Bucky looked out at his wives and let out a little uncomfortable sigh. He had an unpleasant task ahead of him and it was better to simply get it over with. He swallowed a few times. He didn’t feel the least bit sorry about the imp, but Sombra was right. Keeping this sort of action from his wives was devious, and they deserved better. Before even saying anything, he vowed to make it up to them somehow.

“I have something I need to confess,” Bucky announced.

His wives already knew something was up when he had gathered them. The littlest foals were standing outside of the door with Ripple, no doubt trying to listen. Bucky scratched his withered scarred cheek and it made a scritching sound under his hoof.

“That orb of mine, the one that makes other ponies feel weird looking at it and causes you to sort of feel confused and frightened, it is an artifact I created. I did pretty much one of the worst things a pony could do to finish the orb that is filled with darkness and rainbows. To complete my armor, I needed demon’s blood, so I conjured an imp, killed it, and harvested its heart. It lies beating inside of the orb,” Bucky said in slow measured words.

There was a flash of green and several stinging slaps rained down on Bucky’s good cheek. They stung quite a bit and Bucky turned his head to see what was going on. Lyra stood next him, looking furious.

“You… you feculent little toad, how could you summon a demon without me?” Lyra demanded to know.

“I should have known you’d be sore about that,” Bucky said as he rubbed his cheek. The blows had not been overly hurtful, they were more like pegasus slaps, done out of a sense of correctional affection.

“Was this truly necessary?” Bon Bon inquired in a more level headed tone as she gave Lyra a scolding glance.

“Yes,” Bucky answered honestly. “I don’t know what I am facing. I needed an edge. It will give my armor much needed magical resistance, the ability to self repair, increased resistance to dark magic, which I suspect I will be seeing a lot of, and even quite a bit of resistance to harmonious magic, which I might also encounter. It should also help with the spell effects from the spell jars, blocking out most of the damage that I might take otherwise,” Bucky explained. He gave an apologetic pleading look to Lyra.

“And this imp… it is a demon from Tartarus?” Bon Bon questioned.

“Yes. A small demon. Not overly powerful. I was very, very careful about my selection and I didn’t go after anything I figured I couldn’t handle. I didn’t want it escaping and rampaging through the castle,” Bucky answered.

“What would Princess Celestia do to unicorns that did something like this?” Bon Bon asked in a flat monotone.

“She’d probably have them mindwiped completely and stuffed into an asylum of some sorts,” Lyra replied.

Bon Bon raised her eyebrow and looked at her mate.

“No Bonnie, I am not overreacting or being dramatic. Not this time. Necromancy and demon conjuring are the two big unforgivable sins,” Lyra said as she gave a piercing stare to Bucky.

“So Bucky got his hooves a little dirty because he is playing to win, so what,” Berry Punch remarked. “I don’t see what the big deal is. This is just like kicking somepony in the potato sack. Sure, it is dirty, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to win a fight,” she added in a heated voice, slipping a foreleg around Bucky in a protective gesture. “I ain’t got no qualms about kicking a pony in the groin.”

“We know,” Derpy replied. “I am still madly in love with you for kicking Bucky’s mother.”

“I really don’t understand what is going on… Bucky, that birthright of his… doesn’t that protect him?” Thistle inquired, trying to understand what was going on.

“If he kills another pony for justified reasons, sure. And that birthright is stupid, it is part of the reason why there are still problems between unicorns and earth ponies. But this isn’t exactly pony killing. And we all know that Bucky isn’t one for hurting ponies, which is why we are going to need to keep him safe from other ponies should something happen,” Berry replied.

“Well maybe if this Princess Celestia didn’t want Bucky summoning demons out of desperation maybe she should have came to this isle and done something herself,” Thistle grumped. She folded her forelegs over her barrel and rested them on the curve of her stomach as she leaned back into the sofa. She crossed her hind legs together and then let out an angry equine snort of disgust followed by a raspberry noise as she flapped her lips in exasperation.

“Thistle, I am feeling a whole lot of love for you right now,” Berry admitted.

“We are discussing the wrong thing,” Bon Bon announced.

“We are?” Derpy asked.

“We need to figure out some way of protecting what is ours when we go home and end this war. If Celestia is going to be furious she might take our herd members to punish them. I hate to say it, but we may need a plan of escape or something… we can’t just let the Princesses take Bucky for what he has done,” Bon Bon replied.

“Escape?” Lyra questioned incredulously.

“Well, something, we fight… we stop them. We keep Bucky for ourselves and we flee somehow,” Bon Bon answered in a worried voice.

“How?” Lyra asked.

“I dunno… we conjure up a big demon that Celestia can’t ignore and then we skedaddle and just go... somewhere,” Bon Bon suggested. “I know it sounds terrible, but between you and Bucky, I am certain that it is possible.”

“I have to agree with Bonnie,” Derpy said, looking troubled. “I don’t like even thinking about it, but she can’t have the father of our foals. I’d rather slap her muzzle and declare war to keep him.”

“You would slap Celestia? Are we really contemplating war on alicorns?” Lyra announced in shock.

“It seems that way,” Bucky grumbled, his face contorting into a sour look. “We don’t know what is going to happen. We have to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. When we go back to Canterlot, we stay on board the The Scorned Mare for all the good it will do us. I am positive that if it came down to it, Keg Smasher would order his pegasi to turn on Celestia. We have a minor advantage that Keg Smasher’s army are hardened, the Royal Guard are soft. We probably couldn’t outrun Celestia’s navy though, not under pegasus power.”

“So we fight a losing battle or we don’t fight at all,” Derpy said in defeated tones. “What about our foals? What if she tries to take them? What if she tries to take Sparkler and Rising Star because of what they have become? Or Dinky?”

“Then I gather a large mass of hydrogen atoms and fuse them,” Bucky said grimly. “I assure you, we would feel nothing. It would be over in milliseconds. Canterlot and the sickness it represents would be gone forever.”

“That’s horrible,” Bon Bon whispered.

“I’d rather go that way,” Lyra admitted. “Bucky is right, we wouldn’t feel anything. Our herd, our tribe, we stay together and that’s final. I could fuse a few hydrogen atoms as well. And the mountain Canterlot is built on is full of cobalt. If we wanted to fight dirty Bucky and I could fuse cobalt atoms. It would render the area uninhabitable for thousands of years.”

“I could try petrifying Celestia,” Sparkler said in a quavering nervous voice. Sparkler let out a shrill whinny of fear when every head in the room turned to look at her. “She’s immortal, right? But she can be hurt. I could… I could try to petrify her. And if it works, we can take her hostage. We then threaten to drop her statue from a great height. She would survive I suppose, but it would take her a long time to gain her full power again once they undid the petrification and put all the broken chunks back together, however it is that immortal alicorns fix themselves.”

“I don’t care about no imp. But I do care about Bucky… Sparkler’s plan seems plausible,” Rising Star said. “We could hold Canterlot hostage if we had to. We might have to resort to dirty methods. Atomic fusion, petrification, burning… sweet burning,” he added, his last words spoken more of a lustful moan than words.

“I care about the imp. Well, not about the imp really. I kept this from all of you… and for that, I was wrong. I thought I’d carry this particular burden upon my shoulders alone… as for the current topic of our discussion, petrification seems like a viable option. It worked on Discord,” Bucky responded.

“If somepony comes after my herdmates I’ll turn Ripple loose on them,” Loch Skimmer said, her tone serious. “Ripple is a good filly. She listens to her big sister.”

“So the imp is a non issue… it seems that going home might be harder than taking on the wolves. So why go home? Why not just send Keg Smasher to sign the treaty and politely refuse to go to Canterlot? We could stay here. Maybe talk Keg Smasher into keeping the isles independent. We have plenty of raw resources and more importantly, we have some unicorns now to help pull the isles into a more modern setting. We stay here and we make the isles the sort of home we want to live in,” Berry suggested.

“I might be welcomed home with fanfare and trumpets, even with everything I’ve done. All might be forgiven as the future alicorn of war returns home,” Bucky grumbled. “Twilight Sparkle’s friends obliterated Twilight by accident, turning her into a little ash pile on the library floor. They were all given royal pardons.”

“Do we take that risk?” Bon Bon asked.

“Life is all about risks Bonnie,” Lyra quipped.

“I just hope that we’re making all of these plans for nothing,” Berry sighed.

“I feel funny sitting out here in the hall,” Dinky fussed.

“Father did something he feels bad about and he needs to confess to our mothers. I am sure he will talk to us about it at some point. For now, we must endure,” Sentinel said to his sibling.

“We’ve been there for other important talks. They let us listen and talk when it involves us,” Ripple interjected.

“Yeah they do,” Piña agreed. “This isn’t so bad.”

“I suppose you are right. At least Ripple came out here with us. She was allowed to stay in there with the adults. Which means Ripple is a grown up,” Dinky groused.

“Sentinel is more grown up than I am,” Ripple stated.

“Maybe,” Sentinel replied with a shrug.

“Don’t you maybe me you little squirt, I have feathers and the will to use them!” Ripple threatened as she extended a wing.

“No… no tickles! It’s demeaning!” Sentinel begged, his eyes wide and pleading.

“Aw, you know I can’t tickle you when you make that face, that’s not fair,” Ripple said dejectedly. “Come here, lemme kiss you instead,” she offered.

Sentinel stepped forward cautiously and then relaxed when Ripple kissed him on the cheek. He smiled briefly and then sat down.

The straw was soft and sweet smelling. Bucky lay in the straw pile and Harper was between his front legs, her head laying on his right leg as she stared up at him in adoration. It became clear to any observer that Harper loved her daddy.

“Daddy?” Bucky asked in a low whisper.

“Mama!” Harper replied.

“No, daddy,” Bucky corrected.

“Mama?” Harper said in a puzzled sounding murmur. She pointed upwards with her hoof, and she giggled when Bucky kissed it softly. “Mama!”

Bucky sighed and shook his head.

“Bucky, you’re just going to have to accept that you are “mama” and deal with it,” Lyra insisted. “Every night it is the same thing. You say “daddy” she says “mama” and you are her “mama” and that is just how it is. Is being called “mama” so bad?”

“No, I suppose it isn’t,” Bucky sighed.

“Mama,” Harper cooed.

“The only name she’s picked up on is Sentinel’s,” Bon Bon said proudly.

“Senty,” Harper repeated.

“I’ve been experimenting a bit Bucky,” Lyra announced.

“Oh?” Bucky answered.

“Berry Punch and I have been comparing our milk… it is different. I mean, really different. We’ve been studying it,” Lyra said as she scratched her belly.

“Any findings?” Bucky asked, his interest now captured.

“Well, a few actually,” Lyra began. “Our milk is different colours. Mine has a faint blue colour and Berry’s is more yellow. Different textures. Mine is somewhat thinner, her milk is thicker and more creamy. What was interesting was the butter test,” she continued.

“The butter test?” Bucky inquired.

“Berry’s milk makes butter. My milk… it just doesn’t. I don’t think there is enough fat,” Lyra reported. “We’ve discussed getting Bon Bon lactating. We want to see if earth pony milk seems to have the same calming effect as their touch seems to have. We might need for you to drink some milk, which uh, shouldn’t be a problem for you… I don’t think that all earth ponies have this touch, but that is just a hunch. Bon Bon’s touch seems to have more of an effect on me than Berry Punch’s touch, but I do feel calmer and more leveled out when they touch me, just like you observed. I think you’re on to something. I can’t believe that nopony has noticed this before.”

“So do you think we could calm neurotic unicorns with earth pony milk?” Bucky asked.

“Maybe, but getting them to drink it, let’s face it, it would push most of them right over the edge. Since you’ve been suckling on Berry, haven’t you felt better? I mean, you sleep afterwards. Your mood seems a bit more stable. There are observable differences Bucky. I have to admit it, but I’ve thought about trying a few drinks myself when I get the jitters just to see what happens,” Lyra replied.

“Mama!” Harper cried, demanding Bucky’s attention.

Bucky snoot-bumped the foal and then nuzzled her. “So earth pony milk makes butter, has a different colour, and potentially carries the same effects as the mysterious power that earth ponies have in their touch,” he summarised as he rubbed his cheek on Harper’s belly, which made the foal burble and giggle.

“Yes,” Lyra said awkwardly.

“Bucky, if I do begin lactating, I don’t mind spending a bit of quiet time with you. It isn’t sex,” Bon Bon said with a fierce blush. “It is just bonding time… with my husband… instead of a foal.”

“This just feels funny to even talk about,” Lyra said as she squirmed.

“Which is probably why this has never been investigated or looked into. The social taboo is a powerful deterrent. Anypony trying to present any of this as science would get thrown right out of the academic institution they made their report to,” Bucky grumbled.

“So we need to fight past the squirm factor,” Bon Bon said in a wavering voice. “There are times when I wish I was Berry Punch. She doesn’t seem to have a squirm factor.”

“Or shame,” Lyra quipped.

“Or fear,” Bucky added.

All three ponies turned to look at the earth pony sleeping in the bed.

“She’s my rock,” Bucky whispered.

“She’s amazing,” Bon Bon said with a nod.

“There is just something about earth ponies,” Lyra stated.

Author's Notes:

This was an odd chapter to write, I will confess.

If you aren't too weirded out and see a typo, let me know.