Author's Notes:

Hey everyone this is another crossover with shagohad12 . The next chapter might take a while to come due to him working on two other crossovers. Here's hoping you enjoy this.

Luna and I continued to talk a little while we whittled away the hours until we could tell Celestia about what happened to Hot Streak’s companions. For the most part we tried to bounce ideas off of each other on what exactly had taken them. Well, Luna came up with ideas, I mostly just listened to her ideas and descriptions and considered the likelihood based on the little information I had. By the time Luna was ready to switch off with Celestia we were no closer to figuring anything out and I was feeling the lack of sleep. Luckily, the castle was well stocked with coffee beans imported from Saddle Arabia so I would just have to substitute a few cups of coffee for a good night’s sleep. It was enough to remind me of Finals week.

Celestia came in looking as chipper as ever first thing in the morning. When she saw that I was still with Luna she shot us a bright smile and picked up her pace to come talk to us. “Good morning, how art thou faring? Though Vash, we would think that thou wouldst be in bed by this time. Or were the two of thee taken with each other even after all the time spent together this estrus cycle?” She asked with a sly look on her face. “We had overheard one of our maids saying that the two of thee were caught kissing in the gardens by a guard.”

A deep blush spread across Luna’s cheeks and she tensed up as if she were going to respond, but then remembered there was something more important than Celestia’s teasing. “Unfortunately, more serious things have transpired during our court. Last night, a stallion by the name of Hot Streak told us that a party of settlers were attacked by some unknown force and dragged off into the badlands.”

“Where is this Hot Streak now?” Celestia asked turning serious.

“He should be sleeping in the infirmary. He had a few worrying injuries that we thought it best he saw treated.

“Very well, we think it would be best that we perform our morning duty to raise the sun and then call for a meeting to discuss a course of action concerning these missing settlers.”

“Sounds good,” I said with a grin. “Now, while you two do that I will be in the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee and to grab a quick breakfast.”

“Oh, so thou can spend the evening kissing Luna, but thou cannot even give us a good morning kiss. Art thou trying to make us jealous?” Celestia pouted, though obviously in good nature.

“Of course not,” I answered as I went up to her and gave her a brief kiss. “I could never stand to make a lady feel jealous. Now, go raise the sun so we can figure out how to save Hot Streak’s friends. And once the rescue is complete we’ll have something to celebrate.” I finished with a wink as I turned to walk out of the room.

Two cups of coffee, a three egg mushroom omelet, and one dodged kitchen knife later and I was on my way to the meeting room to discuss our plans. When I opened the door I found that I was the last one to arrive. Hammerfall, Starswirl, Clover, the princesses, and Morning were all sitting around a table and Luna was nearly finished relaying Hot Streak’s story.

“… And the last thing he remembers seeing his companions being dragged away.”

“Tis certainly a troubling tale,” Hammerfall stated with arms crossed against his chest.

“What dost thou think happened to them?” Clover asked as she trembled slightly.

“Hmm, I believe I hath heard tell of creatures that make their home in the badlands. They were called changelings if memory serves.”

Celestia, Luna and I’s eyes widened as we all shared a look, Jason’s words rang in my mind. “Make peace with the changelings as soon as you possibly can,” I let out a sigh, rubbed the back of my head and shook my head.

“So, it looks like we might have our first run in with changelings on our hands,” I said.

“Verily, though it seems we may not be meeting under the best circumstances,” Celestia continued.

“Thou hast heard of changelings before?” Morning asked with a tilt of the head.

“Yeah, the first person from another Equestria we ran into suggested that we make peace with them, and he was married to a changeling.”

“Interesting, though as you stated twas a different Equestria that they were from. Perhaps there is no chance for peace with the changelings here?” Hammerfall suggested.

“And what should our reaction be then?” I asked as calmly as I could. “Should we have the entire guard find them and wipe them out?”

“No, I was merely saying that we do not know what these changelings are like,” Hammerfall clarified with a shake of his head.

“Well if we’re dealing with an unknown then it’s best to just be careful. If we do send guards then we should make it a small contingent and have it so they only act in self-defense.”

“I agree with Vash on this matter,” Morning interjected. “Equestria was founded on three very different tribes coming together. Who knows what we may accomplish if we made peace with the changelings. But, we should be prepared to defend ourselves if we are met with hostility.”

We all nodded at that and continued to discuss our plans until we came to a consensus. In the end we decided to let Morning lead a contingency of guards with a message to give to the changelings. I had to admit that I was a little nervous about the whole situation, but I knew that nothing I could say to her would stop her. After the meeting we all visited Hot Streak in the infirmary so we could check on him and to figure out an approximate location of where his companions were taken. Lucky for us he was he was healing well and was able to give us the information that we needed.

The next few days were spent preparing for Morning’s excursion. When everything was ready Morning and the rest of the contingency of guards were outside of the castle with all of their gear ready and the rest of us were ready to see them off.

“So, how do you like that new armor?” I asked with a strained smile.

“Tis truly thy best work yet, the chainmail is quite a nice addition.”

“I would tell you that flattery will get you nowhere… but that would make me a liar,” I said with an ear to ear grin.

“Verily,” Morning said with a roll of her eyes before turning to Celestia and Luna. “I will return shortly. Hopefully with the leader of the changelings to broker the beginnings of peace between our two races.”

“We understand Morning Star; we trust that thou will succeed in thy quest,” Celestia said with a smile and a nod.

With that, Morning motioned for the guards to move out and they all marched single file across the bridge and out of the forest. All of us continued to watch the guards and the few attendants with them march as they disappeared from sight into the dark canopy of the Everfree. When Morning did finally leave my line of sight I let out a little sigh and my smile drooped slightly. I don’t know if the others noticed the expression but I didn’t think too long about that. I needed to get my mind off of anything that could go wrong for Morning and her group.

I decided to go down to the library to continue my research into magic theory. I secluded myself into a corner of the room with a pile of books, parchment, quills, ink and candles in preparation for a long study session. I cracked open the first large tome and I could feel my eyes glaze over instantly due to the small text scrawled onto the pages. Basically the book was written out like a book on Physics back home. Normally I wouldn’t have much trouble with something like that, I mean Physics was important to my studies back on Earth. But this was a completely different animal. I had taken a Theoretical Physics class a few semesters ago (I needed an elective and the professor was the overseer for a club I was in) and the professor described how different the laws of Physics could be in alternate universes. One possibility he threw out was the potential for a universe made entirely of anti-matter. Well, now I was dealing with a situation like that. I was looking at rules that almost resembled the ones I was familiar with, but were fundamentally different. The flowery “Ye Olde” speech wasn’t helping me comprehend it any better either. I attempted to press on as best as I could and scratched out notes whenever I managed to decipher something that seemed important.

Eventually, my mind grew tired of all the relentless studying and my hand started to cramp. This caused my mind to wander. And of course it decided to wander to Morning and her group. Images of a group of what I assumed changelings would look like in our world bursting out from the ground and dragging the guards and Morning to some unknown fate. I tried and failed to shake the images from my head and let out a long sigh as I cradled my face in my hands.

‘Ugh, this is gonna shoot my nerves to hell for as long as Morning’s out on this mission. And I probably won’t make any real headway on my research either. So, what could I do with the rest of my day? Should I try to think of some good date ideas for my three mares? Heh, okay reminding myself that I’m in a relationship with the three most beautiful mares in Equestria made me feel a bit better. So, how should I plan this out?’ I gathered up my pens and quills and headed down to my sketching easel so I could draw up my battle plan for the perfect date ideas for each of my mares. I was walking down the hallway with several ideas popping in and out of my head. A few of which involved me learning to play the lute, when I saw Celestia walking up the hall towards me with a radiant smile on her face.

“Vash, we art glad to see thee. We were about to take a break for a bit of tea and a light snack. Wouldst thou like to join us for a bit, or art thou too embroiled in thy studies?” She asked pointing at my materials.

I took a deep bow and responded with, “My lady, I could never deny a request from you. Even if you asked me to lift the sun to rise above the horizon I would find a way to do so.”

Celestia let out a little chuckle at that. “We believe we can handle raising the sun above the horizon, for now we shall simply ask thee to join us for tea.”

“Of course Tia,” I said as I looked up from my bow. “But first, would you please send all of my things to the forge area? I don’t think I’ll need them where we’re going.”

“Very well,” she replied as she lit up her horn in a golden aura which spread to my materials before they disappeared. “Now,” Celestia said as she extended an arm. “May we have a handsome escort to the tea room?”

“As my lady wishes,” I said as I threaded my arm through hers. The two of us continued to walk in a pleasant silence before stopping in front of two white and gold doors. Celestia’s horn lit up again and the doors opened to the tea room. I unhooked my arm from Celestia’s and pulled out a seat for her. Her smile widened a bit and came over and daintily took the seat. I then took my own seat directly across from her. Celestia made a strange face for a moment and placed a hand underneath her chin.

“Hmm, we do not like this, but what shall we do? Oh, we know,” with that her horn lit up with her golden aura and I was picked up, chair and all and placed right next to her. She then leaned her head onto my shoulder while minding her horn. “This is much better.” Celestia then grabbed a nearby bell and rang it. A few moments later a maid appeared and Celestia asked for a pot of tea and some snacks. Another few minutes passed and the maid returned with a large cart that had a pot of tea with everything needed to sweeten it along with a small collection of cakes. “Thank you Honeypot, you may leave us now.” The maid bowed and backed out of the room leaving Celestia and I alone.

“Would you like me to pour you a cup and get you a cake, my lady?” I asked.

“We would greatly appreciate that Vash. Wouldst thou put two cubes of sugar and a bit of cream, along with a slice of the strawberry shortcake?” I did as she asked and quickly placed them in front of her. She smiled as she picked up her fork and mused, “We art tempted to ask thee to feed us, but we shall be lenient.”

“Of course, Your Majesty is truly a benevolent ruler and a gracious mare.”

Celestia snickered a bit at that. “This has already proven to be a pleasant break.”

“I have to agree, it’s nice being with you like this.” I said as I ran my hand through her hair before resting it on her back. “Actually, I’m still having a hard time believing that you, Luna and Morning are all in a relationship with me.”

“Oh?” Celestia mused as she leaned up and kissed my cheek. “And why dost thou find it hard to believe?”

“Well, I mean, the three of you are such incredible mares. You and Luna are both princesses of a country and the two of you are powerful enough to lift heavenly bodies with your magic. And Morning is a captain of your guard with a strong sense of justice and is devoted to this country. And I’m… just me.”

“Oh and thou dost not consider thyself to be worthy of our affections?” Celestia asked in a strange tone.

“To be honest, I don’t know what to think,” I answered with a bit of a sigh.

“If that is the case then we shall tell thee what we think of thee,” She said as she looked up into my eyes. I quirked an eyebrow but remained silent and decided to just listen to what she had to say. “Thou art quite the pervert and it seems that thou dost not take things seriously,” I flinched a bit at that. “But, thou hast also done so much for Equestria. Thou helped us defeat Discord, helped build our castle, and thy inventions have drastically improved the lives of our citizens. Also, thou hast been a constant companion for Luna during her night courts. Thou hast quite a few faults but thou art a truly good friend. And we know that we can always trust thee. Does that answer suffice?” She finished with a small grin.

“Yeah, that does make me feel a bit better. Thanks, Tia.”

“Thou art welcome, Vash. If thou has any more doubts then please tell us. We will always be willing to listen to thee.”

“I think I’ll be fine for now, thanks again.” I said with a chuckle as I rubbed her back slightly with the hand resting there. The two of us were in a comfortable silence for a while as Celestia enjoyed her snack. I was just about to pour a cup of tea for myself when I saw the glint of my dampening armband in the corner of my eye. Celestia’s talk of trust replayed in my head and caused a lump of guilt to form in the back of my throat. I knew I couldn’t hide this from her and that I needed to tell her about the angel arm. I took a deep breath and pulled myself away from Celestia so we could get a better look of each other. She looked confused but I just took a deep breath and told her everything about my angel arm. Celestia didn’t say anything for a while and appeared to be deep in thought. I fidgeted a bit in my seat waiting for her response, terrified of what she might say.

After what felt like an eternity she said, “That is quite troubling to hear,” my heart started to sink with those words, “but we were already somewhat aware that thy armband was of grave importance. This just fully explains why it was made.”

“So, you’re not mad at me?” I asked carefully.

“We art disappointed that thou did not tell us sooner, but no, we are not mad.” She answered with a smile.

“Thanks Tia, that makes me feel better.” I said as I returned the gesture.

“Verily, just be sure to tell Luna of this as well. She worries about thee more than we do.”

“Ok, I’ll be sure to do that.”

“Now, we must return to our duties. We thank thee for keeping us company Vash.” Celestia said giving me a kiss on the cheek before getting up to leave the room. Once she was gone I face-planted onto the table.

‘Well, that went better than I thought it would. But now I need to find something else to take my mind off of Morning and her mission with the changelings.’

A flicker caught my eye and a moment later, Jason appeared out of nowhere.

“Oh sweet it worked, 'sup Vash!” He said with a large grin, looking rather pleased with himself.

I blinked a few times and even rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn’t delusional and replied with, “Uh, hey Jason. What are you doing here? I didn’t summon you by accident, did I?”

“Nah,” he waved his hand dismissively, “I learned a technique called ‘Instantaneous Movement’ that kinda allows me to teleport wherever the hell I want, even outside of my universe.”

I perked up when he said that. “That sounds an awful lot like Goku’s Instant Transmission.”

“They’re both from DBZ, Movement is just better than Transmission. Anyway,” he said, cracking his neck, “I don’t mean to just drop in on you but, I kinda needed a break and you’re cool...so...mind if I chill here for a bit?”

I gave him a big grin as I said, “I’d never turn a friend down. Besides, I needed something to distract me. My marefriend is out on a diplomatic mission and my nerves are shot.” I finished as I got up and stood placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Great! Got any place we can just relax?” Jason asked, his shoulders sagging a little, “I’m exhausted...”

“Are you kidding? I’ve got all sorts of secret rooms in this castle for emergencies. Do you want one with or without a stash of booze in it?” I asked with a big, sly grin.

“Booze, lots of booze,” he smirked, pulling a jug out of his pocket, “Hell, I even brought my own, straight from the goats teat!”

“Nice, do you want me to grab a few of the guards so we can play some poker or something. Or is this going to be one of those times where we drink by ourselves and start saying things that we won’t remember saying the next day?”

“Probably the second, I’m too tired for poker, plus I don’t know if modern bits work in past Equestria,” Jason shrugged, looking around,

“This place looks weird without all the changeling stuff...”

“Why would there be changeling stuff in this castle? It’s Celestia and Luna’s?”

“This place was abandoned about...a thousand years ago. They set up shop on a mountain, with the city hanging off the side. When Chrysalis surrendered to Equestria, one of her terms was being able to turn the ruins into a new hive, which is where I rule from.” Jason explained, taking a swig from his jug before offering it to me.

I took a swig from the offered jug and coughed a little as the strength of it took me by surprise. “Whoa, that’s some good stuff, but I think I might have something a little bit stronger in my hideaway,” I said with a smirk and handed the jug back to Jason.

“Stronger? Dude this is the stuff the gods drank,” Jason raised his eyebrow, “Oh yeah, I don’t think I ever properly introduced myself last time did I?”

“What do you mean? I guess you didn’t tell me your last name… wait, what was that about gods?”

Jason smirked, reaching into his pocket, pulling out a black crown, inlaid with rather beautiful emeralds. “I am Jason Hughes, also known as Corypheus Toyason,” he placed the crown on his head, “Ruler of Jotunheim, lord of winter and one of the five ruling monarchs of Equestria. Grandson of Hel, Goddess of Death, descended from the first one Ymir.”

I blinked a few times and scratched the side of my head, trying to process everything Jason just said. “So, the norse gods are real… and you’re related to them and the frost giants? Well, that’s… that’s got to be interesting one interesting Thanksgiving dinner.”

“All gods are real Vash, just depends on what universe you're in...or in my case, realms, anyway,” he clapped his hands together, “Let’s go get hammered!”

“You don’t have to tell me twice! Come with me and you’ll be, in a land of pure inebriation!” I called out as I led him into the castle halls.

“I’m just glad we’re both getting drunk...I know I’m not going to keep my mouth shut about spoilers,” Jason commented as he followed, looking around.

I hurried along the halls so I could get us to my hiding place without being seen. It took us a few minutes but I was able to make it to the spot we needed to be in without incident. We stopped in front of a large tapestry with the insignia of the two sisters flanked by two suits of armor. “Alright, we’ve made it to the passage.” I said as I moved the tapestry aside and pressed a few of the stones to cause the door to slide open. “Here we are, welcome to Chez Vash.” I said as I motioned for Jason to enter.

“Huh, I wonder if all these are in here back home...” Jason muttered to himself as he stepped inside, “Not that Celestia tells us anything. You should have seen how pissed Chrysalis was when we found out there was a magic changeling book hidden in this place.”

“If she’s anything like my Celestia then she probably saw it as a threat to her citizens. Celestia can be a little overprotective of Equestria.”

“She also puts the safety of her kingdom into the hands of a bunch of twenty year olds with magic rainbow powers,” Jason countered, sitting down, “The only time I’ve ever seen her actually do any fighting is when we got our asses kicked by Surt.”

I shrugged as I opened a cabinet where the barrels of mead and mugs were and prepared two for us before sitting down across from him and handing Jason his drink. “I was just playing devil’s advocate there. I don’t know what your Celestia is like so I was just comparing her to mine. So, what made you need a break? Was it the pressures of being a ruler?”

“No, that's easy,” Jason said, leaning back in his seat, “I just need a break of the insanity that is my life. Mostly the training Hel puts me through...well that and making sure everything goes according to plan.”

“I can’t imagine what that’s like,” I replied as I took a drink. “There’s a reason I work down in the forge. I just bang on some hot metal with a hammer and make things.”

“Yeah well, I got a whole thing planned...I’m going to make permanent gates between the realms, and I’m going to divulge the whole thing to Earth.”

“Good luck with that. Hey, make sure you invite me over to your world when that’s up and running. If I remember my norse mythology correctly then there’s a realm of dwarves where the best smiths live. I’d love to pick up a few tricks from some masters.”

“I could just have Dash take us there or just teleport us,” he said with a shrug, “Yggdrasil I wish you weren’t in the past.”

“You’d have to take that up with the jackass that put me here,” I dismissed with a shrug. “I didn’t have much of a say in it. Then again, I wouldn’t have met Morning if I ended up in a different time period so there’s that.”

“True enough...” Jason said, chugging down his drink, “Thing is, I could warn you about so much but...it’s a balancing act really. A lot of good things happen in the default timeline...but at the same time, you shouldn’t be afraid to make your own choices.”

I let out a long sigh as I leaned back in my chair. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. It’s just this is all new to me. Back home I would’ve been a face in the crowd all my life. Now, I apparently am making choices that can change history. It makes me wonder if the Merchant picked me at random just to screw with me.”

“You think I haven’t?” Jason snorted, “I really doubt I factored into whatever weird destiny was there before I arrived. Funny thing is, I’m more native to Equestria than any other living thing on that world.”

“Sorry if I sounded like I was complaining. I’ve just been wondering what all this Displaced business is about.” I let out a chuckle as I tried to lighten the mood. “Now, on to happier topics. Do you remember how I asked you about polygamy here?”

“Who’d you hook up with?” Jason asked, taking another long drink from his own jug.

“I’ve got three mares: Morning Star, captain of the Royal Guard, and Celestia and Luna.” I answered with a smirk.

“Well that's certainly something. My Luna got herself pregnant by a Displaced and my Celestia is currently dating a changeling,” Jason commented, running his hand through his beard.

“Well, I was dating Morning Star for a while first. But then the Estrus season started along with an incident involving a few other Displaced, and well, I don’t think you need to hear about what happened after that.”

“Had a lot of fun huh?” Jason asked with a laugh, “You have no idea what I get up too. Considering myself and my wives are all shapeshifters.”

“Well, it wasn’t all completely fun.” I said looking down. “You see, one of the Displaced I ran into accidentally used a transformative drug on Morning and she… and she… got turned into a naga-pony.” I said looking up at Jason while fighting back tears.

“Naga-ponies are a thing?” he asked, a few small chuckles escaping his lips.

“You don’t get it, her lower half was replaced with a snake tail. Do you know what that means?”

“Kinky sex?”

“Well that, but something just as important. She lost her ass!” I cried, no longer able to hold back my tears. “Her glorious ass that was forged from years of intense training is now lost to the ether!”

“I could probably fix her,” Jason said with a shrug, “Sorry if I sound indifferent, but, I change form so much, it doesn’t really have that big of an effect on me anymore.”

“Well, Morning likes her new form. It gave her some benefits other than aesthetics and I’m not going to force her to do something. Besides, she’s not here at the moment.” I finished with a shrug.

“You wanna see something cool?” Jason asked, taking another chug of his mead, making a bit of a face.

“Sure thing,” I answered with a grin.

“This is something I just learned how to do so...watch closely.” He closed his eyes and focused and without a few moments had shifted into...a female version of himself.

“Whoa, that’s pretty cool!” I boomed, getting up to get a better look. “So… do you feel… different when you do that?”

“Well of course I do,” he said rolling his eyes, “I haven’t tried anything else yet, I’d rather not get stuck as anything else...plus it may make the Omnitrix wig out.”

“Uh… what do you mean by wig out?” I asked as I pulled away from Jason. “Because if I remember correctly… doesn’t the Omnitrix have an explosive in it?”

“Relax, the self-destruct won’t activate. Besides, it takes at least a week for it to build up enough power to destroy a universe.”

“Okay, so what do you mean by wig out? Something like getting stuck in a form for a while, or not getting the form you set the omnitrix to?”

“No it’s more like, I have no idea if my natural shapeshifting changes my base DNA and the Omnitrix is coded to my base DNA.” Jason said, trying to explain it.

“Oh, that makes sense. Still, that’s a pretty cool skill. Must be one of the perks of being a demi-god.” I stated with a shrug.

“Demi-god is really a Greek term,” Jason said, waving his hand dismissively, “You know...I did not wear the right clothes for this trick...” he mumbled, looking down at himself.

I looked where Jason was staring and let out a nervous chuckle. “I wouldn’t know how to help you there. I don’t exactly keep a stash of clothes for women in here. Scotch, yes, wine, yes, but no clothes, sorry.”

“That's rather surprising you know,” Jason chuckled, “Seeing as how you're basically this worlds Master Roshi.”

“This room is meant to be my escape for everything. Not even the princesses know about this room.” I said with a serious tone. “Plus, the underwear in this time period does nothing for me. Once these ponies get past pantaloons then I might go on some panty raids… Please don’t tell Luna I said that. She might kill me for comments like that.”

“Really? Panty raids?’ Jason asked, giving me an unamused, flat look.

“Well… uh, I guess I don’t mean panty raids exactly… I just mean… hey, wanna get silly drunk now and see if anything in this room is stronger than the stuff you brought?” I asked in an attempt to change the subject.

“Hell yes! Lets do it!!” Jason fist pumped, a big grin on his face.

I returned Jason’s grin as I got up and opened all the cabinets to reveal my entire stash of alcohol. “Well then, ladies first,” I joked.

“Hahaha,” Jason snarked, grabbing a bottle off a shelf, popping the top, chugging the contents down. Not one to be outdone I grabbed a larger bottle off the shelf and started to chug it down.

“Wanna have a drinking contest?” I asked with a stupid grin.

“You are so on.” He returned the grin, wiping his mouth off.

“What should the terms be?” I asked, wiping my own mouth off.

“Well obviously, first one to pass out loses.”

“That’s a given, but what should the winner get? Just bragging rights and the title of Iron Liver?”

“Heh, Iron Liver...I don’t have any better ideas, so lets go with that.” Jason nodded, taking his seat again.

“Well then, as the guest I’ll let you pick out what we drink. Not that it matters, I’ll win even if you’ve got the blood of norse gods in you.” I bragged, sitting across from him.

“Oh, I doubt that,” he snorted, randomly grabbing a bottle, “We’ll just go through the stock.”

“Fine by me,” I said as I poured the two of us a glass to start with. “One of the perks of dating the princesses is that I can get a stock of good booze pretty easily.” I finished with a grin.

“Well then, let’s begin,” Jason nodded, grabbing his glass, downing it quickly. I followed suit and the two of us polished off our first bottle rather quickly. After that the two of us continued to go through quite a few bottles while smack talking one another with increasingly slurred speech. At some point in the match I blacked out and don’t know what happened to Jason. I think a dim part of my mind noted that he may have earned the Iron Liver title, but I don’t quite remember much.

“GET UP!” I hear someone shout before a pair of hands wrap around my neck, starting to strangle me.

“Herk!” I gargled out as my eyes snapped open to the sight of a very angry Jason, still in his female form. “Why are you trying to kill me?!” I choked out.

“Why the FUCK are we naked!?” he demanded, his eyes glowing red, his mouth contorted into a look of pure rage.

“WAIT, WHAT?” I cried as I looked down. Sure enough, both of us were naked with our clothes strewn about the room. “How should I know? Didn’t I black out first?!”

“I am going to kill you!” he roared, squeezing harder, his nails digging into my neck. I felt my eyes bulge a little bit and on reflex I took my own hands and put them on Jason’s wrists in an attempt to pry him from my throat.

“Jason, calm down!” I cried. “Maybe nothing happened? You were complaining about your clothes before we started our contest.” I finished, somehow lessening his grip on me.

“We’re on top of each other you idiot!”

“Okay, then I don’t know! But what will killing me accomplish?”

“I don’t know!” he shouted, letting out a scream of rage, ice starting to build up around the room.

“Okay, so we got drunk and did something stupid. That much is obvious. Can you ask Hodgepodge or Hughes about this so we can figure out what happened exactly?”

“Hughes isn’t here anymore,” Jason said, taking a few breaths. He sat up, thankfully releasing my neck.

“Okay, what about Hodgepodge?” I asked, sitting up and crossing my legs.

“Give me a moment here ok...?” Jason asked, putting a hand on his head He rubbed his temple for a bit, going quiet. He let out a long sigh, falling back on the couch.

“Uh, what did he say… if anything?” I asked carefully.

“What do you think happened Vash?” he asked, staring up at the ceiling.

“Okay, I didn’t mean if we had sex. I mean, what happened before that? Did we say anything? Was there something that set us off? I mean, you’re married and I’m in a committed relationship so I don’t think just getting drunk would be enough for us to cheat.”

“You started to hit on me...and...things spiraled out from there.” Jason sat back up, brushing some hair out of his eyes. “And there is one more thing.”

“What is it?”

“Congratulations, you're a dad.” I felt my eye twitch a bit and fell over from the shock of the bomb that was dropped.

“I-I don’t suppose that he could be wrong about this, could he?”

“I don’t see why he would be.”

“How are you feeling? Are you okay?” I asked, picking myself up.

“I can’t begin to describe what I’m feeling,” he sighed, looking down at our clothes, “Hand me my clothes would ya?” I did as he asked and avoided staring as much as I could.

“Jason, I’m sorry about all this,” I said with a sigh. “The drinking contest was a dumb idea.”

“It’s not your fault,” Jason said, pulling his clothes on, “Whelp, better go explain this to your girlfriends.”

I let out a long sigh and pulled my own clothes on. “You’re right, I can’t hide this from them. But before we do this I think I should say that it was nice knowing you.” I finished as I pushed the door open and led Jason to where the princesses would most likely be. As we walked I glanced over to Jason and asked, “Are you stuck in your female body because of you being pregnant?”

“I think that's pretty obvious, not like I’d try to change back anyway.” Jason crossed his arms, looking around.

“Okay… so what are we going to do about the baby? I know you and your wives could handle raising it… but where do I fit in?”

“Well, you’re family now Vash,” Jason said, looking up at me, “I’m not just going to keep the kid to myself.”

“Well, that’s a load off my mind.” I said with a chuckle. “Now I’ve got to figure out birthday and Christmas presents for a baby that lives in another universe.” I said, trying to add some levity to the situation.

“Heh, you get to come to the Pie-Apple family reunion,” Jason smiled, “Plus the Sparkles are going to be there as well as my family.”

“Didn’t you say that you were related to the Goddess of Death… what’ll it be like to be part of that family?”

“Insane,” Jason smirked, “But, I’m sure they’ll like you.”

I smiled and chuckled a bit at his response just as we stopped in front of the throne room doors. “Well, this’ll be fun to explain.” I said with a gulp.

“You ready?” he asked, placing a hand on the door.

“As I’ll ever be… just be ready to run if you see Luna’s horn glow.” I warned as I placed my hand on the door and pushed it open. We both walked into the room to see that Luna was looking bored as she presided over a mostly empty court. She perked up a bit when she saw me but quirked an eyebrow when she saw I was with someone else.

“Vash, we art glad to see thee, but who is this?” She asked as she indicated Jason. “Is this a Displaced?”’

“Hello Luna,” Jason said with a wave, “It’s me Jason.”

Luna’s eyebrow quirked farther as she scanned Jason up and down. “The last we remembered, Jason was a male. So, why art thou a female now?”

“I’m a shapeshifter,” he said with a shrug, “But uh...well...we have something to tell you and you ain’t gonna like it.”

Luna’s face became a stone mask as she asked, “What is it that thou wishes to tell us?”

“Well… this would be better if we told Celestia too,” I said. Luna then called for a guard and sent him to go get Celestia. The three of us then stood in an awkward silence as I started sweating bullets and my mind raced. Eventually, a groggy looking Celestia emerged into the throne room with her waving mane slightly disheveled.

“Why hast thou called us here, Luna?” Celestia asked with a yawn.

“Apparently, Vash and Jason have some troubling news for us. Now, what dost thou wish to tell us?”

“Well...uh...we got drunk, like really, stupidly drunk and uh...well...” Jason coughed, looking away.

“Well what?” Luna asked with a slight edge to her voice.

“We… had sex.” I admitted, barely able to get it out.

Luna and Celestia were silent for quite a while, obviously trying to process the information. I don’t know how long they remained silent, but I didn’t want to be the one to break it in fear of making excuses. At some point Celestia breached the silence.

“This is certainly quite troubling,” she said as she tried to remain calm.

“I-I’m sorry Celestia, Luna. I don’t know why I did it. Jason and I decided to have a drinking contest… and I have no idea why I did what I did… but… but I will do anything to try and show you that I regret what I did.” I stammered, trying to keep myself from breaking down.

“Look,” Jason said with a sigh, “This is my fault too, so don’t go putting the blame on him.”

“Vash, Jason,” Celestia started, holding up a hand to stop Jason. “We cannot speak for Luna, but we still need time to think on thy actions. Just know that we are not happy.” I cringed and tried to make myself as small as possible. “But thou are not past the point of redemption.” She finished.

“Our sister is right, thou art not past redemption,” Luna stated after taking a deep breath. “But thou must work to regain our trust again, Vash.”

“I understand.” I stated simply.

Jason chuckled a bit, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, it’s just...weird hearing Luna talk about trust like that.”

“What dost thou mean?” Luna asked.

Jason sighed, putting a hand on his head, “Do you really, really, really wanna know the answer to that question?”

“Is this one of those things about letting us make our own choices that affect the future?” I asked.

“I’d say...I’d also say we’re within...a year or two of it coming to pass.” Jason nodded, eyes locked on Luna.

“We shall keep that in mind Jason. We shall remain vigilant for anything that could put our trust in jeopardy.” Luna stated with a nod.

“No Luna...what's going to happen...it’ll cost everyone's trust...in you.”

“All the more reason to remain vigilant.” Luna answered, flinching slightly at Jason’s words.

“Well, we broke the news to Celestia and Luna, now do you want my help telling Chrysalis and your other wife?”

“Well, we didn’t tell them everything now did we?” Jason asked, crossing his arms.

“Okay… do you want to say it… or should I?”

“I’m expecting,” Jason said bluntly, arms crossed over his chest.

Celestia and Luna started to shake as they processed what they heard. “Oh boy, you hit the mommy button. You shouldn’t have pressed the mommy button.” I said as I looked for a way out of the room.

“Vash, thou can give Jason a child, but not us!?” Celestia cried.

“Jason, run.” I whispered into his ear as I bolted out of the throne room.

Jason just raised his eyebrow before shrugging, running after me. “You, couldn’t have told them that gently, could you!?” I called out.

“I don’t like to pussy foot issues.”

“Noted, but my Celestia and Luna love kids and considering the first person that I’ve managed to impregnate was due to a drunken fling… I don’t think they’re happy about that.”

“You know...I could stay here for a while...” Jason commented, “Hodgepodge worked the numbers, a month here is about a day back home.”

“Do you want to tell your wives first?” I asked as I motioned for him to stop. “I mean, how do you think they’d react if you were missing for nine days only to show up with a baby?” I asked as I opened the door to another of my secret rooms.

“I do manage a few trips I think...” Jason said with a nod, slipping inside.

“Okay, but don't go blaming me if your wives kill you for this,” I said with a shrug. “Still, it might be interesting to have you around for a while. That diplomatic mission I told you about earlier, it might involve changelings.”

“Oh fun,” he said, placing his hand on my arm. “You ready?”

“That depends, who should I be more worried about, Chrysalis, or your other wife?” I asked with a chuckle.

“You’ll be fine.” he assured me before I felt like I was being torn apart and mushed back together.