Luna's POV
One hour before dawn
Canterlot Throne Room

Unfortunately because of the war, it was our duty to stay in the throne room, now the war room, in case of war updates. The throne itself hasn't changed. It was still the queen-sized plush glory of a bed throne that we'd been graced with. And because of our pregnancy, we were royally thankful for it. We were currently laying on our side facing the doors and lightly rubbing a front hoof in thought. Thinking about the life that is currently growing inside of us. Like our sister and other herd sisters, I, too, want to wait and be surprised by the look of our foal at birth. We are curious, of course, but we want to wait all the same. As our hoof continues to rub against our womb and the growing life inside, our minds returned to some of our questionable choices in life that brought us here. And the love of our life that loved us enough to bring us together again. To help us let go of our anger and the past. And now look forward to our long future together. For better or for worse. We still question if we are fit for motherhood at times. The rest of the time we are thankful for the constant support of our other herd sisters. With their support and the support of our love, Emmit, we will be alright.

Our night captain, Swift Wind, did not look alright as she walked through the doors. She trotted across the throne room at a hurried pace with worry in her eyes. Trotted up the steps, gave us a sharp salute, then told us what our love feared the most. "Your highness? We have reports out of Horshoe Bay..." We hated it when she paused for dramatic effect. "The Pony of Shadows was seen heading directly for one of the Storm King's ships. As per orders, they did not engage but kept their distance to observe."

"Chrysalis?" we asked her.

She shook her head, "She wasn't seen anywhere around."

After a very unladylike horse-like snort, we rolled our eyes in response. "Chrysalis has the means to remain unseen, so there is an equal chance that she rejoined with the Storm King as there is for her still going alone. Unfortunately, all we can do is wait until she rears her ugly head again. The news that the Pony of Shadows is seeking out the Storm King is very troubling indeed." This time we were the ones that paused, but only to think for a few seconds about the best course of action. Then looked her square in the eye, saying, "Keep the ships close to the border around the major coastal cities under high alert. And notify every city on the eastern coast to prepare for a possible attack. When my sister and our husband wake up in an hour we will speak more about this. Where we are sure that we will dispatch more soldiers to strengthen the coastal cities, so if you wouldn't mind returning here in about an hour and a half?"

Swift Wind saluted with a quick nod, "Of course, your highness," then spread her wings and took flight toward the door to carry out her orders. After she left, it only took me a few seconds to figure out what to do with the rest of my time. Return to Ponyville and to Tia's cabin where Emmit was sleeping with her, Rarity, and Pinky with their foals. Emmit was probably still asleep and hopefully, there would be enough room for me to lay above them on their bed. After a quick stretch on the bed-like throne, I stepped down and started making my way to the instant teleporter to Ponyville.

Tia's cottage was small and was really made as one large bedroom with a full bath. Or like a luxurious hotel room in Canterlot. The layout was really simple with the large bedroom in front with the bathroom through a door in the back. After quietly slipping inside the cottage, I took a second to look around. Immediately to my right under the front window was a plush couch with a coffee table in front of it. A few hooves beyond that was the large bed with a cloud mattress with two bedside tables on either side. The foals were asleep in the large single crib at the end of the bed. The door to the bathroom was in the back left corner of the large room.

And asleep on the bed was Emmit in his wonderfully naked human form with Tia sleeping against one side, Rarity laying on the other side, and Pinkie laying on top of him with her head on his chest. What brought an amused smile to my face was how little Solar was fast asleep on her father's face. I had to suppress a giggle at the sight of the filly fast asleep laying across her father's eyes and forehead. And because the bed was larger than a king-sized bed, there was room for me to lay above their heads. The best way to get onto the bed and lay down without disturbing them was to use my magic to levitate myself onto the bed. After doing that, I got myself comfortable by carefully stretching myself out, so my front and hind legs didn't accidentally hit Rarity or my sister.

And watched my sister sleep with her wing resting across Pinkie's back with only the slightest of snores. Pinkie didn't snore at all and neither did Rarity. Both Rarity and my sister had their forehooves wrapped around each of Emmit's arms. I also noticed that there was enough room for little Solar to lay on Emmit's upper chest, so I used my magic to gently and carefully lift her up and moved her to his chest. She only fussed during the move and calmed down snuggling against her daddy's chest after she was laid there.

That left his face open for me to lean over and place light kisses on his forehead first, then his nose, and then lightly on his lips. He was always a heavy sleeper, so he didn't respond much. Just hummed slightly and licked his lips before returning to blissful sleep. Emmit may have gone back to sleep, but I knew that my sister would be up shortly. She always woke up about thirty minutes, or so, before sunrise. And I wasn't disappointed as she began to stir from her sleep a short time later.

Tia began to wake up from her slumber with a wide yawn and a curl of her tongue that our husband always found cute. She raised her head after a few blinks and looks over at me. In her bleary-eyed half-asleep state, it took her a couple of seconds to realize who she was looking at. A smile spread across her face when she finally realized that it was her sister that she was looking at.

Good morrow, sister, I telepathically messaged her alone, so I wouldn't wake up the others. As much as I would enjoy staying here, we have duties to attend to. And there is news about Stygian. That woke her up instantly with her horn lighting up to teleport us outside. She teleported us outside facing each other where we could talk. "Swift Wind came to see me a short time ago with the news that Stygian has been sighted approaching one of the Storm King's ships."

I watched her eyes widen a little before looking off to the side with a sigh that told of frustration and disappointment. "His worst fears have been realized and the Storm King just got his most powerful ally yet."

"Indeed," was my soft and somber response. "I think it's obvious at this point that he wants the Storm King's help in getting revenge against the Pillars. I told Swift Wind to have our ships guard the coast and tell the East coast cities to watch out for possible attacks."

"Sensible precaution," she said with a short nod. "We need to wake him up and tell him his worst fear. And I'm sure he'll want to send more of our troops to guard the major cities."

"More than likely," I agreed with a short nod. "There is much to cover this morning."

"But right now, the sun and moon are calling us," she announced while she turned toward the east and started activating her magic to raise the sun.

Meanwhile, I turned toward the moon and activated my own magic to put it to rest for the coming day.

Our magic glowed and our bodies hovered just above the ground as the celestial bodies started moving in the sky. The Sun rose up in the East and the Moon started to set. And right after our duty was done and our magic dissipated, we heard faint giggling from inside. After we heard that, we both faced the cottage before looking at each other with a giggle. In the midst of the recent bad news, the sound of a filly giggling with laughter and joy will always bring a smile to our faces. And with those smiles on our faces, we headed back inside. To see a sight that had our hearts swelling with joy. Emmit was holding little Solar up and blowing against her belly to make her giggle and laugh. Pinkie and Rarity both looked on with wide motherly smiles of their own as we did when we walked in and saw the sight. This, of course, woke up Bruce and James, so both of them started crying because they were hungry.

"And I believe that our duty is calling," Rarity giggled happily and used her magic to carefully lift both foals from their single crib and onto the bed for them to feed. While Rarity levitated the foals over, they all shifted on the bed, so Pinkie and Rarity were facing Emmit. Emmit had turned over on his side to face them while playing with Solar near his head. With a smile, I motioned to my sister to get on the bed with my head before climbing onto the bed. I took position behind Emmit's wonderfully tight ass while Tia laid down behind his back and laid her head on his shoulder. Meanwhile, I laid my head down on his hip and moved my hair around to cover up his modesty.

While little Solar was busy giggling and laughing, I heard Tia whisper into his ear about needing to return to Canterlot and the throne room. When she mentioned that Stygian approached the Storm King's ships, he stopped for a second to look over at her. A somber look flashed across his face before returning his attention back to his daughter.

"I'm hungry, daddy," little Solar squealed out with a giggle before her father lowered her back down onto the bed.

All of us giggled, along with little Solar, when he gently booped her nose, saying, "Hi hungry, I'm thirsty. Nice to meet you."

"How about we all get pancakes?" Tia suggested making little Solar simply dance in place saying yes over and over again.

"I think that settles it," Pinkie giggled happily while James happily suckled on his mother's teat. "We can go to Twilight's castle and use her ridiculously big kitchen. She has everything there to make them."

"And see how the rest of the Pillars are doing," I added.

"That, too," Emmit agreed with a nod. "On the way there, I'll see if Fluttershy, Rainbow, AJ, Ember, and the CMC want to come. Let's just make it a herd community breakfast."

"I think that's a great idea," Rarity chipped in.

Of course, we had to wait until the foals were fed and happy before leaving. While we waited, Emmit contacted the others about breakfast at Twilight's after talking with Twilight first. Once the two foals were fed we left for Fluttershy's first for her, her two foals, and Ember before heading to Twilight's castle. Through the telepathic link, the others let us know that they would meet us there. Meanwhile, little Solar was happily riding on her daddy's head as we made our way across town.

While walking through town beside Emmit, it did my heart good to watch him with not only little Solar but how loving and caring he is with his other foals. He strives to give his best to all his foals, to keep his herd in one place, and even wants to educate them himself. He is wanting to go above and beyond what would be expected of a normal stallion father. And because he's not here all the time, he encourages his herd to help each other as often as needed. I saw all those things during our walk to Twilight's castle.

Ever wondering if I would be a good mother, I've watched Tia go from the same amount of uncertainty about being a good mother to being a good mother. While watching the others do the same as well, my own fears about my insecurities about motherhood were slowly fading. Fading because of the instincts that I've been starting to feel and the herd that I'm in. Because both Twilight and I are pregnant and feeling unsure about motherhood, the others have already stepped forward to help assuage our fears.

When we got to Twilight's castle, Pinkie immediately went to the kitchen to help with breakfast. What I've always found odd with that mare was how almost anything and everything can be brought out of and put into her mane. Apparently, that included her son. She carefully lifted him up and put him in her mane. At first, I thought he would disappear but he didn't. His head was sticking out of her mane just above her head and showed him quite content to snuggle into her mane going back into a sound slumber. Things may have disappeared into her mane before, but this time her mane seemed to act like a cloud to a pegasus for her son. It was so odd and yet fascinating to watch as she walked down the castle's hallway toward the kitchen to help Spike with breakfast.

And I wasn't the only one to think this either as Emmit commented, "I swear Pinkie's mane is one of the wonders of this world," while watching Pinkie half walk and half skip down the hallway.

"I got worried for him when I first saw her do that," Fluttershy giggled with amusement. "Until she told me that she's been doing that with the Cake twins."

"Good morning, all," Twilight cheerfully greeted us as she walked up to us in the front foyer of her castle. And walked right up to Emmit, lowered his head gently with her magic, and greeted him with a very warm welcoming kiss. "How is everypony?"

"I was just going to ask that, actually," Emmit chuckled as he looked down at Twilight. "The Pillars and Miss Berrytwist specifically."

"Yeah," Twilight said the word slowly as if she was humming to herself in thought. "The Pillars are doing as well as expected for ponies who have been trapped in limbo for a thousand years. Mistmane is choosing to stay in her room and won't come out. As for Miss Berrytwist, she wants to talk to you."

I watched Emmit give her a quick nod, saying, "Yeah, haven't had a chance to talk to her yet." Then looked back to us, "I'll see you guys later, I want to check in with Berrytwist and Mistmane." He then sat his butt down on the floor, gently took his daughter in his front hooves, gave her a kiss, and said, "Daddy needs to go talk with a couple of ponies then I'll join you for breakfast."

"Ok, daddy," little Solar told her daddy then gave him a hug and a kiss before she was hoofed over to her mother.

^_^

Emmit's POV
My first stop was Mistmane. It was simply because she was staying in her room that I wanted to check up on her. There could be all kinds of reasons why she would want to stay in her room and quite frankly, I was curious. So, after reaching her room, I knocked on the door. "Mistmane? It's Emmit. Can I come in?" I didn't hear anything other than the sound of the door unlocking and opening a crack as the obvious invitation. I didn't know what to expect after walking in. What I saw, though, was Mistmane sitting on the bed and facing me with a look that showed mostly frustration and irritation with a little bit of upset thrown in. And some of it was directed at me. Why you might ask? Perhaps that's because there was four long reach back scratchers in her magic and she was using that to scratch herself from head to tail. And now I knew why she was keeping herself in her room. "Ah," I said simply while walking up to the bed and setting my butt down on the floor. I was also looking rather sheepishly at her because of how irritated and upset she is that her whole body was itching. "Yeah. The bad news is that your entire body will itch. The good news is that you know it's working. And by the look of things, for only about another day." And to add to that, I gave her an exaggerated happy look.

She didn't say anything. She just kept looking at me with the same look while she used the scratchers on her.

"I think it's fairly obvious that the others would be worried about you, so I decided to check on you. And now I know why you want to stay in your room," I told her. She didn't say anything, just kept scratching. "Is that the only reason though? Because even though you look a little younger, it's not glaringly obvious at this point. So, is there another reason?"

The look on her face softened and she even started blushing. At that moment, I knew that there was definitely another reason. "As I said yesterday, I had always hoped to have a foal of my own. That hope was taken away that day. Now that I can have a foal again after this is all done, I want to surprise him with my renewed younger self."

And there it is.

"Oh? Who? I promise I won't tell."

Now she was really blushing. "Rockhoof," she said like a schoolgirl with a crush and a deep blush to match.

With a big smile, I gave her a nod and offered, "If you don't mind, I'd like to let my wife Rarity know of this. She is not only the current holder of the Element of Generosity but also great at Romance. I know she would love to help you get ready for your reveal."

"I would like that," she told me with a thankful smile.

With that, I turned around and headed to the door. "In that case, I'll tell her a little later and leave you be to keep scratching even though it's not going to do any good." Right after I left the room and shut the door behind me, I thought my ears picked up the sound of something hitting the door as if in irritation.

Next stop was Fizzlepop Berrytwist.

After reaching her door, I knocked and announced myself, "Miss Berrytwist? It's Emmit. Can I come in?" And waited.

After hearing her soft, and clearly nervous, "Come in," I opened the door, walked in, and shut the door behind me. She was standing in the middle of the room not far from the foot of the bed. With her ears laid back against her head and how she could hardly meet my eyes with her own, it was the classic nervous and I'm sorry for what I've done look. I also noticed that she had a suppressor ring on her horn. I just gave her a small smile with a well? look while walking up to her. At first, I don't think she knew what to say because she would look up at me and open her mouth to say something before looking away and shutting her mouth again.

Finally, though, she was able to quietly squeak out an, "I'm sorry." She took a breath as if to steady herself before lifting her head and meeting my eyes with hers. "I actually spoke to the Tree of Harmony after turning myself in. A part of me is still trying to process that." Her eyes widened, her ears lifted off of her head, and her voice got louder and more dramatic the more she talked about meeting the Tree of Harmony. "I actually talked to her. She told me how she told you to heal my horn and everything. How glad she was that I turned myself in. And she asked me what you asked me. If I was ready to start being Fizzlepop Berrytwist again. And I am." Now she was looking me in the eye, but now her face returned to the sorrowful one that I noticed before. "I don't want to be a soldier...anymore... But simply be Fizzlepop Berrytwist. And I recognize that the road ahead for me is going to be hard like the Tree of Harmony said. But I'll do what I can to make up for what I've done. The lives and countries I've ruined and destroyed for the Storm King."

"And because you are here, I believe you," I told her with a small reassuring smile. "You and the Tree of Harmony are right in that you have a long hard road ahead. And you can start down that road by coming with me to breakfast and talking with the Pillars." With a nod toward the door, I turned around and started walking to it. I waited to see if she followed me out the door and only after she followed me out the door did I tell her about the Pillars. "A pony named Stygian brought them together and was the brains of the group. He was the one that did all the research about the enemies they'd fight. Then one day he took their things to Ponhenge. They thought that he was betraying them, so they ran him off. Stygian felt betrayed, so he turned to darkness and shadow turning himself into the Pony of Shadows."

"Which Chrysalis just released and sought out the Storm King," she added as we walked down the hallway toward the dining room.

"Correct," I nodded at her. "After a lengthy talk with them, we speculated that Stygian's intentions were misunderstood. That this whole matter with Stygian becoming the Pony of Shadows is really a friendship problem between Stygian and the Pillars. Of course, straightening all this out is going to be difficult now that Stygian has sought out the Storm King and probably has joined forces with him. Probably wants to use the Storm King in order to get revenge."

"That would make sense," she agreed. Then asked, "So, what can I do? Why have me talk with them?"

We were getting close to the dining room, so I looked over at her and pointed out, "To give them hope that there is a chance that this can be resolved without any more killing. That they can once again have their friend, Stygian, back. But in order to do that we have to move quickly before he has a chance to do major damage."

"I'll try and do that," she said as we approached the dining room door. With a grateful smile and a nod, I opened the door for her and watched her walk in. Of course, she hesitated for a couple of seconds after she actually saw the Pillars sitting at the table. I noticed that Starswirl was still absent which got my mind wondering just where the hell he was and what the hell he was doing. Putting that aside, I noticed that the Pillars were all sitting next to each other on one side of the room with the others on the other side. Ember and my CMC were also curiously absent.

"Ah, Miss Berrytwist, come in and have a seat," Twilight greeted warmly from the head of the long table. With a quick nod, Berrytwist started walking to an empty seat at the other end of the table. Meanwhile, after Twilight turned her head back to the table, I morphed into my human form, stepped up to Twilight's chair, and pulled it away from the table. Twilight turned her head to look up at me with curiosity on her face, confused. Or at least was confused until, I picked her up, sat down in the chair, sat her down in my lap, and wrapped my arms around her. She, and others in the room, giggled lightly while Twilight did the same and wiggled herself in my lap to get more comfortable before leaning back against me.

"I see Starswirl still hasn't shown up," I spoke up to break the ice around the room.

Looks on the Pillars' faces ranged from mild dismissal to a sad look. "Aye," Rockhoof spoke first, "I would not expect to see him for another day or so."

"As we've said, he's always been a prideful one," Somnambula commented after taking a sip of her water with a disappointed look on her face.

"Yes, but I think that he has taken this exceptionally personal," Meadowbrook told us with a sad sigh. "For it was Stygian that approached Starswirl first before recruiting the rest of us."

"And he still doesn't know that Stygian has sought out the Storm King, doesn't know anything about modern-day Equestria, or that he is currently not in Equestria at the moment." As Tia quietly pointed that out, Twilight was putty in my hands as they lightly roamed over her growing baby bump as she hummed lightly in contentment. Her head was laying against my shoulder and her eyes were closed with a peaceful smile on her face.

"Which means, that he could inadvertently make this whole situation worse," Luna pointed out just as Pinkie, Spike, and AJ came walking in with a lot of pancakes. "And could jeopardize your goal in resolving this misunderstanding between Stygian and yourselves." Not wanting to disturb the current conversation, they just started passing out the pancakes to the plates they walked by in silence.

"If he does that then we might not get back our friend," Magnus pointed out their worst fear, but luckily that's when Berrytwist spoke up.

"There's always hope," Berrytwist pointed out while looking down at her pancakes like it is something she doesn't deserve yet with a hungry look. "I was the Storm King's second in command. My life was hard after I felt like being rejected by society after the Ursa broke my horn. So, I went where all the rejects of society go...Klugetown. It's a place of lawlessness where the rejects of society go. That's where I met the Storm King. He recruited me with the lie that he could restore my horn." She paused while looking down at her pancakes while poking at them with her fork. "Soo eager to get my horn back, I fell for it. I would do anything he wanted as long as he kept promising to restore my horn." All eyes and ears, except the foals, were focused on her and listening to her. "He had promised that after he gets all of the power from the princesses he could restore my horn. I finally figured out that he was lying all along after I led the invasion of Klugetown a few days ago." She paused again, looking up from her plate, and gazed over at me with a thankful expression. "Then I met Emmit and he told me the same thing. Only he presented evidence that he's already healed two ponies already. I took a chance but when it didn't happen immediately I went rogue. And left the Storm King's forces. Only yesterday did I meet and talk with Miss Derpy. She told me how it felt when she was healed. That's when I felt my horn was fully restored. I surrendered to Princess Twilight immediately after that, talked with the Tree of Harmony herself, and here I am." She paused for another breath before looking over the table at the Pillars. "I guess you could say that I'm proof that there is always hope."

Wanting to put in her own story, Starlight Glimmer spoke up. "Sunburst was my only friend growing up as a filly. But after he got his cutie mark, he moved away and I lost my only friend. I blamed all cutie marks. After finding the Staff of Sameness, I started removing everyponys' cutie marks in a small village. Twilight and her friends stopped me and that's when I vowed revenge. After finding Starswirl's time travel spell and finding out that combining that with the map table, I could travel to any point in Equestria's history. I sought to destroy Twilight's friendship with her friends by going back in time to stop a specific event from happening." She took a second for a deep breath before continuing while looking over at the Pillars. "It worked, but every timeline she and Emmit went through was worse than the last. The very last timeline that we all met in... Nothing was left of Equestria. It was nothing more than a desert wasteland." I watched the Pillars look at her with total disbelief on their faces. "They convinced me to give up and surrender. I didn't realize how important friendship really is to not only myself but all of Equestria."

"Then we will fight for Stygian's friendship again and apologize for misunderstanding his intentions," Magnus encouraged and cheered right before digging into his pancakes.

"Yes, you will but let's have breakfast first," Pinkie encouraged.

^_^

Emmit's POV
One hour later
Canterlot's throne/war room

Twilight sat in my lap throughout lunch as she fed me pieces of pancake as conversation commanded around the table. The whole time, I always had one hand on her growing baby bump. I was able to tell the Pillars that Stygian has sought out the Storm King and that somehow I'll seek an opportunity for them to talk with him. But for now, I wanted them to stay here and learn. Learn about the modern world, learn from the Tree of Harmony, and learn from Berrytwist and Starlight Glimmer. I told them that once there was a game plan in place then they could come with me to attempt to talk with their old friend.

After breakfast, Tia and I needed to return to Canterlot for the war debrief. Luna wanted to speak to the Pillars more before going to bed, so she stayed in Ponyville. Twilight wanted to come and with no real objections, she accompanied us to the war room. Personally, I think that she wanted to check up on the fast travel portals that were being set up by the Equestrian Military thanks to her research. We did get a surprise after arriving in the throne room.

"Cadence!" Twilight called out to her old foalsitter slash sister-in-law as soon as she saw her. And half flew and half galloped over to her for a hug. I noticed that Shining Armor wasn't here, just her. While Twilight and Cadence went through their greeting dance, I took notice of the others present. Solar Captain Bronco Thunder and Lunar Captain Swift Wind were there, but that wasn't surprising. Besides being surprised by Cadence's visit, Queen Novo was also there. It was an easy guess why she was there because there was lust in her eyes and a wiggle in her eyebrows as her eyes locked onto mine.

"I'm going to say hello to Cadence, so why don't you greet Novo?" Tia suggested while nudging me in Novo's direction then walked off to greet Cadence. So, I turned and walked over to greet Novo in my fox form. And by the sultry look on her face, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect.

"Queen Novo, it's good to-" is all I got out as she interrupted me with a deep lip lock. Tongue and all, she lunged in for a deep kiss as soon as I got close. A second after she started french kissing me, she reached up with her front claws and grabbed my head to keep it in place. For a couple of seconds, my mind warred with itself on whether or not to return the kiss. Did Tia know that Novo was here and told me to greet her because she knew this would happen and is alright with it? Even if that's the case, what about the others? I'll have to admit to being tempted, but I decided to play it safe. Let it happen, but not return her kiss in an overly open fashion. Which meant that I sat there with wide eyes as she french kissed me. And even though, I wasn't making it apparent that I was returning the kiss, I did, however, tongue wrestle with her. Being happy with that, she pulled away from the kiss after another few seconds. Then urged me to turn around to face the others. After I did that, she stepped up beside me and leaned against me as if she was already in the herd. Pressing her body against mine, she even went so far as to put a wing over me as she steered us toward the others.

The Lunar and Solar captains were on my right while Twilight, Cadence, and Tia were on my left as we approached them. Twilight was sitting down with a hoof against her growing baby bump and telling Cadence, "Oh yes, the meat cravings have already kicked in. They kicked in about a month and a half ago."

"I don't know if I could put up with that," Cadence responded with a wince with some disgust thrown in.

"I've been learning that there's a lot that a mother will put up with and do for their foals," Twilight told her with that motherly glow about her.

"I know I would for his foals," Novo's voice was enthusiastic when she said that statement. And it took me a few seconds to realize just who she was referring to when she said, his. "But we can talk about our future later. What about the war effort?"

Our future? Wait...she's talking about me?

"Yes, please debrief us, Captains," Tia gave a single nod to Novo then turned toward both Captains, giving them her full attention. Meanwhile, I was looking between Novo, Tia, and Twilight to see if either Tia or Twilight would react to what Novo just said. When neither of them said anything, but just ignored the remark and gave their full attention to the Captains, I even looked at Cadence for help. Even she didn't say anything, not that I expected her to considering she's not in the herd. In the couple of seconds it took for all this to run through my head, I had already decided that it must be a prank and gave my full attention to the debriefing.

The Lunar Captain spoke first. "Early this morning, our scouts reported seeing the Pony of Shadows approaching one of the Storm King's ships without Chrysalis' presence. At that time, our scouts didn't see any sign of the Storm King."

"It's clear that he's searching for him," I commented somberly with a look to match.

"Yes, sire," the Solar Captain agreed with a firm nod. "We think we've spotted the Storm King on a ship that's patrolling around the Gallopinghost Islands. There was a ship there that is the largest in the fleet and heavily armored and gunned with a creature there that we'd never seen before. An ape-like creature that's giving orders and clearly in charge."

"What's the full description, Captain," Twilight asked, curious as if she was on to something.

"A grayish-looking ape-like creature with horns on his head that stands on two hooves with two arms and hands," the Solar Captain told her.

Twilight sighed with a nod, "That's him alright. Sounds just like what Miss Berrytwist described to me yesterday."

The doors to the room opened interrupting us as a pink and blue changeling wearing solar armor walked in. There was a sheet of paper in his magical grasp as he quickly trotted over to the Solar Captain and hoofed it over with a salute. "Thank you, soldier," the Solar Captain said, returning the salute and began reading while the changeling turned around and headed out of the room. None of us said anything as we waited for him to say what was in the report. Tension in the room rose when he finally did. With a somber sigh, he lowered the report and looked over at us. "The scout squad patrolling the Gallopinghost Islands reported the Pony of Shadows talking with the Storm King on his flagship close by. Less than an hour ago."

"Damn it to hell," I cursed softly, hanging my head a little now thinking aloud. "Now it's going to be even harder to get the Pillars and Stygian to talk with one another."

"Pillars? Stygian? What do you mean?" Cadence asked, now very curious when she recognized the names. And looked at Twilight for the answers.

With a soft sigh, Twilight looked at her sister-in-law and started explaining. As she did so, Cadence eyes started to widen in excitement. "After collecting the Pillar's artifacts, we met here to put them into a secure vault. But Chrysalis surprised us and took them to Ponhenge where she freed them and the Pony of Shadows. The Pony of Shadows is actually Stygian, the pony that brought the Pillars together starting with Starswirl. After talking it out between us, the Pillars, and the Tree of Harmony we are fairly sure that this whole thing between Stygian, the Pony of Shadows, and the Pillars is really a friendship problem. Stygian took their things to Ponhenge where they thought that he was turning against them. We now think that his intentions were misunderstood. Thus leading us here to the current problem."

Cadence's shocked and excited eyes bored into Twilight's. "You mean that you've talked with Starswirl and the rest of the Pillars?" Twilight gave her a nod and a knowing smile. "To Mistmane?" Twilight gave her another nod and a smile with a soft giggle at Cadence for her antics. "Where are they now?"

"Ponyville. Staying with me at the moment," Twilight responded with another smile that was more than just a little knowing. She was teasing her old foalsitter with the news.

"I'm going to Ponyville to talk with them," Cadence said with determination.

"I will as well," Novo said while leaning against me, still with her wing around me. But now her tail was trying to wiggle its way between my hind legs. I didn't make it easy for her because I lowered my tails to cover myself. She was determined though, I give her that. Her tail was trying to push through my protection. "Not only to talk with them but also to see his herd community he's set up." She paused to turn her head and whisper into my ear, "And maybe even join it." Before any of us could say anything regarding that, she trumped what she just said with something else that none of us expected. "Besides, it may be necessary for us to marry."

Rare times have I ever been dumbstruck by news. This was one of those times. Twilight also appeared to be dumbstruck by it and not to mention confused. Tia wasn't as dumbstruck. "What do you mean, Novo?" Tia asked with a look that looked suspicious as well as curious.

"It's because your mother put a piece of the stone in his chest," she said simply while her tail was surprisingly making progress through my own tail defenses. Because she was making headway that just made her wiggle her tail with more determination. And I know what she wanted to do, too. "Because of that and his and Twilight's actions, a lot of my subjects have come to me and asked me if I was going to marry him. They are practically demanding it. When your mother put the stone in his chest, the others saw that as your mother making him king and I queen. Thus making them wonder, and practically demand, our marriage." Her tail got between my legs far enough for her to raise her tail up and press it against my sheath. Then start rubbing it slowly but firmly.

After she said that, Twilight was still speechless and looked at Novo with total disbelief. Tia, too, looked at Novo with unexpected surprise. I was left dumbstruck not only because of the news but because Novo had found another way to fondle me. I remember how they gave her permission to flirt with me, but isn't this going too far?

"In that case, there is much to discuss with the herd, Novo," Tia said to her said matter-of-factly then returned her attention back to Cadence and the two Captains. "How is the shoring up of our coastal cities coming?"

"Per Princess Luna's orders," the Solar Captain began, "we've sent a couple of squads each to the major coastal cities. Within these squads are hippogriffs, changelings, and dragons. We've found that the hippogriffs can be quite cunning, the changelings have the advantage of changing into larger creatures, and the dragons have their strength and thick scales to aid them. With their aid and the weapons courtesy of our majesty, we are confident that we can repel any attack."

"Yet, we need to ask if you know of the abilities of this Pony of Shadows?" the Lunar Captain asked curiously.

"We do not," Tia told them.

"The Pillars will, though," Twilight spoke up making me mentally slap myself for not thinking about bringing at least one of them here. "After all, they did fight against him for a while until sealing him away."

"Of course," I mentally slapped myself for not thinking it with a frustrated sigh. "I didn't think about bringing them here. But you're right, Twilight, they should know all about him." With that thought in my head, I looked at both Captains and offered, "If you two wouldn't mind coming with us, the both of you could get the information from them directly."

"It would be an honor, sire," Captain Thunder said with pride and excitement.

"As Luna would say, Indeed," Captain Swift Wind agreed with her own excitement in her voice and in her eyes. "I'm not going to miss a chance to meet them."

"And I'm looking forward to meeting Mistmane," Cadence echoed that statement with her own excitement showing.

"Follow me," Tia said to everypony before turning toward the side door.

As we walked out of the throne room and down the hallway toward the portal room, I mentally talked to Twilight about Mistmane. Twilight? You want to tell Cadence about Mistmane hiding in her room because her whole body is itching?

Oh yeah, that's right. You told me that she came to you wanting you to try and restore her youth.

And it's working. She is getting younger but her entire body is itching as a side effect. Besides, Cadence will be able to help her prepare to reveal herself to Rockhoof. Being the Princess of Love and all. I've already asked Rarity to do the same.

Meanwhile, Novo literally walked against me with her tail still rubbing my sheath and balls in more than just a teasing manner. I swear she was trying to get me aroused and presenting myself outright. I would have excused myself from the upcoming meeting with the Pillars if I could just to get away from Novo. You'd think I'd be ok with her fondling me like this. And normally, I would be. But I'm married now and with a herd, so I'd rather have sex sometime this year. What was curious, was how neither Tia nor Twilight was in a hurry to stop Novo's fondling either. And by the time we got to the teleportation room, my body was humming with arousal and my cock was threatening to make an appearance from its sheath. And one thing I didn't want to do was go to the meeting with a hard-on.

Tia? Twilight?, I mentally asked them to get their attention just as we walked into the room and up to the teleporter. Could either one of you stop Novo from fondling me at the very least? And immediately after I asked that, Twilight stopped in the middle of the room, turned her head back to look at me, and did her best Rarity impression.

"Emmit, daring? Would you be a dear and carry me? My hooves are getting tired from all this walking." At the end of that, Twilight rapidly blinked teasingly. And that was just the excuse I needed to quickly dart forward away from Novo, quickly morph into my naked human form, and to the amusement of the Captains and Tia, and picked Twilight up in my arms. Cadence blushed heavily as she watched me pick up Twilight and carry her bridal style. She looked up at me with happiness in her eyes and a giggle in her throat before reaching up with her hooves to bring down my head for a light lingering kiss.

Thank you, Twilight, I mentally told her while returning her kiss gratefully. Then walked over to the portal.

Twilight and I were the first ones on the other side. Cadence was next and still blushed when she walked up to us. "Are you really going to walk through town naked like that?" she asked while taking glances down below.

"He's done it many times before," Tia dismissed as she appeared and walked up on the other side of us from Cadence. "Besides, it's not like he's going to be arrested or anything," Tia giggled and with her wing urged us to start walking. "Plus, he's great to look at," she added teasingly as we started walking to Twilight's castle.

^_^

All the way through town, I noticed that Cadence was taking glances at me. It wasn't just her either, but some of the mares that we walked by on our way through town were looking as well. So, I don't mind others looking anymore. Which meant that I didn't mind Cadence looking. Not that I was encouraging her to cheat or anything don't get me wrong. So, there wasn't much conversation. Mostly because Twilight enjoyed being carried and had her head resting against my chest the whole time. That didn't stop Novo from teasing the possibility that she, too, will get the chance to be held like that.

Once inside Twilight's castle, I headed directly to the map room to sit on Twilight's throne and have her sit on my lap while the Captains were sent to gather the Pillars. While the Captains were away, Tia came to stand on one side of Twilight's throne while Novo came up to stand on the other side. I expected this, of course. But hopefully with Tia there, Twilight in my lap, and the meeting going on there she wouldn't tease me as much. At least she couldn't get to my crotch with Twilight sitting in my lap. Luckily for me, it wasn't long before the Pillars came walking in, still minus Starswirl. Cadence and Mistmane weren't there either which told me that they were talking in her room.

Applejack wasn't here because she's, more than likely, at the farm working which is probably where Apple Bloom is. Rockhoof was there and actually stood by AJ's throne. Flash decided to hover above Rainbow's throne as Rainbow herself sat on it. Pinkie sat on her throne with Somnambula standing next to her.

Wait...

If Pinkie's here...

Then where's my daughter? I didn't immediately see her around, so where could-

"Daddy!" came her voice from above. And upon instinct, I looked up. Which was what she was waiting for because she divebombed me from above and latched onto my face. Happy that her daddy was back, she kept giggling and kissing my face. That broke the ice, so to speak and because I couldn't say or do anything at the moment, Tia took over.

"Thank you all for coming back," she began with a little mirth in her voice because of our daughter's antics. "We needed to speak to you again regarding Stygian and what he's capable of doing while he's still the Pony of Shadows. Because he has been seen speaking with the Storm King, we need to know what magical abilities he has." She paused to give the two Captains a nod of her head, signaling for them to speak their thoughts.

Solar Captain Thunder went first as he cleared his throat. "A little while ago we witnessed the Pony of Shadows talk with the Storm King. As we've been informed, he's out for revenge. So, our fear is that there are some dark and or shadow magical abilities that he could give, either temporary or permanent, to the Storm King's forces. If you have such information that would be greatly appreciated."

There was a short pause before Somnambula spoke up with a somber look on her face. "You are still planning on speaking to him, yes?"

"If we can, Somnambula," Tia told her while Twilight moved to the side a little so I could hold Solar against my chest with one hand. "However, because he is now in contact with the Storm King, that makes it increasingly difficult. We will try our best to get you all an opportunity to try and reason with him. But how do I measure that against him taking the lives of my little ponies?"

The Pillars looked sad and downhearted, to say the least. Especially after Lunar Captain Swift Wind pitched in, "All we are saying is that there is a real possibility that you might not get the chance to even talk to him. Not to mention long enough to try and talk him into being your friend again."

One by one, the Pillars looked at each other before Flash said, "We understand that."

"Has Starswirl contacted either one of you yet?" Twilight asked, sounding hopeful. But that was quickly dashed when each one of them shook their head.

"From what we've seen," Meadowbrook began softly, "all shadow magic is available to him. As well as a fair bit of dark magic. But I guess the worst is how he uses shadow magic to take over an animal or even a pony."

"Aye," Rockhoof's deep Scott accent was depressed and filled with sorrow, "it was after he started usin' that blasted magic tha' we made our mind about trappin' him and us in limbo."

I thought it good that Fluttershy wasn't here to hear that. "How'd you help the ponies under his shadow mind control magic?" Rainbow asked while glancing up at Flash with concern and worry in her eyes.

"We couldn't, lassie," Rockhoof nearly slammed his hoof into the floor in frustration and anger. And with one look between Tia and I, she used a sleep spell on Solar to put her to sleep, so she wouldn't hear the rest of what had to be said. And with our daughter asleep against my chest and no other foals present, Rockhoof continued. "After a pony is taken over by his shadow magic..." He couldn't finish it but just stared down at the table with his whole body shaking slightly in anger.

"They perished," Meadowbrook finished for him with her own anger and sadness on her face and in her voice. "We tried everything we could think of to save them..."

"We've actually encountered something similar before," I mentioned as their eyes met mine, now with hope in them. "The Shadow Organization that I told you about used dark magic to temporarily take over a young colt's or filly's mind long enough to ponynap them. It was only temporary and luckily didn't physically harm them. But their leader was able to remotely kill her followers. After losing three, Luna and I were able to figure out how she did it. With that in mind, hopefully whatever means that Stygian will be using is similar that Luna and I can figure it out. But if he does it en masse then we still can't save everypony even if we do understand it and have the means to counteract it."

"Even in the darkest of days, there is always hope," Somnambula spoke up with her voice filled with assurance with Pinkie resting a gentle hoof against her shoulder with a small smile.

^_^

Chrysalis' POV
At the same time
Storm King's Flagship

The Storm King's ship was the largest in his fleet, such as it was. And The Storm King being who he was had large windows in his captain's cabin under the wheelhouse that opened outward. I didn't want anything to do with the Storm King again and still tried to tell him the same thing. But he wouldn't listen. So, he was currently inside still talking with the ape while I was sitting on one of the open windows disguised as a hawk. This way I could listen in without being noticed.

"Doesn't last long," I heard from the Storm King after hearing a thud from a body falling to the wooden floor. The window was open all the way, so I couldn't see inside the cabin. Not that I needed to. "But it doesn't matter," the Storm King continued dismissively, "because there is more fodder where that came from. And there are numerous cats that I can draw on as mindless soldiers as well. And that's just from one of the countries I've conquered." There was a short pause as a door opened and I heard some shuffling about, which was probably the body being removed before he continued. "I'll just overwhelm them with numbers as I've done with Panthera. They were easily conquered."

"Fool!" I heard the Pony of Shadows cry out in a cautious voice. "Do not underestimate modern-day Equestria. I've felt their weapon for myself and Chrysalis has told me that their ships have similar and more powerful weapons than the one that injured me. Which has already taken out at least two of your ships by what Chrysalis has told me. And they have those ships patrolling their coast. You won't even get close to a city much less make use of my abilities. You've lost your second in command and you've lost Chrysalis. I would suggest taking my advice. Star Swirl did before he betrayed me."

While the Pony of Shadows was talking I noticed a male hawk fly up and landed nearby on the same open window. Even though he was only a wing distance away, he wasn't doing anything, so I ignored him.

"Then what would you suggest?" I heard the Storm King ask.

What I didn't see, because I was ignoring him and paying attention to the conversation, was how the male hawk had scooted his way over to me. But I didn't even notice him until he put a wing around me. He was actually trying to make a move on me? Turning my head toward him, it was easy to send a powerful shock to his body which had him falling down to the Islands below, unconscious. With a smirk, I turned my head back to the open window and the conversation hoping that he might hit his head on the rocks below and die. Chrysalis lets no creature make a move on her.

My mind immediately thought of Emmit unexpectedly. Ok, except for Emmit. He can make a move on me. He can rut me again if he wanted to.

"You can do that?" I heard from the Storm King.

"I can, but for only one ship at a time," the Pony of Shadows replied.

Damn it, I missed what he said. Not that it really matters all that much. I have to figure out a way to convince the Pony of Shadows to leave the Storm King and join me. Only by conquering Equestria can I have it all. And I want it all. Emmit's words of a better life came back to me along with the traitor Thorax and how he's changed, quite literally.

"Then make sure you..."

But I don't want that life. I want to conquer. Memories of him bucking me while I was Daring Do came back to me. The feeling of his cock inside me had my body responding. But that's not what I want. Why does mommy have her mad face on? came the voice of the fake young filly came to mind again. The time when he showed me a possible future for me right before I was taken to be killed. But as he said before, we already have a family with the last drones that were produced from his seed. Shaking my head violently, I told myself again that I didn't want that life. With an angry screech, I took flight in hopes to fly away from my continually conflicting thoughts.

I

Don't

Want

That

Life.

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