Princess Celestia has always enjoyed her occasional visits to the Crystal Empire. Her protégé’s brother lives there, along with the very curious born alicorn Flurry Heart. She knew some of the legends that were ancient when she was born. Before the ponies were able to lift their voices in joy, there were the alicorns, they had aspects, just like hers and her sister’s aspects. They controlled the very moon and stars, water, life, death, and a million other aspects to the world. They were born as they are, but none since. She doesn’t let the soft smile falter from her face as she contemplates the small alicorn sitting contentedly in her mother’s loving embrace. No matter how Cadance had decided to meddle, she’s an absolutely amazing mother.

The clatter of hooves and the sound of the human’s boots ring through the throne room as Tim enters with the mothers of the rest of the Elements joining him. She smiles. The rest of herd Blush has shown up without the necessity of summoning them. Celestia turns to the assembled ponies.

“Herd Blush, welcome.”

“The pleasure is all ours, Princess.”

“This is a very special day,” she says softly, looking back at Duchess Cadance. “A day acknowledging redemption, a day to signify forgiveness.” She looks around at all assembled. “As we all know, magic is a part of our world.” Her eye catches the lone human. “And there is very special magic in forgiveness of transgressions.” She stiffens her body, and her sister catches the cue. Both of them spread their wings in a regal display. “Duchess Cadance. Stand before us.”

Cadance frowns slightly before passing her foal to her aid and walking slowly to stand before the two royal sisters.

Celestia smiles. “I would not have made this decision this quickly if not for the urging of the lead mare of Herd Blush. Citrus Blush, please stand before us as well.” She pauses as the yellow mare moves to stand next to the Duchess. When Citrus is standing, and trembling a little, she continues. “Duchess, you should know that Citrus came to me, and told me of her feelings towards you. First after your meddling in her herd’s affairs, by pushing Twilight Sparkle in her heated state into a sexual relationship with Tim, the lead stallion of Herd Blush. She explained the feelings of betrayal, of the pain and damage your meddling caused on their new relationship.”

Cadance opens her mouth to speak, but is silenced by a look from the solar princess. “At my behest, she explained how the herd had treated the young human, so outside his social norms, they treated him as a stallion who had strayed. And she had explained how they finally understood that what works on intrinsically herding ponies doesn’t work in the same manner on humans. Who have different cultural roots as we ponies do. And how that treatment nearly broke his heart.” She looks warmly at Tim. “And how they had to work to heal him, understanding how utterly different he is compared to the ponies of Equestria.” She stops for a moment, looking at all assembled. She notices the blush on Citrus’ face. “Take heart, Citrus, your impassioned plea on behalf of the duchess has been heard. But she must know all the ways your herd was affected.”

Citrus Blush bows her head. “I understand, Princess.”

Luna takes up for Celestia. “I will say I was against how lenient the sentence was for those transgressions, as the herd, the family, is paramount in our lives. A mare with child without a herd is anathema to our ways. Had Twilight gotten with foal in this transgression, the consequences to Herd Blush would have been far more devastating.” She looks at Twilight, who had also leaned forward and was starting to speak. She subsides quickly under the unyielding stare of the lunar princess. She clears her throat. “But, that unpleasantness is behind this family. Through the sharpness of blades and two brave stallions, justice was meted out, according to ancient rites that all ponies know.”

“The lead mare of Herd Blush has informed us of the actions of both Twilight in her continuing education of Tim, and her appeal to formally join the herd. As well as Cadance’s work to help heal this rift, to restore the trust vital to a healthy herd. Today, the herd is far stronger than before, stronger than that fateful day.” She smiles brightly. “So, as Citrus has requested, Duchess Cadance.”

Cadance bows. “Yes, Princess.”

Celestia looks at her sister before speaking. “It is our ruling that you are restored the title of princess. And you are restored all that said title entails. The lands you were forced to sell as retribution are sold, but the other holdings that you did not have financial access to are restored. At the end of the mandated twenty-five years, you may buy back your holdings from their current owners at a price you would have to negotiate with them. You are restored to the Canterlot Day and Night courts, and your access to the Royal Treasury is now restored. You are again to be known as Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.”

Tim looks around as whoops of joy rise in the throne room, as well as the pounding of hooves as the ponies celebrate. Though it’s amazing to him to see that the staff and guards of the castle seem to be the most exuberant when it comes to celebrating. He looks at Cadance, who has floated her foal back into her grasp, and she’s nuzzling Flurry aggressively with a hard blush on her face. She looks up at Princess Celestia. “Thank you, Princess.”

Celestia smirks slightly. “Come now, I know the lifespan of an alicorn such as yourself. If you had remained Duchess for a century or two, it wouldn’t really be much, I was thinking to leave you duchess for at least eighty years. I did not inform her of our decision, we simply said we would consider her words. And consider them we did. You did well in helping them heal. Be proud of your accomplishment here, Princess. You have turned your most angered detractor into a passionate advocate on your behalf.” She smiles at Citrus. “And you may have gained her as your friend. Now, Crystal Princess, do you have words for the ponies assembled?”

At those words, the entire throng of ponies instantly hushes, all eyes are on Cadance, whose wings spring out in surprise. She looks at her aids and staff, then at Twilight, and finally at Citrus Blush. She clears her throat. “Words cannot express the gratitude and love I feel towards you for your advocacy on my behalf. If I had known you were talking to the Princesses on my behalf, I would have counselled against doing so, as I did not believe I had done enough to warrant your advocacy. I merely had tried to show your herd that the bonds of love that you had forged before my actions were not broken, merely buried in pain. Truly, I have not done enough, in my eyes.” She stops for a long moment, eyeing Tim for a quick second before focusing on Citrus. “As I believe my work is not done, I want you to know, my husband and I, my herd, is open to you, to all of your herd, for anything you require.”

Citrus moves and places her head under Tim’s hand, getting him to run his hand through her mane. “Princess, I merely ask that you not be a stranger. As you wish to visit your sister-in-law, that means you wish to have her herd join her in visiting you, and our home in Canterlot is open to you as well. We are stronger with this mare, Twilight Sparkle, in our herd. You did know what she needed, and while your methods were wrong. The outcome could not have been better. Twilight is a valued and loved member of our herd. She will be a wonderful herd-mother to our first expected foal, and will hopefully contribute her own offspring in a time of her choosing.” She glances at Twilight, who blushes. “But between you and her, the work you have done, talking to me, to North, to Cayenne, to Tim, you have shown your heart to be true, and your intentions were pure. Our herd is strong thanks to you and Twilight.” She stops looking up lovingly at Tim before blinking a few times and looking back at Cadance. “I now understand that Tim is an alien to us, more than just in body, but in mind. We needed to understand that he thinks differently than a pony, reacts differently than a pony stallion would. Had we not had this realization, we do not know what else could have damaged our herd, simply through a lack of meaningful communication. And while we made those first steps to understanding our human. Your work helped us expand on that understanding. And Twilight’s teaching him our cultural mores has been equally valuable. I thank you for your work, and wholeheartedly accept your offer of continued openness.”

Princess Celestia smiles brightly. “Thus concludes this unfortunate event. Now, let us celebrate!”

---

Tim stops for a long moment, looking around the train station. Situated on the outskirts of the Crystal Empire, the station is grown crystal, just like most of the buildings here. Looking north, he can see the towering castle, Tim feels a pang of missing Flurry Heart, that little filly has been near him almost the entire time he’s been in the Empire. Once again, Twilight has not insisted on using the Royal coach. They are waiting with a small crowd of other herds as they wait to enter the train. As usual, the adults are eyeing him with his tall stature. Though living with his mares for his time in Equestria, he’s gotten pretty good at reading their body language. He doesn’t see anything more than wariness over the tall human. No actual fear. Though having a herd with him seems to keep any fear at bay. Citrus moves up and leans against his leg as they watch other ponies board the coach. Merely content to keep physical contact with each other. Silver has Cayenne next to him, and Twilight and North are sitting together, their tails intertwined as they all wait.

Tim looks down at the yellow mare. “Ready to head home?”

Citrus leans into his hand. “Oh, you know it.” I loved visiting the Crystal Empire, and there was so much to do, once we weren’t stuck in the castle due to Twilight’s allergies.” She blushes a bit. “I need to focus on my store for a while though. I’ve hired some good staff, but I need to make some more products.”

“And your volunteering at the hospital?”

“I’ve missed that so much! But don’t you worry, I’ll be spending as much time home as I can.”

Tim smiles. “Oh, don’t worry about us. I think Twi is going to be busy with the computer and internet rollouts, and I know that her duties as princess do take time as well. She’s already said she needs to spend a few weeks in Ponyville. She hasn’t seen her friends in forever, and she has duties as Princess she has to take care of too.”

Citrus nods. “So, the vacation was nice. But we need to get back to life now?”

Tim chuckles. “Well, sorta. I guess. We just need to take care of our lives outside of each other.”

She stands up, the crowd of ponies have mostly made it aboard, it’s time for them to start moving. “Well, yeah.” She looks up at him.

Twilight and North board the train, right behind her is Silver and Cayenne. Tim follows with Citrus and they work their way down the coach. Citrus humms softly as she walks. Their baggage has already been checked and loaded into the freight car. Tim smiles easily as the herd makes their way to a set of empty seats. Again, he ends up being the middle of the large, comfortable bench, with Citrus on one side, and Twilight on the other. The rest of his herd is facing him on the other set of benches. He looks around, the coach is about half full. Citrus continues humming as she leans against the human. After a bit, she huffs. “I don’t even know what song is stuck in my head.”

Twilight perks up. “You know, my horn has been itching today.”

Citrus’ eyes widen. “Yours too? What does that mean?”

Twilight reaches up and rubs her horn quickly before peering around the cabin. “I don’t see anypony using magic right now. Though I don’t usually feel that when some unicorn is doing something. I only really feel this when…” Her eyes widen as her ears perk forward. “Something big is going to happen, I can feel it.”

Citrus blinks a few times. “Huh? How?”

Twilight’s tail thrashes as she tries to keep herself from bouncing. “Magical harmony, or music of harmony, perhaps. The last time I felt this was when Pinkie Pie led nearly all of Ponyville in a musical parade.” She glances around the coach as the locomotive howls out before it starts to move, pulling the cars slowly down the track.

Tim reaches and puts his arm around the purple alicorn. “How much time ‘til this event happens?”

That gets a bark of a laugh from Twilight. “I have no idea. I don’t have Pinkie sense, but I can feel a change in the magical currents around us. Soon is the only word I can apply here.”

He says, “When I was a pony, I do understand what you are talking about when it comes to magic being important, especially to unicorns.”

“Tim, you know magic is so important to ponies. And I’m not just talking about myself, or even just unicorns. But all ponies.”

Citrus nuzzles the alicorn. “You sure that it isn’t because you are the element of magic?”

Twilight flushes. “Oh, I know it’s a factor. I’m not a completely corporeal being, much how Cadance isn’t, the same with Princess Celestia and Luna. It’s part of being alicorns. But magic is a part of our world. It’s integral to everything. It affects every pony, every unicorn, every pegasus, every earth pony too.” She nuzzles Tim’s cheek. “And over the last couple years, you have gone from being completely magically resistant to being the same as the rest of the ponies. Magic is a part of you too.”

Tim chuckles. “No kidding, you turned me into a pony mare by accident, Twi.”

Twilight ducks her head. “I said I’m sorry about that.” She’s stopped by a finger touching her nose, she scrunches up her nose cutely, and Tim leans forward to kiss her nose gently.

“Twilight, Love, I was never angry at you for it. I was scared, I didn’t understand exactly what was going on. But I knew you didn’t want that to happen.” Tim stops, blinking.

Twilight peers into his eyes. “Tim, is something wrong?”

He shakes his head. “No…” He rubs the middle of his chest for a moment. “I feel warmth, I feel something different there.”

Twilight glances down at his chest then puts a hoof on it, feeling gently. “I feel…” Her horn lights, the warmth in his chest intensifies a bit and he frowns down at Twilight, noting a small smile on her muzzle.

“What’s going on?”

Twilight looks up at him. “Magic, love.”

He feels the warmth in his chest as it expands, all around them within the train compartment familiar music to Tim starts to play. He wants to look around, but somehow, he knows where it’s coming from, it’s coming from everywhere, and yet, nowhere. This is a primal force, he has absolutely no control. He closes his eyes, the magic wants something, though. It feels, blocked, pushing against something. It somehow feels similar to when he was a unicorn. The magic has a will of its own, but it requires something. To let the magic loose, he must surrender to it.

He’s never been good at surrendering, in fact, surrendering has been a fight for him, something that he had to work on to have easy access to magic as a pony. But thanks to his time as a pony, he’s able to take a deep breath and let go his resistance. To his immeasurable surprise, it works and the magic surges within him as he starts to sing.

“Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.”

Everypony in his herd has sat up and is now watching him intently, and everypony in the coach is focused on his herd. He finds he doesn’t mind the attention. The magic is so strong within him. Though it’s cute, Citrus and Cayenne have identical looks of shock on their faces. Twilight, however, has a wistful smile as her horn is lit. The magic surges within him as it takes him deeper with a strong breath.

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence”

Twilight leans against his chest, mouthing the words silently as he continues to sing. Her lit horn allowing him to have some kind of connection between them. Her own emotions crash against his own, she’s feeling the power of that magic just like he is. Their connection in this moment is more intimate than sex, more intimate than their herd bonds. This is two souls touching. She looks up at him, and he can feel her love for him swell. Just as his love for her swells with the bright light shining in her eyes as tears run down her cheeks as she just experiences the music and magic as it surges through him.

“And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence”

Tim is having trouble believing that there is a limit to this magic. He feels as though an ocean of magic, of power, of strength, is pouring through him. Inside his head, though, keeping him from being terrified of the energy that he feels could burn him to a crisp, is Twilight Sparkle. Her power, her connection to him, her love for him, is keeping him safe. He can weather anything, with this mare. He reaches a hand out, touching Citrus, somehow that draws the yellow unicorn into this connection. He doesn’t hear her gasp as the power yanks her into the connection. Tim smiles, the presence of Citrus enhances the love flowing through his chest. He momentarily wishes for the rest of the herd to feel this, and Twilight’s own magic surges, bringing them into the magic. He shudders with the feelings of his entire herd flowing through him.

“‘Fools,’ said I, ‘You do not know
Silence, like a cancer, grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you’
But my words, like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells, of silence”

He shifts a bit as his voice swells as the song continues, his throat opening as the magic surges even stronger. Is there a limit to this? He has no idea, but the connection with his herd intensifies as they all are swept away as the music, the magic, flows.

“And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls"
And whispered in the sounds of silence”

He can feel the tears streaming down his face as the final bars of the song play and the magic lets him go slowly. He blinks, the power is gone, but its aftereffects are roiling through his body. “Woooooooooooooow.” He murmurs softly.

“That is human music?” Twilight asks softly.

He nods.

“That was…” Silver stops for a moment, trying to frame the emotions. “Beautiful. Captivating. Enchanting. Exhilarating.” His voice fails him. His throat works a bit before he speaks again. “Is all of your music like that?”

Tim barks a laugh. “Oh, no, there are a lot of really good songs, and I really love that version of that song. But no, most human music isn’t that exceptional.”

Twilight blinks. “That version? What do you mean?”

Tim smiles. “Sometimes artists will play a song that was popular years before, and maybe make some small changes to make it their own. And very rarely that version can become so much more popular than the original version did.”

Twilight frowns. “Did you know you sang that in your language, right?”

He blinks, “And you understood it?”

He looks around at his herd, all of them nodding. “How…why?”

Twilight leans into him. “It’s magic, love. It makes sense within its own confines, but we don’t always understand why magic does what it does.”

“It was crazy, Twilight. I felt that the magic wanted me, but it couldn’t start, it couldn’t surge until I consented, until I surrendered to it.”

She nods. “That is the nature of Harmony, Tim. The magic of Harmony is overwhelmingly powerful, but it requires a living mind, a soul, to guide it.”

“And what happened, where your magic touched me like that, and everypony…”

She snuggles up against him. “That connection couldn’t have happened when our herd was broken, with what I did, what Cadance did. But we are healed, and I think the magic knew that. You’ve been connecting with the magic of our world for the last few months, but I think with what happened just now, you are a part of us, part of Equestria.” She looks sad for a moment. “I don’t think you would survive going back, if we were able to find a way, Tim. Once you’re an Equestrian, no other land will do.”

He hugs the alicorn tight against his chest. “I miss my old life at times. But no, I don’t want to go, to leave you all.”

Twilight relaxes against his body. “I’m glad, love.” She says softly. The train’s rocking as they continue down the rails is relaxing for the only human in Equestria, and the alicorn on his chest slowly fades off to sleep, happy tears still slowly leaking from her eyes.

***

The distance involved means that a trip from the Crystal Empire to Canterlot takes a few days. But Tim enjoys the view out of their coach as they watch the mountains slide by on one side, and the great plains, the bread basket of Equestria, on the other. On the last day of the trip, they can feel the train slow down slightly as it starts going up the gentle grade that ends up with them at the city on the mountain. Tim really enjoys that part of the ride, since the terrain gets rather rugged, it means several tunnels as they slowly ascend, but also some seriously impressive trestles over some beautiful country. One major river along with several beautiful, nearly idyllic, valleys, then all culminating in a long tunnel where the train emerges into the station in Canterlot. With another howl of the train’s steam whistle, the train slows down and finally stops at the station.

As they are gathering their posessions and throwing away final rubbish, Tim notices Twilight is bustling about with the rest. “Aren’t you going to stay on the train, Twilight? Don’t you have to go to Ponyville?”

Twilight looks at Citrus, noticing her smile and she smiles brightly herself. “Oh, I don’t have to be there until the morning, I’ll just teleport from the house when I get up.”

Tim glances at the two mares and smiles himself. “So, we are planning on a herd evening together.” He does notice the young dragon is snoozing on his seat. “Spike going to Ponyville?”

She nods, moving over to nuzzle him. “Spike,” she says softly.

“Mrrph, wha?”

“Your next stop is Ponyville. Don’t oversleep.”

He turns over and waves a claw. “’m good…”

Twilight rolls her eyes and giggles. “I’ll tell the attendant, they’ll make sure he gets off. Wouldn’t do for him to make it all the way to Appleoosa.”

Tim follows the herd out of the train and they make it over to baggage collection. The family had all been busy spending bits. Twilight looks at the bags that are theirs and tsks. She lights her horn and all the bags disappear. She turns back and grins. “There, we don’t have to carry them so far.” Tim shakes his head, a smile on his face. Twilight is always doing simple things like that to make life easier, well, simple for her. She trots towards the exit, the rest of the herd in tow, with Citrus moving up to walk next to her. Those two mares walk side by side, talking quietly to each other, both of their tails waving back and forth. Noticing they are winking in unison as they talk. Tim smiles, they haven’t been celibate during their trip to the Crystal Empire, but there is just something about having sex in a strange bed that just doesn’t feel as comfortable. Tim is looking forward to their bed at home, he glances over at Silver, who seems to have noticed not only the female pheromones in the air with his herd, but how the mares are showing off their goods. He’s got a bit of a fifth leg going on there.

The trip through the city goes fairly quickly, being early evening, the streets are busy, but not crowded. They walk past restaurant row, and Cayenne smiles at the traffic around her restaurant. She’s been working with a few ponies in Ponyville to open up a second location. She’s not strong enough to teleport, but Twilight does take her back and forth from time to time to save her the time involved in rail travel. As they greet the ROG trooper at the door to their building. That mare is too well built to be simply a door mare, that’s for certain. They get a friendly nod back as they head into the elevator. He looks back at the entrance quickly as he’s heading into the elevator, one thing he’s always had to try to understand, the ponies aren’t nearly as interested in transportation in the same way that humans have. He doubts that they would ever build cars, not in the way he used at home. Though for cargo, that might be another story. Perhaps something he could bring up with Twi, he thinks as the doors close and the elevator heads up. The elevator stops for another small herd to exit before making it up to their floor. Citrus leads the way out, with Twi right behind her, the rest of the herd following with Silver next to Tim. Though Tim stops in shock, looking at who’s waiting for them at their door.

“Galileah!”

Next Chapter: Chapter 46. Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 28 Minutes