When I woke the next morning after my return to Ponyville, I was surprised to see that it was just past eleven in the morning. Zecora and Scarlet had already gotten up it seemed, but judging from the note they'd left on the nightstand, they had gone out into town to do a bit of food shopping for the house. I got up and took a long shower, then went downstairs. I saw Gemini and Mica in the living room along with Scoria and Silica. The two Dragons, still in full armor, were looking around the room with some curiosity, Gemini was cleaning her armor and sword while Mica was reading a local newspaper. Mica looked up and smiled at me. "Good morning," he said.

Gemini looked over from her work and frowned. "It's about time you woke up," she said.

"Yeah, sorry about that," I said. "Guess I was a bit more tired than I thought."

The two Dragons were at attention the moment they saw me. They came to me and gave an Imperial salute, a fist to the chest. "Did you sleep well, Your Grace?" Scoria asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, very well."

"Guess you needed it," Silica said with some slight amusement.

"Heh, yeah I did," I said. I looked at the two Dragons and frowned a bit. "You know, you don't have to be in full armor inside my house. Feel free to relax."

"But Your Grace-" Scoria began.

"Don't bother trying to reason with him," Gemini interrupted as she sheathed her now cleaned and polished sword with a loud snap, "he's a massive softie."

"Bite me," I replied in a teasing tone before my hand went to my neck. "Oh wait…"

Gemini growled at me, but I could see an embarrassed look on her face. Mica snorted a bit. "He got you good, sister."

I decided to ease up on the poor Lycan and changed the subject. "I take it you've eaten already?"

"Yes, Your Grace," Scoria said.

"Your mates told us you wouldn't mind if we ate some of your meat supply," Silica said.

"They were right," I said as I began heading to the kitchen.

The two Dragon guards immediately moved to intercept me. "We were given the tour of the house earlier, Your Grace," Scoria said, "and we can prepare you something."

I raised a hand to stop them. "At ease, you two," I said, "I just want to get some cereal. As a matter of fact, why don't the two of you change out of those suits of armor. If you walk around the town like that, you'll make the Ponies nervous."

As the Dragons made their way back to their rooms, Mica walked in. "There's some leftover breakfast on the counter. I can zap it in the microwave if you want."

"Oh? That sounds good," I said, "but I can do it."

Mica was right. There were a few small platters of breakfast sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast. I nuked them and sat at the table to eat. While I was eating, the two Dragons came back from their rooms. They were still armed with weapons (Scoria with two short blades from her back and Silica with a longer sword) but both were dressed in Old Aelyssian clothes. Both were wearing leather pants of sorts, although Scoria's was a dark brown and Silica's was a deep green. Silica wore a dark green jerkin on top of a white shirt while Scoria wore just a black jerkin. Both wore belts around their waists and no shoes. Not like they needed any. I was a bit surprised they were wearing clothes, but didn't say anything about it. As I ate, the two stood by me. The silence was a bit uncomfortable, so I decided to make some conversation. "Did you two sleep well last night?"

"Very well, Your Grace," Scoria said.

"Those are some very comfy beds," Silica said.

I was beginning to get a feel for these two. Scoria struck me as the more formal of the group, while Silica was a bit more informal. "They are comfortable, aren't they?" I agreed. "One of the Equestrian Princesses provided them for me. They're some of the best in this country, although I've tested some of the beds back in Virynth Atheos. They're nothing to slouch at, metaphorically speaking."

"It's nice not to sleep on rocks anymore," Silica said, giving me a small smile.

"I'm sorry it took so long for me to open the city for habitation," I apologized, "but we had to be sure that things were safe for every Dragon."

"And are they?" Silica asked.

"We haven't found anything wrong with the city," I explained, "so yeah, we can begin moving Dragons in immediately."

Silica looked excited by this. "Finally! I can find a house!"

"But aren't we living in the barracks in the inner city?" Scoria asked.

That seemed to take some of the wind out of Silica's sails before I replied, "Well, while you're on duty you'll have rooms in the barracks, but I wouldn't want you to feel left out. I'm sure that when things are rolling along back in Aelyssia, each of you can find a nice house in the outer ring."

That made Silica smile again, and she bowed gratefully. "Thank you," she said.

Scoria also bowed, and I saw a small smile form on her own lips. "You are too kind to us, Your Grace."

"A happy military is a good military in my opinion," I replied. "I don't plan on treating you like chattel or like slaves."

As I was finishing my meal, however, I heard the sound of a familiar voice calling out, "Look out below!" from my backyard, followed by the sound of someone crashing into the snow. I paused, placing my fork down silently. "How the hell does Rainbow Dash make this look so easy?" the voice said in annoyance.

"Years of experience, rookie!" the same voice called from above. "Come on, get up!"

Curious, I walked to the double doors in the dining room that opened up to the backyard, only to see two versions of Rainbow Dash in the field near the storage barn. One was definitely my Rainbow Dash, but the other was an Anthro version of Rainbow. The latter was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans, a darker blue jacket with a rainbow striped lightning bolt sewn diagonally across it and a bright blue beanie on her head. She was standing up and brushing snow off of her, which was a bit harder since it was snowing. "Is that…Dashelle?" I unlocked the door and flung it open. "Dash? Rainbow? What's going on out here?"

Both the Pony and the converted human flinched and turned to me, both looking a bit nervous now. "Ehehe…hey there," Rainbow said sheepishly. "Welcome home."

"You finally back from that Dragon country or wherever you were at?" Dash asked.

"For a couple days at least," I said, "at least until I need to go somewhere else for a meeting."

"Wow, you're a busy Emperor," Dash said with a smirk.

"Don't change the subject," I said, hands on my hips. "I'm an expert at that. What are you doing here?"

Dash seemed to deflate a bit at this, but she replied, "Well…I had some free time and I wanted to learn how to fly here," she said. "I mean, come on!" Her wings spread wide. "Who wouldn't want to learn to fly? Besides, it's the weekend and I had nothing planned."

I relaxed a bit. If Dash was anything like her Pony counterpart, I honestly couldn't blame her. "Okay, I guess that's a fair point," I said, "but still, I wish you'd have told me about it first."

"But then we would've spoiled the surprise!" two voices on either side of my ear said loudly.

"Gah! Fucking Jesus!" I jumped in alarm, causing me to fall back on my ass. I looked up and saw Pinkie Pie and Diane, both poking their heads in through the door, matching happy smiles on their faces. "You're here too, Diane?"

"Of course!" Diane said with a giggle as she walked in and held out her hand to help me up. "I had some free time and I said to myself, 'Diane,' I says, 'What better way to spend your weekend than finding new recipes from your favorite Pony and sharing your recipes with her?' So I came here with the others! I also wanted to learn how to be more like Pinkie!"

I felt my jaw clench automatically before I forced myself to calm down. "Others?"

"Well, yeah! I brought the gang with me!" Diane said. "Even Brandan and Marigold are here!"

I frowned a bit at this, but before I could say anything, Rainbow spoke up. "Don't get your panties in a twist," she said, "Twyla's just as good at keeping an eye on him as Twilight is at keeping an eye on Spike. And Marigold is with Jackie. We're not stupid."

"Rainbow, bringing adults here is one thing," I said, "but Brandan and Marigold are just kids. I know Mrs. Smith knows about our world, but what about Brandan's parents?"

"Wait a moment, Jethro," a soft and familiar voice called out from nearby. I turned to the left and saw two newcomers walking around the corner. One was Fluttershy with Angel sitting on her back, and the other had to be Shye. Shye walked up to me as she continued, "Twyla told us that her parents trust her to look after Brandan. Besides, Brandan apparently hasn't been able to make too many friends back home. He's already made a friend with Marigold, and the Crusaders seem to like hanging around with him too."

"Spike has been having a blast showing Brandan how to be a Dragon," Pinkie giggled.

I groaned and rubbed my eyes. "And is there a reason why you didn't tell me this?"

"They've got some sort of grand surprise for you," I heard Angel say with a roll of his eyes. He jumped off of Fluttershy and clambered up my back, landing on my shoulder. "Now shut up and get with using those fingers already!"

"Angel! Be nice!" Fluttershy said, sounding horrified. She turned to me apologetically. "I am so sorry, Jethro."

"Does he always talk like that?" Shye asked.

"Yeah, this little guy likes to talk tough," I said as I reached up, grabbed Angel, placed him in my hand and began scratching his head.

"Fucker, who you calling little?" Angel asked defiantly before he stiffened and melted in my hand. "Awww yesss…that's the good shit…" His back leg began thumping again in delight.

"I wonder if my Angel talks like that?" Shye asked herself. "He certainly acts entitled."

"What kind of surprise are you talking about?" I asked, a bit wary.

"Eh, you'll just have to see for yourself later," Rainbow said, scratching the back of her head with her hoof nervously.

"I don't like the sound of that," I said a bit more warily.

"Oh, it's nothing bad," Shye said reassuringly.

"In fact, Twilight and Twyla both think you and the town will love it," Fluttershy added.

I heard alarm bells going off in my head. "Um, the town too?" I asked.

"Dude, chillax," Dash said, patting me on the back hard, "it'll be a great surprise, I promise. They said they'd have it done by this evening."

"In the meantime, why don't you go have some fun somewhere?" Rainbow suggested, not so gently pushing me back into the house.

"Hey, not so hard," I said, as I found myself stumbling back into the house. "Okay, okay, I get it, you wanna distract me." I looked back at them, then sighed. "Just tell me what part of town to avoid."

"The west side," Fluttershy responded.

"Good to know." I looked around the kitchen, then my eyes locked on Gemini. I pointed to her. "Hey, let's go out, just you and me."

Gemini was taken aback by this, as were my two Dragon guards and Mica, although the latter's face broadened into a smile as he said, "I can hold down the fort, sir."

"No need," I smiled at the young Lycan, "Why don't you go out and find Strawberry? Have a good time with her." Turning to Scoria and Silica, I finished with, "You two keep an eye on things here and relax."

Gemini still hadn't managed to say anything as I grabbed my coat, threw it on, then looked expectantly at the former Captain of the Lycan Empire's Imperial Guard. "I…what?" she managed to squeak out.

"Come on, let's get going," I said as I opened the door and gestured outside. "It's long past time I got to know my personal guard more intimately."

She gave me a growl, but didn't object as she grabbed her own coat and threw it on. She turned back to Mica and said, "Don't do anything stupid."

Mica smiled. "Come on, you know me."

"Exactly." She put on a pair of leather gloves, then grabbed my coat collar. "Come on!"

I found myself being dragged out of the house, only to see my two Dragon guards coming out to presumably rescue me from Gemini's clutches. I held up a hand and shook my head, making them stop. Standing up, I removed Gemini's claw from my collar, instead taking her claw in my hand. "Rarity would be really upset if you tore this coat," I said as I fell into step next to her.

"Like I care what that female thinks about me," Gemini snapped back.

I sighed, then took the lead again. "Come on," I said, pulling her towards the small restaurant district.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"You and I are gonna get something to eat and we're gonna talk," I replied.

Ten or so minutes later, we were seated in a corner booth in the Prancing Pony. Ever since I'd begun to frequent it, they'd actually hired a Griffon cook/chef and added a few meat dishes for me and the two Lycans in town along with any meat eating travelers. The Griffon, a younger female named Gale, was a rather gruff individual, but I'd learned from stories that if you could get on her good side, she'd respect you. I hadn't met her yet, but I also knew she personally served the meat dishes she made.

Gemini had been visibly uncomfortable the moment we'd come into the restaurant, which was why I'd requested a booth a bit away from the others. I even saw her running her claw through her white and gray striped hair. I'd noticed that ever since autumn had started, her fur had seemed to bulk up a bit. The same had happened with Mica. Now, though, it was hard to tell since she was wearing clothes that hid it rather well. I could see her feminine curves which were remarkably similar to those of human women. Lycans were remarkably humanoid in appearance were it not for their wolflike nature. I saw her reach for her weapon several times, but since she'd left it at home it wasn't there.

When we were seated and both given large glasses of water and menus, we both looked over them. I thought I could hear Gemini muttering a few things to herself, but I ignored it as I looked over the menu. I knew what I liked here, of course, but I decided I would try something new today. Apparently, this new Griffon cook had some experience cooking Lycan dishes, and while there wasn't a large number of meat dishes, there was one that was labeled as being made for Lycans. I put my menu down. "I think I'll try the imported bison steak."

That got Gemini's attention as she looked up at me with a confused look. "This Pony restaurant serves meat?"

"Not much, but I frequent this place," I replied truthfully, "so they expanded their menu a bit. It still mainly serves Ponies, but they hired a cook who makes meat dishes for people like me and you."

Gemini looked back at the menu, a somewhat surprised look on her face. "I had no idea…"

"You hardly leave the house unless it's to guard me, so I'm not surprised," I replied.

She stiffened at that. "Ponies don't trust me here," she said in an accusing tone.

"You don't give them reason to," I replied, narrowing her eyes at her.

She bared her fangs at me before looking back at the menu again. After a bit, she spotted something that gave her pause and she pointed at it. "Hey, what's this thing called a 'cheeseburger'?"

I smiled. "It's a ground beef patty with a slice of cheese on top placed between a sesame seed bun. There are a few other toppings on it, like lettuce, tomato, onion, and condiments. It's really good."

"Is it a human dish?"

"I mean, humans eat it back on Earth," I replied.

She seemed to ponder this for a bit before she said, "I'll try that, with extra meat as well." I was a bit surprised by this, and it must have showed since she gave me a glare and added, "You're trying a Lycan dish, so it's only fair I try a human dish."

I raised my hands in surrender as I put my menu down. "Fair enough." I flagged down one of the wait staff and we placed our orders. I was surprised when Gemini asked for a mug of ale, but figured it would be alright.

As we waited, Gemini looked around the restaurant. I noticed her looking uncomfortable again and decided to try and ease her emotional burden. "Gemini, are you alright?"

She stiffened a bit. "I don't like this," she said.

"Don't like what?"

She took a deep breath and her eyes snapped up to me. "Any of this," she hissed. "This isn't the way a Lycan claims a mate!"

"How do Lycans claim a mate?" I asked.

She pointed to my neck. "I marked you as mine, didn't I? That should be enough!"

We were getting looks from some other people, so I put my finger to my lips. "I understand, but I'm not Lycan."

"No shit," she said, thankfully a bit more quietly as she took a deep gulp of her water.

"Look at me," I ordered her. Slowly, reluctantly, she did so. "Gemini Grayfur, despite some of your attitude towards me and others, I owe you a lot. You've taught me a lot about how to properly fight without magic, you and your brother have been my protectors, and you've helped me take care of my house. I know we met under tense circumstances but you've been very helpful to me. Your contributions to the household can't be understated."

"Do all humans talk this much?" she asked.

"I'm trying to make a point," I replied, "so please let me finish." She nodded begrudgingly, and I continued. "I want to get to know you better. The real you, not just the stalwart warrior I see all the time."

She scoffed. "That's all I've been since I was a pup," she said. "I had to be."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Are you stupid?" she asked point blank. "You know damn well that Lycan females are warriors! We have to be!" She took a deep breath to calm herself, then in a quieter voice, she said, "I had to become strong to protect my family…my empire…" Her claws, which were wrapped around her glass, trembled slightly before she forced them to steady. "You only saw a taste of what our empire is like. I had to rise to the top to protect my brother. Males in our society might be lower, but there was once a time when they were at least treated well. Now, they're nothing but second or even third class citizens. Empress Amber and her mother before her, Empress Agate, began stripping rights away from males. A lot of the females either didn't care or were too stupid to see the changes, but by the time they did it was too late. We once had an Imperial Senate which Empress Amber dissolved twenty years ago. You can't understand how our Empire has changed for the worse." She made a sweeping gesture towards the restaurant, although I figured she was making a grander gesture. "Imagine how hard it is for me to see males and females here get along so well. Equal rights? That's a dream for males here! Even my brother made a friend in that Strawberry Pony. She doesn't treat him like some animal…"

I could tell that this wasn't easy for her to express, so I acted instinctively. Reaching over, I put my hand over her claw. "You really love the Lycan Empire, don't you?"

She whipped her head up. "I love what it was…when I was young, Mother and Father would tell us stories about the older times. Yeah, they said it wasn't perfect, but we had good lives. Our mines were always productive, there was good food, and we lived well. Sure, there was tensions with the Deerfolk, but our leaders weren't idiots." She sighed. "We had honor. We were strong. But now…" she trailed off. After a bit, she continued. "I tried my best to make the Imperial Guard one of honor and strength, dedicated to justice, but I could only do so much. The Empress and Princess had authority over me and my Guard, and a lot of the changes I tried to implement were reversed."

I gave her claw a squeeze then released it. "You want things to go back to the way they were. I get it. There are times when even I fantasize about managing to return to Earth. My Earth."

She dug her nails into the table, a look of frustration on her face. "And then you beat me…and made me into your servant…I was so angry…so bitter…so when you wanted me to train you, I let out that anger and trained you hard to try and make you give up, but you didn't. You still don't."

"If I did that, I won't be able to defend myself, my loved ones, and the nations I now call home," I replied.

She scowled at this, looking up at me with those teal eyes. "Soft heart," she said, "but also strong…just like our Guardian…"

I chuckled a little. "I'm sure I'm soft compared to you, but I'll admit, I'm envious of you."

Her head snapped up. "What? Why?"

"You're a strong warrior," I explained. "You have incredible strength and skill in combat I can only dream of. I've seen you fighting with Ember, Chrysalis and the Dazzlings. Even if Lycans don't have magic, it's really impressive that you held your own with nothing but your skills." I moved my wings behind me a bit. "I have wings and magic now, so I've been relying on them to defend myself, but I'm still pretty much a novice when it comes to magic and advanced flight. I was only a banker and manager back on Earth, and since you're one of my teachers, I've been learning a lot and growing stronger." I smirked. "I'm not losing as much to Mica anymore."

She gave me a devilish smirk of her own. "Is that so? When things settle down, I think it'll be time to bring your training up another level."

I swallowed nervously. "Well, shit…"

She pointed a finger at me. "I won't allow an Emperor of Dragons to be a weakling, and even more than that, I won't allow the male I've marked to be weak."

"Then why did you mark me?" I asked.

She actually looked a bit embarrassed. Looking down at the table, she opened her mouth, then closed it again. "I've thought about that a lot since then. When I marked you, I did it because you were being a fucking idiot. You were going out on some stupid mission and I was…" she bit her lip, and it looked like she was having a hard time getting the words out, but eventually she did. "I was…afraid you'd die." I was stunned by her confession, but I kept my mouth shut. "I was always told by my father to be honest with myself and my feelings. Still, do you know how hard that is for a warrior?"

"I can only imagine it's really hard."

"Try impossible!" She looked up at me again. "I was never good at showing my emotions! That was always Mica's strong point! It makes me feel weak. Emotions can be used against somewolf!"

"I can understand why a warrior would feel like that," I said. "Remember when we all sat down and watched Revenge of the Sith?"

She pointed at me and nodded. "Exactly! If that Anakin guy hadn't told anyone about his feelings for…Padamame or whatever her name was, then that Dark Lord couldn't have manipulated him!"

"Maybe so," I conceded, "but we all have emotions. We shouldn't be a slave to them, but we shouldn't deny them either. You have feelings for me, yes?" She stiffened a bit, then slowly nodded. "Feelings of affection and love can be used to make someone stronger. For me, I love Zecora and Scarlet with everything I have. It's strange, but when I realized I loved Scarlet after I was already in love with Zecora, it made me feel stronger. They give me strength in their own ways."

"But what if something happens to them?" Gemini asked. "What if they were to die or something?"

"Then I'd live in memory of them," I replied without hesitation. "I know those two well enough that they wouldn't want me to live in sadness and grief. I'd grieve them, of course, but I would move forward, keeping their memory close in my heart." I chuckled. "Yeah, that sounds flowery, but I'd do just that."

She exhaled slowly. "I don't know if I could do that…" She put a hand on her chest and took a deep but somewhat shaky breath. "I don't like feeling like this. It terrifies me."

"When I realized I was in love with my first crush back on Earth, it terrified me too," I replied, "but it's a great feeling just as much. It's worth the fear. More than worth it."

She had a contemplative look on her face at those words. At that moment, our meal came, served by the cook herself. She was as gruff as the stories said, but I was polite enough. After she left, the two of us began to eat. My meal was incredibly delicious, although when Gemini tried some she said that there were better versions back in the Lycan Empire. Coincidentally, I said the same about her burger when she offered some to me, although it was still a good burger. Other than that, we ate in silence. She ate and maintained that thoughtful expression. Finally, when she finished her meal, she spoke again. "What about our stations in life?"

I swallowed the steak and looked at her. "I honestly don't think love should be blocked by jobs or stations. If a queen falls in love with a peasant and he responds in kind, I don't see any reason why they can't be together."

She wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "I'm not surprised…"

"Does it bother you that much?"

She nodded. "It just doesn't seem right to me. I've heard stories about nobles of old marrying other nobles in order to bind houses together. There was even a story Father told us about two ancient kingdoms who joined after a prince from one and princess from another married and joined the kingdoms together. Like in that Sleeping Beauty movie."

"I'm not interested in using a marriage to join the Empire with another nation," I said. "There's always another hidden motive, I feel."

She nodded. "I think that when you next meet Empress Amber, she'll try something like that."

"Yeah, she probably will," I agreed, "but let's not talk about that while we're here."

She nodded, then took a sip of her water. After a bit more silence, she said, "How do humans females claim their males?"

I had to hold back my laughter. "Well, honestly, for a lot of human history it's been the other way around. Males traditionally do the courting, although lately women have been doing it too."

"Then how do humans males claim their females?"

"Claim is a strong word," I said. "It depends on the people. Lots of times, a human couple will go out on dates like we're on right now. The couple engage in activities like going to a theater, having a meal together, or just spending time together. It's all about getting to know the other and eventually opening up emotionally to one another."

She looked down at her empty plate. "I see…"

I finished my steak a few minutes later, and when the waitress asked if we wanted dessert, Gemini said no, so I said the same. I paid the bill, left a hefty tip for the waitress and the cook, and the two of us walked into the snowy town again. The snow had eased up a bit and Ponies went about their business as usual. I looked over at Gemini, and saw that she was staring ahead, but was also still thinking.

I decided to just wander town for a few hours with her. When I asked her what kind of place she wanted to go to, she asked to go to the smith shop to see what kind of weapons Ponies made. I told her she'd probably be disappointed, but she insisted. I took her to Iron Forge's shop where she perused the wares. I knew he didn't make many weapons, but he did make knives for other purposes. She seemed surprised at how well they were made.

We visited other places as well, until finally the skies started getting dark. We returned to the mansion. The snow had picked up a bit and I was getting cold. When we arrived at the door, she stopped me and turned me to face her. "Listen," she said, "I don't normally do stuff like this. It's not how I was raised to claim a male. Mother and Father always told me I'd be able to claim a male easily, but you're not a Lycan. I don't know much about this courting or dating stuff, but today wasn't unpleasant." She turned and opened the door, but not before giving my chest a light smack with her tail. She walked up the stairs quickly and I heard the door to her room open and shut.

I walked in behind her, only to find Scarlet and Zecora sitting in front of the fire. Zecora was reading something and Scarlet was on her laptop with earphones on watching YouTube. When I entered, the two turned to me and gave me similar grins. "How was your date with Gemini, beloved?" Zecora asked as I took a seat next to my wife.

"Give us all the juicy deets," Scarlet said as she flew over and perched herself on my lap, giggling up at me.

I sighed, then smiled and put my arms around both of them. "You're both incorrigible," I said before telling them all about it.