The months have been passing slowly for the herd. Leah has gradually been spending even more time with the herd, to the point where she only stops by her apartment every so often. Her mail tends to go to the herd’s address. Tim had described for Twilight the idea of desktop computers, and given her knowledge of his laptop, the library of the apartment now has a brand-new desktop computer. Some ponies have not only learned how to write code, but new games and other applications have been developed, making the utility of the device increase with every passing day. Twilight had tried to pass off the burgeoning internet and computer manufacturing to Tim as well, but he had finally put his foot down. What he brought with him coming to Equestria is for all. He doesn’t need to profit off of the massive technical jump the ponies have been enjoying, thanks to learning about what his people had developed.

“Tim, you’ll never guess!” Twilight chirps, nearly vibrating.

He glances over at the purple alicorn, not shifting his body at all thanks to the pregnant mare in his lap who was currently getting belly rubs from her favorite human. “Judging by how excited you look, you found somepony to build a chip fabrication lab.” She stops, her eyes widening. Causing the human to chuckle. “See, Twilight, I do listen to what you are saying, love.” He reaches up a hand to touch his chin. “And given who you said you were going to talk to, I’m guessing the Royal Minotaur League is going to do most of the construction and manufacturing.”

She comes up to him, leaning her body against him. “My goodness, you do listen to what I say.” She looks lustfully at him for a long moment before blinking and shaking her head. “No, that’s not what I’m thinking of. I want to hear more human music.”

Tim frowns. “I told you, Twi. I usually listened to streaming services when I listened to music. What you had on the phone and what you were able to glean from the laptop.”

She giggles and rears up, her wings extending for balance. “Oh, I know, silly. I’m talking about you.” The alicorn gently boops his nose.

That gets the human to lean back, looking thoughtful. “I don’t know all that many songs by heart. I’ve written down the lyrics of some songs I remember for you already.”

She grins. “Oh, I know about that. I want more.”

“Twi, I wish I could give you access to our internet, let you access all the songs you would ever want to hear. Not just from American sources. But from all over the world. Humans have made amazing music for centuries.”

She looks at him, piercing him with her stare. “I know. But I’ve figured out a little bit on how we can hear what your culture has come up with. But it requires your consent. I’m not just going to blast you with magic willy nilly.”

Citrus perks her head up. “Wait a moment, Twi, what are you talking about?”

“You remember on the train, where the music of harmony was able to help Tim sing a song of his world?”

Citrus looks dubious. “I remember, but you can’t…”

“Oh, but I can. I would have no control what song. Pinkie Pie is the only pony I know that can initiate a song of harmony at will. But inside us, that magic, seeks expression. I can be a conduit. Songs that he’s heard, and loved, even if he can’t consciously remember the lyrics, he can still sing them.”

Silver Wing looks over from his bench, his magnifier on his head making his already large eyes look huge. “Twi, I know how the magic feels. I’ve been caught up in a Pinkie Pie song before, playing a guitar fairly well, even though I have no idea how to play otherwise.”

She nods. “I know, Silver. That’s the thing about the magic. It takes what’s available and generates what isn’t there. We have no instruments in the room right now, so the magic will make the sound.”

Citrus glances between the human and the alicorn. “But that magic is unpredictable. You can’t make it just pop into existence. There has to be a reason for the magic to express itself.”

Twilight nods. “Exactly. There has to be a reason. I tried to understand how the magic chose Tim before. Why all of a sudden on a train ride, he sings a beautiful song, in a voice that’s not how he usually sounds. I think I figured it out.”

Tims eyes widen. “Why?”

She hops up onto the couch, leaning her entire body against him. “You were resistant to magic when you came here. That’s why we had such a hard time healing your injuries, and to the point of making the translation spell in you was an absolute nightmare. You have gone native, been nourished and infected by our world, uour magic resistance is pretty much gone, and I think that was the first time the magic of Harmony was able to touch you. And so it did, strongly.” She nuzzles him. “And I think I can make it happen again.”

“You…can affect Harmony? As in the Magic that binds all the ponies and lives of our world? I thought that was too big for any one mage to deal with.” Citrus says, her eyes wide. Then she narrows her eyes. “And you want to experiment on Tim?” Her voice ends in a growl.

"I'm gonna stop you right there, Twi, you and your good idea fairy, y'all've caused me more than enough trouble."

Twilight takes a step back at the vehemence in her herdmate’s voice. “Citrus, if I thought for even a moment that this could harm Tim. I wouldn’t be even suggesting it.” Citrus relaxes slightly in response as Twilight continues. “It’s not just for my curiosity and wanting to know more of humans. Harmony has been magic that we have been trying to understand for as long as we’ve been learning about magic. Princess Celestia herself has very little knowledge of how Harmony magic works. She has asked me to learn what I can. But that’s independent of this. I simply think that Tim, being an outsider, not growing up with the magic of Harmony, the magic of Friendship, the way the ponies have, gives us a unique opportunity to learn.”

“To learn…” Citrus says, still having a bit of heat in her voice. She turns her head slightly to look into Tim’s eyes. “About magic and how it interacts with those without.” She stops, looking thoughtful. After a long moment, she looks at the alicorn, then at the human. “It’s your decision, love. I would love to hear whatever music your people have come up with. But I don’t want you to feel pressured into doing something you don’t want to do.”

Tim looks at Citrus, then at Cayenne, who’s nearly catatonic under his ministrations, then at Twi. “I’m curious. I was able to, with your help, remember quite a bit that I didn’t fully pay attention to when I was younger.” He reaches out a hand and touches the alicorns cheek. Smiling when she leans into his touch. “Whatever you think will help unlock more of my people for you to learn about us. I’m open.”

“Awwww. Does that mean my bewwy wubs are done with?” Cayenne says dreamily. Getting a laugh from everyone else.

“Love, he’s been rubbing your belly for over an hour now.” Cayenne says softly after her mirth dies down.

“Still not enough.” The mare pouts, then she looks at Silver. “You.”

Silver blinks, “What?”

“You got me into this situation. You are going to cuddle me. Now!”

Citrus giggles as her horn lights, picking Cayenne up off of Tim’s lap and floating her over to Silver. He had hurriedly snatched off his magnifiers before he grabs the unicorn, wrapping his wings around her as Citrus’ magic fades from holding the spicy mare. He guides her onto the floor and lays down next to her, his wing bringing her close as he wraps his forelegs around her. He rubs her side and back with his wing, getting her to sigh happily and snuggle closer.

Twi nods. “Okay, Cayenne is happy, now, lets see what we can do.” She lights her horn. “I’m not going to zap you or anything. Harmony doesn’t have one specific place. I’m basically playing with probabilities with my magic, to influence the chances of things happening.” She starts to grunt as the chime of her magic grows. “I can feel…” With a loud zap, her horn darkens and she looks at them, wide eyed. “Did that do it?”

Tim shifts a bit uncomfortably. “I don’t know…I feel…”

She leans forward. “I know I did something.”

Tim nods, warmth in his chest is rapidly expanding to envelope all of his body. “Yeah. You did something.” He murmurs as the heat grows. “I don’t know what…”

“Just surrender to the magic within,” Twilight chirps, her excitement plain on her face.

Tim blinks, the reason the heat was growing is he was fighting it. He’s safe, with those he loves, he can surrender. Though actually doing so isn’t the easiest thing in the world. He slowly opens himself to the magic, letting him feel the power behind it, and the gentle pressure builds. Music starts to play, he finds he doesn’t have to wonder where the sound is coming from, and he knows this song, but he’d never really thought about this one before when Twi and him have discussed human culture, but somehow, this one wants to come out. Finally, he surrenders, and the first verse pops into his head. A few more moments of the magic building, the intro has played, time to sing.

“You're just too good to be true.” Twi’s eyes widen and a huge smile grows on her face as he continues. “Can't take my eyes off of you, you'd be like Heaven to touch.” He accentuates the last word with a gentle touch on her cheek, getting a deep blush from the alicorn. He continues, looking at Citrus. “I wanna hold you so much, At long last love has arrived, And I thank God I'm alive.” He looks at North Point, who is looking up from her drawings, her mouth an O of surprise. “You're just too good to be true, can't take my eyes off you.”

Tim moves close to Cayenne, who is watching from being wrapped up with Silver. The magic is fully in control as the music fills their study. He grasps her hoof, looking into her eyes. “Pardon the way that I stare, there's nothing else to compare.” He turns back to Twilight. “The sight of you leaves me weak, There are no words left to speak.”

Leah has walked into the study, the bags from her shopping dropping to the floor as he comes up to her, grabbing her claws to have her rear up against him before running his hand along her cheek. “But if you feel like I feel, please let me know that it's real, you're just too good to be true, can't take my eyes off you.” He spins away from the thoroughly confused and blushing griffon. The music swells as he offers a hand to Twilight.

She smiles as her horn lights, her body reforming before them, to end up on two legs and she reaches out her hand to grasp his as he continues to sing. “I love you, baby, and if it's quite alright I need you, baby, to warm the lonely night I love you, baby, trust in me when I say.”

Leah has been having an absolutely miserable day. Starting off and dealing with her father. Apparently Gripthorn has been pressuring him to return the dowry. He’s fallen back on a major rule, once you’ve got their money, you never let it go. But the griff has his own political connections within Canterlot as well as back home. So, her dad has been having to spend a lot of his time and political capital to just stay in Canterlot. And with her being the reason he’s being pressured, he’s upped the pressure on her. To the point that her going to the embassy to even talk to him is an absolute chore.

Luckily, she doesn’t have to do so very often, but being his daughter means responsibilities, even if she’s technically disowned by him. Her head is down as she shambles slowly towards the herd’s building. She nodded at the guardsmare at the door. She swears, each new one is even more muscular than the one before. It’s not common knowledge that Twilight Sparkle spends a lot of her time here. She usually teleports home. Most ponies think she spends most of her time in Ponyville. And while she does spend time with her friends, she sleeps at the apartment most nights. The griff is utterly exhausted after a busy day. She grunted after putting a claw down after selecting the floor. Just everything is tiring today.

The elevator hummed as it rose to the top floor of the building before a soft ding and the door opened. She turned and made it to the door. She stopped with her claw on the door. Her apartment in midtown was tiny, but more than enough for her needs. Yet she spent most of her time at the herd’s home. She knew Silver was right, saying that she’s fully welcome in the herd, but sometimes, she felt like an outsider. She took a deep breath and opened the door. Looking around the entry foyer, she tapped the door closed with a hind foot before shambling into the kitchen and stopped, looking at the counter.

“What…?”

Silver stops from munching on an apple, looking at her. “Another one today. They are coming more often.”

The package sitting on the counter is wrapped in gold foil. She reached out a claw and touched it, yes, it’s real. Of course, it would be. She picked up the package and dumped it into the trash with a growl.

Silver blinked. “A griffon turning down gold? Don’t see that every day.”

She gave him a dirty look before turning tail and heading into the study and collapsing onto the sofa.

Only a matter of moments has the rich aroma of hot chocolate filling her nostrils, she opened her eyes to a steaming mug sitting on the table next to her and the pegasus of the house crawling onto the couch next to her and wrapping both his forelegs and his wings around her. For a long time, he simply held her, and she felt her stress bleed out. She reached out and grabbed the mug before taking a sip.

“Thank you, Silver,” she murmured softly.

“Just glad I could help. Tim would be doing this, but he’s out with Cayenne. Foal stuff shopping they said.”

She chuckled. “Every day closer, she’s nesting. Almost as bad as a momma griff.”

“That’s not a bad thing, ya know.”

She snuggled back into him, enjoying the closeness.

For a long time, both are silent, she’s able to make it through half the mug of hot chocolate before the pegasus spoke up again. “So, I know the gifts he’s giving you are expensive. They always come beautifully packaged. Though this was the first time it was wrapped in literal gold.”

She sighed. “I know, Silver. And the bit value of the gifts are great. If I wanted to, I could take them, use them for whatever I wish. I opened the first few, and some very impressive jewelry. And he’s even tried some of the things that Twilight and Tim came up with from his world. But that was abandoned quickly, because even though it’s expensive, it’s also stuff that we have already. With Twi and Tim coming home with engineering samples all the time for us to play with.” She huffed. “He’s spent quite a few bits to woo me.”

“And it’s not working at all?”

She shook her head vehemently. “Of course not, Silver! It’s not real, it’s not genuine. It’s not…” She faltered, unsure of what to say.

He frowned. “Not real? I don’t understand.”

She lazily gestured towards the trash in the kitchen. “He didn’t choose that. He didn’t go through the decision process to get it to me. All he did was pay for it.” She shrugged. “I mean, the money is good, and his willingness to throw crowns at me is not bad at all. A girl always loves gold being spent on her. But he didn’t put a thought into it beyond telling his assistant to find extravagant gifts to give to the chick he’s trying to woo.” She leaned back. “He would never think of getting me a big mug of hot chocolate and holding me tightly as I vent about my day. He wouldn’t offer me a warm place to rest without any other expectation of intimacy.” She turned her head and rested her beak gently on the cheek of the pegasus. “If he were holding me like this, he’d be wanting to mate. At my level, marriage isn’t for love. Marriage is for power. And I don’t want to be his trophy.”

Silver kisses her cheek gently. “If you were a trophy, you’d be the most valuable one ever made.” The stallion says quietly.

She can feel her heart beating in her chest. “I don’t deserve you all," she murmurs.

That gets a chuckle from the pegasus. “Of course you do, love.” He flicks his half ear. “Trust me, I know more than anypony the price of love. With Twi, and with you. I was content with just Citrus and Cayenne. Sharing them with Tim was great. I knew you were after the huge lug, but I didn’t know how serious you were.”

She turns around, wrapping her own wings and claws around Silver. “I was serious. I was as serious as could be. But I didn’t know…” She looks down, trying to form her thoughts into words. “I didn’t know what love was. I knew what I felt. I knew how I felt. But how to express it, to show it. That’s not common in my station in life. Looked down upon.” She stops for a long moment, tears bright in her eyes. Finally she looks Silver in the eyes and slowly moves to rest her beak against his muzzle, squeezing him tightly before pulling slightly away to look again into his eyes. “I didn’t care what other griffs felt about how I was acting. I didn’t even care what Princess Celestia or the ponies thought. I just wanted him, and not being able to wrangle my way between him and you all frustrated me to no end. Then, I figured it out. I didn’t need to act like a huntress, singling out my prey and cutting them off from the herd to have for myself. But I needed to add myself to your whole.” She again rests her beak against his muzzle for a long time before continuing. “What griffs do works out for griffs in general. But it doesn’t work for me.”

He holds her tightly for a long while, and eventually the two of them fall asleep, entwined together.

“Umm, excuse me.”

The soft voice gets the griff and the pegasus to stir slightly. After a long moment, Silver opens an eye and smiles. “Well, hi there, North.” He whispers.

North traces a hoof on the carpet. “You were snuggling, and I was…”

Guerina turns her head to look at the unicorn. “You wanna join us?” She asks. Getting a nod in return, she pulls away from Silver slightly with a smile on her beak. North wastes no time squirming to hold each of them and it’s not long before all three are blissfully unaware of their surroundings.

***

Tim has been trying to be patient. Citrus and Cayenne have been busy today, buying all sorts of foal necessities. The basics have long been bought and set up in the newly established nursery that was their third bedroom. They’ve even taken trips all over Equestria, getting nice things to decorate the nursery. Tim wants to grumble, this new foal is going to be the most spoiled child in all of Equestria, especially when Twilight Sparkle comes in regularly with something new for the filly.

Canterlot is very much a unicorn dominant city, nearly eighty percent of the citizens in Canterlot are unicorns. So, the vast majority of the stores are centered on unicorn specific items when they aren’t just in general for ponies. But Citrus today has gone out of her way to find The Feathered Wing, a pegasus centered store in the heart of the shopping district of Canterlot. Even though the proprietor happens to be an earth pony, so many things here are centered on wings. Cayenne finds herself stopping and looking at everything a pegasus can put in and on their wings to make them pretty.

From jeweled faux feathers to very fine gold chains to hang among the feathers, all the way down to lotions and oils, that the labels say is far better than the oils naturally secreted in a pegasus’ saliva for preening their wings and keeping the feathers bright and shiny. Tim gets around a display and runs straight into Rainbow Dash. He blinks and takes a step back. No, not Rainbow Dash herself, but a life size portrait of her, holding something. He glances at the words on the display then back at the picture. Dash is dressed in her Wonderbolt uniform. He puts a hand to his chin. “They’ve got her being a spokespony for…” He squints at the lettering, tilting his head. “Some sort of balm, I guess.” He mutters before glancing around and finding Citrus, who is standing at the register. He moves over to her as she floats a heavy stack of bits to the earth pony with the pegasus wing cutie mark. “You ready?”

Citrus smiles. “Home?”

At his nod she nudges Cayenne, who floats up a basket onto the counter. “I decided on a few things while you were getting that other stuff.” The glint of gold is quite evident in the basket. “Go ahead without me, I’ll see you at home.”

Citrus rolls her eyes and walks towards the store exit. She glances back a few times. “As if I’m leaving a pregnant mare who’s about ready to drop on her own.” The yellow mare grumbles. They exit the store and she moves up next to her stallion and leans up against him. She sits down, keeping up against him as she rummages through the bag with her magic. “We’ve got everything a young pegasus filly could ever need. And she’s buying even more.”

That gets a laugh out of the human, getting an odd look from Citrus. He puts his hand on her head, rubbing an ear lovingly. “You have no idea, Citrus. Back on my world. The things sold for babies would boggle your mind. Even real gold tiaras for babies. Or earrings, wanting to pierce the kids ears soon after birth.”

Citrus’ eyes are round. “Why?”

He tilts his head. “Vanity I think, wanting the prettiest children on the block.”

“Are human babies ugly after birth? Pony foals are adorable even when they are first born.”

He shakes his head. “Well, if they were born naturally, the head sometimes gets a little deformed in passing. But that clears up quickly. And while I’ve not really encountered all that many babies. The few I have seen in real life have been cute.” He looks at her. “Then again, you’ve got all kinds of stuff to pretty up a foal.”

She nods. “Well, I guess that’s a failing ponies and humans share. Wanting out kids to look their best.”

He grunts in agreement as Cayenne prances from the store, a large bag in her magic before she skids to a stop, looking at the two of them there. “I told you to head on home, I’d catch up to you.”

Citrus walks up to the spicy mare nuzzling her cheek. “Sweetie, you know we are going to stay with you.”

Cayenne hangs her head. “I’m pregnant, not an invalid.” She gripes.

Tim squats to get to eye level with her. “Twilight has explained more to me. Pregnant mares are the stallion’s job to protect most of all. Before you had civilization, and griffons were more feral. Not to mention other predators against you ponies. A stallion of the herd, usually the lead stallion, would stay near the pregnant mares all the time. Protecting them above all others. It’s pony instincts.”

“But you aren’t a pony.”

He tilts his head slightly. “Perhaps we aren’t as different as you may think, Cayenne. I’m finding I want to be closer to you when we are out, I want to protect you.”

“As if I’m in any danger in the heart of Canterlot.” The white mare grouses.

“Face it, Cayenne. You are stuck with us.” She moves around to be right next to Cayenne as the other mare starts walking, with Tim walking on her other side next to the street.

They walk for quite a while, both mares happily chatting as the human stays with them, but soon, Cayenne gets an odd look on her face and stops. She reaches her head back and nuzzles her belly.

“Something wrong?” Citrus asks.

“I don’t know, suddenly I felt…” She nuzzles her belly again before sitting down heavily.

Citrus eyes are full of worry. “We’ve got less than a month to go. Could you be ready now?”

Cayenne gives her a dirty look. “I was around my dams when they were pregnant. No, I’m not…” Her abdomen contracts as the mare gasps. “Or maybe not.”

“Time for the hospital.” Citrus declares. Nuzzling Cayenne to a standing position. “Let’s go.”

“No! I said I wanted to have her at home.”

“Twilight is out of town, some sort of friendship problem her note said. If she were there, I’d be fine with it, but she’s not. So, we are heading to the hospital. If you want, you can have a water birth like you were thinking of.”

Cayenne takes a step back. “But…” She hunches as another contraction hits. She stands there for a long moment, enduring the pressure before it eases and she starts to pant. She looks up at Citrus, her eyes wide. “I think she’s in a hurry.” She looks at Citrus. “Please. I don’t want to bother the healers at the hospital. We’ll just call the OB on our way there.” She floats out her phone, then her magic fails as another contraction hits. Citrus is quick with her magic and keeps the phone from landing on the concrete.

Citrus looks at Tim. “I’m not nearly good enough teleporting with others, especially with her being pregnant. What do we do?”

Tim nods, reaching down and picking up Cayenne. “Which way is the hospital?”

Citrus points and they all rush down the street, the human's booted feet pounding on the pavement.