Time passed and the estrus cycle finally seemed to end. And somehow, I managed to make it out in one piece despite everything that had happened. I was walking down the hallways trying to find Starswirl. I was a little worried about how he and Clover held up during the incident. I’d hate to think that something would happen to either of them. I made another turn and walked up a flight of stairs to make it to Starswirl’s private study. I came up to the simple wood doors and gave a fairly soft knock.

“Who is it?” Starswirl’s voice called out from within the room.

“It’s me, Vash. Let me in, Starswirl,” I called back. The door was surrounded in Starswirl’s aura and it opened allowing me to step inside. I looked around a bit and saw that Starswirl and Clover seemed to be taking a break from their studies and were drinking some tea and having a bit of finger foods with it. I let out a sigh of relief as I saw that everything seemed okay there.

“What brings thee to our study Vash?” Starswirl asked as he set his cup down.

“Wouldst thou like a cup of tea Vash?” Clover asked as she held up the pot. “Tis a blend that we received from Prance recently.

“No thanks Clover, I’m not in the mood for tea right now. I was just checking up on you two considering what just happened throughout the castle.

Starswirl’s nostrils flared a bit as he nodded and stroked his long beard. “Ah yes, the estrus cycle. I was quite surprised that nearly every mare entered such a state simultaneously. Though I hath heard rumors that those sorts of things can ‘synchronize’ as it were. Clover and I were aware of the season approaching and placed a barrier around the study to prevent any unpleasantness from occurring.”

The instant I heard that I blushed a little and looked between Starswirl and Clover for a few moments. Clover seemed to know where my train of thought was going and threw up her hands, waving them in front of her while a scarlet blush overtook her entire face.

“N-nno, n-nothing untoward happened. Starswirl actually cast a spell that suppressed my urges during my cycle.”

“You can do that?” I asked with a quirked eyebrow directed toward Starswirl.

“Of course, I developed the spell some time ago to help keep things more civil for those who wish to stave off the aggressive behavior and stay productive if somepony so chooses. The only downside is that it is a fairly taxing spell so I would be unable to use it for the entire castle staff.”

“Do Celestia and Luna know about this spell?”

“Yes, I hath offered to use it on them several times. However, they rejected my offer each time, saying that they would suffer through their desires just as a common pony would. I never pressed them on this issue and hath always trusted that they would keep their composure. Even despite some lingering worries.

As soon as he said that I flashed back to the look Celestia and Luna’s faces after Doxuna had whispered into their ears and everything that happened after that. I let out a little nervous chuckle at that and rubbed the back of my head a little. “Heh, yeah, I’m sure those two were just fine.” I then frowned a little as a sudden thought struck me. “Hey, how come nopony ever told me about this whole estrus thing?”

“What dost thou mean?” Starswirl asked as if I had grown a second head. “Did they not have a similar cycle in thy world?”

“Uhh, I suppose there are some species on my planet that followed a similar seasonal clock for that sort of thing. But humans are the only species back home that were capable of complex speech so they’re the only ones I know how the basics of how their reproductive cycle works. Humans don’t really have a mating cycle to speak of. I mean, human females do have a peak point of fertility on a monthly basis, but it’s not like that’s the only time they’re really capable of getting pregnant.”

“Fascinating, your planet seems like quite the interesting place.”

The smile on my face faltered for a fraction of a second before I let out another chuckle and forced my smile to get a little wider and responded with, “Heh, I guess you could say that. Really the place had its ups and downs like anywhere. People fighting for the smallest of reasons and it seemed like those with the most money had more say than everybody else. But it was home.” I finished with a shrug.

“Anyway, I should leave the two of you to your work; I’m going to go make sure that Hammerfall made out of all this okay.” I said as I turned to head to where Hammerfall most likely was.

“Very well Vash, have a pleasant day.” Clover called out as I slipped out the door.

I made my way down to the forge and allowed my mind to wander a bit. ‘Why didn’t I just tell those two that the princesses and I are seeing each other due to some emotions coming to light during the heat thing?’ I asked myself as I scratched my cheek absentmindedly.

‘I’m pretty amazed that I didn’t climb the tallest tower of the castle and shout out that we had started dating. I guess I want to wait for the four of us to break the news. Heh, I wonder how everypony will take the news when we do tell them?’ A part of that train of thought caused me to stop dead in my tracks. ‘Did I just say ‘everypony’ in my head? I wonder if any of the Displaced I’ve run into start thinking in pony terms. I should probably ask one the next time I run into them. Actually, I wonder if I could get a group of Displaced together and start a regular poker night or something and talk about this sort of thing with them?’

My train of thought continued to segue several times before I finally made it down to the forge. Amazingly, Hammerfall seemed perfectly fine. He was busy checking over some of our work from before Jack and Wilhelm came to our world. Apparently he heard me approaching because he looked up for a brief second and nodded casually to acknowledge my presence.

“Hey Hammerfall, glad to see you’re okay considering everything that happened.”

Without looking up from his work Hammerfall replied with, “Hmm, oh yes the estrus cycle. Do not worry, I had arrangements made ahead of time. So, how was thy first estrus season? Should we begin creating a set of maternity armor for our Captain of the Guard?”

“Ha, very funny.” I replied with a small grin. “Gotta say though, I’ve never known you to be the joking type.”

“I hath been working with thee for some time now, some of your mannerisms are afflicting me it seems.”

“Sheesh, you make it sound like I’ve given you a disease or something. Still, to answer your question we do have to design Morning Star a new set of armor, though not for pregnancy.”

Hammerfall quirked an eyebrow at that and turned away from his work towards me. “What dost thou mean?

“Well, we got another visitor from another universe and long story short she caused Morning’s lower body to turn into a snake tail… along with some other interesting changes.”

Hammerfall didn’t say anything for a while and just blinked repeatedly, possibly attempting to process what I had just said. Finally he asked, “Art thou telling me the truth?”

“Hammerfall, in all the time you and I’ve been friends you should know that I would never joke about the loss of such a glorious ass and legs.” I told him with a steely expression that bored deep into his eyes as I put a hand on his shoulders. Hammerfall let out a long sigh at that.

“No, I don’t suppose thou would. I shall go grab the parchment and quills and we shall begin designing the new armor straight away.

Once Hammerfall grabbed the parchment and quills we both started sketching some designs. Mine were a little bit rougher than his. I’ve never really been good at sketching my designs out. We sketched in relative silence our quills scratching along the paper while I thought of a way to protect Morning’s new snake tail. Most of my ideas involved an armor skirt of sorts. My first idea was just a skirt of chainmail that would attach to the bottom of her breastplate. My other idea was a few wedges of plate mail that would also attach to the bottom. I looked at the two and decided to go with the chainmail, it would be harder to make but it would look better and offer better protection. I showed my designs to Hammerfall and he agreed with me on the chainmail idea. We then gathered all the metal we needed and started on Morning’s new armor. All in all it wouldn’t be all that different from her old set, aside from the chainmail skirt it was basically just sized up to match Morning’s larger chest. One change I particularly enjoyed was the one I made to the symbol of the Two Sisters. I had drawn an ouroboros snake around it. It was a little crude, but I thought it added a nice touch. We worked on the armor non-stop and by the end both 0f us were pretty tired after making it. The chainmail ended up taking a lot of our time.

I placed the fresh armor onto a rack and went up to my room to get some sleep. As I was walking up I passed by the window and saw the morning sun high in the sky. I let out a tired groan upon seeing that. This caused me to pick up my pace so I could get some much needed sleep. After I slept for a few hours I showered and headed down to the kitchen to steal a bit of food before going to the night court. With a simple sandwich in hand I walked into the throne room with a bright smile on my face. As per usual Luna was on her throne with only a few stoic night guards to keep her company. I strode right up to the throne and gave her a large dramatic bow.

“Greetings oh lunar princess, how art thou faring on such a beautiful night?” I made sure to ham up my statement as much as possible. I looked up and saw that Luna was rolling her eyes at me. And with that the status quo seemed to be restored. Here’s hoping it stays that way for a while.

“Greetings Vash, what brings thee to our court this evening?

“The same thing that always bring me nearly every night, to see your beautiful form and to hear your divine voice.”

“Canst thou be serious with thy answer for once?” Luna asked without as much exasperation or irritation as usual.

“I would think you would know by now that I am completely serious when I say those things,” I told her with a wink.

“Very well Vash, we don’t suppose thou willt not stop no matter how many times we tell thee,” she huffed. “Now, perhaps we should adjourn elsewhere for our talk?” She suggested as she rose from her obsidian colored throne.

“Are you sure that’s okay? Shouldn’t we stay here for the court?”

“Guards, we and Vash shall be in the gardens if anypony does see it fit to come to our court then send a messenger there to fetch us.” And with that Luna started to walk out of the room. I took a look towards the guards and they just shrugged. I let out a little sigh as I turned and jogged after her in order to catch up.

A few minutes later Luna and I were on a stone bench and looking out at her night sky. I was on the left side of the bench and Luna was on my right. For a few minutes the two of us seemed content to sit in silence and just enjoy each other’s company while staring at the night sky. After a while I looked down at the mare next to me and I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. This caused Luna to look at me with a quirked eyebrow and a scrunched up muzzle.

“What is causing thee to laugh, Vash?”

“Sorry, I was just thinking of the first night I was in Equestria when the two of us were looking out at the night sky. Back then you threatened to have me gelded for a simple kiss. Are you going to have my dangly bits taken away after what we did a few days ago?”

Luna blushed at that and made a point to avoid looking me in the eye. “We suppose that we should apologize for our earlier behavior. Twas not the appropriate response for one of our station.”

“Oh?” I started as I put an arm around her and pulled her close. “So what would you do if I tried something similar to what I did then, my fair princess?” I asked as I cupped her chin, closed my eyes and leaned in close. A part of me was half expecting her to pick me up in her magic and threaten to castrate me. Instead, she met me halfway and the two of us shared a tender kiss. I have to admit, I kind of missed the threats. I pulled away from Luna with a dopey smile on my face. “I’d say that’s a vastly different reaction to the previous one.”

“Must thou ruin such a pleasant moment?” She huffed.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself there.” I replied with a chuckle. “Still, you’ve outdone yourself with the sky tonight Luna.” I finished as the arm I had around her gave her a little squeeze.

“Thank thee Vash, we only wish that our subjects shared thy appreciation.” Luna said as her body language changed drastically.

“I’m sure they do appreciate you, Luna.” I offered as I turned both our bodies so we could look at each other. “They just don’t show it well. And if you’re worried about them all sleeping during something you obviously put so much effort into, then I can promise you that there will be a time when some ponies will be out during your night and doing things that they don’t even do during the day.”

“And how can thee offer us such a promise?” Luna asked with a quirked eyebrow.

“Because I know it will happen. The same thing happened in my own world. As the technology of this world increases, ponies will find ways and reasons to stay up at night.” I told her as I gave her shoulders a squeeze and offered what I thought was a comforting smile.

“If that is the case, then would thou be able to help with this? Thou hast said that thou studied the technology of thy world. Couldst thou recreate that technology for Equestria?” She asked with a hopeful expression. I flinched a bit at that and didn’t quite know how to answer her. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly as I collected my thoughts.

“You’re right that I do know a bit about my world’s technology,” I could see Luna’s face light up a bit as I said that, “but I don’t think I’d be able to recreate too much from it. For one thing, there’s a lot of technology that I don’t have a clue on how to make it. For another I don’t know if all the raw materials I’d need have been discovered yet. And the last and possibly the most important thing is that I don’t know what kind of effect bringing some of the technology at this point in time would do. In the wrong hands it can cause some serious problems. I’m really sorry Luna."

“Thou hast nothing to apologize for Vash.” Luna said as she looked down at the ground. “Thou knows more about thy world’s technology than we do and if thou says that it could prove dangerous for our subjects then we shall trust thee.” I smiled weakly when I heard that.

“I really am sorry I can’t help you more. But there will be a time when ponies enjoy your night. Until then,” I said as I tilted her chin up once more, “I hope you can make due with one devotee to the princess of the night.” Then, I gave her another kiss. I don’t know how long we were like that, minutes maybe? But after a while we were interrupted by a guard rushing toward us.

“Your Majesty!” This caused Luna to yelp into my mouth and bite down onto my lip. Hard.

“Gyahh!” I cried as the two of us pulled away from each other. Luna had a bit of color to her cheeks and was smoothing out nonexistent wrinkles of her dress as she turned to face the guard. Meanwhile, I was checking to see if my lip was bleeding. Luckily it wasn’t. I guess that’s the good thing about dating an herbivore, their teeth don’t break skin that much.

“What is it guard?” Luna asked after clearing her throat.

“There is an injured pony in the throne room who wishes to see thee.” This got Luna’s attention and she was on her hooves in an instant.

“Then we must not tarry!” Luna called out as she teleported the three of us in a flash of light. We reappeared in the throne room in a matter of moments. Once we were in the room we were able to see a disheveled, young, red-furred pegasus. His clothes were dirty and torn to shreds. His fur was burned in some parts and gone in others that showed old gashes that were crusted over with nasty scabs. The worst part might’ve been the fact that it looked like he hadn’t eaten or slept for a few days. His body language may have been even worse than his general appearance. He was shivering and his pupils were pinpricks as he whipped his head around the room. It almost looked like he thought something would jump out from the shadows for him. Whoever he was he had been through a lot. That much was obvious.

“Young stallion, tell us what has caused thee to appear before us in such a state?” Luna asked as she stepped up to the stallion and placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. “Did some foul creature from the forest give thee thy injuries?”

“N-no Your Majesty. I was able to fly above the reach the worst of the forest’s obstacles. The cause of my injuries is my reason for being here.” He replied still shaken up but stable for the moment. “I was with a group of settlers that were looking to stake a claim for a new village.” He continued after a deep breath. “We had found a surprisingly fertile piece of land near the badlands when tragedy struck.” He started to tremble again as he started to relive the events. “It all happened very quickly, I did not see who or what attacked us but I remember fangs and a horrible droning noise. I-I am most sorry I cannot tell thee more Your Majesty, but I escaped the scene to tell thee as fast as I could. The last thing I remember is seeing my companions being dragged away towards the badlands in the corner of my eye.” He finished as he started to sob.

“Thy tale is most troubling,” Luna started as she placed a hand on her chin in thought. “We will have to discuss it with our sister and deliberate on it in the morning. Tell us, what is thy name young stallion?”

“It is Hot Streak, Your Majesty.”

“Very well then. Guard,” Luna called out as she turned her attention to the nearest guard. “Take young Hot Streak to the infirmary and see to it that his wounds are treated properly. And Hot Streak.”

“Yes, Your Majesty?” Hot Streak asked confused.

“Twas a truly courageous act for thou to come to us in the manner that thou did.” Luna told him, possibly trying to assuage some doubts. “We shall see to it so that bravery is rewarded, by finding thy companions and punishing whoever is responsible for spiriting them away.” She finished with a flair of her wings.

“Yes Your Highness!” Hot Streak cheered as tears streamed from his eyes, for different reasons than before, as the guard led him out of the room. Once Hot Streak was out of the room, Luna sat down on her throne and got lost in a train of thought. I walked up to her and leaned against the wall next to her throne.

“So, what do you think took Hot Streak’s friends?” I asked.

“We art unsure, but we do know that we will have much to discuss with our sister in the morning.”