pouted and folded her legs cutely.

“I’ll tell you,” Chrysalis smirked. The look on Gossip’s face would be so worth it.

“Oh no you don’t,” Amy warned her. “Otherwise I am picking up all sorts of gear to punish you tonight.”

“Oooh, I get to mess with Gossip and that? Must be my birthday~” the mare giggled.

“As in I’ll tie you up and leave you there,” Amy threatened.

“Still worth it~” Chrysalis sang.

“Tell meeeee~” Joyful Heart whined.

“And then hoof you over to her mother so she can deal with you once she asks why her daughter learned that,” Amy said. “Still feeling up to it?”

“Tch!” Chrysalis didn’t reply beyond that and turned to go to the factory.

“Awww,” Joyful pouted and nibbled her ice-cream. “I thought you were my friend Mrs. Amy…”

“Trust me dear, I am, and that’s not something you need to be learning now,” Amy replied as she started eating her own bowl. “Plus, your mom would kill us if you did learn it from anyone but her.”

“All she says is, ‘you’re too young and sweet to know that’,” Amy frowned and stared at her treat. “I’m sick of being ‘little’.”

“You’ll grow up soon enough,” Amy said. “I’m surprised your brothers aren’t tripping over themselves at the sight of three fillies just as destructive as they are.”

“Hmm, why would they be tripping over?” Joyful inquired. “They aren’t that clumsy.”

“You’ll find out, maybe,” Amy giggled.

Joyful just pouted more. It was adorable.

“Phew, that was a close one,” Sweetie Belle sighed. “Miss Twilight is scary when she gets like that.”

“Yup,” Applebloom and Scootaloo nodded. The earth pony turned to the three changelings. “Thanks for the lift fellas. Y’all aren’t bad… fer a bunch of icky colts.”

“Icky?” the three echoed.

“We’re hardly any more ‘icky’ than you fillies,” Brute pointed out.

“Psst,” Tank said. “They might be talkin’ about the fact that we’re changelings.”

“Nah, mom said they wouldn’t do that here,” Lightning said.

“Nu-uh!” Scootaloo said with a shake of her head. “Everypony knows boys have cooties!”

“Not something I’ve ever heard of,” Lightning said. “And mom made sure we were read up on most injuries and maladies.”

“Yeah, and our Orange Step-dad made sure we got them right,” Brute said.

“In short,” Tank said before sticking his tongue out and performing a raspberry.

The three fillies looked at each other and smirked.

“Well,” Applebloom started.

“Seems we’ve come to a disagreement,” Sweetie Belle said.

“So in short…” Scootaloo pulled on one of her eyes and poked out her tongue, making a ‘nyeehhh’ sound.

“Whatever,” the colts responded.

“Now that that purple alicorn went and dismantled the track, there’s nothin’ here to do,” Lightning sighed.

“Something to do huh…” Scootaloo tilted her head. “Well, is that changeling lady supposed to be foalsitting us?”

“Urgh, aren’t we too old to need a sitter?” Sweetie Belle complained. “I dunno, what else do you boys do aside from running around?”

“We’re training,” they said.

“Under our dad’s guidance,” Lightning said.

“To be the best,” Brute added.

“So that we’ll be able to get into the best squad in the Lands,” Tank finished.

“That’s it? Y’all jus’ train. Nothing else?” Applebloom asked.

“That’s weird,” Sweetie frowned.

“Don’t you guys just have… I dunno, fun?” Scoots concluded.

The three changelings in disguise looked at one another before shrugging in response to the question. “Not exactly a whole lot of time for that, with all our studies…” Lightning explained.

“Boooorrrrinngggg!” Scootaloo moaned. “Come on, don’t you play tag? Or pretend?”

“Our free time is usually filled with explosions,” Tank said.

“Completely accidental explosions,” Brute said. “It’s not like we’re trying to blow things up.”

“It just...happens,” Lightning finished.

“Yeah, we know how that is,” Sweetie Belle said and the three shuddered. “So. Much. Tree sap…”

“We should play something then,” Applebloom said. “Hmm, but what…?”

The colts shrugged, and Lightning spoke up. “You all should choose,” he said. “It’s not like we have too much experience with those sorts of things.”

The fillies giggled and then tapped the three on the chest. “Tag! Yer it!” Applebloom shouted and the three bolted for the orchard. With three flashes, the changelings reverted to their normal forms and began their usual aerial searching patterns for targets…

Then Tank got tagged by Scootaloo, as she giggled and raced off on a scooter. Applebloom was hiding in one of the trees and Sweetie was just sitting out in the open…

The three moved in to surround Sweetie, each one taking an angle and not letting her have any easy escape without having to deal with one or more of them.

“Tag me… if you think you can,” she hummed. The three drones slowly started to close in on her… Tank was first up, testing the waters as Sweetie giggled and danced around it. Literally. She rose up onto her hind hooves and danced her way around their attempted strikes. Brute was next, deciding to simply rush the filly and charged her head-on.

Sweetie leaned forward and placer her forehooves against his head, vaulting over him and landing behind him.

“Better luck next time~” she winked and blew them a kiss before running off. Lighting chased after her, his wings being put to good use as he darted after the filly, not willing to lose this game just yet.

He heard a buzzing sound as Scootaloo raced past on her scooter, picking up Sweetie Belle and laughing at the changeling before racing away. He shrugged before looking over to Applebloom and the tree she was stuck in, before he slowly drifted closer…

That was when it started raining apples as the filly shook the tree, leaping out and running off… although, she failed to notice Tank until the last second.

“Ah horseapples.”

The three ‘lings all dogpiled her to the best of their abilities, trying to tackle and finally ‘tag’ the filly.

“Argh!” the filly was buried under the ‘ling-pile.

“We win!” they all cheered.

“Gerrof!” Applebloom grunted and shrugged them off. “An’ not quite. It jus’ means yer it and we gotta tag you.”

“Ohhhhh,” they all said.

“Well...bye!” Lightning said before the three drones darted off in separate directions.

“Girls?” Applebloom smirked. “Git ‘em!”

Sweetie and Scootaloo giggled and chased after them. This was a blast!

Daring kicked her door open, coughing at the dust it kicked up. Well, it had been nearly seven months since she was here.

“*hack* Sorry bout the *kaff* mess…” She walked in as the three changelings followed her.

“I’ve seen worse,” the Madame said. “You should see my sons rooms sometime.” Meanwhile, her drones were just a little too...intimidated to say anything just now.

Apparently, the Madame sometimes had that effect on ‘lings.

“I did remember,” Daring giggled as she removed the sheets from her furniture. “And I miss Critical’s room. It was a great place to think.” She walked into the kitchen, but all she had was some water and preservatives like jam and whatnot.

“Aw man, I can’t even offer you guys anything to eat or drink…”

“It’s fine, I wasn’t planning on staying long,” the Madame said. “I just wanted to make sure you got home safely. After all, you are the first to visit and return from the Lands.”

“True,” Daring nodded. “That’s going to be an experience I’ll never forget.” She smiled at Devoted and Lucky. “Not when I have two constant reminders.”

The two drones blushed under the praise as the Madame smiled.

” “Yes, and I hope you do take good care of them,” she said. “You are, perhaps, our best chance at good press in this day and age. And that’s something we could always use more of.”

“I’ll be sure to send you the first copy of the book once it’s published,” Daring smiled. She turned to her two drones and nodded. “Well, this is it,” she said. “Last chance to change your minds. You might not see the Hives for a while if you stick with me.”

“We’re yours,” Devoted said.

“And we wouldn’t have it any other way,” Lucky added.

“Too bad, you seem to have imprinted on them,” the Madame said with a vicious smile. “Remember to walk them and feed them, dear.”

“Hmm, they might look quite fetching in matching collars,” Daring mused. She was only half-joking…

“As long as you take care of them, then I don’t care what you do in the bedroom,” the Madame said with a wink. “Now that you’re safe, I’ll be heading off to collect my sons and my daughter.”

That was when something flashed right in front of her and the wispy energy materialised into a scroll before falling to the floor.

“Huh, don’t see that too often,” Daring noted.

“Interesting,” the mare mused before picking it up in her magic and unrolling it.

‘Dear mother.

Just an FYI. The trio have basically met pony filly versions of themselves.

They are now friends.

Hopefully the city will still be there when you get back.

Also, I will be in Ponyville watching Cider and Twilight get amazingly drunk. Feel free to use the bedroom portal.

With love.

Secret-Hoarder.

P.S. Twilight wishes to tell you this message was sent via dragon fire in case you were wondering. Yes Twilight, I told her. Of course love, I'm sure she'd be most curious…

What do you mean my diction spell is still going…

Oh Hives, Wait. Spike. Don’t send--’

“Well there’s something I sorely missed,” the mare chuckled. “Seeing my son forget one little variable and panicking about it. Ah, memories…”

“Sounds like fun,” Daring smiled as she tossed her bags into a corner. “Will you be alright heading back by yourself?”

“I rather think I should be heading back soon,” the mare said. “Otherwise I fear there may not be a city to save.”

Daring nodded and gave the mare a hug. “Thank’s for everything Maddy.”

“That’s a new one,” the mare chuckled as she returned the hug. “Take care, miss Yearling. And do let me know when the wedding is, hmm? I wouldn’t mind attending another~”

“W-Wedding!?” Daring spluttered and coughed. “A little soon for thinking about that isn't it?”

“I can wait,” the Madame hummed. “Besides which, your situation is unique and worth noticing~ I very much would love to hear about things as they progress~”

“I'll write you letters,” Daring promised. “Now go on, before you give them ideas.”

“But I would love to hear about new hybrids,” the mare pouted. “And how will they ever get any ideas if I don’t give them any?”

Daring turned to her drones. “You two are not allowed to converse with this mare. She says silly things.”

“But she’s saying interesting things,” Devoted countered.

“Very interesting things,” Lucky purred.

“Celestia preserve me,” Daring groaned. “See what you've done now. Now they're plotting.”

“My own drones plot as well,” the Madame grinned. “I thought it was only fair to share the favor~ Oh, and by the way boys? Try preening her. I promise you, it’ll work wonders.”

“Ack!” Daring stuffed a hoof in her mouth. “No. Bad nymph. You do not tell them that!”

“Really?” Lucky asked.

“I know what I want to try~” Devoted purred. Daring sighed and removed her hoof.

“Urgh, fine. But don't think you're going to do that until you learn how. I like to fly you know.”

“I’m sure you’ll teach them well~” The Madame said before she lit up her horn and vanished in a flash of silver, leaving Yearling alone with two drones that were now looking at her with half-lidded gazes.

Daring sighed and pointed at her home. “First I'm going to clean, then we're going into the village to get some food.”

“I can clean,” Lucky offered.

“I can go with you to get food,” Devoted agreed.

“A division of labor so that nobody is left out,” Lucky concluded.

“Well what am I supposed to do?” Daring mused as she gave Devoted a saddlebag and a pouch of bits.

“You could come with me,” Devoted offered. “I don’t know the town as well just yet.”

“Oh right,” Daring rubbed her ears and shook her head. “Sorry. Little tired today. Okay, let’s get going.”

Lucky smiled and waved goodbye at them as they left before turning back to the house at large. His task was to clean it, and he knew where he was gonna start.

The bedroom~

“So uh…” Applebloom stared at the fire that raged through an empty field. “Anypony know how this happened jus’ from playing tag?”

“Nope,” Brute said.

“Nu-uh,” Tank agreed.

“Not a clue,” Lighting finished it with.

“I wonder if I can lock up foals?” Narrow mused as the fire squad dealt with the blaze.

“We’re sorry,” the fillies all said together.

“You're just lucky that Princess Twilight vouched for you,” the guardsmare said. ‘And she was really flirty for some reason.’ She turned to the colts and sighed. “But you three on the other hoof. Where are your parents or guardians?”

“Mom went off to escort a mare home,” Lightning said.

“So Miss Scope said she’d look after us,” Tank added.

“And then we met these three while we were visiting,” Brute finished.

“Escort a mare?” Narrow sighed. So she was one of those mares huh? She should have a talk with Sugar, see if this mother was one of her girls. “Well, where’s Scope then?”

“She took off,” Lightning said. “Didn’t say where she was going.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” Narrow groaned. “I'm going to skin her alive, pregnant or not!”

“S’alright Cap, I'm here,” Midnight said, walking over. “Girls, what the heck happened here?”

“Ah dunno,” Applebloom said. “Ah was expecting tree sap, not fire.”

“With Ledger’s brothers, I'm surprised that fire was all we got.”

“I’m surprised there isn’t more,” Lightning admitted.

“I don’t freaking believe this,” Narrow groaned. “Fine. I'm going to Sugar’s place. See if I can't find their mother…”

“Why would Sugar know…” Midnight started to say.

There was a pop and a flash, before a silver unicorn mare appeared nearby. “Ah, and I see their curse follows them even here,” she said before walking over. “What’s the damages?”

“And who the hell are you?” Narrow turned to face the new pony.

“I’m the one that made the apparently foolish decision to take my sons on a little trip to Equestria,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting this so quickly, though…”

Narrow groaned. “Look, I know that a lifestyle like yours must be difficult at times. But don't you think your foals should be properly looked after before you take a mare home?”

Midnight paused. Where did Narrow get that assumption from!? “Uh Cap? There something you should-”

“No no, she has a point,” the Madame said. “I should have known better than to assume miss Scope had anything but mischief in mind. Why else would she say that she’d give my sons a good time?”

“She WHAT!?” Narrow screeched before Midnight jumped inbetween them. And there was a lot of batpony to do so.

“Okay, there has been a lot of misunderstandings here,” the thestral said. “Captain? This is Gossip, Ledger’s mother and definitely not a mare of that particular profession. And Mom? I think Scope is in enough trouble as is.”

Narrow blinked and actually blushed from embarrassment. “I am so sorry,” she apologised. “I got the wrong impression from your boys and given the city I live in…”

“I see,” the mare mused. “Well, I suppose I can forgive you...if you promise that all the blame from this will fall on Miss Scope’s head for orchestrating this event in the first place.

“Oh trust me, I am going to do the most unimaginable thing to her,” Narrow grinned evilly. “I'm going to tell Leder and let him invent a punishment.”

“That sounds delectable,” the Madame said with a smile that was far too pointy. “But if there’s no objections to me gathering up my children and going…”

“Aww. But we only just started playing,” Applebloom pouted, with Sweetie and Scootaloo matching it.

“Hmm,” the Madame said. “You got my sons to loosen up and have fun?”

“We played tag, it led to fire,” Scootaloo said proudly. “I wanna see what happens when he teach them how to play house.”

“How about this?” the Madame said. “If you all look into house prices in your hometown, then perhaps I’ll purchase a home there and see about getting the pair of them linked together like my son has. Then you can play with them all the time.”

“Ya mean like that in we came through to get here?” Bloom asked.

“We could put one in the clubhouse,” Sweetie suggested.

“That could work, but I’ve always wanted a nice home in Equestria,” the silver unicorn said. “Find one for me, and you can see them again.”

The trio looked at one another and grinned before inhaling. Midnight put her hooves to her ears.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS HOUSE HUNTERS! YAY!!”

“My, they’re enthusiastic,” the Madame said as she rubbed her ears.

“You have no idea,” Midnight groaned as the fire was instantly suppressed. With a flash of light, Discord appeared wearing a firepony’s coat and carrying the Madame bridal style.

“Fear not citizens, your savior has arrived!”

“It was that bad?” the silver mare asked aloud.

“Hush now, you're ruining my entrance,” Discord said, petting her like a cat… because he'd turned her into one… “I sensed the makings of unparalleled chaos. I just knew those delightful fillies were involved.”

“Discord,” the cat said tersely.

“What? You’re such a cute widdle kitty~” he cooed. “You’re much less scary now. I'm doing you a favour.” He snapped his fingers and summoned Joyful and Amy, before handing the cat to Joy. “Here my little apprentice. Hold your mother for a bit, she’s cranky.”

The little Pink held the cat at hoof’s length for a moment, wondering if Discord could possibly be telling the truth, before the cat spoke to her. “Joyful, please don’t get any ideas.”

“Momma?” Joyful asked.

“Yes indeed,” the Madame replied. Joyful, for one brief moment, looked at Discord with something other than her usual happy expression.

And it was not pretty. Mainly because she was furious with the chaos spirit for doing that to her mother.

Discord rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers, returning the changeling to normal. “You know, for shapeshifters, you get awfully cranky when I change your shape.”

“It wouldn’t be so bad,” the Madame said as she stretched her limbs out. “If you left us the option to choose if we wanted to change. Or even asked. I swear, sometimes I feel like your manners are as just as old as you are.”

“Bah, manners,” Discord gagged. “They're almost as bad as-” he shuddered. “-rules…”

“It's alright Dissy, no harm done.” Midnight said and pet his arm. She still owed him for saving her life a while back. “So what brings you here?”

“Well, aside from the chaos and messing with one of my favourite changelings…” He smiled at the Madame. “Don’t lie, you love me.”

“Like dragons love scale-rot,” she deadpanned.

“Ahh, I'm really feeling it,” Discord sighed happily. “Oh, that reminds me, I have a little gift~” He held out his lion paw to Joyful, a small glowing gem present. “For you to use when you like. It will temporarily grant you chaos magic.”

Joyful’s expression did a complete 180, from distrusting the spirit to being happy with him as she quickly snatched it up. “Thanks, Mister Discord!” she chirped.

“Is… is that safe?” Midnight said warily.

“Of course it's safe,” Discord scoffed. “What’s wrong with giving a small child the power of a god for one day?” He paused and looked at Joyful. “How old are you again?”

“Thirteen!” the filly chirped.

“See, plenty old enough,” Discord nodded.

“You're that old?” Midnight blinked when she realised that she’d never known Joy’s age. “Huh, how about that. Makes me wonder how old the trio is now.”

“Sixteen, fifteen, fourteen,” Joyful said.

“And they were playing tag with twelve year olds?” Midnight giggled at how cute that was.

“Huh, even I didn't see that coming,” Discord replied.

“If you got a mare, you could see it coming a lot more,” Midnight giggled, then gasped and stuffed a hoof in her mouth to stop herself.

“Momma?” Joyful asked.

“No dear, I am afraid it’s not quite time to explain it to you,” the Madame said. “Trust me, I’ll know when it is.”

The pink nymph pouted. “Never gonna know…”

“Ah, always a delight to see some hoof-in-mouth moments,” Discord chuckled. “Well, I should go before I overstay my welcome. Maybe I should go and bug Twilight?” He snapped his fingers and vanished.

“I'm so done,” Narrow sighed. “You know what. Tonight didn't happen. I'm going home and going to bed. Goodnight.” And with that, the mare trotted off.

“Aww, poor Captain Narrow,” Midnight said.

“I can hardly blame her,” the Madame said as she took back Joyful, who was still clutching her jewel. “I can already tell my life is about to get a lot more interesting.”

“Yeah… good luck with that,” Midnight nodded. “So, will you be heading off tonight? Or did you wanna stay over?”

“I highly doubt the city would survive much longer if my most chaotic and destructive offspring remained here for very long,” the Madame chuckled. “Besides which, the Trio still have studying to do...but perhaps if three fillies are very diligent in finding me a house to buy, they’ll meet up again one day.”

“I see,” Midnight nodded. She'd told those fillies to head home, using the portal in the house. Scope was still AWOL, so the bat had the house to herself tonight. “Well, I hope you have a safe trip home. Say hi to the dads for me?”

“Of course, dear,” the silver ‘ling said before drawing close and giving her a hug. “You take care as well.”

“Don’t I always?” she giggled and waved as the changeling teleported off with her children, leaving the thestral alone with Amy in the empty field.

She sighed and turned towards the darkened house. “You should head off too Amy. Unless you trust Ace and Chryssy by themselves.”

“Eh, I kinda do,” Amy replied, before giving Midnight a hug. “You, on the other hoof, look like you need a friend. I’ll stick around until Scopey comes back.”

“Thanks…” Midnight said quietly. “It’s just… I hate being alone…”

“Something I know all too well,” the Pink replied sagely as she followed after the batpony. “Plus I think Chryssy and Acey could do with some quality time together.”

“Heh, I can only imagine what those two will get up to,” Midnight giggled. “Now let's go. I know where Ledger hides all the sweets~”

“Sold to the batpony with exquisite taste,” Amy proclaimed as she followed her friend back to the farmhouse.

“And… and then she says, ‘what's so special about your friends?’” Twilight mocked as she knocked back another cider. “W-Well, Starry Shine… or, whatever. We're the Elements of...of…” She tilted her head. “Bucking rainbow ponies! That's what!!”

“Oh dear,” Ledger said as he watched his wife descend further into drunkenness. “And then what?”

“And then…” she leaned across the table. “LASERS! Lasers everywhere!!”

“Everywhere?” the drone asked.

“Mhmm,” Twilight giggled as she waved her hooves. “We were shooting laserasers, and blowin’ up clouds, and then I froze the bitch in crystal, cause I can do that now. Oh, but we're besties now and her story was so saaaad…”

Aaaaand now she was crying. Ledger automatically assumed the role of comforter and hugged her, running one hoof down her back.

“Mmm, you’re soooo nice to me,” she cooed and planted a drunken kiss on his cheek. “I wuv you snugglebuggle~”

“And I love you too, my lavender princess,” Ledger said as he kissed her back.

Cider rolled her eyes as she downed her drink. “Ah miss having Middy as a drinkin’ buddy. Y’all are lightweights,” the mare chuckled. “And ah hope Middy’s alright. Ah saw those fillies come back, so ah hope she isn't by herself.”

“Hopefully Scope will return soon,” Ledger said. “Then she won’t be alone anymore.”

Cider trotted upstairs, before returning a few minutes later. “She’s fine. Her an’ Amy are face-deep in yer candy stash.”

“Great,” the drone rolled his eyes. “Just what we needed. Two hyper troublemakers running amok in Las Pegasus.”

“Well, good thing we're here then,” Cider chuckled as she sat down.

“Hey, hey guys!” Twilight shouted. “You know what? I bet… I bet I could fly!”

“Not inside,” Ledger said before kissing her. “We don’t need you getting your castle all messy.”

“S’my castle. I'll mess it if I wanna!!” Twilight shouted. “Poopy party pooper.”

“I just don’t want you hurting yourself, dear,” the drone said before kissing her again.

“Seems she turns into a foal when really drunk,” Cider giggled before a new mare walked into the room. A purple unicorn with a striped mane and tail.

“Um, I heard shouting,” she asked. “Is everything alright?”

“Just fine,” Ledger said. “Twilight’s just a little drunk right now.”

“Twilight’s… drunk?” the mare looked at the alicorn.

“Glimmy!!” Twilight beamed and pounced on her, nuzzling her. “I was jus’ tellin’ Ledgie-Wedgie aaaaalllll about you.”

“Ledgie-Wedgie?” Starlight Glimmer repeated with a raised eyebrow.

“Hello, I’m Level Ledger,” the drone said. “You must be the mare that caused my wife so much trouble.”

“Wife!?” Star backed up a little, which was hard with Twilight hugging her. “I...um… you’re a changeling…”

“Oh, I can be a pony too, if you’d like,” Ledger said, before briefly taking the form of Prince Celestia, staring angrily at the mare.

“Yeek!” Star backed up more now, Twilight still clinging to her.

“Ledger, stop scarin’ the mare,” Cider said calmly.

“But Cidey~” Ledger whined.

“But nuthin’ Ledger. Y’all are never gonna make friends by intimidatin’ everypony you meet. And Twilight herself said this mare was her friend now. If she had hurt her, ah’d put ‘er through a wall, myself. Now. Apologise.”

The drone sighed before resuming his normal form and sulking a little. “I never get to do the ‘big scary ‘ling’ routine anymore.”

“Because ‘lings aren't supposed to be scary no more,” Cider giggled as Twilight pushed Glimmer over to him.

“Now…” the alicorn smirked. “Say sorry Glimmy.”

Starlight rolled her eyes. “Sorry I tried to rewrite history.”

Ledger looked as though he wanted to say something about that before he just said, “Sorry I tried to scare you.”

“You didn’t… much,” Starlight admitted.

“Gooooood~” Twilight smiled and rubbed her hooves together. “Now… touch hooves…”

The drone raised an eyebrow before raising a hoof towards the unicorn mare. Starlight mimicked his expression and raised her own hoof, touching Ledger’s as Twilight giggled and clapped her hooves.

“Mmm, that’s the stuff,” she smiled. “Now… kiss.”

At that, Ledger actually jolted back before giving Twilight an incredulous expression. “You have got to be joking,” he said.

“Aww, but I'm shipping this so hard,” she whined.

A country away, a Princess of Love felt very proud for some reason.

“Just… no,” Starlight deadpanned. “No offense, but I am not kissing a bug.”

“We’re more ponylike than you might think,” Ledger replied. “And if my appearance offends you, I can always change it, as I’ve already demonstrated.”

“...Why are you taking this seriously?” Starlight sighed.

“Aw Glimmy, friendship has a lot of different meanings,” Twilight cooed. “And can come with lots of… benefits~”

“Is-Is she hitting on me?” Starlight asked in a concerned tone.

“She might be,” Ledger said. “In which case I would remind her that she’s already married and two of her spouses are sitting right here.”

“But Glimmy’s really cute,” Twilight pouted. “And as the Princess of Friendship with Benefits. This is a wrong I must right!”

“Ah knew this would come back to bite ya in the flank,” Cider laughed.

“Never mind that it was Midnight who came up with it originally,” the drone pointed out. “Twilight, no. I’m not doing anything against her will. I’m not sure I would do it even if I had her permission either.”

“No, no you do not,” Glimmer deadpanned.

“Aww, my ship sunk,” Twilight sighed and ambled towards the table and the cider bottle that sat upon it. Ledger merely wondered what she’d get up to next once she’d drunk even more.

“Should she be drinking still?” Glimmer asked. “I mean, how many more until she doesn’t take no for an answer?” She knew what the mare was capable of, because she could do a lot of the same.

“Do you want to try and stop her?” the drone pointed out.

Starlight laughed and shook her head. “Nope, you’re all on your own for that one.” And with those parting words, the unicorn teleported away. Ledger just shook his head and resigned himself to his fate of being the alicorn’s teddy-bear. Or whatever she wanted him to be. He turned around to see Twilight slumped over the table, flank in the air as she snored peacefully...

“Well, I’m gonna get her to bed,” Ledger said as he used his magic to gently lift and place Twilight on his back. “You good here?” he asked of Cider.

“Ah’ll clean up and follow you soon,” Cider nodded.

Ledger nodded and weaved his way through the halls in search of Twilight’s room. He hoped he was remembering the route right. He found it after a few minutes, and the alicorn was stirring as he opened the door.

“Hmm, wazzat?” she mumbled.

“Bedtime for drunken alicorns,” the drone said as he closed in on the bed.

“M’not drunk...just ine...ineb… tipsy~”

“You tried to get Starlight and me to kiss,” Ledger said. “I’d say you’re plenty drunk, Twilight.”

“I blame Midnight,” she replied as her horn flickered. “Mmmmmagic tiem~”

“You probably shouldn’t be doing that,” the drone said as he finally drew level with the bed.

“Aww…” Twilight was rolled off of his back and onto the bed. She lay there for a moment before speaking again.

“Am I a terrible pony?”

“Why do you ask?” Ledger questioned her, wanting to strike at the core of the issue before replying.

She lay there silent for a moment, but Ledger could tell she was thinking. Even drunk her mind was a marvel to behold. “Starry… did what she did. Because… I took away her happiness. Discord, Chrysalis, Sombra... “ She sniffed and closed her eyes. “Tirek nearly killed my friends… my family, just to get my magic… I bring nothing but pain…”

Ledger got up on the bed and cuddled her for a little bit before replying. “You seem to be forgetting all the good you’ve done,” he told her. “I’m fairly certain that without you, Equestria would be a much darker place indeed. I looked up to you. Still do. You’re living proof that if a pony tries hard enough, anything is possible. You’re not a curse. You’ve been nothing but a joy to be around.”

“I saw that,” Twilight said. “What would happen if I didn’t…”

“Things might be a little worse than they could be,” Ledger replied. “But they’re certainly a lot better than if you hadn’t done anything at all.”

Twilight rolled over, facing away from him. But he could tell by her body shaking that she was crying. “It's hard,” she sobbed. “It's so hard… and-and I-”

“That’s why we’re here for you,” Ledger said as he hugged her. “Us and all your friends. So you can let loose and not feel terrible about it. Because that’s what friends do. They listen to one another when they have a problem.”

“I don’t-I don't even know… where to start,” Twilight sniffed. The door opened slightly as Spike and Cider poked their heads in. Ledger waved his free hoof over at them, motioning for them to come join in on this hugging of Twilight. Mostly because he felt she honestly needed it.

As they did, Spike sighed softly. “She was like this on our first night. After the whole Nightmare Moon thing y’know.”

“It must be so hard, having to bear all of this,” Cider said as she stroked Twilight’s mane. “But Ledger’s right. Ya got all of us now. And you've always had Spike here, an’ all yer Ponyville friends.”

“M’hopeless,” Twilight sniffed. “And now I'm making you all worry…”

“That’s what friends do about each other,” the drone said. “They worry and help when one of their friends is having problems. We’re here for you Twilight. We always will be.”

“Yeah…” the alicorn sniffed again and was soon sleeping.

“Aaand now I'm stuck,” Spike chuckled, as he was pinned under the mare. “Poor Twi. I had no idea she was bottling all of this up.”

“Here, let me just…” Ledger lifted Twilight slightly with his magic so Spike could squirm free.

“Thanks,” Spike nodded and moved to the side. “I have to wonder who's the older of the two of us sometimes.”

“Age and wisdom don’t necessarily relate,” the drone said sagely. “You can grow old while being the biggest fool, or grow wise young from reading philosophy every day from when you first start reading. It’s experience that really makes the difference.”

“Yeah well, I think I've got the reading thing down pat,” Spike snorted with amusement. “Living with the Book Princess saw to that.” He looked over to Ledger and Cider and smiled. “Thanks for looking after Twilight. It means a lot to me.”

“We try,” Ledger said as he put Twilight back down on the bed and snuggled up next to her. “She’s a challenge, but a fun one.”

“If you say so,” Spike smiled. “Just mention the word ‘tardy’ and-”

“I'M LATE!!” Twilight yelled, sitting up right before falling back and snoring.

“Yeesh, she’s worse than I used to be,” Ledger said. “Oh well. We’ll get her calmed down eventually, Spike. Or we’ll exhaust ourselves trying.”

“She’s already doing better,” Spike nodded. “Well… I guess I'd better leave you guys be for tonight.”

“If you want to,” Ledger said with a nod. “Oh, and Spike? Any time you wanna learn more about dragons? It’s not a whole lot, but I can always look through my book for more information.”

“Thanks Ledger,” the dragon nodded. “But I've been through that once already. I have a pony mom, and a pony sister. I've always thought of myself as one, rather than a dragon.”

“If you say so,” Ledger said with a soft smile.

“Yup,” Spike shrugged and started to head off, before pausing. “Oh, and Ledger?” He waited until he had the changeling’s attention. “Don’t do anything perverted to Twilight while she's asleep.”

“I would never!” the drone said, before pausing for a beat and continuing. “It’s far more fun when she can actually respond.”

“It's also more fun when you aren't covered from head to hoof in third degree burns. Remember that.” And with that, the dragon turned and exited the room.

“Somedrake is just a little too protective of his big sister,” Ledger said before cuddling Twilight again.

“Painted Palette,” Cider simply said. Ledger breathed deeply for a moment before letting it out.

“I met the stallion, I trust the stallion,” he repeated to himself. “I will not get angry about my sister’s choice…”

“And the fact they share a bed?” Cider replied a little too smugly.

“I will not go to the Crystal Empire and set him on fire,” Ledger hissed.

“Yer adorable,” Cider giggled and leaned over to kiss his forehead.

“Besides which, Sis would likely get revenge if I did.”

“That she would,” Cider mused. “Like any good changelin’ would yeah?”

“Mmhmm,” Ledger agreed. “I doubt she’d stick to color-changing spells either.”

“Shutuuuuuuup,” Twilight groaned.

“Whoops, we woke the princess,” Cider whispered and giggled.

“Sorry love,” the drone whispered. “We’ll be quieter.”

“Good, or I'll send you to the moon,” she mumbled and started snoring again.

“So, sleep then?” Cider asked.

“Sounds good to me,” Ledger agreed and closed his eyes. Soon sleep claimed them all.

When Ledger awoke the next morning, he saw that he was down one mare.

And that there was the scent of waffles in the air. He lazily looked around to see who’d left. Cider was still sleeping, so that meant…

Oh sweet Hives, Twilight Sparkle was in the kitchen…

Suddenly panicked into action, or as panicked as he could be without caffeine, the drone ambled out of the bed and began searching for the source of the smell.

It didn’t take long, not after he remembered he was a changeling and followed that sense instead.

He peeked into kitchen…

And saw Twilight Sparkle cooking breakfast. She had her mane done up in a loose ponytail, and wore buttoned up white shirt. Her hind legs were covered in a pair of very tight black stockings and she hummed a small tune as she shook her rump.

He wasn’t sure which breakfast was more tempting, until a certain part of his anatomy started responding to the sights provided him…

And his stomach growled.

Twilight’s singing paused as she turned to the source of the noise. “Oh, morning Levvy. I was up early, so I thought I'd cook breakfast… though I think I burned them a little.”

“I’m sure I can deal with them if they’re a little overcooked,” Ledger said. “Though I’m having trouble deciding which one of you I want to eat up first~”

“Huh? Oh!” Twilight giggled and struck a sexy pose. “Is that so Mr. Ledger. Maybe you'd like a little sweetener with your breakfast?”

“Who said I wanted only a little?” Ledger asked as he advanced on her, licking his lips all the while.

“Oh my,” Twilight remarked and put a hoof to her chest. “Why, I do believe you have some insidious intentions towards me.”

“Some?” the drone asked before placing a kiss on her cheek. “Clearly we’ve not trained you well if you’re only expecting some.”

“No, I know exactly what you're expecting,” Twilight smiled and put a hoof to his chest. “And if I say you can't touch yet?”

“Then I’ll ambush you in the shower later and let you know exactly what I think of your outfit,” the drone replied.

“Silly little buggy, I thought of that and already had a shower.” Truth be told she smelled really rank when she woke up. Alcohol left a nasty taste in her mouth the morning after.

“Then I’ll get Cider’s special cuffs and attend your court in your throne, with you sitting next to me,” the drone said. “It’d be up to you how you sat down, of course.”

“You. Wouldn’t. Dare…”

Ledger’s wide grin was her only answer.

“You bucking would…” Twilight sighed. “Well, I guess you’re lucky I'm only kidding then. Feel free to eat whatever. You. Want~”

“I think I’ll have the stuffed mare, then,” Ledger mused. “But first, are you currently cooking anything? I’d rather avoid having something burn just because I was having some fun with you.”

Twilight’s eyes flicked to the empty stovetop. “No...”

~*~*~

Chapter 103 - Season's Greetings

Narrow ducked as the thug took a swing at her. Honestly, did they ever learn? Never bring hooves to a magic fight. She lit up her horn and gave a flick of her telekinesis, tossing the stallion over her shoulder and into a nearby dumpster.

“See, this is what happens,” she sighed. “You break the law, I break you. And yet somehow, this city is full of ponies that never seem to learn.”

“Oh, we learn a few things…”

Narrow spun, but the hoof striking her face was faster as she yelped in pain.

“We learned how to suckerpunch stupid guard bitches like you,” a second stallion said and shook his hoof. He looked at the dumpster and sighed. “You okay in there?”

No response.

“Well damn, guess he doesn’t get to have any fun then,” he mused as he walked towards Narrow, before three more stallions emerged from the side-alley. “Yeah, gonna have a lot of fun with you~”

Narrow got to her hooves and wiped her mouth. Finally, this day was starting to get interesting!

It was late and Fredrick was about to close up shop for the day. He hadn’t seen his little Peachy for a few days and decided to surprise her with a home-cooked meal and then some Peach pie for dessert~

It turns out that he was the one surprised, when he got to her apartment, to find her door already unlocked. Odd, Peach was never home this early…

He nudged the door open and saw a light coming from her bathroom…

“Peach?” he asked.

He heard something drop, sounded like a plastic bucket or something.

What, when enough colts drop things in your kitchen, you learn what objects sound like.

“F-Fredrick? What are you doing here!?” And… why did she sound so panicked?

“I came over to cook dinner for you, since I haven’t seen you in a few days,” the griffon said. “I thought you were simply overworking yourself again…”

“Y-yeah, you know me, work work work,” she replied. “Ow! Dammit!” she hissed in pain.

“Do you need help?” the griffon asked as he moved a little closer to the bathroom door.

“NO! I mean…” she sighed again and he heard a small splash. “I… could use a little help getting out…”

“Very well, I’m coming in,” the griffon said as he pushed the door open. What he saw gave him pause. His lovely mare sitting in the tub, though she was sporting a large black eye, a cut lip and a dozen other cuts and bruises on her body.

She looked at him from behind a curtain of wet mane. “H-Hey…”

“Hello dear,” the griffon said as he drew close and stroked along some of her unbruised body. “I take it work these past few days has been quite trying?”

“Huh? No… all of this is from this afternoon.” She winced as he accidently touched one. “A half dozen punks jumped me…”

“You do know we have this wonderful thing in town called a hospital, yes?” he said with a smile. “I could take you there, get you attention for all these. Make sure none of them become infected and that nothing in my lovely Peach Blossom is broken.”

“It’s just a few cuts and bruises, I’m fine,” she blushed when he used her name. “I’ve had worse, and it just stings a bit. Plus… I hate that place.”

“Dear, I think a foal could get past you if it poked you in the right place,” Fredrick said. “I’ve no desire to do that to you, but I do think that for everything that I’m seeing, you should see a doctor. I highly doubt the level of attention you were getting was of the healthy variety.”

She rolled her eyes and smiled softly. “Fine, if it makes you feel better. But only on one condition.”

“Name it,” he said.

“Cook for me? I refuse to eat that Minotaur manure they call food in that place.”

The griffon chuckled before kissing her. “I already was planning to,” he said. Then he looked at the mare in the bathtub. “Would milady like a ride to the hospital? To help ease the pain of going there on your own.”

“Well I’d like a little assistance in drying off…” Then she sighed and rubbed her forehead. Yes, somehow she had utterly forgotten she could use magic. Once Fredrick had helped her out of the tub, she toweled herself off and frowned as her fur floofed up. The griffon, thanks to his extensive practice, did not laugh, or even snicker. Instead he simply grabbed a brush and helped comb her fur back down.

“I see that smirk in your eyes” she said as she brushed some of her fur down. “Go on, say it.”

“I know better,” the griffon said. “Than to say my tough-as-nails captain-of-the-guard marefriend could ever be perceived in such a manner. Especially when she is fluffy.”

“I knew it,” she groaned. “Fine, then would you mind carrying my fluffy butt to the hospital then?”

“I already offered, did I not?” the griffon asked. “Let’s just get your fluff under control and we can be on our way.”

Yeah fine,” she sighed as she finished up her brushing…

A few hours later…

“Ow, dammit… ooww!” Narrow winced with each walk. “I swear that bloody nurse touched each, bucking, bruise on purpose…”

“She did have to check to see if there was internal injuries somehow,” Fredrick said. He’d offered her a ride back as well.

“Couldn’t she have used a spell, or, I dunno, listened when I told her I was fine,” Narrow groaned and lay her head on his shoulder as her hooves dangled over his sides. At least the potion-treated bandages they gave her were already making her feel better.

“And if I were to hold up a bruised and lacerated apple, and tell you it was just fine to eat?” he asked.

“Really, you even use food metaphors?” the mare deadpanned. “Fine, I see your point. And yet somehow I don’t think you’re all too deterred from eating me are you?”

“You are quite the delicious dish,” the griffon mused. “Perhaps I’ll start off slow with a nice dinner, followed by a ravishing dessert~”

“That…” Narrow smiled and buried her muzzle into the back of his neck. “That sounds amazing. I love you, you know?”

“So I hear, every night we buck each other’s brains out~” the griffon teased.

“You just had to ruin the moment,” she said and used her teeth to pluck one of the tiny feathers from the back of his neck. He squawked and turned to look at her.

“I know there are similarities, but I am not a chicken,” he said. “I do not need plucking.”

“Mm, tasty chicken,” she giggled and kissed along his neck. “Omnomnom~”

“Oh dear,” the griffon sighed dramatically. “I’ve turned my marefriend into an omnivore, and she will eat me. I knew I shouldn’t have gotten her addicted to the taste of protein.”

“Oh, you never complain when I… eat meat~” she purred and then snorted and shook her head. “Stop getting me all worked up in public. Jerk.”

“Oh, I have yet begun to work you,” the griffon teased.

“Fredrick, stoooop~” she pouted, and he could feel a growing warmth pressed against the top of his rump.

“Perhaps we should take this inside, before something develops further,” he mused.

He could almost feel Narrow smirk.

“Is that so,” she whispered into his ear. Her tail draped down and brushed against his thigh. “What kind of… developments~?”

“I would rather not be arrested by my own marefriend for public indecency,” the griffon said.

“Hmm, but I’m off the clock right now,” she mused and then kissed where his ear was. “Or would you rather I be on the co—”

“Keep that up,” he grumbled, “And I’ll find a nice, dark alleyway to screw you in.”

“Ohh, now that’s naughty~” she giggled as her tail brushed up against him again. “Carrying a defenseless mare around, all the while plotting something so… devious~”

“I see one right over there,” he said conversationally. “So unless you really want to offer me dessert before dinner, you’ll stop.”

“Is that so?” she knew he’d never do something like that. “You must really like some peach and cream pie—”

When Level Ledger trotted downstairs, his body screaming for coffee, the first thing he noticed was a certain thestral at the kitchen table, nursing a bowl of fruit as she mercilessly devoured it.

“Morning love,” he greeted simply as he moved to the coffeepot.

Her head snapped up as her crimson eyes locked with his, his senses yelling at him to find a place to hide. She bared her fangs, were they a little longer? And then she hissed at him before returning to her fruit slaughter.

“Somebody’s not a morning pony,” he observed as he poured himself a cup. “And here I was, about ready to tell you a piece of good news from Twilight…”

She hissed at him again as Cider trotted downstairs and as she moved to kiss Ledger, the waves of hostility from Midnight turned near murderous. The earth mare sighed and backed away slowly as Midnight calmed down just a little and resumed eating.

“Honestly?” Cider groaned. “None of us have been able t’touch y’all fer a week whenever Middy’s around…”

“Let me try,” Ledger said before clearing his throat. “Middy. I have good news for you. If you behave, I’ll tell you something I’m sure you want to know.”

She responded by snapping at Cider and then yanking Ledger under one of her wings protectively. “Mina!” (Mine) she hissed in Thestrali.

Ledger responded by firing up his horn and teleporting next to Cider. “Bad Middy,” he said. “I am not just yours. As a punishment, I’m kissing Cider.” He would do whatever it took to break through to her that she was fighting a foe just as stubborn as herself. Maybe then she’d shake off her instincts long enough to be sane again.

That was when she threw a mango at him, the fruit impaling on his horn as juice ran down his face.

“Y’all gotta admit, that was a good shot,” Cider whistled. Midnight smiled smugly and crossed her forelegs.

“Yes, but that’s not what we’re going for,” Ledger said as he used a hoof to pull the mango off his horn. “I think I’ll keep this~” he taunted Midnight. “You’ve been a bad bat and have to be punished.”

She responded by knocking his mug of coffee off of the table.

“Oh, I see, we’re playing like that,” he said. “Well there’s still coffee and more mugs, so I’ll live. But we only have so many mangoes.”

That was when her tongue shot out, lassoing the fruit and yanking it from his hoof. She reeled it back and sucked it dry in seconds.

“Impressive,” Ledger whistled. “Hmm. How about a little game, Middy?”

“Hoo boy, Ah’m stayin’ outta this,” Cider replied and moved to head to the kitchen.

“But I kinda need you for this one,” the drone spoke up.

“Dang,” Cider sighed. This wasn’t going to end well… but it would end in a lot of painful bites.

“Middy, how about this sort of game?” Ledger asked. “If you can stop yourself from acting out as I kiss Cider here, then I promise I’ll kiss you. Manage it ten times in a row, and you win. Fail ten times in a row, and I win.”

“Ah don’t like this game,” Cider gulped. “Go find Scope, she has a higher defense stat.”

“You were the first one to be added, and it was Middy’s idea,” Ledger pointed out. “She’ll likely try harder for you.”

“If y’all say so…” Cider gulped. “But, if ah’m gonna die. Whut was that good news?”

“Nope, that’s her prize if she wins,” Ledger said.

“Now ah really hate this game,” Cider groaned. Scope started walking down the stairs, pausing at the top to see what was going on.

“Ready Middy?” Ledger asked, before walking over to Cider and kissing her. “One.”

A low growl was already emanating from the bat’s throat. However, seeing as how she didn’t go beyond that, Ledger nodded and walked over to her, kissing Midnight in turn.

Scope blinked and sat down. This was going to be entertaining.

“Good bat,” Ledger said before walking back over to Cider and kissing her again. “Two.”

Midnight hissed that time. Stupid mate, he’d kissed her already! Ledger merely raised a hoof at her and shook his head a little, disappointed that she couldn’t keep herself under control.

She frowned, why was he scolding her for? That other female was the one trying to steal him. "Colegul meu. A mea! Ia-ti propriul!" (My mate. Mine! Get your own!)

“Midnight,” Ledger said sternly. “You share me with others. Remember that, or you don’t get any kisses anymore. Nor will I tell you the good news.”

“She can’t really help it you know,” Scope said as she came downstairs. She kissed Ledger on the cheek, interestingly enough, Midnight barely bat an eye, though one of her ears did flick.

"Cunoaște locul broodmare ta ..." (Know your place broodmare).

“Oh, that’s interesting,” Ledger chuckled. “Midnight apparently has no problem with mares I’ve already knocked up.”

“Y’all are not getting me pregnant, jus’ fer a stupid reason like that,” Cidr said sternly. “Iffn’ y’all don’t mind, ah have work t’do.”

Oh boy, his sweet mare was rather sour at the moment…

“Of course I would never do that,” Ledger said, deliberately turning to her and kissing her on the lips. “You can choose when you’ll get knocked up, if you’ll get knocked up. I will never force it on you.”

“Ah know that, but this Midnight thing is jus’ buggin’ me alright. Ah know she can’t help it. And ah feel bad fer blaming her…”

And that was when Midnight was holding her, stroking her mane with a hoof as she wrapped her wings around her.

“...whut?”

“Middy?” Ledger dared to prod her verbally.

“Mânz irascibil, nu mai lacrimi.” (Petulant foal, no more tears.)

“Whut? Whut did she say?” Cider asked as the thestral cooed and stroked her mane more.

“Nothing to really explain why she’s now taking pity on you,” Ledger said. “Middy, you can’t have me all to yourself, you know. I have to pay attention to the others, whether or not you’re in a mood.”

“Mama este aici. Liniște acum …” (Mother is here. Quiet now…)

Scope burst out laughing. “O-Ohh sweet Hives… she-she think you're her foal,” Scope howled with laughter as Cider blinked and blushed. Ledger hummed before drawing close and giving Cider a kiss on the cheek, wondering if Middy would react now.

She cooed and kissed Cider’s other cheek before reaching for an apple and pressing it against the mare’s lips.

“This is so buckin’ weird,” Cider remarked flatly, even as she nibbled the apple.

“Hey, if it means I can kiss my mares in front of Midnight when she’s like this, I’ll take it,” Ledger said. “And hopefully, this particular spell will end soon.”

“Hay, ah’m the one she’s tryin’ to mother. Which is really disturbin’ considerin’ whut ah’ve done to her.”

“And suddenly this conversation turned weird,” Scope said. She teleported Cider from the bat’s grasp and onto her back. Scope liked being the tallest one in the house now. “Come on, let’s go into the city for some breakfast and we’ll get some work done.”

That teleport still cost Ledger’s reserves a bit, as Midnight wasn’t producing quite as much love as she usually did at the moment.

“Hey Midnight,” Ledger said before kissing her nose. “If you can promise to control yourself, then I’ll tell you the good news. Deal?”

She sat there and stared at him, her crimson eyes seemingly staring into his very soul.

“Twilight says that right up until you actually start having the foal, it’s safe to have sex, so long as you’re gentle,” Ledger said. “You can be gentle, right?”

A wide smirk crossed her muzzle as he felt her lust spike like a seismometer predicting an apocalyptic-level earthquake.

“Ap!” Ledger said, holding a hoof up to her. “I want to hear you say it, otherwise I will teleport away from you. Promise me you’ll be gentle. We don’t want to cause any complications, after all.”

“Acest copil va crește puternic. Nici un rău va veni să-l!” (This child shall grow strong. No harm will come to it!) Midnight gave a proud nod to punctuate that statement.

“Good,” Ledger said, before picking up one of her hooves. “Because somepony told me you’d been feeling neglected.” He kissed it before continuing. “That perhaps I didn’t see you as beautiful anymore.” Another kiss. “That maybe you thought of your belly as fattening and disfiguring.” Kiss.

"Feh... stupid amate," It didn’t require a translation that time. Midnight scoffed and turned her head away. “Fii recunoscător Sunt atât de milostiv.” (Be thankful I am so gracious.)

“I am here to tell you,” Ledger said, kissing her once more. “That there is nothing I find more beautiful than you, no matter your state. You glow radiantly every day. Pregnancy suits you, my dear.”

She turned and stared at him. “The hell it does!” she screeched in Equestrian now. “I look like one of Cider’s pigs, only fatter!”

“I think you’re beautiful,” Ledger said. “And have you already forgotten...what Violet drones love?” He leaned down to kiss at her belly. “You will never be ugly to me.”

“Stupid, silver-tongued snake,” Midnight pouted. Oh hey, she was back to her old self now. “You probably made up that sex thing too…”

“Nope,” Ledger said as he leaned back up and kissed Midnight on the nose. “Twilight says that so long as you’re gentle, right up until your water breaks, we can have sex.”

“Huh… so I’ve gone all this time without…” She paused as that thought milled around in her head. “Well, whatever.”

In the city, Scope and Cider paused in eating their breakfast. They felt as though reality itself had just gone horribly wrong somewhere.

Then Ledger kissed Midnight again, with his Thestral tongue twining around hers.

He enjoyed that for a few seconds. It had been so long since he gave Midnight such a deep kiss, without fear of her biting his tongue off. She purred into the kiss before pulling back and licking her lips.

“I changed my mind~” she whispered in a husky tone.

“There you are,” Ledger said. “Welcome back Midnight. Where were you?”

“I dunno…” Midnight rubbed her head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… It’s… really weird. Like, I can’t help doing that… did I-did I hurt anypony?”

“All you did was make Cider feel a little extra loved,” Ledger said. “But hey, at least I have something to test if you fall back on it. I might be able to snap you out of it a little faster next time.”

“Hmm? And what might that be?” she asked, sitting next to him as her hooves wandered.

“Just tell you that I think you’re beautiful next time,” Ledger said as he hugged her. “Try and speak to you as a loving mate directly.”

“Pfft, you’re so sappy,” she hummed as her hooves found what she was looking for. “Mmm, you smell like mangoes~”

“Somepony told me you weren’t feeling loved,” Ledger said. “I took the chance to make sure I was as appetizing as I could be. The mango you threw at me also helped.”

“I threw a…” Midnight paused in her ministrations of Little Ledger. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

“I know,” Ledger said before kissing her. “You’d never waste a perfectly good mango.”

“Idiot,” Midnight said and lightly punched his arm. Which still stung a bit, she'd gotten stronger for some reason. She leaned across and kissed his horn, before suckling all of the remaining mango taste from it.

“See?” Ledger said with a smirk. “No mango left behind. They shall all be devoured by our local bat-mistress.”

“Damn right,” she said and then her eyes twinkled. “You know, I believe I missed a spot~”

“Oh?” the drone asked with an eyebrow raised.

“Mhmm, I should fix that,” she trailed her kisses down his chest, before he found out exactly where that mouth was headed…

It was a normal enough day for Fredrick, open, serve customers, flirt with a mare or two.

Then, nightmares incarnate walked in as Midnight Song and Scope Lens sat down at one of the tables, sighing happily to finally get off of their hooves.

“Hello,” he greeted them with a nod. “How fares the pregnancies?”

“Never. Get Narrow. Pregnant.” Midnight groaned and thunked her head on the table. “I feel like crap.”

“She’s just whining because she’s almost due,” Scope chuckled. “Where as I’m still about three months out.

“Bleehhhh~” Amy walked in and plopped down next to Midnight. “Sentiments shared oh bestest buddy of mine.”

“I take it you three are hardly enjoying the experience, then,” the griffon chuckled.

“It’s alright,” Midnight sighed and put a hoof over Amy’s shoulder. “But it gets to the point where you just want the damned thing out already. My hooves are swollen…”

“I get cramps,” Scope tacked on.

“And I have cravings for things that aren’t sweets,” Amy said.

“Not to mention the teats. Did I mention those, because they are a pain in my—”

“Don’t worry about those,” Midnight said and leaned over to whisper into both Amy and Scope’s ears. On exactly how she’d taken care of that little problem…

Both nymphs fell into a stunned silence.

“So, ladies,” Fredrick spoke up. “Might I ask what you are hungry for?”

Scope and Amy gulped.

“Well,” the Blue muttered. “I know what I’m in the mood for right now huh?”

“Something I serve,” the griffon chuckled.

“T-That too…” Amy said, as red as a tomato. “Uh… what are we doing here again?”

“I think they need a few minutes,” Midnight giggled. “Could we get some breadsticks and sparkling cider please?”

“That I can do,” the griffon nodded before leaving.

“Chryssy so has plans once I get back,” Amy muttered and looked at the menu as her stomach growled.

“Ditto, only for Ledger instead,” Scope replied.

“I now regret bringing that up,” Midnight said, her stomach completing the round of roars. It wasn’t long before the griffon returned with a basket of breadsticks and a round of sparkling cider for the three of them.

He pulled out a notepad to take their order… and saw the basket was already empty…

“I take it you’re hungry,” he chuckled. “Have you made up your mind as to what you’ll be eating?”

Midnight nodded and pushed her menu forward. “We’ll take that if you please.”

“...That, what?” he asked.

“All of it,” Midnight nodded. “One of everything if you wouldn’t mind.”

“...You would be here most of the day and run up a massive bill,” the griffon replied. “Do you even have the bits to pay that back?”

The three mares all nodded and placed a sack of bits on the table, it was bigger than the thestral’s head.

“...You are committed to this, aren’t you?” Fredrick said.

“Yup!” all the mares nodded and their stomachs growled again.

“That, or I could eat you instead~” Scope smiled and bat her eyes at him.

“You would also end up tying up a good portion of my production today,” he pointed out. “As I would have to see to it personally, and get a colt to help take them out to you when I was done making them.”

“But we’re really hungry,” Midnight pouted, as their stomachs let out a combined rumble that actually shook the table ever so slightly.

“So long as you are willing to field the complaints today,” the griffon said.

“If anypony complains, I'll point Scopey at ‘em,” Midnight giggled and rubbed the heads of both nymphs. “Plus I have an Amy in my inventory. Though some might complain about me being too OP.”

“Very well then,” Fredrick said as he gathered up their menus. “Let us see how long you last.”

“Look Fredrick,” Midnight said. She didn’t want to annoy their friend… too much. “If it's a hassle, just a big ass serving of something will be fine.”

“I once got a griffon asking for everything on my menu,” Fredrick said. “I’m certain I can make it all. It’s just going to be a tedious process. I’m merely concerned that you all won’t be able to eat it all.”

“Worry not,” Midnight replied. “Our secret weapon will be along shortly.”

“If you’re certain then,” the griffon said. “One of everything, coming up. Is that one of everything for all of you, or just one of everything?”

“Just one serving… except dessert,” Midnight smiled and looked at Amy. “She'd leave us nothing otherwise.”

“Would too,” Amy pouted. “Chryssy and Acey are really being strict about my sweet intake.”

“Not today,” Midnight giggled and rubbed her head again. “My bestie is gonna get to stuff herself silly.”

“I really shouldn’t,” Amy tried to decline. “They keep saying it wouldn’t be good for the foal…”

“They're right actually,” Twilight walked up to the table and sat down, offering a polite nod to Fredrick. “Too much could lead to excessive weight gain and blood pressure problems. You really should limit to one or two a day.”

“See, TwiTwi agrees with them,” Amy said with a nod. “You all can take what you want first, I’ll hang back and have like one thing.”

“I have a suggestion.” Twilight turned to Fredrick. “I know it isn't on your menu. But do you think you could make a few bananas and apple slices topped with peanut butter?” Upon seeing the look on Amy’s face, she nodded.

“One, it will help your sweets craving, and provide necessary protein for the foal.”

“I suppose I could do that,” the griffon mused. “It shouldn’t be too hard at all.”

“Thank you,” Twilight smiled. “Also, it's nice to see you again Fredrick.”

“You as well, your majesty,” the griffon said with a nod of his head. “Will you be aiding these mares in their destruction of my menu?”

“Twilight is fine. We're friends after all,” the alicorn smiled warmly. “And yes, if that’s not a bother.”

“At least I know now that all of this food will be eaten,” Fredrick chuckled. “I still remember the day you ordered three hayburgers for yourself.”

Twilight blushed and found one of her wings to be very interesting.

“Very well, a bit of everything coming up,” the griffon said. “I do hope you all have hearty appetites.” With that, he was off to the kitchen to begin his work.

“I can't believe you three actually did that,” Twilight sighed as she leaned over to hug Amy. “And how are you doing? You should be getting close too right?”

“Yup,” the pink nymph nodded. “Just a month and change left before the first ever griffon-‘ling hybrid is born.”

“Well, that should be interesting to say the least,” Twilight nodded and smiled. “Just remember, if anypony hassles you, don't be afraid to ask me for help okay?”

“I could do that,” Amy mused. “Alternatively, I could keep studying the Still Way so that I can still fight as a ‘ling rather than be limited to my pegasus fighting techniques.”

“Still Way? The Unicorn art?” Twilight tapped her chin. “I've been told that a friend of mine, Lyra Heartstrings is quite skilled in that. And I think Moondancer knows some as well.”

“Yup!” Midnight agreed. “She didn’t have the patience to reach mastery though.”

“I’m just a novice right now,” Amy said with a nod. “I’m making good progress, though.”

“Well, everypony starts somewhere,” Twilight said and Midnight grinned, and the changelings could feel her determination spike.

“We should be sparring partners,” the thestral said and licked her lips. “Ledger’s too wimpy to train with me, and Ace spends more time with you and Chryssy now.”

“Maybe once we’re not carrying around extra weight,” Amy said, before poking Midnight’s belly for emphasis.

“Yeah well… soon enough,” Midnight said and returned the poke to the round changeling. The batpony groaned as her stomach rumbled. “Urgh, where is that food. Cause you changelings are looking awfully tasty right now…”

“Oh that’s right,” Twilight nodded. “I forgot that insects are actually a big part of traditional thestral culture.”

That was about when a colt with a cart showed up, giving the mares their first course. An appetizer. Potato wedges, seasoned and baked. Onion rings, battered and fried. More traditional hayfries, and even a nice salad for starters.

“Mares.” Midnight gulped and licked her lips. “Let the feeding begin…”

Carnage.

That was an apt term used to describe what occurred at that table. The poor food never stood a chance, as the four mares devoured it like Tirek at a magic convention. It was only when the other four dishes were gone, that the colt dared to reveal a fifth hiding under the cart.

A loaf of Fred’s famous bread…

“Mine!!” Midnight and Scope hissed before staring at one another with a ferocious glare.

“Shall we?” Twilight said to Amy, ignoring the bickering mares.

“Let’s just divvy it up,” Amy agreed. “I’m sure you’ll make sure our portions are fair.”

Twilight cut the bread into four equal portions and set them down in front of everyone. She wiped her brow and gave a small sigh. “Phew, maybe I should have gone easy on the magic training yesterday.”

“Whatcha trainin’ for, Twi?” Amy asked as she nibbled her bread.

“I just… feel like I could be stronger. That I could protect my friends better. So that's why.” She sighed as she nibbled her bread. “Guess it's a little silly. But after seeing mares like Moondancer and Starlight. I know I could be better too.”

“Y’know,” the pink ‘ling said. “One of the things I’m learning from the Still Way is...what was it...ah yeah! ‘True strength and true growth are not granted to you. They come from within.’”

“Wise words from a cute changeling,” Twilight smiled and rubbed her head. “I'll keep it in mind.”

“I’m just sayin’, maybe you shouldn’t spend all your time training,” Amy shrugged. “I mean, what good is protecting your friends if you’re never there with them?”

“I only started yesterday,” Twilight said and polished off her bread, before tipping the colt a few bits for having to witness that. “But I understand. Hee, maybe you should be the Princess of Friendship.”

“Nah, I’d make a better Laughter,” Amy said with a shake of her head. “Plus, can you imagine me with your level of authority over Equestria?”

“Ice-cream for everyone?” Twilight said.

“Something like that,” the pink ‘ling giggled.

“She’s almost as pervy as me,” Midnight said, hers and Scope’s fight forgotten in the face of food. “So I'd be very concerned… oh hey, since we're married, does that make me a Princess?”

“Oooh, what sorta cool princessy powers did Midnight get when she married you?” Amy asked.

“I guess technically that Midnight and the others are royalty… but I don't think they have any authority. And for the love of the sun, do not tell Ledger. You just know he'd use it for something.”

“Ten bits says he already knows and is just waiting for you to mention it before he springs his master plan,” Amy said.

“Not unless he likes sleeping in the bed with the rest of us,” Twilight replied with the slightest hint of irritation. “I'm still half expecting his mother to try a coup ever since she and hers bought that home in Ponyville.”

“She wouldn’t do that, would she?” Amy asked. “Middy, back me up here.”

“I dunno, she did put a lot of thought into it,” Midnight replied. “Though I'd like to see her try after the flank-whupping I gave her supposed ‘best mercenaries’.”

“Mares, you’re forgetting that you have a bargaining chip to make sure she won’t try anything,” Amy sighed. “Her son?”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Midnight giggled. “It's so much more satisfying besting a game without cheating.”

The nymph just sighed and put her head on the table. “You ponies...I swear you’re all slightly mad. And that’s coming from me.”

“I come from Ponyville, so that's to be expected,” Twilight giggled as another hapless serving colt approached. This time, he carried the opening pasta dishes for them all on another cart. Either Fredrick was fast, or just had these things prepared already.

“Oohh~” the mares purred and licked their lips.

“I don’t know what looks better,” Scope purred as she leaned closer to the colt. “The food, or this delicious treat serving it~”

“We’ve been warned about you,” he replied simply. “Simply put, he told us you’re all married, and one of Master Fredricks rules is never get involved with an involved mare. Flirt all you want, ma’am. It won’t do much.”

“Bah, Fred made sure you're all not fun anymore,” Scope replied. “Like I'd do that with any of you anyway.”

“Scopey!” Midnight scolded her. That had come out a little harsh. The thestral looked at the stallion and bowed her head. “Sorry, hormones are making her do stupid things.”

“Perfectly understandable,” the colt said before serving them all their pasta dishes. “He’ll have more ready for you in a few minutes.”

“Cool,” Midnight nodded and wasted no time in diving into her food. She came up a few minutes later with a empty bowl and a muzzle coated in cheesy sauce. By then the colt had already made his departure to the kitchen, and Amy was mimicking her in devouring her pasta dish.

By the time she came up for air, Midnight giggled and leaned over, licking some sauce from her cheek. Amy giggled as well, before returning the lick to get rid of the sauce smeared on Middy’s muzzle.

“Are you two done flirting?” Twilight asked with a bemused tone.

“She’s my best friend, I can flirt with her if I want,” Midnight mused and hugged Amy. “She’s also a great cuddle buddy.”

“And Middy’s all sorts of fun to hang out with,” Amy said as she returned the hug.

“Friends with borderline benefits,” Scope chuckled as she smacked the edge of her plate and gulped down the food in midair. Twilight ate calmly, but still cleaned her plate.

“Something like that~” the pink chirped. “We’ve already got a basic plan to help our foals become the best of friends~”

“Yup. It will be awesome,” Midnight nodded and looked at Amy. “Did you find out the gender of yours?”

“Nah, I want it to be a surprise,” Amy said with a shake of her head.

“Figured as much,” Midnight sighed. “I got stuck with a inexperienced nurse who blabbed before I could say otherwise.”

“Aww, I’m sorry,” Amy said before giving Midnight another quick squeeze before letting go.

“It’s alright,” Midnight smiled and looked at her wives. “At least I know I'm going to have. That question is going to bug the hay out of Ledger.”

Scope and Twilight fell into a deep silence.

Midnight gigged before Twilight and Scope pounced her, nuzzling the bat. Midnight raised hoof from under the pony pile. “Ack! Amy. Halp!”

“Here lies Midnight,” Amy intoned. “She was snuggled to death.”

“You're killing me off? Not cool.” Midnight sighed as she resigned to her fate of snuggles. “Guys, can we at least wait until we get home? Or drag Amy down for snuggles as well?”

Twilight turned and looked at the Pink with a slight smirk.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that,” Amy said. “Somepony’s gotta keep a lookout for when the food arrives while you snuggle her.”

“Gaaah, lemme up,” Midnight squirmed as she wiggled free and dashed to the bathroom. Somepony had leant on her bladder.

“So glad I'm not pregnant,” Twilight noted.

“It’s a learning experience for you,” Amy observed. “You’ll get to learn about all the pitfalls from an observer’s standpoint and figure out if you want to...Sheesh, and I thought Ledgy was clever.”

Twilight tilted her head. “What do you mean by that?”

“You’re the control, while the others are the experiment,” Amy said simply.

“Experiment?” Twilight felt her eye twitch. “I would never treat this as an experiment… again.”

“If you say so,” Amy hummed.

“I do say so!” Twilight said fiercely. “There are a lot of things to consider and plan before somepony like me could even think of having a foal.”

“Face it Twi,” Amy said. “Is your life ever going to be not-hectic? You’re a bucking princess, for crying out loud. Hectic is sort of what you do.”

“My schedule is the least of my problems,” Twilight said. “For eleven months, I'd be unable to stop any major threats that show up. Do you have any idea how many forgotten and ancient evils my friends and I have had to contend with?”

“You could probably ask your family to help out,” Amy pointed out. “I’m sure Ledger wouldn’t mind helping you get around in the later months of pregnancy. And eleven? Are you...planning something? Changelings get it done in nine…”

“Ponies are a little longer,” Twilight explained. “And Ledger can't harness the Elements, not unless the Element of Snark becomes a thing.” She conjured up a small image of Ledger, complete with giant fairy wings and a rainbow mane and tail. Amy snerked at that, before humming.

“Y’know, I do have this thing I’ve been meaning to try to ask Chryssy to do,” the pink ‘ling mused. “Apparently, if she’s up to it, one thing a Flutterpony should be able to do is convert a ‘ling to another Flutterpony…”

“Oh, if only to see the look on his face,” Twilight snorted with amusement.

“What about a look?” Midnight said from behind them. Twilight shrieked in surprise and cancelled the image.

“We were just chattin’,” Amy said. “Hey Middy, you’d totally step up and help Twi if something happened while she was pregnant, right?”

“Well duh, maybe Moonie could be a stand in Element of Magic?” the bat mused. “Kidding~ Still, of course I'd help out anyway I could. Just wait a month or so, so that I can help out.”

“See Twi?” Amy said. “Your family would help you out if you asked. And Middy’s a well-trained guard. So you know she won’t go down easy.”

“Only well-trained?” Midnight asked and sipped her drink. “Oh ye of little faith. I totally would have taken Tirek down if something hadn’t stopped me.”

“You keep saying that,” Amy giggled before beeping her nose. “Something tells me not even you woulda done that.”

“No, she would have,” Twilight stated. “But it would have cost the idiot her life. So I for one am very glad she didn't.”

“As am I, and I’m sure the others in your herd,” the pink said with a nod as the second course arrived.

Hayburgers. Hayburgers for everyone.

“Oh. Sweet. Celestia,” Twilight drooled and snared about five of them before chowing down.

“The Princess of Burgers,” Midnight giggled as Scope returned, stealing one from the alicorn and munching on it.

“Yay burgers!” Amy cheered as she pulled three over to herself and began eating one. There was even a separate dish for the hayfries. And potato fries.

“So much yumminess~” Midnight cooed as she continued to fill her perpetually empty stomach.

“You’re all pigs in pony suits,” Scope said as she ate her single burger, as that was all that was left after the others grabbed theirs.

She did steal an entire bowl of fries though…

Amy cleared her mouth before replying. “These’re delicious! My bet is Freddy hired somepony that does them really well~”

“So you think he didn’t make them himself?” Midnight hummed and scarfed down her food before trotting over to the kitchen doors and poking her head in.

“Who made those hayburgers?” she asked bluntly.

“One of my colts,” Fredrick said as he kept doing what he was doing, which was frying a fish. “Out, out, you distract me!”

“Oh I could really distract you if I tried,” she giggled. “Anyway, they were amazing, do give him our compliments.” And with that, she left before he threw her out himself.

It wasn’t long before the next dishes arrived, a fruit salad, a more typical vegetable salad, a bowl of soup, and that fried fish Midnight had seen him working on.

Midnight licked her lips as she spied that fish. Twilight just opted for a bowl of mixed salad as Scope poured herself some of the soup and some dipping bread. Amy shrugged before taking the leftover fruit salad and wondering whether this technically counted.

“Do you want some fish?” Midnight asked, dividing her portion in half.

“I can share my fruit salad with you,” Amy agreed as she began dividing the fruit. Of course, it was when the fruit at the bottom was exposed, that Midnight smelled a familiar, enticing smell…

“Mmmmaanggooesssss~” she purred as her tail wagged.

“Guess I know what part you want,” the nymph chuckled.

When she got the mango slices, she got an idea and lay them across her fishie, before lifting it and taking a bite.

All was silent, before she shuddered and moaned. A moan that Twilight and Scope heard regularly.

“It can’t be that good,” Amy said disbelievingly.

“You couldn't appreciate the subtle orgasmic flavour combinations,” Midnight sighed happily and continued to eat.

“Just… don’t question it,” Scope replied, before chuckling at the irony of telling a Pink that.

“Kay~” Amy said before she started in on her own fish and fruit. It was actually really good. The sweetness of the fruit and the tang of the lemon on the fish, along with its own smoky flavour…

The waves of Lust that Midnight was emanating didn’t help either…

“Jeeze Middy,” Amy said. “Are you eating it or planning on pouncing on one of the colts here?”

“This is her default state,” Scope sighed. She'd long learned how to filter out some of the bat’s emotion. “I'm surprised you never felt it before.”

“Middy and I aren’t those sorts of friends,” the Pink scoffed.

“You sound disappointed,” the Blue smirked. “Bet you're curious if the student is better than the master~?”

“Nah, I don’t need to make either of ‘em feel inadequate,” Amy giggled. “I’m happy with my Acey as it is.”

“Ever wonder where he learned that little trick he does with a horn?” Midnight smirked. “He was my wingbird for years.”

“That explains that then,” the nymph mused. “Still, I’m happy with things as they are.”

“As are we,” Twilight nodded. “I just hope Sugar didn't take Ledger’s rejection too hard. I haven't seen her around lately.”

“Me either,” Midnight said now that she thought about it.

“Oh, yeah, I should probably warn you two,” Amy said. “It’s her time of the year.”

Midnight and Twilight paused. Ledger was home alone right now…

“Ahh, I'm sure she won’t do anything,” Midnight shrugged.

“Yes, I trust the two of them,” Twilight agreed.

“Plus, isn’t she married?” the Pink pointed out.

“She wanted to do a wife swap,” Scope explained. “Ledger for Moondancer. Moon apparently agreed, but Midnight only agreed if we all would. And I just don't feel any attraction to Moondancer. Though she kinda looks like Twilight if I squint.”

“Y’know what, go back to eating, then I don’t have to try and make sense of your crazy lives,” Amy said as she waved a hoof at Scope.

“You know we're bad when a Pink calls us crazy,” Scope sighed and resumed eating.

“I still hope Sugar's okay,” Midnight added. “She's my friend and I worry…”

“Oh, she’ll be fine,” Amy said. “Though I wouldn’t want to be Moonie right about now…”

Moondancer yawned as she stretched her legs and pushed her chair back. This recent paper was going nowhere right now, and she'd already finished her lesson plans for the year.

“I wonder what Sugar is up to?” She mused. “She's been awfully quiet…”

Then there was the sensation of another body rubbing up against her, not unlike a cat, and a whisper in her ears. “Moonie~” her wife moaned sensually. “How...accurate is that gender-swapping spell of yours?”

Moondancer blinked at this. This was… new.

“Clarify,” she asked stoically.

“Well, ever since Ledgie turned me down,” the nymph said. “I’ve been thinking as to how I would give you a foal to spoil...and then I remembered that you might be able to do it yourself~”

“It's just a spell to give me one of those things. It does not impregnate… for obvious safety reasons.” She paused and put a hoof on her head. “Now… a full body polymorph spell…”

“Oooh, clever Moonie has an idea?” Sugar purred. “You see, I’m in my season, it’s a changeling version of Heat, and it won’t end anytime soon. So you have two options. Be at my mercy for these next few weeks, or quench it for me~”

Moondancer sighed and put a hoof on her head. “Darling. What you're asking. It makes me both incredibly uncomfortable. And it's dangerous. There is a reason full gender swaps aren't used unless special circumstances apply.” She shuddered and shook her head. “Gender identity issues, there's also a chance I'll never emotionally connect with the foal…”

“But Moonie~” Sugar whined. “I’m ready for another foal, and I want it to be yours. I would have settled for Ledger being the father, but he chickened out. So that leaves you and your magic.” She leaned over and began kissing her wife. “I’m sure that if you and that wonderful brain of yours got to work on the problem, you’d figure out ways around all the issues~”

“So my mental health and physical comfort do not matter, so long as you have a foal?” Moondancer raised an eyebrow, her stoicism slowly drifting towards irritation.

“Of course they matter!” Sugar protested. She shook her head a few times before putting a hoof to her forehead. “Ugh...this season’s really bad…”

With a flash of her horn, Moondancer hit her nymph with a cooling spell. A literal ice spell that chilled her right quick.

“Look,” the unicorn said. “I just want you to understand the risks involved. What you’re asking… it won’t be easy for me, both physically and mentally…”

Sugar’s only response was to shiver.

Moon gave an awkward smile. “Too cold?”

“J-J-Just a l-l-little,” she chattered. Moondancer rolled her eyes and smiled, before pulling the nymph into a warming hug.

“You’re hopeless,” she giggled. “I’ll… I’ll think about it okay?”

“You c-c-could just k-k-keep me c-c-cold,” Sugar offered.

“But you look so sad,” Moondancer said. “And… you’re right I guess. I would like a foal to spoil and teach magic to… provided they can.” She used her horn as a gentle warmth filled her body. “Now, how about we warm you up hmm~”

“Careful what you wish for,” Sugar said. “You know what time of the year it is for me…”

With a flourish of magic, Sugar was tossed onto the bed, bouncing once before the subtle ‘click’ of hoofcuffs could be heard. She used a localised polymorph and smirked.

“I am going to fuck you silly~” Moondancer said in Changeish. “You are mine!”

The Violet Noble merely let out a moan at hearing Moondancer speak in Changeish to her.

Moondancer closed the door and smiled wider as she floated out the toybox. She was going to have a little fun~

Midnight groaned and rubbed her belly.

They’d done it. Somehow. They had cleaned every plate that Fredrick had thrown at them, including dessert.

“That was soooo good,” Scope groaned, already slipping into a food coma. “But, I’m done… I’m so done…”

“I’m impressed,” Fredrick said as he appeared with a lengthy bill. “You all managed to eat everything.”

Twilight blinked, before she let out a belch in the Royal Canterlot Caps Lock, shaking the table and rattling the windows.

After, she blushed and put a hoof to her mouth. “Scuse me,” she said quietly.

“Thank you for the compliment,” the griffon returned with a smile. “All told, your bill is one-hundred and ninety-eight bits.”

Twilight looked around, before floating up a bag that held two hundred and fifty bits. “There we are my good sir, and a tip for taking up so much of your time and energy.”

He pulled it open and blinked at the amount. “Twilight, this cannot be right. The bill is for at most two-hundred, you seem to have a full fifty more here than you need…”

“As I said, a small tip,” she smiled. “This meal was amazing Fredrick, I don’t think we’ll have to eat for a week now.”

“Mmmangoes~” Midnight snorted, having already fallen asleep.

“If you say so,” the griffon said. “My thanks for choosing my establishment, then.”

“Like we’d choose anywhere else but the best,” Scope nodded, actually paying someone a compliment for once. “Though that place Ledger took me to on a date was pretty damned amazing. They cook the food right there in front of you.”

“I’ve heard of such a place,” Fredrick mused. “Dinner and a show. It would not be easy to add theatre to my line of work, though.”

“Maybe a karaoke night or something?” Midnight mumbled in her sleep.

Twilight blinked and looked at her wife. “I’m… not even going to question how she did that.”

“It would be wise if you didn’t,” the griffon agreed. “I will leave you to take your friends home, then.”

“Joy…” Twilight sighed as she looked at the passed out mares. With a final nod, she lit up her horn and whisked them home…

It had been a few hours, and Moondancer had released Sugar so she could use the amenities and get some food and water.

Out in the bar, Two-Step saw her mother and put a hoof to her mouth.

“Hives above, you look like a Tatzlwurm just spat you back out…”

“Close,” she chuckled. “It’s that time of the year again, and this time, I have a mate. So my season’s hitting me awfully hard. And Moonie’s stepping up to the challenge.”

“Holey Tartarus,” she muttered. “Yeah, that unicorn has both my respect and sympathy.” Then she smirked. “And I’m sure she has the gratitude of the stallions and mares of Las Pegasus.”

“Yes, well, I better not hear about any surprises when your season rolls around, little missy,” the mare said. “I’m not sure I’m ready to be a grandmother just yet. And I know you aren’t ready to be a mom.”

“Yes, yes, I know… quit nagging,” she said and slumped over the bar. “I don’t think he’s serious enough to become a father either… not yet anyway. We’re still… I dunno. Stable relations are hard.”

“For a Violet, yes,” Sugar agreed. “But they’re oh-so-worth it in the end.” The elder of the pair sighed. “Your father was one of the few who really accepted me for who and what I was, and I seriously thought for the longest time that he would be the one to marry me. But then he moved on to Baltimare when a business opportunity came calling...Such a shame. But at least I got you out of it~”

“Does… he even know I exist?” Two-Step asked quietly.

“I only found out after he left,” Sugar said just as quietly. “I’m sure if you were so inclined, you could go track him down. He only runs the largest sex-toy company now. I still get a letter from him every now and then.”

Two-Step blinked. Was she pulling her leg? “You-You cannot be serious?”

“His are the best for a reason,” Sugar giggled. “He had a very good ‘pool’ of candidates to use in their initial design, and I sometimes get a new toy with his letters too~”

“Un-freaking-believable,” the nymph sighed. But… she had ideas now. Wonderful, glorious ideas. While she wasn’t overly pissed about being fatherless, this Hive was all the family she ever wanted or needed.

She was still going to shock the fur off of him though.

And then, a tingle shot down their horns and caused almost every muscle in their body to spasm as the building was filled with a powerful magical aura…

The next morning, Two-Step knocked on her mother’s door. She'd felt a little bad about bringing up the topic of her father, but needed to ask Moondancer a favour…

And, what was that smell?

She didn’t get a response right away. The door didn’t so much as unlock.

“Mother? Moondancer? Are you still alive?” she called out. There was silence for a moment, before the door opened a little and Moondancer peered through the gap.

“Steppy?” she groaned and blinked. “What is it?”

“Um… are you okay?” the nymph asked. Moondancer looked herself over and then shrugged before looking over her shoulder.

“Honey… you alive?” There was a groan as Sugar was pulled into the waking world, and not much else.

“Eventually,” Moon said. “Can you come back later?” And with that, she closed the door once more.

“Not. Gonna. Ask,” the nymph said and strode away.

It wasn’t until much later, that the two emerged and Moondancer had wandered off to find Two-Step. Sugar had barely reached the bar before Chrysalis walked inside, humming some small tune.

“Whaddya...you want?” Sugar asked as she sat at the bar, discreetly using it to hold herself up. She was still barely coherent after that rough session last night.

“Hmm, nice to see you too,” Chrysalis hummed as she looked around. She saw Sugar’s state and chuckled. “Well, now I wonder what could wear out the great ‘Queen of the Strip’ like this? It’s certainly curious~”

“Nonea...your business,” Sugar said before she downed a glass of water. She needed the fluids.

“Perhaps not, but you know I won’t let up until you tell me,” Chrysalis mused. “Oh, and I want to borrow one of your changelings. See if I can turn them into a Flutterpony.”

“Get their permission,” Sugar said. “I don’t...command them like that.”

“Fair enough,” Chrysalis mused. “Okay, are you alright? I’m a little worried now.”

Sugar sighed, before motioning for the flutterpony to come closer. She blinked, but leaned across the counter nonetheless.

“It was my season yesterday,” Sugar whispered. “And Moonie was more than up to the challenge of sating it.”

Chrysalis blinked again. “That nerdy little unicorn… sated your season? A Violet Noble?”

“She was wonderful,” Sugar sighed.

“Well, colour me impressed,” Chrysalis mused as said unicorn walked into the room with Two-Step at her side.

“Honey,” Moon said and kissed her cheek. “Seems I’m going on an adventure.”

“Oh?” Sugar asked as she looked at the two most important mares in her life. “Dare I ask what the two of you have concocted?”

“I’m…” Two-Step paused. “I’m going to meet my father.”

“Just keep in mind, dear,” Sugar said. “He’s a good stallion. I just didn’t hold him to anything when he lived here.”

“I still want to meet him,” she said. “I don’t expect anything… just, want him to know that I’m here is all.”

“I’ll be providing moral support,” Moondancer said. “It should be a good bonding experience for us. Plus… she told me what he does. I intend to go… shopping~”

“Oh dear,” Sugar sighed. “My life will never be the same when you two come back, will it?”

“Nope,” they echoed and trapped her in a hug.

“Now there’s an idea,” Chrysalis purred. “Want to see if I can turn little Steppy into a Flutterpony?”

“She’s lived for twenty years as she is,” Sugar retorted. “I’m pretty sure not only is it not needed, but it would still be up to her.”

“Pass, I’m good thanks,” she responded. She nuzzled her mother and then recoiled. “Urgh, you reek of sex. The hell did you two do, other than each other?”

“You pretty much nailed it,” Sugar giggled.

“That was terrible,” Moondancer sighed and shook her head. “But she’s right, we are far from presentable.” She took a glass and downed some water herself. “Let’s go for a shower and…” she smiled and whipped Sugar’s flank with her tail. “Maybe you’ll get lucky again~”

“Or maybe I’ll return the favor,” Sugar purred.

Moondancer tilted her head. Wonder what she meant by that? She just shrugged and trotted off towards their bathroom.

“Mom… do I really want to know?” Two-Step deadpanned.

“All I’ll say is, you’re about to be a big sister,” Sugar winked, before following after her wife. Her daughter remained there, staring at the place her mother stood previously.

“...what?”

Chapter 104 - Welcome to the world

Midnight Song stared into her coffee mug. “I'm am never going to get over the fact Moonie actually became a stallion, just to get you pregnant.” She looked up at the Violet Noble and her brow creased. “Please tell me you didn’t force her to… not after what happened…”

“Of course I didn’t force her to,” Sugar replied. “And something tells me I should ask her about that second comment.”

Midnight winced, she hadn't meant to blurt that out. “Urgh, just don't tell her I said anything or she'll teleport me into the sun or something.”

“Dear, when I want to be, I can be very subtle,” Sugar said before sipping her own coffee.

“That’s go-” Midnight suddenly pitched over, clutching her stomach. “Ffffuuuu…!”

“Dear, are you okay?” Sugar said as she got up and walked over to Midnight’s side of the table.

Midnight took long, deep breaths and hissed. “Y-Yeah...just, Little Parasite loves using my kidneys as punching bags…”

“Ah, the joys of having a child,” Sugar mused. “Steppy loved making me go to the bathroom, personally.”

“Mmm,” Midnight groaned as she sat up and sighed. “Phew. Okay. I think I'm-” then she doubled over again and screamed.

And that was when Sugar noticed her hooves were getting wet…

“Dear, did your water just break?” the nymph asked.

Midnight just gave a small nod as she continued to groan.

“Can you stand? We have to get you to the hospital, and it’d be easier if you helped if you could,” Sugar said as she offered her hoof to the mare. Midnight took it and clutched it tight as she slowly got to her hooves, panting heavily.

“O-Okay… let's. .. go…”

“No rush, we should have some time before the main event,” Sugar said. “Let’s just take it easy, okay?”

Midnight nodded and the two ambled out of the club.

Ledger nearly jumped out of his chitin when his door slammed open as Cider came tearing into the room.

“What is it?” he asked. “Monster attack? Rogue changeling invasion?”

“Ah wish it was that simple,” Cider panted, having run here from the farm at top speed. “Little Bat’s in the hospital. She was visiting Sugar and her water broke…”

“Oh Hives,” Ledger said. “You rest up, I’m going there now. Wait,” he said as his horn charged. “Do the others know?”

“Scopey went to get Twahlight… dunno how long she'll be though.”

“I’d go tell Amy and, more importantly, Ace, but I dunno what I’d walk in on if I did,” Ledger said. “I’ll ask Scope to send a message once she arrives.” And with a sharp crack, the drone disappeared, only to reappear in front of the hospital. He barged in and went to the mare behind the front desk.

“Midnight Song,” he said. “Her water broke, I’m the father. What room is she in?”

The nurse panicked only slightly at the changeling getting up in her face like that, then screamed as a large Griffon barged in as well.

“Pony mare! My wife Amethyst Cream is here!” he near shouted then looked at Ledger. “Oh, hello Ledger.”

“I had been wondering how to best get in contact with you,” Ledger mused. “Middy’s water broke as well.”

“Well now, isn't that a wondrous coincidence,” the bird chuckled as the nurse recovered.

“R-Rooms 21 and 22,” she stammered.

“Who’s in which?” Ledger asked. “I’d rather avoid walking into the wrong room.”

“The..um, batpony? She's in Room 21. The excitable changeling miss is in the other.”

“Meet up after?” Ledger posed to Ace.

“That sounds like a plan,” Ace nodded and then pushed the drone to one side as the air displaced and Princess Twilight Sparkle winked into existence.

“Y-Your highness?” the nurse gasped as Twilight strode over to her.

“The pregnant batpony. My wife. Where is she!?”

The nurse fainted.

“Oh for buck's sake!” Twilight swore.

“Room twenty one,” Ledger said. “Just about to go there myself.”

Twilight was already running for it, dragging Scope, Cider and Ledger along in her telekinetic field.

“Heh, perhaps I should find my little dessert,” Ace mused and calmly headed for her room.

Ignoring any and all protests from her unwilling passengers, the alicorn eventually reached the room, to see Midnight hooked up to a heart monitor and groaning.

“Twilight, I love you, but if you don’t let me down right now so I can be by Midnight’s side,” Ledger started to threaten. Twilight blushed and lowered the group to the floor as they surrounded the bed.

“Oh…” Midnight looked up. “‘sup?”

“You, silly,” Ledger said. “We haven’t missed it, have we?”

Midnight looked down at her round belly, which was monitored by an ultrasound machine. She raised an eyebrow and waited for the drone to figure out the obvious.

“Hey, all I knew before arriving here was your water broke,” Ledger said. “And then I had to deal with Twi making the nurse faint before I could pump her for information.”

“The only mares you're supposed to pump is us,” Midnight giggled weakly.

“Isn’t that what got us into this?” Ledger asked.

“Something like that,” she smiled. “Glad you guys could…” She groaned and yelled as another contraction hit.

“How far apart are they?” Twilight asked.

“A...A few… I dunno,” Midnight panted as a doctor walked in and sighed.

“Some of you are going to have to clear the room,” he said.

“All right,” Ledger said as he began leaving. “C’mon mares, let’s leave the doctor to his work.”

“Nuuu…” Midnight waved her hooves weakly. Cider chuckled and kissed her nose.

“We'll be just outside until the doc is done okay?”

“Fine,” Midnight pouted.

“We’ll be right here,” Ledger reassured her. “Just on the other side of the door.”

Midnight nodded as the group left, leaving her alone in the hospital room.

“I hate this,” Scope muttered. “Remember what happened last time she was in the hospital?”

“This time, we’ll keep a good watch on the room,” Ledger assured her. “No creepy exes showing up to kidnap her in the middle of the procedure. And if any do show up, we’ll eat ‘em.”

Scope snapped her jaws and growled.

“Kidnapping?” Twilight blinked and then her expression changed to one of realisation. “Oh that's right. That happened just before we all met and you turned my life upside down.”

“And that’s a relatively normal day by our standards these days,” Ledger sighed. “Just another crisis in the herd that we deal with.”

“Hey, at least we're all out of enemies,” Scope said. “Well, except for Twilight. And I'm certain Cider never had any to begin with.”

They heard another shout from Midnight. Apparently she had another contraction and the doctor's stethoscope was cold.

And his mother was having relations with a Diamond Dog according to the bat.

“Did Narrow ever catch whoever it was that tried to ambush me back when I was getting you all your rings?” the drone asked pointedly. “I don’t think I’ll be out of enemies anytime soon either. I can only hope to run them out of business.”

“Our lives are never dull,” Cider mused as she sat down.

“I'm sorry ancient evils keep trying to kill us,” Twilight said.

“Would it kill them to give a little warning?” Ledger mock-groused. “I mean, I know they’re ancient evils and all, but haven’t they heard of a little thing called courtesy?”

“I know right!?” Twilight replied a little too seriously. “How can I keep to my schedules when they keep interrupting!”

“And science won’t progress unless we can both work on it,” Ledger sighed. “It’s like they have no appreciation for what we’re trying to build!”

“Maybe I should just Rainbow the whole planet…” Twilight started smiling a little too widely…

“I’m sure you’d run out of Rainbow before you finished,” Ledger said. “Maybe work on Rainbowing an entire country to start with.”

“Middy’s in there pregnant and you two are talking about magical weapons of mass destruction,” Scope sighed.

“Well there ain't a whole lot we can do darlin’,” Cider replied to her. “Not until the doc is done with her…”

There was a yelp of pain, a male one as the doctor exited the room soon after, a bite mark visible on his leg.

“Maaaaybe one of us should accompany you back in there,” Ledger said. “Just to make sure that she doesn’t do that again. Or has a different target than the trained medical professional.”

“Well, I'm just filling in for the moment,” he replied, rubbing his leg. “We have a thestral specialist coming from Canterlot…”

“Will they get here in time to prevent you getting bitten again?” the drone questioned.

“I hope so,” he said. “I just needed to take her vitals and check if she was dilating… she uh, didn't appreciate that last part.”

“Still, she’d be a little more hesitant to bite us,” Ledger said. “Maybe.”

“We're fine until she starts going into labour. Given the time between her contractions…” He looked at his chart and hummed. “I'd say the next 24 to 48 hours.”

“Rotating shift?” Ledger asked his other wives. “That way only one of us needs to be here at a time unless something happens.”

“Sounds good,” Twilight nodded.

“Ah’ll head home, make us some coffee and food,” Cider said. “Be back in a lil’ bit okay?”

“And I’ll go in and comfort the silly bat before we start this,” Ledger said. “Twi, I leave it up to you to draw up the shift schedule-”

“Done.” The alicorn held out a scroll proudly. “Made it six months ago.”

“There’s being prepared,” the drone deadpanned. “Then there’s being ever so slightly over-prepared.”

“There is no such thing,” Twilight nodded.

“Anyways, I’ll head in and comfort Middy before we start up this schedule,” Ledger said as he pushed into the room. Just as he heard the heart monitor flatline…

“That’s not good,” he observed aloud as he looked at the room. Luckily, the bat was far from dead.

She had however, unplugged the machine and was in the process of getting out of bed. Ledger walked closer and gently began pushing her with one hoof. “No, bad Middy,” he said mock-severely. “You stay right here and give birth.”

“Oh I feel like I have to give birth,” the bat replied. “But not a baby and not from that hole…”

“Middy,” Ledger said. “I’m warning you. Either stay in that bed, or I will use my magic to help the hospital.”

“Ledger. Lemme go to the bathroom or you're going out that window.”

“Promise that you’ll come right back? I’m not above using a tracker spell.”

“I'm not going to run away moron,” the thestral said as she got up again. “You honestly think I'm going to risk the baby like that?”

“You are pretty silly,” the drone mused. “Okay, I’ll trust you.” With that, Ledger got out of the way.

“Good, I already made a mess of Sugar’s floor… not gonna use a fucking bedpan…” She ambled away and closed the door behind her. Ledger just sat back and waited. After a few minutes he heard the toilet flush and Midnight returned as promised…

Then started ambling towards the door.

“Middy…” he said, with only a hint of trepidation. “What’re you up to?”

“Weeeell,” the bat said. “I know Amy’s here as well. I heard the doctor mention it… I was going to go visit?”

“Like I said,” Ledger replied. “I’m not above a tracking spell. Though I don’t think I’ll need one...Still, you probably shouldn’t go in there,” he said. “After all, you’re still going through the whole birth thing yourself…”

“I just wanna see if she's okay,” Midnight said. “And I'm going to be spending a lot of time in that bed soon. Wanna use my hooves while I still can. You can come with you know, so I won't, ‘run away’.” She made little quotation marks with her wing tips.

“I’ll trust you,” Ledger said. “Still, I kinda wish you weren’t trying to make life difficult for the doctors.”

“They'd get too complacent otherwise,” Midnight said as she headed out of the room, Scope raising an eyebrow until she explained again.

“Whatever,” she replied. “Might as well go with you.”

“Honestly,” Ace sighed as he sat beside Amy’s bed. “You gave me quite the fright love. With the way Chrys was panicking, I'd thought you'd hurt yourself.”

“No, but I feel like I’m about to regret everything,” Amy groaned. “It’s been bad enough carrying our foal, but now it’s hurting so much…”

“You know I love you yes?” Ace lay his head on the bed beside her. “And we will love this hatchling as well. Besides, how did you think foals came into the world dear? They say the greatest struggle in life, is to obtain it in the first place.”

“It’s certainly feeling like it,” the pink nymph groaned, before gasping and crying out sharply in pain. “Eeeesh, I don’t know what’s going to hurt more. Pushing our foal out, or pushing out its beak and claws…”

“Well, we don’t really know what it looks like,” Ace said. “But a Griffon chick doesn’t get its claws until the first few months, so you're safe there. And for all we know, he or she will have your cute little face.”

“Or it’ll have your front half, and only its back half will be armored,” Amy said. “I am so looking forward to being able to shift again. If only to give Chryssy this joy as well.”

“Oh, seeking a little vengeance?” Ace chuckled and held her hoof as the door slid open, Midnight poking her head inside.

“Sup sugarbug?” she said in a loud whisper.

“Just a foal trying to claw its way out,” Amy weakly replied. “Nothing big.”

“I know those feels,” Midnight groaned as she waddled in. “What a coincidence that we're here together huh?”

“I blame changeling and griffon pregnancy times being shorter than a pony’s,” Amy said, before looking over at Ace. “That makes sense, right?”

“Makes sense to me,” Discord whispered into Ledger’s head. “They think it's coincidence… well, whatever helps them sleep am I right?”

“Makes sense to me I suppose,” Ace shrugged. “I've longed since learned that you and normal mix like ice-cream and barbeque sauce.”

“Oooh, I should totally make a barbeque ice-cream,” the pink nymph giggled.

Ace and Midnight blanched at the thought, and Amy’s foal decided to give a decidedly sharp kick. “Yipe,” the pink said, before rubbing her stomach. “Okay, maybe not.”

“Seems I have ally against my love's more… exuberant ideas,” Ace chuckled and rubbed her belly.

“Heh, Aunty Middy’s totally gonna spoil you,” The thestral joined in on the rubbing.

“You talk like I won’t,” Amy giggled.

“It's a good thing Ledger and I are here… hmm…” Ace got up and left the room, returning with a changeling drone under one arm as he walked upright. “As I was saying, since Ledger and I are here. It's up to us to be the tough parents.”

“You think I can stop Midnight from being Midnight?” Ledger asked with a raised brow. “She’s going to put our foal through Tartarus trying to make it as awesome as she is, I can tell.”

“Damn right,” Midnight said and struck a confident pose, before wincing and holding her belly as she hissed in pain.

“Whereas I’ll accept whatever they grow into being as awesome in and of itself,” Ledger said. “Because apparently I’ll need to be the supportive one.”

“What are the odds that Chrysalis will teach ours the finer points of conquering enemy territory?” Ace mused as he resumed petting his wife.

“Tactics are a good thing to know,” Amy said. “It’s how I got so skilled at my martial disciplines. I am looking forward to being able to practice Swift Wing again...Still Way’s good and all, but I like my Pegasus wings.”

“Amen to that,” Scope replied. “Being big is fine, but I swear that if I smack my horn on a door frame one more time…”

Midnight sighed and wobbled a bit. “Urgh… I think my ability to stand has reached it limits. This blimp is going down…”

Ledger walked over and propped Midnight up with his body. “Mkay, I’ll take her back to her bed now,” the drone said. “Take care Amy. See you in a bit.”

“Take care of my student Ledger,” Ace nodded. “Also, do you think you and yours could help Chrys and I keep an eye on this one? We don't want to miss out.”

“You’re right next door,” Ledger said. “It shouldn’t be a problem at all.”

“Many thanks,” Ace yawned. He'd been up half the night already, but Chrysalis wouldn’t get off of work for another few hours.

Meanwhile, Midnight had been escorted back to bed and was staying put… for now. “Sure you wanna stick around for the whole time?” She asked. “It's gonna be boring.”

“Not me personally, but there will always be a member of the herd around,” Ledger said before unrolling the scroll Twilight had given him. Midnight looked at it and snorted.

“Does she have a checklist for everything?”

“I would not be surprised,” Ledger said before reading it to see whose turn it was. Scope. “See, Scopey will stick around for a few hours, then I’ll get off work and relieve her, sticking around for most of the night. Then it’s Twilight’s turn. We have a plan, you won’t ever be alone, Middy.”

“Thanks…” she said quietly and pulled the blankets up around her neck. “It's just… last time…”

“Another reason one of us is always sticking around,” Ledger agreed. “I promise you, if anything happens to you this time, I will have war declared on the fool who decided to mess with my Midnight.”

Midnight blushed profusely at that, pulling the blanket up over her head. Ledger could swear that her glowing face still shone through. He walked up and put a gentle kiss against the soft fabric before turning to leave.

“Remember Middy, listen to your doctor,” he said, before he pulled the door open.

“Only if they come bearing mangoes,” the bat pouted. Ledger just chuckled and left the room.

A full day had passed, Midnight had yet to give birth, and as Ledger blinked his eyes in succession, before taking a long sip of his thermos filled with Ledger-level coffee…

“Ledger dear!!” a mare glomped him, hugging him tight. Only one unicorn did that.

Moon Song.

“Hello,” he wheezed out. “Air please…”

It wasn’t until Grissom pried his wife off, did Ledger’s lungs get the chance to reinflate.

“So, the day has finally come huh?” the thestral stallion chuckled and smacked the drones back a few times.

“Yeah,” Ledger replied. “It’s been a draining experience…”

“I know the feeling,” he said as Moon rushed in to check on her daughter. His eyes flicked towards the room occupied by Amy. “Think they'll miss their grand foals birth as well?”

“They might,” Ledger sighed. “I’ve not seen hide nor hair of another pink in the city for ages…Correction, another pink that’s related to her.”

“That’s a shame…” Grissom sighed. After the wedding, he'd tracked the two changelings, sending them missives on what they'd missed, and what they might miss. “I do hope the girl is alright.”

“She’s strong, she’ll pull...through?” There was an anomaly. A small mote of pink light over Grissom’s shoulder. Ledger couldn’t look away.

“What?” Grissom noticed his gaze and followed it. “What… is that?”

The mote grew, stronger and stronger, before there was a pink flash of light through the hallway, and two ponies were there. A pink and a violet unicorn, panting and out of breath.

“Did we...miss it?” the pink one asked as she tried to catch her breath.

“And, you are?” Grissom found his voice first. “Though I am hazarding a guess a certain Pink changeling is related to you.”

“Is my Amy here?” the stallion said. “Please tell me she’s here and all right.”

“She’s fine,” Scope yawned sleepily from her spot on the couch. “Chrysalis is with her right now…”

The statement did anything but reassure the pair of them. If anything, their expressions turned more sour. “Her?” the mare asked. “Why not that griffon husband of hers?”

Scope yawned again. “Cause she's married… friggen dumabasses. Now lemme sleep…” With that, she encased herself in a silence bubble and drifted off.

“I am going to have words with that mare,” the male grumbled as the pair of them looked at Grissom. “Where is she?”

“That room there,” Grissom pointed. “But be warned, I doubt you'll find what you're expecting…”

“We’ll be the judge of that,” the mare said before pushing the door open. Her husband followed after…

What they saw was their daughter, older than what they remembered. A tall, stunningly beautiful mare stood next to her, peeling an apple with her magic. Her coat was as white as the freshly fallen snow, and her translucent fairy-like wings shone like crystal.

“Honestly love, you'd think that foal would just come out and say hello already…” Chrysalis looked up to see the two unicorns. “Seems we have visitors.”

Amy groaned and looked up from her bed before blinking. “Momma? Poppa?”

“Hello dear,” the pink mare said with a smile. “I’m sorry we missed the wedding, but I’m glad we got back in time for this.”

“Better late than never… again,” Chrysalis muttered under her breath. Being with Amy had done wonders to control her temper.

“And might I ask who you are?” the stallion said.

“I'm Amy’s wife, though you'd know that had you actually shown up,” the mare replied as she resumed peeling the apple.

“You’re Chrysalis?” they asked together.

“Forgive us for our skepticism, but we were informed that you’d be a Changeling,” the stallion said.

“You’re most certainly something new,” the mare added. “Different than what we were expecting on the outside, at least.”

“Mhmm,” Chrysalis replied. She eyed them then looked at Amy. “A Violet father? That explains quite a bit now doesn't it?” She placed the apple slices on a plate and floated one over to Amy’s mouth. The pink nymph munched down on it before she explained.

“I’m pretty sure I told you this before, Chryssy,” she said. “Like, a few times. Dad’s a Violet with a Yellow mother, he was the only one brave enough-”

“Or stupid enough,” the pink unicorn said, earning a snort from the stallion.

“-To go up to the dragon lands and try and add the Pony Sutra: Dragon Edition to their library,” Amy finished.

“I went up there so that he would still be loyal to me at the end of the day,” Amy’s mother said.

Chrysalis just blinked slowly. “...Oh they are related to you alright,” the mare sighed. “And to clarify, I am no longer a Changeling. I am a Flutterpony, the first and last of my kind for a good long while.”

“I told you you should have added Ledgy,” Amy pouted. “He’d be so pretty, nopony would take him seriously again! Plus all you would have to do is say it was a science experiment and he’d jump at the chance!”

“That’s still an idea that I'm toying with,” she replied. “Or I could make you one when you're sleeping. Poof, you wake up as a fairy pony~”

“The idea is tempting,” Amy admitted. “But let’s wait until after the foal, kay? In case it follows Changeling transformation rules.”

“Naturally,” the mare nodded. “Oh, and heads up, I’m about to get revenge for the wedding.”

“Whut?” Amy asked with a cute head-tilt. And that was when her parents were scooped up into a crushing feathery hug.

“If it isn't my beloved’s parents!” Ace boomed and hugged them tighter. “Greetings and salutations!!”

“Air!” the mare gasped. The drone merely held his breath, more than used to his wife and daughter’s hugs.

Chrysalis chortled, glad to not be on the receiving end of that. Ace’s boundless enthusiasm should be an interesting experience.

“Why are we standing over here?” Ace stood upright, a unicorn under each arm as they brought them over to the side of the bed. “Tis a pleasure to finally meet you!” he continued, still holding them.

“Well we only just got here,” the mare said. “Also, when do you plan on letting us go?”

“Amy, Chrys and I have been married for nearly nine months now, so I have some hugs to catch up on,” the griffon nodded, but but them down when Chrysalis pointed out he was making too much noise. “Ah, where are my manners. I am Aerial Ace, husband to both your adorable daughter and this peerlessly beautiful mare here.”

“Love how you distinguished between the two,” the stallion said mock-angrily, before grinning and introducing himself. “I am known as Restful Night, and my wife-”

“I can introduce myself, dear,” the mare said before smiling at the griffon. “I’m Rose Frosting. It’s a pleasure to finally meet the griffon that’s been so good to my daughter.”

Chrysalis chose that moment to clear her throat.

“Well, I cannot take all the credit,” the griffon chuckled. “Our little fairy was just as loving. You just have to work around her thorns…” He looked down at the Violet stallion. “Huh? Violet. That explains a lot.”

“I know right!” Chrysalis tacked on.

“I swore I told you guys,” Amy said.

“Probably, we may not have paid attention,” Ace said as he finally put the parents down. “And how is my sweet little dessert?”

“They say I’m nearly fully dilated,” Amy said with a gasp. “I hope so, because then I can get this little feathered foal out of me.”

“Oh dear,” Rose said. “The true pain has yet to begin.”

Amy’s only response was to whimper.

“Mhmm,” Chrysalis nodded. “To put it into a perspective you could understand. Take… let’s say, a hole the size of a straw. Now, you have to try and push something the size of a watermelon through it.”

“...Chryssy,” Amy said with a strangled voice. “You are not helping yourself.”

“I realise this, might as well go all the way right, seeing as how I’m not getting out of it.”

“And this is what I live with,” Ace mused. “Wouldn’t change it for the world mind you.” He lowered himself down onto all fours. “Also, there’s no need for disguises here.”

“Sorry,” the mare said, before she flashed into a pink-hued ‘ling. “We’ve used them for so long in Equestria...it’s hard to believe that even one city is friendly to us.”

“Still,” the stallion said, before he became a violet drone. “The concept is...refreshing.”

“And a single Silver Noble is the catalyst,” Ace mused. “I believe you met him in the hall just now actually.”

“We’ll have to thank him later,” Rose giggled. “Now, I believe we were discussing something different?”

“Yes, like how a griffon manages to get our daughter and the first and last Flutterpony at the same time,” Restful said with a small chuckle. “Two at once, eh?”

“Well, I met Amy quite a whiles before Chrysalis,” the bird replied as he sat down. “It was actually your daughter’s idea to… comfort this one when Princess Twilight was taking care of her.”

“More like warden,” the mare muttered and then smiled. She activated her magic and polymorphed herself back into her old form. “Perhaps this is more familiar?” she buzzed.

“Still just as beautiful though,” Ace smiled, causing her to blush.

“Ah yes,” Rose said. “I’d heard about you and the ruckus you caused.”

“Heck, I think we heard it all the way up in the dragon lands,” Restful mused. “Made our jobs a hell of a lot harder.”

“Your job, you mean,” the nymph quipped. “Mine didn’t change at all.”

“Let me guess, serving ice-cream to the dragons?” Chrysalis chuckled.

“More like trying to help him remember who he was loyal to,” Rose said.

“Mine was getting their trust and explaining why I wanted that trust without coming off as too sleazy,” the drone said.

“A lofty goal for a Violet,” Chrysalis nodded and then looked at Ace’s expression. “What? You’ve never been to the Violet Hive. Trust me, they would eat you up in there. Kind of like Amy when she’s requesting a...banana split~”

“Chryssy,” Amy whined before batting a hoof at her. “Mom and Dad don’t need to hear about that…”

“Oh no, by all means, do,” Restful said.

“I would love to hear all the sordid details,” Rose agreed with a wide smile.

“Hmm, like the delicious Amy sandwiches we make,” Chrys purred and kissed her wife’s cheek. “Or do they not know I can still gendershift?”

“You are so getting yours when I can shift again,” Amy fumed.

“Promises for another day,” Chrys sang. “Right now, it is my job to embarrass you completely and utterly.”

“Acey, please tell me I can get the bondage gear when I’m out of here, please,” the pink nymph said while looking at her griffon.

“Hmm? Oh, after this, I’m going to take the foal to Canterlot to meet Tia and Lulu. You on the other hoof, have a whole week to do whatever you want.”

Chrysalis’s eyes widened in fear.

“Don’t forget some formula for it,” Amy said. “I’ve got a few days worth in the fridge already, and plenty of mix lying around.”

“I’ll give the little tyke a month to settle in first,” Ace nodded. “There’s no rush… but, if we need to step out. I’ll leave the toybox unlocked~”

“Excellent~” the pink nymph purred, before gasping in pain again. “Okay, that...that one was stronger…”

“Easy now, don’t get too worked up,” Ace said as they heard a familiar yelp from next door. “I swear, you two will wind up giving birth at the same time as well.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Amy giggled weakly. “Can...can you get the doctor, please?”

“Is everything alright?” Chrysalis asked in a worried tone.

“I just feel reall- OW!” Amy said. “Okay, yeah, doctor now. I think the foal wants out now!”

With a burst of light. Chrysalis teleported from the room as Ledger tore down the hall. Seems Ace’s joke was right on the money.

The flutterpony returned with a dazed doctor and pointed at her wife. “You. Her. Medical things. Now!”

“Chryssy, don’t be sooooooooOW! Forget it, help!” she said as another wave of pain crashed through her.

“Okay, how far apart are the contractions?” she asked, checking the heart monitor and then the nymph herself.

“I’ll let you know when the next ooooooONE!” the pink nymph said with a slight scream at the end. “That answer your question?”

“So around forty seconds,” she noted. She pressed a button and smiled. “You’re going into labour and some...buggy? Well. They want out. Ready to get started?”

“Yes please,” Amy said before another contraction ripped through her. “Gaaah, help, please. Something, anything!”

Two orderlies appeared and moved to usher everyone else out of the room.

“We don’t have enough time to move you. So we’ll do it here.” She looked at the others. “We’ll need room. So could you please wait in the hall or visitors lounge?”

“Sure thing,” Rose said as she and her husband left the room. Ace gave Amy a kiss and then led Chrysalis out, only to see Ledger and his family out there as well.

“Ah, greetings Secret-Hoarder,” the griffon mused. “I am assuming your wife too, is producing your first-born?”

“That she is,” Ledger agreed. “She went into labor not long ago.”

The group sort of fell into idle small-talk, not really knowing what to do in this situation. Twilight paced up and down the hall, muttering to herself. And Scope just reclined on a couch, her nose buried in a Daring Do book.

As one of the orderlies exited Midnight’s room, the door remained open just long enough to hear…

“Where is my husband!? I will crack him open like a lobster dinner for doing this to meeee!!!”

Ledger sat very, very still. Don’t move, he told himself. She tracks you by the noise you emit. If you say nothing, she can’t hear you.

“Woooow,” Scope whistled. “You are fucked, and not the fun kind.”

And orderly exited Amy’s room to fetch fresh towels…

“I will pluck and roast Ace for dinner tonight!!!” the pink nymph howled. “I’ll get the other gryphons in town to season him!”

Ace gulped and moved next to Ledger. The drone should hopefully make for a distracting shield in the event of an emergency escape.

“Mmm, sounds tasty actually,” Chrysalis purred. “I do love the sensation of some juicy meat in my mouth~”

“...I now fear what you’re going to say when your time due comes,” Ledger said to Scope. “Heck, I’m afraid for my life in general. Especially if more foals are planned.”

“Me?” Scope blinked and looked at Twilight. “You’re not concerned for the mare that could tear you apart at the subatomic level, with just a thought?”

“She’s not pregnant,” Ledger deadpanned. “Plus, I intend to learn shields before I do.”

“Might wanna ask Shiny for help there,” Chrysalis mused. “You’ll need it.”

After that, the group fell back into an awkward silence. And after a half hour or so… the doors opened and the doctors emerged.

“Song family?”

“Cream family?”

“You may see your wife now,” the doctors, which Ledger noticed were twins, smiled and said in sync.

“Freaky, but okay,” the drone said as he looked at the others. “Hmm...we might wanna take it in turns,” he said. “I don’t think we can fit all four of us in there at the same time. I’ll go first, who wants to go with me?”

Twilight and Scope smiled, nudging Cider forward.

“She was here before us, only seems fair,” the alicorn smiled. “Don’t take too long though.”

Ace and Chrysalis were already headed for Amy’s room. Ledger nodded and walked over to the door with Cider, pausing for a moment before he ushered her into the room that hopefully held his wife and his new child.

When he entered, the emotion he felt. It was love, so pure and rich he could drown in it. Midnight was laying in the bed, holding a bundle of sloth in her forehooves. Her mane was a mess and her coat was shiny with a sheen of sweat. She looked exhausted…

But at the same time, Ledger was sure he’d never seen her this… happy. He carefully drew closer, still mindful of the threat she’d made when she was delivering the foal…

She looked up and smiled softly, motioning for them to be quiet. As he drew near, she smiled and pulled back the blanket, showing off a thestral pony, though Ledger could see the small stub of a horn poking out through its thin mane.

“Meet your daughter,” she whispered. “Star Song.”

“She’s so adorable,” Ledger said in just as soft a tone.

“Ah reckon,” Cider cooed. “She’s jus’ the cutest lil thang.”

“And a pain,” Midnight smiled and kissed her forehead. “But she’s perfect. Just like her mommy~”

“I’ll agree with that statement,” Ledger said. “Out of curiosity...do you know what color her eyes are?”

Midnight smiled. Widely.

The filly yawned and her eyes opened, looking up at everyone.

One shining Silver and one rosy Pink…

“Oh dear,” Ledger said. “Two colors at once. This...has never happened before…normally one’s the dominant in a hybrid.”

“Trust Middy to break the rules,” Cider chuckled as she nuzzled the filly, squeaking when her nose was gummed on. Midnight giggled and held Star up.

“Wanna hold her?” she asked. Ledger sat on his haunches and held his forelegs up, ready to cradle the filly. Midnight carefully handed her over, the filly gurgling as he got to see a little more of her. She had the tiniest pair of batwings, and soft chitinous plating covered her legs from her hoof, to the top of her shins. She also seemed to have one along the bridge of her nose.

“Hi there,” he said softly to her. “I’m your daddy, you silly filly.” He nuzzled her a little, smiling all the while and just basking in the pure and simple love that pervaded the room.

“Blable!” she said and batted at his nose, before yawning and closing her eyes. Being born was exhausting. Ledger smiled and looked at Cider, raising an eyebrow in unspoken question.

“Something wrong?” she asked.

“You want a turn?” he vocalized. Cider nodded and moved next to him, taking the filly as he hoofed her over.

“Oh mah stars, she so tiny,” Cider breathed. “Ah jus’... wow.”

“Seems everypony loves you,” Midnight giggled. “As well they should. Where’s Scopey and Twi?”

“They’ll be coming in next,” Ledger said. “We didn’t want to crowd you two.”

“Ah, righto,” Midnight smiled as Cider handed Star back to her. “Just remember,” she cooed to the filly. “I’ll have my revenge for this when you’re old enough… maybe embarrass you in front of your first colt or fillyfriend.”

Star giggled and poked Midnight’s nose. “Oh yes, you think is hilarious now,” the mare giggle and booped her back.

“I suppose I should start thinking of appropriate death threats, then?” Ledger mused. “I have so long to work on it, after all. I might even manage to make a short speech.”

“You’re the Daddy, intimidating potential lovers is part of the contract,” Midnight smiled.

“And then they meet Scopey,” Cider smirked.

“Yes, well, I’ll have time to threaten them eloquently,” Ledger said with a slight sniff. “She’ll just threaten to eat their hearts or something unoriginal.”

“Speaking of, wanna send them in before my little Starry gets taken away to be examined?” Midnight said.

“Yup, it’s their turn,” Ledger said. “C’mon Cider, let’s let them in now.”

The mare nodded and pecked Midnight on the lips as they left the room, making way for Scope and Twilight.

“Hey girls,” Midnight said. “Scopey, wanna see what you’ll get in a couple of months?”

“Sure, let’s see the grub,” Scope said as she walked over. Once she saw Star, though, she fell silent like the others had.

“Isn’t she the cutest?’ Midnight giggled as the filly opened her two-toned eyes, staring at the Blue nymph. Scope remained speechless as she just stared at the filly. More accurately, at the pure and simple love she was just radiating.

If Midnight was a supernova of lust, then this little filly was like a star of love.

Midnight giggled at her expression. Twilight’s heart was simply melting at the sight of the filly. The Cake twins had been awfully adorable… but knowing that this filly was her daughter, not by birth, but that was a trivial matter.

“I can’t... “ Twilight whispered. “I’m a Mom…?”

“We all are,” Midnight said. “Starry? Say hello to Mommy Twilight and Mommy Scope.”

The filly gurgled again and waved her forelegs.

“This...this filly is just…” Scope whispered. “How?”

“Well you see, when a Mommy Pony and a Daddy Changeling love each other very much,” Midnight started.

“Not that,” Scope cut her off. “You know how you practically radiate lust? This filly is giving off so much love right now, I’m surprised the entire changeling population isn’t trying to get a peek at her.”

“Really?” Midnight replied and looked at her daughter. “Well aren’t you just a bundle of joy?” The filly just cooed again as a nurse entered.

“We need to run a few little tests, just to make sure she’s healthy,” the nurse said. “Can I whisk Mommy and Daughter away for a little bit?”

“You probably shouldn’t separate them for long, if at all,” Scope warned. “She’s happy now…”

“They’ll both be coming, as we have to examine Mrs Song as well,” the nurse smiled as Midnight was moved to a wheelchair. “We’ll be back soon.”

Twilight nodded and decided to go with them, just in case Midnight’s instincts flared up. On the way out, a Pink changeling was also being wheeled out.

“Heya,” Midnight waved.

“Hi there,” Amy said softly, before showing off her own bundle of joy. It looked a little like a hippogriff, but he had black chitin on his rear half. His front half took after Ace’s coloration...

And his eyes were solid pink.

“Meet Richard,” she said softly. “I figured a more gryphon-like name like Fredrick and Jonathan might suit him more.”

“Well isn’t he a handsome fellow,” Midnight giggled as she showed Amy her own. “And this is Star Song… well, she won’t have a ‘ling name until she picks one.”

“Aww,” Amy cooed. “She’s adorable, and takes after you and Ledgy in all the right ways~” She blinked a few times before looking at the filly again. “Especially in how much she just seems to love everything…”

“So I’ve been told,” Midnight giggled and nuzzled her. “Did Acey faint? He’s oddly silent.”

“Right when he saw his son,” Amy giggled. “He didn’t even get to hear how I’d teach him better than he could~”

“I. AM. A. FATHEERRRR!!!” Ace roared from the roof of the hospital, causing everyone to look up.

“Guess he recovered,” Amy giggled before nuzzling her son again. “I’m sorry, dear, you were born into a crazy family.”

“As are you,” Midnight giggled to her own. “Wait til you meet Grammy. She’s a hoot.”

Speaking of…

“Oh Maddy~” Scope hummed through her Hivemind to the Silver nymph. “You there?”

“I am a little busy negotiating with my sons as to how much time they are allowed to spend on the Ponyville side of the portal,” came the reply. “There is only so much damage the town can suffer.”

“Oh?” Scope whistled innocently. “Too busy to be informed as of twenty minutes ago, you became a grandmother?”

“WHAT?!” the Madame all but roared over the link. “You mean to tell me that I missed it?”

“...Oops?”

“I will be on the next train over,” she fumed. “And you all better have pictures!”

“Just take the portal to Ponyville, then the one in Twi’s bedroom to here,” Scope said and cut the connection. “PINKIE!!!”

“Yes?” the mare said, popping out of… somewhere.

“Camera. Now!” she said as the mare handed one over.

“In case of camera emergencies,” she giggled as Scope raced over, snapping pictures of the two mothers.

“I want to ask,” Ledger mused as he sat with Cider. “But at the same time, I know the only thing that lies down that road is madness.”

“I kinda, sorta forgot to tell your Mom,” Scope explained.

“Let’s just hope she’s in a mood to be merciful,” the drone sighed.

“Good luck with that,” Midnight giggled as the two mothers were wheeled away.

“So?” Cider spoke up. “Who wants to get a bite to eat while we wait for them?”

“You can go if you want,” Ledger said to the other two. “I’m staying right here.”

“Ah never said we had to go anywhere,” Cider chuckled as she led them, and carried Ledger, to the garden where she had a picnic spread set up. A little something she’d done while Twilight and Scope were seeing Midnight.

“Oh wow,” Ledger said. “Okay, this works too,” he admitted.

“See, now let’s eat. Ah brought enough fer everyone,” Cider said, sitting Amy’s parents down with them.

“So you did,” Rose agreed.

“Quite the spread too,” Restful admitted. “I think I can see why they love you.”

“Yup, all food forever is now spoiled for you,” Scope nodded. “Our Sweet Mare is special~”

Cider was just reduced to a stammering, blushing mess.

And so the family ate, talked and laughed. Today was a good day.

A few hours later, Scope was doing her best to hide. Maybe the Madame wouldn’t notice her next to this lamp…

“Miss Scope,” she heard from behind her. In a very chilling, final tone.

“YEEP!” Scope scrambled away and hid behind Ledger. “Help, the Windigoes have come for me!”

“Mother,” Ledger sighed. “Please don’t murder the second mare to be carrying a grandfoal of yours.”

“Of course I wouldn’t!” the Madame said. “That would require getting my hooves dirty!”

“But don’t y’all have that fancy magic?” Cider smirked as Scope shot her a glare.

“Still too close to it,” the Madame said. “I believe I did threaten her with all sorts of horrible pain if I didn’t get pictures, though-” She never finished as Scope teleported her inside Midnight’s room.

“That gives me enough time to get these developed,” she sighed and trotted off.

“Well, hello there,” the Madame said as she took stock of her new surroundings. “Is this the little bundle of joy here?”

Midnight blinked at her sudden arrival and then sighed, getting her racing heart under control. “Y-Yes. This is Star Song. Starry? This is your grandma.”

“Blame Scope,” the nymph said as she drew closer. “Hello little one~” she cooed.

The filly blinked inquisitively at her, and the Madame got a good look at her eyes…

“Oh my, aren’t you a special little hybrid,” the Madame chuckled. “As if having a foal wasn’t going to throw your lives into disarray already, you’re going to have one that’ll be unpredictable and loves learning things.”

“Yeah, she’s going to be a right terror,” Midnight mused. “Especially when combined with what you're probably feeling now?”

“She does seem to practically radiate love,” the Madame mused. “I assume you’re going to have to beat off the changeling suitors with a stick when she comes of age.”

“A really big, Ledger-shaped stick,” Midnight giggled. She soon stopped and looked down at Starry. “I can’t believe she’s real… that, this is a thing that actually happened.”

“I felt the same way when I had Ledger,” the Madame sighed. “I couldn’t believe that I had created a drone so utterly perfect...did you know, that for the first few minutes after he was born, he shared a similar coloring to your little filly’s?” she said. “Of course, the Silver in his eyes quickly became dominant.”

“Really?” Midnight smiled and then blushed lightly. “Well, that explains quite a bit.”

The tiny filly yawned cutely and drifted off to sleep and Midnight cuddled her.

“Yes, typically when a hybrid is born, you can tell in the first few minutes as to which color they’ll be, and what color will be the dominant one,” the Madame said. “To have struck such a perfect balance is unheard of. Congratulations, both on the filly and on breaking all the known rules.”

“I’m Midnight Song,” the mare said. “And when I do something, it’s awesome.” She stretched her wings and sighed. “I just… I hope I don’t screw this up. Being a Mom? I don’t know anything about it.”

“Little secret?” the nymph said. “Neither did I when I started.”

“But you’re…” Midnight tried to find the right words. “Nothing scares you.”

“I was very much in your position so many years ago,” the mare said before giving the pair of them a nuzzle. “It was only with Wishful’s wise words that I learned how not to panic.” She looked down at the little filly and smiled. “He told me that he would be there for me, to help me realize when I was screwing up and correct me when I was. That as long as I could still sense that my foal loved me, that I couldn’t possibly be doing too badly.” She then softly kissed Midnight on the forehead. “I know you don’t have our senses, dear, but you do have two who do. And I’m pretty sure there are other ways to tell if your filly loves you.”

“Mhmm,” Midnight said softly as she looked down at her perfect little filly. “I can’t promise that I’ll be the best Mom ever. But I can promise that I’ll try. Harder than I have at anything.”

“And as long as you do that,” the Madame said, “Then I have faith you will succeed. Now, can I hold her for a short while?”

“Sure,” Midnight said and held her up slightly. “Careful.”

“Of course,” the mare said, gently taking the little filly and smiling at her. “Hello there little one,” she said softly. “I’m your grandmother.”

The filly just stared at her, before leaning forward and hugging her face. The Madame giggled and looked at the filly with slightly crossed eyes as she continued to support the small form. “Looks like we’ve got a hugger,” she said.

“Seems that way, Creator help us when Joyful meets her,” Midnight smiled.

“That is something that would be wonderful to watch. From a distance,” the Madame agreed as she tried to gently ease the small filly off her face.

“I'm glad you like her,” Midnight said softly. “I was… worried that you-”

“You helped heal my son,” the Madame said as she finally got the little one to let go. “I would never hate you or her. Though, fair warning, I will spoil her rotten if you give me half a chance.”

“S’what Grandma's are for,” Midnight smiled and wiped her eyes. “Heh… must be dusty in here or something.”

“Here,” the silver nymph said as she started to hoof over the filly back to Midnight. The thestral took her as the filly scrunched up her face…

Then the pair discovered that the filly shared her mother's vocal skills as her wail was so high pitched, a nearby glass of water shattered under the assault.

“Goodness,” the Madame said. “Quite the vocal range on the filly.”

“Shhh, there there,” Midnight hummed and rocked her gently. “Yeah, you're a little tired huh.” She closed her eyes and started to hum a lullaby, one that soon caused the filly to cease her screeching and yawn.

“To be fair, she was just born,” the Madame chuckled. “I’ll leave you to it then.”

“Thanks, and… sorry no one told you sooner,” Midnight whispered. “Scopey has pictures.”

“Some of which I might very well take, but it’s not your fault, dear,” the nymph said. “You can hardly choose when they’ll be born.”

“True enough,” Midnight smiled and closed her eyes. The mother and baby had fallen asleep before the nymph even left the room. She was as quiet and gentle as she could be as she left them, before sighing and smiling. It was still a lot to take in.

Maybe some pictures would help. Speaking of, where was that nymph?...

Night was beginning to fall as the hospital announced the closing of its visitors hours.

“Well now what?” Scope asked, glad that those pictures had gotten the Silver off of her back.

“Now we take Middy home,” Ledger said. “Once the hospital releases her, anyways.”

Cider returned, having trotted off a while ago.

“Ah spoke with the nurses,” she informed them. “They said both the Momma and the foal are as healthy as a horse, but they still wanna keep ‘em here overnight. And since this is Middy’s first foal, there's a few things they wanna teach ‘em.”

“So, first thing tomorrow, we come back to take her home,” Ledger said. “Well, once we’re allowed to invade anyways.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at his choice of words.

“Twilight, we may have to use your large, empty palace for sleeping,” Ledger said. “It’s the only place with the rooms to house a foal.”

“Whut?” Cider blinked and looked at him. “You wanna leave a foal, the combination of you.. and Midnight. In Ponyville?”

“I’m saying we would sleep with Midnight in Ponyville as well,” Ledger said. “Can you look me in the eye and say that the farm has the room for foals?”

“Well… not yet,” Cider said, feeling a little flat now that her joke went over his head. “Ah plan on renovatin’ soon. Jus’ waitin’ fer some of mah family to get some free time to lend a hoof.”

“Wise policy,” the drone agreed. “And I am aware that you were having a laugh, but I’m not worried about little Star running off and doing anything crazy just yet. I’ll wait until she learns how doors work and can open them herself first.”

“I give her about a week,” Scope chuckled. “Alright, let’s get going before the nurses try and throw us out.”

“Yes, let’s avoid that if we can,” Ledger agreed. “Home then.”

Twilight opened her eyes and nodded. “Okay, that’s sorted. Well, shall we go and get some dinner?”

“Sounds good, ah’ll whip us up something at home,” Cider smiled as the family headed off, the Madame, Moon and Grissom trailing after them.

“So,” Chrysalis smiled as she held Richard. “Still in the mood to murder us my love?”

“A little less,” Amy sighed. “I’ll have to wait a little before I can shift, but you’d better believe I’ve not forgotten everything I’ve promised you, Chryssy.”

The nymph looked at Ace. “Are you sure I cannot use a memory wipe spell on her?”

“Positive,” Ace nodded as he nuzzled Amy. “And I'm so proud of you my little dessert. Our son is perfect.”

“Thanks,” Amy said before giving him a kiss.

Chrysalis looked at Amy’s parents and nodded her head. “So. Are there no problems between us?”

“There might have been, if we’d met you before Amy did,” Restful said.

“However, she clearly saw something in you worth saving, as she usually does, and loves you as well, so it’s not really our place to try and stop her,” Rose finished. “We tried that once.”

“Once,” the drone said with a shudder.

“That sounds like an interesting story for another day,” Chrysalis chuckled and moved to nuzzle Richard. “And you. I can't wait to see how much Tartarus you raise~”

The small hippogriff-changeling hybrid peeped and returned the sentiment as well as he could...by clamping onto her with his beak.

“Um… ouch,” Chrysalis frowned. “That hurts you little-”

“Chryssy,” Amy said as she gently disentangled the little one from her wife. “Language.” She cradled her son next to her chest and gave him a small kiss.

“Fine,” Chrysalis pouted and rubbed her sore hoof. “So, can we take you home today?”

“Nope,” Amy said. “Doctors want me here overnight to observe. Just to make sure nothing crops up, you understand.”

“Fine,” Ace pouted, joining Chryssy in her moping.

“Aww, this’ll give you time to figure out where little Richard is staying,” Amy said. “Get all the foal stuff set up.”

“Do we even have the room?” Ace asked. “I don’t recall seeing a spare room…”

“Yeah, we’re gonna need to move to a new place,” the nymph pouted. “And I’d just gotten that one set up how I liked it.” Meaning all pink things everywhere. “Can you two look for one, please? I don’t wanna keep the little one in the same room as where we’ll be making his little brother or sister.”

“I'll see what I can do,” Ace said and made for the door. “Come Chryssy. I may need to intimidate somepony.”

“Oh goodie~” The mare clapped her hooves and chased after him, leaving Amy alone with her parents.

The nymph smiled at her parents, who came a little closer and looked at their grandson, before sighing. Amy instantly caught on to why they might be upset and vocalized her conclusion.

“You can’t stay, can you?”

“I’m very sorry, dear,” Rose said. “But we did leave most of our research and things up in the dragon lands. Give us five more months, and we can come home.”

“I’m sure the Violet Hive will be glad to have this book in their lexicon, finally,” Restful said. “And when we come back, we are going to spoil your son like you would not believe.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t join Ace in proclaiming to the world that you were a grandfather,” the pink nymph teased her husband.

“I nearly did,” he ruefully admitted.

“Mom, Dad, I love you,” Amy said. “Just be careful, okay? I don’t wanna lose either of you.”

“And you won’t,” they said before giving her a hug and saying farewell to Richard. The two of them stood close together near the door, and Rose’s horn lit up.

“See you in five months,” she said, before the pair of them vanished in a pink flash.

And like that, Amy was left all alone…

Well, for about a half hour, until a bat holding a little bundle crawled into the bed with her.

“Hey…” she whispered.

“Hiya,” Amy whispered back. “You’re stuck here too?”

“Mhmm… I couldn't sleep… not in here by myself…”

“It’s fine,” Amy said. “I don’t mind.”

Midnight smiled and leaned her head on her shoulder. She looked and Richard and pulled a face, making the little hybrid giggle. “Just as giggly as his Mom huh?”

“Mmhmm,” Amy nodded before shifting a little, so that the two foals could see one another.

They simply stared, blinking a few times before Richard reached forward and beeped Star’s nose, making the filly go cross eyed, which just made the hippogriff giggle again.

“Aww, that’s adorable~” Midnight cooed.

“They like each other already,” Amy agreed.

“Whelp, this city is doomed,” Midnight said and snuggled Starry. “You should have seen Ledger’s face when he saw her.”

“I’ll bet it was priceless,” Amy giggled. “She’s so cute~”

“I pretty sure his brain checked out, before she melted his heart.” Midnight smiled and put a hoof around Amy. “So… guess we're Mommies now huh?”

“Mmhmm,” the pink nymph agreed. “The road before us is long and fraught with peril, but I’m sure they’ll be well worth the trouble.”

“Well, look on the bright side. We’ll be sure to live long enough to be a pain in the ass to them when they're older.” Midnight chuckled and closed her eyes. “Can… we sleep here tonight?”

“I don’t mind, and I don’t think Richard does either,” Amy said as she gently made sure her son wasn’t going over to Midnight’s lap to mess with the new face he saw.

“Blah!” Star babbled and the moment Midnight put her next to Richard, the two drifted off to sleep together.

“My heart can't take this,” Midnight gasped. “Too much cuteness…”

“This is too sweet, and that’s coming from me,” Amy agreed.

“And before we know it, they'll be angsty rebellious teenagers,” Midnight sighed. “Well, whatever counts as rebellious for a Pink. Maybe he'll say he hates sugar or something.”

“He would never!” Amy gasped.

“I'm just teasing,” Midnight smiled and poked the nymphs nose. “Now let's get some sleep. I'm sure we're going to be busy tomorrow.”

“I can do that,” Amy said as she got comfortable. The two soon drifted off to sleep… tomorrow would be… interesting.

Meanwhile, half a city away. Fredrick was opening the door to his marefriend’s apartment. Only to be greeted with room that had all the lights off, save for a small glow coming from the kitchen.

And when he investigated…?

All he saw was an ornately decorated table, lit by soft candlelight and his mare in a stunning silk dress.

“Well this is a change of pace,” he mused. “Normally I would be the one making the dinner.”

“Yeah...well,” Narrow looked down. “ I felt like doing something special alright.”

“It certainly looks like it,” the griffon agreed with a chuckle. “Not that I’m complaining, mind you.”

“Good,” Narrow nodded. “Now… take a seat and dinner should be ready in just a moment.” She paused and looked at him. “And yes, I'm using actual food.”

“Really?” he said with a slight tone of shock. “You mean dinner isn’t going to be this delectable mare in front of me? Color me surprised.”

“Yes well…” Narrow blushed and just walked into the kitchen before she dug herself deeper. Fredrick chuckled as he seated himself at the table. At the very least, this would be entertaining. Hopefully it’d be tasty as well, though he would wait to see on that one.

He noticed a metal bucket with a rather pricey bottle of wine. Along with the decorations that he knew were new… Narrow had put quite a bit of effort and money into tonight.

Then she brought out his food. A garden salad for her, along with bread and dipping oils for the both of them.

And for him…

A Caesar salad, complete with shredded chicken and diced bacon.

“My word,” he praised her. “You went through a lot of work for this.” He tasted the salad and found it to be delicious. “A lot of work indeed.”

“Well, I wanted to give you something to remember… and preparing that bowl of murder wasn’t too stressful.” The expression on her face said she was just teasing though.

“My dear, every night with you is a night to remember,” he said. “You are quite the memorable mare.”

“Well, I had to be to tame you remember?” She smiled and took a nibble of her salad. “Fredrick. Do… Do you ever regret it? Giving up your ways just to be with me?”

“Never,” he replied. “I indulged in that life to find a mare that was worthwhile. And while all the mares I was with were interesting, they didn’t care a whit for what I wanted. Not really.”

“I see… that’s…” She shook her head and smiled, “Sorry for bringing it up.”

“It’s fine,” Fredrick said before he tucked into his salad, eating it with gusto now.

She watched him eat, it made her happy he liked her food. And yet, her heart was pounding so hard, she was amazed he could hear it. She reached for her fork, only to drop it with how much her hooves were shaking. “Damn…” She leant down to pick it up…

Only to find Fredrick already there, his talons laying across her hoof as they reached it at the same time. “Oh, forgive me,” he said before drawing back. “I heard you drop it and just wanted to help…”

“I-It’s fine,” she replied and sat up… only to bang her head on the table. “Ow! For fu-”

“Language,” Fredrick chided her before holding her head still and looking at the bump. “Yeah, that’s gonna swell up,” he said. “Let me go get an ice-pack.”

“I’m fine,” she sighed. “Dammit… I'm totally ruining this.”

“Nonsense, a few hiccups in a dinner plan is normal,” the griffon chided her. “I’ll be right back with that ice-pack.” With that, he was off to her freezer. She sat there with her head in her hooves.

“I can’t believe I'm bucking up something so simple. Come on Peach, get it together. What’s the worst that could happen, aside from him laughing in your face and leaving you forever…”

Okay, now she was panicking. Just as the griffon returned with an ice-pack and held it to her head. “There we are,” he said. “Just leave that there for a minute or two to help reduce the swelling.”

“Thanks…” Narrow groaned and held the pack there. “Well… this isn't going at all how I planned.”

“Things rarely do,” Fredrick chuckled before retaking his seat.

“Buck it…” she muttered. “Fredrick, you have a little something on your beak.”

“Oh?” he asked, looking cross-eyed at it. He reached for his napkin, which was folded into a little pyramid shape. And when he lifted it…

A little velvet box was laying underneath. He looked at it curiously, before carefully opening the small box. Inside lay a silver band, fit for one of his talons. The words ‘Love and Honour’ were inscribed in Griffic on the inside.

“This…” he breathed, before looking at Narrow. “Are you?”

“Fredrick,” Narrow said quietly. “Would… would you do me the honour of becoming, my husband?”

The griffon couldn’t think for a moment. He froze in contemplation as he considered the idea. He’d already become loyal to her, what was one more step? His old life was well and truly behind him.

The moment passed, and he stepped around to her side of the table, before giving her a deep and passionate kiss by way of reply.

He noticed her tears when he broke the kiss. “S-So, was that… a goodbye kiss… or…”

“That was me accepting your proposal, silly mare,” the griffon chuckled. “I truly did not expect you to ask me, but I am happy you did.”

Narrow was speechless. She just sat there and blushed as she processed his reply.

“Of course you realize, Midnight will be all sorts of smug about this,” the griffon sighed. “The price we’ll have to pay, I suppose.”

“I'm sure she be much too busy with her new foal to worry about us for a while,” Narrow smiled and then leapt at him, knocking the griffon over as she hugged him.

“I take it you’ve been planning this for a while?” he asked on his back while one of his talons stroked through her mane.

“Sorta,” Narrow said. There was no way she'd tell him that she'd been agonising over this for three months.

“And you doubted that I would respond positively?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“...Maybe a little?” she said.

“Those were tears,” the griffon teased.

“Were not, I got onion in my eyes,” she muttered and blushed harder.

“Mmhmm,” the griffon hummed. “So are we going to finish the dinner you so painstakingly made?”

Then she smiled. “I guess… you still have dessert to get to after all.”

“I like the sound of that,” he purred.

Once dinner was done, Narrow scampered off and closed her bedroom door, leaving the griffon to wonder what was going on.

Then he saw the glow…

“Oho,” he said to himself. “My mare is being all sorts of devious, is she?”

The door slowly opened and when Fredrick poked his curious beak inside…?

Three of his beloved Peach Blossoms, entwined with one another as they wore matching sets of very racy lingerie.

“Hello love,” one said.

“We're waiting for you,” another purred.

“Play with us?” the third licked her lips.

“One condition,” Fredrick said as he raised a talon up. “Dismiss the clones tonight. I just want to make nice, simple love to the mare I’ll be marrying.”

“Aww,” the clones pouted as Narrow cancelled them out. The griffon advanced on her and hugged her close, before giving her a light kiss on her lips.

She hummed and kissed him back, even as he felt her tears wet his cheek.

“Are you okay, love?” he asked as he drew back.

Narrow frowned and rubbed her eyes, before mumbling under her breath.

“I can’t help if you won’t talk to me,” the griffon said, merely holding her close now.

“I said I'm happy alright,” she replied louder. “Just… shut up… jerkbird.”

“So happy that you’re crying, apparently,” the griffon said before planting a light kiss on her forehead. She just blushed again.

“I thought you promised lovemaking, not picking on me,” she said.

“I can do that,” Fredrick said. “I very well can, but I just want to savor holding the mare I love close. Is that so wrong?”

“No,” she sighed and kissed his cheek. “Thanks for saying yes…”

“Why would I not?” he asked her before kissing her back.

“A variety of reasons I suppose, the first being that I’m a ballbuster of a mare…”

“Your tenacity is one of the reasons I love you,” he said. “You stuck it out when others would have given up.”

“I’m not exactly mare-like,” she said. “I can’t stand fancy dresses or makeup… well, save for my current attire,” she blushed.

“You’re mare enough where it counts,” Fredrick said. “And I love your sense of honor and duty. The very things that drove you to being a guard.”

“You’re making it quite difficult for me you know,” Narrow frowned. “I’m trying to pout here.”

“And you’re very adorable when you are,” the griffon said with a cheeky smile.

“S-Shut up,” she flushed brighter and hid her face with her hooves.

“You’re also beautiful, stunning, and an amazing mare, and that’s before you get into how you are in bed,” Fredrick said. The mare was now a blushing, squeaking mess. It was absolutely freaking adorable.

“Frankly,” the griffon said as he stroked her mane. “I should consider myself lucky that you asked me to marry you.”

Narrow took a breath to calm down. It… sorta worked. “How… how about we agree we’re both lucky and leave it at that.”

“I can agree to that,” Fredrick said before kissing her softly. She returned his kiss, humming into it before she broke it.

“You still haven’t told me if you like this outfit,” she said. “I bought it especially for you~”

“It’s a lovely outfit,” he murred. “I love how it leaves very little to the imagination~”

The lacy outfit hugged her form quite nicely as she spread herself out underneath him. “Well, why don’t you show me how much you like it~” she purred.

“Can’t I take a moment to admire it and the mare it’s on, first?” he said as his eyes greedily drank in her form.

“Hmm, I suppose I can indulge you for a bit,” she said as she gave him bedroom eyes, laying on her side and striking a very sexy pose. The griffon purred as he ran a talon over her form.

“Mmm, out of all the mares I have been with,” he said, “You are definitely the most alluring. Mainly because, as you have said, you are not normally. So it makes it all the more wonderful when you choose to be~”

“Guess I’ll just not do this often then,” she hummed and rolled over, showing her back to him as her tail swished idly.

“Your choice,” he said. “I’m perfectly willing to wait to consummate our new relationship.”

“Oh, so you’ll wait for however long it takes for us to get married before you tap this flank again huh?” Narrow smirked.

“If need be,” he said. “The question is, can you wait that long? You do seem to be all dolled up for a reason…”

“You know exactly why we’re here love,” she turned back to him. “Now, if you’re done admiring, why don’t you unwrap your gift~?”

“I very well might do that,” the griffon purred, before finding an edge of the lingerie and slowly peeling it down across her form. Narrow smiled as she turned to make it a little easier. She was going to take her time with him tonight.

It had been a few days now, and Midnight’s left eye had developed a twitch over the lack of sleep. Little Starry had been an angel… until she started crying at the worst times. The bat knew the baby couldn’t help it…

But she needed sleep dammit.

The group entered the castle and Midnight was looking forward to a nap…

“SURPRISE!!”

There was a high-pitched shriek and Ledger found that he had a thestral clutching him in a chitin-cracking hug.

Literally, his leg was starting to form hairline cracks…

“Middy,” he gasped, trying to pry her off. “You’re kinda hurting here…”

When she finally looked around, she saw the living room of the castle filled with ponies and a big banner that said ‘Congrats on the babies!’

“......What?”

“ItstotallyacelebrationforyoursuperadorablebabyandoneforAmyaswell!” Pinkie said and reached into the crowd, pulling out said Pink changeling, now in her no-longer familiar pegasus form.

“......What?” Midnight blinked again.

“It’s Pinkie, it’s a party, and you’re hurting my leg,” Ledger explained. “Please let go?”

Midnight gasped and let Ledger go, his leg now tingling painfully from the sudden blood loss.

“Party?” Midnight looked around. “For… me?”

“For us, for having the foals,” Ledger said as he examined his leg. Yeah, that would require a molt, probably.

“Oh? Ohhhh…” Midnight looked around and calmed down. “For crying out loud Pinkie… I nearly kicked your flank for that.”

“Heehee, oops,” the mare giggled, seemingly unfazed. “Well, since my tushy is unkicked, want some cake?”

“That’d help,” Ledger said. “Cake usually calms Middy down. Especially if it’s mango-flavored.”

“Well duh,” Pinkie rolled her eyes and produced a mango ice-cream cake. “What else would it be?”

Then the mare yelped when Midnight descended on the sweet treat, taking it and Pinkie’s hoof with a single bite.

“Little tip,” Ledger said. “Leggo.”

“Buff iff tafttee!” Midnight said before spitting out Pinkie’s hoof, minus one cake.

“Wowzies, and I thought I ate fast,” Pinkie whistled. “Well, now the bat has been tamed. We have snacks and drinks. Presents and aaaaaaall sorts of fun stuff!”

“Sounds good,” Ledger said. “Can we start with us just catching up on sleep first? Despite her name being Star Song, we’ve done very little sleeping during the night as of late.”

“Aawwww…” Pinkie’s mane deflated just a little. “Okie Doki Loki then. We’ll party hard, quietly,” she said and like that, the party was still going on, but everyone was whispering and even the music was quieter.

“Thank you,” Ledger sighed. “I’m gonna find a corner to nap in. Wake me up in like an hour and I should be good to go.”

At that comment, Midnight dragged him along and into one of the many unused rooms. It just had some spartan decorations, but she practically tossed him onto the bed before snuggling up next to him.

“Nap?” he said, already bedding down himself.

“Nap,” Midnight agreed and closed her eyes. “My baby is cute, but she is Tartarus spawn in an adorable disguise.”

“I’m sure she’ll figure out what a sleep schedule is soon enough and adhere to one,” Ledger sighed. “And just think, later, when she’s grown up and sleeps in, you can get revenge.”

“Once she’s old enough. Pre-dawn training for her!” Midnight declared. “Anyway. No words, sleep time.”

“Can do,” Ledger said as he closed his eyes. Midnight followed suit, and the couple drifted off to sleep.

And an hour later, Ledger heard something. And once his sleepy brain processed those words…

It was the Cutie Mark Crusaders… and his brothers…

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS FOALSITTERS! YAY!!”

“What have we told you about how often you’re allowed to hang out?” he grumbled as he was awoken without any coffee. Midnight groaned and rolled over, falling out of bed with a loud ‘thump’

And yet, the mare continued to sleep. For the last two weeks, she’d been training her flank off when not looking after Star. As such, she’d already lost a significant amount of her baby belly.

“Do any of you even know how to look after a foal?” Ledger asked as he made sure Midnight was alright.

It was then that his brothers noticed he was awake...

“Aw crap, Secret without coffee. Run for it!!” they screamed and bolted, dragging the Crusaders along with them.

“I’d better go check on Star, make sure they weren’t being serious,” he grumbled before ambling off through the hallways in search of his foal’s room.

He found her fairly quickly, the little lighthouse of love was never hard to find. He also found Twilight and Amy, along with Amy’s little one as well.

“Oh, hello Ledger,” Twilight greeted him with a kiss. “Have a good nap?”

“It helped, but I could do with some coffee,” Ledger said before returning the kiss. He then looked at Amy and Richard with a cocked eyebrow. “So, I see you’re enjoying the party then?”

“It got noisy, so I brought Richie up here for a little playdate.” She nuzzled the little hippogriff as the two foals tumbled with each other. “This is just so darned cute!!”

“I’m glad they get along,” Ledger said as he sat back. “It makes looking after them a lot easier.”

“Yup!” Amy nodded as she pulled out a camera and took a few quick snaps. “And I know Scopey’s will be bestest buddies with them as well.”

“Speaking of, she should be due soon herself shouldn’t she?” Twilight inquired.

“Probably,” Ledger agreed. “And then spring will roll around again.” He gave a shudder at that.

“Aww, don’t be like that,” Twilight cooed and rubbed his back. “You survived last spring after all.”

“By hiding, once I got away from you and Cider,” Ledger riposted. “I might very well do the same this year.”

“Silly Ledger,” the alicorn giggled and nuzzled him. “I put a Tracer spell on you a while ago. There’s no escape for you this time. I fully intend to try out aaalll my new toys.”

“You do realize that by telling me, you’ve told me how to escape you, yes?” Ledger said with a small smirk.

“That only makes the game more fun… love~” Twilight smirked back and kissed him again.

“You’d catch more changelings with love than with a trap,” Ledger posed to her.

“I only need to catch… one…” Her eyes widened a little as he felt a lightbulb moment. “Ohhh, I am so trying that~”

“I’m already worried,” he stated as he edged away from her.

“Aww, don’t be like that. When has Sexy Science ever let us down?” Twilight mused and licked her lips. “You know you're curious~”

“Only a little bit,” Ledger said. “It’s a lot more fun when I’m the one running the experiments.”

“Ledger doesn't like being the submissive one,” Twilight explained to Amy with a giggle. “Maybe you should've taken Sugar up on her offer. Moondancer says she really loves being dominated.”

“Yeaaaaaahno,” Ledger replied with a flat stare. “Not happening.”

Twilight just giggled again. Ledger made the most amusing faces whenever somepony teased him about that.

“Leeevvvyyyyy~” Midnight stumbled into the room and glared at him. “Wanna explain why I woke up on the floor?”

“The duo that is the CMC and the Trio yelled at us both by way of greeting us, and your only response was to roll over and play dead,” the drone replied.

“And so… you woke up… and left me there?” She said, stepping closer to him. “Instead of placing your loving wife and mother of your daughter back into a comfy bed. You leaver her on the cold crystal floor.”

“Four words they said made me drop everything to come here,” Ledger said. “Cutie Mark Crusader Foalsitters.”

“...Where’s Starry?”

“She’s fine, she’s playing with Richard…” Ledger turned to look. The filly was currently gumming up one of the hippogriffs hooves.

“Phew!” Midnight sighed. “Would not have liked to explain why I had to eat three little fillies.”

“Am I forgiven, then?” Ledger asked.

Midnight tapped her chin and smirked. “Hey Twilight? Come spring, let’s team up on him.”

It was then Ledger realised. Midnight wasn’t pregnant anymore. Like everypony else, she’d come into heat in the spring…

“...I’m going to have to change my name for an entire season, aren’t I?” Ledger deadpanned.

“Wow, you are so utterly screwed,” Amy chuckled. Midnight snickered and was about bring up one of her usual retorts…

“Literally and figuratively,” the drone agreed. “Mostly literally.”

Then the silence was shattered as the foals screamed, both Midnight and Amy sighing.

“Feeding time.” They echoed as they picked up their foals. Midnight was one that opted for natural feeding as she moved to a comfy chair in the corner of the room. Amy pulled a bottle out of a saddlebag before holding her foal up and giving him his food.

“This one gets a little greedy,” Midnight giggled and then looked at Ledger. “She must get it from her daddy~”

“In my defense,” Ledger said, before licking his lips in a suggestive manner. “You taste delicious.”

“Well, if you’re good, maybe you’ll get a treat later,” Midnight smiled back. “Twilight, can you take him away before he gets any ideas beforehoof?”

“Awww,” the drone pouted.

“Will do,” Twilight giggled and lifted him with her magic. “Why don’t we go find Scopey and you can bug her instead?”

“Oh har har,” the drone laughed. “I saw what you did there.”

“I’m too funny sometimes,” Twilight giggled and trotted off with her new Ledger-shaped balloon. Midnight just shook her head as they left and looked at Amy.

“See what I have to deal with?”

“They’re so incredibly silly, I don’t know how you manage,” the nymph agreed.

“With infinite patience and an insatiable libido,” Midnight nodded and looked down. “A word you won’t learn til much, much later. Or… until you walk in on one of your Mommies and Daddy… which is likely.”

“Considering the amount of mommies Ledger has to satisfy, I’m betting on the second option,” Amy giggled. “So Scopey is next. Who’s after her?”

“I think Cider maybe… but I know Ledger really wants to get Twilight pregnant.” Midnight giggled at that. He’d actually begged the alicorn a few weeks back. It was so cute~

“Y’know, I’m pretty sure Chryssy wanted to run a test on him...think we could borrow your stallion for about ten minutes?” Amy asked. “We’ll not do anything perverse, promise.”

“Sure, I guess so,” Midnight shrugged. “The perverse option is always open, as long as I get to watch… or help out~”

“Nah, it’ll be a snap,” Amy giggled. Then she did the one thing that was always a bit dangerous.

“Pinkie!” she called.

“You rang, oh fellow Pinkist?” the mare said, almost materialising next to Amy.

“Yup, if you could get Ledgy and Chryssy in a room together and tell her it’s time to run that test she’s always thought about, with his permission of course, that’d be swell.” The Pink was completely unaffected by her fellow pink mare appearing out of nowhere like that.

“Akay Amay!” Pinkie saluted and zoomed off.

“I worry about that mare sometimes,” Midnight replied as she held Star to her chest and rubbed her back for a few minutes, before the filly let out a loud belch.

“I don’t,” Amy giggled as she did something similar with her son, resulting him joining Star in letting out the tiniest of burps. “She’s just enthusiastic is all.”

“And pink,” Midnight giggled as she lay Starry down in her crib and kissed her forehead. “Good night little bug. Well, until you wake up in three hours for more food~”

Amy giggled as well as she took to the air slightly, holding her son close to her chest. “I gotta get back anyways,” she said. “I can only leave Acey alone for so long before he starts going stir-crazy.”

“Yeah, he tends to do that,” Midnight smiled. “Wait, didn’t you move recently? He and Chrys are home alone right? They could be… redecorating.”

“You mean, breaking in the place?” Amy giggled. “Not for long~”

“Well, best of luck then,” Midnight smiled and waved. “See you when I see you then.”

“Bye, take care, enjoy what’s left of the party...And enjoy Ledgy’s new look~” And with that, the Pink was gone.

Midnight smiled, then that smile faltered. “...New look?”

Chapter 105 - Much Aflutter about nothing

“Oh Ledger~” Chrysalis stalked closer towards the drone. She had been upset that her private time with Ace had been interrupted. But this was shaping up to be just as fun. “Be a sweet little dear and stand still~”

“Not until you tell me why,” he retorted as he held up a shield bubble around himself, not trusting the mare one inch.

“Aw, it’s just a little experiment,” she hummed. “New magic. For science. Something only one other changeling in all of existence has done.”

“Now you have my interest,” the drone said. “Explain, what will you be doing, and why does it require me?”

“Well you see,” Chrysalis purred. “It turns out. That I have the ability to turn Changelings into Flutterponies. Guess what I’ll be doing now?”

“Is it reversible?” the drone asked. “I’d rather not commit to this sort of experiment beforehoof without knowing all the variables…”

“...Probably yes. I don’t know yet, as I have never tested it.”

“Eeeesh,” Ledger muttered. “Well, at least tell me about the perks of being one then. That might help me make up my mind.”

“For one, you won’t need emotive energy to survive, you produce it instead. Your magic is dependant on natural reserves and you won’t have holes in your legs.”

“Hmm...that could make sustaining Scope’s form a lot easier on me,” the drone mused. “Plus she’d be a lot more fed if she didn’t have to compete with me for the emotional energy in the house…”

“On the other hoof, you may lose your ability to shapeshift,” Chrysalis said. “I can do it as I’m a Flutterpony Queen. But… you may wind up being a regular Flutterpony. You may even lose the ability to cast magic entirely.”

“Hey now, those are some pretty serious drawbacks,” Ledger said. “Hmm...however, I am the first nephew of the Silver King, so I’m pretty close to the throne there. If it’s dependant on how noble you are, then I stand a decent shot of coming through it with a few things intact. And it’s not like I was using my shapeshifting much these days. As long as I come through with my magic, I’ll be happy enough.” He nodded a few times. “Okay, fine. We’ll try it, and if we don’t like it, you’ll try to undo it.”

“Well then. Okay…” Chrysalis closed her eyes as her horn shone with an ethereal light. “Now… how did this go again?”

And with that uncertainty placed in his mind, a cocoon of magic begun to wrap around Ledger.

“I’m suddenly not very sure about this,” he spoke up.

“Too late,” Chrysalis grunted as the cocoon glowed ever brighter and Ledger felt his body tingle all over. It was like when he shifted, only… way more intense.

“That’s a little tingly,” the drone said aloud.

Then that tingling turned a little painful as the light intensified. And like a rope being cut, he could no longer sense emotions and his connection to his magic was severed.

“That’s a little concerning,” he said aloud. “If I can’t use magic, how am I supposed to help Scope?”

“Give… it… a minute,” Chrysalis grunted as she finished the spell. As it cut off, Ledger was unceremoniously dumped to the floor.

“Odd,” Chrysalis said as she looked around. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Expecting...what?” Ledger asked as he put a hoof under himself to start picking himself up.

“When you transformed, all your stored magic fled your body. To…” She scanned his form and frowned. “You’re linked with someone?”

“Scope’s pregnant,” Ledger said bluntly. “And maintaining the form she’s currently in takes power, power I could easily and store access thanks to the plethora of mares that love me. I would gladly share all my magic with her if I could, just to keep her stable.”

“Well, you shared alright, any love energy you had was just shunted to her,” Chrysalis said.

“Good, and hopefully she’ll not panic too badly once she feels that,” Ledger said as he looked his new form over. His coat was silver, almost metallic. He still had a dark brownish-black mane and tail, and upon inspection, he could feel something protruding from his…

He… he had antenna.

“Well that’s...a new sensation,” he said, trying to look up at them. Chrysalis brought a mirror over and he looked at himself. Yep, two antenna protruded from his forehead, just above his eyebrows. His eyes were now a rich gold colour and it was then he noticed something.

There was an… aura around Chrysalis. Sort of an aqua-green colour.

“Well that’s interesting,” he said. “I can’t feel emotions around me anymore, but there’s this...aura around you, similar to our emotion-sensing one…Out of curiosity, what are you feeling right now? I’d like to know so that I know what bluish-green relates to.”

“Creative content I guess,” Chrysalis shrugged. “So you have Emotive Sight as well? Interesting, it must be a Flutterpony thing, regardless of gender or type.”

“It would make sense,” Ledger said. “Well this is not altogether unpleasant just yet...Hmm.” He tried to reach for his magic, only to find nothing there. “I suppose I’ll have to get used to my magic all over again, huh?”

“It may take a while for your magic to get used to your new body,” Chrysalis explained.

“Still, I think I could get used to this,” he mused. “It’s certainly interesting. And not altogether unpleasant.”

At that moment, Scope shuffled in, wondering why she’d gotten a huge spike of energy when she saw Ledger…

And…

His mother was also visiting, looking for her wayward sons.

“Hoboy,” the new Flutterpony said. “This is gonna be...interesting…”

“Chrysalis?” Scope asked slowly. “Where is Secret-Hoarder?”

“Right here,” Chrysalis said without any remorse. “I turned him into a Flutterpony.”

“Ledger?” the Madame asked. “You let her do this to you?”

“It’s not all bad so far,” Ledger said with a shrug. “For one, that insatiable need to feed is finally gone. It’ll take me some time to get used to magic again in a new body, but I’m still willing to call this good so far.”

“A thought occurs,” Scope said. “What happens when Midnight finds out?”

“She’ll either accept it, or mock me relentlessly,” Ledger sighed.

“And you’re sure this is what you want?” the Madame asked her son.

“Yeah. I mean, it’s nice so far. The only downside is that it’ll take me time to use my magic to fill out my paperwork again, and...Chrysalis, I’m not noticing any wings…”

“Hmm…” Chrysalis stared at him. “Well, either they’ll come in with your magic… or you don’t get any at all.”

“Isn’t there like, some sort of reflex you can trigger to test it?” Ledger asked.

“Well…” Chrysalis nodded. “We could try and shock your body into producing some.”

“That’d work for me,” he said. “How?”

Chrysalis flashed her horn…

And Ledger saw clouds and a clear blue sky.

A sky he was currently falling hundreds of meters through.

“AAAAAAAH!” he screamed as he did his best to call on his old wings, trying his best to not go splat.

Chrysalis stepped outside and looked up. “Wanna take bets to see if he flies or not?”

“I rather hope you aren’t planning on letting my son hit the ground just for the sake of your experiment,” the Madame said with only a hint of frost to her voice.

“What, no... “ Chrysalis trailed off as she watched. He was starting to get a little close now, and the mare sighed before teleporting him safely to the ground. “Well that didn’t work.”

“Thanks...for the vote of confidence,” Ledger snarked as only now something seemed to flutter on his back. “It’s not like I just got this body or anything.”

“You lived didn’t you?” Chrysalis waved a hoof. “Quit crying about it.”

“Oh sure, let’s just gloss over the fact that I nearly died while trying to access something I may not even have,” Ledger growled as the things came into focus. A pair of wings similar to Chrysalis’ own, fluttering angrily.

“Oh buck up, you got them didn’t you. Don’t worry about the journey, only the destination.” She turned and looked at the Madame. “Maybe I could do you as well…”

As Ledger blinked before turning to look at what she was talking about, the Madame shook her head. “I rather like my position as it stands, dear. Though, I might be able to push through the idea of adding a chair to the council’s room…”

“You want me? On the Changeling council…?” Chrysalis stared for a time, before the corners of her mouth twitched and she started laughing.

“It’s hardly a laughing matter,” the Madame said. “If you are related to us, then you deserve your own seat at that table. It would just be a matter of getting your own following of...flutterponies, you call yourselves? And I rather doubt they’d come in Hives as well...face it, you’re the face of this development.”

Chrysalis only laughed harder, and somewhere amongst the gut-busting giggles, she said that Celestia offered her the same thing.

“I’m being sincere,” the silver ‘ling said. “We can hardly say we have someone like you at that table as it is.”

“Tell me,” Chrysalis gasped, finally calming down. “Give me just one good reason why I should. The majority of the Hives still want me dead for my little invasion. And to tell you the truth dear Silver. Grandfather aside, I hate almost every Noble there is.”

“At least you’re honest about it,” the Madame smiled. “And I can promise you right now that unless you have any designs on the Lands as a whole, that I will not act against you. Plus, who would recognise you now? You could introduce yourself as whoever you wanted to, disguise your voice if you’d like. You don’t even need to give me an answer right now, just think about it.”

“Well… I promise not to promise anything,” Chrysalis replied. “I’m suddenly quite tired. Ledger, if you want to change back, you know where to find me.” And with a magical crack, the mare teleported away.

“Aww, looks like you upset her,” Scope giggled and winced as the baby kicked her.

“I was being quite honest with her,” the Madame said. “If she gathers a large enough following of Flutterponies, then the Council will all but demand she take a seat so that they can talk to her.”

“Still, she’s like a battery for us now. What’s to stop some… adventurous changeling from taking her and any more flutterponies she might make to… well I’m sure you can figure the rest out.”

“I’m sure we could work out a way to make sure that didn’t happen,” the Madame said. “Though perhaps you’re right, and we should have her first few attendances by correspondence instead?”

“Well, again, that’s up to her. But I wouldn’t be holding your breath for it,” Scope said as she winced again. “Ahh! You little… that hurts.”

“The baby’s putting up a fight?” Ledger asked as he finally stopped his self-inspection and walked over to her. “Oh, I meant to ask. You okay from me shifting bodies like this?”

“The energy surge hurt like hell,” she said and then smacked him across the back of the head. “Thanks for consulting me first.”

The newest Flutterpony rubbed the back of his head before chuckling. “Yeah, but look on the bright side,” he said, before fluttering his wings a little. “Now you’re going to be very well fed in the house.”

“...Joy,” Scope asked. “Well, for your sake, I hope Midnight and Cider… and Twi- scratch that. I just hope they are as forgiving when you upped and changed species without consulting them first.”

“A fair point,” the former drone said with a nod. “Well, no time like the present. Middy should still be around, and Twi might be here as well. Time to face the music I suppose.”

“Good luck, try not to die,” Scope waved before the baby kicked again. “Oh come on!!”

The new Flutterpony walked through the crystal castle in search of his wives. He didn’t have his old emotion sense to fall back on anymore.

There was, however, a big beacon of violet light right next to a smaller beacon of pink light. Knowing of only one mare who it could possibly be, he did his best to follow his eyes to where he saw these lights coming from.

And when he opened the door…

Dear gods, it was like the Violet Hive all over again. The entire castle was permeated with it. He did his best to shield his eyes while turning away, but to no effect. Midnight was just too powerful.

“Huh? Who are you?” The thestral peered at him as she stepped between him and Starry. The violet light suddenly took a reddish hue.

“Hey Middy,” Ledger said by way of introduction. “Chrysalis gave me a makeover.”

“L-Ledger?” Midnight took a step back, the violet shifting to a yellowish tone of confusion. “Is this… some new form you’ve made?”

“No,” he said with a shake of his head. “Chrysalis turned me into a Flutterpony like her.”

“She…” That yellow tone… suddenly turned a deep ebony. “SHE WHAT!?” Well, now he knew what she looked like when somepony was about to die… brutally.

“WAIT!” he said, holding up a hoof. “It wasn’t all her. Do you think I couldn’t have teleported away if I didn’t want to?”

“But…” The aura died down to a deep purpley red. “Why? Why would you just up and… and not be the stallion I married!?”

“Do you really think I stopped being me, just because I changed species?” Ledger asked with a raised eyebrow. “Or was your attraction purely for my body?”

“W-Well… I liked your shiny shell,” Midnight replied. “But… I just…” She sat down very suddenly.

“...I can tell you’re conflicted,” Ledger sighed as he sat down as well. “Take all the time you need.”

Twilight stepped into the room as Midnight tried to get her scrambled thoughts in order. “Ledger?” the alicorn blinked. “Did Chrys actually…?”

“Yup,” Ledger said as he waved Twilight over. “You’re looking at the first male Flutterpony.”

He saw the gleam in her eyes. And her book and quills she just summoned to her side…

“Down mare,” Ledger chuckled. “Not everypony is as eager about my changes as you are.” He indicated Midnight for emphasis.

“He’s not my cuddlebug anymore…” Midnight sniffed. “He’s too fabulous to cuddle now…”

“Aww, we can still cuddle,” Ledger said, before turning to Twilight. “Quick, cuddle me!”

“Seriously?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. She gave him a brief hug, but Midnight didn’t seem all that amused. She reached into the crib to hug Starry instead.

“Your body, your decision I guess,” she replied flatly.

Ledger sighed and did his best to access his old shapeshifting magic so that he could try and take his old form for her. But his magic hadn’t reconnected yet.

“I’ll get used to it, I guess,” Midnight said. “Just another one of your forms I suppose…” Then a thought occured. She placed Starry back in the cot as the room exploded with a violet hue. “I guess I’ll just have to test the limitations of this body~”

“Ack!” Ledger said as he shielded his eyes. “Y’know how I joked before that you were a star of lust? Every time you get a lusty idea, I can see it now. The whole room turns Violet.”

“You can see emotion?” Twilight gasped as she wrote that down. “Middy, hold him down. I have a few experiments to run.”

“I have a few myself,” the bat grinned, stepping forward. Ledger took a step back, instinctively going through the motions of a teleport, trying his best to get away from the mares…

The mares leapt at him, only to crash into one another as he vanished.

“Cheater!” Midnight yelled out. She was going to really let him have it later…

When Ledger re-appeared, his location uncontrolled due to his hasty teleport…

He was in the lap of one Miss Rarity.

“Well now,” she said, blushing slightly. “Handsome stallions falling from the sky? It appears that this is my lucky day.”

Whyyyy was the first thing to pop into his head the scenario Midnight played with a while back? The one with Twilight’s friends watching as he screwed the alicorn silly…

“Sorry,” Ledger said as he got up. “Uncontrolled teleport, you know how it is. Only just managed it before a worse fate befell me.”

Oh it could get so much worse. Twilight teleported in with Midnight as they witnessed Ledger getting up from straddling Rarity.

“Now…” Twilight started. “I’m not going to jump to conclusions here… but if you’ve done what I think you’ve done. We’re going to need a new Element of Generosity.”

Rarity sat very, very still. Alicorns tracked by movement…

“That’s hardly very friendly of you, to assume that your friend and your husband would do something like that in the two seconds that one had once he left your sight,” Ledger pointed out.

“It was a joke,” Twilight said. “Or are you acting on Middy’s suggestion?”

The thestral’s eyes gleamed. “Hey Rarity, you and the girls wanna come for a sleepover this weekend. I promise it will be...enlightening~”

“Middy,” Ledger sighed. “Ignore her, Rarity, she’s just being herself.”

“Of course, though I am curious as to the context of this conversation,” the mare chuckled. “And that strapping form of yours. It is simply divine~”

“A gift from Chrysalis,” Ledger said with a dip of his head. “We’re testing the limits of it right now as a matter of fact.”

Rarity nodded and her eyes widened. “Iiideeaaa~” Her body erupted with emerald creativity and silvery inspiration as she raced around her sewing room… Ledger had somehow teleported here of all places. “Stand back. I’m about to get fabulous!”

Ledger wisely did so, his antenna glowing all the while in case he needed to teleport again. It worked the first time…

“I am in the zone… do come back later alright?” and with that, Rarity had pushed them out of her store. Twilight and Midnight blinked before turning to Ledger.

“Now… where were we?” Midnight purred and licked her lips.

“Elsewhere,” the former drone said, before vanishing with another crack of magic. Midnight and Twilight frowned as the alicorn prepared a tracing spell…

Only to find it pointing distinctly upwards.

“Oh dear,” Twilight frowned. “Let’s go Middy.”

When Ledger opened his eyes.

He was graced with a scene that was burned into his memory.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

Entwined.

And they hadn’t noticed his arrival…

Well, the Flutterpony thought to himself. This is certainly a thing. I...should probably go before they notice me. Judging by the violet pervading the room and all... With another soft glow of his antenna, the former changeling vanished again…

Just as Twilight teleported in. “Sorry Dash, I was wondering if— HOLY CELESTIA!”

Well, Twilight appeared to be off of his tail for a while. And he’d poured quite a bit of magic into this teleport to put some distance between him and his crazy mares.

That was when he noticed a pair of chitinous hooves wrapped around his form.

“Well now,” Sugar Darling purred into his ear as she hugged him tighter. “You came to me after all. Better late than never I suppose~”

“Nope!” Ledger said as he did his best to break free with both magic and hooves. “Nope nope nope! I told you no months ago, I’m telling you no now!”

“And yet, here you are,” Sugar said as she nibbled his ear. His magic had burned out from the long-distance teleport, and the Noble nymph was bigger than him right now. “Ever heard the saying, don’t knock it til you try it~?”

“I am not interested!” Ledger all but screamed at her. “I have enough crazy mare problems as it is! I don’t need yours added onto them!”

“Ledger. Calm down.” Sugar said and tapped his nose with a hoof. “If you actually looked, you’d notice I’m only messing with you. And yes, I have spent a good deal of time with Chrysalis so I know what Flutterponies are capable of. Besides, I wanted you to have a foal, but Moondancer filled that role better than you probably ever could.”

“I would take offense to that, but I’m more relieved that you’re not being serious,” the stallion sighed. “My magic’s spent from teleporting here. I need to walk back to the farm, get Cider’s view on my new body.”

“Ooh, can I come?” the nymph asked. “I don’t have a Flutterpony section in my book yet~”

The stallion’s deadpan stare was the only response she got.

“Oh come on! I am not going to stop being me, just because you don’t want to learn a few things about your Violet heritage. Besides… Chrysalis already told me no.”

“Then ask one of your own to volunteer for the process,” Ledger said. “I’m sure you can learn all about it then.”

“...” Her face broke into a wide smile as she tapped her hoof and a violet nymph appeared in her doorway.

“Get ready dear,” Sugar purred as she dropped Ledger. “We’re going to pay a little visit to Chrysalis and you’re getting a delicious make-over.”

“Thank you for finally letting me go,” Ledger sighed as he started to leave.

“Relax, a little hug isn’t going to kill you,” she said. “Your antenna are adorable by the way.”

“Thanks,” the Flutterpony snarked as he finally made his way to the door and started to leave Sugar’s abode.

“He’ll lighten up… one day,” Sugar chuckled. “Ledger, I suggest a shorter stick. You won’t walk as funny then.”

“Har de har har,” the stallion laughed. “I’ve already learned that not all of my mares are happy with my decision, so forgive me if I’m no mood to play your games.” With that, he was gone.

“Oh dear, I may have pushed him a little far that time.” Sugar pondered on just how she’d make it up to him…

When Ledger reached the farm, he saw no sight of Cider. But he did see Bludgeon bucking a few trees. The large stallion still slightly unnerved him, but he’d make do. He decided to make his way into the farmhouse. Maybe Cider was in there. And if not, he could wait for her here.

And that was when he heard a loud ‘BANG’ and he saw a metal container blast through the roof of her distillery, landing a few hundred meters away.

On the bright side, now he knew where she was.

On the other hoof, she might need him now. He hurried to her distillery, in case she was injured.

When he got there, he opened the door to see an apple-scented foam covering everything as his mare lay on the floor nearby, in front of the equipment that had clearly detonated.

“Cider!” he said, rushing to her. “Are you okay?”

She didn’t appear to have any serious injuries, though a few jagged pieces of metal embedded in the wall showed how close she came.

“But Momma,” she moaned. “It was Fritter that ate all the cookies…”

“Okay, Cider, if you can answer how many hooves I’m holding up, I won’t take you to the hospital,” Ledger said as he held up one hoof in front of her face.

“Ooh fairy pony~” she giggled and waved at him before blinking and shaking her head. “Wait… whut? Whut in the hay happened?”

“Your still exploded,” the stallion said. “What in the world were you doing to make it do that?”

Cider groaned as she sat up. “Ah was…” she rubbed her head. “Trying to make a new cider, but… ah was dumb, fergot to release the pressure valve.” She sighed and looked at her destroyed equipment. “Ah can’t afford to replace all of this…”

“Consider it done already,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “I can spare the bits, barely. But if it means helping you do what you love, I’d gladly part with them.”

“This is mah own stupid fault…” she sighed and saw the metal in the wall as her eyes widened. “Ah… ah almost…” She wobbled on her hooves. Ledger was there to support her, nuzzling her slightly.

“Maybe you should do what I do before you start brewing again, and double, maybe even triple check that all the things that you need to do are done?” he asked. “I’d rather you not blow yourself up again.”

“Yeah…” She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “Nice form, ah take it that Chrys finally got her hooves on ya?”

“Yeah,” the stallion said. “It’s interesting, to be honest, and not entirely unpleasant. What do you think of it?”

“It’s not bad ah guess. It’s not whut ah married… but it’s still you. Jus’ take some gettin’ used to is all.”

“Thank you,” Ledger said before kissing her. “At least you aren’t going crazy over the new body.”

“Ah’m the normal one remember?” she giggled. “S’why you married me ah think. Balance out the crazy.”

“Look where that got me,” Ledger said before kissing her again. “Three crazy mares, two foals, and I even changed species. Next thing you know, one of them will find me again…”

They waited, but nopony showed up.

Weird.

“So… y’all like that forever now?” she asked as he helped her back to the house.

“Dunno, but I like the form. I mean, like this, I’m a battery to Scope and other ‘lings. They can draw power from me and I don’t get drained from it. Help sustain her Noble body for...well, ever, in theory.”

“Have ya asked her if she wants that?” Cider asked him as she sat down on the couch. “Cause, it sounds an awful lot like y’all are doin’ this jus’ fer her.”

“And the foal, and we don’t even know if Star will need to draw emotional energy to live off of,” Ledger pointed out. “Probably not, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared. Plus...well, when you’re a ‘ling, there’s this gnawing, insatiable hunger for emotional energy that just doesn’t go away. You just learn to live with it.” He sighed blissfully. “This is the first time in ever I felt like what I imagine it is to be a normal pony. No constant need to drain somepony for your own ends.”

“Ah guess,” Cider said and put a hoof on his leg. “Look sugarcube. If y’all wanna stay like that, then that’s yer decision t’make. Just… try and see our point of view as well. What if Middy turned around an’ suddenly became an Earth Pony?”

“I...yeah, I see your point,” Ledger sighed. “Two things I want to point out, though. We don’t know that the change is reversible yet. And even if it was, I’m not sure I’d go back. This just feels like...like a piece of myself that I didn’t even know was missing has been returned to me. Oh! Idea! What if I can get a Cutie Mark now? A real one?”

A cold chill swept down his spine, as three little fillies in Ponyville suddenly felt like they had a new mission in life.

“Well, ah’m not sure what a snarking Cutie Mark would look like,” Cider giggled.

“Still, this feels so much better,” he sighed. “Imagine if you couldn’t grow a thing, and then one tree grew out of all of your attempts. You’d do everything you could to make sure you learned why that one tree grew, and do your best to replicate that result. And you’d feel so good about growing more and more…”

“Ah… think ah get whut you mean?” Cider scratched her head. Maybe she was still concussed. “Look, if yall wanna stay like that, then we’ll jus’ have to adapt ah guess. One small thing though…”

“What is it?” the stallion asked.

“Didn’t you an’ Twi have a plan fer her foal? Sumthin’ that involved an alicorn transformation?”

“I’m pretty sure I can still use magic,” Ledger said. “As I teleported around. It might just be a matter of learning how to transform again.” Experimentally, he tried once more to assume his old form of a changeling.

There was an odd sound, as his body shifted to change into that form. Okay, polymorph spells… kinda hurt. He could feel his bones and skin shifting and changing. It felt really friggen weird. Still, at least the nerve endings also shifted around, so most of the feeling was deadened. It might be agonizing otherwise. “Okay,” he said. “That...was odd.”

“That… looked odd,” Cider gulped. “Never ever do that in front of anypony. Scope would have given birth jus’ watchin’ that.”

“Well then, look away, because I’m not holding this,” Ledger said.

Cider did just that as he reverted back to normal. Note to self, learn proper polymorph magic from Twilight.

“Well,” Cider sighed as she twitched every time she heard his bones pop back into place. “Like ah said, if y’all wanna keep that form, that’s fine. But… don’t expect us all t’get used to it right away.”

“Of course not,” the stallion agreed once he was done. “This is a big change, and expecting you all to just go with it would be silly. Though, Twi at least was all but tripping over herself trying to get up close and personal with my new body.”

“Oh?” Cider licked her lips. “Won’t she be upset when she finds out she gets the sloppy seconds then~”

“Uhoh,” Ledger said.

“Mm? You don't want to have a little fun with your sweet mare?” she cooed as she stood up. “And it's been so long…”

“I sorta ran away from Middy trying to do the same thing,” Ledger said as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Ooh, she’s not gonna take that well,” Cider mused. She was holding a book, and Ledger recognized it as the one that powered their portal.

“So you want me all to yourself, eh?” he questioned.

“Whatever gave ya that idea?” Cider chuckled as she turned and straddled him on the couch. “Now, let's see what this cute little body of yours can do~”

Midnight and Twilight arrived sometime later, having come a long way around since Cider forgot to reactivate the portal. Chrysalis was also with them, wanting to see the results of her spell…

What they didn’t expect was Ledger lying on the couch with a bloated stomach, groaning as Cider lay his head in her lap, rubbing his head.

“Ah can’t believe ya ate all of it. Who do y’all think ya are? Twilight?”

“But it was so tasty,” the flutterpony moaned. “I couldn’t leave it.”

“Oh Ledger~” he heard Midnight call out from the doorway. “I found you~”

“Oh buck,” the stallion said as he sighed, not being able to move from his spot. Midnight walked over to him, pausing as she sniffed the air and then looked at Cider.

“Et tu, Apple bride of mine?”

“Ya jus’ gotta know which buttons ta press,” she giggled and bat her eyes. “You mad Middy~?”

“Nah, kudos for breaking him in,” the thestral smiled as she placed Starry on the Flutterpony’s belly. “Look, it’s your silly daddy in a new suit~”

“Hey there silly filly,” the stallion said as he used one hoof to gently rub her head. “How’re you doing?”

“Bah!” She looked at him curiously, as he heard a gurgle come from her stomach…

“Uhoh,” he said. “Some silly filly is having tummy troubles?”

She gurgled again… before pitching forward slightly and Ledger was re-introduced to her breakfast… all over his coat.

Midnight and Chrysalis stifled their giggles and even Twilight covered her mouth with a wing.

“Grand,” Ledger sighed as he used his magic to hover the filly off of him and in front of Midnight. “I’ll go take another shower. Alone. I’d like to actually get clean this time.” Midnight just poked out her tongue as Cider wore a slight blush.

“Hah! You should have seen the time little Rick did that to Fredrick,” Chrysalis chortled. “I thought his feathers were going to stay pink after that.”

“And now I have to feed you again, don’t I?” Midnight sighed as she held Star. “Alright little filly. But if you puke on Mommy… oh my revenge will be told for ages to come.”

“Just wait until she starts drinking,” Ledger said as he ambled upstairs. “I’m sure you’ll come up with something by then.”

“Mommy Cider is gonna teach you all about holding yer liquor,” the apple mare said. “Unlike these lightweights.”

“Hey, I can hold my own,” Midnight retorted. “Twilight gets shippy when she’s drunk, and Ledger keeps wanting more wives.”

By this point, Ledger had all but vanished again, the sound of running water belaying where he’d gone. Twilight counted down from ten, then vanished with a magical ‘pop’. Ledger’s surprised yelp signalling where she’d gone.

“Damn it, I’m going to be the last one to test drive Ledger aren’t I?” Midnight sighed.

“That would depend on when that nymph of yours shows up,” Chrysalis said. “Also, you should probably fix that portal. I’m pretty sure you’d rather not take the long way back to your other home again.”

“Oh, right,” Cider grabbed the book from the table and headed upstairs. Midnight rolled her eyes as she moved to sit on the couch, before some unknown nymph burst into the room, causing Midnight to flick a nearby butterknife so hard, it embedded in the hardwood walls next to the changeling’s head.

“I...I…” the nymph stammered as she looked at the knife. Midnight gasped and hugged Starry closer.

“I’m sorry, you really startled me,” she apologised.

“I-It’s alright,” the blue nymph said quietly. “Mistress Scope told me to expect as much… I don’t get paid enough for this…”

“Tell me why I should care,” Chrysalis said with a roll of her eyes.

“Well...I…” the nymph trembled in Chrysalis’ presence. Rumours were floating around, some were… probably outlandish, like that she’d consumed pony souls to obtain her new form.

“Stop scaring her Chryssy,” Midnight poked her tongue out in cheek. She turned to the nymph and smiled. “So who are you cutie?”

Aw crap, and the changeling hunter was here as well? She was so bucked beyond bucked. She just started crying…

“We haven’t even done anything yet and she’s breaking down,” the flutterpony sighed. “And now you know what I don’t try to get out more. This happens.”

“Your reputation can be fearsome,” a second nymph appeared, a Yellow one this time. “And this one is young… and rather stupid.”

“Hey! It’s not my fault that I got stuck delivering a message to the Huntress and the Devourer of Souls!”

Chrysalis blinked. “Apparently I acquired a title without having done anything,” she said to Midnight. “Is that normal?”

“In this city? Yeah.” The thestral sighed and petted her child. “So, can we please get your names and your reason for being here?”

“Of course,” the Yellow nodded. “I am Gilded-Coin-” She jerked her head towards the Blue. “-And this moron is Blue-Ren. We’re here to pass along the message that Mistress Scope Lens is in Ponyville General Hospital, as her water broke not a hour ago…”

“Well, you’re all boned,” the flutterpony cackled. “Enjoy doubling the foal population around here!”

Then something tore across Scope’s Hivemind link. One she’d attached Chrysalis to as well.

“I swear that Ledger will fear nymphs again once I’m through with him!!”

“Correction, he’s boned,” Chrysalis shuddered. “I’m not sure if you should go to her or wait for her to be done first. I guess it’d depend on if you liked living.”

“I’m going,” Midnight said, already heading upstairs. “Thanks for the message ladies.” She paused, before trotting over to them and giving them a chaste kiss on the lips, infusing a little love into them. “That should be a suitable tip. Later.”

Both nymphs just sat there as the thestral vanished, putting a hoof to their lips as they felt more energised than they had in weeks.

“And I have my own to help take care of,” Chrysalis said as she vanished with a crack of magic.

“I don’t know if I love this place, or should be terrified Ma’am,” Blue-Ren said slowly.

“I don’t know either…” Coin replied. “Let’s go to Sugar’s place and get a drink… and maybe a drone or three~”

By the time Ledger emerged from the bathroom, Twilight sighing happily as she was draped across his back, he was greeted with an empty house.

“What’d I miss?” he asked aloud.

Then he got a message through the Link.

“Ponyville. NOW!”

“Whelp,” the flutterpony said as he made sure the portal was working. “No idea what’s going on, but apparently I’m needed elsewhere. Hope you don’t mind making the trip, Twi.”

Twilight just sighed happily again and nuzzled his cheek. Ledger stepped through the portal before daring to question why he was doing so. “Okay, I’m here-”

“If you do not get to the hospital-” Scope gave a pained shout. “J-Just… get here! This kid isn’t waiting around for your slow ass!”

“Oh,” he said numbly. “Twi, we’re about to be parents again.”

“Yay?” she questioned, coming back down to Equestria.

“LEDGER!!”

“I’m on my way, I have a Twilight on my back!” he shot back.

Twilight’s horn flashed and Ledger had to skid to a stop as she teleported them right in front of the hospital. Rainbow spent enough time here to warrant her memorising it as a location.

The air displaced next to them as his mother and father arrived as well.

“Ah, hello,” the flutterpony said with a smile. “I take it you heard?”

“Very hard not to,” the Madame said. “She’s powerful in the ways of the Hive Link, that one.”

His father stared at the flutterpony, his eyes open is disbelief. “My son… is a fairy?”

“Soak it in,” Ledger said. “I believe we have a child to welcome into the world, though.”

“You were telling the truth?” he said to his wife as they followed Ledger and Twilight.

“I was,” the nymph said. “I have little reason to lie to you.”

“I think you have any reason to unsettles me,” he sighed. Still, if she ever withheld on him, he had ways to make her talk~

“Gah!” they rounded a corner to see Midnight tossed out on her butt by a white mare with a pink mane and tail.

“I said only authorised personnel,” Nurse Redheart snapped. “Now stay out here while we do our jobs.”

“Fiiiiine,” Midnight pouted as the door closed. She turned her head and saw the group heading towards her. “Oh, heya guys.”

“Hey Middy,” Ledger greeted her. “So how’s it going?”

“She’s already dilated and the baby’s on it’s way,” Midnight explained as she took a seat, nuzzling little Starry as she took her from Pinkie’s hooves. “It should be too long now actually.” She saw Wishful and smiled. “Oh hey! It’s Grandpa! Look Starry.”

The little filly smiled widely as she wiggled her hooves at him. The drone sighed at the sight.

“Remember when Ledger was that small?” he asked the Madame.

“Yes. He got into my library constantly.”

Midnight had brought Star over and put her in Wish’s hooves. “I think she likes you Pops.”

“Well I like her too,” the drone said as he tickled her with one hoof. The filly giggled and gummed his hoof as Midnight smiled.

“You know…” she moved up next to the Madame. “You’re still young, your house is down two kids already… and I doubt the Trio will stick around for much longer…”

“I’m perfectly happy with the amount of children I have, thank you,” she said with a shake of her head. “Maybe in the future, but not now. I’d prefer it if the Trio and Joyful weren’t around to give any future offspring any ideas.”

“Silly Silver-Mom, that’s my job~” Midnight giggled. “I’m the cool aunt that lets them do all the fun stuff.”

“Of course you are,” she sighed. “Why am I not surprised?”

“Because I’m me, and you’re used to that already,” Midnight nodded.

“Just ignore the bat,” Twilight chuckled as she took a seat. “So, who wants to take bets on what Colour this nymph or drone will be?” That got her thinking. “Actually… does anyone even know Scope’s heritage?”

“I know she’s a Blue on her mother’s side,” Ledger said. “Though I would not be surprised if it was some new color for the Hive of Snark.”

“So, Blue on her side, at least for her mother,” Twilight hummed. “And Silver and Violet for the father’s side… Or will her father’s side make an unexpected appearance?”

“No idea,” the flutterpony said. “We’d have to question one of the prisoners in Canterlot’s dungeon to find out that.”

“Is her mother still there?” Midnight asked.

“No,” Twilight shook her head. “She was transferred back to the Changeling Lands about a month ago.”

“Where she was put on the front lines of the Yellow’s penal squad,” the Madame said. “I’m afraid their survival rate is not the highest. They’re the ones ordered to pick up the wounded, if there are any, during any engagement.”

“I hope she’s alright,” Midnight said. “I mean, sure, she tried to invade Equestria and frame Chrysalis for it. But… she’s still her Mom…”

“Perhaps if her daughter entered a plea on her behalf, she might have her sentence reduced,” the silver ‘ling said. “I highly doubt it though.”

“I think Scope’s still plenty mad at her,” Cider agreed as she trotted up to them. “It’d be nice if one of her own family aside from us coulda been here.”

“That would require nothing short of a miracle,” the Madame replied.

“While rare, I do believe that miracles can happen,” Midnight nodded as Wishful hoofed Starry back over. “Don’t dismiss the idea so readily.”

“Her mother is in the Yellow Hive serving time until she either dies or makes up for what she did, which was nothing short of treason, and her father is unknown,” the Madame said with a raised eyebrow. “Pray tell, how would any of her family attend?”

“I don’t know!” Midnight snapped and sighed as Star started to cry from the sudden shout. “I just… I want her to be happy, just like everypony else…”

“Then be there for her,” Wishful said softly.

“You say that like I’m not already,” the bat replied as she nuzzled Starry.

The group fell into an awkward silence after that, but Twilight eventually started up some smalltalk. Two hours passed, taking both an eternity and a blink of the eye.

And then the door opened as several doctors stepped out, and Nurse Redheart looked around. “Where is the father?” she asked.

Ledger raised his hoof. The nurse beckoned for him to follow and once he was inside the room, she closed the door behind him. And once he was inside, he could feel the magic permeating the room.

“There was a… complication,” Redheart said slowly.

“What was it?” Ledger asked softly.

“During delivery… she, Surged. The wards kept it contained… but she let loose a lot of magic, far more than we thought she had.”

“Did this affect the delivery in a negative fashion?” the flutterpony asked.

“Until we check the child, we can’t be certain. But I’m no expert in Changeling biology, nopony here is. Miss Scope assured us she wasn’t that different to a pony…”

“In most respects, we- they, aren’t,” Ledger said before sighing. “Still getting used to that…”

“From what we can tell,” Redheart said. “The changeling foal was delivered safely, and there doesn’t seem to be any adverse effects… expect it’s colour doesn’t match up with the mother. Is that normal?”

“Sometimes,” the stallion shrugged. “It’s dependant on what the foal feeds on during its development. You can get a lot of colors in one family.”

“I see, how interesting,” Redheart mused. “I need to go and get the Thaumometer. To make sure the foal wasn’t saturated with too much magic. In any case, you can go in and see her.”

“Thank you,” Ledger said as he went to the door and carefully pushed it open. When he entered the room, Scope was laying on the bed, though she was back in her normal body now. It was an adorable sight as she nuzzled her foal.

Her Noble, Yellow foal…

“Hey there,” he whispered from the door.

Scope looked up and he could see that her normal, sapphire eyes had clouded over.

“S’that you Ledger?” she asked quietly. “Sorry… kinda can’t see a hoof past my muzzle right now. Surge kinda blinded me for a while…”

“Yes, it’s me,” the drone said. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I just gave birth,” the mare snarked in a deadpan tone. “Now, get over here and say hello to your new daughter… and your son.” She shifted as Ledger saw what she meant, as she cradled two foals. A Yellow filly and a Silver colt.

“Oh my,” the flutterpony said as he drew closer. “Well, somepony was working overtime.”

“I’d quote what you said when we were making them, but young ears are now present.” Scope groaned as she hugged them. “My everything hurts and I’m tired as hell…”

“I can only imagine the others are very proud of you,” the stallion said before giving her a kiss.

“They’d friggen better be,” Scope replied. “So… do we name these little grubs? Or just let them do it when they’re old enough?”

“Up to you,” Ledger said. “I didn’t think up any names beforehoof.”

“To be honest, I had no idea I was having a Silver and… why the heck is she Yellow?” Scope blinked. “I don’t have any Yellow in my heritage… that I know of… unless my dad’s one.”

“Could be,” the stallion said with a shrug. “Alternatively, she could just be a Yellow because of what she fed on. Who knows?”

“I was hoping you would, you always have the answers.” Scope groaned as her head hit the pillow. “Could you… take them before I drop them. I can barely move.”

“Sure thing,” Ledger said as he situated himself in one of the chairs and gently floated the little nymph and drone over to himself with his magic, holding them close to his chest. “Hi there, little ones,” he cooed to them. “I’m your dad.”

The Silver replied by staring at him curiously, as the Yellow jammed her hoof in his nose.

“Barely in this world, and you have about as much respect for me as your mother,” Ledger chuckled as he gently removed the hoof by drawing his head back. “I can tell you’ll be fun to raise.”

“First the Trio… then the Twins,” Scope giggled and rolled over. She mumbled something else, but that was soon replaced by soft snores. The stallion sighed as he held his progeny close, waiting for when the nurse would show up to test them.

It didn’t take too long, though his other mares did poke their heads in one at a time, all of them surprised that she’d had twins. Seems Scope had kept that secret well under wraps.

“Okay,” Redheart entered the room with something on her back. It looked like a set of scales, with a small dial attached to a rod. “Are they ready?”

“Well they’ve stopped poking me at least,” Ledger said with a smirk. “I don’t think they’ll be more ready than now.”

Redheart nodded as she took the filly and placed her on the scale. The device gave a soft hum as the dial lit up. Redheart stared at it, rubbed her eyes and stared again.

“That… that can’t be right,” she said and swapped out foals. She read the device once more and Ledger could swear that a lock of her mane sprung out of place. “How is this… is-is it broken?”

“To be fair,” the stallion said. “All the love energy I had been hoarding was basically shunted across our connection at the time of my transformation. And then we have the fact that Flutterponies are basically living batteries to Changelings, so…”

“But… does that explain why these newborn foals have the magical reserves of a full-grown adult unicorn?” Nurse Redheart asked, desperately hoping he had an answer.

“Oh,” Ledger said. “Well the only explanation I can come up with is that they were born with their magic reserves filled to the brim. They are Nobles, after all. They’re inherently better than most ‘lings.”

“This is just better?” Redheart needed a stiff drink after this. “I will never understand you lot.”

“Ask the Orange Hive for their studies, it might help,” the stallion said. “So basically, expect a lot of high-powered magical mischief from them?”

“At best, expect an early Surge from them, I’d say that’d be if a changeling Surged, but your wife already proved that.” Redheart rubbed her forehead. “Asking Princess Twilight would be your best best. I only have the basics they taught us at med school.”

“Not a problem, they’ll occupy a different room of the castle from little Starry,” the stallion said before gathering up both foals again and smirking at her. “Oh, did I fail to introduce myself? Level Ledger. From that whole ‘herd marriage’ thing a while back.”

“I’m aware, as is the rest of Ponyville,” the mare replied and offered her hoof. “Honestly, I’ve already seen to your brothers a half-dozen times. Morso to others as a result of their actions...”

“Yeah, the Trio are…” Ledger hummed for a moment. “Well, there’s a reason we don’t like letting them go around unsupervised. We don’t even let them sleep next to each other. They’re almost always destroying something.”

“Well, that’s hardly anything new for this town,” Redheart sighed. “Still, back to the matter at hoof. Aside from an abnormally high magical ability, your foals appear fine. I’d like to run a few more tests, but that might take a day or two for the equipment to become available. Plus your wife needs to be checked out as well. Is she still awake?”

The former drone merely turned to where Scope lay, letting her snoring do the answering for him. “Will you want us to return here for the testing, or are they not even allowed to leave yet?” he asked the nurse.

“It would be best to keep them here for observation,” Redheart replied. “I’ll get enough beds ready for you and yours, so you don’t have to leave if you want.”

“Why don’t I ask them as they come in to see the newborns?” the flutterpony asked the mare.

“You can do that,” Redheart nodded. “We just need to watch out for-”

At that, Ledger’s saddlebag shook, and the flap opened as Pinkie poked her head out.

“New babies!” she giggled.

“Pinkie,” Ledger said warningly. “You can see them when everypony else can. I want the others to be first. So you just go right back where you came from and plan a nice, calm little welcoming party for them.”

“A party!?” Pinkie hummed as she slowly sank back into his bag. And when he peered inside, the mare was gone… along with his Book.

“Oh for- PINKIE! You give that back!” he shouted. “I don’t go stealing your things!”

“But… how am I supposed to know how Changelings party?” she called out from the hallway.

“Ask later! Book now! Or else I’ll sic Middy on you!”

There was a thump, followed by a muffled yelp before Midnight poked her head in, the book in her mouth as Ledger’s noticed a tied up Pinkie Pie behind her… that ropework… should not be seen by foals.

“Thank you,” he said, making sure the twins weren’t seeing anything in the hall as he took back the book and stuck it in the bag. “C’mon in and meet them.”

Midnight nodded as Twilight studied the ropework… as was Wishful, before shooting a thoughtful glance at the Madame…

“No,” she said simply.

“But it’d be so fun~” he whined.

“For you. I like being able to move.”

The drone sighed before taking his place in line to see his newest grandchildren. Note to self. Teach the other drones how to tie a knot~

Midnight cooed as she looked at the twins. “Aww, they’re almost as cute as Starry~”

“And apparently as powerful as a unicorn as they are now,” Ledger said. “I can only imagine what they’ll be able to do when they grow up some.”

“Oh boy… and one’s a Silver, so that should be fun,” Midnight giggled and nuzzled him as the foals hugged her face and giggled. “So cute~”

“The nymph is going to be wonderful to deal with as well,” the flutterpony sighed. “Yellow is courage. You thought the Trio were bad? If they learn they have a niece with untold destructive potential…”

“We keep her away from the Everfree,” Midnight said and looked at her. “Oh, but then, I can’t wait to train you~”

“My youngest sister still has a pet Timberwolf, you know,” Ledger said. “I shudder to imagine what this one will do.”

“If it’s anything less than an Ursa, I’ll not be impressed,” Midnight nodded and booped the filly’s nose. “Well, I’ll get out of your mane. It’s time to feed Starry anyway. Anypony in particular you want in next?”

“Cider or Twi...actually, Twi. She’ll need to know about the foals and their magical potential as soon as possible.”

Midnight nodded and trotted over to the bed, giving Scope a kiss on the head.

“I’m so proud of you Scopey,” she hummed. “Take care of her Ledgy.”

“Of course,” the stallion said with a nod as he adjusted the foals slightly so that they were comfy. Midnight nodded and left the room to make way for Twilight.

“Heya,” the alicorn said and then paused. “What… happened in here. The magic is so thick, it feels like somepony Surged.”

“Scope did,” Ledger said as he nuzzled his progeny. “Resulting in these two, and a very interesting dilemma with how much magic they currently possess…”

Twilight scanned them and gasped. “My word, they have so much potential. Almost as much as I did after my entrance exam…”

“And to think, they’re newborns,” Ledger said. “The nurse says to expect a magical surge soon, though. And it’d be great if they didn’t sleep with Starry. Think you could whip up an insulated room in that castle of yours for them? So that we don’t have to worry about their surges getting out of control?”

“I can do that. It shouldn’t take me too long to add some wards and barriers,” Twilight nodded. “I’ll get on it once I get home.” She looked at the two, then to Scope. “So… do they have names?”

“Not as of yet, and mom’s a little out of it from pushing the both of them out,” Ledger said. “Plus I didn’t think up any names myself. I can already tell, though, they’re going to be trouble.”

“They’re your kids, so that’s a given,” Twilight giggled as she nuzzled Scope. “Alright, the sooner I get these wards done, the sooner you can come home. I might need Moondancer’s help as well.”

“And to think,” Ledger said as she turned to leave. “This is a Silver born by Scope with this much magical potential. I shudder to think what we’d create.”

“Note, see if there are wards against snark,” Twilight chuckled as she teleported away. Cider soon entered and one by one, everypony present was introduced to the newborns…

Late that night, Scope was sleeping peacefully, her two little ones in a crib next to her bed. Then, a yellow flash filled the room for just a second, as a tall Yellow drone stood next to her bed.

“By the Makers…” he whispered. “It really is you…”

“No. Sudden. Moves.” Ledger hadn’t been sleeping to begin with. Somepony had to watch the foals, and he’d brought plenty of coffee. “I see anything I don’t like, I’m holding you down and calling a Princess to deal with you.”

“Well, I see you have your mother’s fire,” the drone replied as he slowly turned around. The moon’s light filled the room and Ledger saw whom he was dealing with.

The Yellow King himself.

“And this is my wife and foals we’re talking about,” the former drone returned. “I’ve got a good handle on TK in this body now. Though I never did test to see how much pressure our chitin can take. Or what it takes to pry it off.”

“Your threats are reasonable, but unneeded,” he said as he cast a sideways glance at Scope Lens. “After all… I think I’ve hurt my daughter enough don’t you?”

“That would explain quite a lot,” the stallion mused. “You’ll be happy to know, your granddaughter takes after you. And the both of them are some of the more magically-powerful newborns I’ve ever seen.”

“Seen a lot of newborns have you?” the drone chuckled. “You needn’t worry. I’ll not stay long. But when word got to me that my… helpers, had found my daughter’s location. I just had to see for myself.”

“Well, you’ve seen,” Ledger said. “Though I rather think that her spending so much time as the Discarded One disqualifies you from being her dad.” The Yellow King flinched when Ledger said that name. Had… she truly named herself that?

“I know…” Ledger’s new sight gave him an interesting new perspective on Changelings. It turns out that even they couldn’t hide their aura from him, as a wave of regret and sadness rolled off of the king. “She was… born from a false love. Her mother… I thought, that she loved me. But then one day, she vanished. It wasn’t until several years later that I had discovered she had been with child… I have searched ever since.”

“A little late to be reconnecting,” the Flutterpony observed. “Though I suppose I could run the idea by her.”

“No,” the drone said. “It’s too late for that. She doesn’t even know me, and I couldn’t intrude on her life like that. Knowing… knowing that she’s safe and happy. That’s enough for me.”

“That she is,” Ledger agreed with a nod. “And at least you came.”

“When I heard… how could I not? On second thought, don’t answer that.” He looked at Scope, but dared not make a move while Ledger pointed his antenna at him.

“I’m glad to know it’s you, out of all the drones that could be her father,” the flutterpony said.

“Father isn’t a term I’d apply to myself,” he said with a sigh. He gave his daughter and grandfoals another look. “If… they ever need anything. Ask.”

“Between Twilight’s connection to the crown, my own savings, mom’s connections, and now you offering your help,” the stallion said with a chuckle, “I’m starting to think any foals I have with any of the mares will not want for much.”

“Well, the offer is there,” he said. He looked at the stallion and smiled. “Please, continue to make her happy.”

“It’ll be hard to tell when she is under all the snark and dealing with the foals she’ll be doing in the future, but I will try,” Ledger said. “And maybe, one day, I’ll tell her who her father is. No promises.”

“Do as you will,” he said and with a yellow flash, he teleported from the room.

It wasn’t until after he left and Ledger blinked away the spots in his eyes… that he saw Scope shaking under the blanket…

“Guessing you heard that then,” he sighed.

“Why…” she said, so quietly that Ledger had to lean closer to hear. “Why now? Why did he have to show up now…”

“Because he cared,” the stallion said. “He cared about you, but couldn’t find you. I’m guessing it took sending your mother back home to him before he was able to find out anything about you.”

“I hope they both get eaten by a Scorpio.” She hugged herself and shook. “I hate them!”

“Aww, come here,” he said, coming closer to the bed and nuzzling her. “He tried his best, he really did. But your mother was a bit of a...what’s the appropriate word?”

“A lying, manipulative, self-obsessed whore with no redeeming qualities whatsoever?” Scope filled in the blanks.

“That’s the one,” the stallion said. “Your dad is trying to have some connection to you and them, to try and make up for circumstances beyond his control. He’s not asking for all to be forgiven or forgotten, but maybe you could consider sending him pictures every now and then?”

“Why should I?” the nymph pouted. “He can just go fu-”

“And if I had thought that way when we first met?” the flutterpony asked her. “If I had thought that you weren’t worth the effort?”

“That’s…” Scope bit her lip and looked away. “That’s not fair.”

“You are my beloved Secret-Treasure,” Ledger said softly. “I know that if you look into your heart, you’ll realize he doesn’t deserve your anger for things he couldn’t control, and does deserve a chance to connect with his grandchildren. You don’t have to let him into your life, but they deserve a chance for him to be a part of theirs, if they want it.”

Scope frowned, she was still plenty pissed. She was confused as well, but it was easier to be angry right now. “Yeah well… what if Midnight ran off with Star?”

“Then I would stop at nothing to find her,” Ledger said. “Just so I could ask why she’d do that to this family. Like your father did just now, showing up here to see you.”

“Yeah, well he’s fucking late isn’t he?” Scope frowned, even as her eyes shimmered. “Why…” she said in a cracked voice. “Why was I abandoned…”

“Scope,” Ledger said with a sigh. “Your mother was a power-hungry bitch who laid with a Noble Yellow in the hopes of having a Noble child to take after her. When it was clear you weren’t, she cast you aside. Don’t be like her. Don’t cast aside your father for your comfort.”

“I AM NOTHING LIKE HER!” Scope roared, which only served to wake her babies and they started wailing. Scope just groaned and leaned over, pulling them both into a hug. “Shh, there there, Mommy didn’t mean to yell. Daddy’s just being daddy again.”

“Somebody has to be a voice of reason, and Twi’s off insulating a room of her castle,” Ledger riposted. “If you’re seriously nothing like her, you’ll at least consider reaching out to him.”

“I promise to try… one day,” she said.

“That works,” Ledger said as he sat nearby. “So did you come up with any names, or are we going the traditional Changeling route?”

“I don’t know…” Scope sighed. “I don’t have that ‘Naming Sense’ that ponies do, so all I’d be doing is pulling out random words.”

“And it’s not like we have a pony to call on either,” the stallion mused as he looked at his children.

“Don’t get smart,” she said, tapping the side of his face with a hoof. “Well fine then. We’ll let Twilight and Cider name them then.”

“Let’s hope they come up with good ones, then,” the stallion said before kissing her muzzle. The nymph hummed, sighing once he broke it.

“They should, as long as Twilight’s isn’t too dorky.” She lifted the twin up with her magic and placed them back in their cot. “I never thought I would have been in this position you know. They way my life used to be, I expected to die on some mission… And Midnight came awful close to fulfilling that when we first met.”

“And now here you are, with a family of your own, being loved and cared for,” the flutterpony said. “Plus you’ll get to help us figure out just how my being a battery for you works out.”

“You’re saying we don't drain you dry as is?” Scope chuckled dryly. “Well whatever, it wasn’t like I was starving for love. But I suppose these little ones would benefit from it.”

“Plus you still have all of my reserves,” the stallion pointed out. “I don’t think you’ll need to feed for a while yet.”

“Actually… my Surge drained most of that,” Scope replied and closed her eyes. “Tonight has been weird. I think I'll go back to sleep.”

“Sweet dreams,” the stallion said before kissing her on the forehead. “I’ll watch over the little ones while you recover from birthing them.”

“Sure… steal… the easy job,” she murmured before drifting off to sleep. The twins were just babbling away in their cots, apparently having a riveting conversation with one another. The stallion sat nearby and watched his offspring with a soft smile on his face.

A few months later…

It was the crack of dawn, Celestia always seemed to shine her sun in just a way that it hit Ledger in the eyes… Every. Damned. Time.

So here he was, sitting at the dining table, feeding young Starry. She stared up at him with her two-tone eyes and beamed widely.

“Just so you know,” the stallion said as he sat next to her with a spoon in his magical grip. “You give me too much trouble, I’ll have no problems cutting your dessert.”

She just blinked and tilted her head cutely. “Bah?”

“Let’s see how this goes,” Ledger said, before scooping up a bit of her dinner and presenting it to her to eat. She stared at it and then bit down on the spoon, gurgling happily. The stallion smiled and drew the spoon back from her mouth.

“There we go. That actually went really well,” he said, waiting for her to finish with her mouthful before scooping up another one.

She swallowed the mango puree and giggled before looking at Ledger. “Dada!”

“...Well, that’s new,” the stallion observed. “Yes, I’m your Dada. Can you say mommy?” he asked, another spoonful ready and waiting nearby.

“Mmmm… Batbat!”

“Close,” Ledger said as he gave her the second spoon of mango. A reward for good effort. She giggled and took it happily. She swallowed and then hiccuped.

And her mane colour changed.

“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” he teased as he scooped up the next bit of mango. “One more try for daddy, please. Try saying Mommy for your mommies?”

“What’s going on?” Midnight said as she shuffled out of the kitchen. Starry’s eyes lit up and she waved her hooves.

“Mama!”

Ledger would mark this day as the day his tiny bat broke the Little Bat.

“Aww, aren’t you just the most adorable hybrid?” he cooed, offering the mango to her. She burbled an agreement and took the mango, and part of his hoof. He gently drew his hoof and the spoon back so that only the mango was left, still giving her a kiss for being such a good girl.

Star burbled again, then slammed the table with her hoof. It clipped the bowl and flipped it, before the goopy mango puree landed square on Ledger’s head. Starry stared before breaking out into giggles.

“Yup, you’re a troublemaker,” the flutterpony sighed. “Middy?”

Midnight Song was stalking towards him, her tail swishing from side to side as she licked her lips.

“Ohh, you flavoured Daddy,” Midnight cooed. “Maybe I should… clean him up~?”

“Maaaaybe you should show the others what words our adorable little foal knows?” Ledger said. “I’m sure they’d appreciate it.”

“Hmm,” Midnight tilted and head and then inhaled. “CIDEY? Starry said her first words!!”

There was a clamour, followed by three blurs as Twilight, Cider and Scope surrounded the table.

“She did?” Cider asked.

“Mama!” Star giggled again.

“D’aawwwww~” the mares cooed. Ledger managed to ease his way in and held the foal close to himself, giving her a tummy rub while he held her. He was hoping she would say her other first word…

“Papa! Papa Googoo!” she babbled and rubbed her hooves in the mango.

“Yup, and it’s all your fault,” the stallion said, before passing the adorable filly off to Midnight. “Your turn, I’m going to go clean up.”

Midnight watched him walk off before she passed the filly to Twilight. “Your turn. Imma go and… help him~”

“Wait, wha?” Twilight went to respond before she got a facefull of filly. Midnight giggled and stalked off. Ledger was so much more fun now that he couldn’t sense emotions anymore~

The stallion had just managed to get in the shower and turn it on, standing under the hot spray and sighing contently… Right before he felt a tongue lick some of the mango from the side of his head.

“Yeek!” he said, startling a little. “Midnight! Don’t do that to me!”

“Aww, was the little bugpone scared?” she cooed, still standing on the ceiling as she slurped up her tongue. “You really are more fun to mess with now~”

“If I’d had my eyes open, I’d have seen you coming from a mile away,” the stallion countered.

“Well, guess you’ll think twice about closing your eyes around me,” she giggled as she dropped down next to him and started nibbling his ear. “Mmmm, tasty~”

“When have you not said that about me?” he asked.

“Hmm, when you worked all that overtime and forgot to shower. That was nasty.” The thestral shuddered at that. “Hmm, but I think you need help cleaning.”

“Oh?” the flutterpony asked. “One might think you had ulterior motives for offering, you know.”

“Ulterior motives?” Midnight replied. “No. I’m not hiding anything. I admit that I fully intend to rut you into the floor my love.”

“I see,” the stallion mused. “You had so much fun having Starry, that you intend to add to our little family already.”

“Nah, I’m on top of my potions and it’s waaay out of our season,” the thestral replied, even as her hoof caressed his flank and her fangs nipped at his neck. The stallion shuddered a little before kissing her.

“Shame,” he murred. “Still, I’m pretty sure if you did end up having another, I’d not survive whatever you’d do to me in response.”

“Probably not. I’ve just gotten my gorgeous figure back, you aren’t ruining that again anytime soon. Besides… isn’t it Twilight’s turn?”

“She’d have to make the offer,” the stallion countered. “And she’s a bit more concerned with how having a foal would affect her ability to be a Princess than she should...After all, she’s got her friends and us to fall back on.”

“True,” Midnight nodded. “Want me to water down her potions~?”

“Sabotage is hardly the way to go,” Ledger sighed.

“But it is a fun way,”Midnight retorted. “Fine, I won’t mess with Little Princess Bookhorse.” There was a ‘boom’ as the room rattled. Midnight flinched from the loud noise before they heard Scope call out.

“S’all good. Starburst blew up her mobile again.”

“What is that, the third one this week?” Ledger sighed. “We’re on a first-name basis with the baby store in town thanks to all her surges…”

There was a ‘pop’ and Flashfire, the other twin appeared on Ledger’s head, grabbing one of his ears before he fell off.

“And you are too curious about adult matters,” the stallion said before picking up the silver drone. “Sorry Middy, fun in the shower has been cut short by infant intervention.”

“Dang it,” the thestral sighed and poked the drone’s belly. “Also the third time this week, that I have been effectively ‘blocked’ by you.”

Flash just thought this was hilarious and giggled.

“I so reserve the right to give you lot ‘The Talk’ when you're old enough,” Midnight smiled unsettlingly.

“I swear Middy, if you scar them…”

“Hey, Starry is half-Silver and half-Pink,” Midnight said. “I can’t have her turn out like me. So I’ll scare her until she’s old enough… like 30 or something.”

“That’s all well and good in theory,” Ledger said. “I can just bet, though, she’ll bring a coltfriend home one day, then it’ll be my job to scare him.”

“Ohh, that’s gonna be fun… if you were still scary, my cute little fairy-prince.”

“I still run a shipping company,” Ledger pointed out. “If I wanted to, I could have any suitor I didn’t like shipped to the far corners of Equestria overnight.”

“No, because that would turn you into Toll,” Midnight said. She mulled over that name. It was one that hadn’t been mentioned in a very long time…

“True,” Ledger sighed as the last of the baby food finally washed off himself. “I still reserve the right to be intimidating, though. Nopony said I had to make good on my threats…”

“Hmm, but I get the feeling you would,” Midnight giggled as she took Flashfire in her hooves and made him zoom around in the air. “If you really wanna scare them. Just put them in the same room as Joyful and a bag of sugar and coffee.”

“Then there wouldn’t be a room. Or a house. Or a city.” Ledger gave her a kiss before he stepped out to dry himself off. Midnight gave a raspberry onto Flash’s tummy before he giggled and wound up teleporting…

Right into Twilight’s breakfast from the sound of it.

She giggled again and stepped out of the shower, shaking herself off and drenching Ledger again in the process. The former drone sighed as he started drying himself off once again…

Downstairs, Scope had finally wrangled her children and Twilight set up a new layer of glyphs to contain any sudden surges. Ledger re-appeared, along with Midnight a few minutes later, the latter in full armour.

“Take care out there,” the stallion said, kissing her cheek.

“Pfft, it’s Ponyville,” Midnight scoffed as she headed for the portal. “What’s the worst that could happen?” And with that statement, she was gone.

“Five, four, three…” Ledger counted down.

Midnight poked her head back through the portal. “Ledgie… What do I do when your little sister, Pinkie and Discord team up for a pranking spree?”

“Pray,” he said seriously.

“Okay,” she replied. “Oh… and for some reason, they thought it would be funny to do this to me.” She stepped through… and Ledger got to see Filly Midnight for the very first time…

“...Middy, I am having a hard time not cuddling you,” he said with only a slight squee to his voice.

“I feel as though I should run,” the filly said to herself before disappearing through the portal again. She’d take her chances with Discord.

“Well, I don’t know about you,” the stallion said to the room at large. “But Discord engaging in a prank war on Ponyville sounds like a Princess of Friendship problem to me.”

“Nope,” Twilight shook her head. “Unless it’s malicious, it sounds more like a day off to me.”

“Argh! Now I smell like sugar!” they heard Midnight yell from the other side. “Get back here!!”

“And that just screams ‘bait,’” Ledger said. “Either Discord or the both of them are trying to get me over there. Nope.” He firmly turned away from the portal. Only to realise he was staring at it from the other side…

And Joyful was holding a hooffull of water balloons…

“...Those better be filled with water,” he threatened. “Otherwise I’ll treat you like my children and punish you for this.”

Joy merely pointed at Twilight’s potion cabinet… a now empty potion cabinet. Then motioned for him to start running. Instead, the stallion smirked as his antenna glowed, a bubble shield covering his form.

“Brother.” Joyful started as she held one up. “Remember what I am? Do you really think that’s gonna stop me?”

“I studied the spells mom sent me about how to ‘reinforce reality’ once she saw my child was half-pink,” Leder smirked. “She said they worked well on you when you were her age.”

Joyful walked over to him and placed a hoof on his shield. “Mm, not bad. But…”

His antenna glowed as the shield pulsed, another wave of that chaos-repellant magic infusing it a little more.

Then she dragged her hoof down the shield and it made a sound like a zipper as she opened a hole in it.

“Well buck,” the stallion said before he vanished. So long as he was here, he would make it a mission to find and rescue Midnight. Maybe he could get her back through the portal and they could wait out the madness on the other side.

A balloon whizzed past his head and struck Rainbow Dash as she flew past.

The result.

Rainbow turned to Ledger and smiled, her normally messy mane now curled and primped. “Well, hello Darling~” she gasped. “It’s ever so good to see you here.”

“Nnnnope!” the drone said as he vanished again. He really needed a moment to look around, then he’d be able to find Middy easily.

He didn’t have to look far, a tiny batpony filly zipping around cotton candy clouds flew past, sparing him a look before stopping.

“Middy, c’mere,” he said. “Then we can get outta this madness and close it off until the pranking stops.”

“Ohoho No!” she grinned manically. “I am going to prank them good! You see… I have a plan!”

“That’s all well and good,” the stallion said. “How do you plan to outdo the master of chaos at pranking?”

“Call the parents,” Midnight smirked as Spike finally caught up with her. She wrote two quick notes and Spike breathed on them. One to the Madame… and one to Fluttershy.

Discord and Amy appeared, just as a voice rang out over the chaos.

“Discord! What have I told you about town-wide pranking sprees!?” A butter-yellow pegasus hovered above them, her forelegs folded as she gave the chaos god a disapproving stare.

“Uh… wear a helmet?” he asked, donning a yellow hardhat.

And then there was the sound every foal fears.

The sound of a mother expressing their disappointment in their offspring.

The dreaded three names.

“Boundless Joyful Heart!” the Madame all but screamed to all of Ponyville. “When I get my hooves on you!”

“Uhoh,” Joyful said as she appeared on Amy’s back. “She’s using my first name. This isn’t good.”

“Don’t look at me kiddo-”

“AMETHYST CREAM!!” Chrysalis’s voice rang out.

“I spoke too soon,” the Pink replied. “Middy. How could you do this to us? I thought we were friends?”

“I’m sorry, only grown up Midnight is friends…” Then it dawned on her. Filly Midnight was within hugging distance of Amy…

The Pink was beaten to it, though, as Ledger winked over and scooped the adorable thestral up. “Mine,” he said, nuzzling her. “You’re so adorable like this!”

“I know I am,” Midnight nodded. “But I can’t do my job like this. Turn me back!!”

“I can’t,” Discord shrugged. “That was one of Sparklebutts potions. Who knows how long it will last, if it will even wear off at all…”

“......” Midnight suddenly had a deep sinking feeling she’d have to live through a second foalhood.

“Twilight’s not the sort to make permanent potions like that,” Ledger said. “At least, not without an antidote. So we either wait for it to wear off, or…”

“We can ask her,” Midnight nodded.

And that was when the Madame and Chrysalis showed up.

“Uhoh,” Amy and Joy echoed. Joy didn’t get very far before the Madame pointed her horn at her wayward daughter and lifted her up, encasing her in a bubble shield that wouldn’t let her get away, no matter how hard she tried.

A second bubbled soon joined her, with the other Pink trapped inside.

“Just for this,” Chrysalis said as she eyed her wife. “No dessert for three days!”

“I was thinking a week, myself. Maybe even a month,” the silver nymph mused. Chrysalis chuckled and licked her lips, some of her old persona bleeding through.

“Ohh, you are deliciously devious. I like the way you think.”

“Maybe two,” the Madame said. “I still don’t want to know how you made more trouble than the Trio do when we fail to watch them for an afternoon. Do I have to put a ward on the door to stop you from going through it?”

“Mom,” Joyful sniffed, giving her the maximum cute look. “I’m sowwy.”

It would have worked on any other day.

“No, I rather think you will be punished,” the Madame said before looking at Discord. “And you. You should have known better than to encourage her.”

“But she’s fun,” Discord pouted. “And she’s taken oh so well to the Chaos magic that I have taught her…” He suddenly zipped his lip as Fluttershy raised an eyebrow.

“That explains so much,” the Madame said. “No, I rather think the chaos lessons will stop, until I inform the Princesses of what you’ve been doing, and they can decide if you two may continue this madness. Hopefully they won’t, but if they do decide to let you continue, it should only be under proper supervision.”

“Chaos cannot flourish in a ‘controlled’ environment,” Discord said. “Fine then, I’ll stop teaching her something she’s talented at… until she’s older anyway~”

“Please Mister Discord, don’t stop!” Joyful begged from inside her prison. “I like having fun with you!”

“As am I, but as long as your mother disapproves as well as the ever lovely, even when she’s mad, Fluttershy.”

Discord now wore a white shirt with a ruffled collar, and Joyful was somehow wearing a flowing white dress as cherry blossom petals scattered in the wind.

“Our friendship simply cannot be., so…” Discord puta cigar in his mouth as the scenery turned black and white. “Here’s lookin’ at you kid.”

“Like I said,” the Madame said. “I’m telling the Princesses about this. They can decide if they want your little lessons to continue.” There was a pause, and then there was...a spark of mischief in her eyes. “However, do keep in mind that whatever they decide, only extends to their borders, and you do have a handy doorway in town to outside of them…I would hardly deny my daughter the pleasure of learning something new that she enjoys, as long as she promises to use it responsibly.”

The grins on Discord’s and Joyful’s faces could not be any wider…

“Oh dear,” Fluttershy sighed as she tugged on Discord’s tail. “Let’s go Mister. You’re still in plenty of trouble.”

“Aw nuts,” Discord frowned as Fluttershy pulled his floating body along like a balloon. “Bye…”

Joyful waved as the Madame took her back to the house she’d purchased, and the doorway therein, leaving only Chryssy and Amy in the palace…

“One week. No dessert,” Chrysalis nodded. “And that includes the feathery and furry kind as well little lady.”

“But but but,” Amy said. “That means you get him all to yourself for a week, and I don’t get to have any fun!”

“Hmm, is that so?” the mare hummed as she carried her off. “Well, maybe if you're good, I’ll let you watch.”

The wail that came from the pink ‘ling was quite despondent, and now it was only Ledger cuddling the adorable filly Middy.

“Well… that was… a thing… that happened,” Midnight blinked. She remained silent for a moment. “You aren’t going to stop hugging me are you?”

“You’re so adorable,” he said. “Why would I want to?”

Midnight sighed. “Well, as long as nopony else sees me like this…”

Ledger merely nuzzled her again before speaking up. “You realize that’s an unlikely scenario, right? We’ll have to tell Twilight about this at least.”

“At least Twilight will be responsible,” Midnight sighed. “Could you imagine if Scope or Sugar got their hooves on me…” Her aura shifted, and Ledger had already learned this colour. It was one that hinted at mischief.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he said. “We’re gonna cuddle a little more, then I’m gonna go tell Twilight that her stock of potions was messed with and you got hit with one, before letting her see the problem. You can hardly help raise our filly when you’re one yourself.”

Midnight stared up at him with her massive eyes. “B-But Daddy… I wanna play with my friends.”

“Nice try,” he said, beeping her nose. “I don’t think we need Starry getting confused, do you?”

“Aww…” Midnight sniffled and pouted. “I-I’m not.. cute?”

“You are, but you’re dealing with the eldest of six children here,” he chuckled. “I was exposed to ‘cute’ faces a lot. They hardly work on me anymore.” He still held her close, though. “Just another few moments of this, then I’m getting Twi.”

“Just a few moments?” Midnight giggled.

“What can I say, you’re adorable like this,” he replied.

“Well duh,” Midnight replied and kissed his cheek. “Though, this does mean you’re married to a foal~”

“Only until the potion wears off,” the flutterpony said. “Or Twi reverses it.” He gently put Middy down and got up, stretching a little as he did. “Speaking of, I’m gonna go look for her now, let her know it’s all clear to come through and undo what’s been done.”

“If you say so,” Midnight replied and the second Ledger turned, Midnight was gone. The stallion walked through the portal to Las Pegasus and looked for Twilight, so that he could sound the all clear and tell her about the situation. Once he found her, it didn’t take long for her to restore order in the town… and yet…

“So, where did you say Midnight was?” the alicorn asked.

“I left her in the palace,” Ledger said. “Trust her to not stick around when she needs you to undo the effects of one of your potions.”

“Well, if it’s the potion I’m thinking of, it should wear off any minute now…” Twilight replied.

In Las Pegasus.

Midnight had slipped through the portal and decided to have some fun.

Her first stop?

The Love Shack.

It was easy enough to slip inside if you knew how. And now the little filly wandered about the club…

It wasn’t long, though, before one of the ladies of the club spotted her and walked up. “What are you doing in here, little filly?” she asked. “Let’s get you home before you see something you shouldn’t…”

“Where’s Mommy Moondancer?” she asked cutely.

“Oh, she’s just through here,” the nymph said, leading her to the back rooms of the club. “You take care back here, okay? Don’t go wandering without an adult anymore.”

“Kay!” she cheered and walked into the room. She saw Moondancer talking with Sugar and grinned. She flexed her wings and then pounced, landing on Moondancer’s back.

“Mommy~ I found you~” she giggled and nuzzled her mane.

“Moony, you appear to have acquired a small, Midnight-shaped parasite,” Sugar observed.

“W-What?” Moondancer looked around to see the little thestral filly. “I, um… I think you have the wrong pony?” the mare stammered and blushed.

“Nu-uh,” she giggled. “You’re so silly Mommy Moonie. I dunno where Mommy Middy is, so I found you~”

“W-Whhaaaaat?” Moondancer only blushed harder as she flailed around.

“And I thought you were supposed to be intelligent, dear,” Sugar said as she observed.

“B-But! I never had a filly with Midnight!” Moondancer wailed, tears in her eyes. “You gotta believe meeeee~”

“I do,” Sugar said as she sipped her drink. “I also noticed how the filly has Midnight’s general color scheme. And cutie mark.”

Midnight looked at her flank to see her cutie mark sitting there. “Ahh, I knew I forgot something,” she muttered. “Heehehe, you’re still so easy Moonie~”

“I am going to murder you!” Moondancer growled.

“No murdering the filly under my roof,” Sugar said. “Or at all, really.”

“Yay~ Immunity!” Midnight giggled and moved so Moondancer could see her. “Sooo, am I cute or what?”

“I think I have to ask… why?” Moondancer replied.

“Potion of Twilight’s got thrown in my face by Amy. This happened.”

“I do hope it’s not a permanent thing,” Sugar said. “I would hate to have to raise a filly while being one.”

“I dunno, I trust that Twily can do it,” Midnight shrugged.

“Oh look Sugar,” Moondancer suddenly smirked widely. “A little filly has wandered in here. It’s a real shame nopony is hugging her right now.”

“Uhoh,” Midnight gulped.

“You’re quite right,” Sugar said with a grin. “And such an adorable filly as well…” The door suddenly swung shut and locked.

“Double uhoh,” Midnight said, already looking for a way out.

“Why don’t you be a good little filly and come here~” Sugar purred.

“Nopenopenopenope!” Midnight bailed for the door, deciding to just go through it, only to be snared by Moondancer’s magic.

“Cheater!” Midnight wailed adorably.

“Aww,” Sugar pouted. “I wanted to snuggle her too~”

And that was when the unicorn floated the bat over to the nymph. “There ya go honey. She’s aaaaall yours.”

“All. My. Hate!” Midnight yelled. Sugar cooed and nuzzled her, holding the adorable thestral close.

“You came to us,” she pointed out. “You must have expected something like this would happen.”

“I thought I’d have enough time to get away!” Midnight struggled.

“Silly filly~” the nymph cooed. “There is no escape from us~”

Midnight turned her head and her tongue shot out, licking Moondancer’s glowing horn. She dropped the filly with a half-squeak, half-moan and the bat raced for the door once more.

Only to remember that it had been locked, and now Sugar was the one pulling her closer with magic…

“Nnnoooooo!” Midnight pawed at the rug as she was dragged across it.

“Yes,” Sugar cackled. “Resistance is futile! Come and be snuggled!”

“Nevaahh!!!!” Midnight shouted.

The nymph merely cackled again as the foal neared her outstretched forelegs…

“Moonie! Save meeee~”

“Nope, you brought this on yourself,” Moondancer replied.

“Now you are mine,” Sugar intoned as she started to cuddle the foal. Midnight pouted and crossed her legs as she was snuggled.

And Sugar discovered something interesting.

Thestral foals had really soft fur.

“Aww,” she said. “You’re so cuddleable~”

“Great… now I’m gonna have to find a way to turn into a Thestral stallion,” Moondancer said with a dry chuckle. “Just to give my queen her bat baby.”

“Only if you want to,” Sugar said. “I’m quite happy with the one I have at the moment.”

“As am I,” Midnight replied. “I’m still surprised you did that. After your own—” Her hooves shot to her mouth, as Moondancer used her magic to insert said hoof there.

“I would ask, but I know better than to pry if you’re not willing to share,” the nymph said.

Moondancer sighed. “N-No… It’s okay I guess. It’s just…” She floated Midnight over to hug her. “My… my own father… used to abuse my Mom and me when I was a foal…”

“I see,” Sugar said. “Well I promise that I will never do that to you or our foal, Moonie.”

“I know you wouldn’t… but… you’ve seen my temper…”

“I trust you,” the nymph said. “I know you can control yourself and help our child not be quite so angry.”

“I hope so,” Moondancer sighed. Midnight patted her leg and smiled.

“You’ll be a great Daddy-Mommy. I know it Moonie.”

“I agree,” Sugar said before smiling at her wife. “You’ll be an excellent partner to raise your foal with. So loving, and wise, and kind.”

“Yeah yeah,” Moondancer blushed as Midnight slipped out of her grasp.

“Well ladies, it’s been fun. Buuut I really should be going…”

“But Middy,” Sugar purred. “I haven’t snuggled you enough yet~”

“Ack!” Midnight turned and bolted for the door once more. The still locked door. “Celestia fuck me sunfire,” she swore. Sugar pulled her back into her embrace, and the filly pouted.

Then…

Sugar found herself cuddling a full-grown thestral.

“Aw darn,” she sighed, before letting the mare go and unlocking the door. “And you were so cuddly and adorable as a filly~”

“Wait, I’m just as cuddly as a mare!” Midnight huffed and pouted. “Tell her Moonie!”

“The bat does have a point, she is quite huggable,” Moondancer noted.

“I thought she was trying to leave,” Sugar observed.

“Bye!” Midnight said and bolted through the door as Moondancer sighed.

“Just ruin all my fun why don’t you?” she pouted.

“We’ve no right to hold her against her wishes, love,” Sugar said. “Though I will agree with you, she was quite cuddly.”

Moondancer crossed the room and pounced on her wife, pinning her to the bed. “Mmm, so are you~”

“Somepony’s feeling frisky~” Sugar teased. Moondancer smirked and her horn lit up.

“You know what, I’m feeling generous and so I’ve decided to teach you a few things~”

“Consider class in session, then,” Sugar purred. “And I always had my eyes on this teacher~”

“Then pay attention now,” she smirked as she floated a potion over. It was a clear, crystal blue as she added something to the bottle. It changed to a rich gold as she popped the cork again and pressed it to her lips.

“This is gonna hurt,” she muttered and downed the liquid. Sugar just watched to see what this liquid would do to her lovely wife.

Moondancer wiped her lips and then her eyes shot open. She held her stomach as she made a few retching sounds as she rolled off of the bed and out of sight as Sugar heard several skin-crawling popping sounds.

Sugar, to her credit, didn’t look. It was a near thing, though. She knew that there were some things she would be better off not seeing, and this sounded like one of them.

After a moment, a hoof appeared on the bed as she heard Moondancer pant.

“Well that was seven shades of unpleasant,” she said as she pulled herself up. While her colouring was… similar, this wasn’t a unicorn.

Fluffy ears, ruby-coloured slitted eyes and leathery bat wings adorned the new Moondancer.

“Oooh, don’t you look fluffy now~” Sugar said. “Come, let us snuggle together while you shake off the unpleasantness from your shapeshifting potion.”

She looked down, checking herself. “Huh? It worked?” She smiled and jumped to her hooves, giggling. And that was when Sugar sensed familiar magic coming from her.

Changeling magic.

“Somepony is quite ingenious, to mimic changeling magic with a potion,” Sugar praised her wife. “We can celebrate in a bit, for now, I demand cuddles!”

Final Chapter - A glimpse of things to come

Star Song was a normal mare. Well, she thought of herself as normal anyway. According to half the students at her school… she was anything but normal.

However, that did not matter tonight.

For tonight, she had managed to get one of the most popular colts at school to agree to a date. But they had to stop by home first so she could drop her bags off and get changed.

“It won’t take long,” she smiled as they trotted up the road to the farm. “In and out in ten minutes. Just… don’t make eye contact with anyone.”

“Uh, okay?” Gilded Hoof replied. He brushed a lock of his golden mane with his magic and smiled, flashing his perfect teeth. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure every family has their quirks.”

“You’ve never met my family,” Star groaned and rubbed her head. “Just… I warned you okay?” She took a deep breath, before muttering a few prayers to Celestia and opened the door.

And she couldn’t see anypony.

“Did… did I luck out?’ she asked in disbelief. Hopefuly they were all in Ponyville or Canterlot. She opened the door fully and beckoned Gilded to come inside. “We seem to have the place to ourselves. Let’s hurry up before somepony—”

From upstairs, a familiar voice echoed through the house. “-Yeah yeah, don’t worry so much Twi. I’ll be in and out in my study in a minute, I’m sure my notes are there and we can answer this-” Then there was a Flutterpony at the top of the stairs, looking down at them.

“Buck me,” Star hissed and looked up with a smile. “Hi Daddy~”

“Starry, who is this?” the stallion asked, his eyes not leaving the unfamiliar colt. Before Star could respond, the stallion stepped forward.

“Hello sir. I am Gilded Hoof, here to accompany your lovely daughter on a date tonight.” He gave off an orange-hued aura, with an undertone of a yellowy-green. Much like a lot of the Canterlot nobles actually.

“I see,” Ledger said. “Star, go get ready while I have a few words with him?” The tone implied it was anything but a suggestion.

Star looked at her hopefully soon-to-be coltfriend and gave him an apologetic look. She trotted upstairs before pausing next to her father.

“Don’t you dare scare him off!” she hissed and ran off to get changed as quickly as possible.

“Outside,” Ledger said. “She has her mother’s hearing, and she doesn’t need to hear this.” The door swung open behind the colt in a silvery aura. The stallion nodded and followed the pony outside into the crisp night air.

“So tell me colt,” Ledger said once the door was shut. “What do you like most about her?”

“Right to the point hmm?” He paused as he thought. “I’d have to say her personality really. But I haven’t had much time to get to know her, hence the purpose of this date.”

“A good answer so far,” Ledger said. “Tell me, do you know anything about Flutterponies and what we can do?”

“They haven’t taught us much at school about them,” he nodded. “So no, I don’t know anything really.”

“Let me educate you then,” the stallion said with a wicked smile. “Like Changelings, we can perceive emotion, though we’re limited to seeing it as an extra aura around a pony. You look to be from Canterlot, you or your family. And that is my eldest child in there, getting ready for a date with you.” He clapped a hoof around the colt’s back, and his next words made it anything but friendly.

“So if I ever see anything even remotely resembling heartbreak coming from my daughter...well, let me put it like this. I can rip apart a Changeling with TK. You can fill in the blanks, can’t you?”

The stallion nodded and gulped, his aura changing to a deep blue of fear. “C-Crystal sir.”

“Good.” Ledger paused and nodded. “Treat her better than you ever would, come around and get to know the others, and never forget this. Compared to her mother, I’m the sane one.”

“Y-Yes sir,” he stammered again as Star all but ran through the door and out into the night. She took one look at the stallion and shot her father a glare that could freeze the sun itself.

“What did I say?” she muttered.

“Honey, I’m your father,” the flutterpony said. “Threatening your coltfriends is sort of my job. Besides, would you rather have it be me, or your mother?”

“You’re all impossible,” she muttered as she turned and looked at Gilded. “Let’s go already.”

He nodded and followed her as she stormed off in a huff. His orange aura returning… especially when he heard Starry bring up the topic of Twilight…

“I still do not trust that colt,” the stallion muttered. “Hmm. I wonder if that’s just because I’m her dad, or for some other reason…” He shrugged before turning back inside for his notes that he’d promised to Twilight. A quick search located them, and within a few minutes he was back in Ponyville, papers in his grasp.

A few weeks later, Ledger was spending some well deserved time off at home. His new assistant at the warehouse was working out splendidly and his son, whom had taken the name ‘Balanced-Books’ was also speeding up to his father’s level of efficiency at an alarming pace.

He’d already refined his paperwork spell even further, by adding subcommands that allowed non-magic users to control it so long as it was active.

The peace was shattered however, as the door slammed open and Star stormed inside, closing the door so hard that Ledger would have to repair the hinges later.

“Talk to me,” he said as he looked over at her. “I can only see your emotions, I can’t read your mind.”

“Gilded can go find the biggest cactus in the desert and mount it!!” she screamed and started to stomp upstairs. The flutterpony sighed before going off to find Midnight. In his mind, she could comfort their daughter.

While he had a task to take care of once she had gotten what he needed…

Except that an obstacle stood in front of him. Namely a certain mare by the name of Apple Cider.

“Th’moment ah saw Starry run in here, ah knew you’d be off to find out why,” she sighed. “So, care to explain where y’all are going?”

“I’m going to get Midnight to comfort her,” Ledger explained. “She’s a little better at that than I am, even with my emotion-sight.”

“Well, ah agree that she’s a touch more sensitive than you,” Cider nodded. “But ah know you so ah’m gonna ask. What will ya do after you find Middy?”

“I’ll simply ask her to ask Star where that coltfriend of hers lives or was seen last so I can remind him of our first meeting,” Ledger said with a smile.

“Ledger, ah am not gonna let you beat up a minor,” Cider sighed as their other daughter stepped through the door. The Yellow mare assisted Chrysalis whenever she went to visit the Hives. Though she was young, the fact that she’d buried five full-grown drones during her last visit meant that Chryssy had an excellent bodyguard.

“Huh? Did Starry run in here?” she asked.

“Yes, and I’m getting her mother to comfort her and extract the location of Gilded Hoof so I can remind the cowardly stallion what our first meeting was like,” the flutterpony said. “When your sister uses her mother’s favorite way of telling somepony to buck themselves in the most painful way possible, that says to me that I need to get involved.”

“Oh, that,” she said. “It’s pretty simple. She found out that Gilded was just using her to get to Momma Twilight. Use that connection to a princess to increase his family's social standing.” She huffed and rolled her eyes. “Idiot forgot how good Star’s hearing is. She overheard him bragging to his friends about the ‘Stupid ‘Fake’icorn’ and whatnot.”

“I see,” Ledger said with a vicious smile. “I don’t suppose you’d know where they typically hang out, then? Because I could do with sending a message back to Canterlot.”

She glanced at a timepiece attached to her left leg. “Let’s see, he should be at Amy’s Ice-Cream Parlour right about now…”

“Love you,” Ledger said to Cider before pecking her on the cheek as his antenna glowed. Before she could say anything to stop him, he’d vanished in a crack of magic.

“Silver Wind?” Cider sighed. “Did you really have to tell your Daddy that?”

“Gilded is an elitist, snobby show off with little to no redeeming qualities,” Silver nodded. “Plus he made big sis cry. So yes… yes I did.”

“Well… ah’ll pretend ah didn’t hear any of this,” Cider said. Truthfully, she was just annoyed she couldn’t get to him first.

“So which one of us is gonna break the news to Momma Midnight?” Silver asked.

“Aw buck,” Cider swore. Ledger totally just ditched that onto them and Midnight was… protective of her little Star. “Ah call not it fer me and Twilight.”

“Aww buck,” Silver swore. “No fair.”

“One, ya’ll shouldn’t swear. A reckon Chrys is a bad influence there. And two…” She smiled and winked. “Ah never vouched fer Momma Scopey.”

“Not it for me then!” Silver said. “Or Books!”

Gilded chuckled as he downed his milkshake.

“So, I heard you broke up with that weird halfie,” one of the other colts with him said.

“If you can call it that,” he replied. “She may be related to Princess Twilight. But she hasn’t got a regal bone in her body. It was just too damaging for my image to be seen with her.”

“Is. That. So?” an ice-cold voice said from behind him. A voice he’d heard only once before. A voice from when he’d started dating that mare.

The voice of her father.

The colt turned and to his credit, he didn’t run away like a terrified filly. In fact, he actually sneered at him.

“What, so she had to send her daddy after me?” he jeered. “What do you want?”

“For the record,” Ledger said. “I chose to come here. Her mother should be comforting her at this point, which should be comforting to you, because that mare could take on Tirek and win. Meanwhile, you just have to deal with me.” The flutterpony did not stalk closer. Did not stomp closer. He casually walked closer. Those other actions were for ponies less angry than he was.

“Please, you can’t touch me,” he scoffed, even as his confident aura leaked a little blue. His friends had already bailed after seeing Ledger’s face, they would have nightmares for days.

“My family is quite prestigious,” he waffled on as the other patrons started to take notice.

“Let me ask you a second question about Flutterponies, colt,” Ledger said with that wide, too-friendly smile of his. “Do you know how they make them?”

“And why, pray tell, should I care how you freaks are made?”

Ledger’s smile was now very pointy. Where had those fangs come from? Why had all his teeth turned into them?

“As I said-” slightly bluer aura. “-You can’t touch me. I didn’t do anything illegal, aside from dating her in the first place.”

“Oh little colt,” Ledger sighed. “You’d be surprised what you can live through, that I can still do and get away with.” And now his eyes were slitted like a dragon’s. “Answer. The question. Do you know how they make a Flutterpony?”

“A-Again, why should I care,” he retorted.

“Because you really should know,” Ledger said. “It would make you realize that maybe, just maybe, you stepped into a much bigger predator’s hunting grounds. And you look an awful lot like dinner.”

“I’ll call the guard, have you locked up for life,” he spat. At this point, Amy and Richard had stepped out to see what all the commotion was all about. The moment Richard saw who was involved, he narrowed his eyes.

“I’ll be right back Momma,” he said as he started walking towards them. Ledger merely raised a hoof towards the hippogriff, motioning him to stay where he was.

“Captain Narrow and I are very good friends,” Ledger said. “And let me educate you once more, you stuck-up ponce. They take a Changeling, and change it. They fix everything that’s wrong with one. Would you like to know who I was before I became a Flutter? The answer might very well surprise you.”

“A freak born from a monster, how very trite,” the colt replied. “And just because you’re friends with the guard, doesn’t make you above the law. I have friends in much higher places.”

“My name was Duke Secret-Hoarder. Nephew to the High Silver King of the Changeling Lands. His favorite nephew, as a matter of fact. My mother essentially controls the flow of information back home. One word to her about the colt that broke her granddaughter’s heart? She’d have you whisked away to the Lands, where you would never be found.”

Gilded yawned and looked up. “Oh, are you done yet? Words are words after all. And a Duke? Yet you married a second rate princess and have a little halfie for a kid. I should-” he never finished as Richard’s fist connected with the side of his face.

“Don’t you dare talk about Starry like that!” he yelled. “Maybe Mr. Ledger can’t hurt you.” He leaned in close as his pink eyes flashed dangerously. He raised a claw and dragged the tip down the stallions cheek. “But I can. Badly.”

“Richard,” Ledger admonished the colt. “There are ways of hurting the colt without a report being filed. For example, I can find any businesses his family owns, and acquire all the supply contracts, then start gouging them, like he gouged out Starry’s heart. I can send so many effective messages that would actually get through to this Canterlot snob. I do, after all, still run a shipping company. And I’ve been meaning to...expand.”

“Y-You don’t scare me,” he bluffed.

“Don’t worry, he won’t talk after I tear out his tongue and feed it to him,” the hippogriff grinned widely.

“Or even better, I can talk to Twilight, and she can publicly denounce his family for being mindless status seekers,” Ledger posed. “Perhaps that would get through his fat head.”

“That announcement would be more effective with his head on a pike,” Richard grinned wider.

“Or better yet,” Ledger said. “We tell my family about this. Oh, the ravages they would heap on him for daring to break their niece’s heart.” He sighed and held a hoof to his chest. “Three uncles, two aunts. All of them Noble and highly destructive when you hurt their family.”

“The desert is a big place,” Richard continued. “Lotsa places to hide someone…”

That was that, with a high pitched scream, the colt scrambled to his hooves and bolted from the building.

“Gilded Hoof,” Ledger said as he mocked a salute. “We hardly knew ye. And for that, we are grateful.” He turned to Richard and sighed. “Though I am going to have to send a message to his family, so I am going to have to get to know his family’s business out of principle.” The flutterpony sighed again. “Why can she not date nice colts? Like you.”

His aura exploded with pink, as did his face. He just stood there and stammered, his anger forgotten as his head was filled with lovey-dovey images of his best friend.

“Ledgie, don’t break my son,” Amy sighed.

“It’s hardly breaking him if I suggest he’d be a good match for her and he agrees with it,” Ledger countered. “Besides, there’s only so many colts I can threaten before I have to start making good on those threats.”

Amy just shook her head as she fetched a small tub of mango-strawberry ice-cream. Starry’s favorite.

“Here Ricky, take this to Starryand cheer her up.”

Richard took the tub and nodded as he bowed his head to Ledger and flew outside and towards the farm. Amy watched him leave before turning to Ledger. “Now. Middy and I are shipping them and we have a hefty bet riding on this. You will not interfere alright?”

“Promise,” the stallion said. “...You do realize that the moment she brings him home as her coltfriend, I’m going to have to do my fatherly intimidating routine, right?”

“I’ve already given Chryssy permission to do the same to Stary.”

“I’d bet on who broke first, but I’ve learned not to make bets with you,” the stallion said. “Seeya later, Amy.”

“Ap! Where do you think you’re going?” she said sternly. “You caused a scene in my place of business, so you’d better not leave here empty-hooved.”

“Gimmie a pint of Mango, then,” Ledger said as he pulled out his bit-bag. “I’ll need something to bribe my bat with.”

Once the transaction was complete, and Ledger was outside. He looked at the receipt.

And noticed she’d charged him a ‘Causing a Scene’ tax…

“Like she wouldn’t have done the bloody same if Richard dated a floozy of a mare,” Ledger grumbled, before hitting the ice-cream with a Chilling Charm.

Yes, he would bribe the bat with it...in a few minutes.

For the time being, he had a Gilded Hoof to look up, so that he could send an effective message to a Canterlot family…

Starry hadn’t come out of her room, and Scope was trying to get her thestral wife to not run off and turn that colt into something resembling a meal from the The Chop Shop. She barely even turned her head when Richard poked his beak through the door.

“What do you want?’ she mumbled. “Come to laugh at the ‘stupid halfie’ as well?”

“Mom said to give you this,” the hippogriff said as he pulled the strawberry-mango swirl from his bags.

She sniffed and looked at him, her eyes red and puffy. And he noticed that her pink eye seemed more… lifeless than usual. It lacked the sparkle they usually had.

“...Thanks,” she said. “I knew it was too good to be true. A mare like me getting a colt like that.”

“He was a total tool,” the hippogriff said. “Bragging about it. Then your dad showed up.”

“Oh gods…” Starry buried her head into her pillow. “I’m never going to hear the end of this now. Gilded and his friends will make my school-life a living Tartarus…”

“He actually scared the buck out of his friends,” Richard said. “He was having some trouble getting through to Gilded himself...then I pitched in.”

“...You didn’t have to do that,” she said quietly as she nibbled the ice-cream. Stupid Mrs. Amy. She was trying to be angry and self-loathing. But this ice-cream was freaking amazing.

“He was a total tool that thought he was better than everypony else just because of his family, right up until your dad and I started threatening to really hurt him,” Richard said. “Plus, he hurt you, so…”

“Well you shouldn’t have,” she replied as she slammed her spoon into the dessert. “I didn’t ask you to stick up for me!”

“If our situation was reversed, would I have to ask you?” the hippogriff posed. “It’s what friends do.”

She remained silent at that one. He still didn’t know why one filly in particular didn’t pick on him anymore. Mostly because Star saw to it that she would need a better dental plan in the future…

Her dad had been pretty steamed when he found out. So had her Mom… well, in the presence of others anyway. She later taught Starry how do it more effectively.

“Fine…” she pouted and jammed some of the ice-cream in her mouth. “So you got to play the prince in shining armour.”

“To the one that apparently thought he already was one, but was anything but,” Richard said. “I mean, you should have seen the look on his face when your father threatened him with your uncles and aunts.”

“So he was being lenient huh?” Starry mused as she ate another spoonful. “Didn’t use my cousins as bargaining chips.”

The Trio were especially protective of their instructor’s daughter…

“Then he realized just how bucked he was when I said one simple thing,” the hippogriff chuckled. “‘The desert is a big place. Lotsa places to hide someone…’”

“Ricky!!” She turned and slugged him in the shoulder. “You shouldn’t say stuff like that!”

“I wouldn’ta done it!” he said, rubbing his shoulder. “Now your dad, on the other hoof...I could feel the hostility the moment he teleported in.”

“Yeah, dad isn’t somepony I’d actually want to make angry…” Starry looked at her ice-cream and then offered it and her spoon to the hippogriff. He took it in one claw and took a bite of it. His mom’s ice-cream was always awesome.

And while his claws and mouth were occupied, Star Song leaned over and placed a small kiss on his cheek.

“Thanks,” she whispered. He just blushed with his mouth full of ice-cream. He swore it melted a little faster from how red his face had to be at that moment.

“D’aawwww~” Midnight cooed from the doorway as Star Song turned a deep crimson.

“Dang it Mom, what the hay!?”

“So when’s the wedding?” Midnight continued. “Should we start expanding the house now?”

“I...wha…” Richard had finally gotten the spoon out of his mouth before turning to Star. “Is your mom always this bad?”

“You should know by now…” Star sighed.

“Hmm, have you had the Talk yet?” Midnight smiled. “Because we’re going to have a little talk about safe sex.”

“MOOOOM!!!~” Star Song whined, utterly mortified.

“I live in a house with a griffon, a flutterpony, and a mare that’s half-Violet,” Richard said. “All the soundproofing charms in the world don’t help when they forget to apply them.”

“Oh I feel your pain,” Starry sighed and patted his back. “Now let’s get going before Mom decides we need hooves-on experience.”

“I wouldn’t do that… yet,” Midnight smirked.

“Yeah, I don’t wanna run into your dad again,” Richard said. “He might decide to talk to me, and I’ve seen enough of him angry for one day.”

“Well then Rick oh buddy of mine… BAIL!” Star opened her window and barreled out of it, the hippogriff not too far behind.

“Ah to be young again,” Midnight sighed.

It had been a few months since Madame Gossip had bought a small, non-descript house in Ponyville. It had a few spartan furnishings and the bedroom simply held a large crystal portal, built by Twilight and Moondancer.

Level Ledger had also applied some security runes to the house, that way, none aside from those registered or those invited could get inside.

Taking some time off, the Madame and three of her husband's. Wishful and Inspired were busying themselves with massaging her hooves, while her third, more Yellow inclined drone made a pot of tea.

And that was when someone knocked at the door, the Silver nymph already feeling the muted sensations of anxiety and… trepidation coming from whomever was on the other side.

“I wonder who this could be,” she said, motioning for her husbands to stop their attentions so she could get up and answer the door. It would be best if she saw to the door. And when she opened it…?

A yellow pegasus mare with a cream mane and tail stood there. She visibly flinched when the Madame locked eyes with her as her fear shot through the roof.

“Can I help you?” the nymph asked.

“I…” the mare locked up for a moment before taking a deep breath. “May I… come in? I’d not like to cause a scene in public.”

“You may,” the Madame said as she stood to one side. The pegasus stepped inside, taking one last look at the sky, for it’d probably be her last. As the door closed, she thought it’d be best to get this over with.

With a flash of golden flames, the mare was replaced with a Yellow Nymph.

“Mm, that still doesn’t quite explain why you’re so afraid of me,” the Madame said. “If you’re looking for help, I can certainly provide, as long as you give a good enough-”

“So I’m unfamiliar to you?” she said quietly, cutting her off. “Despite the fact that you almost instigated a war over me and my deplorable actions.”

The Madame paused. “You...can’t be the one I’ve been looking for for so long. You...wouldn’t come to me if you were.”

“No… I wouldn’t have,” she said as she turned to face her. “What I did to Secret-Hoarder is… unforgivable. I have tried to apologise to him and his… partners. While he hasn’t outright said it yet.... he has yet to turn me away. But, I’m tired. I’m exhausted over feeling like this, hiding from you. My Hive no longer accepts me, out of fear that you’ll bring ruin to them…”

“And were I the same nymph of a decade ago, I likely would have,” the silver mare sighed. “However, some advice from some of Ledger’s friends, along with some pleading from my husbands, has helped me to change my ways a little. Just a little. And you do seem to be quite the different nymph compared to the one I was told about.”

“Well, I’m alive longer than I thought I’d be,” she said. “I honestly thought I’d never make it past the front door…” She shivered and took another breath. “My name is Free-Spirit. I am the nymph that assaulted and tried to kill your son. And I have come to accept my punishment.”

The Madame paused for a moment, before smiling wickedly. “Oh dear,” she purred, before leaning down to whisper in the nymph’s ear.

“What you’ve done to yourself is far worse than anything I could have done to you.”

Of all the possible outcomes that Spirit had envisioned… this, was not one of them. “Um, I’m sorry… wat?”

“You’re of the Hive of Courage, yet you are so remorseful, so fearful, I’m surprised you didn’t turn Black the moment you saw me,” the Madame said. “If I wanted to break you, I’d have to have beaten you to it. You are the worst example of a Yellow I have seen in a long time.”

“I don’t know if I should take that as a compliment or not,” she laughed weakly. It was also around then that the Madame noticed how dull her colours were. “I don’t have any courage at all. All I’ve ever done is run away. Some small part of me… wanted you to kill me on sight… then I could finally stop feeling like this…”

“Hmm, yes,” the Madame said, wanting to avoid a full-blown Black outbreak. “Though, I don’t know whether to call coming to me foolish or stupid. Though perhaps, just perhaps, some of your old attitude was seeping through when you made the decision to come see me?”

“Maybe? I don’t know… I just want to try and make things right by you and yours. I hurt more than just Ledger that day.” She was a little relieved that the Silver didn’t seem interested in taking her life though. “I intend to travel to the Crystal Empire should I be allowed. Midnight Song has told me his sister lives there, and I’ll not stop until I’ve said my piece to all of them.”

“Of his family members, only myself, his father, and his elder sister were ever informed about what you did,” the Madame said. “My other husbands inferred that something happened in the Yellow Hive to scare him, and my other children haven’t been told. So really, that’d be your only stop. And good luck on surviving that one.”

“Well, my luck seems to be holding up so far. Though my cousin got far more of our families luck than I. I wonder what Lucky’s up to these days…?” She shook her head as her colours brightened somewhat. “So. Where do we proceed from here? This day has not gone according to how I thought it would.”

“Well, first, I should tell you that Critical and Ledger have grown to be very...protective of one another. So you’re walking into the dragon’s den by deciding you need to tell her. And second, might I point out that if the day had gone according to plan, you’d probably be so much ash on the wind right now. But then I learned the most delicious truth about our situation here.”

“And that is?” Free-Spirit wasn’t really one for thinking...

“If I let you live, turn you away, tell you to find some way to make it up to him directly, that hurts you far worse than anything I could ever do.” The Madame’s smile was almost villanesque. “I don’t have to lift a hoof or cast any sort of spell to make you feel as terrible as possible. You’ll do that all on your own. And if, by some miracle, you do make it up to him. Then that’s all I need to forgive you as well.”

“And he says I need the forgiveness of others before he will,” Spirit sighed and hung her head. He’d trapped her in a Hives-damned loop. “Well, if his sister is as ferocious as you say, perhaps hers will be the deciding vote then.” She sensed another watching her and glanced towards it, seeing a Violet drone. “You’re…”

“Oh no, go on,” the drone said, waving a hoof. “I know better than to intrude when my wife is acting like her usual bad self. Though you should thank me for tempering her, well, temper over the years.”

“That you should,” the Madame said. “And it wouldn’t just be my daughter you’d be seeking forgiveness from. She has a stallion as well. He might help her to not overreact.”

“Assuming he’d not just let Critty do her own thing,” Wishful mused. “Seems you’re right, letting this one go is far more painful.”

“Why do I feel like I’m being tossed into a Star Beast den?” Spirit deadpanned, her yellow-ness returning in full. “Fine! I’ll do it and get Secret’s Hive-damned forgiveness, even if it kills me!!”

“Just so you know, dear,” the Madame said. “I might have declared war back then...but she would have been on the front lines with me.”

“I’m going to die…” Spirit gulped. “Can’t I just… I dunno, get whipped or something instead?”

“Maybe, if you want to be one of the first ones to help us refine the Restitution Act~” the nymph sang.

“I heard the Crystal Empire is lovely this time of year,” the yellow replied all too happily. “Still, thank you for hearing me out. I don’t think I could ever make it up to Secret. But I figure if I’ve survived this long, my odds are good.”

“Who knows?” the Madame shrugged. “Maybe Critical’s temper has been mellowed over the years. Maybe she won’t shoot on sight.”

“She might just toss you into the tundra instead,” Inspired’s smile mimicked his wife. “And I hear she’s getting more skilled in teleportation. So… I’d not grow too attached to your internal organs…”

“I’m screwed…” Free-Spirit gulped.

“Dears, you’re doing my job for me,” the Madame chided her husbands. “We should at least give her some inspiring words. Like, don’t lie to her. She can see through lies quite easily. And make sure you’re in public, so that she won’t lash out right away.”

“I’ll do my best,” Free-Spirit shivered. “Still, thank you for hearing me out and not ending my life.”

“Of course,” the silver nymph said with that same smile. “Though if you’d rather help my brother with his Act, the door’s always open.”

“Should I survive the encounter with your daughter… I’ll consider it,” Free-Spirit nodded. She reapplied her pegasus disguise and smiled softly. “I should get going then. And… please don’t tell Secret I was here.”

“No problem,” the mare said as she opened the door. She waited for the yellow pegasus to leave and the door to close before speaking again. “I give her ten minutes before Critical does a good impersonation of me.”

“Five minutes,” Wishful placed his own bet.

“The second she finds out,” Inspired added.

“I guess we’ll see,” the nymph hummed.

Peaceful days. That was what they were used to for the most part. The children were off at Twilight’s for some lessons and so Scope, Ledger and Midnight all just relaxed around the castle.

Cider was tending to her own daughter, Gala Apple. She was a precocious little thing, and was oddly enough, born a full earth pony. And one that had inherited her mother’s outlandish strength as well, as evident by several holes in the wall where she’d thrown her food bowl.

And that was when Scope’s eyes widened.

“No...nonononoooo!”

“What is it?” Ledger asked. She jumped up and paced around, her aura showed a deep blue of fear.

“Chitin itching. Head buzzing…” Her eyes were wide as she panted.

“Talk to me,” the stallion said. “I can’t read your mind.”

She didn’t have to respond. The air crackled as Narrow teleported in.

“Ledger. Black Changeling. In the city!”

“Well then,” the drone said as he shut his book and cracked his neck. “Time to deal with this, then.”

That was when Midnight grabbed his hoof. It had been a long time since he’d felt her fear spike like this. And it still broke his damned heart. “Ledger… you’re not a changeling anymore…”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t still try,” the stallion said. “And I’m going to give what I can to help defend the city anyways. Star’s not ready to wield the Flames, nor is Books. I’m the only one that can, and right now, I need to.”

“But…” Midnight went to argue.

“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!” Scope screeched.

“And that’s a pretty good reason for me to go and deal with it now,” Ledger said. “There’s a secret to the Flames anyways, and I doubt any of the Blacks know it.”

“What secret?” Midnight asked, oddly curious.

“If I tell you, it’s not a secret anymore,” he replied cheekily before nodding at Narrow. “Let’s go.”

The unicorn nodded and teleported the two away, as Scope buried herself under a myriad of barriers. Midnight frowned as Star and Books came running downstairs.

“Mom!” Books ran over to the shield. “What’s wrong? And why is my chitin so itchy?”

“Something wrong is here,” Midnight said. “Starry?”

“Yeah?”

“Fetch Mommy’s swords… she’s going on a little hunt.”

The city was total chaos. While ponies ran away from the monster that stalked the streets, Changelings ran faster…

Some not fast enough.

By the time Ledger and Narrow arrived, he was just in time to see the Black toss aside a lifeless husk.

“Ahh, tHe ‘SiLver FlAme’ I Was… WaiTInG~”

“Where the hell is Ace when you need him?” Ledger grumbled. “Even on a good day, this spell needs charging...and I doubt he’ll give us time.”

Narrow responded by grunting and aiming her horn. “Special Beam Cannon!” she yelled as a powerful beam shot from her horn, melting the road beneath it as it soared towards the abomination.

Which simply opened its mouth and ate the spell.

“Mmm TastY~”

“Might I advise something more physical next time?” Ledger said as his antenna continued to glow. “Like smashing him with a rock.”

“RRRraaarrgghHHHH!!!” Narrow screamed as she tore a massive chunk up from the road and slammed it down towards the Black. He gave a lazy look up and with a sickening crack…

It teleported!

“Well, that’s not good,” the stallion said. “Where in the bloody hell is a distraction when you need one?”

“I’lL HavE YOur SOUL!!” It screeched from right bucking behind them! Narrow turned to throw up a shield…

Right in time for the Black’s newly severed head to comically slide down it, Midnight skidding to a stop a few dozen feet away.

“That works,” Ledger said with a sigh. “The spell is...tricky, as a flutterpony, but it’s mostly working out the same way. It might end up looking different, though. Just keep it distracted as I charge, please?”

“Captain, keep a full sphere shield up, and keep alternating its frequency,” Midnight requested as Narrow wasted no time in doing just that.

“And what about you?” she yelled out.

“I’ll do what I do best,” Midnight said. She stared down the Black and Ledger saw something. He didn’t see a mare that cowered in fear.

He saw a mare that was determined to protect everyone she cared about.

And then…

That aura vanished.

“Releasing mental seals. Activating Trance. Combat efficiency now at 120 percent,” she said in a stoic tone. Her wingblades struck the ground, sending up a shower of sparks.

“YOu? yOU are WEAK! YoU ArE FOOD!”

The Black suddenly found his left leg missing.

“Fatal Legatto,” she said as her wings blurred, dismembering the changeling over and over. Ledger finally wrangled the spell and nodded at Narrow, signaling that he was ready to her.

“You think I’m food?” Midnight said as her blades sparked, disabling a spell the Black fired at her. “You think I’m weak!?” He felt her Trance fade, and yet she seemed to move even faster. “I have all the love and friends I could ever hope for. And I. *slash* Am not. *slice* SCARED OF YOU ANYMORE!” She raised her blades as they were coated with flames.

“Flamenco of Flames!” She swiped upwards and Ledger caught sight of something. That for the briefest of moments…

Her flames flickered Silver.

The Black jumped back as the tips of the swords cut his chest and it screamed in pain as Narrow dropped the shield.

Then Ledger started glowing pure, silver light. Light that burned the changeling to be near. The Black screamed louder, it’s body starting to burn as it lit up its horn to teleport away. Midnight slashed again as the horn spiralled off, skidding along the ground a few feet away. The stallion didn’t stop the light. If anything, he drew closer to the changeling so that it was exposed to more of it in more intense ways.

And that was when Narrow got an idea.

Time to drop the Ledger Bomb!

She lit up her horn and teleported the stallion… right onto the Black’s back!

To his credit, the stallion didn’t startle or try to get away from the situation, nor did he stop glowing. The light did flicker for an instant due to shock, but he kept it up once he was done being surprised.

The Black continued to scream as his body disintegrated under the intense light. And after a few moments, the monster was naught but ash in the wind.

“Rest well,” the stallion said as he got back onto his hooves. “I only wish I could have stopped you sooner.”

Midnight breathed a sigh of relief before collapsing. “Heh...hehe… that was… a little scary.”

“I’m surprised you joined in, to be honest,” the stallion said.

“I couldn’t… I coulnd’t live with myself if you went alone,” she smiled, shaking a little. “Gotta look cool for Starry as well.”

“That we do,” Ledger said as he looked at the monster’s wake, at all the changelings he’d drained. There were at least a half dozen.

“This is going to be a nightmare to deal with,” Narrow groaned. “I’m sorry… that I couldn’t save them Ledger.”

“You came to get me once you realized the situation,” the stallion sighed. “I only wish this was a spell I could teach you.”

“Speaking of…” she looked at Midnight. “Care to explain how the fuck she did it?”

“Either it’s because of the last time I used them, we used them together, or…”

“Or?” Narrow raised an eyebrow.

“Or she’s reached some sort of great, enlightening truth about herself,” Ledger said. “They are the Flames of Knowledge, after all.”

“...” Narrow stared at the thestral. “Somehow, the words ‘Midnight’ and ‘Enlightenment’ don’t seem to go together.”

“Well I’m not just going to brush this off as Midnight being Midnight,” the stallion said.

“I will, you can make your own assumptions.” Narrow looked around as she shone her horn. “I need to seal off this area. Purify the Dark Taint and clear away the… victims. Get your wife home and into a warm bath. Yourself as well.”

“Can do,” the stallion said as he motioned for Midnight to come closer. “Come here, love. Let’s go get a bath, get nice and clean after the fight.”

“I… Am NoT… DONE!” The horn, the Celestia-damned bucking horn was still there. And somehow, the son of a bitch was regenerating from it.

Midnight drew her blades, but whatever spell the Black had been about to used bounced harmlessly off of a magenta-hued shield.

“Thank Celestia we got here in time,” Twilight said as she and her five friends teleported in.

It was only by the grace that one of them was his wife that Ledger restrained himself from saying anything. Though, the bodies in the street did that for him.

“Oh...oh stars…” Twilight looked at them with a horrified expression. “I… I didn’t mean…”

“I know you didn’t,” Ledger said with a sigh. “If there was anything that could be done for them, believe me, I’d have already done it.”

“Twi, now would be a good time to do this!” Rainbow shouted as the Black finished reforming.

“Yes…” Twilight blinked away her tears as her expression grew more determined.

And that was when the six mares erupted into blinding pillars of light.

“Gah!” Ledger said as he shielded himself with one hoof, instinctively dropping his own glowing spell as he tried to save his retinas.

Ledger had felt some powerful magic over the years. He'd been there one day when Celestia raised the sun. Not to mention the countless feats his own wife had pulled off.

It was like comparing a flickering candle to the sun in this case. Whatever they were doing...he only hoped they had a plan that would require this much power.

And then he saw it. For the first time ever.

The Bearers of the Rainbow Of Light.

It was something he would never forget. Especially what they did next.

Twilight smiled warmly at the Black Changeling. “You’re hurting. You're scared and you feel alone. Let us help you.”

The light grew brighter as the Rainbow engulfed the Black as it howled and screamed. Ledger was stunned, it’d only reacted like this to the Flames or whatever it had turned into with his new form.

Soon the noise died down as the light faded. The girls landed, still in their transformed states.

As for the Black. It was gone.

And a little Pink nymph lay in its place.

“You girls,” Ledger whispered. “What...did you do?”

“We helped her,” Twilight said, her rainbow mane flowing in the wind as she walked over to the Changeling. “I honestly didn't think this would work though. Small blessings I guess.”

“That...that shouldn’t be possible,” he said. “Once you’re fully corrupted...there’s no...no way back…”

“Pfft, you act like we haven't done the impossible before,” Rainbow Dash laughed.

“Ah’m jus’ glad sumthin good came outta all this,” Applejack nodded.

“That as may be,” Ledger said. “But the question now is...what do we do with her?”

“Well, that’s up to you and Narrow,” Twilight said as she and the rest turned back to normal.

Midnight pouted, she wanted to play with her sparkly princess…

Twilight scanned the nymph and nodded. “All the Dark magic has been purified. Once she's well, I'd like to run a few tests, see how this happened.”

“Assuming she can recover from something like that,” the stallion said.

“Don't be so pessimistic darling,” Rarity rubbed his head. “Applejack is correct. Something good has come out of this disaster.”

“We can totally throw a ‘So glad you're not evil anymore’ party!!” Pinkie cheered and bounced. Ledger merely shook his head before walking next to Midnight.

“Home?” he asked her.

“I’m so done with today,” Midnight groaned. She looked down at the black ichor that coated her armour. “Ergh, this is going to take hours to scrub out.”

“I’ll look up a spell,” Ledger said. “I’m sure I can ask my stepdads about how they’d keep their armor clean.” The pair walked off home...leaving the six Bearers alone with the filly, and the sights of what she’d done when she was a Black.

Midnight smiled as she watched Ledger’s brother, Tank, square off against Silver Wind.

“My victory is already assured dear uncle,” the Yellow nymph smirked. “You just don't know it yet~”

“Don’t get full of yourself,” the drone said. “There’s a reason the older generation got that way.”

“Well, at least you fill the old category,” Wind taunted. “You only had a few lessons with Momma Midnight. I grew up with her.”

“I swear, this is more conversation than fight,” Midnight sighed. “It’s like watching Ledger.”

“Can’t exactly blame us,” the drone said. “We’re half-Silver. Though she might not show it.”

“Oi, I'm gonna turn that blue carapace black and blue!” Silver shouted. For a Yellow, she was easily riled up. Midnight blamed her mother for that.

“Come at me then,” Tank said with a wave of his hoof. Silver Wind growled as her horn lit up and she fired a volley of ice spikes at him. His response was to simply enhance the heat between them so that they all melted before they got close.

Windy quickly cast again, ‘Incinerate’ this time she unleashed several homing fireballs, each the size of the drone’s head. Tank smirked before conjuring an ice wall between himself and the nymph, to block out the fireballs and give himself a moment to think while she battered down his defenses.

The area around him darkened and he looked up to see steel-grey clouds rolling in as Silver chanted.

‘Heavens above unleash thy wrath.

Deliver unto them, the gift of oblivion.

THUNDEROUS FURY!!’

There were many things Tank knew he could survive. A lightning bolt wasn’t on that list, nor was he eager to add it this day. He cast a quick grounding charm on himself, hoping that would be enough to avert the course of the lightning from him.

A bolt struck nearby, causing the large stone it hit to explode in a shower of dust…

“Seriously?” Tank asked as he shot a deadpan look at the nymph. “Are you trying to kill me?”

And like that… the storm vanished after that one bolt.

“Dang… I missed,” she sighed.

“So that’s a ‘yes,’” Tank said as he shook his head. When he next looked at the nymph, she would notice that something looked...different, in his eyes.

“Well then,” he rumbled. “Permit me to return the favor.”

“Better tell Scopey she'll need a new daughter,” Midnight sighed.

“Bring it bruh!” Silver took a defensive stance as she started to weave protection wards.

It was a well-known fact that all three pony races had their own martial arts.

Changelings, on the other hoof, practiced a...unique set. In that they blended all of them to mix and match their various tastes. Tank was mostly a practicer of the Earth Pony styles, though he did enjoy a few Pegasi moves as well. With a roar, the blue changeling charged at her, his form shifting to that of a stallion not dissimilar from Big Mac.

“Oh no, a straight charge, whatever will I do?” Silver replied with mock concern as she started a teleport spell. Tank stopped just short of hitting her, though, and reared up before slamming his hooves into the ground. Causing it to rumble in response, cracks appearing from the point of impact.

The nymph yelped in surprise as she was thrown off balance, tumbling head over hooves. Midnight had taken to the air to avoid the same fate. Tank stomped onto the bit of ground Silver had landed on, sending her flying through the air before turning towards her, preparing to beat the ever-loving tar out of his niece.

And that was when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. A little earth pony filly charging at him. A furious expression on her adorable face.

“Dun hurt mah Sissy!” she yelled.

“What the-?” the stallion had time to muse. Right before her tiny hoof connected with his chest.

There was a moment, one that he couldn't quite remember. When his brain kicked in again, he found himself upside down in a trench about twenty feet long. A series of spiderweb cracks lined his chest, a small hoofprint in the center.

“Foul,” he coughed out.

“Gala Apple!” Midnight flew down and looked at the filly. “You apologise to your uncle for hoofing his flank to him.”

“Ah’m sowwy,” she said dejectedly, hanging her head.

“You need to hang a warning sign on that filly,” the drone said as he shakily stood up.

“Gala, where's your bell?” Silver asked her sister.

She got her answer as they heard a tinkling sound as one of Tank's brothers walked up to them, a sour expression on his face.

“I hate watching fillies,” the Red grumbled.

“Brute,” Tank moaned. “Did she trick you or something?”

“I lost a bet. Had to wear it cause she beat me in a hoofwrestle. How do you lose to a five year old!?”

“Probably the same way a five-year-old does this,” the blue said before gesturing to the furrow he’d unwillingly carved.

“Well this is just plain embarrassing,” Brute groaned.

“Yeah,” Tank said with a crack of his neck. “Duel called on account of interference, Silver. But I’ll get you next time.”

“Pfft, what a wimp,” Silver scoffed, relieved she’d dodged an arrow like that. Her uncle was about to smear her across the orchard. “Maybe you should fight Books next time. Though I warn you, he cheats like nobuggy’s business.”

“More of a fight for Lightning-Wits, then,” Tank said. “Still, we should check on his combat prowess…”

“If you can get him out of a book long enough,” Midnight chuckled. “Though, he did beat Starry without even putting one down.”

“Because he cheated!” Silver cried. “I’m gonna hoof punch him in his sleep one night.”

“Be nice,” Midnight sighed and looked at Tank. “You boys want some kids? I’m giving ‘em away.”

“Sorry, we’ve not met any nymphs or mares willing to put up with us,” Brute said. “Looking after yours might be the closest we come to them.”

“Don’t be like that,” Silver smirked. “I’ve seen you checking out Miss Applebloom~”

“That doesn’t mean she returns it,” Tank said as the Red started blushing.

“You gotta ask her,” Silver smiled wider. Midnight joined in now as she moved up next to the drone. For a mare in her forties, the Thestral was still sexy as hell.

“Hmm, need a helping hoof then?” she purred. “I know the little apple is still single~”

“Please,” Brute scoffed. “Like she’d be interested in a changeling…”

“I dunno,” Midnight sang. “You’re big and strong. And I know you like helping out around the farm, just so you can kick stuff all day. Applejack is cool with you and your brothers… plus, three brothers, three cute fillyfriends. It’s simple math.”

“Romance is anything but simple,” the Red replied.

“Bah! If it was simple, then it wouldn’t be fun.” Midnight giggled. “You know what? Leave it to Middy. I’ll make sure this goes well for you.”

“Me too~” Amy said from Tank’s back. “Ooh~ Reckon we could get Cadey involved too?”

“...The pair of you are never going to let this go, are you?” Tank sighed. “You fully intend to set all three of us up.”

Midnight and Amy just smiled widely. Gala tilted her head, having no idea what was going on.

“You’re so boned,” Silver snickered. “Or if Momma Midnight has her way, Miss Applebloom will be~ Aaallll night~”

“Maybe we should just hide in the Lands for a month or so,” Brute suggested.

“Or a year,” Tank added.

“Or forever,” Lightning chimed in, having joined the others. “I fear for our future with this lot.”

Midnight and Amy just cackled madly…

About a decade prior…

Level Ledger was sleeping peacefully. Star Song was three years old now and usually slept most of the night, aside from when her nocturnal tendencies kicked in. Today would be the day that Midnight Song and himself would visit the Lands. This would be the first time that Middy had ever done so.

So Ledger was not expecting to be woken at the asscrack of dawn by Twilight screaming bloody murder from the ensuite bathroom. He hit the ground running towards her, already wondering what in the world it could be. He didn’t know, but ideas for what could cause her to scream were already running through his head.

When he reached the room and barrelled through the door, the alicorn was rocking back and forth on the floor, her mane sticking up in places as her right eye twitched dangerously. Her horn sparked and she rubbed her tail, something she only did when she was very, very nervous.

“What is it?” Ledger asked. “Fire, flood, dragon attack? What?”

“F-Foal…” she muttered, her eye twitching again.

“Oh,” he said, calming down a little before drawing close and nuzzling her. “That’s...not really a panic scenario, you know.”

“It’s not…” she stared up at him. “I’m pregnant!! How is that not a panic scenario!?!?” She was getting very good at that Royal Canterlot Voice...

“Because you have your family and friends to support you?” the flutterpony said. “And I thought you were working out your schedule for such a thing.”

“It wasn’t supposed to happen for another three weeks, twelve hours and twenty-two minutes! This throws off everything!!”

“How so?” Ledger asked calmly. “How does having it now differ from having three weeks from now?”

“The schools I applied for now have to be notified not to expect him or her until the second semester now. Pinkie needs to be informed that her parties need to be re-scheduled. And… and…” Twilight looked up with tears in her eyes. “I’m not prepared for this!”

“Nopony is,” Ledger said. “But life goes on, and you adapt and learn. If the worst thing that happens from you having a foal early is that you need to reschedule some things, then we should be so lucky. You can learn more from experience, than can ever be written down in a book.”

“But… books are always--”

“Then prove me wrong.” Ledger smirked before kissing her. “Write a book about this, and put as much of your experience into it.”

“I… I am one of only four alicorns… ponies could learn a lot…” Ledger suddenly thanked the Makers he wasn’t a Silver, because the ideas running through her mind could probably be felt in the Lands. “This will be so much fun!” Twilight giggled and jumped up, bouncing happily.

“There’s the Twilight I know,” he said, pecking her on the cheek. “Calmed down now, have you?”

“Yes! And you’re going to help me!” she declared as she dragged him off with magic. “Now, by my estimates, it’s been about nine days since our foal was conceived. What position were you using? Were you transformed?”

“Twilight,” Ledger said slowly. “First of all, that’s hardly material for this sort of book, and I can’t see you writing that sort of book just yet. Secondly, do you remember what tomorrow is for me and Middy?”

“Tomorrow?.. Oh!” She’d totally forgotten. “That’s right. You’re taking Starry to the Lands for the first time, as well as Midnight.”

“Exactly,” Ledger said with a nod. “And that’s not the sort of thing one wants to do tired. So I’ll make you a deal.”

“Oh. Kay?” Twilight was admittedly hesitant when Ledger used the word ‘deal’.

“You come up with a list of things you actually need to cover for this book while Middy and I are out, let me get back to sleep, and when we come back and are rested and recovered, I will help you with a smile. But for now, I’m going back to bed. Okay?”

“Mhmm,” Twilight yawned and blinked her eyes. “Sleep sounds good actually…”

“C’mon, let’s head back together then. The bed should still be warm…” With that, the stallion turned to head back to his bed. But Twilight reached out and pulled him into a hug.

“Ledger…” she said quietly. “Will I be a good Mom?”

“Nopony knows until their children are grown,” Ledger said. “But I fully expect you to read up on the subject extensively and prepare in every way, shape, and form. And if our children are as devious as I am, they’ll throw all those preparations out the window in the first month.” He kissed her and ran a hoof through her mane. “Life isn’t cut and dry predictable, love. But I know you’ll try your hardest. And with as many good role models as they’ll be likely to have, with our family, your friends, and Equestria in general? We’ll raise a good kid, Twilight. That’s what matters.”

“I am the Princess of Friendship,” she nodded. “I know I have a lot of friends to help out. But, I am so calling ‘not it’ with telling our parents.”

“Well I know my mom won’t mind the addition of another grandchild to spoil,” Ledger said. “But I’m not telling yours. That honor should be yours. Also, it’ll give me time to prepare in case either of your parents wants to do something unseemly to me.”

“Okay, fine,” Twilight said as she climbed onto his back. “But you can tell Cadence.”

“And your brother at the same time? I think I’ll pull a page, or rather, letter out of your book for that one,” Ledger said. “He’s the only one I fear more than your parents.”

“Coward,” Twilight giggled and kissed the back of his head. “Fine, I’ll tell the big scary unicorn as well. Remind me to tell you his weakness at some point. PS, it’s rare comic books.”

“But that can wait for another day,” the stallion said. “For now, let’s head back to bed.”

“Sleeeeep,” Twilight agreed. The alicorn was snoring cutely before they reached the bedroom.

Ledger was waiting beside the portal to his mother’s home. Midnight was… unusually late.

Star Song babbled away next to him, singing some nonsensical song about boogers.

“Where is your mother?” he asked as he made sure Star wasn’t getting into any trouble.

Midnight eventually showed up…

Whyyyy was she in full armour? And a set that he’d not seen before. It was a shining silver with purple trim and hugged her form very nicely. Plates covered her wings, which slid open when she stretched them and her dragon blades were still attached to her wings. Her flanks bore her Cutie Mark on the right and Twilight’s on the left.

“Middy?” Ledger said. “You know this is just a tour of the Silver Hive, right? Not some sort of monster hunt.”

“Mommy is shiny~” Starry giggled.

“Yeah, well… I’m not taking any chances,” the thestral grumbled. “You remember what happened the last time I left Equestria…”

“You mean when we went to Hollow Shades?” Ledger teased.

“Shut up. You know damn well what I mean!” Midnight snapped.

“Damn, Damn~” Star giggled and bounced.

“Starry, don’t say that word,” Ledger said as he picked her up and hugged her. “See what you did, Middy?”

“Sorry,” Midnight said, hanging her head.

“Sowwy,” Star mimicked her.

“That’s okay,” Ledger said as he kissed Star’s forehead. “Middy, as long as you promise not to use any of that, then maybe we can pass you off as my guard or something. There’s not a whole lot of reasons to go around armed and armored in the Silver Hive…”

“And I was looking forward to testing the enchanted armour that Twilight gave me,” Midnight pouted. She said something Ledger didn’t catch as the armor hissed and opened up, allowing Midnight to step out of it. “Better?” she asked, shaking her mane.

“Much,” Ledger said with a nod. “I’m sure something will come up that will require such armor. Just not on a trip to my old home.”

“Okay, okay,” she muttered again as the suit closed up. “Alright then. Let’s go…”

The portal activated as Midnight placed Star on her back and they stepped through.

As the portal closed behind them, it should really have occured to somepony for Midnight to remember that emotional suppression charm…

Back in the present…

Level Ledger sat in the office of Archmage Moondancer. It was a rather comfortable place, but the look she was giving him was anything but.

“So…” she said. “Shall we start with why you’re here today?”

“Do tell me,” the stallion said. “I would love to know.”

“Your daughter. Your alicorn daughter. She turned a group of students into various domestic pets today. That was after she gave them a thorough lecture on the proper use of magic against other students.” The unicorn groaned and rubbed her temples. “Seems she inherited her father’s knack for leading by example.”

“Did she at least undo the transformation spells afterwards?” Ledger asked as he shot a glare at his daughter, who was sitting nearby.

“They’ll turn back after twenty four hours,” the young princess replied.

“Plus she added some counter-wards, so only she can remove it prematurely,” Moondancer added.

“I see,” Ledger said. “You realize what this means, right?”

“Oh do tell,” Moondancer said with enough snark to sink an airship.

“Young lady, I am telling your mother, and you are grounded for three days,” Ledger said. “No access to any books outside of your room.”

“What!?” she jumped to her hooves and glared at him. “Why? They deserved it! They laughed at some poor filly’s dress. Shredded it with their magic and filled her locker with Changeling gel. They’re lucky that’s all I did to them!”

“The proper response would have been to repair the dress, enchant it against tearing, offer her your condolences that she had to put up with such filth as a Princess of Equestria, and make sure the gel got distributed to the proper targets,” Ledger said. “You know, like their lockers while you helped her clean up her stuff. As such, you can sit and stew on morality and what amount of help and aid is enough, and what’s crossing the line. As I’m sure Aunt Pinkie Pie will be all too happy to tell you.”

The filly crossed her legs and glared. “Yeah, cause that stunt against Gilded Hoof was sooo reserved on your end.”

“His family apologized on his behalf, and I even got a public one from him before they all ended up beggared and I stopped what I was up to,” the stallion said. “And if it means paying them back for breaking Star’s heart, then I’m fairly certain all the bits in Equestria wouldn’t be enough. The apology was all I wanted. I even had them framed!”

Apogee Star rolled her eyes as she lit up her horn. “There, I’ve removed the wards at least. But I’m not turning them back early.”

“You just cut your punishment by one day,” the flutterpony said with a nod. “I think that might be all you’ll get from her though, Moondancer.”

“If she wasn’t such a good student, she’d be out on her flank,” Moondancer warned. “Just so you know, this is going on your record, Princess or not.”

“Princess this, princess that… that’s all everypony ever talks about,” she muttered.

“She has a good moral compass,” the stallion said. “It’s just a bit extreme in how it rights what she considers wrong most of the time.”

“Again, like her father,” Moondancer chuckled. “We’ll be lucky if their parents don’t lodge a complaint either. Archmage or not, even I can’t overrule a decision by the school board.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that,” the stallion chuckled. “If I know my daughter, she’s already collected all manner of insurance that that won’t ever happen to her.”

“I know where they live,” the young filly muttered darkly.

“Now Apogee,” the flutterpony said. “What have we taught you about effective threats? How words are more effective than any spell if you use the right ones?”

“Diplomacy is an art all to itself, where words are double-edged swords to the uninitiated.” Apogee recited.

“And it’s your job to be smarter than your classmates in how you act and talk,” Ledger said. “I know you’re a clever filly. So why can’t you show it besides turning your classmates to toads?”

“Not toads, assorted cats, bunnies and squirrels,” Apogee nodded and smirked. “Besides, their combined intellect couldn’t even beat Uncle Brute’s.”

The stallion sighed and pulled out the last weapon he had.

“I am so very disappointed in you,” he said without looking at her. “I would have thought some of my natural deviousness would have rubbed off on you. Evidently I was mistaken.”

Apogee just sat there in silence.

“I have no words for this,” Moondancer sighed. “Look Apogee. Take the rest of the week off. You’ve already memorised all of your lessons for the month anyhow.”

“What? But… this is the only place I can get away from my brother and sisters!”

“You should have thought about that before you decided to break the rules,” Ledger said. “The unofficial rule number one of a rule-breaker. Don’t get caught. And you never did seem to be willing to apply yourself outside of your studies. You could be great at anything, and you chose to do as you please. Now you pay for it.”

“Why shouldn’t I choose to do as I please?” Apogee’s aura shifted from reddish irritation to the flat out crimson of anger. “Why shouldn’t I get to choose what to do with my life. Buck knows everything else is already decided for me!!”

“Doing as you please, and doing as you please without regards for anypony else, are two separate things,” Ledger riposted. “There are rules and laws for a reason. So that everypony, not just you, are free to live their lives as well. I’m fairly certain you wouldn’t like it if your classmates were free to exact vengeance upon you. Until the day comes when you learn to respect others, even if they are less intelligent than you, then you will be punished when you break the rules.”

“Rules are there for a reason,” Moondancer said. “Look Apogee, if you don’t like learning with the others, then I could arrange private tutoring…”

“It’s not that!” the filly replied, losing a lot of her earlier fire. “It’s just… nevermind.” Her horn flashed once more and she nodded. “Those brats are back to normal. Well, as normal as they can get I suppose.”

“Better, but you’re still grounded for a day,” Ledger said. “And if you want freedom to choose, then perhaps you should bring it up with your mother? You know she’s the one that schedules everything.”

“Whatever,” the filly said as she got up. “Are we done here?”

“Maybe,” the stallion said as he looked at Moondancer. “Are we?”

“I guess we are,” Moondancer sighed. “Look Apogee. I know that some ponies expect a lot of things of you, given that your mother is a princess and you being an alicorn. But in the end? It’s your life to lead. Nopony, not even Celestia herself can tell you what to do with it.”

Apogee listened, she didn’t reply with a fiery retort or a scathing remark… she just turned and left.

“And hopefully something got through to her,” Ledger sighed. “I’m very sorry on her behalf in any case. How’s yours?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Moondancer replied. She pat a small stack of papers on her desk. “Those fillies have been causing trouble for a while now. While her methods were… severe, she won’t have to worry about them, they are no longer welcome back in my school.” She eased back in her chair and pulled a small flask of rum from under a compartment in her desk. “I’m doing well though. Pleasent-Dreams coddles our son like you would not believe. And even though he’s a few years younger than Apogee, we’ve already caught him in the forbidden area of the club a few times.”

“Uhoh,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “As long as he grows up healthy and not as another Fredrick or Midnight, then we’ll survive.”

“Worse…” Moondancer groaned. “Fredrick’s uncle Zethy is in town. No prizes on the second place he hit up when he arrived.”

“Yooooou may want to try and shield your foal from him, if he was such a big influence on Jonathan and Fredrick turning out the way they did,” the flutterpony said.

“Midnight is visiting Sugar today… the three of them. In the same room…” Aaaand now he knew why the unicorn was hiding out in Canterlot today.

“Hopefully Dreams won’t pick up anything from them all being together,” the stallion said.

“Here’s hoping,” the mare sighed. Ledger caught something from the corner of his eye. A nymph walked past Moon’s office, the same Pink that Twilight and her friends saved all that time ago. His eyes widened as he did his best to look away, trying not to stare. He failed spectacularly.

“Surprised?” Moondancer giggled. “After she finished rehabilitation and therapy, turns out she’s quite knowledgeable on Dark Magicks. So I decided to put that to good use.”

“That’s...all kinds of disturbing,” Ledger shuddered.

“Admittedly, a Pink knowing dark Arts is… odd,” Moondancer said and shrugged. “Well, it’s a weird world. Sometimes makes me think about how changing one event might have affected things. I brought that up with Twilight and that student of hers, Starlight Glimmer… the two of them got real quiet for some reason, so I dropped it.”

“Yeah, I’m not gonna tell you why they’d know that better than anyone,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “Well, if that’s all today, then I think I’ll be heading home to enforce Apogee’s punishment.”

“Good luck,” Moondancer waved as the stallion left her office, walking in the opposite direction to the Pink mare. She looked at her glass and decided she’d need a second… maybe a third.

The Messaging system had finally been brought back from the stasis that Celestia had politely requested it be in once they’d worked out all the kinks for integrating it into the military. That, coupled with the Hub network for their teleportation system, meant that Scope had become quite the busy ‘ling. Fortunately, she also had underlings she could boss around, and they had a station in every major town.

Of course, a fair bit of the revenue was eaten up by the taxes and costs of maintaining the systems, but they still brought in quite the hefty sum of bits every month. Enough so that looking after five foals was not a hard thing, and that was before any of the mares pitched in.

Though, Scope tended to argue that she already was…

Still, business boomed once the first Hub was opened. Shipping became instant across Equestria, and Ledger had his hoof in the door to start monopolizing it. Pegasus Air could not be larger. And it was times like this he was ever so thankful for his paperwork spell.

Speaking of, he still had that side-project of making a golem to attend to one of these days…

Ledger got up from his desk and cracked his neck, before walking out into the castle as a whole, listening for the sounds of chaos. There usually was some.

Critical was paying them a visit today, the scenery of the Crystal Empire was getting tiresome and she needed some inspiration.

What Ledger didn’t expect was Midnight to barrel into him, the mare a bundle of nerves and worry.

“What is it?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “Fire, flood, parasprite infestation?”

“Why is it that the third option is always different?” Midnight replied before shaking her head. “Ahhh! Not the time! Our kids have run away!”

“Which ones?” Ledger asked.

“All except Gala,” she exclaimed. She held out a scroll with a shaky hoof and Ledger looked it over.

‘Dear Mom and Dad.

I want to know more about our heritage. More than what books and your stories had told me.

So I’m taking a trip to Roamania. I’m being careful, I took my wingblades and Momma-Cider’s lessons.

I’ll be back soon, so don’t worry okay?

Love, Star Song.

P.S. Mom’s totally flipping out, isn’t she?’

“As am I,” Ledger growled. “When was the last train to Roamania?”

“About an hour ago, the only one is the mail train that leaves from Canterlot,” Midnight explained. “They used the Gate to get there. And it looks like Silver, Apogee and Books followed her.”

“Probably for their own reasons,” Ledger grumbled. “Okay, I’ll go get them. They won’t be there any longer that it takes me to find them and book passage home. I promise you, nothing will happen to them. But you need to hold down the fort here while I do this.”

“Ledger… Secret. The last time you went there… it broke you.”

“Oh no,” the stallion said with a shake of his head. “Losing you, that’s what broke me. Getting you back helped. And we’re on good terms with Roamania these days. I will get them back, I promise.”

“Given that they all went,” Midnight said as she let him go. “I fear more for Roamania…”

And that’s when Critical’s ears flicked. A country she’d never been to before?

“Oh Ledger~” she sang as she trotted closer.

“I’m a little busy in case you hadn’t noticed,” the stallion said as they walked through the castle. Ponyville had a Gate they could use.

“Mhmm, we can talk on the way,” she nodded. “Sounds like we have quite a trip ahead of us.”

“We?” Ledger asked. “I am going there to retrieve my children. They are perfectly welcome to take a tour of Roamania...when they have an escort of one of their parents. That way there will be minimal casualties to Roamania. I don’t know where this we came from.”

“Oh come on!” she pouted as she continued to walk next to him. “Just you and me, adventuring. Like the old days.”

“Do you mean when we actively antagonized one another, or when you started trying to scout out locations for all the other Daring Do books, see if you could add just a touch of realism to your illusions?”

“It’s a place I haven’t been before, so I’m going whether you like it or not,” she cooed. “You can’t really stop me now can you?”

“I also don’t have to look out for your well-being,” the stallion pointed out. “You are an adult, you can take care of yourself.”

“Well one of us has to,” she smirked.

“I’m not going to be there longer than it takes to locate and get my kids back,” Ledger said as they neared the Gate. “You can help or stay out of my way, just don’t try to stop me.”

“Wasn’t gonna stop you,” she replied as she adjusted her bags. “Hmm, maybe I should call our other siblings? Make a field trip out of it?”

“That’s...actually a good idea,” Ledger mused. “The Trio would be useful for finding and containing Star, and Joyful is completely unpredictable.”

“Did… did you just agree with me?” Critical asked with a fearful tone.

“When it comes to getting my children back, I will do whatever I must to ensure their safety,” Ledger said. “Let’s not leave them in Roamania any longer than we have to.”

“I think you're overreacting… as usual,” Critical shrugged as she shone her horn. It didn’t take long for the others to join them.

“Oooh, Oooooh. Road trip?” Joyful bounced.

“Extraction mission,” the flutterpony clarified. “We go in, we find my kids, we get them home.”

“Permission to use lethal force on those that try to stop us?” Brute asked.

“Sub-lethal only, unless they go for lethal themselves,” Ledger said. “We don’t want to spark a war with Roamania. We just want to get in and out.”

“Wheeeee~!” Joy bounced through the Gate as it opened.

“I suddenly regret this decision,” Critical muttered.

“And to think, I had been considering having more, after a fashion,” Ledger muttered. “Come on, let’s get my kids back.”

The coming days would bring more excitement to Romania than the country had seen in centuries…

Author's Note

Ausbrony - It’s funny how a simple story could lead off to so many others. Like a tree starting with a single seed, it just continued to grow. Writing this was a lot of fun, lotsa headcanon got to be explored, and I made a bunch of new ones too~

Thanks for sticking with this. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it. Until next time everyone~

Thadius0 - For a simple story we were going to write between lulls of A New World, A New Way, this certainly grew completely out of control. We could have stopped it after chapter eight. We probably should have. That might have been the wiser choice. Considering the first chapter was published in May of 2015, I can only extrapolate that this story took half a year to write, from beginning to end. We changed computers during this, or at least I did. And yet, the story continued. We even moved what I thought was going to be the end date of the story, from ‘I do’ to opening the door to what might just be the next chapter. This is just proof that I do not know how to keep a good story down.

From me to you, thank you for all your kind words. Thank you for sticking with it. I know it’s not the story some of you might have been hoping for, or the type of story I’m more well-known for, but this was a blast to write. Now I have like...twenty things that have just been piling up, waiting for me to get back to them. I’ll see you all on the flipside.

Chapter 93 - Alicorn Science. We do what we must, because, we can.

Chapter 93 - Alicorn Science. We do what we must, because, we can.

Twilight stared at the frame that would serve as the portal that linked her room to the homestead in Las Pegasus. She frowned, chewing on a piece of her mane as her brow furrowed deeper.

“This… I mean, we’re some of the smartest ponies in freaking Equestria! Why is this not bucking working!?”

“Twi, calm down,” Moondancer said, though to be truthful, she was getting a little annoyed as well. “We’ll get it soon enough…”

“I just checked this formula,” Ledger said. “I think we might have done it wrong in our haste.” He pointed it out to the mares. “I’m pretty sure that symbol wasn’t there in the last step.”

“Dang,” Twilight looked at the mirror and sighed. “I want this to work…”

“And we will, just gotta work out all the bugs,” Moondancer said and then looked at Ledger. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Ledger said as he erased the blackboard and rewrote the equation, before working on it again. “Hmm, does that look right now?”

The two mares stared at it, the gears in their head turning as they read and reread the formula.

“Maybe?” Twilight asked. “Setting up the one to Earth was easy, all I did was copy what already existed and I had an anchor in the form of magical...books…” She gasped as Ledger felt that alicorn-fuelled idea moment. “Bereightbackokay?” she yelled, already running from the room.

“Anchors,” Ledger mused. “Why didn’t I think of that? Something on each end to tie the spell to.”

“I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t think of it either,” Moondancer said. “Well, leave it to Princess Bookworm to come up with a solution.”

“Bet you ten bits her proposed solution will involve a book as the anchor,” Ledger said.

“Twilight loves her books, but I highly doubt she’d use one like that,” Moondancer said and shook his hoof to seal the bet.

It took almost half an hour for Twilight to return, panting like she’d just run a marathon as she clutched a book with Celestia’s Cutie Mark on it.

“S-Sorry… I’m...late,” she gasped.

“It’s fine,” Ledger said as he looked at the book. “So, what’s in this book, Twilight?”

“That…” a somewhat familiar voice said as another unicorn walked in. She had a creamy yellow coat with a vibrant yellow and red mane. Sharp teal eyes and a flameburst Cutie Mark. “Is how she talks with me.” The unicorn crossed the room, sparing a glance at the board before sighing. “So what on earth made you come all the way over to bring me here?”

“We’re trying to make a door that is also a portal, so that after the wedding, our two houses will be as one,” Ledger explained. “This way, we don’t have to choose where to live. We’ll already be living together.”

Sunset Shimmer paused and looked at Twilight. “Um… wedding?”

Twilight blushed and fidgeted, before looking up shyly. “I’m, um… getting married tomorrow?”

Sunset paused, blinked and looked at Ledger. “To this unicorn?”

Ledger smirked and shifted his eyes to their Noble version for a moment, before shifting them back. “Hello again Sunset, I see you’ve already forgotten me,” he chuckled.

Sunset’s brow furrowed and she looked back to Twilight. “Explain!”

Twilight took a breath and what followed was an explanation at speeds that would make Pinkie Pie proud. Luckily Sunset was used to dealing with her own version of the crazy girl, so she was able to decipher most of the princess’s ramblings.

“So you’re getting into a herd marriage? Huh, and here I thought that was only for nobles and storybooks.” She turned and looked at Ledger with a fierce expression. “And you’re a Changeling huh? Interesting…”

“You can run your own set of observations later,” Ledger promised the unicorn. “Right now, we’re sort of busy with this whole portal thing.”

“Right, right…” Sunset passed by Moondancer and paused. “Well, hey there~”

“Hello yourself~” the unicorn flirted right back.

“Mares,” Ledger sighed. “Please focus. If the four of us can’t do this, then I’ll have no hope for it being done.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Boys. Always so damned dramatic.” She walked up to the chalkboard and tapped her chin. “Honestly, not a whole lot for me to… ah… hmm,” She rubbed out a number and put down a different one. “And… oh, this too…”

After a few minutes of discussion and some re-writes, Sunset stood back and smiled. “There, all you need is an anchor and you’re good to go.”

“Hmm,” Ledger said before floating his book over and taking notes on the revised equation. “And would you say this could work if we wanted to build, say, a network of these things?”

“Nah, you could get the wires crossed and cause all sorts of things I’d rather not mention,” Sunset said. “I’ve been thinking on that topic actually, and I have an idea. One I… might have gotten from a fictional series back home.”

“Do tell,” Ledger said, now giving the unicorn his undivided attention.

“A teleportation platform,” Sunset said. “It would be easy enough to write the spell itself into a crystal matrix, then set it into a stone dias or something. Then all you need is a trigger, a magical spark to activate the spell and send them to the other end.”

“And if we introduce the concept of an address, then every platform would have its own unique address, and inputting the one you want to arrive at before triggering the spell would, ideally, send you to where you want to be,” Ledger added. “I like this idea. I like it a lot.”

“The address could be as simple as a unique pattern in the stone work,” Sunset added. “Something for the caster to memorise so he or she sends them to the right location. You’ll just need a method of communication with the other end, make sure the platform remains clear.”

“Eh, I’d like it to be simpler than ‘a unique pattern,’” Ledger said. “If this takes off, then it’ll be a job opportunity across Equestria. I might get all sorts of untrained colts and fillies signing on to be an operator.”

“Well for starters, I wouldn’t hire anyone that doesn’t know how to teleport themselves, let alone somebody else,” Sunset said as she idly floated a few pieces Twilight needed to finish the portal. “And communication is still key. Too bad you guys don’t have cellphones…”

“Hivemind Spell,” Ledger pointed out. “With Scope as the center of it, and a ‘ling in every installation, we could easily communicate across Equestria… We actually had a roaring messenger service for all of a day...before Celestia asked us to quietly shut it down so that she could fold it into the government. She still hasn’t told us when she’s going to be opening that up, though...”

“Yeah, well, Celestia’s good at keeping everypony in the dark,” Sunset said darkly, her tone suddenly getting quite a bit of bite to it. “I wouldn’t count on her for anything.”

“Can’t exactly move against her wishes,” Ledger pointed out. “Otherwise I’m sure we’d get a very nice team of lawyers showing up at my door.”

“Nah, she’d just banish you to another dimension,” Sunset chuckled.

“Please stop talking about Princess Celestia like that,” Twilight sighed. “Can we just finish this portal already?”

“Oh, I am nowhere near done with you Sparkle,” Sunset said. “You and I are going to have a nice, long chat about why I only just found out you’re getting married.” She etched the last rune in place. “But yes, do you have the anchors?”

Twilight smiled and pulled out two books. Ledger stuck his hoof to Moondancer, a silent smile on his face.

“Son of a Parasprite,” Moon swore as she hoofed over the bits. “A book Twilight? Really?”

“I like books,” Twilight nodded.

“Plus if we were to try and link them together, they’d be useful if we just wanted to talk to one another on the other side,” Ledger added. “And they’re easily hideable in a study or a library.”

“You’re just trying to rationalise her using a book so you won’t feel as disappointed,” Moondancer smirked. “Oh well, at least you make a valid point. Let’s do it.”

“What’s wrong with books?” Twilight sniffed.

“Nothing,” Ledger said with his smile. “They were probably just expecting something a bit more grand from you. I, however, know you.” With that, he walked over to the alicorn and gave her a comforting kiss.

“Aww,” Sunset and Moondancer cooed as Twilight blushed, causing her to drop the books.

A Daring Do one and…

…

That blasted vampony book…

“Twilight, I am sorely tempted to burn this book,” Ledger deadpanned. “Just so you know.”

That was when the book was ignited and the glow around Sunset’s horn died down.

“You can thank me later,” she chuckled.

Twilight stared in horror at the burning book. Oh dear, a certain unicorn was about to die…

“Twilight, that book is one of the trashiest romance novels ever written,” Ledger pointed out. “And it has absolutely no basis in fact. Or reality. I of all ponies should know this.”

“But… she… book…. burned!” Twilight looked at Sunset, who rolled her eyes and pulled out a book, floating it over to Twilight.

“Courtesy of the human world,” she smiled as Twilight’s mood did a one eighty as she grabbed the new book and opened it. Forget the portal, she had a new book~

Moondancer sighed and produced two blank tomes, having used a duplication spell on Twilight’s book. “There,” she said. “Two anchors.”

“Excellent,” Ledger said, rubbing his forehooves together.

Moondancer placed one in the alcove above the portal and gave the other to Ledger. “Simply create a gate on the other end for this to connect to, and you should be good to go I’d say.”

“Most excellent indeed,” Ledger said before looking at Twilight. “Shall we go and make a portal in Cider’s home?”

“Right now?” Twilight asked, holding her new book.

“Your Waypoints still work,” the drone pointed out. “We could be there and back quickly. Even quicker, if this turns out to work as well. Plus, how often do you have so many minds like this together? We must try this out, for science!” He’d even struck a dramatic pose at the end.

“He makes another good point,” Moondancer said and Sunset nodded.

“Fiiiine,” Twilight pouted and put down her book, “So shall we use the Waypoint? Or the Gate?”

“How many ways do you have to get to this place?” Sunset asked with a raised eyebrow.

“We need one that works for non-unicorns,” Ledger said. “Or non-changelings. Or one that’s actually safe.”

“Well I guess,” Sunset shrugged. “Sooo why are we still standing here?”

“I dunno,” Ledger said before looking at Twilight. “Two to the farm, please!”

Twilight rolled her eyes and lit up her horn. The door to her room opened and Midnight poked her head in, just in time to see everypony vanish…

“Are. You. SERIOUS!?”

Ledger blinked before seeing that they’d arrived at the farm, with more ponies than he’d thought they’d be bringing. “Okay, interesting,” he mused before holding the book up. “Shall we go find a door?”

“Whoa!” Midnight said and held up a hoof, a little dizzy from the sudden teleport. “Ledger? A question. What. The. Fuck!?”

“We’re doing a scientific experiment to link the house and the castle together,” the drone explained. “We’re just about to complete the link.”

“And you decided to drag me along?” she said, rubbing her head.

“The teleport was an area-of-effect,” Twilight replied, blushing slightly. “Sorry Middy, I didn’t see you, so that might explain the dizzyness.”

“Who’s the bat?” Sunset asked, pointing at the dizzy thestral. “And why does she remind me of Mrs Midnight Song?”

“Oh, sure, when it comes to Thestrals, no complaints there, no common misconceptions,” Ledger said. “But Changelings, you disbelieve exist.”

“Ohh, someone’s salty today,” Sunset taunted. “And I’ve actually met a Thestral before. Unlike one of your kind.”

“Well maybe if you hang around, I’ll pull off a magic trick,” Ledger snarked at her. “Once Midnight’s feeling better, we can look for a door that we can use to test out this portal.”

“Doors,” Sunset scoffed and Moondancer giggled as well. The orange unicorn pointed out at the farm. “Be a good stallion and fetch us some wood okay?”

“Ooh,” Midnight perked right up. “He’s good at getting wood~”

The drone sighed before walking over to the barn and looking for an appropriate amount of wood. “How much do you want?” Ledger called over to Sunset once he’d located the spare wood Cider kept around in case of repairs.

“Enough that might make a suitable door frame,” Sunset said as the mares headed inside. “And get some fallen branches. We want a little style.”

Ledger pulled a little wood from the pile before grabbing a few branches from that pile as well and floated it after him. He wondered what these mares would do with this stuff…

Once he was inside, he eventually found the mares in Ciders room, looking around.

“Nice place,” Sunset whistled. “This room is probably bigger than my house.”

“I’m not sure how to respond to that,” Ledger said before floating the supplies over. “The goods you requested.”

“Thanks,” Sunset kissed him on the cheek. “Your reward, be honoured.”

“I would be if I weren’t already in quite a complex relationship and about to be married,” Ledger said. “I’m still mostly curious.”

“Ahh,” she turned to Twilight and smiled. “So Princess, how’s your Arbourmancy?”

Twilight’s brow furrowed and she closed her eyes in thought. “I know a little… why?”

“Well, what about you?” Sunset asked Moondancer. “Think you can assist cutie?”

“Oh you bet those hot flanks I can,” Moondancer hummed. “I happen to be quite skilled at this.”

“And now I’m even more curious,” Ledger said as he sat back and watched for the show. The two mares stepped forward as Twilight also watched with rapt attention, eager to see something new. The two unicorns lit up their horns and started to lift the wood with their magic.

Their aura then turned a soft green, as the wood begun to twist and bend, but didn’t break? They started to form the arch and within a few minutes, they created a rather ornate wooden archway, complete with an alcove at the top for the book.

“Moment of truth,” Ledger said, before slotting the book into the alcove and holding his breath. Twilight gave him a minute to sweat it out, before stepping over and pulling a switch on the side of the gate. With a bright flash, the portal rippled to life, the faint image of Twilight’s bedroom could be seen on it’s watery surface.

“Awesome!” the drone hoof-pumped. “This is what we can do if we work together! Now we don’t have to choose between the homes anymore!”

“So it seems,” Twilight nodded. “Kinda feel like we’re cheating though. Think this’ll really work?”

“One way to find out,” Ledger said before walking up to the portal. “For science!” With that, he was poking the portal with a hoof, before walking right through it.

“Is he dead?” Sunset asked. “I’d feel really bad if we killed him.”

“Your concern is touching,” Twilight deadpanned and poked at the portal. “He’s uh… is he coming back?”

Ledger stuck his head back through the portal, with a slightly wide grin on his face. “This is awesome!” he said. “You all should try it!”

Midnight suddenly tackled-hugged him through the portal, already kissing him. Twilight rolled her eyes again, almost certain this was now her default expression. The three magic-users soon walked through the portal as well.

“It functions perfectly,” Moondancer hummed happily. “Maybe I could set one up between my home in Canterlot and Sugars?”

“Sugar?” Sunset asked.

“My wife,” Moondancer replied. “I should introduce her to you. She’ll just love you~”

“Assuming Sunset here can keep up,” Ledger pitched in.

“You saying I’m not good enough?” Sunset threatened him. “Wait, what are we talking about?”

“You’ll see~” Moondancer hummed as she dragged the unicorn away. She had a nymph to find.

“Well, that was a good way to spend a few hours,” Twilight said as she looked down at the clingy bat, who was now hugging her midsection. “You’re being awfully huggy. More so than usual.”

“M’a sadbat,” Midnight pouted. Ledger took it upon himself to change this, by giving her a kiss. She took it, before sighing lightly.

“I sorta know why,” she said. “And… we might have a problem later down the line.”

“Do tell,” Ledger said, curious again.

“Well, you remember what we were told about thestral pregnancies yeah?” Midnight paused to let those lessons come back into mind. “Now… add the fact of what I’m pregnant with.”

“Ooooooh,” the drone said. “We’re...in for an interesting pregnancy, aren’t we?”

“That’s kind of an understatement,” Midnight sighed. “I’m just… I’m so worried, and stressed and panicked and…” Her breathing got heavier and… oh, yeah, she was having a panic attack now.

Then Ledger was cuddling her and whispering soothing words into her ears. “I promise you, I’ll be right here for you,” he said. It took a moment, but Midnight calmed down, before she just slumped in his grasp. She just… she had to ask,

“If, if I wasn’t pregnant with your foal,” she said. “Would you still want me? I mean, you always call Cider your ‘pretty mare’ and you seem to bond so well with Scopey… and Twilight, she’s like your perfect match…” She sighed again and shuddered. “I… I feel like you don’t need me anymore.”

He turned Midnight to face him before he replied, slow and sure. “You’re the one that fixed me,” he said simply. “You’re the one that helped me when I was at my lowest. You’re the one that helped me to love again. I would never do something as cruel as denying you my love.” Then he kissed her, giving her just a taste of what he had. A taste of the love his mares kept giving him, so that she’d have no doubts that she was wanted.

“I’m sorry,” she cried now, holding onto him tightly. “I don’t want to feel like this. But… it just… I don’t know!!” She sobbed harder, taking a few minutes of him patiently hugging her, with Twilight moving in to hold her as well. “I’m pretty stupid huh…”

“You’re Midnight,” Ledger said simply. “And no matter what you do or say, I will never not want you in my life.”

Midnight smiled and nodded, just holding both of them close. “I’ll admit,” she said quietly. “I was thinking of running… tomorrow scares me that much.” She kissed him deeply and he could feel the love she had for him, as rich and pure as it was the day they’d gotten together. “But… not anymore. I’m not afraid anymore. All those negative feelings… they’re gone.”

“I’m happy for you,” Ledger said. “I know that I certainly would have been upset if a certain Songbird wasn’t in attendance for the ceremony.”

“Well of course,” Midnight smirked and nuzzled him. “I can’t imagine how anyone goes through life without me in it.”

“It certainly was less fun in my life before you walked in,” the drone observed.

Twilight opened her mouth to say something, before the sounds of yelling from downstairs drowned her out…

The smell of smoke was also a thing that was happening.

“Oh dear,” Ledger sighed. “Once more unto the breach.” With that, he squirmed free of the hug and went off to see what could possibly have caused a fire this time. It couldn’t have been Midnight or Twilight, they were right here, not in the kitchen at all.

Painted Palette and a small pink filly were running around, trying to put the fire out that raged in Twilight’s kitchen. All he wanted to do was surprise his fiance with some lunch, and then this little pink filly had appeared, introduced herself as Critical’s sister and asked to help…

And now everything was on fire.

“I just don’t know what went wrong!” the filly wailed, splashing water from the sink onto the veritable inferno.

Actually, it was just the stove, but fire was still fire.

Ledger peeked into the kitchen and sighed. Nopony thought to turn the bloody gas off. With a small application of his horn, the burners all clicked off, killing the fuel to the fire.

“Big Brother to tha rescue!” Joyful cheered and blurred across the room to attach herself to his chest.

“Stupid, modern, fancy whosimawhatsits!” Palette grumbled. What was wrong with a good old wood stove? Noo, these ponies has to use fancy magic thingies!

“Little tip. Read the owner’s manual before you try to play with something that has more buttons than you’re comfortable with,” Ledger said before stroking Joyful. “And what in the world are you doing here, little sis?”

“Middybat called me, told me you guys were havin’ fun without me!” she pouted and hugged him tighter. “Daddy’s around here somewhere, I think the trip made him sick or something. He just keeps rocking back and forth and talking about walls.”

“Sis, we’ve told you not to bring other ponies with you,” the drone sighed. “Bad enough that you can do...whatever it is you do. Others just can’t handle it.”

“Aww, but Mommy said I’m not old enough to travel alone, and the other brothers are being poopyheads. So Daddy was the only one.” She looked around and tilted her head. “Where is Mommy? She could make him better.”

“I don’t know,” Ledger replied truthfully. Nor do I want to know. “But I’m sure if you do your best to cheer your dad up, by the time we find mom again, she won’t have a lot to do.”

“I suppose…” She stopped as her ears twitched and she smiled unsettlingly. “I feel… somepony like me~”

“Oh no,” Ledger said, hugging her a little tighter. “You are not to go near them when they’re together. Reality would never recover.”

That was when Ledger found himself hugging thin air, the little pink filly skipping down the halls singing something about smiles.

“...Well, we’re all boned,” Ledger said. “I’m gonna go and tell Twilight we’re about to enter the Pink event horizon, beyond which, no sanity may escape.” He looked over at Palette and shrugged. “Might wanna make out your will, just in case.”

Palette blinked in confusion as Ledger left to find his mares, just as Critical came in the other door to the kitchen, looking at the scorch marks on the wall and her stallion in the middle of the floor.

“Your family is strange,” he said without turning around.

“Don’t forget, you’re marrying into it,” Critical said before walking over next to him and nuzzling him. “They’re going to be your family too.”

“Critty?” he asked, nuzzling her. “Explain why your brother told me to write a will, just because your little sister showed up here?”

“Little sis is a Pink, and they can wear on your sanity at the best of times,” the disguised nymph replied. “Don’t know why he would tell you that, though. It would require more Pinks to truly drive everyone crazy.”

That was when she saw Amy, Pinkie and Joyful running down the hall, the pony of the three dragging a large, blue cannon…

“...Objection withdrawn,” the green nymph said. “Let’s see if this castle comes with a shelter in case of emergencies, like this one.”

Palette still didn’t get it.

Wishful sighed as he stroked his wife’s mane. “Mmm, so that makes every large-enough piece of furniture in this room thoroughly broken in~” He purred and nibbled her ear. “The bathtub and desk were especially fun~”

“Hives, you’re insatiable,” the disguised nymph muttered. “I’m just happy we didn’t break anything. I get the sneaking suspicion that Princess Twilight would make us pay for them.”

“Ohh, there’s an idea,” he said and leaned in close, only to have a small Pink head pop up between them.

“MOMMY!” the filly cheered and hugged her face. “I found you~”

“Joyful?” the nymph said, her brain already blaring out the danger siren. “What are you doing here?”

“Middybat wanted me to come and play! Oh, and I made a new friend!” She reached down and pulled up Amy and Pinkie. “We’re gonna go and play now. Oh, and Daddy’s around somewhere. I think I broke him a little. Bye Mommy, Bye Wishy Daddy!” She gave them both a kiss on the cheek as the three pink mares tore from the room.

“Ooooh no,” the Madame said, shakily getting to her hooves. “That is not good. That mare reads like a Pink, and with three of them together…”

Wishful looked like he’d seen the end of the world. “I confess my sins. Midnight kissed me once.”

“We’ll talk about that later,” the Madame said, kissing him. “Right now I have to go save Ponyville if not everything in the immediate vicinity.” With that, she managed to walk out of the room, calling for Twilight Sparkle.

She had a town to save. Admittedly, from her own offspring, but the thought counted, surely.

Twilight sat in her throne as everypony else in the castle gathered in the throneroom. Midnight was the last to enter, dragging a muttering stallion in with her.

“I found this in the hallway,” she called out. “Hooves up if it belongs to you.”

The Madame, undisguised, walked over and took her husband from the thestral before giving him a passionate kiss. The shock of it would break him out of his loop. It always did.

Sure enough, the orange Earth Pony blinked a few times before looking around. “I did it again, didn’t I?” he asked aloud.

“I’ve warned you about travelling with Joyful,” the Madame said.

“Like I had a choice once she got her hooves on me,” the stallion replied, before flashing into his normal self. “One minute I’m tending the garden, the next thing I know, I’m being dragged to wherever here is on the Pink Express.”

“You’re in Ponyville, my castle to be precise,” Twilight explained. “Now can somepony please explain what the big emergency is? I fail to see how two mares and a filly will be able to cause all that much trouble.”

“Twilight,” Ledger explained simply. “Perhaps the most defining character trait of the Pink Changelings, beyond their perky, bubbly attitude, is their ability to warp space. We don’t know how they do it. It’s just...instinctive to them. And your friend, Pinkie? She’s basically the world’s largest magical battery to the two Pink changelings she’s now bouncing around with.”

“Well… okay, that might be a little bit of a problem,” Twilight replied.

“I think you’re blowing it a little out of proportion don’t you think?” Midnight said. “I mean, sure, they can be a little weird. But I fail to see how this could get worse…”

That was when the disembodied cackle of a certain draconequus filled the air.

“Whoops?” Midnight blushed sheepishly.

“For example,” Ledger said, trying his best to ignore that laugh. “My sister, on her first sugar rush, with ten seconds alone in my room, managed to excavate an in-house swimming pool, fill it with oatmeal, and add a donkey, before going out and wreaking more mayhem out in the house.”

Outside, the three mares skipped down the path as Pinkie gave Joy a ponyback ride.

“Teehee, you’re fun,” she giggled. “Oh, hey! Do you like ice-cream?”

“I love it!” Joyful cheered. “We just don’t get a whole lot of it in the Lands.”

Pinkie halted mid-jump, just hovering there as she slowly turned her head and looked at the little filly. “Amy?” she said slowly. “I do believe this calls for our particular expertise.”

“One sad filly to introduce to the wonders of ice-cream,” the nymph said with a nod. “I packed my scoops and everything!”

“Should we grab Middy as well?” Pinkie asked. “She’s been all pouty and saddy-waddy all day.”

“Nah, she’s just pregnant with a hybrid,” Amy said with a shake of her head. “She’ll be all sorts of weird until the little one’s born. I almost pity Ledger.”

“You’re one to talk,” Pinkie giggled as they headed for Sugarcube Corner. “You got your own bun in the oven as well.”

“I know,” Amy giggled as well. “But hopefully Chryssy will help Acey more than she’ll snark at him.”

Pinkie suddenly vibrated and she looked around. She placed Joy on Amy’s back and nodded seriously. “Go on without me. I feel a doozy coming on!”

“Yup, the entrance to your vault is in the same place as usual, right?” Amy asked.

“Yahuh,” Pinkie nodded. The two Pinks took off, leaving Pinkie standing in the middle of the street.

“Bring it on!” she whispered as five mares charged towards her.

“You think Twilight and her friends can do it?” Midnight asked as she reclined in the alicorn’s chair.

“I think they’ll try,” Ledger replied. “If they can separate Pinkie from Amy and Joyful, then there won’t be a positive feedback loop that feeds the Pinks forever and causes massive damage to the sanity of everypony in a...five mile radius.” He’d actually worked it out on a blackboard, too. He was that bored with being told to wait.

“I still can’t believe you went and did the math,” Midnight said, blowing a raspberry.

“You know,” Scope said idly from a small cloud above them all. “This is all Midnight’s fault for bringing Joyful here in the first place… Just sayin’.”

“I don’t get it,” Ledger said. “When did you even call her? Was it right before you checked in on what we were doing?”

“Mhmm,” Midnight nodded. “I had the song in my head and sang it. I completely forgot she could even teleport this far. I mean, it didn’t work at all when I tried it when I was… I was…” She fell quiet again. Great, she’d managed to feel better… until she thought about those days.

Ledger was there in a moment, nuzzling her, not saying anything and just offering his presence to comfort her.

“So…” Scope spoke up again. “Do we just hang out here or what-” She was cut off as Twilight returned, pulling Pinkie Pie along with her.

“It was difficult, but we got her,” Twilight said. She looked like she’d gone a few rounds with an Ursa, and the rest of her friends were absent.

“Excellent!” Ledger said, before indicating the blackboard in a corner of the room. He wasn’t going to leave his bat before she was happy again. “With what little we know about Pinks, you might just have saved Ponyville.”

“The others were lost though,” Twilight said. “Well, they went home actually. Needed to wash the confetti and bubblegum out of their coats.”

“By now, they should have reached the Vault,” Pinkie giggled. “You won’t stop them. We will introduce that sweet filly to ice-cream!”

“Uh-oh…” Ledger said. “Um, Twilight...Joyful’s sugar intake is carefully monitored after last time…”

“Pinkie,” Twilight said. “How much ice-cream is in that vault of yours?”

“Vault. You have to use the capitol V,” Pinkie explained. “And I dunno, I guess enough for a deluxe triple scoop for everyone in Ponyville at any given time.”

Silence reigned as Ledger looked at Twilight with an expression of dawning horror.

“But she’s a tiny filly,” Twilight said. “How much could she possibly eat?”

“Enough to give her a sugar high that would last until chaos reigned over Ponyville,” Ledger said. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from watching her grow up back in the Lands. It’s never underestimate a Pink.”

That was when a distant rumbling shook the palace…

“Ohh, that can’t be good,” Wishful said as he held onto the Madame. “I want you to know that I love you dear.”

“Let it be known that I love all my husbands as well,” she said, before drawing Wishful and Peaceful close to her and waiting for whatever was going to happen.

There was naught but silence, before the strangest feeling came over them. A sense of weightlessness as some of them even started to float off of the ground. It also got dark outside all of a sudden, and the distant sound of club music filled the halls.

“Well… this is new,” Palette said.

“And quite unusual,” Critical agreed.

“You know,” Wishful said, unable to help himself. “This reminds me of the time we experimented while flying,” he mused, nibbling his wife’s ear again.

That caused a nearby Midnight to squeak and blush as Sugar giggled. Ledger just groaned and facehooved. “I did not need to know that,” he muttered. “Can we focus on getting back down, please?”

“Funny, that was what your mother said at the time,” Wishful laughed, as Sugar giggled louder.

“Ohh, you are fun~” she purred. Ledger groaned and looked to his mother, who was firing up her horn and preparing to cast her ‘reality reinforcing’ spell, as she called it. It...helped tone his sister down some days. With a silver flash, the spell was let loose in the room…

Right before it fizzled out. Sunset chuckled and pat the mare on the withers.

“Aw, don’t worry about it. Some of us have performance issues from time to time.”

Sugar had completely lost it by now, laughing loudly as a few other giggled as well. Twilight turned away, not wanting to upset the madame any further.

“Guys?” Scope said from a high window. “Uh… I don’t think we’re in Ponyville anymore.”

“Well then where are we?” Ledger asked irritably. “It’s a great big honking palace, it’s not like it can go anywhere.”

“You uh, you may wanna take a look outside before you settle on that decision,” Scope said. “Just, promise me you won’t freak out too badly okay?”

“I promise nothing,” Ledger said before working on how he’d get over to a window. “...How am I going to get over there?”

That was when Devoted Cause lifted him like one would a book and threw him, the low gravity causing Ledger to float up to the window easily.

And when the Silver drone peered out, what greeted him was an ocean of stars in infinite blackness.

“Meep,” Ledger said. “How did we get up here?” He suddenly felt very, very small. “How are we going to get back down?”

That was when there was a bright flash of light and the entire group found themselves standing outside the palace… which was currently located on the surface of the moon!

“Twilight,” Ledger said softly. “Do you think you could tell Luna to fetch us from the moon, please?”

“Sure Ledger, just lemme figure out how to get a mailpony up here,” Twilight snarked as Discord appeared, along with Amy and an extremely happy Joyful.

“Okay!” Amy said as she looked at the group. “So apparently, she can eat a lot of ice-cream.”

“Seventy-two scoops and counting!” the pink filly said before digging into the bowl she was holding.

Twilight’s castle flashed with strobe lights as the Ponyville residents that had gotten teleported up here were at odds with freaking out where they were, or just enjoying the moonside rave party.

There was also a giant pool of oatmeal, as Cranky Donkey floated in the middle of it in a large inflatable tube.

“Long time no see Ledger,” he waved out. “I see your sister got into the sugar again.”

“Ice cream, this time,” the drone said. “Good to see you too. Did you ever find that friend you had been looking for?”

Another donkey emerged, wearing a snorkel and a scuba mask. “We’re happily married now,” she waved.

“Aww, so cute!” Joyful giggled. “MOON PARTY!!!”

“Please tell me Spike is in here somewhere,” the drone said as he looked at Twilight. “...And that he can send from the surface of the moon.”

That was when Miss Ditzy landed in front of Ledger, her unfocused gaze shining brightly. “Heya Mr. Ledger. I have a letter from Princess Luna for you.”

“Because everything else is going swimmingly,” Ledger sighed. “Fine. Where is it?”

Ditzy held out the letter apprehensively, a little worried that he was angry. Hmm, well if somepony was angry, then there was only a single solution. When he reached out for the letter, the motherly mare pulled him into a soothing hug, stroking his mane.

“There there, it’s okay,” she said calmly.

Ledger’s eye twitched.

Midnight caught that and gently pulled Ditzy off of him, bowing her head as she took the letter. Once the strange pegasus had flown off, Midnight looked at her fiance.

“Levvy. No eating ponies. Bad changeling.”

“We. Are on. The moon. How is it okay?”

“Honestly, it’s just Tuesday for us,” Twilight said. “And I’ve been here before. It’s no big deal.”

Oh dear. That appeared to have broken Ledger. At least, if the twitching eye and the slight foam at the corners of his mouth were any indication.

“Uh, did I say something wrong?” Twilight asked as Midnight rolled her eyes and grabbed the drone’s face, applying her lips to his and giving him a deep and loving kiss. He slowly calmed down from the state he’d been in, and soon, Ledger was functional once more. For a given value of functional.

“Okay, I will overlook the fact that somehow, that mare had a letter from Luna. And the fact that you’ve apparently been here enough that it’s not a big deal for you. If the contents of that letter have anything to do with us leaving.”

Twilight blinked and opened the letter. “Let’s see… ‘Dear Friends. If this letter reaches you, then you’ve somehow made your way to the moon. I have the feeling that a certain Spirit of Chaos is involved and he’ll most likely be your solution.’

‘That said, enjoy your stay… hopefully it won’t be for a thousand years like mine~’

“Well… that answers that… sort of,” Twilight said as Midnight kissed Ledger again. Had to make sure the healing process sticks right. She totally wasn’t thinking about being the first mare to have sex on the moon. Nope, totally not at all.

“Right,” Ledger said, in the voice of somepony that was a hair’s breadth from snapping. “Oh Diiiiiiscord~”

“You rang?” he said, winking into existence. His body covered in glow sticks as he wiggled his form to the performing DJ’s music. “What do you all think of Equestria’s first ‘Space Rave’? I’ll admit that little Joy was a genius for creating the concept, but my input making it reality? Perfect no?”

“Discord,” Ledger said in that still too-calm voice. “I have a wedding to attend tomorrow. In Equestria. So help me, if I miss it because you were pandering to my little sister, I will tear you limb from limb and paint the moon red with your blood.”

Discord sighed. “And every party needs a pooper I suppose. One, you really need to lighten up. Have some fun. Two, you’re assuming both that you have the ability to do so and that my blood is red.” Discord looked at Midnight. “I won’t make you late for your archaic bonding thing. Do try and get this one to loosen up a little.” Discord pointed at Palette and Critical, dancing together a little ways away.

“Even the thousand year old Crystal Pony is having more fun than you,” he said. Then leaned closer to Midnight. “There’s a nice secluded place behind those rocks,” he whispered. “I’ll leave you a blanket and a soundproof bubble~”

Midnight’s eyes widened and she grabbed Ledger, already dragging him away.

Fluttershy flew over, it was surprisingly easy to move around up here. “Discord,” she said calmly. “I have to get back to feed my animal friends. Otherwise Angel Bunny might get cranky. And if he’s cranky, he can rile up the others.” She smiled and hugged his arm. “We can still have the party in Ponyville. And I bet with your magnificent powers, you could just make it look like the moon?”

Discord pouted, whined and then finally sighed. “Fiiiiiiine,” he said in a long, drawn-out tone and snapped his fingers, everypony and all the buildings now relocated back in Ponyville.

Twilight’s castle still flashed and strobed with the DJ’s music though.

“Oh come on!” Midnight whined, now straddling Ledger in the middle of the street.

“It’s a good thing we didn’t actually do anything,” the drone said. “I’d hate to be arrested for public indecency the day before the wedding.”

“Aww,” Midnight touched his cheek and smiled. “You act like I haven’t been arrested for that before~”

“Kinda hard to make vows in prison,” Ledger pointed out. “So, uh, you going to get off me or…”

“Nope, I’m comfy right he-Yipe!” she yelped as she was plucked from his form by Cider, she slung the bat over her back and just walked away, Midnight pouting over the treatment.

“There we go,” Ledger said as he stood up again. “Now, where is my sister? We have a Pink to...unwind.”

“Whhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!” Amy and Joyful rocketed past, Ledger spinning as they did, and once he stopped, he found himself wearing an entirely plaid three piece suit.

“Found them,” he deadpanned, before looking in the direction they’d gone. “We need to get them separated from each other, otherwise they’ll just keep feeding each other ideas, and in Joyful’s case, keep getting fed ice-cream. Problem is, I’m nowhere near fast enough to catch up with them…”

And then, Pinkie was beside him, posing dramatically as a long pink scarf flapped in the breeze.

“Grab my scarf!” she said.

“Oh...kay?” Ledger said before touching it with a hoof. And just like that, what occurred in the next few minutes defied any and all explanation. Pinkie had rocketed forward at lightning fast speeds, Ledger hanging on for dear life and by the time the ride had ended, he was back outside the palace, holding Joyful in his hooves.

“Lemme go!” she squirmed. “Ice-creeeaaammmmm~”

“Nope,” Ledger said, not thinking about what had just happened and lowering his horn to touch the filly’s. This was a technique his mother had taught him, seeing as he was responsible enough to not use it on anypony but Joyful when he needed to. True, Changelings couldn’t feed on each other without one of them coming out poorer for it…

But right now, this little filly needed to calm down and stop having so much energy. To whit, he started feeding on her until she did just that. She gasped and went to smack his cheek, before she yawned and passed out, snoring cutely.

“Aww, funs over,” Amy pouted. Ledger passed his sister over to his mother, who took the filly and gave her a kiss on the head.

“My little Joyful,” she sighed. “Always bringing the most interesting of situations to bear, no matter where you are.”

“I’ll take her back home the long way,” Peaceful said, taking the filly and putting her on his back. “It’ll be refreshing to take the train after the last few times I’ve travelled via Pink Express.”

“You don’t want to stay until tomorrow?” Twilight asked. “Your son is getting married. And I’m sure Joyful would like to see it as well.”

“I’m sure she would,” Peaceful replied. “I just don’t think it’d be safe to leave her here, in a town that already has two Pink mares in it.”

Midnight turned to Amy and Pinkie. “Do you two promise to be good?’ she said, stalking towards them with a predatory grin. “Because I will punish you if you aren’t.”

“Yipe!” Pinkie dove behind Amy, using her as a shield. Amy pulled on a Guard helmet out of nowhere, standing between her pink friend and her bat friend.

“I will never surrender what it means to be a Pink!” the nymph proclaimed. “NEVER!”

“If you insist~” Midnight said and grabbed the pink nymph, giving her a kiss and putting every ounce of Lust she had behind it. The same that she’d once unleashed upon the Las Pegasus Violet Hive…

Amy moaned, before her eyes went half-lidded and she licked her lips. “I’ll be riiiight back,” she said, before jumping off in search of Acey and Chryssie. Leaving Pinkie undefended…

“One down,” Midnight smiled, licking her lips and stalking towards Pinkie next. The mare slid back before her rump hit a tree.

“Uh-ohhh,” she gulped…

“Midnight,” Ledger spoke up. “Heel. Good girl, stop threatening the nice mare.”

Midnight just shrugged and headed towards the castle, she was feeling sleepy for some reason.

“Phew,” Pinkie wiped her brow. “Thanks for the save. Though, I wonder where Amy went?”

Meanwhile, a certain Pink ‘ling had snuck into Pinkie’s vault…

“It’s time,” she whispered, before pulling out the cartons of ice-cream and scoops, along with several other implements. “Time to craft...the ultimate cake.”

“Well,” Moondancer mused, deciding to put what had just happened to the furthest reaches of her mind. Space had been fun, as had the dancing, but that was far too jarring for her. “I think I need some therapy… care to relieve my stress love?” she asked her wife.

“I can do that,” Sugar agreed, before looking over at Sunset. “And who is your...delicious looking friend here?”

“This is Sunset Shimmer, a friend of Twilight’s apparently.”

“Yes, and it appears I kind of flirted with a married mare,” she said and bowed her head. “I’m really sorry about that Miss…?”

“You can call me Sugar Darling, dear, and it’s not a problem,” the mare said. “At least, as long as Moonie says it’s not a problem.”

“I kinda flirted back,” Moondancer admitted. “I mean, she’s not only smart, but dat flank…”

“I can agree with you there,” the disguised ‘ling said. “Hmm, I’m almost tempted to make it a threesome…”

“Almost?” Moondancer asked. “It hasn’t stopped you in the past. And don’t think I don’t see you making bedroom eyes at that Violet drone over there.” She giggled and poked the mare. “He freaked out over Midnight kissing him. I still don’t know how he had a child.”

“Yes, I know,” Sugar said with a roll of her eyes. “I’ll not make a move on an obviously married stallion, but Sunset here is tempting. Still, for you, I’ll refrain.”

“Oh, so you’re now assuming that I don’t want to play with her?” Moondancer said, waiting for the dense nymph to realise it.

“Oooh, so that makes two,” Sugar said, before leaning over to whisper in Sunset’s ears. “So how about it? Think you can handle the two of us?”

“I think I can~” Sunset purred back as her horn flashed for a moment and Sugar’s body was filled with a tingling warmth. “I trained under Celestia you know, so I should be asking if you are the ones that can keep up~”

“Ledger?” Twilight whispered. “We are never inviting Sugar and Moondancer anywhere again.”

“Oh Moonie~” Sugar sang out. “Did you do your reading? Specifically, that old journal I showed you?”

“Memorised it,” she replied with a nod.

“Good,” the disguised nymph said. “Time to educate this mare~”

“Educate Sunset?” Spike asked, having practically appeared out of nowhere. “Oh, hey everyone.”

“Mmhmm,” the disguised violet said. “Moonie, three to our room please. Your teleports are so much smoother than mine.”

“As my Lady wishes,” Moondancer sighed and with a flourish of magic, the three were gone. Spike blinked and scratched his head before his eyes widened slightly.

“You know, I’m not gonna think about that,” he muttered. “So, does anypony wanna explain why Twilight’s castle is trying to induce seizures?”

“My sister decided to throw a party,” Ledger explained. “Twilight’s castle was shiny and attracted her attention.”

“Joyful’s here?” Spike blinked. “Where is…” He saw her sleeping form draped over her parent’s back. “Ah. And now almost all of the other questions I had are explained as well.”

“Funny how that works out,” the drone replied dryly.

Spike walked over to greet the newcomers, taking one of the Madame’s hooves and kissing it. “Welcome to Ponyville,” he smiled. “I do hope your stay hasn’t been too hectic Lady Gossip.”

“Twilight, I like this version of your greetings,” the Madame said with a smile. “It’s not every day I’m loved instead of feared.”

“Fear a beautiful mare such as yourself?” Spike replied as Twilight rolled her eyes and dragged him away with her magic.

“Alright Romeo, one, she is way too old for you. And two, she's married.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a nice bit of flattery when I hear it, Miss Sparkle,” the disguised nymph said with a wink to Spike. “Keep it up, young drake, and I’m sure you’ll be winning hearts in no time.”

Spike nodded as Twilight just chuckled and set him down on her back.

“Well, so that was an interesting way to spend the afternoon,” Palette chuckled, holding Critical close to him. “Not everyday you get to dance on the moon hmm?”

“Nope, and I think I got a few interesting ideas while we were up there,” the nymph said with a happy hum. “I wonder if he does requests? I wouldn’t mind, say, an hour up there.”

“He'd probably do it,” Scope said and then her tone turned dangerous. “But is he a creature you'd want to be indebted to?”

“True,” Critical sighed. “I’m fairly certain that can’t end well for anypony. Ah well, and I was so looking forward to doing an illusionary show revolving around the moon.”

“Why don’t you ask Twilight?” Scope suggested. “She said she's been there before afterall.”

“That works too,” Critical said before kissing Palette. “But not right now. She looks a little busy.”

Said alicorn was busy berating Discord over his reckless use of magic. Midnight and Cider had vanished, as had Amy.

Chrysalis and Ace, along with Yearling and her drones were nowhere to be seen though. The only ones left were the Madame, her husbands, her daughter, and her son.

“I feel like we missed a memo,” Peaceful said.

“Well, let’s get little Joyful settled in,” the Madame pitched in, and the elders and youngest member of Ledger’s family disappeared into the castle, leaving only Ledger and Scope with Twilight and Critical with Palette.

“So…” Twilight finished with Discord, the spirit vanishing as Twilight sat down rather suddenly. “After making those portals and dealing with the Pinkpocalypse, I'm pretty tired. And we still have the practice run of the wedding.”

“How soon is it?” Ledger asked.

He turned to see Rarity walking towards them, three racks of dresses and suits being pulled behind her in her magic.

“Now?” Twilight replied.

“Scope, you distract Rarity, I’ll go make some special coffee,” Ledger said, cracking his neck. “Twilight, round up the others as much as you can, then come see me for your pick-me-up.”

The alicorn nodded wearily and trudged towards the castle. She just wished this week could be over already.

Soon enough, Twilight had gathered the various brides and grooms in the kitchen, most wondering what was going on.

Scope flew in a moment later.

“I don’t think your Mom was too happy I passed the bit to her,” the little ‘ling replied. “Told Rarity that Gossip wanted to discuss Changeling fashion.”

“Yeah, mother wouldn’t pay much attention to that sort of thing,” Ledger said as he levitated a beaker over a cup of coffee and added three drops of the liquid within to the cup. Just three. No need to go crazy here. “Okay Twilight, it’s ready.”

“What… did you add to that coffee?” Twilight asked dubiously as she stared at the mug.

“Nothing but pure chemistry,” Ledger said. “I studied it growing up, it’s the reason my coffee is so good. I got real good at making all sorts of brews before I realized that I liked my coffee...simple. This is one of the best sorts of brews, though,” he said, before tapping the cup. “It’ll put some pep back in your step or your bits back.”

“I… don't know…” Twilight replied.

“Meh, if Ledger was gonna kill us, he'd have done so long ago,” Midnight said and looked at him. “Unless you're still all cray-cray about the moon thing.”

“Completely over it,” Ledger said with a wave of his hoof. “I promise you, Twilight, this coffee is perfectly safe to consume. I made it myself and tested it on myself before.”

Midnight shrugged and gulped it down in one hit. She slammed the empty mug on the counter and licked her lips.

All was silent for a moment, then Midnight’s eyes slowly widened and she started to vibrate.

“Nope nope nope,” Ledger said, kissing Midnight and feeding on her energy so as to bring her back to normal. He’d already dealt with a trio of Pink mares on the town today, he did not need a hyper Midnight as well.

“Aahhhhh,” Midnight sighed, before snaring Ledger and kissing deeply. The others shrugged and drank theirs as well.

Twilight finished her drink and wiped her mouth with a napkin, even as a lock of her mane sprung out of place. Her eye gave a twitch and she gasped as idea after idea came to mind. One lightbulb moment after another from the alicorn…

Ledger was feeding very well, and was starting to get the idea that breaking out his ultimate coffee recipe was a bad idea. “Twilight?” he asked slowly once his kiss with Middy broke. “Are you okay?”

“Okay? OKAY?!” Twilight giggled as her eyes darted around the room. Rarity backed away slowly. She'd seen this before. The infamous event dubbed ‘Lesson Zero’.

“I’m grrrrrreat!” Twilight said, trilling her ‘r’s’ like a certain showpony. “Who wants to see a magic trick~?” Power built up in her horn.

“Twilight,” Ledger said, slowly drawing closer so as not to draw too much attention to the fact that he was doing so. “You need to calm down and channel all your energy to productive purposes. Like the practice we were going to attend?”

“Productive?” she blinked and gave a lopsided smile. “You know, all the other girls have seen foal pictures of you except me. Luckily, I have a solution~” She raised her hooves and pointed at Ledger. “SHAZAM!”

There was a flash of bright light and once Ledger’s vision cleared…

...Why was everypony taller than him?

“Twilight?” he asked in a high, squeaky voice that was very nearly a chirp. He was rapidly coming to a conclusion that he didn’t like. “What did you do?”

“If I can't see pictures, I'll just settle for the real thing!” She giggled as she picked him and nuzzled him. “Sooooo cute~”

“My mother is here,” Ledger said, calmly building up a head of steam. “She probably brought the album with her to embarrass me with. You could have asked her before turning me into a foal before our practice wedding. Y’know, the thing foals can’t do.”

“Aww, you're even more adorable when you get cranky~” Twilight giggled. Midnight and Cider were too shocked to do anything.

Scope cackled as she rolled around on the floor and dragged Ledger over to her with her magic, the now much smaller colt in her grip.

“Oh what a delicious turn of events this is,” she smiled. Ledger responded by breathing deeply…

Then he rattled off something in Changeish that shocked the gathered ‘lings. Hell, even Scope stopped cuddling him once he finished talking, allowing him to escape with a quick wink and a stomping of tiny little hooves.

“The hell did he say?” Midnight asked Scope and Amy.

“You don’t want to know,” Amy said sadly.

“There better be a counterspell, Twilight,” Scope said. “Otherwise...I think Ledger might just call this whole thing off, he’s that hurt by what you did.”

Twilight's horn shone and a bolt ripped down the hallway, seeking out the colt as the counterspell zapped him. Curiously...he didn’t return…

“I didn’t…” Twilight sniffed, then teleported from the room with a flash.

Midnight frowned and got up. “Cidey, go and find Twi. I'm going to drag that idiot drone back here and we're all going to have words.” With that, she trotted from the room, following his magical signature. It seemed to be be going back to Twilight’s room, but why would he…?

Then Midnight recalled the archway portal the two unicorns, one changeling, and one alicorn had set up earlier today. He might just be going as far away as he physically could.

“Fucking hell,” she muttered and walked in. He didn’t seem to be in the room, and she hoped the counterspell hit him before he vanished. She walked up to the device and saw a switch, hitting it and activating the portal.

“Here goes,” she muttered and stepped through…

On the other side, in Cider’s room, a full-grown drone lay on the bed, not even looking over at the active portal as she walked in. He needed to think, and he did his best thinking without any distractions at all. Had he meant what he’d said back there?

...He would need to have a serious talk with Twilight about her impulsive reactions before he could say.

“There you are,” Midnight said, standing near the end of the bed. “You done sulking yet?”

“I said something that can’t be easily taken back, Midnight,” Ledger said without turning to look at her. “I said something horrible. And the worst part is, in that moment...I meant it. I mean, rather than think, rather than ask anypony else if they had foal pictures...she turns me into one just to sate her curiosity.”

“Gee,” Midnight said, the snark was thick in her tone. “I can't imagine how that feels. Just imagine if some stallion learned a bunch of sex spells and tested them without asking hmm?”

“I-!” Ledger said, whipping his head around before grumbling. “Okay, point. But I knew that they had counters. I would never hurt any of you. I…I was seriously afraid that I wouldn’t be able to marry you tomorrow, because I didn’t know that there was a counter to the spell that turned me into a foal.”

“You spout all this stuff about trusting you, and yet you don't seem to trust us in return,” Midnight replied, keeping her tone even. “Do you really think Twilight Sparkle of all ponies would cast something she couldn't take back?”

“In that moment, I was afraid so,” Ledger said. “She wasn’t like herself, she wasn’t behaving like she normally does. That’s...why I said what I did. That’s why I stormed out, why I needed my space to think. Because...if anyling there translated what I said, then I knew I would come off as worse than I had meant to.”

“One, Scope and Amy were there,” Midnight said, taking a breath to keep herself calm. “They heard you and I'm pretty sure they're crying about now. Two, we've known Twilight for like, two months. How are we supposed to know how she acts all the time. You’re a Changeling. I could say that I don't know if you're really acting like yourself, but I know better.”

She walked over and stood next to him. “What did you say Ledger?”

He took a deep breath before repeating it in Equuish. “You...have betrayed me, by doing this to me. I curse your name, and never more wish to see your shadow...darken my door.” He hung his head. “And...And I regret saying it at all. But I...needed to get free, be alone, to deal with this…”

That was when he felt her fear spike, but it didn't seem to be directed at him. “Please…” she said, her tone wavering. “Please tell me you’re joking and didn’t say that.”

“I did say it, but now that I’m thinking clearly...I would take it back in a heartbeat,” he said. “I want to apologize. I need to apologize.”

“Ledger…” Midnight’s voice cracked. “Twilight… she, she wanted, to surprise you at the wedding. She wanted to say her vows in Changeish… so, she's been studying, in secret…”

“Oh hives, she-” With that, he was up and through the portal, trying his best to fix the problem he had caused.

Apple Cider stood outside Twilight’s room, unable to get in due to a barrier.

“Come on Twi,” she said softly. “Ah’m sure Ledger didn’t mean it. And if he did, ah’ll buck ‘im clear into next week.”

“You didn’t hear what he said,” she replied. “It’s...better this way. I was a fool for trying.”

Cider sighed and leaned her head against the door. “Look, ah’ll admit that we haven't been together all that long. But ah come from Las Pegasus. Ah’ve seen marriages and divorces happen in the span of an afternoon, the ponies having known each other less than that.” The earth pony sighed and sat down. “Ah was apprehensive about this herd thing in the beginning, but Middy is a hard mare to say no to.” She paused and let out a little giggle. “And ah had a lot of fun on our date. Yer a beautiful mare Twilight. And ah know Ledger wouldn’t do anything to hurt us on purpose. He's a bit high strung, so y’all proly jus’ scared him real good.”

“Scared him enough for him to curse me in Changeish,” Twilight replied. “You...you go on to the practice wedding. I left a schedule on the table, tell Rarity I won’t be needing my dress…”

“Ah didn't wanna have to do this,” she sighed. “You know, ah don't know a thing about magic, but ah know a little about common sense.” She got up and stretched her legs. “Y’all know the flaw fer castin’ this here barrier on yer door?”

“There is no flaw in the barrier, I am not coming out,” Twilight returned. “And you can’t make me either.”

There was a loud smack, followed by a sickening crack and her wall next to the door exploded, Cider dusting off her hooves and walking through the new hole.

“Right, the hard way it is then,” She said with a steely gaze as she drew closer to the mare…

A few minutes later, Cider whistled cheerfully as she strode back into the kitchen, carrying a hogtied Twilight on her back, a magic suppressor around her horn.

“Ya see, coulda been cooperative,” the mare sighed as she dumped Twilight onto a chair and removed her gag. “But no, y’all gotta be as stubborn as a mule.”

“I’m telling you, what Ledger said leaves little to the imagination,” Twilight said, wiggling as best as she could to try and get away. “He doesn’t want to see me again!”

Her rant finished, just as Ledger and Midnight entered the room, the earth mare turned and she looked pissed.

“Ledger,” she said calmly. “Ah know you were scared, and Twilight could have handled this better.” She leaned in close and grabbed his collar. “But what you said to her. If you don't apologize, ah will put you through that wall.” She stomped her hoof and cracked the crystal floor beneath her for emphasis.

Ledger did the only thing he could think of to show Twilight he hadn’t meant what he’d said. He chittered a simple phrase in Changeish. “From you...for you.” Then he walked closer and kissed her, before giving her as much love as he could pump into it.

He wanted her to realize he still loved her.

Twilight broke away from the kiss and turned her head. “Why bother? I know you hate me…”

“I said what I said in haste and anger, in my desire to be alone so that I could come to terms with my situation before you reversed your change,” the drone said. “I would gladly give everything of myself, so that you can realize...just how much I wish I could take it back.”

“It’s not the first time it's happened you know?” Twilight said quietly. “Last time I hypnotized the entire town into falling in love with an old doll…”

“Spike told me,” Ledger said simply. “We just have to work on curbing your enthusiasm, so that these situations don’t happen anymore.”

“I don't think it's something I can help.” Twilight sighed as Midnight removed her ring and bonds, giving a nod to Cider for her expert rope technique.

“Right, I think we can agree that things got out of hoof,” Scope said. She wasn’t going to voice her concerns because she might not stop anytime soon. “So how about everypony stops being fucking stupid and let's get this wedding rehearsal under way.” That was said as a statement, not a suggestion.

“Please, Twilight, believe me when I say this,” Ledger said, kissing her hoof. “I’m sorry those words ever crossed my lips, and I still want you there. Please...please join us.”

Twilight nodded and wiped a tear from her eye. “And I'm sorry I used an Age Spell on you without permission.”

“And Ledger?” Scope said. “What have we learned about giving stupidly powerful alicorns emotional manipulation drinks and food?”

“But it wasn’t,” he said. “That was good, old-fashioned chemistry. No emotional manipulation whatsoever.”

“Well, what have we learned about giving Twilight anything out of the ordinary?”

“Keep the stupidly powerful coffee out of the hooves of the lavender alicorn?” Ledger suggested.

“There's a good colt,” she cooed, rubbing his head. “Now, can we please get this over with? I'm sure the other changelings have sensed what's happening by now.”

“Are you still fighting?” Amy sniffed, her shell a muted pink hue as her eyes glistened.

“No, it’s safe to say that we’ve stopped fighting now,” Ledger said. “We’ve kissed and made up for what we said and did. Promise.”

“Pinkie Promise?” Amy said.

“I’d make that promise, but I don’t know it,” the drone said.

Amy showed him how and sat there expectantly, waiting for him. Ledger sighed before going through the foalish motions. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” he chanted. “I promise we’re done fighting now. All that’s left to do is fix Twilight before the rehearsal, but I’m not sure she’s happy enough yet.”

A drawer next to him opened and Pinkie popped out, glaring at him.

“Forevveerrrrr…” She said in a raspy tone before slowly sinking back into the too-small drawer and it closed.

“I'm… okay,” Twilight said as Amy cheered up and pointed at Scope.

“Mini-Daring. Cheer up your princess!” she declared.

“What,” Scope flatly demanded.

“Cheer. Up. Twilight!” each word was punctuated with a hoof poke to the nose. “It's In your hooves Scopey. Feel the Cuteness flow through you. Use it.”

The nymph sighed, before looking over at Twilight. “This better work,” she muttered, before her form flashed blue and was replaced with a miniature Daring Do.

Twilight blinked at the teeny pegasus, before giggling and pulling her into a hug. “So cute,” The alicorn smiled. “And of course I'll still get married.” She looked down at Scope and kissed her head. “I promised my Little Treasure didn't I?”

“Yeah, you did,” Scope said, not actively fighting the hug. “So, are we all good now? Can we finally go down and attend our own damn rehearsal?”

“That would be good,” Rarity yawned. And they called her a drama queen. “We don't have enough time for a dress rehearsal now. So get your flanks into that hall so we can practice vows!”

At some point, Ace and Chrysalis had made a break for it as well. Amy just giggled and pronked off to find her cuddlebug and birdy. They were going up on that stage whether they liked it or not~

“Right, vows, practicing everything but moving in the dresses,” Ledger agreed. “Shall we, ladies?” The drone opened the door with his magic for the mares. They followed each other through the door, just as Amy returned, Ace and Chryssie being dragged in her pink magical glow.

“We were so close too,” the green nymph muttered.

“So close, yet so far,” Ace agreed.

Chapter One - Introductory Verse

Level Ledger was a content pony. He had a well-paying job, he had a routine that saw to all his needs. He had a place to lay his head, and a place where he ate out once a week, funds permitting.

The brown-coated unicorn whistled a wordless tune as he trotted down the streets of Las Pegasus. Oh yes, crime was rife here, but nopony ever bothered him. Not after the last time.

Systematically striking at all the weak parts of a Pegasi’s wings was not technically illegal if it was self-defense, and the mare had thrown the first blow.

He simply threw the last.

Ledger walked into the lobby of the apartment building where he was staying, and nodded at the landlord behind the desk. “Estate,” he greeted as he moved to head up to his room.

“Ledger, a word?” the Earth Pony stallion asked, causing the unicorn to pause and shoot a questioning glare at the one in charge of the building.

“Something’s happened, hasn’t it?” the silver-maned unicorn questioned upon reading his landlord’s facial expression.

“Yup,” the blue-coated pony replied with a nod. “Costs are going up, Ledge. I’ve tried everything I can do, but there’s no two ways around it. If I’m going to make ends meet, then I have to raise the rent.”

Level Ledger pursed his lips as he ran the numbers. “If you do that, then I may not be able to afford to stay,” he said after a moment.

“Ledge, you’re a great tenant, I like you, and I’d really not rather lose you...but I can’t play favorites,” the cerulean-maned stallion replied as he got out from behind the desk and put one hoof on the unicorn’s withers. “I’ll give you a bit of leeway...but my advice? Take a roommate. Your place comes with two bedrooms for a reason, y’know.”

“I had been hoping to avoid that,” the green-eyed unicorn said with a sigh as he hung his head. “I don’t...get along well with others.”

“True enough,” the golden-eyed landlord replied with a chuckle. “I’ve never seen anyone but you go up to your place. Still, if you wanna stay, you’re gonna need to cough up the bits somehow.”

Level Ledger raised his head and gave his landlord a quick, sharp nod. “Very well, I shall see to printing up and setting fliers around the town, advertising my need for a roommate immediately. Let us merely hope that no...unsavory characters answer, eh?”

“No fear of that,” Real Estates replied with an even heartier chuckle. “I think they’re all afraid of you.”

“It is remarkable what a simple telekinesis spell can do when combined with knowledge of anatomy,” the unicorn said as he trekked upstairs, intent on producing fine fliers as soon as possible before setting them out in a pattern that would almost assuredly net him a roommate in record time.

Yes, around the train station and along the strip sounded like a fine place to put them. It was merely a shame he would have to skip going to Fredrick’s tonight. Money promised to be tight for a little while with this news…

Las Pegasus, a lawless, overly bright hole for the worst equinity had to offer. Midnight Song trotted down the street in full armour, the shining gold metal still seemed lifelessly dull against the neon that illuminated the town’s main strip.

It had been a few days since she was transferred here from Canterlot, and against her most adamant wishes to do anything but. Yet she knew why, because she wasn’t considered ‘mature’ enough.

“So sending me here is supposed to fix that?” she muttered to herself. Most ponies on the street gave her a wide berth, mostly because at least one in every three or so had done, is doing or will do something illegal by the weeks end.

“And now I hafta find my own place to live as well, what a freakin... joke...?” She paused as she passed a rather non-descript looking flyer. “Wanted, one roommate,” she read. “Apartment has two bedrooms, three bathrooms, easy access to the strip. Must be capable of paying your share of rent on time, no excuses. If interested, inquire at fifteen-hundred, fifth avenue. Ask for Level Ledger…”

“Well now, that was easy enough,” she mused as she re-read the flyer for good measure. She gave her wings a few flaps and took to the skies, it was actually pretty close by, so it wouldn’t hurt to check it out anyway.

The building itself couldn’t be any more plain if it tried, she’d flown past it twice due to it being so inconspicuous. Landing on the pavement, her hooves clicking gently against the concrete, she looked up at the building once more and entered.

The lobby itself was also quite plain. A reception desk, a wall with private letter boxes and a few plants to add some colour to the otherwise meager room. She walked over to the desk and raised a hoof, tapping on the little bell with a solid chime.

“Yeah, I heard ya, who is…” the voice revealed itself to belong to a blue-coated Earth pony, with a mane of darker blue and golden eyes. “Oh. You’re not one of my tenants,” he said after looking Midnight over. “Least, I think I’d remember a Thestral.”

“A pony who uses our proper name, points to you~” she smiled, giving the cute stallion a wink. “I’ve actually come about this little flyer here,” she said, placing the piece of paper on the desk. “I’m going to be here for the foreseeable future and need a place to stay.”

The stallion behind the desk picked up the flier and sighed. “Ledger’s work. Short, to the point, just like the stallion himself.” He looked over the top of it and raised his eyebrows. “Well, hope you can stand him, miss. He doesn’t get along well with many others. Took me months to even get a ‘hi’ from him in the morning.”

“I don’t mind a quiet roommate,” she replied. “Besides, I can get even the most stubborn guys to talk.” She adjusted the saddlebags on her back and smiled once more. “So where is this ‘Ledger’? I’d like to get this done as quickly as possible if you don’t mind.”

“Sure thing, he’s up in 204,” the landlord said, hoofing the flyer back. “Just, word of advice? If he messes up his first impression, please give him another chance. He’s a good tenant of mine, and I’d rather he stay that way. Never gives anyone any trouble.”

“I’m a forgiving mare, so I wouldn’t worry,” she smiled and winked at him again. “You make him sound like a decent guy, but I’ll make my own decisions. So 204 was it?” The stallion nodded and Midnight flashed a grin and blew him a kiss. “Thanks sweetie~”

“Not a problem, ma’am, but I’m not sure that’ll work on him,” the landlord said with a slight chuckle. “Been here a year, and the only one that’s ever gone up to his room is him.” Midnight frowned a little but shrugged.

“Guess I’ll be the first then,’ she replied. She turned on her hooves and trotted for the stairs, using her wings to skip up several at a time. It didn’t take long to reach the room and she stood outside, collecting her thoughts. “It’s not his first impression I’m worried about...” After a moment longer, she raised her hoof and gave three quick knocks on the door. About ten seconds passed before she got a response.

The first thing she noticed about the pony who answered the door was his color scheme, naturally. His coat was brown, his eyes were green, and his mane and tail were silver-grey. The second thing she picked up on was the horn jutting out of his head, and the third thing she noticed was the gaze of slight irritation he was now giving her.

“I thought the guard had finished pestering me about that incident a while ago,” the stallion bitterly said, moving to close the door already. He found that quite impossible when Midnight placed a gilded hoof between it and the doorframe.

“As intriguing as that sounds, I’m here on a different matter actually.” She pulled the flyer from her bag and held it out. “I’m here about your wanted flyer. I’m in need of a place to stay and you appear to have such a place.”

“Ah, my apologies,” the stallion said as he floated the flyer into the apartment. “It’s simply been a few days since I started. You’re the first one to respond, actually.” He gave the mare a second look, as though this time he were evaluating her. “What is your current rank in the guard, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“As part of Princess Celestia’s Royal Guard, I held the ranking of Corporal,” she replied. “But after my transfer here, I was made Sergeant, as so I wouldn’t be stepping on the hooves of the already existing Captain.”

“Still, the amount you’ll make is more than enough to help afford half the costs of living here,” the pony in front of her nodded. “That’s well and good, then. Come in and have a look around, see if it’s to your taste.” With that, he stepped to one side to allow her access. When she did step inside, she noticed how eerily clean it was. No mess, no dust and a sparse amount of furniture. There was a simple couch, a small dining table and that was pretty much it. She also noticed no personal effects, like family photos, collectables or anything of unique design.

“Well, it’s...simple enough,” she said as courteously as she could.

“I was made aware by my landlord that you may desire to change some things about how this place is decorated, should you indeed become my roommate,” Level Ledger said as he closed the door behind them. “As long as the basic theme is preserved...namely, furniture being where it should, and mess being cleaned up...then I see no reason to object.”

Midnight nodded, she’d spared a few glances at this guy, but he was impossible to read. While she was quite skilled at reading things like body language, tone of voice and whatnot, this guy was a blank slate. She figured that his interior decorating skills mirrored that.

“May I be blunt with you Mr. Ledger?’ she asked.

“I would prefer it,” he replied without a moment’s hesitation. His forwardness, while appreciated, was also another flag for her.

“Look, between your simply brilliant poker-face and this bare room... you aren’t into anything illegal right? I would prefer to be able to sleep with both eyes closed.”

“Heavens no!” the stallion said, actually showing shock for once. “I simply prefer to keep my life...simple. A few bad experiences in my formative years left me...untrusting of most others. Didn’t help that after only a month or so of living here, some mare tried to mug me.”

“Kind of a recurring thing here,” she nodded. His reaction had seemed genuine, and she could always look up his file at work if he had one. She made a mental note to check. “And sorry about that, but between this city and my job, I suspect everypony at first.” She looked around again and nodded. “Well, it’s nothing a little colour can’t fix, provided I’m successful in this little interview...” She gasped slightly as she realised she’d forgotten something important. “And I’ve completely forgotten to introduce myself, I’m Midnight Song, a Thestral in case you were wondering.”

“Quite aware,” he said with a small smirk. “I am very well-read, ma’am. And in case you forgot between the time you picked up the flier and now, I am indeed Level Ledger,” here he smirked and gestured towards his horn. “A unicorn, in case you couldn’t tell.”

“Really?” Midnight gasped with feigned ignorance. “I would have thought you were a Changeling~” She giggled at her own joke and twirled around. “So, what else are you looking for in a roomie?”

“Someone who doesn’t disrupt my cycle or system too badly, I still do have to do my job as well,” the pony said, his eyes half-lidding in irritation. “And can we not joke about that? Yes, I’m odd for a pony, but the wedding, while some time ago, is something I keep being reminded of when someone accuses the odd pony out every other week.”

“Right, sorry about that. I keep forgetting that most ponies have a problem with them,” she replied. Guess this guy might have been accused a few times... Canterlot was hell after that wedding... even me...” She shuddered at that, having forced to stay indoors for a week, her natural love of love had seen half the damned city accuse her until Celestia passed that law about wanton discrimination.

“Well, as for disrupting your work, I’m not sure what you do but my job keeps me busy. So I might not even be here a lot of the time.”

“I’m an accountant for Pegasus Air,” he replied simply and bluntly. “And it’s not that I have a problem with changelings. I just don’t like others accusing me of being one.”

“Again, I apologise for that,” Midnight said with a light sigh. Well this was a great start to the day, let’s all accuse your potential roommate of being a love-sucking bug! “Well, we’ve established that I can pay for rent and I’ll not be underhoof or disruptive.” She tapped her chin and a thought occured. “What about having friends or ‘special guests’ over?”

“Friends are fine,” the stallion responded. “And the building policy on such visits as you are likely insinuating is that it’s allowed as long as you don’t disturb the sleep of other tenants.” With that said, he shrugged. “It’s never been a problem for me.”

Midnight was about to make a joke, but she recalled that the landlord had mention that he’d never seen Ledger with anypony before. “Hmm, what about food and utility bills?”

“I tend to keep them low and I will continue to pay for my share,” Ledger said with a nod as he recalled that aspect of the cost of living here. “Or rather, I did tend to keep them low. That might change.”

“Well, you’re an accountant, and I’ll trust you not to rip me off,” Midnight smiled. “Still, I don’t use much myself, aside from the long bubblebath every now and then.” She crunched a few numbers in her head and nodded. “Food won’t be a problem either, but what about cooking? Do we do our own?”

“I am a decent enough chef that I’m not dead of food poisoning yet,” Ledger rebuked with a laugh. “Give me some credit. I can cook...I just had a routine where I went out to a few restaurants once a week. Because they were better.”

“Fair enough, I would cook but...” She offered a sheepish look and smiled innocently. “What’s your fire insurance like, uh, totally unrelated by the way?”

“Paid up, as are all my others,” he replied with an eyeroll. “The reason they’re called accidents is because you can’t plan around them.”

“It’s not like I cause fires all the time,” Midnight pouted. “Well I guess that’s all the basics out of the way, unless you have other questions?”

The stallion hummed for a moment before shaking his head. “No, but I do have one final thing to point out.” With a hoof, he indicated a hallway. “That leads to the study, and sometimes I end up bringing my work home with me. Please do not bother me when I’m in there. My employers would not take kindly to others seeing their financial records.”

“I deal with ponies criminal records and even documents pertaining to the Princesses themselves, confidentiality is something I am quite aware of Mr. Ledger,” Midnight nodded. “I’ll stay out of your study, no need to worry about that.”

“Wonderful,” he said with a smile before looking at the wall clock. “And I should have just enough time to get extra ingredients for dinner before I need to make it. What are you in the mood for, Miss Song?”

“Anything is good,” she replied. “Ah, will I need things like pillows or bedsheets?”

“There...are a set in your bedroom,” he said, pointing at the door in question. “And I have kept them clean. But I replaced mine within the first week of staying here.” Midnight nodded, making another note to go shopping tomorrow. She was too tired to worry about it now.

“Well, glad to see I’m successful, I really didn’t want to spend another night slumped over a desk.”

Ledger shrugged as his horn lit up, carrying his saddlebags out from his room and placing them on himself. “If you’ve no further questions and I’ve no further concerns, I shall go procure dinner for us both.”

“Will do, I’m going to get out of this heavy armour and have a quick shower.” She gave the stallion a polite nod and smiled. “See you soon then?”

“Depends on how busy the market is,” Ledger replied. “If I take too long getting back, there are some leftovers from last night in the fridge. Not sure how appetizing a simple salad will be to you, but it’s there if you get hungry.”

“Thanks,” she smiled, already heading for her new room. “I should be okay until you get back.” She turned and winked at him, “Don’t keep a lady waiting too long though~”

Barely dignifying her last lines with a roll of his eyes and a snort of irritation, the stallion headed out to buy more food. Midnight paused, wondering what that was all about, before shrugging and trotting off for a very much wanted shower.

After she’d finished, she headed downstairs and informed her new landlord of his newest and cutest tenant. The Royal Guard was giving her a stipend, as a way of not being able to fit her into the barracks at the Guard station. It was a sacrifice she was willing to make.

Once she had returned to the apartment, she looked around, hoping to find something to do. She eventually found a small collection of books and decided it was better than nothing, opening it up and started reading. It was a little odd how Ledger kept library books detailing everything from magic theory to cookbooks around, but at least she didn’t lack for variety. She eventually settled on a nice piece of fiction, and certainly a lot better than those Daring Do novels. She hadn’t even noticed the door open and her new friend enter the room.

“I was quite fortuitous,” he said as he closed the door behind him. “Not only was the market not overly crowded, but there were more than a few sales going on. I have plenty of ingredients, so I ask again: is there something in particular you would like for dinner?”

“Well if you’re going to cook, then I’ll not complain,” Midnight replied, closing the book and putting it back. “Just as long as it isn’t spicy.”

“I think I can manage that,” the stallion replied as he moved to the kitchen. “For the record, simple things like salt, pepper, and garlic are fine, yes? It’s things that are very hot you don’t want, right? It’s what most ponies mean when they talk about spice...without thinking about all the spices that we use.”

“Right, you’re a technical kinda guy huh?” she said. “But for future reference, yes. I’m talking about things like chilli and whatnot. Pepper, salt and dressings are all good by me.”

“Excellent,” he said as he disappeared into the kitchen. “Dinner should only be half an hour, if that.” After those words, noises that could only be described as ‘dinner in the making’ could be heard as the stallion moved around what sounded like his own weight in pots and pans.

“You ah, need a hoof in there?” She called out from the couch. It just didn’t feel right sitting around doing nothing. And she was still getting used to the whole ‘extended guest’ scenario. She’d never spent more than one night with anypony other than her parents and fellow guards.

“No, but thank you for the offer,” she heard as the clattering finally stopped. More fine sounds could be heard now: water running, things being chopped or opened. “I would tell you to make yourself at home, but as you pointed out earlier, I don’t have much in the way for others.”

“Don’t worry about that, just makes the whole process a lot faster,” she laughed. Still, she should do something about this eventually... within reason of course. “Well, can I, set the table or something?”

“That would be difficult without knowing where all the things in the kitchen are,” Ledger responded. The sounds regarding dinner seemed to have settled down into two distinct sets of bubbling now. “Though I can at least float the things out to you if you are that hard up for something to do.”

“Well, normally I’m not the one hard up~” she giggled. “But that would be nice. Float it on out here magic colt!”

With a soft tinkle of magic, two plates, two forks, and two glasses set themselves on the center of the dining table...which Song only now noticed did indeed have two chairs at it. “Any preferences for your drink?” the stallion asked from the kitchen.

“Anything sweet is fine, or just water if you have nothing else.” She answered, arranging the plates and cutlery. “What about you? Much of a drinker?”

“While Las Pegasus is known for its wide variety of dens that cater to nearly every vice,” Ledger replied, “I myself have not been to any of them.” A pitcher of lemonade was carefully floated out and placed in the center of the table. “Will that do?”

“Perfect,” Midnight smiled as she took a sip. “Mm, delicious. And I must say, your telekinesis is quite good. Most ponies need a line of sight to see what they’re levitating an object to.” She’d finished the quick task of setting the table and now just stood there, slowly rocking from one side to the other.

“Comes with lots of practice and knowing this place like the back of my hoof,” the unicorn responded as he turned the heat off. “That should be good enough, now to drain this one…” The sound of a large volume of water rushing into the sink made itself known then. “As it stands, I only need to sneak occasional glimpses. More now that I’m sharing so that I don’t hit you, of course.”

“I’m tough, a little bump won’t bother me much,” she responded. She sniffed at the air and hummed thoughtfully. “Ooh, that smells good~ And you said you weren’t a great cook. If that tastes as good as it smells...”

“I merely said I was competent enough to still be standing,” the unicorn replied. “Greatness and worth are measured by others, unless you’re an egotist. And I seriously doubt you wanted to be around me when I was setting a sharp knife to slice and dice some of these ingredients in this sauce...which should be done in a minute or two.”

“Maybe if I had my swords,” Midnight replied as she realised that her blades would need their regular cleaning tonight. “Well, if your food tastes good, then at least take the compliments I’ll be likely to give.” She decided to duck off into her bedroom to give her mane and tail a quick brush, she at least wanted to be presentable.

“It’s weird, but I really can’t figure this guy out.” she thought to herself. “He seems friendly enough, but... something doesn’t sit right with me. Why would a friendly, good-looking guy like him live alone in a barely lived-in apartment?”

Jolting her out of her musing came the sound of Ledger’s voice. “Madam Song, your dinner awaits you!” he called.

Midnight giggled and came back out to the living room, giving her tail a light swish. “Such a gentleman, you’d make a fine butler~” she smiled as she sat down at the table. “Ooh, it even looks good~”

On her plate was no small amount of cylindrical noodles, and the stallion pointed at them to explain the dish to her. “Rigatoni pasta, and to top it,” here he pulled a smaller saucepan over and poured a helping of its contents over her plate. “A light sauce made from diced clams, garlic, vegetable oil, and a few other herbs and spices.” The unicorn repeated the process for his own plate before sending the pot of noodles and the sauce back into the kitchen.

Midnight gave the plate a tentative sniff, before spearing some of the pasta and putting it in her mouth. What followed was a pleasured moan that would have any hot-blooded stallion standing at attention.

“I didn’t think it was that good,” Ledger replied before proceeding to eat his food, noticeably unphased by the batpony’s antics. After the first bite, he shrugged. “Tastes normal to me.”

“Well that was a bust, and this food is pretty good... but still...” She ate another mouthful, though noticeably less enthusiastically than last time. “I expected ‘some’ reaction...” She thought more on it, eating some more pasta while humming thoughtfully. Ledger kept eating his own share silently, his horn still aglow as he did. Noises emanated from the kitchen, and he gave the mare across from him a small smile. “Putting the leftovers away,” he explained, sneaking a glance into the kitchen before nodding and grabbing another forkful.

“Very talented indeed,” she smiled. “One has to wonder why you don’t have mares lined up outside the door.”

“I probably would if I cared about that,” the stallion replied after swallowing his latest bite.

“You... don’t care?” Song pondered as the pieces finally fell into place. Was... was he one of those ponies. The ones that just had no interest in romance whatsoever. “Aw, that’s so sad,” she said softly without realising it.

“Partly from my youth, mostly a choice I made a while ago, but I am asexual now,” Ledger said as he chomped and swallowed down the last of his dinner. “I could walk through the red light district of this town and not be affected. I don’t see why others feel sorry for me when I explain it. My mind has never been more capable of focusing on my work or my studies.”

“All work and no play makes for a dull pony,” Midnight nodded sagely. She finished off her pasta and a very long tongue darted out to lick sauce off of the plate. “Look, I’ll admit that I’m no stranger to the art of carnal pleasure but I have no problems in how you work. Sorry if I sounded offensive.”

“It’s fine,” the stallion said with a wave of his hoof. “Just don’t expect me to return your flirting at all. You’re more than welcome to try to break through my asexual way of life, of course, like every other pony who heard about it before you, but I’m telling you now, you will fail.”

Oh now he’d done it. She’d been more than happy to let this go, but he had to go and challenge her like that. “Okay little stallion, but you have no idea what you’ve just unleashed~”

“And you have no idea what you’re up against,” Ledger returned, a confident smirk on his face, even as something flickered in his eyes. “Well, if we’re done exchanging idle threats, I have work to go over, along with a budget to make. If you’ve nothing else to mention now, I’ll be retiring to the study for about an hour.”

“I have armour and sharp weapons to polish, so I’ll be heading off for the rest of the night,” Midnight replied. She put her own dishes in the sink after draining the rest of her lemonade. “Sleep well Mr. Ledger, don’t let the bed-bats bite~”

“This is Las Pegasus, the locks have locks,” the unicorn returned as he set off for the study. “And I’d be more concerned about yourself, miss Song. Those sheets and that blanket on your bed are terribly uncomfortable, if mine were any standard to judge by.”

“I’ve slept in all sorts of places thanks to my training,” Midnight replied. “Trust me, this is Canterlot Palace in comparison.” She stretched her wings and shook her mane. “In all seriousness though, thanks for letting me stay here. I’ll do my best to be a good housebat.”

“And I suppose I’ll have to do my best to be a good host and guest,” Ledger mused. “It promises to be an interesting experience. Still, you are welcome, Lady Song. Good night.”

As Midnight sat on the rather uncomfortable bed, she was simply left alone with her thoughts as she ran the polishing stone along her blades. That glint she had caught in his eyes disturbed her for some reason.

It was eerily familiar to her.

“Well, everypony has their secrets, and it’s not my place to pry,” she sighed. She set the blade down and picked up the other one, first using the whetstone, then using the polishing cloth. The starmetal blades glinted softly in the moonlight, a gentle, magical glow surrounding them.

“I have my concerns about him, but I’m not worried, he couldn’t hurt me even if he tried...” She frowned at that thought, why did she even think that? She knew he wouldn’t try something so drastic or foolish, but the nagging thought hung in the back of her mind.

“Just calm down Song, take a deep breath and close your eyes. He won’t hurt you and he won’t control you. Your path is your own, as sure as the sun rises,” she murmured the mantra a few times. “This is just more training. Just get through it. Nothing to it.”

She set the second blade down and re-attached it to the wing-mounted setting. “It won’t be long. I’ll prove myself here and go back to Canterlot. I’ll be Celestia’s personal guard and I’ll get the respect I goddamn deserve!”

Half an apartment away, now that Level Ledger had finished his work, he too was cleaning up...himself. He stood in the shower and sighed, letting the water drip down his form. A quick check with his ears and other senses showed him that he was alone, so he fired up his magic, wanting to make sure both forms were clean.

The illusion faded with a flash of silver flame, revealing a changeling in the shower. With a quick check of his body to make sure there were no blemishes on his carapace, the bug-pony grabbed ahold of a nearby sponge and made sure he was clean before nodding a few times and re-donning his disguise, letting his pony form soak so as to maintain appearances.

Yes, he could have gotten by without a roommate...if he wanted to expose his true nature, or leave big, obvious clues to anyone with more than five brain cells. In the game of blending in, it was all about keeping up appearances, and with Equestria’s latest stance regarding changelings not being anywhere near as warm as he’d like, he had to keep his true self hidden under at least three layers.

Thankfully, though, he had gotten a roommate, and nobody was the wiser.

“Now all I have to do is live with a bucking nym- I mean, mare,” the changeling muttered to himself. “A stallion at least would be tolerable…”

The pony in disguise walked back into his bedroom and settled himself under his covers, muttering to himself about how he just knew he was going to have nightmares tonight.

...Sadly for him, he was right.

Author's Note

Aus and I play off each other very well, so we decided to do a fic together.

He's writing Midnight Song, and I'm writing Level Ledger.

I will TRY to keep this fic T-rated. If things become M-rated, I will split them off into another side-fic if possible.

Chapter Thirteen - From a duet to a round?

Midnight paced up and down the dusty road that led to Cider Falls. It had been a few days since that... incident and she had been trying to work up the nerve to go and see this mare. If it had just been a one-off, the she’d have no problem. But this was a mare that would be seeing Ledger every so often, and Midnight needed to lay a few ground rules.

She eventually walked up the trail, as a few farmhooves waved at her, the Guard offering a polite nod back to them. Another reason she had put it off for so long, was that the mare could argue that Ledger agreed, and while Midnight could explain his... reasons, that would lead to a whole mess of trouble.

Still, that was a card she could avoid playing... for now.

She reached the farmhouse and raised a hoof, knocking on the door with an authoritative thump.

“Royal Guard Ma’am!” she stated. “Can you please answer?”

Another muffled thump came from the other side as a dishevelled mare answered the door. Her mane was a mess and her kitchen even more so.

“Have I... come at a bad time?” Midnight inquired.

The Earth Pony blinked, having never seen a Thestral before. “Um, no... sorry about the mess. I get carried away when creating new blends.”

“It’s fine Ma’am,” Midnight nodded, making her way inside. She could see why Ledger had the urge to clean, and was thankful he’d never seen her dorm room at the Academy.

“So uh, why is the Royal Guard here?” Cider asked hesitantly. “I haven’t done anything wrong!”

“Not as yet Ma’am,” Midnight replied. “It has come to our attention that you have a new contract with Pegasus Air...”

“Aw horseapples, don’t tell me that Unicorn is jus’ like Toll...” Midnight fought the urge to buck her through a wall and continued.

“No Ma’am, but due to the company’s... checkered past, we’re keeping a close eye on any and all business they conduct.” She moved a few empty bottles aside with a hoof. “I trust you’ll not refuse a routine inspection?”

“No Ma’am,” Apple Cider replied. “Why, ah’d be happy to show you mah farm.” The mare was a lot more excited now and Midnight saw that she really seemed to love her job. And she was kinda cute when she grinned like that.

“Thank you, shall we begin now?”

“Of course!” Apple Cider beamed and beckoned for Midnight to follow her. The farm itself was quite impressive. One thing that struck her as odd though, was the cleanliness of the air. They were still quite close to the city, but the air seemed so pure. When Midnight questioned this, Apple Cider winked and smiled.

“That’s a secret, but ah’ll show you soon~”

Midnight was shown to the bottle facility, the fields and the distillery. There was also a small field that showed she was raising sheep and pigs.

“Wow, this is even more impressive that the farm in Canterlot,” Midnight whistled.

“That’s the one mah lil sis runs,” Apple Cider beamed. “Her name’s-”

“Apple Fritter,” Midnight Song finished as she petted a small sheep. “We’re... aquainted.”

“Well small world,” Cider beamed. “This is pretty much everythang, is there anything else y’all need Miss...?”

“Oh, I never did give my name,” the Thestral smiled. “I am Midnight Song, Special Operative of Las Pegasus.”

“Now that’s a fancy title,” Apple Cider whistled. “And if ah may ask... uh...”

“I’m a Thestral,” Midnight smiled, having encountered this question many a time. “We’re not too common outside of Canterlot.”

“Hm, ah really should visit Fritt’s some more,” Cider hummed.

“As for completing this inspection, I am quite impressed, but I still have a few questions if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” Cider replied. “Let’s head back to the house and ah’ll fix us some drinks. It’s awful hot today.”

“That it is,” Midnight agreed.

Once the pair were back at the house, Midnight sipped at a chilled cider, humming thoughtfully at the taste.

“Mmm, this is quite good. Goes down nice and smooth.”

“Heh, at least you can handle yer drink better than Mr. Ledger, poor fella got tipsy after half a pint.”

“Oh?”

“Eeyup, had ta give him mah special ‘Apple Family Cure’. Sobered him up right quick.”

“I see,” Midnight cleared her throat and looked at the mare. So that matches up with what he said. “So, speaking of Level Ledger, what is your relationship with him?”

“Relationship?” Apple Cider coughed into her mug. “Now look, ah dunno whut he’s insinuating, but ah ain’t in no ‘relationship’ aside from a purely business one.”

“Miss Cider?”

“Ah mean, whut a pony does in her free time is her business!”

“Apple Cider!”

“If two ponies want to have a little harmless fun, does that mean they’re in some committed relationship!”

“MISS CIDER!”

“Yeep!” the mare shut up as Midnight took a deep breath.

“I am simply asking a question. But it does raise an interesting point.” She leaned closer and the Earth Pony got a close up look of the Thestral’s eyes. And fangs. “May I ask why you seduced my coltfriend?”

“Wha? Seduced yer colt...oohhh... Ya-Ya mean Level Ledger is yer... oh ponyfeathers.”

“And he still is, despite what happened,” Midnight nodded. “And while I am here to do an inspection for the Guard, I am also here to talk to you about that.”

“W-Well,” Cider replied, wondering how fast she could bail out of a window. “Ah-Ah was just lookin’ fer a little company, and he never mentioned that he had a marefriend...”

“No, I don’t suppose he did,” Midnight sighed.

“But, he was awfully reluctant, and ah admit that I might have been a tad pushy... but boy howdy was that stallion a fan of sugar. Ah reckon that ice-cream vendor in the city has less of a sweet tooth.”

“Level Ledger is... unique,” Midnight sighed. “A certain way of life has led to how he behaves now, and honestly, he has a fear of most females. I’m actually more surprised that you were able to seduce him so easily.”

“So uh, y’all ain’t gonna eat me?”

“Eat you...?” Midnight blinked, until she saw a book in her bookshelf, one about Crystal Thestrals and the fact they sparkled...

“That. Fucking... book...” she shook her head. “No Miss Cider, I will not eat you. Nor would any Thestral that possesses any shred of dignity.”

“Oh, well, that’s good?” Cider calmed down somewhat, but still glanced at the window every so often.

“It is, our relationship is... strange,” she replied. “Different cultures, different ways of looking at things. It takes a lot of getting used to.” She sat back and sipped her cider again. “My real question, do you wish to pursue him further?”

“Uh, well...” Cider fidgeted. “He was real nice, but at the time, it was just a roll in the hay, nothing committed, and ah certainly wasn’t looking fer a full-time stallion or mare. And if he’s taken, well that kinda puts a dampener on that.”

Midnight looked around and closed the curtains, as Cider wondered if she really was gonna get killed. This was the Royal freaking Guard. She could prolly hide the body and blame it on a Timberwolf or something.

“Relax Cider, I just want to explain a few things in private,” Midnight smiled. “What I am about to say must stay between us, and never leave this room.”

Cider nodded as Midnight sat down, holding her mug out for a re-fill. Once her cup was full once more, she squeed and took another sip. Hmmm, delicious. “Now... to start, Level Ledger is... a damaged pony. He has had a very rough life and any females in it have tried to exploit or even kill him. So hence, he doesn’t open up a lot.”

“Oh mah stars... that poor stallion.”

“So imagine my surprise when I find out he’s slept with some random mare... uh, no offense?”

“None taken.”

“But yes, we were in a relationship at that point, but I may have been confused about what kind of relationship that was. And his unique... habits, have also led to this rather unfortunate set of circumstances.”

“Well, ah wouldn’t say unfortunate, ah quite enjoyed it~” Cider hummed, but was quickly shot down by Midnight’s unamused stare.

“Look, I just want to say that I blame neither of you. I was just curious about the mare that could seduce the stallion even I had trouble with.” Midnight licked her lips and sized up the Earth Pony. “I must say, you are a cute one~”

“Um, well... thank you?” Cider blushed under the gaze of the Thestral. She had to admit, the exotic batpony was quite attractive herself. She had some very nice curves and those eyes of hers were mesmerising.

“Part of me is saying I should show you what seduction really looks like,” Midnight hummed, leaning in close to the mare. They were all alone, nopony to hear her moan... Apple Cider gulped, licking her lips unconsciously as the Thestral got closer.

“But I’m also on duty, so that means no fun... for now~” Midnight winked and pulled away, a small whine of protest escaping Cider’s lips. “Perhaps next time, little kitten~”

“Sweet Celestia, Ledger has no idea what he has huh?”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Midnight replied. “My charms are rather inefficient on him.” She sat back in her seat and sipped her cider to cool down. “So, where do you suppose we should go from here Miss Cider? Do you wish to pursue him?”

“W-well, he is a nice fella, but he’s taken, so ah have to leave it be,” Cider sighed.

“Pity,” Midnight hummed. “Once you get him to open up, he’s quite impressive. And I’m sure you saw his little... gift?”

“No way and no how, would ah call that gift ‘little’,” Cider blushed hard. “Landsakes, ah though he was gonna split me in half...” She put a hoof to her mouth as Midnight's eyes widened a little. “Ah, well ah... ah mean...”

“It’s fine, but there’s a set of triplets in town with rather distinct violet eyes. Never tell them what you did... you’ll never hear the end of it.” She set her empty mug down and stood up. “Look, Ledger and I, we have a lot to sort out, and a lot to deal with. But the way I see it, you’re a good mare who meant no harm. So we’re cool.”

“Really?” Cider blinked. “Well, ah, thank you ah guess?”

“We’re not quite done talking about this though,” Midnight smiled. “But I do have some things to discuss with Ledger beforehoof. I’ll be seeing you again Miss Cider.”

Apple Cider nodded as the Thestral left, and the mare sank back into her chair, sweating and blushing.

“Jus’ what have ah gotten mahself into?”

Ledger had been suitably impressed. The drones had done very good and very quick work with all of Toll’s usual customers. The old deals had been re-drawn up from memory, and all the excess bits she took for her own criminal empire had been cut from the usual costs. With the revised deals, getting his hooves on all the things the Love Shack needed had been foal’s play.

Apple Cider...was another matter. Half the parts for a greenhouse had been acquired, but he would need properly tempered glass to help hold in the different temperature, and there was no way he could afford a trip to the Crystal Empire at this stage in the game for the crop.

After all, the side business of intel gathering kept turning up quite interesting results. On their own, the bits and bobs of information wouldn’t mean much, but if you backed up and looked at the bigger picture…

Something told him the rival shipping companies were gearing up for a gang war as each one jockied for Toll’s old spot. He only hoped the Guard would make use of his information.

It was then his door slammed open as Narrow, dressed in full Guard armour, strode in.

“Well now, how are you... little brother~” she teased.

“Business is doing well, but the forecast is for stormy skies,” Ledger said as he looked at the door. “And can you not do that? The poor door didn’t deserve that abuse.”

“Meh, sue me,” Narrow shrugged. “I’m actually here for a reason,” she said as she closed the door and locked it. “Care to take a guess?”

“I swear that the only criminal activity the company is interested in is the stuff everyone else is doing,” Ledger said. “Haven’t you been getting my messages?”

“Close but no cigar. Two more guesses.”

“Well I’m out of ideas,” Ledger said as he closed a folder and stuck it in a drawer. He’d have to give that one to one of his workers later, it might pan out to help with the tempered glass later, and this promised to take a bit longer. “So, what’s on your mind, Captain?”

“Quite a lot recently,” she shrugged. “Tell me Ledger... tell me what I’m feeling right now.”

“Judging by the way you’re holding yourself and the questions, I’m gonna go with...suspicion,” Ledger said, not saying everything on purpose. Until she outright accused him and had some sort of proof, he wasn’t going to say anything himself. Lesson one: no confirmations of your identity unless they prove they know it first.

“Cute,” Narrow hummed as she took a seat. “You know, I had the most interesting conversation the other day. Particularly the one with your new... houseguest.”

“If you’re talking about Midnight, it’d be marefriend. If you’re talking about Scope, the correct terms don’t exist in pony tongue to curse her out.” Ledger pulled another folder close and began looking at the contents. Hmm, so a ticket that far north cost that much? And that was for one-way!

“Again. Cute,” Narrow replied. “Still, how is it having a nymph under your roof?”

“Considering she fought for Toll and still sneers every time she looks at me, I’m gonna go with ‘like standing in a sandstorm’ levels of annoying,” Ledger grumbled. And still no Crystal ponies willing to talk to him regarding the sale of their signature crop just yet.

“Someone’s bitter,” she smiled smugly. “And here I thought you’d have a little bit of empathy for her, given your common ground.”

“The only common ground we share is our previous employer, and once Midnight’s beaten some proper manners into Scope’s head and the blasted nymph is healed, I will be glad to escort her to the border personally.” Ledger grumbled. “If she wants to immigrate in, she can apply through the proper channels.”

“Oh? I wasn’t aware that changeling immigration was common knowledge,” Narrow hummed to herself, staring at the ceiling.

“Considering my previous encounter and the memento I got from it, I’d say Changelings have been immigrating in for some time,” Ledger said. Ah, but that hotel at least had reasonable prices...so that cost would be cheaper at least.

Oh he was good. Narrow kinda wanted him on her team, his interrogation skills would be real handy... plus she’d never have to do paperwork again~

“Level Ledger, are you a Changeling?” she said, like she was asking for a cup of tea.

“Last time I looked in a mirror, no,” he replied with a smile, not falling for it. “And please, if you’re going to accuse me of being one, have some proof.”

“Fair enough, it was a slip of the tongue and I was just following a weak lead.” She placed a bag on the desk and motioned towards it. “Also, we found this amongst Toll Takers things, but can’t make head or tails out of it. Perhaps you can?”

Ledger pulled the bag close to himself and carefully opened it, before touching the stone within. The moment he did, his unicorn disguise flickered and faded out, revealing the silver Noble drone for what he was before the captain.

“Well played,” he grudgingly admitted to Narrow Gaze. “Anti-magic stone?”

“Yup,” Narrow smirked. “So Mr. Ledger, care to change your answer?”

“Do I need to?” he asked. “You clearly had some idea of what you were doing when you came here today.”

“Let’s say that Midnight and Scope are hardly masters of subtlety,” she smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ve had some time to think, and if I wanted to arrest you, I’d have just done so.” She sat back in her chair and looked him over. “Still, you look... different to the Changelings I’ve seen already.”

Ledger pointed at his eyes before answering. “Noble blood. My uncle on my mother’s side is the King of his Hive back in the lands. Which is pretty rare. Gives me a few perks...but only a few.”

“Huh, sounds complicated,” Narrow sighed. “And I take it that Midnight knows about...” she motioned towards him. “This?”

“Calls me her cuddlebug for a reason,” Ledger snickered. “Those of us who are already here aren’t monsters, Captain. There’s an approval process staffed by...civilized ponies and ‘lings on both sides. We just want to live and let live...and maybe help out when a city starts to go sour. Toll was bad for us too, you know.”

“I can imagine,” Narrow nodded. “I’m not going to pretend that this doesn’t surprise me, and that I’m more than a little irritated that I wasn’t trusted with this information.” She sighed as she lamented about not having some coffee right now. “So taking your words into account, there are quite a few Changeling’s here in the city? At least, that’s the impression that Councilstallion Grissom gave me.”

“We have a network,” Ledger grinned. “And really, it’s our opinion that if a Captain can be trusted not to go on a wild hunt with the information, he or she should be read into said network and who it compromises. We’d prefer to avoid situations like…” Here Ledger gestured between Narrow and himself.

“I’ll admit that this plan could have been conducted in a more civilised manner, but I did give you plenty of opportunity to speak up.” She folded her hooves and looked at him. “So now what? Do I simply assume that all you changeling’s are on the up and up? Or will I be let into this little club of yours?”

“I think we’ll have to ease you into the idea of changelings that don’t rain from the sky in a hail of green fire to drain a city of its love first,” Ledger said with a sigh. “Honestly, what was that-” here he interrupted his talk to let off a string of noises in his native tongue for a moment. “-thinking, compromising our secrecy like that?” he eventually finished.

“I’d ask what you said, but I doubt that curse against Chrysalis would translate well,” she was comfortable enough, and Level Ledger still seemed to be pretty much the same. “I wasn’t in Canterlot during that time, unlike Midnight Song...” That was another matter. She’d have figured that Midnight would have been quite averse to this situation.

“It’s faster to curse someone to the moon and back in Changeish than in any other tongue, I’ve found,” Ledger said with a smirk. “Then again, Changeish does require you to be, y’know, a Changeling to make all the right sounds.”

“Fair enough,” Narrow nodded. “Still, this is something that I’d rather be in on. I distrust most ponies in this city to begin with, even more so now,” she said. “I’d rather not have to think like that Ledger. I’d like to think of myself as a tolerant mare... but you need to work with me.”

“Fair enough,” Ledger admitted. “By the laws of my kind, I cannot, cannot, divulge their identities, though. However, Grissom is not so bound. I’m sure if you ask nicely and let him know you’re aware of a network in your town, he’ll send you the information. Especially if you include this,” here his horn glowed silver as he quickly wrote a note, “in your request. It’s basically me vouching for you. And while that gets sorted out, we can introduce you to a few at a time. The main thing you’re going to need to keep in mind, though? We’ve been here for a while. Chrysalis was the anomaly.” The note was flash-dried and passed over to the Captain as Ledger finished.

“Well, it’s a start,” Narrow nodded. This was going to take some getting used to. There was a shout from outside, quickly followed by a loud ‘THUMP’ on the locked door and a pained groan.

“Oww.... why’s the door locked,” they heard Midnight moan.

“Just conducting some private business,” Ledger said as he quickly shoved the anti-magic stone towards the Captain and re-donned his disguise. “Quickly, promise me you’ll keep the secret,” Ledger hissed at the Captain. “It’s a thing I have to do. You don’t want to know the alternatives.”

“Now I am curious,” Narrow smiled. “But yes Ledger, I think I can keep a secret or three. Heck, you’d be surprised on what I know about Fredrick~” Her horn flashed as the door unlocked, and Midnight limped inside.

“Oh, hey Captain,” she beamed. “And Levvy... that was mean~”

“She locked it,” Ledger said. “Blame her.”

“Hm, well the Captain’s the Captain. Can’t do it,” Midnight giggled. “My visit to Cider Falls went well... really well~”

“Why do I get a shiver when I hear that?” Narrow sighed as she got up. “Whatever. Keep what I said in mind Ledger. We’ll talk again soon.”

“Absolutely,” Ledger said with a nod. “And I’m honestly surprised she hasn’t made a pass at you yet, so maybe that’s why you shiver?”

“One of the Midnight rules, never pursue a commanding Officer,” Midnight replied. “It will only end in trouble.”

“She’s right, not to mention it’s against Guard rules,” Narrow agreed. “Plus... I dunno, it’d be... weird.”

“I know right!” Midnight replied. “Something about that doesn’t sit right with me.”

Ledger shrugged as he pulled out the possible contract to pass out to one of his workers. If they could offer a better price on glass shipping, it’d be one of the last pieces he’d need for Cider’s greenhouse. Something to help regulate the temperature would be the last bit, but seeing as they only needed the one, he’d help out more directly with that. Namely, funds when she said she found one.

“Your call,” Ledger said as he got up from behind the desk. He paused as he walked by both mares and gave them a sidelong glance. “Midnight, perhaps you should introduce the good Captain to some of our mutual friends,” he said aloud. “Like some Ladies we both know?” Somehow he got the idea of a capital letter across when he said Ladies.

“Ignoring your abuse of text in speech,” Midnight replied, “I was planning on it tonight with some friends. Will you be okay by yourself?”

“I should be,” Ledger said as he opened the door for them both. “I was actually planning on a quick, strictly business meeting with Apple Cider in the near future, to let her know of my progress regarding a plan we came up with for her to brew Crystal Berry Wine locally. Assuming this deal pans out, we’ll be...quite a ways closer to that goal than any other.”

Midnight paused at that. “Strictly business?” she asked hesitantly.

“Until the day comes when you tell me otherwise, yes, strictly business,” Ledger said, giving Midnight a quick peck on the cheek.

“I met with her today,” she said. “We talked, about a few things.”

“Your verdict?” Ledger asked.

Midnight nodded as Narrow took her leave for now. Once she was out of earshot, the Thestral turned back to Ledger. “Well, she’s cute... reminds me a lot of her sister.”

“Did you?” Ledger managed to ask before words failed him. “Please tell me you didn’t…”

“What are you insinuating Mr. Ledger?” she asked. “Use your words and tell me.”

“Did you sleep with her sister?” Ledger asked finally.

“Of course not,” Midnight Song said as Ledger breathed a sigh of relief... until she smirked. “We didn’t really sleep at all~”

“...So you’re going to be the one to seduce her next, I see,” Ledger hummed.

“Hey, I had no idea Fritter was her sister until Cider said anything. Imagine that conversation? ‘Oh hey, you slept with my stallion, it’s cool, cause I totally banged your little sister a while back’.”

“That actually doesn’t sound all that bad,” Ledger mused. “Maybe we can use that to reel her into this crazy thing we’re calling a relationship.”

“You... are un-freaking-believable,” Midnight sighed. “Especially if Cider has half the strength her sister has, I’d be a dead mare.” She sighed again and kissed Ledger on the cheek. “We’ll discuss this a little more later. But, do try and keep Little Ledger to yourself this time. She didn’t seem to notice but Cider was still walking funny.”

“I’ll do my best, but if she breaks out the sugar again, no promises,” Ledger replied before kissing Midnight back. “I’ll keep it to words only as well as I can. And keep in mind, I was raised with...a weird set of values regarding sex. At least, that’s how you and other ponies will likely look at it.”

“Just, try and bear with it until we sort this out,” Midnight frowned. “I know... that I’m being selfish. But...” She shook her head and gave a powerful flap of her leathery wings, soaring out the large door and into the afternoon skies.

“I know,” Ledger whispered to the empty air. “I kinda want you all for myself as well.” With that, he shook his head and walked out to the floor, calling for someone to handle this latest proposition he’d drawn up.

The afternoon had been... surprising. Midnight’s mother had come for a visit, along with a friend of hers. She was a small, sky-blue Pegasus with red-framed glasses. Her cutie mark was of a telescope and she smiled meekly at Midnight Song.

“This is Night Sky,” Moon Song said. “A dear friend of mine, and I thought she could join us?”

Narrow and Scope shrugged. What was two more ponies. But still... with where they were going...

“Well, Mom... it’s just that we’re going...”

“To a Changeling nightclub yes?” Moon Song finished. “Your father already told me.”

“Seriously?” Narrow yelled. “I’m Captain of the freaking Guard and even I didn’t know about this until today!”

“The perks of being a married mare,” Moon hummed with an enigmatic smile. “My friend here is quite well informed as well.”

“Well she’s good at hiding,” Midnight chuckled, earning a few head tilts. “Ah, just talking to myself. So, shall we paint the town red?”

“Not literally I hope?” Scope shuddered. She’d shed her shell today and was feeling much better. Why Midnight wanted to watch was anypony’s guess though.

“Of course not,” Midnight giggled. “Well, my posse is gathered. Let’s party ladies~”

The Love Shack, possibly the worst-named club in Equestria, but still, this was gonna be an interesting night. Midnight took the lead and opened the door.

“The leading ladies have arrived!” she announced dramatically. They were met with a few cheers, and a nearby table was empty and had enough chairs around it for their party...though there was also a rather large booth as well.

“Well, seems we’re accommodated for already,” Midnight smiled, as Night Sky nodded in agreement.

Scope Lens was looking around, but didn’t see that crazed Violet anywhere and breathed a sigh of relief as she took a seat between Midnight and Narrow. Moon Song sat on the end of the table as a few ponies glanced her way.

“What’s up with that?” Scope asked. “Everyone’s giving your mother an odd look... and I sense... adoration?”

“Prolly cause Mom’s a famous actress and singer,” Midnight explained. “She sometimes gets mobbed by fans when she goes out.”

A unicorn mare with a white coat and a grey mane walked up to their table, her violet eyes roaming across the occupants before settling on Midnight. “There’s quite a few more than you said would be here,” the waitress said a little uneasily.

“They’re all in the know... for the most part,” Midnight nodded. “You don’t have to worry, we won’t be causing you fine Ladies any trouble this evening~”

“...Well, if you vouch for them,” the waitress said with a shrug. “Welcome to the Love Shack, I’ll be your waitress for tonight,” she said, her usual spiel coming back and dispelling her concerns. “If there’s anything you desire, do let me know,” she finished with half-lidded eyes.

“Yeah, I want you to keep that crazy violet away from me,” Scope nodded. She could feel those eyes watching her from somewhere.

“Perhaps we should introduce ourselves?” Moon said. “Tis only good manners after all. I am Moon Song, Midnight’s mother and wife to Grissom Gossamer, perhaps you know him?”

“We all know of Grissom in one way or another,” the mare smirked. “Don’t tell him, but there’s a good chance there’s a fly on the wall of his office. We rather enjoy the little games we play. Tonight, you can call me Sugar,” the mare finished, winking at the mares.

“Wow... hitting on my Mom... while I’m right here,” Midnight deadpanned. Moon just giggled and waved a hoof.

“It’s all in good fun Middy, do try and loosen up.”

“You’re telling her,” Scope pointed at Midnight, “To loosen up? You... do know who she is right?”

“Yes, my promiscuous daughter, but I love her all the same and she seems a bit wound up tonight.” She winked at Sugar and smiled. “Perhaps you could work on that hm?”

“The drink menus,” Sugar said, producing five from a saddlebag emblazoned with the name of the club. “Though if you want her to loosen up, I advise ordering for her,” the mare said as she floated Midnight’s back to her pack.

“Oh come on!” Midnight pouted as Moon Song giggled. Teasing Midnight was something of a guilty pleasure and a parent’s prerogative.

“Such fun,” Night Sky giggled, her voice was deeper than one would expect. “Tis truly a good night to be spent with friends!”

“Indeed it is,” Moon agreed. “Now, I think I’ll take a Cloudrunner... and a Celestial Solstice.”

“Mmm, and which one is for her?” Sugar said, glancing at Midnight while writing the orders down on a notepad that appeared out of her other saddlebag.

“The Cloudrunner,” Moon said.

“I’ll just take water,” Scope said. She wondered if she could even handle alcohol in her condition.

“A tequila for me,” Narrow said.

“What is a... Nightmare Chaser?” Night Sky asked. Moon giggled and whispered into her ear. “Oh, that sounds most entertaining. Procure this beverage for me good hostess!”

“Not a problem, I’ll have those out for you in five minutes,” Sugar said with a wink as she put the notepad away. “Bar is a little busy at the moment. And really, if you want to spend a night with friends…”

Then Sugar put two hooves on the table and gave Night Sky a look that downright screamed ‘I will make you want everything I have to offer, and I’m not talking about the drink menu.’ “Or friends, then we cater to that as well. You just have to know how to ask.”

With that, Sugar dropped back down and walked off to the bar, her tail flicking a little more than seemed modest.

“The waitstaff here is most friendly,” Night grinned happily. “Tis a fine tavern Miss Midnight!”

“I.. uhh,” Midnight tried to reply as she fought to get her wings under control. “Yeah... great place huh?”

“Seriously?” Scope deadpanned. “I’m not even gonna touch that.”

Moon Song just giggled as she took the time to look around the room. “Perhaps I’ll go and freshen up? The train ride was quite long. Be right back dears.” Once she left, Scope turned to Midnight.

“Is it okay for me to say that the Mistress’s mother is hot?”

“No Scopey, no it is not,” Midnight said, thunking her head onto the table.

“So this is a changeling-run nightclub,” Narrow mused aloud. “Well, it doesn’t seem too different from a normal one…”

“Yeah, just don’t wander out back without an escort, preferably an armed one,” Midnight replied. “Any innocence you have will be stripped in an instant.”

Night tilted her head again. “How is one... stripped of innocence?”

“Is she seriously that naive?” Scope whispered to Narrow.

“It would appear so,” Narrow nodded. It was kinda cute though.

Moon Song soon returned, looking a little more hale and hearty. “Ah, much better. Have our drinks arrived yet?”

“Not quite,” Scope said, “And if miss Night Sky doesn’t know all the things a Changeling can shift into, or the fact that a Violet wrote the Pony Sutra, then she might not know all the things we can do.”

“I am aware of what a Changeling is and isn’t capable of!” Night huffed. “And what is a... ‘Pony Sutra’?”

“A how-to guide for sex,” Scope deadpanned. “It encompasses all the things the Violets discovered regarding screwing ponies. What did work and didn’t.”

“That’s right,” Sugar said as she walked up with a tray of drinks in her purple magical grasp. “Mmm, it took our hive a good fifty years to get all the fine details hammered out.” She double checked her notebook as she put the beverages in front of the mares.

“I see...” Night Sky replied. “Forgive me... modern standings are... still difficult to grasp sometimes.”

“It’s fine,” Moon said. “Why don’t you get more comfortable? You’re among friends after all. No need for all your makeup.”

“Truly?” she replied. She sighed as a horn appeared on her head and a soft glow came from it. After a second, Night Sky was gone. Luna, Princess of the Night was sitting in her place.

“You are correct, this feels much better.”

Somewhere, a record scratched. There was silence for a few beats, and then Scope dropped her own disguise out of sheer panic. It took a few more moments for everyone to realize that

A) There was a changeling sitting next to Princess Luna and a Thestral.

B) Said ‘ling wasn’t dead.

C) Princess Luna was in the bar.

D) So was an undisguised ‘ling.

After which, while the ponies visibly forced themselves to look away, the changelings looked at Scope for an indication as to when they should start running.

“Okay...I’m going to be honest, I’m surprised I’m still alive right now,” Scope said. “I mean, moreso than usual. Aren’t you supposed to be Equestria’s largest flyswatter regarding us?”

“Nay, tis a common misconception!” Luna replied back. “See Moony, I told you this was a bad idea. I should go back to the castle...”

“Don’t worry your Princessey head,” Moon Song smiled as she sipped her drink. “We’re here to have fun with Middy, that is all.” She looked at the rest of the bar. “There will be no purging, maiming, burning, swatting or the like. Understood?”

Muttered agreements came from the changelings, and Scope voiced the question on quite a few of their minds. “So...how in the world did those rumors get started anyways? I mean, Mistress demonstrated, quite soundly on my chitin, where parts of them came from, but why’d you need some ponies like her?” the recently-patched together ‘ling asked Princess Luna.

“There are a great many things in this world that you are unaware of my little changeling. Let’s say that you are not the only emotivores and leave it at that yes?”

“We’re just the ones you figured you could get along with, then?” Scope asked. “What’d we do to earn such an honor?”

“You have a soul,” Luna replied darkly as she took a sip of her drink. “Hrrm, this is quite potent.”

“...Fair enough,” Scope replied as she sipped at her water. “Aaaaand everyone’s staring. Great.”

“Well Luna just popped up and you purged your disguise,” Midnight replied for the first time in a while. “It’s to be expected yes?”

Moon Song sighed as she looked at her daughter. “Midnight, whatever is the problem? I haven’t seen you this down in quite some time.”

“It’s because she’s not sitting next to the Princess so she can try and sneak a kiss in,” Scope snarked.

“I... WHAT?” Midnight looked at the Changeling as Luna smiled and chuckled.

“Ah, Tia told Us about that. You had a little mishap in your sleep and stole a kiss from your Princess.” Midnight just blushed as the Lunar mare giggled. “Tis no secret that Celestia is this one’s favourite. She refused to join my Guard after all, all she wanted was to be by my sister’s side.”

“Yeah, and Ledger mentioned something about her wanting him to shift into a male version of you for their nighttime activities that they think I can’t hear,” Scope added.

“OHMIGOSH!” Midnight clamped a hoof over her mouth. “She’s full of it Your Highness! Don’t listen to a single, traitorous word she says!”

“Too late, we have seen your dreams Midnight... they are... inventive. And pray tell, for her words to be traitorous, they would have to be true, no?”

Midnight just blushed profusely as she slammed her head back onto the table.

“I must say,” Narrow said as she sipped at her tequila, “That while I had a few ideas as to how this night might turn out, we’re well past any reasonable assumptions I had.”

“This is how most evenings with Midnight go,” Moon chuckled. “This is actually pretty tame so far. Why, I remember one night we went to a place called Brimstone, located under Canterlot. We met two most charming young drakes and Midnight-”

“Aaaaand they don’t need to know about that,” Midnight finished.

“Really?” Luna asked. “I remember you bragging about that one for a while.”

“And now even the Princess turns against me,” Midnight sighed. May Celestia strike her down now. Just drop the whole friggen sun on her.

Slowly, Sugar approached the table again, trying very hard not to look too long at Luna. “Do you ladies need anything else?” she asked in a surprisingly level voice.

“Oh, there’s no need for that,” Luna smiled. Her gaze became one similar to the Violet’s earlier. “What happened to... making friends~”

“Well that was before I realized I hit on one of the diarchs of Equestria,” Sugar said. “And you at that. But...since little sister there is still intact...I guess all those rumors are a bunch of hooey, huh?”

“Perhaps, perhaps not,” Luna shrugged. “Is the danger not thrilling~?”

“Luna... stop scaring the buggies,” Moon sighed. “I apologise for her behaviour.”

Luna merely poked her tongue out.

“Well...I mean if you’re amicable to the idea…” Sugar said, slowly slipping back into her role. “I am trained in a variety of techniques, and there were more volumes to the Pony Sutra that never made it to Equestria.”

“Hmm, I wonder if those are the books Tia hides from me?” Luna wondered aloud.

Midnight chuckled at the changeling, it took balls to hit on a Princess. She should know.

“Well, I think some snacks are in order,” Narrow said. “Isn’t that the idea? Get drunk, eat salty snacks and make fools of ourselves?”

“Seconded!” Luna cheered in the Canterlot voice.

“Mistress has already skipped to the last step,” Scope pitched in. “But I can agree with the sentiment.”

Midnight turned to look at Scope Lens. “When did I say you could be so snarky to me?” she asked. “You’ll pay for tonight, I swear it~”

“Assuming you remember tonight,” Scope said with a grin. “I seem to be the only one abstaining.”

“Somepony please slip her vodka or something,” Midnight replied.

“I still stand by my previous statement,” Moon said. “You cannot have fun while you mope, and I’ll not have fun until you are. So tell your mother or we will go home right now!”

“What, but I...” She sighed and lay on the table once more, sipping her drink through a straw. “It’s just... Levvy and I... have run into a bit of a problem. Cultural differences if you will.”

“What kind of differences?” Moon asked. “Well, aside from the obvious.”

“The way we were raised,” Midnight said and Moon’s jubilant attitude took a nosedive.

“Oh...”

“While I don’t know how Thestrals are raised,” Scope said as she sipped at her water, “I can tell you that ‘lings are told to secure a strong positive emotional wellspring, or two or three weaker ones, and blend in as best they can. We tend to view everything up to that quite differently to ponies.” Gesturing to Sugar, the waitress chipped in.

“Admitted, while those of Violet do like Lust, and Pinks like Happiness, we aren’t all mindless sex-bugs. Though we don’t attach as much sentiment to the act as ponies do. Will breadsticks be fine for a snack?”

“Huzzah! The breadsticks will be marvelous!” Luna replied. “But I fail to see the problem here. Did he, or did he not, copulate with a mare that was not you?”

“He... did,” Midnight replied.

“Then the solution is simple,” Luna nodded, ushering away Sugar to get the bread. “Simply claim the mare into your herd. Problem solved.”

The record screeched to a halt for a second time as the bar fell into silence. Midnight Song, Solar Guard, lover to many and overall badass... just blinked.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Add her. To your herd.” Luna spoke slowly. “Tis what I would do.”

“...Y’know, for something that haunts the nightmares of ‘lings, I find myself agreeing with her,” Scope said as she finally polished off her water. “Seriously, is there a reason you didn’t think of that?”

Midnight blinked again. “Um... forgive my prench... but, the fuck is a herd?”

Scope blinked and looked at Luna. “You wanna field this one, or should I?” Luna chuckled and waved a hoof.

“You are doing so well already.”

“Right,” Scope said as she tried to recall. “Fill in any gaps I have, please, but from what I recall, herding used to be a practice where mares and stallions, usually more mares than stallions, would agree to share each other in the name of love, harmony, and not ending up going to bed alone at night. Is it...not practiced anymore?”

Moon Song hummed, “Well, I think the last recorded herd was about... a hundred years ago?” she recalled her history lessons. “It’s just confined to literature and film now.”

“So... all three? In a relationship?” Midnight asked as the gears turned. She.. she could do that. It was just like a threesome, only all the time.

“I have a shiver down my back,” Luna stated. “Is there a draft?”

“Meh,” Scope waved a hoof. “Three is tame. We’ve got old records that, while I doubt them, I think the most was three stallions and like...ten mares. Once you agree to the practice, you’re opening old floodgates.”

“Feh, such weak numbers,” Luna scoffed. “Why, in our day, Celestia and I had...” She suddenly stopped, fearing what her sister would say if that information got out. “W-well, tis not important. But it is a valid solution Lady Midnight.”

“Ah, so the Royal Harem gossip the Violets kept in their library is based in some truth, eh?” Scope said as she smirked at Luna. “Then again, immortals have all the time in the world to accrue lovers.”

“That talk shall remain as such, talk,” Luna huffed.

“Spoilsport,” Moon teased as Sugar returned with their bread. “Ah, many thanks Sugar-darling~”

Narrow pulled one out and bit into it, humming at the...familiarity of the taste. “This...did you steal Fredrick’s recipe?”

“Don’t tell him, but a few of the mares on his regular bedmate list are us on rotation,” Sugar said with a laugh. “Like we’d let such a potent source of Lust go untapped.”

“I have no words,” Narrow sighed. “I really should have expected it... but still... no words...wait!” She leaned forward and grabbed Sugar. “You! You know how I can finally one up that blasted bird!”

“Nope,” Sugar shook her head. “The only way we could potentially overwhelm him is to bring in the other volumes of the Pony Sutra. And the Lands aren’t too keen to share those books with us just yet.” The waitress let those words sink in before clarifying. “He. Wears. Us. Out. Not the other way around.”

“Celestia dammit...” Narrow sighed as she slumped over, until a soft, blue-hued magic picked her up and the teal eyes of the Lunar Princess gazed into hers.

“They may not be able to help... but I have experiences that are long forgotten dear Captain. Perhaps... I could share a few?”

Tears stained Narrow’s eyes as Luna whispered into her ear. It took about two seconds for the Guard’s face to turn a hundred shades of red. Sugar huffed as she felt the sea of emotions churn in front of her.

“...So not fair,” she whined. “Either share with the class, or I might drop a line to our Canterlot sisters about sneaking a few Violet drones in your list of suitors, Princess.”

“Hah, I have not taken a suitor in a long time dear Sugar. But perhaps you can coax the information from me at some point tonight?” she winked as she sat next to Narrow, switching with Scope.

“Can do,” the waitress said with a smile. “So, shall I leave you ladies for a few minutes to demolish these breadsticks, then pick up another order for the next round?”

“That would be most wonderful, dear Sugar,” Luna nodded.

Midnight had finally come down from plotting and a smile crossed her muzzle, one recognised as her signature ‘Midnight Song’ smile.

“Well,” she grinned. “I count two mares that don’t have dates yet,” she grinned, looking at Luna and Scope. “Let’s rectify that shall we?”

“And suddenly I wonder if helping lady Song was a good idea,” Luna said slowly.

“Mistress, with all due respect. Buck yourself. Better yet, have that drone learn a soundproofing spell and buck him. Just keep me out of it.” Scope took a breadstick and chomped it. “There is no way you are going to get me hooked up with a pony.”

“Who said it had to be a pony?” Midnight smiled as she called out over the small crowd. “Oh Violet~” She sang out. “I have your cuddlebug~”

There was a squeal of joy as a familiar form came over from the stage, looking at Scope with happy eyes. “Oh, you came back!” the disguised nymph said happily.

“Yup, and she’s aaaaaall yours~” Midnight giggled sliding to one side to let the nymph in. With another squeal, the nymph...pulled Scope out instead and started to carry her off.

“I promise to have her back in the morning!” the nymph said. Scope, on the other hoof…

“Buck you, mistress!”

“Hmm, sounds like you’re getting bucked instead!” Midnight called out. “Oh, she’s all healed up too, no need to hold back!”

There was a happy purr and a yipe as one nymph nibbled on another’s anatomy. Sugar made a small observation then. Just a small one.

“Changelings are usually...very sensitive after shedding our shells. She won’t have to do much to make her come around.”

“I’ll bet,” Midnight cackled. Oh this was too amusing.

“But now we are one mare down,” Narrow replied. “And her sarcasm was kind of endearing.”

“True,” Moon nodded. “She kind of like... hmm, I can’t seem to come up with a comparison. This drink is already affecting me?”

“Weakling!” Luna shouted. “That little ‘ling is akin to a Manticore cub. Soft and cute, but deadly poisonous!”

“I can see that,” Midnight agreed. “She’s so adorable... eh, what’s that neighpon word? Ah, tsundere!”

The others looked and shrugged. “Well, if you say so dear,” Moon nodded. “But what do we do now?”

“Hmm, last time I was here, all I did was talk with the Ladies and then...” She blushed lightly.

“Was it something leeewwwd?” Luna teased.

“What, NO!” Midnight pouted. “Not this time anyhow. I simply stole their stage and sang a song or two.”

Moon practically leapt across the table and grabbed her daughter. “You sang? In public!?”

“Is... something wrong with that?” Narrow questioned as Sugar returned with another round of drinks.

“Refills, courtesy of the stallion at the bar,” the waitress said, pointing him out. “And there’s nothing wrong with crooning a love song to a drone at all.”

All the mares giggled at Song, who was glaring at Sugar.

Princess Luna looked to the stallion and winked at him, blowing him a kiss. Said stallion, a rather well-built Unicorn, actually winked back at the princess and lifted his glass to her. Luna returned the gesture, as all eyes at her table watched.

“Damn... look at that horn.”

“You know what they say about a stallion with a long horn~”

“I could bounce a Bit off of those flanks!”

Luna simply turned beet red and sat back down. Scope Lens, in the meantime, had managed to escape... for a moment.

“Huzzah! Lady Scopey returns!” Luna cheered. “Did you enjoy a horizontal tango?”

“That nymph is nuts,” Scope deadpanned as she looked at the table, not seeing an easy way to hide and knowing that her paramour was about to return thanks to Luna’s cheer. In a fit of desperation, she dove under the table, just before the nymph from earlier trotted up.

“Mares,” she greeted, looking at each one. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen my cuddle-buddy?”

Midnight flicked her tail, trailing it along Scope’s very sensitive back. “Hmm, can’t say we have. Oh, why don’t you join us for a spell?”

Scope barely stifled her moans as the nymph shrugged and sat next to Midnight. “So what’s up?”

At the bar, the stallion had reached the cherry in his current drink, popped it in his mouth, and seemed to be thinking for a moment. When he popped the stem back out...it had been tied in a knot.

“Sweet Sister of Mine!” Luna gasped. “Did... you see that?”

“Hmm, not bad I suppose,” Midnight hummed. “But he’s no Thestral~” She waited until he was looking in their direction, before her tongue curled out and lifted the cherry from Luna’s glass, pulling it back into her mouth.

“Lady Midnight, that was my cherry,” Luna pouted. “Hmm, perhaps that stallion will give me his?”

“I could give it back,” Midnight winked, holding it in her mouth. She yelped when a glow surrounded it and Luna yanked the fruit from her mouth with her magic, devouring the fruit.

“Huzzah! I win!” Luna giggled. The Violet nymph next to Midnight consoled her.

“There there, you can try and sneak a kiss in some other time.”

“Does everypony know about that!?” Midnight flailed, her hind legs brushing against Scope’s rump.

“We do now,” the nymph teased as Scope tensed. “Really, you don’t steal someone’s cherry, then offer to give it back, unless you’re fishing for a kiss. It’s a classic move that we’ve seen a hundred times.”

“Olden, but golden,” Moon sighed, remembering when her husband and her would do things like that. “Oh, now I made myself sad...”

“Then let’s try and get Miss Night here and Mister Bold there to know one another better,” the nymph said with a wink. “It might help take your mind off things.”

“Wha? But...”

“Yes, romance to forget romance,” Moon said. “Hmm, well Mr. Bold there seems more than willing... but our sheltered princess?”

“I am not sheltered!” Luna said with a huff. “I simply enjoy the indoors.”

“Then, let’s open you up a bit!” Midnight said, draining her glass. “Everypony meet me in that room over there in five minutes!” And with that, she trotted off for said room. “And Vio? I’ll need Scopey for this, so no molesting her just yet!”

“Uh, should we worry about what she insinuated?” Narrow asked.

“I’m more wondering if ‘everypony’ includes Mister Bold,” the nymph said. “...Probably not, based on context, but why take chances?”

“I think it’s harmless,” Moon said. “My daughter is many things and she has done many things... and many beings, but her own mother has not and will never be one of them. Let’s go see what she’s cooking up.”

Luna shrugged and with a flash of magic, grabbed Scope out from under the table, carrying her towards the room. Violet trotted afterwards, giving a good ‘come hither’ stare to the stallion at the bar that Sugar helped with. The stallion blinked, and started to follow, but soon found himself kicked back out by Midnight.

“Not yet Lover-colt, but props for enthusiasm~ We’re gonna have a little fun, then maybe you can enjoy the nightlife hmm?”

With a shrug, the well-built unicorn sat himself in front of the private room, not deterred in the slightest. Once he’d caught sight of Luna in her real form...well, he knew no other mare could quite compare to her, and he’d be willing to wait all, heh, night for her.

After a moment, Violet had come out of the room, a look of surprise and interest on her face. She trotted over to Sugar and sat at one of the barstools.

“Oh this is going to be good. Be sure to collect tips sister~”

“You mean beyond kisses and other things?” Sugar replied. “Now I’m interested.”

She didn’t have to wait long, as the sound of a piano solo filled the hall. The lights dimmed as the curtain on the stage rose and Midnight sat at the large instrument, playing for Scope Lens, who looked quite disinterested.

‘Nothing stays the same for long

But when it changes, doesn't mean it's gone

Time will always get away

As it leaves behind another day’

Scope sighed and opened her mouth. Midnight Song was going to owe her for this.

‘Things may come and things may go

Some go fast and some go slow

Few things last, that's all I know

But friendship carries on through the ages’

Narrow trotted out onto the stage and sang the next part, her flanks giving a slight wiggle as she smiled.

Things may come and things may go

Some go fast and some go slow

Few things last, that's all I know

But friendship carries on through the ages

The music picked up and a large, blue Alicorn slid out onto the stage, an electric guitar in her magical grasp as she strummed it.

Been around for a long time

Rocking out hard, 'cause I'm in my prime

Maybe it'll change further down the line

But my friendship carries on through the ages

Moon Song sang the next part, trying to get over a rocking-out Luna. It was something she wouldn’t quite forget as her pure tones sang out over the bar.

Every single style has something

Diff'rent it can say

There's nothing wrong with being unique

And special in your own way

Confetti exploded as a mare with a curly pink mane and deep, ruby eyes smiled, holding a microphone and smiling widely.

Maybe you wanna be a pop star

Get your fifteen minutes of fame, wah ah! Ah-oh!

That won't last forever

But friendship remains the same, oooohhhh!

Everypony blinked at the arrival of the new mare, but shrugged as the song went on. They all fell into rhythm as they sang together, their voices blending perfectly as Midnight and Luna led the tune.

‘Things may come, and things may go

Some go fast, and some go slow

Few things last, that’s all I know

But Friendship, carries on through the Ages.

Things may come, and things may go

Some go fast, and some go slow

Few things last, that’s all I know

But Friendship, carries on through the Ages.

Oh, oh, carries oonnnnnn~’

The song ended as all six mares grinned and laughed. The patrons of the bar gave the mares a very hearty round of applause, one fitting of the song, the mares singing it, and the fact that Princess Luna had been a part of bringing them such entertainment. The rather bold golden-coated stallion wasn’t quite sitting in the front row, but he still caught the Princess’ eye.

“Thanks everypony!” Midnight giggled as Moon Song beamed over seeing her daughter perform once more. It had been so long.

Luna laughed, she was having an amazing amount of fun tonight. Her horn flashed as she looked at the stallion, her sultry voice appearing in his mind. “And I’m going to have a lot more fun with you~”

The stallion blinked his emerald eyes a few times and flicked his ears unconsciously at the sound of Luna’s voice so close. He then looked at Luna, and his response, while not verbal, was plain as her moon at its fullest. “Looking forward to it,” his body language said as he gave the moon goddess a wink.

Midnight gave a sheepish look at the Ladies. “Uh, sorry about stealing your stage again!”

“Don’t be,” one of them said as she pointed to the small hill of bits the patrons had generously given as tip money for their performance. “We’d offer you a cut, but you don’t work here, so…”

“It’s fine,” Midnight smiled. “I’m just glad everypony enjoyed it. I wasn’t expecting that from Luna though. Dang girl, you rock out hard!”

“I tried the.. rocking, as it was,” Luna nodded. “It made me most happy!”

Narrow smirked, happy that Luna had enjoyed their session as well. “Well, while most of us don’t have our stallions here, yours is right there,” she said, nudging the alicorn towards her paramour.

“Indeed,” Moon Song nodded. “Go and have fun dear. We shall talk more tomorrow yes? I believe that you want to meet a certain noble?”

“True, then I shall abscond for now,” Luna nodded. She turned to the Unicorn, and smiled salaciously. “Well then my handsome stallion. Let us see if you can make the night last hmm?”

“I’m not promising that I’ll be the best,” he said as he drained his glass before smirking at the alicorn. “But I did manage to pass Fredrick’s tutoring, both the cooking and his other set. I’m perfectly willing to put his teachings to use on the one species he didn’t cover for ‘bedding practices.’ If you’ll have me that is, milady,” the stallion said, suddenly remembering his manners and kissing Luna’s hoof.

“Well, you are a gentlecolt,” Luna blushed. “Then I’ll make this special for you as well~” Her horn flashed a she cast a cloudwalking spell on him, one that would last for a few days. “Now, let’s go and embrace the night~” she whispered into his ear and they teleported away!

“Is it bad that I’m feeling a little jealous?” Midnight sighed.

“Nah, but maybe if you follow her advice, ya won’t be,” Scope pitched in. “Step one would be getting the drone and the other mare in the same room, and then step two would be talking to both of them...so, y’know, maybe sometime next century we’ll see another herd.”

“Oh bite me,” Midnight huffed as a flash blinded her and Luna reappeared. She smiled at Midnight and drew her into a deep kiss, moaning lightly as Midnight just stared with wide eyes.

After a few seconds, the Alicorn dropped the Thestral and licked her lips. “Heh, top that Tia!” she smirked and vanished again, leaving a very befuddled Thestral on the floor.

“Um.... what?” Midnight just blinked, putting a hoof to her lips.

“Oh well,” the violet who wasn’t Sugar said as she pulled Scope close. “Looks like Luna went and broke your daugher,” she said to Moon Song. “You know where she lives, right?”

“I believe I remember,” Moon said. “But, I could just follow Miss Lens yes?”

“You could if I wasn’t going to borrow her for the night. And most of the next day,” the nymph said with a wide smile. “Really, if Midnight wants her back, she’ll have to come pick her up at some point.”

“Save. Me,” Scope begged.

“You two play nice now,” Moon Song said happily as she levitated Midnight onto her back. “Shall we go Captain? I believe your own lover might be missing you.”

“Yeah, and Luna’s given me a few ideas to help drag that bird back down from his high perch,” Narrow said as she began thinking of mares she might not mind seeing in the same bed as her and Fredrick. If he could keep up with one mare, let’s see how he handles two at the same time~

“Hm, now I’m a little curious,” Moon giggled. She did weigh in on saving Scope, but the Violet ladies were just so nice. “Don’t ruin my daughter’s servant too much missy.”

“Oh it depends on how much she resists,” the nymph said as she shoved Scope into a private room and held the door shut with her magic. “Along with how soon she comes to pick her up. Assuming she ever does.”

“I’m sure she’ll remember... at some point,” Moon giggled. “Thank you for hosting a wonderful evening Miss Violet, and you as well Miss Sugar.”

“You’re welcome,” the pair said at the same time.

“Now go have fun,” Sugar said with a giggle.

“And thank Luna for bringing up that piece of history for us at some point,” the nymph said before ducking into the private room.

Midnight suddenly sat up, her eyes wide. “WAIT!” she shouted, causing Moon to wince. “Who was that pink Pegasus that interrupted our song?”

Moon and Narrow looked at one another and shrugged. “Beats me,” Narrow replied. “I thought she was another one of your weird friends.”

“Oh now that’s just rude, talking about someone behind their front,” the bubbly voice interrupted as the pink pegasus walked up and gave every mare a quick hug. “Hi!” she introduced herself. “I’m Amethyst Cream, but call me Amy! It sounds prettier and is easier to keep track of!”

“Waaaiit,” Midnight said as she looked at her. “You’re... the Pink Changeling?”

Amy looked around to make sure nopony else was listening before nodding. “Yeah-huh! I was in the crowd tonight, wanted to check out this place on my night off. And when I heard your song, I just couldn’t help but pitch in!” The mare hugged herself and sighed. “A song about friendship like that...it felt so...right, being up there with you.”

Midnight nodded as she resisted the urge to cuddle the pretty pink mare. “I’m surprised you knew the lyrics to it, but eh, Ponies and Musical Numbers.”

“What can you do?” Moon shrugged and Narrow nodded.

“We should be friends!” Midnight suddenly said. She had no idea why, but she just felt that this mare would make an awesome friend!

“Lemme see,” the mare said as she pulled out a notebook from one saddlebag. “Hmm,” she muttered as she flipped through a few pages. “I still have to give all the new arrivals the once-over, see if there’s a fellow Pink in any of them...gimmie two days, mkay?” she asked as she put the notebook back. “I’ve only got like four left, but they’re being evasive.”

“Oh, kay?” Midnight tilted her head. She wondered what that had to do with being friends.

“My guess? Pink-coated mares are always a little eccentric,” Narrow said, remembering her last trip to a little town called Ponyville.

“I have a thing I do,” Amy said as she waved a hoof at the mares. “Anyone who wants to be a friend and is over twelve gets slash has to spend an entire day with me first. That way I get to learn about them and they can learn about me as well~”

“Ah, that... makes a lot of sense,” Midnight nodded, just as the memories of Luna came back and she blushed before fainting again.

“Aaaand she’s gone,” Narrow laughed. “Sorry bout that Amy, seems Luna broke her quite well.”

“It’s all good,” Amy said as she helped put the thestral on Moon’s back. “I know if one of the Princesses kissed me, I’d go all googly-eyed as well.” The mare actually twirled a hoof in a circle near her head as her eyes spun in different directions for a moment, then all was well again.

“I saw nothing,” Narrow nodded. “Yep, all normal here.”

“Aw, she’s a sweetheart,” Moon cooed, nuzzling the Pegasus. “And your singing was lovely~”

“Aww, thanks!” Amy said as she gave the older mare a hug. “Mm, your love tastes like strawberries,” she said aloud, before catching herself and coughing awkwardly. “Well, look at the time, I have work tomorrow and drones to track down,” the mare said with a smile. “So if you don’t mind, I’m just gonna vanish.”

“It’s quite alright,” Moon smiled warmly, motherly love radiating from her like the sun. “You have a good evening Miss Amy.”

“Yeah, be careful out on those streets at night,” Narrow said.

“Sillies, I’ll be fine,” Amy said. “Besides...Levvy’s not the only ‘ling who knows how to hit.” He mood had taken a dark turn for a moment. “It’s harder to do as a Pegasus, but I’d be all too happy to demonstrate on anypony that tries anything with me.” After a beat, her cheery attitude returned. “But so long as I keep up my normal behavior, nopony minds me, and that’s just the way I like it~”

“I... see?” Narrow shivered for a moment, like when she’d seen Midnight use her Lyrica for the first time. This mare could be dangerous.

“Well I’m glad to see a mare that can take care of herself,” Moon nodded. “Take care Amy, I’m sure Midnight will be happy to see you when she’s more... presentable.”

“Yup, and don’t forget to make sure she’s happy,” Amy said before trotting off and humming a wordless tune as she did. The tune was quite catchy and Moon found herself humming it as well.

“You don’t have to tell me to make sure she’s happy,” Moon hummed. “Now lets go home dear. It’s getting late.” Narrow nodded and the two mares left, ignorant to the protesting shouts of Scope Lens....

Chapter Nineteeen - A new chorus?

Ledger sighed as he led the familiar nymph along, thankful that she’d chosen her Earth Pony form for this introduction. Now, if only she would agree to stop pestering him…

“So, who are we here to see?” Sugar asked as she trotted along, taking in the sights.

“A friend,” Ledger answered. “I said she might get a hoof to help around and apprentice under her in learning how to brew, and you told me you wouldn’t mind learning. Turns out she needs help today, so today’s perfect.”

“...Why do I get the sense that there’s more to the story?” Sugar asked with a smile. “Still, introduce me to your friend.”

Ledger barely kept his sigh in check as he knocked on the door of Cider’s home. The door swung open and Fritter greeted him with a friendly smile. “Well howdy Ledger,” and then she laid eyes on the cute Earth Pony mare. “And hello to yer cute friend there~”

“Oooh, I’m liking this place already Ledger,” Sugar purred. “Would you be the owner of this establishment, then?”

“Naw, that’d be mah big sis,” Fritter said, holding out her hoof. “The name’s Apple Fritter. You?”

“Sugar Darling,” the white mare said, taking the hoof and kissing it. “Known for being sweet on all my friends.”

“Ah reckon you are,” Fritter giggled and blushed. Just as Cider pushed her to the side and sighed.

“Forgive my sister,” the mare groaned as Fritter just poked out her tongue. “Ah’m Apple Cider. Proud owner of Cider Falls Farm. And y’all are a friend of Ledger’s ah take it?”

“Indeed I am,” Sugar said as she repeated her greeting on Apple Cider. “Ledger said that you needed help today, and I always did want to learn how to brew the drinks I serve.”

“Ah, alright then,” Cider nodded. “Why don’t ah take y’all out to mah shed, and Ledger here can help mah sister with the last of the trees.”

“Aw, why can’t I show her the shed?” Fritter complained.

“Because that’s not the only thing you’d show her,” Cider complained. “Try an’ be professional fer once Fritts?”

Fritter just poked her tongue out again.

“Considering where she worked previously, that may not be such a bad outcome,” Ledger snickered before turning to Fritter. “So, the orchard then?”

“Yup, get ready to work up a sweat," Fritter grinned as she dragged him off. Cider chuckled, hoping Ledger would be able to walk after all this.

She looked back to Sugar and smiled. “Well then, shall we?”

“Do lead on,” Sugar said, a small glint in her eyes. She’d told no lie: she was very interested in learning what this mare had to offer.

“I’ve said it before. I’ll say it again. Magic, when properly applied, makes everything fun,” Ledger said with a slightly smug tone as he tugged apples loose from one tree before depositing them in a basket.

Apple Fritter reared up and slammed her hooves into one tree, as the apples rained down into the waiting buckets. Several farmhooves would take the full ones and place new empty ones as Fritter went from tree to tree. Despite having magic, Fritter still had several trees on him as she smirked.

“What’s wrong hornhead?” she teased as she slammed another tree. “Can’t keep up~?”

“Not every unicorn is Twilight Sparkle,” Ledger deadpanned. “I can pick a tree carefully and slowly, or many quickly and incautiously...which would only get Cider to yell at me. I choose to do what I can to avoid that.”

“Fair ‘nough!” Fritter grunted as she bucked another tree. “Ah wouldn’t wanna get on her bad side... but then again, ah can beat ‘er in a wrasslin’ match.”

Ledger smirked as he turned to the next tree and started picking it clean as well. “Depends on the type of wrestling we’re talking about,” he teased.

“Y’all better not be picturing that,” Fritter said, as a few farmhooves tilted their heads and shrugged. “Cause ah’d be more than happy to buck those thoughts outta yer head.”

“Pretty sure she’d take offense to you hurting her workers,” Ledger commented as he finished with the tree and put the apples in a nearby basket. “Unless there’s a different sort of bucking you were talking about?”

“Don’t flatter yerself Ledgie,” Fritter giggled as she flexed a leg. “You’d never survive.”

The sound of wingflaps could be heard as Scope Lens landed in the orchard, panting and glaring at Level.

“Do you have any idea how difficult you are to find?” she asked as she walked over to him.

“I was unaware we were playing hide-and-go-seek,” Ledger returned as he turned to the next tree.

Scope sighed and counted backwards from five. Midnight would be even more upset if her stallion was murdered and fed to the orchard as fertilizer. “Well excuse me, and here I thought you’d be interested to hear that your mare is flying around the city crying. Oh well, see you later then,” she said as she turned and spread her wings.

“...What happened?” Ledger asked evenly. Which was the scary part. There had been a flare of concern at the mention of Midnight crying, but he seemed to have gotten his emotions under control very quickly.

“Some disagreement with that Griffon that showed up,” Scope explained, a little concerned that his emotions had just done that. “He did something to her, and now she can’t do that emotionless thing of hers.”

“Huh,” Ledger said, scratching the back of his head with a hoof. “On the one hoof, Ace is her teacher slash mentor, so if he did it, it was probably for a good reason. But on the other hoof, he made Midnight cry.” With a nod, Ledger turned to Fritter and tilted his head. “Think we can finish up here before too long, so I can catch me a runaway bat?”

“We’ve taken care of most of it. Unless you leave yer cute little bird here as a replacement?”

“Up to her, she’s her own pony,” Ledger said as he turned to the next tree. “I’d likely want to take her with anyways, she’d be able to find Midnight faster than me.”

Fritter nodded, “Ah well, I guess ah’m all alone. Go on, ah think Cider will understand.”

“And tell her it has to do with Midnight if she doesn’t,” Ledger said with a smile, before offering Fritter a hug. The mare accepted, pulling him into a chitin-crushing embrace and let him go soon after. She also hugged Scope, only it looked much more gentle as she rubbed the Pegasi’s mane.

“I swear she’s doing this on purpose,” Ledger hissed as the pair of ‘lings left the farm. “Any idea where Midnight is?”

“I liked that hug, I wonder if she’s single?’ Scope mused as she flew next to him. She closed her eyes as her ears swivelled. “I can sense... something. Could be her,” she said. “Coming from the Tower Restaurant.”

The tallest building in the city, it dwarfed any other pony construct in Equestria. ‘To offer everypony the cloudlife’ was it’s slogan. And a pissed off Thestral was currently perched on the very top.

“Bucking Tartarus,” Ledger sighed, before looking around and spotting a sufficiently cluttered alleyway. With a flash of silver, a drastically different pony walked out from between the two buildings.

His coat was cloud-white, his mane was sky-blue, and his wings were appropriately sized. His eyes had turned silver, so that others might be able to figure out from his voice and eye color who he was. With a few flaps to help get the memories flowing, the drone in pony’s clothing was up and flying towards his mare.

Midnight lay on her back as the wind whistled around the tower. She barely took notice though, just staring at the endless blue sky.

‘Was it really that bad?’ she questioned herself. ‘I didn’t hurt anypony...too badly.’

That was about when the unfamiliar stallion landed nearby. Midnight turned her head to look at him, blinking a few times.

“If you're gonna yell at me for being here, I’m a trained Guard and I won’t hurt myself.” The wait-staff for the building had already expressed their concerns about her roosting here. “So save your breath alright?”

“Eh, I might yell at you in the future,” the stallion said, the voice sounding familiar. “But you’ve really given me no reason to yet.”

Midnight blinked at the voice as Scope landed soon after. “Ledger?’ she asked. The stallion pointed at his silver eyes and smiled.

“Sometimes it’s fun being me,” he said.

“Glad somepony’s having fun,” she muttered. “So what are you doing here?” She noticed Scope and sighed. “So she tattled then?”

“Perhaps,” Ledger said as he simply sat there. “I’m not going to force you into telling me anything, Midnight. But I want you to know, I will always listen to whatever you have to say.” He made an expression like he was thinking before speaking up in a snarky tone. “Y’know, since you only saved my life multiple times, agreed to keep the secret, and agreed to even pursue this whole relationship thing in the first place, I think lending you an ear is the least I could do.”

“What’s to tell. Master took my ability to use Lyrica away. If somepony tries to hurt you again, then I can’t help you,” she stated. And if Canterlot was mentioned again...

...Bucking dammit. She could already feel her nerves setting in and she couldn’t suppress them this time. She instead just decided to curl into a ball. Then she felt something weird, given that Ledger was normally a unicorn.

He had approached and given her a full-on wing-hug, complete with normal hug as well.

“Shh, whatever it is, you don’t have to tell me,” Ledger soothed. “Whatever happened then, I’m here for you now.”

“What...happened then?” she said as her body shook. She couldn’t suppress the memories again. The feeling of those empty black eyes, the pain as it ripped something intangible from her body. And the screaming... Oh gods the screaming! It wasn’t until later, that she was told the screaming she had heard that day was her own...

“I-I can’t...”

“...You met a Black, didn’t you?” Ledger sighed. “I don’t blame you. That’s why we have border control. It’s why we try and make sure, make damn sure, that only the best of us ever cross over. The damage that idiot did when she brought so many in...It stands to reason that more than a few undesirables found their way into her army.”

“...I tried... to fight but...” Midnight pulled free from his grasp, scrambling to her hooves. “What’s to stop it from happening again!?”

“Simple,” Ledger said, not offended. “We know better now. And in fact, I’ve been trying to reverse the damage that you suffered. It’s not easy, but I am doing my hardest to help you recover from...the things that happened.”

“You...did what?’ she said, taking another step back. “What did you do?”

“I put the clues together, Midnight,” Ledger said, still sitting still. “I figured out you met a Black and had Scope here poke around for information about how to reverse the things that were done to you.”

“What! Didn’t trust me to handle it! Just like Ace!” she spat, pacing in a small circle. “You said you ‘helped’ HOW?”

“I’ve been giving you love,” Ledger said, waiting for the statement to sink in. He’d been giving her something so precious, so powerful to changelings...just so she could heal.

He valued her life more than his own.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t really thinking right now.

“You-You messed with my emotions? Again!?” she said, her pacing stopped. “How long? How long have you done this? How true are the feelings I have, or are they a lie as well? Just another emotion you planted!”

Ledger actually took a step back, and Scope could feel the depth of pain Mistress had just inflicted on him with her words alone. “I...I need a minute to think,” Ledger said, before unfurling his wings. “Otherwise I might let my mouth say things I can’t take back.”

With that, he flapped once and took off into the sky, leaving Scope with Midnight.

The Thestral paused as he flew off, as what she said sunk in. “No...wait...” She took a step to chase him, forgetting that she was already on the edge and soon found her hoof grabbing at thin air as she fell from the tower.

“Mistress!?” Scope cried, racing forward and diving off of the building. The Thestral was too stunned to move, between the shock of the sudden fall and what she’d said to Ledger... her wings wouldn’t...didn’t open.

‘Maybe I shouldn’t. Ledger can live with Cider... she makes him happy...more than I did...’

Her fall was slowed, as a little Pegasus grabbed her tail and pulled. Her frame was too small and Scope grunted, trying to keep the batpony from becoming an addition to the obituary pages... again.

“Not. The fucking. Time for this!” she grunted as her body was engulfed in azure flames and her form changed, burning most of her love reserves as she changed into something bigger, something more powerful.

Midnight was going to have to explain to anypony who asked, on why she was saved by a teenaged dragon.

Ledger was sitting in their...his...dammit, still their, room. He may not be sure of a lot of things at the moment, but he knew that Midnight’s stuff was still here. Until she decided one way or another, the room was still ‘their’ room. And…

...And words didn’t always hurt, but she seemed to find all the right ones to throw at him.

With a soft sigh, the drone changed from his pegasus form to his unicorn one and looked around at all of Midnight’s things. It...it would really suck if she’d meant any of that. She’d been a good influence on him, and he’d hoped to have been a good one on her.

...Hives, she was his second sexual experience, the one he wished he could have lost his virginity to. She even scared off his rapist from dragging him back to the Lands.

...He did love her. He really did. But...a relationship can’t be built on just one-sided affection, and she seemed to be doubting hers because of what he’d said.

With another sigh, Ledger left the bedroom and trotted over to the living room, laying himself down on the couch he and Midnight had picked out.

And with thoughts of them possibly being over running through his head, the stallion softly cried until he dozed off.

The sun was already setting by the time Midnight stepped up to the door of their shared apartment. She’d avoided the farm, as she didn’t want to worry Cider about this. But she’d sent Scope Lens off to keep the peace for her, after the little Changeling had saved her life.

She was sure that Fritter would give her a good amount of energy...

Walking inside, Estate gave her a look and nodded his head. He’d not let anypony else in for the evening. Midnight trotted upstairs, each step feeling like it was harder and harder. And by the time she reached the door, just raising her hoof to knock felt like it was made of lead.

But knock she did. And it took a great deal of willpower not to start running...again. Especially when there was no answer for a long while.

She knew he was here, Scope had told her as such. She almost left, wondering if she just left and never came back, would he be happier? And it took far longer than she cared to admit before she remembered that she had a key.

Opening the door and taking a tentative step inside, it didn’t take long to find Level Ledger asleep on the couch. His chest rose and fell, and even as the fur covering his body ruffled gently in the breeze the open door let in, she knew of the dark, black carapace that lay underneath.

‘Stop it! He’s not like that. You know that!’

‘Do I? What if... if it’s all a lie. That he’s just...biding his time?’

‘Sweet Celestia you are a fucking moron! Scope said that emotion transfers are temporary at best. And require direct contact. You fell for him long before he ever kissed you.’

‘Why is my brain smarter than me?’

‘It’s my job. Now stop being crazy and losing an argument with yourself, and go and do what you came to do.’

“Dammit,” she muttered as she stepped closer, until she was sitting in front of the couch, watching him sleep.

...Shut up! It’s not creepy!

Ledger muttered a little in his sleep, before turning and showing a slightly familiar sight to Midnight.

His tear-streaked face.

“What have I done?” she whispered to herself as she nudged him with her nose. “Stupid Midnight...”

Level stirred a little, but ended up only turning over and batting a hoof in her direction, muttering something about potatoes stealing his bits.

“I bet Luna is laughing her ass off,” Midnight smiled very slightly. Not a forced one, a genuine one at the stallion... no, Changeling that she loved so much. She poked him again, and leaned down next to his ear.

“Scope’s eating all your sugar again.”

Ledger yawned, smacked his lips a few times, opened his eyes, and took note of Midnight sitting in front of him. It took him a second to react, but when he did, it was not promising.

The stallion simply closed his eyes again and spoke aloud. “Very funny, Luna. Try something a bit more realistic for my next dream.”

Midnight paused, her body shook as she heard that. Okay, he was pissed and was getting her back. That was fair and she’d let him have that one. But fucking hell, if this was what he was feeling, then maybe she was better off ending her earlier freefall.

“Y-Yeah, what was I thinking. The real Midnight is much sexier,” she said, her voice cracking. “I guess...you’re pretty upset huh?”

Ledger’s eyes shot open at that and examined Midnight. “You’re...actually here? You came? I...thought I would never see you again after what you said to me.”

“Would you...prefer potatoes stealing your bits again?” Midnight chuckled dryly. No, stop making jokes and face the topic already! “I...hurt you. So much. I can’t... expect you to forgive me for that. I know...that you wouldn't do that. You’re not like...that thing.” That last word was filled with so much hate, and even greater fear. “Just..say it. Say you hate me! Make this pain go away!”

Ledger responded in a shocking way. He shook his head.

“Midnight, I can’t...can’t hate you,” he said softly. “I love you too much, trust you too much, to hate you. You’ve helped me become a mostly-normal member of society again. The thought of losing you...hurt me. When you thought I could betray you so badly, it nearly broke me all over again. But...I still can’t hate you. The most I can conjure up for negative feelings around you are...disappointment and sadness. But...I suppose if you really think that I or any other in this city could do those things, would do those things...then I’ll not stop you from leaving me.” At the end of his little spiel, the disguised drone had laid his head back down on the couch and awaited Midnight’s verdict.

She had hurt him, as much as that nymph had. She was no better, she had just used words, instead of violence. Ledger might not be able to hate her, but she more than enough for herself. “I don’t...” she finally whispered. “Even though... I can’t shake these feelings, I don’t want to go...please, don’t let me go...I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry...I want to stay...”

“If you want to stay, then stay,” Ledger said simply, not raising his head or opening his eyes. “I’ll take the couch until I can convert my study into my own bedroom.” Even now, he was planning around keeping her and Scope comfortable.

“I don’t want that!” Midnight’s voice had gone from dead quiet to screeching loud. “I want to stay with you! Not in some empty room! But why should I? I don’t deserve it! You didn’t deserve that! Why did Scope even bother saving me!?” She panted as she stared at the indifferent stallion. “Why is this so fucking hard!?”

“I can’t answer the last one, but as for why you are worth anything,” Ledger said, opening his eyes and turning to Midnight before pecking her muzzle. He’d infused this kiss with as much love as he could scrounge from himself.

All the love he felt for Midnight, he poured into this kiss.

“It’s because you are loved, and so long as somebody loves you, you’re worth saving,” Level said after he broke the kiss, feeling the drain starting to creep up on him. Gah, that was at least a day’s worth of life he’d just shaved off!

“Stop it!” she said. “Stop giving it up to save me!” She pounced on him, her muzzle pressed against him to give it all back. She would muster up every last ounce of the feelings she had for him. Ledger, however, shook his head and lit up his horn, levitating her off him and setting her on the old couch.

“Keep it,” Level said with a soft sigh. “You’re...more damaged than I am. And I can get by on other emotions. You, however, need someone else’s love to repair you.”

“And you need it to live!” Midnight argued. “I’m...not worth that.”

“The fact that you are loved...is proof enough,” Ledger said with a smile. “So long as I love you and you need it, I will gladly give what I can to help fix you. I can survive off of other emotions, for a little while.”

“You stupid, stubborn...” Midnight’s body shook again. She looked at him and swallowed the lump in her throat and started to talk.

“It was... several months ago. During the wedding...”

“Not...our proudest moment,” Ledger winced.

“It was going so well,” she continued. “Captain Shining Armour had his shield up. The Elements of Harmony were barely a stone’s throw away. What being in all of Equus would be stupid enough to attack?”

“Midnight Song,” Celestia stated as she walked in. “You must know how important this day is yes?”

The Thestral nodded and saluted.

“I have a special assignment for you. One I know you can carry out like none other.” Midnight gulped and nodded again. What could be so important?

“I want you to guard my sister. You are one of my best, and it would put my mind and heart at ease knowing that you are keeping an eye on Luna for me.”

“Princess Luna?” Song questioned. She had her own Guard, so why...

“I have Shining Armour, as well as the Element Bearers by my side, so I will be just fine.” Celestia smiled, that annoying, enigmatic one she wore when she was looking ten steps ahead. “I fear, that something is amiss. I don’t know what, but it doesn’t sit right with me.” She placed a gilded hoof on Midnight’s shoulder. “Luna’s magic is still recovering. Loathe as she is to admit that fact. I know that no harm will come to her while you watch.”

“I will follow your orders Your Highness,” Midnight saluted, and squeaked as Celestia pulled her into a wing-hug.

“I know, and I know that you will succeed,” she said, before letting her go and resuming her regal posture. “Now, to your post.”

Midnight saluted once more and left the room. This job was shaping up to be easy... and maybe a little boring.

“It was...anything but,” she said.

“I know a little of what happened,” Ledger said. “It was in all the papers, and I really should have just run when I read about it instead of sticking it out.”

When Midnight reached the Lunar Wing, it was so quiet. Everywhere else, the castle was filled with the hustle and bustle of the royal event. But here? One could hear a pin drop and complain on how deafening it would be.

Luna’s room was also easy to find. Great oak doors that held beautiful carvings that were rumoured to take over a hundred years to complete. The Princess enjoyed her privacy above all else so Midnight didn’t knock on the door, merely taking her position at the entrance.

It was dreadfully quiet, just as she had predicted. So her ears swivelled, trying to catch any sound at all, save for her breathing and occasional clank of her armour. She jumped a little when she heard hoofsteps, as two of Luna’s Thestral Night Guard approached.

Midnight was on good terms with most of the Thestral community, most still ribbing her for serving the sun, ironic given the Thestral’s mostly nocturnal nature.

Something was off though. The way they walked was so uniform, so professional. Their stares were straight and focused, their faces hiding all emotion.

These were not Thestrals.

“Halt!” Midnight said, causing them to flinch. “Name. Rank. State your business!”

One of them, his eyes flickered for a moment and seemed to shine in the dark hall.

“Same as you Midnight, protect the sister,” he laughed. “I see Princess Celestia has her finest doing our job for us.”

“Name. Rank. Business.” Midnight said again. Her coat itched and her heart raced. Something wasn’t right here. She recognised these stallions, yet didn’t. What was this feeling?

“Shadow Wing, Corporal. Protect Princess Luna,” he replied, rolling his eyes. “Since when have you been so uppity? Haven’t had any in a while?”

Midnight frowned and spread her wings. “I will protect Princess Luna from any threat. ANY!”

“Seriously Midnight? Have you hit the cider early or something?” Shadow Wing smiled.

“Not buying it...‘Shadow Wing’,” Midnight said, drawing her swords.

“What?”

“If you were really him...then you’d remember tapping this plot during shift yesterday.”

Midnight paused in her story as she looked at Ledger. “What?”

“Only you...and some Violets, I think, would use sexual experiences as passcodes,” he retorted.

Midnight just shrugged and continued.

“She’s not buying it, because you’re an idiot,” the second Guard said. His voice was like ice, a creeping chill that worked it’s way to Midnight’s core. “Can’t you feel it? The love this mare has is a veritable buffet. I bet I could be as strong as a Queen if I drained her dry~”

“Oh come on!” ‘Shadow’ replied. “You heard the Queen, no draining anyone dry. It’s a rule!”

“Rules were made to be broken,” he smiled. He locked eyes with the mare and she took a step back. Why was she stepping away from him?

“Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to leave enough for you to have...fun with!” he smiled. “Maybe you could keep her as a pet or something?”

“Yeah, fine,” Shadow huffed. “Just, lemme go over there. You guys are friggen creepy when you eat.”

“As you wish. I will so enjoy this~”

Midnight found herself flying at him. She didn’t know why, but she felt that this...thing, whatever it was. It had to die, or she would be in for a much worse fate. She didn’t know what happened, but she felt herself slammed against the wall. It was like the world suddenly shifted, overwhelming nausea and then he was an inch from her face, those black eyes staring into her very being...

And then the pain, the overwhelming, excruciating pain. There was also an odd sound. Like somepony was screaming in agony, but Midnight couldn’t tell who it was. She just didn’t care really. Her job? So what?

Her life? Whatever...

There was a distant noise, like an explosion, but Midnight barely heard it. Then there was pink, why was it always pink?

Then... nothing…

“I’m going to guess, and this is just a guess mind you,” Ledger mused. “That you barely escaped with your life thanks to what happened. Not only did the shield blast him off of you, but it probably helped restart your emotions a little bit, to the point where everything that wasn’t his target managed to fix itself. Your ability to love, though…”

“I woke up, staring at a white ceiling,” she said. “I don’t know..what happened, but the Princess was there. Celestia, and Luna a bit later. They said... that they found me outside Luna’s room. She’d heard a noise, even through the soundproofing spells. Somepony screaming. That noise I heard, that terrified, agonised scream? It was me...”

She curled up on the old couch, shaking so much it affected her voice. “It was what happened after that hurt the most.” Tears fell from her eyes. “Did-Did I ever tell you I had a marefriend. One that I...that I loved?”

“No you did not,” Ledger said, mind racing. “Was she…” He stalled, trying to find the right words for the question, before giving up and leaving it hanging there as it was.

“Her name is Moondancer, a cute Unicorn at Celestia’s School,” she said. “We had been dating for about four months by then. She was safe too, by the way. She and a bunch of students holed themselves up at the school. But, after a day in the hospital, she came to visit. She was, so worried. She told me how scared she was, and that she loved me so much. Do you know what I said?”

“Oh no,” Ledger gasped, putting a hoof to his mouth. “Oh no oh no…” He could very well guess and didn’t like the idea...

“I told her that I didn’t love her. As if I were commenting on the weather.” she said in a muted tone. “At the time, I didn’t get why she cried so much. That destroyed, defeated look in her eyes. But she kept coming back, day after day, saying the same thing... and I kept giving the same answer. And one day? She didn’t come... she never came back.”

Midnight was crying now, a river of tears that stained the couch. “And I never cared. It was just, ‘Oh, she’s not here today. Oh well.’”

“...Do you want to see her again, now that you’re a little better?” Ledger asked.

“After a few weeks, I woke up one day, after a visit from my family and the Princesses... and I remembered. I felt everything. What I did to Moondancer... I can’t, could never forgive myself.”

“She deserves an explanation at the very least,” the stallion pointed out.

“I told her that day,” Midnight explained. The tears wouldn’t stop. “She was...surprisingly forgiving. Apparently the Princesses themselves had already explained everything. But... the damage was done. We couldn’t... I couldn’t get back what I had so casually tossed aside.” Her voice cracked over her wracked sobs. “And I’ve done it again. Only this time? I don’t have anything to blame...nothing besides my own stupidity.”

“It...did hurt when you accused me of such deception,” Ledger admitted. “To think that you didn’t trust me, couldn’t trust me without your ability to suppress your emotions. If...if you really want to stay, truly want to stay with me, I only have one stipulation to add on to our old ones.”

Midnight hiccuped, but she still looked up at the back of the couch that her Changeling lay on.

“Trust,” Level said. “Total and absolute trust. You have mine. All I ask for is yours in return.”

Midnight was silent for a good while, the only sound was her crying. But that stopped as well. She’d run out of tears now, almost. “I...don’t know, I don’t trust anypony really.” She looked up, at the Changeling that refused to meet her gaze. “But, I can try. I want to try. I will try.”

With that, Ledger’s horn lit up as his disguise peeled away, waiting to see what Midnight would do now. Would he still be her cuddlebug...or would she recoil in fear? He almost cried again when he sensed her fear, until she leapt across the room and held him tightly.

“Whatever it takes. I want...to be together with you and Cider. Always,” she whispered, her tears flowing again, running down his chest. Ledger hugged her in return and sighed.

They had a lot of work to do…

“I told you fried spinach was a good thing to snack on when you’re feeling down,” Ledger poked Midnight with a hoof.

“Yeah, yeah,” she sighed stuffing another forkful in her mouth. “Still tastes like ass though.”

“You did just cry roughly a gallon of tears and general sadness out all over the place,” the changeling pointed out. “Your emotions being in such flux is bound to wreck havoc for a little bit with other things. Buuuut...I might have something for you.”

“What could you possibly have, to make up for eating this...I’d like to say foals diarrhea?”

With a smirk, Ledger’s horn lit up, and a small bag drifted out from the fridge.

One that smelled delicious.

Midnight swallowed hard as her eyes locked onto that bag like a tractor beam spell. “That,” she said, licking her lips, her eyes unblinking. “Is that what I think it is?”

Ledger smirked. “And to earn the bag, all you have to do is answer either a series of difficult questions regarding your emotions and how you feel about me...or finish your snack,” the changeling said, pointing at the fact that she still had half of the fried greens on her plate.

“Questions,” Midnight said without a moment's hesitation. Yeah, she did feel better, but goddamn, spinach was the worst thing ever grown. That and pumpkin…

“Question one,” Ledger said as he pulled a mango from the bag. “How do you feel about changelings as a whole, excluding Blacks?”

“I don’t...blame all of them,” she said. “That’s your influence actually. Ever since I discovered your little secret club here in Las Pegasus? I have a bunch of Changeling friends now. The Ladies, Scopey, maybe even Amy. But... please forgive me, but I don’t think I could face a Black changeling. Not right now at least.”

“You won’t have to,” Ledger said as he flipped the mango to Midnight. “The reason you won’t normally see a black in pony lands is because that’s...the color the Broodmothers turn once the initiation process is complete. They burn out all the positive emotions, leaving no color behind. They feed on negative emotions and by forcibly taking another’s love.”

Midnight grabbed the mango in her mouth, her fangs piercing the fruit as it sprayed a little, before she gulped it all down, a small amount of juice running down her chin. She moaned softly at the sharp sweetness. “Well, been there, done that,” she said.

“Too bad you forgot to get the T-shirt, the emotional trauma and life-changing wounds will have to suffice,” Ledger lightly laughed at his forced joke before pulling another mango from the bag.

“I don’t look sexy in a shirt,” Midnight hummed. “You should see me in a swimsuit though~”

“I’ll put it on my to-do list,” Ledger said. “Now that you know you’re more likely to see an alicorn in pony than you are to see another Black, how do you feel?”

“Well, I already met both Alicorns, kissed them both,” Midnight smiled, that was a good memory. “But yeah, I do feel better. Better than I have in a long, long time.”

Ledger flipped the second mango over, pulling out yet another as he thought of the next question. “Do you still think of me trying to heal your love-deficit as emotional manipulation?”

This question was a little harder to answer. “I know, that you were trying to help,” Midnight said. He wanted trust? Then he had best be prepared for blunt truth as well. “But the fact is, you went behind my back and tried to fix a problem you were only guessing on. You could have asked, we could have talked... though I suppose I would have avoided the topic as well.” She sighed as she nibbled her second mango. “This was bound to be a sucky situation no matter what.”

“Yeah,” Ledger agreed. “I tried to go around fixing a problem that I was fairly certain was there without pressuring you into talking about it. Instead, I get accused of being a mind-controlling bug, felt like I lost my marefriend, and cried myself to sleep.”

“And I nearly fell to my death, forced Scope to burn a ton of love to save me and just told you things that nopony else beside a select few know. I feel like the worst mare alive and still believe that I don’t deserve the love I get. Can we call it even and move on?”

“Sure thing,” Ledger said as he pushed the third mango to sit next to Midnight. “Hmm...how about, for your next question...now that your emotional blinders are off, what do you really feel when you think about dating me?”

“Scared,” Midnight said, and continued before Ledger could respond. “I ruined one relationship already, and this one is on its third leg. So I’m scared that I’ll screw something up. Maybe I’ll hurt you again, maybe I’ll hurt Cider... maybe one of you will hurt me. But...” She placed her half-eaten mango on the table. “None of that matters. I love you, more than anything. Nothing can take that away, and if something tries...then that’ll be the last thing they ever do.”

“A solid answer,” Ledger admitted. A thought occurred then, and he moaned in response to it. “I’m going to wake up to ‘my roommate is a changeling’ again, aren’t I?”

“I dunno,” she shrugged. “Maybe? You could wake up to a hundred different things happening. All part of the fun of dating me I suppose. Screaming and a punch to the muzzle is one option, just as much as waking to a mindblowing blowjob.”

“Knowing you, I’ll get one after the other,” Ledger deadpanned. With that, a fourth mango was pulled out and put next to Midnight’s other spoils as she had technically answered the question. When the fifth was removed, Ledger frowned as he waved the empty sack around. “Whelp, last question then.” He tapped his chin with a hoof for a few moments as he thought of a good one. His face softened as he looked at Midnight.

“Do...you really still want...us?” he questioned softly.

“After everything that’s happened. What we discussed and what I already went through before.” Midnight sighed as she stood up. “What do you think?” She took another step, her features giving nothing away. “I destroyed my last relationship. I can’t guarantee that it won’t happen again...” She was standing over him now, looking down at him. Then she leant forward and kissed him deeply, with a fervent passion that she hadn’t done before.

It wasn’t the tender-loving kisses she would give.

Nor was it the hungry, lust-filled kisses.

This was one that promised no matter how hard things got, she would be here. Always.

Eventually, the kiss had to break, as both beings needed air, but when Ledger finished taking his breath, he reached forward and grabbed Midnight in a hug. “As long as you want me, I will be yours,” he whispered to her.

“Good, I don’t wanna lose my cuddlebug ever again,” she whispered. Eventually, Ledger leaned back and pecked Midnight on the cheek, smiling a little as he did.

“You’re already healing a little,” He said. “Trust the emotivore on this: the wound you suffered is closing. The fact that you were so moved at the thought of losing me...it speaks volumes. Will you let me keep healing you?”

“Yeah...” She said and hugged him gently. “After all...I trust you.”

“And I trust you,” Ledger replied before just leaning into the hug with a sigh. “Now and forever.”

It was a scene of tranquility, the two broken lovers finally picking up the pieces...

“So are you two done canoodling yet?” Scope’s voice asked from the doorway. Ledger turned and shot the disguised nymph such a glare, it was a wonder there wasn’t a hole burned through the wall behind her.

“Oooh, scary,” she giggled. “I actually came to see if the two of you were alright. Or has my constant worry been misplaced and you’re hugging an illusion of her?”

“You just killed the moment,” Ledger said in a deadpan voice. “We just finished getting most of our shit sorted out and you killed the nice, peaceful moment.”

“I live to serve,” she said as she stumbled through the door and fell over. “Whooo, guess I’m still a little dizzy...”

“Are you okay?” Midnight spoke up, still hugging Ledger, but was now dragging him across the room so she could hug Scopey as well.

“Yeah...just really tired...drained...” she looked at them with big puppy dog eyes. “Love me?”

“Get her in this hug already,” Ledger said with a roll of his eyes. “As long as she promises to watch herself, it should be fine.” Midnight giggled and pulled the little nymph over, their dysfunctional family almost complete now. But Midnight wasn’t sure if she could drag two Changeling’s all the way to Cider Falls.

“It was still cool that you turned into a dragon,” Midnight hummed. “But, why didn’t you just teleport me?”

There was nothing but silence, before Scope interrupted that moment too, as a chitinous hoof met her forehead.

“...Scope turned into a dragon,” Ledger said in a small voice, as the statement finally sunk in.

“Yeah, I kinda fell off of that building after you flew off. Scopey here saved me, but she was too little, so she turned into something bigger.”

“It was the first thing that came to mind.” Scope pouted, a red tinge to her face. “Used up all the energy I’ve been storing though. You owe me Mistress.”

“Well, I’m sufficiently terrified,” Ledger said, a tremor of fear in his voice. “Let’s...think of a way to properly reward Scope for her actions that doesn’t involve the Violets later. I think it’s nearly time for us to get some rest.”

“Actually,” Midnight replied, looking at the nymph. “You saved my life earlier. Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t that settle your life-debt with me?”

Scope Lens paused. She...hadn’t thought about that. She was right though, Scope was free to do whatever she wanted now. But, then again, hasn’t she been able to do so for a while now?

So what should she do?

“I guess...you want me to leave soon then?”

“Only if you want to,” Ledger said, surprising them both. “You’ve shown yourself to be trustworthy enough that maybe having you around wouldn’t be a bad idea. I’ll not force you one way or another.”

Both girls stared at him, before Scope looked away for a second, before giving Ledger the briefest of kisses on the cheek and running for her room, her whole face lit up in a fierce blush.

“Aw, I think she likes you~” Midnight teased. “Then again, who wouldn’t?”

Ledger just raised one hoof to his cheek, rubbing at the spot where Scope had kissed him. “Did that just happen?” he asked no one in particular. He was a little stunned that it had occurred, apparently.

“Yes, and no, you can’t add her to our herd,” Midnight sighed, before a teasing smirk appeared on her face. “Unless you want to~”

“I’m...not going to comment on that right now,” Ledger said with a sigh. “It’s going to take some time to get my panic reflex regarding her back down to unnoticeable levels again. She’s a nymph that’s apparently showing affection for me...and that hasn’t ended well before.”

“I think she was just thanking you, so don’t overthink it so much,” Midnight giggled, kissing his opposite cheek. “Wanna get some rest then? I get the feeling tomorrow is going to be exhausting.”

“If tomorrow is going to be exhausting, what the Tartarus do you call today?” Ledger snarked as he opened their bedroom door with his magic.

“Wednesday,” she replied as she walked inside. “Now, let’s see what I can do to restore some of that love energy hmm~”

“Tired right now,” Ledger said. “Today was a rollercoaster for my emotions. I just wanna snuggle and sleep for now.”

“I can do snuggles,” she said, pulling him over as the little spoon.

Bonus Chapter - Bugging Royalty

Well, that had certainly been an interesting day.

Not only had Princess Celestia paid a visit to Las Pegasus to give an award to a Changeling, she’d also accidentally interrupted a rather raunchy scene.

Just thinking about it made the ancient Alicorn blush. Thankfully, she’d not come back to a similar scene when she paid a return visit to Aerial Ace and his...nymphfriend? Was that the right term, or did she think of herself more as a pony?

Then the solar diarch recalled the silver changeling’s words, about how the ruling body of the Changeling Lands may very well pay her a visit in the near future thanks to this...publicity circus.

That could be a real problem, given the city’s stance on Changelings. While Celestia had made an effort to alleviate their fears, her little ponies could be frightfully stubborn about this sort of thing. It had taken nearly a decade just to get them to accept the fact that the Griffons weren’t trying to eat them.

Still, she had faith that the shapeshifters would be accepted one day. And while she had felt terrible about using Level Ledger like that, some sacrifices were necessary.

She also made a mental note to send him a fruit basket. One with plenty of mangoes.

As she walked into her throneroom, thankfully empty. She practically flopped onto her cushioned throne as her assistant teleported in next to her.

“Busy day?” Raven asked, the auburn-maned Unicorn humming slightly.

“When aren’t my days busy?” Celestia sighed as she removed her tiara and torc, leaving her slippers on as she relaxed. “I was hoping it wouldn’t be a dramatic affair. But, like always...”

“Fear not, I already foresaw this and have prepared a pot of your favorite tea and biscuits,” Raven nodded, her horn tinkling lightly as she summoned the maid to bring the tray of tea and sweets.

“Raven?” Celestia said, her large doe-eyes wide and glistening.

“Yes Princess?” the mare replied, not looking up from her checklist.

“Marry me?” the Alicorn said.

“As flattered as I am,” Raven said, unfazed. “I would fear that you would leave me for the next pony to bring you your favorite snacks.” She tapped her chin and thought for a second. “Hmm, how many is that now? Fifteen times?”

Celestia just snorted. “Twenty seven actually, but who’s counting.” She sipped at her tea as a scroll flashed in front of her. “Oh, a letter from Twilight?” It only took a second to realize that the seal that bound it wasn’t the one belonging to the Princess of Ponyville. She read it and her eyes widened slightly. “Raven? Seal the door, then use the emergency escape.”

“Highness?” This was unusual.

“Now Raven!” Celestia snapped. If this letter was to be believed, then she was removing one of her dearest friends should things get dangerous.

“Your Highness, with all due respect,” Raven began as she closed the throne room doors. “I shall remain here, as I always have.”

“My little ponies, as stubborn as any mule...” She suddenly felt the need to apologize to somepony.

And then there was a yellow flash just in front of the doors, and a mare she could swear was just a unicorn maid on her staff stood in the room with her and Raven. “What, no anti-teleportation wards, your Highness?” the mare asked, looking up and locking eyes with Raven, then the Princess. “Pretty reckless of you.”

“It is easier to bait with honey, instead of sap,” Celestia replied, using her magic to pull Raven to her side just in case. “I removed them when I got your message. I trust you will not abuse my goodwill?”

“Nah, I’m just the messenger...oh, and I know you’re probably already pulling up my history in your head,” the maid said as she looked at Raven. “Don’t bother, I’ll not be here after today. Anyways, that scroll I sent you?” Here the mare pointed at the parchment that had sent Celestia into a tizzy. “The only real thing about it is the seal. It was meant to create this sorta situation, so I could pass on the real message...in private.”

Celestia nodded, it still didn’t stop her building up some defensive wards in case this turned nasty. “So, from this ‘Seven’ then?”

“Yup,” the mare said with a smile that was...decidedly more pointy than it should have been. “First time this council has agreed on anything in twenty years. You should feel honored.”

“Given my own Council, I find that the standard fare really,” Celestia chuckled. Even she couldn’t remember a time when they reached a consensus. “So, the message then?”

“Pretty basic.” The mare shrugged. “It’s full of standard fluff like non-intervention, non-harmful passage being sought, but what it boils down to is...they know what you did. And they’re all coming. It’ll take them about a week and change,” here the mare chuckled, before continuing, “to get here, but you’re going to play host to the Seven soon enough.”

“Yes, Secret said about as much,” Celestia replied. “And what can I expect? Any social faux pas I should avoid?”

“Whatever you do,” the mare said sternly, “Don’t ask them to take their masks off unless you’re in a private room. They might even request a private audience as well, to make it easier on you. I suggest you take it. They’re well aware of how your subjects see them. Especially Loyalty and Creativity, or Blue and Green.”

Celestia nodded as Raven wrote this information down. “And what of Chrysalis?” the Alicorn said tersely. “Is she one of these ‘Seven’?”

“Minor noble of, get this, the Yellows,” the mare said with a smile. “It’s why she did such a bold move: she had the Courage that she could make it work, against all odds. She and her troops were under an illusion to cast other Colors in a non-benevolent light, in case yours sought...retribution. What it ended up doing was make us all look like monsters.”

“Well, if it helps,” Celestia smiled warmly. “Not all my little ones think ill of you, if what I saw today is any indication.” That also raised a thought as she looked at the Changeling. “And, I trust that Secret-Hoarder will receive no punishment for his role in this?”

“Hives no,” the mare said. “In the words of the Silver king, ‘He did exactly what he should have. Perhaps slower than he should have, but he acted the way he was raised to be.’ His parents or siblings might have words for him, but he’s not to be punished for his role in either the destruction of the Black, or how he acted today.” The mare’s lips pursed as she thought of something. “You...made this public...just to draw me and them to you, didn’t you?”

Celestia just smiled, that knowing, motherly smile that both hid and showed wisdom beyond compare. “Perhaps. Then again, perhaps not. It would be quite the coincidence if there were no plan and things fell that way, would it not? It would be quite the risk, exposing Secret-Hoarder, if there were nothing to be gained.” She smiled again and sipped her tea. “Funny how things work out sometimes.”

“...Okay, I can tell you’ll likely get along well with the Silver king,” the mare said after she processed the enigmatic reply. “Just...I think I’ll keep that answer to myself for now. And you should probably never tell Secret-Hoarder he was a pawn. He’ll likely not appreciate it.” With that, the mare tapped her chin with a hoof. “If there’s nothing else, I think I can go…”

There was a thump, like something hitting the sealed doors. Celestia sighed as her horn flared and surrounded the three with a shield as the doors exploded into countless splinters, Luna storming in, wearing her Nightmare Moon illusion.

“GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER!” Her Royal Canterlot Voice was at full blast as the tiles at her hooves were ripped from the floor by sheer force alone. Luckily Celestia had seen to magically re-inforcing the stained glass windows.

“I’m closer to you than your sister, and was that way before you decided to deafen Canterlot,” the mare shot back. “Seriously, are you trying to wake the dragons from here with that voice of yours?”

Nightmare blinked, then the illusion peeled away like water as the door reformed. “Sister! I like this one!” she beamed. “She has balls as big as a buffalo.”

“Luna...” Celestia let out an exasperated sigh. “How much?”

“.....” Luna remained silent.

“Lulu. How. Much?” Celestia said again, much like a mother scolding a foal.

“...seven cups,” Luna said with a light blush. “But I requested only three sugars in each, rather than five.”

“And on that note, unless either of you can come up with a question for me, I’m going to take my leave now,” the mare said, a yellow glow building at her horn. “Before the sugar and caffeine go to Miss ‘I am the night’s head again and cause her to nearly shoot the messenger. Again.”

“Oh relaaaax,” Luna sighed, draping a hoof over the mare. “My aim is only a little off. Even if you missed the moon, you’ll still land among the stars...or the unimaginable, hideous gaping void of space...one of the two.”

“Not inspiring a lot of confidence there,” the mare deadpanned before looking at Celestia. “Any other questions, or should I hope that you’re ready for the Seven before I use one of my other aliases and flee?”

“Time will tell, my little Changeling.” Celestia lifted Luna with her magic as the Alicorn let out a shout of joy.

“Oh. My. GOSH! I can FLY!?”

The mare looked at Raven with a sigh. “Well, it was fun working for you. Maybe you’ll see me again when this whole thing blows over.” With that, the unicorn former maid turned and looked at the doors, before shrugging and teleporting back out.

“Well, that was fun,” Celestia giggled as her assistant shook her head. The white Alicorn stood as Luna continued to float beside her. “I suppose I’d better decaffeinate her. I trust you’ll see to things Raven?”

“As always,” Raven smiled as she looked at Luna. “So, which one this time?”

“Hmm, I’m thinking...method 42.”

“Ohh, haven’t used that in a while. Good choice.” Raven gave a small bow as the two sisters left the room. Raven looked at her list of things to do, then to the damage left behind by Luna.

“At least that Nightmare could be solved with rainbows...”

As a precaution, Princess Celestia had taken to cutting Day Court a few hours short each day, claiming that refurbishments to the palace would present a danger to bystanders. As the last noble left for the day, Raven closed the door as she walked towards the throne.

“There is one more, Your Highness... a party of seven request your audience.”

So. They were finally here.

“Alright, have Guards posted outside. I want this room sealed and soundproofed. And for the love of me, keep my sister occupied with something other than coffee.”

“By your will,” Raven smiled and left the room, just as the mentioned party walked in.

Each one was wearing a different coat color, Celestia noticed...and none of them were sporting horns or a pair of wings. It was as though all the colors of Rainbow Dash’s mane had walked into the room...plus the silver Earth Pony that led them. The Guards let the party of seven in, and immediately, Celestia could sense...friction. It was in how they looked at each other and tried to subtly edge away or closer to their neighbors.

Oh, this was going to be most fun.

“Welcome, my little ponies,” Celestia greeted them. “And to what do I owe this pleasure?”

The silver stallion looked from her to the door. “That depends, your highness. Is this conversation entirely private?”

“You would like privacy?” Celestia saw an opportunity, and perhaps she had spent a little too much time around Discord, but she felt the need to show off a little. Her horn blazed with ancient magic, and the whole room seemed to shift distortedly for a moment.

“This room now exists outside the normal plane,” she smiled. “We are quite alone here.”

With that, the silver stallion nodded, and one by one, the ponies behind him were consumed with flames that matched their coats. As the fires died, each revealed a matching Changeling King or Queen, ones that stood somewhere between Luna and herself for height. Eventually it was the silver stallion’s turn, and he too turned into a Changeling King before smirking at Celestia.

“I am the current leader of the Silver Hive,” he said. “King is most appropriate, and I bear the title Archivist besides. Knowledge is power, and it is by that knowledge that I currently lead the council of Seven.”

Celestia took their appearances in. Very different to Chrysalis, yet some similarities existed. They were all quite powerful also. “A pleasure to meet all of you. As you are probably aware, I am Princess Sol Celestia. Diarch of Equestria and Daughter of the Sun.”

“Are we doing introductions now?” the Violet Queen asked, in a voice that could probably turn any stallion’s head. And more than a few mares.

“You can go last,” Archivist said snappishly. “We don’t need you trying to seduce another global leader.”

“But the dragons were fun,” the Queen pouted. She winked at him, “But, I’ll go last. I usually do~”

“I can never take them anywhere,” the Silver king sighed as he looked back at Celestia. “Seriously, half the time our meetings devolve into her...antics.”

“Antics?” Celestia replied with a cute tilt of her head.

“We were negotiating the return of some of the dragon’s more beloved ancestors from their current positions as decorations for Yellow’s Hive in exchange for more favorable trade agreements,” the Green Queen volunteered.

“Yes, and then she said something about how once we’d given them the bones, they could give her their bones,” Orange stated. Violet, for her part, did not look ashamed in the least.

“Mmm, those were a few fun days,” she sighed at the memory.

Much to everyone’s surprise, Celestia let out a melodious giggle as she looked at the Violet. “Oh dear, you really should meet with one of my subjects. You two would get along famously. Why, you already have something in common~”

“Any pony that can take a dragon has my respect,” the Queen said, all smiles. “But, let’s listen to Archivist for now, my fellow Kings and Queens. Otherwise he’ll pull out that blackmail file of his, and then we won’t get to have any fun.”

“If I have to blackmail you all into behaving at serious functions of state, I will,” the Silver King said before smiling back at Celestia. “If there exists a way to corral these...troublemakers short of blackmail, I’ve yet to find it.”

“There is nothing wrong with a little mirth to break the ice,” Celestia smiled. “To be honest, even I have been a little nervous about this meeting. My last encounter with Changeling royalty was...unpleasant.”

“You mean nobility,” the Yellow King stated. “Little brat didn’t take my feeding the soldiers before my family well at all. I ended up telling her that if I didn’t see to it that every nymph and drone was fed, they’d turn on me. And that if she wanted love, she could get it her own damn self. I was sorely tempted to have all of my nieces and nephews scanned for brain tumors once she did what she did. Rest assured, once she’s found, we have plans for her.”

“Regarding that,” Celestia said as she sat back down on her throne. “I have a small request regarding Queen Chrysalis.”

“She’s no more a ‘Queen’ than you are a donkey,” the King replied. “But I’ll listen.”

“The crime she committed was against Equestrian citizens on Equestrian soil. Should her location ever be discovered. I would like to handle her punishment.”

The seven changeling leaders looked at one another before the yellow one nodded. “That is...acceptable,” the silver King said. “To be honest, we had planned on making a show of it. Putting her ‘disguise’ back on and showing up with her at your front gate to turn her over to you. Perhaps to show to your ponies that even to us, she’s unwelcome.”

Celestia nodded, even now, she was moving pieces and placing her bets. Though, Chrysalis was the least of her concerns. Something far darker loomed on the horizon. She sighed inwardly as she opened her mouth once more.

“One more thing, and you can consider having my personal favor in return, should you choose to agree and keep your word.”

“You have our attention,” the de facto leader said, to mumbling agreement with his statement.

“Should the Silver Changeling, Secret-Hoarder, ever choose to visit the Changeling Lands. Absolutely no harm will come to him and his...family. Physical, mental or magical.”

“He’s my favorite nephew,” the silver King said with a smile. “I think I can grant his family that much protection...though, you can deal with my sister asking why she has to put up with more security checkpoints around her home. Besides, we only recently got the information as to where he was. I think his siblings are trying to convince her to let them visit him before she does.”

“Then you have my thanks,” Celestia smiled. Her horn shone as large cushions appeared for the Changelings to sit on. “Now, I am sure you have all traveled far. Let us dispense with the formalities. Exactly why have you all come here? Peace perhaps?”

The changelings took up the cushions and each sat down with a sigh of relief. “Peaceful co-existence is the goal, yes,” the spokesbug said. “We literally cannot live without you and yours. We were hoping to find a way to forge a future together, with the added spotlight you seem to be shining on our existence.”

“I’ll admit, I may have forced everypony’s hoof with that little stunt,” Celestia said. “But, sometimes a little intervention is necessary. If Secret has proven anything, it is that a Changeling can find freely given love in Equestria, without hiding.” Her horn shimmered again as Raven was summoned, along with a cart laden with tea, coffee and snacks.

“Ah, ‘Silent Night’,” the Unicorn mused at the spatial relocation spell. “Haven’t seen this in a while. Felt like showing off Princess?”

“Perhaps a little,” Celestia smiled as she allowed Raven that one little quip in exchange for dragging her through dimensions. “Now,” she turned back to her guests. “I believe that peace is possible. It will take effort and patience though.”

“Things we can do easily,” the Green Queen said. “But perhaps...we should ask…”

The Blue, Yellow, and Red Kings nodded as one at the half-said idea, and the Silver King sighed before speaking up again. “There is a faction back home that would...oppose this peace, and show our worst side, that of a monster, to all your subjects. I believe you had the misfortune of cleaning up after one?”

“That Black one,” Celestia nodded. “And I shall admit that not all my little ponies will agree to this peace either. The question is, what shall we do about it?”

“Well, for yours, our planned song-and-dance of showing up with Chrysalis at your front door could be worked on,” the Yellow King said as he nibbled at some of the cookies and hummed. “But…”

“Give us a week to rescue as many as want to be saved,” the Red King rumbled. “And then we would ask that you reduce the Black Hive to ash, to ensure their filth is gone and can no longer threaten this peace.”

Celestia sighed again, more vocally this time. This wasn’t the first time that someone had asked this of her. “Make no mistake,” Celestia said, her tone having a little bite to it. “I understand that these ‘Black’ Changeling’s are dangerous. But I will not cause an act of genocide for any reason. No creature is deserving of that.”

There was silence for a moment. Two. And then the Orange Queen spoke up.

“Do you know...what they do? To make a Black Changeling?” she asked as she stared at her teacup. “They find everything good about us. Everything we care about. Everything they love. Over long, long torture sessions. Once a ‘ling has confessed everything positive in their life...no less than five black nymphs focus their magic...and burn it out. Down to the very soul. And replace it all with the blackest of magics. Their victims go mad. If they’re lucky.”

“I see,” Celestia replied. It seemed justified when it was put like that. No creature should be made to suffer so. Even still.

“If I may be so bold, how old are some of you, or even better, how much do you know of events that happened say...” She paused and the closest ‘ling could hear her count under her breath. “Nine hundred and seventy six years ago?”

“Royal blood does grant us a few boons,” the Blue King said. “But a life as long as yours is not one of them. At most, we can survive up to two-hundred years if we are not killed and are well-fed.”

“Our archives from around that time are spotty, though,” the Silver said with a sheepish smile. “Discord did more than hit your country. We were getting things back in order after he saw how...well organized we were at around that time, I think. The records are, as I said, lax until nine-hundred years ago. It doesn’t help when the records themselves become elaborate paper birds and fly off.”

Celestia chuckled, as terrible as Discord was... He had a sense of humor that none could match. Well, maybe except Pinkie Pie.

“The Badlands,” Celestia finally said. Before revealing something that would not be found in any species records. “Or more specifically, what the Badlands used to be.”

“Ah,” the Silver King said with a soft sigh. “I suppose I can connect the dots, then. We can stop looking for that valley that is mentioned in our older texts. Dare I ask what provoked your power?”

Celestia closed her eyes, and once she opened them, a very different pony was there. Gone was the kind, motherly figure. In her place, a being of great and terrible power sat.

“A race, whose name is lost forever. They practiced terrible arts there. Necromancy, mind control, creating chimeras from existing creatures. Sentient or not...” She paused as she thought back. “I was younger then. Impetuous and emotional after losing my sister... and then, word comes to me, that an alicorn had appeared in a distant valley.” She paused as she floated some water over to her and took a sip. After she sat the glass on her arm rest, the remaining liquid began to bubble.

“When I arrived, do you know what I found?”

“Nothing good, I’d wager,” the Yellow King said as he sipped his tea.

“You would win that bet,” she replied. “I found the remains of hundreds of my little ponies. Butchered and mutilated, and all that was left, was the monsters that did it, and the creature they created. Little more than an animated corpse with wings and a horn.”

She paused for a moment, her body shaking just a little. “So, I responded in a way that would not be forgotten. And ironically, only I remember. I alone remember the day the sun set on that valley. The day I immolated tens of thousands...”

“The problem is,” the Red King observed. “That while we have sympathy for you doing what you had to for your subjects...this is little more than a...a cult, brainwashing ours into becoming those things that attacked yours. We’ve tried to break them, but their hoarded magic is not to be trifled with. And if we even attempt a public peace while they exist…”

“I just...” Celestia...faltered? Raven looked at her with a concerned look. How could these Changelings walk in, ask for peace, then tell Celestia she would have to kill thousands to get it?

“My fellow King is being ever-so-blunt,” the Silver said with a roll of his eyes. “I am certain that you yourself need not contribute if you do not wish for it. But, among us ‘lings, very few find themselves capable of wielding the Flames of Knowledge. They are a secret of the Silver line, the incantation that brings them forth is something we do not share...but, times change. I am certain we can...share it with you, if you are willing to aid us in removing a cockroach from our lands.”

The piece of cake that the Violet was about to bite into suddenly decided to speak up. “Ah, but you see. Dear old Celestia is soft in the heart and soft in the head. But me?” The cake suddenly smiled with a row of sharp teeth. “Not so much~”

“Dare I ask why my cake can now bite back?” the Violet asked aloud, somewhat stunned by the turn of events.

“Goodness me, where are my manners?” the cake sprouted legs and hopped from her plate. There was a bright flash, and the Seven now found a smiling Draconequus hovering over their heads. “I am Discord, master of Chaos.”

“Ah, you would be the reason our records have such a hole in them,” the Archivist said with a smile that was more fangs than it should be.

“I think he’s also the reason we first met dragons,” the Yellow King said as he put a hoof to his chin.

“And he definitely messed with our hall of great works when he was free,” the Green Queen stated, angrily glaring at the spirit.

“Ah, I remember those, good times,” Discord laughed. “And really, you little buggies were so stiff and proper.” He looked at the Violet and hummed. “Hmm, except for your kind. You ladies were quite...flexible~”

“When your kind keep trying to pen new volumes to the Pony Sutra, it’s either become flexible or throw your back out trying to keep up,” the Violet Queen said as she retrieved a new, hopefully Discord-free, slice of cake.

“Speaking of, I have this terrible kink,” he said as he folded his body into a pretzel shape. “Perhaps you’d like to help me work it out later~?”

“Discord...” Celestia said, her eye twitching ever-so-slightly.

“Fiiiiine, sorry Mom!” the chaos god hovered there. “Look, you have a little problem and Little Tia here is too much of a goody-goody, rainbow farting saint to do anything about it.”

“DISCORD!”

“Too easy,” he laughed. Then the Red King rumbled a question for the spirit.

“Have you ever stood where we stand, O Discord? Atop another being as its life ebbs, knowing you are responsible for that?” The crimson-hued king shook his head. “Every life is a waste to lose, precious to hold. But sometimes, just sometimes...other beings don’t seem to take ‘please bugger off and die alone’ too well, and kill your soldiers that you sent to remove them.”

During his spiel, Discord’s pawed hand had formed a cartoonish facsimile of the Red King’s head and spoke along with him. “Hmm, what, I wasn’t listening,” he said, yawning. “Honestly, still getting used to the whole ‘Friendship and blahdeblahblah thing’.” He leaned forward and petted the king on the head. “Unless you’re a little Pegasus with a pink mane. I doubt I’ll pay much attention to you.” He snapped his fingers as a large throne appeared, seemingly made from a pile of molten swords.

“Look, you want that bug problem gone? Fine. What’s one more black mark on my book.”

“If you did this for us, I am certain that Princess Celestia and ourselves would be highly grateful,” the Silver King said. “After all...it’s not just us they hurt. They need to feed...somehow. And if the idea of removing them pains you, consider this: they’d all go mad eventually, with their dark magic. It’s really doing them mercy.”

“Hmm?” Discord was sitting at a candle-lit table with the Violet Queen, as a quartet of Mini-Discords sang an acapella of ‘Can you Feel the Love Tonight.’

“Look Silvey,” Discord was then reclining on his back. “You’re asking me to be the villain in this story. And I said I’ll do it. And even in a way that will leave everyone happy and smiling and all that sappy nonsense. But...” He leaned over, his yellow eyes staring into his silver ones. “You. Will. Owe me!”

“Gladly,” the Silver King said. “In fact, we all will.” At that, the other Kings and Queens slowly nodded their assent to this idea. “And to us, Discord? You are in fact going to be revered as a saint for removing them. I’d even teach you the spell we use to combat their dark magic if you desire to make use of it.”

“Your spells huh?” Discord donned some white robes as he pondered this, his clawed hand held a collection of trillions of spiralling lights, before he closed it and caused the lightshow to vanish. “Nah, too orderly and boring. I’ll think of something.”

“Discord. Are you sure?” Celestia asked him.

“Pah! I was the villain, I was the hero. I have been a little voice in somepony’s ear and I was even a cake and that is no lie.” He waved a hand as his creations vanished and the room returned to normal. “Honestly, it’s another way to kick off a lazy Sunday.” He produced a top hat and doffed it to the small crowd. “Until then little mortals, and not so little immortals. Seriously Tia, lay off the sweets.”

“Discord, I swear-”

“I kid, I kid,” he smiled. He looked back at the Violet and winked. “Call me!” he not-so-subtly whispered before vanishing with a snap of his fingers.

There was silence for all of a minute before a pink flash filled the room, revealing a mare that, again, Celestia could swear she saw worked in the castle. Another pink flash revealed a Changeling Queen, pink-hued in color and standing next to the Silver King.

“Heya!” she chirped. “Sorry I’m so late, I only just got word that you all were here!” Somehow, she dragged her fellow kings and queens into a massive group hug and sighed.

“And now we’re all together again~” she cooed as she looked over at Celestia. “Hiya, Princess! I’m the Changeling Queen of Joy and Happiness! My fellow Kings and Queens represent Duty and Honor, old Red is a stickler for rules. Kindness, Orange loves most living things. Courage, Yellow knows how to work past fear. Creativity, Green just loves to make things. Loyalty, Blue will never break his word. Lust, Violet is a treat in bed. And Knowledge, Silver keeps us all in line whenever he can...and then I show up!”

“Pink,” Celestia said, with just the smallest hint of a blush. “I have...met your kind before.”

“Duh!” she said with a smile. “My brothers and sisters here never seemed to ask this question of themselves, but when the icky Blacks started showing up...where do you think we Pinks would go?”

“You...came to Equestria,” Celestia smiled. “Well, I am honored that you would think so highly of my ponies.”

“Chryssy was silly, and her ‘army’ was easily rehabilitated,” the Pink Queen said...while still not letting go of her fellows. “Far easier to help out and get love and happiness from being a normal pony than taking it! Coming to Equestria was the best decision we ever made! These guys,” Here she finally let go of the changeling royalty...only to give them all each a noogie in turn. “Seem to think we’re Hiveless, but you know the answer to that, don’t you Princess?”

“You are far from it,” she smiled. “All of Equestria is your Home.”

The other ‘lings in the room were stunned by the blatant reveal of information that not even the Silver knew. The Pink Queen just sat on her haunches and held her forelegs out wide. “Yup, and now, fair warning, but I feel like hugging you too.”

“Oh, are you under the assumption that I do not want one?” Celestia asked, before she smirked. “But, you might be a little too busy to do that.”

The Pink cocked her head questioningly at the Sun Diarch, an expression of ‘huh?’ on her face as clear as day. What could possibly stop her from hugging the Princess Celestia beyond Celestia?

Her answer came as night descended.

Literally.

Princess Luna dropped from the ceiling and scooped the pink changeling up in a tight hug, nuzzling her and smiling.

“Tia! She’s so adorable. Can I keep her?”

Chapter 39 - The Life and Times of Characters on the side

Las Pegasus was slowly getting back to normal. The ponies were recovering and a new problem had emerged.

Some had remembered that a rather large group of changelings had been in the city. While most passed it off as a trick of the mind, created by the near-comatose state that Tirek had left them in, some were convinced that they had been invaded.

And they for one welcomed their buggy overlords.

They had cared for them, repaired their city, and now a large group of ponies... not changelings, but flesh and blood ponies stood outside the City Hall, holding signs about welcoming the shapeshifters and stopping the prejudice surrounding them.

“Seems you’re in a tough spot,” Narrow hummed as she stood in the office, well, standing was an overrated term. Her broken hind leg didn’t allow that, and she was forced to use a wheeled apparatus for the time being.

Fredrick had not let up on the jokes. She contemplated breaking his beak.

“You think?” the mayor replied, holding his head in his hooves. “My own family is in that crowd, and what happens if I agree with them? If I allow Changelings inside our city and they invade us like Canterlot!?”

“Well, it appears that they're already in the city, if the stories are to be believed,” Narrow replied. “And if, and that’s a big if, they decide to invade, then the Guard are here. And it seems that princess Twilight has a new power that dwarfs even the Elements of Harmony. They’d be absolutely suicidal to try anything hostile.”

“There was also that PR stunt with that Secret-Hoarder,” the Guard continued to inform the mayor. “He still lives in this city you know. Why don’t you ask him for help?”

“This is my city, and I’ll be damned if I turn to an outsider for help,” the mayor snapped, but a glare from Narrow quickly wound him back down. “So...what if we go with this?”

“Well, think about it,” Narrow smiled. “Imagine if you went proactive on this? Beating even Canterlot to making peace with the Changeling race. If this works out for you, and I’ll do all I can to see that it runs smoothly, you could ensure your place in office for years!”

“Remind me again, why you’re a Guard and not my assistant?” the mayor chuckled. “But perhaps this Secret-Hoarder could be of some help...”

“Perhaps, but I have it on good authority that he’s not in town right now,” Narrow said tersely. She’d tried to ask both Sugar and Amy about it, but both mares were being stupidly vague about his whereabouts, and the latter was far less chipper than usual.

At that particular moment, there was a knocking at the door, and a silver-coated unicorn with a black mane and blue eyes opened the door and walked in without asking if he could.

“Pardon me, mayor, but I seem to have misplaced the latest census and tax records,” the stallion said as he floated a few bits of paperwork in front of himself, not paying attention to the other inhabitants of the room. “Would you happen to have a copy I could copy for the records?”

The mayor sighed and put his head in his hooves. “Honestly Lengthy Scroll? That census won’t be worth a damn if this goes through. We’ll have a whole new species to add to it, plus a shift in names for tax and insurance purposes...” And only a small portion of the city was in agreement with this. Some were on the fence and the rest voted quite vocally against it.

The stallion paused as he put his work to one side, to stare at the mayor. “Have I missed something again? I seem to be doing that a lot when I bury myself in my work.”

“Just discussing on whether we should accept Changelings into the city,” Narrow explained calmly. Honestly, she had so many painkillers in her right now... “Seems there’s quite a call for it, as a lot of ponies are convinced that a large group of the bugs helped us out after the whole Tirek thing.” She glanced at her leg and smiled. “I happen to agree with them, the mayor... not so much?”

“It’s not about if I agree or not!” the mayor snapped. “It’s about plunging the whole damned city into chaos.”

“Careful with that, we don’t need a repeat visitor,” the unicorn warned, before turning to the other stallion in the room. “And let me ask you a small question, mayor. Why wouldn’t they seek your survival and betterment?”

“Yes, there’s also the feelings of the Changelings themselves,” the mayor groaned. “I need to speak with them, or perhaps the one that leads them if I can. I need both sides to this blasted story.”

“Well, I happen to be in the know, mister mayor, and I can put out a small word for you in the right circles. I do hope you’re prepared to meet the ‘queen of the strip,’ though you will want to watch your image,” the unicorn stallion said with a small smile. “I can put my work on hold to watch this take place.”

“It’s hardly the time for your jokes Scroll,” the mayor sighed. “This would be a lot easier if one of them just came forward. Do they want this as well?”

“Why wouldn’t they?” the stallion questioned bluntly. “They’re parasites. What happens to a parasite that pisses off its host?” With that, the supposed pony turned and began to leave. “I’ll put in a good word for you, sir. You’ve always treated me well.”

The mayor just gaped as Narrow chuckled slightly. They really were the ones in charge around here huh? The mayor’s assistant ran in, as Scroll left.

“Perhaps you should prepare for an arrival in the near future?” Narrow laughed as she followed Scroll. She had a few words for the ‘Queen of the Strip’ herself.

“Ah Captain,” the stallion said as his ears flicked back to track her position. A squeaky wheel made that rather easy. “Are you certain you should be leaving the poor mayor to his stew all alone?”

“He’ll be fine, and his assistant needs to plan on spinning this in a positive light.” She looked the old stallion over and nodded. “And here I was under the assumption that Secret was the only Silver around.”

“Hardly,” the stallion said as he began to make for one of the side-exits. “Though he’s a fine example, he’s not the only one. You’ll usually find us in positions like this. Less conspicuous this way. If we all went for being librarians, we’d have an easy life, true. But if one and two of us were unmasked…”

“Well, if this plays out, perhaps that won’t be a problem anymore?” Narrow replied as she fell into step next to him. “Now, let’s go find that sweet little queen hm?”

At Sweet Scoops ice-cream parlor, Amy gave a practised smile as she fed another happy foal her delicious treats. It had been two days now...and yet, she just couldn’t seem to find the motivation to be..well, to be her.

“Is something the matter Miss Amy?” one filly asked, looking up at her from the other side of the counter. “You look sad.”

“It’s nothing you need to worry about,” the mare said as she rubbed at the filly’s mane with a hoof, tousling it with only a hint of her usual playfulness. Nobody had written back...nobody had come back...She didn’t know anything about her Acey…

Under her disguise, her colors started to dull again. Her eyes seemed to dim as well.

The filly looked at her and took a step back. “Um, well...try and get better Miss Amy,” she said nervously, turning and running away.

“Well would you look at that,” a voice said from behind her. From inside the parlor. “Even a foal can tell you aren’t smiling.”

The Griffon stepped forward, wrapping his arms around the mare’s neck from behind. “So little lady, will you smile for me?”

“Acey!” the mare all but shouted as she pulled him close and hugged him. “This...isn’t a dream, right? You’re really here?” Even with those concerns, she made no move to let go.

“Ah, well that cracked rib feels real,” he winced. His body had numerous bandages and he seemed to have acquired a few new scars on his forelimbs and chest. “But, I can also see how my dazzling looks are like a dream.”

“I’m sorry for hurting you,” the pegasus said...still not letting go. “But everything’s just been so...cold and lonely without you. I think I was more afraid of losing you than anything else.”

Okay, mental note time. Never, ever tell this mare that Discord turned him into a chicken and that he was chased around the city by a group of cats.

“Look little lady,” Ace said, cupping her cheek with a talon. “I have a very dangerous job...there is always the chance that I won’t come back. But as long as I know that you’ll be here waiting... then there is no way I can lose. Okay?”

“...For now,” the mare said as she looked up at him, her colors brightening a touch. “But you’d better believe that I’m not happy with the idea, mister,” she said sternly. She’d rarely raised her voice to him. The first time being when he tried to replace one of her pink appliances. The second time being during the whole missing comforter incident...and she eventually apologized for that. This marked the third time.

“Yes, I am quite aware that you must be mad,” Ace chuckled. “But you should see the other guy eh?” Said guy was now locked in a prison in the place he was banished to. He held the mare close, his embrace was not releasing anytime soon.

“...So I know this is probably going to sound a little selfish,” the mare said after basking in the moment. “But did you save my scarf?”

The Griffon sighed, before a pink scarf wrapped itself around the mare’s neck, linking the two together. “I did indeed... kept me quite safe my love.”

“Yay~” the mare said before leaning in and putting a peck on the griffon’s beak. “Mmm...I hope you’re in the mood to help me, because I’m not letting you go for a second. And I still have half a day left. Me and the foals need all the cheer we can get.”

A chorus of giggles caught their attention as a group of foals peered in through the window.

“Amy and Acey, sitting in a tree~” one filly sang.

“K I S S I N G~!” another finished.

Amy hadn’t been caught-off guard, though, and instead joined in. “What, you’re not going to finish it?” She complained. “First comes love…” the pink mare led.

The Griffon smiled as he leaned in close, and the nymph suddenly had a small, rose quartz hoof ring held in front of her.

“Then comes marriage,” he said softly.

The mare gawped at the stone, looking between it at the griffon. “Acey...is this...are you…” She was no longer making coherent sentences, she was so overwhelmed.

“You heard the song Miss Amy!” one filly called out. “I think he wants ta marry you!”

“The foals are quite astute these days,” Ace smiled as he nodded. “And she is quite correct. Amethyst Cream? Will you do me the honor of becoming my beloved?”

The mare actually vibrated, like the time he’d given her coffee. Only worse. Her smile was wider than should be medically possible, and her eyes practically sparkled with light. Beneath her disguise? Not a trace of black remained. She was back to normal.

“Miss Amy!” that little filly whispered loudly. “You’re s’pposed to say yes!”

“YES!” the mare shouted before giving him a passionate kiss. One that foals should probably not be seeing. Once they broke it for air, she was back to being just hyper. “Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.” Gently, minding his injuries, the mare hugged him and basked in his joy. “Yes I will marry you, my big lug.”

“Hmm, so I’ll take that as a yes then?” he chuckled. “And I think the kids could use a treat, they’ve been quite patient with us until now.”

Amy sighed and let go of Ace before taking her position up behind the counter. “For being such good sports, because I’m in such a good mood, and to make up for my behavior...one free large cone for everypony!” the mare said as she pulled out her scoops. The crowd cheered as they lined up while Ace gave a smirk and several foals saw and giggled. He snuck up behind the mare and finished the song from earlier.

“Then comes a foal in a baby carriage,” he sung softly into her ear. Amy, somehow, blushed through her pink fur...and used one of her scoops to lightly swat at the griffon.

“Bad birdy, there are foals present!” she scolded him.

“Mr. Ace?” one filly asked. “A stork is like a big birdy yeah?”

“Yeeeees?” Ace replied slowly, not sure where this was going.

“Well, you’re a big birdy too, will you bring Miss Amy a baby?” she replied, completely serious. Amy blushed again before looking at Ace.

“Tonight you’re fine. Not quite that mean, to kick you out of bed when you just got back,” she said. “But tomorrow? Couch.” The proclamation was final.

“Well, I guess not for a while,” Ace chuckled as he looked at the filly. He sank back to the floor and sighed. Gods he was tired, but that had been totally worth it. “Well, maybe if you asked Mrs. Amy nicely~”

“...Maybe one day, when the city’s calm again,” the disguised nymph said, referring to the current issue about ponies wanting to know about and thank the changelings in their midst. “But until then you have a cone to order little filly!”

“Chocolate!” the filly replied. “And Imma tell my Momma all about this! Miss Amy’s gettin’ married! So. AWESOME!”

“We’ve got a lot of planning to do until that day comes,” the pink pegasus said before hoofing the filly her cone. “Take care little one!”

“Yuppers,” the filly giggled and ran off, the treat in her magical grip. Ace smiled as well. Today was good day.

Narrow and Scroll finally reached the club owned by the Violet nymphs. It was quite strange, seeing it so empty when they walked/wheeled in. But, the pony poplace weren’t really up for partying just yet.

Narrow got a mischievous look in her eyes and opened her mouth. “Guard inspection!” she hollered. “Will any Changelings step forward!”

“That was quite mean,” Scroll observed as there was the sound of panic coming from the back room. “You might just scare them all away.”

“Give them a minute,” Narrow giggled. One was bound to recognise her voice in a moment.

Indeed, the panic died suddenly, and a familiar mare with violet eyes slowly made herself known to the duo standing in the entryway. “Captain?” she asked.

“Hello Sugar,” Narrow nodded. “Sorry about the scare, I blame Midnight. She’s a bad influence.”

“Or a good one, depending on where you’re standing,” the mare said as she quickly calmed herself down now that she knew the situation. “Do you have any idea how long we worked on Ledger, trying to get him to open up just a touch to us? And then this thestral comes in and manages it as though she were trained for this sort of thing.”

“I won’t pretend to understand her,” Narrow said as she tried to adjust the idiotic device she was harnessed to. “She just does what she does and it all seems to work out for her...and this blasted thing is grating my final nerve!!”

Scroll walked over and gently tapped a lever on the side of the chair with his hoof. The height adjusted just so and the mare gave an appreciated sigh.

“Thank you, but I swear to Celestia that I am burning this thing when I can walk again. If Fredrick makes one more wheel joke, then he is getting this harness right up his a-”

“So is there a reason you came here today?” Sugar interrupted as she waved a hoof around. “We might as well be closed, with all the business we’re not getting.”

“Yes, well...” Narrow coughed and shook her head. “I’d like you to meet with the mayor. We have something important to discuss.”

“Does it have something to do with the small demonstration my mares have told me about?” the disguised nymph said with a raised eyebrow. “Because I can tell you now, had we known you might even slightly remember the events, we would have disguised ourselves when interacting with ponies.”

“Well, it seems that some do remember,” Narrow nodded as she drew closer and suddenly pulled the violet nymph into a one-armed hug. “And I know that I have you to thank for saving me. Thank you.”

The nymph in disguise was taken aback for a moment, before she gently returned the hug. “It was nothing less or more than we would do for anypony else,” she said. “But...about this whole meeting thing. What and when?”

“Whenever you like, but the mayor is having a mild panic attack about it, so I’d not leave it too long.” Narrow settled back down onto two legs and sighed. The nymph hummed before shrugging.

“I assume I’m to remain like this until we...hammer out the details?” she purred.

“Oh Hives,” Scroll said as he rolled his eyes. “I’d nearly forgotten what dealing with a Violet was like.”

“And she’s fully aware that I’m taken,” Narrow sighed as she mimicked Scroll’s gesture. “Well, I guess she has a thing for older gentlestallions then?”

“Stallions, mares, I’m the nymph with the looks,” the violet nymph said before striking a pose that would give normal stallions a case of weak knees while their blood flow was...redirected. Most mares would find themselves in similar situations with a suddenly moist floor, such was Sugar’s prowess with being attractive. She raised one foreleg off the ground slightly and tossed her head, letting her mane bounce. Just as it stopped, she flicked her tail to continue the motion and draw attention to her finely-shaped flank. A gaze that at least smoldered as she watched the pair react to her display topped it all off.

Scroll reacted as most any normal stallion would: with a thick gulp as he tried to get himself under control. Keyword: tried.

As for Narrow? She just rolled her eyes and snorted derisively.

"Are you done?" she deadpanned. She was with Fredrick, so she'd built up quite the resistance to this sort of thing.

Plus mares did nothing for her. Though she did at least make mental notes for moves to try on the bird once she could walk under her own power again. If Scroll’s reaction was anything to go by, it might be something even Fredrick would respond to.

“Mm, for now,” Sugar said as she re-took a normal pose. “Very well. Lead on to the mayor then. I hope he’ll find our conversation most enlightening.”

"You’re plotting something devious aren’t you?" Narrow sighed as she slowly turned and headed back towards the mayor's office.

“Would little me do something like that?” the nymph asked innocently as she followed along behind the inconvenienced mare and the disguised drone.

"Yes," Narrow replied without missing a beat.

"I concur," Scroll nodded.

“You two are no fun at all,” Sugar pouted. Then a spark of mischief crossed her face. “The mayor...doesn’t know about the color scheme, does he?”

"No...why?" Narrow responded. The squeak of her wheels made her an interesting combination of adorable and nerve-gratingly annoying.

“Oh, nothing~” the nymph replied with a smile. “Oh, we are going to have so much fun educating the ponies~”

"He's married, don't make me arrest you for indecency in a public building," Narrow groaned. There were not enough painkillers in Equestria for this. Sugar merely giggled as the trio continued their trek.

“We have our work cut out for us,” Scroll observed. “Introducing the violet leader to your political head.”

"As long as she doesn't offer to give him head, we should be fine," Narrow replied. She gave a sharp wince as the drugs she was on started to wear off. The dull ache in her leg increasing somewhat.

“In deference to your wishes, I’ll abstain from making any offers to him of that nature,” Sugar said, pausing long enough to let that sink in. Scroll opened his mouth to comment on the fact that a Violet had said that...and then she picked up the thought again.

“That being said, if he asks, I’ll not turn him down, dears.” The nymph giggled a little. “Lust is lust after all, and it’s all good to me~”

"This. Bucking. City..." Narrow groaned, both from her words and the unicorns sore leg. "Let's just get this over with..."

“If you insist,” the nymph said with another giggle, the three of them coming up on the side-entrance that Scroll typically used to enter and exit City Hall. The disguised drone opened the door with a soft application of magic and stood to one side, to allow the mares entrance first.

Narrow entered first, followed by Sugar. And once they reached the mayor’s office, they caught the tail end of a conversation.

"Well, how about a positive slogan?" his assistant offered. "Changelings, they love our love, so lets love 'em?"

"...Yeah no." The mayor denied. "Let's just meet this queen of theirs and pray she's nothing like Chrysalis."

“Oh dear,” Sugar purred as she walked in, putting out her practiced move on the mayor and his assistant. “I’m only called that. No queens here, they’re all back south looking after things. I’m sure you recognize me and know why I’m called that now.”

"Oh! You're-" the mayor caught himself and reiterated. "Well, you own a club I believe. One I most certainly have not been to."

The other four ponies were hardly convinced.

"Riiiiight, well, moving on." Narrow nodded her head. "Mayor? You requested a meeting with their kind. We deliver."

“S-So you're a..." the mayor suddenly found his throat going dry. The mare grinned and lit up her horn with a violet light, consuming her body with similar-colored flames. In an instant, the violet nymph was revealed to the mayor and his assistant.

“Lady Pleasant-Dreams of the Violets,” she introduced herself with a theatrical bow. “I believe you wanted to meet with one of us?”

"I...yes," the mayor nodded as his assistant cowered under the desk. "So it's true, there really are changelings in my city..."

“Have been for some time,” the nymph nodded. “We prefer to hide because of reactions like that one.” One hoof pointed at the desk and the pony beneath it. “When do you think your friend will realize we’re emotivores and can sense a pony through such things as a desk?”

The mare in question squeaked and jumped, banging her head on the desk and letting out a string of curses.

"Yes, well... High Strung's antics aside, I suppose I have a few questions for and about you and your kind." Props to the mayor, he was keeping his composure like a boss!

“Mmm,” the nymph hummed as she took her seat and posed in it, awaiting the first question...or a particularly skilled painter to come by and try to paint a very provocative portrait. Either was possible with the way she was sitting. “Fire away,” she breathed out at the mayor.

“Y-Yes..well," the mayor gulped as he tugged at the collar of his sweater. "Well... I guess I should ask... why? Why did you decide to drop your facades and help us?"

“Two answers to that,” the nymph said. “We had to drop our masks because we feared drawing Tirek’s eye again. Unlike a pony...a Changeling doesn’t take too well to magical draining.” She faked a swoon in her chair to get the idea across.

"I see, well let me thank you on behalf of the citizens of our fair city."

Said the stallion that had his eyes glued to that curvaceous flank of hers....

“Thank you, but the second answer to your question,” Sugar said as she sat back upright. “Is simple enough: we couldn’t just let you be. Not only do we need you to live...it would just be wrong to turn our backs on you in your hour of need.”

So that answered that. If this... mare? was telling the truth, then the changelings saw ponies as more than a food source.

And if the shoe was on the other hoof? Would they have done the same?

The answer caused the stallion to furrow his brow.

"Well," he finally spoke. "What do you think about this Miss Pleasant-Dreams? About your kind being accepted here in this city?"

“Dear, that would be marvelous,” she said in a tone that was half-sultry, half-excited. However, her tone and expression dropped with a sigh as she looked towards the where the front of the building was. “But we both know that those ponies out front aren’t nearly enough for us changelings to consider such a thing as possible. Granted, the fact that they aren’t an angry mob is a good thing, but there’s not nearly enough of them.”

"Hmm, you do have a good point," the stallion muttered. If this lovely mare was in charge, he could guarantee that the stallions in the least would agree.

"I-I-I have...an i-idea," High Strung stammered from under the desk.

“Oh?” Sugar asked as she looked at the mare under the desk. “Do come out dear, I don’t bite...unless you ask me to of course.” The nymph had gone sultry again for the latter half of her sentence.

Narrow just facehooved while the mayor gulped loudly. This mare's voice was like silk dipped in honey and High suddenly yelped and bolted from her hiding place when he started to get affected.

"W-Well," she said, blushing profusely and scrubbing that memory from her brain. "What about a small number of you then? Get the populace used to the idea and introduce more over time?"

"That... actually sounds workable," Narrow blinked. Sugar hummed at the idea before nodding.

“I’ll get in contact with the other colors, see if I can’t wrangle up a few reds and blues for such a thing. I doubt too many mares will be happy if I or any other violets start popping up.”

"Well, until our intrepid heroes return," Narrow nodded. "You, and maybe Scroll here would be good candidates. Amy would be another."

“True, ponies don’t seem to mind pinks when they show up.” The violet nymph chuckled at the idea. “I’ll see if she’s willing to partake. Though, if me or any of my workers show up, I doubt whatever you have planned will remain foal-friendly.”

"Well, you'll just have to be on your best behaviour," Narrow smiled quite readily. "Or I'll show you how hoofcuffs are supposed to be used."

“Telling me you intend to tie me up doesn’t exactly dissuade me, Captain,” the nymph purred. “And this is my best behavior. Or me being as good as I can be outside of a bedroom.”

"Maybe a night alone in a cold cell will cool those fiery flanks of yours?" Narrow grinned back.

"Are...they flirting?" The mayor asked Scroll quietly. "I can't tell."

“Pleasant-Dreams is a Violet, this is what she does. Word is that Captain Narrow is seeing Fredrick, this is what he does, and it seems to have rubbed off on her,” the disguised drone explained. “...It’ll be interesting seeing which of them breaks this off first.”

"I've broken even the hardest stallions Darling!" Narrow continued. "You'd last barely a day under me!"

“Breaking them in is all well and good,” the violet said as she looked at the mayor and licked her lips. Slowly. “But the real test...is making them want it.”

Narrow blinked and snorted again. “Hmm, I don’t think we’re talking about the same thing anymore.”

“If this comedy routine is done,” Scroll sighed. “Can we please get back to business?”

“Oh fine,” Sugar pouted. “So, when do you want me and for what?” Boy, she’d said those words before...

The two stallions looked at one another, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out was was running through their heads.

“Urgh, stallions,” Narrow sighed. “Fine, you want out of the limelight then so be it. But I still think that Amy should be on the team, and I think that Scope Lens would also be a good choice. Except she’s MIA at the moment as well.”

“We have a few reds and blues hanging out in the local PD,” the nymph said with a smirk. Let her stew about whether or not they were in the Guard as well on her own. “And to be clear, I don’t have a problem with the limelight. I just don’t think foals should be around when I’m in it~”

“Which is why Amy will be a good counterbalance,” Narrow replied. The other three ponies were now utterly ignored as the two mares made plans. “Especially if I ask her to keep you from being too naughty.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that~” the nymph sang as she looked at one of her hooves. “Her griffonfriend returned not too long ago.”

“Ace is back?” Narrow sighed. “Great, guess I’ll have to make sure my property damage claims are still valid... and my paperwork monkey/barista is out of town...”

“And he’ll keep the pink in a naughty frame of mind for a little while,” the nymph grinned. “So, good luck with that plan of yours.”

Narrow sighed again and turned. “You know what? My leg hurts like a bitch and I am done here. She’s all your problem now mayor. Good luck with that.”

“Wai-wha?” the mayor blinked as the Captain wheeled herself out of his office and towards home. She needed a freaking nap. Sugar turned back to the stallion of the room and grinned, her fangs shining.

“Oh goodie, I have you all to myself now…”

“Celestia save me,” the mayor gulped.

Narrow nudged the door of her apartment open and sighed. Home sweet home...

yay...

She looked at the harness she was wearing and sighed. Her apartment was too small to wheel around in without a lot of effort...and the straps were beginning to chafe.

“Oh this is gonna hurt,” she muttered as she unhitched herself, slowly lowering her good leg down so she could balance on three legs.

Except that her legs had fallen asleep, being raised like that for so long and she fell, landing right on her broken limb.

And her apartment wasn’t as lucky as Ledger’s old one. No soundproofing meant that any neighbours that were lucky enough to be home were introduced to a chorus of new swears, curses and death threats against her leg’s family and friends.

“Fucking...ow,” she muttered as she lay on her side in the middle of her living room. “This freaking sucks...”

And then there was a knocking at the door.

“Of. Bucking. Course.” Narrow sighed. “Who is it?’ she called out.

“I believe you once called me your ‘feathery bed-warmer,’” Fredrick’s voice came from beyond the door. Narrow blushed, did he seriously just say that from out in the hallway.

“Oh great, tell all of Equestria why don’t you?” she muttered. “It’s open, I’m a little...inconvenienced right now...”

“That’s part of the reason why I’m here,” Fredrick’s voice replied as the door opened and shut, the sound of his talons and claws clicking as he walked over to her form. “It wasn’t too hard to follow a wheeled pony home once I was informed of your condition,” he observed before his form came into view.

Narrow looked up at him from her spot on the floor. To Fredrick, there was an exhausted-looking Unicorn laying on her side, and it was obvious she had just injured herself even further.

“I swear, if you make one more joke,” she said, clearly not fussed too much about her position. Though, she hated looking so weak in front of him...she just couldn’t do a damn thing about it right now.

“I was merely going to offer my home to you again,” the griffon said as he gently took a hold of her leg that had been put in a cast and tried to ease it into facing the right direction for maximum healing.

“Yeah, except the only way in is up a flight of stairs,” Narrow replied, sighing softly as the pressure on her leg was released. “So unless you’re up for carrying me everywhere, I’ll need to stick to the building with the elevator.”

“While I would not mind the idea, your point has merit,” he said with a sigh. “I guess I can look after you while you recover.”

She couldn’t make him do that, not after he sounded so disappointed at the thought.

“No, you’re far too busy with your restaurant,” she replied. Her disappointment was rather thinly veiled also. While she hated being incapacitated like this, the thought of him looking after her was...enticing. “Don’t worry. I’m a grown mare, this is just a scratch. I’m fine.”

“And if I informed you that my second-in-command is being tested as to how well he can run my restaurant between check-ins?” the Griffon asked as he leaned down to gently rub at the skin around the cast.

“Mmm, but...I’m inconveniencing you,” she sighed contently. Never let anypony tell you different. Griffon talons were made for massages. Gods above that felt good.

“Think of it as a debt you can pay back later, if you must. I certainly won’t be expecting you to do anything for a while.” With a quick motion, the mare was picked up so that her weight was kept off of her bad leg. Another set of motions saw her laying on the nearby couch.

“F-fine,” Narrow blushed as she looked away. “Then I’m going to repay the hell out of you later. Believe it!”

“As you wish,” the griffon said with a theatrical bow, before looking at the kitchen. “Hmm. I’m in the mood for lunch. What about yourself?”

Narrow’s traitorous stomach gave a loud growl in approval. Fredrick laughed and gave her a peck.

“Very well, I will see what I can scrounge up from your kitchen that we can eat.”

Her kitchen was...sweet Celestia how the hell was this pony still alive? All of her food stores were freeze-dried military rations and her fridge just had bottled water. About the only thing that even had a remote amount of taste or even substance were a hidden packet of chocolate-coated coffee beans.

“...On second thought,” the griffon muttered as he slowly backed out of the kitchen and looked at the pony on the couch. “Change of plans.”

“What?” she blinked. “What’s wrong? Those rations are still good for another hundred years or so.”

“And nopony should be forced into eating them when they have options,” the griffon said...before reaching down onto the couch and moving the mare from it to his back.

“You...can’t seriously be thinking of walking around town like this?” she said. “I’m too heavy. Somepony will see us. Just...put me back in my damned harness.”

“I’ve had worse when it was just me running the place,” the griffon said as he shifted her around to get her comfortable. “And walking? You’re right, I’m not thinking of walking around town like this.”

It took Narrow a moment to realise what he was getting at. “Ohno...nononononono! You are not flying with me!”

“Walking it is!” The griffon said as he nudged her wheelchair. “I’ll come back for this later. You and I are going to have lunch at my place.”

Narrow breathed a small sigh of relief. If he ever found out she was scared of heights, he would prolly never let her live it down. “Fine, I guess.” A thought occurred and she looked at her lover. “So...what’s your opinion about this changeling thing?”

“...Do you know the situation behind how I was found in the whole debacle?” the griffon asked as he began leaving her apartment. Narrow shook her head. She had wanted to go find Fredrick after Tirek’s attack, and then one day, he just showed up in her hospital room like nothing was wrong, wearing that adorably smug smile of his.

“I had been preparing for just another normal day,” the griffon said. “Making my sauces, preparing some bread, even crafting a few noodles at the time. And then that last attack of his connected, draining me.”

“Yeah...felt that at point blank range...didn’t really care for it much.” Honestly, she wanted so badly to just purge that memory. She was one of Celestia’s Guard! A warrior of unparalleled bravery and skill.

And yet thinking about that day, not that she had to as it played in her head constantly...it bucking terrified her!

“Yes, well, it hit me just as I went to check on my red sauce.” The griffon shook his head. “From there, things devolved into a chaotic mess. The white sauce splattered everywhere. The noodles fell on me. And somehow the bread became a half-baked monster.”

“The chef becomes the meal,” Narrow found herself giggling lightly at the mental image she was forming. “How ironic.”

“So what did you do?” she asked inquisitively. “Well, stupid question I guess...you probably couldn’t do much.”

“True enough. The changeling walked in, took in the situation, didn’t say a word as it cleaned me up and put me in my own bed. Then it told me others would be around shortly to see to my needs if griffons were affected as badly as ponies were, and left.” The feathered form paused in his storytelling for all of five seconds. “Once the door was closed and the changeling on its way...ten seconds later, I hear laughter. Which I probably deserved.”

“You will forever be the Noodle Griffon of Las Pegasus,” Narrow nodded. “I’ll petition a change of names at the mayor's office tomorrow.”

“I’m honestly more upset by the loss of the food,” Fredrick said as they came up upon his place. “It would have been delicious.”

“Glad to see you have priorities,” Narrow sighed as she leaned into him, burying the face in the back of his neck. “Still haven’t answered my question though.”

“Anything that is willing to clean me up and make it look like I have dignity in the face of the end of the world at the risk of its own safety is good in my books,” the avian said as he opened the door and exchanged pleasantries with his staff. With a quick set of steps, the pair of them were going upstairs to Fredrick’s personal apartment.

"Well, then I am glad you like your little buggy stylists," Narrow chuckled. She noticed where they were heading and blinked. "We're not eating downstairs?"

“Unless you want to eat with all the other customers,” the griffon pointed out as he searched the upstairs and nodded, before walking into his bedroom.

Well, that was a good enough reason. She spared a look at her leg and sighed. If it wasn’t for Midnight...

"Then I wouldn’t even be here right now."

“...You say something?” Fredrick questioned after he walked up next to his bed, pausing in mid-removal of the mare.

"No...just thinking aloud." The mare grunted slightly as she was placed on the bed. "A picnic on the bed then? I haven't done this since I was a little filly."

“Yes, well, the kitchen and dining room are downstairs, so we’ll have to make do,” the griffon teased as he quickly checked her leg. “With me making sure you get delicious and nutritious foods, you’ll be up and walking in no time,” Fredrick boasted.

She smiled and winked at him. "The fact the sooner I get well, the sooner you can stop abstaining from certain activities helps as well hmm?"

“It doesn’t hurt that seeing you well is in my best interest as well,” the griffon teased back. “I don’t think I could survive three weeks of your complaining about my jokes.”

"They were terrible!" Narrow pouted adorably. "When I got mad you said I looked like a cute little steam train!!"

“You are terribly cute when you’re angry,” the griffon pointed out. “Plus if I know you and the influence Midnight and myself have had on you, you’re probably already thinking of ways around whatever restrictions your doctors have placed on you in order to ‘surprise’ me later on.”

Narrow decided that she’d clam up for now. So what if she had plans for her 'sisters' to jump the bird later. He didn't need to know that.

"I'm due for magical repair next week, so hopefully I can just keep... chugging away until then?"

“Now you’re getting into it,” Fredrick teased. “So...any preferences for lunch, or shall I surprise you?”

"Surprise me," Narrow replied. "Make it good and I'll surprise you back~"

“I’ll do my best,” the griffon said before he gave the mare a quick peck on her cheeks. “Be right back, try not to get too bored without me.” With a flick of his tail, the large half-bird was gone downstairs to get lunch for his mare.

Narrow looked around his room. It had a very intimate feel to it. But given the nature of its owner...

"Hmm," she shuffled across the bed and peered at a small bookshelf. It had a variety of books, including a few that had Griffic writing. She took one and opened it, blushing profusely when it depicted very detailed paintings of female Griffons in very adult situations.

And yet, curiosity got the better of her as she kept reading it. She barely noticed ten minutes later when her lover returned. It took him whispering something in her ear for her to realize she wasn’t alone anymore.

“Enjoying the Griffon version of the Pony Sutra?” he asked softly. With a surprised squeal, she tossed the book and turned her head, her face a deep crimson.

"W-What!? No!"

“Pity,” the griffon said as he picked the book up and looked at it, before putting it back on the bookcase. “I’d been meaning to brush up on the pony version myself, and I know how hard these are to find in Equestria…”

Narrow’s heart pounded in her chest as she looked at the book he had put away. "Maybe Sugar Darling has...no, I know she has a copy. She probably wrote the damned thing."

“Unlikely,” the griffon said as he pecked the mare’s cheek. “This belonged to my parents. Now…” Here Fredrick presented a picnic basket to Narrow’s gaze. “I was inspired by your comment, so a picnic in bed it is.”

"Oh?" Narrow responded. Admittedly, this probably made her happier than it should have.

"Have I ever mentioned how much you spoil me?" She smiled, kissing the side of his beak.

“Perhaps some times,” the griffon said as he ran one claw through her mane. “But it’s always nice to hear that I am appreciated one more time.”

"Well I'm always happy to tell you that..." she paused as she thought on their relationship. Were they considered a couple? Lovers? She considered all options, but always came to the same conclusion. "I guess... I really have... fallen in love with you."

“And I, you,” the half-lion said before gently giving the pony a hug. “I was merely waiting on you to say it first.”

"Oh?" The mare poked him and smiled. "Since when do you wait for the mare to make the first move?"

“While technically I did flirt with every mare that caught my eye prior to you, I never pushed them into anything they weren’t comfortable with,” the griffon said before he presented a sandwich cut in half diagonally to the mare, pulling it from within the basket that he’d brought with him. “If they never responded to my advances, then I eventually cut my losses after teasing them with thoughts of what they were missing...and of course I left the married and taken ones alone.”

"Yeah, one of your serving colts saw fit to inform me of your rules," Narrow chuckled at the memory of that day. Fredrick had gone to run a few errands after one of their little sleepovers. She'd gone to order some breakfast and...

"They spent that whole time just talking you up. Saying what a great guy you were, that you were more than just a culinary playbird. It was kind of sweet actually." She smiled and poked him again. "Though all they did was tell me what I already knew."

“I do try to treat them right, that they might repeat the gestures with any mares they meet when not working for me,” the griffon said before putting the sandwich in front of the mare. Peanut butter and strawberry jam. Delectable and simple. “My father always believed that honor wasn’t something you lived by...it was something you inspired others to be.”

“I like that saying,” Narrow nodded. As a soldier, it made her smile warmly. “Your father sounds like a wise bird. I’d like to meet him sometime.” She bit into the sandwich and hummed with delight. How does he take something so simple and make it shine like that?

“They left a few years ago, saying I was old enough to take of both myself and this place. Not long after I got back, actually,” the avian mused. “Their latest letter before all...this happened had them in Trottingham. They might pay a visit, actually, come to think of it.”

“Hmm, that’d be nice,” Narrow smiled. “Introduce the mare that tamed the wild beast~?”

“Mom and dad will love you,” the griffon said as he gave one of her forehooves a soft peck. “My zebra godfather, uncle Zethy? ...He’s worse than I used to be.”

“I’ve met you and that blasted Violet nymph Sugar,” Narrow said dryly as she nibbled her sandwich. “I don’t see anypony that could be worse...well, except Midnight.”

“He knows the Pony Sutra and every illicit volume by heart. He taught me about pleasure points, and Ledger helped me refine that knowledge after his little altercation. He can brew a pot of tea for any mare that will get them weak-kneed within a minute after meeting them, and that’s to say nothing of his silver tongue. He is...the most lecherous zebra in the world.”

“We have to introduce him to Midnight, if only for the giggles,” Narrow said with a grin that most sharks would consider unnerving. “Hmm, you know...speaking of her. Did she and you ever...”

“Not that I did not consider the notion - I’ve bedded a thestral mare once, with great difficulty - but she and Ledger became an item before she could consider making such an advance on me.” The griffon pulled out a sandwich for himself and began nibbling on it. Pausing momentarily, he then decided to inform the mare next to him of something else regarding his ‘uncle.’ “Also, father and mother finally beat some semblance of honor or rules into his head, so he most likely will follow similar rules to myself. And since I rather like this town, I think I’ll be informing him of Midnight’s status the moment they meet if I can. Avoid a sexy version of the apocalypse we nearly went through.”

“Well, I guess that’s probably for the best,” Narrow nodded. “I just hope they can find her... If it wasn’t for this damned leg, I’d have gone and helped them.”

“Have faith in Ledger,” the griffon said before reaching into the basket and pulling out a small dish of baby carrots....and an even smaller dish of salad dressing. “He’s quite dangerous when pressed. And passionate when angry about something that irks him. I dread to think of what might happen to those that dared to commit this offense.”

“Yes, and his mares are quite formidable in their own right...” Narrow peered into the basket, curious as to what else Fredrick had prepared. When a pair of curious pink eyes stared back.

And Narrow did what any, well-trained soldier of Celestia’s army would have done.

She shrieked like a little filly and fell backwards off of the bed, and luckily did not land on her bad leg as Amy poked her head out of the basket.

“Bucking...ow,” Narrow muttered.

“Oh, sorry Peachy!” Amy said, helping the mare back up onto the bed. “Didn’t mean to scare you... I’m just SO FREAKING EXCITED!!!”

“...Dare I ask how you got in my picnic basket?” the griffon asked as he slowly got his heart back under control. He was...quite sure he hadn’t packed the pink pegasus into there.

“No...you really don’t,” Narrow said as she glared at Amy. “And call me that again, and I will make sure your life is unpleasant for the foreseeable future!”

“Okay, but NOTHING can ruin my mood today!” she whirled around in a speed that would make Rainbow Dash sick and stared Fredrick right in the eyes. “Aaaanyway. You are just the kittybird I wanna see!”

“Indeed?” the griffon asked with a carefully raised eyebrow. “And why is that?”

“Weeeeeelllll,” Amy droned on. “I kiiiiinda need to know if you have something on Griffon weddings. The library didn’t have squat, Captain Bookbug is outta town.” She stared at the Griffon as he pulled the sheet over her like a hooded cloak. “Fredrick. You are my only hope!”

“I...think there’s a photo album from my parent’s wedding in their room?” Fredrick offered. “It’s also a scrapbook related to that day. Third door on the left as you come up.”

“Why do you need to know about Griffon weddings?” Narrow decided to ask. She said she loved Fredrick, but she wasn’t going to marry him right away...

Amy turned her head...without turning her body. Her eyes shone...literally shone as she vibrated on the spot.

“...Should we call for one of your guard?” Fredrick asked as he inched away from the even more odder than usual pink mare.

“I think we’ll need the whole army,” Narrow replied, also backing up slightly.

“I need it....” Amy said as she raised one shaky hoof, the rose-quartz ring adorning it. “BECAUSE I’M GETTING MARRIED TO ACEY!!!!”

“Plucking feathers, my ears!” Fredrick cursed as he held his head with his talons. That had been way too loud!

Narrow blinked, before the two mares engaged in an ancient ritual amongst the female kind of just about any species. They shared a happy squeal that threatened to shatter glass. The windows vibrated...and then there were three shattering sounds from inside the basket. The griffon eventually recovered from the aural assault and carefully reached in with a talon...pulling out the neck of what had been a wine bottle and sighing after a few seconds.

“...Well, there goes that bottle,” he said as he noticed the liquid starting to seep into his bed. “And the sheets.”

The two mares paused and looked a little bashful. Narrow nodded and motioned for Fredrick to take a step back. “Sorry, I have been waiting for a chance to try this though.”

The griffon backed off, curious despite knowing he’d likely have to call the rest of the lunch a bust with broken glass in it, and wash his sheets, and-

Narrow’s horn flared as her magic surged. She’d been feeling a little overcharged ever since Twilight and her friends helped restore everypony, and now she had an outlet. The basket was engulfed in the same light, as well as the space around it.

Once she was done, the basket and it’s contents were as good as new.

“Whhooaaaa!” Amy blinked and gasped. “I didn’t know you could use that spell Peachy!”

“Amy, I love you, but I will murder you if you call me that again,” Narrow panted her her horn glowed red from over-exertion. “Gahhhh, time-reversal spells hurt...”

Fredrick blinked before patting the comforter around the basket, finding it surprisingly dry. Opening the basket revealed that his bottle of wine and glasses were pieced back together flawlessly. The avian then turned his attention to his mare and eyed her horn. “Need anything for that? Red can’t be a healthy color.”

She crossed her eyes looking at it and pursed her lips, blowing on it. It gave off a few wisps of smoke as it cooled down and she smiled. “Just...don’t ask me to do that often. I’d been hoarding my magic for a few days now. And I had that boost that Princess Twilight fed us when she cured us. So yeah... one-time deal I think.”

“That was still awesome,” Amy said, now holding Fredrick’s scrapbook. When the heck did she...? The griffon shook his head, pulling his bottle and glasses out of the basket before looking at the pink mare.

“I appear to have one too few glasses now,” he wryly observed.

Amy reached up into her mane and rummaged around. Various sounds could be heard before she pulled out a crystal glass. “Here ya go Freddy!”

“Of course,” he said with an eye-roll as he uncorked the wine with his claws. With a swift set of motions and lots of pouring, the ponies and himself had a glass of fine red wine in their hooves/claws.

“Thanks!” Amy chirped as she sat down and sipped the wine, humming appreciatively at the taste. “Oh! Can I also book you in as our caterer?” she inquired. “We don’t have a date yet, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.”

“While that is not normally a service I offer…” the griffon opened with.

“He’d be more than happy to do it,” Narrow finished and winked at him.

“...As long as your fiance keeps his claws to himself,” the avian tacked on. “I don’t have any particular inclinations to that sort of interaction.”

“Huh?” Amy blinked as she looked at the bird. “Whaddya mean Freddy?”

“Your groom-to-be hit on me his first day here,” the griffon explained bluntly. “I’d much rather avoid a repeat experience if at all possible; I’m straight as can be.”

“Aww, don’t worry... Cherry and I give him aaaallll the attention he needs~” she giggled. Whoo, this wine was tasty!

Narrow just blinked and waved her hoof in front of her neck, but Amy wasn’t in the mood to be taking not-so-subtle hints.

“...Ah, so catering a wedding for three, then?” the griffon said, easily picking up on the not-so-subtle hints. “And I thought Ledger was the first to start a herd...I guess the idea caught on.”

“Huh? Oh Freddy you’re so silly, there’s only Acey and meee~ Sittin’ in a treeee~” Amy sang as she swayed.

“...It would be rather rude of him to marry only you and not Cherry as well,” the griffon pointed out, knowing that the pair of them were roommates and co-workers...and lovers to his fellow griffon, apparently.

“Nooo, he’s gonna marry Cherry as well,” Amy giggled. The griffon paused to consider the question aloud.

“Then how am I not catering a wedding for three when you have just mentioned three beings getting married to one another?”

“Because...” Amy leaned forward and stared into his eyes. She was so damned closer their eyeballs were almost touching. “I will marry Acey, and Cherry will marry Acey, but there is only Acey and me!” she giggled and leaned back. “Weeeeeell I gotta go. You two kids play nice now... buh-byyeee!”

As the pink pony jumped out of a window (after opening it of course), the griffon looked at his marefriend...lover...love of his life, really. And voiced another pair of questions.

“Is there a simple answer to that, and do I want to know it?”

“There is, and also there isn’t,” she replied, keeping up with Amy’s cryptic game. His befuddled expression was kinda cute actually. “You should ask Ledger about it really.”

“...Maybe I will some day,” He said as he raised his untouched glass of wine. “A toast, perhaps?”

“To love?” she replied, lifting her glass. Fredrick clinked his glass with hers and smiled.

“To the power of love,” he said with a nod. “May it bring all who desire it together.”

“That was cheesier than your breadsticks,” Narrow sighed as she clinked her glass with his. “Unfortunately in this land of weaponised rainbows and fluffy unicorns, it’s also quite true.”

“I don’t hear you complaining at night~” the griffon teased as he dipped one of the baby carrots in the salad dressing, twirling it around for a moment. Satisfied, he took a brief sip of wine to cement the toast and then tossed the carrot into his beak, snapping it in half and humming at the taste. He’d gotten...used to vegetables and the like while he was here, and managed to put his own spin on eating them.

“Oh hush,” Narrow repled as she leaned across and stole the remaining carrot from his talons, her lips lingering there for just a moment before she pulled back and smiled smugly.

“As you command,” he said, miming a zipper being pulled across his beak with a playful smirk.

“Pfft, like you could keep that up for long,” Narrow replied. Then a wicked smile crossed her muzzle. “How about...a bet?”

The griffon raised an eyebrow, intrigued but not falling for any obvious tricks.

“If I can get you to talk, then...” she paused as she thought about it. “You have to eat one of my military rations!”

The griffon blanched at the thought, before making a ‘go on’ motion with his talons. He apparently wanted to hear what he’d win if he didn’t. Or for how long he’d have to be silent to win. Anything was possible when he wasn’t talking.

“If you win...” she smiled again. “Then, you will get one hour to do whatever you like and I won’t complain about it~”

The griffon responded by pointing at her leg that was in a cast before shaking his head. Apparently he was still noble and didn’t want to put any strain on her injury.

“I mean after I heal, love,” Narrow replied. “I’m not that foalish. So, agreed?”

~*~

“Well, guess I can’t even do that right at the moment,” Narrow sighed. “Well, time’s nearly up anyway.”

She might have expected a lot of things. One thing she wasn’t expecting him to do was simply pull her close with a wing and nuzzle her with his beak, cuddling the mare again as he lay down on his bed to hide his current state from any prying eyes.

“The pains of being a faithful stallion,” Narrow replied with an apologetic smile. “I’ll make it up to you. Promise.”

Fredrick made no verbal reply, instead choosing just to hug her closer with one of his wings.

Sex was nice, he finally realized. But love and relationships last longer. And he wanted this one to last forever. She was no changeling, but Narrow sensed his feelings and leaned into the hug. It didn’t matter if you were a tough and gritty soldier, or a cute mare that sold ice-cream. Love was truly magical.

Midnight Song stared out of the single, tiny window of her prison. Her eyes reflected the light of the moon. They weren’t lifeless like when Tirek drained her. Or emotionless when she used her Trance.

They just didn’t care anymore.

“Love...” she muttered softly. “What a bucking joke.”

Chapter 63 - Absolving awkwardness with amazing amounts of aplomb!

As the stallion-y trio approached the homestead. The three had varying thoughts running through their heads.

Grissom was wondering how Midnight hadn’t burned this place to the ground with her cooking. Perhaps the others had learned not to let her in the kitchen.

Flash had a sense of foreboding for some reason, like his totally awesome day was about to be killed in the face.

Wishful… could almost see the lust that poured from the second floor of the building…

“I think we’ll find a few members of the house occupied, we should come back later,” the disguised drone commented before making to turn around, totally not just trying to put off a Midnight meetup. Nope. Not at all.

And when he turned, the Thestral mare was staring him straight in the eyes. It was a tense few seconds of silence, before she just brushed past him and headed for the house.

Grissom blinked and looked at Wishful. “Okay… what was all that about?”

“Things,” the Violet changeling tried to brush off again. “I still don’t think we should go in, though…”

Grissom narrowed his eyes. He didn’t like the way his daughter had just acted. It was… unusual. Had Wishful done something, or said something to make her uncomfortable?

“Flash, go inside please,” Grissom suddenly said. The Pegasus blinked, but nodded and turned, heading for the house. Once he was out of earshot, the Thestral turned back to the drone, his piercing gaze locking on to him.

“Alright. Out with it. If you’ve done something to her…”

“Vice versa,” the drone commented, correcting Grissom almost instantly. “And it’s not as terrible as you might be fearing. I’m probably overthinking it, is all…”

“Overthinking what?” he said. Just what the hell was going on with Midnight and… “You two… you aren’t having an affair are you?”

“No, but she did shut me up in a way one would only expect from her, I’d wager. I was going on about how she would likely not find anything of interest with me if we had met in another life…” Wishful trailed off, clearly not wanting to say the next bit. But Grissom knew his daughter better than anypony… well, except for Moon Song.

“She did something that may have made you uncomfortable, but totally normal for her?” he said. “Then my next question is this, why is it making you uncomfortable?”

“Because she’s my son’s fiancee and I’m loyal to the Madame,” Wishful replied. “Plus she’s half my age.”

“Well, I’d say just try to forget it happened, but then, Midnight is a difficult pony to forget…” Grissom sighed and facehooved. “I suppose I would normally say that Midnight was just being Midnight. But, I fear she’s crossed a line here…”

“Which is why I would prefer to avoid meeting her altogether if possible, so with that in mind,” Wishful said as he made to leave again.

“And I think having her apologising and seeing she made a mistake would be better,” Grissom nodded, pulling the stallion along with his wing. “Now let’s go. It’s better to just rip it off and get it over with.”

“No, wait, please, I would rather not walk into that house at the moment,” Wishful said, trying his best to squirm free.

“I will sort this matter out, or would you rather I turn to the Madame for assistance?” he asked, not letting go.

“Let me put it plainly then. I can see that there is sex going on upstairs. I would rather not take the chance that it’s my son.”

Grissom paused, and groaned as he put a hoof to his face. “Right. One moment then. Do not go anywhere.” He let the drone go and headed towards the house. Wishful, surprisingly, obliged and sat on his haunches while waiting for Grissom to deal with the awkward situation.

He walked inside, seeing Midnight sit on the couch as Twilight looked at the stallion as he entered, wondering what the heck was going on. Flash Sentry of all ponies had walked in and after taking one look at the alicorn, had gone to hide in the kitchen. Grissom sighed, that was a problem to deal with in a moment. He first marched upstairs and knocked on the door.

“If you don’t mind, there are guests here.” He informed them, before leaving without waiting for a reply. He marched back into the living room and huffed.

A moment later, Wishful saw him returning, his daughter's ear in his mouth as he dragged her along.

“Ah, hey! Ow… Fucking OW!” she protested, but the pleas fell on deaf ears as he hauled her over to the drone and spat out her ear.

“Wash your ears more,” he grumbled at her. “Right. I’m already sick of this shit. Talk. Now!”

Wishful blinked before looking away from Midnight as he tried to think of the right words to defuse this awkward situation. None were coming to mind.

“W-Well, not what I had planned… but I guess it’ll do,” Midnight said quietly. “Look Wishful. I was out of line and that was something I shouldn’t have done. Not only did I break one of my personal rules, I hurt you. I… shouldn’t have done that, no matter the circumstances. I just… I just hope you can forgive me.”

Wishful blinked, not quite expecting such an earnest apology, before looking at Midnight and coughing a little to unstick his throat. “Well, I suppose if you’re truly sorry, then I’ve no choice but to accept. It’d be poor manners to hold a grudge against my future daughter-in-law.”

“I wish, I could just go back in time and undo that… but I can’t.” Midnight’s eyes watered as she looked at the ground. “I’ll be telling Ledger what I did… and he can decide my punishment.”

Wishful reached forward with one hoof and gently put it under Midnight’s chin, raising her eyes so that they were looking at one another. “As far as I’m concerned,” he said softly. “It never happened.”

She blinked the tears away and nodded, before giving a cheeky grin. “Madame’s a pretty lucky lady to have somepony like you.”

“She does say that rather regularly~” Wishful said with a happy hum, leaving it up to the others to imagine why.

It wasn’t much of a stretch for Midnight, while Grissom just coughed awkwardly.

“Well, now that this triviality has been settled, shall we go and see why young Flash is attempting to hide in the refrigerator?”

“...And you seem to have...not diffused the upstairs situation,” Wishful commented. “Or at least, not fully.”

Grissom growled as Midnight tilted her head. “What’s going on upstairs?”

“I don’t want to know,” the disguised drone commented as they made their way inside, to find that Ledger had joined the alicorn on the cuddlecouch. Midnight tilted her head, and she wondered if she had missed some serious sexytimes.

Aww, she wanted to at least watch.

“Sentry, what in Equestria are you doing?” Grissom barked. “Stop acting like a foal and get out here!”

It took a few moments, but Flash slowly made his way into the living room, but refused to meet Twilight’s gaze.

“For the love of the Moon, nopony is going to eat anypony around here,” Grissom sighed. “Honestly, is this a home, or a daycare?”

“We have to choose?” Ledger asked, looking up from snuggling Twilight.

“I need a vacation from my vacation,” the Thestral sighed. “We have come here for a reason colt. We wish to know if you have settled on a day for your upcoming nuptials?”

“We need to wait for Midnight to not need anti-nausea meds or spells every day first. Then she can decide if she wants it sooner or later, as she’s the one who proposed, after all,” Ledger pointed out. “Oh, speaking of the spells. Midnight, do you need one?”

“I dunno, I’m… not feeling the best today, but I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“M’kay,” Ledger said, going back to snuggling Twilight...before raising a hoof and gesturing for Midnight to join them, if she felt like it. Flash looked at Ledger for just a second, his eye giving a slight twitch, but looked away before anypony could hopefully notice.

“So, we’re waiting on Midnight then?” Grissom turned to his daughter. “What do you think?”

The batpony sighed and pawed at the ground with a hoof. “I dunno, maybe the next couple of weeks. I know Miss Rarity already has most of the dresses done. How she gets them done so fast I don’t know… and, there’s something else as well.” She looked at Ledger before saying the next part.

“Would you be objective to a double ceremony?”

“Not in the slightest,” Ledger said as he looked at Midnight. “Who else is getting married?”

“Ace and Amy,” Midnight stated. Ledger hummed before nodding.

“Yeah, that makes sense. Nope, got no qualms at all. Though this does beg the question as to who’s doing the planning for the joint wedding…”

“Dunno, I’ll ask Amy later,” Midnight replied as she decided that a severe snuggling was in order, and flew straight over Ledger and Twilight to tackle the Earth Pony that just walked in.

“GAH! What the-?” Cider cried out as the bat hugged her out of nowhere. Ledger chuckled before looking over at Flash.

“Something wrong?” he asked the orange pegasus.

“M’fine,” Flash muttered, even as Twilight blushed a little. Ledger looked between the two, having have caught that burst of emotion, before sighing and speaking to the room at large.

“Emotivore,” he said aloud. “Either one of you is speaking up, or I’m going to share the most embarrassing thing we did together with the room at large.”

Wishful actually frowned at that, “You had better not,” he warned his son.

“The truth… is really weird,” Twilight admitted.

“Then how about we have Flash say why he feels jealous when I’m with you like this?” Ledger asked, looking at the guard.

“Because I like Twilight okay!” Flash said a little harsher than he meant. “I tried, but it didn’t work, because I have no idea… well, used to have no idea how to handle a mare.”

“It probably didn’t hurt that Twilight hadn’t met Midnight then either,” Ledger pointed out. “Or at least, not in any serious capacity if she had. She was more innocent is what I’m getting at.”

“Yeah I kinda… totally ignored his advances,” Twilight said. “Remember when I said that I’d been to a different dimension? It has to do with that.”

“You can tell me the story later,” Ledger said as he didn’t stop looking at Flash. “I didn’t know, and I’m not sure what I would have done if I had. Can you try to not hold it against me?”

“You can’t help who you fall for,” Flash eventually said and shrugged. “Besides, I uh, met somepony nice today, so I wanna see where that goes.”

“Aw, congrats Flash,” Twilight said, making the stallion blush up a storm.

“Alright, so everypony’s love lives aside,” Grissom sighed. He was thankful nopony decided to bring his up while they were at it. “Shall we agree to three weeks from today? That should give everypony enough time to get things organised.”

“Hmm…” Ledger hummed, before nodding. “I think that’s fair for now. Assuming Midnight does, of course.”

“Sounds good, I hate making decisions anyway.” She figured if she danced around the subject long enough, somepony would get fed up and decide for her~

“Well then, assuming nothing happens at the last minute,” Ledger said as he nuzzled the alicorn on the couch again. “Then we’ll be a happily married herd in three weeks time.”

“Well, most of us,” Twilight reminded him, poking him on the nose. He snickered before moving up to whisper in her ear.

“You’re welcome to join in, if you think you can handle our levels of crazy.”

“We’ll see,” she answered. She’d hate to think what her parents would say about jumping into marriage like that. Oh… ohno…

“Ahehehe, um, Ledger?”

“Mm?” he muttered as he returned to nuzzling her. What? She was comfy and smelled nice.

“I um… maaaay have forgotten to tell my parents about my relationship…” She gave a sheepish smile and giggled cutely. Ledger sighed tiredly.

“I am not going to think about that right now...you can tell them later. When I’m not cuddling you. Which might not be for a while.”

“Hmm, maybe Shiny could do it for me?" Twilight asked cutely.

"I don't see that happening Princess," Flash replied.

"Darn it," Twilight sighed. "Was worth a try."

“At least you have here to act as a sanctuary,” Ledger pointed out. “You could tell them and then Waypoint over here to avoid any fallout.”

"You don’t know my Mom," Twilight shuddered. "Tartarus isn't safe enough to hide away if she got mad..."

“She would have to know that this place is where you’d run to first,” the disguised drone pointed out. “You could just drop the knowledge that you’re in a relationship on her and run away.”

“No, that would get me killed, or worse...grounded…” Twilight shook at that. The last time she got grounded, she was sent to her room for a week… without any books!!

“I promise to let you borrow my book for three days if you bring this up to your parents and manage to get away,” Ledger said, trying to bribe the lavender princess.

Twilight was about to agree when she remember a crucial detail. “As long as I also get to rent Scopey to translate for me.”

“Depends on whether or not she’s busy,” Ledger said with a snicker. “But yes, you’ll get three days of unfettered access to the secrets of my book. Promise.”

Twilight gave him a wide smile, before she teleported from the couch and he heard the Waypoint activate…

“...Well, that’ll be awkward to deal with, and I’m out a cuddle-buddy,” Ledger pouted, before looking over to Midnight and Cider.

“Should have thought ahead before leaving your spare one occupied,” Wishful chuckled at his son’s minor plight.

“Right, so it seems that everything is sorted,” Grissom nodded. “The parties will take place a few days before, in case anything happens that would make attending the ceremony difficult. I will also inform Princess Luna of the date, so she may free up her schedule in advance.”

“My thanks,” Ledger said before getting up from the couch and stretching. “Well, if that’s all, I left something unfinished upstairs…”

Every stallion rolled his eyes as Cider blinked and figured he was doing more paperwork. Apple Leaves and Apple Fritter were still out somewhere, presumably shopping for something frivolous.

“Well, it’s getting late, but I must return to Canterlot… still, I suppose it could wait until the morning.” Grissom looked at his daughter and hummed. “Midnight, would you like to come to dinner with your old man?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Midnight nodded. She did have quite a bit to talk about with him anyhow. Ledger walked over to Flash and offered him a hoofbump, as a way of making sure they were still cool.

Flash returned the gesture and nodded. “Yeah, we’re cool. Never would have done what I did if I hadn’t come here. So, a little awkwardness is a small price to pay.”

“Nice to see you don’t hold that against me,” Ledger said before turning to the stairs. “I’ll see you in about three weeks then?” he asked over his shoulder.

“You plan on keeping her up there that long?” Wishful chuckled. Picking on his son was a hobby that would never get old. Ledger stumbled before chuckling.

“Maybe another time, right now I have business to attend to,” he fired back. With that, he was ascending the stairs so that he could take care of Scope.

Once he left, Grissom pretended he didn’t know what the drone was off doing… or who he was doing… He looked to Wishful and shrugged. “And what about you? Any plans? You’re welcome to join Midnight and myself if you like.”

“I could stand with some company for tonight,” the disguised drone hummed, before looking at Flash. “And yourself?”

“Hmm, I got plans~” he replied. Well, first he was gonna go find Fred and brohoof the hay out of him. Then he was going to meet those mares for dinner.

“Then I wish you the best of luck,” Wishful said, not having missed that spike of lust at all. The Violet drone then turned to Grissom and bowed slightly. “Your guest, sir.”

“Right, Midnight? You ready to go?”

The bat gave Cider one last hug and a deep kiss, before sighing and letting her go. “Nnn, fine. Until the moon rises, my love~”

“Middy, y’all got more ham than the pigs ah raise,” Cider chuckled. “Go on, git!”

“Yes Ma’am,” Midnight saluted and followed the two stallions, pouncing on the bat-like of the two and riding on his back, the old stallion grunting under the weight of the armoured mare.

Once they all left, Cider looked at the stairs and hummed. Time to go see what fun Ledger was up to~

So for the first time since coming to Las Pegasus, Midnight had chosen a restaurant that wasn’t Fredrick’s. It was a fancy, high-end place in the upper end of the city. One where the waiters were actually Prench and Midnight could offend everypony present with a single word if she was so inclined.

“Hmm,” Wishful hummed as he looked at the menu. “I...think I know some Prench? Inspired was the one that taught his daughter, but we all picked up a little…”

"I'm rather fluent," Grissom said as he looked at the menu also. "And Midnight should know a little..."

"Nah, I totally forgot most words that couldn't help pick up a Prench pony." Midnight giggled and Grissom sighed.

"Should have guessed," he groaned.

“I know enough to know when I’m being yelled at, cursed at, or made fun of,” Wishful said. “Critical and Ledger didn’t get on for a little while...or a long while…”

"You mean they get along now?" Midnight asked with no small amount of sarcasm.

“She certainly changed her tune over the years,” Wishful replied. “You should have seen her reaction to his letters. Especially when she realized he was the only big brother she would ever have…”

"You could always adopt," Midnight giggled. "Hmm, how is Critty doing? You went to visit her yeah?"

“She found a nice stallion already,” Wishful replied as he eventually gave up on reading the menu. “And apparently they’re getting along quite well. To the point where she needed those potion modifications.”

"Oohhh~ That's my girl," Midnight giggled. Grissom noticed the drone’s frustration with the menu.

"Would you like me to order for you both?" Grissom offered. "You seem to have given up there."

“Please,” Wishful said with a nod. “Knowing my luck, I’d order something I can’t stomach.”

Grissom chuckled and waved a waiter over, and after a brief exchange in Prench, the waiter gave a nod and was on his way.

Midnight was busy trying to rub a mark out of her armour with a napkin, before Grissom slapped her hoof and sighed.

“Honestly, can’t you have manners for five minutes?”

“I can, but I’m not trying to sleep with anypony here, so I don’t have to impress them,” Midnight stated.

“Just because I don’t particularly care about what these ponies think, doesn’t mean I’m going to drop my glamour either,” Wishful rejoined.

“Argh! Alright, fine, I’ll be a proper lady,” Midnight pouted, exaggerating that last part. She straightened up and brushed a hoof through her mane, which Wishful swore sparkled for a second there.

It was like somepony had flipped a switch, even her usual underlying lust had ceased altogether. When the waiter came back with their wine and hors d'oeuvres, she thanked him politely in Prench, the stallion giving her a bow and taking his leave a moment later.

Grissom just rolled his eyes as he poured the wine for all of them.

“I must say, I wasn’t expecting such a...dramatic transformation,” Wishful said before sniffing at his wine. “I doubt one of my kind could have done better.”

“I often wonder if my daughter is a Changeling sometimes,” Grissom nodded, earning a sudden… grin from Midnight. The facade she put on suddenly shattered like glass as she got a most wonderful idea. A prank to pull on Ledger…

“Ohhh, this should be fun~” she giggled to herself.

Wishful sipped at his wine and sighed at the taste. Whatever Midnight was planning was Ledger’s problem. Or would be. That didn’t mean he couldn’t be in on whatever was going on, though. “Dare I ask what the cause for that sudden mischievousness is, Miss Midnight?”

“Weeellll, you just said how I could be like a Changeling,” she said as she sipped her wine. “A little glamour spell here, some acting there and voila! We have the makings of a wonderful prank~”

“That...could be interesting,” the drone said with a hum as he considered the idea. “I suppose you’ll be pulling in Princess Twilight into your little plan, then?”

“Maybe, oorrrr, I could prank her too and get Scopey to help instead!” Midnight clapped her hooves quietly and giggled. “It’s the perfect plan~”

“Oh dear,” Wishful said. “Something tells me you’re going to raise quite the fuss around your home.”

“Since when do I not?” Midnight giggled again. She had the smallest feeling that neither of them would fall for it, so she just had to figure out how to sell it just in the right way. “So I have a question Purple Pops. How did you meet the Madame in the first place?”

“You’re sure you want to ask that question?” the disguised drone said with a raised eyebrow. “It’s not for the faint of heart.”

“I’m in a relationship with Ledger. My heart is anything but faint,” Midnight said. “Besides, I think we should know each-other better.”

“Given that we’re all going to be family in three weeks, I would have to agree,” Grissom nodded. He was actually planning on visiting the Hives soon. As soon as he paid a long-overdue visit to Hollow Shades…

Wishful sighed and looked into his wineglass, his mood noticeably falling. “...If you looked at the Lands twenty-five years ago, and looked at them again today, you wouldn’t be able to recognize them as being one and the same. The Madame and the Silver King are to credit for that. When I was Ledger’s age, I was taken off the street in the Violet Hive, and...suffice to say, the state you likely found him in, Miss Midnight? That was nothing compared to what was done to me.”

Midnight gasped, now she felt even worse about what she did earlier. Gods, she was no better than Free Spirit. “I’m so, so sorry,” she whispered.

“It wasn’t your fault,” the drone brushed off. “I was later dragged over to the Silver Hive, with five others to form what was called the ‘ideal’ set for a silver nymph to purchase. And then the Madame came...I don’t think they ever rebuilt that corner of the city, such was her fury.” The violet drone swished his wineglass around. “While she worked her best to learn psychology to help fix us, she also dedicated her life to tearing down the old ways. Her and her brother. With the information the pair of them learned about the other Hives...equality seemed not an impossible dream. Just one that would take forever.”

“As long as there are differences, be it wealth, status, species… true equality might be impossible,” Grissom said tersely. “But, learning to cooperate and work together. Not so much. Hell, I think this city is doing quite well accepting Changelings.”

“Equality across gender is happening back in the Lands,” the drone replied. “It’s not quite done, not yet. But it’s getting there. I…” He paused and looked at nothing in particular before saying the next in a very small voice. “...I’m just now realizing I never did ask again if she had anything to do with the Yellow, Red, and Blue kings ascending…”

“I have only met her briefly, but I wouldn’t put it past her,” Grissom nodded and Midnight had to agree. The Madame reminded her a lot of Celestia, and idly wondered what would happen if the two of them met.

“Yes, well, with them taking their thrones, that helped the equality movement a lot,” Wishful said with a shake of his head. “As the male rulers back in the Lands now outnumbered the female rulers. And with the Silver king knowing more than enough to keep all the others more or less well-behaved, the males moved to crown him High King, while the mares...squabbled over who deserved the crown more amongst them. Without them providing a united front to block the Red, Yellow, and Blue kings, majority ruled.”

“Urgh, my brain hurts,” Midnight dramaticized. “So, she rescued you from slavery then? What about the others?”

“We were all on the block together,” the disguised violet replied. “Same set. She saved us all at once, saw to the safety of the other drones while...I think the final kill count for her that day was over two dozen nymphs.”

“The Madame is that strong?” Midnight gasped, putting a hoof to her mouth. “Oh now I have to spar with her sometime!!”

“She’d likely find the idea more amusing than serious,” Wishful replied with a smirk. “I don’t even know how old she is, let alone how powerful.”

“Old, enigmatic, powerful… heh, she sounds like a Changeling version of Princess Celestia,” Grissom chuckled as he bit into the currently forgotten food. The drone blinked before looking down and chuckling.

“I got so wrapped up in history, I forgot current events,” he joked before eating some himself. Midnight had somehow cleaned her plate during the conversation without anypony noticing. The drone paused between bites before mentioning something he knew at least one thestral would get.

“So yes, that’s partially why the Madame wanted so badly to go to war with the Yellow Hive about four, five years ago,” he casually said. “I think the only reason she didn’t go the moment we got that letter was because Ledger didn’t include a name, for some reason…”

“Huh, you mean Free-Spirit?” Midnight blinked and then put a hoof to her mouth, realising that she’d just thrown that nymph under the cart. Wishful turned to her and then...grinned maliciously?

“Oh, I can’t say I won’t enjoy bringing that information home,” he all but purred. Midnight silently cursed her loose tongue and sighed.

“Yeah, I’ve met her actually. A few weeks ago… she came here, has been coming here, for years. All to apologise to Ledger. She practically begged for his forgiveness,” she said. Grissom frowned, not understanding the context of this story, but decided to stay quiet for the moment.

“...She thinks words can make up for what she did?” the violet drone asked before scoffing. “The only way I’d ever believe that is if Ledger told me he’d forgiven her.”

“Oh, he hasn’t done that,” Midnight nodded. “Though, he did stop me from tearing her a few new holes… so, progress?”

“Still,” the drone hummed. “I should tell the Madame…”

“As long as murder doesn’t happen,” Midnight nodded. “I think Ledger may actually want this nymph to succeed in apologising in some way or form, but as usual, I have little idea on what goes through his buggy brain.”

“Probably something along the lines of ‘anyone can be wrong, it’s how you go about being right that makes all the difference,’” the violet drone replied with a wave of his hoof. “That was one of the things we taught him, and it got demonstrated a few times around the home. Just as many times as it was one of us husbands getting a signal wrong, the Madame had… quite a few adjustments to make to her home life, with us still being relatively new to her every routine.”

“Oh?” Midnight leaned forward as the waiter returned with their main course. Three servings of a rich vegetable and fish stew, along with fresh dipping bread. “Any scandalous tales you can share~?”

“Mostly embarrassing ones,” the drone said before taking a sip of the soup and humming appreciatively. “Like the time she realized she didn’t have to rely on pony servants for her needs anymore, and actually asked her husbands to help around the house. She was so awkward in asking… I know where Critical gets it from~”

“Oh?” Midnight asked. “Sorry, but I have a hard time believing that the Madame could be awkward about anything.”

The drone’s eyes flashed with a mischievous spark as he cleared his throat. His impression of the Madame’s voice was what came out next. “If it wouldn’t be too much bother...could you...that is, if you don’t mind...would you possibly...perhaps, know...howtocook?”

“Paahahahahahahaa!” Midnight laughed, thumping her hoof on the table a few times as she giggled madly, earning a few derisive looks from nearby tables. “Oh sweet Celestia, that’s too much! That’s soooo cute~”

“She was like that for everything for two days, until we finally cornered her and got all the awkwardness sorted out,” Wishful said in his own voice. “She still doesn’t like to ask us for things, more like imply that we could do them.”

“Oh wow…” She suddenly snorted and shook her head. “I can only imagine what she was like when it came to for you to perform your stallion-y duties~”

“And now she’s back to being Midnight again,” Grissom sighed as he sipped at his stew, humming at the spices and mellow textures.

“Funnily enough, I was the one to propose that she actually treat us like, well, husbands,” the drone chuckled. “Apparently that was a novel idea to her, and she had to...research it.”

“And now she sounds like Twilight,” Midnight giggled, as Grissom coughed as some stew went down the wrong way. Luna above, it seems that the Madame and Moon Song had some things in common…

“And then the springtime with her was just magical~” the drone sighed. “I got to teach her so many things…”

“Aww, that sounds so adorable,” Midnight sighed wistfully. “I’ve taught Ledger that it’s okay to want things… I think I might have taught him a little too well though~”

“And now we’re delving into ‘Too much information’ territory,” Grissom sighed. “Now eat your dinner before it gets…” He looked at Midnight’s empty bowl and then to her. “How did you…? When did you…? You know what, never mind.”

“I will admit, it was quite good,” Wishful replied, his bowl being empty as well. Grissom sighed as he looked at his mostly full bowl.

“Am I the only one who cares about savouring?” he said.

“Well, I have two mouths to feed now, and well, I don’t know about Wishy, but it might be a sad story.” She waved the waiter over and said a few things in Prench, before giving him a wink as the blushing colt stumbled off to the kitchen.

“And now dessert is aaallll set~” she purred.

“I get the feeling I might regret asking what you just said,” the violet drone observed. “Grissom, would I?”

“Most likely, she had ordered a ridiculous amount of sweets,” The batpony was getting cavities just thinking about the order. “I hope you’re hungry.”

“I really shouldn’t,” the drone tried to decline. “It’s...very easy to get hooked on sugar for a ‘ling. And back in the lands, that can be an...expensive habit to feed.”

“It’s expensive here too,” Midnight nodded, recalling how much they went through before Ledger cut down. Scopey still ate quite a bit though. “But a little wouldn’t hurt right?”

“You tell me, you’re housing two ‘lings,” the drone fired back. “I can help, but I don’t think I should. Still...as long as it’s only a little…”

“Ahh, it’ll be fine,” Midnight said. Ledger’s sugar rushes only tended to last a few minutes anyhow. The waiter had started bringing them out, parfaits, cakes, ice-cream… and mangoes~ “What’s the worst that could happen?”

Midnight eventually returned home, after seeing her father off to his hotel. Wishful had… well, she certainly wasn’t going to tell Ledger what had happened after dessert. She poked her head through the door and after seeing that the coast was clear, slowly crept inside on the tips of her hooves…

“Dad,” she heard Ledger say in the next room. “Please stop.”

“I can’t write it down son, my magic is just all over the place,” the voice of Wishful came. “And I have so many ideas, I just know I’m going to forget a few before I get home.”

“Yes, but do they all have to be about various...acts, you’re going to perform on mother?” came the deadpan reply of her stallion.

“They’re what I’m best at, now keep up!”

Well, now she knew where Wishful had run off to. She winced and crept past Ledger… she was almost at the stairs. Ten feet… five feet… aaaaallmost…

“Hello Mistress,” she heard from above her. Midnight put a hoof to her mouth, shushing the small nymph and praying to every deity that Ledger didn’t hear her.

“I can feel you~” Ledger sang out from the living room. “Would you care to explain why my father is on a sugar rush to put Scope’s to shame, Midnight?”

“Bucking emotivores,” she muttered under her breath. She turned and gave the drone an entirely too wide smile and giggled. “W-Weeeeellll, maybe I ordered quite a bit for dessert… and maaaaybe we started a contest on who could eat the most… eheheheh…”

“...Just so you know, you’ll be paying for this later,” the drone vowed. “He’s bad enough normally.”

Indeed, Ledger had made use of his automatic paperwork spell to take dictation from his father...and filled out three scrolls already with ideas from him. Ideas that the others were sneaking peeks at.

Midnight took one of the scrolls and looked it over. Oooh, that one looked good. She suddenly grinned and when nopony was looking, wrote down the technique she used on Ledger earlier.

Hehe, have fun with that one Purple Pops~

Eventually his sugar rush had to wear out, and when it did, it was hard and fast. The violet drone blinked a few times before falling onto his side, making to weakly power on...before sleep took him.

“So, I guess he’s crashing here for the night?” Midnight shrugged as she helped Ledger put him on the couch. Scope was still looking at the scrolls, making some small squeaking sounds and blushing profusely.

“Unless you have any better ideas,” Ledger agreed as the violet changeling was eventually sequestered onto Cider’s couch. “I...have had a long day. Cuddles and sleep?” the disguised silver drone offered his mares.

“That sounds good,” Midnight said, stretching her wings and yawning. As the group started to head upstairs, Midnight pulled Scope aside and whispered to her for a moment. The nymph listened and then nodded. That sounded like fun~

Ledger reached the bed first and lay belly-down in the middle, just waiting for the others so he could get truly comfortable. It didn’t take long for the three mares to form their usual cuddlepile, though these days, Ledger did mourn the fact that there was an alicorn-shaped hole in said pile.

Still, Twilight was a princess and she wouldn’t always be available. Still sucked though.

Midnight snuggled closer and hummed. “I’m glad your pops isn’t uncomfortable around me anymore,” she said sleepily.

“...You can explain that one later,” Ledger muttered back as he enjoyed the sensation of being surrounded by mares on all sides. “Sleep time now.”

It didn’t take long for the ponies to fall asleep…

Meanwhile, in Canterlot…

“Okay, look Mom, I know you’re upset,” Twilight said as she backed up. “But you really need to put down that spatula.”

“Oh like hay I will,” Twilight Velvet said. “You’re as bad as your brother, you know that? And you can bet your starry butt I am paying these ponies a visit!”

Ah hell, Twilight knew that she was gonna do that. “Well, okay, but… you need to know a few things first…”

…

…

…

“HE’S A WHAT!?”

Chapter 78 - A Narrow Path

When Ledger opened his eyes, he found himself standing on the roof of his old apartment building.

The sun was high in the sky and a sound next to him caused him to turn and he saw Midnight standing there.

“This isn’t right,” Ledger said to himself, as he looked up at the whole apartment building. “This isn’t right at all. I...remember what happened here. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.”

Midnight had a faraway look in her eyes. She just stared listlessly at the sky.

"A storm is coming," she mumbled.

“What’s going on?” Ledger asked as he continued to stare at the apartment building. “This can’t be real, so what…”

The light dimmed, and a strange sound could be heard. Ledger glanced up... and saw the source.

Midnight Song... or rather, thousands upon thousands of copies of Midnight Song.

"I found a pool... And this happened," the first Midnight said. The swarm was so massive it blocked out the sun.

“I get it now,” Ledger said slowly, still backing up. “This...is my dreams running away with me. That’s the only way this could be happening…”

The horde locked eyes with Ledger. A sea of emerald eyes focusing on him.

"Love?" One chirped and the swarm dived, their chanting of that single word drowning out everything else.

“Buck buck buck!” Ledger said as he ran, trying his best to alter the dream in any way possible. Though he didn’t know how. He wasn’t Luna after all.

Midnight grabbed him and smiled madly. "That's the idea... love~"

“Luna, if you’re out there, I could do with a little help right about now!” Ledger said as he squirmed out of Midnight’s grasp and kept running. Nopony could deal with this many Midnights, even in a dream!

The swarm descended upon him... and then there was nothing but darkness...

...

He awoke with a start, in a darkened bedroom surrounded by four and only four, familiar mares.

“Whew,” he said, slowly laying back down to sleep again. “What a dream. Note to self, never let Midnight learn where that pool is.”

"Love?" Midnight murmured in her sleep.

“It’s nothing,” Ledger muttered. “Just had a dream that shocked me into waking up. Get back to sleep Middy.”

"Mmm, Levvy," she gave him a sleepy kiss on the cheek and lay her head back down, snoring cutely.

“Sweet dreams, little bat,” Ledger chuckled before trying to get to sleep again.

"For the horde," she murmured. Her Lust spiking something fierce.

“Just calm down,” Ledger told himself as he felt sleep start to take him again. “She couldn’t possibly know…”

A bat would dream. A dream of taking over Equestria... Sexily.

When Two-Step awoke, it wasn't in her bedroom, surrounded by sexy ponies and a much more sexy Griffon.

It was in a cell, along with quite a few of her guests in cells of their own.

“Hmm,” she said, getting up and looking around. “I don’t recall this being on the docket last night…”

"With a party that turned into... whatever the hell that was, you should have at least expected it," Narrow replied tersely from the other side of the bars. "Honestly... what was Sugar thinking?"

“Probably that she wanted to be out of the city now that our oldest promise is fulfilled,” Two-Step said as she stretched. “She made me promise to never stop being a pony until the day she married somepony for good when I was old enough to shapeshift and control it. I’ve been planning that party for years now.”

"Cute story," the unamused mare replied. "Don't even think that's getting either of you off the hook."

“Ah, well, she’s not here, so you can’t exactly charge mom,” Two-Step said with a smile. “And as for myself, can I see one of the fliers to help make my case? So that I can say everypony was warned?”

"You can," Narrow replied and took a seat as she summoned a lengthy scroll. "Would you like to hear the charges?"

“Regale me,” Two-Step said as she sat on her haunches and examined her half-ling self with amusement.

"Let’s see," Narrow cleared her throat. "We have 27 counts of public drinking and inebriation. 26 counts of public indecency. 8 counts of resisting arrest. 1 count of assault against an officer and a few counts of underage drinking. While none of these are against you personally, given that you were in charge of the event, and that the venue is under Miss... er, Mrs. Sugar Darling's name, you will be held as an accessory and face some hefty fines... possibly jail time."

“My word,” Two-Step said with just the right amount of shock. Before she smiled maliciously. “I’d been hoping for more. Ah well. That flyer?”

"This is hardly an amusing situation," Narrow said as she floated over the flyer. "You're in a good deal of trouble little Miss. Perhaps if you kept it confined to the club..."

“I rather thought I did,” Two-Step said as she looked over the flyer and smiling as she saw what she was looking for. “It’s hardly my fault those that we kicked out of the party for being the wrong sorts of rowdy took it upon themselves to continue the party…”

"Then you should have called the authorities when that happened," Narrow replied. "Now, do you require legal aide?"

“Only after I’ve shown you this,” Two-Step said as she turned the flyer around and tapped what looked like a decorative trim to the flyer with one hoof. “Tell me, what does that look like to you?”

"Like nothing," the unicorn replied.

“Hardly my fault you can’t read Changeish, then,” the half-ling said with a smile.

"Change... why is a public flyer written in a language that almost none can read?"

“So Changelings don’t count?’ Two-Step countered.

"You could have just as easily written it in Equestrian," Narrow groaned. She couldn’t push this though, lest she be the one charged with discrimination. "Dammit Two-Step. Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused us."

“At least 62 cases, you said,” the half-ling chirped happily. “Would you like me to translate the flier for you, properly?”

"I have the feeling you're going to regardless..." Narrow muttered. Two-Step cleared her throat and turned the flier around, and then began to read.

“‘The unofficial Violet Hive of Las Pegasus is hosting this party. Drinks and emotions will run rampant. Things will escalate. There will be sex until everyone is full of something.’” The half-ling paused for a moment before asking another question. “So tell me, how many changelings do you have in lock-up?”

"Including you? Four," Narrow replied. “One of them has that assault charge."

“Hmm, maybe he’s got a good reason for it,” the half-pony said with a shrug. “Not looking good for you ponies, is it?”

"He claims that a Black was attacking him, because he was too drunk to tell the difference between one and a Night Guard. Aside from that..." Narrow growled. This smug little bug had a point, and she couldn't touch her because of the fledgling peace treaty.

“You really should have a changeling on the Guard,” Two-Step pointed out. “A little inclusivity might have clued you in as to what was happening a bit sooner.”

"Or you could have simply informed the authorities that you would be hosting a large scale party with possible prostitution going on," Narrow replied. "I'm getting you for that little oversight at the very least."

“Prostitution? While we are a nightclub, and we do offer those services, that night, I had a very specific order,” Two-Step said with a smile. “Everything is free. Customers are so much more...appreciative when you throw a party where they don’t have to pay for anything.”

"You still offered sex in a place of business," Narrow replied. "Seems this is something we're going to have to work out when Sugar returns." Her horn flashed and Step heard the cell unlock. "You're free to go I suppose. Be sure to fill out the paperwork and don't let the door hit your flank on the way out."

Before she walked out, Two-Step had a few more bits of advice for the captain. “Sex sort of is our business,” she said. “And if you’re going to come down on the club for offering sex in a place of business, then your little bird-toy is at least as guilty as we are~” With that, she all but ran out to the front.

Narrow watched her leave and once she had, the mare let out a scream as she slammed the cell door shut with excessive force. "Don't you bucking dare compare him to you," she growled.

Two-Step merely smiled as she heard the scream...and promptly lost that smile when she saw the massive amount of paperwork waiting for her.

Buck. And she wasn’t any good at imitating Ledger’s paperwork spell!

Narrow was pissed. Hell, she was beyond pissed as she all but stormed into Fredrick's restaurant. The little tinkling bell caused her eye to twitch and a flourish of magic saw it sail across the restaurant, landing near the kitchen door. She sighed, not having meant to do that…

“For what reason am I hearing the bell right outside the kitchen?” Fredrick asked as he poked his head out, then looked down. “Hmm,” he said, picking the bell up, and looking at the front door. “Either my bell has wings and only just now decided to exercise them, or you are...angry.”

"Angry? Why would I be angry?" Narrow replied in an eerily calm tone. "Should I be angry that a Changeling used you as an example to justify her own perverse actions? Should I be mad that she basically called you a prostitute and then proceeded to laugh about it!?"

“Ah, so this is how I die,” Fredrick mused. “In a magical flare up thanks to the one mare I love going crazy.”

"Relax, the only thing I feel like burning is a certain bug," Narrow sighed. "Well I hope she likes smiling now, because she can be damned sure that Sugar will hear about this."

“I have heard about this party,” Fredrick mused. “Something about the big bug stepping out for a personal reason, and the next in line exercising her freedom. Or something.”

"Yes, she went and had a Las Pegasus wedding, and the party kind of spilled out into the streets." Narrow groaned. "A couple of foals got a birds and the breezies explanation that night..."

“Why were there foals anywhere near that club?” Fredrick asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I have no idea, I gave their parents one hell of a talking to at least." Narrow leaned against him in a weary hug. "M'sorry bout your bell. I'll get it fixed."

“That would be appreciated,” the griffon said as he hugged her with a wing. “So I can guess how your day’s been. Mine’s been...interesting.”

"Interesting... how?" Narrow said flatly. "Do I have to arrest anyone... or did Midnight do something stupid again?"

“My confectioner, the one student I thought would never work up the courage to actually talk to a mare...apparently had a date last night and now wants to follow that mare back to Canterlot,” Fredrick said. “I’ll give you three guesses where he was. Or what he was doing.”

Narrow just groaned and buried her head further under his wing. "I never want to hear about that farce of a party again. I have been up since 3 am dealing with it."

“If you need a little extra sleep, my bed is always open to you,” the griffon said, running a claw through her mane.

"You and I both know that sleep is the last thing that happens there," Narrow actually giggled.

“Yet there are times when it is used as a bed,” Fredrick pointed out. “Now would be one such time if you require it. I still have noodles to make.”

"No, I still have to process all the arrests from last night." She gave a weary sigh and removed herself from him. "I wonder why I'm even a Guard sometimes..." She gave him a kiss and started to leave.

“Because you love it?” Fredrick called after her. “And would it really hurt those ponies if you passed that work on to your second so you could take a nap?”

"It's not that," Narrow sighed. "Don't worry about it. I'll see you later." She gave a lazy flick of her tail and left. Though she lacked her usual vigor. She stepped outside and blinked as the sunlight hit her eyes. Frowning a little, she headed back to the station, losing herself in her thoughts as she did.

“I signed up to the Guard to make a difference… and yet, I feel as though I’ve accomplished nothing. The last few threats have been so out of my pay grade it’s ridiculous. And then some Changeling saves us from over half of them…”

A job she was meant to do, a destiny that she loved to have… and she seemed to be utter rubbish at. Toll Taker, the Black Changeling, Tirek, that snake-monster-thing…

“I wonder if it’s possible to feel any more useless than this,” she muttered to herself as she walked. “Maybe I should just retire? Or take a cushy Palace posting?” She gave another depressed sigh and trudged on, her mood sinking further and further. One could almost see the cloud of depression hanging over her. Hell, several Changelings she passed actually stopped at stared, but none were brave enough to actually approach her.

And then her vision was invaded by pink-on-black. “Uh-oh,” the pink ‘ling said. “Somepony’s sad.”

“Kyaa!” Narrow let out a rather filly-like scream and fell backwards. She clutched at her chest as she tried to still her rapidly beating heart. She glared up at the thing that had just scared her. Then her eyes narrowed and she sighed.

“Oh… it’s you.”

“Yup, there’s only one me!” Amy said happily. “And you are being a grumpy-gus. Why’s that?

“I am not,” Narrow grunted and got to her hooves. She gave the Pink ‘ling a frown and continued to walk down the street.

“Emotivore~” Amy sang as she bounced next to Narrow. “Don’t bother lying to us. Now why are you so upset?”

“I’m not upset, maybe your sensing thing is defective,” the Guardsmare replied through gritted teeth. “Why do you even care anyway? It’s not as though we’re best friends, and I’m not one of you Changelings either.”

“Silly filly,” Amy said, now bouncing on the other side of Narrow. “I care about everypony and everybuggy! No matter if they’re my friends or not. I just want everyone to be happy! And I can tell you aren’t.”

“Yeah, well… who cares if I’m not. Happy is over-rated anyway,” Narrow looked away from the mare, mostly to avoid getting motion sickness. There was a gasp, and suddenly Amy was sitting right in front of her.

“How. Could. YOU!” The pink ‘ling even pointed at her dramatically. “If you knew anything about changelings, you would know to never say that, especially around me! That’s it, I’ve decided.”

“Decided what?”

‘Argh, Narrow, why are you still talking to this crazy bug?’

‘I dunno, she has a point?’

‘’Well… we’re bucking doomed.’

“Decided that until you cheer up, I’m sticking to you like glue,” Amy said as she smiled widely.

“...” Narrow fixed her trademark glare on her, one that usually made even the most hardened criminals soil themselves. “Seriously?”

“Yuparooni! Until you’re happy again, I’m not leaving your side,” the nymph said with a firm nod. “It’ll be the first time I’ve had a pony patient, but I’m pretty sure I can do this.”

“Patient?” Narrow’s eye gave another twitch, before she let out a defeated sigh. “You know what kid, knock yourself out… literally I hope. But I’m not going to let you interfere with my work. You get in my way, you're out on your flanks.”

“Is your work what’s causing you to be unhappy?” the pink nymph asked.

‘Oh great, she’s going to ask questions huh?’

‘Eeeeeyup.’

Narrow snorted. “My work is fine. Bad guys to bad stuff, I catch them. Rinse. Repeat.”

“Aaah,” Amy said knowingly. “But when bad guys get taken care of by somepony that isn’t you or your Guards, then it sorta annoys you, doesn’t it?”

Narrow’s step paused for the briefest of moments, but remained silent as she kept walking.

‘Stars, is she friggen psychic now?’

‘That’s a terrifying thought. Stop doing that Narrow.’

‘You’re the brain, I blame you.’

Outside, the Unicorn mare groaned louder and her pace quickened, as if to outrun her own thoughts.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Amy chirped as she followed along. “And it only stands to reason. About the last...half-dozen bad things to happen to the town, you’ve not been able to lock away. I’m willing to bet you’re almost wishing for something to happen that needs the guard to be involved at this juncture.”

“Those thoughts would only invite trouble,” Narrow said. “And with my current luck, Nightmare Moon would probably show up.”

“Weeeeell, I might have a little information for you. Got it at the last gathering that Ledgey attended~” Amy said. “Apparently, the other crime families of the city have been way too quiet for too long.”

“I know,” Narrow said. “Nopony has heard a peep from them since Toll was taken down… and now that she’s… removed entirely, I don’t know what they’ll do.” At least the eldritch abominations and ancient evils were as subtle as a buck to the face. “I have ponies looking into it. And let me guess, you Changelings probably already know what’s going on. Because you all seem to know more about this city than I ever could. You seem to have those holey hooves in everypony’s pie and no matter what I bucking do I…!!” She panted and stopped as soon as she realised she was ranting.

“...Go home Amethyst,” she muttered and trudged off.

Unfortunately, she didn’t. “Do you really not like us?” the pink ‘ling asked. “We...we’re only trying to help...I’m only trying to help…” She managed to keep herself from getting really sad, but there was some genuine sorrow in her voice.

Narrow paused.

Narrow groaned.

Narrow walked over to a wall and smacked her head against it… quite hard.

“Look,” she finally spoke. “I don’t hate you alright… at least not you in particular. That said, there are a few of you asking for a hoof to the face, but that’s my problem.” She pulled her head back and sighed. Yeah, that was gonna bruise… and leave her with a headache. “I’m just… tired. Tired of feeling so bucking incompetent. My butt tells me that this is my destiny, what I’m supposed to be good at.” She looked up and the sky and shook her head. “Maybe I should have stayed home and been a peach farmer…”

“Then who would have finally tamed Freddy, or helped Middy and Ledgy with getting rid of that nasty Toll the first time?” Amy asked. “Oh, and if it helps you any? The families are extremely anti-changeling. We can’t get in at all. They have glamour-breaking casters and turn us away every time we try. This one is all on you.”

“Wonderful,” Narrow muttered. “I don’t even know why Fredrick is still with me to be honest. Of all the far prettier fillies in this city, and he’s stuck with a grumphorse like me?” She’d been thinking about that a lot too, and that made her far more depressed than anything. She worried that he wanted to leave her… or something like that. Maybe she was just being stupid. “I don’t know anymore…”

“Do me a favor?” Amy asked. “Think about why you like him. All the things that make you want to stay with him. Everything that makes him worth the effort.”

“Why I like him?” What did she like about him? He was handsome, well, for a Griffon anyway. He was kind, polite and could make amazing food.

And, he gave up one of the biggest aspects of his life, sure, he could have his pick of any mare in the city. And yet… he chose her. A grumpy, depressed, angry little mare that couldn’t cook to save her life and found more love in beating some criminal to a pulp than something a normal mare did… hell, she didn’t even know what would be considered normal.

“I think I hurt something,” she muttered, putting a hoof to her head.

“That little flicker that I felt?” Amy said. “That was you loving him. And I know he’s a decent griffon, and he feels the same way about you.”

“Of course he is!” Narrow snapped before she caught herself again. “Sorry, I already had one Changeling badmouth him today. I’m still a little irritated over that. Then again, she had that annoying way of talking like Ledger does. I feel as though she was saying something, and perhaps I just misunderstood... “ That wall was looking inviting again.

“Still, you have something to build on,” Amy pointed out. “A case in the making, and a lover to come back to. Though, if you need anything...we’re always willing to be your friends.”

Maybe that was what she needed, to just throw herself into her work. Let her mind become occupied by something else for a while. She almost missed the times before the city went to Tartarus in a hoof-basket.

“Thanks, but I don’t know what you could… hmm, actually, there is something you could do for me.”

“Listening,” Amy said with a nod.

“Do you know any of you willing to join the Guard?” That said, they were considered Equestrian citizens now. She could just conscript one…

“Your best bet would be one of the Reds, Blues, or Yellows,” Amy said. “Especially the drones. I think one of Ledger’s newest workers was thinking about it…”

“Hmm, you don’t say? Still, it’s too bad. Your unpredictability would be quite useful.” Narrow tapped her chin and changed directions. She had a warehouse to visit.

“Take care Miss Narrow!” Amy said with a wave. “And try and cheer up a little bit! Being sad doesn’t help anypony!”

Narrow just waved back, she wasn’t expecting Amy to give up that easily. Oh well, at least she had some peace and quiet again.

The guardsmare looked up at the warehouse from the outside. If she really wanted to pilfer one of his employee's, she have to talk with him first.

Joy…

She walked inside and looked around, wondering which one Amy was talking about. The swarm of changelings working on the shipments didn’t seem to be inclined to give up its answers easily, though two did stop what they were doing. One went up to warn Ledger of the incoming arrival, and the other landed in front of her.

“Hello, and welcome to Pegasus Air!” the drone said. “What is your purpose behind your visit today?”

“Ah, I’m here on Guard business actually. I don’t suppose Level Ledger is in?” She suddenly regretted that sentence, it made it sound like Ledger was in trouble… again.

“Yeah, the boss is in today, doin’ paperwork,” the yellow-colored drone said. “And for once, none of his mares have shown up to distract him, so you might actually be able to see him.”

“I don’t want to know what you mean by… distract, but I’m already drawing conclusions.” Narrow wondered what this city would be like without all the sex that seemed to happen. Like, was every city as bad as this one? Somedays she considered moving to Ponyville, maybe ask Princess Twilight if she needed a Guard. She trotted up the stairs and approached his office, pausing to knock on the door.

“It’s open!” she heard him call. She opened the door with her magic and stepped inside.

“Oh look, no mares bent over the desk, you’re making progress huh?” she chuckled as she made a beeline for his coffee machine.

“Probably only because none have shown up. I swear, they take the phrase ‘Ledger is at work’ to mean ‘Let’s go distract him,’” the stallion said as he watched the mare help herself to his coffee.

“You could always just say no,” she said as she poured two cups and floated one over to him. “Anyway, I didn’t come here to discuss your lovelife, which could probably fill a large tome.”

“Eh, more of a medium one. I have Midnight to blame for getting me out of my shell. And everything else.” Ledger gratefully took the cup and blew on it a little, before sipping the coffee. “What did you come here to talk about, then?”

“I’m here to take one of your employee’s actually. And I was hoping you could point out which one I’m after.”

“You don’t know?” Ledger asked. “Well, I think I know the bug that you’re after...at least, I hope I do. Couple of quick questions before I call him up here, though.” Ledger put his drink on the desk and thought for a moment. “You’re not going to discriminate against him, or let that happen to the point where he wants to quit, are you?”

“No,” Narrow shook her head. “Though I haven’t said why I want him or her. Maybe I should recruit you instead?”

“Call it a hunch, call it overhearing this guy’s plans to look into joining the guard,” Ledger said with a shrug. “And I’m just concerned for him because I like to look after all my employees. No matter if they intend to remain my employees or not.”

“And you think I don’t?” Narrow snapped. She was doing that a lot today. She took a breath and calmed down. “Look Ledger. I’m tired of being left out of the loop. I’m tired of having this entire side of the city that I can’t reach. I’m tired… of not being able to help anypony when they need it.”

“I see,” Ledger said, nodding once. His horn lit up as he sent a message into the swarm of changelings in the building. Requesting the presence of just one of them.

“Well, you’ve convinced me,” he said with a smile. “Now all you have to do is convince him.”

“Wonderful,” Narrow replied and straightened her mane. Hmm, she could use a manecut at some point. It was getting too long.

There was a knocking at the door, before a voice spoke up. “You called, boss?”

“Yeah, come on in,” Ledger replied. “Door’s open.”

A yellow drone pushed the door open and walked in, only to stop and have his eyes widen as he caught sight of the mare in front of the desk. “Uh...did I come at a bad time?...”

“No, not at all,” Narrow replied calmly. She actually didn’t have her usual bite to her tone and sounded quite polite and pleasant. To anyone that knew her… it was creepy as hell. “I’m here to meet you specifically actually.”

“Really?” the drone asked. “Cause I know about you...and that usually either means good or bad things for the ones you’re meeting…”

“Steel, Captain Narrow is here for a good reason, I promise,” Ledger said.

“Hmm, a Yellow Changeling. That’s… Honour yes?”

“Courage,” the drone corrected. “First to charge. It’d take nothing short of a Tatzlwurm to actually scare a Yellow.”

“Don’t say that, the last thing I need is one of those things popping up in the middle of the city,” Narrow sighed. “Anyway, Courage, that’s good. A fine trait for a Guard to have. As long as it isn’t foolish courage.”

Steel chuckled awkwardly, and Ledger spoke up next. “Captain, the Yellow Hive back home? Decorated with dragon bones. The foolish are quickly weeded out, believe me.”

“Eh, I dunno, ducking under that shipping container and biting that bitch’s horn off seemed pretty sane to me,” Steel said with a shrug.

“Had she been thinking, a simple implosion spell would have ensured that you wouldn’t bite anything again,” Narrow replied. “You’re foolish, and insanely lucky I might add.”

“Story of my life,” the yellow drone replied with a smile. “If it’s unconventional, I’ve spent time trying to improve on it. I was one of the few to survive back in the Lands, and I keep getting lucky in Equestria.”

“He sees one of the old Yellow generals as a role-model,” Ledger interjected. “...Also known as the worst one for him to take inspiration from.”

“Well, I’ll have to ask that you don’t bite the horns off of anymore Unicorns,” Narrow replied. “It’s extremely painful and they can take years to grow back. Now, for the reason I’m here…” She cleared her throat and sipped her coffee. “I’m looking to add a Changeling to the Guard, one that can keep me informed of the goings on of your kind and take action against them if need be.”

“Hmm, sounds like you want me to play beat-cop to Changelings,” Steel pointed out. “I was after an actual Guard position, if I managed to get one.”

“Here in Las Pegasus, the Guard work a little differently,” Narrow explained. “We take the cases the regular police can’t handle. And yes, that is pretty much what I’d like you to do. To be able to take in lawbreakers that would otherwise manipulate discrimination and a fledgeling treaty to get off scot-free.” She paused and let that sink in. “Besides, a few months training under me, and you could get the position you like in the Capitol, or perhaps the Empire. Otherwise it’s four years at the Academy, followed by years of being a lowly recruit, or even border patrol.”

“Being able to get up to the Empire does sound kinda nice,” Steel muttered. “All right, gimme an example of what you’d have me do. I wanna know the sorta work you’d have lined up for me.”

“Well, keeping the Changeling population in line is one task I’ll have. Along with instructing us on your language so this morning’s incident doesn’t happen again.” She paused and thought for a moment. “Mind you, threats like Tirek and those lizard things may pop up also. Think you’re up for something like that should they happen?”

“I’m a Yellow for a reason, ma’am,” the drone replied. “Though you might have to turn to boss here or Scroll for a guide to all the languages.”

“Each Hive has their own unique words and quirks,” Ledger explained. “I can pick out the Color behind almost every single written document based on context. For example, the Red hive has twenty different words for Duty.”

“Hmm, perhaps a specialist for each language then?” Narrow replied. “I could learn at least one. I’ll ask my Guards and get some volunteers.” She looked at the Yellow drone and smiled slightly. “So, feel like being the very first Changeling Guard?”

“Depends on how well you think you all can feed me,” the drone replied. “If I can’t survive there, I might not stick around for long.”

“Changelings view emotional compensation to be even more important than money,” Ledger informed the captain. “Because money can’t buy love.”

“I can’t believe you said that, besides, I bet money could buy you plenty of love from a Violet,” she chuckled. Ledger just shook his head.

“True, honest love, isn’t something you can cheaply purchase. It’s something you earn over a long time, with plenty of tears shed along the way.”

“And I’m not expecting love anyway,” Steel said. “Just plenty of courage, if you think they’ve got it.”

"I went hoof to hoof with Tirek! Are you doubting my courage?"

“Yours, no, I can almost feel it pouring off of you when you say things like that,” Steel replied. “But...I don’t want to have to rely on just one pony.”

"I understand," Narrow nodded. "I can assure you that we'd lay our lives down for one another. And if you can’t get what you want from them... then, I'll give you what I can. The fact remains is that I need your help. I'm willing to do whatever it takes."

“You’re not going to get a better option than this one,” Ledger told the yellow drone. “I’ll be sad to see you leave, but you’d be going somewhere where you’d be valued just as much, if not more.”

“Aww, I’ll miss you too bossbug,” Steel said before standing in front of Narrow and saluting. “Nerves-of-Steel reporting for duty, ma’am.”

"A fine name," Narrow nodded and returned the salute. "But I'll warn you now. I am going to work you to the bone, or, whatever you Changelings have. And then I'll get tough. So I hope you're ready to sweat."

“Chin up, Steel,” Ledger said as the drone began to realize this might not have been the healthiest career choice. “She might actually get those impulsive tendencies beaten out of you.”

"I'm allowed to beat him?" Narrow asked.

“He’s your problem now,” Ledger said. “He did just resign from my company and sign on to your guard force with that one sentence. He’s no Blue with unbreaking loyalty.”

"Well, I'll give you the day to get your affairs in order," Narrow said. "I want you at the Station before Celestia raises the sun. Understood soldier?"

The yellow drone nodded once, shakily, before saying, “U-Understood, ma’am.” And like that, the mare had her nose pressed against his, her eyes holding a fiery glare.

"I. Can’t. Hear you!!"

“UNDERSTOOD, MA’AM!” The drone belted at her, easily falling back into the days when he was in the Yellow military. Ledger was thankful for the sound-dampening charms he had on his office. For more than one reason now.

"Mm, not bad. We'll make a stallion out of you yet," she smiled and nodded. She raised a hoof and saluted again. "Dismissed."

Steel saluted as well, and waited for her to drop it before he did. She lowered her hoof and gave him a nod. "Get out of here. And get some rest, you’re going to need it."

Steel lowered his hoof and returned her nod, though he notably didn’t move for a bit. “Permission to talk with my former employer for a minute first, ma’am?”

"You're not a Guard yet. Do as you like."

“Thank you,” Steel said. “Ledger, the buck have I gotten into?”

“The other bundle of crazy in Las Pegasus, that I’m not responsible for,” the disguised silver drone replied.

"Yes, you simply add to it, and I'm considered a regular customer at the pharmacy for painkillers," Narrow groaned. "They gave me a VIP card... they don't do VIP memberships!"

“In which case, I apologize for what I intend to do in the future,” Ledger said. “Heck, I could probably help cover the costs of your painkillers if you’d like, we’re doing very well.”

"Figures, you barely do a thing and probably get thrice the paypacket," Narrow grumbled. "Now, I need to see a mare about some tutoring. And I may take you up on that offer. She's bound to give me a migraine..." Narrow suddenly smirked. "Actually, you wanna tag along Ledger?"

“Let me just properly stop my spell here,” he said, his horn flaring once. “And sure, I can be gone for a while. My paperwork’s all done today. I’ll still need to put in the hours, I get paid for how long I sit here, not what I do.”

'Just you wait you buggy bitch, I'm bringing reinforcements~'

"Excellent." Narrow clapped her hooves and grinned. Ledger shrugged his saddlebags on and double-checked them before he stood in front of Narrow, waiting for her to take the lead. Steel had fallen in line as well, probably intending to leave and hit up his place soon.

Narrow nodded and took her leave, headed for The Love Shack. Time to see if Two-Step was feeling teachy...

The officer paused as they reached the club, staring up at it. "You know," she replied. "I have developed something akin to distaste to this place for the time being."

“I can hardly blame you,” Ledger said, mockingly holding his nose. “The scent of Lust is all but soaked into the building here…”

"Unfortunately, the bug I need to see is here." She sighed and opened the door with her magic, stepping inside and holding the door for Ledger.

“Thank you,” Ledger said as he followed her in. “The world is really...different if you’re a ‘ling,” he expanded on. “You can smell emotions, or that’s the best we can put it in terms you’d be able to understand.”

"That sounds weird," Narrow nodded as a Violet approached them. A lithe mare named Sweet Dream.

"Ohh, hey there~" she purred. "Mmmm, expanding your herd Ledger?"

“While she is the reason I’m here today, she’s also the one calling the shots, and in a relationship with Fredrick,” Ledger explained. “I’d never do that to him. Buck, I don’t think she’d let me do that to her either!”

"Magical castration comes to mind," Narrow replied calmly, her horn having a slight glow. "No. I'm here to see Two-Step. Please fetch her for me."

Dream looked at Ledger, so then why did she bring him along? Hmm... She nodded and left the room, returning a moment later with the half-ling.

“Oh, good afternoon Captain, and hello to you too Ledger,” the half-ling said as she drew closer. “So is this business, or pleasure?”

“...Captain, why is she not in a cell?” Ledger asked.

"Hmm, go ahead Step. Tell him." The captain replied, crossing her forelegs.

“I merely pointed out that we did warn everyone with our flyers-” Two-Step managed to get out. And then Ledger exploded at her.

“That warning was NOT SUFFICIENT, EVEN by OUR LAWS! Even by the laws of the Changelings back in the Lands, that warning wouldn’t get you out of ANYTHING!” he yelled at her. And she was actually cowering.

"You forgot to mention that I couldn't pursue it further, since I don't know Changeling laws, and that you could use the Treaty to claim discrimination." Narrow helped. "What was it you said? 'We aren't responsible for those we ejected from the club'?"

“No, I’m pretty sure you doing your job isn’t discrimination,” Ledger pointed out. “Now, if you ignored all the pony-run nightclubs and only focused on her, yeah, that’d be discrimination against changelings. Seriously, how she’s not in a cell is baffling to me.”

"We just told you," Narrow said. "And I can't charge her for the same crime twice." She sighed and shook her head. "Still, as amusing as that was, I'm here for a reason Two-Step." The Unicorn stared at her. "You're going to teach me the Violet language."

“...Written or spoken?” the half-pony asked. “I’m willing to do anything if it means getting Angry Ledger out of here.”

"Written," Narrow said. "I doubt I possess the vocal capacity for spoken. Oh, and I'd like an apology for what you said about Fredrick. I'm willing to say sorry for what I said. I was out of line."

“As was I,” Two-Step said. “It’s widely known that Fredrick never charged anypony anything for his services. The comparison was far from apt.” She turned to Sweet and asked the nymph to fetch some paper and ink, which she darted off to do. “This...could take more than one session,” she warned the captain.

"I'm not expecting to learn a new language overnight," Narrow nodded. "But I haven't the time for it now. I still have a lot of work to do." She held out a hoof and gave her a small smile. "Truce? And perhaps a start over on our relationship?"

“I can agree to that,” the half-ling said as she met the captain’s hoof with her own. “And I can get to work on translating our language anyways.”

Narrow nodded and after releasing her hoof, she sighed. "Sorry for dragging you into this Ledger. I admit that I brought you in case she was difficult..."

“Oh believe you me, I would normally be having words with her, respect for her mother or no, for what she did,” Ledger growled. “Thinking that flyer would get her out of everything.”

“It sort of did,” Two-Step said meekly.

“I’m using the remains of the Hivelink network to tell your mother what you did,” Ledger deadpanned.

“...You can’t, can you?” she asked.

"We have a nymph capable of near limitless telepathic ability," Narrow smiled. "And a contact in the Crystal Empire."

“PLEASE don’t tell her how bad it was!” Two-Step said, nearly throwing herself at their hooves. “There’s no telling how much she’ll punish me!”

"Hmm, well she needs to be informed of what happened at the club regardless. The Guard had to make multiple arrests and as the owner, she must be informed." Narrow said. "But I won't ruin her honeymoon with the news. But I'd prepare yourself when she returns."

“I’m not that petty,” Ledger said with a nod. “...But the moment she sets hoof in Las Pegasus again, I’m gonna ask Scope to tell her how bad it was.”

“So, hide in the distillery, because she can’t set fire to me there, got it,” Two-Step said with a nod. “I can do that.”

"Well, I feel much better about things," Narrow smiled. She looked at Ledger and hummed. "Want a side job as my interrogation officer?"

“Eh, Middy would get mad that I was doing Guard work while she couldn’t,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “If you train Steel properly, though, he’d be a pretty good one. Reading emotions and all. It’s a lot harder to train yourself to not feel any panic than you might think.”

"Hmm, I hadn't thought of that," Narrow replied as they left. She'd instilled enough fear for today. "Thanks for the tip... and, sorry again for dragging you along. It was pretty petty of me."

“Somepony needed to put her down a peg,” Ledger said as he followed. “Besides, it made for a nice change of pace. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to sit in my office and be bored for hours on end.”

"Still, that was something I should have been able to handle myself," Narrow sighed, realising that Ledger had just done her job for her... again. "I wonder if I'm really cut out-"

“Please, enlighten me,” Ledger said, catching on to the swing of her emotions. “How would you have intimidated her without the proper knowledge of laws back in the Lands? Or without the use of Scope to threaten to tell her mother? You’re not useless, Captain. You just don’t have all the resources you need, yet.”

"Is it really as simple as that?" Narrow replied. It was weird to see her... melancholy. "Or am I useless at my job? Maybe I should retire... I'm getting too old for this shit."

“Do that, and who’s going to teach Steel how to be a Guard? Do that, and Fredrick will wonder what he did wrong. Do that, and the crime families of the city won’t be scared anymore. You’re a damn fine Guard, Narrow,” Ledger said. “You just need to adapt to the newest version of Las Pegasus. Learning Changeish and hiring a Changeling are just the steps you need to take.”

She stopped, letting his words sink in. He was right, she hadn’t taken the time to adapt to the new population. She turned and pulled the drone into a hug, her muzzle buried in his mane. Ledger couldn’t help but notice how soft she was... and how nice she smelled.

"Thank you," she murmured. "I needed to hear that." She broke the hug and coughed, blushing slightly. "Also, that didn't happen. Understand."

“My lips are sealed,” Ledger said, miming it with a hoof. “Go on and get your city back.”

"Yep, just have a few more stops to make," she said. "I owe another changeling a hug and I owe Fredrick a new bell."

“I’m not even going to ask,” Ledger said as he turned to walk away. “Just make sure to take care!” He called over his shoulder.

"I won't let this city beat me again," Narrow nodded. She tossed her mane and headed off down the street, a renewed determination in her eyes.

It didn’t take long to find the Changeling she was looking for. A pink Changeling nymph walking beside a Griffon with a long pink scarf was kind of easy to spot. She suddenly smirked and took a few breaths to get her breathing and emotions under control. She walked up behind them, timing her hoofsteps with the Changeling, then pounced, hugging her from behind.

“Eeek!” Amy said, suitably surprised. “Normally I’m the one doing the hugging!” The Captain was nowhere near Midnight levels of control, but Amy could tell she needed this and played along.

"Heh, finally got one over you," she smirked and hugged her tighter. "Sorry about before. I'm doing better now."

“I can tell!” Amy chirped. “Happiness is kinda my thing. Tell her, Acey!”

"Hmm, I believe she does something along those lines," Ace nodded. "Along with a healthy amount of perverse love."

“That one I blame you for,” Amy said. “Um...you can let go now if you want, Narrow.”

Narrow blushed and released the mare. "Uh, yeah, sorry..."

"Now only if Amy gave up on hugs so easily," Ace chuckled. "Or our new friend for that matter. She's become rather addicted to them."

“Who knew somepony like her could be such a cuddlebug?” Amy agreed. “And the way she looks when we call her out on it is just adorable!”

"Mhmm," Ace chuckled. "Not as much as yours when I caught you two making more than cupcakes in the kitchen. Who knew you looked so cute in an apron."

“I’m sure you just liked it because she was on top...especially when you joined in,” Amy pointed out. “I nearly collapsed under so much weight.”

"Really, it was hard to tell over all that moaning," Ace snarked back. "Can you believe this mare Captain... Captain?"

Narrow was already galloping off in the distance, the word 'nope' being chanted repeatedly.

“Ah well,” Amy sighed. Then perked up. “Wanna go surprise Chryssy? She might be up for snuggles!”

"Just snuggles?" Ace raised a dubious eyebrow. Amy smiled innocently at him.

Hey, nopony could prove that she’d been sticking those fertility drugs in their food. And in her opinion, the more half-griffons, half-changelings in the world, the merrier.

"Hmm, too bad you can't transform. I'd love to introduce her to Cherry's treats~"

“I know,” Amy sighed. “But hey, if it means a foal for you, then I’ll stay locked in this form for as long as it takes. Still, at least you’re showing her plenty of love.”

"What can I say, she's rather adorable when you get to know her." He leaned down and kissed her head. "I don't love you any less though. My sweet little dessert~"

“I know~” Amy chirped. “So, going home to show Chryssy some lovin’?”

"Well that didn't take you long to admit," Ace chucked and placed her on his back. "Why not."

“Yay, Acey express!” She cheered.

"Please have your trays in the upright position and fasten your seatbelts," Ace nodded and took to the skies. Time for an aerial delivery of sexiness.

Chapter 82 - Fighting Fillies and Fanciful Fun

Twilight dashed through her castle, she had to make sure everything was shipshape before she left. A notice to tell petitioners that she’d be away. Spike would be staying here by himself, so she had to make sure that the fridge and pantry were stocked. And where the heck was Rainbow Dash?

“You’re doing that thing again,” Scope commented from Twilight’s back. It was a comfy back. “Where you go into a full panic over every little thing.”

“I am not panicking!” Twilight said as a lock of her mane sprung up and her eye twitched. “I am just making sure that absolutely everything is organized!”

“I’m half-tempted to call on Discord just to buck with you,” Scope said. “What good is organizing everything if you end up late to the things you want to see?”

“Bugbutt has a point Twilight,” Spike said as he wiped his claws on his apron. He’d just finished making a basket of food for them to take, since Canterlot restaurants were expensive.

And Scope could smell some familiar cheesy breadsticks wafting from that basket.

“Just get going. I’ve got everything under control here. And knowing Dash, she’s at the station pitching a fit that you’re late.”

Twilight took a deep breath and calmed down. “Yes, you’re right. Both of you.” She gave Spike a kiss on the forehead, which the dragon poked his tongue out as he wiped his scales. “Take care Spike, and we’ll be back tomorrow afternoon.”

“Will do, oh, and did you want me to send this now?” he asked, holding up a scroll. It had an odd silver ribbon around it.

“Yes, thank you Spike,” Twilight nodded and he breathed his flame on it, the wispy smoke flying out of the window. The princess looked at her passenger and smiled. “Ready to go?”

“Yup, I got my toothbrush packed and everything,” Scope snarked. “Seriously, I was ready to go the moment I hopped on your back.”

“Glad to hear it,” Twilight nodded. Her horn flashed and she teleported the both of them to the train station. An irate pegasus was already pacing back and forth, her prismatic mane and tail whipping in the surprisingly breezy morning. She turned as Twilight and Scope appeared, her glare fixing on the two.

“Ah, about time,” she grumbled. “I was going to think you’d… hey, what’s the squirt doing here?”

“It’s the buffet!” Scope said with her fangs showing. “Aw Twilight, you give me the best of gifts!”

“Buffet? Oh, right, Loyalty,” Twilight giggled. “And play nice Rainbow, Scopey’s a big fan of Daring Do as well. You two actually have quite a bit in common.”

“You’re a fan of Daring Do?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “And waddaya mean ‘buffet’?”

“In order,” Scope replied. “Uh, duh? Hell, Ledger’s been to one of the temples in the books. He’ll be taking me eventually. And have you already forgotten what Blues feed on?” Scope closed her eyes and took a deep breath, sighing afterwards. “The Loyalty coming off of you is practically intoxicating. Sorta like when Ledger’s around Twi and they’re both in study mode, he’s half-drunk on so much emotion.”

“Ooooh-kay?” Rainbow said and took a step back as if it would stop her from feeding. “Twi, wanna tell your midget marefriend that I’m not a snack?”

“Don’t worry Rainbow, she’s not going to drain you like those invader ones did. She and most changelings for that fact, just feed off of the ambient emotions around them.”

Rainbow tilted her head, clearly not getting it. But, if Twilight said it was okay, she had no reason to doubt her. A sharp whistle sounded as a train pulled up at the station and Rainbow bounced with excitement.

“Ohmanohmanohman, this. Is going. TO BE EPIC!”

“I know!” Scope said with equal enthusiasm. Okay, she might’ve been a bit more energetic than normal thanks to being so close to the walking blue feast.

“Oh boy, this should be interesting,” Twilight giggled and rolled her eyes as they boarded the train. This was going to be an interesting trip.

Okay, so the fact that Twilight had to actually hold them back with magic was something she hadn’t expected. She’d have liked a nice stroll through the city, perhaps have coffee with her friend and marefriend…

But nooo, these two wanted to be first in line, despite the fact that Twilight had exclusive passes that meant they didn’t have to line up.

More like they just wanted to talk the ears off of all the other fans.

So now, the young alicorn strode through the city, two pouting pegasi in her magical grasp.

“Miss Buzzkill,” Scope said, crossing her forelegs. “That is your new nickname.”

“Totes!” Rainbow nodded. “Princess Buzzkill of Party Pooperville!”

“Hilarious,” Twilight said flatly as she strode through the town. She was going to get her cafe time with them and that was final.

So when she finally let them go and they cackled before rocketing away towards the hall that the micro-convention would be at. She just let out a frustrated scream and took a seat.

She wait to see how long it’d take them to realise that she had all the tickets~

Scope, surprisingly, came back first, though she wasn’t happy about it. “You’ve got our leashes for now Sparkle,” she grumbled. “But the moment I get them from you, I am off.”

“Well see,” Twilight replied with a knowing smirk as she ordered three cups of coffee. “Don’t worry. We’re not going to be late and you won’t miss anything.”

“Gah!” Rainbow shouted as she landed a moment later. “We’re totally missing out of stuff!”

“I know, but Sparkle apparently thinks of us as dogs that need to be leashed,” Scope moaned.

“Keep barking,” Twilight smiled as she sat back in her chair and folded her forelegs. “It’s worse than your bite after all.”

“Maybe we should get Midnight to bite you when she comes back,” Scope said. “Oooh, or maybe I could.”

Twilight paused and looked at her. “Whhyyyy do I not like what you’re hinting at there?”

“Just sayin’, I am a ‘ling. I could become a tiny Thestral, and bite you so that you’ll be like Ledger was the other night.” The smile Scope was wearing was a wide and vicious thing.

“In public? You wouldn’t dare,” Twilight warned her. “And bear in mind that you two are the closest ponies here.”

“But just think of what it would do to you~” Scope purred. “All I want is one...little...ticket.”

The waiter brought out their coffee and set them on the table, as Twilight floated over a few bits as a tip. “No. We’re going to sit here. Enjoy our coffee and—”

“Got ‘em!” Rainbow cheered as she finished rifling through Twilight’s bag and clutched two tickets. “Later egghead!”

Scope, surprisingly, didn’t move, even as Rainbow bolted off into the distance. “And now that she’s gone, I can enjoy this with you,” she said as she sipped her coffee.

“...” Twilight just stared at her. “Um. wat?”

“Speed demon over there might not be able to wait,” Scope said. “But being around Ledger and Midnight and all their sap has taught me something. The best things in life are worked for. So I can give up waiting for the event if it means spending more time with you.”

Twilight just smiled as she lifted her coffee to her lips. She waited a few minutes and then her horn flashed as two tickets appeared on the table.

“Return to sender spell,” she giggled. One could almost hear the wail of despair.

“That’s gotta be handy,” Scope observed. “...You’re sure we won’t be late, though?”

“The event won’t start for another hour and a half,” Twilight replied as she sipped her coffee again as a brush of magic stroked Scope’s cheek. “Besides, I was only going to spend about fifteen minutes before we headed up there. We get to have a private conversation with Miss Yearling before anypony else does.”

“And when were you planning on telling the blue streak this?” Scope asked with more than a little amusement.

“She makes cute noises when she’s surprised,” Twilight replied calmly. “So do you actually.”

“I do not,” the disguised nymph denied as she sipped at her coffee. Twilight just giggled again as she added Dash’s drink to their own. The pegasus could just have bottled water.

“So not that I’m complaining, but why do you like a pegasus form more than anything? Do you just like flying?”

“That, and Ledger’s a unicorn more often than he’s not,” Scope said. “It affords me some privacy when I want to be out of his reach.”

“He is a little… overbearing sometimes,” Twilight nodded. She set her cup down and shrugged. “Still, everypony needs their own space every now and then.”

“It’s why I have my nest,” Scope said with a nod. “He doesn’t mess with it, and I don’t mess with his study...most of the time.”

“Scopey,” Twilight said gently. “Does Ledger know you took his book?”

“...Maybe?” she offered. “He just sorta left it there...It was like he was asking for it to be taken.”

Twilight groaned and shook her head. Well, as long as they returned it before he got back, he’d be none the wiser… at first~

A clock chimed and the alicorn stood up. “Okay, let’s get going. I’m sure Rainbow is swimming in her own tears by this point.”

“Yeah, let’s go pick up the blueberry before we see A.K. Yearling again,” Scope said, only gushing a little at the end. Twilight giggled and as they walked, she extended a wing and her wing tip brushed up against Scopey’s, linking their primaries together. It was basically the pegasi equivalent of holding hooves, and the alicorn just smiled as she looked straight ahead. Scope blushed up a storm, but didn’t take her wing away. She couldn’t bear to.

“I still can’t believe you talked me into this,” the crystal stallion grumbled as they walked through the street of Canterlot. “This city is up too high, the air’s too cold and these ponies are too nosy!” His last biting comment caused several nearby ponies staring at him to flinch and look away.

“You don’t have to come with me, you know,” Critical said as they continued on to the event. “Yearling only wants me there for some early-bird guests. You’re more than free to wander off and take in the sights if you want.”

“I am not walking around this frozen hellhole on my own,” he grumbled. “Besides, I came here to support you. Can’t do that when I’m lost in this stupid city.”

“Aww, you do care,” the disguised nymph teased. “And it’s no colder than the trip I made going to the city. Or the one we made coming back.”

“Yeah yeah,” he grumbled under his breath and blushed slightly. “I do have to duck off in a little bit though. I have an errand to run.”

“That’s fair,” the nymph said with a nod of her head. “I wouldn’t ask you to sit next to me all day, after all. It’s going to be really boring.”

As they rounded a corner, they bumped into somepony, and after muttering a brief apology, they saw what it was.

A line, stretching around the corner. And judging by the amount of ponies in said line wearing pith helmets, it didn’t take a genius to figure out what they were lining up for. Palette frowned and pulled out a map and stared at it. “The… hall isn’t for another six blocks.”

“She’s quite popular,” Critical agreed as she walked along the line. “Let’s just go and do what we came here for.”

As they walked, they overheard some conversations.

“So did you hear about the illusion show?”

“Well duh! I bought my ticket ages ago!”

“Same, lined up for two days to get it. I hope it’s worth it.”

“Got a friend in the Crystal Empire who saw it. Says it’ll blow yer freakin’ mind!”

“Hear that dear?” Critical called over her shoulder. “Somepony’s famous~”

“And they say her head grew three sizes that day,” he misquoted as they walked. “Careful love, you still need to fit through the door.”

“Which is still some blocks away, I’m sure you’ll deflate it in time,” Critical riposted. He chuckled and stepped up next to her.

“Wait til we get to the hotel. I’ll show you what a ‘big head’ can do~”

“Oooh, somepony’s feeling frisky,” Critical said as they drew ever closer to the hall. “I’ll hold you to that~”

They heard some shouting, as a blue pegasus hovered the the air a few dozen feet away, a small alicorn and an even smaller pegasus laughing harder the angrier the blue on got.

“Izzat another one of them princesses?” Palette asked. “Or are the wings and horn not as exclusive as I thought.”

“It appears that we have a few royal admirers of the series,” Critical observed. “Well, I have a show to put on. Shall we?” He nodded and followed her inside, where hopefully it would be a tad quieter.

Well, it was, at least for now. It didn’t take long for the pair to find the event’s benefactor, A.K. Yearling.

“Ah, you were able to make it in time,” the mare greeted them. “I hope the train ride was comfortable.”

“It’d have been nicer if somepony wasn’t such a grump all the time, but I take what I can get,” Critical replied as she gently nudged Palette.

He just ‘harumphed’ and looked away as both mares giggled.

“So, is this the little illusionist you were telling me about?” a mare’s voice asked. Critical turned and came face to chest with a huge white mare. And upon looking up, she was greeted with friendly purple eyes and a flowing rainbow mane.

“Ah, hello Princess,” Yearling greeted her. “And yes, this the one.”

“Meep,” Critical said at meeting another alicorn so suddenly.

Celestia chuckled and leaned down to nuzzle the little mare. “So you’re Level Ledger’s sister hmm? It’s nice to meet you, Miss Critical-Eye. I have heard nothing but good things about you.”

“Ah...thanks?” Critical said, not quite sure why an alicorn would willingly seek to welcome a changeling in this way. Doubly so for her, considering her illusions were all she had…

“Celestia, you’re scaring the poor girl,” Yearling chided her. “And I need her to be able to perform soon.”

“Oh, but I don’t mean to,” Celestia pouted, before another voice called out. The three ponies from earlier were trotting towards them, though the two pegasi’s eyes never left Yearling.

“Ah, hello Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia smiled fondly and waved them over. “I thought you might be here.” The two princesses shared a hug as Twilight looked at Critical.

“Hello,” she smiled.

“Hi,” the nymph said, not quite sure she was up to meeting all this royalty so quickly. “Palette, hold me. I need stability right now.”

The stallion chuckled as he shifted and allowed the nymph to lean against him. Twilight tilted her head and looked at the mare.

“Is she okay? Are you anemic or unwell?”

“Heh, no, this one just gets a tad overwhelmed sometimes,” Palette chuckled. And that was when Scope pounced on the Green…

“You! You’re working with Yearling? You’d better be impressive!” the Blue nymph said. Critical chuckled before looking over at Yearling.

“Maybe a small demonstration?” Critical asked the author.

“If you think you can, and still perform later,” Yearling nodded. “But use some older material, even Princesses and die-hard fans don’t get a sneak peek~”

“Awwww!” Scope, Twilight, Celestia and Rainbow all pouted in unison.

Critical giggled again and closed her eyes, focusing on the show that she’d pulled off back in the empire. The Ring of Destiny, the path leading up to the temple. As the scene played out, Twilight was torn between watching the amazing show and figuring out how her spells worked.

Rainbow was just fangasming all over the place and even Celestia wore an expression of wonder. Scope was humming thoughtfully at the show, and Critical giggled before she powered her horn down.

“Okay, I’ll give you this, it was better than the movie,” Scope eventually conceded.

“It was a’ight,” Rainbow said, playing it cool and trying not to squeal in front of Miss Yearling.

“The spellcrafting was amazing, even I don’t think I could weave such an intricate illusion,” Twilight beamed.

“Hear that,” Celestia smiled and nudged the green nymph. “Even the Element of Magic concedes to you.”

“Yes, well, it’s just a skill I learned,” Critical tried to brush off. She wasn’t sure who there knew...and she would rather not have that talk right now if it could be avoided.

“So, may I ask your name?” Twilight asked. “It wouldn’t do to not be able to address a new friend.”

“Of course,” Critical said with a small bow. “Critical Eye, your highness.”

Critical-Eye… why is that so familiar…? Twilight tapped her chin and gasped. “From Ledger’s journal. You’re his younger sister!”

“And now the secret is out of the bag,” the nymph moaned. “Why don’t you just tell the world?”

Twilight paused and gasped. “Ohmigosh! I’m so sorry!”

“Huh?” Rainbow flew over and looked at her. “So she’s related to your snarky bugbutt? Huh.”

“I think they all might already know love,” Palette nodded, now holding onto his mare.

“Celestia certainly does,” Critical said before her illusion faded away without the usual fanfare. “All I have are my illusions. It’s why I work on them so hard.”

“And they are amazing illusions,” Celestia smiled and leaned down. “And try not to worry so much,” she whispered. “My own Changeling lover might be cross if I picked on you for that.”

“I can’t help it,” Critical sighed as she nuzzled her stallion. “You don’t know the stigma of being one of the-” here her voice cut into Changeish for a moment, before she resumed talking normally. “-or as you might call them, Formlocked. It’s nearly as much of a social stigma as being a Noble is a social raiser. The two cancel each other out perfectly, more often than not.”

“I’m sorry,” Celestia said. “I certainly didn’t mean to cause you any distress.”

Yearling had been scribbling a few things down. Mostly, she was going to be a little excited to write her next adventure. But it meant a little field trip first.

And hopefully she’d make it back in one piece.

“Eh, I may have an issue in the past with Changelings,” Rainbow shrugged. “But you guys are cool. Heck, even Chrysalis has a wicked sense of humor.”

“You think being Formlocked is bad?” Scope said before gesturing to herself.

“...Point,” Critical admitted. “So, I do believe you came to talk with a certain author rather than myself…” the nymph subtly pointed out. Rainbow, Scope and Twilight turned and locked eyes with said mare.

“Great, use the best-selling author as a distraction,” she said. “Remind me never to pair up with you during a zombie apocalypse.”

“If it works, it’s a good tactic,” Critical said as her disguise shimmered back on. “Like how the pair of us got engaged.”

There was silence for a moment before Scope slowly turned to look at Palette. “Well, hope you liked living,” she stated ominously. The stallion blinked and looked at Critical with a confused expression.

“What’s she on about?” he asked.

“Remember how I turned to be more protective of my brother over the years?” she asked him.

“Not really, but go on,” the stallion replied.

“Ledger’s mellowed over the years about his sister as well,” Scope said. “In fact, in one of his recent entries, and I quote, If I ever meet the artist that my sister is shacking up with, I’ll scare him white and skin him alive!”

Palette blinked and looked at Critical again. “Your entire family is freaking crazy,” he muttered.

“Wait until you meet my sister,” Critical said, already picturing how that would go.

“Pinks are friggen crazy,” Scope uttered before turning back to Yearling.

“I FOUND YOU!!” a voice roared and Yearling froze. That terrible howl from Tartarus could only come from one mare. The one mare she feared more than any life or death situation.

“Hi Mom!” Twilight waved and ran over to hug the mare.

“I’m so screwed,” Yearling moaned.

“I’m just gonna stand over here,” Scope said as she took a big step to one side, something Rainbow quickly followed suit on. Yearling was soon hiding behind them, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible.

And when Twilight Velvet walked over to the trio and smiled at them. “Excuse me dears, would a lazy sadsack excuse for an author be trying to hide behind you?”

“I feel like I should take offense to that remark,” Scope said. “Hey, Blue Dash, should we take offense to that remark?”

“Maybe?” Rainbow gulped. She really didn't want to anger the older unicorn any more than she already was. Also… “Blue Dash?”

“Eh, it works,” Scope said with a shrug. “So what’s our strategy?”

Velvet rolled her eyes and lifted Yearling with her magic. “So, I heard that instead of writing, you took a little vacation to the Empire. Must be nice not having a mountain of stacked work~” Sweet Luna, the room had dropped to freezing levels all of a sudden.

“H-heh, uh… It was for a good reason?” Yearling gulped.

“I’m aware,” Velvet replied as she put her down and shrugged. “It’s why I’m only mildly annoyed instead of angry.” She turned and looked at Critical. “So, you're the little magician she roped into this hmm? Well, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Twilight Velvet, the editor of this hopeless mare here.”

“Critical Eye, her illusionist,” she said with a small bow. “Please try not to harm her too badly, the job I got from her is the only reason I was able to convince this sack of grump to accompany me outside the Empire.”

“Ah, a crystal pony,” Velvet nodded and bowed her head, smiling politely. “A pleasure to meet you sir. I hope Equestria has been kind to you so far?”

“It isn’t bad,” he blushed lightly, rubbing the back of his head.

“You’ve complained about everything on the way here,” Critical deadpanned. As he made to rebuke her, she spoke up again. “Twice.”

“Heehee, he sounds like my husband,” Velvet giggled and winked at Critical. “Keep a tight leash on him. He’s cute, so another mare might try to snap him up.”

“Oh don’t worry,” Critical said as she hugged her stallion. “He’s all mine. Aren’t you dear?”

“It is as she says,” Palette nodded. “And don’t worry, we’re getting married sometime in the future, so I think she has the monopoly on me.”

“Speaking of marriages,” Twilight said as she walked up. Yearling had decided to escape. She’d rather deal with rabid fans than Twilight Velvet any day. Celestia had also followed her, to make sure she wouldn’t run too far.

Velvet turned her head and looked at her daughter. This… sounded serious.

“I’ve um…” Twilight blushed and fidgeted. “I’ve decided to marry Ledger with the others.”

Scope could barely stop herself from jumping her soon-to-be-wife again.

“You… you’re… what?” Velvet gasped. “I.. can’t believe it. My little girl... “ She started giggling and skipping on the spot.

“Ah, isn’t Ledger the name of your brother?” Palette asked his own fiancee.

“Yup, but if you think I’m going up against a bucking alicorn, you’re crazy,” Critical said.

“You could always out-snark her,” Palette chuckled and put a hoof around her. “Well, meeting your brother is gonna be a right interesting affair huh?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you from the crazy pony,” Critical snickered. Palette nodded, he was actually kind of glad for that. But he loved Critty, and if some uppity brother was going to try and scare him off, then he had another thing coming.

You respected your elders for a reason. Mostly because they’d plant a hoof up your flank if you didn’t.

Then they heard a cacophony of screaming fans and Velvet nodded. “Whelp, looks like the doors are open. See you all again if you survive,” she giggled.

“Buck that,” Scope said. “Twi, grab what we came here for and let’s run for it!”

“Uh, we came to see the show and get a signed copy of the new book?” Twilight replied and floated Scope over to her, placing her on her back. “Better?”

“Not really...can we try flying to get out of their reach?” Scope asked. “I’d really like to not be trampled today.”

“You’ll be fine my little Treasure,” Twilight giggled. Besides, it was a ‘No fly’ zone inside the hall. So pegasi wouldn’t cheat to get in line. They went to go and get their books signed and she pulled a little surprise out of her saddlebags. Two First Editions of the new book. “Advanced copies,” she giggled. “It has been agonising to not read them yet.”

“Have I ever mentioned I love you before?” Scope asked. “I don’t know that I have.”

“Many times,” Twilight replied and turned her neck to kiss the mare. “Now let’s go.” And with a pop of magic, she teleported to the waiting line.

Midnight stretched and yawned cutely. She smiled when the first thing she saw was Ledger’s sleepy face. Her tongue flickered out and tickled the tip of his nose, causing him to scrunch up his face. She kept up this new little game of licking various parts of his face until he groaned and opened his eyes.

“Hee, morning sleepy head,” she giggled and kissed his muzzle.

“Mmmph,” Ledger muttered and closed his eyes. “Five more minutes.”

Midnight sat back and tapped her chin. There was a way to wake him, but she said she wouldn’t do that while they were here.

And Ledger was outright evil when he won a bet. She suddenly shrieked as a scroll popped out of thin air right in front of her, landing softly on Ledger’s head.

“Mmmph,” he said, batting at the thing with a hoof. “What’s the big idea?”

Midnight took the scroll and stared at it. It was bound with a silver ribbon and had Ledger’s name on it. “Well it’s for you,” she said aloud. “Maybe it’s from your Mom or something?”

“Doubt it,” he muttered. “Fine...I’ll get up and read it.”

The disguised drone did so with a bit of sleep clinging to his motions. He slipped the ribbon off and opened the scroll up, reading the contents.

‘Dear Secret-Hoarder.

I hope this letter finds you well. And I also hope that you and Midnight are having fun.

Just a little thing I wanted to mention.

When you return. We’re going to have a little chat regarding our little Treasure.

This chat is mandatory. You will listen.

With all my love. TS.’

“Wow… who pissed in her oats?” Midnight whistled. “Sounds like you’re in a heap of trouble.”

“At least she closed it out with love,” Ledger said as he put the scroll in his saddlebags. “It might not be so bad.” Then he yawned widely, smacking his lips a few times for good measure. “What’s...on the docket today?”

“Well, I figured we could take a walk around the town. I haven’t been here since I was a filly after all.”

That information told Ledger that Lady Echoed might have pictures of filly Midnight floating around.

“But first we need breakfast,” Midnight said with nod as her tummy rumbled. “Parasite is hungry as well.”

“Coffee,” Ledger all but demanded. “I’m not getting out of this house without any caffeine.”

“...You’re assuming that a lot of Thestrals actually drink coffee?” Midnight said as she stretched her wings. “I drink it because I needed something to keep me awake during the day. But most batponies… well…”

“...You’re only going to get me to give up one of them for our stay here,” Ledger said with a half-hearted glare. “Caffeine or sex.”

“Wooow, sleepy Ledger just cannot take a joke huh?” Midnight chuckled. “Of course we have coffee, just how uncivilised do you think we are?”

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door and Sweet Heart entered. She was carrying a tray in her telekinetic grasp, laden with toast, fruit and sweet, delicious, life-giving coffee.

“Morning~” she chirped happily. Yes, Heart was very much a morning pony. Her boundless enthusiasm was pouring from her. “Did you sleep well~?”

“Well enough,” Ledger said. “Oooh, that smells wonderful.” He sat back on the bed and gestured for the tray to be brought closer.

“Maaangoooeessssss~” Midnight said in a half hiss/purr as the Changeling edged closer. She looked at the bat warily and then to Ledger.

“Um, weren’t her eyes green yesterday? Why are they red…” then her eyes widened in realization. “Oh my…”

“Don’t tell anypony,” Ledger said firmly. “Or anydog. Or just anyone. And I advise you to give over the mangoes before she tackles you for them.”

The nymph nodded and floated the fruit over, which Midnight snared with her long tongue and tore into with a ravenous feeding frenzy. Ledger was going to need a shower now.

“And to think, she’s only going to get worse,” Heart nodded as she passed the coffee and toast to Ledger. Ledger did his own tearing into his breakfast, but at a much more sedate pace so that crumbs didn’t end up in the bed or any coffee spilled.

“This is why we’re trying to keep her out of combat situations,” he commented. “We’d rather nopony else make those connections.”

“Well, I don’t know how they might react. As far as I’m aware, you’re creating the very first Thestral/Changeling hybrid.” Heart couldn’t even imagine what that would be like. “And the child of a Noble no less.”

“And let’s not forget what Midnight is normally like,” Ledger said before sipping at his coffee.

“I sincerely hope you do not have Violet or Pink in your bloodline milord,” Heart shuddered and looked away. “You might have just doomed the world.”

“Violet, yes, my dad is one,” Ledger replied. “Pink, no, but my sister by one of my step-fathers is. Imagine growing up with a Noble Pink. And the first time she found sugar.”

“Hee, that must have been rather chaotic,” Heart giggled, taking a seat on the floor and idly biting into an apple as she got more comfortable with the conversation. It was rare that she got to talk with another Changeling. “Still, being a Pink isn’t about genetics. Say your entire line was Silver, dating back to the Original Ones. A Pink could still happen. It’s all about luck.”

“Yeah, I read about it in the Orange hive,” Ledger said before killing his coffee. “Pinks tend to happen because the mare that was carrying the nymph was overwhelmingly happy. Though, they couldn’t figure out anything else that might relate to the appearance of a Pink.”

“We’re special,” Heart giggled. Midnight had finished her fruit, but was still hungry. And then she locked eyes with Heart… and the apple she was eating.

“Uhoh,” Ledger said before he resumed nibbling at his toast. “Sweet, you might want to watch out for today’s weather of pouncing batpony.”

“Huh?” Heart looked up as Midnight pounced, her tongue already in her mouth, licking up all the apple juice. The nymph flailed her limbs as the bat continued to make out/eat her.

“Middy, if you don’t stop soon, we’ll have no choice but to add her, and I don’t think she’d like that,” Ledger said once his toast was finished.

Midnight didn’t respond. She just wanted this delicious apple. And Sweet Heart was starting to get into it a little as she embraced the bat. Eventually Ledger walked over and forcibly separated them with no small difficulty.

“Middy, down,” he said in a stern voice. “Otherwise I’ll call it as you losing your own bet.”

“Aaaaappleee~” she hissed and tried to bite his hoof, her fangs pausing an inch away from him as she blinked. “Wait. Wat?”

“You went red-eyed again, Middy,” Ledger said, tapping her nose with a hoof. “You’re gonna need to try and control yourself if we don’t want everypony knowing you’re pregnant.”

She shook her head and groaned. “Bleh! I finally ditched puking every morning and now this?”

“The cravings will kick in if this is happening,” Heart explained. Living in a thestral city gave her quite a bit of experience in this subject. “I’d say you have another month or two before she starts getting over-protective. You said you were involved with multiple ponies yes?”

“I haven’t actually mentioned that, but yes,” Ledger said. “Why? Is it something to worry about?”

“Last night, Lady Midnight said you were one of her fiance's. The others seemed to glaze over it though,” Heart replied. “But, well I don’t know, but it could be. Her reasoning may become impaired and she might see the others as… well, somepony trying to steal her mate away. She may even react violently.”

“But… I don’t wanna hurt the others,” Midnight said, tears in her eyes. Ledger responded by kissing her, before cupping a cheek with a hoof and holding her gaze.

“I know,” he said. “We’ll find a way, I promise. You won’t hurt anypony else. You helped save me. Let me help you.”

Midnight nodded and nuzzled him. Heart felt bad she’d brought such bad news. But it was better for them to be prepared.

“Look, if you think you might have trouble, then come back here. We have more experience in this matter than you could ever have.”

“True enough,” Ledger said with a nod. “Maybe I could read a few books about it while we’re here as well? Get a little knowledge before we leave so that we’re not entirely helpless?”

“We have a sizable library here,” Heart nodded. “I’ll be more than happy to take you there.”

“And now I feel like Twilight is here in spirit,” Midnight giggled as she gulped down her coffee. “Paaaah! Much better!”

“So a tour of the town to start with with Middy, followed by a study session in the library so I have some knowledge in the afternoon,” Ledger summarized. “Well then, shall we?”

“Yup!’ Midnight replied and kissed his cheek. Today was shaping up to be nice and relaxing…

Outside, it still had that feel of perpetual twilight, the enormous cavern lit by glowing stones and countless fire scones.

“Mmm, this place is still too dark for my liking,” Midnight said. “I prefer the sunlight.”

“It’s not so bad,” Ledger said. “I mean, it could be worse.”

Somebat dropped down from the sky, so silent that even Midnight hadn’t heard her.

Nightshade.

“Oh, heya Shady!” Midnight waved, but her fellow thestral didn’t share her enthusiasm. In fact, Ledger could feel the animosity this bat had towards his marefriend.

“And is it just me, or did it get colder in here?” he questioned aloud.

Nightshade stepped closer as her wings flared and she hissed at Midnight, who blinked and looked at Ledger.

“She’s challenging me,” she explained.

“What, need your stallion’s permission?” Nightshade replied.

“No, she’s her own pony,” Ledger said with a wave of a wing. “I trust her, as much as she trusts me. But really, do you need to indulge her?”

“Hmm, I wonder, do I?” Midnight said and looked at Nightshade. “I’m kind of on vacation here. Exactly why should I fight you?”

“Because I will prove once and for all that I’ve exceeded you!” she yelled. “I will prove that I’m better than you!”

“Like beating her in a fight would prove that you’re better than her,” Ledger said with a roll of his eyes. “Hell, I’m pretty sure I could break all of your bones, but that wouldn’t make me better than you or her. Better is subjective depending on the viewer. Right now you’re about as impressive as a kitten mewling for attention.”

The look of indignation on her face was priceless. Her face twisted into a scowl as she walked towards him… at least until Midnight snared her hoof and flipped the mare over her shoulder.

“Do NOT touch my stallion,” she growled. “Fine. You want a fight? You want to see if you’ve finally surpassed me? Then bring it!”

“Midnight, dear, remember what we said about controlling yourself at breakfast,” Ledger warned her.

“I feel fine,” Midnight said, flashing her emerald eyes at him. Several thestrals were already gathering, as Lady Echoed Song also exited her home.

“What in the name of the Moon is going on out here!?” she demanded.

“Apparently miss Nightshade doesn’t know the first rule of interacting with the new Midnight,” Ledger idly commented.

“Captain Nightshade!” Echoed said sternly. “Explain yourself. Now!”

“I am challenging Lady Midnight Song to a duel,” Nightshade replied. “I can never be sated until I am sure of it.”

Echoed sighed and looked at Midnight. “And what say you. In your condition…”

“It should be fine,” Midnight said quietly. “I won’t put myself in any unnecessary risks. If it gets too much, I’ll throw the duel. Honor or not, it’s not worth it.” She looked at Nightshade and spoke up. “But somepony needs to know her place. And, I am curious to see how much better you’ve gotten.”

“Well, somepony’s certainly grown from the mare she used to be,” Ledger commented. Midnight swatted his flanks and grinned.

“Gotta be a responsible Mommy right?” she whispered to him, kissing his cheek. “Be right back okay?”

“If you say so,” Ledger said as he just watched. He was also prepared to do his part and intervene if it came to that. He didn’t think that Nightshade mare would stop if Midnight called for the fight to be over…

“Well, seems we have a duel then,” Echoed said as the quickly increasing crowd cheered. The two were given a wide space to play with as Nightshade flexed her wings.

“I will beat you this time,” Shade growled and screeched at Midnight.

Midnight just stood there, as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Beginnend Kampfmodus…” she whispered in Griffic and opened her eyes. “Alright Nightshade. Whenever you’re ready.”

The other thestral screeched as she launched herself at Midnight. Ledger instantly recognised it as Midnight’s fighting style, and the two exchanged a few blindly fast blows. Ledger also noticed that Midnight sometimes turned to block, protecting her stomach area.

“Well,” he said as he watched. “Remind me never to get in a serious spar with either of them. I doubt I’d last.”

Both mares separated and screeched again as they attacked, now bringing their wings into play. While they were both unarmed and unarmoured, those sharp barbs on their wings could still scratch and tear skin. Proof when Midnight received such a sting across her Cutie Mark and pulled back, Nightshade wore a smug expression on her face.

“Heh, guess you aren’t as good anymore,” she taunted. “What’s the matter Midnight? Getting slow in your old age?”

That was when Midnight all but vanished, reappearing above the younger mare and delivering a powerful kick to her back, sending her tumbling into the dirt.

“Yeah, definitely not at their skill level,” Ledger said with a sage nod. “I’m just barely better than the average pony.”

Nightshade came screaming out of the dust cloud her crash had formed and tackled Midnight in mid-air, causing the two to resort to bites and blows with their wings before they separated again and landed back on the ground. They suddenly shot forward and clashed again, trading hoof blows that were either blocked or countered, as Nightshade flipped and brought her hind hoof in a downwards arc that Midnight blocked by crossing her wings, before lashing out with her left foreleg. Nightshade’s tongue shot out, wrapping around it and yanking it off course.

Once they backed away again, Midnight panted lightly and smiled. “Hmm, you really have gotten better Shady. Not too bad at all.”

“And yet if I know Middy, that was a warm-up to her,” Ledger commented, fully aware that they could hear it thanks to their thestral hearing. Midnight smiled slightly as Nightshade chuckled.

“Releasing limits! First Beat!” she said in a flat tone as Ledger felt the mare’s emotions slip away. Midnight barely had time to react before a hoof struck her side, sending her tumbling across the grass.

“When the buck did she learn that?” Ledger asked, now slightly panicked. “Oh crap. Please tell me you learned Beat Break from Ace, Middy!”

Midnight was a little distracted right now as the now much faster mare closed in again. Midnight defended against a few of her blows and went to strike back.

“Second Beat.”

Midnight found her hoof grabbed and she was yanked into the air, before another blow struck her back and sent her face first into the grass again. Owww, this wasn’t fun anymore.

“Dammit all,” Ledger growled. “I don’t want to have to jump in Middy...but I won’t let you take this if you don't defend yourself!”

Yeah, cause that was so easy to do… The thestral stood up, brushing some grass from her coat as Nightshade landed a dozen feet away.

“Third Beat.” She vanished as Midnight closed her eyes and took another deep breath. Nightshade struck from the side, knocking Midnight into the air and a few more blows hit her, each time, Midnight rolling slightly to protect her abdomen more than anything.

“Bloody Iris!” Nightshade hissed as Ledger recognised the incoming attack. It almost looked similar to Midnight’s ‘Dirge of Death’.

His mare turned as Nightshade blew past her, then quicker than his eyes could follow, Midnight had her hooftip pressed against Nightshade’s forehead.

“Beat Break.”

The concussive blast sent Nightshade spiraling into the ground, a small impact crater forming when she hit it. After the dust cleared, the thestral mare just lay there with a stunned expression. Even the cheering crowd was quiet as Midnight landed and took another breath, exiting her improved battle trance. Ledger slowly walked up next to his mare before looking at the one in the crater.

“Gotta say, that was impressive Middy,” he said before kissing her cheek. “She’ll recover, right?”

“Wha… how did…?” Nightshade just lay there, staring up at the cavern above her. “But the Lyrica…?”

“Isn’t something I need anymore,” Midnight replied. “It was never about using it for power, it was about using it to control my own inner demons.” She lifted the mare up and gave a small grunt as she did. She was going to be sore for a while. “Though, I’m pretty damned impressed that you learned it all on your own. If you’d fought me a few months ago… then who knows.”

“You’d still have won,” Nightshade admitted. “You’ve always been so amazingly strong. I just… how?”

“What can I say,” Midnight smirked. “I’m Midnight Song. And I’m very good at what I do~”

“Still…” Nightshade winced as the crowd started to disperse now that the fun was over. “You were holding back. I could tell by the way you blocked.”

“Yeah, well…” Midnight winced again. Her back hurt now. “Gotta protect the little grub inside my belly.”

“Little…?” Nightshade gasped and punched the mare’s shoulder. “You bucking idiot! Why didn’t you say something? I’d never have challenged you if I knew!”

“And then this grudge match would have festered for much longer, and who knows what it would have done for your friendship?” Ledger said. “I said it before, I’ll say it again. I trust Midnight to do what she thinks is best. Now whether or not that’s actually the best thing to do is up for debate…”

“Oh bite me,” Midnight muttered. “Still kicked your damn flank, stupid kid.”

“You’re stupid!” Nightshade argued back as the pair went off on a tangent of foalish schoolyard insults.

“Mares, if I need to, I will break this up by breaking you,” Ledger threatened. “And in your states, I’m pretty sure I could. Let’s just admit that we’re all capable of stupid mistakes and move on, yes?”

“...Fine!” both mares pouted and walked… well, more like limped on either side of him.

“So, where are we going?” Nightshade asked.

“Home to make sure no serious complication develop from your little bout,” Ledger said as he led them back to the house of Echoed Song. “And don’t make me get the rope. I will leash you both if I have to to get you seen to.”

“Ohh, is he always so kinky?” Nightshade giggled.

“Hmm, we haven’t done petplay before,” Midnight replied and gave him a saucy wink. Ledger merely rolled his eyes as he kept walking at a nice, sedate pace so they could keep up with him.

“Keep it up, I’ll just file that away for later,” Ledger said. “You might not like what happens when we’re not on vacation anymore.”

“Mmm, oh, I think I’ll like it very much~” Midnight purred and Nightshade blushed and looked away. Oh? Now that was an interesting emotion coming from her.

Somepony had a crush~

“Just keep in mind our little bet,” Ledger said. “Though I don’t know how you’re going to keep to it.”

“Through sheer force of will,” Midnight nodded and bounced. Ahh, yep, that was a bad idea as she winced painfully. Once inside, Sweet Heart showed them to a room and explained that she’d already called a nurse.

“You should go and check the library Ledgie,” Midnight said and kissed his cheek. “This might take a little while.”

“That was my plan,” Ledger said before smirking and pointing at a bed. “Middy, sit. Stay. Good girl.”

She jumped up onto the bed and sat there, wagging her tail happily.

“I have no words…” Nightshade said as she took the other bed. “All my respect for you is gone Lady Midnight.”

“Says the mare that just got her flank served to her on a silver platter,” Ledger said without looking at Nightshade.

“Hardly, it was more of a bronze one,” Nightshade scoffed. “Don’t you have a book to read or something?”

“That was the plan,” Ledger said. “Can I trust you two to not kill each other while I go read?”

“Meh,” Nightshade replied as she lay back on the bed, relaxing. Mmm, cloudbeds were the best~

Midnight smiled and lay down also, though she did flick her tail to one side as she did. That should give Ledger something to think about.

After all, she never said she wouldn’t tease~

“Then in that case, I have some required reading to catch up on,” the disguised drone said before looking around for Sweet Heart. The nymph was nearby and nodded as she sent off a messenger to fetch the nurse.

“Okay, they should be seen to shortly,” she nodded. “What would you like to do in the meantime?”

“Library,” Ledger said as though it were obvious. “I have a few things to read up on while I’m here.”

“Very well, if you’d follow me,” she said and trotted off. Spending the day with another Changeling? This should be fun~

The library was quite nice. It was nowhere near the largest that Ledger had been in, but the building was carved into the side of the wall and Ledger could see that the Diamond Dogs had put quite a bit of effort into detail.

Not to mention all the thestral texts that he’d never even heard of before~ Twilight would probably give her horn to be in his position right now.

Aaaand now he was thinking of Twilight taking the position he liked her in~ He blushed and shook his head as he walked up to the front desk, lowering his voice so that he wouldn’t be disturbing other patrons. “Excuse me?” he whispered.

The elderly thestral looked up and blinked. “Ehh ... un ponei?” he stared for a moment and cleared his throat before he shrugged. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m looking for any texts relating to a thestral mare’s instincts and urges during pregnancy,” Ledger explained. “I know of a pregnant one back home and we don’t know much about that in Equestria. Any help you can give me would be quite useful.”

“Lock her up and run,” he chuckled as he got to his hooves. “Might get to keep all your limbs.” He shuffled through the library and came to a small alcove in the wall. “Books you want are here. Best of luck pony.” And with that, he shuffled off again.

Ledger blinked before he pulled the books out of the alcove and started to read. It wasn’t...encouraging.

‘Thestral mares are prone to violent outbursts and wild emotions. In the past, stallions and mares whom got too close had even been killed. However, the last century has shown a weakening in this… curse for the lack of a better term. Perhaps in the next hundred years or so, we will see it gone altogether.’

“Yeesh,” Ledger said before flipping the page, looking for symptoms to watch out for and how to treat them.

‘The crimson eyes are amongst the first signs. Showing along with the bouts of morning sickness. After the first month, these symptoms may decline, but this is what some dub ‘The Eye of the Storm’. It only gets worse. A thestral’s cravings tend to vary, depending on the mare. But one thing they have been known to go for is blood. Perhaps this is where those ridiculous novels stemmed from?

For them, it is an easily accessible source of iron. They may also crave sweet fruits, fresh fish and other things.’

“Mkay,” Ledger said, turning the page again and looking for the next symptoms he would have to watch out for. Forewarned was forearmed.

‘Around the six month period, the protectiveness sets in. As the foal develops, the urge to protect it at all costs increases. Another thing to mention for any father or mother, is that a foal born from a Thestral and another species, may also affect this stage. We thestrals are an adaptive species, and traits from the other parent my show. Ponies for instance, usually have a much calmer pregnancy, and so if the father is a pony, the thestral mother may not even show this stage.’

“Right, so watch Middy when six months comes to pass,” Ledger said. “Anything else I should beware of, oh wise tome?” With that, the currently-pegasus drone turned the page again.

‘And the father must remember above all else. Through all the annoyances, the mood swings and violent tendencies that may or may not result in the death of every sentient creature around you…

The mare carries ‘your’ foal. And believe me reader…

Every. Single. Second is worth it.’

“Well, I don’t know how Midnight could get any worse, but I will at least try to rein her in,” Ledger said as he closed the book. “Hmm, any more sage advice from any other book here?”

He found a few that might be useful, along with one titled ‘So you knocked up a Thestral. What the buck were you thinking?’

“HIYA LEVVY!” Sun Song cried out as she popped out from one of the bookshelves.

“Gah!” Ledger said, flailing a little as he fell backwards, clutching the precious knowledge to his chest. Sun giggled as she climbed out of the shelf like a big bat-shaped spider…

Well, she tried anyway. She soon paused, flailed and paused again.

“My butt’s stuck.”

“You deserve that,” Ledger said from his position on the floor. “What did I do to deserve your sneaking up on me and acting like a bloody Pink?”

“Pink? I’m not pink,” Sun giggled from her bookshelf. “More like a chestnutty brown. And, I was bored. So I’m here to play with you~”

Ledger sighed and put the books to one side before he rolled back onto his hooves. “How the buck did you get in there anyways?”

“That’s a secret~” she sang and held out her hooves for him. The stallion sighed again before grabbing hold of her hooves and tugging. She soon came free with a comical ‘pop’ and landed on top of him.

“Heehehee, that was fun~” she giggled from her perch. Ledger groaned and pushed on her with a hoof, trying to get her to get off of him. She rolled off and landed on her flanks, still giggling.

“I knew you were fun,” she smiled. She was freaking adorable. And… well, how old was this mare anyway? She stood up and dusted herself off. “So...watcha doooooin’?”

“Reading up on what I’m likely to encounter in the next few months,” Ledger said, indicating the books with a wing. She picked up one of the books and blinked.

“You’re pregnant?”

“Do I look like a mare?” he deadpanned.

“Ohhh, that makes sense…” then she gasped and lowed her voice to a loud whisper. “Unless bugpony boys can get pregnant?”

“Then why would I be looking at books dealing with thestral mares?” he pointed out. Maybe soon she’d pick up what he was hinting at.

“Mmmm…” Sun tilted her head and rocked back and forth. She recalled something about her mother wanting Heart to ‘take care’ of them if they needed it. And that tone was only used when her Daddy came home.

She gasped and looked at Ledger. “Did you get Sweet Heart pregnant!?”

“No,” Ledger deadpanned. “I’ve only known her for a day, and Midnight and I have a bet regarding no sexing going on during our vactaion. I’m not about to lose it.” Did he have to lead this batpony to the right solution?

Sun hummed and rocked again, before looking at him. She frowned and then gasped, pointing a hoof at him. “I feel asleep on the couch with you that one time. Am I pregnant?”

“No,” Ledger said with a shake of his head. “At least, not as far as I know. And you’re running out of thestral mares I know. I’m sure you’ll get it right.” Eventually.

Sun giggled and laughed at him. “Heee, you should see your face!” she cackled and Ledger realised he’d been played like a fiddle. “I know Middy’s pregnant Levvy. I’m not that stupid.”

“...Then what was the point of all that?” Ledger asked with more than a hint of exasperation.

“Because it was fun,” she giggled and pointed to her forehead. “You’ve got this pulsing vein right here, it looks funny.”

“Yes, well, if you don’t mind, I have more than a few books to read before anything major starts to happen, so…” Ledger moved to gather up the books again.

“Aww, party pooper,” Sun giggled and looked out a window. “Have you taken a look around the city yet?”

“We were going to before Nightshade jumped us,” Ledger said as he moved to start reading one of the books. Something grabbed his hoof and he dropped his books as Sun hauled him off with surprising strength.

“Then let’s go have fun!” she giggled.

“Ah, wait a moment!” Ledger said as they passed the front desk. “Sir, if you could send those books I was looking at to Echoed Song’s home, I would be much appreciative,” he said, doing his best to fight Sun’s pull for long enough to make his request.

He gave him a nod as he was yanked away. There was much fun to be had after all.

“See, isn’t this better than a dusty old library?” Sun screamed as they gripped a small wooden raft that tore down the raging river at the base of the cavern.

“I’ll let you know when we stop,” Ledger said, not daring to let go for a second.

“Stop?” Sun blinked as the river entered a long, dark tunnel. He could see a small speck of light growing closer as razor-sharp rocks whizzed by his head by mere inches. “Your wings working?”

“No, I’ve been too terrified of all the rocks whizzing past to open them, for fear of breaking them,” Ledger replied. “This thing does end, right?!”

“Oohhh yeah!” She yelled. "GET READY!” The light suddenly grew blinding and the intense rocking of the boat stopped.

Mostly because thin air was now below it, as they exited the side of the mountain, foggy oblivion was what awaited below them.

“WHHHEEEEEEE!” Sun cried out with unbridled joy.

“AAAAAARGH!” Ledger cried out with unrestrained terror.

“AAaaaaaaaand! NOW!” she yelled as she kicked off and flew into the air. Ledger followed suit, glad to be done with the raft and happy to be in the air as his pegasus self.

“If I ever ask you for something fun to do,” Ledger said. “Hit me upside the head, because I will have clearly lost my senses.”

“Aw come on,” Sun cackled. “That was heaps of fun! And you didn’t puke or pass out once!”

“No, but I’m pretty sure I considered it several times,” Ledger replied. “I think my heart is still racing from that…”

“Let it race Ledger,” Sun said seriously as she hugged him close and stared at the horizon. “Lets you know you’re alive!”

“I’m pretty sure there’s a difference between my heart beating and my heart trying to claw its way out of my chest,” he dryly replied. “Sheesh, it reminds me of the time my Yellow step-father decided to try and teach me combat reflexes by throwing all manner of attacks at me.”

“Ohhh, that's how Middy used to train me and sis,” Sun nodded. “Okay! Now that we’re nice and warmed up. Wanna do something really fun?”

“Only if you tell me what it is first,” Ledger stipulated.

“Flying!” Sun giggled as she began to ascend the cliff. “I bet Middy will be there as well.”

“She was kinda banged up,” Ledger said, even as he started to follow. “She might be down for a bit longer.”

“We’ll see~” Sun sang. Once they reached the topside entrance of the cavern, he saw what must have been dozens of thestrals, as well as Midnight and Nightshade glaring at one another… or they were about to make out. One of the two.

“Well, it’s a good thing I didn’t bet any bits with you,” the currently-pegasus said to his guide.

“Yuppers. No thestral would wanna miss out on this. Well, ‘cept for the ones that want to miss out on this.” Sun flew over to the pair and pulled Nightshade into a wet hug, causing the mare to yelp.

Midnight blinked and then looked at Ledger. “Hmm, do I wanna know why you got my cousin all wet and excited?”

“There was a raft involved, may it rest in pieces,” he replied.

“Ohhh, you took him Cave Rafting?” Midnight asked her cousin. “Did he scream like a little filly?”

“Oooh, yeah,” Sun giggled, nuzzling Nightshade.

“Get a few gropes in in the dark?” Midnight asked.

“Yup, don’t think he noticed though~” Sun smiled again and licked her lips.

“I wondered why you were holding so tight,” Ledger commented. “I thought it was just the situation.”

“Yup!” Sun giggled. “I liked his flanks the mostest~”

“They are very nice flanks,” Midnight commented as she got a hoofful as well. “Mmmm, so firm~”

“Is it ‘Grope Midnight’s stallion’ day?” the pegasus commented, before looking at Nightshade, wondering if she would be the next mare to try.

“Pass, I still think you’re an ass,” she said in a scathing tone.

“That may be true, but there’s more to me than that,” Ledger said as he finally squirmed free of Midnight’s hold. “I’m an ass when I need to be, an intellectual more often than not, and thanks to Midnight, I’ve gotten a much better life than I had. I’m not just an ass, much like Midnight is not just a pervert.”

“Of course,” Midnight giggled and kissed his cheek. “You’re just mostly an ass.”

A high pitched whistle filled the air and the bats grinned. Time to rock and roll~

“BOOOYA!” Midnight cheered as the swarm fell towards the open mouth of the cavern, but none had opened their wings yet. “Join me Leeevvvyyyyyyyy…”

“Oh, I can tell that we’re going to have questions to answer once we land,” Ledger said with a sigh as Midnight forgot to call him ‘Clear Skies.’ “Nothing ventured…” With that, he folded his wings up and dove after her.

Several more bats whizzed by him, all determined to reach the bottom first. And as they neared a point about a third of the way down, they opened their wings as a screeching filled the air and they made a hard right-angle turn, flying into one of the many caves pocketing the walls. Ledger instinctively gave himself thestral eyes again as he followed after the batponies, not wanting to fly into a wall he couldn’t see.

It was a good thing he did too, as sharp stalactites jutted from the ceiling and walls, he had to pull off a few fancy tricks he didn’t think he could do to avoid becoming a Ledger shiskabob.

The thestrals seemed to avoid them effortlessly, and Midnight even turned and flew backwards for a moment, waving at Ledger as she avoided a stone by mere inches, causing him to hiss in concern.

“I don’t know how,” he said, dodging at the last second another piece of what looked like very pointy rock. “You do this without looking, but please don’t make me worry!” Every emphasized word indicated another dodge he’d had to make.

Midnight just smiled as she ran along the wall, avoiding a few small rocks, before using a larger one as a springboard. They exited the tunnel and repeated the process through two more before emerging through a waterfall near Moonspire.

And when Ledger landed, he found a horde of thestrals waiting to grab him and toss him up in the air for victory. Thankfully, once he saw the crowd, he lost the thestral eyes, as they’d bring up more questions that he did not want. Now all they would have to do is deal with Nightshade…

And once they put him down, Midnight hugged him from behind and kissed him deeply as Echoed approached.

“Well now, so you actually lived through that. Not bad, not bad at all.” She hummed and turned to the crowd. “As proof of his bravery, willingness to dive into the darkness and his complete and total insanity. I am happy to announce Clear Skies an honorary Thestral!”

The crowd erupted into cheers again. Ledger just looked to the side, not willing to admit he may have cheated just yet. Especially not in front of so many very sensitive ears.

Soon enough the crowd dispersed, a feast would have to be prepared afterall. Only Sweet Heart, Sun Song and Nightshade remained, along with Midnight and Echoed.

“So…” Nightshade asked with a raised eyebrow. “What was with the weird nickname?”

“Oh, that was his name, Level Ledger,” Sun giggled. “He’s such a silly Changeling.”

“Tell it to the world why don’t you?” Ledger hissed. “I was kinda keeping that under wraps!”

“Ahhh, whoopsie~” Sun giggled and skipped away as Nightshade glared at Ledger.

“Membrelor Dă-mi un motiv pentru care nu ar trebui să te rupe de la nivelul membrelor!?”

Midnight growled and stepped in front of him as her eyes flashed red. “Prieten sau nu. Atingeți-l și tu voia!!!”

“Oh my…” Heart said with a terse look. Ledger sighed and stepped between the two mares, before glaring at Nightshade.

“Try me. I took apart a little pegasus mare for being twice as cocky as you. Last I heard, her physical therapy was going well. She might be able to walk unassisted soon.” Then he turned to Midnight and his glare somehow intensified. “And if you think I’m going to let you kill somepony just for threatening me, then clearly you don’t know me well enough.”

Heart handed Echoed some popcorn that she’d gotten from… somewhere. The older mare taking some and chewing as they watched the spectacle.

“Well tell her to back off!” Midnight growled again, her crimson eyes not leaving the other Thestral.

“What if he’s a spy here from the Hives!?” Nightshade said. “He could have used freaky Changeling brainwashing magic or something—”

“And that’s enough of that,” Ledger said, cutting her off as he returned his attention to Nightshade. “All the mares in my life are well aware of who and what I am. And if we’re going to talk about this any more, I request we do it inside, away from prying ears.”

“I agree,” Echoed said. “Though Ledger, would you like to know a very easy way to break up a fight between two thestral mares?”

“I’m willing to listen,” the pegasus said.

“They say demonstration is always a quicker way,” Echoed giggled and flared her wings, before bringing them down with a devastating slap that floored both mares. “Now you two play nice,” she said. “Or I will hurt you~”

“Yeas Ma’am…” they both mumbled from their dirt pillows.

“And when you can stand, you’ll both know where to find me,” Ledger said as he walked inside, brushing past Echoed on his way up to the room he and Midnight had claimed. He needed time to destress from all this frustration, or else he was going to make really rash decisions.

About an hour later, the door opened slowly and Midnight poked her nose in. “You… still mad?”

“Upset, frustrated, disappointed, yes. Mad, no. At you, no. I wish that reaction from Nightshade was less typical, but it’s not like she’s in the minority. And it’s not like I can’t see things from her point of view either.” Ledger said all this while laying on his back on their cloud-bed.

“Being a cute bugpony is tough huh?” she said as she stepped a bit closer. “Believe me, I know how you feel.”

“I assume I’m not going to be entertaining her at all today,” the disguised drone said with his eyes still closed. “Nor dispelling any misconceptions she might have about me.”

“Well, she did say she was sorry. We had a good talk and she understands now. She’s just... “ Midnight sighed as she sat on the end of the bed. “She’s Captain of the Town Guard, and I don’t think I have to tell you how hard-headed and proud she is. Though, that might be a little bit my fault.”

“I just wish,” Ledger said, choking up a little bit. “That the first reaction she had to me...wasn’t fear, or anger, or hostility...I just want to be...understood. Las Pegasus, I could probably walk down the street as myself by now. Anywhere else? Fuck no!”

“You know that I barely left the house when I was a filly,” Midnight said quietly. “And I was home schooled, because all the other foals were too scared of the ‘weird bat pony.’ I know… that it’s hard,” She placed a hoof on his leg. “We’ll get there someday.”

“Someday is never today,” Ledger said with a sniff. “And...I’m getting sick and tired...of trying, only to be met with fear. It’s...It’s an emotion that’s a kick to my gut to taste.”

“Is that… why you haven’t told Fredrick yet?” Midnight asked him. “You know, he’s pretty cool with Changelings. Even Scopey’s met him undisguised. He didn’t know it was her though.”

“Nah, I told him before I asked him to be my best stallion,” Ledger said. “Even showed off. He wasn’t afraid...he was more angry I thought so little of him. But then, ponies routinely think the worst of Changelings, so why shouldn’t I hide?”

“Because then you’d be proving me right that a simpering coward like you is unworthy of Midnight,” Nightshade said as she walked in. “I mean, do you even listen to yourself. I’ve heard little fillies whine less than you.”

“Oh joy, it’s the bigot,” Ledger said, not opening his eyes. “I thought I tasted arrogance.”

“Better arrogant than a little bitch,” she replied. Midnight rose off of the bed, but Nightshade held up a hoof. “I only came to apologise for my reaction. I had a job to do, and you lot haven’t had the best reputation until recently. Still… for what it’s worth, I am sorry.”

Ledger didn’t say anything, but he did open his eyes and roll off the bed, landing on his hooves and looking at Nightshade. “Huh,” he said. “Actual honesty when you said that. That’s...unexpected, but not unwelcome.”

“Don’t get used to it,” she replied and looked away. Ledger took that opportunity to show her his actual form, to gauge her reaction to it. Mostly because he was curious as to how honest she was. With a flash of silver, his Noble self took his pegasus guise’s place.

She yelped and jumped back, more out of surprise of the sudden action more than what he was. She took a breath and glared at him, then looked his form over. “Huh… you look different to the Changelings I’ve seen.”

“I get that a lot,” Ledger said, tasting her emotions and actually smiling. “Huh, no fear. Whaddya know, Middy. I guess that day might be today after all. Just...not here.”

“...What day are we talking about Ledger?” Midnight asked. “We’ve had a lot of days. One with screaming. Ones with yelling. One with fire and explosions…”

“And ones with ponies that don’t actually fear me?” the drone asked as she sat on his haunches. “How many of those have we had?”

Midnight paused and tapped her chin. “Three?” she tried, going for the first number that was planted in her head.

“Eh, I count a few more than that, but not many,” Ledger said with a shrug as he sat there patiently, waiting for Nightshade to ask her questions that he just knew she had to have. “It’s always...nice, to be like this and not taste fear. It’s the best feeling.”

“So uh… why did you fall in love with food?” Nightshade asked Midnight. Ledger blinked before laughing.

“They usually ask me that question,” he observed wryly.

“Ehh, he is pretty tasty~” Midnight giggled as certain thoughts entered Ledger’s head. Like their very first encounter of that nature. “A sweet little buggy with tasty creamy filling~”

“Aaaaaand now I remember why I don’t hang out with you,” Nightshade said flatly.

“But yeah, she saved me at my lowest, we’ve been there for each other through thick and thin, how could we not fall for each other?” Ledger asked. “Though, now that I know you eat bugs, Middy, if I wake up to you gnawing on me, I am getting a newspaper to discipline you with.”

“Mmm, kinky~” Midnight said, nibbling on his shoulder.

“Aaaand that’s my cue to leave,” Nightshade turned a nice crimson shade and turned around to head out.

“Hey Nightshade?” Ledger said before she left entirely. “Thanks for trying to understand. It means more than you know.”

“Ergh! You’re so damned sappy,” she grumbled. “Just grow a pair already.” Still, her emotions said the the insults weren’t really serious. “Have fun with your wife Midnight. I’m out.”

“Aww, can’t we play with her as well?” Midnight pouted. “I thought we were bonding?”

“Apparently there’s only so many sappy moments a mare like Nightshade can take,” Ledger pointed out before kissing Midnight.

“A mare like me?” Nightshade paused and turned. “Oh now I have to hear this. Go ahead… Ledger was it? What kind of mare am I?”

“One that hates to show off your more sensitive side, and thinks she has to be tough, otherwise everything regarding her reputation and image are shot,” Ledger replied. “I know a nymph like that. If not for the species gap, I would totally be calling you a bigger version of her.”

“She really is a kind of like a bigger Scope,” Midnight nodded, moving around behind Nightshade. “Mmm, now I’m getting… ideas~”

“Middy, down,” Ledger said. “No messing with her. We don’t know where she’s been.”

“Excuse ME?” Nightshade exclaimed with righteous indignation. “I’ll have you know that I have never…” She suddenly stopped, turned a deep red and looked away as Midnight smirked widely.

“And now I know more about you than I ever wanted to,” Ledger replied. “Probably explains a good bit about you as well. Pent up sexual frustration.”

“I… gah! WHAT!?” If she could get any redder, Ledger was about to find out.

“It’s not healthy, not having sex for that long,” the drone said sagely. “Causes you all sorts of stress just because you haven’t worked it out of your system. You should really see somepony about that.”

“What in the flipping Moon are you suggesting!?” Nightshade flushed more.

“Well, certainly not me or Midnight, we have a bet regarding abstinence for this vacation,” Ledger said. “Maybe you should just go down to the bar, have a few drinks, and look for a cute stallion or mare that catches your eye, and see where things go from there?”

Nightshade looked at Midnight and sighed, before she glared at Ledger and stormed out of the room.

“Aww, she was fun to tease,” Midnight pouted. “And you can’t say you wouldn’t have loved teaching her some manners~”

“I have enough mares in my life as it is,” Ledger deadpanned back.

“I know, I’m just kidding,” Midnight replied. “Sides, I told you already that other thestrals don’t really… well…” She didn’t have to explain to him of all creatures why she wasn’t attracted to thestrals.

“Can’t blame you,” Ledger said as he redonned his pegasus guise. “But for now, I’m gonna just cuddle you.” With that, he was back on the bed and cuddling the buck out of Midnight.

“I suppose I can live with cuddles,” Midnight giggled. “A wife’s work is never done.”