Xamspona Tevopi/ Twilight Sparkle
Tupomi T'mi/ Pinkie Pie
Etpinego/ Applejack
Vivmay/ Rarity
Vemsa Hewl/ Rainbow Dash
Paxxila/ Fluttershy
Gilzia/ Celestia
Pyre/ Luna

My muscles refused to move, my body frozen in fear as I continued to stare at the monarch before me. Silently, I cursed myself for having so easily walked into her clutches like a fly to a bug zapper. So why wasn't she attacking me? From the moment I was tossed into this world I had been warned of the danger that the queen posed to my life. However, despite any recent doubts I may have had about her true intentions, there was not enough merit in those thoughts to warrant ignoring the threat before me.

It was then, as I kept a wary eye on her, that I finally got a chance to take a good look at the queen's appearance and our surroundings. The first thing I noticed was that queen was actually an alicorn, like her daughters, instead of the unicorn that I had first thought. I watched her shift the massive wings on her back, exposing the navy blue primaries nestled amongst the white feathers that made up the rest of the powerful appendages. Overall her appearance was very similar to her daughters in age and looks, if not appearing a couple years older, and had it not been for her confirming her identity earlier I would have thought she was possibly a lost sister.

Her coat was an ivory white so pristine in shine and color that the very dirt itself seemed to refuse to stick to her, lest it diminished the glow of her presence. Upon her hips I could just barely make out her cutie mark, which seemed to be a simple black ring as I pondered briefly on its possible meaning. Like her daughters she was also free of any garments, proudly showing off her toned curves, but, unlike the princesses, the queen wore no jeweled accoutrements. Instead there were only floating, fiery, rings of some kind of archaic looking text that encircled around her neck and each wrist and ankle. Her mane and tail floated weightlessly behind her as it shimmered and shifted through a myriad of colors, never staying on one particular hue for longer than a few seconds. I stared in awe at what appeared to be a galaxy of spiraling stars crowning the top her head.

She continued to look at me with her violet-colored eyes that glowed with untold power, seemingly betraying the gentle gaze she had not stopped giving me. Feeling uncomfortable under her overpowering presence I decided to take a peek at my surroundings. Anywhere but at the alicorn before me.

Looking around, I could see that we were on a small island in the middle of a moon-shaped lagoon or estuary. On three sides of us rose sheer cliffs of jagged black volcanic rock that guarded the only entrance into the calm sanctuary from the raging ocean outside. From the tops of the cliff flowed six waterfalls, whose mists cast a multitude of rainbows across the sky in the afternoon sun. Our location was on an outcrop of bedrock that rose from a sandbar in the middle of the lagoon. Jutting from the sandbar was a weeping willow tree of such a size and magnificence I had never seen, much less one surrounded on all sides by saltwater.

I knew that this island had to be the one from my dreams. I would never forget the dark cliffs that I had struggled so hard to reach countless times before. This also meant that the logical source of my mysterious voice had too been solved by the queen's presence here. However, her actions confused me and put me on edge as she wasn't living up to the image that had been laid out for me.

The queen must have picked up on my fears as she held up a hand to calm me, "Please, Eric Broussard, relax, I mean you no harm."

Her words confused me even more as I felt my head tilt ever so slightly to the side, "Wait a minute, so you don't want to kill me?"

She laughed lightly as she hid her mouth behind her hand, "No, not anymore."

"Well that's reassuring," I told her as I let out a nervous chuckle not sure if I should believe her.

"Indeed," the queen said, slyly narrowing her eyes at me for a moment before motioning me to her with her hand, "but come we have much to talk about."

She turned away from me and walked back towards the willow tree in the center of the island. The swaying branches parting like a curtain as she approached. With a wave of her hand and an eerie glow from her horn, a round wrought iron table and two chairs rose from beneath the sand beside her. Making her way to the farthest chair, which pulled itself out by its own accord, she took her seat.

"Please, Eric, sit," she said, motioning to the chair across from her, "there is much that we need to talk about, and little time to discuss it in."

Yet despite her warm greeting and gentle smile, I held my ground as I warily looked between the chair and her who must have picked up on my hesitation as she sighed and spoke again.

"Please Eric, if I had still wanted to kill you, I could have easily done so while you rested on my lap. I just simply wish to start our relationship anew and get to know the man that my daughters have chosen as their mate. Hopefully in return for all the help you have given me, I can answer some of the questions that I am sure have been plaguing your mind."

I cautiously approached the chair, "So you mean you're not going to try and kill me anymore, I'll sit down, and we'll talk like civilized peopl...er, ponies?"

"I could just kill you now and be done with it?" she quipped as a wicked smile crossed her lips and her eyes flared with power while arcs of electricity danced between her fingers, charging the very air around us. As a metal taste began to fill my mouth I quickly realized how tightly my fate now rested in her grasp and how utterly fucked I had truly become.

"I think I'll take a seat," I softly said as I slid into the chair while she smiled.

"A wise decision."

We sat in silence for a moment as I fidgeted slightly in my seat under the gaze of the celestial sisters' mother. She seemed to enjoy the effect she was having on me as I attempted to try and find something to talk with her about.

"So, how do you know my name?" I asked.

The queen tittered at my question, "My, my, my, Eric, I suppose my daughters are right in their assessment of you: cute but not too bright."

"A-are you coming on to me?" I asked confused, while I subconsciously scooched my chair back; putting a little more distance between us.

She smiled, "Hardly, but getting back on point yes, I know who you are. The bond that was formed between us when you touched the Elements allowed me to learn quite a bit about you." I moved to ask her more about her connection with the Elements of Harmony, but she stopped me with a raise of her hand," We shall talk more on that soon enough. " I reluctantly conceded as she continued," You are Eric Raymond Broussard, oldest child to your parents Nathan and Emily Broussard. You have only one sibling, a younger sister Sarah, and you are not married although you did have a nasty breakup with a long term girlfriend shortly prior to you arriving here.”

"You are currently twenty-eight years old. You are from Earth and hail from a country called The United States of America; even though you seem to hold more pride and loyalty to the province you come from, Texas. For the past ten years you have served in a branch of your country's military where you have worked on machines called aircraft. Your social security number is 645-34-74-"

"Alright, alright I get the picture, " I said, stopping her, "so where is this place?"

"This place," she said, motioning to the surrounding landscape with a wave of her hand, "is a representation of an island on Equus that was once known as L'sti. In the old tongue it means 'Hope.' It was where I chose to keep my vigil those many years ago; because of its location along the major leyline of the planet. Though maybe you would prefer a more familiar setting?"

With a flick of her wrist the surrounding landscape around the tree began to distort and fade like a mirage on a hot Arizona highway. For a moment I thought that maybe everything would fade to black, but instead the blobs of color reshaped themselves momentarily before regaining their depth anew. Once everything stopped moving I was presented with an eerily familiar view from my childhood. Where just moments before was a jungle pool, now was a roadside rest stop in the Texas hill country overlooking a scenic valley located just outside the city of Utopia. The willow looking out of place against the scraggly mesquite trees and cedar bushes dotted along the hills of limestone as they rose and dipped along the horizon for as far as the eye could see.

"This isn't a dream like before, is it?" I asked her as I picked a random wildflower that was shooting up between one of the railings on the side of the road, "I'm actually here aren't I?"

"Very perceptive, my little human," I heard her praise, "Not many can tell the difference between reality and lucid dreaming. Obviously you have been paying attention to Pyre whenever you two have talked on dream mechanics. Yes, you are physically here with me. The reason for why you were not before and why you kept ending up in the ocean was because the bond had not yet been fully completed."

As I rolled the delicate lavender flower between my fingers I tried to dismiss it as a falsehood like all my previous visions had been, but my doubts were quickly banished as I heard a rumbling noise, that I thought was lost to me forever, assaulting my ears from around a bend in the road. I looked to see a tractor trailer appear blowing up dust as it blasted past us before disappearing down the hill as quickly as it had come; leaving only dust and the smell of burnt diesel wafting through the air in its wake. I looked to my alicorn companion, who was staring with mild interest in the direction the rig had gone, in disbelief as I tried to find the words to speak.

"Is this real? Am I back on Earth?" I managed to hesitantly ask her. My voice gaining her attention as she gave me a sad smile.

"Yes and no," she replied as I looked at her confused, "Unfortunately, this is not Earth, but it is as real as you would like it to be. You see, this is a pocket dimension that I have garnered control over nestled between the universes of Equus and Earth, a sort of subspace if you will. From here, I can mold its reality to whatever I may desire. Limited only by my memory of a place. I simply took a memory from your mind to create what you see before you."

As I looked over the valley, trying to take in as much as I could with my senses, I almost didn't hear her speaking again.

"Now I am sure that there are many things that you may want to ask me. For I know there is much I want to know from you, but I think that there is one particular question that you would like to ask first."

Keeping my back to her I looked down at the flower in my hand once more as I anxiously asked the question I had been wanting to ask for the past seven months, "Can you send me back to Earth?"

"Yes," was her simple reply, causing me to quickly turn, a smile across my face.

"You can! That's great! When could I go back?"

"Never," she said, as she lost her smile while I lost mine shortly thereafter only to be replaced by a look of confusion.

"What do you mean never?" I asked, my words becoming strained as I tried to control the emotions fighting within me.

"I meant exactly as I said, 'I can never send you back to Earth.' "

"I heard that!" Came my outburst as I temporarily lost control of my bottled up frustrations, "What I want to know is why?"

She seemed displeased by my outburst as she narrowed her eyes at me warningly, "Watch your tone Eric, lest you forget who it is you're talking to."

"No! Fuck that!" I countered as I walked up to her and placed my finger in her face, "I think I have a right to know why I can't go back, when you say you're capable of doing it!"

The queen simply sighed a she quoted a familiar line to me, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one."

"Don't give me that logic bull crap," my remaining resolve breaking, "Tell me!"

"SILENCE!" Her voice boomed out, shaking the very ground, as her eyes shone white with unholy power, the weight of her voice alone causing me to fall to the dirt as she stood over me. The sky darkened as she spoke, "Do not take my desire to appease my daughter's choices of a mate as a means to test my patience, human! There are more important things going on here than you know. Untold numbers of lives could be at stake if I were to send you back through the barrier, and I will not risk those lives for the desires of one castaway human."

I looked at her in shock and awe as her words struck true, piercing my heart and draining the strength from my body. It was gone. Any remaining hope I had of finding a way to return to my normal life was gone, shattered at the words of the alicorn before me. The putrid taste of bile welled up in the back of my mouth as a deep sadness crashed over me like a raging surf while my anger was slowly ebbed away into an almost smothering depression. But I would not cry, no, I would not give her the satisfaction of my tears.

As I sat there I was surprised to feel the tender motherly embrace of Harmonia's arms and wings as they wrapped around me. I futilely tried to fight her but my strength had already left me as she easily tucked my head under her chin against the warmth of her breast. I could hear her heartbeat pounding as her fresh scent filled my senses, slowly bringing a calm over me.

"I am sorry, Eric, truly I am," she softly spoke.

"Don't give me your pity," I spat bitterly to her as I tried to pull away, but she held true, eventually forcing me to give up as I rested against her again, "what do you know about losing your home?"

"More than you may know," came her melancholic reply, "I have been alive for an incalculable amount of time. Long enough to see universes come and go like the flickering flame of a candle. And in that time, I have lost countless homes, loved ones, even my own identity many times. Sometimes it was by my choice. Others, the choice was made for me.

"So I know that it may feel rough now, and it will be rough. It will be something that you may never fully come to terms with, but remember all is not lost. For you have already found on a new world a life full of friends and loved ones to rely on, but if you must burden someone with the blame of your misfortune, then I will gladly take that role."

I slowly pulled back away from her as she allowed me to finally move. With my head still hung low I tried to word one final request to her.

"Then can I at least know the reason for why I must stay exiled to Equus?"

She placed a comforting hand upon my shoulder as she began to explain, "The purpose of the barrier is twofold. The main purpose is to keep the realms of Earth and Equus separated to allow them to grow and mature to a point where reintegration between the two cultures may one day become possible. This is due to the infighting between humanity and the other cultures that almost lead to the extinction of many of them. Upon the day that reintegration would be possible, the barrier will collapse into a stable portal to allow interaction between the two worlds.”

"The other purpose is to protect Equus from outside dangers. As I'm sure you know, Eric, that despite the native dangers present in this world, many of the civilizations on Equus are foreign to the concepts of killing and war. This is mainly due to them having evolved from prey species while humans evolved from predators, " I nodded in agreement, for even though Equestria, like many nations, had a small defense force, they were not what I would call actively advancing their military capabilities. "This is why the barrier is so important to keep out foreign dangers, and not just from Earth."

"What dangers?" I asked, forgetting my sorrow as I grew concerned for the safety of my Equuian friends and loved ones.

Harmonia continued, "Contrary to the tales of the races of Equus, I have not always been the loved symbol I am now. For, as I said earlier, I have been alive a long time, long enough to watch many universes in the multiverse be born and die many times. In that time, I have observed a plethora of different cultures, watching them as they grew and advanced, some almost to my level of abilities.

"Many of them learned to put aside their violent past and live for the betterment of others," her brow furrowed as a frown formed on her face, "but a rare few allowed their violent path to consume them till all they desired was the destruction of all life in the multiverse. In order to prevent their influence from spreading I was forced to isolate their universe from the others. This did not settle too well with them, and many are still trying to make that jump across universes to seek revenge against me."

"What about Earth?" I asked her, worried for my lost family's safety.

"The Earth is safe," she reassured me, "the universe that it is in is isolated from the remainder of the multiverse. So it will not attract attention, if it is even noticed at all. If any of those that wish me harm were to attack they would go to where my presence is the strongest, namely here and Equus."

"So what does this have to do with me not being able to go back to Earth?" I asked not seeing the connection.

She placed a comforting hand upon my back, her warmth helping to sooth my concerns, "In short, it has to do with how long you have been here. For even though your physiological makeup makes you immune to the energies of Equus known as magic, you are still being exposed to the forces and radiations of it. The longer you are there, the more it collects on you and alters you ever so slightly on a subatomic level.

"This causes a problem because the connection between the two universes is designed to only flow one way, like a river, towards Equus. When you came through you passed through a crack in the barrier that can sometimes appear in the presence of strong magnetic fluxes. Now, it is possible for me to send you back through the hole against the flow of energy to Earth, but because you are now heavier, subatomically speaking, the amount of power and force I would have to apply to the barrier could cause its collapse. Thereby running the risk of possibly destroying both universes."

A moment passed as I tried to wrack my brain for another way, "Well what about the mirror in the Crystal Empire?"

"Not possible," she sighed, crushing my last hope, "because it is not purely magical you could pass through it, but it would lead to a world like this. A lie."

"What do you mean?"

"The mirror was created by a powerful unicorn king named Sombra many years ago. He was looking to spread his dark influence and had set his sights on Earth, but he did not know anything about it. So he set forth to seek out information. Using the technology and crystals he had at his disposal he was able to send probes back through the barrier that sent back information to the mirror, which acts as sort of a collection point. Sorting through the data and using it to create an immersive virtual reality that would seem real to whomever entered. "

"Just like the fucking Matrix," I muttered with a chuckle as I ran my fingers through my hair in pure disbelief at my poor luck, "fuckin' motherfucking Murphy."

"What was that, Eric?" Harmonia asked, leaning in to hear me better.

"Nothing."

I sat there for a while trying to come to terms with what she had said. I was still angry at her, wanting to call her a liar and still find a way to hold out hope of one day getting home. But what if what she was saying was true? Could I risk that outcome? Could I risk the safety of all those lives? Deep down, I knew I wouldn't.

Standing up, I made my way back to my feet, walking away from the alicorn till I was by the guardrail again. I rested my hands upon my hips as I looked out over the valley below. Taking in the scenery before me, I wanted to remember as much as I could from my now lost home planet, even if what was before me was just a fallacy.

"So what do I do now?" I mulled over to myself.

Harmonia walked up beside me, watching the setting sun, "I shall leave that to you. Once you leave here our bond and my mark on you will be lifted. My way of saying thanks for your aid in solving an old problem for me. After that your destiny is your own, although I know three mares that would love to be a part of it."

I heard her walk away from me, back towards the road, "Wait a minute, what proble-"

I began to ask to the queen's retreating form as she walked away, but as I turned to follow her movements I had to stop and stare in shock at finding that she had suddenly changed her appearance. Where once was a white alicorn mare, now stood a beautiful young woman with long wavy chestnut colored haired tied back on her head in a loose bun. She had also opted out of her nude lifestyle as her now lightly tanned skin was covered by a cream colored spaghetti strap top with a pair of khaki shorts and brown sandals. Yet she still retained some things from her previous form as I noticed the circling rings of text around her limbs and neck. She looked at me and gave me a knowing smile as her glowing violet eyes sparkled with mirth at my reaction.

Yet as refreshing as it was to see the beautiful woman, even if she was just a facsimile of a real one, after so many months; I would have been lying if the mare-turned-pinup was the only thing that had caught my eye. No, what was drawing all of my attention was the sleek and sexy curves of the silver Jaguar E-type convertible that she was standing next to in the shade of the hill in the afternoon sun.

Slowly I walked over to the car in a daze, all the while Harmonia gave me a knowing glance. I watched as her glowing eyes seemed to grow brighter as she smiled and held out a set of keys to me, "Let us be off, we have much to discuss."

I wasted no time in snatching the offered keys and hopping around to the driver's seat as Harmonia slid into the passenger. Turning the keys over in the ignition, I was rewarded to the smooth sounds of the triple side draft carburetors as they fed the 4.2L inline six. Putting the car into gear I depressed the clutch and let her rip as we tore away down the winding road in a symphony of engine noise and tire squeals.

We rode through the hills in silence for an increasingly uncomfortable amount of time. Only the sound of the engine and the whipping of wind could be heard. I cast a glance over to the woman sitting in the passenger seat as I shifted gears only to see her staring aimlessly at the passing scenery of rocky hills and cedar trees. I tried to think of something to say to her to help in striking up a conversation.

"I must admit," I started, gaining her attention, " you don't exactly act like any of the other goddesses."

She laughed at my statement as I wondered what the joke was before she spoke, "I may be a lot of things, Eric, and I may not die unless I so choose to, but I assure you I am no goddess."

"You're not? Huh? It's just that's what I was told the word 'alicorn' meant by your daughters," I said as she began to lightly giggle again.

"Not quite," she corrected me, "I believe, if you remembered a little harder, what they really mentioned was that it was 'the best translation,' " I tried to ignore the fact that it was more than likely in my memories that she got her information, instead focusing on my memories from that first encounter in the jail cell. Finally realizing she was right as Harmonia continued, "Unfortunately, 'Goddess' is a misinformed title that has been placed upon myself, and all who come to be a part of my bloodline," the woman replied as she scooched in her seat so as to face me.

"You mean Xamspona and Gehluli?"

"Yes, along with some others," she cryptically confirmed as her smile grew a little wider, "We do not rely on the worshiping of others, nor are we omnipresent and omnipotent as you have learned from my daughters."

My mind warned me not delve further into that one as I slowed to a stop sign. "Well if it doesn't mean 'goddess', then why do they call you that?"

"Because many years ago when my daughters were still very young they left the safety of my sanctuary to Equus to fight against a plague of chaos that was ravaging across the land, taking on physical bodies as they left.

"However nopony had ever seen a pony like my babies before, and they were in awe of the raw power that they held, even as children. They at first called them unicorns for a period of time, but they discovered soon enough that my children did not age and had exceeded the abilities of any unicorn that had ever come before them. So a group of ponies got together to classify a proper title for their new princesses." A smug grin crossed her lips, "A discussion that I may have given some subtle contributions to during certain council member's slumber. Eventually choosing upon a combination of the old words alaei and ckarna to make the word alicorn, meaning guardian pony. This was what I desired, but I did not predict that they would misinterpret alaei as God, or in the case of my daughters and me, Goddess."

"Well, if that's the case, then why don't Gilzia and Pyre correct them on that fact, or why don't you let them know?" I asked as I whipped the car into the oncoming lane to pass a rig.

"You must understand Eric, that my daughters left this sanctuary when they were still very young," her voice grew sad and distant, forcing my eyes to glance at her, "poor little Pyre had just been recently weaned, and Gilzia was not much older at the time. Since then, I have only talked with them once. Any memories they may have had of me and this place I'm sure are long faded. So they were forced to rely on the many legends that their subjects have created about me to fill in the gaps of their memories."

I could see the sadness in her eyes as she stared back at the scenery and I found myself no longer looking at a powerful alicorn, but instead a caring mother. I didn't know what I could do or say to her as I tentatively reached out a hand, resting it on her shoulder. She jumped slightly and jerked her head towards me at my touch as I hoped that I had not crossed some kind of barrier while I struggled to quickly think of something to say.

"That may be true, but I know that they do love and miss you very much." The queen solemnly smiled as she patted my hand. I took it as a sign to go on, "They would like to hear from you I'm sure. Have you tried to contact them?"

"Unfortunately, even one such as I has limitations, for I have been unable to contact them for some time, Eric," she said as she gave my hand a squeeze before pointing down the road ahead. "Pull over here."

I looked at what she was pointing at to see a wooden shack nestled off the road under the boughs of an old live oak tree. An arrow sign advertised food and refreshments, while the sweet smoky smell of cooked meat reached my nose eliciting a growl from my stomach in response. Turning off the road I pulled up into an empty spot along the side and turned off the engine. No sooner than I had, the queen hopped out of the car and begin to walk up to the shack, leaving me to fumble with my seat belt.

"Hey wait up!" I called to the woman, walking up to her, as she was already at the window looking over the menu.

"Sorry about this, Eric," she apologized, never taking her eyes away from the plethora of choices at the roadside joint. "It has been over thirty-six hundred years since I have had something different to eat, and I wished to indulge myself from your memories a little."

"Understandable," I said, shrugging my shoulders as we approached a sweet old lady with graying hair who was taking orders at the window.

I was surprised to find the changed alicorn queen immediately ordered a two meat platter consisting of half a rack of beef ribs with smoked chicken and grilled beans and corn on the cob on the side. While I ordered a simple bacon cheeseburger with fries for me and two sweet teas for us to drink. When I went to reach for my wallet I heard Harmonia stop me as she spoke.

"There's no need to pay," she simply said as our order was placed on the ledge. I went to protest but she stopped me with a wave of her finger. "Ah, ah, ah remember, subspace."

With that, her eyes glowed and flickered a little causing the tray to levitate in front of her before she turned on the spot and walked towards a picnic table positioned under a nearby mesquite tree. I stood there for a moment, watching her walk away with our food in tow, as I cast a wary glance to the old lady who didn't seem phased in the slightest by the queen's actions. Shrugging my shoulders, I decided to just roll with it as I had come to do when confronted with the bizarre.

I watched in a daze as the alicorn pealed a rib from the others before taking a bite out of the smoked meat. She closed her eyes and moaned happily as she chewed the tender flesh, not phased by a dribble of juice that made it's way down her chin. The longer I stayed with her, the more questions I wanted to ask her about her cryptic words and odd behavior in contrast to every other pony, alicorn or otherwise, I had met.

"Mmmm, this is divine," she praised as she licked her lips, "it has been too long since I have had a good piece of meat, and this barbecue is beyond words. So where were we?" She asked as she dove back into her meal without abandon.

"I think you were going to explain why you haven't been able to get in contact with your daughters," I suggested, taking a sip of my tea.

"Of course," she said, placing the bare rib bone on the plate as she reverted back a little into her somber tone. "As you must know by now my duty, as well as the duty of all my alicorn children, is to watch over and guide different areas of nature and existence. Gilzia's influence is over the day while Pyre's is over the night, Gehluli love and so forth. Well, my charge is over the realms of time and reality, and in order to maintain such a large barrier like this requires me to devote a large portion of my power to it. And during these times this output can cause my control on time to fluctuate slightly, altering the passage of time within this bubble of subspace in relation to the outside world. Making time outside of here pass at an exponentially faster rate than inside. Just like the event horizon of a black hole."

This caused me to pause at the thought that I could be basically sitting within a black hole, frozen in time. Harmonia picked up the concerned look that I knew was plastered on my face as she laughed lightly.

"Do not worry, Eric, thanks to your help that will no longer be a problem," her words confused me but she stopped me before I could inquire about it more. "But do not worry, we shall get to that shortly."

I gave a huff as she continued, "Anyways, it was during one of these times that my daughters decided to make their escape, and by the time that I found out they were missing they had already been on Equus long enough to grow to the cusps of adulthood. I quickly tracked them down and went to retrieve them, but, being daughters of mine, they refused to return back with me. I tried to reason with them on why they shouldn't interfere in the lives and destinies of mortals, but they were quick to point out my interference that brought all the species to Equus to begin with.

"Reluctantly I conceded to their wishes, and bestowed upon them six jewels to help them in their crusade against the Chaosbringer called T-"

"The Elements of Harmony," I interrupted before I could catch myself, but Harmonia did not seem offended by my outburst as she smiled.

"That is correct, although we will need the rest of our audience here before we can continue with this story further," she said as she flicked her wrist, causing the celestial sisters and the six Element bearers to appear in a flash of light, stunned by their sudden arrival. Their confusion was quickly cast aside once they saw me and they rushed over with my herdmates leading the charge.

"Eric! Thank goodness yer safe. We didn't know what to think once you just up and disappeared. We figured th-," Etpinego paused mid sentence as they all suddenly took notice of the young woman sitting at the table with me as we shared our meal. Etpinego quickly pulled me close as she stared down the disguised queen and whispered through clenched teeth, "Eric, who is this?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, everypony," I said, gesturing to Harmonia, "this is actually-"

"His date," the queen interrupted suddenly, causing the Element bearers to gasp as I felt Etpinego's arms tighten and her tail began to flick against me like mad. I stared in shock as Harmonia gave me a sly wink, "and I'm afraid that you have interrupted an intimate conversation that we were having."

I broke out into a cold sweat as I heard my farm-mare speak into my ear, her voice dripping with suppressed anger. "Eric, you mind explainin' to me why I'm always findin' mares gettin' flirty with you every time I find y'ah?"

I stared into Etpinego's glaring green eyes as my mouth gaped like a fish out of water while aimlessly gesturing between the queen and me as I tried to come up with a way to calm down the fiery mare. It wasn't until we heard the musical sound of laughing coming from Harmonia that we all looked over to see her almost bursting at the seams as Tupomi T’mi started to laugh along with her while the rest of us sat there stupefied. Slowly their laughter died down to where she could talk again.

"I do apologize, Eric, the opportunity just presented itself for me to have a little fun."

"Hello, Mother," came the voice of Gilzia as I felt the sisters reassuringly lay their hands upon my shoulders. Both sisters stared at the human woman with immediate recognition in their cautious eyes.

"Mother?" The others shouted in unison, looking back to the brown haired woman, as I simply rolled my eyes.

Harmonia gave a loving smile as she stood up and walked over to the taller alicorns. I could feel the conflict in her daughters through the bond as they didn't even try to hide their emotions of joy and apprehension. Telling me that they wanted to go to their mother but their fear of her supposed threat to their herdmate kept them by my side. The woman came to a stop in front of us as I felt Etpinego and the others pull me back on the bench, behind the relative safety of Gilzia and Pyre.

Never once losing her smile, she looked up to her daughters as tears formed in her eyes, "I remember there was a time when you used to call me, Mommy."

The sisters' dams burst at that moment as they fell to their knees, dragging the smaller woman into a tight embrace, as they sobbed and cried into her shoulders like the lost children that they were. A misty-eyed Harmonia wrapped them in her loving arms, shushing away their fears as she gently planted kisses on the top of their foreheads.

The rest of the girls were a little confused by this but they dared not interrupt the precious family reunion as the girls tried to wipe away the tears from their eyes. Even I felt a tugging on my heartstrings over the joy I felt for my herdmates at reuniting with their mother. Eventually Gilzia and Pyre were able to calm down enough for them to speak as Gilzia began to apologize.

"Mother, I'm so sorry for what hap-," but her words were cut off by a gentle shush from her mother.

"It is alright, sweetie, all of that was forgiven long ago," she reassured my leadmare as she ran her fingers through her daughter's ethereal mane, "Pyre is finally free, and the damage done to the Elements has been fixed. Thanks to your bumbling companion."

"Hey!" I protested but was quickly quieted by Etpinego and Xamspona clamping a hand over my mouth as Xamspona whispered into my ear.

"What does she mean by the Elements being damaged?"

As stealthily as the little lavender alicorn was the queen still heard her as she turned her head to us.

"So sorry, Xamspona Tevopi," she began as she and her daughters made their way back to their feet again, "I guess in my haste I forgot to introduce myself," Harmonia dropped her human disguise, returning herself to her taller alicorn form, "I am Harmonia, appointed Queen of the realm of Equestria and Alicorn of Time and Reality."

Xam and the other Element Bearers were quick to bow before their legendary monarch, but she knelt before Xamspona and tilted the princess's head up to meet her glowing eyes.

"Please, none of you six must ever bow to me," she said looking at the six of them, "I have waited over a thousand years to finally meet you, my daughters."

Gasps went through all of us there at her words as the six bearers quickly rose to join Gilzia and Pyre in questioning the eldest alicorn's words, but she was swift in silencing them with a simple raise of her hand.

"Please, everypony, I will be more than happy to explain everything. Just let us all have a seat," she said as the mare's horn glowed and the picnic table that her and I were sitting at from before expanded till it was big enough to accommodate everypony.

They all made their way around the table, with my mares forming a perimeter around me, while Harmonia sat at the head. No sooner than when we had all settled in did Xamspona ask a question to the ancient alicorn.

"So, Your Majesty-,"

"Please, no titles between us," the queen interrupted, "Harmonia shall do fine for now."

Xam chuckled nervously, uneasy about being so informal with the queen, "Yes, Your M- I mean Harmonia, what did you mean when you said that the Elements had been damaged?"

"Yeah," Vemsa Hewl interjected drawing every ponies attention as she brought a hand down atop the table, "and what's all this mother talk about?"

Harmonia's serene gaze never wavered as she looked back to Xam before grabbing her glass of sweet tea from before and taking a measured sip, "Tell me, little Xamspona, what do you know about the Elements?"

"They are six gems once used by Gilzia and Pyre to defend Equestria in times of great danger. Each gem represents a defining element of friendship that creates the pillars of harmony throughout the world: Loyalty, Kindness, Honesty, Laughter, Generosity, and Magic. When all six are brought together they create a power for good that is unmatched, " the lavender princess proudly explained to her superior, but her face soon grew a little unsure, "At least that's what I used to think they were. Now though, I'm not so sure."

"Oh, and why is that?" The queen curiously asked as her head tilted ever so slightly.

“Well from what I have found out during my research into them there seems to be more to them than just mere magical amulets. It’s almost like they’re a conduit for something else than just The Magic of Harmony.” As Xamspona spoke, Harmonia’s smile grew more wryly.

“Very perceptive, little one, high scores all around,” she said before addressing Gilzia, “And Gilzia, do you remember how you came upon the Elements?”

Gilzia looked at her mother warily for a moment, trying to figure out what the older alicorn was trying to get at, “Of course, it was during our journey to find a way to defeat Xaoc. Pyre and I had just returned from our journey into Tartarus where we had gone to ask for help from Lord Aïdas in finding a way to be rid of Xaoc. During our time there we ran into… some trouble, but in the end we managed to escape.

"Once we had emerged from the gateway was when you appeared before us and introduced yourself as our mother before asking for us to return with you. But my sister and I could not just abandon all that we had gone through, all the friends that we had lost along the way when we were so close to finally being able to free the beings of Equus from Xaoc’s chaos. It was at that point that you gave us the Elements, saying that we would be able to use them to finish our quest.”

“That is correct. I told both of you to always look out for each other.” Harmonia’s smile waned and the table grew quiet as she paused for a moment, no doubt remembering that long lost conversation before coming back to her senses, “And in that time who all has wielded the Elements?”

“Why only the current bearers and us, Mother,” Pyre answered, gesturing to her and Gilzia.

“And do any of you know why that is? Surely there have been others who have displayed the traits of friendship required to wield the Elements in the thirty five hundred years since I originally gave them to Gilzia and Pyre. So why do you think that there hasn’t been any other pony or being able to use them except for the eight of you?” Harmonia asked everypony at the table was silent as we all sat there and pondered for a moment, before Paxxila shakily answered the Alicorn of Time.

“Um, is it because we all have something in common that nopony else has that lets us use them? Maybe a connection with you?” the little yellow pegasus whispered as she peaked from behind her pink bangs while the alicorn just nodded to her.

“That is correct,” she said, softly praising Paxilla, “the amulets that all of you now know as the Elements of Harmony are the product of an ancient practice of binding pieces of one’s soul to a particular type of crystal called a soulstone. Once formed, while very powerful, they can only be used by those who souls resonate with the donor of the original soul, to be more specific their children.”

She let that news simmer for a moment before Vivmay spoke up, “So are you saying that the reason that the six of us were able to use the Elements to begin with, is because we are your children?” The elder alicorn nodded as the seamstress raised a dainty eyebrow, “That sounds wonderful and all, but I’m not sure how that is possible being as we all know who our mothers are.”

“I never said you were my biological children, my dear,” the queen replied giggling lightly.

The others looked at her confused as I too dwelled on what she had said before an idea clicked in my head, "Wait a minute, are you talking about reincarnation?"

She took another sip from her tea as her eyes flashed at me, "Yes, Eric, I am."

"What's reincarceration?" Tupomi asked as she giggled at the funny sounding word, "Sounds like a funny looking flower."

"That's reincarnation, Tupomi," I corrected, "it's part of a belief that some people from my world hold in that when someone dies, their soul is reborn in a new body."

"Correct, my little human," she congratulated me before addressing Xam and the other five again, "the reason for why you found the Elements as inactive rocks when you first saw them was that I had released the attached parts of my soul into the aether after learning of their use by Gilzia to send Pyre to the moon," an uneasy silence came over the two sisters as they remembered the event in question. "From there, the pieces sought out the soul of a suitable host to bond with. Remaining dormant, inside its host, until such a time that all six host were alive at the same time and brought together." She smiled to the six, "Once that would happen the piece of my soul would activate and power the jewels again."

"That's it!" Xamspona nearly shouted over the shocked gasps of the others, "That explains why it seemed that the Elements appeared to not draw from the Magic of Harmony but from some other source, and it also explains why six normal ponies could use a type of alicorn magic to activate them. It's because the power was coming through us, not the jewels, the jewels are just acting as a storage point and emitter for the power coming from us."

"Very good, Xamspona," Harmonia praised.

"Well that's all fine and dandy, I guess," Etpinego said, "but where does Eric fit into all of this? Why did they react to him?"

"Yes mother, and what did you mean that Eric helped fix the Elements?" Pyre asked from beside me, "I was unaware that they had even been damaged."

"And you would not," her mother replied as she looked between Pyre and everypony else, "None of you would. For it was done during your imprisonment in the moon and without even the perpetrator knowing what they had truly done."

"Who could do such a thing?" Gilzia inquired, gaining the attention of her mother, "The Elements have always been under a strong magical ward for as long as they've been active and in our possessi-," her eyes widened in realization at remembering some long lost clue, "-no, it couldn't be. Could it?"

"Could what be, Princess?" Vemsa Hewl inquired as we all listened in to what the Alicorn of the Day had to say next.

"Long ago, almost immediately after I was forced to have to send you to the moon, sister," she began solemnly as she looked across the table to her younger sister for a brief pause, before addressing the rest of us, "Xew Vamp the Bearded came to me with a request. He told me that he wanted to examine the inactive Elements in an attempt to reactivate them so as to prevent Equestria from being void of its most powerful defense in case it was ever attacked again. So consumed was I still in my grief over losing you, and blaming myself for failing to be there that I agreed to his request," Gilzia gave a sad chuckle as I gently gripped her hand for support, a motion that I saw did not go unnoticed by her mother. "I do not know why I thought it would work. I guess somewhere deep down I was secretly hoping that if I could use the Elements once more I could fix my mistakes and bring you home sister. But in the end it didn't matter for Xew Vamp died but a short time later, leaving his work unfinished.”

Pyre reached across the table to hold her sister's hand as Etpinego stood and walked over to her glum looking leadmare, wrapping her in an embrace. Gilzia's frown turned into a smile as she delighted in the warmth of her herdmate's love as Pyre spoke, "Do not be sad sister, for I have forgiven you of that years ago. We both share the burden of that mistake equally."

"Pyre is right, my daughter, " Harmonia said, piggybacking on her youngest's sentiment, "you two have paid for those mistakes of your youth many times over. Take it from me, let the past be the past, and instead focus on the ones who are there with you today."

Gilzia looked around to the smiling faces all around her, eventually meeting her mother's eyes as she returned the smile, "I will mother."

Tupomi quickly stood in her seat as she held her hand high in the air, bouncing like an impatient schoolfilly as she tried to get Harmonia's attention, "Ooh, ooh, ooh so we totally get that Xew Vamp the Bearded is the silly willy who broke the Elements, but what does that still have to do with, Eric?"

The others nodded in agreement as Harmonia cleared her throat and stood up walking under the boughs of a nearby oak tree. "Of course, but in order to explain it best I'm going to need some help. Eric, "as she spoke my name her horn lit up in a white glow that also enveloped my body, causing all of us to gasp in shock as her magic affected me. A slight queasiness overcame me as she floated me over to her side. " Would you, Vivmay, Etpinego, and Paxxila be so kind as to come over here and help me demonstrate?"

She sat me on my feet next to her as the other mares made their way over, "Thank you for assisting me, Eric."

"Not like I had much of a choice, did I?" I whispered, frowning at the smiling alicorn as I saw Xamspona stand to ask a question, but the queen intercepted her.

"I know you have questions about what I just did, Xamspona, but please hold all questions till after." The purple princess pouted but eventually rescinded to the queen's request as the other three stood beside me waiting for Harmonia's direction. "Now as we were just talking about it was Xew Vamp's tampering with the jewels that broke them. Now I'm sure you're all wondering what he did to them and what it has to do with our towering primate here?"

"Hey!"

"Hush, Eric, we'll get to you shortly," the queen said, dismissing my protest as I muttered a few choice words under my breath to where she could hear me. "Well as we have also gone over from before, the six of you each contain a piece of my soul within you, and when you all came together to face the entity that had possessed Pyre a reaction happened. Right?" The six mares nodded, "But what happened was not what was supposed to happen."

A pin drop could have been heard as we all waited on the edge of our seats for the mare to continue.

"During his studies into the Elements Xew Vamp came upon the fact, like you did Xamspona, that the Elements reacted to and projected a type of alicorn magic, but he did not make the connection that the residual alicorn magic he was looking at was a piece of my soul. Yet even without knowing that he came to the conclusion that: Being as only somepony who matched the output of the Elements could ever hope to use the Elements and the only bearers of the Elements thus far had been alicorns. That the bearer had to be an alicorn, and maybe the Elements could be used to make a new bearer if enough magic was used and the right incantation was used to alter a ponies destiny. It was to be his masterpiece, but, like Gilzia mentioned, he was unable to complete his spell before he died."

"You're referring to the spell from his journal that turned Xamspona into an alicorn?" Vivmay said as I tried to wrap my mind around all this talk of spells and magic, feeling as lost as a jock in a conversation with a bunch of nerds over a children's card game.

"That is correct, and he was on the right track," Harmonia replied as she looked to Xamspona briefly, "even if his scope was a little small. For because of his tampering with the soulstones, they went into a sort of a Safe Mode when you six reactivated them."

"Safe Mode? I don't know wh-," Xamspona began before I cut her off.

"I do!" I exclaimed quickly, happy to finally hear something familiar to me, but a quick look at the other confused mares made my excitement wane as I gave a nervous chuckle, "I actually understood that reference."

"Yes," Harmonia drawled as she gave me a wary eye, "well as I was saying, this meant that a lot of their stronger abilities were locked away, unable to be used, and that's why Eric here is such a fortunate mistake for everypony." I moved to protest again but she quickly cut me off earning more grumbles from me, "Eric, if you would be so kind as to remove your shirt please?"

Wondering what she was trying to get at, I removed the piece of garment as I heard Vemsa and Tupomi teasingly give out wolf whistles and catcalls for me to take off the rest before they were gently shushed by Gilzia. Although not before I noticed my herdmate's wandering eyes.

"Now everypony here knows about how the species of Equus can all use magic so we won't go into that, but then why doesn't our little human? Mainly it boils down to his physiology and where he comes from. As I'm sure he has explained, on Earth no creatures use anything like magic. That is because every creature from there lacks the ability to manipulate the energies that make up the magics of the world, that is the physics of their reality has been locked into the makeup of all Earthbound beings, even displaced ones."

"You're referring to the ones that came to Equus through the portal, are you not?" Pyre asked as Harmonia nodded, "Then how are they now able to do it?" She paused for a moment as her and Gilzia suddenly came to the same conclusion before leveling a stare at their mother, "You did something mother, didn't you?"

"Yes," she admitted unabashed as her daughters gave an exasperated sigh as I leaned in to whisper into the queen's ear.

"Just wanted to be the first to let you know that that's the sound of hypocrisy." She narrowed a glare at me that could melt steel for my jab, but was soon distracted by the accusations of her oldest daughter.

"I can not believe it mother! After you warned us all those years ago in that cave about how bad it was to interfere with the lives of our mortal subjects we now find out that you have altered the perception of reality for every living creature on the planet?"

"Yes, Gilzia, I did alter them," she firmly said as her wings flared in challenge to her daughters, but together they refused to back down as the air crackled between them, "but it was to give the last few survivors a fighting chance against the new dangers of a new world. Some even worse than the ones they had left behind. I do not agree that it was what I should have done, but I felt that I had to give them something in return for what I had been forced to do."

The three alicorns continued to have their family stare down as it seemed like neither side was willing to back down, till a miffed Etpinego stepped in between the two sides.

"Alright now, break it up you three! There's no need for family to start squabblin' about what they should have done or shouldn't have done in the past. Right now we got more important things to worry about than that."

The sisters eventually relented as they backed down and nuzzled their irritated herdmate as Gilzia spoke, "Very well, Etpinego, " she looked to her mother again, "but we will talk about this later."

"Trust me, dear, there is much we're going to talk about later," she said in that motherly tone that didn't leave any room to argue before continuing anew, "Now where were we? Oh yes, Earth's reality. For even though you, the descendants of those first settlers, are modified to fall under the physics of this universe's reality, at your core, you are all still coded like Eric."

Harmonia chuckled at the confounded faces looking at her, the only ones who seemed halfway aware of what she was saying were her daughters, Xamspona, and for some reason Tupomi T'mi.

"It's alright, I know inter-universal reality can get a little confusing once you add in trans-dimensional physics. That's why we have our wonderful volunteers here, " she said motioning to the four of us standing there, "Etpinego will you stand on Eric's right, Paxxila behind him, and Vivmay on his left. Good, now I am going have each of you girls perform a simple task that you could do on the easiest of days and when I tell you I would like for you to place a hand anywhere upon Eric's skin but please ladies, keep it appropriate."

The three mares all blushed to certain degrees while Vemsa and Tupomi dared them to do many a lewd thing as I waited patiently for the grinning temporal alicorn to get to the point. When the peanut gallery had calmed down once more she directed Vivmay to levitate a small rock, Paxxila to hover behind me while Etpinego was told to lift a decent sized weight. Once they were performing their designated task she directed them to lay hands on me, and, like we all expected, they all immediately failed in whatever task they were doing. Harmonia smiled as she materialized a chalkboard behind her that held a crude outline of a human and a pony.

"What you just saw happen is your reality coding return back to the older, original, base coding from Earth. Whenever you make flesh to flesh contact this will continue and magic will not have an effect on you for as long as you maintain that contact. Think of it as a simple electrical circuit as it flows into a light bulb. If you ground out the circuit the light no longer works; remove the short the light works again.

"Now because time is linear and realities will always reset back to the older coding, the same theory will also apply to all things created in Equus since the migration from Earth. So as soon as Eric touched the Element of Honesty any and all tampering that Xew Vamp had inadvertently done was reversed, resetting the jewels and starting the process to complete your transformations that should have happened originally."

Everypony was taking the news in great stride, except Xamspona who eagerly raised her hand waiting to be called on.

"Yes, Xamspona?"

"Your explanation was very insightful, but I still have a few questions," the Princess of Friendship asked as the older alicorn did little to hide her mirth over the younger's enthusiasm.

"I figured you would, dear. What can I help you with?"

"First off, I understand the theories behind your explanation, but that doesn't explain why Gilzia and Pyre are affected by this, nor why your magic does affect him?"

"I believe I can answer the first part mother," Gilzia spoke drawing our attention, " it has to do with the fact that my sister and I took on physical bodies that, while extremely resilient, were still under the same modified laws of reality that the rest of you are."

"The other part is fairly simple to explain as well," Harmonia added, "as the alicorn who watches over time and reality my coding is much older than anything else in this universe. Meaning that I have the ability to alter time and reality at will, as evident by this subspace."

Xamspona and the other Element bearers gawked in awe at the surrounding space as Harmonia easily changed it once again to a vast open steppe with two moons visible in the sky. As impressive as her abilities were I could see that she was showing off a little as she fine tuned the objects in the sky till they were exactly where she wanted them. But I let it be being as we were the first guests she had had in an unknown millenia.

"Um... Harmonia, um ma'am," I heard Paxxila squeak from behind me as she used me as a shield, yet somehow the alicorn queen was able to hear her.

"Yes, dear, what is it?" She gently said as she carefully approached me to get a better look at the butter-colored mare behind me.

"Oh... I was just wondering, that is if you don't mind telling us, um...how was the transformation with the Elements supposed to go?"

Harmonia's smile grew warmer as she reached out and tucked the timid pegasus's flowing pink bangs behind her shoulder to give her a reassuring gaze, "Why it will fully awaken my part of your soul and physically change you into true daughters of mine so that you may fulfill your destinies and take up your duties along me and your new sisters."

Silence once again overcame us again as we finally realized what she was saying. It was Vemsa who finally spoke up.

"So wait, are you saying that we're supposed to become-"

"Alicorns, yes," she confirmed with a nod that was quickly followed by shouts of protest, that caused a confused frown to form on the queen's face, "are you not happy with this?"

A nearly unanimous "No!" rang out through the clearing, except for one overly excited pink party mare that was bouncing for joy, but was quickly subdued by the others. The others pleading with the queen for her to reconsider their fates.

"How will I ever get to join the Wonderbolts? There's no way they would let an alicorn join the team."

"Oh, my who would be there to take care of all my animal friends, the poor darlings. Oh, and I don't know if I could handle all the pressure that comes with running a country."

"What would happen to the farm? Who would help Granny and Big Qeg around the place. And what about little Etpitivi?"

"What would happen to my business? Don't get me wrong, the life of a princess is every proper lady's dream, but I couldn't truthfully earn the title of "The World's Greatest Designer" if I was a princess."

"Think of all the parties we could have!"

"Mother, you can't do this, you can't force them to be something they don't want," Gilzia whispered into Harmonia's ear, but was quickly stopped by a raised hand.

"You mean like Xamspona?" She retorted back to my leadmare. Gilzia tried to form a response but couldn't because deep down she knew her mother was right, "Or all those students throughout the years just to find the one that would be able to finish Xew Vamp's spell?" Gilzia stood with her head hung low, defeated by her mother's words, but Harmonia was not done as she embraced her oldest daughter, "But just like with Xamspona Tevopi, this is their destiny and they must be given the chance to take it. Besides I am in desperate need of their help."

"Their help in what?" I Inquired as the others listened in.

"As I told you earlier, Eric, when I created the Elements a part of my soul was lost. Which meant my power was also cut considerably as well, and with the effort of having to maintain both the barrier and the status of the planet Equus along with my normal alicorn duties I am becoming overtaxed." She chuckled wistfully, "The truth is I'm tired. Even for an immortal I'm no longer a spring chicken anymore, and I need help in my duties if I want to keep any amount of hope alive of having the power to keep this universe safe."

"Well, what would you need us to do?" Xamspona asked as we for the first time could see the true weight of the burden that had rested upon the alicorn's shoulders alone for so long.

"What I had hoped for is for the six of you to share the burden of keeping the planet of Equus healthy and safe along with your other alicorn sisters as they, and myself, will guide you through the challenges that will come along with your new lives. That way I can focus solely on the barrier and my duties in my weakened state. I know it may sound like a lot and I may be in desperate need of help, but in the end I will not force you to take on this burden for it is not a choice to be taken lightly."

"Well what happens if they refuse?" I asked.

"If they were to refuse then the immediate risk would be that the barrier would eventually fail. Long term would be that upon their deaths, the Elements would revert back to their inactive form, maybe never to be activated again."

The clearing grew quiet as the five mares in question huddled together with Xamspona a bit away from me and the three remaining alicorns. To discuss about what this change would imply for them with the one friend who had already experienced it. As I watched them pelt Xamspona with one concern after another it made me a little sad and honestly wishing that there was something more that I could have done to help out in this situation, but the things going on were so far out of my realm of knowledge that I was, to my supreme agitation, forced to sit on the sidelines. What made me feel even worse was the fact that none of this would have even been happening if I had just never touched those stupid jewels.

On the other hand maybe we were all overreacting and it wouldn't be as big of a change to their personal lives as they thought. For even though it happened before I had arrived to Equus, from what I had seen and been told by Xam, her becoming a princess didn't really seem to hold her back from much. Sure she still had the royal duties that came with being an alicorn princess, but she was still able to live a life separate from the crown. Either way I vowed to be there for Etpinego and support the others decision no matter what it was.

After what looked like quite the heated debate, the six of them came forward to stand before the queen. All of them looked visibly nervous and for good reason. For they were basically being asked to throw away the lives they once knew and take up a heavy mantle of responsibility. All while having to watch their friends and loves ones grow old and die away, myself included. Harmonia looked over each one briefly before addressing the group.

"Have you reached a decision?"

"They have, Your Majesty," Xamspona replied while the others each nodded their heads in agreement.

Harmonia frowned a little at the lavender alicorn's use of her title but quickly dismissed it, "And what is your answer?"

"We agree," came Etpinego's reply as the eldest alicorn's smile widened immensely.

"Are you sure? Remember, there is no going back from this once it is done, " Xamspona looked back to the other five as they nervously looked between themselves one last time before finally nodding their approval.

"Yes, they are," the group's princess spokespony replied.

"Very well then," Harmonia said, and with a flash of her horn the Elements appeared, finding their way to their respective owners, "Now I am sure that Xamspona has explained the process a little bit, but I shall go over it again just to be safe. Currently I have the jewels held in suspended animation, in a second I will release them and the transformation will begin. Your body will be broken down and rebuilt into its new alicorn body, but do not fret for the process will be completely painless. Now, Xamspona, being as you have already completed your transformation, nothing will happen to you but we still require your power to do the change completely. Are you girls ready?"

The six girls nodded as Harmonia's horn lit up, dropping the shielding around the glowing amulets. I watched as their eyes began to glow with the newly untapped power that had been unlocked within them as tendrils of colored energy began to shoot out from the crystals, arching back into their mistresses. A glowing prismatic aura began to emit from the ancient amulets, growing larger, building in power with each pulse till the girls were eventually consumed before my eyes.

I could not help but worry for them but as I felt my body move of its own accord towards them before I felt the gentle hands of Gilzia and Pyre rest atop my shoulder, anchoring me to the spot. I glanced back to them to see them lightly shake their heads at my actions as a soft smile formed on their features. Silently reassuring me that even though we all shared the same concerns for the girls that all would be alright in the end. Trusting wholeheartedly in the insight that my mares held on the situation, I returned the smile and looked back just in time to where Etpinego and the others stood to watch as the transformation built to a final, explosive, crescendo.

I raised my hands to shield my face from the blast, but my alicorn companions were faster as their mighty wings blocked us from the blinding flash and searing heat of the explosion. Like a concussion grenade, I was left disoriented momentarily as my ears were ringing and the metallic smell of burnt ozone hung heavy in the air in the wake of the thunderous detonation.

Quickly I tried to gather my wits about me and parted the feathered wall before me,unsure of what I would find. Yet there in the middle of a crater of flattened and scorched earth the six of them stood unharmed and born anew in their alicorn bodies.

With barely contained unease I made a beeline to my now immortal farm-mare, who was looking over her new features, like the other fresh alicorns, in silent wonderment. Overall the girls did not change much in proportions, maybe growing and inch or so taller, or a more pronounced curve here and there. But it was the obvious identifying features of their new species that stood out the most. Each of the other Element bearers now matching their lavender counterpart's features as a nearly foot long spiral horn jutted from their foreheads. While a set of powerful wings that matched their coat colors rested on their shoulders like a feathered cape threatening to touch the ground with their length.

"Etpinego?" I softly inquired, trying to grab her attention as she was busy looking over her hands in open-mouthed awe, flexing the digits open and closed as I could see her trying to grasp what had happened. She looked up to me as she heard me calling her name, her emerald eyes shimmering in the sunlight, "How do you feel?"

"I feel great," she admitted with a wry smile, "in fact I feel like I could do anything."

"And you could, my dear Etpinego, well almost anything," I heard Harmonia provide to them as she and her oldest daughters came to congratulate the newest members of their sorority, giving each of them a warm hug, "Even though you may now possess the power and abilities that come with your new forms. Remember that they are still bound to the limits of the physical realm and can suffer from all the things that any mortal could. But enough about that, for you all shall have plenty of time to learn all about your limits as time goes on. I just want to be the first to welcome you into the family, my daughters."

"So do we have to call you mother, or the Princesses sisters now or something?" Vemsa asked as she eagerly flexed her new bigger wings.

"As happy as that would make me, no, you do not have to. Your relationship to me and my family is strictly spiritual and can remain so if that is what you are comfortable with," Harmonia explained, "but know that, to me, you are truly my daughters and are privy to all the benefits that come along with that."

"Alright!" Tupomi happily shouted as her new horn was enveloped in a pink aura as party hats appeared on everypony's head and confetti began to rain from the sky, "now we can have a "Congratulations on becoming Alicorns, Princesses, and getting a new Mommy" megaparty!"

The others looked in shock as the little pink alicorn teleported around the clearing, making preparations for her sudden extravaganza. Yet somehow it didn't surprise me that the particularly random party pony took to magic like flies to shit. But as happy as they all were and as proud as I was for them I could help but feel a little melancholic as I reminisced over what I had so recently lost. It wasn't until I heard the girls laughing that I was shaken from my depression inducing thoughts.

"So now what do we do? Do we get crowns, our own castles, maybe a couple of hunky handservants?" Vivmay asked hopefully as stars formed in her eyes.

"With your ascensions complete I have now bestowed the guardianship of the health of the planet to you six." The girls mumbled amongst themselves at this and I could see Xamspona beginning to have a mild panic attack at what this new responsibility would entail, but Harmonia simply smiled and continued on, "Do not worry, for between the six of you, I have faith that you shall be more than capable of handling the task. The power that is required from you to maintain the healthy balance of the planet will be very negligible. And as time goes on and you become more attuned to each of your specific areas of guardianship you shall gain more control over them.

"As far as the royal side of things," she tittered lightly, "your relationship to me grants you all the title of Princess in the land of Equestria, but this now means that there are nine princesses to rule in my stay."

"Perhaps a sort of council or delegation would be best, Mother, where we could convene and decide over the issues of the nation and its territories?" Gilzia suggested as Pyre and a couple of the others nodded their heads in agreement.

"That sounds like a great idea," Harmonia praised before pointing to her two eldest daughters, "and you two can preside over it as Queens."

"What!" Both of them exclaimed, shocked over their mother's sudden proclamation as Gilzia spoke up, "But mother, what about -"

The queen lightly laughed, cutting short their concerns, "Come now you two, I think we all know who has truly been in charge of the country and who our little ponies view as their rightful rulers. Now it would just be official."

"But what about you?" Xamspona asked as the queen tittered again at the young princesses concerns.

"Do not worry about me, little one. I shall simply take on the more appropriate title of Queen Dowager. For now that my power is no longer taxed to the limit I am now able to leave this sanctuary to visit Equus for short periods."

The girls, especially Gilzia and Pyre, were excited by this news as they gave their mother a hug. As happy as I was for them I couldn't help but gulp at the thought of Harmonia, who, in all intents and purposes, was my mother in-law, coming to visit for any amount of time.

"Visit?" I nervously chuckled, "Just out of curiosity how long would you be able to stay?"

She brought a finger to her cheek as she honestly gave it some thought for a moment, "Oh, I don't think it would be too long. Probably no more than maybe three to four."

"Days?" I inquired, secretly hoping I'm sure to the disdain of the sisters.

Harmonia looked at me confused for a moment before falling into a fit of laughter, "No, Eric, not days. Months."

"Months!"

"Why, Eric?" She asked as a gentle smile came across her lips while her eyes flared again ominously in my direction so that only I saw them, "Is there a problem with me coming to visit?"

One look into her daughter's eyes and seeing their desire to reunite with their mother was all it took for me to give in like so many men before me. That and the matriarch still scared the crap out of me.

"Why no, of course not. I'm sure we'll all look forward to your visits," I lied through my teeth.

"That is good to hear," she said as she made her way towards me, "I can never thank you enough for all that you have done for me and my family." She stopped directly in front of me before surprising everypony when she bowed deeply to me, "Thank you, Eric Broussard, from the bottom of my heart."

Taken off guard I didn't know what to do or say, "Um, you're welcome."

"You have earned my eternal gratitude," she said raising to meet my eyes once more, "so I shall give you my blessing to continue courting my daughters, including my newest Etpinego," I tried to thank her but she stopped me with a raised finger, "but I demand something in return."

"Um...okay, sure anything." I warily agreed as she gave me a set of bedroom eyes that immediately unnerved me.

She slinked up next to me, pressing her mature body against mine as she lightly stroked my cheek with the back of her hand, "If you want my blessings on your relationship I want you to give me a baby."

"What!" Came the unanimous outcry from the others as I felt my herdmates close the distance between us. Ripping me away from their mother, their wings flared in challenge.

"Mother, what are you playing at!" Gilzia demanded as she narrowed her eyes at the still smiling mare, "There is no way we would ever agree to Eric siring a foal with you."

Harmonia simply laughed for a moment before narrowing her predatory eyes again, this time to my mares, "I'm sorry my dear, it seems that I've given everypony the wrong impression. I don't desire to have a baby with him what I want is for him, along with you three, to give me a baby. A grandbaby."

A blush went across all of the mare's faces as they realized what she truly now desired while I continued to stand there stupefied over the whole conversation. I almost didn't hear Gilzia's reply, her normally steady voice coming out timid and nervous.

"A-a g-gr-grandbaby?"

Harmonia's mood grew cheery as she practically squealed at the thought, no doubt fantasizing about bouncing baby foals, "Oh yes! As many as you and your herdmates can have. It's been so long since I have experienced the joy of little ones to spoil."

"That may be so ma'am, but we're just now finishin' up our courtin'," Etpinego said nervously as she fiddled with the band in her mane.

"Perfect, then there's no better time to get started," the Alicorn of Time said, happily oblivious to my mare's discomfort. I was trying to stay as inconspicuous as possible behind my mares ruffled wings, not wanting one piece of this family feud. But Harmonia wasn't having any of that as she teleported and I felt a pair of white arms drape over my shoulders and a smooth impish voice whispered into my ear, "So what say you to my request, Eric? Are you willing to impregnate my daughters, or perhaps an older mare is what you really need to show you the proper way of doing it first?"

"Mother!"

"Hands off of him!"

Came the cries of my herdmates as their eyes glowed white while Gilzia and Pyre's horns shimmered threateningly. Causing Xamspona and the others to give a wide berth to them while I worried about being in the crossfire of whatever was soon to come. Yet the queen was unthreatened by their display as she chuckled and waved her hand, dispelling her daughter's magic like it was nothing, returning them to normal.

"Ah, ah, ah you three my sanctuary, my reality, my rules." She chided as my confused herdmates looked between themselves, "Plus do you believe me desperate enough for companionship that I would stoop to stealing your mate?" The three mares fidgeted under her scrutinizing gaze as she snorted at their lack of faith in her before Harmonia addressed me again, "We shall talk about your less than positive views on my morals another day, young ladies. So, Eric do you love my daughters enough to grant me this one, tiny, request?"

I didn't even have to think about my answer as I looked to my beautiful herdmates.

"Of course, but what about the difference in my genes?" I curiously asked back over my shoulder, "And what about their father? What does he say about all of this?"

"Their father?" She replied confusion evident as she walked around to face me.

"Well, yeah. Aren't you married?"

"Married? Me?" She asked, thoroughly perplexed by my words, "Why would you think I'm married?"

"Sorry I just kind of assumed you must have been to Gilzia and Pyre's father, " I told her, wondering if I was going to have some weird conversation with an overprotective father in the future, but she surprised me by laughing lightly.

"Oh, is that all? Well rest assured that there is no Mr. Harmonia, there never has been. The process by which my oldest daughters were conceived was rather...complex to say the least, but just know that there is no father." she said, "And as for your question on the difference in your genes and theirs that can be easily fixed."

"Really?" I asked, confused and excited that something that seemed so complex could be so easy to her.

"Why yes, both your species and ours contain the same amount of chromosomes so that is not a problem. The problem is in the differences in particular proteins and chains of amino acids that are required during the initial merging of the sperm and egg to allow the bonding of DNA," her horn glowed as two jars of pills, one blue the other red, appeared before us. She levitated the red ones over to my mares while the blue pills were placed in my hands, "These will ensure that everything goes smoothly. Simply take one pill at the beginning of the heat season, and it will help increase the odds of conception."

I dubiously looked at the jar of little blue pills, turning it over in my hands till I saw a small white label that had the same directions that Harmonia had told me. I found it hard to believe that these could be the answer, but on the other hand if they worked they could be very beneficial in the future if and when we decided to expand our family. One look at my herdmate's blushing faces as they huddled around the red pills like it was a precious artifact let me know that they were not against at least trying them out.

"Thank you, Harmonia," I said as I extended my hand to her.

"Oh there's no need for thanks, you can thank me enough when you have those beautiful babies," she looked to the other girls, who had remained strangely silent throughout all of this, "the same goes for the rest of you as well," the other girls all blushed madly as Harmonia wrapped me in a surprisingly strong hug and she whispered in my ear low enough to where only I could hear her, "Do your best to take care of my daughters and make them happy. For if you hurt them there is no world, no reality that you can hide in that will be safe from my wrath."

I solemnly nodded my head as I felt the hair on my arms stand up from the static charge of her power building up, "You have my word."

"Then I have nothing to worry about," she smiled at me as I saw her eyes misting a little. From there she went around and said her goodbyes to everypony by wrapping each of the mares in a tight hug, "Now all of you should be on your way. Do your best and I shall see all of you soon."

With that her horn lit up as all of us were blinded in a flash of light, finding ourselves back in Xamspona's room. A quick look at the clock on the far wall let us know that we had only been gone for about ten minutes, despite it having felt like we had spent most of the day in her sanctuary. No doubt a product of the temporal alicorn's abilities. I looked around to the others to see that the Element Bearers were all a little confused on what to do now that there were five new princesses of the land, but Gilzia, like always, was ready to take charge of the situation.

"Well, come along everypony," she said as she gestured to the stairs, "we still have much to go over, and quite a few coronations to plan."

We all followed her out of the room and down the corridors. Figuring that this conversation no longer included my presence I decided to head back to my room to grab some much needed rest. As I turned to head towards the guest wing I was stopped by a tug on my shirt hem. Turning to see what I had gotten snagged on I saw that I was being held by Pyre who looked at me with a sour look.

"And just where do you think you're going, my stallion?" She asked giving my shirt another small tug.

"Um...to go take a nap," I said, wondering what was the matter, "would you like to join me?"

"Most definitely, but we shall not be taking a nap."

"If we're not going to be taking a nap, then what are we going to do?" I inquired as I felt an ominous feeling come over me when she let go of my shirt and cornered me against the wall. Blocking my escape with her powerful wings as her beautiful aqua-colored eyes shone with barely contained hunger.

"You still have your promise to give me twice the pleasure that you gave my sister that needs to be fulfilled. Plus," she smiled a wicked smile as she pulled out the hidden jar of red pills from behind her back as I felt a lump in my throat, "I figured we would truly see if these work like mother says they will."

"You mares are scary when you're in heat," I whispered to her feeling a hunger of my own start to rise as she ran her hand along my wide chest.

She giggled happily as her scent began to fill my nostrils, causing my body to react appropriately, "You have no idea, Eric, " she whispered as she grabbed my hand and began to quickly lead me to my room. "Now come, you will be given the privilege of being the first to offer praises to your new Queen of the Night."

Author's Notes:

Yay another chapter done. Now I'm going to go hide in a reinforced bunker from all the possible backlash over turning the Mane 6 into alicorns . Thanks to AidanPryde once again for all the help.