It was dusk as the queen of the alicorns of light looked at the horizon with the uncertainty she had for several days now. To commit such a grave and irrevocable action like the Abarasion Spell… To banish all adult alicorns into stars… She then shook her head in conflict with her doubts. It has to be done… It was then when the sound of clopping hooves reached the queen’s ears. Little Celestia was still up and the young princess with her pink mane approached her mother,
“Mommy? Why is father so mad at you and all the Light alicorns?”

Queen Faust sighed and rested her wing over her daughter,
“Your father first was afraid we would threaten him, Celestia… But this fear turned into blunt hatred. He sees us Light alicorns as sworn enemies that deserve to die.”

Little Celestia looked down sad. She remembered seeing some of her mother’s subjects at a gathering, were they all cried. But as the little princess asked them of why they cried, they stated that someone died. It was then that the little alicorn learned about the mortality of things beyond her mother’s palace walls. Alicorns didn’t die of age… So the only way for someone to cause an immortal alicorn to die was…? Obviously she had no idea. With big eyes she looked up to Queen Faust again,
“Mommy? How do alicorns cause each other to die? Aren’t we immortal?”

The queen now rolled her eyes slightly amused and slightly annoyed. This innocent little filly asks the most difficult questions all the time. I just hope you’ll get a daughter or something like that as well… With a heavy heart, the queen sighed again and bowed her head, before facing her daughter,
“They do a terrible act, Celestia. They commit murder!” Cocking her head a bit, Celestia didn’t fully seem to understand. But the queen pointed her hoof to the chest of the little filly. “They stab their horn into the chest of another alicorn and cause the other alicorn to bleed to death…”

Celestia looked at her chest and up to the queen again with tears welling in her eyes,
“That’s not nice!”

Shaking her head, the queen pulled her in and rested her wing on her in a protective manner,
“Indeed… It’s the greatest sacrilege we alicorns know. We mustn’t kill each other. And yet… Your father leaves me no choice. In order to protect our subjects, I had to wage war with him and tried my best to make him see reason. But it was in vain. Look at the horizon, Celestia… The fiery clouds you see are the edges of the center of the war. In its heart, hundreds die every hour… It is bedlam, it is madness!”

The young princess looked to the horizon and tried to imagine the many lives lost in this nonsense her mother called war. It was bad, she could tell by the way her mother frowned upon it. She tried to imitate this frown, but it just looked like she tried pouting the war away. Her mother saw this and smiled, nuzzled little Celestia for her effort, causing the little filly to chuckle,
“Listen carefully, my daughter… for we will never speak like this again.” With this the queen and her oldest daughter had a long talk into the night. As they ended, the queen sighed. “…For you see, my beloved Celestia… We alicorns committed too many sins in this war. I will cleanse the world of Equis of all alicorns but the youngest ones such as you and Luna…”

“Mommy? This will mean you will be gone forever, doesn’t it?”

Bowing her head to nuzzle Celestia, the queen nodded,
“I will be with you and Luna, my little pony. Even if you don’t see me. When you look up into the black sky and see it filled with thousands among thousands of little lights, you will know that I am one of them, watching over you and Luna.”

Little Celestia pouted a bit now,
“I know it’s for the better of our subjects… But still you’re gone!”

“Don’t fret, Celestia. You will have Luna and Cadance with you. Since they’re little foals yet, you will be their big sister and aunt and must protect them until you and Luna are old enough to rule over our subjects.” She then faced her young daughter. “And one other thing… Look at me, Celestia! The alicorn race is too powerful to be numerous. Swear to me you will do everything in your power to limit the alicorns to a minimum.”

The little filly was thinking and in this process seemed to mature a bit, as she stood up tall and looked up to her mother,
“Mother… I will! I swear!”

Faust gulped a bit. Mother… Not Mommy anymore… Her daughter grew up within these difficult times, maybe this would be for the better. She soon had to take care not only for herself, but her sister as well. And as the queen remained on the balcony, Celestia went back inside to go to sleep as well. Both would rule ponykind in the future. And both would do a fine job, ruling with kindness and justice. Yet being not only the queen but a worrying mother as well, she felt uncertainty. And it was this uncertainty of what the future would hold for her daughters that made her cast a spell to see into the future.

And what she saw was not good. She could see the foretold hero and Celestia fighting over Luna as the princess of the night stretched out her hands to him while levitating in midair. Although in human form, her mother could clearly see through her guise. Tears welled in her daughter’s eyes, a heartbreaking moment for the queen. And terror struck her heart as she heard her older daughter’s voice devoid from all warmth.

'“THIS ISN’T ABOUT ANYPONY BEING HAPPY!!! THIS IS PART OF AN OATH I MADE EONS AGO TO OUR MOTHER!!! AND BY THE STARS!!! NEVER AGAIN MUST ALICORNS BE ALLOWED TO GET NUMEROUS!!!”'

With a terrified “NO!!!” the queen awakened from her vision. With tears in her eyes she shook her head. Obviously fear consumed her older daughter in the future. It seemed that Luna wanted this hero to be her special somepony and Celestia stepped in to forbid it. But why? Was he bad influence? She couldn’t give herself the answer to this, but couldn’t stand to watch again. Although she had vowed not to interfere with her daughter’s future, this fighting was so misguided, this misery unbearable,
“This is not what I wanted her to do… They both shall be happy…”

Her mind was racing. In mere hours she would cast the Abarasion Spell and Celestia was too tired to be receptive. There simply wasn’t enough time. What to do? What to do??? She couldn’t help them making the right decisions while being among the stars. But maybe she could help them with one final precaution, the last help a loving mother could give before leaving them. And with this she casted another spell to create a crystal orb,
“Tilerions… Listen close to me now, mortal. For I shall speak only once to you in your entire life…”

After she recorded her message into the orb, she levitated it into the sky,
“Fly! Fly, my aid for the future. Endure the times until one day he will need you the most. Find him, so my love for my daughters may help him…” With this the orb shot into the night sky never to return. With this she turned back into her chambers, where Celestia already was sleeping with Luna. Nuzzling them both, she closed her eyes. “I will help you, my daughters… Even if I’m not with you in person…”

Tyler slowly opened his eyes and blinked as the warm rays of the sun entered the room and tickled his belly. The girls were lying around him. Twilight and Applejack on his right and Luna who probably went to slumber as soon as the sun was rising and her duties for the night were done on the left. He caressed her blue coated cheek and gave her a kiss that brought a faint smile on her face. With a little “Tyler… I love thee…” she mumbled a bit in her slumber. This caused him to smile and he turned around to Twilight and Applejack. Was it really three weeks since this time? Since Applejack was a human? Getting a strand of her mane out of her face, he caressed her cheek as well. How beautiful the earth pony mare was, quiet and calm like a blond angel. With a content heart he closed his eyes. Everything for once seemed perfect.

It was then when Twilight woke up,
“Good morning…”

His dozing was interrupted by the unicorn’s sleepy voice,
“Morning, Twilight… Had a good night?”

With a slow nod she began to smile, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes,
“I did… Did you?”

He nodded,
“I did, too. You know these pillows Celestia had the servants put into this beds are really comfy… They also have her cutie… mark…?” As he patted the pillow, he more and more thought it felt more like a… flank? No, this couldn’t be. As he opened his eyes, he could see a tail waving from one side of the pillow, moving without a breeze. He then narrowed his eyes. “Celestia?”

With a giggle, the princess’ voice answered to him,
“You had a good sleep Tyler?”

Closing his eyes now he slowly shook his head,
“OK… How long have you been my pillow?”

As he looked up to her face, she looked up to the ceiling with a dreamy expression and a drop of drool rolled down her chin,
“Oh, I was it only the whole morning. And you rubbed your face into my flank several times; the weight felt soooo good…”

Tyler grimaced and muttered a simple “Uh huh…” as he looked to Twilight and got up,
“I told you this gets weird at times… The whole concept of her being my servant or slave or whatever you call it feels so inappropriate sometimes… Then again, it makes her happy. And still… this isn’t by far the worst she asked me to do.”

Twilight cocked her head, wrinkling her nose a bit. She still wasn’t used to the fact that Princess Celestia was part of the herd, but tried her best to make her feel like any mare who would be greeted into the herd,
“Like what?”

With this the princess of the sun stood up and got out of bed,
“Tyler? Do you think you can assist me in demonstrating our relationship?”

He sighed and stood up as well,
“OK… But only once and we’re only doing so much…” With this they fetched a briefcase from her chambers and returned. Tyler opened the briefcase and Celestia levitated several black objects out of it.

As she glanced at him with lustful looks, the black leather collar embraced her neck as she fastened it. The leash clipped to the collar and was raised towards Tyler. When he took it, he reeled Celestia in and she happily complied while choking a bit. Leaning against him, her flank shivered ever so slightly as she slowly raised it. A loud smack caused her eyes to shot open, but then close half way in delight with her eyes rolled back. As his fingers went down her spine, his voice whispered into her ear and she nodded like obediently,
“Yes… Yes, I’m a bad girl… A bad, bad girl…”

Another hard smack prompted her to wince with a quiet gasp. How she wanted him. It was completely irrelevant of who she was now. If it would go by her, he could have mounted her in front of all of nobility. And she would gladly suck him clean afterwards like an obedient good girl. Oh, how her thoughts were filled with lust. Her cheeks burned as she looked to Twilight. Her faithful student saw her in this most intimate moment and this made her shiver again and the silent wish for acceptance of her younger female herd mates roamed in her mind.

As Applejack and Twilight witnessed this with Luna who awoke from the entire ruckus with a foul mood the dark alicorn only shook her head in disapproval,
“To find lust in being dominated… Tia… I must say thou disappoint me there…”

Applejack grimaced a bit,
“Well… Ah always knew the royal flapdoodle isn’t mah thing… What do yer say, Twilight?”

But Twilight only stared at her mentor,
“I’m sorry, AJ… I'm terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought.”

Applejack nodded and grinned,
“Now, Twilight… Ya sound like…” She hesitated a bit. “Ah mean yer…” Raising her hoof to her mouth she looked at Twilight in a slightly disgusted way and galloped to the bathroom. The sound of vomiting sounded in the next minute. As Applejack returned, she looked a bit pale around the nose. “Whoa nelly! Since three days these things keep happening to me. Ah think Ah might get sick or somethin’…”

Hearing this, Celestia looked at Applejack and the lustful thoughts for Tyler were replaced with protective motherly feelings as one of her friends, subjects and herd mates seemed to be sick,
“You’re not right? Do you want to see a doctor?”

But Applejack smiled,
“When we’re back in Ponyville, Ah’ll see one. Nothin’ big, really…” But with this she burped and ran to the bathroom again.

Luna now got up in worry. With all this noise so close around her there was hardly a chance to sleep. Even for her deep slumber,
“Something’s wrong with fair Applejack?” Celestia shook her head and called for the royal physician after she had put off her leather clothing.

After her thorough examination, the doctor looked up to Applejack with wide eyes,
“Your highness… I can assure you that this young lady is not sick!”

The earth pony cocked her head in disbelief,
“Not sick? Are yer sure, doc? I’m puking every morning for three days! That’s pretty sick in mah book!”

“I can assure you, young lady: It is NOT being ill what bothers you… It is morning sickness! You are pregnant.”

In the next instant a loud “WHAT???” was shouted in unison from the herd mates. Celestia now looked strict at Luna,
“I say this is the doing of your spell! This is your…” But then the white alicorn remembered Applejack and her wish for a foal. “Well… actually… Do we call it a fault or achievement, Luna?”

“An achievement! An achievement!!!” Applejack cheered. “And yer sure, Doc? There’s no doubt?”

Looking into his notes, the doctor shook his head with a smile,
“I don’t know how you managed to pull this off so far after or before heat season, but you, madam, are pregnant!”

Applejack jumped at Tyler and tackled him down,
“Ya hear that? We did it, Sugarcube! We did it!!!” Tears of joy ran down her cheeks as she looked down to him. “This is a dream come true! Ah don’t know how and Ah definitely don’t care! Ah carry yer foal…” With this she buried her face into his chest. “Mah life couldn’t be better!”

While Tyler embraced her and Twilight beamed at the alicorn herd mates, both Luna and Celestia smiled warm at Applejack, before Celestia closed her eyes and gave Luna a concerned look,
“Luna? How could this happen outside of her heat season?”

The young princess shook her head in perplexity,
“Tia, I know I have forgotten something when I crafted the spell and I know Tyler told me about it. But I can’t put my hoof on it…”

Arching a brow, Tyler looked over to Luna,
“Could it be that you made her too much of a human? Humans don’t have heat seasons! We’re fertile all the year.”

Luna felt like punched in the face by Discord himself. Of course! Tyler’s semen was fertile all the time; he only was incompatible to ponies. Turning a mare into a human woman would mean to make this mare fertile as well,
“How…. How could I oversee such an important detail???”

Applejack chuckled,
“Not that Ah blame yer for it… Ah’m eternally grateful for this, Luna!” With this, the earth pony jumped up from Tyler and hugged the dark alicorn who felt pride rising up in her.

Celestia smiled,
“Fortunately this little mishap is welcomed with opened arms…”

Tyler gave this a nod,
“It means you both could have children as well without waiting 500 more years.”

While Luna’s mood got better, Celestia silently frowned upon this sentence,
“This would mean you would be of completely equal stand, Tyler… Our Diarchy would become a triarchy.”

Tyler now cocked his head,
“Which would mean… you two as queens and me as king?” He thought about it for a minute. “Nah… Not gonna happen! I’m not cut out for politics. I don’t see me as a king.”

This brought a smile back to Celestia’s face,
“Speaking of royalty… Have you seen her lately?”

Tyler shook his head,
“I see her once a week, directly after our sleepover. This marks today as the day I’ll visit her again. How is she doing? Any developments lately?”

Both alicorns shared a concerned look before they nodded at him,
“You better look for yourself. The CCF has to be expanded due to her… uh… mating behavior.” Luna harrumphed, “I say we shouldn’t have brought her this inmate in the first place. Right now there are 100 Changelings in this facility, each in solitary confinement. Including her! And she almost sucked him dry…”

Tyler nodded,
“I guess this is enough. For now no more ‘food’ for her. I better take a look for myself." Kissing Celestia, he smirked. “You should behave more around me, Celestia. I know how you enjoy bodily contact with me, but the others aren’t used to that or deem this too extraordinary…”

Turning to Luna, he gave her a deep kiss as well,
“It’s late for you, my love. Return to sleep. You deserved it after another glorious night.” Last but not least, he turned to Twilight and Applejack. “You two go ahead and go shopping before we meet at the station. Maybe I learn something about Changelings for your studies Twilight…” With this he kissed the lavender unicorn before turning to Applejack. “And you, you little sweetie? You’re already preparing the biggest present for me I ever had. Words cannot express of how proud I am of you… My Number one favorite country girl…” With a deep and longing kiss he parted from her and left the chambers as Luna went back to bed and the others went to the next room.

Applejack blushed a bit,
“Ah feel so happy right now! Me and Tyler… We worked so hard for this!”

With a giggle Twilight nudged her into the chest,
“Not that you haven’t enjoyed it…”

Applejack nodded with a chuckle,
“That’s right! It was as fun as it was exhausting…”

Celestia now harrumphed briefly,
“I’d… I’d like to ask you two something…”

Both Twilight and Applejack stood in front of her and looked up,
“Sure thing, Princess Celestia! We-”

Celestia now raised her hoof,
“This is part of it! I want you two to treat me like anypony else while we’re in the herd… While we’re among us…”

Both ponies nodded and Twilight raised a hoof,
“So this makes you… simply Celestia?”

The white alicorn smiled and nuzzled Twilight for a bit,
“Thank you, Twilight. I know this must be especially hard for you… But while we’re in the herd together with Tyler, you are no longer my student, but of equal stand to me. Do you understand?” Twilight nodded. Her mentor obviously wanted to make sure that Applejack and herself aren’t overshadowed by the princesses. It was a wise choice for the herd and probably exactly what pleased the two alicorns the most: Closer social bonding beyond worshipping.

Celestia now dropped the bomb,
“I’d like to ask for your permission to have sexual intercourse with Tyler…” Utter silence followed for a brief moment until Twilight fainted and fell to the ground with an audible THUMP.

Applejack took off her Stetson and fanned fresh air into Twilight’s face, while grinning nervously at the white alicorn,
“Uh… Ahehehe… Sure thing, Celestia! Ah think Twilight’s so happy that yer ask for permission she couldn’t restrain herself.”

* * * * *

Tyler on the other hand left the castle and walked along the streets, where some ponies held their noses that high it looked like they would look into the sky while walking. Ugh… Some ponies… He then went into the eastern part of Canterlot, right at the mountainside where a tunnel led deep into the caverns of the CCF, where walls of steel contained the changelings under strict monitoring. As he entered the facility, he was accompanied by a guard. Partially to watch him, partially to guide him around,
“As you can see, Tyler Jones… The Changelings in custody have been brought into isolation, separated from each other and their queen to make a contact impossible. No Changeling can communicate with his brethren nor can they plot anything. Once a day they get their ration of love and get back into their cell.”

This caused Tyler to arch his brows,
“Love? How?”

The guard beside him chuckled,
"We open one cage, let the Changeling step outside, make sure he doesn’t escape and give him a nice warm hug for thirty seconds. That’s enough to keep them alive.”

Tyler nodded, visibly astonished,
“Frugal little creatures, if you ask me. How are the tests going?”

The guard shrugged,
“Uh… You should ask these kind of questions to the lab coats… I only guard this place here.”

It was then when a yellow unicorn mare with a white lab coat stepped through a laboratory door and discussed some scientific data with one of her colleagues,
“I think we should try the next test series with the Van Mane strain. Maybe we can decode it with this.” As she noticed Tyler, she smiled and approached him. “Fascinating little critters, these Changelings, don’t you agree?”

Tyler chuckled in a dark manner,
“IF they’re not attacking ponykind that is…”

As he stretched his hand out to her, she rested her hoof in his palm for a shake,
“Professor Mindfire. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Jones.”

With a nod, Tyler went down the hallway with her,
“I take it you are trying to make sense out of the Changelings?”

“Indeed! Their secret of how they feed on love, especially the mechanism of how it works is what is of biggest interest. Maybe once we find out how it works, we can find a way to repel them without large armies.”

This prompted Tyler to smile,
“Any way that minimizes the casualties is most welcome. Speaking of minimizing… How is she?”

Mindfire nodded,
“Subject 001… Codename Shiria… Yes, she’s in her containment cell. We haven’t fed her since the incident with the inmate… I take it you want to inspect her in person as usual?”

Tyler nodded,
“As usual, yes.”

The scientist unicorn now raised her hoof,
“I don’t know why you put so much trust into her to go into this cell without armor or arms.”

Tyler smirked,
“It’s an Earth thing I guess… Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” With this he was escorted to Shiria’s cell. As always he approached her cell with mixed feelings. Anxiety, rage, disgust… Sometimes he even felt hope. The slight hope she might be something better than her mother.

With a quick step he entered the cell before the bulkhead was closed behind him,
“Good morning, Princess Shiria…”

Shiria looked up with her ponytail haircut,
“Queen Shiria that is… I’ve been impregnated… I’m not a princess anymore…” With a slight bow she greeted him in her cell. Since the last time he was here she sure managed to change it quite a lot. The walls got cocooned and looked organic now.

Tyler arched a brow at the scene,
“I see your interior decoration got a bit altered…”

But Shiria only chuckled flattered and looked around in her cell,
“Like I said before… A ladybugs’ boudoir… How nice of you to visit me again… so… How are my children?”

Tyler looked at the many books in the shelves. Obviously Shiria spent much time on reading,
“Alive and well… Well at least alive, I don’t know if they are well, I can’t look into their minds.”

“Of course you can’t. Without me there is no mind in the swarm. That is, unless there’s a princess in my swarm. Has there been a Changeling with her own mind?”

Tyler remained quiet for a while, before he shrugged,
“I can’t tell because I haven’t talked to any of them.”

Shiria bowed her head down,
“I guess I’m in no position to argue… But I’m not asking as a queen alone, you know… I am a concerned mother as well…”

Tyler arched a brow and looked at her,
“You are a love parasite. Can you even give love at the cost of energy?”

She looked up to him, eying him for some seconds,
“Don’t analyze my mind, human… My mind is not a nice place for you to be.”

Tyler now arched a brow,
“No of course not… That’s why you tried to seduce me in the first place. You probably heard of what I did to your mother and now you’re trying to get something out of it. And although you may be compatible with a pony stallion, I doubt you can be compatible with a human. But that’s no worry I share with you. Like I said before: I will never do it with you. For now, you are a prisoner in my responsibility and I will make sure you behave and get the proper treatment.”

“Why, we’re both prisoner in a way… You on this world…” She looked around. “And I’m a prisoner in this facility…” She stared a bit at him. “Sit, please… We can talk in comfort, can’t we?”

He arched a brow and sat down,
“It was brought to my attention that the stallion that was sent inside here is in critical condition… What did you do to him?”

Shiria sat down on the carpet and smiled proudlym
“He loved my womb… So I feasted upon this love. I tried to ration him but his love grew and grew, so I had to… you know… adapt.”

Tyler grew more and more unpleasant with the way she talked about this. Her voice seemed to try to sound sexually arousing and she eyed him like he was her next victim,
“And while his desires were granted, so were mine. You sent in a pony predator and I transformed him into prey…” She now began to chuckle. “I cocooned him, but then they took him away. Pity…He was quite amusing…”

Tyler leaned back. He actually only heard that this stallion was in jail for rape and murder. And frankly he didn’t felt compassion for someone like that. But boasting about ruining the life of someone wasn’t actually his kind of humor. Nether the less he kept his cool and played a little smirk,
“Yeah… Fucking hilarious…”

Shiria now eyed him,
“I must say I really enjoy your visits now and then. Once in a while Celestia inspects me from above, but she never comes down for a little talk. That’s why I feel such a nice bond between us…”

Tyler looked up to the observation glass where several pony scientists stood and took note, before he closed his eyes,
“There is no bond between us than my responsibility for you.”

She giggled a bit and her wings buzzed for a second,
“Oh, you don’t say… We have more in common than you think… You’re not an herbivore, are you?”

“Omnivore…” he answered right away.

Her eyes widened,
“Eating everything? My… And there I was thinking you humans actually were pack animals and carnivores… At least that’s what I expect from your fighting. You attack the weak and avoid the strong…”

As he looked at her, he slowly nodded,
“We were, if one could say, pack animals once. But we don’t hunt anymore. We breed the cattle we eat instead of hunting it down…”

“So you are like we Changelings are… Already too many to survive from nature’s riches alone, you need to alter nature…”

Tyler didn’t like this analogy between humans and Changelings from her. Even if he compared them earlier, now he knew better. Humans would have scruple to kill and devour a sentient being of equal intelligence. It was one thing to kill an animal like a mindless cow, although he himself never slaughtered one… But to kill something that could think and talk and feel just the exact way he could? No, he couldn’t do this so easily. No sane human could do this. And that was one of mankind’s traits he was proud of. They, unlike Changelings, could empathize.

This was visible in his face as well,
“Changelings don’t breed ponies for their need for love… You are more like a virus. A bioweapon someone created to harm ponies!”

This visibly hurt Shiria,
“And what have you become? A walking, talking bioweapon that can level a whole mountain… I saw firsthand what your blood can do…”

Tyler cocked his head and arched a brow at her,
“What do you mean? How did you gain this knowledge? You talked about it before, but you never went into detail…”

Shiria now stared at him, licking her fangs,
“Ubermane…I got it from him. I ate his heart which was filled with frightening terror and a dash of despair as he realized who I really am… Fth fth fth fth!”

Tyler maintained eye contact with her now. This was probably the most disturbing thing the Changeling female ever told him. She now eyed him to look for reactions,
“You puzzle me, Tyler Jones… You don’t kill me, although you know that they can’t keep me in here forever… You don’t love or rape me either. I would recognize love in an instant and feed upon you… You humans surely are an interesting species… Mother was wise to fear you… even if she wasn’t sane in the end.”

Tyler now arched a brow,
“Not sane? In what way was she not sane?”

“You know… I don’t think she ever talked of who her father was, but she always seemed to talk to him like he was actually there. And the thing is, all males in the swarm are either warriors or drones, all not fertile. It is impossible to have a Changeling father. Yet…”

Now Tyler listened up,
“Yet? What are you plotting?”

“Nothing… This would mean I would need your sperm and being compatible for it. And since this is impossible…”

His face grew stern,
“Not in a thousand years!”

Seeing the impact this had on him once more made her giggle,
“You as well thought you could never buck a pony. And look at you now, ponybucker…” He then got up without a word and went to the door. “Oh, I’m sorry. That’s an insult?”

Narrowing his eyes, he gave signal for the guards to open the door,
“Goodbye, Princess Shiria…”

“That’s QUEEN Shiria for you! And you didn’t threaten to take away my books yet!” With this he simply slammed the door shut tight behind him ad sighed. 'Shiria and her fucking mind games…' After this he said his goodbyes to Mindfire and the guards and was escorted back outside.

* * * * *

On his way to the station, he met the Sparkles,
“Tyler Jones… What a pleasant surprise!”

Tyler nodded and exchanged some hoofshakes with them both,
“This morning was full of surprises already, Mrs. Sparkle!”

But the unicorn mare shook her head,
“Tyler… You are our daughter’s herd stallion and are considered a war hero here in Canterlot. Just call me Velvet. Isn’t that right, Night Light? Your doubts have vanished as well, right?”

The blue stallion nodded,
“You truly convinced me with your deeds, my boy! Obviously Twilight is in good hands if she’s with you.”

Velvet then continued,
“We’ve met Twilight a few minutes ago. She told us one of your herd mates, Applejack, got pregnant. Let us congratulate you to this wonderful event as well!”

Tyler rubbed his neck in slight embarrassment,
“Why, thank you, Velvet! I’m glad I turn out OK for you both. And we got the good news ourselves this morning.”

Velvet smiled up to him,
“We will pray that your first foal will be a healthy one, Tyler. It means so much. Not just for you and your herd. I talked to some other mares and stallions about your herd and we all deem it a good thing that a being like you can fit in so nice and well into pony society. You must be so terribly proud of this, my boy! Night Light! Think of it! Maybe they decide to have foals as well, Twilight and him… Grandchildren! I always thought Shining Armor would be the first to pull this off but now it seems Twilight and her herd mates are giving this to us first…”

Now Tyler held his hands up in defense,
“Ahehehe… Velvet, uh… Let’s not rush things like that! Twilight mentioned her studies would suffer from having a foal. She will show me when she’s ready to beget a foal. Also, this isn’t a race.”

Velvet now shook her head,
“Oh! No… We love both our children…It’s just… you know… anticipation.” After this, he waved them goodbye as he thought of something.

'Cadance is an alicorn mare as well…
Alicorn mare + alicorn heat + Shining Armor =…?'

With a gulp he already imagined the scratch marks on the floor as Shining Armor, now with dark circles around the eyes, tried his best to get a grip and escape from his wife as she reeled him into the bedroom with her magic. “It’s time to do your conjugal, royal duties, my beloved husband!” And how he would scream in sheer terror as the door would slam closed before him and he was pulled backwards. “NO!!! NOT AGAIN!!! YOU ALREADY GOT IT TEN TIMES THIS NIGHT!!! MERCY!!!”

With this Tyler blinked for a moment,
“Oh shit…” But then he burst into laughter at the station. 'He sure is about to get it…'

It was then when Twilight and Applejack noticed him and waved him closer,
“What’s so funny, Tyler?”

With a giggle, Tyler wiped a tear out of his eye,
“I just, um… remembered a dirty joke Shining once told me about.”

The lavender unicorn looked up to him with a smirk,
“That’s odd… I never deemed Shining as that type of stallion… Well, stallions among themselves behave different than with mares. Right?”

Tyler nodded,
“I guess that’s something among every sentient species…” With this the train arrived and they stepped inside.

On the way to Ponyville, Applejack, Twilight and Tyler sat together in the train and conversed a bit. Tyler and Applejack sat together, while Twilight sat alone,
“So you’re pregnant… Applejack, I have plenty of books you can borrow regarding maternity and pregnancy. And of course you can count on us with the upcoming harvest.”

Applejack nodded,
“Thanks, Twilight. Ah guess y’all will make more than a replacement for me when Ah carry the foal. Ah won’t take any risks with that this time. Ah may be stubborn if it’s only me, but this is mah foal with Tyler… And Celestia be mah witness: Even if the orchards are rottin’ away, mah foal comes first!”

Tyler smiled and patted Applejack on the shoulder,
“I’ll spend some more time on the farm now, Twilight. I have to clear things with Granny Smith and to help out more. Now with AJ carrying for some months they need me there twice as much anyway.”

Twilight nodded,
“I understand. And I’m not mad in case you think I am. You would do the same for me anyway.”

He chuckled,
“But I’m not that much of a librarian like you are. If it comes to books, you probably leave me in the dust. I think I might be of help, but I would need to learn your organizing of the library first.

The lavender unicorn giggled,
“Don’t worry, We’ll see it through.” She left a pause, before she raised her left hoof and pointed at Applejack’s belly. “So! Have you thought of a name already?”

Applejack looked at Tyler and smiled,
“An equestrian name, Sugarcube. Yes?”

Tyler frowned a bit, seemed to think of it and shook his head,
“I’d love to, but I think I have a name for our child from Earth that might please you.”

Applejack blinked for a moment and nodded,
“Alright. Ah’ll hear ya out, big feller!” As he whispered the name into her ear, her face began to beam. “Appleseed? Aw, Sugarcube! That’s probably the sweetest name for a member of the Apple family Ah can imagine. How’s that a name in yer world?”

He simply laughed,
“Trust me, the story would be too long for now…”

Caressing her belly with her hoof she then nodded,
“Appleseed. Ah love that name. It sure will fit our foal…

As the train arrived in Ponyville however, Tyler was surprised that the rest of the Mane Six were actually there to greet them,
“Hey, folks… What are you all doing here?”

But Rainbow pointed one hoof at him,
“What’s the big deal? Spike told us that he got a letter from Princess Celestia that we have to come to the station. Did anything happen? Is Equestria in danger?” Nudging Tyler, she hovered before him. “Come on, T-Man! Tell me! If we’re going to face trouble again, you can count on me!”

Tyler smiled at her. 'Good old Rainbow Dash…'
“That’s very brave and loyal from you, Rainbow… but no. There’s no trouble at all. But I can understand why the princess summoned you all to meet us here. That way you can all hear what we have to say…” With this he smiled down to Twilight and Applejack who returned the smile.

Twilight closed her eyes and rested her hoof proudly on her chest to make the announcement,
"Three weeks ago, Applejack was magically turned human by Princess Luna and according to the royal doctor- “

But Applejack cut her off in a sheer burst of joy, as she stood on her hind legs and waved around with her front hooves,
“Ah’m pregnant!!!”

Now the girls gasped in unison. Fluttershy smiled at the trio as she raised her voice,
“Oh my goodness! This is so wonderful! Having a foal is such a great achievement for a herd… That is… um… if I may say so… Um… Especially if it comes down to Tyler. Twilight, you told us how impossible this quest for a foal was to reach fruit. I’m very happy that you two finally succeeded…”

With a nod Rarity stepped in and laid a hoof over Applejack’s shoulders,
“My! Applejack, you simply must come into the spa with me then! Carrying a foal is one of the most stressful things for a mare to accomplish and you and your unborn child have to relax as much as you can! It will be my pleasure… No! It is my duty to invite you there. And I will create an ensemble for you to retouch the enormous belly you will develop.”

Rainbow however nudged Tyler in the ribcage,
“Great news, T-Man! I always knew you had it in you!”

Tyler rubbed his neck while looking around,
“Thank you, Rainbow… Thank you all. This means Sweet Apple Acres will need a little help once AJ gets advanced in pregnancy. Because I won’t let you tend the crops anymore at this point in time, honey.”

Applejack nodded and smiled up to him as Rarity gasped,
“This actually gives me inspiration! Something like…’Infant fashion’! Oh this will make the little one so much cuter than it will be on its own. You two just wait!”

Just as Tyler wanted to say something, Pinkie Pie jumped into his field of vision with a stern look,
“Hey!!! This has party all over it! And no excuses this time!”

Tyler blinked a few times in surprise, before he nodded with a smile,
“Alright Pinkie, you’re right! We will not postpone the party this time. Twilight’s library tomorrow evening, this should give you enough time for planning and preparations, right? Just make sure you have punch ready fitting for a pregnant mare…”

Pinkie tipped her chin twice and nodded,
“Oki-doki-loki!” Beaming from cheek to cheek, the pink earth pony dashed away with an audible “Weeeeee!!!!”

While Twilight shook her head with a smile, Tyler patted her shoulder and looked down to her,
“We’re at Sweet Apple Acres for now. The Apples sure want to hear the good news. I’ll be back in a few hours.”

Twilight nodded and trotted back to the library, happy to live in such a great herd. Applejack however was visibly excited,
“Whoa nelly! Ah’m pretty sure they’ll be mighty surprised to hear Ah’m carrying yer foal… Come to think of it… Ah can hardly believe it mahself! Please, Tyler… Sugarcube! Tell me Ah’m not dreamin’ this!”

Tyler chuckled,
“If this would be a dream, you would already have the foal in your hooves and would be the proudest mare in all of Ponyville!”

With a laugh she nodded,
“And Ah know yer would be one mighty proud Pa…” With this she leaned against him while walking the way up to the farm house. “Ah’m so happy to be with yer, Tyler…”

He smiled down to her and shortly before the farm, he knelt down to her and caressed her face,
“You were always honest to me, transparent and clear like mountain spring. And your wish to carry our child is stronger than that of every other mare. You worked hard for this happiness. I won’t let anyone harm you, our herd mates or our foal. No one will destroy this happiness. I won’t let this happen, I just won’t!”

With this he kissed her and she blushed as their lips parted again,
“Ah love ya, Tyler… No one can undo this…” A few minutes later they both entered the farm house.

Tyler couldn’t exactly hear what Applejack told Granny Smith, but the old mare turned around in an instant and hugged her granddaughter tightly while Big McIntosh looked up in surprise from the newspaper. Tears of joy ran down the old mare’s cheeks as she looked into Applejack’s happy face,
“Ah must say, mah girl! Ah always knew yer would come home with the right stallion to make us proud! And now look at ya. Being a proud mother soon. Have ya ever been so proud of yer younger sister, Big McIntosh?”

With a brief “Nnnope!” the hefty stallion shook his head and stood up before he too hugged his sister. “AJ, ya will make a fine mother, lil’ sister.” He then looked at Tyler. “Ya make sure yer raise it properly, pardner. Raisin’ a foal isn’t as easy as it first sounds.”

Tyler nodded,
“Thanks, Big Mac! Already there are lots of offers of our friends who want to help out. Which reminds me: Granny Smith?”

The old mare smiled upon Tyler,
“What can Ah do for yer, mah boy?”

“Pinkie Pie is asking if she can foalsit for the foal once it’s there. But I told her to ask you first since you always wished to enjoy the laughter of foals in the first place.”

With this she smiled even wider,
“Ohh… That’s mighty considerate of ya, mah boy… But Ah’m not as young and bouncy as Ah used to be. That Pinkie Pie is a mighty good girl, even if she’s a bit too bouncy. She’s welcome to spend some time with me and yer foal.”

The sound of little hooves announced Apple Bloom before she looked around in wonder,
“Tyler! Hey, y’all… What’s with all the commotion?”

Granny Smith now smiled to the little filly,
“Apple Bloom, come here! Ya should hear this as well.”

While cocking her head, the little filly approached the group,
“What is it?”

Applejack smiled down to her,
“Ah’m pregnant with Tyler’s foal, lil’ sis!”

In an instant Apple Bloom’s eyes became wide and she gasped,
“Really??? Awesome!!! Wait until the girls hear about this!”

Tyler patted her mane and looked at her as he knelt down,
“Well Applebloom… You will be an aunt soon. That’s a lot of responsibility. And I hope you and the Cutie Mark Crusaders will help the foal once it’s old enough to crusade for its cutie mark.”

Apple Bloom saluted and smiled at him,
“Will do, Tyler! Whoa nelly! This is so exciting! All the possible cutie marks we could earn from this!” With this she dashed outside, probably to plot more in the clubhouse.

Tyler shook his head with a smile,
“That little bundle of love…” He then gave Big McIntosh a stern look. “Big Mac? Can I have a talk with you? Just the two of us?”

After exchanging a surprised look with Applejack and Granny Smith, Big Mac only muttered a brief “Eeeyup!”

Five minutes later they stood together at the wooden fence of the orchard,
“Sooo… What’s up yer mind, pardner? Yer unusually worried. Something’s amiss?”

Tyler sighed,
“I know I’m adaptable, but hey… Do you guys really think I would make a good father? Not that I wouldn’t try! I…” He stopped and watched his hands. “Shit! Look at my hands, I’m shaking! That’s new! Tyler Jones, Defender of Equestria! He can see into the roaring snout of a void dragon… But becoming a dad scares the shit out of him… Pretty stupid, huh?”

Big McIntosh chuckled for a while before he shook his head,
“Nnnope! Ah think that’s the best reaction ya could have. It shows ya care about the little one…”

Tyler looked down the orchards and nodded,
“I never saw it that way… Hey… would you like to become the godfather to my foal?”

The red stallion now looked at Tyler with big eyes,
“The what?”

Tyler shrugged,
“It’s a human thing. In case something’s happening to me and AJ, you take good care for our child.”

Now Big Mac nodded,
“Ah see… Yes, Ah think Ah’ll do that for yer if ya want me to be the one for that job.”

With this Tyler patted the stallion’s shoulder,
“Actually I couldn’t imagine someone better than you…” He chuckled a bit. “Uncle Big Mac!” With this they shared a laugh.

As the sun began to set, the red stallion looked over to Tyler,
“Well? What would yer prefer? Colt or filly?”

Tyler looked into the red sky, shaking his head,
“I don’t care… All that matters is that it’s healthy. Anything else would break AJ’s heart.”

This prompted a content smile on Big Mac’s face,
“Ya know Ah had my doubts about ya… But yer like me in some ways. Ah like yer priorities.” With this he stood up and said his goodbye to Tyler, before he went inside again.

A few moments later Applejack came outside as Tyler approached the door,
“I’m back to the library for now…”

Standing on her hind legs, her front hooves rested on his chest again,
“It was a sunset like that… Ya remember it, pardner?”

As he looked into her emerald green eyes, he nodded slowly and took of her Stetson, only to put it on himself,
“How could I forget about the day you confessed to me? Or the evening of our first kiss? And how could an idiot like me get such a girl like you?”

With a shake of her head, she giggled,
“Yer not an idiot, Tyler. Not in mah eyes…” With this they exchanged another deep kiss in the warm rays of the evening sun. And as he returned to Ponyville, the orange mare watched after him until he was out of sight while her mane was waving in the wind.

Half an hour later he arrived back in the library,
“Twilight, I’m home again!”

He was no five steps in the library as Spike came running to him,
“Tyler! Derpy Hooves was here an hour ago and brought you this letter from Fillydelphia!”

This caused Tyler to frown in wonder,
“A letter from Fillydelphia? I know someone in Fillydelphia?” With this he opened the letter. “Let’s see what we have here…”

Dear Tyler,
Things are turning out great in Fillydelphia! I got plenty of new friends and take evening exams to work on my magic to improve myself. Due to my ‘punishment’ by the princesses I have to report my results on a weekly basis. It isn’t always easy, but I’m on my way to become a better mare. And despite pulling you out of your world, I’m happy about your last letter. It means a lot to me that you aren’t angry at me and in fact deem our Equestria a beautiful place.

In hindsight, the whole event with the Rainbow Gem earned me some confidence I always thought I would need to pretend. Thanks to you and Twilight I now know better. I know I can be more than a mere showmare and can wield serious magic. For this I am grateful.
With best regards,

Trixie

Tyler smiled at the letter,
“Well what do you know… she finally seemed to fit in somewhere. Oh! There’s more! ‘P.S. And I hope you won’t mind if I will visit you and Twilight later this week.’” Looking over to Twilight he smiled. “Well we won’t mind, will we?”

Shaking her head with a big smile, Twilight giggled,
“Not at all, Tyler. It’s good to hear from her with some good news for a change… Oh, almost forgot! I found a spell for you and Rainbow! You know, the thing we discussed earlier. I already knew about a spell to create a sphere around myself, but it takes some alteration and practice to make this sphere more agile and speedy. By far not as fast as Rainbow Dash, but it can reach the speed of the average Pegasus.”

Tyler’s eyes widened,
“You know, Twilight… I suppose this will not only come in handy, but may become a lifesaver one day…”

Meanwhile on a completely different dimension…
It was a sunny day on L.F. Wade International Airport and Rachel Higgins approached the ‘Betty’ with her carry-all. With a slightly annoyed look she opened the door,
“Flynn! You moron! You told me you would be in hangar bay 17, and now I find you in bay 13!”

The Betty was a Cessna 206, a ‘Stationair’ and Flynn, also known as 'Flying' Flynn Marhall was very proud of this baby,
“Sorry, Rachel, but I heard some engine noise and they told me they lack necessary equipment to check upon this in bay 17. And you know how I love my baby… She’s nothing like the bulky CASA C-212 they usually put me in during duty…”

Sam on the backseat only rolled his eyes while looking up from his PSP,
“Shut up, Flynn! You know I’m not interested in all this Navy stuff!”

“Air Force, Sam! I’m in the Air Force!” Rachel now rolled her eyes as well as she stepped in and threw her bag into the seats in the rear. “Air Force! Air Force! Air Force! Flynn, you’re flying transport airplanes for them and dream about flying a jet for five years now! When will you get the balls to ask for it?”

Flynn checked the instruments as he grinned,
“Look who’s talking! You were in so many brawls now, Rachel… More times than your unit’s member count! No wonder you’re still Corporal! It’s a wonder you’re still in your unit! I lack the balls? For a girl, you have too much!”

With an annoyed look she looked outside,
“Shut up, flyboy! I’m dependable if I have to and my unit knows that. Pity though… I always wanted to enter the elite training for being a sniper… but with my record… I guess this will stay a dream…”

Sam shook his head,
“So you both suck at your jobs and share this love-hate for each other, huh? Good thing I’m only a mere car mechanic!”

In unison they both said an annoyed,
“Shut up, Sam!”

But the muscular Afro-American simply smiled like a gentle giant,
“And since we three hate each other, what do we do since high school? Vacation together…”

Flynn nodded as the motor started, answering with a smile as well,
“Vacation together, Mr. Paintball Loser!”

Sam pointed his finger at Flynn,
“Hey! I definitely hit him before he pulled the trigger!”

Rachel grinned and looked at Sam,
“Not if you ask Marcus… But hey… lighten up… it’s only a pizza you owe him. And you’ll get him in the rematch.”

Flynn on the other hand frowned as he heard into his headset. Rachel nudged him into the ribs,
“Hey, flyboy! What’s up? Something’s not right?”

He then checked the sky,
“The guys in the tower say they’re getting weird radar signals. The weather seems fine though. A few clouds, but no reason to take risks…”

Rachel leaned back into her seat,
“Oooohhh! Spooky! Come on! Cut out this Bermuda Triangle Bullshit! You brought us here to Bermuda in one piece. I take it you’ll bring us back in one piece as well. I at least have so much faith in your skills, flyboy.”

This prompted Flynn to roll his eyes,
“Lucky me…” With this he followed the airport’s procedure until they were in the air. During the flight, Rachel looked down to the ocean. Vast Ocean as far as the eyes could see. It was a bit frightening. If anything would happen, they would be miles away from the next patch of land.

Slowly the Cessna began to shake. It was almost not worth the mention in the beginning, but soon the turbulences shook the plane violently. After bumping her head, Rachel looked to the pilot seat,
“Flynn! Stop this bullshit and fly properly!”

Flynn's eyes rushed over the intstruments. They didn't make any sense at all. Although they flew completely normal, they showed him he was flying upside down,
“The instruments are going crazy! You folks better fasten your seatbelts! It’s going to be a bumpy ride!”

With this, Sam and Rachel fastened their seatbelts as Sam looked out of the window. Heavy storm clouds hovered above them,
“Shit! We’re in the middle of a storm? Did you fly us directly into a storm front?”

Flynn shook his head,
“Somehow I doubt that.”

Sam leaned forward,
“Oh yeah? Well, open your eyes, flyboy! Storm clouds above us and lots of raindrops! We ARE in a storm!”

But Flynn gritted his teeth,
“Oh, no we aren’t! Those raindrops… They fly upwards!”

“WHAT???” But as Rachel looked outside she saw the water drops run upwards. “No! This can’t be!” As Flynn steered the Cessna, his eyes kept locking on the altitude, which was rising nonstop. It was like they would be sucked upwards. Soon after more and more of the ocean whirled around and ocean water was whirled up like being part of a twister on sea. But this was out of all proportions. There had to be thousands of tons of ocean water being sucked up.

As the Cessna was being sucked up even faster, he steered it more downwards,
“Flynn!!! DO SOMETHING!!!” More and more the little airplane gained in altitude although Flynn already steered the nose of the Cessna directly down. They could see the ocean directly in front of them like a giant wall of water and the twister of water that was sucked upwards. Drops of seawater ran along the window as they were sucked upwards as well. Sam and Rachel tried their best to remain in their seats as the luggage fell against the backsides of their seats. “ FLYNN!!! FOR GOD’S SAKE, WHY AREN’T YOU FLYING FASTER???”

Flynn now sighed in defeat as he looked up from the instruments,
“This is the maximum speed of the plane…”

Panic took its grasp upon the trio as the plane was sucked higher and higher into the vortex of the storm. Light and thunder engulfed the Betty as the airplane was ripped away from the face of earth. With a loud thunder the storm clouds slowly dissolved and the once giant pillar of seawater fell down into the ocean. Five minutes later, it seemed as if nothing ever happened.

Next Chapter: 15 - They're ponies ** Estimated time remaining: 7 Hours, 27 Minutes