“Hey little guy did you sleep well?” Jason asked, lifting me up out of the bed, hugging me close.

‘Heh, yeah I did,’ I thought with a smirk as I babbled at Jason happily and nuzzled at his chest. He petted my head, smiling down at me. I let out a small coo, my wings flapping a little and increased my nuzzling. ‘Did you enjoy cuddling up to Zecora?’ I thought with a hidden smile.

“Hungry?” he asked, looking down at me. My stomach growled and I just looked up at him with a tilted head, my hands on his chest. “Eager little guy huh?” he asked, pulling his top down.

‘Ah, any day that starts with breasts in my face is a good day,’ I thought as I had my fill for the morning. Once I was done with my meal, Jason burped me and held me up with a smile.

“Come on, let’s go find Zecora.”

‘He says that as if he didn’t just stumble out of her hut,’ I thought with a giggle as Jason walked out of the hut and into the village. The two of us waved at the villagers we passed until we came up to Zecora’s hut.

“Guess who's awake?” Jason asked, walking into the hut with a smile.

Zecora yawned and stretched up and out of her bed, fixing her mane with her hands. “The little monster that you are insistent on carrying around?” She joked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

“I’d say he’s more of a parasite.” Jason laughed, sitting next to her.

“Perhaps, but one that you don’t seem to be in a hurry to remove,” she chuckled, giving me a quick scratch behind the ear.

“Nah, he kinda grows on ya.” Jason laughed, placing me in his lap.

“So do boyles, and I make remedies for those.”

“Hahaha.”

“So, are we planning on beginning our training early in the morning?” Zecora asked, stretching again and cracking a few joints.

“I’m ready if you are. Tell me, how good are you with a spear?”

“It is one of my less favored weapons, but I am serviceable enough with one I suppose,” she commented with a shrug. “Why do you ask? Are you planning something new for our training?”

He grinned, pulling the golden spear from before out of his pocket. “I’m going to teach you the art of the Lancer.”

Zecora blinked in confusion, looking between Jason’s small pocket and the spear. “How much can your pockets hold?” She asked, gawking at the spear.

“As much as I want it to!” he smirked, chuckling at her expression.

“I don’t suppose you could teach me that useful trick?” Zecora asked hopefully.

“Nah, it’s because of this.” Jason pulled out a small grey cube. “It has limitless storage.”

“I suppose I’ll have to make do with our other lessons,” she sighed, standing up from the bed. “Come on then, we’d better get started with this spear training.” He nodded, hefting the spear over his shoulder, holding me at his hip.

Zecora looked over her shoulder and started to laugh as they walked out of the hut. “A weapon in one arm and a child in the other. You’ve been here less than a week and you’re already the image of perfection of a proper zebra.”

“Nah, I’d say I’m becoming a Valkyrie over anything.” He chuckled a little, shaking his head.

“Hmm, then perhaps we zebras are not so different from these Valkyrie beings of your world,” Zecora chuckled as well. “Now, show me the way of the Lancer,” she said stretching and readying herself for a fight. Jason placed me back down in the basket, getting a stance.

“Just don’t blame me if you get hurt.” He smirked, cracking his neck.

“Funny, I was about to say the same to you,” she challenged with a smirk that mirrored his own. He smirked, lunging at her, kicking off the lessons. Zecora twirled around his strike, elbowing Jason in the back as she went. He whipped around, thrusting at her stomach, narrowing his eyes. Zecora’s eyes widened, narrowly avoiding the tip of the spear disemboweling her. She stumbled back a bit before righting herself. She glared at Jason and began to charge at him, one fist pulled back.

He dropped low, sweeping the spear out, knocking her to the ground. He darted over, putting the tip to her throat.

“So, what was this supposed to teach me?” Zecora asked, looking between Jason and the tip of the spear.

“Not to get cheeky with me.” Jason pulled the spear away, holding his hand out to her.

She chuckled and took the offered hand. “Is this because I threatened you with waking night terrors?”

“Yes, never ever do that.” He helped her up, laughing.

“I thought you were over that,” Zecora said, rolling her eyes. “I more than made up for it with that salve, didn’t I?”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Alright come on, let’s get back to the training. I’m going to beat this into you...”

The end of the week came fairly quickly, for Jason and Zecora, I felt every agonizing minute I was stuck as a colt. Even if it did come with a few unexpected perks. By the end of it, Jason seemed satisfied with his and Zecora’s progress in their training. But, he decided it was time to leave and he gathered all of his and my belongings (mostly the stuff I shrank out of when I was turned into a colt.) and started walking to the edge of the village before we would meet up with the guards who carried us before. Zecora and the elder were there to see us off. Along with a few other villagers.

“It seems the time to say farewell has come,” Zecora said, a smile on her face.

“I’m going to miss you guys.” Jason smiled back, with me sitting on his shoulders. “It was a fun week...”

“We assure you the feeling is mutual,” the elder chuckled. “Be sure to tell the Equestrian princesses that we will accept their offer of peace.”

“Of course.” Jason nodded, before looking at Zecora. “I did want to leave you with one last gift.”

“A gift? What else could you want to give other than what you already have?”

“You see, the Omnitrix allows me to... take a bit of one race and place it in another. If you accept, I will place a bit of myself into you, give you a small sliver of my power.”

“I see no reason not to accept,” Zecora nodded. Jason nodded holding his arm up.

“Omnitrix, splice target zebra with jotun DNA.” The Omnitrix chirped, sending a green wave into Zecora, making her stumble back.

“You could’ve warned me about that part,” Zecora said, shaking her head and collecting herself.

“Sorry.” He smiled sheepishly. “So... how do you feel?”

“A little hungry,” she commented, patting her stomach. “But other than that, not too different.”

“Well, don’t go freezing anyone solid, alright?”

“I will do my best to resist the urge,” Zecora chuckled and rolled her eyes, extending a hand toward Jason. He took her hand with a smile, giving it a shake. “Goodbye Jason, may we meet again in this life, or the next.”

“Stay safe Zecora, may your blade always be wet with the blood of your enemies.” He pulled away, starting to walk back into the jungle.

“Oh, and don’t be in any hurry to turn Vash back to normal!” Zecora called out with a wave.

Jason just laughed, waving back at her. “Well, that was fun.” Jason smiled, looking up at me.

‘It definitely had its moments,’ I thought with a large smile as bathtimes at the hot spring played out in my head. ‘Then again, I did have to spend most of this trip in a makeshift diaper, so I still think I got the short end of the stick on this trip.’ I finished my thought by babbling at Jason, gripping onto his hair, and tugging on it like reins.

“Hey, don’t tug my hair, it’s not nice.” He pouted up at me, moving toward where the chariot had dropped us off.

The guards that dropped us off came forward, snapping a salute at us, “Jason, V…” The guard then stopped noticing something amiss. “Um, what happened to Vash?”

“He got hit with some Poison Joke, at the moment, he’s just a foal.” Jason explained, pulling me down into his arms

The guards all exchanged a brief look of confusion before bursting out into hysterics. “W-wait until the captain sees what has become of her lover,” the lead guard said, wiping a tear from his eye. “Come, we should hurry back to the castle, the chariot is ready.”

At the mention of the chariot I started to pale, and started shivering uncontrollably. ‘Oh crap, I have to ride in that death machine!’ I screeched internally, clinging onto the nearest thing for dear life. Said thing just so happened to be Jason’s chest.

“Well, look at that a pegasus scared of heights.” Jason chuckled, stepping into the chariot. “Sleep well...” he muttered, casting Sleep on me.

‘Thanks,’ I dimly thought as my eyes fluttered closed. I was eventually woken up by the chariot landing and stretched my limbs to see we had landed at the front gate of the castle. ‘Yes! I slept through all of that flight again.’ I thought with a yawn.

“Have a nice nap?” Jason asked, stepping out of the chariot, stretching his limbs out.

I nodded happily and smiled at the Jotun. ‘It was certainly more pleasant than a punch to the face. Now all we have to deal with is telling the girls that I’m… a baby now. Well shit, I’m going to have to find out what pony puberty is like, aren’t I?’ I thought, my face falling slightly.

“Come along, Jason,” The lead guard said, unhitching himself from the chariot. “I am sure the princesses would love to hear how thy trip to the Zebra country fared.”

Jason nodded, following the guard, humming to himself. “Cruel and brutal, the blades of the beast... carve and clatter and cleave...”

The guard didn’t seem to mind Jason’s song, silently leading Jason through the halls of the castle. Eventually the guard arrived at the large doors of the throne room. He signalled at the two on duty and they slowly pushed the heavy doors open. Celestia was sitting in her throne, a small smile on her face and was chatting a bit with Morning seeming to be between duties at the moment.

“Your Majesty, Jason has returned from the Zebra Kingdom,” The guard that led us called out.

“Jason, t’is good to see thee,” Celestia beamed. “But where pray tell is Vash?”

“Right here!” Jason smiled, holding me up.

Her entire face lit up and she rushed off her throne in a blur of movement. “Oh, he is too cute like this!” She squealed, snatching me from Jason and rubbing her cheek against mine.

“What happened?” Morning sighed, pinching her brow and slithering over to Jason. “What did Vash do to wind up becoming a colt?”

‘Hey! It’s a bit presumptuous to think I did something to warrant being like this,’ I thought, giving Celestia a hug.

“Oh you know, he spied on me and some zebra’s bathing... did you know they treat their men like slaves?” Jason asked, rubbing the back of his head.

“No, we did not know this,” Celestia answered, still rubbing my cheek and squeezing me like a living teddy bear. “But as we told thee before thy departure, we did not know much of their culture.”

“Well, they decided to punish Vash by dumping Poison Joke on him and ta-da! Baby Vash!”

“Why am I not surprised by his actions?” Morning sighed. “Was he at least well behaved before the incident with the spying?”

“Yes, yes he was.” Jason reached out, petting my head. “The zebras accept our offer of peace, though best for the next few generations, have mares treat with them.”

“That would be best,” Morning agreed. “Though maybe we could also send a few feminine looking male guards in an attempt to help their culture become more equal. Private About Face would be a good candidate,” she noted to herself.

“Anyway, I do have the antidote to turn Vash back to normal, though it is missing one ingredient that seems to only grow in the winter.”

“Aww, do we have to change him back?” Celestia pouted, holding me up. “Couldn’t we just let him grow up as a normal colt?”

“No,” Morning shot down. “One of us is not immortal and does not wish to wait eighteen years before having their lover back.”

“Fine, what is this ingredient that thou art in need of, Jason?” Celestia asked, planting a kiss on my forehead.

“Ah... Zecora gave me a picture of it... this thing.” He fished around in his pocket, easily producing a scroll, passing it over to them. “And Morning Star, I can easily solve that for you.”

“What dost thou mean?” She asked, an eyebrow quirked.

“Well... I could easily splice you with something that has a very long lifespan.”

She looked down at herself, placing a hand on her hip where her snake-half started. “Will this splicing cause me to appear even stranger than I already do?’

‘Shut up baby, you’re gorgeous!’ I thought.

“Morning, you're fine. If anyone thinks you're strange they're idiots. You know what you are Morning?” Jason asked, putting a hand on her cheek.

“Oh, I did not mean anything by strange,” Morning chuckled. “I am just very much aware that I am the only one of my kind on this entire world. And I’m a naga-pony, as Vash and Zinnia seemed intent on reminding me.”

“Yes, but you're also the mother of a new race. You're far more important than you know. Anyway, the splicing shouldn’t affect you all that much... besides probably turning you into a genius and letting you live for a few thousand years...”

“Mother of a new race?” Morning repeated. “Hmm, I have never put much thought into child rearing, my livelihood as a guard was much more important to me. Though my mother did seem to hint at wanting grandchildren several times.”

“I wonder if you’ll lay eggs...” Jason muttered to himself, looking Morning over.

“That thought has crossed my mind once or twice,” she laughed. “Though I haven’t ejected unfertilized eggs like a common lizard so there is at least that much.”

“Wait... if you’re a new race then...” he looked down at the Omnitrix. “Have you been slacking on me?” As if to appease him, it chirped, taking a sample from Morning.

“So that is the yellow light thou mentioned,” Morning said, turning to Celestia.

“Yes, though we were unfortunate enough to stare directly into it when we were scanned.” Celestia chuckled.

‘Huh, I’m surprised the Omnitrix hasn’t scanned me,’ I thought, flapping my wings. ‘I don’t remember Jason getting an anthro-pegasus.’ The Omnitrix chirped again, scanning me, the beam getting in my eyes.

“Gack!” I cried, trying to rub the spots out of my eyes.

“Oh! Poor baby!” Jason took me from Celestia, bouncing me gently.

‘Why do I have the worst luck in the universe!’ I screamed in my head as I blinked the last spot away.

“So Morning, if thou were to accept this splicing… then could we keep Vash as an infant?” Celestia asked with a hopeful smile.

“No, I still believe it would be best to return Vash to his normal self.” Morning insisted.

“Could he at least remain a foal for another day or so?”

“I suppose there’s no harm in that,” Morning relented.

“It seems you're much more popular with the ladies as a baby.” Jason teased, tickling my armpits. I giggled and thrashed my limbs, my wings buzzing quickly.

‘Oh yeah, last time I checked I have: a guard captain, two immortal princesses, a dragon-girl and you under my belt. I think I was doing just fine before I became a baby,’ I snarked as I futilely attempted to use my hands to push Jason away.

“Oh!” Celestia cheered, clapping her hands. “We should go and wake Luna! She would love to see Vash like this!” She cried before teleporting out of the room.

‘Oh, this will not end well for me.’

A few moments later, Celestia and Luna in a bathrobe and a serious case of bed-mane popped into the room. “We wish to see the infant Vash!” She boomed in the Royal voice.

“Luna!” Jason hissed, having covered my ears. “Don’t do that! He’ll hurt his ears!”

“We art sorry,” Luna whispered sheepishly, a blush adorning her cheeks. “We may have gotten a bit overexcited. May we hold the baby Vashie?” She asked with outstretched arms. Jason passed me over, making sure Luna held me correctly. “Aww, we did not expect that thou would be a pegasus,” she cooed as she scratched behind one of my ears. I smiled dopily as she did that and snuggled deeper into her embrace.

‘Damn, why does that ear thing feel so good?’ I wondered.

“So, our sister tells us that Vash was turned into this as some sort of punishment.” Luna commented.

“Yup, spying on ladies bathing.”

“That does not surprise us. What does surprise us is that we have not received any complaints of similar incidents here.” She said holding me up and narrowing her eyes playfully. “Thou wouldn’t know anything about that, wouldst thou?”

‘Nope, nothing to report. Certainly no hidden peepholes or anything,’ I thought as I flailed my limbs and laughed.

“He is an adorable baby...” Jason commented, leaning on a wall.

“We wonder if he was just as cute when he was a human infant.” Celestia giggled as she pinched one of my cheeks.

“Who knows.” Jason shrugged, watching with a grin.

“It seems to be a shame that we have no way of knowing,” Morning shrugged as well. “Still, what was it that thou wished to splice me with?” She asked, turning to Jason.

“Galvin. Smartest species you’ll ever come across, one of them even made this thing.” He held up the Omnitrix. “And that guy is like five thousand years old...”

“Hmm, as long as it does not cause anymore outward changes to my body, I see no downsides to this. I was lucky once with body alteration, I do not like the idea of taking chances a second time.” Jason nodded, going through the procedure, splicing Morning.

“How do you feel? Smarter?”

“No, but I do feel a headache coming on,” Morning groaned and put a hand to her temple. “I don’t suppose that would be a side-effect of the splicing, is it?”

“It might be.” Jason quickly cast cure to ease the pain.

“Thank thee, that seemed like it was about to be extremely unpleasant.”

“You’re welcome.” He smiled, kissing her cheek.

“And what was that for?” Morning asked, rubbing the spot where Jason kissed her.

“I dunno... I guess the zebras and their touchy feely attitude rubbed off on me...”

“Well, I suppose there was nothing wrong with it. It just took me by surprise,” Morning shrugged.

“So girls...” Jason looked between them. “What do we do now?”

“Well, what could we possibly do that’s baby friendly?” Luna asked, holding me out.

“Play... um... go exploring...” Jason rubbed his chin. “Oh yeah, how was Zed while I was gone?”

“Mostly she was restless,” Morning answered. “Though she did snap at a guard and took her spear from her. Scared the rookie half to death.”

“Yeah, Zed does that. Did she call her a dog?”

“I believe she said she referred to her as the, “prettiest little puppy”’ while scratching under her chin and petting her between the ears,” she replied.

“Oh yeah, she does not like being called a dog. She hates it.” Jason shook his head. “Honestly, I’m still hoping to breed her.”

“And how dost thou planning on going about that?” Celestia asked with a tilt of her head. “Dost thou know where to find another of her kind?”

“Yup... but that means I have to deal with Tennyson again...” Jason sighed. “I think it’ll be worth it though.”

“Oh!” Luna chimed, holding me up. “Speaking of Zed, dost thou think she would allow Vash to ride her?”

“I...” Jason blinked a few times. “She might, she’s rather gentle with kids.”

“Shall we try to find Zed so that we can watch Vash ride her around the castle?” Celestia asked, a smile on her face.

Jason brought his fingers to his lips, letting out a whistle. Zed came bounding into the throne room, her tail wagging happily, nearly knocking Jason off his feet. “Heel Zed.” The baskurr obeyed, sitting on her haunches.

‘That was totally dog-like,’ I thought with a small laugh, ‘Why does she get offended by the comparison?’

“Art thou happy, Zed?” Morning asked her, leaning down. “Jason has finally returned. Now, no more terrifying my guards, understand?” Zed tilted her head before letting out a snort, licking her lips. “Was that an affirmation?” She sighed.

“We art getting sidetracked,” Celestia pouted. “Jason, please ask Zed about what we were just talking about.”

Jason took me back, kneeling down, letting Zed see me. Zed sniffed at me before starting to lick my face.

‘Gyahh, alien germs!’ I thought as I tried shielding myself with my hands. Zed purred a little, laying down. Jason smiled, placing me on her back. Zed didn’t seem to mind, licking at her paws. I wrapped my arms around her neck to stabilize myself, her back surprisingly comfy to sit on.

“Aww, that is so cute!” Celestia cheered. “We wish we could keep an image of this forever!”

“We have to agree!” Luna nodded. “T’is quite the adorable sight.”

Jason just smirked, producing the camera, snapping away.

“What art thou doing, Jason?” Morning asked.

“Taking some pictures.”

“And what does that mean?”

“Here.” Jason waved them over, showing them the pictures he had taken. Their faces all lit up when they saw the screen.

“Please tell us that thou has a way to produce copies of these images,” Celestia said with a hopeful smile.

“Oh, you betcha.” Jason grinned back.

“Then perhaps we should have Zed and Vash try out a few more poses?” Luna suggested.

“If we can get them to cooperate.”

“Shall we try?” Morning asked.

‘Ya know, I’ve hated all the other photo ops Jason has put me through. But I’m actually excited about this one. Probably has something to do with the fact that I’m riding on the back of an alien that happens to have some structural similarities to a canine.’ I thought, grinning and patting Zed’s side.

“Alright... uh any ideas?”

“Perhaps we should just let Zed trot around the room first and go from there?” Luna suggested.

Jason nodded, nudging Zed with his foot. Zed growled, getting up, shaking herself.

‘Whoa!’ I tightened my grip on Zed’s neck to avoid being flung off from her shaking. ‘I was not expecting that reaction. Couldn’t he have thought of a better way to get her up?’ I thought, looking up at Jason with wide eyes. Zed lazily moved around the room, sniffing around. ‘Heh, considering some of the stuff that’s been done in this throne room I can only imagine what she’s smelling,’ I thought with a chuckle. ‘Also, Whee!’ I started to laugh and bounce atop the baskurr, enjoying myself as she moved around the room.

“Aww, looks like Vash is having fun,” Celestia cooed.

“Yes, it would seem so,” Luna nodded with a content expression. “Jason, art thou taking pictures of this?”

“Of course I am.” Jason rolled his eyes, snapping photos of me.

“Should we try something else now? Or should we just let him enjoy himself for a little bit longer?” Morning asked as she watched me.

“Lets just let him play, he deserves it.”

I rode around on my alien steed until my voice went hoarse from cheering so much. At that point they all figured I’d had enough and Morning plucked me off of Zed’s back.

‘Can’t I just have five more minutes?’ I pleaded in my head as I looked between Morning and Zed with a quivering lip.

“Nice try, Vash, but thy attempts to look cute will not work on me,” Morning chuckled as she booped my muzzle. “I’m sure Zed wishes to rest and thou shalt hurt thy throat if thou continues whooping like that.”

‘Fine mom!’ I pouted, slumping over in her arms.

Zed padded over to Jason, laying down at his feet, starting to lick her paws again.

“See, Zed wants no more part in thy shenanigans,” Morning grinned.

‘I don’t know why Jason chose a Galvin to splice Morning with,’ I thought, my pout intensifying. ‘She already had a habit of being right all the time.’

“Alright, so, how do we pose little Vashie now?” Jason asked, petting Zed’s head.

“Should we put him on the thrones and have him wear our crowns?” Celestia giggled.

“Wouldn’t it be too heavy for him?” Jason asked, rubbing his chin.

“What if we just had him hold them?” Luna offered.

“I think that could be cute” Jason smiled, pulling his own crown out.

“Oh, thou art going to have him hold thy crown as well?” Celestia grinned as she took hers off.

“Well of course,” Jason said, rolling his eyes, gesturing for Morning to place me on the throne. Morning did as she was asked and sat me down in the middle of the throne.

“Hold on!” Luna rang out. “We must fetch our crown from our chambers. Don’t start until we return!” Luna teleported out of the room and returned moments later with the onyx colored tiara in her hand and a wide smile on her face. “Now we may proceed.”

“Never change, Luna...” Jason laughed, placing his crown in my little hands.

I decided to play it up, teething on the edges of the crown as I stared between them all dumbly.

"Is it okay for him to do that?” Morning asked.

“I doubt it’ll hurt him.” Jason waved his hand dismissively.

“Plus it’s natural for a growing pony to teeth,” Celestia shrugged. “We are sure that he’ll do the same to our crown.”

“If that is what thou thinks.” Morning shrugged. “But I do not envy who will have to clean off the foal spittle.”

“Oh hush Morning, or we will order thee to bring thy helmet so we can take a photo of Vash using it as a bed,” Celestia admonished with a playful grin.

Jason smirked, pulling his own helmet out, setting it on my head. I slunked down a bit, the helmet a bit heavy on me.

‘Ugh, stupid baby body, can’t even handle a little bit of weight. Just take the picture already.’ Jason snapped it, lifting it off my head.

“I think it might be nap time for Vashie.”

“Hmm, this raises an interesting question,” Luna said tapping her chin in thought. “We certainly would enjoy cuddling with Vash in his present state, but thou art the only one that is pregnant and most likely to have milk to feed him if he wakes up from the nap hungry. Who should get Vash?”

“I dunno... I think he thinks I’m his mother.” Jason added, moving over to pick me up.

“That makes sense. I’m sure thou were the first one Vash saw when he became an infant,” Morning nodded.

“What? Do ponies imprint like birds or something?” Jason asked, blinking.

“No, but if thou hast been the one feeding him and spending the most time with him. On top of thou being the first to show him affection, then it would make sense.”

Jason nodded, bouncing me a little. “Come on, let's get you to bed.”

‘I’m not tired! Come on, just give me five more minutes riding Zed!’ I pleaded, stretching my arms out toward Zed and letting out a pitiful whine.

“Now Vash, you can play with Zed later.” He rocked me gently, starting to sing a lullaby.

‘That will not work on me!’ I thought as I wriggled a bit in Jason’s arms. ‘I will get what I want! I am…’ My head then fell forward and I let out a loud snore.

I woke up the next morning tucked up against Jason’s chest which had become a custom since the Poison Joke. I grumbled to myself and crossed my arms over my chest.

‘Damn, I can’t believe that lullaby thing worked on me.’ I looked up and Jason seemed to still be asleep, a small smile on his face. ‘He’s lucky he’s a lady right now or I’d tickle my tail under his nose to wake him up… and the fact that I don’t have to think twice about having a tail anymore is slightly alarming. I miss being me.’ I pouted. ‘It wouldn’t be so bad if the wings actually let me fly, but they’re friggin useless!’ I flapped my wings a few times in demonstration, not moving upward as per usual.

“Hmm...?” Jason asked, lifting his head up. “Oh good morning, Vash. Ready to be a man again?” He asked, holding me at eye level.

My body felt like it was struck by lightning when he asked that and I snapped to attention, looking back at him curiously. ‘Did he really just ask that?’ I babbled a bit like I did to all of his questions and clapped my hands.

“Well, good to see you’re in a good mood.” He stood up, stretching out before carrying me off. “Lucky for you, we... managed to get the last bit we need for the cure.”

‘I’m gonna be a man again, I’m gonna be a man again!’ I cheered in my head repeatedly as I bounced up and down in Jason’s arms. ‘I can’t wait, hurry up, Jason! I’m sick of being covered in all this fur!’ I thought as I started bouncing harder. Jason just giggled at me, entering the bathhouse. The bath had already been prepared, so I didn’t have to wait too long. Jason knelt down, dunking me in. It didn’t take long for it to take effect. I let out a low groan as my body started to stretch out. Once it was done I shot up from the bath with a giant grin on my face.

“Ahh, that feels… hey, why aren’t we in the zebra village?” I asked, looking around the room and scratching my head with my left arm.

“It's a very long and probably embarrassing story.” Jason stood up, still wearing the outfit Zecora gave him.

“And what is that supposed to mean?” I asked, tilting my head at him as I stepped out of the bath.

‘Yes! He doesn’t suspect a thing,’ I cheered, having to suppress a grin.

He just smiled before walking out of the room. “Get dressed, the princesses are waiting for you.”

“Okay! But you’re going to have to tell me everything about the rest of the trip!” I called out after him as I found my clothes sitting in a corner along with my gun. “And don’t spare any details!”

“Yeah yeah!”

I strutted back into the dining room, feeling ecstatic to be back in my classic outfit and my normal body. I took a seat in my normal spot and beamed at everyone.

“Ya know, for some reason I feel happy to be me right now. It’s really weird.”

Jason was sipping at some tea, looking at me. “You were trapped as a pegasus foal for at least a week.”

“Heh, nice try, but I’m not falling for that one,” I chuckled as I started eating the food in front of me.

“T’is true, thou were precious,” Luna beamed with a giggle.

“Come on, he’s got you in on this?” I sighed.

“I have pictures.” Jason smiled, holding up the camera.

My eye twitched for a moment and I took a deep breath. “How did this happen?”

“Zecora dumped Poison Joke on you for peeping on us.”

“Hmm, is that so,” I said in an even tone, returning to my meal.

“Thou seem to be taking this well,” Morning said, seeming a little confused.

“Oh, I’m not happy about this. In fact, I’m so angry that I’m legitimately scared that something has snapped inside my head to where I can’t express my rage properly.”

“Uh huh, if you say so.” Jason just drank his tea, paying me no mind.

“Well, we art glad to see thee normal again, even if thou art not pleased with what the zebras did,” Celestia giggled as she kissed my cheek.

“Liar,” Morning teased. “Thou suggested that we should have Vash remain a foal and age normally.”

“We were merely jesting!” Celestia shrieked.

“I’m glad to see you three too,” I chuckled a bit. “Even if Celestia would prefer me as a baby,” I grinned at her. Celestia pouted a bit and the other two girls giggled. “What about you, Jason, did you like me better as a baby?” I asked as I nudged him with my elbow.

“You were certainly quieter,” he admitted, glancing at me.

“Ouch,” I wilted, “and here I thought we were friends.”

“We are, I was just answering your question.”

“Fair enough,” I sighed. “Still, I’ve learned a very important lesson,” I said with a sagely nod.

“And that is...?”

“Never peep on an ice giant and a group of amazonian zebras while they’re in the bath… or at the very least don’t get caught.” I added on with a goofy grin.

“Vash, thou art truly an idiot at times,” Morning sighed, face palming.

“Yeah, but you still love me,” I chuckled.

“Well it seems like you five are having fun.” Megan strode in, wearing a bright smile. She took a seat next to Jason, pulling him into a hug, which he happily returned.

“Hi, Mrs. Hughes,” I beamed. “I almost forgot you were staying here with us. It feels like it’s been forever since we last saw you.”

“Vash dear, call me Megan. Beside’s I’m going back to my maiden name.”

“Sorry m-Megan, I was just trying to be polite,” I offered while rubbing the back of my head and chuckling weakly. “So, how have you liked staying in my castle?”

“Thy castle?” Celestia and Luna asked simultaneously with quirked brows.

“Hey, I helped build the thing,” I laughed. “Plus, I know more about this place than either of you.”

“Seeing this place without all the changeling stuff is weird but... at least it’s no Tambelon...”

“Tambelon?” I asked, scratching the side of my head.

Megan shuddered. “It was the home of an evil goat named Grogar…”

I shuddered as well. “Yeah I’m not a fan of goats. One gave me a nasty scar on my left hand when I tried feeding it during a school trip to a zoo. Can only imagine what an explicitly evil goat would be capable of.”

“He was stronger than any unicorn ever born. He captured all of the unicorns and was going to banish everyone in Dream Valley to the Shadow World, but I sent him and that damned city back and broke his bell. Hopefully he’ll rot there for all eternity.” Megan spit on the ground, a hateful look on her face.

“Yeah same,” I nodded. “Oh, be careful where you put your hands while roaming the castle,” I warned her, remembering something. “I installed a lot of mechanisms in the castle that open up secret passages and even trap doors. And one of the walls flips around and leads outside of the castle on a ledge.”

“Why would it lead to a cliff...?”

“Not a cliff, a ledge on the castle wall beside a gargoyle,” I clarified. “And in case someone needs to make a quick escape in case of an emergency like a fire. I also put a loose stone there that has a coil of rope stashed so earth pony and unicorn staff that can’t teleport can get down safely.”

“What Vash is saying is that he’s an eccentric fool that can’t create a straightforward emergency exit,” Morning sighed, pinching her brow and shaking her head at me.

“Genius is never appreciated in their lifetime.” Jason laughed, shaking his head.

“Please tell me that wasn’t sarcasm?” I asked with a hopeful smile.

“Maybe.”

“You’ll see,” I said, slumping onto the table. “It’s a great idea. I know it is,” I sniffled.

“Oh cheer up Vash, I’m sure your secrets will come in handy one day.” Megan assured me with a smile.

“Well, it was one of the secret rooms that Jason and I had our infamous drinking contest,” I chuckled weakly.

“I see.” Megan nodded, raising her eyebrow. “I do how they’ll get better use than that...”

“Yeah me too,” I said as I scratched my cheek. “So, Jason, do you wanna tell your mom how the zebras treated you?” I asked with a snicker.

“I would rather my experiences there stay between me and the zebras.” Jason glared at me, narrowing his eyes.

“What, I was talking about how they basically made you a god.”

“I already am a god, Vash.”

“You know I meant in their culture not literally,” I said as I rolled my eyes at him.

“Yeah well, it’ll be your problem to deal with, just uh... make sure they don’t get any details wrong...”

“What kind of details? Physical, or are we talking about making sure they don’t start thinking that you’re a god that demands virgin sacrifices?”

“That last bit. None of that please.”

“No problem, I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen. I’ll be sure to tell them exactly what kind of god you are,” I assured with a smile.

“Why does that worry me...?”

“Because you have no faith in me,” I pouted. “Which is a shame considering that we’re having a child together.”

“Oh stop it, Vash, I’m just messing with you,” Jason said with a sigh. “Stop taking everything so seriously.”

I blinked a few times at that and picked my head up off the table and started to chuckle a bit. “I can’t believe you actually said I take things too seriously. Never thought I’d hear someone say that to me.”

“You’re the one who pouts at every little thing.” He shot back.

“My pouts are purely playful, I assure you,” I shot back, my arms crossed over my chest.

“Uh huh, you just keep telling yourself that.”

“I tell myself a lot of things,” I laughed. “One of them being that I really did end up becoming my favorite character and that I’m not just giggling in an asylum somewhere wondering when the nice men in white coats will give me pudding again.”

“You two definitely sound like a couple.” Megan teased, giggling a little.

“What part of that exchange made you think we sound like a couple?” I asked pointing between Jason and myself, a confused look on my face.

“The banter in general really. You two are very good at it.”

“They do seem to have a certain rapport between them,” Celestia nodded.

“If you say so.” I shrugged.

“I see it, even if Vash is too dense to.” Jason smirked, leaning back, putting his feet on the table.

“Jason, don’t put your feet on the table,” I chided, nudging the foot closest to me. “And don’t call me dense.” Jason just shrugged, ignoring me. “Is there any particular reason why your feet are still on the table?”

“I dunno, I feel like being a bitch.” Jason shrugged a little.

“Considering you’ve already flash frozen and thawed my genitals before, being slightly rude and unsanitary at the breakfast table is on the lower end of the spectrum of bitchiness towards me,” I reminded him.

“Alright, I’m sorry.” He dropped his feet, sighing.

“Jay is just used to doing whatever he wants in his castle. Not like the changelings question it.” Megan giggled, causing Jason to mutter in annoyance.

“It’s not a big deal,” I shrugged. “I just don’t like to make life more difficult for the castle staff. Hell, one time I nearly scared a maid to death when I snapped at her when I wanted to clean up a spill I made,” I chuckled recalling the incident. “Having an entire staff dedicated to do things like that for me has been a lot to get used to.”

“You yelling at a woman? I guess that's the first sign of the apocalypse,” Jason teased, laughing at my expense.

“I did not yell…” I started, trying to find the right words to defend myself. “I was just… firm with her,” I managed to say, sounding unsure.

“Did he yell?” Jason asked, looking at the princesses. The two just nodded with smirks on their faces.

“Fine, maybe I yelled,” I admitted. “But this was back when I was still adjusting to the whole world full of talking ponies thing.”

“Eh, don’t feel too bad, we all lose our cool.” Jason gave me a smile, a genuine one as far as I could tell.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” I said as I rubbed the back of my head. “I doubt I’ll ever blow up on a lady ever again though,” I finished, returning Jason’s smile.

“The two of thee should excuse thyselves somewhere private,” Luna teased.

“The expression is ‘get a room’,” Jason corrected her.

“It worked just as well the way we said it,” she shot back with a huff.

“Don’t get huffy with me Luna,” Jason narrowed his eyes playfully, “You might just end up frozen.”

“Don’t you threaten my marefriend,” I warned with a chuckle. “Or I’ll find a city-busting laser with your name on it.”

“Oh yeah? And I'll sic Hodge on you.” Jason shot back with a grin.

I paled and started to quiver. “I don’t want to be Valerie again,” I whimpered. Megan giggled at us, shaking her head.

“If you think Megan is great,” Jason smirked, “You should meet Terra.”

“I’d like that a lot actually,” I told him with a bright smile. “I even promise to be on my best behavior around her.”

“If you weren’t I imagine she'd... Actually, I have no idea what she’d do... That's rather sad...”

“Well, you did say she was a witch, let’s just say she’d turn me into a newt to keep things simple,” I shrugged.

“I doubt it’d be a newt, Terra’s a sweet girl, whose aged a hell of a lot better than I had...” Megan mumbled to herself.

“What was that?” I asked with a tilt of my head. “Didn't quite catch that.”

“Nothing dear, don't worry about it.” Megan assured with a smile.

“Okay,” I nodded and turned back to Jason. “So, how did you plan on letting me meet your birth mom?”

“Not like it's that hard, we just take a trip back to my Earth.” Jason smirked, leaning back in his seat.

I brightened up as soon as he said that. “We’re going to Earth?!” I enthused. “That’s awesome!”

“Not any time soon.” Jason shook his head, making my joy deflate.

“Well, at least I know we're gonna go at some point.”

“May we come as well?” Celestia asked. “We would like to see thy and Vash’s world.”

“Yes, we could even disguise ourselves,” Luna offered.

“It won't be Vash’s world,” Jason said firmly, “They may be similar but they won't be the same.”

“Very well, if thou art sure,” Celestia sighed, her and Luna deflating slightly before turning to me. “Don’t feel too tempted to stay on Earth, Vash. Thou does have responsibilities here.”

“Wouldn't dream of it,” I told her with a grin. “Even if this was my Earth, Equestria is my home now.”

“Hey, I just said it wouldn't be Vash’s world,” Jason said, looking between them, “ not that you two couldn't come.”

“We would be interested in seeing the technology Vash is always talking about,” Luna said.

“It’ll knock your socks off.” Jason smirked, then frowned. “Though... It should be noted, Midgard’s magic has withered greatly since Ragnarok...”

“We are sure that we will manage,” Celestia nodded.

“We might even be able to meet my sister while we’re there.” Jason gave me a glare. “Don’t hit on my sister.”

“I can only promise to try,” I told him seriously. “Even if she's really hot I'll try not to hit on her.”

“No seriously don’t. I do not know her well enough to tell you how she’d react.”

“Fine, I won't hit on your sister,” I promised with a huff. “I'm sure I can find some way to distract myself so that I won't offend your birth mom and sister. But you're gonna owe me for this.”

“Oh ya? Owe you how?” Jason asked, looking rather interested in that.

“Uhh… ya know, just owe me, in a general sense,” I said with a nervous chuckle as I scratched my cheek. Jason just stared at me, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly.

“Hey Vash?” Jason asked, putting on a sweet smile.

“Yes, Jason?” I replied, avoiding eye contact with him slightly.

“You ever see Stand By Me?”

“Umm… no,” I answered with a nervous gulp.

“Hmm... Too bad...” He sighed, looking away. “Zed, sic balls.”

Before Zed could move, Morning’s horn lit up and I was surrounded by a light blue shield. “Perhaps thou should not have thy… companion devour my lover's genitals? After all, how am I going to the mother of a new race without the right father?”

“Oh come on Morning!” Jason groaned, “You ruined it! She was just going to chase vash around until she realized he didn't have any tennis balls!”

“That’s pretty screwed up, Jay,” I deadpanned. “Is seeing me terrified for my life really that funny to you?”

“No but it would have made some nice payback, now wouldn't it, Valkyrie?” Jason winked, getting up. “Anyway, I have an egg to tend to, peace.” Jason turned on his heel, walking out into the hall, vanishing from sight.

‘Oh shit, he knew!’ I screamed in my thoughts.

“Hold up!” I growled, feeling my eye twitch. Jason walked back into view, peering at me. “Am I just the butt of your jokes or something?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. “Because it feels like I get relegated to being a buttmonkey since you’ve been around.”

He looked away, clearing not expecting the question. “I-I...”

“I mean, we are friends, right?” I pressed. “Or am I just the jackass you feel obligated to be around because I accidentally got you pregnant?”

He rubbed his arm, letting out a long sigh. “That's not it at all, Vash.”

“Then what is it? Do I just scream, “Forever a doormat”?”

Jason met my eyes, shifting on his feet. “I’m sorry okay? I just... I dunno... I shouldn’t be treating you like I have.”

“Then how about ya cut down on bitch-slapping me through walls and turning my junk into icicles?” I asked with a small smile. Jason nodded, looking rather ashamed. I walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. I gave him a smile and said, “How about we have a fresh start on this? I don’t want to have a bad relationship with the mother of my child.”

Jason nodded, putting his hand over mine. “Let’s.”

“Kiss on it?” I joked, chuckling. Jason snorted, giving me a light shove.