Meanwhile,

After Source had concluded their teachings in magic for the day, since their horns started aching slightly. Source himself, after excusing himself, disappeared somewhere, then two of his friends, Twilight and Apple Jack, followed him out the door. Katie, Dan, and Dave all sat there, blinking. Their mother simply sat there, shaking her head, a small frown on her face. All of them were a little surprised at their brother’s attitude, despite Maeve’s attempts to cheer him up.

“Was Kodi ever that… down looking?” Katie asked.

“I dunno,” Dan shrugged. “You spent the most time around him.”

Celestia cleared her throat. “Your brother’s been… rather depressed since appearing in Equestria. Don’t take it the wrong way; you all being here is putting him in a better mood. I’ve learnt that Source… has a few mental ‘illnesses’ that he had to be medicated for. I’ve seen how he watched you, Maeve, Dave. He’s extraordinary when it comes to magic. Whether he likes to acknowledge it or not, Source is strong in his own way. I don’t believe he’s fully recognized his own strengths, yet. Maeve, you’ve the most potential I’ve seen since my personal prodigy, and Dave shows just as much potential as Source does when it comes to creativity with magic.”

“But…” Dan tilted his head. “Why are you telling us this? We know how talented he must be in this stuff,” the colt tapped the textbook he’d used to learn Levitation. “If it weren’t for Source walking us all through learning magic, we would’ve taken just as long as it took him to figure this stuff out. And I doubt I’d even get close to Kodi’s level.”

“Source… just has periods of feeling down. He looks down at himself so often that it hurts to see sometimes. He declares himself as average, but he’s anything but average. I’ve seen how hard my husband has worked to get to where he is. Pushing past hornaches to devise a spell system that makes up for casting spells with more strength than his above average magic pool could generate. He worked hard to make that fire spell that gave you a heart attack, Maeve.” Celestia shook her head. “Just ignoring his ability to cast so many spells at once, I’ve seen and heard from Source just how incredible he is.

“You all clearly know about alternate realities, you’re all from one, after all. From what Source has told me, if he is given room to breathe and think, he is amazing in practice, despite what controlled tests say about him. He took on alternate versions of myself and Luna, handily. He may not have beaten them, or brute forced his way through them… but he’s smart. I, in a thousand years, would have never thought to use a Mirror Spell on somepony’s horn before they shot off any telekinetic blasts my way. Source came up with this on the fly, apparently.”

“And my son’s still not proud of who he is? I don’t think he coulda woo’d you if he were normal,” Maeve asked.

“He has pride, who doesn’t?” Celestia asked.

“Dad just feels down from time to time,” Button piped up. “I do my best to be the cute little colt that he sees me as, because I know it makes him happy. Dad’s at his best when he’s serving me and Mom. He threw an Ursa Minor into space to keep it from hurting me after it already hurt Mom. Moving something that large is…”

“Hard. Very difficult. Source threw it so hard that it caught fire in the atmosphere.” Celestia sighed and tilted her head dreamily. “It was very attractive, despite how terrifying he seemed at the moment. I believe he did it only to make sure he could take me to the local hospital if need be.”

Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity all watched as Source’s family began discussing ways to improve his self image. Pinkie had other plans, however. Nopony looked super happy and she wanted to change that.

“Hey, I know!” Pinkie piped up. “I can throw a party for him any day, to show how much we all appreciate Source. So instead of being sad, why don’t we all go explore Canterlot? Well, us and Source’s siblings? I’m sure Princess Celestia has to go listen to a bunch of boring nobles talking about how their property is two nanometers smaller than it should be!” She clapped her hooves. “What do you all say?”

“But…” Dan started. “None of us even know how to actually be ponies yet. We can walk and stuff, but…”

“You all can at least Levitate objects now, darling,” Rarity pointed out. “That’s all you need to pass off as regular unicorns. As for your vocabulary, we can just say you aren’t from Equestria.”

“...Okay.” Dan nodded.

As Katie walked with her brothers, as they followed Source’s friends, one thing she noted was… how nice everything looked. Equestria was a lot more colorful than Ireland if Canterlot was a basis for how the country was. Instead of that dreadful, almost constant rain, the sun was nice and bright and felt great on her coat. The ponies themselves were very colorful, some were blue, or yellow like herself. Some were red, some were white. Some were even pink! Though something still just felt… wrong. Equestria was a nice place, and everywhere she looked, a friendly face happily waved at her.

Everyone around her looked so happy.

Everyone looked so nice.

Kodiak apparently got mugged in this same city, though. So there were still bad apples in Equestria, obviously. But then, not everywhere was perfect.

That was whatever. Right now, however, Katie missed her steel toe boots. She kinda missed her dress, or just wearing clothes. The dresses she brought with her don’t fit her, now, quadruped body very well. Her head was now too big to even put the darn thing on her body.

How did Source adjust to not wearing clothes so quickly? Katie couldn’t imagine herself doing that, ever.

“Hey Rarity,” Katie said, trotting up to the mare. Her hoofsteps were quick, rhythmic, and was clearly a gait that was well thought out and practiced to match a mare as… fancy as Rarity was. “Ponies wear clothes, right?” she asked.

“They do, dear. Some do it all the time. Some do it on occasion. Why do you ask?” The fashionista asked. “Are you perhaps interested in trying on a dress or two?”

“A little… I just feel naked. I am naked. It… kinda feels wrong.”

“Oh,” Rarity hummed. “One of those human things, correct? I must say, I do like clothing, and try to wear it when the occasion fits it, but I do not feel the need to wear something all the time unless the occasion calls for it.”

“I just want to wear a nice, simple sundress to cover myself up. I feel… just a little awkward without it.” Katie shrugged. “How did… Source take to not wearing clothes? I’m sure he felt a little weird about that.”

“Oh, Source? He… never really brought the topic up to anypony. He has mentioned hating being a pony, and entirely puts up with it because it allows him to be with the Princess. I do know that Source usually covers himself with a trench coat and white undershirt that he’s dubbed ‘the mage suit’ or whatever. He does usually look rather dashing in it, but if he’s just going out and about, he usually doesn’t even have it on. He wore it a lot during more official things such as Princess Cadance’s wedding, or a fancier version that I made for his own wedding.”

“His highness,” one of the guards accompanying the group butted in. “Has, and still occasionally, trains with the rest of the guard in combat. Most guards don’t want to fight him for a few reasons. One, he’s nice, secondly, he’s bucking terrifying. He joined to get himself in shape, so the Princess could ‘have some eye candy’ in his own words. Physically, he’s fit, but thin because he usually doesn’t eat much of anything. One of the captains got on him for how little he eats sometimes.”

“Terrifying?” Dan asked. “How could anyone find Kodi scary?” He paused and thought about it. “Nevermind. I don’t know how any of us could ever truly compare to him in terms of magic.”

“He hits hard,” the same guard rubbed his shoulder. “With how thin he is, you think he doesn’t have any muscle mass, but in combination with strengthening himself with magic, and his decent muscle mass, he beat a few of the earth ponies in raw, melee derbies.” The guard shrugged. “Either way, he’s somewhat confident in how he looks.” The siblings then noticed that their guard was an earth pony. “Yeah, he kicked my shit in. I was bucking impressed; him being smaller than the average pony by a fair amount makes him harder to hit.”

The siblings all looked at each other. Their eldest brother seemed to unknowingly make things harder for them. It may have taken Kodiak, Source, whatever he chooses to go by nowadays, a year to establish himself in Equestria, but he did it in a way that made it hard for them to stand apart from him. Katie herself was wondering if she’ll go down in history just as ‘Source Code’s little sister’ or if she can actually be known for something else. Dave and Dan were thinking amongst similar lines. Though it hit Dave harder; he wanted to do magic and enjoyed it despite how little exposure he's had to it. Yet he has to find a way to stand apart from Source. It didn't hit Dan as hard; he didn't care much for magic, as useful as it was, but it was still a large cliff he had to climb.

Katie took a long, deep breath herself, before shaking her head. “So can we stop somewhere and I can try out a few clothes?” She asked.

“I can take you, dear,” Rarity nudged the teenaged filly. “I certainly wouldn’t mind doing some shopping. I know the rest of the girls aren’t exactly into fashion. What do you say?”

“That could work, yeah.” The two of them broke off from the group. The earth pony guard that they had slunk into the shadows, watching the pair as they went. “So, how do ponies decide what is ‘fashionable’ or whatever?” Katie asked as they walked.

“Oh, that,” Rarity hummed. “Well, it depends. Obviously there has to be a level of quality to the clothing itself, but it usually varies from pony to pony. I’m sure you’ve noticed just how colorful everypony is, and thus, it’s a matter of finding clothes that make the colors in your mane and fur either pop, or nicely complement them. So say… a nice, blue dress would make your fur pop out, but then it’d be too close to your mane…” Rarity mused.

“...Well,” Katie smiled. “I did art a fair amount… I think a nice, pink sundress would be nice. It’d match the one I wore before I came to Equestria at least.”

“I was thinking we would get a variety of dresses for you, but pink would look lovely, Katie, dear.” Rarity seemed so genuinely nice. “And do not worry about paying for anything. I would be willing to pay for all of it, but Source apparently thought ahead and gave me and each of the girls bit pouches, in case you, or your brothers, wanted anything.” Rarity sighed. “If he weren’t dating the Princess…”

“What? Isn’t he already married?” Katie asked as the two ladies walked into a clothing store. “Wouldn’t that be weird?”

“It is, according to your brother. But ponies are herd animals at heart; it’s not uncommon to find a stallion with at least two wives. It’s more uncommon to see a stallion with just one mare. Though unicorns tend to only have one mate, sometimes they don’t. Colts are an uncommon thing, so usually sharing a stallion is what most mares have to do. I won’t go into the details of how marriage in a herd would work, but essentially everypony involved would have to get along and genuinely love each other for it to work. Source believes he wouldn’t be able to fully treat multiple wives as equals, and has made it abundantly clear that Princess Celestia is all he’ll ever want, or ever need.”

“...So if I want to marry somebody, a guy, I might have to marry another woman as well?” Katie asked.

“It depends, dear, it depends.” Rarity stopped and grabbed dresses as the two walked up each aisle until she noted that Katie wasn’t following her. “Dear? Is polygamy a bit much for you…?”

“No,” Katie shrugged. “I mean, it’s weird, but I’m sure I could adjust. I just noticed… those,” she pointed at a set of metal boots, one for each of her hooves. “Steel toed horse shoes,” she whispered.

“Those are typically for stallions dear,” Rarity pointed out. “However…” She hummed. “You want those, don’t you?” She asked.

“I do.”

“I suppose we can get them. Grab them and you can try them out in the fitting room once I grab all the dresses that you can try out. Making sure each color of dress actually fits your coat nicely would be helpful…”

“Why not use color theory?”

“Oh… That. That same thing Source explained once. You see, he explained it to Twilight at the time, and I was doing my best not to listen. I’m not one for the fine intricacies of how things work. I’m a clothing designer, not a scholar. I like to think that I am somewhat smart, but…”

“Color theory would be useful for making dresses easier,” Katie pointed out.

“That it would. Perhaps you could explain it better since you’re an actual artist.”

Katie ended up trotting out of the store, just behind Rarity. She now wore a simple, pink, floral patterned sundress that hugged her barrel and went over her flanks and tail, ending just above where her legs started. Her tail wagged slightly as her hoofsteps were now metallic in sound, as she had put on her newly acquired steel-hoof boots. She had just concluded how some colors work with others better and the general basics of color theory. Now, she felt a little better about herself, being able to cover herself up.

In Rarity’s magic, she held the few dresses Katie had actually wanted to keep. A few orange ones, a few more pink ones, even simple, white ones.

“I don’t know why Source never fully explained how color theory worked,” Katie sighed. “Probably because he forgot most of it.”

“Well, it never really stuck because Source seemed to barely know what he was talking about,” Rarity nodded. “For all of his strengths, I don’t doubt that art is his weak suit.”

“You have no idea, he drew a dog once and it looked like a snake. He then joked about being the dog they sold him… it would’ve worked if we had a dog.”

Rarity snickered. “I suppose that may be something that you could do to stand out.”

“...What?”

“Don’t think I didn’t notice how you and your siblings’ sudden look of dread upon being reminded of your brother’s accomplishments. You haven’t even heard all of them, let alone seen them. You may not have guessed it, but I am an older sister. I know how Sweetie Belle tries her best to compare herself to me. I’m willing to bet that you were wondering how you could compare, when the truth is, nopony can be compared to anypony. You’re you, and that should be enough… Though sometimes I don’t follow my own advice. It’s hard for anypony to follow it.”

“Yet Kodi wants to say we’re all better at being ponies than he is?”

“Source… he’s a bit of an oddball, to me. One moment, he’s confident and ready to face any day of the week. The next, he’s feeling down and feels like he’s at the bottom of a deep, dark pit. Usually when he’s very confident, he’s around his wife, however.” Rarity shrugged. “I’m surprised he doesn’t take credit for helping you all get settled in. I doubt you’d find it easy if he wasn’t there, helping you.”

“Kodi always downplayed his own strengths, almost to a fault; sometimes he just… falls flat because of how often he thinks he’s ‘bad’ at something.” Katie nodded.

Rarity shrugged. She decided it was time for a new topic. “Oh well. How are you enjoying being a pony so far? I’d say with your dress and shoes, you’ll certainly pick up the interests of a few colts.”

“I do feel pretty, yeah,” Katie shrugged. “I would spin right now, but I’m still adjusting to being on four legs instead of two.”

“I understand, deary. Though…”

“Yeah, this feels weird, my eyes are in the wrong places and too big, I can smell more things and hear more things. Having magic is nice,” Katie noted, holding the box for her steel toe horseshoes. “But I really don’t want to say goodbye to Kodi. Out of my siblings, he is my favorite, after all. He… just always sits and listens to my problems. And now that I’m older, I understand how many of his personal interests he has given up on just for me or my brothers. And have you seen him and Celestia? They’re adorable! It’d be a sin to ask him to choose her or us again.”

“I know they’re a wonderful couple,” Rarity nodded. “They’re perfect for each other.”

Not too long after the Rarity and Katie got done with shopping, it didn’t take them too long to find the rest of the group. Apple Jack and Twilight had managed to join the group while they were gone. Dave was sitting on a bench, reading a book, while Apple Jack was telling Dan all about buck ball. The young colt seemed enthralled at the idea of playing the, traditionally, earth pony dominated sport. Twilight looked up and waved at the approaching unicorns.

“Hey Rairty! Hey Katie! I heard you two were doing some shopping, so I kept our group from moving so that we’d be easier to find. How was it?”

“Katie is a darling,” Rarity giggled. “Look at her!” Katie came to a stop and sat like a cat. Her new sundress and horse boots were immediately noticed by the rest of the gang. Dan and Dave blinked and shrugged. Dave was the only one to speak.

“Why’d you buy clothes, Katie? We really don’t need them anymore,” the young colt pointed out.

“I felt like I needed them,” Katie argued. “It just felt wrong to not wear anything. So I asked Rarity, and after some negotiating, I picked a few dresses and some steel toed boots,” the fully lifted up a hoof and showcased one of the hooves.

“Of course you did,” Dan shook his head.

Dave just shrugged. “I’m looking at it practically, but I do get how you’re feeling,” he admitted. “Being like this is odd, but not awful like Kodi says it was. How could he get used to sleeping with a pony, but not get used to being a pony?” He asked.

“Oh!” Pinkie raised her hoof. “Pick me! I can answer that!” The siblings shared a look before they pointed at the hyperactive pony. “Source never exactly tolerated being a pony because he knew he had no other choice. But now, given the choice, he chose to remain a pony because it would mean saying goodbye to his wife! Now that you guys are here, I think he may actually enjoy being a pony! I know I wouldn’t enjoy being in a new body if I spent most of the time in the new body, missing my family.”

“Pinkie, yer making sense,” Apple Jack pointed out.

“Of course I am. I’m not all giggles and laughter. I know Source hasn’t been the happiest he could be. And how can I, Pinkie Pie, claim to be one of his best friends, if I can't do what I do best? Make my best friends smile?” Pinkie shrugged. “I wouldn’t be Pinkie if I couldn’t make him smile. Though… I still need to plan out mine and Source’s date. I know I can make him smile the whole time during it!”

“But Kodi’s married,” Dan pointed out.

“Ponies, and horses, are herd animals,” Dave pointed out. “I’m assuming for ponies, especially with the lower male population, means a stallion usually marries more than one mare. With that said, I didn’t think Kodi would date two mares.”

“Oh, he won’t,” Pinkie admitted. “He laid a wing over me without remembering how intimate wing hugs are. So now I’m going to kidnap him and take him for a nice date in Ponyville!”

“Ain’t that the place Source said he wouldn’t want us living in?” Katie asked. She tilted her head. Most of the mares present, save Rainbow, thought the filly looked adorable in her dress and boots. Especially the head tilt. “He said the town hall was blown up by three kids and some bread.”

“Oh… that,” Apple Jack chuckled. “Your brother came by during that, instead of the Princess. He trapped the fire in a shield and had the flames die out. Lack of oxygen or whatever; didn't even know fire worked like that.”

“I was gonna have to waste some rain water on that if Source didn’t do that,” Rainbow added. “He heard that and came up with the solution on the spot. Your brother’s an egghead. More than Twilight is.”

“Now that,” Twilight started. “Is saying something, but it’s good to have somepony with a good head on their shoulders. Can you imagine how bucked we’d all be if Source was an idiot?”

“Or if he were evil,” Spike said while rubbing his shoulder.

“...Why would Kodi turn out to be evil?” Katie asked.

“He won’t,” Spike said. “And he’s a bro, but… you all have to admit. Source gets huge power spikes when he’s angry or channeling any emotion that can be tied into dark magic. Source is smart and quick thinking enough to apparently take on evil versions of the princesses and Twilight and win. He said, while on another escapade in the multiverse, that he came across two more evil alicorns. From the sounds of it, he played them like they were fiddles. Source wouldn’t dare raise a hoof to anypony, but the point still stands.

“With how much we’ve accidentally screwed Source during his first Summer Sun Celebration, or if he didn’t love Princess Celestia as much as he does… We’d be hard pressed to do much without the Elements of Harmony. Assuming Source doesn’t find a way to counteract them either.” Spike waved a claw around. “I’ve learnt, a while ago, to think of possibilities. An evil Source, back when he was still new in Equestria, was very possible.” Spike shrugged. “Hey Twilight, why did you lead our group right to where Source was when you tracked him down?”

Source was sitting in the cafe, a small, content smile was on his face as he toyed with a crystal. His ears perked up and called a waitress over. He seemed to have just paid his bill, and then teleported outside to greet the family.

“Hey guys,” he waved. “Twi, did you forget where you were going and lead everypony out here?” Source asked.

“Uh…” Twilight chuckled. “I might have.”

Source walked over and set Dave on his head. “You guys behave for Twilight and her friends?” He asked. He laughed when Dave immediately tried to tickle him. “W-what the-the fuck, man?” Source laughed before immediately plucking the foal off his head and holding him away with his magic. “I thought we were cool, man!” Source laughed.

“And I want to tickle you!”

“And I just wanna hug you!” Source shot back.

“Hey Source…” Dan whispered as he hopped on the older unicorn’s back. “You can’t stop two of
Your siblings, can you-Woah!” Dan was lifted in the air with Source’s magic too. “Katie, we request your assistance!” Dan pleaded, he squirmed helplessly in the magic as his laughter soon mixed with Dave’s.

“Hmm,” Katie hummed.

“Katie, you look adorable,” Source nodded. “Dress is cute, and the boots are a really, really nice touch.”

“Okay, I’m tickling you.” Katie said evilly. Source’s expression fell. “What? Was that really a possibility? Letting you not get tickled?” Source didn’t even fight back. He was pinned down by three of his siblings and squirming on the ground. While he could’ve easily stopped them, he figured it'd be best to let them have their fun and torture him. He loved them too much to deny them that.

Source laid there in a pile, Katie and Dan were tucked under his wings, while Dave sat on his head. A decent amount of ponies sat and stared at their prince. The mares were standing there, cooing at the sight of him laying on the floor, covered in foals. One reporter, a braver one, walked up to the family.

“Sorry to bother you, your highness, but are these… cousins? Children you’ve adopted?”

“Oh…” Source wheezed. “They’re my siblings, man,” he tried to laugh, but he was already lacking oxygen. “Do your best to keep their identities secret. The photo’s cool, it’s probably adorable and I will request a copy whenever it’s printed. I just want them to be able to have normal lives,” he explained.

“Of course!” The reporter bowed.

“Cut it with the bowing. I’m just some dude, married to a princess, not somepony to be revered.”

The reporter chuckled, before backing off into the rest of the crowd.

“Say,” Source hummed. “Y’all remember that one song?”

“The one you sang at school, while drunk, for a talent show?” Katie asked.

“What else?”

Source teleported a bottle of whisky, and let his siblings all have a swig. Twilight opened her mouth to scold Source for that.

“Please, I had my first beer when I was younger than Dave is,” Source chuckled. “Appreciate the concern, but we Irish folk know how to hold our beer. C’mon guys, we gotta head back to the castle if we wanna see Ma and Celly cook some nobles in day court!” They began walking, with Source in the lead as they had begun singing.

Twilight just sat and stared blankly as the siblings, now whole, marched as they harmonized their little tune.

Author's Note

So this is basically what happened while Source was at the donut shop and a little before he got his nose broken.

Source... may grow in power eventually. Though for now, with how often he puts others before him, he probably won't unless it involves protecting those he loves. maybe, just maybe, we'll see just how much he improved... WITH ANOTHER UNICORN COLLEGE CONVENTION!