Chapter 63: Wonders

Artex held the door for Vaiawa, waited until she was inside, then closed it behind himself. The house was full of various sounds. Voices echoed from upstairs and from the living room. For some reason he could not explain, Artex felt good being in such a lively house. He heard the voices of his parents speaking to Razor Wit from the living room. They were asking his wife questions about words and pronunciation for Velensovth. Upstairs he heard Brian and Cheryl discussing employment. He realized he could not hear Danielle or Oriana. It did not bother him overmuch. They were both adults and though he wanted to see them both, he knew their lives did not revolve around him.

Vaiawa trotted into the living room and Artex followed. Razor was in the reclining chair closest to the fireplace with her forehooves propped up onto the arm of the chair, giving her belly plenty of room. Donald and Christine were sitting on the couch listening intently. All conversation stopped when Vaiawa and Artex entered the room. Razor Wit's expression lit up in a joyous smile as she saw her husband and sister/wife.

Artex first walked over toward Razor. He leaned over and gave her a big hug then a tender kiss on the lips. Razor hummed happily as they broke the kiss, nuzzling against him. He gently pressed his hand onto her belly, "And how is she today?"

Razor giggled, "As content and calm as ever. Come sit in here with us." She swept her eyes to the much larger Changeling Queen in the room, "You too, Vaiawa."

Vaiawa shifted into her Pegasus form and flittered up onto one of the elevated and cushioned perching boards attached to the walls and other elevated places in the room. She laid down and nested into the plush cushion, making herself comfortable. Artex pulled over a cushion and sat himself down on the floor, "I heard the language lession going on. Mind if I join in?"

His Father waved him off, "Razor was doing just fine. But you forgot something."

Realizing what his Father meant, Artex stood up and hugged both of his parents, then sat back down, "So how has it been so far?"

His Mother took a breath and let it out in a sigh, "It's been... different. Very different from what we're used to."

Artex smiled in a snarky manner, "But no demon summoning or anything like that huh?"

Donald snorted, "Yeah, yeah. Don't be a smart aleck." He shook his head, "You can't blame us for being leery."

"Not at all," Artex admitted, "But I'm glad you were willing to trust me about this."

Razor cleared her throat, "Ahem, I think we're done with the language lesson for today."

Artex clapped his hands, "Okay then, what say we take a short trip and meet the Ponies who adopted me and took care of me?"

Donald shook his head, "No. Not until we can talk to them in their own language. We need to learn it anyway. Besides, we owe it to them for taking care of you."

"They don't see it like that, Dad. They don't see that anyone owes them anything. They were happy to do it." Artex gently corrected his Father, "They're a really good bunch; salt of the earth sorts. They're apple farmers, as the name indicates."

"Dan?" A feminine voice asked from the direction of the kitchen.

Artex looked up and saw his sister and brother in-law standing there, both sporting big grins. Artex rose to his feet, walked over, and hugged them both, "I'm back for a full week before we have to go back. Where are the boys?"

"They're out playing with some of the other, erm, kids in town. Suey is watching them." Brian F. explained.

Artex threw back his head and laughed, "Ha! And I suppose the fact that she can see Rifin while she's out has absolutely nothing to do with it!"

His family all stared at him curiously. He saw their stares and decided he had best explain, "We all think Suey has a crush on Rifin. She denies it, but she's always sporting a blush whenever he's around."

"But they're not the same species." Christine said, "They don't even look like they're the same genus."

Artex shook his head, "Honestly it doesn't matter. One of the rules of this world is 'Love finds a way'. Somehow things just work out certain ways that we cannot explain."

Brian P. called out as he entered the house, "I'm back everyone."

Artex yelled back, "We're in the living room."

Brian walked in and he and Artex shared a hug, "Good to see you, brother." Brian said.

"You too." Artex replied, "Where were you?"

Brian hooked hie right thumb over his shoulder, "Out cheating life." He said in fluent Velensovth.

Artex blinked, "Who gave you the language?"

"Alana." Brian said with a grin, "When I told her I was an engineer, she started asking me a bunch of questions and I couldn't keep up, so she got frustrated and did some magical gobbledygook on me and now I can speak three languages: English, Velensovth, and Latin."

Brian F. then spoke up, "Wait, you mean we can just have someone... install the language in our heads like some computer download?"

Artex nodded while rubbing the bridge of his nose, "Technically yes, but it is looked down upon. Using magic to solve every problem can make us lazy."

"But if it's a tool meant to be used and it's a viable means of doing so, then why not do it?" Brian F. asked.

"Let me try to explain," Vaiawa suddenly spoke up, "Just because something CAN be done the easy and quick way, does not mean it SHOULD be done that way. In learning the language slowly and on your own, you put forth the effort of doing so, and in the end when you do master it, you feel a sense of pride and accomplishment. YOU have do it, YOU have accomplished your goal. You grow as a person and it is another thing you can teach future generations. With every generation learning from the previous one, we grow as a people. With magic to do it for you, you do not grow as a person because of the lack of effort and self discipline. It cheapens the experience for you."

Brian P. placed his right hand on his chin in thought for a brief moment then dropped his hand she shook his head, "Nope. I don't think so. Magic is a tool and tools are meant to be used. While I definitely agree that fostering personal growth and accomplishment is extremely important, let me ask you something: where are all the electronics?"

Everyone was puzzled and their faces mirrored that sentiment. Brian continued, "Your recorded history is just as long as ours, maybe even more so, yet there are no electronics here. Why? Because everyone was too focused on bettering themselves and society on a personal level as opposed to a technological level. Granted you have little to no pollution from any major forms of industry, but that pollution problem could have been solved with magic. Smoke stacks can have magic filters put on to keep the air clean. I could go on, but that is something I noticed, at least here. There are no major industries. Nothing is being mass produced. Is there any import or export?"

"Chris has his shipping centers send products all around the world and he pays the city a hefty amount for using the land to do so, but as far as I know, there is nothing we produce in the city which is ever shipped out for resale in other towns or cities, except juices and food, but even that is mostly for the sake of novelty." Razor said.

Brian P. crossed his arms, "So you're telling me that if Chris' shipping centers went down and stopped working, that the city would go bankrupt?"

Razor blinked as his words sunk in, 'He's... he's right.'

Brian saw the look on her face and knew his words had hit home, "And THAT'S what I'm going to do!" he crowed, "Alana told me about the Canterlot School For Magical Studies. That's where I'm heading. I'm going to bring about an industrial revolution, BUT I'm going to make sure it happens the right way this time. On Earth we screwed up the planet and industry became an absolutely cut-throat business. Over here, we can have our industry and NOT mess up the environment. We can have big business and NOT make it a dog eat dog mess of backstabbing, underpaying employees, and corruption. This is our opportunity to fix what we screwed up! I'm leaving for the school this evening. I'll get a job somewhere in Canterlot to have some spending money, but I've finally got my direction. I'm a mechanical engineer, a scientist of mechanics. Well magic is a science with its own rules of mechanics. I already have my first idea! A welding device which will be completely safe to use. Imagine a device which allows two substances to bond on a molecular level, a perfect merger of the two. Welding torches? HA! MELDING torch! Melding torch with no heat, that draw their energy from the atmosphere, that produce no toxic fumes, that are safe to use around open flames, that are in no way a danger to the user or those around them! Need two pieces of steel connected and don't want the fragile weld point? Melding torch! Need that bleeding gash closed and there are no doctors around? Melding torch! Need two pieces of wood connected seamlessly and strongly? Melding, freaking, torch!"

* * *

"Okay, but what about when you want to make love with him?" Danielle asked Oriana.

"In average herds, every mare takes turns sleeping with her husband on different days. Absence makes the heart grow fonder after all..."

"But over-familiarity breeds contempt." Danielle finished, "That's one we used to use when we were married. He was always saying that people in history had a lot of things right and that we forgot those bits of wisdom in modern society."

Oriana smiled, "I think he was right about that." She placed her left forehoof on Danielle's hand, "I don't want you to think we did any of this to push him away from you. None of us thought you and he would ever be together again, but we certainly didn't encourage him to forget about you and we don't want that now either. He still loves you just as much as he did before. True, he loves us as well, but you already know he has a big heart. We never wanted him to chose between you and us. We only offered ourselves for him to love, if he chose to, and he did. We're all willing to have you with us. Trust me, we'll be glad to have someone who knew him before. We sometimes have trouble understanding why he does some of the things he does. You knew him before and you have known him much longer than any of us. I know it's going to be a difficult adjustment, but imagine having a bunch of sisters to lean on when you need support." Oriana then grinned mischievously, "And if he screws up, we can all gang up on him." Oriana joked.

Danielle smiled at the Zebra mare trying so hard to make peace. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "Okay... I... I think I'm ready to talk to... Razor." She held up her hand, "It's not going to be smooth and you can just forget about me holding down some poor mare while they... yeah, you know what I'm trying to say."

Oriana nodded in understanding, "I think that's fine. We had a really hard time convincing him that it was normal. He almost stopped the first time he was with Razor. She had to practically order him to continue."

Danielle held up her hands, "I don't want to know. I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be mean, but if I think about that any more than I already am, it's going to upset me too much. I've been told for over thirty years that if he sleeps with anyone else that he doesn't love me anymore. I'm not going to forget that overnight or any time soon."

Oriana leaned against the woman in a comforting gesture, "I'm sorry. I keep forgetting about that."

Danielle was uncomfortable with the physical contact, "Could you not lean against me. My family was never very affectionate." Oriana quickly withdrew herself, trying not to be upset. Danielle continued, "The first time he hugged me when we were dating, I froze. I wasn't used to hugs or anything like that. It took me years to get used to his family being so huggy. It's nothing against you, but it's going to take time for me to get used to any of you and I already know I'm going to have a hard time knowing all of you sleep with him and not getting upset. Seeing him kiss one of you for the first time is going to be hard enough."

She sighed sadly, "I'm already going to have to find a new job. I can't care for children who can break my bones with a kick while I'm changing a diaper. Kids bite and what if one bite one of my fingers off?" She shook her head, "I didn't think this through well enough."

Oriana wanted to hug the woman, but she held herself back from providing comfort. It was not easy. The situation was so complicated, 'Oh why did this have to happen!? We were happy! I don't blame him for still loving her, I can't. She's a good person. But this is going to be so hard! Ancestors give me the strength to do this!'

* * *

Evening was coming quickly when Danielle and Oriana returned to the house. They found Artex and Vaiawa cooking a big dinner for everyone in the kitchen. Vaiawa was preparing noodles, while Artex was chopping several pounds of beef with a heavy cleaver imported from Gryphonvale. Oriana went into the living room to talk to everyone. Danielle made her way into the kitchen and crept up behind her husband, 'Wait, is he still my husband? He was declared dead on Earth. Do we need to get married again? GOD this is so confusing!' The woman was already overwhelmed with everything else. She felt her eyes burning as she hugged him from behind.

Artex was startled by the sudden hug. So startled that he accidentally chopped off the index finger of his left hand. He jumped back howling in agony and accidentally knocking Danielle off him and onto the floor. He pulled his hand up to his stomach and pinched off the stump to stop the blood-flow while grunting and groaning from the searing waves of pain.

Vaiawa quickly levitated his lopped off finger off the cutting board and floated it in front of him, "Put it on the stump, quickly! Your natural healing may reattach it!"

Artex forced his mind to focus past the pain. He let go of his stump and grabbed his disembodied finger, jamming it hard against the bleeding stump.

Everyone else in the house crowded at the entrance of the kitchen wanting to see what happened. Danielle looked up as he turned around holding the cut off finger against the stump on his hand. She felt terrible beyond words, 'Oh God! What did I do!? I just got him back and I do this to him!?' The stress from the past days all culminated in that one terrible moment. It was just too much for the poor woman. She began crying immediately. She had never meant to hurt him.

As everyone watched, his flesh slowly welded itself back together. In less than a minute, his hand was whole and undamaged. Everyone was awestruck at the sight. As for Artex, even he was amazed, 'I knew I could heal, but that was... damn!' He then spotted Danielle on the floor crying her eyes out. He began to move toward her, but someone else beat him to it.

Danielle felt someone help her up into a sitting position, "Hey, it's okay. Look he's fine. He can heal, remember? Go on, look. His hand is okay. He's fine. Look."

Danielle wiped her eyes and slowly looked up. Her husband was there, kneeling in front of her. His hands were still bloody, but his finger was reattached. She still felt bad for what happened, but seeing that he was not going to be forever disfigured made her feel infinitely better. She still felt terrible, but he was going to be okay. She turned her head to see who had helped her up. Her tearful almond brown eyes met the concerned amethyst eyes of the tan Unicorn mare who was still supporting her weight.

Razor Wit smiled and leaned against Danielle, "Come on up. The floor can't be that comfortable."

Brian P. spoke up, "See? SEE? A melding torch would have been perfect for that!"

* * *

Discord closed the book, chortling, which quickly morphed into cackling, then outright laughter. Celestia was lying on her massive bed, simply relaxing and enjoying the simple company of her partner, odd though he was. Discord, lying next to Celestia, had been thumbing through a strange little book he had conjured up some minutes before he started laughing, "My my, that Human certainly is a magnet for chaos. I swear none of you would have ever been upset with me if Humans already lived here."

After some minutes of his joyful mirth, the solar Alicorn became curious, "What are you reading over there that has you tittering like a filly?" She asked turning her head toward her lover.

Discord laughed lightly, tossing the book into the air where it sprouted wings and took to the sky, "Just Artex cutting off his finger and everyone's reaction to it healing itself when he put it back on the stump. Combined with everything else going on in that house, that was one of the things which might bring them all together." He paused and looked to his mate, "Erm, by the by, where did you get off to this afternoon and why do you reek of icing and fondant?"

Celestia blushed at the comment, "Well, why don't you see what happened? Your magic should be recovered enough."

Discord pursed his lips, quirked an eyebrow, then snapped his fingers, his vision instantly changing. John's daughter, Anna was having the time of her life. From her perch on Princess Celestia's back, she could see everything. She was still too young to understand that everyone was bowing to the Princess and not to her. She felt like a queen and she loved it. Celestia had no complaints either. She had found somebody who loved cake just as much as she did. They had made quite a sight, touring from one bakery to another sampling every single cake available and buying them all for later.

Blinking, Discord shook his head then looked at the white Alicorn, "How much cake did you eat, exactly?"

Celestia grinned and shook her head, "Nuh-uh, first you tell me what YOU did this after noon. I looked after Anna, and I know you looked after Joseph. I want to know how it went."

At the mention of the little boy's name, Discord howled with laughter, "I almost think he could inherit my power! Granted you told me not to do anything too crazy, so I just gave him half my power in a very small space in the Royal Garden."

Upon hearing this, Celestia's hoof met her face, "How much do I have to clean up?" She asked in a monotone.

Discord frowned, raised his chin into the air and crossed all of his arms, of which there were suddenly nine, yet somehow all were crossed, "Nothing."

With a quirked eyebrow and piqued curiosity, Celestia asked, "Nothing?"

Suddenly Discord was excited, "Ooh! You should have been there!” He exclaimed. “Joseph said I was his new favorite uncle! I never would have guessed, but that the little boy has more of a mischievous streak than Chris does!”

The reclining draconoquis leaned against the knuckles of his lion’s paw while he waved an eagle’s talon in little through the air. “Despite what you said, I allowed the boy a bit of my magic and within minutes, the lad had created a magical treehouse, where — now stay with me here— The tree was the house and the house was the tree.” Celestia just stared at him.

“It would grow and shrink at completely random times,” Discord continued. “…likewise growing and shrinking the occupants within. The windows were made of transparent taffy which could be pulled apart to open the window or close it, or eaten and would grow back within seconds. And then of course, we can’t forget the furniture!

“The furniture.”

“Made entirely out of something the humans call ‘beef jerky’; a kind of snack made from salted meat. A little too chewy for my taste, bad the lad can’t put the stuff down.

“Discord!” came Celestia’s response, a mix astonishment and horror on her soft, equine face as she brought her muzzle closer to her irresponsible lover’s. “Are trying time spoil this child, or completely ruin him? A treehouse like that will give that poor boy the worst kind of tummy ache and all but ensure that he never eats a proper meal ever again—” she was gently silenced by discord’s finger pressed against her lips.”

“Dearest…” he said smoothly, giving Celestia a rather sensual ‘Boop’ on her nose. “I may not be the most logical creature in existence, but even I know that some kids need water wings before being in the pool. Both the taffy and the jerky have been magically tweaked so that everything disappears in the stomach just seconds after being eaten. So, no matter how much he eats, or when he eats it, he’ll always have enough room for his vegetables; not that it really matter, seeing as how he usually just hides those in his chocolate milk when he thinks no one is watching.”

“That…” Celestia began. “That was actually a very good idea, Discord. I’m actually quite impressed, really.”

Discord went on.

“And as and added bonus, I also made it so that none of it would give him cavities.” He then lay back and snapped his fingers, filling the air above them with visions of various objects that spun about in kaleidoscopic patterns. “There’s a grandfather clock made of laundry fluff that can could also turn into a softish toy sword if ordered to do so; a giant chandelier hanging upward from the floor—yes the floor—made light that changes the skin color of anyone who says the word 'the'.

On and on the draconaquis continued, like a child himself giving a point-by-point retelling of his first day of school. He spoke animatedly of a radio that belched every song it was ordered to play and a television made of velcro that showed everything in reverse seconds before it was supposed to happen. There was a rug in the middle of the room that could fry—not fly, as discord had emphasized— but fry; in which anything that was placed upon it would instantly become fried.

Celestia had been ready to scold him a second time, but Discord quickly assured her that the magically enhanced accouterment was perfectly safe to touch.

“Then of course, there was the bottomless pit of legos, the endless hallway doors; and after that you have the plastic dump truck that hauled dirt from one nowhere to another nowhere!” Discord curled up on the bed clapping his hands with glee, "And it was perfect! There was literally nothing dangerous about any of it! It was safe but chaotic! Things shifted and changed randomly, but all of it is contained and the boy LOVES IT!"

He sighed, relaxed, "Now... I did mess with the kids' heads a little. Did you know they were both suffering from emotional trauma? Well I fixed it... sort of."

Celestia's eyes narrowed, "Discord..." she said in a warning tone.

Discord waved her away, "All I did was remove some of the emotional damage. They still remember the event, but with a sort of mild detachment. If they focus on it, the full brunt of the memory will return, but when they are not focused on it, it will not harm them."

Celestia gave it some thought before speaking. She turned onto her back, looking up at the canopy above the bed, "I will allow it for now, but you need to explain it to Christina and John and let them decide." Upon hearing Discord's unbelieving sputtering, she held up her forehoof, "I know your heart was in the right place, but these are their children, their decision is final. If they were our foals it would be different." Celestia grew concerned when Discord did not reply. She turned to look at Discord and was met with a pair of mismatched eyes close upon her own. Unlike normal, his eyes were not dancing with merriment, they were sober and serious bordering on solemn. Celestia drew her head back, but curiosity and confusion prickled in the back of her mind, "Is something wrong?"

Discord only replied with a single sentence, "You should use that amulet after Luna has her foal."

Celestia blinked in shock, then giggled, "Oh, I almost thought you were being serious."

Discord's voice was even and calm, "Until now I've been worried that children would be afraid of me. Today that little boy proved that the opposite is true and it made me think." He reached over and ran a claw gently down the side of Celestia's face, curling it under her chin, "You're responsible and serious and I'm fun without limitation. I'm always up for playing and having a good time and you're already a natural teacher. I want a little one to play with, someone I can entertain and have fun with for hours on end, someone who understands my chaos and your order. I already know you had the time of your life today with Anna. You got a chance to cut loose and you loved it, don't try to deny it. Half of me and half of you equals perfect... I want a foal."

* * *

In a different wing of the palace, John Vacca looked at his brother, still trying to absorb everything. They had let Celestia, Discord, and Luna take the Chrissy and the children while they talked. They were in Chris' office in the Palace. It was a comfortable room with chairs made for the Human frame and plush cushions set all around, while Chris' various and numerous experiments laid around on tables strewn all about the room. John cleared his throat, "So... you're basically a king?"

Chris shrugged, "Kind of? I renounced any authority I would have gained by marring Luna, but because I did, I think most of the country would follow me specifically because I don't want power. I don't want them to, but they probably would, most anyway. A lot of the nobles probably wouldn't, but they never liked me in the first place."

"That doesn't mean that we're royalty or anything does it?" John asked.

Chris shrugged, "Probably not. I can ask if you want?" he offered.

John shook his head and waved his hands vigorously, "Nope! We're fine! No need!"

Chris laughed, "I figured. You aren't the type."

John leaned forward, "Are Chrissy and the kids really alright with the Princesses?"

Chris only laughed in response.

* * *

Chrissy had been at the spa all day with Luna. Once the poor woman had gotten over the shock of meeting her in person, the two had agreed that there was no point to having money and power if you did not use it. They bought out the best spa in Canterlot for the day and spent the time being pampered.

Chrissy, having had two children, was giving Luna some advice in dealing with her own pregnancy. Obviously there were going to be some significant differences, but it was nice for Luna to have someone to talk to about it. It did take some significant time for her to explain about her and Chris being married and expecting their daughter. Chrissy was shocked beyond belief, literally, at first. But Luna had a great deal of experience in speaking to others and making them see things from different perspectives. Before the day was done, Chrissy was merely happy for her, instead of being confused and angry and thinking her brother in-law had committed a crime against nature.

The family in Canterlot was settling in well.

Another one down, folks. More to come.