After making sure any Maniac strongholds were destroyed and any monsters dealt with, Nathan and Scorpan stood at the entrance to the giant village. Nathan extended his hand and Scorpan took it in his with a tight respectful grip. "Goodbye for now Scorpan, one day I will return and hopefully on more friendly terms. I would stay longer but I have a pregnant partner to get back to."

Scorpan nodded knowingly. "That is understandable old friend, I wish you luck on your travels and that your young are born healthy." The two leaned back and headbutted each other, laughing as they both held their foreheads afterwards.

"Well then, farewell until next time." With that the metal giant picked up the twins, Ruby and Krystal. Metal flew beside Nathan as he began walking away from the village and towards the coast. Scorpan and the other giants watched as his faded into a silhouette, stopping at the top of the mountain and raising his fist in the air as did the giants, then his figure faded into a thick cloud passing over the mountain. When the cloud passed Nathan was gone, the sun shining down on the village bringing a smile to all those in it.

Scorpan sighed and turned around, walking back towards his home.

A few days later

Sonata sat on a hill with the mane six and Spike, enjoying a relaxing picnic while looking over the luscious landscape. Sonatas pregnancy was beginning to show a bit more, in a few more days she would lay the eggs and a few weeks after that they would hatch. Although she felt lighter for some reason, like an egg was taken out of her body. Shaking off the notion she took a bite of her daisy sandwich and returned to her conversation with the girls and Spike.

As she was about to lift her drink she saw the liquid in the cup ripple slightly, the ripples started to become bigger as she felt the ground shake slightly. A huge smile made its way to her face as she immediately knew who was approaching. Turning to the other end of the hill she saw the antenna of Nathan's body appear over the side as the rest of his body came into view.

Sonata flapped her wings and flew up to meet her significant other. Reaching his eye she kissed it and nuzzled his face. Nathan set his passengers down and switched to his pony form, greeting his partner with a meaningful kiss. The separated and smiled at each other. "Hello again Nata, looking radiant as always."

Sonata giggled and hugged him. "Welcome home Natty, I missed you." As she pulled away from the hug Sapphire and Lyric ran up to her and tackled her with a hug.

"Mommy!"

Sonata smiled warmly and returned the hug. "Hello dears, how was your trip?"

Sapphire pulled away and smiled widely. "It was awesome! We sailed on this huge boat, met uncle Scorpan, daddy gave me my first gun, we got kidnapped but then were rescued, we got to ride Wolfie, big sis beat up this weird guy and then we sailed on the boat again!"

Sonata and the girls all looked at her in shock. Sonata turned to Nathan with a raised brow. "What's this about giving our child a gun and letting them get kidnapped?"

Nathan sighed. "It's a long story, and it was either give her her own gun or she'd try to steal the RYNOs."

Sonata then turned to Sapphire. "What's this about a 'Wolfie' and 'big sis?'"

Sapphire motioned to the two newcomers. "My name is actually Metal, Wolfie is just what she called me." Metal explained.

Ruby struggled to hold back her tears as she looked to Sonata. "Nathan dear, who are they?"

Nathan sighed and sat down. "You might all want to sit down for this."

Nathan explained everything to the group, what happened with The Maniacs, the kidnapping, Metal and Ruby showing up, what Ruby and Roden had told him and what he needed to do. Sonata was shocked and confused at some points but Metal explained things more clearly for her if that ever happened. Ruby remained silent through the explanation while trying to keep her emotions in check. The fate of her family and the displaced family depended on her and Metal, dealing with that and the fact she was meeting her parents for the first time without seeing Nathan and a lifeless robotic corpse in the void and Sonata being in a grave.

As Nathan and Metal finished explaining everything, Sonata looked over to Ruby and approached her. "You're really my daughter?" Ruby remained silent and nodded. As Sonata thought about the paradox of Ruby's existence in this timeline her head began to hurt, but she understood it enough.

Nathan looked at Ruby and sighed. "I still find it hard to understand all of this nonsense, but..." He got up, changed to his human self and walked up to his future daughter. "... That doesn't mean I won't accept you as my child."

Ruby looked up at him in shock. "R-Really?"

Nathan smiled. "It may take some getting used to, but I see no reason for denying that you are one of mine, you have my amulet, my energy readings, my dna and my fighting spirit. If that isn't proof that you came from me I don't know what is."

Ruby started to tear up and threw herself into her fathers arms. "Daddy..."

Although you couldn't tell, Metal smiled at the scene. Sonata and the twins got in on the hug, the family being complete at that moment. Metal had been raising Ruby in place of Nathan, his own children had perished with the fall of the displaced as well as his partners (he has more than one romantic partner in his story) so he felt a bit of envy and jealousy by watching the family. He would never seek out another romantic partner, he loved his late wives too much to do that. He still wore the rings on his claws, one cyan, one dark blue and one lavender (not representing Twilight.)

Nathan broke away from the hug and turned to Rarity. "Rarity, do you think you could have a suit ready for the wedding in a few days?"

The fashionista smiled. "Yes I believe I can darling, just come with me to the boutique and I'll take some measurements."

Nathan nodded and looked back at his family. "I'll see you all in a bit." Before he departed with Rarity he whispered into Sonatas ear. "Meet me back here in an hour." With that he walked off.

Author's Notes:

Taking a break from any major story arcs right now, gonna give the characters some downtime before the wedding.

What could Nathan want to do with Sonata in the hill? It's nothing dirty I promise. Find out in the next chapter.