Everybrony's dream

Chapters

The Equestria we know and love.
Questions and revelations.
Guns, mares and tears.
The strangest thing...

The Equestria we know and love.

Alex grunted as he heaved the dirt encrusted slab of concrete off the trailer and into his arms, sweat trickling down his forehead and beading on the tip of his nose as he threw the heavy chunk of man-made stone into a waiting hole. The slab bounced off the edge and into the hole, slamming against its similarly sized and weighted brothers with a series of loud cracks and thuds, before coming to a rest at the edge of the pile.

Pulling off his aviator sunglasses, he wiped the fogged up lenses with a corner of his discarded shirt, wiping the grime off his bare chest and upper abdomen as he did so. Alex was in peak physical condition, having trained for two years almost every day so he would be ready to join the Marines at the end of his college program. He wasn’t a meathead, but he was toned and could lift up to two and a half times his own body weight using just his upper body without flinching; a perk that came in handy when you were in his line of work. He’d taken up a summer job helping out one of his dad’s work friends with odd jobs around his farm. For the past week he had been tasked with moving and burying a large pile of concrete cinder blocks and slabs.

He pulled out his iPod touch, thumbing the slide to unlock it and checked the time on his watch before selecting ‘Cinderella man’ and began nodding his head to the beat. Peering around the small leafy clearing he dumped the concrete in, he breathed in slowly, savoring the outside air as it played across his dirt, sweat and bug spray encrusted chest. Taking in the beauty of the large sumac plants to his front and the rolling grassy meadow behind him, above him grey clouds hung and while they weren’t just ready to release the cargo they were holding just yet, he wished it would rain just a little.

Leaning back down he grasped two cinder blocks, one in each gloved hand and stacked them on a separate pile of whole blocks, to be used for a different project at a different time. His mind went into a kind of trance as he worked, head still nodding to the beat of his music as he thought what he was going to later on tonight?

Alex heaved the last two concrete slabs onto the pile with a sigh and walked around the trailer to the massive Massey Ferguson tractor attached to it. The huge red workhorse lovingly dubbed ‘Big Mac’ by him, after a character in one of his favorite cartoons. People would laugh at him, and probably think him to be some sort of pedophile, or crazed furry if they ever found out that one of his favorite shows was intended for little girls, but he didn’t care. So long as he didn’t let it slip that he loved Friendship is Magic, (especially when he joined the corps) he would be fine.

“Hey!”

Alex spun around and pulled on his shirt at the same time as he heard the unexpected noise.

His jaw dropped, as he viewed a smoking hot blonde, about 20 something standing about 15 feet into the sumac. She was wearing a pair of daisy dukes, and a checkered red flannel shirt, buttoned low to show off her cleavage.

“Ahwhaaa…” He responded as she made her way towards him, brilliant green eyes staring up at him as he sat on the tractor’s hard metal seat.

“Ah was hikin with my cousins and ah seem to have gotten lost…” She replied in a heavy southern belle accent and a slightly amused expression on her face. “Y’all wouldn’t mind helpin me find the trail ah was on, would ya?”

Alex blinked and shook his head, trying his hardest not to stare down the newcomers shirt as she reached him. “Uh… Sure, hang on a minute…” He wasn’t aware that there were any trails leading behind the farm, but he’d always been taught to help out ‘damsels in distress.’

He pulled the keys from the ignition and jumped down, almost face planting into the blonde’s ample chest. She merely giggled at this and motioned for him to lead the way. There was something oddly familiar about the her, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Mighty kind of ya!”

The two walked in silence, Alex leading, the stranger following. He had tried starting a conversation, but was ignored each time, or was replied to with single word answers.

As they reached another small clearing, the girl laid a hand on Alex’s back, looking up at him and smiling encouragingly. Alex smiled back, unsure of what to say or do at the surprise contact.

“You uh… Weren’t actually lost, were you?”

“Sure as sugar wasn’t…”

He grunted as she struck him in the side of the face, the surprise blow sending him staggering further into the clearing; this wasn’t the sequence of events he’d been expecting at all. Not that he’d been expecting anything to happen other than to deliver her to the path. Maybe get a number?

“What the fu…” He started, but doubled over and backed away even further, as she struck him in the gut.

Recovering, he backed further into the middle of the clearing, intent on avoiding another blow. He gazed up at where the woman was, eyes watering slightly as he gasped for air; but she wasn’t there any longer. Instead, the woman had been replaced by a sinister looking orange…

“No fucking way…” He wheezed as he rose to his feet.

“Shut it scum!” She lunged at him again, but this time he was ready for it.

He stepped to the side a little, catching her as she vaulted towards him and absorbing her forward momentum as he grasped the struggling orange pony and brought her to the ground. He placed a hand over her muzzle, the other along with his weight resting upon her chest.

“What in the fuck… Applejack?! You aren’t real!”

He yelped in pain as the orange mare chomped down on his fingers, sending a spurt of crimson blood flying high into the air.

“An’ you ain’t supposed to fight back!” She struggled against him and succeeded in bucking him off before giving a sharp, shrill whistle.

Seemingly out of nowhere, two unicorns appeared, dressed in glossy metallic black armor; one black, the other a dappled brown. The brown one stepped forward, horn glowing and grinning menacingly as an aura of brown magic surrounded Alex.

He could feel the magic pricking his skin slightly, as if someone were lightly tapping sharp fingernails into his skin repeatedly; the sensation was a bit more pleasurable to him, rather than painful.

“Buck, not another one with 2214a…”

Applejack muttered under her breath, before shouting and pawing the ground “Looks like we have ta’ wrassle this one the old fashioned way!”

All three of the ponies charged him, two unicorns and an earth pony, the unicorns bearing down on him with sharp horns while the orange mare hung back a little. Alex dropped into a linebacker’s stance, lowering himself to the ground and pulling his Leatherman from the sheath on his belt, using his thumb to flick open the small single edged blade. It wouldn’t do him much good, but it may ward the two attackers off for the time being.

The black unicorn struck him under the armpit before he could counter, and Alex grunted as he was thrown off his feet into a soft patch of tangled long grass. Before he knew it, the grey one was on top of him, horn lowered at his neck.

Without thinking, he grabbed the horn and yanked the head aside with all his strength, deftly spun the Leatherman in his palm and jammed the sharp pointy blade into the pony’s right eye.

Blinking and gritting his teeth, he grimaced as a fountain of hot red blood spouted from the wound and splashed across his face, accompanied by a ragged cry as the pony stumbled backwards; eyeball popping out of the socket and staying attached to the base of the knife gripped in his blood covered hands. A string of red and blue cords still hung limply out of the brown unicorn’s eye socket as he collapsed, hooves clasping his face and still crying out in pain. Alex rose to his feet, charging the stunned black unicorn and lashed out with the heel of his left palm, breaking the pony’s nose, sending him reeling backwards with a sickening crunch, before he toppled; either dead or unconscious he didn’t know.

Alex’s eyes widened slightly as he was bowled over by the orange mare for the second time, the two of them straining against each other, both equally matched. She stomped him in the face and wrists, opening a gash on his face just above his left eyebrow and causing his nose to start bleeding like a faucet. He felt the knife slip from his fingers as she slowly pinned his arms to the ground, while he jammed his booted feet against belly, readying to kick her off.

“Ah ain’t never had someone fight back like you do… Those were two o’ mah best!” She snarled, before leaning in close and whispering in his ear “Thas’ kinda sexy...”

“The Fuck!” he yelled as a response and kicked out his legs to the side, rolling himself on top of the orange pony, who merely smiled seductively up at him and snapped her teeth.

He recoiled slightly and stared down at her, for the first time actually taking a good look at the mare. She didn’t look like a pony from his world, more like her cartoonish version; a bit more defined, sharper around the edges. But this wasn’t the Applejack he knew from the show. She looked the same yes, but she had a more hardened look in her eyes, along with a few scars on her face. She looked as if she had seen hell and helped create it at the same time, the thousand yard stare. He didn’t exactly enjoy the prospect.

“Well, whaddare ‘ya waiting for!” She half growled, half whispered up at him, licking her upper lip with her orange tongue. “DO IT!”

“Fuck off. I ain’t that kinda brony!” He snarled back, keeping her pinned and watching with grim satisfaction as her expression changed from seductive, to aggressive.

“Don’t tell me that shit! All ya bronies are tha same! You’d buck anypony ifn y’all had a chance!”

“Maybe they would, but I ain’t like tha…”

“BOINK!”

White stars exploded in Alex’s field of vision as something collided with the back of his skull. He pitched forward, face first and only semi conscious into the earth beside the orange pony’s face and rolled off her, unable to even move his limbs because of the pain in his head.

“Pinkie… Pinkie do good?” He faintly heard, as he felt the orange mare wiggle herself free from under him.

“Yeah… Yeah, Pinkie did good.” He heard the orange pony reply, “Now drag this lump back to the portal, ya useless bucking lump o’ shit!”

Just before his vision faded to black, he heard a loud smack and a yelp as something gripped his ankle and the orange mare reached down and whispered into his ear:

“You’re going to make me a very rich mare, y’all know that?”

Alex jolted to consciousness, feeling a sharp pain in his head and on his side, accompanied with the sickly sweet smell of burning flesh. He tried to jerk away from the pain, but he was held in place by an unseen physical force.

“Ah, so it’s awake...” Came a heavy southern accent from just behind him, accompanied by another stinging pain in his side. “Not so tough now you’re all tied up, are ‘ya darling?”

Struggling slightly, he turned his head. Just in time to watch as the orange pony he once loved so dearly kick him savagely in the face.

"Fucking die in a hole." He spat back at her, covering her face in blood and spittle.

"Now now, that's no way to treat your new master, is it?" She replied coyly, not even flinching as the blood he sprayed at her dripped slowly down her cheek.

He recoiled in shock as her orange tongue slowly poked through, gently wiping the blood and spittle that lingered on her upper lip.

"y’all will break eventually. You humans always do."

She got off of him, revealing a fresh brand over his right kidney in the shape of an apple. He tried to twist himself as she stepped back slightly, but gave up immediately as a white hot lance of pain shot through his side, almost sending him into unconsciousness.

For five full minutes he simply lay there, contemplating just not getting up. How easy would it be to just not get up? His head throbbed, the dull pain bringing him back to his senses; one of his own personal mottos, ‘you can sleep when you’re dead,’ playing through his head as he pulled it upwards and surveyed his surroundings, noting that he his hands were tied behind his back and feet tied together. He was in a large square dark clearing surrounded by massive redwood trees; in one corner one large freshly dug grave.

Rolling up to a sitting position, he winced as his flesh stung again, thankfully nowhere near as bad as before though. A derisive snort from the orange pony shook the last of the throbbing numbness from his head. Wonderful, she was still watching him.

"What happened to your colt friends?" he sneered, spitting out another globule of blood as he did.

"Y'all killed 'em. Pity, they were good servants."

She rounded and kicked him again, this time in the chest, causing him to slam backwards onto his back; him wincing and biting his tongue to suppress the urge to scream as the brand slapped painfully against the cold, hard ground.

His eyes widened as he felt something poke him in the thigh as he did. While he orange pony had removed his knife from the sheath on his waist, she had yet to check his pockets. He still had the tractor keys, which he knew had a mini Swiss Army knife on a keychain attached to them.

Kicking savagely, he drove his tied and booted feet into the orange pony's chest, sending her toppling backwards; just the distraction he needed to quickly slip the keychain from his pocket and behind his back. He paid for the maneuver almost immediately however, as the orange pony jumped to her feet and another white hot lance struck him, uttering a strangled cry as the pain shot the length of his back. The orange pony kicked him again and again, repeatedly raining savage blows down on his body as he tried in vain to defend himself; managing to land a couple kicks in as the adrenaline began rushing through his veins.

Lashing out one last time, the pony spat down on his bleeding body; him now unable to feel any pain as he slowly opened the small knife and began shaving away at the ropes around his hands. Wordlessly, the pony trotted off towards the tent, clearly intent on nursing her own wounds.

He jumped slightly, as something slowly nuzzled his hands; causing him to nearly drop the knife.

"Sorry about the pan earlier... Needed to keep up appearances. You alright?"

He jumped slightly as the ropes fell away from his hands and feet. Adrenaline still rushing, he turned to his savior, involuntarily recoiling from what he saw.

It... Well it had been Pinkie Pie at one point. Her face was scarred from multiple beatings, normally poufy mane straight and matted with god knows what. The color of her coat and mane had faded drastically, her coat an almost white and mane an almost salt and pepper grey, a few pink splotches still remained, looking oddly out of place on the defeated looking mare in front of him.

He had to quell both the urge to jump back again, and the urge to throw his arms around the party pony out of sheer despair. He knew his world was like this; it was always the most joyful ones who got fucked up the worst… The thought made him shudder slightly, as he wondered what could’ve befallen Fluttershy?

“What? Is there something in my mane?” The pony asked, mock panic in her voice and a sad smile playing over her face, “This is what happens to you if you’re a party pony and Nightmare Moon wins…”

“You mean the elements of harmony failed to stop Nightmare Moon?”

“We stopped her… Well, we thought we did… Celestia IS Nightmare Moon… Well, Sol I suppose…”

Alex inhaled, not 100% surprised; Celestia was a grade A troll, and one hell of a tyrant after all. “Wait… What?”

Pinkie sighed, as if she’d had to explain this dozens of times before, “When we defeated Nightmare the first time, she wasn’t completely vanquished… Basically, in her weakened state she inhabited the most powerful thing in the room… Celestia. Kind of like a virus that only targets powerful ponies… Anyway, Nightmare didn’t make herself known until a year after our first Grand Galloping Gala… It’s been ten years since that day.” She inhaled briefly, fearfully glancing at Applejack’s tent before continuing, “Some of us turned to support Nightmare Moon… Some of us didn’t; Twilight, Dash, Fluttershy and I… Though they don’t know about me just yet.”

“What about Applejack and Rarity?” He asked calmly.

“Applejack at first was against it… She was captured and… Broken. Rarity was just… Brought in by it.”

He expected something like this would happen, though he really only expected Twilight and Rarity to cross over… Rarity because underneath all that ‘generosity’ lived a greedy, jealous monster. Twilight because she was ‘Celestia’s faithful student;’ though he was pleasantly surprised at Twilight’s refusal to join ranks with her mentor.

“And you?” he asked tentatively.

“Double agent.” She replied matter of factly. “At least, I am now… You must be special, never seen a brony stand up to Applejack like that. Most of them just lie back and take it, even if they have 2214.”

Alex chuckled slightly, wincing as a sharp pain stabbed through his chest “It was dumb luck really… I was never properly trained to fight, even in cadets we only learned basic self-defense. Self-defense meant to defend against other humans mind you… I’m just lucky I remembered I had my knife on me…” He paused for a second, “what exactly is 2214?”

Pinkie sighed, rolling her eyes as if he should know this by now, “It’s a gene that makes you near immune to unicorn magic…”

Alex frowned, “wait, near immune?”

“Well yeah… If a unicorn magically throws a rock at you, or turns the ground underneath you into lava, you’re pretty much gonzo!… Though, there are only a select few who can transmogrify objects, so don’t be worried… But watch out for flying rocks all the same…” Suddenly, her eyes grew wide and her expression suspicious; “Wait… What do you mean you expected this? And what in the hay are ‘cadets’?”

Alex rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “Well… Uh… I was thinking of an alternate Equestria, kinda like this one time… I guess it was bound to happen, you can’t keep something as powerful as Nightmare Moon tied down for long… I mean, when you think about it, you ponies are all symbols representing the goodness of mankind… Or err, sentient life in general? Anyways, we all know evil is in every living thing’s nature, despite what they put on the outside...”

She cocked her head, not exactly giving him the impression she agreed with him, but not exactly giving him the impression that she didn’t. His train of thought was interrupted however, as an ominous rustling emanated from the tent the orange pony had disappeared into. Pinkie meanwhile, sucked in a long harsh gasp, before shooting off into the forest, leaving him alone in the clearing.

“Now… We can’ have y’all starving now can we? Gotta keep ya’ niicceee an’ healthy fo… WHAT IN TARNATION!”

Before he knew it, the orange pony (having dropped a thoroughly unappetizing looking bowl of grey looking mush from her jowls) was on top of him again. Her hooves pinning his shoulders down as she grabbed the rope back in her mouth, attempting to tie him up again. Alex wouldn’t have it.

Kicking upwards, he propelled the orange pony off of him, winding her in the process. Before she could recover, he hurled his broken and bruised frame onto her, blood gushing from a fat lip and multiple facial wounds as he pinned her to the ground; making sure to keep both her fore and hind legs splayed outwards, to prevent her from using a similar kick maneuver on him.

His head spun every time she struggled, as his body cried out in protest under her exertions. After what seemed to be an eternity, she finally gave up and glared up at him; face changing from innocent, to pure hatred, to seductive, then back again, almost as fast as he could blink.

“Well, well well… Someone likes ta’ be the dominant one…”

Alex head-butted her before she could finish her sentence. Immediately regretting it as a field of stars broke out before his eyes and he keeled over sideways. Somehow still managing to keep dazed Applejack in his grip.

“Lan… Lan sakes… That’s one hard noggin y’all got thar’”

“Thanks… I gu-“

Before he could realize what he was saying, or who he was talking to, she was in control again.

“An’ thas’ whatcha get fer letting yer guard down!” She shot down at him, holding his hands in place as she leaned ever closer, so close he could smell a faint hint of apple cider on her breath. “’an now it’s mah turn ta have some fun…” she added, as she leaned lower, taking his ear in her teeth, slowly, seductively chewing on his lobes as he struggled to throw her off him. Clearly ponies weighed a bit more than he thought they would.

He stiffened and grimaced, as he felt a hoof brush up against his crotch. He wasn’t about to just let any pony have their way with him. Especially not this Applejack. Kicking out his legs wildly, he managed to get back on top of the pony, the adrenaline numbing the pain he was undoubtedly feeling from the maneuver.

“Can you just make it easier on us all…” he grunted, pressing his knee to the orange pony’s throat, “and just get knocked the fuck out for a while?!”

She stared up at him, struggling to breathe through the pressure on her windpipe. “No…ope” she pushed out, before spitting out a dark red, fleshy globule of what he barely recognized as the tip of his ear. To his horror, Alex began to feel a hot trickle of what could only be blood start seeping down his face. Half grunting, half screaming, Alex drove his right fist into the orange pony’s temple with enough force to both break the skin, and finally send her into unconsciousness.

Alex let out a sharp breath, quickly removing his knee from Applejack’s throat before falling backwards to the ground. Upon which he was immediately accosted by the blurry image of Pinkie’s face as she rushed to stop the bleeding from his ear.

“What do I do with her?” She asked, gesturing to the limp ex-farm pony.

“Tie her up…” he managed to choke out as his vision faded, succumbing to the dull throbbing pain shooting through his whole body. “We’ll need her later…”

The last thing Alex saw before his vision faded to black was a soft smile from the pony tending to him. He was safe for the time being.

Questions and revelations.

Alex shot upwards, sending a heavy butterfly patterned quilt flying off him and onto the floor. How long had he been out? More importantly, where was he and where in the hell were his shirt and shorts? He blinked a few times, willing his body to go back into survival mode as he swung himself out of the small bed – wincing with pain as his legs gave out from under him, causing him to crumple onto the smooth wooden floor with a soft thump.

As his eyes adjusted slowly to the dimly lit room, he pushed himself onto his hands and knees, attempting to crawl back onto the warmth of the bed before him. Grunting with effort, he managed to pull himself back onto the soft mattress, cringing as another lance of pain made its way up his side. As he willed himself into a sitting position, he decided trying to get out of bed again would definitely be a bad idea.

Taking a quick glance around his immediate self, a small smile tugged at his lips as he noticed his clothing was neatly folded and washed and sitting on his bedside table. What was even more appealing however, was the fact that he noticed his iPod, as well as his knife and the rest of his personal effects were neatly organized next to the stack of clothing. His slight feeling of joy turning cold and locking itself away in his chest as he noticed a second bed about two feet to his right. The second bed occupied by none other than the orange pony whom, quite frankly, he had hoped was all part of some crazy dream. Much to his chagrin, she was also conscious and grinning smugly over at him – he took solace in the fact that from the way her forelegs were bandaged, she was most likely bedridden as well.

“And here I was hoping you were a figment of my imagination…” He grunted bitterly, moving his left hand over to the bedside table and slowly scooping up the iPod, slight confusion rushing over him as he noticed the device was fully charged.

“Now now, y’all can’t get rid ‘o me tha’ easy…” She slowly drawled, batting her eyelashes and throwing him a seductive glance, which succeeded in further freaking the fuck out of the human.

Alex let out an unamused grunt, pushing his small black earbuds into his ears. Unlocking the device with a swipe of his thumb, he quickly navigated through the music menu, stopping on “Everfree Compromise,” the soft, calming piano of the intro calming his mind and allowing him to think more clearly.

Applejack’s mouth moved again, but he was lost in the music, closing his eyes and gently bobbing his head to the beat as the further calming bass and drum beats kicked in. His elation was cut short however, as he felt a warm and wet fluid smack him in the side of the head. Reaching up slowly, he wiped the warm globule of what he discovered to be spit from his head, gently flicking the orange pony’s saliva onto the floor – pulling the right earbud from his ear as he wiped the excess on the sheets.

“What?” he deadpanned, keeping his eyes locked front and center.

A derisive snort came from his right, “ya know, the least y’all could do is look at me if we’re speakin. We are stuck in the same room after all.”

Alex didn’t respond verbally, instead opting to give her a standing ovation from the longest finger on his right hand, before placing the earbud back in his ear and rolling to present his back to the mare – pulling the quilt behind him to act as a barrier from any and all future missiles she sent his way.

Well, at least he had his iPod to accompany him still.

A light shuddering sound awoke Alex, who began flailing about wildly in the unfamiliar surroundings as his still drowsy mind struggled to comprehend where he was. Unfortunately for him, the rapid movement caused pain to erupt in his sides; causing him to spasm more violently until the soft thump of his body hitting the floor finally brought him to his senses.

Alex lay there for a moment, eyes closed, fists balled and teeth grit as he attempted to suppress the sharp pains lancing across his ribs. The harder he clenched his fists, the more bearable it became, until it finally smoothed into the all too familiar dull throbbing he was now accustomed to. Raising himself to a sitting position he bit back the urge to cry out as hotter, more unforgiving knives of pain slashed across his ribs.

As the second wave of pain subsided, he became aware of someone shivering. Not someone, somepony he remembered. Turning his head slightly, he saw the broken orange mare in her bed; thin beads of sweat dotting her forehead as her body was wracked with spasms. The quilt on her was clearly not enough to keep the cold of whatever was ailing her away. Before he could think, he had already crawled to her side, his protective instinct taking over as he slowly reached up a hand to feel her forehead – which to his dismay felt like ice underneath his fingertips.

Alex sat there for a time, hand pressed against the orange mare’s temple. On the one hand, she had tried to enslave or possibly kill him. She was heartless, she would do nothing to help him if he were in such a state. On the other, a small part of him was saddened to see her as such and wanted to help her. She looked so frail, so helpless… It didn’t help that she was Applejack of course, albeit a different Applejack, but still Applejack; one of his favorite ponies. Maybe if he showed her this one kindness…

He fought the pain, he cursed himself and his weakness as he pulled himself into her bed, hoping to all hell that this wouldn’t come back to bite him in the ass later. Gently, he maneuvered himself so he was in effect spooning the mare; wrapping his arms around her shivering form and attempting to warm her as best he could. Slowly, the shivering subsided as he felt her begin to warm underneath his skin.

“Get ‘chur filthy paws off me…” the earth pony in his arms whispered raggedly, “unless this is how y’all like yer women… Helpless and broken…”

Alex rolled his eyes, “well, sorry for still having compassion… You were cold as ice…” Sure, her words stung him and he could’ve said something worse, but he didn’t really have the energy to get into an argument.

He tensed as Applejack rolled over to face him, meeting his cold gaze with half lidded eyes in an expression he hoped was brought upon by drowsiness. “Uh huh… Ahm shure, that was yer only intention…” She emphasized her words by gently dragging a bandaged hoof across his chest, “ahm still a lil’ chilly… Perhaps y’all could warm me up in another way…”

Alex’s face contorted into an expression of disgust, “you know, just because I climbed into your bed and put myself in such a… Compromising position doesn’t mean I wanna fuck your brains out. This is all you’re getting from me you whore.” Sure, the last part was a little harsh, but she still intended to keep playing this little game.

Her expression contorted to one of rage, “who do y’all think ya are?!-”

He cut her off by shoving his fist into her open mouth, “who do I think I am?! I think I’m the guy you unceremoniously ripped from his world, have attempted to kill, enslave and rape several times, and is now showing you what little compassion he has left.” He removed his fist from the pony’s mouth, “now shut the fuck up and get some sleep before I regret this.”

She glared angrily at him, before shrugging passively and snuggling closer to him. “Yer the boss… Loverboy…” she added as she pushed her knee painfully close to his crotch, as if to say; “talk to me like that again, and you lose them…”

Alex rolled his eyes, “Like you’d castrate your favorite new plaything.”

“Well, ah don’t see how ah’d lose anythin seein as ah aint played with the goods… Yet…”

“Ever the optimist eh?..” Alex gently pushed her knee away, “you aint getting it, so stop trying.”

“WHAT THE BUCK IS GOING ON IN HERE?!”

Alex felt a strong set of hooves grasp his neck and throw him bodily to the floor, knocking the wind out of him. Before he could retaliate against his unknown assailant, a hoof pressed painfully against his ribs, sending more pain shooting through his chest.

“YOU! We take you into our home under the impression that you weren’t in cohoots with this one, and now I find that you’re a spy?! I aughta buck you back home you five fingered freak!”

The hoof was raised from his chest, but not before another kicked him savagely in the side as precious air finally rushed back into his lungs, nearly winding him again and sending his vision blurry. A yelp from the bed above him signalling that he wasn’t the only one receiving punishment, whoever this pony was, she or he meant him harm – sending his adrenal gland into overtime as his bodily responses dulled the pain.

Jumping up Alex launched himself at the blob that was his attacker, managing to get himself on its back and pulling it into a bearhug. The blob struggled in his embrace, each vibration sending more and more pain through the man as he struggled to maintain his grip. Before he could bring the attacker down however, another set of hooves pulled him off his attacker, sending him sprawling onto his back with a meaty thud. As he readied himself to jump back upwards, a face appeared in front of his – the face of Twilight Sparkle, who slowly shook her head.

“DASHIE, NO!” Came the now familiar voice of Pinkie Pie, “There’s probably a good reason for this… Right Alex?”

“Yes, Dash, surely there’s a reasonable explanation for this?” Twilight began, “besides… We aren’t the enemy here, we don’t go around beating our prisoners…”

Great… Held prisoner by half of the mane 6… This is going to be fun… Alex thought.

Alex turned his head, spat a crimson globule of what could only be more of his blood and took a deep shuddering breath, wincing as his ribs twanged painfully, “trust me, I want nothing to do with her… Ever since I got here, all she’s wanted to do was rape and imprison me. Not to mention try to kill me several times.”

“Then WHY were you in bed with her?!” Came the indignant voice of his attacker, “didn’t look much like rape to me…”

Alex chuckled, wincing again as pain wracked him. Coughing he rolled over and spit more crimson on the floor next to him, as he turned back, a mug was pressed to his lips.

“Drink this, it’ll stop the bleeding and the pain.” Came the worried voice of Twilight Sparkle.

He greedily sucked at the cup’s contents, which was warm, thick and surprisingly tasted a lot like Rip It, an energy drink he’d become fond of back on earth. Taking his fill, he pulled his hand up and gently pushed the mug away from him.

“Thanks… Now, as I was trying to say, I fell out of bed, woke up, and saw her shivering. I crawled over to her bed, she felt like a brick of ice so I climbed in bed with her to share body heat…”

“Uh huh, likely story…”

“Whatever, it’s the truth.” Alex passively stated, “I’m not going to let anyone die needlessly on my watch, despite who they are.”

“Noble… I see why she picked you…” Twilight chuckled softly, placing a gentle hoof on Alex’s chest as he began to rise, “easy, it’ll take the potion a few minutes to work properly… Best you stay down until then.”

Alex nodded and lay back down on the floor, “Just to be clear… I have no interest in being groped, fondled, or in any way sexually touched by THAT.”

“HAY! Who’re y’all callin THAT!”

“Shut up you!” Came the angry voice of Rainbow Dash, followed by another yelp from the bed.

“But I WON’T see my… Prisoner… abused!” Alex stated loudly.

“HAH! Your prisoner!? You were broken and halfway to death when pinks dragged you both in!” Dash laughed, “stupid human, you couldn’t take a filly hostage, let alone Applejack!”

“Coming from the pony who was immobilized by me, the half dead stupid human,” Alex spat back, fighting to control his anger. Hearing an unimpressed humph from the cyan mare, he added “If you need me to prove myself to you, bring it cum for brains!”

He gently pushed Twilight off him before rolling to his feet. Whatever was in that drink, it certainly made him feel a lot more human – the pain in his chest was nearly gone, his vision was back to normal, as was the pounding headache that had been plaguing him in the background. Unfortunately, the headache returned as he was met with a powerful left hook to the jaw, sending him sprawling again.

“Heh, not so tough now are-“ She began, but was silenced as the wind was knocked out of her as Alex jumped to his feet with a grunt of anger and barreled into the pegasus.

Alex clotheslined Dash, pulling her back and upwards before she hit the ground and locking her into a reverse sleeper, gently applying pressure until muffled gasps came from the Pegasus and he felt a hoof tapping him on the forearm. Dropping her unceremoniously to the ground, he stood lowered in a defensive stance, taking a moment to catch his breath before he reached out and helped the slightly dazed Dash to her feet.

“Are you done with the whole ‘useless human spy’ bullshit now?” He asked, allowing a slight amount of concern seep into his voice.

“I hate losing…” The cyan pony sputtered, before sweeping both her hind legs under him, knocking Alex to the floor again.

Alex kicked up at the mare, who had attempted to jump onto him, sending her flying towards the wall – where she was promptly stopped by a violet glowing barrier, as he attempted to rise, a glowing pillow smacked him in the face.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” The lavender mare shouted, causing them both to cringe slightly. “Nopo-one has anything to prove here…” She brought a defeated and disgruntled looking Rainbow Dash in front of Alex as he sat up.

Alex reached out a hand, “I beat you, deal with it. Now can we be allies at the very least?”

The cyan mare held a hoof out for Alex to grasp, “fine… I guess you aren’t a spy…”

“Awh… Aint tha’ sweet… The dog fightin tah defend mah honor. Makes a mare all teary.”

Alex sighed and walked over to his belongings, tugging his shirt on before stepping into his shorts, “Can we go somewhere else? I’m sure you all have questions, but something in here smells like day old salmon…”

So now I’m going to be interrogated by Miss Sparkle and the other elements… Alex thought to himself, I know they’re curious, but damn… Feels like I’ve just walked into an HIE fanfiction… Wait…

His train of thought was interrupted by the studious purple pony herself, who had just motioned for Rainbow and Pinkie to leave the room.

Odd… You’d think she’d want Rainbow around to act as security at least…

Twilight’s horn began to glow and two steaming cups of coffee popped into existence, followed by cream and sugar, glasses, a pitcher of water, and a few pastries. “Coffee?” She asked, rather unnecessarily, as Alex had already picked up a cup and begun chugging.

“I’ll take that as a yes…” She giggled, before mixing a cream and sugar into hers. Alex was at this point done with his coffee, and was intent on shoving as many pastries into his mouth as quickly as possible.

“Well, I know you haven’t eaten in a few days, Alex, but slow down before you give yourself indigestion…”

His eyes widened, as he remembered where he was, who he was with, and his manners. Alex quickly gulped down the half chewed pastries, immediately regretting it as the lump of food burned its way down his throat. He gulped down a glass of water, before turning to Twilight and smiling apologetically.

“Sorry ma’am… I hadn’t eaten since breakfast on the morning…”

“The morning she brought you here, I understand. And it’s just ‘Twilight,’ or ‘Twi’ if you please.” She beamed at him.

“Right… Twi… So… You’re going to ask me a slew of questions now until we either reach a mutual understanding of each other, or reach an awkward one before the entire scene devolves into chaos… Right?” Alex asked, slightly amused.

“You’ve been reading too much fan fiction, Alex. Granted, you’re the first human we’ve been able to get our hooves on in a while, and the only one who’s been outside of Sol’s influence, but still. We know enough about your kind, My Little Pony, the bronies, e.t.c. I want to know about you specifically.”

Alex blinked once. He had heard the ponies talking about bronies like it was nothing, but he didn’t really believe it until now. “Alright… What would you like to know?” he asked before he made an attempt at civilly drinking another glass of water.

“So… Who’s your waifu?” She asked, eyebrow raised and a smirk on her face.

Alex did the perfect spit take, thankfully though, instead of drenching the purple unicorn (who was now giggling uncontrollably) the spray was intercepted by a purple barrier she had conjured up just after she had asked the question.

“Come again?” Alex asked, disbelief etched all over his face.

“THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID!” Squealed a bubbly voice from beside him; whipping his head around he was just in time to see the face of a madly grinning Pinkie Pie sink back into a small potted plant in the corner.

“What…” They both said in unison.

“Sorry… I guess I really should be used to how random Pinkie is by now… It’s just been so long since I’ve seen either her or AJ…”

“What exactly do you plan on doing with her anyways? Applejack I mean.” Alex asked, hoping to avoid her first question as long as possible.

“I don’t plan on doing anything with her… As you aptly put it back in the bedroom, she’s your prisoner, and yours to do with. All I can offer is guidance, and a plea that you don’t end her life.” Said the unicorn sternly.

“Why would I end her life? I just risked getting molested, and beaten to a bloody pulp to save it…” Alex responded, his bemused look softening Twilight’s expression slightly. “Look… I don’t know the whole story, but Pinkie gave me a breakdown of the basics while I was still her captive. I don’t think she would’ve turned willingly…”

“No… She didn’t… When Celestia, I mean, Sol discovered that most of the other elements were working against her regime, she tracked down any family we had and took them; Applebloom, Big Mac, and even Sweetie Belle. Granny Smith was too old… Sol slit her throat in front of Applejack’s eyes.” Twilight responded in monotone.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuccccckkkkkkkkkkk…. Alex thought to himself. Lollipops and rainbows my ass

Twilight continued, “Applebloom and Mac we managed to rescue just last year… Unfortunately, that bitch Sol told Applejack they were killed in a mining accident down in the crystal caves… AJ doesn’t know they’re still alive”

Something clicked in Alex’s head, “Wait, Sweetie Belle? I thought…” Alex began, thinking back to his and Pinkie’s conversation in the wilderness earlier.

“Common misconception… I was there with Rarity when it all happened… I’m probably the only one, save those I’ve told, who knows what really happened.” The unicorn seemed close to tears as she recounted the story, “We, the arcanely gifted members of the elements had received a summons to the castle by my brother, Shining Armor, about erecting another force field... I don’t even remember what it was for anymore… Sweetie wished to see Canterlot, and so we allowed her to tag along, along with Spike. When we arrived, we discovered it was a ruse and were ambushed by Sol herself…”

She took a deep shuddering breath, and without hesitation Alex moved by her side and placed a comforting arm around her. “You don’t have to continue if you don’t want to…” Alex softly reassured her.

She sniffed, “no, you deserve an explanation… Rarity and I fought back to give Spike and Sweetie Belle a chance to escape, which they did thank Luna. I was struck by a bolt of Sol’s magic, and gravely injured… Rarity used the last of her magical strength to teleport me to safety… But before the spell took hold, she was struck down herself.” Tears began flowing down Twilight’s cheeks, “what walks and serves Sol now isn’t Rarity… It is a bastardization… Sol brought Rarity back from death, which corrupted her mind beyond repair. She is no more than a puppet now, an empty body in which resides the foulest magic.”

“And Shining Armor?” Alex asked, almost immediately regretting the decision as Twilight gave another choked sob.

“Sol had no use for him, nor Cadence after she took power…”

Alex gently pulled her into a warm hug, she buried her forehead into his shoulder as he softly stroked her mane. His insides boiled with unspeakable anger as he thought about the horrors and atrocities that Sol had committed; he had to do something, anything.

“Twilight…” He began, tilting up her head and staring somberly into her eyes, “on earth, such things often go overlooked, especially during current times. Look, I don’t know how long I’m going to be here… But if you’ll have me, I promise to do everything I can to free you, Celestia, and return Equestria to what it once was.”

She chuckled lightly, wiping the tears from her eyes as she pulled away from him. “Heh… If I had a bit for every time I’ve heard that from somepony, I’d have enough to buy my own country. What makes you different?”

“Well, you did say I was the first free human you’ve gotten your hooves on… I’m one of them, I think like them, and judging by what AJ said, most of the humans Celes… Sol has under her hoof are no more than slaves… Slaves who may be more than willing to join a fellow human if liberated… Just how many humans are in this world anyways?”

“Only eight, including you actually…” Twilight responded, smirking at Alex’s confused expression.

“But you made it sound like there were…”

“Cross dimensional travel is still a very new science. And, it required more energy than one unicorn, or even alicorn can produce – so they use this, to travel between worlds.” Twilight held up a large gem, and Alex took a slight double take when he saw it.

“Damn… It looks just like Azura’s star…” He muttered to himself, reaching out and grasping the gem.

“Thankfully, it’s one of a kind… and it takes about a week to recharge it if the caster poured all of their energy into it every day.”

“Then why expend so much power just to nab ME of all people… I can name a few who would be more useful to Sol’s campaign…”

“One, they’d be noticed by more if they disappeared, two, they want ‘easy pickings,’ and three, you were pretty much on top of a point where our two realities lie within tenths of a hoof of each other.” Twilight stated matter of factly.

“Heh… Easy pickings…” Alex chuckled, “what, they thought because I’m a brony I’d just sit there and let myself get captured?”

“Pretty much… They also didn’t expect you to be near immune to direct magic, that helps.”

“Ay, dios mio…” Alex muttered under his breath as he facepalmed.

Twilight smiled, “hey… It’s not all bad… How many bronies get to meet five of the elements of harmony? And about earlier… I’m sorry for breaking down like that… I’ve seen way worse, what with being the leader of the rebellion and all…”

“It’s alright… Back in the 11th grade, a couple of my friends and I got jumped by a couple of crazies, and my buddy and I fought them off to give my other friends time to run… Both of us got shanked, thankfully for me it only grazed a rib… But he lost a kidney… It always hurts worse when it’s someone you know…”

“Did your other friends make it?” Twilight asked, gently handing Alex a purple spotted handkerchief she had pulled from seemingly nowhere.

Alex pushed her hoof away, smiling, “they were fine… We all were, thank god… It still plays over in my head every now and then though, feels like I could’ve done more, but I know I did everything I could.” He sighed, “point is, I’ve never been in your shoes, and I’ve never lost a friend like that… But I came close to. You need to make peace with the situation… If you’d stayed, or teleported back, you’d be a slave like Rarity right now and seeing as you’re Equestria’s most powerful and brightest unicorn… I don’t think that would be good for anybody…”

“I… I know…”

“If you know, why dwell on it? I know it’s tough to ignore, but sometimes you just gotta push your feelings to the back of your mind and leave them there.” Alex said pensively, “It doesn’t do ya any good dwelling on the past like that.”

Alex picked up a pastry, staring at it contemplatively and taking a deep breath, “and to answer your previous question, it was first you, then Applejack as a close second. I love you all equally, but you two have a special place... Oh, and Luna... Because Luna is awesome.”

Twilight was taken slightly aback, “me? Really? I’m not surprised about Luna... But Rainbow Dash is such a good flier, and Fluttershy is so damn adorable… I’m just a dorky unicorn who spends too much of her time with her nose buried in books.”

“Nah, you’re adorkable, Twilight. There isn’t anything more attractive to me than a girl with a head on her shoulders.” He took a bite from the pastry in his hand, “Applejack is a close second, because I see a lot of myself in her… Hardworking, and I don’t settle for second best. Also… Dat accent…”

“That’s… Wow…” She began, blinking in surprise as her mind processed the information.

“And I’m not so much a fan of Fluttershy and Rainbow, as Fluttershy is too timid… Sure, once she got out of her shell around me, she’d be interesting enough to hang around with, but I’d still be walking on eggshells around her. As for Rainbow, she’s great and all, and I’d love to chill with her seeing as I want to be a pilot in the military… but I have the nagging feeling that she’d try turning everything into some sort of competition… and to be honest, she’s a little cocky. Pinkie, well, I’d probably only be able to take her in small doses and Rarity… We just don… didn’t have much in common…”

“I guess that makes sense… Huh, I’ve never really had a fan before, other than the other ponies in the resistance… Though, I think of myself as more of a leader to them.” Twilight took a sip of her now lukewarm coffee, made a face, and set it back on the small table between them. “But back to my earlier statement… I can offer advice on how to deal with Applejack… If you’re willing to hear it of course?”

“Shoot,” Alex said pensively, though he had already made up his mind.

“You look like you’ve already figured it out, Alex. Care to share?”

He sighed inwardly, “are you gonna finish your coffee?”

The unicorn shook her head, “I don’t like it co-“

Alex had already chugged back the lukewarm brew before she had finished her sentence. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and leaned back in his chair, tenting his fingers and staring at the ceiling.

“I believe that people, or in this case, ponies can’t change, Twilight. I think that deep down, no matter what happens to them, the person is still who they were from the beginning. The same is true with Applejack… She’s still Applejack, but she’s had to repress it for fear of Sol killing what family she had left. I think if she learned her brother and sister were safe, and she was shown compassion by someone she had wronged… She’d snap out of it.”

“Is that why you were in bed with her, eh Casanova?” Twilight chuckled, giggling at the look of disgust on Alex’s face.

“Oh come on!” Alex threw up his hands in mock anger, “I get taken from my world, beaten, branded, molested and almost raped by her… But the minute I do something remotely suspect…” He rolled his eyes and chuckled, “besides… She would have to buy me dinner first at the very least.”

Twilight broke into full blown laughter, the sound of her mirth stretching the small smile on Alex’s face to a toothy grin as he himself began to chuckle. After a couple minutes, Twilight finally calmed down enough to begin talking again.

“Ahah… Oh my, I haven’t laughed like that in quite a while,” she said, while wiping a small tear from the corner of her eye, “I’m glad we’re on the same page about her… You’re certainly more rational than most ponies I know…”

“Twilight, common sense is a gift… I use it because others don’t know they have it, or they just don’t use it.”

Twilight giggled again and agreed with him by nodding her head. “Glad somepony else has it… As for what you said earlier, doing all you can to help and all that… Seeing as you’re stuck here indefinitely, and she’s your prisoner, I want you to be in charge of Applejack until she comes to her senses and can be trusted again.”

Alex smiled and got up, “gladly… Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to check on you know who, and get some sleep myself…”

Twilight got up and trotted over to the door, “I’ll come with you and put her to sleep… Unlike you, my magic works on her, and a simple sleeping spell should deter any further… Molesting…”

Fluttershy leaned back from the door, a scowl on her face. “I’m not THAT timid… Am I?” she asked a pouting Rainbow Dash.

“Fluttershy… Yes, yes you are… But I wouldn’t turn everything into a competition with him! Why I bet…” Rainbow blinked a few times, before rubbing the back of her head with a hoof, “Ok, maybe I am a little competitive… But it’s not a bad thing, is it?”

“No of course not, Dash! You’re just a little… Um…”

“He was right, wasn’t he?” Rainbow asked, her voice monotone.

“eep!”

“Come on Fluttershy… We’ll show him just how interesting we can be…”

HAI GUYZ! Sorry for the long wait, I've just gotten out of college for the summer and am focusing on finding a job/my inspiration again... I've found it, don't worry, but it's still going to take a little while for me to churn out chapters. I try to offset this by giving you 4-5000 word long ones, as opposed to 1 or 2000 word snippets...

Also, for those of you who were wondering, Azura's star looks like this. I thought it was fitting for the whole 'Nightmare Sol' empire.

Also, I was wondering whether or not I should upload my first ever MLP fanfic to this site... It's... Ok... But it's not great. I've gotten good reviews of it, but it's another somewhat cliche HIE fic... Little different, but cliche none the less.

Oh, and there's clop. That too.

Guns, mares and tears.

I know I can't really say anything to make up for how long this chapter took to churn out... But, I've been working nearly 60 hour weeks for the past couple months and some shit came up at home I'd rather not discuss. As I may have mentioned on my previous stories, it's gonna be that way for a while, seeing as I rarely get any free time, and when I do it's hard for me to find the inspiration sometimes.

I hate disappointing you guys like that... If anyone has any ideas as to how I can avoid the instant writers block I sometimes get when I actually feel like writing, let me know in the comments.

Mmmmmmmm…. Soft pillow is soft. And warm, and has legs…

Legs?

LEGS?!

Alex awoke with a start, it took all his willpower not to throttle the orange pony now lying beside him with a coy smile on her face.

“Mornin shug… Whaddya say we get them juices flowin…” She huskily whispered, a hoof making its way gently under the elastic of Alex’s boxers.

“NOPE! NOPENOPENOPENOPE!” Alex shouted, doing his best impression of Big Macintosh as he propelled himself from the bed, landing painfully on the hardwood floor with a thunk.

He let his head fall back onto the floor as he groaned in frustration upon seeing the orange mare fall out of bed herself, laughing up a storm.

“Yer face… Th’ look on yer face, priceless!”

Alex sighed as he closed the faucet of Twilight’s shower, she graciously offering it to the panic struck half naked human after he had barged into her room following his morning encounter with Applejack. Remembering how embarrassed and flustered she had been as he had barged in, he chuckled to himself as he groped for a towel, his eyes still closed to prevent water seeping in.

His hand gently grasped something fluffy, which he assumed to be a towel and so he threw back the shower curtain and prised open his eyelids… Only to discover that his ‘towel’ was actually a feathery yellow appendage, attached to a furiously blushing yellow mare who was seated next to a snickering Rainbow Dash.

In the few seconds it took Alex to comprehend what he was seeing, both bathroom intruders were swept up in a purple aura of magic, and unceremoniously flung from the room. An annoyed looking Twilight Sparkle entered the bathroom shortly after, locking the door behind her and both depositing a clean set of clothing on the hamper, and throwing a towel at Alex, which he caught.

“The two of them, honestly… It’s as if they’ve never seen a stallio…”

Alex coughed lightly, putting his hands on his hips and giving an unamused stare at Twilight, which she returned.

“Relax, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before… Besides, we walk around naked all the time, get over yourself.”

Alex snickered, wrapping the towel around himself and hopping out of the shower, “I actually couldn’t give two fucks about YOU seeing me in the nude, seeing as you’re kinda my doctor now and all… it’s just a little odd that your security chief, and the most timid pony we know ambushed me outside of the shower for ‘unknown reasons.’”

Twilight giggled, “relax, it’s not like you have anything to be ashamed of anatomy wise. In fact, I find your unique muscular structure is actually quite pleasing to the eye!” after a moment, she blushed. “I said that out loud, didn’t I…”

Alex crossed his arms, smirking a little, “yes, you did. And don’t worry, I have a very good memory.”

“ahahaha,” Twilight laughed nervously, before walking out the door “Let’s just get you dressed, and to the armoury. I think we may have some things you’ll like over there…”

Alex tugged on the fresh clothes, which consisted of a fresh pair of boxer briefs, a black pair of cargo pants and navy blue sleeveless shirt, as well as his steel toed boots. After hastily tucking shirt into his pants and pulling on his boots, he jogged out the door to catch up with Twilight.

“What kind of weapons are we talking?” He asked, intrigued.

“Well,” Twilight began, “a while ago, we discovered someone who knew all about your dimension in intimate detail… He was able to conjure up a few constructs from your world before… Before Sol discovered he was working for us, and turned him back to stone.”

“Back to stone… You don’t mean…”

Twilight turned to Alex, a dead expression on her face, “I DO mean… If it weren’t for Discord, Sol would’ve found the resistance a long time ago and certainly would have wiped us out.”

“But why would he…”

“Simple,” she interrupted, “while his brand of chaos was a nuisance, it never really hurt anypony, more of an inconvenience than anything. But when Sol came around, and he was freed from his prison he saw what she was doing; indiscriminately killing and enslaving the ponies she once held dear… It broke something inside him. He was only a prankster at heart, and what she was doing he couldn’t stand behind. So he helped us, however begrudgingly.”

“Fight fire, or in this case, chaos with chaos I suppose.” Alex pondered out loud, looking up to see they had reached a large steel door, with Rainbow Dash standing outside of it.

“Ah, Rainbow… I’ll be having words with you later.” Twilight glared at the sheepishly grinning Pegasus, “for now however, I’ll leave Alex in your capable hooves.” Turning to Alex, she continued, “I need to make arrangements involving our orange friend’s reunion… Meet me back in my room when you’re done here.” And as quickly as she had said it, she blinked out of sight in a white flash.

“So… are all humans as well built as you?” Dash coyly asked, sidling up to the still confused Alex and bumping him with her flank.

Alex snickered internally, deciding to have a little fun with the mare, “no, not all of us are super studs like me, Dash. In fact, you haven’t seen the half of it” he began sliding a gentle finger along her wing, I could show you so much more…”

Dash blushed furiously and backpedalled from the human, causing him to double over with laughter. Once she realized he had done it on purpose however she smacked him upside the head with a wing, joining him with a chuckle of her own.

“Seriously though… I’m surprised. Almost all of the other seven humans Sol captured were… Well, unfit. Only two others seemed to have actual muscle, but they were still pretty weak looking. Why are you different?”

“Simple Dash… Sol dun goof’d. Before now, she had been preying on the weak and mostly helpless. I’m the way I am because I work hours upon hours in a manual labour job… Plus I was training myself to be a soldier eventually, and one needs to be fit for that.”

The cyan Pegasus scratched her chin, “I guess that makes sense… But if you’re not as helpless as the others, why did she choose you to be foal napped next?”

“Twilight said it had to do with my geographical location, but also a mix up on Sol’s part… You know about the bronies, right?”

Rainbow nodded, and shivered slightly, “yeah… Kinda weird that we were being watched by a bunch of apes… No offense.”

“Don’t worry about it…” Alex chuckled, “But in addition to the geographical location, she thought that because I’m a brony, I’d go down easy – it seems she can only sense certain things across the trans-dimensional rift, connection with your world being one of them.” Alex pushed past the Pegasus towards the door, “c’mon… I’m way too excited to put this off any longer.”

In the armoury.

As he pushed open the heavy doors, he let out a low whistle. “Discord… I need to shake your claw when this is over.”

“Yeah, the guy really out did himself… Didn’t he?” Rainbow chuckled, falling into step with the human as he moved past the weapon covered tables. “Listen… really, about earlier…”

“Dash, shut up, I told you it’s cool,” Alex stated gently, picking a few weapons as well as grabbing a few bags of assorted ammunition. “I’m done here, let’s go.”

The rainbow maned Pegasus looked incredulously at the human’s choices, “are you sure you wouldn’t rather have one of these?” She gestured at a Barrett M82A1 sniper rifle, “it’s what I would go for if I had… Those.” She gestured at his hands.

“Do you know how to use it? I sure as hell don’t, so why would I inconvenience myself with it…” Alex stated, laying his chosen weapons out on the table before him.

“But it looks so cool…” Dash muttered, glaring unnaprovingly at the weapons he had chosen.

“All of these weapons I know how to use, or have seen enough about them, and know enough about similar weapon types to be able to learn them pretty quickly.” He chuckled slightly, “I couldn’t even pretend I’d be any good with that beast, especially since I’d have no clue how to properly range find my target. It would be a guessing game, and if lives were on the line then I shudder to think what would happen if I miscalculated. Believe you me though, I did have the urge to run over to the thing and start cuddling it like it was my firstborn…”

Rainbow chuckled, “That makes sense… I guess…”

“That’s another thing that annoyed me about the brony fandom,” Alex started, “a good fanfic would always be killed for me when someone would pick up a weapon that requires specialized training to use, and automatically without explanation be able to use it! I mean, really… You can’t just pick up a sniper rifle, especially that beast and…” He trailed off, seeing Rainbow’s unamused expression.

“While I’m still young, please…” She expressed flatly.

“Right… Okay, firstly, we have a knife.” Alex reached forward and picked up a full length Tanto style fighting knife. “Even an idiot can use one of these… granted, I’ve had a little more experience with one than your average joe, but I digress.”

He picked up the next weapon, twirling it in his hand gently as he showed it off, “Colt M1911 pistol - simply enough, I have one at home and I know how to strip, clean, and use it.”

Putting down the pistol, he picked up the third weapon, “I also have used one of these before, this is an M4 carbine rifle. My uncle served in the US Army during the start of the Iraq war, and bought a few rifles after he was rotated out. He’s the one who taught me how to shoot, and maintain assault rifles, and I learned on the civilian version of this. Judging by the optic and select fire on this, I assume it’s a military variant – all the more fun for me.”

Putting down the assault rifle, Alex grinned wickedly as he attached the final ‘weapon’ to the underside of the M4, “this here… This here is a masterkey breaching shotgun. It attaches to the underside of my M4, and true to the name it should help me open any locked doors, as well as allowing me to fight CQB battles more easily.”

Dash huffed and rolled her eyes, “I still think the sniper rifle is cooler…”

“But where would I put it? The best part about the weapons I’ve chosen is that they’re fairly lightweight. I can still move quickly carrying all of them, and I can engage anywhere from close to long range targets. If I used the .50 cal, I’d be limited to using my pistol and knife in any engagement where I couldn't set up a fixed position; as it, and its ammunition are so damn heavy. Plus, I’d be mostly limited to long range targets, and the recoil from it would likely pop my shoulder out of its socket if I ever had to fire it standing up, or kneeling. There’s also the issue of double redundancy… If the M4 somehow gets fucked during a fight, I can easily draw my pistol and go stay in the fight – plus if the M4 jams up, and I need to engage something further out than I can accurately shoot my pistol or the buckshot can reach, I can always pop a few slugs into the masterkey – boom, instant rifle.” He chuckled, “you gotta start weighing your options dash. The coolest thing isn’t always the best thing for the job.”

Dash looked slightly flustered at his long winded explanation, “well… DUH! Of course I knew that! I just wanted to make sure you did. Making sure you were ready, part of my job as security chief and all…” She trailed off, glancing around slightly nervously.

Alex facepalmed as he began walking over to another table where a black MOLLE vest, various holsters and slings could be found. He clipped a leg holster onto himself, then set about strapping four extra M4 clips, a box of slugs and a box of buckshot, and two M1911 clips onto himself. He strapped the now sheathed knife vertically (handle face down) to his left breast, before loading (but not cocking) the weapons. After holstering the pistol, clipped a sling to the M4 and placing it around his body. Alex groaned audibly at the extra weight, earning a chuckle from the cyan Pegasus.

“You don’t need to carry all of that here… Only on patrols, you’re safe for the time being.” She stated.

“I know,” Alex began, grimacing slightly as he attempted to shift the weight on him more comfortably, “but the more I wear it, the quicker I get used to the weight, right?” He snorted, “plus I think I look pretty badass right now.”

“Okay, but I’d better not hear any complaining,” Rainbow chuckled, “lets hit up the training room before we see Twilight. I wanna check some of those moves you pulled on me yesterday.”

Alex sighed, it was going to be a long morning.

“So you don’t seem to have any issues with being here…” Rainbow grunted, as she ducked under an elbow jab, countering by snapping her right hoof out at Alex’s knees – which Alex avoided by jumping over the blow and slamming himself on Rainbow’s back, his mass sending her to the floor as he attempted to grapple her.

“It’s not that…” Alex began as he wrapped his arms around the pegasus’ barrel, “I’d rather not talk about it.”

Rainbow Dash huffed and squirmed in his grip until they were face to face, “why not?”

Alex shook his head, releasing the Pegasus and pushing her to arm’s length, “the more I think about it, the more it hurts.” He snapped back into fighting stance, “one more?”

Dash looked over the bruised human, knowing she was no better off. While the sparring had been even sided, both parties being able to land an equal amount of blows upon each other, Dash could feel the weariness in her shoulders. While their reaction times were more or less on par, she was overall much more agile and a little faster than the human. He had made up for it with his earth pony-like strength and constitution – seemingly absorbing any hit he couldn’t dodge or use against her.

Dash chuckled, “nah big guy. I think we should rest a little, I gotta take you to Twilight in 20 minutes.” Making her way off the padded floor, she tossed him a water bottle sitting on a nearby bench before grabbing one for herself. “You never did tell me what you called your fighting style by the way.”

Alex quirked an eyebrow at the Pegasus, “I never really thought about it… I don’t really have one... I did take some basic classes, and my stance and knife defenses are heavily influenced by both Krav Maga and Akido, I suppose I’m more self-taught than anything.”

She chuckled, “it’s a little undisciplined, but it kept me on my hooves. Unpredictability can be your greatest weapon.”

“Eh, the way I figure, if I hit it and it stays down – it’s good enough.” Alex grunted, taking a swig from his water bottle as he stuffed his combat gear in a duffle bag Rainbow had found for him. “Lets go to my quarters before we see Twilight, I’m far too tired to be lugging this shit around right now.”

As the two of them moved out of the training room and into a narrow corridor, forcing the two of them to stand ass to flank if they wanted to keep doubled up. Taking advantage of the situation, Alex grinned, gently training his left hand down Rainbow’s neck, stopping in the middle of her back where her wing joints met her spine, eliciting a light blush and a glare from the mare.

“So you never told me why you and Fluttershy were watching me shower earlier…”

“Think about it,” she said as she lightly bit his hand and removed it from her back, “Aside from you being an alien, have you seen any other stallions around here?”

“I was curious about that actually,” Alex replied, rubbing the back of his hand, “I always figured the gender ratio here would be skewed, but what gives?”

“Sol magically gelded any Stallion who doesn’t openly support her,” Rainbow deadpanned, “she also moved most of them to Canterlot to work in the mines, join her army or act as… Well, her personal ‘toys.’”

She grimaced slightly, “other than you, we only have Fancypants and Carrot Cake, and they’re both taken.” She gave him a quick glance, “there’s Mac of course… But we haven’t been able to figure out the spell that gelded him yet… Even if we did, he’s really only had eyes for Cherilee anyways.”

Alex shivered and swallowed the urge to vomit, “That’s… Horrible. I’d sooner jump off a cliff than allow someone to enslave me, let alone take away my…” He shivered again, instinctively laying his palms over his crotch protectively. He supposed that strategically, controlling the male (and in turn the female) population in that way was smart… But still…

“Relax big guy,” Rainbow placed a hoof on his lower back, “we aren’t gonna let anything happen to you.”

Alex sharply inhaled, “I guess that explains a lot though.” He smiled down at the cyan Pegasus as they reached the door to his quarters, noticing a few old scars on her jawline “thanks Rainbow… If it means anything, I promised Twilight I’d protect you all to my last breath if I had to.”

She beamed up at him, “good, we need another in the resistance like me… A lot of ponies here are always too mamby pamby to actually fight. It’s good to – “

Whatever she was going to say was cut off as she unlocked the door and stepped into the room. You could almost hear her jaw hit the floor as she hastily backed out of the room, slammed the door and sheepishly looked up at Alex.

“Uhhh…. It’s for you…”

“I’m going to walk in, and be verbally, visually and possibly physically molested, aren’t I?”

Rainbow nodded nervously, her eyes growing wide as Alex reached into his duffel bag and pulled out the sheathed tanto blade, clipping it to his belt.

“Rule nine, Rainbow. Rule nine.” He muttered as he opened the door, ducked inside and closed the door behind him.

“Well, howdy sugar… Ah done worked mahself up waitin for ye… Lil’ help?”

Spread out on Alex’s bed was a fairly flustered looking Applejack, legs spread and true to her word was dripping with anticipation. Alex shut his eyes, facepalmed and sighed explosively.

“What did I do to deserve this…”

Grabbing a nearby comforter, he threw it over the mare before tackling her off the bed and onto the floor in a pile of bedding and limbs. Before she could fight back, he had tied up the comforter with the ex-cow pony still inside it, grimacing as he realized he was now kneeling in a suspicious puddle.

Throwing the struggling apple-sack over his shoulder, he harshly barked over his shoulder for her to shut up and calm down – which to his surprise, she did.

“Now, ah’m all fer kinky… But this is jus’ a lil weird…”

“Quiet you. And try to get presentable… We have a reunion to attend.”

Applejack hadn’t moved or spoken for the entire trip back to Twilight’s study, she hadn’t even made a sound when Rainbow tried goading her by insinuating she would be more at home in a cucumber field than an apple orchard. Alex could only imagine she was lost in thought as to what he meant exactly by ‘reunion.’

As they reached Twilight’s door, he dropped Applejack with a thud, drew his knife and slit open the comforter and pulled the orange pony out. Alex opted to carry her in his arms as she had gone into some sort of trance and seemed incapable of standing.

“Dash, if you please.”

Rainbow Dash, who was glaring suspiciously at her former best friend, nodded and rapped three times on the heavy oak door – which swung open to reveal a beaming Twilight, and a haggard looking teenage Applebloom, who stared up at the human with, to his disappointment, fear in her eyes.

“’Bloom?” Applejack’s glazed eyes focussed sharply on her younger sibling, who gave her a small wave.

“Hai sis…” Applebloom squeaked back as the human carried her sister through the door and deposited her onto a nearby sofa, before dropping exhaustedly into a large armchair opposite.

“But… She tol’ me…” AJ choked, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Lies sis… Though ah wished ah was dead sometimes…”

Twilight sidled over, “Mac is here too…” she began, taking a seat next to Alex as he made room for her on the large armchair, “however… He’s been in the infirmary since we rescued him…”

Applebloom walked over and plunked herself down next to her sister, pulling her into a teary hug. “Y’all can stop pretendin sis… We’re safe.”

AJ let out a sob, pulling her sister into a deep hug, “Oh, thank Luna!” her eyes widened, as her hoof trailed across Applebloom’s back, which to her horror was covered with scars under her yellow fur.

“Miss Twilight helped mah coat grow over them… But we couldn’t remove the scars completely…” Bloom began, “everyday, she would come down an’ whip me… While she gave Mac to tha’ thing, Miss Rarity ha’ become…”

Applejack recoiled in horror, before her face set and she turned to Alex. “You knew she was here?”

“Yup.”

Before he could react, she launched herself at him and sent them both to the ground, driving a hoof into his face before pulling him back up into a bone crunching hug.

Alex, slightly dazed, motioned for Rainbow and Twilight to stay back; Rainbow having taking a wider combat stance and Twilight’s horn glowing menacingly. He grimaced as he felt a gentle trickle of blood move down his chin as he wrapped his arms around the sobbing orange mare.

“Does this mean we can be civil with each other now?” He asked as Applejack pressed her face against his chest.

She squeaked what he thought was an affirmative back at him as he got up and deposited the still sobbing mare back onto the couch, moving back so Applebloom could pull her lost sister back into a teary hug.

Turning back to Twilight, he motioned towards another sofa further away from the two, “let’s give them a little space…”

Twilight nodded, as she and Rainbow sat on either end of the sofa, leaving room for Alex in the middle – where he gratefully plonked himself in the given space.

“What’s with the bruises?” Twilight queried as she scooted closer to examine Alex, before shooting an angry glance at Rainbow Dash, “Rainbow! I told you he needed to rest!”

“It was my idea…” Alex quickly lied, keeping his gaze focused upon the two apple siblings, Applebloom slowly rocking Applejack back and forth as she cried her eyes out.

“Do you think she’ll be alright?” Rainbow asked tentatively, shifting she attempted to get comfortable.

Alex reached out a hand and began absentmindedly rubbing the back of Twilight’s neck as she examined him, gaining a small grunt of gratitude from the librarian.

“AJ’s a strong pony, Rainbow.” Alex began, rubbing his eyes with his free hand while Twilight examined his jaw, “She’ll be alright… She has us, remember?”

Rainbow sighed, before laying her head down and closing her eyes, “She never lost us… And I won’t lose her again.”

“None of us will, Rainbow.” Twilight sighed, finishing her examination and leaning back to enjoy the neck rub, “Alex won’t let that happen.”

“You’re right, I won’t.”

The strangest thing...

A few hours later it was just Alex and Twilight left in the study, Rainbow having accompanied AJ and Applebloom to go and meet up with Big Macintosh in the infirmary. After which, Alex had promised Rainbow to meet her back at the gym for some R&R.

Currently however, Twilight was furiously scribbling notes while Alex lay with his head on her back as he recounted as much as he could about his capture.

“And that’s how I got this…” Alex finished, gesturing towards his torn up ear, “I’m sure Pinkie filled you in on the rest…”

Twilight pondered for a moment, before activating her horn and enveloping Alex in a lavender aura of magic. Alex, more amused by this than anything, lifted his head off the unicorn’s back and watched as Twilight’s face slowly screwed up in a mask of concentration. As the seconds ticked by her expression got more intense, as did the tingling sensation around his body. He got a little worried when she began sweating and grunting in effort, her horn glowing just as strongly, if not more so than during the Ursa Minor incident. To Alex’s surprise, the tingling feeling abruptly stopped as Twilight expelled an explosive sigh, panting as she turned to face him.

“Well,” she began, “you definitely… Definitely have the gene…” she panted, wiping the sheets of perspiration on her forehead, “however, there’s one thing I need to ask of you…”

“What’s up, Twi?” Alex queried, while handing the worn out unicorn a nearby glass of water, before interrupting her question “though I have to ask, if I have this anti-magic gene, why did the healing potion work on me?”

Twilight smirked, “the gene only protects against direct magical stimuli, a unicorn casting a spell for example.” Taking a deep breath, and a sip from the glass she continued, “the gene doesn’t protect against natural medicine, healing plants for example – which was what the potion was made up with. It goes both ways though, if you strolled into a patch of poison joke, you would be as affected as any of us.”

“So, the gene only really protects against unicorn magic?”

“Exactly,” Twilight brightened, “however, the gene makes your body act very much like… Well, it’s like you’re covered in butter. When I tried to lift you just then, my spell couldn’t get a good hold, no matter how much energy I pumped into it.”

“You just wanted an excuse to think about me all greased up, didn’t you?” Alex joked, causing the unicorn to turn scarlet before she smacked him across the face with her journal.

“Way to ruin a perfectly logical conversation, Casanova.” She deadpanned, getting up from the sofa and staring back at him, “come on, I need your help.”

Trotting over to a nearby bookshelf, she scanned the dusty tomes until her eyes alighted upon a large green hardcover. Reaching for the book she tilted it out of the bookshelf at a 45 degree angle, the shelving unit swinging forward to reveal something that made Alex’s jaw drop.

It was a ship… One he recognized immediately, even though the indigo color scheme was totally wrong.

“Where in the blue hell did you find one of these?” Alex asked, sprinting past the unicorn and placing a palm on the hull.

“Discord… Well, when he was bringing things over from your universe, he brought over some… Interesting electrical devices you humans use for entertainment. In particular, he was incredibly infatuated with a game you humans call – “

“Halo…” Alex finished for her, staring in awe up at the indigo blue Pelican Dropship.

“Yes,” Twilight continued, a little miffed at Alex’s interruption, “before he was turned to stone, we managed to create this from some concept art and interior schematics of the D77- we found online…”

“But… How?” Alex asked, turning to the unicorn with his brow raised, “we humans haven’t even come close to producing the technology required to make this brick fly…”

Twilight chuckled, gesturing towards the starboard thrusters, “Inside the engine housing are boulder sized gems that store magical energy. When the energy is released, it acts like an engine, propelling the craft and powering all the necessary on-board electronics. One charge, done by yours truly, can keep this bird in the air for a full day.”

“Have you tested it yet?”

Twilight winced, “well, no. For starters, the cockpit configuration is made for humans. We tried to get around this by using unicorns to fly it, but the engines cause a magical feedback loop that induces hypoxia-like symptoms to anypony operating the controls…”

“Twilight, I know where you’re going with this… I have no idea how to fly this thing. I’ve barely flown a handful light aircraft at home, and even then I have nowhere enough experience to even think about attempting a solo flight.”

“Luckily for you, you won’t exactly be flying it yet. Tell me, where do you think Sol’s control over the world ends?”

Alex shrugged his shoulders as he turned his attention back to the Pelican. “I suppose it wouldn’t.”

Twilight gave him a smug grin, “where on Equestria does the sun not shine?”

Alex failed to supressed a snort of laughter, and was smacked upside the head for his trouble.

“The ocean floor you idiot.” Twilight deadpanned, her horn glowing as a large pair of steel bulkheads began parted a little above their head, revealing a cold inky blackness above them – Twilight’s magic being the only thing stopping a torrent of icy black water from snuffing them both out.

“Anything Sol’s sun can touch, she controls.” Twilight began as she closed the gap above them, “thankfully for us, there are some places in Equestria that will never see the sun’s light…” The sound of a door opening and closing interrupted Twilight’s speech, much to her chagrin. But as Alex turned to face the newcomer, he was greeted by one of the strangest things he had seen yet in this new Equestria.

It was Octavia. Which, altogether wasn’t that surprising – seeing as Twilight had already told him about the Double Bassist being present on base. What’s more, Twilight had even informed him that Octavia was also their deputy head of the resistance’s science wing (under Twilight, of course). So, he also wasn’t surprised that she was wearing a white lab coat and black, square rimmed glasses. What DID surprise him was that; one, she was standing upright, and two, Octavia had somehow swapped out her rear legs for a set of six tentacles.

He couldn’t help letting his jaw drop as she shuffled over to them, making an odd squelching upon the cold floor as she nodded to Twilight, before giving Alex an approving glance and a somewhat sultry smile.

I’ve seen enough hentai… Alex’s mind began, before he squelched the thought and automatically stuck out his right hand for a shake. Which he regretted somewhat, as the Octo-pony (she had eight appendages total, including her forelegs) grasped his outstretched forearm with one of her warm, squishy and slightly damp tentacles; the tip of it resting gently against his bicep.

Instead of leaving it there however, she the proceeded to wrap the rest of her tentacles around his waist, hoist herself up so her eyes were level with his, and then proceeded to begin taking measurements of his head with a small tape measure.

Alex did not know where she got the tape measure, nor what had possessed the mare to use him as a human jungle gym. All he knew was that Twilight had fallen over in a fit of uncontrollable laughter, and his waist was now surrounded by the very warm, squishy, damp, and (as he realised now) incredibly powerful lower half of the ex-bassist.

“Extraordinary…” She quietly remarked in her posh accent, slowly wrapping the tape measure around the circumference of his head with her two hooves, whilst snaking a tentacle up his back and around the back of his neck. “Twilight?” She queried, turning her head towards the crying unicorn on the floor next to them, “Has he made contact with the ship’s processor core yet? And why does he look so shocked?”

“Uhhhh…..” Alex began, eyes darting back and forth between her eyes and tentacles.

Octavia flashed him an excited smile, “Twilight and I had the bright idea one day to try creating a spell that would combine an earth pony’s natural strength and endurance with some of the local fauna’s underwater ability. To better perform repairs on the outside of the stronghold, you see.” She sighed, and wrapped her fore hooves around the startled human’s neck, “The spell turned out to be a great success, but at a cost. I am stuck this way, half octopus half pony… Other side effects include swimming at speeds only Rainbow Dash can dream to match, enhanced regenerative tissue properties, hundreds of millions of sensory nodes in these tentacles…” She gently caressed the tip of the human’s ear with the tip of the tentacle that had grasped his arm, “which does have the tendency to make me more... Tactile.”

She chuckled, leaning closer to him “as creepy as this sounds, I can actually taste the output of pheromones you’re producing. But don’t worry…” She winked at him, face now a few inches from his, “all the important parts are still there.”

Alex blinked, “certainly feels that way…” he squeaked before he could stop himself.

Octavia chuckled before turning to Twilight, “you’re right Twi… He is kind of cute when he gets flustered.”

Alex leaned over to stare at the still cackling unicorn who, of course, didn’t notice his piercing glare. He frowned at the scene, before shuffling himself and the now chuckling Octavia over to the purple pony on the floor.

“Well, while we wait for you to calm down, I’m going to take this lovely octopu- uh, I mean, octo-pony you have acquainted me with back to the gym. I have an appointment with my wingmare to keep.” He turned to a wide eyed, and excited Octavia, “assuming the lady doth not object, of course?”

Her expression changed from one of mirth, to a crazed grin; “An opportunity to study your motor functions firsthand?!”

Alex chuckled, “sorry Tavi, but all I’m gonna do is hit the sauna with Rainbow. You missed the training session earlier, and now all I wanna do is relax and get to know you guys better before I hit the hay.” He patted her back, grimacing slightly, “would you mind?”

Octavia’s grin widened, “unfortunately for you, my dear, I don’t do walking quite as well as normal ponies… So, it looks like you’re going to have to carry me!” Alex squeaked as Octavia tightened her grip on his waist, “besides… Seeing as I’ll be one of your primary handlers for the next little while,” leaning in to whisper gently in his ear, “I need to get to know your body’s capabilities better.”

Alex let out an uncomfortable groan, “could you at least loosen up a bit? I’m pretty sure you’ve wet MY pants, and I can feel more than just the heat from your you-know-what on my wedding vegetables.”

She rolled her eyes and scoffed, “pony up, twinkle-toes. If a little heat on your sheath is all that can make you freeze up…”

“Human’s don’t have sheathes, Octy.” Twilight broke in, visibly fighting another fit of laughter, “it all just… Hangs there.”

The shocked blush on both Octavia, and Alex’s faces was enough to send Twilight back into violent fits of laughter.

“So…” Octavia hesitantly began, “all this time, it wasn’t something in your pocket I’ve been feeling?”

Alex slowly nodded, grinning sheepishly. “Yep…”

“Ah…” Ocatvia loosened her grip on him, “I apologise if I have made you uncomfortable, Alex. However, what I said about my walking difficulties, and learning your body’s capabilities is true.” She took a deep breath, leaning backwards from his torso and putting more of her weight into Alex’s arms, “you see, as I said before, due to my… Augmentation, my sense of touch exceeds that of most creatures.”

“Which means?” Alex nervously interrupted, earning him a chuckle from Octavia.

“Not only can I feel every movement you’re making, all the way down to your heartbeat and blood pressure. I also can, well, the best word is ‘taste’ your hormonal levels, and as I said before, your pheromones. So you’ll excuse me when I do this.”

Before Alex could protest, she had already shoved her two middle tentacles up his shirt and suckered them to his back and sides, the tips of them resting just under his shoulder blades. While her front pair (which she had also shoved up his shirt) was already resting upon his chest and abdomen. She had also shoved her rear pair down his pants and gently curled them around his thighs, being sure not to touch anything sensitive of course. She also quickly stuffed a hoof into his mouth, in order to prevent him yelling.

“Now, please do calm down, it’s all purely scientific.”

Alex huffed through his nostrils as the moment of panic left him, and he removed her hoof from his mouth. “You could’ve just asked?”

Octavia flashed him another coy smile, “now where would the fun be in that? Besides…” She eyed him up and down, before leaning back in and whispering into his ear “I can tell you’re at least amused by this, and from the way your pores just opened up, possibly enjoying it a little too much for your liking.” She blew on his ear slightly, eliciting a shiver from the human and causing her to chuckle again, “don’t take this the wrong way, but you taste delicious when you do that…”

“Tavi, I think his eyes are going to pop out of their sockets of you keep that up.” Twilight spoke up, having finally gotten over her mirth.

Alex took a series of deep breaths, calming himself to the point where he could think rationally again. “Twilight…”

“Ah, quit whining and lets go.” Twilight joked, “as I know Rainbow told you, you’re the only available stall… Male we’ve seen in a while now, and some of us are a little more touchy-feely than others because of that, Tavi being one of them.”

“Um, yes, well…” Octavia flustered, causing Alex to snort with laughter and Twilight to giggle, “as I said… Purely scientific…”

Twilight giggled again, “as shocking as this may sound to you, there are some mares on this base who believe that just because you have a working penis, you need to be tied to a bed and…”

“OKAY, I GET IT!” Alex shouted, pushing the unicorn playfully with a free hand before turning to Octavia, “look, Octavia, I don’t mind the whole… Touchy feely thing, but next time, just ask.” He finished in an exasperated tone.

“You’re not freaked out by this? Not even a little?” Octavia queried, gesturing at the tips of her front pair of tentacles, which were poking out of the collar of Alex’s shirt and curled around the back of his neck.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t freaked out at first… But you seem nice enough.” He chucked, and whispered into Octavia’s ear, “besides, I think that look of jealousy that keeps flashing over Twilight’s face is priceless.”

He received a lavender hoof upside the head for the trouble, but was rewarded by the two mares giggling. He joined them with a chuckle, before wrapping his arms behind Octavia’s back to support her weight more evenly and following Twilight out the door.

Alex let out a deep, content sigh as he plonked himself down upon the wooden sauna bench. So far, he was the first in the room, which made the least sense to him, seeing as he was the only one who had to remove clothing and wrap a towel around himself.

He winced in discomfort as he rubbed one of the many bruises he had received from Octavia’s suckers from her ‘human frontal load bearing capacity, and motor functionality experiment’ (as she had called it in the end). She had apologised profusely for the bruises, as she had not realized the force she was holding him with before. Apparently the same trick on ponies produced little to no bruising, which Alex had chalked up to their coats somehow providing enough protection to their bare skin.

If he was being honest with himself though, he was a little puzzled by the group of mares’ advances. He didn’t care about the flirting, hell, he probably wouldn’t care if one of them tried to drag him to bed one night (whether he would join them or not was a different question of course). What he did care about was their motives. The fact that, as had been repeated many times, he was the only available male on station worried him.

Alex shrugged noncommittally, closed his eyes and leaned back into the bench again. He would just do what he always did; ride it out and see where it took him.

His thought process was interrupted as the door to the sauna opened, letting a freezing draft in. Squinting through the misty room, he could barely make out the shape of a large pony standing in the doorway.

“Hey mate, in or out, you’re letting out all the heat.” Alex gruffly remarked, somewhat annoyed his relaxation had been interrupted by some random.

The door closed again as the pony stepped into the room, the mist still obscuring their figure. Alex sighed, frustratedly and leaned back again… Only to jump to the side as a soft shink followed by a thunk accompanied a small knife as it embedded itself in the wooden bench where his left hand had been only moments before.

“Ah, so you are quick. I must put that in my report to Sol…” Said the mystery pony in a strangely familiar refined accent, which was accompanied by three more small daggers sent flying in his direction.

Alex rolled, avoiding two of the daggers but letting a short grunt as the third clipped his left tricep. Alex recovered and barreled into the pony, grappling it’s neck and sending a quick series of knee jabs into the thing’s ribs, before being pushed back onto the bench with a meaty thud. A hoof connected with Alex’s eye, snapping his head backwards and almost sending him over the back of the bench. Thinking quickly, Alex kicked over the stand of hot coals in front of him, a macabre smile crossing his face as his attacker was showered with the red hot nuggets.

The pony let out a blood curdling scream and fell out the doorway, the thick smell of burning meat accompanying him out the door. Alex didn’t hesitate, grabbing two of the daggers that had been thrown at him out of the bench, he held them akimbo and bellowed a war cry as he dived out the still partially open door and onto the pony… Whom he recognized as one of the only stallions on base – Fancy Pants.

Alex jammed the dagger in his left hand into the unicorn’s side, hacking at his horn with his right and rolling the pair over so he was sitting upon Fancy’s chest. The dagger in his right hand was wrenched away from him as the unicorn screamed and writhed in agony, Alex noting that he had lodged the blade roughly halfway into the bony appendage. Grasping the writhing unicorn’s face, he also noted a large burn patch on his cheek and dug his fingers into it, while twisting the blade he had sunk into the unicorn’s ribs.

“You’re a really shitty assassin, you know.” He whispered into Fancy Pants’ ear, a trickle of crimson slowly trailing down his face from where the unicorn had struck him.

“Am I?” Fancy Pants wheezed, “If I could make it past the screens… More will come.” His jaw clenched, something in his mouth crunched and his eyes began to glaze over, “long live Sol…”

Alex stared at the corpse underneath him as the bloodlust within him slowly drained. He rolled off him and onto his back, fighting the urge to vomit as he clamped a hand down on the slice made by the dagger on his tricep, which was bleeding heavily and had begun to tingle violently – a sensation he had begun to associate with some kind of magic. The dagger must’ve been magically poisoned somehow, and he could only hope that his genetic protection would win out.

Staggering to his feet, Alex winced as the urge to vomit rose within him again. Slowly, he made his way over to a second steam room (which is where he assumed the other three had ended up) and pushed his way through the door. Sure enough, Twilight, Rainbow and Octavia were just on the other side, shocked and confused expressions adorning their sweaty faces as their eyes flickered between Alex and the dead Fancy Pants. The nausea and dizziness finally caught up with him as he dropped to a knee in front of the three mares.

“Assasin…” he grunted, as he felt hooves pressing up against his chest, “Magically poisoned daggers… Bastard got me. Fuck this hurts.”

He faintly heard one of them scream, as he fell forward and the world slowly faded to black.

A/N: Hey guys, hoped you liked the chapter! Couple of things:

I'm going to try writing slightly shorter chapters, like this one, from now on to make things a little more manageable.
I called Octy a double bassist as opposed to a cellist, as in every picture you see Octavia and her instrument in, it looks way too big to be a cello.
I won't just leave the Pelican discussion there, I'll pick it up again in a later chapter.

As usual, comment if you notice anything unusual grammar/spelling wise, and thanks for reading!