New Life, Same Soldier

Henry woke to a searing pain in his side and a strange heat at his back. He turned his head and found Rainbow laying there, facing the other direction, snoring and drooling onto a pillow. Getting up, he sighed and looked out the window. It was still a bit dark out, but the sun was coming up. The sky was a grayish color, some stars still dotting the sky. He decided to let Rainbow Dash sleep in for a bit longer and quietly walked out of the room.

He walked down the stairs to the living room and heard singing coming from outside. He went to the door to find it already unlocked, so he walked into the early morning chill. The singing was much clearer now, and the voice was soft but strong. He walked around the edge and found Fluttershy going around and feeding animals, singing all the while. The song wasn't familiar, probably something she made up to pass the time.

He stood to the side, watching her work. She continued singing the same song, so he'd decided to hum along to the rhythm. She apparently had heard him and the song stopped immediately. "Henry, what are you doing out of bed so early? Shouldn't you be asleep?"

He sighed, wishing the peaceful lack of speech could have lasted longer. "I usually wake up pretty early. Other than broken ribs, I'm back to my old self." He wished he'd had it in him to sleep in longer, but once he was up and around, there was no going back to sleep.

"Well, that's good." She looked around awkwardly at the work remaining to be done. There wasn't much left, and she wasn't sure what to do now that the human was up.

"Do you want help or should I go back inside?" He didn't want to keep her from going about her business. It was her own home after all.

"Well, I guess I could use a bit of help... to make it go by quicker."

He walked over and took the bag of feed from her. She motioned to the chicken coops and he made his way over to it. While emptying the sack, he noticed a distinct lack of singing or even humming. He looked back and saw her awkwardly looking around, not sure what to do. He held the sack in one hand and walked back over to her. "You okay Fluttershy? You were fine before I came out here."

She looked at him, seeming scared and sad at the same time. "I'm sorry, it's just I'm usually alone at this time in the morning. I normally sing when I'm alone, so... So I got nervous when you came out here and offered to help."

He was surprised. "Well, you don't have to be nervous around me." He dropped the sack. "I'm just gonna go inside so you can finish up." He turned to leave when he remembered something important. "Hey, you don't have a shower do you? Luna asked me to get the girls and all of us head up to Canterlot and I kinda want to be clean before I meet them formally for the first time."

"Oh, right!" She laughed nervously. "It's the door just to the left of the guest room."

"Thanks." Then he remembered he was still wearing his dirty and ripped military outfit from two nights ago. "Do you think Rarity can make me more clothes? I don't exactly want to go in this thing." He gestured to his outfit.

"Oh, I'm sure she can, but not on short notice like this. I can go to Applejack's and get the other one you were wearing."

"Yeah, sure. If you don't mind." He thanked her and went upstairs. He found the bathroom after retrieving his knife from his pack in the next room. After shaving his rough beard off, he quickly disrobed, unwrapped the bandages around his midsection, leaving the now unusable suit on the ground, and stepped in. He turned on the hot water and let it wash over him. It burned, but it was the first time he was washing in the last two months (he wasn't sure if the nurses at the hospital had actually washed him or just cleaned off the blood and dirt).

Not bothering to use shampoo or soap since he didn't want to smell flowery, he just scrubbed with his hands and the hot water. He could hear the guest room door open then close and knew Rainbow was probably wondering where he was. He got out, turning off the water, and grabbed a towel to dry himself off. When he was finished, he wrapped another one around his waist, grabbing his boots, and walked to the door. He eyed the large bruise on his side and grimaced at the large splotch of purple and yellow. As he reached for the handle, the door swung open and he saw Rainbow Dash.

Her eyes went wide in surprise as she saw him standing there. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine, Dash. I was just finishing." He tried not to make it awkward, but failed miserably. He looked around nervously as she just stood there.

"Sorry, I just didn't expect you to, you know..." Her eyes twitched in another direction as her forehooves tapped the ground awkwardly. She whispered, "Be naked." Her eyes drifted back to him and she saw the damage that the manticore had done to him, as well as the scars from previous battles and injuries, which were very numerous. "Wow. You humans can really take a beating, huh?"

It was getting awkward for him too. "Uh, yeah..." He looked past her and into the hallway. "Can I go now?"

"What?" She had been studying the unwanted mementos covering his person. "Oh, yeah. Sorry." Rainbow moved out of the way, letting him go past.

He heard the door shut as Rainbow went in behind him and he left. Going into the guest room, he sat on the bed, pondering what he was going to do without clothes. He couldn't wander around Ponyville looking for Rarity. He was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Henry, are you in there?" It was Fluttershy. He stood up, concealing himself the best to his ability at the moment.

"Yeah, I'm here."

"I have your clothes from Applejack's home. Do you want me to come in or leave them out here?"

"Just leave them there. All I have is a towel."

He could almost feel her cheeks burning a hole into the wooden door. "O-oh. Uh, a-alright. I-I'll just leave them here." He heard a thick cloth bag hit the ground as she quickly shuffled downstairs. Sure she was gone, opened the door and found a set of saddlebags there. He carried it inside the room and shut the door. He opened the compartments and found a set of casual clothes in one and a formal suit in the other. Rarity had apparently anticipated a visit to Canterlot.

He put on the casual set, which looked very much like he would have worn at a military base when he was not deployed. Twilight must have gone through my memories. Wait a minute... He thought about what she may have seen in his memories. Aw, shit. There's going to be lots of questions. Slipping on his boots instead of the shoes that were included with them, he carried the suit over his arm and his pistol belt around his waist. The gun wasn't much, but it was sentimental. He'd taken it to hell and back several times and it never once failed him, but instead saved his life quite a few of those times. One of which included the manticore attack.

He walked downstairs with the empty saddlebags over his shoulder and saw the two pegasi speaking in hushed voices. The stopped when they noticed him coming down the stairs. "Um, hello." Rainbow was still a bit nervous about the recent encounter. Fluttershy just looked around, never meeting eyes with him.

"Hey, you don't have to be nervous around me after that. I didn't do anything wrong."

"Dumbass, that's kind of hard to do. Twilight said that humans usually always wear clothes, and you weren't. I mean, come on, that was at least pretty awkward for you."

"Well, yeah you've got a point." He remembered something he'd meant to ask Fluttershy. "Wait a second. Fluttershy?" She looked in his direction, but didn't meet his eyes. "Why haven't I seen Rocky? Where is he?"

"Oh, um... Heh, about that-" she was interrupted by a knock at the door. Not sure what to think, she went to the door and opened it. Standing there was three embarrassed Cutie Mark Crusaders and a very pissed off German Shepard that was covered in soot, make-up, a pony-sized dress, and maple syrup.

Henry stood there at the stairs, shocked. "What the fuck did you do?!" The fillies just looked around, avoiding eye contact. He was about to ask again when Fluttershy took over.

Sighing, she said, "Girls, go and get him washed off and get rid of the dress. I doubt anypony would want to use it now."

All three answered, "Yes Fluttershy..." in unison, then walked around to the back of the house, pulling the dog along with them.

"I- uh, have they... Please tell me this hasn't happened before." Henry hoped none of the ponies around town had suffered the fate Rocky did.

"No, thank Celestia, You eventually get used to whatever they get into," Rainbow replied. She tapped a hoof against her chin, thinking, and said, "But this was the first time anything that involved syrup happened."

Henry fell back against the couch, slapping one hand over his face. "Oh God..." All it did for him was sending another wave of sharp pain through his body. He groaned loudly and put a hand over his ribs.

"You know, you really should get those ribs healed when we get to Canterlot. They're giving you a lot of trouble," Rainbow said, concerned.

"Yeah, let's just get there without me getting injured again, huh?" He groaned again, pushing against the couch and bringing himself to his feet. "Rainbow, go get the girls. Fluttershy, do you know where my other friends are?"

"I think AJ said they were sleeping in her barn."

"Well, that's goo-" He stopped, remembering that the cart with all of the guns he'd collected were in the barn. "Aw, shit." He quickly went out of the door after Rainbow and did his best to run to Sweet Apple Acres.

He got there and was relieved to see no bullet holes, craters, or fires. He heard loud cracks coming from across he orchard, which he assumed was Applejack and Big Mac harvesting apples. He opened the barn doors and saw the cart sitting in a far corner, almost unseen in the darkness of the barn. He saw his compatriots asleep in the corner closest to the door he'd opened and almost hit McKenzie in the head with said door.

It was barely sun-up, but he wanted to leave as soon as possible. After lighting a nearby lantern, he closed the barn door to muffle the noise, pulled his pistol from the holster, and fired a round into the ground. His friends jerked awake, Roberts frantically searching for a gun that wasn't there. So they didn't see the cart. Good. "Rise and shine, assholes!"

He returned the gun to its proper place as his friends stood up, rubbing their eyes. "Rude wake-up call, man. Not funny." McKenzie was never a morning person.

"Come on, wake up buttercup. We're leaving soon and I need you guys up and at 'em."

"And where are we going, Sergeant Major?" Roberts wasn't pleased with this morning's alarm.

"Up to Canterlot, the capital, to meet the princesses. You know, royalty?"

Captain raised an eyebrow, while the other two just looked shocked. McKenzie grumbled, "Only been here a day and already meeting the rulers of this place? We must be pretty special then, huh?"

"If by 'special' you mean the only four humans to ever be in Equestria, then yes we are special."

"Goddamn. When we leavin'?"

"Soon as you bums are ready and the girls get here." Henry walked out into the early morning light before he got a response. Rainbow was waiting there with the rest of the girls, except Applejack. "Hey, where's AJ?"

Twilight answered, "She's out in the orchard applebucking. She'll be done in a few minutes."

"Okay then." Before he could say anything else, he heard McKenzie talking.

"Dude, why didn't you tell us you had all these guns?"

"I'll tell you if you three get that cart out here."

"Fair enough." With little trouble, the other three humans pulled the cart out into the open. Before they could go through it, Twilight used her telekinesis to raise a rocket launcher out of the cart.

She suspended it in front of her, slowly rotating it as she studied it. "This is a strange one, Henry. What is it for?"

He grabbed it out of the air. "Uh, blowing stuff up. Why?"

"Nothing, just curious..." She wouldn't say anymore.

"Well, anyway. McKenzie, to answer your question, we'll have to get up to Canterlot with all of these. Luna and Celestia requested we all come and Luna said to bring these things. Twilight, I don't suppose you have a way to get these up there, do you?"

"Well, I can probably teleport them up there. I'll just need a bit to concentrate enough power to teleport the weapons and myself up to Canterlot. The rest of you can ride the train."

"Uh, the train?" Once again, McKenzie was confused about Equestria.

"Well, yeah. It's the fastest way to get around besides flying or teleporting. It will take a few hours to get to Canterlot, so I would get up to the station and get tickets if I were you guys." Henry nodded and looked at the other humans. They had stopped paying attention and were looking through the cart of weapons.

"You idiots stop going through the cart and grab your stuff. We'll be up there for a while." Captain looked back and nodded, receiving a response of "Yes, sir" from the other two. They walked into the barn and came out with the few belongings they still possessed.

Twilight said, "Alright, I'll take a bit of time to concentrate while the rest of you go get on the train. I'll meet you at the castle later."

Henry woke in his seat at the back of the car to a train whistle. "Ten minutes until we reach Canterlot," called the conductor. He sighed and looked out the window at the sun. He estimated it was about noon. There was a tap on the cushion beside him, and when he looked he saw Rainbow Dash, who still avoided eye contact.

"Mind if I sit? I want to talk."

"By all means." She climbed uncomfortably onto the seat across from him. "So, what is it?"

"I just wanted to know, um..." She couldn't find the right words, it seemed. "Is it dangerous, being a soldier? On Earth, I mean."

Henry was taken aback by the unexpected question. "Well, I uh, I would really rather not talk about my fighting back on Earth. It's something I'm not proud of."

"Oh, okay. Sorry." She looked out the window, at the passing scenery. After a pause, she said, "You know, I thought about joining the Royal Guard once." Rainbow looked at Henry and made forced eye contact. "Almost went through with it, too. Then, Twilight came the day of the Summer Sun Celebration a few years ago and..." She trailed off, looking out the window again. Without looking back, she added, "Didn't think I'd ever have a chance with her, but I couldn't bear the thought of leaving and never coming back. Know what I mean?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I know what you mean." He took a deep breath and sighed. "Rainbow, you should know..." She looked at him again, her expression telling him to continue. "I did have a few crushes back on Earth, in America. Didn't think I'd ever had a chance with any of them, so I enlisted. Six years of injuries and bullshit later, here I am." He sighed again. "Now I'll never know." He then noticed a very loud humming noise.

Looking out the window, he saw a pink, bubble-shaped force field encasing the entire city. A section of the shield opened enough to let the train through, then closed again. "Rainbow, what's going on?"

"Shield Shining Armor, Twilight's brother, put up keep Changelings out. Did the same thing during his and Cadence's wedding. Probably find him up at the castle soon as we get off the train." As soon as the she finished speaking, the train's brakes squealed as it came to a stop. "Our stop, ready to go?"

"Yeah, come on." He stood up and walked to the front of the car to exit, Rainbow Dash trailing behind. They got to the door to find Rarity trying to unload a very unnecessarily large amount of luggage.

"I apologize, it should only take a moment longer!" she called through the blocked doorway.

Henry huffed in annoyance and looked around. "Hold on, don't these windows open?"

"Yeah, why?" Rainbow responded.

He opened one of the windows facing the platform to find that it could accommodate his size, even if just barely. "Follow me." He leaned over and crawled through the window, having to push on the outside sill when his belt hung the inside. He hit the wood with thump and stood up, cringing at the lingering pain in his side. Rainbow followed suit, except catching herself with flight before hitting the ground. Henry closed the window and walked over to Rarity, who was still struggling.

"Rarity, get back."

"Why?"

"Just do it." She did as she was told and walked to the door. Bracing his left foot and hand against the door frame, he gripped the handle of a large suitcase. Making sure his grip was firm, he lurched his body back, pushing with his leg and arm, with a loud grunt. The suitcase came loose, reluctantly, and the entire pile collapsed out of the door. He stumbled out of the way before he got crushed.

Dropping the bag he'd pulled loose, he looked at the white unicorn. She repeatedly looked between him and the pile of luggage, a shocked expression on her face. Rainbow stood to the side, smirking at her. Rarity said, "How- how did- Sweet Celestia Henry, I had no idea you were that strong! I couldn't get that out using magic!" Smiling, she winked at him and said seductively, "I like that."

Henry then took on Rarity's original expression. She and Rainbow burst out laughing. "Don't worry, dear, I was only joking." Henry picked up a smaller bag and chucked it at her. She caught it with her magic, gathering up the rest of her bags, and said, "Henry, you mustn't make such a fuss over it. I was only taking revenge for that day of Nightmare Night."

"Yeah, I kind of deserved that, didn't I?"

"Ya sure as heck did, Henry." He turned and found Applejack and Fluttershy walking, and Pinkie Pie bouncing, up to the station. "Anyway, we went and spoke with the princesses and got your friends their own rooms. Y'all had best get up and pick your bedrooms out, though. We got a meetin' with Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Discord over dinner and we're gonna be stayin' awhile. Shinin' Armor stayed at the Crystal Empire to make his own shield against them Changelings while the princesses are taking shifts keeping thisn' up."

"How did you guys get up there so fast?" Henry said, motioning to the castle.

Applejack looked like her face turned slightly green. She stole a glance back at Pinkie Pie, who was still bouncing in place, and said, "I honestly don't have any clue, Henry. Somethin' to do with a bunch of 'quantum physics, pocket universe' bullhonkey. I'd tell you to ask her yourself, but your head might explode. Twilight couldn't even explain her. Besides, even for a human, you don't seem like the sharpest tool in the shed."

Henry let the comment blow over his head, but not without an annoyed scowl at the farmpony. She shrugged it off and said, "Well, y'all had best get up to the castle. Henry, just follow them two," she nodded at Rainbow and Rarity. "They know where it is."

He sighed, looking at the ground. "Alright, the sooner the better." They started walking as the other three parted ways to stroll around town. Rarity walked to his left, holding her luggage in mid-air well above her head, and Rainbow Dash hovered to his right. He noticed he was getting fearful and awestruck looks from the local ponies.

He walked faster to catch up with the pegasus, then when their heads were beside each other, he asked, "Hey Dash, what's with all the weird looks? Didn't they know I was coming?"

She looked at the townsponies, who were looking their way, then said, "Guess not. Wanna go faster so you can get away from them while Rarity window-shops?" She pointed a hoof at the white unicorn, where she stood at a dress shop, absent-mindedly staring into the window.

"Might as well. You mind Rarity?" The unicorn waved them on in response, not breaking her gaze from whatever she was looking at inside. Turning back to Rainbow, he asked, "You wanna go on ahead and meet up there or go with?"

"I think I'll stay behind with you. Keep you out of trouble," she answered sarcastically.

"Ha ha, very funny." They continued up the cobblestone street, leaving behind several of the shops and finding what was probably the residential district of the city. He looked around at the several young foals playing in front of houses and most stopped to stare at him before returning to their own games. "You don't happen to know any good bars or anything here, do you? I could really go for a drink."

"I might know a few. I bet all of us could go out sometime after the Changelings are dealt with."

"Sounds like a plan. Just so you know, McKenzie gets pretty crazy when he's drunk." He scratched his chin, remembering something that had happened to the four of them on a two day leave. "Relay this to the girls, but if he asks, God forbid, any of you if you want to see his other gun, say no."

"Why?" He cleared his throat loudly and gave her an awkward look. "What... Oh. Um, uh, heh heh, good to know."

"Yeah..." The rest of the walk consisted of awkward silence and the background noise of foals playing.

When they did get to the entrance to the castle, Henry was less than welcome. There was a guard standing there, wearing golden armor. "Halt, human!" the guard yelled, pointing his spear and measuring him up. "What is a member of your kind doing here?"

Before he could answer, Rainbow Dash stepped in. She came muzzle to muzzle with the guard, causing the earth pony twice her size to shrink back. "He is a person, and his name is Henry. If you've got a problem, take it to one of the princesses. I'm sure they would explain it simply enough for a numbnuts like you to understand."

The pony looked back at Henry, who shrugged, then back at Rainbow. "My deepest apologies, Element of Loyalty. I had no idea he was here on royal business."

She stepped back, then looked at Henry, who was trying his hardest not to laugh. She jerked her head in the direction of the gate, then they stepped through. When they were out of earshot of the guard at the gate, he laughed and asked, "So Dash, what was that whole 'Element of Loyalty' thing about?"

"Oh, uh, well..." Her face turned into what appeared to be an almost embarrassed expression. "Me and the girls may have more or less saved all of Equestria on a few different occasions.

"Holy shit. So you're all famous?" She nodded in response. Before any more questions could be asked, they reached the castle, where they were greeted by a very large, white alicorn, whose mane whipped around in wind that wasn't there, like Luna's.

"Ah, Rainbow Dash, I was just wondering where you were." She held a hoof out to Henry. "And you must be Henry." He took the hoof and shook it before she returned it to the ground. "As you may be able to tell, I am Princess Celestia, but please just call me Celestia when we are not at formal events.

"That's no problem at all." It must have been a little awkward for Celestia, speaking with a sapient non-native that was taller than her.

She turned, motioning for them to follow, and walked through the large ornate doors. As they walked through the large doorway, Henry looked around at the walls and ceiling, all of which were made up of marble, carpet, or precious metals. "Where did you get all of the materials for this place? Enough to make a simple room out of this would be almost impossible back on Earth."

"From the ground, of course," Celestia answered. "As for the great lacking of these materials on your planet, my only reasoning is it is because it is not another planet, but another dimension. Forgive me if anything I say may sound too cryptic; several thousand years of life will do that to you."

"Several thousand years? How is that possible?"

"That is a question I cannot answer, sadly. I do not know the whys or hows, it just simply that Luna, Cadence, Twilight, and I are alicorns. Alicorns are immortal, unless killed by some outside force."

"Well," Rainbow interrupted, "I'm going to go pick a room. You guys go ahead and keep talking." She started flying into another hallway, calling back, "If you see Twilight, send her my way."

Celestia looked at Henry questioningly. "Romantic development," was all he answered.

"Ah," she said, nodding. "I suspected it would come to that eventually. Cadence could always sense something between the two. Not that I disapprove, I am happy for them in fact, it's just that I am unsure as to how their friendship will play out should the relationship fail. I do not wish to ruin the use of the Elements, but I do not wish to ruin the possibility of their relationship."

"I understand, Celestia. I must ask, though, is same-sex relationships and whatnot common here, or just not hated?"

"Well, it is not very common, but not rare either. I do ask you, though, why would it be hated?"

"In my universe, religions make it where if two men or two women want to be in a romantic relationship, they are hated, hurt, or... murdered. Personally, I don't give a shit about any of it as long as it doesn't get shoved down my throat."

"Oh dear. Your world sounds very troubled."

"It is, trust me. I would know."

"And why would you know, may I ask?"

"I was a soldier. A war fighter." He quietly added, "A killer."

"Oh." There was a pause, the only sounds her hooves and his boots hitting the marble floor as they walked. "I apologize for anything I may have brought up."

"It's fine." It wasn't true though. She stepped up to another ornate door, which two unicorn guards wearing the same golden armor as the one outside were standing at either end. Either door opened outward, held in mismatching colored auras, revealing a throne room. It held a very large room, with a red carpet edged with a golden color trailing the middle of the room. At the end sat a golden throne, which sat upon a set of stairs and a lower and higher platform; the latter held the throne.

They walked to the end of throne room, where the other alicorn stood and met them at the bottom of the stairs. "Princess Cadence, this is Henry Jones. The one Twilight and her friends rescued from the Everfree."

Cadence bowed her head respectfully in greeting, and Henry did the same. "Hello Henry. I have heard very little about you, but I hope that changes shortly. Friendship is important here, after all."

"So I've heard. Where is Luna? And-" His next thought was interrupted by a oversize birthday cake appearing in the middle of the three and exploding, exposing the form of the draconequus. "Discord."

"Present and ready for action!" he yelled, saluting Henry. He slapped the bear paw away from Discord's heard gave him a dirty look. The mismatching creature literally deflated and reappeared next to Celestia. Folding the claw and arm across his chest, he huffed and said, "Party-pooper."

"This isn't the time for jokes, Discord. This is serious," Cadence said. "The threat of a Changeling invasion hangs over our heads, and their methods of takeover have changed to lethality. If we don't plan something, the lives of ponies, griffins, zebras, and even dragons hang in the balance."

Celestia took over. Shoving a hoof into his chest, she said, "And if this shield fails, or a counter-attack fails, who do you think will be facing the full force of the invasion, on the front lines? You, Luna, Cadence, the Elements, and I! If we fall, nothing would be enough to stop the Changelings!"

"Uh, Celestia?" Henry interrupted. She immediately stopped her outburst and faced him. "I have an idea, but we need everyone present."

"During tonight's dinner, we may discuss it. Until then, you may roam the castle and grounds so long as you do not harm my guards or servants, which I trust you will not. When you are out in the city, take care to take one of the girls, if not several or all of them."

"Will do, no problem. You have my word." He turned to leave, but stopped himself. "By the way, you don't happen to have any sort of healing magic, do you? Specifically the kind that heals broken ribs?"

Cadence answered, "Oh, yes. Twilight told me about the manticore attack in a letter last night. Just one moment, and hold still." He did as he was told as she lightly pressed the tip of her horn against the large bruise on his side. The was an odd tingling, then sudden relief as the bones instantly fused together. She noticed his expression and asked, "Better?"

"Much," was all he said as he sighed deeply.

"The bones have healed, but the bruise will be present for quite some time, mind you. Avoid attacks from wild animals more often, hmm?" She saw his annoyed expression and laughed. "It's alright, wild animal attacks cannot be helped. Just stay out of the Everfree where you can, most incidents only happen there."

"Yeah, I'll be sure to do that." He felt his side and found that the swelling had already gone down slightly. "Thanks, really. I don't know if I could have gone another day going about my business with broken ribs."

"It's no problem at all. I've healed plenty of injuries more severe than that from when Shiny came back from guard duty. Especially here in Canterlot." She paused as she looked for Celestia and Discord, neither of which were in the room. "If you go anywhere here in the city with the girls, especially at night, keep a close watch on them. There have been more very violent crimes here at night since the last Changeling invasion, and I fear that the count will rise with the threat of another."

"I'll do that. Anything to keep them safe from harm." After sharing another bow of the head, they parted ways.

He was halfway down the hallway to pick a bedroom when there was a pop and a flash of light directly in front of him. Twilight crashed onto the floor, but quickly stood up and looked around. "Oh, hi Henry. I may have miscalculated a bit on my teleportation."

"Obviously."

"Just so you know, I did teleport the cart into Luna's quarters." Her eyes went wide for a second, the returned to normal. "Just, hopefully not on top of her."

"Right... Anyway, Rainbow said to send you her way if I saw you, and I was just heading down to pick a room. Care to walk?"

"Oh, I might as well. Haven't had more than a moment of speech that didn't have something to do with a life or death situation. It'd be nice to just talk, wouldn't it?"

"I guess so. I'll let you lead the way, I don't have the slightest idea where to go. I was just going to wander around until I ran into one of the girls or found the right place."

They started walking, and Twilight immediately started the conversation. "So, what's it like on Earth?"

"Not much different than here. Only differences I've figured out is that it is less rich in valuable minerals and precious metals than here, our world is very much more technologically evolved than yours-"

"What kind of technology do you have?" Twilight interrupted.

"Ovens, computers, satellites, phones-"

"What are 'phones'?"

"Things that make communicating a hell of a lot easier than writing letters."

"Do you know how to make one?"

"I don't."

"Oh," she said, obviously disappointed. "Do you have carriages?"

"Some people do, but they aren't universally used anymore. We have cars, airplanes-"

"What are 'airplanes'?"

"Machines that let humans fly." Before she could ask anymore questions, a door flew open and hit Twilight in the face, knocking her back on her flank.

Henry tried not to laugh as she stood up rubbing her nose. Pinkie Pie's head popped out from behind the open door. "Ohmygosh! So sorry about that Twilight! I thought my Pinkie Sense was playing tricks on me again! OH, TWITCHY TAIL!" She looked around, as if expecting something to happen, but nothing did. "See? Something was supposed to fall and-" a cake fell from the ceiling and smothered her head in it. From no discernible source, Discord's laugh rang throughout the corridor. "Nevermind! See you guys later!" Her head flew back into the room and the door shut behind it.

"That was... interesting."

Twilight looked at him. "Hopefully you'll get used to it. We still haven't. Anyway, just pick a room. I'm going to find Rainbow."

"Alright, see all of you tonight." He walked down the hallway and picked the farthest one down on the left. Finding no one else inside, he went in and tested the bed. Deciding it would suit his needs for sleep, he laid down and immediately succumbed to the relaxing darkness.

"HEY DUMBASS, WAKE UP!" Henry woke up, as Rainbow Dash had yelled at him through the door, but fell off of the bed and into the floor.

"What is it, Dash?" he asked through the door.

"Time to go see the princesses and Discord, remember?"

He looked at the clock, which told him it was 7:00. "Shit. Alright, I'm coming." He stood up and walked out into the hallway, where Rainbow Dash and the rest of the girls were waiting. "I'm the only one that slept, wasn't I?" All six nodded. "Where are the others?"

Twilight said, "They're already waiting for us in the dining hall. We should get going." The others agreed and they set off down the hallway.

When they got to the door leading to the dining hall, they found Captain, McKenzie, and Roberts waiting with four guards. Twilight asked, "What's going on?"

A Lunar guard unicorn stepped up. "Princess Twilight, thank Celestia you're here. The Royal Sisters required the Elements' and the humans' help. We received this letter not long ago." He hovered a burnt-looking piece of parchment to Twilight,  which she promptly took from him.

After a few moments of silence, she gasped and dropped the letter. "Not good. Oh, not good at all."

Applejack put a hoof on her shoulder. "Twi', what is it? What's wrong?"

She turned back to her friends and the humans. "Planning our move against the Changelings will have to wait. The Griffon Kingdom is in danger."

Seven hours ago...

A large, greying griffon stood his throne room with the alicorn princesses of Equestria. "How can you be sure we can trust the humans, Princesses? Do you not remember their kind in the past? All of the trouble they've caused, the lives they've taken?"

Celestia answered, "Emperor One-Eye, you know we can not forget those times. Luna and the recent generations of ponies and griffons being an exception, but everypony remembers the war with the humans as if it were just yesterday. We cannot trust them, but we must. Chrysalis would kill you the moment she knew you were coming and you know we cannot bring ourselves to kill our sister, however gone she may be."

"Then you do not understand how much trouble we are in." After a few moments of pause, the griffon Emperor spoke again. "You know there are five elder dragons?" The larger princess nodded. "Not anymore."

"...What do you mean?"

"Scouts found three of them dead about fifty kilometers north of here. Their insides were melted and their scales were scorched. Obviously the work of Changelings."

"Which ones were they?"

"Three of the lessers. Miasmador, Quitulias, and Caeronvar. Vusatunnell's location remains unkown."

"What of the Ancient? Nrrilinthas?"

"Still in the deepest pits of Tartarus, right where he belongs."

Before they could discuss anything further, a knock came from the large door at the end, which was the only entrance to the throne room. Luna swung the doors open, revealing another large griffon, who was panting and panicked. "Emperor! Princesses! It's the Changelings!"

"What is it, Lieutenant Bladewing?" the royal griffon asked.

"The invasion. It's begun."