I hopped off my wagon with a long, deep breath. It turns out that Blaze was told of Luna and Celestia showing up and being assholes while I was out. The wagon was… in what looked like a refugee camp. A field littered with wagons, white tents, there was even a small clinic being held by the local guard with aid from any hospital staff or unicorns that knew how to use healing spells. I took a nice stretch and nodded. Cadance and Shining Armor were at the clinic lending aid however they could. Most ponies were eyeing Chrysalis, Blaze, and Murk somewhat warily, but seeing as Chrysalis was the strongest being with magic present, some seemed a little thankful that she wasn’t openly hostile.

In fact, she was sitting on top of my wagon watching the horizon, her horn was lit as though she was waiting for a cannon ball to come hurtling through the sky and crashing into the campsite.

“Why’d y’all move the wagon while I was sleeping?” I asked as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. A can of chili was tucked under my wing.

“You slept for a whole day.” Blaze pointed out. “Murk woke up, and told us to get out of Baltimare before two of our ‘favorite’ alicorns showed up.” Blaze lit the fire pit in front of the wagon. “So we moved the wagon, and Cadance and Shining Armor requested that we stop here to see if anypony got hurt. I’m certain that you would love to see that the ponies, that you gave time to flee, are doing fine.” Blaze nosed towards a group of ponies that were watching me. They were all from the diner. That gave me a genuine reason to smile.

“I’m glad I made a difference somewhere.” Chrysalis, sensing that I was getting breakfast, or just wanting to pester me, hopped down from the top of our wagon, and wrapped her forelegs around my neck as I heated up my can. “Good morning, dear. Did you sleep well?”

“I have. Shining Armor has announced that I am the main line of defense for this refugee camp until the Royal Guard can arrive; they should be here by the end of the day. Most of the ponies initially thought I was mind controlling him again, but then noted that he said that while I was holding you liked a plushie and was wearing a sleeping cap. Seeing as it was widespread news that I’ve defeated Princess Celestia in a duel, most ponies began to relax just a little.”

“...You were carrying me around like a plushie?” I asked.

“Yes. Do you think I would leave you alone? Some physical contact, such as cuddling with you while you are asleep is necessary for your pony biology; I would know. I also had to be somewhat aware of what was going on amongst the camp, so I had to cuddle with you and be mobile. So that’s what I did; carry you like a plush. Is that bad?”

“No. I think that’s cute.” I pried the can open and let it sit. “So, anything happened while I was apparently knocked out for a day?”

“I am now pregnant,” Blaze announced. “Chrysalis offered to keep watch over you for a few hours, so Murk and I ran into the nearby woods.” I noted that she had been laying down the whole time. “Don’t worry, I can still run and use magic. I just don’t believe I can see any combat any time soon; I don’t want to risk hurting the pups I am carrying.”

“How many pups are you carrying?” I asked.

“Around four. They all should be nice, strong, and healthy given who their father is. That does mean I, or Murk will need to hunt more when they are born. Young kitsune and kumiho do require food until they reach maturity at thirty years old.”

“How long… does it last?”

“Not that long, only one hundred and twenty days. By the time we reach Chrysalis’s Hive, I should be a quarter through this.” She smiled. “What?” I squeezed my way out from Chrys’s grasp and stumbled over to where my kitsune was. I rested my ear on her belly and listened. Nothing yet. I could hear four little heartbeats though. I slowly lifted a hoof up to my muzzle as I listened. I blinked a few times as I felt tears start filling them. It wasn’t from being sad at least.

“Oh my… god.” I stood up gently, as though if I moved too fast I could hurt Blaze or the little treasures in her belly. I was so scared of accidentally doing just that. “Do we need to do anything? Like get you food, water, any of that?” I asked as I gently moved a hoof to the Kitsune’s jaw, and started rubbing away. Blaze’s tails wagged ever so lightly; she was getting happy at my sheer excitement at the news. Or she just liked getting her jaw rubbed.

“I produce enough magic to sustain the pups’ nutrients while I am carrying them.” She giggled. “You are being so gentle; it’s adorable, Ostri. You can still hug me and whatnot, as I am not glass that needs holding or anything. As long as I don’t run too much, or fight too much, I, and the pups, will be fine.”

“...I… Uh. Holy fuck. I never thought I’d see you carrying your own pups,” I chuckled. “Oh man, I cannot wait to spoil them when they’re running around and being little hooligans.” I clapped my hooves.

“Watch out, Ostri, your pony side is showing,” Murk said with a smirk. “You’re more excited about pups than Blaze and I are.”

“I love puppies, dude. We humans have basically grown and survived for thousands of years alongside dogs; I think it’s impossible for anyone that likes dogs to not think that puppies are adorable. And they’re gonna be fox kits! Do you have any idea how much I’ve wanted to hold one before I came to Equestria? I couldn’t, because there were a lot of hoops in holding one, let alone owning a fox kit. Now, if you two will allow me to, I can hold one!” I clapped my hooves more. “Oh… Can I hold one when they come?”

Blaze shook her head as she adopted a very doggish-grin. “Ostri, you’re going to be their ‘babysitter’ whenever my little rascals start being overtly annoying.”

Score! I clapped my hooves, before Chrysalis pointed out that my food was getting cold. And also teasing me for looking cute. Murk and Blaze, even Chrysalis were staring at me. “Is something on my nose?” I asked in an ‘am I in trouble?’ tone… Why did I ask that as a joke? Why am I actually joking around? And making shitty jokes while I’m at it.

“No, you’re happy. Not even just happy, there is some joy inside of you right now,” Blaze pointed out. “Is the prospect of being an ‘uncle’ in your mind really all it took to get you into a much, much better frame of mind?”

“I guess? How could I not be excited? My best friend, who happens to be my pet, is gonna have babies. I’m gonna be able to play with puppies for thirty years, and it will be so, fucking awesome!” I clapped my hooves; thank god for wings as I was holding the chili can with those. “Mmm. I think this is helping me a little too much. I asked you, jokingly, if something is on my nose when it’s the first thing I look at whenever I blink or open my eyes.”

“...You told a horrible joke,” Chrysalis was the one to clap her hooves this time. It was adorable. She eeped when I kissed her right on the nose after she did that. “WHAT THE BUCK!?” She shouted. “LET ME KNOW NEXT TIME YOU DECIDE TO DO THAT!” She nuzzled me and started smothering me with kisses. “So that next time, I can kiss you back.” Her voice got rather husky when she said that. “After all, what kind of marefriend would I be if I did not reciprocate your kisses and your hugs?”

“You’d still be my Chrysalis, Chrysalis.”

She cringed at my very amazing line. “You cheesy little bitch.” We shared a kiss anyway.

A few hours later, I was walking around the refugee camp, seeing how everyone was. Chrysalis had to remain on watch, and Murk was being extra protective of Blaze. Basically, I was left to my own accord. I was… feeling great for once. I saved some ponies, Blaze is going to be a mother, I’m going to be an uncle. I’m gonna be a father one day if me and Chryssy keep going at this rate… I’m going to be a fucking dad one day. I might technically already be a Dad. I watched as Fluttershy was tending to the less serious injuries on as many of the foals as she could.

Pinkie was doing her damn best at keeping morale up with her antics and it was working.

Rainbow, despite wanting to help keep morale up, was just helping Pinkie with her antics; a Sonic Rainboom would say ‘hey, we’re here! Come and kill us!’ Twilight somehow got Starlight to come by, dunno how since Starlight was still in Ponyville, but I wasn’t questioning it since she was apparently able to contend with alicorns in terms of magic. So I just assumed she teleported. Between the two of them, Starlight and Twilight could heal ponies in seconds, which is what they were doing until they caught sight of me.

“Hey Starlight,” I waved as they approached. “Wassup?”

“...You seem so mellow in comparison to when I first… dragged you here by accident. Sorry about that, by the way. I’ve never got to say that.”

“...Hey, you apologized.” I smirked. “Appreciate that. But… Hey, I’ve got a few friends, I’m gonna be an uncle, and I’ve got Chrysalis to look forward to when I wake up everyday. I… this is the first time I’ve stayed happy without interacting with Blaze, or Chrysalis, hell, even one of Twilight’s friends… Well, excluding Rarity; fuck that bitch.” They offered me some water, which I took. “So, how is healing everypony?”

“Nopony got injured, save for…”

“The one pony that took a cannonball to the head,” I said bluntly. I squirmed at that. “Fuck. That fucking sucked, dude.”

“...Hey, I was actually going to hold a little ceremony for you.” Twilight said with a small smile. “You clearly have your heart in the right place; those ponies you saved? They were singing your praises once they got somewhere safe and got over their initial shock. Most of the camp knows that they kept their homes from being completely ransacked by the yetis’ battalion. I’ve just requested that their savior’s cutie mark and colors be kept a little hush-hush. You could use a bit of a break for once, don’t you think?”

“...Damn.” I chuckled. “No longer sticking to Celestia’s flanks?”

“No. After what Cadance had told me, I… Don’t think I can see Celestia in the same light that I once did. What she did, to you, is beyond messed up. What she wanted was to have you fight a war for her, when you needed some rest and care. So no, I’m not trusting her judgement anymore. Rarity… seems to have distanced herself from the rest of us because you aren’t doing the ‘right thing’ and falling in love with the princess like ‘the stallion should in fairytales’.”

“Man…” I tilted my head. “Wait, what ceremony?” Twilight lifted up a blue little ribbon, with a metal center that was actually colored to match the elements of harmony, I’m assuming.

“It’s not as fancy as the suit of armor you’re supposed to get with it, but I don’t think that would fit your style. You are now Ostri, the Defender of Harmony… However, I suggest that as soon as you make your stops in Equestria, you get out. I know you don’t truly wish to fight anymore, and frankly, the changelings, nowadays, are so nice that I think they'll help you feel even better than you do right now.”

“When’s the ceremony?”

“It just happened. I gave you the medal, you go about your day. You deserve some peace and quiet. You can’t get that if everypony here is singing your praises; I had to pull my princess card, as did Cadance, to keep everypony from doing that.”

“Y’know what, Twilight?” I wrapped my foreleg around her neck, after stepping beside her. My hoof rested on her shoulder. “You’re quite alright after all.” We both looked up as we watched a royal chariot pull through the skies. My least favorite alicorns just flew in on a chariot. “Motherfucker…” I shook my head. “Hey, if you hurt me enough to not kill me, but badly enough to warrant medical attention, I’ll pay you money. That way I can pretend to be dead and those two cunts will piss off.”

“...You don’t seem like you’re mad, sad or… You’re still smiling.” Twilight pointed out. “Are you alright?

“Nah. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is gonna ruin my mood. Blaze got done telling me that she’s having pups. Chrysalis and I are getting along swimmingly, and for the first time in a while, I’m feeling content. I’m feeling happy. Princesses be damned, I won’t help’em anyways, and I’ll be back at my wagon if you need me. I’m gonna go hop in the snuggle pile that Blaze and Murk just made. Send your friends, excluding Rarity, my way if you can. Starlight, come talk with me if you can as well. Chrysalis, Cadance, and Shining Armor’s got a job to do, so I’ll be here until their jobs are done.”

“Okay… Chrysalis won’t hurt me, will she?”

“No. She shouldn’t want to. When she first wanted you dead, she was a little insane, and you bruised her ego by offering her ‘mercy’ after ‘beating’ her in battle. See y’all!”

I could, in fact, not get to my wagon in time. The waitress from the diner… I never got her name. Like, ever. Well, the waitress brought me over to the diner’s staff team, or the surviving crew. All but one cook. She walked up to me and waved. “Hey… Bald Ostrich was your name, right?”

“It is, but I prefer going as Ostri.” I reached out with my hoof. “How’re you doing… you never gave me your name, by the way.”

“Oh, I’m Blossom; my cousin was the captain of the night guard… Was. She read what Princess Luna called you in the papers, after watching you save Canterlot, and left the guard right after. The princesses have been trying to find a replacement ever since.”

“...You are relatively calm, given you watched your coworker…”

“I know. It’s just that… Those of us that survived, are just happy to be alive still. We’ll obviously hold a funeral Carrot Cake, and let his family know what happened to him… But we’re just happy to still be alive. You may think it’s a bit weird, since apparently you never lived in Equestria… but we ponies have learnt to move on when one of us dies rather… quickly. Especially if we barely knew the pony that died.”

“I’m assuming because we’re prey animals, and y’all’s ancestors watched a lot of each other get eaten before.”

“...Huh. That may be why ponies move on so quickly. I never thought of that.” Blossom led me over to where the rest of her coworkers were. “Hey everypony! It’s Ostri, the pony that-”

I was pulled into a six way, bone crushing hug. I yelped upon initially having six sets of forelegs wrap around various locations of my body, such as my neck, barrel, legs, flanks. Ponies are less weird about touching each other in spots close to more… private parts of each other. I suppose when your species doesn’t wear clothing, that’s relatively normal? I don’t fucking know. Moving on so quickly after watching one of your own kind getting put on the front page of a newspaper is a little odd…

But it kinda makes sense with my own little ‘theory’ which is probably more of a fact. The Apple Clan, or the ancient Apple Family always had one pony on watch, because Equestria was a lot less tame back in the day.

After that was all said and done, I started wandering around some more, instead of heading to that cuddle pile I said I was gonna join in on. I kept on walking until I heard… Some ponies behind me. Well, just one. Celestia was here, apparently, since I could hear Cadance yelling at her from across the camp. I couldn’t make out what was being said, but I glanced over… and Celestia did not look very happy. Well, she looked borderline uncomfortable.

“You let your pet do that to me?”

“Do what? Keep you from harassing me?” I asked. I was still in a good mood despite Luna being here… Mmm, yeah, Blaze becoming a mother is definitely raising my mood a lot.

“Kill me like that!”

“You’re alive. Quit bitching.”

“...You know what I mean.”

“That’s a shame if I do or not. So, does this mean you and your guards are here to keep this place safe? Me and my group wanna get moving; we’ve still got a Hive to stop at, after all.”

“...You’ve not cursed at me or told me to go away yet. Is something wrong with you?” She asked, walking beside me. “You’re allowing me to be here.”

“Eh, I don’t think it matters if you’re here or not. Answer my question; is there a group of soldiers here that’ll protect this place?” I asked.

“...Yes.”

“Cool. I’mma tell Cadance and Shining and Chrysalis, and we’ll start heading down to the Hive. I wanna get moving asap; the Hive’s a good week’s worth of traveling away and I’ve been screwing around in Baltimare for too long.”

“Can you at least look angry, sad, anything other than content?”

“Nah.” We stopped at my wagon, where everyone present, Shining and Cadance had already made their way over here apparently, was glaring at Luna. “Hey Blaze, how ya doing?” I asked. I got on my belly again and laid my head on my fox’s belly. Same, four heartbeats. I slowly looked at Murk. “No killing the princesses; they’ll be why we’re leaving this camp.”

“I am more reasonable than that, Ostri, come on now. I only strike if struck first; you know this!

“I’m just making sure.” Blaze started sounding like a car engine. One glance behind me told me why.

“Why are you…”

“Blaze is carrying pups.” I smiled. “I am fucking excited about that. Wake up after a whole day of sleeping and the next thing I know, Blaze tells me the news. I’ve been in a good mood ever since.” Luna blinked a few times.

“It… Is nice to see you being happy, at least. Is it too late to say I love you?”

“Where’s those wedding necklaces, woman? I need to see them.” She levitated the two boxes. I snagged both, opened them and hummed. “Yeah, those’ll sell for like twenty bits somewhere, I think. If I’m lucky, they’ll sell for twenty-five bits.”

“...Wedding necklaces?” Cadance asked. “I never heard of those.”

“It was a tradition I was gonna start up a thousand years ago.” I gave a sultry look to Luna who started looking excited. “I may start…” I turned to Chrysalis. “The tradition with the mare I love. I gotta sell this junk first, though; gotta pay for the wedding somehow.” I lifted mine and Luna’s necklaces. “You two ready to go?”

“Yeah. Twilie and her friends will be following us, by the way. They… Uh,” Shining hummed. “Well, I’ll tell you when we leave camp-”

“LUNA BACK THE BUCK AWAY FROM OSTRI YOU FUCKING BITCH!” Cadance shouted. “YOU’VE NO RIGHT TO LOOK SAD OR DEPRESSED AFTER WHAT YOU JUST DID! SLANDER A GOOD STALLION’S NAME AND HAVE THE NERVE TO THINK HE’LL COME AND MARRY YOU?!” Now everypony was looking our way. They all started whispering at that.

“Hey, isn’t that the pony from the papers? The one that was Luna’s consort?”
“Why isn’t she leaving that stallion alone? He clearly didn’t want anything to do with Luna judging from what she said during the interview.”
“That stallion-” I didn’t care, I motioned for the rest of my group, save Shining who was slowly growing more and more aroused at his wife’s tirade, to get on the wagon.

“YOU BUCKING HARLOT, LEARN HOW TO TREAT A STALLION INSTEAD OF LICKING YOUR SISTER’S BUCKING PLOT! THAT'S ALL YOUR MOUTH'S GOOD FOR, SEEING AS YOU NEVER HAVE YOUR OWN BUCKING IDEAS! YOU EAT THEM OUT OF YOUR SISTER'S ASS, DON'T YOU!?"

Luna could quite clearly hear the whispers and Cadance’s.. That’s the first time I’ve seen her angry. It’s terrifying. Anyways, Luna looked about ready to cry.

“Hey,” Blossom stepped out from the crowd. “Didn’t Princess Luna say that Ostri, who saved a lot of ponies, was a spy for the Storm King or something?”

“Yeah, she did!” Another pony shouted.

“I knew Princess Luna’s just as bad as Nightmare Moon!” Some old mare shouted. "Always out to ruin at least one pony's life!"

Ah, Luna’s running away like a bitch to hide under Celestia or something. I dunno, I stopped looking after ten seconds. I will admit, her hips are still nice... Only because they were making her run away from me as quickly as possible. When Luna tripped, the moment I looked away, I will admit, that was kinda funny. After I looked away, I turned my gaze to Cadance who looked like she didn't just yell so many slurs, that I'm surprised that she knew them, at her aunt. Or that she just insulted Luna, in ways only a pony that loved her could, for ten minutes straight.

“Okay! So when we get home, since the Elements of Harmony, save Rarity, are moving to the Crystal Empire… I’m writing a declaration of independence. The empire has plenty of unused space to be turned into farms. Everypony just sent letters to their families, and their families are going to be smuggled into the Crystal Empire by griffins!” Cadance looked so much happier now.

“I hope you know that Shining Armor’s gonna wanna have sex with you when you two get somewhere private. You just turned him on and into overdrive with what you were saying.”

“I know!” Cadance clapped her hooves. “I’ve never been so angry before! The look on Luna’s face… You seem to be doing better. Excited to see Luna’s reputation fall through the earth?”

“Nah. I’m happy because I’mma be an uncle to a bunch of kitsune pups. And,” I lifted the necklaces. “MORE TRAVEL MONEY! WOO!” I clapped my hooves. “So, I think I’m gonna propose to Chrysalis when we get to the empire; by then we should know if we wanna marry or not. Then our honeymoon will be filled with hot, kinky sex… Hey Cadance, can you make something like these necklaces for me and Chrysalis? I wasn’t joking about starting a new tradition.”

“...Ostri, you’re telling me to start a new tradition that shows just how much two ponies love each other…” Cadance nodded. “I will. You didn’t even have to ask after you put the idea in my mind… I’ll stick a necklace on Shining and I while I’m at it.” We all looked out the back of our wagon… and yelped when Pinkie climbed into it. Apple Jack was pulling the wagon full of the rest of the Bearers along with a very reluctant Rarity.

“WHAT THE BUCK, PINKIE!?” I shouted. “How the buck-”

“I wanted to hug you; you’re in such a better mood that you wouldn’t deny me a hug no matter what!”

…

…

Pinkie hugs were really nice as it turned out.

Author's Note

i'd say roughly by the time the gang reaches the Equestrian/Griffonian border, Blaze will have four little pups running around. I kept Luna's bit short, and Celestia off in the distance for a reason; Ostri doesn't care about either of them. He barely even really gave Luna the time of day before Cadance started yelling at her. He didn't even pay attention to what Cadance was saying, as he straight up didn't care about Luna at the moment. At a minimum, Luna's reputation is gonna shit itself at least. Celestia... is down a super weapon and a god of chaos, soon the changelings won't be supporting her either when they see what their mother is doing.