Tali continued on his path, walking away from Rarity's housing. He walked in front of Talos, holding his reins and guiding him, walking beside him to give the horse a brief reprieve.

He's been so good to me … Tali thought. Lesser horses, other horses …Garth's horse would have reared up, whinnied, and fled the moment they saw Fluttershy's tail whipping about, or heard the crash of trees being thrown. Not Talos.

Tali tugged on the reins, commanding Talos to stop. He pet Talos' head and gave him a nuzzle.

“You've been so steadfast, Talos ...” Tali said. “You haven't fled, no matter how terrifying the monsters we've faced have been.”

Talos nudged Tali in the head with his nose, trying to make sure Tali moved before he dozed off and was caught up in another flashback to his past.

Tali nodded. “You're right. We should keep moving.”

Tali went forward on the path, keeping Talos' reins close to him the whole time. He found it awkward and uncomfortable to move. He hadn't really paid attention to it before, but his clothes were too tight on him after Rarity's enhancements. Especially on his leggings.

Tali frowned and grunted, reaching down and trying to adjust his garments so he could move legs without his pants feeling like a cloth brace. The sound of roaring thunder cracked and boom from nearby, making Tali flinch and let go of the reins.

“What?” Tali wondered. “Where did that come from? There's not a cloud in the sky.” He put a hand over his eyes and looked skyward to be sure. Perhaps he missed something, or a storm front had moved in. But no, the sky was as blue and clear as a pure drop of clean water.

Tali and Talos continued on the road, each of them giving a jump each time the crack of thunder sounded. It was until they crossed over a tiny wood bridge built over a small stream did the source of the sound become apparent, the reason why there was so much thundering in the middle of a clear sky.

Up, high, high up in the air, was a woman. A wild woman, given her tattered clothing, and her messy, scruffy mane of hair made of red, yellow and blue strands. Her dress little more than a tiger hide treated and stretched out to fit her, and a crown of bone decorated her head like a hairband. Tali hoped it wasn't real bone she had, or if it was, it would at least be animal bone.

And not … the bones of … previous adventurers … Tali thought in his head, his thoughts trailing off in fear. Looking closer, the bones appeared to be finger bones.

Tali shuddered.

The woman stood on a pile of clouds which gathered together and formed a platform for her to use. Around her were drums arranged in a circle, and she raised drumsticks made of unrefined materials – wooden clubs with linen tamped down their tops – with which to bang the drums. It was this drumming which caused the thunder, as each time she struck the drum with her sticks, the clouds beneath her feet rumbled and produced the thundering noise Tali heard.

Tali stepped forward towards her, directing Talos to stay by the bridge. He cleared his throat and addressed the woman. “Excuse me? Ma'am? Could I get you to stop playing those drums for just a minute? They're quite loud!”

The woman, shocked at being addressed by a male voice, froze in place with her drumsticks raised in the air. She looked over the side of her cloud platform. Setting her instruments to her side, she reared up and put her foot down on the edge of the clouds, causing them to move forward, lowering themselves to the ground and moving towards Tali until she was a mere foot away from him.

The woman sized Tali up in her gaze. “Who are you?”

“I am Prince Tali of Maretonia.” Tali said, bowing formally, as he had been taught to do.

The woman rubbed her chin. She held one leg out in front of her and stepped down from her cloud platforms. “I'm Rainbow Dash. I oversee the weather in this area. I play these drums to control the wind, thunder, and rain.”

Tali nodded. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Rainbow Dash.” Tali offered his hand to Rainbow Dash to be cordial. Rainbow Dash glared at it before swatting his hand away.

“Yeah, yeah. Spare me the false manners and fake politeness.” Rainbow Dash said. “You're here for the crown, aren't ya?”

Tali stepped back, holding his hands up. “What? No! … Where's your dress from, by the way? It's different from the others.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “If you must know, the dress style is taken from a tribe of warrior woman native to Neighpon. But don't lie to me or try to ply me with your table talk. You're here for the crown. I know this because you, obviously, somehow, have made it past both Fluttershy and Rarity. And the only reason you would have to do that, and not turn back … would be if you wanted to steal the crown at best, or just pit yourself against the Guardians as a challenge at worse.”

“Well, yes, that's a logical deduction ... but still, there's no reason we can't be civilized people and talk about this!” Tali insisted.

Tali was blindsided when Rainbow Dash, instead of replying with a sarcastic reply or trying to distract him by flirting with him, struck him on the head with the end of her drumstick, knocking him down onto his bottom.

“W-what?” Tali stuttered, looking up at Rainbow Dash standing over him, taking in deep breaths and holding the drumstick like a club.

Tali crawled backwards. “Uh, don't-don't you want to try to seduce me first?”

Rainbow Dash heaved a big sigh. She raised the club over her shoulder, pinched her eyes shut, and shook her head as she gave a quiet laugh. “Look, kid, don't expect me to fall for your handsome pretty boy act just because Fluttershy and Rarity can't keep it in their pants.”

Rainbow Dash raised up her club and brought it down on him, meaning to smash his chest and shatter his ribs. Tali, after a moment of fear, thought to roll to the side through the grass to avoid the blow.

Tali got to his feet. He stood there in terror of Rainbow Dash before turning his head over to the side to see what was behind him. Seeing a clear path, Tali turned and ran away from her as fast as he could.

Rainbow Dash snorted like an angry bull, twirling her drumstick club in her head indignantly.

“Get back here, coward!”

Rainbow Dash sprinted after him, her wild mane tossing back and forth.
Tali looked over his shoulder to see how close she was to catching up to him. The answer was she close, and gaining on him.

Tali searched the area ahead of him, trying to find something he could use to his advantage.
Taking in the terrain, he noticed a small outcropping of trees, bundled together the ridges of raspberry. It was nearby, tall, and dense. A perfect place to wander into and shake off pursuers.

I'll lose her in there. Tali thought.

Tali dashed ahead towards the grove, his enhanced legs thudding on the ground. It was a good thing he had taken up Rarity's offer for enhancements, otherwise he might have never outrun Rainbow Dash on foot.

He reached the trees and went inside, pushing a branch out of his way. Finding two trees standing close together in his way, Tali squeezed himself through them rather than risk the extra time he would need to find a way around. Rainbow Dash could catch up with him if he did that.

It was uncomfortable as he grabbed both trees for support and held his breath to thin his body. How quick an opinion could turn. If he hadn't accepted Rarity's offer, he could slip through these trees with ease.

“Gah.” Tali grunted and managed to force himself through, letting out a sigh once he could breath again. He took a second to catch his breath and kept running. There was no telling how far behind Rainbow Dash could have been.

Rainbow Dash ran up to the forest's edge. She did a quick sweep of the area, looking for signs of disturbance in the leaves and bushes to tell her where Tali went.

“Grr.” Dash heaved her club over her shoulder again. “I'll never find him in here.” She held up her other drumstick and banged the two drumsticks, causing a boom of thunder which frightened Tali and startled Talos, even though he was a good distance behind them.

Dash's cloud platform responded to her call, floating over to her. Dash climbed onto it and balanced herself before raising her drumstick up, bidding the clouds to rise. The clouds hovered upwards, roiling and bubbling, until they were high enough for Rainbow Dash to see the entirety of the tiny grove with a bird's-eye view.

“Ah-ha.” Dash said to herself upon spotting Tali, still running, passing through a grassy part of the grove.

“Fluttershy's going to be so mad at me. She loves plants.” Rainbow Dash said to herself. At her command, with her finger pointing in the direction of Tali, the clouds moved to where they flew over his rough general vicinity.

Rainbow Dash twirled her drumsticks again, adding a stylish touch to show off, and banged on her drums. Striking the crude drums produced lightning from the clouds. Bolts of charged particles, of the divine instrument of lightning, shot out and aimed for Tali. The first bolt hit the ground, missing him and not doing much other than cause a scorch mark in the dirt. The second bolt missed as well, though to the opposite side. The third bolt, however, proved more effective. The third bolt struck a tree at the base of its branches, setting it alight with fire. The flaming branches gave a pitiful creak, as if crying out a death knell, as it fell over and toppled into an adjacent tree, spreading the blaze to its branches as well.

The wildfire continued to spread. The fire burned down the side of the second tree until it reached the ground, where it jumped onto the grass and used the grass to expand outward across the area. Other trees were caught in the blaze and burned down, the flames dancing happily on the bark, oblivious to the damage it was causing to the flora.

Tali continued to run, even as the entire forest was set on fire around him. The smoke rising up clouded his vision and dimmed the light from the sun, and what light the fire itself provided for him to see was distorted from the heat. The burning temperature warmed his armor, making it uncomfortable to be in. The crackle of the flame distracted him hearing. It cackled at him, taunting he would not escape. Tali ignored its taunts and continue to run, the flames nipping and licking at his heels. Against what seemed to be impossible odds, he felt more determined than ever to live, to survive, to see his mission through and brag and boast of his tale.

He heard a thud on the ground, and the minor tremor resulting from the thud stopped him in his tracks, shaking the earth beneath his feet and preventing him from moving safely.

He saw the source of the thud – Rainbow Dash, having dismounted and jumped off her clouds to meet him on the ground. Having landed on her hands and feet, she rose up to meet his gaze, the glare of the flames painting her face red, lights and shadow dancing across her cheek as the flames waved about.

She glared at Tali. For a second, Tali's hope of living to share his tail faltered, but he did not back down, glaring back at her and assuring himself he was going to come out of this alive.

I'll get out of this. Tali thought. I've done it twice now. I can do it a third time.

“Hmph!” Grunting to big himself up and show he would not be intimidated, Tali turned and fled through the forest once again. If he was going to fight Rainbow Dash, and it was apparent sooner or later, he was going to have to, he could at least escape the forest fire and not give her the home field advantage.

Brandishing her drumstick club and swinging it around, Rainbow Dash chased after him, her bare feet appearing to not be bothered by the scorching heat in the ground.

Tali ran and ran, the flames dancing everywhere like ignorant ballerinas unaware of the two warriors running past them.

Tali reasoned he was close to being free of the forest. It wasn't a large collection of trees, at least, not as large as the woods Fluttershy inhabited, and it would make sense he should be approaching the end by now.

Tali had to stop and assess the station as he came across an obstacle in his path. Two burning trees which had fallen down and crossed each other in a x formation stood between him and his way out of the forest. He couldn't climb over them. The flame would consume him and eat him alive. Yet, he did not have the option to not go through.

As he was weighing his potential options, Tali could pick out the sound of Rainbow Dash's footsteps approaching through the noise of the crackling fire.

“There's nothing else to go for.” Tali realized. “I have to jump.”

Tali held out his hands and tried to measure how high he would need to jump to clear the trees and be safe. It would have to be quite high, as he needed not only to clear the trees, but also jump over the fire burning from them, lest he be scorched, his armor melted and his flesh burned off.

Tali backed away from the fallen trees, putting some distance between him so he could do a running jump.

“Hmm.” Tali stopped to consider whether he needed more distance to make his jump. It was a difficult call. Too far away, he wouldn't reach over the trees. Too close, and he could end landing straight into the fire instead of over it.

A nearby tree let out a groan before tipping over and falling, its leaves being burned away by the fire. It was good luck for Tali it had fallen to the side of him rather than in front, but it suggested to him he was out of time. It was now or never. There was no more time for calculations.

Bracing himself, Tali ran towards the fallen trees. He built up as much speed as he could with the small, tiny distance he had and jumped up, soaring through the air with more than a touch of unease. He exercised as much control over his momentum as he could to go forward. Having done all he could, he closed his eyes to brace for impact, wherever he landed.

He felt himself go down, drawn by the inescapable pull of gravity. His opened his eyes, and his brief joy at seeing he wasn't going to fall into the burning wood was cut short by the realization he was going to crash into the dirt.

“Aaah!” Tali cried out as he hit terra firma. He tumbled and rolled across the ground, his limbs flailing until he came to a stop. Relieved at being alive, he rolled onto his stomach and kissed the dirt.

Tali sighed in relief and stood up, taking the moment to relax. He looked back on the burning forest, feeling a surge of pride as he looked on. He had escaped his potential doom and death by burning alive.

The image of a shadow moving inside the fire put a damper on his spirits. The figure crouched down and bounded into the air. Rainbow Dash emerged from the flaming forest with an impressive leap, landing on her feet in front of the fallen trees which had troubled Tali.

Rainbow Dash affixed Tali with another glare, this one full of contempt and irritation directed at him. He was just an annoyance before, but now, she had hatred for him in specific as a person.

“You're only delaying the inevitable, you know.”

Tali frowned, annoyed at her persistence. He turned to run away again, and this time, he would be smart about instead of blindly running. He would flee, go around, mount Talos, and ride ahead to the next Guardian.

This plan was undone by a swift, sudden impact on Tali's back which crumpled him to the ground.

“Ooh ...” Groaning, Tali rolled over to see Rainbow Dash looming over him again.

Tali staggered to his feet. Rainbow Dash looked at him with eyes which somehow looked both cold and impassive and angry and bloodthirsty at the same time.

Steadying his feet and preparing a stance, Tali pulled out his shield and sword.

Rainbow Dash took her swing at him, aiming for his chest. Tali blocked the club with his sword, his blade pressing and pushing back against her weapon. Despite the club being made out of simple wood, it stood up to and resisted the metal of his sword.

Seeing the pushing of weapons wasn't making any progress, the two separated.

“Curse you and your vague and nebulously-defined powers!” Tali shouted. “If that club were made out of any ordinary wood, my sword surely would have cut it in half!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Rainbow Dash twirled her club before moving in for another attack. She aimed an overhead blow at him, which Tali defended against by raising his shield up. His shield let out a ringing echo as their weapons collided.

Rainbow Dash separated from him, withdrawing her weapon and taking a few steps back. The two of them walked around in circles like battling animals, each of them never taking their eyes off the other.

“Yah!” Rainbow Dash shouted and charged, bringing her club down on him. Tali once again blocked it, raising his sword and pushing it against the club.

Rainbow Dash growled and withdrew her club again. In defiance of what Tali was expecting, rather than retreating to try again, Rainbow Dash swung the club downwards, going for his legs. Tali was able to lower his shield in time to deflect the pragmatic, if ethically-challenged, blow.

Rainbow Dash growled once again, twirling her weapon about once more.

What is up with that, anyway? Tali wondered. Maybe it's some kind of quirk …

Rainbow Dash attempted to strike him again, but Tali deflected it with his sword. Rainbow Dash pulled away and tried again, only for Tali to guard against the club with his shield. They continued this, repeating this motion in cycles where Rainbow Dash tried to hit him in vulnerable parts of his body, only for Tali to block it, alternating between guarding with his shield and deflecting with his sword.

“Kid, you're really starting to annoy me.” Rainbow Dash said after they had continued this for some time. “Most of the other guys who came here before would have given up by now.”

“Well ...” Tali said. “Perhaps they just didn't want to suffer the humiliation of being beaten by a woman. I, however, have no qualms about recognizing a woman warrior as my superior.”

Rainbow Dash smirked, amused. “Maybe. Maybe you're right. You're probably right. Or maybe they just didn't want to deal with this!” Rainbow Dash twirled around and pointed her drumstick at him.

Tali, fairly sure he was growing wise to her tricks, moved to the side. As he had expected, a lightning bolt came down from the sky and struck the spot where he had previously been standing. He wanted to congratulate himself on figuring it out, but if he knew Rainbow Dash's tactics by now, he had to move again, because a second lightning bolt would be coming down to him in the spot he moved to.

He moved back to his original position, evading the second lighting bolt which came down. Other than his close proximity to the uncomfortable heat generated from the lightning bolt, and the uncomfortable feeling of standing on scorched earth, Tali was no worse for the wear.

He raised his sword, defending as Rainbow Dash twirled towards him and swung her club at him. As their weapons pushed against each other, Rainbow Dash felt the urge to address him.

“Why do you even want the crown, anyway?” Rainbow Dash asked, the two of them grunting as their shoved each other back with their weapons, vying for dominance. “You're not like the others who have come to steal the crown. You're not nearly as arrogant or self-absorbed. And trust me, I'm Rainbow Dash; I know arrogant. What is with you?”

“I want to steal the crown for my country.” Tali said. “For pride. For recognition. For … love.” Tali said. “My father … he's often disappointed in my efforts. I do my best to please him, but ...” Tali shook his head. “It's never good enough. If I could steal the crown and bring it to him ... it would make up for all the other times I've failed to live up to his expectations. He would never look down on me.”

“Wow.” Rainbow Dash said, her tone dry and sarcastic. “What a sad story. I feel so sorry for you.” Rainbow Dash sighed. “Look, kid, I don't much care for you, but my duties and responsibility as a Guardian obligate me to ask you this. Will you consider defecting?
Renouncing your crusade and quest and instead becoming a knight for Equestria? You could serve as loyal solider of Celestia, with all riches, fame, and glory you could ask for. What do ya say?”

“I am not interested in your riches. I have plenty at home. I care little for fame or glory, or I would have taken more of the knights' pitiful contests of alleged manliness. I want this crown for love. For the pride of my people and the respect of my father.”

“Ooh!” Rainbow Dash cooed in a fake sweet tone. “How noble and sentimental of you. Oh well. Time for you to fry!”

Rainbow Dash spun and twirled around, lifting her leg up and out. She relieved a powerful roundhouse kick to Tali's gut, the blow making him stagger backwards. She raised her club at up at him, pointing towards him.

Tali knew what her gesture meant, but with the pain from her roundhouse, he couldn't get out of the way in time. He did the only thing he could think of to do, raising his shield up over his head and hoping it absorbed the blow.

The lighting bolt struck the dead-center of his shield, and the electricity traveled through it and surged throughout his body. It left him with a tingling sensation in most of his body, and he could feel his arms and legs go partly numb. His teeth chattered, the electricity flowing through him. But he survived the hit alive and intact, if a little singed and unable to feel his elbows connecting to his shoulders.

Rainbow Dash regarded at him with a look of complete and utter surprise.

“I'm impressed.” Rainbow Dash said. “Not many of my opponents can withstand that. But even if they do, they tend to fall to this.” Rainbow Dash smirked as she reached to her side and pulled her second drumstick. “How about a new trick?”

Rainbow Dash swung the club drumsticks out, pointing them off in two directions. She twirled them both around three times each. She pointed them downwards and dragged their heads across the ground. She lifted them up and banged the heads of the clubs against each other.

Electricity surged through them. Sparks shot out from the heads of the clubs with electric arcs traveled up and down their length, the electricity buzzing and crackling as it powered up the clubs.

Tali's eyes widened.

“I'll admit, that is a new trick.”

“Hi-yah!” Rainbow Dash lunged at him with her lightning-infused clubs. Tali raised his sword and shield by reflex, managing to stop one of her clubs with his sword. Time seemed to slow down around them as she brought the other club up in an underhand swing, aiming for his ribs.
Thinking back to a few moments ago and learning a lesson from Rainbow Dash, Tali took a page out of her book and lifted his leg up. He kicked her in the gut, slamming his foot into her midsection. Rainbow Dash let out a grunt (“Oof!”) and the power behind her second swing faded.

Seeking to gain as much advantage from his position as possible, Tali threw his shield to the ground, where it clanged and spun around in circles like a top before coming to rest. Tali grabbed the base of her club and wrested it free of her, prying it from her hands as she staggered backwards from the kick in the gut.

Thinking fast, Tali swung the club at her, striking Rainbow Dash in the midsection with her own weapon. Rainbow Dash let out a chattering scream as she electrocuted, enveloped in a blue aura of buzzing, chattering lightning which lit up the area around them.

The charged faded from the weapon, and the light-casting aura disappeared. Rainbow Dash, with singe marks across her hair, face, and body, let out a dazed groan and dropped to her knees before falling over all the way. The other club lost its electric charge as well. Thin tendrils of smoke rose up from her body, her face frozen into a stunned expression.

“Huh.” Tali said as he raised the club. “You'd think she'd be immune to her own attack … then again, I did hit her in the gut. Getting hit there hurts pretty hard, you know.”

As he himself could attest.

He threw the club up in the air to celebrate his victory.

“Say ...” Tali said. “Maybe I should take this with me.” He examined the club. “Then again, it is a magic weapon … I might not be able to control it. No! What I'm saying? Those are fool's words, the words of a coward and a- a- a wimp! I can control this.” He raised the club up high to show he could, in fact, control it.

A gathering of lightning near the bottom of the club which traveled up to head and sent out a lightning bolt at a random direction, all without input from Tali, told him otherwise.

“Yeah, no, I can't control this.” Tali gently laid the club down next to Rainbow Dash's, surrendering the weapon back to her. He left and went to go find Talos so he could ride on to the next Guardian's sanctuary, ideally before Rainbow Dash recovered and woke up, for she would be full of fury and sure to chase after him if he was still in the area once she did.

They made it safely out of Rainbow Dash's area, putting a good extra distance between them and her just to be on the safe side.

Tali let out a yawn. “I'm kinda tired.” He looked around for a good resting place. “How about that lone tree over there? We'll take a minute to rest there before continuing on our journey.”

The tree was in a good place to stop and rest. It had wide branches to give shade from the sun, and it overlooked a nearby lake which they could drink water from.
Tali had Talos go over to it. He dismounted him and sat under the tree, resting his arms behind his head and enjoying the cool shade. Talos sat with him.

Taking in a deep breath, Tali dozed off into a well-deserved slumber. He had triumphed over three Guardians so far. He was halfway through his challenge. It seemed like only minutes ago he was trying to evade Fluttershy's tail while avoiding looking into her eyes, or talking with Rarity as she literally sucked his secrets out of him.

While he rested, Tali had a dream …

A strange dream.

It opened with Celestia, about three times her normal height and size, which were already generous enough, making her into a giantess.

The next thing he noticed, he was inside her dress, like a tiny, insignificant gnat rubbing up against a golden statue worth ten times its weight in gold, carved by an artisan sculptor. He was caught between the cloth of her dress and the inner edge of her nipple.
Celestia giggled, noticing he was there. Or perhaps she knew all along.

Smiling where he could see from his position between a soft place and a softer place, Celestia put her arms together coquettishly and rocked from side to side. Tali was made to bounce around all over against the inside of her dress.

After putting up with a few minutes of this, Tali felt something warm above him. Looking up, he saw a bead of white fluid, of breast milk, leaking out from Celestia's breast. Her breast leaked out a small, single drop, but with Tali's reduced size, the tiny drop was enough to smother his head and coat his armor in the stuff.

Tali was overwhelmed with emotion. Being coated in the Goddess Celestia's divine milk made him feel so good … yet, it also made him feel unworthy. By what right did he have to gain access to this divine lactate? Surely there were others who more worthy than him to receive such a delicacy.

Those thoughts were pushed out of his mind when he blinked, and all of a sudden, Celestia was back to her regular size, with her breast shoved into Tali's mouth. Tali looked up, unable to see anything but her cleavage and her warm, bright smile, her perfect pearls of teeth showing from between her thick, dark lips, her eyes hidden by a shadow cast from her hair.

“Mmm …” Tali moaned, her breast oozing milk into his mouth.

Celestia put a hand over her mouth and giggled. It was a light, airy, carefree giggle, one to be expected of a young, easily amused girl instead of a thousand-year old, mature goddess.

Tali wondered if maybe she wasn't so mature after all.

Celestia pulled her breast out of his mouth. She smiled at him. Putting a hand on his cheek to hold him firm and steady, she planted a kiss on his lips.

“Mmm ...” Celestia moaned, enjoying it much more than he was. Not to say he didn't appreciate it. She was just feeling less awkward about it than he did.

If everything which had been happening up to this point hadn't been strange enough, the next thing Celestia did took the cake.

Her entire body turned misty, becoming a white and silvery fog while still retaining her general shape. She smiled and giggled at Tali again before forcing head into his mouth, her body turning into a long pillar of mist which sought to gain entry into his mouth and go inside and fill up his body.

Tali's eyes widened as Celestia forced herself inside of him. There was nothing he could do to stop her. His mouth was stretched as far as it could go, and the mist shoved more and more of itself inside of him, traveling down his throat and into his stomach.

After he had been forced to swallow the entirety of Celestia's misty body, Tali felt bloated. His stomach wasn't meant to carry, to contain … whatever Celestia had turned herself into.

Yet … it felt so good have her inside him. Even in this strange misty form inside a prince from a foreign land, the goddess of Equestria gave off warm light. It gave Tali a fuzzy feeling inside his belly.

In fact, it gave him more than a few 'fuzzy feelings'.

Tali lurched as something began to change inside of him. Something solid was forming inside his stomach. Celestia … was becoming solid inside him! He expected she would burst out of his stomach in a gory display, shredding his belly and eviscerating his bowels with claws she had yet to reveal.

But no, she simply stayed where she was, somehow solid and inside him without making him explode, even though her body was far larger than his was.

Tali let out a shiver and a moan, feeling Celestia move inside towards his abdomen. He felt something soft and squishy press him against the insides of his masculine parts.

Was … was Celestia … no, surely not.

Tali let another moan again, feeling Celestia jiggle and shimmy her breasts against the inside of him.

She was! She was using her breasts to smother and pleasure the inside of him and the inside of his equipment!

Tali couldn't decide whether this was kinky or gross. Perhaps both.

“Kinkoss,” perhaps. Or maybe “grinky.”

“Aaah … aaahh ...” Tali moaned. He fell to his knees, the pleasure of Celestia's massive, divine, pleasure-inducing breasts too much for his tiny mortal body to withstand.

Tali woke up startling, his face covered in sweat and his body close and well on the verge of orgasm.

The lake. He needed to get to the lake.

Getting to his feet, Tali ran towards the lake while trying to shake off his battlements. He jumped and bounced and spun around as he undid his leggings and threw them to the ground. Taking off the rest of his garb, he jumped into the lake.

“Aah ...” Tali sighed, the cold water of the lake doing what he needed to do, cooling off his warm body.

Was that … Celestia? Was she … using her powers to seduce him in her dreams? He was so close, too … she was powerful to be able to do that to him.

In their chariot on the way to the Summit, Celestia rolled her head to the side, her eyes closed in sleep.

“Mmm … so handsome.”

Discord, seated next to her, raised an eyebrow. “And just what are you thinking about, Celestia?”

Celestia opened her eyes and turned to look at him. “Hmm? Oh, nothing. Nothing at all” She let out a giggle, thinking about Tali. If he hadn't dreaming about her before, he sure would be now!

Elsewhere, at the port of Equestria where Tali's shipped was moored … another ship pulled, one recognizable as being from Maretonia, given it bore the nation's flag. Written on the side was the S.S Garth.

The ship pulled up the harbor and found a place to dock. There, two knights stepped out from the cabin and took a look around.

“Yes, this is the place, all right.” Garth said. “Look.” He pointed. “There's the Prince's ship.”

“Are you sure this is such a good idea, Garth?” The other knight said. “Maybe we should go back for reinforcements … I'm sure the others knights would be happy to make to lend their efforts.”

“Bah! Nonsense, Ferdinand.” Garth said. “We alone will have the glory and recognition of returning Prince Tali to King Talon's safe and welcoming grasp. And who knows? Perhaps while we're at it, we'll even manage to kill one of the Guardians and bring their heads back as a prize!”

Garth rubbed his hands in anticipation of the riches and rewards which awaited him once he had brought not only Prince Tali, but also a Guardian's head to King Talon. Oh, Talon would lavish him with riches the likes of which Garth had only heard about, but never seen.

“Come.” Garth gestured to his fellow knight. “Let's ask the locals about Tali's whereabouts.” He stepped off the plank off his ship, taking the first step of his journey … to end Tali's journey.

Author's Note

Rainbow Dash is based on an interpretation of Japanese myth of a being or beings who live in clouds and cause thunder by playing on drums.

Took me awhile to figure a good name for Garth’s buddy.

I like the variation in this chapter, where I made the encounter with the Guardian be all violence with no possibility of sex, but found a way to include a sexual scene anyway to keep the readers happy.