Luna was soaring through the sky at a speed that would have made any member of her Lunar Guard, or Shadowbolts as she liked to call them, envious. The few people that had seen her following the coastline, probably only saw a blur piercing the night sky for a few seconds before disappearing into the horizon.

It had been nearly an hour since she had told her guards to go back to Canterlot while she was heading North. Heading toward the columns of smoke and steam that came from the sea before the Horseshoe Bay. A few minutes later, Luna could see how the battle had gone. It was like she had first thought it was going to be. In one word, it was messy.

Dozens of shipwrecks were floating around the strait of the bay along with hundreds of cindered corpse. All the wooden parts of the ships were still consumed by flames of pure white that the sea couldn’t extinguish. The same could be said about the Dracan corpses moved around by the current.

Luna couldn’t help herself to sigh when she noticed the ravage done by her sister’s fire to the environment. The Solar Fire that was busy cleaning the traces of the confrontation had already taken its toll and it wasn’t satisfied enough.

Closer to the burning wrecks and cadavers, the waters were boiling so hot that dead fish started to float on the surface, literally cooked alive. The cinders were polluting the sea so much that it had turned black. The seaweed had lost its green color in favor of a dark brown, like they had dried in the sun despite the water surrounding them.

That was the reason why Celestia rarely went to battle. Unlike Luna who stroke with precision and swiftness like an eagle hunting a rabbit, her big sister would always let her emotions get the best of her in combat and fought like a raging mother bear whose cubs had been threatened.

Among all this destruction, Luna spotted her sister. Celestia was standing on top of a reef at the Northern side of the strait. Her glaive planted not three feet from her. Her once pristine dress dirtied by an insane numbers of blood spots while she showed no signs of being wounded anywhere. She delicately landed beside her as the Sun Princess was staring at the aftermath of her own battle.

“Your dress is a mess, Sister,” Luna commented casually, glancing at the many tears on Celestia’s clothing.

“I know,” Celestia replied without much of a look at her sister.

“I told you that armor is at least more durable than a dress,” Luna reminded softly. “If not for the blood, you would look like you’re coming out of a night with sailors that had just returned from six months at sea.”

"It's not a far stretch from what actually happened, Little Sister," Celestia replied in a monotone, cold whisper.

“Are you well?” Luna asked with worry. Usually Celestia would have chuckled a bit at that innuendo.

“.....I’m tired, Luna,” Celestia answered with a long sigh.

“With the havoc you caused, it’s only natural to feel the need to re….”

“Not that,” Celestia interrupted softly. “I’m tired of this!” She pointed at the almost consumed half of a Dracan ship.

“What do you mean?”

“They first came in contact with our lands more than three years ago,” Celestia explained angrily. “Since then, they’ve been coming here! Raiding! Plundering! Stealing! Destroying! Killing! Sometimes even raping!” She angrily stomped her foot in fury, cracking the reef she was standing on. “For too long, they’ve kept coming at us, always targeting more important communities, always more numerous… Always with more of their greedy, totemic beasts!” Celestia growled, her eyes glowing gold and her hair turning into fire.

“Sister!” Luna said urgently as the earth started to shake in resonance to Celestia’s anger. “Calm down!” she added sternly before squeezing her sister’s hand in reassurance.

Celestia took deep breaths as Luna was holding her hand with a strength that would have crushed a rock. It took her a few seconds, but she managed to calm down, and when she did, her hair and eyes returned to their normal shape and form while the earthquake slowly came to an end.

“....I’m tired, Luna,” Celestia whispered. “Tired of being on the receiving end of those brutes’ assaults.”

“I understand, Sister,” Luna agreed slowly. “But what do you suggest we do?”

“To take the fight to them!” Celestia answered sternly, her cerise eyes glancing toward the ocean. “To teach them to never come near our shores again!”

“How do you want to do that?” Luna asked softly. “Our armada is not large enough for a full scale invasion and Draconia lies half a world away… We would never manage to deploy an army across the ocean.”

“That’s the point.” Celestia retorted softly before grabbing the staff of her weapon and pulling it out of the ground.

“I don’t follow,” Luna tilted her head in confusion.

“Remember what Hindel told us.” Celestia advised in a matter-of-fact tone. “Their first ships followed the Dragon Migration to Equestria.”

“So?”

“Even creatures with an endurance as fantastic as a dragon can’t cross the ocean in one go.” The Sun Princess stated. “The Dracan fleets must have made a few stops along the way to stop somewhere to re-supply… And considering the increasing number of attacks, and how better equipped they are at each new attack...”

“You think they have a forward operating port close our lands?” Luna asked with wide eyes.

Celestia simply nodded in response. She glanced at horizon with a pensive frown. If such Dracan outpost existed, it needed to be found at all costs. Celestia supposed that such outpost would be well guarded, and as much as she knew that her sister and herself were forces to reckoned with, she also knew that they couldn’t achieve that without the support and help of their people.

“Let’s convoke the Assembly,” Celestia suggested softly. “And rally the Council… They’ve been waiting to do something for a while now,” she added with a small grin.

A few hours later, deep under the Macintosh hills!

“..... Why?... WHY does it keep happening to me?” A tanned, woman with black hair with grey streaks in it growled in frustration as she was hanging from the ceiling, a thick, creeper-made rope tying her up tightly.

“Silence, Horse-woman!” The massive bipedal Rottweiler ordered before poking her side with his primitive mace. “That’s what you get for trying to steal the Bitch Queen’s Jewel!”

The woman couldn’t stop herself from letting out a small chuckle at the title of the Diamond Dogs female leaders. No matter how many times she heard it, she would always laugh a little.

“Do not mock our Queen, Horse-Woman!” another anthropomorphic dog, a Bulldog this time, shouted in anger.

“Hehehehe, sorry!” The woman tried to calmed down while laughing tears were coming out of her magenta eyes. “Sorry! I’ll stohahahhaahahahah!”

“Silence!” the Rottweiler growled, punching the hanging woman, sending her in a pendular movement.

The tied-up explorer winced at the impact and stopped laughing as her breath was taken away. During her swaying around, she spotted a smaller Diamond Dog sniffing through what had been confiscated from her by her barking capturers.

“HEY! Careful with the helmet!” She shouted, startling the dog that was about to chew on her cream colored pith helmet with curiosity.

“ENOUGH!” A deeper bark came from the entrance of cave.

The captive glanced back at where the voice came from, seeing a Diamond Dog around twice the size of the Rottweiler, who was at least twice as big as the woman, entered along with a female Diamond Dog wearing a large, amethyst as a pendant around her neck.

“What do you know,” the woman let out in a fake, impressed tone. “The Alpha and the Bitch Queen coming for a visit… hehehe… I would have bowed, but I’m incapacitated at the moment, you understand?”

“Quiet your tongue, She-Equestrian!” The Alpha growled angrily. “Before I cut it out to give it to my pups!”

“That’s nice,” she commented sarcastically.

“Now answer my question,” The Alpha continued without considering her comment. “Why did you come here to take my Queen’s gem?” he asked pointing at his mate’s necklace.

“Well, if you must know, I’m not really after your Bitch Queen’s necklace,” she explained matter-of-factly. “I was asked to find a large gemstone with certain characteristics…. Which happens to be the same as your Queen’s amethyst… And… well, that’s all I can really say,” she admitted slowly. “I didn’t really listen to all the specificities!”

The black Wolf-Diamond Dog visibly wasn’t satisfied by her answer, if his cocked eyebrow was of any indication. He was about to open his mouth again when a high-pitched yelp came from the other side from the cave.

“Alpha! Look!” the small Diamond Dog from before called before bringing something to his leader.

“Hey, I told you to not touch my helmet!” The tanned woman growled at the sight of the light brown bipedal dog with her pith helmet on his head. “If there are fleas on it, I’m shoving your head in your own dejections to teach you some manners like we do to misbehaving puppies!”

“Barbarians!” The Bitch Queen let out, appalled by such treatment on young ones.

“What is this?” the Alpha asked, taking the golden medallion with a shining, blue, crystal Alicorn embedded in it from his followers. “Why does it shine like that?”

“Oh,” the captive let out, her eyes focused on the medallion. “Convoked already? Something big must have happened…” she muttered for herself.

“What are you saying, Horse-woman?!” the Alpha asked threateningly.

“Yeah, sorry, but I don’t have time to waste here anymore,” she retorted as her ties came loose all of the sudden.

Before the dogs could react, a pair of sand-colored wings spread on her back to keep her in the air. The explorer spun on herself before delivering a strong kick on the Rottweiler under jaw, sending him flying across the cave. The Diamond Dog crashed loudly into the wall, knocked unconscious by a small rock that unhooked itself from it and landed straight on his head.

The smaller Dog tried to get away before the woman landed with both her feet on his shoulders, crushing him on the ground while extending her hand to pick her pith helmet up. She immediately put it on, sighing in relief as the familiar weight on her skull was finally back.

“Get her!” the Alpha ordered in a loud bark before the Queen and the Bulldog lunged forward, their maws ready to take a bite of the tanned woman.

In reaction, the explorer jumped backwards, using her wings to perform a perfect back flip while her hand went to her right pocket. She pulled out of it a silver whistle with ancient runes engraved on it and brought it to her lips. She blew it strongly, causing a sharp, nearly mute note that nonetheless caused the dogs to cover their ears with a wince.

“What was…” The Alpha whispered before noticing a small, ghostly, fluffy white cat standing in front of him.

“Meow?” the small, ethereal pet let out softly.

“Sorry, boys,” the woman said with a smirk. “But I’m more of a cat-person!”

The tiny cat shrieked loudly before a quartet of much bigger felines appeared next to it: a massive tiger, a lithe cheetah, an elegant panther and a ferocious lynx.

The ethereal tiger roared and lunged at the Alpha, crushing him under his heavy paws which were bigger than his canine head. The cheetah and the lynx bit the limbs of the Bulldog and pinned him down the ground while the panther and the persian cat attacked the Bitch Queen, the former lunging on her chest while the latter was scratching her face with intensity.

“Well, if you don’t mind,” the woman said, while picking up her whip and khaki jacket from the floor. “I’ll help myself out.” She walked past the struggling dogs before stopping near the Bitch Queen. “I’ll also take that.”

While the female dog was struggling against the ghostly felines, the woman extended her hand to pull the pink jewel off the necklace. Then she proceeded to pick up her medallion that had fallen on the ground when the Alpha had been lunged by her ethereal tiger.

“It’s been a pleasure. I’d talk about your hospitality to my acquaintances.” She stated with a chuckle before dropping her prize in her pith helmet and putting it back on her head. “The world’s greatest Treasure Hunter, Daring Do, wishes you a good day!”

Daring then tapped her Alicorn-shaped gemstone four times: once on each wing, once on the horn and once on the chest before she was teleported away in a bright blue flash, leaving the Diamonds Dogs on the ground to lick their wounds as her spectral pack of cats disappeared with her.

Around the same time, in the City in the sky recently renamed Cloudsdale.

The storm-cloud-powered furnace of the forge was going at full capacity, making the temperature unbearable to withstand without having sudden feelings of faintness. Though, the blacksmith didn’t seem to mind at all.

The tall and burly blonde was wearing a thick, leather apron and a black mask to protect her body and face from the sparks of her craft along with a pair of matching gloves. On top of the furnace lied a tank containing a large and bubbling quantity of molten iron while the blacksmith grabbed a small patch of a metallic storm cloud with her hand and brought it to the anvil.

The black metallic cloud took the shape of a thick, rectangular rod under the Jupitarian magic of the smith with the blonde, braided ponytail. Then, she took a large hammer and started to beat the storm cloud bar with it.

At each impact, electric sparks coursed out of the rod and illuminated forge briefly. The constant beating and magical shaping of rod was taxing for the blacksmith but she didn’t stop at any time, nor did she show any signs of fatigue.

When she was satisfied of the sword-shape she had given to the shining storm cloud, she let go of her hammer and conjured a raincloud with her now free hand. A cold shower descended upon the fiery blade which was turned by the blacksmith to make sure she was evenly cooled down.

“Hmmmm.” she let out as she inspected the blade from up close after taking her mask off. “Three pounds of iron mixed with one gallon of thundercloud seems to give a stable result,” she commented softly, before taking off her glove to test the grip in hand.

As she touched the handle with her bare skin, she felt a strong spark of lightning coursing through her arm. Apparently unfazed by this, she smiled softly.

“Perfect! Now with the other hand…” She switched hand and once again felt her arm being electrocuted. “Great! Now only those with a natural resistance to lightning can hold you,” she whispered to the blade in a nearly amourous tone. “The perfect Jupitarian blade.”

She gave her sword a spin, inadvertently causing a lightning bolt to surge from it and destroy the stool near the anvil. The blonde smith blinked in surprise at the remains of her piece of furniture.

“Yeah, perfection still needs a few adjustments so it seems,” she commented with a small sigh mixed with a chuckle.

With one snap of her fingers, the furnace started to slowly cool down as the cloud powering it turned whiter and quieter. Then she put the sword in an empty spot on the weapon rack and took off her smithing attire.

After that the blacksmith stretched her back, satisfactorily hearing her spine joints pop, as she left her workshop to her quarters. She was about to head for her bathroom when a shining, purple light came from a golden amulet with an Alicorn-shaped violet gemstone embedded lying on top of the nightstand at the right of her queen size bed.

“Huh,” she let out apathetically as she examined the amulet before giving her cloud-blanket a small tap. “Sorry, but you gotta go!”

A displeased grunt came from beneath the cover and was quickly followed by some sour muttering. The blonde blacksmith rolled her eyes playfully and pulled the blanket away, letting a quartet of snuggling, naked women, all with the same incredibly long, platinum blonde hair and pearl white skin come into view.

“Sorry girls, but you’ll have to cancel your plans of sleeping in here,” The blacksmith said as the quadruplets in her bed were stirring and moaning as they slowly woke up.

“Awww, why?” the one that lied the closest to the darker blonde asked with disappointment.

“Royal business, sweetie,” she replied casually, pointing at the amulet she had just picked up. “I’m summoned in Canterlot, so I must ask you to leave my humble abode.”

“Awwwwwww!” The four blondes let out with sad pouts on their nearly identical faces.

“Yeah, I know,” the blacksmith commented as she made way for her bathroom. “Oh, would you mind warning Senator-Chairman Dash that his order would probably be delayed by my journey to Canterlot?”

“Sure!” the quadruplet to the right assured with a nod.

“Don’t worry about it, Shadow!” the middle right one added with small smile.

“We’ll tell Father the Princesses requested your presence,” The middle left one explained softly.

“He’ll understand,” the one to the far left side supposed.

“Since he’s already convinced that you four have spent the last three days at the Skytalon Estate, telling him the truth should be a piece of cake for you lot!” Shadow commented with a chuckle. “On that note, I’m going to leave you to your own machinations, my Ladies.” she bowed lightly at the four blondes of the Dash Household.

“You’re not going to leave right now...You’re not presentable…You’re dirty… sweaty…And…. smelly,” the quadruplets blurted out simultaneously, their cheeks rosing as they sniffed the air close to Shadow.

“Well, I was going to clean myself a bit,” Shadow retorted with a knowing grin, noticing the sparks in the blondes’ eyes. “You’re welcome to come help me with that if you want,” she whispered, though her voice was still clearly heard, before stepping outside her quarters.

And to think that Chairman Dash still doesn’t understand why he always gets such good deals for the services of Equestria’s greatest blacksmith, Shadow Kicker. The blacksmith commented in her thoughts as she heard the quadruplets argued among themselves to be the first one out of the bed in order to go after her.

A few moments earlier, in the Great City of Manehatten,

In the biggest tavern of the port, the crowd of sailors and dockworkers were chanting while clapping their hands at the show offered before them. At the center of largest room of the building, before the full hastily made bleachers positioned in an arc, stood a cage ring.

Inside the cage, a dark skinned woman was standing in right corner, her red and green irises focused on the mug the waitress had just brought her. She was wearing a deep purple ensemble with yellow streaks around the collar, biceps and thighs, along with high-knee black, leather boots and a pair of matching gloves.

But it wasn’t her peculiar choice of clothing that had made all the crowd look at her funny when she had volunteered to fight in the cage. It was her hair. It went down her back to even beyond then her feet, looking like a cascade of creepers from the Southern jungles due to its tones of dark and lighter green. It was as voluminous as a Manticore’s mane, and had the woman not wrapped it in a upward, messy ponytail, it would have brushed the floor behind her at every steps.

“Alright, my good sirs,” the bartender/ringleader called for the silence with a wave of his hand. “Our dear guest has been earning more than five hundred of YOUR bits so far, and she claimed that she was willing to give all of her winnings to the one who will beat her!” he explained loudly, earning more cheers from the crowd. “Are you going to let her take your honestly gained bits? Who’ll be the one to beat the green-haired lion of a woman in the cage?” He asked, pointing at the woman in question who was chugging down her mug of rum.

There was a second or two of intense whispers among the crowd before a giant sailor stood up proudly and claimed that he was willing to try. It was under a thunder of applause that he walked into the cage and got ready next to the bartender.

“Okay, whenever you’re ready,” the ringleader shouted for the two fighters before turning to the sailor who was showing off his muscles. “Don’t pull her hair,” he advised in a whisper.

“Every blow is allowed in a cage fight, right?” the burly man asked with a frown.

“I know, she just gets really nasty when someone pulls her hair,” the bartender explained matter-of-factly before stepping out of the cage. “BEGIN!”

Much to anyone’s surprise, the woman in the cage didn’t acknowledge her opponent and was busy chatting with the waitress that had brought her another mug of rum in the mean time. The sailor looked at the bartender in confusion while he simply shrugged and waved him to continue.

“...No, really! You don’t need some sort of two bits magical potion to make your hair longer,” The green-haired woman assured the waitress with a warm smile. “It’s a burden along with a blessing, and believe me, I know what I’m talking about.

“Are you sure?” the waitress asked with incertitude. “I mean my fiancé thinks I would look prettier with long hair...”

“Nah! Just wet your hair one night and shake your head a few times before showing yourself to him.” The woman in the cage grinned slyly. “He’ll be all over you in a matter of a seconds! Men adore a woman with wet hair!”

The waitress looked away, blushing in embarrassment, before her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the sailor charging her interlocutor in the back. She was about to warn her, but the fighter simply winked, then grabbed the cage bars and leaned her feet on them.

As the man was only two feet from her, she jumped off the bars backflipping her above him. Mid jump, she grabbed both the man’s large shoulders before stomp-jump on his upper back, making him end his course against the bars in a loud clang.

The brown-haired giant shook his head a couple of times before growling in anger while turning around to face the agile woman. His angry frown quickly changed to a gaping face as he saw a human ball rolling toward his face. The woman’s knee stroke him strongly of the forehead before she bounced off of him and landed in a splits.

His right hand pressed against his forehead, the sailor glanced in the green-haired woman through hazed eyes. She stood up and looked in her opponent’s direction with a small grin that turned slightly sour as she felt something heating up her chest.

“Ow! Ow!” she whispered in a pained voice as her she plunged her hand into her collar.

She pulled a chained golden medallion with a sapphire Alicorn embedded in its center, causing a shocked silence of every patron in the tavern. The gemstone and the medallion were as big as a fist, which made everyone wonder how exactly they hadn’t spotted it under the skintight purple attire.

“I really need to talk to Daring about this,” she muttered to herself, oblivious to the wanting stares she was attracting. “I’m sure hers never got too hot...” She gave her opponent a quick glance and unhooked the bit-bag off her belt. “I forfait, here you go!” she added softly before throwing the bag at him before making way for the cage’s door.

“Humm?” she blinked in confusion when four men were blocking the cage’s door before her.

“Keep the bits, woman!” her former opponent growled from behind her. “I’d rather have your shiny necklace,” he added with a feral grin.

“.....hahahaha! Funny joke!” The woman laughed loudly in response, but stopped when no one joined her laughter. “....Wait, you’re serious?”

“That gem at your neck is worth more than those five hundred bits,” one of the sailors that were blocking her exit commented sharply.

“Well, that’s kinda true, but I doubt you’d want the responsibilities that come with it,” she retorted. “Now, if you’d excuse me, I’d like to le….”

She was interrupted by the brunette grabbing a fistfull of her hair and gave it a strong pull.

“You’re not going any….” He started before some of the woman’s hair snaked around his arm, his torso and mouth.

Instantly after, he was being lifted by the moving, green hair while everyone gasped in shock. He started to let out muffled shouts as the pressure on his chest and arm became too intense for him. It was like he was being choked by one of the big snakes of the Everfree Forest.

“No one pulls the hair of Manuella Lion Mane, Bozo!” Manuella reminded sternly. “The barkeep warned you about it.”

Her hair brought her attacker close to stare straight in his eyes. Suddenly, a cutlass came in her field of vision. Apparently, the sailor’s friends had decided to try to save him from a rather certain and oddly hairy doom. The dirty blade cut down her lock of hair that kept her target in the air, only to bounce back on it with a sharp clinging sound.

Manuella tilted her head with a deadpan expression at the three shocked sailors. They all blinked before trying to cut her hair again, only to obtain the same result as before with a dent on the blade in addition. The three gulped in fear before they noticed Manuella pointing at their right.

When their gazes followed her finger, they saw that a few locks of her hair had wrapped themselves around two of the cage bars. All the crowd in attendance shrieked loudly when the bars bent inwards under the pressure of the Manuella’s hair until they broke.

“Still wanna take my necklace?” The hair-bender asked with a smirk which became wider when they all shook their heads swiftly. “That’s better,” she added, dropping her target without ceremony on the ground and facing the tavern-owner. “Sorry to have disturbed your mane entertainment...Hehehehe.”

Her words were met by the most religious silence Manuella has ever heard. Even the criquets didn’t make a single sound.

“......... That joke never gets a laugh!” she muttered sourly before her necklace teleported her in a light blue flash accompanied by a small pop.

Simultaneously, in the Palace of the Crystal Empire,

The Crystal Empire was an oddity in the lands of Equestria. Not only was it called an Empire when it was more a City-state than anything else, but its rulers weren’t called Emperors and Empresses. Ever since she created the Crystal Palace and the foundation of the city around it, Platinum was given the honorific title of Queen by Celestia and Luna. A title she passed down to her descendants after baptizing the city: The Crystal Empire, because it had a nice ring to it, if the Alicorn Princesses stories are to be believed.

Queen Gleaming Topaz of the Crystal Empire walked through the shining halls of her palace with a regality befitting the only queen in Equestria. Her simple, purple dress fluttered lightly as she walked, and the blue cloak worn on top dragging across the ground as she walked. She knew the palace well and stopped not to admire the works of art that were lined along the walls, be it paintings or sculptures. That is not to say that she disregarded them, however. No, she appreciated every single one of them and made sure that each piece was well tended to: constantly kept clean and undamaged.

She was heading to a room situated in the opposite wing of her quarters’, a golden medallion with a crimson Alicorn-shaped jewel embedded in it. The gemstone was pulsing in a fast paced rhythm, illuminating the usually turquoise walls by a dark red light every two seconds.

The guards stationed at each side of the door she was headed to quickly stood to attention before their queen. She smiled softly and told them to be at ease before asking if she could come in. Often, the person inside the room gave instructions to not be bothered under any circumstances.

When both guards explained that they hadn’t been told anything about not allowing the queen inside the room, Gleaming reached for the door handle and open it. After she closed her door behind her, the queen assisted to a rather unusual sight.

In the center of a large work room with a six foot tall soldier’s statue made from a light blue crystal. The statue imitated superbly the traditional armor of the Crystal Guard. The craft was so well executed that Gleaming thought that someone had actually put an actual armor on the statue when she first saw it. Though that wasn’t what was an unusual sight at all. After all, finding sculptures in a sculptor's workshop wasn’t really a surprise.

What took her by surprise was the five sets of glowing, red runes floating around the statue in question. The magical inscriptions grew longer until they were long enough to form five runic circles. When she was used to it, she turned her gaze on the only other person inside the room.

The dark skinned man was sitting cross-legged a few feet before the statue, his shoulder-long, jet black hair waving to an unexisting breeze. His eyes were shining in the same red light as the runes and his hands, which were doing complex movements while the runes started to spin around the statue faster than before.

The enchanter continued his work without the queen interrupting him before he slammed his hands together. At that sudden gesture, the flying writings came in contact with the crystalline statue, engraving itself all over the smooth, blue surface.

Soon after, the statue’s head looked up while it slowly and purposefully stood to attention in front of the enchanter. The wizard in question admired his work with a small, satisfied smile, while levitating a roll of parchment and an inked quill to scribble a few notes on his experiment.

“Quite impressive!” Gleaming commented with pride, startling the raven-haired man who made his quill scratch through the parchment.

“...Could you please stop yourself from surprising me when I’m writing something?” he asked with a roll of his ruby red eyes before facing the queen who was giggling softly because of his startle. “It’s hard to read notes on a ripped parchment.” he added, pointing at the long tear on the roll.

“I’m sorry to disturb your progress, my dear,” Gleaming replied in a genuine apologetic tone. “I should have known better. How is it going so far?”

“The first tries are pretty good,” the enchanter explained. “But its still too slow… I wonder how the Windigos were moving their ice golems,” he muttered to himself. “Anyway, what brings her Highness in my humble workshop?” he asked with a pleasant smile.

“Royal business,” Gleaming stated simply, showing the pulsing Alicorn medallion. “The Princesses requires your presence. Looks like you’re going to have to stop working on your possibly greatest creation for today. Sorry.”

“My possibly greatest creation?” he asked back with a cocked eyebrow and a derisive snort.

The Queen cocked her own eyebrow in response, silently asking for clarification and why he seemed to be mocking her. The dark skinned man walked to his queen’s side slowly.

“I already did my greatest creation,” he whispered in a soft, caring whisper, delicately resting his right hand on the swelling belly of his four-month-pregnant wife. “...and I certainly didn’t do it alone,” he added with a chuckle before nuzzling Gleaming’s cheek with affection.

“Hmmmmmn,” Gleaming moaned as the nuzzles turned into a flurry of small pecks that trailed down her neck. “Dear,... The Council of Harmony requires his leader’s attention,” she reminded with difficulty.

“And I think that the Queen of the Crystal Empire requires her King’s affection more,” he murmured softly before Gleaming push him away from her, with an obvious reluctance.

“You mean that King Sombra is actually ready to take care of his pregnant, mood-swinging, pickles-dipped-in-berry-jam-eating wife instead of answering his Aunts and Duty call?” Gleaming asked with small grin. “Thus breaking his oath of loyalty to Canterlot?”

“Without a single second of hesitation!” Sombra assured with a strong nod of his head.

Gleaming’s smile widened in affection before giving her king a gentle, chaste kiss on the lips, a kiss that he promptly returned.

“You have exactly five minutes before I’m forcing you to go,” she whispered into his lips before she passed her arms around his neck.

“Probably five perfect minutes in my life,” Sombra supposed, his hands pulling delicately his queen closer.

Author's Notes:

There you go! :)

What do you think? Nice or not Nice?
Feel free to comment.

Thanks to G3K0771 for his editing job.

I hope you've enjoyed it.

Mariacheat-Brony

Just to summarize the Council Roster:
- Shadow Kicker, Master Blacksmith (She also gets all the girls :p)
- Daring Do, Treasure Hunter (Not related to Ditzy Doo ;) )
- Manuella Lion Mane, Hair Bender (Yes, the Mane-iac is in the Apple Scratch Verse :p )
- Snow Drop, Winter Tamer (she was in the previous chapter ;) )
- King Sombra, Great Enchanter (Yay, he's not evil for the sake of being evil :p )

Ps: There's a paragraph from somepony else... try to look for it. ;)