Arcane Shadow (extended)

Chapters

Scattered
A Cat, A Mage, and A Swordsman
Oh Look, It's a Nazi!
Meanwhile, in Crystalis Fantasia...
A Nazi and an Archer
You See This Cleaver?!
Running Gag
Bind-Spamming
Acruta Lao D'nor
The Party's Back Together
Is She a Beserker?!
Plus a Berserker, Minus a Mage
In These Dark Walls
To Storm A Castle
Heralding Screams
Unlikely Ally
Jubilee City
Coincidence, Much?
Brief Break
Sins and Sacrifices
Another Break
Shadow of the Moon
"When's the Wedding?"
Intermission of Sorts: Lance and Anna...
Another Intermission: Why Katie Wears Bandages
To Candy Constellation!
Oh Look, A Tenko!
Back to Crystalis Fantasia!
Rulers of Crystalis, Meet the Rest of the Group!
A Rhyming Zebra
Randomness Abound!
Third Intermission: Shenanigans All Over
The Gala Ensues!
Fourth Intermission: Threeway!
Confessions
Shit Just Got Real!
Trixie Really Isn't so Powerful...
Finality
Epilogue (sort of)

Scattered

A campfire was on the verge of dying. More wood was quickly added as what little of the glow illuminated eight forms surrounding it. The darkness of the cavern echoed and fleeted as the fire regained its strength--the only other light was from moonbeams shooting though holes in the rocky ceiling. At last, the eight forms could clearly be seen...

"Another rampaging god? When will it end?" Complained a young man with long, blond hair (some of it braided) and short bangs; a stalactite in his hand that he used to poke at the fire with. He wore a pirate suit without the eye-patch. His name was Matt, and he was quite the avid sword collector. Many called him a thief, but he didn't give a damn--especially if the sword stolen was unique. He also used Bushido left and right despite this nature of robbery.

"I'm not sure, Matt. But we cannot give up now." Said a green-haired youth in a leather dress as she kicked a rock. She had a bow in one hand, and a pet green bush in the other. Her name was Anna, and she specialized in ranged attacks and nature, believe it or not. One time she was told she lived in a tree, which really wasn't that far from the truth. Behind her stood a robot-lumber hybrid fittingly named the Mighty Oak, who was keeping watch should something attack. Despite being the smallest of her group, she could do what the others couldn't (read as: climb three consecutive mountains and not be tired).

"She's right. Why do the girls keep growing more balls than us?" Chimed a man with short, scarlet-brown hair; keeping his gaze on a gunblade he was busy polishing. He, quite simply, dressed like a Nazi with a reverse swastika on a red sash wrapped around his arm--which was really the Buddhist symbol for peace. He had way too many guns on his person if you asked anybody else that wasn't a gun collector themselves. His name was Lance, and he had a war-tank equipped with machine guns, goddamn drills, satellites that could cause a solar-powered laser whose projector was in the far reaches of space (slightly past the moon!) to fry enemies when needed, laser cannons, more guns that could freeze anything not Ice-resistant quicker than the South Pole would, spikes on the front between the wheels that could slice and dice enemies whilst the tank simultaneously ran aforementioned enemies over, and fucking nukes. This tank was named the Valkyrie, and it also sometimes crashed onto enemies from the sky before Lance made it go boom. Don't worry, the damn thing was expendable. He also carried two-handed guns called blasters on his backside to perform even more variations of 'trigger happy' that could easily redefine Bullet Hell--which was actually the name of one of his fire-based skills!

"Why did it imprison GodCat?" Questioned a girl with red-orange hair with a sigh. She was dressed in holy robes complete with a priest hat and a staff with a blue crystal and white wings to match. Her name was Natalie, though she was often called Natz. She was the mage of the group, being able to use both black and white magic. She was also the target of Lance's...darker desires, though more often than not he got berated for it. The reason for this? She could buff her allies by doing a fanservicey pose. Not only did she look cute as all hell doing it, but it made men like her a LOT more and as an embarrassing result would flock to her like ducks heading south for the winter--whereupon she either ran away (far, FAR away) or called down heavenly thunder to fry them because of the unwanted attention she'd be getting, and Lance was no exception!

A blue cat with beady, black eyes and no legs to speak of meowed. His name was NoLegs. If you had a translator on hand, he would be saying 'to beat our behinds to kingdom come.'

Something stopped everything--an indescribable sound, most likely an echo, hit the ears of the group. Anna glanced around. Lance froze in place. Matt dropped the stalactite. Natalie glanced at NoLegs who meowed and cocked his head to the side.

Nothing. Nothing was there to ambush them...right?

A rock suddenly hit Matt on the side of his head and bounced off into the darkness. He shot straight up and drew a sword. "Who's there?! Show yourself!"

No answer, save for an echo mimicking/mocking his voice. The swordsman sat back down.

The room shook, causing some debris to rain from the ceiling. This made more holes for the moonlight to shine through.

"We shouldn't be here..." Natz cringed, hastily glancing around.

"Nonsense." Lance replied before another rock missed his head by mere inches, causing the hat to land between his feet. He too got up and looked around.

Once more was the darkness that greeted him. "Figures." He snorted before sitting back down, reclaiming his hat in doing so.

A third rock hit Anna right between the eyes. She shot up angrily and aimed her bow at Matt because the rock came from his direction.

"I swear, it wasn't me." Matt deadpanned, dropping the sword and holding both hands up nervously.

"I hope I don't end up half-blind." Anna hissed as she sat back down.

Footsteps echoed in the darkness.

Something was rapidly coming towards them.

They all got up hastily as something suddenly lunged at them from nowhere, Matt picking up his sword again.

Anna was sent to the sky right off the bat, she broke through the ceiling and there was a white star indicating she was now in space. The Mighty Oak soon followed.

"What--"

Lance was sent flying in the opposite direction, much like Anna. The Valkyrie went with him. Another gaping hole was in the ceiling.

Matt and Natz were sent in the same direction, clutching each other and yodeling like they were Team Rocket. NoLegs went with them in the same manner. A third hole appeared and the moon's light could've illuminated everything in place of the dying fire.

"A change in scenery would be nice." Hissed the thing that attacked them as it stomped out the campfire while admiring its handiwork.

____

Anna woke up in the arms of the Mighty Oak. Her vision was blurry and her breathing was rapid as if she survived a tsunami to the face.

"Ohhhh..... my....head....." Anna groaned, squinting both eyes shut in pain.

Her green bush sat on top of the Mighty Oak, and judging from its point of view, Anna was roughed up pretty bad. Nothing she couldn't handle, though. She helped to defeat both halves of the GodCat, creator--and destroyer--of the universe as she knew it.

Anna's eyes suddenly shot open as she cast a healing spell of her own. It revolved around plant magic, and she couldn't tell if she casted either Renew or Refresh--it was one or the other. Probably Renew since Refresh would've blessed her by now. The pain and bruises went away as the Oak gently lowered her to her feet. She picked up the bow and looked at her surroundings.

A forest of darkness. Thanks to her being a ranger, her eyes quickly adjusted to the dim lighting her surroundings had to offer. She was in a really high place in the sky-mountain earlier before she was sent to what was assumed to be Timbuktu. Something rustled in the bushes, and she immediately raised her Fairy Bow in a fighting stance and loaded some Spark Arrows, taking aim at the aforementioned rustling bushes.

"Wait! I am not dangerous!" Shouted a...tomboyish voice?

"Show yourself!" Anna said, taken aback as she withdrew her bow.

Out of the bushes walked a cyan...horse. It had a rainbow mane and rose irises. On its flank was a cloud with a tri-colored thunderbolt. Wings were visible on this creature.

"You're....a pegasus?" Asked the archery girl.

"Um, yeah. My name's Rainbow Dash." Replied the horse.

"I see. My name is Anna." Said nature woman as she shook hand with hoof.

"You need to get out of this forest. It's nighttime, and many monsters lurk about." Rainbow said.

"Listen, I don't know where I am at or what these monsters you talk about are. But I'll protect you if you're willing to lead." Anna responded as a manticore was going to make her a snack...before a Frost Arrow hit it square in the face and made it into a popsicle. She then flicked the ice with her fingers, much to Rainbow's shock. The ice fell off of the beast as it roared in pain and ran off into the darkness.

"So, where're you from?" Rainbow asked.

"We have to be in safety first before you can get even a smidgen of an explanation out of me, because it's a long story." Anna said with a groan of coherent boredom.

"What about that big tree and the bush with eyes?" Asked Rainbow.

"They're coming too. Don't worry, they're tame." Anna reassured as the pegasus led her, the bush, and the Mighty Oak onwards. She kept her bow at the ready should something else jump out. Once they reached a clearing, a purple horse greeted them. She had a horn, a darker purple mane with a fuchsia streak and a light purple star surrounded by five much smaller white stars on her flank.

"Who is this?" Asked the unicorn to Rainbow.

"Her name is Anna. She says we must be safe if we get an explanation out of her." Rainbow replied.

"I see her point. Let's go to the library." Said the unicorn, turning her flank to the archer.

"Wait." Anna said, holding a hand into the air as she looked into what little of the sky she could see. Shapes were passing by over the moon. Humans, or horse-like?

Then she saw the silhouette of a tank.

"I knew it." She sighed as she realized she'd have to save their asses again for the millionth time.

The bushes rustled, and out from the shadows the manticore rushed into battle once more. It was more than enraged now--in fact, the damn thing was endowed with the berserk status. Anna tried using a Frost Arrow once more, only...it became a regular arrow upon hitting the creature. It sent the beast running off again, but that wasn't the main issue.

"There is no way this is happening." Anna hissed. "We have to move to the library now!"

The horses, Anna, and the Oak all ran into the darkness, the bush sitting on the Oak's head.

And butted right into the manticore once more. It was much more angry now. Readying its poisonous scorpion stinger, it jumped at the green-haired archer with a deep, thunderous roar that shook the area around her and the horses.

"Stand back!" Anna cried as she lunged forward herself and grabbed the neck of the chimera-beast with her bare hands. Her bow was unceremoniously thrown onto the mossy, damp ground. The monster, now caught in a tight grip that held its windpipe in tow which caused it to be forced onto its hind legs, roared once more as it frantically tried swiping at the archer with its sharp, feline claws.

Rainbow and her unicorn friend found themselves backed flank to flank by two more manticores who were equally as pissed. Both beasts roared and howled as wolves with glowing lime eyes and bodies of twigs and leaves also entered the fray. There were precisely three of them.

The unicorn wanted to help, but backed off as the Mighty Oak crushed the sudden wave of enemies, save for the manticore that was trying to eat Anna.

Anna's eyes glowed evergreen as a runic circle appeared below her. "Mother Earth, aid me in this dark hour!" She bellowed, clearly straining her body and struggling to hold the beast any longer, "Make it so that this sour beast cannot harm anything more, be it hero or coward!"

The circle emitted a dome of light around archer and chimera and obscured all but their silhouettes from the sight of the horses and Oak. The manticore let off a final cry of pain as it was flung clean off the bush-tamer and into a tree headfirst. It died with a sickening crack. The dome and circle faded from the world. Anna nearly collapsed on her knees after a bit of stumbling backwards. She fell in such a way her hand rested on her bow. She glanced back at the horses with a reassuring nod and failed to notice the unicorn's jaw hanging open.

A Cat, A Mage, and A Swordsman

Matt, Natalie, and NoLegs were sent to a mountainside. Or rather, a town IN the mountainside, to be more accurate. Swords and staves were sent flying in other directions like a bunch of small meteorites gone awry. And yes, they were still yodeling.

"We're gonna die!!" Natz shouted.

"No we're not! How many times did this happen?!" Matt yelled in response.

"Meow!"

CRASH.

A sparkling dust cloud emanated from the crash site, which sent many of the residents scurrying about. Some went to the crash site to see what the fuck happened while others rushed to safety.

"What are these things?" Asked a feminine voice belonging to one of the residents.

"I'm not sure, Cadence. But we must take them out of here." Replied a masculine voice.

"Ohhhh, my everything hurts..." Matt said as he put a hand on his head in pain. He saw a blur of pink and another of blue-white before him. And many other blurs of indiscernible color. The colors seemed to intermingle..or even spin really fast. Which one, well, he was unable to decide. He went for both.

"Are you alright?" Asked the pink blur. Its--no, wait, was that a her?--form was becoming clear enough to reveal splotches of purple and yellow on its supposed body. The background was...well, still kinda fuzzy.

"No...something sent us flying..." Natalie groaned, trying not to make a fool of herself. She did not even attempt to sit up because the pain hit her worse. If Matt thought he had it tough, she gave him a run for his money.

"'Something'?" Asked the blue-white blur.

NoLegs meowed, his eyes were wide with white and mere black dots. Sweat formed on him in shock. The blurs Matt and Natalie were seeing were not blurs in his eyes. Being a cat and the fact that his companions weren't cats, there was a dire need for a translator!

Matt's eyes finally cleared up for once and his jaw dropped. It stayed that way. In front of him stood two unicorns--the pink one had a long curly mane consisting of yellow, lavender, and dark pink. She had wings on her back starting in light pink and ending in more lavender. On her head sat a little gold tiara, and she had light pink eyes. The blue-white one had a mane of blue with a highlight of lighter blue. His body was white, and a shield adorned his flank. He had blue hooves and light teal eyes.

"Natalie! Get up, you have to see this!" Matt said as he tried shaking his mage-friend awake.

"Five more minutes, Dad..." Natalie groaned, shifting her arms a bit.

"I'm not your dad! Now get up!" Matt shouted in shock, continuing the shaking of his friend while simultaneously glancing between her and the unicorns. The unicorns glanced at each other in confusion before glancing back at the...talking things they happened to be investigating.

Natalie reluctantly got up and her eyes widened. She was seeing the unicorns Matt and NoLegs were seeing.

NoLegs meowed again. Apparently, he was tired and needed a nap.

"Um, hi..." Natalie said to the unicorns, not knowing what to expect.

"Hi to you too. Listen, we need to go back to the palace. Follow us." Said the pink unicorn, turning her head and pointing a hoof that had a golden horseshoe on it towards a particular structure in what was assumed to be the center of the town.

"Hey! Where'd my swords go?!" Shouted Matt in shock, quickly glancing around and standing straight up. The unicorns jumped a bit because he was in fact a head taller than where their horns ended when they stood straight up!

"M-My staves!" Natalie cried, mimicking Matt. Her panic was much more evident and she was shaking like a leaf.

NoLegs meowed yet again.

"There's no time for that." Said the blue-white unicorn before his horn glowed in a blue flash..and teleported everybody to the Palace settled in the middle of the town.

"Where are we?" Asked Matt, finally taking note that his surroundings consisted of nothing but crystals.

"You're in the Crystal Palace surrounded by the cold mountainside. It is way north of Canterlot where the Princesses of Day and Night rule all of Equestria. I am Shining Armor, and this is my wife Cadence. Who are you two?" Said the blue-white unicorn.

"I am Matt, and I am a swordsman. This is my friend Natalie, and she specializes in magic." Matt answered.

"Hi." Natalie said with a smile. She was waving at Cadence.

"You have a cat. Does he have a name?" Asked Shining.

"His name is NoLegs." Matt said before getting a glare from Cadence. "Hey! It's not like that! He was born that way!"

"He was?" Asked Cadence in shock.

"Yeah." Matt said as he pet the cat, who was purring loudly. "Besides, all the cats in our world had no legs."

NoLegs meowed when Matt stopped petting him.

"Natalie, you're awfully quiet." Cadence said as she eyed the mage.

Natalie looked pissed. She tried using Heal-More and it sputtered on her. In short, staves or no staves, she was weak again. You could say she envied Shining now.

"I take it these belong to you?" Shining said as he levitated a beat-up tree-staff with a crystal-like hook on its shape and a few tree leaves. Alongside that was a weakened sword with a huge blade and gold angel wings on its hilt. The sword had a bit of runic writing on the blade above the hilt, but just that bit. Two rubies adorned the hilt before the blade, and it had a red handle.

"Um, yeah. Gimme the sword, please." Matt said before he held Heaven's Gate. Natalie was given her Nirvana back.

Natalie was still stewing in her anger.

Oh Look, It's a Nazi!

Anna was busy talking with the unicorn, who said her name was Twilight Sparkle and she insisted that she and everyone else happen to be 'ponies,' ABSOLUTELY NOT HORSES. Period. She learned this the hard way. If you wanna know what the 'hard way' was, it meant Anna was turned into precisely twelve animals in one seating: tiger, wolf, frog, owl, butterfly, mouse, rabbit, dove, catfish, parakeet, reticulated python, and lastly and not to mention most humiliating in her opinion, a squirrel. A. Fucking. SQUIRREL.

Anyhow, they were in the town of Ponyville approaching the library. Right when something huge and metallic crashed into the town square, which sent everyone out of their houses and running to this metallic object. It was huge and like two rectangles merged together, with the smaller one with a gun mounted on top of the larger one with chain-wheels, as wrong as that sounded. It had spikes lining the sides of the smaller one, with holes on the larger fitted with machine guns. On its sides were drills that were big and bad enough to aid in a mining excavation!

And laying on his side resting on the metallic behemoth was a man in a black Nazi suit, a red sash with a black reverse swastika in a white circle on his right arm. He had short, scarlet-brown hair and white gloves on his hands. In his left hand was a black sword-gun that could fire six bullets per volley if so desired.

He slowly turned and sat up properly for once before Anna kissed him on the cheek.

"A-Anna!" The man shouted, a really bright blush on his face. His red-brown eyes shrunk in utter surprise.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Lance!" Said nature girl as she proceeded to give the Nazi a bear-hug.

"Get off of me! Y-You're too young to be kissing grown men on the cheek!" Lance complained as he tried and failed to shove the green-haired youth off of him. Her response was to hoist him even further off the ground whilst hugging him.

And breaking his back doing so.

The Mighty Oak picked up the Valkyrie and gently set it next to the library...tree-house...thing.

"Anna, I think you're killing him." Twilight said with a smile.

"When's the wedding?" Rainbow jested.

"Help!" Lance fruitlessly pleaded as his hands were on Anna's face as he kept trying to push her off. His legs kicked and flailed wildly as the archer suddenly swung her body to and fro and causing him to sway with.

A crowd of colorful ponies proceeded to laugh.

At Lance.

Out loud.

And make jokes doing so.

All revolving around the wedding.

And the kissing in the tree.

One pony who was pink all over with blue eyes suddenly hopped around the mock couple and kept on saying she'd throw them all sorts of parties. She was, in Lance's opinion, the most annoying one in the whole lot of the mocking crowd.

"I think I'm doomed...." Lance complained. He then took a really deep breath, and from his lips sounded... "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

____

Matt and Natalie were busy eating their dinner in the privacy of the room the Crystal Palace Rulers gave them. They were talking about what to do tomorrow in the candlelight.

Then they heard....

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Lance?" They said in confusion.

"Is Anna death-hugging him again?" Matt asked.

"I don't know. But it sounds like it." Natalie replied.

NoLegs meowed.

____

"You're scaring me, Anna! Lay off already!" Lance said as he was standing between nature girl and a bookcase. Rainbow Dash was behind him, wings spread wide and she was in the pouncing position.

"Lance, it's just a party! Chill already!" Anna pleaded with those damn puppy-dog eyes.

"No!" Lance repeated.

"We're making you go anyway." Rainbow sneered. The 'I like you' smile crossed her lips.

Lance looked more frightened than a kitten in a thunderstorm with no place to hide. The fact Anna was even pestering him to begin with added enough horror already.

A rainbow pegasus who liked him judging from the look on her face joining forces with nature girl?

Nope.

Just no.

Scratch that, oh hell to the NO!

"Fine! Just quit looking like you're going to rape me!" Lance said in defeat as he scrambled up a ladder and knocked a baby dragon over.

"What was that for, ya jerk?!" Called the dragon named Spike.

"Bist du wirklich so vergessen, was gerade jetzt passiert?!" Lance cried with a face-palm.

"Rainbow Dash, lay off of him. Anna, Lance, you both need a nap." Twilight said with a nod. "Spike, just calm down."

"Okay." Both humans replied.

"Whatever." Spike hissed under his breath.

Rainbow merely nodded.

Lance hopped off the ladder with a sigh. Twilight led the humans upstairs, turning her glance from the library to them simply to ensure they didn't try anything. Whatever the Tartarus they were, it was a safe bet they were hostile--especially given Lance's behavior and Anna fending off an angry manticore by herself no less.

The two humans sat in chairs and put down their weapons. The unicorn sat on a pillow as she eyed them.

"Alright you two. Tell me how you got here." Twilight sighed in annoyed wonder.

"Well," Anna started, "We heard rumors about this...rampaging deity, I guess you could call it. If you're a person who saved the world before, why not take the chance to do it again?" The archer paused briefly, turning her gaze to Lance. "We set up camp for the night in this dark cave because, according to the rumor, the deity waited there. Wound up being ambushed and separated from our two other friends, Matt and Natalie."

"Tell me more about Matt and Natalie, I am intrigued." Twilight smiled.

Meanwhile, in Crystalis Fantasia...

"So, Natalie. How did the cute little kitties in your world come to have no legs?" Asked Shining Armor. He'd been hearing recites of her and Matt's adventures, and they'd gotten over how Lance got his ass kicked to high heaven and back.

"Well, this ties with Akron, actually. So, might as well tell both." Natalie said with a grin. She recently re-learned her Fire spell and was working toward Thunder.

In the beginning, there was a single, divine being.

Her name was GodCat.

But GodCat was lonely, so she created the heavens and the earth, and all the creatures who inhabit it.

She then created cats in her own image, and gave them dominion over land, and over all other creatures.

She created all cats, and for thousands of years cats ruled the earth.

They built great civilizations and had developed advanced technology.

But they eventually became too friendly with the humans...

GodCat was jealous of the new alliance, of cats and humans.

She destroyed all the cats had built.

GodCat's greatest creation was no longer worthy of her image, and so she took away their arms and legs...and that's how they remained to this day.

GodCat then departed the world, and they say she left behind only three jewels.

For generations, humans have protected the jewels and kept them apart from each other, as they feared that GodCat would return if the jewels would ever be brought together again.

"So, in your world, a cat ruled?" Asked Cadence.

"Yeah." Matt answered with a nod. "She created Akron to ensure no creature would thrive in the world after he would have destroyed it."

"But me, Matt, and Lance stopped the would-be apocalypse." Natalie said.

"What about Anna?" Asked Shining.

"We did not meet her until the Forest Jewel got stolen...and she went and accused us for stealing it." Matt answered again, vividly recalling being 'slain by a child,' as Lance put it.

"She did?" Cadence asked.

"Yeah. And then cats brought the jewels together...and we had to stop GodCat, who saw the error of her ways." Natalie replied. "And then this thing went and abducted her to force the destruction of the world anyway!"

"What thing?" Asked Shining.

"We don't know. But we have a feeling it sent us here." Matt answered, slapping his hand onto his forehead.

NoLegs meowed. He had the 'feed me, my human slaves' look on his face.

"Then we have to stop it. But you need to regain your strength." Shining said.

"And clearly learn about friendship as well. You're a bit...too dis-unified if I dare say so myself." Cadence chimed with a nod.

"She's right." Matt said with a grin.

"And teach Lance not to be a pervert." Natalie scoffed, remembering the time she heard what sounded like him say 'Take your top off!' whilst in the Kitten Kingdom Ruins after she made a comment about the soaring desert temperatures.

NoLegs meowed again. He was purring loudly.

"Should we head to Canterlot?" Asked Cadence, whose wings spread out a bit.

"Sure." Matt said. "At any rate, we might be able to find Lance and Anna. We can't just sit around here doing nothing."

"I agree." Natalie said waving her Nirvana like she was in an angry mob of protesters.

"Eh, stay a week before we go. You were pretty roughed up by the crash." Shining said, concern in his voice.

NoLegs jumped onto Cadence and she pet him like no tomorrow. "Such a cute kitty!" Cadence cooed as her hooves rubbed his blue fur. He meowed as he got his petting.

"Okay. You have any training grounds for us?" Matt asked, standing up.

"Yes." Shining answered. "Why do you ask?"

"We want to get stronger so we can free GodCat." Natalie answered. "I mean, wouldn't you do the same thing had you been in our shoes?"

"She has a point." Said a Pegasus guard overseeing the matter.

Shining nodded, "Please escort them to the training grounds and see to it they don't get hurt too badly."

The guard did as instructed, leading the humans down several winding stairways and intricate hallways until, at last, there was the training ground in all its glory. Many colored crystals decorated the landscape, prisms of color dancing about and making the place shine.

"Niiiiice," Matt commented, "I wonder who maintains this sweet place."

"It's...." Natalie trailed off with her jaw dropping open and staying that way for a good thirty seconds. The sheer anatomy of this place rocked her to the core in awe.

Matt took one side of the arena and Natz took the other. Both readied Heaven's Gate and Nirvana; battle stances quickly being glued unto their forms.

For a good minute or two, neither moved. They eyed each other intently, waiting for the other sparring partner to strike. This single minute or so seemed like an eternity's worth of facing millions of rampaging GodCats to Matt; Natalie felt as if time froze just to mock her; the guard found himself paralyzed.

A bead of sweat snaked its way down Matt's forehead.

And when Natalie saw that bead of sweat despite the distance in which she and her friend stood, she quickly rushed forward and bonked Matt upside the head. He nearly fell over but regained his balance, swinging his sword only to miss the mage by a few strands of hair.

Natz bonked him again, this time from behind. Matt swung again and missed. "Natalie used Agility! Speed drastically increased!" Matt cried as Natalie whacked him again.

He slashed and this time actually made a small, thin cut on her cheek. "Oh HELL no!" Bellowed the mage as she started flinging fireballs at the swordsman. He slashed his sword left and right in order to deflect the fireballs. One fireball actually hit him square in the crotch. Matt ended up squealing like a chipmunk as he grabbed his family jewels and dropped Heaven's Gate in doing so.

"Who's being the bigger dick now?!" Natalie taunted in a cheerleader-esque tone of voice as a grin stretched across her face. She was charging up yet another fireball.

Matt promptly responded by throwing a Freezie at Natz and hitting her right between the breasts. She froze on the spot with a look of shock on her face. Grabbing his sword whilst downing three kiwis, he readied a Quick Slash. He rushed at the mage and was quick as the wind as adrenalin ran throughout his entire body.

Unexpectedly, she broke free of the ice right before the sword collided with her head and she grabbed the blade with her hands. Their eyes met and both combatants laughed it off before the training session officially ended for the day.

A Nazi and an Archer

Lance, Anna, Twilight, and Rainbow were heading to Sugar Cube Corner. Many ponies gawked at the strange, two-legged creatures, this big hunk of metal, and another two-legged hunk of wood following them. Along with them was a sentient bush who somehow had eyes. The unicorn and pegasus were walking alongside the Mighty Oak, careful to avoid the Valkyrie tank.

The door to the shop--which looked like it was made of gingerbread--was suddenly flung open as a pink pony with a poofy mane suddenly hopped around the humans like no tomorrow.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! I will throw you all sorts of parties!" Said the pink pony. "It will be a super-duper-fun awesome-all-over party!"

I want to die.. Ran over and over in Lance's head. Two more voices saying the same thing followed and made those four words sound like fucking sheet music! If he wasn't already insane, he would have lost his sanity right then and there.

I think Lancey boy wants to whip his flare back and forth... HA! Anna thought as she smothered a giggle. Her hands covered her mouth and she found it cute.

I heard that... Lance thought as he glared at Anna while the voices continued. His red eyes narrowed very low.

Dammit. Anna thought, realizing she and Lance developed some freak telepathy between themselves. Her expression went from happy to down-right glaring at him suspiciously.

Only when Pinkie tackled Lance was everyone broken out of their dumbfounded stupor.

And Lance once again became the laughing stock.

Let's skip time to just after the party. Lance, much to his humiliation, was wed to Anna. That's right, he was married against his will. Back home, it'd be considered pedophilia. They were back at the library and everyone was still mocking the poor Nazi. Even Spike joined in and threw questions along the lines of 'why would she marry a jerk like you?'

The worst day ever if you asked him. He wouldn't touch Anna at all. Hell, he regretted hitting on Natalie all those times now. Yes, the mock wedding made him regret being a pervert. He sat there on the couch with his head and arms hanging low as everyone jested. In fact, he would've cried but that would only add to his torment. In short, he had to man up and tough it out.

The next day, he fared no better. He was still being picked on with more profanities added. At least, until a few timberwolves showed up and started chasing after the ponies. Lance and Anna saw four of the wooden beasts and immediately attacked them. Had they not done so, they would've hurt a pegasus filly who had an orange pelt and magenta mane.

"Stay back! We'll take care of the brutes!" Lance yelled to the filly as he drew his sword, who nodded and immediately ran to Rainbow Dash.

"What are these things?!" Anna shrieked as she hit one in the eye with an arrow. The beast howled in pain and fell to the ground. A second suddenly jumped for her with claws extended, only to be sent flying into a building by the Mighty Oak's drill (which served as a hand, mind you). The drill whirred onto the beast, sending chunks of wood and twigs flying in all sorts of directions. The drill was retracted like a whip to not damage the building it landed on any further. The remaining wolves were whimpering and found themselves stuck to the ground in a net thrown by Lance.

With the top gun of the Valkyrie aimed right at them.

It fired, and in that instant more wood and twigs were sent scattered about. In the place of the beasts lay a scorch mark where they were trapped. The ponies rushed to the humans and greeted them and said thank you.

Most also apologized to Lance, which he accepted with a smile on his face.

The filly ran to Lance and hugged his leg.

"Thanks for saving me, mister!" She said with tears streaming down her face.

Lance gingerly picked up the filly and held her to his chest. He than saluted everyone else in the area with another warm smile.

He, Anna, the Mighty Oak, the Valkyrie, and the sentient bush went back to the library. Lance had relearned Bind (the net he threw) and Snipe while Anna relearned Piercing Shot and Ivy, a spell that used poison vines to stab an enemy. It was decided that they would make Ponyville their base until Natalie and Matt were found.

"Mister," Said the filly whom Rainbow Dash identified to be Scootaloo, "why was everypony making fun of you?"

"Long story, Anna started it." Lance replied, giving Anna the middle finger and casting a cold glare at her. Hell, he wanted to wreck her shit with Oblivion.

"I thought you hated me, Lance. Your finger says you want me now." Complained the archer in a mocking tone of voice.

Lance was mortified. He put his hand down.

"Can you Bind me, Nazi-man?" Anna caterwauled with a few giggles.

'Welp, I done fucked up.' Lance thought. 'How am I gonna get outta this mess?'

"Anna, give him a break. I know, it's still kinda funny when you think about the events yesterday, but please let him be for a while." Twilight said, picking up the archer with her magic.

Lance covered Scootaloo's purple eyes with his hat, and he himself looked away.

"Okay, okay. Can you put me down? I don't want a stallion looking through the window and up my dress where my goodies can be seen." Anna complained, fumbling with the dress in a vain attempt to keep it from flying past her waistline. One bit she'd pull down only to find the remaining edges yanked upwards by Twilight's reverse gravitational hax.

Twilight put Anna down and sighed. These two humans, as they called themselves, were gonna be a handful.

You See This Cleaver?!

"Matt, why do I have to do this?!" Complained Natalie who realized she was in a cow suit THE WHOLE DAMN TIME. She was posing for pictures because Matt persuaded her into doing so. Yes, during the flying she somehow swapped outfits.

"'Cause you look cute!" Was Matt's reply. He was smiling with a blush on his face. He was also a perv, he just would not admit it the way Lance would.

Crystal ponies gawked at the strange two-legged beings and took pictures.

One stupid stallion went and looked up Natalie's dress...only to get whacked by her Nirvana. He nonetheless managed to get a picture.

And then said stupid stallion began chasing the poor mage girl.

All around the Crystal Kingdom.

Much to everyone's amusement.

And Natalie's despair.

"Why are you running?! I loooooooove yyoooooouuuuu!" Cried the stallion as he fruitlessly tried to cope a feel. He was so close.... and then NoLegs jumped on his face and made him fall flat on his rump.

Natalie and Matt were brought back into the Palace. Before Cadence who was trying not to giggle. She eventually broke down into sheer laughter and proceeded to roll on the floor laughing her ass off.

Natalie broke down into tears, dropping her Nirvana and holding her hands to her face.

NoLegs meowed while rubbing his body on Natz.

Shining grabbed Matt by the ear and dragged him off. "We're gonna have a LONG talk, mister."

TIME SKIP!

"So, are we perfectly clear?" Shining hissed.

"Yes sir..." Matt whimpered. He was practically on the verge of kissing Shining's hooves and crying like a little baby.

Suddenly, something broke the ceiling and it's shadow rapidly grew larger as it was about to squash the pony and human. Matt instinctively jumped at Shining and got both himself and the unicorn out of the way as dust obscured the sight of all in the room. Guards began panicking as Cadence and Natalie rushed into the room.

"What is that?!" Cadence shrieked, spreading her wings wide in shock.

In the center of the room stood a quadruped creature made of stone. Its body had gems of sapphire, ruby, and topaz on some parts--making claws, a maw, the eyes, and a tail-mace. On its back was a smooth gem in a circular shape. It roared at Natalie as her jaw dropped.

"It's a Crystal Golem! How'd it get here?!" Matt almost screamed like a sissy before drawing Heaven's Gate.

"A huh?!" Cadence asked.

"Just look at it!" Matt answered, holding a hand out in disbelief. He suddenly hit the creature square on the head...

And was flung at a guard shortly after.

Natalie suddenly cast her Thunder spell at the beast, and as it did damage it's back crystal turned from red to blue.

"Now it's weak to fire!" Matt shouted before Natalie dodged the mace-tail.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious!" Natalie replied as she sent a Fire at the beast, changing the color from blue to yellow.

Matt recklessly hit the beast square on the head again. Once more he was flung into a wall.

Natalie flung another Thunder...before being KO'ed by the tail-mace.

"Natalie! OKAY, THAT IS IT!" Matt said as a striking crimson aura emanated from his body and sword. With shocking speed, he ran toward the Golem and swung his sword. Each swing severed a limb off of the beast; each limb turning into dust as the Golem roared in pain. One more cut right down the middle.... the orb shattered into many colorful pieces as the stone body became dust as well. Matt panted as the aura ceased, resting on his sword as he eyed everyone else in the area who witnessed what he did. All, save for the out-cold Natz, were horrified.

"Holy tomatoes....." Shining gasped, jaw hanging open.

"He really wasn't lying...." Cadence murmured under her breath, eyes wide as dinner plates.

"Guards, take them to their room on the double!" Shining bellowed as he stomped a hoof.

"Yes, sir!" Replied the guards as they hoisted the humans off the ground, put them on their backsides, and escorted them to their room. NoLegs was already there and he was asleep. Matt and Natalie were put into the beds and gingerly covered up by the guards.

"Did you see what he did? He sure is a beast!" Said Guard A.

"Yeah. That aura was frightening." Replied Guard B.

"He was quick as lightning and as furious as Celestia when she's at war!" Guard A commented.

"And the girl could use magic. M-A-G-I-C!! She's not even a unicorn!!" Guard B yelled.

"I'm afraid of him..." Guard A whimpered, ears flat as he approached his leader.

"I'm more scared of her..." Guard B whispered, a frown on his face.

"We are as well. But they defended us from a threat." Shining sighed with a nod.

"A non-unicorn using magic..." Cadence thought aloud, "I, for one, thought I'd never live to see the day."

"I wonder what they're dreaming about now." Shining sighed again.

Matt dreamt that he was king of the world...that Equestria was in. He had it all: loving subjects, many females calling and swooning at the mere mention of his name or presence on a sign thereof, the most beautiful woman he could ask for...and of course, all the swords in the world. All of them. Every damn one! Blacksmiths would work and make him new swords at which to marvel at. Enemy kingdoms made truces with him lest they invoke his Cleaver, and none dared fight him or for what he stood for.

His roommate, though, was an entirely different story...

Running Gag

Natalie.

Poor, poor Natalie.

She woke up screaming, her hair nothing more than a frazzled mess. One of the guards rushed in to see what her caterwauling was about.

"What happened, Miss Natalie?" Asked the guard.

"Nightmare...Beholder....monster-baby...." She heaved before sobbing. Yes, her dream revolved around the unspeakable horror done to her by the Beholder in front of Matt and Lance.

And getting pregnant in the process.

Sadly, Lancey boy had to pay for the abortion. It was either that or beat her stomach senselessly until a miscarriage ensued. If he hurt Natalie even per her request, Matt woulda kicked his ass to Mars and back. Natalie, due to not liking being sent in the kitchen, wasn't...the best option for a parent.

"A...Beholder?" Asked the guard, who sounded like he swallowed a lump of coal.

"Yeah...it was terrible!!" Natalie shrieked before burying her face in her hands once more. Her sobbing was more than enough to wake Matt up.

"I dare not ask." Matt croaked as he yawned and stretched his arms. The guard wrapped his forelegs around the crying mage as she started screaming into his fuzzy chest.

NoLegs meowed. Judging from the look on his face, he was concerned.

"I think I owe another explanation for you, mister guard..." Matt gulped, his eyes wide. "Just wait till she goes back to sleep..."

The guard only nodded, as he feared another Cleaver or a Thunder spell from the sobbing mage. He knew full well the very reason to fear both of them, and he dared not say it.

____

"She...SHE WHAT?!" Screamed Cadence, a hoof raised...more than ready to smack Matt upside the head.

"Yeah..... this thing knocked her up in the most horrid way imaginable and Lance and I were forced to watch EVERYTHING." Matt shuddered. "Lance had to pay for the abortion...and it tried strangling her senseless because of it. Since then, it's been hellbent on killing her."

"So....she had nightmares about it since?" Gulped Shining, his ears flat on his head.

"Yeah. Whatever you do, keep ANY AND ALL Beholders away from her." Matt grimly answered, his body and voice still shaking in fright. "Nobody....wants...to see.....THAT."

"Dear Celestia..." Cadence whispered in a tiny squeak, her wings drooping. "I...I can't believe...." She suddenly fell on her side crying her eyes out. Shining clutched Cadence as she wept.

"Guards, keep an eye out for any Beholders. If you see one, hold it off. If more than four of you can't keep it at bay, take Natalie, Matt, and NoLegs straight to Canterlot." Shining said.

"Yes, sir!" Replied the guards like they were in a military program.

Matt nodded and then went back to the shared room. "Natalie?" He called, only to notice a quivering form hidden under a blanket.

"Is it over?!" Natalie complained, her voice hushed thanks to the blanket.

"Yes, it's over. If four or more guards can't hold tenta-perv off, we're to be taken to Canterlot." Matt answered.

Natalie flung the blanket off and ran to Matt before hugging him.

"Thank god!" She cried, and continued to weep while Matt held her tightly in his arms.

NoLegs meowed again.

Eventually, Natz was fast asleep again. This time, she shared a bed with Matt to keep the nightmares of the Beholder away. NoLegs kept them from doing anything lewd by simply laying between them. Matt was wide awake the entire night, however, as those...horridly dirty images of the unspeakable horror assaulted his mind like a never-ending cyclone.

Why won't you let any of us alone, you vile fiend?! Matt thought, making sure to stay quiet.

The horrid memory replayed in his mind once more, and this time it was much clearer than ever before.

___________

The Beholder approached the hapless Mage, who was backed up against a wall. Her hands felt as if they were glued onto the rock they touched and her legs shook tremendously.

"S-Stay back!" Natalie whimpered in fright as tears began streaming down her face.

Two Skull Spirits held Matt and Lance by the shoulders, keeping them from moving. Chains further immobilized their bodies and their heads were forced to keep looking right on ahead.

The Beholder lunged a tentacle forward and off went the dress. It flew quite a ways before landing in front of Matt's feet.

"Natalie!" Cried the swordsman who was trying to worm his way out of confinement. "Leave her alone!"

The monster paid him no mind. Off went the undergarments. Both of which ended up blinding Lance momentarily before the Spirit holding him dropped them onto the dress.

"Stay away!" Natalie wept as she tried running around the fiend...only to trip on a tentacle. By the time she lifted her head out of the dirt the tentacles had taken hold of her wrists and ankles.

She was hoisted up now, giving a full and surprisingly clear view of her nude body.

"Put her down! You do NOT treat a woman like that no matter how much she likes it should she already like it to begin with!" Lance protested, jerking his head forward angrily.

The Beholder turned one of five eyes toward the soldier before returning its gaze to its most recent catch.

A tentacle wrapped itself around Natalie's neck and tightened. This kept her from screaming at the top of her lungs. Casting spells to drive it off were also out of the question.

"PUT HER DOWN!" Matt commanded before the Spirit electrocuted him briefly. He convulsed and howled in pained fury before it stopped. What he saw next tore his mind and heart asunder, and he couldn't help but shed a tear at the god-forsaken sight.

The tip of the tentacle that was strangling Natalie was shoved into her mouth as another volley of tears flooded out onto her cheeks.

~~~~~~~~~

Natalie was thrown onto the ground as the monstrosity finished using her to relieve itself threefold. Her body was covered head to toe in white ick. She sobbed heavily as the men were released from their prison. They ran to her side and hoisted her up on her wobbly feet.

Her sticky hands clutched Matt's shoulder with a death grip. She slowly rose her shaking head to the tentacled monstrosity and heaved. Not even the stream of tears gushing out of her eyes cleaned the drying, gooey seeds of unholy, forced lust that stuck mostly on her cheeks and around her lips.

"I hate you! I HATE YOU!" She shrieked accusingly before throwing her face into Matt's chest.

The Beholder, whose tentacles were also white and sticky, didn't pay that any mind either. Away it slithered, out of sight of the heroes. Matt continued to stroke her hair in order to soothe her while Lance proceeded to call in backup.

"We have a bad situation here, get your lazy asses here PRONTO!" Bellowed the soldier who was pissed beyond belief.

Bind-Spamming

"So," Anna said as she was walking with Twilight on her shoulders, "If we keep going this way, Canterlot is where we'll end up at." The landscape was gorgeous; nicely cut hills lined with the greenest grass and most delicate of flowers...it reminded Anna of Greenwood. There were trees they'd see on occasion and in the distance mountains seemed to mark the end of the continent! On one peculiar mountain jutted out a bizarre structure from its side. Was that Canterlot?

"Yes." Twilight sighed as she suddenly turned to two forms running past pretty much everything. "Rainbow, cut that out!"

Lance was fruitlessly trying to run from Rainbow Dash, just barely outrunning her thanks to the fact she was already at Sonic Rainboom speed. Anna, upon seeing this, really wanted some Yakety Sax playing. Thankfully, the Valkyrie had a radio with that song...

Twilight groaned and rolled her eyes as Anna played the song and began to cackle. She then made earmuffs appear out of nowhere and placed them on her head. She held the muffs on her head with her hooves and she started gritting her teeth.

"Rainbow Dash used ExtremeSpeed! It's super effective!" Anna cheered with a grin.

Not even Lance's army would help him against a pegasus of that speed. They instead chose to drink beer like it was New Year's and make fun of their leader.

Once more the kissing in the tree hit his ears worse than the music.

Rainbow smirked deviously as she was gaining ground. She saw something--

"What?!" Rainbow said as a bind suddenly grounded her, making her come to a complete halt. She fell on her rump sulking.

"Can't catch me now!" Lance sneered, running further away from Rainbow.

The bind suddenly broke as a pervy Rainbow flew at Lance with twice the speed she was going before she was hit with the net.

"OH SHIT!" Cried the Nazi helplessly.

And then Lancey boy started tossing binds like he was in a rodeo.

And failing miserably as the pegasus tackled him so hard they rolled down the road quite a ways before stopping under a tree.

Anna took out a pair of binoculars and looked at the shadows under the tree.

It started with the kissing.....and went to hell for Lancealot.

"I KNEW IT!" Anna shrieked with excitement like she was a happy-go-lucky three-year-old, "I FUCKING KNEW IT!"

"Knew what?" Asked Twilight, who removed the earmuffs inquisitively.

Anna gave the unicorn the binoculars and cackled as Twilight's jaw dropped and hung open like a window in a hurricane.

"My dear Celestia, what the hell is Rainbow Dash DOING?!" Twilight gasped, her jaw still hanging open.

Anna was still cackling. By this point, she had to put the unicorn down in order to roll on the ground laughing her ass off.

FAST-FORWARD!

Anna was still laughing at Lance, who was now in his boxers and only in his boxers. She laughed so hard her lungs began hurting!

"You're not helping!" Lancealot complained, visibly shaking because he was cold now. His hands were on his shoulders and he was already crying like a baby. Some red spots lined his body as if Rainbow somehow waxed him.

Yes, Rainbow removed Lance's manhair in the most humiliating way possible. It was another prank making it look like she did something else altogether!

FAST-FORWARD YET AGAIN!

Lance was now fully dressed and was bitching to high heaven at his army. So many foul words and insults flew out of his mouth it made Twilight question his sanity.

And they were cowering like the maggots they were!

"Anna, look out!" Twilight cried as she got into a battle stance.

"The hell?!" Anna cried as she drew her Fairy Bow.

"In the name of...?" Lance was cut off by the sound of buzzing. He saw one thing and one thing only.

LOTS. OF. HUGE. BUGS. A WHOLE ARMY'S WORTH OF FUCKING BUGS.

Natalie would hate being here right now because of the giant bees! There were yellow bees and red bees, some black with abdomens lined with spikes and some purple of the healing variety!

Anna started firing Piercing Shots and Lance threw his Binds left and fucking right as the seemingly-never-ending swarm of insects kept going into battle recklessly! The Mighty Oak was quickly overpowered, and so was the Valkyrie. In short, both were now useless--which meant no Overdrives for the humans, at any rate.

Suddenly, Twilight's eyes went white as a cyclone of magic embraced her in its raging mass. She began firing lots and lots of magic at the insects--and for every one it hit, it decimated thirty.

The insects started retreating, going away from the open plain the humans and ponies stood in and towards a mountain in the northernmost range.

Twilight suddenly fell to the ground on her rump, her eyes returning to normal and her magic aura having ceased.

"What just...happened?" Asked the unicorn.

Anna and Lance looked at each other and gulped as the realization that Twilight herself could do Overdrive meant one thing: Never, ever underestimate a unicorn. Well, at least not Twilight Sparkle.

"Limits were broken." Anna answered as she returned her gaze to the unicorn.

"How many?" Asked Twilight.

"All of them." Lance replied as he and Anna jumped into the tank with Rainbow following suit. Twilight, being Twilight, teleported inside the tank.

"Why the HELL did you wax him?" Anna asked, agitated.

"He looks funny with fur!" Rainbow answered as she glared daggers at the archer.

"It hurt like a bitch! Don't EVER do that again or I'll cut those wings off!" Lance caterwauled as he gave Rainbow the accusing finger.

Acruta Lao D'nor

Hoards of monsters suddenly attacked the Crystal Kingdom, spreading panic and terror among the ponies. Guards fruitlessly tried holding off the enemy forces and were either hurt badly or killed on the spot. Pegasus wings were broken willy-nilly as Unicorn magic was made useless thanks to Syphon and Dispel. Enemy magic was being flung like bullets in a war-zone. Many ponies tried seeking refuge in the Palace, only to find it was overcrowded with such monstrosities consisting of Wasps, Golems, Eyes, and the occasional Slime.

"What are these things?!" Shouted one pony, who was running from some Furry Slimes.

"They killed a guard!" Caterwauled another as he was being stung to death by giant yellow bees.

"Someone save us!" Cried a third mare, who literally used her body to protect her filly.

A Beholder had six guards ensnared in its tentacles as three more ran away on hoof, their wings broken beyond repair.

Ancient Eyes were firing spells like Drain and Syphon on the unicorn forces to halt their magic.

More Golems, all of the dark variety, were busy wrecking homes into rubble.

"Miss Natalie!" Cried Guard A as he ran into the overcrowded throne room.

"Can't you see we're a bit busy?!" Natalie screamed, firing Fire, Ice, and Thunder at hoards of giant insects.

"Beholder!" Shouted Guard B.

Natalie in that very instant dropped her Nirvana. She stood there with a soulless look in her eyes as that one word seemed to paralyze her.

Time seemed to freeze.

The enemy forces took no notice, save for one.

A Red Wasp attacked her, which knocked her out of her trance...and straight into a wall.

Matt was already comatose.

NoLegs had sword and shield in nonexistent paw, bravely standing up to the monsters with a cowering Cadence and frightened Shining Armor behind him. He was hissing fiercely, acutely aware that it did not in any way faze the insects, eyeballs, Slimes and golems running amok.

The cat found himself surrounded. He was doomed, as were Cadence and Shining.

Natalie got up from the wall she was smashed into, her hair covering her face as a ghastly white aura encased her form. Her Nirvana came to her hand as soon as she held it out. Her long, scarlet hair began flailing about as if in a breeze directed upwards from underneath her.

"What is she doing?!" Caterwauled Guard C, who was already cowering.

Natalie slowly rose her head up, and her eyes were glowing a soul-breaking white. The aura around her intensified as though it were made of fire. Her face literally darkened because of the glow emanating from where her eyes were.

"She's pissed! We're gonna die!!" Yelled Guard A, who had no idea what he was talking about.

"YOU." Natalie hissed as she threw a Fire at a Golem, who shattered right then and there.

"DO." She continued, flinging an Ice at a whole hoard of Wasps, which froze and fell. They shattered upon impact with the ground. White wings made of the same aura sprouted from her back, and there were four in total.

"We're doomed!" Wailed Guard B, his hooves hiding his face.

"NOT." Natalie scowled as she hit three Ancient Eyes with one Thunder. The wings grew larger than those of Celestia.

"MESS." She yelled as another Golem who came rushing at her was sent flying with a whack of her staff. Her aura was becoming brighter.

"I knew you well!" Shouted Guard C, who was crying at this point.

"WITH MY FRIENDS!" Natalie bellowed, bringing her arms to her face and then flinging them to her sides as a white light encased all of the Crystal Mountains. It shot a solitary white-gold beam into the sky which reached space. It expanded into a rectangular shape, with the top becoming reminiscent of a cross with runic writing scrawled on it. The wings flared from behind this cross, making it look angelically holy.

The monsters were wiped clean from the mountain.

Murdered ponies, as well as Matt, were revived.

The white aura literally repaired what had been destroyed...and then suddenly ceased. The cross suddenly vanished.

"Are we dead?" Asked Guard A, who was afraid to open his eyes.

"No." Shining Armor answered, his eyes wide with shock.

"We're very much alive..." Cadence cooed.

NoLegs meowed.

Matt started stirring, and then sat up resting most of his weight on his left arm while hoisting himself with his right. "I'm OK!" He said with pained glee.

Guard B looked up and saw the wings go back into Natalie's body as she levitated down as gently as a feather. She landed on her knees first before falling to the ground on her face. Her hair fluttered around her body, spreading out in a way resembling a Phoenix.

____

Lance and Anna were resuming their little trek to Canterlot when everyone came to a halt.

"What is that?!" Shouted Rainbow as she pointed to a white sphere off in the distance. It shot a beam into the sky.

"Someone pissed Natalie off." Anna answered.

"Huh?" Asked Twilight. "What is she doing?"

"She's in Overdrive." Lance remarked. "Remember what we told you? Yeah, that right there is her Genesis, my fine friends."

"Really?" Rainbow said, puzzled.

"Yeah. It hurts enemies and revives the fallen. I even seen it repair a house or two in the process!" Lance stated.

"She's always pissed when she uses it." Anna huffed. "But who made her that mad?"

"I dunno. But we better head to Canterlot if we're to find out." Rainbow nodded, hovering beside the Mighty Oak.

"Let's rest first. Damn wasps tired us out." Lance objected.

That night, they set up camp in the Valkyrie. Who'd rob that behemoth?

The Party's Back Together

"Is that Canterlot?" Natalie asked, pointing her finger at the big city with a castle literally merged with a mountain.

"Yes. Hang tight!" Replied the guard as he and the other two guards carrying Matt and NoLegs suddenly performed peregrine dives. Pretty soon, the sheer velocity of the sudden free-fall caused panic among the humans and cat.

"HOLY HEEEEELLLL!!!!" Matt shrieked as he barely hung onto both the guard and Heaven's Gate. His hat was on the hand guard above the hilt, and the wind threatened to whisk it away to the ends of the earth. It was a miracle it didn't let go!

"MAYBE THIS WAS A BAD IDEEEEAAA!!!!!" Cried Natalie as she used both hands to hold onto the guard's tail with the Nirvana in between her huge breasts and neck.

NoLegs yowled like someone repeatedly stepped on his tail.

____

"Lance?" Asked Anna as she was in the streets of Canterlot with the others.

"Yeah? What is it, tree-woman?" Lance retorted, resting his gunblade on his shoulder.

"I get the feeling something's coming for us." Anna admitted, moving her eyes away from Nazi-boy.

"Um, guys, I see something in the sky." Twilight said as she was looking up at the full moon.

"What is it?" Rainbow asked, her ears perked because she heard a faint sound getting closer.

It sounded....like two ponies were screaming. Either that, or...

"GUYS! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Lance called as he ran to the closest alleyway and proceeded to pull a Snake.

"HOLY SHIT!" Anna cried as she went to a bush opposite of Lance's box.

Rainbow and Twilight hid in the Valkyrie, which was lifted out of the way by the Mighty Oak.

Three Pegasus guards of the Crystal Nation landed gracefully onto their hooves. On the back of one was a blond youth with a golden sword. On the back of another was a legless cat. There was nothing on the third...until one saw a red-head barely holding his tail as she was face-first in the ground. Jutting out from under the red-head was a staff made of trees, complete with leaves.

"Matt?" Asked Lance, who lifted the cardboard box just slightly so he could peek.

"Natalie?" Anna gasped as she emerged from the bush.

"NoLegs?" Asked the mares as they peeked from the top of the Valkyrie.

The legless cat meowed as he hopped off the Pegasus's back.

"Hey, guys." Matt said as he got off the guard he rode and tried lifting Natalie up so he could hoist an arm onto his shoulder. He also found out that if she didn't have huge boobs, her ribcage would've cracked upon impact...or worse. "Yeah, we had problems at the Crystal Palace..."

"We saw Genesis from Ponyville, no need to inform us a second time." Lance sighed as he put the box in the Valkyrie and hoisted the mares out.

"We also had problems in Ponyville. First timberwolves, then those damn wasps!" Anna complained as she stepped out of the bush.

"Um, we had Golems and Slimes and lots of Bees and Ancient Eyes. And a walkabout Beholder." Matt said...before Natalie jolted awake and proceeded to beat him with her Nirvana.

"She really hates those things, huh?" Twilight asked.

"It's better to not bring it up around her. I bet that's what pissed her off." Lance whispered into the purple mare's ears.

"Natz! I was only telling them what we went through in the Palace! Take a chill pill!" Matt cried.

Natalie suddenly stopped. "Oh...I see.." She sighed before helping Matt off the ground. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Natz." Matt patted the mage's back with a smile.

"Where do we go now, Twilight?" Asked Lance.

"Straight to the castle. Tomorrow, that is. We need a place to rest and the Valkyrie would look suspicious to the unicorn residents here." Replied the unicorn. "But don't worry, I have an illusion spell that regular unicorns can't break."

"Okay...?" Asked Natalie, who was confused.

The Pegasus guards had long since taken flight back to the Crystal Nation while the Mighty Oak rested in an alleyway with the Valkyrie in front of him. The illusion spell was cast by Twilight before everyone went to bed. Anna and Lance shared one sleeping bag while Matt and Natalie shared another. NoLegs was curled between Rainbow and Twilight as they slept.

"Matt..." Natalie whispered.

"Yeah?" Replied the swordsman.

Natalie wrapped her arms around him and snuggled close.

"I had another bad dream." She answered.

Matt sighed, making sure to keep quiet. "Hoo boy, you wanting me to...uh...."

"Work your magic?" Natalie finished for him.

"Not with all these people present. I fear the worst." Matt whispered, sounding as if he was choking on a toad.

"Just a kiss?" Pleaded the mage.

"Not even that, sadly. They can hear." Matt pointed out. "When we have time to ourselves, maybe. I remember what Lance did when we thought we had privacy."

"Oh...that. At least we had payback." Natz snickered.

"You saw me and Anna?" Lancealot complained, acutely hearing what Matt said.

"Lance, they had the right to since we started the whole thing..." Anna pointed out, not even bothering to get up.

"I'll let you off the hook this time, Matt. Next time results in a double date." Lance hissed accusingly before covering back up and falling asleep.

"A double date is something you can't get, Nazi..." Matt said under his breath before he fell asleep.

"Only reason you two did that was because you were jealous that Matt and I did it..." Natalie mouthed before getting closer to Matt and falling asleep hugging him.

Is She a Beserker?!

Let's skip time a bit.

As in the party standing before Celestia, a tall alicorn mare with a snow-white body and gravity-defying mane and tail consisting of teal, light pink, sky-blue, and off-whitish yellow-green. Her cutie mark was the sun itself. Golden horseshoes were on her hooves; a gold chestpiece with a purple gem carved into its center. A tiara sharing the same patterns as the armor sat on her head.

"I am not sure what this evil is that has imprisoned GodCat. But I am certain you need more help than ever before. Especially since the Elements of Harmony were stolen." Celestia sighed as she looked at the humans who were surprisingly respectful. "I still ponder why it sent you all here."

"Another human?" Asked Natalie.

"No, though she looks human." Celestia answered before turning her glance from the humans to a guard in the room. "Guard, bring our guest!"

"Yes, your Majesty!" Replied the one and only guard who immediately ran off.

"What is she?" Asked Matt, who looked puzzled.

"You'll see soon enough." Celestia replied.

Everyone was stopped and jolted with shock as Anna's Friendly Dog came up to her barking and wagging its tail. It started licking the palms of her hands as if they were soaked in bacon grease.

"These the humans I'm working with?" Sounded a neutral-tomboyish voice as the humans looked at its source. Their jaws dropped.

There standing alongside the guard who first ran off was a young woman with dark brown hair--it looked dark brown but was actually a dark-as-all-hell ginger as evidenced by the sunbeams that hit its mass--and grey-blue eyes. She stood at five feet tall and literally wore nothing except a bandage wrapped around her chest. Her torso and face were very much human, but her fox-like ears jutted out on the top of her head. Her arms were fuzzy starting from the elbows, ending in sharp talons. The fuzz on her arms and from the knees down were black, as were her aforementioned ears. Her lower body was obscured by blood crimson fur with a grey underbelly as a fuzzy, long fox tail swished back and forth behind her. Yes, she was nude, and she looked like a potential child Lance and Natalie would have in the future. No, scratch that, Matt glared at her because her bangs covered much of her face in such a way she somehow looked very much like Lazarus--the only enemy he fought who had to use an eBay cannon to try and defeat the swordsman (and fail doing so...twice). Sure, her hair was a bit longer and it looked much messier; now add the fact she was more fox-like in physical appearance. And don't forget the female endowments!

"Um, who are you?" Asked Anna, who noticed the fox-girl would be at least a c-cup as well as small, black feathered wings on her back.

"Name's Katie. Who're all of you?" Replied the fox-girl gleefully.

"My name's Matt. I see you have a bunch of fuzz."

"I'm part fox, what're you expecting? No hair?" Katie suddenly retorted, her ears perked.

"I'm Anna."

"Name's Lance. I hope you don't mind my gun collection."

"I'm Natalie. I use magic."

"What kind of magic?" Asked fox-woman.

"Both black and white." Natalie corrected.

"So," Katie started, turning her gaze from one human to the next, "You're a swordsman, you're a gun freak, you're a ranger, and you're a mage. Correct?"

The humans nodded. "What are you?" Asked Anna.

"I am a Berserker." Katie answered. "As in, I bring in the pain!"

"Do you specialize in anything aside from fist-fighting?" Asked Lance, who was less than convinced.

Katie didn't need words here to answer his question. She simply held a hand in front of her head...and lit it on fire with blue flames.

"Okay then!" Lance said in shock.

"So, we get stronger, recover the Elements of Harmony, beat this evil and all's well that ends well?" Katie said for Celestia, putting her hands behind her head.

"Yes. But you must traverse throughout Equestria to do so. Who knows, you may even find your lost items again." Celestia said wisely as the humans left the throne room. "And put some clothes on."

"I will, I just have to find what suits me." Katie sighed as she ran out the door to catch up with the humans.

____

"So, you can use some magic?" Asked Natalie as she played on her dual-slot DS. Today's game was The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap.

"Yeah." Katie answered as she chowed down on a muffin. She was swishing her tail back and forth.

"Anything else you can do?" Lance asked with a sigh, polishing his gunblade once more.

"I use illusions. If the foe can't break them, they do some real damage." The fox-woman replied with another smile. She had finished her muffin and discarded the wrapper. "One time I ran a bitch over with an illusionary truck. She had skid-marks for quite a while."

"So, since you've been here longer, what do we do first?" Asked Matt, who scratched the back of his head. He sat next to Lance.

"We go to the Gryphon Kingdom first. We start going tomorrow and we should be there in a week." Katie answered, sounding surprisingly wise for once. "I think an Element rests there under the tyrannical Gryphon King's watchful eye. He may be old and frail, but I am over thirty-three centuries old. So, like me, don't underestimate him."

"You don't look like an old hag." Anna commented, taking a sip of crisp, cool Equestrian water. It was comparable to Greenwood's river-water.

"Yet." Katie retorted, not getting angry at all. "Don't underestimate the residents, either. They might have some magic in store. Hell, they may have a damn guardian squid or some shit like that!"

"Nah, they won't see us coming." Lance commented with a grin as he ate some KFC.

"What would explain, say, the Blitzkrieg, Hitler-wannabe?" Katie asked with a chuckle as she leaned close to his ear. Her face almost darkened due to the proximity of Lance's bubble she was in.

Anna spit out the water she was drinking. She soon burst out laughing.

"WOW. OH MY GOD, JUST WOW." Natalie snickered with a cat's grin on her face. "That was good!"

"OUCH. She's got ya there." Matt stated, making sure to keep his tone of voice low enough for Lance to hear.

NoLegs meowed.

"Whose turn is it to feed the kitty?" Katie asked, pointing at NoLegs and waving her arm up and down.

All eyes were on Lance.

He took out a walkie-talkie and sighed. "Maggots, bring me some cat food. High-quality, no toxins, and preferably tuna. Also, bring some dog food of the same requirements--just switch tuna with beef."

Plus a Berserker, Minus a Mage

Three days had passed since the heroes departed Canterlot on their trek to the Gryphon Kingdom. Since they were human (Katie being a look-alike of sorts), they were very unassuming to the normal pony. They had passed wet, dark caves and into an open plain, the only passage into their destination by land. No monsters had attacked them, thankfully. So they spent the day going over skills, weaponry and supplies whilst trying not to argue.

Katie, sadly, loved to argue. Though the word 'rape' or any mention thereof often did more than shut her up.

"Um..." Natalie stuttered, raising a hand to poke the fox.

"Yeah? Yer lookin' at me, so what do you want?" Katie asked, confused. She didn't even bother to turn around--it was as if she literally had eyes in the back of her head, for crying out loud!!

"Whenever...we say...a certain word, you suddenly fall silent. Why is that?" Natalie asked.

Katie's hand clenched into a fist and her hair suddenly covered her face. She started heaving at the very thought. "Too many bad men showed up at my door without my consent. I think you know what happened next."

Natalie felt bad now. She'd experienced the issue with the Beholder, but compared to this young kitsune, it had nothing on her. "Look, I'm sorry if I offended you."

"It's..quite alright. I just have to retain my anger. Just being reminded makes me want to travel back in time and kill those bastards. There's a reason they call me a Berserker," Said the fox-girl, heaving as she tried to calm herself.

"SHIT!" Lance shrieked, which caused Katie to look up and then around.

Beholders every-motherfucking-where.

EVERYWHERE.

"Yeah, I see your point." Katie hissed as an aura of blood surrounded her. Her right eye became a golden beacon as her wings extended to the length of Celestia's.

"TIME TO BRING THE PAIN, MOTHERFUCKERS!" Snarled the fox-girl as her head became more canine as though a full moon were out. She then howled like a savage beast before ripping many Beholders to shreds in one swift movement before landing elegantly on all fours.

"She's in Overdrive ALREADY?!" Anna squealed as she tried keeping the tenta-pervs away from her. They were sliced by flames from the depths of Hell fired by yours truly.

"Keep away from me!" Matt said as he was already hoisted in the air.

Only to fall on his head as the Beholder trying to harm him was wiped from existence.

Another piercing howl sounded as Lance was spared from having his boxers removed as the Beholders fighting over him were tossed aside like mere twigs. All the while he landed on his backside and struggled to get dressed.

NoLegs saw two Beholders get rammed into each other like wrecking balls. He meowed.

Natalie screamed in the distance as Matt started chasing a whole group of the Beholders.

Katie was but a second too late--Natalie was kidnapped and dragged off to who-knows-where. She fell on her knees and her right eye went to normal as she started heaving.

"DAMMIT! DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT!" She hissed, one hand on the ground and the other being pounded into it. She started crying and sniffling as her own rage now mocked her. Her bloody aura ceased as she was on the verge of screaming.

"We were all distracted. It wasn't just you." Lance said sourly, clenching his fist and flat-out refusing to cry.

The fox-girl got up and rubbed her eyes on her arm.

"You're right. The ones I killed were fucking scapegoats." She sniffled, her voice still bitter with guilt. "Where'd they go?"

"They took her to where we're already going." Matt answered, trying to hide his own rage.

"So, follow the trail, get the element and Natalie and run the fuck back out?" Anna asked.

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Katie answered bluntly. "We must get going. Lance, prepare the Valkyrie because foot-travel is getting us nowhere!"

Lance took out a walkie-talkie and held it next to his head. "Bring the Valkyrie here on the double. Do not fire any of its guns or nukes even when it arrives in my current location. We're storming the Gryphon Kingdom. I repeat, bring the Valkyrie here on the double."

"Yes, sir!" Replied a voice on the other end.

And then the monster-tank unceremoniously dropped behind the party as a dust cloud made them cough.

"Quickest arrival I ever seen." Katie admitted as she coughed and damn near hacked up a hairball.

"I invented inter-dimensional travel. What do you think?" Lance coughed.

Once her coughing fit ended, Katie cleared her throat and spoke. "I travel through time sleepwalking!"

"You shitting me?" Matt asked, clearly unamused.

"Nope." Replied fox-woman as she was the first to climb in the tank. "Do I have to carry your lazy asses in here?"

"Let's get moving, we don't want another beholder child." Anna said as she started climbing the tank herself.

"Point taken." Matt said as he put NoLegs on his shoulder and followed suit.

"When'd she become commander?!" Lancealot complained as he started climbing.

Time skip. AGAIN!

Lance was in the chair controlling the Valkyrie, typing random words and seemingly-meaningless numbers into a command prompt.

"Operation: Storm the Castle..." Lance said as he hit one last button, "...is now in session, bitches!"

With that, the wheels of the Valkyrie whirred to life as with the speed of Rainbow Dash the behemoth tank rushed toward the Gryphon Kingdom.

"We're coming, Natalie...and we're gonna get you out!" Everyone else said in unison.

In These Dark Walls

Natalie was in a fetal position, rocking back and forth in a corner as tears streamed down her face. Her Nirvana hung on chains from the ceiling, just out of her reach.

The unspeakable horror happened again...and this time tenfold.

She jinxed it. Nobody was to blame but herself.

The room was lit by a single torch, nailed to the wall opposite of the door. The glow of the flame was very faint, barely illuminating the room and the mage's form.

The door flung open, revealing a winged shadow that stretched over the wall but thinned out if you got closer to the source. A royal voice belonging only to a tyrant chuckled menacingly.

Who's this jerk? Natalie thought, not daring to look over her shoulder.

"Natalie...I assume?" Asked the voice.

Natalie nearly jumped, her form shifting slightly from the sudden shock.

"Natalie. Turn yourself around this instant!" Roared the voice.

Reluctantly, the poor mage did as she was told...and put her hands over her mouth to shush a scream.

The creature was a head shorter than Celestia, ash-brown wings spread wider than the average pony. It had an eagle's head, a fine mane of feathers shrouding his shoulders. He had a crown on his head as well as a cloak of scarlet velvet with white fluff and black dots making the trimming. He had golden claws which dulled with age, and his beak barely able to chew mushy food from the looks of it. His menacing violet eyes made all who stared into them long enough obey without question. The crown was nothing like that of Celestia's, covering almost all of his head as if it were a war helmet.

He took a step forward as the door closed behind him, the flame making his form far more sinister.

He took a few more steps, his stone-cold glare unwavering.

Natalie started to hyperventilate, the slave dress she'd been thrown in not helping the situation for even a second.

"Tell me what you know!" Bellowed the Gryphon. "TELL ME EVERYTHING!"

Natalie was at a complete loss for words, tears once more escaping her ducts and streaming down her face. Her breathing hastened as her hands frantically scanned the walls behind her hoping for some way out. There was none to be had as the Gryphon slapped her with a talon.

The mage felt blood trickle down her neck as her cheek bled in pain. "Wh-What do you want?! What do you want me to say?!" She shrieked as her eyes dilated.

"Tell me everything about your friends so I can eliminate them," Started the Gryphon, "or you will end up as a royal consort. It's your choice, Natalie. I can sit here all day!"

"Why would you want to marry a human?! Wouldn't that disgrace the entire Gryphon race as a whole?!" Natalie caterwauled.

"What say you if I said mother was a manticore?" Replied the Gryphon.

"It doesn't matter--you're still a worthless prick who has no sense of self-worth! That's why you made the Kingdom a fucking wreck!" Natalie retorted.

That comment earned her another slap to the face, which only widened the scars already present. More blood oozed from the wounds on her cheek.

"Last chance. Tell me or marry!" Bellowed the Gryphon, who was losing his temper already.

Natalie did not respond at all. Her right eye was scrunched and vision in her left was blurry. She grit her teeth just knowing a wedding would come either way.

"Fine, be that way." The Gryphon huffed before turning to leave the dungeon cell. "Guards, prepare her for the wedding! It will be held a week from this day!"

That monster left the cell, light casting his shadow only briefly before the door slammed.

A faint light of fire continued to flicker.

"Someone get here, please...." Natalie silently pleaded to herself as she continued to weep just knowing this didn't bode well at all.

Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes became hours. There were bags under her bloodshot eyes; her hair was a wreck beyond all comprehension; her body ached with pains of the unspeakable horror done to her by what, twenty Beholders now? Thirty? She'd lost count! She tried to lull herself into la-la land, but the second her eyes closed the images of the horror flashed into her mind and she was thus forced to stay awake. Sleep be damned.

Soon, her mind was numb. Completely and utterly numb. Even when the torch-fire had died out, she didn't notice nor care. Her eyes took on a soulless look...they looked glazed over. She looked like she was dead.

Her body gave in to her need to sleep. She didn't dream. There were no nightmares present.

Darkness was all that was there for her. The darkness was horrid and yet blissful--full of both fear and hope. It was rightfully so, because she knew times now were uncertain. Looking too much into the future was rumored to be a bad thing.

Silence. So eerily quiet. She heard nothing. A blissful terror seemed to have been lurking about, but Natalie took no such notice of anything, really.

Then, she heard a sound. A voice.

"Up....get....up.....get up, you stupid wench!"

Slowly opening her dead-looking eyes and blinking as though time were fleeting, she found herself staring at a wall. A clawed hand....no, a talon was waving itself in front of her face.

"Get up, bitch!" Called the voice once more.

Natalie complied, albeit with a snail's pace. She still felt weak.

No, she felt meek and powerless. Sitting upright and rubbing her eyes subconsciously, a few tears slid down her cheeks.

"Eat your food." Said the guard as he walked out the room and slammed the door shut.

More darkness. The torch had been replaced, thus re-illuminating the room beyond previous boundaries. On a plate was a stale loaf of bread, a bucket of water, and...a dead rat.

Her mind was too numb to accept reality anymore. She downed the food before returning to an uncomfortable sleep.

To Storm A Castle

Gryphons started mass-assaulting this big clunky piece of metal as it rapidly advanced toward the Palace. Most were shot down with machine gun bullets while others still were ran over.

"Systems in critical, cannot continue. I repeat, systems in critical, cannot continue." Said a robotic voice before the Valkyrie stopped dead in its tracks, guns failing to work as it shut down.

"Shit." Lance snarled as he tried to type keys in order to repair the tank.

"We got bigger problems to worry about!" Katie said as she recklessly jumped out of the tank to scan her surroundings. Her jaw dropped upon seeing a platoon of winged lion-hybrids surrounding the Valkyrie for miles around. "Holy shit." She hissed. "GUYS, GET YOUR ASSES UP HERE AND HELP! WE HAVE A PROBLEM OUT HERE!"

Anna, Lance, Matt, and NoLegs emerged from the top of the tank.

"Jesus..." Matt gasped as he clutched Heaven's Gate. Just by surveying the entire scene that sprawled out before him, he could tell it wasn't going to be pretty.

"This does not look good." Anna rasped as she drew her Fairy Bow. It dawned on her that she somehow had infinite arrows--a very good thing for situations like this. The Mighty Oak also eyed everything, and he was waiting for a command to be ordered.

"No comment." Lance sighed as he adjusted the Nazi hat on his head. The gunblade was locked and loaded with bullets. He made sure to use armor-piercing rounds.

NoLegs meowed as he drew sword and shield. A bead of sweat formed on his head, indicating he was nervous.

Katie remained quiet. Her hands clenched into fists tightly. Her wings became stiff as a board and her tail swished about impatiently.

"They're waiting for us to make a move. Katie, what's the plan?" Matt asked the fox-girl as she stood with him back to back.

"Kill all sons o' bitches!" The fox-girl shouted as once again she went into Overdrive and started tearing at Gryphons, sending a few hundred flying as her jaws howled for blood. Many soldiers lunged at her, only to be felled with a flick of the fanged maw.

Lance cued Organ Jaws...and took out his walkie-talkie. "Repair crew, come to my current location and repair the Valkyrie pronto! Ich habe einige Bastarde mit zu tun!" He put the walkie-talkie back inside his jacket and started loading Snipe shots and shooting Gryphons nonstop. Some shrieked and fell to the ground while others deadpanned in midair as bullets hit them in their vital organs with clinical precision. When a few particularly stupid Gryphons came close to him, he gave them an up-close look of his Shadow Blaster.

NoLegs tripped Gryphons by using his sword to slice off their feet and talons. If they were out of reach, a spear more often than not met with their throats or someplace just as important.

Matt started Cleaving his way through wave after wave of Gryphonian soldiers, each time severing a head clean off the body with the occasional wing or two. But they soon overpowered him--only to meet up with a Ragnarok that wiped most of them out.

Anna, having relearned her Frost Arrow technique, started to lock and load upon flying soldiers, freezing them and watching them shatter against the ground upon impact from falling. She'd pick off the most annoying soldiers, though soon learned that wasn't necessary because Katie had a skill called Gale Slice--her wings would become stiff as she caught a breeze, granting her inhuman speed and devastating strength. Heads were severed and sent flying throughout the mob as she went one, two, slice. In short, her version of Wind Slash with her own impromptu swords. The Mighty Oak toppled many soldiers with either his hand-drill or by simply taking the approach of jumping on them left and right.

"Teach me that sometime!" Matt called as he started Draining the Gryphons.

"Grow your own wings first, blondie!" Katie called back before returning to setting Gryphons ablaze with holy fire. Yes, she can learn holy fire, she's part fallen angel. How else does she have wings?

"You're a berserker with talent!" Lance hollered as he threw Binds willy-nilly.

"I'd say the same for your nukes!" Katie responded before performing another Gale Slice.

"Send in more soldiers, the fox-girl is devastating our numbers by the hundreds and so is that big piece of lumber they brought!" Shouted one soldier. He had...a walkie-talkie??

"TAKE THAT ONE OUT NOW, KATIE! HE'S CALLING FOR BACKUP!" Anna cried as she started sending Ivy left and right to more Gryphon soldiers. Many were ensnared and dragged down into the earth while others died almost immediately due to poison shutting down vital organs.

"No need for that!" Katie responded as she saw NoLegs behead the desperate Gryphon. She too started Draining the Gryphons...by biting their necks and snapping them in her jaws. She also Sapped them of any magic, thus restoring her own for a few more Gale Slices.

And then a bomb exploded right onto the area, dead center of the Valkyrie. A green gas spread out through the bloodied fight and it first felled Matt (who fell asleep standing), then Anna, who proceeded to stumble backwards into a pile of severed heads and NoLegs, who fell on his backside with weapons lying next to him.

"Sleeping gas?!" Lance shrieked before he fell asleep as well. He fell onto the pavement face-first. The gunblade and blaster were both on his person still.

"Dammit....so...tired...." Katie huffed before collapsing onto the bloodied cobblestone walkway. She tried to fight it a little longer, but her body became numb and her arms gave way.

Everything fell to darkness shortly after.

Heralding Screams

Everyone woke up in a damp cell, and they wanted to resume their nap, quite frankly.

Until Katie went and screamed.

"Quit your--" Lance started, only to find himself chained to a wall.

"This isn't good. She's got every damn right to scream." Anna said, shackled on the leftmost wall.

"Where's our weapons?!" Matt, who was chained on the wall opposite of Anna, asked. NoLegs was chained next to him, and he meowed.

"Up there." Katie answered, motioning with her jaw upwards because her wrists and ankles were shackled together. Her muzzle also had a shackle on it, though it did not stop her from speaking.

The humans looked up and their faces went white with shock.

The sword, the gunblade and blaster, and the bow and quiver all hung in chains from the ceiling.

Everyone noticed two torches in each corner opposite the wall that had the cell door. They barely illuminated the room even together because the flames were dying out.

"Great. We're gonna die." Katie hissed, apparently annoyed.

"Why say that?" Asked Anna.

"These chains keep us from using our skills and Overdrives. Meaning our captors can do whatever they want with us and we have no say in the matter!" Katie answered bluntly.

"You serious?" Asked Lance who began struggling fruitlessly.

Anna tried using Ivy. No results.

The door suddenly slammed open as a winged shadow stretched wider than Lance's arms suddenly caught the party's attention.

NoLegs meowed.

A tyrannical voice chuckled.

"I am glad to inform you fine souls that you shall be sent to the gallows on the very day of my wedding!" The shadow laughed before closing the door, thus darkening the world once more.

It didn't take long for Katie's eyeballs to become as big as dinner plates.

"You don't think...." Anna started.

Katie merely nodded, refusing to speak as if she already knew what was going on.

Then, a woman's cries of pain started hitting their ears from above. The screams grew more frantic as the hours passed by like a hot knife through butter.

Katie herself started jerking her body and screaming in pitch-perfect unison. Anna saw tears creep through her fur, Lance saw a rapidly-jerking form, and Matt saw a set of arms and legs trying to break free.

Lance glanced at Anna, and then Matt, the fear of death without revival scrawled in his very expression. He was truly afraid now.

Anna couldn't help but notice why Katie didn't like that one word...and the grim realization fox-girl experienced it first-hand began sinking into her soul...thus forcing her to sympathize. Her expression said she'd seen it too.

Matt simply lowered his head in defeat. There was no way out pounded itself into his head.

NoLegs meowed, his own eyes wide as he watched Katie's fruitless attempts to get out.

She suddenly was electrocuted as though the chains told her to stop struggling.

Katie curled up, her screaming having died down to hushed sobs as Natalie continued her screaming pleas for help from above.

The hours went by, but the screams were hushed.

The door opened once more, and in crawled three Beholders. One looked at Anna with malicious intent, another looked at Lance in hatred and the third glared at Matt. Katie was virtually ignored.

The one looking at Anna unchained the archer before she got taken into another room. The second gave Lance the Beholder equivalent of the middle finger and the third seemed to openly mock Matt.

The fiends left the room and the door slammed shut. Soon enough, it was Anna's turn to do the screaming. Pained cries that fruitlessly pleaded for mercy echoed into the darkness, unheard to all save for the party. The kitsune began struggling again...only to get the shock treatment once more. This time, she convulsed in pain as electricity coursed throughout her veins. Her bladder failed, making the pain that much worse.

The jerking body stopped. Katie had fainted from the pain she just received.

Anna's screams were cut short, and both men present feared the worst.

Silence. That was what greeted them.

Lance turned his head to Matt. The swordsman could tell that he was worried. They both wanted to exchange words, but those words were lost to both of them. They did, however, know what the other was trying to say.

The fires died.

Darkness.

"Verwechseln Sie diese Dunkelheit. Ich wünschte, ich wüsste, wie man aus diesem Leben." Lance said at last, breaking the silence for only a few short seconds.

"Say what? Dude, this isn't Germany." Matt commented.

"Confound this darkness." Lance translated with an audible sigh.

The door opened and into the room was tossed a soaking wet and sobbing Anna. She quickly got up and scampered off into a corner. She was soon in a fetal position, slowly rocking back and forth in pain.

The Beholders yanked Matt off the wall and carried him out of the room, leaving poor little NoLegs all alone. "I am not willing to lose my rectal hymen! Let me go, you stupid, perverse jerkwads!" Matt cried just before the door went and slammed shut.

Darkness.

Lance looked at Anna after allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He had....taken pity upon her. Given that he was the one who manned the Valkyrie and literally drove everyone into this predicament in a failed attempt to save Natalie, guilt also washed over him. The fact he killed millions before apparently wasn't enough!

The archer suddenly shot up, ran up, and clung to Lance; her face plastered with a frantic look.

They locked eyes for a good minute before Lance spoke, "I...I got everyone into this mess.... I-I guess it's my fault you got..." He lost the strength to finish that sentence.

"Don't say such things like that!" Anna snapped, eyes narrowing low. "We were just trying to do what was right! We can't let the world go into either chaos or ruin even after we die without being revived!" Tears streamed down her face, washing away some of the ick that was on her. Her voice became a saddened whisper, hands grabbing his collar with a death grip, "We cannot give up. Ever. No matter what. Do...do you understand me?"

Lance could only nod.

The door swung open and Matt was tossed in. He was out cold.. And now, it was Lance's turn with the Beholders.

Unlikely Ally

Let's skip to wedding day.

A bunch of soldiers had lined up in rows of single file, on both sides of the isle as the executioner had put nooses on the party members who were made useless. NoLegs had to be placed on a barrel and a stool just so the noose could be around his neck while Katie had to be wrapped like a mummy in more chains because she was squirming too much. To add insult to injury, that monster had the same executioner hold both the sermon and the gallows!

Poor Natalie, walking in that dress and more chains down the isle closer to them, a look bidding one last goodbye expressing her grief.

She glanced at each of them: a legless cat who did them no harm, a swordsman who liked fun and games, an archery girl who babbled on about one thing before the next, a gunman who was smarter than everyone, a friend she'd only met very recently that knew what she went though... all about to be taken away from this world without so much as a second thought. So many tears behind locked prison cells in the eyes of the fox-girl, never to be released here because death would whisk them away the moment she said 'I do.'

The mage stood with who was the monster before the gallows, silently weeping as the executioner-priest announced wedding shenanigans in a neutral tone of voice.

Katie started shedding tears and snarling, her beastly rage threatening to come henceforth once the chains broke. The bastard had a golden necklace wrapped around his neck with a purple diamond-shaped gem.

Anna could only watch, her form shaking as she too shed tears.

NoLegs meowed quietly, his ears flat as the puppy-dog eyes did more than express him.

Lance exchanged glances with his fellow party members soon to join him in death, and then at Natalie. He held back those bittersweet tears with as much force as he could as he merely nodded to the confused mage.

Matt's face darkened. That bastard took his girl away from him as one last insult?! How dare he?! He's gonna pay!!

Then, one talon of the priest moved to the lever leading to the trapdoors as the dreaded moment approached with surprising haste.

Natalie was going to open her mouth to speak when a wall behind the left side of soldiers broke and a big hunk of metal proceeded to run all those soldiers over in one fell swoop! Standing on the hunk of metal was a purple unicorn with a darker purple mane and a star-burst on her flank!

"Twilight Sparkle! How'd you get here?!" Lance shrieked in shock.

"We caught wind of this mess thanks to one of Rainbow's old friends." Twilight said with a smile as another Gryphon emerged from the top of the seemingly-repaired Valkyrie.

"Hey, Your Highness! I heard you were an even bigger dweeb than Rainbow!" Called the femenine Gryphon who swooped in and stole the necklace right out from under the monster's nose! She then perched gracefully on the tank before crawling in.

Wait, Your Highness?!

"You...I had no idea these humans were a ruse!" Shouted his majesty-bastard as he glared at Twilight.

Katie smiled wickedly. "That was the plan." She said. "Natalie, now's your chance!"

Natalie quickly reverted to the cow-suit and made her Nirvana appear from nowhere before she made the chains holding her friends break as each drew their respective weapons. The humans and NoLegs climbed into the tank as Katie stayed behind. "Just go! Meet me up in the open plains!" She shouted as her right eye once again became a beacon.

The wheels of the Valkyrie whirred to life and the monster-tank rushed out of the wall from which it had broken into, leaving the other half of the Gryphon Army and the King for Katie to deal with. The world around everyone turned dark as a blood moon shone above. A glass pane separated the sky from the land and refracted the moonlight, making rainbows dance around all who witnessed it. Katie opened her mouth slightly as a white glow emerged from between her jaws.

"What's this?!" Shouted one soldier in panic.

Katie's wings grew larger than Natalie's as her one large tail suddenly became nine set ablaze. The girl-turned-werefox was in a pouncing position as the glow in her mouth intensified. A white circle surrounded her as the moon was aligned perfectly above the beast.

"This doesn't bode well! Shield me!" Shouted the king as his soldiers did what they were told.

The refracted rainbows suddenly started making circles around the fox as she threw her head up in a howling position.

But instead of a howl came a scream.

The circle shot a white beam around her form and into the sky as the glass pane broke into many sharp pieces. The moonlight suddenly faded as clouds concealed the bloody moon...

And then glass stabbing flesh, followed by screaming, came immediately after. Even the beam of rainbow-white light did not illuminate anything besides fox-woman's form.

The room instantly returned to normal, except now there were bodies impaled on glass laying about as though they were of no importance.

Only the king was left standing, and the monster he pissed off was standing in front of him with bloody jaws wide.

"No...no, please..." He started to beg before a canine maw clamped down on his neck, crushing his windpipe with little effort. His bones cracked soon after all the while his eyes rolled back into his head. His beak chattered like he was cold before death took him away.

Then, his head was torn off and quickly cast aside.

____

"The king had many bitches and not one of them got pregnant." Said the Gryphon.

"So, I've nothing to worry about?" Asked Natalie.

"Yeah. Either he was sterile or his harem was infertile." The Gryphon answered.

Anna was on top of the Valkyrie keeping an eye out for Katie, occasionally glancing down to watch the rest of the party jabber on.

"Guess she's not coming..." Lance sighed as he and the party turned to leave. A breeze blew past them ever so gently as everyone started sulking.

Heeeeeeeeeeeeyyyy!!!

Everyone stopped in their tracks.

"Is that?!" Matt started as he turned around and saw a flying object rapidly approach them.

"It is!" Anna said as she began jumping up and down in glee.

The object was close enough now that they could see a fox-like face riding the wind on black, feathered wings.

"I never knew she shared so many similarities with Rainbow Dash!" Shrieked the Gryphon.

Katie had come so close she had to gracefully maneuver out of the way lest the Valkyrie be sliced in two. She then landed on all fours and reverted to her half-human form as Lance, Anna, Natalie, and Matt proceeded to group-hug her. They were laughing and smiling as Twilight just couldn't help but shed a tear. NoLegs meowed with a smile and nodded to the unicorn.

"They grow up so fast..." Sniffled the Gryphon who shed a tear. She was smiling as well.

"I learned a new Overdrive." Katie said in glee.

"What's it like?" Asked Matt.

"We'll talk about it on our way to Manehatten!" Katie answered with a smile.

Jubilee City

"Yeah, the king made us all miserable from the get-go. He wanted a mate who wasn't like the others." Gilda sighed.

"In appearance or otherwise?" Natalie shuddered.

"Both." Gilda replied sheepishly.

"So, Miss I-Know-Everything," Lance started as he was piloting the tank, "Where's Manehatten?"

"Go to Ponyville and take a sharp west. You'll be there in no time." Katie replied as she put a bag of popcorn into a microwave. Yes, the Valkyrie was a great multi-tasker in the kitchen as well as in the war-zone.

"Why Manehatten?" Asked Anna.

"There is a pony who's trying to monopolize the city. From what I have observed, it's illegal practices that made it possible. I can't point my finger on what it is exactly, but I know something's fishy." Katie answered as she removed the popcorn bag from the microwave and shook it a few times. It was inflated with delicious buttery morsels that were mere dried kernels a few moments earlier.

"Does he have a mafia?" Lance sighed.

"Yeah. And an army of thieves who make Matt look petty." Katie retorted, "He knows about the Elements of Harmony and openly stated in a news interview he wanted to be the bearer of Honesty. I'm willing to bet he stole that element."

"You shitting me?" Matt asked. Katie shook her head as she popped some popcorn into her mouth.

"What element did we save?" Asked Natalie, who was shocked.

"Generosity." Katie answered before chewing on more popcorn.

"Have there been any monster reports in the city?" Anna asked.

"No. Unless the mafia and thief army counts." Katie shuddered.

"We're almost there! Manehatten, here we come!" Lance shouted in glee as he pushed more buttons about.

"Jubilee!" Katie shouted as she threw the now-empty popcorn bag into an incinerator.

"You played Pokemon?!" Natalie asked.

"Yep. Own everything from generation three onwards, save for White." Katie smiled.

"Damn!" Natalie said as she reached for her own popcorn bag.

Katie got up and walked until she was next to Lance. She was a little too close if you asked him, but he couldn't argue after he saw her unleash her Beastly Rage Overdrive twice in a row.

"Yep, that's it. I think we need to set the tank on the outskirts of Jubilee City before we move in." Katie stated.

"Understood." Lance answered as the tank came to a grinding halt.

"So, what's the plan?" Twilight asked.

"We go our separate ways for a bit and we eradicate any members of the mafia or thief army. Both thieves and mafia wear army suits, but the difference is their hats." Katie replied, "the thieves wear pirate hats oddly enough and the mafia wears police hats."

"So, any normal police officers we leave alone, the mafia and thieves are silenced?" Anna said.

"Yes. At any rate, we're less likely to be caught." Katie answered with a nod. "But we stay put until everyone is ready."

"And just how do we know when everybody's ready?" Lance asked.

Katie grabbed him by the hair and turned his face to meet with hers. Her face darkened. "I think you should know, Nazi."

"Y-Yes ma'am." Lance cringed before he was released from the fox's grip.

"YOU DERPED!" Anna shouted, pointing accusingly at Katie, "YOU FORGOT THE BATTLE PLAN!!"

Katie only laughed, "So I did! Thanks, Captain Obvious!"

Anna's hand dropped to her side. She stood there slack-jawed.

By now, Natalie, Matt, Gilda and Twilight were engrossed in a game of Monopoly. And so far, Matt had most of the money. Natz was already bankrupt. Gilda was struggling to get one piece of property and Twilight was on par with Matt as far as owning power companies and whatnot was concerned.

Gilda declared bankruptcy. Twilight ended up giving her railroads in turn for a full monopoly--which soon proved to be the biggest error in the game she's ever made. Matt sat there with the 'I just stole [insert random item here]!' grin on his face. "Kewl!" He shouted in glee.

"Good--cause now we join in!" Katie called, taking a seat next to the Monopoly table. She was between Natalie and Twilight.

"It's been agreed that on the way of pwning some bitches for our fine readers," Lance declared as if he grew ten bigger ballsacks while he pulled up a chair and sat between the Gryphon and the unicorn, "we discuss how we're going to carry out our little massacre."

"Last time, it was a genocide!" Anna chimed as she put a stool between Matt and Natz.

Katie eyed the player pieces of the board. She saw that each one was normal save for the fact they had a national flag. "I'm 'Murica."

Lance, unsurprisingly, was Germany.

Anna was Ireland.

Matt was Sweden. Natalie was Japan.

Gilda was South Africa and Twilight was France.

The dice was rolled. Katie made the first move. Twelve spaces and she got the Internet Company.

"So," Katie said as she moved her piece, "How bout this: we all split up in groups of two maximum--which, mind you, isn't including NoLegs?" She rolled again, and got a five (3+2). She wound up on the free parking.

"I'm game," Natalie sighed as she rolled the dice and got a two and a four. "But who goes with who, and what do they do?" She got a chance square. Drawing a card, it said she won a million dollars in the lottery. It was handed to her shortly after.

Anna rolled double fours, which landed her in Valley Avenue. She bought the property, "I spy a Dr. Seuss somewhere in that sentence, Natz. Did he possess ya or something?" She rolled again, and got a four and a five. Natalie shook her head as Ireland was placed in the free parking square. More money for the archer. "You have a good point, though."

Matt rolled a five and a one. Drawing a chance card, he landed right in jail. "Dammit, I hate it when I am jailed first turn in. Anyway, I say me and Gilda go into buildings and do the work from there. How's that?"

Gilda rolled snake eyes and bought Jacobs Street. "Sounds perfect, but, uhh.... how do we...?"

"Execute that? Simple--you fly and carry me. I'll be really careful, I promise." Matt answered. Gilda nodded before rolling once more and getting a three and a one. This landed her on Walter Road, which was also bought.

Lance picked up the dice. "Then I take down bitches in the streets from the roof." Rolling a six and a five, he landed on Daemon Street and staked his claim for it in the name of Germany.

Twilight rolled. "I guess I could go with Natalie. We're both mages, so..." She got a six and a four and landed on the 'just visiting jail' square.

"Are you crazy?" Natalie snapped as Katie took hold of the dice, "If we use offensive magic, the whole damn city will know!"

"She's got a solid point. I say, take the Ezio approach." Said the fox as she rolled a three and a two. This landed her one square short of jailtime, though it did net her the Weshdoor Railroads.

"Knife to the throat under the cloak of darkness or something like that?" Natalie asked as she rolled a three and a one, which also landed her on the 'just visiting' square. Katie nodded.

"I guess I could go with Lance to pick off what scraps he misses." Anna sighed as she rolled a two and a one, landing her on the Power Company.

Matt rolled and failed to get a double. He skipped his turn.

"I guess I could stalk the skies from above and take it from there. Fuck logic, I'll turn into a bird doing so." Katie sighed.

Coincidence, Much?

Katie had turned into a bird--a phoenix, to be much more precise--so she could explore Manehatten from the rooftops. Whenever she spotted a thief of mafia pony, she'd turn invisible and slowly descend upon them before it was off with their heads. She would then repeat the process over and over, occasionally stopping on a bare rooftop in order to devour a muffin and regain some magic power.

Natalie, having a white mage outfit (hoofsewn by Rarity--a white unicorn mare with blue eyes, curled up royal purple mane and three-diamond cutie mark--as a token of her gratitude) complete with a hood to conceal her face, would brandish a mythril knife and stab them in the back of their heads before they knew what hit them. Twilight Sparkle went with her to use a spell to point out thieves and mafia ponies to make it easier for the mage-gone-assassin.

Matt and Gilda teamed up and actually went peeping tom--as in the Gryphon would carry the swordsman close to window buildings and peek inside. Once they saw a thief/mafia pony and nopony else was around, they'd break in and deal a swift death blow with Annihilate. These buildings were, oddly enough, where lots of ponies outside could look up and panic--which had yet to happen. They found it strange as hell, but shrugged it off.

Lance and Anna were on rooftops picking off such ponies on the ground. One bullet or arrow to the neck often felled them. If they saw Natalie spying on a kill in a crowd of ponies, Lance would drop a flash grenade onto the crowd and let Natalie finish the job. Katie had taken into account the thieves/mafia ponies had walkie-talkies of their own, but that made it more of a challenge--making teamwork of critical importance here.

NoLegs went up to targets and meowed. As they stood their in their confusion, either an arrow, a bullet, or a knife ended them before they could turn around. When they didn't pay him or anything else any mind, a spear to the face often sufficed.

Katie had become invisible and landed on a rooftop with what looked and certainly stood like a human being. His short, jet-black hair did not waver in any breeze, his black jeans and ash-grey T-shirt more than convincing had he not wore gauntlets. She decided to go in for the kill--only for her talons to be stopped by his gauntlets. Not a sound was made by her and yet, he'd seen her.

His face turned to look at hers. Bright green eyes meet with her dark blue-grey.

"Not the first time I fought a fox." He said.

"So...you've fallen for illusions before and it won't happen again anytime soon." Katie answered sheepishly as her illusion shattered, thus exposing her in broad daylight.

Lance was seeing this whole thing from a rooftop adjacent to the one Katie had been caught red-handed on. He pulled out a walkie-talkie and held it to his mouth. "Red alert, Katie's been spotted and her illusion broke!"

Natalie held a hand to her walkie-talkie. "Where are you at, Lance?"

"I am next to her position. Meet me there, this doesn't look good." Lance answered from the other side.

"Shit. What spotted her?" Matt asked from his end.

"What looks like another human. Very much like that person on the wanted posters we've been seeing left and right." Anna replied.

"Twilight, get on my back with NoLegs. We're going up." Natalie said as she readied knife and staff.

The unicorn complied and so did the cat as the mage started stabbing the walls with her weaponry and using them to scale the building.

"So, we have to go to Lance?" Gilda asked as she started climbing above Manehatten.

"Yeah. But where is he?" Matt said bluntly.

"I dunno...oh wait, I see him. Hang tight, dweeb!" Gilda answered as she preformed a peregrine dive.

"They want me to re-obtain the Element of Generosity." Answered the green-eyed youth.

"Tch, they'd have to catch you first." Katie replied sheepishly. Her talon was still in his grasp.

"There's that." Said the youth. His gaze was unwavering as well, almost...captivating.

Shit, those eyes are prying into me! Katie thought, What should I do here?!

"That look in your eyes...you're charmed, no?" Asked the youth.

Katie's ears suddenly perked straight up. Her mouth moved, yet words failed her. She merely nodded.

"How's he keeping her immobilized?!" Lance asked as he slapped his hand onto his forehead in frustration.

Gilda and Matt landed behind the Nazi.

"Yep, this isn't good." Matt said.

"I think they're talking." Gilda replied.

Twilight, Natalie and NoLegs were standing next to Anna, whose jaw was hanging open in disbelief.

"He stopped the fox in her tracks. Twilight, what to we do?" Asked Natalie.

"We wait until a fight starts. Then we ambush him." Twilight answered as NoLegs meowed.

A breeze blew past the charmer and the charmed as their eyes were still locked in apparently a hypnosis of sorts. The youth pried into Katie's soul and got every answer about her as soon as he asked.

He then let go of her talon.

Her arm fell limp to her side as she heaved for a bit before passing out.

The youth turned her over and poured coffee into her mouth.

She immediately woke up and spat out the bitter drink.

"I HATE COFFEE! ICK!" She shrieked as her legs suddenly brought her standing.

The youth sighed.

"I never heard you say a name." Katie sighed as she walked to the edge of the building and peered down. Normal ponies, no thieves of mafia yet.

"Name's Blake."

"Welcome to the party!" Katie replied with a smile.

Brief Break

"So, we're on the target building." Natalie said, her hood hanging like a mini-cape as she cleaned the mythril knife.

"Yeah." Katie replied, eating some candy. It was chocolate with caramel filling.

"That is one hot fox!" Said a voice not from Lance, Blake or Matt.

Anna stood up and looked around and saw something walking toward them. It was a werewolf wearing gauntlets and knuckles. He had black fur and striking blue eyes and looked very strong. "Who are you?!" Asked nature woman as she drew her Fairy Bow and took aim.

"Relax, I am not a bloodthirsty bastard." Replied the wolf-man. "My name is Fenrir."

Anna sat back down, putting her arrow back into her quiver with the rest of its infinite companions.

"Katie, you should not be running around naked." Natalie remarked. "Didn't Celestia tell you to put some damn clothes on?"

"What choice have I? I'd overheat!" Katie retorted. "My fur is thicker than your hair!"

Uh-oh, cat fight. Matt thought. I don't like where this is going.

"Shave your body hair!" Natalie shouted, standing up and pointing at Katie rather accusingly.

"Run around whoring yourself!" Katie yelled back, also standing erect and grabbing the mage by her collar. "I can guarantee you'll birth a freaking centaur!"

Both of them could've gone all day, perhaps forever even, if Anna didn't fire Spark Arrows at both of them.

And manage to inflict paralysis on both of them doing so.

Both women fidgeted for a few moments before Lance removed the arrows from Natalie's shoulder and Katie's backside.

"I would advise you both to shut the hell up." Anna snarled as she put her Fairy Bow back down, casting a glare on both women. "You both are more mature than that, so why are you acting like this?"

"So," Fenrir said, "what's the 'plan' you're all discussing?"

"We storm this building, capture a pony we believe to be partaking in criminal activity, get the Element of Honesty back, and return with the pony and element to Canterlot." Matt answered as he sighed in relief.

"Sounds about right." Twilight scoffed, shaking her head.

"But how and where to we break in?" Asked Gilda, who scratched her chin with a talon.

"I say, with this many of us, we charge right in and cause utter havoc." Blake suggested. "I mean, heh, I heard rumors of four insane people defeating GodCat. I never would've known I had such luck of meeting those people! If a freaking creator of a world can be bested, why not the average pony and his mob?"

"You never said what you specialize in. Same goes for Fenrir." Lance pointed out, smoking a cigar. "Then again, we only just met, so that's to be expected."

"I specialize in ki, or use of spiritual energy....sort of." Fenrir answered bluntly, scratching the back of his head with a paw.

"I am a necromancer." Blake answered sheepishly as he watched Natalie's jaw drop. With a flick of his wrist, a zombie appeared behind him. Rather than devour all the things in sight, it stood there looking at Natalie funny.

"And you're fuzzy." Katie sneered with a grin.

"Am not." Blake replied, annoyed.

"Are too!" Katie retorted, her grin widening.

"Fine." Blake groaned in defeat. "You win."

"YAY!" Katie yelled in glee.

She's too damn cute! Fenrir thought. I can't seem to stop looking at her!

Katie started pacing about the building, making sure nopony was watching from building level or the ground up.

"When do we break in?" Gilda asked, rustling her wings a bit.

"In the dead of night. That way, Fenrir and Blake are at full power." Katie answered as she swished and swashed her tail back and forth.

"I'm bored. Who wants to pass the time?" Matt complained.

"Here, here," Natalie cried, shaking like a leaf.

"Do we necromancers scare you or something?" Blake asked, cocking his head to the side. The zombie mimicked him.

"I-I had a bad experience with one once...and I was very drunk too." Natalie admitted, still shaking.

Blake, now understanding why, simply sent the zombie back to whence he came.

Lance looked at the time. Great. It was flipping noon now.

Anna had already went off into snoozy-land.

Matt had taken his shirt, coat, and hat off. He was overheating too much, his skin starting to turn baked potato red as sweat rained down onto the roof from his body.

"ANNA! Matt looks like he's gonna die!" Lance bellowed. The archer snapped awake and sent some non-lethal Frost Arrows on the swordsman's way. He grabbed the arrows and held them to his forehead.

Katie was passing time by balancing a damn anvil on her nose. While she was on a unicycle juggling a bunch of potted cactus plants. And her tail was busy holding a fucking piece of 2x4. Yes, she was THAT bored.

"How does she do THAT?!" Fenrir asked, jaw dropping.

"I wish I knew," Blake said, his voice a wreck as his head shook nervously.

"I do this because I am a fuzzy!" Katie answered, the party now noting Natalie was on the head of the anvil and she was balancing a table on a pinky finger.

"I think that's a very dumb idea." Anna commented at the misfit carnival scene unraveling before everybody, "I mean, who can do all of that on a building where a bunch of citizens are present?!"

Sins and Sacrifices

The pony who stole Honesty was surprisingly cooperative, so there was no need to fight anypony in the building. He just flat-out turned himself in!

"Next element and location, Smartypants." Lance asked as he put the Shadow Blaster on his back and sat on the chair.

"Changeling Hives in the Badlands, next element is Laughter." Katie answered.

"Damn, that's quite a ways south, right?" Asked Anna, who was polishing her Crimson Dragon bow.

"Yeah." Natalie replied as she brandished her Crystal Staff.

"We're prepared." Matt said in glee as he forged improvements on Heaven's Gate and Anarchy.

Blake had been glancing between his Bronze and Silver Gauntlets, and frankly, he had a difficult time choosing which set to wear.

Fenrir remained quiet. He'd heard about the Lunar Shadow Overdrive and knew one wrong word would grant him a beat-down.

Again, the Valkyrie whirred to life and took off south.

Time skip yet again.

Changelings were attacking the party en masse most of the time, and when they weren't there were traps in need of being deactivated. Katie effortlessly deactivated all the traps by herself (sometimes it took a while for her to figure it out, her brain's kinda slow).

"I commend you for your efforts, human beings...and fox-angel." Said a voice that sounded like three at once as a tall, black pony with a contorted horn and insectoid features presented itself to the party. She had the Element of Laughter right on her neck!

"Queen Chrysalis...why?" Asked Twilight Sparkle, whose jaw dropped.

The queen raised a holey hoof to her chin as she observed the rest of the party. "How is the cat holding a sword and a shield?" She asked.

NoLegs meowed with a shrug.

"I suppose it can't be helped." Katie translated.

"How do you know cat?!" Asked Matt in confusion.

"I have a cat named Chewy." Katie answered.

"To answer the unicorn's question, let me just say I was offered...redemption." Chrysalis said as with a glow of her horn and a swift flick of her head she activated another trap and teleported out of the room.

The walls started to close in on the party and in the corridor beyond. Katie looked for a switch, but there was none to be had. All she saw was a door on the end of the closing hallway. She ran back to the party as the walls broke on their own accord, and in a pattern one would close right after the other. The rest of the party braced themselves for the inevitable...

..only to find Katie literally holding the walls by herself with both of her hands.

"JUST GO AND GET THE ELEMENT! GO WITHOUT ME!" Katie commanded as the walls started parting further until the door was enter-able.

"B-But!" Natalie started with tears streaming down her eyes.

"Listen, if one of us has to die here, it's me...I've sins to atone for, and I will atone them here!" Katie said, "Besides, even I could never beat a god seeing as I fell from grace!!"

"Will we get out?! The way we came will be blocked off!" Lance retorted as he picked NoLegs up.

Katie grinned, her eye once again a beacon. "Changeling hives have multiple tunnels, so there's always a way out."

"Really!?" Anna heaved as tears trickled down her cheeks.

Katie nodded. "Go. Don't leave my sacrifice in vain..."

The rest of the party, with tearful eyes (and a salute from Lance), entered the door on the end of the hallway.

The door closed once everyone else was safely on the other side.

Katie kept holding the closing walls, going over what little memories and times she had with the party.

Her first meeting them...then planning an attack on the Gryphon Kingdom....shedding so much blood....her arguing with Natalie....

Tears streamed down her cheeks as her right eye ceased its golden glow. Thankfully, no Changeling drones came to make the inevitable happen quicker.

She felt her arms give way, but she wasn't going to give up now. More force went into her arms to hold the walls of death off for a little longer as she relished what good memories she had...

Chewy....

Celestia....

Fenrir....

....and then the awful memories...her sins, her bloodshed.....her in torment....

Things she didn't want to remember....things she wanted to stay buried....

Katie felt her bones break upon being overexerted. Her nine tails took the place of her arms.

More tears, this time some consisting of blood, dropped from her face and onto the cold stone floor.

The fox never wanted to be left alone...unless it was absolutely necessary.

Here, that necessity was of greater importance. It had to be her..for the sake of everything.

The Elements, her friends....

The whole world.

The clock was ticking, it couldn't be stopped.

Time was inevitable, and eternal.

One tail gave way, but the other eight held off the walls even as bones began breaking.

Standing tall and with her head raised to the ceiling, she went over her blessings once more as tears silently fell to the floor.

It had to be done.

Four more tails gave way, leaving two on each side of the walls, which were gaining ground.

"I'm sorry, everyone....God, forgive me...for I have atoned my sins and would like to be in your holy arms once more....please, let me rest in peace as I reflect upon myself for the first time in....forever..." Katie said aloud, her blue eyes lost in her tears. "I know I failed thee, but let me redeem myself in thy afterlife. I wish to be in thy heaven once more, not in the hell of reincarnation....it is all I ask..."

Two more tails gave way. Her wings assisted the remaining two like freak arms.

"Let me see thy holy face again. Only then shall this poor soul rest forever more...." Katie continued, more tears streaming down her face. The last two tails gave way, and her wings felt as if they were on breaking point.

No answer whatsoever came.

"Forgive me.....!" Katie screamed as her wings gave way at last, the walls closing in with such haste the others soon followed. A series of squishes and crushes were heard in unison as the inevitable had occurred.

Natalie heard the squishes and crushes from the other side in the safe room. "She.....she....."

The mage broke down into tears while Matt and Blake exchanged saddened glances.

Anna was crying into Lance's chest as he stroked her hair and looked toward the door through which they walked in. His tears released themselves from his eyes and his face fell under the shadows created by his hat.

NoLegs started yowling, his eyes clouded by falling tears.

Gilda lowered her head in defeat.

"Why....." Twilight asked as she wiped away tears of her own. "Why....?"

Fenrir tried holding back his own tears and looked at the other room where Chrysalis was bound to be waiting.

"You will pay, Chrysalis. You will pay." Fenrir snarled in anger.

Another Break

"What skills do we have...?" Lance asked after the painstakingly long silence was broken not too long ago.

"I have Renew and Protect." Answered Anna, a frown still on her face.

"I have Barrier, Debilitate and Ice Shard." Natalie cooed , her head hanging low.

"Seiken, Iceberg and Legend." Matt sighed, his face darkened.

Blake didn't answer, and neither did Fenrir.

"I have Medipack and Poison Gas." Lance said with a nod.

"I have Bio and Dispel." Blake answered bluntly. His hand clenched into a fist.

NoLegs started yowling in pain again. Twilight held the poor kitty close to her chest and began to pet him. "It was for the best... I miss her too." She cooed, trying not to cry once more.

"I wonder if she wanted a funeral....I am starting to think she didn't even have a last will...." Gilda sobbed.

"I have Aura Sphere and Quick Hit." Fenrir answered with a snarl.

"You won't take no shit from Chrysalis, right?" Matt asked, his face still dark.

"Right. I'll grind her into a pulp if I have to!" Fenrir barked. His sorrow, his hurt, his anger....became rage.

"Everyone, I know that we've been devastated by the death of a dearest friend, and as such I understand why we're sad," Lance started, standing up and becoming de facto leader of the group, "But we mustn't let the pain overcome us in battle. That's what Chrysalis wants, and we're not giving her what she wants. Got it?"

Everyone else nodded, wiping their tears away. Natalie was the second to stand up.

"Death to Chrysalis!" She bellowed, waving her Nirvana in fury.

Anna stood up. "Yeah!" She called, her voice bitter. She raised her bow.

Matt stood up. "She will know pain." He hissed, readying Heaven's Gate.

Blake stood up, but instead of speaking he cracked his knuckles and equipped the Silver Gauntlets.

Fenrir also stood, his jaws snapping in anger. His paws meshed together to show off the effects of his knuckles.

Gilda and Twilight followed suit, one with wings spread and the other with a crackling horn.

All turned towards the door of the room that...monster was bound to be waiting behind. They all rushed inside, and as soon as they saw the despicable Queen of the Changelings, all hell broke loose.

Rising up from her throne on two legs rather than all fours, she laughed evilly. "You despicable creatures do not have any clue what you are fighting against!!"

Anna started things off with an Arrow Rain. The single arrow first fired broke through the ceiling and allowed full view of the burning sun. A volley of three arrows quickly followed it and went into the sky.

"Fool!" Chrysalis laughed, "I thought your aim was better than that!"

Anna smiled. "You got it backwards--YOU don't know what you're up against!"

A sudden volley of thousands of arrows shot towards the earth, and all aimed right at Chrysalis. She cast a barrier of Changeling fire--only for that to be Debilitated immediately by Natz, who then set the tips of the arrows aflame. Some arrows became cold as ice and others still were charged with electricity. Some more were tipped with poison (given that they were fired from the Fairy Bow.)

Chrysalis' dual-irised eyes went wide. "DRONES! TAKE THE ARROWS FOR ME!" She bellowed. More drones flew towards the impending rain from Tartarus, and some died immediately while others broke the arrows with their magic. The arrow-breakers, in return, were felled by machine-gun rounds provided by the Valkyrie tank.

Fenrir lunged forward with a Quick Hit at the ready. He smacked her again and again, only to be flung into a wall. Chrysalis regained her composure with a toothy grin.

Matt hit Heaven's Gate into the ground. This caused an Iceberg to wreck the Changeling's throne and Chrysalis to lose balance. Getting up off the ground, she saw Blake mesh his gauntlets together and chant something. Looking around, the deceased drones were enveloped with a black aura.

"Rise from the dead, fallen drones! Destroy your tyrant who calls herself queen!" Bellowed the necromancer. The husks rose cracking their necks. They glared at Chrysalis with dead eyes of blood crimson. With dead wings buzzing as if life had denied them to begin with, they flung themselves at their queen. They overpowered her quickly by forming a dog-pile.

Suddenly, green Changeling fire turned the husks to mere charred ashes. Chrysalis stood up tall once again, and this time, she was pissed.

A bright flash of light emanated from Natalie's eyes as wings of pure energy grew out of her backside.

Lance jumped high in the sky in a swift movement.

Matt was encased in a crimson aura.

The Mighty Oak came marching in.

"W-What's this?!" Chrysalis shrieked, horn aglow. A rectangular shadow loomed over her and it was getting bigger. Natalie's wings grew larger, a white aura embracing her form. A gold cross with runic writing appeared just behind her and its form was expanding. The crimson aura made Matt much more menacing. Anna sat on top of the Mighty Oak.

The Valkyrie landed right on the Changeling queen. Lance began firing shots into it and then the whole thing went BOOM. The Mighty Oak soon rushed in and proceeded to pound her into the ground. Once he left, Matt soon rushed in and slashed five times before backing off as a Holy Blade was thrust out from a runic circle that appeared from nowhere and onto Chrysalis. Natalie finished things off by causing a white light to encase everything in its glow, a gigantic winged cross being seen in the far reaches of space.

Shadow of the Moon

The changeling queen, however, got right back up as if nothing happened to her! The only other noticeable thing now was that her wings were gone, and she was even more fumed!

"Damn bitch won't let up!" Matt hissed as he was tossed head-first into a wall.

"She's immune to Holy damage?!" Natalie squealed as she found herself stuck hanging onto what was left of the ceiling. She dangled on the top of the hive as her legs flailed. The piece she clung to looked like the hand of a clock, and she wondered how long it would hold her.

"Fuck!" Lance cried as the changeling removed his clothes and started chasing him around in circles.

"LEAVE MY FRIEND ALONE!" Anna cried as she flung Frost and Spark Arrows left and right, hoping to hit the Changeling.

"Bite me!" Chrysalis replied as she turned and then ran to Anna full gallop with horn aglow. With a flick of her head she threw the archer onto the ground and followed this up by trampling on her back as a sickening crunch hitting the ears of all in the room.

"Anna!" Lance screamed, eyes going wide. Pure shock overcame him, and it was evident that something sparked in him.

Chrysalis reared on her hind legs and stomped on her back once more, another crunch hitting all ears in the area.

"You....you heartless wench!" Lance hissed, his face darkening as he loaded Snipe rounds into his gunblade.

Blake suddenly rushed toward the Queen with clawed arms spread wide. He would've slashed out vital organs had a holey hoof not knocked him off balance and sent him into Gilda.

Lance fired his shots...and deadpanned when Chrysalis picked up the archer with a hoof and used her for a meat-shield.

All the bullets went straight to her vital organs. Black blood poured profusely out of the wounds and dripped onto the dirt floor.

The Nazi dropped his weapon right then and there. He'd killed...? Another spark lit up within him, and he didn't know why.

Fenrir was more than pissed now. A bloody aura concealed his form as he meshed both paws together and held them out like he was going to fire a Hadoken. A crimson orb appeared just in front of his paws as his blue eyes became a searing gold.

"GET ANNA OUT OF HER GRASP NOW!" Fenrir barked as the orb became larger.

"Got it!" Twilight replied as with a glow of her horn and a flick of her own head she yanked the dead archer from the holey hoof. She then removed the still-dangling Natalie from the ruined ceiling piece and lowered the mage next to Matt.

"What the hell is he doing?!" Gilda shrieked as Lance took a Medipack and began surgery on the archer.

Natalie yanked the Element of Laughter off Chrysalis's neck and ran to help Lance.

Matt got out of the wall just in time to see Fenrir fire a laser at Chrysalis.

"AURA BLAST!!!" Fenrir caterwauled as the laser went from crimson to blue. The changeling queen let off a last cry of pain as the Overdrive turned her to ash. The laser then died off as Fenrir put his paws to his knees and panted like he ran ten consecutive marathons.

Lance removed the bullets and repaired Anna's broken spine and ribcage with such precision he put the world's best doctor to shame. Natalie then cast Revive with a look of worry.

Anna didn't move.

The rest of the party quickly formed a circle around her, looks of sadness in their eyes. Matt took a hare longer to catch up with everyone else in the circle, only for his eyes to widen at what he saw.

Anna still didn't move, her eyes closed in a peaceful slumber. Her mouth was barely open, and a small stream of blood trickled down her chin.

Natalie started tearing up again. "Not her too..."

Lance gingerly slid his left arm under her body, which felt cold now. He lifted her slightly, then gently stroked the back of his hand on her face as her bangs were brushed aside. Another spark lit up within him.

"Anna, please..." Twilight murmured, her eyes scrunching in disbelief. Faint sputters of magic danced around her horn, and she was shaking very bad.

Lance stroked the archer's cheek before the palm of his hand held one side of her face. She was still cold.

"No...." Gilda sobbed, her beak chattering in agony as her talons dug deeper into the dirt.

NoLegs yowled once. A look of worry overcame his face, and his ears fell flat.

Lance lowered his head to her chest. There was no heartbeat to be had. This....no, she couldn't possibly...

"We lose one and then another right after....? What has the world come to?!" Matt asked in grief, almost shouting as tears ran down his face.

Lance lifted his head, tears falling down his own cheeks and onto Anna's face before they rolled off and hit the ground. Some of the dirt went with those tears and cleaned her face a bit.

"This isn't happening...." Fenrir said, a whimper in his voice. He was shaking and his fur stood on end.

Lance shed more tears, his face getting closer to Anna's own...and then his lips met with those of the dead archer for the first--and last--time.

Blake sobbed in silence, his eyes becoming jet-black.

A sudden warmth encompassed Anna's body as she moaned in apparent pain. Her eyes opened just a hare before closing once more. Within seconds her eyes were wide open and her arms flung themselves around the Nazi. Their lips broke away as they embraced.

"Anna!" Lance cried as he fully wrapped his arms around her.

"Lance!" Anna replied as tears streamed from her own eyes.

Worried smiles crossed the lips of everyone else present as they hugged the archer in renewed glee. Blake's eyes returned to normal as he kept his Overdrive at bay.

"Let's get going. We have a promise to keep to a dead friend." Lance said as he stood up with Anna in his arms like they were officially boyfriend and girlfriend.

____

"You saw a light?" Natalie asked.

"Yeah, but....I didn't see Katie anywhere." Anna answered.

"At all?" Fenrir chimed.

"No." Anna said, shaking her head sadly.

"I'm back, bitches!" Called a familiar, cheery tune.

"Matt, open the hatch. You won't believe what I'm seeing!" Lance called.

"On it." Matt replied as he fumbled for a bit before the hatch opened...and from above dropped a familiar form.

And said form was group-tackled by everyone present.

"Hey! Hey! One at a time please! This ain't no orgy!" Katie squealed with a grin.

"How'd you come back?!" Natalie asked rather impatiently.

"I can never truly die. I get a new body to reincarnate into instead. But Genesis apparently affected me, so...yeah." Katie answered sheepishly.

"Next location, please." Lance asked.

"Saddle Arabia, due north." Katie answered as Fenrir bear-hugged her.

"When's the Wedding?"

"Wait, why Saddle Arabia?" Asked Natalie.

"Two reasons: one, the Element of Kindness is in an oil plant, and two..." Katie trailed off, pointing with her thumb to Lance and Anna behind her. They were talking casually like it wasn't a big deal (and besides, the Valkyrie had an auto-travel feature).

Natalie was going to speak again when Lance pulled something from his pocket, knelt down on one knee, and held that something before Anna.

"Will you marry me?" Lance asked with a smile.

Everyone, save for Katie and Anna, immediately turned to him with jaws hanging open.

"He...he went...?!" Matt gasped, his eyes white.

Anna blushed brighter than Katie's fur for a few moments... "I do, Lance."

Everyone cheered like no tomorrow as the archer hugged the Nazi.

Time skip. A few days after the wedding this time because the need for a honeymoon was present.

(I think you know what happens during honeymoons anyway, so shut it.)

The party was now standing before the oil plant. The honeymoon was still happening, so Lance and Anna were in Canterlot. But that sure as hell didn't mean the party would be defeated. And besides, they needed to take Laughter to Celestia anyway, so the more the merrier. Twilight Sparkle went with them as well, but hey, the Valkyrie was still with them should a quick getaway be necessary.

They casually walked in and to the owner of the oil plant, who had Kindness on his neck. He was a dragon of magnificent gold with a platinum-blond Mohawk of a mane running down the length of his neck, with a pair of broken horns on his head. His sapphire blue eyes exuded a dual aura of malevolence and radiance. Scales the same color of the mane made his underbelly as feathered wings of white angels adorned his backside. Emerald claws marked the end of his draconian hands and feet as his tail blocked off the door from which the humans and fox-angel had entered.

"You, sir or madam, art as graceful as Equestria itself. Please tell me why Kindness is wrapped around thy neck." Katie said, already kneeling out of respect. The humans had knelt as well as Gilda.

"An angel who speaks in ancient tongue. I am most intrigued," Said the Golden Dragon, "But in order to redeem yourselves and obtain the element you seek, we must fight."

"That, I most certainly understand. But before we cross swords," Katie said aloud, "I must ask--how did you come to this oil plant? Was it mere words?"

"It is quite a tale, my friend." Replied the Dragon, "Art thou certain thou hast the time?"

"Yes, I am most certain." Katie answered.

Another time skip.

The Dragon had taken the party (and monster tank) to an open field quite close to Canterlot. Better to spare innocents than needlessly shed blood.

The Dragon fired off a holy beam at the party, which hit everyone save for Fenrir and Gilda. Strangely, Katie took the least damage of everyone while Blake took the most.

Natalie responded with a Pulse (lesser of Pulsar), while Blake sent some skeletons to attack the dragon. Matt sent an Anarchy-powered Legend while Fenrir sent an Aura Sphere toward the dragon. NoLegs piloted a Kitten Fortress while Gilda manned the Valkyrie. Katie sent fireballs toward the magnificent behemoth before stopping abruptly.

The Red Dragon showed up as the Gold Dragon was felled (as in, knocked unconscious).

Natalie flung Ice left and right while Matt switched to Heaven's Gate. Blake merely sat back to watch while Fenrir unleashed Aura Claws willy-nilly. The Valkyrie and Kitten Fortress started firing machine gun rounds and sharpened stake-logs at the Red Dragon while Katie forged something from fire. Her wings grew larger than Celestia's once more as blue fire embraced them.

"What art thou doing?!" Shouted the Red Dragon as he saw in Katie's place was a bird of blazing blue fire. It was roughly the size of the Valkyrie and nine tail-feathers extended elegantly behind the anomaly of unseen beauty. In what was assumed to be its talons was a sword forged from red fire.

"Sword of the Fallen!" Bellowed the bird in Katie's voice as with a slash of the fire-sword it caused the Red Dragon to rear up in pain.

Another slash. And another.

Another.

"Holy shit!" Matt shouted in shock.

The Red Dragon was felled in less than fifteen slashes. The flames forming the sword and the bird vanished, leaving Katie in its place as she landed on all fours.

"You won, and we shalt help thee once more." Said the voice of the Golden Dragon as he and his brother turned into summoning stones which levitated toward Natalie's hands. The Element of Kindness was teleported into the Valkyrie as everyone climbed inside.

"Where are we going now?" Natalie asked.

"Straight to Celestia. Once we get Lance, Anna, and Twilight back and have a spell cast on us, we go up." Katie answered.

"Why up?" Asked Matt, who was confused.

"Cloudsdale is in the sky. The Element of Loyalty is there." Katie answered, her expression turning grim. "Let's just say I heard about a factory that needs to be demolished."

"Demolished?" Asked Gilda.

"More illegal practices." Katie said. "But the whole city is made of clouds, and none of you save for Gilda can walk on clouds."

"You kidding?" Asked Fenrir.

"I shit you not." Katie answered.

"I am half demon. I should be able to walk on clouds." Blake confessed.

"For me, it's natural." Katie replied with a shrug.

The Valkyrie whirred to life and headed to Canterlot Castle.

Intermission of Sorts: Lance and Anna...

Lance and Anna were in their hotel room on the first night of their honeymoon. When they looked out the window, all was quiet below their room and from all of Equestria, or at least what they could see of Equestria.

Nazi-boy, as far as Anna was concerned, was completely naked. He was just covered under the blankets from the chest down. His head lay on his pillow, an expression of pure bliss on his face. A single lamp illuminated the room, and it was next to the bed. Anna was only in her undergarments, a nervous grin etched on her lips.

"We're still noobs at this, right?" Anna asked, turning her head to Lance.

"Yeah." Lance shuddered, turning his head to his wife. His arms wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her close, the feeling of cloth teasing his bare skin. Anna, in turn, wrapped her own arms around him with a grin on her face. Both humans were blushing deeply, their eyes being forced to stay in place as if they refused to do as told.

"So, um, yeah..." Lance said with a bit of a chuckle, "Who starts?"

Anna kissed him on the lips, her arms forcing him into a hug. Lance was quite shocked with Anna's ambition as his arms responded by pulling her closer to his nude body. Their tongues delicately dueled for a mere moment before the kiss was broken, a single, slender strand of saliva bridging the gap. Both were panting, but neither seemed to notice it.

I never knew I had feelings for Anna until after Chrysalis broke her... Lance recalled in the back of his mind. Maybe I did know before then, but....perhaps I rejected it in envy of Matt. No matter. I have Anna now.

Lance was cold to me....and yet caring. The cold went away when I awoke to him kissing me. Anna remembered. Maybe, he was mad at something?

"Anna?" Lance asked with a moan in his tone.

"Yes, dear?" Anna answered, a hint of shock in her voice.

"I didn't mean to startle you." Lance replied, "But were we in a trance?"

"Seems so." Anna answered sheepishly, a slight blush on her face. Lance kissed her once more, and their tongues dueled once again. His hand went to her midsection and then under her blouse, gingerly stroking her backside with the tips of his fingers. He moved with a sort of a pattern--first a circle, then back and forth, and then an erratic triangle before repeating from the circle.

The kiss was once more broken, this time their lips were gleaming with saliva.

Lance is so gentle... Anna thought as a soft moan escaped her throat. His hand slid under her arm and onto her breast.

Anna is so soft... Lance thought as he used his other hand to pull the archer closer to him. He kept massaging her breast with his right hand.

"Laaaaaaaaaaaance" Anna whined.

"Yes?" Lance asked, taken aback by the sudden worrisome complaint.

"What are you going to do to me?" Anna asked.

Holy shit. Lance thought, realizing he had an erection, I may have to give her an in-depth explanation. Either that or let my second head speak for itself.

"W-Well..." Lance stuttered, his erection now pestering him for attention, "Would you mind if I showed you what I am gonna do?"

"I wouldn't." Anna answered sheepishly, another blush on her face.

Lance put both of his hands on her shoulders and gently turned her belly-up. He then threw the blanket off of the bed while simultaneously throwing himself on top of Anna. His hands moved to her thighs and grasped her underwear. His head was above her stomach, and he had quite the grin if Anna said so herself. With a nod from his wife, he removed the soft obstacle from her body, leaving it hanging onto her left ankle. Her knees hit each other shakily at a steady pace.

"You nervous?" Lance asked as his hands were placed on her knees and spread them apart just a hare.

"Y-Yeah..." Anna answered with a shaky nod.

Lance spread Anna's legs the rest of the way and slid an index finger along her stomach. He moved his finger in a circle around her bellybutton before moving it below.

Anna felt a jolt of pleasure as two fingers began moving up and down her labia. The rubbing stopped briefly before another set of fingers joined the first. She started to moan as the fingers began sliding in and out of her nethers (the clit if we're being nit-picky).

I never thought she'd be this tight.... Lance thought with a grin, I'm a really lucky bastard right now.

This feels so good. I don't want it to stop... Anna thought as she kept moaning, I hope I don't tire out soon.

"You're close, Anna. I can tell by the way you pant." Lance said as he kept sliding his fingers in and out. "Your moaning is music to my ears."

"Lance--ohh!--don't stop!" Anna yelped in pleasure, "I want more!"

Lance quickened his pace, another grin etched on his lips as he listened to his 'music.'

Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaance! Anna cried as her eyes scrunched shut, her hands clutching the bedsheets tightly as a new substance found itself between her legs--right where Lance had slid his fingers out. The substance quickly soaked into the bedsheets as the archer looked up and saw the Nazi lift his head and lick his fingers.

Lance grinned once more as he put both hands just above the archer's shoulders. He leaned over, his back arched sharply. Their lips met yet again, and so did their tongues. Anna could taste the faint hint of fresh herbs as their tongues danced about.

His hands moved to her thighs once more as his lips broke away and he started to gently nibble on her neck. Her hands found themselves on his shoulders as something much larger than his fingers pushed itself into her nethers again. Anna gasped for a second before moaning again. Lance began licking her neck, moving his hands under her blouse again. His hips slowly backed down and then returned to meet her thighs.

The blouse was removed with ease as Lance's hands started squeezing her breasts. He kept his hips moving with a steady rhythm. His arms wrapped themselves around her once more as he stopped moving his hips with a grin.

In an instant, Anna suddenly found herself on top of Lance, her legs opened and next to his closed legs. Her hands were still on his shoulders as the Nazi began panting himself. His hands had returned on her breasts, a smile etched on his lips as he nodded.

"Lance...you're so sweet." Anna cooed as her hips started to move up and down.

"Anna, I can--oh!--say the same about you." Lance panted as he relished the feeling of his erection being fixed at last.

Anna kept moving with her own rhythm, soft moans being the only noise from her mouth. She started panting once more before leaning in for a kiss. Lance thrust his hips up as Anna's came back down. Anna, taking notice of this, picked up her pace, breaking the kiss in the process.

Lance's hands moved to Anna's shoulders, grasping them tightly. He felt so much pleasure already, but his body mocked him. He thrust again as nature woman went faster. He started moaning as Anna's own moans grew more audible.

"Anna," Lance started, only to be cut off by her lips kissing his. It lasted for only a second before Anna broke away and stopped her movements altogether.

"I know what you want. I'll fix if in a jiffy." Smiled the archer as she resumed her pace. This time, however, she quickened the pace to unbelievable speeds (thanks to her casting Reflex during the kiss).

Aaaaaaaaaaaannnaaaa!!! Lance hollered as his body obeyed him for once, an audible splurt sounding as Anna stopped abruptly, panting in exhaustion. Lance looked up at Anna, and she looked at him with a warm grin. She suddenly fell onto him as if her arms went numb. Lance wrapped his arms around his wife as another smile crossed his lips. He was about to drift off into sleep had Anna not spoken up.

"Lance..." Anna said in her complaining tone of voice.

"Yeah?" Lance asked with a yawn.

"Would you mind terribly if I were in a maid outfit next time?" Anna asked as she nuzzled Lance.

The thought almost invoked a nosebleed from the Nazi. "No. That'd be great, actually." Lance replied with a hint of a chuckle.

Anna smiled and they kissed yet again. The kiss was broken as Lance used his sword to hoist the blanket over them, being careful not to cut Anna. He then uncharismatically dropped the sword onto the ground and returned his hand to Anna's backside. He did feel wet and his erection did cease, though what mattered here was that he and Anna were happy.

"I love you." Lance whispered.

"I love you too, my precious soldier." Anna cooed before snuggling on his body and falling asleep.

Lance smiled warmly. He'd never been called a soldier before. It made him warm inside. He fell asleep with a grin knowing his wife truly did love him more than ever.

Another Intermission: Why Katie Wears Bandages

Fenrir tiptoed out of his room. He peeked out from behind his door and looked both ways. Not one being in sight, ample time for him to sneak somewhere. But where that somewhere was had to be decided by his canine nose, as his object of desire was entirely unpredictable. He crept out and closed his door, entirely naked and without his knuckles. No need for either his clothes or weaponry, and with good reason. It had been forever since he'd been naked for a whole night, so he made the best of it here. The cool night air against his thighs and what lay under his tail made him feel a bit awkward, but when you do something and then don't do said something for a few years, it does that to you.

He trotted for a bit on all fours, stopping every few steps to look and make sure nobody saw him--or heard him for that matter. No matter how quiet or far away a sound was, he'd be able to hear it. Sadly, Lance and Anna didn't take this into account and their noises ended up turning on the werewolf. It didn't help since he was approaching the newlyweds, but it wasn't them he was after.

Nope, he was after a kitsune who ran around naked all the damn time.

He darted past the room where lewd acts were taking place and onto the balcony. There in the moonlight shined that familiar dark brown hair and blood-crimson fur; a big, bushy tail billowing in the breeze behind this form, revealing her delicate orifices otherwise obscured by three layers of fur. But strangely, this form did not have the trademark bandages around the backside and wrapped around the chest.

He took a step forward with a pawed hand ending in claws. She didn't notice.

Another step. He froze because her ears twitched.

Yet another step, her wings ruffled.

Another step. He was so close her supple legs were within grasping range. He moved his head to sniff--

"I know damn well you're right behind me, hairball." Katie said. She didn't bother to turn around.

Fenrir immediately froze once more, his tail tucking itself between his legs.

"I assume you want to know why I wear those silly bandages on my chest all damn day?" Katie asked, sounding as if she were grieving something.

"Y-Yes..." Fenrir whimpered as though he were being whipped.

Katie groaned like she was doing chores willy-nilly, and then turned around.

Fenrir's jaw physically dropped.

Lots of scars were on the woman's chest; jagged scars, bite marks, even a wound that could only have been inflicted with a wooden stake.

"When I told Natalie her Beholder problem was nothing compared to me, I tell you I damn well wasn't lying." Katie said with guilt in her voice. Her rear end was leaning on the balcony while her hands were at her sides, hanging as though they were useless.

Fenrir could now understand just why Katie was bitter. If those scars were that numerous on her chest, then nobody could imagine the scars on the parts where fur was ever so present. Those...were some kind of battle scars. She suddenly slid down and sat on her rump, her knees to her chest as she sighed.

The werewolf put his paws on her knees and leaned his muzzle toward her. His wet nose was in front of her dry nose.

"No harm, right?" Katie asked as her hands suddenly clasped onto his muzzle, holding it shut.

Fenrir nodded, an entirely new cold sensation hitting him.

Katie sighed in apparent relief, her wings fluttering slightly. Her tail swished back and forth for a full minute before she released Fenrir's maw.

"Um...why did you hold my mouth shut?" Fenrir asked.

"A little test." Katie answered, "When I hold a mouth shut for that long, people tend to struggle to have their way with me. Either that or to continue saying stupid shit. It's my way of knowing who to trust, if you will."

Fenrir connected the dots in his head. His ears perked, signaling to the fox that he understood, which was heavily backed up with a nod.

"Before we continue," Katie started, "have you worn rubber?"

Fenrir shook his head. "Never have." He answered bluntly.

Katie sighed, letting the werewolf spread her legs. I seriously hope those damn cramps don't harass me again. Already have enough problems as it is. She thought, keeping her eyes closed.

She was snapped out of her brief trance when something somewhat rectangular poked itself on her stomach. His nose was on her stomach, his blue eyes looking up at her face.

"You won't do anything without my say?" Katie asked inquisitively.

Fenrir nodded.

"This is....new to me." Katie admitted rather harshly. Both she and Fenrir blinked a few times and then sighed simultaneously. Might as well have a damn leash. Ran in Katie's mind. But it's unneeded here.

Katie sighed, out of words to say. She merely nodded before resting the back of her head on the marble that made the balcony. She heard sniffing before a set of furry paws held her at the sides of her waist.

"You need to have something to bite down on, trust me." Fenrir whispered.

"No I don't." Katie answered as she suddenly tackled the werewolf, catching him off guard as he landed on his backside. Her hands were on his chest as she wagged her tail with a grin on her face.

Fenrir nearly yelped when he felt something impossibly tight thrust upon his his member. He looked up at the fox woman, a smile on her face without a hint of pain!

"Oh my..." Katie chuckled, "For the supposed average woman, she'd need more than to bite down on something. But I think I can manage without wincing."

"I declare hax." Fenrir said.

"Seems legit." Katie retorted with a grin.

Fenrir felt his little friend suddenly erect fully into the fox, watching her stomach stretch to unusual proportions without tearing once! A moan escaped his throat as his eyes went white.

Katie started jerking her whole body up and down like no tomorrow. Her movements were so rapid Fenrir unloaded in mere seconds. A pop was heard as the member slid out of the foxy nethers and into its sheath.

"Too much for the wolf man?" Katie sighed in content.

Fenrir panted heavily. "I've never seen a girl move so fast...!" He admitted.

"Dude," Katie started, "Ya sound like you're gonna fall asleep. Want me to take you to bed?"

"That'd be nice." Fenrir moaned as the fox-girl effortlessly picked him up in her arms and walked to her room.

Unknown to them, Matt saw and recorded the whole thing from a nearby window.

"Jesus Christ, she's a toughie." Matt murmured under his breath, his eyes wide.

To Candy Constellation!

Celestia had cast the cloud-walking spell on the party. This time, another new member showed up. She had pink hair and green eyes and a purple electric guitar. Her name was Coryza, and she was a mugician. She was much more tomboyish than Katie (and that said a lot.)

"Music master!" Katie cried in glee upon looking at the mugician.

"What are you?" Coryza asked, confused.

"Pyromancer. I am also an illusomancer." Katie answered as everyone else climbed into the Valkyrie, save for Gilda.

"So, you need me to make sure you're going the right way." Gilda asked.

Katie nodded...before picking up the tank with one single pinky finger.

"You really are tough." Gilda said as she led the angel to the cloudy city.

"There's a reason they call me 'tiny but fierce.'" Katie replied, the weight of the tank not hindering her at all.

When they reached the cloud city, the tank was set upon the biggest unoccupied cloud they could find before the humans stepped out into the day.

"It makes rainbows?" Matt asked, pointing to Cloudsdale.

"Seems like. Pegasi sure know what they're doing." Natalie chimed, clearly awe-struck by the sight.

"I have to admit, these clouds are dreamy..." Lance sighed, a blush and a slight nosebleed now visible on his face. The clouds made him a happy camper.

"Might as well help in weather management." Katie cooed, looking at the setting sun. It was glorious.

"Again, we attack at night?" Anna asked, laying on a cloud with her hands under her head.

"More or less. Right now, we have a whole lotta time to kill." Answered the kitsune.

"After this, I have to go back to royal guard duty." Coryza sighed, eying the rest of the party. She sure had the strangest group of all.

NoLegs meowed. He just wanted to curl up and sleep.

Gilda folded her wings. She had nothing to say.

"Even back home, clouds weren't as cozy as this..." Blake sighed, crossing his legs with the 'I am about to fall asleep' look on his face. Nobody could blame him though.

Fenrir made himself a cloud bed and curled up like a kitty cat. It didn't mean he'd fall asleep, but the more the merrier.

Twilight lay next to Matt. It wasn't because she liked him, it was because she wanted to stargaze. That, and there was this strange factory above the cloud city, almost in the way of the moon if it weren't in its new phase. "Is that the factory?" Asked the unicorn.

"Eeyup." Katie answered. "That's it, right there."

"You know what it produces aside from illegal shenanigans?" Natalie asked, clearly confused. She had reason to be confused, as the factory didn't show any signs of weather making. In fact, the damn thing looked like an airship mixed with a war machine.

"Not really. I tried getting more intel and every time I asked, it backfired horrendously." Answered the fox.

"I wonder if the Praetorian is there." Lance chimed, "I mean, look at the damn thing! Who's to say it isn't there waiting on me to reprogram it?!"

"What's a Praetorian?" Katie asked.

Lance slapped a hand onto his face. He then groaned and took out a photo of the machine from his pocket. He walked up and showed it to Katie. "THAT'S the Praetorian." He answered.

"What time is it?" Fenrir whimpered with a yawn.

Lance took out a multi-tasking device. "Close to nine." He answered, "We move in an hour."

The werewolf nodded before returning to watch the factory in the sky. The sun was setting. Other than the sky machine, it looked marvelous.

Natalie sighed before laying on the clouds. Her mind entered a state of bliss for once, and it was a good thing.

Anna walked up to Lance and sat next to him. She grabbed his shirt sleeve and forced him to sit his tail down. She looked at him with a seductive grin. "One of us did say we have until ten. Might as well make the most of it."

Lance chuckled before he turned his gaze to the archer. "Me and my big mouth." He said warmly, a grin of his own etched on his lips. He hugged her tightly and she did the same. Anna rested her head on his chest as he stroked her hair. It was as smooth as fresh, spring leaves sprouting on trees.

"Dude," Matt sighed as he pointed accusingly at Lance, "I really envy you now."

Lance couldn't help but laugh whilst shaking his head. "You've no idea, Matt. You've no idea."

Anna sighed contently. Feh; Matt's usually jealous of something. Hell, everybody was at some point in time.

Katie was busy making a cloudman. Snow wasn't present, so she said 'fuck it.'

Matt, who was now too bored for his own good, began playing chess with Blake. They were surprised a cloud could hold the entire board and all the pieces. Bah; they should've been shocked when a cloud could hold the damn Valkyrie and everybody else in it! Coryza stood next to them and made sure no cheating occurred at all.

Gilda and Twilight were already asleep. NoLegs lay between them, purring in his sleep.

Anna and Lance retreated into the Valkyrie and proceeded to get down to business, so to speak. There was a closet of sorts in the tank and it had a simple bed in it. The entire closet was soundproof so nobody could hear them outside. Clothes were put in a box outside the closet so they wouldn't be sullied with what was going on.

Oh Look, A Tenko!

Katie and the rest of the party were standing on a platform leading to a great, big metal door on the...thing. She gingerly opened it and let everyone else inside before going in herself. The whole place was dark and dismal, with a freezing wind throughout the building despite it being the cool of spring outside. Katie refused to light her Holy Fire, reasoning that once mis-spark and the whole thing could go boom--thus depriving them of any hope of getting Loyalty back. So, Natalie had to cast Flare and use it like a flashlight.

"This place is creepy. No wonder we went here last." Anna whispered to Lance, who only nodded in agreement.

"I keep smelling blood...but why?" Fenrir asked, confused. Katie only shrugged, having no viable answer with her limited information.

"This place sure is clean." Matt whispered to Natalie.

"It won't be when we're done with it." Natalie replied, keeping her voice just above a peep.

"Why all this machinery?" Coryza asked, "Why not make it as simple as everything else in this world of ponies?"

"Good call." Twilight sighed, using her illumination spell to guide Natalie better.

"Why would Loyalty be here?" Gilda asked, raising an eyebrow.

Blake kept eying the place. The smell of blood in a clearly sparkling place? The fuck was going on here?

The doors slammed shut behind the party, making everyone wince.

"This isn't good." Lance whispered to Anna, holding her close as he drew his sword.

The lights all switched on, revealing the room to be a long hallway lined erratically with pipes. Some pipes were fully metallic, others crystal clear with a liquid in them. Each liquid was a different color of the rainbow, with no two pipes containing the same color in the same row.

Anna looked at a pipe with green liquid and her gut wrenched itself in unholy disgust. She didn't know why she was angry, but she had the feeling she'd find out by going deeper into the factory.

Matt felt nausea. He was unsure of why as well, but he knew he didn't want to know.

Natalie and Katie exchanged glances, both at a loss for words. Just what was this place, and why was it above the cloud city?

Coryza was shaking. Something told her to run, to get out now. But seeing as the door was closed and locked, that was a no-go.

Twilight looked at a pipe of purple liquid. She was torn: How did this liquid get in the pipe? I don't think it's wise to know.

NoLegs saw a pipe of blue liquid and started hissing at it. Whatever was in the pipe, he hated it.

A bunch of worker ponies showed up. They were Pegasi with lab coats. One eyed the pony and Gryphon while the other eyed the rest of the party.

"Summon the machine! There are intruders!" Shouted one pony from above. The other two turned tail and ran as a black machine with a crimson sword emerged from where the Pegasus ponies stood.

"Shit!" Lance cried as he stepped in front of Anna, sword pointed at the Praetorian.

Instead of attacking the party, it became a summoning stone and threw itself to Lance. He caught it before looking up at the slack-jawed Pegasi.

"Into the factory!" Katie cried as she and the party rushed inside the Valkyrie. Lance typed numbers and letters like no tomorrow as the wheels whirred to life. It detected the Element of Loyalty on the uppermost floor and rather than charging up staircases, it used a teleport command Katie installed into it. Yes, she was an engineer as well.

The tank warped into a room with a desk and two ponies in it, one of which was tied up. The party rushed out and their jaws dropped. There was a light creamy pony with a striped green and yellow mane. She had green eyes and the Element on her neck. In front of her was Rainbow Dash, tied and crying.

"So, you seek to destroy my factory?" Asked the green-and-yellow mare.

"More like have to, but you already know?" Katie asked.

"You're all awful!" Shouted the mare.

"I have stroked the fire and seen more pain than you can know!" Katie retorted, removing her bandages in front of everyone.

"Good god, woman!" Matt cried, covering his eyes.

"The hell!" Lance shrieked, stuffing his face into his hat.

Blake merely turned away. Nope, he did not want anything to do with this.

Fenrir remained unaffected.

NoLegs yowled in shock.

Anna, Natalie, and Coryza screamed in unison. Who'd inflicted those scars on her?!

Gilda proceeded to panic.

Twilight, while Katie was using her scars as a distraction of sorts, untied Rainbow and took the Element clean off the thief's neck. She then teleported herself, the element, and her friend into the Valkyrie.

The mare spread her wings in shock. Katie wasn't lying. She then held a hoof to her neck and gasped. The Element of Loyalty was gone!

Katie smirked, putting her bandages back on. Everyone else climbed into the Valkyrie before the machine teleported out in a flash.

"You...!" The mare started before being picked up by the fox, who had a wicked grin on her face.

"Tell me everything." Katie hissed.

"No!" Cried the mare.

Katie threw her against the wall so hard her wings broke. "Then I'll have to look for myself and destroy your hard work!" She retorted before phasing through the door.

____

The party watched from the cloud they were perched upon. The factory exploded in fire and a mess of color. They saw multiple shadows flying in their direction.

They moved out of the way so Katie could land. She was followed by a small flock of Pegasi, one of which was Rainbow's captor.

"Long story!" Katie cried in exhaustion. "We must get to Celestia now!"

Back to Crystalis Fantasia!

"So, to save Magic," Lance started, "We go to the Crystal Nation?"

"Yes." Katie answered with a nod.

Matt and Blake were giving each other cold glares. It would've broke into a fight had Fenrir not stood between them with an unamused look on his face.

Natalie blushed, remembering what happened between her and Matt one night in the nation. Thank GodCat they were well past done when the monsters started attacking everydamnthing. Now she couldn't decide between him and Blake--Matt often stole and Blake was a refined gentleman until his anger was unleashed henceforth into the world. Blake she only met a few weeks ago and Matt she put up with for a few years. So difficult to choose, might as well go for both once they stop arguing.

Anna had never seen the Crystal Nation before and she thought it was a great idea, actually.

Gilda had never been either, so she wanted in.

Coryza, due to Celestia's bitching at the green-and-yellow pony who ran the Rainbow Factory, had decided to go along with the people...and beast-persons.

Twilight brought the rest of her friends and her assistant along. The more the merrier.

NoLegs meowed at Rarity constantly.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack kept stroking Katie's tail and making her giggle. Yes, her tail was ticklish.

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were chatting up a conversation about which person they liked.

Spike and Gilda were chatting about this and that and the other thing too.

Lance put the Valkyrie on auto-travel mode before chatting with his wife. Their conversation? A nurse in the local hospital of Canterlot found out the archer was pregnant. In fact, she was six weeks along already.

Natalie started talking to the fashionista. There was lots to talk about between them. Coryza soon jumped in, and it was quite the tea party if they said so themselves.

It would take three days to travel to the Nation on foot or flight, but the Valkyrie could go there in less than a day, though it did stop lest it run over a white unicorn mare with a wavy blue mane, who moved herself out of the way before going about her business as the Valkyrie resumed its preset course.

Around halfway down the road, the party grouped together to discuss how they'd approach the nation. Matt and Natalie blatantly admitted they crashed there right off the bat and knew the rulers, Cadence and Shining Armor. They'd be glad to see those two and NoLegs again. Spike said that, if the Elements of Harmony were endangered, than the Crystal Heart--no, the whole world (like that wasn't obvious already!)--was also likely in danger. Everyone else agreed with him on the spot, so somebody would have to stay with the Heart and defend it. Again, Katie jumped the gun. Fenrir joined in with her on the offer, the more the merrier.

Lance said it was a good idea to go in groups in order to better find the missing element. Matt reasoned that this would have to go through Cadence, though.

Everyone agreed that Matt had the best option, and in the tank there was a feast.

Everyone got stuffed and decided to nap until they reached the Nation.

The following day, the tank stopped right at the entrance of the Nation. Lance woke up first. He blinked a few times before shambling all the way from the closet to the monitor that displayed everything in front of the tank. The monitor showed crystalline structures jutting out to and fro, and all of them had window-shaped holes in them. Out in the distance, an erratically huge crystalline thing shot out and towered over pretty much everything else. It was indeed as Matt and Natalie had described it--entirely made out of crystal, hence its name. Even the ponies had sparkling crystalline manes and coats, but at the time, only a few were out and about because it was the buttcrack of dawn. None of them seemed to notice the war machine sitting right on the outskirts of town, and this was a good thing.

Anna began to stir under the covers. She moaned in her sleep. Sensing that something didn't sit right, she paused for a bit so she could rub a layer of sand off of her eyes. Opening heavy eyelids, she saw that Lance wasn't next to her in bed. She shot up quick as a rabbit and put her feet down on the floor. Anna soon stretched her arms and let off a yawn. Not even bothering to put something on, she tiptoed around all the sleepyheads who were still in dreamland and, after a bit of careful maneuvering, saw her husband standing in front of the monitor. He was still nude.

Cautiously approaching him and avoiding accidentally kicking sleeping people/ponies in the face, she got a good look of what he was seeing. Her jaw dropped open and her eyes glittered in delight. There it was, the Crystal Nation in all its gleaming glory. Anna, after making sure there were no ill consequences, broke into a brief sprint right as Lance took notice of her. He opened his arms wide and she knocked him to the ground. Anna, bursting with excitement, could hardly contain herself. It was the most awesome thing she'd ever seen!

"It's so....so.....amazing." Said the archer, eyes twinkling in pure, blissful delight.

"Not as amazing as you." Lance replied before he kissed her.

Suddenly, a white, fuzzy cloth broke them away as it hit Anna on the backside. "Oi! Lovebirds! Put some damn clothes on! It's bad enough that Katie does it all the fucking time!" Called Matt, who was blushing brighter than a cherry.

Both Nazi and tree-woman blushed. They froze in place. Nervous chuckles escaped their lips. Hesitantly, they put on bath robes before everybody else was awake.

"Who did what to a pile of laundry clothes?" Katie asked as she stirred awake. She was only able to barely catch what Matt had said.

"Lance, look out through the monitor and tell me who you see." Matt pointed out. Lance did as instructed and gasped. Two ponies, a pink mare and a blue-white stallion, were the supposed rulers of the Nation.

Outside, Cadence and Shining glanced at each other. Had this been the war tank they heard about? The hatch opened and out from it popped up a man who was all too familiar to them.

"Matt!" Shining called.

"Hey there! I brought some big news! The tank has to go outside the palace, though! Make sure ponies here make a pathway so no unwanted casualties come as a result! Don't worry, I brought some friends!" Matt called back with a wave of his hand.

Shining nodded. "Alright! Give me about five minutes to inform the guards!"

Rulers of Crystalis, Meet the Rest of the Group!

"So, you found Lance and Anna...and quite a few others." Cadence sighed, being careful to avoid Fenrir's gaze.

"EH DURK A DER!" Katie suddenly shouted for no reason whatsoever.

"Speaking of Lance and Anna, where'd they go?" Asked Shining, who was confused.

Matt and Natalie exchanged a quick glance. The mage returned her glance to Shining and then spoke up. "Um, they're married...what do married ponies and-or people do when they're absolutely sure they are alone?"

Shining blushed and hushed his mouth.

Then everyone heard Anna cry out her husband's name in pleasure.

"They really need a room where we can't hear them." Fenrir spoke, putting his paws between his legs.

Fuck, shit, damn. I hate being in heat! Katie thought, keeping her ears low.

Natalie looked at Katie but once, and immediately realized her situation.

Lance was heard crying out for his wife.

I hope I don't die today. Matt thought, his eyes white and a frown on his face.

Blake removed his Silver Gauntlets and plugged his ears with his index fingers. He wasn't a happy camper judging from his expression.

Then the married lovebirds cried in unison.

Katie was now on the ground twitching. From the look on her face, she needed sex really badly.

"Um, have a room where they can't hear you?" Fenrir asked Cadence, who nodded. "Okay, I'll take Foxy here for a few..." He said as he picked up the twitching fox and ran off with her and a guard who was escorting them.

"Um....does everyone have an issue of some sort?" Rarity asked, blatantly confused.

NoLegs meowed. Fluttershy translated with a nod.

Blake and Matt glanced at Natalie. "Not until you quit arguing, the both of you." Said the mage, turning her back on both and crossing her arms.

Coryza just kept her distance, fumbling with her guitar and making sure it was in working order.

And she played a song that calmed everyone else in the room. She normally buffed her allies, debuffed enemies, and wrecked enemies with her Overdrive. But today, Blake and Matt needed to quit arguing one way or another, and she herself was tired of it despite only seeing a few minutes of said arguing. She could use her music to kinda manipulate whatever she desired to be kinda manipulated.

Everyone was now content, no longer minding the noises made by Nazi-boy and nature woman.

"Natalie." Coryza sighed.

"Yeah?" Replied the mage.

"When they argue and I am not there, tell me as soon as possible." Answered the mugician.

"Okay." Natalie answered with a grin.

Later that very night, Blake, Matt, Coryza, and Natalie all got drunk themselves and decided the best thing to do was play Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs. Because drunkards are usually crazy and they can't think straight too often. Coryza, the drunk ninny she was, decided to do the playing herself while everybody else huddled around her intently.

"Right!" Natalie cheered.

"Left, bitch!" Blake chimed.

"Ffffffuck you, I'mma go straight." Coryza sneered as she did just that.

A monster made a game over and everyone freaked out.

Fast-forward to the next day.

"Where are Lance and Anna?" Shining asked the guard.

"I shall fetch them immediately." Replied the guard, who bounded off towards the desired room. As he drew closer he heard...what could best be described as low moans. Moans of what, well, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that he had to keep the promise of sending them to his leader. He drew closer still, and now he could make out soft thumps and bumps.

His heart stopped when he heard a man saying "ohh, you like that, don't ya?"

T-They...?! Oh no, what should I do now? Celestia, help me! The guard panicked, wings and jaw wide.

Another voice spoke, this one much more feminine. "More....give me more!"

The guard was torn: should he knock or barge right in on a couple of people that sounded like they were fornicating??

The guard approached the door slowly. It was as if walking were but a lost cause.

"I want more!" Bellowed the female voice, the sound of something clattering resonating with a few thumps.

"I shall give it to you, milady." Answered the masculine voice almost immediately. More thumps were heard.

The guard slowly reached a hoof up to the door and knocked.

"W-Who is it?!" Asked the female voice. The owner sounded panicked now.

"I have been sent to fetch an Anna and a Lance!" Replied the guard.

"Come in!" Called the male voice.

"Are you two screwing each other like dogs?" The guard asked.

"No! We're not! J-Just come in already!" Called the male voice again.

The guard, though reluctant, slowly opened the door and peeked inside. In the room sat two bipedal beings, one in a dress and the other in a Nazi suit. They sat at a table and on the table was the biggest turkey you had ever seen. It was a rare Crystal Turkey, farm-bred and sent to the beings for consumption. The crystals in said turkey were made extra soft and sweet as a result of cooking it. The woman, whom the guard presumed to be the Anna he was sent to look for, had a few pieces of crystal and turkey between two pieces of wheat bread. She'd already taken a few bites of it, and some was still in her mouth.

She finished chewing her fill before swallowing. She then spoke, "Dude, it did sound like we were...eh...doing that, but this Crystal Turkey really is what I was told it was: a delicacy."

The guard breathed a sigh of relief. "I assume you two are Lance and Anna. Shining Armor wants to see you."

"Let us finish the turkey." Lance sighed. "I'm not big on the crystal part myself, but my wife seems to like it a lot."

"Guard, there will be no need for them to stand up." Said a voice as the supposed Shining Armor entered the room. "I assume you are whom I am searching for, correct?"

Both humans bowed respectfully. "Yes, we are." Lance chimed.

"Well," Shining chuckled as he saw the turkey, "I would like to speak with you both. I already talked to Matt and Natalie first day in, so..."

A Rhyming Zebra

"I heard Shining Armor interrogated Anna and Lance." Matt sighed as he, Blake, and Natz walked down the hall to the room they'd be staying in. "Y'know, about the Valkyrie tank and all that?"

"I heard a guard mistook Anna's ecstasy over a Crystal Turkey for something else altogether." Blake chuckled. "And thanks to the way Cadence worded it, it made the whole ordeal sound even more wrong!"

"Oh my god!" Natalie burst out laughing. "She worded it wrong?!"

"Yes, she did. Horrendously, I might add." Blake answered. "It was worded so badly it was no wonder she needed Shining Armor to translate the whole mess!"

"Really?!" Natalie cried in excitement as she failed to sustain more giggles.

"Eeyup." Blake nodded, a few chuckles of his own unable to be contained.

Matt made a left and the other two followed. "I'd like a Crystal Turkey, but DAMN! Those things are expensive!" Sighed the swordsman.

"Yep. When I saw the prices, I thought to myself, 'hey, how'd they get a damn turkey?'" Blake stated.

"I think they broke the economy." Natz chimed, a goofy grin on her face. "I mean, what else would explain those overpriced snacks back in Whitefall?"

"She has a point." Matt grinned as he unlocked the room door. All three went inside and were greeted by NoLegs. He had a piece of Crystal Turkey meat in his mouth, and by golly did his eyes gleam!

Matt pointed a finger at the cat. "You lucky bastard." NoLegs purred.

Blake sat in a chair and Matt sat next to him. They had to work on that damn truce! Both eyed Natz as she visibly inspected the beds. Shaking her head in disgust and tsk-tsking the men, she would have set work when...

"Excuse me, fellow mysterious beings? I hope I can decipher what I am seeing." Called an....accented voice.

"Who was that?" Natalie asked.

Into the room from the hallway walked a zebra. She had a Mohawk with black and white stripes, gold jewelry on her right foreleg and necklace, and black-and-white stripes on a mostly grey body. She didn't have eyelashes and kinda looked more like a stallion. She had a dark grey spiral sun cutie mark. She also had gold earrings.

"I am Zecora, fine friends. I hope you need not make amends." Answered the zebra.

"No, we don't need to make amends." Blake sighed.

"Alright then, I specialize in herbs and potions," Zecora started, "And they take effect like the most fluent of motions."

"She's stranger than Katie..." Matt whispered to Blake, who nodded in agreement. Blake's crimson tail with a triangle point was visible, and he sometimes used it as a weapon (and when Katie saw it, she started asking him if he was a 'fiend from Hell's hottest bowels,' whatever that was. He said no and Katie sighed in relief).

"Can you fight in some way that doesn't involve using your back legs to kick something?" Natalie asked as she made the beds.

"Not really, though my potions make for my lack of fighting skills." Zecora replied, "I have heard about Crystal Golems and machines with drills."

Natalie took her dress off, revealing her undergarments as she sat in the middle of the leftmost bed. Her hands rested on her stomach. She kept glancing at Blake and Matt as Zecora stared at her funny.

"You wear the strangest of things, I do wonder if you are a Changeling." Zecora said.

"No, I am a human...so is Matt....and Blake is half." Natalie answered with a blush.

"Now I understand, but I do not wish to be bland." Zecora continued, "What has brought you here? Was it Celestia's wish held very dear?"

"I dunno. Zecora, could you find another room to sleep in?" Matt asked.

Zecora nodded before walking out into the hallway, closing the door behind her.

Matt wiped sweat off of his forehead, sighing in relief that the interruption was averted. He took his shirt off and took a paper fan out of his pocket. He was sweating like he was in the Sahara desert, so the fan was a necessity.

Blake swished his tail back and forth like Katie did, though with nowhere near as graceful because his tail was slim and hairless. He had more muscles than Matt because Matt didn't work out as often. Either that or it was because he was a half-demon.

"Is that thing sharp?" Natalie asked, pointing to Blake's tail.

"It is if I want it to be. But it's not needed now." Blake sighed, using a washcloth to wipe sweat off of his body.

"We all need a bath." Matt chimed.

"Agreed. But who gets the tub first?" Blake asked, unwilling to share.

"I already had my bath, boys. Don't argue." Natalie stated as she played on her DS.

"Ugh... rock-paper-scissors?" Matt suggested.

"Sure." Blake replied. "Winner gets the tub first."

After three rounds (the first two ending in ties), Blake won. He took off into the bathroom and bathed in five minutes. When he walked out, he was cleaner than a sparkling room!

Matt bathed for the same duration, and he was clean when he walked out.

"You boys look great!" Natalie chimed as she brushed her hair. She then put the brush down and returned to the bed, this time laying on her stomach. Her hands were under her chin as she grinned. Both boys lay next to Natz, Blake on her left and Matt on her right.

They had a day. And they called it a day.

Randomness Abound!

"We need a break." Lance sighed.

"Yes, we do." Anna answered.

Katie had gotten hold of the party's beer stash... and was very, very drunk off her ass. She was singing 'London Bridge' whilst spinning her bandages above her head.

Sadly, nobody could stop her. One minute, she groped Lance and the next, she gave Blake a bear-hug.

And then she passed out in the middle of the floor after fucking Fenrir senseless. He was also out cold underneath her, and both were dragged to their room and the mess cleaned up.

"Keep her away from the alcohol." Shining said to a guard who had helped in the mess-cleaning.

"Yes, sir." Replied the guard who was furiously mopping the white gunk left behind.

"Who wants to bet she'll have a hangover when she wakes up?" Matt chimed.

"How much?" Natalie asked.

"All the money." Matt replied.

"Okay...." Twilight sighed.

And then she started singing in Swedish. From the other end of the palace.

"I hope they can detain her for once...." Anna sighed, her eyes white in fear.

"I never knew she had a drinking issue. I don't mean to sound offending, but I wonder why she stayed away from the alcohol until now." Blake chimed, "And besides, she did say she couldn't taste the drinks at all."

"Who's to say she has a low tolerance to alcohol? I am surprised she didn't trip and fall." Zecora stated.

"Note to self," Matt chimed, "NEVER, EVER, EVER leave a bunch of booze siting out in plain sight when we have a berserker in the party."

"That'd be wise." Coryza piped. "I can't imagine what she'd do on LSD."

"Or drugs," Matt corrected himself. "Because they're bad."

Rarity suddenly burst into the room full gallop, and she looked like she was out of breath. "D-Darlings!" She cried as her legs gave way.

"Yeah?" Natalie asked, confused.

"P-Princess...." Rarity huffed, struggling to catch a much-needed breath.

"Princess who?" Lance asked.

"It's been quite some time. You've done very well." Said a regal voice as from the door Rarity nearly broke down walked in Princess Celestia. Alongside her was a shorter alicorn with a mane made of the cosmos and a pelt of night blue. She wore silver armor and horseshoes; the chestplate being adorned with a crescent moon. On her flank was a dark-blue blob that held the same crescent moon on it.

The humans found themselves bowing down respectfully quicker than you could molest a chicken and get a medal for doing so.

"Thou needn't bow down." Celestia said with a warm smile. The humans slowly rose.

"Still, thy display of respect is most intriguing," Said the younger mare.

The humans let off nervous chuckles.

"Sister, what art these creatures doing here?" Asked the younger alicorn.

"They were sent here by some entity. They do not know how it managed to pull such a feat." Celestia answered, "They also say it had imprisoned their deity to use her powers for evil. Since the Elements of Harmony were stolen and the Mane Six cannot tackle the responsibility alone, these...humans went with them."

"Really?" Asked the younger alicorn.

"Yes. They possess skills nopony around here can hope to achieve." Pointing a hoof towards Matt, she said, "He is a swordsman who specializes in this thing called 'Bushido.' I was told that, after some difficulty, he helped to fend off a Crystal Golem single-handedly. He uses some magic to help him when needed." Moving her hoof in Natalie's direction, "This young woman uses most potent magic. Honestly, I wonder how she'd fare once she was turned into a unicorn. She uses healing and protective magic but also specializes in...dark magic. Fire, ice, holy, lightning, poison, wind, darkness...it heeds the call of her voice to decimate enemies." Now, she was pointing at Lance, "He uses these things called guns. Everywhere he goes, a gun goes with. A gun, as I see it, works as a very specialized bow-and-arrow set. This gives him quite the range--beware if he's up close." It was Anna's turn to be pointed at, "This ranger quite literally has Mother Nature on her side. She can call vines, logs, or even deadly winds with the song of an ocarina. She is especially potent from afar--a bow and arrow being her weapons of choice." Now the hoof was pointing at NoLegs, "This cat can wield weapons and items without paws at all. They're all wondering how that is so. Beware--his cute eyes will catch you off-guard." The hoof ended at Blake, "He is able to bring forth the dead back into the realm of the living. As such, his dark magic is much more potent than that of the other mage. He rarely shows this power, but when he does it is either for demonstration or to deal with a matter of vital importance."

"I am quite impressed." Sighed the younger mare. She trotted up to the humans and personally greeted them. "My name is Luna, Princess and Bringer of the Night."

They all shook her hoof with utmost diligence. NoLegs got petted instead.

The humans introduced themselves to Luna, making sure to avoid needless things or profanities. NoLegs meowed like he always did.

"Celestia, may I ask: Why are you here in the Crystal Palace?" Natalie asked, tilting her head to the side, "I thought you had really important matters to deal with back at Canterlot."

"I took care of those matters much quicker than I expected. Being a princess can be unpredictable." Celestia answered with a chuckle. "As such, I wish to hold a Grand Galloping Gala here."

Rarity jumped up in shock and ran to the humans. "Darlings, I want to make you fabulous outfits for this occasion!" She declared.

Third Intermission: Shenanigans All Over

Rarity had a few orders to deal with, and as such, had to return to the Boutique to get all her supplies. All the needles, silks, gemstones, rocks, what have you, she fucking needed it. She had to make a few dresses, mainly for Anna and Katie. She had sketches of the girl's bodies so she could make the proper arrangements. She had to make just the right thing for them, especially considering Katie's extra problems.

It was night, and Celestia was to hold a Grand Galloping Gala at the Crystal Nation! Rarity had to make special outfits for the humans and beast-persons (save for Fenrir, his bulk would only allow pants unless she could find something to work around that.)

For Anna, it was decided she'd be wearing a sky-blue dress adorned with flowers and leaves and a rare hibiscus flower in an even rarer hue of stark white.

Natalie had a Red Dress in dire need of repair; this admittedly would be the simplest thing to do.

Lance would stick to his Nazi uniform, and Matt in his pirate suit with a T-shirt that had 'epic' on it.

Blake had requested a tuxedo with a red tie. Adorned with rubies.

Katie had requested this strange thing called a kimono. Black and white with flames of rainbow, complete with a grey obi.

Coryza didn't have an order, but since Rarity insisted on it like the insane fashionista she was, she simply wanted a goth outfit. Simple black dress, simple accessories to make it stand out. A brilliant contrast to her pink hair, really.

"They're all so darling, even if they're a bit nutty..." Rarity sighed as she hummed 'the Art of the Dress' while fixing the red dress first.

And then it went into song.

____

Katie was scrubbing her body furiously, she'd accumulated too much dirt now, and the Gala would be tomorrow. She had a garden hose in the tub that filled it like it was a swimming pool. The tub was drained repeatedly because of the dirt, blood, and other substances being removed from the fur that had merged with the water. Fenrir watched the whole thing, bars of soap and bottles of shampoo and conditioner at the ready.

"And I thought I had it bad!" He commented. His fur was still dripping with leftover water.

"Lance needs to install a bathing system in the Valkyrie after he cleans the damn thing out!" Katie remarked as she pulled the plug and used the hose as a makeshift shower head.

"True." Fenrir replied.

____

"CLEAN IT BETTER THAN THAT, MAGGOTS!" Lance bellowed in a threatening tone of voice. "WHY ARE YOU NOT PUTTING YOUR BACKS INTO IT?! I WANT TO SEE THE INSIDE SPARKLE!"

The poor army was cleaning as best as they could, but one was slacking.

Only for Anna to give him a Spark Arrow up the ass.

The slacker convulsed as the electricity flowed through him. This caused the others of the army to work even harder now.

____

The fashionista had finished working on the Red Dress. It was perfect now; in acceptable condition no less. It did take longer than expected to mend all those holes together, but it was worth the effort.

Snip, and levitating to Rarity was a long, green silk cloth. Snip, another long silk cloth--this time an earthen hue--did the same. Snip, a really long sky-blue cloth followed suit. Twilight Sparkle teleported into the room and with her she had the required flower.

"Excellent!" Rarity called as she clapped her hooves together, "All I need to do now is preserve it and make it into a hair clip!" With that statement, she ran into a room made solely for the purpose of preserving live flowers and making them into accessories. Through a process that is a trade secret of the Carousel Boutique that isn't made to fall into the wrong hooves, the hibiscus flower was made into the most dazzling hairband. On the petals were adorned small emeralds and topazes. A few aquamarines that looked more like sapphires and some blue-john also joined the fray of gemstones, causing the flower to sparkle as if in a holy light. Adorning where the stigma and filaments would be was a quartz orb that had protrusions of jade and red crystal that mimicked the plant's reproductive organs right down to the last detail. The flower was now an official treasure. And yes, if Matt touched it (unless the house was on fire), Anna would shoot him again.

The dress itself was mostly sky blue, but just above where leg met with foot was a green margin. It was made in such a way it looked like live grass every time its wearer moved. Brown roots were present underneath the grass, and they sprang up into long, green stems that were decorated with leaves and ended with vibrant flowers of all colors that Mother Earth had intended to be just right.

Now, Rarity set to work on the dress Coryza requested. It was fairly simple: black cloth in order to make the dress like those that Medieval princesses would wear with a few Oriental twists here and there. Invisible pieces of onyx decorated the ends of the sleeves and neckline as well as the contrasting purple obi that went with.

Next, the kimonos. So much color was needed it made Rainbow Dash look bland! Katie was quite the color fanatic if Pinkie Pie said it herself. Fenrir wasn't as color loving, but his black fur posed a problem. Should he wear anything black and it'd look like he was in some jump suit!

The tux Blake needed was the most difficult. Blake, being the nit-picky gentleman he was, actually had a picture of a tuxedo on hand for Rarity to use as reference. He also had a list for other things that would go with the outfit (white gloves, black shoes, etc.)

Rarity was quite satisfied with her work now. All she needed was for them to try it on.

The Gala Ensues!

"Oh, darling, you look dazzling!" Rarity said, impressed as Anna turned like a ballerina to show the full effect of her dress.

"And it fits me perfectly~" Anna chimed with a grin. "Natalie's clothes are usually too big for me."

Lance was busy using tissue boxes and their contents to keep his nosebleeds at bay. Trust me, he really needed them. For all we know, he might as well have stuck his face in a mountain of boxes!

Blake was adjusting his ruby-adorned tie, letting his crimson, slender tail be exposed for once in his life, and during a momentous event no less. He was ridiculed among the demons for having a non-evil, caring mother and a human father who was much the same way. In short, both humans and demons (before the party he wound up with, at any rate), saw his whole family as ungodly abominations, and as a result, he was often torn: which side should take over, human or demon?

Katie had all nine tails exposed, her rainbow kimono ensuring she'd stand out if the tails didn't give that away already. The outfit was comfortable, magically enhanced to prevent overheating, and still allowed her to fight should the need arise. Such a lovely flower, torn from innocence thanks to a whole monsoon of bastard rapists, who were killed off alongside their spawns. The thought of having children almost scared her--she was tossed right into forced adulthood and had almost no say in anything. In short, where she came from was similar to Blake, except it was hell and back 20 times in a row nonstop. And with unwanted spawns thrown into the mix.

Fen-Fen had tried on a kimono for men of his bulk. It fit him like a glove, though tufts of fur stuck out around the collar. It was adorned with stars, crescent moons of cyan hue that contrasted the darker purple, and a white obi adorned with paw-prints to contrast his black fur.

Matt was wearing his chosen outfit, busily brushing his somewhat-Goku-esque hair. He needed to look his finest, and the pirate hat was meticulously clean. Just the hair that needed fixing.

Natalie was making sure the Red Dress fit her, the little red roses adorning her hair hanging by elongated matching ribbons dangling at the sides of her head. She'd never seen a Grand Galloping Gala, whatever that was. But it sounded like an event similar to a celebration, so why not? Hopefully Matt and Blake would have a permanent truce of sorts, if any truce at all. Unless they were drunk, and then there was the worry. Hopefully, no booze would be present. And then she began to fantasize. This place would make the perfect...location of a honeymoon.

Coryza was wearing her black dress and a few matching accessories, and it fit her like a charm. A brilliant contrast to everyone's bright colors if they had any. She began wondering why Katie was so damn talkative. She went over everyone else's instrumental preferences. Natalie liked the piano, Anna liked flutes and ocarinas, Lance liked the drums, she and Matt liked guitars, Blake liked violins, Fenrir like the synthesizer, and Katie really liked xylophones because of the versatility of her tails, though she also liked flutes. Hell, she had a yellow plastic flute she could use to annoy absolutely everything on the battlefield with, all she needed was lung power. Her thoughts were stopped when Zecora showed up dressed in a sort of tribal dress.

"The Gala will be here soon! This is my first time in a blue moon!"

"Same here." Coryza sighed as she got up and walked out the door.

____

"Ponies of Equestria and the Crystal Nation! Gryphons from the reformed Kingdom!" Celestia bellowed, "We shall have a Grand Galloping Gala for all to participate in! There are guards present, so if an issue arises please consult them! With that, let the Gala commence!"

The audience cheered and clapped as many events such as apple-bobbing, pin-the-tail-on-the-pony, ring-tossing and the like began right then and there, complete with food and beverages. Due to the liberated Gryphons present, there was a vast assortment of meats and vegetables for all to choose. Fish, shrimp, steaks....good god the place was loaded. Of course, per Shining's wish, there was no alcohol for the kitsune--or for anyone, at that. Nobody would want a drunk fiasco.

An undisguised changeling approached the party and joined immediately. This was a slave changeling from another hive, and she thanked the party for helping her escape. Her name was, strangely enough, Azure.

Zecora was tending to Azure while everyone else was enjoying the Gala.

"This is fun!" Natalie called.

"Yes it is!" Anna chimed as she bear-hugged Lance who had a smile on his face.

"I dare say," Blake started, holding a wine glass full of soda, "I always wanted to be accepted. Apparently, this is where my wish is granted."

"I could say the same." Katie stated, a few sticks of celery in her hand. She proceeded to take a few bites and her eyes suddenly twinkled in delight. "Well, I was accepted in a way, but...not the way I would've liked. There's a reason I ain't on a Playboy magazine."

"Being accepted is kinda hard," Fenrir pointed out as he half-grinned, "but it is damn well worth it."

"He has a point," Matt agreed as he cleaned himself up after downing his fillet of salmon, "and I couldn't agree more."

"I lived in a place where nobody cared before I met you guys," Coryza sighed as she closed her eyes, "Here, it's just so peaceful. Well, save for the evil running about, but other than that...it's just dreamy."

Everyone else immediately agreed. They all raised their glasses in the air and clinked them...

Cheers!

Fourth Intermission: Threeway!

The Gala had ended with ponies and assorted whatevers crammed into their houses and hotels and whatnot.

"Is she pregnant?" Matt asked, scratching the back of his head.

"I was told she tested positive for werewolf babies." Blake answered bluntly, "I also heard her reproductives are messed up."

"When's she due?" Matt asked again, his eyes wide.

"In three weeks maximum. Trust me, she told me way too much. Once you see the whole story, you'll understand a lot more than you care to." Blake replied with a sigh.

"Given her behavior," Natalie chimed, once more in her undergarments, "I don't think she'd be a good parent."

"First off, experience. She's got a lot," Blake scorned, "Second, you have no room to talk."

Natalie opened her mouth again, only to shut it back up. Blake was, sadly, right. She had no room to speak. If you haven't figured it out, the mommy they were speaking of is Katie.

"Sooooooooo...." Matt started, removing his shirt, "I believe we need a truce. Right here, right now."

"Oh really?" Blake asked, tilting his head. He was already fully naked and Matt had just done the same.

Natalie eyed both of them, expecting something to go hideously awry.

"But how are we gonna make that truce...well, work?" Matt asked, looking at Natalie as if she'd provide an answer.

"Frankly, I am on the exact same train of thought." Blake replied, looking at Natz as well. "I say, let the lady provide the answer."

Natalie in that instant blushed redder than a cherry. She felt some tingling moistness in her hooch. If she were a futa, she'd probably have a hardon right about now. Her mouth began moving jittery, she bit her lip every five seconds as she tried to form words and failed.

"Give her time," Matt scoffed, "she gets nervous easily."

Blake nodded, crossing his arms as his tail swished back and forth. He dared not speak a word lest he get hit with Judgment.

Natalie kept failing at forming words, so she ran to a nearby table, grabbed a pencil and a scrap of paper, and began scribbling on it. She then got up and showed it to both of the men.

Since I apparently can't speak, I was forced to write.

Here's my answer: fuck it, we're having a threeway.

Also, I am leaving it up to you both to decide what to do with me. You can say I'm giving up my guard to you both, at least.

Matt wasn't shocked, but Blake was almost paralyzed with Natalie's choice of words. His tail froze stiff in midair as if he were in Antarctica skinny-dipping. He'd never expected someone as refined as she to suddenly say that on paper, and while he was being aroused no less.

"H-How are you not shocked?!" Blake shouted at Matt in disbelief.

"We kinda got too used to each other..." Matt admitted, his eyes shut.

Natalie lay on the bed stomach-side down, her head resting on her crossed arms as she waited for the men to hurry up. She disliked being aroused simply because of the damn Beholder Incident. It made sex....really, really awkward for her. Regardless, it was good (unless it was with a damn Beholder) at any rate, and she kept wanting more lately thanks to everything copulating left and right.

"Arm wrestling." Matt chimed.

"Too one-sided. Remember my being half-demon?" Blake retorted.

"Tic-tac-toe?" Matt asked.

"Sure." Blake answered with a smile.

Blake, needless to say, won. He and Matt exchanged happy glances as they seemed to ponder what they would do to the mage. Either that or it was the 'I'm in control and you're not' issue boiling higher than Katie could fly.

Sometime today, please. Natalie thought, Please for all things holy violate me sometime sooooon.

Blake got up and almost seemed to glide over Natalie, his hands rested at her sides. His tail swished back and forth before it fell limp between his legs. A small grin crossed his lips as his hands moved onto Natalie's backside--specifically where the bra hooks were. He undid the straps, being careful not to break them, before gently hoisting the mage in a way she had to prop herself up with her arms as the bra was removed the rest of the way and fell on the bed with a very soft thump.

His tail began wiggling once more as it slid in between Natalie's mid-thighs. It began to gently pry them apart, his hands going past her neck ever so slowly. He seemed to hum in pleasure as his tail resumed it slow prying of the legs.

Kyun.... Natalie moaned, just audible enough for Blake to hear.

"Sounds like you're good at pleasing her," Matt called as he stood next to the bed watching everything, "that's the sound you want to hear."

Blake merely licked his lips and shut his eyes in a happy expression. His tail slid between her bare skin and the cloth that made her underwear. The tip appeared at her waist and suddenly curled around the cloth as it started to tug gently. The undergarment slid down with ease, but stopped short of her knees. Natalie, in response, lifted one leg ajar as she jerked said leg forward and quickly did the same with the other. The undergarment was slid under the pillow alongside its corresponding other half and quickly forgotten as Blake slid his tail-end just in front of her labia. He was a bit disappointed at the fact the triangle was flatter than a freaking pancake. But it nonetheless gave him an idea.

His eyes began glowing a faint ruby red as the end of his tail took on a much more erotic shape. First, it became round (think of Azurill). Then, it became a hotdog shape about three inches in diameter. At last, the familiar veins began lining this mass and they even pulsated just a hare.

His tail-end poked the labia once more and began to prod lightly. Natalie gasped, squinting her eyes shut as the mass was beginning to pry her inner walls. The mage began panting as the mass went in deeper.

Matt was very aroused now, but was quite bored. Can't let Monkey Boy have all the fun, dammit. While Blake wasn't looking, he slid his whole body under Natalie in such a way his rod was just under her breasts. It didn't take very long for either of them to notice him, but that only added to the fun.

Blake suddenly positioned his hands on her shoulders before he pushed Natalie down, a plop indicating there was something damp and fleshy between her female-exclusive parts that were on her chest, the very tip just in front of Natalie's chin.

Grreeeaaat. Blake thought, his expression blatantly saying he went and had done something stupid, I'm out of condoms and Natalie's on her monthly! Fuck it, I'm going in anyway!

Natalie felt the tail slowly pull out. She responded by grabbing Blake by the hair and immediately pulled him forward. He let off a grunt of surprise, his eyes widening in a revelation that would make even a Cadence in heat envious. He was going--no, he was already on the verge of pissing the mage off. "More." She hissed, blushing as red as her hair.

He's done it now, we're doomed-- and NOT in a good way! Matt thought in surprise. Please don't tell me it's that time of the month!

Blake pushed his tail-end back inside, his erection throbbing immensely. He pulled it out again and rammed it back, causing the mage to grunt in pleasure. This, in turn, made her breasts jiggle a bit, which pleased the swordsman below and made him grunt. He pushed in further, causing Natalie's mouth to wrap around Matt's tip.

Matt responded by putting both of his hands in Natalie's hair, a grin etched on his face. He rubbed her tangled mess gently as she started using her tongue to dance around the rod's tip. While she was occupied, Blake switched his tail for his own shaft, now in proper position to begin the first rutting he's ever had with a full-fledged human while he was willing.

Natalie moaned onto the mass in her mouth as she felt saliva trickle down her chin. It was collecting into a small pool made from a sort of closed depression in her cleavage.

Oh god, I'm about to unload.... Matt thought as his eyes scrunched shut while he panted heavily. "I want more."

Natalie grabbed him by the hair using both hands, her mouth moving off of the rod as a smile formed on her face.

"Beg," Commanded the mage.

"Y-You heard her..." Blake panted as his tail wrapped around Natalie's waist.

"Shut up and rut me!" Natalie cried in agonized arousal.

Blake shut his trap and resumed thrusting. Matt's rod was once more inside the mage's mouth.

"P-Please...more..." Matt groaned as he felt pleasure-pressure build up in his dick.

Blake was very close now, yet he didn't want to release his seed and impregnate the mage no matter how much she wanted it at the moment. He began wondering if she was drunk, for crying out loud. She certainly sounded like it!

Natalie rose her head again. "That sounds better." She said in a sadistic tone of voice before she lowered her mouth again. She herself was close, and she wanted to relish every second of this fornication.

Blake grunted, his eyes scrunched as beads of sweat started to fall from his body as though he were in a desert. He began to grit his teeth as insatiable pleasure began taking its toll. Why did I even agree to this...?

Matt released a sound from his throat that was sure to make the angels above sing as he blew his load right into Natalie's mouth. She greedily downed the precious contents before letting go, allowing her drool and his microscopic soldiers to mix as the mess slid down her breasts and onto the sheets.

Natalie cried in satisfaction as a warm release quickly soaked her legs and Matt's feet. Some of it trickled down her stomach and landed on his soldier factory. The mess was very warm but it was rapidly cooling.

Blake wanted to slow his pace but did not want to risk enraging the woman he was screwing as though he were a wild dog. He was praying that his load would be sterile as he grabbed her hips and went into jackhammer speed.

The whole bed was vibrating now, the noise the frames were making from such a stunt echoed throughout the room as all three participants shrieked in pleasure. The noises suddenly stopped--as did the vibrating of the bed--as Blake finally let his seed be released. The half-demon slumped onto Natalie, who in turn slumped onto Matt.

"Oh. My. God." Matt panted as he felt lightheaded. He soon fell asleep, his hands next to his head with his fingers twitching on occasion.

Natalie had the dizzy eyes. "That was...the best rutting ever." She cooed as the world continued to spin at a blurring rate. She closed her eyes and nodded off into la-la land.

Blake was already snoring into Natalie's tangled mess of a hair. For him, it was a makeshift pillow. His tail unwound itself and slumped lazily at the side of the bed, the tip reverting to its signature flat-head triangle.

Confessions

"Fen-Fen, I have been troubled by...something." Katie sighed as she sat down. "Please, take a seat."

Fenrir did as told. "What is it, sweetie?"

Katie sighed, "I...er...have a confession to make."

"Yeah?"

"About...twenty something years ago, a man I married got burned to death. This was around the time I..." She trailed off, tears starting to fall down her face.

"The time you did what?" Fenrir asked, confused.

"...I....I...gave birth to a son."

"A son?" Fenrir asked.

"Yeah, I...fell in love with this man from a group of people that made the Ku Klux Klan seem like innocent angels. Got married to him, skip the honeymoon formalities, husband burned to death and I gave birth." Katie answered, shaking her head solemnly. "B-But I never....I-I mean, when I first m-met him in front of C-Celestia, I shrugged it off. But the dreams of my... I've been talking with my own child and I didn't even realize it! I wish I could've been there for him and perhaps then he would not have attempted to...!" The tears were released from her ducts and into the world, falling on the table in utmost silence.

Fenrir remained silent, but the fox knew what he was trying to ask. She scribbled something down on a piece of paper and handed it to him.

"He's a who?!" Fenrir exclaimed in utter shock, slamming the piece of paper down onto the table.

"I-I'm afraid s-so. And I d-did not even realize h-he was my son until a f-few minutes a-ago," Katie sobbed, "It's j-just been t-too long... twenty or so years, p-perhaps?"

"I...overreacted. But how did you become separated from him and miss him growing up?" Fenrir asked as he put a paw on the fox's shoulder.

"The humans started a witch hunt," Katie cooed, tears still falling from her eyes, "And like I said, his dad was killed, but I was able to get away. After fleeing for three days without food or water, I put him in a basket, scrawled his name on a piece of paper, put the basket with him in a tree and had no choice but to leave."

"At least people found him and brought him up without knowing who he belonged to. He still got the loving care he needed," Fenrir sighed, his voice hinting a pang of guilt.

"There's that, but then..." Katie trailed off, ears folded back. She could not bear to keep this in any longer.

"How are we gonna approach this? How the hell are we gonna tell him?" Fenrir asked, confused, "I seriously doubt he'd believe us!"

"I use illusions, remember?" Katie pointed out, "I can make him see. But I won't force him to do so. Forcing him is more likely to not convince him."

"True." Fenrir agreed with a nod, "But is he half-demon?"

Katie shook her head, "Unless he somehow mutated, he should be full-fledged human."

The fox got up and sighed, wiping her tears with her huge tail. She then took her glass of tea and finished it off before nearly slamming it onto the table in frustration and hurt. She and Fenrir began walking to the door that led from their room into the adjoining hall. They then began to walk toward the throne room--right where the rest of the party would be likely striking up a conversation with Cadence or Shining Armor.

"We found the location of Magic, finally," Matt and Shining said in eerie unison, "It's in the Everfree."

"Um...is something wrong?" Lance asked, an eyebrow raised as he noticed the faint smile on Katie's face.

Katie couldn't help but shed a tear and widen her smile for all to see. "You're gonna be a big brother."

"B-Big brother?" Lance asked, confused, "But I never had any siblings! Mom was infertile!"

Katie's smile only broadened. Her eyes were dead-set on the Nazi as if she had an invisible sniper rifle scope at the ready.

"Wait..." Lance said, putting a hand to his chin, "Mom said she found me in a tree when I was only three days old. And this was before I tried taking over the world."

Cadence and Shining looked at each other, eyes wide as dinner plates as their confusion piled into a mass array of questions.

Matt glanced between Blake and Natz, and they were unbelievably silent. Was it confusion or revelation?

Anna was equally as confused as Lance himself. Was something wrong?

The Mane Six, Zecora, and Gilda kept glancing at each other, unsure of what to make of this.

Coryza glanced between Lance and Katie, her head moving so fast it was as if she were going insane.

Lance's eyes suddenly widened, his arms falling slack against his sides and he started heaving in shock.

It didn't take long for Anna to catch on to what was said with so little...

"Y-You're...." Anna stuttered as she held both hands onto Lance's shoulder. "Y-You're his mom?"

Katie nodded and flat-out expected to be gunned down on the spot. Hell, she expected a barrage of Overdrives to check her into the Smackdown Motel!

Instead, Lance ran up to her and hugged her like she'd never been hugged before. She hugged back and broke down into tears.

Anna smiled warmly.

Natalie kept her mouth shut, tears falling from her eyes. Blake and Matt glanced at each other, mouths hanging open.

Coryza slapped herself to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Her eyes did not deceive her and she herself was slack-jawed.

The ponies remained silent, wondering how this was possible.

Gilda's wings spread out wide in shock. If she were flying, she'd probably deadpan midair.

Zecora kept her mouth shut. She was the most calm being right now.

Azure's wings buzzed. She had no clue what to say.

Fenrir nodded.

"Tomorrow," Katie and Lance said in unison, "We go to the forest!"

Shit Just Got Real!

The party was stationed back at Ponyville due to its proximity to the Everfree. But there was a catch: whoever went in previously, save for Fluttershy and Zecora, never returned.

And that was what they were discussing.

Twilight would've been the voice of reason if Katie wasn't as old as she is. Hell, the unicorn assumed the fox was older than Celestia herself.

Azure was nervous. She wondered if ponies and humans could accept her and end the fruitless feud Chrysalis started.

Gilda was busy wondering who'd be elected new Gryphon King. After all, because of Katie's raid, there were few good males left. At least the slave-drivers were taken care of.

Believe it or not, Iron Will the minotaur had joined the party. If help came in the form of a bulldozer, it was him. And besides, he was a head taller than Fenrir, so why not? Katie needed to conserve her strength due to the pregnancy. In short, she and Fenrir would have to stay put anyway, and so would Anna for that matter. Coryza was also staying.

Which meant Natalie, Blake, Matt, and Lance would have to venture with a minotaur and Fluttershy.

And a zebra and undisguised changeling, for crying out loud.

"Don't get killed." Katie called from the top of the Valkyrie.

"Okay, mom," Lance sighed as he began walking with the others to the forest.

"That's your mother?" Azure asked, wings buzzing. No, she wasn't even hovering.

"Yeah. Do you have memory loss or something?" Lance replied.

"I think I do..." Azure cooed, fangs glinting.

"Hey there, fools!" Called a strange voice from the forest. Out from where the shout happened, a cerulean unicorn mare with a white mane (and barely noticeable blue highlight) reminiscent of Fluttershy's mane, deep eyes of plum, and a purple magician hat and matching cloak covered in yellow and cyan stars and moons showed herself. A sapphire gem held her cloak around her neck and her cutie mark, though concealed, was a star-tipped wand spreading blue stardust. The star on the wand was also blue. The Element of Magic sat on top of her hat, just above her smothered horn.

"T-Trixie?!" Rainbow shouted in shock. She was hovering until the unicorn showed up, and she deadpanned midair.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie shall decimate all of you if the forest doesn't!" Trixie caterwauled with a mocking grin before she teleported to who-knows-where.

"DAMMIT!" Shouted everyone that was not in the Valkyrie, who rushed headlong--recklessly, I might add--into the forest. Trees were felled and animals scampered to and fro as the party-turned-mob searched like they were the Ku Klux Klan.

Meanwhile, the girls and Fen-Fen had settled for a brutally long discussion over the upcoming children, among other things.

"I feel like I'm craving something already!" Anna sighed as she rubbed her belly. It was the size of a small balloon now.

"First time being a non-virgin." Coryza agreed. "Hooray for condoms."

"How'd Matt score first base with you?" Katie asked, turning her glance to the mugician and away from her in-law.

"How'd you read my mind?!" Coryza replied in shock, pink hair standing straight up on end.

"Trade secret." Katie grinned.

"Isn't....Natz also pregnant?" Anna asked, tilting her head to the side.

"I think she is." Twilight commented, "But she's yet to be tested."

"Good call." Fenrir sighed as he proceeded to down a ham and cheese sandwich.

"I want moon cheese for some reason." Katie sighed, her stomach growling for all to hear.

"Bitch, please!" Anna cried, standing up and pointing at the fox, "I want bratwurst covered in freaking pork rinds!"

"The carnivore in Anna has awakened," Coryza stated, impressed, "We're all going to die now."

"How long has my kid stayed in Germany again?" Katie asked in shock.

"I don't know." Anna sighed as she sat down while one of Lance's army-men brought her the required meats and some German rolls for good measure. She saw the plate and took it from the man with a feral gleam in her eyes.

"If I can't have moon cheese," Katie declared, wings fluttering, "I shall have deer meat and pig's blood instead!"

The army man ran right back into the kitchen.

Coryza looked at Anna. "Don't look at me, all I know is she's nuts." Sighed the archer after she finished her plate. "Aren't you in-laws supposed to be at least some level of crazy? Why the fucking hell do you think my man is insane? He gets it from her!"

"Insanity is an inherited curse in my family." Katie commented. "I had thirty-two siblings in a past life and only one was crazier than I. I was the suicidal kind."

"Damn." Coryza sighed.

"Seems like everything is fucked up in your clan." Anna scoffed after she downed her fill.

"Please, that only barely got me started on what goes on in the freaking daily life!" Katie stated.

Anna grinned seductively.

"Congratulations, you are now a crazy." Katie sneered.

"Do you eat tofu?" Coryza asked.

"No. Too chewy for me. Chewy things usually try choking me." Katie answered. A brown cat with darker brown stripes and green eyes meowed. Unlike NoLegs, this cat actually had legs. "I wasn't making fun of you, Chew-meister."

Chewy purred.

"Why does he have legs?" Anna asked.

"He's a Hellcat. Not a normal cat, a Hellcat. The legs came as endowments upon becoming such." Katie answered. Chewy meowed again.

"Guys!" Coryza called from the top of the tank in shock, "We have a major problem!"

Trixie Really Isn't so Powerful...

"Where'd she go?!" Rainbow called in anger as she flew around the whole area of the Everfree Forest fifteen times.

"We're still searching!" Lance replied with a snarky tone of voice. He himself was getting beyond agitated.

"Damn trees!" Matt cried as he nearly tripped on an overgrown root. "These things are huge compared to Greenwood!"

"Blake?" Natalie asked with concern. The half-demon didn't answer, his face darkened. "Blake? Blake, answer me! Are you okay?!" The mage still didn't get an answer.

"Let him alone, Natz." Matt sighed, "Maybe he's pissed and doesn't wanna hurt you."

"Okay." Sighed the mage as she resumed exploring.

"N-Natalie," Fluttershy whispered, "I think we could go to that old palace where me and my friends found out we were Harmony's bearers."

"Care to show us the way, then?" Natz asked.

"I-If you don't mind." Flutters answered with a grin.

"Okay, guys! Fluttershy's gonna lead the way!" Called the mage, her voice catching everyone's attention.

"Where to?" Lance demanded.

"Some old place." Natz answered.

Flutters turned her body to the east and sighed. "I-It's this way." She whispered before trotting off to where she believed this palace to be. The party soon followed along.

"I wanna get there NOW!" Rainbow yelled in annoyance as she trotted alongside Zecora.

"Take into account we haven't been there before." Matt snapped, eyes narrowing. "Who cares about speed? Maybe Trixie won't notice us."

"Matt's got a point." Lance chimed as he readjusted his hat, "So for the love of all things holy, be quiet."

Rainbow growled. Her right eye and left wing twitched.

"I wonder where Trixie's goons went. Away Snips and Snails couldn't have been sent!" Zecora chimed.

"Snips and Snails?" Natalie asked, "Who're they?"

"Two unicorns who serve Trixie." Rainbow answered, "But Zecora's right--it's just not like her to show up without them at all. For once, I wonder if they're alright."

"Everypony," Fluttershy whispered, "Look, we're here." The yellow pegasus found the humans, changeling, zebra, minotaur, and fellow pegasus friend standing behind her. They quickly crossed a rickety, old bridge.

They were here now.

The party had stumbled upon an old, ruined castle in the center of the forest. It was night now, and the full moon hung high in the clearing. Exhausted, the party made a temporary rest spot before what would've been the gate.

Lance held a walkie-talkie next to his head. He was informing Mommy of where in the forest he was should she be needed. He also checked up on Anna, and she was doing marvelous. Fenrir was busy snoring in his sleep, and the members of the Mane Six in the Valkyrie were talking about this and that. Spike started freaking out because he saw Opalescence and NoLegs go at it. And yes, they were high on catnip. And Opal was in heat. Gilda was busy eating turkey.

Everything happening on the other end, frankly, made Lance enter a giggle fit.

Natalie and Matt kept exchanging concerned glances. Blake had said not one word since the whole rampage throughout the forest started. And then he suddenly...vanished.

Iron Will and Azure were chatting up a conversation, clearly interested in each other.

The zebra and yellow Pegasus eyed the gate suspiciously. Was Trixie waiting there?

Rainbow was asleep next to the fire.

A voice called from within. "The Great and Powerful Trixie demands you miserable beings approach me now!"

Everyone suddenly rose to their feet/hooves and eyed the gate. Natalie put the fire out and with a look of determination boldly walked inside. Matt followed suit, and so did everyone else save for the missing Blake.

Standing in a chamber with a statue of the Elements in its center was Trixie. She had a mocking grin and the Element was glowing a sick green.

The ground began shaking and the walls were ripped clean from the ground. They began forming a sick, contorted thing.

Lance's radio began fizzing with static. Katie was screaming on the other end before the signal was cut off altogether.

The thing was suddenly smashed into pieces and Trixie found her horn severed clean off of her forehead. The Element of Magic was no longer on her head, and Rainbow and Flutter were nowhere to be seen.

"Look!" Iron Will called, pointing a finger upwards.

Everyone, including the Pitiful and Sobbing Trixie looked up and in horror their faces went white.

Blake had the Elements and their bearers and everyone in the Valkyrie hostage. He had changed greatly, foot-long horns jutting from his forehead as crimson wings of Hellish origin kept him airborne. His skin was red as well, and his eyes were too. He was devoid of all emotion as he eyed the remaining party. He then flew off toward a cave in the newly-created clearing. It was glowing a sinister red, almost beckoning everyone else into the bowels of Hell itself.

Matt glanced at Natalie. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

Lance took a step forward. "Guys, now's not the time to mourn. I know, I didn't expect this either. But if we have any hope of saving the others and GodCat, then we have to go into the cave."

Iron, Azure, and Zecora nodded. They took a step forward as well. Matt and Natalie did the same.

Lance glared at Trixie. "Leave. Now." He hissed, pointing his sword at her.

Trixie sobbed and ran off, most likely never to be seen again.

The party ran into the caves, now more determined than ever to end this right here, right now.

Finality

The cave's inside was a long, winding road leading to a giant pit. All around the very (presumed) bottom of this obsidian extension, lava flowed and glowed with a brightness comparable to Flare. Glowing ashes wavered to and fro in a breeze, and on occasion the whole place shook with what was assumed to be rage.

Rage of all those who were Abandoned.

The humans led the way with the Equestrian natives trotting behind, followed by a Minotaur with a cocky attitude.

"Is it me or does this seem familiar?" Natalie asked, her legs clearly shaking.

"Akron, anybody?" Lance replied with a hand raised.

"Sure, why not?" Matt sighed, his eyes white.

"C'mon!" Iron called, "We can't stop this thing if we stand around here doing nothing!"

"He has a point!" Zecora chimed, stomping a hoof, " We mustn't allow terror to appoint!'

Azure merely nodded, buzzing her wings in anger.

"Oh hell!" Natalie cried in panic as she began searching her entire person for something.

"What?" Both men asked, turning their glances to the mage.

"T-The summoning stones....they're gone!" Natalie shrieked.

Lance tried all of his blasters. Not one energy bullet was fired. "Shit. None of my Blasters are working." He exclaimed.

Matt tried using Temper. It too was a dud. "Great. Can't use my specials..." He deadpanned with a frown.

The mage suddenly collapsed onto the ground on her knees, her hands on the ground as she started to tremble.

Lance glared at Matt. "Really?"

Matt shook his head. "Blame Blake." He replied stupidly.

Natalie threw up onto the obsidian walkway. She coughed and gasped for air as her stomach's contents flew out of her mouth.

"Okay then." Lance sighed as he helped the mage back onto her feet.

"Think you can make it from here?" Matt asked.

"I think I can." Natalie answered, putting a hand on her stomach. She looked ahead of the road.

"We need to move now." Azure sighed, pointing a holey hoof onwards like she became de-facto leader.

"She's right. Let's get going." Iron sighed.

The remaining party members walked down the long, winding road. It was so long they wondered if it would ever end. After a good half-hour of walking, they came across this huge platform that was round and was large enough to hold all of Canterlot. It was a dead end for the wingless, and there was practically nothing of interest here...

...until Azure looked down the edge of the platform and saw lava boiling beyond belief. Something was....rapidly rising from below.

The whole room started to shake as though the Apocalypse were just now starting.

The humans and minotaur lost their balance, landing on their asses as boulders started falling into the lava from the ceiling.

"What is this?! The lava, it seems to hiss!" Zecora called as she landed on her stomach.

Azure ran back to the party before she tripped and landed on her backside. The shaking stopped and so did the falling boulders as an evil laugh was heard.

Iron Will looked up.

And so did the humans.

Lance swore his soul fled from his body.

Matt's jaw hung open.

Natalie was wide-eyed.

Zecora and Azure were left speechless.

There was a massive monster looming over them. The lava darkened his form as from his neck dangled an assortment of gold cages. And in them....

"Anna!" Lance cried as he stood up and reached a hand out.

"Lance!" Anna cried as she reached through the cage and in that same instant was electrocuted. She screamed and jerked back her hand in pain.

"Coryza!" Iron called.

Coryza didn't answer. She took her purple guitar and hurled it to Matt as she was electrocuted.

Matt grabbed the weapon and looked up at the behemoth before them. Next to his head, perched on his shoulder stood the demonic Blake, a cold glare cast from his eyes.

Natalie looked at another cage. "GodCat! NoLegs!" She cried as she struggled to stand.

"Meow!" NoLegs responded.

"Fools!" GodCat's white half called, "Run! Run while you still can!"

"Why?!" Azure shouted, "We vowed not to abandon you!"

"It's futile!" Called GodCat's dark half, "You won't be able to do anything!"

So.... At last, I have more sinners to toy with....

"Did that thing with the cage necklace speak?!" Lance cried, moving his head around in confusion to make sure nothing else was there to possibly toy with him.

Yes, Lance....I did indeed speak.... Replied the behemoth with a grin.

"H-How do you know us?!" Matt called in an accusing tone of voice.

I am made from the sins of all.....

Natalie's face went pale. She began to shake.

Yes, look at the mage....Her expression tells all...

"What are you?!" Iron Will bellowed.

I am made from the darkness in the hearts of many....I am composed entirely of sin..... I am many, and yet I am one.....

"....Legion?" Natalie squeaked.

That's right..... Legion is my name.....

Lance tried casting Bind. No avail.

Matt slumped down, unable to lift a sword much less his own legs.

Natalie knelt down once more, her body shaking in fear. She tried casting Judgment and it sputtered again.

In that instant, freak tentacle-esque appendages shot up from the back of the monster and scooped up everyone except for Natalie. They were then thrown into cages: Azure and Zecora were thrown in alongside Rarity, Iron Will with Fluttershy, Matt alongside Coryza, and Lance alongside Anna.

I shall make a world where sinners can never be born....a world under a single ruler.... but first, I must purge this world of everything.....

Natalie got up to her feet, her body still quivering. She leaned on her Seraph Staff for support.

"RUN!" Lance called, realizing GodCat was indeed right. "JUST RUN! WE CAN'T WIN!"

Natalie nodded and turned. She began to run as the tentacles started homing in on her.

The world was moving too fast for the mage to notice. Her breath quickly hastened as her body moved faster. Adrenalin pumped throughout her entire body, helping her jump and slide past tentacles.

She got to the entrance of the cave and she tripped.

Raising her head from the dirt, she gasped.

The tentacles were bringing in ponies, Gryphons... Even the Princesses and Discord.

What little hope she had deadpanned in that instant.

All this time, everyone fought a losing battle. And nobody even realized it until now.

Everyone dragged to Legion...to never return....

"No..." Natalie hissed in a sob.

A tentacle scooped the mage up and dragged her down to Hell.

Everyone not caged prior was thrown into another series thereof, save for Natalie. She was being held in a hand of the fiend.

You are the first to be punished, little mage... Let me recount your sins....

Natalie was mentally shaken. She gulped in fear.

Hmmm.... ah, yes. You befriended a petty thief.... and, after a while, slept with him unmarried... You had also helped him defeat Lazarus and kill Lancelot, no?

Natalie's lips began moving as though she were cold. She couldn't speak, for all ability to do so was seemingly taken from her.

Then you help in ruining the world the first time.... by defeating a very powerful zombie with immense spiritual power.

Tears flowed from the mage's eyes. They hit the surface of Legion's hand.

Once Lance threatened the world, you did indeed stop him...though, I have to say, he's an extremist, no?

Natalie was speechless. Was Legion reading her freakin' mind?!

And then you helped to awaken Akron by sheer accident. Though you did stop him, you helped in plundering...Ah, am I forgetting something? Legion trailed off, as if to remember something. Soon, he resumed speaking, Oh, yes! A monster one calls a Beholder has impregnated you with a bastard child, no? And then, you had the *NERVE** to terminate it. Ohhoho, it gets much worse.*

Tentacles began surrounding the hand Natalie was perched upon. She glanced around quickly and then froze.

Again, you pillaged left and right--and dare I say commit murder in doing so--so that you could stop GodCat's plan to recreate the world. Ah, there's always more: you collaborate in yet more murders with a werewolf, a maestro of sorts, and a kitsune. Plundering is apparently ever so present for you--it's almost as if you cannot escape it. Well....you had been a fool. And fools always get the punishments first...

The tentacles closed in on the mage. Her eyes widened with utter panic.

Her clothes were ripped clean from her body.

"Natz!" Matt cried as he banged against the walls of his cage and nearly became a chicken crisp. He landed on his rear as the mugician barely caught him.

Fenrir punched the cage he was in. He punched once more before the electric current threw his aim off.

Tentacles grabbed Natalie's wrists. They spread her arms apart.

"No!" Cried the hapless mage.

The slimy, dark abominations grabbed her knees and forced her legs wide.

"Stop!"

Another tendril wrapped itself around her neck as her arms were forced to bend behind her back. The tentacles holding her arms in place wrapped around her whole midsection. One leg was left dangling in the air as the other had been stretched to its limit.

Two translucent tentacles then forced themselves within her. One up the ass, the other into her womb.

"LET ME GO!!!" Natalie caterwauled as she burst into tears.

The translucent tentacles went to work, pushing in and pulling out of their victim with nigh-blinding speed.

Soon, she was bleeding from both holes as the reminders of the Beholder suddenly grew sharp, jagged spines all over their masses.

Lance clutched Anna, who was sobbing. All they could do was watch at this point, knowing their fate was to come to them with a hastening rate. He grit his teeth as he was reminded of all of his past failures. But this was almost mocking him now, and he knew it.

The slimy and now-thoroughly lubricated spiny dildos began whirring within the mage as though they had become drills.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blood began flooding out of Natalie's lower body at a quickening rate as the torture continued.

The tentacle in her rectum decided to end her screaming by pushing itself through the rest of her digestive system in reverse while spinning its deadly spines. Its end emerged from her mouth, coated in feces, saliva, and blood.

Celestia and Luna were horrified. Cadence could not move at all upon seeing this.

Natalie was thrown onto the platform, covered in a multitude of filth. Her legs were caked in her blood and fecal matter as her hair was once more a frazzled mess.

Her body was shaking like a leaf as she slowly sat up, using her hands to prop herself up.

"Why?"

She sobbed. Her legs ceased working.

"Why me?"

A tentacle with a bladed edge crept up on the mage.

She took no notice of the tentacle in her sobbing at all.

The bladed abomination rose up behind her.

Natalie opened her mouth to scream at the exact moment a horrible pain shot from her chest and wreaked havoc on her nervous system.

Her eyes widened momentarily before the whole of her irises, pupils included, became a dull blue. They became smaller as the irises went wider. Slowly, they closed....

And when the lids touched, the last of her tears crept down her cheeks and landed onto the floor as the blade thrust itself out of her heart.

The mage collapsed onto the ground, her arms failing to work.

Blake put his hands on his head, just behind his horns. He began looking as if he were freaking out.

Katie, though heavily weakened, was confused. The tentacles tore her out of the cage and threw her onto Legion's hand.

Now, ancient one, let me recount your sins...

"I have already repented them all." Katie whispered.

What?

Katie cleared her throat and stood up on all fours, and she was very wobbly. "I have repented every single sin I have committed!"

Sins cannot be repented! They always come back to haunt you, fool!

"I do agree that sins can never truly be erased from the mind, in my case anyway. But there's always a way to right a wrong!" The fox retorted.

I shall kill you now!

"Na..."

Everyone looked around, nobody knew who that voice belonged to. Even Legion stopped to glance to and fro.

"Nata...."

Matt's eyes widened. It was as if he knew something nobody else could've figured out then.

"NATALIE!!!!" Shouted the demonic voice of Blake, who sounded as though he were struggling to regain his senses. He flew down to the deceased mage and landed next to her. He tried shaking her awake, and immediately broke down into tears. He screamed and cursed Legion's very name as his wings spread wide.

"YOU! YOU KILLED HER!!" Blake shouted at the top of his lungs, his index finger shooting upwards to point at the One who was Many. His eyes became a bright crimson as rage pumped in his black blood.

Legion glared at him, his eyes moving away from Katie.

All demons are sinless. Perhaps I should kill you too?

"Not all of us are sinless! I too have sinned! Try me!" Blake bellowed as he flew up to Legion's face.

What?!

Tentacles began shooting at the half-demon all the while Katie was busy freeing everyone else from their confinement. She worked quickly, ponies and the like being freed while Blake tangled the tentacles around the monster who killed his one joy in the world. The party was surrounding the dead mage while Zecora began working her herbal magic combined with Katie's fire. The others not in the party--rogue Changelings, ponies, Gryphons, manticores, rabbits--ran to the exit and poured into the outside world like a tsunami.

Blake's rage continued building his strength as he grabbed the Fiend of Sin and twisted his head. But he only laughed.

Only an angel can defeat me! There are none here!

"An angel..." Twilight sighed before gasping and looking at Katie.

The fox nodded and grew her wings. The fur on her body retreated, revealing a fully naked body of a young woman.

And then her wings became white.

Lance's jaw dropped.

"Lance, listen closely," Katie said as she put an orb of blazing blue fire in his hand, "I will take care of Legion with Blake. Take Natalie and run. Zecora, you need to make an herbal blend to weaken the Monster of Sin and dump it into the lava. Only then will we beat him. Now, go!"

Lance merely nodded, noticing the fire didn't hurt him. Something in his head clicked, and Katie nodding only confirmed his suspicions.

He inherited her foxfire somehow. And he was going to use it.

Katie flew up into the air with quick flaps of her wings, rushing in to help Blake while Zecora did as she was instructed. The zebra and the rest of the party rushed out of the Cave of the Damned with the dead Natalie in the Valkyrie. Fenrir stayed behind, using his ki energy to allow flight himself. He soon matched the velocity at which his mate was going. A dark blue aura surrounded him as his Overdrive quickly pumped into full throttle.

The fox's hair became much longer than it had been before, all the way down to her rear end as a silky white replaced the dark brown. Her eyes became the color of wild roses as her pupils became meager slits. Her wings became as large and elegant as Celestia's, the feathers becoming cleaner and much more refined. Blake took notice of what Legion said and swooped out of her way as she began circling the monster's head at the speed of a Gale Slice. The lava became a Changeling green and it froze solid in a second. Fenrir's eyes became a bloody red and his fur shone as if he were bathed in gold. Cold air danced around his form, the dark blue aura becoming a crystal teal.

Wh-What?!

"Foul Fiend from the bowels of Hell!" Katie shouted, her voice becoming similar to that of Fluttershy's.

"Perhaps you need to redefine what it means to sin!" Fenrir exclaimed, a hideous snarl in his voice.

N-No!

Katie's form began glowing with a bright, white light. She was in front of Legion's face and was glaring him in the eye. Blake maneuvered out of the way, waiting for the fox at the entrance. Fenrir was also in front of the fiend's face, his aura amplifying the already-powerful light.

"Thou shalt return from whence thou came! Thy power has no grip here in this land of sinlessness! Now, BEGONE!" Katie shouted with an ethereal voice as the Fire of Angels danced around her form, Fenrir, and Legion. He screamed and wailed as his body thrashed about. His attempts of harming everyone quickly became futile as the cave began to collapse on itself. Cherubs of foxfire and glaciers of the coldest ice danced to and fro around everything, casting protective barriers on Katie, the werewolf, and Blake while Legion's movements stopped. The glaciers hurled themselves onto the monster with such force he bent all the way back after only being hit with two. The lava froze him in its mass as Hell opened its gates and the hands of still worse fiends dragged him down.

The gate slammed as the fallen one, flying wolf-man and half-demon flew out of the collapsed cave, the Fire of Angels and Icicles of Purgatory Overdrives wearing off right as the Cave of the Damned closed itself off from the rest of the world, perhaps--and hopefully--for eternity.

____

Natalie was gently lowered into the boiling herbal potion thanks to a crane Lance installed into the Valkyrie. Worried looks crossed the party's faces while NoLegs kept yowling noisily.

"Lance, use your mother's fire. The situation is so very dire," Zecora sighed as she stopped stirring.

"Got it." Lance replied as he threw a fireball of a blazing cobalt hue at the base of an already-raging fire below the mighty huge cauldron. The fire instantly turned a fierce shade of lightning purple and the potion was rolling into a boil from Hell.

Celestia was shocked. A human using a beast's flame? How was that possible?

Blake and Katie returned and landed. The fox immediately returned to her other form and donned her kimono. Fenrir landed shortly after on all fours and a crystal teal aura dancing around him suddenly ceased.

Blake returned to normal as well... and Matt started bitching at him. It was incomprehensible, garbled up gibberish. Azure stepped in between them and told them to can it, and they shut up.

Fenrir sighed, motioning with his paw for Lance to walk to him. The gunman did as instructed before he was bear-hugged by a set of bulky arms obscured with fur. "Son," Fenrir chimed with a toothy smile, "You make me proud." Lance hugged his step-dad back with only a smile on his face.

The potion began changing from a sick green to a hue of vermillion. The fire became the color of the twilight sky.

"Is it working?" Rainbow asked. Her ears were flat.

"We must wait for time to tell." Zecora sighed, "I think she's not yet in Hell."

Pinkie's mane was straight, and her colors somewhat faded. "I hate funerals..."

"I do too, Pinkie. We just have to wait." Twilight said with a frown.

The pot began glowing as though Genesis was activated. The potion and fire disappeared.

Iron Will peeked inside. Natalie's wound was cured....and her fingers were twitching!

Blake and Matt rushed to look into the pot as well. Natalie propped herself up using her hands and was already leaning on the walls for support!

"Natalie!" Both cried in joy.

The mage looked up at them. She shook her head in disbelief and smiled once she realized she wasn't in a dream. "Matt! Blake!" She cried, jumping up and down waving her arms in the air trying to get out of the pot.

Iron Will reached an arm down and grabbed Natalie's arms before hoisting her out, much to her embarrassment. He put her down and wrapped her in a quilt to cover her nude body.

Everyone hugged her left and right, even the crazy as hell Discord.

"Guys! Calm down!" Natalie cried in excitement as NoLegs meowed with Opalescence.

"Halt!" Shouted two voices at once.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to GodCat.

"I wish to bring our original world to merge with this one!" Shouted the white GodCat.

"What say you, Celestia? Nothing around here goes without your input." The black GodCat pointed out.

"How would you 'merge' the worlds?" Celestia asked.

GodCat took a moment to think about it.

"Bring all the human inhabitants to this world--as well as the cats. And everything else that isn't hostile." Said the white GodCat.

"That world will perish soon anyway." Sighed the black GodCat. "In the old world, once Legion has awoken, the world pretty much became a time bomb."

Celestia nodded. "Alright. Commence the 'merging' of the worlds. We need some help repairing the Gryphon Kingdom and the Changeling Hives."

"Alright." Both halves of GodCat said in unison. They teleported in a flash.

And just as quickly as they went, they came back with all the humans, cats, and non-hostile creatures of their own world (along with their possessions and technological advances). Anna's little sister, Sarah, ran up to hug her. "Sister! What adventure did you have this time?!" Sarah called in glee.

"Quite the messed up one. It's a looong story." Anna answered with a giggle as she returned the hug.

Believe it or not, Konata was there. And when it came to the current situation, she had no clue what was going on. All she knew was that she saw three familiar people--the ones who felled Akron.

Hikari was also there and she walked right up to Lance. Noticing the ring on his finger, she scoffed, "Who'd you marry?"

"She's right over there." Lance pointed to Anna, who was busy chatting with her sister. Hikari turned around and walked to the archer and merely said 'congratulations.'

"Look up!" Katie called, pointing to the sky. Everyone stopped what they were doing and did as instructed.

"Whoa!" The party shouted as they looked up into the sky and saw their old world become a supernova.

"Citizens of the now deceased world!" Celestia and Luna bellowed in unison. This, again, caused everyone from the Old World to look at them respectfully. "Today, we are gathered here to celebrate your permanent stay in Equestria! Please, make yourselves at home and help us prosper! We shall, in turn, help you prosper as well!"

With that, everyone clapped. Cats that had legs, dogs, foreign ponies from the old world, humans, you name it. A feast--much like that of the Pilgrims--occurred a short while later, and everyone had a grand and glorious time together.

Epilogue (sort of)

Nine months later (give or take a couple of weeks)...

Anna threw her head back screeching in horrendous pain, clutching Lance's hand with an iron grip. Tears streamed down her cheeks as unbearable pain coursed through her lower body and stomach in such a way she felt as if she was caught on one of the Valkyrie's drills while it was spinning. Which was not a good feeling.

"It's going to be alright, just calm down!" Called Nurse Redheart in worry.

"NO, IT'S NOT!" Anna wailed, now squeezing Lance's hand so tightly it began to turn purple.

"It's almost over," Caterwauled the doctor, "I see feet!"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME IT WAS SUPPOSED TO HURT?!" Anna cried, gritting her teeth and damn near ripping Lance's hand clean off the wrist in the process. The pain was hitting her much worse now, and she screamed once more. The agonized cry shook Lance to the core in worry. Everyone else in the room, pony and man alike, was also shaken. It was a series of cries unlike any other they'd heard before. His hand felt pretty much broken now, which was only adding to that worry.

Anna's eyes scrunched shut tightly as another pained cry sounded throughout the whole room. The shriek was cut short as the archer ran out of breath needed to continue her banshee-like wails. Her throat was dryer than cardboard in the Sahara after it stopped raining for a hundred years. Her face was very blue, and she could hardly stay awake.

She felt a lot of liquid escape her lower body. It seemed to be a gallon's worth of whatever just exited her system.

The pain suddenly stopped as...an infant's cries were heard. Raising her weary head and panting like she just found an oasis in the middle of freaking nowhere, she saw the doctor wrap something up.

That something was moving. A very small, five-fingered hand tried grabbing his beard. The doctor handed that something over to her cautiously, its hands reaching up and trying to grasp the mass of intruding hair. Releasing Lance's hand and shakily taking hold of the something before holding it up to her chest, a smile crossed her lips and tears poured out of her eyes. She was at a complete loss for words, her jaw hanging just slightly open in a grin.

Lance leaned over, wrapping his right arm around the archer and letting his left index finger get grabbed by the being. He himself was shedding manly tears upon looking at what caused Anna to be practically speechless.

His child. It had his eyes and her nose and it was busy giggling as the index finger in its grasp was shaken.

Sarah came bursting into the room and she ran quick as a rabbit. Now standing next to her sister, she saw the little tyke and grinned like a cat. "I'm now an auntie!" She cried in glee, jumping up and down.

Anna nodded, more tears being shed in her silence.

_________

"I'D NEVER EXPECTED TO GO FULL TERM!" Katie bellowed as she kicked and squirmed. Doctors had to hold her down and inject anesthesia into her body simply to ease the pain. The woman, in full-on fox form sadly, kept wailing in labored agony. Fenrir had to stay out of the room lest he invoke some sort of fury.

Wailing again as more pain-reducing liquid was injected into her system, she felt a pair of fucking hooves go up her hoo-hah. She squirmed her legs for a bit before the medicine took its toll and pretty much made her higher than Lucy and her diamonds. "Aaaaara....." She moaned, struggling to keep her conscious for a while longer. Her sight was becoming blurry, almost as if she were thrown into the washing machine on a super spin cycle. Her ears twitched every five seconds.

The hooves, carrying something between them, were pried out. A puppy's whimpering filled the room.

"Is it over...?" Katie asked, her jaw wet with drool.

The hooves went back in once more. "No," Sighed the doctor pony, "I don't know how many are in there."

"Okay..." Sighed the fox drunkenly. Her eyes took on a soulless look.

The hooves, carrying another thing, were removed once more. A set of hands went in immediately after, searching the whole area of her uterus. "Nothing left." Sighed the nurse as she removed herself from the fox.

"Ah'm soooooooo fucked uuuuuuuup...." Katie smiled, swaying her head in circles.

Fenrir barged in, becoming much too impatient for his own good.

"Is...she okay?" Asked the wolf-man.

"She gets high really easily off simple drugs." Sighed the doctor pony, shaking his head, "But she's alright otherwise."

Katie fell asleep shortly after; her body being placed into a bed as sleep took its place upon her. The doctor pony held two whimpering, fuzzy beings that squirmed within his hooves. He was being very careful as he placed them in a small crib.

Fenrir peered into the crib and his heart sank in complete joy. Two little fox-wolf pups, eyes still closed, were squirming in the blanket as they whimpered; taking their first breaths of the cool, hospital air. They were the most adorable little pups he laid eyes on in years. Both were black in coloration and one had a little pink collar around its neck, thus meaning it was female. The other had a blue collar, indicating this one was male. He gently reached a clawed finger and stroked their tiny heads, smiling in what could only be described as pure happiness.

_______

Natalie shrieked and shrieked as if a Beholder army took hold of her. She shook her head ferociously as her cries broke three windows in one sitting. Blake had earmuffs handy and his ears were still splitting in pain. Unicorns had to use their magic simply to keep her body still while one readied a sleeping mask. "I HATE having to do c-sections!" Sighed the doctor reading the medical instruments.

The mask slipped onto the mage's face with ease. She was still shaking her head in pain as the drug was released. She slowed down to a mere wobble before passing out.

Blake, needless to say, got removed from the room. Minutes passed, but they felt like hours. He was pacing back and forth like he was a nervous wreck. Every minute he stood still, his body shook as though he were in an erupting volcano.

Matt sat in a waiting bench eying him with a look of worry scrawled on his face. In his hands was the newspaper, which he decided to read. Drug dealer arrested, an alleged rapist found dead, this pony named Blueblood found to be worse than King Sombra...quite a lot of articles if you asked him. Hell, he even saw an article titled "Cats founded Church of GodCat" plastered on the front page.

More time flew by. "Tempes fuget," Katie always said after the whole Legion ordeal was over.

"Blake," Sighed a unicorn nurse, "She's awake now."

The half-demon ran into the room faster than Matt could carry out a Quick Slash with his lightest weapon after using three Agilities. There holding a little bundle of her own and looking at him with a warm smile was Natz. She seemed perfectly alright. The mage was also topless with one endowment exposed; the bundle concealing the other.

"And I thought you left me, ya horny bastard!" Natalie sighed, raising a hand to point at Blake and wave the accusing finger.

Blake could only shake his head, shrug his shoulders, and chuckle.