---

---

I groan feeling sore all over and I can feel something pressed into my sides and stomach. I open my eyes to see I'm in a dark room. I notice Celestia to my right, Luna to my left, and Shella on my stomach.

'Am I back in Canterlot?' I think to myself.

I then look around the room and although it's very nice looking, it isn't our room. I see a clock with a swinging pendulum below it on the wall, It's three past one.

I close my eyes and try to remember how I got here. I remember Discord and something about aspects, a green orb, a woman named Mother Gaia, immense power flowing through me, fighting an undead giant and beating it... then blank. I guess I passed out.

I can feel an itch on my left hand. I lift it up behind Luna and look at the back of my hand. The green orb swirling with life energy is embedded into my skin. It pulses for a few seconds and I feel calmer.

'You handled my power well for someone who has never fused with an aspect before,' I hear the voice of Gaia say in my mind.

'Gaia? What happened?' I ask her.

'The sudden surge of power without any formal training overwhelmed you. I am surprised you kept your mind and lasted as long as you did, very impressive. It seems I have chosen a worthy mortal as my vessel,' she tells me.

'Vessel? Can you take control of my body!?' I ask with alarm.

'Only if you allow me to. We aspects can only take over should you give us permission or pass out and are still in danger of injury or death,' she replies.

That's not disturbing at all... 'So you can't take over even if you tried?' I ask just to confirm.

She giggles lightly 'Correct. Unless you say so, or are in mortal danger, we cannot move you,' she tells me.

I sigh in relief. 'So, how long have I been out for?' I ask her.

'Three days. You burned through a lot of your mana in that last beam you did, wasted most of it as well. You'll need to practice with my power if you wish to master it and not be so wasteful with your mana,' she tells me.

I stay silent for a few seconds before asking another question. 'Why did you kiss me?' I ask her. It really threw me for a loop.

She hums softly. 'It's just how I prefer to transfer my power to the one I'm binding with... I believe it to be more, personal,' she replies.

I'm pretty sure I'm blushing slightly. 'Alright... what was the Moonglade Forest like?' I ask to change the subject, making her laugh gently.

'It was once a rich and lush forest with many forms of life living within. It was also where I once called home,' she tells me.

I frown sadly. 'So how would I restore it? Flood the area with life energy?' I ask.

'Basically, yes. I shall channel my essence through you while you power the spell. I shall then regrow the Forest with your help, but that is not for a long while yet as you have to master my power first,' she tells me.

'So where are you now?' I ask her.

'Within the orb that now rests on your hand,' she tells me.

'So you've been alone for a thousand years?'

'No, I can still talk to the other aspects. I'm guessing Discord will try to get you to make a contract with Infernus, the aspect of fire.'

I yawn and hold my wives closer to me. 'Alright, I'm going to get some more rest. Thank you for helping us,' I tell her.

She giggles again. 'You're welcome. I did the same for Starswirl when he first asked me for help,' she replies.

Her presence seems to have faded away and I feel myself give in to slumber.

---

---

I yawn as I stretch my limbs. Luna, Shella, and Celestia all groan and cling onto me. I feel my back and joints pop from being so stiff.

I notice Shella's stomach is back to normal, meaning she must have laid her eggs. I lightly shake them and they all slowly wake up.

Luna is the first to see me and I smile at her. "Adrian!" she says and kisses me. "Are thou feeling well?" she asks me.

"I feel fine. Just a bit sore," I reply and sit up.

"Mmmm... Adrian? ADRIAN!" Celestia shouts and grips me in a hug. I can feel my ribs cracking I think.

"Tia... *Gasp* Need... air! *Gasp*" I wheeze out.

She lets go and grabs my head and kisses me roughly. "Don't you ever scare us like that again!" she scolds me and then goes back to sucking the air out of my lungs and into hers.

After a minute of suffocating me she lets go and rests her head on my right shoulder.

"I'm glad to see you're alright," Shella says as she sits in front of me and yawns. I see we're all wearing our nightwear.

I smile at her and give her a kiss. "So what have I missed while I was out?" I ask.

"I've laid my five eggs," Shella tells me. She gets up and picks up Mavis from a crib next to the bed.

"Wait... five?" I ask.

She smiles and nodded. "Just shows how well you performed that night," she says and giggles.

"What about the battle?" I ask.

"It lasted for another three hours before the orcs retreated," Luna tells me.

"What were the casualties?"

"The Terrans lost one-thousand two-hundred and eight soldiers. We lost two-hundred and five of our guards, and seventy-one have been crippled," she tells me with a sad frown.

I sigh and hug her with my left arm. "There will always be losses in a war, there's no avoiding it," I tell her.

"True. They will be given a place to rest in the Royal Guard Cemetery unless their families wish to bury them elsewhere," she replies.

After a few seconds of silence, I speak up. "So what's happening now?" I ask them.

"We have been helping to repair the walls, filling the craters in the land, and clearing the dead. We're also repairing the E.A.F Nightingale and salvaging what's left of the three downed sloops," she tells me.

"I see. Well I better get up and move around a bit, I feel like my joints are made of stone." I reply. Luna pulls me up onto my feet and I smile at her. "Thanks," I say and begin to walk around the room. Damn, my whole body feels so sore.

My stomach then decides to let me know I haven't eaten in days with a very loud rumble.

My wives giggle at me. "Somepony's hungry," Celestia teases.

I grin at her. "Very. Maybe you could sate my hunger hmm?" I say and lick my lips at her.

She blushes and smiles wickedly. She pulls her nightgown off and exposes her chest to me. "Well then. Come and get your breakfast," she says, shaking her chest at me.

Oh boy, I was only being playful with her... then again, that does sound rather tasty right now.

---

---

After breakfast, We get dressed and head down to get some solid food, Celestia told me we'll have to do that again in a few days as she said it relieved the soreness in her breasts that she's been feeling lately. They lead me to the Dining Hall where Vortigan, his wife, and their son are eating their breakfasts.

"Ah, Adrian! It's good to see you up and about," Vortigan says to me.

I sluggishly walk my way over to the table and sit down with Celestia and Shella besides me and Luna next to Alyssa. "Glad to be up, if I slept any longer, I don't think I would be able to move my legs," I reply with a chuckle.

I look at the food spread out on the table. Salad, pancakes, muffins, toast... is that bacon? My mouth waters as I pick a few pieces of bacon, some toast with butter, a muffin, a bit of salad, and a glass of water.

Luna looks a bit uneasy while Shella doesn't seem to mind, but Celestia, I notice her staring at the bacon on my plate and I can see a thin trail of drool sliding down her chin. I smile and cut a piece off and hold my fork up to her.

Her eyes follow it and with a bit of hesitation, she bites it. She begins chewing it and moans. "That is surprisingly good," she says and takes a couple for herself, along with a fair amount of the salad, a muffin, and some water.

Luna looks a bit squeamish as she takes some pancakes and salad with a glass of juice.

"Can you feed me please, dear?" Shella asks me with loving eyes.

Vortigan raises an eyebrow at that. "Sure," I reply and face my left palm at her. I cast a healing beam at her and the green energy flows into her and Mavis. She sighs with a smile and leans onto me.

"What was that about?" Vortigan asks.

"Changelings don't need food like we do, they can eat it to produce a substance inside their stomachs, but they feed on love energy, or now more commonly, life energy to nourish themselves," I tell him.

"I see. So how have they been surviving until you arrived?" he asks.

"Very barely. Shella's old Queen named Chrysalis, kidnapped people and drained them of their love to feed herself and barely any for her people. A changeling that's starving will have holes all over their body. As you can see, Shella has no holes and is well fed," I reply and kiss Shella on her cheek, making her smile.

"Interesting. So you offered them a food source for their loyalty?" he asks.

"We just offered them a chance at a better life. It was their choice if they wanted to join Equestria or not," I tell him. "Has there been any sign of Orthos?" I ask him.

He shakes his head. "None, and we can't trace where he warped to," he tells me.

I frown and eat the rest of my breakfast. I want to know who this Master of his is.

---

---

I'm standing on the walls overlooking the field where the battle took place. The undead giant is still there, but is slowly being cut into pieces and carted away. Looks like it will take a week to get rid of all of it. There's patches of bare dirt where the craters caused by the sunfire shells went off.

Most of the bodies have been cleared, but many of the orc bodies remain, along with body parts. The three wrecks of the airships lay on the ground with ponies and dwarves taking them apart.

So many died, there's no way I could have revived them all anyway. The threat of the gryphons, Grogar, and now this Master? I'm going to have to up my training a bit.

I hear footsteps to my left and look to see Luna walking towards me. She stands beside me and leans her head on my left shoulder. "We have not seen such a sight since before we sealed Grogar away," she tells me with a sad tone.

I sigh and lean my head on hers. "And I don't think it will be the last," I tell her. I hold her right hand with my left and our fingers entwine with each other.

"We just want to live peacefully with thee and our herd," she tells me.

"I know, I want that as well, but before we can do that, Grogar needs to be dealt with first," I reply.

She sighs and grips my hand tighter. "We watched you as you defeated that behemoth," she tells me and looks at the giant's corpse. "Were thou in control of thyself?" she asks me.

I remember that my actions were my own, but it felt like someone was guiding me as well. "I think so. I remember fighting it, but it felt like Gaia was guiding me as well," I reply.

'Correct, I was transferring my knowledge to you during the fight,' Gaia tells me.

"You know, you listening in and able to talk to me in my mind isn't creepy at all... and I'm supposed to have fourteen of you in there?" I ask her aloud.

"Who are thou talking to?" Luna asks confused.

I hold my left hand up to her while she's still holding it. "Mother Gaia. She's in the orb on my hand," I tell her.

"Thou can speak with her?" she asks me.

"Yes," I reply.

'Do not worry. Since my home was destroyed, I had to seal myself into the orb. The others are linked to theirs and you will be able to talk to them as long as you touch their orbs with the tips of your fingers, and should they wish to speak to you, their orbs will pulse with a faint light which you just have to touch to respond,' she tells me. 'You'll be able to tell if I'm listening as my orb will light up, like it is now.'

I look at the orb and it is indeed lit up.

"I see, that's good to know. I don't think I could handle all of you talking in my head all the time," I say.

Luna giggles at me. "Thou look like thou have lost thy mind and are talking to imaginary friends,"she tells me.

I lightly bump her hip with mine and chuckle. "You have another voice in your head and try not to mumble to yourself," I tell her and she frowns sadly.

"We have... she wasn't exactly the best pony to be friends with..." she says and sighs.

Oh yeah, Nightmare Moon. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories," I tell her and squeeze her hand lightly.

She looks at me and smiles. "Tis alright... she no longer has any power over us, and we have also wounded her terribly," she replies.

"Come on, let's head back to Canterlot. I want to relax for a few days with you lot and then get back to training so I can get stronger," I tell her.

We head back into the Castle to get Celestia and Shella so we can head back home.

Next Chapter: Chapter 51: Recuperating Estimated time remaining: 10 Hours, 40 Minutes