Sitting in the bathing tub, Max wrestled with properly wording his question. After the aggressive rutting the mare gave him(there was nothing else to call it when a mare throws you onto her bed and shoves her weeping need into your face) he was beginning to question just why she was so willing to act out on any desires at any time. Was it a reprieve from her duties? Was it because she was worried she'd lose him otherwise?

Looking over to the blue mare, he couldn't help but frown as she carefully washed her flanks with a wet cloth. The wince was normally something he'd be proud of but coming from someone he was supposed to be taking care of, it didn't sit well with him. Wading closer, he sat down behind her and pulled her into a hug.

"We are busy, Max. Tia will be looking for the two of us soon and we should not keep her waiting," she said, not bothering to stop in her washing.

The changeling nuzzled against her cheek.

"Luna, I need to ask you something. I want you to be truthful, too. Are you hurting?"

"We...'tis a slight discomfort. It is of no impor-"

"Luna..." he cut her off warningly.

"We, are a bit sore yes. We are unused to such continuous attention to our marehood," she answered quietly.

He could taste the embarrassment wafting off of her from the admission, but chose to tighten his grip on her.

"I'm not going to wither away if we don't some fun every day, Luna. I do well enough on cuddles and kisses. If you're hurting, that doesn't help me. In fact I don't like tasting your pain."

"We are aware, but it is not just..." she cut off suddenly, blooming with anxiety and fear.

"Go on," he whispered encouragingly, giving her another nuzzle. "I won't judge, say it. That's one of the ways I want to help you, by giving you someone you can speak your mind to. Anything you tell me to keep quiet about, no one else will hear about. Promise."

"We...we couldn't stand the rules Tia held us to," Luna began. "Intercourse was something that was inappropriate to bring up and thus never discussed. Any time we asked about it we were shushed or told it was an inappropriate topic. She helped us after we were teleported, watched over us like an older sister would and taught us what she could but intercourse was always something that wasn't discussed. Now that we are a mare and have you beside us, we..."

"Now that you get to try that thing you never could even talk about, you want to explore it thoroughly?" he asked, smiling encouragingly.

Luna nodded.

"Indeed. It sounds silly saying it aloud but we also, we enjoy watching Tia squirm when the topic is brought up. Tis natural, something everypony does, is it not? Why is our sister so squeamish about it?"

"I don't know," Max admitted. "I do know that there were a lot of people back home who sounded almost scared of it, like hearing someone talk about sex would cause them to burst into flames or something like that. It's a strange topic and you're likely to get different answers depending on who you ask. I think it can be a wonderful thing, but you need to be smart about it. Like making sure you don't over do it? What would you do if you ended up hurting yourself, trying to have sex every night? If something went horribly wrong, you may never be able to do that again without pain."

"Ha! as if we would be brought low by too much mating!" the mare scoffed.

Max rolled his eyes before scooting back and pulling her butt up. She looked back in confusion for a moment at his action then hissed in pain as a hoof brushed against her overly-sensitive nethers.

Seeing the stallion raising an eyebrow at her reaction, she pouted.

"Very well, we will attempt to calm ourselves. We just enjoyed it so much, it always made us feel so..."

"I understand, and I like how it makes the both of us feel too. When you orgasm I feel like I'm sucking down pure sugar. It becomes a bit more potent every time, too. Not to mention how great it feels to be inside you."

Caressing the mare's flank, he grinned.

"Give it some time and I'm sure we'll get used to the increased activity."

"You had best be ready as well. We will take this break, but we will expect you to make it up to us," she responded.

"Luna? Are you ready yet?" a voice asked from the door. "We are waiting on you. You're not, doing anything are you?"

"Come in, Tia. Nothing improper is occurring," Luna called out, before rounding on Max and pulling him into a deep kiss.

"Alright, we've let the knights know our plans for the day and..."

Max pushed away from the mare and gave her an irritated stare.

"Remember when I said be nicer to her? This isn't being nice."

Luna rolled her eyes and moved past him to speak with her sister.

"Nothing was happening Tia, calm yourself. Unless you now find kissing to be improper," the blue mare said with a smile.

"You are shameless," Celestia said with a shake of her head. "Are you almost ready? We would like to begin our walk before lunch."

"Yea, just about. I just...do you have something on your nose?" Max asked the white mare, moving closer to the edge of the bathing pool. As he approached, he squinted, focusing on Celestia's nose.

"What? We washed ourself thoroughly this morning after breakfast. We should be-"

"No, I swear I see something right on your upper lip," he affirmed.

Celestia's eyes crossed for a second as she tried to look at some speck of dirt or food that was on her muzzle. That was all the distraction he needed though. Rising our of the water in a splash, he locked his forelegs around the white alicorn and threw himself backwards.

The white alicorn barely had time to scream before she was in the water.

Rising from the water and choking on the water that managed to get in his nose, Max shook himself off and turned to where he heard splashing and choking.

Celestia had managed to surface but her mane was plastered to her head, keeping her eyes covered as the irritated mare growled in anger.

"Luna, we hope you enjoyed your time with him. Because WE ARE GOING TO KI-"

She was cut off by Luna, the blue alicorn jumping onto her sister's back and taking her back under the surface of the water once more. Again Celestia surfaced, sputtering in anger at her impromptu bath. The mare issued what he figured what a warcry, the sound stuck somewhere between a whinny and a roar, as she began furiously attempting to dunk the other alicorn under the water.

Slipping away while the two were distracted, Max made his way out of the tub and dried off. it wasn't as difficult as it could have been, like if he had fur, but his clumsiness still left him fiddling with the towel more than he would have liked. Walking back to the bathing pool where the sisters were still attempting to drown each other, he cleared his throat to draw their attention.

He would soon regret this action.

"So are we going to be leaving anytime soon? We don't have all day," the changeling said, gaining the undivided attention of both alicorns in the process.

Celestia lit her horn, and Max felt her aura sliding over his form and he realized what she was trying to do. Luckily, the white mare couldn't get a grip on his shell.

Unluckily, Luna had proven to have no such issues. With a quick flick of her magic, the stallion yelped as he was flung back into the water.

As his head broke the surface, he shook the water from his muzzle and blinked, his secondary eyelids protecting him from getting soap in his eyes. Both of the alicorns were now looking at him, Luna wearing a grin while Celestia was glaring at him. They slowed only long enough to look to each other, nodding in silent agreement before continuing their advance.

Max back up to the side of the pool, feeling his flank bump against the stone.

"Uh, parley?"

Eventually the group did manage to leave for the tour of the area surrounding the castle. Max followed behind the mares, not having any idea where he was going anyway. The two alicorns led him through the main courtroom, passing a few ponies on the way that were desperately attempting to stop them.

"Your highness, you can't just call off court! Who will sit on the throne while you are away?" one particularly stubborn pony shouted as he chased after the group.

"Just because we are not sitting on the throne does not mean we are abandoning our positions. We merely wish to see our subjects. Is that so wrong?" Celestia asked,

"If they wish to see you, they may come to the castle. There is no need to wander around with the commoners," he pursued, looking fairly disgusted at the idea.

"We do not wish to have them come to us, we wish to go to them. Is that so wrong?" Luna asked in mock curiosity.

"Your highnesses, I must insist that the throne be occupied. It has always been this way and to leave the castle is just, it isn't done!" another, a unicorn mare, insisted.

"Well then perhaps it is time that changed. We must remain aware of the state of our subjects, after all." Celestia retorted, drawing a horrified gasp from several of the following ponies.

"Change? That madness is the path of Discord!" a well dressed unicorn mare shouted, actually looking terrified at the prospect.

The three larger beings stopped, turning to look at the mare who spoke.

"Hoo boy..." Max muttered under his breath. this was exactly the wrong mindset to have when entering a new age.

Celestia moved closer, looking down slightly at the mare.

"Change and chaos are two different things, Lady Sapphire. Do not confuse the two. If something is proven to be ineffective, we will find other ways. In this case, we cannot allow ourselves to be restricted to the rules you wish us to maintain. We wish to know more of our subjects."

"Indeed," Luna said, coming around her sister to look over the gathered ponies. "Our time would be much better spent actually aiding those around us. You say the throne must be occupied, but how many take advantage of the night court and seek me out? Instead you crowd our sister's court. What good does a pony of our strength do our ponies sitting on a chair all night when our subjects are in danger?"

"But we can't just change! You can't just change how things have been done because you feel like it!" the blue pony exclaimed, her panic rising when the princesses didn't accept her explanation.

"That's a very bad attitude to have right now," Max piped up from behind the two alicorns. "With Discord gone, you're looking at the possibility to advance your towns, castles, and society in general in ways that weren't possible with him messing with your people. We're talking an unprecedented chance for your people to advance and change into a true power in this world, to recover that which you've lost and then surpass what you were. That's going to require changing how you work, though. A castle is one thing. A kingdom is another, and it's a kingdom that your princesses are looking to build."

"Indeed. We can think of no better way to defend ponies from predations than to gather them under our wings," Luna said, looking back to the changeling. "And it shall be difficult to do so from an overly ornate cushion. We do not like the idea of sitting on our flank while ponies are in need."

Celestia looked at Luna with a bit of poorly disguised disappointment for her dismissal of the throne but understood where the younger mare's disillusionment had come from.

"While we believe that keeping our traditions is important, we also would like to see what it is we are protecting, to see those we work to help. It shall do both of us good to see what has changed lately."

"No," the unicorn whimpered. "No, no no no! You can't do this! You have to stay in the castle. It's how it's supposed to be, it's how it's always been!"

The entire room tensed as the mare's horn flared with magic. The doors they were walking to slammed shut and the ones leading back to the throne room were thrown open. A few pegasus guards dove towards the mare, but most unicorns merely shielded themselves and those closest to them against the surging mare's magic, knowing better than to attempt to approach a hysterical unicorn.

"You need to sit on the throne, you always have to be on the throne! It's how it should be!" she shrieked. Magic wrapped around the sisters, seeking to drag them back towards the throne room. Luna and Celestia dug in their hooves, doing their best to slow their pace but the mare's hysterical fit was giving her unprecedented strength.

"Tia, she's going to attempt to bind us to the throne!" Luna shouted over the screaming.

"Can you use your magic to stop her?" Max asked, trotting up to the sisters to be heard over the mare's screaming.

Celestia and Luna both looked confused for a breath before remembering his magic resistance.

"Nay, if we were to do so, it could harm her. To forcefully subvert the magic from this kind of surge would force all of her power back into her horn. It would explode and possibly take a good portion of her head with it!" Celestia shouted, causing Luna to drop the magic she was gathering.

Looking around and seeing most of the guards and servants standing around in shock or terror, Max turned back to the alicorns.

"Then I ask for your permission to stop her without magic."

It took only a moment for Celestia to understand what he was asking.

"No, you, you could hurt her!"

"Tia, we must either allow Max to attempt to incapacitate the mare, or we must act on our own. We do not wish to know what happens if we reach the throne with this much magic being used!" Luna shouted back, beating her wings furiously to slow herself further.

The white alicorn looked back to the screaming unicorn, the blue mare's eyes having turned white with surging power. A loud crack echoed through the hall, bringing their eyes to the crack that now leaked blood and a blue liquid that Max could only assume was concentrated magic from Sapphire's horn. Clenching her eyes shut, Celestia nodded.

Max quickly circled the surging mare, the roiling magic washing over and off of his shell as he came up behind her. He heard a few ponies gasping in fear as he approached the unicorn, his low stance giving the large stallion the appearance of a predator prowling after his prey. Seeing the mare was completely focused on the alicorns, Max quickly but gently moved his jaws over the back of her neck, holding his breath and hoping this worked. Then, he bit down and clenched his cheeks a little.

The unicorn mare squawked, attempting to dislodge the stallion from her neck. Worried she may do more damage to herself if he let her flail about he pressed down, pushing her to the stone floor and keeping a firm grip on the pony. After counting to fifteen, the changeling clenched his cheeks lightly again, feeling another slight burst of venom being injected into the screaming mare's neck. This time he felt her muscles begin to relax slightly and her flailing slowed, though her magic was unaffected. A third small injection soon did the job, the unicorn ceasing her floundering and screaming. Max slowly opened his mouth and pulled back, careful not to harm her any more than he'd had to. To his surprise, even with the pony in a venom-induced daze her horn was still blazing with magic.

Luna and Celestia were there in a flash, Sapphire's lack of mental coordination allowing the alicorns to break out of the unicorn's grip without much effort and thus without much damage to the mare's horn.

"Luna, I need you to act as a ground, I'm going to try to shut down her surge," Celestia said, moving her horn to the blue unicorns and channeling her magic even as Luna began pulling in the magic the pony was giving off, releasing some of the less fortunate pegasi from their magically enforced attraction to the floor.

Max stood back and watched as Celestia worked with the unicorn, slowly turning down the flow of magic until only smoke and blood were being emitted from the incapacitated pony's horn. With a sigh, Celestia slumped as she was finally able to release her magic and let go of her concentration. At the same time, Luna quickly flew over to a nearby window and emitted a large blast of magic into the sky, discharging the gathered magic in a relatively safe direction.

Celestia smiled at the completion of the rescue.

"It is done. Thank you Luna, it is difficult to shut down a pony's magic while also grounding a surge. Once her horn is healed, we can worry about reactivating her magic. Until then she cannot cast without damage, so this will remove the temptation."

Luna smiled softly at the praise and looked to the changeling.

"Max, were you not concerned that you could, overdo it? Your venom was powerful enough to affect Tia, we would think that much would do more than leave the mare tired and dizzy."

"I tried using small doses," he answered softly. "Not sure how well it worked, but I don't have full understanding yet and don't want to use too much. That's why I gave her several injections and watched how she reacted to each one. Even something like anesthetic can kill if you use too much."

"Well at the least you saved her horn. If Luna had not stopped herself from casting that general counter-spell earlier, there is a very good chance Lady Sapphire would be in worse condition. Loss of her magic would have been the least of her worries," Celestia said as she finished her inspection of the insensate mare.

"Please take her to a spare room. She is not to leave until we return, though that should not be much of a problem. Inform her that we shall discuss the restoration of her magic when we return."

A few knights gingerly approached the mare. When one was able to touch her without being thrown away, the knights picked her up and carried her off.

Many of the individuals in the room were giving Max looks now, varying from gratitude to fear to curiosity. Growing impatient, the stallion walked up to Luna and nudged her.

"We should get going. I'd like to be out of here before another one decides to have a breakdown," he whispered into her ear.

"Of course," Luna agreed. "Tia, let us be off. Before we run into any other distractions."

Max stepped behind the two alicorns once more, trying to suppress his grin at the view he was being given. Two shapely mares walking before him, both focused on the road ahead as their flanks swayed with each step. He was certain some ponies would have killed for such a view.

Luna must have realized what his position meant for him though, as she burst with excitement for a moment. Curious, he watched the mare look around her, keeping track of the location of each pony that was in the hall. As they approached the main door most of the entourage moved ahead, helping to move the giant stone and wood barrier. Smirking slightly, she looked back to him and her eyes darted backwards for a minute. Before he could ask what she wanted she flicked her tail slightly, giving him an unobstructed view of her marehood just as she clenched it. His eyes met hers again and she grinned, mouthing 'we shall win next time'.

'I just got flashed by Luna,' he thought, his face going blank. 'Not only did I get flashed, she did it in the main hall of the castle while standing right next to her sister.'

Luna's emotions bloomed into an explosion of excitement and happiness, the mare giggling at the success of her action.

The byplay drew the white alicorn's attention, though she likely had no idea what was going on...thank god.

"Luna what are you, you can giggle and tease him later. We are about to go out in public."

"She's right, Princess Luna. You need to be on your best behavior," Max admonished the younger sister. "That means saving any teasing until after this is over. We need to set an example. As much as I hate acting properly, I understand the importance of good first impressions. That includes proper titles and full names. If you'd like, call me Maximus while we're out there. It sounds more officious than Max."

"Well, let's go meet your adoring public."

With no further interruptions forthcoming, the three of them stepped through the main door of the castle and into the midday light.

As Max followed along behind the mares into the town, or at least that's what he assumed it was supposed to be, the best he could think of to say about it was 'we all start somewhere.' The houses, and calling them such was a kindness on his part, were made of thatch and wood, haphazardly erected close to the castle's stone walls. No, not a wall around the castle, it didn't have one. The houses were right up against the actual castle itself. They were also scattered about with little rhyme or reason, as the only roads that were to be found were the paths worn into the ground by sufficient foot traffic.

'This would be a nightmare during any rainy seasons,' he thought to himself, ignoring the curious stares from the gathering ponies. 'It doesn't smell too bad though. That was something that was worrying me. Lack of smell from waste means they're not throwing it into the streets like was the usual method back in the dark ages.'

A tap on his rear leg followed by scampering hooves drew his attention. Out of the corner of his eye he managed to spot a small group of foals talking animatedly and gesturing to him.

'He touched the butt!' Max recited, desperately trying to hold onto the smile from his face. Full smiles weren't good right now, as full smiles showed the ponies his fangs. Ponies seeing fangs without knowing about him panicked.

Most of them seemed more curious than scared of him at the moment, as he was following along with their alicorn goddesses and there were several guards nearby. Cautious of course, but not panicking.

'Don't see any vendors or stalls and most of the ponies out here are pegasi and earth ponies. Growing what they need? I'll ask how the winters are here,'

While the changeling was certainly coming up with ideas, the issue he was running into was, as he'd expected, viability. What use was plumbing to ponies who couldn't afford the piping? What good was knowledge of safe building practice when ponies were throwing up huts where ever they could? It seemed to be chaos in the little town that was sprouting outside the alicorn sisters castle, no real rhyme or reason to the building of any huts that were being erected. One or two had actually been right beside the path of the main gate; any closer and troops would have had to walk around the huts to leave or enter the castle.

'Talking to them about actual roads will definitely be on the list. This is madness out here. The town needs someone in charge of where people settle down. Maybe have a pony that keeps track of available plots of land near the castle. Keeping track of that would cut down on fire-safety issues as well as help keep things organized.'

While the town was a mess, the residents muddy, and the foals everywhere, Luna and Celestia had enjoyed the trip immensely so far. That was when things started getting...awkward.

"Please, your highnesses, will you bless us?"

"Bless our marriage, your maj'sties!"

"Who do I ask?"

"The white one's crops, the blue one is fertility I think."

"No, the white princess is fertility."

"Ya daft? ya don' go rollin with yer other in the daytime, ya do it when yer in fer the night! Blue has moons, so she's fertility."

"Wings and a horn? I'd heard it, but I din' b'lieve it."

As soon as the novelty of the slightly taller mares walking through the hamlet wore off, the group was absolutely surrounded by the villagers. Max wasn't ignored either, many of the ponies asking each other what the strange creature was. Some suggested a pet, others suggested an enslaved and mutated Discord, others suggested a demon held to the alicorns' service.

'This is great. I wonder what else they'll suggest before this is over? Oh, I know, an alien that was kidnapped by Discord.'

"It is wonderful to meet you all, we are overjoyed by your warm welcome. We are Celestia, Warden of the Sun," Celestia said, raising her voice to be heard over the din of the crowd.

"And we are Luna, Warden of the Moon. Tis a pleasure to see so many making their homes here. We hope to see this town flourish," Luna said, a little louder than normal conversation would require.

'Maybe that's where the Royal Voice came from. No speakerphones or speakers, so they have to make sure everyone can hear them when they give an address or an announcement. Probably have to do so from a balcony or something,' the changeling mused.

"Is it true that yer highnesses defeated The Mad One?" one of the mares asked, sounding like she didn't want to believe it.

"Yes. We, our sister and ourself, managed to defeat the draconequus using the power of the Elements of Harmony, ancient artifacts of balance that we discovered in our quest for a way to stop his madness," Celestia explained, her lips twitching as she smiled. "We watched as he was petrified and sealed away. Discord was sealed away in stone. Even now his form is in the castle, "

"We know the pain his power inflicted on those around him," Luna added. "Both mine sister's and our own lives were shattered by his power. In spite of this, we came together and with each other's aid, defeated him. No more shall ponies be scattered on the winds. This we promise you all."

And that was that. A promise of safety in a world that was still reeling from Discord's caring touch. Something the alicorns didn't have growing up. Knowing what he did now about the time of Discord, he couldn't fault ponies for rushing to the protection of the rulers who overthrew the draconequus. Of course, the world being like it was now, with few roads and almost no travel between towns, it wasn't very surprising that only about forty ponies were scattered about the hamlet of...what was the town called anyway?

'At least no one is panicking too much about the weird thing following the alicorns,' he thought with a small smile. It left him as both a simple oddity that garnered a bit of attention, though not nearly as much as the mares ahead of him, and something ponies didn't stray too close to. That was fine for now, as it left him to take a closer look at the homes around him unhindered.

Mostly unhindered.

Max stopped, staring at the stallion that was currently glaring at him during the changeling's inspection of a shack.

"Go on, git," the stallion grunted at him, brushing him away with a hoof.

'Did I just get shooed away like a dog?' Max boggled as he moved on to the next hut. It, no. He couldn't wrap his mind around it. They had griffons, dragons, zebra and sapient dog things, why would a pony assume something that looks mostly like a pony would be an animal? Part of him wanted to laugh at the stallion, but another part worried. That could be the only reason the ponies weren't panicking. They thought he was an animal.

'Or at least under their control,' he mentally added while looking back to the alicorns. It could be worse, he supposed. At least he wasn't being chased away with pitch forks and torches...did the ponies even have pitch forks? Probably not, judging by the gear they were toting around. Dark ages didn't match what he was seeing, this was pony society just starting out. No matter what awesome things they'd achieved before, those gathered here at this castle were a step above living in caves.

"Which is why they're so eager to come to the intelligent, powerful, godlike beings that are in this castle," he muttered to himself. "The alternative is being alone in a world that until now has had it out for them, or at least that's how it probably felt. I don't know what Discord did to other races, but he seemed to have it out for ponies. Maybe it's because they were the easiest to tease? I assume griffons would try to claw at him, maybe find some way to kill him off. Maybe that's why he targeted them...that's for later. Proper housing would be important, but we'd need a forge for metals and possibly a mine.

"In the meantime it would be best to let them keep the shacks, though I'll suggest spreading them out a bit to prevent fires. Roads...how would you make a road? Asphalt is out, possibly the same for concrete. Can't remember how to make either, and even if I knew, not sure what you would need. Pavers may work. I'll ask where they got their stone for the castle and-"

"Many ideas tickling your fancy?" Luna asked, causing the changling to jolt in surprise.

"A few," he responded softly. "As I said before, the biggest issues will be finding ones that are worth the resources you need to pour into them. Others, we would need to convince the locals that they're for the best. If how they're looking at the two of you is anything to go by though, it shouldn't be too hard. I'll start you off with something simple. Roads and a plan for the town. Otherwise they'll keep building randomly and you wont be able to get anywhere in town. In fact, once you have enough citizens to make additional towns, roads will allow you to travel to them faster, excluding pegasi of course. Wagons for trade goods will move more easily on them as well."

"Yes, we remember Starswirl mentioning that Paradise Valley was easy to traverse. We assume it could be because they had many such roads. Maps as well. With Discord no longer changing the world around us, mayhap we could begin using maps again?" Luna guessed. "'Twould be easier for a pegasus to do so, however. For that..."

"Not really," Max interrupted. "There's cloud-walking spells, right? Could you have a pegasus fly someone up there?"

"Cloud walking...allowing unicorns and earth ponies to walk on clouds," the mare mumbled, tapping her chin in thought. "That would help immensely actually. We shall ask Tia if she knows anything about such spells."

"Do you two have a library?" Max asked, an idea that had occurred to him a while back returning.

"We do, but many of the tomes are old and some are damaged. It would take too much time to repair them," the blue alicorn said with a huff. "We believe maintaining what little knowledge we have kept over the years to be very important. 'Tis a way to avoid past mistakes, to avoid going through the same trials that have plagued our race in the past."

"I may have something for you, in that case. I'll need some help getting it set up and someone who knows how to work metal, but a printing press shouldn't be too difficult to set up. Not sure how it will work with scrolls though. Should be fine."

The two beings blinked at the flurry of hushed whispers, including a few 'it can talk?'s coming from the ponies around them. Max chuckled, looking to Luna at the questioning murmurs.

"Shall I leave my introduction to you, your highness?"

"We shall take care of this, since the ponies put you so ill at ease," the mare giggled before hip checking him and nearly causing him to stumble.

"Subjects, do not fear. Maximus, the creature you see beside us, is merely the last of Discord's victims. He, like so many of us, has been taken far from his home with little hope of returning. He offered his aid in return for our own. We accepted, thus he aides us by advising us when we request information from him. Already he has told us of several things he believes could help make your lives both safer and more prosperous. We hope that you will treat him kindly. He has become a close friend of ours in the short time we have known him."

He swore he could hear Celestia grumble something, but couldn't make it out over the gossiping crowd. It wasn't that important though, likely the mare grumbling about the relationship he had with the lunar princess. In other words, nothing new.

The tour continued for another few minutes, as there really wasn't much to see. A few more shacks and a storage barn that a few earth ponies had set up with the help of two peasant unicorns. That was the town. No market, no blacksmith, no inn. Most of the ponies didn't even have scraps of clothing, instead they slept in large groups to keep warm. Thus the number of shacks compared to the number of families was a bit disproportionate. Still, there was something that nagged at the stallion even as he followed Celestia and Luna back to the Castle proper.

Why did he feel like there was a hole in the crowd?

"The mold then presses the pre-arranged characters into the paper, imprinting the ink from the mold onto the page. You can easily make hundreds of small fliers with a press. It may take a bit of fine control though, like a pegasus with its wings or a unicorn, but changing out the individual parts of the mold would allow you to copy anything from ledgers to history books to spellbooks. The diagrams would have to be done by ha-hoof, but it would cut down on the required time by quite a bit."

On the way back to the castle, Luna had inquired about the details of the press. The details like the materials to use were still up in the air, but both of the princesses looked interested. At the very least, it would allow them to copy simple communications quickly.

"You could even make a quick notice and have it delivered around, telling of the defeat of Discord and the creation of this castle."

"Perhaps, but we have other things to do than spread word of our location and brag of our deeds," Celestia said. "We are more interested in the roads you were speaking of. Are you aware of ways to build them that would be easier than, creating bricks and placing them one at a time to form a path?"

"Gravel could work, though I'm not sure how that would be on your hooves. Dig out a slight depression in the ground, fill it with ground stone, and that would work for a bit I think. Cement would work if you broke it up into chunks so the weather doesn't destroy it, but I don't remember the details on cement, just that it was something to do with, burning lime, not the fruit but things that have lime in it like limestone. If we can get cement, concrete isn't that difficult, and that stuff lasts a long time. Add gravel, sand, and cement all together with water and let it dry. A lot of people back home built the foundations for houses with that stuff, it's pretty sturdy."

"Seashells." Celestia responded, looking up thoughtfully. "Starswirl mentioned a mortar that could be created by burning shells. It is possible he was speaking of your cement, as he said there would also be sand and, something else required for the mix. We would need to find his works again. Hopefully some of his tomes survived Discord's perusal."

"Yes, then it would likely be prudent to make certain to create copies of the tomes we find. We are capable of reading Pegasus Script and a little unicorn, but we believe most of the transcribing will fall to you, sister. Starswirl was a unicorn, after all."

"Where did you two get the stone for this castle, anyway?" Max asked, his eyes wandering over the large sections of stone that were, for lack of a better word, melted into each other. It gave the castle a strange feeling, now that he thought of it. There were no bricks, no cracks in the castle walls. In fact the more he thought about it, the more it bothered him. What would happen if the stone began to shift during the transition of summer heat to winter cold?

"We pulled it from the ground," Luna said with a proud smile. "We even shaped it ourself. 'Twas excellent practice with thermal spells."

Max stopped in his tracks as he felt the blood rush from his face.

"And just, where did you pull the stone from?" he pursued, dreading the answer.

"From the ground of course," Celestia responded. "Why? 'Twould have taken weeks to find a suitable place to pull the stone from so we teleported it up from the earth."

"So you brought all this heavy stone up from the ground...straight up?"

"Of course. The smallest distance is a straight line," Luna offered, looking at the stallion with a bit of apprehension now.

Shoving Luna towards a door, he pulled both of the mares aside and closed the door behind him, leaving him alone with the mares.

"You two left gaping holes in the ground below a castle that weighs several hundred, if not thousand, tons and is being approached by ponies daily? Do you have any idea what would happen if it rained too much? A heavy rainfall could easily double the weight of this structure and the ground around it! Not to mention earthquakes!"

Both of the alicorns stared blankly ahead for a breath as they processed the issue.

"Perhaps that is why Paradise Valley used quarries instead of teleporting the needed stone," Luna whispered weakly, a blush of embarrassment creeping over her features.

Celestia was not so calm.

"We, we have to move the ponies," she stuttered, eyes wide in fear. "We can't, we have to, they don't have, there's nowhere to put them, I-"

"Calm," Max whispered, hooking a hoof over the white alicorn's muzzle and jerking her so that she was face to face with him.

"Nothing's happened yet, so as long as it doesn't rain too much we don't worry. I'd like to check out the foundation, see how deeply you pulled from the earth and that kind of thing. If it's bad, we move the ponies. Quietly. No need to get everyone in a panic. We set up a new place, make a quarry and a proper foundation, make stone bricks instead of this thing you did here. It looks nice and keeps out the cold, but it wont weather well, I don't think. That or find a spell to prevent the rock from cracking and shifting due to weather changes."

"No, we do not need to move. We make a quarry anyway, we fill in the hole below us," Luna said, smiling at her plan. "Yes, we could, we could also make a basement for parts of the castle. We remember, there were ways to keep food for longer durations in dark, dry locations. A basement would work wonderfully, giving the castle storage and reinforcing the, what was the bottom-"

"The foundation. We could even use it in the event of the castle being attacked, the ponies in the village could stay there," Celestia continued, her panic giving way to excitement. "We had not planned on adding to the castle, but perhaps it would be prudent. As we grow in power, we will only gather more ponies to us."

"Right. Right, that's good. I'll sleep better at night knowing that the castle isn't going to sink into the ground, so the faster we get this set up the faster I stop panicking whenever I hear rumbling."

The group slowly made their way back into the main hallway and down to the dining room, minds all on plans for the future. It would be a ton of work and would require a lot of experimentation, but it could be done. It would work.

Over the midday meal, the group discussed the layout of the town over a hastily drawn map spread out on the table.

"This place here is flat woodlands right? There's a spring right here on a hill, which is amazing by the way. You can use that for both drinking water, after you check it, and for irrigating crops," the changeling said, pointing to a point to the south. "I'd also like to see some of this woodland chopped down. That would give us a lot of wood as well as some flat farmland."

"Irrigation is not a problem with pegasus. They are capable of moving clouds where they are needed," Celestia countered, only to earn an irritated grumble from Luna.

"Pegasus magic does not work that way. We need clouds to be nearby in the first place. That, or a place to create them that is well supplied with water. Until we have enough pegasi that are not needed for scouting and guard duty, pulling that kind of weather management off is impossible. If we can simplify the process, we should. A simple trench cut into the stream here would lead water right up to the fields, cutting the distance the farmers would need to travel to nearly nothing."

Celestia blinked at the correction before nodding. Luna was expert of the group on pegasus magic after all. Which left her with magic, and the stallion across the way with...what?

"The quarry, we would like to see it here. There is an abandoned town here, so it should not be too difficult to rebuild," Luna said, pointing to a small clearing to the north west.

Celestia shook her head.

"That town was destroyed by something, Luna. The scouts said there were bones in some of the homes."

"Gas?" Max asked.

At the uncomprehending stares, he tried to explain further.

"Sometimes when you dig into the earth, you find pockets of poisonous gas. Before we had things that detected the gasses through other means, miners used canaries. The small birds were more susceptible to the gasses as their lungs were smaller. If the bird died, you got out of the mine. We later learned that you don't build a town too close to a mine either, as the gasses can leak out and kill the miners while they're sleeping."

Celestia blinked a few times at the news.

"Poisonous gas, something you cannot see but that can kill you? Why would your people brave such dangers in the first place?"

"There are some things that can only be found underground. Coal was a big one, so was gold and silver. If people were willing to pay for it, people were willing to go into the earth to find it. For now don't worry too much about mines. We'll likely be using open pit mining. Just keep plenty of paths going out of the mine," the stallion said, grabbing a small rock marker and placing it on the map.

The mares were quiet as they ate, digesting both the information and the food. Finally Luna spoke up.

"We, do not remember Starswirl mentioning these things when warning of the things we would need to know. We feel unprepared, seeing just how much is involved. We knew we would need to know much, but this is..."

Celestia smiled warmly at her sister.

"We shall get through this, Luna. We've done so much already, I'm certain this will be no different. Tomorrow we shall look to starting the planning for the farms. Why our nobility has not done this already is beyond our comprehension."

"Ah, the nobles," Luna snorted in irritation, "The same individuals who told us they were taking care of such matters already? Perhaps we should find out what they were planning. I suggest we use the large dining room tonight, ask them what they've accomplished in the last year. For all the time that they have had, it had best be something."

"Ask for actual dates," Max suggested. "Ask for names of ponies put in charge of the projects, ask for specifics. If they start fumbling, well.."

"Then perhaps it is time to take matters into our own hooves. We shall not be a pretty princess on a pretty throne when ponies are in need," the blue alicorn stated with zeal. "We shall find our quartermaster after lunch and question her on the state of our supplies."

"Where does this food come from anyway?" the stallion asked while gesturing to the table.

"Most was tribute and gifts for the defeat of Discord. Even now we still receive tribute from nearby towns for protecting them. It is why we must mobilize our soldiers to deal with the bandits. They give us supplies to keep them safe."

"Huh, so you're already getting taxes," Max chuckled. "I think that was usually the payment in places that don't have a currency. Does this world have currencies?"

"Paradise Valley had bits," Celestia answered. "They were small gold coins, Starswirl had a few in a small display. He said it was a sign of the ponies' trust in their rulers. That the coins themselves were worth only as much as ponies trusted them to be worth. With Discord's reign, such trust was lost. To attempt to return to such things right now would be folly."

"We may wish to return to those at a later time. If we can reintroduce such things, we could even use them to reaffirm our strength. It would require we wait for now, but once our power is certain and we have our subjects trust, it would be a return to what we once were. It would be a return that was brought on by the alicorn princesses," the blue alicorn giggled almost maniacally. "We bring low Discord and reintro-"

Max and Celestia looked at Luna after she cut herself off.

"Tia, what did you mean by your phrasing, that Discord was sealed away, but that his form was in the castle?" the smaller alicorn asked suspiciously.

At the white mare's shrinking posture at the question, Luna's wings flared.

"TIA?!" she growled warningly.

"Hoo boy, and here I thought we were past this," Max sighed, ignoring the clattering and crashing as the enraged Princess of the Moon circled around the table after her sister, Celestia shouting apologies and pledges to make it up to the blue mare at a later time. At least now he had an idea of what he had to work with. Which basically amounted to nothing, infrastructure-wise.

"I suppose two alicorns would be worth something," he said with a sigh. His ears perked at a shriek from the hallway as Luna finally caught up to her sister.

"Okay, one alicorn. Still gotta be worth something," he mumbled, looking over the map one more time.