Chapter 70

6-8-15, 6:00 P.M.

Not much had happened in the past few months. Celestia, while nursing her foal, had discussed her dream with Chrysalis. Many arguments had come of this, with both sides admitting they felt terrible for even bringing it up – Celestia for distrusting her fellow wife, and Chrysalis for being reminded of her old self. Eventually, Jeremy had settled things between the two with Luna’s help, and the sun princess and changeling queen were slowly going back to their old relationship.

Currently, Jeremy was relaxing after finals, back in his old home in Seattle – it was hard to believe that a semester had already passed with so little disturbance of the peace. He’d watched the first few episodes of Season 5, and Luna had already told him in advance about a recent one involving Apple Bloom’s nightmares. Jeremy sighed, leaning back on his chair as he scrolled through various websites. Just then, his phone buzzed, and he disinterestedly pulled it out – probably the research group, wondering if he had uploaded some of the photos for the school project yet. To his mild surprise, it was in fact a text from Celestia – apparently Ethan and the Roaming Hive had shown up, bearing some interesting tomes from a shipwreck at the bottom of the ocean. They were meeting with Canterlot scientists to discuss the contents for a week or so, and she suggested he stop by and visit Ethan. Jeremy amicably shrugged – perhaps it would take his mind off things.

He hopped through the portal, waving hello to a passing day guard, who coolly nodded in his direction before resuming her post. Jeremy was reminded of a conversation between him, Celestia and Luna suggesting he should get royal regalia. Though he had objected at the time, he couldn’t help but feel awfully underdressed in a t-shirt and jeans. Maybe he should get a suit…

He came upon the throne room to find Celestia deep in the middle of conversation with some noble. Quietly, so as not to interrupt, he took a seat by his wife’s side, spacing out slightly.

“…And though it would be wiser to move to a more populous location, I understand your trepidation. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me,” Celestia finished. The noble silently nodded, and walked out. Celestia turned to Jeremy. “When I said ‘come visit’, I didn’t mean immediately…” she laughed, and Jeremy smiled.

“I had nothing better to do,” he answered, and picked up a stack of forms in front of them.

Hours later, Ethan walked in, laughing about something as Queen Myocia good-naturedly punched him in the shoulder – Jeremy winced, but Ethan seemed to shrug it off.

“Good evening, Queen Myocia and Ethan,” Celestia greeted.

“Morning!” Ethan quipped, and Jeremy put a hand to his mouth to hide his grin.

“Quite,” Myocia greeted. “The texts were in adequate condition, according to the Royal History department staff – the waterproofing spells had held up very nicely. I trust they will fetch a high price?” she asked, and Celestia nodded.

“Indeed – thank you for delivering them to us. You will receive your payment in a few days’ time.” Queen Myocia smartly nodded.

Jeremy retired to his bedroom, staring disinterestedly at the practice exam he had been working on. He almost didn’t notice the blue alicorn laying on his bed until Clockwork cleared his throat. Jumping up in shock, Jeremy had his revolver up and pointed at the alicorn in less than a second.

“Whoa, whoa, just me!” Clockwork exclaimed, moving out of the way. Jeremy lowered the gun and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Sorry, Clockwork, I just…” Jeremy trailed off, unsure what he was just.

“I know, I know. Jumpy. Sheesh,” Clockwork muttered. He idly ran a hoof through his hair, before blurting out “Can we talk? You, me, and Mom? Oh, and Other Mom?” he added after a second’s pause.

“…Which other mom?” Jeremy asked, smirking at the nickname.

“Both. Neither. I don’t know, I just need to tell you guys this!” Clockwork burst out, sounding agitated.

Jeremy held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. Calm down, I’ll go get them.”

They walked through the castle corridors, the night staff staring at the newcomer alicorn. Coming upon the throne room, Jeremy thankfully spied that Princesses Celestia and Luna were right in the middle of exchanging duties. Both looked over at him and Clockwork, and cantered over.

“Is something wrong?” Celestia asked worriedly, and Luna looked at them with the same expression.

“N-nothing’s wrong, Mom. Just… I need to talk to you. All four of you,” Clockwork clarified, and Luna looked at Celestia before lighting her horn.

Barely a minute later, Queen Chrysalis flew in through the doors, panting slightly as she skidded to a stop. Looking around, she frowned at their lack of motion.

“What? You said it was important, and usually that means someone’s attacking!” she exclaimed.

“…Huh,” Clockwork remarked quietly, and Chrysalis stared at him.

“Queen Chrysalis, this is Clockwork Chronology, my son who time-traveled from the future. He apparently wants to speak with us,” Celestia explained. Jeremy partially cracked up at the mention of time travel, but managed to compose himself before Clockwork looked at him.

Minutes later, they were in Celestia’s private quarters, Clockwork looking at anything but them as they waited for him to begin. “Okay, so… I know you had a dream recently,” he began with a pointed look at Celestia, who already looked alarmed. Chrysalis growled inaudibly. “It wasn’t a dream, okay? It was an alternate reality. Something that could’ve happened, but didn’t,” Clockwork explained, and Chrysalis stopped glaring at him.

“So… that actually happened to another instance of me?” Jeremy asked, and Clockwork nodded.

“Yeah, he lost. You know the multiverse theory? Where every choice you make splits the timeline into two?” he asked rhetorically, and Jeremy nodded. “Well, he lost the first battle with you,” Clockwork remarked, pointing at Queen Chrysalis, “and suffered the consequences. So, he and Luna eventually figured out that they were trapped in a dream, and she sacrificed her own life to get him out.” Luna clapped a hoof to her mouth, and Chrysalis turned away, eyes downcast.

“That universe’s Jeremy stole some time travel papers from Star Swirl’s archive in Canterlot, and attempted to go back to the moment he lost in order to rectify the situation. Only…” Clockwork trailed off.

“Yes?” Jeremy prompted after a moment’s silence, hoping this story had a happy ending.

“He didn’t arrive in his own timeline. He somehow got into this one,” Clockwork explained.

Chrysalis turned back to the blue alicorn. “So, wait. There’s been a second Jeremy running around this whole time, and we’ve never noticed?” she scornfully rebutted.

Clockwork Chronology shook his head. “No, because I… took care of him,” he quietly announced. Chrysalis fell silent, any objections she had been about to make stifled by Clockwork’s tone of voice.

“What do you mean?” Jeremy asked, and Clockwork glared at him tearfully.

“I killed him,” Clockwork answered, his voice hoarse. “I killed my own father…”

With that, Clockwork burst into sobs, and Celestia pulled him into a hug. “Your father is right here. He’s fine, no matter what happened in that other timeline.”

Chrysalis looked over at Jeremy guiltily. “So… that wasn’t just a dream? I… I did all of that?” she quietly asked.

Jeremy put an arm around her shoulder. “Some other version of you did, just like some other version of me probably killed you permanently. Who cares? All that matters is the alpha you and me. This you and me,” he answered, gesturing at the both of them.

After half an hour of quiet relaxation and comforting, Clockwork had calmed down enough to disengage himself from his mother. “Thanks, I… thanks,” he muttered, and Princess Celestia gazed down at him warmly.

“If you ever need somepony to talk to… well, we’ll always be here,” Celestia answered, and Clockwork smiled.

“I might just have to take you up on that,” he answered.

“So, what is my son like in the future?” Luna asked curiously.

Clockwork looked away nervously. “Uh, I… can’t reveal that, secrets of the future, you know how it is,” he answered, looking anywhere but at the moon princess. Luna frowned, but remained quiet.

Some time later, Clockwork poked Jeremy in the shoulder. “Yes?” Jeremy asked.

“This is kind of a weird favor, but I pretty much have to ask at this point: Can you write all this stuff down?” Clockwork asked.

“What stuff?” Jeremy replied, confused.

“Your adventures. You know, just so I have a record of how everything happened, so I don’t mess it up,” Clockwork explained.

Jeremy nodded. “Sure, I can do that. But where will you find it?” he asked. Clockwork smiled.

“Just post it as a fanfiction, I’ll look it up from time to time.” Jeremy smiled.

“Alright, I’ll do that,” he declared, and Clockwork smiled up at him.

“Thanks, Dad,” he quietly replied. With that, he once again disappeared in a flash of neon blue magic, and Celestia looked over at Jeremy.

“So… writing things down. Want some help with that?” she asked, and the other two looked over.

“Yeah, sure,” Jeremy answered, smiling. “It gets hard to remember all the dialogue, after all.”

Celestia giggled. “Well, we do have a few spells to fix that,” she answered, and Chrysalis grinned.

“I call writing the sex scenes,” she declared, and Luna immediately protested.

Jeremy burst out laughing, and Celestia joined in. Soon, all four of them were laughing together, and the argument between Chrysalis and Celestia had been all but forgotten, the two of them rolling around in mirth as they continued to suggest who would write what.

6-8-15, 7:12 P.M.

“So… anything you three want to do over the summer?” Jeremy questioned, at dinner.

“Four-player Twister, without the mat?” Chrysalis suggested, and Luna choked on her salad.

Jeremy repressed a giggle. “C’mon, be serious,” he urged, and Chrysalis hummed in amusement.

“I dunno… maybe we could visit some more Earthside attractions?” she wondered aloud.

Jeremy waved his hand in a so-so motion. “There’s plenty of places to go, but they’re all expensive, and I don’t think I can just generate money from Equestrian gold and pawn shops without raising some eyebrows.”

Luna chuckled. “Besides, Mary still has to keep track of you,” she reminded the group.

“Really? I thought she wanted to retire,” Jeremy rebutted.

Luna shook her head. “Nay, she got over it. Apparently, thou art quite a ‘low-maintenance’ charge most of the time.”

Jeremy snorted in amusement. “Except for those times when I’m not,” he retorted, and Celestia giggled.

“So, back to the question. What if we invited Mary to come along with us, to… Hawai’i or something?” Chrysalis asked. “It’d be as much of a vacation for her as for us.”

Jeremy briefly considered it. “Sounds like a plan, I’ll look up travel costs after this.”

Finally, they had all retired to bed, Celestia and Luna having crossed the portal momentarily to raise the sun and moon. Celestia and Chrysalis had adjourned to a room of their own, to have some fun, while Jeremy and Luna stayed behind in Luna’s room to relax. Jeremy was rubbing Luna’s belly, which had already grown slightly larger.

“Just… what? Ten more months?” he asked, and Luna nodded.

“I can’t wait to see him,” she quietly replied.

“Me neither,” Jeremy answered, twirling his finger in a circular motion as she gave a pleased sigh.

“We… I thought having a child would be such a hassle… back then, I was more concerned with the action of my life than the romance. But now… I think I would love a family,” Luna admitted, staring up at the dark ceiling.

Jeremy chuckled. “Yeah, I know how you feel. I didn’t think I’d ever find a romantic partner, let alone three. Aliens, that is. Three aliens from a fictional dimension,” he teased, and Luna gently pushed him with a hoof.

“Don’t make me talk to Lyra again,” she mock-threatened, and Jeremy grinned.

He laid his head against hers on the pillow, and she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “So, want to have some dream fun or something?” he asked, and Luna raised an eyebrow.

“What dost thou mean?” she asked, her mouth quirking upward in a smile.

“Dunno, I rather liked that one time with the submachine guns. Want to try that again?” Jeremy joked, and Luna had to hold herself back from bursting into laughter. There was the sound of some thumps from a few rooms over, and Jeremy gave Luna a knowing look.

“They hath engaged Maximum Overdrive,” Luna declared, and this time Jeremy actually did burst into laughter.

Luna softly pumped a hoof, and Jeremy looked at her curiously for a moment. “T’was another bet of ours,” Luna explained, and Jeremy clapped a hand to his forehead.

“Some day, some day, I will find a way to find out these bets of yours,” he vowed, and Luna shook her head, chuckling.

“Never!” she retorted, and Jeremy grinned again.

“Oh really?” he declared, and began to tickle her on her belly, Luna quickly doubling over as she attempted to escape.

“Bwahaha – stop, we beseech thee – haha!” Luna brayed. Her laughter was as infectious as her smile, and Jeremy had a grin to match as he showed no mercy.

Finally, after a few more minutes, he allowed her some breathing room. Luna panted for a moment, still giggling and struggling for air, and glared at him even as she smiled. Jeremy, for his part, simply gave her an indulgent grin, waiting for her response. Once Luna had gotten her breath back, she straightened up and looked him in the eye, noticing his nervous tension as he waited.

“Oh no, we shall not counter-attack… while thou art awake,” she replied, and Jeremy paled. Luna gave a truly evil grin at his terrified expression, and lit her horn. Seconds later, Jeremy felt more tired than he’d ever been, and was gently breathing before his head even hit the pillow.

“What was that? It sounded like a thump,” Celestia wondered. “Who cares? They’re probably having a pillow fight or something,” Chrysalis dismissed. With that, she went back to suckling on Celestia’s teats, and Celestia quickly forgot any queries she might have had about the noise.

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