The Royal 3: Orion’s passage

February 7 1012 A.G
Canterlot Castle.
7:05 AM.

As the Sun rose over the horizon and illuminated the bedroom. Twilight woke up from her deep slumber and use her magic to pull the curtains over to shield her eyes from the blinding light.

After she was done stretching, she rolled over to look at her sleeping husband. The purple Alicorn scooted closer to Artemis and hugged him. Being careful not to poke him with her horn.

Feeling Twilight tight embrace, Artemis open his eyes.

“Good morning, Twi.” He greeted.

“Good morning, Pluto.” She said lovingly before giving him a kiss on the lips. Artemis put his hand on Twilight’s baby bump and felt a kick.

“Aww, our little foal knows his dad is home.”
Twilight mention.

“That was a strong little kick. I can already tell he is going to be a force to be reckoned with.” Said Artemis.

“Just like his father.” She said sweetly.

“And this little foal will be a wonderful and intelligent person, just like his mom.” He replied as he touched Twilight’s cheek.

“Already giving out compliments I see.” She smiled.

“You’re the one that started it. Should we get ready for breakfast now?”

“No, I want to stay in bed a little bit longer. It’s been a little while since we were snuggled up like this.”

“All right, you win. Do you want to be the little spoon?” He ask.

“You have read my mind.”

Twilight rolled over on to her right side and Artemis embraced her from behind as he put his hand on her stomach. They stayed like for a while, showing each other with affection and enjoying each other’s company in the peace and quiet.

But eventually, they knew that their cuddle session had to come to an end.

“Twi, I would like to spend the entire morning like this, but we have to get up.” Artemis stated.

“I know.”

“But you can enjoy the bed a little longer. I’ll go first.” He kissed Twilight on the cheek before getting out of bed.

===•••===
7:45 AM

After they got ready for the day, Twilight and Artemis made their way to the Castle’s Dining Room, holding each other’s hands while doing so.

When they arrive, they saw that Lauren, Atlas Uncle Barlow and Nicholas were at the table.

“Good morning, every po- *Ahem* I mean everybody.” Twilight greeted.

“Good morning.” Atlas replied as he looked over his newspaper before taking a sip of his morning coffee.

“Morning.” Nicholas and Barlow said.

“Good morning, young ones. I’m assuming you’re having a wonderful morning so far?” Lauren smiled.

“We are.” Artemis answered.

“That’s good to hear.”

“How are you guys doing?” Twilight ask.

Lauren put her tea cup down before answering. “I am doing quite well.”

“Last night was the best sleep I ever had in my life.” Barlow chimed in. “I swear that mattress has to be made out of clouds.”

“That’s because they are. We just got them last year.” Atlas answered.

“In that case, you wouldn’t mind if I took one of them back to the U.S?” The Marine said jokingly.

“I wouldn’t allow you to take one, but maybe Celestia would, who knows.” His nephew said sarcastically.

“Where is Celestia anyway?” Twilight ask.

“The she’s in the kitchen, making us breakfast.” Nicholas spoke up.

“She is? Oh, we’re going to be eating good today!”
Artemis said.

“She is that good at cooking?” Barlow asks.

“Good doesn’t even tell you how great she is at it. Her skills are almost on the same level as some of castle chefs. If she wasn’t an empress, I wouldn’t be surprised if she decides to open up a restaurant or a bed & breakfast.”

“So, you’re saying she can create something better than my famous waffles with sausages?”

“Sorry uncle, it’s true.” Atlas said as he put his newspaper down.

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Barlow said confidently.

A few moments later, the dining room doors open, revealing Apollo and Luna.

“Good morning, everyone.” Luna greeted.

“Morning, Luna, morning Apollo.” Lauren answered.

“Good morning.” Said Apollo.

“Apollo, didn’t you patrol the dream realm last night?” Atlas ask after noticing his brother did not look tired at all.

"I did."

“So how are you wide awake?”

“Oh, you wouldn’t believe what five-hour energy can do for a person that just came from the dream realm.” Apollo answered as he and his fiancé took a seat at the table.

“Oh no.” Barlow sighed.

“Here we go again.” Nicholas chuckled.

“You brought American energy drinks to Equestria?” Artemis said in disbelief.

Apollo nodded. “Don’t worry, I know my limit.”

“Oh really? Like that time when you stayed up of a full 24 hours to complete a project, consuming nothing but monster energy. Only to black out on the New York subway after school.”

This made Luna laugh. “Please tell me you’re not making this up?”

“It’s true, we were in high school at the time.”

Seeing his brothers trying to hold back their laughter, Apollo blushed in embarrassment. “Nick, I thought we agreed not to talk about that.”

“I’m sorry, I had to it was the right moment. I still remember that we nearly missed our stop because we were trying to wake you up.”

“I remembered that. That was a very interesting afternoon.” Said Artemis.

“Nicholas, screw you.”

“I love you too, buddy.” Nicholas said.

“I don’t get it. What’s so bad about falling asleep on the Subway?” Twilight whispered to Luna.

“The New York subway system could be an interesting place, if you know what I mean.”
Luna whispered.

“Changing the subject. What are we having today?” Apollo ask.

“Celestia is making us pancakes.” Atlas answered.

“That a surprising, too bad everyone else is not joining us.”

“Speaking of which, where is everyone else?” Nicholas ask.

“I don’t know where every single person is. But I do know that Stephanie and Maya are in the hot Springs, the Marino sisters are in the spa as well. Andrew is in the castle library and the little cousins are beating my father in a snowball fight in the gardens. I am convinced that he letting them win.” Luna answered.

“Of course he is.” Lauren chimed in.

“After breakfast maybe we should go and join them.” Nicholas suggested.

“Maybe.” Artemis said.

It was at this moment when someone teleported in the dining room.

The creature in question that was wearing a dark blue HMMLR uniform is green with orange antlers and the eyes were completely purple.
Not only that, but this creature is tall, standing around 6 foot 8 in height.

It wasn’t unusual to hear about other creatures from around the world joining the HMMLR, but the triplets never seen any creature like him before.

“Good morning, every creature.” He said before walking over to Luna. “Your majesty, do you know where Celestia is?”

“She is busy in the kitchen.”

“Oh, well can you give her these reports?”

“Sure thing, Lieutenant.” She said, after being handed the papers.

“Luna, I don’t want to be rude, but who is this?”
Artemis asks.

“You really don’t recognize me, do you?” The creature said.

“No, we don’t. You sound familiar, but that’s it.” Apollo spoke up.

“It me, Thorax the changeling.” He smiled.

Hearing the word "changeling" made Barlow look up from his phone.

Artemis’ eyes widen. “It is you! You look so different.”

“That’s an understatement, before you was two inches shorter than us now you’re taller than everyone else.” Apollo said, as he got up from his chair to get a closer look at the tall changeling.

As the triplets were conversing with their friend, Barlow couldn’t believe his eyes.

His nephews, the heroes of the American Northeast, was talking with a changeling. A potential enemy!

‘Have they lost their goddamn minds?’ He thought.

The marine heard too many horror stories from his comrades about changelings acting all friendly after they were captured only to harm someone when their guard was down. Heck even disguising themselves as dead soldiers.

He was not going to allow anyone to hurt today, not on his watch.

He reached for a sharp knife, but Lauren stopped him by putting her left hand over his.

“Don’t worry he’s not a threat.” Lauren whispered.

“How did you-“

“I’ve been around for thousands of years, I know the look.”

“Are you sure he’s trustworthy?” He whispered back.

Lauren nodded.

“All right, but I’m still going keep my eye on him.”

“Thorax, how did you become like this? Is this a new disguise you’re trying out?” Atlas asked.

“No, it’s my new original form. I got it because when I collected love, I shared some of it with others instead of hoarding it, that’s why my wings were sparkly for weeks. Then while you were gone, I transform into this. I look pretty good, but one downside is that I had to replace my entire wardrobe and get a new uniform.” He explained.

“I can imagine it’s going be pretty strange for every changeling when the same thing happens to them.” Said Apollo.

“True but I’m sure every changeling will get used to it.” Thorax replied before the door to the kitchen opened, revealing Celestia pushing a cart full of trays.

“Good morning, everyone.” She greeted before noticing the changeling in the room. “Oh, good morning, Thorax.”

“Good morning, your majesty.” He answered.

“Where is the rest of the family?” Celestia ask.

“They’re not going to be joining us since they either still asleep or doing something around the castle.” Apollo answered.

“Oh, well in that case, I’ll leave these plates in the kitchen for them.” She said before teleporting most of the platters away. “Thorax, do you want to join us?”

“I appreciate the offer, but I need to get back to my office. I’ll see you all later.” Moments later he teleported out of the dining room.

After that, Celestia levitated the platters and place them on the table.

Everyone lifted their covers to see three pancakes stacked on top of each other with a big smiley face made of fruit.

“This looks interesting.” Barlow said to himself.

“This is the best pancakes I ever had. I don’t think I can go back to store-bought ones after this.”
Nicholas stated before putting another fork full his in mouth.

Hearing this, Barlow cut himself a piece and put it in his mouth. In that moment, he tasted all the wonderful flavors on his fork.

“Oh my God.” He swallowed before continuing. “Celestia, you win. I can’t beat this.”

His statement confused the sun empress.

===•••===
10:35 AM
Downtown Canterlot.

By the time everyone woke up and got ready for the day, it was finally time for them to go out and explore the city.

Since everyone wanted to do different things, they decide to split into two groups.

Artemis, Twilight, Apollo and their friends would meet up with Twilight’s friend group and have fun in the tourist areas.
While Atlas and his relatives will see some of many famous sites around the city. Eventually reuniting at the Canterlot mega mall.

Right now, Apollo and his group is on board a water taxi waiting for the ship to arrive at their destination. Since almost one in three roads were only for pedestrians, they decided to explore the city on foot.

“Man, I am so psyched for this. We’re going to be encountering some interesting stuff, I just know it.” Tyrone said gleefully as he held his camera in his hands.

“You know it. Just keep your excitement down to a minimum, some ponies are watching us after all.”
Apollo answered.

“Honestly, I’m surprised how quick the News outlets were to report on our arrival.” Annie said after looking behind her seat to look at her friends. “It’s barely been 24 hours and we’re already on the front page of every newspaper.”

“That’s the Equestrian media for ya. You should be grateful that they didn’t mob us after we got off of 999.” Artemis chimed in as he leans over Apollo seat from behind.

“Oh shoot, that reminds me.” Tyrone said as he took his phone out from his pocket. “After I finish breakfast, I turned on my phone, and I got a notification that the Galaxy Express made headlines from my News app.”

He showed his friends the article which had a photo of the express flying into sky. “Some are calling it the magic train.”

“Really, that’s what they are calling the train?” Nicholas joined the conversation after takeoff his headphones. “These journalists have no creativity. If I was writing that article, I would’ve given it a much more fitting nickname like ‘the train of the Cosmos’ or the ‘Astro express.’ But I’m glad they don’t have such creativity. It will allow me to stand out when I join the world of journalism.”

Artemis agreed. “Yeah the nickname is pretty bland. It’s making it sound like the Polar Express, if you ask me.”

“So what are we supposed to do if we do get mobbed by a bunch of nosy journalists?” Claire asked.

“Don’t worry the Royal guards are going to prevent that.” Apollo said nonchalantly. “If they were not here, I would suggest that you accept your fate, you’re famous now.”

Moments later, the ship honked its horn, letting its passengers know that it reached the station.
After they disembarked, it didn’t take long for them to find their friends from Ponyville. Soarin and Cheese Sandwich were with them as expected.

But there was also a familiar draconquus accompanying them.

“Oh God, not him.” Artemis was not ready for the mess the chaos God might create.

“Out of all the days he shows up it has to be today.” Apollo mumbled.

“Good morning girls, morning Spike.” Twilight greeted.

“Good to see you, egghead. How was it spending time with your human side of the family?” Rainbow ask.

“It was a bit chaotic, but I had a wonderful time. Now I know how Artemis got his personality from.” Twilight answered.

“That’s the great thing of having a big family, Twi.”
Applejack said as she put her arm around her friend. “You don’t know what is going to happen when you’re with them.”

“Soarin, Cheese, it’s so good to see you two.” Apollo said as he hugged the pegasus and the earth pony.

“Right back at ya, pal. Sorry we weren’t there to give you a hero’s welcome yesterday. I pinky promise Mr. and Mrs. Cake that I would help them out. And you know I don’t break a pinky promise.” Cheese explained after they separated.

“What is your excuse?” Artemis ask the blue Pegasus.

“I had some stuff to take care of at the wonderbolt stadium.”

“All right, we forgive you. But next time please come over and say hello. Especially you, Soarin. Since you’re almost as fast as your girlfriend.” Apollo said.

“Don’t worry, we will.” Soarin replied.

This is when Artemis noticed Fluttershy. “Oh, hey Fluttershy, sorry for taking so long to greet you.”

“It’s all right I knew you didn’t mean it. I should’ve tapped you or something.” She said in her usual soft tone. “It’s a wonderful day to be out and about. With all this snow, maybe we could go to a park and build a snow pony.”

This is when Discord appeared out of thin air.
“Snow ponies? My dear Fluttershy, there’s so much you can do with this fluffy stuff.” The snow underneath him turned into a large snow fort, which expanded into the road and a car nearly drove into it. “The possibilities are endless!”

“Hello Discord.” Artemis said in a neutral tone after Discord got rid of the snow fort and teleported in front of him.

“Hello Artemis, how was your trip back to your home planet? I bet it was great seeing your mommy and daddy again.”

Artemis didn’t know why, but the way the Lord of chaos referred to his parents that way pissed him off a little. But he didn’t show it. “Besides seeing part of my hometown getting destroyed, it was fine.” He turned to Fluttershy and ask.

“Fluttershy, can I talk to you privately real quick? There’s something important I have to ask you.”

“Oh, ok.” She said before they walked away from the group and Artemis cast a privacy bubble around them. So no one can see or hear them.

“So, what do you want to ask me?”

Artemis took a deep breath before answering. “Flutters, why is Discord here?”

This question surprised the animal lover. “Because he wanted to come along and see you and your brothers.”

‘Yeah fucking right.’ He thought.

“Why didn’t the sea pony stallion that you’ve been dating for a while come? What’s his name?” He snapped his fingers a few times before he remembered. “Genesis! Why didn’t you bring Genesis?”

“He wanted to come, but he has a busy schedule at the Ponyville search and rescue. But he’ll be here for the wedding tomorrow.” She answered.

“Make sense, he is a busy man.”

“Artemis, why don’t you want Discord to be here?”
Fluttershy inquired.

“Because I’m worried that he might start some trouble with the New Yorkers. They are here in an alien world where everything is very foreign to them. And I don’t want Discord to freak them out. You and I had to deal with his bullshit when we first met him, and I don’t want the same thing to happen to them.”

“He would do no such thing to your friends. I know you and Discord don’t have the best relationship, but that’s no excuse to exclude him.” She spoke.

“It’s not about me. It’s about making sure that everyone has a fun day without anyone needing therapy. I can handle a lot of things, like Twilight weird experiments, Pinkie Pie’s pinky sense and world changing events to name a few. Not witnessing one of my friends having a psychotic break.”

“He is not that draconquus anymore, he doesn’t want to hurt any pony. He will be on his best behavior. I’m sure of it.”

Artemis weighed his options. He could just tell Discord to go home so his friends wouldn’t be at risk from his antics. But now he thought about it, the chances of him acting up is pretty low since Twilight, Apollo and himself were here.

Finally, he had made his decision. “Ok I’ll give him one chance.”

Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief.

“But if he causes Annie to be a therapist for one of our friends, I am not afraid of throwing that man into a mountain.” Artemis said. “Do you have anything else to say?”

“Not really.”

“Ok.” Artemis got rid of the privacy spell before he and Fluttershy rejoin the group.

“So, what did you guys talk about?” Spike asks.

“We were talking about Disc-“

“Me and Fluttershy were talking about what we can do while we were in the city. Like going to the indoor go kart track, and restaurant row. And maybe when we go back to the castle, we can play some dodgeball.” Artemis spoke up.

“Oh hell, no! Anything but that!” Tasha stated.

“If Atlas is playing, I don’t want be anywhere near the Gym.” Nicholas said with his arms crossed.

“I want to see my 22nd birthday thank you very much.” Tyrone stated.

“What’s so bad about playing dodgeball with Atlas?” Cheese asks, RD.

“If you’re on the opposite team, he could be the scariest opponent you will ever have.” She answered.

“So you’re fine with everything else?” Artemis ask.

“Yes!” His childhood friends responded.

“But let’s look around downtown before we do anything. I want to take some pictures.” Tyrone suggested.

“Sure thing.”

===•••===
1:15 PM.

After they were done spending time in downtown, the group made their way to one of the most famous streets in the world. Restaurant Row.

*Whew* “We finally made it.” Twilight said, tiredly before looking down at her swollen belly.
“You really know how to take the energy out of me.”

“Are you ok?” Artemis ask.

“I’m fine, just a little tired.” Twilight reassured him.
“How about we go take a break and maybe have some lunch?”

“Sure.” He said before turning to the rest of the group. “Hey guys, do you want to take a break and maybe get something to munch on?”

“I don’t mind taking a little rest.” Nicholas said.

“Me neither, my feet started to kill me.” Rarity stated.

“I am craving some cake right now.” Pinky said in thought.

“Apollo, are you coming with us?” Artemis asks.

“Nah. Me, Spike, Tasha and Tyrone are going to go on ahead, but we will be back before you know it.”

“All right see you later.”

“See ya.” Apollo said before walking away.

“Look at this place, I never thought I would see so many nice restaurants on one street.” Tasha said as she held her boyfriend‘s hand.

“I’m guessing this is one of the nobles' favorite hangout spots?” Tyrone said, after noticing the amount of wealthy looking ponies in the area.

“Pretty much. There is a lot of world class restaurants here. Most of them are really good but there are others that are not worth it. Their portions are really tiny and expensive.” Spike mentioned.

“I don’t get that at all, it’s so weird. But they are lucky that the Golden Circle it’s not here or else those restaurants would’ve gone out of business.” Said Apollo.

“So which restaurant would you recommend?”
Tyrone asks.

“The Tasty Treat. It’s one of the best restaurants I have ever been to.” Apollo suggested.

“Good choice.” Spike nodded in approval.

“Honestly, I don’t care where we go. I’m willing to try anything.” Tasha spoke.

“Me too, except the carrot dog. That has to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of.” Tyrone mentioned.

“Don’t hate it until you try it.” Spike responded.

“Hmmm, no thanks.”

===•••===
The Equestrian History Museum.
2:15 PM

On the other side of the city, in one of the most famous museums in the country. Andrew was looking at paintings depicting Equestria’s many ancient battles.

When he and his family arrived at the museum after exploring the ancient Canterlot Colosseum (which is still in use by the way.) He couldn’t help but be amazed of everything the museum had. It was so fascinating to him.

“Beautiful, aren’t they?” Gallaxia said as she walked right next to the human.

“They are, I never seen anything like them. These paintings are just as interesting as the ones from Europe.” Andrew replied.

“I’m glad you agree. It’s nice to see that every pony still remembers and appreciate what I have done.”

“Who wouldn’t? You did a lot of good things during your long reign. It would’ve been a shame if people forgot what you did.”

“True.” Gallaxia answered.

After a few moments of silence, Andrew turns to look at the former empress. “Galaxia, if you don’t mind me asking, how did you do it?”

“Do what?”

“All the things you did. How did you find the courage to do it?”

Galaxia thought her answer over before speaking.

“Honestly, I don’t know. As long as I can remember, I always wanted to do the right thing. When I first heard of what the six tribes were doing to each other, I knew I couldn’t just sit by and watch. So, I came down to Equis. I didn’t do it to be praised or become a legend, I just wanted to help them.”

“Wait, you didn’t care at all?” Andrew asked.

Gallaxia nodded.

“Wow, that’s very honorable. We need more people like that.” Andrew said with respect. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you were popular in politics after you came back.”

“Oh no, I don’t do politics anymore, I retired from that a long time ago. I mainly focus on military matters.” She said. “Besides many of my views are not as game changing like they were back during the kingdom’s early years. Many ponies see me as a moderate.”

“Moderate?!” Andrew said in shock. “Lass, you’re no moderate. You would’ve been considered a progressive by human standards.”

“I can see where my ponies come from though. I mean, Equestria didn’t become a constitutional monarchy until Celestia’s time.”

“Despite that, you wouldn’t be considered average at all. Hell, idiots would have called you a bloody communist. Just like what they did to RFK and John Glenn.”

“I’m assuming they are American presidents, right?” Galaxia ask.

“They were. Many people believe they were some of the best in US history.”

“And their fellow humans still insulted them?” Galaxia shook her head. “Immature things like that are one of the many reasons why I will never get involved with modern politics in Country.”

“It’s that bad here?” Andrew asks.

“Let’s just say I do not envy the Chancellor or our kids, especially when they have to deal with the Senate. Too many headaches.” She answered.

“Well in that case, let agree that space is much better.” Andrew suggested.

“You don’t need to tell me twice.” Galaxia agreed.
“Do you want to go and see the modern-day exhibits?”

“I don’t see why not.” He said before following Galaxia out of the room.

===•••===
Canterlot MegaMall.
3:50 PM.

Apollo and his friends were sitting around the large fountain near the main entrance of the mall. Waiting for the rest of his family to come.

They arrived at the mall 20 minutes earlier and for the entire time, they were either relaxing or looking around in nearby stores.

Before Apollo could take his phone out of his pocket to call Atlas and see where he was. He spotted his brother and the rest of the family entering the mall.

“Hey guys, they’re here.” He said to his friends before his family members spotted them and made their way over to them.

“Hey, every pony, sorry for taking so long.” Atlas said.

“It’s all right you came just in time.” Twilight replied.

“Hello Apollo, hello Artemis.” Stephanie greeted. “You boys weren’t lying; this place is huge.”

“Told you, Mom.” Artemis answered.

“Huge is not the right word for this place.” Andrew said as he looked around the large atrium in amazement. “It’s going to take a while to get used to this.”

“Don’t worry, we have plenty of time.” Galaxia said. “So how did your day go?”

“We had a blast.” Tyrone said. “We had a lot of fun in downtown, I took a bunch of pictures. We went to Restaurant Row, try some things over there and we went to a few parks. How about you?”

“We had a nice time as well.” Maya answered. “We took a tour of the Senate, we went to the Colosseum, we stopped at the Canterlot temple to check it out, and we went to the fashion district.”

“Oh, you went to the temple?” Artemis ask.

“Yeah, that place looked pretty interesting, especially since it looked like something from ancient Greece except not in ruins.” Stephanie said.

“Did anything interesting happen when you were in the fashion district?” Apollo ask.

“Not really, except I never seen so many rich looking people walking around in one place. They look like they were wearing more money that I make in a month and that’s saying something.”

“Hey, we encounter a bunch of rich people in restaurant row as well.” Tyrone spoke up.

“Really? Whatever fancy ass job they have, sign me up. I want that money.” Maya joked, which made Stephanie and Gallaxia laugh.

“Maya, you are ridiculous.” The former Empress went a tear from her eye.

It was at this moment when Discord teleported in front of them, holding a large bowl of ice cream.
“Hey, every pony, I’m back from the food court.” He said before swallowing a large spoonful of ice cream.
“Oh, is this the family I keep on hearing about?”

“It is.” Atlas, answered.

“It finally nice to meet them.” He said with a bow. “I’m sorry to cut this conversation short, but I have some ponies to talk to real quick.” He teleported to the other side of the fountain where Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Tasha were at.

“Who is that?” Andrew asked.

“That is Discord the Draconequus. He is the Lord of chaos.” Gallaxia answered.

“Does that mean, he is much weirder than Pinkie Pie?” Andrew ask.

“He is Pinkie Pie, but on steroids.” Twilight said.

“Huh, well thanks for the heads up.”

“Can we go now? I’m ready to check out the aquarium.” Tyrone stated.

“Sure. Galaxia, Deborah and the cousins are going to the aquarium as well, so you can join them.” Stephanie said.

“Cool.”

“What are you guys going to be doing?” Andrew asked his sons.

“Me and our friends are going to be walking around a little. While our Ponyville friends are going to the botanical garden.” Artemis got up from his seat.

“All right, but if you need anything, me and your mum will be in the food court, wherever that is.”

“Ok, see you later.” Apollo replied before everyone went their separate ways in the large shopping center.

They stayed in the megamall until the sun went down. After that, the ponies went back to Ponyville and the humans and Alicorns went back to the castle.