Once again, the fact that Equestria no longer had separate nights and days had taken its toll on Rainbow Dash. The last time she had slept was so long ago- -perhaps even days, or even most of a week, and so much had happened since then. She had initially hardly noticed, but as soon as Fluttershy mentioned sleep, Rainbow Dash found herself suddenly feeling tremendously heavy and physically weak.

Fluttershy, of course, had been kind enough to give her a room, so to speak. As it turned out, the creatures on the surface hardly developed the land they lived in. The only pony-sized creatures were deer, and they lived in mobile tents when they were away from their villages. The room Rainbow Dash had been given, therefore, was not on the surface at all, but rather within the network of earthen tunnels beneath. According to Fluttershy, they had at one time been built by the changelings that worshipped her. The changelings had since moved on, but the tunnels remained.

The tunnels themselves, though, were strange in their own right. The Forest outside, having grown for centuries without light, seemed to no longer be able to tell when it was above or below ground. The largest of the tunnels were lined with trees and small plants, as well as roots from above that sometimes split into bizarre shapes, forming something like inverted trees. Rainbow Dash did not feel at all like she was underground- -which only made the whole situation even more unnerving, because she knew that she was.

As Rainbow Dash made her way across the carved and dirt-strewn floor, she found herself wondering where Brown was. She imagined that he was still with Buttery Snake and Discord, drinking the night away and partying as hard as he possibly could, perhaps even drowning himself in “sketti” even if he would pay for it later. Rainbow Dash supposed that he deserved it. While she had taken a brief walk through the tunnels before bed, she had started thinking. Brown was only two weeks old. He had never had a childhood, or a chance to live independently. Now he was going to be a father, and Rainbow Dash a mother. In her own mind, she was too young- -but she had already at least lived the first part of a life. Brown never had. So it made sense if he lived it up as long as he could- -assuming, of course, that the nagging voice in the back of Rainbow Dash’s head was not correct. The one that said that he would continue his life on his own and continue without her.

From behind, she suddenly felt as though she was being watched. Rainbow Dash turned around suddenly, spreading her wings in a defensive position and found herself staring at the King in Yellow, who was drifting silently amongst the roots and dark shrubbery behind her. He was not alone.

Between his arms- -if they could be called that- -he was holding Brown, as though he was a child holding a cat by its upper torso, allowing its legs to dangle lazily below its body. Brown was not resisting; in fact, as soon as the pair of the approached, Rainbow Dash could hear that Brown was purring loudly.

“Um…what the hay, Brown?” said Rainbow Dash as the King stopped near her, staring down at her. He- -or she, or it- -seemed to be burning a hole in her soul even through its mask. Just being in its presence was uncomfortable, but Brown- -who was actually touching it- -seemed not to notice. The very idea of contact with the creature made Rainbow Dash shudder.

“I really like this one,” said Brown, looking up at the creature. It gently set him down, and Brown waved as it dissipated into a wall that should have been made of solid rock.

“I thought you were with Buttery Snake!”

“Well…I was,” said Brown. “I mean, at first. And a fellow named Discord. But they were loud and strange, and alchohol made me very ill. Then the one called Discord started talking about a ‘shotgun’ wedding, and there were jokes about his ‘double-barrel gun’ that I did not understand. I felt profoundly out of place.

“But then I met him. He was so more quiet and subdued. We went out into the forest, to places that he finds beautiful. We sat there for hours. He does not speak- -not in a language I can comprehend- -but his silence is comforting. Those vistas helped me focus, to center, and allowed me to think.”

“About what?” Rainbow Dash felt her heart rate quicken, and the voice in the back of her head suddenly got louder.

“Many things. But I determined that yes, I should apologize to you.”

“For what?”

“I did not ask your permission to impregnate you. I just did. And I can see that this will be an inconvenience to you. So I am sorry. But nonetheless, I accept this responsibility. I want to be a part of our foals’ lives. If you do not want to raise them, I am willing to accept the burden alone.”

Rainbow Dash laughed nervously. “Oh wow,” she said. “Never thought I would be having this conversation with a stallion. This is way too grown up for me. But come on, Brown. At this point, I’m pretty sure we’re going to be raising them together.”

Brown almost seemed to deflate with a tremendous sigh of relief, as if he had been expecting Rainbow Dash to completely reject him. “So…no shotgun?”

“That has yet to be determined.” Of course, by Pegasus tradition, it already had- -and Rainbow Dash was seriously debating exactly how much of a traditionalist she really was. Brown was arrogant and strange, but she really did love him, or at least thought she did. “Hey, are you tired?”

“Somewhat,” said Brown, shrugging. “I was passed out for a while, and a zebra pumped me full of something I think. But I also just learned that I have caused my special friend to become pregnant, so, yes, I could sleep.”

“Was it a fat one?”

“Excuse me?”

“The zebra.”

“Oh. Just a little.”

Rainbow Dash laughed, and helped lead Brown to their room. She was not actually sure if Fluttershy had intended it to be “their” room, but she was not about to leave Brown alone for a night. He was resilient, but he had gone through a lot- -and so had she. Rainbow Dash did not want to be alone.

The room, she found, was far more extravagant than she had expected. It was a single large chamber carved from rock, lit by a number of luminescent crystals. The roots from the trees hung from above, forming something like a chandelier over grown with hanging ferns and moss that further modulated the dim light with a greenish bioluminescent tint. There was arguably no furniture aside from various urns- -probably a remnant from the changelings that had constructed the room- -and a large bed in the center of the room. The bed seemed to be made from woody, twisted vines and lined with some kind of organic fluff.

Rainbow Dash poked at the material of the bed, and found that it was rather firm, something akin to a mattress, although it seemed to be made of the heads of a number of hoof-sized spherical flowers. It smelled subtly pleasant. Carefully, Rainbow Dash laid down in the bed. Brown joined her, snuggling closely next to her.

After several minutes, though, Rainbow Dash found that she could not go to sleep. That had never been a problem for her in her life, and with how tired she was, she should have been able to lapse into unconiousness with ease. Every time she came close, though, she saw images in her mind: Five, grinning, standing over Brown, or the flaming eyes of the golem, or Gell’s corroding and disintegrating body. Even Fluttershy haunted her thoughts; the pony she had known before, now so deathly thin, her body infested and her unblinking demonic eyes staring with dangerous intent.

Eventually, Brown seemed to realized that she could not sleep. He separated from her, and Rainbow Dash felt him moving behind her.

“Brown,” said Rainbow Dash. “I really do like sex, and you’re really good at it, but I’m just too tired right now.”

“I know,” said Brown. “But there is something else I want to try. That is, if it is acceptable to you.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. She was about to protest as she felt Brown’s weight on her lower back, but then she felt him nuzzling the gap between her wings. She groaned slightly as her wings extended automatically. Her erect wings felt different than they did when she was aroused; instead, she felt the familiar tightness of a preening reflex.

“Brown, what are you- -”

Rainbow Dash found herself unable to finish her sentence. She gasped and moaned as she felt Brown gently slide his head into her feathers. For a moment, her pleasure was just from the fact that he was touching her exquisitely sensitive wings- -but then she felt his mouth moving over her feathers, pulling on each of them ever so lightly as he aligned the barbs with his tongue.

“Oh Brown!” she cried, shivering over her whole body. “Brown…stop. The blades, you’ll cut yourself.”

She looked over her shoulder, and felt Brown gently extend one of her wings, exposing the long golden feathers that could easily cut him in half. She allowed him to open her wing, in part because he was so gentle and in part because it felt so good- -but she wanted him to stop for his own safety.

Then he knelt down and slid his tongue across one of her golden feathers. Rainbow Dash shivered with an almost electrical sensation that passed through her whole body; she had not even realized that she could feel the golden feathers.

Brown pulled back his tongue uninjured. “Before she died, Bluntforce gave me this advice,” he said. “She said that a pony’s most lethal weapon is the tongue, but only if it is wielded with absolute dexterity and utmost care against only the most beautiful mares. Would you do me the honor of allow me to groom you?”

“Sure,” said Rainbow Dash. “Just for you, I’m okay with that.” She knew from her own tone that she was barely able to contain her excitement from the fact that she had been fantasizing about this moment ever since she hit puberty.

She spread her wings and leaned forward, feeling her body sink into the soft bed below. She allowed him to continue, to slowly make his way along her most prized possessions. Every time he pulled on a feather, straightening healthy ones and removing loose dead ones, Rainbow Dash would feel her body twitch with pleasure. Sex was great- -but preening was something else entirely. It lacked the passion and force of sex, but made up with it by far with its subtle but profound pleasure. Never before had Rainbow Dash felt so close to any pony as she had when Brown was in her wings, and she felt herself periodically grown and squeak as he cleaned her.

“Brown…” she groaned. “You can…oh…you can do me, if you want…”

“Not tonight,” said Brown, carefully removing a blue feather from his mouth and stacking it in a neat pile with the others. “I am more than happy to do this for you. Just relax.” He paused for a moment, and then added: “I really do love you, Rainbow Dash.”

“I can tell,” said Rainbow Dash, stretching out her rear legs and feeling Brown return to her wings. “But…(squeak)…it’s impolite to declare love to a pony while…(moan)…I’m getting preened…” She cried out quietly as her flight muscles were suddenly wracked with a spasm of pleasure. Brown retracted to avoid decapitation, and began working on her other wing.

Slowly, Rainbow Dash felt herself drifting into sleep. By the time Brown had finished, Rainbow Dash was fast asleep. He carefully removed the feathers, placing them on the floor, and tucked himself between Rainbow Dash’s front legs where he felt most secure, knowing that he was safe near her- -and that he was just inches away from his future foals. He quickly drifted into sleep as well, holding Rainbow Dash tightly.

Outside their door, Fluttershy squeaked quietly. She lifted her hoof from between her legs, looking at the fluid dripping from it.

“Discord,” she called quietly into the void.

“You called, my dearest demonic doily?” he said, appearing from the ether. Fluttershy found herself sitting upon a freshly laundered doily, as though she were a lamp.

“Oh, thank you,” she said, gratefully. She then reached out and took Discord’s lion paw in her hoof and put it between her legs, preparing for the next round.

“Oh my,” he said. “What’s gotten into you?”

“You. In about two minutes.”

“Oh, come now. No foreplay? I really do like when we cover ourselves in jelly.” With his free hand, he produced a pair of large square glasses with sprials drawn in the center. He slid them on and looked through the door. “Oh my,” he said, wiping a tear from beneath his glasses. “Our little Rainbow Dash is all grown up, isn’t she?”

“She sure is,” wheezed Fluttershy.

“So I was having a brainstorm.” Discord pointed to a tiny cloud floating over his head, complete with tiny lightning and several tiny Pegasi trying desperately to control it. “And then I remembered that restaurant. You know the one, near that lake. The one in the trees.”

“Yes, I do- -oh, yes!” cried Fluttershy, tightening her grip on Discord’s claw.

“Yeah, the one with the moose. The moose that lives in a tree. Or the tree that lives under a moose, I suppose. We should go there. It would be almost frightfully romantic.”

“It sounds like it would- -oh- -I’m so glad you asked me and- -yes yes yes!- -I would love to go with you for a quiet meal together.”

“And some other time, perhaps we could take those…five…on a double date?”

“Yes. Date later. Sex now!”

“Oh, Fluttershy,” said Discord, turning away from her suddenly. “Sometimes I think I all am to you is a pieces of meat!” He slapped to the floor as a pile of Discord-shaped luncheon meat. “Hmm. Perhaps sausage would have been better for this particular joke.”

“Oh, Discord,” said Fluttershy, hugging the pile of clammy meat. “I’m sorry. You know I really do love you. But I have…appetites. But right now, I want you to wrap your serpentine body around me and squeeze me until I vomit my centipedes onto you.”

Discord reverted to his normal self, and put an oversized conductor’s hat on as he tickled beneath his wife’s chin. “All aboard the ‘squee’ train,” he said in a train-conductor’s voice. “Running on time and making three, perhaps four stops!” He bent in closer to Fluttershy. “And…can I wear the saddle?”

“Oh, you dragonequis stud! You can always wear the saddle. But…”

“Why yes, yes I do have one,” said Discord. Then, realizing that Fluttershy- -the daughter of Perversion- -was actually embarrassed as something, he serioused slightly. “What is it, dear?”

“Can you…can you preen me? After we’re done?”

Discord recoiled slightly. “Well, um…”

“I understand,” said Fluttershy. “The parasites…I’m disgusting to you, aren’t I?”

“Oh, no. That’s not why I recoiled at all,” said Discord. He drew up one of Fluttershy’s wingtips and gently ran his fang through the feathers, causing his wife to twitch suddenly with pleasure. “They’re just so big. It will take me all night to preen them!”

“The Lusty Unicorn Maid,” noted Fluttershy, recalling the work. “You are so wearing the dress!”

Discord leaned in, the dress forming around him. He kissed Fluttershy, feeling her forked tongue on his own. “Just remember: I don’t do windows.”

They both giggled as they teleported away toward Fluttershy’s lair.

Neither of them noticed the strange scent of Order and chlorine in the air, or the pair of large, blue eyes watching them from the darkest of shadows.

Not far away, the Tree of Harmony sat in the center of its grove. Its alien biology prohibited motion, or volition, or thought that could be comprehended by linear, mortal beings, so it did at it always did. It watched.

Then, from the darkness, figures emerged from between the other trees. They did not speak, nor did they produce any sound at all. Their glowing white eyes simply stared forward, all toward the center of the clearing, watching hungrily as they hunted their quarry.

The birds that dwelt high in the trees awoke and saw them, and tried to sound the alarm, to warn any other creature that these strange metal-clad beings had arrived. They never got the chance. Their flesh singed away, and their bones disintegrated into dust before their tiny corpses had a chance to impact the ground.

More emerged, drawing themselves from the void, each one barely believing their own portion. Not one of them had ever believed that they would ever again witness their true and ancient enemy, the creature that had given them their hearts and forced them from their long-forgotten forms into their current incarnation of genetic and technological perfection.

Each of watched for only a moment. When the few that had been able to come finished arriving, the hunger overtook them. They extended their hands, and each drew on the billions of tons of collective mass that was being used to build the incomprehensible machine so far away. The spell pulled the mass together into tools, the kind that they had each used so long ago in their memories.

Then they stepped forward. The first to reach the proximity to the star-shaped center of the tree acted automatically and without hesitation, drawing his weapon and plunging it into the crystalline flesh, the Chaos ripping it apart easily.

As the others descended upon it, tearing its body apart, all of Equestria screamed in agony.