The unicorn stallion looked upon his herd. He had gathered all of his mares together into one place, and stood stop a rock outcropping. His gaze was intense and analytical. He was no dumb feral animal, he might even consider himself smarter than humans. If he was to create his own herd, and one day nation, he would need to make a solid foundation.
His chosen queen would be his closest ally and counsel to plan alongside with. As much confidence as he had in his own intelligence and skills, he was not so conceited that he would make ALL the decisions purely on his own. His queen would be crucial for many of them.
Fortunately, he had quite a lot of fine specimens to choose from. But which?
Hybris, formerly known as Henric, was lacking in magic, but made up for it in strength and loyalty.
Ioke, formerly the dwarf Khatrah, shared the same weakness as Hybris, but she possessed great aggression and resistance to opposing magic. Tempting, but that aggression may be the herd's undoing...
That aggression went for Lyssa, formerly Robin, as well. So, that was a no, too.
That left four candidates. Or, rather, two. Both were twins, and he refused to separate twins. Together, their magic was much stronger than apart. One option was Nyx and Eos, formerly Benjamin and that old geezer. And the other option was Harmonia and Themis, formerly Mika and Luka.
Both were solid choices. However, there was one crucial detail that separated them. Nyx and Eos, even together, had rather moderate magical abilities, while Harmonia and Themis, even on their own, had significant magical prowess. Together, the two could almost rival him. Almost.
Yes, they would be the perfect pair of queens for him. And, as twins, they were much more likely to give birth to more twins. This would do well to expedite his herd's growth.
He lit his horn, sending a message to them all of his chosen queens, and urged Themis and Harmonia to trot forward to meet him on the outcropping. They dutifully obeyed and trotted up.
He spoke again through his telepathy to his herd. "From this day forward, Harmonia and Themis shall rule alongside me. They will assist me in determining who will have the right as betas, and most importantly, they will help me sire our next generation."
The mares cheered before he gently silenced them, then turned to his queens. "Harmonia. Themis. Stand still. I shall need to modify you both a little bit to fit your new roles."
The two obeyed and stood still as the unicorn stallion lit up his horn. Magic spread from it and surrounded the two. As it enveloped them, their bodies grew a little bit to be close to his height, and their capacity to breed increased beyond just springtime heat to all year round. Of course, he wouldn't breed them all year round round the clock. But they would need to be ready whenever. Lastly, their horns changed to a gold color, indicating their status as queens. There would be no mistaking them, and any stallion from another herd would know that to breed them would be committing a declaration of war against this herd.
When it was done, the two queens smiled and nuzzled their king. Now, it was time to pick the beta females.