The Young Warrior: Eternally Paternal

“So how did you find him?” Ocellus asked, having recovered from her laughing fit. “I mean, you explained a lot about what you know about him, but you would have needed to find him before you were told all that stuff.”

“Oh, right!” Fortuna chuckled. “Middy and I found him in a suburban town, actually. Think Ponyville, but a mite bit bigger. Don’t remember the name, but we had heard there was supposedly a changeling in the town. Of course, we just thought it was an infiltrator who got caught, imagine our surprise when we discovered Meta.”

“How did you run into him then?” Pharynx questioned.

“Actually, Midlight and I bumped into him while he was on a date.” Fortuna grinned at them almost mischievously.

“A date?” Thorax's eyes widened.

“His first one. I’m so proud of him.” Fortuna beamed, looking over at Pharynx. “He kind of acted like you did when I caught you trying to flirt with Hunter.”

Pharynx turned bright red. “Mom!”

“Well, he did!” Fortuna giggled. “He was sitting with this Umbrum-pony named Griffon or something. Mid and I were disguised, obviously, but we saw him just sitting out in the open, so we approached him.”

“So he’d just been living in an Equestrian town undisguised this whole time?” Ocellus asked. “Why weren’t they afraid of him?”

“Well, remember Ocellus, Meta left the Hive long before the Canterlot Invasion, which is when ponies really started to be afraid of us. He had been living undisguised as a resident for so long they just accepted that he wasn’t one of the ‘evil’ ones when the Invasion occurred.” Fortuna paused for a moment before continuing her train of thought. “I believe he also helped the local police drive off some revealed changeling infiltrators directly after the Invasion, so that helped his reputation.”

“So that’s when you asked him to join your crew.” Pharynx guessed dryly.

“No, actually, he asked us.” Fortuna bopped Pharynx’s nose gently. “Let me talk before assuming, Phary. After we explained that no, we weren’t there to drag him back to the Hive, Meta asked if we could use some help. So the two of us agreed he could join the crew.”

“Oh! So is that why you said Mid and Meta were in different cities? Meta defends the city he lives in and you two patrol the other cities?” Ocellus questioned.

“Not quite. Meta stays with us, but makes regular visits back to his town to see his boyfriend and friends. He does have a life there after all.”

Pharynx sighed at that, promptly looking away when Fortuna glanced at him. She was having none of it though, lifting his chin gently.

“Phary, what’s the matter?”

“So if he’s willing to come stay here with us, what about his relationships in that town?”

“Well, Meta’s boyfriend is pretty loyal to him, I think he’d probably just come here too–”

“No. Absolutely not, not happening, I need to see our dad first, no strings attached.” Pharynx snapped.

“Phary–”

“Mom. How do you think you would have reacted if– uh–”

“If you suddenly showed up on her doorstep with Tempest after years of not seeing her and expected Tempest to be welcomed instantly?” Ocellus offered. Pharynx blushed, but nodded.

“Alright, alright, I can understand that.” Fortuna shrugged. “To be honest though, I probably would welcome her.”

“She is a really nice mare.” Thorax added.

“Not the point!” Pharynx shouted, turning red. “This is not about me and Tempest, this is about our dad!”

“Okay, okay, we’re sorry, Phary. Right kids?” Fortuna eyed Thorax and Ocellus, who quickly nodded in agreement. “Anyway, I can tell Meta if you want, so you don’t get overwhelmed.”

“W-Who said that would be overwhelming? I just don’t want to meet the idiot.” Pharynx huffed stubbornly. Fortuna chuckled, nuzzling him.

“Alright Phary, if you say so.”

Pharynx grumbled to himself and looked away. “Whatever. I have to go.”

“Or do you just not want to talk about this anymore?” Ocellus asked.

“No, I have to go because I have patrols to organize.” Pharynx retorted, standing up and striding out of the room. Only a couple seconds after he had left the room, Thorax’s eyes flashed, prompting him to leap to his hooves.

“I better go help him!” Thorax chased after his brother, leaving the two nymphs and Fortuna behind.

“Maybe I should go help too.” Fortuna said, standing up, but Ocellus held out a hoof to stop her.

“No, don’t, they’re not actually organizing patrols. Pharynx just says that whenever he wants to get out of a conversation.” Ocellus explained. “He doesn’t have any patrols to organize, he sets up all the schedules the night before.”

“Hm, very clever. A page out of my book, too.” Fortuna chuckled. “But what about Thory?”

“Papa Thorax wen’ with him ‘cause Uncle Pharynx used the twin power thing.” Apex responded.

“Ah, right, the signature eye flash. Well spotted, little warrior.” Fortuna said, nuzzling the nymph and making him giggle.

“Well, anyway, when Pharynx makes Thorax follow him like that, it usually means they're going to go meet up with their girlfriends.” Ocellus snickered, catching Fortuna’s attention immediately. ”I guess Tempest and Ember were planning to visit today.”

“I hope I get to meet these ‘girlfriends’ then.” Fortuna said, smirking. “I can’t wait to tell them all about what their boyfriends were like as nymphs.”

“Ooh, invite me when you do that! You don’t know about all the embarrassing stuff they’ve done as adults.” Ocellus said, and the two girls grinned at each other.

“Tuney, you’ll like Tempy an’ Emmie, they’e nice!” Apex piped up. “Emmie says I’m strong as a d’agon and Tempy says ‘m good a’ fighting!”

“They are really nice.” Ocellus agreed. “Ember needs to work on expressing her emotions a bit, but she is a dragon, so because of her learned habits she’s just not used to it.”

“And Tempest is a unicorn, correct?”

“Yeah, I think you’ll like them, if Thorax and Pharynx ever decide to introduce you to them that is.” Ocellus giggled. “Thorax is really shy about his relationship with Ember, and Pharynx is stubborn in even talking about Tempest like that.”

“Those two.” Fortuna chuckled. “Remind me to tell you about their first crushes some time, they did the exact same thing.”

“Tuney!” Apex jumped up eagerly. “We can go find them now, an’ you can mee’ them, so Papa Thorax an’ Uncle Pharynx don’t hafta in’roduce you!”

Fortuna giggled and smiled. “Perhaps a bit later, I can wait for a little while. We wouldn’t want to bother them. How about I show you some of the moves I taught Phary, instead?”

“Yeah!” Apex cheered. Fortuna chuckled, picking the young deputy up and carrying him out of the room.

“Alright, so I think for starters we ought to try some size advantage tactics…”