The Stallion Who Can Never Die

The train ride was mostly done in silence as Luna and Jack sat in their compartment, completely alone. Jack gazing out of the window and watching the farmland and plains roll by, and Luna glancing at him worryingly again and again. His silence unsettled her greatly, before he was quite chatty, happy to have any reason to talk to her, but now... Unable to stand it, Luna cleared her throat.

"So Har- I mean- Jack." She corrected herself, the Pegasus didn't respond. "Your world, what's it like?"

"Crowded." He answered immediately. "Loud... Tense, is what I would describe the feeling on the planet. Very tense... As well as quite dirty too. They've been sending all sorts of nasty things into the atmosphere."

Luna blinked in surprise. "Why in Equestria would they do that?"

"This isn't in Equestria, you see." He corrected with a small grin. "But it's just the result of powering all of civilization, providing them with electricity, transportation, and enough food to feed everyone, or at least enough to keep society going."

"That sounds awful."

"Yeah, the Human race isn't pretty right now, but at this stage, they're like a child with no parents to supervise them, and thus they're making a bigger and bigger mess. But, eventually, they'll grow up, clean up their mess, figure out what they want to do (more or less), and go exploring and meeting the neighbours."

"You talk about them like you're not one of them."

"Well, in a way I'm not. I was born thousands of years past that time, then I signed up for the Time Agency, and got sent on one hell of a joyride. But when it's over, I find myself stranded on my species' home planet thousands of years before my time, with no way out except waiting through it the long way. That, and being immortal has given me an interesting perspective on the Human race."

Upon mentioning his immortality, Luna was posed with another question. "Were you born as an immortal? Or did something happen?"

Jack didn't answer right away. "Something happened."

Before Luna could ask more, he spoke. "There was a battle. We were being assaulted by a virtually unstoppable alien force. An alien force that was insane, and hated anything that wasn't them. They had no concept of love, no concept of compassion, no concept of mercy. Billions of lives were in danger and we were the only ones who could stand against them. I gathered a group of volunteers to buy time, time so that a solution could be made to stop them. In the end, I was the last one left, surrounded, no way of escape, and no hope of surviving."

He was silent for a moment before continuing. "They killed me like all the rest. Then I woke up, the aliens around me were gone, turned to dust."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "Dust?"

"Dust. I had originally thought that whatever happened to them simply knocked me out. I had thought the original solution worked and I miraculously survived. It was a long time before I learned what really happened. A friend of mine I had been travelling with somehow looked into the heart of time itself."

The Alicorn blinked in surprise. "How did your friend do that?"

Jack shook his head. "I don't know, but she did it, and it gave her some pretty amazing powers. She destroyed the Daleks and brought me back to life. But she was only Human, she couldn't control those powers completely, she brought me back to life permanently, by accident. Then, she lost her powers completely, apparently no one's meant to look at Time itself, otherwise they die. She was saved, but that left me with immortality."

"These aliens, what are they like?"

Jack turned his head and looked at Luna, the first time since they got on the train. "Not something you ever want to meet. And I hope, for you and your world's sake, you never do."

He turned back to look outside, leaving Luna with the ominous answer. They must be truly terrifying creatures indeed.

Again, there was silence between them, worrying her again. But underneath that worry, just bubbling into form, was irritation. "So, how old are you Jack?" She asked, making another attempt to strike up some idle conversation.

"It's complicated..." He answered.

Barely holding back a sigh, Luna tried another tactic. "Well, I've been asking you all sorts of questions since you regained your memory, do you have any for me?"

"Actually, I do..." Jack replied. Luna looked at him, ready for whatever he had to ask.

"The Traveler," he said, glancing at her again. "Why didn't you call him Doctor like everyone else?"

The question sent her reeling, she was not at all prepared for that. "You knew him!?"

Jack nodded with a smile. "Traveled with him for a bit."

Getting a hold of herself, Luna took a deep breath as she remembered him, the light brown Earth Pony with the most remarkable qualities about him. And terrible ones too. "Because he's not a Doctor. Not to me, at least." She answered, her face turning grim.

"He's saved mine and my sister's life many times, and Equestria as well. He's a remarkable stallion but... there are times when I see what lies deep within him. And what I see worries me."

This time Jack was not looking away from her, as he watched with great interest. "What did you see?"

"Rage..." She muttered as the most fearful memories of the Traveler passed through her mind. "Rage and anger... of a kind I've never seen before or since. And, considering the power he wields, that is indeed worrying. Should he ever give in to his anger..." The Alicorn shuddered. "Then I'm not sure if the world, if any world, would survive."

Jack nodded, very slowly. "I see..." Was all he said. Silence once again came in the compartment, but Luna didn't mind so much this time, her mind occupied with memories of the Traveler, some pleasant, but most not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

White Stripe took a deep breath of relief as he finished his work and began making his way out of the old Diamond Dog caves. He silently congratulated himself for having the foresight to evict the Diamond Dogs out of the caves shortly after their discovery, in case the caves could be used for something. Truthfully, he had expected the caves to eventually be turned into a forward base of sorts for them, but this purpose would do just as well.

A vibration in his pocket interrupted his thoughts. He wasted no time in pulling out the phone, flicking it open, and levitating it to his  ear with his magic. "I've just about finished with setting up a suitable diversion-"

"It won't be necessary, Shade." The voice said, causing the Unicorn to blink.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Her highness has already left the city, taking Harkness along with her."

"Damnation!" White cursed, he remembered that the three leaders would not utter his true name unless he had regained his memories.

"On the contrary, my friend, this is exactly what we needed." The voice replied, White could tell he was smiling. "With both the Captain and her Majesty no longer around, we can safetly move the various pieces of the Extractor from their hidden locations across the city, I've already sent out units to collect them and bring them back to the Hub. We'll have it fully operational in a matter of hours."

White sighed. "It's about time things started going our way, but now there's the matter of Harkness, if he has regained his memories, why is he leaving the city?"

"He's likely told Luna all he knows of Torchwood, and I imagine they're leaving in an attempt to draw us out, we do still need him."

"Of course... Without him, the Extractor is useless to us."

"Shade, am I correct in assuming you were planting the Gemstones as the diversion?"

White nodded, he knew him too well. "Yes."

"And I assume you were only having them at a quarter of their power?"

"...Yes...." He could feel the blood drain from his face slowly, he knew where the voice was going with this.

"Here's what you're going to do, Shade..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the train approached the station of the small town, Luna couldn't help but smile as she felt her mood brighten. Ponyville truly was a nice town, in fact, Luna felt the town represented the absolute best of Equestria. In no other parts of the land were all three different kinds of pony truly accepted. Despite every one of both her and Celestia's attempts, there was still an air of racism within other parts of the kingdom. In Canterlot, the high percentage of Unicorns carried the old ignorant belief that they were superior to all, thanks in no small part to the Unicorn nobility. Cloudsdale was just far too limiting to non-Pegasi, which fit well with the ancient Pegasi isolationist culture. Even Vanhoover was said to have some anti-Pegasi sentiment among the populace, despite a sizable percentage being Pegasi.

Indeed, Ponyville was the only place Luna could think of that had no hints of racism whatsoever, it represented Equestria better then the capital itself.

"Nice looking place," Jack commented as the train came to a stop at the station.

"Why don't you go take a look around, Jack?" The Alicorn suggested.

Jack gave her an odd look. "The train will be leaving in a few minutes."

"The trains pass through this town towards Canterlot often, go explore for a few hours, I will make sure an escort will be waiting for you in Canterlot."

Luna could see the suspicion in his old eyes. "Remember how I'm still needed by this Torchwood? I don't want to put this town in danger."

"This town has seen and gone through a lot," Luna replied as one of the few clear memories of her as Nightmare Moon passed through her mind, her 'grand appearance' at that fateful Summer Sun Celebration. "And the town is home to the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, you're as safe here as you would be in Canterlot, perhaps even more so."

Jack raised an eyebrow, the argument was good, but he didn't seem entirely convinced. "Why are you really sending me here?"

The horn whistled and Luna could faintly hear the conductor making the final call, she didn't have much time, but she certainly wasn't going to spoil the surprise. "Go on, explore the town." She said with a mischievous smile. "You might be surprised."

Not letting up with the odd look, Jack relented nonetheless and made his way off the train. By the time he stepped off, it had begun moving. He stood there as it left, leaving him in a silent station with his thoughts.

Well, may as well play her game. He thought as he stepped off the station.

The town had a nice, quaint charm to it. The atmosphere was friendly, calm, and altogether quite nice. Ponies of various colours smiled and waved to each other as they passed by, and didn't hesitate to wave to Jack, who promptly waved back with a more... flirtatious smile of his own. He liked this world, hell, of all the dimensions he could've ended up in, this certainly wasn't a bad place by any stretch of the means. He began paying less attention to the town and more to his equine body. He missed his human form a little, but being a man of the 51st century, with all the species and genders he's seen and experienced (both intimately and not), it wasn't that much of a challenge for him to accept this transformation.

True, he didn't have thumbs, but he did have wings. Sexy, sexy wings. He grinned as he extended a wing and briefly examined it. A pair of thumbs for a pair of wings? He thought before nodding and folding it back. That's a fair trade.

He stopped suddenly as he remembered something. Wait a minute... how the hell did I hold my pistol with a ho- it was then that he was knocked over by something Fast, Soft, and Pink. Before he knew it, he was on his back with a pink mare standing over him with the widest grin he had ever seen... in this world, at least (he'd seen far wider in his).

"Hi!" She exclaimed happily. "I'm Pinkie Pie! Who are you!?"

Ah, the forward-type, he knew what to do. Despite being rather painfully knocked down and effectively pinned to the ground, he smiled. "Captain Jack Harness," he greeted, he was partially surprised that he referred himself as Harness without thinking before deciding to stick with it, it did sound more appropriate for this world then 'Harkness'. "Very nice to meet you, Pinkie Pie."

The mare looked like she could hardly control herself from bouncing on the spot. "Oh, I'm so excited! A new pony in town!" She gasped suddenly. "Ohmygosh! I gotta get started setting up for you Welcome-to-Ponyville party! Do you like cake? What's your favourite flavour? I hope it's lemon, cause we have a lot of lemons right now, I don't know where they came from but, hey, who am I to look a gift-monkey in the mouth?"

"You're very talkative, aren't you?" Jack commented with an amused smile, before raising an eyebrow. "You throw welcoming parties for every newcomer, or am I just special?"

Pinkie giggled, stepping off of the Captain and helping him up. "Everypony's special, silly! That's why I gotta throw parties for every new pony coming to town, whether it be a visit or actually moving in! That reminds me, are you moving in or are you visiting?"

"Just a short visit, apparently Luna's got some sort of-"

At the mention of the Princess, Pinkie gasped dramatically. "Ohmygosh, you know Princess Luna!? That means I gotta throw you an extra special super-duper party!! How'd you get to know her!? Are you one of her special guards!? I heard her guards are all Vamponies, but you're clearly a Pegasus and-" She stopped when her nose twitched. "Hold on..."

The pink mare suddenly pressed her nose against Jack's leg, taking a deep, impossibly long, sniff. Jack quickly pulled back, chuckling, but Pinkie continued to take deep whiffs of his scent. "Hey, I'm flattered, and I don't mind, but 51st century pheromones can be a bit overwhelming to the untrained nose. If you want, we can find a room together and then you can-"

He didn't finish as Pinkie suddenly stood up and gasped again, it was hard to tell with her fur, but it looked like she was blushing. "You're Princess Luna's Special Somepony!!"

Jack blinked, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. "What? Woah, I never said-"

"Her scent," Pinkie said. "It's alllllll over you! Strong too, I'd say just last night! Ooh, ooh! I bet that was why we had that absolutely beautiful starry sky last night!"

It was a mistake, I didn't remember... "Now, hold on-"

"Just between you and me," she suddenly whispered, her eyes darting left and right, making sure there were no eavesdroppers. "Way to go! Being a Princess and all, I'm sure it wasn't easy asking her, or did she ask you? That would be even more amazing!"

"There is nothing between me and Luna!" Jack said forcefully.

"My nose disagrees." Pinkie replied, unphased.

"I-" He paused, and sighed. I didn't have my memories, and that left me vulnerable... I can't love another person like that, not after... "It's complicated."

Pinkie gave a puzzled expression, before a strange look of understanding came to her face. She nodded slowly. "I see... You should probably talk to her, get everything settled out. Talking can be the first step, sometimes the only one, to solving any problem."

"Thanks for the advice, but..." I still remember everything about last night... I can't just carelessly smash that all aside. Not to her. He mentally groaned. Jack, what kind of a mess have you gotten yourself into? "...I've got it covered." He lied.

Pinkie nodded, smiling cheerfully. "Okie-Dokie-Lokie! Anypony who's Luna's Special Somepony has to be smart enough to talk to her about Everything! So, about your Welcome-to-Ponyville party-"

"I don't think I'll be staying long enough for a party, sad as that may be." Jack replied, some of his charm returning. "Next train passing by, I'm taking to Canterlot to meet back up with Luna, whether or not I figure out why she sent me here."

Pinkie tilted her head in confusion. "She sent you here and she didn't tell you why? That's pretty weird, I wonder-" And then her face instantly lit up. "Ooh! I got it! She must have some sort of surprise waiting for you here! Why else would she not tell you? Aww, that's so sweet..."

Jack shrugged. "I guess that makes sense, too bad I don't have any clue on where to start looking."

"Hmm..." Pinkie muttered as she placed a hoof on her chin in thought. "Well, Rarity apparently got a surprise order from the Princess and she only had a few hours to complete it. That was a few hours ago so maybe it's done, or she's tearing herself apart trying to get it done right now, either option's just as likely."

"Really, is that so?" Jack raised an eyebrow at that. "And where would I find this 'Rarity'?"

"Oh, you'd like her!" Pinkie said excitedly. "Her house/workplace is Carousal Boutique," She pointed a hoof to a large, carousal-like building that stood a little apart from the other houses. "Right down there! Why don't you go meet her and say hi?"

Jack grinned, surprised at how refreshing it was to be given permission to say 'hi' to anything. You hear that, Doctor!? He mentally shouted. I'm saying hello and you're not around to stop me! Hah! "I think I'll go do that, thanks Pinkie."

"No problem, anything for a friend!" She answered with a smile. "Oh! Before I forget..." She reached a hoof into her poofy pink mane and pulled out a small cupcake with silver icing on it, much to Jack's surprise. "Since you don't have time for a full Welcome-to-Ponyville party, here's a Welcome-to-Ponyville cupcake, I always keep extra cupcakes in case of situations like this!"

Handing (or is it hoofing?) the cupcake to him, Jack was further surprised to see no pink hair of any kind on it. "Thanks," He muttered. What, is that mane bigger on the inside or something? I wonder what else she's got hiding in there...

"Anyways, I've got to go, plenty of ponies who need smiles on their faces! Nice to meet you, Captain! Hope to see you again soon!"

"Yeah, you too, thanks again!" He called out as she bounced away happily. Nice mare... He thought to himself pleasantly as he took a bite into the cupcake, enjoying the flavour.

By the time he arrived at the Boutique, he had finished the treat, leaving a hoof available to knock on the door. He barely tapped it before it slammed open and he was staring at a white Unicorn mare with a dark purple mane, a mane that had stray bits of hair popping out all along it. Despite her haggard appearance, Jack was taken aback by her looks.

"Sorry, can't talk! I have to... to..." She had instantly forgotten what she was going to say or do when she noticed Jack, her eyes instantly widened as they practically drank from the sight of him. "Oh... my..."

Ah, the easy-type, he knew what to do. "Captain Jack Harness," He said, not hiding the shock from his tone. "And who, might I ask, are you?"

"Oh, who me?" She asked, eyes darting left and right while a hoof rapidly fanned her face. "I-I-I'm R-rarity. Lady Rarity."

"Well, Lady Rarity, might I just say..." He took her hoof and gently kissed it. "...You look gorgeous."

He grinned upon seeing her swoon. "Oh, please, I'm an absolute wr-" She stopped and her eyes widened. "I'M AN ABSOLUTE WRECK!!! A handsome stallion such as you shouldn't be looking at my depraved form! OH WOE IS ME!!"

"Woah, hey, relax." Jack said, though still grinning.

"No!" Rarity said, dramatically placing a hoof over eyes and turning away. "Do not look at me! I am unfit for the eyes of a gentlecolt such as you!"

"That's me and my eyes business, miss drama queen." He replied with a playful tease.

"Drama Queen!?" She cried out indignantly, her dramatic sad tone and posture dropping immediately. "I'll have you know I am a very respectable mare who treats her appearance very seriously!"

She blinked suddenly when something occurred to her. "Wait... Harness..." she muttered as she played the word through her head. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about the name Captain Harkness, would you?"

Jack raised an eyebrow at that. "Yeah, why?"

"A few hours ago, I received a telegram from Princess Luna, a request to have a special order done by around this time, I was then to look for a 'Captain Harkness' and give it to him."

Jack nodded slowly. Looks like I found what Luna wanted me to find. "Yeah, that's me, Harkness is just a misspelling, you'd be surprised how often that happens."

"Oh my, I had no idea you knew the Princess, please," She stepped to the side. "Come in, your order is inside."

Following her request, Jack stepped inside the Boutique, and looked at all the various dresses and suits on various pony mannequins.

"I must say," Rarity said as she closed the door and made her way to a long case. "Princess Luna's instructions were very specific, it's a rather interesting design, almost military-like. I suppose that makes sense, given that you are a Captain. Nevertheless, I followed her instructions and I am quite proud of the result."

Enveloping the case in her magic, she levitated it to the silver Stallion.

"What was the order?" He asked.

Rarity didn't answer, but rather flicked the case open, revealing its contents. Jack's eyes widened at the sight. "I don't believe it..."

The Unicorn smiled and gestured with her head behind her. "There's a changing room behind me, so you can-"

Wasting no time, Jack grabbed the case and bolted behind the red curtains.

"I do hope it all fits," Rarity called out as he pulled out the dark gray fabric, his eyes practically shining. "I only had the measurements the Princess gave me for reference."

Wasting no time, Jack went to work placing his hooves into the sleeves the specially designed coat, his coat, his trademark clothing that he had worn for literally centuries. "Oh yeah, it fits beautifully!" He called back as he maneuvered his wings through the appropriate holes.

"Oh marvelous!"

In no time at all, the coat was on him and, as he examined his reflection in the mirror, found his smile growing more and more. Now, he looked right. Now, he looked ready. Now, he was back. Proudly, he pushed away the curtains, revealing himself to the fashionista, who's eyes practically sparkled with pride at the sight.

"You look absolutely magnificent, darling! How does it feel on you?"

"Right!" He answered with the widest smile he had since regaining his memories. "Absolutely right you brilliant, beautiful mare you-"

Overwhelmed, without thinking, moving faster then she could react, he kissed her. Rarity's eyes widened in shock and she made a surprised noise as Jack pressed his lips against hers, but she most certainly did not resist. It lasted less then a second, but for Rarity it felt a lot longer and ended far too soon. With a loud smack, the Pegasus pulled away from the Unicorn, still beaming. "All in the span of a few hours! You are amazing, Rarity!"

"Y-you just... b-bwuh..." She sputtered, trying to regain her senses, it was a losing battle. "I... You...Ohhh-" Her eyes rolled back and she dramatically, yet genuinely, fainted, landing hard on the floor. Jack stared, his giddy mood dissipating slightly, his smile changing to a slight frown as he looked at her now unconscious body.

"Ah, whoops," He muttered. "May have overdone it a bit, sorry. I'll, um, I'll just show myself out."

Quietly, he stepped over the mare's body, careful not to disturb her. "Sorry," he muttered again. "But thanks, you're amazing!"

He felt a breeze of cool air hit him as he exited the Boutique and noticed a couple of red rose petals. His smile and happy mood instantly dissipated at the sight, reminded of some painful memories of close friends... Turning his head in their direction, he found a mare staring at him in disbelief, a mare he had seen before made out of rose petals, though now he could tell she was flesh and blood.

"You know," He called to her, making his way slowly in his direction. "Whenever I saw rose petals lying on the ground, that was always a very bad sign to me."

She stared and said nothing as he approached her. "You have your memories back, don't you?" She said when he stood in front of her, her eyes showing wariness.

Jack nodded. "Thank Scootaloo, and you must be Roseluck. Captain Jack Harness." He wasn't smiling when he introduced himself, but stared at her intently. "I need you to tell me what Torchwood plans on doing to me."

"I don't know." She answered immediately. "They never told me except that you were the key to victory for us."

"Why wouldn't they tell you?"

"Because it's not my job! I was stationed to Ponyville years ago to keep an eye on the Bearers of the Elements as they're potentially the largest threat to us due to their loyalty to Celestia!"

Jack sighed, before he realized he may get an answer to a different question. "Why is this Torchwood so determined to remove Celestia from power, and where does Luna fit into all this?"

Roseluck opened her mouth to answer, before her eyes focused past him and back to him again. "I'm sorry," She said. "I can't blow my cover, not yet."

Jack blinked. "Wha-" and then she struck him in the face with her hoof, sending him to the ground with a pained grunt. He coughed, blood dripping from his nose as he looked up dazedly at Roseluck. "What the hell are you doing!?" He shouted.

"Good work, Roseluck." Came a familiar voice from behind him.

"Shade," Roseluck said, standing at attention. "This is him, right?"

Jack turned his head and found, to his horror, White Stripe standing there, a small, foreboding smile on his face. "Indeed it is, but now I suggest you return to your post, I can take it from here."

"But sir, shouldn't I-" She began to protest, which was cutoff with a stern wave of his hoof.

"Maintain observation of the Element Bearers, if you witness any unusual activity from them, if any of them leave the town, inform us immediately, our Moment is at hoof and we cannot have any of them interrupt us, understood?"

Reluctantly, Roseluck nodded. "Yes, Shade." She walked passed him, before turning and giving Jack an apologetic look. White Stripe was too busy examining the Pegasus to notice. As she walked away, Jack coughed.

"White Stripe..." He muttered angrily.

"It's Shade, actually." The Unicorn corrected in an indifferent tone, before gesturing with his head. "Get up, you wouldn't want attention drawn to us, it would be most tragic for the town if that were to happen."

The Pegasus glared at him as he got up from the ground. "So, you are a part of this Torchwood."

"More then that, Captain Harkness, I'm one of its leaders."

"Then what's to stop me from creating a scene and revealing your whole operation?"

"Quite simply, Captain..." Shade said, his horn glowing a faint gray colour, pulling out from his suit a large red ruby. But it wasn't a ruby, not to Jack's eyes, which widened at the sight of them. "...This."

"A Gemstone mine..." He muttered in horror, before looking Shade in the eyes. "Do you have any idea what you are holding?"

Shade grinned evilly as he brought the mine close to his face, examining it with interest. "What did your universe call it? A 'weapon of mass destruction'? That term has a nice ring to it, don't you think? And it certainly is a pretty thing, isn't it?"

Jack wanted to move, he wanted to slap that thing out of Shade's magical grasp, but he held completely still, knowing that that would detonate the bomb the mad Unicorn held and destroy the entire town. And if it was set at full power-

"We stumbled across a cache of these things a long time ago," Shade explained. "That was how we found out about the Rift in Vanhoover, as well as your universe, Captain. I have spent the last while lacing the tunnels underneath this town with the entire cache, it was originally to be a distraction, destroy the town and draw the Princess away from our operations, leaving you vulnerable for capture. But then you regained your memories and left with the Princess, it was nice attempt, but that just simply caused me to alter the plan with a more... drastic option."

"No..."

"I have reset the mines to their full power, rather then at a quarter of it. Should I detonate them with a special spell, the resulting explosion will disintegrate the town, the surrounding forest and area..." He looked away and saw Canterlot in the distance. "It may even destroy a part of Canterlot as well," Shade mused. "But even if the Tyrant Sun herself were at the centre of the explosion, it would only injure her superficially. We need something far more powerful these simple bombs... something like the Rift to do the job."

Jack's heart skipped a beat at that. "You're insane! You can't control the energies of the Rift! You'd rip the entire planet apart!"

"Which is why we need you, Captain Harkness, you're the key, and the Rift is the door. Should you refuse to accompany me back to Vanhoover or do anything to compromise us, I will cast the spell and have the entire town destroyed. I am very willing to end my life should that be necessary. From there, Torchwood will open the Rift, and Time and Space would flow through uncontrollably, tearing the land asunder."

"You would destroy yourselves and the entire planet to kill one mare!?"

"Yes!" Shade shouted, the first time he had raised his voice. "For a thousand years, we have toiled and launched only pathetic attempts to eliminate the Tyrant Sun. But no more! This war will end tonight, one way or another! We will liberate Equestria from her grasp, if that means destroying it then so be it!" He took a deep breath. "Either you come with me, or I destroy us all... it's your choice, Captain."

Jack stared, his nostrils flaring, as was his anger. He wanted nothing more then to snap that damn stallion's neck, but he knew he would cast that spell should he make any sudden moves, and he knew Shade was perfectly willing to kill himself and the town. He had the eye of a fanatic, a fanatic to a cult. Is that what this Torchwood is here? He wondered. A cult!? Nevertheless, he knew he had only one option, he couldn't allow this town of innocents to be killed, not because of him. Closing his eyes slowly, he lowered his head in defeat. "You win. I'll go."

Shade smiled. "I'm glad you saw reason, Captain, considering what you did for your world, I knew you wouldn't let this town be destroyed."

With that, the two ponies made their way back to the train station, ready to get on the next train back to Vanhoover. As they left, neither of them noticed the rose petals on the ground, twirling around in a small gust of wind. Roseluck, in her home, stamped a hoof in frustration, having heard the whole conversation through the petals.

"Luna curse it all!" She shouted. What am I going to do?

Meanwhile, a small orange Pegasus filly drove her scooter pass the station, where she saw a glimpse of two unfamiliar stallions. Paying them no heed, she continued on. But miles and miles away, sitting on the roof of one of Vanhoover's apartment buildings, the same orange Pegasus, now a mare, suddenly remembered a memory she did not have before. "Oh shit!" She cried out, her wings flaring open as she jumped and glided down to the street.